//------------------------------// // Chapter 4- Clackerton // Story: Song and Dance of the Desert's Garden // by Renaissance Muffins //------------------------------// Chapter 4- Clackerton Despite being slowed down by the tear-jerking departure of such a family in a rather unusual way, the group pushed their way through the darkened forest, lighting their path with light magic. Whisk kept himself from crying, but it seemed he was reminded of something similar in his own life. The dirt path narrowed to a long wooden bridge over a swiftly flowing river bottomed with rocks. “This reminds me of a moment long ago from when Charger and I hung out together all the time.” Whisk reminisced. “He was born by nobles, and I was born from one of their servants. Naturally, as time passed by, we became really great friends. Although I was the ruffian, he was the one trying to keep me in line, but it was all in good humor.” he let out a soft chuckle. “At one point, his family had a dispute with my father. We were cast out without much say, it separated us for some time.” He said as they finished crossing over the rickety wooden bridge. “You're making your story sound like a lover's romantic tale, Whisk.” Marina remarked. Whisk laughed loudly, “If that's what you think, go ahead. It's more of a tale of us reuniting by coincidentally winding up in the same squad upon our recruitment to Celestia's Legion, becoming best friends again. Although, Charger had changed after I left, he became more stubborn, stricter, and a little less friendly. I managed to relax his attitude enough over the years that he went back to his old way of speaking, starting his parts of the conversation with 'well'. We trusted each other quite a bit, that's why he trusted me with that heavy as buck sword Abner's got when we before we jacked that train from the station.” “We'll set up camp here, this area should be relatively safe for now, but I'll set up a camouflaged barrier for safety.” Marina stated. “Do continue your story, if you wish, Whisk.” They set up their camp in a nicely tucked away pocket of space just a few yards off from the beaten path. Trees blocked any light coming from the waning moon. “Not much more to add to it I think, however, if you're wondering why we trusted each other so much, it's because of the numerous adventures we had in the woods in the farthest end of his family's backyard. “We built a tree-house, some little forts for snowball fights during the winters. It was a nice little patch of woods that had a creek running through it. It was nice to hang out there with what friends we had, to enjoy our childish endeavors.” They all sat around the warm fire that Marina had started, listening intently to Whisk's story. “If I remember right, you attended the same school Charger and I did. Boy did he ever have a crush on you, I found it hilarious.” “Whisk!” Marina snapped her cheeks turned red, “You know I don't like to talk about that. Charger is a blasted knuckle head, he never thinks anything through despite how intelligent he is.” “Marina, I joke. I just love seeing that reaction out of you. Anyways, he gave up on you eventually, turned his mind towards his studies and work, as did I.” Whisk cleverly remarked. “I started that Tavern of mine up soon after the three of us graduated from boot camp. Cooking was something I loved to do in my spare time, so I figured why not. My first customer was Prudence, funny enough. She loved the food and the drinks I provided, she often chatted about her diplomacy job. I once asked her why she told me all this random stuff about paperwork and meeting with other leaders of various countries and small communities that started up outside Equestrian borders.” He paused for a moment, catching his breath, “I haven't talked this much in awhile, leaving me short of breath. Prudence answered me with a proposal, If I became part of her little squad she was starting up, a type of special forces squad that worked as undercover escorts in return for free drinks for a year.” “Prudence didn't offer anything in return?” Marina questioned. “It seems unlike her to do something like that and I thought our squad was instated by Celestia, not Prudence.” “Celestia did give permission and filled out the paperwork to start it, she left it up to Prudence to find the members though. As for what I got in return, she offered show her talent to me. She began with Charger, who she knew well as he had already been guard to her chambers several times. Through Charger she heard about my craftiness in improvising explosives during training sessions plus my talent for cooking proved useful in the grand scheme of things. She found you, Marina, from one of her visits at the aquarium. She saw that with your talent of water manipulation down to the the last drop, you could help tell the weather and where the nearest source of water would be. Your talents would also be useful for something we encountered not too long ago.” “The dragon, Stribog.” Marina said, mildly surprised. “Now that I recall, she offered to cover my school expenses if I joined the squad, I was desperate at the time. I feel like we've all been used.” “In a sense yes, but you know as well as I do that that isn't her intent. She knew that our fates were intertwined, it's part of her talent.” Whisk delicately remarked. “Can you tell us what she showed you with her special talent?” Lark interjected. Whisk looked over at her and smiled, “I can't, I promised her not to, but I can tell of whom later on. She knows you all will be able to figure it out on your own.” He looked over at Tiva, who had fallen asleep at Lark's side. “Looks like Tiva has taken a liking to you, Lark.” “It seems that way doesn't it.” Lark smiled. “Song and dance do go together, don't they.” “You're not wrong, that's for sure.” Whisk answered. “So, Whisk, where do Cuffs and Wrecker fit into Prudence's scheme?” Marina asked. Whisk looked at Marina, eyebrows raised, “I'm getting there, I'm getting there.” he said before clearing his throat. “Wrecker, was a mercenary, soldier for hire. He scared a lot of potential clients off because of his sheer size, but he lived up to his nickname of Wrecker. Prudence got him involved in all of this because she knew that we would need his unmatched strength.” “That's true, no telling how many times he's busted us out of a jam because of your drinking habits.” Marina jabbed. “Hey now, I've loosened up on my drinking since I started working with you guys. Anyways, Prudence figured we would need medical attention at some point in time, so she recruited Cuffs, one of the Legion's best medical officers that worked in field. He proved his worth when he was healing up Charger after we ran into that group of bandits that managed to get a lightning bolt spell off, piercing his front legs. Cuffs had that patched up in an instant, left Charger a little sore but he walked it off pretty well.” “You practically know what's going to happen this entire trip don't you?” Marina inquired. “No, Prudence only told me three things when she revealed her talent to me, one being my fate, the second being the fate of Canterlot should she not assemble us together, and the third fate being her own. The third fate was the reason why I accompanied her alone to Abner's village and the reason why she transferred the leadership role over to Charger. I would've taken up the role, but she insisted that I was too friendly and that I would break under stress.” “She certainly wasn't wrong in that regard.” Marina remarked. “Let's get some sleep, it's already plenty late. I think your story put those three asleep.” she said glancing over to Abner, who had fallen asleep, stretched out beside the fire. “You do that, I'll stay up and keep watch, at this point we can't let our guard down. I'll get some sleep when you wake up.” Whisk assured her. The morning came swiftly. The forest came alive with the sound of birds chattering in the trees. The suns warm rays gently pierced through the canopy and into the barrier that Marina had set up the previous night. Stretching out and getting their yawns out of their systems, the group put out the fire and packed away the small supplies they had taken out. A piece of flint and steel, some kindling, and a small knife that Whisk used to carve up some breakfast out of apples and various other fruits and berries. Continuing down the beaten trail, they made their way through thickets of vines and webs that stretched between the trees and blocked off a good portion of the trail. The sun today seemed discomforting, it glared brighter but a tad darker from its normal orange hue. It felt as if the sun would engulf them in fire, swallow them whole in flames of delight. Marina feared the worst of Canterlot, she silently hoped that the Elements of Harmony and Celestia would be okay. A small patrol squad of Legion pegasi flew overhead, gently flapping their wings to keep a good gliding speed. It was hard to see through the forest's canopy, but it was clear that Celestia had known about the passage way and she had no intention of letting Abner leave Equestria. “It appears we'll have a bit of a problem before we reach the temple. She's sending the faster fliers out.” said Whisk, disappointed. “There's always the opportunity that we can avoid them entirely by taking the mountainside path.” Marina suggested. “We'll have to stop at the temple first anyways, I'll see about convincing them that we're not the ones they're looking for, that is if they're even looking for anyone. If we're lucky, they won't know anything about the train jacking or the wanted posters back in Canterlot.” Whisk exclaimed. It was surprising enough that the group never came under attack creatures of the forest, perhaps they had moved through the route because many of the animals preferred easier prey. Another likely possibility was that Celestia's soldiers began moving down the other routes which were longer and far less risky. Approaching the group five of soldiers who stood on either side of the piked fencing made of sharpened logs of nearby oak trees. The patrolling officer who paced from the view of the field and the view of the darkened forest, halted the seemingly odd group of travelers who had unbeknownst to him, disguised themselves in tattered clothes of silk and cotton cloth. “Stop there and state your purpose.” the guard yelled in the quite usual fashion befitting them. Whisk casually approached the mare, but kept his distance, knowing that getting too close would result in undesirable consequences. “My associate...” he started, gesturing a hoof towards Marina. “and I are traveling merchants making our way to Clackerton town, it's on the other side of the mountain path. We were hoping trade some wares there.” “Very well, but I need to see some identification papers so I can make note of anyone who passes through here.” the guard insisted sternly. Whisk gathered the papers he had forged together before leaving Canterlot, and carefully handed them to the guard after clasping them together in small leather binding. “Here you go, please take your time if you like, we don't have an appointment of any sort.” The guard carefully looked over the papers, being sure that the portraits of Whisk, Marina, and Lark matched up to their imagery and the faked information written delicately so, “Okay, this all seems to check out, you do bear a striking resemblance to some one that hijacked a train yesterday morning however. I'll let you go, but you must tell me what you need the wolf for and who the young filly is, security reasons.” The guard said, seeming tired and sicken of the new deployment of forces and searches for suddenly wanted folks who had no history of crime. Whisk quickly spurred up an answer to the guard, “He helps carry some of the equipment, he also makes a good guard, you know, with the extra hearing and all that. Tiva here is our daughter.” He finished as he gestured a hoof in Lark's direction. Lark gave him an odd look, but played along and Tiva didn't seem to mind, she didn't seem to pay much attention to the conversation either. “Reasonable enough. Go on ahead, but I must warn you that there has been an increase of wild animals venturing the plains lately.” The guard moved aside and kept his head high and his eyes leveled, carefully watching the group. Grabbing their papers back as they passed and waltzing across the field until the checkpoint was no longer in sight, they all let out a deep sigh of relief. “Got to admit, that was impressive. Never thought I'd be able to fool a guard like that. Come to think of it, that one looked oddly familiar...” Whisk quietly hummed as he mused the thought for a moment. “Well anyways, onwards to Abner's village that I for some odd reason can never remember the name of.” “That's because it didn't have one, Whisk.” Lark snidely replied. “Really. I thought I heard Prudence say the name of the place at least once.” Whisk remarked. “Let's get moving, no telling when the field is going to expand into Ponyville.” From the middle of the windy fields, they began their trek. Marina checked the map that she had brought with her from Prudence's residence. Embedded with the map there were multiple spells that tracked their location which showed the direction that they were facing, the distance between two points and any holds that might come to pass. “It seems like we might have to travel through Clackerton anyways to get to Abner's village.” “Why's that, Marina?” Whisk inquired. “The map seems to vaguely showing a large ravine that recently opened up due to an earthquake, completely shutting down the road we took to get back to Canterlot.” She answered. Going through Clackerton might take a little longer, but if we're quick it should only take about tweleve hours longer.” “Well, that bites.” Whisk huffed. “What's the current expansion rate on the field, measure from the edge and to Clackerton.” As she charted the two positions together, she changed the topic, “You know, I'm still curious as to why Celestia felt the need to put up a field like she did. It felt as if it was draining my magic, but also twisting it in a unusual manner. It felt so strange.” “That's because it was, I may not be a unicorn or a pegasus, but I could tell that nothing there was on the right side of the tracks. Recall this, Marina. All of the guards were pegasi, any unicorns were lined up at makeshift first aid stations, and any earth ponies that were walking around seemed completely oblivious to the entirety of it all. Remember, Marina, I'm a pony-smart pony, not a book smart pony.” Marina rolled her eyes, recollecting what memories she could if she hadn't forgotten them already, “I think you're right. Well, the field is expanding, but at a slower pace than before. Only about halfway to Ponyville, it'll reach Clackerton within three days time. We'll get there tonight if we take a break or two.” “Sounds good. Two days should be plenty of time to track down an old friend of mine whom last I recall, was living in Clackerton quite recently.” Whisk replied. After crossing the expansive plains, they came upon the edge of a small thick of woods with a large cobblestone path running through it. There they took a short break, filling up on what berries and fruits were growing nearby. Whilst they ate, the wall-eyed pegasus that Abner had run into back in Canterlot visited them, dropping off a rather sturdy package about as big as his torso. After seeing the pegasus fly off and handing her a few apricots and peaches, Abner opened the package and saw a sheet of paper attached to a rough burgundy colored leather harness hoof made from some very durable material. The letter itself was from Rarity, saying that the harness was something that she had quite some trouble creating at first considering materials. Having a keen eye like hers, she was able to accurately guess the measurements that she need to take to make the harness. She stated that the sword that Abner wielded was much too large to swing around a lot of the time, so she crafted a squared hook that could hold another, shorter sword like a gladius or khanda. She had some trouble conversing with the mail mare before having the package delivered, but she knew that she would do her job appropriately so. Abner spent the next few minutes trying to get the harness on, embarrassingly so. Fumbling his legs and the separate ends and straps to tighten and loosen lightly smacked him in the face. Despite using magic to finally achieve the equipping of his new item, it was still a small struggle to get it right. Seeing another piece of paper attached to the bottom of the box, which was covered by the harness, was another letter from Rarity. On it read a rather discerning message, a short few sentences expressing her worries about the sudden illusional mindset of Celestia and the twisted distorted magic of the field. She was scared, as was the rest of her friends. Twilight had constructed a barrier of her within her library, protecting hundreds of other ponies. They knew however, that the barrier wouldn't last forever, the barrier needed constant boosts of magic from unicorns. She felt that the fight would be lost if the situation continued. “We know the Elements of Harmony are safe for the most part, the bothersome part is how long that barrier of Twilight's is going to last.” Whisk said with a disheartened voice. “I suppose the faster we get to the Guardian’s Lair, the less time they have to worry. I suppose we can write up a letter back to them when we get to Clackerton.” After setting forth down the long cobblestone road the twisted and winded its way through the ever thinning wood. Upon meeting with entryway, They were welcome by the towns guards who stood under a arch made of smoothed granite stone that was tinged in a deep blue color. The crowded town bustled even more than Canterlot, a good majority of the houses and shops being at least two stories high snugged up against each other with barely any room between, alleyways were few and far between. The streets were all cobblestone with small patches of grass bursting up through the cracks and the sides were adorned with poles with unlit torches that were encased with hinged panes of glass. The sound of metal clanging together and the grinding of gears could be heard from the clocktower which stood in the circular intersection that appeared to mark the towns foundation. The smell in the air consisted of an odd mixture of spices, sweets akin to donuts being cooked, and cleaned steel. The crowded houses, shops, and taverns were unlike the ones in Canterlot. Arched windows and doorways were incredibly common with each passing of a building. Light brown bricks and gray plaster built the walls and the foundations were concrete blocks that probably weighed more than the average filly. Wood still made up for structural integrity where it was needed, but the color of the wood ranged from dark reds to lighter browns and often matched up with whatever color the building was painted. Many of the buildings had lamps that hung over the doorways from decorative wrought iron that twisted as in flowed in a circular patterns. Quite a lot of the citizens of Clackerton all seem to wear fancy clothing, dresses and suits, monocles and top-hats. Lower income citizens it seemed, wore more rugged clothing that was more everyday wear and could stand up to the elements of nature to a certain degree. A few older ponies slowly move down the sidewalks with walkers or canes. One side of the sidewalk sat a small trading shop that specialized in kitchenware, another one next to it sold harnesses of various types and yokes made to pull wagons. “Home sweet home.” Whisk thought aloud. “Still has that smell of scented steam and sound of gears slowly grinding together somewhere. A lots changed compared to when I left, I wonder how my parents are doing.” “So how is it that you came to know the wielder of the Elements, Whisk.” Marina asked politely as they walked down the wide straight roads that were also cold and muddy. Whisk raised a brow, “If I recall correctly, Pinkie was the first to visit, caught wind of how good the deserts were and dropped by. Rarity second, she stopped by looking for a place to eat after visiting a client in Canterlot. Twilight came by a few times for our breakfast meals, she enjoyed looking at the sunset from the porch.” The group turned a corner at an intersection that revealed an unusual busy section of the town. Whisk naturally raised his voice, “I remember Rainbow Dash's first visit, being dragged in by Pinkie Pie, telling her of the great food and customer service. I took a liking to Rainbow at first I'll admit, but I was never really one for relationships.” He sighed as if remembered something that broke his heart. “Now Fluttershy, she was a rather peculiar one. Always quiet, always one that didn't want to heart anyone's feelings. Extremely friendly with animals, if they're not scary. Apple Jack and I have met often, I get my cider from her apple orchard.” Walking around the large circular crowd that yelling over one another, screaming at the top of their lungs prices for some rare items that were being displayed on the stage in front of what appeared to be the mayors home. Several guards stood on all sides of the stage to keep them from approaching the stage and stealing away whatever is displayed. A single colt dressed in a blue and white pinstriped shirt repeated the higher bids that his potential customers offered. “Are they always this noisy?” Lark asked, using magic to deafen the sound that assailed her ears. “Only on auction days which are once a weekend. They're not the most organized events, but surprisingly there haven't been any riots over what matters occur. It's a bit crazy.” Whisk answered in an almost delightful tone. As they progressed through the town, they came upon a towering structure at the end of a road. Cylindrical in shape, much like the ones placed at the corners of a castle's walls. A single guard stood in front of the door way, wearing silver armor that shined like the sun and reflected the environment around it. Chain-mail was worn beneath the shining breastplate, the small intricate chains looped together flawlessly but were less appealing in their sheen. The colt had a build much like Charger's, the athletic type built for long distance endurance. His brown color palette was simple enough, almost all of the hue of mound of wet dirt. “Halt!” The guard said in a rather strong and demanding voice, slowly approaching them. “I cannot allow any ponies past this point under the order of the noble family and the mayor. What business do you have here?” “I'm just here to visit an old friend. Tell me guard, what is the meaning of the word egg?” Whisk smirked. The guard muttered the question under his own breath, “What kind of question- wait a minute, there's only two ponies that ever ask that question, and by the looks of things you must be Whisk. Seems you've brought a family along with you.” “You could say that, but these are just friends of mine. Dirty Dirt wasn't it?” “That's right. After all the mares you've met, you still haven't chosen one to be with you forever. Last I heard you were in the Equestrian Legion, parading around with a squad under Celestia's direct orders” “Well, you know me, Dirt, I'm always busy with something. I still am, right now I'm on a bit of a leave as you might say.” Whisk answered slyly. “Ah, well, go on through, can't be caught slacking. You know how it is.” Dirt stood aside after opening the door. After getting a good distance from the entry, arrived at a large home, almost like a mansion. It stood three floors tall and just as wide. The house was everything a rich pony could ask for, a roof made from ceramic shingles, large windows crafted from the finest panes of glass where not even a single bubble found its way, and the walls were built from gold colored bricks and the dark wood of the crossbeams were pulled apart from the finest cherry trees. Large ornate gardens surrounded the house in a square fashion, but stood a good distance away from the walls of the house and some plants stretched out to the tallest parts of the rod iron fencing. The walkway had a deep blue and purple streaked slate stone that was glazed and polished to a very fine finished. “So, this is where you and Charger lived, never would've thought he'd be this rich.” Marina remarked. “Also, what kind of name is Dirty Dirt?” “Well, I used to live here, my parents and I moved into the town after the dispute we had. I figure could take refuge here though, as they still welcome me with open arms. The last letter I got from my parents said that they moved back in here, but as residents and not butlers.” Whisk stated. “May I ask what the dispute was about?” said Marina. Whisk sighed, “Honestly, I don't remember it all to clearly. I think it was some remark I made towards his sister. What the comment was, I have no idea. His parents threw a fit and my family suffered the consequences. Guess they finally forgave me.” “That somewhat reasonable I guess but they didn't need to boot you out.” Marina said as the group approached the door. Whisk pressed the doorbell which triggered a series of chimes from bells inside the walls. A light tone that changed its pitch in a manner that suited a calm garden on a sunny day. Hearing the hoof clatter from inside, Whisk backed away from the door. A black suited white colt slowly swung the door open. “Ah, so we have guests. May I ask what the occasion might be? As the master's butler, I am aware of any meetings that he may have. Today, I am quite sure that he has none. Again I must ask, what brings you fine folks here this afternoon?” “Aw, you don't recognize your favorite cook?” Whisk remarked, trying to ring a few bells in the butler's head. “Favorite cook. I do believe I had one, but the name, I can't seem to recall.” He mused the thought for an extremely long time. Whisk changed his look to a troubled stare, “Jeeves, it's me, Whisk. Charger's best friend, Son of your master's best servant. I've dropped by for a visit.” “Ah, yes of course, how could have I forgotten such a reputable member of the house hold. You two were always such rascals. Come on in, I'll see to the empty rooms that we have and call down your parents, don't forget to wipe your hooves. I'll ask the chef to make something for you, and your friends here.” He gave Abner a strange look, raising a brow and almost whispering, said to Whisk, “Did you tame this wolf, the creature seems most unusual.” “Don't worry about him Jeeves, he'll be fine. He was raised in a family much like ours. We've taken a liking to each other is suppose, and honestly, I can't really leave him alone.” Whisk answered. “Very well then. I'll shall take my leave here and your parents will arrive shortly thereafter, please try not to break anything.” Jeeves said as he pulled the door open further, allowing the five to come inside and take in the seemingly rich air in the household. “So what is it like living in a place like this?” Tiva asked shyly. Whisk looked down at her and gently smiled, “Well, Tiva. Running around in such a large place like this is fun, but there are many rules that the richer like to apply to their homes. For one, no running. Two, always wipe you hooves off before entering the house. The third rule that I always seemed to have trouble with is to dress appropriately, dressing in a suit all the time was a blasted hassle to me.” He paused for a moment, as if to take the atmosphere once again after all of his years away from his first home. “The food's nice though, so I can't complain about that.” Marina let out an audible sigh directed at Whisk, “Is food all you ever think about, Whisk?” “Always is, always will be. You should know that by now, Marina.” The foyer was large, two staircases lined either side, leading do a walkway for the second floor that passed over the short hallway through to the dining room. Red rugs with gold trim ran in every direction the halls and stairs went, creating a road of its own and the tiles were of a white marble that was clouded with spots of gray. Small plants lined the sill of every large window to be found, some were vine-like and climber up the decorative trim on their sides. Candles were placed on simple bars of steel mounted to walls of white slate striped on the lower third with its darker cousin of dark blue slate. Every now and then, there was a patch of geodes that broke up the monotonous of light and dark. The geodes were colorful, pinks and oranges purples, and azure blues, whites and silver. Several pillars of bronze stood tall and unyielding to the weight of the ceiling, which had its own unique structure of white slate crafted in circular patterns bordered by the same dark blue slate the lined the walls beneath it. Needless to say, the environment was breathtaking and Charger's parents sure had some high end tastes in design. Abner's ears perked up to the sound of several sets of clattering hooves trotting down from the hallway on the second floor. Whisk quickly took notice and looked in the same direction and just as quickly as he did look, a small filly like pony hugged him in a flash, followed by two more ponies that were old in their age. Whisk, unable to bear the sudden shifting weight fell over with a look of delight across his face. Once they all had their short laugh and managed to get back on their hooves, Marina covered her mouth with one hoof and snickered before asking, “I didn't know you had a sister, Whisk.” Whisk threw her and odd stare knowing that she had misunderstood the standing between him and the mare who so eagerly assailed him. “She's not, she's Charger's older sister and she's still short as ever.” He said while roughing up her hair. Marina didn't say anything back, it was odd and unusual to see a mare her age as short as her. “It's been a long time, Whisk.” The older colt said, with a smile of deep joy. “That it has dad. Mom you appear to be holding up well, and Rosamond, you still look great as usual.” Whisk sounded as if he had longed for this reunion for a very long time, he never imagined the day when he would finally come back home and visit his family again. Rosamond noticeably blushed and smiled, “You look good too, Whisk.” “Aw, Whisk, I never took you for one to be such a love bird.”Marina chimed in, poking fun at the little reunion between the two, who seemed much like lovers. Lark giggled quietly to herself and Tiva, as young as she was, seemed confused, unable to comprehend the situation. Whisk stuttered for a moment, “Marina, what makes you think that, honestly?” “Oh nothing, just thought you could introduce us to your parents and vice versa.” Marina replied. “Right, right. This mare here is Rosamond, Charger's sister as you're already aware, I honestly can't remember what your occupation is. My father, Wooden Spoon is a retired chef and servant and my mother, Cast Iron Pan is much the same in her work.” He turned around to face his traveling companions and pointed to each as he listed them off from left to right. “Tiva, the little filly wanted to travel with us, for adventure, to explore. Marina here is a coworker so to speak, a member of the squad I'm in for Celestia's Legion. Lark, now she'll sing a pretty song, whether to heal your heart or to perchance bring some better luck. Now the wolf, Abner, intelligent as he is, is rather mute, but his actions speak for him. Please, do feel free to chat to one another when you can.” “Interesting bunch you have here, son.” Wooden said, stroking at his beard. “I've heard of intelligent wolves before, never thought I'd see one in person. It's unusual to spot one outside of its tribe, and alone for that matter but I wonder, what's with the horn and the sword? “There's a reason for that, I assure you, father. I can tell you the tale of my little adventures once dinner comes around. We could use a little rest, we've been walking almost non-stop the past few days.” Whisk answered. “Of course son, stay as long as you like. The journey here from Canterlot must be quite tiring. Jeeves should be coming back soon with rooms for you to use.” Cast delightfully spoke, incredibly happy that her son had finally returned after being away for years on end, their only form of communication had been letters sent to and fro that had at least a days worth of time between. At that moment, practically on cue, Jeeves came back and spoke proudly. “Sirs and mistresses, your rooms are ready, follow me.” They followed Jeeves down the hall up on the second floor, the walls and floors were relatively the same as the foyer, keeping a sort of monotonous feel to the house. “Must have cost a pretty bits to build this place.” Marina commented, shifting her eyes from one wall to the other with its immense ceiling height that could had to been four times as tall as Wrecker. “The cost of this household was a great many pretty bits indeed, madam.” Jeeves replied before stopping at a room and opening the door, a door which was dull dark red in color and double wide, the top portion converging to a wide arching point. “This room is for the three young misses, do make yourselves at home. However, try not to wreck the beds.” Lark, Marina, and Tiva slowly wandered inside and took refuge, quickly relaxing their sore hooves and muscles. Jeeves closed the door and continued further down the hall, with Abner and Whisk following close behind.”So, Whisk, you appeared to have matured greatly since the last time we saw you. May I be right to guess that someone you know has passed away?” “How, did-?” Whisk stumbled for the proper words for a moment and sighed deeply. “You've always been able to see right through me, no point in hiding it I guess. Prudence passed away due to her hereditary disease.” Whisk appeared to be content with knowing about Prudence's death, but it seemed that he didn't feel good about the lies he had to tell. The entire events behind the incident wasn't very widespread in terms of information. Only the soldiers and the civilians that were there had knowledge of the dragon's attack. Stopping at another door, two rooms down from the the mare's that parted with them just a few moments earlier. “I see. That is rather unfortunate Master Whisk. You always spoke of her in your letters, when she did stop by your tavern. By the way, how is that endeavor going?” he asked as he opened up the door. “It's going well. Although, I handed it over to another capable fellow that could run it just as well, one of my first employees. You can already tell that I won't be staying long, can't you?” “Of course, Master Whisk. May I ask where to?” Jeeves politely inquired. “Further west, into the Frosty Desert. I have a favor to ask of you though, would an old friend of mine happen to living in town, you should who. He's a bit of an alcoholic, likes to play with gizmos and gadgets, invents odd stuff all the time.” “I'll send word out to the guards, see if they spot him and give you word if he shows up.” Jeeves happily accepted the request. “Thanks, Jeeves, I owe you one.” Whisk thanked him, shaking his hoof as he followed Abner inside the room. Jeeves closed the door behind them. Then silence filled the air until Whisk let out a short coy laugh before saying in a low voice, “Pretty damn sure I owe him a lot more than that.” Abner sat on the large window sill that acting much like a couch, staring down into the garden, watching several caretakers tend to the delicate flowers that bloomed brightly in the mid-summer and they appeared sprout from the thick roots of a massive oak tree towering from the center of the garden. The ones that they tended to reminded Abner of similar ones that his mother and younger sister, Nitza took special care of. The flowers were much like orange tiger lilys, only they were turquoise in color with pink spots said to glow brightly during nights of a lunar eclipse. His mother told him a tale of the flowers, how the mythical Olwen eternally slept under a great oak tree during the night of a full lunar eclipse the brought the brightest night upon the land and the clearest sky without a single star. Olwen awoke from her slumber and seeing that there were no stars in the night sky, she cried over the roots of the oak tree and from those roots, the Flowers of Olwen bloomed to replace the stars. At least, that was how the myth went. His mother never told him what kind of animal Olwen was, he remembered that his brother had asked at one point. To which she replied that the figures of myth are often represented in many different ways, as a great many of them were known to shape shift to more easily fit into their surroundings, if it was at all required. Some time passed before the two of them were called for dinner. Whisk had taken the fine clothes of a typical black suit and neatly tightened the sleeves and the stomach band, snugging the black tie up to his neck and tucking it in behind the buttons the held the coat to his chest. Once he had finished preparing himself for the family dinner and stretched out to make sure the buttons wouldn't snap, him and Abner began making their way down the hall. He asked Jeeves if the mares had already made their way to the dining hall, he was answered by a quick yes in his verbose manner. Upon entering the hall, they were welcomed by all the maids and butlers of the house, a good handful of stallions and mares all varying in species and color of mane and coat and that stood along the outer wall. A grand table awaited them, with platters of all sorts of meals that one normally wouldn't think of to eat, the chefs here were quite creative with the food that they had. Cooking and preparing things ranging from the pasta that Whisk often made at his tavern to large healthy leaves of burdock plants which were notoriously irritating because of the burrs that got caught up in their tails and manes when the plants were fully grown. Large silver coated wooden bowls filled to the brim of various fruits and vegetables dotted the centerline of the table, containing well beloved apples and the hourglass shape of pears. Another bowl contained cobs of corn and another had the dangling vines of green and purple grapes barely overflowing the edges. Large barrels sat against the back wall, full of cider, ale, a concoction of burdock roots and dandelions created an odd bitter flavor mixed up a strong tasting apple juice. Much like the foyer, the dining hall stood the same with the same types of walls of stone slabs and pillars, only accented by the gratuitous amounts of dark red cherry wood that made the floor and lined the walls where they met. The table was made of much the same wood, albeit a light polish but hard to notice from its being covered with a massive graphite gray tablecloth adorned with golden accents stitched in patterns of large diamonds the reached every edge of every draping fold. Oddly enough, the table ran short of the total length of the hall, as it doubled for holding a small stage at the other end with no use of curtains or a backstage for performers to precariously prep themselves beforehand. Like the floor, the stage was also made of wood, a dull white stained randomly from the trunks of mountain ash. The stage sat between two door ways on the other side, leading into another hall that the chefs and servants could use to deliver what food they had if it was at all necessary. On the stage sat a single stand made for an old-fashioned ribbon microphone and a set of old vintage styled speakers, brown and decorative gold flaked trimmed lining the edges. It appeared to be set up recently, as dust had not settled upon it, compared to the bars that held up the candles. That, or it had been cleaned up a bit. Whisk looked at the table and its many attendants of ponies he did not know and couldn't help but notice something felt a tad out of place, “Where are Charger's parents?”. His father spoke up, almost hesitant, “I suppose you could say that they moved elsewhere, their daughter staying here to tend to the house. With her knowing next to nothing about tending to it, she hired your mother and I to help out in that matter.” “Suppose? I guess I can talk to you about it later, betting it's something that you'd rather discuss in private.” Whisk responded, pulling out a chair near to his father who sat at its end and next to Rosamond. “By the way, I don't see Lark either, or Tiva and Marina.” “That it is, son.” Wooden answered and answered his other question, “Your friend, Lark, will be performing for us. We politely asked her to, after I recalled that I had attended one of her small concerts here in town, the other two are probably getting ready still.” He turned to Jeeves, “Do check on them would you, Jeeves. Wouldn't want our guests to miss dinner.” “Will do, Master.” Jeeves bowed his head and walked back towards the room that they had recently occupied. Waiting for the two to show up, Abner sat by Whisk's chair much like a loyal dog to its master. Small amounts of chatter arose from the other guests who seemed, Abner listened in to a few conversations. They weren't really of much relevance of the current situation as the ones he listened to simply whispered to one another about either his appearance, Whisk, or something in their personal lives. The sound of several sets of hooves lowly echoed and stopped at the top of the stairs. Everyone looked towards the stairs as Jeeves called out to Wooden, “Master Spoon, your guests.” Marina sported a simple jade colored dress with elegant white frilled edges and two thin stripe coursed its way in a water-like fashion down the seams. Her mane was knotted up in a bun to keep from catching the small ties that held the dress to her torso. She stunned all of the onlookers, except Whisk, who appeared to have seen her dressed like this before. Lark wore a dull white dress that was just as elegant as the songs she sang, beautiful and heartwarming. The length of the dress did well to keep her hindquarters covered. She kept her mane loose and flowing but pulled entirely to one side. A simple black band she wore kept her hair back and out of her eyes, attached to the band was a flower brought in from the gardens and faintly shimmered in the the candlelight. The reaction from the other patrons was much the same as before but Abner could feel a slight hint of jealousy from Rosamond. Tiva shyly pulled out from behind the two of them as they began to descend the stairs. She had on a burgundy shaded dress that shone greatly in the sunlight that was beginning the early stages of sunset. Its collar and rim were enforced with a bright white stripe. As they took their seats at the table, the conversations between the other residents seemed to sing the same tune. Mostly pertaining to the new guests that wore magnificent dresses as if they were crafted by a professional whose skill could be wildly unrivaled. Jeeves quieted them down before Whisk's father began to introduce their new guests. “Residents of the Palatial Manor,” He began, “I introduce you two my son, Whisk and his friends that accompany him. Some of you may recognize Lark, she is a singer well known for her songs that reminisce the birds of paradise. His loyal wolf companion is Abner, Tiva is the young filly here, and Marina is the one you all seemed to gape your jaws at. Treat them well and let us toast to their well being, much like we have done before with those who sought a living here.” They all raised their glasses high, glasses made for champagne filled with the cider from the aforementioned barrel. As the food was passed around the table, it was cut to the recipients liking. Some of the residents took to more healthy amounts, a few others wanted to gorge themselves, Whisk took a fair amount of every one of the dishes, portioning it evenly among the plates that had been neatly stacked before them. Tiva remained silent and shy, thankfully Lark helped her out in choosing what food she took a liking to. Something that she had experience with from when she babysat Abner. The two of them took to the salads and fruits, the way their plates were set were nearly identical. Marina, took to some of the vegetation that the seas provided and mixed it together with some of the cubed fruits that had been simmered with a honey glaze. She had an exotic taste to say the least. Whisk took an extra plate and sorted out a few items that Abner could eat and had Jeeves place it in a dog food bowl that had long been unused by the house. Abner greatly enjoyed it, even after hesitantly taking the first few bites as his diet wasn't quite used to what the ponies preferred in their everyday lives. As dinner wound down and the sun's setting grew closer, Jeeves and a few other servants went to close up the large brown curtains to cover up the large windows that peaked to a small rose window made of multicolored stained glass. Then they set up several torches that sat precariously beside the stage, careful not to set it aflame. Humbly, Jeeves asked Lark to take the stage and sing a song of her choosing. The conversations died down, the silence rose and thickened the air much like fog on spring morning, only the quiet breathing of the audience could be heard before the air was softly cracked by Lark's voice into the microphone. She, as usual, sang a song in a different language, one that Abner could surprisingly understand thanks to the magic the Prudence had bestowed upon him what seemed like such a long time ago. The words she herald brought forth an air of ambiance and a sound sweet backed by the bitterness of the words. The patrons all felt the same despite what knowledge they could have about the language. Throughout the coursing melodies of the song, the entranced audience had mixed reactions of sadness and happiness, heartwarming and heartbroken. Abner had heard this song before, when he was younger. He remembered a moment in time where Lark had helped put him to sleep in the small bushel of hay that was conformed to a doughnut like shape, with a blanket softly draped across its surface. Lark had sang the song quietly at that time and it urged feelings of sleepiness, but now that his senses were more keen than before, the song gave him chills. As the suns rays slowly faded away from the backside of the curtains, the small show ended with the last notes of Lark's beautiful and seemingly tragic song of the heart, one broken and then content upon returning home one last time. Awfully fitting to Abner and perhaps, Whisk. A multitude of scenarios could be played to the song, all reveling in the same message. When the echoes finally left their ears, the other residents clapped in a slow manner. As Lark descended from the stage, she was thanked and complimented on her talents. Making her way through the crowd until she returned to her seat beside Abner. After dinner and the small impromptu concert was over, the residents of the house made their way back to their own rooms. Whisk stayed behind and talked to his father about Charger's parents. It was apparent that something tragic had happened to them while they were away after Whisk returned to his room. His head hung low, he was saddened, but not entirely downtrodden by the news. Hanging up the suit he wore in the closet and folding the shirts atop of a footlocker at the foot of the bed, he lied down on its soft, quilted surface, gazing out the window. “You know, Abner,” he began, “Its astounding how many things can happen over the course of a few years. Astonishing, even. This past decade, I've been through a lot, seen a lot of things others could only dream of. Even if being in touch with your family can update you on things back home, its not surprising that you'll miss something.” To Abner, it was evident by the way he spoke, that Charger's parents had passed away. “Rosamond had informed me that her parents had moved on, but I guess she was afraid to tell me what really happened. Afraid I would wallow in grief and drown myself in alcohol.” He raised a hoof to his eye, wiping away a single tear, “Heh, I wonder how long its been since I've cried, I honestly can't remember.” Whisk slowly fell to slumber as he reminisced his memories of Charger's parents. Abner couldn't fully understand his feelings, his time being parted from his own family was filled with confusion and uncertainty, even now he wasn't sure how they fared back in Ponyville. He hoped that the field which had been erected at Canterlot, hasn't reached that far. Abner himself fell into a deep sleep, snugging up against Whisk to keep warm. His dream lead him again into a thick oddly colored fog. Prudence sat in the middle of the room, so to speak, where the fog was dispersed. Drystan's looming shadow brought forth an unending feeling of fright. “It's a shame.” Prudence's voice echoed again inside of Abner's head. Looking out the window, a storm began to rear its ugly head. “Charger's parents were good friends with my mother.” “And I could care less.” Drystan sarcastically chimed in. “How much longer do you two intend on hanging out with these clowns?” “We need their help. Abner may be capable of making it there on his own, but he doesn't have the experience of traveling on his own, he would be overwhelmed by the wilds, or winding up lost.” She answered the question without much thought before snapping to the realization that Drystan had been stealing away to Abner's shadow. “How can you even hear my voice?” “Not hard when I can easily tap into Abner's consciousness. The Blight helps so much in that matter. Your seals are easy for me to crack, Prudence. As impatient as I am, I am curious as to why you just don't guide Abner to the temple. You're entirely capable of controlling him from what I can tell.” “Quiet!” Prudence was getting understandably irritated by Drystan's assessment. “You should know full well I can't, not in this state. I remember reading the tale about you now that I recall, your being a shapeshifter allowed you to thieve away many artifacts that others simply could not.” Prudence revealed. He laughed, delighted that someone had actually studied the ancient tale. “Of course. Tell me Prudence, you silly little filly, do you remember what the animal was that you brought into your house that fateful day you fell ill?” Abner could feel Drystan smirk in his shadow. Prudence was confused, she answered carefully, “It was a rabbit. What does that have to do with this.” Abner felt Drystan's smirk creepily turned to a twisted smile, “Guess who that was.” Suddenly, the feel of blood red rage coursed through Abner's veins and the burn of magic ran through his nerves. “That was you, you're the cause of my life being this way!?” Prudence's voice roared inside his head as Drystan began to laugh maniacally. Abner quickly willed his fairly new magic against Prudence's control, canceling it out to prevent her from doing something reckless. “Abner what are you doing? Stop that.” He growled in a way that told her to calm down. Anything to do with her tragic past seemed to upset her and would stop at nothing to know how they knew or what their reasoning was. “It seems even your pet knows how to control your magic well enough to cancel it out. Still naive.” Drystan said, happy that he succeeded in angering Prudence. “You need me, Prudence. I have the keys and you know it, eliminate me and you can say goodbye to saving the whole of the world.” Feeling her magic die down, Abner released his concentration, leaving himself exhausted not realizing how strong she still was. Perhaps it would be good to ask her not to control his gifted magic. “You bastard. I won't forgive you.” “Typical.” Drystan muttered, rolling his eyes. Abner stomped his foot, signaling them to stop their bickering. He wondered for a moment if the dragon's consciousness could be brought back enough to keep them in check. Then again, maybe four voices in his head, counting his own, would be too much. Abner awoke the next morning, alone, to the sound of rain softly pattering against the window pane. Relieving a large yawn as he stretched in various ways, he felt the blanket of the bed shift and slowly fall off his back. Whisk must have covered him up before he left. Shaking away the thoughts of the dream, he drew his magic to wrap the harness around him yet again and place the sword wrapped in its torn cloth, in the buckle and closed tip of the openly designed sheath. Yawning again and shaking out his feet one at a time, he made his way to the door and opened it. He was passed by two young foals chasing each other down the hall, playing a game of tag. Abner smiled softly, remembering when he did something similar with Kafziel. Before he reached the stairs in the foyer, he was confronted by Rosamond, she patted him on the head and asked him a rather simple question, somewhat rhetorical. “I wonder how Whisk came about in finding you. You seem so adorable, comforting, but yet so distant.” Just as quickly as she asked, she trotted away wearing her everyday dress. Attire that still made her appear as if she were going to a ball. Abner shrugged off the compliment but the statement of being distant muddled his thoughts. Smelling again the fruits of the night before, he made his way to the dining hall. Its curtains thrown open and anchored, revealing the mighty rain of the sky and the grand oak tree shimmering in its wake. Looking around, he saw that Whisk was not attending the breakfast, but the time appeared well overdue. Glancing at the wooden and ornate grandfather clock, it was half to noon, he recalled the dream and humorously thought that it all occurred in a comprehensible slow motion. Grabbing what food he recognized and enjoyed from the night before and beginning his calm breakfast. As he did so, he observed the other residents of the manor, all of them had their own personalities that few of which and ironically fit together like a piece of a puzzle despite their obvious differences. It was heart warming that they could get along. He realized then that this was similar to how his father felt when he told him of his visits to Ponyville. After eating, Abner left the table uninterrupted and made his way toward the front door, the grand entrance. He spotted Whisk chatting with Jeeves with hardly anyone else around. “...so he moved back in his old home huh, filled to the brim with his usual gizmos and whatnot, remind me again whereabouts that is.” “It's about two whole shops down from the Drunken Clover, make a left into the alley and his place of residence should be at the end of the road there. I must also pass on that that area has been particularly run down, trashed, so watch for thieves. I suggest you take Marina and Abner with you, Rosamond isn't suited to the task, and the way she dresses will simply attract too much attention, you should understand.” Jeeves explained. “Of course, Jeeves. Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.” Whisk replied. “I am but your humble servant, Master Whisk. In spite of my old age and my ever weakening legs, I can still get around fairly well you know.” Jeeves kindheartedly chimed. Whisk smiled, clearly remembering the favors that he had asked years ago. “Right, I'll be gathering a few things and on my way out. I honestly don't know how long it's going to take.” “Very well, I'll let your mother and father know that you'll be out for the day, do send word on your way back.” Jeeves commented before making his leave and headed towards the staircase. Whisk glanced out the window, thinking for a moment before heading toward the residential halls to fetch Marina. He passed by Abner without much of a glance, although he subtlety acknowledge his presence. As Abner waited, listening to the rain and thinking about this friend of Whisk's who was a gear head of sorts, he wondered what kind of strange machinery his friend had come up with. A few moments later, Whisk came back down the stairs with Marina, instructing her on where they were heading and why. That was something Abner had thought about for a brief moment. Making their way outside, Marina covered them with a thin barrier to shield from the rain. The streets were almost completely empty. One shop keeper was visible through the window, bored out of his mind. The open air stores were closed up, saved for a few that braved the weather. A few townsfolk that they passed by recognized Whisk and quickly exchanged friendly hellos before going their separate ways. Finally, the three of them found their way into a narrow alley after passing by several houses that had their windows boarded up and seeing a few rascals scurrying through the street as if they had stolen something. “Looks like we're at our destination, well, almost. We have to reach the end of this alley to get to my friend. We'll make proper introductions once we get out of this rain. Just as a forewarning though, his way of speaking is very unusual.” The slosh of water under their hooves created a unique clapping sound against the cobblestone road. As they approached the end of the alley way, they saw a small house that was in a sturdy condition, but had numerous amounts of apparently useless scraps of metal littered in front of the entrance. Whisk maneuvered through the junk and knocked on the door as loudly as he could as the sound of grinding metal ate away at their ears. The noise came to a halt as Whisk knocked again. A voice yelled from the other side, in some sort of drunken stupor. “Yeah, yeah, hold your horses you forsaken little...” his voice trailed off. Flinging open the after violently loosening it from a jam, an extremely disgruntled voice answered them, “What in the bloody shite do you squandering mongrels want? Wait a sec.” Her carefully eyed over Whisk. “Whisk! For fucks sake where have you been you damned bastard? Come inside, I assume these two with you are you rightful companions of sorts. Get you out of this forsaken rain, I think that damned wife of mine is angry again. Too much time in the workshop she says, then I just tell her she spends too much time in her blazing flower garden.” He trailed off again as he held the door open for the three of them. “Excuse the mess, I can't help it really.” The unicorn wore a set of glasses that had several layers of magnifying lenses attached to the gold colored frame. The main set was a square shape, but the lenses he used to magnify his sight were round. “I see you're still up to your old shenanigans as usual.” Whisk commented as he glanced around the room. The group were welcomed by the sight of a dozen different models of prototype designs that were created with the concept of flight in mind. Airships like zeppelins, some sort of straight winged craft labeled a plane, and hot air balloons hung from either chains or strong ropes attached to the ceiling. Each craft was constructed from some odd mix of metal plates that appeared to be reforged and recoated in a different finish. The floor on the other hand was littered with more models, half finished or just random parts indescribable consisting of similar materials. The unicorn scoffed, “When am I not? You've come in a nick of time too. You lucky folks can test out one of my new inventions.” “Oh boy, what is this time?” Whisk sounded displeased as the unicorn led them down an endless spiraling flight of stairs. “A robot, time machine, an automatic slingshot, or somesort of new flying device you regularly devise.” “You're actually quite close with that last guess you ass.” the unicorn laughed off the half insulting phrase as he triggered a series of torches to light up the room. The group arrived into a room consisting of more complete conceptual designs, still having a matching number of random heaps of metals, gears, and other doohickeys scattered about. The path around the room however, was still clearly definable amongst the rubbish. What they saw in the center of it all was a large canoe shaped basket meant to be attached to a gas bladder allowing for flight. There were several masts branching of the sides, allowing for sails to change direction. The basket was raised above the floor, creating enough height to work on a set of rudders oddly vibrant colored red and green rods. The size of the craft itself was larger than the house above, which was in itself, just about as large as the tavern that Whisk used to own back in Canterlot. It appeared that it also had two floors to it, allowing for bunking and storage on one level, and another for maintenance. “I've been working on this bad boy for about three years now. Getting the majority of the parts for this thing has been a huge pain in the ass. I've had to construct and replicate a good majority of moving parts for the engine myself out of the metal you see laying around. Major pain in the ass. I'm just about done with the fucker too, all I need is a canopy of sorts for trapping the gas, maybe a few funds even.” “Could you slow down for one second, Gear? I would've like to properly introduce you to my new friends here before you dragged us down here.” Whisk interrupted. “Of course. Where are my bloody fucking manners, I am Flight Gear, aerospace engineer extraordinaire.” He said proudly after shifting around the tool-belt wrapped around him. “Now who are these friends of yours, Whisk?” “The wolf is Abner and the mare's name is Marina.” Whisk answered him. “Sound like some mighty nice names. I suppose I should ask what brings you around these parts.” Flight Gear asked, pulling parts from the piles of scrap and melding them into gaps into the bow of the ship, covering small holes. The scrap was coincidentally the same color as his coat, a warm bronze. His coat however, had white spots, something unlike most others they've seen. “Well, I was wondering if you could lend us an airship built for at least five, six counting a pilot.” Whisk stated. “We need to get to Abner's home town and visit a temple near there.” Flight's face went bright as smiled widely. “Of course, you damn well bloody know that I can build something like that within a week. Heck, I'll pilot this baby for its maiden voyage once its done and your group can be its first passengers.” His dark blue mane and its lighter blue tinges along with the thin silver streaks of his greasy mane appeared to dance as he quickly shifted back and forth pulling out nuts and bolts, washers and screws to assemble a small scale model of something. “Although, I must ask, what purpose do you even need my help?” He inquired. Whisk hesitated, “Well, I've done something not exactly advisable nor is it very smart, but it is crazy, the kind of scenario you've always liked.” Intrigued and raising a brow Gear asked, “Interesting, you piss off Celestia or did you get yourself wrapped up with a mafia of some sort?” “The first guess is for the most part, right. I didn't exactly tick her off, rather, she's gone a bit off the deep end. There's this disease that's been spreading in Canterlot, caused by a dragon that was affected by it. It's called Blight, it eats up the magic veins of unicorns and spreads by the use of magic. It'll continue to fester and eat away at the organs as well. I wrote to you about this once or twice if you can recall.” Whisk answered. “Anyways onto why we're running, is because they're after the sword that Abner has here. Celestia wants it because she believes it'll protect her, it would, but it wouldn't prevent the wrath of The Guardians from wrecking everything.” “Hot damn that's some serious shit Whisk. I would say I wouldn't believe you, but you've never really had a good enough reason to lie, at least, not to me.” Gear said as he started up the miniature engine model that he had assembled during the conversation. “I'm guessing once you return the sword everything will be fine and dandy. I've flew over that desert before and from here, that would take at least a week by hoof. A few days at most by flight, maybe less with this new engine contraption.” Gear set the model engine down by Whisk, it was silent and was aglow a bright creamy white, the same color as his eyes. He lifted the glasses he wore away from his eyes, and let them rest by the strap around his neck. “Unfortunately the only downside to this is that it has to have unicorn magic to fire it up the first time around and its lifespan is that of a few months. This should get us to where we're are going to fly to, unless I have grossly miscalculated.” Whisk could smell the faint hint of whiskey emanate from Flight Gear. Whisk spoke up, “Right, how long do you think it'll take to get this done? I can offer you the space on Rosamond's property so you're not cramped up in here.” “Rosamond, that's a lovely name I haven't heard in awhile. How is that fine young mare doing anyways?” Gear said. “Ahem.” Whisk derailed his question. “Right, right, I can bother with that later.” He said as the pistons and camshafts of the engine tugged and pulled, rotated and fired. It was quiet and its design was relatively curved in the front and bulky in the rear. A large intake like the nose of an anteater extended forward from the center, to allow for either cooling or for the combustion ratio required to make it run. “I should be able to get this down within two days, that's pushing it. Four days, I'll have everything together on it. I should be able to get it up and running by five.” For a moment he rolled his eyes to think, “For you, I can do it in less than five, three days providing you're willing to pay a little extra. As for the offer in property, that will cut down the price a little for you and as a friend, even a little more.” “Get to the point, Flight.” Whisk impatiently said. “Okay, okay. How does eight hundred bits sound, that's one thousand less than what I would charge for something like this. However, I'm going to have to charge extra if it takes any longer and I will have to bring the rest of what scrap parts I need to finish the job.” Whisk thought for a moment, contemplating whether or not he could drive the price down any further, but convinced himself that it was already a good enough deal as it stood. “Deal, just don't wreck the house or drink up all of the cider. I don't need you constantly drunk while you're working on this. Get everything together and move it over tomorrow.” “Sounds good enough to me, a little strict but I'll manage. By the way, Whisk, there's not something you're telling me is there?” Flight Gear questioned. “There has to be some good reason why you would want to rush this, tell me.” “I didn't think you would ask, but I should have known better.” Whisk turned his head towards Marina, “Marina, grab the map from Abner's satchel.” Unfurling the map from its many folds and presenting it before his Flight Gear, Whisk pointed out the massive red circle resembling the field that Celestia had set up before they fled. “This red circle, it's a field of sorts that Celestia put up between the time we were in Ponyville and its effects are, disturbing to say the least.” “The heck? I assume the Blight disease or whatever the fuck it is is bugging out her judgment and she put that up. However, you mention effects, what kind of effects?” Flight Gear blabbered. “That seems to be the case. Like I said earlier, the Blight feeds off magic. So its using the field as a means to feed off of it. As it stands now, it has expanded halfway through Ponyville, which I hope they're doing something to fend themselves from it. I have no way of contacting anyone from there. The map doesn't have any other barriers or fields marked up, so I can't tell if Twilight has her barrier up still.” Whisk explained, worried about the significant distance the barrier appeared to have gained over night. “I'm guessing that you figured it out by how things felt when you went into Canterlot, right?” Flight Gear quickly inquired. “Correct.” Whisk assured. “I got something you might be able to use.” Flight Gear went to the back of his workshop and rummaged through some half completed projects of sorts. “Not it. No, no, no. Not it! Fucking fuck where did I put that blasted thing?” Then he suddenly snapped in pain. “Fucking shit! I'm fine Whisk, just a scratch. Son of a mother's ass that's gonna leave a mark.” Marina had a rather perplexed look on her face, “As nice as your friend seems to be, he seems a little off. Short tempered. Are you even sure he'll uphold his end of the bargain?” “He will. No matter how much he rambles with his scrambled swearing, he always pulls through. Despite the number of random stuff he has invented, only a few things actually served a major purpose. However, it seems that those inventions are one of a kind and not very easily replicated.” Whisk reassured Marina in his decision. Marina silently accepted his answer. “Got it, the little fucker was hiding in the corner.” Pulling out a set of three circular arcane magic runes attached to the rods of tripods made for cameras, he set them up and as he flipped a switch on each one, they flickered in a purple light. Floating circles of runes created a complex cylindrical shape for one to step inside of. “It's been awhile since I've had to use this, I'll explain.” he took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, carefully collecting his thoughts. “This is a long distance communication device that allows for visual and sound reception and delivery. Think of it as a letter that you leave up to the postal system, but you can reply within the second they respond, allowing for quicker communication.” “That sounds like it would be incredibly useful. Why haven't you made more of these?” Whisk asked, somewhat confused as to why his friend was living large. “I was insanely drunk and can't remember what the fuck I did. No matter how many times I tried to recreate it, it fails. I even drunk to the point where I blacked out and it still didn't fucking work.” Flight Gear answered in flat tone. “Even tried having another magic engineer try to figure it out, says I used shit he couldn't understand. The runes were too difficult for him to decipher, funny because I can read the lot of them fine.” “Then it's something about the order or materials you have to figure out, right?” Whisk implied. “Eh, could be. Tried quite a few combinations before I gave up. Anyways, see if you can talk to Twilight. Whoever the fuck that is.” Flight Gear's voice remained unchanged. “Anyways, I'm not sure how long the connection will last.” “Wait wait wait, Wouldn't you need something on the other end to receive the signal?” Whisk quickly asked. Flight Gear sighed. “As far as I can tell, just as long as the receiving end has some form of magic, it'll work. Like I said, I have no fucking idea how I did it. Step inside the circle and visialize the location and persons you want to communicate with. I'll try to keep the connection stable.” “Alright, then.” Whisk stepped into the circle of fluctuating magics and concentrated on visualizing the library of Canterlot's Academy as he closed his eyes. He could feel a force of energy transpire through his body, as if he were being drowned in water. Feeling his conscious float away and thrusted into the scenery of the library, he regained his vision. The sudden change in environment and feeling of whiplash left him breathless, momentarily. He opened his eyes to a fuzzy scene of the library, the sky above it was darker than it was before he had left, an everlasting assortment of storm clouds. “Twilight?” Whisk called out. “Twilight?” He called out again with no response. “Twilight?” He yelled louder, hoping to get her attention from further away, if she was even there at all. Suddenly he heard an answer just as soon as he was about to ask Flight Gear to cut the communication, “Whisk, is that you?” Twilight appeared before him, weary and dreadful. “How are you even doing that?” “It's a long-distance communication device a friend of mine invited, not entirely stable and he hasn't been able to replicate it either but that's not important right now. How have things been going there despite Celestia's sudden twist of fate so to speak.” Whisk quickly said in rebuttal. “Extremely tiring. The Elements of Harmony are having a hard time holding up after this many days of constant use. Constantly infusing them with more magic to boost the barrier I have put over the library hasn't sufficed. The Elements are using more magic than we can supply, even with all of the other unicorns helping out on a consistent rotation of sorts.” She stopped herself, “How did you know about the field and Celestia's sudden lunacy?” “The signs were all over the place when I returned there with Charger. The only pony that can put up wanted signs without much paperwork, order up useless vaccines, and put up a barrier that feeds off magic would be Celestia. Prudence informed me of quite a few things, not to mention I've done my fair share of research as well.” Whisk was confident in his speaking to her. “How are the other holders of the Elements?” “That explains a lot. They're doing alright. Rarity started getting a bit weird with her magic, but it appears to have settled down. The others are fine and are wildly unaffected by this Blight Field, as I've come to call it.” Twilight paused and quickly prepared a question for Whisk. “How long will it take you to get the Guardian's Temple?” “Minimum, I would give it a week. The weather as you know is unpredictable out there. I'm sure you've read the book on its random blizzards and monsoons. So we won't be able to take my friend's zeppelin.” Whisk remarked. He was aware that the trip could take even longer if there were any more delays, he wished that the trip could be shorter. “That reminds me, there's a mythical creature out there called the Giglioi Whale, named after the pony who reported it. He or she, the report never stated the pony's gender, said that there is a nomadic tribe that follows its path, allowing them to completely avoid any of the storms for days on end. The nomadic tribe says it exists but evidence on the contrary says otherwise. Once you get to the desert, try finding them, they may be able to lead you to the temple.” Twilight exhaled deeply after recalling the information. “I'll keep that in mind. Did you receive the package I sent you?” Whisk inquired. “Yes. I've opened it, but all it is is just scriptures and chicken scratch. I don't know what any of that has to do with this, Whisk.” Twilight pointed out. “They're Prudence's notes on Blight, she wrote them in a different language, some type of Cuneiform. You should be able to find at least one book or pony in your library for translation.” Whisk paused and continued explaining, “A good majority of those notes should be seals to help ward it off. Flight Gear's voice cracked in, “Whisk, I can't hold up this god damned fucking connection much longer, hurry up.” “That voice sounds familiar, who is that?” Twilight asked curiously. “Flight Gear, unfortunately, I have to cut this conversation short. This communication magic is starting to wear him thin.” Whisk replied. “I'll see you again, hopefully.” “Flight Gear, rings a bell, but I''m not sure. Anyways, good luck on your end. See you soon.” Twilight answered back to his ever fading and crackling image. Whisk's conscious thrusted back into his main body, instigating another whiplash and a quick strain in his head. “Jeez that is the weirdest feeling.” He held his eyes closed and placed a hoof to the side of his head until the ringing of pain went away. “That's going to bother me for the rest of the day. I'll discuss with the conversation with you guys after this head ache goes away.” “I'll start moving the stuff over later tonight, I need some time to pack stuff up and carry it over. Might make it a shorter process if you get me some help.” Flight Gear suggested. “I'll see what I can do.” Whisk slightly stumbled around while he regained his balance. Abner perked his ears, hearing another set of footsteps. Whisk took notice despite his disorientation, “What's up, Abner?” Abner stared towards the top of the stairs and sniffed the air, a familiar scent, one of metal and earth. The steps were heavy, each one shaking his heart and each breath sounding like strong gusts of wind. Short squeaks and creaks of armor shifting along a body in motion made Abner's ears twitch to the sound. “A friend of yours supposed to visit Flight Gear?” “Whisk, I barely have any friends. You know how fucking unsociable I am.” Flight Gear snapped. “Right, silly me. Any way to see who or what Abner is alerted for?” Whisk quipped. “On it. I'll recalibrate the messaging system to work like a camera.” Flight Gear quickly got to work and in a matter of seconds it seemed that he got the system to project a feed from a camera that appeared to record live footage. Each of the mirrors placed on the rods projected a light toward the wall. The imagery fizzled into a recognizable square shape like a silver screen and revealed a black and white high contrast image of a rather large character in a full suit of armor making his way down the stairs. “Friend of yours, Whisk?” “Indeed so. Looks like Wrecker., a sight for sore eyes. Curious how he found his way here though.” Whisk answered, then squinting his eyes. “Can you zoom in a bit, he doesn't seem to be in the best shape.” Whisk stated as Flight Gear adjusted the equipment further. “He's injured, I've never seen that guy injured. This is a first.” Whisk broke away from the screen as Flight Gear shut down the communication device and recalibrated it to its original function. “Flight Gear, grab some whiskey or liqueur, we may need it to ease the wounds Wrecker has” “Got it.” Flight Gear ran towards the other side of the shop to grab some flasks and oddly square shaped glass bottles from their shelves. “Abner, Marina, come with me, we're going to have to help him down the rest of the way.” Whisk ordered as he started his brisk walk into a run. They made their way up the stairs until they met up with Wrecker, who was leaning against the railing and breathing heavily. “Wrecker.” Wrecker's iconic voice came from behind his cracked helmet that, much like the rest of his armor, covered every nook and had a unique scaled look to it while keeping simple geometric shapes intact. “Whisk.” His voice quivered. “Let us help you out. You can tell us what you went through after you've rested.” Whisk motioned Abner and Marina to lift him up and down the rest of the stairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Flight Gear made a temporary bed out of a straightened and thinned out sheet of steel that looked like it was meant to be attached to the bow of the ship. “Your friend looks like shit.” Flight Gear said as he took a quick swig of whiskey from a flask he had attached to his belt. “You're okay with us taking the armor off right, we have to see where the wounds are to treat them properly.” Whisk carefully asked. A low pitched hum came from Wrecker. “Very well. It's heavy.” “A stallion of few words isn't he?” Flight Gear remarked. “Let me do this. I can already see the way this armor has to be disassembled.” Flight Gear loosely walked around Wrecker for a moment and began picking off the numerous smaller pieces that covered the gaps the larger portions couldn't. Flight Gear quietly talked himself through the process, vaguely describing each piece he pulled off. Pulling away the armor revealed a body full of muscle and several large scars that were fading away, his fur had not regrown in their place quite yet. The new wounds ran across one eye and along several of his major tendons on his hind legs. His charcoal black fur was short and stiff with a single tan stripe running down his back. The relieving of armor unveiled his silver tail and red mane, both short in length. Removing his helmet uncovered his light green eyes. The final pieces, his leggings, allowed for sight of his frosted white hooves. “Well?” Whisk broke the silence. “I'm a god damned engineer, not a fucking doctor.” Flight Gear rudely replied. Wrecker had a smile run across his face, it reminded him of Charger and Whisk's conversations. “Marina?” Whisk asked without flinching from Flight Gear's answer. “I'll try my best.” Marina answered and began to scan over his body, checking every wound and every scratch. She used some water magics to clean the wounds and removed the extra blood with a moist napkin that Flight Gear provided. “This isn't exactly the most sanitary environment, so don't go blaming me for infections.” “And when has any environment we've had to do in the field first aid in has been.” Whisk commented, almost sarcastically. Wrecker exhaled as if to release a laugh. “None. Some whiskey if you wouldn't mind.” Flight Gear levitated a bottle towards him and opened it, then tilted it in such a way that it allowed Wrecker to drink in a small amount. He coughed from the burning aftertaste, “Thanks.” As the talk settled down, minutes seemed to turn into hours as Marina cautiously worked her magic to seal up the several gaping wounds and the small ones the disabled his one of his hind legs. Abner found himself exploring the ship as Flight Gear worked his own way on patching up more holes and assembling more pieces to form mounting brackets and wires to go through them. Whisk went to the tavern that they passed by earlier to get some food for them to eat as the day had begun to roll into the late afternoon. Whisk wondered what kind of crazy shenanigans Wrecker had gone through to manage his way here. A better question was how did he even wind up finding out where Whisk and his companions were in a town he was likely quite unfamiliar with. Upon arriving back into Flight Gear's workshop, Whisk saw that Marina was done performing the surgery. “How is he?” He asked. “Hard to tell honestly, but as far as I can tell his vitals are okay and he's stable. Just a few days to get him healed up should be good. There's also something a bit odd about his muscle structure though.” Whisk raised a brow and naturally asked, “How so.” “I spotted several remnants of magical augmentations. That kind of practice is extremely uncommon, too many risks involved.” Marina answered worriedly. Whisk rubbed a hoof across his chin, rubbing against some short hair that formed a red beard. “We'll not worry about that for now. Right now, we have to focus on leaving here and getting to that old temple by Abner's home, and this airship is the quickest solution. Let's be glad that he's on our side. Unfortunately, that leaves Charger and Cuffs against us, plus Celestia's Legion.” “You are way to calm about this, Whisk.” Marina commented. “Calm? I'm scared, scared like the fear of constantly reliving the same nightmare over and over again. I just constantly tell myself, 'It could've been worse.'” Whisk replied. “Honestly, I'm surprised we've even made it this far.” Marina answered him with a look of concern and with a slight smile, “Why is it that you've never taken charge of the group?” Whisk thought relatively hard, “I'm not good with losing close friends, I'm just doing the best I can, going from what I learned from Charger. He was always pretty fond of my skills to communicate.” “I can't imagine why.” Marina joked. “Anyways, I'm going to rest my head a bit. That prolonged use of magic has made me a bit dizzy.” “Right, I'll stay here until Wrecker wakes up.” Whisk told her while she left through the curtains made various types of metals from the scrap piles. Oddly enough, Flight Gear had a blanket in the workshop to use as a doorway. As Marina left, Abner walked in and sat down by Whisk. Whisk gave him some meat that he purchased from the tavern. “It's not much, but I hope it'll do for you.” Abner nodded his head in understanding. “I just hope Wrecker wakes up soon. We need to leave before Charger and Cuffs show up.” Abner gladly accepted and ate up the squishy and tender piece of raw meat. Abner pulled out one of the books he had kept from the Canterlot library with Twilight's permission. He read through a chapter on understanding the movement of light and its effects. An expansive chapter compared to the quick studies that Gleaming wrote about when different objects were struck by the same light source. The word's again, twisted and shaped themselves into the language that he could understand. It seemed at this point, Prudence's translation magic became completely and entirely passive. This particular chapter, expressed Gleaming's study of how can bend around objects or pass through because of its transparency. Light to Gleaming, seemed to be a marvel of sorts. As he wrote in front cover, 'light has an infinite value, it is something that we as ponies can barely comprehend at this point in our culture.' Overall, Abner found Gleaming's style of writing intriguing and the many relatively detailed drawings brought about further understanding of what he discussed in the book. It also appeared that the last portion of the book had an assortment of spells, runes, and symbols for casting light based spells. Abner felt himself memorize the spells, almost instantly, and could differentiate between the symbols and their meanings in order to manipulate things to his own liking. On the downside, it left him with a slight headache and the information made him a little disoriented, it almost seemed as if he had already knew the spells as the familiarity with them was astounding. As Abner finished up reading through the chapter and the spells, Wrecker, groggy and sore, came back to his senses. His usual heavy voice awoke Whisk from the chair he had accidentally drifted away in. “Where am- oh, right.” “You're awake finally.” Whisk exclaimed. “What happened?” “Don't badger me, Whisk. Let me get my head straight.” Wrecker replied. There became an uncomfortable silence as Wrecker shifted himself around in the stiff hammock. “I'm a former mercenary. Tracking ponies down is part of my job, you were extremely easy to track. Cuffs didn't take too kindly to my running off and cut away at my tendons.” “Cuffs scary I'll admit, I'll assume the Blight is infecting him on a drastic level then.”Whisk commented as Wrecker continued his story. “I guess. After I managed to get away, I felt the magic augmentations near my wounds begin to fester. So I tore them out.” Wrecker made his story short, he seemed unfazed in telling his short tale. Whisk looked at him, shocked, “You live up to your reputation don't you? What's with these magical augmentations?” Wrecker gave it some thought, “They're exactly that. They're stones that can be enchanted by a specialist. Extremely difficult to come by and obtain successfully. The augmentation process is also incredibly painful” “No possibility of getting new ones then?” Whisk asked, half jokingly. Wrecker ravaged through his memories as he recalled that his augmentations were obtained from a tribe, who performed the operation after he collected the materials. “There was a tribe that I went to for this. It was ritual, every year, one of the members were selected for the process.” “Then we'll go there.” Whisk said, trying to cheer him up a bit. “There's a problem with that though, I don't remember where the place is.” Wrecker said in response. “You've got to be kidding. I'll be surprised if we run into them at some point.” Whisk said, scratching his head. “Well, you'll have plenty of time to think about it before we reach the desert.” “Desert? I thought you were headed to a temple in the forest by Abner's hometown.” Wrecker questioned. “The desert is our final destination, that's where the Guardian's Temple is apparently. We have to stop at the temple at Abner's first though, something to do with the sword apparently.” Whisk shrugged. “All this over a sword. Well, I've been asked to do even more ridiculous jobs.” Wrecker sighed. “Yea, we'll be heading out in a four days time, thee days time for Flight Gear's construction on his airship. Hope you're not confine to a chair or a bed for too long, going to need you in the future.” Whisk said. Wrecker let out a little smirk. “I'm stronger than a mountain.” Whisk let out a short laugh. “Right. Anyways, I've already asked Flight Gear if hes alright with you staying here, he said no. So we'll have to drag you to my place.” Abner bugged Whisk for a moment by tugging on his tail and showed him a page of the book that he was reading. A teleport spell. “Oh? Looks like we might not have to, although this spell looks like we'll need a sender node and a receiving node. Abner, you understand what this entails right?” Abner nodded, assuring Whisk of his confidence. “We'll try it, but, to be safe, I'll have Flight Gear and Marina assist you.” Abner again nodded his head to accept the offer. They proceeded to take apart the curtain set up and began drawing out the markings for spell, a different set of symbols at each quadrant of a circle surrounding the bed. Each quadrant being separated by chalk, white in color and quite dusty to boot. Caused Abner to sneeze once or twice. The four circles contained a mixture of geometric shapes, several rings around each contained either a mathematical formula or the longitude and latitude of the location they want to teleport to. The grand circle connecting the four smaller ones held the words appropriate to ignite and cast the spell. It was a proven method that was known well to work without any fault. Earth ponies on their own however, had a hard time with such spells as unicorn magic is essentially a requirement, and magic dust is extremely difficult to find. Its properties were problematic, magic scans were nullified, and mining attempts proved too expensive, causing more loss of the dust than gain. Abner remembered the great oak tree in the manor's backyard, Flight Gear managed to get the coordinates from his telecommunications device and relay them to Abner and Marina, who were drawing out the spell upon the floor. Normally, it would be possible to use a teleport spell that would transfer all of them, but that would require Abner to travel along with them. The chance for an error to occur could cause catastrophic damage or merges into the environment of the destination. Drawing out the spell would create a clearer and much safer path to the destination. After finishing up the last marks of the spell, Abner cleared his mind and pulled the force of magic out from deep within his heart, feeling the flow creep its way through his body and into the silver horn on his forehead. The energies ignited in a white glow and thrusted towards the ignition point of the magic circle. The symbols pulled themselves from the floor and floated on a a vertical plane, each one seemed to levitate at a different elevation at random. As the spell circle and the symbols become engulfed in white, ghostly fire. Flows of magic became torrential until in an instant, Wrecker and the bed he laid upon, vanished in a flash silver light. The magic relieved itself of the toll on Abner, slowly seeping back into his horn and back into his veins. Wrecker and the makeshift hammock he laid on were gone, hopefully transported safely to the destination. Marina and Flight Gear nervously looked on into the video feed that his device provided of the location. Whisk had left well ahead of time to ensure everything was proper with Wrecker, biologically and psychologically. The video feed showed Whisk quickly look over their friend, and sighing in relief. He smiled and signaled that he was in good condition aside from the wounds he had received. Flight Gear smiled, cutting the video feed, “I guess I won't have to worry about transportation problems for the air craft. Let me borrow that book for a bit Abner, I'd like to replicate the spell to teleport this blasted thing out of here and into Whisk's backyard.” Abner thought about what the two of them had agreed upon earlier, and anything to help them to get to the temple faster that would greatly speed up the trip is entirely welcome. Abner complied, pulling the book from his satchel again and carefully handing it over to Flight Gear. Their magics intertwined as they exchanged in a way, a hoof shake, with the book of magic spells. “Thanks, pup. You folks will be damned pleased as to what I can pull of with this stuff. Now if you two would kindly leave my workshop, I'd appreciate it. You know, before the bloody wife gets back.” He said the words with an odd smile, as if he loved his wife, but the relationship the two of them held was one of annoyance and bickering. Somehow, they still managed to to get along. Marina and Abner made their way back up the stairs in a quicker manner than their earlier descending down them by use of a teleport outside the piles of scrap metal that laid beyond the front door. The sudden teleport Marina initiated lurched Abner's mind around a little bit before he regained his balance. “Flight Gear is a rather peculiar one. A drunkard like him is going to pilot that aircraft. Sometimes I worry about Whisk's choices in friends, but for some odd reason, they always seem to be the right choices.” Marina silently chuckled to herself, raising a hoof to cover her mouth. “Come on Abner, we've preparations to make for Flight Gear's arrival.” They passed through the streets now gleaming in a bright sun after the storm. The shops and markets became again abundant with customers willing to purchase wares of all sorts of varieties. The noise was to the same level as it was before when they had first arrived the day before. Abner cautiously pulled the straps that bound the sword to his harness tighter to ensure that it wouldn't get stolen. A crowd of ponies appeared to circle around a center of attention, some ruffians picking on young foals it seemed. Abner picked up the delicate conversations that the bystanders blurted out, all saying that somebody should do something. Abner looked up at Marina, he felt like an ant among the taller ponies, it was as if he was staring upwards at castle walls from their base. Marina was hesitant at first, but managed to get their own front row seats of the show. Three guards, obliviously drunk and picking on a couple of young colts whom they suspected were thieves that had stolen their coin. One guard spoke in rambles about why the citizens should obey them, another held one ruffian down while the third used his magic to beat the other colt with the leather sheath for his sword. “This is what happens when you steal from the Clackerton Guard. You get yourself a beating, but that's generous. With these two young colts, we will show them a finer punishment. Cobble, bring out the block.” The one pony standing by, holding down the other colt, multiplied his levitation to bring out a large concrete slab that had indentations where the hooves be locked down and presumably hacked off from its owner. The crowd gasped and mutter more nonsense that Abner couldn't quite catch. The words all seemed awfully terrible in their tone however. Cobble, the pony who pulled out the slab, proceeded to lock down the colt he held. The colt cried and begged much to his amusement, he smiled as he drew the sword from his own sheath and spoke with a proud, drunken voice, “If there is anyone who wishes to challenge the guard and defend these impudent ruffians who stole away our coin, we would love to see them approach.” Cobble sneered. Abner was a bit hesitant, if not more than Marina was. They both knew that getting involved in incidents like this could cost them precious time, but a benefit would be that they could be more likely to fight against the field themselves if they made some sort of impact. They looked at each other and ignored the potentially negative consequences, coming to a silent agreement. Abner slowly released the bindings on his own sword and stepped forward and Marina glared lighting up her horn with a blue fire that matched her eyes. “We step forward.” She shouted loud and clear. The three guards became bewildered. The rambling one replied in a sarcastic manner, “Oh, a mare and her dog with a sword, how delightful. You going to yell and bicker at us and have your stupid pet bark us up a tree?” He and the other two guards laughed. “Very well, since you two were the only ones who stepped forward, have at you.” Cobble charged forward, wielding his sword with his magic, in a wildly loose form. Abner moved in and blocked the attack with his own sword, recalling the training he had with Charger and Twilight. Swinging the zweihander from its sheath on his right and swinging it to the left to parry the weak attack, Abner successfully threw the sword out of Cobble's magical grip. Unfortunately, Cobble summoned three swords from magic to wield as weapons. Abner quickly improvised by using his sword as a shield, using his own magic to control its movements instead of using his mouth. He kept up with Cobble's attacks for the most part, but he was being pushed back. Marina on the other hand kept the other two guards at bay with her specialty in water magics. Pulling water from the small puddles that formed in cracks of the streets. She did a fine job too, she easily overpowered their drunken prowess and eventually managed to get the water to pin them down in some rather uncomfortable positions. After that, she moved to release the colt from the slab and free the other one from the small shielding that trapped him. She glanced over to Abner, who was holding his own fairly well, but she knew that he would lose if he didn't think of something. Interfering wouldn't be the best idea because it could cause some rather unwanted injures. She instead kept her focus on the young colts. Abner recalled for a moment, the spells that he had burned into his mind earlier. A blink spell, that would give him the upper hand, he just needed to pick a place and teleport to it. Thoroughly going over the spell in his mind and picking the spot where he would blink to, behind Cobble, and began a fake charge towards him. Abner furthered the brightness of his magic and instead of the teleportation feeling he felt earlier, he felt as if he was running at an extremely fast pace. He could feel the light slow down, everything turned darker hues and only their highlights appeared as if he had been running around at night through the thickest of forests. Small sparks of light bounced off his body as he shifted through space and time felt as if it had slowed down at a rather gratuitous rate. It all reminded him of a dream he had once. The colors came rushing back to him as he began to slow down in his spell, which transported him behind Cobble. Abner quickly picked up on his dulled senses and surroundings and fell the unicorn with a blow to his hind legs. The sound of several cracking bones filled the air, Abner had struck him with the broadside of the sword, smashing apart the armor he wore. The unicorn collapsed, gasping for air as he cried out in pain. Thankfully Abner had only broken Cobble's leg and heavily bruised the other, but it could still end his career as a guard. Abner was frightened by his cries, he heard ponies cry out in pain before, but not when he was the one inflicting the damage. A strong hush overcame the crowd and Marina, who had managed to set the young colts free from their temporary imprisonment. The two colts approached the wolf as he sheathed his sword, cheering for him and thanking him for his kindness. Abner began feeling bad about the injury he caused however. Marina followed closely behind them and casted a spell to numb the pain centers in Cobble's legs, thus relieving him of a majority of the pain until medical help arrived. “Abner,” she spoke softly as she lowered her head and after quieting the kids down. “I can tell you're feeling bad about this, but, we did it for the better. Look at the bright side, no one's dead.” Abner sorrowfully accepted her words, but it pained him to hear them. The young colts ran off into the crowd and greeted their mother, who like them, had been dressed in ragged clothes. She extended her thanks with a smile from a distance. Marina and Abner then, became further cheered and celebrated over the victory. Abner and Marina left through a passage the crowd unanimously formed and headed up to the manor through streets that held a vast difference between the sections of the city. Once they had made the trek back to the manor, they made their way past Dirty Dirt and his gateway. Upon making their way up to the front doors, they saw that the aircraft that Flight Gear was constructing had already found its way to the side yard of the manor, easily managed by the large size of the yard's overall area stretching from back to front. Both the manor and the aircraft were comparable in size, where the deck of the craft lacked in space it more than made up for in the size of the frame for the bladders. Quite a few of the manor's tenants and servants stood from a distance, expecting to see someone to peer out from over the edge of the decks low walls. It seems that Abner and Marina had arrived just after Flight Gear teleported his aircraft over. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared before them. Flight Gear stumbled end over end before crashing to the ground with a loud thud. Some of the witnesses began to chuckle softly, a few gave curious looks. Flight Gear lashed out, “Don't fucking laugh. You bloody fucks try teleportation magic when you're incredibly drunk.” His words were horrendously slurred, but still surprisingly understandable. The comment also quelled the snickering. Flight Gear stumbled over his hooves again, “Marina, Abner, you made it back okay. That's good, that's good. I'm off to take a damned nap, also seems that my wife has settled down a bit.” Flight Gear stumble again as he turned around and teleported himself onto the deck of the ship to enter the captain's quarters. Everyone slowly went back into the manor, one by one. Abner and Marina soon followed suit, hoping to meet up with Whisk and Wrecker. Jeeves, oddly enough, was waiting for the two of them to enter into the foyer. He motioned them over and subsequently had the two of them follow him to where Wrecker was roomed. Abner for a moment, wondered how Lark and Tiva were doing on their own. Marina, appearing to have read his mind, asked Jeeves the question. To which Jeeves replied in an assuring manner that the two of them were okay. Lark entertained Tiva with her songs, several walks through the garden, and some play around the oak tree. Jeeves appeared to feel a bit nostalgic. Finally making their way to a nursing room, a room much like a hospitals. A long lengthy room that ran underneath the bedrooms above with some twenty beds lining either wall. Keeping in theme, they had the floor a clouded green tiled stone with white grout. Light green curtains hung from stainless steel rods attached to the white walls made of the same massive stones in the foyer, the ceiling was of course, quite a bit lower. This manor appeared to have everything required to become its own self-sustaining residential home. Perhaps that's why it was isolated away from the rest of Clackerton, sitting atop a grassy flattened portion of the small mountain tops. Jeeves let them be and Marina thanked him for his guidance. He saw Whisk in his slumber and carried him away to his room. “Master, you must quit sleeping in chairs.” Jeeves muttered to himself as he left. Throwing open the curtains, they came upon Whisk sleeping in a chair, much like he had done before at Flight Gear's workshop. Wrecker was wide awake, fiddling with a small golden pocket watch. Looking up from the pocket watch and closing its lid, he said, “You two are slow.” Exhaling deeply as he closed his eyes for a moment. “Um, sorry?” Marina answered him confused. “We ran into a little scuffle on the way here, save some supposed ruffians from some extremely drunk guards.” Wrecker opened one eye, her statement rung a bell. “Drunk guards? Did you happen to catch their names?” Marina was still mildly confused, “Only one, Cobble. Why are you bothering with this?” “Oh nothing really. A couple folks in this town wanted to be clients of mine, one being a group of three. I can't disclose their information though, part of my job. You understand.” Wrecker stated as he close his one open eye and placed the pocket watch upon the nightstand. “Why don't you just leave then?” Marina barked, she felt offended, but she seemed to not realize it. “I'm not done with my current job. Once thats over, I'll be off on my own again.” Wrecker replied. Marina was momentarily taken aback and eyed him carefully, “Current job, Wrecker? Prudence got you into this, didn't she?” “Indeed she did. Whisk actually managed to, persuade me to help.” Wrecker answered her, he sounded impressed after recalling the conversation he had with the two of them. “Persuaded? Whisk doesn't seem to be that type.” “We had a sparring match of sorts. If he managed to dismantle a piece of my armor during the match, I would join him. It was a good fight, although, he used a few moves I wasn't used to seeing. He's a good fighter, definitely has the endurance despite his noble upbringing. I blame his win on luck though, only fight I've lost, although, no one ever hears of it as there wasn't an audience other than Prudence.” Wrecker recalled. “Ah, well, he can be a bit crafty at times. His method of derailing a train was rather, how do I put this, oblivious to his our safety.” Marina remarked. “You should get some more rest, you'll need it.” “I heard about that.” Wrecker yawned. “I suppose you're right, been awhile since I've had any.” He rolled over and stared out the window which looked out into the yard, the same yard that now held the aircraft. “We'll see you later, I'll see about dropping by after dinner is served.” Marina finished, before turning away and leaving. Abner followed Marina out and head towards back to the room that he and Whisk were provided. Marina, on the other hand went her own way to check on Lark and Tiva. He again passed Rosamond, who carried a short stack of books on her back. “Ah, the wolf has returned, and with some friends I see.” She raised a hoof and patted him on the head. “I saw Jeeves carrying Whisk back to his room again, he still hasn't quit that habit.” She smiled and giggled to herself. “I still wonder what brings you along with him. Perhaps I should ask, would you happen to be headed his way?” Abner nodded his head, letting her acknowledge his destination. “Oh good, I have some books from our study he wished to look through. Please lead the way.” Abner continued to walk the path to his destination. He could feel the aura around Rosamond, one of gentle kindness, pure heart, and her unchanging cheerful attitude made her appear less threatening, as her elders always seemed to give off more serious tones from what was presented in the portraits hanging on the walls. She was like a light in the darkness, her parents appeared to hold her in high esteem, but she didn't let it get the best of her. Entering the room Abner and Whisk resided in, Rosamond went ahead and set the books down on a table that sat near the window overlooking the backyard. She walked over to the bed and sat down, staring at Whisk's sleeping face. She smiled a smile of remembrance as Abner closed the door behind him a stood the sword against the side of the armoire. “I do wish that Whisk didn't have to leave so soon, I thought so much of him while he was in Canterlot, I always wished him the best of luck when he left for the missions that he traveled on. I wonder if he still has that ring he proposed to me with.” She looked at Abner and sighed, concerned she said, “Abner, please promise to protect Whisk as I do wish for his safe return, as well as everyone else that traverse with you.” Abner nodded his head in acceptance as he unlatched the bindings of his satchel to place it upon the floor where his sword stood. “Thank you, we greatly appreciate it.” Abner acknowledged her thanks before she left the room. It appeared that the relationship between Whisk and Rosamond was forelorned, forsaken. Perhaps it was due to the social standards between them. They both appeared to have accepted the social norm, they were hopeless romantics in a sense. Before Abner realized, he himself had dozed off into a deep sleep. Again, his vision was hazed by the dense gray fog that contorted in an unsightly manner. Drystan's voice chimed in a most discourteous echo, sinister, and writhing. “So, Abner, how does it feel? To invoke injury upon another, to cause harm and discomfort where the consequences may lead to things undesirable?” Silence was Abner's only answer. “Of course, Marina told you it would be alright. Lo' and behold, that the words alright would make everything better for you. The memory will haunt you, you know that. I know that.” The words crept into Abner's mind with an eerie presence. “Your silence is unrivaled it seems. I have a proposal for you,” Abner could feel his voice twist with the winding fog, “should you ever require dark magics, trickster magics, you may call upon me. After all I do hide in your shadow, watching indefinitely until you fade away into nothing. However, there will be a catch, something I will not tell now. For now, enjoy your sleep, a new dawn awaits you, perhaps some enjoyment as well.” Abner wasn't sure at this point if Drystan was friendly or a foe, aside from his knowledge of the temple, what need is there for him to have Abner do this monumental task? Was the concept amusing to him, or was there a necessary requirement that Abner possessed that others did not? Abner's thoughts turned away from the matter as his dream turned into revival of memories that he had lived. One of individual moments that he spent learning with those he met, being guided by their wisdom and knowledge. From his father he learned a great many tales about his own experiences in his travels. His mother always spoke of folk stories about legendary people that bewildered the mind, many of gods and goddesses and how they helped to craft the world by tearing apart the sky. Kafziel taught him how to hunt along with several basic survival skills. Lev showed Abner what it means to have a heart, to share and revel in its kindness, but also revealed to him that not everyone's hearts were filled with good intentions. Nitza, as shy as she was and as young as she was, still managed to teach Abner something, what few plants they had were edible and how to grow them in a proper environment. Naamiy's beauty was something that she took pride in, but she warned Abner that boasting about some things can land him in a bit of trouble. From the new folks that he met after the dragon incident, he learned about sorrows that come along with unfortunate events. He learned about the different ways they cope with sadness. Despite their sadness, they came through in their own way and taught Abner many things about the world outside of his village, from magic to summarized histories of Equestria and several of its protected colonies, as well as its protected states. Twilight taught him quite a bit in such a short period of time, which reminded him that he still hadn't gotten around to reading through the book that she had given him. His traveling companions that helped him everyday to get to their destination, taught him things that he may have never had learn otherwise, aside from magic. Charger's training in melee and ranged combat, while short and basic, allowed for his skills to be further built upon in his own way. Cuffs didn't really teach him much other than some very basic first aid, slowing blood flow, wrapping wounds with bandages, and a low level healing spell. He was always caught up in paperwork, research on breakthroughs in medical technology, he called it. Whisk's generosity in giving Abner food and helping him was incredibly unbound, perhaps it was because of Prudence that he did so. He didn't seem to mind carrying out Prudence's final orders before she passed away, in her physical form at least. Perhaps he knows that her consciousness still exists within Abner, a discomforting thought. Marina appeared to help out as much as possible, as her faithfulness never seem to betray her or anyone else for that matter. Wrecker didn't really teach Abner anything, aside from the fact magic augmentations exist, but are extremely dangerous to attempt. His strong silence up until now appeared to be some sort of trust building that he conducts without telling others. Maybe his introverted personality kept him from talking unnecessarily during normal conversation. Prudence, she was what brought them all together, her sacrifice weighed heavily on the groups emotions. What she studied and what she knew, was passed on to Whisk and her husband, Celestia as well. Memories of Lark from the number of times she had to babysit Nitza were vague, but his sense of familiarity with her didn't make him feel at all uncomfortable. Her songs were always soothing to him and they drowned out thoughts of worry. Tiva's father, Lionel, showed Abner what it was like to lose someone dear to your heart. In retrospect, leaving his daughter with Abner may not have been the best idea in the long run. Abner wondered how well he was holding up after they parted ways. Tiva missed her father, she expressed those feelings a few times, but Lark always seemed to comfort her. She was quite motherly. Tiva confided in Whisk whenever she needed a more fatherly perspective. She very rarely approached Abner however, she knew what her mother had done for the sake of their futures. Traumatic, but Abner wasn't at fault for it, he unwillingly became tangled up in the aftermath. Tiva has yet to understand that though, in due time. Unfortunate as the current events have been, the thought of being a hero was something anyone could yearn for. To save the land from an unspeakable evil, to rescue a princess from the clutches of an evil king who wished to drive out a good one, or perhaps just saving the one you love from depths of darkness. With every tale, however, was some sort of downfall, whether it would be the hero, or a close ally. Something Abner hasn't really learned to deal with quite yet. The thoughts of the hypotheticals trailed away as his dreams drifted his mind away into an ethereal state. A floating feeling phased him through and through. The echoes of song and wind danced along an aurora of light. A other worldly voice called out to him, “Young wolf who holds the Sword of Light, I hear from the earth that you are soon to pay a visit to my refuge. I shall welcome you at its entrance by way of twelve deer who hope through the forest around my abode. Ceremonials will be performed, you and you alone must attend the ceremony.” The voice was majestic, as if a goddess were speaking down to him. Just as quick as the drifting dream appeared, it fizzled into nothingness, its memory becoming indescribable. The words stirred in his mind before receding into lost pits of thought. A mixture of dreams then came to be, haunting Abner. Some odd concoction of yelling and upset voices strewn about. Thunderclaps and heavy gusts of wind all thrusted through the core of his being. Thrashes of planks and metal flew through the air as the nightmare progressed. Creating a mass of figures masked in smoke colored in hues fluorescent and incredibly bright. The sudden onslaught of convoluted sounds and senses overwhelmed him and in a cold, heated sweat, Abner awoke, breathless and eyes pained from the sunrise. As he gasped for air and regained his senses, he looked around to assure himself that the dream turned nightmare wasn't still going. His racing heart slowly retreated back to a normal pace. It had been quite some time since he had a dream that shook him awake in such a manner. Slowly, Abner struggled to his feet, relieving his legs of tension built from his slumber. Stretching the muscles felt good, maybe all the walking he had done recently made his body sore. Perhaps the use of magic had drained his energy, making his muscles tired and sore. Shaking off the thoughts, he made his way out of the room, beams of the fresh morning sun gleamed through the windows and the gaps of curtains. The smell of morning grass soaked by dew and the cool air seeped through the walls of the manor, creating an oddly earthly essence. Without much thought, he made his way out the doors that led to the side yard where Flight Gear had parked his aircraft. From the ground he saw the same two foals he had seen yesterday morning were pretending to be pirates on the bow of the ship playing with swords made of cardboard. Carefully climbing the ladder leading to the deck, Abner saw Flight Gear sleeping on a small set of stairs leading to the rather small bridge. He mumbled senseless randoms as he snored and shifted around in his rather uncomfortable position. Reeking of whiskey that stung Abner's nostrils ever so slightly, he sat atop of the stairs, watching the foals play with one another while listening to Flight Gear's rather amusing rambles. The little sense they made and the intermittent words concocted some odd sentence about a bear and a lion on a business trip. Glancing around, Abner saw Tiva sitting on the highest point of the skeletal structure for the bladder of the balloons. She was surrounded by birds that perched alongside her and a few on her shoulders. She gazed into the distance, toward their destination. All that met her eyes were fields of forests and rows of low rise mountains, dotted with small lakes and ponds. A few small rivers all fed into a single stream, creating an extremely large delta. A single small pillar of faded smoke could barely be seen at the edge of the horizon, just about where Abner's village was located. Perhaps other survivors moved back in and began to rebuild. In the other direction, to the southeast, a large looming sphere of dull red embedding itself into the ground, made its contents obscure by clouding them in writhing mass of white smoke. The field that Celestia had placed had further expanded its reach, it appeared to have already engulfed the entirety of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Storm clouds and tornadoes thrived in little pockets just outside the field's shell. It tore everything to the ground before finally consuming it within its walls which appeared to fluctuate and twist every time it advanced. Vaguely, small colored streams of magic, presumably absorbed by unicorns, coursed through the field like veins and arteries under the skin. A wicked sight indeed. All Tiva could do was hope, pray that her father was okay, the same for Abner and his family. Tiva turned away from the sight, looked at Abner with a saddened and worried face. She flew down from the skeleton and approached, glancing over at Flight Gear for just a moment. “Abner, I think I know why father left me in your care. It's all still a little confusing, but I think I'm beginning to understand.” Abner looked down at her with gentle smile. She continued, “You're always so quiet, why?” Abner quickly gestured with one paw, a slashing motion across the throat and pointing to himself. “Oh. Sorry. Mother told me quite a bit about your quest, she said that you're like the hero in my favorite fairy tale she would always read to me. My favorite one being about a hero, a mighty stallion, fair in his morals and his looks, kind of like Whisk. He journeys throughout the land to a tower that held a lone princess, whose beauty was greater than the Queen. Mother always described her looking similar to Marina now that I think about. Anyways, the hero confronts a dark sorcerer, who kidnapped the princess, holding her hostage for his own evil deeds. Of course the hero out of sheer force of effort despite the sorcerer's overwhelming power.” She paused, regained her breath and continued her story. “The hero marries the princess, becoming heir to the throne. They all live happily ever after.” She choked on her last few words, sniffling quietly, “I wish I could say the same about mother and father.” Abner exhaled deeply and brought Tiva closer to him, hugging her, comforting her in her sorrow. She cried more heavily, but still just as quiet as she was before. Her tears made Abner's white fur matted and stiff. She welcomed his gratefulness, welcomed his heart. Her tears eventually dried up. Turning away as she freed herself from Abner's side, she wiped away a single final tear from her eyes. She silently thanked him with a smile. Suddenly, Flight Gear hopped up out of his sleep, tripping over himself and tumbled down the two remaining steps below him. “Fucking bloody shit.” He grumbled. “Fucking dreams waking me up so damned violently.” Regaining his footing and turning around to see Tiva trying to hold her laughter from the suddenly active pony. “Gah, shit. Of course someone would be by me.” He dismissed their company and wandered off the side of the ship to enter the manor. In his stupor of a hangover, he had forgotten to use his magic to help him out. “Fucking son of a mother's ass!” He shouted. Tiva continued to hold in her laughter as Abner peered over the side to check on Flight Gear. Again he stumbled to his hooves, “I'm okay. Fucking hangover almost got me killed. Anyways, I'm gonna start working on the ship after I get some breakfast.” He stumbled again before asking Abner to keep an eye on the ship and headed inside. As soon as the door shut, Tiva let out her laughter. “I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous. I've never seen anyone wake up in such a manner.” Abner shrugged as he went back to go into the bridge, an enclosed structure with windows facing every direction. Tiva followed him inside. The bridged protected the two of them from the chill of the morning air. “Although, one thing I will say about Flight Gear, is that his massive amount of swearing is unusual.” Abner whirled his paw around one ear, signaling that Flight Gear was a little looney. Tiva giggled, “Perhaps. Mother always told me that Whisk had some unusual friends that were scattered far and wide.” Waiting for Flight Gear to return, Tiva and Abner watched the two young foals who had been sword fighting with cardboard cutouts, begin to grow tired and head back inside, apparently on their mother's whim. They were quite a bit younger than Tiva, having yet to get a cutie mark. Tiva's cutie mark was an orientation of black horseshoes placed in a fashion related to a certain style of dance. Something she certainly didn't resent, but embraced. However, Abner wondered if she felt as if she was useless to this whole situation, this journey to save the land. Drawing his mind away from thoughts of depravity and anxiousness, Abner glanced around the bridge of the aircraft. All sorts of wires hung out from beneath counters that appeared to hold various sorts of displays and gauges. Several were already installed, barometers, internal and external temperatures, three fuel gauges, five tachometers, and two large altimeters. All these items were quite unusual for someone who hasn't seen them before. What their purpose served and how they worked was a conversation with Flight Gear for another time. What intrigued Abner more was a layout, a blueprint almost, hooked to some sort of complex wiring that loomed of complex magic. It was vaguely reminiscent of the telecommunications device that he let Whisk use the day before to talk with Twilight Sparkle. The blueprint itself hummed a low tone, as if it were a device that had to remain active in order to work properly. Each compartment of the ship was labeled in an appropriate manner with minimalistic line work to outline the edge of each. A small cargo bay, an armory, bunks, and a mess hall that appeared rather unfinished. The print also appeared to have enough room to display the balloons that Flight Gear required and the extremely incomplete engine bay. Veering away from the console and venturing to the front and center of the bridge, was a spot designed for the captain of the ship. A place for him to stand and control the movements, a navigational center. Again, like the complexity of the blueprint before, it appeared much too complicated for any one to figure out by just a glance. Some rudimentary board with four spots that appeared to act like pressure pads, by Abner's assumption, acted as a steering mechanism for the entire ship. Tiva seemed awestruck by the advancements of technology that she had never seen before. To think that one person was crafting such meticulous hardware to work in such a fashion was mind boggling. Perhaps Whisk already knows that Flight Gear has such a level of work, extremely likely that he does. Then, by some odd coincidence, Whisk had entered the bridge, “Ah, Flight Gear is always advancing in his work as usual.” He thought aloud. “Shame he always seems to make these major advancements in his drunken stupor. Perhaps I could convince him to lay off of his drinking a bit.” Whisk's sudden appearance startled Tiva a little, she jumped and moved to the side. “Tiva, Lark wanted to talk to for a bit, a book she found in the library that you might find interesting.” Tiva grinned excitedly and left the bridge and made her way back inside the manor. “Abner,” Whisk said with a sigh, “I heard a report from Dirt that you and Marina assaulted three guards that attempted to deal out punishment to two foals that were accused of being pickpockets.” Abner gave Whisk his full and immediate attention and nodded his head, confirming the report. “Right, good thing you two did that. Oddly enough, those three were about to get the boot out of the guard due to their gambling habits and a murder they were trying to cover up. Station was going to catch them in the act of bribery, something else they were suspected of, but thanks to you and Marina, they didn't have to.” Whisk seemed rather amused by the situation, as if it was something he heard of once before when he used to live here. “Dirt also said that most reports from that area often went unnoticed because those three held such a tight grip there, something the station was apparently unaware of. Good portion of that area is treating you two as heroes, in a way.” Whisk shifted his eyes around, as if he were looking for a change in the subject. He snapped his hoof against the tiled wooden flooring, “Wrecker is all healed up aside from a little soreness where his more major wounds are. He'll be able to help around the ship, which will be nice.” Flight Gear butted in, making a surprise appearance much like Whisk did, “I could always use the extra muscle, Wrecker would do nicely for that.” Whisk raised a brow and looked at Flight Gear, “You seem awfully happy this morning, something good happen between you and your wife last night?” “Yup, remembered her birthday, it's today, got her some flowers that shes always wanted to put in her garden. Extremely rare apparently. She was so fucking happy that she caused the house to float off the ground a little bit.” “Maybe you should have her stop by later on. Speaking of which, I haven't seen your wife. I did read that you were married in one of your letters you sent me. Your penmanship could use some work, by the way.” Whisk said in a joking manner. “Aw, fuck penmanship. I can read, I can write, might be a little messy but fuck it, honestly. I build shit, not write fancy ass words on some parchment.” Flight Gear spoke without faltering to his words, unfazed by Whisk's would-be insult. “I, guess. Should I leave you to your ship?” Whisk answered with a shrug of his front legs and a roll of his eyes. “That would be for the best, I'll have it done in two days, remember that. You're damned lucky I already got the framework done. All I need from you Whisk, is a little funding from your parents so I can get the appropriate materials for the bladders and balloons. Oh, and some fuel.” Flight Gear said, confidence soaking his voice. “Fuel?” Whisk questioned. “Ah right, I forget that a majority of you folk are unfamiliar with that term. I just need some gems and crystals that can react in a proper manner. That mashed down into a powder, then transmuted into a liquid form. Another thing I developed for the engine I showed you yesterday.” Flight Gear jogged towards the console where the captain of the ship would stand. Rifled through some papers and pulled out a short scroll that had some sort of chicken scratch etched into its surface. “These are the materials I need. Fetch boy, fetch.” Flight Gear smirked. Whisk looked the paper over, completely ignoring Flight Gear's statement. “Well, I hope my memory still serves correct for the location of the old stores you would always visit.” Whisk remarked, rolling up the scroll and leaving through the doorway. Flight Gear turned his attention over to Abner, “You seem mighty curious about the consoles. I'll teach you a few things about this newfangled technology that I've created.” Flight Gear had an stark contrast of character compared to the yesterday. Maybe his wife gave him something in return for the flowers. Flight Gear went into the specifics of how every gauge functioned, how the steering was going to work, the small display that had the different portions of the ship laid out upon it. Abner listened well, nodding and changing his facial expression when after Flight Gear simplified some of the more complicated pieces of equipment. Tiva, in her own interest approached the two of them and eagerly learned this new information. Whisk simply listened from a distance, he felt an odd sense of accomplishment in his heart, but he also felt as if he was saying goodbye. It was strange, but he was happy to see Abner learn. Whisk didn't think much of Tiva, but the numerous times she approached him to ask him about Clackerton and the manor, she always seemed a little shy. However, Whisk slowly felt himself wanting to protect both her and Abner, the same feeling he got about the rest of his squad when he first became acquainted with them. Turning to leave and approaching the edge of the deck where the ladder had been placed, he saw Wrecker carefully walking his way out the doors of the manor. Whisk quickly rushed to his aid and caught him just as he was going to fall. Wrecker didn't react, only glanced to Whisk who was having trouble just keep Wrecker's head up using his head. “Always using your head.” Wrecker joked. “At least it works.” Whisk retorted with a short laugh. “Honestly, you should be resting still.” “Right, right. I'll be fine in a few hours.” Wrecker shrugged off his concern. “I wanted to see this aircraft you went on about before you fell asleep reading the paper.” Wrecker looked over the ship, scanning it from its bow to its stern as Whisk slowly pulled his head from underneath his. “Certainly well done, that's for sure. Seems Flight Gear is more than just a drunken clown with shiny toys.” “That's one way to put it I guess. Says he'll get it done in two days provided I get him the bladders and balloons by the end of the day today.” Whisk replied. “You've got no idea where to get any of that do you, despite growing up here?” Wrecker guessed. “Unfortunately and I'd rather not walk around the market on my own either, especially if I have to go through the run down areas again like I did yesterday.” Whisk sighed. This town is primarily one for carriages and engines. “Well, lets get going then, things not going to build itself.” Wrecker mused. “That's plenty obvious, Wrecker.” Whisk answered. The two again entered into the town, Whisk asked Dirty Dirt if anything big was scheduled for the day. Nothing was aside from the usual auction in the market square. After arriving to the relatively early to the market square, Whisk thought it strange that the place was so unusually empty. Shrugging off the thought, Whisk asked a few shopkeepers if there were any places that sold aircraft material. Turns out there was one that had started up a few months ago, convenient. Heading to the outskirts of the market section of town and reaching the edges of the industrial sector over a rough and downtrodden road beaten by years of disrepair. The town itself was thriving, but the conditions in some areas were utterly deplorable. A rather confounding thought. Locating the shop, Wrecker and Whisk entered the building made of a mixture of steel, stone, and wooden beams supporting a roof made of corrugated metals. The building, much like Flight Gear's workshop, was quite a bit larger on the inside. Rows of shelving units lined out from the walls, almost like a library. Upon the shelves rested all sorts of hoofmade and mass manufactured parts packed in boxes made of dull colored cardboard with company logos. “May I help you sirs?” An eccentric yellow earth pony popped up from behind the front counter. Whisk fumbled his words for a moment, “Um, yes, um...I'm, I mean, we're looking for a bladder and balloon skinning for an aircraft.” “Bud, you're gonna have to be a lot more specific than that. I need dimensions and how many you want.” The storekeeper replied. Wrecker answered almost immediately, “Two two hundred average hooflengths, part number should be AIS912 and AIS913 for the skins. About ninety-eight average hooflengths, part number should be AIB914 and AIB915 for the gas bladders.” There was an awkward silence for a moment, then the shopkeeper spoke up again, “Right then, I'll grab those, give me a moment.” The shopkeeper waltzed away, weaving his way through the shelving units and sifting through a book or two to recall the location of the parts. Whisk gave a strange look toward Wrecker, “How did you even know what Flight Gear needed?” “I've had quite a lot of time to study, a mercenary such as I must know these details. Don't want to bring the wrong tools for the job after all.” Wrecker answered him with great self confidence. The shopkeeper hurried back with the parts that he was asked to fetch. Adding up the prices on his register and after several successive dings and clicks along with a small length of paper that protruded its way out from the top of the machine. After mashing the last key and a short moment of silence between the shopkeeper and the register, the shopkeeper spoke up, focusing his attention back to Whisk. “That will be forty-eight bits and seventy-two cents, sir.” Whisk rustled through his bag and pulled out the appropriate amount, handing it to the shopkeeper. “Thank you sir, have a nice day.” “You're welcome, you too.” Whisk replied as the two of them exchanged the items on the counter. Upon leaving the building, Whisk asked Wrecker, “You know, Wrecker, you're quite a bit more talkative than your usual self. Normally you just keep quiet, not saying that that's a bad thing though.” Wrecker gave him a quick glance as they began to make their way back to the manor, “Only talk when I'm asked to.” “I guess. Anyways lets head back to the manor. I'm sure Flight Gear is anxious to get these parts.” Whisk replied, then recalled an old memory of his friend, “ It's funny, this is the first time I've seen him work on something on this large of a scale. Usually he works on smaller things, one of them was a glider that had controllable wings. I remember testing that out with him, had quite a few crashes until it was finally successful. I think, maybe, he forgot about the project. He has left a good majority of them unfinished.” “Perhaps.” “I've gotta say, it's kind of weird talking to you this much, and without your armor on. How are your legs holding up anyways?” “Weird, huh?” Wrecker scoffed. “ Legs are a bit sore, but they'll be fine by the time we leave here.” “That's good to hear. You know, this is the first you've been this open about your past. Marina told me about some of the stuff about your augmentations last night.” Whisk exclaimed. “I figured she would.” Wrecker answered him. “Going to my tribes people is entirely up to you. Abner's journey is top priority though.” Wrecker stopped in his tracks and raised his head high into the air, “We're being followed, small group of bandits, I'm counting six.” “Really, now. I was counting four.” Whisk sighed. “We don't have time for this. Let's get this over with then. On the bright side, the street is empty. Been awhile since I've done some close quarters combat.” “You and I both.” Wrecker replied. “This many for two ponies is a bit ridiculous though.” Whisk jested. Six ponies hopped out from various angles, surrounding them. Three pegasi, one unicorn, and two earth ponies. “You get the unicorn and the earth ponies, I'll deal with the the pegasi.” “Sounds like a plan.” Wrecker agreed as the two of them took a stance, back to back. From the roof, the unicorn overlooked the looming battle, giving a skin tight shielding to the two earth ponies who approached from the dimly lit alley and a rather notable speed enhancement to the pegasi who swooped in and hovered over head. They all wore similar outfits, light brown masks and dark blue leather armor with white fur lining at its edges. The group of bandits began their charge, but the unicorn stayed on top of the roof. Whisk commented as the pegasi dived towards him. Whisk quickly jumped into fray. Dodging the first pegasus, pulling him by his tail and knocking him into the second pegasus and then tackling the third who was moving in to flank Wrecker. Whisk quickly incapacitated the third pegasus with a knock out and moved back to the first two who were stumbling to their feet. He again grabbed the second one by his tail and pulled him to the ground, then smacking him in the back of the neck to knock him unconscious. Wrecker threw one of the earth ponies into the first pegasus that had charged Whisk, causing the two of them to crash into the stone wall of the building behind them. Four down, two to go. The second earth pony charged at Wrecker at full speed. The bandit crashed into his side as he turned, Wrecker was unfazed. He grabbed the pony by the collar of his armor and brought him around, smashing his backside into the cobblestone they stood on. The impact broke apart his armor and made him completely winded. The poor earth pony gasped for air as Wrecker and Whisk turned their attention to the unicorn, who approached them with his horn aflame with magic. Whisk motioned Wrecker to go ahead as he turned away to tie up the ones that they had immobilized. The unicorn began firing bolts of magic consisting of different elemental bases at Wrecker. The bolts nullified against Wreckers skin, the augmentations were crafted with this in mind. With the bolts of magic disintegrating against Wrecker's orange coat , the unicorn backed away. Frightened by Wrecker's domineering stature, the unicorn eventually found himself backed into a corner. With one quick movement of his right foreleg, he gently placed his hoof on the unicorn's horn, further negating his magic through the use of his augmentations. Wrecker then asked in a most commanding and low voice drawn from the deepest of his lungs, “Who sent you?” The helpless unicorn shook uncontrollably, it hindered his voice as he said, “No, one, just a group of random ruffians, bandits, you know.” “The matching outfits say otherwise.” Wrecker remarked with a smirk as Whisk sifted through the pockets of the pegasi and earth ponies. “Um, Wrecker. These guys are from Celestia's Legion. A scouting party, undercover. Appears mister unicorn there received these orders two days ago. Must have been outside the field, their C.O is likely inside the barrier still.” Whisk called out. “That also proves otherwise.” Wrecker demeaned the unicorn further. “Shoot, you've found us out. Just don't kill us.” the unicorn pleaded. “Kill? We have no intention to.” Whisk commented. “Instead, you six are under our orders now. I'm pulling rank here, so your current C.O cannot object. You six are instead going to protect this town from the field, which will stretch its reach here in four days. What's your name.” “Fumbles, sir.” The unicorn saluted after Wrecker released his hoof from his horn. “How should we carry out your orders sir?” “Name's Whisk, current C.O of Celestia's Diplomacy Squad. The big stallion here is Wrecker. As for your orders, use a barrier spell, have everyone take shelter at the manor on top of the hill, it's in the northern most part of the town. You'll need to work with Clackerton's guard for that. My group and I will be heading out one day beforehand, that's when you, Fumbles, will erect a shield to protect the town from the field reaching out from Canterlot. At the manor, you'll seek the help of Rosamond, have her lead you to the library and ask her to raise the manor's barrier, this will help to reinforce your own.” Whisk Paused for a moment. “Got it?” “Understood sir. Quick question sir, where is the guard station?” Fumbles asked. “Center of town, backside of the market square.” Whisk quickly answered. “Now get to it. One more thing, you six could learn some better formation techniques, too easy to read.” “Appreciate the information sir.” Fumbles again saluted as Wrecker and Whisk trotted away back towards the manor, leaving Fumbles to untie his own comrades. “I'm always screwing this shit up up.” Fumbles groaned. Wrecker and Whisk made their way back to the manor around noon, the sun high in the sky. It appeared that its cycle was set in motion normally, which meant that Celestia still retained some of her sanity, or Luna took over for her. Whatever the case, it was good news to see that sun and moon rose and set right proper. “Dirt,” Whisk called out to the guard, who appeared asleep and leaning softly against the wall. “Dirt?” Whisk tapped at his helmet a few times, and then checked for a pulse. “Shite. Wrecker break the gate down. I don't have anything to improvise a breaching charge. Dirt's knocked out and not dead thankfully.” Wrecker immediately followed his order and bucked the rod iron gate with one swift blow. The buck, however, caused a few of the scabs to reopen. Blood seeped into the bandages at a slow and steady pace. Wrecker shook off the quick stings of pain and charged in through the gate. Whisk quickly followed behind him. Bolts of light magic were fired from the deck of the airship at several pegasi that circled above. An earth pony was tossed over the side and fell unconscious against the hard ground. “Looks like we're not too late for the party.” Whisk joked. “Come on, Wrecker. We need to get up there and sort this out.” Whisk and Wrecker ran towards the ship, avoiding Tiva, who was climbing down the ladder to make her way inside. “Good to see you're okay, Tiva.” Whisk said as they passed her by. “Wrecker, toss me up.” Wrecker grabbed Whisk by the back of the neck using his teeth, spun around once and let go. Launching him high enough to get over the deck railing. Wrecker quickly followed, using his augmentations to give him a boost in his jump. What came next was surprising. The four pegasi who were circling overhead, charged towards Abner. used a pulse of magic that gleamed brighter than the sun, tossing all four pegasi aside followed by restraints made from parts of the ship by Flight Gear's magic. An earth pony charged toward Abner, who quickly dodged and tripped up the pony's charge by throwing himself into his hindquarters. Flight Gear quickly followed up with morphing metals conforming into a one large strap to wrap the pony like a cocoon. Another unicorn stood atop of the bridge, apparently commanding the other five of this particular group. The unicorn fired off several bolts of lightning based magic from his horn, all homing in on Abner. Abner swerved and dodged the first, the other bolts zigzagged in different patterns. Abner managed to counter one, striking it down with magic of his own. Another two bolts of magic came in from behind which Abner quickly avoided. The bolts stopped before hitting the ships main mast, twisted and turned around and hurled themselves back toward Abner. As the unicorn controlled the last two remaining bolts, he summoned dozens more to do his bidding, homing them in on Abner; paying no heed to Whisk and Wrecker's appearance. Flight Gear intercepted many of the bolts that rained down on Abner, who brought up a shield to cancel out the bolts of magic. In the midst of the onslaught, Wrecker and Whisk tried to sneaking around, to flank the unicorn. Much to their surprise, the unicorn had brought up an invisible barrier that prevented such an attack. Wrecker's negation of magic failed, it would not budge under his strength, strange he thought. Only one pony would know of such a way to nullify Wrecker's augmentations. All the while Abner's shield began to falter as Flight Gear moved in to reinforce the protective bubble of golden light energy. His heart pounding hard, his breathing wild, Abner quickly sought the answers to defeating the foe in his mind. As he thought about this, everything slowed down, like playing a film or a vinyl record slower than its recommended speed. Abner began to feel, in a way, the light that surrounded everyone and the way that it moved in the most violent and gentle manner. With one deep breath, closing of the eyes and one extensively long exhalation of it with opening his ice blue eyes back up, everything turned to monochromatic grays. He could see each particle of light bounce off a surface as if it were rain, gently coloring the surface for barely a moment. Everything appeared frozen in place. Stepping forward, slowly, he exited the shield of his creation and approached his foe. Each stride began heavier than a thousand elephants and fell like the greatest waterfall. He could hear each pound of the heart his foe made, each pound of the heart his allies made. Their smells and the dew that stubbornly clung to the grass beneath, and the odd mixture of steel and wood. Each landing of his paws wrought an earthly and heavenly feel until it felt like he was walking on air. For a moment, he thought to have caught a glimpse of another world, which vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. He came up alongside Wrecker and Whisk, confronting the barrier the two of them had encountered. Abner touched the magical wall with one paw, the particles separated and formed around his outstretched limb. A gentle warmth expelled from the reformation of the particles and for a brief second, recolored the air around his paw. With three more steps, he was inside the barrier. On his final steps to his foe, he realized that this unicorn was someone he had already met, someone that he had already traveled with. His foe had cloaked himself in a long robe, brown as a cup of coffee. Before unmasking this familiarity, Abner projected a barrier to prevent the unicorn from firing off any more bolts of magic. Abner raised his head, and pulled the hood from up off the stallion's head. Thus the revelation became that the unicorn was Cuffs, the doctor who had helped them throughout their journeys. Shocked, Abner backed away, unable to reach a conclusion as to why Cuffs would be attacking them. However, that's when he realized that there were swirls of black clouds in his eyes and numerous patches of the Blight wrapping around his head and neck. The disease almost appeared to emanate a thin black smoke out from his dirtied mane that was once a brilliant light blue and from his now blackened nostrils. Carefully, Abner sought out the remainder of his magic and tied Cuffs hooves to the bridge in such a way that it would be difficult for him to get out of. With one last deep breath, closing his eyes until he felt the light flow back to its natural ways. Abner reopened his eyes to a fallen stallion, unable to use his magic, he neighed, snorted, and huffed in an extremely primal manner unfamiliar to everyone. Abner became breathless and barely able to move, panting hard and using every muscle to hold himself up to keep from collapsing. The final bolts of magic fizzled away along with the shield Flight Gear commandeered. Whisk was slow to comment, “Cuffs, you look like shit.” “I know.” Cuffs replied, barely able to piece his words together to begin with. Unbeknownst to the group, Lark came onto the ship, dragging Abner's sword with her, sheathe and harness altogether. Catching Abner's eye, he willed himself to move toward her and when he did, he drew the hefty zweihander from its sheathe and began walking back towards Cuffs. Collapsing several times along the way until Wrecker lifted him up onto his back, the sword dragging along the thick oak boards of the deck. Wrecker gently set him down before Cuffs, who writhed with struggles to escaped, but a part of him tried to keep calm, knowing that this could be the end. Abner sat down in front of him, dragging the sword around. In one final movement, Abner gently rested the sword on top of Cuffs. This action caused a rapid expulsion if Blight out from Cuffs, forming into a cloud of swirling black smoke. In a fit of fury the Blight thrusted itself into Abner, burrowing in through his chest, causing his eyes to burn, ears to ring, heart to race, nostrils to inflame, and mouth to dry. After the sudden piercing of his senses, Abner collapsed, blacking out into a unworldly dream of silences and vast emptiness. His use of magic sapped him of all strength. Eventually, Abner found himself drifting away in a blanket of white backing. Again, he felt as if he were swimming trough the air, light as a feather and free as a bird. Feeling his heart soar and become delighted, he danced round with swoops of grace and glides of swiftness. The weight of the world felt as if it head been lifted up from off his shoulders, a thought that had escaped him after the Stribog's attack on his village. Pausing for a moment, Abner saw trails of bight golden light tracing from his tail. It followed the path he flew, through its loops and dives, rolls and turns. For quite some time he amused himself in the trails of light, drawing out different shapes and objects of sorts. Eventually, he grew tired of this. He wasn't sure if he had died or if he had simply passed out from overexerting his magic. In his thought, he heard a voice echo, it cried for help. Delicately maneuvering, Abner tracked down the cries using his keen sense of hearing. He happened upon a crude figure of smoke, it appeared to burn like a flame but drip like water. It sobbed like a child, loud and ringing but the sound appeared to change in pitch and modulate in an unusual way. Piquing his sense of curiosity, Abner circled around, the object had no eyes, no limbs or mouth to speak of. He remembered the words of his brother Lev, “The soul is mysterious. Many fathom its existence, others are unable to comprehend such a thing so simple yet complex. Some say it is what binds out hearts and minds, helps us feel, helps us to have a conscious, or that it is a synonym for our instincts. Yet the soul remains invisible to our eyes, a construct of thought, like time and imagination. Some have reported that those who see their souls are departing from this world or are the verge of. A smoke that burns like fire, pours like water, cries like a newborn, and is entirely featureless in other characteristics; as one report put it.” It seemed funny now, that Lev's early revelation to Abner about the soul of a being was accurately portrayed in the book he read. Abner, ever the more curious, raised a paw to touch the smokey fire. It retreated away, its crying shifted in a sharp high pitch. Confused, Abner repeated his actions. Again the orb of smoke shifted away with a sharp low pitch. Its crying toned down, became quieter. Confounded, Abner began to follow the orb of smoking water. It didn't take long before Abner realized that the orb was taking him somewhere. A question lingered in his mind however, was this his soul, or one of the three others that had essentially merged theirs with his? Continuing down the unmarked path the orb led him on, he eventually came upon a large cathedral, dilapidated and decrepit. It appeared in a frozen state of disrepair, remains from the outstretching buttresses and multilevel rose windows branched outward and held firm in midair. An elaborate and extremely worn frieze wrapped around the entire structure, its imagery resembled battles of the past. The cathedral was tall, daunting, and unending in its height, a strain to the neck if one tried to see the top. Its color was black as ink to the whitest paper, white outlined every corner and nook. Pulling his eyes away from the cathedral's exterior, Abner looked for the orb, which now burned an ice blue, much like Stribog's scales. It appeared to motion him to follow, rocking back and forth. Abner entered the building and thought to himself, perhaps this is the memory of Stribog, a dragon who was once part of the Guardians. This was likely the reasoning behind his mass reserve of magic, in the books he read, there was no one who was able to control light at such a level. The orb opened the doors, which had torn in two but their height still required them to be opened manually. Upon entering the cathedral, Abner saw not rows and rows of seats, but spiraling stairs that reached far into the unseeing sky above. That large hall opened up to a circular area, where prayers would be silently spoken before an alter. A casket, lathered in a single coat of brown paint sat towards the back. The floor was lined, directing movement and flow. Drawing his eyes away from the scenery again, Abner saw the ice blue orb pulsate and move towards the circle located before the alter. Where it joined two others, one of raging black fire and amber water-like droplets, the other burned a rose pink and dripped red in color. The orb that led him here, took a stance behind the podium that stood before the casket and after the prayer circle. A strange reverberation echoed from it, as if it were speaking. The translation magics that resided within him were subsiding. Still confused by the matter, he sat down on the ornate circle, which in a stained glass fashion, depicted the tremendous final moments of the last battle within the building. The floor softly glowed orange, highlighting specific parts one at a time as if to tell the story like a graphic novel. It played out the final moments, in epic fashion, animating each pane of glass to create the different characters involved. Every swing his ancestor made destroyed hundreds of enemies made of pitch black ink. He ravaged through the hordes and made his way to a set of extremely tall towers, obelisks breaching the highest clouds. At its base was a large colonnade set in a circle, Gothic style arches connecting every pillar. The size easily dwarfed the mountains of Canterlot. The entry way was incredibly similar to the cathedral Abner occupied. Stepping inside, his ancestor was followed by several companions, Drystan, was one of them. He looked the same as he does now, holding the form of an earth pony with blackened coat that bleeds like ink wash on paper. A large battle worn griffin whose claws looked to devastate anything in one swipe and his third companion was a large elemental golem whose head and torso were made of earth and limbs of unyielding ice. They took to the massive spiraling staircases, evenly splitting up the group to either side until they reached a floor filled to the brim with creatures indescribable. A hulking figure guarded the exit, a dragon bearing strong resemblance to Stribog's. He breathed fire and ice before and brought forth every attack he could muster before succumbing to defeat. Passing him by, the group made their way across a bridge connecting to yet even taller tower. There, they fought a Chimera with the head of a lion, forelegs of a mighty eagle, hind legs of of a bull, and a tail consisting of a venomous two headed snake. Again, with much ease they blew through the room and defeated the Guardian. Making their way across the final bridge the group was split into two, a large aircraft of sorts crafted by the likes of the Blight crashed into the bridge. His ancestor and Drystan made it across, the golem and the griffin remained on the other side and stood their ground against hordes of monsters that chased them. In the last and final room, they faced off against two enemies, a large bird made of lightning, the other a giant nine tailed fox. Drystan battled the fox, while Abner's ancestor fought the bird made of lightning. The animated stained glass cut to the end of the battle, both Guardians defeated. Never once did his ancestor draw the sword from its sheathe, its aura could be seen bright and vivid, swirling about. With the Guardians defeated, his ancestor drew the sword and placed it upon an alter, where it then activated a massive spell that eradicated every creature solely made of the Blight and cleansing those who were infected by it. Abner's ancestor turned to stone, Drystan remained to guard him and the Guardians that they had defeated roosted in the same room and they too, changed to stone. The way it all ended was confounding. The glass reverted to a look that summarized the events that occurred. The three orbs of fire and water shifted about, floating over to the casket upon the alter. Abner followed as the lid to the casket creaked open, finally revealing its contents. It was a mirror image of Abner, seeing himself in a casket instantly threw him into confusion and shock. Running out of the cathedral, he felt unable to bear the image. Thinking himself dead, running into the overcoming blackness the reached out from the horizon and consumed the ground beneath and the sky above. He heard the cries of a single voice, “Abner!” it cried. “Snap out of it, don't die, please, don't die.” It echoed from far away. Shaken and confused, he started to feel sweat drip from his head and fall to the ground silently. His legs became heavier and the voice became louder. Before long, he realized that legs were sinking into the ground, melting and morphing into the blackness. One last call of his name came to be before he began to hear a melancholy and heartbreaking song in a language his ears failed to translate. He stopped struggling and let himself melt away into the blackness. Slowing feeling his senses, smelling the mountain air, hearing the groves of forests below rustle in the wind, feeling the wind softly brush his fur, the taste of his lunch still lingering on his tongue. He slowly opened his eyes to a clear a beautiful blue sky gently touched by an orange hue. He could feel his heart beat slowly calm down along with with his breath. A cry of relief followed by a strong hug by Lark frightened him for a moment, he tried to hug back, but his forelegs were extremely heavy. His body had taken the burden of a massive overexertion of magic. In hindsight, he wasn't sure about how he managed to cast such a spell. He thought about the book by Phosphorescence, he had read about light sources worked and how it traveled in certain environments but he never thought that he would wind up actually it within such a large area. It was baffling. Softly shaking his thoughts loose of the battle and taking the overwhelming joy of relief that Lark had, her tears, much like Tiva's, matted up his fur. Her muffled and stifled speech constantly repeated her relief. Abner smiled as Whisk peered in, making himself barely visible over Lark's shoulder, “I would love to ask how you even managed to do such a thing, but I'll save that for later. We need to get both you and Doc to the infirmary.” Whisk turned away and Lark pulled herself off. Abner was lifted up by Wrecker and set upon his back. Cuffs, barely able to walk, apparently came back to his senses and was helped by Whisk and Flight Gear. Lark took the sword and sheathed it, using both her magic and forelegs to do so. While Abner was dreaming, Whisk had told the soldiers the same thing he told the group that Fumbles commanded. Things were quieter than usual, a low ringing remained in Abner's ears. As they traveled back inside, several of the tenants looked on curiously. It felt like they were silently welcoming some hero's return who was unable to complete his journey because of injury. He saw a few of the ponies speak, but he could not hear their words. Wooden Spoon and Cast Iron Pan, Whisk's father and mother, confronted him asking what had happened. Whisk's words were barely audible as they continued making their way to the infirmary, following Jeeves down the hallway. Abner and Cuffs were rested onto separate beds as they waited for a doctor to check on them. Cuffs mouthed the words “Thank you.” to Abner. In response, he gently nodded his head to acknowledge it before peacefully falling asleep. He slept undisturbed for the remainder of the afternoon and well into the next morning. The vision he saw of his ancestor replayed over and over again as he slept, burned itself in to his memory. The next day he awoke to the sound of a heart monitor beeping in unison with his pulse. It took Abner a moment to remember how he got there and when he did, he began thinking of other ways he could have approached Cuffs yesterday afternoon. He pulled himself forward, raising his head so that he could get a better view of everything. Half covered in a thick and practically colorless quilt, he looked around, saw both Lark and Tiva asleep by his bed cuddled up together underneath a blanket of their own. He gently smiled before seeing the tube that connected from his foreleg to a bag filled with water hanging from a metal stand attached to the wall. He saw that Cuffs had been discharged from the infirmary, as he was not in the bed he was placed in the night before. Abner also feared that he may have been taken to the morgue as well, a thought that he quickly shook off to ease his mind. He wondered how long he had been asleep, a day or two perhaps? Hopefully he hadn't woken too late, having the rest of the group waiting on him would be a bit of hassle. He heard some footsteps approach the doorway, his ears perked and he stared at the entrance with all the curiosity of a cat. Two familiar voices along with the bodies that they came from stepped through the frame and into the room. Cuffs and Whisk, with looks of happiness came forward and approached him. Cuffs spoke up first, “It's good to see you're finally awake, and well it appears.” He did a quick scan with a magic spell of his own, crafted to detect any unusual anomalies. “You've been sleeping for the past day and a half. I would say that your were practically in a coma. Such a drain of magic and an excessive use of it is incredibly enduring and tiresome. However, what you did affected your entire nervous and muscular system as well, so the body needed even more time to recover. No permanent damage thankfully. It's really quite astounding how a novice such as you even managed to cast such a spell in the first place. Furthermo-” Whisk moved his hoof to cover his mouth, “Cuffs, shut your trap for a moment would you? You've been on this for the past day and a half.” Whisk sighed and planted his hoof back on the ground. “Anyways, what Cuffs is trying to say is that you're better. Might need a little time to get used to walking properly again, but you should be all good.” He looked over to the other side of the bed, seeing Lark and Tiva cuddled up together. “Lark's been worried sick about you. Kept saying that she didn't want to break her promise to your father and breaking a promise like that would be devastating to her. Anyways, Cuffs, go ahead and pull him off of the sensors and the IV.” “Will do, Whisk. Back to working with Flight Gear afterward?” Cuffs said as he unplugged the heart monitor and gently pulled the needle out from Abner's foreleg, placing a pad of gauss following by some bandage to keep it in place. “Yup, not going to stop until the sun sets. Flight Gear needs all the help he can get and we have to leave tomorrow evening at the latest. That field is halfway through the Everfree Forest, what kind of beasts will come from there is confounding to even think about.” Whisk remarked. “How is Charger by the way?” “Understandable.” Cuffs paused for a bit, recollecting his memory of the events and finishing up the bandaging on Abner. “I had him mind controlled. I casted the spell, but it should be broken by now considering the magic was mine alone. Hopefully the Blight didn't manage to manifest to mess with his mind to such the extent I was in. After the battle with Wrecker, we went back to Canterlot and requested a few soldiers. They gave us a few to work with that were thankfully not yet infected with Blight. For a few days I had them pursue your group. Charger was supposed to lead the group that attacked you and Wrecker. It's likely that he could still be in that area, or he's assuming that we've already made it to the temple on the outskirt's of Abner's village. Odds are that under my mind control, which I casted while I was under the influence of that damned disease, Charger likely has no recollection of the events that transpired and therefore is going off of what he already knows. My best guess he'll grab a map and be on his way about the same time we leave.” Whisk stared at him with a blank face. Cuffs raised a brow and gave a look of confusion, “What?” “Anyone ever tell you you talk too much?” Whisk asked. Cuffs scoffed and shifted his eyes to the side, “You have plenty of times, I know.” “That was a bit of a rhetorical question but whatever.” Whisk said as he turned away and headed towards the door, then continuing, “Simplifying your rather long reply, we just wait for Charger to show up?” “Correct.” Cuffs assured him. “Good, I'd rather not have him miss too much, he always loves a good fight.” Whisk remarked as he exited the room. A moment of silence overcame the room before Cuffs broke the silence and faced towards Abner, who still lied on the bed, “I hate his attitude sometimes but, he's the jester of the group so to speak.” He said as he helped Abner to the floor and onto his feet, “You can go ahead and rest some more Abner, get a bit of food, and perhaps work on the aircraft a bit afterward. Maybe you should stay here to assure Lark you weren't sent off to the morgue.” After seeing that Abner managed to get back on his feet well enough to walk on his own, Cuffs left the room. Abner heavily considered his words as he looked over Lark and Tiva. He curled himself up along Lark's backside and closed his eyes again. Unable to sleep, he thought of the origins of the Elements of Harmony. He had remembered that the sword was a gift to the Guardians in exchange for the Elements. Perhaps the Elements had to be taken away from them to prevent them from becoming more powerful. He remembered Twilight Sparkle mentioning something about the unfathomable power that the Elements seemed to possess, their drawback being how they had to be used. All six pieces had to be in in close proximity to one another and the mental state of mind had to properly coordinate with each individual user to present the desired effect. No matter how much he seemed to think it over, it just seemed that there was a piece of the puzzle missing, something history may have decidedly left out. Then he thought of the crazed vision he had after he lost consciousness. Certainly he saw his ancestor turn to stone through the glass's tale. He thought about the casket, when this vision took a turn into a much unwanted nightmare. The vision filled presented a somewhat different chain of events compared to the story that Prudence had told him when they first met. However, she never spoke of a group of four vastly different in their species and talents and neither did his mother and father. Perhaps their names got lost to the long twists of time. Abner began to feel the thoughts weigh his mind and cause a slight headache. He sighed deeply, letting go of the foreboding thoughts that sought to plague his mind. After a few minutes, Lark began shifting her body around. She raised her head up and yawned, wearily opening her tired eyes. Looking at the bed for a moment, taking in the emptiness, she thought for a moment if she had fallen asleep at the wrong bed. She carefully moved to not wake Tiva, then she felt Abner's fur brush along her own. She immediately became overwhelmed with joy and happiness, hugging him tightly. Abner, with a straight face, expected this reaction. The last few months had taught him that Lark was one to be easily emotional, easily worried. She was always one to be optimistic though and always held herself to her words. She never spoke much about her family however, perhaps her behavior is a facade to her secrets or maybe she was adopted by the townsfolk. Whatever the case was, Abner was happy to have her come along. Her cheeriness is always admirable. “Abner, I'm so glad you're okay.” She said, her voice crooked by her sleep and apparent soreness. “I was so worried about you. I've never heard of anyone using such a high level spell. Whisk told me that in one moment you on the front deck, then everything seemed to turn gray for just a second and then you had Cuffs tied down to the roof of the bridge. It sounds like a teleportation spell, but that usually doesn't have such an effect on the area around the user.” She took a deep breath, stopping herself from rambling on about the magic and set Abner back on his feet. “Anyways, I'm extremely glad and greatly overjoyed that you're okay. Let's go see the the aircraft, our ticket out of here.” She smiled has she used levitation to lift Tiva up and carried her out the door. Abner found her actions amusing and smiled as he followed behind her. Making their way outside once again, Abner saw that the air bladders and their inflation, as well as exoskeleton construction, had been completed. The hull and deck of the ship had been repaired with the help of the soldiers that attacked them not too long ago. Flight Gear was busy testing the new engine design as Whisk finished up some final wiring to the ships interface systems. If someone knew how to create advanced magic systems, Flight Gear was certainly one of them. Flames erupted from the engines exhaust pipes, violently throwing air outward in all directions. Two large rudders had been attached to the hull of the ship with propellers set between the two. A main sail and a head sail laid outstretched from the main mast. The several outlying wing-like structures, essentially angled masts, also had their sails ready and well secured. The crows nest had been replaced with something more stable after displaying its initial fragility during the battle beforehand. It was an astonishing sight to see all this effort go into one airship and be completed within a such a short period of time. Lark went on her merry way and wandered into the crew quarters with Tiva, telling Abner that she wanted her to rest somewhere a bit more comfortable than the infirmary floor. Abner went about his own way, exploring the ship from its somewhat small cargo bay to its easy flowing hallways going through the crew quarters up to the captains nest, which had a spiral staircase leading up to the bridge in the back of the room. The mess hall had enough tables to feed the Abner's group plus the eleven soldiers that were currently helping out. Abner overheard Whisk talking with Fumbles, the unicorn that he had apparently met the same day Abner lost consciousness. Fumbles told Whisk that the town guards were uneasy with the sudden request. The chief told Fumbles that such a request would take time to complete and under three days may not be enough. He did however acknowledge the impending threat as he too notice the significant increase in the size of the field expelling outward from Canterlot. Whisk understood the claims that the guard chief answered and told Fumbles to continue carrying out the orders he assigned him. Abner continued on, exploring the engine bay, rather large in its size and elaborate. It was considerably the heaviest part of the entire aircraft. Two adjustable exhaust outlets allowed for aid in steering and lifting the ship off the ground. Large canisters of fuel reactant to magic had various lines fed into to the tops of different cylinders that contained pistons. Pistons that rotated a camshaft to give power to the propellers which were barely visible from the inside, their mounts made of heavy steel and iron kept them in place. Flight Gear was cranking a few wrenches on a certain part of the engine, fine tuning the engines final outputs. The size of the engine easily dwarfed Abner's size, being quite a bit larger than most exquisite carriages made to taxi rich folk to a gala. Flight Gear stepped away from the engine, taking a deep breath of relief and wiping his brow. He glanced over at Abner, who he saw out of the corner of his eye. “Abner, glad to see you're alright. Although you being up and walking around may not be the best idea. Lark seems to take quite the liking to ya, maybe she loves you.” Flight Gear joked he laughed at his own joke until he coughed. His voice had gotten raspy. “Fucking fuck, must be coming down with a cold again. Doctors told me when I was young that I have some magic handicap. Always get sick when I use my fucking magic too much.” he sighed. Despite the engine's large size, the noise it created was less than one would initially think. Most of the noise came from the spinning internal parts that were dampened by their containment and the other portion of the noise came from the fluctuating purple and orange fire that came out from the exhaust. “Come here a moment, Abner.” Abner did so and sat down next to him. After taking a quick sip from his flask, Flight Gear began explaining the various parts in a simplified manner. The fluids from the canisters consisted of two different types of rock that had been liquified that needed to be stored separately otherwise it would create an explosive when exposed to water. The fluids mixed in a sealed reservoir which fed four different lines to a series of pistons wrapped around a center point. Another reservoir contained water that were injected into each cylinder in insanely short instances. This triggered a blow-back effect where it forced the piston back to the top of the cylinder containing it. Each piston was time to fire off at different moments to create the desired movement of the camshaft, the rods that moved the large propeller blades. Byproduct of the combustion chambers were fed into another part of the engine, the main exhaust. However, Flight Gear had concocted a way to get more out of it instead of just some pretty purple smoke. By casting a spell of amplification and using a small amount of solidified magic by binding his magic with a rare crystal he obtained and exposing it to the main engines exhaust, combined with a secondary rotation provided by the pistons from before resulting in a massive boost power for use in acceleration and lift. Flight Gear also added that instead of relying on the sails for maneuvering, annoyingly slow to him, he fitted the two exhaust pipes with flanges that could be angled and rotated, providing quicker lift and quicker handling. He stated a downside to the engine's design though, being that a good portion of power was necessary to started the pumping process and the initial rotation as well. He finished his long explanation with a quip remark about some older legendary airships, “It'll be quicker than the Flying Mongoose, turn better than the River Fury, and stronger than Mountain's Hammer. This baby could withstand a massive amount of damage to the hull provided they don't hit the engine. Even if they do shoot out the bladders, this engine will keep the ship going quite nicely.” He chuckled, smiling and felt a great sense of achievement. “Would love to put some fucking awesome as all fuck armaments on this thing, but I don't have the time.” He sighed, his mood changed from happy to almost melancholic, “I've always wanted to fly, you know. Take to the fucking skies like those damned pegasi. I love seeing my wife dance among those clouds so gracefully, made me jealous. All these years I've constructed one thing after another that allowed for better flight. Moved around to the point where I was a ball in a tennis court.” he said heavyhearted, looking up for a moment. He continued, “Eventually I came back here, met, engaged and married Albedo Snow Freshet. She calmed me down, warmed my heart, my stressing lifestyle finally slowed down a bit. For awhile I stopped drinking, but stress got the better of me and I relapsed. Fucking hilarious that it happened just a few days before you guys showed up.” Giving Abner a short stare, who was intrigued by his short life's story, he changed his attitude and stopped himself from rambling on about his life, “Well, anyways, I managed to convert that telecommunications device that Whisk used a few days ago into something a bit more reasonable.” With a few quick flicks of his magic, he pulled a flat cylindrically shaped device that had a single button in its center. Purple in color with silver lines intricately decorating the entire surface. The device was approximately the size of his hoof. “Which also reminds me.” he said as he pulled a book towards him that had been laying next to a small pile of unused metals, “This blasted little book of yours helped me out quite a bit, thanks. Now for a long as all fuck explanation of the device here, it performs the same functions as the telecommunications device. Magic is required to power it, but it works as a charge. A ten second induction of magic to this little thing will allow for ten hours of use. Now when you press this button here, it will expand out to a larger form. It will cast out a locator spell in which you give a specific person's name. After the user's input, it searches throughout the land to find the recipient, then has the option to accept or deny what is essentially a phone call. It cancels if denied, if accepted than it displays a live image of the caller to the recipient and vice versa.” He paused catching his breath and taking another sip of whiskey from his flask, “Take it, then you can call on me for when you need a ride somewhere, so long as nothing fucking happens.” A long period of silence between the two arose, neither one wanted to start a conversation. Abner couldn't think of how as his voice was taken away from him by the fires or by the costly process of transference magic. Flight Gear on the other hand, seemed to have run out of things to say after Abner graciously accepted his offer of the telecommunications device. Flight Gear gazed at the engine with a sense of accomplishment as the noise of hammers upon nails their final hits upon their surface. A clapping of hooves walking down the hall found their way into the engine bay followed by a voice, “Flight Gear, the hull and every deck of the ship is completed and awaiting your final approval. We'll be waiting in the mess hall” It was a soldier from one of the squads that they fought off yesterday. “Ah, really? That's good to hear, I'll be up in a moment. I'm going to check this thing over one more time and then I'll hop on up there.” Flight Gear answered him. He sounded relieved that his work was finally done. The soldier left as Flight Gear took a long sigh. “Guess this will be my magnum opus in a way. Be damned if this all goes to shit later.” Abner looked at him with an odd sense of understanding. Unsure of his words but yet had the feeling that he knew what he meant by how he was saying it. Such a melancholy feel. Flight Gear got up, inspected every part with strenuous testing and scanned each to make sure they met the proper numbers that he needed to keep the massive engine together properly lest it fall apart while in flight. Every time he inspected a piece, numbers and descriptions matching the individual part displayed itself on a small screen that he had apparently installed on one of the five adjustable lenses of his glasses. Another confounding piece of equipment he constructed that was more than what it appeared. After finishing his inspection, motioned Abner to follow him, Abner did as he had nothing to do in the engine bay as it was. Abner gave one last glance at the engine, as if he were hoping that nothing did happen. He looked at the small telecommunications device Flight Gear had given him, he formed a small bag out of some magic and placed it inside, then wrapped straps connecting to the bag around his ribs and around his collar bones. It was temporary but it would hold long enough until he reequipped his satchel that held his sword, the books he had, and the stones Prudence had given him. He wondered what he could do with those, the books he had told no instructions of them and their use. As he followed Flight Gear out and up to the bridge through the halls, he recalled that each of the stones were unique in their shape and inscriptions. Perhaps he should seek out Prudence's guidance on them. Flight Gear and Abner made their way to the mess hall of the ship, which had yet to be named. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by everyone who had worked on the ship, almost like a welcome home celebration, more of a going away party instead. The soldiers they fought, everyone in Whisk's squad, Lark and Tiva, and there were even a few of the tenants of the manor that chipped in some of their own hard work. There was however one pony that Abner had not seen before, sporting a shining and glittering snow white coat. Her straight mane and tail were crimped to create long waves within the lowly saturated grass green colour and shined just as much as her coat. Her eyes matched her mane with speckles of white dotting her irises. She wore ice blue mascara on her eyelids. She was a stunning beauty, jaw dropping beauty. It was reminiscent of Abner's older sister, Naamiy. “Snow, dear, I thought you had work today.” Flight Gear smirked. “I took the day off when I heard from Whisk here that your aircraft was finally done. It's going to be sunny for the rest of the day anyways.” Her voice flowed as well as the streaking patterns of ice blue in her wings, straight, pure, and almost melting in their form. She was one that any stallion would absolutely fawn over. “Have you thought of a name yet?” She brushed by him and circled around. “Not yet, I think I've got a good idea though. I'll do something about it in the morning before the maiden voyage. I need some time to fucking relax you know?” Flight Gear answered her, almost bemused by her graceful movement. She appeared to be a more cuddling type of mare. The beauty adoring the drunkard, the princess and the poor stallion. An odd relationship it appeared but somehow, it worked for them. For the remainder of the evening, the folk were in celebration, in a calmly manner. Everyone seemed to chat among their own groups. Flight Gear and his wife caught up with Whisk on the things they've missed. Marina and Wrecker stood with them as well, remaining quiet for a good portion of time. Cuffs sat a table reading through one of the books that Abner had brought along, his interest was still piqued by what Abner had done. Abner stuck by Whisk's side, listening in on the rather interesting conversation. Whisk fleshed out a good portion of his story behind the current events and Prudence's departure. Some of the things Whisk told them left Flight Gear in awe like the runaway train incident when he was leaving Canterlot and used improvised explosives to stop the train as much as possible. Flight Gear told a few stories of his own, one in particular in went into some detail about. He recalled an unusual order by a rather shady customer, a pegasus wanting an enhanced flight system for an upcoming race that weaved its way through a treacherous ravine. The customer was very precise in the materials he wanted to use and the shape of every piece of equipment, leaving Flight Gear with very little room to work with but less work to do in the long run. Flight Gear mentioned several instances where he had an unusual amount of difficulty keeping some parts the correct weight, making compromises with certain pieces to get the desired outcome. After about five solid months of hard work and excessive testing, he completed the project and his client finished the race in first place. Oddly enough, the other racers had their own flight modifications, all different in design and materials. Coincidentally, his client was considered a surprise contestant who had only made it into the race because of a fault in the qualifiers that was left uncorrected. After that, Flight Gear had a good portion of new customers at his door, wanting to get gear of their own. Flight Gear added that this also provided the opportunity for him to get his name out and train others in his techniques which he had invented for use by any species of ponies. The sunset grew well into the night, descending its bright glow below the horizon as the celebration began to settle down. Abner had returned to his own room along with Whisk, who had gotten decidedly more drunk than Flight Gear. Abner had to use his magic to keep Whisk from falling over. Whenever Abner had to shift his grip of magic around Whisk, he could feel his weight press against the magical surfaces of his spell. Once he got him inside the room they were residing, Abner cover Whisk up with the massive royal red and white lined blanket that lied upon the bed. Afterward, he sought his satchel and placed the book that Cuffs had borrowed and the the compacted communications device within. Resting in the sheathe of the harness, the zweihander emitted a feeling of hope and salvation. Abner wondered for a moment, if he would wind up suffering the same fate as his ancestor. The Guardians he fought were defeated, but they were not killed, perhaps he was unable to accept a truth, or fate, that was presented in such a manner. However, there was never a single mention of the Elements of Harmony in his vision. Perhaps there was more and perhaps the Elements weren't even involved in the first place. These questions continued to muddle his thoughts as he tried to sleep. Eventually giving in to his curiosity, Abner got up and equipped the harness, then proceeded to head down to the manor's library. The still night air filled the entire manor like a thick morning fog accompanied by a waning half moon. Abner's quiet footsteps were joined with the soft nicking of his claws against the stone flooring with a mild echo reverberating throughout the hall. He saw Jeeves making some final cleanup rounds, polishing a vase and dusting the podium it sat upon. The two of them greeted each other with a nod of their heads. After that, Abner entered the library and began to look through the vast index of cards stored in multiple filing cabinets, each card being a directory of where to find each book by its title and genre. He sifted through the cards to find one containing the entirety of Equestria's history and another book about the runestones that Prudence had given to him. The one of Equestria's history was quite easy to find, but a book on runestones was relatively difficult. A good portion of ones relating to them wound up being only quick mentions and jabbing theories unexplored upon. Perhaps the type of magic used is incredibly different than the type used by the common folk of Equestria. In a world full of magic, it's rather difficult to imagine how expansive the fields maybe. Unbeknownst to Abner, Jeeves approached him without his notice and spoke clearly in his roughened old age, “Sir Abner, may I ask what you're doing up at this hour, in a library of all places?” Abner was taken aback for a moment, initially frightened by his sudden appearance. He took a short deep breath, to calm his jumping heart, then proceeded to pull the runestones out from his satchel, presenting them in full view of Jeeves eyes, which always appeared to be closed. He opened one eye, peering through the lens of the monocle he wore. “Runestones? I haven't taken a good gander at these little things in a good twenty years, maybe more.” His face was aglow with the feeling of nostalgia, “I know the perfect book for these. No doubt that you would like to hold on to it as well, considering your limited time here. Now lets see if I remember the title right and properly.” Jeeves opened a drawer to a filing cabinet that Abner had not yet opened and began to quickly sift through the well-organized cards. Closing the drawer after pulling out a single index card with satisfaction. “Found it. Now, I shall lead the way Sir Abner, please do follow. Abner followed him throughout the library, it seemed to pride itself on its openness and its two floors of nothing but books and a few tables throughout. A much more simple style in its shape compared the Canterlot's Academy library. The entire room containing the mass of books and shelves was nearly a perfect square with a glass dome in the ceiling and the topmost shelves of books were like straight blades of cut grass reaching for the sky. Four tall rectangular windows stretched from the trim of the floor to the frieze just before the intricate crown molding that broke up the emptiness of the great stone walls which made up the entire manor. The second floor to the library was like a block of wood that had slots in it to allow the flow of the bookshelves to flow through them. Wrapping around and cutting past the white stained windows and creating the same effect made the entire layout symmetrical. Making his way up a set of stairs that were at the front of the library, just after the main entrance. Stopping at each aisle, Jeeves checked the card and the labels of the aisles to make sure they matched accordingly. When he did, he then matched the card to the set of shelves that were labeled accordingly. The whole system seemed a bit troublesome to Abner, but it works. Organizing the books in just their alphabetical order would take quite some in its own right. Jeeves found the book after hovering his hoof to keep his eyes on track with their titles. Pulling it off the shelf, he flipped through a few of the pages and made sure that it was the proper one. He then handed it over to Abner. Abner looked over the book, quickly examining its frayed cloth cover dyed with a rich red that had a weave of knots neatly bordering the edges. Its pages were a rough parchment with similar knotting borders of red ink. Various pages held different pictures representing runestones of a certain type. The drawings were rough and worn, some parts of a few appeared to be missing, as if the ink had vanished or had been burned off the page. He closed the book up and looked at the dusty cover again, it was titled Rune Magic: Stones and Engravings, written by Falu Red. The font of the text vaguely resembled the earlier stages of writing known to his own race, single strokes of quickly drawn lines that represented a word combined with simple symbols in place of everyday objects. Elemental aspects were drawn out much the same, obvious to what they were. The cover itself appeared to have been replaced with a translated version of the original, as the wrapping had been made well after the book was discovered. “Now, Abner, do take care of the book, as it is an original copy. Falu Red wrote only two editions about runestones, this is one of the first editions that he kept to himself.” He said and then he remembered something as if had forgotten about it. “When I first found the book in this library, there were a few pieces of stone lodged in the back cover, the librarian said they were decoration. I read through this book to discover that they were actually pieces to a single runestone. There was, however a single runestone missing either lost to time or in the hooves of someone the author trusted.” he said, pulling the pieces out from one of the pockets of his black overcoat. They were banded together with a single rubber band and appeared to have very little wear compared to the book. “I was unable to keep them bound together in their original form.” Holding the broken stone out in his hoof, Abner took the banded stone and placed it in a smaller pocket on the outside of the satchel. Without much else to do, Abner took to an empty table nearby and set the books he searched for on top. He first opened the history book of Equestria, carefully looking through the index for related entries of the Guardians. There was one, but the chapter was relatively short and seemingly incomplete as it only describe what led up to the exchange of the sword and the Elements and his ancestor's and Celestia's involvement. There was no description of the Guardians or their names, as if the vision that Abner had seen was one incredibly vivid dream and that the chaos that occurred from the Blight was excluded entirely. The chapter simply concluded that the events that occurred were peacefully diplomatic and no battles were fault. Something was afoot with what Prudence had told him and what Celestia had done. Jeeves took the seat across from Abner, “You remind me of Charger when he was young, loved this library. Every other night he would stay up late by a lantern's light reading through stacks of books. His genius surprised most of us when he applied to the guard just after passing every single test the school system here could offer him. From there, he went on to join the Equestrian Legion. Despite that, he always managed to have some free time to parade around with Whisk. That was until Whisk asked for Rosamond's hoof in marriage. Charger's and Rosamond's parents were rather strict in that matter, their father approved but their mother did not. Thus leading to the unfortunate event of Whisk's family being forced out.” Jeeves telling Abner some of Charger's back story filled in a few things about him. Jeeves sighed heavily after a moment of silence, “Unfortunately, Charger's mother and father passed away just a year ago and it wasn't the most pleasant either.” Abner continued listening while skimming through the paragraphs of the history book. “I shouldn't talk about it, troubles me far too much.” Changing the subject, Jeeves asked Abner what he was reading, to which, Abner turned the page to the beginning of the chapter where a conceptual picture was drawn to resemble the temple of the Guardians and turned the book around. Jeeves, adjusted his monocle and read the title silently to himself. “Ah, yes.” he muttered. “This ancient event, before the days of Discord and Disharmony. You think there's more to it don't you?” Abner nodded his head in agreement. “Of course. I will fetch a book for you, one of myths and legends. I recall quite a few referring to a wolf of similar depictions, all around the same time as well. In the mean time, look through the runestone book there. I shall be back in a moment, Sir Abner.” Throughout the night, Jeeves brought several more books that all referred to his ancestor, some even produced a name, Malakai, rather ironic considering his vision. In Abner's language, it meant messenger and there was always this saying of not shooting one. Abner learned a variety of different legends surrounding the same characters, however, they all seemed to tell the same story and always left off where another one began. Malakai was born in the same place Abner was, he began his life much the same as well aside from the dragon attack. When the Blight came around, it sought to destroy the plant and wildlife of their homes. The entire conglomeration of races moved elsewhere, far north of Ponyville. Taking refuge in a forest met with the edge of a great ravine, they settled down again as the Blight loomed on the furthest horizon. For several weeks, a single negotiator talked with the chieftains in secret leading to rumors abound. The chieftains called for a town meeting one day as refugees started coming in, fleeing from the Blight. The lead chieftain was of the wolf tribe, White Strand. He commanded that Malakai come forth and receive the task set to end the onset of dark times ahead. Malakai had proved his worth fighting off would be predators during their travel all the while delivering messages from one chieftain to another. Other warriors in the tribes respected him greatly as well. Leonard, the strongest griffin of the River Claws fought beside Malakai numerous times against the writhing creatures of the Blight. Leonard was asked to join him in the journey. Their first task was to gather two more companions and then proceed to Canterlot and receive the sword of light, called Matan, from its leader who had it forged using materials found from various places known to produce high end equipment of all sorts. A single stone in the pommel that had long since fallen out, metal crafted from the finest of steel and the purest of tungsten for the blade finished in a dark varnish. It was decorated with enchantments from the most prestigious magic users from all sorts of different specialties, creating an odd aurora dotted small stars varying in color. A cloth covered brass chord wrapped around the hilt. The forward grip hadn't changed much, the cloth appeared to have been replaced. Malakai traveled across the canyon on a bridge made from a large shard of magic solidified and harder than titanium. He traveled through the forest in search of the frozen forest, the Forest of Howlite. A legendary sorcerer exiled from his kingdom and left for dead. Instead of seeking revenge, he shut himself in what was left of an old castle. From its last turret he lived out what was to be the remainder of his days. Malakai and Leonard found him through the forest of gigantic cauliflower fields made from the sorcerer's name-sake, Howlite. White and gray tinged with dark browns translucent in a way almost haunting. Skeletons were amassed in certain areas, consisting of creatures unknown and others familiar. Approaching his abode without doubt or fear, Malakai and Leonard entered and were greeted by a golem crafted of earth and ice ready to fend them off until halted by an old creature. His claim to immortality was a dreadful tale and the reason for his banishment. Howlite was described briefly as being a unicorn where portions of his body became the gem of his name-sake with his eyes glowing a vivid white and slow burning fire. A large beard with streaks of howlite stretched from his mane and hung down to just below his collar. The sorcerer gave him a few stones, gems, enchanted with certain spells to help him along his journey. The elemental golem also joined Malakai on his journey with his master's permission only after the sorcerer was told about the ordeal of the oncoming Blight. Making it safely back to the new camp set up by his tribespeople. The congratulated him and he was given his next task by the negotiator who had remained there. He was to travel to the swamplands of the Everfree Forest, far south of Ponyville now stands where he would find another companion rumored to be formed by the blackest inks and able to shape-shift to anything it desired. Malakai went forth, fighting and subsequently defeating anything that sought to fight him. He passed through several camps set up by refugees of varying races and species. Finally when he came upon his destination, his group found this ink-like creature sitting in a pillar of sun bleeding through the forest's canopy. Looking up and through, straight at the sun, the creature changed forms from a Chimera, to a griffin, to an alicorn, and then lastly into an earth pony that fulfilled the description given by the negotiator. An entirely blackened figure made purely of ink that bubbled and constantly poured from his body and dissipating upon touching the ground with blank white eyes. The creature turned to them, reared up and presented to them that it had been trapped in chains of magic and bound never to leave. With the runestones provided to Malakai by Howlite, they freed Drystan who agreed to join them on their journey. After days more of travel with the Blight coming ever closer, the group made their way to Canterlot. The place was in ruins, the walls were torn apart and the towers collapsed, houses razed and burned, and the injured wandered aimlessly through the streets searching for what they've lost. Soldiers sought to restore order to the looters and riots. Upon entering the throne room with the negotiator joining them, a tired and weary king greeted them and brought them to the mages chamber. From there they retrieved the sword after it was enchanted with a spell that took an entire hour to complete. Then they were granted necklaces from the king that permitted them entry anywhere they went and presented that they were his envoys. They spent an entire month traveling to the desert, helping travelers and refugees along the the way. Many who became allies to Malakai and his companions. Once they had finally reached the outskirts of the desert's expanse which bled into a drought landscape before turning into a mountain range that separated the two vastly different habitats of a lively forest and decrepit sands seeking to drown trespassers. Walking forth into the sandstorms colliding with multiple blizzards brought by unsettling cold. Traversing through thick snow and fierce winds that made the eyes water until taking camp one night in the eye of an incredibly massive storm cell. Setting up a barrier and sleeping until the sun rose again, the four ventured out almost lost until the nomadic tribe of an unusual species happened upon them. Wearing robes that hid their looks, only one of them revealed their face and he had them follow along their trek behind the Giglioi Whale. A massive beast that resembled a normal whale, swimming through the desert sand at an extremely slow pace. It had two large dorsal fins that protruded outward from its back, these fins were the only things visible of the Giglioi. Following the tribe in exchange of their necklaces the king gave to them, they walked for another three days until they finally found the Guardian's Temple. Blight oozed from the ground and began to perpetuate into thousands of creatures indescribable. From there, the vision Abner had in his little coma filled in the rest, practically down to the letter written in the texts. There was still something lacking however, the king never sought the Elements. The Equestrian history texts always mentioned the Elements of Harmony, but this seemingly first hand account spread throughout multiple works by different authors presented evidence on the contrary. Why falsify something so historical? Abner took a breather, letting this new found information sink in to his mind. He wrote down a good portion of notes from the texts he read and wondered if their were any texts that perceived any history after last little epic he read. This was all occurred well before the era of Discord, perhaps three-thousand some odd years ago. Thinking of a way to communicate with Jeeves, who read through a novel of his own. Abner thought of the translation magic that Prudence had initially instilled upon him when they met. Deciphering the spell in his head after somehow locating it in the depths of his mind, he reverse engineered and began to write on the notepad he had received under Twilight's guidance. He asked Jeeves, in the Equestrian alphabet, If there were an more books or other texts that referred to where the Elements of Harmony had come from. Another question Abner asked was whether or not there were any more texts that described what happened to the heroes. Jeeves, was at first astonished that Abner was able to ask the questions in his language, but that feeling didn't last very long. He got up from his seated position and proceeded to look through the drawers of index cards again. He returned without much luck, as far as he knew, the Elements appeared when the trade occurred and when Celestia and Luna came forth to oppose Discord's reign of chaotic mischief. Abner recalled what Prudence had originally told him about the Elements, saying that they were a trade for Matan, the zweihander, by The Guardians. Something wasn't right, perhaps the four necklaces that the king had given to Malakai and his companions were a part of it. Perhaps it was never even about the Elements in the first place, just a scapegoat for their origins. Quickly losing himself in thought, Abner had forgotten that he had closed his eyes and fallen asleep. Losing himself in the thoughts of possible reasons before finding himself drifting with an aurora borealis. He saw one end leading into a veil of black smoke and the other end leading to a single hour glass resting on its side, evenly filled with sand on either end. Abner chose to go into the cloud of smoke and as he began to get closer, the smoke began to envelope him until every inch of empty white space was covered. He came upon Drystan who seemed to wander about aimlessly amusing himself with his own chatter, speaking in different accents and pitches of tone. “Abner! So glad you came by.” he sounded delighted, unusual for him. “I hid in your mind a little bit while you were reading. Well, the questions you have I don't have an answer for, but the intriguing point you brought up is what happened after Malakai was turned to stone. I stayed behind to guard the sword and Malakai, both that golem and Leonard returned to their homes, maybe you'll find them or their descendants there.” he paused and lifted his head up and looked at Abner. “I've never heard of the Elements of Harmony until Prudence had mentioned it to me in one our talks. You see, she has been catching my up on a few things that I've missed over these three thousand years between then and now.” Abner scribble some words on the ground using some of his magic, Drystan raised a brow, “You're asking if I really caused her family to become afflicted with Blight? No, it wasn't me. When I aggravated her memory, I tapped into it to see her part in this. I played the bad guy to test her personality so to speak. I spent years trying to find the right blacksmith, the right mage, and the right wielder for this damned sword just to keep the seal together.” Sighing heavily, Drystan went on, “Its been some three thousand years and not much has changed aside from some new scenery. Immortality is such a tiring curse. Anyways, if you want to know more about the Elements of Harmony, perhaps you should just ask your dear Princess Luna if she's not busy; Belisama might have something to say. Abner, do me a favor would you and find a way to rid this curse.” Suddenly, the smoke cleared and Drystan remained, his inky body still flowing like water. Abner turned the other direction, to look at the hourglasses yet again. He thought for a moment of how this dreamscape was more of a second conscious than a dream. Never before had he dreamt like this, that was until he got wrapped up in this mess, in these unfortunate events. Perhaps it wasn't so bad, he had met new folks that provided him a different outlook on ways of living and how they find their own ways around problems they have to confront whether they're large or small. Abner looked back at Drystan, who now stood beside him and asked in another scribble of magic to apologize for his trickery on Prudence, he hesitantly agreed. Abner and Drystan briskly walked over to the other end of the aurora, where the hourglasses began to float away as they approached. They found Prudence appearing lonely and depressed. She had always lived a happy and thorough life with her family and friends but ever since she sacrificed herself to save Abner, she found her thoughts lost as she essentially became useless. All she could do now is give some form of guidance and her active lifestyle always never let her hold still. Drystan called out to her, “Prudence, remember I told you that the creature you picked up that fateful day was me. I lied to you and I'm sorry for that. Three millenia of isolation had me lose touch with this world.” “I figured it wasn't you.” She replied, her voice sounded choked and tired, as if she had been crying over something. “What point would there be in lying to someone you've just met?” “To hide a secret, perhaps.” Drystan lightly joked. She sighed, “That was a rhetorical question you dolt.”Anyways, I see that Abner has slipped into this state of consciousness again. Which is good as I've been wanted to tell you something. That spell you used in order to get to Cuffs when he was infected, was a powerful space distortion spell. However, you still don't know how to control more powerful spells properly so the spell practically backfired and exploded for a short time. Normally a spell like that would lighten gravity and disorient the target.” She stopped herself from continuing on about the subject and changed it. “I get the feeling that's not the only reason you're here.” Abner scribbled some text on the ground that she could read. Writing a synopsis of sorts about what he had read from the 'fictitious' texts that he read. “I had a feeling that those weren't works of fiction. It's troubling that they're not included in Equestrian history books. May never find out the reasoning behind that. Anyways about the Elements, I get the feeling that the four necklaces that were handed over to that nomadic desert tribe were part of it. Unfortunately, that's something out our hoofs now more than ever, we may find some more information on what happened with those, though. I remember hearing a rumor at Whisk's tavern from a traveling merchant who met a nomadic tribe in that desert, said their chieftain had lived more than a thousand years.” “Immortality magics are not something to be trifled with. Celestia, Luna, Discord, the Guardians, Howlite, and myself have all suffered greatly from that shit.” Drystan butted in, Abner was a bit surprised by his reaction. “Discord and the Guardians were both sealed away in stone, that's a bit different than actually living. Before that, were they immortal?” Prudence queried. Drystan was reluctant to answer her at first, but he answered her. “I have no idea about Discord, but the Guardians, yes. I ruled beside them in a way, their messenger amongst them.” “How come you've never mentioned this?” Prudence questioned him carefully and curiously. “That's a lengthy story and now isn't really the best time to talk about it. Instead, I have a question for you, dear Prudence.” Drystan flipped the tables on the conversation, “What future do you foresee after this is all over?” “Peace, of course. That's what I always strive for when I was still 'alive' and that's what I'll strive for now.” She answered confidently. “There's a spell for immortality?” “Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but it'll do I suppose.” Drystan replied. “To the topic about the immortality spell, it requires a hefty payment of sorts. Not in just magic, but something else. The way it is cast is similar to alchemy spells with a combination of pure unrefined magic crystals. I'm not entirely sure if Celestia and Luna have such a spell on themselves, perhaps their lifespans are just incredibly long; maybe a dragon shared his life force with them.” He paused, recalling something of his past. Figuring that by giving an example of what the spell required as payment, it would draw Abner and Prudence away from allure. “My payment for the immortality spell was grievous, cost the lives of the entire civilization that I came from and to this day I can still hear the cries of my friends as they were torn apart piece by piece, consumed by that awful black mass of a cloud.” Drystan's eyes appeared to look long into the distance, into nothingness Prudence and Abner were both taken aback by his revelation. Prudence spoke up with a shaky voice, “Is that the cause for your shape shifting abilities as well?” “No, this form and the shape shifting was well after that all occurred.” Drystan answered. “Were you even aware of the consequences?” Prudence began to badger him with one question after another. “Of course not, I was young, stupid, and careless. I was tricked and I tricked my friends into coming with me out of greed.” Drystan's rage started to get the better of him. “No more questions about that, if you would be so kind.” I was clear that Prudence wanted to ask him more questions to find out about his past, to fill in the blank parts of Equestrian history as well as the many mysteries behind the Guardians and who they were. She stopped herself from doing so, understanding his troubles. “Very well, I will not ask any further questions about that unless the situation calls for it. “Good. Prudence, Abner has some questions he would like to ask about the Elements and their origins. From what Abner and I have learned, they were never conceived by the trade with the Guardians.” Drystan said, putting Prudence into a deep state of thought. “The only thing I know...”she started softly, “is what you two do. Although the four necklaces given two Malakai and his companions could've very well have been the Elements in a dormant state. The other two may have been already possessed by the tribe that followed the Giglioi Whale around.” she suggested. Which also leads to the possibility that Celestia and Luna were originally from that tribe and that the king who gave you those necklaces was Discord.” “That's possible, but the king we received the necklaces from was not a draconequus, but a pure white pegasus and unfortunately that's all I can remember about him.” Drystan's countered part of her theory. “We should get our information straight from Luna or Celestia; Luna would be preferable though.” “Good point, but I'm not even sure how to call for her.” Prudence replied. “Your little friend here will figure it out, surely.” Drystan said, patting Abner on the head a few times. “Rise and shine, by the way, Abner. Rise and shine.” The dream world quickly blanked out into black and the lids of Abner's eyes were met with the warmth of the sunshine pouring through the domed ceiling of the library. Shifting the shoulders of his forelegs a bit as he opened his eyes, Abner realized that he had been covered up with a blanket. Looking around without moving his head, he saw that Jeeves was nowhere to be found but instead the books he read the night before were gone, presumably re-shelved. He saw Rosamond sitting across from him reading through a small book of her own. Abner kept still, enjoying the warmth of the blanket for the time being. It was nice to relax for once, even if it was just for a moment. He felt as if he could smile. It took some time for Rosamond to realize that Abner was awake and when she did, she pulled a double-take with her head. An initial quick glance over and back to her book, followed by her turning her head back to Abner again. “Abner, you're finally awake. Jeeves left me a note saying where you were and here you are, buried in stacks of books and novels of sorts. I remember my brother staying up every night when he went to school, he would read through at least ten different books at a time, he was the family genius after all.” She put the small pocket sized book away in a purse just barely large enough for it. The purse itself being attached to her dress, an everyday one she would wear around the house presented in a simple design. “Come on now, you've already missed breakfast and lunch is almost here.” She pulled away from the table, pushing the stool back as she did so. “You were shivering in your sleep, which is why I brought a blanket for you.” She said as she rounded the table and pulled the blanket off of Abner. After she had folded the blanket it up and handed it over to Jeeves who waited by the door, Abner followed Rosamond to the dining hall filled with the same people who had been at the celebration the night before. Abner could feel a sense of sadness coming from Rosamond. She sat at the top of the stairs, overlooking the crowd and Abner did the same. “I suppose today is the day I'll be saying goodbye again. I only wish that my brother would have been with you guys and that perhaps the time you all could be here was longer. Understandably, you have places to go, bad guys to defeat.” The last words seem to have made here chuckle a little bit. “Please, Abner, I'm not entirely sure if I've asked this of you before, but please keep Whisk safe. I have to stay here and follow through with his plan, otherwise, I would gladly go with all of you.” Abner sympathetically rubbed his head against her foreleg, knowing somewhat of how she felt. As he had left his family behind in Ponyville, he could only wonder how they were fairing against the magical field that absorbed every ounce of magic. “Thank you, Abner.” She said, wrapping her foreleg around his back. “Lets get something to eat, shall we.” Lunch was alight with joys and goodbyes. Whisk spent a good portion of his time saying goodbyes to those he knew him at the manor and going over the plan he had conjured up with Fumbles once more. Flight Gear was unable to attend lunch, busy doing one last round of tests and inspections to make sure that everything was in working in order. After lunch was over, Marina, Lark, and Tiva gathered up some extra food to take with them while Whisk, Abner, and Wrecker packed up their own equipment that they had brought with them. Wrecker donning his armor once again, Whisk carrying three bags stitched together and containing maps and navigational equipment needed for once they got off of the ship. Abner carried what he normally has, the zweihander sheathed with his harness, and the detachable satchel that contained his books and the runestones. Everyone in Whisk's party soon made their way onto the airship which had now been given a name of its own, The Intrepid Goshawk. Fitting considering the bird that it's named after has a bluish gray that resemble the color akin to the numerous steel parts of the aircraft. Flight Gear even had an artist come by and paint imagery of the bird in flight next to the name of the ship. Large bold letters that could be read well and clear placed below the railing of the deck on the port and starboard sides near the bow. The residents of the manor and the small batch soldiers that Whisk commanded for a few days all came out to see them off. Rosamond and Whisk's parents stood in front of the crowd. A light shimmer of tears in each of their eyes. Whisk waved goodbye to them all as the engine began to roar to life, firing a continuous blast of purple and orange fire outward. Within a few minutes, the extraordinary craft began to lift off the ground and for a moment hovered, before more power was pushed through the engine. The sudden moment of weightlessness caused a few people to lose their balance. Then the ship began to thrust forward, pushing itself through the air towards their destination, the Temple of Belisama. It took some sometime before they reached a good height above the land, ponies looked like ants crawling around among their neatly organized houses and roads. Clackerton looked significantly different against the skyline compared to Canterlot. The same feeling of uncertainty arose among everyone on the ship, they would never know if they would run into any form of civilization along their path. There was also the concern for the unknown, what encounters would they face on their way to the temple. Abner recalled his father telling him of the beast that guarded the temple should it be disturbed in some manner. The noise of the massive engine seem to quiet down as the whipping wind crashing across the mainsail. The ground beneath them appeared to move like a conveyor belt beneath them and they were close enough to the clouds that they could actually be touched in some parts. The top of the mast would gently strike through the clouds it touched, pushing it aside like water underneath a boat. A couple of curious birds soared alongside the ship for a bit of time, unfazed by the noise and subtle shaking the engine produced throughout. One even landed on the ship, next to Abner, whose fur was brushed wildly like a rapid and shallow river coursing its way over some stones. In the distance, along the treeline of the Everfree forest, he could see the stations that guards from Celestia's legion had set up. The maelstrom of magic induced lightning in the massive field writhed about. A few weakly formed tornadoes could be seen tossing up dirt and a few mailboxes, even a few small trees that were unable to keep themselves rooted. However, for the first time, he could see something else, as circle of light that sought to pierce the roof the magical field. Its colors were of a faded rainbow, much like the casting presented by the Elements of Harmony when they're used. Looking around a bit more, he could see another point the appeared to resist the magic field. A small hemisphere of white wrapping itself around a good portion of Ponyville. A sense of hope stirred in his heart, a feeling that he had almost forgotten. Whisk and the rest of the group stood beside him in a line, looking on in the same direction. “You see, Abner, not all is lost. I'm sure your family will be fine, as well as the wielders of the Elements. Unfortunately, time is still a factor, hopefully we don't stall too much along the way, eh?”