//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6- Mongoose, Fury, and Hammer 
// Story: Song and Dance of the Desert's Garden 
// by Renaissance Muffins 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 6- Mongoose, Fury, and Hammer


The ship lurched and began its slow lift into the air and pulled its way forward toward their new destination that lied northwest of Canterlot, north of the mountains beyond Ponyville. Surprisingly, the magic consuming field brought on by the Blight's infection of Celestia hadn't spread to there yet. Perhaps they can make it there before the field consumes that place as well. Once again, they leapt into the sky, the engines roaring without a care and the air became a constant wind pattering against the sails and whomsoever walked out onto the deck of the ship.

By morning the next day, they could see Clackerton on their left and a small glimpse of Ponyville on their right. The barrier hadn't expanded since they had left, it was still slowly pushing its way through the Everfree forest. It appeared that the magic that it fed off of was almost at its limit. It got Abner wondering however, how much longer do those afflicted have left to live? Prudence mentioned that her parents died because of the disease, but she never gave a time stamp of any sort. Considering that there was still plenty of time before their destination, Abner decided to sleep for a good portion of the time. He constantly thought about how those trapped within the field were doing and tried to mentally connect himself with Prudence once again. She always seemed to be hiding away in his mind, unreachable and out of contact. Perhaps she doesn't want to influence his decisions in anyway or perhaps she's trying to do something with Stribog's soul.

Abner dropped the thought, staring out the window once more, looking at the magical field the Blight formed. Levitating the scarf the Whisk left him once more, Abner recalled the memories that the two of them shared. Whisk always seemed willing to go out of his way to get something done for him and those he knew. Aside from the days that Abner spent training with Twilight Sparkle and Charger, Whisk was always working hard to make sure that both his employees and his customers were happy at the tavern. Abner let out a long, sorrowed sigh knowing that Whisk wasn't dead and there was hope for him to come back to them. Wrapping the long scarf around is neck Abner something stiffen its surface. Curious, he took the scarf off and tugged gently until he felt the stiff part with his paw resulting in a crunching sound the same as paper's. Searching for the edges to find the opening in which the paper was slipped into, Abner felt himself get a little bit anxious to its mystery.

Successfully pulling the carefully creased sheet of paper that had weathered a bit from its exposure to moisture out from the veiled pocket, Abner gently unfolded it at each crease. Upon looking over its contents, he noted some rather odd; a recipe for a sort of portion calling for three feathers of a phoenix, eight petals of Olwen's lilies, twelve howlite crystals, twelve individual pieces of kyanite crystals, and a single sunstone. A note in Whisk's writing followed after the list of ingredients, “Note to self: after collecting above ingredients, grinding them together to form a paste followed by submersion in liquid bismuth, and then bottled in a jar of nephrite jade. Applied to the victim of a petrification along the spine and at the feet. First time in a long time I've had to create something that doesn't explode. Just glad I'm getting this down well before our departure for Abner's home.” Looking at the over the recipe once more, Abner saw that had already checked off the petals of Olwen's lilies; must have picked them at his parents.

It was a relief that Whisk had been thinking about this before hand, but where would one get feathers from such a rare creature as a phoenix? Bismuth and kyanite, sunstone and howlite, finding such things will be difficult. Howlite would be easy provided Howlite's Crystal Forest still stood and kyanite could likely be found in the same area. The other two stones Abner had no idea how to find, perhaps Flight Gear might know someone who does and even better if its one of his former clients. Remembering where Whisk resided in the quarters, Abner quickly wrapped the scarf around his neck once more, tucking the paper back into the hidden pocket beforehand and went out into the corridor. 

Upon entering Whisk's former quarters, empty as it was, Abner saw Whisk's bag laying on his bed, opened with a small journal beside it bound shut by a small and nimble lock requiring a key. Curiosity was talking hold of his mind, but he dropped the thought and began to look through Whisk's bag until he found the petals of the lily. Much to his surprise, the petals kept their faint glowing and cloudy blue color. Carefully placing them in his own satchel, he then headed to the bridge, where  Flight Fear would most likely be lazily piloting the ship from the captain's chair. After making his way to the deck, Abner noticed a massive change and a massive twisting stir in the maelstrom. A nose of a ship peaked out from the field, creating a hole that clinged to its edges as it passed through. When the rudders escaped the field, the gaping hole filled back up while lightning shot outward from it.

Wasting no time, Abner forced open the door into the bridge to see that Flight Gear had already started to give out orders to his crew. Telling the one in charge of navigation to put the engine up to full speed and prepare for evasive maneuvers and another to assemble those who were able to fight onto the deck. Sure the Goshawk didn't have any weapons of its own but unicorns could easily substitute for that. He then approached Abner after receiving word that the ship the flew out of the field was the Flying Mongoose, creatures that were notably agile on the ground. “Abner glad you came up here, hope you don't mind helping out in this ships defense. The Mongoose is on a course to cut us off from our destination, although the Goshawk is faster, it's not going to be able to escape this interception course.”

It seemed that Abner's questions for Flight Gear would have to wait until after this upcoming battle. Abner scurried back to his quarters and grabbed grabbed the entirety of his harness with its satchels and sheathed swords. As he arrived on deck, everyone could see the Mongoose closing in. With a sleek design of its own a number of propellers and rudders that appeared as if they could be rotated individually. Kept aloft by bladders that peaked through the bottom of the ship wrapped with wooden struts. Triangular shaped sails attached to short masts stretched across the entire length, each with several leads of rope attached to their corners. Small windows outline spots where cannon fire could come from and the spot where the captain would drive the ship was exposed, a single wheel on a post was all that stood to control the ships movements. The Mongoose was however, already damaged for some reason, several gashes in the hull and the main mast toppled over, hang over the edge by just a few large slivers. Stains of black and thin clouds of black smoke poured out from several of the holes in the hull and from the propellers themselves. It was incredibly haunting.

Suddenly, the ship seemed to burst to life as several of the windows opened up and cannons peaked out, firing in a rapid succession. The cannonballs were disintegrated on impact against the shield that Marina had set up. The Mongoose began to fire one shot after another with every impact making Marina wince.  Lark supported her with her own magic, but without a usual song, perhaps she had the chant memorized, thus negating the need to audibly chant the words. Their efforts wound up futile however, as a final cannonball plowed through her shield and  smashed into Goshawk's deck. Luckily, it wasn't holding a charge of any sort.

As the Mongoose began dangerously close, its cannon fire started to become more rapid and less time was spent aiming. Abner spent a good portion of his own magic to try and catch the cannonballs and hurled them back at the enemy ship. Wrecker managed to catch quite a few that Abner missed and threw them back as well, a remarkable feat of strength. The battle was becoming a stalemate and Abner could feel his magic start to dull, perhaps he still hadn't fully recovered from the moment he essentially froze time. As his magic slowly drained, Abner began to feel something else stir inside of him, something dark and twisting. He could feel it begin to writhe and contort, had the seals that Prudence created finally broke and the Blight it contained escaped? Quickly trying to suppress the dark thoughts of destroying everything and consume the magics held be his companions, Abner struggled to maintain a straight face and push forward with his own strength. He began to wonder how many  more cannonballs the ship had left to fire and he also noticed that the ship had no crew running around the top deck. Strikingly odd considering that the Mongoose was doing nothing to prevent the cannonballs repelled from hitting its hull. 

Then, as the Mongoose fired its last shot, both ships were passing over the mountains north of the Everfree forest. Abner felt the surge of Blight within him begin to overwhelm him and a moment of silence he heard Drystan speak from his shadow, “Abner, give into it, I can help you control this. Remember my words from before.” Abner had a feeling that he was right as Prudence seemed to have left him to his own judgment, he wondered if her conscious had completely vanished from his mind. Taking one last deep breath with a close of his eyes, he felt Drystan guide the Blight through his body and overtake his nervous system. The power he was overcome with was immense, almost uncontrollable, but Drystan kept it from pouring out.

Abner's once mountain ash fur became decorated with hooked swirls that stretched and branched from the very tip of his tail to each major joint in his legs, along his spine until it reached the bridge of his nose. Once he opened his eyes, Abner's vision also changed, he could see beyond the hull of the Mongoose, revealing a dozen pony shaped bodies that looked to bleed like ink much like Drystan. Their bodies were lit up like the sun against now black and white surfaces.  Abner's mind became clear of the thoughts he was feeling previously, perhaps Drystan was taking that burden for him.

Veering ever closer the Mongoose set itself on a collision course with the Goshawk. With his new found powers, Abner leaped the railing with a running start and landed on Mongoose's deck, still a considerable distance away. Immediately after landing, creatures entirely made from Blight seeped through the deck boards and rose to fight him. Creating a chain like weapon from his own shadow, Abner swung his head around causing the long section of his new weapon to sweep through the horde of is enemies. During the midst of his battle, he noticed that the weapon would end its length against solid objects. His vision still the vibrant smokey haze of black and white, the fiery orange that marked his enemies shifted around and began to merge together into one large entity.

Slowly backing away, not to retreat, but to keep himself at a safe distance, all the while forming his new weapon into a more recognizable shape, a solid black chain that reflected no light. When the Blight finished its merging, it appeared as a three headed hydra without a lower body and each one appeared to give off a different elemental effect. Letting out a deafening roar and several growls afterward, it began to spew needle shaped fire, ice, and rocks in a sporadic fashion. The elements appeared as multiple purple hues but distinctly identifiable. Swinging the elongating chain through the Blight hydra,  Abner saw that it was have little effect against the creature. An issue which he quickly resolved by catching the needles of ice in the chains openings and catapulting them back at the horrific beast followed by the earth elemental and then a burn with redirected fire. Needless to say the hydra dropped fairly quickly and Abner tossed Matan up into the air, caught its hilt by his chain and thrusted the zweihander's blade right into the writhing corpse of the Blight hydra.

Without much thought, Abner essentially disengaged his new power feeling it drift back into the deepest part of his soul, calmly and collectively. Everything began to shift back into its normal colors, bugging his eyes at first as he approached Matan to sheathe it away. However when he saw what it had pierced he became shocked. The sword had been driven through Charger's chest and peaked from his back. He lied there, coughing and bleeding from the massive wound and not wanting to lose another friend, Abner stirred up his magic, preparing a spell to reverse the time on his wound. Again he felt the world slow down, almost to a standstill and as the sword seemed to slip out from his chest all on its own. Eerie as it was to see the blood creep back into Charger's body, Abner kept the spell going until the tip of the sword had fully escaped his body. As soon as he stopped the spell, the hydra began to reform. Turns out undoing his wound in turn resurrected the hydra. Abner sprung up with Matan at the ready, immediately going into a sprint. Once more he drove the sword through the hydra's center and again it disintegrated. Only this time, Abner could feel its dust seep into his skin and add to the Blight that was already there.

Approaching Charger again, Abner saw that he was unconscious and breathing heavily. The pain must have been excruciating. Steering the Mongoose back towards the field and setting it aflame, Abner fled from the wreckage with a great leap and with Charger on his back. He seemed smaller than the last time they had been together. With some help of Tiva and Albedo, who had apparently decided travel along after seeing the Goshawk pass over the plains. Abner made it back to their ship and proceeded to hand Charger over to Cuffs.

The night was dark, cold, and dreary and the wind howled with a freezing wind that creeped through the boards of the ship. Abner's mind was exhausted from the massive strain of the powers that have come to fruition. He tumbled around in his bunk, restless with thought. There was just so much to do between here and their final destination and there seemed to be no time to sort out his own thoughts on the matter. He was glad that he had saved Charger from the Blight, but what confounded him was how it was able to manifest itself upon Charger. It was better to let him rest for the night and not badger him with questions, but the urge to ask just one was overwhelming. The graphite gray markings that covered his body remained on his ash colored fur. Drystan hadn't spoken up since the end of the battle either. Abner wandered around the ship, hoping that pacing would help settle his uneasy feelings. 

Flight Gear had settled the ship down in a discreet nook in the mountains. Abner made his way down the plank from the deck of the ship, a cracking warmth of fire was put up by some extra crew that Flight Gear had hired before departure. They were a seemingly random batch of earth ponies, probably looking to make a living as deck hands. Three of them slept, snoring in their own musing dreams and the other two quietly entertain each other with stories of their own. If there was one thing people always told, they were stories of all sorts, fairy tales and legends to shenanigans and mournful. 

Abner's  ears perked from the sound of water gently splashing around as if it were in a pool of some sort. He made his way through a small thicket of trees that had blocked the entirety of the Goshawk from view. On the other side were several torches that had been set up by someone, he heard two familiar voices, one distinctly identifiable as Lark and the other not so much, but he had heard it before. Gently pushing through a few bushes, Abner saw that Lark, Tiva, and Albedo had taken away to themselves and relaxed in a hot spring. Lark held Tiva close to her, the young filly probably hadn't learned how to swim at all. Even though the water wasn't very deep there was still the possibility of drowning. Albedo was discussing a few things about love to Lark, how she had fallen for Flight Gear and his go for it attitude. Despite his drinking behavior that she had actually helped him tone down on.  She was always surprised at numerous amount of little seemingly useless gadgets he created for flight guidance and training resulted in astoundingly good results in the long run. 

Noticing Abner's presence, Albedo whispered something into Lark's ear that made her a little bit flustered and Tiva giggled quietly to herself. Abner was interested at first, but realized that those shenanigans would stay between the three of them.  Albedo welcomed Abner to the hot spring with her usual sly voice, “Hop on in, Abner. I've been meaning to ask you a few questions. I've brought a pencil and a pad for you to write on if that makes things easier for you.” Abner was intrigued, but he saw no harm in was she was saying. He grabbed the pad of paper and the pencil from the rock they sat against behind Albedo with a few flicks of magic and cautiously stepped into the water. It was warm and soothing, melted into his bones and gave him a quick chill along his spine. Levitating the pad in the air and gently holding the pencil in front of it, waiting for Albedo's questions.

Albedo cleared her throat after gently combing her wings through the water and began to ask Abner her questions in mind. “First off, and the one bugging me the most, there's no species of wolf that I'm aware of that possess a horn on their heads. I'm well aware transference magic that's largely frowned upon because of its rather sacrificial properties. I do wish to know how you came in possession of a unicorn's horn.”  Abner thought for a moment and  wrote down the simplest way of explaining the reason behind it, the dragon Stribog had attacked his village and a unicorn that was there at the time saved him but practically at the cost of her own, which also resulted in hi s ability to use magic. Abner excluded a good portion of what set him off on this path that Albedo joined in on.  She followed up his answer with a question regarding the dragon, “What happened to the dragon?” Abner flipped to another page and began to write down his answer, explaining that the dragon was eventually captured and held in the depths of a massive cavern under Canterlot. 

Albedo asked a completely different question, changing the subject, “What's your family like? I heard from Lark that you met up with them in Ponyville, a place with a rather interesting history. Where the current wielders of the Elements of Harmony grew up from. Anyways, about your family.” Abner quickly described the most notable perks of each one his family members. His father would ramble on about certain topics aloud, even if it didn't relate to the current topic. His mother was ever watching, she would immediately notice  if something changed in her children or others.  Lev, his oldest brother and twin to Naamiy, preferred to keep his nose in books but he also had a strong heart. Naamiy was considered the beauty queen of the entire village, something that also made her extremely popular, her golden fur always had a bit of shine to it. Kafziel, was the fastest of the group and had a dull blue coat of fur, he was also older than Abner. Nitza was the youngest and the most gentle, she had not quite yet made into school and she always enjoyed her time gardening with their mother.

“An intriguing family. Your sister, Naamiy, was it? Sounds like she had a handful of wolves chasing after her.” She held in a short laugh as if Abner's quick description had reminded her of herself. “That's something that I can relate to. Anyways onto my last question for tonight. Have you ever thought about love?” Abner was was a bit shocked, love had never been much of a thought to him, he hadn't one to concern himself with it. He had recalled that there was one female that had tended to stick around him during his first few weeks of classes but he couldn't quite understand those feelings.  It made him wonder if she had survived the catastrophe. He was a bit hesitant, unsure of what to write down. Simplifying his answer to her, Abner jotted down that he hadn't experienced love, aside from his family. “Hmm, I surmised as much. Lark here is always worried about you as you already know. She adores you so much and from how Lark talks about you I think I know why.” Albedo finished her questions and added, “Feel free to keep that pad of paper and pencil. It may become rather useful for you in the long run.”

Albedo got up and had Lark and Tiva follow her back to the Goshawk. Abner set the pad and pencil down on the rocks behind him. He had wondered what she had meant by saying such a thing. Perhaps it is something that he'll figure out in the long run as the journey appears to be providing him with plenty of hardships and decisions he hadn't had to think about before. It was something else that he would have to figure out along the way. Then he remembered the way that female wolf looked, deep red coat with  black stripes counter-shaded with white. She always seemed to be a little bit shy but her voice and other actions appeared to escape him. 

He stared up at the moon again, it was barely in a waxing crescent. He wondered if calling out to the moon again would yield a response from Luna. Then he thought about the device that Flight Gear handed to him before their departing of Clackerton, wondering if it was possible to contact Twilight Sparkle once more. Perhaps, he could peak into the throne room somehow having visiting it once before. It didn't seem like a bad idea, but it was possible that it could alert Celestia, who knows what state of mind she's in at this point. He stirred his paw around the surface of the water, making random strokes with no overall shape. Then he started thinking about Whisk, how he had stuck by his side without a single word of complaint. Whisk was doing so much for him that he hadn't realized it until now. 

Shaking off the thoughts, Abner called out Drystan, who came out as a small pony shaped doll out with a long strand from his tail attaching to to his shadow. “Nice little hot spring you found. I haven't taken a soak in one of these things in years.” Abner slightly raised his brow, Drystan's positive attitude seemed similar to Whisk. He proceeded to ask if there was anything else about the new vision he acquired. “Other than heat and elemental, seeing pockets of magic in the land is possible as well but those are few and far between. You've got a feeling about this hot spring don't you?” Abner confirmed his suspicion and asked for him to engage the vision solely by itself. “What are you thinking about in doing this?” Abner answered back with his writing once more, saying that the hot spring felt as if it was slowly refilling his magical energy, the rejuvenating energy seeped into his skin. “Very well.” Abner felt a quick stir of darkness pollute his mind and vanish again. He looked around in the stark black and white with its subtle blur. Looking straight down at the bed of the spring and the pool of magic was revealed to him as a bright purple with a long spout leading into the hot spring. He then disabled his new vision. “Looks like you were right, Abner. What are you going to do now?” Abner quickly answered him back with his writing once more, saying that he'll just rest here for the night and sleep nearby. “Thought you might've had something else in mind.” Abner pulled himself out of the spring and curled up underneath a tree with Olwen's lilies surrounding it.  “I haven't been able to reach Prudence, by the way, she seems to have locked herself away in some recess of your mind I can't figure out. Whatever she's doing, she should at least tell you.”

Drystan was right, Abner needed to know what Prudence was doing, he could still feel her presence within his mind. Before long, Abner had closed his eyes and lulled himself into a deep slumber that for once, birthed no dream or vision, just the stark black of the back of his eyelids. For the first time in awhile, he awoke to the chatter of birds hopping around him in the tree and the buzzing of several hummingbirds hovering around the lilies. Several deer and other forest critters had taken interest in Abner's presence with sun appearing to shine directly on his body. Rising up from the ground and stretching out his legs, Abner saw that the animals surrounding him did not run away and instead stayed and drew closer.  He was confused, why would they move closer? Then he heard a voice call out from behind him, “Abner, you've stumbled upon my yard.”  a blue ethereal wolf appeared before him, in front of the all the creatures that had gathered. Her entire body appeared to made from a nebula of stars. “My sister visited me while I slept, she told me your story. The legend that precedes you and its current faltering outcome.” Abner noticed lilies slowly sprouting up from the ground beneath her feet. “The Blight now bound to you will soon entangle itself with the light in your heart and corrupt your mind. A gentle and pure heart will delay but it will hinder its progression.” She explained as she sat down before him, her height much the same as Belisama's. Her entire body seemed more like a cloud of gas than a solid object. “Close your eyes for a moment, young one.” Abner did so and suddenly he could feel a blinding light warm his eyes and when the feeling vanished, he opened his eyes again. A soft amount of weight fell upon his ears. “These rather simple earrings are part of my own gentle heart. They shall give you a new light, so to speak. I trust you will find out their purpose.” 

Abner was uncertain, but he assured her that he would. However, he was confused, why do these deities consistently help him? Perhaps it is for the better, although he felt kind of odd having something feminine hanging from his ears now. Before he could ask a question and without a word, Olwen vanished, as did the animals that had followed her. He could feel the flow of her gentle energy course through his mind as he walked over to peer into the springs which seems to have stopped bubbling. Instead, its surface became super reflective, almost like a portal into the cloudless sky. The earrings were simple enough, opaque in a dark blue and hung from the lowest part of his ear but a comfortable distance away from his head. A horn, spiral markings, and earrings all look a little weird in combination with each other. 

A distant thundering of rotors began to nag at his ears, almost as if they were coming from the other side of the mountain. They sounded very unfamiliar to Goshawk and then two massive ships much larger than the Goshawk and Mongoose combined, sporting even larger cannons requiring some sort of rail system to absorb recoil. If those get to the Goshawk now, they'll be sitting ducks. 

Quick on his feet, Abner sprinted back towards to the Goshawk, weaving his way through the thin layer of trees and bushes. Suddenly a loud crack snapped the air and pierced his ears just as he made it to the other side. Everyone aboard the Goshawk was scrambling about to get the ship up and running. Charger was already barking out orders to the his squad, limping about the deck with a broken wing. A gaping hole caused one of the of the air bladders of the Goshawk to collapse. Abner quickly sprang into action as soon as one of the larger ships fired its largest gun which peeked out from the bow. Without much thought, Abner redirected the cannonball away by bending the light around it. He then activated  his Blight abilities but something was different, his vision was a lot more clear, more defined than before. Able to see each ship individually, he used the chain as a grappling hook, lassoing it around the main mast of the closest ship that began to circle around the Goshawk. Landing on the ships deck, it was a lot like the Mongoose in terms of its crew members. 

Abner barged through the doors down into the lower decks and began clearing out the decks and quarters one by one. Eliminating each and every foe down to ones the climb the walls and others that popped out from cracks in the floor, even some that blocked entire halls. Abner eventually made his way to the engine room where a writhing mass of Blight clinged to every part of the engine. The engine bay was cramped, reinforcement beams seemed to jut out in all sorts of directions. Not wasting any time, the abomination attacked with spike protrusions and projectiles straight from its body. There was one problem that Abner realized in the midst of battle, without Matan he could not defeat the creature. He improvised quickly, focusing long rang attacks on the engines fuel tanks avoiding the attacks of the creature altogether. With several successive strikes, Abner pierced the shell, pulled the fuel out as if it were water and set a spark to it.

A massive explosion cracked open the haul, destroying the ships structural integrity and sending it hurdling to the ground below. Abner protected himself with a shield, nullifying blast and once he was able to see through the smoke, he saw that the creature held fast to the ship's main mast, which was reeling down into the ship's stern. The explosion had taken out the entire engine bay and several decks above. Unable to move and with the air bladders popped from debris, it began to lisp and every board started creaking along with metal that wined as it twisted and snapped. Abner had to escape as the explosion had forced him to the ship's bow. Getting back on his feet as he began to slide down, Abner quickly made his way to one of cargo doors that had been blown out and leaped toward the Goshawk. 

He landed safely enough, the fiery wreckage streaking down the side of the mountain, tearing apart as it dragged on further down. Seeing the other ship at a standstill as well, Abner ran to the Goshawk and retrieved Matan from his quarters without his harness. Still having his Blight powers activated, he started feeling its strain on his body. His heart felt as if it were decaying and his legs were heavy. Pushing through this inconvenience, Abner forced himself onto the top deck of the Goshawk. Again he made use of combining Matan and the chain, piercing through and through the other ship's hull and with some tugging he forced the ship to crashed into the peak of the mountain, splitting nearly in half. Another Blight abomination resided in that ship as well, it fled, smashing itself into the ground and moving in the direction of where the other one should be. Other, smaller bits joined in on its charade, merging into it and subsequently becoming larger. Abner dispatched the beast and chased after the other one down the mountain side, following the wreckage that was left behind.

Weaving through the trees on this heavy incline was difficult, as gravity only served to force him into a tumble at some points. Nearly tripping over several exposed tree roots and breaking through walls of vines, Abner found the other mass of Blight, which seemed to take on a more defined shape now more than ever. Abner had switched back to his normal vision as he descended the mountainside. The creature seemed to have played some sot of illusion on Abner, as it presented itself as Whisk. Vaguely, Drystan began to yell at Abner to make him snap out of the illusion.  Abner shook his head, reassuring himself that Whisk's being here would be impossible and again brought Matan to bear. With one final strike, Abner decimated the Blight. Waiting for the Blight to fade away, he saw the animal that had been affected by it- a single phoenix. Remembering the recipe for the petrification cure, Abner plucked three feathers from one of its wings and proceeded to carry the majestic bird on his back.

Before Abner could make it back up the mountainside, Flight Gear had already been moving the Goshawk over to his position, he must've seen the light expelled from Matan's use. Hovering low, just above the trees, they dropped down a rope ladder for him to hang on to and reel in. As they took flight once more, They all saw the pluming trails of smoke from the fires of each ship, threatening to burn up the forests below. Distancing themselves further and further, the smoke began to reach the stratosphere resulting in the scrambling of several pegasi to put out the fires with a heavy rain cloud. 

Flight Gear began work on repairing the broken parts of the ship after setting their destination. Charger sat down on the small set of stairs leading to the door of the bridge, out of breath and tired. He signaled for Abner and Cuffs to come over to him, they did so. “Well, Doc, fill me in on what I've missed.” 

“Haven't lost your touch, not one bit. Anyways, we're heading to Howlite Forest, a home to an ancient magic user said to be immortal. Hopeful-

“What did I miss, Doc?” Charger interrupted. It seemed the pain from his broken wing was making him a bit short tempered.

“Right, I apologize. Whisk and Marina took the train back to Ponyville, collected Tiva, Lark, and Abner. Headed to Clackerton through the Everfree forest and proceeded to head back to where this all essentially began. Went to the Temple of Light, where Belisama imbued the zweihander here with a good portion of her own magic. Lost Whisk to the bull that released a spell of petrification that consumed both Whisk and Belisama. Leaving there with much heartbreak, we ran into you apparently piloting the Mongoose- the fastest ship in the Legion.” Cuffs properly answered him.

“Well, after you mind controlled me I think I felt the spell release, but the Blight persisted. Eventually I was living a constant paradise dream that consistently turned into one nightmare after another.” Charger remarked. “There were several points where I could barely differentiate reality from fiction. I think, I think my mind still needs some rest.” Charger sighed. “I recall Melek, Abner's father, mentioning something about a cure for petrification. Any ideas?” Abner quickly ran to his quarters and back, bringing the scarf back with him, leaving the phoenix he captured in Marina's care. He proceeded to  pull the small recipe paper out from the hidden pocket and handed it to Charger who read the words aloud, quietly to himself. “Well, he did say he had something to solve the issue, didn't he. I guess he's not lost to us after all. This is, relieving.”

Cuffs finished rewrapping the bandages around Charger's wing, positioning it in such a way that it was incredibly difficult to budge it. Charger thanked Abner before heading down to his own quarter. Abner thought for a moment that Charger was going to ask him about his new powers but surmised  that it wasn't necessary. Perhaps he trusted Abner enough to know that he wasn't going harm his harm his new companions. Abner wondered what kind of nightmares Charger had, referencing his own that he had back when he was still in Canterlot.