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It all starts in a City of Brick4,187 words
The Third Wheel Joins2,355 words
Revealing the Darkness before the Storm Ahead Begins2,994 words
A Long trail towards the lands of Ice and Snow2,891 words
Ominous Signs on the Way to Luna Bay2,352 words
A Discovery No ONe Was Prepared For2,787 words
A Night of Tension and a Half Revelation1,530 words
Signs of Hope2,072 words
Cave of Wonder and Terror1,854 words
When your Past Must Die2,508 words
Epilogue548 words

A Discovery No ONe Was Prepared For

They had arrived in Luna Bay safely, the first bright sign of this trip. As Tread Lightly beamed at the fact she had found it, Marigold rolled in the show almost like she owned it. Her pack was discarded onto the ground as she enjoyed the feeling of the frozen water across her back. The sound of gently rolling waves echoed around them as their ears welcomed the salt water tides. Their eyes could see for over a mile, the rolling sands of Luna Bay covered in thick white flakes. There was a soft serenity to this place much to the relief of the trio. Nothing like what they had encountered this morning.

It was late evening as Tread Lightly looked overhead the setting sun was giving away to the cascade of green and indigo lights shooting lines across the sky. The northern lights had come out. She set down her pack and pulled out a heavy gray jacket. The furred cuffs on the end showed it had been made from sheep's wool on the inside with a puffed out collar. The purple mare smiled and thought, 'I've never been so happy to feel cold snow or see this place as I am right now.' as she turned around to Messer and Marigold.

Messer didn't need a coat, he was used to the cold from being at high altitude. He was currently wiping the remaining bits of snow from his mane and straightening out the slightly damp hair. Marigold got up from her play and took out a set of boots as well as her own coat. Hers was much more flashy than Tread Lightly's. A solid black exterior with stripes of blue to offset her bright yellow hair with it's own black stripes. It almost made the blacks blend in and the blue look apart of her skin if not for the emerald green fur showing from her neck up.

The three then took a moment to survey the lay of the land. To The North Tread Lightly's eyes she could see the mountains to their right covered in a layer of white powder. A thin line of trees no more than a few hundred meters separated them from the mountain range foothills. Before them the near endless unmolested beach of Luna Bay. No one came up this way during the winter unless they had a specific reason. It was so close to the season that if they delayed too long, they wouldn't make it back before it became too cold for their journey. Already it was just too cold to enjoy the waters of Luna Bay.

Messer looked up and went wide eyed. The clear skies gave him the most beautiful colors he'd ever seen. He was staring in awe at the most beautiful atmospheric phenomenon he'd ever witnessed. The brightness of the greens with the dull fade of the indigos mixed over his eyes, reflected back into the heavens. This was truly a site to be behold and one no should ever pass up. They echoed with a beauty that could touch a soul, kindle the imaginations with dreams of running along their shimmering trails or set a trouble heart to ease. There was something just calming about those lights to him. He couldn't put his finger on it and when he came to, he saw Tread Lightly and Morning Marigold looking at him with a sly grins upon their faces and knowing looks in their eyes.

“Just to see this was worth it wasn't it, Messer.” Marigold said with a tone that was a statement not a question.

Messer just nodded and Tread Lightly giggled, “I told you it would be worth it and we still have a way to go to recover the iridium. The lights will be shining upon us the whole time.” The purple mare explained and flicked her hair off her forehead for a moment with a flourish. She turned around and started towards the top of the next rise. She knew it wasn't far from Tincent Von Trapp's house. Well it was more mansion out in the middle of no where as opposed to house. She hoped he would be open to having some visitors late at night when they arrived. The three ponies made their way forward. It had already been a long hard pressed day but Tread Lightly knew exactly where they were now that she could see Luna Bay. It would only be another hour before they arrived and the freezing cold was starting to eat at their extremities.

Messer winced as the wind began to blow into his eyes. He hadn't expected it and turned his head at the salt in the air. “I'm gonna fly up and look ahead.” he called out to the others. Really he was hoping just to get above the salt wash and not deal with the stinging in his feathers. Moving straight up he flew above the chop of the tidal winds as the moon started to come up. Once he was there, he started to fly ahead and saw a large building with a wrought iron fence around it. A smile broadened over his lips as he flew closer to inspect the massive home he hoped to be sleeping in tonight. At the very least they should be warm and so far, Tread Lightly and Morning Marigold had been good if odd company to him. How bad could Tincent Von Trapp possibly be?

His eyes however were soon full of doubt and concern as he approached. The gates to the house had been broken in and many of the windows were blown out. The front door was clearly missing, completely rent from it's frame. He turned around and moved to land near Tread and Marigold. His facial features looked like he had bad news he didn't wanna say.

“Well out with it already, stop keeping us in suspense.” Marigold said with a no nonsense tone. She clearly didn't want him to sugar coat it.

“Marigold, the mansion looks broken into and trashed from the outside.” Messer said with a wince like he expected someone to hit him for bad news.

“WHAT!!!!!!” Marigold yelled and charged ahead at full speed. Her gallop was so hard that she was kicking up snow all the way to the sand of the beach. They still heard the rolling waves of the bay. This disturbed Marigold the most as always from Tincent's house there was music playing at all hours. Something was amiss. This whole trip seemed amiss to her. One bad omen after another had hit them since they started out. The trip north had never been this rough on them.

Tread Lightly took off after her and Messer took flight towards the mansion. He strayed behind through, getting a good areal view of the beach to see if there were any signs of what came this way. He was also checking for present dangers.

The two earth bound ponies arrived and ran straight in through the old black iron gate. The gate itself, was nearly three times their height and had been blown inward. As through a great force had impacted and sent the gateway off its hinges. The yard wasn't tended as the house sat just off the beach, where the grass and trees began to take hold. Here through, no one had plowed the snow and various weeds seemed to be sticking up through the fresh white powder. Furthermore the maroon mansion with its tall Gothic architecture looked abandoned and ransacked from the outside. The front door was in splinters with snow drifting into the welcome way. Several windows were broken while intact ones were at least cracked. The stained glass that had decorated the second floor was nothing but fractured rainbow shards scattered onto the yard and into the interior.

Tread Lightly and Morning Marigold stopped outside on the base of the steps as Messer Schimitt landed and looked at the two of them. They panted from the exertion of running and took in the scene. Tread Lightly was the first to charge in shouting, “Tincent! Tincent are you here?” Her voice echoed through silent halls. The heavy marble columns outside seemed to shake with her voice as only the gargoyles atop the roof heard the cry.

Marigold and Messer charged in after their friend both calling out to the pony that was suppose to be there, “Tincent!” Messer yelled unsure of what to add since he'd never met this pony. While Marigold yelled out, “Tincent Von Trapp! Where are you!” As more of a command to identify himself instead of a question.

The rooms were not much better than the outside. Doorways had been broken and enlarged for something bigger than a pony or a gryphon to cram their way in. Tables were in pieces, anything breakable seemed to cascaded over the ground shattered to fragments. There were scorch marks and then Tread Lightly let out a yell, “I found where he was!”

She was calling from the second floor and before her was a dried pool of deep sanguine. The other two ponies approached and didn't like what they saw but there was no body at the end of the pool. Nor was there any shredded clothing or pieces of flesh. There was only the dry pool of blood. Tread Lightly took a moment and examined the floor. There were a few clicks of her monocles before she stopped on one lens that was black as night. The reflection of a trail of blood that dripped onto the deep red carpet right out the door they came through the lens into her eyes. To the purple mare it glowed green and was immediately useful to spot with.This must have happened before the snow fall as there was no blood in the snow.

A further search of the house revealed nothing but what apparently was a very prolonged struggle. Tincent's research notes were gone but his wardrobe of Mare Dresses and Flashy over top garments was still here. 'He must have fled in a hurry, possibly wounded.' Tread Lightly thought to herself. The adrenaline of rushing in to help their friend had passed now and they were feeling the cold seep in around them. The ponies met up in the living room. It was one of a few rooms that didn't have its glass blown out.

It was well beyond sun down now, the cold outside had begun to set in. They gathered what firewood was available. Tread Lightly and Messer stacked it in silence into the fireplace. The stone works had a long deep scorch that ran from their base up into the wall where there was a spitting of the wooden barrier. It was as through the fire had leapt out and sought to burn towards the ceiling. Meanwhile Marigold had gone into the kitchen and looked to see what was left of it. She was hoping to break up their monotony of dried travel foods. After getting the fire started, the scientist and her student just stared at the flames. The house had been empty and Tincent, wasn't there. The signs all pointed to something or somepony having lost a lot blood. A struggle had obviously occurred, and this pony they was suppose to meet was long gone.

Messer Schmitt finally broke the silence with his pony companion, “He should be alright, whatever was bleeding got out and if it was him I don't think that is enough blood for a pony to die from.” His words were trying to cheer her up. She knew he was right but the mare didn't want to speak or correct him that her fellow scientist might never be seen again.

Marigold came in, her facial expression bright and let out a happy call, “Hey! I found cranberries and dragonfire fruits!” She placed the maroon berries onto the table whose legs were now in the fire and held onto the dozen or so heavy bright red prickley fruits, taking a bite out of one.

The other two ponies were startled by the outburst. They looked at Marigold with tension of fright who was munching loudly on the sweet sugar fruit before offering some of it to them. The red prickly pear shaped fruit oozed with juice and was perfectly ripe. Tread Lightly took it and wiped the protruding green bumps off before taking a bite. Messer did not and immediately regretted it. The prickly greens bumps were a defense against creatures eating it as they packed some of the hottest foulest tasting spice even to grace Equestria. He let out a a surprised yelp and dropped the fruit to the floor.

The two mares giggled at him, “Messer if you aren't a source of naive accidents I don't know what it is. Dragonfire fruit is called that for a reason. Its sweet inside but you have to get the prickles off it first.” Tread Lightly explained while Marigold handed him a mug with some cider from the ice box. He sipped at the ice cold cider nursing his tongue back to health from the spike of spice. Tread Lightly worked the prickles off another fruit and handed it to him. They sat and ate in silence. At least the kitchen had been intact and this room was now warm and comfortable. They didn't have a lot to talk about, all of them were concerned over the pony that was suppose to be here as their host.

Tread Lightly was concerned that she was down to a just the two friends in this room in her world. Marigold was worried more about Tincent's research and had wanted to know exactly what he had found out about the Northern Lights. She also wanted to know if he grabbed or who might have taken his research from him. Messer was more concerned about what had caused the destruction and where that pony or creature had gone afterward. Tread Lightly got up and walked towards the door, “I'm gonna go bar the door and do what I can to close off the rooms with broken windows. No sense in letting in the cold if we can avoid it.”

She took a short trot up to the door and looked around. There were pieces of furniture, door planks, screws, and nails scattered throughout the hallway. She recovered some nails from the destroyed furniture as well as a few legs and began to smack them in place with a rock. Slowly but surely, the purple furred mare formed a door that would fit the remains of the frame that led into the house from the outside. She took the time to get it into position and then tore apart pieces of the entryway rug. She used this fabric to seal the edges of the door against the cold. In a short twenty minutes, she had improvised a door and seals for it. Over the course of the next two hours, Tread Lightly did the only thing she knew to do through the pain she felt, work. By the end of that, the entirety of the ground floor had been sealed against the weather with improvised doors and boarded up windows from former pieces of furniture. It wasn't pretty work as a leg or a polished marble top stuck out of the makeshift weatherproofing but it was functional.

Messer came to have a look and noticed the house had gotten slightly warmer. He paused at the base of the stairs up to where they had found the blood stain. The three ponies gathered around him. They started to speak and were interrupted.

Outside there was a shriek, the same shriek they had heard from the morning right before a bolt of magical death had tried to take Tread Lightly's life. Their blood ran cold. Tread Lightly hadn't scared it off, it had been stalking them. The shriek echoed through the near empty mansion, and the three of them immediately retreated to the living room, closing the makeshift door behind them and barring with furniture in a haste that would make even Rainbow Dash look slow.

'Had the same creature beaten them here? How did it know where we were going? Did it do this?' were the thoughts coursing through Tread Lightly's mind. Marigold's too.

Messer was thinking more, 'What is this thing and why does it hate them so?' No creature he knew of in his studies would chase ponies this far outside of it's territory unless they had done something to it or taken something from it. Any way they looked at it, this was not going to be a very peaceful night.

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