Lost Kingdom

by Riku006

First published 8th of May, 2012

Three teenagers uncover the history, and legacy, of a fallen nation.

RE-EDITED VERSION
Three friends; Dustin, Claire and Vince, discover relics from an ancient civilization while with their university's history class on an archeological dig. Little did they know that this discovery, while small, would become the catalyst of hope, of betrayal, of conflict and chaos, and of rebirth.

Author's note; The story takes place in an alternate earth, where cities, nations and landmasses would be different, but history's more or less the same. More reference will be made to the FIM universe as it goes on. Any constructive advice (grammar errors/missing words/mis-representation of characters) would be great.

Ch1: A New Discovery

“Dustin?” A voice asked, but Dustin ignored it, instead choosing to gaze out the car window. He watched the vineyards now spreading out before him as they sped by, the city shrinking behind them slowly while the afternoon sun began its descent. Dustin hadn’t been out this far from the city in a while and despite the fact he was itching to get into work, he was also a little hesitant.

“Seriously,” the familiar voice moaned, bringing him back from his daydream. “Dustin? Earth to numbskull, you awake or not?”

“I’m awake.” Dustin replied in a huff, turning to face his friend Vince in the driver’s seat. Vince was still staring straight ahead at the road that would lead up into the mountains, his face showing a tiny amount of frustration.

“Geez man,” He complained, “I know you’re a dreamer, but seriously. You might want to pull your head out of the clouds every once in a while.”

“It’s more interesting up there though.” This gave Vince cause to crack a smile.

“Whatever.” Dustin shook his head and smiled, knowing Vince had given up this round of seemingly endless random conversations. The black Jeep they were in entered the tunnels that led towards the ruins of Equia; an ancient city that somehow remained hanging off the edge of the mountainside despite being centuries old. The ruins were a popular tourist attraction, but to Dustin it was more like a workplace.

The two were part of a volunteer group from Celeste Adams University that were exploring the ruins, trying to solve out the seemingly never-ending stream of mysteries surrounding the place. There were a few problems at first, such as the tourism board being counter-productive and arguing their work could jeopardise the sites tourism status. But, much to Dustin’s delight, there were a few reasonable people in the government, and with a professional archaeologist put in charge, the university team got started.

As they exited one tunnel, Dustin looked out of his window and took in the stunning view of the valley before him. Down below, he could see the vineyards they had passed earlier, and beyond them the outer suburbs of the city of Astraea. Though they were kilometres away, the towers in the centre of the CBD stood tall against the rest of the city, shining in the setting sun before it could set behind the mountains on the other side of the valley. And resting in the shadows between those mountains and Astraea was the aptly named Shadow Forest, spanning almost the entire western border of the city.

However, just before they were about to enter another tunnel through the mountain, Dustin caught a glimpse of their destination. As they entered the well light path through the mountain, Dustin’s smile fell. There was a small part of him wanted to argue against going up there, that wanted to be as far away as he could from those ruins. But he had already agreed to coming up to the site, and he didn’t want to annoy Vince now they were this close by asking him to turn back.

Besides, there was another part of him that desperately wanted to be in those ruins once more.

Within another ten minutes, they arrived at the edge of ancient town surrounding the picturesque castle. Ancient houses lay either half submerged in the terrain, or crumbling pieces of rubble. While Vince got out of the car Dustin just stared up at the castle, feeling a mixture of excitement and dread. Excitement that he would be returning to what he loved, and dread at how he would enter the ruins, and if it could happen again.

“Come on Sir Mope-a-lot,” Vince said opening the door. Dustin sighed, undoing the seatbelt and shuffling closer to the open door. Vince grabbed hold of him underneath the arms, linking his hands behind Dustin’s back and lifting him out of the seat... before lowering him into his wheelchair.

Dustin sighed as he angled himself away from the car and pushed off, Vince easily matching his step. Deep down, despite its necessity, Dustin truly hated his wheelchair. The pain of losing his ability to walk was still raw; no more than six months had passed since the accident happened. But at least he had his friends to cheer him up and help him through the process. Vince had been the most generous, but then again, he did so out of guilt over what he thought was his fault.

The two passed through the ruined city, travelling underneath a gatehouse that needed supports to keep from crumbling alongside the nearby buildings. The main street was cobblestone covered under layers of dirt, while smaller buildings stood in various stages of disrepair all around. Vines and other plants had snaked their way inside the few houses that remained intact, turning them into makeshift nurseries.

Yellow tape barred the entry to those buildings save those that were one hundred percent stable. The tourism board didn’t want a scenario where a tourist would get themselves injured and then sue for compensation. After about five minutes, Dustin and Vince reached the arched gates leading into the castle. Vines ran rampant across what was left of the gatehouse as the faded marble walls towered above a three foot drop, the remnants of the castle moat traversed by a new wooden bridge built a few years ago.

“Dusty! Vince!”

Dustin snapped out of his daydream, looking to find the familiar voice. Jogging to meet them was Claire, the third member of their little friend group. She had blonde streaked auburn hair that was done up in a small ponytail. She was dressed in a black t-shirt, along with a brown vest and matching cargo shorts. Her clothes, along with her pale skin, were smudged with dirt and dust from exploring the ruins, making her sapphire blue eyes sparkle even more.

“Hey Claire,” Dustin replied as he wheeled his way forward, meeting her halfway. Vince was right behind him, greeting Claire with a nod and a smile.

“You ready to get in there?”

Dustin’s features fell slightly as he looked down, uncertainty evident on his face. “I don’t know.”

“Oh come on,” Vince moaned behind him. “I didn’t drive you up here just to have you chicken out on me.”

“Besides, you haven’t been up here in months. Come on, it’ll be fun.” Claire added, finishing with a sing-song. Dustin had been friends with her since they were little, and she was basically the sister he never had. How could I say no to her, he thought to himself as he sighed before putting on a smile.

“Alright, let’s go.”

~~~

After Claire and Vince helped lift Dustin up past the front step, they found themselves in the remnants of a large entrance hall. Despite its worn down visage, it still looked gorgeous from an architectural point of view. Large pillars held the domed roof above them, and all volunteers kept a careful distance from them, not wanting to cause the cave in of a national landmark. A large staircase rose in the middle of the room, ending at a door on the far wall as well as splitting into two further flights of stairs, one of which curled up around the wall of the hall while the other had long since broken and fallen to the floor.

There were also a set of double doors to the left and right; the right one stood open with a few people from the university passing through. The three passed through the doors, entering a hall with high, glassless window frames before passing another set of doors.

Once through the doors, Dustin felt his jaw slowly drop in awe. It was amazing how well preserved the place was, considering they were the first people in hundreds if not thousands of years to set foot – figuratively speaking – inside. The room they walked into was big and rectangular, a hall of some kind. On the walls were window frames, one of them cracked and broken while the walls around another had caved, turning the window into a gaping hole in the wall. The colour of the place had long since faded; now a dull grey save for a few pieces of colour, remnants of the stained glass windows.

Other members of the university team were spread out, some photographing the architectural detail of the room while others took samples away in plastic bags. Even Vince had his camera out, not wanting to miss the photo opportunity. Dustin, meanwhile, rolled over to the far side of the room near a high arched door, pointed at the top. He rested a hand against it, feeling the layers of dust between him and the faded wood used for the door.

“You okay?” He turned back to see Claire, uncertainty on her face as she looked at him. Dustin knew what she meant, but he let the subject slide, not wanting to ruin the moment.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied as he turning around, taking in the room as he did. Inside his head, Dustin’s imagination was spinning. “Just imagine what this place was like back in the day.”

“Yeah,” Claire replied. “And this is only one room.”

“Well, ladies first,” Dustin jerking a thumb back at the door, a smirk forming on his face.

“You’re lucky I’d feel bad hurting you, you know that?”

“One of the perks of this thing,” He said with a smile, hitting the left wheel with an open palm. Something flickered behind Claire’s eyes, but it disappeared before Dustin could gauge it. She grabbed the door handle and tried pushing but it didn’t budge. She tried pulling, but again it didn’t move. Not wanting to give up, she even placed one foot on the other door as she pulled, but it barely gave an inch before she gave up.

“Geez,” Claire huffed, placing hands on her knees. “That door must weigh tonnes.”

“That or something’s jamming it. Dustin offered my opinion, earning a sour look from Claire.

“No shit Sherlock.”

“Problems, Princess?” They both turned back to see Vince standing behind them, smirking.

“Call me that again and you’ll be in more pieces than that window over there.”

“Vince, give us a hand with this,” Dustin spoke up, hoping to cool things down. It wasn’t uncommon for Vince to unknowingly step too far and end up with bruises courtesy of Claire.

“Step aside ladies,” He smirked, despite earning a light punch in the arm from Claire. Vince rubbed his arm a little before grabbing the handle with both hands and pulling as hard as he could. Like Claire, he had no initial success. He stopped just to catch his breath before trying again, this time pulling the handle off with him as he fell to the floor. While he broke the handle, he had at least pulled the door open a crack. Claire laughed loudly while Dustin tried suppressing a smile.

“Ha ha.” Vince laughed sarcastically as he waved Claire over and they tried pulling the door open. A few other students walked over and helped out pulling, Dustin moving himself out of the way so they could get closer. After a few more attempts, and Vince falling on his rear end one more time, they finally pulled the door free.

Dustin craned his neck to look through the gap, but any hopes of discovering what lay beyond the door immediately crash-landed. Besides a small gap at the top of the doorway, the passage was completely blocked by fallen rubble. The others rounded the door, and the anticipation fell from their faces.

“That’s it?” Claire asked.

“I fell on my arse for this?” Vince joined in being disappointed.

A little disappointed as well, Dustin rolled away, towards the far corner of the hall to the left of the door they had entered from, looking for anything interesting. There was the pile of rubble there, the weeds sprouting from cracks in the floor there and... something else. Dustin wheeled himself closer to the pile, reaching over the side of his chair to examine what he found.

“Hey, Vince.” he called, snapping him and Claire from their discussion as the other students went back to what they were doing. “Give me a hand.” The two of them hurried over, helping Dustin fling away rocks until they found out what Dustin saw was.

There was a large, dirt covered shield, almost square in shape. It was dented in a few places, most likely from the rubble that buried it, and beneath that was a square of faded fabric, fraying at the ends. But the bottom right of the shield, the part Dustin had noticed, was partly free from dirt and dust. On the shield was an emblem, showing in four squares two suns and two crescent moons.

Dustin smiled as satisfaction and excitement grew inside him for the first time in months. “Finally.”

Ch2: Campus Dreams

Dustin was only sure of one thing; he was falling.

The wind roared in his ears as he choked on the smoke that seemed to be everywhere. As he fell, he found he was nothing more than a ragdoll; even his upper body couldn’t move as he continued his freefall.

After what seemed an eternity, Dustin could make out shapes in the pollution as the silhouettes of tall buildings began rapidly climbing past him. Looking towards his destination, Dustin’s eyes went as wide as saucers as he saw the pavement of Astraea’s business district fast approaching. Panic surged throughout his body yet he still couldn’t move, which only increased the fears presence. Dustin tried moving, angling himself towards a softer landing spot, but the only action his body would allow him was to scream.

As he reached about a hundred metres to impact, Dustin’s body was engulfed by a shadow, one which grabbed hold of him and began slowing his descent. It was now Dustin’s body began responding to his command and he looked up to the silhouette of a woman’s face, though no other features would reveal themselves. As the two were slowly descended to the ground the fear that had surged through Dustin’s body began ebbing away, as if the woman’s mere presence was enough to calm his fears.

But as they were to land, a loud explosion rocked the shadow, the sound reducing Dustin’s hearing to a loud ringing as he was violently thrown to the ground by the shockwave. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the noise in his ears as he looked around. The street resembled ones Dustin would recognise in apocalyptic movies and war or zombie games. The windows and doors of the nearby shops were broken, while some were buildings were leaning on others, or reduced to absolutely nothing but rubble.

Draped over the hood of a nearby taxi was Dustin’s savior. Despite getting a better look at her than earlier, Dustin could only make out a slightly tanned face grimacing in pain. Her eyes were hidden by the dark hair that fell in-front of her face. But another thing about her quickly drew Dustin’s attention and kept it there. Aside from her head and her out-stretched right arm, the woman was covered by two large navy blue wings, though the feathers near her back were singed from the explosion.

Without realising it, Dustin was reaching out for her, as if his body was aware of something his mind wasn’t. But pain flared in his hand when a dark combat boot stomped down hard on it, forcing a cry of agony to erupt from Dustin. Fighting through the pain, he looked up to see a young man in a dark coloured military uniform, looking down at him with a sadistic smile. Dustin froze in fear once more, because as the man pointed a gun at his head it wasn’t the prospect of imminent death that scared him the most.

It was the fact that Vince was the one who would kill him.

~~~

Dustin awoke with a shout, sweating as he propped himself up on his elbows. Catching his breath as he swiftly eyed every inch of his room, he quickly reached around his body, checking to see he was actually still in one piece. If there was a bullet fired, there was no hole in his head to prove it.

Releasing a deep sigh of relief, Dustin took one more look about his room, just in case he missed a disguised psychopath the first time. His bed stood in the corner furthest from the door, with a set of wooden drawers acting as a bedside table. On the wall opposite his bed were two more drawers, larger than the one near his bed, with an assortment of pictures and knick-knacks from before the accident.

Finally, resting next to Dustin’s bed was his wheelchair, right where he’d left it. Using his arms to help him shuffle along, Dustin approached the edge and positioned the chair facing the bed as close as possible before turning around and pushing himself into the seat. Dustin knew that Vince preferred to help him out, but already feeling like such a burden he wanted to at least move around the apartment by himself.

Once settled in the chair, Dustin wheeled himself to the door and entered the corridor. Directly in front of him was the door to Vince’s room, left open enough to glimpse the clothes that lay scattered across the dull navy blue carpet. Turning left took him past the laundry and toilet doors before entering the living and kitchen area of the apartment, where Vince sat at the couch to Dustin’s right flipping through the television channels.

“Morning sleeping beauty,” Vince said jokingly, though Dustin only grunted in response while moving towards the fridge. “Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“Pretty hard to when your bed’s against a wall.” Dustin replied with a tired voice, despite the small grin on his face. “Besides, I just had a weird dream, that’s all.”

This captured Vince’s interest, as he muted the TV and turned to face his friend. “Weird dream?”

“Yeah,” Dustin shrugged while getting milk for his cereal. “It’s nothing though. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Dustin nodded, though he didn’t fully believe it himself. There was still a part of him somewhere inside that was shaken up from the dream and it was that same part that preferred to not let Vince know he killed him.

Vince, however, wasn’t falling for the calm act and moved from the couch to his chair at the small table near the edge of the kitchen. “Come on Dusty. You really think after what I saw happen to you I don’t know what you look like when you’re shaken up?”

Dustin looked his friend in the eye, brown eyes flecked with gold meeting his own steely blue irises. For a moment they held each other’s gaze before Dustin sigh, caving in. “Fine, but don’t tell anyone. And don’t think I’m weird because I had a freaky dream like this.”

“I think you’re weird anyway.” Vince joked before leaning forward. “But I’ll keep it a secret. So, what happened?”

So Dustin recounted what he could remember, though like with most dreams the memory of it was disappearing before he could firmly grab hold of all the details. He explained the fall, then the shadow, the explosion and finally the end. Once Dustin had finished, Vince leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest as he thought about it. After a moment of silence between the friends Vince looked back up at Dustin, who was waiting for a response.

“Whoa. You weren’t kidding about it being a weird dream,” Vince stated.

“Yeah...” Dustin trailed off, looking out the window facing the car park outside, the leaves from a nearby tree leaving shadows on the glass.

“Hey, Dusty?” Dustin turned back to see Vince looking back at him, his face showing a mixture of concern and determination. It was the same look Vince had shortly after the accident; looking at Dustin’s injury and blaming himself for it. “Listen... I promise I’ll never try and hurt you like that, alright?”

Dustin raised an eyebrow. “Where’s this coming from?”

“I’m just saying what happened in your dream, it’ll never happen in real life.”

Dustin thought this over for a moment before putting his elbow on the table, pinkie finger extended. “Pinkie promise?”

“Dusty, we’re not ten anymore man. Besides, pinkie promises are for girls.”

“Maybe, but no one dares break a pinkie promise. So...?”

Vince looked at Dustin’s hand before sighing and replicating the action, taking Dustin’s pinkie finger with his own. “Fine, pinkie promise. Now hurry up with breakfast, class starts in twenty minutes.”

Dustin eyed the clock, seeing it read twenty to nine, before proceeding to wolf down his cereal.

~~~

Celeste Adams University was one of the country’s most prestigious schooling campuses despite its age, founded by and named after the former Prime Minister only forty five years ago. The campus sprawled over two blocks about half an hour’s drive from the city centre. Each building was networked together with red bricks paths, with small grassed areas and benches placed here and there. To the west of the campus was the large car park, directly next to the group of buildings that made up the student apartments.

It was near the car park that Dustin and Vince emerged from their apartment door, Dustin wearing a plain grey shirt with denim pants while Vince wore a black shirt with the initials of one of his favourite bands - S.I.Y.R - along with khaki coloured shorts. They were about to turn towards the centre space of the apartment blocks, aiming to cut through them on the way to the science block, when something caught Dustin’s eye.

Parked nearby was a sports car that not many students on campus could afford. It was sleek, sporting a dark paint job that turned navy blue when the light hit it at just the right angle. Silver wheel spokes shined in contrast, and further back above the rear tire, rested an image of four stars in a line before a crescent moon, almost as if it was taking on the roll of Pac-man.

“Hey Vince,” Dustin spoke up. “You know who that belongs to?”

Vince turned and quickly saw what his friend meant, giving a low whistle. “No, but whoever it is has to be loaded. Never seen that beauty around here before.” Dustin took one more look before turning himself around and heading off to class. The rest of the ten minute trip to the science block was uneventful, with the two friends idly chatting and jokingly throwing insults at one another.

Once inside Dustin was a little excited, as it had been two days since he had seen the relics. The dig team was unable to immediately examine the relics as the lecturers had to first inform the museum, who gave the university permission to dig in the first place. Then came the inquisitive news crews who dogged the lecturers, and even Dustin, for questions. By the time the whole ordeal was over, it was decided the relics would be locked up over the weekend and the class could start researching on Monday.

Dustin smiled as their destination was in sight. The science block one of the oldest buildings at the university; being scheduled for renovations during the break next year, most students that didn’t have classes there referred to it as the Slab. To be fair, it was a drab building; an unimaginative blocky grey building standing three stories tall with an orange tiled roof and windowpanes where the white paint was slowly but surely peeling off.

Yet despite this, Dustin didn't care about those things when he and Vince entered, as the feel of the building changed once inside. The floors were covered in white tiles while white neon lights illuminated nearly every space below them. On the wall near the door was a thumbtack board, littered with photos from the dig team on site as well as photos from other classes in the science block.

As they made their way to the lift, Dustin spotted their lecturer, Mr. Bunt, talking with two men and a woman, all dressed in expensive-looking business suits. He was curious as to why they were here but his curiosity about the artifacts was much stronger. It had had been a few days since he was able to see them after all.

Out the elevator and through the third door on their left, Dustin and Vince entered the lab the dig team used for archaeology. But as soon as they entered Dustin could tell something was off. One of the high windows on the far side of the room was shattered and cordoned off with yellow tape. Another thing amiss was one of the wooden workbenches had its corner torn off, like as if someone had taken a swing at it with a sledgehammer.

But then Dustin saw the two glass cases at the back of the room, in which the relics were meant to be kept, and saw one of them was wide open; the flag no longer in its spot.

“Hey, Claire, what happened in here?” Vince asked cautiously as he and Dustin moved further down the near wall towards the back of the room. Claire leant against the benches on the side of the room with her arms crossed, wearing a white shirt with random splotches of sky blue, yellow and red adorning the front and denim shorts.

“Not sure.” She shrugged. “Apparently someone tried breaking in last night to steal the relics.”

“What?” Both boys asked at the same time, disbelief etched onto their faces.

Before either of them could ask any more questions, Mr. Bunt walked in, holding a clipboard underneath his arm. Mr. Bunt suffered from many insults from the ‘cool’ clique of uni students, being slightly overweight, balding and having a surname like his. But, to his credit, he didn’t let it get to him, much. Today he was wearing a beige button-up shirt and dark pants, his dull brown eyes looking over the class behind his think-rimmed glasses.

But it wasn’t Mr. Bunt that commanded Dustin’s, if not the entire class’ attention; it was the person who followed him in.

It was her.

Like before in the entrance to the science block she was wearing a navy blue suit/skirt combo, with a white shirt underneath and modest black shoes. Like the sports car in the car park, her dark hair almost seemed to take a bluish tinge if looked at in just the right way. Her skin showed signs of a light tan that complimented her bright blue eyes, which shone like stars in the night sky. Dustin nearly pinched himself, thinking he was dreaming again.

“Ahem,” Mr. Bunt cleared his throat, drawing the class’ attention back to him. “Hello everyone. Now, I know what you’re going to ask so I’ll explain as much as I’m allowed to.”

Allowed to? Dustin thought to himself as Claire and Vince looked to each other in confusion, Vince shrugging.

“As you can see around you, someone tried breaking in to steal the relics we uncovered on Friday. Thankfully, Miss Regal of the Department of Special Investigations was around to help stop the perpetrators. The flag from Equia has been transferred to a secure location by Miss Regal’s department on the wishes of the museum board for security. However, we still have the shield to research, so I say we work with what we have and see where that gets us.”

“What about her?” Vince asked, nodding towards Miss Regal. A few other classmates nodded in agreement, Dustin included. After all, this seemed too coincidental for her to just show up and now be here before them. Before Mr. Bunt could reply the woman stepped forward, looking around at the class.

“I can understand that this situation seems suspicious.” She spoke calmly, yet her voice held a hidden authority. “But rest assured that I will not interfere with your research. I am only here to make sure that the remaining relic is secure, in case anyone is foolish enough to try and steal it again.”

The class stood still for a moment, considering Miss Regal’s words as she looked each student in the eye to make sure her message got through. No one dared to move until Mr. Bunt clapped his hands, bringing everyone back to reality.

“Right. Well with that out of the way, why don’t we get started? Grace, Arthur, carefully take the shield out of the case so we can begin.”

As the class began buzzing with activity, Dustin glanced back Miss Regal’s way once more. What he saw was her staring back at him, a small smile standing in contrast of a face where concern seemed to be the dominant emotion. But before Dustin could be sure, someone walked around him, drawing his attention away for a second. When he turned back, Miss Regal was gone.

Author's Notes:

Hey everyone. Man I suck when it comes to keeping up with updates. I'm so sorry I keep slipping up, but the next chapter will hopefully be done by the end of the week (if I don't slip up.) I actually had a tough choice whether to end the chapter here or keep it going, but I think ending it here is better for the story, otherwise this chapter will be overloaded with words while the others wouldn't be. But enough of me rambling. Thank you for reading, and I'll (hopefully) have chapter 3 up soon.

Ch3: Determined Theories

“Come on Dusty,” Vince moaned, leaning with arms crossed against the bench Dustin was at. Dustin, however, ignored him and continued scrolling on his laptop, reading over all of the class’ findings over the past few months. Claire stood on Dustin’s opposite side, looking at him with concern. After their class ended, Dustin had asked if he could study the relics further hours later. It had been a few hours since then and now the science block was ready to close up, as were most classes.

“Dustin,” Mr. Bunt spoke up, standing behind him. “It’s time to pack up for the day.”

“Not done yet.” Dustin quickly muttered before looking back at his screen.

“The relics will still be here in the morning.” Bunt joked, though with his head turned Dustin didn’t see the smile on the teachers’ face that quickly faded like the fading sun in the afternoon sky outside, the amber light shining through the windows.

“I’ll be done in a little bit.” Dustin replied

“That’s what you said an hour ago.” A sliver of annoyance could now be heard in Vince’s voice.

“Dusty...” Claire said softly, looking at Dustin pleadingly. He looked back and held her gaze for a moment. Nothing was said between them, which caused them to jump when there was a knocking on the open door. Four heads swivelled to find Miss Regal standing in the doorway, her hand raised from knocking.

“I am sorry to interrupt,” She said, entering the room with gracefully measured steps. “But I could not help but overhear your conversation.” Once more her gaze was set upon Dustin, bringing forth many questions in his mind. “If it is alright with you, I could watch over him until he decides to finish researching.” The four had varying reactions; Claire and Vince shared a look of confusion, while Bunt almost looked flustered. Dustin, however, had a smile forming on his features.

“A-Are you sure about that?” Bunt asked, showing a smile that looked slightly off. “I mean, you still have to look after the relic, right? I wouldn’t want to trouble you looking after Dustin, though it is very generous of you.”

“I’m not that much trouble.” Dustin said loudly, with a hint of annoyance, though both adults ignored him.

“It would be no trouble at all,” Regal went on, shaking her head in reply to Bunt. “All I have left to do is check that the extra security cameras we installed are working. Once that has been done, I can return here and look after Dustin until he completes his studying.”

Dustin looked back and forth between the two; Miss Regal seeming unflappable, while Mr. Bunt looked as if he was in a debate where his life hung in the balance, loosening the green tie around his neck. Vince and Claire were unsure what to make of the exchange, sharing a glance at Dustin and each other before looking back to the adults.

Finally, after a few moments of silence, Bunt sighed. “Alright, I guess he can stay. I mean, you’ll be here all night, so you’ll be able to look after him, right?”

Miss Regal nodded. “You have my word.”

“Thanks Miss,” Dustin said with a smile before turning back to the computer, picking up his study where he left off.

Vince sighed. “Well, I might as well help out a little before I head off, but you can’t stay out too late, alright?”

“Yes mum,” Dustin replied, causing Claire to laugh a little as she started gathering her notes for Dustin to cross-reference. Miss Regal smiled at their reactions before turning and leaving the room to check the security cameras her men had installed earlier.

Mr. Bunt sighed again, telling the three not to be too long before leaving as well. But as he left none of the three friends noticed the unusual and somewhat fitting scowl that formed upon Mr. Bunts’ face.

~~~

Vince sighed as he sat on one of the benches while Claire scrolled idly through her phone. Dustin, on the other hand, sat staring at the computer monitor and all the data that was looking back at him. Surrounding the keyboard was all of Claire and Vince’s notes they had taken while Dustin had been in rehab for his injuries, and further along the bench was the glass case in which the shield was stored.

“Dusty, can we go now?” Vince moaned as he looked out the window, seeing the rapidly darkening sky. “We’ve been here for hours.”

“Door’s there if you want to go,” Dustin replied, still looking at all the notes, looking for something.

“Dusty,” Vince said again, this time hopping off the bench and walking over to his friend. “You shouldn’t work this hard. Despite the wheels, you’re not a robot.”

“I get the picture.” Dustin sighed tiredly.

“Then why stay?”

“Vince, let it go.” Claire interjected before things could escalate. Vince looked to her, his eyes pleading her to help. But all she did was look back at him and Dustin. Despite all the protest, Vince knew he wasn’t going to win this fight; Dustin had a habit of being notoriously stubborn, especially since the accident.

“Alright,” Vince sighed. “You win, but... just don’t overdo it, okay?”

Dustin turned to face him, a small smile a sign of thanks. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“I’m getting a snack,” Claire added in, following Vince to the door. “I’ll see him out and be back in a bit.”

Dustin nodded in reply as he watched his friends exit the room and heard them move down the hall, chatting quietly. The room was now eerily silent, save the fan of the computer and the light breeze that whined against the windows. There was still a tinge of faint blue light from the horizon, though it was clear the night was in charge now; with stars beginning to emerge from the darkness as the few clouds out were illuminated by the moon, which had no doubt started rising from the east.

Taking a deep breath, Dustin turned back to the mountain of research that lay before him. Despite missing almost six months of class in rehab, Dustin had not only caught up, but was now trying to get ahead of the rest of the class, hoping to uncover something, anything, from the shield. But unfortunately for him, all that could be taken from the shield were guesses and assumptions, which only irritated Dustin further.

“Is something the matter?”

The voice made Dustin figuratively jump as he turned his head to see Miss Regal standing there, looking at him with those beautiful eyes of hers. Seeing his reaction, however, shifted her face from a neutral one to one of concern.

“Oh, I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you.”

“No, it’s fine,” Dustin said, waving it off as he turned to face her. “Though, how’d you get in without me hearing you?”

Regal shrugged. “I have always been light footed I suppose, though it always served me well when playing jokes on my sister.”

“You have a sister?”

She nodded, leaning on the bench beside her. “Yes, an older sister,” Her face then fell slightly as a sombre note entered her voice. “Though sometimes it feels as if I am the one looking out for her...”

“Did something happen?”

Regal shook her head. “No, ‘tis nothing. I should not burden you with my family matters, though I thank you for your concern.”

“...You know, you have a weird way of speaking, has anyone told you that?”

Miss Regal’s eyes widened as she was caught out before laughing softly, creating a sound that Dustin couldn’t help but smile at. “Yes, but it is easier for me to talk like this. It helps me remember my home more accurately.”

“You don’t live near here?”

Another shake of the head. “That is a bit too personal to talk about openly.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“That is alright.” Regal then looked at Dustin’s work scattered all across the bench and the data splayed across the screen. “You are very thorough, aren’t you?”

Dustin glanced at the bench and smiled guiltily, resting a hand behind his head. “Yeah, but I’d fallen behind a little bit. Besides, I’m just not done yet.”

“But your class had only finished three hours before you came back here, and it has been at least another three to four hours since then. You should not work yourself to the bone.”

“Not you too,” Dustin moaned, venting a small amount of frustration before sighing. “Sorry, it’s just... Ever since I got out of rehab, everyone’s been telling me to take it easy, helping me do things I can still do. I know they’re worried, but I’m not helpless... I just hate feeling useless, that’s all.” A moment of silence past between the two.

“Well,” Miss Regal began, an endearing smile set upon her features. “I do not think someone who is useless could help unearth a relic such as this. And the fact that you carry on with your life despite your injuries proves you have an indomitable spirit, a ‘never say die’ attitude if you will. It is something to be admired.”

Dustin smiled. “Thanks Miss.”

“Do not worry about it, and please, call me Skye.” Skye then turned her head to gaze at the shield, which had images that were divided into quarters on the shield. “So, what have you learned from the relic?”

“Not much,” Dustin shrugged before rolling closer to it. “Without any concrete information or point of reference, all we can do is guess at what it means. Most people in the class think the images are insignias or crests of nobility, but these two quarters,” he explained, pointing to the top left and bottom right quarters, which were again split into four. “These would be pretty weird looking family crests if that were true.”

Skye nodded, a hand lightly resting on her chin in thought. “Then what is your explanation?”

“Well,” Dustin began, “Bearing in mind this is only guess work, I think this could be a record of their traits as a nation. I mean, the top right one could mean that they were pretty skilled farmers.”

Skye looked over the quarter of the shield Dustin referred to, and his words did make sense. As he mentioned, the quarter was again split into four; the top left of those squares showed a sun shining bright in the sky, while the top right showed a sky devoid of clouds. Below in the bottom right square was a green hill with small red flowers scattered at random, and the bottom left showed recently ploughed crops, from which Skye could understand Dustin’s reasoning.

“Then what of the two whole quarters?”

Dustin’s mouth formed a puzzled frown as he looked over the two images in question. The bottom left had a white unicorn head against a lavender background with stars sprinkled around it, and the top right had a pale blue head of an animal with wings spread out either side of it against the same background.

“Yeah,” he answered. “Those were the ones the others thought were more personal heraldry than cultural history, and they may be right. But then that wouldn’t make much sense.” Skye held her tongue, waiting for him to continue. “Maybe it’s explaining a special event that relates to someone and that would be why their family crest would be here, or maybe these two images represent spirits the people back then believed in.”

“And the suns and moons?”

The confident smile returned, but before Dustin could say anything he felt something cold press against the back of his neck, causing him to shiver. “Those most likely refer to the sun and moon gods they probably worshiped,” Claire stated with a smile as she handed a can of soft drink to Dustin before opening her own and taking a long sip. “We’ve found those symbols around the ruins before, and they were on the flag as well.”

“I see. You share Dustin’s theory about the shield?”

Claire shrugged. “It makes sense to me. Besides, Dusty probably knows twice as much about the ruins as Mr. Bunt.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Dustin deflected the praise before gulping down some of his can.

As he finished however, a flare of pain briefly erupted behind his forehead. His free hand shot up to clutch his head before the pain quickly vanished, and as Dustin looked up he found Claire to be doing the same.

Skye however, looked unnerved, worried even and stood quickly yet gracefully, casting her eyes around the room for something the two friends couldn’t see.

“Skye?” Dustin asked, fear starting to take hold inside him. Claire instinctively moved closer to Dustin, resting a hand on one of the handles behind his chair.

“A Silence Field,” Skye muttered to herself, despite the teenagers hearing her. She quickly moved past them towards the window, with Dustin and Claire not far behind. Before Claire could see what the agent was looking at, the power suddenly cut off, leaving the three in darkness.

“What’s going on?” Claire asked, clearly unnerved by all of this. Even in the dim light of the moon hidden behind clouds, Dustin could still make out the expression on Skye’s face; one of disdain and determination.

“They are here.”

Ch4: Moonlight Nightmare

“Skye, I don’t understand,” Dustin stated as the three of them stood in the dark room. “Who are ‘they’?” Due to his confinement, Dustin was unable to see out the window as Skye and Claire had. The agent ignored him for a moment, and as she stared off into space Dustin swore her saw her eyes glow slightly. But the sight went as quickly as it came, and the special agent turned back to face him.

“There were men down there approaching the building.” She said, her gaze stern and her tone serious and uncompromising. “They are here to steal the shield, and kill anyone who attempts to stop them.”

“What?” Claire nearly screamed before Skye clamped a hand over her mouth, fixing the young lady with an intimidating glare.

“Do not give away our position.”

“What do we do?” Dustin asked, turning to Skye. “How many were there?”

“Give me a moment.”

Skye stepped back, closed her eyes and straightened her arms slightly, hands out and palms facing forward. As she stood there the light from the moon increased outside, meaning it must have escaped from the clouds. Dustin shook his head as he thought he saw another trick his eyes played; small spots of light seemed to start glimmering in Skye’s hair. After a few seconds, the light dimmed once more and Skye released her pose, returning to her normal appearance.

“There were five men in the group we witnessed, though they were joined by a sixth at the door,” Skye explained, pulling out her phone for a moment. “There are another four entering from the other side of the building.”

“How’d you know-” Dustin asked, but stopped as he too was fixed with a glare.

“That does not matter. Reinforcements from the D.S.I will have noticed their arrival and are sure to be on their way, but until then we must make sure the shield is safe. I need the two of you to take it and hide; the teacher’s lounge should suffice. Once I restore the power, you need to make your way to the car park. I will meet you there.”

The two teenagers looked at each other before Claire turned back to argue, but Skye was no longer there, the only trace that she had been a key on the corner of a nearby bench.

“This is fucking crazy,” Claire swore.

“I know,” Dustin replied, barely keeping his own fears in check, “But right now we’ve got to move.” Claire didn’t need to be told twice, scooping up the key and rushing over to the case and unlocking it, gently passing the shield to Dustin before grabbing hold of the wheelchair handles and quickly pushing him out of the room.

They took a left turn once out of the room, passing other lab rooms as they headed for the door at the end of the corridor. With the lights off, Dustin looked around at the seemingly alien building they found themselves in. The shadows clung tightly to every corner and crevice, unfortunately reminding him of a few horror games he’d seen. After rushing through the door, Claire swiftly closed it and slid the lock into place before moving them near the small kitchen bench.

And with that they waited, the sounds of gunfire erupting throughout the quiet building.

~~~

As the door to the teachers’ lounge clicked shut, the sparkling indigo smoke swiftly dropped from the ceiling and rocketed across the floor, squeezing beneath the emergency stairwell door. Once on the other side, the smoke swirled and condensed until the form of Skye Regal was visible once more. Her delay in waiting for Dustin and Claire to move may have given the enemy some time to close in, but she couldn’t just leave them and hope they were okay. They were still young after all, especially by Skye’s standards.

Although quiet, the sound of footsteps on the stairs below reached Skye’s ears. Glancing down through the small gap in the centre of the stairwell as much as she dared, she could see shadows cautiously ascending, weapons pointed upwards. She stepped back carefully and took in a deep, reassuring breath. It had been at least four years since she had last seen combat. She only hoped her skills were as adequate as they were in the past, for Dustin and Claire’s sakes.

Focusing, Skye stretched out her arm and closed her eyes in concentration, creating the image of a dark orb in her mind. Within moments her hand became engulfed in a dark blue aura, and the envisioned orb began fading into existence. Skye opened her eyes and, once satisfied, undid the two buttons of her suit jacket and pulled out her pistol, magically attaching a silencer onto the end.

And then she lowered her arm, causing the orb to drop like a cinder block. The second her magical grip was released, Skye quickly moved to the railing and jumped over, adrenaline taking control.

As she jumped, time seemed to slow to the point of stopping, and in those few moments of eternity Skye took in as much detail as she could. The group of intruders were halfway to reaching the second floor, their attention now turning to the rapidly falling sphere. All but the one furthest up the stairs were armed with combat rifles; with the Silence Field outside blocking all sight and sound from within, they were free to create as much noise as possible.

As Skye’s perception of time began accelerating once more, two dark blue lines of light sprung to life on her back. From those lines two pristine wings silently unfurled, their feathers dyed a navy blue. She opened her wings as far as she could in the confined gap she fell though, though she did notice a slight decrease in her falling speed.

The men armed with weapons quickly fired on the orb, though any bullets that managed to strike it were simply absorbed, never to be seen again. This was exactly what Skye had hoped for, and as she fell, she fired upon them. She quickly past all of them and the ground floor rapidly approached her, yet no amount of fear ever entered her mind. The orb, now resting on the ground, burst into a small grey cloud below her. Skye landed on the cloud with enough force to break through it, but the resistance it and her wings offered were enough to lessen the impact as she landed with a muted thud. As Skye stood up her wings quickly retracted into her body, and she turned to look back up at her handiwork.

Four of the five gunmen were dead; Skye’s bullets finding their mark in either their necks or the top of their heads while the fifth was hissing in pain, clutching a now bleeding shoulder. That left the man standing at the second floor, and although Skye could not see his face she definitely could see him holding the railing with a white-knuckle grip, his body trembling. He turned to continue climbing but a blue glow enveloped his shins, tripping him to land face first on the concrete floor.

With that threat dealt with Skye reloaded her pistol, turned to the door and again inhaled deeply before fading into smoke once more and sliding under the door. The sparkling cloud raced along the floors heading towards the lobby, where she remembered seeing the switchboard. Upon reaching her destination, the smoke that was Skye shot to a shadowed corner of the roof. The other four intruders had gathered in the room and were holding their position; weapons pointed at the entrance, the elevator and the door which she had entered from.

This shall be troublesome, Skye thought as she let her wispy form sink back to the floor slowly before spreading herself on the ground as thin as possible. Checking with her magic to make sure the moon would not naturally emerge from the clouds, Skye began creeping along the floor towards the two closest soldiers.

Once she was placed right in-front of their feet, Skye sent forth the tiniest strand of her smoke like form, allowing it to snake up their body un-noticed. The strain of using this much magic at once was starting to make itself known as a dull ache, but it was still a minor issue that wouldn’t affect her. Once the strands had reached below their eyes, Skye reached back into her memory for a form she never particularly liked using, unless it was for scaring young ones. For the soldiers, they felt nothing but a slight chill where the strand was; something which was blocked out by military training. But when the strand flashed in-front of their eyes, their hearts leapt into their throats as Skye projected an image into their minds.

In that brief flash, they saw the image of a large equine; its blue armour and standing out against its midnight black coat, which was marked with lavender splotches and a crescent moon on its flank. Its horn was sharpened to a point, and the wings it had were spread with intent to intimidate. The mane sparkled like the night sky and flowed despite the lack of wind, and its piercing, draconic teal eyes and mouth of razor sharp teeth completed the terrifying visage. The two barely had enough time to yell in surprise and fear and fire in retaliation before they were shot through the throat from below. One of the surviving two looked around, quickly spotting the feminine hand holding a silenced gun materialising from sparkling smoke.

“Fall back!” He yelled, his voice that of a young man as he opened fire on the smoke. The hand and gun quickly disintegrated as the bullets whizzed through the smoke, seemingly without consequence. The young soldier backed up to a nearby table and flipped it over, using it as a barricade while his cohort also fired at the apparition.

Skye quickly faded from sight, taking human form behind the reception desk. She was panting slightly, as she hadn’t expected to be seen especially given the lighting of her surroundings. With two soldiers having a fairly good estimation as to where she was hiding, this skirmish had suddenly tilted out of her favour.

Focus, you have bested foes far greater than they, Skye mentally reminded herself. Taking a calming breath and praying the soldiers didn’t approach her, she closed her eyes and concentrated once more, palms outstretched. Again the moon emerged from the cover of clouds, and in her mind’s eye Skye saw all its pale light fell upon. Through the glass doors she saw the soldier who spotted her was still crouched behind the table, but his companion was leaning against the wall, his weapon trained at her hiding place.

Turning her magical gaze to outside the building, Skye searched for something worth throwing before deciding on a rock buried deep within a small garden nearby. With a quiet exhale she released her hold on the moon’s light, allowing it to once more dive underneath the cover of the now heavy clouds. Skye took note of them; they could prove useful very soon. Ignoring the growing headache and focusing her magic, she crafted another illusion that lay within the boundaries of the enemy’s Silence Field and levitated the rock over to it.

Within moments, the sound of breaking glass filled the air as the rock sailed into the room through the glass door. The enemy leaning against the wall looked behind him to see Skye standing defiantly outside; a sly, confident grin adorning her face.

“Eat this witch!” He shouted, unloading a payload of bullets at her. But despite his aim being true, each and every bullet zoomed through her as if she wasn’t there. Before his sheltered comrade could warn him, Skye swiftly rose from cover and planted a bullet in the back of the soldiers’ head. He fell, dead before he hit the ground, which left her only one adversary to deal with.

“Shit!” The young man swore, bringing a hand to the communication piece in his ear. “Team one, abort the mission. I repeat, abort the mission.” With that, he rose from cover, forcing Skye to hide again as he opened fire while falling back through the door.

Skye grabbed the desk she hid behind with her azure aura and rammed it into the doorway, blocking the entrance. And just in case her young foe tried to attack her while her back was turned, she concentrated harder and began clenching her open hand. As she did this, the density of the table increased to the point that when she was finished, the table had six times the mass it did before, yet had not physically changed.

Although the table blocked out a substantial amount of light from outside, Skye could still see well enough to make her way to the switchboard near where she had hidden. She took another deep breath, her blue iris’ beginning to glow as she could feel magically generated electricity surging through her hand.

“Let us hope this works.” She muttered to herself.

~~~

Dustin sat in silence, listening to any sounds that would make themselves known. The gunfire had cut off suddenly only to pick up again a few minutes later, though it was somewhat more muffled than before.

As he sat there, so many questions were running circles in Dustin’s mind. What the hell was going on, why was this happening, and what role did Skye and the shield resting against the side of his chair play in it? And then there were the questions surrounding their situation. Was she alright? Did she make it to the switchboard outside, or was she... Dustin shook those thoughts out of his head. Skye would pull through. She had to. Hearing another sound, Dustin looked to his right, seeing the silhouette of Claire sitting on the floor next to him. She had her knees brought up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, her face hidden as she looked down. He sighed before slowly placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look back at him.

“It’ll be okay,” he told her, though he didn’t fully believe the words himself. “Skye said she’d get us out of here.”

“But...” Claire stuttered, proving she was close to losing it. “But what if she isn’t able to? What if she’s dead? What then?” Dustin didn’t answer, just hoping his presence was enough to help calm her down. Claire looked forward to the drawers of the kitchen, her voice now a whisper. “Why the hell is this happening Dusty? What’s going on?”

For a moment, Dustin remained silent, thinking hard on that very question. No clear reasons came to mind, but his eyes gained some resolve when he looked back at her.

“I don’t know. But once Skye gets us out of here, we’ll make her tell us everything.”

The two friends held each other’s gaze for a moment before the power came back on. Claire stood immediately as both of them looked up at the neon lights with hopeful smiles on their faces.

“She did it.” Claire said, almost as if she didn’t believe it.

“Told you she would. Now come on, we’ve got to get out of here.” Nodding, Claire moved past him and unlocked the door as Dustin slowly caught up, balancing the shield on his lap. But as he reached the door and Claire opened it, the two friends saw someone they weren’t expecting to see. Standing near the door of their lab was Mr. Bunt, his face mirroring the shock and confusion his students wore minus the small cut and the bruise surrounding it on his cheek.

“Claire? Dustin?” He asked, his face becoming a mixture of worry and frustration as he quickly closing the distance between them. “What are you two still doing here?”

“We were about to pack up when the lights went off,” Dustin replied, showing him the shield. “Miss Regal told us to hide with the relic until she got the power back on.”

“Sorry about staying back too late.” Claire added, but Bunt quickly waved it off.

“Now’s not the time for that. The important thing is that both of you and the shield are safe. Come on; let’s get out of here before something else goes wrong.” Claire nodded and began pushing Dustin as they followed their lecturer back to the elevator. As they got in however, something was sounding alarms in Dustin’s mind. It seemed almost too convenient that when he and Claire were in danger, along comes Mr. Bunt from out of nowhere to lead them to safety. And what about the intruders? How did Bunt get past them? These thoughts circled faster and faster around Dustin’s mind, and it took a great deal of self-control not to let it show on his face.

As the elevator began descending, Dustin couldn’t stand it any longer. “If you don’t mind me asking sir, why’d you come back?”

“Well... I’d forgotten some folders in my office and saw a group of men breaking in. I was afraid they were trying to steal the shield. I was able to sneak past them to get upstairs and that’s when I found you two.”

“Then what happened to your face?” Claire asked, catching on to Dustin’s line of questioning.

“Well, I was panicking and I slipped as I climbed the stairs. But I’ll be fine.”

As Bunt didn’t look away from the elevator doors during his brief explanation, Claire shot him a disbelieving look while Dustin went back to his thoughts. Bunt’s reasons did little to calm the storm of questions and theories running around his head, and he also noticed Bunt’s index finger tapping against his leg; a habit of his when nervous.

Before Dustin could ask more questions, the doors opened to a wrecked lobby. Bullet holes were spread around the walls, a table had been flipped on its side and the glass doorway had been obliterated, as if someone had driven a truck through it and littered the surrounding floor with sharp glass fragments in the process. Lying prone on the floor were three of the men Skye had described. They all wore balaclavas and the same dark combat fatigues, which seemed familiar to Dustin for reasons he couldn’t focus on right now. But there was one thing about them that was getting a lot of his attention, while also making his blood run cold.

Every single one of them was dead, lying in a small pool of their own blood.

Claire’s hand shot to her mouth in shock while Bunt visibly paled before stopping the elevator doors from closing again. The sound of more gunfire from outside snapped the two friends from their shocked state as Bunt led them to the door, carefully avoiding the bodies strewn around. Dustin shivered a little as a light breeze blew past and found that, apart from the reception desk laying a few metres from the entrance, everything outside remained the same. The lights from the city centre lit up the underside of heavy clouds that now firmly locked away the moonlight and although it wasn’t raining just yet Dustin could smell the moisture in the air.

Quickly moving from around the corner of the building was Skye, her suit jacket undone and a gun in her hand. The instant she saw Dustin and Claire unharmed her face lit up with joy, but that moment died once she laid eyes on Bunt. Before anyone could object, Skye raised her arms, both hands clasped around the pistol as she aimed it at the lecturer.

“Skye, what are you-” Claire was interrupted as she felt an arm encircle her neck and something cool and metallic rest against her temple.

“Don’t move.” Bunt told her, his words dripping with malice as he glared daggers at Skye.

“Mr. Bunt, what the hell-” Dustin argued before Bunt lightly shoved him away with his foot. He rolled a small distance, dropping the shield to his side, before stopping himself and grabbing the wheels to turn around. But Bunt’s glare made his demands clear; move and Claire would be shot.

“You cold-hearted monster” Skye growled, her eyebrows furrowed in anger. This only produced an arrogant smile from Bunt.

“I could say the same for you, witch.” He replied as the low rumble of thunder sounded off far above them. “Now, unless we’d like to give Claire a new hole to breathe out of, you’ll let the two of us leave with the shield.”

“You asshole!” Dustin shouted. “How could you?”

“How could I? You really think I don’t hear the insults? ‘There goes Mr. Cunt. Mr. Cunt this, Mr. Cunt that.’ I know for a fact you all think of me like some bumbling old fool, so doing this is as easy as breathing.”

The response shocked Dustin. Mr. Bunt mentally snapping was something he and Vince would sometimes joke about, but he never imagined it would actually happen. In Bunt’s grasp, Claire visibly paled, her blue eyes scanning everything in an attempt to find a path to freedom, though they often returned to Dustin.

“Now then,” Bunt went on, focussing back to Skye. “Drop your weapon and stand back.”

Skye just stared at him, wishing with all her might her reinforcements would hurry up and arrive. But looking at Claire’s panicked expression, she realised she had to comply. Releasing a large sigh, Skye knelt down and carefully placed the pistol on the ground and stood up, taking a few steps back as she raised her hands. She closed her eyes, expecting Bunt to ramble on some more about his superiority.

What she didn’t expect was that Bunt would extend his arm and fire, hitting her square in the chest.

“NO!” Dustin yelled while Claire looked on in horror as Skye fell to the ground now as limp as a doll, the thunder roaring much louder now as the first few drops of rain began falling. Dustin turned to face Bunt only to see the murderer now facing him, gun once more pointed at Claire’s skull.

“The shield, Dustin.” He stated in an emotionless voice. “Now.”

Dustin glared at him before seeing Claire, her eyes now glistening with tears of fear. As much as he hated it, he had no choice. Looking down, he found the shield on the ground barely a foot away. It took a little manoeuvring, but he eventually picked up the shield. Damn it, he mentally lamented. I need to do something. But what? If it wasn’t for this stupid chair- Bunt’s sudden roar of pain snapped Dustin out of his internal fretting, and the sight shocked him more than anything else ever had and time seemed to slow down.

Bunt released his arm from around Claire’s neck, as he now reached for the bloody stump that once was his shoulder. His right arm had been completely severed, the hand’s grip on his gun now fading. But the most shocking thing was Skye. Not only was she still alive, but at that moment she looked like an avenging angel. Her right arm was pointed down as four blades had extended from her suit sleeve, almost resembling a wing as they were coated in Bunt’s blood. Even though minutes seemed to pass like hours for Dustin, Skye still moved with graceful speed as she quickly grabbed Bunt’s gun and shot him through the head.

As another thunderclap sounded and Bunt fell to the ground, Dustin’s perception of time returned to normal, though the shock travelling through his system rendered him immobile for a few moments. Even as Claire hurriedly embraced him, Dustin still felt numb as he looked at Bunt’s corpse and replayed his execution in his mind.

“I am sorry for forcing you to witness that.” A voice said, snapping Dustin out of his stunned state. Both teenagers looked at the special agent, standing before them seemingly unharmed. The only evidence she had been shot was the hole in her shirt, though un-ruptured skin was all that could be seen through it. “Are the two of you alright? You are not hurt are you?” Both of them shook their heads as Claire released Dustin and stepped forward, looking the government agent in the eye.

“T-Thank you,” she stammered as she smiled weakly at Skye, who replied in kind.

“You are welcome.”

As Dustin smiled, something inside the building caught his eye; a shadow leaning against a wall, with something raised in Skye’s general direction.

“Watch out!” Dustin shouted, pushing Skye out of the way before something slammed hard into his right shoulder, which erupted in a fire of pain inside his body as he toppled out of his wheelchair.

“DUSTY!” Claire screamed, grabbing hold of him as Dustin’s senses were being overridden by the explosion of pain in his shoulder. Shock robbed him of his voice, only allowing him haggard breaths as he and Claire kept pressure on the wound. Despite their efforts though, Dustin could feel his grip on consciousness fading away. Everything around him seemed slowed and muffled. In the now pouring rain his eyes caught sight of Skye, her features contorted into a mask of rage, as with one hand extended she miraculously caught a bolt of lightning and channelled it through her body, frying the enemy within the building.

But it was Claire’s tears streaked face that held Dustin’s gaze as darkness consumed his vision. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he slowly raised his hand from his shoulder until it found its mark resting against her cheek. She froze for a moment before shaking it away and guiding Dustin’s hand back over his wound. Dustin tried to say something, but his body was too heavy, too unresponsive.

Then his vision of this nightmarish night faded away, unconsciousness claiming him.

Ch5: Sad Stories

Vince briskly walked through the halls of St. Joan Mayfair Hospital’s third floor, throwing a glance at each of the door numbers as he passed each room. It had been two days since the second theft attempt and all classes in the science block had been postponed for the time being, mostly due to the fact that the lobby looked as if a bomb had gone off inside. As soon as the D.S.I reinforcements had arrived, Miss Regal had gotten Dustin and Claire into her car and ran at least five red lights getting him to the hospital.

Finally arriving at room 106 Vince stopped at the door and looked in, finding Claire sitting in silence beside an unconscious Dustin as the heart monitor provided the only sound in the room. The white sheets of his hospital bed were drawn up to just below his shoulders, the right one heavily covered in bandages.

Sighing, Vince walked in and placed a hand on Claire’s shoulder. The second he did so, she looked up at him before standing and hugging him tight. For a few minutes neither of them said a thing. They didn’t have to. Untangling themselves, Vince sat down on the bed near Dustin’s legs, looking at his friend with regret and sorrow as unpleasant memories made themselves known.

“It wasn’t you fault Vince.” Claire broke the silence, picking up on Vince’s angst. “There was no way we could’ve known they’d try stealing the relics again.”

“But I should’ve gotten him to stop. It’s my fault that the two of you...” He never finished the sentence, and let his head lull downwards. Claire said nothing in reply and simply sat back down on her chair. Another couple of minutes passed, the sounds of the heart monitor and the conversations of nurses outside seemed almost amplified in the still room.

“How is he?” Vince asked, now looking at his best friend in a hospital bed for the second time in his life.

“He was lucky. One of the three bullets they took out of him barely missed his lung. His shoulder will take a while to heal, but they aren’t sure why he’s still comatose.”

“I believe I may know why.” Vince and Claire turned to see Skye Regal standing in the doorway, her face sombre as she held onto a small bundle of flowers in one hand and a small plastic bag in the other. Vince noticed inside said bag was a bullet.

“Skye,” Claire said, getting to her feet and walking over to the door with Vince slowly following.

“I came to check on Dustin, and the two of you as well. Are both of you alright?” Downcast looks and silence answered her question. Skye sighed, moving past them and placing the azaleas on the bedside table and looking at Dustin the same way that Vince had earlier; with mixed feelings of regret and guilt.

“Skye.” Claire spoke up, gaining the agent’s attention along with Vince’s. “You... You said you knew why Dusty hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Yes,” she sighed. Taking a moment to prepare herself, Skye turned to face the two teenagers. “I had the ballistics expert down at the D.S.I analyse one of the bullets that Dustin was shot with. Whoever manufactured this bullet did so outside the law, as underneath the casing is the smallest amount of space possible for a poison to be placed in.”

“Poison?” Both Claire and Vince asked in shock, to which the agent solemnly nodded.

“Yes. However, you need not worry. This hospital has some of the best doctors in the country, and the medications being used will take a while to fully rout the infection. He should wake up within the next few days.”

“Thank God.” Claire stated in relief.

“Miss,” Vince asked. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yes, and please call me Skye.”

This threw Vince for a second. “O-Okay. Well... why didn’t your back-up from the D.S.I get there sooner? From what I heard you said they were coming, but Dusty still got hurt.”

A sad look flashed across Skye’s face. “It seems that the three cars on their way to help were involved in a car crash. We believe it was another member of this terrorist group; placed there to stall us with his suicidal ram. Only one car avoided damage, and once the situation there was under control, they hurried to aid us, only...”

“Only it was too late.” Vince finished. Skye solemnly nodded, looking back at Dustin’s resting form. The three remained silent for quite some time; each of them thinking about the events of the past few days and hoping Dustin would recover. This silence was broken by a ringtone, blaring a rock song from Vince’s pocket.

“Hello... Well, I’m visiting Dustin in hospital... What? Oh come on... Can’t somebody else fill in?” Skye glanced at Claire, about to ask who it was before Vince sighed. “Fine, I’ll come in, but don’t expect me to cover someone else’s roster on a regular basis. Yeah, okay... bye.”

“Who was that?” Skye asked as Vince hung up, pocketing his phone.

“My uncle. He runs a warehouse further out in the suburbs and I sometimes help him out when he’s low on staff like today.”

“You’re leaving now?” Claire asked incredulously.

“Haven’t got much choice,” Vince stated sadly before moving next to the bed and placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry buddy. I’ll be back soon.” He then turned back to Claire. “Keep an eye on him for me?”

“I always do,” She replied before giving him a hug. As they broke the hug, Vince turned to Skye.

“Skye... Um, thank you. I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure if I could trust you, but you saved Dusty and Claire’s lives, so for that... Thank you.”

Skye smiled and shook her head. “I am sorry that Dustin was injured, but you are welcome. And you have my word that I will not let anything more happen to him.” Vince nodded with a smile and, with one last glance at Dustin’s prone form, left the room and made his way out of the hospital.

Once outside, the sun shone brightly in Vince’s eyes, forcing him to shield them and mumbling how he should’ve brought a hat along today. As he walking towards his jeep however, he didn’t notice the black van waiting further down the road. The two men inside waited and watched from behind their tinted glasses as Vince drove off. Once Vince had turned the corner, one of the men picked up the radio microphone of the van and dialled in the correct frequency.

“Sir, he’s left the hospital. Shall we proceed?”

“Yes,” the voice on the other side came back through the static. “The boy should be no problem, but be on your guard; there may be D.S.I agents inside. That brat is too much of a distraction, and he’s interfered with Vince’s progress long enough. Take care of him and anyone else that stand in your way.”

“Yes Sir.” Both men replied before getting out of the van. Adjusting their jackets despite the clear conditions, the two started towards the hospital.

~~~

“The three of you are very close, are you not?” Skye asked as she and Claire stood outside Dustin’s room, both of them holding plastic cups of water.

“Yeah, we are.” Claire replied as she smiled weakly. She waited until a nurse carrying medications passed before she continued. “We’ve been through a lot, the three of us.”

Skye’s puzzled looked urged her to explain. “Well, Dusty and I’ve known each other since we were small; our parents were friends. His parents are my godparents and mine are his. But both of our dads are in the army, so we’ve rarely gotten to see them much.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Skye said, but Claire shook her head.

“Don’t be. We both know why our dads can’t be around all the time, and we’re both proud of them, though it has made my mum a bit overprotective.

“Anyway, we met Vince during high school and he and Dusty just clicked. It was like they were made to be best friends. At first I wasn’t sure about him, since he was sort of a rebel. But after seeing how he started cleaning up his act around Dusty, I guess we became friends too.” This drew a smile on both her and Skye’s faces, the memories floating to the surface in Claire’s mind.

“If you do not mind me asking, was this before or after Dustin’s accident?”

The smile vanished. “After. It happened... Around six months ago now.”

There was a small silence between the two as their thoughts swept back to Dustin. As they stood there, the sounds and smells of the hospital seemed to drift away, as if the two were lost in their own little world.

It was Skye that finally broke the silence. “Do you mind if I ask... How did it happen?”

Claire had a feeling this question was coming. She knew she didn’t want to answer, since it involved one of the worst moments of her young life, and she especially didn’t want to bring the image of Dustin’s pain, his agony, back into focus. Yet when she turned to Skye, Claire saw nothing but concern and silent understanding. Looking into those sapphire eyes, she knew she could trust this woman with her story.

“Well,” Claire sighed, starting her tale. “Like I said, it happened about six months ago. It was our first trip up to the ruins in class. We were all excited; Dustin and Vince couldn’t wait to get in there. Back at that point, we couldn’t get past the gatehouse of the castle, since the bridge had long since collapsed, so instead we just focused on the surrounding buildings.

“I was away with some other students when it happened, but Vince told me everything. He said that he and Dusty were checking out this small house further out in the city, and he was outside while Dusty was inside. And... well, Vince said he had a ‘brain-slip’ and being bored banged against the wall. Then he heard a popping sound above him and saw a few stones tumble down. Then cracks began appearing from the roof down and Vince ran around to the door, seeing Dusty running towards him as the roof came down.

“Then...” Claire stopped, her emotions almost getting the best of her. She felt Skye place a reassuring hand on her shoulder, with the agent looking at her with worry etched onto her features.

“You do not have to go on,” Skye said softly. “If it is too much for you, then I under-”

“No,” Claire interrupted, putting her hand on top of Skye’s. “I can keep going.” Skye looked at her and nodded, squeezing her shoulder ever so slightly in a sign of support.

“We must’ve been at least a hundred metres away, but I could still hear the scream. When I did I... I-It felt like someone stabbed me in the heart for a second. Everyone rushed over but when we got there... Dusty...” Claire’s voiced now dropped to a whisper, fighting tears that were building behind her eyes. “He was... trapped in the wreckage from the ribs down...” Claire took a deep breath before continuing. Skye didn’t dare interrupt, and barely moved as she just waited to see if Claire was finished, but she went on.

“The collapse crushed his spine, as well as a few ribs. Doctors said he was lucky to be alive. When Dusty found out... I don’t blame him for throwing a fit. He was so devastated. And Vince didn’t pull up too well either. He keeps blaming himself for what he thinks he did, like how Dusty’s injury was his fault. Since then he’s been by Dusty’s side almost twenty four seven, trying to pay off a debt that doesn’t exist... Last Friday was the first time Dusty had been back to the ruins.”

Before Claire could continue, she was surprised as Skye gave her a reassuring hug. Claire blanked out for a moment before returning the hug and the two just stood there, ignorant of everything around them.

“The three of you are true friends,” Skye said as she pulled out of the hug. “And though Dustin may not feel that Vince has a debt to repay, it may just be Vince’s method of coming to terms with what happened. Give him time, and I am certain he will realise that.”

Claire looked back at Skye as a smile slowly started forming on her face, and she nodded to agree before noticing something; two men who had just walked past them had entered Dustin’s room.

“Who are they?” Claire asked. Skye turned to see what she meant. Once she saw them though, Skye’s eyes widened and her blood froze. Not waiting to explain to Claire, she rushed inside the room but stopped for two reasons; the first was she noticed a small yet powerful Silence Field had been activated inside the room, and the second reason was that one of the two had a pistol aimed at Skye’s head. Claire hurried in before wincing from entering the Silence Field, bringing a hand to her forehead before looking up and freezing from shock.

“Why are you here?” Skye almost hissed in anger. “Are you so cowardly that you would seek to kill a helpless boy?” The man without the gun ignored her, moving around the other side of the bed and pulling a small black case out from his jacket. Claire was about to rush forward but was stopped as Skye blocked her with an extended arm and a firm side-on glare.

“We shall ask but once more,” Skye growled, the tone of her voice sounding weird to Claire’s ears, almost as if someone was turning up the volume. “Why art thou here? What is thy purpose?”

The irregular speech caught the men’s attention. “It’s simple, witch.” The man with the case replied, spitting the last word like it was poison as he opened the case and pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid. “This kid seems to get in the way of our boss’ plans a lot, so he wants him gone.”

Skye took one step forward, but the man with the gun swung his aim towards Claire. Skye countered this by stepping into the line of fire, but that was all the time the man with the syringe needed to inject whatever that fluid was into the IV drip. Within a few moments, Dustin’s eyebrows began furrowing. It was evident he was in pain, as the heart monitor began picking up speed. Claire gasped in fear, tentatively reaching for him.

“And now for you-”

Before the second man could finish, Skye’s eyes shone with a blinding light as the first man’s gun flew out of his hand in a blue aura and into Skye’s left, which she raised instantly and shot the second man. The first tried to rush her by throwing a left punch, but Skye merely caught it like a baseball.

Claire and the man looked on in awe and fear as Skye’s hair began floating, little pinpricks of light shining through each strand. Two lights on her back became precursors to two navy blue wings flaring out, stretched out in the small room. Intimidated, the man didn’t realise Skye wasn’t done until it was too late. She flexed her wrist, breaking the one she had in her grasp. Before he could even clutch at his now broken wrist, Skye pulled the man forward only to backhand him into the wall opposite the foot of the bed.

Grimacing in pain the man looked up and immediately regretted it, as the sight before him was more fear-inspiring than anything he had ever seen. Skye stood before him, wings outstretched, hair flowing in the nonexistent wind and eyes glowing a blinding white. Her fists were clenching so hard that the gun she held onto strained and she released it to reveal the handle had been squeezed like a toothpaste tube.

Skye reached down and grabbed the hem of the man’s shirt and lifted him up with only one hand before slamming him into the wall. Though her rage was overflowing at the moment, she still held back her full power, lest it overload the Silence Field and allow everyone to see what was happening. The man squirmed but his feet weren’t reaching the floor, and he looked once more at Skye terrifying eyes.

“Who sent thou?” Skye hissed, her hair beginning to flare more erratically as her voice boomed. The man just stared at her before sighing, almost resigning himself to something. That look soon turned into one of defiance.

“Go find him yourself, witch.”

Skye just stared at him for a moment before flicking her right wrist. With that motion, the four blades she used to remove Bunt’s arm extended from her sleeve and spread, resembling the wings she now displayed.

“Then rot in Tartarus.” With that, Skye released her hold on the man’s shirt before turning and bringing her blades to bear, all four of them creating a deep gash in the man’s neck.

As the man fell limply to the ground, his blood beginning to soak into the carpet, Skye glared at his corpse with an intense hatred before taking a series of deep breaths. With the first, her wings began receding into her back. The second saw her wings completely retract and her hair begin to obey gravity’s law. By the third breath, she opened her eyes to reveal the blue that was there before, and her transformation was complete.

“Dusty? Dusty!” Claire’s shouting brought Skye’s attention back to the present, as she was leaning over Dustin’s now sweating body. When Skye approached, however, Claire positioned herself over him, like as if she was shielding him from a monster.

“Stay back!” She yelled as Skye saw the tears streaming down Claire’s face. Whether they were tears of fear for Skye’s outburst or Dustin’s current state was uncertain, but those eyes now bore into Skye, not wanting her anywhere near her best friend.

“Please Claire,” Skye tried explaining. “I apologise for that but-”

“But what?! For letting those two put that... stuff in Dustin? For having me watch that?!” She pointed at the corpses now painting the carpet red. “I thought I was hallucinating the other night, but now..? You stay the hell away from Dusty, you got that?!”

“Claire!” Skye replied, exerting a little frustration and authority. “I know you are afraid of what I am, but right now I am the only chance Dustin has for survival. If you wish to save your friend, you must trust me.” Claire just glared at her, but the groans of pain from below her were getting louder and the heart monitor was going faster and faster. Sighing, she hopped off the bed and stood up, determination clear to see on her features.

“What do we do?”

Skye quickly but carefully began slicing off the left sleeve of her jacket with her blades. “I need you to find another syringe, and a swab and medicinal alcohol. I am going to give Dustin some of my blood.”

“What?” Claire asked as she stopped searching, but the look Skye gave her told her to keep looking.

“As you have seen, I have a large amount of magic at my disposal.” Skye explained as she took hold of the syringe and swab Claire held out with her magic. She drew her blood through the syringe, taking nearly as much as it could before stopping. As Claire followed her around the bed, she saw the blood looked as red as any human’s blood, but there were small, twinkling blue lights within it.

“Since I am a being of magic, my blood has heavy concentrations of it, and it is my hope that this should be enough to stave off the poison long enough for me to find a cure.”

“It won’t cure him?”

“Though magical, my blood is not a miracle elixir.” Before Claire could ask another question, Skye injected her blood into the IV drip. Almost instantly Dustin relaxed, and his heart rate dropped, though it was still at above normal levels.

“Now what?” Claire asked, a tiny bit relieved Dustin wasn’t suffering as much.

“Now we find out what poison these fools used.” Skye stated as she knelt next to the corpse of the man with the case. Picking it up, Skye saw there were four more needles full of the liquid. Placing a palm over the poison, her hand began glowing blue as she used her magic to identify the poison down to its molecular structure. When she recognised it though, her eyes opened in shock as she dropped the case, which startled Claire.

“Skye, what is it?” She asked, but Skye simply stood up and looked at Dustin while running every possibility through her mind.

That is impossible! It has been eons since that poison has even existed. How in Mother’s name did they find enough to recreate it?

“Skye!” Claire shouted to get her attention. It succeeded in snapping Skye out her little daydream, but she quickly picked the case up and pocketed it.

“We have to leave. There is only one cure for this poison, and no hospital in the world has the antidote.”

That statement was like a sledgehammer to Claire’s heart. “What? We can’t move Dusty, not like this.”

“There is only one person that can help us now,” Skye continued as she moved around the bed and removed the leads for the heart monitor one by one. The droning flat line sound lasted a second before Skye glared at it and it shut down. “I can teleport us there, but you must trust me and do exactly as I say. Dustin’s life depends on it.”

Claire looked down at Dustin and placed a hand on his forehead; even though he showed no visible signs of pain, he was still running a fever. She had almost lost her best friend twice in the last week. No matter what Skye would do, Claire knew she couldn’t let the third time be the charm. She looked back to Skye, her determination once again coming to the fore.

“Alright, but please save him.”

Skye nodded. “I shall do my best. Now close your eyes and hold onto Dustin tight. This may be disorienting.”

Nodding, Claire placed her hands on Dustin’s arm and shoulder while Skye placed one hand on Dustin’s other shoulder, and the other hand on Claire’s. Closing her eyes and concentrating, Skye called on her magic and allowed it envelop the two teenagers. Once that was done, she focused her mind’s eye on a familiar sight; her home for the longest time imaginable.

Once the location was targeted, Skye opened her eyes to reveal them to be glowing once more and, in a flash of light, the three of them were gone.

Ch6: Transforming Circumstances

As the light from the spell faded, Claire’s mind was a dizzy mess. Her vision was spinning and she had to bring a hand to her temple to relieve the pressure behind it.

“Forgive me.” She heard Skye’s voice say. “The first time one teleports is always slightly nauseating. Are you well?”

Claire nodded and stood up, quickly inspecting her new surroundings. The three of them were now seemingly within a huge cave, the roof of which stretching at least half a kilometre upwards. Around them was a semicircle of dark coloured furniture; a finely crafted wooden wardrobe and matching three-level drawer. On the other side stood a dark office desk and a large ornate mirror. Turning back to check on Dustin, she found he now lay on a larger, circular bed with lavender covers over light blue sheets. Thankfully, it looked like the teleportation had no ill effect on his health, though Claire realised he was still in trouble.

“Now listen carefully,” Skye continued, recapturing Claire’s attention. “I must return to the hospital to remove all trace of the... incident that transpired there, as well as creating a duplicate of Dustin to not raise alarm over his disappearance.

“Once I have finished there I shall return, but until that time you must not move from this bed. Do you understand?” Claire nodded and Skye turned to leave before looking back at her once again. “I almost forgot. There is every chance that you will be approached by... someone very close to me. Although she may appear strange, do not do anything that would anger her. Simply state your name and that I brought you here. Understand?”

Again Claire nodded, but now her curiosity was peaked. “Wait, what do you mean appear strange?”

Before she could ask any more questions Skye turned around once more and vanished in a flash of light, leaving Claire and Dustin alone in the cave. As she stood there, Claire now got a more thorough look at the cave. Although she could see very well, Claire couldn’t find the source of the light around them; like as if the very air itself was lighting up the cavern. The walls of rock were haphazardly dotted with outcrops of large diamonds, which Claire realised must have cost thousands if not millions of dollars.

A sound caught Claire’s attention and she heard it come from Dustin, a small groan of pain as he lay there. A new pang made itself known in her heart. She sat down on the bed’s edge and placed a hand on his forehead, discovering he was still running a fever.

“Oh Dusty.” She sighed, running her hand through his messy brown hair. “How the hell did things get this crazy?” Silence answered her question as she risked another glance at her surroundings before training her eyes back on her friend.

“Who are you?”

The sound of a new voice startled Claire. Slowly, she turned around to face its owner, though what she saw was nowhere near what she was expecting.

Standing before her was a horse or pony, Claire couldn’t be sure which, with a coat as pure white as freshly fallen snow. Its mane and tail flowed ethereally, much Skye’s hair had earlier, and were coloured the varying colours of the morning sky. Other notable features were a long spiralled horn and pristine white wings, as well as a familiar-looking sun emblem on its flank and magenta eyes that now bored into her with a guarded expression.

Claire was so speechless she didn’t reply, which obviously was not the wanted reaction as the large pony moved into a wider stance; wings flared and horn lowered. “I’ll ask only once more. Who are you and why are you here?” Instantly Skye’s instructions came to mind, and though it seemed insane the decision Claire made might determine whether this creature spared them or not. Taking a deep breath, Claire stood up and raised her hands in surrender.

“My name is Claire Neidhart, and this is my friend Dustin Rosewater. We didn’t mean to sneak into your... home, but we were brought here because Dustin’s sick, and we were told this was the only place that could help.” Throughout the entire explanation the pony didn’t move or say a single word, instead waiting for Claire to finish. Once she had, it relaxed its stance and stood looking at her, its temper slightly dampened.

“And who, Claire, brought you here?” It asked in a clearly feminine voice. No sooner had she asked that a light flashed beside Claire and Skye came back into view.

“Alright. Now we can focus on heal-” She trailed off, seeing the visibly irritable mare standing before them. The tension in the air instantly became palpable. Claire didn’t dare say anything, her eyes darting between the now shocked and worried Skye and the mare, whose mane was starting to twitch.

“Little sister,” the mare said, barely holding in the anger that was radiating off of her like the now warming air of the cavern. “Why have you decided to forget our promise and bring humans into our home?” The word was said like as if it left a rotten taste. Questions instantly started queuing up in Claire’s mind, but she held her tongue as she saw Skye flinch under the harsh gaze.

Skye looked at the two teenagers before sighing and taking a deep breath. As she held it, Claire saw Skye become engulfed in light once more, although it burned a bit longer than it had when she teleported. Once the light faded even more questions emerged in Claire’s mind; the most prominent of those being What the fuck?!

Standing in Skye’s place was another mare, similar in build to the white one. This one was different, however, as it stood slightly smaller than its companion, had a navy blue coat and an ethereal mane and tail resembling a clear night sky. On the flank of this horse was a crescent moon against a black splotchy background, and it looked back at its angry companion with Skye’s cerulean eyes.

“Forgive me sister,” it spoke in the government agent’s voice. “But I had no choice. These two were attacked by our enemies, and the boy is infected with-”

“Spare me, Luna!” The white mare snapped. “We made a promise to each other, remember? One where we would never bring humans here, nor would we interact with them outside the D.S.I. Do you remember making that promise?”

“Of course I do-”

“And do you remember what happened the last time we let a human in here? The last time we truly trusted a human?”

“Sister, please.”

“I mean, what were you thinking Luna? You would trust two humans, children no less, than your sister-”

“Tia!” Skye’s pony shouted, flaring its wings to get the others attention. The white mare stayed silent, a tiny bit shocked by the outburst as Claire had been.

“Yes,” Skye started once more. “I know I have broken our agreement, and I will accept a punishment of your choice at a later time. But this boy is dying and I need your help.” The white mare looked past both Skye and Claire at Dustin's now sweating body, the infection now beginning to slowly back into effect.

“Give me one reason why I should help him.”

“What?!” Claire shouted, and was about to give that pony a piece of her mind before being stopped by a navy blue wing. Skye’s equine form gave Claire a glance and shook her head before turning back to the other pony, returning its glare with a determined stare of her own.

“I shall give you three.” She stated as she walked forward, coming face to face with her ‘sister’. “The first is that this boy risked his life to protect me, taking three bullets in my place during the skirmish two nights ago. The second is that he was poisoned by our foes, and with Galm’s Elixir no less.”

This got a reaction from the white mare, her expression changing from angered to surprised. “Galm’s Elixir? But... But that hasn’t existed for eons. Not since the Three Tribes Era, and the only known survivor is said to have been Commander Hurricane himself. How could-”

“I do not know,” Skye went interrupted, “I have tried using healing spells but they have only acted as a temporary reprieve. I need your help in curing him.”

The white mare looked at Dustin’s sweating form once more before turning back to Skye. “You said there was a third reason?”

“Yes. It is that I have never known you to forsake innocents. Especially children.” This softened the look of the white mare, who sighed and walked past Skye towards the bed. Claire, who had been watching silently, now snapped into action, standing between the mare and Dustin with arms outstretched. But the mare just looked at her with that same tired look; like her resistance had been broken by Skye’s argument.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” she said, folding her wings against her side. “I promise you I’ll help save his life.”

“How do I know this isn’t a trick?” Claire asked, still not convinced.

“Because it is not.” Skye said, flanking her sister as she gave Claire the most encouraging smile she could manage.

A groan from behind her forced Claire’s hand, and she sighed as she stepped aside, cursing her being stuck in this position as the two ponies stood next to the bed. Dustin was nearing the same state he was when first injected with the poison, proof the blood Skye injected was beginning to fail.

“What shall we do, my sister?” Skye asked, though the other mare wore a mask of uncertainty as she kept looking at Dustin.

“I don’t know. According to Commander Hurricane’s journals, the only way he survived was by igniting the blood with magic. But doing that to this boy would roast him from within. We need a way to safeguard him from our magic without blocking the spell that cures him.”

“Please,” Claire spoke up, standing on the other side of Skye from the white mare. “You have to try.”

“There might be a way to immunize him,” Skye stated.

“What is it?” Claire asked, desperate for anything that could heal Dustin at this point.

“If we made it so his body was naturally attuned to our magic, then his body would not burn when we attempt to heal-”

“Luna!” The white mare said, horrified of the idea as a little of the anger from earlier returned. “You’re not suggesting a full transformation are you? Do you even remember what happen-”

“Yes sister, I fully remember what happened the last time we tried that spell. But it represents the best chance we have of curing Dustin. Furthermore, once he has fully healed, we can then return him to his original form.”

“What are you two talking about?” Claire asked, but any answer was stalled by Dustin’s body starting to spasm.

“There is no time.” Skye replied as her horn began glowing with the same light blue aura from before. Before she could object, Skye lifted Claire with her magic and placed her a few metres away while she moved to the far side of the bed. “Sister, summon the circle.”

“But Luna, there’s no telling-”

“Tia, there is no time! Either we act or Dustin dies!”

The mare Skye kept calling Tia stole a quick glance at Dustin’s condition before nodding and stomping a hoof on the ground. From that hoof, lights began shining on the ground and took the form of an intricate circle full of shapes and symbols. The circle expanded to encompass the bed and the immediate area around it.

Claire, watching this from where Skye had placed her, was about to run back Dustin’s side before the two mares opened their wings, closed their eyes and concentrated; Skye’s horn glowing blue while the white mares’ shone in a golden hue. A gust of wind materialised out of nowhere as the circle began glowing to match the horns of the two ponies, feeding off of them and releasing more light and wind with each moment.

In the middle of it all, Dustin’s pain-wracked body slowly began hovering, rising up in the centre of the whirlwind. Skye and Tia took wider stances, pouring more and more magic into the circle, which it greedily absorbed. Claire lowered the arm guarding her eyes from the wind to witness three tendrils of turquoise light began snaking their way towards Dustin. She tried to get closer, only for another gust to buffet her harshly, leaving her to fall backwards and merely look on. The lights now began encircling Dustin’s body, forming an ever-shifting cacoon around him. Once it completely encased him, the shell began slowly shrinking, glowing brighter the smaller it became.

“Almost there,” Skye called out, struggling to keep a constant flow of magic to feed the circle. Unlike her sister, Skye had been extensively using her magic recently, more than she’d had to for the longest time. Even though things appeared to be going smoothly, something still felt wrong to Claire. It was a gut feeling that, no matter how much she wished it was wrong, she couldn’t shake away.

And unfortunately, it proved right.

As the spherical cacoon swirled round and round, something caught the eyes of all three of them; a small red spark of electricity near the top of the cacoon. In the time it would take one to blink, the spark released four more bolts down the length of the cacoon before combining into one and shooting down into the ground, breaking the circle and releasing an explosion of light and sound which threw Skye and Tia back.

As the glare died down and Claire pulled herself to her feet, she immediately looked up at where she last saw Dustin and let her jaw slowly drop at the sight.

Floating in place of the magical cacoon was a pony, with a tawny shaded coat and a short mane and tail the same colour as Dustin’s brown hair. Its body was significantly smaller than Skye or Tia, and while it lacked wings it did have the horn of a unicorn. It remained in the air for a few more seconds before falling like a stone, but it was caught in Skye’s aura and laid on his back on the bed.

“Stand clear!” Skye announced as she placed the tip of her horn on the unicorn’s chest and began charging magic inside his blood vessels. She let it spread throughout his body, and as it did she could see the infection’s work in her mind’s eye. Once the majority of his circulatory system was laced with her magic she ignited it, burning away the poison and cauterising the bloodstream at the same time. She feared she was hurting Dustin, as a sluggish groan of pain could be heard. Yet she persisted, burning up all the magic until she was certain all traces of the poison were removed.

Skye stepped away, looking to see that Dustin’s face showed he was sore but wasn’t in continued pain as before. Tia stepped forward and quickly placed her horn on Dustin’s, the two tips emitting bright green light before it dimmed and Dustin’s tired body relaxed.

“Dusty!” Finally given a clear opportunity, Claire dashed towards the side of the bed, worriedly looking at what her friend had become. Nervously, she turned to Skye. “Is... Is he?”

“We’ve done what we can,” Tia answered. “It will take some time for his body to heal, but he should be fine.”

“Thank god.” Claire murmured exhaustedly as she slumped to her knees against the bed.

“However,” Tia continued. “There is the question as to why he became a unicorn. The spell was meant to transform him into an earth pony.”

“I believe it is something we can investigate another time, sister.” Skye interjected, and Tia nodded in agreement before her gaze rested on Claire and Dustin.

“Yes, but there are still things we need to discuss. Claire, you and Dustin may stay here until he is fit to leave. Until that time, you are not to wander off without one of us accompanying you. Is that understood?”

Claire would’ve fought back, but the look Tia was giving her as well as Skye’s resigned look told her to do otherwise. Not only that, but the events of the past hour had drained her, so she simply nodded.

“Good.” Tia stated before turning, spreading her wings and taking off, flying deeper into the caves.

“What’s her problem?” Claire mumbled, not expecting an answer. Skye heard it though and gave her one anyway.

“I apologise. My sister has suffered greatly in the past, and does not have pleasant memories when it comes to human interaction.

“Also.” Skye continued, walking a bit further away from the bed before turning back to face Claire. “I am sorry to have deceived the two of you this whole time. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Luna, Princess of the Night. The other you met was my elder sister; Celestia, Princess of the Sun. Again, I am sorry for everything. When you feel rested, I will return to answer any questions you will no doubt have for me.” With a bow, the pony now known as Luna took flight following the direction that her sister had taken.

After watching her fly away, Claire sighed and clambered onto the bed, hugging Dustin’s new form and feeling his heart beat; a sure sign he was okay. Slowly but surely, the fatigue took over and Claire fell asleep, hoping to wake up to the reality she had known before this.

~~~

Vince muttered to himself as he waited outside his uncle’s office. Men in uniform occasionally walked past, sometimes trying to start up conversation. But Vince either ignored them or gave short one line answers, clearly indicating he didn’t want to be there right now. The hallway was bland, with white floor tiles and bare walls painted white on the top half and dark green on the bottom. Soon enough, the door he leaned next to opened and he past the man who held it open to take a seat in the slightly more comfortable office chair.

By comparison, the office was much more decorated. A mahogany wooden desk sat in front of Vince, and another black chair sat beside him while a more comfortable black swivel chair sat behind the desk. The walls were a beige colour, rising above the navy blue carpet. On the walls were charts and maps of the city and country, as well as an antique rifle hanging on a rack behind the desk. Next to the door stood a bookcase, full of thick tomes which Vince had never seen moved from there in his life. There wasn’t much on the desk itself; just a closed laptop, a pen or two, a photo frame turned away from Vince’s view and a name plaque reading ‘CDR Joel Selwood’.

The man who held the door open now walked around the desk and sat down, flashing a small smile at Vince. Joel Selwood was forty four years old, had close cut sandy brown hair and a body which saw plenty of gym time. Currently he was wearing a pale blue business shirt, black pants and boots. His only other visually defining trait was the one scar on his face that never fully healed. It started just above the inner edge of his right eyebrow and continued down to near his chin. Despite constant pestering, he never saw fit to get plastic surgery, instead saying it served as a reminder to be ready for any situation.

“So,” Joel began, resting his arms on the desk. “How’s Dustin doing?”

“He’s doing better,” Vince grumbled. “Now please tell me why you dragged me away from him?”

“Oh Vince, talking like that makes you sound like his mother.” Joel laughed. “Or even a lover.” Vince stood up, clearly not amused, but sat back down when his uncle raised his hands, silently telling Vince to calm down.

“And as for why you are here, you’ve been given a temporary holiday. Be aware though that I’ll likely to call you off it early.”

“What?!” Vince yelled, slamming his hands on the desk and not caring if anyone outside heard him. “Why pull me off duty? And why bother doing that when you’re just going to put me back on anyway?”

“It’s because of Friday night,” Joel replied, his tone now less jovial as authority took hold and his gaze hardened. “You failed in your objective and now those two artefacts are lost to the enemy.”

“They aren’t the only possible power fragments,” Vince shot back, not backing down. “Besides, I didn’t know there’d be civilians in the combat area. And I was lucky to survive against that witch.”

“But it was your job to make sure no one other than that witch was present in the building.” Joel retorted, standing to match Vince. “And yes; we may have underestimated her powers, but it is a leader’s job to adapt to a situation.”

“So you’re punishing me for failing. Is that it?”

Joel leaned back and took a deep breath. “I just think you should take it easy. Like you said; you were lucky to keep your head in that battle. I think now would be the best time to take a step back and lay low for now. Once we find another fragment, I’ll let you know.”

Vince sighed, but he did see where his uncle was coming from. Nodding, he gave a quick, informal salute as he moved to the door. “Well, I’ll see you later then.”

“Don’t let this get to you Vince.” Joel said as he sat down, flashing his nephew a reassuring smile. “You’ll get another chance, I promise.” Vince nodded once more and left, closing the door behind him.

Once Vince had left, Joel’s face hardened. Fishing out his phone from his pocket, he quickly dialled the number and waited for an answer. Not for long, though, as the person on the other end picked up after the first ring.

“Sir?” The person asked, waiting for Joel’s order or question.

“Have Astley and Lockwood achieved their objective yet?” Joel asked in a harsher tone than he had used with Vince.

“No Sir.” the voice replied. “We’ve heard no word from them. Should we send another team to find them?”

“No.” Joel said, already imagining what had most likely happened. “We will assume them K.I.A until proven otherwise. Double the efforts of the scanning process. We must find the next fragment before the D.S.I.”

“Yes Sir.” The man replied before hanging up. As Joel did the same, his hand absentmindedly found its way to his scar, slowly tracing its path down his face. Leaning back in his chair, Joel stared at the map of the country; looking at all the red x’s that meant a failed mission and the few blue ticks that meant they were successful. You could count the ticks on one hand.

“Your move, witches.” Joel growled to himself.

Ch7: A New Beginning

The sounds of running water and singing birds greeted the pony as he awoke, opening his eyes but slamming them shut again as a bright light blinded him. Standing up, the unicorn slowly opened his steel blue eyes once more to find himself in a field dotted with trees, with very few clouds in the sky and a clear river passing by a few metres to his right. The smell of vibrant flowers in bloom filled his lungs as the breeze past over his tawny coat and through his brown mane.

As the stallion looked around him, the snap of a twig brought his attention to a nearby tree, from which a smaller pony emerged. It was a filly, looking at him initially with frightened orange eyes that became curious. She had a yellow coat and a red mane and tail, the former topped with a pink bow. Once she saw it was only the stallion though, she quickly shot him a smile before setting off at a gallop into the woods. He tried calling out to her, yet no sound escaped his mouth as there was no voice in him. He tentatively brought a hoof to his throat; attempting to see if there was a cut or bruise, but quickly shook it off and followed the filly, eager for her to answer his questions.

He ran after her, entering the woods while simultaneously dodging roots and looking for the little filly. But the deeper into the woods he went, the more it sounded like her voice surrounded him. Another confusing aspect was that he would sometimes spy a glimpse of a town through the trunks of the trees, only to see nothing but more trees as he took another look.

The stallion stopped to get his bearings and figure out where the filly was, but only now did he realise that the scenery had changed. The woods had grown thicker and the trees taller. The canopy of leaves let in slithers of light as bushes and ferns competed for space around the tree bases. From the small gaps in the canopy he could find the sky was now full of clouds, rapidly darkening. And try as he might, the only sound to be heard was that of his breathing. The only sight surrounding him were trees, darkness and silence.

A scream shattered that silence, forcing the stallion to snap his head to the left. An orange hue began glowing from behind the trees. Not waiting another second he bolted in that direction, praying to any deity that cared to listen that the filly was alright. As he dodged trees and approached the light, the air began to noticeably warm, so much so that he sweating by the time he finally broke free of the woods.

But when he stopped and looked up from his panting, his blood ran cold at the sight.

The undersides of the dark grey clouds were lit by the flames engulfing the town he had glimpsed earlier, radiating an unbearable heat and light. Some pastel coloured ponies at the scene ran in panic while others attempted to rein in the inferno, though it would be in vain. In the middle of all this carnage was the young filly from earlier, hugging two other fillies; one a white unicorn with green eyes and a light lavender and faded pink mane and tail that curled at the end, the other an orange pegasus with purple eyes, mane and tail. The three simply held each other as they looked to the sky, trembling in fear.

The stallion followed their gaze and immediately understood why, as his mouth fell agape.

Fires from further within the town had climbed high into the sky, following the smoke as it rose and swirled round and round like a burning eddy among the dark clouds. Slowly, a snout as dark as charcoal emerged from the blaze, a long spiralled horn standing proud in front of a small, blood red crown. And then the face opened its eyes, showing the world below they were draconic in nature; slitted red irises surrounded by orange. The face took one look at the chaos below and grinned; an action born of malice and sick joy. The stallion followed its gaze to see it led to the three fillies, too terrified to run. He ran towards them, silently begging them to move as the face began its murderous descent, mouth open to reveal a set of razor-sharp jaws. The stallion was barely a metre away before a pain crippled him, robbing him of his footing and causing him to fall. The flames of pain burned inside him like the fires that devoured the town around him. And as he looked up to the fillies, his heart skipped a beat as the face was upon them.

But despite their imminent doom the yellow filly just stared back at him, a sad smile on her face. She said something he couldn’t hear her before they disappeared from sight, and everything around the stallion was engulfed in flames. The inferno's roar was bested only by the deep, cruel laughter that no doubt belonged to the monstrous face.

But as the flames and laughter faded to darkness, a young accented voice reached his ears in the void.

“Don’t be afraid.”

~~~

Dustin shot to a sitting position, panting as he sat in bed as the intensity of his dream replayed before his eyes. He closed them and took three long and deep breaths, slowing his heartbeat and calming down as his memories began lining up in order. But this brought up a question; one that seemed odd yet made sense given what’d happened to him.

Where’s the beep? Dustin thought to himself, and opened his eyes to try and find the heart monitor. After all, given what had happened to him he was sure he’d be in a hospital.

When he opened his eyes however, Dustin’s heartbeat began speeding up once again. He sat in a circular bed surrounded by dark furniture in the bowels of a cave. And that wasn’t even the strangest part as before him stood a white mare, whose appearance, while shocking, seemed somehow familiar to him.

“Uh...” he began, still staring at the winged and horned pony that returned his gaze with an expression devoid of emotion. “Do you...” He paused, realising how insane he must have sounded talking to an animal like this.

“Understand you? Yes, I do,” the mare replied, making Dustin question his sanity. “And believe me when I say that this is no dream or hallucination. I am real.”

“Yeah, sure.” Dustin replied as he reached to pinch his arm, aiming to wake himself up from this crazy dream.

Only there was a strange feeling when his hand made contact with his arm. Dustin looked down and froze, his eyes becoming as wide as saucers at the sight before him.

Instead of his hands and arms, before him were two forelegs; one pressing a hoof covered in a tawny coat into the other. As he started hyperventilating, Dustin flung the covers of the bed off of him to find the transformation wasn’t just contained to his arms. His entire body had been changed and he brought his new appendages to his face to feel the changes to his face and head, the most glaring of which was a horn protruding from his forehead.

“Calm down.” The white mare told him, though there was a slight edge in her voice.

“Calm down?” Dustin asked, his voice quickly rising. “Calm down?! I’m a fucking unicorn! Why? How’d the bloody hell did that happen?!”

“Dustin, please, calm yourself.”

The familiar voice caught Dustin’s attention and he quickly looked around for Skye, only to find another pony, this one navy blue, flutter down from further in the cave. She looked at him with worry written all over her equine features, yet the flowing mane that represented the night sky seemed familiar to him.

“S-Skye?” Dustin cautiously asked, leaning forward on his new forelegs. “I-Is that you? What’s going on? Where am I?” Before he could ask any more questions, the dark mare raised a hoof to stop him.

“I understand you have many questions, that is only natural. Firstly, my name is not Skye. It was merely a cover name to hide my true identity. I am Luna, Princess of the Night, and the other mare you see here is my older sister Celestia, Princess of the Sun.”

Dustin turned to look at Celestia once more, surprise slowly becoming understanding as he remembered his chat with Luna earlier. “...You’re Sky-Luna’s sister?”

Celestia nodded. “I am. Now, if you will excuse me.” Spreading her wide wings, Celestia turned on the spot and gracefully took off, flying deep into the cavern.

“I apologise.” Luna spoke up as she moved to the side of the bed. “My sister has a... complicated past with humanity.”

“Okay...” Dustin started as he turned to face the princess before him. “So, let me see if I'm understanding this. You’re a magical pony princess?”

“That is a blunt way to put it, but yes. This is my true form, and the form you knew was necessary for me to interact with humans.”

“And I’m guessing I’m the only one who knows what you are?”

Luna shook her head. “No, there are others. The senior most members of the D.S.I, Claire... your mother.” Though the last part was spoken in almost a guilty murmur, Dustin heard it loud and clear.

“Wait, how the hell does my mum know about you?” He asked, pointing a hoof at the princess.

She sighed. “I had to explain to her why you would not be returning home within the next few days. If she went to the authorities, it could have lead to a scandal that would have revealed us and ruined the D.S.I-”

“But why?” He interrupted. “Does it have something to do with... this?” He gestured to his chest with a hoof. Luna winced under his accusing gaze but pressed on with her explanation.

“It does Dustin.” She replied. “While you were unconscious, two men from that terrorist organization attempted to assassinate you. I... made sure they would never interfere in your life again. However, they managed to inject into you a very old and potent toxin. One that would have killed you had I not intervened." Dustin’s eyes widened at that, but he let her continue.

“I used my magic to help dampen the effects of the poison, but it was not enough. The only cure was to burn the toxin away from within.”

Dustin sat up straight at the thought. “You roasted me from the inside?” Luna nodded. “Then... then how am I still alive?”

“That was why your transformation was necessary.” Luna continued, placing a hoof on Dustin’s shoulder. “My sister and I transformed you into a pony so that your body would naturally accept our magic, making it easier to cure you.

“That being said, however, there was a... complication with the spell.”

“I’ve still got the poison in me?” Dustin asked, fear slightly creeping back into his voice.

“No.” Luna shook her head. “Your body is rid of that vile toxin. The complication is here.” She then removed her hoof from Dustin’s shoulder and tapped his horn. “The spell was designed to turn you into what we call an earth pony; a pony without wings or a horn. Yet something caused the spell to variate slightly and transform you into a unicorn.”

“And that’s a big deal why?”

“Unicorns are adept in the art of magic, and use their horns to channel their spells. Their magic is spread throughout the body in a manner similar to a human’s circulatory system; running in small, near undetectable veins through their bodies.

“The problem this represents is that when it comes time to change you back into a human, being an earth pony would have made it a simple process of applying the spell in reverse. But as a unicorn the task becomes more complicated. In order to return you to your original human form we would have to remove each and every strand of magic piece by piece, a process that could cripple you... or worse.”

“Cripple me?” Dustin repeated as agitation at everything began building in his voice, his body moving without thought. “I’m already a cripple. If that was meant to be a joke then-”

“It was not a joke.” Luna stopped him, adding a sliver of steel to her tone. “And I say that because of your new body.”

“What about it?” He snapped, but when Luna motioned with her head to look down, all of Dustin’s anger flew out the window at the sight below him.

Dustin was standing on the bed.

For a time he simply stared, dumbstruck at the sight. Albeit he stood on four legs, he was standing up, something he had since thought impossible for him. Despite his face becoming a mask of surprise, all manner of emotions ran rampant in his mind, demanding his attention. Happiness that he could stand again. Confusion over how it was possible, and fear that this was a dream and the sight would vanish if he dared blink. After what felt like an eternity, Dustin looked back up at Luna, her face a sympathetic one.

“H-How?” he asked, it being the most pressing question on his mind.

“Unlike my spell, which was merely an illusion to make me appear human,” Luna explained, “The spell has changed your body down to the molecular level. As such your body is, how you humans say, ‘brand new’, completely without physical imperfection.”

Dustin took this in as he attempted to move his hind right leg. The smile that grew on his face threatened to stretch off of it, as the limb followed his command and took a step back. He did the same with the other hind leg and was met with identical results, though his hind legs slipped on the sheets and he fell onto his stomach.

Though as Luna raised a hoof in concern, she was interrupted by the sound of laughter bubbling up from the young unicorn, Genuine laughter at a second chance. He stood once more and slowly but surely worked out how to walk on four legs as he completed small laps on Luna’s bed. Once he had finished his fifth circuit, one he performed at a light canter, Dustin looked back to find Luna smiling at him, the same way a parent might at their child.

“This... this is awesome.” Dustin stated excitedly, successfully jumping on the bed. “Wait ‘til Mum, Claire and Vince see this.” After finishing that sentence, he stopped jumping and gazed down at his legs before looking back at the princess. “Where are they, anyway?” Luna’s smile slowly faded as she climbed onto the bed next to Dustin and lay down, motioning with her wing for him to do the same next to her.

“Soon after the transformation was completed I escorted Claire home, as her mother would most likely start to worry about Claire’s whereabouts.”

“Yeah, Leanne’s always been like that.”

“The next day, yesterday, I brought your mother here; granted she was blindfolded for most of the journey. My sister disagreed with the decision, however I thought it best for us to tell her the truth so that she did not bring your disappearance to the authorities. It could have led to the D.S.I being dissolved and my sister and I being discovered.

“After nearly an hour of explanations and assurances, your mother finally believed me and promised to keep our identity a secret on the condition I ensure your safety until your transformation.” Dustin nodded as he took in all of this information. He could see Luna’s logic, as his mum would no doubt create a big fuss over him disappearing.

“So,” Dustin asked. “I was under for two days?”

“Four, if you consider the two days you spent in hospital.” Luna corrected. “It is currently Friday the twelfth, nearing six thirty at night.” That fact carried a thought that brought her smile back into view.

“Dustin, how would you like to see something very few beings ever have?”

~~~

The flash of the teleport spell faded and as Dustin waited for the dizziness in his mind to clear away, a breeze flowed through his mane and tail. Opening his eyes, Dustin’s jaw began to slowly drop, much to Luna’s satisfaction. The two ponies now stood on a balcony on the highest tower of the ruins that still stood; overlooking the city of Astraea and surrounding countryside, including the forest on the horizon. Perched on the horizon was the sun; a yellow orb slowly descending while casting its amber hue on everything it touched.

“I wish I had a camera right now,” Dustin murmured to himself as he looked over seemingly all of creation. Luna smiled at this as she stepped towards the decaying guardrail.

“While impressive, the view is not what I wish to show you. You may want to step back.” Dustin looked at the princess before backing up a couple of paces and sitting down. Once she thought he was out of the way Luna stomped a hoof down, summoning a circle of sky blue light beneath her, made up of various shapes and symbols surrounding a crescent moon in the centre.

Taking a calming breath and closing her eyes, Luna’s horn began glowing a blue hue as she started charging the circle with magic. As she did this, the princess of the night began to sing.

Dustin had a keen ear for music, and what he now heard blew every artist he knew out of the water. Luna sang in a language he had never heard before, but that didn’t detract anything from her voice or the way she sang. There was no music to accompany her, but to Dustin any instruments would dampen the quality of the song. The longer the song carried on the more magic flowed into the circle, which greedily absorbed more and more as it glowed in response to Luna’s lullaby to the world.

With one final note the song was finished, and an orb of light the size of a tennis ball alighted from Luna’s horn. As it started ascending, small pinpricks of light rose from the edge of the circle, swirling upwards to meet the original orb while trailing sky blue lines behind them much like the tail of a comet.

Once fifty feet above the two ponies, the lights met and suddenly accelerated upwards. Dustin was wondering how no one in the city was seeing this as the smaller lights separated and spread out to nearly every corner of the now quickly darkening sky. The large orb, however, shot off like a shooting star towards the eastern horizon. Once the lights had all disappeared, Dustin began wondering what the point of the light show was.

“Wait for it,” Luna said with a smile, seeing Dustin’s confusion. Sure enough, one by one, the smaller lights began re-emerging, and as they did, his jaw dropped when he realised what the spell did. In each space that the smaller lights disappeared, a star flickered to life in its place, and soon enough the entire sky was littered with brightly sparkling lights. Then a light began glowing from the eastern horizon, and soon enough Dustin saw why.

The moon was rising.

While the light from the nearly full moon hid some of the stars from view, it was still an impressive sight to watch as Luna’s celestial charge rose, lighting up the darkness of the night. Dustin turned back to see Luna returning his gaze, a smile visible in the moonlight.

“Did you enjoy watching the spell?” She asked, to which Dustin nodded vigorously.

“Y-you just raised the bloody moon. That was awesome,” He jumped a little in excitement. “Hey, you said unicorns can use magic. Could you teach me to do that?”

Luna’s face lowered somewhat. “I cannot Dustin. While you may now possess the ability to use magic, you would no doubt lack the power or training necessary to raise the moon.

“However,” She continued, seeing his enthusiasm dip slightly. “If you wish, I could teach you the basics of magic. But be warned; the stronger your magic is the more difficult it will be to remove when it comes time for you to return to your human form. So, with that said, would you still wish for me to teach you?”

Dustin thought about this, bringing a hoof to his chin. On the one hand, he would be able to use magic; something that made his inner child cheer. However, he had a life to get back to. A human life. Another gust created the only noise around them as Luna stood there, waiting patiently for Dustin’s decision. After a few minutes, he stood up, looking the princess in the eye.

“Yes, I’d like you to teach me. I mean, you’ve saved my life twice in a week, and given me my legs back. The least I can do to repay you is use whatever I have at my disposal to make it up to you.”

“You do not owe me a debt Dustin.”

“Even so, I still need to do something to make it up to you. So if teaching me magic can help me do that, then please teach me.” Luna simply looked upon him for a moment before she smiled once more, this one showing nothing but pure joy.

“Very well then, my young student, your lessons shall begin tomorrow.”

Ch8: Students

It was a beautiful day. There were only a few small clouds dotting the sky and the sounds of bird songs and the occasional passing car created the perfect ambience of suburbia. The sun created little patterns on the lawn as it filtered through the tree in Claire’s back yard. The space was a bit small in her opinion, the big tree above her took up a big majority of the far left corner of the yard. In the other corner was her dad’s old tin shed, in which all the garden tools were gathering dust and cobwebs while he was on duty. Against the back wall of the house was a clothesline lined with drying clothes, while underneath was Claire’s mom’s flowerbed with roses and sunflowers in full bloom.

Yet, as she sat on a swing hanging from a thick tree branch, Claire wasn’t at ease. It was Sunday, four days since Luna had transformed Dustin and yet she still hadn't seen him awake. The agent-turned-pony had said that she would tell him as soon as he was awake, yet she hadn’t heard anything. She stared at her phone, Luna’s number displayed on the smart phone screen. Claire had thought of calling, but for some reason she always hesitated. It’s not like Luna and Dustin are purposely forgetting to call, right? Taking a reassuring breath, Claire stood and was about call Luna when her ringtone went off, Vince’s picture appearing onscreen.

“Hey Vince,” She quickly answered, masking any feelings from earlier in her voice. “What’s up?”

“Hey.” Vince replied, a small puff being heard before he continued. “Have you heard anything about Dusty yet?”

“Well...” Claire trailed off, wondering whether he should tell him what really happened. Vince had been kept out of the loop the entire time and even though she wanted to tell him, she understood why Luna needed Dustin to be kept a secret. She couldn’t just go and say “Well, your best friend has been turned into a unicorn by two magical ponies that live in the ruins.” That would confirm her status as insane.

“Claire, what is it?” Vince asked, concern coming from the other end of the line that snapped Claire out of her train of thought.

“Sorry Vince.” She replied. “I haven’t heard anything yet. I was about to call L-Skye before you rang.”

“It’s alright,” Vince sighed. “But I mean, why move him to some secret place where even his best friends aren’t allowed to go? It’s just so... argh.” Vince’s angry grunt was followed by an impact sound.

“Vince?” Claire worriedly asked.

“Sorry Claire. I’m just at the gym and hit a punching bag, that’s all.”

“Vince...”

“I know, I know. Listen, just... keep me posted if anything happens, alright?”

“Okay, see you later.”

“See you Claire.” Vince said as he hung up, Claire following suit. A breeze blew her streaked hair out past her and she tucked it away before looking up at a hollow in the tree trunk higher up. “This is so messed up. I suppose you wouldn’t know what to do, would you Oswald?” Silence greeted her, though she expected this from the owl that always hung around and turned her gaze to the wooden bird-feeder her father had made years ago.

It wasn’t the most simple of designs but that was what Claire liked about it. On top of a wooden pole sat a finely crafted miniature house. The roof was held up only by four wooden pillars and birds could reach the birdfeed in the centre by flying through the gaps where the walls would’ve been. But Claire’s favourite feature was the jewel. Just beneath the arch of the roof there was a jewel her father had fixed onto the wood. All she knew about it was that her father had found it while going through her great-grandmother’s house one spring cleaning. Though she had grown out of the colour pink or butterflies, Claire still smiled every time she looked at it.

Her ringtone interrupted her moment once more and she answered it before the second ring could start. “Hello?”

“Claire, it is me, Skye.” Luna’s voice came through the other end.

“Oh, hey. I was just about to call you. How’s Dusty? Is he okay?”

“Calm down Claire.” Luna replied. “Yes, Dustin is fine. Actually, he and I were in the middle of a lesson when I remembered my promise to contact you. I want to apologise for that.”

“Oh.” Claire said, a little surprised at the response. “He’s... having a lesson?”

“Yes,” Luna replied, drawing the word out slightly. “It would be easiest to explain when I bring you to see him. Are you free later on today?”

Claire beamed. “Y-Yeah. Is it okay if we meet at the university dorms in about an hour? And can I bring Vince as well? It’s just that he’s been really worried about Dusty and-”

“Claire.” Luna interrupted her. “Meeting you at the university will be fine, but I am unsure whether it will be a good idea to bring Vince along. You witnessed my sister’s reaction at the arrival of Dustin and yourself. It would be unwise to test her patience further.”

“But he has as much right to see him as I do.”

“That may be but he is unaware of our secret, or of what Dustin has become.”

“Please Luna? Just this once? It’ll be easier if we both explain it to him.”

Luna sighed. “Just... Allow me to discuss this with my sister. I will call you when we have reached a decision.” Claire nodded, though Luna couldn’t see it. Judging by how overjoyed Celestia was to see them before she wasn’t sure if Vince would get the all clear, but he deserved to know what had happened to his best friend.

“Alright, I’ll see you later then.”

~~~

Luna hung up just as Claire did, releasing the phone from her aura as she placed it back on her dresser. Hearing a voice mumbling to themselves off in the distance, Luna turned and walked away from her bedroom area and came to the edge of a ridge, looking down at the exercise before her. Dustin was getting ready to attempt another lap of the training circuit Luna had set up the night he agreed to be her student. While Luna thought it important he knew the most basic spells, it would mean nothing if his body wasn’t as fit as his magic.

The track was a standard oval obstacle course. Halfway through the first curve was a set of three hurdles, then there was a brick wall with a very small space at the bottom, followed by spinning boulders held aloft by an anti-gravity spell. After a pool of water with a hurdle standing above the surface, the last obstacle on the home stretch was another wall, though this one was made of solidified magic and would provide more of a challenge getting past it. While Luna allowed Dustin to think up how he was overcome each obstacle, each segment of the course was made to help improve three spells in particular; telekinesis, a magical beam attack and teleportation. While Dustin had taken to telekinesis fairly quickly and the beam attack soon after, teleportation seemed to be presenting more of a challenge.

Without any warning or prompt Dustin set off at a gallop, quickly approaching the set of hurdles. Concentrating, Dustin’s horn became engulfed in a green aura. Soon the same light surrounded all three hurdles and pulled them together, leaping over all three in one bound before releasing them and moving on. Approaching the wall, Dustin quickly dropped down and rolled through the wall before focusing again and setting his sights on two of the three spinning boulders. His horn lighting up again, Dustin fired his beam twice, knocking two boulders out of the way and allowing him to gallop past the last one easily. Using the momentum he’d built up, Dustin leapt over the pool and cleared the hurdle but saw he wouldn’t make the other side. Thinking fast, he grabbed the hurdle with his telekinesis and pulled it back, using it as a platform to jump back onto solid ground from.

Luna smiled slightly at the feat, but it quickly faded as he came towards the wall of magic, knowing this would be the hardest part of the track. She had tailor-made the block of blue light so his only option to pass it would be teleportation. Dustin slowed slightly but still charged at the wall, his horn glowing brightly once more. He focused on getting past the wall and, when he was a metre away from it, released the energy. Unfortunately however, the spell backfired and Dustin was thrown back by the discharge, suffering no more than a numbing headache.

Dustin sat up, rubbing a sore spot on his head as he gave an annoyed look back at the unmoving wall. The last lap he had tried using his beam to propel himself over it, only to have the wall match his ascent and force a mid-air collision. Before that he had tried moving it via telekinesis, only to run into the wall face first.

“Are you alright Dustin?” Luna asked as she approached. Dustin sighed as he stood to meet her, though he winced as his horn still ached from the discharge.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He groaned, but Luna’s gaze showed she wasn’t falling for it.

“Your tenacity is to be admired, but you should rest. After all, you would not want to be hurt when Claire arrives, would you?”

“...Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He admitted, walking to the side of the track before collapsing onto the ground. Luna followed him over and calmly sat next to him.

“But,” Dustin continued, now looking back at the princess. “But what if, what if Claire doesn’t like what I’ve turned into?”

“She did not care what you became when she begged me to save your life. She only cared that I did so. And also, she is your friend. Being as close to you as she is, I highly doubt she would ever abandon you for such a trivial reason.” Dustin thought this over and smiled, thankful that the small voice of fear in the back of his mind had been silenced. But now a voice of curiosity took its place.

“Luna, can I ask you something?” Dustin sat up to meet Luna’s gaze.

“Of course Dustin.”

“Well, why does your sister hate me?” Luna’s eyes widened for an instant, but faster than one could blink the image was gone, leaving a slightly sombre expression on her face. “I mean, you told me she has some past grudge with humanity and I can understand that. But I don’t understand why she’s focusing on me like an eagle on a rabbit.”

Luna composed herself before answering, though her expression remained unchanged. “It is... complicated. I do not feel easy talking about my sister like this, especially behind her back.”

“Oh, sorry I asked.” Dustin replied, looking away while bringing a hoof behind his head.

“No, it is not your fault. But if you could, let us not discuss my sister without her permission. On any other matter however, I can answer your questions freely.”

“Oh, okay.” Dustin thought of another question. One appeared when he thought back to the university. “Actually, why did those terrorists attack the university in the first place?”

Luna’s look hardened. “They were trying to deny us the shield and flag.”

“But why?”

“Those men refer to themselves as the Human Defence Front, or H.D.F for short, and claim they fight us to protect humanity.”

“Does... that mean that they’ve seen...”

“Some of their ancestors may have noticed us using magic while in human form hundreds of years ago, hence their naming us as witches. The reason they were after the artefacts was because nearly everything from our former kingdom would still contain a limited magical charge. They seek to deny us said magic in the hopes of stifling our power.”

“So the H.D.F and D.S.I have been fighting some sort of underground war?”

“That is one way to look at it, yes.” Luna nodded as she stood. “But I believe that is enough rest for now. Are you ready to try again?”

Dustin knew she was hiding more but brushed it off and stood up, feeling that his headache had vanished. Satisfying her question wit a smile, Luna walked to the side of the track as Dustin returned to the starting line. The princess extended one wing, holding in place and seeing him waiting for the signal. When she lowered her wing Dustin took off, quickly passing each obstacle the same way he had in the last attempt. It wasn’t long before he approached the wall of magic once more, and this time he was determined to pass it. Dustin concentrated, focusing all of his magic to his horn and picturing the cave on the other side of this wall and jumped at the wall. Luna watched as he did this, pleased with how he was performing on this lap, and saw he was about to pull off the spell.

But then she realised Dustin had timed his leap a fraction too late.

Just as he released the spell, Dustin’s horn made contact with the wall. Luna wasn’t exactly sure what happened next but a bright flash lit up the entire cavern, forcing the princess to shield her eyes with a wing. When she looked again, shock and fear began to take hold within the princess; shock that the wall of solidified magic was now nothing but rubble, and fear that Dustin was now nowhere to be seen.

~~~

Dustin landed with a thud, rolling as momentum carried him across the cave floor another metre or so. Groaning, he shook his head as he made it to his hooves, hoping that he had at least teleported to the finish line of the circuit. Opening his eyes, what the unicorn saw dashed those hopes in an instant. He was in a completely different part of the caves, with neither Luna nor Celestia in sight. But that wasn’t what had his attention.

It was the crystal.

It was massive; the top point nearly reaching the roof of the cavern while from the middle it was as wide as one and a half school busses were long. It shone with a teal light, illuminating the entirety of this cavern. What interested Dustin most were the strange symbols that faded in and out of sight on its surface. Not all of them were clear, most overlapped others that started fading, though Dustin could make out a few images; a scroll, three small flowers, and an hourglass among those he could recognise. Another thing Dustin soon realised was that he was hearing things. Every now and then a sound would brush by his pivoting ears, begging for his attention and scuttling away only to return and repeat the process. Once or twice though, he made out what sounded like whispers.

Unfortunately, those whispers sounded anything but pleasant.

“What are you doing here?”

From the razor sharp edge of the feminine voice, Dustin immediately knew he was in trouble. Slowly, he turned to see Celestia staring back at him with wings flared and her face locked in a state of anger. The look in those magenta eyes seemed capable of obliterating a mountainside if they felt like it, which Dustin imagined could be the case right now.

“I-I’m sorry.” Dustin stuttered, taking a step backwards. Celestia matched this with a step forward, her longer stride helping close the small gap between them.

“You have no right to be here.” Dustin could almost see the venom in Celestia’s voice, his heartbeat accelerating as she continued glaring at him.

“I-I’m sorry! I-I was training, a-and I tried teleporting and-and-”

“Then I have some training for you as well.” Celestia replied, catching off guard while also scaring him even more as her face had not changed.

“Y-You do?”

“Yes. You must teleport yourself away from this place while under duress, to simulate a combat situation.” Dustin’s eyes widened with fear while his pupils shrank to pinpricks. This brought a small smile to Celestia’s face, which only fed his fear more. “Since you understand my role in this exercise,” the tip of her horn beginning to charge energy of a golden hue, “You now have five second to teleport. Go.”

Dustin bolted to Celestia’s left, zigzagging as he tried focusing through the fear of this situation. He almost had Luna’s cavern pictured when a bright beam scorched the ground next to his hoof, and he looked back to see Celestia lining him up in her sights once more. Dustin yelled in fear as he ran and just focused on casting the spell more than his destination. He didn’t care where he wound up as long as it was away from this psychotic princess. His horn began shining furiously before the telltale flash of the teleport spell sounded.

The first difference Dustin noticed was there was wind where he ended up, and he opened his eyes to find he was back on the balcony outside. The view blurred by, however, as his momentum from running from Celestia carried him towards the stairwell of the tower. Dustin tried stopping, but tripped over one of his hooves before tumbling down the stairs. He had rolled down four flights before finally stopping himself with his fore-hooves, merely a few stone steps from where the stairwell had crumbled away over time into a near nine story drop. For a few minutes the unicorn didn’t move outside taking deep breaths, staring at what could’ve been his death. Sweat matted his mane as it rested against his neck and onto his face.

“Dustin?” A worried voice called out. Despite hearing it, Dustin remained as still as the stone steps he rested upon. Soon enough Luna appeared in the stairwell behind him, gasping at the bruises that were starting to form underneath his coat. “Dustin! Hold still.” Luna quickly took hold of Dustin’s form with her magic and brought him back to the balcony, taking care not to bump him against anything. Once he was sitting down once more, she saw that he was still staring straight ahead, petrified of what had almost been his fate.

“Dustin, relax. You are safe now,” She said soothingly while her horn began glowing green at the tip. She placed her horn at the back of Dustin’s neck and let the healing spell begin seeping through his body. As it spread it brought with it a reassuring warmth that flowed throughout his body, relaxing him enough to ease him out of his shocked state. Releasing a massive sigh of relief, Dustin slid onto his stomach as Luna removed her horn, thanking her mother that he only received minor bruising.

“Dustin...” Luna asked again, concern etched onto her face as she came into his sight. “What happened? I tried tracing your spell but by the time I found you, you teleported again. Where did you teleport?”

“He found the crystal.” That familiar voice instantly put Dustin on edge once more. Luna turned to see Celestia standing near the stairwell entrance, her frown back in effect. Luna took one look at her new student before throwing a glare at her sister and standing at her full height.

“Dustin,” She said, nothing but authority and contained anger filling her voice. “You are to return to my quarters and remain there until I return.” Before he could do or say anything Luna cast a teleportation spell for him, blinking him out of sight and leaving the two princesses alone. The tension sky-rocketed as Luna created a powerful Silence Field. This wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation.

“What did you do?” Luna asked grimly, returning the look her sister was giving her.

“No,” Celestia countered. “The question is what are you doing? He isn’t a pony by birth and yet you trust him to the extent of teaching him magic?”

“Give me one reason why I should not trust him. One that is not fuelled by racism.”

“We don’t know his true intentions.” Celestia took a step forward now. “For all we know, he’s aligned with the H.D.F, chasing after the crystal for Mother knows what purpose.”

“If he were a terrorist, why would he save my life?”

“To get closer to you Luna. To gain your trust so that he may crush in due time. Mark my words; sometime in the future you will regret bringing him under your wing. He will do something terrible, something unforgivable, and when he does it’ll be you that’s left to suffer the mistake!” Luna just glared at her sister until something about what Celestia said clicked in her mind. At that moment, everything made sense and almost all anger seeped away from Luna’s body.

“That is why you are so afraid of him.”

“Excuse me?” Celestia asked incredulously.

“You are afraid because I have a student to call my own. You are afraid that he might corrupt me, or worse, that he will intentionally hurt me.”

“N.,” Celestia growled, moving to the guardrail and staring out at the human civilization before her to hide her face from her sister.

But Luna pressed on. “But, you are most afraid of me being hurt by my student protecting me. Just as you feel you were hurt by yours.”

“ENOUGH!” Celestia shouted, the royal Canterlot voice testing the limits of the Silence Field. Luna complied and for a few moments the world dared not make a sound, as is even nature itself was afraid of bringing forward the elder sister’s wrath. But when Celestia sat down, emitting soft sobs as her shoulders shuddered, Luna knew the argument was over. Cautiously, she moved to her sister’s side and draped a wing against Celestia’s back. Celestia didn’t look her way but instead leant into Luna’s side and continued weeping for a time long forgotten.

“It is okay Tia.” Luna soothed despite her sisters crying. “We could still find her. We could still find all of them. The Elements are still out there, I know it.”

“If we haven’t found them in millions of years searching, what chance do we have finding them now?” Celestia asked through her tears. “I scoured every single inch of that stars forsaken forest and beyond. Cadence hasn’t found them either and it’s been millennia since we’ve heard from Spike... I... I just miss her Luna. I miss her so much.”

“I know,” Luna replied, tracing small circles on her sister’s back with her wing.

“...W-Why did she have to leave? Why did she do it?” Luna untangled herself from Celestia before grabbing hold of her shoulders with both hooves, forcing the older princess took look her in the eye.

“She did it to protect Equestria, to ensure we had a chance to survive our end... She did what she had to in order to prevent you from making the same decision yourself.

“Because,” Luna faltered, her voice near breaking for but a moment as tears began forming in her clear blue eyes as well. “Because had it been you that was lost... then everything would be lost. Including Twilight.” Celestia couldn’t hold it in anymore and the two embraced each other in a comforting hug, not caring for the tears streaming down each other’s face. For a time, they remained like that, oblivious to the world around them.

“I-I’m sorry Luna.” Celestia sobbed, but she was shushed by her younger sister.

“There is no need, I understand your concerns. But if I were ask you to trust me on any one matter, it would be Dustin.”

Celestia nodded. “Alright then. I’ll apologise to him later.” As the two untangled themselves from their hug, Luna looked to the positioning of the sun to check the time, and her eyes widened when she realised she needed to be somewhere soon.

“I am sorry sister,” Luna apologised, stepping back before donning her human disguise. “I told Claire that I would meet her so she can see Dustin. I hope you do not mind.” Despite promising Claire she’d ask if Vince could come along, she didn’t want to reignite such a touchy issue. Especially after an argument like theirs.

Celestia shook her head. “No, you should go. She’s probably wondering where you are.”

“And... If you want, I could search the forest again for you. Things might have changed since you last searched.”

“...Yes,” Celestia replied. “Thank you little sister.”

Luna nodded, smiling a small sad smile at her sister before closing her eyes and teleporting away in a flash. Within moments Celestia also vanished, leaving the balcony devoid of life once more.

That was, until a certain tawny unicorn exited the stairwell, a shocked look on his face from what he had just heard.

“Holy shit.” He murmured to himself before moving over to the guardrail and looking out towards the Shadow Forest on the far side of the city and valley. “Okay.” He thought out loud. “So the princesses are looking for someone. Someone called Twilight... and Celestia said she searched for her in that forest.”

Every previous though Dustin had about Celestia went out the window. Clearly whatever happened had left her emotionally scarred and Luna’s theory on him being her student as the cause of the elder’s anger made sense. Looking back at the forest again, an idea presented itself. Although the plan Dustin was forming seemed sound to him, a part of his mind was calling him crazy for even thinking of what he was about to do. But the more assertive part of his mind countered that this could be the only way that Celestia could trust him.

While his mind waged its own civil war on the issue Dustin pictured the trail leading into the forest, remembering the scenery from the one school excursion he’d been there on. Spreading his legs out to a wider stance, Dustin focused, took deep, measured breaths and began charging a lot of magic. Knowing that this would be the biggest jump he had attempted by far, he kept building and building the amount of magic until it started giving him a headache.

“Well,” he muttered under the strain of holding the spell on standby. “Guess there’s only one thing to say. Geronimo!”

With that Dustin activated the spell, and prayed to god that he would make it there in one piece.

Ch9: Surprising Developments

Vince closed the door to the apartment, sighing as he saw it just as he left it; empty. Despite the afternoon sunshine coming through the window, the apartment had a dark feeling to it. Shaking his head, he left his training bag on the couch and headed for his room. Before going in however, he couldn’t help but sneak a glimpse into Dustin’s room. It was left just the way it was when he’d been there last, now nearing a week. Despite turning away Vince couldn’t help but think this was all his fault as he fell onto his bed. After staring at nothing on the white-painted ceiling for a few minutes, Vince rolled over and grabbed a small photo frame from his bedside table. The photo inside showed Vince when he was ten, alongside his father and Uncle Joel. Troy Selwood had a confident smile, sharing Vince’s scruffy dark hair and brown eyes as the three posed for the photo.

“Wish you were here Dad.” Vince murmured out loud. “Things are pretty messed up around here.” Silence answered him, as it always did, so Vince put the photo back in its place and closed his eyes, hoping things would work out. His solitude, however, was interrupted a few minutes later as a rapid knocking sounded throughout the apartment. At first Vince ignored it but by the third set of knocking he was up and heading to the door.

“Alright, alright I’m coming.” He moaned, the annoyance easy to pick out in his voice as he opened the door.

Surprise flowed through him as Claire was on the other side, wearing a large white shirt underneath a beige jacket and denim jeans. Her hair was done up in a ponytail once more and a hopeful look dominated her features.

“Hey.” Vince said, not sure how else to respond.

“Hey... Can I come in?” Claire asked, looking him in the eye. “There’re a few things we need to talk about.” Vince didn’t reply, instead just stepping back and letting her in. Claire walked over to the couch and sighed as she leaned against its arm. Something about the way she was holding herself was setting off warning sirens in Vince’s head. Taking a deep breath she turned back to face him, who stood waiting patiently with arms crossed.

“It’s about Dusty, isn’t it?” He said before she could begin, to which she simply nodded. Vince moved closer and took hold of her shoulders with a soft yet firm grip, looking her dead in the eyes. “Claire, tell me the truth. Is Dustin okay?”

For a few moments, Claire just returned his gaze, unnerved by the hard look in Vince’s eyes and unsure how to answer. Something’s wrong. Claire was usually pretty open around him. Sure, what had happened to Dustin was jarring, but he’d never seen her this unsure of anything. Before he could get a answer her phone began ringing, and Vince let go of her so she could answer.

“Hello..? Oh, yeah I’m here. I’m just in one of the apartments. I’ll be out in a sec... Okay, see you.”

“Who was it?” Vince asked as she hung up, arms crossed again as he started getting annoyed by his friends’ shiftiness.

“...It was Skye. She’s...” Claire paused for a moment before continuing. “She’s here to take me to see Dusty.”

Vince sighed, his temper starting to get the better of him as he walked near the front door before facing Claire again. “You were going to tell me this when?”

“That’s why I came over. Besides, she only told me after you called me.”

“Then why didn’t she call me?” Vince asked as his voice rose angrily, causing her to wince from the question. “Why not tell me where my best friend is, or if he’s even alive? I have a right to know!”

“I know you do!” Claire countered, catching him by surprise somewhat. “That’s why... That’s why I came over. To see if the two of us could convince her to let you tag along.”

Vince stared at her for a moment before sighing, letting his anger wash away. “Sorry Claire... I’m just worried, that’s all.”

“I know.” she replied, a small smile starting to form as the argument was over. “Now come on, she’s probably waiting for us.”

Nodding, the two friends headed to the front door and, after Vince locked the apartment, walked out into the afternoon sun towards the parking lot. It didn’t take long to find the special agent, leaning against her sports car. But with arms crossed and a stern gaze following Vince, she was once again uncertain how well this would go. Well, Claire thought. Only one way to find out.

“Claire,” Skye began before turning to Vince. “Vince, how have you been?”

“A bit tired lately.” Vince replied nonchalantly, despite giving Skye a firm look. “After all, can’t sleep when I haven’t seen my friend for an entire week after he nearly gets killed.”

“Vince,” Claire replied, but Skye held up a hand to stop her.

“Yes, I know it was wrong for me to not inform you sooner, and for that I am sorry.”

“I want to see him.”

Skye looked down in thought for a while, bringing a hand to her chin as she thought the situation over while the tension rose. Vince did have a creditable argument, though she also knew what could lay in wait for him if Celestia disagreed with her. After a few minutes she looked back at him, bright blue eyes meeting the gaze of brown.

“Very well, but understand there will be many things that must be explained.”

Vince’s gaze lost none of its edge, but his body relaxed as he exhaled. “As long as I can see that Dustin’s okay, then all that can wait.”

Claire released the breath she’d been holding throughout those few tense minutes and placed a hand on Vince’s shoulder before looking back at Skye. “Thanks Skye.”

“Do not thank me just yet.” She replied, though a small smile was starting to form. “We still have yet to explain this to-”A ringtone began blaring classical music, interrupting the three. Skye fished out a touch screen phone from her pocket before answering.

“Hello..? Oh, sister. I was just on my...” As Skye listened, her face began losing a fraction of its composure. “Sister, calm down. Please, what has..? What do you mean he is gone?!” That one sentence sent ice through Claire’s veins as she and Vince shared a concerned glance. Skye, meanwhile, focused more on what the caller was saying. Her face began to lose its colour the more she listened, as if she came to realise a terrifying fact.

“...He heard us... Sister,” Skye said, almost whispering in dread. “I think I know where he is heading, but we do not have much time. Send two squads to the forest ruins. I will meet them there, and pray that I find him before something else does.” Skye hung up and forced her phone back into her pocket before looking back to the two teenagers before her. Claire was barely containing her nervousness, gripping Vince’s shoulder tightly, while he wore a look that conveyed both concern and annoyance.

“I am sorry, but an emergency has come up,” Skye hurriedly replied, moving towards the car door. “Once it is under control, I will return and take you to see Dustin.”

“Bullshit.” Vince swore as he moved to the opposite door. “I’m not letting you out of my sight until I see Dustin in one piece. You got that?” The two shared another stare, this time both exuded annoyed frustration.

“Skye.” Claire spoke up, moving next to Vince. Skye turned to face her, staring at the girl for a while before sighing.

“Both of you will do exactly as I say, understand?” Her question was met with twin nods. “Then get in, swiftly.” The two followed her orders, barely closing the doors before Skye hastily reversed out and headed for the exit.

“Vince,” Skye said, her focus solely on getting to their destination. “Place the siren light on top of the roof, now.” Vince looked and quickly found it sitting behind the handbrake. He barely fitted it on to the roof outside before Skye switched it on and pulled out of the car park, slamming her foot down hard on the accelerator and zooming through a nearby red light.

~~~

The light from the spell fading, Dustin kept his eyes scrunched shut and remained still, afraid he had once again misfired the spell. But his senses were telling him otherwise. There was significantly less wind than there was up on the tower. The sounds of birds and rustling leaves in the breeze filled his swivelling ears and he could feel dirt beneath his hooves.

Slowly Dustin opened his eyes, and looked around as a satisfied smile formed across his muzzle.

He stood near the side of a wide dirt trail, weaving through a forest where the canopy of trees above him barely parted for enough sky to be seen over the path. The forest grew darker further in with shrubs, ferns and vines littering the soil around the tree roots. All around Dustin there were birds singing, some staring wearily at him as they analysed whether or not to fly away.

“I did it.” Dustin murmured, as if saying it out loud confirmed what was in front of him. “I actually did it!” The unicorn jumped for joy before looking around him, realising something was wrong. “Wait... where is everyone?”

Dustin’s enthusiasm started draining as he thought the question over. Indeed, the various ruins around the city Astraea were popular tourist destinations for many thousands of people year round. While the castle of Equia was the most popular attraction, there was another ruined castle here in the forest. To see the path completely empty, on a day with perfect weather, instead of filled with holiday-goers did seem strange. Dustin looked up through the sparse gaps in the canopy to try and get his bearings before finding the ruins of Luna’s home; hanging onto the mountainside far off in the distance to his left. To his right, he saw that after around fifty to one hundred metres there was a bridge wide enough for two cars to fit side by side. The bridge was suspended across a deep gorge, the bottom a long, long way down. Dustin moved closer but quickly stopped when he saw him.

There, standing near the centre of the bridge end was a man dressed in dark clothes and a bullet-proof vest. Cradled in the man’s arms was an assault rifle, the barrel fitted with a silencer. Dustin recognised the outfit as the same one worn by the men who attacked the university, and quickly hid a little further into the brush of the jungle before he could be spotted.

Shit! Dustin quickly hid in the bushes at the side of the path. Looking up and down the gorge, his hopes of finding another way across seemed like they were plummeting down into the drop. The Ghost’s Gorge was a few kilometres long and varied when it came to depth. Where Dustin was now the gorge surely plummeted for at least a kilometre with the bottom shrouded in a dark mist, meaning that the bridge was the only path to walk across. Peering across the far end of the bridge, he saw another soldier guarding the other end.

Dustin thought carefully about his next move, searching his mind for any strategies that could work. The obvious option was to just teleport to the bushes on the far side of the gorge, but he didn’t want to take the risk that the soldiers would see the flash of the spell. That left crossing the bridge, meaning he’d have to distract both of them at the same time. The second insane idea for the day started forming and, after a few reassuring breaths, he stood up with a determined look across his face.

“Hey, asshole!” He shouted as he shot off a beam of magic and hitting the guard in the left shoulder, knocking him down. The soldier scrambled to his feet, looking into the woods and immediately spotting Dustin’s silhouette before promptly opening fire. The soldier on the far side of the bridge heard the shots ring out as the unicorn teleported to the other side of the dirt path before vanishing again as more bullets flew his way, now reappearing a third of the way across the bridge. The second soldier stopped and raised his rifle while the other soldier turned to line the unicorn up in his sights. Dustin took a deep breath and teleported again…

…Straight over the expanse of air above the bridge.

Dustin opened his eyes after the flash and yelled as he flailed his limbs wildly, plummeting like a stone into the gorge. The two soldiers ran to the edge of the bridge, watching Dustin’s fall. They both took aim but waited, expecting the strange animal to teleport again. But as they watched, they saw him just continue to fall deeper and deeper until he entered the mist far below, his fearful yelling fading away. The two soldiers lowered their weapons before their radios blared, and one brought a finger to the comm-piece in his ear.

“Jones, status report.” The voice barked in an annoyed tone.

“We encountered a hostile Sir, a creature most likely belonging to the witches.” Jones replied while the other soldier pulled out a flare gun and fired it into the gorge, a trail of red smoke following it down. “We engaged it and it teleported around before falling into the gorge.”

“And?” The voice asked. “Is it taken care of?”

Jones looked down into the gorge as his counterpart raised his rifle once more, the barrel following the path of the flare. The light finally entered the mist, illuminating the swirling shroud around it. But as it slowly faded, neither soldier saw a silhouette resembling the pony.

“Yes Sir. The fall killed it.” Jones replied.

“That thing was most likely a scout.” The voice crackled over the radio. “The witches are no doubt on their way. Jones, secure the western end of the bridge. Ballentyne, double back to the roadblock and secure it. Let nothing through.”

“Yes Sir.” They both replied before Ballentyne began jogging back down the path while Jones took his position at the western end of the bridge.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of steel-blue eyes watched them before sneaking towards the ruins

“Suckers,” Dustin whispered as he took in his new surroundings. Parked near the eastern bridge entrance were two black military helicopters, each one sporting a mini-gun and missile pods. From the woods he was hidden in, Dustin’s gaze then turned to the ruins before him. The Shadow Forest ruins were even more rundown than Equia, which he had been told by Luna was originally named Canterlot. There were still enough grey walls jutting from the ground to see a large castle once stood here.

As Dustin entered what could have been the entrance hall, his archaeological instincts made it hard to focus on his task. He noticed that most of the roof was missing and that all of the windows were void of glass, but a sculpture in the centre of the room captured his interest; a stone pedestal with five cylindrical arms extending out to saucer-shaped indents, like as if they each once contained a rounded object. Dustin’s ears swivelled, which still felt strange to him, when he heard footsteps echoing from the adjoining hallways on the other side of the hall. Frantically he looked around for somewhere to hide before teleporting onto what was left of the roof.

Once he was sure he wouldn’t slide off, Dustin slowly looked over the edge to see four more soldiers cautiously heading out of the ruins, their gaze and iron sights scanning for any possible movement. A fifth soldier walked out carrying a metal briefcase, though he seemed different to the others. Unlike his comrades, this soldier chose not to wear a helmet; a comm-piece and dark shades the only things adorning his crew cut head. While the others stepped out of the ruins this man stopped and closely observed his surroundings, almost as he knew he was being watched. Dustin flattened himself against the roof, holding his breath while his heart beat so hard he was amazed the soldiers couldn’t hear it.

After what seemed like an eternity the man finally walked away. Dustin waited until he was conversing with his subordinates by the helicopters before teleporting into the hallway and running down it, hoping they didn’t see the flash of the spell. After one window near the entrance, the corridor darkened and Dustin was having trouble trying to find whatever it was they were looking for. If only I had a light, he thought to himself before a flicker briefly lit up his horn, stopping Dustin in his tracks.

“The hell was that?” Dustin murmured before a theory revealed itself in his mind. Widening his stance, he concentrated on his horn, channelling energy to its tip. A dim glow appeared beyond his closed eyelids and looked up to see a small green orb of light at the tip of his horn. “Yes.” He celebrated before the light went out, sending confusion for just a moment. Dustin tried it again and once more the hall was bathed in green light. With his light source secured the young pony continued onwards through the winding corridors, soon reaching a crossroads.

The path to the left ascended with a staircase, while the path to the right continued with more halls to another wing of the ruins. The third option was a hole in the wall, one that wasn’t there the last time Dustin had been there on excursion, which lead to what looked like an overgrown garden. Deactivating the light and stepping through the hole, he proceeded to a cliff-face in the back. Something in the rock wall beneath a carpet of green caught his eye. There, standing out against the plants and weeds around them, were four deep claw marks in the rock. Dustin immediately knew this didn’t belong to any animal alive today due to their size and stepped closer, placing a hoof on it while looking into the crevice the slash created.

As Dustin looked, a green light began shining from the gashes, and he leapt back as the claw marks and surrounding rock were engulfed in emerald flames. He stared in amazement as the blaze simmered out almost as quickly as it had sparked up, leaving a gaping hole that descended into darkness in place of the claw marks. Shaking away his astonishment for a moment Dustin looking into the hole, hoping to see something that would help him out. When nothing obvious leapt out at him he lit up his horn once more and descended down the path before him, looking behind him to make sure the soldiers hadn’t followed him back into the ruins.

The path winded down an incredibly large stalagmite, a path he walked down large enough for him to fit across four times over. Dustin stopped halfway down and he looked out at where he now found himself. He was now inside a large cave lined sporadically with crystals, looking very similar to the caves beneath Canterlot. The sound of water could be heard echoing from deeper within the cave, leading Dustin to wonder if this cave was linked to the one the Princesses resided in. But one sight on a wall close to the stalagmite caught the unicorn’s eye as he reached the floor. Merged with the cave walls stood an incredibly large stone creature that looked like a giant lizard. In its right claw it appeared to be clutching something, roaring at the ceiling in anger over a fact or event long since passed.

“Whoa,” Dustin breathed, craning his neck to look at the sculpture.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Asked a cold voice, followed by metallic clicks. “Almost as ferocious as your masters.”

~~~

“So, are you going to tell me what’s happened since I last saw Dusty or what?”

Vince’s question broke the strained silence that had hung like a cloud of smog in the car for most of the trip. Claire was dithering over whether or not to tell him, but Skye’s stern expression was clearly a sign now was not the time to speak up. A sign Vince had chosen to ignore.

“We were going to tell you once the situation had died down.” Skye stated unemotionally, her steely gaze not leaving the highway they now turned off, heading towards a bush path. “But recent events have-“

“Don’t feed me that bullshit!” Vince said, now outright glaring at Skye as the trees of the outer Shadow Forest whizzed by the window. “You’re telling me the truth and you’re going to tell me now.”

“Guys?!” Claire spoke up, the concern in her voice making the other two take notice as she pointed in-front of them. Claire felt the familiar feeling in her head from the science block attack when the three of them entered a Silence Field. Skye slowed the car down as they came upon a roadblock, with two men dressed in high-visibility work gear waving for the car to stop before one of them came up to the window Skye was lowering. Though he didn’t show it, Vince felt a chill run down his spine as he recognised the men.

“What is the meaning of this?” Skye asked, her tone clearly indicating she was in no mood to play games.

“Sorry ma’am.” the man replied, “There’s been a structural problem identified with the bridge to the ruins. We’ve had to close it off while we take a look at it.”

“What?” Claire moaned, partly because she knew they needed to get to the ruins and partly because the archaeologist in her didn’t want the ruins to remain inaccessible.

“And what is your estimated time for fixing this problem?” Skye’s retort was quick and to the point.

“We’re not sure at this point. Could be hours, maybe even a few days before we can get the proper equipment to start repairs.”

“Then I shall go have a look myself.” Skye stated as she stepped out of the car.

“There’s really no need miss.” The man stated while the second slowly started moving to the right side of the car, his hand moving towards the back of his belt. “Besides, you’re not allowed up there without government clearance.”

Skye swiftly fished her wallet from her pocket, flashing the D.S.I shield at the man’s face with a stern glare on her own. “I am with the Department of Special Investigations and I need to head to the ruins to investigate a threat to national security. Denying me access from now on will be tantamount to obstructing a police investigation, which you will face charges for.”

Before Skye could unleash more threats, the man swatted her arm away and pulled out a pistol, firing at the same instant as his colleague. Skye avoided death by dematerialising into sparkling smoke and zooming across the ground, tripping the man by the car as she advanced on the second. The further man tried shooting the smoke, but it flashed past him and Skye took her human form again. Before the man could aim his gun, he found his forearm no longer working as it was severed in an instant by Skye’s blades, along with a lethal gash being cut into his chest. Skye levitated his gun towards her left hand, but it was shot out of the aura, letting off a random shot as the man by the car rushed her. He drew the gun up again, but she slashed it out of his hand with her blades. The man didn’t hesitate though, using his now free left hand to land a solid punch to agents abdomen and a right hook to her face. Skye staggered back and the man took a boxing stance as he waited for her reply.

Skye, however, did not. She slowly stood back up, the beginnings of a bruise forming on her cheek as her eyes opened to reveal a shining light. Her hair began turning ethereal as she mentally summoned another Silence Field, this one eliminating the old one while extending a hand high up towards the sky.

“I’m not scared of you witch!” The man shouted as he charged, swinging for another right hook. But Skye caught it like it was nothing, instantly halting the man’s momentum. Skye then retracted her blades and snapped her fingers, summoning a magic circle at the man’s feet. From it, light blue chains quickly rose up before wrapping around him, leaving only his right arm free, though it too was trapped within Skye’s grasp. As their surroundings darkened a little, the man looked up to see dark clouds beginning to form from out of nowhere. Larger and larger they grew until they threatened to expand beyond the borders of the Silence Field. Thunder rumbled above them as a sinister smile formed on Skye’s face.

“That is foalish of you.” She spoke, her voice booming like the thunder above them. The man looked back at her, terror finally finding a way into his gaze. “For all should fear the Mare in the Moon.”

Lightning suddenly shot down from the clouds, landing in Skye outstretched right hand. The voltage transferred from one arm to the other instantaneously, passing into the right arm of the man and electrifying him from within. When the horrifying sight was over a few moments later, the chains disappeared and Skye let go. Her eyes and hair returned to normal as the burnt husk fell lifelessly to the ground.

Skye sighed, disappointed in herself that she had let the brute land not one but two blows against her. However, she had no time to relax as a bullet grazed her left arm. Her right arm shot to the wound to put pressure on the wound, wincing from the pain.

“What are you doing?!” Skye heard Claire yell, and looking up she saw why.

Vince had picked up one of the pistols, and now had it aimed squarely at her.

Ch10: Awakening

The air around the path was still, not even a bird’s call sounding to break the tense silence. Luna stood there, a hand placed against the wound on her arm. It was nothing more than a graze, and she had already healed it underneath her palm. However she continued the act, waiting for an opportunity to strike. But the question was would she? Although he had fired at her and his aim still held true, Vince was Dustin’s friend. How would he react if he were to learn his best friend was slain by his mentor’s hand? It would be so simple to just teleport behind him over the gorge surrounding the ruins and be done with it, and had she still been Nightmare Moon this would have been a certainty, but Vince must have known this as he stayed within a few feet of Claire.

So it caught both Luna and Vince off-guard when Claire landed a punch straight to the side of his jaw. As he stumbled Luna wrenched the gun from his grasp with her magic, crushing it within her aura before flinging it into the forest.

“What the hell?” Vince shouted, coming face to face with his friend. His cross expression met by one mirroring his anger. “She’s the dangerous one!”

“She protected us!” Claire countered, holding her ground. “What is your problem with her Vince? She’s trying to help us.”

“Like she helped Dusty?! Way to help him by letting him free in a forest. That’s the reason we’re here, isn’t it?” He shouted, sparing Luna a momentary glare. She remained motionless, her empty stare all the confirmation Vince needed. “Somehow, for whatever sadistic reason, she decided to let him go free like an animal. And in a forest like this? Yeah, brilliant help she’s giving us.”

“That’s not what happened and you know it.” Claire snapped, bringing his attention back on her.

“Prove me wrong then.”

“Enough!” Luna spoke up, silencing both teenagers. Taking a calming breathe, she looked back to them with her emotionless mask in place. “Claire, please go ahead and search for Dustin.” Her gaze then focused on Vince. “Vince and I need to speak privately.”

Claire immediately shook her head, stepping in-between the two of them. “Hell no. I’m not leaving you two here just so you can kill each other!”

“The longer the three of us remain here, the more likely it is that Dustin is in peril. If you go ahead then at least one of us is searching for him. Please Claire…” Claire wasn’t budging, crossing her arms and standing her ground in-front of the concealed princess. But a hand coming to rest on her shoulder made her jump and she spun around, swatting away Vince’s hand. She expected him to still be angry, so when she saw him wearing a subdued expression it threw her off for a second.

“Claire,” he spoke, his tone trying hard to sound calm and positive but merely coming off as tired. “Please do what she says. I know you don’t like this, but I’d rather you be off saving Dusty instead of stopping a fight that’s going to happen anyway. So please, go save that idiot on wheels already.” Claire looked at him for a while, studying him long and hard before turning to Luna, who solemnly nodded. Looking back at him, she grabbed Vince’s collar and pulled him close.

“You know Dusty won’t forgive either of you if you die here, and neither will I. Got it?”

Vince smiled a small yet familiarly confident smile. “You make it sound like I have no chance.” Letting him go, Claire turned to head up the path but was stopped by Luna as she fished something out of her jacket.

“Should you run into danger on route to the ruins, use this.” She said, giving Claire a finely crafted wooden whistle. “But only as a last resort. Blow into it three times in quick succession then hide, and aid will arrive.”

Claire nodded, pocketing the whistle before looking back at the agent. “Promise me you won’t hurt him.”

Luna simply looked at her exhaustedly before sighing. “I will try, but I can promise nothing more than that.” Claire stared pleadingly at the agent before sighing and heading off at a sprint up the path. Both she and Vince stood in place, watching her run further in before turning a corner and disappearing from sight.

“Well,” Vince murmured, taking up a boxing stance as he focused squarely on Luna. She imagined he was expecting her to use an underhanded tactic to start things off. “We going to talk this out or what?” Slowly, as if her reluctance to do this bled into her movements, Luna turned to face him. As she did this cracks of light beginning to fracture over both her skin and clothing, shining brighter and brighter.

“Yes. Let us talk.”

~~~

“Turn around, slowly.”

Dustin slowly began breathing through his mouth, trying to calm down his racing heartbeat. He truly thought he had given the soldiers the slip, but it was clear now that they only wanted him to think that. He needed to get out of there, and the teleportation spell was the first thing that came to mind. His horn still felt a dull ache from teleporting from Canterlot, but it was the only way he could see himself getting out of this.

“Oh, and I wouldn’t try teleporting if I were you.” The voice added, cutting off Dustin’s concentration. The light from his horn died out and for a moment there was darkness in the cave before two hissing sounds were heard and golden lights shone from behind him. “I know you can due to the report from my men on the bridge, and I bet it takes a lot out of you to do so, right?”

Dustin’s eyes widened, yet he hid it from them by staring straight ahead at the large dragon-like craving. “How’d you know?”

“You just told me.” The voice replied, to which Dustin mentally kicked himself. “And even if you did make it out of here, I have men spread throughout the forest in case anyone foolishly stumbled onto our operation. If you were caught out there after a jump, I doubt you’d be able to last more than a few minutes.”

Dustin was sweating now, his mind reeling as it realised this soldier was right. Considering how much magic was needed to teleport from Canterlot to the middle of the forest, he felt barely had enough magic to make half that journey, and his evasive actions on the bridge didn’t help either. He didn’t know whether the claim of additional soldiers was a bluff, but if it was true and he teleported he was a dead pony.

“Now I’ll say ask nicely once more. Turn around slowly.”

Gulping, Dustin did as he was ordered, slowly circling to see not one soldier but all five that he hid from earlier, two of which had their rifles trained on the tawny-shaded unicorn while the other two were holding flares in one hand and pistols in the other. Dustin’s gaze nervously shifted between them before landing on the helmetless leader, and suddenly his fear began taking a backseat to confusion when he recognised the scar on his face.

“Who, or what, are you and why were you sent here?” The leader asked, but when he saw the unicorn looking at him strangely he realised something was off. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“…J-Joel?” Dustin finally managed to ask, the soldiers stirring a little when the creature they thought a monster knew their leader’s name. “Joel Selwood?” The look of confusion on Joel’s face lasted for about a second before he readied his rifle and took aim, firing a warning shot at Dustin’s hooves. The unicorn looked back up to see a face of controlled aggression.

“How do you know who I am?” He growled, aiming now at Dustin’s head. The others slowly spread out in a semicircle around him, trapping the pony between them and the cave wall.

Dustin looked nervously around at the other soldiers before turning back to Joel. “I-It’s me, Dustin. Dustin Rosewater… Vince’s friend, remember?”

Joel slowly lowered his weapon as the connection was made, while a few of the soldiers spared their commander a glance. “Dustin?” He asked, his voice laced with confusion and another emotion Dustin couldn’t identify.

“Y-Yeah. I mean, I have changed but it’s me. I was attacked by these... soldiers…” Dustin trailed off as he put two and two together. The fact horrified him but here it was standing directly in-front of him. His mouth opening in shock, he started backing up slowly. “You...” he whispered. “The attack on the university... the attack on me... it was you, wasn’t it?”

“Well,” Joel sighed, a small yet sinister smile starting to form as he matched Dustin step for step. “I personally wasn’t there, but I did authorise it. I’ve always been pleased that Vince had smart friends. But it seems you’re too perceptive for your own good, aren’t you?”

“B-But why?”

“Because you were distracting Vince from what he should have been focusing on; helping us protect humanity. He is one of the best soldiers I have and yet he wastes his time waiting hand and foot on you. So getting rid of you would be the best motivator for Vince to help me in whatever way he could. I’ll tell him the witches did it. It’d be easy enough to fake after all, especially with you looking like this.

“So Dustin,” Joel asked as Dustin backed into the base of the lizard carving, scared eyes focused on the gun now looking him dead in the eye. “Any last words you want me to pass onto Vince?”

Dustin couldn’t speak, so paralysed was he with fear of his impending death. No matter how much his mind screamed at him to reply, teleport or even move, his body refused, unable to take his eyes off of the barrel. Please help me, he mentally prayed. To God, Luna or anyone that cared to listen. But before Joel could pull the trigger, a bright green light flared into existence on the ground between the group and Dustin. Looking down, they saw the edge of a magic circle, somewhat similar to the one Luna used, surrounding both him and the sculpture above him. The circle began spinning faster and faster, with green cracks of light racing haphazardly up the lizard’s body.

“Kill him!” Joel shouted, stepping back before opening fire along with his subordinates. But even though Dustin teleported behind the soldiers, the bullets ricocheted off the edge of the circle anyway. All present witnessed the cracks of light reach the top of the sculpture before expanding, encompassing the statue in a now blinding light. While they shielded their eyes from the light, it suddenly blinked out of existence, leaving a large cloud of smoke and dust in its wake. Dustin lowered the foreleg from his face, looking up to see that, above the cloud, the top of the sculpture was missing. Before he could find out where it went, something struck him across the left cheek and knocked him to the ground. Opening his eyes from the pain, Dustin looked up to see an enraged Joel now standing over him.

“What did you do?!” He roared, stalking his way to the downed unicorn.

“I-I didn’t do it-” Dustin replied, but was cut off by Joel’s foot landing hard on his neck, pressing down hard enough to cut off his air supply. Joel, meanwhile, glared down at him while bringing his rifle into position inches from the unicorn’s muzzle.

“I don’t want to hear the lies of a traitor to his species.” Joel spat out the words, taking aim at Dustin’s temple. “Now what. Did. You. Do?!”

“Sir, incoming!” Yelled one of the other soldiers. Joel heard it and leapt off of Dustin just in time to avoid a large stream of green flames that was aimed at him. Coughing while trying to regain his breath, Dustin looked up to the dust cloud that now began fading.

The soldiers also turned back to it and saw a large silhouette beginning to take shape. It stood on four legs, with its head curled low near the ground while curved spikes ran from the top of its head down its spine. Then a large purple claw emerged, soon to be followed by the rest of its scaled body. Dustin’s mouth slowly opened of its own accord as the group looked upon a lean but muscular lizard the size of a horse, almost like a dragon without wings. It raised its neck, at full height standing about a foot taller than Celestia, and the tail which its green spikes ran down to gave it a couple of feet in length against the princess as well.

“Leave him alone.” It spoke in a threatening male tone, astounding those around him as his green eyes narrowed while it stared daggers at Joel.

“Take him down!” Joel shouted as all five men concentrated their fire on the dragon. The bullets just bounced off his purple scales however, and he returned fire by breathing more emerald flames at the soldiers, forcing them to take cover. Dustin quickly got to his hooves and was about to run for it until a large thud sounded off next to him. Looking up, he saw the dragon standing between him and the soldiers, and that he was holding something in his right claw, just like the statue had.

“Hold on!” The dragon instructed Dustin as he picked him up with his tail before dropping the unicorn onto his back. “Don’t lose this!” He tossed Dustin something like a small stone before racing off, barely giving Dustin enough time to grab hold of his spines.

Joel looked out from his cover of a large crystal to see the dragon beginning to scale the cave wall towards the exit. Acting quickly, he grabbed a grenade from his belt and hurled it as hard as he could, shouting “Frag out!” as he did so. The grenade hurtled through the air before detonating a few feet away from the dragon, illuminating the cavern. The shockwave of the blast broke Dustin’s grip on the object he had been charged with, slipping from his grasp and falling back down to the cave floor below. His instantly followed it down as his grip on the dragon also faded. As the floor approached, Dustin thought fast and teleported to barely half a metre off the ground, his legs buckling as he landed in a tumble.

Looking up, Dustin spied the small rock that the dragon wanted him to protect, but as he got up he also saw a soldier running at him; the knife in hand ready to gut him like a fish. Before he could get close, the dragon leapt down from the wall and latched his jaws around the soldiers’ arm, eliciting an immediate cry of pain. The dragon then swung his neck and flung the soldier away before jumping and blocking another grenade with his tail, the explosion seemingly having no effect on him.

“Grab the stone!” The dragon yelled at Dustin as he turned back to one of the soldiers in cover, rearing his back as a light grew brighter from his gaping jaw. A high pitched whistle began building before the dragon let fly a single green fireball at the soldier. The soldier leapt away from the boulder he was hiding behind but it mattered little as, upon contact, the fireball exploded in a destructive display, the sounds of a man screaming in pain heard amongst the carnage. Dustin took hold of the stone in his telekinesis before being dumped back onto the dragons’ back again. This time they successfully completed the climb as the soldiers regrouped below. Dustin hopped off and was immediately through the hole to the outside while the dragon turned around and launched another fireball into the centre of the cave, forcing the soldiers to take cover before he too left.

“Thanks!” Dustin had to shout as the two rushed for the exit.

“Don’t thank me yet.” The dragon replied, his focus squarely on their surroundings. “Now move. We need to get back to Canterlot as soon as possible.”

~~~

Claire had to stop and bend over, hands resting on her knees while she caught her breath having run as fast as she could up the path. She knew Dustin needed her, but she still couldn’t help but worry about Vince and Luna. However, she hadn’t seen any lightning or heard thunder or explosions, so that was hopefully a good sign. Standing up, Claire started walking again and brushed the hair out of her eyes while looking at the whistle Luna had given her. Seeing as how she wasn’t a big expert on plants, she wasn’t exactly sure which kind of wood it was made from, but noticed a small golden engraving near the end in the shape of what looked like a wolf head.

“How is this going to help me if danger shows up?” Claire asked out loud, getting her expected answer of nothing. She knew Luna had instructed her to only use it as a last resort, but she needed to know what this thing did if she was going to use it in a pinch. Shrugging, she brought the whistle to her lips and gave it three puffs just as Luna instructed. She looked around, expecting something like D.S.I agents to emerge from the forest or something. Nothing happened. Sighing irritably, Claire pocketed the whistle and began heading back up the path but stopped when she looked ahead.

From around the corner before her came a soldier, outfitted and armed like those she saw at the university. From the look in his eyes he was surprised to see her as well, yet that quickly faded as he fired at the ground by her feet, causing her to cease reaching for the whistle.

“What are you doing here?” He demanded, cautiously stepping towards her as she stepped back.

“W-Well...” Claire stammered, looking down at the rifle and praying Luna or whatever answered the whistle would come to her aid. “I-I got lost... from my tour group.”

“The road was closed off from the edge of the forest.” He curtly replied, knowing she was lying as Claire’s back hit a tree.

Before she could offer another excuse however, something set Claire’s nostrils on fire. An excruciatingly bad odour wafted along the wind, forcing her to lock her nose in an attempt to breathe fresh air. The soldier was also effected by the smell, backing up a few steps before coughing to clear his lungs. Claire saw this opportunity and made a run for it, making it about ten metres before looking over her shoulder to see the soldier take aim.

But instead of a gunshot, an animalistic snarl was heard.

The soldier looked to his left to see a large blur leap from the woods and snatch his rifle away from him, another leaping onto him before he rolled back and flipped it off of him. Quickly getting to his feet, the soldier pulled out his sidearm while Claire slowly walked backwards, keeping her eyes on the scene playing out before her. The two animals were like nothing Claire had seen. They resembled wolves, yet their entire bodies were made of twigs and logs of wood, and their eyes glowed a bright yellow. A third wolf emerged from the forest, joining the other two in forming a circle around the soldier. He waited a few more moments before firing a few shots at the wolf in-front of him, blasting its head to splinters, the rest of its body falling apart. He rolled forward onto one knee before turning to face the other two, the pistol aimed at them stopping them in their tracks.

“Try anything and you’ll end up like your friends you bastards!” He jeered, an arrogant grin looking right at home across his face. “That’s right. You’re too scared to move, aren’t you? You dumb monsters.” With his focus directed at vilifying the beasts, the soldier was unable to see what Claire was seeing. The shattered remains of the first wolf were slowly moving on their own, scuttling behind the smug soldier and reforming. Within moments the wolf was whole once more, inching closer to the kneeling human before it.

And by the time the soldier recognised the smell coming from behind him, it was too late.

Before he could turn the wolf bit deep into his neck, causing a roar of pain to erupt from the man before it started dragging him backwards towards the woods, violently shaking its head to tear the flesh from its victim as it moved. The soldier was finally able to blow the head off his attacker but then the other two joined in; one leaping on top of him and biting at his left arm while the other stared thrashing away with his right leg in its jaws. Struggling to keep the wolf on top of him away from his face, the soldier fired into the wolf’s stomach, blasting it to pieces before kicking the other off of his leg and planting a bullet in its wooden face. As he was struggled to stand, a fourth wolf leapt out of the woods and pounced, forcing the soldier back to the ground before setting its jaws around his right arm. The jaws squeezed so tight the snapping of bone could be heard by those close by, as well as the screams of pain and pleas for mercy.

The gun now dropping from the soldiers’ limp right hand, Claire watched in horror as the first wolf reassembled once more and bit down on the other side of the mans’ neck. The amount of blood lost, combined with the relentless assault from the wolves started taking their toll on the man as he put up less of a fight, the eyes starting to close of their own accord even as he weakly pleaded for his life. As the two wolves dragged him out of sight, Claire started backing up slowly, her saucer-wide eyes not leaving the scene in-front of her. But then she saw the two remaining wolves reassemble and, upon spotting her, slowly approach her. Claire couldn’t help but notice the blood staining the wooden jaws, and weighed up her options on whether she could outrun them or not, quickly coming to the conclusion she couldn’t.

Before they could get any closer, a light flickered to life between Claire and the wolves. When it disappeared Luna stood in its place in her pony form; wings flared and fierce gaze quickly looking down at the wolves. The wolves took one look at her and, without a sound, retreated in the direction their pack had dragged the soldier away.

Luna sighed, folding her wings and turning to face Claire. “Thank goodness I caught up with you. Are you alri-” A slap across Luna’s cheek interrupted her, Claire looking as frustrated as she had been before, if not more so.

“So instead of giving me a gun you give me a whistle that summons uncontrollable wooden wolves? How the fuck does that keep me safe?!” Luna brought a hoof to her stinging cheek before looking back at her, understanding and calm in place of the anger Claire had been expecting.

“I had no firearms to give you.” Luna replied, looking Claire in the eye. “Given the circumstances it was the only way I could ensure something could protect you when I could not.”

Claire sighed, looking away before she could ask the important question that popped up. “What about Vince? Is he..?”

“He is fine.” Luna said, her tone tired. “I have given him some matters to reflect upon.”

Before anything more could be said, an explosion could be heard rumbling off in the distance, birds screeching as they flew away from the rising pillar of smoke from deeper in the forest.

“Dusty.” Claire said as the breath caught in her throat. She started running towards it, but she felt herself being lifted off the ground. A blue aura surrounded her as she floated onto Luna’s back.

“Hold on Claire.” Luna ordered, flaring her wings and crouching down. Claire barely wrapped her arms around Luna’s neck before she rocketed into the sky and soared towards the castle ruins.

~~~

“Wait a minute!” Dustin called ran through the halls to escape the castle, quickly coming towards the exit. “Who are you? Why were you trapped in stone?”

“We can ask each other questions later.” The dragon shot back as they made it past the ruined entrance chamber, partially blinded by the sunlight before a sustained gust of wind gave them pause. Looking up, Dustin and the dragon saw one of the helicopters hovering above them, its chain gun whirring to life with them in its sights.

“WATCH OUT!” The dragon yelled as he curled himself around Dustin just as the helicopter opened fire. Though the bullets did not penetrate the dragons’ scales, the draconic roar showed he definitely felt the pain this time. Rearing his head back, the tell-tale whistle of a charged shot was heard before the dragon let loose at the copter, which barely swerved to the left to avoid.

“Stay out of the way!” The dragon ordered, not giving Dustin a chance to respond before he turned and leapt at the helicopter, his claws missing it by inches. Upon landing, the dragon looked back to see the helicopter fire a missile at him. With not enough space for him to launch a counter-attack, the missile exploded into his side, causing a loud roar of pain to erupt from the dragon’s maw as he fell to the ground near the edge of the gorge while scorch marks adorned his side.

As Dustin saw he was inches from tumbling into the abyss, the dragon looked back up to see the copter ready to fire again. But just as it did, Dustin slide in-front of him and charged his magic before the two teleported, leaving the missile to explode into the edge of the cliff. The two reappeared in the centre of the cleaning in-front of the ruins, and immediately focussed on the helicopter rounding on them. Dustin tried preparing another spell, but his exhaustion began truly weighing down on him. His telekinetic hold on the stone the dragon entrusted him with barely holding.

But before the copter could fire again, lightning arched across the clear blue sky with a thunderous roar. It struck the aircraft in the side, shorting out all its circuits if the sparks seen through the cockpit glass was any indication. As the machine twirled uncontrollably into the gorge, the two looked to the direction the bolt had come from. There Dustin began to smile as Luna and Claire flew towards the ruins, landing next to them.

“Dusty!” Claire yelled in relief, hopping off of Luna to hug the young unicorn before he could say anything. Smiling, he was about to thank his teacher before he saw the stern, angered glare she was giving him. Luna didn’t even notice the dragon or react when the helicopter’s crash landing within the ravine rang out with an explosion; her attention was focused on Dustin.

“Luna, I-”

“Save your excuses for later.” She interrupted, her attention turning to the ruin entrance where Joel and two other soldiers emerged.

His scowl deepening, Joel opened fire at the group only for Luna to raise a magical shield, deflecting the bullets as each impact created a ripple across its surface. When they ceased fire, Luna merely moved her head a fraction before the ripples reversed, returning to their point of origin. There they floated off of the shield like water droplets in space before merging with each other into one sphere of light. With a stomp of Luna’s hoof, the orb shot out, barely missing the soldiers before exploding further inside the castle.

Joel stood up from taking cover to see Luna’s horn shining brightly before flashing, engulfing her and those around her. When that light faded, Joel fought a losing battle to contain the anger inside him. The enemy was gone and standing at the far end of the bridge was an exhausted Vince, dismayed and confused at the scene before him.

~~~

Once the spell dissipated, Dustin and Claire found themselves back in Luna’s cavern. Only now, instead of Celestia, the cavern’s owner was the one angry at them rather than standing up for them.

“Luna, I’m sure he had a good reason for-” Claire started, though the princess of the night paid her no heed and stalked up to stand over Dustin, looking down at him with blatant fury.

“What in Mother’s name were you thinking?!” She finally shouted, her voice nearing the level used in for the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Well...” Dustin said, standing up and backing up a few steps, not daring to look the angered princess in the eye. “I... I was just trying to help.”

“Help?” Luna repeated before moving towards him in one stride as Celestia fluttered down to witness the scene. “Help?! Your actions were reckless beyond imagination! Do you have any idea how close you came to death? How foolish it was to charge into the Everfree Forest of all places on your own? Had I not arrived, what would have happened Dustin? Tell me!”

“Um, Princess Luna?” The dragon asked, but it may as well have been as if he whispered it from a kilometre away as Luna continued backing Dustin into a wall, scolding him all the while.

“I promised your mother that I would protect you. How am I to uphold that vow if you willingly charge headlong into danger? Furthermore, your appearance could have put our secrecy in jeopardy.”

“Luna, that’s enough!” Claire yelled, moving to her side and grabbing her shoulder only for the princess to bat her hand away with a wing and level a blood-freezing side glare at her as well. But before Luna could return to scolding Dustin, a green flash signalled his teleporting somewhere else. The only thing left in his place was a small stone.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” Claire yelled. “You didn’t even give him a chance to explain.”

“You know full well what the problem here is, Claire Neidheart!” Luna countered, now focusing her attention on the teenager. “He could have broken our cover, gotten himself and others wounded or killed. As he falls under my care I am responsible for his safety.”

“Luna.” A calm yet firm voice interrupted, and Luna turned to see her sister looking at her with a soft look upon her features as her mane flowed ethereally.

“Sister. Surely you understand, right?”

“I understand more than you realise.” Celestia calmly replied. “I understand that he did indeed do something reckless. However, your anger is not entirely because he disobeyed you, but also because you are worried for his safety. While this is welcomed, you are pushing him away by piling all of this guilt upon his shoulders. A teacher should know when to scold a student and when to soothe them. Especially when they have done something that, though fraught with danger, yields a reward.” Following Celestia’s pointing hoof, Luna and Claire’s attention finally came to rest on the dragon that had teleported along with them, looking understandably nervous by the scene he’d just witnessed.

“A-A dragon?” Claire asked incredulously, though Luna’s features bore even more shock as she approached the reptile.

“Spike?” She asked tentatively. “Is that really you?”

“Um, yes?” He replied nervously before finding himself caught between two alicorns hugging him.

“But... But we thought you had perished searching millennia ago.” Luna stated as the sisters released their hug. “How did you survive?”

“Well,” Spike began as he sat down. “I was searching and decided to set up base in the caves beneath your old castle. But I kind of got hungry, so I started hording jewels.

“And then I-” Spike stopped his story when his eyes widened. “Ponyfeathers, where is it?”

“Where is what?” Celestia asked, concern slowly creeping onto her features.

“The jewel I had.” Spike explained as he frantically started searching the area. “I gave it to that unicorn you were yelling at before we escaped.”

“You mean this thing?” Claire asked, and the two alicorns and dragon turned to see her holding up the rock, which only now both sisters took the time to examine. In her grasp was not a stone, but a dirty jewel; magenta in its original colour and shaped in a six-pointed star.

“You found it, great!” Spike said, coming up to Claire and smiling at her; an unnerving sight when she saw the fangs he was sporting. The jewel in question, however, hovered out of the teenagers’ hand in a golden aura before coming to a stop hovering before Celestia’s face.

The sisters were speechless, awe-struck that what they had searched for millennia for was now with them once more. Tears came unbidden from Celestia’s eyes as too many emotions fought for space within her, though sheer joy and relief were the strongest she felt. Looking to Luna, the princess of the sun saw her sister nod in understanding with a small smile before Celestia silently motioned for Spike to follow her with a wing. As she turned to walk away, she heard his claws falling into step beside her before she teleported them both to her bedchamber. It stood high on a ridge overlooking the large teal crystal. Spike took a second to look upon the large jewel before following Celestia to her bed. It was identical to Luna’s except for the colour, with lavender covers neatly made over white sheets, and it was onto the bed that she gently set the jewel down upon. For a time neither dragon nor alicorn spoke, simply looking at the jewel as memories flooded their minds.

“You... you think she’s okay in there?” Spike asked, breaking the silence between the two. Celestia turned to him, the apprehensive fear on her face matching his. Taking a deep, calming breath, she looked back to the jewel.

“Only one way to find out.”

With that, Celestia’s horn flared to life, light and magic building around it as Spike backed away to allow the princess all the room she needed. A stream of golden light gingerly made its way from the tip of her horn to the bed, coiling around the jewel and disintegrating the dirt that had gathered on it over time. The jewel emitted a faint flash and then Celestia concentrated, her focus being cast back eons to memories of a cherished time. She gathered all the memories that she could and, along with a substantial amount of magic, forced it all into the jewel. Upon receiving them, the jewel flashed blindingly, forcing Spike to raise an arm to block out the glare. The jewel began pulsing with light in a rhythm resembling a heartbeat. Timing it just right, Celestia gave the jewel another burst of magic and the light engulfed the entire cavern, the flash able to be seen from far of in the darkness of the caves.

When Celestia and Spike opened their eyes, they saw no jewel before them. Instead, they saw a unicorn mare resting on the alicorn’s circular bed; her lavender coat matching the covers she lay on and her mane and tail were cleanly cut and dark purple with a lighter purple and pink strip running down the length of each. Adorning her flank was a magenta six-pointed star surrounded by five six-pointed white stars and, as she slowly stirred, her bleary purple eyes opened, trying to recognise where she was. Before she could do so she was quickly surrounded by white as Celestia rushed onto the bed and embraced her, hugging the unicorn with her forelegs and wings as tears of joy ran unimpeded down her cheeks.

“...W-What..?” she questioned, her voice dry and raspy. “P-Princess Celestia?” Celesia sniffed as she nodded, resting her head on top of the young mare.

“Yes,” she replied, letting her emotions run free as the princess’ heart flooded with happiness. “W-Welcome back Twilight Sparkle.”