Disharmony

by ItchyStomach

Chapter eleven: Insight

Entry #1, 10 days until depart

I, following the advice of Princess Celestia, am starting this journal to record my thoughts and insights on my journey to the north, in the heights of the Crystal Mountains on behalf of my mentor and Equestria.

As of writing this, I’m already familiar with my task and our goal. This writing starts at day minus ten at night, in Canterlot, in the royal chambers Celestia was so kind to allocate for me. As a princess, I have the right to have such luxury, and I’m very happy with this aspect of my new life. I will do my best and record each day as it passes and my memories of said days as accurately as I can. I was told our pace will allow such sessions to be inserted into my daily schedule for the upcoming, currently unknown period of time. The Princess couldn’t say how long I will have to be gone, but she expressed hope that it won’t take too long. What that means is entirely up to her, as I didn’t dare to push it. The Princess seemed to be nervous about the whole matter, and I will do my best to accomplish our goal, as long as it takes. I do hope it won’t be measured in years, though.

Earlier today, around noon, Princess Celestia approached me in a letter and proposed an idea of an expedition to the mountains, with me as a leader. I, of course, was eager to oblige, even before I knew the details of the journey. The Princess requested a meeting with Princess Luna, the head of the Magical Development Team of the Royal Palace and me in Canterlot. The subject was a group of mountain goats living in the Crystal Mountains, who, according to scout reports, developed magical abilities similar to unicorns and alicorns, in spite of said level of magical control was exclusively a trait to the two aforementioned races. The reports describe the goats purposefully and consciously using magic to levitate objects, fight each other, create illumination and sooth loud children. This family of goats are known of their ability of speech and culture, however limited they might be, but they are mostly driven by their instincts and aren’t fully aware of neither the extent of their magical abilities nor how remarkable they are. The scouts didn’t engage them in any way and so we didn’t have a speech pattern to judge their intelligence with, but the reports describe their use of magic similar to what a unicorn foal is capable of. As Princess Celestia pointed out that was not a good base to build on, as foals are known of their surges, when their abilities can quadruple. The observations, however, didn’t stop there and soon we arrived to the details what had caused such distress to Celestia and Luna. Even though the scouts were not extremely experienced with magic, they could determine that the goats’ magical arura as well as the “feel” of their magic was similar to King Sombra’s dark magic. This fact alone was bad enough, but the proximity of the Crystal Empire combined with the fact that clearing every remaining trace of Sombra was still in progress forced the Princesses to take certain actions into consideration. To begin, an expedition will have to be sent to record the goats’ abilities in detail and judge their likeliness to turn Sombra’s way and if necessary, make the necessary steps to prevent the spread of dark magic. So far the goats have yet to show the “evil” of Sombra, and they appear to be more like randomly gifted folks who aren’t aware of what they are doing.

Another goal of the expedition will be to study the dark magic the goats operate with, though this aspect of our journey will be somewhat secret. The public, excluding my friends, will know only that we are going to “make some friends”, the way Luna put it. My friends are, sadly, not coming with me. I’m quite saddened by this detail, but I understand the concerns of the Princesses and the dangers our group might encounter. The group can’t afford to endure but the qualified personnel, and in case things go wrong, I’d want them safe back home. With the exception of Spike to act as my assistant, for which I’m grateful, the expedition will consist of total or almost total strangers, all hoof-picked by Celestia, ponies mostly I’ve never even heard of. Of course I’m familiar with the head researcher, but that about covers it. I expressed my thought to Celestia and she assured me that she didn’t choose the members of the team on random and we will be comfortable with one another in days. She said that my royal status should not be concern either, because in their eyes I’m just a regular old unicorn with some wings on her back. I’m not sure how I feel about that sentiment, but assured her that it will be fine if she thinks so. Time will tell, I presume.

Celestia gave me two weeks to prepare but the head researcher and I assured her that ten days will be sufficient. Now I’m sort of regretting saying that, considering the state of my private project of magical storages. I will take a functioning one from the second generation for the purpose of using it and field testing its capabilities, while leaving further development to the team in Canterlot to work on the concept while I’m gone.

I think that concludes the day. I’m no stranger to journals but I will keep a more official tone than usual in case the Princesses decide to read it as well.

Twilight Sparkle.

***

"That was a bit odd to read," Starry said as she looked up from the mattress. "I expected more… Soul into it, I guess? To not to be so dry and official? I mean the thing about those goats are interesting, but other than that... She didn't seem like this when you talked about her."

"How much did you read?" Fluttershy asked, pausing brushing her mane for a second.

"The first entry." Starry looked back down to the journal lying in front of her. The light of the few candle they had lit were just enough to read the letters. "She only talked about those goats and their magic and how Celestia ordered her to go. Did they really… uhm… develop magic?"

The older pegasus smiled. "No spoilers, Starry. Be patient."

"Yeah, I know… I hope it will get better, though. Reading this reminds me of the school books I used to have to read." She grimaced, pushed the book further and stretched. "Uhh… This mattress ain't got nothing on solid ground…"

"You can have mine too, if you want," Fluttershy offered.

The filly shook her head. "No, no, you need it just as much. It was my idea to come here. I'll bear it." She closed the journal and put it in her saddlebag.

Somebody sneezed loudly in the next room, making the two friends giggle. Starry stood up and pulled open the fabric that acted as the door to their tent to let some fresh air in. The night was rich with little noises from the surrounding tents and the critters by the nearby river. Starry Wind breathed deeply and watched a group of fireflies dance by in the air. The tranquil environment of the little village their camp was built near of was present in the half dozen tents standing in a relatively flat piece of ground. It made her almost forget the reason the two of them, along with a dozen others came here for. The forest they're going to be searching through the next day was lost in the darkness, the lunar light just enough to illuminate the other tents that the ponies from the village were kind enough to lend them. What's more, they promised some supplies for their rescue team when they'd go into the forest. The danger of a diamond dog raid apparently has yet to penetrate their own little world, and they barely had any questions when the rescue group's leaders explained them the situation. The simplified version of the storage's magical overcharge was good enough for the majority, and the few unicorns living in the village weren't versed well enough in magic to ask uncomfortable questions. Although, from the conversations she'd heard do far, not everyone in their group knew exactly what had happened in the station either and she wasn't eager to enlighten them. Why bother? It wouldn't change the facts. They were here to rescue the poor ponies who were teleported away when some moron screwed with the storages and it spiraled out of control.

She let the fabric drop. Fluttershy finished with her mane and was working on her hooves with a small rasp. Starry admired the time her old friend spend taking care of her outfit, but it also made her smile every time. Fluttershy was just as keen on looks as she was keen to avoid attention. The butter pegasus noticed Starry's eyes on her and looked up with a smile.

"What's on your mind, dear?"

Starry smiled back and rolled her eyes. "You just keep polishing those hooves of yours until they're gonna replace your mirror."

Fluttershy blushed and hid the rasp under her foreleg. "Does it bother you?"

Starry waived a hoof. "Of course not. At least one of us will look pretty tomorrow. Or any day." She lay down on her mattress. Fluttershy resumed her rasping after a short while, the soft sound almost tuned out by the noise of crickets.

Starry picked up the journal again. She knew the importance of Twilight Sparkle in her friend's and all of Equestria's life, but her journal didn't exactly get the young pony hooked. It was just too formal, completely unlike any journal she had ever read. Not that number meant anything, given it was fewer than how many hooves she had. Still, it was very important for Fluttershy and it had the answers to why the world was like as it was, so she guessed she had no choice but to read it. Jumping straight to the end had occurred to her, but the thought felt like betrayal. So reading it was.

***

"Yay!" Crimson exclaimed quietly as the lock clicked open and the cell door squeaked open just enough to allow the filly enter Twilight's cell. "I told you I was gonna do it!" She grinned into the purple unicorn's face, who smiled back. Crimson was in better shape than last time and the enormous grin and the glee she greeted Twilight with was really cute. The filly didn't quite close the door so the latch didn't engage with a sharp sound.

"I bet you're hungry!" The filly levitated a bowl of food in front of Twilight and herself, then laid down before the other pony could react.

"I, uh... Thank you." Twilight hesitated only a second before diving into eating. It was the usual stale stuff she always got, but she was ravenous.

"So," she began between two bites. "How did you manage to get the door open? Did Sturly let you have the keys?"

"Just yours. I had to swear that I won't show it you and I will return it soon. I also got the food from her. I told her I was going to see you anyway, so she didn't have to walk here for nothing."

Twilight regarded the other pony. "Really? She just agreed?"

"Yup," Crimson said. "I told you she liked me."

"Yes, but... Never mind. I'm glad you made it. It's just hard to imagine that dog to actually like a pony."

"Not when that pony is me!" Crimson grinned and took a bite from that weird brown stuff. "So, what do we talk about?"

Twilight chewed the stale food. "I wanted to know about your magic. How did you learn what you know? I remember you telling that you were the best at gem-sorting. How did you learn the spell? I don't think you can read magic glyphs."

She cocked her head. "Read what?"

"Abstract depictions of magical spells and enchantments. Do... Do you know what that means?"

"I have no idea. You sure know more words than I do." She put a hoof to her chin. Twilight could see that it was badly scraped, just like her own. "To be honest, I don't really know how I know the spell. I think my mother taught me when I was a filly, and I've been using it ever since. It's just natural now." She grinned. "I know a lot of spells, actually. How many do you know?"

Twilight shrugged. "A couple hundred, maybe... I've never counted them. My spellbook in school had two hundred and forty-seven entries and since then I learnt at least two hundred more, but many of them are just slight variants of one spell. How many do you know?"

Crimson's smile faltered and her ears dropped a little. "I... A lot. Maybe less than you. Anyway, I learnt a lot from Mum and the others, back when I was with them. Since I'm alone I came up with some by myself, but not nearly as much as then. Did you actually learn spells in school? There are schools up above that teach magic?"

"Of course they are. There are all kinds of schools for all kinds of ponies."

"Like pegasi? Do they learn magic too?"

"What?" Twilight frowned and had to remind herself that the filly didn't know a lot about the world. "No, they study weather control and..." What did they teach to young pegasi in Cloudsdale? "And stuff like that. And it's the same for earth ponies."

"They are the ones without horns or wings, right?"

"Yes. I'm sure your mom had told you about them too."

"She did. She also told me that there were ponies with both horns and wings. Are they real too?"

Twilight's wings tightened on her back. She tended to completely forget about them, as they were utterly useless underground, especially without feathers. "There are only a hoof-full of such ponies, and all of them are royalty. They have the strengths of all the three tribes." As much as she wanted to talk about the outside world, she didn't want to go into detail about her princesshood and failures. "I, uh... Wanted to ask about those gems the dogs made us sort. Do you know what they were for?"

"Not exactly, but I know they take them to somewhere secret and do something with them. I saw some of them used in lamps instead of torches, some to help carry heavy stuff, things like that. I think the rings like the one you got have gems like those."

Twilight blinked. "I'm sorry? What did you mean by that part about the heavy stuff?"

"They put the gems on the thing and they make the thing lighter. I saw a single dog carry a rock bigger than himself, when those gems were attached. Don't you have that in your world?"

Twilight's mind raced. "Could you describe me those gems?"

"They were small, like the others and glowed in the dark. They had to be fixed to the rock somehow to make it lighter."

"No, not that. Do you know what enchantments did they contain? How much charge they received before being attached? What was the spell used?"

The filly raised an eyebrow. "It's obvious you know more than me, you don't have to rub it in. And no, I don't know anything. It wasn't me who did the spells."

"Then who?" Twilight asked before realizing the filly's hurt feelings. "Sorry, but it might be very important."

"One of Mom's friends. She was taken by the dogs to do the spells and since then I only saw her once, when she told me what she did before going away. I didn't really understand what she was saying, but I remember the basic idea. Why is it so important to you? Did the clawers tell you to do things like that?"

"No, they didn't. It's... It was different. "She should tell her. It wasn't going to change anything. "Before I got here, I came up with an idea to store magic in gems then use those gems to do magic later." It was, of course, much more complicated in reality. "I had similar ideas to what you described. The thing is, nobody else managed to do it but me, and even I wasn't entirely successful. I can't believe these diamond dogs got hold of such advanced magic down here. I know they have spellsheets, but they must be ancient, and my idea is just recent."

"It's not that advanced. I'm sure you have rings like those above."

"We do, but it's not the same idea. What I created was more complex, had more potential. Things like these," she touched the ring on her horn, "can only be used by unicorns. My idea was to enable anyone to use magic, regardless of tribe. To bring the three tribes closer together."

"Oh... I think I get it. I just don't understand why you would help lesser tribes. Aren't unicorns supposed to rule them? Isn't that the norm?"

Twilight gaped at the filly. Was this what her mother had taught her? "No, of course not. It hasn’t been like that for thousands of years. Did your..." She cut off. She had more important things to talk about than the filly's false education. "Never mind." She stood up and put a hoof to the gems in the wall. They were dull, just like how she left them after emptying them last time. "I wanted to help the world, by making magic accessible to anyone with a basic training. The princesses backed me as well, just like my friends. The scholars and other unicorns in Canterlot didn't-"

"Woha! What are those?" Crimson cut her off. Twilight looked at her and saw the filly pointing behind her. Twilight spun, but there was nothing there. "What? What did you see?"

"It's you! The things on your back." She grimaced as she leaned closer. "What the hell are those?"

Twilight froze, realizing what Crimson meant. She squeezed her wings tighter and sat back down. "Oh, did you see those...? I meant to tell about them... Just not so soon." She met the filly's eyes and took a breath. "Those are my wings, or what the dogs left of them."

Crimson looked at the wings then at her horn, then at her wings again. "But... I don't... You have a horn..." Her eyes widened. "You talked about ponies who had both wings and horns. Does that mean..." She raised a hoof, as if wanting to touch her. Twilight shied away by instinct. "You are one of them, aren’t you? You are one of the princesses. But..." She looked over her again, wrinkling her forehead. "Why are you here? I don't understand. If you're so powerful then why didn't you do anything to escape? How did you end up down here in the first place? Why have nobody came to your rescue?"

Twilight knew she should have expected this moment to come, when Crimson would ask her these questions, regardless her intentions. At least she didn't want her to feel bad, so it could have been worse. It was now only a matter of facing the questions she didn't dare to ask herself.

Twilight looked at her plate before her, with the brown thing's remainings still laying there. Her appetite was completely gone. "You're right," she said slowly. "I'm a fellow ruler of Equestria. I should be guarding my ponies with my knowledge and power. Yet I'm rotting in caves, lost from the world, forgotten."

"But why?" Crimson asked. "Did you do something bad?"

The answer was simple, and she knew it since she first woke up half-dead in her cell. Even if the exact details were still unknown to her, she knew why she was exiled from her world. "I did. I tried to kill someone."

"That sounds bad, but you didn't, right? Twilight?"

"Not really, when that someone is the ruler of Equestria."

They fell very silent. Twilight couldn't tear her eyes from her plate, but she wasn't really looking at it. In her mind's eye, for the first time it happened, she saw Celestia looking up at her from the ground, her face distorted by tears and pain. Seeing her mentor like that was devastating, even as a memory, but she also remembered the fury and the bloodthirst inside her. There were more to the story than this that she was, so far, unable to recall.

Only when a hoof touched her face did she notice Crimson sitting close to her, caressing her cheek with a hoof. Twilight leveled her eyes and in the amber light of the candle, she saw her reflection in the filly's eyes. She was crying, but her face was serious, with a faint greenish glow around the edges of her irises. She shut them and threw her forelegs against Crimson and squeezed her nose into the filly's neck. The young pony tensed up, but hesitantly returned the hug.

Twilight didn't know how long she cried in the embrace, but when the filly started moaning in pain she quickly eased her grip on the pony, but didn't let go completely. She didn't want to release the only warm, comforting thing accessible. Crimson sighed audibly as he was finally able to draw a breath. She sounded like she wanted to say something, but thankfully remained silent and started caressing Twilight's mane with a hoof instead.

The purple alicorn finally withdraw, wiping her eyes. She avoided the other's gaze. She remembered what Crimson said about not liking ponies touching her, but she hadn't been able to stop herself.

"Sorry about that..." she muttered and inched back from the filly." I hope I didn't ruin your mane..."

The filly's voice was warm and kind, the usual edge absent. "Don't worry about me. You look like it helped, and that's what counts. Warn me next time, though. I didn't think a single pet on the head would cause such a chain reaction."

Twilight chuckled, feeling as an enormous weight had been lifted from her soul. It was too long without a friend to rely on. "I didn't either, trust me. It's just that it's been a while since I was able to have a friend. I promise I won't do that again. Or at least, not without asking for permission first."

Crimson waved a hoof. "Don't be silly. It wasn't that bad. I wouldn’t object to doing it again soon." Not realizing how awkward the comment made Twilight feel, she sniffed at the brown thing on the plate. "Are you gonna eat that?"

"No, go ahead..."

"Cool. It's the only good part."

Twilight grimaced as she watched Crimson practically inhale the stuff. "Do the clawers have a leader?" She asked after the filly swallowed.

"I think so," Crimson said, wiping her mouth again. "They talk about a special one, who has all the control over the clawers. He must be doing a pretty bad job, though, because they always say bad things about him. Like not giving enough torches, working them too much, not bringing new ponies to do magic, starving the existing ones so they are weak and so on. He's responsible for the food we have to eat, too. I'd say he's a bad leader indeed."

"And they still follow him?"

"He punishes those who don't obey him, somehow. I don't know much about that. They are afraid of him, that's for sure."

The hug made wonders to Twilight's soul and she found herself thinking about this leader objectively, like a mere obstacle to remove. Cold, to use a right word. "Could we get to him? Do something about our situation through him?"

Crimson raised an eyebrow and hesitated a little before answering. "I don't think it'd be that easy. He must be pretty heavily guarded and such. What do you want to do to him, anyway? Ask him to let us leave? I have a feeling that wouldn’t go so well."

"No. It'd be something..." Something what? What was she thinking about? "I don't know... I wanted to say remove him, but that seems too far-fetched."

"Kill him? Not far-fetched at all. A lot of ponies have tried to do that. They were all killed in the end."

"How do you know they were?"

"I..." Crimson trailed off, staring at the ground before Twilight. "I saw them. Dead. Beaten. Burned. Killed by magic, too, not just by claws or knives. The leader must have ponies working for him at his sides to do that."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Twilight didn't dare to voice her idea that there could be ponies working to that leader willingly as well. If this place had dark magic, evil was within the walls as well. "I don't want you to try to follow them. You don't have to be killed too."

Crimson shook her head. "I already thought about it. I think I told you what I found, too. I want to take whatever risks there are in order to see your world with my own eyes. This life here isn't worth it."

"Yes, I remember... I feel the same way myself, but I still can't ask you to risk yourself. Although, if you have made up your mind, I won't turn away your help and I offer mine in return."

Crimson smiled at her. "I appreciate it, but with that on your horn, you're as good as an earth... Er, you can't do much. We'll have to find a way to get that off."

"Good luck with that... I doubt any of them would help me. I remember one time when a dog offered me some of his food during a shift, but other than that, nothing. Oh, and Sturly isn't so bad, either."

Crimson grimaced. "They offered you food? I don't believe it. They're selfish. Sturly is like this just because she eats some of our food before giving it to us. Why do you think she's so fat?"

"I'm sure I remember correctly, but you might be right about Sturly. She does seem to be well off."

The filly snorted. "Don't let them fool you. They'd cut you up and eat you in a heartbeat. They're evil."

Twilight hesitated, but was se really trying to defeat them? "I can't say you're wrong. I heard how they talk about us, ponies. They-"

Crimson held up a hoof and turned her head to her right, angling her ears. Twilight stopped talking and she could hear the steps now too. She looked at the door and started to make a plan how to get Crimson out the cell through the squeaking thing, but the filly was quicker to act. She snatched the candle from its mount and put it on the ground, just before Twilight, then jumped behind her into the shadows.

"Pretend I'm not here. Act sleepy."

Twilight barely hear her whispering from the darkness, which completely enveloped the filly. If Twilight didn't know what to look for, she wouldn't have been able to spot her.

Sturly's steps came closer and Twilight quickly lay on the ground and rested her head on her forelegs stretched out before her. When the steps stopped before her cell she managed to keep her eyes on the flame of the candle and not look up at the diamond dog.

"I heard noises," Sturly said unpassionately. "Why is the candle on the floor?"

"I like it here," Twilight mumbled. "It's so pretty."

"Fine, just don't blow it out." There was a short silence as Sturly reached through the bars and put a bowl of water on the ground. "That's weird," she mumbled as she took an empty plate. Twilight realized there had been two of those. Crimson must have taken the other one with her. "I came to warn you, too. You're getting away from here soon. I filled you up good, now it's time to leave.

"Now?" Twilight said a little stronger than she intended.

"Soon. It's bedtime now. Next time they take you, you aren't coming back here." The dog's eyes glistened in the light as she looked at her. "Except if you drain yourself again."

Twilight managed not to spring onto her hooves. "Thanks for letting me know. I liked it here."

"Don't lie to me, pony. I know you didn't." Sturly slowly walked away without another word. Twilight waited until she was far enough that her steps were inaudible before turning to look behind her. From the darkness two eyes looked back at her, reflecting the candlelight, terrified.

"They're gonna take you too," the filly whispered. "I wanted to be your friend, and they're gonna take you from me."

Twilight lay down facing the filly. "I am your friend, Crimson. I will find a way to get back to you somehow. Even if I have to drain myself again."

She just looked at her, two glimmers of light. "I'm gonna kill them, then go and see your world with you."

"I..." Twilight didn't know what to say to that. "Let's sleep on it. Maybe there's a better solution."

"There isn't. They killed Mom. They killed my friends. They will kill you. I will kill them in turn, one by one. I will blow up this whole place with me in it, if necessary."

The filly's voice was alarmingly soft and emotionless. For the first time since she had jumped her when her candle was blow out, Twilight was afraid of the young pony. No words came to her tongue and they lay there in the darkness together for a long time, before Crimson stood up and left the cell with a quiet goodbye. The latch closed, and there was only silence again.

***

Coal shuddered himself awake and was staring at Silver sitting in front of him before realizing it wasn't a dream anymore. The details were fading quickly, some of it creeping into reality as well. She cleared his eyes and looked around in the cart. The two other passengers were talking privately and didn't notice him looking at them, and Silver was apparently asleep as well. That seemed okay, given that he had been just bucking a storage device to pieces… No, that was in the dream. Why did it seem so real now, that he was awake? He quickly checked his bag the strap of which was tied around his front leg. The necklace and the other stuff was all right. He hesitated, then lightly touched Silver's hind leg with one of his own. The unicorn's eyes opened at once, his face showing nothing before setting into a smile.

"Awake, Coal?"

Coal had to clear his throat before he could talk. "Yes, apparently… I don't even remember falling asleep."

"Do you ever?"

Coal smiled. "I guess not… It's just strange. I wasn't even feeling tired when we sat down."

"It's been a long day for both of us. We'll have to find a place to crash tonight, if we don't want to walk into the town as zombies."

"Crashing sounds good... But will we have time for that?"

"We must. You can't go on forever without sleep, no matter what you want. Were you able to get some rest now?"

Coal nodded. "I guess..." He looked out the window. "Where are we?"

"After Junction... Whatever. Next stop will be Cloud Cover. You slept for quite a while."

Indeed, the sun was much lower that he remembered it being. His body felt sluggish, but his mind turned more easily. "Did anything happen while I slept?"

Silver shrugged. "We saw a few cows, some crops, diamond dogs marching, some big birds, lots of pegasi... You know, what you expect around here." He squinted at Coal from the corner of his eye. The earth pony took some time to process what Silver just said, before grinning hesitantly. "Really? Big birds? How odd..."

The unicorn laughed. "Yeah... Don't worry, they just watched us. I think they didn't want to make me to flex my magic muscles."

"Thank Celestia they didn't. I remember what happened last time."

Silver pointed a hoof at Coal. "We don't talk about that, all right? Especially not where we're going."

Coal smiled. "Where are we going, anyway? I mean, who is your pony you want to see?"

"We worked together back in the day, when the storages were still in business. He pretty much made the thing his, used it for all kinds of personal stuff. He knew what he was doing, but our employers didn't like it one bit. I can't really blame them, though. The whole system was too rigid, not allowing enough space to use the storages to their full potential. Anyway... He was fired after a while, then we sort of lost touch. He went back to Cloudsdale and I remained at my spot, up until the business closed up and we were out of work. Of course, working on such stuff earned you a next job soon and I ended up working for security firms. Years after that I came across his name in a smuggling incident and decided to give him a hoofbump for keeping to his principles, right after warning him of the error of his ways and before buying him a drink at the local pub. We caught up with each other and has been giving a helping hoof to each other since. Right now it's my turn, I guess, but he will help me. Help us."

"Sounds like the guy I don't really want to meet," Coal said cautiously.

Silver waved a hoof. "No, he's cool. Besides, I will do the talking. You can ask him stuff too, but mind what you say. He's not dangerous, per se, but he has his way of dealing with ponies..." He caught himself. "I make him sound like a thug, aren't I? He really isn't bad. He has his principles." Surprise flashed across his face. "You know, I just thought what you can talk to him about. I don't even know why I didn't think of that sooner." He gestured to Coal's bag. "Ask him about the storages. He will be thrilled to have someone talk to about such things. And you'll be surprised too, I think." He grinned. "Aw, yes. I'm looking forward to it."

Coal raised an eyebrow but postponed his answer as he noticed one of the other passengers looking at him weird. The stallion snatched his gaze away when their eyes met, but Coal couldn't shake off the bad feeling. He turned back to Silver, who was looking at the pony from the corner of his eyes as well.

"So," Coal began, having lost the flow of the conversation. "Why are you so... eager for me to meet this guy?"

It took a second for Silver to answer. "You'll see. I refuse to spoil it for you." he looked out the window. "Not long and we're there, I think. You can shut your eyes some more, if you want. I'll tell it when we arrive."

Coal shook his head. The look on the pony's face haunted him. They will have to be much more careful. "No, thanks. I'll wait for a bed with that." He reached into his bag and pulled out a book, a novel this time.

He was nodding again when they arrived at Cloud Cover. The sky just began to turn red on the horizon and pegasi were flying upwards to Cloudsdale, the sunlight casting colorful auras around their feathers. The temperature dropped from the warmness of midday and Silver took on his jacked he had taken off for the ride, but it was still far from chilly. Coal secured his saddlebags around his body and the two of them hopped down from the carriage and walked down the streets.

"Have you taken a look up yet?" Silver asked.

"No. Why?" Coal cranked his neck upwards, and his jaw dropped.

The city of Cloudsdale floated right above them, the massive underside of the cloud assembly slowly swirling under the guiding hooves of pegasi. The afternoon light of the sun broke on the various rainbow-falls that dissipated into the air as they fell towards the earth and cast stunning hues on the white cloud structures that were visible from under. The bottom heaps drew long shadows across the whole city and sometimes the moving shadow of an occasional pegasus ran across the upside-down hills and walleyes. The whole thing was at cloud level, a mind-blowing amount of compressed cloud housing thousands of pegasi, weighing not more than a couple dozen buckets of water at best yet amounting for so much influence in the life of Equestria. Looking up at such marvel made Coal yearn for a pair of wings, just so he could take a look at what the city looked like from the side at least, not to mention above or even inside.

"Now that's a view if I've ever seen one," Silver muttered, his neck cranked up just like Coal's. "Makes you wonder why anyone would leave if they could just stay in a place like that all day."

"It must be quite humid, I guess," Coal said. "With all that water around you..." A few minutes of gazing later he leveled his head and Silver did the same. They made their way across the town which borrowed a lot of the design elements of the one above. The fronts of the houses and shops had swirling engravings and stylized clouds on them, with a few decorative columns as well. Statues of famous pegasi and of course the Wonderbolts were placed at almost every corner, often paired with flags of various brands and clubs Coal didn't recognize. The street themselves were populated mostly by unicorns and earth ponies and rarely pegasi, the latter mostly taking advantage of their wings. Coal had had worries that he and Silver would be sticking out but the town seemed to be populated by non-pegasi for the most part. Not taking the décor and the statues into consideration, this place could have passed as any other one in Canterlot.

"Do you like the place?" Silver asked Coal, clearly noting the earth pony's eyes darting around.

"Yeah, it's nice. Have you been here before?"

"A number of times. Visiting a certain lady."

"Oh?" Coal grinned. "A Mrs. Beam?"

Silver snorted. "Heavens, no. Well, I was thinking like that at that time but in hindsight, it's for the best she moved on." He fell silent and Coal gulped back his questions. They entered a wide street with lights and banners and a considerable amount of ponies sitting in bars and restaurants. As they passed one Silver stopped to point at it. "This is the place where we're gonna stay at night. Has a good bar, too." A smile crept onto his lips. "With something I want to you to taste."

They saw a big gathering in the distance, ponies from all tribes crowded around some sort of podium, with a single pony standing on it and probably giving a speech. They were too far to understand the words but the tone didn't sound like a presenter, more like someone giving orders.

"What do you think that is?" Coal pointed at them.

Silver angled his ears. "I'm not sure. I guess not an election or something like that. I haven’t seen any banners. We can check it out."

They turned towards the crowd and as they neared them, the voice of the presenter became clearer. He was assigning and detailing tasks for groups. Flanking him stood a dozen or so guards and several desks with ponies behind them. A queue of other ponies led down from the podium and into the crowd. After hearing something about unfortunate ponies and teleportation Coal put the pieces together.

"It's a rescue team," he told Silver. "They're here to find the ponies who went missing after the storage overload."

"That makes sense," the unicorn said. "But that happened far away from here. I don't think there could be too many of the poor souls in this area."

"Oh there are," a young filly chimed in, apparently hearing their conversation. "We have a darling of a mare at home who was a victim of that thing. Real shaken, she is. We found her in our garden, hiding under our bushes." She gestured at the crowd. "These ponies all want to help them. Isn't it great? I love this town!"

She hopped closer to the presenter, leaving the two friend behind. Silver furrowed his brows. "I didn't realize it was that bad. That incident scattered innocent folks all around Equestria, and it's me who has to take the blame. We really need to get to Ponyville as fast as possible and get this sorted out."

"There is a good side," Coal said. "At least not every single pony in the country knows your face."

"Yeah, I guess... Let's just keep moving.

Ten minutes or so later they found the place Silver was looking for, a little shop just off the fancy main street. The banner above the door read "Quills and Paintings".

Coal squinted at the letters. "What do those things have in common?"

"Isn't it obvious, Coal? It's marketing. You noticed it, didn't you?"

"I guess..." Coal followed Silver into the building, which was full of what he had expected to see after such banner. There was only one pony in the shop and judging by his lack of reaction when the two stallions entered the place, he was only a customer. Silver went to the empty counter and peered behind it, then shook his head.

"Where is he?" he muttered and turned to a door nearby. "I'm gonna check the back..."

Just before he reached it the door swung open, revealing a pony butt backing out. The rest of the pony came soon after, dragging a big box with his teeth through the door. He didn't seem to notice them.

Silver hesitated for a few second then enveloped the box with his magic. The pony, a pegasus looked up immediately and his eyes stopped on Silver.

"Well, aren't you a surprise, Silver Beam," he said with a toothy grin, though there was a slight hesitation to his voice. "What are you doing here? Came to lend a helping horn?"

Silver released the box and bumped hooves with the pegasus. "Good to see you, too, Adrift. Actually, I was wondering if you could help us with something. This here is Coal Slitter, a friend of mine. Coal, this is Adrift Cumulus."

"Hi there," the pegasus held out a hoof to Coal, who took it somewhat hesitantly. "Are you Silver's new best buddy? My condolences."

Coal glanced at Silver, making the pegasus chuckle. "Don't worry, he's a cool guy. So, Silver, I take it it's not my quills that interest you? If you can wait a little, I'll be with you in a minute."

"No problem."

The pegasus dragged the box to the customer and began pulling out quills of different sizes and color. Coal turned to Silver.

"Is he your old friend who worked on the storages with you?"

"Yes. I hope to get some rings or something for our gems from him."

"Okay, but I thought he'd be... He's not..."

"Not what?" The unicorn looked Adrift over. "Oh, you mean he's not a unicorn. Well," he grinned at the earth pony, "he's not the only one I know who's interested in magic, despite lacking something on their head."

Coal hummed. He never considered the option that the friend might not be like Silver, despite his own interests. He always looked at his case as something unique. "It's rather obvious, now you say it..."

"You were the last one I'd have accused of such sort sight, Mr. Magical Theory."

"Yeah... Anyway, something struck me as odd. Is it a coincidence that all your friends tend to be involved in shady businesses, or is it just me?"

"What are you talking about? So far, you've only met two ponies who I'm acquainted with, both times out of necessity. Two cases might be a coincidence, but three is what makes a pattern. If the next pony we turn to is also like this, you can call me out on it. Until then, don't judge me." He poked the earth pony in the side to take the edge off his words. "But good observation, though."

They waited as Adrift Cumulus made the deal with the pony, then turned the door sign to "Closed" as soon as the customer left the shop.

"All right," he said, closing the box. "Silver if you'd be so kind and levitate this behind the counter for now... Thanks. Could you follow me to the back room for our chat?"

"If you insist," Silver said.

The back room turned out to be a private library, with shelves packed to the edge with as many books fit on them. The only furniture was a big, soft chair with table next to it. It the room had any windows they were covered by shelves, and the room was illuminated by a glowing light source fixed to the ceiling, giving out a warm and even light. There was another door at the far side of the room between two shelves, closed. The things Silber had said about the pegasus didn't exactly suggested such a cozy place and polite manners.

"Let me get you something to sit on, gentlecolts." He pulled out two wooden folding chairs from between two shelves and took the squishy one. "So, what brings you two here?"

Silver cleared his throat. "I'll cut to the chase, if you don't mind. We want personal protection against magical radiation. Rings, spells, wards, jewels, whatever is the best."

Adrift nodded. "It's business, then. How close do you want to go to the source?"

Silver looked at Coal, who shrugged. "Not very close," the earth pony said. "I don't have the map anymore, but we're going to stay clear from the source."

"That's very vague, mind you. The prizes climb fast with strength. Will it be for the two of you?"

"Yes," Silver said. "Let's stay on middle grounds with the prices. What are your offers?"

"For you," Adrift pointed at the unicorn, "a canceling ring should be fine. For your friend, a similar necklace will do. I can also recommend ridding you from your magic with a spell. It's cheap, effective, but not as versatile."

Coal shuddered at the proposition, but it also reminded him that they didn't have the money for pricey options unless they could sell the stolen gems.

"What if we buy two necklaces?" Silver asked.

"Well, they're cheaper and work well for non-unicorns, but for you, a ring would be more effective. Since we've known each other for some time, I'll spare you the bullshit. With a necklace, you won't be able to go as deep as with a ring, due to your physiology. I'd go with the more expensive option, supposing you don't want the spell cast on you."

"I don't if I can help it. How much for a ring and a necklace, then?"

"One-sixty and one-ten, respectively."

Coal's eyes bulged at the prices. That was more than they had left.

Silver looked surprised as well. "That's steeper than I expected, to be honest."

Adrift shrugged. "Do you know how hard these things are to come by? You can't advertise them without someone blaming you of supporting the pillage of restricted areas and whatnot, and not many unicorns are willing to craft them, since the magic is often backtraceable to them. Also, the gemstones are have to be capable of holding the spell and not breaking under pressure. The same goes to necklaces, though they aren't that specific in terms of usability. A low quality enchantment can be very dangerous. Another way to obtain them is from the police, but I think I don't have to go into detail about that for you."

Silver ignored the remark. "How about ones with lower prices?"

The two ponies continued discussing prices and values and Coal found himself losing the trail of the conversation as they went into more and more detail. His eyes wandered around the room, finding little things of interest. The warm, even light painted the neat rows of books in a pleasant orange hue, which Coal found very calming. Whether it was a conscious choice on the shopkeeper's side or merely a personal preference of his, Coal wished he could stay for a while and read something, just to unwind a bit.

He also needed to think of ways to get back to Starry, especially after receiving such a positive attitude from her. She sure knew a lot about the necklaces. She had referred to them sort of as personal belongings, that had been taken from her and if Coal was not mistaken, she used the word "we" instead of "me" when referring to the elements. Plus she was cute. Coal had seen someone flying with her back in the station, even if for a moment. There must be ponies in the world that remembered the elements apart from merchants and bookworms. Not to mention the visions he had seen when he put on the necklace by instinct when fighting Sheltar. Those weren't from his own imagination, that was for sure.

From the corner of his eye he saw his saddlebags open and a pile of jewels flew over to Silver. He refocused his attention on the deal.

"This is the stuff," Silver said, showing Adrift the stolen goods.

The pegasus picked them up to inspect them, one by one, his face changing from amused to angry and finally to questioning.

"Where have you gotten these, Silver?" His tone was tenser than before and carried caution.

"From a source I don't think I have to elaborate to you, Adrift." Silver was similarly tense. "What can you tell me?"

"I suppose you didn't get these from a trusted source, have you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Adrift Cumulus held up one of the gemstones with his wingtip. The jewel broke up the light from above, casting different hues of red on the table. "How much trouble did you have to go through to get these?"

There was something in his voice that was making Coal nervous. He and Silver leaned forward to look at the gem. It was perfectly cut, shiny and clear, like any other. "What are you getting at, Adrift?" Silver asked. "Is there something wrong with this?"

The pegasus eyed him. "You don't have any idea, do you?"

"Will you spit it out? Are you gonna accept it or not?"

"No, I'm not. I don't accept gems stolen from a carriage puller from Canterlot's ghetto. Although, I do have to give some credit to the guy who crafted this. This is a really fine work."

Silver drew in a sharp breath and snatched the gem with his hooves from Adrift's hold and held it against the light. Coal watched the unicorn's face turn to terrified.

"You can tell that we stole this?" Coal asked the pegasus. "That's why you won't accept it?"

The pegasus shook his head. "Your friend already knows the reason for that, I suppose."

"It's fake," Silver whispered, making Coal's blood freeze. He looked at the pegasus then Silver, who was staring at the stone that was only glass.

"From the reaction of you two I suppose you didn't know and didn't want to pay me with worthless junk. If you don't have the necessary sum, we can work out alternate routes. Maybe you can do some work for me or something."

Coal watched Silver mouthing silent words to the gem. He held up the other stolen items and levitated them in front to the pegasus, ignoring his words. "Neither of these is legit? Are you sure?"

Adrift studied each of them then shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I have to be able to tell real value from fakes. It's part of my profession. I'm actually surprised you didn't even consider the possibility. At least I don't think you did, judging by how big this revelation was to you. Both of you." He looked at Coal. "Although you don't seem as upset as my old friend."

Silver whipped his head around to look at Coal sharply, making the earth pony push himself into his chair. "I didn't know it either. I just hadn't been able to accept that stealing would resolve anything, so I didn't really take the gems into consideration as valuables."

Silver held his gaze for a second then lowered it. "I know, Coal. I'm just disappointed I didn't consider this might happen. I was so sure I was right. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Coal said quickly. "It didn't occur to me either. That puller pony was so protective about these, it just made sense to use real gemstones as good luck charms. We'll figure out an alternative."

Silver nodded and floated the fake valuables back into Coal's bag. Adrift followed them with his eyes. "Are you gonna keep them?"

"We might as well," Silver said flatly. "If they fooled us, they might fool somebody else."

"Be careful with that. If I hadn't known you for so long, I'd have thrown you out for trying to screw me over. Others won't be so patient. Pegasus blood is quick to boil."

"Thanks, Adrift. I'll keep that in mind." Silver sighed. "We don't have enough money to pay for any of your offers, except the spell, which I'd rather steer clear. Can you offer us anything else?"

"I can give you work," the pegasus said. "You can do stuff for me and I'll value that in the price. For the two pieces, you two would need to work for... Approximately a week or so. I could use some help around here."

Coal already had the answer and when Silver seemingly considered his, he opened his mouth. "Sorry, we don't have the time. We have to get to places as soon as we can."

"And find another way to get into a radiation zone?" Adrift asked skeptically. "Your heads are gonna explode."

"Coal is right," Silver said. "We need something that won't keep us here."

"You could buy only one. That way at least one of you will be able to go in."

Coal and Silver exchanged a look. Coal had a suspicion that it would be him who would be better off without protection, but he didn't want to relieve the experience again. Silver was probably thinking the same, judging from his hesitation to agree.

"If nothing else works, we'll go that route. Until then, I will see what we can do with these gems."

"Well, good luck, then." Adrift stood. "My offer will stands, if you change your minds later." He placed a hoof on Silver's shoulder. "You do understand that I can't just give the rings to you, right? If they'd be cheaper, I would, but I can't spare that amount of money." He moved towards the door. "Is there anything I can help you with? Shelter, perhaps?"

Coal and Silver stood up as well. "No," the unicorn said. "Nothing. Thanks."

"Are you sure?"

Silver furrowed his brow as he looked at the pegasus. "Why?"

"Diamond dogs. I take it you don't have a place to stay and want to continue on walking or something, right? Then I have to warn you about the incidents that occurred in the near past when ponies walking home at night were attacked and almost killed by diamond dogs. You can stay with me for the night, free of charge."

"Thanks, but we already have rooms in a hotel," Silver said. "We've heard about diamond dogs raiding the area, but I didn't think they'd go into a town like this. Is it really that bad?"

Adrift shrugged and placed a hoof on the doorknob. "That's what I heard. If you already have a room, though, you should go there quick. It's probably dark out already and the streets aren't lit around here."

"All right. Thanks again." Silver exited the room when Adrift opened the door, leaving Coal with the pegasus, who held out his hoof before Coal. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Silver looked back. "It's fine," Coal said to the unicorn with a nod. Silver nodded back and Adrift lead Coal back into the room. They remained standing.

"How long have you been travelling with him?" The pegasus asked quietly, leaning closer to Coal.

"A few day in total. Not much. Why?"

"I have to warn you. Silver's... a little hot-headed."

"I noticed."

"Did you?" Adrift raised an eyebrow. "He's impulsive. He makes his choices so he can be on the top in the end, and he's not afraid of gambling."

"I'm not really surprised to hear that either, to be honest."

"Then it won't be a surprise when he betrays you when he sees it fit. Don't say he won't. You must have seen how he acts when confronted. I worked with him for two years, and he always made sure he gets the final word. He has the will and the ability to make a most out of an opportunity." He pointed a hoof at Coal. "He will help you so he can achieve his own goals, then stab you in the back when you stand in his way. I know you plan to enter a restricted and dangerous area. I just want you to be very careful. Make a plan B for yourself to get out in one piece. Especially if you're going in without an inhibitor."

Coal hesitated on what to say to such claims. "I don't see it as... That bad. I noticed he sets his own rules, but he worked in security in the chariot station I met him, and he went out of his way to help me today." He didn't want to admit he has already been to the radiation zone with no protection.

Adrift held up a hoof. "Don't get me wrong here, he is a good guy and a good friend, but I still feel the need to warn you not to put too much trust in him. You don't strike me like you share his personality, that's the reason I wanted to tell you this. Please, don't let this stand between you two. I don't want to break your friendship apart with paranoia. Just be careful. You seem like a good guy. Don't take everything he says as hard truth. And please, don't tell him I told you these. Tell him it was a private conversation, like I made a move at you or something." A smile formed on his lips. "I can pretend I wanted to kiss you, I you want."

"Oh, thanks, but that won't be necessary," Coal said, taking a step back by instinct. He got a hold of himself. "Thank you for telling me all this. I'll keep it in mind. Also..." he looked at the chairs they'd sat in. "Are the gems really fake?"

"Of course. Otherwise I would have tried to get them off of your hooves with some trick." The pegasus grinned. "So, you're learning, huh? Not trusting everyone?"

Coal shrugged but couldn't suppress a smile of his own. "I guess..."

Adrift pointed at the door. "I won't hold you back any longer. I'll see you two out."

Coal and Silver said goodbye to Adrift and stepped into the young and chilly night. The streets were far from empty, but there were noticeably less ponies around when in broad daylight. There were also no lamps, just like Adrift had said, though it wasn't too dark yet.

Silver was quick to ask the reason Adrift wanted to talk with Coal.

"I don't think I should tell it..." The earth pony said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I can keep a secret," the unicorn assured him.

"Well, if you insist..." Coal made a show of avoiding eye contact with Silver. "He asked if I was doing anything tonight." He shot a glance at the other to see his reaction and couldn't help but grin at the unicorn's expression.

"That son of a bitch." Silver said darkly, though his tone was obviously exaggerated. "First my lover, now you? Has he no shame?"

"Your lover?"

"It's a long story. Are you familiar with the proverb about closeness, friends and enemies?"

"Yes?"

"It also applies to friends and marefriends, as it turns out."

"Oh. Did he...?"

Silver sighed. "He did, though it was partly my fault. Never mind."

"But he seemed so polite."

"Oh, yeah. That doesn't mean he can't be ruthless." He sunk into silence and Coal wasn't one to disturb it.

They neared the hotel Silver had shown Coal when they arrived. The bar at the first floor was fairly busy, though there were a lot of empty tables. Silver aimed at the counter for the hotel and booked a room for a reasonable price. Coal could tell he was still shaken by the fakeness of the gems by the way he pulled the money pouch out. He really didn't think he could be wrong about the gems.

"That went terribly," Silver said as the two of them went upstairs to see their room. Silver jingled with the key in the air as they walked. "We will have time to get something to eat and drink while we're here. It's not like we're going anywhere soon."

"I'm sure we will find a way," Coal assured him and in part, himself.

"Let's hope you're right." He opened the right door and sniffed in the room. "Not so bad, I'd say."

The room consisted of one bedroom with one double-bed and one bathroom. Coal frowned at the worn mattress with the sheets folded on the end. "Only one bed?"

"What did you expect? Are you afraid of a little snuggle?" Silver chuckled. "All right, no more gay jokes. One night is no big deal, even if you aren't used to share a bed. Just don't steal my cover at night."

"Uh... Fine." Coal looked around for a lockable drawer for his bags and found one by the bed. While Silver visited the bathroom he use the time to look over the contents before putting it away. The necklace and his findings were safe and intact, and he realized maybe he should have left the heavy book at home. Carrying it was a pain in the back. He smiled at his own, admittedly bad pun and opened the booklet with his notes at a random page. It was the drawing he had done about the Elements of Harmony a while back. His notes on the side of the paper were random facts and speculations, made in a blur of mind. Reading the lines he didn't even remember writing was weird. They were about their roles in the system that created the force that was used as a weapon against foes of Equestria. The butterfly necklace had 'Kindness' written under it. He never realized that. An arrow lead to outside of the page and continues on the next one behind it, with a lists of names associated with the whole thing. A bunch of unfamiliar ponies, probably dead by now, except the Princesses. The arrow lead to Fluttershy's name with a letter 'F' after it. His eyes found two more names that stood out, one had an arrow leading from the lighting emblem and the other from the center piece, the star. Both name had 'F's after them. What did that mean? Female?

He looked at the necklace sitting on its towel. The memories he saw, were they from this Fluttershy? Could she be still alive? The form of the elements was supposed to be the pony's cutie mark, but they weren't always associated with the six heroes. Before them, the elements looked different. If this one still had the cutie mark of its former bearer she could be still alive, otherwise it would take on its default form, whatever that might be. Not to mention Coal's talent whispered him every time he looked at the necklace. It wasn't a coincidence. He will have to find the Bearer of Kindness and... And ask her what happened, maybe. It was unlikely to be that simple.

"What's that?" Coal jumped as he realized Silver was looking at the paper behind his back as he sat facing the wall. He didn't even notice the unicorn exiting the bathroom. "Is that your research?"

"Yes. It's what I was able to find in Canterlot."

"Hm..." Silver levitated the paper with the drawing of the elements closer to his eyes. "What's this?"

"The Elements of Harmony. A stylistic depiction used to illustrate their interconnection. It's pretty rare to see it like this, though. I only found a hoof-full of sources about it."

"Interesting. I have a feeling I've seen it before."

Coal's ears perked up. "Really? Where?"

Silver shook his head. "I can't tell. Not long ago, but I can't recall exactly when. Maybe it was far away from me or I was distracted." Seeing the earth pony's excitement, he cracked a smile. "When it comes to me, I'll let you know."

"Thanks. It can be very important." He looked at the drawing one last time before putting everything away. "Now let's go spend some of our little money on some good food. I'm starving."

***

"All right," Silver said, leaning back in his chair. "I missed this."

"I agree," Coal stifled a yawn. "That burger didn't last long."

"Yeah. I forgot you've already eaten today, while I was busy arranging our route." He picked up the menu and opened it at the end. "I haven't eaten all day. Now let's see..."

Coal opened the menu at the drinks as well. Almost none of the names meant anything to him, but he could see the restaurant at the first floor of their hotel had a wide variety of ciders, including flavors he didn't even think were possible.

Silver pushed Coal's menu down with his magic. "No, no, let me have this pick. There's something I want you to taste." He looked around for a waiter and one appeared. "Two of the number fifteen, please."

The waiter nodded, stacked the empty plates and carried them away on his wings.

Coal closed his menu. "What are you gonna poison me with?"

"You'll see. I've already asked if you liked it, but I never got my answer. This time, you're not gonna get away that easily." Silver grinned. "We're gonna have a night out, you and me."

"A night out? You mean drinking and stalking single fillies from the corner?"

"Is that what you do on a night out? No, Coal, we're gonna have a conversation."

"Should I be afraid?"

"Very. No secrets of yours will remain hidden. I will now you better than yourself."

"That doesn't sound so bad. You'll explain everything about me to me, then, because there are thing even I don't get."

"I knew you'd be game." Silver levitated the two glasses of foaming yellow drinks from the waiter's plate. "Thanks." He floated one to Coal. "To your overwhelming complexity."

Coal sniffed at the smell of the liquid. It smelled familiar. "To your awful jokes."

The drink was cold and bitter and left a bad aftertaste, but as soon as he lowered the glass he wanted to drink more. So he did, grimacing all the way. "Hot damn," he muttered as he put the glass on the table. "What is this?

Silver was still drinking, but also kept an eye on Coal. He lowered his glass too. "So, are you liking it?"

"It's weird, but I guess so." He gulped down some more. The stuff filled him up quickly. "Why didn't I knew about it before?"

"I probably know the answer to that. By the way, it's called beer."

Coal stared at the yellow drink. "This is beer? But I've drunk beer before and it was awful."

"Let me guess. A fancy, overpriced Canterlot restaurant?"

"No... Well, kind of. Fancy indeed, but not terribly expensive. They had beer as a special offer and I got curious, but it was just awful. Like they put too much sugar in it to mask the bitterness."

Silver gagged. "Sugar? Were they mad? No wonder you didn't like it. They were morons. But this is way better, isn't it?"

"Oh, definitely. Quite different after drinking only cider, but good nevertheless." Coal drank more and put the half-empty glass back down.

"I've heard Canterlot prefers sweet cider," Silver said. "Beer is considered more masculine. That explains why you didn’t recognize it."

They sat in silence for a minute. The beer derailed his thoughts a bit but relaxed him at same time as well. Coal leaned back in his chair and studied the unicorn sitting across the table. A genuine conversation would be nice indeed.

"So," Silver broke the silence. "Let me ask you a question. Why a lonely bookworm is suddenly so interested in an old mystery that he'd threw his own life upside down, just to satisfy his curiosity? What's behind the innocence and naivety you display? Why are you still bearing my presence, despite the numerous dangers I'm putting you it? Why are your concerns and suspicions not stopping you? What's driving you?"

Coal contemplated the questions. Indeed, what was driving him? "I don't have a perfectly thought-out answer to those, but let me start at the beginning." He took a sip, enjoying the taste. It grew on him quickly. "I guess I've always wanted to take part in an adventure of some sort. As a kid, I was kept safe at home, under my mother's wings. Figuratively, of course. My dad worked in a mine, hence the names Coal and Slitter. I buried myself in stories, novels, documentaries, history books, the like. When I was old enough I moved from Manehattan where we lived to Canterlot to study and to work. I went through the school I wanted and ended up in a small shop, where old ponies came to buy ancient and rare books. I liked it quite a bit, but then I got an opportunity at the Canterlot Library and went there instead. Soon after I had to leave and went to work for individuals, discovering family tress and such. I also took on a few magic courses but never finished them for obvious reasons. I found myself drooling over the past, and I was kinda stuck in it for some time. Then I stumbled upon a story mentioning the storages I knew about already, but in a different light than I've seen before. The description, written in first person like a journal entry, spoke of them like the writer's own idea. He described them in detail I couldn't follow, despite the magic courses. He also pulled parallels with an unnamed princess, but based on the text, it wasn't any of the three that we know today. Later, after finding that journal thing, I found another similarly written, but about something called the Elements of Harmony, six ponies, who wielded magical power. Their leader was also an alicorn and also not the ones we know. Her name was Twilight Sparkle and she was one of the most powerful unicorns of her time. She was also supposed to live in Ponyville, a village that was destroyed by one of the storages. I noted that she was described as a unicorn, not an alicorn, and I looked up stories of a regular unicorn turned into an alicorn. I'm sure you've heard of that happening, too. So, as it turned out there were a lot of things that were common about these stories. With the help of my talent I pieced together something that you saw a piece of just now, up in our room. I know the storages and the Elements are connected through that fourth alicorn. So far, it was good and well, but there was another thing that made me wonder." He drunk some more. Silver watched him intently, without a word. "The thing that was weird and led me to this path was the fact that none of the sources were older than a few decades. I knew the storages were quite recent but nobody I've asked heard about the Elements or a fourth alicorn or if they did, they didn't want to talk about it in public. I was ready to put the subject under the rug but then I was contacted by a wealthy unicorn, who wanted to know about his family tree. When the lead led me into Ponyville I asked if I could go there and see for myself, I was provided a pass and money to do so. That was when we met. When I arrived back I was greeted by a letter telling me to pull the plug on the whole thing. I got my money, despite my unfinished task and was told to remain silent about it. Then that same pony told me to meet in public. He asked me about the radiation in Ponyville but refused to tell why. Soon after that you came along and told me I was in danger and needed to flee. You know the rest." He took another sip. "I told you why I was suspicious about you, when you told me about a conspiracy. You see, I have been doing this for years now, and I have never seen signs of me being watched or told not to do it, except for the very last month. Since then my mind have changed, though I still have difficulty to accept the situation as you describe it, because I still didn't see the guard or anyone else going after me specifically. You might be right, of course, but it's still not easy to believe."

Silver, seeing Coal was finished, nodded slowly. "Quite an insight, you gave me. Explains some things, but also states questions. Would you mind if I asked you some of them?"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you leave your home? Wasn't Manehattan good enough for your dreams? Why move halfway across the country?"

Coal emptied his glass and use the time to word his thoughts. "I took an opportunity to move and then I never really saw a reason to go back. I applied to a Canterlot school to study history and when that ended I took up magic which was then cut in half, but by that time I had a job and an apartment in a good place, near the library and the school. I had my own life going. I could do whatever I wanted. Going home would have meant leaving all that behind, and I didn't want it. I enjoyed living on my own too much."

"What do you expect to find?"

The earth pony turned the question over in his mind. "I'm not sure. Something to change, maybe. To make a contribution to the world. Does that make sense?"

Silver shrugged. "Depends what you mean by it. Do you want fame?"

"Oh, no. Just the thought that I did something important."

"Then it's the adventure itself, I presume."

"Well... I guess so, yes. It's kinda exciting. Not your average day in the office."

"Do you have any siblings?" Silver asked after a sip.

Coal hesitated a bit at the change of topic. "No, my parents never wanted more than one foal. Do you?"

"I have a young sister." Silver finished his beer too and waved the waiter to their table.

"Can I bring another?" The pegasus asked. Silver looked at Coal, who nodded.

"Coming right up."

Silver leaned forward. "So, adventure. That's why you were so easy to bring along?"

Coal started. "What?"

"When I first saw you, awkward and inexperienced, I could have sworn you were just another city folk dropped out of his nest. Then you waved a permission to go into a restricted area, kept a cool head when chased by that timberwolf, almost killed it if it wasn't for your leg... What else...? Oh, you also helped me blackmail that shopkeeper, saw the zoo's accident and didn't run away, took my advice to go back to Canterlot when the ground was becoming hot... Should I go on? It's clear you want stuff to happen to you. Yes, you had your doubts, but you still committed yourself to follow me. By the way, I meant every word I said back then. I do think we're on the right path here." He took the glasses from the waiter. "You also study magic. How many earth ponies do you know who do that? Don't you think that means something?"

Coal enjoyed the fresh draft and Silver's words for a minute. Hearing them did put everything in kind of a new perspective. "Thanks for telling me this." He smiled at the unicorn. "It does makes sense. But..." the glass wobbled a bit when he put it down. "I want to hear about Silver Beam a little. We always talk about me."

Silver grinned. "I see you're enjoying the stuff." He drank slowly, then lowered the glass with a contemplative expression. "So, what about me? What do you want to know?"

"Why are you helping me? What do you have to gain by it?"

"I believe I already told you that, but here we go. For the most part, I enjoy solving mysteries and yours is a pretty good one, even though I don't believe in it as much as you do. Besides that, I had enough of sitting around and doing mundane stuff. I needed to go out and do exciting things, travel, fight, make friends, get revenge, you know... I never liked sitting on my ass for years on."

"Wait. Get revenge?"

Silver hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, revenge. I was betrayed in the station, just after the incident. The set me up to make it seem I was responsible for it."

"Why? What was wrong with you? I mean, why did they do that?"

"I don't know, to be honest. I have my suspicions, but I can't come up with a proper motive. There is always something contradicting my theory."

"So, you're like a criminal now? Do you have to clear your name?"

"In a sense, yes. Some people do think I'm a criminal but there are ones who know better. The problem is, the ones who think so are the powerful ones."

"So that's why the guards are after you."

"Yes, I believe so. I can't risk getting captured and pursue the case legally, because the ones who set me up would destroy me. That's why I want to go to the station so badly, so I can expose them."

"How are you gonna do that? Do you have someone inside who can give you information?"

"Sadly..." Silver trailed off, as if something just occurred to him. "Actually, there might be. Do you remember that orange unicorn who asked me to leave you to do something?"

"Uhm, I guess... Wasn't he part of the plot?"

"He was, but I don't think he was convinced about the whole thing. In fact, he was the last person I'd have thought to be a part of it."

"That's good, right? As soon as we arrive, we can get a view of what's going on there, then make plan accordingly. Maybe there's a way we can combine your goal with mine? You know, getting into the ruins, looking for anything relevant..." Coal hesitated. "Right. We first need to obtain a ring or something, right?"

Silver nodded. "Yeah. Going in without them would be painful." He looked Coal in the eye and smiled. "That's not a bad thought, Coal! We can use a ring to capture that unicorn and get him to talk."

"I don't know, capturing and such seems violent. I'm sure we can work out something less harsh."

"What they did was pretty harsh already," Silver said. "I don't have a problem with applying the same treatment to them in turn."

"I..." Did Coal even have the right to object? It was Silver's matter. "All right. We'll see what our options are when we get there."

"Glad you agree."

"So, that was one question. I still don't understand why are you so at home with shady figures. Where there that many in the station?"

"Shady figures? They're normal ponies, just like you and me, only with slightly different rules. Once you crack what drives them, you can play them like an instrument."

Coal grimaced and took a sip. "I could have sworn you had a soul."

Silver chuckled. "And I could have sworn you'd spit the beer out at the first taste. But you're finishing your second, and I'm still not a changeling. But, to answer your question, I met a lot of those kind of ponies in my years. Before the station, I worked for a shipping company, where I encountered quite a few merchants and money-centered ponies. It was never really difficult to befriend them or make them trust me. I guess it's a talent of mine."

Coal raised his glass and found it empty. He contemplated ordering a new one, but his head was already lighter than normal. He momentarily forgot what Silver just said and had to concentrate to remember. "So... You don't actually like them? You just act like you do?"

"For the most part, no. I genuinely like them. They are usually more honest than more refined ponies I've met. Even you seemed like a typical dishonest, if naïve earth pony from the big city, and now look at you. Drunk and awesome."

Coal grinned. "Hey, stop making me blush. Flattery is a soft spot of mine."

"Is that so? Does complimenting your cuddly-fluffy chest and beautiful mane makes you uncomfortable?"

Coal sunk into his chair, grinning his face off. Even he was shocked by the effect of alcohol on him, though this was not his first time. "I'm gonna slap you while you sleep if you don't stop."

Silver laughed and held a hoof to his mouth. "A little quieter, Coal. And don't try to hit me. I'm faster than a passenger getting off from a train without toilets." He grimaced. "And now we're going into bad poop-joke territory. I guess it's time we hit the hay, don't you think?"

Coal nodded, feeling tired all of a sudden. "Agreed. You have the pouch, right?"

They paid and went upstairs in a not-so-straight line, at least Coal felt like so. He plummeted straight into the bed and buried his head in the pillow to slow down the spinning of the world. The beer went into his head nothing like any alcoholic cider he'd tried so far. It was strange and tiring. And it was awesome.

***

The order she was given was to alert them as she found any big chunks of gems or crystals, preferably one the size of a statue. They also warned her about water in ponds again, and they didn't provide any additional details this time either. She let the spell run which was fairly easy as of late and concentrated on not tripping over in the rocks and pieces of shattered wood the ground was littered with. The dogs carried only one lit torch instead of the usual three and the lack of illumination was noticeable. The dogs apparently had better sight, because they didn't trip at all as they followed her.

She could hear them whispering occasionally, but no matter how she strained her ears she couldn't catch the words. She had seen their wary expressions when the turned the corner and saw this old, unlit tunnel, leading down at a slight angle. Her own stomach felt cold when they entered, but she had her horn with no ring on it and that gave her some courage. With her being reasonably strong, she could handle herself. Probably. What was down there that could mean danger to her? The dogs probably weren't gonna hurt her, if she remained in order. They needed her too much.

After lighting the last torch they carried, the leader dog ordered the group to stop and tried to light the dead torch again, with no success. He threw the useless stick to the ground and snarled at the smaller dog standing next to him, making him flinch back.

"Why couldn't you get more of these things? Can you see in the dark? How are we supposed to finish like this?"

"I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault. Shutt said he's gonna bring some over-"

"I don't care who you spoke to. It was your responsibility. Get these to work or find some other way so we can see. I don't want to report back with nothing."

"Can't we use the pony? I mean, she can do-"

"Relying on the prisoners in any way is too dangerous. Our leader strictly forbids it, and for good reason. Would you put your life in that?" He pointed at her. She was lying on her side with her eyes almost completely closed and her legs stretched out. She hoped her ears wouldn't alarm them, as they were wide open to catch every word.

The smaller one shook his head. "Not my life, but maybe she can restore the dead torches. Does that count?"

The leader contemplated it. Twilight closed her eyes, willing him not to agree. She knew she couldn't just create torches out of nothing.

"Maybe, as a last resort," the leader said eventually. "For now, let's get going. When this torch starts to go out, we head back as fast as we can. Or..." There was a sound of metal sliding against something and her eyes snapped open instinctively. The leader was holding a dagger in his paw, a long, broad and probably sharp weapon, something she had never seen with the dogs. He sliced at some fabric that one of the others carried and wrapped it around the edges of a used torch. He held it to a live one and the fabric slowly caught fire.

"This isn't gonna last long," he said, putting the knife in a hidden holster under his west, "but maybe enough to find something. Hey, pony!" He stepped over her, making her pull herself closer. "Stretch that magic of yours and find us a statue pronto. Just like last time. Do you remember? No matter. Just do as I say. Now get up."

He turned away and she got to her hooves and resumed her spell.

The next hour or so went without success, and the leader was getting frustrated. He didn't speak to her, but she could see his temper on his face. She had a feeling this particular dog was the one that ordered her to learn the gem-sorting spell, causing her to drain herself. He saw his eyes wandering on her body again, making her shudder.

Despite their fast pace she still had mental capacity to observe the tunnel. The ground was even, coated in fine dust. Near a caved-in entrance she saw two parallel pieces of rusted metal on the ground, like rails for a minecart. She had seen rails down here before, near where the raw gemstones were piled up. They had pony-sized saddles mounted to them, which wasn't exactly surprising. Those rails weren't so badly corroded, though. It occurred her that the very bottom of the bars closing her cell had rust on them too, and the fine dust was also familiar. Was this tunnel flooded in the past? There was water in the ponds, but that surely couldn't have been enough.

She sensed a cave next to them and a quick spell reassured her it her feelings. It had water in it, but no statues. Just small gems on the pond's bottom, but she wasn't eager to tell them that. The tunnel had no visible entrance to the cave, even though it run just by it. She made a mental note to ask Crimson if she knew anything about those ponds. There were so many identical ones. What purpose could the serve?

The thought of Crimson squeezed her throat. She knew after this trip, she would be taken elsewhere, where the filly wouldn't be able to track her down. She ran off so quickly last time, Twilight didn't have time for a proper goodbye. She herself couldn't do much without the dogs taking note of it and she didn't dare to anger them, afraid of the inevitable punishment that'd follow. She still felt some of the deeper scars. She will have to keep her eyes open and trust Crimson. She was able to get Twilight's cell door open, after all. She was crafty.

The last torch was running out and no matter how she strained herself, she hasn't seen any statues or anything bigger than a gem. She glanced at the leader with fearful eyes and he looked back at her, making her snatch her gaze away.

"You, pony," he said, walking closer to her. "Can you make the torches work again?"

She looked at the ground and shook her head. The dog huffed. "Can you make some light, then?"

"Uhm... Yes." She made sure her voice appeared weak, which wasn't very hard.

"All right. You're gonna light the way after this one dies."

"Okay."

"If you mention it to anyone, you're dead. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Good. That means we can stay longer." He turned away and when she cleared her throat he looked back. "What?"

"If I have to illuminate the tunnels, I won't have enough strength to cast my spell to find that statue you want."

He pressed his lips into thin lines and he regarded her with black eyes. "Then we have to move fast." He studied the torch. "Not much time. If we don't find anything, I'm gonna make you responsible." She shivered under his gaze and lit her horn.

The torch only needed ten minutes at best before it spit out a last flame before winking out completely, leaving them in the faint glow of her magic. She froze mid-step and looked back at the dogs behind her, but her eyes hadn't got used to the dark yet.

"Great. Now we depend on the pony."

"Forget the pony. We're supposed to go back with a trail to a statue, and there isn't any."

"What if she lied to us? Saw one but didn't say anything?"

They went silent and she let her magic implode, leaving no source of light at all.

"Unlikely," the leader said reluctantly. "As much as I want to blame her, she has no reason not to cooperate. She knows what happens when she does." She heard him stepping closer and took a step back. "Now, make some light, pony. We're going back."

Purple glow revealed the three dogs standing before her, all looking at her. Her wings twitched as she thought about running away and leaving them to themselves, alone in the dark. Instead, she turned around and walked past them, towards the way they came. They fell silently into line behind her.

As soon as they saw a light of a wall-mounted torch's light coming from the main tunnel one of them ran ahead and returned with a lit one in his paws. The leader turned to her. "You can stop the light now. If you mention that this happened to anyone, you're gonna regret it. Got it?"

She nodded, this time not having to fake fear and exhaustion.

"Besides," he went on, as if talking to himself, "there won't be anyone to talk to anymore."

She looked at him but the leader took the torch and went ahead of the group. She followed him, turning his word over in her mind.

When they went straight past the turn they were supposed to make she hesitated to continue and the dog behind her pushed her to move on. She found her footing again and followed them with growing anxiety. She tried to memorize the turns they were taking but quickly lost track. The dogs stopped before a cellar entrance and pushed her in. She looked around in the cell, finding it slightly bigger than her previous one. The dogs, with the exception of the leader all left.

"There is only one thing left to do," he said, pulling a ring from his pocket and stepping closer to the still open door. Her ears perked up. Finally, she was going to see their applying method? He looked excited, but that could be just her own curiosity.

"Come here, beautiful."

She grimaced but stepped closer.

"Close your eyes."

She obeyed, her muscles tense, waiting for her magic to be cut out. She felt claws caress her hindquarters and with a surge of anger and fear, he flared up her horn with a cry of fear. The blast sent the dog flying backwards into the opposing wall where he tumbled to the ground. She wheezed, her horn flaming and swirling with magic, her wings spread wide.

"Holy crap," the dog muttered as he got himself together. He winced as he straightened his back. There wasn't enough light for her to see his exact expression, but the way he growled told her enough. She closed her wings and shied away from the bars as the dog walked closer with the ring still in his claws. Before he reached her the rest of the group came running from the left.

"What was that? We heard a rumble. Did the pony explode or something?"

The leader clenched his teeth. "Unfortunately, no. It was my fault. I tried to put the ring on her by myself." He shot a dark look at her with a clear meaning. Talk, and you're dead.

"Serves you right. There is a reason why-"

"I know, okay? Now go and send the... Send the right people to do it."

He left without a second look at her and the rest slowly followed, with one exception who walked to the cell door and shut it. He didn't notice the burnt part of the bars where the blast went through, thankfully.

"What did you do?" He regarded her with disgust. Even that was better than the look the leader had given her.

"I'm not sure," she said, not having to tell a complete lie. Her legs were still shaking slightly.

"Right." The dog pulled out a gemstone from his pocket and held it out to her. "Sniff at this."

She looked at him, confused.

"Just sniff at it, dammit."

She took a careful step closer and smelled the light blue stone. It has a faintly sweet smell to it, which was strange. It reminded her to a perfume she had tried once, long ago. It was pleasant and it made her head feel familiarly light. She inhaled again. Her eyes turned upward and the world went dark.

When she came to her senses she was laying on the ground by the bars. She immediately raised a hoof to her horn. After feeling the ring on it she stretched her leg ahead to see if it would shake, but the shock had passed. She knew she overreacted and possibly blew her cover as not looking as strong as she really was, but the dog would probably hold his mouth, if he didn't want to go into detail what he tried to do with her.

The memory of his claws on her body made her shiver. She closed her eyes, blocking out the light of the torch outside the cell. The sweet scent was still in her nose. She had no doubt that the gemstone was enchanted to make the pony who sniffed at it sleep, but that was not a natural effect of any gemstone she knew of. A magical pattern came to her mind and she tried to cast the spell by instinct, only to realize the block. She tried to dig deeper into her memories to find out what it was but she was too tired to concentrate. She fell asleep in moments.