To Be Bold!

by Whirl Wind

Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Hunt Begins

The three of them sat in silence as a slight breeze blew through the forest. Windy had a look of total shock and sadness on her face. “No… how…?” she asked with a slight whimper.

Bold put a hoof on her face. “Her broach… that golden necklace she wears all the time… my father told me that it contains powerful magic that keeps her alive… Princess Luna has the same kind of magic in the diamond on her broach. This knowledge has been kept a secret and only told to the most trusted of ponies. It seems that somepony has found out that secret and has somehow gotten past the best security in Equestria…” he said as he glared at Sunny. Bold walked over to him and pushed Sunny, although he didn’t budge at all. “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN SUNNY?! Wasn’t it your job to keep them safe?! Who did you put in charge while you were here?!”

“I left Prince Armor’s best guards, ten of them mind you, behind to guard it.” Sunny said softly. “I know I should have been there, but I never could have imagined this level of infiltration.”

“Infiltration? You mean one of the guards stole it?” Windy asked as she stood up.

“Yes, it was one of the ten. A unicorn by the name of Star Scribe used an unknown spell… all nine of his comrades were killed instantly… the hall outside of Princess Celestia’s room… was painted with their blood and their bodies were mangled and strewn throughout it… This unicorn must be brought to justice and you two… are going to do it.” Sunny explained.

Windy and Bold both looked at him with confusion. “You can’t be serious! This was Bold’s first day! Granted he exceeded expectations, but you can’t ask him to do this!”

“I’M NOT ASKING! I am giving you two an order!” Sunny’s voice boomed. “Now, our intelligence has indicated that Star Scribe was spotted heading west! That gives him two options on hoof, Los Pegasus and Appleoosa!”

Windy had shrunk back next to Bold. “What else did Star Scribe take?” Bold asked curiously as he stepped forward.

“Countless blank scrolls, but we have not found a reason why.” Sunny replied.

Bold started to draw symbols on the ground. “Did you see anything like this?”

Sunny looked closely and looked at Bold with shock. “How did you know?”

Bold stomped his hoof on the ground and started to pace. “No… no unicorn is that foolish…”

“What is it Bold, tell me what you are thinking.” Sunny said urgently.

“I thought they were just stories… myths and legends to scale foals…” Bold said as he continued to pace.

“BOLD! Tell me what you are thinking!” Sunny said as he walked in front of Bold.

Bold stopped and looked at him worriedly. “Rune magic. In the stories I used to read as a little colt there was spells that the most powerful of unicorns would use to summon deadly creatures, destroy entire towns and massacre the villagers.” he explained.

“What kind of foalhood did you have Bold? I never heard of any of these stories.” Windy said unconvinced.

“That’s because you have never been to the Starswirl the Bearded section of the royal library. Sunny, if Star Scribe is using rune magic then Princess Luna must be informed. However… if he is using rune magic he might end up killing himself. That kind of magic is so powerful that it becomes unstable and can backfire. I can think of a few ponies who lost limbs or even died trying to use it. But if he somehow mastered it then he could be next to impossible to stop.” Bold explained.

“And you expect just the two of us to stop this pony?” Windy asked worriedly.

“You make it sound like you can’t do it.” Sunny said with a smile.

“Windy, as long as we watch out for any runes on the ground or anything else we will be fine. The alternative is that Princess Celestia dies. We have to do this.” Bold said sternly.

“Alright, alright! I didn’t say that I wasn’t going to do it! Let’s get going, right now!” Windy said as she jumped into the air and hovered enthusiastically.

They started to leave but Sunny stopped them. “One last thing Bold, the runes as you called them, they were glowing. Is that unusual?”

“What color were they?” Bold asked with a frown.

“Red, we only saw them after we cleaned the blood…”

Bold looked away and started to lead Windy silently. Sunny let them go and started to fly back to the castle. Windy landed next to Bold and looked at him with concern. “What does red mean? Is red bad?”

“It means… the guards weren’t killed by the runes… they were killed by him and he used their blood to draw the runes. He must have used them to disable Celestia long enough to steal her broach. First we should head to Canterlot to find out for sure where he went. If he used just one of his runes to teleport away we can find exactly where he went.” Bold said as he started to run.

Windy kept pace as they started to head towards Canterlot. She didn’t understand how any of this worked but she had confidence in Bold and what he knew.

****

Canterlot castle was hectic. Guards were running everywhere but they all seemed to disregard Windy and Bold as they made their way to where the crime was committed. When they arrived the runes on the floor were fading. Bold walked over to them and got a closer look. He pulled out his book and started to draw the runes in his book. Windy watched curiously and jumped when Bold closed his book loudly. “We need to speak to Princess Celestia.” he said as he opened the door to her room. When they saw her they both looked down to the floor and slowly walked forward. Her face had wrinkled, her coats color was faded and her mane was solid and lifeless. Princess Luna was standing next to her bed casting a spell with her eyes shut. “How is she doing Princess Luna?” Bold asked worriedly.

Princess Luna didn’t speak, but Celestia did. “I’m doing fine…” she said with a slight cough. “Bold, long time, no see…” she said lovingly.

Bold walked over to Celestia and took her hoof. “Princess… there is no time for pleasantries…” he said as he rubbed her hoof gently. “I assume you have heard of the runes… I need access to the translation scrolls. I need to know where he went.”

Celestia looked at him with a soft expression. “Of course… Who is your friend?”

Bold gestured Windy to come over. She obeyed and walked over to the princess. “My name is Windy Wisp your highness. It is an honor to be in your presence.” she said with a bow.

Celestia let out a small giggle and a cough. “She’s sweet…” she said as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

A few tears leaked from Windy’s eyes and Bold set Celestia’s hoof down gently. He stood up and walked over to Celestia’s book shelf and pulled out a book revealing a secret passage. “Come on Windy, we have translation scrolls to find.” he said as he started to descend a spiral staircase.

Windy took a moment before she followed. They soon entered a small room and Bold lit his horn so they could see. “What are we looking for? I thought you said you thought these rune things were a myth…”

“I thought they were. We are looking for the translation scrolls. All magic is written and documented and this… is where the translations of some of the most ancient magic are held. This is the second time I have been here and I have never read any of these scrolls, but I am convinced the rune translations are here. We have to find them quickly.” he said as he started to pull random scrolls off of the shelf and skimming them.

Windy had no idea what she was looking for but she started to take the scrolls off of the shelves and started skimming them too. After about ten minutes she pulled a scroll off of the shelf and found exactly what they were looking for. “Bold I found it!” she said excitedly.

Bold ran over to her and took the school. He started to read it swiftly and with intensity. “This makes no sense! This says he went south… what is in the south? He must be hiding… he’s smart.” he said as he pulled out a small knife. He cut himself on his left forehoof.

“Bold! What the hay are you doing?!” Windy screamed worriedly.

Bold took his right hoof and started to use his blood to draw on the floor. “This is why it worked for him. He used blood while everypony else used ink…” he said as he winced in pain.

Windy pulled out her emergency supplies from her small pouch and wrapped Bold’s hoof when he was done. “A little bit of warning before you mutilate yourself next time.”

Bold nodded and his horn went dark. The rune now the only source of light in the room, Bold looked up to Windy. “I don’t know what to expect so… hold onto me.” he said as he wrapped a hoof over her back. Windy wrapped a wing over his back in return and Bold nodded. His horn started to glow red, the total opposite of its usual white glow, and the rune glowed brighter. Soon it was so bright that they couldn’t see and they closed their eyes for protection. When they opened them again they were in a dimly lit cave and the sound of rain could be heard outside.

A flash of lightning at the mouth of the cave revealed a figure of a unicorn pony. Windy started to charge but Bold held her back as the figure entered and Windy backed off when she realized it was just a little colt. The colt had a dark red coat with a dark green scruffy mane and tail. “What are you two doing in my cave?!” he asked angrily.

“We… we teleported here from Canterlot.” Bold said calmly. “Where are we?”

“Canterlot? Where is that?” the little colt asked.

“It is in the heart of Equestria. Have you never been to Canterlot?” Windy asked curiously.

“Where’s Equestria?” the colt asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

Bold and Windy both looked at each other with concern. Bold looked to the little colt and noticed he was charging right for them. Just a split second too late and the little colt’s horn impaled Bold’s leg. Stifling a yell, Bold gently pulled the small horn from his back right leg and set the colt down in front of him as tears dripped from his eyes. “Why… did you do that?”

The little colt was as upset as he was. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to stick you with my horn! I was just trying to get you out!” he said as he started to cry.

Windy took out her emergency supplies and started to wrap Bold’s new wound. “It’s okay, but we are the good guys. We are searching for a criminal from where we came from. Has anypony new came through town? Specifically a unicorn, about this high, grey coat and blue mane with three shooting stars as a cutie mark?”

The colt looked confused as he wiped away his tears. “Wh-what’s a cutie mark?”

Bold turned his flank and showed the colt his cutie mark. “It is the symbol that represents out special talent. Didn’t you learn that in school?”

“I’ve never even seen a cutie mark before… nopony I know has one… but… I do remember a unicorn that looked like what you said with the markings you said in town the other day…” the colt said softly.

Windy whispered into Bold’s ear. “What kind of place is this? No cutie marks? No knowledge of Equestria?” she asked in concern.

“It’s okay. Let’s see if we can find a town to stay in and start our investigation.” Bold replied in a whisper. “Excuse me, little colt. What is your name?”

“Charlie…” the colt responded.

“Even the names here are really different…” Bold said under his breath. “My name is Bold Character and this is Windy Wisp. Can you take us to your town?”

Charlie sniffled and nodded. He started to lead them out of the cave and Bold used his magic to keep them dry, which seemed to frighten Charlie. “How are you doing that?!” he asked fearfully.

“What? With the rain? It’s just magic. When you get older you can do it too.” Bold said with a smile.

“Magic isn’t real! It’s just an old mare’s tale!” Charlie said as he started to shrink down in fear.

Windy walked up to the colt and tried to calm him down. “Hey, it’s okay… where we come from magic is real and only unicorns can use it. Just remember that we are the good guys and we are only trying to help.” she said before turning back to Bold and mouthed ‘stop using magic’.

Bold stopped using his magic and the three of them continued slowly. Charlie kept looking over his shoulder as they walked to make sure Bold wasn’t doing anything else strange. Bold walked beside Windy and whispered. “No magic either… this might make it easier for us to find Star Scribe.”

“How?” she asked in a whisper.

“Just wait until he uses magic again and somepony panics.” he said simply.

Windy nodded in understanding is they arrived at a hard, and incredibly long, black strip on the ground that had white stripes on it. “What… what is this?” Windy asked as she placed a hoof on the hard surface.

Charlie looked at Windy with confusion. “It’s a road. You two really aren’t from around here… How far away are you from?”

“We aren’t exactly sure. We are going to have to find a map first.” Bold said with a smile.

“Well you can get one from the library in town. Come on, we are going to miss the bus.” Charlie said as he started to run down the street.

Windy and Bold followed swiftly and soon they found themselves at the bus stop. “Do you think this bus is like our taxi carriages?” Windy whispered into Bold’s ears.

“I doubt it.” he replied.

“So… did you two really teleport here? I didn’t think that you were telling the truth but given all the strange things about you it might actually be true…” Charlie admitted.

Bold chuckled a bit. “Yes, we teleported here.” he said before his ears perked up at a loud rumbling sound coming down the road.

“Hey, the bus is coming! Finally we can be dry for a little while!” Charlie said happily. A large machine pulled up to the bus stop on four giant rubber wheels. The door opened and Charlie jumped on board and pulled out some small coins and dumped them into a tray. “Come on you two, I paid for you.” he said as he started to find them a seat.

Windy and Bold cautiously boarded and sat down next to Charlie. It seems as though they attracted some attention, judging by the stares from everypony on the bus. Bold looked around as the bus started to move and he noticed that every single pony on the bus was a unicorn. Windy noticed it too and looked to Charlie and whispered in his ear. “Why is there only unicorns on this bus? Please tell me there is more than just unicorns in this place.” she said worriedly.

“Of course there is.” Charlie said with a giggle. Windy let out a sigh of relief before Charlie spoke again. “They are all servants just like you are.” he said happily.

The moment Bold heard this he noticed Windy blush with anger. He leaned over and whispered to her. “Play along. It seems that the unicorn race leads all others in this place.” He looked over to Charlie and smiled. “I tend to consider her a good friend at most times. I don’t really consider her a servant.”

At these words, Bold noticed a few heads turn as well as a couple of the unicorns sneer. Charlie looked over to Bold and chuckled. “Hey, if you can afford one then you can call it whatever you want really.” Windy was just about to explode when they pulled up to their stop. “Here we are! Catagar Province. Come on, I will take you to a hotel so you two can rest a bit.” Charlie said as he jumped from the seat and lead them off of the bus.

Once they were off the bus Bold whispered to Windy. “Play along! We don’t know how this system works and if we get in trouble Celestia dies!” He had a very stern look as they walked down the street. They noticed smaller, more compact versions of the bus with just one or two ponies inside of it on the roads. “Hey Charlie, what are these smaller busses that everypony is in?”

“Those are cars silly.” he replied simply. They arrived at the hotel and Charlie turned to Bold. “You can tie your servant to the post over there.” he said as he pointed to a post with two drenched pegasus stallions and one drenched earth pony mare.

“Uhh, I prefer to keep my servant with me.” Bold said casually.

“Well… they may not let you but it is worth a shot.” Charlie said as they entered the hotel. They walked up to the counter and a unicorn mare was waiting to greet them.

Bold stopped Charlie just before they reached the counter. “Charlie, I don’t have a lot of money with me.” he said as he opened his small pouch and pulled out a bag of bits. “All I have are these.” He pulled a bit out and showed it to Charlie.

Charlie’s eyes lit up, and so did the mare’s at the counter. “You have gold! WOW! Just one of those can put you up for a month here!” he said excitedly.

Bold smirked and leaned over to whisper in Windy’s ear. “Good thing we both have fifty.” He walked up to the counter and placed a bit on the counter. “I need a room for my servant and I.” he said simply.

“H-how long will you be staying?” the mare at the counter asked.

“Just give us whatever this is worth.” Bold said with a smile.

“A-about a month and a half… but you can’t have your servant in the room with you…” the mare said.

Bold put his hoof on the bit and started to slide it away. “Well, if you don’t want my business…” he started to say before the mare placed a hoof on his.

“W-wait! I am sure that the manager won’t mind, under the circumstances…” she said as she took the bit and put it in the register. She grabbed a fancily decorated key and gave it to Bold. “Room 100, celebrity suite.” she said happily.

Bold took the key with his magic without thinking. “Thank you miss.” he said as he put the key on his belt.

The mare at the counter mouthed incoherently as Charlie tapped Bold on his good leg. “Um, Mr. Bold… can I come visit you tomorrow?”

Windy leaned forward and whispered into Bold’s ear. “I don’t see why he can’t.”

Bold nodded. “Of course you can. And here is a little something for helping us.” he said as he pulled out a bit and gave it to Charlie.

Charlie beamed and took it with joy and put it in his bag. “Thank you! I’ll see you tomorrow!” he said before running out of the hotel.

The mare stepped out from behind the counter and bowed. “I’ll take you to your room.” she said as she started to lead them down a hall. Once they arrived in the room the mare gave another bow and gestured in.

“Thank you very much miss. Here’s a tip.” Bold said as he dropped a bit on the ground in front of her.

A tear dropped from her eyes as she picked it up. “Thank you sir. You can have your servant sleep anywhere on the floor.” she said with a smile. Once they were inside she closed the door for them and put the bit in her pocket before walking back to the front desk.

Once Windy was sure that the mare was gone she turned to Bold with anger. “This can’t be happening! Did you see those poor ponies outside?! They were drenched to the bone!”

“Quiet! We don’t want to attract the attention of any other ponies here. Now I don’t like it either, but there is nothing we can do until we get Celestia’s broach back. Until then we have to set up a few rules to be on the safe side.”

“Rules? Are you serious? I am not some servant!” Windy said angrily.

“That’s not what I meant Windy… I just don’t want you to get hurt… I am worried that this place might be a lot more dangerous than where we are from and I want to keep you as safe as possible…” he said as he gave her a kiss on her cheek. “Now I don’t think it will be a good idea if you go off on your own or even fly until we know how this whole servant thing works… okay?”

Windy sighed and put her head down. “Okay, but I’m not going to get you coffee in the morning.” she said jokingly as she returned his kiss.

Bold smiled and nodded. “Fair enough. Now let’s get some sleep.” he said as he laid down on the small couch in the room.

“I think you should have the bed, in case somepony walks in and sees us.”

Bold sighed. “You aren’t going to sleep on the floor…”

“Then I guess I can just join you.” she said with a wink.

Bold blushed a bit. “J-join you?”

“Yeah, in the bed silly. I’m not going to sleep on the couch.” she said as she went to the bathroom and got them both a towel to dry off with.

Bold dried himself off and joined Windy on the bed with a blush. He rolled over to face away from her. “Uh… uh…. Goodnight…” he said nervously.

Windy rolled him back over and hugged him closely and nuzzled his neck. “I usually cuddle with my pillow, but you work too.” she said with a giggle. “Goodnight Bold…”

Bold was blushing intensely but managed to fall asleep after relaxing.

****

The next morning there was a knock at the door and Windy got up and dragged her way to the door and opened it. A newspaper hit her in the nose and she backed up. “Hey, what’s the big idea?!” she shouted.

Bold woke up and leaped out of bed. “Now now, what have I told you about that temper of yours? Go into the bathroom and make it shine for me.” he said as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “Just wait in the bathroom until I can get rid of them.

Windy walked to the bathroom and locked the door. “She must be new into servitude. I understand the newer ones can be a bit… willful. Now then, I represent a very important pony in this town and he would like an audience with you. He requests that you leave your servant behind.” the unicorn at the door proclaimed.

Bold looked at the unicorn and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but if the pony you represent wants to see me he will have to let my servant attend as well. She needs to be monitored constantly until I can break her.”

“Very well, I will relay your response.” the unicorn said with a bow before turning around and started to walk away.

“Wait, is that today’s paper?” Bold asked with a smile.

“Yes it is. Would you like it, I have another one.”

“Yes, please.” Bold said as he accepted the paper from the random unicorn before walking back inside and closed the door.

“Windy, you can come out now.” Bold said as he opened the paper. Windy didn’t respond and she didn’t come out. Bold set the newspaper down and walked over to the bathroom door. “Windy, are you alright?”

“I don’t like it here…” her voice sounded from behind the door. It sounded like she was crying.

“Windy, I need you to hold it together. You have to stay strong for Equestria.” Bold said sternly.

“He hit me with a newspaper because I was a pegasus Bold…”

“I know… I know… but who cares about him or anypony else here? All that matters is that we are together… I can’t do this without you Windy.” he said softly.

The door opened up and her face was wet. “Okay…” she said sadly.

“Windy, I’m sorry you have to bear this burden. But we have to do this for Celestia. We made a promise to her that we would save her. When we get back everything will be better.”

“If you don’t break me first.” she said with a slight giggle.

“Me, break you? It would never happen.” he said with a smile. He returned to the table where he had set the newspaper down and started reading. He laughed loudly and read aloud. “New rich tycoon arrives in Catagar Province. After purchasing a room for a month and a half with a single gold coin, he went and gave the desk clerk a substantial tip. ‘I’ll be able to pay my rent and feed my family without worry this month! I am so happy!’ she stated. Looks like we attracted some attention accidently.” he said with a chuckle.

“Well, at least they don’t know our names.” Windy said with a sigh of relief.

“Yes, that is good. Perhaps we should keep that a secret from here on out. These names… they are quite odd but I think we should make up a couple of names for ourselves.”

“What about Charlie? He knows our names and he must have told his parents by now.”

“Hmm… we will have to talk to him when he gets here. Tell him that those were nicknames. Now let’s see… it seems that there are a lot of names but none of them seem to have significance or meaning… so… just call me… Murok. Sounds like it is not from here but not from where we actually are from.”

“Maybe we can just call me ‘that slave mare’.” Windy said in a slightly irritated tone.

“How about Nital? Sounds pretty and it doesn’t seem like it would be from here either.”

“Nital it is. So Murok, what’s the plan for today?”

“Investigate this…” he replied as he pointed to an article.

“Mystery pony brings back a treasure that is said to make the pony who wears it immortal… Wow, he stole it for fame… makes you wonder if he was really from Equestria at all.”

“I don’t think he was, look at the picture. Notice anything odd about Star Scribe?”

“His cutie mark is gone.” she said before there was a knock on the door.

Bold walked over and opened the door to see Charlie standing there with a smile. “Bold! You are in the paper!” he said happily as he walked inside of the room.

“Please, call me by my real name, Murok, from now on.” Bold said with a smile.

“I thought that Bold was just a nickname. It seemed too weird to be a real name. So you aren’t from here right? Maybe I can give you a tour?” Charlie said as he turned to Windy. “Get me a glass of water.” he ordered her without any consideration.

“Charlie, I would request that you ask my servant instead of ordering her. She is a pony too you know. Nital, if you would be so kind as to get this young colt a glass of water.” Bold said with a wink. Windy went into the small kitchen area of their room and found a glass. “Keeps them happy and makes them work with more vigor. Don’t forget to say thank you also.” Bold whispered to Charlie who nodded in agreement.

When Windy returned with the water Charlie smiled and thanked her. “Anything else?” she asked as she started to play along a bit more.

Bold shook his head. “No, that will be all for now. Just relax. So Charlie, you want to take us on a tour?”

Charlie took a drink of his water and nodded. “Well, the offer was just to you but you can bring her if you’d like.”

“She goes where ever I go.”

“Well alright, that’s fine. We can go right away if you want.”

“Sure, come on Nital. It will be fun.” he said as he walked over to her and whispered. “I’m sorry, I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay Bold, just play along remember?” she whispered back as they got up.

Charlie led them out of the room and Bold locked it behind them. “So what where did you get that mark on your flank anyway?” he asked Bold.

“It is a tradition from where I come from. We earn this mark by finding what makes us special.”

“Can I get one?” Charlie asked excitedly.

“I don’t think it works the same way here.” Bold said with a chuckle. Windy merely followed along and kept silent as she looked around. “Where we come from things are very different.”

“I can tell. Your names are really different too! But don’t worry about that, everypony is really nice here.” Charlie said with a smile.

“Yeah, if you are a unicorn…” Windy said under her breath.

Bold heard her and hoped that Charlie didn’t, which he didn’t seem to. “So where is our first stop Charlie?”

“Well, I was thinking of showing you my school first, then we could go to the park, then to the museum and finally my house!” he replied excitedly.

“Sounds like it will be fun.”

Charlie talked to them the whole way to his school. He explained how that the government has an elected leader that changes every six years, how the schools worked by an age system, how they had a police force separate from their military, it was a very different world indeed. “And this is my school! I’m in the fifth grade, which means I am eleven pretty much. It’s closed right now, because it is the ninth day of the week.”

“Ninth day? How long are your weeks?” Windy asked curiously.

“Ten days total. Today is ninth day and tomorrow is tenth day. Then I go back to school. Oh, and my parents are taking me by the bank to get that gold coin exchanged for real money.”

“I was curious about that. What kind of money do you use?” Bold asked curiously.

Charlie pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to Bold. It had the picture of a pony’s head on it and the number five in the corner. “This is five dollars. It is worth five single dollars.”

“Paper money? This place gets stranger and stranger. But that’s okay I can get used to it.” Bold said with a chuckle. “So how much is one of my gold coins worth?”

“Well… my father told me it was worth over three thousand dollars! You helped my family so much!” Charlie said happily.

“Glad to help. Now maybe you can help me in return. I need two things. One, I need you to tell me where I can find this pony.” Bold said as he showed Charlie the picture. “Two, I need to go to the bank to exchange one of my coins for some money.”

“Well the picture says that they will be at the museum today so we will be able to see him there. As for the bank… maybe we can rearrange our tour to go by my house and my father will take us there.”

“Your father won’t mind if I bring my servant right?”

“Nah, he is… different when it comes to servants.”

“How so?” Windy asked suddenly.

“Well, I’ll let him tell you. Come on, we should hurry up before he gets busy.” Charlie said started to run across the street without looking.

Windy saw a car coming. “Charlie, look out!”

Charlie froze and the car crashed into an invisible wall that Bold had put up with his magic. He quickly dispelled the wall and ran over to Charlie. “Are you okay?”

Charlie was shaking as he nodded. “W-what stopped it?”

Bold looked at him and shrugged. “I don’t know, let’s see if the pony inside the car is okay.” he said as he stood up and walked over to the car. The unicorn inside was stirring as the car sat in a crumpled heap. Bold opened the door slowly. “Are you okay miss?” Bold asked as he helped the mare out of the car.

“The colt! Is the colt okay?! I tried to stop! I really did!” she pleaded.

Bold nodded. “He is a bit shaken up but it is okay.”

“What did I hit then? It destroyed my car!” she said sadly.

“I don’t know what you hit, but this should take care of it.” Bold said as he dropped five bits into her hoof.

The mare looked at the bits with an open mouth. “Who are you?”

“Murok. Come on Charlie, let’s keep going. Carefully this time.” Bold said with a smile.

Charlie nodded and they started to leave when the mare stopped them. “Wait! Thank you…” she said as she gave Bold a slight kiss on the cheek.

Bold smiled and nodded. “You’re welcome.” he said as they started to walk to Charlie’s home.

The sound of sirens could be heard as they reached Charlie’s home. “What is that noise Charlie?”

“Those are police cars. Probably there to help that nice mare that car.” he explained.

“Interesting.” Bold said as Charlie opened the door to his house.

“Dad! I’m home with a guest! He has a servant pony too!”

A brown unicorn with a grey sleek mane and tail walked out from the other room as they entered. “Come in, come in. Make yourself at home. Let me get you all drinks.” he said as he invited them into the den. “And miss, please feel free to sit on the furniture.” he said to Windy.

They all went to the den and took a seat. Windy and Bold sat down next to each other on a couch while Charlie took one of the two open chairs in the spacious room. The brown stallion soon returned with a tray full of glasses of a bubbly red drink. “Here you go. Enjoy.” he said as he gave them each a glass.

Bold took it with his magic, again without thinking. “Thank you.”

“So my son was telling the truth. You can use magic. How interesting.”

Bold’s eye widened and looked at the glass. “Oh my gosh! The glass is floating!” he said in fake amazement.

The brown stallion chuckled. “Now now, I won’t go telling anypony your secret. I am just amazed that you are able to do something that I thought the unicorn race lost hundreds of years ago. Tell me, where are you from.”

Windy looked at Bold with a look of concern. Bold leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Should we tell him? He seems knowledgeable of more than most of the unicorns we have met.”

“I don’t know yet. Maybe we should ask him a few questions first. Get to know him more.” Windy replied.

“That is another interesting thing. Conferring with your servant, that is unusual. I like how you treat her as an equal when it comes to knowledge. I appreciate that.” the brown stallion said as he sat down.

“I like him already.” Windy whispered into Bold’s ear.

“Let’s just say we aren’t from here, for now. We might tell you more later.” Bold said with a smile.

“It’s a shame. I wanted to hear more about this, Equestria my son told me about.”

Bold and Windy looked at each other and sighed. “Listen, we are a special task force sent from Equestria to retrieve a broach stolen from our princess. Without it she is going to die.” Bold said with a frown. “Bold Character is my real name and this is Windy Wisp. She is not my servant, she is a very dear friend of mine and her life is equal to mine. Maybe a bit greater…”

Windy smiled at Bold. “Even on a dangerous mission he can’t help being sweet. I don’t believe we got your name mister…?”

“Just call me Robert. So you two are from a place far from here, far enough that we didn’t even know that you existed. This is very interesting indeed. I recommend that you stay here with my son and I. You don’t want your enemy to know where you are and surly after today the press will be trying to track your movements. You are a fortune to them.” he explained. “I am part of the Species Liberation Initiative Group or SLIG as we like to call it. We have been working to free the earth ponies and pegasi from the bonds of servitude. I understand you having to stoop to certain level to blend in and I am glad that you do not think less of Windy here because she is a pegasus. Now I just have one more question for you… are you from the north?”

Bold’s ears perked up. “So the rune did take us south… yes we are from the north.”

Robert smiled widely. “Then you descend from the group of ponies that left to find a better home after the windigos ravaged the land hundreds of years ago. Small groups from each race went south. Many of the earth ponies and pegasi did not survive the journey and the unicorns came out on top and enslaved the other two races with ease and now there are very few of them. Tell me… tell me that you come from a better place…”

Bold nodded. “All three races work together in peace. In fact, both of my parents are pegasi.”

“That’s a relief. For a while I just thought unicorns are just naturally greedy. Now then, let’s see what we can do about this mission of yours. I assume the pony that brought in the broach to the museum is the pony you are looking for. Might I ask how he managed to steal it?” Robert asked curiously.

“He used a magic most foul… killed nine guards… in a matter of seconds.” Bold said sadly.

Robert seemed a bit shocked. “Well, I thought we were dealing with a simple theft… but mass murder is much more severe… My organization will keep an eye out for him. But we would like to ask a favor from you… ten of your coins.”

Bold smiled and nodded. “Take twenty.” he said as he poured twenty bits on the table. “We have plenty enough to get what we need to stop this fiend.”

Robert smiled and nodded. “Thank you for your generosity. With any hope we can use this money to free the other races. Now then, I will go to the bank alone and exchange the coins for money. If anypony asks I will say that you gave me the coins and then left. Hopefully that will throw the press off for a while. In the meantime, relax, watch some television, get something to eat.”

“Television? What is television?” Windy asked curiously.

“Charlie, teach them about the television and answer any questions they might have. I’ll be back soon.” Robert said as he left the house.

Charlie stood up and pressed a button. A painting on the wall raised up and revealed a television. “That’s a television. You turn it on and we can watch shows and news and stuff.” he said as he turned on the television. A news show turned on and Bold and Windy could only stare in awe.

“Amazing… truly amazing!” Bold said as he watched the news pony speak.

“Today an accident occurred involving a small colt and a young mare in a car.” the news mare said. The news feed switched to footage of the mare they had met when the car crashed. “This colt just ran out into the street and I pressed my hoof on the breaks hard, but I knew I was still going to hit him. Suddenly my car stopped and I hit nothing at all, but it crumpled my car pretty good whatever it was. I’m just glad the little colt is okay and whoever he was with was more than generous in helping me to repair my car, he gave me these.” she said as she held up the five bits Bold had given her. “I can fix my car and pay off all of my debts… this is the best day of my life…” the mare said with tears in her eyes.

“Charlie, how many ponies watch the news?” Bold asked worriedly.

“All of them, why?”

“Because she just showed our currency to everypony in this land… now the pony we are after knows we are here.” Windy said sadly. “That will make it much harder to find him…”

“Why? It’s not like he knows you are after him.”

“He is smart enough to connect the dots… he will certainly prepare for us. Or, if he is arrogant, he will just wait for us to come and try to take us down himself…” Bold deduced. “We shouldn’t be here… We are putting your family in danger.”

Windy looked up at him. “We are keeping his family safe. If that unicorn does come by they won’t stand a chance alone. Not against magic.”

Bold nodded. “I need to practice.” he said as he stood up. He walked to the edge of the room and balanced on his back left hoof. His horn started to glow and everything in the room started to lift off of the ground.

Charlie held on to the chair he was in as Bold started to rearrange the room. “Not bad Bold, you have been doing better and better since you started to expand you knowledge of magic. Then again, I am sure Twilight shared quite a bit when she merged your minds.”

Bold kept his concentration and started to set the furniture down in different spots. When everything was set down the room went dark and small floating lights surrounded the room. “Wow… those are pretty.” Charlie said as he reached out to touch one.

“Don’t touch them Charlie, they will burn you.” Windy warned.

Charlie pulled his hoof back and just watched as the lights danced around the room. When they disappeared the room lit up again and small floating balls of shadows started to appear. One of them floated against Charlie’s drink and it vanished. The shadows disappeared and Charlie looked at Bold. He had Charlie’s drink in his hoof and he was smiling. “Here’s your drink back. I was just borrowing it.” he said with a chuckle as he gave Charlie his drink back.

Charlie was a bit afraid to take a drink, but took one anyway. “Wow, you are really amazing Bold. And a bit scary….”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Bold said apologetically as he sat down.

“How can you use magic like that? My father said it wasn’t possible for unicorns to use it anymore.”

“Well… it’s just different here I guess. All I know is, if the unicorn we are after can use magic, then you can too.” Bold said with a wink.

“But how do you do it? How do you gain cutie marks? How do you live with pegasi and earth ponies so peacefully?”

“Under the care of our princesses… they guide us… watch over us… bring us the sun and the moon… they are everything to us…” Windy said softly. “They love us and we love them. That is why we are here.”

Charlie looked at his glass and sighed. “Do you think my father and I could go back with you?”

Bold’s ears perked up in surprise. “Go back with us? Why?”

“There is no love here. Everypony just goes about their lives doing as they are told… living in sadness… our leaders raise the prices of everything and make it harder for us to live let alone live happily…” Charlie said sadly.

Bold took a drink and sighed. “Maybe… if I can support that many ponies going through the rune portal.”

“I hope you can…”

They sat in silence for a while before it was broken by the door opening. “I’m back, with a fat sack of cash. We have all the funding we need. Here is what you needed Bold.” Robert said as he gave a roll of cash to Bold.

Bold nodded and took the money. “Thank you. Robert, I need to know what happened to this land. Why can you not use magic, or get cutie marks anymore?”

Robert sighed and sat down. “Is it just me or is everything in this room in a different place?” he asked curiously.

“Robert, where did the magic in this land go? This is important.” Bold said sternly.

Robert sighed again and shook his head. “It was lost when we enslaved the other races. Everypony stopped caring about who they were and what they were doing… unicorns stopped relying on magic and started to just let the other races do everything for them… Truthfully we just forgot how and never tried to use it again. Except for me. I have been trying to use magic for years but I have not been successful at all. I just don’t know what I am doing.”

Bold nodded in understanding. “It is distressing to know that there is an entire nation without the ability to use magic or even be happy from day to day. However, I must say our nation is on the decline as well. We are the last line of defense against the criminals that have been popping up over the years. If we lose our princess though… we lose everything…”

“I won’t let that happen Bold. Do you have a photo of your princess with the broach on? If you do then we can get the broach back diplomatically.”

“Yes, I do.” Windy said as she pulled out a picture of the princesses. She gave it to Robert. “Please be careful with it…”

Robert nodded. “Of course.” he said before looking at the photo. His eyes widened and he set the picture down on the table before standing up and walking out of the room. Windy and Bold looked at each other with concern. A moment later Robert came back with an extremely old book. “This is something has been passed down throughout my family since before the nations split up. It’s the only known copy to exist and it is the reason I have fought so hard for peace.” he said as he set the book down next to the picture. Bold stood up and walked over to the book and opened it carefully. “Is your princess a descendant from the sun goddess?”

Bold saw who he was referring to and shook his head. “No, she is not… she is your sun goddess. She traveled to Equestria with her sister and overthrew Discord before establishing their rule. She… she was gravely injured during the fight against Discord but she recovered. Then when she banished her sister… it destroyed her. She ruled with an iron hoof for many years before she realized she was making her kingdom as miserable as she was. When her sister returned she was happier than she had ever been and Equestria flourished… until King Sombra’s second return. My father and many other ponies fought a brutal war… many were killed. And now this… our symbol of good is dying. If she dies, then it will be chaos…” Bold explained.

“You really love her, don’t you?” Robert asked.

“Like a mother…” Windy and Bold said at the same time.

Robert smiled. “Then let’s go to the museum. We will show the authorities this picture and get your princess’s broach back.”

Bold nodded and gathered their things. “Let’s go.”