The Champion of Harmony

by Voxum

Crossed Stars

"Oh? So you're my cute little descendant, hmmm? I must say, it's nice to meet you!"

It was dark yet bright. Sight was possible, but he-wasnotmeant-unable to see. A silent cacophony of sensations that he couldn't understand flickering at the edges of his senses, contradicting one another yet melding perfectly into many.

"Hmm... looks like ol' Dissy did a real number on you! Don't worry, it won't last long!"

It was within this realm of deafening silence and unheard sound that he could feel it. New wounds ceased to be, old injuries reopening only to fade away when they, too, became new. The cycle of time flowed in reverse, time becoming lost to that which had already lived, as things were remade and undone in a cycle of painful pleasure and pleasant pain.

"... You're probably wondering who I am. You probably won't remember this little meeting of ours, but... well, I'm your Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandma, Nocturnia! You should be honored, the Skies are the only ones who are descended from me! That technically means your my heir, little buddy, isn't that exciting?!"

His memories slowly flowed through his mind, beginning from the newest and winding backward. As each memory replayed through his skull, a stream of brilliant emerald light escaped him from somewhere he could not see. His life flashed before his eyes in time with his body. His light churned and swam, boiling and freezing as it wound itself into a ball, its surface smooth as an untouched lake. The orb of light, bright iridescent green, was shattered and cracked in places, like a mirror whose pieces no longer fit. Yet, as each memory played, and each wound was remade and undone, the cracks began to fade. His mind, body, and his light seemed to grow younger as time(time?) flowed backward, his light growing brighter with each renewed second.

"Oh... right, you can't respond... Huh. Can you see me? Or even hear me? Hmm... maybe I'm just talking to myself here... Oh well, you're still the best conversation partner I've had in... well, a long time!"

A voice could be heard, but not placed. Familiar-yet-not in this world of dark light and bright shadow. Of rounded edges and sharp curves that changed and intermingled but never combined in a manner beyond his sight, hiding-nothingeverything-something from him.

"Well, whether you can hear me or not, I hope you don't mind letting this old gal talk for a bit, alright?"

Six lights suddenly appeared, each a blazing burning colour so different from the iridescent green of his light. Purple, orange, white, blue, yellow, and pink. Each orb of light was different, unique in the way their colours shifted, brightening and darkening like fire. They pulsed once, in unison, and his life played through his eyes once more, until his light became the cracked, jagged thing it had been mere moments(?) ago. Cracks, jagged and sharp, dotted each of the six orbs. Of the seven lights, his was simultaneously the most damaged and the least scarred.

Where the other lights had healed, his had not.

"Great! Well, for starters, I've been keeping an eye on you, my cute little grandson, and I gotta say, I'm impressed! You've lived a pretty hard life, and you're still moving right along with it. You don't see that often, not in this day and age, at least. Still, you've got a fair share of issues, but those cute friends of yours seem to be prying them loose, bit by bit."

The six lights pulsed, growing brighter with each throb of power within. His light began to glow in response, even as it slowly began to return to him. Part of him could of sworn he spotted some of the jagged cracks in his light close in response to the other six's glow, but he was unsure.

"Hmm... Oh! Try and make some time to head home, by the way! Seventeen years is quite some time to spend away from family, so go on! Go home and see them again! It's the least you could do for those poor parents of yours."

His light vanished, and for the first time he managed to look around. He spotted only the contradictory realm around him, along with the six lights that continued to grow brighter. He looked down, after a moment, and realized that his light had returned to him, filling in the shape of his body with its bright-yet-dull light, though a strange, jagged spot of white was focused over his heart. Right as he took notice, the six lights suddenly burst, streams of their multicoloured light converging on him, filling in the hole in his light, their shifting kaleidoscope of colours burning like fire, before calming into green.

"Oh! Looks like time's almost up! Hmm, is there anything else before that? Ah, right... try to forgive Discord, dear. He's made a lot of mistakes, but I really think he just needs someone to care about him again. Besides, he's always cared about his family, and having a cute little grandson to dote on would be good for him, so be a dear and give that to him, yes?"

Time did not exist. An endless eternity bound within a single instant as he swam(floated?) along in the sea of scorching cold and frigid heat, its texture fleeting at his senses like fire and water separately yet at once.

"Oh and, before I forget, make sure to ask out that cute purple unicorn of yours before it's too late!"

Annoyance and embarrassment flickered at his senses once more, but it was overcome with a realization, a realization suddenly lost to him when his green light burned white, and the memory of the darkly bright world was stripped from him, for the Living were not meant to comprehend The World Beyond the Veil.

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Emerald started, his breath coming in quick pants, sapphire eyes opening to a dimly lit world of shadow. A moment passed, and his eyes adjusted, and he was forced to come to the unusual conclusion that he was laying on the floor of his bedroom, his upper half dangling off his bed, while his blanket was cast aside, tangled and balled against the floor beside him.

He sighed, dragging the rest of his body off the bed, ignoring the dull pain that came when his legs thumped heavily against the floor.

The dream was... hard to understand. It had been coming back to him, slowly, for some time now. At first it was nothing but colours. Then it was shapes. Then sounds. Then feelings. Sometimes he heard the voice, the voice claiming to be his... grandmother(?), but it wasn't until the previous few weeks that he heard more than a few words.

It had taken more time than he was willing to admit to look passed his blatant denial, but, eventually, he realized what he'd been dreaming of.

His death.

Specifically, he was dreaming of, what he assumed to be, his time in the afterlife. From the moment he awoke after being healed by the Elements, the memories were... buried, in a sense. But as time went on, those little spaces between the words of his grandmother filled in, reminding him of what happened. Reminding him of the realm he was not meant to be in.

The world he'd been in was... difficult to comprehend. The colours, shapes, sounds, and feelings he'd felt were all one and the same. The colour shifting into sound, feelings becoming shapes, all of it was the exact same thing. They were the same shades of black-white and white-black, the same level of bright-darkness and dark-brightness, of silent and loud, of round and sharp, of hot and cold.

His mind told him it was impossible for all those would and would-nots to exist as one, but the dead were also not supposed to return to life, so what did his mind know of impossibilities made real?

He sighed, dragging himself to his haunches, before leaning against his bed, exhaustion coursing through him. He idly rubbed at the spot over his heart, glancing downwards, expecting, for a moment, to find not the dull greens of his coat but the iridescent emerald of his light.

His soul.

He tried to think back to the sensations, the feelings, of his life twisting into rewind. It should have terrified him, worried him, made him want to crawl away, begging, pleading for the world to not turn back his clock, for he still had time left to spend... but it did not.

If anything, a worrying sense of longing took him, in the moments after he awoke. Part of him-perhaps the part that wished he'd remained dead-longed to return to that unmaking. It had been... relieving, to take old pain, make it new, and make it gone. To rewind through the pain, watching it disappear as if it never was. To watch his life flash before his eyes, not in the frantic, worrisome manner that poets might have imagined, but as a slow journey down memory lane. Watching all of that back, understanding the life he lived, and accepting it.

Death was peaceful, it seemed. For life made youth into age, turned joy into sorrow, and the final moment of life was always one filled with regret. To pass through it all again, in reverse, was to feel your regrets fade, your sorrow become joy, age returning to youth. Death was, in every way, the opposite of life. Where life hurt, death soothed. Where life died, death lived.

In life, there was fear. But in death, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Ironic, considering how terrifying that idea was, in and of itself.

Still, those feelings had remained, he recalled. His love, his hate, his joy, his sorrow, he'd felt it all, both in forwards and reverse, but while his memories faded, his feelings remained. He still remembered what it was to love, to laugh, to cry, and to hurt. Though he had forgotten them, his friends, his family, all those he held dear, he had still held them dear.

A silent chuckle escaped him in the empty silence of his room. However, he shook himself free of all the thoughts roaming within his head, and dragged himself to his hooves. A glance out the window revealed that the sun hadn't even risen yet, earning a groan from him.

There was no way he was getting back to sleep, not after that dream.

He silently stomped his way downstairs, passing by Wisp's and Starlight's room, pausing only to check in on his littlest sister. He glanced at the clock once he was downstairs, finding he'd woken up only an hour before he usually did, which was much preferred over anything else.

He got breakfast started, and had just finished placing everything down-he'd been a bit distracted, and took it slower than usual as a result-when Starlight and Wisp both came trudging down the stairs.

"Mornin', Emm," Starlight yawned,

"Mrnin..." Wisp mumbled right behind her. He scoffed,

"Good morning, you two," he greeted, tapping the counter, "Eat up," he added, before turning back to the sink,

"You seem pretty chipper," Starlight muttered, lethargically nibbling a piece of toast, "Good dream, or something?" He paused,

"I... suppose you could say that," he said,

"What was it 'bout?" Wisp mumbled, eyes blinking out of sync, slowly sipping at a cup of orange juice. He licked his lips,

"It's... hard to explain. It was more of a... memory, than a dream," he admitted.

"About?" He placed his hooves against the counter, arching his back,

"... The Elements of Harmony," he supplied. It wasn't technically a lie. After all, they did bring him back to life. There was a soft, but sharp, intake of breath behind him, coming from Starlight,

"R-right... uhh..." there was a clink of her fork against her plate, "... I never... did ask how you were doing after that. Are you... okay?" He set everything down, and turned to the two fillies. He found Starlight giving him a worried look, but Wisp was still having trouble keeping her eyes open, though she still seemed attentive enough.

"For the most part... yeah, I'm fine."

"What was it like?" Wisp asked, bringing a hoof up to rub her eyes. Starlight hissed in a breath,

"Wisp!" she scolded, causing the filly to look at her, nonplussed,

"What? 'm curious..."

Emerald snickered, and waved Starlight off,

"It's fine, it's fine," he rubbed a hoof against his cheek, eyes drifting off to the side, "Honestly... you're the first to ask. I'm not really... sure how to describe it. Dying was... painful. Very painful. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I'd had something shoved through my heart... oh wait, that's exactly what happened," he deadpanned, earning a slight giggle from Wisp, and a nervous chuckle from Starlight. He sighed, "But... being dead was..." he trailed off, struggling to find the words.

"You don't have to tell us, Emm," Starlight supplied,

"Uh, yeah," Wisp agreed, looking a bit more awake now, "I was jus' askin' 'cuz, ya know... nobody's ever done it before," she said, shrugging. He chuckled, scratching his nose,

"Like I said, It's fine. Death wasn't really... all that bad." Starlight blinked,

"It... wasn't?" He shook his head,

"Surprised me too," he said, chuckling softly, "It was like... life in reverse, ya know?"

"Like time travel?" Wisp asked. He shook his head, again,

"No, not time travel. I was... aging in reverse, more like." Starlight suddenly snickered,

"So you were, uh, 'watching your life flash before your eyes', right?" He nodded, snickering as well,

"Yeah, I suppose that's a good way to put it," he smiled, "There was more though. The place I was in... it was like a world of coexisting contradictions. Black light and white shadow, scorching cold and frigid heat, dark stars and bright voids, that kind of thing."

"That sounds... terrifying," Starlight said, shuddering slightly. He frowned,

"It was relaxing," he admitted, biting the inside of his cheek, "My memories were fading in reverse. All the things I'd experienced were disappearing, leaving me with my happiest memories from my early foalhood. Like... like my slate was being wiped clean. Returning to innocence. Being undone, remade, reborn, almost."

"So... you're saying you were almost reincarnated, or something?" He shook his head,

"No. It's... funny. I'd only been there for a minute or two, but it was like I just... knew that would happen. I could watch as my body went back in time. New wounds faded, old ones reopened and removed. That which was broken was fixed, returned to what it was at the beginning. A single moment stretched on for eternity. And then it was all undone. And suddenly, I was back, with a fancy new crown that couldn't bother to tell me how to actually fucking use it!" he snarled. Starlight snorted,

"Does that really piss you off?" she asked. He nodded,

"Yes! Those things brought a dead stallion back to life! They did the actually impossible! So why couldn't they be bothered to give me a fucking instruction manual?! And don't even get me started on its name!"

Starlight shook her head, while Wisp giggled at his outburst.

The atmosphere, significantly lighter than it was before, was suddenly cut short.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

The three of them froze, startled by the sudden knocking.

"Who the fuck...?"

Starlight, apparently willing to sacrifice herself, got up from her seat and went to answer the door.

Emerald watched as she pulled the door open-

"Hell-!"

Starlight suddenly slammed the door, glanced at him, then opened it once more,

"-lloo!"

She slammed it again, turning to him,

"A.K. Yearling is at the door," she said, her voice at a slightly higher pitch, staring at him with lost eyes. He blinked,

Daring?

"Well, let her in," he replied. She groaned, and wrenched it open once more,

"May I speak now?"

"Yeah sure, come in," Starlight muttered, stepping to the side. Daring gave her a nod, and strode right passed her. Her eyes, hidden partially by a pair of red glasses, scanned the room, before locking onto him. She perked up,

"Emerald!" she chirped, walking forward, "It's... actually, no, it really is nice to see you again," she said, smiling faintly. Starlight groaned, and went to close to the door, only for someone to force it open on her, and stride right passed her, with hardly a glance.

Emerald immediately glared at the new pony. It was an older stallion, maybe ten years his senior. Brown coat, gray mane and tail, both cut extremely short. Closer to fuzz than anything else, really. He had yellow eyes, with a faint scar running just above the right one, which were narrowed harshly at him, flickering over the surroundings in an all too familiar manner. Lastly, a cutie mark that looked like a metal ingot made of stone sat on his flank. He was wearing some sort of vest and had a duffel bag slung across his shoulder.

Given what he knew, he could guess this was Iron Rock, Daring's new bodyguard.

Daring fidgeted slightly, adjusting the disguise she was wearing. It was her customary 'A.K. Yearling' outfit. A purple cloak, large red glasses, and a boring gray hat with a white ribbon. Simple, but given the nature of her books, he doubted anyone would really pin the adventurous Daring Do with the boring looking author. The fact she and her 'character' had the same appearance could easily be chalked up to a boring mare's wish fulfillment, if anyone bothered to care in the first place.

Still, she didn't seem all that different from the last time he'd seen her. Orange-ish coat, gray-scale rainbow mane and tail, magenta eyes....

Thinking about it, she actually looked somewhat like Rainbow Dash. Well, the 'somewhat' mainly extended to her mane and tail, considering how rare that sort of colour pattern was. Her features were much sharper than the stunt flier's, she was a tad taller, and the look in her eye was certainly more serious than the laid back mare's.

"It's good to see you too... Yearling," he returned, glancing quickly at Starlight and Wisp, who both looked terribly confused, "What brings you 'round?"

Daring turned to Iron, jerking her head towards Emerald,

"The Ring."

Iron Rock grimaced,

"Ms. Yearling, are you certain you wish to bring a civilian into such matters?" he asked, glancing at Emerald disdainfully, "I must insist we refrain from such things."

Daring frowned at him,

"He was my guard before you. If anything, I'd trust him over you, Iron. The Ring. Now." Iron scowled, but moved over to the table, uncaringly moving aside the plates and food still left. He reached into the bag and, with far more care than what he showed with their breakfast, deposited something on the table, before moving away.

Emerald approached it, ignoring Iron's very obvious twitch, and inspected it.

It was a simple looking golden ring, big enough to fit over his head with some room left over. At first glance, it didn't look special, aside from its material. It appeared smooth all around, but, upon further inspection, he could see an innumerable number of minuscule runes carved onto its surface, each one seemingly flowing into the next without pause. He hid his surprise at the sight.

A long time ago, before ponies really started studying magic, runes were the only way unicorns could use more than a few basic spells at a time. He... wasn't entirely certain how they did it, but eventually ponies learned to harness magic on a deeper level like they do today. Until then, they had had to use runes to guide and focus their magic to do its purpose. Because of this, runes were completely obsolete. Nowadays most runes could be found in one of two places.

In museums and on a collector's shelf.

But one thing he did know about runes was that, despite their old age, was that they could be extraordinarily powerful. One simply needed to use enough runes. Theoretically, one could do anything with enough runes. The only problem was that they were extremely weak by themselves. For a basic levitation spell, one would need at least a couple hundred of the damn things.

Not only that, but each and every rune had to be charged with magic while being made, meaning they all had to be hoof-crafted, geometrically perfect, and placed into a structure that prevented them from overloading, falling apart, and just generally failing or exploding.

For something like this, whose each and every inch, on both sides no less, to be covered in runes? And of that size? The amount of effort put into it had to have been... insane.

He reached out, gently tracing the side of it, only to nearly snap his hoof away at the feeling of being scorched. He twitched, but kept his hoof in place.

The metal itself was cool to the touch, but underneath it was a sense of unrelenting heat, as though the metal contained a sun within it. The heat seemed to churn and coil at his touch, seeping into his leg, as if seeking the flame building in his chest.

He knew what it was in an instant.

He turned to face Daring, eyes burning,

"... This is a Ring of Scorchero," he said, staring at her, voice but a whisper, "... Daring?" he asked softly. The mare fidgeted,

"Yes?"

"You have five seconds to tell me why you had your little servant here dump a dark artifact on my table before I burn you alive."

He ignored the startled gasps coming from Starlight and Wisp at his proclamation, and equally ignored Iron's weak attempts to glare him into submission. His eyes could only see the mare in front of him, could only hear her words, despite the livid pounding in his ears. His chest grew hot, and the ring grew hotter in response, as if eager for his flame.

He could hear it, faintly. The call for the pyre. Begging to be set free. To burn. To consume-

He let go of the Ring, feeling his anger subside, just the slightest.

"I need your help," she said, staring him straight in the eye, "I stole that Ring from a black market dealer named Caballeron. He's an archaeologist who sells whatever he finds to the highest bidder, regardless of whatever consequences come from that. He was on his way to meet up with Ahuizotl," she gave him an almost sardonic grin, "Considering what those Rings can do, I figured you were the best option to help me deal with them."

His eyes narrowed, something wasn't right about that. He set the thought aside for the moment, focusing on other, more important facts,

"I see... and why, pray tell, did you come here?!" he snarled, taking a step towards her, small wisps of flame escaping his mouth, ignoring both the golden glow emanating from the Ring behind him and the whispers steadily growing into screams, "Here, to a small town in the middle of a forest, with an artifact related to fire, instead of up to the stone castle, where these kinds of artifacts are kept, away from everyone else?!"

Daring didn't back down from his anger, though she did nod at him.

"I wanted to, really I did, but I believe Ahuizotl has the other seven rings already. I-we need to get them away from him and Caballeron before we can get them all to the castle."

Emerald's eyes, still blazing brightly, narrowed. He stayed like that for a moment, scanning Daring's face, before abruptly turning away. He forced his fire to die, and the glow from the Ring fell instantly. But the whispers remained, an almost ritualistic song dancing in his ears.

He sighed, leaning his head against the table, ignoring the Ring's persistent heat against his skin even from a distance.

"Uh... what's going on?" Starlight asked suddenly, reminding everyone that she and Wisp were, in fact, also in the room. He glanced up at her, finding her staring at the proceedings with a blank look on her face, pointing in turn to each of them, "You called her, A.K. Yearling, Daring, as in Daring Do, the character from her books, while talking about a ring of scorching or something, which is also from her books, while she talks to you like she's known you for years... like the thestral. In her books."

She stared blankly at him, with Wisp mimicking her after a moment, despite likely not understanding what was going on. He chuckled, and sat up,

"Long story short, she is Daring Do, I'm Green Sky, and the books are real, but are a cover-up to make her money. That answer your questions?" he asked. Starlight stared, before nodding,

"Yeah, pretty much. This is exactly the kind of thing that would happen to you, so I'm... not as surprised as I should be."

Daring frowned, glancing at him warily,

"Uh, who are these two?" she asked, "That information is top secret, so they must be pretty important if you're just throwing it out there," she added. He shrugged,

"These are my sisters, Starlight Glimmer-" Starlight waved, "and Whisper Moon," Wisp nodded, "You two, this is Daring Do, otherwise known as A.K. Yearling," he introduced, ignoring Daring's surprised sputter. He pointed at Iron, "Also, that's her stallionservant, Iron Rock."

Iron glared at him for the poor introduction, not that Emerald cared of course.

Daring sputtered a bit more, before composing herself. Well, mostly, her eye was twitching in that familiar way that said she was getting annoyed with him.

"Your sisters?" she asked, pointedly staring at him. He shrugged. Top secret his ass. She knew they were there the whole time.

"You saw them when you came in and still had your butler show me the Ring. You think I'm not telling my family anything after that, and you're delusional."

Daring glared, but sighed,

"Fair point," she muttered, taking off her hat and glasses.

"Huh, you look just like the covers on your books," Starlight muttered. Daring smirked, and shrugged,

"Eh, easier than making up some character," she said, then frowned, "Which I ended up doing anyways with Green Sky and the whole A.K. Yearling thing," she muttered. There was silence, for a minute, then it was broken.

"Um, so what's goin' on?" Wisp asked, blinking, "I meant, not like, who you guys are, but, what's with this ring thing?" she asked, trotting over to the table and leaping up, trying to peer at the artifact. Emerald slammed a hoof down in front of her, preventing her from getting close, while also serving to startle the poor filly, sending her back a few steps. The Ring glowed in response to his sudden agitation.

"That... is one of the Eight Rings of Scorchero," he explained, eyeing Wisp to make sure she didn't try to get close again, "A long time ago, some pony tribe killed a great fire dragon named Scorchero. They harvested his blood and organs, using a dark ritual to bind his magic, and supposedly his soul but I doubt it, to a set of eight rings after soaking them in said blood and organs for seven days and seven nights," he said, rolling his eyes, "Apparently these Rings were made with the intention of granting this tribe power rivaling that of the Dragon Lord of the time, but they failed. The Rings, when used, granted their wielder total immunity to heat, like a dragon or thestral, as well as a minor pyrokinesis ability, which gets stronger the more you have. One day, there was a conflict in the area between the Tenochtitlan ponies and the Dragon Lord, and they used a ritual with all eight rings as a suicide attack. They called down this massive inferno that scorched the planet for hundreds of miles, and left the place inhospitable for 800 years due to the heat. It is also reported that the Rings have a strange effect on dragons, serving to make them more aggressive and prone to lighting everything on fire," he paused, "... Something that appears to be true for thestrals as well, if to a lesser degree," he added, glaring at it.

"Wow..." Wisp muttered.

"Since we're giving them a history lesson..." Daring muttered, before straightening herself, "The Tenochtitlan tribe, who created the Rings, also created a special focal point that increased the magic energy in the area, which they ended up calling the Tenochtitlan Basin, considering how easily magic pooled in the area. There, they created a tower that housed their ritual chamber where this attack was used. 800 years after the attack, when the heat finally disappeared, a group from the Ketztwctl Empire appeared, scattered them across the place, and their Empress put a dark spell up to prevent anyone from getting to the Basin."

"Wait a sec..." Starlight asked, before perking up, "This sounds an awful lot like your fourth book, Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams," she noted. Daring nodded,

"Yeah. I managed to get the Amulet of Atonement, which can dispel any kind of magical barrier or spell, from Ahuizotl and got rid of the Empress' ward so I could put the Shield of Razdon down, which is a much stronger, less fatal, ward that would, or at least should, keep anyone from getting to the Basin."

Wisp blinked, looking up at Starlight and Daring without any sort of understanding on her face.

Daring noticed this, and chuckled,

"It's... a lot easier to understand if you read the books," she said, before jabbing a hoof at him, "Your brother here has signed copies of all of them, even if he hasn't shown up in any since the third one, thanks to that stunt with the volcano."

Emerald scoffed,

"It was fun, dammit!"

Daring shook her head, turning back to Wisp,

"Long story short, in my third book, I find this artifact that makes super strong wards and keeps anything from getting through. I hang onto it until the fourth book, where I meet up with this bad guy I know whose trying to take control of the Basin place. I realize that as good as the Empress' ward is, it's not good enough, so I race him down there, fight him for the amulet thing he has, use it to take down the wards before using the shield thing to make ever better ones, before running away," she explained. Wisp nodded,

"Ooh... okay, so, uh... why's it a problem now?" she asked, tilting her head, "If this Ahuitodum guy can't get to this basin thing, then why are you worrying?"

Daring nodded,

"Good question," she said, pointing at the Ring, "Thing is, those Rings were made in the Basin. There's some weird magic mumbo jumbo about their connection to it. All I know is that the Rings are uniquely capable of breaking through the ward if both are in the Basin. All he needs is one to break it as well, and he's got seven of them," she explained, "Thing is, we believe he can still summon that attack with less Rings, but we don't know strong it would be if he can, so I'd rather make sure he's got none of them. I don't know if he's reset the shield or not to keep me out, so I need the Ring just in case to break through it-which is why I haven't just given it to the princess-" she added, glancing at him, "-which is why I'm here. If I was certain he absolutely needed all eight Rings, I'd have gone straight to Canterlot... but I'm not. Plus, those Rings let him control fire a pretty good amount, but I don't know how well he can do it. I figured it was better safe than sorry if I had a teammate who was naturally immune to fire, in conjunction to whoever has the Ring," she explained, looking at him, almost pleadingly.

Emerald sighed, rubbing his face,

"And why are you coming to me, instead of the princess who has half an army made up of creatures with a natural fire immunity?" he asked.

Daring's pleading expression dropped, replaced by a deadpan one.

"You just want me to say it, don't you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. Emerald's only response was a grin, which caused her to groan, "Fine... fine... I came to you because I..." she sighed, "Because I trust you, okay? There, I said it. Are you happy now? You'll help me?"

"Somewhat," Emerald replied cheekily, before frowning, "but I can't," he said, slamming a hoof onto the Ring, which sent it into the air. The whispers grew into chanting. He caught it, idly beginning to spin it on his hoof like a ball, "I'm on a job already, Daring. Why do you think I'm in this town? For a vacation?" he asked, before scoffing, "How'd you find me anyways?"

"The princess told me," she said, smirking as she withdrew a letter from her cloak, "she also told me you'd say that, and said to give you this."

He frowned at the slip of paper, letting the Ring settle back onto the table, before snatching it from the gray-scale mare. The song died down, the whispers returning.

He stared at the written words for a moment, before sighing, and casually burning the damn thing.

"Fine, I'll help," he said, rubbing his cheek, "We can head out once I've said my goodbyes to everyone," he added. Daring shook her head,

"We need to head out now," she said, "Caballeron and his goons have been chasing us for the past two weeks now. If we stay in town any longer, chances are he'll catch up," she warned. Emerald clicked his tongue, before sighing,

"Fine," he muttered, "I'll just grab my shit and we'll get going."

Emerald turned to Wisp and Starlight, only to glance away slightly at their worried looks,

"Alright, you heard her," he said, forcing himself to look at them, hiding the slight flinch he had when he met Wisp's eyes, "I'll be heading out with this lot for..." he turned to Daring, "How long are you expecting this to take?" he asked. Daring frowned, considering for a moment,

"... A month and a half? Maybe longer." Emerald grit his teeth, staring at the archaeologist-turned-treasure-hunter hard. His gaze relented, and he turned back to his sisters,

"Expect me to be back sometime within two months," he said, idly reach up to rub his forehead, "We've got food enough for about two weeks between the two of you, assuming you eat properly of course," he said, muttering that last part. Starlight scoffed,

"We'll eat just fine," she snarked, a small, but visibly strained, smile appearing on her face, "You... you won't need to worry about us, Emm," she added.

"Yeah!" Wisp chirped, smiling up at him more genuinely, "We'll take good care of everything here! It'll be like you didn't even leave!"

He smirked, and let out a laugh,

"Ha! I'll have to hold you to that!" he said, before his grin fell, "Speaking of holding you to things... Would you two be willing to let everyone know I'll be out of town for a few months?" he asked. Starlight nodded,

"Sure, Emm. It's the least we could do." He nodded in return, before scowling and turning to the table, where the Ring still sat. He snatched in up and threw it at Iron,

"Fucking, put that thing away! It's messing with my head," he snapped, then sighed and turned towards the stairs, "Let me go grab my shit and I'll be right down."

He stalked back up the stairs and into his room. He quickly put on his strap, equipped his replacement spear-a tad excited to finally try out the damn thing, though he did feel a pang of loss for his old one-and even snuck in a few extra knives along the fabric, just in case. He turned back towards the door, but paused.

He frowned, glancing around his sparsely decorated room. His eyes landed on a few different things, each one sending a wave of churning emotion through him. Each little thing continued adding to his spiraling emotions, but it wasn't until his eyes landed on the familiar form of Twilight's Smarty Pants doll that he recognized the emotion.

Fear.

He let out a soft chuckle.

He was afraid he wouldn't come back. He could feel it. Every memory he had of his time in Ponyville kept adding, building to that little fear.

In a way, it was funny. He never thought he'd become so attached to this town. Even when he had begun to acknowledge this growing attachment, he had dismissed it, assuming that, hard though it may be, he would leave. Yet it was only now, when he was actually leaving, that it occurred to him how difficult such a thing would be.

He shook his head. Now was not the time for pointless distractions like his thoughts. No. Now was the time to be getting ready for his first mission in... a long time, now that he thought about it.

His last mission before coming to Ponyville-if one ignored the fact that coming to Ponyville was a mission itself-had been to deal with a rouge dragon. It had been over a year since then, approaching two, even, and only now did he finally find himself going on another adventure. One that didn't involve those six mares, at that.

In a way, he could feel the excitement bubbling in his chest. A pit of churning, pulsing anticipation, anxiously awaiting that which is to come.

All that combined, the fear, the anticipation, it brought to mind one critical fact.

He might not come back. For the first time in forever, that fact scared him. And if he didn't come back, what of all the others? His family, his friends, everyone?

He frowned, his eyes finding the familiar sight of his saddlebags. He approached them and, after a moment of rummaging, pulled out a few things.

With everything in hoof, he set out downstairs, where he found Wisp talking to Iron-who looked distinctly out of his element talking to a pony so much younger than him-and Starlight glaring at Daring, who was adamantly not looking in her direction.

"Alright, I'm back," he called, interrupting whatever was going on. Iron looked all too happy to get away from Wisp, whose attention completely diverted over to him, and even Daring seemed to sigh in relief when Starlight's gaze turned away.

"Took you long enough," Daring said, glancing out the window, "Like I said, Caballeron and his goons are after us. Who knows how close he's gotten to us by now?"

Emerald rolled his eyes,

"Oh please. I don't know who this guy is, but if he thinks he could get away with attacking my house while my family is around, then he'd better have a graved marked out already, cause he won't be leaving alive," he then turned to Starlight, "And speaking of not leaving alive, here," he hoofed her the things he'd taken from his saddlebags, namely his bank card and a fairly large stack of sealed envelopes.

Starlight stared at them for a moment, before glancing at him,

"Emm, what is all this?" she asked. He pretended not to notice the quiver in her voice,

"Just in case I don't come back. If I'm not back home by the time three months have passed, then send out these letters for me. There's one for everyone in the family, and a few others. Make sure to send out the one to the princess first, though. That one will get her to start the process for the funeral and the reading of my will," he smiled, a tad mischievously, "Fair warning, Wisp gets everything I own, and half of all my money, while the rest of it is divided amongst the rest of you all. If you don't know where to find someone, just send it to the princess. She'll make sure it gets where it needs to go, I'm sure."

Starlight just stared at him, seemingly uncomprehending.

"You... you just... have all these letters already written out?" she asked, sounding surprised. He nodded, honestly not sure what the apparent issue was,

"Of course. Each one is personalized as best as I can, Though recent events made me realize they aren't as personalized as I'd like," he admitted, before perking up, "There are some non-family ones, though. Mostly to the girls, Scootaloo and her family, and... my birth family. The last one is mostly letting them know I was alive and that now I'm dead," he gave Starlight a sardonic smile, "I wonder how they'll react to that..." he muttered.

"When... when did you write these?" she asked. He shrugged,

"I get nightmares sometimes. Whenever that happens and I can't sleep, I write these," he suddenly chuckled, shaking his head, "I can't tell you how many times I've re-written them all. I can never seem to say everything I want to say in just the right way. I suppose that's the problem with last words, huh?" he asked, "No second chances," he chuckled, "Knowing me, my actual last words would probably be some unholy combination of screaming and swearing," he admitted with a grin.

"O... okay," Starlight muttered, swallowing, "And... the card?" she asked. Emerald smirked,

"In case you need to buy shit, obviously," he said, before frowning and leveling a hoof at her, "Don't go spending money willy-nilly. I don't want to come back to a house full of random shit we don't need, got it? Save that until after I'm dead."

Starlight shuddered, but gave him a grin, strained though it was.

Wisp frowned, brow furrowing,

"You... don't actually think you're gonna die on this trip, right?" she asked, "I mean... you'll be fine, just like always." Emerald shrugged,

"Eh, better safe than sorry," he said, before waving his hoof, "Besides, it has been a while since I've gotten any action," he twitched, "The whole Discord Incident notwithstanding."

He turned to Daring, who was staring at him with a very impatient look on her face. He rolled his eyes,

"Yes, I'm done now," he said sarcastically. Daring gave him a sharp nod, seemingly ignoring his tone,

"Alright. Let's get going before Caballeron catches up. First things first, we'll have to head to my latest little hidey-hole. I've got some notes I want to look over about the Dark Tower before we head out. That fine?"

Emerald nodded,

"Yeah, let's go."

He waved another goodbye to his sisters, feeling that mostly unfamiliar tug on his heart all the while.

The ponies in Ponyville, for the most part, didn't seem to recognize Daring, or, rather, A.K. Yearling, thankfully-though if Rainbow or Sparky were around, that would change in a heartbeat-and Iron seemed perfectly able to blend into the background.

He, on the other hoof, received a fair number of looks as a result of his equipped gear. Most of the looks were worried, which, since he looked like he was about to head out into a fight, made sense. The last time anyone in this town saw his gear, a primordial god of chaos had taken over the world, albeit temporarily, so their worry was quite justified.

All that said, they managed to make it to the train station quickly enough, with Emerald using his now-known-status as the Champion to waive the fee of them boarding-a fact he was more than happy to take advantage of, considering how much he fucking hated the train-and took a compartment for themselves.

Emerald had to fight the impending sensation of nausea from hitting him, despite the fact that they weren't even moving yet. The simple act of anticipating the movement of the train was enough to make him queasy.

Even so, he did his best to fight it off. This wasn't a luxury ride, like the trip to Appleloosa was, that he could afford to skip. No, he knew Daring. It was here, where they were least likely to be overheard by even friendly ears, that they could talk about their little mission without restraint.

A few minutes passed in silence, before the train lurched, sending a few lurches of a different kind through his stomach, and began to chug along.

"Alright," Daring began, removing her little disguise, revealing her customary pith helmet and adventurer's garb, "we're heading through Unicorn Range towards Vanhoover. My most recent home was settled a bit out of the city in the surrounding forest for the sake of privacy," she explained, "but that wasn't the only reason. The Tenochtitlan Area is in what is now known as the Galloping Gorge. I have the route there memorized, but it's still almost two week's worth of walking and camping for us to get through the forest, which only gets denser near the Gorge. I'd recommend against flying, not only because Iron here isn't a pegasus-" Iron grunted at that, his eyes firmly locked out the window, scanning the greenery as everything passed by-a sight that Emerald vehemently looked away from, thinking of nice, solid, not-moving ground-"-but for the real reason I wanted you to come along, Emerald."

That caught his attention, immediately getting him to refocus on the conversation, fighting down another wave of nausea.

"So I was right. You were just playing that whole time. Was it because Glim and Wisp were there?" Daring nodded, causing him to sigh, "Figures. Alright, what's this 'real reason' of yours?"

Daring frowned, and Emerald noticed Iron's crossed hooves clenching visibly against his own skin. Subtly, Emerald adjusted his seating. Something wasn't right.

"Caballeron runs around with only three or four of his little minions. For the most part, they aren't trouble. Iron can take them all out easily enough, and even I can fight them off if need be," she said, before sighing aggressively, "I don't know if it was Ahuizotl or Caballeron himself, but one of them has hired some new muscle for Caballeron to use. It's almost-no it's entirely because of those two that Iron and I were on the run. They're just... too much," she admitted.

"They're far more skilled than the average mercenary," Iron suddenly supplied, turning his attention to the conversation, his brow furrowed, "They fought like monsters, and, worse than that, they fought in perfect sync. They were powerful, animalistic... savage. They tore us down without any issues whatsoever," Iron suddenly scowled, his features sharpening in a fit of obvious rage, "It was like we were nothing to them! I've never felt so-so... powerless in my life!" he snarled.

"But, aside from your own fighting ability, the reason I wanted your help, Emerald," Daring cut in, her voice low, but expression stuck in a visage of quiet anger so different from Iron's, "was because of something I noticed about those two, amidst all the running and fighting. Something specific."

Emerald scowled, impatiently tapping his hoof,

"And what, exactly, is this specific 'something'?" he asked.

Daring locked eyes with him,

"They're thestrals."

---

The information was... startling, to say the least.

But, in the end, it was nothing to dwell on. Sure these two thestrals would be the first thestrals he'd met-he didn't count the drunks or the ones in the Guard, since he never really interacted with them-in... years, and, yes, those same thestrals would be fighting against him and his, but...

Okay, he was dwelling heavily on the information.

How could he not? The first real contact he'd had with someone of his own race, possibly his own family-though what were the chances that the two hired thestrals were Skies like him?-and he had to fight them. Possibly kill them, even!

On one hoof, the idea shouldn't bother him, for several reasons. One: They were, as of the moment, his enemy, and the enemy could not be spared any sympathy, or he'd end up dead. Two: He hadn't had any, meaningful, contact with anyone from his home in years, so why should meeting two total strangers who meant nothing to him matter?

But, on the other hoof, he wasn't who he was before. He wasn't the individual who truly would not care. He... cared, now. He was more open, more thoughtful. He wasn't the thoughtless tool he'd been before. Enemy or stranger, those adjectives could only mean so much now.

The train ride to Vanhoover was not a short one. The Equestrian Railway System employed four trains, each one owned explicitly by a certain individual, all of whom lived in Canterlot. They decided which trains were allowed to go to which areas and which were not. Canterlot acted as a hub of sorts for where every one of Equestria's trains were able to stop and make their trips around the nation.

It goes like this.

The Friendship Express. Ponyville, Dodge Junction (or City depending on who you ask), and Appleloosa.

The Solar Express. Manehatten, Baltimare, and Vanhoover.

The Midnight Express. Fillydelphia, Los Pegasus, Salt Lick City, and Hollow Shades (or Sire's Hollow as most call it nowadays), a small town near Fillydelphia, where Starlight was born.

And lastly, the Frontier Express. This was the train that went between Equestria and the Griffon Empire, having to cut through the Frozen North to get there. Emerald had always thought it odd that there was a random set of train tracks that ran through the Frozen North, but there was probably a town or city up there, once. Where it was now was lost to the snow, most likely.

Once the Solar Express came in, the three of them were off on a two day trip to Vanhoover, making that three days he was gone from Ponyville already, four if one counted the day they left, since they'd left in the morning.

Emerald would admit to feeling one or two pangs of homesickness.

... Okay a few. But only a few.

Really.

Once they were finally off towards Vanhoover, Daring was muttering to herself practically the whole trip, going over some sort of plan she was making. He'd ask her to share, but he knew her well enough that this was less of an actual planning session and more just her way of dealing with her nerves. It only sent home just how dangerous these two thestrals were to cause her to resort to such a tic.

Iron Rock was... pretty much doing nothing, the whole trip. His face was set in, well, stone, with the occasional clutching of his bag, as if to make sure it was still there, as his only sign of motion. Aside from that, he was simply staring out the window. He almost looked deep in thought.

Emerald, however, couldn't keep his eyes on one thing. Unlike his thoughts, which remained stuck solely on the thought of the two thestrals, his eyes kept flicking to and fro, unable to focus on one particular thing. His ears flicked, every now an again, picking up the sound of talking from several doors down. So lost in thought was he, that his motion sickness, thankfully, never flared up. Or, at least, not enough to catch his attention.

Not even sleep eased their nerves. If anything, the nights spent on the train only exacerbated these behaviors.

Towards the middle of the fourth day, the train began to slow, and a voice played over the intercom, telling them they'd arrived in Vanhoover Station.

The three of them quickly left the train-and if Emerald was the fastest to get up and leave, well, no one said anything-and Daring took the lead, immediately veering to the right and slipping between some alleys.

Vanhoover was... less than he expected. Though, to be fair, when one thought of a 'city', Manehatten was often the first thing that came to mind. So Vanhoover's more rustic appearance would disappoint most. One would think a port city of decent size would be larger, or more industrialized, but, given that Vanhoover was not a major center of trade like Manehatten or Baltimare, it made sense.

That being said, Vanhoover, rustic though it might be, was no Ponyville. The buildings were all fairly tall, made of wood and brick and metal and glass. The stone streets were bustling with ponies and carts and taxis like one would expect of a city, and the distant view of the ocean turned the whole thing into a rather scenic place, to be honest. Though it was also clear that Vanhoover was once a much smaller town, as there were spots where the industrialization had not sunk in. Places that resembled Ponyville more than Manehatten. It was nice, but he much preferred the scenery around Ponyville.

And yes, he was biased.

Though the sight of the ocean did cause a few ideas to pop through his head. When was the last time he'd gone to the beach?

...

Had he ever gone to the beach?

He shook the thought away, refocusing on following Daring. He wasn't here to sight-see.

They slipped through a few more alleys and quickly slunk through what was clearly a red light district, before they paused.

The area they'd paused in seemed to be a small, if bustling, market. Ponies were trotting to and fro, with nary a care in the world. Various vendors were vying for the attention of the masses around them, loudly shouting into the air about products and discounts, often punctuated with a few 'You there!'s for good measure. The three of them probably looked a tad shady, huddling in the corner of the market, hidden in the shade provided by a nearby awning. It served to remind him, again, that Vanhoover had not always been a city. It had started as a small fishing town, and some parts of the city seemed to choose to remain that way, even while other parts tried to resemble Manehatten or Baltimare.

The dichotomy was strange, but oddly pleasing.

"Alright," Daring muttered, glancing around them, eyes hunting through the crowd, "we're getting close to the edge of the city. From the North Gate, there's a small path heading towards the forest," she pointed towards a large, open gate about two wagons in width, "It cuts through a small plain, so we'll be completely exposed if we head out. We'll need help."

"Help?" Emerald asked, frowning, "How exactly are we going to get help if these goons are tracking you two?" he asked. Daring smiled,

"There's not much beyond the North Gate apart from the forest and a small village of yaks towards the border into the Frozen North. It's just close enough that they're in contact with Vanhoover to arrange a supply caravan every month," Daring paused, before her eyes started twinkling, "a caravan that's scheduled to leave in-" she glanced at a nearby clock, and sighed in relief, "an hour, actually."

Emerald blinked, before a grin overtook his features,

"Oh, really?" he asked, "I take it that that is the reason you were so adamant on leaving Ponyville?" Daring nodded,

"It's one of them. I was being honest about Caballeron being on our tail. I really have no idea how far off he was from Ponyville," she admitted, her smile falling, "It was a big risk heading out to find you, not only to us, but to everyone in that town. However I figured that, if worst came to worst, Caballeron and his goons wouldn't fare too well against a mob of angry ponies," she added.

Emerald frowned at that,

"I don't how I'm supposed to feel knowing you would've risked the townsfolk if you had to," he muttered, eyes narrowing at her, before he sighed, "but you didn't, so I have no reason to be angry," he added, shrugging, "So, how are we going to get on board the caravan?"

Daring smirked,

"Bits."

Emerald stared, before sighing,

"I... should've guessed."

-----

Bribing the caravan was easier than Emerald thought it would be. The leader of the caravan, an older mare with signs of gray in her mane, apparently recognized Daring-or, rather, she recognized A.K. Yearling-and was more than willing to give them a ride into the forest in return for an autograph for her grandson. They hadn't even needed the bits!

The three of them were allowed to rest inside the wagon, out of sight, until they hit the tree-line.

"Thanks again for the ride, Mrs. Crystal," Daring thanked the mare. She smiled, and waved off the thanks,

"Oh no need, Miss Yearling," she said, her eyes twinkling, "I know how young ponies like you work. Why, if I was in your place, I'd be in quite the hurry to get home with a pair of stallions like them as well," she teased.

Daring sputtered and turned red at the teasing, with Iron valiantly looking away, his own cheeks quite red as well. Emerald, however, merely snorted and turned away.

He wondered if Daring would put that little gag in her next book.

Once Daring and Iron came down from their embarrassment, the three of them began trudging through the forest. It wasn't too bad, to be honest. The trees, while plentiful, did not block out the sunlight like the Everfree Forest back home did. It reminded him more of Whitetail Woods, if he was honest.

The forest floor was teeming with life as well, but, again, not to the level that was expected of the Everfree. Though, he supposed, that might have something to do with the fact that, unlike the Everfree, this forest could actually be maintained by ponykind.

Regardless of his thoughts, they made good time. Hardly an hour later and Emerald was able to spot a rather... shoddy looking cottage hiding amongst the greenery. Bare, greenish-gray walls made of wood, a cruddy looking hay roof, a single window up top and two on the bottom despite appearing to only have one floor, and it was positively... shitty, to be honest.

Daring and Iron continued trotting forward upon entering the clearing it was contained in, but Emerald ended up slowing down, casting his gaze around the area.

It was... strange that they had not been accosted yet. One would think that Caballeron would have Daring's cottage being watched, yet here they were, uncontested. Though, to be fair, he didn't know this Caballeron. Daring did, however, yet she didn't seem to hesitate on entering the area.

He frowned, and shook his head.

Perhaps he should've expected this. Anyone who'd work for a nut like Ahuizotl was probably lacking in either intelligence or self-preservation. Given what little he knew of Caballeron from Daring's mutterings, the black market dealing archaeologist probably cared more for his own survival, but they didn't say anything about his brains.

That didn't mean he wasn't on alert. For all he knew, they were being watched from a distance beyond his hearing.

The cottage was... sparse. Since it was a hiding spot more than a home, he shouldn't have been surprised. There were some notable personal affects laying around, but, for the most part, the cottage was practically minimalist. Nothing more than a bed in one corner, a small kitchenette in the other, a writing desk with some books along the wall, and a single table in the center of the room.

"Alright, we made it," Daring muttered, immediately walking over to the writing desk, "Now we can start planning things out."

"Right, you said you had notes on this Dark Tower thing," Emerald said, running a hoof along the center table, which came back covered in a thin layer of dust. He frowned, and wiped it off on his chest, "Surprising, since you never mentioned an extended stay in the Tower after the last time you were there," he noted. Daring threw him a smirk over her shoulder as she pulled out a red book with golden lining from her desk. The book in question had a small, golden lock on the front, which opened to a key that Daring took out from a drawer.

"That's because I didn't," she said, popping the book open, revealing a folded up piece of paper, "I nicked it from Ahuizotl, of course," she added, walking over to the table.

"Of course," Emerald muttered when she got close, "So what is it?"

Daring smirked at him, before tossing it onto the table.

"This, my friend, is a map of the Dark Tower," she said smugly, reaching out to unfold the paper.

Emerald whistled slightly at the sight. Though it was more of a blueprint than a map, it still had all the relevant information. Looking at it, it was... impressive, to say the least.

It was a tall, multiple story... well, tower. It was rather geometric in shape, seemingly made of brick, and made of several sloped layers standing atop one another. Each layer grew progressively smaller than the one before it, until it was nothing more than a needle at the top, almost resembling a giant lightning rod of sorts, and, since that suicide attack centered on the Tower, that might not be an inaccurate observation.

Counting it, the Tower seemed to possess eight layers total. The bottom-most layer seemed to be the one dedicated to the ritual, if the strange dais and mechanism were to be believed. Of course, the layers weren't just singular rooms, each layer was comprised of several different rooms of varying size.

He frowned. He couldn't tell the scales of anything on the blueprint. There was definitely some indicator of size, but the numerals weren't in Equish or Thestrali, or in any other language that he was familiar with for that matter. Still, considering the number of rooms and the general size of some of the things he could see, he had to imagine that this Dark Tower was quite large.

Not Canterlot Castle large, of course, but sizable nonetheless. It would explain why the place wasn't documented to the public at least. It was small enough to unnoticed-likely with the help of some magic of some sort. Perhaps a shield wasn't all the Empress had done to keep the place from being used again?-but large enough to be of use to the Tenochtitlan tribe.

"As you can see, the place is loaded with traps," Daring began, running a hoof over some of the rooms and halls, pointing out small bits of unfamiliar script, "Most of these traps aren't active anymore, for one reason or another, but I wouldn't put it passed Ahuizotl to renovate the place," she added.

"From what I recall-" Iron suddenly cut in from Emerald's other side, speaking for the first time in nearly a day, "-most of the traps were set to be powered by magic. I believe the attack that felled the tribe isn't the only thing those Rings were used for."

"The place certainly looks like it was used for more than an attack," Emerald noted, eyes scanning one of the upper rooms, which seemed to be a communal resting area, "The tribe probably planned to use this place as a home after they killed the Dragon Lord of the time. If those Rings hadn't turned out to have such a powerful attack, they really would have ruled the area," he added.

Daring nodded,

"Exactly. And Ahuizotl is planning to do exactly what they failed to do," she said, scowling. Emerald shook his head,

"This... doesn't make much sense. The Galloping Gorge is set in practically the middle of nowhere. Vanhoover is the closest place, and it's several weeks away by hoof. That's way too far for the effects of the Rings and Tower to reach. Apart from scorching the land, Ahuizotl wouldn't have control over... anything, really."

"Nothing but the land he's threatening to scorch, and everything that might be in it," Daring said leadingly. Emerald blinked, and glanced at her,

"... You think he's after something specific in the area, and the Rings and Tower are just what he's using to get the area under his control?"

Daring nodded,

"Right on the mark. The problem is, I don't know what in the area is interesting enough for him to want."

Emerald frowned.

This was... strange. What could Ahuizotl want? The area around the Galloping Gorge was extremely empty, as a result of being so far inland. It was mostly grassland with some easy to miss rock formations, some small quarries that long since have dried up, and maybe a small river or two. There might be some potential there, but certainly not enough for this.

Then again...

"Are there any other Tenochtitlan ruins in the area?" he asked. Daring's brow furrowed,

"... Yeah, some. You think that's it?" she asked. Emerald tapped the blueprint,

"They had the ability to make this Tower and those Rings. Who knows what else they made that we don't know about? Ahuizotl might be on to something," he concluded.

"True," Daring agreed, looking away from the blueprint

It was the only thing that made sense. Sure there were a few other things in the area, and one thing in particular, but it was a national secret. The chances of anyone knowing about its location, who weren't supposed too, were... extremely low.

... But, obviously, not impossible.

Still, from what he knew, it was only just within the recorded range of the Dark Tower... was it possible that...?

He shook his head.

No, he couldn't afford to jump to conclusions. Yes, that seemed like the easiest answer, but that was only because he knew about it. For anyone else to know about it, they'd need unfiltered access to the Secret Archives, which, in turn, meant they also needed unfiltered access to either himself or the princesses.

So, unless someone was in a position to get his or the princesses' blood, they wouldn't know about it.

He was just being paranoid.

"So, what's the plan?" he asked.

"Yeah, what's the plan?"

"I'm quite curious myself."

His spear was in his hoof in an instant, the gleaming edge already cutting through the air, slicing deeply into the throa-

A shock went through him when his spear was deflected, a mere instant away from cutting into his target. Startled blue eyes met amused silver eyes, and before Emerald could register who his opponent was and what they wielded, one, two, three rapid strikes were unfurled towards him.

Muscles strained as his spear cut through the air. The strikes were barely deflected, sparks flying from the colliding metal of his spear and what appeared to be a rapier, but before he could capitalize on the opening, a red blur entered his vision.

It was only his reflexes that saved him. He brought the haft of his spear to bare, the wood braced against his leg. A red hoof struck against him, the force far higher than anticipated.

Stunned at the pain, he jumped backward to bleed off the momentum of the powerful strike, forcibly reaching out to drag Daring and Iron along with him in the process. The two of them stumbled, but righted themselves quickly, taking a stance against the sudden intruders.

Already his heart was beating quicker and quicker, the adrenaline pumping through his veins. His eyes rapidly scanned the two before him.

The one with the rapier. Male. His height, blue-white coat with a large black spot over his right eye, and a few smaller ones scattered on his lower half, with a silver-white shoulder length mane with a short tail. Silver eyes, with slight lines on his face implying he was either stressed or at least a decade or two older than himself. Cutie mark not currently visible.

The other. Female. Her weapon was a thin short sword. Seemed to be the same age as the male. Faint red coat, closer to pink really, with a soft yellow mane pulled into a tight braid. Bright yellow eyes, with a cutie mark of a flaming yellow sun.

Both of them were thestrals, like him. And, also like him, they both sported larger than average wings.

A deep pit opened in his stomach, even as the icy chill invaded his body.

They were Skies.

Immediately he readjusted himself, trying to force the chill away with a rising heat in his chest.

These two were... clearly better fighters than he'd initially thought. They'd snuck up on their entire group without being noticed at all. The male was fast, easily as fast, if not faster, than himself, and the female likely just as strong as the male was fast. Daring and Iron had been right about their teamwork as well. The male had distracted him, testing his defenses and putting him in a position where he couldn't attack and was forced to block rather than dodge an attack from his much stronger, but likely slower, ally.

If he hadn't braced his leg with his spear, she might've broken his leg with that punch.

"Sorry about the door!" the male suddenly chirped, an easy grin coming to his face, even as he spared a glance backward. His voice had a noticeable accent to it, which, while more pronounced, was decidedly similar to Emerald's. Emerald allowed his gaze to flicker, briefly, finding the door not only open, but missing both its handles.

The pit in his stomach grew. They'd done that without him noticing?

"You three sure picked quite the time to come back," the female said conversationally, her accent a bit thicker than the male's, as she settled into a relaxed, but still cautious, stance, "My păpuşă and I were just comin' back from lunch! And what do we find but our targets right where we were told they'd be, ah?" she added, smiling faintly.

So the house had been compromised and watched?

Damn. This was worse than he'd thought. If these two were to be believed-unlikely, but it was possible-than they'd gotten lucky in their timing when they'd arrived. Given their apparent ability to sneak up on even him, if they'd been around to sneak attack them when they'd arrived...

Except... they'd still done that. They'd gotten behind him in a small, one story cottage, which was far more enclosed than the forest, so... why had they announced themselves before attacking?

These two seemed... unsurprised by his presence, as if they'd been aware of him tagging along. If they'd been hired by Caballeron, then he likely wouldn't have known about him, and, by proxy, they wouldn't have either. So that implied that Ahuizotl had been the one to hire them and told them about him.

But if that was the case, then they'd know his capabilities. Yet they had still opted to alert him to their presence, as well as reveal their ability to sneak up on fellow thestrals.

Either they were stupid-which didn't seem likely-or they were simply that confident in their ability to take him out. And, given the small tussle he'd just gotten into with them, well...

Let's just say he wasn't liking his chances right now.

"Eeexcellent work you two," an accented voice suddenly spoke out, its tone oily, just before an unfamiliar figure stepped into the doorway. Emerald tensed, bringing himself a bit lower to the ground to minimize his profile in case he needed to act. Daring, however, scowled at the figure, apparently recognizing the figure.

"Caballeron," she growled. Iron shifted next to him, seemingly getting ready for a fight as well.

The stallion, a tall figure with a light brown coat, a messy black mane with a few stripes of gray, smirked. The now named Caballeron pulled at the spotted red tie he wore under the collar of his tan shirt,

"Ah, that's Dr. Caballeron, Daring Do," he corrected, smirking slyly, before turning his gaze to Emerald, "I see you have a new bodyguard. Have my new guards truly been so frightening?" he asked, his smirk now showing a bit of teeth, emphasizing the five-o-clock shadow on his face, "I admit to not thinking much of them at first, but I am quite glad my business partner arranged for their presence," he admitted.

So Ahuizotl was the one to hire them... Hmm, where'd he get the connections to hire a pair of thestrals?

Emerald idly noticed the two thestrals share a look, as if contemplating something.

"Ha!" Daring barked out, "As if I'd ever be afraid of anything a B-rate villain like you could dish out!"

"Villain?" Caballeron asked, holding a hoof to his chest, as if offended, "How could I possibly be the villain, when you're the thief around here!" he proclaimed, his expression that of a scandalized civilian, "After all, you are the one who interfered in a perfectly legitimate transaction between myself and poor Ahuizotl."

"Legitimate my-!"

"Though, I suppose that's simply what you do, isn't it?" he asked, taking a few steps forward, causing Emerald and Iron to both tense further, which, in turn, got the other two thestrals to tense as well, "You've been pilfering the artifacts my group and I have discovered and selling them to the highest bidder!" he proclaimed, ignoring Daring's offended choking, "Aha, but no more Daring Do!" he said, gesturing to the thestrals, "With these two working with us, Ahuizotl and I shall shake the world with our newest discovery, and you shall have no part in ruining it!" he spun around dramatically, "Take care of them, would you?" he asked the thestrals, already strutting out the door, a swagger in his steps.

"Sure thing, bossman," the male muttered, raising his rapier in a stance parallel to himself, ready to thrust forward. The female readied herself as well, holding her blade at an angle towards the ground as she crouched.

For an instant, everything was still.

In the next, all was in motion.

The male surged forward, sending out another set of three quick strikes, exactly the same as before. Emerald scowled, parrying all three and, just like last time, the female lunged at him in the lull after the third strike.

He felt a pit of annoyance build up in him as he dodged her attack, retaliating with a swift blow to her cheek, which sent her flying backwards.

Are they toying with me?!

To approach him with the same method of attack? Did they truly think so lowly of him, or were they playing some sort of game to throw him off?

The male re-engaged, his blade arcing through the air. Emerald twitched his head to the side, narrowly evading the edge, then lashed out with his spear. His opponent stepped into his range, catching the shaft.

Fire built up in his throat, but before Emerald could unleash it, the female leapt over her partner's body, blade arcing down towards him. He growled, ducking as he forced his spear upward, catching her blade with the wood of the shaft. His hoof shot up, snapping the wood just before the male's hoof, freeing him, before wrenching the blade free from the female's grasp, snatching it from the air by the handle. The female continued to fall towards him, earning a hefty shoulder-check, before he re-engaged the male with his stolen blade.

Sparks flew once more as their blades met. The cacophony of clashing metal rang through the air. He swung left, his opponent parrying his strike with graceful ease, and retaliated. Emerald forced his blade back towards him, managing to lock their weapons together.

The two of them pushed against each other for a moment, but Emerald was physically stronger than this one, and was able to shove him away, just in time to jump back and avoid the lunging punch the female had tried to land.

He couldn't keep this up, not in such a small area. Any attempt to create space resulted in quick recovery on their part, and ended up with him being double-teamed.

They needed to escape. The only exits were behind their enemies.

Solution?

Make one.

"Hey Daring, remember that one moment in your second book? Where we were getting chased by Ahuizotl's pets?" he asked.

"Uh, vaguely, why?"

"You remember how we got away then?"

"Vaguely, wh-oh, right," she muttered, turning to Iron, "C'mon, let's get out of here."

"What exactly are you three plannin'?" the female thestral asked, before pointing at Emerald, "Also, can I have my sword back? It was a bondin' gift."

Emerald scowled and threw it at her-"Thank you!"-before immediately turning and charging at the wall.

A quick ball of flame was spat out, before he crashed through the now-weakened wooden wall. Daring charged right after him, with Iron following an instant later.

The two thestrals each let out surprised shouts behind them. Emerald slowed for an instant, allowing Daring, as the only not-really-a-combatant to pass by him, both as a safety measure, and because she was the one who knew where to go from here.

Iron caught up to the two of them, and Emerald could hear the thestrals give chase.

There was a sudden burst of motion as one of them, the male, sped forward. Emerald paused his steps, letting Iron pass him, and struck out, a knife sliding free from his chest strap.

Metal struck, the smaller blade deflecting the thinner one at the last moment. Emerald growled, eyes flashing with flame, as his opponent smiled grimly, his own eyes reflecting the same flame.

He breathed in sharply, ducking an instant before a second blade flashed where his head had been, narrowly avoiding the thrown blade of the female, who was still running towards them, having not yet caught up.

He glanced back, for an instant.

He turned just in time to see Iron reach Daring just as she slipped into the foliage and out of sight. Iron glanced back at him, giving him a sharp nod, before he followed after her.

Emerald huffed, deflected another blow, and turned back to his opponent.

"So, what are you gonna do now?" the stallion asked, taking a quick hop backward, in time for his companion to make it to his side. Emerald twitched,

Oh, he was talking now? In the middle of a fight, really?

"I mean... no offense, you're pretty good, especially for someone who only looks to be in his twenties, but together, Summer and I are a lot more skilled than you." he said.

The female, Summer, nodded, an almost... concerned frown on her face as she stared at him.

"Not to mention that extra decade or so experience Winter and I got over you..." she trailed off.

"Battle isn't a place for talking," he snapped, "Focus on fighting the enemy," he stated. That, oddly enough, caused Summer to flinch,

"Uhhh... 'enemy' is a bit, er, strong, don'tcha think?" she asked.

"She's right, you know?" Winter said, his expression softening, "You're definitely a Skies, like us. That means we're family. We don't have to fight, son."

"Yeah," Summer agreed, giving him an oddly blinding grin, "You just made some bad choices, but if you just turn yourself in, then everythin'll be fine."

Emerald blinked,

"'Bad choices'?" he muttered to himself.

... Ah, no wonder Caballeron spouted all that bull. These two don't seem to realize they've been duped into helping criminals... Unless they're faking it in an attempt to get at me... Hmm, how much to they know about the Dark Tower and what Ahuizotl's planning?

He shook his head. There was no point in thinking about it. These two had come at him ready to kill, as evidenced by their use of non-blunted weaponry. Whether they were to be believed or not, meant nothing. They were still trying to harm him and the other two.

... Speaking of, he should probably rush after them.

With that in mind, he forced a quick build up of flame into his throat and spat onto the ground. The sudden attack caused the two of them to tense up, but by the time they were ready for his attack, he'd already run off after Daring and Iron, the fire serving as a quick little distraction that blocked him from sight.

-----

Four hours had passed since the clash in that cottage. Four hours filled with him and his mate chasing after their wayward family member through the wilderness. Four hours filled with little to no results because, apparently, it was quite hard to spot a green thestral amongst an equally green background.

So they opted, instead, to return to camp, both to inform their boss about the escape, and to receive support.

"You let them get away?!"

And a scolding, apparently.

Winter flinched slightly at the volume of Caballeron's voice,

"Oh yeah, totally. We just let 'em walk riiiiiight off!" Summer snarked, frowning at their current boss.

"You watch your tone," Caballeron hissed, face twisting into an ugly sneer, "Those three present a large problem that absolutely must be fixed! Do not think I didn't notice how you failed to ambush them! With your skills, capturing or killing them before they noticed you would have been simple, yet you allowed yourselves to be heard!" he snarled, waving his hoof wildly. He stomped it into the ground, turning around, "I was assured that you two were worth every last bit, yet clearly your value is less than anticipated! I will gather the others, so be ready to set out an a half hour. Do not fail me again, or you will regret it!"

And with that threat, Caballeron stomped off, disappearing behind some tents.

For a moment, he and his mate were silent, before he shattered it with a sigh.

"Well, that was about what I was expecting," he muttered, rubbing his face. Summer scoffed, glaring in the direction their boss left in,

"Ugh, we really have to keep workin' for this idiot?" she asked bluntly, turning to him with a scowl, "These ponies clearly ain't on the right side of the law, unlike those three we chased off. Why're we here and not tyin' them up and droppin' them off at the nearest jailhouse again?" she asked.

Winter rolled his eyes, smiling at his mate's obvious impatience. He turned, starting to walk towards the fire pit, with her following behind.

"And miss learning about those strange rings we found?" he asked, brow rising, "Hehe, I don't think so!" he said, before shrugging, "Besides, if it turns out to be anything bad, we can deal with them then." Summer scoffed, shaking her head,

"Ugh, you and your conspiracy theories. They're just a fancy set of magic rings, what could possibly be so important about 'em?" Winter huffed, turning away from her with puffed cheeks, very pointedly sitting down on a log around the fire.

"Oh come on, what's wrong with a little adventure, hun?" he asked with the continued pout, even as Summer lit the pit, immediately bringing a bright yellow light to bare, "We used to go on them all the time when we were younger!"

"Yeah, and then we performed the bonding ritual and agreed to settle down, păpuşă," Summer reminded him with a faint smile, gently rubbing her stomach with a hoof.

The pout on Winter's face fell, replaced by a soft smile as he slid over to his darling, settling next to her, his hoof joining with hers,

"Yeah, I know, hun. I promise, this'll be our last adventure," he promised softly, resting his head against her shoulder as they sat, before he chuckled, "Well, the last adventure with just the two of us, at least." Summer laughed,

"Ha! It better be!" she snapped playfully, before her grin fell, replaced by a more serious expression, "Did you notice it as well?" Winter hummed,

"Notice what?"

"That stallion. The thestral one. He was familiar, wasn't he?" Winter frowned, confused,

"Well, he is a Skies..." he pointed out. Summer sighed, shaking her head,

"Oh, you are so lucky you're cute," she muttered, "I meant... don't he remind you of someone?" she asked. Winter hummed, thinking.

She... was right, actually. There was something about the stallion that reminded him of someone.

But... who?

Three strikes, rapid and precise, shot out. Three separate clangs of metal on metal rang out, and he was shoved back.

Winter let out a breath, his shoulders sagging.

"You're getting quicker, Winter," a light, masculine voice said, "but you need a bit more variety in your attacks. You can't just expect to throw out the same three attacks again and again and expect them to work more than once, you know?"

Winter chuckled, the twenty-year-old standing straight,

"Sorry, sir, old habits, I guess?" he offered.

The way that colt had deflected his attacks reminded him of his old teacher, actually. Not only that, but that stallion had abandoned his weapon in an instant, using it to gain an advantage over him and his mate. One, smooth motion, and he'd stolen Summer's weapon, removed himself from Winter's grip, shoved her away, and reengaged in combat with him.

If Winter didn't know any better, he'd have thought the stallion had planned out the whole exchange.

Just like his old teacher.

Plus...

"Battle isn't a place for talking, Winter. Focus on attacking the enemy."

It was uncanny, now that he was really thinking about it. The resemblance, that is.

But that didn't make sense, though. The Head of the Skies Clan, Vampirul cerului, only had one son, and Sir Ruby was still up in Nocturne.

"Your face is all scrunched up. Damn, you must be thinkin' hard," Summer quipped, breaking Winter's line of thought. He chuckled, gently bumping her with his shoulder,

"Very funny, hun." Summer smiled,

"All those cogs movin' like that, you figured it out, păpuşă?" Winter hummed, lightly shaking his head,

"No, I don't think so. He reminds me a bit of Vampirul cerului."

"Ashen?" Summer asked. Winter lightly slapped her on the leg,

"Don't be rude. He's Head of the Clan. Call him by his title, at least." Summer rolled her eyes,

"'The Sky Vampire' is a bit dumb, don'tcha think?" she asked, smirking at the way Winter glared at her,

"It's trad-!" he cut himself off and took a deep breath, before leveling a glare at his mate, "I am not having this argument again, Summer," he said. His mate gave him a cheeky grin, before changing the subject, looking away from him.

"Equestria turned vampires into that weird, bloodsuckin' creature thing for their Cea mai întunecată noapte stories. Shouldn't we change it?"

"It's called 'Nightmare Night' in Equestria, hun."

"Whatever! Not like we celebrate it!"

"Summer, we're not in Nocturne. We need to respect the culture of the place we're currently in," he scolded her,

"Riiiiight. Anyways-!" she changed the subject, "you said he reminds you of Ashen, right?" Winter pouted,

"Yes. He does remind me of Vampirul cerului. He fights similarly, I noticed. Plus Vampirul cerului once said the same thing about battle and talking that that stallion did. It's... kind of freaky, actually." Summer hummed,

"Z'it his colt? I heard he's got two, right?" Winter shook his head,

"No, he only has one son, Sir Ruby. His other son was lost as a foal. A bit under twenty years ago, actually." Summer snorted,

"That stallion certainly looked like he was in his twenties," she supplied, smirking at him, "Might be him."

Winter only shook his head, frowning,

"The Clan has been hunting him down for years, Summer," Winter said solemnly, "No one has found any traces of where he was taken. The chances of us randomly running into him, out here in the middle of practically nowhere, are nil. Especially after so long."

Summer only rolled her eyes at him,

"Oh come on, Winter. By that logic then the chances of anythin' happening is nil," she chided him. Winter shook his head,

"I... guess that's fair," he conceded, frowning slightly as he looked off to the side. Caballeron had reappeared, scowl on his face and a group of others following after him, "but there's still no real way of knowing if it is him. It's not like we can just send a letter to Vampirul cerului. What would it even say? 'Hey, my mate and I might have just found your long-though-dead son out in the middle of nowhere! Mind comin' down here to check?'!"

Summer snickered at him,

"Oh I can imagine that would go over well," she snarked. Winter scoffed,

"Yeah, and so would the beating he'd give me in the name of 'training'. We all know how seriously he takes family. Even for a Skies," he mused. Summer only gave him a grunt in response, standing up a moment later when Caballeron began to approach them.

"Look alive, păpuşă. Looks like we might get another shot at figurin' out who this mystery colt of ours is," she muttered, just as Caballeron got within shouting distance.

"Get up you two!" he snapped, a scowl on his face, though his gaze wasn't directed at them. He actually looked... distracted by something, "We have a lot of ground to catch up since you let them get away."

With that he spun around, barking orders at the others and marching off.

Winter felt a spike of annoyance at that jab, but forced it aside as he stood. He spared Summer a look,

"Alright, hon," he began, the ghost of a grin coming to his features, "let's continue our little adventure. Shall we?" She laughed, a loud, boisterous laugh one would rather expect from someone at least three sizes larger than her,

"Sure thing!"

-

---

-

Emerald grunted, tearing aside the branch that nearly smacked him in the face.

Four hours. Four hours of being chased through unfamiliar territory. Four hours of hoping and praying he didn't somehow miss his companions. Four fucking hours filled with him paying so much Faustdamned attention to his hearing, that he got himself irrevocably lost in the middle of some motherfucking forest while being chased by hostiles!

And when he finally hunts down his companions, what does he find?

Them scanning the blueprints to make a plan? Maybe setting up a camp for when he found them?

No, instead he finds them absolutely covered in dirt, hiding in a bunch of random bushes.

"What the fuck are you two doing?" he asked. He smirked slightly at the yelp Daring let out as she lunged away from him, rolling across the forest floor, somehow ending up even dirtier than she'd been seconds before. Iron hastily brought out a knife and spun to face the perceived threat, already thrusting forward, but a quick swipe from him had the blade shoved into the dirt.

Emerald rolled his eyes,

"Relax, it's me," he said, quickly sitting down beside them, "I managed to outrun those two," he added, before chuckling, "Obviously."

Daring, who was glaring rather heatedly at him, presumably for sneaking up on them, spoke up,

"It's about time you found us. Iron and I have been hopping from hidey-hole to hidey-hole trying to avoid those two monsters-" Emerald had to fight down some reflexive irritation at the comment, knowing full well she was referring more to their skills than their appearances, "-when we need to start planning for how we'll deal with Ahuizotl and whatever crap he's gonna pull when we arrive, because he is absolutely planning something some sort of ambush!"

"That's still over a week away, you know?" Emerald pointed out, causing her to pause, "Besides, it's Ahuizotl. He knew you were coming after him from the get go. That's just what you do, Daring," he added, shaking his head, "Besides, how many times have you actually made and stuck to a plan?" he asked.

The archaeologist glared at him, but even under the dirt he could spot the blush.

"You do have a reckless streak in you, Miss Do," Iron agreed. She rounded on him in an instant,

"Whose side are you on?!"

Emerald shook his head,

"As funny as I'm sure this would be-" he cut in, dragging their attention to him, "-it took me four fucking hours to escape those two," he snapped, "Four hours in a fucking forest, and, in case you haven't noticed, I'm green! We can't afford to sit around. We have a week and a half, give or take, before we get to the Tower, and we're being chased on top of that."

Daring sighed, straightening.

"Right. You're right," she admitted. She cracked her neck, turning away from him, idly pulling a compass from her shirt pocket, "The Gorge, and the Tower in it, should be right about... this way," she said, pointing off into the darkening forest. She stuffed the compass away, glancing upwards, "We'll have to set up a camp soon. Or as much as a camp as we can make," she turned to them, eyes raking over the two males, "so, unless one of you has a tent shoved up somewhere, we'll be ruffing it for a while."

Iron shook his head, patting the duffel bag containing the Ring he was still, somehow, carrying.

"I believe I have one or two in here. Though, since we're on the run, I don't think setting them up would be a good idea," he added. Daring narrowed her eyes,

"Hmm... not necessarily. I might have an idea or two that might get them off our trail for a bit. They'd have to be a bit closer for it to work without repercussions, though." Emerald frowned,

"Well, you'll probably want to put that on hold. I don't know exactly how long I bought us, but if we get going now and keep on through the night, I'd wager we'd have... maaaayybe a day ahead of them?" he said, before sighing, "Then again, they've got more bodies with them, but they're also not exactly pressed for time like us, assuming they stick together at least. They can go as quick as they like, while we're stuck to the ground. Unless we want to give ourselves away." Daring frowned,

"To be fair, they already know where we're going," she countered, "If they had never found us, then we could've snuck by them while they thought we were still out of the way. Now that they know we're closing in, is there really a point in pretending we're not here?" she asked. Emerald winced.

That was sound logic. They had lost all sense of the advantage, and, because of his own stupidity, they were almost about to walk on burdening themselves with more weaknesses. Daring tapped her chin, glancing upwards,

"We might be able to get away with some low hanging flight to speed things up. You can carry Iron and I could take the bag," she suggested further.

"You have a point," he admitted, before pausing a moment to think, "... Then again, we don't know exactly how fast they can fly. If they can fly at least as fast as I can then they'll catch up to us easily, especially if we're both burdened by carrying something."

"Let's assume they'll move a bit faster than us and plan accordingly," Iron suggested, before glancing around, "... Perhaps it's best if we walk and talk at the same time..."

Emerald grimaced. Had they really just been standing around, talking, while they were being chased? He shook his head, silently cradling his head with a hoof. He must've taken a hit to the head somewhere if he was making that sort of mistake.

Or maybe, an evil little voice in the back of his head whispered, you've gone soft in that town. How else would those two have gotten the drop on you? You let down your guard, that's how.

He scowled at the thought, even as Daring agreed and they began to move.

Still, he supposed the thought was correct. It was... easier, yet harder, to admit that he'd simply let down his guard, rather than those thestrals having developed a way to move around silently enough to fool another thestral. Then again he also couldn't discount the idea that they had managed just that.

A branch snapped, suddenly, and his gaze was immediately torn to the side, hoof already grasping at-

He froze instantly, hoof hovering over nothing. He glared ahead, staring at the large, frightened eyes of a rabbit who'd frozen at his motion, the snapped remains of a branch underneath its paws. He sighed, raising his head, gazing after Daring and Iron, who'd kept walking, completely missing his momentary stare-down with a harmless creature.

He let out a silent sigh, pointedly ignoring the empty spot where his spear once rested as he continued after them. The air occupying the space practically burned cold at his skin, reminding him of that foolish, impulsive moment. He'd gotten rid of his favoured weapon just to score an extra hit on his opponent without so much as a second's thought.

Daring and Iron continued to speak, their voices droning on in the background, but Emerald didn't hear them. His thoughts kept revolving, spiraling around that memory. Breaking wood and thudding impact. It wasn't the only stupid thing he'd done in that fight. He'd willingly tossed aside another weapon, his opponent's weapon, willingly disarming himself and rearming his enemy in the same instant.

... Why? So many mistakes in so little time. Why? Why? Why?

In a battle against a superior opponent, his actions were nothing short of suicide, so why had he...?

Those... those were the actions he might normally take against a group of skilled, but ultimately inferior opponents.

He grit his teeth, feeling his chest flare with heat at the sudden realization.

He'd been treating them, those two, as inferior opponents without even noticing. Even with the understanding that they'd gotten the better of him, he had, seemingly on instinct, gone easy against them. Gone easy against the opponents who treated him as a child! Who played around with him as though he were only a minor nuisance at best!

So, why, why, why, why?!

You've gone soft, that voice whispered, too used to the weaklings of this nation. You've forgotten what a real fight is like.

... How long had it been? How long since he last tasted a real fight? One that pushed him to his limits? One that put his life on the line?

For a moment, his mind flashed back to Discord. That flurry of attacks against the being that was both the unstoppable force and the immovable object, before he tossed it aside.

His... conflict with Discord was no fight. No. That was nothing more than a one-sided slaughter against a corpse that just, wouldn't, die.

Since becoming Champion, he'd faced numerous opponents, some tougher than others, but all of which eventually fell before him. Some fell in death, others into chains, but all of them, each and every last one had fallen to him.

And here he was, faced with a set of opponents greater than him, and what did he do?

He ran.

Like a weakling.

He who had once been strong, now cowered away from a greater challenge than he was used to.

"-o you think, Emerald?" Daring voice suddenly cut through his thoughts, causing him to refocus on the mare. She had turned back to him, gazing at him with a slight frown.

His chest grew cold. Had he really been so lost in thought?

He cursed inwardly.

Another failure. He'd gotten too used to the safety of Ponyville.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" he asked calmly, not wanted to give away his inner turmoil. He stood up straighter, focusing more of his attention on their surroundings. He refused to let himself get lost as he was again.

"I asked you what you thought of those two thestrals," she repeated, not sounding at all amused, "It's been awhile since I saw you fight, but it looked like they were giving you some trouble. We're going to have to face them again. You think you could take them now that you know what they can do?"

Emerald thought for a moment.

"They... they're terrifying," he admitted without shame, gazing into Daring's shocked eyes, "And, to be honest, I don't think I can beat them," he said. He paused for a moment, then added, "Not together, at least."

Daring relaxed, just the slightest bit,

"You... think you can beat them, one on one?"

No.

"Yeah," he lied, "I seemed to be stronger than one, and faster than the other, but at least equal in skill," he wasn't, looking back on it. No one would willingly attack with the same thing twice. They had gotten him to let down his guard, presumably so they could get him to talk.

Daring sighed,

"That's good, at least," she said, a small grin coming to her features, "so we know that we're not completely screwed. Just mostly. I'll take it, all things considered."

Emerald withheld a sigh, glancing up at the darkening sky.

To think. Just a few days ago he'd been so... blasé about all this. He'd acknowledged being afraid of not returning, yet had he really stopped to think, 'What if I actually die on this mission?'. Was it because of his previous death that he felt so... apathetic towards the idea?

He sighed, and shook his head.

He could not afford to dwell on the thoughts of his idiot past self. He'd thought himself so on top of things, hadn't he?

Ponyville had changed him, for the better of that there was no doubt, but to change him it had ended up taking away from him the things he needed to survive. Here and now, he needed to be the him from before, the one who treated everything as a legitimate threat. The one who cared too much about his job to allow even a whisper of failure to pass by him.

So even as he tried to reign himself in and re-establish those old thought processes-toxic as he now knew they were-couldn't help but wonder how those friends of his were doing.

(And whether or not they'd forgive him if they found out about this whole thing.)

-----

They were making decent time, he supposed, having covered quite the distance in only a few days. He and Daring had managed to work out an interesting plan. It required the three of them to be covered in some mud and leaves, but they had worked out a faster method of travel.

Like Daring had suggested, the two of them, with Iron on his back, would fly through the trees, hovering just above the leaves. He refused to admit it aloud, but the past few days had been a strange mixture of stressful and exhilarating.

He supposed it shouldn't have been such a surprise. How long had it been since his last true adventure?

Dodging the enemy, sleeping amongst the trees and bushes, covering their trail, foraging/hunting for food? And, all in the name of making it to a certain destination, while the ever increasing anticipation of a fight burned in his blood?

Even now he could feel that excitement bubbling within him. But never did it cloud his senses. If anything, it made it all the easier to focus and prepare for the inevitable conflict that was only waiting to happen.

Is this how it always felt on the job? If so, no wonder he'd been so... addicted to work. The whole 'my life only has this as meaning' and 'I must repay this debt' stuff notwithstanding.

... He'd truly forgotten this feeling. But when compared to the ones he got from his friends, he supposed it was a worthwhile enough trade, all things considered.

In regards to their plan, only part of him felt safe in it. The parts of him that were dragging to the surface, the parts from before Ponyville, were screaming at him that this was anything but safe, however.

They reminded him that this plan of theirs hinged on two primary assumptions.

That the enemy wouldn't break apart to chase them down and that their enemy would only move so quickly.

If either of those failed, then this plan was doomed to failure.

And, considering the fact that it had been several days since they'd lost the group the first time, the chances of them growing impatient and sending out scouts to hunt them down only increased.

It was with this particular mindset that Emerald remained vigilant enough to notice someone about to dive-bomb them.

"Move!" he shouted, giving Daring, who'd been flying next to him, a swift kick, before darting to the side, just as a large red blur shot passed him. He ignored the somewhat painful sensation of Iron tightly clenching around his middle, flipping around to face their assailant.

The mare, Summer, chuckled a bit, giving him a slight grin as she turned to them, idly spinning her blade in hoof,

"Huh, so you heard us that time. You been holdin' out on us, mânz?"

Us.

His ear twitched. He spun around, slipping his knife into his hoof, blocking the the thin blade of the male thestral, Winter. The spotted eyed stallion smirked,

"Good reflexes," he said.

Emerald kicked upwards, knocking Winter away.

This wasn't good. Them both being nearby was already bad, but to have him cornered while he was being weighed down?

"Emerald!" he heard Daring shout, he turned, for a moment, to face where she'd fallen, "Quick, below the trees!" she added, before disappearing under the leafage herself.

"Yeah, no," Summer retorted, launching herself at Emerald and Iron. He let himself drop, narrowly avoiding her blade as he fell, however Winter seemed to have anticipated that particular action, diving down towards them without preamble.

"You're making this harder on yourselves by running!" he shouted with a swing of his rapier. Emerald growled and parried, before giving a large flap of his wings to try and make some distance.

A swift, powerful kick to his stomach cut him off, however, and he was sent crashing through the leaves below him, with Iron taking a large brunt of it.

He and Iron struck the ground, and Emerald felt something warm trailing down his back. He rolled off of his passenger,

"Fuck," he groaned, clutching at his stomach, "she's got a kick," he added, more to himself. He tried standing to his full height, but buckled, for a moment, at the pain.

He glanced at Iron, finding the older stallion climbing to his hooves as well. He was taking it a bit slower, however, and the reason revealed itself when he tried putting pressure on his back leg.

"Ah..." Iron let out a quite breath, lifting his leg up, "Well, that's not good," he muttered, glaring at the long stripe of red seeping from a rather nasty looking cut through the width of his leg. That explained the warmth on his back, at least.

Emerald glared upwards, but couldn't spot either of their attackers through the foliage, the setting sun only made that even harder. But, that meant they likely couldn't see them either, at least.

"C'mon, we need to move," Emerald hissed, forcing himself to his hooves, snatching up his dropped knife and re-sheathing it. Iron nodded, but his leg buckled the moment put some pressure on it, causing him to curse. Emerald glanced around for a moment, before reaching over and pulling the older stallion back onto his back, ignoring the blood that began slipping down his back.

The sound of snapping branches from above caused Emerald to curse beneath his breath. He paused for only an instant, before spitting a ball of blue flame to their right, before lunging into the undergrowth, following the direction he'd last seen Daring, the sounds of crackling flame and breaking wood hopefully covering their escape.

He heard a distant female voice cursing behind them, followed by some masculine laughter. He didn't dare sigh in relief at the sign, however, just in case they somehow had a way to hear him.

He wove through the forest, gliding by bushes and jumping over overgrown roots and rocks in the path, for a few minutes. Iron, despite the fact that Emerald cared very little about how much he was jostling him-due to favouring speed over carefulness-didn't let out more than the occasional quiet grunt, earning a fair bit of respect from him. Suddenly he came to a stop, brandishing his knife, and turned to the right. A moment later the sound of rustling leaves came from that direction, before the familiar face of Daring popped into view,

"There you two are!" she snapped, though her voice was kept low, "I was going to-!" she paused, narrowing her eyes at them, "Hold on... which one of you is bleeding?"

"That would be me," Iron grunted. Daring grimaced, and glanced around,

"Damn, we'll have to get that patched up. We don't want you getting infected, running around in a forest," she muttered. She paused for a moment, before smirking, eyes locking with Emerald's, "Hey, remember that plan I mentioned having. The one that involved the tents?"

"Vaguely."

"I think now's a good time."

Emerald stared at her for a moment, before shrugging,

"Alright, I'll bite. What's the plan?"

Daring smirked and gestured for him to follow her. The three of them skirted through the forest for a few minutes, Daring speaking all the while,

"It's pretty simple. It's getting late, so we're going to set up camp, then ditch most of our stuff. It'll lighten our load if all we have to carry is the Ring, plus we can use the time it takes to set everything up to tend to Iron's injury." Emerald hummed, knocking a branch aside,

"Are we supposed to just hope they find our camp and stake it out for a bit, or do you have an idea for that as well?" he asked. Daring scoffed, throwing a glance back at him with a grin on her face,

"Who do you think you're talking to?" she asked sarcastically, "I always have a plan!" Emerald rolled his eyes, but it was Iron who spoke up,

"I suppose getting caught in quicksand during our last outing was part of your plan as well?" he asked, sounding amused. Daring's face flushed, and she sputtered,

"Wha-bu-shut up!'

Emerald and Iron chuckled at Daring's obvious embarrassment , before they lapsed into silence. A few minutes more passed like this, until a clearing in the trees ahead broke into view.

Daring jogged forward, inspecting the area, with Emerald doing the same.

It was a fairly clear spot, aside from a fair number of leaves and branches littering the ground near the edges. There were some moss covered rocks around, with a single large boulder closer to the right tree line. All in all, it looked to be a decent enough spot to set up a camp, if a bit out in the open.

But Emerald had a feeling that was the plan.

"Alright, I'll get started on setting up the tents-" Daring patted the duffel bag she was still carrying, "Emerald, you mind setting up a fire and tending to Iron?" she asked. Emerald's brow rose,

"Fire duty and medical duty?" he asked, before scoffing, "Assigning both of those to me. You want me to cauterize his wound, don't you?" he asked.

"What?" Iron asked, sounding alarmed, jerking slightly on his back. Daring nodded,

"Quickest way we've got right now," she said. Emerald nodded,

"Alright, let's get started."

"Don't I get a say in this?"

""No.""

Setting up the fire was easy enough for someone who could actually breathe fire, even if the pit took a bit longer to dig than he expected. The tents themselves went up easily as well, though how much of that was from how easy the task was and how much of it was Daring's experience was up for debate. He'd set Iron down by his newly dug fire-pit, having spent only a minute or so gathering the wood, and already Iron was against their plan.

"Wouldn't a set of bandages work just fine?" he asked, pleadingly glancing at him and Daring intermittently.

"Probably," Emerald agreed idly, eyeing the way the knife he was holding-clean as he could get it with what they had-in the fire began to glow. He probably could've just breathed fire on it, but he'd rather not melt the thing by mistake. He never was good at judging the temperature of his fire breath. Never learned how, either.

"We don't have bandages," Daring's voice came from inside one of the tents. They were just a set of militaristic, camo green tents. At the very least they won't look too out of place. "We had to leave them at the house with the rest of, well, everything."

"Right," Iron said, "but we'll still have to bandage the wound anyways, after this-" he gestured to Emerald, who was now beginning to walk over to Iron, knife glowing a dull red, "-won't we?"

There was a loud tearing sound, before a large brown set of fabric was tossed through the flaps of the tent,

"Use that."

Emerald snickered, earning a glare from Iron.

"Shut up," he snarled. Emerald shook his head, before plucking a wide stick from the ground and shoving it into Iron's muzzle,

"Bite down. This is gonna hurt like a bitch," Emerald paused, before grinning wickedly, "... or so I've heard."

Emerald had to try a bit harder than what was probably appropriate to force down his laughter at the withering glare Iron sent him.

He grabbed the make-shift bandage Daring had thrown him, and, without any sort of warning, pressed the knife against Iron's leg.

Predictably, Iron stiffened, his back arching, and a muffled scream left his clenched jaw. Luckily the wound itself, while still rather long, wasn't too much longer than his knife, so it only took another burning for Iron's wound to be fully cauterized. Still, the whole process left Iron sweating and shaking a tad, only giving a vague wince when Emerald tightened the bandage around the injury.

"I hated that," Iron grumbled, throwing away the stick Emerald gave him, "I hated that so much."

"Relax," Daring said, finally emerging from the tent, a large tear in her clothes revealing where the brown fabric had come from, "you're not dead yet."

"'Relax', she says," Iron muttered, "'Relax' my ass, how about I shove your 'relaxation' right up your-"

"Anyways!" Daring cut him off without a shred of remorse as she walked over to Emerald, "I've set up the tents and some fake beds for us. Now is the time for us to draw them close so we can get some distance on them."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Emerald asked, "We've had to spend time setting all this up. If we didn't also have to tend to Iron's injury, this whole thing would've been a waste of time."

"They already know where we're going," Daring said, shrugging, "so they don't need to follow us. With how dark it's going to get, we'll be able to make a fair bit of distance, because I know Caballeron, and he'll never go racing through the forest, at night, just to chase us down to a place he already knows about." Emerald frowned,

"This sounds like a lot of assumptions getting made here," he pointed out, before reluctantly nodding his head, "but we've already made a lot of those, yeah, but is it worth making a few more?" he asked, "I can see just fine at night, and so can those two thestrals. If Caballeron sends them out after us, we'll be at the disadvantage, not them."

Daring only scoffed, waving aside his concerns,

"Please, Caballeron is a total coward. It's why he never goes anywhere without his little thugs following him. He'd never willingly send those two out when it would leave him alone with his incompetent mooks in some random forest in the middle of the night. No, he'll definitely force them to make camp and wait until tomorrow."

"Yeah, because running through a forest at night will leave us nice and rested for the next confrontation we face," Emerald snarked, "Even if whatever you've got planned works, we'll be exhausted by morning and unable to make camp of our own."

Daring sighed and shook her head,

"Look, I get it. We're not in the best position we could be in, but, honestly, I'd rather be tired and far enough away from Caballeron and his goons that I might get some rest, than wake up covered in chains. This might be our only shot right now."

Emerald grumbled, shaking his head,

"Fine, you've got a point," he relented, before gesturing at her, "So, what's this plan of yours you've been bugging us with? Set up camp and ditch our stuff, right?" he asked, getting a nod, "So how are we supposed to make sure they stay in one spot instead of just chasing after us?" Daring opened her mouth, but Emerald cut her off, "I know, I know, you said Caballeron's a coward, but he's working with Ahuizotl, so, for all we know, he might not have a choice and chase after us anyways."

Daring nodded at that,

"Fair enough. I was thinking we could set up a fire," Daring chuckled at his look, "I mean a big fire. Bright, super hard to miss. They'd have pretty much no choice but to investigate, they see the tents, they look around for a bit, then realize we aren't here. The fire will have totally ruined their vision for a bit, and with tents so nicely set up for them in advance, Caballeron will absolutely take advantage of our 'generosity' and stick around for the night."

Emerald nodded along with her once she started explaining,

"It sounds like a good enough plan. I still don't like how we're going to assume he'll do exactly what you expect him to do." Iron finally spoke up at that,

"It wouldn't be the first time," he said, shakily getting to his hooves, hesitantly putting pressure on his injured leg while he did so, "Caballeron is both greedy and frugal. He'll do a lot of things for money, but he's certainly not going to waste it or his time when the risk is greater than the reward. Miss Do is right. He won't be following us at night."

Emerald stared between the two of them for a moment, before eventually sighing,

"I'll trust your judgement on this, then."

He and Daring quickly gathered up some fallen sticks and leaves, and Emerald even ripped up a small bush or two and threw them all on the fire. Daring did a quick look around to determine the right direction to take and, after a moment, the three of them ran off, leaving the camp behind, the almost cheerful crackling of the fire masking their rush.

-

---

-

"Fuck! It is him! What are the fuckin' chances we'd run into some random thestral with that name who ain't him?!" Summer growled, stamping her hoof on the ground like a petulant foal. Winter couldn't help but laugh at her little tantrum, even as he quickly worked to put out the fire their relative had left behind.

The spotted stallion's laughter faded, however, as he stamped out the last of the blue flames. A fire wasn't the only thing that had been left behind. There was a fairly large patch of red on the forest floor, staining the grass an ugly brown.

One of the two stallions was injured, so, more than likely, they were at least slowed down, if only just. Judging by the amount of blood, it was a relatively large wound, though there wasn't enough to suggest that it was a particularly deep one. If he had to make a guess, he'd think it was on one of their legs or their side. Anywhere else likely wouldn't leave such a trail.

He stared at the brown patch for a moment, before Summer caught his attention.

"What the fuck are we supposed to do, Winter?!" Summer asked, turning to him with a huff, "I figured our mystery thestral was just some run'o'the'mill stallion we couldn't remember, not the lost-long-son of the Clan Head!" she suddenly paused, her red coat turning white, "Ah shit, I kicked the son of Ashen Skies.... he's sooo gonna kill me..." she muttered. Winter rolled his eyes, turning to his mate with a grin,

"Oh come on, hon, he's not gonna kill you," he said supportively, "He's a perfectly reasonable individual," he paused for a moment and, after taking in the absolutely incredulous expression on his mate's face, amended his statement, "Yeah, you're dead."

She glowered at him, earning another bit of laughter from her mate.

"So-" he breathed once he came down from his latest fit, "-we need to send a letter to Vampirul cerului as soon as possible." Summer's glare held for a moment longer, before falling with a sigh,

"And how are we gonna do that, păpuşă?" she asked, brow rising, "Caballeron ain't exactly gonna let us run to the nearest post office." Winter smirked,

"Maybe, but I think I recall one of his other workers sending off some mail. It's not like we have to tell him what it's about, hun." Summer stared for a moment, hoof tapping, before she eventually nodded,

"Right. Forgot," she sighed, "So, what's the letter gonna say?" Winter shrugged,

"Eh, we'll figure that out when we write it."

"And when're we writin' it?"

"When we make camp. Even this close to those three, I doubt our little boss is going to want to go traversing the forest at night for any reason."

"Right."

Their conversation died out when the distant sound of brushing leaves and cracking twigs reached them. Minutes later, the vaguely familiar forms of Caballeron and his other minions appeared, the former aggressively brushing away the few leaves sticking in his mane.

"Gah, I never did enjoy this part of the job," he heard Caballeron mutter to himself, before the stallion straightened himself out, sending the two of them what might've been his version of a piercing glare, if it could be called that, "Well? Did you catch them?" he asked, looking around.

Winter held back from making a sarcastic comment at that, but his darling mate, of course, lacked that sort of restraint.

"Yeah, totally, they're tied up over, oh, wait, nowhere," she snarked. Caballeron scowled at her,

"Watch your tone, halfbreed!" he snarled, "I will not have any of my subordinates speaking to me in such a manner! Another word out of you, and I'll see you and that filthy husband of yours gone!" he snapped, taking a threatening step forward. Clearly his mate's sarcasm had caused the stallion's strained nerves to snap. His mate bristled, of course, and even went so far as to grab at her sword, before Winter stepped forward between to the two of them, cutting them both off.

Summer backed down immediately, turning away from the males with closed eyes. After all their years of being bonded, or married, as the Equestrians called it, he could easily identify it as the sign of her going through some mental exercises to reign in her temper.

'Halfbreed' was a common insult when aimed at a thestral. Given their appearances, he supposed it make some sort of sense, even if they were two entirely different species, in the end. And to call him 'filthy'? Oh, no that was just foalish.

They were such small insults. Hardly of any significance, really. But merely hearing even one of those directed at his mate caused an overwhelming fury to rush through him for an instant. An intense heat, begging to burn him, to consume he who dared to insult his darling, his dearest, his One And Only-

But, it was gone in a flash, even quicker than it came, but it left its mark in the form of a burning in his throat and a tenseness in his chest.

It was a gross overreaction, by pony standards. But for a Skies? It was only natural to feel such fury on the behalf of their precious mates.

Such was the irrationality of their blood, he supposed.

Not that an Equestrian could ever hope to understand it.

"Now, now, you foals should play nice with each other," a deep, silky voice suddenly spoke, their voice cutting through the silence, a hidden threat veiled in their words.

Summer immediately turned to their sudden guest, but Winter kept his gaze locked on Caballeron, and, as such, was treated to the rather interesting sight of the stallion's eyes widening in recognition, before narrowing in anger. Winter's own eyes narrowed as well, before he allowed himself to turn.

The individual was almost entirely hidden behind a deep blue cloak, only their muzzle and hooves were visible, revealing a feminine muzzle and bright yellow coat. However, they were... hazy, for lack of a better term. Like their form wasn't quite right. Once the attention of everyone present was on them, they approached, their image blurring slightly with the motion.

His ear flicked, not picking up any sounds from them. No breath. No hoofsteps. No heartbeat.

A... projection, then?

The projection(?) eventually stepped through a patch of moonlight, and Winter spotted the most interesting clasp on the front of their cloak.

A blue unicorn's head resting atop a crescent moon, with a pair of empty slits where its eyes should be.

A muted anger formed in his chest, but was brushed aside by curiosity.

So, Caballeron is affiliated with the Nightmare Cult? Now isn't that interesting...?

"What are you doing here?" Caballeron growled, muscles visibly tensing, as though he was restraining himself from either fighting for fleeing. There certainly seemed to be some unpleasant history there, Winter noted. That could be useful.

The figure seemed to ignore Caballeron's obvious aggression, merely tilting their head innocently,

"Why, I'm here to see if your little mission is proceeding as intended. Didn't your partner, Ahuizotl, mention I would be checking in on you?" the figure asked, clearly teasing.

"No, he didn't," Caballeron muttered through clenched teeth. The figure only shrugged,

"Well, you can hardly be angry with me if he was the one to fail you," they said, casually brushing a hoof against their cloak, "Anyhow, I'm also here to inform you that we'll be needing one of your little... friends here-" they glanced at Winter and Summer, a clear grimace on their visible features. Winter had to reach out to prevent Summer from stepping forward, "-to return to the Tower. The Rings are proving... troublesome. We've already lost two of our expendables to the flame, and The Prophet refuses to lose any more, not even to ensure uninterrupted access to the Gate."

Caballeron's scowled deepened and, just as it seemed he was about to snap, let out a furious huff. He glanced over at them, his glare not softening in the slightest,

"You heard the fool. One of you return to the Tower. The other one will remain here and continue the hunt," he said, then turned back to the figure, eyes narrowing, "Unless, of course, you object?" his tone made it quite clear what he thought about the figure's opinion.

The figure only let out a humorless chuckle,

"No. I don't," they said. They gave one last, glassy smile, before their form dissipated like mist, and vanished.

Caballeron growled at the now empty space, before spinning around with a huff,

"Fan out! They can't have gotten far! Red, Cobalt, and I will remain with the supplies. Return here when one of you has found something!" he ordered. There was a round of nods from the others, before they carefully rushed off through the foliage. Caballeron turned to them, "I don't care which of you two stays and who leaves. Decide it yourselves and continue the search."

And with that, Caballeron headed towards the only remaining pair of ponies, immediately descending into a quiet, but clearly heated, discussion.

Winter turned to Summer, who only scowled and shook her head,

"Ugh, I can't stand this lot," she muttered.

"I know, hon," Winter said with a small smile, before it fell into a frown, "... So, I guess they really are up to no good, huh?" His mate scoffed, and gave him a sideways glance,

"Really?" she asked sarcastically, before gesturing to the spot the projection was in, waving her hoof wildly, "They just admitted they don't mind sacrificin' their own if it means doing... whatever all this is," she said, then shook her head, "I told ya, păpuşă. I told ya they was bad news right from the get go, didn't I?" she asked, giving his chest a playful poke.

Winter chuckled, shaking his head with a fond smile,

"Yes, hun. I remember."

"Do ya? Cause it feels like your memory just keeps gettin' shorter the longer we're bonded." Winter smiled,

"What can I say? Old age has to catch up some time, right?" Summer raised her brow, cliching her tongue at him,

"Oh, that ain't the only thing that's gonna be catchin' up to ya if ya keep makin' them jokes, păpuşă..."

Winter chuckled, raising his hooves in mercy,

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologized, smiling, before it fell, "So... what should we do?" he asked. Summer shrugged,

"Dunno. Guess we should try talkin' to those three. See if we can't all work together, or somethin'. If that damn cult is in on this, then it can't be good for anyone." Winter nodded,

"Of course. But... should we go after them now, or stick with them?" he asked, gesturing towards the direction Caballeron went. Summer tilted her head,

"I dunno. We still don't know what those Ring things do. Plus, they've got a bunch of 'em at that Tower, right?" she asked.

"Yes, I believe so." Summer nodded,

"Right, so, if these things're bad, then one'o us should probably be there and keep 'em from doin' anythin' too bad with 'em, right?" she suggested. Winter frowned, turning his head,

"I... don't know if that's a good idea, hun. What if something bad happens while we're split up?" he asked. Summer only laughed, reaching out and patting his shoulder,

"Yeah?" she asked, grinning, "'Somethin' bad', huh?" she chuckled, shaking her head, "Păpuşă, there ain't a single fighter here whose better than us! Even our wayward lil' cousin ain't better than us. We'll be fine. What could go wrong?"

Winter eyed his mate worriedly, for a moment, before relaxing with a smile,

"You're right, hun. You're right." She chuckled,

"Of course I am! I'm always right."

"You're right."

She chuckled some more, before letting go of his shoulder,

"I'll head off to that Tower and see what those creeps are up to. You stay here and talk to those three, 'kay?" Winter nodded,

"Alright. Be safe, Summer."

"Ha! 'Safe' is my middle name, păpuşă!" she boasted, puffing out her chest. They both chuckled at that and shared a kiss, before she took off.

Winter watched his mate fly off into the distance for a moment, a smile on his face. The moment she was finally out of sight, however, it abruptly fell.

...

Winter had a bad feeling about all this.

He didn't like it.

-----

His thoughts could only occupy him for so long. Soon one of their own managed to catch sight of a light shining through the foliage, the dark of the night that had set upon them making it ever easier to spot.

One of their scouts-one that wasn't himself, of course-had come across a large, contained fire, and with it, a set of tents just barely in the open enough to spot in the dark. From what he described, it seemed their adversaries had chosen to make camp for the night.

Winter supposed it was the logical choice, in some sense of the word. One of their own was injured and likely required some sort of medical attention. Plus, it wasn't like they were hiding from them. They all knew that those three were headed for the Tower. It was only a matter of how and when they got there. Given Caballeron's penchant for making camp as soon as night fell, it wasn't a difficult assumption to make, to think that they were safe enough to set up for the night.

Or at least, that would be the logical choice, if it wasn't obvious to Winter that the three of them weren't anywhere near their camp. They'd have to be stupid to take such a risk, especially when they had an encounter only so long ago. No, Winter had no doubts that this was just some lure to drag out their time, while the three of them made distance.

Unfortunately, Caballeron was the one in charge. Not that Winter really tried all that hard to convince them to ignore the camp and keep moving.

So Winter ended up getting treated to the sight of some ten odd ponies charging into an empty camp, tearing up the place, only to realize that no one was there. He laughed.

But even when the laughter died down as Caballeron ordered them to make camp, Winter found himself lost in thought.

His mind traveled back to the cloaked figure. Something about them just rubbed him the wrong way, something other than their obvious affiliation with a cult, of all things. Admittedly it might be the fact they were clearly doing all they could to disguise themselves, going so far as to even hide their gender.

But... it wasn't just that. Something they said is sticking with him. Resounding in his skull, sending sharp, almost painful spikes of dread shooting through him.

Worry crept upon him. Summer was right, of course. If the Nightmare Cult was involved, then nothing about any of this could be good. Something about all this led to something they wanted, some... 'Gate' thing. Whatever it was, they wanted it enough to sacrifice at least two lives for and, considering what little they'd managed to learn about those Rings, it sounded quite a bit like they were willing to give a lot more for it. And they needed the Rings to do it.

Even as he began to worry about just what it was that his incessant need for adventure had dragged him, his mate, and unborn child into, he came to a single, resounding conclusion.

They couldn't just stop them from using the Rings.

They shouldn't let them get the Rings in the first place.

---

Leaves and branches tore across their bodies as they ran. Small burning sensations ran across his skin as the wind rushed against the small wounds. Emerald chanced a look behind him, ducking beneath a new onslaught of branches, and allowed himself an annoyed grunt.

They hadn't lost their most recent tail.

So he didn't let up in his run, pushing himself faster, further, the world around him blurring green and brown.

Emerald had never tested how fast he could run. How fast he could fly, yes, but never how quickly he could run.

"Slow down, dammit!"

"I'd-ugh-appreciate the same!"

"Get back here!"

But apparently it was quite fast. Though his current competitors were a stallion with a wounded leg, and a pegasus who, while possessing a large amount of endurance, clearly wasn't a racer of any kind, and the idiots who couldn't catch even them, so who knows, really?

"Sorry," he grunted, slowing his pace slightly. It was enough to allow Daring and Iron to close the distance between them. Thankfully their tail, some rust coloured stallion, was already panting heavily, his steps becoming more and more uncertain as he fell behind.

Unfortunately, there were others behind him, and they weren't falling behind. Quite the opposite, actually.

It had been a week since their trick involving the tents, and it had worked wonderfully. Daring and Iron had been right on the money that Caballeron wouldn't continue on after the failure, and they had made some excellent distance.

Amazing how far one could run when motivated, no?

Iron's leg hadn't quite healed, but the stallion just kept on going without a word of complaint! Emerald couldn't help the silent admiration that he'd developed towards Iron. Anyone who was able to do that more than earned it, in his opinion.

Of course, not all was well. Just this morning they'd had the misfortune to run into one of Caballeron's non-thestral scouts, who'd shouted and drawn the rest of them to their position. The rest of the group wasn't far away, and so here they were, running once again.

Emerald cursed, eyes darting to the sides as he slipped around another tree. He could hear Daring and Iron's breathing right behind him, loud and heavy. His own wasn't much better, in truth.

Running straight was one thing, but the constant zig-zagging motions they were using, ducking and dodging through the trees and bushes... well, he could feel it beginning to take its toll on him.

There was movement ahead of them, and a group of three ponies burst into their path,

"There they are!"

"Fuck, this way!" Daring shouted, darting to the right. Iron followed immediately, Emerald not far behind him.

He nearly stumbled when the ground beneath them started to incline, but he pushed forward despite the slip. The foliage started to clear, allowing them room to sprint forward.

"Where are we going?!" Iron shouted, and Emerald found himself wondering the same. They were clearly running up a hill, but what was a hill going to do for them in this situation?

Rustling from beside him caused him to risk a glance, and he growled when the form of the spotted thestral appeared, running a few feet away from him and keeping pace.

Winter grinned,

"Hey cousin! Nice day for a run, huh?!"

Cheeky son of a bitch.

He growled once more, forcing himself to accelerate again, interposing himself between Winter and Iron. The trees ahead of them started thinning out, the bright blue sky shining through the gaps in the branches.

It probably made for an interesting scene. Two ponies and two thestrals, rushing through the trees, small spots of light illuminating the otherwise poorly lit forest.

There was a sudden break up ahead, where the trees simply ceased. Daring crossed over the threshold, the sun catching the bright gold of the Ring around her neck. Emerald wasn't entirely sure how, but when the light caught the metal, there was a massive flash of light, causing Emerald, and Winter if the second yelp beside him meant anything, to wince in pain.

In that brief instant of blindness, Emerald smelled smoke.

It faded away quickly, however, and Emerald was treated to the ever so pleasant sight of a sheer drop.

Daring skidded to a stop ahead of him, and Iron just barely caught himself as well, stopping right before he would've barreled into Daring. The momentary pause, however, proved too much, and Iron collapsed to his knees. Emerald could spot the fabric around his leg darkening.

Emerald came to a stop as well, immediately whirling around to face their pursuers.

Winter stopped in front of them, rubbing at his eyes. Behind him, a group of ten or so ponies emerged from the tree line. Caballeron pushed his way to the front, panting slightly.

"Well, well, well, it would appear you've reached the end of the line, Miss Do," he snarked, eyes scanning the three of them, before it rested solely on the Ring around Daring's neck, "You have two options. Either give me the Ring or have it taken from you," he intoned.

Daring laughed,

"Ha! Can I get a third one, those two kind of suck," she quipped with a grin.

Emerald glared at the group in front of them. Ten ponies, four unicorns and six earth ponies-seven including Caballeron-with Winter being the only thestral.

... 'Only' thestral?

Immediately his eyes started scanning the skies above them. Where was the second one?

Yet despite his search, he couldn't spot her. His ears worked on double time, scouting out the area around them, even as his eyes returned to the ground.

The cliff they were on was a rather narrow one. It led straight to a sheer drop which, if his hearing could be trusted-it could be, of course-led to a river.

He tried to remember a few maps he'd seen to guess where they'd ended up, but, honestly? He was drawing a blank right now.

Emerald huffed, eyes flicking over their opposition.

There... weren't a lot of options available to them, right now. Winter and Summer were the biggest threat, obviously. If they weren't here then fighting off Caballeron and his goons would be easy, but as long as they were, their only real option was to run.

The fact that he didn't know where Summer was only made it harder. Winter could chase them down easily enough, but, if it came to it, Emerald might be able to beat him, one-on-one. But with Summer backing him up, his chances of victory were so close to zero they might as well be. Getting stuck in some pincer attack by them guaranteed his loss.

"Make your decision, Daring Do," Caballeron intoned, glaring fiercely at them.

"Can I mail a friend?"

Caballeron turned red at Daring's flippant answer, and even a few of his goons chuckled.

"What exactly are we supposed to do?" Iron whispered, "There's not exactly a place to run." Daring chuckled,

"I don't think running is our way out, right now..." she muttered.

Running? Emerald blinked, Oh, does she mean what I think she means...?

"What do you-oh no, noooo, no noooooooo-!"

"Yep!" Daring shouted, prompting Emerald to turn, just in time to watch the mare shove Iron off the cliff.

Emerald's own garbled noise of shock was lost underneath the myriad shouts of surprise from Caballeron and his goons,

"She's crazy!"

"Holy shit, she killed him!"

Daring looked back at Emerald, a wild grin on her face,

"Come on!" she shouted, before leaping off the edge of the cliff herself.

... Holy shit, she actually did it...

Emerald stared, perhaps, for a bit longer than was appropriate, given their current situation, but he recovered soon enough. With an almost crazed grin, he glanced back at their adversaries-

-before jumping off the cliff, just like the others.

He supposed this answered the old 'If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?' question, didn't it?

The air rushed passed him, tearing at the fur over his face. He could see Daring and Iron below him, the latter of the two staring straight back at their brown-furred companion, hooves crossed and looking utterly annoyed by the situation.

Daring moved her head, like she was laughing, but the sound was lost amongst the rush of air. Her wings pumped, and he descended faster, reaching their flightless companion and grabbing him, essentially solving any issues he might've had.

Whilst they did that, Emerald chanced a glance backward and, just as expected, he saw the other thestral chasing after them.

Strangely enough, the older stallion was smiling as he propelled himself towards him. His wings were held close to his body, and his body was slowly spinning like a drill. Despite the chase, Emerald didn't see Summer anywhere in the area.

Was it possible she wasn't here? They had two fliers and had demonstrated a willingness to split up. One of them, alone, couldn't possibly hope to catch both of them, yet one of them there seemed to be. His earlier search hadn't yielded any results either, but he'd assumed that Summer had been hiding. They'd already demonstrated the ability to avoid the senses of another thestral, so he hadn't thought it unlikely. Assuming she was there and was merely waiting for an opportune moment to strike was the safest option at the time. Yet...

Was it possible that she wasn't here?

Was there any situation, however unlikely, that she'd be willing to stay behind whilst her mate ventured forth?

... He couldn't think of one.

This was a case where both parties were at an advantage and disadvantage. Emerald, Daring, and Iron had lost their strategy and were forced into open air where they could be easily tracked and followed, but their progress was massively sped up.

Caballeron and his group were now forced to split into two groups, but their fliers were fast enough to catch them, and strong enough to capture them.

But... that relied on both of them being there. Caballeron could not afford to let them escape, and, as such, needed both Summer and Winter chasing them.

Yet, she wasn't.

...

She wasn't here.

Winter was alone.

Upon that revelation, he looked back down at Daring and Iron, before flaring his wings. The muscles in his back and wings screamed at the treatment, but the pain was worth it to see the stunned look on Winter's face when he spun around and darted straight for him.

"Woah!"

Winter's wings flared out at as well, his hooves raising to block Emerald's sudden strike. His leg snapped out, catching Winter in the throat. He gagged a bit, and wasn't able to stop Emerald from grabbing a hoofful of his mane. He flipped himself in mid-air, dragging Winter along for the ride, and slammed the older thestral straight into the side of the cliff.

"Gah!"

Winter's chin clipped another jutting rock as they began to fall, sending him into an unplanned cartwheel.

The wind screamed passed the two of them as they fell, but before Emerald could fly away, Winter's hoof lashed out and caught his own. Emerald found himself dragged down and bodily slammed into the cliff, back-first. Spittle flew from his mouth at the impact, and he barely had enough time to raise his hoof to defend when Winter pulled himself forward and launched a hoof at his face.

The back of his head slammed against the rock, turning the whole world blurry around him. Blues and greens mixed together as they continued to fall, and a feeling of nausea began building in his stomach.

He felt Winter latch on to his back, and Emerald vaguely realized that the ground was getting, perhaps, a bit too close for his liking.

Summoning whatever remained of his focus, he kicked back, sending himself and Winter into, yet another, spiraling fall. Eventually he managed to flare his wings out, forcefully separating the two of them at an angle. The momentum flung the two of them in separate directions, thankfully with Emerald heading away from the cliff, allowing Emerald to hit the ground and keep rolling, bleeding off a good bit of the fall.

That didn't mean he avoided injury. He felt his wing snap upon hitting the ground, and more than a few bits of jagged rock cut across his skin as he rolled. He wasn't sure how, but he managed to catch his legs against the ground, hooves digging a slight furrow into the dirt as he finally came to a stop.

Unfortunately the rest of the world decided it wanted to keep spinning. He stumbled slightly, legs buckling underneath him. His entire body throbbed, and he felt more than one source of warmth running down his sides.

He growled, forcing himself back to standing, head rising and eyes narrowed into a glare.

Winter didn't seem to fare all that much better than he had. Like him, the stallion had only just picked himself from off the ground. While his wing remained in a single piece, Winter had been thrown towards the cliff and a few of the rocks had gotten him good. There were several small scrapes along his legs, and a particularly nasty looking gash across his chest, though it couldn't have been too deep. There was also a trail of blood leaking from his nose, as well as a few small cuts on his cheeks and forehead from his earlier slam against the wall. The illusion of wellness fell when Winter stumbled slightly, one of his legs buckling when he tried putting weight on it. He grumbled slightly at the now obviously dislocated limb, before grabbing and jerking it violently. An audible crack and pop later, and he stood on it.

Winter's body convulsed slightly, setting Emerald on edge, but his tension was overcome by confusion when a certain sound reached his ears,

"Hehehe... HehehahaHAHAHA!"

Winter had thrown his head back, a wide, open-mouthed smile stretched over his face as he laughed like a fucking maniac, even while rolling his shoulder in its socket.

"HAHAHAhahaha.... haha... haa..." his laughter trailed off, and his head abruptly lowered until his excited eyes met Emerald's, "You!" he shouted with a fanged grin, "You are a fucking riot!" his hoof shot up to his face, covering his eyes as he let out another manic laugh, "Ahahahaha!!"

Emerald blinked, slowly swaying back and forth on his legs,

"... Huh?"

His confused response only served to make the older stallion laugh harder, Winter now doubling over and holding his stomach.

Emerald stared in open shock at the sight, and even felt his face heat up at being laughed at so openly.

"Wh-why the fuck are you laughing?!" he demanded, stamping his hoof, but regretting immediately at the flare of pain it caused.

Winter's laughter continued, but it sputtered as he tried to speak,

"Y-you-hehe-you're just like-haha-just like him!" he shouted, pointing at Emerald with a wide grin. He scowled,

"'Him'? Who the fuck is 'him'?!"

"Your father!"

That stopped both his irritation and embarrassment flat.

My... father...? To make that sort of judgment... How well does this guy know him...?

Ugh, whatever. That information didn't matter. Winter was the enemy, and Emerald wasn't fool enough to-

"Ahhhh..." Winter sighed, finally coming down from his laughing fit, "... Anyways!" he perked up, "Now that we're alone, we can finally talk." Emerald scoffed, heat flickering in his throat,

"I don't see what we have to talk about."

"Well, if you don't wanna talk, why not listen?" Winter asked, turning his head with a smirk, "Not like you can run. Not right now, anyway."

Emerald's throat rumbled,

"Fuck you."

"Ha!" Winter laughed, grinning widely, "Oh, I really like you! Hehe... Now-" his grin suddenly fell, his demeanor turning serious in an instant, the sudden change causing Emerald to tense, "-I need your help."

Emerald blinked,

"... Come again?"

Winter shook his head and walked forward, limping only slightly,

"Not long ago, our group was approached by a projection," he began, his tone even, but a flickering light pulsing behind his eyes, "I don't know who they were. I know nothing about their appearance, because everything was covered or magically hidden. Not that it matters, considering the Nightmare's Sigil clasped around their neck."

Emerald tensed, eyes dilating,

"The Nightmare Cult?" he muttered, eyes narrowing, "That... doesn't make any sense. The Rings have nothing to do with Luna or Nightmare Moon..."

Winter frowned, coming to a stop only a few feet in front of him,

"You know what those Rings do?" he asked. Emerald looked at him, brow raised,

"You don't?" He shook his head,

"No. That's why my mate and I are here. We came into possession of two of those Rings not all that long ago, with no clue what they were. They had this... strange effect on us. We were about to get rid of the things when we were approached by a strange creature calling himself Ahuizotl. He claimed that he and an associate of his named Caballeron were archeologists who'd recently discovered some old ruins and a bunch of rings like the ones we found. Apparently they wanted to collect all of them and return them to their original resting place, before announcing it to the world, or something." Winter rolled his eyes, "He said something about one of them getting stolen by a mare named Daring Do during a sale between them and hired us to help them since one of her 'partners in crime' was a thestral like us."

"Really?" He nodded,

"Yeah. We didn't really believe them, to be honest. If even a word of it was true, then why not approach the local government, you know?" he asked, shrugging, "But... we agreed anyways, because we-" he flinched, "-because I wanted to know what about those Rings made them so important and why they had that effect on us. This was-is going to be our final little adventure across Equestria, before me and Summer settle down and have our first foal," he admitted, then gave another, but much wearier, sigh, placing a hoof against his forehead, "I... I can't even begin to describe how much I'm beginning to regret this decision. If it was just those idiots, I'd be fine going along with it, before we turned on them if, though I'm getting the feeling it's more of a when, it turned out those Rings were bad news. Now that we know the Nightmare Cult is in on it, we know for a fact that something isn't right."

Emerald scoffed,

"Now something isn't right? Ha! You have no fucking idea."

Winter winced,

"Then enlighten me."

Emerald scowled, before turning and walking off in the direction he'd last seen Daring and Iron.

"Those Rings are called the Rings of Scorchero," he began, wading through the shrubbery, "They're basically just a group of dark artifacts that when used together at the Dark Tower can summon a powerful attack that leaves a massive area surrounding the Tower utterly inhospitable for centuries and will kill everything in its range."

"That's... not good," Winter muttered, following after him, "I didn't realize so many lives were in danger because of a bunch of silly rings."

Emerald chuckled, brushing aside some branches,

"Funny thing, that. There aren't any lives in danger. Other than ours."

"What?" Winter frowned, "What is that supposed to mean? You said the Tower would kill everyone in the area!"

"I did," Emerald agreed, "but the area the Tower threatens is completely empty. Vanhoover is the nearest civilization I know of and it's not even close enough to get hit by any stray magic if the Tower's attack actually goes off."

"What?" Winter asked again, sounding confused. His steps halted for a moment, before he picked up the pace and came level with Emerald, "Then why go through all this trouble for empty land?" he asked brow furrowing,

"That's the thing. We're not entirely sure it is empty. Daring knows there are some other ruins in the area made by the same civilization, and-"

"You think they're looking for another artifact?" Winter interrupted, earning a nod from Emerald,

"Exactly. It's our best guess, but there's a chance we're wrong, as much as I hate to admit it."

They lapsed into silence for a minute. Emerald's ears continued to twitch, searching for a sign of Daring and Iron, while Winter simply followed along, his expression that of intense thought. It was, perhaps, another few minutes before Winter broke the silence,

"They're definitely looking for an artifact," he said suddenly. Emerald came to a sudden halt, spinning to face Winter, who had finally looked up from the ground,

"What?" he hissed,

"I remember that cultist saying that they were here for something. I-" his features scrunched for a moment, before he sighed, "... dammit, I can't remember what," he muttered, before shaking his head, "Anyways, they already killed off two of their own trying to use those Rings. Apparently their... leader?..." he blinked, before his eyes lit up, "Prophet. That's what they said, their Prophet didn't want to lose any more, even for access to... whatever it was."

"Prophet?" Emerald muttered, brow furrowing, "Their fucking prophet is here?"

"Is that bad?" Winter asked. Emerald scoffed,

"Hardly. The Nightmare Cult has been a pain ever since Luna returned. If we can catch their prophet..." Winter chuckled,

"Cut off the snake's head, eh?" he muttered, "Just like your father, you are."

Emerald's eyes snapped to his at that. Questions burned in his mind, but he forced them aside,

"You sure you don't remember what they're after?" he asked instead. Winter shook his head,

"I'm afraid not," he chuckled suddenly, "It's funny. I can remember them mentioning it, and I remember dwelling on it for an entire night... yet I can't remember what it was. It's like trying to grab at smoke." Rather than looking worried at the thought, Winter only chuckled once more, "Ahh... I guess I've taken too many hits to the head over the years," he said.

Emerald frowned,

"... Aren't you the least bit suspicious as to why you can't remember that one specific thing, but can remember everything else?" he asked. Winter rolled his eyes,

"Of course I think it's suspicious, but what am I supposed to do about it?" he asked with a shrug, though he frowned for a moment, "I will admit to being curious how it was done, though. I definitely wasn't drugged..." Emerald shook his head, moving forward once again,

"The only thing I can think of is a spell of some kind. Though, what sort of magic can a bunch of ponies cast that would affect thestrals...?" he muttered, before sighing. Winter chuckled,

"Heh, well, I'd imagine you know a lot more about magic than me and mine," he said, smirking, "so, I'll leave that little mystery to you."

And what a mystery it was. Emerald didn't know all too much about magic, a consequence of being immune to it. It wouldn't be wrong to say that Emerald knew... maybe a bit more about magic than the average earth pony or pegasus thanks to Mother's tutoring. But compared to Starlight, Trixie, Twilight, fuck, even Wisp? He might as well be clueless.

That being said, he could try to draw a few conclusions.

One thing he did know was that only certain kinds of magic were able to affect thestrals, with the apparent exception of Sparky. Magic that didn't make actual contact with them could affect them, with a prime example being his old bracelet. Magic that affected the senses, which was generally limited to illusory type magic, was the main kind that could affect them.

However, this appeared to be a case of memory based mind magic.

Emerald knew some things about illusion magic. Mind magic?

He knew next to nothing about it.

What he did know was that mind based magic could be used to improve memory recall, and assist in overcoming trauma in patients with long term psychological damage, communicate telepathically, among a few others things. The most famous and well known type of mind magic is dream magic, which Luna uses extensively.

That was about the extent of his knowledge, truthfully.

There were only two other things he knew about memory magic. One, was that memory based magic was incredibly difficult and took an extremely skilled and knowledgeable unicorn to cast. Doing so improperly could lead to... unfortunate consequences. The second was that it was highly regulated. Using memory based magic without a license would lead to some serious penalties.

That meant that, somehow, someway, Ahuizotl, Caballeron, or The Nightmare Cult, had access to a least one individual capable of casting that kind of magic, and he doubted they were legally able to do so. The thought alone was... terrifying. To be facing an enemy who could wipe their memories just like that. To completely remove a part of who they were. The potential for disaster was... too high.

... That being said, it must mean something that Winter only lost so much information. He was still aware that they were after something, just not what. If it were Emerald, he'd have wiped all memory of the conversation from Winter's mind, instead of leaving him with even a scrap of information.

... There must be a limit to how much memory they can erase, then. He supposed it made sense. The mind was complex, and anyone working for any of those three probably didn't have the skill or knowledge for a more legal kind of work. Still, even one tiny bit of information lost could be disastrous.

Well, at least it seemed to take time to take effect. Though how much time was unknown.

Not that it mattered, he supposed. He had no way of knowing until later. Until it became a serious issue, there was no need to focus on it too much. He now knew they were after something specific, just not what. That information alone was still quite valuable, and he wouldn't be forgetting that anytime soon.

"So, where are we goin'?" Winter asked abruptly.

Emerald's steps stuttered for a moment but he regained his stride a second later.

"Well, I am looking for Daring and Iron-"

"So thaaaaat's what they're called."

"-you on the other hoof-"

"Are tagging along."

"-are following me-"

"Working with you."

"-and annoying me." Winter gasped dramatically,

"Annoying you, you say?" he asked, before grinning cheekily, "I'll have you know, I am a delight!"

"Yeah, and I'd like to de-light you on fire."

"Oh, good one. I'll remember that." Emerald sighed,

"Why are you following me?" he asked, glancing at the spotted stallion beside him. Winter shrugged,

"I told you. I need your help. And after that conversation, I think you'll need mine as well." Emerald frowned, and glanced away,

"... I suppose I will."

"Hey now, don't sound too excited..."

Emerald only huffed at that, a small scowl taking place. Why did Winter have to be so... irritating?

He supposed he preferred this over the alternative, though. Winter and Summer as enemies was, by and far, the worst case scenario. In a one on one he'd thought himself capable of fending them off, but the... conflict he'd had with Winter not so long ago... Ugh. He'd caught the older stallion off guard and struck first, yet he still came out of it in arguably worse condition, having lost use of one of his wings, as well as what might be a concussion.

... Yeah, he definitely had a concussion.

What had caused it, he wondered. Was it Winter, the impact with the cliff, or had it been when he'd hit the ground?

Bah, it didn't matter.

"Well, no point in walking in silence," Winter suddenly said, turning to Emerald with a grin, "So, cousin, mind telling me a bit about yourself? The entire Clan was up in a storm when you disappeared! So, what happened?"

Emerald's eye twitched.

Ugh, I certainly hope Wisp and Starlight are better off than I am...

---

She figured she looked pretty weird right now. Well... maybe not weird? It was Ponyville, so things that were usually weird tended to be a lot less weird here than they would be anywhere else, so...

Ugh, regardless, she figured she looked weird for her.

And she couldn't blame anyone for thinking that. Not that there was anyone who did, since their house was pretty out of the way, but... well...

Wisp sighed, letting her head fall onto the window with a thunk, not caring all too much of the scratch her horn left on it.

Faust, she hated this. She couldn't stand it. This... this burning in her chest. The same burning she felt whenever he left, assuaged only when next she saw his face.

The burning that had dominated her life back in Canterlot. The burning that lasted day in and day out, never ceasing, growing stronger and she tried and failed to distract herself in her lessons, watching the clock waiting by the door, wondering when-if-he'd return and-

-chainspainirononthetonguescreamingcryingspeakingwithoutwords-

-fearterrormamapapawhereareyou-

She breathed in sharply, suddenly, the sound of cracking glass breaking her from her thoughts. She blinked, eyes refocusing. A flicker of pain on the edges of her senses prickled at her, and she turned.

Her hoof was bleeding, just a bit, from where it was pressed against the window. A set of sharp cracks jutted out from where her hoof was, a testament to how hard she'd been pressing it against the glass.

She sighed, and pulled away from the window.

That was another thing she hated about this. It reminded her of back then. Of the days before Emerald had found her under that stupid box.

A humorless chuckle escaped her. Oh she remembered that day. It had been... oh, how long had it been? A few months since the Breach? When the explosion that rocked the Facility brought their freedom to a start. Yes, a few months sounded right.

It was startling, even now, to realize that she could remember so much from from her days as an infant. She couldn't remember her parents in the slightest, yet things came into focus some time after she'd been... admitted into the Facility. They had done something to her, she imagined. Something that boosted her intelligence, maybe? Whatever it was, she'd been fairly lucid as a two year old, though she'd still been two in every other way. Her education had been basic, for the most part. Numbers, letters, words-that she couldn't speak-colours, reading, writing, the standard really.

Because of them, Whisper Moon had been a very smart two year old.

So when one of the doctors had removed her from her cage after the explosion, she knew she wouldn't be able to do much on her own. She let-'let' as if she could've done something about it-the stallion who grabbed her take care of her in his attempt to escape or... whatever. What he'd planned to do with her she didn't know, but eventually on a day he scouted out from their little room, he was killed. She didn't know by what, or who, but she certainly hadn't shed any tears.

Still, she'd had the sense to hide under a nearby box, and just in time too, as the door to her room had opened. There was movement, some growling, and suddenly all the shelves around her, each filled to the brim with glass vials containing numerous coloured liquid, were slammed down, shattered all around her. There had been loud, manic laughter, and she'd been scared.

Then he appeared. Large blue eyes peering under the lid of the box she hid in.

That was the moment that Wisp had met her older brother. From that day on, she'd been safe. Never once had to worry about being hurt or taken away again, because he would protect her.

Whenever he was gone it almost felt like she was two again. That she she that terrified little filly hiding under a box.

She hated it. It was why she wanted to be a royal guard, to Miss Light's obvious, though unspoken, disapproval.

She wanted to, if not stand by his side, at least feel as though she could stand on her own.

Yet here she was, staring out the window waiting for his return, like a lonely dog. She sighed, shaking her head. It was funny how little time it took to establish a pattern. She'd spent a majority of her life in Canterlot, waiting for her brother to come home, yet all it took was a year and some change for her to get used to him always being around. Now here she was again two weeks later, acting like it was the first week he'd ever left her behind.

She stood up, just in time to hear a knock at the door. She gasped and rushed over, practically tearing the door open.

She smiled, staring up, only to frown,

"Oh. Whatcha doin' here, Miss Light?" she asked, staring up at her tutor. Miss Light had come by with a full set of saddlebags. And they were full almost to bursting too! From what was sticking out, she could see a box or two of tissues, some towels and... was that a thermometer?

Miss Light perked up, glancing down,

"Oh, hi Wisp!" she chirped with a smile, "I was just coming by to-uhh-" she coughed suddenly, face flushing, "-w-well, umm...-" she glanced quickly to either side, before leaning down, "I-well, let's just say I think Plan E is going to work!" Wisp blinked,

"Plan-oh, like during Hearts an' Hooves Day?" she asked. Miss Light blushed harder, somehow,

"I-yes."

"And... what is Plan E?" she asked, then blinked, "Wait, what happened to Plans C and D?" Miss Light chuckled, scratching her cheek,

"W-well, Plan C was put on hold thanks to the love poison, and Plan D, well..." her brow furrowed, "Well, I wanted to find him at Sugarcube Corner for it, but the Cakes said he hasn't shown up for over a week," she smiled suddenly, "And that's where Plan E comes in!"

"And Plan E is...?"

"Simple! I'm going to take care of him while he's sick!" Wisp blinked,

"Sick...?" Miss Light blinked at her,

"Umm... yes? That's why he hasn't been around town for awhile. He... he is sick, right?" she asked, suddenly biting her lip,

"Uh... no. He's outta town," Wisp supplied, tilting her head, "Why'd you think he was sick?" Miss Light scratched her cheek, obviously embarrassed,

"W-well... I-um..." her mouth opened a few more times, but nothing came out. It took her about a minute until she finally spoke again, "W-well, what else was I supposed to think?!" she snapped, cheeks flushed, "H-he never came by to say he was leaving! H-he didn't even leave a note, o-or anything!"

Wisp blinked, and tilted her head,

"Didn't Starlight tell you?" she asked, "She said she went over for tea yesterday," she added. Miss Light blinked, her eyes drifting to the side. She suddenly stiffened, and chuckled,

"O-oh... that's what she was trying to tell me..." she muttered. She cleared her throat, "S-so, um... whe-where did Emerald go?"

WIsp shrugged,

"Dunno. A couple'a his, uh, friends came over an' they left by the train," she said. Miss Light blinked,

"His friends?" she asked, tilting her head, before she perked up, "Oh! That's great! Maybe the others and I can meet them! What are their names?"

Ah, well, she couldn't exactly tell Miss Light it was Daring Do and whatshisface. Er, could she? ... No, probably not. Emerald had this weird secrecy thing he did.

Plus... wasn't Miss Light a huge Daring Do fan? She'd overheard Scootaloo talking about reading the series since Rainbow Dash liked it-'overheard' as if Scootaloo wasn't practically shouting about it, like she always did whenever Rainbow Dash was involved-and she'd apparently gotten it from Miss Light.

It was... probably a good idea not to let either of them know that Daring Do had been in town and they'd missed her. Who knows what would happen!

So, she lied. Somewhat.

"Dunno. A mare and a stallion came by an' kinda dragged him off. Wouldn't even let 'im say goodbye an' stuff." Miss Light frowned, pressing a hoof against her chin,

"That's... odd. Why would...?" she trailed off, before her eyes widened, "Oh no. He's a guard! Something terrible must've happened if he just got dragged off like that!"

Well... she wasn't wrong...

But Emerald would not like it if they got involved. For a bunch of reasons, really. So, with that in mind, Wisp shook her head,

"Nah, there's nothin' wrong. 'Pparently they just came by an' wanted his help," she said. Miss Light's brow furrowed,

"Really?" she asked, not believing her, "But... if that's true, then why drag him off like that? And why has he been gone so long?" Wisp blinked, and tilted her head,

"Uhh... somethin' about magical artifacts that spew fire. Since he can't get burned, they needed his help," she said.

"Oh..." Miss Light sounded... weirdly disappointed about that. "D-do... do you know when he'll be back?" she asked nervously. Wisp frowned,

"Well... he said it should take about a month or more."

"A month?!" Wisp flinched at Miss Light's outburst, which caused the older mare to shrink, "Oh! I-I'm sorry for shouting, it's just... that's a... long time for him to be away..." she murmured.

Wisp frowned, eyeing Miss Light. She looked really sad about this. Her ears were folded down, and her eyes were locked on the ground.

"W-well, um, sorry to bother you Wisp. I'll, uh... I'll just be going," she muttered, turning away. Wisp sighed to herself, before speaking,

"Hey, Miss Light?" she turned around, "I've got a couple questions about our last session. Could you answer 'em for me?" Miss Light perked right up at that, and turned to her with a smile,

"Of course! What's the problem?"

-

---

-

"Fucking-there you are!"

Daring flinched and whirled around at his voice, only relaxing when his agitated face broke through the foliage,

"Faustdammit, Emerald!" she snapped, "How many times have I told you not to-!" she stiffened almost immediately, eyes darting to his left side where Winter emerged, "Fuck-run!" she shouted, only to be stopped when Emerald shouted,

"He's on our side!" he growled, walking passed her, tearing out some vines and small branches from nearby as he did so, "What, you think I didn't know he was right fuckin' here?" Daring didn't rise to his bait, instead glaring at him,

"What do you mean 'on our side'?!" she yelled, "Hello?! They've been trying to kill us!"

"No they haven't!"

"Yes, they have!"

"No, because we'd already be dead if they were!"

Daring flinched away at that, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Wha-? You said you could handle them one-on-one!"

"I lied, you fuck!" Daring jerked back,

"You what?!"

"I lied!" he repeated heatedly, before scoffing, and began to try and tie his wing in a splint, "Don't act surprised! If I actually could beat them, you think we'd be running around like this?!" Daring scowled at him, then eventually huffed,

"Fine. You've got a point," she snapped, narrowing her eyes at him, "but I swear, if he steps out of line-!"

"I'll take responsibility if that happens, which it won't," he cut her off.

"Hmm, trouble in paradise..." Winter muttered with a smirk,

"You're not helping," Emerald snapped, finishing off his shitty splint. It wasn't much, but it'd have to do. Winter only chuckled, walking forward,

"Not yet I'm not," he replied, then, in a louder voice, he turned to Daring, "So, what's your current plan? With only three of you, I can't imagine you had planned on taking the Tower by storm." Daring scowled and crossed her hooves,

"There's an air duct on the third floor, but enough for us to slip in through," she said, "I figured two of us would cause a distraction and the third would sneak in, grab the Rings, and run off with them." Winter's brow rose,

"Aaaand... you thought this would work?" Daring only shrugged,

"It's worked before. Ahuizotl and Caballeron aren't exactly geniuses." Winter sighed,

"Well, I guess I can't fault you. Considering all the resources you don't have... this might actually be the best chance you would have had."

"'Would have had'?" Iron asked. Winter chuckled,

"Yeah. That's a good plan for the three of you, but it's not just the three of you anymore, ya know?"

"Regardless of how many of us there are, I'm honestly just glad to know we had a plan in the first place," Emerald sighed, rubbing his aching head.

"'Course we had a plan!" Daring huffed, "What, do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Well when you don't tell anyone your plan, it does make me wonder..."

"Girls, please," Winter interrupted with a grin, ignoring Emerald's muttered 'Bitch' under his breath, "Now that I'm part of your group and fully willing to help out, that changes. So, how to go about all this, now?"

"An idea would be to have you, and possibly your wife if your could convince her, sneak in and take the Rings," Iron suggested. Winter nodded,

"That's an idea. Unfortunately, that's not possible. We don't know where they're being kept and us sneaking around would just be suspicious," he said. Emerald sighed,

"Why don't we just charge in?" he said. That earned him a few looks, which he just shook his head at, "Look, when I was Daring's bodyguard, taking down Ahuizotl and his lackeys was pathetically easy. Plus you said it yourselves, the two of you have taken care of Ahuizotl and Caballeron just fine up to this point. The only reason you even reached out to me was because of Winter and Summer!" he huffed, "Those two not only aren't an issue anymore, but are now active allies, so why sneak around like they're still the enemy?"

"That's... not a bad idea," Daring said with a grin, but it fell when Winter scoffed,

"'Not a bad idea' my rear end," he said, before turning to Emerald, "Are you sure you're Ashen's foal?" he asked, causing Emerald to tense, "You don't know anything about the enemy's defenses, their patrol routes, supplies, weapons, nothing. All that, and yet you want to rush on in, assuming everything is as you believe it?" Winter shook his head, "I know you were taken when you were young, but I'd think Ashen taught you something."

Emerald growled,

"'I don't know anything'?! Hello?! You worked for them!" he snapped, "You have that information, dumbass!" Winter's brow rose,

"Again, you're making assumptions," he said, "My mate and I were hired because we stumbled across those Rings and I was curious about them. No one is dumb enough to entrust what amounts to a pair of mercenaries with information that important. Now-" he added before Emerald could speak again, "-I believe you when you say that Caballeron and this Ahuizotl are basically pushovers compared to you three, but have you forgotten? It's not just those two. The Nightmare Cult is working with them, and who knows what they've brought."

Emerald glared at Winter, ignoring Daring and Iron's reactions, before huffing,

"Fair point," he muttered, "but still, they couldn't have brought much, all things considered. I doubt they have the resources to spare for a large force this far out of the way for any significant period of time." Winter actually nodded at that,

"That's true. And the nearest town they could resupply at is weeks away."

"Ignoring that whole 'Nightmare Cult' thing, which I do want to hear about," Daring cut in with a sigh, "brute force is out. Sneaking in is our best option." Winter tilted his head,

"I wouldn't say that. Like I said, you have me and Summer. Sooo.... why sneak in when you can walk in, through the front door?" Iron blinked,

"I thought brute force wasn't an option?" he asked, brow raising, before his eyes widened, "Unless, you want to-"

"Play hostage," Winter interrupted with a grin, spreading his hooves wide, "There's no point in sneaking around when I could just as easily take you in without resistance." Daring grinned in return,

"That's... perfect. You bring us in and, if I know Ahuizotl, he'll just be itching to brag about this. He'd totally take us right to the Rings, and when we're close-"

"We attack," Emerald cut in, fangs glinting in a wicked grin, "catch 'em off guard and nab the Rings, all at once," his grin fell, "... Except... what are the chances he's jsut got the Rings lying around for us to take?" Winter nodded,

"Now you're thinking. Honestly, it might be best to work on a mixture of our plans."

"How so?" Iron asked. Winter grinned,

"Well, you need a distraction for your little vent plan, right?" he asked, brow rising smugly, "What better distraction than three rampaging thestrals in the middle of the Tower, hmm?"

Daring and Iron grinned, while Emerald scowled.

"Oh, goodie."

---

Thankfully the Tower hadn't been too far away from where he'd finally met up with Daring and Iron. From the cliff they'd jumped off of, it was only another five or so miles of hiking before they got near Galloping Gorge proper.

And oh was it a sight!

A massive plain stretching as far as the eye could see, interrupted by a deep, cavernous maw that ripped open the earth, threatening to swallow all who stepped within. Compared to the cliff from before, the drop into the Gorge resembled leaping off a mountain. And upon staring down into the depths before them, one could see the jagged walls of the Gorge protruding rock ever few inches in such a way as to make climbing nigh impossible. Massive stones and boulders dotted the bottom of the Gorge, broken only by a single stretch of blue water. A thin stream running through the otherwise lifeless cavern stretching off into the distance.

It was breathtaking, in an almost frightening way. Emerald had seen a lot of the world, but never had he really taken the time to see it.

But for all the beautiful things he did see, there was one thing he hadn't.

The Dark Tower.

For a moment, just a moment, he had thought they'd been betrayed. That at any moment he'd feel the blade slide into his neck, feel the rush of warmth turning to coolness as the blood fled his body.

But then he heard it.

It was faint. So very, very faint. Nearly impossible to hear even with his enhanced hearing, but it was there.

Hoofsteps.

There was no one. Not a single soul in sight, yet he heard them. He knew they were there, just out of sight. And just like that, he was relieved. More relieved than he expected, even. He supposed it made sense. Winter was family after all. Daring hadn't seemed surprised when he reported the hoofsteps.

"Yeah, that's one of the defense mechanisms put in place by the Tenochtitlans. It was a pain to find the first time, let me tell you."

And thus here they were, beginning the first step of the plan.

Tying him up.

"I don't consent to this!" Emerald yelled, wriggling against the vines the other three had pulled around him,

"Good! You'll be a convincing prisoner then!" Daring cackled, pulling taught on yet another vine. He yelped in surprise, which got Daring to laugh louder.

The glare he shot her was venomous.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he hissed, eyes narrowing. Daring only flashed a smile his way,

"Oh you have no idea!" she chirped, tearing off a piece of her clothing to stuff in his jaw. He froze at the foul taste of sweat and dirt. Daring's chuckling was cut short when a sudden burst of heat and flame shot from his jaw, incinerating the cloth and singing more than a bit of her hat.

"Holy shit!"

"You really shouldn't poke the dragon, sweetheart," Winter teased with a smile, even as he nonchalantly slung Emerald onto his back, ignoring the cursing, "And you-" he turned his head to Emerald, "need to have a gag. It'd look pretty off otherwise."

Emerald's grumbling was cut off by Iron, who tied his mouth shut with, yet another, vine.

"Mffrfeffer!"

"'Tighter', did you say?" Iron mused, tightening the knot. Emerald just growled at him, sapphire eyes burning.

"Alright," Winter said, turning around, which moved Emerald away from Iron, "I get you're having fun, but please quit messing with him," he scolded, before shaking his head, "Ugh, it's like working with foals..." Daring huffed,

"We're just trying to ease the tension," she defended, then sighed, "but you're right. Now isn't the time to mess around. Let's go over the plan one last time so it's fresh in our heads."

Yeah, go over the plan while I can't fucking talk why don't ya?!

"Very well," Winter agreed, "I will be taking Emerald in through the front door and get Summer on our side. I can fish for some information, if possible, and then the three of us will begin our attack."

"And while you're doing that-" Iron added, "Daring and I shall be sneaking through a vent on the second level. Once we're sure there aren't any guards left we'll move out and make our way to the first floor. Using the confusion you've no doubt caused, we'll sneak into the ritual room and nab the Rings."

"Once we've secured the Rings-" Daring continued, "we'll try and round up as many ponies as we can and drag 'em back to Vanhoover where we'll send for the Royal Guard to come pick them up." Winter nodded,

"That sounds good to me. Let's go."

Daring and Iron nodded as well, before jogging over to the ledge leading into the Gorge.

"Alright, I'm taking off, don't move," Winter warned, moments before the muscles in his back twitched as his wings snapped open. Emerald stilled as he took to the air, eyes scanning the ground below them. Winter quickly began descending into the Gorge, and Emerald couldn't help the uncomfortable chill in his spine. The sight of those massive walls of stone towering above him with his wings bound against his body sent far too many alarm bells ringing in his head for his comfort.

Winter touched down moments later by the stream,

"Act unconscious," Winter suddenly said, "Wouldn't make much sense otherwise, ya know?" His eyes shut immediately, and he let himself relax.

Winter started walking forward and, after a moment, a voice suddenly spoke up,

"Hold it! What's the password?" a high pitched voice squealed, Winter paused,

"What?" Emerald felt Winter shift under him, "Since when did we have a password?"

"Since about two seconds ago," another, male, voice replied, sounding... exasperated? "Ignore her, she's an idiot. What are you doing back here? Aren't you supposed to be out with Dr. Caballeron?" Winter relaxed underneath him,

"He gave me orders to come back if I ended up catching one of the thieves."

"'Thieves'?" the female voice asked. There was a smacking sound, "Ow!"

"Yes!" the male voice spoke, voice stiff, "The 'thieves'! You know, the ones that have been causing the bosses so much trouble?" he asked.

"Uhhh...." The male sighed,

"Like I said. An idiot." Winter sighed,

"Riiiight..."

"Wait... You caught one of them?!" Winter shifted a bit, likely showing him off.

"Uh, yeah? Why else would I be here?" The male sputtered for a bit,

"W-well, I just asked-I mean..." he eventually sighed, "R-right, we'll get the door. Ahuizotl should be in the secondary chamber. Last I saw him he was monologuing to himself. Again."

"Okay..." Winter muttered. Emerald felt him start moving again, with a pair of hoofsteps coming from either side not long after. They paused for a moment and the sound of hoof pounding against stone came. He heard some hoofsteps from beyond the stone.

Emerald barely managed to keep himself from wincing when the grinding began. There was no build up. The sound of stone grinding against stone began instantly, a wretched cacophony that battered his skull. Winter flinched, but it was a muted thing. Just beneath that horrible screeching was the sound of laboured breaths and grunting.

Winter walked forward, and Emerald heard a new male voice mutter off to the side while panting,

"Ugh, Faust, why-gah did I get stuck-uff with door duty...?"

As Winter kept walking forward, turning slightly, Emerald let his ears scan the area, trying his best to keep their twitching down.

From what he could tell, the room was average in size. It covered a good distance and didn't seem to have much in the way of decoration. The walls and ceiling seemed thick, if the muffled chatter he could hear from around and above was any indication. He could detect three openings in the walls, not including the door they just came through, that most likely led into other rooms. One of those openings seemed... jagged, almost. A stairway, then?

Winter turned to the left, and Emerald's ears picked up a woefully familiar accented voice,

"-and I will finally have what I desire most in this world! Do you understand?!"

Ahuizotl.

"Yes, yes," another voice answered, sounding quite bored, "You've made the arrangement abundantly clear."

It was a female voice, but... something about it was wrong. The words were clear, but the voice speaking them was... hard to focus on. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, that voice caused something to stir. He didn't know why, but that voice terrified him.

"Well, so long as we're clear on that, Prophet, you'll have my assistance as long as you desire."

"Indeed. If that is all, then I shall be seeing my self out."

He felt an almost overwhelming sense of relief at the familiar 'pop'ing of a teleportation spell. It was short lived when another voice broke the sudden silence.

"Păpuşă?" Winter stopped, shifting,

"Oh, hey hun. How's it goin'?" he asked. Ugh, and Emerald could practically hear the grin on his face too.

"What are you-... you know he's-"

"Unconscious?" Winter cut Summer off, nodding, "Yeah, that's part of the plan, hun." Summer was silent for a moment, before she chuckled,

"Ah, so we're at that part'o the plan, yeah?"

"Yep!" came Winter's oddly enthusiastic reply.

"Fun. We goin' in now?"

"Yep," came a more subdued copy of his reply.

Winter moved several steps, and started muttering lowly,

"Alright cuz, we're in a basic room that drops down a bit. I'm gonna toss you in the middle and talk to Ahuizotl. I'll try to throw you gently, but no promises."

A few seconds passed after Winter spoke, presumably to make sure Emerald had processed the information, before he did as he said, and threw him.

It was an interesting experience, being thrown, and not one he often had.

His body hit the floor with a meaty thud, his head striking against the blocks in a way that really hit home that he had a concussion, and his wing certainly didn't appreciate it either. It took a lot of willpower to keep himself from throwing up right then and there.

Emerald decided he didn't like being thrown.

"Hah? Oho... what's this?" the gravely voice of Ahuizotl,

"I caught one of your little thieves," Winter replied, his voice slowly growing closer.

"Yes, I see that. One of the thorns I find in my side often. But I must say..." Ahuizotl growled, his steps growing closer to his body until they stopped next to it, "It has been quite some time since this thorn troubled me. I was quite pleased when you ceased interrupting my operations," Ahuizotl cooed, much, much closer to his ear than Emerald was comfortable with, "For you to return... Mmhmhmhm, it seems my new allies have proven too much for Daring and her little pet."

"So, what now?" Summer asked, sounding bored.

"Hmm? Ah yes, well..." Ahuizotl paused, his form twisting as he turned to the other two, "... throw him in a cell," he said, his voice suspiciously light, "The two of you may head into town to contact the Guard."

"Both of us?"

"Well, of course. It is only fair after separating you two for so long."

It was fortunate that Ahuizotl was turned away from him, since Emerald wasn't able to stop the twitching of his ear when it picked up some unusual vibrations. They came from above him, and were muffled like the chatter from above, but also much clearer, like it was closer to this side of the ceiling.

Ah, that must be Iron and Daring.

Assuming it was, he could hear them heading for the right of where he came in. Judging by the shapes of the room, there was a door there leading into another room.

"Uh, the other two still have the last Ring. Shouldn't we head out for 'em?" Summer asked. Ahuizotl chuckled,

"No need, my dear. I have some... other friends who should handle them just fine."

"Then why'd you bring us on?" Winter asked, hoof idly adjusting his weapon strap, "Was it just cause we had that one Ring you needed?"

"Truthfully, yes," Ahuizotl was starting to get annoyed now, he could hear it in his voice. If Emerald had to guess, he was trying to get Winter and Summer to leave so he could... kill him, perhaps? Ahuizotl had never seemed the type to commit murder. Not personally at least. He seemed to favour elaborate traps over just sticking a knife in someone's neck.

He must have something prepared. Maybe a quicksand pit or something? That seemed his style.

"Eh, I guess that's fair. Before we go, can we at least know what those Rings are for? That's the only reason we-"

"HEY! INTRUDERS IN THE RITUAL CHAMBER!"

"What?!?!" Ahuizotl roared, "Daring Do!!" he spun to Winter and Summer, "Don't just stand there! Capture them!"

Winter chuckled,

"Yeah... about that..."

Emerald took that opportunity to snap out of his bindings, and stood, giving a cursory glance at his surroundings.

They were in a surprisingly spacious room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of a brownish grey rock cut into blocks and segmented together in some way. The center of the room, which he was in, was on a lowered platform with small stairs leading to it from all sides. Combined with the weapon racks, targets, and armour stands he now saw on the perimeter, this room must've been made for training.

"What?!" Ahuizotl roared, turning towards Emerald.

Emerald growled at the creature before him. Ahuizotl stood taller than himself, and likely Mother as well. His body was rather ape-like standing on two four fingered hands in front and a pair of three toed paws in the back, and was covered in a thin layer of blue fur with a lighter blue skin showing on his stomach and feet. A long blue tail stuck out behind him, ended strangely by a third hand-like appendage. He had a long, pointed muzzle with small beady eyes and a mouth filled with jagged fangs. To top off his odd appearance, he wore a golden brace around his neck, hands, and tail-hand.

Ahuizotl bared his teeth, glancing at Winter and Summer,

"Traitors!" he growled, before the sound of heavy commotion erupted from the room where Daring and Iron had headed to. He reflexively looked towards the door, and Emerald took that moment to bolt forward, slugging the creature's jaw with a savage right hook, sending him flying towards the very door he'd looked at.

The three thestrals darted after Ahuizotl's limp body, arriving in a room very similar to the one they'd just left, but with one, very key, difference.

Runes.

There were runes everywhere.

Every last inch of the walls, ceiling, and floor was covered in runes. Oh, and not just that, but they were glowing. A bright orange colour reminiscent of a candle's flame. They pulsed with a life that shouldn't belong and shimmered like a mirage. Emerald wasn't sure if it was actually happening or merely a trick of the eye, but the runes almost looking like they were... moving towards the center of the room, where they were.

Seven giant, golden rings, stacked from largest to smallest around a small stone pillar, which was also covered in those glittering runes. Each Ring floated off the the one below it just the slightest amount, hovering in mid-air, and emitting a constant wave of heat that had even the thestrals beginning to sweat.

Bust perhaps the most distracting was the chanting. What was once a whisper had grown into a nigh overwhelming surge of sound, barreling into his head, demanding the flame, to set all alight, to burn all he could see.

Despite the ominous chanting blaring in his head, his ears picked up nothing but the sounds of the actual individuals around him.

"No!" Ahuizotl roared, climbing to his paws, not even looking bothered by the blow he suffered, "I will not allow you to foil my plans once again, Daring Do!" he swept his arm out, "ATTACK! AND GET ME THAT RING!"

As if summoned from nowhere, the three other doors in the chamber slammed open, allowing other ponies to flood into the room. A whole cavalcade of ponies, half of whom were wearing cultish robes, stormed into the room, shouting and screaming. Daring and Iron, who'd already been surrounded at the altar by seven, quickly saw that number tripling, with the rest forming a defensive circle around Ahuizotl, who scampered out of the room.

Summer cackled,

"Ahahaha! Now this'll be a riot!" she shouted, not even bothering to draw her blade before leaping into the fray. Winter sighed and shook his head, but was smiling fondly when he turned to Emerald,

"Ah, I love that mare," he said simply, then charged in after her.

Emerald sighed, and began a charge over to Daring and Iron at a much slower pace.

Thankfully very few of Ahuizotl's goons were armed, and, from the looks of it, it was only with what they found laying around. Ancient looking spears, rusted swords, that sort of thing. Despite his concussion making dodging a bit of a challenge, this was far from the most dangerous thing he'd ever done. Daring and Iron, on the other hoof, had it much worse than the three of them. Evidently the unicorns of the bunch were already aware of the thestrals' nigh magic immunity, and focused their attention accordingly.

Emerald's hooves were soon covered in blood from the number of broken noses he inflicted, and all the sprawled bodies along the floor made navigation more difficult. It was a veritable whirlwind of hooves, blades, and spellfire as Emerald made his way over to Daring and Iron, who were proving to be quite the little team. Iron was the main defender, blocking strikes with a vaguely familiar fighting stance, likely some martial art Emerald couldn't remember, while taking care of some of the unicorns targeting them with thrown bodies and the occasional weapon. While he defended and dealt what damage he could, Daring was quick on her hooves darting out from behind Iron to strike and quickly retreating, allowing him the chance to attack.

It was during a minor lull in combat where Emerald had knocked away his latest attackers that he got a look at Winter and Summer.

The way they fought was, in a word, beautiful.

Their fighting styles fit seamlessly into one another. Winter parried a blow, and Summer charged in and struck. Summer ducked under an attack, and Winter was there to take them down. Everywhere Summer stepped, Winter was not far behind. They covered each other perfectly, flowing around the other like clouds and air, brushing against the other in a constant reminder that they were not alone.

Seeing that, seeing something so... wonderous as that... it lit a fire in his stomach, a heat in his throat. He couldn't help the grin on his face as he watched them.

His grin died a gruesome when someone shouted.

"ENOUGH!"

A huge wave of force suddenly blasted out from the right side of the room, splitting the air and sending every last pony soaring. The force was apparently magical in nature, since Emerald remained firmly planted on the ground. The sound, however, stunned him enough that he was unable to dodge out of the way of four bodies slamming into him, sending him to the floor.

He grunted and shoved them off of him, but the blinding pain in his wing kept him grounded. Instead, he looked up, finding the only ones still standing were Winter, Summer, and the apparent source of the blast.

It was a single pony, a unicorn mare not too much older than himself if he had to guess. She had a bright yellow coat, a lime green mane, cut short and hanging lightly over her bright red eyes. Most of her body was hidden by the deep blue coat of the Nightmare Cult, but what little showed seemed oddly muscular for a unicorn mare.

"I will not allow any of you filthy daywalkers to stop us!" she snarled, reaching into her cloak and pulling out something that glinted in the light, "The Prophet has entrusted me with ensuring our success. We will free our beloved Night Goddess from her wretched prison, and none of you will survive!" she shouted, holding up the object, which turned out to be a syringe filled with a dull blue liquid, and plunging the needle into her leg.

Emerald's eyes widened at the sight, shivers running up his spine just at the sight of the needle, but that quickly fled his mind. The instant the liquid had completely entered her veins, the mare's horn began to crackle with a violent blue shroud of magical energy, jolt of magical lightning arcing off her horn into the air, searing the air and leaving the scent of burning ozone.

At once, the entire room, including every body save the three thestrals, was encased in that blue glow. The ground started to shake, the walls cracked, and bits of the ceiling fell before being lifted into the air.

The mare roared, her bright red eyes now a vivid blue as she turned to the three thestrals.

"GRAAAHHHH!" a body was sent rocketing at Emerald, far faster than safe for the passenger. He managed to leap to the side, and the body struck the wall behind him, sending a red splatter out from the impact.

"Haha!" Summer laughed, grinning at the sight of the mare, "Now that looks like fun!" she shouted, finally brandishing her sword, "C'mon mânz, let's see what you can do!"

Summer charged ahead, shooting straight towards the mad mare. Those blue eyes locked onto Summer and, with a roar, another body was sent rocketing forward. Summer laughed again, and ducked under the projectile,

"Ha! You're gonna hafta do better than that!" she taunted, swiping her blade forward. The magically-addled mare didn't flinch, a transparent blue wall shimmering into existence before the blade could land, only for the barrier to shatter on impact. Not that it mattered, since the magical mare had stepped out of range in that single instant..

"Ooh! Fancy!"

"Summer, be careful!" Winter shouted, rushing forward just in time to parry a blade that had been sent towards Summer from the right. Summer only laughed once more,

"Ah, don't be such a sourpuss, păpuşă! I know you're watchin' over me, so why worry?"

"DIE!!" the enraged mare shouted, sending a swarm of spears flying towards the couple.

"That's why!"

While those three were fighting, Daring was struggling against the magical grasp around her.

"Dammit! This is why I fucking hate unicorns sometimes!" she swore, flailing about in mid-air. It didn't help that the Ring she was still holding onto wasn't being affected by the magic and hung loosely around her neck. The damn thing almost felt like it was trying to drag her down by the throat! She just wanted out of this fucking magic!

As if commanded by the thought, the Ring grew hot for just a moment, and the magic holding her failed instantly. She hung in the air for an instant, before plummeting to the ground with a muffled 'Oof!'.

She groaned and sat up, immediately running a hoof along the Ring,

"Heh, guess you're useful for more than just suicide attacks, huh?" she muttered. She stood up looking around for Iron, and found him not far from her, floating aimlessly in the air, hooves crossed. "Hehe, c'mon you big lug, grab the Ring," she chuckled, walking over to him. He looked at her for a moment, and glanced at the Ring. He stared for a moment, before shrugging,

"Fine," he said, and grasped the Ring she held out. It flared hotter for a moment, before he came crashing down as well, "Hmm... convenient," he muttered. Daring scoffed,

"Whatever. Let's take this chance while that crazy bitch is distracted and start getting those Rings," she said, jerking her head towards the altar. Iron nodded,

"Right."

Emerald stared at the now deceased pony for a moment, before huffing and turning back to the fight.

It was... humbling, to say the least. Seeing them fighting as they were now was... it made it clear just how much they'd been holding back against Emerald.

Winter's blade danced through the air faster than his eyes could accurately track. The magical mare couldn't move quick enough to avoid the strikes, let alone strike back, but her magic more than made up for that lack of speed with shimmering barriers that flared to life. Summer fought alongside him, every single one of her blows leaving those same barriers like shattered glass on the wind, leaving Winter to strike again, scoring blood. A repeated cycle, a perfect harmony of offense and shattering defense.

Emerald couldn't help but let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

Hah, some 'Champion' I am. The strongest warrior in Equestria? I... I still have so much left to learn...

He watched as they fought. As they danced. He couldn't help but focus on their faces, on their smiles. They were... happy. Why? Did combat bring out the rush in them is it did him?

... No. They smiled because they were together.

Was that it, then? Was that why they were so much better than him?

His body didn't respond.

Because they stood together, while he remained only as one half?

It happened in slow motion.

It was clear the mare was starting to lag. Her breaths were coming quicker, blood pouring from the gashes that had accumulated along her legs and torso. Her eyes were darting about too quickly to keep track of everything that was happening, and one of Summer's strikes landed. A hoof shot out, slamming into the mare's jaw, but it didn't end there. Summer kept her hoof going, and planted the mare's head into the ground, causing even Emerald to wince at the brutal finisher.

"Ha!" Summer gasped, standing victoriously, pointing her blade into the air, "How do ya like that?!" she cheered, smiling brightly. Winter shook his head, chuckling behind her,

"Very good, hun," he laughed, smiling fondly.

... Why did they have that, when he didn't?

He watched that arm slowly pull back, crackling with magical energy, before throwing the weapon forward.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake, the rock splitting a part and the ceiling raining down upon them.

"What the fuck?!" Emerald shouted, stumbling slightly,

"Uh, sorry!" came Daring's voice, thought it sounded strained. Emerald's head whipped around, finding Daring and Iron struggling to lift the largest of the Rings off its altar, "I think this thing is boobytrapped!"

"OH, WHAT GAVE YOU THAT IDEA?! THE COLLAPSING TOWER?!"

"Let's get out of here!" Winter shouted, making a break for the door, Summer rushing after him. Emerald growled, and dared towards Daring and Iron,

"C'mon!" Daring shook her head,

"We need to get the Rings!" Emerald let out a choking noise, but a large chunk of the ceiling slamming into the ground next to him kept him from arguing,

"Fine! Let's split the load and hit the road!"

The Rings were... heavier than he expected. Sure they were made of solid gold, but, really, it felt like they weighed more than they should've. Though the dislocated wing and concussion might just be messing with his head.

...

Okay, they were definitely messing with his head.

Emerald was the last one out of the Tower, and he only just cleared getting crushed by the entrance collapsing. He leapt forward and landed in a heap at Daring's hooves, the two Rings he'd been carrying, the fourth and six largest ones, slipping off his back as he did so.

"Hehe..." Daring chuckled, "that's a nice ring ya got, but I'm gonna have to say no to marriage, pal." Emerald glared up at her,

"Piss off, I'm in pain."

"From the joke or your wing?"

"Yes."

Laughter cut the two off before they could continue. They turned to the source of the laughter, which was, of course, Summer, who was walking towards them with a big smile on her face,

"Now that was an adventure!" she chirped, "Haha! I know I had my worries, păpuşă, but I guess I was wrong!" Winter blinked, and tilted his head,

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Summer rolled her eyes,

"Oh, nothin' you need ta worry your pretty lil' head over," she said, patting him on the shoulder, before her hoof fell to her stomach, "I'm jus' lookin' forward to our next adventure. Hehe, it's gonna be a long one!"

Emerald blinked, his head tilting. What was that supposed to mean?

"Anyways, we got the Rings!" Daring cheered, grinning as well, "Now we just need to head off to Canterlot and drop 'em off with the Princess!"

"And then off to our next little adventure, yes?" Iron asked, brow rising speculatively, though there was a small grin on his face.

"Of course!"

Emerald sighed, but smiled as well.

It was time to head back home to Ponyvi-

*BOOOOOOOOM*

The pile of rubble and debris that was once the Dark Tower erupted! Dust and pebbles rained from the heavens as the five whirled to face the sudden explosion.

Within the cloud of dust a violent blue arua could be seen, crackling with vicious magic energy.

"YOU-"

A massive boulder was hurled at them like a runaway train, and the five out just managed to get out of the way.

"-WON'T-"

There was a sudden bang as the figure, who was obviously the mare, shot from the cloud, parting the dust like the seas as she rocketed towards Summer,

"-GET-"

A hoof slammed into Summer's face, and she was sent slamming, head first, into the dirt exactly like she had done to the mare mere minutes before.

"-AWAY-"

A spear shot from the rubble at mach speed-

"-FROM-"

-until it floated directly above Summer's body, poised to strike.

"-ME!"

It slammed down, and blood coated the ground.

---

The world was silent. Not even the echo of an echo remained. The rubble still fell, the dust still settled, and their hearts still beat, yet no sound was made.

Then, all at once, the world returned.

"NOOOOOOO!!!"

Winter's scream was... heartwrenching.

"YOU! HOW DARE YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!!! GRAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

His war cry was not.

Emerald couldn't hope to react in time. Winter blitzed from his spot next to him, the wind snapping shut in an echoing boom. The mare hadn't even the time to look up before he was on her. He slammed into her, carrying her back towards the rubble she'd escaped from, and crashed into the rock.

Winter yanked back, lips curled back in a vicious snarl, a rabid growl escaping his throat as he stared her down, teeth bared. His eyes were alight with a cold flame, vile, wicked anger burning as he raised his hoof-

-and slammed it into her face-

-and the other-

-again-

-again-

-again-

-again-

-and again.

It was... violent. Vicious. Cruel. Blood splattered to the side with every blow, coating both the stallion and the ground in a layer of red. Winter didn't stop pounding his hoof into her face, even when said face turned to mush. He continued slamming down even when his hoof hit dirt and rock.

His cruel, angered panting became desolate, desperate sobbing after a time. Body jerking with every pitched cry, but still, he didn't stop punching.

Eventually, after what felt like ages, he did stop. Shakily, he stood from the body and backed away.

Then a torrent of silver fire erupted, and the body was reduced to ash.

Winter stumbled away after that, unsteadily traipsing his way over to Summer.

"S-summer, hunny," he croaked, falling to his knees next to her, "C-c'mon, dear, n-now's not the time to-to be messing around. G-get up!" He reached out with bloodied hooves, carefully brushing a lock of hair from her face.

Emerald grimaced at the sight, looking away. He wished he could say he'd looked away out of respect, but... he brushed his hoof against his chest, feeling a tingle run over the scar.

"S-sweetie?" Winter's voice broke. He gasped and curled over her body, tears soaking into red fur.

Emerald noticed Daring slip off her hat and press it against her chest, and Iron was looking into the sky, eyes closed in what might have been prayer.

Things stayed like this for a few minutes, until Winter's sobbing faded. He slowly straightened himself, eyes red and puffy, but steeled and firm nonetheless. He stared down at his mate, and, with only a bit of flinching, pulled the spear from her chest.

Winter eyes the blood on the spear's head with anger, then sorrow. He watched as the liquid slowly rolled its way down the blade, before dropping off and landing on the ground.

Then, in a smooth motion, leveled the spear at his own chest, exactly where it had pierced Summer.

"Woah woah woah!" Daring shouted, rushing forward to grasp the other end of the spear, "What the fuck are you doing?!"

"Following after her," Winter stated, eyes locked on Summer's body. Daring sputtered,

"Wha-wai-hold on there! Suicide isn't the answer!"

"Daring is right," Iron spoke up, reaching over and gently placing a hoof on Winter's shoulder, "She would want you to live." Winter only scoffed, and shrugged Iron's hoof away,

"You don't understand," he said dismissively, "She is my other half. Without her, I'm... incomplete. I will not live a life if she isn't by my side."

"Ugh!" Daring groaned, turning to look at Emerald, "Emerald! Talk some sense into this idiot!" Emerald blinked, and finally drew his gaze back over to the three. He opened his mouth-

-Just Move.

"May you find each other in the stars," was all he said.

"Wha- Emerald!"

Winter smiled at him, and closed his eyes with a nod.

Then, as if Daring wasn't even there, plunged the spear into his chest. He gasped, a soft, pained thing. His eyes opened once more, staring straight into the bright, sunny sky.

Then, he fell over. Dead. But still smiling.

Daring and Iron stared at the bodies in stunned silence. Daring's mouth was agape in shock, eyes wide and bugged out, while Iron eventually turned his gaze on Emerald, his eyes narrowed and judgmental.

"What is wrong with you?" Iron hissed, slowly advancing on Emerald, who didn't move, "Why would you encourage him to-to-to kill himself?!"

Emerald wasn't looking at Iron, even when the stallion reached out and grasped the fur around his neck, spittle landing on his cheek as the enraged stallion spoke.

He raised his hoof to his chest, tracing the scar he could feel beneath the fur, and smiled.

"And what's with the grin?! Do you think this is some kind of joke?!" Iron growled. Emerald shook his head, chuckling as he pushed Iron away,

"You wouldn't understand, nor could you understand," he said, making his way over to the bodies of his fellow Skies. Iron huffed,

"Is this about being in love?" he asked, swiping his hoof to the side, "I'll have you know I am married! I fully understand love! And love is not that!" he snarled.

"Like I said. You wouldn't understand. It's more than love. It's... something intrinsic to us. To a Skies," he turned back to them, but didn't meet their gazes, too lost in his own head, "We are born as only half of a whole. We find that one individual, and we cling onto them for our entire lives. They are... they're everything to us," he breathed, clenching a hoof against his chest, where the stirrings of a familiar heat could be felt, "They are life. They are love. And they are death."

"That.... doesn't make sense," Daring said, only causing Emerald to scoff once more, and turned away,

"Like I said."

There is a saying, passed down through generations of the Skies Clan. From the first Skies, to whomever will be the last.

Moarte, Nu-i, Parte.

Death Won't Part.

Not Even Death Can Separate Us.

To most, the saying would represent a deep love, a love that won't stop even when both are dead and buried.

To a Skies however, it was far more. It was a promise, a curse, an obsession made into words.

For when a bonded Skies died, their partner died with them. Always. The Skies were a Warrior Clan, but battle was not the number one cause of death in the Clan.

It was suicide.

For a Skies who fell in love was destined to become obsessed. To go crazy, giving all they had and everything they were to the one they loved. There was no price too high to pay for their happiness, and no valley too low to fall into to make them smile. And when that love shattered, the grief was always too much. When one died, the other would follow, a promise made into death, that one could not live without the other.

There was an old tale in the Skies Clan. About the first Skies to feel his partner's death.

The Story of Crying Skies was a story of heartbreak, of triumph. Of his desperate pleas for death that would go unanswered. Of an invasion against Nocturne, single-hoofedly stopped by the broken-hearted fool, who died with a smile, reunited with his love in death.

The moral of the story was that the one thing a broken-hearted Skies longed for, more than glory, more than victory, more than the call of battle, was death. Compared to the greatest treasures the world had to offer, only death held any value to a Skies who lost their other half.

For only death would make them whole again.

It was why the feelings he had in his chest, the blossoming love he held for Twilight Sparkle, terrified him so. For though the clutches of obsession had yet to claim him, the feeling had left. Fled from him, upon death, upon life.

On one hoof, he could claim that the love followed him into death, and had simply not been returned upon resurrection, unlike everything else.

Except...

A Skies did not, could not, fall out of love, just as a fish could not soar through the air nor a leopard change its spots.

Seeing Summer... seeing Winter. Watching those two together was like watching a dream. So close, yet appearing so distant.

Had he ever loved Twilight? Had he simply fooled himself? Fooled everyone?

She Was Going To Die.

That Was-

-Completely-

-Utterly-

-Unacceptable.

No.

He could feel it. That spark in his chest. He felt it growing bigger and bigger everyday. Seeing Summer and Winter... he wanted that. Wanted it so badly. He could feel it burning in his chest, that desire, that hunger. Everytime he thought of Twilight, he could see a future, it was vague, blurred beyond recognition, but it was there! Just in sight!

All at once, his face burned red, his heart stuttered, and the world stilled.

He loved Twilight. He still loved her. And always would!

Nothing would change that.

He shook his head, stepping backward.

What... what was that?

"Uhh... Emerald?" Daring asked warily, brow rising, "Are you alright?" Emerald blinked, and glanced up at her. He cracked a grin, and chuckled,

"Yeah... I think I'll be just fine."

Daring's brow rose at his words, but she just shrugged them off, clearly still a bit put off by his earlier demeanor.

"Well-" Iron cut in stiffly, throwing Emerald a distasteful glance, "-if you're all done, we have Rings to bring to Canterlot... and bodies that need to be reported."

"Right," Daring said, sighing, placing a hoof against her head, "this is gonna be a nightmare to report."

"Speaking of nightmares, did either of you catch what that mare did before she powered up?" Emerald asked. He needed to be sure he wasn't the only one who caught it.

"You mean the syringe?" Daring asked, earning a nod, "Yeah, I saw it. It must've been some sort of drug, or something, but I've never heard of anything that cause that sort of reaction! You'd think it'd be everywhere with effects like that!"

"Indeed," Iron said, placing a hoof against his chin, "it must either be recent, or something closely guarded by the Nightmare Cult."

"I don't think it's recent..." Emerald muttered. Something about it... resonated with him. It was there, at the edge of his mind. What was it?

"Yeah, something like that probably took years to make with how effective it was," Daring agreed, "plus it would explain some of the Cult's weirder crimes, if they had to test that stuff."

"Right, well, enough of all this. Let's get going," Iron cut the conversation off, "We've wasted quite a bit of time. And, I don't know about you two, but I would like to sleep in a bed again."

"Ha! Same here!" Daring chirped, grinning widely.

The two of them gathered up the Rings they could carry and started making their way back up the gorge, leaving Emerald standing alone, left behind.

He gave one last glance to Summer and Winter's bodies, and, with a soft breath, lit them aflame.

"Not even death can separate you."

And then he was off, leaving behind a massive pile of debris, and a small group of smoldering ashes.

It was time to go home.

---

Emerald wouldn't be in a state of mind to see it later, but when night fell that day, two stars soared across the night sky, shining happily.

Author's Note:

tw: suicide

---

Moarte, Nu-i, Parte = Death, Won't, Part
mânz = foal
păpuşă = doll
Cea mai întunecată noapte = The Darkest Night
Vampirul cerului = The sky vampire

---

One year.

One, fucking, year.

Holy shit, I... I can't even begin to apologize properly for the long, long, wait. I know I have my reasons, but those reasons don't mean much to you all. Whatever happened, I should've just doubled down and got to writing for you lot, and I'm sorry that I didn't.

But here it is. The next chapter in the story. And what a chapter, huh?

I hope you guys like it, I really do. Constructive criticism appreciated. See you next time!

And hopefully its soon!

Comments

[Derpmeister]

Thirty six thousand words!?

[Tracelander]

This chapter was beautiful thank you! I adore this story so much!

[Lux Tenebris]

Haven't started reading, but I notice the first chapter is 2k words long and the newest one released today is 30k words long. That is quite the jump in chapter length? May I ask what prompted it?

[Voxum]

10841343
Noting really prompted it. I just write what feels right!

Sorry, but that's really the only answer I can think of.

[afellownerd]

[afellownerd]

I'm so happy right now. Great to have you back!

[Lux Tenebris]

10841365
Very well, that is indeed a valid answer.

[FallenFromGlory]

Man, I was so happy to see a new chapter. This one was sick! A few spelling mistakes here and there, but overall amazing. Eager for the next one, whenever it is!

[Osiris Grandeur]

Dude...
I fucking loved this. It was like actually cracking open a Daring Doo book.
I loved the interactions between the two new Thestrals, and watching Emerald learn from them felt amazing!
But my favorite thing of all, was how beautifully you explained why Emerald is feeling strange after his ressurection. Magnificent, beautiful, gorgeous! Everything I was hoping for in the explanation!

I am so glad to see this story updated. Thank you for putting all this time and effort in a 36k tale of wonder!

[Fireeaters]

That was a good chapter 64.media.tumblr.com/42b3e168c4e52df0beb637ce21420383/tumblr_pec63pEocR1uk0wwbo2_1280.jpg
Let's hope this meme posts properly. It's annoying you can't just upload from your pc.

[Derpmeister]

Two days later and I've finished reading this, this chapter is incredible, and absolutely heart wrenching

[Piemaster128]

Given the length of the chapter, the pandemic, and how my own upload schedule is still out of whack, I completely understand the delay in the chapter. I can’t wait to see what happens next, and hope that at some point he actually gets to meet his family again.

[Okamiluver]

About fucking time he figured it out... I've been waiting for you to update and this make me so unbelievably happy you're back at it!

[afellownerd]

Damn, I was never ready for that ending. Reading this wasn't dissimilar to watching the red wedding

[luigipwnsall]

im so surprised that this whole mini arc was one chapter. or that its 36K words, or that.... actually everything about this chapter is surprising

[Deathm0nger]

Absolutely loved it. Ngl, it's not often that I'm ingrossed in a single long chapter, but this took me over 3 days to read, and I've only read this chapter. I now have a backlog of other updates to clear now!!

Thank you!
^w^

[Voxum]

10870463
Fixed.

Totally missed that, and I probably never would've realized if you hadn't seen it. Thanks for pointing that out!

[ThatGuyJayce]

Ma heart strings

Absolute slap of a Chapter though, was excited when I saw this got a update

[sapphireStarzzzz]

Awww, it was nice to know that Em still loves Sparky but, I want them to confess their feelings soon.

[sapphireStarzzzz]

When will you write the next chapter

[Thicsalt20]

Bro this is unbelievable world building and it explains so much I LOVE IT

[Thicsalt]

11020002
Hello second account

[midnight arrow]

finally caught up and now i can't wait for the next chapter

[midnight arrow]

Can't wait for the next chapter

[midnight arrow]

i just want to know when is the next update going to be

[Voxum]

11094253
I'm sorry to everyone who is waiting patiently for the next chapter. I assure you, 100%, that this story IS NOT DEAD. I am still writing, and I still fully plan to finish this story one day, no matter how long it takes.

Unfortunately, as I'm sure many of you can relate, life, at the moment, has decided it doesn't like me. Issues with work, my health, both physical and mental, financial stability, and flat out needing to move homes has all culminated in a very rough patch for the past year now.

But worry no longer! The worst of all that has finally passed! For the most part, at least. I wish I could say that uploads will go back to once a month, but I'm not sure that's possible, and not because of any issues I'm facing. We're getting close to some important parts of the story now, so I'll need to take extra care when writing all that.

That said, I am still writing. The next chapter WILL come out. Please, just wait a bit longer.

---

TL:DR I'm sorry for the wait. Life sucks, I'm getting better. The next chapter is being written as we speak.

[midnight arrow]

11156508
thanks for letting us know

[Thicsalt]

Emerald decided he didn't like being thrown.

Lol

[Kichi]

Anything new? Or is still in work?

[midnight arrow]

just finished rereading this

[Brandenburg]

11347796
Man's so far under the poverty line he's playing fucking limbo

[Osiris Grandeur]

MMM, that was a good re-read.

[KGF]

I hope you can post the next chapter soon because I love this Fimfiction, and I can't wait to see the emerald reunite with her parents or siblings.

[f0st3r21]

Death was peaceful, it seemed. For life made youth into age, turned joy into sorrow, and the final moment of life was always one filled with regret. To pass through it all again, in reverse, was to feel your regrets fade, your sorrow become joy, age returning to youth. Death was, in every way, the opposite of life. Where life hurt, death soothed. Where life died, death lived.

This right here is why I want this story to continue. I hope the author returns to fulfill tale. I also hope MC finds solace with his feelings and a life worth living.

I’m so happy that Emerald’s love returned!! I hope he goes right to Twilight. I didn’t expect both thestrals to eat it. I thought one was going to send a message to Nocturne…