The 1st Session: Awakenings

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The sun sets in the west, and a moment later the moon rises. As the bright light of day fades and the quiet glow of the night covers the world a horn blows in the distance. Deep in the forest, they stir, armor straps checked, weapons are unsheathed, and the army moves out from beneath the cover the canopy provided. The drums beat beneath flags bearing a red blade atop a circle of black. They march in formation, heading deeper into the woods. Their destination is an ancient tree, standing tall and wide over the forest beneath its great eaves.

They come to claim the power within its roots, but they are resisted. A leather-winged figure, a small dragon with red scales, soars over the advancing line, and from the creature a great bout of flame emerges. An entire regiment is incinerated. Crossbows return fire on the draconic figure, deflected by the magical wind that the dragon’s bracers create, and it disappears into the shadows. Still, the army presses on, despite the losses. Many more soldiers stand ready to replace those slain.

A sword glints in the dark, flashing with prismatic color. Pickets and scouts disappear as they are cut down by the ever-shifting blade. Lightning flashes and ice cracks where the blade strikes true, bodies dissolve and turn to dust beneath its magical edge. No counterattack can reach the master with the blade before he darts away.

The force of soldiers slows as they approach the base of the tree. Here, a circle of monolithic standing stones surrounds a lone white unicorn. She waits for them in an arc of moonlight, a silver tiara on her head. The army surrounds her and the circle of stone, wary of the seemingly unarmored and unarmed mare. Her eyes flash, and the front lines are engulfed by a brilliant wall of light, the soldiers too slow to escape exploding in radiant bursts.

At her side the scarlet dragon lands, bringing with him the Earth pony stallion wielding the strange ever-changing longsword. Despite the incredible powers they possess they are still horribly outnumbered, and they stand alone against the black host. From beyond the gleaming wall of light crossbows are fired, but as the archers are unable to see the three standing in the circle most of the shots fly wide. Those few which threaten the defenders are deflected by a shimmering barrier conjured into being by the unicorn.

She nods to her fellows, and they ready themselves for the attack. The wall of light fades, and for an instant, the entire army is revealed. Ranks upon ranks they stand, like an ocean of black steel spear-points. The drums beat, and the assault commences. The Earth pony with the magic blade darts and dances, slashing throats and cutting through battlelines with ease. Fire erupts from the dragon, an entire flank of black armored soldiers disappear into ash. The unicorn lances out bright beams, scything deep scars through the army’s formations.

There are too many, even for them. For every ten soldiers that fall or crossbow bolt that misses, one comes close enough to cause harm. The tide is endless, and their madness drives them on regardless of fear or pain. Before they are overwhelmed, the trio retreats through a stone doorway at the roots of the great tree.

Within the tunnels, they make their second stand. Here the great numbers of the horde are no advantage, and the blade wielder is able to face foes one by one. The tight corridors prevent any of the encroaching fighters the needed room to avoid the flames of the dragon, or the gleaming beams of light of the unicorn sorceress. However, each blow stuck takes its toll, and their stamina and strength wane as the battle drags on. They continue to fall back. As they go they release the triggers on the traps set, swinging logs and spiked pits cost the advancing army yet more soldiers. The swarm is forced to advance slowly as the heroes pull back to the innermost sanctum of the ancient temple and seal the heavy door between them and the invaders.

The only remaining chamber is a shrine, a crystalline goblet stands atop a plinth at the far end of the room. It is the goal of the invading force, and their leader will sacrifice as many as he needs to reach it. The screams of the army grow louder as they draw ever closer to this last stand. The stone door shudders as it is struck by a heavy ram. It will not hold for long. The three friends look to each other and nod, they know there is nowhere left to run. They will stand here, together. The drums beat and the door cracks under the assault, another blow, and the door crumbles apart.

Through the dust steps a huge pony. He stands as tall as the Princess of the Sun and is built like a mountain. His powerful muscles are girded by a hulking suit of heavy plate armor. On his breastplate is the symbol born by the standards of the army. In his jaw the hilt of an immense greatsword which glows an ominous red, its blade longer than even the monstrous pony himself. His eyes glower at the three, full of anger and ambition, and he advances…

Eclipse Corona wakes, drenched in sweat. That’s the third time this week alone he’s had this dream. Always the same, and always it ends just as the final battle begins. His hooves still shake with the terror of facing that dreadnought of a pony. He glances outside the hotel window, the moon still hangs in the sky. There are many more hours before dawn. If this experience is anything like the previous ones, he won’t be able to sleep again.

He sighs and picks himself out of bed. Fortunately, he had never felt uncomfortable outside at night, and what a lovely night it is to walk a moonlit field. Naturally, the hotel is quiet, every other pony is sleeping at this time, and so he softly steps outside. As he walks through the village he considers what brought him here.

His father sent him here, to this small town to the north of Canterlot, to be his family’s representative during the Summer Sun Celebration. It’s the first time his father has entrusted him with any sort of responsibility, and he doesn’t want to disappoint the patriarch. The celebration is tomorrow morning, and he arrived early.

Atop a hill just outside the town of Trotton he pauses and looks up at the moon. The dark spots on the surface are often called the mare in the moon, an accurate name. The moon is the prison of Princess Luna, more commonly known as Nightmare Moon. According to the legends, the princess of the night could walk through the dreams of others and would guide and protect the sleeping citizens of Equestria. What would she have to tell him of the visions?

He takes a deep breath as the soft breeze ruffles his mane, long has he felt at peace in the starlight and moonglow. Although he is a unicorn, for a moment he can almost imagine what it might be like to let the wind blow through feathers on wings in the night.

Red Haze shudders, stirring from her sleep. The dream had come again. It has plagued her mind often lately. She stands and stretches as she leaves her tent. The forest is quiet in the hours before dawn. She frowns, it’s still too early to be up. But she still has a long way to go, so she might as well get an early start. It doesn’t take her long to clean her campsite, telekinetic magic was always easy for her. With her gear stored she turns west and continues along animal trails through the woods.

Long ago, she left home to search for answers to a vision in which she saw a great tree engulfed by flames. It could have been just a passing dream, but she saw herself standing atop a mountain, laughing as the tree fell and the world became consumed by a fire that burned even stone. Somehow, she knew that fire was her own, and the thought terrified her. So she fled, to seek that tree and the answers it would hold. For good or ill, she had to know.

In her wanderings, she heard a tale of a mighty tree, almost as high as a mountain, that resides somewhere in the forest to the north of Canterlot. It might well be the tree from her vision. She hopes to find it before the Summer Sun Celebration is over.

As she walks the sky begins to brighten in the east and she stops to watch the sunrise. Its warmth bathes over her and she smiles. Silently she offers a prayer for Celestia’s light to guide her to the truth.

Tiny Hooves opens his eyes. The interior of his wagon is dark, no surprise considering he always keeps the windows shut as he sleeps. He yawns and sits up, scratching at his furry side, always a little surprised at the sensation. The light of day seeps through the crack under his door, he must have overslept. That dream was intense, he’s a little surprised it didn’t wake him earlier.

Once he steps outside he finds the circus in a flurry of activity. They arrived in Trotton only last night, and the rest of the carnys have already begun setting up the attractions for the Summer Sun Celebration. Colorful tents and stands spring up rapidly, and he smiles.

When he first set out he was determined to find the pony who killed his brother, but during his travels, he has come to love this land and its people. Ponies never let life get them down, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Hopefully he’ll bring that scoundrel to Justice, but for now, he’s content to simply exist among them.

He joined this traveling circus only a month ago and found he fit right in. The performers found him a pleasant addition to the show, although they have no special place for him. He can fling a knife into a spinning target, impress with card tricks and stage magic, play games of chance as long as you don’t mind the chances being manipulated, in a pinch he can even serve as a dancer or acrobat. He has enough skills to fit in wherever he is needed, trickster that he is. But his favorite is the swordfight, the play of strike and counterstrike, using blunted swords of course.

A group of mares passes him, in tight acrobat outfits, and they wave and smile as they head off to practice. They giggle as he winks back. That’s another perk of the circus, there’s always plenty of attractive mares around.

Fortunately, Eclipse was able to take a short nap before noon and examined himself in the mirror once he woke again. As he napped he had managed to tangle his blue and teal mane, the bright colors above his dark coat always reminded him of an aurora. He, personally, didn’t mind if his midnight blue fur or his mane were a little on the fussy side, but a stallion of his lineage must always present a clean face and body, and he had to clean himself up with a simple cantrip before leaving the hotel.

He managed in time to arrive at the town square just before the Princesses royal guard. At the center of the town, the stage for tomorrow was nearly done being assembled, and the town was being decorated by the locals. It was there he found the captain of her Majesty's guard. The paladin stood tall and proud, her rose-tinted skin glittered in the bright sunlight almost as brightly as her polished armor. Few of the Crystal Ponies survived the ancient war with the Crystal Empire, most of the rest scattered across Equestria and mingled with the populace until the breed had all but disappeared. She was escorted by an entire regiment of the royal guard, Eclipse presumed they were here ahead of the princess herself to ensure the town was secure. Also alongside her is a grey Earth Pony soldier of impressive build. Eclipse had planned to introduce himself to them, but they both appear to be quite busy with securing the town.

There will be time enough for pleasantries and introductions at the town-wide party tonight, and then the official celebration in the morning. Always time to make a good impression with the locals. Eclipse ambles throughout the town center making pleasant small talk with whoever will speak with him. Most of the townsponies are understandably excited to be hosting this year's Summer Sun Celebration, it’s an honor bestowed only once a year after all. When the music from the nearby circus starts to play most of the locals not working on setting up more decorations head out towards the entertainment.

Eclipse follows the crowd, both curious as to what the circus had to offer, and because he has no other obligations at this time. He gets exactly what he expected from the wandering carnival. Hastily assembled tents and concession stands, games of luck almost certainly rigged in the house’s favor, and a bevy of entertainers doing everything they can to separate Ponies from their well earned wealth. Its nothing special to him, but the townsponies are enjoying themselves and he saw no reason to ruin their fun. At least the acrobats are good, and not to mention pretty.

A few of the performers have some minor magical ability and demonstrate a few basic spells to entertain the crowds. Eclipse can see through most of the outright illusions, so it’s the slight-of-hoof which impresses him most. Even knowing it’s all trick and misdirection it’s still fun to try and figure out exactly what they are doing.

One pony among the carnies does draw his attention, not for any particular skill or ability, but because he wears a longsword at his side. Certainly unusual, and he made note that he was not the only one to eye the armed entertainer. A number of the guards are watching him carefully as well. More curiously, the armed individual seemed to be aware he was being watched but made no attempt to dissuade or evade such monitoring. As he watched the stranger, Eclipse noted one more oddity about the greenish pony, the stallion’s mane appeared to shift in hue as he moved through the circus, changing from black to green to red or yellow as he moved from shadow to light. Surely it was simply a trick of the light, or perhaps the entertainer uses an unusual oil to give it the effect. After a short while, the armed pony seems to grow tired of being observed and makes it clear why exactly he wears the blade.

“Come now, who would like to test their skill?” The entertainer leaps onto a small stage, waving one hoof at the crowd. “If you can strike me three times before I deliver three to you, you will win a fabulous prize!” He presents a bag, assumed to be full of coins. “But I have to warn you, it will be no easy feat!” He flips over backward, and the blade sails into the air, he catches the hilt with his teeth as it falls. The crowd applauds his trick, and Eclipse has to admit it was well performed.

One foolhardy young stallion steps up, egged on by the mare at his side. The entertainer passes a wooden sword to the Pony, who fumbles with it as the crowd laughs. Eclipse shakes his head, it’s quite clear the boy has no chance. To his credit, the boy seems to know this himself, and although he tries to put up a good fight it’s over all too soon. Several more of the townsponies give it a try, but none can land even more than a token blow on the performer, not even the Pegasus who try their wing at it.

“Can no one defeat Tiny Hooves?” He flourishes his blade again and then spots Eclipse in the crowd. “How about you, young noble unicorn? Care to give me a try?” Eclipse smiles up at the swordpony.

“Unfortunately, I am no fighter. I fear you would find me poor sport. But if you wish, I will embarrass myself for the town’s enjoyment!” The crowd seems up for it, cheering him on. Ah, good, and now he has to compliment me or risk looking overly arrogant and alienating his crowd.

“Truly, there is a pony who knows how to have fun! Come up then, and let’s have a go!” The entertainer, who identified himself as Tiny hooves, throws him one of the wooden swords, and Eclipse catches it neatly with his magic, his aura glowing a pale white. The crowd murmurs now, none of the other contenders had been a unicorn. Even an unskilled unicorn fighter is an entirely different beast to face compared to an Earth pony or Pegasus.

Eclipse faces the Swordpony from the opposite end of the stage, acutely aware that his performance would be delivered back to his father. He knew he would either have to win or give it a good enough show to not be humiliated. He stood in the stance his fencing instructor had long tried to drill into him, he was sure he was still holding the sword in the wrong position.

Tiny Hooves saluted flamboyantly and lunges suddenly. Eclipse was too slow to avoid the first strike and cringed as he felt the blunted steel slap his side. That was going to sting more once he was back home. Tiny Hooves backed away for a second round. This time Eclipse attacked first, and Tiny didn’t even try to avoid or deflect it. So that’s the game, is it? Eclipse cringes again, being obviously let to win would be even more embarrassing than losing badly. Time to take this game to the next level.

The two stand apart one more time. Tiny lunges again, and Eclipse whispers a word. His body disappears in a flash of silvery mist, and the crowd gasps as he reappears behind the swordspony. Caught completely off guard, Tiny doesn’t have the chance to even turn around before the unicorn pokes the wooden sword into the rump of the entertainer. There we go. This makes him the only contestant to land a second blow on the swordpony. Tiny backs away, startled, and stands where Eclipse had started. The crowd cheers.

This time the other pony is more cautious, both their reputations on the line. Eclipse silently promises the other fighter he won’t do that again, winning a friendly contest by such unfair tactics would be poor sportsmanship. He only needs one more lucky hit to win now, although a defeat at this point would still be socially acceptable provided he doesn’t simply throw the fight. As far as he is concerned, he’s won already, the rest of the match is simply frosting on the cake.

They close slowly, Eclipse uses his advantage of natural range using his magic to poke at Tiny’s defenses, and the experienced pony leaps about the stage to keep his distance. Now it’s clear that the swordspony is done underestimating him. The entertainer watches the blade in the air carefully, trying to judge how Eclipse will move it. The crowd watches with bated breath, and Eclipse takes a quick step forward. That’s when Tiny darts in, getting in low below the hovering blade and raking his dulled blade across the unicorn’s legs. Eclipse yelps, and nearly falls over. Now the score is tied.

One the final time the two square off at a respectable distance. Tiny waves his sword from side to side, but never wavers far from a striking position. Eclipse counters by rapidly spinning his wooden sword in place, in a real fight this would be foolish, but the crowd loves it. He sends the wooden sword in to strike, and Tiny bats it away. Eclipse continues the aggressive stance, forcing the other pony to keep his distance.

Then he overreaches, and Tiny kicks the sword out of his grasp. Whoops. The unicorn is no match for the swordspony without a means to fairly defend himself, and Tiny knocks him off his feet with a dashing slash. Eclipse blinks and looks up to see Tiny pointing the blunted sword at his face. The crowd applauds, disappointed that the unicorn lost the match, but entertained nonetheless. Tiny sheathes his blade and helps Eclipse back to his feet.

“Give a hoof to my friendly competitor, such a good sport!” The entertainer gives Eclipse a shallow bow, and Eclipse returns the gesture with a nod as the crowd kicks up a small dust cloud with all the applause. The unicorn drops off the stage, rubbing at his shins. Tiny didn’t have to hit quite so hard on that last blow. “That’s all for today, folks. You can try your luck against me again tomorrow!”

Red haze jumps down from the tree she had climbed, where she was looking over the canopy trying to find the great tree. She’s been searching all day, and there has been no sign of the giant tree she heard the story of. If the tales were true it should have been easy to locate. Another false lead, such a waste of time. She takes stock of her supplies, she’s starting to run low on food. If she needs to she can survive by foraging, but the search has drained her enthusiasm.

For a while, she takes a break from walking, consulting her map of the area. She had stopped by at a major city before venturing into the forest, and the qualities of maps this close to Canterlot are better than anything she could have found back east.

If she can’t find the tree today she should head west, to the town of Trotton. In the last city she had been to she was told that was where the next Summer Sun Celebration was being held. If she’s lucky she might be able to score an audience with the princess before the Alicorn heads back to Canterlot. Such a wise being would surely be able to answer her questions regarding the vision.

Something shudders the leaves on the branch above her and she looks up, expecting to see a squirrel or other small critter. Instead, she finds something altogether more interesting. In the upper branches, largely hidden, is a red creature. She can’t quite tell what is it, but she can see its eyes, watching her. The yellow irises have a reptilian gleam to them.

Cautious, she puts her map away and steps back from the tree, she doesn’t want to irritate some dangerous thing. The forests are not always safe. For a moment she holds her breath, trying to watch the animal out the corner of her vision. If it’s a cockatrice looking it head-on would be suicide. When the creature does not attack she moves on, giving the tree the animal was in a wide berth.

She listens carefully as she walks, wary of the sounds of the forest other than her own soft hoofsteps. Everything sounds normal. That’s good, if it were too quiet it would indicate a nearby threat. She sighs, relieved, and continues on her way at a slightly more rapid pace.

Then her hairs stand on end, Red suddenly has the impression that something is watching her again. She glances over her shoulder, and the tip of a red spiked tail disappears behind a bush. The creature is following her. Her pulse rises as she tries to remember which reptiles have both red scales and spiked tails. The list is short, and among the most dangerous at the top of that list is Dragons.

She bolts. Perhaps she can lose the creature in the forest depths. Over a log, across a stream, through the brush, she runs with near abandon. Red Haze is no stranger to danger and combat, but a Dragon is more than she could take in a fight. She halts to catch her breath for a moment in a small clearing, watching her surroundings carefully. Hopefully, the Dragon wasn’t able to keep up with her, she doesn’t see it anywhere.

A small pond nearby provides a refreshing drink, and she considers her situation as she watches her reflection. Her very pale yellow fur combined with her red and orange mane gave her a fiery appearance. She long ago realized that her appearance was connected to her powers, flame magic is even easier for her than telekinesis. So easy that sometimes she uses it without even thinking when somepony angers her. Her temper has gotten her in trouble more than once, and more than a few taverns have demanded she never come back.

A shadow flits over the pond, a small red Dragon reflected on the surface for an instant as it passed overhead. She freezes in place, her blood starting to boil within her as she reflexively calls up her magic. Slowly she looks up and finds that although the Dragon is standing at the treeline and is clearly visible, that she cannot clearly see it. Somehow, its body is translucent, as if it were not truly there. It’s taller than most ponies, standing on its hind legs, but not by all that much. It must be relatively young, she had heard that Dragons can reach the size of a barn.

The red Dragon watches her silently, its eyes burn internally, a fire she knows. She glances back at her cutie-mark, a flame in front of an eye, and then back to the Dragon’s face. It’s the same eye. What an impossible coincidence.

It lifts one ethereal claw, a pair of bracers upon its arms, and points north-west. When she glances that way, there’s nothing she can see but more forest. Looking back, the dragon has vanished.

Still, it must be some kind of sign. At this point, there’s no reason not to follow the indicated direction. Before she sets out she looks to the sun first. It has started its descent for the night. If she doesn’t find whatever the Dragon wished her to see before long, she will have to stop for the night. It looks like I’ll have to miss the Summer Sun Celebration after all.

Hopeful, but wary, she enters the shadows under the leaves one more time. This time her travels are not accosted by strange spectral creatures. Across small streams and fallen trees, she goes, and the wild animals of the forest go about their business and ignore her. Occasionally the sun peeks through the canopy and the trees as it drops lower and lower on the horizon. When the topmost edge of the solar disk finally sinks out of view she decides she has had enough for one day and begins looking for a suitable place to rest.

The ground here is rough, unsuitable for camping, and she presses on in hopes of finding a slightly more open space. As she looks about something glistens in the dark. Curious, she heads that way. It could be a will’o’wisp, she should be wary of stumbling into a marsh. Ahead of her the trees thin, and she emerges from beneath the canopy.

In a circle at the center of the clearing are six massive standing stones, each ten times as tall as she. Could this be what the dragon wished me to see? She draws closer to the stones, and notes there are engravings on their surface. This is no natural formation. The light is too dim to see details, but that is no problem for long. She ignites a tiny floating flame before her and holds it aloft to better see the stones. The engravings are runes, and they shimmer in her spell’s glow.

As she steps inside the standing stone circle the sound of her hoofstep changes. Looking down reveals a worked marble tile, cracked and damaged. There are more adjacent to it, and she follows the arc they make. It’s a smaller circle set inside the henge. This place is special and ancient. She places her pack just outside the larger circle and begins to more closely examine the runes.

The Carnival is going well, everyone is having a grand time. Tiny Hooves has been helping out with various entertainers and performers all day. He’s had to substitute for one the acrobats after the mare took a bad fall, she’s resting in her wagon with an injured leg but she’ll be fine. Then after that, he ran one of the game stalls for a while and took in a good haul from overeager party-goers. For his part of the main attraction he was throwing knives at a spinning target with one of the dancers strapped to it, fortunately, he has good aim.

All in all, it’s been a blast, aside from that one unicorn who nearly beat him on the stage earlier. It’s a good thing he hadn’t teleported again, or Tiny might have had to resort to less savory tactics to win. His ‘fabulous prize’ had been nothing more than a bag of sweets. He should have known the unicorn was good with magic, his cutie-mark had been a strange black circle surrounded by a white ring and what looked like abstract wings sticking out the side, the ones with the inscrutable marks are always spellcasters.

Right now Tiny is taking a break out past the back edge of the circus, he’s been on his hooves all day and needs a few minutes of rest before going back out into the party. What a party it is, the whole town is out and enjoying the music and dancing. The nobles who came to attend the Summer Sun Celebration are all holed up inside town hall, feasting on wine and ‘refined tastes’ while the rest of the populace has to settle for mead and bonfire and the carnival’s musicians. Frankly, we are having more fun, they have no idea what they are missing.

A couple giggling young ponies dart past him to be alone behind the main circus tent. He smiles and turns away to go back to the party himself, and to give them more privacy, they hadn’t seen him. That’s when he saw the stranger with the sword heading away from the town.

In the darkness he couldn’t make out the stallion’s colors, he was too far away to see clearly, but he saw the strange longsword on the stranger’s side clear as day. Even from a distance, he could tell it was unique. It called to him, both the promise of the interesting challenge the stranger presents and the lure of the special weapon. He glances down at his dulled longsword he uses for stage fights and frowns, he’d never win a real fight with it if it came to one.

So he smiles to himself and sticks the stage blade in the ground as he draws his other blade. With a dark whisper, it materializes in the air before him and he grabs hold of the hilt. The weapon is a non-reflective black edge, of the same length and design of the dull metal stage sword, but far more lethal. If he had been using this during the match with the unicorn on the stage the unfortunate noble would have left the match in pieces. He slips the black blade into the sheath of the prop sword and follows the stranger towards the trees.

He meant to stroll right up to the stallion's side and say hello, but the stranger reached the trees first and nearly disappeared into the darkness. Tiny hesitates a moment, the forest at night can be a dangerous thing, there are dark and foul things out there that no pony would want to meet alone. But still, that sword… he had to see it again, up close and personal. So he follows again, looking for the stranger in the woods.

Darkness is no stranger to Tiny, and he makes his way through the roots and trees with ease, but he never seems to gain ground on the other pony. He frowns, no Earth pony should be able to move in the dark as easily as he. Each time he considers turning back he spies the stranger again, always just ahead, always almost out of sight.

So focused is on the pursuit that he didn’t even notice he was lost until he saw a flickering light through the trees ahead of him and realized he had no idea which way town was anymore. Still, he had to have that sword, and the light seemed to be in the direction the stranger went. He followed the flickering light into a clearing, with a massive stone henge at its center. He spotted a pack full of supplies against one of the stones and realized now that the light he saw before was torchlight from some of other pony. A glance around confirmed that the stranger had well and fully vanished, Tiny frowned. Maybe this other pony saw him.

“Hello there!” He called out happily as he approached the light, which was coming from inside the henge. A voice yelped, a mare’s voice, and she spun towards him. Well, hello indeed. She was ragged and wild, her unkempt red-orange mane and matching tail made it almost look as if she was on fire. Not the prettiest of faces, but there’s a certain appeal to the fiery ones too. He didn’t see a torch, but rather a flame hovering just beside the mare’s horn. Wonderful, another unicorn.

“Who are you? What do you want?” She backs away, keeping as much distance as she could as she narrows her eyes at him.

“Relax, I’m just looking for someone.” He gives her his most disarming smile, and ambles around the outside edge of the henge, making sure to keep his black blade out of view. No reason to upset the mare unnecessarily. “And what might you be doing out here, all alone, in the dark?”

“Stay back, I’m warning you.” Her magic aura grows in vibrancy, and suddenly that little flame seems quite a bit more dangerous.

“Whoa, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He steps fully into the light, his last statement may have come across as a bit threatening. She backs away, trying to keep one of the monoliths between the two of them. “My name is Tiny Hooves, I’m just a traveling circus performer. What’s yours?”

“…Red Haze.”

“Well then, Red Haze, I’m sorry about scaring you. I was looking for a stallion who went this way. He has something that belongs to me and I need to get it back.” Not, strictly speaking, true. Not yet.

“Then you had better keep looking, you’re the first pony I’ve seen in days.” She visibly relaxes somewhat, and Tiny nods. “You should be on your way.” Clearly, this mare wants to be left alone.

“Ah well, thank you for the conversation.” Tiny shrugs. “The Circus will be in Trotton for a few more days, come and enjoy the festivities after the Summer Sun Celebration. I can show you all the fun things to do.” He winks at her and turns away, still carefully keeping the black blade out of her sight.

Something growls out in the dark. Tiny’s smile vanishes. Something darts through the trees at the clearing’s edge, he couldn’t see it well enough to identify it. Whatever it was was easily as tall as he is.

“Tiny… get back to the light.” Red heard it too, and she tenses again. “It’s not safe out there.” Her little flame grows brighter and stronger, illuminating the entire stone circle now.

“You know what that is?”

“Timberwolves. If we’re lucky, it will be alone, or it will wander away without attacking.”

“And if we’re not?”

“Then it’ll be a big one.”

“If you’re scared, I can guide us back to town.”

“Not a chance.” She laughs. “I can take care of myself.” Tiny rolled his eyes at the cliche, although judging from that summoned flame, she’s probably right. A second growl from the treeline and he returns his attention to the threat. “Are you armed?”

“As you said, I can handle myself.” With that, he slides his weapon from the sheath. More movement in the trees. “Feeling lucky?”

“Not particularly.” Several pairs of green eyes gleam at them from the darkness.

“Then this will be more fun!” Four of the monsters charge from the woods. The creature’s bodies are constructed entirely of logs and twigs, their mundane appearance belies just how dangerous they can be.

Red’s torch-like flame shoots out and collides with the first beast, and it bursts into pieces.

Two of the timberwolves close on Tiny, but instead of waiting for them, he slides between the two, slashing as he goes. His black blade meets resistance but cuts through the wooden body regardless. The monster howls in pain and falls to its side, both its left legs removed. The second of the wolves snaps at his heels as he dances out of its reach.

The final timberwolf leaps on Red, snapping its jaw at her neck. She bucks and rolls, slamming the monster on the ground beneath her, causing it to lose its grip, before jumping back and igniting the wolf by creating a bonfire beneath it. Red cooks the beast alive while Tiny pounces over the remaining wolf and drives his black blade into its wooden skull. The fire crackles as tiny dispatches the remaining wounded monster with a quick slash.

“Not much of a fight.” Tiny frowns as he sheathes the sword again, he had expected more. He turns away from the dead log-like creatures to face Red Haze. She isn’t hurt from the timberwolf that jumped on her. “So you can, indeed, take care of yourself.” He offers her a friendly smile. Red eyes the black blade as her magic fire fades. Then she glares at him, taking a few steps back.

“I know what you are.” Tiny’s smile fades again, and he backpedals as well. That’s not good. His teeth clench. I don’t want to have to hurt her. “You’re a warlock.” He blinks and then laughs. Well, nevermind.

“Ah, so my secret is revealed. You are correct, my lady. I have, in fact, bound myself to the black blade.”

“You do know how dangerous pacts like that can be, don’t you?”

“Yes, I am aware of the risks. But I required this power to seek my justice.”

“Justice? For what?” He was about to answer her when something new stumbles loudly through the trees, drawing both their attention. Whatever it is makes no attempt to hide itself, and somepony is shouting. It’s coming this way.

“Another time.” He smirks. “Still feeling unlucky?” Red returns his smile with a toothy grin.

“Always.”

“Because his voice was a little horse!” Eclipse laughs at the Duke of Vanhoover’s joke along with the others, despite the fact it wasn’t funny. The older stallion has obviously had a drink or two too many, and Eclipse judges his own sobriety in comparison. Better not have any more wine. The evening party has been going since before dusk, and Eclipse has been socializing with the other nobility.

All the major families have sent at least one representative to the Summer Sun Celebration, and most of the lesser ones as well. The room is full of baronesses and dukes and viscountesses, as well a number of knights and nobles without grander titles. He recognizes most of the ponies here, by reputation if not by face. About not quite half are Unicorns, the rest are mostly evenly split between Earth pony and Pegasus. Although there is a pair of Bat ponies from Manehatten, twins, from the look of them.

Then there is the captain of the royal guard, the only Crystal pony in the room. She has eschewed her armor in favor of something more appropriate for a social gathering, a long green dress with a leaf motif. She also wears a pair of earrings which happen to match her dress. Although she is not escorted by the large stallion which was with her before, there are still a number of other royal guards stationed around the outside edge of the room. Undoubtedly, there are more outside or out of view.

Time for an introduction. Eclipse excuses himself from the small gathering about the Duke and works his way slowly across the room, trying to avoid entangling himself in any of the conversations he passes. The exact value of cotton trade imports into Cloudsdale does not concern him or his family. Neither does the activities of the thieves guilds in Balitmare. Once he finally managed to cross the room, he raises his glass to salute the mare.

“Are you enjoying the party?”

“The conversation and company are pleasant.” Her voice is clear and authoritative, as befitting one in a position of command. “I do not believe we’ve had the pleasure of an introduction yet. Rose Given, captain of the royal guard.”

“Forgive me, I am Eclipse Corona.” He gives her a respectful bow, however shallow. Despite the fact that the mare does not have a noble title, her position is worthy of respect.

“Of the Astral family, yes? The second son of Dusk Light and Crystal Clear?”

“That is correct, my lady. I am surprised you know of me.”

“I have seen your father at the palace several times. It is my duty to be aware of the possible threats to the princess.”

“I find it hard to believe you could consider me a threat.”

“Not directly, no, especially after your performance up on that stage.” She saw that? How mildly unfortunate. “But if someone were to threaten you to get to your father to perform actions against her majesty, then that could be considered a danger.”

“I commend you for thinking so far ahead. I can see you deserve your reputation.”

“I would hope so. I earned my rank through perseverance and capability.”

“As it should be.” She blinks, Eclipse’s response seemingly surprising her.

“You would be amazed at how many seem to think I achieved my rank by batting pretty eyelashes at the generals.”

“Although, they are quite pretty.”

“Well, Eclipse Corona, are you trying to butter me up with sweet words?”

“Not at all. Merely making an observation.” Although, if Father were here, he would certainly approve of the match. He would probably even encourage me to pursue it.

“I appreciate your candor. You may want to watch yourself around the other young and eligible noble stallions, several of them have already made attempts to woo me tonight.” She gestures to a small group of such individuals across the room, watching their conversation with interest. “I don’t think they appreciate the perceived competition.”

“If they cannot stand the thought of you making a friend, then that is their problem.”

“I do not believe we share much in common.”

“Isn’t that the point of an introduction, to find out? I’m rather fond of chess.”

“I happen to be quite the player myself.”

“Indeed? Then perhaps we can discuss whatever else we might share in common over a game?”

“Perhaps we might, but not tonight.”

“Then I will take my leave, and see you again another time.” He raises his glass again, she nods farewell, and then he steps well aside. I think that went well. Not spectacular, but well enough. He watches the party for a while longer as he considers exactly what his father had told him to do here. The only explicit instructions were to not embarrass the family and to foster whatever contacts he could make among the other families. Implied in that second command was for Eclipse to begin searching for potential mates among the other noble families, that was an instruction he had no intent to follow. Whoever he finds for himself will have to be someone worth spending the time with, not some simple bargaining chip in outdated politics. Eclipse was sure his performance was being watched by his father’s agents, whoever or wherever they might be.

His own interest in Rose Given is less contrived, he has heard much about her and was curious what kind of pony she is. She is an interesting Mare, to have risen so quickly through the ranks to become the captain at a fairly young age. Such an individual is worth having as a friend or baring that at least a friendly acquaintance.

He lets his eyes wander across the assembled ponies until they settle on somepony he hadn’t noticed before. A tall and elegant white unicorn mare with an equally white mane, strikingly beautiful in a silver gown. How had I missed her? Eclipse blanks on identifying her, he knows of no noble who matches her description. She, curiously, stands alone nearby the front door. He would have thought such a beauty would be surrounded by ambitious young stallions, but none appear to have noticed her.

Curiosity overcomes him and he works his way around the edge of the party towards her. Before he can reach her she slips outside. Eclipse sets his glass on one of the tables before following her.

The party outside is quite a bit more energetic than the one inside. Ponies dance around several bonfires, and many of the musicians from the circus are playing off to one side. Joyful laughter and drunken revelry fill the air, the dancing will probably go on for a few more hours.

The white unicorn is easy to spot, weaving through the crowd effortlessly. No pony pays her any attention. Eclipse has to skirt the edges of the gathering, keeping one eye on the mysterious mare. She’s heading out of town, towards the circus. Is she one of the performers? An actress? Once she has passed the main crowd, she turns east, now moving towards the forest. She still hasn’t looked back to see Eclipse following.

“Hello?” he calls after her. “May I speak with you?” She doesn’t respond. Eclipse hurries his pace, but he doesn’t close the distance despite her calm and steady stride. The white unicorn reaches the edge of the treeline and disappears into the woods. “You shouldn’t go out there alone, it’s not safe!” Now Ecplise breaks out into a run, but she stays too far ahead to reach. How can she move that fast with that dress? Without even running?

Twigs snap under his hooves and he stumbles through the brush. He’s used to the city and towns, not the forests and woods of Equestria. For an instant, he loses sight of her, and he considers turning back, but she’s alone out here, and who knows what terrible things lurk in the darkness. Despite being normally comfortable out at night, deep in the woods is another thing entirely, and fear settles on Eclipse. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

Then he spots her again, far ahead, still walking with that elegant and calm stride. Now both curious and confused, Eclipse continues to follow. No matter how hard he runs or loudly he calls after her she does not turn to face him or slow her pace. She disappears out of view again, and this time he spots flashes of spellfire through the trees.

“Wait! You shouldn’t be out here alone! Slow down!” He bursts out of the trees into a clearing and stumbles on a root, tumbling to the ground. He blinks, stunned, and looks up to see two other ponies standing beside a monolithic stone circle. One of them is the performer from before, a strange black sword in his jaw. The other is a pale yellow unicorn he doesn’t recognize, a flame hovering in the air beside her. They seem surprised to see him, judging from their combat stances they expected to see something a bit more threatening. He climbs back to his feet. “Hello there. I don’t suppose either of you have seen a beautiful white unicorn coming this way?”

“What are you even doing out here?” This from the performer, Tiny Hooves, as he sheathes his black blade. “This place isn’t safe for pampered little nobles like you. There are timberwolves about.”

“I’m not as fragile as I look.” Eclipse cleans himself off and takes another look around. There are a few scattered piles of wood and timber scattered about, some smoldering. The body of a largely intact timberwolf lies immobile next to Tiny.

“Who are you?” The pale yellow unicorn, with a fiery red mane, makes it a demand.

“I apologize for my sudden arrival. I am Eclipse Corona.”

“If you're looking for somepony, you better keep moving. Other than this fool,” she jerks her head towards Tiny, “I’ve not seen any pony for days.” Eclipse looks around, there’s no sign of the white unicorn, and he sighs.

“It would seem she vanished. If you don’t mind, may I have your name?”

“Red Haze.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“Yes yes, we’re all acquainted now. Now would you two please leave already? I have work to get to.”

“Work on what, so far from town?”

“Until you two stumbled on me, I was trying to decipher these old runes.” She points a hoof at the standing stones, and Eclipse turns his attention to them. He steps over to one of the monoliths and shines his own magic light on it to see what she indicated. Etched into the surface are tiny swirling runes, they shimmer just a tiny bit as his light reflects off them.

“Interesting. I know a bit about magic, do you require assistance?” Red Haze narrows her eyes when he offers, but says nothing. Eclipse takes this as permission and walks around the large stone. The runes go all the way to the top of each stone, and he spots a number of marble slabs on the ground beneath a thin layer of dirt and leaves. He conjures a wind to disperse the detritus, revealing faintly glowing runes on each of them. A few of the marble slabs are cracked or missing from the circle.

“Can you read them?” Red steps inside the marble circle and looks down at the runes, frowning.

“No, they aren’t in poneish. I’m not even sure they are a language.”

“Wonderful, two magic nerds.” Tiny rolls his eyes. “You two have fun, I’m going…” Something big moves through the trees and growls. “…to back slowly away from the twenty-foot high timberwolf.”

“You mean, timberwolves.” Red glares in the opposite direction, where more glowing eyes peer at them through the brush. Eclipse glances around, there are more creatures arriving from other directions.

“There are too many to fight.” They are surrounded.

“Any useful ideas?” Each of the three ponies back into the center of the standing stone circle, facing the gaps between the huge stones. “We could run back towards the town, but I doubt we’d all make it.”

“None of us would. I’ve seen timberwolves take apart larger prey than us.” The timberwolves start to close on the circle, Red flings her flare towards one, it howls as it starts to burn and runs off. “One down.”

“The pack remains. This is not how I thought this evening would end.”

“You and me both.” Tiny smirks. “Here they come!” The three ponies brace as the pack steps closer. Red flares her magic, Eclipse readies his own spell, and Tiny brandishes his black blade. The runes on the marble stones begin to glow. “What’s going on?” A wave of energy surrounds the ponies, radiating out until it crashes against the larger stones. The swirling etching on the monoliths shine.

“I don’t know!” I didn’t think we had triggered anything odd about the stone circle! The energy wave rebounds, and flows upwards until it crests over the top of the henge and rushes back towards the ponies. Magic crashes down on them and explodes out in every direction. All vision is lost, all sense of place replaced with the sensation of falling.

The flash fades. And each pony blinks as they try to clear their heads. They are still standing within the henge, but the timberwolves have disappeared.

“What was that?” Tiny looks back at the other two, both alright.

“It felt like a teleport to me.” Then Eclipse turns and looks up, and up, and up.

“By Celestia’s holy light!” Red follows his gaze, staring slack-jawed at the sight above them.

A truly immense tree, unlike anything any of them have seen, looms over them. The trunk of the great flora might be as much as a hundred feet across or more. Its branches reach so far out the ponies below can barely see the horizon. Whatever it has for leaves are so far away and so numerous they might as well be clouds. This is an ancient tree, possibly even the oldest living thing in Equestria, it has seen all the ages of Equus come and pass beneath it. A tree of worlds.

Although he is too impressed to respond, Tiny knows he will never see anything quite like this again.

Although he is too stunned to speak, Eclipse Corona can feel its great age and power.

Although she is too awestruck to say anything, this is a tree Red Haze recognizes.

The three ponies can only stare at it for several long moments before Tiny shakes himself out of the reverie.

“That is certainly impressive.”

“Only the most ancient and powerful magics could keep something like this standing. I doubt even Princess Celestia herself has this kind of strength.”

“Watch your tongue.” Red snaps at him.

“Do we have any idea where we are?” All of them are still looking up at the great tree.

“I have no idea, a tree of this magnitude should be visible from nearly anywhere. We may not be in Equestria anymore, or even on the same physical plane of existence.” Eclipse forces his attention away from the tree and looks around. The hair on his neck stands on end. “We are not the first ponies to be here.” At this, the other two finally pull themselves away from the tree and take a look.

“What happened here?” They are surrounded by equine corpses. Dessicated skeletons and ancient rusted armor and weapons litter the area. Dozens, possibly hundreds, of the dead. Tiny pokes at some of the skeletons, they all appear to be Earth pony in origin, although they could also be Zebra or Crystal pony. “Some of these were killed by weaponry, others burned.”

“Magic killed this lot.” Eclipse gestures to long scars in the ground, there are some bones scattered about the edges of the blast marks. “Powerful magic at that.” He turns back to the henge of stones, examining the runes again.

“Look, there’s a doorway at the base of the tree.” Red points at the tree’s roots, to a large stone archway nearly overgrown by roots. There are more dead ponies around the gateway, which seems to lead underground.

“Oh yes, let’s go into the corpse-filled tunnel. That sounds like a great idea.”

“We may have to. I don’t see any means of reactivating the spell that brought us here.”

“And we don’t know how we got here in the first place.”

“Is my pack there? I left it on the other side of that monolith.” Eclipse is closest to the indicated stone, but he shakes his head when he looks around it.

“I don’t see it.”

“In that case, we had better find a way back soon, that pack had all my supplies and neither of you brought any food or water. Depending on where we are I might be able to forage up enough to keep us alive, but we should really get back to civilization.”

“In that case, I suggest we take the only obvious course of action.” With that Eclipse gestures to the gateway. “There may be answers within.”

“So who wants to go first?” Neither Red nor Eclipse answers Tiny, and he sighs. “Fine.” He steps over the bones in the way and looks inside. “There are stairs leading down, but the passage is clear of obstacles.”

“You can see that?” Red peers into the darkness, unable to see what Tiny described.

“I can see in the dark to some extent. My mother was a Bat pony.” Eclipse eyes Tiny suspiciously but says nothing. With that Tiny heads down the stairway, Eclipse goes second, and Red takes up the rear. Both unicorns create a light to see by. More bodies litter the stairway, along with long activated traps. There are some old spears sticking out from the wall, a scything blade from the ceiling, a sudden drop onto spikes. The defenses have long since been rendered useless by age or encroaching roots from the mighty tree. “There’s a chamber ahead.”

They emerge into the open space, a vast hall of some sort. Their small lights only illuminate the immediate area, even Tiny cannot see the distant walls. As the stairway and the henge before, the area is littered with the dead.

“What do you think this place was?”

“Some sort of temple or shine, I think.”

“Hold up.” Tiny inspects one of the corpses, the rust and decay on the armor isn’t as advanced as those outside. “They’re all wearing the same armor.” He pulls the breastplate off one skeleton, its lower half crushed by an old rotting log, to take a better look. The front is painted with a black circle and a red vertical slash. “I don’t recognize the symbol.”

“Let me see it.” Eclipse takes the aged armor from Tiny and cleans it with a cantrip. “If I’m right, this is the mark of the Cult of the Red Blade.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me, they disappeared some three centuries ago. At the time they were quite the threat to Celestia’s reign.”

“It looks like we found out what happened to them. Was this their base?”

“I don’t think so.” Tiny looks around again. “They’re all facing inward, further into the temple. I think they were the ones attacking.”

“Whoever was defending must have been incredibly powerful to face this many.”

“But how did the assault end?”

“Only one way to find out. Come on.” Tiny starts to head further in, following the line of bodies.

“Wait a moment.” Eclipse searches briefly for an intact breastplate among the skeletal ponies.

“What are you doing?”

“There might still be traps still active. I’d rather not end up like these poor fools if I can avoid it.” He finds one, and after cleaning it off, straps it on with some difficulty.

“You know what, I think I’ll do that too.” Tiny finds an armor for himself and Eclipse helps him don it. Red declines when they offer her one. “You don’t want it?”

“It’s not like their armor did much for them.” Red scoffs at him. “It won’t do me any good.”

“If that is your decision.” Eclipse shrugs. “We should keep moving.” The three ponies follow the corpses through this main hall. Their hoofsteps echo into the distance, the air is still and humid. In places, they have to climb over the great tree’s roots where they have grown into the temple. In others, they have to duck under fallen stone pillars. Always they watch for traps, and although there are many, they have all long been triggered or rendered harmless. Until at last the three come upon a second stone gateway.

“Hold up.” Tiny stops at the entry, looking at the rubble. There’s a heavy iron-tipped battering ram lying on the floor. “This next chamber was sealed, whatever was in there must have been important.” Eclipse and Red stay by the door as Tiny cautiously enters the room, strangely devoid of the great tree’s roots. “There was a battle here. The walls are scorched and blasted.” Then he whistles, impressed. “You two should see this.” The other two follow him in, their floating lights revealing what amazed Tiny so.

In the center of the chamber is the splayed out skeletal body of a huge pony. Easily as tall as Celestia, and bones as thick as the leg of a normal pony. It wears a suit of impressively thick full plate armor. The dead pony has been pinned to the ground by an immense greatsword, tinted red, driven right through its back and into the floor. The weapon itself is badly rusted, but would once have been quite the monstrous sword.

“I’ve seen him before,” Red whispers it aloud. Eclipse blinks, recalling the dream.

“So have I, in a dream.”

“Wait, you mean we’ve all had the same dream?” Tiny turns to face them, all equally confused.

“You too?”

“That was clearly no simple dream then. I’m starting to think our meeting was no simple accident. Red, what brought you to the stone circle?”

“I stumbled on it by accident.” She does not say she was looking for this very tree.

“Did you?”

“Wait… no, I was pointed that way by a dragon. What about you, Tiny?”

“I was pursuing a pony, who led me there.”

“It was the same for me.” Eclipse nods. “A white unicorn. Now that I think about it, she reminds me of one of the figures from the dream.”

“She was a sorceress. There was another pony as well, wielding a strange color-changing sword.” This from Red.

“And a small red dragon.” Tiny nods as well. “They were defending this place, weren’t they?”

“From him, Knight Harrow,” Eclipse points at the huge pony corpse, “and the rest of the Cult of the Red Blade.”

“What was the Cult after?” Slowly Tiny faces the back of the room, and the others both look as well, each somehow knowing the answer. In the very back of the shrine sits a crystal goblet atop a plinth. Tiny steps over the Cult leader’s dead arm to approach the goblet.

“No, it’s mine.” Pale light flickers from within the eyes of the skeleton. Tiny spins to face it as the body stirs.

“Oh… yak shit.” Each of the three ponies back away as Tiny swears. The skeleton gathers its legs under itself and pushes against the floor, the red sword tearing through the plate armor and bone as the skeleton stands. Once the monster is standing at full height it rips its body free of the hilt of the sword that had impaled it to the floor. Then it clamps it’s jaw on the blade and pulls, the rusted metal snaps off at the ground. The undead pony stumbles slightly and then glares at Tiny with points of vile light for eyes as it readjusts its grip on the greatsword.

Red reacts first, flinging her flame at the back of the skeletal monster. The fire flashes against its back, but the creature ignores it, apparently unharmed. Scraping sounds from outside the shrine chamber draws Eclipse’s attention, a number of the dead cultists are also stirring.

“We have more coming!”

“You two seal the door, I’ll hold this thing!” Tiny draws power from his pact, and his body becomes encased in what looks like ice, then he pulls his sword. Red turns towards the doorway and starts to stack the rubble to form a makeshift barrier, Eclipse aids her.

The skeletal Knight steps closer to Tiny, dragging one leg as though it were useless. It sweeps the red greatsword through the air with surprising speed, but the weapon has reduced length from what the skeletal being was used too, and Tiny has no trouble avoiding it. The smaller pony darts in, raking his black blade against the armored side of the undead. Despite his sword cutting into the metal armor, he does no appreciable damage to it.

The first of the skeletal cultists reaches the stacked rubble, thrusting its spear in towards the unicorns. The spearpoint passes by Eclipses head but does not strike home. Eclipse counters with a bright lance of energy and the skeleton bursts apart. More undead advance towards them. Red flings firebolts out into the approaching horde.

Knight harrow attacks Tiny again, this time the red blade lands hard against the pony’s side. The magic ice armor explodes out in a shower of shards, peppering the Knight in revenge as Tiny stumbles to the side, alive but injured. Tiny gets his footing again and lunges in before the lumbering undead can get its own balance back. His black blade sinking deep through a gash in the Knight’s armor, bone snaps within the creature.

“I could use some help here!” Tiny limps further away from Knight Harrow. “This thing won’t go down!”

“Red, hold the gate!” Eclipse spins and concentrates for a moment. A bright star shoots out from his horn and slams into the undead monster. It stumbles, and starlight gleams from a crack on its armor’s side. Tiny recognizes the weakness in the undead and darts in, slamming his sword, point first, into the crack. The creature nearly drops its sword as an unholy howl emits from it.

The skeletons from outside close on the gateway, Red’s firebolts unable to keep them all at bay. She draws in a deep breath and then shouts, red flames erupting from her horn and washing out over the approaching cultists. Most are burned away, their bones crumbling into ashen piles. Two more push through the fire, one thrusting with its spear. The lance sinks deep into Red’s chest, she screams in agony and falls, bleeding onto the stone floor. The second cultist slashes with its own weapon at Eclipse and cuts his flank. The unicorn still standing yelps and retreats as the two skeletons clamber past the makeshift barrier and close on him, ignoring the badly wounded one on the floor.

Knight Harrow slashes powerfully at Tiny, and the greatsword flashes a mere inch before his eyes. He shudders for an instant, startled. Had the sword not been broken, it would have splattered Tiny’s brains all over the stones. The swing was so powerful that the momentum knocked the Knight off his own feet. The undead tumbles and rolls along with the motion until it can climb back to a stand. The shock of the near killing blow prevents Tiny from taking advantage of a chance to strike back.

Eclipse glances past the oncoming skeletons, Red is twitching in pain. He lashes out with a lightning shock on the nearest cultist and it clatters to pieces. He repeats the spell on the second one to reach Red, the skeleton twitches, and falls. She’s badly wounded, bleeding heavily. He tries to staunch the wound, but he’s no medic.

“Red is hurt!”

“Busy!” Tiny is trying to get in close enough to deliver a destructive blow, but the undead Knight Harrow’s sword is too much of a threat, he can’t get close. The greatsword crashes down and cracks the stone as Tiny darts aside, the undead is focused entirely on the pony.

Eclipse glances down at Red Haze again, they need to end this fight before they can help her. He focuses his powers for a second guiding bolt and the bright star blasts into Harrow’s side. A light flashes within the undead skull.

Tiny has only one chance. When the Knight thrusts with the damaged greatsword, Tiny rolls beneath the blade and kicks up, knocking the blade nearly out of the monster’s grasp. Then he completes his roll and jabs his sword into that light before the undead can downswing again. The black blade’s point bursts out the top of the monster’s skull. The baleful lights in the monster’s eyes flicker and fade and the jaw drops its grip on the greatsword. Tiny scrambles out of the way as the rusted metal blade nearly falls on him. With a crash the now destroyed giant undead pony falls to the side. They watch the skeleton carefully for a moment with bated breath, but it does not move again.

Tiny sighs a breath of relief and drops his sword as he runs over to Red and Eclipse. Once out of his possession the black blade dissolves into nothing.

“How bad is she?”

“Bad, the spear went deep.” The only Thing Eclipse can do to help is press the wound closed with his hooves to try to stem the blood flow. “I don’t think she’ll make it without immediate aid.”

“Your magic can’t help?” Tiny reaches for a small necklace he wears, hanging on it is a single tiny glass orb filled with a red liquid.

“I don’t know medical magic.” Tiny removes the necklace and glances at it, then down at Red. For an instant, he hesitates, but then makes up his mind.

“Red, can you hear me?” The unicorn’s eyes flutter, she’s still conscious. “If you can, I need you to swallow this.” He pulls the orb off the necklace and sets it on the injured unicorn’s tongue. She struggles to get it down her throat, nearly retching and gagging. Blood sputters out of her mouth when she finally manages to swallow it.

A red glow emanates from the wound, pulsing in time with her heartbeat. The blood flow stops and the flesh knits itself back together. She retches and vomits up a pool of blood, and the little orb comes up with it, now empty. She gasps for clean breaths, but she’s alive.

“What was that?” She can barely speak, still trying to catch her breath.

“A little bit of healing magic I was saving for an emergency. I figured this counted.”

“Thank you.” Eclipse helps her back to her feet and remains by her side so she doesn’t fall over again. She reaches up to feel the wound, there’s a new scar there. They take a few moments to examine the other injuries they sustained. Tiny has a bad bruise running along his side, but the breastplate and the magic ice had stopped it from being a lethal blow. The cut on Eclipse’s side isn’t too deep, it will heal.

“Now, let’s see what all this pain and death was for.” The three stumble over to the plinth with the crystal goblet. Eclipse leans in to inspect the goblet up close. “It’s beautiful, but I don’t see anything particularly special about it.” Tiny reaches out to take it, but his hoof simply passes through it, the image of the goblet wavers for an instant before reforming.

“What? It’s not even real?” Red seethes, little embers flashing about her as her anger boils. “I almost died… for an illusion!”

“This was all pointless?” Tiny kicks the wall behind the plinth in frustration, and nearly falls over when his hoof passes right through it. They all stare at the apparently solid barrier.

“Maybe not.” Eclipse pokes at the wall, and it ripples like the surface of a pond. He glances at the other two and then steps through it. “I think I know what happened here now. You two should see this.” Red and Tiny follow him.

The space behind the false wall is entirely full of roots, growing towards the center of the chamber. The tree is reaching for a basin in the center of the space; on one edge of which stands a goblet, identical to the one on the other side of the false wall. The shrine is lit by a pale golden glow coming from the basin.

Three more skeletal bodies lie in state before the basin. One is obviously not a pony; bipedal, winged, horned; a draconic corpse, it wears a pair of bronze bracers on its folded arms. Another is Earth pony, lying on its side, and next to it is the strange longsword in its sheath. The final corpse is a unicorn; wearing a silver tiara which spirals around the horn on her head. The two pony’s arms are intertwined.

“They gave their lives to defend this place.” Red steps forward and starts to pray for the dead heroes. Eclipse carefully moves around the bodies to examine the basin and the goblet. Tiny eyes the sword, and then reaches out to take it. Red slaps his hoof away. “Have respect for the dead.”

“They aren’t going to need it anymore.”

“It’s not yours!”

“I think… it might be.” They look up at Eclipse as he interrupts. “We were brought here. By the dream, and by them. They wanted us to be here. To see this.” He gestures down at the basin, indicating they should come over. Tiny steps over the bodies to reach it, Red is more respectful and goes around them.

Within the basin is a glowing golden liquid resembling honey, and within it are three tiny diamond lights. Without waiting or asking, Tiny reaches in to grasp one, but it swims out of reach. When he pulls back, the golden fluid flows back into the basin, his arm is dry.

“It’s warm.” A tiny droplet of the fluid drips down from above, and they all look up. Directly above the basin is a gap in the root system. It’s barely over an inch across, and the light doesn’t reach in to illuminate where it leads. All the roots seem to come from this tiny gap.

“I think we’re directly under the core of the great tree.”

“Then what is this? Its sap?”

“Possibly.”

“And what are those lights? Seeds?”

“I couldn’t possibly be sure.” Eclipse ponders something for a moment, glancing at the crystal goblet. “This tree is ancient and magical.” Now he looks back out towards the fake wall and the corpse of Knight Harrow on the other side. “The living sap of such a being might very well be a source of incredible power. This, this pool of sap is what the Cult of the Red Blade was after. Those heroes gave their lives to prevent that. Now they have guided us here.” Eclipse lifts the goblet from where it was sitting, this one is quite physical, and dips it into the fluid. One of the tiny diamond lights flows into the crystal. It quivers slightly at the core of the goblet as he holds it up.

“Eclipse, what are you doing?”

“Testing a theory.” With that the unicorn drinks deeply from the goblet, the diamond light slips down his throat, somehow still visible until it sinks into Eclipse’s core. For a moment nothing happens, and then he drops the goblet. It bounces off the roots but does not break. Light emits from his eyes and he smiles. “Don’t be afraid. The stars are beautiful.” His voice echoes in the tiny chamber. Then he lies down against the wall and lets his eyes close.

“Eclipse? Are you OK?” The unicorn doesn’t respond to Tiny. But he breathes deeply and slowly as if sleeping. The cut on his side seals itself shut without leaving a mark on him. Red looks from the sleeping unicorn to the dead heroes.

“They could have used this to save themselves, but they didn’t. I think he’s right. This was meant for us, for whatever good or ill lies ahead.” She lifts the goblet next and scoops out the second diamond light. She takes a deep breath and drinks the sap and the light, she has just enough place of mind left to set the goblet down. “It tastes like honey. Like lying in the sun.” Then Red goes to the opposite side of the shrine from Eclipse and sets herself down, within a moment she too is sleeping.

“Oh great, sure. Leave me with two crazy ponies and three dead heroes. Just fantastic. Who’s bright idea was this, anyway?” Then tiny picks the goblet off the floor and looks at it. “Well, don’t want to get left behind, now do I?” he is about to fish out the last remaining diamond light before he hesitates. He glances at red, then Eclipse, and then the three dead. Tiny sighs and sets down the goblet.

Then he steps over the arms of the dead and takes up the sword in the sheath by the body of the earth pony. It feels comfortable to him like it belongs to him, and he straps the sheath on. He glances at the objects possessed by the other two heroes. Trying to be as respectful as one can while looting the dead he works off the bracers and the tiara. He drops the bracers next to red, and the Tiara in front of Eclipse, before going back to the basin and the goblet.

“Well then.” He fishes out the last diamond light and holds up the goblet towards the dead and the living in salute. “Thanks, guys. Here’s to you.” With a single swing of his head, he lets the sap slip down his throat. His mind explodes into a spray of psychedelic prismatic light. “Oh, look at the pretty colors.” He giggles as he finds a corner to curl up in.

The massive pony gurgles his last, pinned to the floor by his own greatsword, Knight Harrow’s lifeblood pools around him as he struggles towards them, hateful even in death. The three heroes are not faring much better. Their dragon ally is already dead, having been run through by the red blade, his body smolders. The swordpony limps badly and bleeds from deep gashes. The white unicorn can barely stand, coughing up blood and wheezing. What few cultists remained fled when the giant pony fell.

“It’s over.” The swordpony sheathes his shifting blade. “Hate is slain. The Elements are sealed, Equestria is safe at last.” Sadly the two ponies drag the dragon’s body through the false wall, into the basin chamber. They lay their friend to a place of rest, folding his arms over his heart, and dip their heads.

“Such a cost was paid. So many lives lost, cities and forests burned in his mad quest.”

“What do we do with the sap?” The Earth pony gasps, holding his arm over his chest. He pulls his hoof away to find his blood staining it. The white unicorn hasn’t noticed how badly he is wounded.

“I don’t know.” She coughs again, sputtering blood, a gash on her chest bubbles, a lung punctured. “There isn’t enough for both of us.” The swordpony carefully sets his sword on the ground, he can feel his strength fading already. Quietly he sets himself down.

“It’s for you. Go, and live on.” The white unicorn turns to face him, and he smiles one last time as his eyes shut, the last thing he saw the face of his love.

“No! No, don’t go!” She cradles his body, but the pony is already dead. She weeps for a moment, and coughs again, splattering his face with her blood. She won’t last much longer herself.

So she lets him go and stands, limping to the basin of the sap of the tree of worlds. A single diamond light swims within the golden fluid. It would save her life, grant her greater powers than she had ever known. All she has to do is drink it. A single droplet of sap falls out of the heartwood above her, the sap ripples as she looks down at it.

“No. This power is not meant for me. In time Tyranny will rise again, they will need its strength to face him.” When she dies this place will be freely accessible to any who would find the entry, an easy task considering the battle and size of the great tree. “I’m sorry, my love. I cannot even give you a proper funeral. The tree must be protected.”

She pulls herself away from the basin and focuses all her remaining magic, but it's not enough. So she draws everything she can from her casting crown to empower the spell. It’s still not enough, so she steals the potential from other sources; the Dragon’s gauntlets, and the prismatic sword. Still, to shield such a place, it will take even more. There is one place left she can take power, what’s left of her own life. She lets one tear roll down her cheek as she takes it all.

Her magic flows through the roots and branches of the tree, pouring out through the air and stones below. The great tree glows brightly with her power and then vanishes in a flash. Taken away from Equestria to some divine plane where it cannot be reached.

“The tree is safe now; until the time of awakening comes again.” She collapses next to the Earth pony, taking his lifeless hooves with her own. “I’ll… meet you again… my love… in some… other life…” Then the air is still and quiet as she breathes her last.

In some dark corner of Equestria, a figure skulks about in silence. It treads down ancient halls towards a distant chamber of power, sure-footed despite the pitch blackness. On a table at the center of the room sits a bowl of bright silver, filled to the brim with clear water. The figure, cloaked from tail to mane, places hooves beside the bowl and whispers words of power.

Reflected in the figure’s eyes are three ponies, sleeping in a chamber filled with roots. The image recedes, to show the tree of worlds as it fades away again. The figure scowls and leaves the bowl aside. It takes quill and paper from a nearby desk and scrawls a quick message upon it. Then it raises the scroll and whispers again. The paper vanishes is a flash of violet fire, but not before the message can be clearly read.

The Empowered have awoken.

The 2nd Session: Summer Snowstorm

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Eclipse Corona stirs first. He blinks, his head pounding with the rhythm of a hundred hoofbeats. Only, those are real. He looks around and finds that he and Red Haze and Tiny Hooves are surrounded by ponies wearing the armor of Celestia’s royal guard. Beyond them are the six standing stones, they have somehow been returned to the henge. He glances up, but the tree of worlds has vanished. The sun shines over the treetops.

He returns his attention to the soldiers around him before he tries to stand. Most of them are establishing a perimeter, a few are watching the three ponies in the center of the circle. Three of them do not wear armor, but rather star-studded cloaks; wizards in the Princess’s employ. These wizards pay no mind to Eclipse and the other two, who are themselves beginning to stir, and study the runes on the stones. Someone stomps over, their shadow blotting out the sun, and he blinks against the glare to see them.

“Well, Eclipse Corona, I didn’t expect to see you here. You have some explaining to do.” It’s Rose Given, captain of the royal guard. “What happened here?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” He climbs to his feet, he had expected to feel stiff and sore, but he feels fine. Better than fine, fantastic. Something clinks as it falls to the marble below him, and he glances down to find the silver casting crown the white unicorn had been wearing there on the ground. He lifts it to examine it closely. Its fragile appearance, made from twisting spirals of thin silver that would wrap around a head and horn and bejeweled by ten tiny gemstones, belies the power it contains. “Are the other two alright?”

“I’m awake. I’m awake.” Tiny babbles a bit as he stands. “How did we get back outside?” Eclipse notes the sword strapped to his side is not the same one the Pony had, last he saw him.

“How long were we gone?” Red stumbles a bit, and feels for the scar on her chest, scowling slightly when she finds it. Eclipse blinks and looks back at his own flank, he wound is gone. Tiny’s is equally healed.

“The lot of you missed the rising of the sun, but that’s all.” Eclipse looks up at the sun again and sighs. He’s not looking forward to returning home to face his father now. At least they hadn’t disappeared for weeks or months.

“So time moved at the same rate within that place at the same rate as out here, that’s good.”

“Inside where?”

“The Tree! It’s gone!” Red stares up at the empty sky.

“I presume it’s been sent back to that demi-plane where it was secured.”

“Did you dream?” Red collects her new gauntlets and steps over as she slips them on over her forelimbs, they fit her perfectly despite being constructed for a Dragon. Some of the guards glance about nervously; Rose Given maintains her composure and allows the three to converse, although she clearly listens intently. “I saw the battle again.”

“Same here. But this time I saw Knight Harrow meet his end.” Rose blinks in surprise when Tiny says the undead’s name. “And then the white unicorn cast some spell… before she died.”

“Yes, she created that demi-plane, to keep the tree safe.”

“What tree?” Rose interrupts.

“The Tree of Worlds.”

“It was here?!” Each of the three nods.

“This place is a portal, which leads to the temple beneath the great tree.” As Eclipse explains, Rose spins towards the nearby wizards and the second in command at her side.

“I want this place secured like a vault! No pony gets in or out without my or the princess’s express permission.” The officer salutes and immediately runs off and starts to organize the soldiers. The wizards go back to examining the stones and the runes on the marble slabs. “You three.” She brings herself back to face the two unicorns and the other pony. “You need to tell me exactly what happened.”

“As I said, I am not entirely sure.”

“It got a bit confusing.”

“We were drawn here, each of us.” Red begins. “And Timberwolves surrounded us. Somehow we activated the spell in the stones, and were sent to the base of the great tree.”

“We found an ancient battlefield, dead soldiers of the Cult of the Red Blade.” Rose’s eyes twitch as Eclipse continues to explain. “They had attacked the tree, and were fought back by three powerful heroes, who gave their lives to defend the Tree.”

“Not to mention that mountain of a pony.” Tiny takes over. “Knight Harrow, wasn’t that what you said his name was? His body…”

“It reanimated as we approached, along with many of the cultists. I almost didn’t survive the fight.”

“We all barely got out of that alive.”

“You destroyed him?”

“Tiny Hooves deserves the credit for the kill.” Eclipse gestures to the circus performer. “Behind Harrow, we found-”

“An illusion,” Tiny interrupts again. Red eyes him carefully, who shoots her back a glance that tells her not to say more out in the open. “There was a crystal goblet we thought was magical, but it turned out to be just a fake. It was all a waste of time. We fell unconscious and just woke up back out here.” Rose glares at them, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

“I’m taking you three back to the Princess, she will decide what to do with you.” At this Red’s eyes go wide in surprise. Tiny glances about at all the guards and shuffles around nervously. Eclipse merely nods. “Commander!” The officer returns to her side. “You have your orders, I’m taking these three back to Trotton.” Then she points to the dozen soldiers inside the circle. “You will come with us, form escort ranks.” Each soldier salutes and drops into formation around them. The four Pegasus guards square up just above them as the eight Unicorns and Earth ponies form columns on either side.

Then Rose Given heads out; Eclipse, Red, and Tiny, are forced to follow along. Red grabs her pack of supplies from the ground before they leave the henge behind. Eclipse hovers the tiara alongside him but doesn’t put it on just yet. He wants to examine it more carefully to see if he can figure out what it can do. It takes some time to get back to town as the trees are thick enough to hamper the formation. Red slips up next to Tiny so she can whisper without being overheard.

“Why didn’t you tell her? She’s the captain of the Princess’s guard, we should be able to trust her.”

“And the others? The dozen soldiers about us? The wizards? Whoever else might be listening in?”

“Tiny is right.” Eclipse, walking along just on the other side of Tiny from Red, is the only pony close enough to overhear. “We don’t know what it was in there. At this time, silence is the wise option.” Red nods, accepting the reasoning. They pass the rest of the journey quietly. Tiny seems particularly jittery, straying as far from the soldiers as he can whenever the terrain forces them to move closer.

Eventually, they leave the forest behind and approach the town. The circus is still running, with a quite substantial crowd around the tents and attractions. Rose Given whistles once and points at one of the Pegasus above them, then to the town. The guard nods and darts off to inform the Princess of their arrival. Rose turns them away from the circus and leads them around the outskirts of the town to stay away from the crowd. She brings them back to the city square, where the stage for the celebration this morning is being used as a makeshift audience chamber.

Red Haze stares at the Princess of the Sun in open reverent awe as they approach. The tall white Alicorn with the flowing pastel mane glances up from the face of the lucky foal who had her attention. She smiles down at the child and sends them away so she can bring her full attention to her captain and the three escorted ponies.

“You have returned. What did you find in the forest?” Before Rose answers she bows, Red follows suit, barely able to take her eyes off the Princess. Eclipse also bows, but Tiny hesitates and flicks his eyes at all the guards before jerkily dropping to his knees.

“These three ponies, your Majesty, unconscious at the center of an ancient standing stone circle.” Then she stands and approaches the Princess alone. She leans up to whisper in the Alicorn’s ear, there are too many possible eavesdroppers for such sensitive information. Princess Celestia blinks, but this is her only display of surprise.

“I need to speak with them, securely.” Then the Alicorn turns and goes into the city hall. Rose indicates they should follow and herds them in behind the Princess. Once inside the Princess glances to each window and all the shutters close, Rose shuts the door behind them. Red looks like she might faint from over-excitement from meeting with her goddess. Tiny, on the other hand, seems like he might rather face Knight Harrow again. Eclipse stands a bit straighter than before but maintains his composure, a private audience with Celestia rather more than he expected. Once the room is sealed, lit from above by a few high windows, Celestia speaks again. “Alone, I would prefer.”

“But, your Majesty!” Celestia holds up a wing to order Rose’s silence.

“Rose, do not worry.” The royal mare sweeps her eyes over the three before her, smiling faintly as she locks eyes with each of them for a moment. “They will not harm me. I suspect if either stallion attempted it, that this young mare would leap to my defense.” Rose glares down at the three ponies, and then with a scowl leaves the town hall and shuts the door solidly. “Before we begin…” Celestia raises her horn and casts a spell, the room shimmers for a moment. Several sparkling orbs appear in the air, scrying sensors. “I thought as much.” She casts a second spell, and the orbs blink out of existence. “Now we may speak candidly, no one will overhear what we say. My captain tells me you made your way to the Tree of Worlds, is this correct?”

“Yes, your highness.” Eclipse responds first, drawing a hiss from Red. “We will explain if we can, what we experienced.” Each, in turn, tells the Princess their version of how they were led to the standing stone circle by dreams and a stranger. Following that, how the henge transported them to the gateway of the temple. “We found ourselves at the heart of an ancient battlefield.” The princess’s eyes fall to the breastplates on Eclipse and Tiny, and she frowns.

“I recognize that symbol. I had thought the Cult of the Red Blade was destroyed centuries ago.”

“They were, my lady of light.” Red bows again. “In the deepest shrine of the temple, at the heart of the Tree of Worlds, we found the corpse of Knight Harrow.” Celestia nods, relaxing slightly. “Although, as we drew near his body woke again.”

“His hate was a powerful thing, it is no surprise to me that it would linger in such a place of power.”

“He nearly killed us all. We were able to destroy his undead form.” Celestia nods again upon hearing this from Eclipse. “Beyond his body, we found a hidden chamber. Where the bodies of the ancient heroes who killed him lay.” The princess lets her head droop slightly.

“Ah, so they perished in the battle.”

“Did you know them?”

“I knew of them. Those years were terrible ones, the Griffons were invading in the east, Changelings were swarming in from the south, even the Yaks were foes. I was forced to lead my armies into battle far too often. But still, I heard of those three as they fought to bring stability back to Equestria. In time their names and victories were forgotten as peace finally came.” She shakes her head sadly. “Not even I ever knew their names.”

“Past the bodies, there was a basin beneath the heartwood of the tree. Full of the sap of the Great Tree.” Eclipse doesn’t hesitate to tell the Princess what they held back from her guard captain.

“Three lights waited within the sap, and we each took one.” This takes Celestia aback, she nearly rears in surprise.

“You drank the sap!” She recovers her composure quickly.

“Yes, your majesty, we did.”

“And then we fell asleep. In our dreams, we saw the Forgotten heroes last moments. When we woke up, we were back outside, with your guard around us.” Celestia paces for a moment, obviously considering the story they gave her.

“Tell me what you saw in that dream.” Then she lets them speak again, listening intently.

“There isn’t much to say. Upon defeating Knight Harrow they limped back to the basin chamber and died. The white unicorn, she could have saved herself by drinking the sap, but choose not to.”

“There was only one star at the time. There were three when we found it.” Celestia nods as if she expected this.

“Before she cast the spell that sent the Tree into hiding, she said that one-day Tyranny would rise again.” Celestia’s eyes narrow, and she sucks in a deep breath as she stands rigid. “And that whoever would face it would need the power of the Tree.”

“Tyranny… I never thought… did she mention any other?”

“The swordpony did. Just after they killed Knight Harrow, he said that ‘Hate was slain,’ and the ‘Elements were sealed.’ Do you know what he meant?”

“No… not again.” Celestia shudders and cringes. Red stares aghast at the display of fear in the Alicorn, uncertain what to do. Princess Celestia turns away until she can compose herself again. “Forgive me. I will not speak of it, not at this time. Not until we know for a fact…” The three companions glance at each other in worry, Red most distraught of all.

“As you wish, your majesty.” The Princess falls silent, obviously deep in thought. “What do you-” Eclipse shuts his mouth as the princess snaps out a wing, demanding silence. They stand quietly as the Alicorn paces a moment longer.

“I believe I understand now.” She finally turns back to face them. “Those who guided you to the stone circle. They were the ghosts of the forgotten heroes, calling to you.”

“But, why us?” Tiny can’t hold his question back. “What do we have to do with them?”

“I believe you are them. Or rather, you are their souls reincarnated back into forms of flesh and blood. They brought you to the basin so that you could drink of the sap and be gifted the power within. I remember how I found myself there once and drank of the same.” Red raises her hoof to her mouth, taking pride in sharing a connection with her idol. “There is a power within that gift. If you are, in fact, the reincarnations of those heroes you may have also inherited some of their own strengths. You may very well become quite powerful in your own right.”

“If we are reincarnations… what does that mean about our own fates and destinies? Are we bound to the same course as our predecessors?”

“Not at all.” Celestia giggles. “Your destiny is your own. Whatever you choose to do with that power is your own choice. I will not dictate the course of your lives. However, I would be willing to invite you to ally yourself with me, and help secure Equestria against whatever dark forces may move against it.”

“I would be pleased, honored!” Red Haze jumps at the chance to work directly for, or with, The Princess of the Sun.

“If I can be of aid to Equestria and its future, I will.” Eclipse bows deeply. Tiny hesitates, and all of them look to him.

“You do not need to feel pressured by the decisions of the others. You may choose to refuse my offer, with no consequence against you.” Tiny lets his gaze fall to the floor and then looks at his hooves.

“I’ll do it, on one condition. I am searching for the pony who murdered my brother. I will work for you if you promise to help me find him and bring him to justice.”

“This, I will do. Murder is a crime most foul and whoever has committed such a sin must be punished.”

“Thank you.”

“Now then, my new friends, I think it is time I learned your names.”

“Red Haze, your majesty.” Red leaps to be first again, bowing deeply and puffing out her chest in pride.

“Tiny Hooves…” Tiny responds slowly, hesitantly.

“Eclipse Corona, second son of the Astral family.” He bows, not quite as deeply as Red did.

“The Astrals? I know that name. Your father has come to the palace repeatedly. Please, be aware that I cannot show your family any greater favoritism than I already do by giving you this position.”

“I understand, and am grateful for the opportunity, regardless.” Silently he considers that his father will be quite pleased to know he is working directly for the Princess.

“Now, please invite Rose back inside. There is a little more I wish to discuss with her present.” Celestia glances around the room and the windows fly open to let more sunlight inside. The time for secrecy has ended. Red is the first to reach the door, gesturing for the captain, standing just outside, to return. Once inside Rose salutes the Alicorn and speaks.

“How may I serve you?”

“These three…” Celestia glances from one pony to the next, pausing for a quick moment on Tiny. “Interesting new friends will be assisting us in the foreseeable future. I wish you to assign them a bodyguard.”

“A bodyguard?”

“I will explain in greater detail later.” Celestia considers something. “Send for Rampart Rock.” Rose nods and heads back outside.

“Excuse me, my lady. But why do we need a bodyguard?”

“You saw those scrying sensors when we entered the room? There are other, darker, forces at work in Equestria. They will know, sooner or later, that you three have come into possession of power. They will seek that power for their own ends. Some will not hesitate to cause you injury to get it, or to remove it from being a threat to them.” They hear the return of the guard captain before they see her, each hoofstep marked by a heavy clang. She enters the room followed by a grey Earth pony stallion, in heavy full plate armor and bearing a shield.

“You requested my presence, Princess?” His voice is harsh, and his face marred by lines from scowling constantly.

“Ah, Rampart Rock. I have a new assignment for you.” He raises an eyebrow but does not interrupt. “I require you to be head of security for these three ponies.” The soldier turns to face his new charges and quickly sizes them up. He scowls a bit when he finds something distasteful about them but does not voice any complaint.

“As you wish.”

“And now,” Celestia addresses the three again, “I have my first request for you.” They each nod. “It has come to my attention that to the north, on the border, there is a town which has not yet properly removed the winter storms. I was going to send some guards there to ascertain the cause of this delay. However, I wish to see just exactly what you three are capable of. Think of this as a trial run for your new station. Go to Shine Shire, resolve the issue if you can, and return to me in Canterlot.”

“We will leave at once.” Eclipse takes command of the three, being more used to being in a position of authority.

“If that is your decision.” Celestia giggles again. “Rose, we need to return to Canterlot immediately.”

“I will organize the guard for mobilization at once, although I must discuss the defense of portal to the Tree of Worlds before we leave.” The Guard captain salutes and turns out. Celestia heads out of the city hall as well but pauses as she passes the three.

“Good luck, my new friends. I truly hope you don’t need it.”

They did not, in fact, leave immediately. Once they were alone, without Celestia present, Red and Tiny convinced Eclipse that they should delay until the next morning, as they would need to secure goods for the journey and Tiny wanted time to say goodbye to his circus friends. Later in the evening, they gather in Eclipse’s room at the inn to discuss the change they have undergone. Rampart Rock is standing guard outside in the hall, nothing if not devoted to his task.

“Do either of you feel any different? I don’t.” Tiny stands over by the window, looking out at the street below. His new sword leaning against the wall next to the pile of supplies for the journey north.

“It’s subtle, but yes. I do sense a source of energy within me that wasn’t there yesterday.” Eclipse is at the table, still examining the silver circlet and trying to figure out what it can do. The breastplates he and Tiny took from the cultists set in the corner, stripped clean of paint.

“For me, it’s a wellspring. Especially once I saw Princess Celestia, I could feel it burning within me.” Red paces, unable to keep still. “I feel I could burn stone if I had to.”

“That would be quite a thing to see.” Tiny turns away from the window to face the mare. “So, why don’t we get to know each other.” Red glares at him when she hears the licentious tone in his voice. “I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry, it’s a bad habit.”

“Then you can go first.”

“You said you were searching for the murderer of your brother.”

“Yes. I found my brother in his room, dead, with the pony who killed him standing there with a dagger. I couldn’t see his cutie-mark, he was wearing a long cloak. The only thing I saw clearly was the scar on his face.” Tiny traces a long line down the side of his face. “It was years ago. I’ve been looking for him ever since. Traveling through Equestria pretty much at random.”

“With a circus?”

“Sometimes.” Tiny shrugs. “Mostly on my own, taking whatever jobs I can get.”

“And you never went to the authorities with this?”

“We lived on the outskirts of Equestria at the time, there was no one to go to. And…” he hesitates. “I may have managed to get myself in trouble with the law a few times.”

“Ah, I figured it out!” Eclipse, only paying half-attention, finally stands and slips the circlet over his horn.

“Figured what?”

“What the circlet does.” He focuses and two tiny gems beside the horn slot shine momentarily. “It’s a storage device for magical energy. If I need to I can power a spell or two from this without draining myself.” He focuses again, but the remaining tiny gems do not react as he funnels power into the circlet. “Hmm… I think it’s been damaged somehow. I’ll have to figure out how to restore it before I can use it to its full potential.”

“Do you think these have some special power as well?” Red holds up one forelimb, indicating her bracers.

“Probably.”

“Do you think you could identify it?”

“I can try.” He glances at Tiny’s sword. “Would you like me to do the same for your weapon?”

“Might as well.” Tiny shrugs. He passes the sheathed sword to Eclipse as Red removes the bracers and sets them on the table. “So what about you? What’s your story?”

“I use to live far to the east of here, on the coast. But…” She hesitates, glancing at the other two. “I had a vision. Of a burning mountain, and the fall of a great tree. I left home to search for answers. I know now that it was the Tree of Worlds I saw.”

“OK, that’s fair I guess. But I was hoping to get to know you, not just your reason for traveling.”

“All you need to know is that I can burn you to ash if you touch me.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Trust must be earned… but you did save my life back there. Thank you.”

“I don’t have any more of those healing orbs. If one us goes down like that again, we’re toast. Unless we find more, I used to have three of them.”

“Alright, Red,” Eclipse speaks again. “These should help avoid that need, actually.” He returns the bracers to her. “They will defend you with a magical barrier, but as with my circlet, their potential has largely been lost. I suspect they once contained more potent active defenses, which might be helpful if we can reactive them.”

“Thank you.”

“Eclipse, come on buddy, your turn to share.”

“You already know I’m nobly born. My family, the Astrals, goes back a long way, all the way back to the time before Nightmare Moon. But my grandmother foolishly squandered our resources. We’ve lost most of our lands and holdings, so we don’t rank high in the esteem of the others anymore. Father sent me here to be part of the Summer Sun Celebration.” He sighs. “He’s going to chew me out for missing it.”

“A little overbearing?”

“He has… high expectations for myself and my siblings.” Eclipse lifts the sword off the table and turns it over in the air before him as he examines it. The blade is slightly curved, and the cutting edge seems to waver and fork as he watches it. The metal has a prismatic sheen to it. “I think he wants us to restore the family to its rightful place. That will never happen, he doesn’t seem to want to accept it.”

“Why do you say that? If the sap of the Tree of Worlds has given you great power, maybe you can.”

“I seriously doubt it.” He chuckles. “If the stories of our past are true, the Astral family used to serve Princess Luna herself.”

“Who?”

“Don’t you know any history?” He shakes his head. “Luna, the younger sister of Celestia, and Princess of the night. You might better know her as Nightmare Moon.” Red hisses at the name and backs away, little sparks of flame flicker at the ends of her mane.

“You served the blasphemer, the enemy of the light!?”

“You misunderstand, this was nearly five hundred years ago. I do not worship the dark in such a way.” Red eyes him carefully but calms herself before she burns the inn down. “It is my belief, and that of my family, that she can be redeemed and take her place where she belongs at Celestia’s side.” He sets the sword back on the table. “Even with powers granted to me by the Tree, if that is indeed what has happened, such a feat would be far beyond me. The Astral family has been slowly waning for all these long years. Unless Princess Luna returns within a few generations, we will be nothing more than a forgotten footnote of history.”

“How fatalist.” Tiny rolls his eyes.

“My own feelings on this matter are… complicated.” Then Eclipse passes the sword back to Tiny, who sheathes it and places it back with the supplies. “I can’t make heads or tails of this thing. Its nature seems to change moment by moment, all I can say for sure is that it is quite magical.”

“We all saw what it could do in those dreams.”

“If you can figure out how to use it that way, it would be quite potent again.” Outside the light begins to fade as the sun sets. “We should get to rest early, we have a long way to go tomorrow.” Red nods and turns to go, but Tiny hesitates.

“Hang on a moment.” He sounds apprehensive. “There’s something you need to know.” He glances down at his sword and steps a few strides away from it, closing the window as he does so. “If we’re going to work together like this, then you need to be able to trust me.”

“Tiny, what are you talking about?” The pony locks eyes with Eclipse Corona and then Red Haze.

“Please, don’t scream.” Then he takes a deep breath. A flash of green light bursts from him, not bright enough to blind but enough to startle. Where a moment ago stood a pony there now stands a faintly equine creature which resembles an insect more than a pony. Its carapace is green and chitinous, a pair of small horns sit on its head, in its mouth are small fangs, it has no mane or tail to speak of.

“You’re a changeling!” Red almost shouts it, scrambling backward. “A beast that feeds on ponies!”

“No, wait! Please. I needed you to see this, my real body, so you could trust me.”

“Red, calm down.” Eclipse is steady, despite the surprise. She remains on alert, her summoned flare ready to strike out at any moment. “Tiny, if that is your name, what is the truth about your story?”

“All of it. My brother really was murdered by a pony. I wandered Equestria looking for him. I followed the dream and the ghost, the same as you. My only lie was that I was a pony. The rest is real.”

“How many ponies have you fed off? Monster.” She spits the word.

“I haven’t done that in years! I love this land!” His voice almost cracks. “Everyone here is friendly and most are kind, I don’t have to watch for a knife at my back the way I did in the hive, and I don’t have to fight for food. Ponies share their friendship and love freely. Equestria may not be where I was hatched, but it is my home.”

“How can I trust you now, knowing you are a shapeshifter?”

“It is because we know it that we can.” Eclipse stands between the two, facing Red. “Think, Red Haze. He saved your life when you were wounded. He didn’t have to.” Her snarl starts to fade. “He could have harmed me in my sleep, he did not. He fought at our side against Knight Harrow.”

“I should still turn you over to the Princess, both of you.”

“I think Princess Celestia already knows.” Surprise flashes in Red’s face. “If the Princess herself is willing to give the changeling a chance, you should do the same.” Red’s fire dims and fades as she struggles to decide what to do with this new information. Eclipse faces Tiny now. “Thank you, for sharing this secret with me. I see nothing wrong with any of your actions. I would be pleased to have you as an ally.”

“Thank you.”

“So what is your real name?”

“I’m Tiny Hooves. My changeling name?” Tiny shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. That’s not who I am anymore.”

“It doesn’t bother me if you wear that form, but I advise you to keep it a secret when you eventually meet my family. My father wouldn’t hesitate to turn you in if he thought it would gain us prestige.”

“I wasn’t exactly planning on announcing it to the world.”

“The only question is…” Eclipse turns back to face Red. “What are you going to do?” The unicorn mare is still tense, eying the changeling suspiciously.

“It’s true. You did save my life. If you had meant us harm you could have killed us both when we slept after drinking the sap.”

“I even took the circlet and bracers off the dead and gave them to you. Not that it counts for much.”

“What have I gotten myself into? A moon worshiper and a changeling?” She shakes her head. “Very well. I will not turn you in. I will fight alongside you, we will serve the Princess together. But that’s all. We are allies, not friends.” Before Tiny can respond she spins and leaves the room, slamming the door behind her. Eclipse faces his new changeling friend.

“Give her time, she seems distrustful as a rule.”

“It’s better than I expected, honestly.” Tiny shifts back into his pony form. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Then he leaves to go rest in his own room.

The sky above is clear, the horizon ahead of them is not. They left Trotton far behind many hours ago, just before dawn. Each of the four travelers is laden down with supplies for the several days trip north. Rampart Rock marches at the front of their line. Tiny and Eclipse next, Red farther behind, still leery of the changeling. Tiny hasn’t told Rampart Rock about his origin just yet, unaware of how the Earth pony fighter might react.

“Hey, Rampart Rock. Are the stories true?” The Earth pony glances back when Tiny speaks. “Did you really take down an Ursa Major all by yourself?” Eclipse scoffs with a snort, disbelieving.

“That bear gets bigger every time somepony asks.” Rampart sighs. “No.”

“I told you it wasn’t true. No pony can handle a beast like that on their own.”

“It was an Ursa Minor, a small one.”

“Ha! Pay up.” Obligingly Eclipse passes Tiny a bit.

“And I didn’t kill it. I only held it off until the guard came to my rescue and drove it away.” Tiny passes the bit back to Eclipse.

“So exactly where are we going?” Red calls from behind and she hurries a bit to catch up to the others, standing on the other side of Eclipse from Tiny.

“Shine Shire. A small town on the northern border.” Eclipse explains.

“I’ve never heard of it.” This from Tiny.

“That doesn’t surprise me, Princess Celestia had it established only a few years ago, in an effort to reclaim the southernmost province of the old Crystal Empire.”

“I remember we were taught about that in school,” Red speaks. “Celestia fought the slave armies of the King back to his capital, and then the mad-pony cursed the land when the war was nearly lost.”

“That much is true.” Rampart calls over his shoulder. “Stay clear of any ruins out here. The old townships are still rife with dangers, and dark things linger in those dead places. The few creatures who hide out here are liable to attack without warning.”

“Such was the fury of that war that the land itself is scarred and blasted. Further north, in the heartlands of the Empire, freezing winds and near-constant blizzards hide crevasses which can swallow a pony whole if you don’t watch your step.”

“Why would the Princess try to colonize such a dismal place?” Tiny frowns as he looks ahead to storm-clouds in the distance.

“I suspect she takes the long view of this world. It may take lifetimes to clear the dangers, but then the lands would be fertile and clean. Green plains and open fields as far as the eye could see. To her eyes, it would be worth the cost.”

“She has seen other dark places brought into the light in her long life. Manehatten used to be one such cursed place before she spent considerable effort to restore it.” Red doesn’t hesitate to praise the Princess.

“We should quicken our pace.” Rampart calls from the front again. “That storm ahead of us looks like its getting worse. We need to find shelter before it overtakes us.”

“Shouldn’t there be villages or way-stations to rest at?” Eclipse is the one to complain, the others all more used to resting outside.

“Ordinarily, yes. But Shine Shire is still new, and so far north and lightly patrolled that we organize a monthly convoy instead of allowing free travel.”

“Once a month? That’s it?”

“If you don’t like it, get the nobles who own the land to use their own forces to secure it.”

“What if the town needs help? Or there is an emergency?”

“Hey, Red.” Tiny waves a hoof to get her attention. “That’s our job.” Red slows as she considers this, Eclipse hangs back to talk with her.

“Not used to having responsibilities, are you?”

“I’ve been traveling on my own for so long. It didn’t occur to me that I’m the one others call to for help now.”

“The obligation of power is having to use it responsibly.”

That night the storm rolled over them, and they sheltered in a copse of trees to wait it out. The rain made everypony miserable and the ground muddy. When the sun rose the next morning none of them were in much of a good mood, but at least their tents kept them mostly dry. Although the storm had passed, the weather was still decided sour, and the clouds continued to drizzle on them the entire day. It was late afternoon when the temperature started to drop sharply.

“Is that snow?” A tiny white snowflake lands on Red’s nose. They all pause and look up. Sure enough, the rain is letting up but the snowfall has begun. “It shouldn’t be snowing, not in the middle of summer!”

“The situation in Shine Shire must be worse than we thought.” Eclipse frowns.

“This could be bad, I didn’t bring cold weather gear.” Tiny checks his gear.

“None of us did.”

“I can keep us warm, as long as we stick close to my fire.” Red summons a floating flame and steadily brightens it until they can all feel its warmth.

“Looks like we’ll be getting to know each other a bit more closely.” Tiny smirks and winks at Red.

“Don’t you dare even make that joke.” Red snaps back, Tiny’s smile fades quickly.

“Do you two have a problem?” Rampart narrows his eyes at them.

“It’s-” Eclipse starts to explain, but Red cuts him off.

“A personal matter.”

“Come on, we’ve got a long ways to go.” Rampart jerks his head towards the north and they trudge on as fast as they can sustain, trying to gain as much distance as possible before the snow forces them to slow. As they walk the falling snowflakes steadily thicken until they can barely see more than a hundred feet ahead.

“Rampart, we may have to stop if this gets any worse.”

“Weather like this might last for days. We need to get as close as we can to Shine Shire before we get stuck out here.”

“We can’t just push through this during the night, we’ll all freeze.”

“Well we can’t-” That’s when the first javelin thuds into the ground next to Tiny. They all look up in time to see more raining down around them, most go wide. Rampart manages to intercept two by placing himself and his shield between the attackers and Eclipse, the javelins bounce off his armor. Red yelps as one javelin glances off her. “Get to cover!” A shriek from above is their next warning, eight Griffons swing down out of the clouds and dive towards them.

“Pony meat tonight, boys! Get them!” one shouts, in the dim light, it’s impossible to see which one gave the command. Tiny tries to conjure his black blade but is startled when his new magic longsword is the weapon that materializes in the air before him. No time to wonder why, as two of the Griffons land beside him brandishing shortswords. Eclipse looks up at the still descending flock and focuses his magic.

“Flee!” his voice booms, the word has the power of a command spell, and two of the Griffons immediately turn away. Red shouts in anger and scorching rays of fire lance out from her horn in rapid succession, striking one of the Griffon raiders square in the chest. The creature shrieks and falls, its companion charges down at Red.

The remaining four predators all land about Rampart, trying to overwhelm him. The heavily armored pony spins in place, battering aside their swords with ease while he gets his grip on his flail.

Tiny dances between the two Griffons flanking him, cutting in and dodging as best he can in the disadvantageous position. Against a single one he could easily break through their guard and cut them down, but with two he has to spend most of his efforts on defense.

Eclipse, seeing Tiny’s and Rampart’s plights, projects a shield around them, giving each the chance to fight back as the magic barrier blunts the griffon’s blows.

Before the final Griffon can reach red, a burst of light emits from her and she vanishes out of sight. The Griffon who had been charging her blinks in confusion, and then spins towards Eclipse. The two Griffons Eclipse had forced to flee turn back towards the fight, flinging their other javelin down at him, from long range neither one reaches him.

Rampart Rock slams his flail into one assailant, the Griffon stumbles and screams, then he slams his shield into one of the other bird creatures and it tumbles away. Swords clank off his armor and shield.

Red reappears in a flash of light a few strides from where she had been standing. She flings a bolt of flame up the Griffon now descending on Eclipse, causing it to spin back towards her in anger. She blinks back out of reality before it can close, and it shrieks in irritation.

The remaining Griffons finally reach the ground, landing beside Eclipse, and the fight devolves into a swirling melee. Red pops in and out of vision, flinging firebolts at whichever Griffon seems most threatening, keeping them from swarming Eclipse. Tiny, defended by the magic barrier, makes short work of one of the attackers. Eclipse holds his attackers at bay by firing bright blasts of energy and quick electric shocks.

Despite his heavy armor and shield, Rampart is being overwhelmed. Two of the griffons stop even trying to use their weapons and simply clamp onto the pony with their claws and beaks. He cringes with pain but does not cry out. Hold immobile, he can’t properly fight the others off and they start to jab at his exposed face.

“Puny ponies! Yak will save you!” This new shout comes out of the darkness, and fully half the fighters face the sound. A huge mass of long brown fur barrels through the snow, moving quickly despite its mass and kicking up huge white clouds. The newcomer crashes into the Griffons holding Rampart, using large horns nearly as large as longswords to knock them clear. The injured Pony drops to the ground, and the Yak stands over him, shielding him with its body.

Tiny takes the chance the distraction gives him to drive his magic sword into the chest of the distracted Griffon. Eclipse, still facing two himself, smiles to himself at the arrival of an apparent new ally. The yak swings his horns in quick arcs, slamming them into the raiders and kicks out at one behind him. Bone snaps audibly beneath the raider’s screams.

With the battle turning decisively against them one of the Griffons shrieks loudly, and they all take to the air, trying to flee.

“No, you don’t!” Red appears again in a flash of light, roaring in unrestrained fury. A bright flaming blaze shoots out towards the flock of fleeing Griffons and explodes into a huge ball of fire. Eclipse and Tiny have to shield their eyes against the flash. The predators caught in the flames all fall out of the air and thud into the snow below, their bodies hissing and smoking. Only one Griffon seems to escape, but Eclipse shoots it down with a gleaming bolt of energy before it can get out of range.

The ponies all breathe heavily for a moment as the sudden end to the fight caught them all off guard. The Yak glances around at each of them and then steps away from Rampart.

“Cowardly bird things no match for Yak.” Tiny edges around the tall creature to reach Rampart Rock, who has yet to stand. “Little ponies safe now.”

“My thanks, stranger. Who might you be?” Eclipse takes a position beside Red, who has yet to calm completely, and little fires burn around her.

“Ormr is Yak name.” The yak pounds on his chest. Only now the fight was over could they see he had a large dark cloak thrown over his back. “Yak saw fire and fighting, bird things preying on the little ponies.”

“Rampart is injured.” Tiny is trying to help Rampart back to his feet.

“I’ve had worse, I’ll live.” Nevertheless, he can’t put any weight on his right forelimb without stumbling. “What’s a Yak doing out here? Yakyakistan is even farther north than the Crystal Empire.”

“Ormr not from Yakyakistan. Yak from tribe of Yakyaksgard.” The Yak puffs out his chest, making him look even larger than he is.

“I am not familiar with that tribe.” Eclipse searches his memory for any trace of the name, coming up empty.

“Yakyaksgard far to the west, quite distant from pony land.”

“We should find shelter, there might be more Griffons out there.”

“Pah, bird things no threat to Yak.”

“Rampart is wounded, we can’t make it to Shine Shire in the dark like this. We’ll have to wait for morning, despite the snow.”

“Cold not bother Yak.”

“Wait, you still haven’t answered the question. What are you doing out here?” Red, having doused her flames, eyes Ormr with suspicion.

“Yak sent here by ancestors. Warned of great danger to ponies, which threaten Yakyaksgard if danger comes to pass. Ormr sent to stop threat.” Ormr seems to think this is a satisfactory answer, Red and Eclipse share a confused glance.

“…OK then.” Tiny shrugs. “You could be a bit more specific.”

“Yak answered pony question.” The big creature eyes them each in turn, apparently judging them. “Ponies might be ones in danger, Yak will stay with ponies.”

“We don’t need your help.” Red seethes at the stranger forcing his way into the group. “You should be on your way.”

“Yak not leave. Ponies need Yak.”

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

“Yak does not fear. Yak here to help. Pony not hurt Ormr.”

“We can argue about that later,” Tiny interjects before things get out of hoof. “Right now we need shelter and a fire before we get buried in the snow.”

“Yak cave not far.” Ormr points in the direction he came from. “Ponies stay in safe cave till snow passes.” With that, the large creature moves away, certain they will follow.

“He can’t be serious.” Red grumbles. “You can’t be serious.” She complains again when the others make to follow him.

“We need a place to stay for the night. A cave, even with a yak, is still better than out in the open.”

“Celestia give me strength…” Red sighs loudly and turns to follow.

Ormr’s cave is little more than an overhanging rock, jutting out from the side of a hill. Even considering the primitive nature of the shelter, it’s still better than camping out in the open. Tiny spent the entire trip helping Rampart walk. Red continues to hang back at the back of the pack, keeping a suspicious eye on both Tiny and the Yak. Eclipse, for his part, tried to pry more information about the nature of the Yak’s mission, but Ormr refused to go into greater detail. Once under the overhang Tiny sat Rampart down and went to look for firewood.

“Red, let me see your wound.” With Rampart resting Eclipse faces Red.

“I’m not hurt.”

“Don’t try to tell me that, I saw you get hit by one of those javelins. Last time you took a hit you were almost killed.”

“…Fine.” Red obligingly holds still while Eclipse searches along her side for where the weapon had struck her.

“What was that thing you did out there, where you disappeared?”

“I stepped into the ethereal plane for a moment.”

“I’m impressed, that’s difficult magic. I… what is this?” Having found the impact site, Eclipse brushes her fur out of the way. “Are those dragon-scales?” He runs his hoof over the hardened scales on Red’s skin, scratched but unbroken by the javelin.

“I have… what?” She bends her neck around to see, just as baffled as Eclipse.

“Pony is lizard? Yak confused.”

“It would seem your change from the sap was more significant than we thought.” Eclipse backs away and goes to check on Rampart.

“Pony is tree, too?” Despite herself, Red laughs at the Yak.

“It’s a long story.”

“Did I miss something funny?” Tiny returns, bearing a few old branches on his back.

“The Yak thinks I’m part tree.” Tiny blinks at Red’s mirth.

“Ah, I get it now. The sap, right. Very funny.” He dumps the wood in a pile in the middle of the ‘cave.’ “This was all I could find anywhere nearby.”

“That’s unfortunate, it’s going to get cold tonight.”

“Yak will sleep with pony.”

“Excuse me?” Tiny bursts out laughing at Eclipse’s obvious discomfort, joined by Red and even Rampart.

“Did Yak say something funny?”

By morning the snowfall had lightened up but still drifted down from the clouds. Between the old branches Tiny found and Red’s fire magic they were able to keep warm enough over the night, and they set out again towards Shine Shire as soon as the sky starts to brighten.

Rampart was still limping, but once they convinced him to remove his heavy armor he was able to walk better. Ormr was willing to carry the heavy plate for him. As they walk it becomes clear that Rampart’s wound isn’t getting much better. By the time Shine Shire finally comes into view it’s quite clear the injury is infected.

On the subject of the Yak, Red was hesitant to let him join them, but given they couldn’t convince him to leave by any means short of violence, she didn’t have much choice.

The town ahead of them is situated atop a hill and surrounded by a wooden palisade. Activity atop the gatehouse tells them they have been spotted. When they reach the gate an Earth pony with a crossbow on the watchtower demands they identify themselves.

“We’ve been sent to find out why the winter storms haven’t been cleared.” Eclipse responds for the group, the watchpony seems hesitant, glancing at the Yak.

“Celestia herself sent us.” Upon hearing this the watchpony brightens and calls down to the guard behind the gate to open it for them. The gate creaks open and reveals a sizable group of militia and lightly armored soldiers armed with spears waiting for them, they had been ready to fight until they heard Red. There are a few Unicorns in the cluster, but the group is mostly Earth pony, only one Pegasus is visible. The Pegasus appears to be the guard commander, wearing somewhat heavier armor and a helmet. The cluster of ponies mumble and jostle each other when they see the Yak.

“Let me through, let me through!” a voice calls, and the crowd parts to allow an older looking Earth pony mare to the front of the crowd. “Thank goodness you’ve come. We were starting to worry our message hadn’t gotten through. I’m mayor Fluffy Ribbon and this is Dusty Badge, head of the town guard.”

“I am Eclipse Corona; this is Red Haze, Tiny Hooves, Rampart Rock, and Ormr the Yak.” Eclipse takes charge and introduces them all. “Before you explain what’s been happening, we were beset by Griffons on the way here and our companion is wounded, do you have a doctor?”

“Oh, of course!” The mayor turns to a nearby pony. “Would you mind taking him there?” The other pony nods and leads Rampart away. “Please, come into the town hall and we’ll try to explain.”

“Where are all the Pegasus?” Tiny looks around, not finding any.

“That’s the problem.” The mayor and the guard commander take them into the town hall, Ormr has to twist his head to avoid knocking holes in the walls as he goes through the door. “All the Pegasus still in town are too afraid to leave their homes for long, and none are willing to step outside the walls.”

“It started just after winter wrap up.” Dusty Badge continues. “One of the Pegasus didn’t come back when he was supposed to. We went out searching, but couldn’t find him. Over the next few weeks others started to disappear, one by one. Then last month there was a big storm coming in, and the entire weather unit went out to deal with it. The team vanished, all of them, they haven’t come back.”

“How many are missing?” Red asks.

“Twelve Pegasus have disappeared.” The mayor answers. “With the weather turning this bad most of our crops are going to die soon, we won’t have enough food to last through the summer and fall.” She sighs and rubs at her forehead.

“I thought the royal guard escorted a caravan of supplies here every month, wouldn’t that bring relief?” questions Eclipse.

“Our patrons, the Geode family, have been slowly reducing our monthly convoy for the past year. They said that if we can’t prove self-sustaining this year they will cut all our funding. If our crop fails we’ll have to abandon the town and go back south.”

“Would that be so bad?” Tiny tilts his head as he asks.

“We all left our old homes behind to settle out here. Most of us brought our whole families. We can’t just leave this place now.”

“Yak understands.” The big guy nods.

“If that happens, Celestia’s dream of restoring this land will wither.” Red’s looks out at the clouds. “I can’t let that happen. We will find your missing Pegasus.”

“How? We’ve searched everywhere.”

“Then they are obviously somewhere you have not.”

“Uh, Eclipse… that’s not helpful.” Tiny rolls his eyes.

“Bring me a map of the area and tell me, in detail, every place you have searched, and every place you sent one of the missing Pegasus. We will systematically determine where a dozen ponies could be hiding, or held, without being noticed.” Dusty Badge nods and leaves the room, heading to find his maps. “Red, do you think you could help the mayor organize their food to start rationing?”

“Why me?”

“Because you are used to living off the land or traveling long distances between towns without resupplying. You know how to stretch your resources to the limit.”

“I understand, I’ll see what I can do.” Red and mayor Fluffy Ribbon leave together.

“Right, you have fun pouring over your maps.” Tiny gives a mock salute. “I’ll go talk to the locals about what’s been going on.”

“What’s the point? They already told us what they know.”

“Sometimes you have to ask the wrong question to get the right answer.” Tiny and Dusty Badge switch places when the commander returns with several maps under his wings.

“What should Yak do? No good with maps.”

“I don’t know. Take a look at the landscape from the watchtower, see if there's any place you think might be worth checking. Maybe your ‘ancestors’ will provide guidance.” Eclipse mocks the quotes on the word with his hooves, Ormr doesn’t seem to notice.

“Yak will do this.” So the party divides their tasks and splits up.

A few hours later they reconvene in the town hall, Red first, followed by Ormr and then Tiny a few minutes later. Rampart is under strict bed-rest by the doctor and will be unable to assist in the search for a day or two.

“So, I’ve done what I can about discussing their rations for long-term survival.” Red starts the debriefing. “If they follow my advice they can stretch out their supplies a few more months.”

“Good. Tiny, did you get anything out of the townsponies?”

“Everypony is pretty scared, which is to be expected. The guards are of the opinion that the Pegasus have been kidnapped by something. Some of the townsponies think the Wendigos have returned.”

“That’s nonsense, the Wendigos were a myth to begin with.”

“Maybe, but one common thread about all their stories were some strange shapes and lights moving in the clouds. There is definitely something out there.”

“What about the Griffons that attacked us? Could they be the ones who did this?” Red suggests it.

“Possibly, but that was a fairly small group, and not particularly bright at that. I don’t think they would have been able to keep so well hidden for so long. Once we’re done here we should notify the other towns in the area to be aware of possible Griffon banditry.”

“I doubt they would have gone after the weather team either.” The commander interjects. “A single lone Pegasus is one thing, but a larger group? That doesn’t even include the fact that most Pegasus can outfly most Griffons. Especially weather Pegasus. If they have come this far north, we would have seen some sign of them.”

“The commander and I have gone over their search patterns. They’ve done a decent job of covering the immediate area to a distance of about ten miles. Past that the terrain gets rougher and more dangerous.” Eclipse traces a circle on one of the larger maps with his hoof. “There are some caves in the hills to the west, some crevasses and crystalline formations to the north, and the ruins of an old Crystal Empire city to the east.” He points to each of the landmarks as he indicates them. “There is plenty of space in any of those directions to hide captives.”

“If they were captured and hauled off they could be a lot further away than that.”

“True, and if there was a single pony missing that might be the case. But in order to be so systematic about this, whoever has been doing this would need to be close by the take in additional captives before the Pegasus could reach the safety of the town. They are still fairly close by. There is one more thing. All the Pegasus who went missing were sent out northeast before they vanished. So it stands to reason that the abductors have their base in either the north or the east. We should check the ruins, or the crevasses to the north, before checking the hills.”

“So, do we go spelunking or tomb raiding?”

"Yak has something to say.” Ormr has been silent for the whole conversation so far. “Ormr ancestors silent so far from home, but Yak saw dark places to east. Bad feelings from dead city.”

“So the Yak votes for checking the ruins first,” Tiny speaks and Ormr nods. “Any reason to go north instead?”

“A ruined city would provide plenty of construction materials as well as places to hide. It’s a good place to start. If nopony can provide any reason not to go there first, that should be our destination.” Eclipse looks to each of the others, no one speaks. “Good, Dusty badge, do you want to come with us or send any guardsponies?”

“I’m not comfortable leaving the town myself with the townsponies so worried, I need to be here in case something happens. I can’t spare enough ponies to search a ruin so far away. Especially if there are Griffon warbands in the area. I’m sorry.”

“Then it’s up to us.” Red stomps a hoof. “We still have plenty of daylight left, we should get going.” She examines the map. “If we keep up a good pace we should be able to get there in a little over an hour.”

“I may not be as capable of wandering about in the wild for days on end as you three, but I can manage a run like that.” Eclipse nods his assent for the plan. “Let’s get going.”

The place ahead of them resembles nothing so much as the decaying carcass of some immense beast. Once majestic spires and gleaming houses are now little more than crumbling ribs and rotting muscles. No roof remains on even the smallest house, and the bare walls reach skyward like bleached bones. Even the name of this place is dead, no living thing remembers it now.

“Yak does not like this place.” They are standing not far from the outermost structures that could be said to still stand.

“Neither do I.” Eclipse looks back, both Red and Tiny are trying to catch their breath after the hour-long run to get here. “Here I thought I was going to be the one slowing us down.”

“Stuff it. It’s cold out here.”

“Maybe the sap granted you more stamina? We still don’t know how it affected you two.”

“Possibly.”

“So do we split up? Cover more ground. Red and Ormr, me and you?” Red shoots Tiny a curious glance. “I didn’t think you would want to wander off into a ruined city all alone with me.”

“That’s not a good idea. If there really is something out here capable of taking down an entire weather team we don’t want to run into it alone. It’ll take longer to search, but staying together is safer.”

“Ormr would be fine on Yak’s own. But if ponies need Yak, Ormr will follow.”

“Yeah, stick with us. We should get to work.” Tiny is the first to willingly enter the ruins, Followed by Eclipse and red, standing side by side, with Ormr taking up the rear. For several more hours, they wander the rubble-filled streets and wrecked buildings looking for signs of activity. Whatever goods were once contained in the houses and storefronts have long ago been picked clean by centuries of time and opportunistic looters. Eclipse tries to keep them on a grid search system, but Tiny and Ormr simply head off in whatever direction they feel most lucky in.

“Hey, did anyone else see that?” Red pulls them to a stop as they pass what might once have been a walled enclosure. “Come here, stay behind the wall.” They follow her to a large crack in the barrier, easily wide enough to walk through. Behind the wall is a courtyard of some kind, with a low building in the corner opposite them, it’s door has been long missing, although the roof is mostly intact. “There, see that. In the shadows.” Something is glowing faintly in the darkness.

“Yes, I see it.” Eclipse narrows his eyes. Hidden from above by the wrecked roof, and from afar by the walls of the ancient courtyard is what appears to be an armored pony, standing upright with shield and sword at the ready.

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure. It’s too far away to get a good look. It’s not moving.”

“Then let's get a better look at it.” Tiny hefts a small stone and flings it towards the building. The rock clatters against the wall, and the armored figure lurches forward a few steps and glances around. Red gasps. The armored thing has no head or face beneath its helmet. The glow seems to come from within the armor’s interior.

“An animated suit of armor? Hmm.” Eclipse eyes it carefully.

“Could it be left over from the war?” asks red.

“I doubt it, everything else out here has been lost to time. Look at its sword, it's not rusted. It hasn’t been out here all that long. I think we’ve found our target’s hiding spot.”

“Good.” Tiny grins and glances at Ormr. “So, Yak. Who do you think can destroy it first?”

“Wait, what?”

“Yak accepts pony challenge!” Without waiting for the others, Ormr rushes through the gap in the wall and charges, with Tiny right behind him, knocking Eclipse out of the way.

“Fools are going to get themselves killed! Come on!” Red pulls the other unicorn to his feet and they run out after them. At first, the animated armor ignores them, seemingly unaware of them despite them being clearly out in the open, but as soon as they draw close it immediately turns its shield towards Ormr and readies its blade.

Two lizard-like animals, each almost as large as a pony, emerge out from the old building when they hear the Yak yelling. They hiss and growl and rush out to meet him. Ormr barrels through them, knocking one aside in his haste to reach the armor. He slams headfirst into the armor, but it was braced for the blow and resists him.

Tiny dashes between the two guard drakes, slashing them both as he goes. Despite the gashes, they remain standing and snap at him.

Eclipse focuses his magic, establishing protective magic shields around his two companions who ran out in front as red flings her firebolts at the drakes. Her shots go wide and the animals ignore her.

Ormr rears and kicks at the armor, which intercepts both kicks with its shield before slashing back. The blade sizzles and flashes where it glances off Eclipse’s shield. Ormr yells, a barbaric howl, and around him nearly transparent spirit appear, floating yak-like apparitions. They float and flicker around him, crowding around the armor and appearing to block it from facing Tiny.

The smaller pony darts past the armor to flank it before the drakes can close on him again, and rakes the blade hard across the armor’s back. It cuts through the metal, but without a back to cut, seemingly does little real damage.

Eclipse launches one of his gleaming star bolts at the armor, but even when it slams into the helmet it simply dissipates into the air, having no effect. He blinks, startled, expecting to have had more impact on it.

Red runs to the side, where she can see the armor and both drakes in an arc in front of her. Then she screams, almost draconic in fury, and flames erupt in a spray in front of her, washing over both the drakes and the armor. The lizards howl in pain, and one spins on her. Ormr and Tiny were just far enough away that her flames didn’t touch them.

The first drake closes on red, and while it snaps viciously at her she manages to back out of its range. Then it spins and slaps her hard across the face with its tail. She yelps, but isn’t terribly injured. The second tries to leap onto Tiny but rebounds off the magic shield instead.

Ormr slams his horns into the armor, and nearly sends it stumbling. The spectral yak spirits continue to prevent it from seeing any other target besides Ormr. The armor strikes out again at the Yak, nearly pushing through Eclipse’s barrier before Ormr moves to avoid the blow.

With the drakes and the armor still within her fire spray’s range, Red repeats the spell, badly burning all three foes. Even burned, the drakes still don’t go down.

With his guiding star bolt useless against the armor, Eclipse fires his arcane blast instead. Twin beams of bright energy lance out and slam into the armor. They should have burned holes clean through it, but they have as much impact on it as a wave does upon a granite cliff.

“I can’t help, it’s immune to my magic!”

“Get the drakes, we’ve got the armor!” Tiny shouts back to him, then nearly shouts in pain as the drake facing him manages to break through the barrier to clamp its jaws around his leg. Or it would have if one of the spectral yak spirits hadn’t stepped through Tiny and taken the attack for him. The spectral image flickers out, but Tiny is unharmed.

The armor continues to attack Ormr, but each time it manages to get close the blade deflects off the magical barrier.

The other drake leaps up to bite at Red, but she holds it back with one arm. It snaps and grows at her, teeth just inches from her face. She snarls back and bursts fire from her horn right down its throat. The creature lurches away, coughing and heaving until it falls to the ground, quite dead.

Tiny slashes once at the drake to force it away, and then drives his colorful blade into the armor’s leg. Despite what should be a grievous injury the construct doesn’t stumble.

Ormr kicks with his hooves and slashes with his horns, but has little effect on the armor. It does, however, keep its attention firmly on him as the spirits block its vision on Tiny or the unicorns.

Eclipse fires his arcane blasts again, this time focusing them both on the remaining drake. The first beam cuts down its side, and the second hits it square in the back of the neck. It slumps to the ground with a final yelp, its spine shattered by the blast.

Down to a single threat, Red hurls a firebolt at the armor. The flare hits the armor right in the head, and the helmet is blown clear of the body. Whatever magic was animating the construct fails, and it collapses with a clatter of half melted steel. Ormr and Tiny blink in confusion, neither one having won their bet. The Yak spirits fade away with no threat left.

“You idiotic, egocentric, testosterone spewing lunatics!” Red’s anger has yet to burn out as she shouts at Ormr and Tiny. “You didn’t even consider there might have been more danger! What if there had been something bigger than just these drakes?” As Red berates the other two, Eclipse drops his shields and comes over to inspect the ruined armor.

“Then Yak would have killed it.”

“Morons! I saw that sword deflect off that shield half a dozen times, if it weren’t for Eclipse you would be in pieces!”

“Yak could take it.”

“OK, you’re right.” Tiny sheathes his blade. “Maybe I shouldn’t have goaded him on like that. But we came out of that mostly unscathed.” Tiny spots the bruise forming on Red’s face. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Red spits out a little blood from her mouth. “Just a bit scratched up.” She stomps past him to the side of the other unicorn. “Is it down for good?”

“Yes. The magic animating it has been disrupted pretty thoroughly.” He glances around the interior of the building it was protecting. “What was it guarding? All I see is old rubbish and the droppings of those drakes.” The building appears to have once been a prison or security station.

“Then you aren’t looking closely enough.” Red walks over to the far corner and pulls up on an iron ring on the floor. A large square section of stone swings up, shedding rubbish and drake droppings, and reveals a hidden stairway down.

“Someone is on a roll today.” Tiny steps up beside her. “Well spotted. Who goes first?”

“You’re the one who can see in the dark.” Red glares at him from the corner of her eye.

“True enough.” He shrugs. “Down I go.” Tiny heads down the stairway first, with Ormr taking the rear. The passageway is large enough that he has no trouble despite his large horns. Red and Eclipse each light their way with simple spells. When they reach the bottom of the stairway the first room is a small squarish chamber with a single door on the other side. The floor is strewn with straw and unidentifiable bits of meat, presumably leftovers from feeding the drakes.

“This construction is recent, relatively speaking.”

“How can you tell?”

“These bricks don’t share much in common with the design of the Crystal Empire structures above. That, and it’s all in good condition.”

“Onward then.” Tiny looks up from where he was checking the door for traps. “There’s no trap I can find here.”

“Then Yak will open door.” Ormr rams his head into it with a heavy bang, splintering it badly. The door resists the first blow as they all stare at him. The recoil from the impact causes the door to swing back towards them.

“Ormr, it isn’t even locked!” But the Yak simply rams it again, knocking it right off its hinges and sending it tumbling into the hallway behind it. The action is anything but quiet. Eclipse sighs. “So much for subtlety.”

“If they didn’t know we were here, they do now.” Tiny looks down the now open hallway, constructed with much the same design as the stairway and the first room. “There’s another door at the end, I don’t see anything else.”

“Then Yak will open!” Without waiting for them, again, he rushes down and attacks the next door.

“Ormr, wait!” To no avail, the yak doesn’t listen to Red. The hallway booms as he rams the wooden door. “At least there aren’t traps here either.” They follow the yak as he bashes down the barrier into the next chamber.

This room is much larger than the other, almost the size of a full-blown cavern. The room is nearly a hundred feet long, with another door on the right at each end. On the opposite wall is a ramp leading up to what looks like a cellar door. The wide space is dominated by twelve metal cages. Most are empty, but three contain equine figures.

“Dear Celestia… what are those?!” Each of the three creatures snarls and snort at them, kicking at the metal bars. Their bodies are blackened and burned, and actively smoldering from each hoof and out of scars along their flanks. Their eyes and mouth glow with infernal internal fire, and their manes and tails billow like smoke.

“Hell Horses.” Eclipse remains calm as they approach the nearest caged creature. “Sometimes called Demon Steeds, or Nightmares.” The monster inside the cage kicks again, the metal rings with the blow but is rigid and sturdy.

“Fire horse is bad thing?” asks the Yak.

“Very bad. It’s a good thing these cages are built to last.” Eclipse slips around to the other side of the cage, examining the Nightmare. Red and Tiny stand beside the cage and watch it.

“Oh no… is that a cutie-mark?” Tiny, horrified, points to the creature’s side, where the remains of a symbol resembling a cloud can be seen.

“Hell Horses do not exist in nature,” Eclipse explains. “They were Pegasus once, taken by dark powers, tortured and mutilated.” Red nearly retches. “A ruined and terrible form of life.”

“These were Pegasus? Then, where are their wings?”

“Removed. Look, you can see the stumps behind their shoulders.” Eclipse points, and then it’s clear who these creatures were. “I think we’ve found the weather team.”

“Is there anything we can do for them? Can they be restored?”

“I doubt it. To become… this… they would have been tortured and imbued with vile magics. Even if we could heal them and restore their wings they would still be mad with hate and fury.”

“How do you know all this?” Red eyes him more suspiciously than before.

“I’ve studied magic, that includes the study of some the darker aspects of it. I’ve read about Hell Horses, but I had hoped to never see one myself.”

“What do we do with them?” Tiny asks.

“If there is no way to restore them.” Red shakes her head slowly. “Then killing them would be a mercy.”

Something dark whispers a vile word, unheard by the four companions. Ormr freezes. An instant later he lunges at Tiny, hurling the smaller pony away from the caged Nightmare.

“What are you doing!” Red kicks him back, but has no effect through the thick fur, and then backs away as the Yak turns his horns towards her.

“Kill the ponies. I am commanded.”

“Shit!” Tiny picks himself off the ground. “He’s been mind controlled! We’ve got to beat him out of it!” Then he draws out his pact blade, the strange magic longsword materializing out of thin air. He clamps down hard on its hilt.

“I’m more worried about what’s controlling him!” Eclipse hesitates to fire on their ally. His worry is justified a moment later when the door nearest to the entry swings the rest of the way open. An immense black serpent slithers out and rises to full height, absolutely towering over the equines.

“You are trespassing.” The voice growls deeply. It superficially resembles a black cobra, with a body nearly as thick as a tree and possibly thirty feet long if stretched out, but the malevolence and intelligence in its eyes cannot be understated.

It speaks words of power, and Eclipse can feel the air fill with an electric charge, the serpent casting a bolt of lightning towards them. The midnight blue unicorn reacts instantly, he lashes out with his own magic and wrestles with the snake for control of the spell. For an instant, they struggle, until Eclipse rips the magic away from the monster and snaps the spell apart. The large serpent narrows its eyes and focuses its anger on the Unicorn.

Ormr attacks Tiny again, kicking and swinging his horns with abandon. Tiny, agile though he is, cannot avoid it all, and nearly drops his sword as the Yak hits him. When he counterattacks he tries to avoid hitting anything important, but his cut on the Yak is still deep. Ormr shakes his head, as if to clear it, but then his resolve to kill Tiny renews.

The nightmares in the cages kick and scream, but are unable to affect the battle directly.

The serpent speaks again, its forked tongue pointed at Eclipse. Foul green vapors surround the unicorn and he shrieks as his body starts to wither, the water in his blood being siphoned out of him. Despite the pain, he remains standing.

“Enough!” Red glances between all the combatants. She reaches out with her magic, feeling the flow of power within the room, and washes it all away from her with a quick shout. The vapors around Eclipse dissipate, and his vigor returns. Ormr halts in his attack, blinking confused before spinning towards the snake. The serpent slithers back through the doorway and disappears into the darkness.

“Tiny, Ormr, go!” Eclipse, now free of the spell, points his horn at the changeling and the Yak. Tiny’s movements accelerate, becoming a blur. Ormr is right behind him, both moving faster than they possibly could before.

The two rush down the corridor, closing on the serpent before it can get away. Its eyes open wider as the catch up to it, not expecting them to get so close so fast. It can’t do more than lash about uselessly as Tiny carves long gashes into it. It hisses in pain, and can clearly see it has lost this fight.

It speaks a single word, unintelligible to the other two combatants, and a shimmering circle appears in the air and swipes across the serpent’s body. Even hasted as they are, neither Tiny nor Ormr can react fast enough to strike it again before the teleport completes. The enemy has escaped.

The 3rd Session: Breezy Winter and the Escaped Naga

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No sooner than the serpent faded from view that Red rushed down the hallway to the T-junction at the far end. Wildly, she flung fire down both directions, hoping to hit the monster. With the enemy missing, her temper boils over and she nearly explodes in fury and fire. Her mane and tail ignite for an instant as she roars.

“Where is it?!” Then she cools, unharmed by her own flames, and spins back towards Ormr and Tiny.

“It just disappeared!” Tiny mumbles it out past the grip on his sword.

“Snake invisible?” Ormr seems confused, glancing about still ready to fight.

“It vanished?” Eclipse enters the hallway. “Tell me exactly what you saw.” Tiny nods and drops his sword, it clatters on the stone floor.

“There was some sort of magic circle that ran down its body. It was too fast to interrupt, and it just sort of popped away.”

“A medium range teleport, most likely. Somewhere around a few hundred feet, at most.”

“So it’s still in here?” Red eyes the corridors again. “Even right around the corner?”

“I should say a few hundred feet in any direction. It could be back up to the city or down to a lower level if there is one.”

“I carved it up quite a bit. If I were it I would be running right now.”

“That thing, I’ve seen something like it before.” Red scowls. “There was one back in my hometown for a while. It’s called a Naga. They are hard to kill.”

“It didn’t seem that tough to me. One or two more good hits would’ve taken it down.”

“They don’t stay dead. I watched one revive after being crushed by a boulder.”

“You’ve got to be joking. Eclipse, tell me she’s joking.”

“I am unfamiliar with Naga. If she says they are immortal, I see no reason to doubt her.”

“That’s going to make it difficult to keep this thing down.”

“Snake is gone?”

“I think so. We should see if we can find anything else down here.” Eclipse points at the door down the right hoof path. “And we should definitely stick-” Ormr doesn’t even wait, and slams into the obstacle. The wooden door nearly explodes into splinters. “-Together… in case it comes back.”

“Door is open.” The Yak grins toothily at them.

“Ormr, buddy, what is it with you and doors?” Tiny shakes his head and picks his sword off the ground to sheathe it.

“Once we’re done here we need to have a conversation about this thing called 'caution,' and how you don’t seem to have any.” Eclipse reprimands the Yak as they enter the next chamber. This one is quite different than the others, clean and orderly. Along one side is what could only be described as a nest, made from pillows and cushions and fabric. Along the other is a bookshelf, the top shelf has a few small sculptures on it, and a desk covered in scrolls and papers next to the shelves. Beside the desk is a traveler’s chest.

“I think we found it’s bedroom.”

“Odd, I didn’t think Nagas needed to sleep.” Red frowns.

“They probably do need to relax from time to time.” Eclipse glances up at the bookshelf, quickly reading the titles. “Judging from some of these books anyway. Only a few involve arcane magic.”

“If you say so.” Tiny shrugs and opens the chest, he whistles appreciatively when he sees what’s inside. “That is a lot of bits.” The chest is full, nearly to the brim, with silver coins. He dips in one hoof and scoops some out, letting them fall back into the pile with satisfying clinking. “Thousands, or more.”

“We should haul it back to Shine Shire, they could use the extra funds.”

“I agree with Red, but first we need to account for all the missing Pegasus. If those Hell Horses back there were who we think they were then there should be nine more.” Tiny glances down at the fortune and bites at his lower lip, hesitant to let such wealth just lie there. “We should keep searching.” Somewhat reluctantly Tiny follows Eclipse and Red down the hall to the corner past the junction. The passageway turns to the right and ends at an open gateway, with an obvious portcullis ready to drop and seal it. The room within is obviously a laboratory of some kind. Numerous tables are covered in alchemical supplies and vials of liquid, some of which glow faintly.

“Hey look, Ormr, no door to bash down this time.” The Yak snorts at Tiny and then narrows his eyes at the floor just beyond the entry.

“Ponies should wait, pit in the way.” He points, and they can all see the faint gap in the stone where the pit is disguised. “Yak knows what caution is. Wait here.” Ormr leaps over the hidden trap. Then he flips one of the tables over the pit, smashing glass potions and delicate equipment in the process. Some of the spilled vials hiss and sputter on the stone.

“Apparently not.” Eclipse sighs. Startled by the sound, something whimpers in the dark. “There’s something in here.” They all step over the makeshift bridge and into the lab, looking for the origin of the weeping.

“Over there! In that cage.” Red points to the corner, where a sizable iron prison cell has been installed right into the stone. The cell floor is covered in filthy straw and stinks of filth and blood. A single blue pony is curled up in the corner, weeping and whimpering. “Are you alright?” Upon closer inspection, its clear that the pony is badly wounded, fresh scars and open cuts cover him from head to tail. He hasn’t eaten in days or longer, his body wretchedly thin, badly malnourished. He tenses, afraid to look up as they approach.

“Don’t be afraid, we’re here to help.” He blinks and looks up at them. “Mayor Fluffy Ribbon sent us.”

“Thank Celestia… you’re real?” his voice is cracked and hoarse.

“Give us a minute, and we’ll get this cage open.” Tiny and Ormr start to pry at the metal bars and the lock.

“What happened here?”

“That thing… it tortured us. It would strap one of us down to that table.” He gestures with his eyes to the largest table in the center of the room. The wood is stained with pony blood and covered with thick leather straps. “And it would cut, and cut. They screamed. Screaming, and screaming.” He starts to shake, overwhelmed by terror, and babbles unintelligibly.

“I got it, I got it!” Tiny finally pries the lock open and swings the cage door wide. Eclipse and Red enter and kneel beside the prone pony.

“Oh no, his wings…” Red gestures to the bloody stumps behind his shoulders. She reaches out to put a hoof on him, but Eclipse holds her arm back.

“Don’t touch him yet.” Then Eclipse leans down until he’s level with the wounded Pegasus. “Can you hear me? I need you to calm down. Tell me your name.” The blue Pegasus shudders.

“My name?” His eyes flicker around. “Breezy Winter.”

“Alright, Breezy. You need to tell me if there are any other Pegasus here.”

“I’m the only one left. All the others… It took them and tortured them. Oh, Celestia… it pulled their wings off! It made us watch! They screamed, and burned!” He devolves back into weeping and babbling.

“Come on, we’re going to get you out of here and back to Shine Shire. Can you stand?” Breezy doesn’t respond. “Ormr, do you think you can carry him back to town?”

“Yak will do this.” It takes both Red and Eclipse to lift the Pegasus off the floor and set him on Ormr’s back. They cover him with Ormr’s cloak to keep him warm. Meanwhile, Tiny searches the room for more information.

“So the good news is this thing tried to keep them alive while he was ‘working’ On them. So it had some healing potions here.” He points to some vials on a nearby table before passing them out to the others. “As well as a couple of scrolls I can’t read, I think they are more healing magic.” He passes them to Eclipse, who glances over them.

“You’re right about that. This magic can stabilize an individual on the brink of death, but nothing else.” Eclipse tucks them into his saddlebag in case they are needed later.

“So what’s the bad news?”

"It tried to keep them alive and conscious while it was working on them. All this stuff…” He waves at the tables of chemicals and knives. “It’s evil. With a capital ‘E.’ It should all be destroyed.” Eclipse glances over all the materials.

“It should be studied.”

“That’s not funny.” Tiny backs away from the midnight blue unicorn.

“You cannot be serious.”

“If there is any chance we can restore those ponies back to their old forms, we need to know what was done to them.”

“No, Eclipse. We don’t. This is knowledge no one needs.” She places a hoof on his shoulder and finds him shaking. “You really want to save them, don’t you?” He looks down at his hooves.

“What good is power if I can’t? I don’t understand why the tree gave us this gift if not to save lives.”

“We couldn’t possibly have done anything about it. Most of this horror was done to them before we found our way to the tree.”

“Tiny is right. We saved Breezy from the same fate. Now we have to make sure that Naga is put down so it can’t do the same to anypony else.” Eclipse hesitates to turn away from the experiments. “You told me yourself, the obligation of power is to use it responsibly. The responsible thing to do here is to destroy this foul stuff and find the other eight missing Pegasus.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right.” He wipes away tears that were forming. “Let’s go. There was still another doorway in the cage room.” Then he leaves the room, right behind Ormr. Red and Tiny hold back a moment longer.

“I thought he was the stoic one.”

“I think the stress of his father’s demands and what he thinks the tree expects of him is starting to get to him. We need to get out of this place.”

“If anypony was going to snap I thought it would be you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” At the doorway Red turns inward and faces the lab, readying to burn it to the ground.

“Hold up, hot-head.” Tiny steps in her way. “We need to wait until we know what this stuff is.”

“We just talked Eclipse out of this.” Red raises an eyebrow towards him.

“I mean we don’t know if it’s going to poison us or explode when you light it on fire. I want to see this place burn just as much as you. Just hold on till we nail the Naga and get this crap all outside, then it can all go up in smoke.” Red nods as Tiny finishes explaining, and they follow the others back to the cage room.

The Nightmares kick at the bars and shriek at them. Breezy looks at what used to be his friends, and recognition flashes in his eyes when he sees what’s left of their cutie-marks.

“Cloudburst, Rainyday, West Wind… no… no…” Then Breezy falls apart into weeping and distraught gasps. Red eyes the creatures as Eclipse heads down to the last doorway.

“We really should do something about getting rid of these Nightmares…” She startles and glances at Breezy, who seems even more upset. “Did I just say that out loud?”

“Seriously Red, right next to him?” Tiny shakes his head disapprovingly. Eclipse opens the last door but immediately shuts it when the stench of decay whiffs out towards him.

“We don’t want to go that way. Not with Breezy.” The unicorn is visibly shaken as he returns. Ormr harrumphs and drops the injured Pegasus onto Eclipse. He stumbles and nearly falls over trying to catch the Pegasus.

“Then Yak will check it if little pony stomach is too weak.”

“That was… not what I meant.” Eclipse groans as he tries to hold Breezy steady, Red and tiny give him some help as the Yak proceeds down the foul-smelling corridor. Exactly what Eclipse meant becomes instantly clear the moment the Yak enters the final room.

The chamber is home to the scent of decaying meat and corpses. In one corner of the room are stacked the removed wings of a dozen Pegasus. In the other, eight badly mutilated pony bodies, all quite dead. Some of them appear to have been partially eaten. The stench and the sight are almost more than even the Yak can bear, he briefly looks for some kind of identification for the dead Pegasi but finds none. Once he counts the bodies he immediately turns away.

“Yak is sorry.” His voice is more subdued than before, and he allows them to put Breezy on his back again. In silence, he waits by the exit to the cage room. “Eight bodies. Twelve wing pairs.”

Red goes to one of the cages and looks at the creature within. Its burning eyes watch her back with only incomprehensible hate. Her anger boils over again, and she shouts as she engulfs the Nightmare within her flames. It ignores her fire and only snorts at her again.

“Ormr, get Breezy out of here. We’ll be right behind you.” Tiny and Eclipse step up beside her, glad the raging fire is inside the cage.

“Cool it, Red. You can’t hurt it.”

“It’s literally made of fire and hate and pain. Your magic cannot injure it like that.” Still, she ignites the monster until the metal bars starts to glow. Now the Nightmare kicks out at her, rattling the cage, the metal bends slightly under the blow. “Red, stop!”

“It’s going to escape if you keep going!” It takes both of them to pull her away. Her flames fade away, leaving the Nightmare still trapped inside.

“They need to be destroyed! It would be merciful to end their suffering.”

“I agree. I’ll do it. Neither of you can kill them.” Eclipse sighs and looks down.

“Are they immune to a sword through the neck?”

“I doubt it, but they have enough room to move away should you try it through the bars. Let me finish this.” With nothing else to say he steps closer to the cage and focuses on the Nightmare within. He lances out with his arcane blast, but when the bright beams lance through the Nightmare it disappears in a flash of fire and smoke. The other two caged monsters follow suit until the room appears empty.

“That’s new. Where did they go?”

“I… don’t know. I didn’t know they could do that.”

“Was it another teleport?”

“I just said I don’t know.” Eclipse blinks a few times, looking around the chamber uselessly. “We need to get out of here and get Breezy back to Shine Shire before the Naga comes back.” Then he turns away and the others follow him. They find Ormr waiting at the top of the stairway back out at the ancient prison.

“Ponies slow. Yak almost left without you.”

“We’ll have to go slow this time, I don’t think Breezy could take the run.” Tiny checks on the injured Pegasus, covered by Ormr’s cloak. The Pegasus blinks and groans, but is secure and alive.

“Right, move out.” This time Tiny takes point and Ormr the middle of the formation. Red and Eclipse take turns at the rear, or beside Ormr and Breezy. Something bothers Ormr, and the Yak stops and looks around.

“Little ones, stop. Something is out there.”

“Is it the Naga?” Red scans the horizon ahead of them.

“I don’t see anything.” Eclipse checks the surrounding ruins from where he stands beside Ormr. “Tiny, do you see anything?”

“No. Just snow and rubble. If its out there, it’s hidden well.”

“We should keep moving then, but keep your eyes open.”

“Yak always watchful.”

“Sure buddy, why not.” They continue on their way, largely unaware that the Naga is watching them from the shadows. It trails them for a short time until it is certain they are leaving the ruined city. Once they have left, it turns back and slithers into the darkness as the sun begins to set.

It is already dark by the time the companions make it back to Shine Shire. This time, the guard recognizes them when they arrive and opens the gate without questioning them. Few ponies are still up, although Dusty badge is waiting for them, they don’t get crowded again, but the Mayor is woken and arrives before long.

“Did you find them? Please tell me you found them.”

“Yes…” Eclipse nods sadly. “We found them.”

“Well, where are they?” Dusty looks around and counts only the four companions and Breezy, his head poking out from beneath the cloak. “Breezy, are you alright?” Breezy starts to cry again, both from the pain of the journey and the joy of being back among his friends.

“We need to get him to the doctor, he requires immediate medical attention.”

“Why? What happened out there?” Fluffy Ribbon follows alongside. “Where are the others?”

“We’ll tell you, in private.” The group enters the doctor’s clinic and deposit Breezy on one of the beds. Rampart Rock looks up from where he was resting on another, curious. The Mayor and the guard commander both gasp when they see the state of Breezy Winter.

“His wings! Oh, my… I can’t look.” Fluffy turns away, nearly gagging. The doctor comes in a moment later, woken by one of the militia, and herds them away from his newest patient. They reconvene in the town hall.

“Tell us… what happened out there?”

“Do you know what a Nightmare is?” Red begins.

“A bad dream did this to him?” The guard tips his head to the side.

“Hell Horses. She means Hell Horses. Beings made of fire and hate and pain, they will kill other ponies without a thought.”

“I thought those were myths?”

“If only that were true.” Red shudders. “There is a Naga out there, abducting your Pegasus citizens and turning them into those things…”

“What under Celestia’s sun is a Naga?”

“A giant intelligent snake, in possession of powerful magic and terrible intent.”

“Thank goodness you killed it then.” The companions glance at each other and the mayor raises an eyebrow. “You… did kill it… didn’t you?”

“Magic snake escaped us.” Ormr grunts.

“What about the Hell Horses? How many are there?”

“Three, under the Naga’s thrall.”

“What about the rest of the Pegasus? Did you find them with Breezy? Where are they?”

“In… a manner of speaking, we found them, yes.”

“Wing ponies are dead.” Ormr is quite blunt about it. Silence falls around them for a moment as the mayor and guard commander take it in.

“We need to send a message south immediately. We need the Royal Guard.” Red is the one to break the silence. “You should send a messenger immediately.”

“I’m not sending anyone out there. Not if there’s a giant evil snake and flaming demon ponies out there. It would be suicide.”

“Then we’ll have to get them ourselves.”

“You’re going to abandon us?” The mayor bites her lip and shudders, on the verge of tears.

“What? No!”

“Red…” Tiny pulls her away from the conversation. “Remember what you talked about earlier, with Eclipse?” She nods. “We can’t go running to the royal guard. They called for help, and we came.”

“Tiny is right.” Eclipse joins them. “Even if we did run for help, it would take days, even pushing ourselves to the limit, to get all the way back south and then north again with help. We are the reinforcements, we have to do this ourselves.”

“Can we fight this thing on our own? How are we going to take it down when it will just revive?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we reach it.”

“How are we going to find it? It can just teleport out of reach even if we do spot it again.”

“I told you before, it’s a medium range spell. The Naga is still nearby. Even then, it can’t do it many times without running out of strength. Come on, we need to work with them.” Eclipse pulls the other two back to Fluffy Ribbon and Dusty Badge. “You don’t have to worry, we’re here to help.”

“What do you need from us?”

“You need to protect yourselves.” Tiny takes over. “We’ve kicked a hornet’s nest now, it’ll be coming for you now that it knows it's been spotted.”

“Actually…” Eclipse speaks. “We have to go back out there, tonight.”

“What? You can’t be serious.”

“It’s wounded, and it knows it’s been found. It won’t attack tonight. If it was willing to attack with only three Hell Horses then it would have already. It will search for a new hiding spot and prepare properly for an assault.”

“I agree with Eclipse. It might even have allies to call on.”

“Yak concurs. Ambush the snake at ruins.”

“Ormr has the right idea. Its base and resources will take time to move to a new location. This may be our only chance to catch it before it gets away and heals.”

“Especially if it knows it is being tracked and can teleport. We’ll never get close.” Tiny and Eclipse both nod, the Yak grunts approvingly, and all three look to Red Haze.

“Well…” she sighs. “I guess it’s my fault I signed up for this. Let’s get going.”

“Yak has a thought.”

“That’s a first.”

“Ponies can work iron? Build cage into a wagon.”

“What good will that do if it can teleport out?”

“Ormr will nail Snake mouth shut.”

“That might work.” Eclipse nods. “It had to speak to cast its spells back there. If we can knock it unconscious or otherwise subdue it we can take it back to Canterlot to be properly punished.”

“How quickly can you have a cage built?”

“If we have the smiths work through the night it’ll be done by mid-morning, noon at the latest.”

“Good, you do that.” Tiny glances at his companions, who each nod. “The rest of us have hunting to do.”

The 4th Session: Nightmares

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In the darkness, the chill wind bites at them. The clouds above block the light of the moon from reaching them, and the trek back to the Naga’s lair is slow. Snow continues to fall slowly.

“If this snowfall continues we’ll lose any chance of tracking the Naga.”

“Then we had better hurry.”

“I see the jail!” Tiny points at the ancient security station ahead of them, barely visible in the dim light. “Ormr, do you sense that thing around here?”

“Yak doesn’t see snake.”

“Split up, look around, but stay close. If you find something, call it out.” They all head off in different directions, but before they all get out of sight Tiny shouts.

“If you find something worse, don’t hesitate to scream.”

“I think I’ve got something over here!” It takes several minutes of searching before Red calls it out. Tiny is the first to get to her. She’s standing over a depression in the snow, and she points along the path it takes. “It looks like a snake trail to me.” Eclipse and then Ormr arrive a moment later.

“That looks right to me.” Eclipse glances around and finds he can see the front entrance to the ancient prison by looking around a pile of rubble nearby. “It could have easily seen us from here.” He turns and gestures down the route the winding trail takes. They follow it as best they can, the Naga obviously kept to the shadows and slithered over rocks as much as possible. The trail takes them to a closed cellar door hidden underneath some wild shrubs.

“Think this leads to the cage room?”

“Probably.”

“Yak will open door!” Eclipse and Red immediately hold Ormr back while Tiny blocks his way.

“Hold on, big guy! We want to do this quietly.” Ormr glares down at Tiny and huffs disapprovingly, but does not push them aside. “Besides, I don’t think it’s locked.”

“I have an idea.” Eclipse glances at Tiny and Red. “Tiny, between us you’re the best at sneaking around, aren’t you?”

“Uh… maybe? I’m not an expert.”

“Well, I know I’m not that stealthy. And I think we can trust Ormr to make as much noise as a bull in a china shop. Red is a bit on the temperamental side.”

“Hey!” Red snaps at him.

“My point made. I want you to go down there and look around.”

“Alone?”

“Alone, but not without aid. Hold still.” Then Eclipse taps Tiny with his horn. From the point where he touched him, a white line radiates down Tiny’s body, and he begins to visibly waver and vanish until he disappears from view entirely.

“Very nice.” Tiny’s voice emits from the apparently empty space where he was standing.

“I can keep that going for about an hour, but don’t push your luck. If you get too aggressive you’ll lose it.”

“Got it.” The cellar door swings up, seemingly of its own accord, and Tiny’s hoofsteps disappear down into the darkness.

“Why not send Yak?”

“Because you’ll lose the invisibility almost instantly. We want to know what’s ahead of us before we go charging into danger.”

Down in the dark, Tiny enters the cage room. The first thing he notes is that all the cages are now open. Quietly he examines the laboratory and finds it silent, although most of the alchemical supplies are still there. Then he checks the resting area, what looked like the Naga’s bedroom. Everything here is untouched from before.

“I’ve got news.” He whispers it once he’s back outside, still quite invisible. Red startles when he speaks.

“Don’t do that!”

“Would you rather I tap your flank? OK, so the cages are open and I didn’t see the Naga down there. It’s not here.”

“The tracks ended here, where could it have gone?”

“If I were clever, which I am, I would follow my own trail back and then change directions at one of those spots where I had to cross some hard stone. No trail to follow that way, and it would lead us back here rather to anyplace we don’t know about.”

“Go take a look then. We’ll be right here until we’ve got somewhere better to be.” Tiny says nothing, but when they watch carefully they can see his hoofprints lead away and around a corner.

“We still don’t know where they disappeared to when you shot at them earlier, do we?”

“No, I don’t know what happened back there.”

“Could they have stepped into the Ethereal plane?”

“Like your spell?” Eclipse ponders for a moment. “It’s possible.”

“Let me go try that.”

“Be careful, you don’t want to get stuck there with an angry Naga and three Hell Horses.”

“I can’t stay there long, only a few seconds at a time, and I can only maintain the blinks for about a minute. I won’t go far. I’ll be right back.” Red nods towards Eclipse and Ormr and then walks down into the Nightmare cage room. She takes a deep breath and then blinks out of reality.

In the Ethereal Plane, everything is insubstantial, the world is translucent and silvery. So it surprises her to find that the cages are quite substantial even here, they are obviously either made from a special material or enchanted somehow. When she looks around she cannot see the far edge of the chamber, at a distance everything on the Ethereal plane disappears into the strange silver mist that permeates it. She blinks back into the real world after only a few seconds.

At a dead run, she passes Eclipse and Tiny, blinking out to the Ethereal plane just as she reaches then. She glances around again but sees nothing new out in the ruins. With little time left on her spell, she sprints off in the direction Tiny went, hoping his theory was correct or that she might spot the Nightmares before her spell runs out. Three more times she disappears and reappears, with Eclipse and Ormr trying to follow along when they spot her.

On her sixth blink into the Ethereal Plane, she spots something odd ahead of her, a red glow that shouldn’t be there, and four figures of indistinct shape and form, although one appeared serpentine. She doesn’t have enough time to say or do anything before she returns to the real world. But she readies an attack, all the same, she won’t let them just get away if she can stop it.

Upon reappearing in the Ethereal plane she has enough time to confirm that the creatures ahead of her, heading north-ish, are the Nightmares and the Naga. She unleashes her magic, three bright beams of fire lancing out at the Naga. Two miss, cutting afterimages through the silvery mist. But the third hits the Naga hard in the back. It shrieks in pain and spins to face her, and she realizes now she is closer to them than she is to her friends.

Most of the time the Ethereal Plane is a safe place, not much can reach you here, but when your foes are already there? That’s a new problem entirely. The Naga hisses out a word and Red Haze finds herself unable to move, held in place by an invisible force.

“Stupid little pony.” It raises higher until it looms large over the Nightmares and her. The Naga glances down at its equine monster servants. “Kill her.” The Nightmares bolt towards her with terrifying speed. Held immobile, there’s nothing she can do as they close on her.

They kick and bite at her, she would scream if she could as one breaks a rib. Her only salvation is when her spell collapses and she returns to the real world. She still can’t move, but at least the Nightmares haven’t followed. Yet.

“Red!? What happened?” Tiny must be nearby, that was him shouting, she can’t even move her eyes to look for him. Not that she could see him, he’s still invisible. “Gads, those are ugly wounds. Drink this, if you can.” A vial of red fluid appears in the air, one of the healing potions they found earlier, and Tiny pours the liquid down her throat. She immediately feels better, her broken ribs knitting themselves back together, but still can’t move. Eclipse and Ormr run into the street where she reappeared, unaware of the threat. “What’s going- SHIT!” It’s fortunate none of the Nightmares can see Tiny, as they appear with a flash of flame and smoke all around Red.

“Fire ponies face Yak!” Ormr bellows, and the flaming equines turn on him. Two charge and the third is about to follow when Tiny takes his chance. The changeling thrusts his magic sword, materialized in an instant, into its side. The aggression cancels out the invisibility spell and Tiny’s body ripples back into view.

The first two reach Ormr with astonishing speed and begin to kick out at him. Ormr responds by slamming his body into one, despite the fire licking at his fur. It stumbles away a few steps but remains standing. The strange spectral yak spirits that appeared before return, surrounding the Nightmare he body-slammed and floating in the air around Ormr.

Eclipse darts around the yak and the two Nightmares attacking him, as he does he conjures a faintly glowing weapon in the space between them. It resembles three crescent moons attached at a central point, and it spins and cuts at the Nightmare Ormr slammed into. The spiritual weapon doesn’t cut deep, but he supports his offense with an arcane blast as well. His shots fly wide, missing both Nightmares.

Red struggles to break free from the spell holding her still, but the Naga’s magic is more than she can fight off.

Of the Naga itself, there is no sign, it’s still within the Ethereal plane, moving about the battlefield unable to interfere directly.

The Nightmares facing Tiny rears and lashes out with flaming hooves, kicking the disguised Changeling hard in the side. Tiny gasps, nearly losing his blade, but recovers and grips the magic sword more tightly. The two assaulting Ormr kick and strike out at him, one hoof hits the Yak right in the eye. For the first time Ormr lets out a howl of pain as the flames char his face. The other one takes advantage of the Yak’s loss of balance and bites hard on his neck.

“Yak will not fall!” Ormr howls and shakes off the Nightmare, throwing it far from him. Then he rushes the other and slams a horn point first into its neck. The flaming pony shrieks, the fire in its core bursts out and consumes the monster, reducing it to ash in mere instants.

Ormr does not look well, he blinks past the blood and the pain, glancing about in confusion as he tries to find the other threats. Tiny isn’t doing much better, breathing heavily after the blow to his side. The Nightmare is unafraid of him or his magic blade, running circles around the much slower warlock as he does his best to keep it away from Red. The Unicorn is still held by the spell. Only Eclipse is not terribly wounded.

Eclipse sends his spiritual chakram-esque weapon to attack the Nightmare remaining nearby and fires more arcane blasts at the one after Tiny and Red. Neither of his attacks is particularly effective, but he’s trying to aid all of his allies at once, and the distractions help.

The Nightmare finally gets past Tiny’s blade and rears to deliver what would certainly be a fatal blow to Red.

“No!” Tiny shouts and the air vibrates with unseen powers. A shockwave booms from him, kicking up snow as it washes over the ground, both he and Red vanish in a strange burst of otherworldly light. The thunderous shockwave slams into the Nightmare, sending it falling to the ground some distance from where it was. A similar, if less violent, burst of light from behind a nearby ruin wall tells Eclipse they have reappeared not far away.

Eclipse uses the chance Tiny’s newfound power gives him to fire his starbolt into the tumbling Nightmare, and the beast explodes into ash. When he turns back to see the remaining flaming equine he finds it already bursting in flame, disappearing back into the Ethereal Plane.

“Where fire pony?” Ormr glances about.

“Red’s over here, she still alive!” Tiny calls from behind the rubble, misunderstanding Ormr’s question. The warlock pokes his head out of an empty window frame so they can see him. Ormr wanders over so he stands between Eclipse and Tiny, his spectral yak spirits fading.

“Be careful, that last Hell Horse and the Naga are still out there.” Eclipse turns in place, on alert for any threats. “Is everyone alright?” His spiritual weapon fades slowly as the spell ends.

“Barely.”

“Yak lives.”

“And Red?”

“Still paralyzed.” Then fire flares again. They all spin to face it. The Naga is rearing back as if to strike out, the escaped Nightmare at its side. Magical energy gathers about it as it begins to cast.

With a start, Eclipse realizes they have unwittingly all positioned themselves in a straight line, with the Naga facing them down the length. A perfect position to hit them all with a lightning bolt. Injured as they are, none will survive the spell.

The bolt lances out, but Eclipse wraps it in his own magic as he counters it. Eclectic energy whips about in the air as the two spellcasters fight for control of the spell. The blast recoils backward, errant streams of energy cutting through the remaining Nightmare and reducing it to a small pile of ash. Eclipse grits his teeth and braces himself, pushing the energy away as the Naga leans into the magic.

Eclipse wins the contest, thunder booms as the lightning bolt dissipates. For an instant the Naga and the Unicorn face each other, both panting hard as they process what just happened. A bolt of eldritch energy, very much like Eclipse’s arcane blast, if somewhat more violent, flashes past the Yak and the unicorn. The blast of energy impacts the Naga right through the center of its neck, tearing a gaping hole all the way through its body.

It blinks once, utterly surprised, and then collapses to the ground with a dull thud, quite dead. Red gasps as the magic holding her gives out. Everyone still standing turns to face Tiny, the source of the blast of eldritch energy.

“What was that?” Eclipse asks first, Tiny seems confused as to what exactly just happened.

“I… didn’t know I could do that. I just now knew what to do. I didn’t think I could teleport either, the power just… came to me.”

“Tiny…” Red limps over to stand next to him. “Thank you.” Tiny nods towards her, if there was any doubt of trust between them before, it is gone now that he has saved her life a second time.

“I think we know what you’ve gained out of the sap now.” Eclipse elaborates as they come back around to join them as they inspect the dead Naga. “It either granted you new knowledge or deepened your pact with the black blade. I suspect you have other spells you did not know you had.”

“Maybe. I feel pretty drained though. I don’t think I can do something that spectacular very many times before needing a rest.” Then Tiny blinks as Ormr begins to cut a length of the Naga’s scales off. “Ormr, that’s nasty.” He sighs, exasperated. “What are you doing?”

“Yak claims trophy.” Then Ormr ties the length of scales around him like a belt, and then nods approvingly. Eclipse frowns towards the Yak but does not reprimand him.

“Red, do you know how long we have before it revives?”

“I’m not sure.” She shakes her head. “The other one was up and alive again after a day, give or take a few hours.”

“Then we need to drag it back and make sure it’s secured before then.” Everyone nods and they manage to drape the Naga corpse over Ormr’s back.

“Snake is heavy.” The yak grunts, and has to walk slowly under the beast’s mass. It’s so long that it drags on on the ground on both sides of him, even looped around him once.

“What about the Hell Horses?”

“They burned themselves to ash upon being killed, there’s nothing we can do about them.” Eclipse sizes them all up, the battle was close. Red is still limping after the kick to her side that nearly killed her. Tiny looks like he might have internal injuries. Ormr can barely walk straight, he probably has a concussion, and his eye is swollen shut where the Nightmare struck him. Eclipse is relatively uninjured, but the spell the Naga cast on him earlier has still left him feeling ill. “We should get back to Shine Shire.”

Between the darkness, and the snow, and the heavy load, and all their injuries, the trip back to town takes far longer than they want. It’s well past midnight by the time they finally approach the gate. They are let inside and find the guard commander waiting for them, with quite a few of his soldiers and militia with him. The group murmurs when they see the large body of the Naga over Ormr’s back, none of them have seen anything like it before.

“Heavens above! It’s a monster!” Dusty Badge is equally in awe of it. Ormr hauls the body to the middle of town, where he drops it unceremoniously.

“Yak needs your spears.” A nearby militia passes his weapon to Ormr, unwilling to argue with the Yak. Then Ormr drives the spearpoint right through the Naga’s head and mouth, pinning it to the ground. He follows suit with several more such weapons all the way down its body until the Naga is well and thoroughly nailed to the ground.

“What happened out there? You lot look terrible.”

“So we’ve got good news and better news,” Tiny speaks first.

“That's not usually how that saying goes, so give us the good news.”

“The Naga is dead.” Red answers for him.

“And the better?”

“You’re safe now. We killed the Nightmares too.” The cluster of troops sighs in relief as Eclipse informs them. “We’ll make sure the Geode family hears of this, and that more aid is sent this way with the next convoy.”

“Right now, though.” Tiny holds up a hoof. “We really need to get some sleep. This day sucked.”

“If the doctor is still awake we should probably get some medical aid as well. This thing didn’t go down without a fight.”

“Are your wounds serious?”

“I don’t think any of them are life-threatening.” Eclipse shakes his head. Fortunately, the doctor is still awake, taking care of Breezy. He sighs in annoyance as they return covered in cuts and bruises, irritated at having so many new patients coming in so late at night. He checks them over but finds nothing particularly worrying. Tiny is badly bruised, and will be sore for a while, but needs no surgery. Red’s rib didn’t heal quite straight, but won’t be a health concern. Ormr has a concussion, and some superficial burns, but will heal quickly. Eclipse’s only injury is from the spell that was draining the fluid out of him, so he’s a bit dehydrated, but is otherwise fine.

“So what do we do now?” Red glances at the dead Naga in the town center after they leave the doctor.

“Tiny has the right idea, we sleep. We can discuss what to do next in the morning.”

The 5th Session: Back to Celestia

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Everyone wakes up sore and stiff, but refreshed and ready. At last, the sky above gave up the snow, and the sun shines down on the town of Shine Shire. A commotion in the center of town draws them out of the inn and they find the townsponies all standing around the Naga corpse. The creature remains pinned to the ground, immobile, and thankfully still dead.

“Good morning.” Rampart Rock, finally allowed up by the doctor, steps up beside them and eyes the monster. “Seems like you four had fun.” It’s quite clear he is being sarcastic.

“That is not the phrase I would use to describe what happened.” Eclipse glances over at the smith’s workshop, where they can see the cage wagon still being assembled. “We’ve still got some time before they finish the cage.”

“What do we do now?”

“We should talk to the mayor, and then head back to the lair to properly dispose of that laboratory.”

“And the box of silver, don’t forget about the box of silver.” Tiny nearly salivates over the thought of all that wealth.

“Remember, we are going to donate that wealth to the town.” Red chastises him.

“Not with my share you’re not.”

“Nor with Yak’s.”

“I suspect there is plenty of wealth in there to spread it around quite fairly. First, we need to retrieve it before we can decide where it all goes.” Eclipse looks over at Rampart Rock, who had emerged from the doctor’s clinic. “How is Breezy Winter?”

“Not well.” Rampart shakes his head. “The poor Pegasus will never fly again. He’ll be lucky if he can walk properly at all after the torture he went through. The mental trauma is just as bad, if not worse. He woke, screaming, several times.” Rampart turns away and leads them all back to the town hall, where they find mayor Fluffy Ribbon and commander Dusty Badge discussing the Naga body.

“We can’t just leave it there to rot, we should burn it.” Dusty finishes speaking and spots them arrive out the corner of his eye. “Ah, the town’s saviors wake.”

“Good morning.” Fluffy welcomes them in with an honest smile.

“Burning it would be a terrible idea,” Red speaks first. “We didn’t tell you last night because I didn’t want to worry you, but in time the Naga will revive.”

“Wait… so it’s not dead?” Fluffy’s earlier good mood vanishes instantly.

“It is, for the moment. At some point in the next few days, it will reanimate itself.”

“You just left it in the middle of town without warning us?!”

“That’s why we speared it so thoroughly, to keep it as dead as possible and unable to move should it wake in the night.”

“Wouldn’t destroying the body prevent that?”

“I doubt it, if it can restore itself even from death then I wouldn’t be surprised if it generates a new body in the process if the original one is reduced to ash or otherwise destroyed.” Eclipse nods as he speculates. “We are going to need powerful magic to prevent it from recovering. A magic far beyond anything any of us here are capable of.”

“Then, what do we do?” Red starts to pace, deep in thought. “We need to take it to Princess Celestia.”

“She would be the most likely to have the power needed, or at least the resources to handle the Naga on a permanent basis. I concur.”

“When faced with a particularly heinous crime I have seen her banish the perpetrator to Tartarus, a prison tailor-made to handle the absolute worst and most dangerous. It wouldn’t be a poor choice.” Rampart nods.

“We promised her we would return to her once we handled the situation here, we might as well take the monster with us.”

“Yak has no objection.”

“Then it is decided.” Eclipse nods when none of the others have any complaints. “As soon as the cage is complete we will set out south.” Now he turns towards the mayor. “I will gladly deliver any missives you wish me to bring to Celestia or the Geode family along with our own report.”

“I’ll have to think about what to say, but that would be quite helpful.”

“It will still be a few more hours before the cage is ready, what do we do until then?”

“We still have a few loose ends I want to tie up before we leave. We’re going back to the Naga’s lair.”

“I’ll remain here, in case the Naga reanimates.” Rampart volunteers. “You four are clearly capable of handling yourselves.” He salutes them as they walk off.

“I almost wish the stupid snake had its lair a bit closer to the town,” Tiny complains as they reach the ancient prison. “I’m sick of this long walk back and forth already.”

“Then you’ll be pleased to note we aren’t coming back here again after today. I’ll be down in that lab, examining the alchemical supplies.”

“Hold up, Eclipse, are you sure you want to do that?”

“I agree that the lab itself needs to be destroyed, but we should see if the Naga left notes or details about its processes.”

“We went over this yesterday, that knowledge is evil.”

“I don’t want to use it, I want to hand it over to Celestia’s wizards, in case they can figure out some way to undo the transformation. Or maybe they can at least be on alert in case someone tries to get the required materials to make Hell horses of their own.”

“Yak has no need of strange things. Ormr will gather the treasure from the nest.”

“Yeah, I’ll go with the big guy and clean up.” Tiny rolls his eyes when Eclipse is about to speak. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to grab those books, and make sure we get any letters or scrolls or whatever else might tell us what’s was going on here.” So they split up, Red and Eclipse to the lab room, and Tiny and Ormr go to the Naga’s resting chamber.

“Where do we even start?” Red sighs as she looks at the lab full of horrors.

“Let me see if I can identify some of these chemicals.”

“Tiny was concerned they might explode or be poisonous if lit on fire.”

“That’s a valid concern.” Eclipse lifts one vial and looks at it closely. “This is pretty toxic if inhaled.” He spends a few more minutes looking over some of the supplies, growing increasingly disgusted as he does. “I’ve had it. Almost everything here is dangerous to even touch, let alone ingest or be injected with.”

“So we can burn it now?”

“Absolutely.” Red conjures a flame over her horn. “But… we should carry it all outside first, in an enclosed space like this we’ll all suffocate in the fumes.”

Meanwhile, over in the nest room, Ormr and Tiny are tossing everything that seems remotely valuable into saddlebags or into the box of silver.

“Books, what would a Naga want with books?” Tiny pulls down the books Eclipse wanted, the ones about arcane magic, and slips them into his saddlebag.

“Yak doesn’t know. Why would Naga want desk?”

“To keep organized, I guess. Might as well just grab everything from it, Eclipse will want to look through whatever we find anyway, no reason to sort it out here.” Ormr yanks open the drawers, inside most are pouches of platinum coins. The topmost one contains a strange piece of metal; it looks to him like a decorative badge or something like one, a black disk with a red slash that resembles a sword. Underneath it, he finds a folded piece of paper. Both objects he throws into his bags along with the coin pouches.

Tiny has to stand on his rear hooves to reach the top of the bookshelf, where he finds a few curiosities. “Here, this seems worth something.” He passes the Yak a small bronze crown probably stolen from some old princedom, a golden bracelet, an ivory sculpture of a large snake, and a small box full of turquoise animals. “No idea why it would want any of this stuff either. Did you find anything interesting in the desk?”

“Yak finds more coins, papers, and metal thing.”

“Alright. Let's get that chest of coins and get out of here.” It takes them some effort to get the heavy chest onto Ormr’s back and strapped on.

“Box almost as heavy as snake.” Ormr grunts.

“Well, it’s completely full of money, that doesn’t surprise me a bit.”

“Yak doesn’t think money joke was funny.”

“Grumpy, the lot of you, no sense of fun.” Tiny snorts. They head back up to the surface, meeting up with Eclipse and Red going up as well, bags full of the strange chemicals from the lab.

“Did you find anything interesting?”

“Only if you think a small fortune is interesting. No, I didn’t find anything explaining what it was doing here.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“So we’re taking the lab crap with us after all?”

“Just outside, and then I’m torching it. This is our second load, that thing had enough of this foul stuff to poison a small army.” Once outside they find the rest of the alchemical supplies in a stack in the center of the old prison courtyard, Eclipse, and Red dump the rest of the nasty chemical vials in the pile with the rest. Red prepares to set fire to the pile when Eclipse stops her.

“What is it this time?” she sighs.

“We have one more thing we have to decide what to do about. The other eight Pegasus bodies.”

“Oh…”

“Should we bury them? Or burn them?”

“Yaks of Yakyaksgard burn honored dead in sacred circles.”

“Neither, I think.”

“You want us to just leave them here?!”

“Wow, Eclipse, I didn’t think you were that heartless.”

“You misunderstand, again. I mean, we should let the townsponies come and collect their dead. It would give their families some closure, at least.”

“I agree with Eclipse, it’s the right thing to do.” Red nods. “I’m going to guess you don’t want us to do it because it would mean more time spent walking back and forth and not watching the Naga.”

“We have to keep our priorities straight, and the dead aren’t going anywhere. It would only delay us longer.”

“Am I the only one who just remembered Knight Harrow?”

“We’ll let them know where the bodies are before we go.” Eclipse pulls them all away from the chemicals. “Have at it Red, I know you’ve been looking forward to this.” Red nods, but can’t bring herself to smile. Standing a safe distance away, she concentrates and then hurls a fireball at the vile vials. The collection erupts in a multicolored cloud, greens and reds and purples, so toxic and corrosive that the stone in the vicinity hisses and sputters as the various chemicals eat through the stone.

“We may want to back up some more…” Tiny hurries away from the foul-looking vapors as they drift towards them.

“Yak not afraid of color-cloud.” Ormr braces his legs, as if to take a stand.

“Ormr, buddy, there’s nothing to prove here.” Tiny rolls his eyes. “Come on big guy.” It takes all three of them to forcibly pull him away from the toxic smoke.

Burdened down by the chest of silver as they are, it takes longer to get back to town than it did to get out to the ruins. They find Rampart wearing his armor again, pacing in circles around the Naga corpse. A fully assembled wagon with a built-in iron cage waits nearby.

“Good, you’re back.” Rampart nods. “As you can see, we’re all ready to go here.”

“We can leave as soon as we get this sorted out.” Red gestures to the chest on Ormr’s back. Rampart glances at it and nods again before returning to his patrol around the Naga body. Eclipse waves down Dusty Badge and then heads towards town hall with the others in tow. They find mayor Fluffy Ribbon on the way out, a letter in her grasp.

“Ah, mayor Ribbon, I was hoping you would be here. We have some things for the town.”

“What might that be?” She tilts her head.

“Ormr?” The big Yak shrugs off the Chest, and it tumbles to the floor, spilling silver coins across the wooden slats. Both Fluffy and Dusty stare in awe. What the companions stare at are the gold coins which were hidden beneath all the silver, hundreds of them.

“That’s… a lot more bits.” Tiny whistles appreciatively again.

“We cannot replace those friends you have lost, but we can provide assistance to the town as a whole.”

“This much? I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, not all of it.” Red glares at Ormr and Tiny, who pretends not to notice. “They insist on keeping their share.”

“There’s enough bits here to keep the entire town afloat for months, even if the Geode family cuts off our funding entirely.”

“How much is even here?”

“We haven’t had time to count it yet.” Eclipse pulls a substantial stack towards himself and immediately starts dividing it into easily managed stacks. Red and Tiny follow suit, the mayor also joins in and Dusty heads back outside. After several long and mostly silent minutes, aside from the clinking of coins, Ormr gets bored of waiting and wanders off. With all four of them, it still takes far too long to count them all. When all of them report their totals Eclipse adds it all in his head. “I count nearly seven thousand silver. Another twelve hundred gold bits. That’s not counting the value of the books and other potential valuables we pulled out of the Naga’s lair.”

“So many bits… The circus didn’t bring this kind of wealth in months.”

“I couldn’t even begin to guess how much would be fair.” Fluffy shakes her head, still somewhat overwhelmed.

“How did the Naga amass such wealth? What would it need this all for?”

“To buy stuff, obviously. There’s no way it found all those chemicals on its own out in the wild. It would need to purchase equipment and supplies from someone.”

“That explains the purpose of the wealth, but not its origin. Given the size of that construction, it would have needed workers and porters to bring in all that gear as well.”

“Someone was working with it?” Near terror flashes on Fluffy Ribbon’s face.

“Possibly. Unfortunately, that is a mystery for another time, right now we need to divide this up in some equitable manner and get the Naga body away from here before it reanimates.” It takes a few more minutes of haggling and arguing before they settle on what sounds like a fair number for each of the companions. When they inform Ormr and Rampart of the decision the other two agree.

“I don’t really feel like I deserve this.” Rampart, when he arrives in the town hall, looks at the stack of coins intended for him. “I didn’t even manage to do anything to help with the Naga or the Nightmares. Here,” he passes a significant percentage of his share over to the mayor, “Shine Shire needs this more than I do.”

“Bravo, Rampart.” Then Red follows suit. Even Eclipse passes a sizable section of his pile to the mayor. Tiny gives him a curious glance.

“I neither need the extra wealth all that much nor do I need to appear greedy. The town can have that, and my goodwill.”

“If you say so.”

“Yak takes his share.” Ormr shovels his coins back into one of his bags and then stomps out of the room. Red glances after him.

“Something wrong?”

“Just a feeling, I’ll be right back.” She follows the Yak out into the town proper, and then easily spots him entering the doctor’s clinic. Curious, she slips in behind him.

“Yak brings gift for wounded Pony.” Ormr sets a pouch of coins, full from the look of it, on the bed beside Breezy Winter. “You will need ancestor’s aid in life now, this is start.” The badly damaged Pegasus looks up at the Yak, tears in his eyes.

“Thank you.” Ormr nods once and turns around, finding Red Haze right behind him. He snorts once and glares at her, but says nothing.

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” Then Ormr pushes past her to get back outside. “Is it really so bad that we know you care?”

“What Pony knows is not Yak concern.” Red pauses as the Yak returns to the town hall. She spots a younger looking militia member eying the Naga corpse with some concern.

“What’s your name.” The young Earth pony stallion startles when she approaches and asks.

“Sunshine… sir… ma’am.”

“You don’t need to be formal with me, Sunshine. My name is Red Haze. You also don’t need to worry about the Naga, I’ll be taking the body away shortly. Did you know any of the Pegasus it killed?”

“In a town this size, everpony knows everypony else. Yeah, White Whistles was my friend.” His eyes drop to the ground. Red inwardly suspects the Pegasus was more than just his friend. “Please, tell me she wasn’t turned into one of those things the commander was talking about.”

“Breezy Winter was able to identify the…” she stops herself from calling them monsters, “transformed ponies… She wasn’t one of them.” Sunshine sighs heavily.

“Thank you, for letting me know.”

“I know it hurts, but keep the faith, life goes on.” She looks back to her own pack and pulls out a few gold coins of her own. “Here. Take this.”

“So much?!” His eyes go wide, he has probably never seen so many gold bits in his life. “What will I do with all this?”

“Spend it, save it, whatever you want.” She pushes the gold into his hooves and then pats him on the shoulder. “It’s a chance to get a leg up in a harsh world. Take whatever you can get.”

“I’ll remember that. Thank you.” Sunshine stares at the wealth now in his grasp as Red heads back inside the town hall.

“Are we all ready to go?” Eclipse looks up from the map he was looking at with the guard commander when she enters.

“Just about.” He nods and turns back to Dusty Badge. “It’ll be easy to spot. We destroyed the chemicals in the courtyard, the resulting cloud of acid made quite the mess.”

“The bodies are in stored in the last room on the right, at the other end of the chamber with the cages in it.”

“What about the Hell Horse bodies? Are they in there too?”

“No. Unfortunately, there is nothing to recover. Upon being killed the Nightmares burned themselves to ash.”

“Cloudburst, Rainyday, and West Wind.” Red looks up in the direction of the sun and closes her eyes, praying silently for the three who cannot be recovered. “Those were the ones Breezy recognized, the ones the Naga transformed.”

“When you go, make sure to take only those who you think can stomach particularly horrible sights. It was quite gruesome in there.”

“I’ll bring my most experienced with me. We’ve seen battle before.” Dusty sighs. “I was really hoping this was going to be a quiet assignment.”

“Hopefully things will calm down out here now the Naga is out of the picture.” Red gathers her share of the coins and notes that everyone else seems ready to leave.

“Here, it would be ever so helpful if you could have this message delivered to the Geode Family.” Mayor Fluffy Ribbon gives Eclipse a sealed scroll. “It’s a request for a new weather team. As well as a report about the Naga and what it did here.”

“I’ll make sure they receive it.” Eclipse sets the letter in his bag and nods.

“Thank you, again, for all you’ve done for us. We won’t forget you.” Eclipse Corona, Red Haze, Tiny hooves, Rampart Rock, and Ormr, all gather their last belongings and meet by the Naga’s impaled body. With some effort they stuff the corpse into the cage, Tiny ties the various spears still lanced through it to the cage. Eclipse decides muzzling the corpse is a sound precaution, and ties a rope tightly around its mouth. There is little fanfare when they leave, the town still in mourning over their lost friends, but most watch as they leave Shine Shire behind.

“It’s two days, at least, until we get back to Equestria proper. And depending on the route we take another two or three to get to Canterlot.” Eclipse is showing them the available ways south on the map he brought with him while they rest for a few minutes. “Most visitors travel up through the mountain passes to reach the city. The roads that all lead that way are all on the south and east sides of the mountain. However, there is an alternative.” He taps the map just below the Canterlot mark. “It’s officially part of Canterlot, but most treat it as its own town, ‘The Landing’ is what they call it.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“As Eclipse said, it’s officially part of Canterlot itself,” Rampart speaks. “Large or unusually heavy cargo cannot safely make it up the mountain, so it’s brought up by a hot-air balloon lift. We can bring the Naga up to the city that way. For our purposes, the advantage is that The Landing itself is on the northwestern side of the mountain, directly beneath the city. We can reach it a full day sooner than traveling up the mountain on hoof.”

“Then why are we even discussing this? That’s obviously what we should do.”

“That is why I brought it up. I wanted everyone’s opinion before making a decision which might mean days more travel.”

“Well, I agree with Tiny.” The disguised changeling looks at Red in surprise. “We should head for The Landing. The sooner we get there the better, it’s already been more than a day since we killed the Naga, I’m surprised it’s not up and trying to kill us already.”

“Alright then, we can keep moving.” Eclipse folds his map and puts it away, the group continues on their way. After a while Tiny approaches Ormr, who is pulling the wagon.

“What were those things you conjured up in those fights? I didn’t think Yaks had wizards.”

“Not magic, Yak need no magic. Spirits of Yak ancestors come to aid Ormr in battle. Ancestors guide and protect Yak, and Yak protects Pony. Pony doesn’t need to be afraid in battle, ancestors protect Pony too.”

“Well, that’s convenient.” Tiny rolls his eyes, but the sarcasm seems to be lost on the big Yak. “So what’s the story with you again? You said your ancestors sent you a warning of some sort right?”

“Pony is right. Yak sent here to save Yakyaksgard from bad things.”

“You’re not going to tell us anything more than that? Why are you sticking with us anyway?”

“Yak not sure. Vision was of serpent that would bring doom. Ormr sent to stop serpent.”

“Well, you’ve done that.”

“Yak is not convinced prophecy has been disrupted. Magic Snake died too easy.”

“Let me get this straight.” Rampart calls from ahead. “Because the fight was too easy, you are going to follow us around? Am I correct in understanding you?” Ormr tilts his head for a moment, and then nods.

“Pony is correct.”

“Fantastic.” The sarcasm in Rampart’s voice is thick enough to be cut with a knife. Later, when the road turns eastward, Red stops for a moment and looks at the horizon.

“Something wrong, Red?” Tiny stops beside her.

“We could save time by leaving the road.”

“I… don’t think that’s normally true.”

“Eclipse, let me see the map for a moment.” The other unicorn pauses and looks back at them when she calls up to him. He glances at the wagon, but it’s going slow enough that he spare a few moments. Wordlessly he passes her the map, and she inspects it for a moment. “Yes, the road heads east here, but it doesn’t turn south for many more miles. We should turn south here instead of following the road.”

“Won’t the wagon get stuck?”

“I don’t think so. The ground out here is quite hard, even considering the recent rains. It’ll be fine.”

“Tiny, what do you think?” Eclipse faces the Changeling.

“Well… The circus never strayed off the main roads.” He shakes his head. “She could be right. It would shave a few hours off unless we run into some insurmountable obstacle.”

“We’re past the Crystal Empire lands, there shouldn’t be any pits or curses left over from the war this far south.”

“Alright.” Eclipse nods. “We’ll do it your way this time. Rampart, Ormr, your attention please!” The other two halt and look back. “Red is taking us off-road.” He points south, over the wilderness.

“Is that wise?” Rampart shouts back, the wagon was out of convenient speaking range. Eclipse and the others catch up after a moment.

“I trust her judgment.” Rampart turns his gaze from Eclipse to Red, and then he nods.

“Very well. Ormr?”

“Yak doesn’t know way to Pony city. Ormr will follow.” Then Red takes the lead and guides Ormr and the wagon across the wilderness. It is easier going than Eclipse or Rampart would have expected, and Red guides them south without running into anything worse than a momentary delay. Once they finally rejoin the road and check the map again Eclipse concludes they have saved more than enough time to justify the detour.

“It would seem your shortcut did not make for a long delay. Well done.” Rampart gives her a respectful salute. They continue at a decent pace until nearly dark, when they decide to rest for the night. Once the campsite is set up along the roadside and everyone has eaten around the campfire Eclipse brings up the topic of the Naga’s belongings.

“Now that we’re on the way, I’d like to see what you took from the Naga’s books.”

“Sure, hang on.” Tiny gathers his saddlebag and empties the books in a stack for Eclipse to look through. “We also found some artwork, nothing particularly fancy. Plus whatever was in the desk.”

“You didn’t look?”

“Ormr gathered that stuff. Hey, Yak, mind getting it for us?”

“Yak will do this.” Ormr gets his own bag from the wagon and unceremoniously dumps everything out onto the ground. The contents spill out and Eclipse, Red, and Tiny all gasp when they spot the metal badge. “Pony find something wrong?”

“You didn’t see this?” Eclipse grabs the symbol out of the pile of coins and directs it towards Tiny, somewhat accusatory. It’s a black disk, with a vertical red blade.

“No! I didn’t! Like I said, Ormr was clearing out the desk while I was getting your precious books.”

“Do you recognize it?” Rampart takes the symbol from Eclipse, examining it.

“Oh yes.” Red shudders.

“The Cult of the Red Blade.” Eclipse shakes his head. “I thought we were done with them.”

“The who?”

“Yak does not know this name.”

“They shouldn’t exist anymore. The Cult was supposedly destroyed centuries ago, we ran into their remnants at the Tree of Worlds. Was there anything with this?”

“Yak found paper under metal.” Ormr shuffles the coins around until he finds the folded paper he took from the desk, now crumpled from being stuffed into his pack. Eclipse yanks it from him, reading it silently. His face nearly goes white.

“This… is not a good sign.” He passes it to Red, who begins to read it aloud for everyone to hear.

“It’s a letter. Great Silas’phet, You have proven a useful ally in the past, and now I request your assistance once again. I require a force of Nightmares, and I know you are capable of creating the creatures. Do this for us, and you will be rewarded with dominion over the city of ‘Shine Shire’ upon delivery of at least a dozen such creatures. Provide a battalion or more and the entire region is yours. When you are ready to deliver, leave this symbol with our contact, she will know what to do. This initial payment will cover the material costs of the project, use at your discretion. Within the Crystal Empire ruins to the east of the town there are is space aplenty for your work. Be aware, the Empowered will arrive shortly after the ponies celebrate the rising of the summer sun, prepare accordingly. Despite your prodigious powers, they will be a threat, do not underestimate them.” She looks up from the letter. “It’s signed, ‘Dreadcaster.’”

“Someone thinks a bit much of themselves.” Tiny huffs.

“So the Naga was working with someone. Has anyone heard that name before?”

“Yak has not.”

“I assume it’s a codename, in case the letter was intercepted or found.”

“Princess Celestia was right, there are dark powers at work in Equestria. I can’t believe anypony would condone that kind of evil.”

“Let me see that again.” Red passes the Letter back to Eclipse, who inspects the paper closely. “My question is, when was this sent?”

“It had to have been months ago, the Pegasus started disappearing just after Winter Wrap Up.” Tiny explains the obvious.

“Exactly. Then how did they know we were coming?”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, the message says that ‘the empowered’ would arrive shortly after the summer sun celebration.”

“Err, yes?”

“We drank the sap of the tree of worlds, and we know we have each gained strange new powers out of it. What would you call that, other than empowered?” Eclipse lets that sink in for a moment. “The Summer Sun Celebration was less than a week ago, then we arrived in Shine Shire. This Naga was warned about our coming, months ago. Before we even became empowered.”

“You think this ‘Dreadcaster’ can see the future?”

“If they can, we have a significant enemy on our hooves.” Rampart shakes his head. “Not even the Princess of the Sun can foresee the future so accurately, or so far in advance.”

“The other concern is who this contact is, and what they have to do with the Cult of the Red Blade.”

“Our only clue to their identity is that it’s a female. ‘She will know what to do.’ I am forced to assume the Naga knows who she is already.”

“Should be head back to Shine Shire and interrogate all the mares there?” suggests Tiny.

“No.” Red stamps a hoof. “The current threat the Naga poses is more important than some nebulous old cult.”

“I agree with Red.” Eclipse nods. “Besides, the Naga may have been elsewhere when it first received the message. This contact may be in an entirely different province from Shine Shire.”

“Without more information, there isn’t much we can do other than alert Princess Celestia to this threat.”

“If we’re lucky the Naga will reveal what it knows upon interrogation.”

“And if we’re not we’ll end up in the middle of the Bone Dry Desert looking for a Yeti.” Tiny rolls his eyes and points at the cage. “This thing isn’t going to talk and you know it.”

“That depends on how loyal it is to the other conspirators.”

“Speculation will get us nowhere.” Eclipse cuts the conversation short. “We still have a long way to go, we should rest and save our strength for the trip south.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Red sighs. “I’ll see you all in the morning.” They divide up the night for watch shifts, making sure to keep a close eye on the Naga body. The night passes without incident, which itself starts to make Red nervous, as she expects the Naga to revive without even a moments notice. Once on the way she consults the map again. “Hmm… I think we can save more time by cutting across the wild ahead of us.”

“It worked last time. I say we go for it.” Tiny nods in approval.

“I think there’s a river blocking our way, we should stick to the road this time. We’ll need the bridge to cross.”

“At this time of year the river’s water level should be low, we can ford it.” Red stands tall, certain she’s right. Eclipse wavers.

“Well, you saved us a lot of time yesterday. If you think we can make it across, then you can take the lead again.” Neither Ormr or Rampart have any complaint, and when they near the turn she noticed on the map she turns them south over the wilderness again. Things go well for a while until they reach the river.

“Well, this didn’t work.” Tiny stands at the edge of the gorge, looking far down at the river below them.

“I didn’t know the river ate into the landscape like this, I’m sorry.” Red looks both directions, there isn’t an easy way to cross the fissure in view.

“We’ll have to head west until we reach the bridge. That will cost us more time.”

“Can’t win ‘em all.” Tiny pats her shoulder apologetically and they turn away. Whatever time they had gained the day before is lost as they are forced to backtrack today. Still, even by that evening, when they finally reach the first town on their chosen road south, the Naga remains thankfully dead.

“Well, we can rest here tonight.” Eclipse makes towards the town, but Rampart and Red hold him and the others back.

“I don’t think we should enter the town with the Naga.”

“And we can’t leave it undefended,” Rampart explains further.

“We’re finally back in civilized lands and you want to avoid civilization?”

“Makes sense to me.” Tiny shrugs. “This way it’ll be harder for any Cult spies to report on our progress.”

“If they have a clairvoyant it won’t matter in the slightest.”

“And if they don’t? We still know next to nothing about the Dreadcaster. No reason to make it easy on them.”

“Outnumbered…” Eclipse sighs. “What about you Ormr, what do you think?”

“Yak has no opinion on this matter.”

“Aren’t you the helpful one. Fine then, we will avoid the towns on the way to The Landing. Although if the goal here is to keep the Naga secret, then I’m going to make a stop here tonight and get some sheets or tarps to cover the cage with.”

“This is an acceptable compromise.” Red nods. “We’ll set up a campsite not far away.” Eclipse nods and heads into the town as the others get comfortable behind a nearby hill. It isn’t long before the midnight blue unicorn returns, bearing a large canvas sheet and a few more days worth of food and water. They fling the canvas over the cage and tie it securely shut before resting for the night.

The next two days of travel are easy ones. By some minor miracle, the Naga remains dead, although the delay in revival leaves Red somewhat skittish and anxious. By keeping away from the towns on the way south they encounter only a few travelers on the roads, mostly merchants peddling wares. Although they do run into a few patrols belonging to the nobles who own the provinces they travel through, who give Ormr ugly glances, they are left alone when the soldiers take note of Rampart Rock’s royal guard armor. Fortunately, none ask about the canvas covered cage in the wagon, presumably due to the Naga being concealed by the canvas tarp.

It’s not long after dawn on the fifth day after they left Shine Shire that they finally arrive at The Landing. As they approach they can easily see the lift, an immense triangular metal platform held in the air by a trio of hot-air balloons. It crawls slowly up the mountainside, following a very long chain that guides its ascent and descent. A number of Pegasus can be seen flying around it as it carries its load of cargo up to the city proper, watching for falling cargo or passengers.

The township below it resembles a port town, the structures are primarily warehouses and support buildings for various businesses. Porters and cargo loaders move about in droves, taking in arriving convoys from other towns and organizing the goods for later deliver up the mountain. The outer edges of the township are dominated by various craftsponies workshops of various kinds. Metalworkers, Stonemasons, a few sculptors, and other heavy goods where it’s easier to come down the mountain to work with than to bring the goods up to the city. The other side of the Landing is a wide area set up for large-scale food deliveries, massive stacks of hay and baskets of fresh fruits from the outlying towns.

“Finally!” sighs Tiny. “I was beginning to think we would never make it here with this stupid snake still dead.”

“Pony city is small.” Comments the Yak.

“Ormr, look up. This isn’t Canterlot.” Eclipse points up the cliff face, drawing Red’s and Ormr’s attention. From down here the city is hard to see in detail, being nearly directly above them. “The city is above us. You’ll be able to see it better once we take the Lift up.” Then Eclipse takes the lead as they approach the gate surrounding the stone wall around the Landing. A few guardsponies are managing all the arriving goods and one approaches with a clipboard.

“Name and cargo.” He sounds utterly disinterested.

“Eclipse Corona and companions, we’re not on any scheduled convoy.”

“Sure, whatever, I just need to know what you’re hauling.”

“Dead magic snake.” Ormr blurts it out.

“A… what?” The guard blinks and suddenly pays them more attention. He gawks at the Yak for a moment before he shocks himself back to composure. “You’ll have to explain that to me.”

“We need to be on the next lift up to the city, it’s important.” Rampart steps forward to deal with the soldier. The guards watching the exchange snap to attention when they see his armor.

“I’m sorry sir, that’s not my call. I just keep track of the arrivals.”

“I need you to let us through, regardless, and call for your commander.”

“Yes, sir!” The soldier waves them through the gate and immediately sends off one of the other guards. “If you’ll just wait here, the commander will be here shortly.” He has them park the wagon just off the side of the road so they won’t be in the way. Ormr continues to draw lots of attention.

“Ponies never see Yak before?”

“That would be correct, Ormr. Most ponies south of the northern provinces have never seen Yaks before. Few of your kind bother to come down to Equestria, and fewer still to the capital. I don’t even remember the last time I saw one of your kind here before.” It isn’t long before the guard commander for the Landing, and the forepony for the Lift both arrive to see them.

“Sir.” The guard commander salutes Rampart. “I’m told you need priority on the next lift?”

“Correct. My companions and I are returning from a mission given by the Princess. We need to report to her as soon as we can.”

“That will be a while, we just sent the Lift up a little while ago, it will be hours before it gets unloaded and sent back down.” The forepony explains.

“We can’t wait that long!” Red shouts, her mane flicking like fire for an instant. “It could revive at any moment!” the guard commander narrows his eyes at her.

“What might do what now? What’s under the canvas?”

“We have time-sensitive materials here which we need to get up to Canterlot as soon as we can.” Eclipse tries to cover for Red.

“Not until you explain what’s going on.”

“Bureaucrats.” Tiny growls. “Fine, we’ve captured a horrible monster and we need to get it secured before it can get loose and ruins your day, and by extension everypony else's.”

“This is royal guard business.” Rampart is still trying to pull rank on the commander.

“Alright, we’ll put you at the front of the line.” The forepony at least understands the urgency.

“And I’m sending a message up to the top, if this thing needs to be secured properly then the Captain needs to be there when you arrive.” Rampart nods to the guard commander.

“I was about to suggest the same thing. Get moving, commander.” The head guard gallops off, and the forepony leads them through the Landing, to the very base of the chain that leads up the cliff-side. He parks them just off the side of the way, leaving enough room for anything coming off the ramp once the Lift returns. Some of the other merchants waiting in line complain loudly at their preferential treatment, but a glare from Ormr shuts them up. A few moments later and a Pegasus wearing soldier armor zips up towards the city above them, presumably the messenger.

Less than an hour later they spot the same Pegasus on a return flight, dropping down from above with nearly reckless speed. It’s shortly after that the guard commander finds them, with an upset forepony alongside him.

“You lot must have some clout, the Lift is being sent down ahead of schedule, with a squad of royal guard aboard. I’ve got orders not to leave your side until they arrive.”

“That would be a wise precaution.”

“They didn’t even manage to unload a fraction of the cargo up there! This is going to throw the whole day behind schedule! Your captive had better be important!” Some of the nearby merchants overheard the commander and the forepony and have begun to complain loudly again. “Great, now you’ve gone and upset all the others, just fantastic. I’ve got damage control to manage.” The forepony moves away to deal with the crowd of angry travelers.

Eventually, the Lift returns to the Landing, its mass blocking out the sun for several minutes as it draws near the ground. No less than twelve royal guard unicorn soldiers, as well as Rose Given herself, get off the platform and immediately surround the wagon when she points at them.

“Well, you lot are making a habit of getting into trouble, aren’t you?”

“Rose Given, it’s good to see you again.” Eclipse nods towards her with a friendly smile.

“Save it for later.” She dismisses his welcome with a wave. “You have more explaining to do. Get it on the Lift, we’re already delaying everything enough as is.”

“Alright, Ormr, get it moving.” The Yak snorts and then pulls the wagon onto the lift platform. The twelve unicorns form a circle around it, every other one facing inward while the others face out. Only a few other cargo shipments, all with their own wagons, are let onboard the platform before the Forepony sends it up, still scowling at them.

“We’ve got a while before the Lift reaches the top, you might want to explain what’s going on now.” Rose affixes commanding eyes on them all.

“I am sorry about the disruption, but this is a fairly urgent matter. We’ve managed to capture a Naga.”

“Alive?”

“It’s more complex than that. They can be hard to kill.” Red takes over the debriefing.

“Which we did.” Tiny deadpans.

“And they revive after a few days.”

“Which it’s been.” He deadpans again.

“I’m amazed it hasn’t revived yet. We killed it nearly six days ago.”

“This was the cause of the weather team’s poor performance?”

“This was the cause of the weather team’s death.” Rose blinks, surprised at Eclipse’s bluntness. “It was transforming the local Pegasus into Hell Horses.” Rose closes her eyes for a moment and looks away, silently praying for the dead. “It managed to kill eleven and permanently main another before we arrived and brought it down.”

“I see. Yes, this is worthy of our immediate attention.” She turns her gaze on Ormr. “And the Yak?”

“This is Ormr, of Yakyaksgard. We ran into him on the way north when we were attacked by a Griffon hunting party.” Tiny introduces him. Ormr says nothing.

“Does he speak?” Ormr’s only response to her question is to grunt and glare.

“My guess is he doesn’t think you are Yak enough to answer.” Tiny shrugs. “Yeah, we haven’t quite figured him out either.”

“He’s honest, and a strong fighter too. We wouldn’t be here without his help.”

“The Naga nearly killed the lot of us.” During the long ride up to the city, they tell Rose Given the story of how they found the Naga and the surviving Pegasus in its lab. They just finished telling her about how they hunted it down when the Lift reaches the top. “Ah, the rest of the story will have to wait.” Eclipse gestures out at the city. “Welcome to Canterlot.”

Red had expected something quite different than what she sees. She had thought the city was one of spires of marble and streets paved with smooth granite. Certainly, there are a couple of such towers visible, over at the Palace and one or two higher up into the mountain, but most of the city is built from timber logs and whitewashed wooden planks. Few of the structures reach over three stories high. The streets are compacted gravel, aside from the main thoroughfare up to the palace, which is the famed granite roadway. She had heard that every citizen wore fabulous clothes, but the citizens on the streets are indistinguishable from the everyday ponies she has seen in every other city she has visited. It’s a perfectly comfortable town but does not exactly project power and wealth the way she had expected.

“This? This is the center of power in Equestria?” Tiny sounds outright disappointed.

“Yak not impressed with Pony city.”

“But… where are the marble towers? The stained glass windows? I was told that Canterlot was the grandest and most beautiful city in the world.”

“Ah, that is something of a misunderstanding. Most of those stories are derived from the Royal Palace.” Eclipse tries to explain.

“And Noble’s mansions.” Rose counters him.

“True enough.” Eclipse nods.

“Move the Naga out, I don’t want it on the city streets any longer than necessary.” Rose has the force of Unicorn guards ferry the canvas covered wagon off the Lift and escort it up on a path directly towards the palace. As they move the contingent of royal guards draws very little attention. The heavily armored ponies are not an unusual sight in the city the same way they are outside of the capital. Even Ormr draws less attention than he did below.

When they arrive at the palace, the awe they should have experienced upon seeing the city finally reaches them. The entire structure is made from marble, and every window is either perfectly clear glass or stained glass artwork. The courtyard is made from immense fitted slabs of polished multicolored granite, set in place like a gigantic mosaic. Even the roof tiles seem to be crystal as they shimmer in the sun, and every spire flies a flag made of silk.

“Now I can see where it gets the reputation.” Rose ignores Tiny and leads them inside. Eclipse notes a tingle of magic as they cross the threshold into the palace courtyard, presumably some defensive spell set in place to block scrying or teleportation. The Princess’s throne room is a long chamber with marble pillars holding up a high vaulted ceiling. Immense stained glass windows line each wall depict moments in Equestria’s history. A long red carpet leads to high-backed throne atop a platform at the far end of the chamber, upon which Princess Celestia waits for them with a regal smile.

“Princess, I have brought your agents. They have captured the individual responsible for the disruption in Shine Shire, and bring dire news.” Celestia’s smile fades as Rose reports. She eyes Ormr curiously for a moment but is not distracted by him, before her gaze swerves to the cage in the wagon.

“Tell me, my friends. What happened there?”

“Your majesty.” Red bows first, followed closely by Eclipse, and more reluctantly by Tiny. Ormr watches them, and dips his head, but does not bow.

“I regret to inform you that the weather disruption in Shine Shire was no accident or mere delay. Shortly after Winter Wrap Up the Pegasus in the town began to disappear, taken captive by the creature we have apprehended.” Eclipse unties the rope holding the canvas closed and pulls it off, revealing the corpse of the Naga. Some of the administrators present in the room gasp, having never seen such a monster, the guards remain stoic. Celestia’s eyes twinge, but she contains her surprise. “This Naga was transforming its captives into Hell Horses. It was successful with three such attempts.”

“With eight others it failed.” Red continues. “In all, eleven Pegasus are dead because of it. We were able to rescue only a single badly maimed member of the weather team. The local doctor did what he could, but the damage to his wings is permanent. He will never fly again.”

“You say this began just after Winter Wrap up? Where were the Geode family soldiers?”

“It seems that the Geodes weren’t in a helpful mood.” Tiny sees no reason to be diplomatic. “The only help they had was the local garrison.”

“Mayor Fluffy Ribbon gave me this missive to bring to them.” Eclipse retrieves the message the mayor gave him and passes it up to Celestia. “It details the events from her perspective and reports on the situation. The town is in dire need, the poor weather has killed most of their crops, and the loss of the weather team has left them shorthoofed. She suspects that without additional aid they will be forced to evacuate south and abandon the town by early next year.”

“Please, your majesty, you have to send additional help.” Red nearly loses her cool. “I don’t want to see your dream of a restored land wither.”

“Thank you for bringing this to me.” Celestia frowns. “I had expected more of the Geodes than this. I will deal with them as soon as our business here is complete.” She turns her eyes to the Naga again. “You can stop pretending now. I know you can hear us.” Something laughs, muffled, as the Naga’s eyes open. It raises its head as much it can in the cramped cage and glares at the empowered companions with malefic eyes before locking them on the white Alicorn. The spears which had been impaling it slide out of the body and clatter to the floor, not even bringing blood with them. Fortunately, the rope muzzling it that Eclipse put there holds its mouth shut.

“Holy flames! When did it revive?!” Red jumps back from the cage, already willing to ignite the monster again.

“Naga, you stand accused of kidnapping, of torture, and of murder. What do you have to say for yourself?” The Naga tilts its head and gives the Princess a sarcastic glance. “Remove the rope.”

“That’s not a good idea.” Tiny doesn’t hesitate to reprimand her, drawing a hiss from Red.

“We are quite safe here. Remove the rope.” Red hesitates, glancing from Naga to Celestia, but obeys. Each of the surrounding Unicorn guards readies themselves in case it makes aggressive moves.

“Stupid ponies.” The Naga stretches its jaw, revealing massive fangs.

“You have nothing to say in your own defense?”

“I have no need!” It laughs at her. “Yes, I killed your little feathered friends.” The administrators who gasped earlier do so again. The Naga sweeps its eyes over them. “Would you like to see how? I would be happy to demonstrate if you let me out.” Celestia observes the creature for a moment longer as it locks malevolent eyes on her.

“I have seen and heard all I need to. For the crimes you are accused of I find you guilty. Your sentence is imprisonment within Tartarus. For each life you have taken, you will spend one lifetime within the prison.” Celestia nods to a nearby wizard, who disappears down a nearby hallway.

“So little a price to pay?” It laughs again. “I have watched older and more powerful empires than yours rise and fall. A paltry few hundred years means nothing to me.” Now it swivels its eyes to Eclipse. “Make no mistake, Unicorn foal, I will remember your bloodline. What those stupid pegasus suffered will be nothing compared to what I will do to your descendants.” Then it smiles, revealing its long fangs once again. “Or perhaps, if I am lucky, I will have my revenge on you… more presently.”

Eclipse snaps to action as the Naga casts, he was ready this time. Two of the other wizards in the room join in the effort to break the Naga’s spell. Magic flashes between them and some of the present non-combatants scream. The lightning bolt barely has a chance to form before Eclipse and the others snap the spell like a twig. The magic cancels out, leaving only a low boom behind. Celestia glares at the Naga, unperturbed by its aggression. The massive serpent howls with laughter.

“See how easy it is to cow them? They run and hide even when safe beyond measure. It will be easy for this land to fall before them.” The Naga laughs again as the wizard sent away returns bearing with him several white staffs. The wizard glances about, curious as to the screaming and the boom before he passes some of the staffs to other wizards. They surround the cage, at a safe distance, and each point one of the staffs at the Naga. It’s not clear exactly what is going to happen, but it’s obvious the empowered companions do not want to be next to the wagon. They all step far away, outside the ring of wizards.

“Take a final look at the sun, monster, for it is the last you will see of it in a very long time.” Celestia takes a step forward and then begins to cast a spell. Yellow magic flows from her to each of the staffs held by the wizards and then irises shut on the Naga. It glows for a moment, and then disappears in a flash, its serpentine eyes never leaving Eclipse’s face until the teleport finishes. When the spell fades the wagon remains, empty. Celestia looks down to Eclipse. “Do not fear, Eclipse Corona, your family is in no danger. He will remain in Tartarus for over nine hundred years. When his sentence is over, I will ensure the safety of whatever descendants you have.” She speaks as if the events will transpire only next week. The casual reminder of the Princess’s immortality is striking.

“Thank you, your majesty.”

“Is that the extent of your report?”

“No, it is not.”

“You can say that again.” Tiny rolls his eyes.

“What else we have to say is not for public ears.”

“Very well, you may join me in my library when we are done here.” Celestia now turns her attention to Ormr. “First it would seem I have a visitor to welcome to Equestria. Yaks are infrequent travelers to these parts. What brings you to Canterlot?”

“Yak sent here by Yakyaksgard ancestors to prevent dark future.” Ormr’s lack of etiquette doesn’t seem to bother her in the slightest. “Ormr will not leave until quest is completed.”

“A prophecy? Would you tell me of this vision?”

“Yak must consult with ancestors, Ormr doesn’t know where quest takes Yak next.”

“Very well.” Celestia nods towards him. “You are welcome in Equestria for as long as you obey our laws.”

“Ormr not here to pick fight with Pony tribe.”

“That is good. Now, Eclipse Corona, Red Haze, and Tiny Hooves, please join me in my library.”

“My lady, I feel I should say that Ormr was helpful to us in our fight against the Naga, he should be allowed to speak with you in private as well.”

“I appreciate the candor, Red Haze. However, my library is not for the eyes of all. If I can read my Captain’s disapproving eyes correctly, she does not approve of the foreigner allowed such unrestricted access to the Palace. I am sorry, Ormr, but you will have to remain in the courtyard until we are done." Princess Celestia nods and turns away, Rose, Eclipse, Red, and Tiny all follow. Rampart Rock stays behind with Ormr.

The Princess leads them out of the Throne room and out across the gardens towards a lone tower on the opposite side of the Palace complex. Along the way, they pass a strange statue of a bipedal creature seemingly composed of a dozen different animals and equines. The discordant sculpture seems particularly out of place among all the other more orderly pieces of art. Red and Tiny glance at it somewhat quizzically, but don’t ask about it.

“Rose, I am sorry, but I wish to speak with them alone again.”

“You know I disapprove.”

“I am aware.” Celestia laughs lightly. “Your only concern is my safety, the actions of my agents are beyond the scope of your purpose.” Rose glares at the trio behind them and frowns.

“As you wish.” The Crystal pony takes a place beside the doorway to Celestia’s library. “I will, of course, be right here.”

“I understand.” The Celestia gestures into the building for the Empowered to follow her. “Please, come inside.” The entry is a short hallway, with a large stone door at the other end. Once they have all entered Celestia shuts and locks the outermost door, an ordinary wooden thing, and then unseals the stone barrier with a spell. The interior of her library is a cavernous chamber lined with bookshelves, some three or four stories high. A number of driftglobes provide a soft light quite adequate for reading.

Celestia moves to the center of the room, where a large circular mahogany table waits, nearly a thick wooden stump covered in open tomes. Eclipse and Red follow, but the moment Tiny steps past the stone door he nearly falls to the ground. He gasps, not quite in pain, as his body visibly wavers. Eclipse glances from Tiny to Celestia, who simply watches the event unfolding before her with curiosity. A moment later and Tiny’s pony body seemingly rips in two and dissolves. Standing where he had been is his changeling form, breathing heavily after the strain of trying to hold his disguise together.

“So I was right.” Princess Celestia nods. “I apologize for the deception. Any illusion or shape-shifting magic is instantly dispelled when entering this room. I didn’t want to alarm Rose Given with your true nature. She can sometimes be overzealous with my protection.” The Alicorn takes note of the calm expression on Eclipse’s face and the worry for her friend on Red’s. “I take it you two knew already?”

“Princess, we can explain-” She holds up a hoof to silence Red.

“No need. I think I understand. The inclination of the changelings to infiltrate and disguise has left most ponies with a natural fear of them. That he would hide his true nature is entirely understandable.”

“What are you going to do with me now?” Tiny can’t quite bring himself to meet her eyes.

“That depends, entirely, on how honest you have been and where your loyalties lie.” She sweeps her gaze across Eclipse and Red.

“I am loyal only to myself, and my friends.”

“If it matters, he willingly told us his secret as we set out towards Shine Shire. He swore that the rest of his story is the truth.”

“He saved my life, twice. I trust him.” Red nods towards him, he silently thanks her with a smile.

“It is good that your friends speak well of you. One’s quality can be discerned by the quality of one’s friends.” Celestia nods again. “To answer your question, I am going to do nothing. Until I learn of any crime you have committed, you are still an agent in my service, and I see no reason to take action against you.”

“Thank you.” Tiny bows, more respectfully than he ever has before.

“Now, you said you had more to report?”

“Yes.” Eclipse begins. “The Naga was not working of its own volition. Someone wanted it there, creating the Hell Horses.”

“You have proof of this?” Celestia narrows her eyes. Eclipse draws out the letter they found in the Naga’s desk and sets it on the table for Celestia to see. She takes a moment to read it, her expression hardening into a deep frown. “This is quite grave indeed. I will have to interrogate the Naga directly for information on this Dreadcaster and the identity of the contact.”

“There is one more thing.” Red nods towards Eclipse. “The symbol the letter mentions. We found it too.” The midnight blue Unicorn now removes the metal badge that was with the letter and passes it to the Princess. Celestia’s surprise is quite clear.

“The Cult of the Red Blade.” She holds up the symbol and starts to pace while she examines it. “This is most concerning.” After a few moments, she sets the symbol atop the letter. “It would seem they are indeed returning. It is time you hear the history behind the Cult and Tyranny.”

“When last we spoke you were reluctant to speak of it.”

“When last we spoke the cult was not responsible for the deaths of eleven ponies. I will not hide this information from you.” The Princess takes a deep breath before beginning. “Two hundred and seventy years ago, it began small, a single incident of a Unicorn and a Pegasus who killed an Earth pony. It was an accident, emotions ran high and they lost control, but some extremists saw it as oppression. Soon the belief that Earth ponies were somehow inferior began to spread among some of the more… arrogant Unicorn families.”

“A belief that is still sometimes expressed among the less polite nobles. It is nonsense, of course.”

“In response, many Earth ponies began to band together, at first for their own protection. But then…” The princess lifts one of the books and sets it on the other side of the heavy mahogany table for them to see. “Knight Harrow, brother to the killed pony, his zealotry and hate pushed them into a frenzy.” On the page is an illustration of a massive Pony in heavy armor razing a town to the ground. “That was how the Cult rose to become such a threat. Over the next years, they would appear in a city and drive the Earth ponies to a frenzy until it broke into riots and killings. In time they grew in strength until they could challenge armies, and became a supremacy movement.”

“Couldn’t the nobles quench the rebellions?”

“Some tried, by guile or by persuasion. Some by force, which only fanned the flames higher. Others took advantage of the situation, fracturing the realm even more. I would have settled the issues with the Cult myself, but my attention was needed elsewhere.” Eclipse turns the page, revealing a depiction of an army of Yaks in the cold snow. “In the north, a Yak warlord named Gunniens grew envious of the fertile lands in Equestria and gathered a warhost to take what lands he could. His forces would sweep down to take spoils of war, goods and Pony slaves.” He turns the page again, and they find the image of a tall changeling queen. “In the south, a new changeling hive was rising, Queen Hemelytra led a campaign of terror, sending infiltrators to every major city and settlement in Equestria. Assaults on random ponies were a daily occurrence, and assassinations of nobles became commonplace.”

“I guess that explains the fear and hate for my kind.”

“You don’t know your own race’s history?”

“We didn’t exactly get much schooling at all. Life in the hive was harsh, the lucky ones got sent out to be spies or thieves, the really lucky ones got to be… poachers.” He doesn’t have to explain what they hunted.

“As if those threats were not dire enough,” Celestia continues, “A wizard I knew turned against me. He sought ever greater heights of power and refused to accept that I would not teach him all my most secret spells. He traveled to forgotten places and made pacts with forces both dark and vile.” Again the page turns, and the next image is of a Pegasus in a wizard robe, his eyes bleeding black smoke. “He challenged me, and when I defeated him I exiled him from Equestria. Brightflare showed such promise, if he had been more patient, or less ambitious, I might have shared some of my secrets with him.”

“All that, all at once?” Red was unaware of the history. She turns the page one more time, and the image presents a flight of winged creatures in armor.

“Equestria’s resources were stretched to the absolute limit. So I called for aid, from both the Griffons and from the Hippogriffs. Their armies gathered in the Griffon lands before crossing the sea, and there the final trap was sprung. The Griffons, led by General Ghrigol, betrayed me and slaughtered the Hippogriffs em mass as they slept. The loss of so many at once, including the crown prince, caused the hippogriffs to withdraw to their mountain entirely and triggered a succession crisis of their own. Under such threat, I almost lost hope.” Celestia looks up and shudders. “That was my darkest hour. Only twice before has Equestria come so close to oblivion, once when my sister and I faced the mad god Discord.” She falls quiet, looking away from the three. Red shuts the book, in the quiet space, the sound is almost a thunderclap.

“And the other?” Tiny waits only a few moments before asking.

“Nightmare Moon.” Red answers for the Princess, knowing the topic brings her great pain.

“I was about to resort to my most powerful and dangerous weapons when I heard the news, the Ponies of Equestria were starting to fight back. The resistance was scattered, leaderless, weak at first. But in small victories my hopes were raised like the sun each dawn. Those with a heroic strength of will and force of arms fought back against the ever-growing tides of darkness.”

“Like our predecessors. The forgotten heroes.”

“Yes. In all the chaos I never could be certain who they were, they were careful and powerful, and quick. When the fighting stopped I assumed they had disappeared back into the populace or across the sea. I would have rewarded them with noble titles if they had come to me. None had more success against the forces of the Cult or the Changelings than they did.”

“Only those? What happened to the other threats?”

“I won.” Celestia nods. “Oh, it took decades to bring them all down, but in time I was able to bring a relative peace back to Equestria. General Ghrigol I slew in open combat, and the Griffons withdrew. The Griffon kingdom claimed he was a rogue general and condemned his actions. His family was struck out of the nobility and disappeared, I believe they were hunted down to the last within a few years. The Yaks I fought to a standstill, when Warlord Gunniens fell to an assassin, not one of mine I might add, I was finally able to force a peace with them. My only condition was the return of the enslaved ponies. Queen Hemelytra, threatened by the actions of the heroes, withdrew to her hive and fortified herself there until she came into conflict with a rival Queen and was usurped and killed.”

“What of Brightflare?”

“I heard little of exactly what happened to him, the Islands he fled to was destroyed in a magical disaster of some sort. I presume he was responsible for the catastrophe and was killed by it. The last I heard of the Cult of the Red Blade was that they were marching to the core of Equestria, I thought they were coming after me, and I fortified myself for the assault which never came. Then the Tree of Worlds vanished, and the Cult’s army simply vanished. Until you three rediscovered the Tree of Worlds I never knew exactly what happened. The remains of the Cult took many years to fully root out. It took me a lifetime to rebuild Equestria back to where it was before the strife.”

“I have seen maps from that era, they show a number of cities that do not exist now.”

“Yes, I have not rebuilt every settlement and city. A few have been reclaimed by the wilds, some renamed and rebuilt over the ruins. A few others have been simply forgotten.”

“Hold a moment, you said this was the History of Tyranny. What did you mean by that?”

“At the time, I was unaware of what I am about to tell you. As my agents sought out the leaders of the various forces that had come to bear against me, they discovered something terrifying. The rise of all these threats was not a coincidence. They had not merely been taking advantage of the situation.” Now Celestia clears a space on the middle of the table with a simple wave of her horn. She casts a second spell and a hidden mechanism splits the mahogany table apart at its center, revealing a massive book with an iron lock. Celestia takes the book and pulls the gem from her crown, using it to unlock the seal on the tome. Inside are a number of scrolls. “They were working together.” Eclipse takes the topmost scroll and reads it aloud, the script is an elegant but strict quillwork.

“The Queen has abandoned us, she hides in her hive where the Alicorn cannot reach without severe cost she is unwilling to pay. The Alicorn’s forces are moving north to engage you, her forces outnumber you five to one. Do not engage, move into the snowy lands to the northeast and let the winter winds break the ponies for you.” Then he sets that one aside and reads from the next, its scrawl nearly illegible. “Grigor had the gall to try and face a god on his own, the fool. He should have waited for the Demon, under my thrall it would have devoured her whole! With the Griffons routing, I was in no position to finish the spell, and withdrew to more favorable grounds rather than face the entire army on my own. She never knew I was even there. Brightflare.” He quickly reads through a few more. “All of these are similar, a report from one to another of these five threats.” He passes one to Tiny. “See, this one is from Knight Harrow.”

“This one is a report about troop movements.” Red reads through more. “A request for help as Celestia’s forces closed on the Changeling hive.”

“Yes, I remember that. I was ready to lay siege to the hive, but then the Griffons threatened Cloudsdale and I was forced to withdraw or let the Pegasus capital fall.”

“I don’t believe it. How could you possibly have been victorious if they were all sharing information like this?”

“I almost did not. Only the rise of those heroic individuals was enough to break the tide.”

“Wait a moment…” Eclipse is still reading through the letters. “There is something strange about these…”

“Ah, it would appear you have discovered what I meant.” Celestia nods at the unicorn.

“Problem, Eclipse?” Red steps to his side to see him organizing the scrolls by order of their apparent intended recipient. Red takes a moment to glance at the stacks, and her eyes go wide. On the heavy mahogany table are six stacks.

“I don’t get it.” Tiny glances at the piles, he hasn’t made the connection.

“There were not five threats to Celestia. There were six.”

“Yes, he was careful to keep his identity a secret, apparently even from his allies. I found a single direct reference to him in all the documents my agents were able to recover. Sovereign, that was what they called him. I do not know who or what he was, or even his fate. When I learned of this sixth threat that I had never know of I began pouring over the records of the wars, looking for a pattern I had only gleaned a tiny part of during the events themselves. The targets they chose were not always ones of tactical value, or even what appeared to be strategic goals. At the time, I thought they were targets of opportunity, but now I believe they were looking for something.”

“What could be worth spending the lives of entire armies and the slaughter of entire cities for?” Bile rises in Red’s gut as she considers the sheer loss of life.

“A weapon. Lost to history and the ages. Power crystallized into physical form. Something which with one could gain the will to dominate all life. A match in strength to my own greatest tools, or greater even still, I cannot be sure.” Then Celestia casts another spell, and the front cover of the book which had contained all the scrolls opens to reveal a scroll fragment. It’s a partial map of Equestria with a single site circled, and written there on it the name of the tools the threats sought. “The Elements of Tyranny.”

The 6th Session: Noble Families

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“Well, that was fun, now what?” They all stand in the palace courtyard, having rejoined Ormr and Rampart Rock. Tiny was able to shift back into his chosen pony form before leaving the library, his secret remains secure. “I mean, that was ominous and all, but what are we supposed to do about it?”

“Yak doesn’t know what Tiny pony means.”

“Princess Celestia is worried about the return of an old enemy.” Red Haze explains. “I don’t know what to do either.”

“For the time being there isn’t much we can do. Until we have more information or another assignment, our time is our own.” Eclipse nods and then gestures towards the city. “We should leave the palace grounds before the guards start to get nervous.”

“They’ll get used to you eventually.” Rampart salutes to the other royal guardsponies. “I expect you will be a common sight at the palace in the weeks and months ahead.” In one large group, they all leave the palace behind.

“Months?” Red blinks. “I don’t think I’ve stayed that long in one place since I was a filly. Where will I stay?”

“With all those bits we took from the Naga, I expect you could live quite comfortably for a few years or longer.”

“There is no need to search for lodging.” Eclipse leads them towards the city’s edge, heading up the mountain. “You can all stay with my family. I’m sure we can find space in the auxiliary building on the estate.”

“Estate? You have an estate?”

“Noble family of the Astrals, remember? We may have lost most of our lands, but not all. We still have our mansion, as well as ownership over some glass-works and a clockmaker’s workshop.”

“You really like to exposit, don’t you?” Tiny rolls his eyes.

“I’m sorry about that. It comes with the position, I’m always having to explain something to somepony.”

“And you’re still doing it.” Tiny jabs him in the side with a taunting hoof. Then they follow him uphill, out past the edge of the city proper. Red glances at Rampart, who continues to keep pace with them.

“Do you really have to stick around?”

“My mission is to keep you three safe. At least until I am reassigned, anyway.”

“Yak not counted?”

“No, Ormr, you are not part of my mandate. That and I think you are quite able to take care of yourself, you need no additional protection from me.”

“I agree with Rampart,” says Eclipse. “I am sure my father will find the extra security a relief once he hears about all this.”

“Assuming he doesn’t already.”

“I guarantee he doesn’t know it all, I don’t care how good his agents are.”

“Well then, how much are you going to tell him?” Red’s question brings Eclipse to a halt. “It can’t be everything. Celestia didn’t even tell this to the captain of her guard.”

“I… don’t know.”

“That’s a first.”

“Just tell him the truth.” Suggests Red.

“There’s a lot to unpack there, given the nature of our mission I don’t think that’s wise.” He shakes his head and resumes walking.

“I said the truth, not the whole story. We are working with Celestia, she is worried about an old enemy.”

“The rest is on a need to know basis, and your father doesn’t. I’m your bodyguard and I don’t know the whole story either.”

“You are not my father.” The noble Unicorn shakes his head. “That will never satisfy him.”

“Well, if he doesn’t like it you can tell him to take it up with Celestia herself, that will shut him up.” Eclipse doesn’t respond to Tiny this time, contemplating what he is going to tell his father.

He is quiet all the way up to the point where they approach a wrought iron gate and fence, over a dozen feet high and topped with nearly spear-like points. On the other side of the fence, some distance away and right up against the cliff-face is a thin and tall five-storied house; the first two floors made from blocks of finely polished stone, and the remaining three constructed of pine timber. The roof is sharply angled over the uppermost level, and the front face has a large circular window dominating the fourth and fifth floors. Shut curtains hide the interior through the large window, all the other windows are shuttered. A few other windows on the stone cliff itself indicate that the structure is built partially inside the mountain.

A similar, if significantly smaller structure, is opposite it in the yard. The second building is only two floors high, and the roof is not as sharply inclined. Both buildings are nestled in an alcove in the cliff-face which nearly hides both of them from the city itself, now somewhat further down the mountain from them. Although, it appears if one were to stand on the fourth or fifth floors you could see the city over the roof of the smaller building.

Rampart casts his eyes around the small compound, taking note of the vulnerabilities and strengths of the position. Having just seen the royal palace, neither Red nor Tiny are particularly awed by the building.

“Welcome to the Astral family estate.” Eclipse approaches the gate and pushes it open using magic, the hinges squeal in protest but open regardless. “I should introduce you to my parents and siblings, if they are home at the moment, before we settle you into the auxiliary.”

“Yak doesn’t need soft pony bed.” Ormr snorts, unimpressed.

“I… it can be arranged for you to sleep outside if you wish it.” Eclipse blinks in confusion but decides against arguing with the Yak. He leads them up the gravel path to the larger of the two buildings. Along the way, they pass a single statue of a rearing Alicorn with its wings spread wide. Red pauses to look at it.

“That doesn’t look like Princess Celestia. Its legs are too short, and the mane is wrong.”

“Correct, that is what we believe Princess Luna looked like before she was corrupted into Nightmare Moon.”

“And she lets you display it like this? Out in the open?”

“Celestia takes no stance on the beliefs of those who live in Equestria, despite the fact that many worship her as a goddess,” Rampart explains.

“How can you say that? She controls the sun and the moon in the sky! Of course, she is a goddess!”

“I have seen her make mistakes.” Rampart retorts. “She had to be told about the problems in the north and knew nothing about the Naga. Not only that, but she had to send us to handle it. She is neither omniscient nor omnipotent. Celestia is not a goddess.”

“I foresee this conversation happening again in our future.” Tiny interrupts as embers flare at the ends of Red’s mane and tail. “Douse it, hot stuff. I don’t think Eclipse would appreciate torching his dad’s house before we even get inside.”

“Please don’t burn my home down.” Red glances at him and takes a few deep breaths to calm herself, and the little glowing embers fade down. “Thank you.” With that Eclipse opens the heavy looking front door and leads them all inside. The moment the door opens the sound of a ringing bell emits out of nowhere.

The interior of the foyer certainly wants to be imposing, as it is constructed entirely of flat polished stone with marble pillars lining the walls. However, the columns are not actually load bearing, as they are clearly part of the wall. The nearly floor to ceiling paintings of the Twin Princesses victory over King Sombra and Discord are both too large and too grandiose for the scale of the room. The gold glistening on the staircase banisters should be an obvious extravagance, but they are clearly only veneer thin.

“Welcome home, master Eclipse.” An older grey unicorn appears from a side room, he quickly glances over all the arrivals, unfazed by Red and Tiny, and not even batting an eyelid at the Yak in the entry. The Earth pony in the royal guard armor, however, does cause him to blink.

“Good afternoon, Sterling. Is my father home?”

“Master Dusk is in the city on business at this time. Mistress Crystal is in her studio, as usual.” Eclipse sighs at this. “Master Glint is… still sleeping I believe. Mistress Aurora is out with friends, she said she would be with Cheery Cherry until this evening.”

“Very well. My visitors here will need accommodations. Will you please prepare the auxiliary rooms?”

“I already have, sir.” Eclipse raises a curious eyebrow. “Your father left instructions that the rooms be ready for your return before he left.”

“How could he possibly know we were going to be here?” Red speaks out.

“I’m going to guess someone sent him a message once we were seen arriving at the Landing.” Rampart speculates.

“He indicated as much.” Sterling nods to the new arrivals. “If you would please follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

“You look like a mare wearing that tiara.” The Unicorn stallion, Eclipse’s brother, Gleaming Glint, shoves another spoonful of pasta into his mouth. Sauce dribbles down his chin and he wipes it away with his sapphire blue arm, licking the spill and cleaning his fur on the tablecloth.

“It’s a repository of magical energy.” Eclipse frowns. “Not jewelry.”

“He’s right, you know.” Tiny nearly laughs.

“You’re already pretty effeminate, the circlet isn’t helping with that at all.” Red Haze at least tries to explain. Eclipse glares at her but does not retort.

“So, is the Yak outside going to eat with us?” Glint jabs a hoof towards the window, through which Ormr can be seen.

“I suspect our… friend there will be eating outside if we’re lucky.” Rampart answers. “I doubt he’d be much for conversation anyway.”

“I’ve never talked to a Yak before anyways.” Gleaming Glint shrugs, nearly spilling his wine. “I’d like to chat him up a bit.”

“Ormr is not exactly eloquent, or up to date on modern Equestrian life.”

“That’s what makes him interesting.” Eclipse raises a curious eyebrow towards his brother but does not continue the question.

“I can see Mother is working on a new piece.” He directs this towards one of the empty spaces by the head of the table.

“If you can call it working. She’s been staring at that blank canvas for two days.”

“Your mother is an artist? Did she paint those in the entry?” Red makes the attempt to be polite as Rampart and Tiny ignore this new line of conversation.

“If she had, we wouldn’t be living out here in this dump.” Gleaming snorts, earning him a reprimanding glare from Eclipse. For an instant, it looks like the midnight unicorn might shout at his older brother, but the moment passes. Red lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding in relief.

“She paints somewhat more… expressively than most.”

“If by that you mean she makes a huge mess making terrible art. We’ve stopped trying to clean it up.”

“At least she’s doing something with herself.” Now it’s Eclipse’s turn to earn a disapproving glare from his brother. Much, unsaid, passes between them.

“I do believe we’ve stepped into a family squabble. Anyone up for a card game?” Tiny makes a shallow attempt to diffuse the tension. The front door chimes, and Eclipse and Gleaming Glint both seize up. Eclipse sits nearly ramrod straight and his brother actually makes a real effort to appear regal, which fails. Eclipse’s eyes dart up for an instant and he quickly snatches the casting crown from his brow and sets it on the table before him.

“What’s with the shaggy carpet outside?” A bright mare’s voice reaches up to them from the foyer and both siblings immediately relax. Red, Tiny, and Rampart all share a glance over the brothers clear discomfort. Shortly the owner of the voice, a sky blue Unicorn mare slightly older than Eclipse enters the dining room. She flips her luxurious strawberry red hair out of her eyes and sweeps them over the assembled guests. She nods when she spots Eclipse. “That explains it, I take it you are are my brother’s new co-workers?”

“You are correct. Welcome home, Aurora Borealia.”

“Neatly introducing me to all your companions at once, you aren’t nearly as clever as you sometimes think you are.”

“Ha! I like her.” Tiny raises his glass to the mare. “Tiny Hooves, happy to meet you.” He gives her a welcoming smile and a flirtatious wink. Aurora just rolls her eyes and goes to her place beside the empty spaces reserved for her parents. Sterling appears as if summoned with her plate before vanishing neatly out of view behind a screen. Aurora and Glint make no note of his presence, Eclipse nods once towards him in thanks.

“Careful, Tiny.” Red was paying enough attention to see Eclipse’s mouth twinge at Tiny’s behavior towards his sister. “I don’t think he approves.”

“You lot are the talk of the town. Parading a Yak and that cage through the city, surrounded by royal guards. Everyone is talking about it.”

“All speculation, I assume.”

“I overheard some of the other girls saying it was a diplomat from Yakyakistan. Cherry thinks it was a gift for the princess. I am of the opinion it’s something a bit more dangerous.”

“That would be accurate.”

“We brought a captive Naga to the Princess.” Rampart blurts it out. Gleaming Glint coughs as he nearly inhales his wine.

“Really? What could she need with a Naga?”

“Don’t be stupid, Glint. You don’t even know what a Naga is.” Aurora is unafraid of insulting her older brother. The other blue Unicorn scowls at her but lets the insult slip pass without devolving into an argument.

“It was a monster that killed eleven Pegasus and maimed another. We captured it, in a town on the northern border.”

“So, that’s where you’ve been. Your letter didn’t say what it was you were doing.”

“To be fair, we didn’t know what we were doing until we got there.” Red runs to Eclipse’s defense.

“Father was furious you didn’t come back on schedule.” Eclipse twitches visibly at this from Aurora. “Your letter didn’t do much to calm him.” Eclipse shifts weight from one hoof to the other as he squirms uncomfortably. “He should be home soon.” Gleaming smirks slightly at his brother’s discomfort when the front door chimes again.

Sterling’s muffled voice drifts up them as he speaks to the new arrival, the precise and hard voice that responds sets the Astral family siblings on a razor’s edge. Measured hoofsteps up the stairs precede a straight-necked Unicorn stallion entering the dining room. The teal figure sweeps his stern eyes across the gathered ponies until they rest on Eclipse, and he frowns.

“Welcome home, father.” Dusk Light does not immediately answer his son or return the greeting. All three of his children wait quietly for him to speak.

“It would seem we have guests.” He stalks to the head of the table and seats himself. Sterling appearing with a glass of wine and plate for the head of the family, Dusk waves the meal away before the butler can place it before him.

“This is Red Haze, Tiny hooves, and Rampart Rock.” Somewhat woodenly, Eclipse introduces them all. “The Yak outside is Ormr.”

“Celestia’s new agents, as I understand it.” He sounds utterly unimpressed, although he does nod slightly to Rampart Rock.

“We’ve just returned-”

“I am aware of your little adventure in Shine Shire. As well as it’s resolution.” Dusk affixes a critical unblinking eye on Eclipse. The younger unicorn nearly shrivels under his father’s gaze, whatever the patriarch found distasteful about his son’s activity is left unsaid in the presence of others. “I find the quality of the outcome… acceptable.”

“High praise.” Aurora’s tone makes her sarcasm clear.

“I thought he performed quite admirably.” Tiny gives Eclipse a little salute with his wineglass.

“The opinion of a rabid mongrel is of little value.” Dusk doesn’t hesitate the slightest in his insult. Tiny carefully sets his glass on the table and glares little daggers at the Teal Unicorn.

“Insult me again, and see what happens.” Everpony else freezes as they wait for the confrontation to play out. Glint’s fork slips out of his grasp with a clatter.

“The dog threatens to bite while sitting at his master’s table.” Unlike Dusk, Tiny hesitates. Slowly the disguised changeling stands. Rampart stiffens, ready to impose himself between the two before it can come to blows.

“Sir.” Tiny’s voice nearly drips with scorn. “Your insults are sub-par, and your creativity is disappointing.” Then Tiny pointedly looks away from Dusk to his friends. “I’ll see you all in the morning.” With that, he slips out of the room and down through the front door, which only chimes when someone opens the door from the outside.

“Ah, the mutt has no teeth.” Dusk subtly grins. “At least he knows when not to bark.” Dusk’s gaze slides over to Red Haze, whose mane is nearly smoldering. “The stray should keep her heat under control, or I will have her spayed.” Red nearly explodes, flames crackling off her mane and tail as she snarls at him. In a fraction of an instant a bright beam of blazing magic streaks out towards Dusk, only for the magic to be lashed out of the air and snapped apart by Eclipse as he defends his father. Glint and Aurora are unable to keep their composure, shouting and scurrying away from the table. Dusk merely raises an eyebrow, his hooves steepled before him. “No hesitation. Good.”

“Red, stand down!” Rampart imposes himself between Red and the others, facing her. Her only response is a rather draconic growl. “Calm down!” She tries to advance, but Rampart pushes her back, the hoof on her shoulder smoking slightly. He lowers his voice so only she can hear. “This is what he wants, don’t give it to him. It’s not worth the trouble.” She doesn’t quite calm, but her fires dim somewhat.

“I don’t care how noble he thinks he is, no one insults me like that!”

“If you continue to attack him, I’ll have to stop you.”

“Why? You heard what he called me!?”

“I did. But, this is his home, it doesn’t matter how bad the insult, I can’t let you attack somepony over it. I’m sorry.” Red looks past Rampart and notes that Eclipse is now standing between them and Dusk, glancing between his father and her, clearly uncertain what to do about the situation. She seethes for a moment longer before turning towards the door.

“Fine. It’s clear I’m not wanted here.” The front door slams shut behind her. Only when the tension of the moment passes does Rampart turn towards Dusk.

“Are you are going to insult me out of the room as well?”

“Not at all. I have heard nothing but praise for Rampart Rock of the royal guard. I have no need to question your competence, considering how you handled yourself guarding my son in the north.” Eclipse cringes, having understood exactly what his father meant. Despite being a ‘mere’ guardspony, Rampart didn’t miss it either.

“I was already wounded.” Rampart sits back down to finish his dinner, not allowing Dusk to rattle him the way he did the others. “Needlessly putting myself in further harm's way would have only made me a liability on a battlefield. Sitting out a skirmish or two was the right call.”

“It is good to see a pony who knows his place.” Dusk nods, and finally allows Sterling to bring him his meal. “Eclipse, I expect to have words with you once you have spoken to your new companions.”

“Yes, father.” Eclipse’s eyes fall to his plate, despite having eaten little of it he cannot bring himself to finish the meal over the knots inside him. Glint and Aurora return to their seats, and aside from the clinking of silverware the rest of the meal is spent in tense silence.

Outside, steam and faint smoke emit from Red as she vents. A hoofstep on the gravel behind her causes her to spin, a ray of heat focused into a cutting torch nearly slicing Tiny’s neck open.

“Easy, it’s just me!” The changeling backs away a few steps, and Red snuffs the fire. “So what did he say to you?”

“I refuse to repeat it.” She spits. “What are doing out here?”

“Waiting for you. I’m sorry I couldn’t warn you any better.”

“Warn me? You knew he was going to do that?”

“I guessed.” He shrugs. “After he insulted me I figured he would turn on you and Rampart. Ormr too, if he were inside.”

“Why, what does he gain?”

“It’s a dominance thing. He wants us to know who’s in charge. As long as you don’t resist, he’ll leave you alone now. It was like that at the hive.” Tiny slowly turns and heads towards the auxiliary. “It’s why we left.”

“You and your brother? You haven’t talked much about him.”

“We were twins, ha-” He blinks and looks around, making sure nopony was within earshot. “Born together, lived together. We were both a little small, and knew we had to have each other’s backs.” Tiny pauses for a moment, on the way across the estate, to watch Ormr performing some kind of Yak ritual involving noisily crushing a tree branch. “It was the only way for us to survive, fighting daily for a chance to feed.”

“Feed on what?”

“I wasn’t going to say.” Tiny flinches. “The Queen kept… let’s call it livestock, in pens across the city for the drones to feed on. But you had to earn that chance, you had to get there while there was still food to be had.” Now he shudders again. “Weeding out the weak ones. That’s what the justification was.”

“That’s utterly horrible.” Red pushes open the auxiliary building door. Compared to the main building it’s quite spartan. The paintings on the walls are small and mundane, the carpet simple if well made, and the floors freshly swept but not polished.

“In every sense, from any angle, it was evil. You wouldn’t have liked us then, we weren’t any better than most of the other brutes. Arecrethy, my brother, I saw the toll it took on him, he had nightmares constantly and I caught him crying a few times. So I promised him we would escape.”

“You failed, didn’t you?”

“What? No!” Tiny laughs. “It was almost too easy to get out. If we had known it would have been so simple, we would have done it years before. It took us so long to even try because we were terrified of being caught. Once we finally did it, we just packed a few things and bolted away one evening as the others went for the feeding pens.”

“No one went looking for you?” A small sitting room on the first floor makes a fine place to sit and chat. One wall is dedicated to a large painting, if you can call it that, consisting entirely of hundreds of what appear to be splatters of color. The spray of color almost hurts Red’s eyes to look at. Probably one of Eclipse’s mother’s works.

“In the chaos of the lower levels in a hive, no one cares when one or two lowly drones disappear or end up dead. So we ran and found ourselves in Equestria. We had to do some things we weren’t proud of to survive, if I told you a month ago you would probably have burned me right to ash. We conned and lied and stole until we managed to fake our way into what looked like a legitimate organization.”

“Doing what?”

“A little bit of anything, really. I guess you could call us mercenaries. But we discovered we had morals, the Pony way of life was rubbing off on us, and after a while, we stopped getting… hungry.”

“What do you mean you don’t get hungry? I’ve seen you eat before.”

“Not what I meant.” Tiny laughs again. “I mean, as drones, we always felt this… need to drink the emotions of other creatures. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter. Please, go on.”

“There’s not much else to say actually. One day I came home and found my brother dead. A Pony standing over his body with a dagger.” Tiny frowns and looks up at the ceiling. “I couldn’t see him clearly, only the scar on his neck and the mark on his side. A knife dripping blood. He saw me, looked right at me, and then darted out the window. I tried to follow, but he was gone. I swore I would track him down. I buried my brother in an unmarked grave outside the town, sold what we had, and left.” He sighs. “That was six years ago. I still haven’t found that Pony.” Silence lingers for a while.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because… I don’t know. Because you’re my friend, and hey, it got you to calm down.” Red blinks and looks down at her hooves, her earlier fury has faded.

“Was that all just to distract me from what he said?”

“Not a bit. But it helped take your mind off it. I’ll take my wins where I can find them.”

“That’s good.” They both startle as Eclipse enters the room. “Because my father doesn’t like to lose.” In their experience Eclipse isn’t the happiest of individuals, but now he looks downright crestfallen. His usual stance is one of confidence and surety, his head held high and proud. Now it nearly hangs, and his eyes are downcast. “I wanted to apologize for his behavior. It was unacceptable to say those things in decent company.”

“I guess it’s nice to know we’re decent.” Tiny stands and puts a reinforcing hoof on Eclipse’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I know you think better of us than that.”

“Still, it would have been nice if you stood up for us.” Red is a bit less forgiving, and Eclipse flinches. “You didn’t even try to defend us.”

“I’m sorry.” This was no noble bow or platitude, but an honest heartfelt apology. With just that, all Eclipse’s nobility and form, so practiced for years, finally breaks down. “I didn’t know what to do.” Red had thought him the more mature of her companions, save for perhaps Rampart, but it’s clear now as he stands there just how young he really is. “I’ve seen him take ponies apart like that before, but never anyone I cared about.” For the first time, he appears to Red and Tiny as just a young stallion, struggling to find a place between his friends and his family without alienating either. What little grace he has left he uses to stay standing, but it’s clear his legs are shaking. Facing the Naga or Celestia was easier for him.

“It’s alright Eclipse. You don’t need to apologize for his behavior. It’s not your fault he’s an ass.” Red puts an arm around him and draws him close. “We’ll be alright.” Something loud and heavy slams through the front door and Red releases him.

“What ponies doing now?” Ormr bursts into the room, the tree branch he was smashing now rendered into splinters in his thick fur. Whatever sense of calm there had been flees for cover immediately. “Yak tired, where Ormr room?”

“I thought you wanted to sleep outside?” Faced with a far simpler threat than his father, some of Eclipse’s capability returns.

“Why pony think this? Yak not want soft Pony bed, said nothing about room.”

“Oh, I… uh. I misunderstood.” Only now does Tiny laugh at him.

“Don’t worry about Ormr, I’ll figure out what to do here.” Now Tiny leads the yak to the upper floor, leaving Red and Eclipse alone.

“At least you can all get some rest. You don’t have to face my father again tonight.” With the yak out of the room, Eclipses posture sinks again. Red pokes him hard in the side, causing him to startle.

“Eclipse Corona, listen to me.” He blinks, somewhat confused at her tone. “You have received the gift from the Tree of Worlds. You are an agent of the Princess of the Sun. You have faced griffons, Nagas, demonic hell horses, and stared death in the face, unblinking.” Red raises his head so he has to look her in the eye. “You’ve faced worse than one grumpy pony. Now harden that resolve, and stand tall.” He takes a deep breath, and she can see his former strength return.

“Thank you.” He bows towards her, respectfully. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Then he turns away but doesn’t get out of the room before she speaks again.

“Then go.” She waves her hooves dramatically and lowers her tone to sound more ominous. “And face your destiny!” Eclipse almost collapses into laughter, and she grins at him.

The evening moon rests low on the horizon as it begins its rise. The pale glow illuminates the roofs of the city below as the candles within the windows are snuffed out one by one. Dusk Light is standing at the bottom half of the great circular window when Eclipse enters his father’s study on the fourth floor. Dusk doesn’t even turn around to confirm his son’s entry, recognizing him by the sound of his hoofsteps alone. For several long moments, Dusk simply stands there, back to his son, as the grandfather clock against the wall ticks.

“Five silver and seven copper bits per roll, above the national average.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The current price of cotton imports into Cloudsdale. What did the Duchess of Baltimare lose when thieves broke into her estate?”

“I don’t know.”

“Two golden armlets, a silk dress, and a magical amulet worth more than this entire manor.” Eclipse wracks his brain trying to understand why his father is bringing these up.

“Why does it matter? We have nothing to do with them.”

“If the prices of cloth are raising in Clousdale, what else could that mean? Trade is slowing. As prices of general goods rise, the average Pony will have less to spend on luxuries, such as glass and clockworks.” Dusk paces beside the window. “Meanwhile, as news of the theft spreads, Ponies in Baltimare will begin to exchange old window shutters for more modern glass ones, better security.” Dusk stops pacing and eyes his son critically. “What would you have us do?”

“Order the glassworks to shift exports away from Cloudsdale, and focus more on Baltimare or other terrestrial cities.”

“Correct. I gave that order before you had even left for Trotton.” He points to a letter on his desk, against the wall to the right of the window. “I received this message this morning. Only two days after I gave the order our profits from Cloudsdale began to plummet, and the sale of new windows from Fillydelphia and Baltimare began to rise sharply. If I had waited for you to return, we would have lost our chance to gain a small fortune. Always be aware of what the other nobles are saying.”

“I remember now overhearing some of the conversations there regarding those matters.”

“What about the crop failures in Vanhoover?” Eclipse blinks, he hadn’t heard any of this. “Border skirmishes between Fillydelphia and Manehatten? A fire broke out in the forests outside Las Pegasus, what do you think about that?”

“I…” Eclipse stammers, struggling to find a connection to their businesses and these events.

“All these events can offer us a chance to improve our standing with the other families or to gain a profit or manage a loss. But you didn’t even know about them, did you?” Eclipse says nothing. “Did you?”

“No, father.”

“This is what my agents were able to overhear as the nobles conversed, during the Summer Sun Celebration.” Eclipse stiffens his back and takes a deep breath. “The one thing I sent you to do, and you missed it.” Although he maintains his composure, the words hit him like a blow to the gut.

“I can explain.”

“Your excuses do not entertain me. It’s well known you were there the night before. It’s equally well known you were not the next morning. Instead, you were found in the forest, having missed the entire celebration, and sleeping with a common mare.”

“It’s not like that.” Eclipse makes to explain, but his father will have none of it.

“Don’t interrupt me.” It’s almost a slap across the face. “Dragged in front of Celestia alongside a known criminal under heavy guard.”

“It was an escort, we weren’t captive.”

“I know that. Imagine how it appears to the other families, devoid of context. I know full well of Celestia’s request towards you. You did not consider the ramifications of your actions.”

“Lives were at stake, I had to act.”

“How fortunate for you that there were. Those lowborn Pegasus could very well have had the flu for all you knew. Now imagine what it would have looked like if there hadn’t been a Naga involved? Traipsing around like a child in the mud, pretending a stick is a sword, playing the hero.” Never once in all this has his father risen his voice. “How disappointing.”

“You said…” Eclipse hesitates and swallows the stone rising in his throat. Dusk allows him to continue. “You found the outcome acceptable.”

“The outcome, not the performance. True, you returned triumphant. It is for that reason alone I do not throw you out of this house.” Eclipse freezes, he knew his father wouldn’t approve of many of his decisions, but something like that… he hadn’t even considered it as a possible response. “Your behavior at the Summer Sun celebration was humiliating, utterly unacceptable. To jump onto a stage and play fight with a con-artist, and then lose so publicly?” Dusk trembles visibly with anger. “I know you’re better than that.”

“Tiny is a formidable swordspony, I could never have beaten him in a straight fight. I still did better than any other competitor.”

“Being better than common untrained rabble means nothing.” Dusk advances two steps so that he stands nearly nose to nose with Eclipse, causing the younger unicorn to retreat. “You should have handed that fop his ass, even considering your lack of skill with a blade. Proving you have the upper hand and then losing anyway, intentionally? Disgraceful!” When Dusk raises his head slightly and glares at his son he utterly dominates the space, despite Eclipse being slightly taller than his father.

“How could you-?” But then Dusk narrows his eyes and Eclipse knows that his father had only guessed that part.

“Even worse, you squander your chance to make connections with noble families to rush off to the woods to meet with some harlot.” Eclipse almost snaps back, Red deserves better than this, but holds his tongue. “If you are going to have indiscretions, you should at least have the wherewithal to be discreet about it.” For some reason, Dusk seems to think this is funny, although neither of them laughs.

“That isn’t what happened.”

“Be silent.” Dusk stamps a hoof, little bright lines of energy dance away from the impact. Eclipse snaps his mouth shut. It is rare that his father bothers to use magic beyond basic telekinesis and rarer still that he loses control over it. “I had such high hopes for you.” Eclipse opens his mouth to respond, but he has no words. Dusk doesn’t even speak again, simply turning away and facing out the window again towards the darkened city below. The conversation is quite obviously over.

Eclipse struggles to find something to say, and his father refuses to face him. After another long moment full of silence, aside from the clock, Eclipse, at last, turns away. The hall outside his father’s study is devoid of either his siblings or his mother, who by now must be sleeping. He considers turning in for the night, but instead, he slips through the halls, trying to think past the haze in his mind.

When he was a foal he spent many hours exploring the estate, and one day he stumbled on a hidden door behind an old clock on the third floor. It led through a tiny corridor to a section of the mountainside which overlooked the city. Presumably, it was meant to be a secret escape route should the manor ever be attacked.

It is through this hidden passage that Eclipse goes now, until he finds himself there in the night, watching the sleeping city. He stops beside a tall pine tree to sit and think, looking down at his shaking hooves. The wind blows through his mane and caresses his feathers gently, most ponies might shiver in the chill but on this night Eclipse doesn’t even notice.

Eclipse blinks and looks back at his side, trying to make sense of what he just experienced. For just an instant, he felt the wind on wings he does not have.

The pawn in white advances across the field, and strikes down the black knight. Eclipse cringes as his valiant soldier falls and is removed from action.

“Your move.” Rose Given smirks. Now the unicorn sighs as he moves his own pawn in to remove Rose’s. “A pawn for a knight, not a good a good trade.” A few days after they returned from the north, Eclipse met Rose in a relaxing public park, and finally got his chess match with her.

“It was that or let your queen take my other rook.” Eclipse surveys the board one more time as Rose moves another pawn. Their game has not gone his way. “Aside from beating nobles at chess, what are your interests? Surely there is more to you than duty.”

“Take my bishop, and I’ll tell you.” She slides the aforementioned piece to a powerful, but vulnerable location, where it threatens and is itself threatened. Eclipse almost leaps at the chance, but then looks again at the board. He could take the bishop with either his other knight or a bishop of his own, but both would leave an opening for her to move to an even more advantageous position with another piece.

“So tempting. I think I’ll have to ask again some other time.” Instead, he slips his queen to a location formerly threatened by said bishop, causing Rose’s eyes to narrow.

“Not as willing to take risks as I expected. Interesting.” They each take several turns moving pieces about the board. She is swift and sure with her moves, obviously used to thinking several turns ahead and already planning for them. This leaves Eclipse always on the defensive, trying to maintain his few powerful pieces without expending them needlessly. It isn’t long before it’s quite clear which of them has the clear advantage. All of Rose’s remaining power pieces are in dominant positions, making it difficult to move without losing something important. She keeps up the pressure by relentlessly advancing pawns across the board.

“This does not bode well for me.” Yet again Eclipse takes stock of the situation.

“I do believe you’ve lost.” Rose taps the table.

“It sure looks hopeless. But perhaps…” The unicorn moves his queen, taking what seems to be an innocuous pawn. “Hope can be found even in the fog of despair.” For the first time, Rose has to pause and examine the board. “Check. I’m surprised you didn’t see that.” Rose shifts her king out of the way, revealing her queen behind it, which he promptly removes. What follows is a veritable slaughter as they rapidly trade pieces, placing either king in check with nearly every move. When all is done, both sides are nearly crippled. Nearly.

“Checkmate.” Rose smiles again as Eclipse futilely searches for a way out. One hoof reaches out and tips the black king over.

“Well, that was fun.”

“You’re not bad. A little too defensive to really be competitive against the better players.”

“Such as yourself?”

“Perhaps.” She smiles, barely, just a little upturn of the corners of her mouth. “When it comes to chess, I’ve played against several better than I. They’ve all, to a one, told me I take too long to set up before going on the offensive.”

“There’s nothing wrong with moving from a position of strength.”

“True, but in chess things move too quickly for that to be really viable.” She frowns at the board. “Having to take turns means I can’t actually get my pieces where I want them before my plans can be interrupted. In real life everypony can move at once, supporting and covering each other to prevent openings. Moving one at a time means it’s harder for everypony to cover the others. It leaves the one moving out in front vulnerable.”

“I think I understand the basics. I suspect Ormr is going to be difficult to work with.”

“Why do you say that?” Rose’s ears twitch curiously.

“He isn’t the type to work alongside others, or even to listen to reason. When we were investigating the Naga’s lair he was outright assaulting the doors in our way, even the unlocked ones!” Rose has to stifle a laugh. “Tiny isn’t much better. When we found the lair and the creatures guarding the entry he goaded Ormr on, and they charged out without any plan of attack.” Eclipse looks up, a thoughtful hoof on his chin. “Come to think of it, I don’t think Red is used to working with others either.”

“The wanderer? I should think not.”

“We’ll learn. As long as we don’t have too many new hangers-ons to our group, we should be fine.” Eclipse blinks, only now noticing that Rose knows Red’s background. “How do you know so much about Red Haze already?”

“I knew nothing of her until we found you at the Tree of Worlds. When Celestia took you three as new agents I asked around, it wasn’t hard to find records of a young sorceress causing trouble, there’s more than a few inns that needed repairs after she lost her temper.”

“I’ve seen her fury up close, it can blaze out of control.”

“If you can, keep her on a short leash.” Eclipse frowns at Rose’s phrase. “That kind of outburst can get you into trouble.”

“If you would, please avoid using such vocabulary about my friends.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Not normally, it’s just a common saying, I know. In recent days she has been called a dog, worse really, and I don’t think that’s fair.”

“No said life was fair.”

“I know.” Eclipse nods, disappointed. “It should be.” Rose blinks, surprised.

“You said something like that the night before the Summer Sun Celebration.” Her hair slides off her shoulder as she tilts her head just a bit. “What exactly do you mean?”

“Ah, this conversation.” Eclipse nods again. “Let me ask a question first. Who were you before you joined the guard?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Please, answer the question.”

“My father was a soldier, my mother a seamstress. I worked as an assistant to a local baker until I decided I’d had enough of serving bread, and joined the guard.”

“You had to climb from those modest beginnings to be the captain. You had to fight and struggle, against other soldiers and against the expectations of those above and around you. Who were they?”

“Sons and daughters of the nobility, highborn generals, and the wealthy landowners.” She obliges the information, still confused as to the line of questioning.

“Exactly. How many of them were really worthy of those posts? A rhetorical question. A few, maybe, but certainly not all. Those born to the nobility are granted all the rights and opportunity they wish. We get better schooling, we have the pick and choice of what we do. Those born to much more common have to pick from the few options available to them.”

“I know all this already. It’s the way of the world.”

“But it shouldn’t be. Take my brother, for example, content to take the reins of the family once he inherits it from our father, he has no ambition to do anything beyond that and is something of a slob. This, despite the fact that he can sing quite well. He would do fine if he chose to use that ability to its full potential. My older sister would be the better choice to be the next head of our family, she is intelligent and capable. How many others have you met who hold stations above their ability, simply because they were born with more?”

“Quite a few.”

“Exactly. How many of the so-called common class would be suited to hold positions of importance? How many capable and driven individuals are there who will never be allowed to rise higher than their birth except through exceptional means?” Rose contemplates this. “Equestria would be better served, a stronger and greater nation, if we gave every pony a real chance to prove themselves. All those lower class citizens could be so much better if they just had the opportunity to shine.”

“What do you propose then?”

“Institutions who employ based not on connections and wealth, but on merit and ability. A government that listens to the voices of its people, not just those who can afford to reach its ear. Public schooling, available to every citizen free of charge.”

“The nobility would never stand for such competition.”

“In such a society being considered nobility would be because that individual had earned it, not because they were born there. All the wealth and power attained would be something they had won fairly, by proving they were worthy of that kind of station.”

“What an altruistic notion for a noble to express. Wouldn’t this mean that you would lose all you possess, yourself?”

“Perhaps I am worthy of what I have attained? Among my companions who have been empowered by the Tree of Worlds, there is a lowborn Earth pony and a wandering Unicorn of no notable station. The will of the Tree did not care where we were born or who our parents are, but our strength of character and willingness to do the right thing is what it saw. We earned our gifts.”

“You are an interesting stallion.” Rose eyes him carefully. “What does your father think of this?”

“My father…” Eclipse cringes. “He is… unaware of my thoughts on this matter.”

“You suspect he would not agree?”

“I suspect most nobles would not agree.” Eclipse hesitates to continue, and Rose catches him looking away. “But yes, my father would most certainly not approve.”

“I sense tensions.”

“It’s a long story.” He taps the table several times as he thinks. “One I do not wish to go into today.”

“I can see it is a sensitive matter for you.” Rose nods, hearing the discomfort in his voice. “Should you change your mind, I’ll be around.”

“Even though you are the guard’s captain?”

“I am more than my duty.” She smiles softly, echoing what Eclipse said earlier. “You are one of the few I have chosen to spend my limited free time with.”

“Ha, that’s a very aristocratic turn of phrase.” Eclipse begins to clean the board of pieces, carefully placing them in the polished box he brought.

“Some of the nobility’s terms have worn off on me, I guess.” Movement at the edge of the park draws their attention. A few ponies are pointing down the road, the object of their attention obscured from where they were playing the game. “What’s going on there?” Rose’s question is answered a moment later when Ormr storms into the park, scattering the curious ponies. Eclipse sighs and rubs at his temples, a headache preempting the expected conversation.

“Where blue pony?!” shouts the Yak, his voice booming.

“Ormr, I’m over here.” Eclipse flashes a bright light in the air using a simple spell, and the Yak bounds over. “You don’t need to yell.”

“Good, Rose pony here too.” Ormr glares down at the captain of the guard, finding her un-intimidating out of armor.

“Welcome, Yak. What do you need us for?”

“Messenger from Sun pony. Calls for Empowered to speak with her.”

“Oh?” Rose blinks and tips her head to the side. “I wasn’t aware she needed to see you.”

“Very interesting. Are the others alerted?”

“Ormr not found Red or Tiny yet.”

“I’ll head back to the Princess and meet you there. I’ll see you again, Eclipse.”

“I look forward to it.” Eclipse gives her a shallow bow of his head. Rose heads away at a trot. “Ormr, you keep looking for the others and I’ll meet you all outside the palace.” Ormr nods once and then turns away, leaving at a dead run. More ponies dart out of his way to avoid being hit by him or his horns, and Eclipse sighs again.

“I’m sorry, say that again.” Tiny makes a show of pretending to clean out an ear. “You want us to what?!”

“Investigate the Geode family estate.” Celestia giggles slightly at Tiny’s joke. Tiny, Eclipse, Red, Ormr, Rampart, Rose, and Celestia are standing in a fairly private part of the gardens, hidden from public view by high hedges and willow trees. “All jokes aside, this is quite serious.”

“Please forgive me, Princess,” Red steps forward, “but I don’t understand.”

“I have given this much thought over the last week. The apparent return of the Cult of the Red Blade and the state of Shine Shire may be connected.”

“I think I see the connection,” Eclipse speaks. “The Geode family, to whom you gave Shine Shire’s oversight, has been pulling resources away from the town, making it more vulnerable to the Naga’s attack. When we found the symbol of the Cult, and the message from the Dreadcaster, you were suspicious that the Geode family has joined the cult.”

“That would be an accurate representation of my concern, yes. The last time the cult arose it nearly brought civil war to Equestria, I wish to prevent this from happening again.”

“Do you really think the Geodes are part of or even leading the cult?”

“It is a possibility. It is my deep hope I am wrong. This is why I need you to go to Manehatten, investigate the Geodes, and determine what the truth is.”

“How can we do this?” Rampart considers the problem aloud. “We can’t simply demand entry to rummage through the secrets of a noble family and expect to be allowed in.”

“I can arrange a meeting with a member of the Geodes fairly easily, but my own family lacks the standing to make demands like that.” Eclipse shakes his head. “I’ll be no part of any attempt to break into their estate either. I’m on thin enough ice as it is.”

“We’re all too well known by this point to even try it.” Tiny points it out. “Even if only as Celestia’s agents. If we start to ask questions openly, especially on their home turf, they'll be all over us like flyders.”

“I anticipated this.” Celestia nods. “I think I have a solution for you. Rose, if you would, please bring out our intruder.”

“Princess?”

“The Hippogriff, please.” Rose hesitates a moment longer, glancing from Celestia to the others gathered around her with a frown. At last, she nods and heads away.

“A what?” Red blinks.

“Hippogriffs are a distant cousin to Griffons. Their kingdom lies atop a mountain far to the south.” Eclipse helpfully explains. “What’s one doing so far from home?”

“What’s a Yak doing this far south?” Tiny jerks an elbow towards Ormr, who snorts. “These are turning out to be interesting times.”

“To answer your question, my young noble friend, this Hippogriff was caught trying to break out of the vault.”

“Did you just say break out?” Red blinks again.

“I am quite impressed with his abilities. Few are the thieves who can get into the vault.”

“Why exactly are you sending a thief with us?” Red narrows her eyes, already suspicious of the new addition to the group.

“As you have said and noticed, you are all too well known, or in visible positions, to be found sneaking around noble family estates. So for any… let’s call them less than legal activities you intend to use in your investigation you will require outside assistance.”

“A foreigner, and known thief, would be an ideal scapegoat if captured.” Eclipse nods.

“That was not my intent, but you are correct.” Celestia looks up from the table towards where Rose is returning, leading a tall figure flanked by two more guards. “Ah, and here he is now.” The newcomer stands straight-backed, a faint smile on his face, as if proud to be where he is. Superficially he resembles a Pegasus, wings and all, although his tail is more like a lion’s than a pony’s, and his forelimbs end in grasping claws rather than hooves, his mouth is rather beak-like. He’s almost as tall as Celestia, his rear half is mostly fur and his front covered by feathers, all light blue.

“Kerrek Shieldglare, nobile among high of the Harmonizing Heights, pleased to make your acquaintance.” The Hippogriff bows to Celestia. His voice is warm and thick, with an accent and pronunciation more than a little foreign. Between his cultured voice and posture, there is no mistaking that he is either of high birth or very good at pretending he is. “How may I serve the royal, and pleasing, visage of the Principessa of the Sun?”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, thief.” Red snaps at him.

“No need to defend me quite so vigorously, my friend.” Celestia smiles softly anyway before turning her full attention to the captured Hippogriff. “Shieldglare, you were captured in my vault, attempting to make away with Equestrian treasures.”

“Alas, this besmirching of my reputation is true. How ever can I make it up to you?” The Hippogriff attempts to slide closer to Celestia, but Rose snaps an arm in his way to stop him. Somehow, he doesn’t come across as particularly sincere.

“Although your crime is severe, your abilities have impressed me, and I require your services.”

“Speak it so, and I will make it be.” Now he bows elegantly.

“Here I thought I was the flirter.” Tiny smirks. “Pro tip, buddy. Don’t be quite so obvious you’re trying to talk your way out of a tough spot.” The Hippogriff frowns at Tiny, glaring down his beak at the disguised Changeling. “You’ve got to be sneakier than that, especially with her.” He gestures at Celestia. “She’ll see right through it.”

“Tiny, shush.” Red admonishes him, his response is a wink.

“My agent is correct, you cannot simply charm your way out of this.” Celestia nods, her face stoic and serious.

“Very well then.” Kerrek stands back at full height, proud bordering on arrogance. “Nevertheless, I remain at your mercy.”

“You will assist my agents on their mission. Depending on your compliance with their instruction, and your own behavior, I may be willing to forgive your transgressions.” Kerrek Shieldglare looks over the gathered ponies and the Yak, judging them. “Or, if you prefer, I can have you imprisoned.” This threat makes up the Hippogriff’s mind.

“That will not be necessary. I accept your generosa offerta. My substantial skills are at your disposal.” He bows again, this time much more sincerely. “You will find I keep my word.”

“Why do I doubt that?” Tiny smirks again.

“You question my honor?” scoffs the Hippogriff.

“You were caught with your hoof in the proverbial cookie jar.” Eclipse quips back. “You are going to have to earn our trust before we give it to you.” Kerrek looks at his new employers once again, and then he nods deeply.

“Good, now that everyone is familiar with each other…” Rose sweeps her critical gaze across them all. “You can get to work.”

“Yak does not know the way. Far to Mainhatten?” Ormr shifts the pack on his back as they ready themselves in the Astral estate courtyard.

“Manehatten.” corrects Red. “From Canterlot we head east, down the mountain and across the plains. It should be three or four days, depending on pace and route.” The heavy clouds above draw her attention. “Five if the weather turns sour.”

“Six if we get waylaid by something ugly.” Rampart is checking his supplies again before they set out.

“Pessimism from the guard royal? I was made to understand you were better than that.” Rampart rolls his eyes at the foreigner. Kerrek carries with him a long thin blade and a bow, a weapon rarely seen in pony lands, lacking hands makes it difficult to draw the string back. Most ponies who find themselves needing a projectile weapon tend to stick to mechanical crossbows.

“Is everypony ready?” Tiny straps his saddlebags in place. “We should get going before-”

“Eclipse!” his voice booms as Dusk Light slams open the front door of the main house.

“That.” Tiny finishes with a grimace.

“What is the meaning of this?!” his voice drops away from a shout, but his tone makes his displeasure clear.

“Father, I can explain-” Eclipse quickly glances at his friends, concern writ plain on his face, before intercepting his father.

“Be quick about it.” Eclipse starts to tell his father about Celestia’s new mission, trying to keep his voice steady. Kerrek, curious, starts to sidle closer to hear it better, but Red pulls him back.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Why does the young nobile fear the elder so? I had believed him to be the leader among you.”

“In some ways he is. But even he has to answer to his father.”

“Absolutely not!” Dusk shouts once more, and Eclipse flinches visibly. “I’ll have no son of mine breaking into another family’s manor!” Everycreature else falls silent, it’s impossible to ignore the conversation between them now.

“I swear to you, I will do no such thing.”

“You most certainly will not. I refuse to allow such nonsense. You will stay right here where I can keep an eye on you.” Eclipse sucks in a pained breath. Kerrek clicks his tongue disapprovingly and breaks away from Red, flying out of her reach to land beside Eclipse.

“As I understand it, you have no such power. The Principessa of the Sun is the one who rules here, is she not?”

“Who in Tartarus are you?” Dusk scoffs, having to look up to meet the Hippogriff’s eyes. Neither one backs down an inch.

“Kerrek Shieldglare, nobile among high of the Harmonizing Heights.” Despite his polite introduction the Hippogriff does not bow or even dip his head. “Principessa Celestia requires the young stallion for a sensitive mission. Do you claim to outrank the Monarch?” Dusk narrows his eyes, trying to read the newcomer’s face. Kerrek remains unperturbed and returns the glare with an equal will. Eclipse’s eyes dart from the Hippogriff to his father, surprised to see anyone render Dusk at a loss of words.

“Father, I promise, I’ll do nothing to embarrass the family.” Eclipse tries to break the stillness.

“The same way you did at the Summer Sun Celebration?” The younger unicorn drops his eyes. “No. You will remain here.”

“Young nobile.” Kerrek addresses Eclipse alone now, flat out ignoring Dusk Light. “The Princepessa has given you your task. Your padre demands you do nothing. I do not know how it is done here, but on Mount Aris, we grasp opportunity when it knocks so openly. The decision is your own.” Then Kerrek bows slightly and backs away, leaving Eclipse to face his father alone.

“Eclipse, you will drop those bags and join me in my study.” Dusk turns, expecting his son to follow. Eclipse remains where he is, eyes to the ground, and speaks softly.

“I’m going.”

“What did you say?” Dusk’s voice drips venom and disbelief.

“I’m going.” With more strength this time, Eclipse raises his head to match his father eye to eye. “When my task is done, I’m coming back.” Dusk snarls at his disobedient child.

“You insolent little-!”

“Father, enough!” A shockwave bursts through the air, knocking leaves and small stones away, causing every creature present to shield their eyes as the Tree of World’s gift to Eclipse is at last revealed. “All my life I’ve been in your shadow!” Dusk and all the others can only stare in disbelief at Eclipse as he stands tall, glowing wings spread wide. “Belittled, doubted, rarely given a fair chance to prove myself!” The blue unicorn advances a step towards his father. “Even my victories and achievements are never enough for you!” He points one hoof at his father, who backs slowly away. “My friends, Celestia, the Tree of Worlds, they can all see my worth!” Eclipse stops just in front of his father, the older unicorn’s eyes glued on his son’s wings, and drops his voice to a near whisper. “Why can’t you?”

“Yak confused. Horn pony is also wing pony?”

“By the light of the sun!” Red is nearly breathless. Tiny lets out a long whistle, impressed at Eclipse standing up to his father.

“I’m doing this, father. You’ll see, I will not let the family down.” Slowly, folding his wings as he does so, he turns away and heads off, holding his head high. Dusk stares blankly after his son, unable to find words or will to chase after him. “Let’s get moving, we have a long way to go.” He doesn’t look back as he leaves the estate behind, his companions share a long glance among themselves and go after him a moment later. Red looks back before she closes the gate behind her, Dusk is still standing there, watching them. He seems so much smaller than he had before.

“I am impressed, young nobile.” Kerrek walks up beside Eclipse. “I was not aware Unicorns could perform such a trick.”

“Is he watching?” Eclipse continues to march down the road, holding himself stiffly, not looking back.

“No, he’s not following.” Rampart glances back, the road behind them is empty. Dusk isn’t visible, probably still standing out in front of the estate.

“Good.” Eclipse gasps and nearly collapses, his wings dissolve into thin air. Red and Tiny rush to his side to keep him standing.

“Wait, what just happened? Were those were an illusion?”

“No, they were real.”

“When did you become an Alicorn?!” Rampart steps up beside them, their pace slows as they draw close to Canterlot’s edge. “That’s incredibly rare.”

“I think I’ve been this way since the Tree of Worlds.” Eclipse blinks and joins his gaze to Red’s. “Just as your draconic soul was empowered and began to manifest as a physical change, so too was mine. Or maybe it is something in my bloodline I am not aware of that it awakened.”

“It doesn’t matter where it came from. That’ll shut him up for good.” Tiny jerks his head towards the estate, uphill from them. “But why aren’t they permanent?”

“I don’t think I’m strong enough to manifest them completely. I can only hold them in reality for a few seconds at a time.”

“Not long enough to fly with.” Kerrek shakes his head.

“True, I can’t do much with them. Not yet.” Eclipse looks up at the clouds as they begin the descent down the mountain road. “But I will.”

Several days later, late in the morning, on the road to Manehatten as it passes through a sparse forest. The weather is fine, the breeze quiet and the leaves rustle gently. The journey has been easy, no threats to waylay or delay them. They have passed many travelers on the way, and all have been friendly. Naturally, Ormr drew much of the attention, and Kerrek most of the rest. Few paid any mind to Eclipse, Red, or Tiny.

Personally, Eclipse is pleased he is not the center of attention, it gave him time to think. He’s been quiet the entire trip, keeping his thoughts close. His father will be furious with him when he gets back. Hopefully, he’ll bring back good news to calm the patriarch’s mood. Barring that, maybe his new wings will convince the older Unicorn to give him a bit more respect.

“Too much walking, Ormr bored.” The yak glances around, possibly hoping for something to smash.

“The Yak speaks the truth. This march is endless.” Kerrek stifles a yawn.

“Better a boring walk than an exciting one. I’d prefer to get there, and then back, in one piece.” Rampart scans the horizon ahead, noting a small figure hanging in the air ahead of them.

“The guard has no stomach for fighting?”

“I’ll fight when it comes to it. I’ve had to bury more friends than I would have liked.”

“Oh, and how many is that?”

“One, and that was one too many.”

“I agree with Rampart.” Tiny nods. “It’s never a good thing to have to bury those you care for, especially ones whose lives were cut short by violence.” Red steps up beside him and lightly bumps into him to let him know she is there, knowing who he refers to.

“There is something about that Pegasus up there that bothers me.” Rampart gestures in the direction of the figure ahead of them. It hasn’t moved since they saw it. Kerrek pauses for a moment, shading his eyes against the bright glare of the clear sky.

“I believe he is armed, I see an arbalest.”

“A what?”

“Hmm… The word is… crossbow, yes?”

“You can see that from here?”

“Hippogriff eyes are superiore to pony’s.”

“Is he wearing armor or an identifying mark of some kind?”

“Armor, yes, and I do not see the insignia.”

“None of the other travelers have said anything about bandits, but we should be cautious nonetheless.” Rampart moves to march alongside Ormr at the head of the line, if anything happens they will be the first to face it. For several more minutes of walking they watch the hovering Pegasus, but before they can get within earshot the watcher points down at them and then disappears into the treetops. “Keep an eye open, I don’t like this.”

“Yak sees more ponies in the trees.” Ormr swings his head from side to side. “Eight, maybe more.” He snorts, dismissive, and then calls out. “Hail, little ponies!” That’s when the first volley of crossbows bolts hits. True to expectations, the first bolts fall upon Rampart and Ormr. The guardspony blocks several with his shield, the Yak relies on his bulk and his enchanted cloak to protect him.

“Ambush! Stay beside me!” Rampart howls the order as another bolt clacks off his shield. Red and Tiny do as instructed, staying close and just behind the heavily armored Earth pony. Eclipse forms protective shields around Tiny and Kerrek, just before the lightly armored Hippogriff dashes into the canopy. Ormr, enraged by the assault, simply howls and charges into the largest group of attackers on the right side of the road.

“Yak stronger! Yak will win against all!” His boasting and shouting certainly draws attention to him. The four ambushers on that side of the road, all armored with thick leather, drop their crossbows and draw maces as they close on him. Three more crossbow bolts thunk into the ground from above, the Pegasus they saw earlier and two more firing from above, concealed by the trees.

“Stupid Yak! We’ve got more on the left!” Red spins as fire builds around her and finds her chance, three more assailants, close together, charging from the other tree line. A pinprick of light streaks towards them and erupts into a fireball. One of the more lightly armored Earth ponies screams and falls, smoldering. The other one wearing leather rolls aside, burned but alive. The third, armored in steel chain, continues through the burst of flame with a longsword at the ready. Rampart intercepts, keeping his thick armor and heavy shield between the attacker and either Red or Tiny.

Kerrek, hidden in the leaves of a tree, takes a moment to consider the battle. He counts eleven attackers, three of which are Pegasus, the rest are Earth ponies, one of which is now dead. All were initially armed with crossbows for the ambush, but some have ditched the projectiles to close with melee weapons. Rampart and Tiny are handling the two Earth ponies on the left, while Ormr draws the attention of the remaining five on the right. The Pegasus above are circling, looking for openings between trading shots with Eclipse and Red. The spellcasters and the fighters are in decent enough shape, but Ormr will be overwhelmed if he doesn’t get help.

“It doesn’t matter how many, Yak still stronger!” Ormr thrashes about, his ancestral spirit guardians distracting the group now surrounding him. Despite their aid, he still takes hits. His thick fur and cloak take the brunt of the mace strikes, but each hit slows him.

One of the leather-armored ambushers shouts as an arrow sticks him in the side. He spins to chase after Kerrek, the source of the shot, and finds the Hippogriff already lancing a rapier through his neck.

“All too easy.” Kerrek slips away from the gurgling corpse and back into the canopy, looking for another opportunity to aid Ormr.

Between arcane blasts at the Pegasus above Eclipse tries to stay more towards the middle of the melee, conjuring his spinning spiritual blade to aid Ormr and keeping his shields up on the others. He can only keep two shields up at a time amid all the fighting and constantly shifts who he is protecting. His wings flicker into view as he draws magical energy to power all his simultaneous spells, but blink out of reality the moment his spellcasting ends.

Red continues to fire up at the flying foes, concentrating on the one armored Pegasus. A lucky hit from her burns away his crossbow, which he drops with a surprised shout. Deprived his ranged weapon, he draws his own longsword and dives towards her.

“Face Yak, not Pony!” Ormr slams his head against one the mace-wielding ponies between him and Red, cracking bone and leaving the smaller creature immobile on the ground, and then charges after the Pegasus.

“Wait, fool! Where are you going?!” Two of the remaining ambushers turn towards Kerrek as the Hippogriff shouts after Ormr, the third chases after the yak. “This shan’t end well.” Kerrek brandishes his rapier towards them and backs away as they advance on him.

Ormr crashes into the diving Pegasus, sending it tumbling to the ground with broken wings. The wounded assailant shouts and looks up just as Ormr’s hooves come down with enough force to shatter a tree limb. The poor Pegasus’s skull is no comparison. The Pony chasing Ormr, slides to a halt, too late, and Eclipse uses his spiritual weapon and arcane blast in a pincer attack which leaves the ambusher quite dead.

Tiny, meanwhile, finally stops playing around and uses his magic sword to cut right through the ambusher’s own weapon. The Earth pony has just enough time to glance down at the hilt in his jaw in horror before Tiny nearly cleaves him in two. With that threat removed the disguised Changeling flanks the armored pony still dueling Rampart, and the two of them make short work of the assailant.

The two still flying Pegasus share a glance, they can see just how bad this is going for them. They each fire one last desperate shot before turning tail and flying as hard as they can for the horizon, dropping their heavy crossbows for more speed.

Kerrek, facing the only two remaining fighters, jabs the one in the lighter armor in the side and then dashes back to the rest of the group before the one with the longsword can counterattack.

As the leather-armored thug falls and squirms on the ground the remaining fighter in heavy chain finally sees how little they have done to the companions. He spins to flee.

“Approach!” The word is a command spell from Eclipse, and the Earth pony shudders in place before turning to perform the commanded action. The lone fighter walks slowly towards the Unicorn with a blank look on his face. Only when he is standing in front of Eclipse does he blink and look around, realizing he is now quite surrounded by formidable opponents. “Surrender.” The word is another command spell.

“Don’t kill me!” The ambusher falls to the ground, covering his neck with his hooves as his dropped longsword drops to the dirt. “I give up!” Eclipse confiscates the Pony’s sword and taking whatever might be a weapon off the captive.

“Yak should smash puny Pony head!”

“Chill, Ormr.” Tiny positions himself between the yak and the now quite terrified pony captive. “We won already.” The Yak heaves heavy breaths, but the crazed glare in his eyes dims, and the spectral ancestor spirits fade away.

“Now, you need to explain.” Rampart stands over the cowering Earth pony. Kerrek leaves the others to interrogate the survivor while he searches the bodies.

“OK, OK! Just don’t kill me!”

“We’re waiting.” Tiny jabs an elbow towards Ormr. “My buddy here isn’t the patient type.”

“We were hired, told to wait along the road here for a group of ponies with a Yak and make sure they never made it to Manehatten!”

“Who hired you?” The captive glances at the companions around him, hesitant.

“Speak!” Red shouts, a ring of flames ignites, surrounding the captured pony.

“I don’t know! Only the boss met them face to face!”

“Exactly who is your leader?” The captured pony glances at the Pegasus Ormr had crushed. They will be getting no information out of him. Red scowls at him and the ring of flames burns brighter.

“So what can you tell us? If it’s helpful I may even convince my angry firebrand here to leave you be only mildly singed.”

“It was a Bat pony! I swear, I never saw them clearly! All I could see was his color, he was dark blue.”

“What about his mark? Did you see that?”

“Not really…” The flames flicker higher for an instant. “Wait, wait! I think it was a face with bat wings! I swear that’s all I know!” The companions share a glance and the captive quakes where he lies. “…What are you going to do to me?”

“Well, what do you guys think?” Tiny sweeps his eyes over his friends. Ormr snorts but says nothing. Rampart glares down at the captive. Red and Eclipse look to each other and nod, the ring of fire fades.

“Get going.” Eclipse points down the road, away from Manehatten. The surviving mercenary blinks in confusion. “I said, go!” He doesn’t need to be told a third time and quickly sprints away before they can change their minds.

“What do we do with the bodies?” Red surveys the carnage, sighing heavily.

“Nothing, fiery Unicorn.” Kerrek stands from where he was looting one of the bodies, a small pouch clinking from the coins within. “They attacked us, I see no reason to give them funeral rites.”

“We should at the very least pull them off the road and bury them.” Rampart pokes one of the bodies with a hoof. “If only to keep the road clear so we don’t terrify travelers.” Ormr, Tiny, and Rampart begin to move the bodies. Red assists by digging the graves. Kerrek shrugs and starts counting the coins taken from the mercenaries. Eclipse hesitates, deep in thought.

“They knew who to look for…”

“What is that, nobile?”

“This wasn’t simply a bandit attack. He said they were paid to ambush us, specifically.” He turns and faces towards Ormr, moving another corpse. “There are few to no Yaks wandering Equestria. The odds they could have hit another group was minimal.” Now his gaze turns towards Manehatten, still somewhere over the horizon. “Something is clearly hunting us.” Everycreature pauses as they consider. “Whatever lies ahead, it is an enemy.”