Star’s eyebrows were in a perpetual state of up. “So hang on here. You, a pegasus, somehow activated an ancient magical ring and summoned an eldritch demon into our world? Why am I not surprised?”
Hurricane sighed. “To be fair, it was already bound here. I just woke it up, I guess.”
“Yes, Hurricane, because that’s so much better.” Star snickered. “So, you have everything in those saddlebags?” Hurricane nodded and began to pull objects out, arranging it around the flickering magical candle. The first thing in her hoof was the map. She unfolded it, pointing to a general point on the map.
“We’re around here. It should be a good day or two before we cross the Gryphican border and make our way back into civilization. Oh boy, getting the gryphons to cooperate isn’t going to be easy…regardless, that’s what we’re dealing with.”
Star nodded. “So what else do you have on you?”
Hurricane nodded at the candle. “Well, there’s that, of course, and then more. Let’s see…” She once again delved into the bags, scuffling around for a moment before withdrawing a book. “Ah, here we are. This is my guide to the Far Lands, the places that lay beyond Gryphica and the Barren Sea. So few have ever been there, so this book is incredibly rare. It took a lot of convincing to get Clover to part with it in the first place.” She placed the book aside carefully.
The next item to emerge was a folded bundle of cloth which, upon further inspection, turned out to be a nondescript brown cloak. At a questioning glance, Hurricane shrugged. “You never know when you might need a cloak, Star. It’s warm and excellent for disguises.”
Finally, she rapped the armour that clung to her. “And then I have my armour and spear. That’s pretty much all, other than a few standard Equestrian bits that I have stashed on me.”
The two lapsed into a comfortable silence, staring into the heart of the flames for quite a time, before Hurricane, by contrast, started the conversation. “So, Star. What made you come after me? It’s certainly not an easy journey, after all.”
Star shuffled a moment to dispel any cold, then sighed. “I still remember when we first met, Hurricane. Do you? I was hardly old enough to join the Nimbus Army, and yet despite me being an ialtag, I was the fist you drafted to help you search for the Wind’s Heart. That search, Hurricane, that adventure—well, what am I supposed to do afterwards? I can’t just go back to normal life, guarding the Sepulcher. I couldn’t then, either. So when you left, leaving all of us behind, I decided that I wouldn’t have it.
I thought maybe you’d gone on another adventure, but I lose the Ring midway through the flight, in a heavy, heavy storm. I was blown far north, and ended up around here. So, you ask why I came across after you? Well, simply because…I couldn’t do anything else.”
Hurricane was silent, staring into the fire, for a long time before speaking. “You realize that if the Ring isn’t in Gryphica, we’re both probably going to die before we reach the other side of the Barren Sea, right?”
Star nodded and watched in delight as Hurricane’s face broke into a smile. “Well, since you’ve been here so long, I guess you can come along. But like I said in the cave…” She paused for a moment, “I’m stupid enough for both of us, so you’d better be smart.” With that parting thought, she fell to the side, onto a bed of mosses and branches that was none-to-comfortable, and quickly faded into sleep.
Star, however, remained awake.
Ialtaeg were nocturnal; simply the way of things, and though she’d trained herself to function better during the day, she would be up for a good while yet. Her catlike eyes bored into the flames as she thought deeply, with no distractions. So, Hurricane. This isn’t about the Nimbus Ring alone, oh no. You’re interesting in that circle, I can tell.
She looked at Hurricane. The pegasus was on her side, snoring like a donkey, and the map was right there next to her. Star flitted over, looking it over. If that’s Thunder and Arc’s house, and if Hurricane’s measurements were accurate, then it should be right…there. Her hoof tapped softly on the map, and she rolled up the yellowing paper, sticking it back where it was.
“Sorry, Hurricane, but I need to see this for myself,” she murmured, before softly unfolding her wings and taking off. Unbeknownst to her, as soon as she was gone, Hurricane’s eyes snapped open, and a smile formed on her face.
It took slightly longer than she thought, but eventually, Star found the ring. She was impressed; she’d thought Hurricane had been exaggerating, but the sheet of stone really was massive, and the runes were just as intricate as she’d said. She let out a low whistle as she paced around the twenty-sided shape.
Shame we lost Dusk, she thought sadly, since she was the only one well-versed in history enough to actually read Proto-Equid.
I don’t get it, though. Why isn’t it glowing like Hurricane said? Maybe if I… She lightly tapped one of the larger glyphs with a hoof, sighing when nothing happened.
“I thought I’d find you here, Star.”
The ialtag jumped as Hurricane softly touched to the ground behind her, a smile on her face. “So you want to see the dark creature? Let’s see if it wants to see me.”
She made her way over to the rune labeled Fury and poked at it with a hoof. Instantly, the carvings lit up, streaming blue light igniting the world around them. The smile on Hurricane’s face became a grimace as a small pool of complete darkness formed in the very center of the carving, slowly extruding and building itself into a shape resembling that of a pony. “Starlight Armour, meet the Dark Pony.”