Far away from the comforts of civilization, Lord Tirek found himself peeking around the doorway that led into Grogar’s scrying chamber like some child spying upon his parents. The fact that an actual child was beside him and doing the same thing only made him feel more foalish. Yet given what was about to happen, he really didn’t want to miss any of this. So he crouched low and skulked, and tried to ignore Cozy Glow barely being able to stifle her giggles.

Within the scrying chamber, Chrysalis – now covered snout to dock in white fuzz, among myriad other changes since her accidental Reformation several months ago – stared hard at Grogar, working up the courage to speak. When she finally did, Cozy barely held back a snort.

“A lot has happened since I Reformed. I need a vacation,” Chrysalis demanded of an ancient, ornery goat with vastly more power than her. Demanded, like she was entitled, like she could make demands of a being as puissant as Grogar. Cozy tapped her hoof against Tirek’s leg as though trying to keep his attention on what was going to happen, though there was no need as Tirek’s eyes were riveted…

Tirek’s brow shot up, and Chrysalis herself seemed taken aback. Cozy stopped giggling, instead her mouth dropping open.

“Yes! Looking at you gives me a headache. I could use the break. Just don’t do anything stupid to reveal us.”

Chrysalis shifted, brushing some of her now-voluminous mane behind one ear. “Well…good. I’ll be back in a week or two.”

Cozy finally recovered her senses, and before Tirek could stop her the young pegasus had taken to the air and shot forward and into the scrying chamber. “Wait a minute!” she exclaimed as Tirek hurried after her. “Mister Grogar, if Chrysalis can go on vacation, surely me and Tirek can go too, right? We’ve been extra-special good, after all!”

“No,” Grogar responded without hesitation. He popped some of his neck joints.

“Well why not?” Tirek demanded, throwing his hands wide as he stomped his hooves. “What has Chrysalis done?”

Grogar growled as he looked up to his other two minions. Eldritch light suffused him and yellow-black power bled off from the mighty Father of Monsters. “She was smart enough to be born a changeling!” He pointed a hoof at Tirek. “You’re a red centaur three times the height of a pony and you,” he swung his hoof to Cozy, “have an unmistakable identifying tattoo on your flank!”

Tirek began to object that his idea of vacation hardly included contact with other creatures, but Chrysalis chose that moment to add her own two bits. “Whereas I can look like anyone.” Blue fire washed over her. In a second her Reformed body was replaced by an exact duplicate of Cozy Glow, who flew right up to the real one and pressed her hooves together next to her cheek. “Golly gee-whiz! It’s almost like I’m a master of disguise! Yup-a-rooney!”

She sounded exactly like that. But Tirek focused on Grogar as he crossed his arms. “But you sent us to get the Bewitching Bell – ” Grogar growled at that, and Tirek realized his error and raised his hands defensively. “And we failed! But I only mean, you didn’t worry about us being seen then…”

“Because you were going to the middle of nowhere!” Grogar pounded a hoof on the table before him, causing the crystal ball set within it to bounce. He took a moment to calm down before continuing. “If you want to go camping in some forest somewhere, be my guest. But I will not have you exposing yourself, and thus all of us, to those worthless ponies!”

Tirek ran a hand through his beard as he thought. So, Grogar was willing to indulge a camping trip for him? That was good. If he could be gone for a week or two, just as Chrysalis was being permitted, then he could have time to enjoy his freedom in a way he hadn’t been able to in a long time. A thousand years in a cage with nothing for company but monsters gave one a great appreciation for wide open spaces that permitted one to simply roam around freely. Creature contact wasn’t a thing that Tirek craved.

Cozy Glow, meanwhile, had her face screw up, and was grinding her teeth together as she landed on the table. “But what about me?”

Cozy’s ideal vacation probably involved seeing the sights of some major city…and ponies. Lots of ponies, and bending them to her whim. She would absolutely give herself away, and Grogar knew that, and so would command her to remain in the cave…where she would sit and stew in solitude and, after Chrysalis and Tirek got back from their vacations, would be absolutely insufferable.

So Tirek acted quickly. “You could come camping with me,” he suggested. She had not been intolerable during their trip to Mount Everhoof. “I actually know the perfect spot in my homeland, haven’t been there in millennia but I doubt much has changed…”

Tirek felt his words drifting off as he said that. Come to think of it, he did know a great spot to camp and relax within the kingdom of Gar-Centauria…but it occurred to him that he also knew what it was near.

Images flashed in his mind. Memories of two brothers, young and still trusting of each other, looking across a bay at a dark and forbidding, haunted castle. Vowing to each other that one day they would venture inside and find the dark treasure said to be there, at first merely for the adventure, later as they grew older as an attempt to gain power. But they’d never been able to find their way in. And an easier means of obtaining power had presented itself as the older brother had mastered dark magic and set his sights on Equestria, where the younger brother…

Well. That didn’t matter now. Tirek focused instead only on the seed of a plan germinating inside of him. It meant, of course, tossing aside the idea of this being merely a vacation…but perhaps it would be worth it.

Tirek was brought back to the here and now with the sound of Cozy’s grumbling. Grogar slammed a hoof onto the table. “You are going camping with Tirek and you will like it.”

“Y-yes, mighty Grogar!” Cozy stumbled back from Grogar, tail between her legs.

Tirek felt himself grinding his own teeth together at that sight, and at Grogar. Generally speaking Tirek hated Grogar on the basis of not liking the idea of any creature being more powerful than him. Certainly he despised being ordered around, even if Grogar was aiding him in his goal to gain more power. But the way Grogar made demands of the trio…

Chrysalis, meanwhile, had her eyes dart between Tirek and Cozy. She looked unsure for a moment, before hissing out in a low voice, “I’ll bring you two back souvenirs.” When Cozy and Tirek both looked to her, she stomped a hoof petulantly. “Your disappointment tastes like curdled milk! I don’t want to go on vacation with that taste in my mouth, or come back to it after it’s done!” She glanced away from the two. “I hate you.”

“Hate” was a word with a lot of meanings for the former Queen of the Changelings. When she used it in relation to Starlight Glimmer or Twilight Sparkle, it was full of vitriol and anger that Tirek didn’t need to be a changeling to sense. It was genuine. But the hate she loudly claimed she possessed for Tirek and Cozy – and for her former subjects – was ironic. She said hate. She meant something else, even if she herself didn’t know it.

Tirek chuckled, turning around and heading off with his hands folded behind his back. He could hear Cozy Glow start to list out all the souvenirs she wanted, all of them beach-themed. Chrysalis had been grousing about wanting to relax on a beach somewhere for a while now, ever since her Reformation, so Cozy Glow had probably made some assumptions about Chrysalis’ destination.

Tirek’s own, at the moment, was his chambers within Grogar’s lair. Grogar had supplied him with everything he could desire in order to entice obedience and loyalty from him, but those desires had amounted to little more than a bed, a bench and weights for his training, a grammaphone for records to keep him motivated, and a small collection of books. Grogar had apparently grabbed that at random for him since one of them was Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapone. Tirek couldn't imagine the ancient Father of Monsters being a fan of the series.

There was also a hanging picture of Tirek at his full power, the level that he had achieved after absorbing the magic of Discord and all the ponies of Equestria. Far from being a mere vanity – though Tirek had to admit that he cut an impressive figure – it was a goal to work towards, a reminder of how much that he had once held, only to have it snatched away from him by Twilight Sparkle and her cheating magic.

The centaur snorted, walking to the middle of his room and sitting down to think. He’d gotten good at that over the course of a thousand years in a cell. He imagined the vacation spot he would tell Grogar to send him to, an oases at the border of the Nether Lands, a great desert within Gar-Centauria. The oasis was large enough to feed a small copse of palm trees, around a hundred acres in size. Two days east would take him to the coast. Midnight Castle itself was on an island of rocks maybe a half-mile offshore; centaurs were not strong swimmers, but he could bring a felled tree from the oasis to help him float over –

Tirek felt himself growling slightly as he pointed at his door, not even bothering to turn around. “That was closed.”

“Uh-huh,” Cozy agreed as she trotted right up to him and smiled one of her too-wide smiles. “But it wasn’t locked, and if we’re gonna be camping buddies then we’ll have a lot to go over! I’ve never really been camping before. Well, except for with you and Chrysalis at Mount Everhoof. Is it going to be cold? Should I bring bug spray? I think Chrysalis threw it all out but I bet I could convince Mister Grogar to get us some.”

Tirek clenched a fist behind his back. “That won’t be necessary.” He glanced around, then used his magic to close his door. Grogar had given no indications that he spied upon his three minions – a foolish mistake – but Tirek saw no reason to take any chances.

Cozy stared at Triek a moment, and her smile grew simultaneously devious and yet far more honest. “Ooooh, we’re playing hookie? I’ve never done that before either!” She took to the air, hovering in front of Tirek’s face. “So where are we going then?”

Tirek crossed his arms. “Ancient Centaurian legend speaks of a place called Midnight Castle, ruled over by a powerful sorcerer-king named Tirac.” He held up a palm before Cozy could speak up. “No relation. Tirac ruled from Midnight Castle with an iron fist. He subjugated many tribes of centaurs beneath him. He did it all thanks to an artifact he possessed: the Rainbow of Darkness. But he was eventually defeated and thrown down. It is said that the Rainbow of Darkness still lurks somewhere in the dungeons beneath Midnight Castle.” Tirek growled. “My brother and I often planned to retrieve it for ourselves. That…did not end up happening.”

Tirek nodded. “The Bewitching Bell is proving an intractable artifact.” Several months on since he, Chrysalis, and Cozy had retrieved the Bell from Mount Everhoof – though they had informed Grogar that they had failed in their quest – and yet they had made no progress in discerning the secret of how to use it, or even what it did. “Perhaps if I had access to the library in Canterlot…but I don’t see how that would be possible.”

“Mmn,” Cozy waved a hoof up and down at Tirek. “Grogar had a point, it’s not like you can just blend in like you are now.” She landed, taking in all this new information. Tirek could practically see the gears turning in her head, as she effortlessly switched from doing her best to accept the idea of going camping, to fully embracing the scheme that Tirek was concocting. “So the Rainbow of Darkness is insurance in case the Bell doesn’t work out, huh? That’s great! I’ll go let Chrysalis know – ”

“Wait!” Tirek wrapped magic around his door before Cozy could open it again. She turned to Tirek, confused. Tirek stood and began pacing back and forth, hands behind his back. “Given Chrysalis’ recent change, I have…doubts, about her conviction.”

“The old Chrysalis would never have offered to bring us back souvenirs. She is…softening, without her starvation to give her focus. I doubt she would actively plot against us…but if offered an opportunity to return to the changelings, even if not as their queen? I am less sure.” He looked to Cozy pointedly. “I intend to give her every opportunity to remain loyal – she has earned that. But I see no reason to count upon it. Her true loyalty will always be to the changelings, not us.”

Cozy scuffed a hoof on the ground, silent for several long moments. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she said, though she suddenly perked up as she once again started rubbing her hooves together, and grinned. “But when we get back, we can surprise her with it, and then all three of us can use it on Grogar!”

“My thoughts exactly,” Tirek grinned himself, having no doubt at all that Chrysalis would love a chance to dispose of the old goat. “And then we can move against our true target: Equestria.”

Cozy giggled as she sat back down. “Gee, I can’t wait until we’re crushing those dumb ponies and every one of those Friendship Students under us!”

That only earned another giggle. “No I’m not. I’m a little monster. Rawr!” Cozy raised her hooves like she was about to leap on prey, prompting a chuckle from Tirek. Then she sat back down, and had a hoof to her chin. “But okay, give me more. If we’re gonna do this we should do it right. Tell me all about Midnight Castle, everything you know! Oh…” she winced, looking at Tirek. “And, don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but we should probably plan out what we’re gonna do if we run into, um…your brother Scorpan.”

Tirek found himself pausing a moment before answering, something he almost wondered at before pushing past it. “I wouldn’t worry about that.”

My Little Pony
My Little Pony
Ah, ah, ah, ah...
My Little Pony...
I used to wonder what friendship could be
My Little Pony...
Until you all shared its magic with me
Big adventure, tons of fun!
A beautiful heart, faithful and strong!
Sharing kindness - it's an easy feat!
And magic makes it all complete!
You have My Little Ponies...
Do you know you're all my very best friends?

For the millionth time, Rainbow Dash looked at the letter that she had gotten a little over a week ago, and suppressed the urge to let out a totally uncool giggle as she read it.

A new and exotic land! A daring expedition to an ancient ruin! Fortune and glory! Dash had been invited to go on a Daring Do adventure!

It had been a heck of a project to arrange, though, not helped by the fact that according to the ticket, the R.A.S. Wind Drifter was going to leave Los Pegasus in only a few days after she’d gotten the letter.

First, Dash had needed to make sure that there were no Wonderbolts shows or training regimes scheduled for the next three weeks, since no matter how fun this was going to be, she couldn’t leave her teammates hanging. Fortunately there had been none.

But second she’d needed to get time off from the Friendship School, or rather, to find a good substitute teacher to cover for her. Dash had been proactive on that front, arranging for Big MacIntosh to take over and fill her horseshoes first, and then going to Twilight.

“Come on, Twi!” Dash had exclaimed. “Look, it’s only a few weeks! It’s not my fault that the next Daring Do book staring yours truly is going to happen all the way on the other side of the world!”

Twilight had been sitting behind her desk in her office, rubbing her temples with both hooves. “First, I don’t think it’s a Daring Do book unless it stars Daring Do. Second, that’s not the point! I don’t mind you taking a few weeks’ vacation, it’s the fact that you’re asking to begin that vacation tomorrow!”

“Well the letter only arrived today!” Dash was in the air, of course, and it was a simple matter to fly over the desk so she could hover right above Twilight and look down at her. “Come on! How is this any different than if the Cutie Map started lighting up my flank? What if it sent me to…”

She’d faded out when she noticed the pained look on Twilight’s face, and caught up pretty quickly – enough that she’d moved a little and then landed on the ground, tail between her legs, and scuffed a hoof on the floor beneath her. The Cutie Map hadn’t lit up, hadn’t called on any of them, ever since King Sombra had come back from the dead and destroyed the Tree of Harmony. The Tree had supposedly been reborn into the crystal treehouse that lay within the Everfree Forest…but so far, nothing.

“Sorry,” Dash finally mumbled.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s okay,” She looked to Dash. “And…you’re right. The Cutie Map used to call us away at a moment’s notice, and you all still have other things you need to take care of in your lives. The school was supposed to be set up to allow for that. When Applejack and Fluttershy went to the kirins, they were gone just as suddenly and for nearly as long.”

“Yeah, but this isn’t anything like that. It’s probably just going to be me and Daring in some dusty old castle. This isn’t ‘Friendship Problem’ important.”

“No, it’s not,” Twilight agreed, but also gotten out of her chair and put a hoof on Dash’s withers. “But it’s important to you. And I’d be a pretty lousy friend if I tried to stop you.” Twilight smiled. “So! A week there and back and a week in Saddle Arabia. You already have a substitute picked out? Big Mac?”

Dash's wings fluttered as her spirits lifted alongside her body. “Yup! And I laid out all my lesson plans, just like I knew you’d want.” Dash produced a small packet of papers. “Just a bunch of trust exercises. And actual exercises. Applejack said they’re between harvests at the farm so Big Mac can spare the time, and Big Mac already said okay.”

Twilight had nodded as she looked over the papers. “Okay, then – everything looks good! I’ll officially approve your vacation time. And say hi to Daring Do for me!” She’d glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, “and if you can get a look at any manuscripts for her next book…”

Rainbow Dash had laughed then, and needed to spend a few moments once more suppressing a laugh now where she lay on her bunk. Daring Do had pulled out all the stops for her – once she’d gotten to Los Pegasus (in record time, no less), she’d boarded the R.A.S. Wind Drifter to find that she’d had a private first-class cabin all to herself for the transoceanic journey, with even her own bathroom.

And the ship herself? Every bit as cool as Dash had expected. The Wind Drifter was one of the newest airships in Equestria’s growing fleet of skyliners, and among the largest. Her balloon was over eight hundred feet long, and she could carry a hundred passengers and crew for the long voyage across the South Luna Ocean. Her gondola contained a dining room, lounge, small theater, and gift shop. The front quarter of the gondola was made entirely out of magically-reinforced glass for the braver ground-bound passengers, while on the dorsal side of the balloon was a landing strip for pegasi who wanted to get out and stretch their wings. Wind Drifter wasn’t faster than a pegasus who pushed herself – she certainly wasn’t as fast as Dash could be – but no pegasus could fly for days on end without stopping, and definitely not while carrying luggage.

So Dash had been able to pass the time eating, working out, enjoying the sight of the vast, sparkling ocean in every direction, brilliant blue in the sunlight or sparkling under moon-and-starlight, and getting to know her fellow passengers. Most of them were pretty upper-crust, of course, but any initial standoffishness bled away once Dash let slip the fact that she was, well, Rainbow Dash: Wonderbolt, Hero of Equestria, and Fastest Pony Alive. And when she’d had enough of that, she could retreat to her cabin to sleep, or read the Daring Do books she’d brought with her.

The airship journey had been like a vacation all on of its own, leaving her plenty rested and ready to go on an adventure!

Dash’s thoughts were interrupted when the intercom came on. “Attention all passengers,” the voice said into the cabin, “this is your captain speaking…we are about two hours out from Istanbull. Please use this time to collect your belongings and luggage and ensure you are ready to disembark. On behalf of the crew, we hope you have enjoyed flying aboard the R.A.S. Wind Drifter as much as we’ve enjoyed having you.”

Dash glanced around her cabin, but she’d packed up her saddlebags last night, so she had nothing to worry about on that front. Getting out of her bunk and stretching, she put away the letter Daring Do had sent her, and then left her cabin, hoping to get one more round of the really good pancakes that the Wind Drifter served for breakfast before disembarking.

Dash glanced behind her in the narrow airship corridor, and felt herself grinning widely. “Glory!” Dash returned, taking to the air so she could fly backwards and not block the halls for anypony who wanted to pass through, rather than walk side-by-side with . “How’s it hangin’?”

Glory Pose was purple unicorn with a white mane and a cutie mark of a shooting star, whom Dash had met on her first night on the airship, a wealthy heiress heading to Saddle Arabia on holiday. She reminded Dash of Rarity, a little bit, although much less high-strung.

“Oh, same-old same-old,” Glory said as she continued trotting forward and to the stairs that led down to the gondola. “I’m looking forward to getting off this ship, truth be told, and getting to really stretch my legs.” She narrowed her eyes, though her grin didn’t drop as the two descended. “I am very jealous of pegasi.”

Dash smirked herself. “Yeah, being able to step outside when we’re a couple thousand feet in the air is just one of the many perks of being me.” She pointed at the horn atop Glory's head. “Though I’ve always thought it’d be pretty cool to have one of those, too.”

The two reached the gondola level, allowing Dash to land without getting in anypony’s way. Glory gave her a friendly flank-bump once she landed to make sure she knew there were no actual hard feelings, and the two made their way over to the dining room. No sooner had they entered than a pair of squeals went up, and Dash found herself under assault by a pair of earth pony foals, Rough and Tumble.

“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Finish telling us about the dragon you beat up!” Rough demanded.

“No! Tell us more about the first time you did a sonic rainboom!” Tumble insisted, pushing past her twin brother.

“Tell us about the time you beat up a hundred changelings!” Rough shoved his sister away.

She pushed him back behind her. “You said something about a mirror leading to a weird world full of monkeys! Tell us about that!”

Dash grimaced, and moreso when she saw that Rough and Tumble’s parents were passed out at their table, exhausted from dealing with their rambunctious foals. They’d be no help.

Had Dash really brought up the mirror portal? She was pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to…then again a week on an airship with nothing to do but socialize had maybe loosened her lips a little bit. She wanted the ponies to appreciate the fact that they weren’t just traveling, but had been traveling in style.

Glory smirked at her. “I’ll get us a table while you figure a way out of this,” she teased, and headed off. Dash looked down, and saw the two foals staring back at her expectantly and with eyes full of wonder, occasionally shoving each other to stand closer to Dash or push the other back.

Well, far be it from Dash to disappoint an audience. “Okay, I didn’t exactly beat up a hundred changelings by myself, I had friends to help me…”

Dash spent the next fifteen minutes entertaining the foals with stories that were only slightly embellished. Just a little bit. Applejack wasn’t here to take offense, and it wasn’t like she downplayed the cool stuff had friends had accomplished. She just put the emphasis where her fans wanted it: on Rainbow Dash.

Eventually Rough and Tumble’s parents shook off their stupor and managed to get the two back to their table to finish their breakfasts, by which point Dash was looking forwards to hers. Glory had already ordered for the two of them, stacks of pancakes that arrived at almost the same time she did.

“So I don’t think you’ve said if you’re here alone, or meeting anypony,” Glory said as she started digging into her breakfast. She had only a pair of pancakes, with strawberries on the side. “Surely you won’t be seeing the wonders of Saddle Arabia all by yourself?”

“Oh, no, I’m meeting a friend,” Dash responded. Her own plate of pancakes was stacked high, with dollops of butter and syrup that would be unhealthy if not for her metabolism being as lightning-fast as the rest of her. Pinkie Pie would be proud if she were here. “We’ve really been looking forward to seeing the Nether Lands.”

It was a cover-story that Dash was proud of, one she’d concocted on her first night aboard the airship when she’d happened to spot a brochure advertising tours of the easternmost parts of the Nether Lands, the vast desert that dominated central and western Saddle Arabia, full of old centaurian and gargoyle ruins.

Glory chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then swallowed. “I suppose I can see the appeal. I’m not surprised you’d prefer something more adventurous than the sights of Istanbull.” She smiled. “Still, I’ve been to Istanbull twice before and yet it hasn’t even begun to get tiring. You and your friend must at least spend some time in the Grand Bazaar. Anything and everything can be found there for the right price!”

Dash hid her lack of desire to tour some old marketplace with practiced ease. Maybe it was impressive to ponies who liked shopping, but Dash was an in-and-out sort of girl. Besides, Daring had probably already gotten them all the supplies they’d need.

“I might check it out,” Dash finally said, deciding to at least be polite to her airship buddy.

“I don’t think I’ve caught the name of your friend.” Glory looked to Dash expectantly.

Dash fidgeted somewhat, disguising her hesitation with a big mouthful of pancake. She really wanted to keep Daring Do’s secret, of course, and the thought of blabbing out that she knew the supposedly fictitious adventurer-archaeologist never even crossed her mind. But with Glory looking at her expectantly and it just being so cool a thing to tell ponies…

“Okay, but you got to keep it secret,” Dash said, going for a natural compromise. She leaned across the table, and Glory leaned in as well as Dash continued in a low whisper. “My friend is very private…but you’ve probably heard of her. A.K. Yearling.”

Glory’s eyes widened slightly, and she tittered to herself as she drew back. “The author? I see…scouting locations for her next book, is she?”

“Yup,” Dash lied easily. She’d never been the bearer of the Element of Honesty, and in any event it wasn’t even really a lie when she thought about it. “But, seriously, don’t tell anypony, okay?”

Cozy Glow left Tirek’s room with her head spinning, but in a good way. Tirek had told her everything he knew about Midnight Castle, though unfortunately it wasn’t much, just that it was a tall spire of black rock jutting out of the ocean, its dungeons extending who-knew-how-far beneath the waves and the earth. The whole thing was sealed by magic, but Tirek was confident that he now possessed the strength necessary to break through it. There was, likewise, only scant information to work on with regards to the Rainbow of Darkness. It was powerful, yes…but that was all that Tirek knew.

It was basically nothing to go on…but that was okay. As Cozy learned more, she’d figure out how best to use everything to her advantage. And Tirek’s, of course, and –

Cozy let out an eep, looking up and seeing white fur and an orange mantle and blue eyes. Chrysalis may no longer have been quite as intimidating in appearance now that she was Reformed, but she was still tall, still strong, and still capable of withering glares.

“Nothing!” Cozy lied, to throw off the scent. Then she smiled. “Just stuff about what me and Tirek are gonna get up to camping!” Cozy took to the air, getting a few feet of distance from Chrysalis and getting to eye-level with the changeling queen.

Chrysalis eyed Cozy. Her tongue flicked out, tasting the air. “And what about that required a locked door?” One eye narrowed, and her voice dropped low, though there was just a hint of anger behind it. “We’re supposed to be allies.”

Dealing with Chrysalis was super difficult. Any changeling, really, since they could sense emotions, but Chrysalis had more practice with it that any other. Still, there were tricks. It wasn’t like she was a literal lie detector. “Deception” wasn’t an emotion, it was the smugness or nervousness that came with it that a changeling could smell or taste.

So the trick to lying to a changeling was to not lie. It was to be completely sincere. “Look, Chrysalis...we were not discussing betraying you, if that’s what you’re worried about! I promise.” She crossed her hooves. “But at the same time we don’t have to tell you everything. We don’t ask you about everything you get up to.” She flew to Chrysalis’ side and knocked a hoof on one elytron. “Like the stick you’ve got under here! What’s up with that?”

Chrysalis let out a hiss as she spun away from Cozy, elytra and wings snapping open – and grabbing the purple stick that she valued so much in both her blue magic and her hooves. “This is none of your business!”

Cozy raised her hooves. “Okay! But you see my point, right?” She landed again, to look small and nonthreatening. “This is gonna be an extra-special camping trip with just me and Tirek! He’s my oldest friend!” She glanced to the side, rubbing her chin as she giggled. “In more ways than one! I mean, unless you’re older, I dunno. But my point is that since this is gonna be a camping trip with just me and Tirek, we’re gonna get up to all sorts of secret stuff! We’re gonna have a secret hoof-shake, and come up with secret codes, and maybe go on a secret adventure — ”

“Alright! Alright, fine,” Chrysalis interrupted. She stowed her special purple stick beneath one elytron again, and rolled her eyes. “Have your foalish little secrets.”

“Awww, don’t be jealous, Chrysalis!” Cozy insisted with a smile and letting the genuine smugness at having misdirected the queen shine through. “Maybe we can go on a vacation together sometime! Or maybe once we take over Equestria, we could arrange a spa day! Just us girls. And Tirek won’t be invited then!”

Chrysalis scoffed. “As if I’ll have any time for spa days with how much I’ll have to fix my changelings from what Thorax and Starlight Glimmer did to them…” she spat the pony’s name like it was a vile-tasting curse. For Chrysalis, it was.

Cozy could agree with the sentiment, even if her own personal vendetta was directed against different creatures. Six of them, to be specific: a dumb fish-bird princess, a green boring earth pony, a loud hairy wrecking ball, a stupid book bug, a smelly fire-spitting lizard, and a stupid griffon who thought he was so cool with his laid-back attitude and his dumb huge wings and his pointy claws that probably meant that he tore up everything he touched and…

The pegasus filly shook her head, bringing herself back into focus. She didn’t have time right now to dwell on how much she hated those six former classmates of her, especially Gallus. She refocused on Chrysalis, who was stewing and mumbling to herself and had her hooves held like she was holding something between them – and squeezing. Something, Cozy imagined, roughly the size of Starlight Glimmer’s head.

She really did need a vacation. But what if she went off to that resort town Cozy knew she was planning to go to – Teatime or something – and all that time relaxing, mixed with the fact that she Reformed, actually did what Tirek was worried it would do? What if Chrysalis was wrong and her accidental Reformation really did change her and make her go back to the changelings Hive?

On the one hoof, more of Equestria for Cozy and Tirek to split. But on the other, Cozy was friends with Chrysalis! Well, sort of. It was really difficult to get Chrysalis to do what Cozy wanted all the time like a friend was supposed to. But Chrysalis did bake really good cookies for the three of them sometimes, and had been teaching Cozy how to pounce, a skill she’d insisted was important. She’d also given Cozy great tips for manipulating others by playing on their emotions, and helped her learn how to focus her goals and plans a little more, be more meticulous in developing an endgame.

“Say,” Cozy said, interrupting Chrysalis’ fantasy, “what if you came to Gar-Centauria with us? Instead of going to Tia-whatever. It could be just like when we went camping near Mount Everhoof!”

Chrysalis lowered her hooves, glancing at Cozy. “I thought it was a secret, you-and-Tirek only trip,”

“I mean, it doesn’t have to be.” Cozy put on one of her sweeter smiles. “I’m sure Tirek would love to have you along!” That might have been the truth.

Chrysalis looked like she was actually considering it for a few moments, rubbing a hoof against her opposite leg…and then she scowled as she looked down at her hoof and leg, the white fuzz that covered her body now. “No. No, I…I need alone time. I need to get away from everything. Everything. I just want to relax on a beach and not worry or be distracted by anything.” She looked to Cozy. “Besides, going to a sun-scorched desert full of ruins is not my idea of a vacation.”

Cozy had begun to try and make another argument, but paused. “Wait, sun-scorched? Full of ruins? I thought I’d be packing like when we went to Mount Everhoof…”

Chrysalis laughed. “You don’t know where Gar-Centauria is, do you? Or rather, was? It’s a fallen empire in the Nether Lands – the deserts of western Saddle Arabia.”

The young pegasus shifted. “Tirek didn’t mention anything about the weather! Is it really that hot?”

“No, of course not.” Chrysalis let a grin spread across her face before she finally added “it’s hotter. Cook-an-egg-on-a-rock hot. Dead-in-a-day-without-water hot.”

Cozy swallowed, but her mouth was dry. “Oh. Um…I…guess I shouldn’t pack my jacket, then.”

The changeling queen’s grin was wider than a pony’s could ever be. “Definitely not – ”

The door to Tirek’s room opened, and the centaur stuck his head out. “You will pack both, Cozy Glow,” he said. “At night the temperature plummets to freezing, and I will not have you catching a cold and forcing me to carry you!”

Cozy’s eyes widened. She looked between Tirek, who seemed quite cross, and Chrysalis, who was clutching her sides and laughing. She settled on glaring at Chrysalis. “Did you just try to make me freeze?!”

“Oh, please,” Chrysalis got out between laughs, “Tirek would never let that happen!” She looked to Tirek. “And you. How long have you been lurking at your door, listening to us?”

Tirek’s eyes widened. “I – that is…” he fumbled for a few more moments, before growling. “I can lurk at any door I please!”

“Mm-hmmm…” Chrysalis licked her lips, swallowed, and then spun around. “Well! I’m off to the kitchen to make some snacks for my trip. I suppose I’ll make enough to tide you two over as well.”

Cozy and Tirek watched her go, then glanced at each other. Cozy gestured after Chrysalis with both hooves, “Softening?” She demanded.

“Fair enough. I’ll start packing. Geeze, I have to pack for hot weather and cold weather, that’s gross…”

The rest of Rainbow Dash’s breakfast passed in light conversation. Dash greeted a few of the other ponies she’d met during the airship voyage, saying good-byes and good-lucks for whatever they were going to get up to in Saddle Arabia. Doing so passed enough time that by the time she was done, the Wind Drifter was making its final approach to Istanbull’s airship mooring towers. The city itself was spread broadly across the flat lands, hugging the coastline but sprawling across the dry, grassy fields that surrounded it. The airship had several of its windows open now that they were only a few hundred feet above the ground, letting the hot, dry air of Saddle Arabia into the gondola.

It occurred to Rainbow Dash only as she was disembarking and getting her passport stamped that she hadn’t actually arranged with Daring Do as to where they would meet. Trotting out into the airport’s lobby didn’t help, as she saw no sign of Daring Do – little surprise – or the adventurer’s A.K. Yearling disguise. Dash took to hovering in the air, hoping to be spotted, but after a few minutes of waiting there was still nothing.

“…huh,” she grunted, landing and looking around, wondering what to do. Daring could have been caught up for any number of reasons, but Dash was sure that she wouldn’t be forgotten about or deliberately left hanging. Nevertheless, that meant that all that was left to her was to wait around. Ugh.

“Your friend hasn’t arrived?” Glory Pose’s voice asked. She approached Dash with her horn lit up in blue, carrying several bags of luggage in her telekinesis, while a tall, burly, dark teal earth pony stallion with an orange mane was carrying several more for her.

Dash felt a pang of jealousy at the fact that Glory hadn’t needed to wait for her meetup. “Yeah, I’m sure she just got held up in…traffic, or something. She’ll be here!”

“I must say I am surprised, we ran just a bit late in getting here, so she had plenty of time.” Glory said. She was joined by another stallion, this one a brown earth pony, also carrying some of her luggage. She was definitely reminding Rainbow Dash of Rarity now with so many bags…although come to think of it the two stallions looked familiar as well.

“Well!” Glory disrupted Dash’s train of thought with her exclamation. “We wouldn’t want to leave you alone in a strange city. I and my companions would be more than happy to wait with you.” Dash brightened at that as Glory set out, Dash and the stallions following, for some of the chairs that were set up for visitors to the airport, trotting over to the rearmost row of them, away from everypony else.

“Thanks,” Dash said, “though I don’t want to hold up your vacation. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of shopping to do, or whatever.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Glory waved a hoof as though shooing away Dash's concerns. “It’s a bit of a working vacation, truth be told, so I’m not that eager to start it. And I won’t be going home ‘til the work’s done anyway.” She sat down, and Dash did as well. “Besides, I have to admit that your…friendship has me intrigued. I don’t want to play down your own talents, but you can’t just drop…the name you dropped…and not expect me to want details.”

Dash swallowed. “W-well, there’s not much to tell,” she tried. “My friend and I met…” Actually, come to think of it, that wasn’t a story that Dash could tell, was it? “She was going through a rough patch in her life. I helped her out.”

“Heh. Rough patch,” one of the stallions spoke up, the shorter of the two. “Good one.”

Dash looked at him, a brown pony wearing a jacket. She squinted a little. “Hey…you look kind of familiar. Have we met?”

Dash might never have carried the Element of Honesty, but she wasn’t oblivious. But where had she seen this stallion before?

“Oh…shoot,” Glory said. Dash looked, and saw that she’d set down and opened up one of her cases of luggage, and was digging through the clothes within it, careful not to disturb or wrinkle anything. “I knew that I should have brought some of my own ponies with me, but he just had to insist on his old buddies…ah, here we go.”

Glory stood up straight, holding up, of all things, a length of rope. She hoofed it over to the brown stallion. “Here you are.” She got back to digging through her luggage. “Dash, dear, I don’t want you to take any of this personally, though I’m sure you will.”

Alarm bells had started going off in Dash’s head, of course. She took to the air, or started to – but the other stallion, the large teal earth pony, reached out and put a hoof on her withers before she could get more than an inch off the ground and put her back down. He looked familiar too, come to think of it…not that Dash was, instead she started struggling, trying to get out of the pony’s grip. But even though Dash was no slouch when it came to physicality, the earth pony was, well, an earth pony, and a big one at that.

Dash probably could have struggled out of the grip anyway, but then the other earth pony reached into his coat and pulled out a long, thin knife and had it at Dash’s throat with impressive speed.

Dash stopped her struggle at the feel of edged metal against her jugular. She glared at Glory. “Okay, what the heck?” She leaned a little away from the knife, but the stallion followed her. “What are you doing?”

Glory let out a little whicker of delight as she found the next thing she was looking for, a folded brown canvas bag, that – distressingly – looked big enough to fit around a pony’s head.

“Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?” Glory smirked as she eyed the knife that was at Dash’s throat. “I would have thought it was obvious. I’m taking you hostage, darling.”

“Why?” Dash pressed up with all her might, and managed to get four hooves under her, at least, in spite of tall, teal, and burly’s best efforts. “Who are you?”

“Exactly who I said I was, darling, I assure you,” Glory said, smiling. “Glory Pose, of the Fillydelphia Poses. I’m just a bit more than that. I’m the financier of this little expedition that was put together by – ”

Dash’s eyes grew wide at the voice from behind her. She knew that voice. Turning, she found herself looking at a black-maned, gray-coated stallion in a white shirt, his eyes green and his cutie mark a golden skull.

Trouble at Midnight Castle

by RainbowDoubleDash

1. Journey to Saddle Arabia