Stairway to Equestria

by AlexUk


Chapter 16: Chasing Memories

Chapter 16

Chasing Memories

The Sparkle family’s living room sparked to life after the unexpected reply to a question that had always been answered with the usual ‘I’m too busy studying for that sort of thing’.

“Oh thank Celestia, our daughter finally has a special somepony!” Velvet cried out, clutching her offspring even tighter.

“Finally?” came the choked-out reaction from a crumpled Twilight.

“Don’t get us wrong sweetheart, we’re both happy for you,” spoke Orion from his seat, “it’s just that your mom likes to show it more than it’s considered healthy.”

“Orion! How can you say that?” argued Velvet, finally releasing her daughter from her grip.

Her father brought a hoof to his face, much to Twilight’s amusement. She always enjoyed spending time with her parents and watching them have it at each other whenever she visited. Both of them had very stubborn personalities but it was usually Orion the one who would concede every fight. And that day was no different.

“So how is he like? Is he a unicorn too? Does he like magic and studying as much as you do?” Velvet started her barrage of questions, having silenced the fatherly figure.

“Well, he’s nice and-”

“Ohh, I hope you used the protection spell I’ve told you so many times about, you’re not having any foals until you are married, it’s the only-”

“MOM!” shouted Twilight, her face turning a huge blush.

"Tea!" Orion blurted suddenly, quickly rising from his seat and turning toward the kitchen, "We definitely need more tea, I'll go make some now!"

The three ponies however suddenly turned their attention to the door after a series of knocks turned the room to silence.

“Who could that be at this hour?” wondered Orion, stepping towards the door to open it.

After a quick peek outside, he immediately opened it wide.

“There’s my boy, Shining!” he welcomed the tall, white stallion with blue mane.

“Hey Dad, hope I didn’t wake you guys up,” he said, leaning over to hug his father.

Twilight’s ears immediately perked up at the mention of her brother’s name, and a few swift motions after, she was over the couch and at Shining’s neck, her hooves wrapped around him tightly.

“BBBFF! It’s been so long, how are you?”

“Twily! Well for one, I wasn’t expecting you to be here,” he said, returning the hug.

“She arrived here just before. Still haven’t found out why she’s in Canterlot at this ungodly hour of the night, thanks to your mom,” complained Orion, drawing the unwanted attention of his wife.

The two siblings giggled at that, but Shining remembered why he was there in the first place and cleared his voice.

“Well, I came here first to tell you some big news, after which I would have gone to Ponyville to let this little one know as well,” he started, gathering the attention from everyone. “But you’re all here, so it’s even better.”

“Hurry up and tell us already!” demanded Twilight eagerly. She knew it was supposed to be something important; the only times her brother used the words ‘big news’ was when he was promoted as Captain of the Royal Guard or before marrying Princess Cadence.

“Well here it goes . . .” he took a deep breath. “I’m going to be a father!”

*** *** ***

The red morning sun rose above the horizon, its light growing in annoyance as it poked at my tired eyes. The night before was spent on traveling and even Spike was showing the clear signs of lack of sleep.

“Travel with the moon and stars my ass,” I mumbled, rubbing my heavy eyelids.

“Shouldn’t we have a break or something?” asked Spike, barely able to keep his head straight while walking.

I scouted the area around us, and soon enough I spotted a lone tree in the upcoming distance.

“Yeah, we’ll get some rest by that tree over there. Maybe I’ll check the map while we’re at it.”

As we neared our target, I noticed a small watering hole right by that tree. I dropped my satchels on the ground and pulled out the empty canteen I had on me along with my notebook. I approached the murky water and dipped in it, filling the whole thing up.

“Dude, that doesn’t look pretty good,” said Spike, watching me fill up the container.

“No worries. As always, Twilight prepared me for something like this.”

I flipped my spell journal open and searched for a particular note on a cleansing spell. Finding it, I briefly went over the steps and then cast the spell on the canteen, hovering it in front of me. Gray fumes raised from the bottle accompanied by the bubbling sound of boiling liquid.

“And done!” I proudly stated, sensing the container getting warmer. “I removed the impurities, boiling it at the same time. It should be as good as the tap water back in Ponyville, once it cools a little bit.”

“That definitely sounds like something Twilight would insist on teaching you. Can you fill mine up as well?” the young dragon asked, going through his backpack.

“Sure. By the way, what’s in that thing? Looks quite heavy to me.”

“Uhh well, one half-empty bottle since we dragons don’t really drink that much water, and some gems,” he said, opening up the pack so I could see its contents.

The whole thing was filled to the brim with crystals, diamonds and rubies.

“Some? Sweet Celestia that’s a lot of gems! Well, good thing you got yourself some snacks, at least I won’t have to share my rations.”

I stretched, letting out a chewy yawn. “Okay, I’ll get some rest. Raven, since you napped in my bags last night, could you keep watch and make some noise if you see anything coming our way?” I took her loud caw as a yes. Having taken care of that, I sat down by the bare tree, the bird flying off above, resting on one of the branches. Peewee joined her soon enough, her bright fiery body forming a beautiful contrast with Raven’s jet-black feathers.

“See ya in a few, Spike. Make the best of this; it’s going to be a long time before we’ll stop again.”

The dragon returned a nod of the head and then lied down on the ground next to me. My eyelids blinked a couple of times before closing, the image of the barren no pony’s-land lingering somewhere in the peripheral of my mind.

Spike pulled his backpack close to him, but before closing it, he drew out a small object draped in piece of cloth. Unwrapping it gently, he uncovered a blue sapphire that sparkled softly in the daylight. He looked at it with heavy heart, letting out a pained sigh before putting it back into his backpack and resting his head on top of it, his mind drifting away to his youthful days of innocence.

“You've been very patient today, Spike. And for that, you get the finest reward! This is from me, to you.”

He just stares at it, then at her.

“Is something wrong, Spike?”

He hugs it to his chest, amusing her.

“No - It's perfect!”

*** *** ***

It was Shining Armor’s turn to be on the receiving end of Velvet’s hugs and attention as the teared-up mother couldn’t be happier for her son and future grand-foals. Twilight herself felt more than delighted to find out that she was going to be an aunt, even if she would have a hard time grasping that title. And as always, Orion’s pride for his son was showing in his joyous smile and sparkling eyes, words having completely left him.

“How come you didn’t bring Cadence along?” came from Velvet the question that was lingering on everyone’s minds.

“Well, she’s caught up with a lot of work back in the Crystal Empire. I really hope she’ll be able to visit Canterlot soon, though.”

“I’m so happy for you two Shining, have you found out the foal’s gender yet? An early magical scan could reveal it pretty easily if done by a good unicorn doctor,” suggested Twilight, letting her rational part of her brain take over again.

“Unfortunately not, it was just Cadence uhm- I don’t really know, she just ‘felt’ it somehow. We went to the Royal doctor back there and he confirmed the pregnancy. I guess she just magically felt the little one inside her.”

“The exact thing happened with me when I had Twilight! One day I just knew that there was another heartbeat along mine,” recalled Velvet, pulling her kids into another deep hug.

“Except for you,” added Orion, prodding Shining’s chest with a hoof, chuckling, “Vel thought she was getting fat until she actually went to the doctor about it.”

“Orion!” protested his wife, much to Shining and Twilight’s amusement.

Knock Knock Knock !

It was the third time someone was at the door that day, and already the early morning’s sun was casting its rays through the windows of the Sparkle residence.

“Who could that be, now?” said Orion as he went to the door and opened it.

The third unexpected guest turned out to be no one else than Princess Luna herself. The stallion dropped into a bow as soon as he recognized the royal figure standing at his doorstep.

“Princess Luna, what an unexpected visit! And not the only one today I might say.”

“Orion Sparkle,” greeted Luna, slowly nodding at him as a salute, “I actually came here for Twilight. I was told by her friends back in Ponyville that I could find her here. May I come in?”

“But of course, Princess!” exclaimed Orion as he allowed Luna to come inside.

The rest of the family showed their respects for the royal figure, which actually irritated Luna.

“There is no need for such formalities, you are as part of the royal family as Shining Armor is,” she said, stopping in front of the mentioned white stallion. “Congratulations on your future foal or foals, Captain Shining. News came to me from Cadence via my sister; may the moon shine brightly upon your bigger family.”

“Thank you, Princess,” the stallion responded, taking another short bow.

The Princess rolled her eyes before shifting her attention to his sister.

“Twilight, there are important matters we need to discuss. Can we proceed to a more private place, I don’t wish to disturb the rest of your family’s celebration,” she said rather sternly.

“Sure, uhh- I think my study room upstairs should be clear, right mom?”

“Just the way you left it, darling,” Velvet confirmed.

Twilight and Luna both made their way upstairs. There, a door at the end of a long corridor revealed a small and spacious mansard containing a large desk and several shelves stacked with books and scrolls. Scientific equipment of all kind littered the remaining of the available surfaces and a wide balcony sealed one end of the room.

Luna studied the room she was in, the room that during her stay at Canterlot, meant the entire world for the young mare next to her.

“I must admit, there are only few ponies I recall that shared thy passion for learning. Have you ever thought about becoming an Archmage?”

“An- an Archmage? Me?” Twilight stammered, taken aback by the unexpected topic.

“But of course. You most certainly possess the desire to learn and your skills in magic are formidable for a unicorn your age. Adding into the fact your two titles of Element of Magic and Lifebringer, I fail to see who could actually be more worthy of that position other than you.”

“I don’t know, Princess . . . even if I grew up here in Canterlot, I feel that my home is back in Ponyville. I don’t know how I could manage here again without my friends,” Twilight explained, looking out the balcony window over the peaceful city.

“It was a mere suggestion, Twilight Sparkle. You would still have a long way to go until thou can actually be named an Archmage of Equestria. There are a lot of things that books cannot teach, and only the passing of time can share that knowledge with you.”

Silence filled the small chamber, as Twilight thought for the first time in a long time about what she wanted to do in life. She loved studying, especially under Celestia’s tutelage but she also loved her friends and her life in Ponyville. As much as she liked being home with her parents, moving to Ponyville with the task of learning about the magic of friendship was the best thing that could have happened to her. It had been almost four years since that fateful day; four years of studying, four years of making friends and great adventures, four years of feeling integrated in a welcoming and heartwarming community. Since then, she came to realise she wouldn’t trade a lifetime of knowledge spent in the biggest of libraries for the little tree house and her six best friends; not to mention the recent colt that came crashing in her already hectic life, wreaking a mess all around him as well as in her heart.

The short moment of pondering was interrupted by Luna, as she approached Twilight near the balcony doors.

“However, that is not why I came here now,” she stated, her eyes focused on the castle in the distance.

“Yes, I know. How did things go with Spike? Was- was Blink with him? Are they alright?” Twilight asked, remembering the situation his assistant was in.

“I was too late, I’m afraid. He was of legal age when I found him so I couldn’t ask him to return home on your request. However they are- relatively fine. Midnight Blink got into some trouble with the local townsmen but the issue has been dealt with.”

“So Spike is not coming back?” Twilight asked in a low voice, her eyes quivering from the emotion.

“He made his own decision and also felt very responsible about how you would feel about it. I have asked him to write to you the moment he gets order in his thoughts. Rest assured, his partnership with Blink makes their travels outside our lands much safer.”

“So, we can write to each other?”

“Indeed you can, however the spell required to send messages from a unicorn to a dragon is no common one. It was in fact invented by my sister as you probably are well aware. Come to the castle today and she will happily teach it to you, although I assume your visit to Canterlot shared a similar goal.”

“Yes, I wanted to speak with her about-” Twilight paused, not wanting to have that conversation with Luna, “-my studies.”

“As you wish. I shall return to the castle, I bid thee good bye, Twilight Sparkle.”

"Wait," Twilight called as Luna made her way downstairs.

Luna turned back, only to be met by the concerned expression of the unicorn mare; and so, something special happened to the dark Princess: for the first time she looked at Twilight beyond the smaller stature and purple coat. Behind those, deep into her inner self, Luna felt the incurable thirst for knowledge, the magic that held the essence of life itself and the pure kindness in her heart. For a brief moment, she saw her sister from a far different time.

“Do you really think they are going to be all right?” Twilight’s question broke the chain of ancient memories from Luna’s mind.

The alicorn’s thoughts lingered a few moments before she spoke her honest opinion. “The challenges will be there, but they will prevail, it is such that I hope. And Twilight . . .” Luna paused for a moment, the teal in her eyes briefly glistering in the morning sun, “The most important thing is not to lose one’s faith.”

Twilight managed just a nod, afraid that her voice might not hold under the emotions. Her dearest assistant was out there with the colt that held a special place in her heart and the only thing she could do was to sit there and wait for their return. And everything just because of Celestia's questionable ruling over that stupid incident.

The veil of doubt and pity quickly faded however, as a more gruesome realization slowly started to sink in: She would confront her own mentor that very day.

*** *** ***

Someone was shaking me. Through my fast-blinking eyelids, the light from the midday sun warned me that many hours had passed since morning.

“Dude, wake up. Look over there.”

I got my head up after a few more thorough jolts from my travel companion, only to notice a strange shape in the general direction in which he was pointing.

“What is that?” I asked groggily, not able to recognize the distant object at all.

“Looks like a traveling salespony. He’s coming our way too.”

I rolled my eyes, feeling too tired even after resting to deal with random merchants in the middle of literally nowhere. I sat up on my behind, leaning on the tree and watching as the stranger got closer and closer, apparently pulling a small caravan after him. As he got close to us he stopped, apparently holding back on the account of the dragon sitting next to me. I waved at the stallion, letting him know that we mean no harm. Spike did the same, and after a few moments of reassessing the situation, the merchant resumed his approach.

He was a gray earth stallion with a golden legal scale as a cutie mark. His long mane was wrapped into a ponytail, white strands hanging loose at the base of his neck, revealing his age. However he was strong and resilient for his years, the ambulant kiosk behind him being packet to the brim with all kind of wares and items.

“Hello there travelers!” the stranger was first to speak. He released the hold on his caravan and approached us cautiously, stopping at a safe distance from the menacing teenaged dragon. “Is there anything you might be interested in buying or trading? I have fresh water, supplies and many more, dear travelers.”

After studying him a little more I concluded that he meant no harm but Spike was already walking towards him.

“Do you have quills?” he asked fumbling his fingers, trying not to look menacing in any way. His innocent smile didn’t help at all, revealing more sharp teeth than planned. The merchant gulped, but encouraged by the prospect of a sale, went over his fears and broke a weak smile.

“But of course, sir dragon-”

“Just call me Spike,” he said, following the stallion as he went to the back of his caravan to search for the inquired item.

“Okay sir Spike; quite an unusual item to need in a place like this, but luckily I still have some. Here they are,” he uttered after a few moments of searching, coming up with a hoof full of long, dark quills from a small box filled with books and scrolls.

“Sweet, really needed one to write a letter, how much will that be?”

“Twenty for three, thirty for all five o-them.”

Spike opened a small bag of coins and gathered a few into his palm. “Here, just three please.”

The merchant looked at the dragon as he tucked the bag of bits back into his side, fascinated by how the bag simply disappeared into him.

“Scale pockets,” he smirked at the awestruck pony, “it’s a dragon thing. Thank you for the quills.” He then turned to me. “Do you need anything, Blink?”

I was studying the exposed merchandise all along, but found nothing interesting or of importance for our journey.

“Neaa, I’m good. Don’t really have bits to spare on-” I suddenly stopped, noticing a very familiar-looking object displayed in between several random objects on a top shelf. “What is that?” I asked, pointing a hoof at what sparked my interest.

“Hmm, the item in the leather holster?”

“Yes, is that a gun?”

“It sure is, sir: a magnum designed for use by unicorns. Custom build, has a magic grip enchantment on the hammer for fast firing, so I’ve been told. Never got to shoot it myself since the trigger can only be moved by magic but I think it should still work.”

“Why would it not work?” I asked, levitating the holder to me and pulling the gun out of it.

The silver gun was almost identical to the one that stallion in Dodge used to shoot me. It looked very similar to the ones back home, although it had a very small handle that didn’t even seem to be designed to provide a grip, since hooves wouldn’t be that good at it.

“Well, I never tested it and I’ve also had it for a long time now but-”

“How much for it?” I cut him off, having already made a decision.

“Uhh well, since it doesn’t usually catch the eye of my clients, I’ll let you have it for two hundred. You can keep the holster as well.”

“Deal.”

I brought the bag of bits from my saddle bags and got forty pieces of five bits out.

“What about the ammo?” I remembered, floating the bits back up from the small counter at the side of his caravan.

“There should be some in here,” he said, retrieving something wrapped in an old piece of cloth from the stash of items on display. He pulled out what seemed to be several strips of bullets and a couple speed loaders, each having six silvery rounds. “It’s all the ammo I got for this: thirty bullets in total. Don’t know how these things work however.”

“It’s okay, I think I might just know, thanks.”

I placed the bits on the counter and grabbed the rounds, levitating them to me. Besides the fact that the projectile part seemed to be made of a strange, dark metal, they looked pretty similar to normal bullets I knew of. They were rather large for a normal pistol, and so a juvenile squee almost left my lips as I considered the possibility of having a .50 or more caliber revolver.

“Well if that’s all, I’ll leave you two to your traveling, thank you for the business, sirs!”

Spike bid his farewell, but I couldn’t be asked to do more than a quick wave, the weapon in front of me sucking up all my attention. The merchant strapped himself to the caravan and went off towards where we came from, probably to do more trading in Dodge.

“Dude, why did you buy that?” Spike asked, picking up a speed loader, studying the six bullets attached to it.

“What do you mean why?” I asked, slightly taken aback by his question. “It’s a gun! You saw what a thing like this can do. Although I have to ask: why are they so rare? I haven’t seen any until yesterday when one discharged in my face.”

“These guns? Because of the same reason I asked you why you bought it in the first place: It’s against the law to have them -at least in Canterlot-, and only unicorns can use them.”

“I don’t get it. It’s still a powerful thing.”

“Well, Twilight told me about them and I had the same argument with her when I thought it’s awesome to have something that shoots metal pieces at high speed.”

I shrugged. Twilight’s logic; I’ll soon regret having bought this.

“What did she say?” I asked, letting out a sigh.

“Well, only the ponies that cast spells can use them. And there are a lot more dangerous spells than a bullet from that thing,” Spike started.

He was right. I was already starting to think that wasn’t the best investment. The merchant was far away already as well.

“But what if someone tries to get into the castle and has one of these?” I rebuked, not admitting defeat yet.

“Have you seen what those guards are wearing? That’s gold plated armor, but under that coating the metal is very tough. I got to see how some of those were made back when I was young and Twilight studied there. I really don’t think those bullets will get through them.”

“How about ugh- I don’t know, soldiers? I know Equestria has an army, Kazooie told me of it.”

“Hmm,” Spike mused, scratching his chin with a claw. “Yes, we do have an army. But they don’t use guns.”

“What? Come on! Don’t tell me they all have swords and-”

“They used muskets!” he uttered in a triumphant manner, happy to finally make use of all the historic knowledge fed to him by Twilight.

“What? What do you mean used?”

“Well, Twilight and me went to a lot of museums, you know? So there was a history one back in Canterlot. There is where I saw those things exposed: long wooden spears but instead of a pointy metal thingy, they had a shot barrel that fired some sort of magic projectile. They were used in a war before Luna’s banishment, a long time ago. After that, Princess Celestia kept peace up until now, so I guess they’re just antiques these days.”

I took all of that in, soon realising I should have probably went to Canterlot more often or learn more about the history of the place I was in. The silver revolver in my magic grip shone beautifully in the sun’s light, having been kept in very good conditions by that merchant pony.

“So this is over a millennia old?” I asked Spike, floating the gun to him.

He cautiously grabbed the piece, running his claw over the well-kept metal, turning and studying it carefully.

“I don’t really think so. They probably didn’t have guns like these back then. But I think I remember Twilight telling me something about them being made for the rich and eccentric or something like that. Also I can tell they are definitely not mass produced; neither the gun nor the ammo.”

“How come?”

“This is not how cast metal looks like,” he explained, scratching at the gun’s barrel with his pointed claw. “And the bullets have small imperfections along the casing.”

All that time I was giving him a deadpan look, thinking he was either joking with me or actually knowing how things of metal were made.

“What?” he asked, noticing my doubtful look, “Look, whenever Twilight was studying at the castle with Celestia and whatnot, I would sneak to the royal blacksmith. I learned a lot there about metals and stuff, even diamond cutting; not to mention the waste from the cutters was absolutely delicious.”

So that’s how he knows about all that stuff.

“Okay, okay, I won’t argue with you,” I conceded, picking up my bags and placing all the ammo in them, save for one strip of rounds.

I started walking on our originally planned path, Raven and Pewee already scouting the area ahead of us. Spike got his own backpack and went along my side, watching me as I fed the bullets into the cylinder one by one in midair.

“But I still don’t care. It’s a good gun,” I stated proudly, snapping the fully loaded cylinder back into place and placing the gun in the holster that I had just attached to a satchel on my back.

“It could bring a dragon down, could it not?” I teased him, as we walked.

“Have you seen my scales?”

“Damn you . . . other unicorns that don’t have a gun?”

“Twilight’s simplest shields could probably deflect those easily.”

My face dropped. I, Midnight Blink, having the tile of Deathbearer and possessing a huge, yet untapped source of magic, was able to spawn shadow clones of myself, blast foes with invisible forces and teleport over short distances, yet I still thought that a gun was cool.

Some things never change.

*** *** ***

The lone merchant stopped for a moment and his ears perked towards the source of the strange noise. It was already dark outside but he was so close to Dodge Junction that he didn’t stop to make camp.

He was sure that there was something -or someone- out there, focusing his eyes in an attempt to spot anything beyond the veil of darkness that came with the night.

A flick of light and a powerful wave of air pushed the earth stallion through the air. The harness broke loose from the force of the spell and he came crashing into his own caravan. Mere seconds after that, he felt his neck being squeezed as he was pulled out from the wreckage, held mid-air by a pink magical grip. He flailed his hooves around frantically, to no avail, ending up holding onto the invisible force around his neck.

“Where did he go?” a voice came from somewhere in front of him.

He barely distinguished a hooded silhouette several feet away, the faint aura around the unicorn’s horn being the only light source around.

“W-w-who?” he choked the words as breathing became more and more difficult.

“Two travelers left Dodge Junction: a dragon and a unicorn. Where were they heading?”

“T-to the- zebra- lands . . . please I’ll give you anything just-”

“WHERE in the Zebra Lands?” the female voice grew more irritated.

“Saw him going- towards the F-flat lands . . .”

Mere moments after divulging the two travelers’ heading, the merchant was yet again blasted away, crashing against the hard ground, tumbling a couple of times. When he painfully raised his head, the attacker was not there anymore.

*** *** ***

Twilight’s hoofsteps echoed in the Castle’s hallways as she neared Celestia’s study. After Luna left from her home, she managed to explain to everyone in her family about Spike and Blink’s grim situation. Shining had even offered to help as he was still Captain of the Royal Guard, but before he could do anything he had to discuss with his higher-ups: the Princesses.

Twilight appreciated his support but insisted on discussing with her mentor herself before turning to the others for help. There were a lot of things she needed to hear from the Princess herself first. As she approached the large decorated door of Celestia’s personal study, her mind kept joggling all the questions and secrecies that have been troubling her ever since the incident with Gilda. She knocked at the door while nervously trying to get her thoughts into order.

The door opened, a yellow aura surrounding its edges. Twilight stepped in, immediately noticing Celestia behind her large desk. The Princesses’ eyes were rapidly skimming through the pages of a book that looked particularly old in contrast with the ones around. She stopped reading and turned to face Twilight.

“My dear student, I’ve heard about what happened with Spike from my sister,” said Celestia, getting up from her seat and closing in on Twilight.

She leaned over and nuzzled her tenderly. The unicorn however didn’t return the gesture, just passively accepting the close presence of her mentor. Her mood and feelings simply didn’t allow her to enjoy such closeness with the one that made not one, but two special friends of her leave their home. She tried very hard not to be angry at Celestia but the more she bottled her frustrations, the more she felt like resenting the white alicorn.

“I’ve had to go through one of my personal books to remember the exact specifics of the letter sending spell,” continued Celestia, heading back to her desk to grab a freshly inscribed scroll.

She floated it over to her student and Twilight simply grabbed it and placed it in her saddlebag. Celestia darted through her room, not paying much attention to the unicorn that continued to stare at her in silence. In reality, Twilight was struggling to find a way to reach her mentor, a way to confront her about her decision. She never argued or defied Celestia in any way and the thought of raising her voice at the ruler of Equestria was the only thing that kept her mouth from articulating any words.

The Princess grabbed a few stacks of paper, most likely official documents, and then returned to where Twilight stood, next to the door.

“I’m so sorry that I can’t stay with you any longer, I have important work that needs to be taken care of. I’ll send a letter as soon as I get the chance. We’ll talk about everything soon, my student.”

“But I really wanted to ask you-”

“Twilight, I wish I could answer your questions, but I really don’t have the time at the moment to do so. As ruler of this kingdom, there are things that I need to attend to that have priority,” Celestia excused herself, looking Twilight in her eyes for one last time before heading out.

Hidden reasons and more secrecy were too much for Twilight to take anymore. The door shut in front of Celestia, stopping her in her tracks. The white alicorn stared at the door in front of her for just a few moments. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, then turned back to her student.

“I need to know why you banished Blink,” Twilight said a little louder than she would have wanted to the royal figure.

Celestia however didn’t show any signs of anger or annoyance. She wasn’t even surprised by the boldness in Twilight’s tone, even if it hadn’t been used in her presence for a long, long time.

“I guess at some point I would have had to tell you about it,” Celestia said thoughtfully. She approached the unicorn and sat down, her mind rummaging for the most distant of memories.

“I . . .” she paused for a moment, unsure about how to translate her thoughts into mere words. An idea flashed through her mind. She immediately thought of the consequences but the questioning eyes of the mare in front of her were enough to push her forward.

“Hold still, please.”

Celestia leaned over and gently touched Twilight’s horn with her own. In an instant the unicorn felt like her entire world went out of focus, her vision going blurry then turning a pure white moments after.

Her senses came back to her one by one: first she heard nature’s noises, and then she felt the warm wind across her coat. The strange smell of what seemed to be flowers flooded her nostrils, tingling her slightly. Opening her eyes, the first thing she noticed was how weird the honey-warm light seemed. It appeared to be broad daylight, but the sky was fuzzy and bright and she couldn’t tell where the sun was.

Looking around, she found herself near a small town that reminded her of Ponyville. Almost everything she tried to focus on however was blurry, as if a thin veil of plastic filtered part of her view. Twilight turned and saw Celestia standing next to her, her eyes a pure white and horn glowing powerfully.

“Where is this? Wait- this is . . . magic,” Twilight murmured, moving her hoof in front of her as if there was a cloud of steam there.

There wasn’t any smoke but she could feel the magic of her mentor surrounding her everywhere. It was so much of it, and she had to focus very hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer energy that was put into forming everything around her.

“Indeed, everything you see is just a spell to show you some of my memories,” Celestia stated, casually looking towards the town, her eyes iris-less.

“Why are some things unclear?” Twilight inquired, again trying to study the sky or any other specific object at a distance. “I’ve read about this spell, and it said that even if the memory holder does not remember everything around him at that time, the missing pieces would be replaced by the conscience of the pony that’s viewing the memory,” she recited from her mind.

“That is because I don’t want you to see everything,” Celestia’s calmly responded.

Twilight stared at the alicorn, wondering what reason she had not to show her seemingly trivial details like the sky or the buildings in the distance. All she could notice clearly was the grassy field they were on, several mountains near the horizon line and distant hills harbored by tall forests.

Her ears picked the sound of two approaching ponies and she turned her head, her eyes widening at the sight of two very familiar mares.

They were playfully cantering from the town, laughing at one another in an innocent game of chase. What shocked Twilight was that the tall ponies were undoubtedly Celestia and Luna, however slightly different in appearance. The one being chased was supposed to be a younger Celestia, having a light pink mane and shorter horn. Her coat was as white as always and her cutie mark was the same, although somewhat smaller. The one behind her was Luna, looking a lot like she did when she was first released from within Nightmare Moon. Her short, blue mane bounced in time with her rapid steps, her wings half-opened as to provide balance in her chase.

The two of them approached Twilight and Celestia’s location and the unicorn gulped, taking a step back. She tried to focus on the fact that nothing was real and everything was just a memory but the realism of it slightly overpowered her judgment.

“When is this?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

“I believe that there is no answer to that question that would make sense for you, so please leave it at that,” Celestia requested.

The two mares came to a stop, just feet away from them. Twilight watched them with rapt attention.

“Tired you are Celly, or do you show your defeat?” spoke the younger Luna, catching up to her sister.

“That is not, Lulu. I just wanted to have you see what I found of my powers,” Celly rebuked, searching through the grass as if she had lost something. “Here be it; look!”

She closed her eyes and focused, causing a yellow glow to surround a small, growing flower. The plant started getting bigger, sprouting weird leaves and green bulbs. The bulbs eventually opened up to reveal large, colored petals. She stopped channeling her magic when the plant reached her height and turned to her sister, irradiating proudness.

“Wow, that be happening since long ago?”

“I trust so, Lulu. Our magic is stranger than the other’s; we have more power. Night before you scared me from the dark, I did not see you coming from the shadows.”

“There is something else, sister. I- I think I know of our true magic,” the younger sister spoke in a low voice.

“What that be?”

“Your powers gift life while mine take it away. Look . . .”

The blue mare then approached the large, overgrown flower. Reaching out with a hoof she touched it barely. Dark smoke trails crawled from around the tip of her limb, spreading across the plant. The petals darkened and crumpled more and more until the whole flower turned into the same blue smoke that came from her, dissipating in the wind. Celly looked at the fading magic, amazement plastered on her face.

“That is diresome, sister.”

“It is my power, Celly. I fond the moon and you, the sun. You are the day, as I am night,” Lulu said, pointing at their cutie marks.

“But you must not do bad with this, Lulu. Promise you won’t do as you just did ever again,” the white mare asked of her sister, her eyes pleading.

“I shall not, dear Celly, that is promised.”

The image of the two sisters blurred and Twilight turned to her mentor, her heart beating fast from the implications of the powerful moment she just witnessed. Celestia’s eyes glowed brighter for a split second, and after a white flash they found themselves in a forest, the moonlight freely passing through the poor foliage of the tall, strange trees.

“Needless to say, she did not keep her promise,” Celestia uttered, her eyes glancing over the dim setting around them. “A few days after that she dreamed of a dark silhouette that told her about her destiny. I believe you have met Him the moment you pulled Blink from his grasp.”

“You mean- Death? You and your sister were-”

“Yes. At one point in our lives we bore the titles you and Blink do now,” Celestia explained, her attention partially directed to the unusual texture of a tree next to her.

“But, what happened then? And why were you speaking like that? It’s wasn’t even old Equestrian.”

Celestia smiled, still entranced by the tree near her. “That is because we based the Equestrian language on the one you just heard.”

Twilight stared at her mentor, trying to figure out how the two mares from that memory could have spoken a language that was not made by them, since presumably they were the first ponies to roam the lands of Equestria.

“So why am I seeing this? What does this have to do with me or Blink?” Twilight asked, redirecting the Princesses’ attention to her.

She let out a sigh, hearing the approaching frenzy. “It’s because I want to show how it was living alongside my sister considering our special powers,” Celestia said, looking past her student at the approaching group of fleeing ponies.

Twilight turned her head and noticed a small group of four running towards them. What struck her as odd was that two of those stallions had both wings and horns, and all of them were as tall, if not taller than the Princess. They were wearing filthy leather outfits, their manes in disarray and their faces traced with scars. Getting closer and closer, Twilight could distinguish the fear on their faces. Suddenly, a puff of smoke burst right in their way, expanding violently.

One of the stallions cast a shield in front of him, the others trying to scatter away from the imminent danger. With a swirling sound, several silvery objects flew from the trails of smoke, right towards the bolting ponies. One of them struck its target, a large chestnut earth stallion crashing into a tree, blood pouring from his chest as he drew his last breath. One of his companions had a dagger fly past his head, cutting through his left ear. The third one managed to completely avoid the thrown weapon and suddenly reconsidered his options, charging at the black mist, teeth gritting and horn glowing powerfully.

From the smoke jumped a dark pony which Twilight recognized to be Luna herself. She headed straight towards her attacker, charging at full speed. The black clothing she was wearing made no sound as it flapped in her crazed run. Her eyes leaked pure darkness in the last moment before collision, and in an instant she passed through him, as if she was a ghost. A thin strand of magic in her wake caught the stallion by the neck, wrapping around him tightly.

The one with the injured ear used that as an opportunity and took flight, trying to escape his fate. A few seconds later he crashed against the ground head first, his wings shredded by the multitude of daggers thrown at him by the dark sister. She then turned towards the last one of them and approached him slowly, her death glowing eyes locked with the shaking bandit’s. The snarls and struggles of the asphyxiating stallion behind her came to a stop as his eyes closed for one last time.

A quick burst of flames from the last stallion’s horn was skillfully evaded by Luna’s superior magic. She countered with a swift swish of her head, sending forward a burst of air so sharp that it sliced through the stallion’s horn, the upper part of it falling off completely. He crashed to the ground, raising his hooves to his head, screaming in agony.

“Lulu, NO!” a voice came from her side. The white shape of her sister approached, her breath heavy from the flight.

Celly’s eyes then caught the horror around her, her shocked gaze eventually turning to her sister. “Please don’t,” she begged her. Lulu didn’t even flinched, casually stepping towards the suffering stallion. “Don’t part in this, Lulu; you’ve already taken much a life this night. Let he be tried by the queen!”

“I shall not do such!” Lulu snarled at her sister, blinded by anger. “You want him out of our sight, never to see again, knowing he will be passing days in confinement but with light in his eyes?”

“That would be just, dearest Lulu,” Celly uttered, on the verge of tears. “We most need of calm is such moments, sister of mine, we do.”

“Calm?! Calm knowing him breathe and mum and dad not?” yelled the crazed mare, her eyes spitting shadows in the serene moonlight.

Celly let out a pained sob between her teeth, desperately trying to keep her head up. “Yes, Lulu. They be wanting that from us,” she said, her voice cracking near the end.

Lulu turned her death gaze towards the cowering murderer, magic channeling around her. A dark blue object resembling a long knife formed next to her, the blade letting the moonlight pass through its semi-transparent form.

“Mum and dad are not here anymore to know of this,” she whispered, plunging her blade in the stallion’s heart. His cry muffled off and his breathing stopped, eyes quickly losing their glare. A twist of the magic-made weapon jilted the corpse slightly, allowing the warm blood to flow freely out of him.

A powerful white light engulfed Twilight and Celestia, flooding the memory in it. Re-opening her eyes after a few moments, Twilight found herself back in Celestia’s study.

“Things turned worse after that day. As a Deathbearer, my sister craved for the thrill of taking lives. I wish I would have been there earlier that day and stop the first bloodshed,” the alicorn spoke, her eyes glistening in the room’s light.

Twilight just stared at her, not knowing what to say in such a situation. Finding out her mentor was once a Lifebringer brought more questions than answers but the worst part of it all was seeing Celestia’s reaction to her own memory: Her eyes now returned to normal, the Princess was absently staring at her study room, her mind shaken by the events she had re-witnessed who-knows how many times.

“I didn’t want the same thing to happen to you. I wanted him to be as far away as possible,” she continued, turning to her student.

“But . . . he’s not like that. He’s kind and caring and even if he will instinctually want that to happen, I’m sure we could find a way to get him to realize it. I’ve been writing reports about friendship for years now, I would have expected you to understand and give him a chance.”

Celestia hung her head and took a deep breath. Her student was right; she had been putting emphasis on learning about the magic of friendship ever since she met her and it all culminated with Twilight’s departure to Ponyville, where she met the rest of the Elements and united with them against Equestria’s most dangerous adversaries along the years.

“You are right Twilight,” Celestia finally spoke after a pause, “I should have given him a chance. I’ve let my judgment as a ruler overcome my rational thoughts as a friend and most importantly, as a mentor. I am sorry for that however there is nothing I can do about it anymore. I can only thank my sister for her decision to send him to the Griffin Kingdom instead of just exiling him like I initially intended. I must leave now Twilight; I hope that in time you will forgive me for my hasty decision.”

That being said, the Princess evaporated in a multitude of golden stars that gently fell on the floor. Twilight stood there, staring at the fading magic residue of her mentor. The whole conversation did not make her feel better about the current situation her friends were in, but at least she knew that Celestia was sorry for her judgment.

Curiosity got to her in the end and she decided to return home and learn the spell Celestia had given her in order to send letters to Spike. She knew that the faster she would master it, the faster she would be able to send her friends a message.

Twilight left the castle in the dead of night, but before she was out of the yard she noticed several gryphons standing guard near a couple of chariots, all of them wearing full uniform and were armed with muskets. Royal guards were present there as usually but there seemed to be no interaction between them. She wondered who would receive such an escort and her mind immediately went to Gilda, but the letter she received the day Blink was trialed mentioned the ambassador had left Equestria. Twilight also wondered if that was the cause Celestia was in such rush when she talked with her.

*** *** ***

The attention of everyone in the room turned to the exploding puff of magic that marked Celestia’s arrival. The fire from the lit torches around the large room flickered for a moment before resuming their calm dance.

“Celestia! An honor to have you here with us . . . finally.”

Luna turned her gaze to the gryphon that had just spoken, staring him down. However, he ignored the younger alicorn’s reaction and continued to study the Princess of the Sun as she approached and took a seat at the table.

“Apologies for my late arrival. There was an issue I urgently had to resolve. You must be Grael, king Arnost’s new advisor; a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Celestia said, bowing her head slightly towards the gryphon at the other end of the table.

“Yes, that would be me. Let us tend to the issues at hand, shall we?” he nonchalantly spoke, not bothering with any formalities.

Celestia looked at the official guest, studying him for a brief moment. He was Arnost’s new advisor, a medium-sized light brown gryphon with white neck feathers and his beak bared a small scar near the tip. Being the King’s advisor, he was basically the second in command and when a new right hand would take the position, he would usually bring with him a lot of changes, thus the need for official visits to all the kingdoms.

“Your sister here informed me about that the punishment given to that scoundrel that attacked our official ambassador was put into effect so I believe we can move to the next matter,” he spoke, opening up a scroll of paper and noting something down.

Celestia looked at her sister, calming the obvious anger in her eyes. Despite all things, Luna was showing much restraint in the presence of the cocky gryphon official but Celestia knew that restraint would be put to the test soon enough.

“Ahh yes, the issue regarding Equestria’s ‘International Integrity Decree’,” he started, citing the document with sarcasm in his tone. “You must be aware of our kingdom’s growing population and our need to expand to other territories. What we had in plan was a small colonization of the Dragon Lands region near Port of Issac. Most of it is uninhabited anyway and not even close to your borders, but your act blocks our opportunity.”

“Allow me to clarify mister Grael,” intervened Celestia, “that decree was written by me over one hundred years ago to avoid conflicts between the big nations of this planet. It ensured that every realm keeps its territory and no longer invades each other. Expansion must result only after thorough negotiations between the involved parties; I thought that the decree was clear enough on this.”

“The dragons are not using the lands we intend to occupy and there is also no possibility of negotiating with those mindless creatures. Your act is just a hinder in our progress, just because you think that you are some sort of gods in this world doesn’t mean you can dictate over every nation-”

A hoof slammed against the table, silencing the gryphon. Luna was about to stand up from her chair but her sister’s throat clearing subtly reminded her of her official position, and all that it implied.

“Choose your words carefully griffon, if you do not wish us to exemplify our powers and plunge your lands in eternal darkness,” muttered the dark Princess.

The official stared back at Luna and matched her gaze, a grin creeping up his face. “Do you think we are that stupid anymore, to believe that you can raise the moon and lower the sun across the lands? Suppose that you can do that, which fate should our kingdom face? Eternal night and coldness or the everlasting scorch of the sun? Because the other one is the one Equestria will have to go through as well.”

“There is no need for threats like these from either sides,” Celestia stepped in, her tone higher than the other’s. “However mister Grael, since you don’t look older than several decades, I must remind you that your king has signed that pact as well, almost two hundred years after the one at HoofRidge. By breaking the International Integrity Decree, you will break the former non-aggression one as well and attract hostile reaction from neighboring kingdoms.”

“So you’re not going to consider the re-negotiation of that pact?” the gryphon asked, his voice lowered and slightly dabbed with defiance.

“We will do no such things. That pact has proved to be effective and has kept the world’s peace for the past century. I am not going to change it just because of your inability to negotiate with one of the realms involved. And I will have you know that a dragon representative from the Old Ones’ council was also there when the pact was signed and proved to be more than a delightful conversation partner; unlike someone else that stands before me at this moment.”

Grael parted his beak to launch a rebuttal but stopped and re-thought his next move. Feeling angry that he had been compared to what he thought to be low-minded creatures as the dragons, he grabbed his papers and stuffed them in his satchel.

“I see how this is going, Princess. The day will come that you will regret your decision to ignore and even worse, oppose our initiative. King Arnost will know of this,” he spoke while leaving the table, heading towards the doors.

“I’m sure he will,” Luna ended, shooting an icy glare at the leaving gryphon.

After the official left with his two guards after him, Luna let out a loud groan, the air around her suddenly dropping in temperature.

“I must say dearest sister, I’m surprised of how well you took that threat,” spoke Celestia, admiring the gently falling snowflakes formed by the condensed humidity near her sister’s vicinity. “I would have expected you to-”

“I’m sick of their spineless tactics and void threats!” hissed Luna. The shadows casted in the room vibrated along with her voice.

“Rest assured sister, they won’t do anything. The balance of power shifts in Equestria’s favor if any conflicts were to arise. I’ve known Arnost since he hatched, cruel and strict as he may be with his gryphons, he wishes not their harm.”

Luna eventually calmed down and stared quizzically at her sister. “But what if they do? What if they search for allies in their greedy need of expansion?”

“None will answer their call. Peace was paid with a hefty price and every nation is happy with it and has been so for the last few hundred years,” said Celestia, getting up from the table. “And regardless of that, Arnost’s new advisors have always tried to appear threatening to the other kingdoms.”

The younger sister got up as well and headed towards a balcony. “I hope you are right. As always, I trust in your decision.”

That said, the Princess of the Night magically opened the windows and flew into the night, stirring the fires from the nearby torches.

*** *** ***

I muffled a scream, biting into my forehoof as a tear managed to escape my watering eyes.

“It’s alright now, I think I got it into place,” said Spike, looking apologetically at me.

“You think!?” I yelled at him, the pain from my leg overtaking my fear of being heard by anyone.

“I’m pretty sure that’s how it should look like normally. It will be fine in a couple of days, just don’t lean on it too much,” he answered, tightening the wraps around the splint with a firm pull.

“Ghhh- damn it, Spike!”

It was the third day of walking through the barren Zebra Lands, yet we have not seen anyone or anything other than endless dry plains and the occasional puddles of water with some vegetation around them. After only a few hours of sleep spent during the night before, I was foolish enough to push myself and postpone the break until we would have reached the tree line visible in the distance. As a result, exhaustion and lack of nutrition led me to somehow trip over a rock and twist one of my back hooves. Luck had it that I didn’t break anything, but the pain was intense nonetheless, subjecting Spike to some colorful vocabulary that I feared he would ask me of at some point.

“Guess this means we’ll make camp here . . . as I suggested,” Spike followed his sentence with a scowl.

“Yea whatever,” I mumbled, lying down on the ground under the descending sun.

I unpacked several scrolls and my notebook and resumed writing my letter to Twilight, searching my mind for a way to end it appropriately. The throbbing pain from my leg was of no assistance at all. Coming up with nothing, I eventually turned to Spike.

“Uhh Spike, how would you end a letter to Twilight?”

“Hmm, Your number one assistant, Spike?” he suggested absently, entrenched in his own message. “Ohh- you mean how you should do it? Could use: Your dear friend, Blink?”

I scowled at him, hoping he was just messing with me. “Really? That’s the best you got?”

“Excuse me, I sometimes forget you two are a thing since, you know, you don’t do much about it,” he added with a smirk.

“Pff, I’m not the one that’s here because-” I stopped, the words that followed lodging up in my throat.

Spike shot me a wide-eyed glare which quickly turned into an angry one, his pupils elongating all the way. He then turned his head back to the letter, small trails of smoke starting to rise from his shaking nostrils.

“Spike, sorry about that; I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s alright, I started it,” he quickly excused himself, still not looking at me.

“No it’s not. You were just joking and I was a jerk to you.”

He still didn’t pay attention to me, continuing to stare into his scroll. That moment made me feel like I was the worst pony alive.

“Look, when you were helping me prepare for the trip and then asked me for advice on how to approach -you know- a mare, I realised what you were planning on doing and really hoped it would’ve worked out. I know how it is to be rejected; Twilight did the same thing the first time I talked with her about this and for you it must’ve been worse than it was for me. If you want to talk about it, I would be-”

“It’s alright,” he repeated, this time throwing me a half-hearted smile. “I’m dealing with it; really, I’m gonna be okay. Thanks.”

Silence fell between us following that as we both resumed writing our letters. Glancing at him every now and then, I noticed he still looked troubled, like his mind was battling with himself as he wrote to his dearest friend with his dexterous claws wrapped around the large, black quill. I tried to believe and to convince myself that he would be alright after all that, that somehow he would find the peace and closure which he came searching for.

Turning my attention back to my own message, I tried to be reassuring and let Twilight know that we were okay and mostly on schedule. I left out the part where I got shot in the neck and Spike got jailed. I didn’t want her to be more stressed than how she probably was already.

I shivered, feeling the wind becoming a bit more chilling that evening. The magic controlling my quill wavered for a moment, but then resumed its clumsy dance on the paper scroll. I felt like winter was finally coming to those lands and I could only hope that we would be back before its full force would catch us on the road.

Patiently yours,” came Spike’s voice, cutting through the stagnating silence.

“Huh?”

“For your ending. Patiently yours sorta’ fits. Forever yours is too much and miss you already would just remind her that you’re this far away from Ponyville.”

His kind eyes and self-pleased smile gave me a happy grin of my own. I ended the letter following his advice and folded it down carefully.

“How come you know so much about this kind of stuff?” I asked, handing it to him.

“You forgot? I’m the one that writes these things all the time for Twi’.”

He rolled both letters and held them up in his claws, staring absently at the written scrolls.

“Here it goes,” he mumbled, taking a breath then blowing a pure green flame over them.

They started burning, gentle green sparks fizzing off from the charred paper. Soon enough there was nothing left in his hand and he followed the faint smoke trails with his eyes as they climbed higher and higher, dissipating in the wind. The twilight was coming to an end, the sun throwing its last rays over the vast Zebra Lands.

“I hope she’ll receive them. I never sent letters like this,” Spike said, looking around our surroundings. “Should we call it a day? That leg of yours needs the rest,” he suggested.

I nodded, stripping down my saddlebags, letting them drop on the ground around me. I wrapped Rarity’s cloak around me as I folded my hooves under me. I let the injured leg lay free on the ground but propped against my bags for support.

“Damn lands, would have been nice if we had some firewood; and that damn forest is still too far away,” I complained, tucking myself even more.

“Neaa, I got this,” said the overconfident dragon, starting to dig up a hole between us using his sharp claws.

After it was wide enough and several inches deep, he drew air in his lungs and I could hear the familiar bubbling noise from his flame chambers. He then patted himself under his neck using his fist, drawing a deep cough from himself. For a moment Spike looked like he was choking as he began to spit a clear liquid across the shallow ditch. Alongside that liquid came through a few strands of fire, that in turn ignited the rest of the flammable substance. The fire filled the round area and burned with a small flame, providing a pleasant source of warmth.

“Dude, you’re awesome,” I uttered in disbelief.

The hole was deep enough so that the fire would not be visible from afar and the flames burned slowly but steady, releasing enough heat to warm us up; or actually just me, since Spike was cold blooded anyway, I assumed.

“I know I am,” he said with a grin, revealing his sharp fangs with pride.

I levitated from the bag what was left from Applejack’s tasty apple fritters and started munching them hungrily, gazing at the stars above us. Spike helped himself with some of his gems but I could notice he would peak at my fritters every now and then.

I always assumed he could survive on gems as I knew he always preferred them over normal food. However, his main diet did consist after all of things ponies would normally eat. I then realized those gems were probably providing as much nutrition as candy would to a normal pony. I chose the largest fritter out of my remaining ones and levitated it to him. He immediately gave me a surprised look, but I insisted before he could refuse.

“Take it. I know you still need some normal food, those gems can’t possibly give you all the energy you need.”

“T-thanks,” he said coyly, grabbing the fritter from the air and gobbling it up in one go.

We finished eating, making sure we left enough for the following days as well. There wasn’t much left so I could only hope that we would make it in time to Port of Issac. In two days tops we should had been on a ship towards the coastline of the Griffin Kingdoms if everything went well.

I shuffled closer to the fire and lay my head over my hooves, waiting to fall asleep after a long day. The two bids huddled up against their respective owners as well, Raven pushing herself against my neck in search of warmth. We fell asleep under the midnight sky, the moon shyly peaking over the distant mountains, as if watching over us from a distance.

*** *** ***

I squeezed the metal trigger gently, making sure the sights were aligned at the same time. The following blast was much louder than I expected and the recoil sent the revolver out from my magic grip and into my face.

“Son of a bitch!” I shouted, dropping the gun on the ground and pressing a hoof against the swelling bump on my forehead.

Spike was in a laughing fit over my failed attempt to finally test the gun and even Raven’s caws seemed demeaning. I opened my mouth but I had nothing to say that could have made me look better under those circumstances. I decided it would be better to not say anything so I went to inspect the damage on my target, which was a tree around ten feet away from us. Getting closer to it, I noticed the bullet had indeed penetrated the bark and was lodged deep inside the tree.

“Looks that it actually did more to this than to your face after all,” said Spike, coming closer to see the ‘target’ himself.

“How funny we are this fine morning, need I remind you who’s actually wielding the gun here?” I asked, waving the weapon in front of me.

He held a snicker with his claw, and then nonchalantly walked back to where we had our saddlebags, letting out a laugh every now and then. I followed him, albeit slower due to the splint around my twisted hoof. Fortunately he was nice enough to carry my bags in order to put less strain on my injured leg. It was because of things like those that made me wave away all his jokes and jabs, which I had to admit I enjoyed taking part in.

I revealed the cylinder of the magnum and popped out the empty shell, replacing it with a new bullet. I didn’t have a lot of ammo so I decided it would be best not to waste it on useless shooting. The gun had proven to work, although a firmer magic grip on it was needed, testimony for which stood the large bump on my forehead.

“Blink, how far away did you say the small portion of the Dragon Lands we have to cross was?” Spike asked, his wings flurrying slightly.

“According to the map, this forest holds the boundary between Zebra and Dragon Lands. There’s a valley we need to cross and another forest at the other side of the mountain chain and we’ll be to Issac in no time. Why, nervous of seeing your own kind?”

Spike’s face dropped a bit, his eyes darting around nervously. “It’s not that, just- I don’t know. I’ve only been close to other dragons when I was younger and that didn’t turn out too well. From what I know, we’re gonna enter the territory of an actual dragon and from my experience that’s never a good thing.”

“Relax, it’s going to be fine. We just need to not stop for breaks and we’ll be out of their territories in no time,” I reassured him, trying to be convincing.

Truth be told, I was extremely nervous myself. I knew what Spike could do with his claws and fire, and I didn’t want to think about what an adult of his kind would do to us.

“How are those wings coming along?” I asked, changing the discouraging topic.

Spike extended his brand new wings, giving them a couple of beats. “They’ve grown a little bit more, still no air time though,” he muttered, flopping them down.

“Well at some point you’ll need to learn to fly properly. Might come in handy, you know?”

He turned a weak smile and we carried on, heading deeper and deeper into the forest. After several hours of walking we stopped for a quick break. I laid down on the ground to rest my hoof and removed my notebook and the map from the bags. I inspected it to make sure we were on our right course and then opened the notepad, searching for a spell that hopefully could solve my ammo problem.

“I’m gonna go and search for some food, maybe there’s some berries around. I’ll be back soon,” said Spike as he got up.

He looked around, taking a couple of sniffs in hopes of picking up the scent of anything edible.

“Alright, don’t go too far; we have to leave soon, Dragon Lands is up ahead,” I told him, focused on my notes.

He nodded and went in his search accompanied by his pet, Peewee, leaving me alone in the small clearing. Raven was missing too, probably scouting the areas around us as usual. I looked around, feeling a bit weird to be alone in an unknown place like that. I returned my attention to the spell I was looking for and started going through all the steps.

Finally content with it, I pulled my pistol and removed all the bullets from the barrels. I kept one, hovering it in front of me.

“Okay, let’s see if this works.”

Magic channeled through my horn and around the levitated bullet. The blue aura spread to the gun as I scrunched my face in concentration, trying to make everything perfect. It had to be. The intense magic faded away as I finished casting the spell. Looking at the pistol I was very happy to see six bullets loaded into the barrel, all of them a duplicate of the one hovering next to the gun.

I let out a sigh, glad that ammo shortage was no longer an issue. Looking back into my notes I was reminded of the only drawback of that spell: the effect was temporary and the duplicated items would not last too long after the spell had been cast. Excitement getting the better of me, I decided I should try the gun out again. I aimed it at the center of a tree, holding it steady and firmer than the last time.

I pulled the trigger with my magic and the hammer snapped against the back of the bullets. Nothing happened. I pulled again. Same result. I angrily dry-fired the weapon six times without any result. The hammer made contact with the cap every time but for some reason it did not explode. I removed the ammo and studied it carefully, comparing the duplicated bullets with the original one. To my frustration, they were all the same. Then, right in front of me, the six rounds puffed away from existence as the effects of the spell wore out.

“Damn it; back to the drawing board . . .”

I was going over the spell again when a noise caught my attention. I looked in front of me, trying to spot its source through the dense forest. I shrugged it off, thinking it was just a critter or something. A few moments later, I heard steps coming from behind me but I recognized those to be Spike’s.

“Dude, found some blueberries, they’re awes-”

I heard a twang in front of me, followed by a swooshing sound over my head. Time seemed to slow down as my eyes instantly fell on a dark chestnut pegasus in a tree in front of us. He was looking at something behind me, a bow held in his hoof. My heart stopped when I pieced everything together. I turned my head towards where Spike’s voice came from and saw him standing feet away from me. His wide eyes moved from me to the arrow stuck in his chest, his mouth slightly opened as he tried to utter something to me.

I beat my hooves against the ground as I tried to get up as fast as possible. While darting towards him, I summon several shield plates behind me, scared that the attacker might shoot again.

“Blink, w-what was that,” he asked surreally as he continued to stare at his chest.

I put my hooves up to him but hesitated touching the arrow, not knowing how to react in that situation.

“H-how the hell did it hit you, Spike? Your scales, damn it! How?!” I sputtered, panicked.

I kept gawking at the arrow stuck inside of my friend, noticing the scales covering his chest were thinner than the rest. I then heard the flapping noise of the pegasus’ wings. As I turned around, I saw him hovering twenty feet in front of us, staring at us, a new arrow held against the bow attached to some sort of leather straps around his right hoof.

I didn’t wait for him to draw his next shot so, fueled by the pure anger inside of me, I focused on a nearby small tree. A foggy energy field started forming around me, my channeled magic becoming visible. The tree was surrounded by blue wisps, and with a grunt I pulled it from the ground and hurled it at the pegasus. He graciously tumbled in the air, dodging it. Meanwhile I had summoned a tendril that dragged across the ground towards him. Right as he recovered from his evasion, the tendril shot from underneath him and caught his hind legs.

“Got you, bastard,” I hiss, pulling him to the ground.

He hit the ground and I charged at him --as much as limping towards him at a fast pace can be called a charge--, my only goal being to eliminate the threat that he posed. He trashed his legs against the ground and quickly got up, assuming a defensive stance. Using his wing he pulled what looked like a knife from the gear strapped to his back. I immediately wrapped my magic around it and pulled it from his grip, to his surprise. I looked back where my bags were and fetched my gun, sending it flying to me.

As I reached him, he started beating his wings, trying to run away. A blast of air to his side sent him back to the ground in front of me. My horn was glowing powerfully and my leg hurt from the running but I only had one thing in mind. The pistol by my side, I aimed it at him. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something just as I pulled the trigger.

I’m an idiot. The pistol was empty, as I had removed the real bullets to put the magic ones in.

“Don’t!” he pleaded, “I thought he was attacking you, I tried to save your life!”

I blinked. It took a moment for me to process that and to switch off my death-inducing furry. Just for a bit; I wasn’t the kind of guy that wouldn’t listen to reason.

“Speak, fast,” I barked, heading back towards Spike, pulling him after me using a tendril as a leash.

“I- I was flying through the woods when I heard you. I came to the source of the noise and saw you standing here in the clearing reading that book of yours. Then I saw that dragon coming up from behind you with blood on his mouth so I shot him with my bow. He looked like-”

His speech was interrupted by Spike, who got up, dashed surprisingly fast towards us and pummeled him into the ground with his fists wrapped around each other.

“Spike, what the hell are you doing?” I looked at him, quizzically. “Stay down, you have a god-damn arrow in your chest. He said he didn’t know you were with me, don’t kill him.”

The anger in his look toned down a little and he sat on the ground, taking deep breaths, still in shock after the sustained wound. The stallion he had smashed down slowly got up, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry, I- I can fix this. It’s obviously the arrow didn’t hit your heart otherwise you wouldn’t have had that power in you,” said the pegasus, visibly shaken by the dragon's attack.

Spike grunted, blowing smoke through his nostrils. The chestnut stallion approached him hesitantly, looking back at me for confirmation. I closed in on Spike, looking into the other pony’s eyes.

“If you do something funny, it will be the last thing you do, I swear,” I said in a low voice, my horn starting to glow again.

He nodded and directed his attention to the arrow, gently placing his hooves near the penetrated area. A loud caw filled the air as Peewee landed on his owner’s shoulder, back from her flight. She stared at the new pony, darting her eyes from him to Spike. “It’s alright,” whispered Spike, running a claw under the bird’s neck to calm her.

“Ye’re in luck dragon, it only went in a couple of inches. The tip should still be between your ribcage.” The pegasus then turned to me. “You can do this better than I could, I want you to grab it with your magic and pull gently. I’ll hold the scales apart.”

I stared at him and then at Spike. “Do it,” he mumbled, his teeth clenched from the pain. I took a deep breath and gently formed a magical point of contact around the arrow’s end. The pegasus used his hoof to spread the scales between which the projectile had penetrated. I started tugging at the arrow, eliciting painful groans from the dragon. With a stronger pull, it finally started to come out. A few drops of sweat came down my forehead as I tried to exercise an even force on the arrow.

“Got it!” I almost shouted, the arrow floating in front of me. I brought my saddlebag and retrieved some compresses from a small first aid pack Twilight had given me. The arrow had indeed only penetrated a couple of inches and there wasn’t a lot of blood coming out of the wound.

“Here, hold this against it for a while,” I said, handing Spike the white bandage.

“I told ya it was going to be alright,” spoke the pegasus, drawing a somewhat angry stare from Spike.

I grabbed him and walked away from the dragon, debating in my head what I was going to do next.

“Thanks for helping him out there, and the whole misunderstanding . . . what are you even doing here of all places?” I asked him.

I took a moment to study the strange stallion for the first time. He had a dark, rusty coat and a cream colored mane. He wore leather straps around his front hooves that he probably used to handle his bow. He was also wearing a vest with several pouches on the side and had a built-in quill with a few arrows in it.

“I live here,” came his response, somewhat reluctantly.

“What?” I looked at him, slightly shocked.

“This forest has been my home for the last couple of years. Look, I should probably leave. If you want though, I could take you and your friend to where I’m camped at the moment. I got some food and a nice place to rest; he’ll need to stay in one place for at least the rest of the day with that wound of his.”

I pondered on his offer and somehow accepting it didn’t seem like a huge mistake. In fact, I was curious to how the pegasus had ended up in a place like that in the first place. And most importantly, Spike and I needed a safer place to stay.

“Okay, let me pack our stuff and we’ll follow you to your place.”

I rushed back to where Spike was sitting and helped him get up. “Listen, he has a safer place to stay and you can’t possibly travel with that wound open.”

“Are you insane? That guy tried to kill me!” protested Spike, obviously still angry at the pegasus.

“Hey, it was a mistake, or so I hope. I’ll keep my eye on him, don’t worry. Better risk it and stay safe where we can see him rather than having him watch us from the forest when it gets dark.”

“If I wanted you dead I would have done so in the first place,” came the other stallion’s voice from behind us. “I would have shot you first then incapacitated the dragon and killed him off after. But I don’t do that, I don’t kill ponies; or dragons.”

Spike eyed him for a moment, hesitating in his decision. “I guess we can give him another chance,” the young dragon finally decided, “but do anything strange and I’ll burn you where you stand.”

“Fair enough,” the stallion nodded his head.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I turned to him. “Never really had the opportunity to properly greet each other; I’m Midnight Blink and my friend over here is Spike.”

“Name’s Chaser; sorry we had to meet in these kind of circumstances. Follow me, my place is not far from here.”

We grabbed our stuff and slowly made our way deeper into the forest, following the pegasus. My eyes never left him as we walked through the untamed forest of the border between Zebra and Dragon lands. At the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking that not even half-way into our trip we had already got ourselves shot, jailed and almost killed. I could only imagine how the other half would be like.

An eerie sensation however never left my mind after the previous encounter. My thoughts kept going to that exact moment when I was close to Chaser, my revolver pointed at his face. That little effort to magically trigger the gun seemed so tantalizing even after deciding I would trust him. It was as if somehow, I still wanted to do it: to kill him where he stood, to feel the life pour out of his dead body, to know that I myself sent his soul to Him, that dark silhouette that made me what I was.

I suddenly got distracted by the faint blue light cast on my snout. I realized my horn was glowing ever so slightly and I immediately felt the magic link between it and something near my bags. I turned my head back and notice the gun engulfed in the dark-blue aura, trying to get out but prevented by the holster’s strap.

“Everything alright, Blink?” Spike’s voice snapped me out of that weird state, my energy channeling dropping in an instant.

“Yea, I’m uhh- I’m fine . . . I guess” I said, but whispering the last words.

End of chapter 16