> Lords And Ladies
>  by Void Knight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> In Which Lyra And Carrot Top Encounter Cannibals And Old Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elkheim. A land of snow-capped mountains and jagged fjords. A land of boisterous warriors, eldritch runes, and cold so intense it could freeze the very breath from a pony’s lungs. A land that Carrot Top, Lyra Heartstrings, and Bon Bon were even now setting forth to visit as invited guests at the festival of Sommerswerd.
It was relatively rare for an outsider to be invited to one of the cervid festivals, but it seemed that in the wake of the… unexpected… end to the Contest Of Champions, Lyra had acquired a certain reputation among the warrior-poets of the cervid-kin. Carrot Top’s invitation, on the other hand, was anchored in a wholly different form of respect. The official invitation had been accompanied by a personal note from Crown Prince Fredrick, heir to the throne of Sleipnir. A very personal note in places, and one that made it clear that he’d pulled a few strings to get her invited.
Princess Luna had been, to use an oddly appropriate phrase, over the moon about the invitation. Elkheim rarely bothered Equestria, as the cervids shared relatively few borders with the ponies and generally preferred to skirmish with the equally belligerent griffins, but they were still a formidable military power. And with Corona attempting to acquire allies and support in her quest for the Equestrian throne, securing the alliance or at the very least the neutrality of such a potent realm was a definite priority for Luna’s diplomatic efforts.
Of course, the more intelligent cervid leaders had been equally eager to sustain friendly relations with Equestria. Elkheim contained relatively little fertile land and had a shorter growing season than the realms further south. And of course, without the Cornucopia Effect even the land and time the cervids did have produced only a fraction of the yield pony farmers could have gotten under the same circumstances. The cervid diet was traditionally a fair bit more meat-heavy than was normal in Equestria, but even so the cervids could not sustain anything near their current population numbers without Equestrian food imports. And so the cervid leaders were just as anxious to keep those food shipments coming as Princess Luna was to keep the cervids from getting involved in Corona’s coup.
Lyra’s thoughts were interrupted by a clank from outside her door. A quick glance confirmed that it was just one of their guards stretching his legs. For this visit, Lyra and Carrot Top had each been assigned a Night Guard triad (one each of earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn, standard detachment for bodyguard duty). Any other nation might have viewed Princess Luna sending her elite soldiers to guard the Elements on a friendly visit as an insult, but not the cervids. As obsessed with martial prowess and honor as they were, they’d probably have felt insulted if the Princess hadn’t sent guards. 
Lyra’s detachment was headed by a unicorn named Spear Fisher. He was apparently some kind of nephew or cousin to Bobbing Fisher, but the Princess had assured Lyra that he had been carefully checked for and declared innocent of any involvement with the ex-Minister Of War’s improprieties. He was backed up by a pegasus Guard by the name of Black Canary, and an earth pony named Brick Wall. Carrot Top’s guards, on the other hand, were lead by a pegasus guard named Quicksilver backed up by a unicorn named Spring Mist and an earth pony named Granite Hammer.
The train lurched and there was an almighty screech. Lyra wound up sprawled across the floor, head wedged between Carrot Top’s back legs and horn driven into the seat cushions.
“Well, this is awkward,” said Carrot Top after a long moment’s pause, shooting a glance sideways at Bon Bon.
“Quite,” said Lyra, surprising herself with how calm her voice was. She sounded as if she were commenting on the quality of the hayfries at the Bale. She pulled her horn free from the cushions and got to her feet, then glanced out the window. Nothing was visible save some motionless trees.
“Now,” she said, still in that absurdly calm voice, “shall we go see what has happened and why the train isn’t moving?”
As if on cue, there was a noise like a thunderclap and a brilliant flash of light from somewhere near the front of the train.
“Let’s go,” said Lyra, grabbing her lyre in her magic as she galloped out the compartment door. The guards, looking slightly aggravated at their charges, followed close behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My little pony, My little pony
Ahh ahh ahh ahhh...
My little pony –
We’re as close as friends can ever be!
My little pony –
So come on take a trip with me!
A big world tour; new people to meet
New sights to see; and new things to eat
When you’re seeing the world with your friends
The fun you’ll have will never end!
You have my little ponies –
We’ll be seeing all of you real soon!
	~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra climbed out the door, glanced towards the front of the train, and choked down the urge to vomit.
A cervid corpse lay sprawled in the snow and standing over it with its muzzle buried in the corpse’s guts was a monster like nothing she’d ever seen before. It looked something like an enormous badger, one almost as tall as a pony but of course much broader. Its coat was silvery-gray, and there were hints of a white mask around its eyes and mouth beneath the gore.
A moment later an arrow of dark red magic shot past her and sank into the monster’s side. It roared with anger and turned to look at the ponies. Then its eyes widened and it spoke.
“Ponies!” it bellowed, and it grinned, showing a mouth with more teeth than Lyra had ever seen in a mouth that size. Then it charged towards Lyra. She just stared at it for a moment, vaguely noting that Granite Hammer had just charged past her to meet the creature’s advance, and that Spear Fisher had just put another force dart into its shoulder.
Luna preserve me, that thing can talk. It’s not some wild beast that eats because it’s hungry. It is intelligent. It knew that it was killing and eating an intelligent being, and it did it anyway. What kind of monster does that?
	The earth pony Guard and the monster crashed into each other. Granite’s forehoof strike slammed into the creature’s shoulder (he’d been aiming for the head, but it had twisted at the last second), while its claw swipe scraped across the armor, raising sparks but not actually penetrating. The two collided with each other and staggered off to the side. For a moment, the monster’s foreleg dangled limply and Lyra thought Granite had shattered its shoulder. But then the flesh visibly writhed beneath the shaggy coat, and the creature could use that leg again.
Several things happened nearly at once. Spear Fisher fired another force dart into the monster’s side, and one of the pegasus guards followed suit with a crossbow quarrel. A moment later, Spring Mist ignited her horn, and a thick cloud of shimmering green mist materialized around the beast’s head. At more or less the same moment, there was another thunderclap and a flash from the front of the train, and a second monster came round the corner of the locomotive.
Lyra finally managed to snap out of her shock, and began to strum upon her lyre. Yellow magic enveloped the second monster and lifted it off the ground. Granite spun and launched a double buck into the already fading greenish cloud. The monster rolled out the other side and flopped to the ground, or rather, its body did. Its head was little more than a bloody mess.
There were more bellows from the front of the train, coupled by fierce shouts in what Lyra was pretty sure was Cervidic.
“I think there are more of these things up there,” she said, gesturing with her still-glowing horn. “Incidentally, any of you have any ideas what to do wit-WAAAAH!!”
At a wave of the beast’s paw, a chunk of ice condensed out of thin air and shot forward to slam into Lyra’s horn. Lyra collapsed onto her rear, head spinning from the backblast, and the beast fell to the ground and burst into a charge towards the ponies. Two crossbow quarrels and a pair of rapidly-fired force darts struck home to little visible effect before it crashed into Granite Hammer. The monster lunged and grappled, getting its clawed paws hooked into and under the armor, and then driving the claws into flesh. It went for the throat, but couldn’t bite through the gorget. But at the same time, the Guard had been smashing his forehooves into the monster’s barrel. And suddenly, whatever had been causing the creature’s ribs to knit shut as fast as the guard could smash them ran out, and it screamed in agony as the rapid-fire blows slammed into its body.
Soft green and dark red magic surrounded the creature’s forelegs and pulled them out. A final volley of kicks sent the dying monster sprawling away.
“Spring Mist, you look after Granite,” barked Spear Fisher. “Ze rest of us, ve vill go see vat is going up zere. Elements, vould you please stay here?”
Lyra briefly considered protesting, but another glance at the eviscerated cervid corpse changed her mind. She didn’t really want to see what those things were doing at the front of the train.
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“They’re called guloids,” explained the cervid runecaster. The remaining two monsters near the train’s front had been defeated, and with the aid of the Guards the pile of tree trunks with which the guloids had blocked the path had been removed. Now the Guards, Elements, and the remainder of the train’s security complement were all eating together, and trying to recover their nerve. Bon Bon held tightly to Lyra, and Carrot Top couldn’t quite stop shivering, despite the train being warm. Three cervids were dead, and one of Luna’s Night Guard had been badly hurt. Granite Hammer’s wounds had been bandaged, and he should heal cleanly, but he’d still been very badly hurt, and only luck and his armor had saved him from death. Under the armor, he turned out to have a dark gray coat with a paler gray mane and a cutie mark of a silvery mountain peak. He also turned out to actually be every bit as big and burly as the armor made all earth pony Guards look.
“They are creatures of Winter, somewhere in the upper middle of the Court’s hierarchy. It’s certainly odd for four rogue guloids to be in this realm, especially when Spring is about to yield to Summer and Winter is thus not adjacent to the mortal lands. It would certainly be within the power of the Lord of Winter to open a path from his portion of the Fae to this world, no matter the time of year, but he would not have gone to such effort unless these beasts were in his service and on a specific mission for him, and they seemed to have no master beyond their own hunger.”
“Vat do you mean ‘rogue guloids’?” interrupted Spear Fisher.
The runecaster shrugged. “Exactly what I said. Not everything of Winter bows the knee to the Lord of Winter. Some guloids are in his service, some are not. These in all probability were of the later category. Those in Lord Winter’s service generally bear his heraldry, and are more often than not armed and armored.”
He continued, “Guloid magic is mostly as you saw, powers of strength and endurance and especially the power to swiftly heal from any wound, coupled with some magic to call ice and snow. And also they can curse their claws so that the wounds they inflict do not heal. Your Granite Hammer was very lucky. The guloid that wounded him was low on magic, and evidently did not wish to use magic it would need for healing. So guloid magic is very potent, but as is often the case with the fae, the power comes at a horrific cost. The guloids can only replenish their magic by feeding on the flesh of thinking beings. Even the flesh of mere animals will do no more than sustain their bodies, and plants and fruits they cannot eat at all.”
Carrot Top had to once again suppress the urge to vomit. “Can we please talk about something else?” she asked plaintively. “For example, could someone explain what a ‘creature of Winter’ is? Fredrick used terms like that a few times in his stories, but he never really explained what they meant.”
The runecaster thought for a moment before speaking again. “The Fae may be divided into four regions, each named for the season to which it corresponds. As the year passes, each region in its turn draws proximate to this mortal world, exerts its influence upon us, and then passes on to be replaced by the next. Indeed, the festival we are attending is the celebration of just such a replacement: Spring passing on and Summer drawing nigh.”
“And though the fae have certain things in common, much of their nature is shaped and defined by the realm in which they live. Each realm has its own separate nature, and its fae will exhibit certain unique traits and appearances.”
“Spring is the season of new growth and new sensations. Springfae, or at least those springfae that take shapes corresponding to the creatures of this world, tend to appear as children, and they affect a terrifyingly child-like ignorance of the true consequences of their actions. They quickly become obsessed with new sensations of all kinds, and theirs are the most intoxicating regions of the Fae.”
“Summer is the season of abundance, in every way. Summerfae appear in the prime of life, bursting with good health and good spirits. But they are spirited in every way, and though they burst with good cheer and friendship, they are frighteningly easy to offend. And even their friendship can be lethal, for they revel in hunts and duels and a hundred other challenges.”
“Autumn is the season of decline, where things wither and die. The fae of autumn appear elderly, on the verge of death. They are the quietest and most philosophical of the fae, accepting that everything dies in its time. Their danger, like their Spring bretheren, comes from their blindness to the nature of mortals. The Autumnfae will kill you, not because they hate you or will benefit from your death in any way, but because they know that all things die, and believe it a kindness to kill you now and get it over with relatively painlessly.”
“Winter is the season of scarcity, and its fae are ruled by the all-consuming drive to survive, at whatever cost. The fae of Winter tend to appear of middle age, past the strength and splendor of youth but not yet crippled by the degradations of old age. There is never enough in Winter, and its fae will pounce on any vulnerability like a pack of starving wolves. On the other hand, though it is very hard to win the friendship of a fae of Winter, if you somehow manage it they will stick with you through anything, for trust has to be absolute when teamwork can mean the difference between life and death.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Dame Toppington?” said one of the Embassy staff. “Prince Fredrick is here to see you.”
Carrot Top perked up. “Really? That’s great!”
Upon Carrot Top entering the receiving room, Fredrick’s face broke out in a huge grin.
“It’s good to see you, Carrots,” he said. “I’ve heard your adventures this spring didn’t stop with Rengoku. Did you really discover an ancient lost civilization of Nahquahn jinn?”
Carrot Top laughed. “Not precisely. Come on, I’m sure you know where the best food and drink can be found around here. I’ll tell you what actually happened, and you can fill me in on all your marvelous deeds since we parted ways. I think Lyra and Bon-Bon want some time alone anyway.”
“As you like, milady,” said Fredrick.
As they left the embassy, Fredrick spoke up again. “Just so we’re clear, you’re not courting any pony back in Equestria, are you? You know I wouldn’t make a move on some other buck’s doe.”
“No, nopony really special. Moon’s tears, I’ve barely had time for dating, as many trips as Princess Luna’s been sending me on. And every time I get back from one of those diplomatic errands, I’ve got to spend a week getting everything on the farm back the way I like it. Luna’s substitutes are a lot better than nothing, but they never get everything quite right.”
“Ah,” replied Fredrick sagely. “A cost of being both a farmer and a Knight Of The Realm that I had never considered. For me, the diplomatic errands are simply a part of my duties as a prince, not a separate structure imposed atop my regular work. I have to admit to a bit of surprise that the Princess has left you in your various positions. I would have expected that as Knights of the Realm, you would have been given a sufficient stipend that you would not need to work, and could focus your attention on your Knightly duties.”
Carrot Top considered that for a moment. “Thing is, all of us like our jobs, more or less. I might not like how many hours I have to work, or how hard digging or planting or weeding can be, but I still wouldn’t want to give up farming. Same with all the rest of us. We’re more than just our Elements, and we wouldn’t want to have nothing to do all day but wait for Corona to show up.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra was a little surprised at how homelike the guest chambers were. Though a few cervidic customs had crept in, such as intricately woven tapestries on the walls and massive fireplaces, the Equestrian Embassy was by and large built in the Equestrian style, rather than following the cues of cervidic architecture.
Of course, this shouldn't really be a surprise. This is the Equestrian Embassy, of course it'll be built Equestrian-style. I saw that all the way back in the Griffin Kingdoms. 
Bon Bon shuddered a little bit. "What is that on the floor?"
Lyra poked the rug. "Bearskin rug, looks like. Feel it, it's soft like you wouldn't believe."
Bon Bon cringed a bit, but poked at the bearskin with a hoof. "Wow. That is soft. Bit creepy, though."
"Yeah, I think I see what you mean," admitted Lyra. "Guess we'll have to pass on the 'rolling around on the bearskin rug' angle. Bed's fine, though. No furs there, not in nearly-summer. And look how big it is!" She jumped and landed on the massive bed. "Care to join me?" 
"That sounds like a great idea," said Bon Bon, climbing onto the bed after Lyra. "Come on, roll over and I'll get you out of this armor. I'm not hugging you while you're all metally."
Lyra obligingly rolled over, and Bon Bon began to undo the clasps, pausing between each clasp to rub and tickle the newly exposed regions of Lyra's belly. She had just gotten to one of the best parts, when there was a knock on the door.
"What?" asked Lyra.
The door opened to reveal a copper-coated unicorn mare, apparently about Lyra's age. Her mane was the same shade as her coat, while her eyes were a bright green. Lyra couldn’t tell what her mark was, not from this angle. He jaw dropped as she took in the sight she'd walked in on. Lyra on her back, with all four legs waving in the air, and Bon Bon with her head down between Lyra's legs.
“What is it?” asked Lyra.
“I’m Leaf Catcher,” said the mare, blushing. “I’m supposed to be your guide and translator when you’re ready to go explore the festival, since I understand neither of you are fluent in Cervidic.”
“Thank you,” said Lyra. “I’ll be sure to let you know when we are ready to head out.”
"Ok," replied Leaf Catcher, quickly shutting the door again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prince Fredrick had tried to explain the World Tree to Carrot Top, but even so she still hadn’t grasped it. Not until now, not until she was standing upon it. The central trunk was easily the same size as the Canterhorn, and the primary branches were at least as big as city roads. In fact, many of those branches had houses built upon them and cervids walking to and fro as calmly as ponies on the streets of Equestria’s cities. The secondary branches were as big as normal pine trees themselves, branching off into normal-sized branches and needles in the usual fashion. The entire thing was a work of magic on the sort of scale that normally existed only in legends. She could just vaguely feel the magic flowing through the tree beneath her hooves, a slow pulse like a vast heartbeat.
Before her Elkheim stretched out like a carpet, forests and open heaths and farms jumbled together, cut here and there with the bright gleam of rivers. If she leaned out over the railing, she could see the capital below her, layered circles of houses and businesses separated by walls.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?” said Fredrick.
“Oh yes,” replied Carrot Top. “You were right, there’s no words to describe the view. You just have to see it yourself.”
There was a brief pause, then Carrot Top resumed speaking.
“You ever been down to Canterlot?”
“Not really, why?”
“There’s a place like this, at the very end of the shelf. Marvelous view of everything. Thought you might like to see it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Now why can’t all your Knightly missions take you to places like this?” asked Bon Bon plaintively, indicating the surrounding festivities with a wave of one arm. Deer were bustling here, there, and everywhere, drink was flowing freely, and the streets were lined with tiny booths selling foodstuffs and trinkets. Despite the vastly different architecture and culture, if Bon Bon let her mind go out of focus it almost seemed like she was back in Ponyville.
“They’re supposed to!” protested Lyra. “At least some of them are…” she admitted, and then retreated to “…Well, Zaldia was supposed to just be a concert and a couple of days of sightseeing. It’s not like Luna planned for us to get framed and imprisoned and all that mess.”
Bon Bon simply raised her eyebrows. Of course the Princess hadn’t planned for that to happen, it wasn’t like she was Corona! But it still had happened, just like all the other terrifying things that had happened to threaten the life of the mare she loved. 
“Look,” said Lyra, “If things were all moonlight and rainbows, we wouldn’t need the Elements. But as long as Corona and Tirek and all the other monsters keep coming, I’m going to be there to protect you from them.” She tapped the glittering gem of her Element with one hoof. “That’s what this necklace means.”
“I know,” admitted Bon Bon. “I just wish… no, I can’t wish that you weren’t so willing to dive into peril to protect others, because that would mean wishing that you weren’t the mare I love. I guess I just wish that there wasn’t so much evil in the world, so many things that you have to risk life and limb to protect me from.”
“I wish so too,” Lyra said quietly.
The moment was interrupted by a bellow of pain from nearby, accompanied by a great deal of shouting in Cervidic.
Leaf Catcher’s eyes went wide. “What in Luna’s mane… they’re saying a pony just attacked someone!” 
Lyra glanced around. There was Spear Fisher, there was Brick Wall…
“Where’s Black Canary got to?”
“Oh, moon’s tears,” murmured Leaf Catcher, facehoofing.
After a few minutes of casting around and shoving, they finally managed to make their way to the heart of the ruckus. At the center of a ring of assorted cervids, Black Canary was standing over the prone form a bull moose, one whose foreleg was bending at an angle that forelegs were most definitely not supposed to bend at. A rather pretty-looking doe was standing just off to one side, looking equal parts worried and relieved. 
“Black Canary!” shouted Spear Fisher over the ruckus. “Vat in Corona’s golden hooves do you zink you’re doing?”
“He,” said Black Canary, jabbing the downed bull right where his foreleg no longer properly met his body and causing another bellow of pain, “was trying to force himself on her,” she indicated the doe with a wave of one wing. “So I knocked him down and put him in a subdual hold. I figured even a drunk stallion would have enough sense not to try and break the hold and I could just pass him off to whatever they call the Guard hereabouts. He must have been drunker than I’d guessed, though. He tried to break the hold and dislocated his own foreleg.”
There was a prolonged conversation in Cervidic between Leaf Catcher, the unnamed doe, and a pair of what must have been Elkenhiem lawkeepers. After it finished, Leaf Catcher addressed Spear Fisher.
“It would appear that Black Canary was right. According to the doe, the bull’s advances were indeed unwanted. And she’s willing to confirm that the bull dislocated his own leg trying to get out of a subdual hold. So Black Canary’s in the clear.”
“Neverzeless,” said Spear Fisher, “ven ve get back to ze Embassy, ve are going to haf a long talk about zuch zings as proper use of force and making sure zat you know vat is going on. If you had guessed wrong, ve vould haf a serious diplomatic crisis on our hooves.”
“Sorry,” replied Black Canary, looking a bit embarrassed. “I just don’t like seeing mares suffer at the hooves of stallions.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“… Fifty paces long, I swear!” exclaimed Fredrick, gesturing expansively with a foreleg. “And with great glowing eyes and scales like plate steel!” He paused for a moment to take another sip of mead.
“My dear Prince,” said Carrot Top, focusing carefully to keep from mixing up her words. “I am not some credulous filly. I know perfectly well that a stallion will always exaggerate the size of his serpent.”
There was a moment’s pause, and then they both burst into gales of laughter. Fredrick banged his mug against the table a couple of times, and one of the serving does trotted by to refill it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ooh, that looks cute!” said Lyra cheerfully, gesturing with her horn towards the stall she had just noticed. It was a seller of charms, mostly wood and bone carved with runes.
“Basic rune-charms,” piped up Leaf Catcher. “Charms for health, fortune, love, that sort of thing. Not a lot of real magic behind these, not when they’re being sold on the street. But there is some magic there.”
“Love charms?” asked Bon Bon suspiciously.
“Those over there,” said Leif, indicating one specific bunch of charms, all marked with the same rune extending right up to the edge of the small bone square. “To make them, you take a double-size charm, carve the rune, then split it down the middle and make two charms out of it. They’re always sold in those pairs, one for each lover. The idea is that since the two runes are actually two halves of one rune, they pull their wearers towards being united.”
“Aww!!” squealed Lyra. “I’ve gotta get a pair for me and Bon Bon!”
With a little translative help from Leaf Catcher, Lyra handed over some of the marks she’d changed bits for at the embassy earlier, and in return got a charm pair for her and Bon Bon. She cheerfully fastened the charms around hers and Bon Bon’s necks. Bon Bon didn’t look quite so enthused, but she seemed to appreciate the sentiment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"…So there we were, stuck in the pit, with about fifty ghuls surrounding us. They were beating us over the head with mind magic, trying to push us into snapping and attacking each other. Wanted some entertainment, I suppose. Anyway, luckily for us Trixie knew a counterspell for that kind of dark magic. We’d run into another splinter of the same thing that was giving the ghouls their magic a few months earlier, out in an isolated corner of Equestria. Trixie’d learnt a spell to counter the thing’s influence the first time we fought it, and Lyra was able to help with her spellsong, so they were able to stave off the worst of the effects. Of course, that just made the ghuls decide to stop playing around with magic and just fly down and kill us all themselves.”
“Sounds terrifying,” replied Fredrick, listening eagerly. “How did you manage to triumph over so many ghuls?”
“Yangin,” explained Cheerilee. “Just dropped in and starting burning ghuls left and right. One of the most awesome and terrifying things I’ve ever seen. I mean, I know the Princess is about a hundred times more powerful than Yangin, but I’ve never seen her just cut loose against a mob of enemies like that. Most of the time when the Princess is fighting, it’s something else on her own level, something that can take the hits. It’s one thing to see the Princess, or even Corona, blasting a lich or something with fireballs. It’s another to see Yangin killing ghuls in bunches with her fireballs.
“Of course, then the ghul chieftain has to pull a bunch of dark powers out of his plothole. All of a sudden he can bring statues to life and suck the magic out of anypony that gets in his way. Seriously unfair.”
“Not surprising,” said Fredrick with a snort. “Ghuls are honorless scavengers who wouldn’t know a fair fight if it started pulling out their tailfeathers.”
“Oh, do you have those in Elkheim as well?” asked Carrot Top.
“Unfortunately so. We kill the ones we can find, but they’re good at running and hiding, if not at fighting or anything actually productive. Plus they breed like the vermin they are.” 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra contemplated the set of bone tiles in front of her. After a moment’s thought, she levitated a tile with seven dots on each end and placed it perpendicular to an open seven-spotted end.
“That’s an Antler, right?” she said.
“Exactly,” said Leaf. “So now none of us are allowed to play on anything except the new Antler until we’ve got all three branches.” Suiting action to word, she placed a tile off one corner of the double-seven.
“This is a really interesting game,” commented Lyra. “I may have to buy a set of these to take back home and teach the rest of the girls.” She took a sip of her mead. The cervidic beverage had proved surprisingly tasty, though she’d have to watch how much of it she drank.
“Speaking of the rest,” replied Bon Bon after drawing a tile, “Oughtn’t we to go looking for Carrot Top sometime soon? It’s getting close on dinner time, and she’s been off swapping tales with Fredrick for hours.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You know,” slurred Prince Fredrick. “It’s kinda, wassaword, ironisk, that you’re here for this festival. Wanna know why?”
“Why?” asked Carrot Top, swaying slightly from side to side as the room rippled.
“Okay, so the kloge hjorte say that each of the Fae Courts is connected to one of the Elements. And can you guess which Element’s supposed to be associated with Summer?”
“Uh…” Carrot Top racked her brains, which was somewhat difficult when those brains felt like they were floating in mead within her skull.
“Purple… Perseveran… Wait, that’s not an Element… Oh, I got it! Is it Laughter?”
“No you silly!” laughed Prince Fredrick. “Generosity!”
“Oh,” said Carrot Top. “Of course. Generosity. Shoulda thought of that.”
“Carrot Top?!” Carrot Top stared confusedly at Prince Fredrick. That hadn’t sounded like a stallion’s voice…
“Carrot Top!” There it was again!
Oh.
Carrot Top turned her head slowly to stare back at the mead hall’s door. She overshot a tad, corrected, and finally managed to get the small herd of Lyras and Bon Bons (Or would that be Bons Bon?) into her field of vision.
“Hi, Lyra!” she said. “Fredrick and I were just cashing up. And looks like he decided to show me some of his runes.”
“Wait, what?” asked Fredrick. “I’m not doing any runework.”
“Oh,” said Carrot Top. “So then why is the room going all squoogly?” As if in response to her question, the room keeled over sideways and the floor slammed into Carrot Top.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lances of heat and light, forged in the depths of Corona’s fiery hatred, leapt forth from her Sun to stab Carrot Top in the eyeballs. She threw a leg over her face, desperately trying to screen out the Tyrant Sun’s fury.
“Good morning Carrots!” said Lyra cheerfully.
“Urgwa,” replied Carrot Top.
“That’s good to hear,” said Lyra. “Here, this’ll make you feel better.”
Carrot Top stared blearily at the glass hovering before her in Lyra’s aura. There was something familiar about its contents…
Oh.
Hangover cure.
Good.
Carrot Top grabbed the glass out of Lyra’s magic and gulped down the contents. Sure enough, the tiny ponies hammering on the inside of her skull one by one gave up and trotted off to whatever corner of Tartarus they resided in when not tormenting poor innocent earth ponies.
“Lyra,” said Carrot Top, “You are a true and loyal friend.”
“Why thank you,” said Lyra with a smile. “I’m afraid I had a bit of an ulterior motive, though. There appears to be an emissary from the Fae waiting in the receiving room, and he wants to see us. Somehow it didn’t seem a good idea to keep him waiting.”
	
	
> In Which We Should Like To Know What The Author Was Smoking And Where We May Get Some Of It
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


At first glance, the Fae emissary appeared to be a perfectly handsome bull moose, with a glossy golden coat, liquid black eyes, and elegantly branching horns. It wasn’t until the second or third glance that Lyra caught the vague sense of wrongness about its appearance, and it wasn’t until the fourth or fifth glance that she pinned down what felt so off. Its appearance was simply too perfect, perfect as no living creature was perfect, without any distinguishing marks or little flaws. It was less like looking at a living thing and more like looking at a very well-made sculpture.



Upon Lyra and Carrot Top entering the room, the creature gave a brief bow.



“Dame Toppington, Dame Heartstrings, greetings and respect from Summer and his fellows.” Though it spoke perfect Equestrian without any discernable accent, even its voice was slightly off. It was deep and mellifluous, but somehow slightly inorganic, as if a cello’s notes or a trumpet’s call had been rendered into words. Lyra struggled to focus past the oddity and figure out what it was actually saying.



The emissary continued its recitation. “In the ancient days, Day and Night did the Lords and Ladies of the fae certain favors, and won from them certain debts which as yet remain unspent. The Voice of the Sun seeks to call in those debts on behalf of his Lady, to compel them to render her aid in her war against her sister. But the debts were owed to Night and Day in equal measure, and so by our laws their invocation should bring equal boon to both sides of this war. As you are the closest two champions of the Night, it is to you I have been dispatched to offer news of this situation, and guidance to the Axis should you wish to seek the respect of the gathered Lords and Ladies of the Fae.”



“The Axis?” asked Carrot Top.



“The Axis is that point around which all the Fae rotates. There all four realms of the Fae meet, and there and there alone may the Lords and Ladies meet as equals and treat upon those matters which affect them jointly.”



“How are they to know that they will be safe? The tales of the perils of the Fae fill many books,” enquired Fredrick pointedly.



The Fae emissary’s laughter seemed as affected as everything else about it. “A wolf does not seek to bring down a dragon, mortal princeling. I address the Knights of the Moon, but my master and his peers have not somehow forgotten that the same vessels hold Generosity and Loyalty. And in any case, the Four have given their word for the safety of Luna’s Knights. Neither the fae nor the Sun’s champions shall be permitted to harm them, so long as they likewise refrain from causing harm. They shall be in no more peril than they freely choose to put themselves in.”



“May we discuss this in private?” asked Lyra.



“Certainly,” replied the emissary.



There was a long moment’s pause once the mortals were alone.



“We have to go,” said Lyra reluctantly. “Corona has been growing more and more active, and if the Fae are half as powerful as the tales I’ve heard suggest, their aid could seriously improve her chances of taking the throne.”



“Luna’s beard,” swore Spear Fisher, his accent thickening with the stress. “Dame Heartstrings, you cannot be serious. My father served in zis part of ze vorld during his time in ze Army, and he used to tell me stories about ze sort of zings ze fae vould get up to. And zat was in zis vorld, in our vorld. Luna alone knows what zey vill do in zeir vorld.”



“You think we want to go?” cut in Carrot Top. “All I wanted was a nice vacation and a chance to see a friend. But this,” she tapped her Element necklace with one hoof, “comes with the duty to go forth on missions like these, whether I really want to go or not. I’d figure you of all ponies would get that.”



“Cолнце ударил жеребенок”, muttered Spear Fisher.



“Of course,” said Bon Bon to nobody in particular. “Of course it was too much to have one bucking vacation without some ancient evil or political conspiracy or minion of the Tyrant Sun popping up and demanding that my marefriend, specifically, go off and once again put herself in harm’s way. Can I at least go with you this time?”



“Bon-Bon!” exclaimed Lyra. “Seriously? You want to go into the depths of the Fae? Even if you’re going to be with me, that’s still crazy.”

“It should be safe, right? That… whatever the buck he was… said that we’d be safe. And at least if I come with you, I won’t have to just sit here worrying about what might be happening to you. Loyalty goes both ways.”



“Actually,” said Lyra, taking a deep breath. “He actually only said that Carrot Top and I were guaranteed safe passage. That might or might not be extended to whatever guests we invite. And if I’m going to get back out of the Fae, I might need you here to give me something to come back to.”



“Huh?” asked Bon Bon, looking confused.



“There’s more than one legend in which somepony got out of weird places like the Fae by concentrating on their love for someone waiting for them back at home. And if anything is likely to work like that, it’s the Element of Loyalty.” replied Lyra.



“Ok,” said Fredrick, “if you’re actually going to do this there’s some things you really need to understand. First thing you need to know is that in the Fae, abstracts… aren’t. Hope has weight and texture, dreams can be bottled and distilled, and happiness can be seen and tasted. And the fae can and will bargain in these things. Now, no fae can lie, but you have to be very sure that they actually said what you thought you heard. And don’t make any bargains unless you’re absolutely certain that you understand the terms. There’s a lot of fae magic woven into their bargains, so even deals you wouldn’t think are enforceable become so.”



“Beyond that, you need to be careful not to give offense. One of the things about the fae is that, more than any mortal race, they are ruled by the idea of balance. If they accept a gift from you, they must give an equivalent gift in exchange. Harm them, and they will be not only permitted but compelled to harm you in return. That’s why they’re calling you in at all, as far as I can tell. Their nature demands a balance between Mána and Sunna.”



“As for protections, each of the fae Courts has certain things it cannot abide. Winterfae can’t bear the touch of gold, for example…” His eyes suddenly went wide. “Your armor. Sif’s golden mane, your armor. It’s astranium, right? Starmetal?”



“Uh, yes, it is,” said Lyra. “Why do you ask?”



“Because, for whatever reason, none of the four Courts can abide metal that comes from a fallen star, whether it be astranium or some more mundane ore. Something about the symbolism of star metal is completely anathema to the Fae.”



“But wait,” said Lyra, “Didn’t you just say we should be careful not to give offense? If star-steel is so fundamentally opposed to the Fae, wouldn’t they be offended if we came in wearing it?”



“Lyra!” blurted out Bon Bon.



“That… is a very good point,” admitted Fredrick.



“If the Fae have thought of a way around that safe-conduct guarantee, I can’t imagine even the Princess’s armor could save us. And if they haven’t, then we need to avoid giving offense more than we need the armor,” continued Lyra.



Spear Fisher groaned, but did not object.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The fae emissary didn’t seem to have moved a muscle during the time that Lyra, Carrot Top, and everyone else had been away. As soon as they entered the room, the Fae emissary glanced in their direction, face expressionless.



“We’ll go,” said Carrot Top. “If Corona wishes to make a move, we shall counter her.”



The Fae emissary nodded once. “Very good. Please follow me.”



“Question,” interjected Lyra. “If we elected to bring along our Guards, would they be included in your master’s guarantee of safe-conduct?”



“No,” replied the fae emissary. “Day has sent two champions, and so the Lords and Ladies have called for two champions of Night. No more and no less. Your Guards are welcome in the Fae, but they shall have to play by the same rules as any other mortal.”



Carrot Top gulped. She’d been afraid of that. Even with the fae emissary’s guarantee of safety, she’d heard one too many of Fredrick’s stories to be quite comfortable entering the Fae.



The fae emissary trotted out of the audience hall, and Lyra and Carrot Top followed him across the grounds beneath the World Tree, until they came to a circle of standing stones, covered in runes. Once inside the circle, the fae emissary raised one hoof and traced a rune on the empty air, his hoof leaving lines of golden light behind. When finished, the rune flashed and a line of light cut through the air and then expanded to form a doorway of auric magic. On the other side could be seen an expanse of hard-packed dirt, one that after a few body-lengths gave way to lush green grass. In the midst of that grass was a throne of polished wood, dark and rich. Seated upon this throne was a moose stallion, clearly in the prime of life. Or rather, it would have been a moose were it not for the huge eagle’s wings sprouting from its shoulders. The stallion wore no attire except for a gleaming golden crown (Carrot Top flinched just a tad at that sight), and held a goblet of wine in one hoof and a bunch of carrots in the other. A pair of strapping cervid stallions flanked his throne, one carrying a spear and the other a flagon.



Standing between the gateway and the throne were two familiar figures, a red pegasus clad in gleaming golden barding and with a mane seemingly made of crackling flames, and a gray unicorn who seemed somehow to blend into the verdant background behind her.



Of course, thought Carrot Top. Smoke and Kindle. Who else would Corona send? Luna’s mane, if she actually were a Queen, and Kindle really was her herald, this kind of errand really would be his job. I wonder why she didn’t come in person?



“Dame Heartstrings, Dame Toppington,” said Kindle cheerfully, nodding towards Lyra and Carrot Top as they stepped through the portal. “A shame that Dame Raindrops was unavailable. Please convey my compliments to her and remind her that should she manage to survive our Queen regaining her throne, she shall have a place at my side.”



Carrot Top could think of nothing to say to that, though she noticed that Smoke visibly winced. Instead, she glanced around. The dirt seemed to be a perfect circle, and though her eyes insisted the dirt was hard and dry, it still felt oddly yielding beneath her hooves, as though she were standing on a shoal of clay.



To her left, the lush green grass gave way to dead and yellowed grass along a line as straight as an arrow. At the center of the wedge of dead grass, at right angles to the first throne, there stood a second throne. This one also seemed to be of wood, but the wood was gray and dusty, and the throne was draped with cobwebs. On it sat what appeared to be an elderly red deer, an odd misnomer in this case as her coat had long since faded to silver. From her shoulders sprouted wings like those of a vulture and on her brow was a coronet of lead. Faintly glowing bubbles drifted through the air around her.



To Carrot Top’s right, the grass began to be speckled with flowers. This quadrant’s “throne” was little more than a giant pile of cushions, and curled up atop it was a water deer… what did the cervids call their fillies? Carrot Top couldn’t remember... who looked to be about Dinky’s age, with butterfly wings patterned in sky-blue and candy-pink. The filly had what looked like a very large rabbit holding a basket of eggs sprawled in the grass on one side of her throne, and on the other what looked to be a cervid colt. In lieu of a crown the butterfly-winged filly was wearing a wreath of flowers.  Flowers with blue petals, and a very familiar shape.



Oh dear merciful Luna, that’s poison joke. This filly’s wearing a wreath of poison joke. And that’s poison joke in the grass there. At least there’s none of it here. Wait… what in Luna’s starry mane are those? They look just like Cheerilee’s cutie mark. Eyes and mouths and everything.



Seeking a distraction from that weirdness, Carrot Top turned to glance behind her. Past where the now-closed portal had been, flowered and dead grass both gave way to drifts of snow with that same eerie precision. Amidst the snow stood a throne of iron, seemingly made entirely out of swords melted and fused together to form a seat. And seated upon that throne was a massive bull elk, one who appeared to be fully mature, past the prime of life but not yet elderly. His thick black coat was marred by numerous scars, scars that on a second glance Carrot Top realized were runes. From his shoulders there sprouted leathery wings, more like those of a bat or thestral than anything else. Upon his head was not a crown but an iron helmet, and a broad-bladed spear was in his hoof.



At the elk bull’s left hoof there stood what appeared to be a slender red deer doe with a lyre in her front hooves, clad in a hooded robe of bright blue. But on the other side of his throne there crouched a guloid, one even bigger than those Lyra and Carrot Top had earlier encountered, and made yet bigger by the blue-tinged steel plate it wore. Carrot Top quickly looked back the other way, choking down her gorge. She was absolutely certain that vomiting in front of the gathered Fae, and Corona’s lieutenants, would be a really bad idea.



“Dame Toppington...” said the bull moose.



“...Dame Heartstrings…” continued the elk without the slightest break.



“...we are pleased that you could join us.” The filly finished the sentence. “I am the Lady of Spring…” she continued.



“...I the Lord of Summer…” said the bull moose.



“…I the Lady of Autumn…” continued the elderly mare.



“… and I the Lord of Winter.” the bull elk finished.



The Lord of Summer took up the dialogue. “While my emissary was conveying our invitation to you, we have conferred amongst ourselves and have come to a decision regarding the method of resolving our impasse.”



The Lady of Autumn continued. “Each of us shall pose a challenge of our own devising for the champions of Sun and Moon, and whichsoever Princess’s champion shall win each challenge, that Princess shall receive some boon from the poser of the challenge in proportion to the debts owed.”



The Lord of Winter spoke once more. “Dame Heartstrings, Dame Toppington, Voice Of The Sun, Apprentice Smoke, are you willing to undertake such challenges as we may set? Subject to the guarantee already given, that we shall put you in no more peril than you freely choose to risk?”



Kindle snorted. “Do you truly believe that I would falter in the mission my Queen set me? She has sent me here, and therefore I must be equal to the challenges you will place before me. Bring on the tests!”



“What he said,” chimed in Lyra, “only without the crazy and the melodrama.”



“I’m ready,” said Carrot Tops.



“As am I,” said Smoke.



“Very well then,” said Lady Autumn. “As always, Lady Spring shall begin.”



Lady Spring squealed with happiness and rolled to the side, tumbling off her pile of cushions to land in the grass in a splay of limbs. She bounced to her feet, grinning manically. “Oh boy oh boy, we’re going to have all kinds of fun with this! What to do, what to do?” The colt leaned in and whispered something in her ear. “Ooh, perfect,” she squeaked, and stomped on the ground with one hoof. Instantly, the ground seemed to slide sideways under Carrot Top’s hooves, and a heartbeat later she, Lyra, Kindle, and Smoke stood amidst a field of bright green grass, flowers of various colors bedecking the sward. Carrot Top instinctively glanced down to confirm that she wasn’t in a patch of poison joke, but thankfully it appeared she was just standing on grass, though it still felt weirdly yielding beneath her hooves.



Carrot Top’s jaw dropped as she stared at her surroundings. The place was dotted with creatures of every sort pursuing all sorts of activities. A short distance away a mixed group of what appeared to be three cervid foals, a large bunny rabbit and a pony filly were chasing bubbles blowing from an enormous wand that was stuck upright in the ground. In a different direction a cervid filly was snacking on a bush that grew brilliant, metallic-colored fruits. On the other side of the bush two more cervid foals were vigorously mating. There a small grove of shrubs had pulled themselves up out of the ground and were dancing with half-a-dozen Springfae. And the air was thick with pixies, drifting here and there like tiny stars. Everywhere Carrot Top looked, creatures of every size and shape engaged in every conceivable or inconceivable activity. And the flora of Spring was as bizarre as its fauna. Aside from the occasional patch of poison joke and the ubiquitous flowers that bore such an eerie resemblance to Cheerilee’s cutie mark, there were also trees growing everything from potatoes to kittens to silver bits, trees that seemed to grow upside down, and more than one tree that seemed to be covered with sexual organs, which the Springfae seemed to be putting to use.



There was a buzzing sound, and…something…flew up. Carrot Top had no idea what it was, but it looked like a giant pony-shaped bug. It was coated in glossy black chitin, though both the chitin and its membranous wings were dotted with holes here and there. Its eyes were a flat blue, without any visible iris or pupil, and were faintly faceted like those of an insect. Its horn was short and thorn-like, without the spiral of a unicorn horn, and was glowing with the same bright acid-green aura as the tray of fruits and flowers, some familiar and some wholly unfamiliar, it was levitating in front of it.



“Care for something to eat?” The bug-pony’s voice was oddly melodious, shimmering up and down the tonal ranges.



“No thank you,” said Lyra politely. “Never trust Fae food,” she added in an aside to Carrot Top. “All the legends say that’s how they entrap you.” A wave of her hoof indicated an emaciated cervid lying in a patch of lotus blossoms nearby, occasionally nibbling on one.



“Phooey,” pouted Lady Spring. “Ah well, better luck next time. Flitter, go set up a buffet for after the challenge. With the safe food only, of course. Nothing more intoxicating than what our champions would find in the Solid Lands.”



The bugpony buzzed off, and the Fae ruler turned to the four champions.



 “Now, do you all know how to play Tic-Tac-Toe?”



“Yes…”, said Carrot Top inquisitively, and the others made similar noises of agreement.



“Ok, great!” chirped Lady Spring, and with a wave of her hoof the ground split open and a pair of tables rose out of it. Each table had a tic-tac-toe board scratched into the top, five black wood tokens with silver moon images on one side, and five white tokens with golden sun tokens on the other.



“Ok, so who wants to play whom?” asked Lady Spring.



There was a long moment’s pause.



“Do you seriously expect us to resolve this conflict between the true Queen of Equestria and her traitorous sister by playing Tic-Tac-Toe?” asked Kindle incredulously.



“Of course!” replied Lady Spring. “Why, are you refusing?” Her grin stretched to levels normally seen only on Pinkie Pie.



Kindle was a zealot, but unfortunately he was far from an idiot. “No, Lady Spring,” he replied. “If that is how you choose to resolve Luna’s rebellion, who am I to gainsay you? I’ll play Toppington.”



“And I guess that means I’m playing Smoke,” said Lyra resignedly.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The four ponies sat down across the tables. Lyra grabbed a token in her aura and placed it in the center of the board. Smoke rolled her eyes and placed a token of her own.



Less than a minute later, Lyra dropped the last token for a tie game. To her complete astonishment, the board let out a perfect cat’s meow, and the pieces sprouted legs and scurried back off the grid, before turning back into mere disks of wood.



“Again!” squealed Lady Spring.



As a cat meow erupted from Carrot Top’s board, Lyra placed her first token. Again the game ended in a tie and the pieces reset themselves. As the process continued, Lyra began to think.



Ok, so clearly a tie means we play again, and Tic-Tac-Toe is such an easy game that it’s practically impossible to not tie as long as we’re both paying attention. So…



“Meow!”



Oh, I think I get it. All the legends say that the Springfae are flighty, obsessed with novelty and fear boredom above all else. So the real challenge is…



“Meow!”



… The real challenge is to see which of us is willing to keep playing longer. Or else to keep playing until one of us is so tired that they can’t think straight and make a misplay so the other can win.



“Meow!”



 Hmm… this could take a while. Unless I manage to figure out how to distract or disconcert Smoke. Maybe bring up Kindle’s crush on Raindrops?



“Meow!”



That’s going to get old really fast. I suppose the annoyingness of the tie is supposed to be part of the challenge.



“Meow!”



Aargh. 



“Meow!”



Oh, and I need to tell Carrot Top this. Preferably without Kindle or Smoke overhearing.



Lyra grimaced internally as the tokens meowed yet again. On the one hoof, she’d never tried this particular spell before. On the other, it was well within the field of her talent, and she didn’t have any better ideas on how to get the requisite information across to Carrot Top.



So she carefully raised one leg and scratched her nose. Her use of telekinesis to move the tokens would cover her spellcasting and the leg would cover her mouth as she whispered. She had no idea if Smoke could read lips, but better safe than sorry.



“Carrot Top,” she whispered, praying to Luna that her spell was conveying the whisper to Carrot Top’s ear, “I think the point of this game is to see who can last the longest. Don’t ask for a break, I’m betting that makes you lose.”



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



“Ring-Ring-Ring! Ring-Ring-Ring!”



Carrot Top half-jolted as the unfamiliar voice shouted from off to the side, somewhere near where Lady Spring was sprawled back atop her cushion “throne”. She glanced over, just in time to see Lady Spring produce what appeared to be an unpeeled banana from somewhere about her person and hold one end to her mouth and the other to her ear.



“Yes?” said Lady Spring as Carrot Top turned back to the game. There was a brief pause, during which the board meowed and reset itself for what felt like the thousandth time. Then Lady Spring spoke again.



“Wait, she’s here now? Next delivery isn’t supposed to be until… Oh. That is today. Very well, bring her in.”




Carrot Top and Kindle played two more rounds of Tic-Tac-Toe before a familiar voice became audible at the edge of her hearing. 



“… and I don’t know what I’d say if he ever did ask. I mean, I love him and all, but marrying would have to mean moving to Canterlot, cause it’s not like he can be a Night Court noble from Ponyville, and to be fair I can …”



“Meow.”



“ … plan parties and bake just about as easily in Canterlot. Hey, come to think of it, don’t Night Court Nobles’ very special someponies put on parties for their very special somepony’s peers all the time, or else go to the parties that their very special sompony’s peers’ very special someponies are putting on?”



And Pinkie Pie came into view from down a staircase that was standing out in the open nearby. She was trotting along at a remarkably steady and sedate pace for Pinkie Pie, though that might be explained by the blue-and-white saddlebags slung over her back. She was accompanied by the pony-shaped bug from earlier and a pair of what looked like ambulatory rosebushes.



“Lyra! Carrot Top! I didn’t expect to be meeting you here and you have no idea how weird that feels, but my Pinkie Sense doesn’t work in here. I think it’s because I need to half-twist to get in here, and the Pinkie Sense is based on a half-twist itself, so two half-twists make a whole twist and that’s just normal. What are you doing?”



“Determining the fate of Equestria by playing Tic-Tac-Toe,” said Carrot Top, her voice dripping with sarcasm. The sarcasm was quickly scooped up by a cloud of what appeared to be pink-and-plum-striped honeybees.



“What are you doing here?” asked Lyra incredulously.



“Oh, Pinkie’s a regular visitor here,” said Lady Spring, descending from her cushion pile. “Mortal food, real mortal food, is almost as addictive to us as our food can be to you, if for the opposite reasons. You have no idea how good you have it being able to eat food that really tastes, doesn’t just pretend to taste, all the time. Pinkie’s one of the few who will come in…”



“Meow.”



“… and so nofae will bother her, not and risk getting our supply of baked goods cut off. One time she even got us a pizza.” She turned her focus to Pinkie. “You have the goods?”



“Yupparoonie!” replied Pinkie with a grin. “A dozen chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, a dozen plain cupcakes with lemon frosting, four loaves Prench bread, and a carrot cake.” Pinkie produced the last of the mentioned goods from her saddlebags and laid the box with the others, in a pile in front of Lady Spring.



“Meow,” declared Carrot Top’s board as she and Kindle tied yet again.



“And we have the goods you requested,” replied Flitter, producing several baggies and vials. It began to read off a checklist “Six younglings’ first laughs, half masculine and half feminine...” It gave Pinkie a small vial containing several faintly luminous objects that looked kind of like flower petals. “…a double bunch of cantomile,” it continued, passing Pinkie a bag of some unknown clear substance containing what looked like a bunch of brownish pine needles with bright red tips.



“I’d suggest using that in a soufflé myself,” interjected Lady Spring, “though really the flavor goes with quite a lot of things, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”



“Meow.”



“… Four ounces distilled blue,” Flitter continued, passing Pinkie another vial, this one containing some kind of extremely vivid blue liquid. “… and an ounce of sleep.” It added a final vial, this one containing a cobalt-blue powder.



“Perfect, just what I wanted. Now, before I go, there’s something I’d like as an advance on my next shipment’s bargain.” She leaned in closer and whispered something in Lady Spring’s ear while the tic-tac-toe game ended in yet another tie and meow.



“Sure, that can be done,” said Lady Spring after Pinkie pulled away. “But it’ll cost you a full dozen cupcakes, considering the delivery issues.”



Pinkie shrugged as she began to place her purchases in her saddlebags. “Fair enough. Sorry to rush off like this, but apparently La Commedia Della Luna is putting on a production of Much To-Do About Nothing, and Bluie’s got us surprise tickets. He thinks I’m in the fillies’ room right now, and there’s only so far I can push the time distortion.”



And with that she slung on her saddlebags and trotted back up the staircase. 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



“CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!”



Lyra jumped back as if the token she had just placed had turned into a red-hot coal. The designs on the tokens shifted from suns and moons into arrows. Arrows that were all pointing not at Lyra, but at Smoke.



A moment later, Lyra saw one of Smoke’s sun tokens vanish and reappear in another space. 



What the… Oh. Illusionist, right. She put up an illusion to make me think she’d put her token somewhere else. Clever mare. Just praise Luna that the fae magic evidently thinks this counts as breaking the rules.



“CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!”, the tokens continued to scream.



With a distinct FWOOMP!, a massive blob of pink fluff landed on top of Smoke. It then climbed to its paws and lumbered off to the side, Smoke’s face sticking out of its midsection.



Lady Spring trotted over and tapped one of the tokens with a hoof, causing them to finally stop screaming.



“And that’s one point to Luna’s side, everything!” shouted Lady Spring cheerfully. “Apprentice Smoke, you can spend a while in the the cotton candy elemental thinking about what you’ve done. Dame Heartstrings, as you can see Flitter’s put together a very nice banquet, and I promise that you won’t be eating anything drugged or enchanted without knowing about it.”



“And what cost would this generosity have?” asked Lyra skeptically. 



“Dame Heartstrings,” said Lady Spring, “I am the host and you are the guest. To provide you with food and drink is well within my duties. If you must think of repayment, consider the entertainment you have provided and in all likelihood will continue to provide to be the recompense.”



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



“Your Steadfastness?” asked Lady Spring, rather nervously.



Lyra jerked awake from her half-daze. As the fae Lady had promised, the drugs and enchantments woven into the fae food had not been hidden. More to the point, there had been a surprising variety of entirely safe, normal, fruits and flowers. Evidently the cervids would often pay tribute to the fae in food in exchange for safety from fae torments, and this time of year most such tribute went to Spring. Lyra had quickly realized that she was quite hungry, and had enjoyed a refreshing lunch. Smoke had been released from her elemental imprisonment some time earlier, and had likewise lunched. The two ponies had exchanged very few words.



“Yes?” she replied, confused. Where had that title come from?



“I would like to offer you a bargain. There are a number of magics at my disposal that could be used to allow you and your mate to bring forth children of your own body and blood. There is a certain debt outstanding between us, and I could grant you the benefit of one or more of those magics in settlement.”



“What?” exclaimed Lyra. “How would you… are you going to turn me into a stallion or something?”



“That would certainly be one option,” replied Lady Spring, “but it wouldn’t be necessary if you didn’t want it. There’s a simple working, fueled by the emotional energy of sex, that allows sex between two females to produce pregnancy. And once the pregnancy is conceived, it should grow naturally without further need for magic. Or there are still other options.”



“Uh…” Lyra said, then remembered the other part of what Lady Spring had said. “And what do you mean there’s an outstanding debt between us? What did you do that you feel you have to make recompense for?”



“The debt was incurred in ancient times, long before you found your current vessel,” replied Lady Spring. 



“Um…” said Lyra again, mulling that over for a moment. It sounded as though Lady Spring owed some kind of debt to Loyalty itself, and that debt had been transferred to her as its bearer. Then something occurred to her. “Wait a moment. What if I asked you to decide this match for Luna, right now? Would the debt you say you owe me cover that?”



Lady Spring shook her head. “The contest has already been declared and the rules set. To violate those rules now would skirt perilously close to breaking my word. But if you so desired, I could bestow some boon on Luna as repayment of your debt, irregardless of the outcome of the match. Is that the repayment you wish?”



Lyra was torn. On the one hoof, here was an opportunity to tilt the balance between Moon and Sun a little further towards the Princess’s side. On the second hoof, she already felt guilty over all the times she’d had to leave Bon Bon to go be Loyalty and all the stress and worry she’d put her love through. To use this favor to buy help for the Princess instead of using it for Bon Bon would be one more sacrifice to ask of Bon Bon, even if she never knew about it. But on the third hoof, there were other methods to get Bon Bon pregnant, or they could simply adopt when they decided they were ready for foals. And on the last hoof, this opportunity to help the Princess would not come again. Her internal debate was broken by the sound of trumpets from the direction of the Tic-Tac-Toe game.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



“Blah blah blah,” said Kindle.



Ok, Carrot Top was pretty sure that he wasn’t actually saying “blah, blah, blah,” but whatever he was trying to say would probably be about as worthless to listen to. Besides which, she was quite familiar with the other’s stories about how charismatic the sun-crazed pegasus could be, and didn’t want to let him throw her off her game. And, of course, ignoring the ranting solartic was probably the best way to throw him off his game.



There was a certain trick to keeping just enough of her focus on the game to not make any mistakes, while still letting enough of her mind wander for the hours to slip freely by. Luckily for her, farming demanded a similar talent for mindful repetition, lest you suddenly realize that you’d planted the last three rows of carrot seeds without any fertilizer.



As she played, she began to sing quietly to herself. It was a habit she’d developed when faced with long stretches of repetitive work. This time, however, she’d semi-consciously made sure to select the most offensive (to Kindle at least) rhyme possible. Anything to keep the deranged pegasus off-balance.



“Noonday sun is rising high,” she hummed.


“Tyrant Sun now rules the sky”


“Hide, ye ponies, from her eye”


“Lest she see you and you die.”



“Blah blah Corona blah blah Sun blah blah crazy ranting,” continued Kindle. Carrot Top continued to ignore him. Her stomach grumbled. She hadn’t had any chance to eat before going to see the Fae emissary, and she certainly hadn’t had a chance since. And she could smell the fruits and flowers being served over off to the side. Still, she wasn’t about to forfeit a chance to win help for the Princess in her battle against Corona, not for mere fruits.



Then, suddenly, she saw it. Kindle had finally grown distracted enough to misplace his token. With a massive grin, she slammed hers down. 



Kindle looked down, and she saw his face freeze as he realized his mistake. While the game wasn’t over, his loss was already assured. With a snarl of frustration, he played his token. 



Click.


Click.


Click.



As Carrot Top placed the final token, the three crescent moons began to glow with a brilliant silver light, and there was the sound of trumpets.



“And it would appear that Dame Toppington has won her match!” announced Lady Spring. “So the boon of Spring goes to Princess Luna.”



She continued at a slightly lesser volume. “We’ve still a little time before Summer’s challenge is due to start. Voice, Dame Toppington, come on and have something to eat. And Flitter, get four night’s rests for our champions. Wouldn’t due to have them go into Summer’s trials bleary-headed. He’d never forgive me for ruining his fun.”



As Carrot Top and Kindle began to browse the buffet, Flitter arrived, levitating four glasses of some dark blue liquid in its aura. 



“Here you are,” said Lady Spring cheerfully. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. It’s just a good night’s rest, nothing more. I promise.”



Carrot Top sighed, took the glass from Flitter, and downed it. The liquid was almost tasteless, something like a very diluted grape juice. But the effect upon drinking it was astonishing. As soon as she swallowed, she felt the fog lift from her mind. Around her, the other three ponies were likewise perking up just a little, hours of fatigue and boredom wiped away in an instant.



“That’s amazing,” said Carrot Top, and meant it.



“Why thank you,” replied Lady Spring cheerfully. 



Carrot Top (happy) and Kindle (fuming, literally) made their way over to the buffet table and quickly filled their growling stomachs. 



A short while later, Carrot Top was just considering whether to go back for seconds when there was a loud chime.



“Ah, I’m afraid that means our time is up,” said Lady Spring. “Now it’s on to Summer for the second test.”

> In Which Everypony Dies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carrot Top and Lyra trotted along across the flower-strewn grass of Spring, accompanied to mutual irritation by Kindle and Smoke. What appeared to be two cervid foals bearing wooden spears trotted in front of them, and another two came behind. On either side of the party there stretched forth the mind-twisting landscape of the Court Of Spring. Here what smelled like hot chocolate gushed from the ground like water, there a group of Springfae dressed in strange robes that covered every square inch of their bodies were apparently rendering something that looked like a blob of dark pink pudding with black splotches. Oddly enough, there never seemed to be any obstacles directly in the party’s path.
After a time, the party came to a vast wall of brambles, grown over and under and around each other to form an impenetrable obstacle at least two or three times the height of a pony. The top of the hedge twisted into a kind of braided walkway, smooth and thornless and patrolled by what appeared to be more foals with toy weapons. 
One of the champions’ escorts strode forwards and pressed his hoof against a smooth stretch of cane. Immediately, the brambles began to writhe and twist, and shortly had rearranged themselves to form a tunnel through the wall of thorns. On the other side of the thornwall was a stretch of ground. This ground was not grassy or flowered, but neither was it barren or dead. It simply was, seemingly devoid of any qualities other than solidity and dimension.
On the other side of the ground, there rose a more conventional wall of wood, this one made of vast logs carved with images of beasts and trees. Directly opposite the hole in the thorn wall, there was a gate, one which even as the party watched swung open to reveal a vast forest on the other side.
“This is as far as I take you,” said the leader of the Springfae escort. “There is an escort waiting in Summer for you, and they shall take you the rest of the way to Lord Summer.”
The four ponies trotted out onto the ground, which proved to be just as nondescript to the hoof as to the eye, neither warm nor cold nor rough nor smooth. It was a stretch of ground between the two walls, and no more. Carrot Top even noted that where all the ground in Spring felt as though it ought to feel squishy under her hooves, this felt as though she shouldn’t be feeling anything at all. Behind them, the hole in the thornwall twisted shut again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summer, Lyra decided, was a lot less bizarre than Spring. On the other side of the wall, there grew what seemed to be a vast forest, not dissimilar to the Everfree or the wild forests that she and Carrot Top had seen on their way up through Elkheim. Similarly, instead of foals playing soldier, their escort took the form of muscular young bucks, clad in somewhat ornate bronze armor and carrying bronze spears.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” remarked Kindle.
“Shut up,” said Lyra.
“Really, Dame Heartstrings, I-”
“Shut up,” repeated Lyra. “We’re not on the same side, and after what you did to Raindrops, there’s no way we could be friends, or even friendly enemies. I see no reason to pretend I respect you.”
Kindle shut up, though that might have been due to the reek of burning flesh that filled the air. Lyra very carefully averted her eyes as they passed by that clearing. She had all too good an idea as to what was producing that smell, and she had no particular desire to see it.
After a time, they came to a large, rather ovoid clearing. At one end (about a third of the way around the circumference from where they’d entered), Lord Summer sat upon the same carved-wood throne he had been seated in back at the Axis. The rest of the clearing was dotted here and there with Summerfae doing this, that, and the other. Most of the Summerfae were in cervid shape, though there was a pony or two, and a smattering of lions, hounds, and other appropriate beasts. Over a massive fire there hung the burning carcass of… Lyra had no idea what it had been, actually. Between the burning and the massive chunks of carved-away flesh, it was difficult to make out. 
“Greetings to you, Dame Toppington, and to you as well, Dame Heartstrings, Voice, Apprentice Smoke,” said Lord Summer, making an idle gesture with one hoof. “I understand that my sister has already fed and refreshed you, so I doubt you wish to have another feast right away. Perhaps we can have one after my trial is over. Shall we begin the trial now?”
“As you said, I am ready to prove Celestia’s worth. Bring it on!” said Kindle.
“I am ready,” said Smoke.
“Me too,” chimed in Carrot Top.
“And I,” said Lyra.
“Very well, then.” Lord Summer rose from his throne and clapped his hooves together. There was a blinding flash of golden light and Lyra felt a brief stab of pain from her temples. When the light cleared, the four ponies were still standing in a largish clearing, with several trails leading out of it, but all the Summerfae and their paraphernalia had vanished. A slightly translucent image of the Lord Of Summer stood before them. 
“Do you hear that?” said the image. As if in response, there was the distant sound of horns and the baying of hounds.
“I have called the Wild Hunt, and they have your scent. Your challenge is simple: Stay alive until the time allotted for the Hunt has elapsed. Good luck, you’ll need it.” The image vanished into thin air, and the horns blew again, this time rather closer than before.
The four ponies glanced at each other. 
“Split up or go together?” asked Kindle.
“Split up,” said Lyra. “Might confuse them a minute.” 
Also, I don’t like you or want to run with you, and I’m hoping that they’ll decide to chase you instead of us, she very carefully did not say.
“Very well,” said Kindle. “We’ll go this way, you go that.” Suiting action to word, he turned and bolted off more or less at right angles to the direction the horns were coming from.
Seeing no reason not to, Lyra and Carrot Top turned and bolted in the opposite direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bon Bon took another sip of vodka, contemplated the tumbler for a moment, and then voiced her considered judgement.
“This isn’t helping.”
“Sorry, but zis is ze strongest stuff ze embassy has,” apologized Spear Fisher. Under the glamour of his armor, he’d proved to be a rather fit unicorn, with a dark brown coat, black mane and eyes, and a dark red spear for a cutie mark. His most distinguishing feature was his horn, which much like Pokey Pierce’s was unusually large in proportion to the rest of him and came to a razor-sharp point.
“I know,” replied Bon Bon. After a minute or two’s silence, the question she’d been wanting to ask for hours finally slipped out.
“Why’d you let them do it, anyway? I thought your job was to keep them safe.”
“Because,” replied Spear Fisher with a sigh, “Zey vere not wrong.”
“You mean they were right?”
“No, I mean zey vere not wrong. Zere’s a difference. Zey may not have been right. Ze Fae might have found zome loophole in zat guarantee of safety. Ze debts zat Corona’s agents, whoever zey are, vere trying to call due might not be big enough to make a difference. But zey might. It just might be zat the safety of all of us rests on your marefriend and… friend friend stopping ze fae from helping Corona. And zo I say zey vere not wrong. And zey are Knights of Ze Realm. It is zere duty to go, just as it iz mine.”
“But why does it always have to be their duty?” asked Bon Bon. “Is it really too much to ask to just be allowed to live in peace with the pony I love?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” replied Spear Fisher, “Zat is ze price of loving somevone like your Dame Lyra. Ze same price my mother had to pay, ze same price Malenkiy Nozh must pay.”
“Who?” asked Bon Bon. 
“Malenkiy Nozh,” replied Spear Fisher. “‘Little Knife’ in Equestrian. My wife.”
“Wife… you’re married?” said Bon Bon, astonished. 
“Yes, two years ago today.” Spear Fisher’s horn lit up, and he levitated a small carved wooden figurine of a young and rather plump unicorn mare from where it hung around his neck. “Her talent is for woodcarving, zo it is more of a hobby. I make more zan enough money for ze both of us. She made zis for me after ve vere engaged.”
Before the discussion could go any further, there was a commotion and one of the other Guards, Bon Bon thought this one’s name was Quicksilver, poked her head in.
“Miss Bon Bon, Sir, there’s another emissary here from the Fae, and it says it needs to talk to you.”
What walked through the door a moment later looked almost exactly like a filly version of Cheerilee. Same plum-colored coat, same pale mane, same cutie mark. The only difference was the eyes. This had to be the fae emissary, as no pony in the world had one eye half-pink and half-blue (divided horizontally), and the other bright green with a slitted pupil like that of a cat. The fae emissary had two boxes made of some smooth hard substance like nothing Bon Bon had ever seen or heard of. One was bright pink and decorated with Cheerilee’s flower cutie mark, while the other was the same shade as Lyra’s coat and decorated with her cutie mark.
“Ah, Sir Fisher,” said the fae emissary. “I bring you… well, I bring you several things, actually. But first, I bring good news. The first round of the contest is completed, and the victory went to the champions of the Moon. And so, I bring you the spoils of their victory, to be delivered to the Moon Princess upon your return. In this box,” she tapped the pink box with one hoof, “you shall find a dozen black lotus blooms. Upon ingestion, any mortal shall find their magic increased by three average mortals’ worth for as long as the lotus remains in their system, which state generally lasts for about eight hours. And in this box,” she said, tapping the other box, “you shall find three more black lotuses, the product of Her Steadfastness electing to call due her favor from Lady Spring.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Bonbon. “What contest? What favor? What’s going on?”
The fae emissary shrugged. “The Lords and Ladies determined that in order to resolve the question of which pony Princess should benefit from their support, they would have the champions of each Princess compete in a series of four trials. The first trial, that of Spring, was won by the Lunar faction, so Moon receives Spring’s boon. The second trial is underway even now, or at least it was when I left. The Wild Hunt may have caught them by now.”
“ZE VILD…” Spear Fisher seemed to choke on his own words, his horn blazing dark red with magic.
“Oops,” said the fae emissary with a cheeky grin, and dissolved into a cloud of flower petals.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Behind them, Carrot Top could hear the blare of horns and the baying of hounds as she splashed downstream. Some of the calls had rapidly faded into the distance, but others were drawing closer. It sounded as though the Hunt had split up, with some following Kindle and Smoke and others following her and Lyra. Some part of her mind noted that the ground retained that odd impression of squishiness under her feet, leading her to suspect that they were still somewhere in the Fae.
“Brr…” shuddered Lyra. “This water is cold!”
“Well what do you expect, we’re in Elkheim,” replied Carrot Top. “Or more likely the Fae, which is much the same thing. Now keep quiet, they might hear us.”
The two Elements fell silent as they padded downstream. Behind them the bellows and horns briefly halted. It seemed as though going into the stream had at least momentarily baffled the Hunt. But within moments, the ruckus broke out again, the Hunt racing downstream. Ahead of the Elements, a breach in the riverbank offered a convenient way out of the stream, one Carrot Top indicated with a nod of her head. Lyra bobbed hers and the two ponies took the exit, breaking into a gallop as they dashed up out of the stream and into the forest, before falling back into a trot as they wove between the trees. Behind them, the Hunt seemed to be moving rapidly down the stream.
And something else was worrying Carrot Top as well. Her life as a farmer had built up her already impressive earth pony stamina. She could probably sustain this trot for hours if she really had too, but Lyra was a unicorn musician. She wasn’t a couch potato by any means, especially not since she’d become an Element and started exercising to get in shape for adventures, but playing music wasn’t the best way to build up your endurance and Lyra lacked the boost that earth magic gave Carrot Top. She was already beginning to breathe heavily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We need to split up again,” panted Smoke.
“Why?” asked Kindle.
“You can fly, I can’t,” said Smoke. “You might be able to get away if you take to the air. Specially since I think they’re sniffing us out.”
They slowed to a halt as they entered a small clearing. Smoke felt her heart twist at the look on Kindle’s face as he considered her for a moment.
“Celestia be with you, Smoke,” he said, and took to the air in a blaze of wind and heat.
Smoke allowed herself one heartbeat to mourn all that would never be, then she drew herself up and prepared to give battle for her love’s life.
Her horn ignited, and thick grayish smoke filled the clearing. Though her senses were unaffected, Smoke knew that no other pony could see through the arcane mist. She quickly glanced around. 
Sun blind it, nowhere to hide. I’ll just have to stand out in the middle and hope I can stay away from the Fae. 
	Belatedly, she realized that she should have suggested Kindle put her up one of the trees. With her shroud masking her location, it might have taken the Fae hours to figure out where she was. Unfortunately, ponies are absolutely horrible at climbing. The limbs simply don’t orient for wrap-and-shimmy, and as for the prying grip which can come from some form of digits...  no. Unless you are a pegasus, one of the rare unicorns who can teleport or self-levitate, or insanely flexible, your hooves will stay stuck firmly on the ground. And Smoke was none of the three.
Minutes later, hounds began to charge into the clearing, their fur shining like polished gold. Right on the hounds’ hocks came the true Summerfae, and at their head was Lord Summer himself.
As the Wild Hunt entered the smoke, its various members began to cast about blindly, and Smoke restrained a temptation to cheer. She had not been entirely certain that the arcane smoke would blind the fae hunters, but evidently their senses were similar enough to mortal senses to be affected. Even the hounds’ noses were unable to track her scent through the overlaying fog. Unfortunately, there were enough of them that sooner or later one would stumble across her. Still, every minute she kept them busy was another minute’s lead for her love, another minute that might save his life.
That was why she hadn’t run earlier, why she’d stayed here to buy time. Had she run, the Wild Hunt might have followed her, but it might also have followed Kindle. Or more likely, it would have split in two again and both of them would have been hunted. No, Smoke had no choice but to stay here and occupy the Wild Hunt while Kindle fled. She wondered if Kindle had realized what she was planning to do, or if he thought she was running off in the opposite direction from him.
One of the fae traced a rune on the air in lines of golden light. It flashed and a gust of wind blew through the clearing, but luckily for Smoke her arcane fog didn’t actually have any physical presence, and as such could not be simply blown away. She ducked further away, trying to stay out of the way of the roaming hunters. She made sure to stay within the bounds of her smoke, though. She could see hounds patrolling around the edge of her cloud, just to make sure she didn’t slip out of it.
Suddenly, one of the hounds let out a howl and lunged at her. She leapt out of its way, but that brought her close enough for one of the fae hunters to spot her and strike out with a hoof. Pain erupted from her barrel as she leapt back and away, but a pair of hounds spotted her and leapt at her with howls. She used her telekinesis to slam one of the hounds into the other and leapt back away from a swiping hoof, but that dodge sent her ramming into something else, she didn’t see what, and she lost her balance and fell to the ground. Before she could get to her hooves again, the hounds were on her.
She had just enough time to hope that Kindle would make it out alive before Lord Summer finished her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As they entered yet another clearing, Lyra abruptly skidded to a halt. A moment later, Carrot Top followed suit.
“Carrot Top, run!” panted Lyra. 
“Not without you!” retorted Carrot Top. 
“Can’t keep up. You go, I’ll buy time.” The cries of the Wild Hunt were growing rapidly closer.
“I’m not leaving you to die, Lyra. Loyalty goes both ways.” Carrot Top glanced around speculatively. “Think you could get up one of these trees if I boosted you?”
“What?”
“If you can’t run, we could climb trees and hope they can’t get up after us. I boost you, then you help me up with your horn.”
“You’re crazy. And we’re running out of time. Go!”
“Not without you!” insisted Carrot Top. 
“Ergelbarg!” said Lyra definitively, before breaking into a trot once more, having recovered a bit of her wind. 
Carrot Top took a moment to upend one of her stench bombs before setting off after Lyra. The horns continued to sound off periodically in their rear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kindle started slightly at a shriek from above him. After a few minutes of hasty flight, he’d descended to earth once more, where he would not so easily be seen. Judging by his ears, it seemed to have worked. The Hunt had been at least temporarily baffled, and with every passing minute his trotting had put more space between them and him. 
Unfortunately, it seemed that when the hounds had failed to find him, Lord Summer had switched to sending out falcons. One such now hovered above him, letting out repeated shrieks.
Kindle gritted his teeth and took to the sky once more. The falcon twisted away from him, and he immediately abandoned his plan of trying to catch it. The thing was fast. Instead, he just flew as fast as he could manage. His one hope was that he remembered Lord Summer mentioning that this Hunt had a time limit. He’d managed to put a good deal of distance in between the Hunt and himself. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could stay ahead of them long enough to run out that timer. Of course, on the other wing, he had no idea how long that time limit was, and wasn’t all too sure how much time had already elapsed. 
As he continued to race through the air, he glanced behind him to see what he’d both feared and expected. In the distance, dozens of tiny figures had just risen above the forest canopy and were pursuing him through the air. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Wild Hunt were right on Carrot Top and Lyra’s hocks now. The bellows of the hounds and the periodic blares of the horns had gotten closer and closer, until now both ponies were galloping as fast as they could without crashing into trees or tripping over anything, and every now and again one of the Fae would get a clear line of sight and send a javelin or a ball of fire hurtling past them. One of those firebolts had been a close enough miss to burn a chunk out of Lyra’s mane, while both ponies were bearing scratches from the javelins. 
Carrot Top’s potions had had mixed effects. The glue bombs had been the most effective. When pursuers and pursued are both galloping as fast as they can manage, having one or two bodies suddenly stuck in place is an immediate recipe for a catastrophic pile-up. The sleep bombs should have had a similar effect, but the Fae seemed to be rather oddly resistant to the anesthetic vapors. The stench bombs, on the next hoof, had had far less effect than Lyra or Carrot Top had hoped for. Evidently possessing a better sense of smell did not translate into making the Summerhounds more vulnerable to noxious odors. But all the potions were now exhausted, and Lyra’s legs (and heart and lungs) were screaming at her. Any moment now…
As if on cue (and this was the Fae, so that couldn’t be wholly ruled out), something heavy slammed into Lyra’s hindquarters, and lines of pain slashed up her flank. The fae hound fell away in another moment, but the impact had sent Lyra staggering, and before she could recover her balance another hound slammed into her, knocking her off her hooves and sending her crashing into a tree.
Before she could even get to her hooves, multiple hounds leapt at her, jaws open. Her horn blazed to life and she desperately lashed out with telekinesis as she staggered to her hooves and backed up against the tree. She smashed one of the hounds into another, sending both flying off to the side. Then her horn whipped back the other way, and she pushed away another hound just before it could bite her. Then fangs sank into her leg, and she screamed, kicking out with her other foot to smash the hound in the ribs even as she desperately tried to swat hounds away from her with her magic. 
There was a shout, and Carrot Top came charging back into the fray, lashing out with her forehooves. One of the hounds went flying, and another crumpled to the ground in pain. 
Stubborn mare, thought Lyra. This is just going to get us both killed. No way I can run on this leg. Still, there are worse ways to die. I wish this wasn’t going to hurt Bon Bon so much, though. Hope she can find somepony else to make her happy.
	By now, the Fae themselves had arrived on the scene. Carrot Top had been knocked off her hooves by what appeared to be a lion, and was now pinned beneath the great beast’s bulk, struggling frantically to keep its jaws from her throat. Ironically, though, the lion’s bulk was actually shielding her from the rest of the Fae. Lyra, on the other hand, was surrounded by a half-circle of Fae in cervid forms (two red deer, an elk, three moose, and the Lord of Summer himself). They were taking turns jabbing at her with bronze spears, which she in turn swatted away with her telekinesis. But she couldn’t keep it up forever, and soon enough one of the spears got past her guard. Cold pain shot through her barrel, first in one place and then in half a dozen as the rest of the Hunters took advantage of her broken concentration to spear her. 
She crumpled to the ground, and the last thing she saw was Lord Summer swinging a broad-bladed ax down at her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kindle couldn’t imagine what Lord Summer was thinking. To hunt and kill Celestia’s herald in this manner was sure to invite her vengeance. Maybe not immediately, as his Queen’s traitorous sister would have to be dealt with first, but at some point Celestia would bring justice for this outrage. 
Not that that helped him much at the moment. The Wild Hunt’s accompanying birds had caught up to him easily enough, as even with his Queen’s blessings Kindle was not the fastest of flyers. Though his armor protected his barrel from their claws, his wings were unarmored, and slashing flybys from the agile falcons had soon grounded him. In the wake of his once more returning to the earth, the birds had followed him down, shifting from falcons to hunting hounds as they hit the mossy ground. In desperation, he had coaxed one last burst from his torn wings, and had managed to get up to a perch in a nearby oak tree.
Rather to his surprise, the hounds had not transformed back into falcons, or into anything that could climb trees, contenting themselves with surrounding the base of the oak and sending up volleys of barks to alert the Hunt to his location. In due course, the Hunt itself arrived, spreading out to surround the base of the tree with spear-bearing cervids and assorted beasts. 
Kindle shifted around a bit. He couldn’t move too far without risking losing his balance and falling into the Hunt’s grasp, but on the other hoof he needed to be ready to at least try to get to the next tree if they set this one on fire or something. Not that fire could actually hurt him, thanks to his Queen’s aegis, but it could damage the tree badly enough to drop him onto all those spears, fangs, and claws. 
Thankfully, the Hunt didn’t seem to be in a pyromaniacal mood at the moment, contenting themselves with chucking spears at him to fairly little effect, as most of them either hit the tree or were deflected by his armor, while the Lord of Summer scratched at the ground with one hoof.
Scratched at the…
Oh horse apples.
Kindle tried to jump for the next tree, but just then Lord Summer finished the rune he’d been drawing, and the tree’s branches went limp under Kindle. His wings were still far too badly hurt to keep him up, but he was able to turn his fall into a sort of glide, and land a couple of body-lengths away, buying just enough time to put his back to a tree before the Hunt was on him. 
His armor was not enough to save his life, but it did ensure that he spent a great deal longer dying.
	
> In Which The Price Is Paid
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Carrot Top jolted awake. Instinctively, she tried to run, to flail, to fight, but the vines wrapped around her limbs held her motionless. After a moment, her rationality took over. She glanced around, curiosity bubbling up. She seemed to be back in the glade where the Lord of Summer held court, wrapped up in a veritable cocoon of vines and dangling from some unseen tree branch like a giant apple. Lyra, Kindle, and Smoke were likewise cocooned and dangling, the four of them in a row. The clearing was once again filled with Summerfae, the air was heavy with both the pleasant odor of cooking food and the reek of burning flesh, and Carrot Top could see the unfamiliar beast still spitted over a fire on the other side of the clearing.


But this still didn’t answer the real questions. Why was she tied up? For that matter, how was she even alive? She very distinctly remembered the lion-fae ripping out her throat, and… she still seemed to have a throat.


 "Greetings, Dame Toppington!" said a cheerful voice. Carrot Top twisted her head to see the Lord of Summer in front of her, a broad smile on his face. "I see you are once again in command of your faculties, so I shall release you and your fellow contestants in just a moment."


 "What... How..." Kindle sputtered from where he hung wrapped in vines.


"Really, Voice of the Sun, I'd think it was obvious at this point. The realm in which I hunted you was specially created for holding hunts of that sort. No harm suffered in that realm is true or permanent."


Of course, realized Carrot Top. He couldn’t have been actually planning to kill us. We were, are, still protected by that safe-conduct guarantee, plus there were two more contests still to go. And he would have gotten both Corona and the Princess angry at him, which is definitely not a good idea. Now why didn’t any of us realize that at the time?


Lord Summer stomped on the ground with one hoof and the vines holding them up began to elongate until they touched the ground, at which point the bindings came undone, releasing the four ponies. 


“Now, as it was the Voice Of The Sun who survived the longest, he has won the prize.” The Lord of Summer held up a horn. Carrot Top had no idea from what creature the horn had been carved, but it was dark and smooth and polished, covered in runes and banded with gold. Three diamonds were set into the gold banding, equally spaced around the mouth of the horn.


“Thrice may this horn be blown, and thrice only. But when it is blown, the Wild Hunt shall be called into the world, to ride against whatsoever target the blower of the horn may designate. Use it well, Voice of the Sun.”


“I shall, Lord Summer.” Kindle took the horn and held it contemplatively for a moment, before tucking the strap around his neck.


“Unfortunately,” said Lord Summer, “We haven’t the time for a proper feast. You managed to stay ahead of my hunters for longer than I’d expected, and you’ll need to leave in a hurry if you are to reach Autumn’s domain on time. I do apologize for that.”


“No apology is required, Lord Summer,” said Kindle smoothly.


Escorted once again by Fae warriors, the four ponies left the clearing.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“Slepnir’s legs...”


Prince Fredrick looked about like Bon Bon felt. After a moment’s consideration, he swore again and pressed one hoof against his forehead.


“I don’t suppose he said anything about where they were?” he asked, though by his tone he already knew the answer.


“Nozing,” admitted Spear Fisher. He and the other Guards were now clad in their glamoured armor, and practically pawing the ground with their desire to go and do something about the threat. It raised Bon Bon’s heart just a tad to see such force determined to protect her love. But then she remembered just how terrifying the Fae could be, and her heart sank again. “Ve vere hoping zat you knew zomething of vere zey might haf been,” continued the guard, just a hint of hope in his voice. 


“I wish I did, but they could be just about anywhere now. Brudte gevirer, they could even be in Elkheim again. The Wild Hunt rides in our world as often as in the Fae, and it’s the solstice so they’d have no trouble shifting between the worlds.”


He took a deep breath. “Let me think… there might be fae I could call on for answers. Runecraft can call the fae into this world, and with the right runes and a bit of fruit or something for a sacrifice I could get whatever I called to answer my questions.”


“That won’t be necessary.”


Everyone whirled around to see a sparkling white stag standing in the doorway. Immediately behind it were a couple of rather nervous-looking deer clad in armor and carrying spears.


“Princess Luna’s champions have survived the Wild Hunt unharmed, though it was the Sun’s champions that won the trial. They are at present facing the Trial of Autumn, but they should be able to meet that challenge as well. But there is something I can and must tell you regarding the trial my own Lord shall set them…”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The trek out of Summer was both like and unlike the trek into it. The terrain was much the same, but the mood was different. Smoke especially seemed withdrawn and distracted, even for her, but even Kindle’s exuberance was somewhat damped. After some time, they came to another wall, much like the one they had passed through to enter Summer. The Summerfae standing guard unbarred the gate and it swung open. 


As before, the ground in front of them was devoid of any identifying properties whatsoever. It was simply a stretch of ground, no more and no less. Across from them stood a low wall of stones, perhaps chest-high, with a barred metal gate more or less directly across from the gate on Summer’s side. The space beyond the wall was obscured by thick grayish mists.


The four pony champions trotted across the ground. On the other side, the door swung open and what appeared to be an elderly moose trotted out.


“Before you enter, you should know that the airs of this place are not healthy for mortals to breathe. I can place a spell upon you that shall protect you from such harm, if you have no objection. It shall of course fade upon your leaving Autumn.”


Each of the four ponies signaled their assent, and the elderly-looking fae tapped each of them on the head. Their coats faded by a shade or two, and when he tapped Carrot Top, she felt a faint chill run through her, accompanied by a slight lethargy. But when they passed through the gate, the air was cold and smelt a tad stale, but was apparently harmless.


The same mists that had obscured Autumn from the outside made for a remarkably eerie walk. For one thing, something about the mist seemed to muffle sounds. There were no background noises, and even the sound of their hooves on the ground was dampened. From time to time, things would loom up out of the mists. Tombstones, dead and leafless trees, run-down and abandoned houses, all sorts of things.


The creepiest were the wraiths. They seemed to be made of mist themselves, barely darker and more solid than the air through which they drifted. They were shaped something like ponies, or maybe deer, but it was hard to make out any details. It had been quite a while before Carrot Top had even been sure that they were truly there, and not just her nerves playing tricks on her


After a time, Carrot Top realized that she was alone, save for her guide and the occasional wraith. The other three ponies had disappeared, and disappeared so silently that she’d never noticed.


“Your friends are fine,” said the guide. “Each of you must face Lady Autumn on your own.”


At that moment, a massive building loomed up out of the mists. It looked something like the great wooden longhouses that Carrot Top had seen all over the elkish capitol, but covered in ivy and with the wood half-rotted. A faint silvery illumination shone from the gaps where windows should have been.


“We’re here,” said the guide.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The interior of the ruined longhouse was lit by a hoofful of faintly luminous silver orbs which hovered here and there near the ceiling. At the opposite end of the hall from where Lyra had entered sat Lady Autumn at a table, a plate of muffins, two or three glass bottles, and a couple of wrought lead goblets on the table in front of her. A few Autumnfae were seated at various places throughout the hall. One was weaving cloth on a loom, another played the harp,


See, that's a harp. Is it really so hard to tell the difference?


A few were eating, and several Lyra had no clue what they were doing.


"Greetings, Dame Heartstrings," said Lady Autumn. "Please, sit with me. We have things to discuss."


Lyra took a seat, rubbing her Element uneasily with one hoof.


"Before we begin, would you care for a muffin?" asked Lady Autumn. "There's plain, lemon, foxglove, and walnut. And of course we also have a good variety of drinks."


Lyra blinked in astonishment, not so much at the words themselves as at the perfectly unremarkable tone they had been spoken in.


"I'll pass, thank you," she replied.


"As you wish," said Lady Autumn. "Now, I imagine you are wondering what is to happen here?"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"As you wish," said Lady Autumn. "Now, I imagine you are wondering what is to happen here?"


Carrot Top nodded her head and took a bite of one of the walnut muffins, double-checking to make sure that it was walnut and not foxglove. It tasted slightly stale, but was still edible.


"Each of my peers," said Lady Autumn, "owes debts of varying size to the Princesses Selenic and Heliote. Each has crafted a trial to determine which pony Princess shall receive the benefits of these debts. My court, on the other wing, owes no debts to either Princess at the moment. But it would not be suitable for three of the four courts to be involved in such an affair as this and the fourth to simply stand aside."


"Therefore," she continued, "I shall propose various bargains, bargains which shall hopefully advance both side's interests. The test, if you wish to put it that way, shall be whether you are willing to pay the necessary price to win your side an advantage."


Carrot Top gulped and adjusted her Element nervously. This was going to be tough. She was a bad negotiator, something she’d occasionally suspected was part and parcel of bearing Generosity. And ever since gaining her Element, or perhaps even before that, there’d been this little worm of fear at the bottom of her heart, that one day she’d give and give and find out that there was nothing left. She’d already put her farm and her livelihood on the line once, and come within an inch of losing both.


“What bargain did you have in mind?” she asked.


“Well, let us begin by considering this,” said Lady Autumn. One of the Autumnfae trotted up, carrying what looked like a suit of barding made of carved and polished bone.


“Now, this armor has a very interesting property, one that I think will be of particular use to you. Not only is this material far tougher and rather lighter than you’d think, but it also negates nearly any magic. While wearing this, you will be virtually immune to unicorn spells and telekinesis, cervid runecraft, and almost any other form of active magic. Of course, it will likewise prevent even spells that you desire from being cast upon you, but that can be easily enough worked round.”


“So why do you say it would be of particular use to me?” asked Carrot Top.


“Because of one of this armor’s more irritating side-effects. It negates the wearer’s magic just as thoroughly as it negates all others. So a unicorn wearing this could not use their magic, a pegasus might very well be unable to fly, and a cervid would be unable to invoke runes. But you are an earth pony. The magic that grants you your strength is internal and innate, and would be unhindered by the armor.”


Carrot Top took a deep breath. “Such a thing would certainly be useful,” she said. “What price would I need to pay for it?”


“There are several prices that you could pay,” said Lady Autumn. “You could pay with your emblem, for example. Or you could pay with your capacity to bear foals.”


Carrot Top took a deep breath, everything she could remember from Fredrick’s stories running through her head. It wasn’t nearly as much as she’d have preferred. 


“What would ‘paying with my emblem’ entail?” she asked. “Is that what I would call my cutie mark?”


“Indeed it is,” replied Lady Autumn. “And as for what it would entail… the effects are as I would imagine you expect them to be. The emblem would vanish from your body, and you would find it very difficult to perform any task related to the talent it signifies. Your alchemical knowledge would be largely untouched, but you would be unable to farm.”


Oh Luna, what do I say to that? 


I already wagered my farm once.


But that was a wager, not a bargain. I could still come out of it with my farm intact, and I did. If I did this, there’s no chance I could keep my farm. 


I probably don’t need to worry about bits. Fredrick was right, if I needed it I’m sure Luna would provide me with money for all the things I do as an Element. 


That’s not the issue here. The issue is that I don’t want to give up my farm.


No, that’s not the issue either. The issue is that I don’t know how much of me would be left if I gave up my cutie mark. That mark, that talent, is what makes me the mare that I am. And if I lose the talent, then I lose my farm and my legacy from Granny. What am I if you take those away? Just my Element, and my friendships with the girls. And I don’t know even about the latter. If the things that made me me were taken away, would there still be anything for them to be friends with?


An epiphany lit up her mind, casting sharp-edged shadows across the table and forcing Lady Autumn to cover her eyes.


This is why the Elements only work when they’re all together, isn’t it? Because if you take any one of them by itself, it goes wrong. Pure Generosity would give until it could give no more, and then keep giving. It needs the other Elements to rein it in, to remind it not to destroy itself in the attempt to fulfill everypony else’s needs.


No, I can’t give up my cutie mark. Now, how about the other price she mentioned? Giving up the capacity to bear foals… not for that. It’s not like I really need that armor anyway. The armor the Princess gave me is already good enough. Maybe if she were offering to fix Corona’s mind on the spot, that might be worth giving up foals. Noon, that might be worth giving up my mark for.


“I’m not willing to pay such a price for that armor,” she said out loud. “But I would be willing to give up my mark if it would cure Corona of her insanity, return her to what she was back when she and Luna ruled as equals.”


Lady Autumn smiled slightly. “A worthy try, Dame Toppington, but such magic would cost far more than you could pay.”


“Then I suppose we are done here,” said Carrot Top.


“Yes, I suppose we are,” said Lady Autumn.


 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"The question, Lady Autumn," said Kindle, "is not whether I am willing to pay the price. I would lay down my life for my Queen in a heartbeat. But my life is her property, not mine to spend frivolously. To make a bargain that cost her more than it gained would be mere folly."


"Well spoken, Voice of the Sun," said Lady Autumn. She continued as Kindle took a sip of wine. "But before we speak of prices, let us consider what it is that you would bargain for."


She reached under the table and produced what looked like a small square of knitted gray yarn.


"This is an Unraveling. Press it against an enchanted item and pull it apart, and it shall likewise unravel whatever enchantments have been laid upon that item. Your Queen sought to acquire a similar item before you made your way to her. An hourglass, as I recall."


Kindle considered the Unraveling. He hadn't heard that his Queen had been searching for anything of that sort, but then again none of Celestia's servants spoke much of the past. 


"I have no doubt that Queen Celestia could make use of such a thing," he said after a moment. "What price would I need to pay for it?"


"Hmm..." Lady Autumn looked contemplative for a moment. "Your capacity to sire children would suffice, I think. The same price could also buy this." Lady Autumn held up a glass globe, inside of which grayish mist much like that outside the hall roiled and churned.


"Smashing the globe shall release the mists within, and they shall spread to cover a considerable area. Now, do you recall how your guide mentioned that the air of this court is not healthy for mortals to breathe?"


Kindle nodded.


"These mists are similar, but much more potent. An unshielded mortal might survive the airs of Autumn for some hours. These mists, on the other wing, bring paralysis in seconds. Unconsciousness follows within a  minute, and death not long after. It does have its limits, of course. It cannot cross thresholds, and it will dissipate within half an hour. And I doubt it is potent enough to harm an alicorn."


Kindle's eyes widened as an image painted itself across his mind.


The Night Court in session, all the corrupt nobles and the traitor Princess gathered in one room. A red-coated Pegasus dashing into the room and smashing something on the ground. Gray mist billowing up, and then fading again immediately to reveal a floor littered with corpses. Queen Celestia striding across the twisted bodies of the cursed nobles to take her rightful seat...


That would be worth the price, he thought. I have no plans to sire children at this point. And if my Storm Cloud ever does see the light, we could adopt.


Wait a moment... 


“Could you cure Dame Raindrops of her devotion to Luna? What price would I need to pay for that magic?”


Lady Autumn considered the question. “To so affect the mind of the one under the mantle of Honesty, against her will and while she is not in the Fae? It might perhaps be within my power, but the cost would be far beyond anything you could offer.”


Kindle sighed. “Very well, then. The other bargain it shall be. The death mists for my capacity to sire foals.”


“Then drink this,” said Lady Autumn, producing a small bottle of some blackish liquid and pouring a measure of that liquid into one of the goblets.


Kindle raised the goblet to his lips and drank.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“The test, if you wish to put it that way, shall be whether you are willing to pay the necessary price to win your side an advantage."


“That would depend on the price, I imagine,” replied Lyra.


"Well spoken, Dame Heartstrings,” replied Lady Autumn. “Now, you and I are both aware that Apprentice Smoke has a deep and unreciprocated infatuation with the Voice Of The Sun. We both likewise strongly suspect that it is that infatuation, rather than any true loyalty to the Solar Princess, that keeps her in said Princess's service. It is well within my power to snuff out that infatuation, if the proper price is paid."


"And what would that price be?" asked Lyra.


"Oh, nothing too bad. A year's worth of memories is all I ask."


"And which year of memories would I be giving up?" asked Lyra, raising an eyebrow.


"Oh, I wouldn't take a whole contiguous year," said Lady Autumn. "That would leave far too big a hole. No, I'll spread it out, take a few hours here and there. You won’t even notice that they’re missing."


Something was definitely up. “So… any particular theme to the time you’re planning on taking? Because I’ve heard way too many ballads to think that you simply intend to take my memories of standing around or using the toilet.”


Lady Autumn shook her head and chuckled. “I see you have listened to the words you speak, Dame Heartstrings. Very well, then. To speak plainly, I shall take those memories that pertain to your infatuation.”


“Wha… Bon Bon? You want my memories of Bon Bon?”


“There is a certain symmetry to it, would you not agree? A gift for a gift, an infatuation snuffed out at the price of another.”


“No, no, and three times no!” said Lyra. Her horn ignited, and around her neck her Element began to pulse with reddish light.


“Calm down, Dame Heartstrings,” said Lady Autumn with a smile. “If you wish to snap your heartstrings, I won’t gainsay you.”


Lyra took a deep breath and snuffed out her horn once again.


“I think our business here is concluded,” she said, her voice still a tad shaky.


“Yes, I think it is,” said Lady Autumn.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Greetings, Apprentice Smoke," said Lady Autumn. "Please, sit with me. We have things to discuss."


Smoke took a seat.


"Before we begin, would you care for a muffin?" asked Lady Autumn. "There's plain, lemon, foxglove, and walnut. And of course we also have a good variety of drinks."


“No thank you, Lady Autumn,” replied Smoke. She wasn’t hungry. She still hadn’t recovered her mental balance from the Wild Hunt, and Autumn had her on edge. 


“Very well,” replied Lady Autumn. She was silent for another minute or two, before eventually speaking again. “There is something I would offer you. A gift free-given, without debt or obligation.”


“And what might that gift be?” asked Smoke warily.


“The gift of peace. Peace and the healing of your heart. You are tormented by an obsession with a stallion who does not love you.”


“Kindle loves me!” blurted out Smoke. Some part of her knew she should be feeling terror. To contradict one of the four rulers of the Fae was just about the most foolhardy thing she’d ever done. But she couldn’t let the lie stand.


“No, he does not. You know this, even if you deny it as hard as you may.”Lady Autumn shrugged her wings. “You can lie if you like, even to yourself. You are not a Fae, you are not bound as we are to the truth. But to lie to yourself, and forget the truth, is dangerous. He does not love you, and this obsession you have with him will only bring you pain. I can take that pain away, if you will let me. The nature of my Court permits it, with no price to you.”


“What do you mean?” asked Smoke. Hope, fear, and confusion warred in her heart.


“I can take away your obsession with Kindle,” replied Lady Autumn. “By so doing I will at once serve the nature of my court and make you free of the pain your crush on him brings. For this reason there would be no cost to you, for the act is its own payment.”


“No!” said Smoke, just a little too firmly. “Kindle loves me, and I love him, and I won’t let you take that away.”


“Are you so sure?” replied Lady Autumn. “What if I told you that at this very moment, or near enough, he is throwing aside any possibility of children with you? What if I told you that he tries to bargain for Dame Raindrops’s heart? Again I ask, will you accept my gift and give up your mad love?”


“No,” replied Smoke.


“Perhaps you must hear and see the truth, if you are to embrace it,” said Lady Autumn. With a wave of her hoof, several bubbles budded off from the nearest light-bubble and drifted towards them. As the first drew close, it popped, and voices spoke from thin air. Voices Smoke recognized.


“Should I be jealous?” she asked. 


“Of my friend? No, she’s like a sister to me, I do care for her, but not in the same way I feel for you,” replied the imitation of Kindle’s voice.


Another bubble drifted up. This one spoke in her voice.


“He doesn’t love you, you know. He can’t, his mission is everything to him. The only thing he loves is his queen, and she is above such mortal emotions. You’re nothing to him!”


The bubbles were coming more quickly now. “At least I have a pretty face. I bet no stallion ever gave you a second glance, certainly not the stallion you wanted anyway. Does he even notice you exist most of the time?”


“If I turned to your side do you think he’d give me another ride... maybe he’d even let you watch? Maybe not, you being there would probably be a mood killer for him.”


“A shame that Dame Raindrops was unavailable. Please convey my compliments to her and remind her that should she manage to survive our Queen regaining her throne, she shall have a place at my side.”


One instead of bursting drifted even closer, and an image shimmered into view on its surface. An image of Kindle and that feathered whorse, wrapped in each other’s wings. Even through the barrage of words, Smoke could hear the little moans of pleasure coming from them both as the fake Kindle mounted her.


“Stop!” screamed Smoke. Her horn ignited and she lashed out with telekinesis, smashing the bubbles.


Then she realized what she’d done, and her blood ran cold. But Lady Autumn didn’t seem to be angry.


“Thrice I ask and done,” she said, her voice level. “Will you accept my offer?”


“NO!” shouted Smoke. “I don’t care what you have to say! I don’t care whether or not Kindle will ever return my love! Better unrequited love than no love at all!”


“So be it, then,” replied Lady Autumn. “I would wish you joy of your choice, but I cannot speak what I know to be a lie.”
> In Which We See Why Ghuls Should Not Be Permitted Access To Chaos Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lyra was still on edge as the same aged-seeming fae as before came to lead her out of Autumn. Within a minute of leaving the longhouse, she was once again lost in the billowing mists. Faint shapes seemed to fade in and out of view. Some looked like cervids, some like monsters, and some looked like her friends.

That one looks almost like Carrot Top…

“Lyra!”

Oof.

Ok, that one  is Carrot Top.	

Lyra returned her friend’s embrace, reveling in having someone real and solid to touch. She hadn’t realized just how much the isolation of the mists was putting her on edge until just then, until one of her friends had once again come within her reach.

“Carrots! So glad to see you,” she murmured into Carrot Top’s ear.

“Lyra, please tell me I’m not a bad pony,” whispered Carrot Top.

“Of course you’re not a bad pony. Why would you ever think you were?” whispered back Lyra.

“Because I didn’t take the bargain. Because I wasn’t willing to give up what they wanted to help the Princess. Because-”

“Listen,” replied Lyra, “if the bargain they offered you was anything like what they offered me, you most definitely shouldn’t have taken it. And on another note, Kindle’s standing right behind you.”

Carrot Top released Lyra and jumped back as if the unicorn had suddenly caught fire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The border wall of Winter was by far the most intimidating of the four, a massive barbed structure of black iron, patrolled by guloids and other horrors.

No sooner had Carrot Top stepped beyond the edge of Autumn than she began to choke and cough frantically. Grey mist fountained from her mouth and nostrils, forming tiny malignant clouds. Finally, her lungs were emptied of the unbreathable fog, and she took in great heaving gasps of air. Around her she could see the other three sprawled on the featureless ground, likewise trying to recover their breath. Behind them, the Autumnfae who had been their guide limped out and began to suck up the clouds of Autumn mist.

Shakily, Carrot Top and the other three ponies got to their hooves and began to trot across to the gate of Winter. When they were about halfway there, a small postern gate creaked open, and three figures stepped out. Two were guloids in spiked black armor, but the third, a bull moose in similar armor, looked… off. For a moment, Carrot Top had the odd feeling that he looked somehow distorted or warped, but she couldn’t pin down why. Then it clicked. Outside the four champions, this was the first thing she’d encountered with the subtle imperfections of a mortal’s appearance. This was a real moose, not a fae.
 
There was a buzzing noise, and two more fae flew down from the wall. These took the shapes of deer, with identical slim builds, jet-black coats, and insectile stained-glass wings.

“Greetings, champions of Moon and Sun,” said the moose. “I am Siegfried, Knight of Winter.” Though his tone was courteous enough, he and the fae with him seemed somewhat distracted. All five were staring at Kindle with a peculiar intensity. A moment later, Carrot Top remembered where she’d seen that kind of gaze before. This was the same look she’d seen on her friend’s faces, or even on the Princess’s, when confronting Corona. It was the distinctive and peculiar look you gave someone who had drawn a lethal weapon, and might very well use it on you.

Ooh kay, thought Carrot Top. Well, that’s disturbing. Why are they staring at Kindle that way? Right, Fredrick mentioned that Winterfae can’t bear the touch of gold. I guess his armor really is gold. 

“Greetings to you too, Sir Seigfried,” said Lyra, giving him a slight bow. “I would guess you are to take us to Lord Winter for the final trial.”

“You guess correctly, Dame Heartstrings,” said Seigfried, without his gaze leaving Kindle for a moment. A gesture of his hoof indicated two more guloids in that same spiked iron armor standing in the open postern. “If you’ll please follow Langerfang and Blutklaue here, they’ll show you which way to go.” On cue, the two guloids turned and padded deeper into Winter. The four ponies followed.

The instant Kindle crossed the threshold, there was a hissing noise, and wisps of steam began to rise from his armor. Little puffs of smoke shot up wherever his hooves touched the snow-covered ground, and he left behind blackened and smouldering hoofprints. Not that Carrot Top really had time to pay attention, because a few moments later she had crossed the threshold, and was immediately hit by the cold. But a few moments after that, something changed. She was still freezing, but it didn’t seem to bother her, somehow. The cold was there, but it seemed to be passing through her without actually hurting her. She glanced around, and saw a simple blueish rune glowing on Lyra and Smoke’s foreheads, just above the horn. 

Seigfried must have done something to keep the cold from harming us. Nice of him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Their trip through Winter was stressful, but ultimately uneventful. Between Seigfried and Kindle, nothing seemed to be foolhardy enough to bother them, though more than a few creatures licked lips or otherwise regarded them with obvious hunger.

After a time, they came to an enormous wall of ice. Two tunnels had been bored in it, side by side.

“It’s here that you split up,” announced Seigfried. “Lyra, you and Carrot Top can follow Blutklaue. I’ll be escorting the Solar champions.”

The two ponies trotted down the tunnel of ice. Lyra noted idly that there seemed to be veins of blue light frozen into the ice, providing enough illumination to see by. A light dusting of snow ensured that her and Carrot’s hooves could find plenty of traction. After only a minute or two, they came to the end of the tunnel. Two doors were set side by side in the tunnel’s end. The frame on the left was filled with a sheet of reddish light, the one on the right with blue light. And standing in front of the doors was, unmistakably, Lord Winter.

“Greetings to you, Dame Heartstrings, Dame Toppington. Time is of the essence here, so I hope you will forgive if we skip further pleasantries. The challenge I offer you is simple enough. Observe these two doors. Both are portals back to the mortal world, but they will take you to differing locations. The blue door shall return you unharmed to the same place from which you first entered the Fae. The red door, on the other wing, leads to a location where a mortal under my protection is in peril of her life. If you step through the red door, you shall have the opportunity to save that mortal and earn my favor, but it will be a difficult fight. And unlike my brother, I can provide no safety net. If you die attempting this task, you die in truth. Now, that being said, the scoring shall be thus. To step through the red door and attempt the task earns you half a mark, to succeed at it shall earn you the other half. And of course, you shall have to make your choice blindly, without knowledge of what choice your counterparts have made.”

“You think we have a chance to save this mortal?” asked Lyra.

“Yes. It will be difficult, but you should have a fair chance at success.”

The two ponies exchanged glances. 

“We’ll do it,” said Lyra.

“My thanks,” said Lord Winter. “And I do hope for your success.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a brief moment of vertigo as the two ponies stepped through the red gate. When it cleared, they were standing in a narrow mountain valley. A quick glance over Lyra’s shoulder confirmed that the valley broadened out into heath behind them. 

Ahead, on the other hoof, it narrowed to an end. It also, incidentally, contained a several-dozen strong hunger of ghuls. But these ghuls didn’t look exactly like the ones that Lyra and Carrot Top had encountered in the Mountains of Mourn. The first difference was in the coloration. These ghuls had coats of matted white hair, and their feathers were various shades of white and light grey. But that was just the beginning. The ghuls had been… jumbled. It was as if some malicious deity had come along and started sticking on or swapping out body parts from other species completely at random. One ghul had spikes like those of a porcupine, another had one arm replaced with a sucker-covered tentacle, a third had an extra arm sprouting from between its shoulderblades, and that was just the beginning.
 
At the front of the hunger stood what had to be the agah, the shaman-chief-alpha who ruled this hunger of ghuls. He was among the tallest of his tribe, bulging with muscle and covered in a glossy armored carapace of psychedelic coloration. He had two extra arms, muscular ones similar in form to those of the minotaurs. Grasped in both those hands was a long wooden staff, and winding around that staff was a serpentine form of carved wood such as had for millennia only been seen in the nightmares of the fevered. No two body parts seemed to belong to the same species, and the composite creature defied every semblance of symmetry or sanity. From the shape’s wide-open mouth there poured a torrent of polychromatic light, like a perverse reflection of the Rainbow of Harmony. That light splashed against and clawed at a wall of magic. Lyra couldn’t see exactly where that barrier was coming from, but the identity of the figure behind it, the one whose chants and gestures had to be maintaining it, was only too clear. It was Andrea.

Carrot Top and Lyra ducked behind a largish rock to hide from the ghuls. “Andrea? She’s alive?” whispered Carrot Top.

“Oh, Moon’s tears,” whispered Lyra back. “She’s the one we’re supposed to rescue, isn’t she? Are we actually going to fight this many ghuls for her?”

“We said we would, and nopony deserves what those ghuls will do to her,” said Carrot Top.

“You’re right,” admitted Lyra. “Now how in Luna’s horn are we going to get her out of this mess? I don’t fancy trying to fight that many ghuls.”

Carrot Top rummaged through her bandolier and produced a vial. “Careful with this, it’s the itching oil. If you dump this on the one with the staff, then maybe slap him with your telekinesis, that should get their attention. Then we step out to make sure they see us, and run as fast as we can. With any luck, we’ll buy Andrea a chance to escape, and we can probably lose the ghuls.”

“That…” Lyra paused for a moment. “Fine,” she said. “I don’t have a better idea, anyway.”

She grabbed the vial of itching oil in her aura, and the two ponies stepped out from behind the rock. With a flick of magic, Lyra hurled the vial through the air to smash against the back of the ghul agah’s head.

It spun around and screeched, gesturing with its staff. Ghuls spun and began to charge after the unprotected ponies. Lyra and Carrot Top turned to run, but before they’d taken more than a handful of steps, a bolt of power shot through the air between them and exploded, spreading into a kind of shimmer in the air that stretched from one wall of the valley to the other, cutting off their escape.

The ghul agah squawked something to its followers, and they skidded to a halt, spreading out to form a wall of ghuls across the valley, and leaving a good open space between them and the ponies. They began to grin and cackle.

Lyra grabbed a rock in her telekinesis and threw it through the shimmer. The rock seemed to ripple and distort as it passed through the barrier, before coming apart into a spray of grit on the other side. Lyra shuddered. If the shimmer could do that to stone, she didn’t even want to imagine what it would do to flesh.

The agah spread its lower pair of claws, brandishing the staff in the upper pair, and intoned, “Kem kār prachum cheing pt̩ibạtikār lik̄hs̄ithṭhi̒ s̄ngwn lik̄hs̄ithṭhi̒!” It then spasmed and coughed up a blob of greenish-yellow goop onto the ground between the ghuls and the ponies. At the same moment, brilliant arcs of lightning in chartreuse and heliotrope stabbed out from the butt of the staff, striking one of the other ghuls. That ghul slumped like an ice sculpture melting under Corona’s wrath, reduced to a puddle of flesh.

The glob of goop the shaman had just coughed up grew with impossible speed into a pulsing, pony-sized cyst. Then it burst, splattering the surroundings with pus and revealing quite possibly the most disgusting thing Lyra had ever seen or imagined.

The creature was bipedal, with two arms ending in befingered paws. A single filth-encrusted eye glared redly from the center of the creature’s forehead, immediately below a thick horn. Its brownish hide was pocked with numerous weeping sores, and here and there rents exposed glistening innards alive with maggots. In one paw, it held a sword that appeared to be made of pitted and rusted iron, from which substances best left unnamed dripped and oozed.

Despite looking like a partially-rotted corpse, the monster was disturbingly animate, setting out for the two ponies at a steady lope while the ghuls hung back, cackling and grinning.

“Well,” said Lyra to Carrot Top, “looks like it will be a fight after all.” She began to strum her lyre and struck up the first song that came to mind, probably because she’d learnt it only the previous night from Black Canary.

“Hickory, oak, pine and weed,
Bury my heart underneath these trees
And when a southern wind comes to raise my soul
Spread my spirit like a flock of crows!”

Lyra released the magic she’d been gathering around her horn in a spray of telekinetic bolts. Several impacted the abomination to little visible effect, while the rest struck various ghuls, promoting a chorus of squawks and shrieks.

“Cause I've loved you for too long
I've loved you for too long
I've loved you for too long.”

As Lyra went into the first chorus, Carrot Top tossed one of her jars at the monster. Lyra took her cue and smashed it with a quick flash of telekinetic force, drenching the thing in quick-drying grayish resin. That stopped it, but only for a couple of seconds. Almost instantly, mold and mushrooms sprang up across the resin, causing it to crumble into dust and freeing the monstrosity to continue its advance.

“Old heat of a raging fire
Come and light my eyes
Summer's kiss through electric wire
But I'll never die
I will never die.”

Taking a cue from the second half of the chorus, Lyra lashed out with an arc of golden fire. She’d been aiming at the ghul shaman, hoping to hit its staff or at least that distracting it would cause the abomination it had summoned to vanish, but it shoved one of its fellows into the path of the attack. The unfortunate ghul let out a shriek of pain as the flame slash left a nasty burn across its face.

“Sycamore, ash, moss and loam
Wrap your roots all around my bones
And when they come for me
When they call my name
Cast my shadow from a bellows flame!”

This time, instead of releasing a spray of minor kinetic bolts, Lyra released all the gathered energy in a single blast. The bolt of golden energy struck the abomination in the gut and punched a hole the size of one of Lyra’s hooves clean through the thing, splattering the ground behind it with half-decayed entrails. But as Lyra had already more than half expected, this new wound fazed it no more than the ones already there, and it continued its unrelenting advance as Lyra and Carrot Top began to backpedal.

Lyra continued with her spellsong, gathering magic around her horn once more as she tried to figure out how to actually hurt the thing.

“Cause I've loved you for too long
I've loved you for too long
I've loved you for too long.”

Carrot Top tossed one of her jars over the monster’s head. It smashed among the crowd of cackling ghuls, releasing a reddish cloud that had the ghuls howling in anger as their eyes and sinuses burned. The leader shook his staff and shouted something that Lyra couldn’t make out over her spellsong, and a cloud materialized above the ghuls and released a yellow-tinted shower, washing the irritants from the air.

Unfortunately, distracting the ghul shaman did not seem to have affected the monster in any way, and it was getting dangerously close. As her song moved into the next verse of the chorus, Lyra once again lashed out with fire and heat.

“Old heat of a raging fire
Come and light my eyes
Summer's kiss through electric wire
But I'll never die
I will never die.”

Lyra’s stream of fire played across the creature’s form, melting necrotic tissue like wax. The monster continued to lumber onwards, seemingly unfazed by having a good chunk of its face burnt away.

How in Tartarus can that thing still be moving? Not to mention that it still seems to be able to see me, she thought as she dodged off to one side, the abomination turning to continue its pursuit. Then she laughed at herself. Really, how is this any more unbelievable than that thing moving in the first place with half its body rotted away?

The monster made a slash with its rusty sword. Lyra desperately threw her lyre up to block the blow. The pitted iron blade lodged in the frame, and rot and mushrooms spread out across the frame like fire. Lyra dropped the lyre, and it exploded in a cloud of sawdust and rotted wood. Even the strings were now tarnished and bent out of shape.

At that point, Carrot Top smashed a largish rock into the back of what remained of the creature’s head. Apparently, even whatever magic had kept it animate couldn’t handle that level of damage, and the creature imploded in a puff of foul odor.

There was a moment’s pause, then the ghul shaman shrieked, “Get them! Kill-kill-kill!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now I really wish I had my armor, thought Carrot Top, even as she lobbed another goo bomb at the charging ghuls. Several of them returned fire with rocks and crude spears, but Lyra was able to deflect the few shots that seemed likely to hit. Carrot Top’s bomb toppled the first couple of grounded ghuls, who were promptly trampled by others of their kind, but the airborne ghuls weren’t even slowed. The front-runner, a scrawny specimen with two extra wings, one with black feathers and one insectile, had almost reached Carrot Top and Lyra when a crossbow bolt sprouted from the back of its head and it crashed to the ground. A second crossbow bolt lodged in the shoulder of one of the grounded ghuls, and then six ponies fell out of the sky to land right in front of Carrot Top and Lyra. Black Canary and Quicksilver, now clad in their Night Guard armor, each wore a crude rope harness. And attached to that harness was a large wooden plank, one which even under the weight of the other four Guards hovered a few hoof-widths off the ground.

Black Canary and Quicksilver slashed their harnesses with a couple of quick swipes before leaping back up into the air to countercharge the flying ghuls. Spring Mist, Brick Wall, and Granite Hammer leapt off the plank and charged into the grounded ghuls to fight with hoof and sword, while Spear Fisher remained atop the plank and fired force bolt after force bolt into the hunger.

Carrot Top ducked out of the way of a crude club and retaliated with a hard kick before barely dodging a squirt of some caustic white goop. Then there was a flash of pea-green light from the ghul shaman. With a pop, one of the ghuls turned into a very large mushroom and Spear Fisher’s horn vanished. 

Ok, somepony has to do something about that ghul, thought Carrot Top. With the Guards having charged into the midst of the ghuls, she and Lyra had a moment to catch their breaths. Then, she noticed that Andrea had dropped her protective barrier, and was tiphoofing up behind the ghul shaman. Quick as a flash, she kicked it in the back of the head, grabbed the staff, and smashed it against a nearby rock.

A brief moment of absolute stillness fell over the battlefield. In total silence, a coiling wisp of polychromatic smoke drifted out from the broken staff, before wrapping around the ghul shaman. As he rose into the air, he began to scream. Suddenly, the remaining living ghuls began to fly through the air to slam into the levitating shaman. As soon as they touched it, their bodies became liquid and flowed together to form a rapidly growing ball of pulsing flesh. Quicksilver and Black Canary fired a crossbow bolt apiece into the pulsing mass, to no apparent effect. Finally, the fleshball began to stretch and distort, sprouting appendages and taking on form.

Glowing letters traced across the air above the monster and a deep booming voice simultaneously announced the same message:

"ROUND 2: FIGHT!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The monster that had once been the ghul agah vaguely reminded Lyra of the statues she’d seen of Tirek. The upper half of a normal ghul was perched atop a massive blob of flesh. And from that blob sprouted countless appendages. At least a dozen legs from nearly as many different species supported the massive lower body, while twice that many wings, talons, arms, and tentacles extended out at random from the sides. At least three additional heads sprouted from that lower torso, and there were a number of extra eyes and mouths set directly into the body. The whole thing stood perhaps twice or thrice the height of the Princess. 

The creature screamed, every mouth on its body opened in a massive cacophony of bellows. It staggered forwards on its mismatched limbs, flailing with its remaining appendages. Black Canary and Quicksilver had dropped to the ground and quickly reloaded their crossbows, and both let fly. Quicksilver’s punctured one of the eyes on the lower body, while Canary’s shot lodged in the main body near a mouth. Spear Fisher, who seemed to have regained his horn when Andrea broke the staff, called up a spear-like construct of dark red magic. After spending a couple of moments pouring power into the spell, he let fly. The spear impaled one of the heads, one which looked like it belonged to some kind of big cat. That head slumped limply, but a second vaguely draconic-looking head spread its jaws and fired off a military-grade lightning blast back at Spear Fisher. Brick Wall knocked Spear Fisher out of the way, but caught the blast himself. Astoundingly, he was still on his hooves after taking the blast, and didn’t even seem to be that badly hurt.

And now the creature was in the middle of the Guards. Claws and talons lashed out in several directions at once. Quicksilver easily dodged around a lashing tentacle, slicing the tip off with a deft swipe of a wingblade, but a vaguely equine limb bucked Black Canary in the ribs, sending her flying into the canyon wall. She slid down a few feet to come to rest on a ledge, and almost immediately climbed back to her hooves, but she was a shade unsteady. At almost the same moment, a swipe from a clawed paw knocked Spear Fisher a couple of steps to the side, though it didn’t break the stream of force darts he was firing into the monstrosity. 

But though the Night Guards were hammering the creature with blade, hoof, and magic, the wounds were knitting shut almost as fast as they could inflict them. Even as Lyra watched, the head that Spear Fisher had impaled earlier opened its mouth and vomited a gout of caustic white sludge at Spring Mist. The unicorn leapt to the side and retaliated with a slash from the double-bladed sword he held in his magic, but to little effect.

Behind the monster, Andrea had been drawing on the wall with one hoof. As Lyra watched, she struck the valley wall, and a series of steps extruded themselves from the stone. Andrea leapt up those steps, disappearing over the valley rim.
Well, I guess that’s our task for Lord Winter finished. But how in Corona’s fiery Sun do we kill this thing? Nothing we can throw seems to hurt it, not for long.
Lyra’s thoughts were interrupted by Carrot Top.

“Everypony, listen!” shouted the farmpony. “I don’t think this thing can fly! Andrea’s gone, if we can get on that board thing it won’t be able to follow us.”

“You’re right,” replied Lyra. “Everypony cover your eyes!” Suiting action to word she squeezed her own eyes shut as her horn flared from gold to brilliant white. The glare backlit the delicate tracery of veins in her eyelids, and even with her eyes being closed she had to blink a couple of times to regain her vision after the flash. The monster, though, was effected far worse. Numerous unblinking eyes had been exposed to the full brilliance of her flare, and the creature recoiled in pain from the light. 

With the monster distracted, the six terrestrial ponies crowded together on the levitating slab of wood. The pegasi grabbed the corners and took off, leaving the chimeric monstrosity to bellow its impotent rage at their retreating forms.
> In Which We Find Out What Pinkie Pie Did Back In Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Bonnie!”

Lyra rushed forward to meet Bon Bon, who returned the charge with a squeal of delight. The two ponies crashed into each other, Bon-Bon wrapping Lyra in a hug so tight Lyra could swear she felt her ribs creak. Of course, only her lack of earth pony strength kept her own hug from being equally tight.

“Oh Lyra you’re home you’re home thank Luna you made it back you’re home!” babbled Bon Bon in Lyra’s ear.

“I missed you too, Bonnie,” murmured Lyra.

Meanwhile, Carrot Top and Prince Fredrick had shared a somewhat less thorough embrace, and Spear Fisher let out a sigh of relief at getting his trouble-prone charges safely back to more-or-less friendly territory.

“Carrots, I wanted to come for you, I swear,” said Fredrick hurriedly after he and Carrot Top let go of each other again, “but the fae emissary said that only the Night Guards were allowed to help and…”

“Wait, what?” asked Carrot Tops. “What fae emissary?”

“A messenger from ze Fae arrived while you vere facing ze third trial,” explained Spear Fisher. “It told us zat if ze six of us, and only ze six of us, headed for ze location vere ve found you as fast as ve could, ve vould find a hunger of ghuls, and maybe also find you fighting ze ghuls. But if any more zan ze six of us vent, ze Vinter Lord vould consider it to be too much aid, and vould certainly pit you against zome other foe. Ze most Prince Fredrick could do was put zat rune on ze platform to make it weightless, zo Quicksilver and Black Canary could transport ze rest of us to zat valley, and zo ve could get you out. ”

“Well,” replied Lyra after a moment’s pause, “I’m just glad they decided the Night Guards were allowed to help. That was scary. Which reminds me, we’ll need to do something about that… whatever-the-Sun-that-thing-is that all those ghuls turned into.”

“Agreed,” replied Spear Fisher, “but zat’s not your business. Nor mine. Ze cervid runecasters can vork great magic if zey have ze time and ze numbers, and zey vill have both when dealing vith zis thing. Zey vill be able to hit zat monster hard enough to put even it down. Ve, under ze ozer hoof, vill enjoy vat remains of ze festival. You have done enough for one day.”

“Agreed,” said Bon Bon determinedly. “We’ve already lost too much of this vacation to those Fae. I refuse to lose any more of it.”

“Aye-aye, Your Bonbonness!” said Lyra with a giggle.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes and kissed Lyra on the cheek. Behind them the sun flared brighter before slipping over the horizon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Queen Celestia opened her eyes, returning her mind to her physical body with a sigh. It was rather ironic. For a millennium, the Sun had been her prison, but now it was in many ways more of a refuge. During those few moments when her mind was merged with the Sun to raise or lower it, she could almost forget her sister’s folly, the countless threats surrounding her little ponies, and all the other sources of stress that haunted her. 

Right now, she most especially wished she had had the luxury of forgetting the injuries inflicted on her Voice and his apprentice in the Trial of Winter. Kindle and Smoke had done heroic deeds in her name this just-past day, confronting a powerful Summerfae noble who had entered the mortal world to try his sport against an elk champion. Kindle had drawn the attention of the Fae princeling with a stirring challenge, and then Smoke’s magic had wrapped the elk in invisibility, enabling him to slip the notice of the Summerfae hunters. 

But things had not fared so well for Celestia’s own champions. Kindle’s armor had protected him from the worst of the summerhounds’ teeth and claws, and Celestia’s blessing had warded him against the fire and light magic of the Summer noble, but he had still picked up many cuts and bruises. 

Likewise, though Smoke had hidden herself behind veils of illusion, one of the summerhounds had still found her, and its jaws had badly mangled one of her legs. Celestia had done what she could to treat the wounds, but that was all too little. And she had been able to do nothing to protect her little ponies, for she had been left ignorant of what trials they faced. It was not until after he had persuaded the Summer noble to seek better sport elsewhere that Kindle had broken the talisman she had given him in case of emergencies, for he had been warned that to call for her aid in the fight would have forfeited the trial. 

It was all most infuriating. Kindle might be more than a bit mad, but he was also one of only two (or maybe four) ponies who still saw Celestia as she truly was. The ponies of Equestria and its surrounding countries despised Celestia, most of those who did revere here revered her as Corona rather than Celestia, and even her niece and her last remaining sister didn’t always see her as she was. Only Kindle and Zecora could be counted on to see ponykind’s protector. 

This did not go at all as I’d intended. The power to call the Wild Hunt to my aid is nothing to be sneezed at, but it’s far less than I hoped to get. Not to mention that Luna came out of this with those black lotus blooms, and I’m sure she’ll put those to good use. Or good for her, not so good for me.

And I certainly didn’t intend for Kindle to get hurt, or for him to bargain with the Fae on his own. And what in Iridia’s shining heart am I supposed to do with these death mists? This is why I need to be in charge. The mortals do such  stupid things if you leave them to their own devices. 

Don’t think I can try this again, either. Only Court that owes me anything now is Winter, and with his trial a draw, he won’t let me cash in my favors for this fight. And I don’t think I can risk bargaining with the Fae either. To end up owing  them  the kind of debt I’d need to get anything useful is way more risk than I care to take just at present.

At least Luna can’t get anything more out of this mess either.

“Your Majessty?” One of the salamanders poked its head into the room. “A pair of Sspringfae have arrived, and they ssay they have a messsage to deliver to you. Or rather, one has a messsage for you and one has a messsage for your Voice.” Kindle perked up his ears at that. 

“Send them in,” said Celestia. The salamander slithered off. “What under my Sun could this be about?” Celestia added to nopony in particular.

“What path has brought these fae to thee/Wait but a moment, and we shall see,” pointed out Zecora.

A moment later the pair of Springfae entered the Queen’s audience chamber. One wore the form of an earth pony mare, with blue coat and a mane striped in light and dark blues. A pair of plum-colored saddlebags were slung over its back. The second was, for no reason Celestia cared to guess at, wearing the shape of one of the long-extinct hominians. Oddly enough, though, its hide was not the dark brown of the real hominians, but the same candy-pink as its fluffy mane. The fae appeared to be clad in an oddly shaped dress.

“Greetings, Children of Spring,” said Celestia, inclining her head politely towards the fae. “What brings you to my home in exile?”

“We come not of our own will,” replied the one who resembled an earth pony, “but bound and bargained. We are here to deliver a message unto you and your herald from one who prefers to remain anonymous.”

“Deliver it, then,” said Celestia with a sigh. Whatever this message was, she wasn’t going to like it. That she could be sure of, for why would anypony incur a fae bargain merely to deliver a message unless they were too afraid to handle that message themselves? But if these Springfae had accepted a bargain, trying to sway them from their course would be an exercise in futility. More to the point, one of the fundamental rules of dealing with the Fae was that you could never hold a Fae accountable for what it did under bargain. Until the message was delivered, the Fae messengers were legally, and even in many ways physically, extensions of whoever had given them the message.

“As you wish,” said the fae who had taken hominian form. And in perfect synchrony, the Springfae hit Celestia and Kindle in the face with a banana cream pie apiece, before vanishing into clouds of pink and blue smoke.