The Shaded Path

by Crensler

Chapter 12

Nightmare Radiance grimaced as she felt her bones shifting back into their proper alignment, her body steadily repairing the damage Seeker had inflicted upon it. She was still seething over the fact he'd been able to lay a single hoof on her in the first place, but that didn't matter anymore. She had what she wanted, the scroll she'd selected from the shelves inside Red Velvet's private library in the firm grasp of her magic. She needed only to rest now and prepare for the next leg of her journey, but it was at that moment, when she was about to relax, when she felt a familiar pulse of magic.

"No," she murmured, head turning upwards, gaze fixed past the barrier of the ceiling as if looking to the desert above. "Why is she here?!" This was no time to rest, not with one of the greatest obstacles to her plans reaching their fruition literally looming over her head. There was another pulse of magic, Radiance feeling it pass over her, her coat tingling from the sensation. "She's using her magic like a bat would echolocation," she hissed, tucking the scroll into her ethereal mane. "Which means she already knows that I'm down here!" A third pulse followed, more focused this time, Radiance sending a counter pulse as she raced down one of half a dozen tunnels in an effort to escape. It was then that she heard a distant crash, Luna having likely chosen a more direct means of entering the complex. "Until we meet again, dear Luna." And with that, she vanished into the darkness.

Luna flew over the desert, eyes scanning the sand below as she searched, her magic pulsing outwards in search of anything that would give her some idea of how her ponies ended up so badly hurt. During this search her magic was able to uncover a sizable underground complex, the princess gaining a rough understanding of its shape from the first pulse. The second helped to refine this image, giving her more details, as well as the fact that there was somepony down there. She tried sending a third pulse, focused specifically on the pony she had detected, only for her target to send out a counter pulse, disrupting her efforts. That was all the information she needed.

"Prepare yourself, cur," Luna said softly, gathering power in her horn and focusing on the central chamber she detected during her second pulse. She sent a narrow beam shooting down into the sand, the energy rapidly expanding in a swirl of sand that left the rock beneath bare to her sight. "You shall not escape my judgement!" The princess rocketed downwards while the sand was still parted, a coat tight energy field enveloping her moments before she struck the rock. There was a loud crash, her vision obscured by dust and falling sand, but she was inside. Now she need only hunt down her quarry before they managed to escape. The detritus did nothing to obscure her other senses, however, and the alicorn stepped into the darkness in search of the pony who had sought to disrupt her earlier efforts.

The sound of Luna's hoofsteps echoed through the corridor as she walked, her senses on high alert for any sign of the pony she was hunting. She had the sense this place had been lived in for many years before her arrival, the echoes of whomever had dwelled within these halls of stone visible to her eyes. There was something coloring these echoes, a darkness that spoke of malice and hatred. Had her ponies been attacked within these very halls?

No, this echo wasn't of recent violence, but more of a sense of plain wrongness that was hard to pinpoint. For it to be this strong...it was deeply troubling to her. She ignored the chilling nature of it for the time being, resuming her search and staying alert, not wanting to end up being on the wrong end of an ambushed. Yet, as her trek through the halls and rooms continued, Luna found no sign of the pony she'd been hunting, finally coming upon the reason at the end of another corridor.

"Damn and blast!" Luna cursed, adding a few more modern expletives on for good measure, gazing up at an open hatch that led outside. To be sure she flew up for a look, yet a swift scan of the area confirmed her fears. Her prey was gone, the princess letting out a frustrated growl at being stymied this way. "Another failure." She took a deep breath, seeking to calm herself. "This is no time for self-recrimination, Luna. Go and check on your ponies." With a short nod, the princess of the night gave a mighty flap of her wings and turned back for Las Pegasus.

Nightmare Radiance gasped for air as her head cleared the sand that she'd buried herself under, eyes casting about for signs of her pursuer. Luna was just a dot in the distance, however, the unicorn smirking as she dug herself out and did her best to shake loose the sand still clinging to her coat. She wanted to let out a victorious cackle but decided not to press her luck, instead darting off in the opposite direction. Once her magic had recovered sufficiently she intended to teleport as far away as possible. She had too much to do and was not about to ruin everything by being caught by that coward of a princess. If Luna had just stuck to her convictions, she'd be ruling Equestria now instead of playing second fiddle to Celestia again. But that was neither here nor there. The past was the past and the future would be hers.

A steady beeping was the first sound Mystic Star became aware of, the second a pulsing, distant ache in her head, along with a thousand smaller, equally muted sensations that had her squirming as consciousness fully returned to her. She let out a groan as her movements agitated the aches spread throughout her body, the mare opening her eyes to find the world swimming in and out of focus. She was laying on a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV drip, heart and blood pressure monitor, the works.

Her thoughts were sluggish, the IV likely containing some kind of pain killer, one not working as well as she would have liked under the circumstances. Still, the memories of how she had ended up in such a sorry state slowly began coming back to her. Red Velvet's death, the "fight" that followed, Amber Dawn...no, Nightmare Radiance revealing that she had been the one to murder Gray Shroud and Seeker's ensuing bout of murderous rage.

"Seeker," Star slurred, eyes moving about the room, her view obstructed by the heart rate monitor and IV stand, though she could just barely make out the shape of another bed and its occupant beyond them. She was laying on her side, her limbs feeling like they were made of lead, the mare having trouble so much as lifting her head at the moment. How long had she been out for? Had they needed to sedate her or did she just not possess any sort of tolerance for morphine? Given her lack of tolerance for alcohol, it was certainly a possibility.

She gave up on moving for the moment, blinking groggily as she listened to the steady beep of the machine she was hooked up to. Given her surroundings, and the fact she was still alive, a question sprang to mind: how had she gotten here? How badly were the two of them hurt? Questions for later, perhaps, given the lack of other ponies in the room besides her unresponsive room mate. The sound of hoofsteps began to filter in from outside the half open door, voices soon following, though they remained indistinct for the moment. The sounds gradually drew closer, until finally she could make out what they were saying.

"...managed to almost completely burn out her thaumic channels," a male voice said, Mystic Star stiffening at this news. No wonder they had her so heavily medicated. "The damage was extensive but we repaired what we could. She'll recover given enough rest and as long as she doesn't use any magic for the next several weeks at least." The hoofsteps stopped just outside the door. "I don't even want to imagine the stress she was put under to force her to push her wellspring to such dangerously low levels. Another hour and, well, we might not have been so lucky."

"And Seeker?" Luna, no mistaking the owner of that voice for anypony else, asked. "You mentioned severe trauma to his wellspring and mana pathways. Do you have any idea what caused it?"

"We can only speculate at this point," the doctor, or who she assumed was a doctor, replied uncertainly. "Exposure to high levels of magical energy can cause this sort of damage, but he'd have had to tap into one doozy of a power source." There was a moment of silence. "Frankly, your highness, I'm amazed that he's still breathing." Mystic Star couldn't help a small whimper that escaped her, concern for Seeker making her wish she could rise. "For now there's really nothing more we can do except wait for him to regain consciousness."

"Is it all right for me to go in to see them?" Luna asked after a lengthy period of silence. "I understand that they must rest, but I will be only a few moments."

"Of course, princess," the doctors agreed and opened the door for her, Mystic Star able to see her stepping inside the sterile room, looking very out of place in the unicorn's opinion. She was wearing a suit of armor the young mare had never seen before, the helmet tucked carefully under one wing as the doctor began to shut the door behind her. "I'll be at the nurse's station if you need anything."

Luna sighed wearily once the doctor was gone, shoulders sagging as she observed the two ponies occupying the room, the pair of them quite the sight. Seeker was wrapped in a heavy amount of gauze and wearing an oxygen mask, while Mystic Star was hooked up to several complex medical devices to monitor her magical levels, among other vitals, with her horn bearing an inhibitor ring to prevent the mare from making her condition any worse. The alicorn walked further into the room, eyes scanning over their still forms, first one, then the other, before settling on Mystic Star.

"You should be resting, my little pony," Luna said to her quietly, able to tell that the young mare was awake despite the fact she'd shut her eyes. "Are you comfortable? Should I summon a nurse?"

"Ache," Star replied while opening her eyes, sounding fairly groggy, the princess figuring that the unicorn was still heavily medicated at the moment. "Head...everything...tired." Luna shushed her, gently brushing the mare's brow with the feathers of her free wing.

"Save your energy," the princess urged her, pressing the call button on the wall between the beds. "A nurse will be here shortly."

"Can't...sleep," Star argued, causing Luna to frown in concern. "Have to...danger..." It was clear that the mare was having trouble forming anything coherent, the princess stroking her mane soothingly.

"The danger has passed for the moment," Luna assured her, figuring that the young unicorn wished to speak about what happened in the desert. "We shall speak later, in dreams, but for now you must recover your strength." She smiled when Mystic Star relented, closing her eyes once more. "Until then, my little pony." She turned to the sound of the door opening, a nurse entering and bowing to her deeply. "Rise, please. Mystic Star has complained of pain keeping her from sleep." She glanced over Seeker, the stallion having not stirred once since her arrival. "I will leave you to your work." She then made to leave, stopping inside the doorway and looking back, expression changing to one of determination.

I will do better, my ponies. I promise.

With the night almost over, Luna stood facing a mirror inside the suite the mayor had provided her with, slowly removing her armor as she considered the night's events. What had she expected when she set off from Canterlot? To swoop in and save the day, like some sort of hero? She let out an undignified snort, realizing that she had indeed been hoping to make some sort of difference with her actions. Though she was grateful to have aided in saving the lives of Mystic Star and Seeker, the fact she let the pony who was likely the cause of their injuries get away still rankled. She needed answers and she wasn't sure she'd be able to get them tonight. Mystic Star would be feeling the effects of her pain medication and there was no way to tell what sort of state Seeker was going to be in given the fact he had been rendered comatose.

The princess shook her head, knowing she would still have to at least try to communicate with them, needing to know the details of what had transpired out in the desert. The identity of their attacker and how Seeker had been injured in such a manner, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer to the latter question. Still, it was better to know for sure and she had little time to work with. Celestia would be waking soon and wouldn't take kindly to finding she'd disappeared in the dead of night without saying a word to her about it. With a lecture in her future in mind, Luna finished removing the last piece of her armor and trotted over to the bed. She only hoped there was something worthwhile to be gleaned from their dreams.

Mystic Star slept peacefully through the night. Visions of hot cocoa, marshmallows, soft, fluffy pillows and big, cottony clouds danced through her warm dreams. In them she saw herself as a filly bouncing between them, bouncing on the clouds and causing hot cocoa to pour from them into large mugs filled with marshmallows, only to shift to laying on huge pillows as she bathed in springs of yet more hot cocoa. She wasn't alone, either. Prancing and playing amidst the hills of pillows, marshmallows and mugs overflowing with cocoa were foal versions of Seeker and Princess Luna, giggling as they had a great time. Mystic Star watched with a content, sleepy smile on her muzzle, purring like a well fed kitten all the while.

The real Luna slowly backed out of the dream, eyes wide, and firmly shut the door to it with a resounding click. Nope. She wasn't even going to try to deal with that. Giving herself a little shake, the princess moved on in search of Seeker's door, hoping his dreams would be easier to make sense of. It wasn't very hard to find. The door was damaged, cracks in the wood leaking black wisps of smoke and the handle hanging limply by a single screw. Not a good sign, but she wasn't very surprised to see it considering how badly hurt the stallion had been when the search team had found him. She worried about what entering his dream would do, but could she really afford to leave him be? This sort of damage wasn't going to heal on its own, after all.

"This is no time for hesitation," she told herself, gently pushing the door open with her hoof, only to grimace as a gust of black smoke poured out as a result. "Hold on just a bit longer, my little pony. I am on my way."

Seeker didn't know where he was, his surroundings a shifting morass of shapes and shadows that left him feeling confused and afraid. Amidst the ever changing landscape, an eerie laugh kept ringing from different locations, a laugh that was strangely familiar and sent chills running down his spine. Why did he feel so scared? He wanted to run away, hide, yet no matter where he turned the laughter followed him, along with a glowing pair of chartreuse eyes that stared at him from the darkness, like a hawk would a mouse. He didn't understand what was happening and that only made his fear all the worse.

"Leave me alone!" He shouted as he ran, the laughter echoing in his ears as scenes of the desert flashed before his eyes. A shadow loomed, dark and sinister, those chartreuse eyes set in a face full of sharp, gleaming teeth. "No, no, stay away!" He cowered before it, something about this figure awakening a primordial sort of terror within him as its features began to become more distinct. "No, I don't want to see it! Please, make it stop!"

"What is it about this figure that frightens you so, Seeker?" A comforting voice asked him softly, causing the stallion to freeze in shock. "What truth lies within its appearance that you refuse to accept?"

"Th-there's no truth here!" He denied it, covering his eyes and shutting the images out. "This isn't real! None of this is real!"

"This is all too real, Seeker," the voice countered, sounding sympathetic yet uncompromising. "Your fears have trapped you within your own mind. Unless you confront them, you will forever remain a prisoner of your denial."

"I don't want to see it," Seeker whimpered, trembling uncontrollably now. "Haven't I been through enough? Why do I have to see this?!"

"The truth is not always pleasant, I know." He felt the soft touch of feathers, lightly stroking his mane in a soothing fashion. "But you are not alone, my little pony. We will confront this truth together." And so, reluctantly, he opened his eyes and confronted the truth.

"Does this help jog your memory...Squeaker?" And there it was, the truth. His memories of what happened after speaking to Red Velvet came flooding back, every last one of them, including the terrible knowledge of who it was that killed Gray Shroud.

"Amber," he murmured dully, eyes brimming with unshed tears as he stared at the now clear image of his transformed cousin. "Why? Why did you do it?"

"She has succumbed to the same darkness I once allowed myself to fall into," Luna told him gently, able to see herself in the figure of the unicorn mare, much as it pained her. "She is both the mare you once knew and yet not. This Amber is a prisoner of her own pain now and it has consumed her utterly."

"But why?" Seeker asked, looking to her for answers as a foal would their parent. "Why would she kill her own grandfather?"

"Why would I try to kill my own sister?" Luna asked in turn, grimacing at the memories that saying it aloud caused to surface in her mind. "The Nightmare amplifies our darkest impulses and desires, turning us into horrible caricatures of our former selves." She rested her wing over his shoulders, doing her best to console the troubled earth pony. "I wished to finally step out of my sister's shadow, only to try to take the throne entirely for myself and bathe the world in an eternal night."

"I don't understand it," Seeker said morosely, having never thought Amber Dawn was suffering in such a way. "She wasn't...she seemed just fine when I left!"

"Did she truly?" Luna wondered about that, something about Seeker's words making her believe there was more to it than he was willing to admit. "Ask yourself this, Seeker: did she really seem 'fine' to you or were you merely seeing that which you wished to see?"

"You FAILED me!"

"No...no, I didn't do anything wrong!" He denied it, closing his eyes and covering his ears. "I just...I just wanted..."

"You just wanted to run away, didn't you?"

"NO!" He denied it again, collapsing as he tried to shut the voice out, as well as his rising sense of guilt. "I just wanted to help!"

"...but that can't be farther from the truth."

"I didn't know," Seeker groaned, Luna standing over him and watching as he writhed, sympathy in her gaze. "I swear I didn't know!"

"You FAILED me!"

"I'm sorry," he whimpered, Luna frowning slightly as he did so. "I was afraid...I'm sorry, please, forgive me."

"What were you afraid of, Seeker?" The princess asked quietly. "Show me."

A teenage Seeker sighed as he turned down an alley, following the directions given to him by a passing stallion who'd been a little bit on the drunk side, which had made getting information out of him mildly difficult. Still, he'd seen Amber Dawn, mentioned that she was being escorted by some slick looking fellow who liked to frequent the local bar. The way the drunk had insinuated that they were off to have "fun" had turned Seeker's stomach, but that wasn't his concern right now. It was only a hoof full of days until the next full moon and he had to get Amber home.

"Honestly, what was she thinking?" He grumbled to himself, nose wrinkling as he stepped over a pile of...something awful on his way down the alley. He'd found out she was missing from Gray Shroud, who'd seemed...unsettled, though he hadn't been able to gather why. Knowing Seeker's talent, the old pegasus had asked him if he'd be willing to track the mare down, seeming almost like he felt guilty about something. But, that hadn't been his business, so he'd just done as he was asked and went about finding Amber Dawn. It hadn't been easy, going from place to place in search of his wayward cousin, but she was quite the distinctive looking mare and there was always information to discover if you knew where to look.

That Shroud had asked him, a pony still considered by most to be a colt, to go out searching alone spoke volumes in the young earth pony's opinion. Something bad had happened, he was almost certain of it. Hopefully Amber would be willing to share, because Shroud was as easy to get answers out of as squeezing blood from a stone. The bar itself was easy to find, the alley opening up into a street with the building itself a half dozen pony lengths off to the right. Taking a deep breath, Seeker strode up to the door and pushed it open.

Raucous laughter issued forth from the opening, the teenager wincing as his nose was assaulted with a horrid mixture of sweat, cheap swill, pipe smoke and vomit. How charming. Amber wasn't hard to spot, the mare on her hind legs with her front ones braced on the top of a table, two stallions already passed out on the floor across from her. She was clearly quite drunk, a grin splitting her muzzle as she leered at the other bar patrons. Tonight wasn't going to be an easy one, was it?

"Come on," the mare slurred, pointing vaguely ahead of herself, presumably at the other patrons. "Isn't there anypony here with the stones to out drink me?" Oh dear. "I'm *hic* I'm just getting warmed up here!" Seeker took this opportunity to loudly clear his throat, raising his brow at his cousin in disapproval. "Wha...Squeaker? What in Tartarus are *hic* are you doing here?" She definitely wasn't happy to see him, glaring in his general direction balefully. "That old peacock send you? Well, buck off! I'm having too much fun for a wet blanket like *hic* like you to spoil it for me now!"

"Amber, come on, don't make this any harder for me." Seeker tried to reason with her, feeling uncomfortable as the other bar patrons watched their exchange. "Say goodbye to your new friends so we can head back to the caravan already." He flinched when another stallion sidled up to him, pulling him into a one legged side hug.

"Hey, pal, no need to be such a spoil sport," the older pony said, breath rank from the amount of liquor he'd consumed. "The lady is having fun, even said so herself. Nothing wrong with that, right?" He eyed Seeker for a moment, frowning in confusion. "Say, are you even old enough to be in here?"

"I don't plan on staying, trust me," Seeker replied coolly, slipping out of the embrace and walking towards Amber Dawn. "Look, I don't know what's going on exactly, but you chose a really poor time to run off."

"Psh, there are still *hic* still days left before the full moon," Amber said dismissively, clumsily lifting a mug to her mouth so she could chug down its contents. "Besides, I'm a grown freaking mare, so I can do whatever I want!" She slammed down the now empty mug and let out a rather unladylike belch, which drew cheers from the other patrons. "Old peacock can't tell me what to do, not after...he just can't do it!"

"Amber, please, let's just go home," Seeker pleaded, coming to stand next to her, ignoring the scathing look he earned for his efforts. "Whatever happened I'm sure you and Uncle Shroud can work it out." He offered her a tentative smile. "We're family, remember?" He reached out to her. "Family-"

"Don't touch me!" Amber snapped furiously, swatting away his hoof, her venom startling him. "Don't...just leave me alone."

"The lady doesn't want to leave, buddy," the stallion from earlier pointed out, Seeker shooting him a withering glare. "So how about you just go, alright? No need for things to get nasty."

"I'm not leaving without my cousin," Seeker ground out, not appreciating the stranger's interference. "Mind your own damn business."

"Well, how do you like that?" The stallion stumbled towards him, looking rather hostile now. "I try asking nicely and you get all pissy with me." He pushed Seeker roughly. "How's about I kick your scrawny flank? Would you like that, punk?"

"I don't have time for this," Seeker muttered, ducking the drunk's clumsy swing and jabbing him in the nose hard enough to knock him on his plot. "No more games, Amber, we're leaving." He ignored the mare's protests as he got under her and bumped her so she landed on his back. "Sorry for the mess!" With that he kicked the door open and trotted out, Amber Dawn struggling and cursing all the while.

Seeker unceremoniously dumped Amber Dawn in the grass outside of town, the mare scrambling away to get sick in the bushes nearby. He listened to her with a grimace, sighing wearily as he waited for her to return. She eventually shambled out, wiping her mouth and looking rather ill. Not surprising, given the circumstances, the teenager making a note never to get drunk.

"So, are you done making a foal of yourself?" He asked tartly, feeling rather put out at the moment. "Or do I have to drag you kicking and screaming all the way home?"

"Home?" Amber's mood had soured greatly, it seemed. "What the buck even is home, Squeaker?" She let out a snort, parking her flanks in the grass and staring at the ground between her hooves. "A bunch of ratty wagons and a stuffy old peacock for a grandfather?"

"Hey, it's not all bad," Seeker pointed out, attempting to get her out of whatever funk she'd settled into now that she wasn't drinking herself into a stupor. "You've got me and Quick, don't you? There's also Aunt Rhubarb and Uncle Cleft, too." He offered her another smile. "We're not so bad, right?"

"Right," Amber scoffed, her eyes peering out at him from under her bangs. "So where were you then, huh?" He could only stare at her blankly, not having the faintest idea what she was talking about. "Forget it." She shakily rose to her hooves, shambling off down the road away from town. "Well? This is what you wanted, right?" She gave a toss of her head, indicating that he should follow her. "So let's go." Somehow, even though he did want her home, Seeker felt a gnawing sense of guilt despite the fact he knew he should be happy to have succeeded.

It was several days before they arrived back at camp, the next night that of the full moon, their trip having been awkwardly silent. Amber Dawn had remained quiet and Seeker hadn't been eager to talk to her again after how she had reacted to him coming to retrieve her in the first place. So while she was greeted warmly and he was thanked for finding her, he didn't feel that he deserved such a reaction. Gray Shroud, stoic that he was, had hardly even blinked when they had walked into camp that very morning, simply giving a short nod to Seeker before going about his daily routine.

Amber gave the teenager a look, as if to say: see? He doesn't care. But Seeker didn't quite agree with that, otherwise the old stallion wouldn't have asked him to go out to find her in the first place. Still, he could honestly say that bringing her back hadn't made her happy and, later that night, when he heard the shouting from Gray Shroud's wagon, he also knew that it hadn't helped anypony else either. But they were family. Family was supposed to stick together...right?

Years went by and, while Amber Dawn stayed on relatively good terms with Seeker and the others, her relationship with Gray Shroud only deteriorated more and more with every passing day. The caravan broke up, each pony going their own seperate ways, with Gray Shroud settling down outside Vanhoover and Amber Dawn having chosen someplace as far from the old pegasus as she could possibly get. Seeker, meanwhile, had trouble settling. He was too used to the nomadic nature of their lives up until the family decided to split up. Gray Shroud had said that it was safety reasons, but he knew better. Things had been tense ever since he'd brought Amber home, after all.

"So, any idea what you're going to do now?" Amber asked him, packing her cart with the last of her things, few in number as they were. "I mean, you have to live somewhere, right?"

"Well, uh, I was actually thinking of just...traveling for a bit," Seeker replied as he settled his saddlebags onto his back. "See if I can't, you know, find my own place that way."

"What, and just live out of your saddlebags?" Amber sounded dubious, regarding him with a concerned frown on her muzzle. "Come on, Squeaker, it won't be like traveling in the caravan, you know."

"How many times do I have to ask you not to call me that?" Seeker rolled his eyes at her, knowing she wasn't about to stop using that silly nickname any time soon. "And no kidding, of course it's not gonna be easy." He wasn't stupid after all. "But I gotta try something, otherwise I'm liable to start collecting cats or something."

"You know, um, you could come with me," Amber offered hesitantly, the young stallion pleasantly surprised. "Erm, well, just until you figure things out anyway."

"Wow, really?" Seeker offered his cousin a grateful smile. "Thanks, Amber, I appreciate the offer and all, but I wouldn't want to impose or anything."

"I wouldn't have offered if I would be bothered by you living with me, Squeaks," Amber told him, giggling softly as he shot her a disgruntled look. "It could be just like old times. Whaddya say?" The offer was really tempting, he had to admit, as living with somepony would certainly make things easier on him. But that was exactly why he had to refuse.

"I appreciate it, really I do, but I think I have to do this," Seeker replied reluctantly, feeling a little guilty for saying no to her when she was being so generous. "I'm a grown stallion now, after all. I need to learn how to survive on my own, even if that means that life is gonna be hard for awhile."

"Oh...I see." Amber was obviously disappointed but put on a brave smile for his sake. "Well, if you ever change your mind or need a place to crash, feel free to look me up." They hugged, the mare pushing him away gently after a few moments. "Take care of yourself, Squeaker."

"Don't worry about me," Seeker insisted, waving her off. "Just concentrate on looking after yourself, alright?"

"I will, I promise."

Six years ago, Hearth's Warming Eve...

"You're going to WHAT?!" Gray Shroud couldn't believe his ears, staring at Seeker in open shock. "Out of the question! Do you have any idea what it is that you're suggesting?"

"Of course I know, uncle, that's why I'm doing it!" Seeker retorted, glaring at the old stallion who glared right back. "I'm not asking for your permission, you know. It's my choice and you don't have any say in it!"

"Like Tartarus I don't!" Shroud spat vehemently, prodding his nephew harshly with one hoof. "I'm not letting you go off in search of some stupid pipe dream, boy!"

"I'd like to see you stop me, you crotchety son of a-"

"That's enough!" Quick Shot interjected, pushing the two stallions apart before they did something stupid. "What is the matter with the two of you? It's Hearth's Warming Eve, for Celestia's sake!" The pair turned away, huffing almost in perfect unison. "Family is supposed to stick together, or did the two of you forget that fact?"

"Do what you want," Shroud grumbled, stalking away and causing Quick to sigh wearily.

"He's just being stubborn," the younger pegasus said once the old stallion was out of earshot. He then turned his attention to Seeker, who was currently glaring into space. "Are you serious about this, though? I mean, I know you're good at finding things, but how can you find something that might not even exist?"

"I won't know for sure unless I try," Seeker replied, muzzle twisted by a grimace as he glanced over to where Gray Shroud went. "Besides, what choice do I have? If I don't find a cure, we have no future."

"But you can't seriously expect to take on something this big by yourself," Amber Dawn said to him with a frown on her own muzzle, having been situated in a secluded corner until Gray Shroud had left. "In fact, count me in."

"Are you serious right now?" Seeker naturally felt incredulous over her statement. "There's no way I can ask anypony else to join me on this. Who knows how long I'll be away, or even how dangerous this is going to be?"

"All the more reason to have help," Quick Shot pointed out, grinning boldly. "Come on, Squeaks, it'll be just like the old days. The three of us, off on an adventure to parts unknown!"

"This isn't a game, Quick," Seeker snapped, irritated by the use of his old nickname. "And we're not foals out to explore the woods or some old cave, either."

"We know that, Seeker," Amber told him, surprising him with the fact she'd just used his real name for once. "But we're not just family, here, we're also your friends." She smiled, Quick doing the same moments later. "And friends are always there for each other~" Seeker glanced between them, silently weighing his options. Finally, he let out a weary sigh.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," he grumbled, the two of them giving a cheer, to which he simply rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you two are such pests." He winced as they hugged him from either side.

"We love you, too, Squeaker~"

"I...I left in the middle of the night," Seeker admitted shamefully, not able to look Luna in the eyes as he finished his story. "I told myself I didn't want to put them in danger but deep down I knew the truth." He shuddered, feeling cold inside. "I just wanted to get away from the clan and forget about my troubles. The drama, the tension between Amber and Shroud, all of it." He closed his eyes, feeling lower than dirt as he gave voice to his feelings. "I didn't actually believe I would find anything when I first set out. It was just an excuse I used to stay away from them." He bit his lower lip, refusing to cry. "I really did fail her."

"And yet you did not shirk in your duties to your family," Luna felt the need to point out. "Instead of just traveling, as you could have, you genuinely searched for a cure. Your fears may have driven you to flight, but your heart still yearned to help your family."

"What does that matter now?" Seeker asked, finally meeting her gaze. "Amber, no, Nightmare Radiance is out to kill everypony to get their fragments and I couldn't even stop her back in the desert!" He winced, remembering the way Red Velvet had dropped lifelessly to the sands. "S-so how can I even hope to save anypony when I'm up against something so powerful?"

"You are not alone in this anymore, Seeker," the princess reminded him. "You have Mystic Star to aid you and I will also support you both however I am able."

"But where do we even go now?" He asked, feeling truly lost. "To the south?"

"No, you will not need to travel quite so far." Luna smiled slightly. "If our luck holds, you will be able to find answers in Ponyville."

"Ponyville?" The earth pony sounded doubtful of her plan. "How is traveling there going to help us?"

Zecora chanted an old rhyme to herself as she went about collecting ingredients for her newest concoction, only to stop mid stride and let out a violent sneeze, nearly dropping a bottle of powdered mandrake in the process.

"It would seem I will be having guests," she murmured, rubbing her nose briefly. "I had best prepare, in case they come with any odd requests."

Beyond the borders of western Equestria lay lands unexplored by ponykind, a vast stretch of untamed wilderness that no sane pony would ever dare to test themselves against. Then again, it could be argued that Daring Do had never been the sanest of mares, not that anyone would have had the courage to say so to her face. She had discovered clues to an ancient gemstone, stolen from the vaults of the Crystal Palace more than a thousand years ago by a pack of barbarous Diamond Dogs during the chaos that followed Princess Amore's death. These were no ordinary Dogs, however. Larger and more bestial than their Equestrian cousins, these Dogs were nothing to be trifled with. Still, her name wasn't Daring for nothing, and no Dogs, dragons or even monsters from the very pits of Tartarus itself were going to stand in her way.