Chapter One - Enemies amongst us

CHAPTER ONE

ENEMIES AMONGST US

It was a beautiful morning, especially with the sun just starting to peek over the tops of the distant mountains and lending a mysterious haze to the forest beyond the window. The Everfree was truly an enchanting place, full of mystery and hidden promises of adventure in its dark depths. It was also a deadly place for the wary and unwary alike, and being this close to it was both a blessing and a curse. If nothing else, it was certainly quiet. Sometimes you’d hear the call of some strange creature or the sound of the trees creaking, but other than that it was as quiet as a graveyard - a phenomenon I found both eerie, yet also oddly appealing. Ponies would seldom travel out this way anyway. It was no surprise really, there was next to nothing to see out here other than wilderness and the odd village or hamlet. You’d get the occasional intrepid soul venturing out this way to seek new avenues for trade, rustic crafts and such like, though more often than not they seldom came back. Most gave the forest a wide berth, and I can’t say I blamed them. This isolation helped us to remain undisturbed by and large, and the ramshackle appearance of Smiling Borders was probably the main reason the army hadn’t been here turning it upside down looking for their missing wendigo. Either that or they’d simply given up on finding me, thinking I’d been become yet another casualty in the caves or trapped in the Wither World. Who knew? Of course the flip side of living so close to the most notoriously dangerous forest in the land was that the creatures who inhabited it could wander out from time to time, causing problems in the village. That said, I had to admit we hadn’t had any real trouble here since my encounter with the timber wolves. Overturned bins and an occasional missing chicken I could live with, but still, it didn’t hurt to be on your guard just in case. On a more upbeat note our friendly local carpenter, Bright Tail, another of Grimble’s griffin contingent, had been working to help restore the tavern to its former glory. Or stop it from falling in on our heads, which would be just as welcome. With the help of his team of workers, Bright Tail had worked wonders, and the old place had been a veritable hive of activity these last few months. It had been nerve gratingly noisy staying here whilst all the work had been going on, but at least the old place didn’t leak any more - a simple yet welcome fact that had freed up more buckets than I cared to recall. That said, with the forest acting as a natural wind break we seldom got hit with the kind of dreadful storms that were noted for suddenly springing up over the Everfree only to plague the surrounding areas. If not for that I doubt the rickety old village tavern would have lasted half as long as it had.

One of the improvements our erstwhile carpenter had made was to our living arrangements. Tingles, Shadow and I now shared a single room on the upstairs floor of the tavern. We’d had Bright Tail knock through two of them to make one large one, and the extra space had proved to be essential. Of course, living with two mares and a young foal was never going to be easy even at the best of times, and could be a real struggle too, particularly when you were surrounding by banging, sawing and the shouts of a small army of enthusiastic workers. But thankfully, Shadow came to the rescue. That extraordinary mare was so understanding and quiet she acted as a mediator between us all, calming ruffled feathers or flaring tempers with practised ease if things ever got heated. And, as I’m sure you can imagine, they did from time to time. The course of love is full of trials, as dad used to say, and boy, was he right! Tingles and I would argue, shout, and storm about slamming doors, but it was all part of life’s rich pageant I suppose. I loved the girls and they loved me, of that I had no doubt, and as for Meadow… well, she was still my wife even if she was with the eternal herd now, and I loved her no less now than I ever had. On the subject of which, just like the Withers, time passed very differently between the mortal realm and the herd. A day here could be a year there, and vice-versa. In fact my little Sparrow Song had grown so much in the last few months she could actually speak now… well, a little anyway. ‘Dad’, ‘Mum’, and of course ‘Ice Cream’, were the first words she’d learned. A chip off the old block, eh? Anyway, the important thing was that she knew I was her dad, and that was something not even death could take away from us. We met up as often as we could, spending time together as a family. Sure, it was restricted by the boundaries of the glade, but how many stallions can say they’re in contact with their deceased wife and daughter on a regular basis? If it hadn’t been for Star Swirl the Bearded, as much of a pain in the arse as he was, when Meadow and Sparrow had died that would have been the end of things - at least until I passed over myself. This way I got to spend time with my wife and child, watching the little one playing with Tarragon and Lumin whilst the three mares and I shared stories and ate together. Most surprising for me was however, was when Princess Luna had appeared unannounced one evening with Chief Mitre in tow. Not only that, they’d even brought Brandy Wine my old boss from the agency along with them too. Now that really put a smile on all our faces! I suppose I’d have to admit that as much as I enjoyed the rural peace and quiet of Smiling Borders, I did miss the excitement of working with the agency. Not that I’d ever admit that publicly of course. Best of all though they’d brought some more of my belongings they’d recovered from my old agency digs, including the contents of Tingles’ room. One of the items unveiled, rather touchingly, was the photograph of me which had gone missing from my room. No doubt pilfered on the quiet by the tangerine pegasus when I hadn’t been looking, it had been stored with Tingles’ things when we’d left for Smiling Borders. Brandy and Luna had apparently told Warlock she’d been ‘reassigned’, but whether the sour orange coated git believed them or not remained to be seen. In any case, other than the good people of the village, I’d not seen mane nor tail of anypony from what I was increasingly beginning to think of as the ‘outside world’ since my return from the Withers. Well, other than these three of course, and that was just the way I liked it.

And so, that leads us to the here and now. Currently I was sat in a comfortable red velvet chair in front of the fire, warming my hooves as I absently picked off the dried bits from a pot of glue I’d been using to repair the binding on Star Beard’s diary. It was in relatively good condition overall, but the spine had begun to separate somewhat and I’d nearly lost one of the pages when I’d leafed through it the other night. The only real problem I had with it though, was that I couldn’t read a bloody word of it. Maybe if I asked Shadow she could- My ear twitch as the door to the outside opened, then closed again. Ah… The smell of plum blossom… Unmistakable. Luna was as cautious as always, keeping her cloak on until she was inside the tavern and assured that nopony would disturb us. Grimble had posted two minotaur warriors outside during her stay, just in case any of the locals fancied popping in for drink and needed to be ‘redirected’. The story we’d put out was that we were closed during the renovations, but everypony knew the real reason of course, in a small village like Smiling Borders you could change your underwear without somepony knowing what colour they were. Still, they just kept themselves to themselves the way they always had. What had really struck me as a little strange about the whole situation though, was why she hadn’t used her own guards to bring her here instead of the enclosed nondescript carriage. Mind you, the ‘Night Guard’ as they were officially called were hardly what you’d call ‘low key’. I’d rarely ever seen more than a glimpse of them myself, even when I’d been on that temporary placement over in Canterlot, but what I had seen had been enough to send a chill down my spine. ‘Bat ponies’ we’d called them in the watch. Weird looking creatures they were too.

The princess glided over to where I was sitting and slipped into the chair beside me with a demure sigh. I moved to stand, only to waved back into my seat. This was, as she’d already informed me, an ‘informal’ visit and should be treated as such. Ha! How many ponies could say they had informal tea and cakes with one of the princess’s, eh? Mind you, it didn’t do to be too familiar with her. Less influential than her sister she may be, Luna was still one of the two rulers of the land and worthy of my respect.

“How did you find the village, my lady?” I asked politely.

Luna smiled softly, her azure eyes staring into the flames of the log fire. “Charming.”

She reached out her slender hind legs, warming herself as she gratefully accepted a brandy and a splendid selection of snacks from the newly refurbished kitchen. Our head waitress lumbered in a few moments later with some napkins, wearing a dark blue pinny with silver trim she’d quickly donned when she’d discovered Luna had arrived at the tavern. Very perceptive of her, I thought to myself with a wry grin. Heather was the perfect head maid for the Wyvern’s Tail: exceptionally efficient at her job and, I suspected, quite deadly if riled too. Bouncer, Serving girl, Chef… Was there anything she couldn’t do? Tingles was very protective of her too, and would spend many an hour in the kitchen helping the minotaur female learn the new recipes which we’d had brought in from further afield. Best of all though, these recipes were trialled on the rest of the family. Sometimes with results that were, shall we say, delicious? She was also quite happy to teach them to anypony else who was interested, and had developed quite the dedicated following in the village as a result. This not only gave Tingles a break from nursing, it served the dual purpose of blending us in as an integral part of the wider Smiling Borders village life, rather than leaving us as some outsiders who’d simply shown up one day and announced that they were in charge now, thank you very much! Shadow sometimes got involved with Tingles’ classes, but most often was quite happy spending her time playing with Lumin or Tarragon. A fact I was all too aware of. She never missing an opportunity to give me one of ‘those’ looks, or gazing wistfully at pregnant mothers in the village. The thing is, she was absolutely desperate to go to the fortress, but… I wasn’t so sure. Couldn’t we just… you know, do that here? Why the fortress? I was very wary of that place; it had bad memories for me, very bad memories, and on several levels. I’d tried to dissuade her, but she’d simply look at me with those fiery red eyes and say nothing. And by the goddess, she was a master at saying nothing.

“What are you reading?”

I rolled the stiffness from my shoulders then passed her the old book. “It’s Star Beard’s diary,” I explained. “He wanted me to have it, but I can’t read a single word of thestral. The binding’s a bit tatty so I’m trying to tidy it up before I lose any pages. Watch your hooves, the glue’s still tacky.”

“Thestral you say?” Luna’s horn glowed as she floated the book before her. “Intriguing...” Carefully she opened the cover, running her hoof down the first of the yellowed pages. “Not thestral...” she murmured, “Ponish, or more specifically, Old Ponish.”

“Isn’t that the same as Ancient Equestrian?” I asked, leaning forward.

She shook her head. “No. Old Ponish is older still, spoken by your ancestors before language became more… ‘standardised’ into what we call Ancient Equestrian today. Some of the far villages of Equestria still speak a version of it even now, though for the most part it died out a long, long time ago. Our modern language borrows some its words from Old Ponish, Middle Ponish, Ancient Equestrian, and even some foreign words.”

“So it’s a peasant language then?” I enquired.

Luna frowned at me, apparently displeased with my description of the archaic tongue. “I would not call it that,” she replied tartly, “however I am certain the schoolbooks in circulation now most likely do. The same schoolbooks that refer to wendigo as demons, correct?”

I closed my eyes and nodded, feeling somewhat chastised by her remark. “Yes. Yes, I know...” Rallying, I tried to change the subject. “What about the writing though? That nothing like our alphabet at all.”

“Of course not,” Luna replied. “These are a form of rune, although far more than that. If you look at the way they are drawn, they convey the emotion of the writer as well. Far more so than modern written languages.”

“We used graphologists in the watch,” I said, taking a sip of my brandy. “They studied hoofwriting to help us compare evidence we’d gathered from crime scenes and so on. Apparently it can tell us a lot about the writer.”

“As can this,” Luna agreed.

“So… Can you read any of it, your majesty?” I asked hopefully.

Luna shrugged, “Perhaps, although it has been a long time since I read anything of this age.” She closed her eyes and took a breath. “But I shall try...” I watched riveted as the midnight coated princess selected a random passage in the diary before nodding to herself… and began.

“Fourteenth day of the Third Quarter of the Waxing Moon. A young Celestian wandered into Stern’s camp shortly after dawn today, slipping past the perimeter guard completely undetected before he was apprehended near the supply depot. He is described by Senior Lancer Jute as ‘being little more than a foal, yet more than old enough to know his own mind’. Of this assertion I have my doubts. I understand that some of the warriors wished to execute him as a spy, whereas others meant to frighten him away and have the young one return to his family. Neither of these possible courses of action were acted upon. Instead, and in violation of standing orders, Second Captain Stern took the unprecedented decision to allow the child to stay, stating that ‘as the war was soon to be concluded, we would need to develop cordial relations with the Equestrian population to enable us to integrate our two peoples.’ Or so the survivors recall. By all accounts the child was taken to the mess tent and fed, his injuries tended to, and yet he steadfastly refused to take off his backpack. A stuffed toy was observed inside, and that was when the second foolish decision was made – it was left alone as it appeared to be of some comfort to him, having causing some considerable consternation when one of our warriors had attempted to inspect it. It was a mistake that would later prove to be fatal. At around midday, when the staging area troops were gathered together for their lunch, the child was seen playing with his toy. Moments later, although accounts vary on the specifics of the exact timing, the mess tent was obliterated by a detonation of an unknown device of magical origin. Casualties reported are forty seven killed, eighty two injured, and an unknown number missing, although it is estimated at around fifteen at the time of writing. Second Captain Stern, himself injured in the explosion, took his own life in atonement for his grave error in judgement and disregard for military regulations. The junior officer responsible for inspecting the child’s belongings is missing, presumed dead. As for the child, as he was at the epicentre of the blast there was nothing to recover.”

Luna paused to take a sip of her tea, readjusting her tail as she continued.

“This evening I will be addressing the new commander of the staging camp and will impress upon them the importance of maintaining military protocols and adherence to regulations at all times. Infringements will be met by court martial and potential execution, regardless of rank or social standing. Any undocumented equestrian found within the perimeter of camp security boundaries is to be neutralised immediately. Such a stance is, I believe, reasonable, measured, and necessary for continued operational stability and cohesion. We cannot lose our momentum now, regardless of such acts of utter barbarity perpetrated by our foe. Today’s incident is the act of an enemy in the death throws of imminent defeat, and I have no doubt we will encounter more of these unorthodox attacks as they lose themselves to total desperation. As admirable as it may be to strike so effectively at the heart of an adversary, to use a child, that most precious gift of the goddess, is an act that I will not forgive. And one that shall not be forgotten.” Luna closed here and leaned back, her voice dropping to a bare whisper as she concluded, “Glory to the goddess.” She closed the book with a snap, the sharp sound making me jump. “This was written by your friend, this ‘Star Beard’, was it not?”

“I...” I swallowed, trying to shake the images from my mind. “Yes… yes, I think so. I mean, that’s what he told me.” I ran a hoof over my face, doing my best to make sense of what I’d just heard. “Dear gods, they used foals? I had no idea...”

“Victory at any cost,” Luna quoted quietly. “No life was too precious, nor too sacred, to secure victory.”

“The motto of the Legion?” I asked.

“Of both sides.” Luna stared down into her tea, her eyes taking on a distant cast. “The words may not have been spoken, however the intent was there nonetheless, hidden deep within hearts that had been cast into the darkness by the cruelty of war.”

“But Celestia-!”

Luna held up her hoof, stalling me. “Lord Fairlight, contrary to what many of our people may believe, my sister is not omnipotent. Nor, for that matter, am I. Whatever you may think of her, Celestia is not evil. At least… no more than I. Back then Equestria was not the land you see today. It was a land divided, the old tribal lines still abundently clear for all to see no matter how much Celestia and I may have tried to pretend otherwise. No, for better or worse they were very different times. Times, I pray, that we shall never see again.” She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, letting out a demure sigh. “Both of us paid a terrible price for what we did, although to my eternal shame I admit it could never be enough to atone for the horror both of us unleashed upon our people.” I noticed her shudder slightly as she breathed the words, “Never enough...”

Mitre watched us in silence, that inscrutable look of his just as scouring as ever. Despite his size I’d barely noticed him come in and take a seat beside the princess. Now that I did, his presence was unmistakable. My old commander’s scarred blue coat displayed the steadfast fellow’s battle wounds for all to see, even if many of them had faded over time. In some ways they were like Star Beards diary, a record of his days in service, a veritable roadmap of injuries he’d received in service to the ponies of Equestria – the princesses included. My dad’s coat had look like that too later in life, although as a youngster growing up with him it had barely registered with me. It was simply a part of who he was – Dad. What was one more injury? One more scar? In fact it was only really the wendigo inside myself that had prevented my hide from looking like a patchwork quilt too, although oddly enough the scar I had across my face had never disappeared, magic or not. Not that anypony even bothered mentioning it, or if they did they were too polite to point it out. I never went anywhere other than Smiling Borders these days anyway. And why should I? Like Shadow I was accepted here amongst creatures that cared nothing of trite differences such as race, and whether you had a scar or two.

Luna stared into the flames of the hearth. “Lord Fairlight… do you mind if we call you that now?”

“No, my lady,” I answered honestly.

Luna chuckled at my reply, her lilting tone lightening the mood in the room. Unimpressed however, Mitre shot me a disapproving look at my lack of official etiquette. He may not like it, but the princess had made it quite clear that she preferred that I refer to her as ‘My lady’ rather than the far grander title of ‘Your majesty’ when we were in private. In any case, what the hell did it matter? The villagers called me ‘Lord’, but that didn’t make me any more of a noble than any other poor sod raised in the back woods of bum-buck nowhere. ‘A dog born in a stable doesn’t make it a pony’, dad used to say. Gods know, he had a point. After all, you could put a drunken imbecile in an officers uniform and it wouldn’t magically bestow all the knowledge and wisdom of the ancients upon them. And boy, had I seen that first hoof! No, titles were just words, that was all. I was who I was, and that was that. As for Luna, she still held a candle for Maroc I suspected, and as his descendant she viewed me as a link to both her past, and to her old love. I found it a little uncomfortable of course, though if it made her happy, then who was I to complain?

“We… that is, ‘I’ understand that your mission was successful?” Luna looked about the room, not waiting for my reply. “Where is the lady Shadow?”

“Forgive me my lady, Shadow is at the glade with Tingles and Meadow,” I explained. “The children are with them too.”

“Children… You have two foals now, do you not?”

“I do,” I replied proudly. “Sparrow Song, my daughter, and Lumin my son. Sparrow is a beautiful little pegasus, and Lumin’s a unicorn like his dad.”

The princess hung her head slightly. “Foals… Yes, I would like to see them before I leave, Lord Fairlight. If that would be agreeable?”

“Of course!” I smiled. “We can go and meet them there if you like.” I checked the time on the clock over the fireplace. “Meadow and Sparrow should still be in the glade for another hour yet. If we go now we should be able to-”

“No!” Suddenly Luna sat bolt upright, her eyes blazing. “I cannot! I...” The atmosphere in the room froze like ice, every eye staring at the princess, unsure as to how to react. Slowly, she seemed to settle down, her voice lowering back to a more gentle, if somewhat resigned tone. “I cannot enter the glade. It is... forbidden.”

“Forbidden? But you’re the princess!” I said in surprise.

Luna clopped a hoof on the table, fixing me with her large azure eyes. “Princess or not, there are rules that even I have to obey,” she replied firmly. “I shall meet with your wife and daughter another day, Lord Fairlight. Please, for now can we perhaps summon the others here perchance?”

I motioned to Grimble who nodded his understanding. “I’ll send a runner now, my lord.” He bowed before walking to the door and conversed with one of the guards.

I bowed my head respectfully. “Forgive, my lady, I didn’t understand. I was being too forward.”

The princess raised an eyebrow towards me, “Forward? No. Not at all.” She gave her face a rub with a foreleg before taking a sip of her tea. “You were not to know, Lord Fairlight. It was remiss of me to speak so quickly and without thought. I know Meadow and Sparrow song are with the herd, and I…” She groaned, leaning back as she slowly shook her head. “A lack of sleep takes its toll upon even the most wary of travellers.”

She sounded as though she were quoting somepony, but who or what, I had no idea. Completely oblivious about such things however, the snuffling sounds emanating from somewhere beneath the table reminded me that there were more than equines in the tavern that morning. Tarragon, on her eternal quest for edible creatures or unattended treats, appeared suddenly from under the table. With a loud squawk and a flurry of her wash-leather like wings, she leaped through the air and into the princess’s lap before I had a chance to so much as open my mouth in warning. Snuggling into Luna, who I might add squee’d in delight in a most un-ladylike manner, the ‘Terror of the East’ seemed more like a lap-cat than a young dragon. I closed my eyes, silently thanking the gods that the princess hadn’t reacted the way many others would have at a toothed and clawed carnivore leaping into you tender areas.

“Fairlight, I didn’t know you had a dragonling!” Luna announced happily, fussing the little creature. “Look at her! She’s absolutely gorgeous!”

Gorgeous? Tarragon was certainly cute, sure, but ‘gorgeous’? Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say. “She’s Etrida’s daughter,” I explained to the princess. “She saved my hide more than once in the caverns. Tarragon’s like one of the family now, and, I might add, and much to the consternation of the kitchen, is getting bigger all the time.”

Luna nodded. “She has her mother’s look about her. Etrida is a truly exquisite dragon, and this little one will be just like her some day. Look at her scaling…”

Dutifully I peered at Tarragon’s scales, but to me she looked, well, like a little dragon I suppose. She didn’t look ‘that’ much like her mother, at least not yet, but maybe in a thousand years or so she would. I scratched my chin thoughtfully. “You know Etrida?”

The princess laughed. “Of course I do! I have been in Equestria before, Lord Fairlight.” Luna brushed a stray hair from her face. “There were many more dragons back then than are now, with no single ‘dragon lord’ ruling over them as is the case today. As much as they are solitary creatures by nature, clan affiliations were strong enough to bring them together in times of crisis, the migration period, or if one of them was threatened. Etrida certainly wasn’t the eldest of her clan when I first met her, although she was in line to be elder. She was young then too: brave, headstrong, and idealistic like so many her age. Normally a dragon’s quick temper and aggressive nature is tempered by time and the teachings of their peers, but the war… the war changed many things. Some... forever.” Luna sighed, rubbing her eyes. “As the older dragons fell in battle, Etrida inevitably became the elder of her clan - a position that she neither sought, nor asked for. At her age she should have been raising a family, not...” She quickly took a mouthful of the brandy which Grimble trotted over to refill for her. “Forgive me, I do not wish to talk any more about such things. There are other matters I need to discuss with you.”

Ah, so now we were going to the reveal the real reason for their appearance were we? As much as I’d hoped this were no more than a surprise social visit by old friends, nothing was ever that simple. Ha! So much for an ‘Informal visit’ then, eh? Of course not. Like the friend or family member who only ever puts in an appearance when they want something from you, there was always that initial pretence, that thinly disguised sugar coating which hid the bitter pill of truth beneath its surface. It was certainly nothing new to me at least. I’m sure we’ve all encountered such things in our lives: the rejection letter that thanks you for your interest, the polite refusal, the ‘Wishing you all the best for the future’ line, when what they really mean to say is bound up in a smokescreen of meaningless platitudes. ‘Straight talking’, as I’d discovered early on in my life, was often interpreted as simply downright rude in most social circles. I’d certainly met more than my fair share of ponies who’d lacked even the most basic of social graces over the years, particularly on a Friday night in down-town Manehattan after kicking out time. The flip side of that though was that sometimes it took forever to get to the bloody point, leaving both parties in this horrible state of limbo whereby you both knew that you were going to get to the crux of the matter sooner or later, except that neither of you knew exactly when. Unfortunately I had a horrible feeling that the ‘when’ in this case, was ‘now’. I sat up straight, my ears pricked as the princess continued.

“You may have heard that the wedding between Princess Cadence and Shining Armour is to be held at the royal palace in Canterlot soon?”

I nodded. “I read about it in the paper. One of the traders brought us some copies of the ‘Observer’ a few weeks ago.” Scrubbing my chin I added, “I thought it was to be put back because of logistical problems?” Lack of cake, more likely, I thought to myself sarcastically.

Luna nodded her head. “So we believed, yet despite all the delays it is still very much on schedule. Most of the royal guard have been placed in and around the capital for protection of the happy couple in the lead up to the wedding.” She raised an eyebrow. “You may have noticed a distinct lack of soldiers looking for you?”

Well, that was deflating! I leaned back in my chair and let out an involuntary sigh. So, this was only a brief interlude after all, was it? There was me thinking the old crone had given up on her desire to see me publicly executed, when in fact all she’d done was put me on the back burner until herself and her cronies had married off one of their lesser known relatives to some bloody no-mark guardstallion. No doubt stuffing themselves senseless in the process too. I mean, who the hell was this ‘Cadence’ anyway? I’d never even heard of her until her photo had appeared in the paper along with that gushing article on the ‘Romance of the century!’ What a load of absolute bollocks. Still, I suppose it was an improvement over the more customary noble practice of flogging off superfluous members of your family to the highest bidder. Personally I couldn’t give a monkeys about nobles no matter whoever or whatever they were, though I wasn’t going to say as much considering my present company of course. Unlike her megalomaniacal older sister, Luna had her head screwed on properly, and was also the only noble I’d ever held any genuine respect for. If she had a few ‘bats in the belfry’ from being locked away for a thousand years it certainly didn’t show, nor did it diminish the love the ponies of Equestria had for her. If nothing else she had a lot fewer loose screws in the old brain box than big-and-tall, that was for sure!

“I’d hoped the guard had given up looking for me by now, especially after the explosion in the caves,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment at her news. “Either that or they’d simply ignored our village because it’s so remote. For the goddess’s sake, how many more of her soldiers is she going to sacrifice in this insane obsession of hers? Ten? Twenty? A hundred? How many died in those damned tunnels, terrified and alone?” I shook my head, trying to push aside the sudden image of blood spraying across rock walls and the screams of terror that had lodged in there. “I don’t want to see another young life snuffed out on such madness, Luna. And madness is exactly what it is. Nothing good can ever come of such bloody mindedness, neither for Celestia, nor for my people.”

Luna shrugged sadly. “That is true, Lord Fairlight. However, as much as I may agree with you, I can assure you that although it may seem Celestia has abandoned her search for the moment, my sister does not give up on something once her mind is set. We have argued about this very point several times since she passed sentence upon you in Canterlot, however she remains unwavering in her resolve despite all my efforts.”

Her ‘resolve’ to have me eliminated, she meant. Damn it all, I’d hoped the old bag would have let it go by now. I mean, for bucks sake, what the hell was her problem?

“Lord Fairlight?” Luna looked at me with a concerned expression.

I quickly released my grip on the magic and shook my mane. “Forgive me, my lady. It seems that my belief that Princess Celestia had left me to live out my days here with my family in peace has been foolishly naive. Instead she seems determined to punish me for the crime of simply existing. As you know I dedicated my life, as did my father before me, to serving my country and the royal family. I served without question, without complaint, and she still sees me as a threat?” I huffed bitterly. “I am less of a threat to her than calories.”

Luna’s eyes went wide for a moment before she shook her head sorrowfully, ignoring my rude remark. “Tia has a difficult manner about her at times, and I fear the memory of the great war still haunts her to this very day. You are, if you will forgive me for saying so, a living reminder of those days.”

I blinked in surprise as my mind reeled, attempting to digest what she’d just said. I was what now? I was a bloody what?! Buck me ragged with a twelve foot pole! The old sow was troubled by a middle aged wendigo living in some ramshackle village miles from anywhere with a mismatched band of relics from a previous age, was she? Well, boo-bloody-hoo! Gods almighty, didn’t she have anything more important to do, like running the bucking country for example? Wasn’t there some blasted trade agreement or tea and scone party to attend instead? The answer was obvious really, wasn’t it? I was just there, somewhere on the royal ‘To Do’ list: ‘8:00am Breakfast, 9:00am Hold court, 12:00am Lunch and cake, 1:00pm Murder the wendigo, 3:00pm Tea and cakes.’ Oh I was there alright, and sooner or later the white witch would get round to finishing what she’d started all those years ago. Celestia wouldn’t stop with me though, she’d want to wipe the slate completely clean while she was at it too. That meant Shadow, Tingles, Lumin, Tarragon, Grimble, Heather… Everypony. Even if I hoofed myself in, sacrificing myself to save my family and friends, it wouldn’t make a jot of difference to her overall goal. She’d simply wait until my head had been mounted on a spike then send in her armoured boys to finish the job. By the gods, if she thought she could just stroll in here and wipe us out then she was in for one hell of a surprise. I’d show that bitch what a ‘Living reminder’ was capable of doing.

“Lord Fairlight, I-” Luna froze as I rounded on her.

“So what, Celestia wants to kill me to salve her guilty conscience for butchering my ancestors like they were nothing, does she?” I growled angrily. “Tidy up a few loose ends?” The magic began to stir inside me, my teeth itching horribly as it reacted to my souring mood. I had little sympathy for ‘Tia’s difficulties’ as Luna had put it, especially not after what I’d seen, or rather what Maroc had experienced, during those final few blood soaked hours in the mountain pass. “I expect her ‘grand majesty’s’ attempt at genocide must be playing on the royal conscience at long last. Well, it can happen to the best of us, can’t it. But hey, better late than never, right? What a damned shame. Maybe I should send her some flowers and a box of bucking chocolates! Hell, she can stuff her muzzle with them while she’s contemplating how best to kill my family. May as well make a day of it!”

Luna glanced at Mitre who leaned a foreleg on the arm of my chair. “Look lad, I know you’ve had a rough time, and you’ve got a young family now too, but we need you on this one.”

“You need a wendigo you mean,” I replied tartly. “What is it this time, Chief? Assassination? Murder? Or has some damned noble spilt coffee on their favourite pantaloons?”

“Fairlight… look, lad-” Mitre began, but Luna cut him off.

“He’s right, Mitre,” the princess said firmly. “We’re asking too much of him this time. Lord Fairlight has a family and foals to care for now, and he has already sacrificed far more for Equestria than anypony ever had the right to ask of him. I told you I was not happy about this plan of yours.”

“But your majesty!” my old boss protested, “We need him! We can’t do this without-”

Luna fixed him with a look that could have frozen the world to ice in an instant. “We said we were concerned about this, Chief Mitre. Perhaps you did not hear me correctly? Lord Fairlight has done more than his fair share for our homeland, and we will not push him into something that could endanger his life nor that of his family.” She brushed her tail aside as the elegant alicorn moved to stand up. “We will find another way. This conversation is over.”

Mitre looked like he was going to explode, and yet instead of the expected tirade of expletives he was so famously known to unleash whenever his anger reached its zenith, he turned to face me with an expression which I can only describe as... pleading. I’d never seen him like this before. He looked helpless, lost, as if his last bastion of hope was crumbling away around him and there wasn’t a single thing he could do to stop it. Damn it all! This was going to happen anyway wasn’t it? Just like always I was going to end up being dragged into something that I was going to regret, and like a fool I’d go along with it like a lamb to the griffin butchers block. Why couldn’t I learn to say no? Why did I always agree to these bloody things?! And so, in typical gullible Fairlight fashion, I held up a hoof to try and diffuse the mounting tension. “My lady, Mitre, please,” I began, “I don’t know what’s going on here, so…” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Before we all jump to conclusions can somepony please explain what this is all about?” Luna nodded to Mitre for him to continue, retaking her seat.

The grizzled veteran cleared his throat and came straight out with it. “We’ve picked up intel to suggest a plot to assassinate the princesses. I think I mentioned this to you some time ago?” I nodded, allowing him to continue. “There’s always some crazy out there making wild threats they never back up. Mostly it’s all bluff and bluster, but this time we have something solid.” Mitre took out a file from his saddle bag and placed some photographs on the table before us. “Recognise anypony?”

I did. The photograph was a little grainy, but still showed enough detail to allow me to quickly identify the first three without any trouble. There was the unmistakable image of the Manehattan crime boss Velvet Cream, standing alongside a tall unicorn mare I remembered all too well - his stunning ‘Celestia-esque’ friend who had been leading the group that had gunned down my comrades in that damnable warehouse on the wharf. The two of them were stood beside the watch commissioner herself, smiling and chatting like old school pals. The fourth one, standing slightly apart from the others, looked like a very everyday sort of stallion, and one that certainly wouldn’t stand out in a crowd. His screwdriver cutie mark was one I’d seen on many a pony, usually in the repair or construction business. And in Manehattan there was always something being built or demolished to make way for newer buildings. In fact I can’t remember a single night when I wasn’t lulled to sleep by the incessant sound of drilling and hammering carried through my bedroom window on the muggy city breeze. What with the clattering of carriages and carts, the shouts of night time revellers, hawkers and drivers, it was just one more sound that simply faded into the background over time – the vibrant music of a living, breathing city.

“The one in the hat’s the commissioner of course,” I said, studying the photograph. “That one’s our old friend Velvet Cream. The Celestia lookalike is the ‘human’, and the other one…” I scratched my chin in thought. “No, I don’t recall seeing this one before.”

Luna tapped the image of the white unicorn. “She’s human?” she asked curiously. “You are certain of this?” The princess glanced at Mitre who nodded to her. Presumably he’d already told her about our mysterious alien visitor and she merely wanted to hear me confirm it too.

“As much as I can be,” I replied. “She came through the portal along with her pals at Shire Wharf, turning half the Manehattan watch into mincemeat with those ballistic weapons of theirs. You can’t see from the picture, but she hasn’t got a cutie mark.” I caught Mitre’s eye. “I’ve seen her since then too, at the Strawberry Cream nightclub.”

Mitre’s chair creaked as he moved. “Guess where the photo was taken.”

It wasn’t much of a surprise. We knew Velvet was up to his fetlocks in it already of course. It was his goons, Gates and Melon Patch, who’d been the ones that’d helped turn me into… into ‘this’. What those bastards did to Meadow and Sparrow though… well, let’s just say I hoped they were enjoying hell right now. I examined the photograph once more. Considering the angle it was clearly taken without the knowledge of the four ponies in it. An agent on the inside perhaps? Probably. Mitre and the agency would doubtless have Velvet’s place well and truly staked out, especially after the business on the island. That rat had his hoofprints all over it.

“We had a pony on the inside who got these pictures to us,” Mitre explained, confirming my suspicions. He leafed through a few more similar photo’s, spreading them out on the table.

“Had?” I asked.

He nodded. “We found her head floating in the river two days ago.”

I shook my head and took sip of my brandy. Those bastards had some payback coming for what they’d done. “I take it Velvet’s got some sort of alibi clearing him of any involvement?”

“Naturally,” Mitre replied. “Apparently he knew nothing about trafficking, drugs or gunrunning. He blamed everything on his two lieutenants whom he claimed had ‘Gone rogue’ or some such shite. Unfortunately, although rather convenient for him, they’re not being very co-operative right now.”

“Who are they?” I asked, “Or dare I ask.”

“Oh, you know them,” Mitre said, looking up at me from under his heavy brow. “Gates and Melon Patch.”

“Ah...” I cleared my throat. “Who’s the fourth one in the picture, the one with the screwdriver on his arse. Any leads?”

“We have more than leads.” Mitre’s wry smile belied the seriousness of what he said next. “Know what one of these things are?”

I magicked up the photo from the table and examined it closely. Once again the image was a little out of focus, and at first glance I thought it to be some sort of pony. A bat pony maybe? It certainly had wings, and yet… No… No, it wasn’t one of the princess’s guards. This was more ‘insectoid’ in appearance somehow. It’s body caught the light, bright and shiny like a beetle’s carapace. Insect-like wings and a horn like a unicorn completed the image, but those teeth and eyes were unlike any Equestrian creature I’d ever encountered. I’d heard of them of course, we all had, but I’d never actually seen one in person.

“Changeling?” I asked uncertainly.

Mitre nodded. “Got it in one, boy. Nasty little buckers they are too.” He quickly bowed to Luna, “Sorry, your majesty.” She just smiled, waving her hoof for him to continue. “We caught it completely by chance when it passed by one of the detectors we’ve set up around the country to look for any rogue humans. The last thing we expected was one of these things though. When it was approached it made a run for it, blasting its way through the crowd before we finally managed to take it down.”

“Alive?” I asked.

Mitre shook his head. “Not for long. Little bastard killed two and maimed three others included a young colt. After that the agents had no choice. Turns out they’re not that resistant to energy weapon fire.”

“So what’s that got to do with the wedding though?” I asked curiously. “How do we know this thing didn’t just wander into town looking for some tasty emotions to snack on. It’s rare, but not unheard of.”

By way of answer, Mitre pulled out another file. “This one was taken by a pony moments before the changeling put a hole through him. Thank the goddesses the medics on scene had the wherewithal to give us the camera.”

There were a number of snaps of the local town, statues, gardens, pretty much the kind snaps you’d expect your typical tourist to take to be honest, until I finally reached the one Mitre was drawing my attention to. Walking in front of a large neon prancing pony sign was a very everyday looking pony with a familiar screwdriver cutie mark on his flank. It didn’t seem like the photographer had intended to include this fellow in his photo, nor, apparently, had the subject themselves. It was a classic case of wrong place, wrong time. Poor sod. “Think that’s the same guy?” I asked, looking up. Mitre nodded in reply. “So what’s the angle here, Chief. You think the commissioner’s planning on infiltrating the wedding with a changeling and taking out the royal wedding party?”

The older stallion gave me a grim faced nod. “We believe so, or at the very least it’s a distinct possibility. The commissioner hangs around with some well known anti governmental higher-ups, the ones who’ve made no bones about the fact they’d like nothing more than to see the princesses transformed into a more… ‘ceremonial’ role. With the royal wedding on the horizon the princesses would be a prime target for them. All three in one place at one time? Hell, all it would take would be one well placed explosive device and all their Hearthswarming Eve’s would come at once. Of course, should anything ‘untoward’ happen to princesses then there would be a pressing need for somepony to take over the reins of governence under emergency powers, and guess who they’d have in mind for that lucrative position?”

I knew the answer already. “The commissioner, naturally,” I replied. “With the full weight of the watch behind her, she’d be the most obvious choice.”

Mitre bobbed his head in agreement. “She’d be a puppet of the elite of course, but a very well paid puppet nonetheless.”

“It’s a hell of a leap of logic though, Chief,” I pointed out. “Having reservations about a monarchy is one thing, but regicide is quite another altogether. Pardon the pun, but the whole thing could blow up in their face if they made even the slightest slip up. I mean, look at the incident with the changeling. If they weren’t concerned they’d overplayed their hand before the thing had gone on the rampage, they sure as hell would be now. Besides, treason is still a capital offence, isn’t it? Do you seriously think the ones behind this would risk their cosy lifestyles and stoop to an act of mass murder?”

“Have you ever heard of ‘The Circle’, Captain?” Mitre asked.

I gave a snort, topping up my glass. “I presume you’re not talking about that run down dive on the corner of twenty seventh and Parks, are you?”

Mitre raised an eyebrow. “No. I’m talking about-”

“Veritas,” I cut in. “Of course I’ve heard about them. I mean, who hasn’t? A club of eccentric nobs chasing each other around the dorms with greased cucumbers and towel snapping in the shower room after a good old match of ruggers? What’s not to like about that, eh?” I gave a derisive snort. “It’s an ‘old boys’ club for overly privileged toffs, Chief. Supposedly it’s a ‘secret society’ like the ‘Sons of Llamalia’ or whatever they’re called, but everypony and his dog knows about their funny hoofshakes and ‘initiation ceremonies’. Remember that guy on Lamb Street Bridge?”

“They’d glued his tail to the main support strut.”

“Damned right they did!” I rolled my eyes. “Held up traffic for ages until somepony had the sense to find a pair of scissors and cut the poor sod loose. By that time his picture was in every paper in the land, along with a close up of his bare bum. What was his name again?”

Mitre groaned quietly. “Lord Chief Justice Dill Pickle.”

“That’s the one.” I clopped my hooves together, recalling the ludicrousness of that bizarre incident from what felt like a lifetime ago now. “He was one of them, the ‘Great poo poo’, or something daft. Anyway, didn’t they have links with the watch?”

“They do,” Mitre admitted sullenly. “And that’s half the problem. Most of the senior officers are part of their order. On the face of it their society is exactly how you described, a club for the upper echelons of society and comprising of little more than expensive dinner parties, charity drives and so on and so on.” He stared into his drink, swirling it round as he spoke. “They asked me to join you know, and like an idiot I refused. As a result my application to become regional operations director was refused in favour of Elegance, a young and inexperienced mare from Fillydelphia.”

“Let me guess, another member of Veritas by any chance?” I asked.

Mitre laughed mirthlessly. “Of course she was. After that I gave up on any thoughts of advancement and stayed as section chief. Until now.” He let out a sigh. “So much for my retirement plans...”

“I’m guessing there’s more to this than back scratching and nepotism though, right?” I said quickly, noticing Luna’s sidelong frown at Mitre’s muttered comment.

“Right.” Mitre glanced at Luna before continuing. “A little while ago I discovered Equus had a mole in their ranks who’d been feeding information back to the palace. But not to Celestia as you may have expected. No, the information was being channelled to… the head chef.”

“The head chef?!” I exclaimed. “You’ve got to be joking!”

“I wish I were.” Mitre reached up and scratched his neck as he explained. “We did some digging on the chef. Turns out they’re the illegitimate son of a noble from over on the west coast. Seems there was some murky family history behind it all that they didn’t want to get out, so they leaned on our culinary colleague to act as a go between. Information was collected, then sent out hidden inside an empty milk churn. The dairy company would come by each day and collect the empties, later distributing the ‘milk’ far and wide. A company, incidentally, owned by..-”

“Another Veritas member perchance?” I chipped in.

Mitre nodded. “Their owner just so happens to be the nephew of one of the top boys in the circle.”

“The Circle and Veritas are one and the same aren’t they?” I asked.

“We believe so.” The chief stretched his foreleg, rubbing his fetlock. “The names seem to be used interchangeably, although I suspect that ‘Veritas’ is the official name inside the organisation.”

“But what about the assassination plot, Chief?” I asked. “This business, as reprehensible as it is, seems to be more a case of spying than somepony arranging for an actual assassination. As far as we know the stolen information could have been going to anypony, maybe even a foreign government. We’re hardly on good terms with the yaks, and that’s putting it mildly. Then there’s the Llamalian empire; that lot would use anything to get one over on us to bolster their international trade standings. Are the agency looking into this? This sort of thing’s more in their area of jurisdiction isn’t it?”

“It would be, if it didn’t involve Equus,” Mitre replied gruffly. “Regardless, it still doesn’t address the core of the problem. And that is who is pulling the strings.” He took out a list from his case, laying it before me. “This is a list of the names of everypony we’ve found to be involved in the information theft case. Some of the traces are tentative, but they’re there alright.”

I stared at the list. Many of the names I recognised, but many more I didn’t. Some, however, jumped out at me immediately. “Earl Joist, Lady Bobbin, Baroness Spindles...” I shook my head in amazement. “Building companies, events organisers, catering suppliers...” I looked up at my old friend, catching Luna’s eye as my blood ran cold. “They’re all involved in the wedding, aren’t they.”

“Do you understand now?” Mitre said quietly. “There’s more besides that though, lad. There’s any amount of letters, telegrams, rumours and tittle-tattle that we’ve been sifting through these last four years in the hope we can piece it all together and form an accurate picture of what’s actually being planned. Most of it’s rubbish of course, but there’s a common theme running throughout it all that’s got us on our guard. The biggest problem we’re facing right now is finding out exactly what form that theme will take. We know something is going to happen, we even know the when and the where, we just need to find out who the mastermind is behind it all and exactly what they’re planning. Once we have that we can go on the offensive. At the moment the plotters have the initiative, and we’re stumbling around in the dark snatching at shadows.”

“Any help from our informants?” I asked hopefully.

Mitre smiled. “I was getting to that. The word on the street, courtesy of your old friend Jumping Jack, is that the commissioner is using Velvet and his contacts to arm a group of heavies that will attack the wedding when it’s nearing its conclusion. The ensuing panic will then ‘convince’ Princess Celestia to pass more power to the commissioner and the army, thus bolstering Veritas’ position whilst weakening her own. The other ‘rumour’ is that they will be taking a more ‘direct approach’ and simply try to remove the three princesses in one fell swoop. We don’t know for sure, but all indications so far suggest an attempt will be made to smuggle in an explosive device of some kind. We’ve got the area covered in detectors, sniffer dogs, and over half the agency personnel working to secure the palace in case there’s some credibility to it.” Mitre sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I’d like to say we’ve covered all the bases, Captain, but you know as well as I do that so far as security is concerned, the royal palace is about as watertight as a bloody colander.”

Luna spoke next. “These ponies know we would never move against them openly, Lord Fairlight, and my sister would never relinquish her rule of Equestria, nor I for that matter. Not unless the people wished it of course.”

I smiled at her. “My lady, the ponies of Equestria love you, and Celestia.” I nearly choked on that last bit, but hopefully managed to sound at least a little genuine. “I’ve never heard anything said against you, especially something as unthinkable as threatening your life.”

She reached over and placed a hoof on my knee. “Thank you, Lord Fairlight, you’re very kind.”

I could feel my cheeks burning as Mitre cleared his throat loudly, making me jump. “This creature,” he began, indicating the original photograph, “this ‘changeling’, has been traced back to the capital. We’ve checked hours of surveillance information from the detectors and it appears on one more, right outside the palace gates.”

Hell fire, this wasn’t good! The damned things were capable of mimicking a pony’s appearance perfectly. Well… almost. They could still be picked up by magical detectors like Mitre had said, but sooner or later one of the damned things could very likely get through if it was determined enough. “You think this thing was an assassin?” I asked.

Mitre shook his head. “No. We think it was there for observation, probing for any weakness in the defences. The royal guard are already on alert because of the threat from the humans, and the CBI are also aware of the changeling situation. Captain Shining Armour has put up a shield around the whole city to protect against these things getting in, and we’ve been busy installing automated detectors around the country as fast as we can manufacture them.”

“Captain Shining Armour?” I asked. I’d skipped over the main article in paper, being far more interested in the news that might actually be relevant to myself and Smiling Borders. Still, I liked to keep on top of who was who in the military, but I wasn’t familiar with this one.

Luna nodded. “Princess Cadence’s fiancé, and captain of the royal guard. He is Twilight Sparkle’s brother. I believe you know her?”

My eyebrows shot up. Miss Sparkle’s brother? Hell fire! Her big bro was none other than the captain of the very guard who were trying to hunt me down. Oh what delicious irony! “So where do I come into this?” I asked, changing the subject. May as well get it over with...

Mitre smiled, taking a mouthful of his brandy. “We want you to investigate Velvet Cream, the commissioner, and our human friend. See what you can find. Do a little digging. Simple.”

“Simple?” I put down my glass. Suddenly the brandy had lost its appeal. “I guess the watch are out of the picture with the commissioner’s influence for a job like this, but why can’t the agency do it?”

“They are, but their hooves are tied by Celestia’s regulations on privacy,” Luna explained. “But thankfully, and partly thanks to your previous help in the matter, she has allowed Equus to remain under my control. This means we have carte-blanche to take care of the situation in any way we deem necessary. The safety of the soon to be newlyweds has taken care of my sister’s other ‘concerns’, shall we say.”

“Yeah,” I added, “I get it. She wants Equus to get their hooves dirty so the royal wedding doesn’t get gate crashed by our bug friends or the Veritas hired thugs.”

Mitre grinned. “That’s about the size of it, lad. Celestia doesn’t know about you though. You’re our…well, we want you to be our trump card, so to speak.”

“And do what?” I didn’t like the sound of this. “Take out the whole gang?” Mitre said nothing, and Luna returned to staring into the fire in silence. “That’s it, isn’t it? You want me to ‘investigate’ them, by killing the whole bloody lot. Nice and quiet, keep the royal guard’s noses clean, and avoid any comeback on the agency. It’s just poor old Fairlight the evil wendigo doing what he does best. How long before one of Celestia’s goons comes after me then, eh? Tracks me down, kills me when I’ve got my back turned? Maybe my whole family too!”

The big blue stallion shook his head. “We’re not asking you to kill them, Captain, just… neutralise the threat. If you can bring them in, then you have the authority to do it. You’re still on the books with Equus after all, so we’ll be able to provide you with whatever assistance we can.”

‘Neutralise’. It was a polite way of saying ‘Kill them if you have to’, but whatever fancy words you tried to disguise it with the end result was still the same. If what Mitre and Luna believed was on the money, then it was very likely the plotters would prefer to go down fighting rather than be taken in on a charge of treason. Celestia was not exactly noted for her mercy when it came to attacks on the crown, as I knew first hoof. That said, we weren’t just dealing with your common or garden variety hired street thugs here. These guys were connected, well connected, and Veritas sounded like the kind of ponies who would be able to pull more strings than a bloody orchestra if push came to shove. “Alright,” I said, interested to see where this plan of theirs was heading. “Let’s say I do manage to bring them in, what then? With the commissioner’s connections there’s a good chance she’ll be in the clear before the key’s turned, and it’s reasonable to assume her buddies will also make sure Velvet and the human will be straight back out in the blink of an eye too. If that happens then they’ll most likely go even further underground with their operations, and only the goddesses will know what we’ll do then.”

Suddenly the door crashed open, followed immediately by the clatter of hooves. It was Brandy Wine. “There’s something coming up the road!” he gasped. “Mitre, get the princess upstairs. Fairlight…” Panting to catch his breath he threw me a PDW. I was up in a flash, the two of us rushing towards the door as a protesting Luna was pushed up the stairs.

“What is it?” I said quickly, checking the weapon. “We’ve got more armed warriors in this village than you can shake a stick at, Brandy. Are we under attack?” Suddenly my worst fears materialised in my mind. “Ursan?”

“Worse! I’ve never seen anything like it!” he said, his eyes wide in alarm. “It’s… it’s like something from a bloody nightmare. A walking skeleton, black and shining, with dragon wings and-”

“And eyes like red fires, right?”

“…and… yes!” Brandy paused, fixing me with an expression of utter amazement. “Dear gods, you’ve seen it before?”

“I would say so, yes.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, settling my racing heart. “Come in and put that blasted gun away will you.” Passing him the PDW I opened the doors as Shadow and Tingles trotted in. It was all a little much for the poor agency officer, whose eyes were as wide as saucers at this point.

“Agh!” Brandy gasped, backing away into a corner with lightning speed and upsetting a table on the way. “What… What is that thing?!”

“My mate, the lady Shadow,” I replied politely. “Shadow, may I present to you Brandy Wine of the Celestian Bureau of Investigation, otherwise known as ‘the agency’.”

Shadow bobbed her head and grinned, treating Brandy to a full view of her glinting battery of lethally sharp teeth. Smoke curled up from her nostrils, her eyes burning a deep blood red in the darkened light of the tavern’s interior as she focussed on the terrified stallion. Unsurprisingly, Brandy squeaked in fright, his natural instinct for self preservation warring with his normally calm demeanour. Like most equestrians he’d never seen a thestral before, and it was easy to forget just how frighteningly alien they could appear when encountering one for the first time. Especially when one of them was towering over you licking its lips. I stepped in between them, giving Shadow a gentle nudge.

“Oh stop it, you’ll give him a bloody heart attack.”

Shadow nickered, smirking wickedly as she raised an eyebrow and trotted off to help herself to a drink.

“Sorry about that.” I reached down and helped extract Brandy from the mass of chairs he’d jammed himself into. “Shadow does like to tease.”

“Tease?!” He closed his eyes, brushing the dust off his overcoat. “Gods almighty, Fairlight, I think I just shat myself. What is she anyway? You said she’s your what, your mate?”

“It’s a long story,” I chuckled. “Come, sit with us by the fire and get yourself a drink.” I paused, looking him up and down. “I think you need one.”

Oblivious to the commotion, Tingles had homed straight in on the chief, treating him a enthusiastic hug. “It’s so good to see you!” she laughed happily. “But, who’s this you’ve brought wi-” She gasped as the dark coated mare appeared at the foot of the stairs, shooing Mitre out of the way. “Your majesty!”

Luna swept back into the room, picking up Tingles who was now bowing so low she was virtually lying down. “Tingles please, we’re friends are we not?”

“Of course your…” Luna raised an eyebrow as Tingles caught herself. “...Of course, Luna. But I’m just so happy to see you again!”

“And I you, my dear, dear friend,” the princess smiled gently. Her attention turned to the other mare in the room. “I expect this must be the lady Shadow whom we spent so long trying to find, only to have her mate succeed in that task in his own inimitable fashion.”

Shadow blushed and bobbed a curtsy to the princess, “Princess Luna?”

Luna shook her head. “No, just Luna, my daughter. Friends don’t use titles. Except Fairlight, of course...”

Tingles gave me a look from under her brows which made my hackles go straight up. I was going to get interrogated for this later, I just knew it. Fortunately, and in my defence, my ‘fling’ with Luna had been a good while before I’d become serious with Tingles, so at least I didn’t have that to worry about. I hoped! Right now though I had a more pressing matter that needed attention. Unfolding before me was the kind of conversation that was reaching the inevitable point where I realised we’d have to relay our stories yet again. And sure enough… we did. Well, may as well get comfortable then! Encouraging Brandy to take a seat with us all, we started our tale from where I had left the village on my journey to the Withers all those months ago. As the story progressed I found myself with a riveted audience, reminding me of my time with the Purple Sands tribe. No balta to lubricate the larynx this time of course, but a good glass of spirits, some nibbles from the kitchen, and I could overlook that omission. Soon enough though, and with a small amount of editing, we finally got to the part where Luna, Mitre and Brandy began to explain why they were there. Luna was more interested in Lumin than talking I noticed, but I could tell by the way her ears swivelled that she was still taking in every detail. Oddly enough Tingles didn’t explode as I thought she would either.

Placing a hoof on her leg, I looked into her thoughtful eyes. “Love? You okay?”

She looked at Shadow who nodded as if the two shared some sort of psychic connection. I wasn’t joking either, for all I knew they probably did! And then to my surprise the tangerine pegasus bowed formally to Luna, speaking clearly as though addressing a hall full of ponies. “Princess Celestia would have to officially acknowledge Fairlight if he managed to ‘assist’ in protecting the wedding, wouldn’t she?”

Luna looked up from Lumin to reply, “I believe she would find it difficult not to, especially should the details of such selfless assistance by a former enemy of the crown be made, shall we say, public? I also have one more trump card to play should that not prove to be the case. In any event however, Tia would not be able to ignore Lord Fairlight’s contribution in such circumstances. Nor, I would add, could Shining Armour and his fiancé. As paradoxical as it may appear, the more who know about his involvement, the better.”

Shadow murmured something to Tingles and the two looked to me expectantly. They didn’t need to say anything. I already knew. I shrugged, accepting my inevitable fate. “Fine, I’ll do what I can, but when this is over I want something out of this. Not for me, but for my family and the people of this village.”

Luna straightened up, her ears taking in every word. “Very well, what do you desire?”

I stood up from my chair and spoke rather more formally than I intended. “The lands of the tribe of the four winds are to be reinstated according to the old boundaries in the time of Maroc. Shining Borders, and the forests between here and the mountains surrounding the fortress are to be officially recorded as our land and home, complete with all legal deeds and land titles. None of my people, my family, nor myself, are to be molested nor harmed in any way and are to be formally recognised for who we are. We, for our part, will pledge ourselves to the protection of Equestria from enemies foreign and domestic, and to the service of the royal family.”

Grimble dropped the tray behind me, the deafening crash making everypony turn to face the infuriated griffin. “The royal family?!” he shrieked, “After what that evil witch did to our ancestors?!” His eyes were almost bulging out of their avian sockets, his feathers bristling in the throws of unbridled outrage. “NO!”

“Yes.” I turned to him and fixed him with my blue eyed stare. “Times have changed, my old friend. Whether we like it or not, Luna and Celestia rule this land of our forefathers, but we have a chance now to recover our lost heritage, both for us and for our descendants. It is a chance, no matter how remote, that I cannot let pass us by. I am sorry Grimble, but I will not sentence my people, my family or my children, to a lifetime of cowering and hiding from shadows, waiting for the day the army shows up to finish what they started a thousand years ago. To move forward, we must be willing to let go of the baggage of the past. Do not let your pride blind your mind, my brother.” I turned back to Luna. “But that doesn’t mean I will forget nor fail to learn from what has been. You are still the one I serve, my lady. Celestia will have to come as part of that deal” I was going to add ‘unfortunately’, but thought better of it.

Luna’s mouth hung open, apparently a little lost for words. “You… you want a part of Equestria?” she gasped. “My sister would never agree to that!”

“The land was stolen from us in the first place,” I stated firmly, “and it is ours both by right and by inheritance. If you want my help, and that of my tribe, then this is the price I ask.”

Every pair of eyes in the room was on me. For a moment I wondered If I had overplayed my hoof, but then Luna stood up, her long flowing mane and tail flowing out behind her, flowing in the astral wind. “Very well,” she announced. “You must understand though, my Lord Fairlight, that I can only agree for my part. Celestia may not be so… agreeable.”

I stood my ground, never taking my eyes from her. “I’ll take that chance.”

Mitre watched me quietly while the princess got up to pass Lumin back to his mother. “Captain,” he asked quietly, “what will you do if the princess refuses?”

I looked at my old friend, at his tired face and scarred body. We’d both been through so much together, but now… now I had so much more to fight for. “How’s Shelly, Chief?” I asked him suddenly.

He stared at me, those old dark eyes trying to read the inside of my head. “She’s doing fine. Why?”

“You love her don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Mitre replied. “What’s this got to do with-”

“What would you do to protect her, Chief? To make sure she was safe?” I interrupted.

“I…” The rest of his words faded into the silence of the room.

I nodded, taking up my glass. “That’s what I’d do.”

My old watch chief sat with his mouth agape, before finally nodding to himself, “I understand, Captain. But still…” He leaned forward and jabbed a hoof at me, “don’t forget who your friends are.”

I clopped him on the shoulder. “I never have, my friend.” I turned to face Princess Luna and bowed before her. “You have my loyalty and my word of honour I will do all I can to protect Equestria, my lady.”

Luna smiled shyly and gave Lumin a kiss before holding her hoof out for me to kiss respectfully. “You’re an interesting one, Lord Fairlight, and so is your family. There is a magic here, not only in you, but in all of you: Tingles, Shadow, and even little Lumin.” She gazed down at the sleeping unicorn foal and murmured something just on the barest edge of my hearing. “He has the greatest magic of all.”

Well, he certain had enchanted our beloved princess, that was for sure. Lumin gurgled happily, just before letting out a rip-roaring fart that would have put his old dad to shame. I think what made me laugh the most though was the look of surprise on Lumin’s face rather than the shock on Luna’s. Ah, what chip off the old block, eh? Even at this tender age he was able to give the ladies something to boggle at. Unfortunately though, as much as my miniature unicorn had stolen the hearts of everypony in the tavern, all good things must come to an end. Our audience with the princess, Brandy and Mitre, was soon to draw to a close. They had their answer, as indeed had I. As our guests prepared to depart, with Luna being helped into the carriage by the steadfast Mitre, Brandy stopped me by the door.

“We’ll be in touch soon, Fairlight. Also, I have a bit of a confession to make.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Brandy nodded. “When I was checking your old room at the agency, I found a stash of boxes.”

“Boxes?” I wondered aloud. “My chocolates! Gods above, I’d forgotten all about them!”

The agency officer swallowed nervously. “Yes, well… I… I couldn’t help myself. I tried one. I didn’t think you’d mind if had a quick sample of course, but…”

“But?”

Brandy looked up at me, his eyes sparkling with energy. “Great Celestia, Fairlight, they were absolutely amazing! I had to have another, and before I knew it…”

I facehoofed. “Don’t tell me you ate the lot?!”

“Well, erm, actually… I did.” He held up a conciliatory hoof. “But don’t worry, I replaced them. They’re in with all Tingles’ things. We put them in your room earlier after I had them delivered from Ponyville.”

By the gods, he looked so serious! Laughing aloud I clopped him on the shoulder. “You didn’t need to confess that! Bloody hell, I thought it was something serious. They’re delicious, sure, but I wasn’t that obsessed with them!”

Brandy shrugged and handed me a crumpled yellow envelope. “It’s from the Cake’s. The guys at the agency have a regular shipment now and… well, it’s a money off voucher as a thank you.”

I pocketed the letter, shaking my head. “Thanks Brandy, you were always there when I needed you the most.”

“I still am, Fairlight,” he grinned. “It’s good to know we’ll be working together on protecting our home from the latest bunch of rats trying to infest it. Whether it’s in Canterlot or out here in the sticks, the faces and names change, but the problems they cause never quite go away, do they?” I nodded. He was right there. What was the old watch saying? ‘Same shit, different day’? By the gods where they ever right about that. “I know you’ve done more than your fair share for our country, but still, I’ve always liked a pony who gets results,” Brandy continued. He paused, fishing in his pocket for something. “Oh! Nearly forgot. Here’s yours and Tingles’ back pay.”

“Mitre’s already given us money, Brandy,” I pointed out. “Anyway, I know he said we’re still on the books but I think that’s more of a technicality than anything concrete. We’re not on the payroll any more as far as I know.”

“Actually, that’s not entirely true.” Brandy replied a little sheepishly. “I always hoped you’d come back, and so I kept you on, listed as on ‘foreign service’. That comes with a bonus, overtime, and holiday pay.” He hoofed over a wad of notes and coins which were stuffed into a cotton bag. “That’s both of you up to date. It’ll keep you in chocolates if nothing else, right?”

Yeah, for about the next fifty years! Bloody hell, with the amount of cash here and what Mitre had given us we were virtually swimming in bits. If nothing else it would be a nice little pot of cash to help cover the cost of the renovations on the Wyvern’s Tail. We shook hooves, and after a round of hugs and hoof waving, the princess’s carriage took off into the wide blue sky, banking away on its journey back towards Manehattan. Grimble and I sat back by the fire a while longer and chatted about the visit whilst the girls disappeared off to the hot spring. The old griffin was a traditionalist at heart, but thankfully open enough to understood that if we were to truly stand any hope of restoring the tribe to its former glory, we would have to adapt to this world, and learn to live once more instead of simply surviving. Up until now the villagers had been scratching out a living as farmers, lurching from day to day, barely managing to store up enough food between them to last the vicious winters that hit these parts. Well, that was going to end if I had any say in the matter. I sat gazing into the flames and tapped my forehooves together as I mulled things over in my mind. Had I pushed things too far with Luna? Despite my words to Mitre, what would I do if Celestia refused my request? She may react on instinct and try to turn me into charcoal, regardless of how much ‘help’ I may have been with the security for the wedding. And on that subject, there was no guarantee that there even was a plot in the first place! It was all speculation, supposition, and good old fashioned guesswork. Damn it, there were too many unknowns here, and now I was second guessing my own decisions. Still, I trusted Mitre to know what was going on. There was a lot he hadn’t told me of course, he’d said as much himself, so I would just have to keep my faith in his abilities and wait until I received my orders. I shook my mane and leaned back in my chair. It was too bloody late now anyway, the die was cast. I would play my part just as I’d said I would, and the lord of the four winds, together with his tribe, would return to their rightful place in Equestria. If I kept telling myself that, I may even start to believe it too.

Grimble echoed my thoughts. “I never thought it would happen in my lifetime, my lord,” he said honestly. “I hope you’ll forgive my outburst earlier?”

“About Celestia?” I asked. “Of course, my friend. Trust me, I’m no fan of the princess of the sun. However, if we have to make a deal with the devil to achieve our goal, then so be it.”

“Fortune favours the bold, my lord.”

I clinked my brandy mug against Grimble’s. “Hah! It does that, my friend, it does that.”

There was a shriek from upstairs and the clatter of hooves. A heartbeat later a flustered Tingles bursting into the room. “HEATHER!” she screamed. The minotaur charged in, carrying a meat cleaver of all things, her eyes scanning the room for trouble. “Get some water, quick!”

“What’s going on?” I called to her, jumping to my hooves. “It’s not Tarragon again is it?”

Tingles shook her head so hard I thought it would fly off. “No! It’s Shadow! I think she’s been poisoned!”

“Oh goddesses.” My heart thundering, I raced for the stairs as Grimble rushed into the kitchen to help Heather.

Tingles turned to me in a panic. “She… she ate something. I found her next to a box of something in the bedroom. I’ve never seen it before! It was right next to our things, and-”

“Oh hell!” I gasped, taking the stairs two at a time. “MY BLOODY CHOCOLATES!”

Chapter Two - Master and servant

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CHAPTER TWO

MASTER AND SERVANT

Now this was living. Sitting on the porch of the Wyvern’s Tail, a rescued chocolate beside me, a mug of tea and a sneaky pipe of tobacco – what more could a pony ask for. This time of the morning the village was wonderfully quiet, the air around me fresh and still. I held a flame to my pipe, puffin on it until it was properly lit. Ah… a little taste of the Wither World! There wasn’t much of Star Beard’s tobacco left now, but that wouldn’t be a problem for much longer. To my delight, the first shoots from the seeds he’d provided me with were starting to poke their head through the soil. I had to thank our local gardening expert, Bodhran, for that. What that talented griffin couldn’t do with a trowel wasn’t worth knowing. Mind you, I’d had to let her in on what the plants actually were of course, as well as to make sure she didn’t inadvertently blurt the details to Tingles either. After all, what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her, right? I’d cut down at least, so I could salve my feelings of guilt by assuring myself that I was halfway there. Roughly, anyway. I peered into the pouch, angling it so I can better see the contents. There was probably enough of Star Beard’s tobacco left to last me until the end of the week if I was frugal. What I’d do when it ran out was something I didn’t want to think about. When I smoked it I felt somehow a little nearer to him, and our friends in the Withers. There were times, usually when the sky was crystal clear and the stars and moon high above, that I thought back to my days there. As strange and as dangerous as they had been, I missed them, and I would never forget the fact that if it hadn’t been for the selfless help of the curious denizens of that dark world I would never have been able to return home. Worse still, I would never have seen my family again. Now, with my new home, my mares and my son around me as well as a village full of loyal friends, I was felt like a contented dragon atop an impossible hoard of the most precious gems and coins of glittering gold. Best of all, at this time of the morning, with the family still in bed, I could enjoy the peace and cool air of the sunrise. I closed my eyes and took in a mouthful of the pipe smoke, remembering. I wonder what they were up to now? Ember, Short Stride, Thorn… It would-

The world ended in a loud ringing, light and sound disappearing into a black void of absolute nothingness. I never even felt myself hit the ground. Slowly, painfully, my thoughts came back to me in incoherent broken fragments. Memories cried out to me from the depths - images of castles, dragons, wars, it was all there like a giant jigsaw puzzle somepony had completed then thrown on the floor, scattering thousands of little pieces of pictures that had once made up a whole. I was one of those pieces, as was Maroc, Arathea… all of us, all one tribe… broken and forgotten. What was once whole was gone, buried in time… but maybe, maybe not completely lost. In amongst the shattered pieces of memory, Maroc’s image broke through in a blaze of white and blue, sending sparkling ice fragments into the darkness.

“Fairlight.”

I tried to speak, but it was so hard to concentrate.

“Fairlight, you’re in danger. You have to wake up.”

I tried to shake my head, but nothing was working the way it should. “Maroc?” I whispered helplessly. “What’s happening? Where… where am I?”

He stepped closer, fixing me with his deep blue gaze. “Inside your memories. Inside your subconscious. You have been hurt, Fairlight. You must awake…”

Awake? Was I asleep? No… No, something else was wrong here. Something very, very wrong. Fighting my way back to consciousness was no easy feat either. Smell, taste, sound - all my senses had been shut down and were only just now coming back to me inch by agonising inch. With them came a dull aching sensation that was being constantly aggravated by a thumping and jarring motion which made my stomach churn and my joints cry out in protest. Some things were immediately apparent: my legs were tied, damned painfully too, my magic had been locked away and I was gagged and blindfolded. Judging by the terrible ache in the back of my skull, some bastard had given me one hell of a crack over the old noggin. I was, for all intents and purposes, completely helpless, tied up once again like a carnivore’s Sunday roast. This was starting to become a habit, and not one I enjoyed either. One of these days I’d have to get myself fitted with wing mirrors. Having ponies sneaking up on me all the time had become a major problem in my life, and some day would probably get me killed. Hmm, perhaps I shouldn’t be thinking about that sort of thing right now? Where the buck was I anyway? For that matter, where was my family? I strained my hearing to try and pick up any sounds, anything at all that might give me a clue as to what was going on around me, but all I heard was the jostling of what was quite clearly a cart of some kind. The smell of hay was absolutely overpowering too, and my bones grated painfully with the overly tight bonds I’d been trussed up with. I’m sure some ponies paid good money for this sort of treatment. As for me though I just wanted out of here, and the first chance I got somepony was going to find out the hard way that I wasn’t a stallion to buck with. No sooner had I thought that though, the cart stopped, rocking back slightly before the brakes were applied. I could hear voices, what sounded like the tailgate being unlatched and then the rustle of hay being moved away from me. A tiny amount of daylight peaked through pinprick holes in my blindfold, but I kept still. Let them think I was still out cold…

“This him?” a rough voice asked.

A slightly scratchy, avian sounding voice replied, “Yeah, it’s him. Now, where’s my money?”

“Wait while we check him out.”

A rough pair of claws pulled at me and I heard a piece of paper being rustled. “That’s him alright, look at the cutie mark and the scar. You sure he’s hornlocked and bound properly?”

A third voice, heavily accented, answered, “He’s helpless, look at the state of him.”

“You’re not kidding,” the gruff voice snorted. “Look at the mess you made of the back of his head! You stupid cunt, you nearly killed him! He’s no good to the mistress if he’s bucking dead.”

“You haven’t seen this guy in action, he’s a bucking killing machine,” the wheedling avian voice replied. “Beats me why you wanted him alive at all. I think we should cut his throat and have done with it. Cut his horn off at least, that way he won’t cause you any trouble if he gets loose.”

“You’re not paid to think, Shrill, so shut the buck up,” the first voice snapped.

There was a clink of coins. “Here’s your money, now sod off. Remember, you say anything to anypony…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill.”

The sound of somepony walking away was replaced by others, heavier sounding this time, moving closer to where I was lying. Moments later I was being hoisted up with all the care you’d give to a sack of coal before being carried over to another carriage where I was dumped unceremoniously on the rough wooden floor. My head, already beaten and bloody, thumped painfully against something hard. And there was me thinking the newcomers would show a little more care than first one. My addled mind drifted back to my far from comfortable ride I’d been subjected to by the royal guard when I was being transported into exile. As much as I appreciated not being shot, half drowned, raped and left for dead this time round, this kind of situation I kept finding myself in was definitely becoming a habit. Perhaps so much so that I wasn’t freaking out the way I probably should have been, particularly as the prospect of having my ‘horn cut off’ was far from something I would have welcomed to say the least. Thankfully, whoever the ‘mistress’ was, she wanted me in one piece. Somehow I guessed the mysterious female wasn’t Luna’s alter ego in Equus. Gods above, with all the ‘mistresses’ knocking about, I was beginning to feel like I had a lifetime membership to some kind of S&M club. Kinky things had their place I suppose, but this was taking bondage fetishes just a tad too far. My train of thought was derailed once more by the sound of somepony climbing in beside me. A moment later, and to my surprise, what felt like a cushion of some description was placed under my head. Miracles will never cease! So, keeping me alive was their goal after all was it? I don’t know what they had in store for me yet, but whatever it was it was a damned sight better than what that rat ‘Shrill’ had intended for me. Shrill, eh? I didn’t recognise the name, but I’d remember it. Oh yes, I’d remember it all right…

With a shout we lurched into the air, accompanied by the heavy beat of wings. With no idea of what direction we were heading in, all I could do was lie still and keep my ears open for anything that may be of use later. If there was a later. I listened closely to my captors as we flew, but they kept uncomfortably silent for the whole journey, which by my reckoning was at least two hours or so. It was hard to say for sure, but I determined we had at least one pegasus up front doing the piloting, and one other in the carriage with me. I don’t think there were any other carriages or chariots accompanying us, and by the quiet whisper of my captors clothing it didn’t seem likely they were military types either. There was no wind noise, which indicated we were in a covered carriage, nor was it a fancy one either, as I can attest that there was most definitely no carpet. It was also pitch black inside. There were no windows that I could detect, and I spent the whole achingly uncomfortable trip in absolute darkness with a silent guard. Eventually though we touched down, the carriage landing rather awkwardly on hard cobbles, if the jostling and loud rattling sound of the wheels hitting the uneven surface were any judge. Moments later the door opened and a pair of hooves pulled me by my bindings out and onto what I could only describe as some sort of stretcher. Next, a blanket thrown over me. The background sounds of voices, horns, and the cart wheels reminded me of the city. Where the hell were we? My mind was working overtime, taking in as much information about my environment as I could. There was always the chance I could get out of this somehow, and knowing where I was could prove to be crucial later. All I needed was that chance, that small break, and I would grab it the second it appeared. So far though, I was completely at the mercy of whoever had snatched me. As the stretcher, trolley, or whatever it was, was pushed along I caught glimpses of lights passing overhead. Was I in a hospital? There were noises I would certainly associate with one, but none of this made sense - why would they bring me here? Finally, we moved through a set of double doors and into a lift that took us down to a quieter level. Quiet except for the hum of machinery and the smell of the warm and muggy air.

Pinpricks of light appeared through the blindfold and a gruff voice spoke into my ear, “I know you’re awake, freak. Any sign of trouble from you and you’re dead, but not before your family die, slowly. One. By. One.”

I couldn’t have said anything for the gag in any case, but I tried to remember the voice. This bastard was one who sounded like he wouldn’t think twice about carrying out his threat, and probably enjoy it too. If I got loose he’d be at the top of my list to be ‘Neutralised’. Still incapacitated however, all I could do was remain still whilst my captors began to remove my bindings, carefully but quickly replacing them with metal cuffs and chains. And then came the most ‘interesting’ part of my morning’s adventure thus far. With a grunt of effort, two of pairs of hooves heaved me up onto my hind legs, dragging me from the stretcher. There was a rattle of chains, like that of one slipping through a pulley, and I was hauled agonisingly upwards, leaving me suspended painfully from my already tortured forelegs. My hind legs, barely touching the ground already, were splayed out and similarly chained. Aching from my journey and head trauma, my spine and muscles felt like they were on fire. And there was nothing I could do about it. With no way to access my magic, at least not without Maroc’s help, I was all but helpless. There had to be some way to get this damned hornlock off. If I could do that then I could release the wendigo magic and freeze my bonds, shattering them apart. I’d heard of a unicorn breaking free of a hornlock once when they’d been in custody, but exactly how they’d done it was something I never found out. Anyway, hadn’t I been hornlocked in the bay when they’d thrown me over the side of the boat? Gods, I couldn’t remember! The whole saga was a muddled mess of disjointed images and sounds, and in truth I think it was more Maroc than myself who’d saved me that day. Damn it all! There had to be something I could-

“You done?”

“Yeah. You got t’kettle on?”

“Aye. What about this guy tho’, he looks like shit. Shouldn’t we clean him up a bit afore the mistress sees him?”

“Nah, leave ‘im. He aint goin’ nowheres anyway. If ‘e shits ‘imself we’ll give ‘im an ‘ose off later.”

The stallions moved away from me, their hoofsteps echoing hollowly in the large, and very empty sounding room. A heavy door slammed shut behind them, plunging me into the twin sensory delights of both total darkness and utter silence. It was cold in here too, not that it particularly bothered me of course, but the air was so dry… bone dry. I tried to lick my parched lips the best I could, trying to work up some moisture in my mouth to ease my miserable state. It was hopeless - that vile gag they’d shoved in there soaked up everything I threw at it. If anything it made matters worse, especially as the musty taste suggested it had been used for something far from sanitary prior to being shoved in there. Damn it all, why the hell did they have to go and mention tea for Celestia’s sake?! Bastards… I hoped they bloody choked on it. Unfortunately whatever these scum had in store for me next I doubted it was going to be pleasant, but at least I had a chance to come up with some sort of plan to get myself out of here in the meantime. But what? My legs were well shackled, a blindfold over my eyes, and that damned hornlock numbed me better than all the alcohol in the Wyvern’s Tail ever could. Try as I might there was no way in the goddess’s world I was going to break loose by flailing around in a blind panic, as much I was beginning to lean towards that course of action right then. In the complete darkness of that cold empty room I hung there helpless, and completely powerless to do anything about it. There was no sound, no light, just nagging pain and that constant discomfort that I could never quite relieve. Frustratingly I knew that somewhere inside myself my magic waited for me, yet so long as that damned hornlock remained affixed to my head, it was as if I were looking at it through a pane of impenetrable glass. It was there the way it always had been - so near, so tantalisingly near, and yet no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t get to it no matter how hard I tried. And of Maroc? Nothing. Not a damned thing. He had a talent for popping up when I was in mortal danger, a regular problem these days it seemed, and yet right now, hanging here awaiting an unknown fate, my magical ancestor was conspicuous by his absence. Gods above, couldn’t he be a bit more prompt at times like these? Damn it all, this hurt! I tried to move, if for no other reason than to relieve the pain in my muscles, though only succeeding in doing nothing more than making the chains rattle and the bonds dig even further into my flesh. Any time now, Maroc! Gods bugger me sideways, this really hurt! I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. It didn’t help. Minutes, hours… I began to lose track of time completely. Here, wherever here was, such notions simply didn’t exist. There was no sun, no moon, no day, no night… only pain. Eventually I gave up fighting against it and simply hung there, enveloped in misery and hopelessness. Maybe… Maybe somepony would come barrelling in at the last minute and cut me loose? Mitre, Brandy and Luna had a remarkable way of locating ponies, but would they even know I had gone missing yet? It had been early morning when they’d snatched me, and- Wait… What was that? My ears twitched as they locked onto the sound of a metal bolt being drawn back, the metallic creak of a door being opened. Hoofsteps. There were two of them: one heavy, one lighter on their hooves. The lighter one walked up to me, so close I could feel their breath upon my muzzle and detect the faint scent of… camomile? Ah, that must have been the tea they had left to drink earlier. Come to torture me some more had they? A hoof touched my chin and I instinctively flinched back as a feminine voice laughed quietly beside me with a lilting musical quality I’d heard once before. It had only been that once, true, but it had been enough. I’d never forget it as long as I lived. Which, by looks of things, may not be that long. My blood ran as cold as ice...

“My, my, my… Dear Watch Captain Fairlight.” The voice was soft, alluring, and bore a sense of breeding and nobility that felt completely at odds to the horror of my predicament. “I have you at last, my fine stallion.” She laughed so gently I felt my skin shiver from my muzzle to my tail. In any other circumstances it would have been quite exotic I suppose. As I was now, I could feel my heart hammering in my ears. It was her. It had to be. “I expect you must be wondering where you are,” she said softly. “Perhaps, why you’re here?” She walked around me slowly, occasionally trailing a hoof over my chest. “Such a fine specimen. Well muscled, good tone, strong back… what a fine legacy you would leave.” What the hell was she talking about? The mare stood before me. Even in the darkness I could sense her presence, her scent wafting through the air like wild lavender. “You know who I am, don’t you, Captain?” she asked. “Yes… Yes, of course you do.” I heard the sound of a drink being poured. “Such a wonderful thing, magic, wouldn’t you agree? There’s nothing quite like it on my world.” She drew closer again. “Thirsty?” The mare held up the glass to my lips in her magic, teasing me with it before taking it away and clucking her tongue. “No. Not yet. You need a little more... ‘training’ first I think.” Training? The mare turned around and put the glass down. “You see, Captain, on my world, ponies… that is to say, ‘horses’, aren’t quite so ‘eloquent’ as you and I. In truth they’re nothing more than mere animals - beautiful animals to be sure, but animals nonetheless. I’ll confess I find their natural energy and wild untamed grace to be particularly appealing to me - an appeal that has never waned nor faded no matter how many difficulties I may have faced. Ever since I was a little girl I have worked with these creatures, endlessly striving to hone my skills, perfecting my craft. They are a challenge you see, a test of ones determination, skill, and perseverance. It is the triumph of one will over another, the complete and utter domination over nature itself. You see, they really are quite wilful creatures, even when tamed - strong in spirit, body, and in mind.” She moved closer again, leaning up to my ear. “Do you have a strong spirit, Captain? A strong body… and mind?” The mare giggled. “We ride ponies in our world. Did you know that? Saddles aren’t just for decoration there like they are here. Back home I had many horses: champion racers, kings and queens of dressage, and the finest studs anybody could ever dream of owning. I could ride them all too, even the wildest of stallions.” She chuckled under her breath. “Some humans used to ‘break’ their horses, break their spirits, using pain to train and reprogram their minds to obey through fear.” A rod of some kind was dragged up my stomach and chest until it was under my chin. “I don’t like those methods,” she said in a seductive voice. “I find it best to leave something of the wilder spirit behind. Keeps them keen, makes them alert and energetic, yet still ensures the correct amount of obedience to their master. You see, Captain, all a horse needs, all it truly needs, is the right kind of… motivation.” The rod slid back down to my haunches and tapped me firmly on my cutie mark. “Naturally, one must be sure a mount is safe and obedient before they can be ridden.” I didn’t know what to think, my mind was a blur of possible scenarios, each one more fantastical and terrifying than the last. One thing was for sure though, she wanted something from me, but what it was I had no idea. “I’m going to give you a little treat now, ‘stallion’,” she purred, “a taste of what you could have if you… behave yourself. Are you ready?”

The mare pulled off my blindfold and a dim light assailed my eyes. It took a little while to regain my focus, but there, lying in front of me on a red velvet lounger was one of the most beautiful, graceful unicorns I had ever seen. The first time we’d met she’d ordered the killing of my friends. The second, she was in the company of that bastard Velvet Cream. This was the human bitch who had the blood of dozens, if not hundreds of ponies on her hooves. It didn’t stop her being a feast for the eyes though, and she knew it. With her pure white alabaster coat, her long slender horn, that lustrous golden mane and tail, all combined it made her look like the lost sister of Celestia herself. Tall and elegant, and hating myself for it, it was hard to take my eyes off her despite my current predicament.

She giggled behind a gold shod hoof, speaking in her sultry voice, “Like what you see?” The white mare eyed me with those deep azure eyes from under long flowing lashes. “I know you do…” The mare looked me up and down, from nose to tail, taking in every single detail. “I’m not averse to partaking of ponies in a more, shall we say… intimate manner, Captain. After all, we share a common physiology now do we not? And who knows, If you’re a good boy, maybe you’ll get to have a little sample yourself - a taste of something… forbidden?” I was desperately trying to think of something else. Anything else. Unfortunately, my body had a mind of its own. “Nothing to say, Captain? Oh!” She held a hoof to her mouth in mock surprise. “Silly me. You can’t speak can you? Not with that horrible thing in you mouth.” She waved a hoof and one of the males trotted over to untie the gag. I nearly choked when the damned thing was viciously pulled out, nearly taking half my damned teeth with it. “Well?” she said questioningly, “Still nothing to say?”

“Go buck yourself,” I spat, glaring at her.

“Hah!” To my surprise she clopped her hooves together in apparent delight. “Such spirit! Oh, Captain, I’m going to enjoy breaking you… I’m going to enjoy every moment.” My goddesses, she was drooling. She was actually bloody well drooling! The ‘mistress’ walked up to me, swaying her hips. “I know all about you, you know… That’s right, ‘Lord of the four winds’. I know everything there is about your magic, your mares, and your foals. You can’t keep secrets from me, Captain. Can you imagine my surprise when I found out that you’re one of these… what was it now… wendigo?” She glanced at one of the stallions as if for confirmation. “Yes… Yes, that’s right. Mmm… So much more than just a unicorn, am I right?” She laughed quietly. “Of course I am. The mistress, is always right.” Suddenly she span round, fixing me with her large eyes. “But don’t worry, Captain, you’ll come to understand that in time. All it takes is a little patience, and the right application of… correction training. I stared my hatred at her. This bitch had it coming alright. Threatening me was one thing, but my family was all I had. I wouldn’t risk them again, not after everything we’d been through. The mare levitated over the rod from earlier. “Do you know what this is?” she asked. I said nothing. “It’s a riding crop,” she continued. “In my world we use it to ‘encourage’ our mounts to obey us. You, my fine piece of horse flesh, will find that before long you’ll begin to enjoy its sting. You may not think so now, but you will. Sooner or later you won’t be able to help yourself. You’ll find yourself wanting it, needing it, craving the feel of its bitter taste across your hide. Do you like the thought of that?”

“What do you want from me?” I growled.

The mare looked back me from over her shoulder. “Oh dear! What a way to speak to a lady!” Her magic flared and the crop lashed out like lightning, thwacking me across my haunches making me jump. The sudden movement pulled on the chain that in turn hauled on my joints, adding an additional flare of burning pain to my increasingly desperate situation.

“I’ll tell you what I want from you in due time, my stallion.” She whacked me hard across the legs and back, grinning menacingly, those beautiful eyes filling my vision as she did so. “By the time I’m done with you I’ll be able to ride you wherever I want, make you do whatever I want and, do you know what, Captain Fairlight of the Equestrian Watch? You’ll be begging me to do it.”

“Buck off.”

The mare turned away, her laughter echoing around the room. “I thought you’d say that! Such a dirty mouth too!” She nodded to the male in the room. “He stinks. Give him a wash.”

“With pleasure, Mistress.” The stallion’s low growl was accompanied by a scraping sound I would soon come to dread. I watched him lift the bronze nozzle, the length of hose trailing behind it like a huge flat snake, out towards where the rest of its body was curled up beside the stop-cock. It was then I noticed the drain below me, and finally realised what was coming next. I grit my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut… but nothing could prepare you for something like that. The water hit me with all the subtlety of a runaway freight train, the ice cold blast chilling my body and half drowning me simultaneously. I tried to breath, to fight back, but I was completely in their power. From head to hind hoof they pounded me with the barrage of water. I was frozen to the marrow, battered and bruised from the merciless assault, and eventually, mercifully… it stopped. Licking the drips of from my muzzle to slake my thirst, I slumped in my bonds, panting for breath. They weren’t just going to leave me like this, where they? What were- The door slammed shut. The lights went out.

I was alone.

What the hell could I do now?

I hung there for a day, maybe two, I don’t know. I… I just don’t know. Shaking and hungry I was desperate for water and some sort of relief, any relief, from the endless pain. I’d hoped Maroc would rush in to save the day, but of my elusive saviour from my trip to the bottom of the ocean, there was no sign. In my mind I fought against my situation, desperately trying to reach the magic, and to keep what little strength I had left by sleeping. But how? Dear goddesses, how could I? Here, time meant nothing. There was no respite, no sleep to found, nor any escape to had from the constant, all encompassing misery that was prolonged with every torturous breath I took. All there was, was pain – pain, and the misery of knowing… there was nothing I could do about it. Nopony would be coming to help me. Nopony even knew where I was. Death held no fear for me, but to die here, to linger on like this, suffering from moment to moment, gloated over by that evil monster… Surely even Tartarus would balk at such cruelty. Now, all I could look forward to was the mercy of passing out. At least then I could have some rest.

However long I dangled like that I’d ceased to know, nor care. Occasionally they come in, rub me down with something or wash my mess away with that cursed hose. And then one day, whenever it may have been, the faint scent of camomile began to tickle at the edge of my senses. The loud clang of the bolt, the creak of the door, and the mistress walked back into the room. My eyes snapped open. From the complete darkness of empty nothingness, to see even her was at least something different - a break from the cold, the hunger, and the endless misery.

“Hello, Captain, how are you this morning?”

I kept quiet, hanging from those accursed chains. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of- My ears pricked up immediately. Was that.. was that water? I glanced up at her. She was pouring out a glass of water from a glass pitcher – sparkling, fresh, and so deliciously cool. I could see the ice in it, hear it cracking and moving in that magnificent liquid. Oh, Luna, I was so thirsty…

“Water,” she said holding the glass up. “Something so simple, so necessary for life, so… delicious.” She took a sip and moved up to me slowly, waving the glass in front of my muzzle. “I know you want this, my stallion. Why don’t you tell me… tell me how much you want this…”

I nodded slowly and she held the glass to my lips, It was only a little, but I managed to take a single mouthful of the blissfully cold fluid in my mouth. Before spitting it in her face. “I said, ‘go buck yourself’, you sick bitch.”

The mare’s cheeks flushed red, dripping with water. I kept my head high as she raised the crop to strike. “You..!” Her furious expression, brim full of rage and indignation, abruptly changed. To my astonishment, she laughed. She actually laughed. Slowly, deliberately, she returned the crop to the table. “No… No, I don’t think so.” The white unicorn chuckled as she wiped the water off her face with a towel. “I thought you may do something like that, and so… I thought I’d explain a few things to you.” Suddenly she reached out, grabbing my head in her forehooves. Her muzzle closed with mine, her breath fragrant and sweet. “Don’t think your friends will come charging in here to your rescue, Captain,” she breathed. “This room is shielded, both physically and magically. I know about your ‘bond’ with your followers, you see. I also know where your family live. Did you know one of our ‘other friends’ lives there? Oh, yes… not everyone of you delightfully eclectic group of followers is quite as loyal as you may expect. Gold, you see, can overcome many things: love, anger, inhibitions, even loyalty built up over a thousand year. All it would take is one call, one simple sentence, and your family would… well, let’s just leave it at that shall we?”

Anger grabbed me in its iron grasp, pushing all other considerations aside as I glared unadulterated hatred at the heartless monster before me. “You bucking rat!” I snarled, “You touch my family and I’ll kill you! I’ll kill every single last bucking one of you!”

“Yes…” The mare nodded. “Yes, I’m sure you would if you could.” She shook her long golden mane. The way it shimmered, even in the dim light of the concrete lined room, was like a golden waterfall. “I know what you did to Gates, and poor Melon Patch too. Not that I cared for those murdering bastards of course. I know very well what they did to your wife, and believe it or not, I can sympathise. After all, I’m still a woman you know, Captain. Well, a mare now I suppose.” The tall unicorn walked slowly around me, her scent tickling my nose. “See for yourself. My fur is as soft as down, my skin is supple like a yearling, and this,” she murmured, brushing her flank up against me. “…could all be yours.”

I coughed, looking away. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Oh, Captain, your words say no, but your body…” She looked down at my nethers, grabbing me with a forehoof as a feeling of shock ran through me. “…your body is a lot more honest than your mouth.”

My head dropped. I was so tired of this. I had no energy left to play these twisted little games of hers. What did she want from me? Gods, if she’d just do something… anything! “Damn it all, mare, kill me if you have to, just… just get on with it will you?” I looked up at her, making sure I had her undivided attention. “But leave my family alone, they haven’t done anything to you.” For a moment she paused, her eyes remaining locked with mine. I felt my heart jump in my chest. Had I struck a chord with this cold creature? Had she-

“You’re not in a position to ask me for anything really, are you now,” the mare said in a dismissive tone. She turned, walking away slowly. “That will do for today. In the meantime I shall leave you to think on your behaviour, stallion.” She placed the glass of water back on the table before me, running her hoof down the accumulated condensation, watching the drip slowly form, trickling down to pool on the table top. “Think about how much you want that water, and how much you want…” With a flick of her tail the snow white mare left the room, leaving the sentence unfinished as the door slammed shut behind her with its now familiar heavy finality. Total silence once more engulfed me, the lamp on the table highlighting the glass of water sitting tantalisingly just out of reach. I tried to look away, I really did, but all I could think about was how desperately thirsty I was, and what it would take to have the mare offer me a sip of that delicious nectar of the gods. All I wanted was just one. Little. Sip.

********************

Did time truly pass here? I wasn’t sure. The constant pain, sleep deprivation, starvation and dehydration were taking their toll me on both physically and mentally. One day simply swirled into the next, on and on without end. With no light to go by and the seemingly random visits from the ‘mistress’, I could feel myself drawing closer towards death with every breath I took. I was dying, I knew that. My body was gradually shutting down, passing from this world inch by torturous inch. The mistress however, would never quite let me pass on. Whenever she felt I was drawing close she’d have me fed a small amount of a tasteless gruel that her thugs all but threw at me, washed down of course, with hose water. It was something, but such meagre offerings were nowhere near enough to sustain a full grown pony. One day, earlier on, I don’t recall when exactly, I’d spat the food back in the face of the mare and she’d gone absolutely wild, whipping me with her crop until my coat was soaked through with blood. I’d been so weak I hadn’t even been able to cry out, however my lack of reaction had only served to infuriate her all the more. She’d been steaming and panting with the effort until, in a final fit of rage, she’d thrown the crop at me and stormed out, ordering the male to ‘clean me up’. He’d done as she’d ordered, with a bucket of stinging liquid and yet more hose water. After that, I’d blacked out. Goddesses, I wanted to see my family again. It was all I could think of to focus on now anyway. Every day I thought of Meadow, Sparrow, Shadow, Tingles, Lumin, and even little Tarragon, trying everything I could to keep my mind together, to cling on to whatever vestiges of my sanity remained. Even if it was just a tiny piece, if I could somehow lock it away inside myself, protect it from this world of madness, then maybe I could remain… me. But the pain… the torture... continued.

The door opened

Humming a merry tune to herself, the mare trotted in happily. “I have a special treat for you, Captain!” she cooed. “Look! I had it specially made for you too, and it’s even got your name embroidered on it. Beautiful, no?” She floated the saddle and reins in front of my muzzle, a beaming smile spread across her flawless features. Wearily I looked up, trying to force my dry eyes to focus on the object of the mare’s delight. It was indeed a saddle, expertly crafted in purple and white velvet with neat silver trim around the edges. A small ship’s wheel was embroidered into each of the corners and, sure enough, on the harness was the name ‘Captain’ in a swirling, old world script. I could have laughed out loud at such a crazed notion as this once. Once upon a time… I smiled bitterly to myself, but there was no humour left in me now. Now I was a husk, an empty vessel of utter nothingness. Everything I was, everything I had ever been, was no more - no joy, no sadness, no fear, nor even hope remained within the shell that once been a proud stallion of the Equestrian watch. Only emptiness lived here now. I stared at the script. Captain. Not a title, not a rank, it was just… who I was. That was my name now. ‘Captain’.

The mistress walked over to me. “Come on, I want you to try it on!” She lifted my head and looked into my eyes. “You poor love, you’ve really been through it haven’t you? Are you thirsty?”

My resolve quavered, my body screaming for relief. “Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

I tried to clear my throat. “Yes... Mistress.”

“Good boy!” She clopped her hooves together in delight, then trotted over to the table where she collected the glass of water. “And good boys,” she smiled, “get rewarded.” The mistress moved closer, tilting my head up. “Open your mouth now.” I did as she commanded and she tipped some of the liquid in. At first I choked; my mouth was so dry I could barely swallow. The mistress clucked her tongue and shook that beautiful golden mane. “No. That won’t do, that won’t do at all! Here…” She took a mouthful of the water, lifted her mouth to mine, and slowly began to dribble the water into me. Goddess forgive me, I let her too. I was starving, beaten, and broken, my body crying out for water, even just the tiniest sip. I opened my mouth and she leaned in, the water slowly entering mine, slipping over my teeth and tongue. It was like the gift of the gods themselves, bringing life where once there had only been barren desert. And along with that most magical of sensation came another tantalising taste… the taste of a mare. The mistress stroked my chest slowly, smelling my coat and reached up, whispering in my ear, “Do you want more?”

My body was on fire, demanding more of the cooling fluid. “Yes…”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

She leaned closer still. “Ask me again.”

“Mistress,” I pleaded. “Please… water...”

“Good boy. Very good boy.” The mistress lifted the glass. “Good boys get rewards.” She lifted my muzzle and gave me another mouthful of the amazing drink. It was good. It was so good! I could feel life filling me again, drop by insistent drop.

“That’s enough for today I think.”

My eyes opened wide. She was going already? But she’d only just got here!

She gave me a wicked smile. “Don’t worry, Captain, I’ll be back tomorrow, and then you can try on your saddle. If you’re a good boy that is.”

What?! No! She was leaving me! She was going to abandon me again in the cold and dark once more. I couldn’t stand it, I had to have water, I need light… I… I had to have her touch! I needed it… Oh goddesses, what was happening to me? WHAT?! “Meadow, Tingles, Shadow,” I murmured. “Forgive me… I love you so much, I want… I want to go home…” For the first time in I don’t know how long, I felt tears well in my eyes, pouring down my cheeks. “I want to go home…”

I was a foal again, lost in the crowd at the local supermarket, calling for her, needing her to be there. The place was so big, full of giants walking around me and tutting at me to keep out of their way. The shelves seemed to go up to the sky, the aisles to the very horizon. I was so scared! I wanted my mum, I wanted to go home! In a panic I ran up one aisle and down the next, but I didn’t recognise any of the ponies there. There were no familiar smiling faces, nor any help to be offered for the little grey unicorn foal. I fell against a pile of cereal boxes, stumbling over the colour packages as disapproved adults glowered down at me.

One foal in a trolley rumbled past, pushed by his mother. “Look mummy!” he cried, pointing down at me.

“Come away, Lime, don’t stare, it’ll follow us.” The mother walked on, barely sparing me a second glance.

I’d been reduced to an object. An ‘it’. The world was quickly becoming a terrifying and cold place, freezing me out from my familiar warmth of a mothers love. I looked around frantically for help, calling for her. “Mummy! Mummy!” But no answer came. Colours, shapes and bright lights pressed in on me, forcing me into a tight ball of trembling grey fur, too frightened to even open my eyes.

“There you are! Where did you wander off to, Silly? Don’t you ever do that again!” The familiar voice of my mother snapped me out of the black hole I was falling ever deeper into. She was here! Oh, thank Celestia! I smiled up at her through a haze of tears. Big azure eyes in a face of the purest snowy white gazed back at me with such love, such boundless tenderness, that it made my heart sing once more. Mum had always had such a gorgeous golden mane and tail she stood out from the crowd like a goddess of old. The other mares were jealous of how good she looked, and the foals were envious of me for have such a wonderful mother! “Come on you!” she chuckled. “Up you come.” Mum picked me up in her magic and plopped me onto her back where I rode along like a king, smirking at the other foals. My mum truly was the best pony in the whole of Equestria, and I was her best foal too!

“I love you, mum,” I said in my squeaky voice.

“I love you too, Captain.”

Freezing water hit my body, washing away the sweat and waste produced by bodily functions I no longer had any control over. The shock of it brought me round, though not as much as the male who was roughly towelling me off afterwards. He never spoke, never made eye contact either. It wouldn’t have mattered if he had anyway, all my attention was fixed on the door behind him… waiting for her.

“Good morning, Captain!” she chirped, trotting in and looking me over with a critical eye. “Hmm, you’re too thin by half. I think we need to put a little weight on those bones, don’t you?”

I closed my eyes and tried a weak nod. “Yes, Mistress.”

She clopped her hooves together. “Excellent, Captain! You’re making your mistress very happy lately, and when I’m happy, you get rewards.” My heart beat faster in anticipation. She had something for me? “Today, I’m going to… aw, wait and see!” She trotted back over to the door and knocked, speaking to the male beyond it who entered, following her to my side.

“Are you sure, Mistress?” he asked her. “He could still be-”

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. The alabaster unicorn span in an eye watering blur of speed, the crop slashing across his face. “How DARE you question me! I know my horses better than anyone, and certainly a lot more than some mangy, worthless worm like YOU!”

The stallion was all but crying now, prostrating himself before her. “I’m sorry, Mistress! Please, please forgive me… please!” He was a gibbering wreck of a pony, gasping and sobbing before the tall white unicorn.

The mare picked up her crop and pushed it under his chin, tilting his head up. “I know, Pickles, I know. It’s alright now…shhhhh, just do as I say and you’ll get a treat too. If you’re a good boy. Are you a good boy?”

“Yes, Mistress!”

I hated Pickles. By the gods, I hated him! How dare he upset the mistress?! I glared at him furiously, straining against my chains. If he so much as touched her, I’d-

The mistress watched me with a bemused look in her eye and tapped me on the nose with her hoof. “Now, now, I won’t have any of that, my stallion. All the boys in my stable must behave themselves, and you’re no exception. Mind you…” She frowned slightly, raising an eyebrow towards me. “It depends on just how ‘good’ you are.” The mistress smiled, a smile that made my loins burn and my heart ache/ “You are a ‘good boy’ aren’t you, Captain?”

“Yes, Mistress!” I replied excitedly. Oh thank the gods! Thank them one and all! She was pleased with me!

The tall mare nodded to the male who disappeared off into the darkness, and after some clanking and metallic creaking noises, I suddenly dropped bodily to the floor. The shock and pain made me cry out horribly. Muscles, skin, tendons and bones, long held in that unnatural position, burned like fire when I hit the ground. The mistress walked over to my crumpled form, picking my muzzle up in her hooves.

“Oh, Captain!” she cooed. “My dear, dear Captain… What have they done to you? Please don’t worry, it’s alright now, I’m here for you, I’ll protect you. Nopony will hurt you while I’m here...” She stroked my untidy mane, taking my muzzle to her soft chest. “Shhh… quiet now my stallion, mummy’s here for you. You’re safe now…”

I felt tears of joy burning in my eyes. I was safe, safe at last, the mistress would make all the pain go away as though it had simply never been. I was so happy I didn’t know what to say or do, but it didn’t matter so long as I could see the smile on her face. As I lay there the chains were re-adjusted. I was still secured of course, stallions were wild and unpredictable creatures after all, but at least now I had enough room to stand on all fours and would be able move a little - if only I could get off the floor first. Panting with the effort, using as much willpower as I could muster, I was able to force my legs to move, albeit not much more than an uncoordinated tremble. As poor a condition as I was in right then, they were nowhere near strong enough to support my already painfully depleted weight. Days, if not weeks of hanging from the ceiling had caused damage that was preventing me from reaching the mistress as I should, and worse, preventing me from making her happy. I was so angry with myself! I tried to rise to my hooves once again, struggled... and fell. She reached out and stopped me.

“Don’t struggle now,” the mistress murmured kindly, “it’s alright, you’ll get your strength back soon enough. Here…”

She waved a hoof and one of the males brought over a sack which he carried in on his back. It was a long open ended bag of sorts, with straps which the mistress took from him and placed over my head, tying it off behind my ears. Immediately a sweet, yet malty smell hit me from the depths of the bag… food? FOOD! I stretched out my tongue and tasted it… it was food, and good too! I looked up to her, unsure of what she wanted me to do.

The mistress nodded, her bright smile as warm as the touch of the sun on a summer’s day. “It’s alright, Captain, go ahead. I made it just for you… it’s mummy’s secret recipe.”

Not wasting another moment, I took a mouthful of the mixture. The taste hit me so hard I could scarce believe it… But, dear gods, the taste! Nothing should taste this good! How was this even possible?! One after another, mouthful after mouthful, I attacked the crunchy, sweet goodness, greedily taking it all in. Tears streamed down my face as I ate, filling the emptiness in both my stomach and my soul. It was so good! So, so good…

Afterwards, the mistress removed the nose bag and walked around me before shaking her head in disappointment. “It’s no good,” she sighed, running her hoof over my bony hide, “your muscle tone’s lacking and your coat and mane are an absolute mess.”

A mess? No! I was distraught. “I’m sorry, Mistress!” I cried desperately. “Please… forgive me. Please...” How could I be a disappointment for her now, after everything she’d done for me? She’d given me this wonderful gift, and yet here I was looking like this, this stinking, reeking bag of bones. How could I be so selfish? How could I be so… so ungrateful?

She tapped the riding crop against her side in thought. “You need a bath, Captain. And tomorrow… well, we’ll see.” The mistress smiled. “Do you miss me when I’m not here?”

“Yes!” I nearly shouted. How could she think I didn’t? The mistress was everything to me. Everything!

She smiled and ran her hoof down my spine, sending shivers along it despite my pains. “Until tomorrow then… my Captain”

The door banged shut with a terrible finality. I so desperately wanted to go after her, to be by her side. To see her smile was all I desired in this dark world. To gaze into those azure eyes, so big and bright, was like looking upon the very aspect of heaven! And yet, I couldn’t disappoint her. Not now. But what could I do? Yes… Yes, that was it! I lay back on the cold hard floor, trying to get my legs to work, forcing my muscles to function. I squeezed my eye shut against the pain, as muscles unused to working protested at what I was trying to make them do. But I didn’t care, I had to do this! I worked on one leg at a time: stretching, flexing, stretching again. It was difficult though, so, so difficult. I began to sweat profusely with the effort, nothing seemed to be working the way it should, but I had to do it. Tomorrow she’d be back, and I had to better. I had to be! Oh, if only tomorrow would come sooner. Huffing to myself, I focussed my mind on the task at hoof. Somehow, I would make this work. Hours, maybe days passed before the mistress returned. By then I was thirsty, hungry, and every second she’d been away had been like an eternity of suffering. If there was a hell, then being without the wondrous presence of the white unicorn mare was surely it. The door stayed open as she walked in, the two males following close behind carrying a large porcelain bath tub which they placed next to me. Soon after they began bringing in buckets of hot water, bottles of heavily scented oils, soaps, and towels. I couldn’t believe it… was this all for me? I had to show what I had achieved, as pathetic and small as it was. And so, slowly, stiffly, I pulled my hind legs under my body, stretching my forelegs out before me. Closing my eyes, I began to rock. Back and forth, back and forth I went, until with a grunt and a heave, I was able to shove myself up and off the concrete floor. I stumbled a little, but at last, at long last, I was able to stand on my own hooves. I could show her, that most incredible goddess of the light, how hard I had worked for her. The mistress stood there quietly, smiled at me as I did my best to keep my balance. My knees went weak at here mere gaze, but I managed to remain standing as a respectful stallion should. Would she be happy with me?

The mare tapped my neck with the crop, tilting her head on one side as she inspected me. “You’ve done well… I didn’t think you’d be able to stand so soon.” She let out a faint sigh. “Oh, Captain… they’ve been so cruel to you, but don’t worry, mummy’s here to make you all better.”

Her horn glowed and the locks on my chains popped off. The sudden release made me gasp as blood flowed back around the areas the tight fitting shackles had held. The other two males remained in the room with us though, watching me closely, but I didn’t care. My mistress was here, and her happiness was all that mattered. At her instruction I climbed into the bath and sank into the hot water. The heat and steam seemed to melt the pain away, and I could feel myself becoming more… ‘pony’ again - clean and... alive. The mistress’s delicate hooves picked up the sponge and she began working the lather into my coat, scrubbing at my mane, combing through the tangles, wiping and rubbing. It was the most unbelievable, and decidedly heavenly experience I could have ever had imagined. Her hooves were the touch of an angel, her eyes, looking so deeply into mine… I wanted to be with her forever - that beautiful, precious unicorn. The mistress smiled at me in that motherly way of hers, washing and lathering, washing and lathering… it was heaven, simply heaven! Eventually however, she finished her work, instructing me to stand as the males brought over more buckets which were used to rinse me off. I had to chuckle at their jealous gazes; the mistress was paying attention to me, not them, me! I smirked at them, and one of them glared back at me. He knew, he knew I was the best pony here. Soon, with all the soap washed away, a hot air blower was brought in and switched on. Towelled down and standing on my own hooves, the mistress began to turn me with firm prods of her hooves, brushing and curry-combing me until I was to her satisfaction.

She nodded her approval and stood back, admiring her work. “Good. Not excellent, but good. I think we need to do something about your eyes however. The colouring and the cutie mark too. Then… then you’ll be absolutely perfect.” I nearly hopped in anticipation. ‘Perfect’? Yes! She said perfect! Mistress suddenly clopped her hooves together in excitement. “I nearly forgot! Your present!” She wandered over to the table and picked up the saddle and reigns which she checked over and brought to me. “Have you ever worn a saddle, Captain?”

I blinked in surprise. “I… I don’t know mistress,” I answered honestly.

She shook her flowing mane. “No matter,” she shrugged, “there’s a first time for everything as they say.”

The saddle floated over to me and landed gently on my back, but just then, right at the moment she looked the happiest, my world crashed in around me. The unexpected sensation making me buck slightly in surprise. I couldn’t help it! It was instinctive, a reflex action that I couldn’t control! My heart fell like it was made of lead as I received a disapproving look that made me drop my head and ears flop. “I’m sorry, Mistress,” I whispered piteously. And then… a miracle happened. She smiled.

“Don’t worry, Captain, I’m not upset with you, not at all!” The mistress closed her eyes, tossing her beautiful golden mane. You look so wonderful, I just want you to look your best. You… you do want to look your best… don’t you? For me?” She looked away shyly, unsure.

My heart leaped and my eyes went wide/ “Of course, Mistress!”

“Good,” she said suddenly, turning a beaming smile on me. “Come then, let’s get that settled on you and we’ll have you spick and span in no time.”

I grit my teeth, focussing my mind away from the strange sensation and instead on the one and only thing that mattered now- the mistress. It was from this most glorious of heaven sent creatures that all the good in this world poured fourth as though she were a physical embodiment of their purity amongst the tainted, a manifestation of their divine love for those who were unworthy to even walk in her blessed shadow. She was, in truth, the very wellspring of the gods. Straps and belts in place, halter and tack set and secure, the mistress tapped a hoof in approval.

“Something’s missing,” she muttered. “Ah! Here it is...” She clopped her hooves and opened a bag one of the males brought over. Held in the glow of her magic she withdrew a curious linked metal device that caught the light as it floated before me. It was several inches long, with a ring set in each end and a long leather strap slung between them. Smiling serenely the mistress brought her muzzle close to mine. I could feel my heart rate accelerating already. “This is called a ‘bit’,” she explained. “It’s quite a simple design compared to others really. We call this particular one a ‘snaffle’ bit in my world. This one I have here I’ve brought especially for you though… Captain. Do you like it?”

“I…” I looked at the thing. Something about it was causing alarm in my mind, although why such a thing could be, I had no idea. As I watched it turning slowly, gleaming and glistening like silver in the mistress’s magic, somewhere deep down in the recesses of my tortured brain a voice cried out in warning, yelling out at me in a soundless scream that held no words I could hear. It was like the buzzing of a fly in your ear – irritating certainly, even distracting to a degree, though ultimately unimportant. To my shame I hesitated, my cursed male brain fighting my desire to please her. But the mistress’s eyes… they filled my vision, my heart, and my soul alike. How could I doubt her?

“You… you don’t want my gift?” she whispered, surprised by my delay. Her eyes glistened in the faint light, the beginnings of tears catching at the corners.

I stepped forward eagerly, “No!” I shook my head, trying to dislodge those damnable doubts. “I mean yes! Yes, please, mistress, I want your gift! Please!”

She turned her head back to me and spoke softly. “I though you did, it’s why I brought it for you. And only for you.” I felt like my heart was going to explode as her eyes gazed into mine. “It goes behind your teeth, my stallion,” the mistress breathed. “Here, let me show you… Open your mouth now, nice and wide.”

I did as she ordered and she magicked up the bit into her own mouth. Slowly, bringing her mouth up to mine, using her lips and tongue she pushed the bit into my mouth. The mistress’ tongue brushed against mine nearly making me cry out in pleasure and excitement, her scent and taste washing through me in an exotic wave of sensation far beyond my simple imagining. She positioned the bit in place behind my teeth and withdrew, tossing the reins up and over my head and onto my back. The smiling mare stood back, nodding. She was pleased. She was pleased with me!

“Excellent. You are a good boy, Captain. Did you enjoy your treat?”

“Yes mistress!” I said excitedly. I wanted more, I had to have more! But I couldn’t be impulsive and disobey her - I was a good pony after all.

One of the males brought over a large cushioned blanket. “You’ll sleep on this tonight, my stallion,” the mistress said gently, “and I want you to keep the bit in and the saddle on, understand?”

I nodded eagerly. “Yes, Mistress. Thank you!”

She leaned forward and to my ecstatic delight, nibbled my ear, causing me to nearly pass out in pleasure. “You’re welcome,” she teased. “We’ve got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, Captain, so I want you well rested. Will you dream of me tonight? Please?”

The mistress’s plea made my heart nearly burst. “Yes! Mistress, I will!” I stood erect, my ears pert and my tail straight. I wanted her to see how willing I was, how I would make her so proud of me. She kissed me on the cheek, barely a brush, but it was electrifying.

“Sleep well, my stallion,” she whispered. “Sweet dreams.”

********************

I awoke with the clang of the bolts on the door opening and the mistress trotting in with my breakfast. She was virtually glowing with energy.

“You’ve kept it on!” she cried in delight. “And all night too! Well done, Captain! I’m so proud of you.”

I shuddered with pride, standing tall and straight for her. The saddle had been a little uncomfortable during the night, and the bit made my mouth a bit sore too, but for her… for her I’d do anything, endure anything. Unusually she didn’t bother with the nose bag this time, rather placing the food in a bowl and holding it in her magic whilst I at. The glow from her horn made my nose tingle. It was distracting, but a most wonderful accompaniment that made the simple far more delicious that the sweetest of fruits. After I had finished, the mistress moved around me, brushing my coat and mane, taking out the tangles from my tail. I risked a glimpse at her flank. She had no cutie mark, instead of which she was simply a pure unmarked white… like cake frosting. I like cake frosting. I wanted to-

A tap on the nose stopped those thoughts dead in their tracks. “Naughty! And so early in the morning too,” she chuckled. “You’re quite eager today, Captain, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “Yes, Mistress.”

She laughed, giving me a drink of cool, refreshing water with a hint of something minty in it. I smacked my lips and she smiled, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve given you a little extra for your breakfast today. I need you to be a little... ‘fizzy’. Now then, are you ready to play a game with me?”

A game? Of course I was! “Yes, Mistress.”

The white mare clopped her hooves together. “Good! Then we’ll begin...”

The two males entered, and the chair, table and other accoutrements were swifty taken away. The mistress clopped her hooves and the room was suddenly bathed in a bright blinding light. I took in a sharp breath as the unfamiliar light hit my eyes, making flinch back in surprise, but soon, after a few blinks, I was able to make out the sheer scale of the room we were in. It was... massive. A gigantic square concrete line room, with me at its centre. The white mare trotted over to me, carrying a long rod with a sort of streamer attached to the end. With a glow of magic from her horn, she connected a longer reign to my existing one.

“This is how I train my horses at home, Captain. I don’t think we need to try too hard with you however, so we’ll take things…” Her voice dropped to near pur. “…nice and slow.” My mane bristled in anticipation as the mistress took up the long rein and rod. “Now, I want you to start walking in a circle around me. Not too fast, but not too slow either. I want you to listen to my voice, and only my voice. You understand?”

I nodded. “Yes, Mistress.”

She grinned, then with a bob of her head she clucked her tongue, tapping me with the long rod. Obediently I began to walk. My stiff muscles, unused to such activity, ached like they were on fire, burning and making me stumble a little.

“You’re doing well, Captain, keep going”. I nodded my head and, determined to keep the tempo, kept my eyes forward, concentrating on maintaining the tension on the rein and the rhythmic tap of the rod. I circled her and she turned with me, when a light touch against my hind legs made me kick a little in surprise. She tutted at me, “No bucking now, Captain. Be a good boy.”

I couldn’t disappoint her. “Yes, Mistress.”

Round and round I went, feeling my muscles gradually warming up, the ache starting to leave me little by little. She must have sensed it and clucked her tongue again, giving a firmer tap with the rod and adding a shake of the rein. I picked up my speed to a trot. Round and round, another tap, into a canter now, round and round, round and round. I was enjoying this! I was warming up quickly, my muscles straining, my blood pumping. I felt good! I felt really good!

The mistress laughed happily. “Now, Captain! Let’s see how fast you can really go!”

She wacked me on the rump and I increased speed to a full gallop, lowering my head, racing round and round, faster and faster as my mane and tail flew out behind me. The artificially lit world became a blur, with the focus of it my mistress, watching me with that smile of hers, the one she gave me and me alone. I was her stallion now, not those other males. I was the best pony. Abruptly the mistress pulled on the reins, making a different noise now, but I knew what she wanted. I slowed, bringing down my speed in a gradual decline until she pulled me up to a halt. Walking over to me she eyed my steaming coat, the slight foaming at my muzzle. I watched her respectfully, whilst she checked me over.

“Good,” she nodded to herself, pleased with my progress. “You’re doing well, Captain. Keep this up and I may have another treat for you. Would you like that?”

I nodded eagerly. “Yes, Mistress!”

“Good boy!” She held up something to my mouth and popped it inside. It was... it was… delicious! A sweet fresh minty taste enveloped my taste buds, sending a shockwave of pleasure throughout my entire body. I’d never tasted anything like it. I felt as though I were floating, my body literally alive with boundless energy and excitement beyond the mere physical. “There’s more where that came from,” she laughed. “For now, let’s get you unsaddled and brushed down. There’s much more we need to do yet, my Captain. But one step at a time, yes?”

“Yes, Mistress!”

Days more like today were to come, and I relished them, revelling in every single second I could spend with my wonderful mistress. Sometimes I would stumble of course, but she didn’t mind. She’d simply correct me and we’d carry on. I was determined to please her, and gave her my all. I would do anything to see her smile, all I needed to do was obey her. It was all so, so simple! How come I had never realised this before?

I’d been working hard one day and she’d had me washed down and even had my hooves trimmed and oiled until they shone. I had to admit, I looked fantastic as I admired myself in the mirror she held up for me. Sadly, the mistress was called out on business but returned a little later, smelling faintly of elderberry wine.

“Captain,” she began, “you’re to be… ‘changed’ tomorrow.”

“Changed, Mistress?” I asked. Whatever could she mean?

“Yes.” The white mare walked around me, drawing a hoof across my coat, along my spine, flank and- “Tomorrow,” she said suddenly, “we’ll have to have you looking like a different pony.” What was this? She sounded hurt! She didn’t want this, I could tell!

Alarmed, I asked her, “Does this make you sad, Mistress?”

She looked up at me through those long lashes of hers, pausing in her stroking. “Yes. But you’re still my stallion, Captain. And so, tonight, because you’ve been so good, I’m going to give you a really special treat.”

“Thank you, Mistress!” I replied. A special treat? Now this was something I really couldn’t wait for!

“Yes…” She shook her mane. “Follow me, Captain. Don’t lag behind now.”

I didn’t. Unlike the disgusting creature I had been before she had breathed new life into my rotten carcase, I was fit, clean, and able to obey her every command. I trotted after her, full of vigour and energy. My mistress was going to give me something special, and I couldn’t wait to see what it was! The door opened, and for the first time we left the room. I was almost reluctant at first; what lay beyond here? It was like leaving my world behind and stepping blindly into the unknown, but so long as she was with me, the future held no real terrors. I trusted her. I trusted her completely. We walked down corridor after corridor where strange metal pipes ran along the walls and ceiling, the smell of steam and damp running through the complex despite it appearing to be immaculately clean and well kept. Baskets of items sat here and there awaiting collection or delivery. Rows of large blue bins were lined up along the walls that had something written on them. Whatever it was, I didn’t care. I paid them little heed, my mistress was my only concern now. She turned a corner and I was hot on her heels, still keeping a respectful distance though. Gods above, I was so happy! I didn’t even need reins any more! Eventually she stopped in front of a nondescript wooden door and opened it, beckoning me in after her. Inside, the room was a respectable size, with a scattering of chairs, tables, a bar area, and a large bed with deep red covers. It was all stunningly feminine. The walls were covered with paintings of… ponies? No… not ponies, they were... Saddle Arabians? I wasn’t sure, but there quite like the ones I’d seen before. These were… ‘different’, somehowm and all looked a bit... dull witted?

The mistress saw me looking. “Horses,” she explained casually, “from my world. Not the same as Equestrians of course, Captain. And certainly,” she stroked a hoof through my mane making me gasp, “…not like you.”

I turned to face her, rather impetuously I feared, but she didn’t seem to mind. Her horn glowed and she took a glass of wine from the bar, passing it to me as she took one for herself. I took the glass in my forehooves, balancing instinctively on my hind legs. That was odd… I was very good at holding things in my hooves. I wonder why? The mistress didn’t seem to mind though, and laughed at my puzzled expression before poured some of her wine into her mouth. Carefully, slowly, she moved up to me smiling. Taking my muzzle in her hooves she placed her lips against mine and closed her eyes. Dutifully I opened my mouth to the influx of sweet elderberry wine mixed with her breath, and her tongue. Automatically I reached up and touched her neck, gingerly at first, not wanting to cause offence. After all, my hooves, no matter how polished, weren’t worthy of touching that pristine white coat of my mistress. To my relief she didn’t object as I’d feared, in fact she gave a deliciously soft moan and moved into me instead, nibbling my neck and sending little bursts of excitement through my body. Carefully she began to work her way down, each movement increasingly urgent, nibbling becoming biting, her moans now loud gasps as I stroked, nibbled, and caressed her in return. Suddenly she pushed me away and climbed onto the bed, holding her forelegs out to me in invitation.

“Do you love your mistress, Captain?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yes, Mistress.”

“Show her,” she breathed. “Show her how much you love her.”

Eyes half closed, the mistress drew my muzzle down her body, brushing my mouth gently against her pristine fur inch by wondrous inch until finally, and to my amazement, I was between her haunches. The smell of exposed femininity hit me like a sledgehammer. Before me the mare lay completely exposed, her warmth and fragrance washing over my heightened senses, beckoning me, calling to some primal instinct buried deep inside my very being. Something stirred within me, rumbling quietly, yet insistently. Even so, I wasn’t sure what to do; had I done this before? I stopped my self doubt with a firm huff. It was of no importance, all that mattered was that I had to do something to please my mistress, and so... I let my instincts have full rein. My tongue snaked out, running up and down her, eliciting stifled moans and a little cry of pleasure. I was ecstatic! My mistress was happy with me… so I gave her more. She pulled me further into her as I worked, hind legs gripping me and her forehooves pushing me down. It was a little hard to breath, but all my attention was focussed on satisfying her. I knew for certain now that those other stallions weren’t as good as me. I was the best one here. I was the mistress’s favourite, and I would give her my best performance. Her cries echoing around the room she began to shake, shuddering beneath me once, twice, three times before letting out a cry of passion and then suddenly, she pushed me away from her. Had I done something wrong?

“Mistress?” I asked in concern.

“Oh, Captain,” the mistress smiled, brushing her forehead, “you’re such a good boy. And now… now it’s time for your special treat.”

Another treat? I thought that had been it! I stood there waiting, but she just looked at me. “You don’t know, do you?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, Mistress.” I hung my head, ashamed of myself.

She clucked her tongue and leaned forward on the bed, reaching out to me. “You want to do something with this thing don’t you?”

A surge of emotion and desire ran through me, my whole body burning. Surely she didn’t mean...? I looked at her shyly. “Mistress, I… yes. Yes, I do.”

She nodded. “Good boy. Now, just do what comes naturally, Captain. I’m certain you will be able to perform… perfectly.”

I gave in to my instincts completely. Lost in the passion of our joining, I cared nothing about the world around me. All that mattered, all that held any value to me, was her. It was all about her. I would do as the mistress commanded, giving myself fully to her in every way I could. And more. So much more. To be with such a magnificent being was beyond expectation, and in such an intimate way, was a testament to how much progress I had made. I felt something I hadn’t felt for as long as I could remember – pride. I was proud of myself. Her kindness, her love and her dedicated training, had moulded me into what I was, although that didn’t mean I could become complacent of course. To remain as her prime stallion I had give one hundred percent, every day, and in every possible way that I could. I was all too aware of how those other two would be wallowing in bitterness and jealousy. They would be waiting for me, waiting for even the slightest misstep or failure, to usurp my position. I grit my teeth, channelling my energy in my duty, giving the mistress all I had. I would not let anypony take me from her graces, no matter how hard they tried. It would never happen. Never! I gazed down at her. Below me the mistress’s chest rose and fell in heavy pants, her breathing laboured as our bodies slowly cooled in the still air of the room. She looked up at me with her beautiful eyes; was she… crying?

“Mistress? Have I been bad?” I was suddenly panicked. Had I done something wrong? I’d let my mind wander, letting foolishness distract me from my duty! How could I-

“No…” She shook her head, leaning back against the pillow as she took a deep breath. “You’ve made your mistress very, very happy, Captain.” Carefully, she reached up and brushed a stray hair from her muzzle. “Now, lie next to me and hold me. I want to feel you against me.”

I did as she commanded, and the two of us lay there side by side on the crumpled bed sheets, utterly exhausted. Perhaps a little presumptuous of me, I ran my foreleg over her neck, breathing in the fragrance of her mane as I took in her wondrous perfume. She didn’t object, instead letting me indulge myself to my heart’s content. Closing my eyes I let the delicate scent of lavender caress my senses. It was beyond anything I had ever experienced, although truthfully I couldn’t recall the last time I’d seen a flower, let smelled one. Was lavender a flower? Or was it a herb? I… I wasn’t sure. I had loved gardening once, hadn’t I? Now I couldn’t recall much of anything. When was the last time I had seen the sunrise on summers day, or the tasted the air after a thunderstorm? The mistress shifted beside me, mumbling something faintly. I took a deep breath and push my selfish concerns aside. Lying here, next to my mistress, none of that mattered anyway. Right now such trivialities faded into nothingness; I could live in the moment and revel in this most delicious of scents that drew me as surely as a magnet draws iron. It was so inexplicably wonderful… and yet somehow, vaguely familiar too. My mind began to reel slightly before I was drawn back to myself by a stifled sniffle. My mistress was crying.

Before I could say anything, she whispered, “I’m sorry…” The white unicorn dabbed at her eye with her foreleg. “Don’t pay me any heed, Captain, just… just stay with me tonight… please? I don’t want to be alone.”

Was this still part of my treat? I must have been! “Yes, Mistress,” I said happily. I reached across, holding her in my forelegs and snuggled closer. The smell of wild lavender filled my nostrils once more - feminine and strong. For some reason it felt so right to be here with her, and yet… I don’t know… something was making my heart thump in my chest. I looked up at the ceiling, staring at the magically powered light hanging there. Magic… There was something about… magic, the mistress… A yawn escaped my mouth and I found the intrusive thoughts fading away as sleep quickly took me. Curled up beside me, the mistress looked so beautiful, and also strangely… vulnerable. To my eyes, she looked almost like a lost and frightened foal.

The morning came with little ceremony, other than for the faint buzzing of small brass communicator on the table beside us. With no windows, the only light was from the ever present magical lights on ceiling, filling the room with their pale fluorescence. Beside me the mistress yawned, and groggily reached across to answer the device. I didn’t hear what was said, nor did I attempt to listen in either. Mistress knew best. She always did. Speaking in hushed tones, she nodded quietly to whoever was on the other end before closing the lid with a faint ‘snap’. Still, I noticed how she hung her head a moment before letting out a long, deep sigh. I was concerned for her, although I didn’t wish to appear insolent and dare to ask her what was troubling her. If she wanted to speak to me I would answer then, and only then. Until that time, if indeed it ever came, I would remain quiet and obedient as was my duty. We washed and breakfasted in silence too, without so much as a single word passed between us. The mistress fitted me with my reins and head collar, then lead me out and down the muggy corridor to a small room where two mares and a tall male in a white coat I had never seen before stood waiting for us. None of them smiled when we entered, and I immediately picked up on the hesitation from the mistress.

“Here he is,” she said levelly. “Treat him properly, won’t you?”

“We will, Ma’am,” the male said coldly.

My hackles went up immediately. Whoever this male was he was clearly bothering my mistress, and the look on her face said all I needed to know. I felt my muscles tense, my heart rate increasing. If he was a threat to her, if he so much as-

“I’ve got to leave now, Captain,” the mistress said suddenly, interrupting my chain of thought. “Be a good boy and do what they tell you, yes?”

I was distraught, my heart pounding in my chest. She was leaving me here? I looked up at her, my eyes full of confusion. “Mistress?”

As I watched her, I saw the beginnings of tears starting to well in her eyes. “It’ll all be alright, I promise.” She looked up at the white coated pony. “I’ll be back in an hour as we agreed. If you harm him in any way…”

The sentence went unfinished although the menace in her tone was loud and clear, especially to me. She cared for me, she was concerned about my safety, as I always knew she was. I closed my eyes and nodded to myself. I was in no danger, so long as my beloved mistress were near. I could endure this, whatever it was. I would be with her again soon enough. Whether her words had any effect on the male or not, his stoic expression gave nothing away. He merely nodded, motioning to his assistants as the mistress left in a flurry of gold and white, all but slamming the door shut behind her. The male turned back to me, looking me up and down while his assistants wheeled over trolleys full of a bewildering array of bottles and brushes.

“Right then,” the male began, “Tops, Tails, I want this coat prepped properly before we apply the coating. Don’t miss a spot, otherwise the top coat won’t take. While you’re doing that I’ll get him measured up for the lenses.”

I stood there staring at the door like it would open at any moment and the mistress come back for me. It had only been seconds, and yet I was nearly in tears already. Had I always been such an emotional wreck as this? My mind was in a disjointed haze as the mares wiped me down thoroughly, the acrid stink of chemicals burning my nostrils with every breath. A kind of paper of some sort was placed over my muzzle and stuck in place, my ears plugged, and my eyes duly measured. I had no idea what was going on of course, but true to his word, the stallion didn’t injure me in any way. In fact the only discomfort I felt was a faint tingling sensation across my fur which I put down to the effects of the chemicals. While the mares worked the male brought over two transparent lenses, into which he plopped a couple of drops of some clear liquid.

He spoke to me in his monotone voice. “Hold still. This may feel a little strange, but it won’t hurt. Do you understand?”

I nodded. Holding my head to one side the male held my eye open and promptly dropped in one of the lenses. Sure enough it didn’t hurt at all, however I found myself struggling slightly with the strangeness of the odd sensation. Whatever he’d done to me my eye, it suddenly felt cold and uncomfortable. My vision swam slightly, as though opening it underwater. The process was repeated for the other eye a few moments later. His work complete he stood back, nodding to himself as he inspected me, apparently satisfied with the results.

The male spoke more to himself than to me, “They cover his eyes well. You can barely see the colour underneath at all now.” Looking away, he lifted his head up to address the mares. “How’s the coat coming along?”

“Nearly done, doctor.”

“Excellent.”

The process continued apace until I was finally given a damp wipe over and the ‘doctor’ moved to my flank. “Strange…never seen one like this,” he muttered. “The dye doesn’t seem to affect it much. What about the alteration magic?”

“We tried that first, doctor,” one of the mares replied. “It’s resistant.”

“Resistant?” He shook his head. “Very curious indeed. Unfortunately we can’t burn it off or we could maim him permanently.” The doctor tapped his chin with a hoof before finally announcing, “Shave him.”

“Doctor?”

“Do it.” The male’s voice was clear and authoritative. “Shave the cutie mark off and we’ll apply fake fur. Once we’ve done that, we can spray on a new cutie mark et voilà.”

“Yes, doctor.”

“Good.” He tutted at me, frowning. “We don’t have time to be dallying with this any longer, so it will have to do.”

Despite his apparent frustration he returned to supervising the work that was going on down my flank. I could feel the buzz of the razor and the sting of cold air as my bare skin was exposed. The artificial fur was applied next, and some even to my face for some reason. After all this though, and as unpleasant an experience as it had been, I was intrigued to see what I looked like. I could only hope my mistress would be pleased, but just when I thought we were finished, there was more to come. My mane and tail were worked on next, both of them being clipped a lot shorter than I’d have liked. My mane was normally mid-length, and this made me look like… I wasn’t sure actually, what did I look like? Unfortunately all I could do was stand there whilst the time dragged on and on. Eventually however, and much to my relief, there was a knock at the door. The doctor opened it to a familiar, and decidedly worried looking, white unicorn.

“Mistress!” I said excitedly, looking to see if she approved of my new look.

She didn’t.

“Is… is that him?” she gasped. “My god, he looks completely different!”

“As requested ma’am, we’ve done our best,” the doctor answered simply. “No magic, just cosmetics and ingenuity. He won’t get picked up by any magic detectors now.”

As positive at the doctor sounded, the mistress didn’t look happy at all. Her eyes were pink and puffy from tears and her ears drooped slightly. Why was she so upset? What had they done to me?! I took a step towards her, hoping to receive some approval. “Mistress?”

She shook her head, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Come along, Captain. We need to go and see somebody else next, so let me see those hooves lift neatly now. No slacking!” The mistress was trying to sound upbeat, but her voice was cracking with emotion. As much as I tried to obey her, I was more interested in her and impetuously spoke out of turn.

“Mistress, you seem unhappy,” I offered. “Aren’t you pleased with me? Have I been a bad pony?”

It didn’t do to question the mistress. I knew this, and yet like a fool I still did it. She stopped suddenly, turning to me, her eyes flashing angrily. “Captain! Don’t you dare…! Don’t…” Her voice fell to a murmur. “No… no, you haven’t done anything wrong, Captain, nothing at all.”

I felt a familiar tug as she pulled my reins and clucked her tongue. Like a dutiful pony, I followed my mistress into the lift, along a corridor, and into what appeared to be a rather well lit office. Inside, three ponies stood watching me. One was a dumpy, ginger unicorn mare with a greying black mane and a thin pair of spectacles behind which a pair of slate grey eyes peered out. Beside her, a white earth pony, more cream coloured than my mistress and wearing a wide brimmed red hat and coat. His eyes were a maroon colour which stood out against his pale colouration. His mane and tail, strawberry coloured, were quite long for a male and spilled out from under the brim of his hat. The third occupant of the office was a cloaked and veiled pony - a female judging by the body shape. Yellow legs peeked out from under the hem of her cloak, shod in what appeared to be green jade. I took it all in, every last detail: eyes, hair, colouring… this was... unusual for me wasn’t it? Why was I so interested in these three? I’d never met them, and yet here I was examining every detail. Mind you, if the mistress needed me to be observant, then I needed to be alert to everything around me, even if it was only the appearance of strangers. Besides, the mistress liked me to be alert. Beside me, the mistress shook my reins and I stood still, standing tall and looking straight ahead. I’d show them what a real pony looked like, even if my colour was different now. Actually, not having seen a mirror I still didn’t have much of a clue as to what they’d done to me. My coat was certainly a darker shade from before, that much I could see, but I was still a uniform grey. Bland, I thought to myself bitterly. I’d also noticed my tail had dyed a deep blue, which probably matched my mane. No wonder the mistress didn’t like it! They were two shades which I’d never been overly keen on to say the least.

The short dumpy female spoke first, readjusting her spectacles and staring at me with her mean looking eyes. “Are you sure he’s safe, Annabelle? He’s a killer this one, I can smell death on him from here.”

The male nodded. “I agree, he’s already taken out two of my best stallions and cost me a bloody fortune in repairs to the business. Bringing him here was lunacy, Annie, we should have just had him put to sleep when we had the chance.” He shook his head. “No, I don’t like this at all. A wolf by any other name is still a wolf, even if you change his colour.”

My mistress stomped a hoof in irritation, silencing the dissent in an instant. “I understand your concerns, but if there’s one thing I know, it’s horseflesh.” The three of them quailed visibly at her words as she continued, “This pony is everything you wanted and more. Just look at him. He’s quiet, obedient, and will do anything I ask him, won’t you, Captain?”

I nodded. “Yes, Mistress.”

The cloaked mare took a step forward, the unusual hoof shoes clinking slightly on the hard floor. Her voice sounded off, a strange inflection to her words unlike any accent I’d ever encountered before. “I do not like this plan either,” she said plainly. “He has caused us many problems. Many setbacks. I agree with my stallion friend, he should be… ‘disposed of’, before he becomes a liability.”

The mistress stomped her hoof again before lifting her head to stare down her muzzle at the cloaked mare. To my surprise she bared her teeth too. “And where did that get you exactly?” she asked cuttingly. “Your last cock-hoofed effort nearly unravelled everything, thanks to your lack of planning and careless bungling. The agency have placed magical detectors everywhere now - they’re popping up in every damned town and city in Equestria like a rash. You have the audacity to talk to me about liabilities? They already know something’s going on, can’t you see that?” She flicked her golden mane with a forehoof. “We have one chance at this, one, and the solution is standing here before you. Pass this up and you could be on the scaffold before you know it.”

The three ponies looked to one another nervously, speaking amongst themselves in low voices. I couldn’t make out the words, but I could smell the fear in the air. The older mare stared at me before addressing the mistress. “Bending his will is one thing, Annabelle, making him perform the task at hoof is quite another. How do we know he won’t panic and run, or worse still, break out of his training at the last moment?”

The white unicorn mare shook her mane, the light catching the golden strands and making my heart soar. “He won’t,” she smiled. “I’ve left just enough of him in there to do what needs to be done. But as for loyalty… Let me give you a little demonstration.” Her horn glowed, and out from under her cloak she levitated over to me a wickedly long knife which she held up to my muzzle. “Take the knife, Captain.” I reached out and took the hilt in my mouth. “Kill me.”

What?! I… I didn’t know what to do! I couldn’t disobey her, and I couldn’t hurt her! Not her! I stood there motionless, unable to move. My mind reeled, nearly flooring me as my need to obey warred with my desire to protect.

“What does this prove?” the male asked, watching me. “He won’t stab you, so what? Lots of ponies would refuse to do that.”

The mistress barked out a derisive laugh. “After what we’ve done to him? Are you so sure? If he had his own mind still, Velvet, you’d be a puddle of blood and entrails on the floor already. You’ve seen what he’s capable of.”

The male snorted bitterly. “I have that! He’s cost me a shit load of money that I’ll never see again! Damned near burned down my best establishment and frightened off most of my clientele as he did it too. No, I say again, Annie, get rid of him before this comes back to bite us. Or worse.”

“You really think so?” she asked.

The male nodded. “I do”

“Captain?”

I stood up straight, relieved to be free of the conflicting dilemma of her last command. “Yes, Mistress?”

“Kill him.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

I advanced on the male, keeping low and ready to manoeuvre against any counter attack or defence. Mistress had ordered, and I obeyed. He was a bad pony and I would remove him from her sight. All it would take would be a single thrust, up into the chest and into the the heart. I shifted my weight, hefting the blade… The male saw what was coming and shrieked in fright as he backed up against the wall, fumbling for something from under his coat.

“ANNIE!” The ginger mare shouted. “For Celestia’s sake, stop this!”

The mistress smiled slyly. “What makes you think I can? He’s a liability remember?”

There was a crash of furniture as the male tripped over a chair in his desperation to escape. “Annie! Please!”

“Captain. Stop.” The mistress clopped her forehooves together. “Come back here and give me the knife.” Obediently I backed away from the male and immediately gave the mistress the knife which she levitated from me. “Do you have any doubts still, Velvet?”

Apparently he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to answer. “Damn it, Annie!” he gasped, his legs still trembling. “I just bucking pissed myself!”

True enough, a wet patch was pooling around the male’s hooves, making the others step hurriedly away from him with looks of disgust. The mistress laughed out loud, turning to the ginger coated mare in triumph. “Convinced, Palm? Or do you have a better plan?”

The mare nodded and levitated over a file. “All you need is in here, Annabelle. We will leave the rest to you. Once the task is complete, our ‘friends’ will take care of the rest and the promise will finally be fulfilled.”

My mistress smiled. “Good. When all this is over, I shall hold you to your word.”

The one name Palm nodded. “Of course, you can trust me, Annabelle. We are friends after all, aren’t we?” She smiled, but if anypony ever needed a visual definition of the word ‘insincere’, it was stood before me now.

The mistress simply nodded and smiled back with a grin that held nothing of the warmth she’d shown me. “Friends…”

Back in the mistress’ rooms she took off my head collar and bit before letting me sit beside her once more. She seemed a little sad for some reason. “Mistress?” I asked.

“Hmm?”

I hung my head submissively, hoping she wouldn’t think I was being rude. “Are you sad? Can I do something to make you happy?”

“Can you-?” She looked at me in surprise. “No… No, Captain, I...” She paused then shook her head. “Actually… yes, yes you can. Bring the brush over here and brush my mane.”

“Yes, Mistress!”

Now here was a treat indeed! Happily I trotted over to the dresser and brought the brush back with me, held firmly yet respectfully in my teeth. At my approach she lay down on the rug before the heater, and poured herself a drink whilst I went to work on her luxurious mane. With each stroke the warming heady scent of lavender in her hair made me feel as light as a feather. She was so beautiful, so serene and elegant. Her hair was like a waterfall of molten gold, with barely a knot to be found, and full of the light of the heavens. My heart soared, flying away in the joyful certainty that I was doing my duty.

“Captain,” she began, “I have a job for you. It’s difficult, and dangerous too, but I know you can do it. I believe in you.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. She believed in me! “Thank you, Mistress,” I said around the brush.

“Yes…” She sighed. “Captain, I know you can do this, but I need to know, will you do what I ask? Even if you don’t want to do it?”

Don’t want to do it? Why in Equestria would she think I wouldn’t?! I paused in my work, nodding my head so she could see my resolve. “Of course, Mistress.”

“‘Of course’,” she murmured, looking away for a moment before looking back over her shoulder at me. “Captain, I want you to kill somepony. They’er a bad pony… very bad. Will you do it? For me?”

She didn’t need to ask. “Yes, Mistress”

“Good boy, Captain. You’re a very good boy.”

The mistress took the brush from me and passed me some photographs she had beside the bed. “This is who you are going to ‘put down’, Captain. And this…” she tapped a hoof on another picture, “…this building is where she lives”.

I looked at the photograph of a mare who, to my astonishment, looked very much like a winged version of the mistress, but with a rainbow coloured mane and tail. A cutie mark of a sunburst was prominent on her flank too. She was undeniably beautiful, elegant in a way that only the finest breeding can achieve, and even in a photograph, she exuded a nobility of bearing that was quite breathtaking. As I looked at the mare in the picture, something inside me stirred unexpectedly. For some reason, a reason I couldn’t quite understand, I felt a cold anger towards this creature, something deeper and more bitter than I’d ever felt before. This strength of emotion surprised me. Whatever this was about, regardless of who she was, the mistress had ordered me to kill her, and kill her I would. I’d noticed my mistress was saddened of late; whatever this mare had done to her, she had to be removed before she could hurt her any more. Nopony hurt the mistress. As long as I lived, nopony ever would.

“We’ll talk more in the morning,” the mistress said quietly. “There’s maps to study, along with times and schedules you’ll need to memorise. The carriage will be here to take you to your target when you’re ready, and then you’ll be on your own until the task it done.”

“My own, Mistress?” I asked.

“Yes.” She looked away, wiping her face with a foreleg. “But, I want you to come home again, Captain.” The mistress turned to me, her lip quivering and her eyes shining. “Come home… please?”

“Of course, mistress,” I replied softly. “I will come home.”

She leaned over and put her forelegs around me, hugged me to her chest. She was trembling, her whole body shaking with emotion as tears leaked from her eyes and soaked into my coat. I didn’t know what to say, so instead I sat there and stroked her mane as gently as I could. She like me stroking her mane. No matter what the future may hold, she was my mistress and I her stallion. For her I would enter the jaws of death itself if she so ordered. This other mare was a bad pony, she was making my mistress cry, and for that alone… she had to die. I spent the next day studying maps and photographs of places, ponies, and the target’s schedules. Somepony had provided my mistress with a lot of information on the palace, and my target, the pony called ‘Celestia’. I didn’t know who she was, but I knew the anger inside me responded everytime I saw her picture. As peculiar as it was, it felt strangely calming, almost like an old friend. It made me feel strong, confident, and powerful enough to be able to bring down the entire world if I so desired. And all of this, everything I would do and had learned, was for my beloved mistress. That evening a strange pony appeared who was covered in a cloak and veil like the jade shoe wearing one, only this one was male. He spoke with a disturbing clicking and hissing sound, and was a lot smaller than the other ponies I’d seen so far. The mistress looked at the visitor with distaste, clearly unhappy with his presence.

“He’s not ready yet,” she announced. “He needs at least another day or two.”

“There isss no time, pony”, the cloaked figure rattled. “The wedding isss sssooon”

The mistress snorted angrily. “I don’t give a damn! If he’s not ready, he’s not ready! I am the mistress here, and my decision is final.”

“My missstresss will not wait any longerrr,” the stallion said, a slight buzzing noise coming from under his cloak.

The white unicorn looked back at me and gave me a strange look, one I hadn’t seen before. What did it mean? “Fine!” she snapped back at the figure. “Give me two days.”

“Onnnne dayyyy.”

“Damn you, fine. One day. Tell your mistress we’ll have him in place in one day.”

The male nodded and backed out of the room, a green glow from beneath his cloak enveloping the door and pulling it shut as he left.

The mistress turned to me and surprised me by giving me a tight hug. “Are you ready, Captain? You’ve got a big day ahead of you. Can you do it?”

“Yes, Mistress,” I smiled. “I can do it.”

“Good boy.” There was something in her tone of voice that gave me pause. She was definitely far from her normal self today. She was usually such a self confident and supremely self assured mare who I’d rarely noticed have any doubts or uncertainties. It was… unsettling. The mistress trotted over to the book shelf and retrieved a bottle of wine and a glass, pouring herself a large measure before downing it in one gulp. Suddenly she spat angrily. “Fuck them! Those vile fucking damned… THINGS!” Tossing her mane she stamped around the room, whirling around in a rising fury. “I’d wipe them off the face of this cursed shit hole of a planet if I had my way. I don’t trust them, not at all! What the bloody hell was that dumb bitch playing at when she agreed to use them?! Christ all fucking mighty!”

“Mistress, is there something I can do?” I didn’t know who she was talking about, but she was angry and upset to a degree I had never seen before. That was the issue at hoof now, and my sole focus.

The alabaster mare shook her flowing golden mane and threw herself onto the bed. “Yes, there is something you can do… get up here, now!”

I trotted up to the bed as she levitated over the riding crop. “Take it,” she said angrily.

Instinctively I flinched away from the thing and she angrily thrust the handle into my mouth. “I said ‘take it’!”

I stood there waiting for her to instruct me, when she unexpectedly placed her front half across the bed and presented her rear to me. I wasn’t certain about what she wanted, but surely she didn’t-

“Hit me…” she whispered.

“Mistress?”

“Don’t damned well question me, Captain! Hold it in your hooves and hit me as hard as you can. DO IT!”

I spat the crop into my forehooves and stood on my hind legs. I didn’t like this position, but I could certainly get a better swing at her. But… But why? I didn’t want to do this! To hurt my mistress? No! My mind reeled, my brain screaming at me to stop, but I had to follow orders. What should I do?!

“Captain,” she breathed, “your mistress wants you to do this. You won’t hurt me I promise, you’ll be making me happy. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

She closed her eyes. “Now… please…”

I dutifully obeyed and brought the crop across her pristine white backside with a sharp ‘thwack’. Immediately she shrieked and shoved her head into the quilt. “Again!” she cried. “Don’t stop until I say!”

I brought the crop around again, this time across the other buttock making her whimper and bite down on the bed covers, her eyes shut tight. Despite her quivering and moaning, she didn’t order me to stop what I was doing, and so, obediently, I continued. Swing after swing, with the noise filling the room, red stripes began to appear across the pure white of her coat. This was what she wanted, yet it hurt me to do it even so. To mark that beautiful creature’s coat… This was so wrong. So, very, very wrong!

“Harder!” she commanded, staring straight ahead. Drool poured from the corner of her mouth, dripping onto the bed. “God damn it, Captain, harder!” I obeyed, putting my full strength into the swing, and with a resounding ‘crack’, brought the crop across her behind. The mistress shrieked, spittle flying across the bed as her knees began to shake. “Yes! Again!” Once more the crop slashed down, creating a streak of red across her that made her cry out. Again and again I swung, my muscles beginning to ache with effort and my heart pounding fit to burst until, finally, her knees gave way and she sank to the floor in a sweating, crying and drool covered heap. The white mare gave me a look which melted my heart. “You’re a good pony, Captain… so good...”

I trotted over to the cupboard where she kept her first aid and began to moisten a flannel with warm water to apply to her injuries. Without instruction I went to work, gently cleaning her up the best I could and applying a healing lotion to the angry red welts. I could feel my eyes sting as tears started to form. How could I have hurt her like this? My heart felt like it was breaking.

The mistress looked back at me, taking a mouthful of wine straight from the bottle. “That’s enough, Captain. You’ve been a very good pony. And now… now its time for your treat.” A treat? After I’d done that to her? I helped her to her hooves, the white unicorn’s knees still trembling slightly. Gingerly she returned to the bed and lay across it as she had before. “Mount me.”

It took a moment for me to realise what she wanted, but I did as she asked and pulled myself onto her. She gasped in shock as my underside rubbed up against her fresh wounds. The gods know I tried to be gentle, but I could sense the pain she felt as we made love. She didn’t tell me to stop though, instead she just lay there, whimpering and groaning, pushing herself back up to me meet, until at last, it was over. The mistress lay on the bed, panting and crying, drool and snot covering her muzzle, a damp patch visible on the covers where she’d been biting them. She was utterly exhausted. I helped her up onto the bed properly and she lay there whilst I pulled the covers over her tired body. I turned to face the rug. I would sleep there tonight so I could let her rest.

“No…” Her voice called to me, gently stopping me. “Sleep with me tonight, Captain.”

Obediently I climbed up next to her and, careful of her wounds, snuggled under the covers. “Hold me,” she murmured, looking back at me with a large azure eye. “Please.”

I nodded and wrapped my legs around her protectively. “Yes, Mistress.”

She smiled. “Do you love your mistress, Captain?”

“Yes, Mistress,” I whispered into her ear. “I love you.”

Chapter Three - Assassin

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CHAPTER THREE

ASSASSIN

I awoke earlier than usual, taking the time to have a good yawn and stretch my legs before trotting over to the table and arranging some breakfast for us both whilst the mistress dozed, still ensconced within the crumpled covers. Slipping over to the kitchen area I was careful to be as quiet as possible so that I didn’t disturb her. Waking up to an already prepared breakfast would be a small offering for such a kindly mare of course, but hopefully would be well received. After all, it was the least I could do for her. Rolling the stiffness from my hips and shoulders, carefully, I began my search. The kitchen proved to quite well stocked, yielding a good, if fairly plain selection of ingredients. I found a packet of oat crumbles in the cupboard which would go perfectly with a splash of cold mild. Several apples came next. Coring them without magic was no easy task, although I think I managed well enough. I picked up the box of oat crumbles, giving the box a shake to loosen the contents. Boy, did they smell good too! Instinctively I tried to use my magic to levitate one from the packet, but of course, there was nothing there, was there. With a sigh I tipped them into the bowls with my hooves, nearly losing my grip on the slippery box as I did so. Thankfully, I managed to catch it before I ended up with the whole lot on the floor. Now that would have got me in trouble! Breathing a sigh of relief I put the pack back on the counter. The colourful image of a young family sat around a dining table, no doubt enjoying a ‘wholesome start to the day’, as the packet claimed, stared back at me. The green mare, presumably the mother of the group, was wearing an apron which… I frowned, staring at the picture. She looked strangely familiar. Did I know her? Ha! Of course not, in any event, it was only a painted picture, not an actual photograph. The artist had clearly intended it be a depiction of the stereotypical family unit – mother, father, two point four foals. I huffed, flipping over the box. ‘Eat as part of a balanced diet,’ the information claimed. ‘Full of flavour!’ I smiled. I suppose they were really. Deftly I popped one in my mouth, savouring the deliciously sweet taste. Almonds, sultanas, brown sugar… all the major food groups a fellow could ask for were there. I chuckled to myself, “Full of goodness, full of flavour, bring the taste for you to savour.” Such a simple ditty, and in reality no more than a silly advertisement for a commonly available box of cereal. The tune got stuck in your head like a splinter though, staying there long after you’d thought it had gone forever. Knowing my luck I’d probably carry the blasted thing to my grave. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught my reflection in the mirror. The long white sheet covering it must have fallen off during the night, allowing me an unimpeded view of the stranger looking back at me. I lifted a hoof to my face and stared at myself in amazement. Was that… me? Dear gods, it must be, and yet… I looked so different! It was a new me, a different me. Checking myself over I couldn’t believe the change. My tail and mane were that two tone blue as I knew, but my coat… it was now a dark uniform grey, almost black. My scar too had disappeared, cover in the artificial fur blending it in seamlessly. Slightly alarmingly, my cutie mark was gone, replaced with a pair of cherries. Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean, I had no idea. Perhaps I worked on fruit machines? Strangest of all however, were my eyes. The bronze colour was quite interesting I suppose, but I looked somehow… nondescript. Was that the right word? I may not have been born with the most exciting of colourations, but I liked how I looked normally, and clearly the mistress did too. I lifted up the sheet and threw it over the mirror. I didn’t like this new me. Hopefully it was only temporary and I’d be able to return to the real me when my task was complete – however long that may take.

A voice murmured behind me. “Captain?”

I turned to the mistress whose golden mane had stuck to her face during the night and bobbed my head respectfully. “Good morning, Mistress.” Walking over to her, I brushed away the stray strands of gold with a smile. “Your breakfast is ready.”

“Breakfast?” She looked confused. “Oh… right...” Carefully, the white mare eased herself from the covers and walked over to the wash stand. “Bless the morning...” she mumbled under her breath.

We washed, brushed up, and ate breakfast in silence. The mistress was unusually quiet this morning for some reason. Her normally vibrant eyes looked dull, her mane hanging limp and lifeless. Was she feeling poorly? I didn’t like this. Whatever was going on was weighing on her heavily and I wanted to do something to cheer her up. Any thoughts of how to do that exactly were immediately derailed when a knock on the door caught our attention. Immediately the mistress’s ears pricked up and she walked over to it, opening it to the waiting visitor. Outside, a cloaked and veiled figure waited.

“My mistresss hasss ordered me to collect the pony,” it hissed.

The white unicorn looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes suddenly wide. My heart leaped in my chest at her reaction, but before I could say anything, with a shake of her mane, the mistress walked over to me and whispered in my ear, “Captain, are you ready?”

Ready? Was it time for the mission already? I had studied everything I’d been given and had memorised as much of it as I could. Besides, the sooner I completed my task the sooner I would be able to return. I bowed my head. “Yes, Mistress.” I smiled, showing my eagerness, but then… to my surprise…

“I… I don’t want you to go…”

What?! I stood up straight, looking from her to the cloaked figure, then back again. What did she mean? I thought she wanted me to do this? “Mistress?” I asked in confusion.

Suddenly she lunged at me, hugging me tightly to her chest, then stepped back, rubbing a tear away from her eye. “Just… just do what you have to do and come back.” She tried a shaky smile. “Make sure you come back, yes?”

I bobbed my head. “Yes, Mistress, I’ll be back. I promise.”

The mistress addressed the cloaked pony, her voice lowering to menacing rumble. “If anything happens to him…” The pony however, said nothing. It just stood there in silence with the occasional buzzing noise emanating from its back. The beautiful white unicorn spanked me on the flank making me jump. “Go on then, Captain. Be a good boy… Get going!”

Obediently I trotted out after the pony who was already setting off down the corridor. Behind me, the sound of something soft hitting the floor and a stifled sobbing followed me out as the door closed with a heavy finality. Part of me wanted to go back, to make sure she was alright, but I had my orders. It didn’t do to question orders, nor disobey them. Disobedience was punished. Being a good pony brought treats. And I did so enjoy treats. I followed the mysterious pony down several darkened corridors that were lit only with the occasional strip light, until we eventually reached a set of steel doors that my odd companion opened without warning. Light flooded in, filling my eyes and the corridor around me with blindingly bright sunshine. High above me the sky was the purest of blues, the air fresh, fragrant, and without the hiss of steam nor the sound of metal against metal. Having been locked up for as long as I could remember, surrounded by concrete walls and artificial magical light, I stopped dead in shock. My legs locked up solid as fear began to snake itself around my heart. It was all so… so open! Two large ponies, the ones I remembered that had helped the mistress before I had taken their place as her favourite, walked out from behind a large carriage parked several yards away. Without any ceremony, let alone any care for my situation, they grabbed me and hauled me out. My mouth hung open in horror. There was no ceiling! No walls, no doors, no… no nothing! What was going on? I was scared, or to be more specific, absolutely terrified out of my wits. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t! If I turned round now and headed back to the mistress she may forgive me, or at least give me more time. I know I’d promised her I’d do this task, and I would, of course I would, it was just… it was so…

One of the big louts swiped me across the muzzle. “Get a bucking grip will you? The mistress has given you a job, are you going to let her down now?”

Let her down? Would I… Would I do something like that? I stared at him blankly, my mind working feverishly to gather my sensibilities. He stared back at me, obviously expecting an answer. But what answer could I give? He thought I was going to retreat, to run away, and as much as part of me wanted nothing more than to turn tail and run, to betray the mistress was unthinkable. Would I run away? The answer was simple. No! No, by the gods I wouldn’t! I had to pull myself together and be strong, and I was strong, I would do my job and come back. It was simple really when you thought about it. There was nothing to fear at all. She would be waiting for me as she’d promised, and we would be together again, as a stallion and his mistress should be. I shook my mane and stepped forward. I didn’t need to saying anything, the big brown stallion understood perfectly well. Perhaps he’d been in a similar position to myself at some point? Either way, he nodded his begrudging approval and guided me up the ramp into the back of the large windowless carriage. This at least I had expected. As the door closed behind us my heart rate gradually began to return to something approaching normal. Gods, what a relief… Walls, ceiling, a dim light… It was familiar, and best of all hid me from that wide open nothingness beyond the mistress’s domain. The interior of the windowless vehicle was plain, with long storage racks running either side. A small magical light set in the ceiling hi-lighted the subject of my next task: a set of burnished golden armour, a heavy looking helmet, and a wicked looking spear with a razor sharp point that was no doubt just as functional as it was ceremonial. I knew what was expected of me from the documentation I’d been provided with. Times, locations, floor plans… it had all been there, laid out in meticulous detail. I’d read it all, finding myself absorbing it surprisingly quickly too. I put that down to the diligence of the mistress. She had sat with me in her room, helping me go over the information again and again until I could recite it all without hesitation. She had confidence in me. All I needed now was to carry that knowledge with me, and use it to help focus my mind on completing the mission as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The heavy set stallion helped me into the armour whilst the other took station in the driver’s compartment up front. Two sharp raps on the back signalled all was well, and after a rumbling start we lumbered into the air. Almost immediately I felt the wind begin to buffet the large sides of the carriage as we cleared the shelter of the surrounding buildings, the sound of it reminiscent of waves crashing upon the shore. I would love to walk beside the sea once more, to feel the sand beneath my hooves and the wind in my mane. When all of this was over, when I was home again, perhaps the mistress and I could enjoy such simple pleasures together. She was busy, I knew that, but was it wrong to dream? The scuff of hooves on the hard floor pulled me out of my daydream. My companion, his task of outfitting me complete, sat down on a pile of folded blankets and glowered at the plain wall from under his heavy brows. I didn’t bother speaking to him. I knew my mission, and I would carry it out calmly and efficiently without his, or anypony else’s help. Now, it was just a matter of sitting and waiting until we arrived. Closing my eyes I let my body relax as I ran through the plan in my mind again and again until I could recite it perfectly. There was always a chance it could go wrong of course, but if it did, I was to press the device in my pannier and help would come to get me out of there. I doubted I’d need it though. Motivated and driven, I knew already I would succeed. Celestia was a bad pony, she had hurt the mistress and she would have to be punished so the mistress could be happy once more. I hated to see her cry, and I would protect that smile for as long as I drew breath. Beside me the long spear shifted as we began to bank, drawing my eye. I wasn’t particularly familiar with such weapons, although there could be no doubt how dangerous such a thing could be in the hooves of a skilled wielder. The spear’s head was lightly engraved with a swirling floral design, polished until gleamed, and reflected the bronze of my eyes like a mirror. I smiled to myself; it was a good weapon. And yet looking at it now, feeling the weight and balance of the thing… I wasn’t used to spears, was I? Normally I preferred swords, and something else… something curved… what was it again? At the edge of my consciousness I could see it, a vague, shadowy outline of whatever it was. But what was it? Now that I thought about it, had I even used swords before, or was it my imagination playing tricks on me again? The answer, as always, was on the tip of tongue. I shook my mane as a sudden surge of pain engulfed my mind, submerging my train of thought. Taking deep breaths I tried to clear my mind as the mistress had shown me, to focus on nothing but the sowing of the wind outside. And slowly, mercifully, the pain began to subside. Thank you mistress. I leaned back against the wall of the carriage and let out a quiet exhale of heartfelt relief. I couldn’t afford to let this distract men not now. I’d had them before of course – the headaches. If I concentrated on them, or tried to fight them, they could overwhelm me in seconds. Damn it all, why did it happen every time I tried to think about things too much? The mistress had cautioned me about letting my thoughts distract me, trying her hardest to look out for my best interests in everything I did, yet here I was failing her right when she needed me the most. No! I couldn’t let that happen! I had to focus on what mattered. I trusted her. I trusted her implicitly, and yet whenever I let my guard down, even for a moment, my own brain would wander off on a path all its own, and with the inevitable consequences. Was it my magic doing this? I reached up and touched my horn, the ring on it cold and hard against my hoof. I couldn’t use magic of course, my mistress had blocked it to help control the headaches. At that it quite successful to some degree, although exactly how much I wasn’t sure. I sure as hell didn’t want to know what would happen if it wasn’t there. Besides, I didn’t know anything about magic anyway. The mistress was all the magic I needed. Yes, that was it. She was my magic, my guiding light in the darkness, and the centre of everything in this cold, heartless world. I smiled to myself, safe in the knowledge that she was with me. Always with me.

I sat there with my silent companion, letting the world pass by. Something outside however, was changing. We were banking, the sound of the wind changing along with a feeling in my stomach that told me we were descending. Not long afterwards the wheels touched down on the cobbles and the relative peacefulness of flight transformed to the hard rattling rumble of earthbound travel. From outside a cacophony of sounds penetrated the carriage: horns, metallic ringing, and the background buzz of many ponies talking. Wherever we were was a veritable hive of activity, that was for certain. We were slowing now, still moving forward, though virtually inching along until we eventually lurched to a halt. Voices, muffled yet still distinct, penetrated the thin skin of our carriage.

“Papers…” the first voice asked. “State your destination and cargo, sir.”

“Catering supplies for the wedding, officer.” It was our driver. “We’re to deliver to the kitchens.”

“You know where to go?”

“Through the arch and to the left I believe.”

“That’s the one. When you back up to the dock, give one of the porters a shout to come and help you unload. They’re up their hocks in it at the minute though, so you may have to do the lot yourself, okay?”

“No problem.”

Another voice this time, younger sounding. “Scans complete, sir. No anomalies detected.”

“Very well, go on through. Be as quick as you can, we’ve got limited space and deliveries coming in all the time.”

“Will do.”

The carriage lurched forward and we clattered over the cobbled road into, judging by the echoing of hooves and wheels, some sort of enclosed space. A courtyard perhaps? My mind ran over my instructions and the layout of the palace, noting the locations of the kitchens, the service corridors, stairs, and so on. This was it alright. Parked up with all the other delivery carriages, nopony would give us a second glance.

“We’re here.” The stallion who had said nothing throughout the entire flight was suddenly alert. “You know what you have to do, right?”

I nodded. “I do.” Collecting myself, I lifted the spear, adjusted my helmet, and stretched my legs. There was nothing more to said now anyway.

The fellow nodded to me as the rear door latch was lifted and our driver appeared. “We’re clear,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “Move it!”

Checking the area was clear, I jumped down from the carriage and onto the raised dock of the loading bay. The guard had been right, there were delivery carts and carriages packed into the place like sardines. We were just one more, and me? I was just one more guard at the palace. Just beyond the loading bay the metallic crash of trollies merged with the shouted jokes and laughter of the porters who were hauling sacks and boxes from the light of day into the mysterious depths of the palaces interior. And that, was where I was heading. As expected the staff were all in a busy world of their own preparing for the upcoming wedding, and I wasted no time making my way through this industrious hive of activity. It put me in mind of a bee hive, with the queen at the centre, surrounded by her workers and guards. Hopefully though, my disguise would pass muster. Without wasting time I picked my way through the kitchen area, noticing one of the kitchen staff walking through the kitchen towards me carrying a stack of crockery in her magic. She bobbed her head respectfully, then slipped by me into a side room. So far, so good. Up ahead a stallion in a white and gold trimmed tabard was lighting the lamps on the walls. It was dark outside now, but such trivialities meant nothing to the inexorable machinery of this immense place. There was always more work to do: cleaning, preparing meals, washing clothes, welcoming guests… In some respects it was like a miniature city all its own, and like a city, one that never slept.

The other princess would be in control of the night sky now, whilst Celestia rested in her chambers, oblivious to the hard work going on down in the bowels of her home. That said, even if she was she wouldn’t have heard it anyway. Far beyond the cacophony of crockery, pans, and cutlery banging and rattling away, I knew from the plans that I had a good distance to travel before I reached my goal. At the moment the busy clamour of a kitchen in full swing served another unintended purpose – helping to mask me from any curious eyes. I needn’t have been concerned however. The kitchen staff all but ignored me as I passed by, flowing around me like waves passing the prow of a ship as they tended to their bubbling and simmering pots that added their own chorus to the general din. To me though, it was all just background noise. Unerringly I quickly found the door that lead from the kitchen proper into the staff hallway. It was quieter here, though not by much. Maids dashed past me pushing trolleys laden with cleaning equipment, bedding, fresh laundry and the like, whilst a myriad of butlers, porters and other assorted staff slipped through it all with their own equally assorted burdens. These were the plainer parts of the palace, intended not for observation by the many visitors to the majestic marble statue lined arcades and elaborately carved vaulted ceilings that most saw, but rather it acted as its arteries and veins, carrying the very life blood of Canterlot Palace. Through this hidden world I passed as unseen as a breath of wind: unseen, unnoticed, and yet shining as brightly as the sun in my golden armour. I headed for my target, following these plain passageways down one corridor and then the next, taking the back passageways and stairs that showed decades, if not centuries of wear by successive generations of staff who tended their own mistress as surely as I tended mine. This way at least there was less chance of being detected and, hopefully, a quick escape route for me to return to my mistress with the good news of a completed mission.

I kept my head up and ears alert, quickly noting the two guards walking towards me. I nodded to them solemnly and they returned the gesture, passing me by without so much as batting an eyelid. Thus far, the disguise was working perfectly. The next corridor I came to opened out into a much grander hallway of richly coloured tapestries and luxurious carpets. Naturally only the best would do for the royalty of the palace - a palace that was, after all, just as much for show as it was a home. They certainly helped muffle my hoofsteps as I approached the large door to what was, according to my documentation, Celestia’s bedchamber. The pony who had provided me with the map of the vast building had done their job well, of that there was no doubt, but the rest was still up to me. In fact, my first major test was before me now. Two guards stood outside the elaborate door to the princess’s rooms, alert, and well armed. Thankfully I’d been prepared for this, and slipped on the respirator I had inside my pannier before rolling the small canister along the carpet towards them. Simultaneously, I ducked behind a pillar as the silver coloured object came to a rest before the guards’ hooves. One of them glanced down, just in time to catch a whiff of the gas before collapsing to the ground in a heap. The second guard noticed me and took a step forward, opening his mouth to shout something a moment before his eyes rolled up into his head and he too collapsed next to his comrade, motionless. There wasn’t a second to waste. Quickly, I dragged the bodies into the nearby cleaner’s room and shut the door. They wouldn’t wake up for at least an hour, and that was far more than I needed to complete the next part of task anyway. The door itself however, was enormous. Gold inlaid with gorgeous filigree work and a smattering of gemstones tastefully depicted some scene, I presumed, from Equestria’s past. Ponies of all the three races stood a hillside looking up towards the sun shining high above them, whilst on another panel, others slept peacefully beneath a crescent moon that had been picked out in silver. Despite its size however, the monstrous door was perfectly balanced and opened effortlessly to reveal the room beyond. Personally I had expected it to be locked, despite the documentation informing me that this was never done. Was the princess really so trusting? Foolish perhaps? Or was it because she was so confident in her own abilities and power that she believed herself to be beyond the touch of those who would wish her harm? Either way it was to my advantage this night. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and slipped inside. Moonlight shone in through the arched stained glass windows adding a pale light to the dying glow of the fire in the hearth. A pair of comfortable chairs sat before the fireplace, beautifully upholstered in red velvet and plump cushions of the purest white and gold. The mantelpiece held several carved figurines of animals – a cat, a curious looking pony-like creature I had never seen before, a stylised phoenix rising from a nest, and a bowl of pot-pourri. Above this was a large portrait of a dark brown earth pony stallion with a shining black mane, wearing a short blue coat, and a sporting an expression that suggested he was far from pleased about being posed for the artist. Whoever he was, I neither knew nor cared. Before it all was a small occasional table complete with empty wine glass, a wine carafe, and a partially read book upon which sat a pair of spectacles. The whole ensemble added a warm homely feel to the tastefully decorated room. Throughout it all however, the smell of books pervaded the entirety of the room, tickling my nostrils and reminding me of… something… or was that somepony…?

My head suddenly throbbed so hard it was like the damned thing was being rammed into a vise, the agonising sensation of burning lancing through my brain with the subtlety of a mincing machine. Damn it all, I had to concentrate! I must be quick, decisive, and do my job correctly. The mistress was depending on me this night, and more so than ever too. I couldn’t let her down, not when I was so close! My ears twitched, focussing my attention. I could hear what sounded like a body sliding against sheets, and then a soft feminine sigh. It was emanating from the next room. This was it, my time to accomplish the mistress’s task was finally at hoof. Carefully creeping forward, I edged towards the door. The carpet was soft and gave easily beneath my hooves, allowing me to silently enter the bedroom like an avenging ghost. I held my breath. There before me on the bed, not even under the covers, was the princess of the sun, the ruler of Equestria - Celestia herself. I readied my spear. One quick thrust would be all it required, and then the mistress would be happy. I had to see her smile again, to hear her say just how pleased she was with me for being a good pony. But… standing there, my spear held ready, why did I hesitate? Despite the desire to obey and carry of my mistress’s orders, for some infuriating reason part of me held back, silently stopping my movements. What the hell was wrong with me?! I tried to adjust my breathing, to concentrate on the point of aim. One thrust was all. Just one. One! Suddenly pain threatened to overwhelm me once again and I took a deep breath, fighting against it as my muscles tensed, aiming the spear point right at that pristine, elegant white throat. Before me Celestia’s mane rippled in some unseen, unfelt breeze. Rainbow colours, muted somewhat in the moonlight through the window added to the serenity of this majestic creature, and no matter how you thought about it she really did look so much like the mistress the resemblance was uncanny. In fact it would be like killing… It would… No! No, this wasn’t the mistress! This was Celestia, a bad pony, the one who had hurt my mistress, the bitch who had killed my family, who had… Arathea… My son...

The headache smashed through my skull, sending me to my knees and making my stomach retch. Sweat broke out on my face while I squirmed, desperately trying to clear my mind of these accursed thoughts and those damnable memories! I… I just needed to think of my mission, to do what had to be done. That was it. That was all I needed to do. Clear your mind, think of nothing. Thrust, kill, escape. That was all. Slowly, shakily, I stood up and shook the tears from my eyes before lifting the spear to her throat.

“So, you’ve shown your true nature at last… wendigo.” The soft yet powerful voice drifted up to my from the figure on the bed. “Well, what are you waiting for? You came to murder me didn’t you? Come to avenge yourself for a war that ended over a thousand years ago?”

“I…” I froze. I didn’t… I didn’t know what to do! What was I supposed to… “Mistress? I...” My head exploded in pain, a million pinpricks of light bursting in my vision as I dropped the spear, the useless thing clattering to the ground and rolling under the bed. Almost immediately my stomach emptied itself in response to the excruciating pain roaring through me in a tidal wave of agony that made me cry out in utter torment.

Celestia rose from the bed, her horn glowing with the light of the midday sun. “I should have had you executed when I had you before me last time, wendigo. Your kind never change. Murderers, traitors, and now assassins.” Gasping for breath and clawing at my head to get the damned helmet off, I was utterly helpless before her. The alabaster alicorn stood over me, her magic effortlessly lifting me up and pinning me against the wall, allowing her to examine me more closely. “Curious,” she muttered, her purple eyes boring into me. “You look... different from last I saw you. The eyes, the cutie mark… Normally I can sense your kind long before I see them. The smell of blood and frost, it…” She blinked in surprise then leaned forward to sniff my coat, peering into my eyes then at my horn. “Something else is at play here. All is not as it would seem. Hmm… most intriguing.”

Celestia stared into my eyes with those huge purple orbs that reminded me so much of... “Mistress,” I gasped weakly, “I’ve… I’ve failed you...”

“Mistress?” Celestia replied. “No, not I.” She held me there above the ground and turned to the door. “GUARDS!” There was no response. The princess turned back to me, eyeing me coldly. “What have you done with them?”

I croaked out a reply. “Sleeping.”

“Lucky for them, and for you,” she said coldly before lifting a large blue crystal sphere from her bedside table. She spoke into it. “Luna? One of your ‘things’ is here. I suggest you cease what you are doing and make you way here. Now.”

A voice emanated from the orb. “Tia? What ‘thing’? Who or what are you talking about?”

Celestia glowered at me. “I think you know. I await you, sister… or should I say, ‘Mistress’.”

********************

The cell was dark, not surprisingly, and I’d not been treated as harshly as I thought I would have either which was something to be grateful for. If there was anything to be grateful for at all. My biggest concern right now was the mistress. I’d failed her. I was, without any doubt in my mind, a bad pony. Perhaps there was some way I could redeem myself, that I could put myself back in her good graces? Could I try again? And if so, how? It was a foolish thought of course, though one that might not prove to be as impossible as it first appeared. If I played along with my captors, lulling them into believing I was utterly defeated, I may yet have that opportunity to finish what I’d started. Right now though, that was looking distinctly unlikely. Celestia was aware that an assassin had been sent after her, and her security would have doubled, maybe even tripled. You’d be lucky if a moth could get anywhere near her without being incinerated now, let alone a… what did she call me? A… a wendigo? What was- Ow! My head throbbed, and I put the thought aside hurriedly. Why the hell was my brain trying to kill me?! My stomach was still aching and throat felt like I’d been gargling with acid. Sighing, I lay back on the straw mattress, took a sip of the water on the small table there, and waited. Something or somepony would decide my fate sooner or later, and that would be that. Indeed it was, for all intents and purposes, over. A tear rolled down my cheek. I missed my mistress terribly, from such simple things as the breakfasts we shared, to the smile she gave me whenever she was pleased with me. I wanted to be with her forever. A shiver ran down my spine as I sat upright. It was cold in here, I could see my breath clouding above me, but strangely didn’t feel it at all. I wonder why? A hollow sound from outside made me look up. Hoofsteps. Their owner was approaching the door, then stopped. I jumped to my hooves in a flash. This could be my chance! If I could surprise them, I’d have a chance to-

“Fairlight?”

Who? I stared silently at the stallion looking back at me through the open hatch in confusion. The guard stared at me with an expression that mirrored my own. From where I was standing he looked like your typical palace guard, this one being a white unicorn male with blue eyes. I glared at him, weighing up my chances of getting past him and overpowering him. Now if I could only entice him to open the door and come inside...

“Lord Fairlight,” he announced, “it’s me, Nimble. Corporal Nimble. You okay?” He reached down. “Hang on, I’m opening the door.”

I stared at the stallion as he worked the lock. He thought he knew me did he? The fool must have confused me with somepony else, but that was his problem, not mine. As the door swung open I stood back, feeling my muscles tense in preparation to launch myself at him the first chance I got. He was on his own and completely unsuspecting. I couldn’t believe my luck, now was my chance! But before I could move something extraordinary happened, forestalling me. The guard took off his helmet, and before my very eyes his coat changed from the pure white of the royal guard to a plain slate grey. His eyes too similarly morphed from a bright blue to a rich yellow. He was… strangely familiar...

“Fairlight, don’t you recognise me? What are you doing in here?” The fellow glanced over his shoulder at the corridor behind him. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you being brought down here earlier. What the hell’s going on?”

“I… Nimble?” I began.

“Hell fire, I thought they’d packed in the search after that palava in the caves,” Nimble continued. “Shit. We’ll have to think of something. I’ve some friends who...”

Nimble kept talking, but I’d already ceased to hear the words as his voice gradually faded away into the silent darkness – the darkness of the tunnel. I was there again, hiding behind that bitterly cold and unforgiving rock, hurt, trapped like a rat in a cage and desperate to escape. All around me the stench of death mingled with the horrifying screams of the living and dying alike, their frantic attempts to escape the claws and teeth of the creatures that were tearing into them lancing into my soul. I could do nothing, for them or for myself. All that was left was to hide… hide and pray. But here, deep beneath the ground away from the sun and the sky, there was no goddess. There was nothing but the horror of complete emptiness… and death, endless, agonising death. Something fluttered into my vision. It was black, blacker than night itself. Claws caught at my hide, razor sharp teeth snapping towards my throat. Green eyes like fiery emeralds peered up at me. And then… the flash of magic. The world transformed into a crucible of magical fire, flensing the flesh from the living and wounded, stripping them to the bone and sealing us all into that blackened tomb beneath the hill. I was trapped, trapped beneath untold tonnes of rock and soil. Buried alive. Buried… alive… Pain lanced through my skull so fiercely it took me to the ground. By all that was holy in this world, why wouldn’t it stop? WHY WOULDN’T IT STOP?! My screams echoed around the room as I collapsed into a shaking, convulsing heap.

The corporal, replacing his helmet, reached down and pulled me towards himself. “Get me some help here!” he bellowed up the corridor. “For the princess’s sake, get a medic! Quickly!”

The world swirled and drifted away from me as darkness pushed in on my consciousness. The last thing I saw, the last wonderful vision, was of a beautiful green mare, looking down at me in concern. Her yellow eyes and pale green mane… By the gods she was so beautiful. So, so beautiful...

A white light shone in my eyes, blinding me. It wasn’t exactly the most auspicious start to a day I’d ever had, that was for sure, but at least I was alive. Struggling to escape the glare I found that I had also been strapped down to a table, not uncomfortably so mind you, but still secure enough to prevent me from doing anything other than lie still. Thankfully the light moved away soon after, replaced by a large pair of brown eyes that stared at me as though I were some interesting specimen of mould under a scientist’s microscope.

“Can you hear me?” the pony asked. “Nod if you can.”

I nodded. Not that it was easy of course, having my body immobilised the way it was, but I still managed well enough for her to acknowledge me. The bloody idiot...

“Good. Your majesty,” the mare began, “this pony appears to have had his memories overwritten with a memory spell, and a very powerful one at that. Whoever put it in there knew what they were doing too; it’s buried deep into the subconscious part of his brain which will make it very difficult to extract without causing permanent physiological and psychological trauma. His blood work results also suggest the inclusion of a chemical neural pattern blocker, similar to that found in Winter Thistle distillate. Used in tandem, this could make the subject highly suggestible whilst simultaneously suppressing various characteristics, such as conscience, sociability, and bring some of his more ‘primal’ instincts to the fore. The coat as you can see has been dyed, the cutie mark shaved off and artificial fur and markings applied. It’s the same with the mane and tail.” There was a faint clatter of metal. “I noticed something about his eyes too. Here…” She held up a glass dish-like thing. They were the eye covers I’d been wearing earlier. “His eyes are an unnatural blue,” she explained. “See how they shine with that strange background light? It’s magical in origin of course, though of a type I’ve never seen before. Possibly a mutation of some kind. These lenses he was wearing are tinted so as to hide it without hindering normal vision. He’s still hornlocked though. The thaumaturgical inhibitor ring had been disguised with the helmet, and I’ve left it on him as you ordered.”

“Thank you, doctor.” The serene voice was all too familiar. Celestia herself was here.

A midnight coated mare walked up to me, her aquamarine eyes looking down into mine sadly. “Oh, Fairlight, what have they done to you?”

“What I want to know, Luna, is who this ‘Mistress’ is,” Celestia interjected.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “At least you don’t believe it is I, sister.”

The white alicorn sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I’m not sure what to believe any more, Luna. Although I admit, it would appear your warnings were not without merit after all.”

Luna harrumphed. “Perhaps you should try listening to me a little more often, Tia?”

Celestia sniffed, turning her purple gaze to me. “I always listen to you, little sister. Sometimes I just…” She shook her head. “It matters not. What does matter is what we are going to do with this… wendigo.”

“Would you please stop referring to him as a thing, Tia?” Luna replied firmly. “He’s a pony who’s pledged himself to serve you, rescuing many of our people from the human realm who were-”

“-Yes, yes, I know all that, Luna, you’ve been quite… convincing.” Celestia shook her head slowly, the corner of her mouth curling up slightly in distaste at the sight of the ragged creature in front of her. “What you don’t seem to realise is that this… ‘stallion’, tried to murder me in my sleep!”

Luna remained unphased. “The doctor has already explain why. He’s been drugged, hornlocked and bewitched, Tia. The pony beneath all that would never harm you, and you know that.”

“The fact remains that he defied me and returned after I had banished him. Ponies died, Luna.”

“And once again, I explained what happened,” Luna replied calmly. “You’re looking in the wrong direction, sister. The one you should be aiding is the very one you are accusing. Can’t you let go of your hate from a millennia ago?”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

“Isn’t it?” Luna asked with a toss of her mane. “Do you still hate me?”

Celestia nickered, fixing her sister with a firm look. “Of course not!”

“But how do I know that?” Luna asked. “How can I be sure that, like this pony before you, one who pledged his life to serve you, that somewhere deep down inside you still harbour distrust and hatred in your heart?”

“Luna! I won’t hear any more of this nonsense from you!” Celestia snapped.

Her midnight coated sister moved closer, her voice gentle and carrying of note of such kindness it made my own heart melt a little. “Then help him, Tia, please. If not for him, then for me. Can you not find it within your heart to give him a chance, as you did for me?”

For a moment those purple eyes stared into mine, the mechanisms of royalty invisible behind them and yet as ever present as the earth and the sky. Celestia sighed, “I cannot do this without taking that hornlock off him, and with his powers he could-”

Luna placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “I’m here too, Sis, don’t forget that. I can and will protect you. I’m not as helpless as you seem to think.”

Celestia gently touched her sisters’ hoof. “I never thought you were, Luna.”

As I lay there staring up at the tiled ceiling I saw the bright golden glow of magic flare from Celestia’s horn. Like a miniature facsimile of the sun itself it grew in intensity and size, creating a ball of energy unlike any unicorn magic I had ever seen. But then of course, Celestia was far from your common or garden variety unicorn like me, was she? No. The princess of the sun, like her sister standing beside her, was one of the self styled gods of Equestria. Lying here now, helpless before them, I was in no position to argue with that belief. Anyway, who really knew the truth of the matter? Perhaps they really were goddesses, the manifest daughters of the elder gods who inhabited the immortal plain of the Eternal Herd. If that were true, then to these all powerful beings the rest of us would most likely be viewed as about as important in their eternal world as ants were to ponies. We were, after all, mortals, and of no more consequence to the gods than any other one of the innumerable pathetic minions passing them by on a daily basis. To these creatures the rest of us were probably like mayflies: rushing around breeding, only to die in the blink of an eye before starting the cycle all over again. Right now I was more concerned with my own more immediate problems than philosophising over the princesses. I was transfixed, watching the ball of light detach, drifting down until it enveloped my head. Flinching, I struggled within my bonds, at least until I realised that far from causing me harm the magic flowing into me held no feeling of malice whatsoever. Rather it was sending a strange warming sensation throughout my entire body, calming me and relaxing my muscles to the point where I could have quite happily nodded off. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but the pain in my head had vanished as though it had simply never been. Now, if I could only get a chance to get out of here and-

“NOW!”

Luna’s horn glowed and the small device that had been stuck on my horn gave a quiet yet audible ‘click’ before falling away onto the bed. Without pause, Celestia’s magic quickly grew in intensity until I could feel its presence filtering through my mind like hot tendrils. What the hell was she doing? Damn it all, I had to get out of here! Anger and bitterness surged through me, cold hatred and pent up frustration taking control of me to the point where I started to thrash around, furiously trying to break loose. So many conflicting emotions were running through my mind at once it was overwhelming me, drowning me in a cacophony of raging sensation far beyond the mere physical. One of them however was louder than the rest, rising above the storm whirling around me and pulling me towards it like a moth to a flame - Obey. I had to obey. The mistress demanded it. She expected it of me. I had to do as I was told. And why shouldn’t I? I was a good pony! I had to finish the mission and then... and then I could go home! My eyes snapped open, focussing on my target. The bitch who had caused my mistress so much grief was before me, and infuriatingly just out of reach. If there was one pony, one ‘alicorn’, that I needed to eliminate it was this one. The mistress would be happy with me, my ancestors would sing of my deeds, she had to die… now! I could feel my teeth lengthening, my vision changing, a deep rumbling emanated from my throat...

Celestia’s brows drew down as she concentrated. “Luna… any time now, please...”

“I’m on it, Sis. Fairlight, my lord, please… it’s me, Luna, your mistress.”

“Mistress?” I hesitated, my eyes flicking to the midnight mare. She was my mistress? What was this nonsense? She didn’t look anything like her! She looked like… like the princess of the night, the goddess of the moon. No… No, she was trying to trick me! To-

“Lord Fairlight, look at me, only at me.” Luna’s azure eyes locked with my own, that extraordinary gaze riveting me to the bed. “Remember. Please try to remember…”

“Luna…” I muttered.

The golden glow intensified, sending rampaging images running through my mind in a torrent of impossible colour. On some level I was dimly away of what felt like something trickling out of me, and yet filling me at the same time. What… What was this? It was as if I were staring at a frozen lake of emotions and thought, the ice below my hooves preventing me from reaching them. But they were there, all of them, waiting just below the surface.

“Yes!” Luna cried. “Lord Fairlight, you can do this. Think back to those who love you, who have always loved you. Meadow, Sparrow Song, Tingles, Lumin, Shadow, they’re all waiting for you. They need you. They want you to come home. Please Fairlight, come home to us now. You have been alone for too long. Search for them within your heart. Listen to them calling to you.”

One word above all lodged in my confused mind. “Home?” Where was… No. NO! Home was with the mistress, the other mistress, the white mare… In my tortured brain, all the anger and confusion began to be replaced with images of a sunny day beneath a large tree, beneath which a green mare in a large floppy sun hat stood watching me, her yellow eyes like the warm light from a lantern. A lantern that lit the dark emptiness of my heart. I… I loved her… Didn’t I? I murmured a name, one I remembered and yet had lost. “Meadow…”

The strain was telling in Celestia’s voice. “Not much longer, Luna. Keep him under control a little longer.”

Luna leaned forward, her perfume tickling my nose. It was plum blossom. I loved plum blossom. A shiver ran through me. “That’s right, Fairlight!” the princess said animatedly. “Meadow is waiting for you. They all are, all your family and friends. Did you know little Sparrow can fly now? I’ve seen her with my own eyes, those little wings of hers are so strong. Soon she will be able to fly like the very wind!”

“Sparrow.” A burning sensation began in my eyes and I could feel tears forming, dripping down my cheeks. “My daughter. My beautiful little daughter...” The small grey pegasus, so tiny and frail... I missed her so much. I wanted to see her again! I had to… to… Suddenly a bolt of pain hammered through me making me cry out. No! I had to escape! I had to kill Celestia. I had to kill the bitch who had-

“I’m losing it!” the white princess shouted suddenly. “For goodness sake, Luna, keep him focussed!”

“FAIRLIGHT!” Luna shouted at me, distracting me. “Remember…” Suddenly she grabbed my head and placed her lips on mine, her beautifully feminine eyes filling my vision. “Remember.”

She kissed me. The scent of plum blossom hit me with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, searing through my consciousness, filling the emptiness in my heart with its intense floral bouquet. This was the smell of my mistress, my true mistress. I was her stallion now just as I had always been, and always would be until the very end of time itself. Come what may I would obey her, just as it was meant to be. I loved her, of that nopony could ever have any doubt. And doubts, that nagging uncertainty which had plagued me for so long, vanished in an instant, burned away in the crucible of our passion. I moved into the kiss, ignoring the burning magic running through my mind. Images of mares, foals, places, worlds beyond worlds - it all ran through me until, with a final deafening crack which resounded throughout the infinite nothingness of the void I had become... the ice broke. Everything flooded back in a sudden rush, drowning me with indescribable sensations the likes of which were beyond my feeble comprehension. I fell headlong, deeper and deeper into the lake of memory and self, remembering who I was, and who I am. It was simultaneously both terrifying and exhilarating. I was… me… I was myself.

The effort having visibly tired her, Princess Celestia looked down into my eyes. “Who are you?” she asked me levelly. “Tell me your name.”

Who was... What? My name? The white mare standing over me, those purple eyes staring into mine, the long horn, the wings... Celestia? Oh gods no, what was going on here? I looked around in mounting alarm. Luna? Why was Luna here? More to the point, where the hell was I? And why was I strapped to a bed?! A hoof stamping on the ground snatched my attention back to the princess looming over me.

“Tell me your name!” the white mare ordered.

I swallowed. “I… I’m Fairlight, your majesty.”

To my surprise, Luna reached over and hugged me. Gently, she whispered into my ear, “Thank the gods, Fairlight. I thought we’d lost you.”

Celestia turned away. “Did you? Then perhaps you should believe in me too, little sister.” And with that she left the room, leaving Luna and I holding onto each other as the princess of the night magicked the straps away from my body. Lying there in her forelegs, the warm smell of the mare made my heart cry out with a terrible feeling of loss that shook to my very core. I hadn’t felt such pain since I’d lost Meadow, and yet… why? Why now? I was so confused! I felt utterly lost, and was in all likelihood in a state of physical and nervous shock. But despite all of that, one overriding and all encompassing desire surged through me - I wanted my family. Where were my family?

I sat up shakily, and then, carefully, rolled off the bed onto my hooves. “Luna,” I managed past dry lips. “My lady, what’s going on? I don’t understand… where am I? What the hell am I doing here?”

“All in good time,” Luna smiled softly. “First of all, here, drink this, and then we shall talk you and I.”

Gently, Luna guided me to a chair before passing me a glass of sparkling silver liquid. Cold and frigid as the mountain’s stream, strong and pure as nature itself, life energy raced through my entire being, refreshing and re-energising me both in spirit and body. By the gods, I never realised how thirsty I had been until I had been filled. Leaning back I let out a long sigh, rubbing my eyes before something caught my eye. Was I seeing things? I looked down at my legs. I didn’t know whether it was the light in the room or not, but they seemed darker than usual for some reason. Luna’s ears, they were! What in the name of all that was holy had happened to me? Checking myself over I certainly still felt like me, just a little ‘off’ somehow, and by the goddess my head hurt like hell too! Watching me with a smile on her face, Luna magicked the empty glass away to sit on the table before thanking the doctor and leaning towards me.

“The headache will pass shortly. Do you feel strong enough to walk?” she asked. I nodded in reply. “Then come, we shall talk as we take the air. By the looks of you, it will do you good.” Beckoning me to follow her, Luna swept out of the room with me close behind. I was still a little wobbly on my legs after my befuddling ordeal, but it felt good to be moving once more. “You’ve been missing for weeks,” she began. “The first we knew of it was when Brandy received a message from Tingles to say she believed you’d been kidnapped from the village. We weren’t sure what to believe at first, but after our investigation team arrived we did find some evidence to suggest that her fears were justified.”

“What evidence was that?” I asked.

Luna looked back at me over her shoulder. “The team found tracks from who we believe was your assailant, outside the tavern. They lead to the carriage barn, where a large quantity of straw had been dropped around a set of fresh wheel tracks. From there they were able to determine the direction of travel. Unfortunately the tracks ended by another set that apparently belong to a sky carriage.” She smiled sadly. “There the trail went cold. All we were able to determine from there onwards was that you had simply disappeared, only to re-appear here… like this.”

“You never found who did this to me?”

“No.” Luna shook her head, clearly displeased with the lack of progress. “They’re still looking into it as we speak. Whoever it was hid whatever vehicle they’d smuggled you from the village in well enough to prevent it being found, and with the large number of griffins in the village, at the moment there are simply too many potential suspects. Mitre is doing his best, but as you know, the villagers are distrusting of outsiders and not being particularly helpful.”

I nodded, trying to clear my mind and focus on what I knew so far. Unfortunately my head was such a mess right then I was as much in the dark as a mole in a coal bunker. I decided on a change of subject. “Where am I?”

The answer was simple. “The palace.” Luna bobbed her head towards the magnificent stained glass windows that should have tipped me off straight away. “What do you remember?”

A good question. I thought for a moment, furrowing my brow. “Sitting on the porch watching the sunrise, and then… looking into your eyes.”

Luna blushed slightly. “Lord Fairlight, somepony used a very strong and unusual memory spell on you. Not only that but they drugged you with something that was powerful enough to break down your mental resilience, and hornlocked you for good measure.”

Subconsciously I reached up and touched my horn. Everything felt okay, apart from the fading headache that was still lingering there a little, however all I seemed to be coming up with was more and more questions. And no answers. “But… But why?” I asked. “How in Equestria did I end up here?” Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a pair of guards shadowing us. “And how come I’m not in chains?”

Luna clucked her tongue, casting a sidelong glance at me. “You don’t remember anything? About the palace?”

“No!” I replied in exasperation. “I wish I did! Bloody hell, this is last place I wanted to end up. Your sister doesn’t exactly like me you know.” I felt a shiver run down my spine. The last time I’d been here I’d narrowly missed being sent to the gallows. Now, I doubted the old baggage would miss this golden opportunity to have me dealt with once and for all. Even so, it did beg the question – why was I still alive? Something didn’t add up here. Unfortunately, neither did what Luna said next.

“You were found dressed in a soldiers uniform,” she explained gravely, “in my sister’s bedroom. Fairlight… you were going to assassinate Celestia. You were going to run her through with a spear and you… you had an M.A.D with you.”

I stopped in my tracks. I was going to do what?! My goddesses, sure I hated the miserable sow for what she’d done to my tribe, for what she’d done to me too for that matter, but… to actually assassinate her? No. No, that couldn’t be right. Just then a memory of a conversation with a pony a long time ago popped back into my mind. I’m not an assassin. That sentiment was just as valid now as it was then, and yet here was Luna saying I’d disguised myself, entered the princess’s bedroom, and had prepared to do precisely that. The worst part was, I couldn’t deny it either. Here I was in the royal palace, with absolutely no recollection of how I’d arrived here whatsoever. Somepony had clearly messed around with not only my head, but my appearance too. I turned to Luna in silence, not knowing what to say.

“My lord, come… my sister will be waiting for us.”

Oh… bollocks. “Guess this is it then,” I muttered, half to myself.

Luna frowned at me. “What do you mean?”

“I’d have thought it was obvious,” I said solemnly, staring straight ahead. “Assassination, treason, attempted regicide… and there’ll be more besides that, don’t you worry. Don’t forget that I was warned ‘not to return upon pain of death’, and here I am as guilty as a puppy next to a wet patch. I’m sorry Luna, I don’t think this is one fix I’m going to get out of unless I make a break for it now.” I motioned to the guards behind us. “The goon squad might have other ideas about it though.”

Luna put a hoof on my shoulder, staring straight into my eyes. “Don’t you think Tia would have thought about that?” she said pointedly. “Why do you think she took the hornlock off you? Think, Lord Fairlight, if she wanted you dead, you would never have left her bedchamber alive, let alone have her help you the way she has.”

“Help me? Yeah, right...” I shook my mane in frustration. “I’m sure there’s some sting in the tail yet to come from her nibs, Luna. Somehow I doubt she’d going to invite me to afternoon tea, so what is it do you think? Is she going to use my family as leverage to get me to spill the beans on something I know bugger all about? Maybe she thinks I’m the grand fart-wallah of the blood circle or whatever they’re damned well told. Bloody hell, she probably knows more about that crap than I do!” I narrowed my eyes, feeling a well of anger within me bubbling away. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t share your confidence in the beneficence of your ‘magnificent’ sister.”

The princess of the night sighed and face hoofed. “Fairlight, you’re… impossible.” Turning away she nudged me with her muzzle. “Come along now, let’s not be tardy.”

I almost laughed. This whole situation had gone far beyond the boundaries of strange and was knocking on the metaphorical door of out and out insanity. Weeks of nothingness, a hole in my memory so large you could drive a cart and four through it with only a lingering sense of ‘missing’ something, and here I was being lead through the palace by one of the royal sisters as if I were an honoured guest. Ha! I even had a guard of honour! Unfortunately whatever had been done to me had also interfered with my magic to the point where it was about as coherent as a dropped blancmange. Anyway, I doubted I had much left in me to attempt an escape in any case, let alone defend myself should Celestia decide to eliminate me there and then. Besides, I had very little say in the matter right now, and could only plod meekly along to meet my fate. Whatever awaited me beyond the doors ahead of us however, remained to be seen.

I took a deep breath as the doors swung open.

The princess of the sun was sat upon a chair before a large roaring fire. By the looks of the sky beyond the windows, it was early dawn. Celestia said nothing, not even acknowledging our entry into her study. Slowly, she sipped a cup of tea thoughtfully, looking into the fire with a faraway gaze. She looked tired, drawn, and far from the more usual depictions of her in full armour leading thousands of troops into ‘glorious’ battle. She was a beautiful creature, though certainly no spring chicken. I mean, how old was she now? Two thousand years old? Three?

“Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me, wendigo?” she asked plainly. I kept quiet, letting her continue. “Do you have any idea how many of my guards perished trying to find you?” She looked up at me, her eyes flashing with anger, and also… sadness? “Well?”

I cleared my throat. “Your majesty, if you’re going to execute me could you get on with it please? I imagine you’ve got other things pressing on your time, and I’d like to be re-united with my murdered wife and foal as soon as possible, if it’s all the same with you.”

Celestia shook her head, snorting under her breath. “Flippant remarks like that avail you not, wendigo.”

“Fairlight,” I corrected her.

“Pardon?”

I let out a louder than necessary sigh. “I have a name, your majesty. Most call me Fairlight, but I answer to ‘my lord’ or ‘lord Fairlight’ equally well. I may be a wendigo, as you appear to like pointing out, but I didn’t exactly have any choice in the matter. I assure you, if you perchance have some magical way to turn back time and undo what happened to me and to my family, then I’d welcome that chance.”

“Would you now?” she asked. “And lose every friendship, every memory and relationship you’ve made since then?” Celestia curled her lip. “I think not.”

I hung my head, realising the truth of what she was saying. “It’s true I’ve made many friends since then,” I confessed, “more in fact than I ever imagined a simple pony could have. Some of them I even consider as part of my family. But even so, I still miss my wife and daughter, Princess. I still want to hold them. I still want to be with them. And that is something that no amount of friends could ever change.”

Celestia’s expression remained as emotionless as the marble pillars that supported the exquisitely stuccoed ceiling of the study. “I’ll tell you bluntly… ‘Fairlight’, my sister has most vociferous in her defence of you. In fact ever since I made the ruling to banish you, she has beleaguered me almost daily with evidence of your deeds, as well as numerous accounts from our intelligence services regarding what you have ‘done for Equestria’.” She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. “I confess that initially I was far from convinced by what was put before me, believing Luna to have become much too personally invested in the matter to remain objective. In that regard, I am still undecided. However...” Celestia let out a soft sigh, placing her cup down with a faint clink of china.

“However?” I prompted.

The princess opened one eye and stared at me. “I have a special place in my affections for the little creatures you know as ‘Breezies’. To many Equestrians they are little more than a myth; fairytale characters from the pages of a whimsical story used by parents to fascinate their foals at bedtime.” She smiled sadly. “Ironic, is it not, how close such a theory came to becoming fact. Their reclusive and secretive nature has kept them safe all these many centuries, and yet now that very thing which hid them from the eyes of the world around them has nearly proved to be their undoing. One of the greatest tragedies is that the majority of ponies would never even notice that a part of their world had simply ceased to be, and yet as elusive and insignificant as they may appear, they are still a valuable part of our world’s ecosystem.” Celestia floated her tea cup in front of her, slowly turning the delicate china around as she watched how the light caught its painted surface. She sounded distant, as if sensing a great sadness that only she could see. “They are so frail, so gentle, and now they are on the brink of extinction thanks to the actions of a few evil creatures. To think such barbaric behaviour lies within the hearts of my children.” Abruptly she shook her mane and magicked her cup back onto the saucer with a distinct ‘clink’. “You accomplished something that day, Lord Fairlight, something many would have quailed at. You not only saved pony’s lives, you saved an entire species from annihilation. Their reclusive nature coupled with my distraction because of certain ‘events’ in the land, nearly allowed my dear breezies to die out right under my very nose.”

“Their population will recover though, won’t it?” I asked.

The princess nodded quietly. “It will, although the damage caused by such wanton savagery will not be so readily forgotten by their people. They may be a simple folk, but I can assure you they will remember this for many generations to come. I can only pray that some day they will be able to forgive us for allowing such unthinkable evil to take hold in our land.”

There was a commotion outside the door which suddenly burst open, revealing three identical looking palace guards who all but fell headlong into the room as they grappled one another. Celestia rose quickly to her hooves. “What is going on here?” she roared angrily. “Another assassin? Explain yourselves!”

Two of the guards grabbed the third who they quickly took to the ground. The immobilised fellow opened his mouth to speak as one of the burly males snarled at him, “Keep quiet you! Your majesty-”

“Let him speak,” she ordered, waving off the guards.

Reluctantly the two of them backed away, though kept their weapons trained on the prostrated stallion. I didn’t doubt that even the slightest sign of aggression would end very quickly, and also, very messily. “Your majesties, please,” he began. “I am Corporal Nimble, First unicorn battalion, fourth company. I was part of the recovery team sent to track down the fugitive. But this stallion, Fairlight, he saved my life in the caverns, and after I’d been sent there to apprehend him too. He faced down a fully grown dragon to save me, and even tried to save one of my colleagues who then attempted to murder him in cold blood. He’s not our enemy, your majesty.”

Celestia walked up to the soldier and picked him up off his knees. “You do know, Corporal Nimble, what this creature is, do you not?”

He nodded, removing his helmet. In moments his coat changed from white to grey, his eyes turning from the blue of the royal guard to the yellow so typical of the tribe. “Yes, your majesty,” he smiled at me. “I know who he is, and what he is. I sensed his presence as soon as he entered the palace. It was weak, but I knew it was him.”

Celestia rose to her full height, ruffling her wings. “You understand what you are saying here soldier? You were sent on a mission to apprehend a fugitive, were you not?”

Nimble nodded. “Yes, your majesty.”

“And you let him go?”

“I did.”

“You disobeyed a direct order.”

Again, Nimble nodded. “For a friend? Yes, I did. If that condemns me, then so be it. Nopony who would face death to defend another should receive betrayal as a reward.”

Celestia shot him a look before turning to me. “Your ‘influence’ appears to be spreading, ‘Lord’ Fairlight. I am still not convinced I was wrong about you or your kind, however…” She took a deep breath and shook her head in dismay. “I may need to… ‘reconsider’ my decision.”

“They were different times, Celestia,” I said rather more informally than I meant to. “You did what you believed you had to, to protect the ponies of Equestria. I won’t deny that my ancestors relished war, but for myself, all I wish for is to protect my family and to be left in peace. As a great stallion once told me, ‘every creature, no matter how big or small, has a right to life.’”

Instead of losing her temper at my impropriety she surprised me by giving an ironic laugh as she turned to gaze up at the painting of the brown pony on the wall over the fireplace. “Peace? Sometimes I wonder if it still exists. Murder, drugs, rape… such terrible, unimaginable things are happening in my home, and it seems as if we are powerless to stop it. Equestria is sickening from it, I feel it in my heart, even at a time when my niece and the brother of my most loyal student are to married.” She snorted bitterly, “A joyous occasion amidst the horror happening on our very doorstep.”

I stood up to my full height, letting the magic course through me, my eyes and teeth changing as the mist curled around my hooves. The princesses gasped at the transformation, the guards behind me readying their spears. “Then let me help Equestria, my princess.” I said calmly. “Allow me to fulfil my promise and protect both you and your sister, as well as the ponies of our homeland. Let the past stay in the past and restore the light that we have lost.” I bowed before her. “Before these witnesses this day I renew my pledge to serve you, your majesty, both you and princess Luna.”

The princess of the sun watched me warily, but I noticed from the corner of my eye the ghost of a smile drifting across her face. Waving off the guards she turned to Luna. “Contact his family, Luna, they will be missing him. And Corporal Nimble?”

Nimble snapped to attention. “Yes, your majesty?”

“I’m reassigning you. Go with Lord Fairlight and help him in whatever way he sees fit. I will speak to Captain Armour about your transfer shortly.”

“Thank you, your majesty.”

“Oh, and Lord Fairlight?”

I bowed respectfully. “Yes, your majesty?”

Celestia bobbed her head. “I will consider your request to have the lands returned to you and your ‘tribe’. In the meantime, you are to work with the agency and Equus on my behalf to restore Equestria. Root out this evil which is plaguing us. Do what you must to restore the beauty of our land to what it once was.” She nodded to Luna. “After all, nopony should fear the night.”

I thought of the weeks of missing memory, about how I’d been played like a marionette and nearly murdered the ruler of our land. All this time, all these years… How had I been so wrong? As for fearing the night… “Some should,” I whispered under my breath.

And so ended my meeting with the most powerful creature in Equestria, perhaps even the entire world. Princess Celestia – Alicorn ruler of ponies, daughter of the gods, and scourge of my ancestors. I wonder what they would think of me now? How would Maroc, Arathea, and even their son Vela whose own parents had been struck down by the white witch, view our recent accord? In their eyes I expect they would have seen my actions as having effectively bowed my head to the very one who had caused unimaginable suffering and death to our people, even going so far as to, in all but name, sell what remained of my tribe into servitude to the mare they viewed as little more than a monster. No doubt to some I would be viewed as a coward, perhaps even a traitor, and you know… perhaps they were right. Maybe I should have fought to the end, attacking Celestia whilst she sat there in her study. She’d only had two guards with her, and Luna of course. There had been a chance, no matter how remote, that I could have struck a fatal blow before they took me down. And what then? If by some miracle I’d been able to escape, was my tribe really capable of fighting off the entire equestrian army? Could I have defeated Luna too? She may have been the leader of the Legion, the goddess of the warriors of the moon, but would she have simply stood by and let me slay her sister? Of course not. Times had indeed changed. The world had moved on, and more importantly, I had a family to protect. But not just them, there was the tribe to consider. Whichever way you looked at it we were a broken people, a shadow of what we had once been, merely waiting for the day the final nail was driven home, the memories of our past faded, or the villagers simply moved away, tired of living in perpetual fear of discovery. I was the last of the wendigo, but I would be damned if I would let an opportunity like this slip past my hooves. Today I had been given the chance to take back our lands without bloodshed, to be given the right to self governance and self determination once again. If that meant being allied to Celestia, then so be it. If Luna could forgive her, and be forgiven by her, then why could we not follow that very same example of our own goddess? It was a time for change, but it was also a time for us to take back what we had lost. It was time… to be reborn.

Luna seemed to sense my thoughts. “You can trust her,” she said simply. “We may disagree on certain matters, Lord Fairlight, but Celestia is always a mare of her word.”

I nodded, keeping pace with her though the winding corridors. “She said she would ‘reconsider’ her opinion of me,” I reminded her. “And as much as I appreciate not being hauled off to the chopping block, it’s hardly a cast iron guarantee that she will agree to anything yet.”

“It is more than I have ever known her to concede,” Luna replied honestly. The princess looked at me askance. “She is not the only one who has changed recently, either. I know very well what your opinion of my sister was, and as much as I may not have agreed with it, I could still see why you felt the way you did.”

I liked the way she put it in past-tense, as if I’d had a sudden change of heart and magically warmed to the genocidal lunatic. “It was a little more than a few hurt feelings, you know,” I rumbled. “She exiled me for a war that happened a thousand years before I was born! As if that wasn’t bad enough she then sent a hit squad after me, sending who knows how many of her ponies to a horrible death in the process. I don’t think anypony in their right mind would condemn me for being, how should I put it now, ‘less than enthusiastic’ about our beneficent ruler.”

“And now?”

“Now, we move forward,” I offered. “The world has moved on, Luna, and whereas it may not always be for the better, I cannot see how keeping grudges and old enmities alive for countless generations is ever going to do anything other than end in tragedy for all concerned. Let the dead rest, and let the living live in whatever passes for peace in this cocked-up world.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Do you truly mean that?”

“Of course I do.” I glanced over at her. “You don’t believe me?” I asked curiously.

Luna shrugged demurely. “You are the returning lord to a people who have been awaiting your arrival since the last days of the war. You have made a new home there, and a new life. Whether you realise it or not, your family have put down roots in Smiling Borders, and regardless of what Celestia decides, you are, and always will be, the ruler of a tribe of wendigo.”

“They aren’t wendigo,” I nickered. “I’m only one by a fluke of… whatever the hell it was. And believe me, I wouldn’t wish that nightmare on my worst enemy.”

“What of you, Corporal Nimble?” Luna asked our quiet colleague.

“Huh?” Nimble looked up in surprise, apparently lost in his own thoughts. “About what, your majesty?”

Luna shrugged. “How do you see Lord Fairlight and his tribe? In Celestia’s study you said you felt a connection to him?”

“Oh...” Nimble blushed slightly. “Well, erm, I suppose it does sound a bit weird now that I think about it. It’s hard to describe.”

“Go on...”

“Yeah, erm,” he scratched his head in thought, “it’s sort of like when you know somepony’s in the same room as you, even if you can’t see or hear them. You can kinda sense they’re there, you know? Only this time it was a lot stronger, and a lot more specific. I didn’t know what to think at first, and by the time I got off my arse to go and see what was going on, he was in the clink.” He chuckled. “I thought I’d had one too many, but nope, there he was alright!”

“So you just ‘knew’ I was there in the cells?” I asked. “Doesn’t that make you wonder why?”

“Sure,” Nimble shrugged. “But I just thought it was one of those things. You know, that whole ‘Magic is friendship’, thing they’re always banging on about in the paper? I figured we must have created some sort of bond after what we’d been through, what with the dragon and all. We’re both unicorns too, so maybe that had something to do with it.”

“It didn’t.” Luna glanced at me. “Do wish me to tell him?”

“If you want,” I muttered, knowing full well she would regardless of what I said.

“All descendants of the tribe of the wendigo share certain traits,” Luna began. “Firstly, they are all unicorns, and secondly they all have similar colouring: grey fur, black mane and tail, and yellow eyes. The last, and most telling trait, is that wendigo are able to sense the presence of their leader through a link known colloquially as ‘the bond’.”

Nimble looked at me, then back to himself. “What, you think I’m one of these ‘descendants’ too?” He shook his head. “Nah, that can’t be right. We have different eye colour.”

“Fairlight is not a pure wendigo, at least not in the traditional sense,” Luna explained. “His father is an earth pony.”

“But he’s still a wendigo, right?” Nimble pointed out. “I’ve seen him turn into one before.”

Luna nodded. “He carries the same bloodline as his forefathers. Or fore ‘mothers’ to be precise.”

“Fair enough,” Nimble conceded. “But what’s this got to do with me? You think I’m one of those wendigo things too?” His ears pricked up. “Hey, could I turn all white and have wings and everything?!”

“It is possible,” Luna replied, “You bear all the characteristics of the tribe. Traditionally it would be your offspring that could bond with the spirit, however an unbonded wendigo can still-”

I held up a hoof, stalling her. “-Princess, please, the last thing we need is any more wendigo springing up out of nowhere and giving your sister more cause for concern than she has already. Nimble is my friend, and whether he’s a descendant of the tribe or not, I think it’s better for him to avoid getting crazy ideas in his head about turning white and sprouting bloody wings!”

“It would still look cool though,” Nimble muttered. “My missus would freak out if I came home looking like that!” He chuckled, a lascivious grin spreading across his face. “She’d be all over me...”

“For all the wrong reasons!” I said loudly in exasperation. “Bloody hell, Nimble, she’d have the army on you in the blink of an eye. Look what happened to me! Do you think I wanted to be Equestria’s most wanted?”

“It is his choice,” Luna interjected.

“I don’t care!” I snapped back. “And for the love of the gods, please, can we just drop the subject? Please!”

And that, thankfully, brought that particularly uncomfortable conversation to a close. Honestly, I don’t know what Luna was thinking about. Creating more wendigo? Was she insane?! Celestia was hardly going to sit back and let that happen, and the last thing I wanted was to upset her now, especially when we were so close to getting a true home of our own. Besides, so far as I was aware, Nimble knew nothing about his heritage, if indeed it actually had anything to do with the tribe in the first place. In fact he probably knew as much about it as I had when I was his age – which was absolutely bugger all. Sure, he had a sense that told him when I was nearby, but what did that prove? All the villagers in Smiling Borders had that ability. Most of them weren’t even ponies, the majority being descendants of the tribe’s workers, staff and auxiliaries. It made them no less important in my eyes. In any case, as far as I was concerned the thought of putting anypony through the horror of ‘the joining’ or whatever that insanity had been called, was not something that should be entered into lightly. Or at all for that matter. No, as much as I liked young Nimble, he had a certain childish naivety that, if mixed with the power of a wendigo, could prove to be disastrous both for him and the tribe. As far as I was concerned, turning him into a wendigo was simply not an option. Anyway, by the looks of things we were here. Nimble and I pushed open the large rear double doors to the carriage park. After the peaceful sunlit corridors of the palace’s interior, the contrast was, to put it mildly, incredible. Light and sound crashed over us in an instant, flooding my senses. It was, as you can imagine with the imminent commencement of matrimonial festivities, a veritable hive of activity. Shouting, laughter, the crash of metal wheeled cages full of supplies, the clatter of wheels… Every which way you turned you were met by an all encompassing wall of sound whilst dozens, if not hundreds of ponies dashed this way and that, somehow managing to make sense of the chaos. I half expected a large thestral mare to be coordinating it all, but if there was one single mind behind it all, they were well hidden. I slowly took it all in, watching, trying to remember something, anything that could prove to be of use to us in our search for answers. Beneath the blue sky of Canterlot several wagons and other transport vehicles languished in the sunshine, waiting to be unloaded by the myriad of busy ponies pushing sack barrows or using magic to carry crates, sacks and goodness knows what else. It was a certainly busy scene, though one which was not that unusual. I’d been to plenty of factories, warehouses and department stores in Manehattan that looked not that dissimilar once you looked past the elegant columns, walls and towers. Sadly, it wasn’t helping with my current predicament. That being, where to start. In this regard, Luna was way ahead of me.

The princess passed me a saddle bag. “We’ve run a residual magic scan on it and unfortunately it has come up with nothing of any note.” In answer to my questioning look she added, “You brought it in with you. Perhaps it will help you recall something?”

I shook my head in despair. I couldn’t remember anything at all, from the time I’d been abducted right up until I’d awoken strapped to a bed with the princesses looming over me. Except… Hang on, what was that? Taking the bag I sniffed it, my keen sense of smell detecting a familiar scent. It wasn’t pleasant, though quite distinctive. “Here, what does that smell like to you?”

Luna and Nimble both took turns sniffing the bag. The princess answered first, shaking her head. “A faint smell of something bitter, although I don’t know what that could mean.”

Next, Nimble took in a deep huff of the bag. “Hmm, there’s definitely something there I reckon. It… yes… yes, that could be it.” He looked up at me. “I was sent to the palace medical wing when I got back from the caves. The quaks put some solution on my injuries to clean them. Burned like hell it did too. I could be wrong of course, but it smells just like it.”

Scratching my head I turned to face towards Manehattan. “The smell of chemicals,” I said absently. Meadow had come home many a time with the very same smell. She’d told me once what it was. “Carbolic acid. In other words, antiseptic.”

Nimble looked at me suddenly. “How did you get here, can you remember?”

I frowned in thought, casting my gaze around the courtyard. “I don’t recall, but I doubt I just waltzed in,” I answered honestly. “Do we have any records of visitors or deliveries to the palace?”

“We can check in with the guards on the gate. Everypony arriving has to sign in and out,” Nimble explained. He paused, tapping his chin and looked up at me with those big yellow eyes of his. “Smell,” he muttered, “Of course! Smell! The dogs!”

In a rush, Nimble beckoned me to follow him and I took off hot on his heels, leaving a surprised Luna standing by the doors after bidding her a hasty thanks and farewell. She didn’t seem to mind. The princess of the night had a bemused look on her face as she watched us go, then simply turned to head back into the palace, flicking her mane back with a chuckle. Caught up in the thrill of the chase, Nimble and I soon reached the gate house. It was a modest size building, housing a detachment of soldiers that monitored all the comings and goings of visitors. Currently one of their number was busy chatting with another soldier whilst enjoying a steaming mug of tea. At our entrance, the two looked up in surprise, first to me, then Nimble.

“Corporal Nimble?” the guard asked, recognising my colleague. “Why are you out of uniform, and who’s that pony with you?”

“Re-assignment,” Nimble explained hurriedly, “by personal order of Princess Celestia. This is Captain Fairlight of the watch. Jet Stream, can we borrow your dog?”

The pegasus stood there for a moment, placing his mug back on the table. “My dog? What do you want Horst for?”

I stepped in. “Soldier, can your dog pick up scents?”

He grinned back at me. “’course he can, best nose in the guard has Horst.”

Hearing his name, a sleek well fed hound appeared from under the table, licking crumbs from his muzzle. He wandered up to me for a quick sniff and a fuss whilst Nimble passed the saddle bag to Jet Stream. “Here you go. There’s a faint smell of antiseptic on the thing. We want to see if there’s any trace of it here in the palace.”

Jet Stream snorted, wrinkling up his nose. “Probably in the infirmary, but what’ll that prove?”

Stroking Horst I glanced up at the guard. “Let’s just see, eh?”

Jet Stream hadn’t been exaggerating about his dog’s abilities. Horst went into action in moments, rushing from the guard room in a flurry of legs and tail. Had he picked something up already? We all followed him outside where he was busily engaged wandering around the entrance road, following what looked like a completely random path - if any at all. Was my hunch wrong? I shared a worried look with Nimble. This could be a red herring for sure, but there were always other avenues to explore if this one lead nowhere. You just had to find them. ‘Keep an open mind’, dad had always told me, ‘Sometimes your first reaction, your first opinion, is the correct one. Don’t over think things and always be ready to accept that you can be wrong’. There had been a boat load of ‘dad-isms’, some useful, some… well, just dad being dad. A bark made us jump and Horst pulled hard on the lead, heading toward a gap in the carriage loading bay where he began to circle and whine.

“He’s indicating,” Jet Stream said. “Something’s been here with that scent.”

“A carriage?” Nimble said.

“Or something larger,” I stated, noting the larger delivery wagons. “Who’d notice one more delivery?”

“Best place to hide a tree is in a forest,” Nimble quoted. “Let’s have a look at the books. Maybe there’ll be something we can find in there.”

Jet Stream was more than happy to show us his record books. Laid out in neat hoofwriting and meticulous detail, every single aspect of every delivery to the palace was recorded both in and out for each day going back over the last year. Each entry held details of the company making the delivery, their time in, time out, cargo manifest, authorisation, and so on. Despite the three of us checking however, there was no trace of any recent delivery of medical supplies, nor had there been since the previous month for that matter. At least thirty deliveries had been made on the day in question alone, but nothing you could really link with the smell of antiseptic, or a smuggled assassin. I was missing something. Damn it, I had to be!

“We check everything for thaumaturgical radiation sources,” Jet stream explained, pointing to one of the detectors hanging up beside the door. “We always work in pairs. One of us scans the vehicle whilst the other does the paperwork.”

“Anything out of the ordinary recently?” I asked hopefully.

Jet Stream shook his head. “Nothing. If anything had shown up we would have been all over it.”

I didn’t doubt it, although I couldn’t disregard the possibility that one of the deliveries had somehow managed to slip through. A careless guard, a momentary lapse in concentration, or even an insider waving them through, no checkpoint was completely watertight. From what I understood from the princesses, my magic would have been blocked by the hornlock, potentially fooling a detector. That was all well and good of course, but it didn’t account for the MAD I’d been carrying. Those things gave off magical radiation like a bloody klaxon. Putting those through to one side, Nimble and I set about interviewing the rest of the guards on duty, even asking around the kitchen staff and porters, but all leads drew a blank. The palace had been so busy with the preparations, nopony would have noticed one more guard walking past. And besides, the fact that they all looked the same due to the magic in their uniforms was far from helpful in singling one out. I was starting to think I’d have to re-evaluate my hunch. After all, it could have simply been a spill from a medical cabinet or maybe the bags had been used to transport medical items at some point and the smell had lingered. There were so many possibilities to explore, but right now I didn’t the luxury of time. I had to try and find who was behind this somehow, and quickly. We already had some possibilities of course: the commissioner, Velvet Cream, maybe even that human mare he hung around with. They’d all been involved in the drug, weapon and sex trade, but assassination? It was a hell of a leap from crime that lined your pockets to regicide. Velvet had a small army of thugs behind him that were well known for committing atrocities of course, but there was a hell of difference between what they got up to and the organisation that had gone into this. I scrubbed my mane in thought. No. No, I just couldn’t see it. Of those three the one most likely to get involved in something so sinister would the commissioner, but would she really become embroiled in something like this? After the incident with the Manehattan Watch I wouldn’t put anything past her. The others were just your run of the mill crime syndicate scum, but this was in a different league all together. Could she be using them somehow? I leaned back in the chair and rubbed my eyes. What wasn’t I seeing here?

Suddenly Nimble stuck his head through the door. “Captain! You might want to hear this.” I trotted across to see what he’d found. Gods know, we could do with some good news right about now. When I reached him, our erstwhile corporal was stood next to a flour coated kitchen worker in an apron. The poor bugger looked far from happy to be there, and kept glancing nervously at the two of us as though we were going to rough him up at any minute. “This is Sorghum,” Nimble continued. “He’s one of the commichefs here at the palace.”

I held out a hoof. “Hello, Sorghum, the name’s Fairlight. Thanks for agreeing to chat with us. I know how busy you must be right now, so I promise we won’t keep you long, okay?” I smiled pleasantly, trying to put the poor fellow at ease.

The corporal nudged him. “Go on, tell him what you told me.”

The burgundy earth pony began to scratch his mane nervously. “Well, erm, it’s probably nothin’ really, but there was this laundry wagon ‘ere this mornin’ from ‘Bright Mornin’ Laundry’ see? Real early like, like it ‘ad been ‘ere all night. I thought it was a bit funny as the boss ‘ad fell out with ‘em ‘bout a week ago an’ told ‘em we’d be changing our supplier. I says to Cleo, I says ‘That’s funny in’t it? What with Clatter fallin’ out with ‘em an’ all.’ She thought so too. She says, ‘That’s right funny that is.’ ‘Aye,’ says I, ‘Bet ‘e goes off ‘is nut when ‘e sees that lot!’”

“Do you remember anypony with the wagon?” I asked. “Any drivers? Or crew?”

Sorghum shook his head. “Nay, it just sat there for a few ‘ours an’ then it were gone. Probly Clatter got wind of it, I reckon.”

“Any idea what they fell out over?”

The stallion shrugged. “Dunno. You could always ask ‘im though, he’ll probly be in ‘is office today.”

“What’s his name?” I asked.

“Seville Clatter,” Sorghum said, wiping his hooves on his apron. “An’ speakin’ of which, I better get me arse back to work. I’m on the clock y’know.”

I clopped him on the shoulder. “Thanks friend. Nimble, let’s have a chat with those gate guard chaps again, shall we? After that, we can go and have a natter with Mister Clatter.”

So… Bright Morning Laundry, was it? A wagon they didn’t expect to see turns up, stays here overnight, then vanishes first thing in the morning. Coincidence perhaps? Maybe, but I doubted it. In any case I’d have to do a little more digging first before I could begin to start piecing it all together just yet. The information from Sorghum had been a godsend, once you could get your head around his west country dialect, and could prove to be just the break we needed. I had a good feeling about this lead, and depending upon what I unearthed next, we could really be onto something. Back in the guard house we checked the books once again, and sure enough the wagon from ‘Bright Morning Laundry’ was recorded in all its glory. It had arrived in the evening with a delivery of laundered staff uniforms and then left early the following morning. The times coincided perfectly with when, according to Luna, I had been apprehended, and then shortly after when the spell been removed. Thank the goddesses that the MAD I’d had in my bag hadn’t been activated or else I’d have been nothing more than dust motes right now. What the hell had I been planning on using that for anyway? Damn them! They’d really done a number on my memories alright, not to mention the mess they’d made of my coat. What else had they done to me?

We sat down in the guard room as Jet Stream brought us a cup of tea each. Nimble, in typical style, stretched his forelegs out and stared up at the ceiling as he munched on a biscuit. “What do we do now, Cap’? You’re the ex-watch guy. I’m more used to breaking heads than using mine to be honest.”

“One step at a time,” I replied, taking a sip of my tea. “We check in with the laundry people and go from there. Bright Morning seem like a legit company, but there could be an insider with them or it could have been a stolen wagon they used. There’s always the possibility whoever was behind it simply made up their own livery to make a facsimile of a legit wagon. Regardless, we need to speak to the agency and see if they can get some agents to do some digging on the company itself. They’ve got the resources and the pony power to do that a lot quicker than us.”

“What about the watch though?” Nimble asked. “They’d know if any vehicles had been stolen.”

I shook my head. “No. As far as we’re concerned the watch is compromised, Nimble. I’ll explain later. Just trust me on this.”

He shrugged, helping himself to another biscuit. “You’re the boss. Hey, can you hear that buzzing noise?”

Buzzing? I looked down at my cloaks pocket. My communicator, freshly provided by the princess, was indeed making my pocket vibrate. “Agent Nox,” I answered. Nimble’s eyebrows shot up, apparently unused to such advances in magical technology.

“Fairlight?” Mitre’s voice crackled over the comm. “Her majesty has just sent word. What’s the situation?”

I explained things briefly to my old mentor, receiving only a simple ‘I see’ in response. Silence followed.

“Chief, how’s my family doing?”

“Last I saw of them they were frantic,” came the reply. “Your ‘tribal friends’ have been out searching high and low for you, which has caused no end of worry for the other villages in the area. Apparently they’re not used to having heavily armed minotaurs suddenly appearing and turning the place upside down. So much for bloody subtlety, lad, you’ll need to have a word with those things when you get back.”

I tried to hide my mirth. “Will do, Chief. Right now if you can crack on with looking into the laundry peoples company, we’ll get ourselves over to the Canterlot agency hub and pick up some gear. Is my credit still good?”

“It has Celestia’s name to it, boy.” Mitre paused, his voice sounding a little softer than usual. “Look, keep safe out there, I’ll be in touch as soon as I have anything to go on.”

I nodded. “Thanks, Chief, owe you one.”

Nimble stared at the communicator, shaking his head. “Some bit of kit that. I’ve heard of them but never seen one.”

“It does the job,” I said, slipping it back into my pocket. “Up for a trip?”

“Bright Morning Laundry?” he asked. “Should have brought my spare tunics with me, they could do with a spruce up.”

I chucked, adjusting my cloak. “We’ll need to divert to the agency hub here in Canterlot first so we can pick up some gear. I don’t know about you, but this old army tunic’s bloody awful.” I scratched at the thing I’d been wearing and frowned. “I look better in black anyway.”

It didn’t take long to travel to the Canterlot agency hub. It was a fraction of the size of the Manehattan one, but held all the usual items including a set of agency clothing, shades, and a smart new PDW each. Good old ‘sun butt’ had actually come through too, her signature on our requisition chitty the veritable golden ticket for whatever our grubby little hearts desired. Well, almost. The cafeteria food was just as bland and flavour free as I remembered in Manehattan, and the two of us settled down to a bowl of ‘something’ that looked like it would be best employed in fixing bathroom tiles.

“Luna’s arse, Captain, what the hell is this crap?” Nimble’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “It’s bloody well inedible!”

I sniffed, taking a mouthful. “Yeah, but it’s full of your ‘five a day’ and all that. Flavour wasn’t factored in.”

“Five a day?” he huffed bitterly. “Huh! It’ll keep you regular if nothing else.”

I raised my eyebrows and grinned at him. I liked Nimble, he was a good pony. “Any thoughts on the job at hoof?” I took another mouthful of the agency gloop, trying to get it down before my tastebuds thought better of it.

“Yeah, I do.” Nimble put down his spoon. “The chemical smell, the antiseptic...” He made a circling motion with his hoof. “That laundry wagon? If it was the one that brought you here it may have made other collections, maybe even one where they use that antiseptic stuff. The clothes and equipment come in, get cleaned, then go back to the customer.”

“So?” I asked twirling my spoon encouragingly.

“So, we’re looking for whoever has contracts with the cleaning company and may use antiseptic: clinics, doctors surgeries, hospitals, dentists, that sort of thing.” Nimble nodded to himself. “That’s what I reckon anyway.”

I nodded in agreement. “We need to visit the laundry and do some digging of our own. The agency will be doing their own work, but I don’t think it would hurt to do a little sniffing around in the meantime. You up for a trip?”

The corporals ears perked up. “Sure!”

“Let’s see if we can get a pilot and a carriage,” I smiled. “Celestia’s magical chitty should sort that out without too much bother.”

Nimble nodded. “Yeah... Just one thing though, Cap’.”

“Huh? What’s that?”

The corporal glowered at his half consumed bowl of gloop. “Let’s stop off and get something to eat first, eh?”

Chapter Four - Private Investigations

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CHAPTER FOUR

PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS

Manehattan. Mid-afternoon, fed, watered, and heading for a large set of chimneys near the waterfront. I hadn’t been to this area of the city in a long time. In fact I hadn’t been to Manehattan itself in a long time either, or so it felt. Nostalgia hit me just as hard as the pervasive smells of smoke, oil, grime and cooking. The deafening noise of a city in full swing encompassed me like a cocoon, wrapping around me with all of its comforting familiarity. The constant hubbub was probably annoying to some ponies, maybe even disturbing to those who were more used to a life out in the country, but to me this dirty, rough and ready jungle of buildings and sound still felt like home. Home… What a word that was. Once this city had been my home. My house where Meadow and I were going to raise our family, the watch office where I had spent countless days and nights away from her hard at work. And what for? What had any of it been for? I could have taken a quiet job in Ponyville or any other quieter location, but no… No, I had to pick a place where it was more ‘exciting’ and put me right at the sharp edge of law enforcement. And look where that had gotten us. Meadow, Sparrow, my career… all gone. Years of my life, the time I should have been spending with the mare I loved, vanished in the maelstrom of corruption the commissioner had unleashed. I still blamed myself for what had happened, regardless of Mitre’s assurances. If only I hadn’t been so damnably stubborn, or stuck my muzzle into places into things that drew too much attention to me. But then, what kind of watch officer would I have been then? Just another bent copper on the take. Still, brooding on such things never did anypony any favours. Now that I had a new home in Smiling Borders it didn’t hurt as much to think about the past. Meadow and Sparrow were safe in the herd, Lumin, Shadow and Tingles were safe in the Wyvern’s Tail, and I suppose, when you thought about it, things could have turned out a damned sight worse than they had. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself anyway.

Nimble was peering over the side of the carriage like an enthralled school foal. I think it was his childlike innocence that appealed to me. Despite everything he had been through, all he had seen, he was still full of life and boundless energy. “I’d never get used to living in this place,” he called over the wind noise. “So many ponies! So much noise!” He flopped back in his seat. “I don’t know how you put up with it without going completely bonkers.”

“You get used to it,” I said, looking over the driver’s shoulder. “After a while it fades into the background and you don’t even notice it.”

The driver called back, “Heads up ponies, we’re nearing our destination. You want me to land nearby or in the carriage park?”

“The park will do, thanks.” I replied.

I made a quick check of my gear. We weren’t on any clandestine mission this time, and would simply be walking in the front door of the laundry company for a chat with whoever was in charge. Still, it didn’t hurt to be prepared. I’d been caught too many times with my metaphorical pants down already. Without even realising it I reached a hoof up to rub the back of my head. It was miracle it was still in one piece with all the thumps I’d taken lately. If this kept up I’d be seriously considering investing in a helmet! I checked my seat belt, feeling the wind change as we descended. Even before we landed though the chemical smell hit me full on, making my nose itch horribly. I sneezed almost at the same time Nimble did and we shared a laugh.

“I don’t envy ponies working in here,” I grinned, wiping my muzzle. “Goddesses, what a smell!”

Nimble nodded. “My sister used to work in one once when she was in her teens. Great for getting your gear cleaned on the cheap. She didn’t half pong when she got home though.”

“I bet!”

We touched down on the street outside the columned entrance to the main office building. A large sign over the portico in large red and yellow letters proudly proclaimed, rather unsurprisingly, ‘BRIGHT MORNING LAUNDRY’. Beneath which a smaller sign read, ‘General Enquiries and Reception.’ It was your typical factory unit: square, acres of red brick and concrete slabs, and with a very particular eye for function over form. The architects must have been having a day off when they came up with the plans for this place alright. Either that or they hated the owners with a passion. To add to the aesthetics of the laundry, in the background steam poured out of huge slatted vents set in the walls of the main factory building. The hum of vents and fans permeated everything around us, as much felt as it was heard. Somehow I doubted many worked here through choice. Judging by the general age of the workers we’d encountered so far, teens and older mares mostly, I doubted the wages were much to write home about either. We trotted in through the doors to the reception desk, addressing the bored looking female who was busily engaged in filing her hooves.

“Excuse me, miss?” I asked politely.

The butterscotch coated mare didn’t look up. “Can I help you?”

I nodded. “Yes please. May we speak to the manager?”

“Do you have an appointment?”

I smiled. “No.”

She let out a unnecessarily long sigh. “Then you’ll need to make one first then, wont you? I suppose I can do it for you.” The file was slammed onto the desk noisily. “Take a seat and I’ll-”

“Oh, I think he’ll want to see us now, miss,” I cut in, remaining polite yet firm in my tone of voice. “We’re on official business.”

“Oh?” she mimicked sarcastically. “And just who should I say is calling?”

“Agents Nox and Nimble,” I replied. “Celestian Bureau of Investigation. Here on her majesty’s service.”

The mare froze, her eyes rolling up and finally taking in the badge I held out for her. “Er… one moment please, gentlecolts.” She clicked the intercom, never looking away even for a second. “Mister Bone Meal, sir, there’s two gentlecolts to see you.”

The intercom buzzed back, the crackly voice sounding surprisingly irritated. “I’m busy Rose! Find out what they want and send them away, I don’t have time to be seeing anypony right now.”

Rose looked to me then back to the intercom. “Sir, they’re from the-”

“-I couldn’t care less if they were from the bloody moon, Rose!” the angry voice retorted. “I said I’m busy you silly girl, now get rid of them and stop bothering me!”

The intercom cut off, leaving Rose looking at us with a stricken expression. “I’m sorry gentlecolts, if you’d like to leave contact details I’m sure Mister Bone Meal will-”

I motioned to the office door with the brass plaque stamped with the word ‘Private’ on it. Following my lead, Nimble nodded and turned, aiming his powerful hind right legs at thick timber portal. He looked to me for approval.

Rose, finally cottoning on to what we were about to do, stood up in alarm. “Hey! You can’t-!”

“You may fire when ready, Mister Nimble.”

The door flew open with such force it was ripped from its top hinge and crashed into the room with a deafening bang. I followed it in, looking around the at the lavish book cases, the grandfather clock, a beautiful array of ornaments, and finally, the large oak desk behind which the voice on the intercom had originated. “Whoops!” I chuckled throatily. “Sorry about that! Guess old agent Nimble here doesn’t know his own strength” I smiled pleasantly, taking in the scene. Now this was an office!

Bone Meal, an older yellow stallion in a neat three piece suit, was ensconced in a large red velvet chair with a look of horror on his face. His chair was tilted back at a strange angle and he had his hooves held down beneath the desk’s top. “Wha?! Who the blistering buggering hell are you two?!” he choked furiously. “Get the hell out of here! Rose! ROSE! Call the bloody watch, girl!”

The poor receptionist appeared in the doorway, poking her nose through gingerly. “Sorry Mister Bone Meal, sir, I tried to stop them.”

Nimble shooed her out of the room. “Thank you, miss, it’s all under control. Now why don’t you go back and do some reception-isting things, or whatever it is you do, okay?”

I looked back at him. “Reception-isting?”

Nimble shrugged, raising his eyebrows.

“Mister Bone Meal!” I said chirpily, taking a seat. “Agent Nox, CBI. The pony putting your door back up is agent Nimble. My apologies for the abrupt intrusion, however we are here on a matter of national security. Your cooperation, naturally, is appreciated.”

“Th…This is intolerable!” The stallion blurted out. “I don’t care who you are, you don’t just burst into my office like some bloody barbarian! That door cost over two hundred and fifty bits!”

I leaned my hooves on the desk top. “Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. Very well, I’ll make this simple, Mister Meal. There’s been a serious crime committed and your company can, how you say, ‘help us with our enquiries’.” I fixed him with a hard look. “You play ball, help us with what we want, and we go away happy. You refuse, and we come back here with a royal warrant and take this place apart brick by brick. It’s your choice.”

He swallowed, staring at me with wide eyes. “What do you want?”

I shrugged, settling back in the chair. “Just access to your delivery records, and to be able to speak to your staff if need be.”

Bone Meal spluttered, his eyes darting to his lap. “Can… can you give me a few minutes?”

The answer was simple. “No.” I knocked on the desk/ “You can come out now, miss.”

A muffled squeak from under the desk was followed by a shuffling sound as a lilac pegasus mare poked her head out. She peered up at me with flushed cheeks before gazing sheepishly at her boss. Bone Meal slid his chair out of the way, shooing her from the office.

“Thank you, Crest,” he coughed, “you can finish the… er… cleaning, later.”

“Yes, Mister Meal,” Crest blurted out, her voice cracking as she hurried from the room.

I treated the suited stallion to my most endearing smile, “Now then, Mister Meal, shall we begin?”

*******************

Ah, paperwork, where would we be without it? Filling filing cabinets, drawers, shelves and in-boxes across the land from Los Pegasi to Appleloosa and beyond. There would never be enough sheets of paper in the whole world to cope with the sheer deluge of pointless word diarrhoea businesses could spew up. How there were any trees left still standing was a miracle in itself. Papermills across Equestria must have made an absolute fortune off this kind of red tape encrusted bureaucracy. Nimble and I were up to our necks in it too, working our way through the records along with two employees and a flustered looking owner. The records were, it has to be said, immaculately well kept and made checking through them simplicity itself. The problem we had was that everything seemed to be accounted for; there had been no runs to the palace in weeks, not since some cock-up over a delivery had lost them the royal contract - a point which Bone Meal fully placed at the hooves of the palace staff.

“It was ridiculous!” he exclaimed animatedly. “I mean, how can they accuse us of ruining uniform tabards when we’re a cleaning company for I ask you? Of all the blasted nerve!”

“Uh-huh”, Nimble muttered not really listening.

“For Celestia’s sake, all that time and effort improving our network and public relations and then some puffed up little bureaucrat pulls the contract because of a ‘funny smell’… A funny smell! I ask you, what’s the world coming to?”

“Yeah…”

I reached across the desk and took a quill to make notes. Dibbing it in the ink I noticed there was an extra column on this particular page that was different to the rest of the entries. It had additional times on it, several of which certainly fell within the right time frame for the ‘incident’ at the palace. Incident… Was that what we were calling it now? I kept having to remind myself that although it was ‘physically’ me that had been at the centre of it all, at the same time it wasn’t me who’d been in control. It certainly hadn’t been the first time I’d been played like a marionette by somepony, but it had been the first time I’d been possessed body and soul. The very thought of it sent a chill down my spine. I’d have to have a drink later to get my head around it, and then I’d have to find some way to contact my family in Smiling Borders too. Fortunately, Mitre and Princess Luna had that in hoof for later. I nudged the filly standing next to me.

“What’s this column for?” I asked.

She was peering over my shoulder through horn rimmed glasses. “That’s the time the wagons are clocked in and out of the yard,” she pointed out helpfully. “Helps us to keep track of delivery times.”

“I see, and this one here?” I tapped one of the entries that had a red ‘L’ next to it.

“Oh, that’s when they’re back late,” the young mare explained.

“Bloody slackers these drivers,” Bone Meal chirped in irritably. “Keep buggering off for tea breaks on company time every chance they get. I’m not damned well paying them to piss about when they should be working!”

I looked up from the book to both of them. “How do you know if they haven’t got a good reason for being late?” I asked. “Traffic in the cities can be a nightmare, and some places will have larger loads than others, surely?”

The young mare trotted over to a drawer and pulled out another book. “This one shows our regular runs and journey times. We use it to estimate times for collections and deliveries for when we’re calculating routes for the drivers. If they’re late we mark it in the book.”

Looking through the entries I noticed something odd. Many of the deliveries were late, but usually only by a few minutes. One however stood out in particular. “This one here, it’s nearly half a day over.”

“WHAT?!” Bone Meal nearly choked. “Half a blasted day?!”

Another of the assistants cut in, “It’s been reported to the driver’s supervisor, sir. It only happened the other day so he won’t have-”

“The other day?” I said checking the entry again. “Who was the driver?”

The mare checked a wall mounted roster. “Humble Dart, he’s the new fellow.”

“New fellow?” Nimble asked, “How new?”

Bone Meal answered the question himself. “He only started a week ago. Good driver though by all accounts too. After this though I’m wondering if we made a mistake hiring him on. I mean, a few minutes is one thing, but half a blasted day late? What the hell was he doing out there?”

Nimble turned to face me. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

I nodded. “Let me see the deliveries for that day.”

The list was, unfortunately, uninspiring. Collection’s of fresh laundry, uniforms and so forth, then a drop off at Manehattan General. Following that it was several trips to various clinics and then finally back to the laundry to drop off the sacks for cleaning.

“Manehattan General...” I muttered quietly. “Bone Meal, you mentioned earlier something about a ‘funny smell’?”

“Why… yes, I suppose I did,” the stallion said warily. “A little while back the hospital started using a new chemical that stank the back of the wagons out to high heaven. Whatever it was soaked right through our regular collection sacks and into the decking. We got a professional valeting service in to clean them of course, but nothing we did would shift it. Cost a bloody fortune too! Naturally we spoke to the hospital about it, but they told us it was ‘new health regulations’ and there was nothing they could do about it. We didn’t have much of a choice in the matter anyway. We couldn’t afford to lose the contract, it’s about twenty percent of our annual income, so we had to come up with a work around.”

Nimble looked at him carefully. “Do you use that wagon for dropping off items at the palace?”

Bone Meal shook his head. “Not since we lost the contract, no. The smell got on some of their equipment we’d had in for cleaning and they said they’d had to replace everything due to it being ‘contaminated with foreign substances’ or some such rubbish.” He let out a sigh. “They dropped us like a hot brick after that.”

“Do you use any other wagons for the hospital run?” I asked.

One of the assistants spoke up. “Some, yes. Certain wagons are set aside for them, especially since that business with the palace. After they started using that new chemical stuff we’ve been using sealed waterproof sacks to keep any contamination away from clean or soiled medical garments. They’re cleaned in a separate part of the site now too.”

I pointed to the entry for the wagon Humble Dart was in charge of. “Where’s this wagon now?” I asked hopefully. “Is it here?”

“It’ll be in the yard,” Bone Meal replied. “We’re low on driver’s now, what with holidays and colds doing the rounds.”

“Can we have a look at it?” I asked.

“Well, yes, of course,” Bone Meal nodded. “Follow me and I’ll show you where it is.”

Sure enough, out in the wagon park a number of Bright Morning Laundry’s delivery wagons were parked up. Some were in the process of being loaded ready for the days deliveries, with a small army of ponies shuttling the aforementioned sacks from the laundry units into the large vehicles with the aid of the same kind of wheeled cages I’d seen at the palace. Most of the bays were empty, no doubt already out on deliveries or collections, however there was only the one I had my attention set on.

“It’s this one,” Bone Meal said, gesturing for one of the assistants to open the vehicle’s double doors.

The wagon in question looked no different from the rest of its fellows, sporting the company logo on the side in large friendly red and yellow letters. I took a deep breath, praying my hunch was right, as with a loud metallic creak the doors swung open to reveal the very empty cargo compartment. Empty, except for the faint, yet distinct smell of antiseptic.

“Nimble?”

“Same smell, Cap,” Nimble nodded. “No doubt about it.”

I turned to Bone Meal. “I want the address of the driver, Humble Dart. As for the wagon, nopony is to touch this until the forensic ponies have examined it. Do you understand?”

The stallion’s mouth opened and shut several times like some landed carp. “Wha- Why?! I need my wagons for the business! All of them!”

Nimble clopped him on the shoulder. “It’ll only be for a day, Mister Meal. The princesses will be told about your co-operation, and I’m sure they’ll be happy to reimburse you for any losses you may have sustained.”

“They… they will?” he stammered. I could almost see bits glowing in his eyes and I shook my head in dismay. Bloody business ponies…

“The address details?” I prompted.

“Oh! Yes!” Bone Meal gestured to his assistant, “Glory, help the agents with this will you?”

“Yes, Mister Meal.”

We followed the young mare back into the office where she began to rumage in one of the filing cabinets for the requested information. Meanwhile Bone Meal, goddess bless him, had already disappeared back into his own little sanctum to start arranging an invoice for loss of earnings, inconvenience, and no doubt the cost of a new door. I doubted the palace would object considering the circumstances, but accounting departments were a different animal altogether. How many times had I had to wait months for even the smallest amount of out of pocket expenses to be paid back when I’d worked for the watch? ‘Have you got a receipt?’ I was asked each time. Bloody hell, what a bunch they were to deal with! Stuffy, boring, and with about as much personality as a brick. And a boring brick at that. Stores were another group that didn’t like parting with their little horde. You had be wearing rags before they’d even consider replacing an item of uniform, and even then it had be authorised by ‘the clothing committee’. For the goddess’s sake, the ‘clothing committee’ of all things! If I ever needed evidence that the world had gone mad, then that was it. To imagine that an actual committee was necessary to decide as to whether a torn uniform tunic needed to be replaced or a winter overcoat issued, was truly the essence of bureaucracy gone off the lunacy spectrum and into the realm of gibbering rubber room antics that only office clerks believed passed as ‘normal’.

“Here you are.” Glory passed us a piece of paper with the name and address of our boy on it.

“What do you think, ‘Cap?” Nimble asked, peering at it. “We going in alone?”

I shook my head. “Not a chance. If this guy’s got any sense he’s already skipped town, but if he’s there, then I want to cover all the bases in case he makes a run for it. We’re close now, Nimble, and I’ll be damned if I let him slip though my hooves because I was careless.” I felt a shiver run down my spine as we bid Glory farewell and strapped ourselves into the chariot waiting outside. No… No, I wasn’t going to let these bastards get away with what they’d done to me. Come hell of high water, somepony, whoever or whatever they were, was going to answer for it.

Leaving the laundry behind us we soared into the sky towards Fifty Fourth Street on the east side of Manehattan. I remembered the area well as it was the tramway terminus for the green line, and a regular place to collect the drunks that had decided to sleep in the waiting room there. Ah, the joys of life in the watch! Sometimes I would share a cup of tea with the tram drivers and warm myself in the cab on a cold night. I used to love riding the rattly old things too. It was amazing just how popular they were even now, and many had been kept in service well beyond when the should probably have been retired to a museum. In Manehattan, ‘if it weren’t broke, it didn’t get fixed’, as dad had constantly reminded me. I wondered what he’d make of all this?

I tapped my communicator. “Chief? Nox here. You receiving?”

The was a moments delay before, “Go ahead.”

“We’ve got our wagon,” I said. “Can you ask Brandy to sort out a forensic team to go over it asap?”

“Will do,” Mitre replied. “You find the driver?”

“We’re on our way to pick him up now,” I explained. “You got any units nearby to assist?”

“What’s the address?”

“One-twenty-two, fifty-fourth Street,” I recited. “Guy by the name of Humble Dart.”

“Roger that.” I heard the distinct sound of paper being rustled in the background as Mitre continued, “We’ve done some digging on the laundry company. Your pony Bone Meal runs a legit business apparently. Used to have the contract for the palace until there was some argument over chemicals on the staff uniforms.”

I nodded. “That’s what we’ve found too. The driver’s a new hire who was late back on the day I appeared at the palace with my mind scrambled. He’s got to be the pony we’re looking for, or at least one of them.”

“I’ve got units on route to that address now.”

I cleared my throat. “Chief, I think we need to check out the clinics, surgeries, and hospitals in the area too.” I caught Nimble’s eye. “These were all on the company’s run that day. I’ll pass you to Nimble, he’s got the list.”

“Received. Oh, and Nox? I’ve received word that Luna’s been in touch with your family, so they know you’re safe. Just do yourself a favour and don’t forget to give them a call when you get back, eh? Otherwise they might decide to finish you off themselves.” Mitre reminded me.

I smiled quietly to myself. “Understood.”

I passed the communicator to Nimble who carefully went through the list with my old boss whilst I sat back, mentally preparing myself for what we might encounter when we landed. In some respects it felt like old times. There was the investigation, the description of the target, the location, and the adrenalin rush that came with the prospect of an imminent arrest of a known felon. No matter how much planning you made however, there was always that unknown factor where anything, not matter how seemingly trivial, could go wrong. All you could do was keep alert, and watch your back. Fortunately Mitre would have the full weight of the agency brought in to help us, and this way we could cover far more ground for what I hoped would be a quicker result. And speed was something we needed right now. With the date for the royal wedding looming, time was not something we could afford to squander. On a more personal level I wanted to get this whole episode bottomed so I could get my sorry carcase back to Smiling Borders as soon as possible. My family hadn’t seen me since I ‘went missing’ and would be absolutely frantic. And no wonder. I’d barely been back from the Withers five minutes before this latest nightmare kicked off! Still, thank goodness for Luna though, she’d come through for us once again. Perhaps being a wendigo really did have its fringe benefits after all. ‘Praise the moon’ indeed…

I peered over the side of the chariot, trying to get my bearings. This time of day traffic was fairly heavy in the city despite its long wide streets, and I was thankful for the use of a sky carriage rather than a land based one. Even so, up here just below the clouds airborne traffic could still get hairy, particularly around rush hour or when there was bad weather. Collisions were not uncommon, nor was the occasional unfortunate soul minding their own business down at street level being hit by falling debris. Thankfully, our pilot knew his stuff and got us down in on piece, just around the corner from the target’s house. Nimble and I climbed out just as the communicator began to buzz in my pocket.

“Nox? Brandy. We’re two minutes out. Hang fire until we get in position.”

I nodded. “Received.”

Several minutes later, with units positioned on nearby roof tops and alleyways, it was time to move in on our objective. This was it… I took a deep breath, checking my pistol was free in its holster. There hardly anypony around, and traffic had been blocked off to allow the operation to continue unhindered. High above us I could see pegasi in the clouds, watching. If our friend made a break for freedom, unless he could fly like the wind itself we’d have him boxed up and ready for a nice chat down at the agency office in two shakes of a lambs tail. Nimble and I rounded the corner and trotted up the large stone steps to the front door. The curtains were closed, and there was sign of any movement beyond them. A light was on inside, but other than that, nothing. I knocked, waited, then knocked again. There was no reply.

“Cap’?”

I looked to where Nimble was indicating and spotted a damp patch just in front of the door. Reaching down, I dabbed my hoof in it and tentatively tasted it. “Water,” I murmured. I closed my eyes and concentrated, listening for anything that might give us a hint as to what was going on inside. But so far, nothing at all. We nodded to each other and, with a quick well aimed buck, Nimble took the front door off its hinges. “You’re getting good at this,” I quipped quietly. “I know who to call if I lose my front door keys.”

The unicorn grinned at me. “You haven’t seen my other half.” Gods, I dreaded to think!

Inside, the hallway was saturated. A small waterfall was running down the stairs and soaking through the carpets and out the front door. I drew my PDW and kept my magic to hoof, just in case. This smelled bad, and not just the stink from the sodden carpet either. Nimble gestured to the downstairs rooms and I headed upstairs, the two us moving through the house as noiselessly as we could. As I climbed the stairs I tried to keep my mind free of intrusive thoughts which might otherwise distract me from spotting something important. Unfortunately it was a lot easier in theory than practice considering the peculiarity of the circumstances. It was hard to imagine that anypony living here would have failed to notice the water lapping around their fetlocks. Naturally there were any number of possibilities that could explain the squelching mess beneath my hooves of course: the owner had gone away and forgotten a tap was running, they’d been taken sick and were in hospital, and so on. Somehow though, I doubted it. Reaching the landing I began to see the scale of the damage. The entire upstairs was a wreck. The water must have been running for a good while and had soaked through the floor and was gradually creeping up the wallpaper and under doors into other rooms. Following the flow of water wasn’t hard either, the sound of the taps running helping to muffle my splashing hooves as I progressed. So far there was no sign of any life in the house other than myself and Nimble. And certainly no sign of the elusive Humble Dart. With a sinking feeling I took a breath, listening, but all I could hear was the ever present roaring sound of water running, pouring through the banister spindles, dripping down to the floor below... Finally however, I reached my goal - the bathroom, the source of what would in all likelihood be an insurance company’s worst nightmare. The door was partially shut, and I pushed it open the rest of the way carefully, my pistol readied. I could see the water pouring over the side of the bath, the sodden bath mat, the… Damn it all… Inside, the bath’s yellow coated occupant lay floating face down in the water. Turning the tap off I looked at his cutie mark; a dart board and champagne glass. I recalled his details from the employee records I’d seen in the laundry’s office. There was no doubt, it was him alright - Humble Dart. Poor sod, he wouldn’t be making any more deliveries any time soon.

Nimble appeared behind me, “Nothing downstairs, Cap’.” He stared at the figure in the bath. “That him?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

The corporal slammed his pistol back into its holster and nickered under his breath. “Buck it, there goes our lead. What do you reckon? Suicide?”

I shook my head, careful to avoid touching the corpse. “I don’t think so. There’s no sign of any injuries I can see, no open pill bottles, ligatures or suchlike either, but I don’t want to disturb anything too much before forensics get here and give the place a proper going over. So far as I can tell, somepony’s drowned the poor bugger. Either way, we won’t be getting anything out of him now.”

Nimble leaned against the doorway and sighed, “So what now? Check all the places he visited with his wagon?”

“That about the size of it,” I said resignedly. “I’ll check in with Brandy and Mitre first, see if they’d found anything.”

“Um, shouldn’t we be going through his clothes or something?” Nimble asked. “You know, his coat pockets, clothes drawers, that sort of thing?”

“Hoping to find a matchbook with a number on it or a hotel room key?” I smiled a little more sarcastically than I meant. “You’ve been watching too many films, Corporal. Leave that to the white coats to pick through. The last thing they want is us contaminating a crime scene. Believe me, they’re a damned sight better at this than we’d be.”

He didn’t look convinced, but then I was probably just as enthusiastic as young Nimble at his age. The watch liked things done by the book, and there was a reason we had specialists for particular fields. Trampling over evidence was a regular complaint of theirs, and right so. If they found anything, they’d tell us. We’d barely stepped out the front door when the Brandy appeared.

“Dead?” he asked plainly.

“Yeah,” I said, shaking the water off my hooves. “Looks like somepony didn’t want him talking. You’ll find him upstairs face down in the bath.”

“One step ahead of us, eh?” Brandy let out a long breath. “Right then… I’ll send in the forensic boys and see if we can find anything useful. We’ll keep you posted of anything we come across. Where are you off to now?”

“Manehattan General,” I replied. I looked up at the sky. It looked like rain. “They’re the most likely candidate right now, especially with our friend Mister Dart out of the picture.”

Around us agency ponies began to appear in droves, including the solemn white coat wearing forensic teams. Brandy looked away, catching the attention of one of them. “I’d better go and help co-ordinate things here,” he explained. “Keep your comms handy, Fairlight. If you need us, we’ll be there.”

I nodded my thanks. “Thanks, Brandy.”

Leaving Brandy and the forensic team to secure the crime scene, Nimble and I prepared to set off for the one place I didn’t ever want to see the inside of again - Manehattan General Hospital. As much as it had been built to help ponies and was there when I’d needed patching back together myself on more occasions that I cared to remember, it held too many memories for me, and not all good ones either. It was where my son had been born, but also where I’d nearly lost both him and his mother. Meadow had been stationed there as a nurse too, and in fact it had been one of the reasons we’d moved out of the country and into the city in the first place. For that, as petty as it may seem, I harboured a little kernel of resentment for the old building. Every corridor, every door, every uniformed staff member and even the smell of the place, reminded me of my beloved wife. I suppose… it always would. Still, it was quite likely our best chance to get a leg up on the masterminds behind the assassination attempt, whoever they were. Meanwhile I could only hope something would come from the forensics teams. They were currently checking out the laundry trailer as well as the home of the late Humble Dart. With Brandy heading up that side of the investigation, if there was anything to find in that sodden mess, these guys would uncover it. We turned the corner to where we’d left our chariot, only to find the pilot of the lightweight conveyance had mysteriously changed in our absence. The flight suit wearing stallion stood leaning casually against the door, fiddling with a small box as we approached. But it wasn’t the new pegasus that pulled at my attention - I could detect that familiar smell from here, and it pulled me towards it with a magic all its own. I trotted over for a closer look.

“From the Sugarcube Corner?” I asked.

The pilot nodded, frowning as he tugged at the lid. “Yup, bugger to get into the boxes though…”

He was right, but with the aid of a little magic I could- “Hang on, I know that voice!”

The pony laughed and raised his goggles to reveal the blue eyes beneath. “Hello Captain, long time no see.”

“Loofa!” We clopped hooves. “What are you doing here?”

The sky blue pegasus shrugged innocently. “Anthracite had to get back to the hub for his kids birthday party tonight, and since I’d already agreed to swap shifts with him I thought I’d pop over here whilst you were busy inside.” Loofa raised an eyebrow, the infectious beaming grin I remembered him so well for bringing a smile to my face too. “Not quite protocol of course,” he continued, “but if you need a good pair of wings then you won’t get any better than these beauties.” He gave his wings a hard flap, then turned his attention to Nimble. “Who’s this then, a new acolyte?”

“Corporal Nimble,” I offered, holding out a hoof, “May I introduce Agent Soap Dish.”

“Loofa to my friends,” the pegasus said happily, shaking Nimble’s hoof. “A pleasure.”

“Likewise,” Nimble replied.

“Nimble save me from being turned into cat food a while back,” I explained as we took our seats. “Poor sod got lumbered with me again.”

“Some ponies never learn,” Loofa chuckled. “Get yourselves settled in boys, and make sure you’re all buckled in. I haven’t lost a passenger yet, and I don’t intend to start today.” Our chirpy pilot strapped himself into his harness and called back over his shoulder, “Cap’, there’s another box of chocs under the seat, help yourselves. Think of them as an in-flight treat.”

Another box? Ah, now this was more like it! “Thanks!”

“Um… Cap?” Loofa asked. “Is it me, or is your coat different? I’m sure you had a scar too the last time I saw you.”

I face hoofed. Damn it! I’d forgotten how I looked now. “It’s a long story, Loofa,” I sighed. “When I get a chance I’ll tell you everything in as much graphic detail as you can stomach. For now though, get us over to Manehattan General and show us what those wings of yours can do.”

“Can’t say no to a challenge!” Loofa laughed, adjusting his goggles and motioning to us to put on ours. “Hold onto to your lunch, boys, it’s going to get interesting. Right then… Brakes disengaged, flaps in take-off position, beginning launch sequence in five… four… three… two… one…”

With a powerful beat of our pilot’s wings we rocketed into the greying sky. Loofa hadn’t been exaggerating about his speed either. Tingles could fly at eye watering speed as I knew all too well, but that was more akin to a gentle stroll in the park compared to this! Air roared around us, extraordinary g-forces throwing us hard into our restraints. Flattening my ears did little to help with the wind blasting into them, and it was all I could do to hang on for dear life. At some point I think I heard Nimble yell something, but considering the fact that I was one step away from pissing myself I had more than enough concerns of my own right then. Through my squinting vision I saw the clouds hurtling towards us like a wall of concrete, grey and forbidding. And we were heading right for them. It was about then I decided to close my eyes again for the genuine fear of losing control of my sensibilities completely. Damp air washed over us, and then, gradually, I felt the chariot begin to level out as we cleared the cloud.

“You okay back there?” Loofa called over his shoulder.

My shoulders sank as I felt myself becoming able to breathe once more. “Just... peachy,” I called back, trying to rub some warmth back into my legs.

“Yeah, just remind me to change my pants when we land, eh?” Nimble added. “I’m built for comfort, not speed.”

Loofa began to laugh. “Received! Don’t worry lads, we’re nearly there anyway. Just chill out and enjoy the flight.”

I don’t think I’ve ever been so relieved in all my life. Loofa had certainly made his point alright. Now at least we could, as he suggested, sit back and relax before we arrive at our destination. I peered over the side of the chariot to take in the spectacular sight of Manehattan far below us. There was the statue, far out in the bay, the overhead railway, the bright lights of the theatre district, and so many more examples of just how far pony civilisation had come since those terrible days of the war. Who could say where we would be in another thousand years from now? Mind you, ponies were hardly the most innovative of races as a rule. There were always exceptions of course, like the ubiquitous Star Swirl and young Twilight whose mere dreams could change the course of an entire nation. Metaphorically, or, as in the case of the former, actuality. Perhaps it was just as well they were very much in the minority. One Star Swirl the Bearded was more than enough. Fortunately most ponies didn’t bother themselves with such fanciful things as governance, political matters or technological advancement. They found their niche in life just as countless generations had before them, living a modest life of peace and contentment, bringing life to those yet to come into the world. It truly was a book without end, with each chapter penned by descendant after descendant, who themselves would in turn continue the eternal cycle of life. Just as it had been. Just as it always would be. I wonder what my story would be like? Would anypony read it? Would they pick it up and decide it was too fanciful, too dark, or perhaps simply too long to be bothered reading past the first chapter? Who could say. I leaned back and let the wind wash over my fur as we headed out over the city, this time with a mouthful of the delicious chocolate. It was amazing how chocolate could hit that spot within you that you never even knew was there. Perhaps I had a soul after all! Watching the sun sinking over the horizon, the white clouds taking on a soft pinkish tinge, I wondered at how anypony could fail to marvel at how lucky we were to be alive to see such amazing sights. It was so beautiful… As gentle as a feather alighting upon a still pond, an image of Meadow drifted into my mind and threatened to pull me off my chocolate high. I rammed it down. It wasn’t like I couldn’t see her after all, but the small doses were painful at times. The problem was, I never wanted to say goodbye...

A tap on the shoulder from Nimble brought me round. “You okay?” he asked worriedly.

I nodded with a smile. “Yeah, just a bit melancholy at times. You know how it is.”

“I guess so,” Nimble shrugged. “Never been through the things you’ve been through though, Captain.”

Scratching my ear, I looked down at the city slipping by far below. “No. You don’t want to, Corporal. Trust me, you really don’t.” I looked up, noticing the large, square concrete monolith looming up ahead of us. “We’re here.”

We landed on the roof of the hospital with barely a jolt, worryingly in almost the exact same spot I’d arrived the last time I’d been here. Back then of course things had been different, my head had been in a different place altogether than it was now. The fear I had felt upon hearing Tingles was in trouble with the pregnancy was something I doubt I’d ever forget, and even now I would sometimes wake in the middle of the night reliving those horrifying moments of uncertainty. Thank Luna it had all turned out alright in the end. On the subject of whom, I would have to speak to the girls later and assure them I was alright. Coward that I am regarding such matters, the prospect of speaking to them was something that sent a shiver sizzling down my spine. I was going to catch all sorts of hell this time. Gods, I could just hear it now too: Why was I sat outside on my own at that time of the morning? Why didn’t I contact them as soon as I was safe? Why did they have to hear everything from Luna? And think of the trauma it had caused Lumin! Won’t somepony please think of the foals! Oh, the joys of living with mares… At least for now though, that was a concern for later. To avoid any distress to patients and staff, just Nimble and myself would be conducting the initial investigation rather than going in mob-hoofed. If we found anything of any particular note we’d call in backup, lock the hospital down, and have the place swept from top to bottom. It might sound a little drastic, but I had to admit, it got results. Actually I was quite impressed with the agency’s attitude to crime scenes; unlike some of the investigations conducted by the watch, these ponies were careful not to trample like a bunch of drunken yaks through potential evidence at crime scenes. That said, latent magic detection was a hell of a lot more advanced than it had been when I’d first started. Back then it was all paper, pencil, knocking on doors and lashings of raw intuition. Still, an old hoof at this now like my dad before me, I tended to follow my instincts and my nose first rather than relying too much on magical boxes full of blinking lights and whirring gears. And so, taking a deep breath, I pushed open the fire doors and set off down the stairs with Nimble hot on my heels. As we descended I caught a glimpse of myself reflected one of the many windows. By the gods I looked the part! There was no need for disguises now that I was back on the metaphorical payroll once more, but I still wore the sunglasses to avoid my eyes giving anypony conniptions. The eye colour changing lenses had always felt a bit weird, so I’d left them with our forensic ponies in case they could pick anything up from them. Or so I told them. Personally I doubted they’d find much of course, and to be honest, I just wanted rid of the damned things. We kept heading down the long flights of stairs rather than take one of the lifts. Being as she’d used them every day, Meadow had assured me they were the safest things in the world, and yet as much I trusted her opinion about the magically operated boxes I certainly wasn’t a fan of the cramped things, nor did I like that horrible feeling of being confined. Besides, I didn’t exactly have a great knowledge of the layout of the hospital as it was. Thankfully wall maps were liberally dotted around to help ponies navigate this concrete maze of glass, concrete and steel, and there was one on each level to inform you what was on each floor too.

“Excuse me, can I help you? This area is for staff only.” The rust coloured doctor appeared out of a side office and challenged us the moment we emerged into the corridor marked ‘Administration’. He poked his glasses back up his muzzle, taking in our agency attire with an expression of complete disinterest.

“Good afternoon, Doctor,” I replied politely. “Agents Nox and Nimble, Celestian Bureau of Investigation. We’re here on official business.” We both produced our cards. He didn’t seem impressed.

“And what ‘business’ would that be?” the doctor enquired.

I smiled pleasantly. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that, Doctor, however your co-operation would be greatly appreciated.”

The stallion sniffed, bobbing his head towards the door we’d just emerged from. “This is a busy hospital, Agent Nox,” he explained. “I’m not sure we can spare anypony to help you right now. And besides, we can’t have you wandering the corridors getting in the way like some lost soul, can we now? Tell you what, why don’t you trot on back to this ‘agency’ of yours and book an appointment with our admin team. When you’ve done that I’m sure we’d be positively falling over ourselves to help you in any way we can.”

I rubbed my chin and glanced at Nimble who smirked back at me slyly. “Not a problem, Doctor…” I looked at his name card with exaggerated scrutiny, “…Break Water?” He took a step back as I advanced on him. “I’ll be sure to explain to Princess Celestia that you were so preoccupied you didn’t want us to interrupt your busy work schedule with such trivial matters as, say for example, national security. I’m certain she’d be understanding and be all too happy to apply to your ‘admin team’ so we can find somepony else who did have the time to show us around, yes?”

The doctor coughed suddenly, readjusting his glasses again. “Yes… The Princess… um…” He looked around himself hurriedly, quickly spotting a young nurse walking out a side room. “You there!” he squeaked. “Make yourself useful and help these two…’agents’, will you? I have important matters to attend to. Very important!” Without further ado, he rushed off down the corridor and vanished into the boys room. Poor bugger, probably needed to powder his muzzle...

“Hi! Whatcha doin’?” the yellow mare chirped, her white poofy mane bouncing wildly beneath her nurse’s cap. The earth pony’s wide pink eyes were just as bright as ever. “You look… familiar,” she said inquisitively. “Very familiar...” She was coming closer. Far too close! “Do I know you?”

“Please, Miss!” I said pushing her back gently, “We’re here on official business.” Dear goddesses, of all the bloody nurses in the hospital, why did I always run into her?!

She didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “Hmm… suspicious,” she announced in doubtful tone of voice. The yellow mare lowered her eyebrows, looked me up and down. “Very suspicious.”

Nimble cleared his throat, mercifully distracting her. “Miss? Could you please show us where your medical supplies are kept?”

“Okey dokey!” Her suspicions instantly forgotten, or so I hoped, Nurse Quill turned on the spot and immediately bounced away down the corridor like a furry rubber ball. “Come along, slow-pokes!”

I face hoofed. She wasn’t the only mare they had on the team here was she? I guess she must have been, otherwise every time I came to this nut-house I wouldn’t keep bumping into the same blasted nurse would I?! I was cursed. Damn it all, I had to be! There simply no other answer… Nimble trotting alongside me grinned expansively. “What?” I snapped at him.

“Oh, nothing,” he chuckled. I shot him a glare but couldn’t help but raise a smile myself. Quill just had that kind of effect on anypony within her naturally positive blast radius, and there was absolutely no defence against whatsoever. She was a living version of a weapon of mass destruction, just with hugs and cakes.

We followed the enthusiastic nurse through the warren of corridors and stairwells before finally arriving in a brightly lit area which consisted of a vast array of polished metal shelving that so clean you could have eaten you dinner off it. All manner of medical items were stored here, from gowns to syringes and numerous other things that made my knees feel decidedly weak. Gods above, I seriously didn’t like hospitals! Looking around, we soon found the store for the antiseptic. Rather wisely it was kept secured in a room all of its own with a sealed outer door.

“Why’s it kept in here?” I asked, genuinely interested.

“Because it really stinks!” Quill chirped in response. “It makes your nose tickle, and your eyes water too. Best thing to keep those bad bugs at bay though, maybe bed bugs too. Bad bed bugs. Ha! Now try saying that three times fast! Bad begs bugs, bad beds...” She wandered off into a cheery song about bed bugs while Nimble trotted up to me, looking over his shoulder at the nurse’s antics.

“I can’t believe they let her treat ponies,” he whispered. “You think she’s alright in the noggin?”

“No, but she’s a damned good nurse,” I said peering back at Quill. “If I needed help, she’d be the one I went to alright.”

“If you say so,” Nimble muttered. “My mum always warned me about crazy girls. If I saw her coming towards me with a thermometer I think I’d run a mile.”

The door to the antiseptic store wasn’t locked. Judging by the warning labels on the bottles it wasn’t particularly dangerous unless swallowed in concentration, but the smell up close was something all its own. No wonder they kept it sealed in here. All it took was one quick whiff and it caught my throat and nose in an instant. There was no doubt about it, it was the same stuff as we’d found on the pack alright. I was just about to close the door when I sneezed unexpectedly, making my glasses fly off my nose. In one deft move the ever adept Quill caught the airborne spectacles in her hooves with a very accomplished cartwheel.

“Told you, Agent Sneezy!”

I retrieved my glasses back and popped them onto my muzzle, “Thanks, Quill.”

Returning my attention to the store I let out a sigh. This was drawing a blank. So we had the wagon, a dead driver and antiseptic, but what next? I had to think this through properly. Something was niggling me and I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it. At least, not yet. A noise from the end of the room through an open door nagged at the edges of my concentration. Looking up I saw an elderly stallion pushing a blue cart squeaking by, the noisy blue plastic thing was rattly as its operator. I noticed the name of the hospital was emblazoned on the side in big white letters too…

“Quill…” I asked quietly.

“That’s me!”

“What do you use those wheeled blue box things for?”

She smiled happily. “Oh, those! All sorts of things really: moving mail bags, equipment, laundry, you name it!”

“Laundry…” I tapped my chin in thought as something, some faint association I couldn’t quite put my hoof on, niggled at the edges of my memory. And then it came to me - of course, Bright Morning ‘Laundry’ had used similar wheeled containers to move things around in their yard, hadn’t they? Was there a connection? “Where do you keep it before it’s collected?” I asked.

“Oh, I don’t think you’d like it,” Quill whispered conspiratorially. “It’s A very scarrrry place…” she leaned forward, motioning me to listen closely. “Deep down... underground…Wooooo!”

Gods, that mare! I nickered, clucking my tongue irritably. “Quill! Please, this is important.”

The yellow mare rolled her eyes at me. “Well of course it is, silly. Just follow me and we’ll be there in a jiff.”

Our madcap nurse led us along the corridor to a wider section of the storage area that held a number of the wheeled blue boxes, all of them empty. Every on of them showed signs of considerable use, with dents, scratches and wobbly looking wheels being the order of the day. These contraptions, like the very area we were in now, was a part of the hospital rarely if ever seen by the majority of its visitors. It reminded me somewhat of the attitude many had towards the Watch when I’d worked there. Many ponies seemed to believe the world simply trundled along around them like magic. Then again, I suppose you could say that about a lot of organisations. I never really considered how the country ran as a whole, nor how the roads got fixed, the lighting worked, or anything like that. It simply… happened. In our own way, each and every one us was part of that great machine called ‘society’. Even Quill here, bouncing along full of the joys of spring. Leading the way, the curious mare finally reached a set of doors that led to a large lift which stank of musty laundry and warm muggy air.

“Going down!” she laughed as the large metal doors slid open.

Nimble's eyes went wide in alarm. Looking at the interior of the enclosed metal box nervously, he began to edge back before I grabbed his coat. “If I’m going, you’re going too buddy,” I said quietly. He glanced at me and sighed, reluctantly squeezing in next to Quill and myself. For my part I closed my eyes, fighting back my own rapidly mounting claustrophobia as I tried to ignore the fact that the three of us were stuffed in there like metaphorical sardines. Quill leaned forward, grasping the handle on the concertina-like grating that passed for a door and hauled it shut with a reverberating ‘clang’. The gratingly sharp crash of metal inches from my muzzle resonated around us like the gates of Tartarus, sealing its inhabitants away from the light of the sun and the moon. Forever. Forever in eternal darkness. My heart leaped into my throat near choking me. I had the distinct impression this infernal device was only meant for goods and not ponies. What the hell was I doing in here? Why couldn’t we take the blasted stairs?! With a horrible thud and shudder, the steel box began its descent into the bowels of the hospital, taking my stomach with it. In the darkness of the lift the dim yellow light flickered above our heads, the shadows and closeness of it all making my heart rate accelerate. Beads of sweat broke out on my forehead, images flashing through my mind’s eye like sparks of light. A brief burst of colour and then nothing, over and over again, pulling my awareness into an unknown emptiness that was making me giddy. I would have fallen over if I hadn’t been squashed next to Quill. As it was, she eyed me worriedly.

“You look peaky,” she said in her normally chirpy voice. “I think you need to see a doctor, Mister Nox.”

I shook my head and immediately regretted it as my sense of balance wavered drunkenly. “No… No thanks, Quill,” I said not entirely convincingly. “I get a little claustrophobic in lifts, that’s all.”

She nodded slowly, clearly doubtful of my attempted reassurance that this was nothing to be concerned about, but at least she didn’t push the issue. When the lift eventually lurched to a halt and the door opened, she exited first, watching me as I came out shaking myself. Nimble looked concerned too. I shot him a look.

“Look, I’m fine!” I managed past my dry tongue. “For Luna’s sake, leave me alone, I’m alright, okay?”

I took a breath of the warm dry air, trying to get a grip of my senses. It didn’t help. The strange images kept on coming, one after the other, faster and faster as the corridor started to lurch around me. I felt sick. I felt really, really sick. Oh gods, my head! Quill grabbed me and shouted to Nimble to help her. I was dimly aware of hooves and magic gripping me, my body being lowered to the ground to rest on my haunches. Carefully, the young nurse began to wipe me down with a damp cloth she’d quickly collected from a nearby cleaner’s cupboard. Personally I think a bucket of water over my head would have been better right then.

“Your heart rate’s abnormally high,” Quill said seriously before placing her forehead on mine. “Your temperature’s up too. We need to get you back upstairs, so-”

“NO!” I shouted louder than I meant to. I held up an apologetic hoof. “Sorry, Quill. Look, we’ve come this far, I’ll be okay. Honestly.”

Damn it all, I didn’t have any of the life essence with me either. For some stupid reason I’d completely forgotten to ask Luna about it too. Gods above, what a fool! Come to think of it I hadn’t been using as much lately, but I’d put it down to the fact I’d gradually begun to understand and gain a better control of my wendigo powers, filtering through only what I’d needed rather than ‘full on’ or ‘off’. Still, that didn’t mean I could simply forget all about it. I had to take more care and be sensible about things. I should have made sure I had some with me, but it wasn’t like the bloody stuff was off the shelf in Manehattan was it? Oblivious to my inner turmoil, the indomitable Corporal Nimble helped me to my hooves and, at my bloody minded insistence, we walked, or rather ‘stumbled’, off down the corridor. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. Whatever was happening to me, whatever reason was behind it all, I didn’t like this place one bit. If somepony was down here, if there was some danger we were blindly wandering into, it would take forever for any help to get to us. My eyes focussed on the yellow mare beside me.

“Quill, I want you to go back upstairs,” I said firmly.

“No.”

The simple reply caught me by surprise. I tried again, “Please?”

“You’re not well, Agent Nox. I’m staying right here!” Quill poked me in the chest and nodded assuredly, “So there!”

I hung my head, my ears flopping in resignation. “Okay, okay, you win. Look, just stay between Nimble and myself, alright? If anything happens we need you to get out of here and fetch help. You call the agency and get ponies here, yes?” I nodded to Nimble who gave her our spare communications device.

Quill looked at it then turned her attention to me. Her eyes narrowed. “You… You sound like somepony I knew…” she murmured.

I turned away. “I’m not, Quill. I’m sorry…”

And that, thankfully, ended that particular conversational topic. Whether Quill believed me or not, I don’t know. It didn’t matter anyway. The pony I had been, the stallion she had known as the husband of her friend, was long gone. I licked my dry lips, turning my attention back the passageway ahead of us. At least I was starting to feel a little better now. My head was clearing, my sweating had stopped, and the other two had, for the time being at least, stopped looking at me as though I were going to keel over at any moment. Still, it was far from an ideal situation. The pipes banged above us and steam leaked from vents, giving an oppressive feel to the badly lit corridors. Here and there odd rooms appeared, holding a vast arcane array of equipment and machinery - the unseen guts of the immense hospital above us. In my mind I imagined it as some living, breathing thing. The rhythmic banging of the pipes its heartbeat, the expelled steam its breath. Here, deep in the belly of the beast, we roamed…

“Captain?”

I looked at Nimble. “What is it?”

The corporal froze. “There’s something in there...”

He motioned to wards a closed metal door up ahead. How Nimble knew I had no idea, but I was never one to ignore a gut feeling. I took out my PDW and carefully pushed open the door, casting a torch beam around in my telekinesis. Empty. Panning the magical light around I was about to close the door when I caught the faint movement of ‘something’ hanging from the roof. It was… chains. A long set of rusty metal chains. Before I knew it I entered the room, keeping to the wall until I found the switch for the overhead lighting. Thankfully it didn’t take long to have the magical lighting clinking and humming into life, bathing the wide space in their unnatural illumination. For the most part the concrete lined void was exactly that – empty. But now all my focus was taken up by that one thing, that one, terrible, heart jarring thing hanging from the ceiling. I stared at the object of my obsession, those damnable oval links hanging down from the ceiling to coil like metallic snakes on the cold hard floor below, the whole monstrosity terminating with a set of unmistakably pony sized shackles. A drain sat beneath them, a hose lying discarded nearby for washing the poor creature these cruel restraints would have held. Propped against one corner, a long whip and reins hung from a peg on the wall beside a table and chair. A lone glass sat there, empty except for a faint trace of dust. I couldn’t look away. The way it caught the light, sparkling as it refracted the magical beam into a million colours of the rainbow. It was so tantalising… so… inviting. I licked my lips. I’d been so thirsty, so terribly, terribly thirsty… Mistress? Why… Where are you? Mistress!

“Captain!” Nimble shouted into my ear, jabbing me with his hoof. “For the goddess’s sake, snap out of it!”

I shook my head, trying to pull my focus away from the glass, but the images were flooding me now, drowning me in their incessant imagery. “Captain,” I muttered. That was my name wasn’t it? My name…I looked at Nimble, grabbing him suddenly in my forehooves. “Who am I Nimble?” I blurted. “WHO AM I?!”

“You’re… you’re Captain Fairlight,” he stammered. Yellow eyes stared back into mine. “You’re the one who saved me in the tunnels. You’re the wife of Meadow, the lord of the four winds, and… and you’re my friend.”

Staring at him I barely picked up the movement beside me. Spinning to face it, Quill jumped back in fright before advancing on me, her eyes narrowing. “It… It is you… isn’t it?” she said quietly. “You were there in the ward that time too, with the pegasus mare.” Suddenly her eyes went wide in realisation. “You’re Meadow’s husband.”

Reality burst through the fog of crazed images, flinging me into the here and now with brutal clarity. The game was up. Resignedly I took off my sunglasses and hung my head. “I’m sorry, Quill. I didn’t want you to remember me.”

“But why not?” Quill asked incredulously. “Meadow was my best friend! I loved you both, you were…I… Oh, Fairlight, why didn’t you want to speak to me? I never had a chance to say goodbye to her… or you.” Tears began to well in her large eyes. “I lost you both...”

My own thoughts and fears were washed away with my concern for my wife’s friend. “Quill, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t want you getting hurt. There’s a lot of bad ponies out there who want to hurt me and anypony close to me. After what they did to us I couldn’t take that chance that they might target anypony even vaguely associated with me. Please try to understand.”

The yellow mare shook her head. “But you could have at least spoken to me! I wanted somepony to tell me what had happened to my friends! Nopony would tell me anything; not the watch, the doctors – nopony. The first I knew of it was that she didn’t come into work one day. The next thing I knew was that we were being called into a staff meeting to be told you’d both died in a ‘tragic accident’. Good grief, Fairlight, have you any idea how I felt when I heard that?” Quill’s mane seemed to lose its poofiness and her tears brimmed as she began to shake with sobs. “And now here you are, standing there as if nothing’s happened! What else don’t I know? Is Meadow going to be appear at any moment too? And why do you look so different? What’s going on, Fairlight? Tell me! Please!”

I took the agitated mare in my forelegs and hugged her gently. “Oh Quill, I’m such an idiot. I should have trusted you more. I should have told you what had happened as soon as I could.” I stepped back, smiling kindly. “Look, when this is all over, when I can, I promise I’ll send for you and you can come and visit us at our new home, okay?”

She sniffed, wiping away the tears, “Us?”

I nodded. “Meadow, Sparrow, and everypony.”

“Meadow and Sparrow?” Quill blinked in confusion. “I don’t understand…”

I held up a hoof forestalling the inevitable questions. This was neither the time nor, most definitely, the place either. “Quill, it’s hard to explain, but please, not right now. Okay?”

To my eternal relief she nodded her agreement and I turned to clop Nimble on the shoulder. “Corporal, I’ve been here before,” I said quickly, trying to change the subject back to the matter at hoof. The next words tumbled out of my mouth, completely bypassing my brain in the process. I think I surprised myself as much I did him. “This is where she held me.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “My goddesses, Captain, they kept you in here?”

I tapped one of the chains making it swing quietly, watching it slowly sway back and forth with a faint metallic clinking sound. Were they grey hairs I could see on that? A long black mane hair? I closed my eyes and nodded to myself. “The gap in my memory,” I explained. “I’ve been getting flashbacks all the time we’ve been here, but… nothing substantial. It’s like trying to catch mist with a fishing net.”

Nimble checked his PDW. “Maybe if we looked around some more? Dunno if there’s anything else in here, but we’ll have to get the forensic boys to go over this lot.”

“Yeah...” I nodded to doorway. “Come on, let’s see what other little treats lie in store for us.”

The three of us moved out of the room. I didn’t know where we were going, and Quill had fallen unnaturally silent too. I suppose it was for the best, but I’d have to honour my agreement to bring her up to speed sooner or later. I owed her that much at least, especially after the way she’d helped Tingles, though what in Equestria I was going to tell her when the time came would be a treat I’d have to consider another day. Right now, following the fragments of memory, it was the least of my concerns. I walked onward through the gloomy passages far beneath the hospital above us. Surrounded by strange sounds and the mechanical thumps of distant machinery, every step, every heartbeat, brought with it bits and pieces of disjointed imagery. Tiny droplets of memories came and went, some of it beginning to reform, to slowly form a picture of a time that had been seared from my mind. It was all there, somewhere: the blue laundry bins, the corridors, the steam, the corridor to the mistress’s room...

“My goddess, we’re here,” I muttered, stopping by the junction in the corridor.

“Here, Cap?” Nimble asked.

I bobbed my head in the direction my memories called to me the strongest. “Yeah, her room’s there, just ahead of us.” I spoke to Quill quietly, “Keep back and keep out of sight. We don’t know who’s in there yet. If the shit hits the fan don’t hesitate, get the hell out of here and use the communicator to get help, okay?” I paused. “And don’t call the watch either. Just press the crystal on the front and tell them what’s happened.”

Quill didn’t protest this time. In silence she moved into a niche behind some boxes while the corporal and I took station either side of the door. I took a deep breath, slowing my racing heartbeat. And knocked. There was no reply. Trying the handle the door lock clicked and it slowly swung open. My heart was hammering like the pistons of the steam trains I’d watched on the overhead railway, sweat breaking out on my brow in tiny beads that stung the corners of my eyes. Part of me was holding me back, telling me to keep away, to turn tail and get out of here. I gritted my teeth, fighting back against the surging sensation of mounting dread. I didn’t fully understand it. I didn’t truly comprehend it all. But I knew one thing for damned sure - if I didn’t face my demons now, I never would. I had bowed my head far too much already. Digging my hind hooves into the floor I charged in, PDW at the ready with Nimble covering me. I checked every angle, watching for any movement, checking for anypony hiding that could leap out and surprise us. But inside, the room was completely devoid of life. There was the bed with its sheets turned back and freshly laundered, the beautifully carved dresser, even the shelves complete with some of her favourite books. It was all so neat, so immaculately well laid out, but where was the lady herself? I poked around but found nothing that give even the slightest hint of the whereabouts of the room’s owner. We’d have to get forensic down here, but we’d never get a signal out this far underground. We’d have to move back to ground level first, and not a moment too soon for my liking. I hated being underground. Nimble picked up a small bottle of perfume, holding it up to his muzzle.

“Lavender,” he said dreamily. “I always loved the smell.”

I ran a hoof over the bed. “Yeah…” I Speaking of mares, I glanced towards the door. “Quill?” I called, “You can come in now, it’s safe.” There was no reply. “Quill?”

Nimble and I shared a look. As one we covered the door before I rolled out into the corridor, my PDW ready. There in front of me stood a shadowed figure in a dark cloak, a sickly green magical glow emanating around it as it stood over the prostrate form of Quill. Surprised by my sudden appearance the thing hissed angrily at me and turned, running off down the corridor before disappearing into the ever-present steam.

“Stay here and help Quill!” I shouted taking off after the cloaked figure.

I didn’t wait to hear Nimble’s reply. The chase was on. Whatever the creature beneath the cloak was, it ran with an unnatural speed. It was light too, as if its hooves barely even touched the ground. Running for all I was worth I channelled some magic of my own, feeling it burn through my muscles, roaring with strength as the familiar white hot anger and rage of the wendigo trickled through me. I was gaining ground, but not enough. In a flurry of hooves and cloak, the figure bolted around a corner and dived into a room. And like a bloody rookie I charged right in after it. What happened next was as predictable a pattern as they come. The door slammed shut behind me, and I was plunged into complete darkness - dark other than for the green glow of magic surrounding the pony in the black cloak. At least, I’d thought it was a pony. The aura from the things horn illuminated the figure as it hissed and clicked, an amused sound emanating from the depths of the cowel.

“Sssstupid ponyyy, you’ve fallen ssstraight into our hoovesss.”

As it spoke, other green bursts of magical light began to appear around me like large fire flies, bathing me in their strange alien luminescence. One of the creatures, the one that had lead me in here, threw back its hood to reveal a vision straight from the horror stories we used to tell each other on Nightmare Night. It was indeed a nightmarish being to behold: black as polished onyx, glossy coated, and with teeth like curved blades. Its eyes glinted in the light just like a beetle’s, soulless, and empty of any emotion other than the kind of contempt and sneering confidence a victor has over a vanquished foe.

“What the buck are you?” I snarled dropping into a fighting stance.

The things wings buzzed beneath its cloak. “We?” Before my very eyes it transformed into a perfect copy of Quill, speaking confidently in her squeaky voice, “We are your friends.” It changed again, this time into Nimble. “We are your allies.” Again, this time… “We are even-”

Meadow. I stared at the thing masquerading as my murdered wife, my beloved Meadow. Emotions ran through me, trampling everything in their path, surging and roiling in utter hatred as the creatures laughed and buzzed around me.

“Yesss!” one of them cried, “Fffeelll… Hurrrttt… Succhhh deliciousss emotionsss!”

Changelings. I’d heard of the damned things, about how they’d once been friends of ponykind and had been ‘altered’ somehow, becoming corrupted by magics that had warped the kindly creatures into monsters. Monsters that preyed on the living. Now they were nothing more than emotional vampires, sucking everything from their victims and leaving nought but a soulless husk in their wake. Even so, they’d been confined to their own part of Equestria hadn’t they? I’d thought, or rather I’d hoped, that Mitre had been wrong about them. He hadn’t been. The bloody things were barely more than a legend nowadays, yet here they were. And here I was too.

I snarled at the thing, “How dare you. How dare you look into my mind and take that form, you bucking filth.”

It clicked and buzzed before speaking. “Annnd what cannn you do, ponyyy? You are trapped in here witttthhh usss. No-one knowsss you are here. No-one isss coming to sssave you.”

“No-one?” I began to laugh, allowing the magic to take me over completely, letting it flow, running and burning through my body like an inferno of the bitterest ice. I dropped the PDW, the mist rolling out around my hooves, my eyes ablaze, teeth lengthening. The creature backed away, unsure now, and it was right to do so. In the swirling fog I coalesced a form; the haft, the blade, hard as the purest crystalline ice, sharp as the bite of the northern winter, merciless as the mountain snows. “I think you misunderstand something… changeling,” I snarled, white fog dripping from between my teeth, “I’m not trapped in with you… You’ve trapped yourselves in here... with me.” The things horn began to glow brightly and I could hear the sound of blades being drawn. “You wanted to feed upon me did you?” I laughed. “Then come, allow me to show you a real banquet.” The scythe swung. “…A feast of death.”

They tried to rush me at once, the second creature falling even as the first, its throat opened to the dry air, scrabbled on the floor in a spreading pool of its own ichor. The third and fourth flew at me as I swung low, taking away their forelegs, the thud of their bodies and severed limbs falling to the ground like heavy rain. Shrieks and cries rent the still air, and I breathed it all in, replenishing my strength, revelling in the death of these things, these vile filth that had dared to defile the memory of my Meadow. My Meadow! There was only one thought now - Kill them. Kill them all. There would be no mercy here. The song flowed and I danced to its tune, slicing and parrying, blocking and rending. My teeth ripped through the throat of one, its bitter blood foul and loathsome. I spat it out as I simultaneously smashed my diamond hooves into the face of another trying to impale me on a wickedly pointed dagger. Its face a ruined mess, I sent it to the afterlife with a smile on my mine. Finally, oh so finally, the song rose to a blood soaked crescendo before fading away into the depths of my consciousness from whence it came. There it would sleep, lying dormant until the day I once more called upon its eternal refrain. It was all too soon for my liking. For all their bravado and evil appearance, the changelings were weak creatures. Their strength was in deception and numbers. Flicking the blood from my hooves smiled to myself - I didn’t them too many. Replacing my PDW in its holsters I checked the bodies. One of them, with its legs still twitching nearby, looked up at me with its dead eyes.

“Where’s the mistress?” I hissed at it. The thing clicked and twitched horribly. “Where’s the mistress, changeling. Tell me and I will ease your passing. Fail and I will keep you alive… every moment a treasure you will wish I had never bestowed upon you.”

The thing stared back at me, my blue eyes reflected in its insect like orbs. “Ssshee hasss gone northhh.” It hacked a dreadful cough and writhed, its back legs kicking helplessly. “Our missstresss isss not pleasssed.”

“Where to the north?” I shook the thing. “Where to the north, damn you!”

It hacked another rasping cough, sputtering out a final dying breath as it croaked, “To ssseek nourissshment from the ssssource.”

I gave it another shake. “What are you talking about?” But it was useless, the damned thing was dead and now I had a terrible feeling of impending doom. I threw the creature aside, opened the doors and headed back to Nimble who was in the mistress’s old room helping a very pale looking Quill.

The corporal looked up at me. “Buck me, Captain, you’re covered in-”

Letting my magic drain away I cut in, “-I know! Come on, we’ve got to get out of here, there’s changelings in Equestria and I think I know what’s going on.” I levitated Quill onto my back. “Let’s shift flank.”

We left Quill with the doctors and were assured they knew how to treat her properly. I also left her with a promise I’d send for her when I could and she’d nodded weakly, “Make sure you do, you big silly.” She’d tried to smile, but the strain of what that damnable changeling had done to her was telling. Thank the gods I’d gotten to her before it had done any more damage. I’d given her a wink and headed back to Loofa and the waiting sky carriage. Loofa himself was looking up at the sky intently as we approached.

“Loofa, you okay?” Nimble asked. “Whatcha looking at?”

“Huh? Oh! Just thinking you don’t see them very often,” the pegasus said dismissively.

“See what?” I asked, trying to see what he was staring at.

“Griffin,” Loofa said as if it were of no consequence. “Not a lot of ‘em here in the city. He’s flying a bit erratically too, and- Whoops! There he goes…”

I’d barely been able to see the creature at this distance, but the eagle-eyes of Loofa never missed a thing. I could just about make out what looked like a dark spot beginning to fall out of the sky when Loofa, there like a streak of blue lightening, caught up with the stricken griffin and in seconds had brought him back down to us on the hospital rooftop. There he laid the exhausted creature on the seat of the carriage, looking down at the mess of blood, fur and feathers. Nimble pulled out the first aid kit, whilst I stood there standing in open mouthed shock. I could barely recognise him, but it was him alright.

“Grimble!” I gasped. “Dear Luna, what’s happened to you?!”

One eye opened weakly. “Lord- Lord Fairlight?” the old griffin managed. “I… I’m so sorry. I tried… I really did.”

“Tried what?” I pressed, leaning towards my old friend. “What’s happened, Grimble? Is it the village? My family?”

He coughed, wincing in pain. “Smiling Borders,” he breathed. “We’ve been attacked. So many dead…” He shook and closed his eyes tight shut.

I took my friend in my forelegs and channelled the power through me. “Grimble old friend, drink, here.”

It was time for Nimble and Loofa to stand and stare now. Their eyes were like saucers as they watched the trickle of silvery life-energy drip from my maw into that of the ancient griffin. I suppose it did look a little odd, even to me to be honest. However, if it could save my friend, then delicate sensibilities could go to the devil. Life was life, and death never gave up its treasures. Below me, Grimble’s wounds began to smoke, the torn flesh knitting back together, the white bones within mending before our very eyes. He was still missing a few feathers, but they’d grow back soon enough. He was very weak though, certainly far too weak to fly. Suddenly he reached up and grabbed me.

“My lord, the village!” He coughed, trying to catch his breath. Loofa passed him a flask of water from the carriage supply locker which he took gratefully. “We’ve been attacked. We don’t know what they were, there was so many of them. Black things, like ponies but not ponies, a sort of unicorn that could fly, but not alicorns… More like-”

“They were changelings,” I said quietly. I looked away, trying to hide my pain and mounting fury. “The bloody things have attacked my home.” Shaking my mane I put a hoof on Grimbles’ shoulder. “Old friend, tell me, what of my family, what of Heather?”

He shook his head sadly. “I don’t know, my lord, the place was in such a mess. There was fire and smoke everywhere. We fought them with whatever we had to claw, but they surprised us, coming at us from out of the forest like a tidal wave of utter darkness. We had no warning and were ill prepared I fear. Heather took your family into the tavern for safety where many of our warriors protected them with their lives. I was sent for help. Forgive, but at my age I am ill suited to fighting as I was in my youth. Even so, the cursed things attacked me in mid-flight. I killed two, maybe three before I escaped into cloud bank.” He swallowed, his eyes full of shame and despair. “I’m so sorry, my lord, forgive me my weakness.”

I shook my head with a smile. “You’re not weak, Grimble. Far from it my brother.”

He smiled up at me and grasped my foreleg. “We need help, my lord. We need you.”

Carefully I picked up the weakened griffin and took him into the hospital as quickly as I could, finding yet another doctor and leaving my comrade in their care. As luck would have it the poor bugger ended up in the bed next to Quill, but thankfully she was asleep when I left him there. I didn’t envy his ears when she woke up. “I’ll be back, Grimble,” I’d said. “Take care of him doctor. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” The look of utter devotion in the griffin’s face had made my heart skip a beat. He believed in me so wholeheartedly, I could only hope his faith wasn’t misplaced. If an army of warriors couldn’t stop the changelings, how could I? I was just one stallion, wendigo powers or not. The changelings worked as a team, using their numbers to assault as a single fluid fighting force. Not only that but they were the ideal infiltrators. Standing by the carriage, I addressed my friends.

“Nimble, Loofa, the shit’s hit the fan, or it’s about to,” I said firmly, adjusting my flying goggles. “These bastards have attacked my home, and only the goddesses know what’s happened to my family. I won’t ask you to help, it’s not your fight, but I have to go now.”

Nimble smiled back at me. “Oh? And who’ll have your back If I don’t come with you, Cap?”

Loofa laughed, shaking his head. “Gonna fly all the way out north without a good pilot? Not with your stubby efforts you’re not!”

It was definitely one of those moments I would treasure forever, but right then all I cared about was getting home. I tried not to think what I would find what I got there though; Fate could be one hell of a fickle bitch. Nimble picked up the communicator and hoofed it to me while Loofa rocketed us up into the air.

“Mitre, it’s Fairlight,” I said into the device. “Are you receiving?”

A few moments later, “Go ahead.”

“Changelings,” I said simply. “They attacked us in the hospital basement. Looks like that’s where they kept me during my little absence too. Grimble’s here with us, they’ve hit the village. I’m on my way there now.”

“Changelings?” Mitre’s voice growled angrily across the airwaves. “Celestia’s arse, how many are we talking about here?”

I shrugged. “More than for an assassination mission,” I replied. “The village sounds like it’s been overrun.”

Mitre’s tone of voice said it all. “Buck it, stand by one.” A few moments passed, each one a second nearer home, and a second that felt like an hour. Mitre’s voice came back, “Getting reports through now. Detectors are going off all over the damned place. Captain Armour’s mobilising the army and shielding the whole of the palace. We’ll get agents over to Smiling Borders as soon as we can. I’ll get Brandy on the case too, looks like you’re going to need some extra firepower.”

I nodded. “Received. We should be there soon, Loofa’s driving.”

“Bloody good job too,” Mitre replied. “Look, Fairlight, take care out there, okay?”

I smiled despite myself, “Yeah, you too, Chief.”

We hurtled through the air, with poor Nimble hanging on for dear life but still with a look of grim determination on his face. “Wish we had the guard with us, or at least a few army lads,” he shouted through gritted teeth.

I checked the kit bag, taking out two of the pulse guns. “I know what you mean, but they’ve got to protect the princesses and the wedding party. Whether I like it or not, that’s their priority. Here...” I passed him one of the sleek weapons. “Know how to use one?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Not many of us have though, it’s more of an agency thing. Point and click, right?”

“Pretty much.” I looked out the front window. “Spears and crossbows aren’t much good when your enemy’s shooting at you. The army needs to move with the times. If these things are attacking us, we need to be able to respond accordingly.”

“Something tells me you’ll be able to do just that,” the corporal saod wryly, checking the gun was loaded.

I raised and eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”

He pointed to my coat. “Let’s just say you’ll need a shower when you get a chance. There’s changeling all over you.”

Chapter Five - Black Blood

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CHAPTER FIVE

BLACK BLOOD

We flew high and fast, skimming over the clouds, the sun now dipping down towards the horizon heralding the onset of night. Far below us I could see the shadows cast by the sun gradually lengthening, bathing the land in an eerie wash of deep orange light. It would be dark soon, and definitely not the sort of time I wanted to be heading home, especially when I could very well end up having to fight for my life the moment we landed. When you added to that the fact that the enemy we were likely to face when we got there all had black coats, making them nigh on invisible in the dark, if we just went barrelling in there without a plan it probably wouldn’t end well for any of us. Unfortunately, with very little information to go on about the enemy’s numbers, disposition, or even if they were still in the village, we were going to be going in virtually blind. We’d have to keep our wits about us, stay alert, and be prepared to get the hell out of there with as many survivors as we could if the whole situation went south. Reinforcements were on the way, but knowing that lot we could all be dead and buried whilst they were still arguing about which bloody armour to wear. I took a deep breath, steadying my nerves. No, I would have to push the thought of any help coming at the last moment right out of my mind. This was a tribal matter anyway, and one as the lord of the four winds I had a personal responsibility to deal with. I checked my gear, with Nimble beside me doing the same. That simple act gave me heart, and we shared a grin. Fear mingled with excitement – the excitement of battle, the fear of what I was likely to find when we got there, and one other emotion – anger. If those monsters had done anything to my family… The cover clipped back into place on my pulse gun. It was ready. And as for myself, I was as ready as I was going to be. We’d potentially be going in hot so preparation was essential. We had one advantage though, and that was that we were going to fighting on familiar ground, or at least I was. Nimble and Loofa had never been there before, so keeping together and watching each others backs could mean the difference between life and death for all three of us. One thing was for sure though, there’d been casualties. Any thoughts regarding exactly who may have been injured or killed was something we could worry about later. For now I had keep my focus, a grip on my power, and restrain my broiling emotions. I knew from hard experience how I had to control my anger and rage, channelling it into directed force when, and only when, I needed it. I was its master, not its slave.

Nimble peered over side of the chariot. “Hey Cap’, you’ve got family there, right?”

“I have, yeah.”

He smiled. “Why don’t you tell me about them, it’ll help pass the time.”

I checked my crystal supply as I spoke. “Well, there’s Meadow, my wife, she’s with the herd now. Then there’s little Sparrow Song my daughter, she’s with her mum. There’s Tingles and Shadow, they’re living in the village with Lumin my son.” I chuckled quietly. “Quite the little herd, eh?”

Nimbles’ eyes were wide. “I’ll say! That’s some family you’ve got there!”

“All the more reason for me to get there and make sure they’re safe,” I said gravely. “I’ve already lost two of them, and I’ll be damned if I lose any more.”

The young stallion scrubbed his mane with a hoof. “Look, Cap’, erm, maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up, yeah? I remember what you told me about Meadow and Sparrow, and I’m sure the last thing you need is me dredging up painful memories.” He closed his eyes and leaned back with a loud sigh. “I never learn. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I said tightening one of the equipment straps. “They’re safe with the herd now, as we all will be some day.”

Nimbles’ looked up at me. “What about the others though? I don’t remember you mentioning them before.”

“Didn’t I?” I checked the terrain below us. It was hard to get a fix because of the cloud, but I was sure we were near. I could feel it in my bones. “Tingles is a pegasus,” I explained. “She used to work with me in the watch, then later the agency, but now she’s a bit more… ‘freelance’ you could say. Lumin’s my son to her. He’s very young still and looks like his old dad too.” I smiled, picturing the little fellow in my mind. “Shadow’s my other mare, she’s a thestral from the Wither World.”

He looked up in surprise. “Hang on a minute, ‘other’ mare? What, as in, more than one?”

I face hoofed. Me and my big mouth! Well, there was no going back now was there? “Believe it or not, yes.” I said plainly. “I live with two mares and a foal. It’s not uncommon to herd, Corporal, you know what the female to male ratio is like in Equestria.”

His eye twitched. “Yes, but… No! Maybe, I think, but that was a long time ago! Stallions don’t… That is…” I think I could hear his mental fuses popping from here.

Wanting to change the subject quickly I asked, “What about your family, Corporal? You mentioned a young lady if I remember correctly. Whiffles was it?”

Nimble stopped and re-engaged his train of thought with remarkable speed. “Whiffles?” he frowned. “No, her name’s ‘Ruffles’. Good grief, Captain, who ever heard of a mare called ‘Whiffles’!” He began to laugh and slapped his side. “I’ll have to tell her that one, maybe it could be a new nickname!”

That worked then. Thank the goddesses I’d distracted the inquisitive corporal from delving any deeper into my personal life! I’d already told him far more than I really wanted to in any case. He was a good fellow at heart, and handy in a tight spot too.

He patted the pockets of his agency barding. “Ah! Here…” Nimble hoofed me his wallet which held a small photograph of a cream mare with a pink and blue curly mane and tail. She was looking over her shoulder seductively, her tail barely covering-

“Bloody hell, Nimble!” I squeaked, quickly passing back the wallet. “You don’t show that to other ponies do you?”

He looked surprised. “Eh? Why not? She’s beautiful.”

I rubbed my mane, trying to hide my embarrasment. “Well, yes… yes, she is. But, what she’s doing with her tail...!”

He scrutinised the picture and shook his head. “I don’t see what you mean.” Unbelievably he seemed genuinely perplexed.

“Corporal?” I asked.

“Cap?”

“Do you have any foals?”

Nimble chuckled. “Ha! Not yet, I mean, we haven’t settle down yet and I’d like a home of our own first so we can… you know…”

Smiling, I tapped him on the leg. “I get the idea, Nimble. Just, keep your head down today, okay? I don’t want any casualties, especially if it means I end up having to explain what happened to you to an attractive young mare. Do I make myself clear, corporal?”

He snapped off a smart salute, “Aye, aye, Captain.” The effect was ruined by the cheeky grin that accompanied it.

Loofa suddenly shouted something to us and pointed towards the ground. Both Nimble and I looked to where he was indicating but it was now so dark it was hard to make anything out other than shadows. My wendigo enhanced vision gave me some advantage, but it was no match for Loofa’s pegasi eyes. I instinctively checked the safety on my pulse gun. I was all too aware of how difficult it was going to be to fight in the dark; I’d have to keep my two comrades by my side the moment we landed, and that would be when we would be at out most vulnerable. As we descended and the last of the wispy clouds disappeared, I began to make out the yellow glow of fires - small ones, dotted about the perimeter of the village with dark figures moving around between them. There was no mistaking that shambling gait. They were minotaurs.

Loofa tapped his TED. “Captain, where’d you want us to touch down?”

“Behind the largest building,” I replied, pointing towards the tavern. “Looks like we missed the party after all.” I’m not sure if I was relieved, or disappointed.

We landed gently on the lush grass by the tavern’s vegetable garden and quickly disembarked. Grabbing our gear we readied ourselves for what, if anything, we were going to face in the village. Although it seemed quiet for now I didn’t want to take any chances by being brash or over-confident. And so, filtering my magic through my body, I took the lead just as I had during my days in the watch. Moving at a measured pace I observed the angles, the corners where an enemy could be lurking, using my wendigo enhanced sight to check any darkened areas for signs of movement. Thankfully I had a good working knowledge of the layout of the village, but whether I’d need to use that knowledge remained to be seen. Nimble and Loofa stuck to me like glue as we moved carefully around the corner of the Wyvern’s Tail. And there I froze. Two hulking shapes were stood outside, flanking the door, heavy battleaxes gripped in their large claws. In the darkness and flickering light from the various fires it was hard to see clearly who they were. Hell, I didn’t know even half the minotaurs in the village yet! I only really knew three of them to talk to, and I mentally kicked myself for not taking more time to get to know the rest. Still, I expected they knew who I was. I hoped. I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“Evening, lads.”

The minotaur closest to me turned his huge bullish head to peer at me before nodding slowly, “Evening, Lord Fairlight.” Without another word, he went back to silently watching the ground before him. Gods, you had to love them. So full of personality…

Nimble nudged me, motioning towards the minotaur. “What is it? What’s up?”

“One of our warriors,” I said with a shake of my mane.

Honestly I don’t think I’d ever get used to these hulking great towers of muscle. I couldn’t work out if they were the strong silent type or just a little short on the old grey matter. Either way they certainly knew how to use those axes of theirs. In the torchlight I could make out the shapes of bodies lying in the grass. Lots of bodies, and not just ponies, minotaurs or griffins either. The silent shapes reflected the moonlight, their slick black bodies shining like the carapaces of some monstrous hell spawned beetles. Only the goddesses knew how many of them had attacked the village, and by the looks of things we were damned lucky it wasn’t a massacre.

“Come on lads,” I ordered leading my troupe in through the tavern’s front door. “Time to face the music.”

The light in the tavern’s lounge was blinding after the darkness outside, and it took my eyes a few moments to re-adjust - in more ways than one. Standing beside me, Nimble and Loofa stared in shocked silence at the scene laid out before us in what should have been a place of song, joy and friendship. There was none of that now. As my vision cleared I looked about at what I could only describe as a landscape of absolute horror. Wounded and dying lay all around us: minotaurs, griffins, even the odd pony, all lying quietly on makeshift pallets being tended to by a swiftly moving team of medics I didn’t even know we had. In a rising sense of desperation I scanned the room but didn’t see any of my family. Where the hell were they? My heart rate began to accelerate and I could feel my teeth beginning to itch as I automatically headed for the stairs. And then, suddenly, a familiar face pushed through the throng and leaned down to address me.

“Lord Fairlight,” the mountain rumbled. “You’re back.”

The gravelly monotone voice of the enormous minotaur known as Heavy Hoof, stared down at me, a massive battle axe strapped to his back.

I bobbed my head to him respectfully. “I am, Heavy Hoof, it’s good to see you again. I’m sorry, would you excuse me for a moment? I need to check on my family.”

“Not here,” came the reply.

I froze in my tracks. “What?”

Heavy Hoof huffed, his beady eyes as emotionless as the steel of his axe. “Things took your foal, orange pony too. Shadow has taken warriors to hunt them.”

Without thinking I leaned forward and grabbed him, my eyes blazing. “What the hell do you mean: ‘things’ took my foal? And Tingles too? Where did they go? Tell me, goddess damn it!” My heart was hammering in my chest fit to burst, my breath pouring out in a stream of icy fog. Thinking quickly, Nimble stepped up and placed a hoof on my foreleg.

“Cap’, steady, he’s on our side, remember?” the young corporal said firmly. “We need to get more intel before we blunder off into the night. Shadow’s already on their tail. We’ll get them back.”

I released the minotaur’s barding and stood back, but the massive creature seemed completely unphased by my angry outburst and simply stood there as I asked, “Heavy Hoof, what can you tell me? What happened here?”

The emotionless minotaur explained in his inimitable fashion, “Black things, changelings, attacked village. We fight, many died, many changelings died. Orange pony and foal were taken into forest. Shadow not here, but came here after. Took warriors into forest to find pony and foal, tell us to stay here and protect hurt warriors.”

Looking up at the warrior before me, a thought flashed through my mind. “Where’s Heather?” I asked. As if on cue a white aproned minotaur appeared from the kitchen carrying a tray full of bandages instead of her more traditional load-out of beer mugs and spirits. She was covered in blood, but thankfully, none of it was hers. “Heather?” I asked quietly.

Hearing her name called out she paused and turned to face me, blinking in surprise. In almost slow motion, the large female minotaur put her bandages down then rushed over to take me up into her arms in a bone crushing hug. Peering down at me, tears started to well in her eyes.

Despite being half crushed, I couldn’t help but raise a smile. “Thank the goddess you’re safe,” I said gently. “Your dad found us and told us about the attack on the village. He’d been injured, but nothing serious thank the goddess. It looks like we got to him just in time. We’ve left in good hooves at the hospital, so he’s going to be okay.”

She nodded and smiled, wiping the tears away. “Thank you,” she muttered, and without another word, turned and lumbered off to continue tending to the wounded.

I took a deep breath, calming my racing heart as I surveyed the sea of broken and bloodied defenders. “Heavy Hoof, who are the worst wounded here?”

We walked slowly between the pallets, administering life essence to the weakest, the seriously wounded, and in some cases, the dying. Watching the changes was heart lifting; the looks of amazement, the smiles and thanks from my people a balm for my soul at a time when I needed it the most. Doing good, helping others… this was what Meadow used to do. I smiled to myself; If only should could have seen me now. Heavy Hoof managed to catch me as I toppled over, so weak I could barely keep my eyes open. Effortlessly, the powerful warrior hoisted me up and carried me upstairs to what had once been my bedroom. I wished he hadn’t. The place was a wreck, with torn bedding, broken furniture and splintered wood lying everywhere in a literal carpet of destruction. There were signs of one hell of a fight: scorch marks from a PDW, blackened patches where magic energy had impacted on the plaster, and more of the black blood of the changelings. Thankfully, nothing that could be readily identified as being from my family. Looking away I motioned towards to the pile of gear I’d left behind when I’d been abducted, the loosely stacked weapons, packs and armour still lying exactly where I’d left them, seemingly untouched by the battle that had raged around them. Waiting, for this very moment. The huge minotaur lowered me surprisingly gently to the floor, stepping back as I all but fell muzzle first towards what I hoped would still be there. They were. Thank the goddesses the flasks were still intact. A couple of them were empty, but there was more than enough left to refill me. Etiquette thrown to the winds, I gulped it down in great draughts. The silver fluid ran through my veins in a rush of ice cold power, making me gasp and shudder under its onslaught. Nimble walked in moments later looking concerned.

“Cap’, you okay?” the young soldier asked warily. “You looked ready to pass out down there.”

Replacing the flask I began swapping my barding, equipment and weapons. “I’m fine… at least, I am now,” I said in as calm a voice as I could manage. “My people’s needs have to come before mine.” I picked up my scythe and watched in satisfaction as the blade swung out with a smart ‘click’. Heavy Hoof’s eyes reflected in the polished blade, as did my own. Stowing the deadly thing in place, I looked at Nimble. “But my family… Now that is a different matter.”

He didn’t answer, but just nodded instead. Some things didn’t need to be spoken aloud. I returned to adjusting and strapping on my barding and weaponry. A pulse gun lay discarded nearby, empty, and by the looks of the spray of black blood across the floor and walls, used to good effect too. I replaced the ammunition and loaded up as much as I could. There was more than enough to share with Nimble and Loofa. Speaking of which, the inquisitive agency pegasus pushed his nose into the room.

“Great Celestia…” he breathed, his eyes taking in the scene of utter devastation. “There’s been one hell of scrap in here.”

I didn’t reply. Nimble was staring at something and I followed his gaze. He lowered his head, “Oh goddesses… Captain…”

I strapped on the last of my equipment and grit my teeth, turning from the bedroom - the bedroom I had slept with my beloved family. “Come on,” I said firmly, “we’ve got work to do.”

Closing the door behind us, the image of a bloodstained orange feather screamed at me to rush off into the night, howling to the heavens for vengeance and death. This time however, I would keep a cool head. I knew what the forest was like and it would be worse in there at night, if that was even possible. Death would come in its own time, and its own way. The feast had been prepared. All it needed now was for the guests to arrive. And I was on my way…

Outside, a minotaur and a hippogriff were stood waiting quietly, both of them sporting various injuries and watching the tree line warily. “Lord Fairlight”, the hippogriff bowed, “Thank the goddess you’ve returned. I take it my uncle found you safely?”

Uncle? I peered at the creature. It was clearly a hippogriff and not a griffin, but… “You mean Grimble?” I asked curiously. “He’s your uncle?”

“Aye,” the creature nodded. “He wanted to stay and find your foal and the lady Tingles, but lady Shadow felt it best to send for you.”

I stomped a hoof in irritation as a thought flashed into my mind. “Why the hell didn’t they use the communicator? Grimble nearly died trying to reach me!”

The hippogriff blinked in surprise. “I… I don’t know, my lord, I’m sorry.”

Shaking my head, I addressed the creature. “What’s your name, warrior?”

He stood up straight and hefted his spear. “I am Zephyr, my lord. I had the honour of fighting beside the lady Shadow.”

I felt like a bucket of water had been thrown over me. “What do you mean, ‘had’? Where is she now?”

“In the forest, my lord, with a group of our best warriors hunting for the rest of your family,” Zephyr reported. “Dew Shard and I were sent back by lady Shadow to have our wounds tended. I’m sorry, my lord, I would have stayed but she insisted that-”

I raised a hoof, “No… It’s alright, Zephyr. Forgive me, I’m just…” I took a deep breath. “Where are they now?”

He shook his feathered head. “The changelings headed north, but didn’t fly for some reason. Instead they ran through the forest itself, maybe for cover, perhaps to keep cohesion in the dark, I don’t know. We followed them, some of us on hoof, some by air, but the trees are so dense in there it’s almost impossible to see through the canopy.” He scratched his head, looking to his friend Dew Shard, to help with the account.

The minotaur leaned on his axe and spoke in that low rumbling voice of their kind, “We found the changelings. Killed many. They have magic, but no match for our steel and muscle. Lady Shadow took more warriors to hunt the rest down and find pony and foal.”

Loofa tapped me on the shoulder. “How are we going to find them, boss? It’s pitch black, and flying over the Everfree at night? I’m game, but it’s going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack out there.”

Nimble nodded. “He’s right, Cap’. The forest is vast. You got any ideas?”

It was a good question. The Everfree was near impenetrable at the best of times, but in the dark you could get separated from your party and find yourself hopelessly lost in the blink of an eye. Becoming lost in there was the least of your problems too, there were things in that sea of darkness that wouldn’t think twice about dismembering any hapless adventurer wandering into their home – armed or not. I looked out over the forest and the moonlit mountains beyond. They were there. They were alive. I could sense them, ‘feel’ their life energy flickering like a candle flame in the blackness. My family and I had always had a connection of sorts, but it was more on an emotional and instinctual level, not like the inherited magical bond the tribe shared with me. But… did it work both ways? I closed my eyes and concentrated, channelling my magic and listening to the winds. Nothing. Was a trick of my imagination? Wishful thinking perhaps? There was so much about my magic I didn’t still understand, and likely never would. Damn it all, I was like a child playing with a box matches! Bitterly I gritted my teeth and stared up at the moon.

“Boys, I’ve said it before, you don’t have to come.” I closed my eyes and tried to calm the fear in my heart. “I trust Shadow and her warriors, but there’s no way I’m going to sit here on my arse and wait to hear back when I could do something to help, even if it seems futile.”

Loofa glanced at Nimble and grinned. “North you say? Well come on then, let’s grab the chariot and get airborne. Some of us can’t fly without help you know.”

Nimble rolled his eyes at his friends quip. “Least I’ve got magic,” he huffed.

“Good point,” Loofa chuckled. “You can get us a cuppa when we get back. I’ve never been any good with teaspoons.”

Mist rolled down the stairs, trickling into the lounge where my people lay. Every eye was upon me as I descended the stairs, each gaze following every step as I walked between them. I kept my head high, my feelings and emotions as cold as the ice of the mountains that had once been their home. It would be again some day. Celestia would keep her promise, as I would keep mine both to her and my tribe. War had found us. After a thousand years of peace, it was upon us as surely as night follows day. I had never sought this, and yet now that it was here I would be there at the end to finish the story. The changelings had made a fatal error taking my family, and now… now they would find what it truly meant to challenge the tribe of the four winds.

Heavy Hoof stood by the door, he eyes watching me approach. “My Lord,” he said simply.

“Take care of my people, brother.” I took a deep breath, staring at the door. “Keep them safe.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

A wounded pony lying nearby peered at me from under a bloodied blanket, his face a blanket of scars that put my own to shame. He winced as he tried to sit up. “Bring them home, My Lord,” he breathed. “We… We will be waiting for you.”

Oddly I found myself smiling. “I will,” I said, casting my gaze over the injured warrior. “I will bring them all home.”

There were no cheers, no cries of encouragement or wishing us well. This was simply a task that needed to be done. These warriors had already played their part, defending the village against an unexpected attack and had somehow managed to beat it back despite being heavily outnumbered. Many had paid with it with their lives. That sacrifice, so alien to most of the gentle inhabitants of Equestria, had been made without even a second thought. And now, here I was about to throw myself into battle once more as well. Was this what being the descendant of the wendigo meant? To be constantly embroiled in conflict? Perhaps… To the equestrian side of my being this felt incredibly wrong. It went against everything I had been taught growing in our peaceful land. To my wendigo side, it was simply part of life, and a part of my very nature. That conflict had never quite been resolved within me, and yet there was one thing the two could agree on, and that was the need to protect. Be it in the agency, the watch, or even as a father, to protect my loved ones, and by extension the tribe, needed no second thoughts. I knew what had to be done. Outside Luna’s moon shone down upon us, bathing us in her eternal blessing. It was a good sign. With barely a pause I snapped out my wings and leaped into chill night air, gaining height as Loofa and Nimble followed close behind me. Before long we were soaring over the Everfree, keeping just high enough to allow us to scan the ground below. I flew next to the carriage, feeling the magic flowing through me, the cold air tingling my hide. It felt right… like this was my time, my own element where I could feel truly alive. The moon above, that huge white orb in the sky, calmed my heart and resonated with my magic, making it feel more focussed somehow. I sent a silent prayer to Luna to help guide us, but most of all I prayed I wouldn’t be too late. May the goddess protect them all. We headed north, straight for the mountains while I used my wendigo vision to help watch the forest below for any signs of movement. It was just as Loofa had predicted; the forest canopy was so dense I couldn’t make out any detail beneath. Even in daylight it was just a solid blanket of black and deep green, although with the link to my people I could sense that we were at least heading in the right direction. Nimble leaned out of the carriage with a set of low-light binoculars, but even he had to shake his head at the enormity and seeming fruitlessness of our task. The forest was just so big that all I could do was hope that-

“Cap!” Loofa was pointing to the north-west. “Thought I saw something, a flash of light, could be magical discharge.”

Nimble moved quickly to the front of the chariot. “What? What is it? Damn it, I can’t see a bloody thing!”

“Flash to the north west,” Loofa called back. “Use those binoculars of yours, corp’.”

The young soldier brought them up and scanned the darkness. “It’s just black on black. I can’t- Hang on… Yes! Something’s out there alright. Looks like a yellow light. Could be lanterns moving around.”

I strained my eyesight to see but couldn’t make anything out. “Loofa take us to where you saw them. Nimble, guide us in. Weapons ready boys, but watch your fire, there could be friendlies down there.”

A chorus of agreement rang out from the my two companions and we increased speed, heading in the direction of the lights. Sure enough, as we began to draw closer to where Nimble had seen them, I was able to make out moving spots of yellow lamplight in the blackness below. Was it Shadow’s party? The bond felt stronger now, a sure indication that- Suddenly a blindingly bright green flash burst beneath the trees, followed by something altogether more familiar. A beam of crackling purple lightning lanced out into the night sky followed by shouts, bellows, and shrieks carried to me on the faint breeze across the ancient forest. There was only one creature I knew that could use magic like that. It was Shadow! My wings beat furiously and I let slip the grip on my magic, letting it flow through me in a torrent. White mist billowed out from my haunches, my teeth itching as raw power burned in my muscles. Nothing would keep me from my family now. Nothing… The cacophony of battle rang out loud and clear from around a small clearing below us. It barely twenty yards across, just enough for Loofa to land, but barely.

“Let me clear the way first, then follow me in,” I shouted to Loofa. “Nimble, put that bloody gun of yours to good use!”

I dove, a streak of white and blue shining like a night star in the black sky. Barely flaring my wings in time, my hooves slammed into the ground, my magic bringing my scythe up and around ready for battle. Around me, screams, neighs, bellows and snorts rippled through the undergrowth accompanied by blasts of multicoloured magic and the sharp ring of steel. The battle was already well and truly joined. The clearing itself however was empty except for numerous corpses, the silent mounds looking so much like stones in the darkness. Only the reflected moonlight gave them away; the slaughter here had been terrible, and it wasn’t over yet. Not by a long shot. Loofa brought in the carriage and unbuckled himself as the first of the changelings flew at us out of the darkness, its wickedly curved dagger catching the foliage as it came on clicking and hissing in a blind fury. Nimble was quicker, his pulse gun taking the vile creature in the chest causing it to erupt in a shower of burning black gore and body parts even as more of the more terrifying things came at us from all sides. Loofa and Nimble used the carriage as cover, the two laying down a withering barrage of magical fire that played a symphony of destruction through the ranks of the changelings. The song of battle was being played, its staccato notes bringing me to the edge of ecstasy and beyond. My battle scythe swung through the air, taking the first of my assailants in the chest, cutting through the chitinous body plating, its internal organs, and passing out past its shoulder. It didn’t even have time to scream, falling dead almost as soon as it had appeared. Gore spraying my muzzle, I shouted a wordless war cry and sprayed liquefying icy death at the things, turning many solid instantly. But not all - that would be far too quick and ruin the song. There were so many more who would taste my wrath this night… so many more. And on they came. One after another they charged, felled by either my scythe, magic, or the energy blasts from my comrades in the carriage. A shout of alarm from Loofa carried me up into the air to bring down a storm of blue magical incineration upon a large changeling that had somehow shielded itself from their fire. The thing howled as my magical beam took one of its wings off and most of one leg, dropping it to the ground where Nimble put a shot into its head, silencing it forever. Around us the evening air filled with the cries of the changelings, from fury and anger to ones of fear and the cries of their dying. What drove them to such recklessness I neither knew nor cared. They attacked regardless, heedless of their casualties until, like entering the eye of a storm, abruptly the attack ceased. I stood there, my chest heaving, my coat dripping in black blood and entrails, my scythe matted with the evidence of the evening’s work. Nimble and Loofa sat back in the carriage, exhausted but elated. I was pleased to see that they were quick to reload however, and maintained a vigilant watch on the dark forest depths, even as the first of the minotaurs broached the clearing’s edge.

“Lord Fairlight, we sensed you were here.”

I lowered my scythe, “Where is Lady Shadow?”

Behind the hulking warrior a tall black shape emerged from the darkness, a pair of red eyes burning in the night, pure white teeth sparkling in the starlight. “Fairlight.” She advanced on me, armoured and soaked in blood, thankfully not her own by the looks of things. Shadow smiled. “You are late.”

I stepped forward and leaned my forehead on her shoulder. “I’m sorry love. Thank the goddess you’re safe.”

The thestral nuzzled me and pulled me into a brief hug. “Tingles. Lumin…”

“Have you found them?” I asked hurriedly.

She shook her head. “No. Changelings took them.” Around us, more and more of our warriors began to emerge from the forest. Many of them were injured, all of them looked tired, yet every one of them bore an expression of absolute determination. Shadow looked me square in the eyes, “We will find them, Fairlight. We will.”

“Any idea where they’re heading?” I asked.

Shadow shook her head. “Not my world. Not yet.”

I understood. How could she know? She’d just arrived in Equestria, but Shadow had still been able to track them this far. Part of me knew Tingles and Lumin were near, yet where were they? Anger and despair warred within me and I barely heard Loofa’s voice behind me asking,

“Er… Captain Fairlight?”

He sounded worried. I tore myself away from the barrage of questions I was preparing to throw at Shadow to see what the pegasus was going on about, when I noticed the green orbs at the edge of the forest’s clearing.

Loofa was staring intently at them. “Boss, I think we’ve got company…”

I held out a hoof, “Hold your fire and lower your weapons.”

Reluctantly the warriors around me complied, although kept them to hoof and claw, ready at a moments notice.

Shadow walked up beside me. “Fairlight?”

I smiled at her and walked toward the green orbs, stopping a respectful distance away. I was pleasantly surprised when Loofa and Nimble trotted up beside me. I could sense their unease and quietly hoped it wouldn’t provoke an unnecessary confrontation with our new guests. Before me the orbs glowed brightly, accompanied by a background wooden clacking sound I recognised very well indeed. Behind them, additional snapping and clacking sounds revealed yet more of the forest dwellers - many, many more. Nimble fidgeted with his pulse gun. “Dear Celestia,” he muttered. “They must have been attracted by the smell of blood.”

“What are they?” Loofa whispered.

“Timber Wolves,” I said quietly. “Stay here and don’t move. I’m going to speak to them.”

“Speak to- What?!” Nimble hisse. “Are you nuts? They’ll tear you apart!”

I frowned at him, making him back off a step. I didn’t want anything spooking them, let alone an agitated young soldier. A few seconds later the lead wolf stepped forward into the clearing, its green eyes burning as brightly as Shadow’s did red. It regarded her for a moment then fixed its gaze on me, snuffing the air and bobbing its head in what I presumed was some animalistic attempt at communication. I hadn’t seen many of these wolves before. Indeed, the last time hadn’t exactly been the best introduction to this magical race of living branch, twig, leaf and bark creatures. The one staring at me seemed to know me, and I quickly recognised it as the one who had taken over from the monstrosity that had lead the attack on the village all those months ago.

Bowing slightly, I waved my forelegs across the clearing, taking in the dead changelings. “You can have the dead, my friend. We will leave you to your dinner.” The wolf yipped and pranced forward, taking the haft of my scythe in its jaws and pulling it away. “What? What are you-?”

Shadow placed a hoof on my shoulder, shaking her head. “Follow.”

“Follow?” I asked in surprise. “What, follow the wolf?” Oh great, straight into the pot too most likely too! But then, sarcasm aside, there was definitely something else at play here tonight. Fate had always had a strange sense of humour, and who knew what that mystical mare had in store for us? Nothing good usually, but hell, what did I know of such things? I knelt down and brought myself muzzle to muzzle with the wolf. “We’re looking for my mare and foal, an orange pegasus and a little grey foal. Do you know where they are?” Goddesses above, it was worth a shot.

The wolf bobbed and pranced, clacking and yipping before rushing off to the clearing’s edge and looking back at me expectantly. Shadow shook her mane and watched me, waiting for what I would do next. By the looks of the rest of the warriors, they seemed to think I had the answers to everything too! I took a deep breath as memories of the first encounter I’d had of these creatures replayed through my mind: the darkness, that terrible nerve rattling clacking sound and... the screaming. Goddesses, what the hell was I supposed to do now?

Gritting my teeth, I made my decision. “Loofa, leave the chariot and fly cover, your eyesight’s better than mine. Corporal, you’re with me, the rest of you keep close and alert.”

The warriors behind us rumbled their agreement, a number of the griffins taking to the air and keeping station with Loofa. Before I knew it I had a small army with me, all of them heavily armed and armoured, and all of us following an unknown number of timber wolves through the dense undergrowth of an unforgiving and merciless forest in the middle of nowhere. What was not to like? We rushed through the trees as quickly as we could, barrelling through brambles, branches, and Luna knew what else, the barely seen flora snatching and catching on our coats and equipment with every step. I took point, hoping the other would follow my path, but I needn’t have been concerned, the minotaurs simple acted like muscular bulldozers, ploughing their way through the forest like an unstoppable tidal wave of brawn and spiked armour. Stealth was certainly not one of the strong suits.

I don’t know how long we’d been running for when I started to notice something up ahead. It was an odd silvery-white glow, appearing and then disappearing through the trees. At first I thought it could be the early sign of dawn breaking, but quickly dismissed that thought. It felt different somehow, and the colour was wrong. Oh hell, no… I knew already what it was, but by Celestia’s sagging arse I wished I was wrong.

Loofa shouted over to me, “You see that, Cap’?”

I didn’t bother answering, I’d seen enough of the bloody things to know what that cursed light meant. Nothing good ever came of them, and only the goddess knew where this one lead. Every time I’d encountered one it had been a portent of some form of tragedy. It was ironic that for something which could have been so extraordinarily valuable to our society, their ‘rediscovery’, if that was the right word to use of course, had brought nothing but tragedy. Portals. Most that still stood were little more than inactive ruins, a curiosity from an earlier time to tantalise the imagination, although I doubt many who encountered one had even the slightest inkling as to what they had actually been. This one however was far from some long forgotten collection of mouldering old stones, it very much active, and I knew with terrible certainty that this was where those vile creatures had hauled my family off to. I could only pray I wasn’t too late. Digging in my hooves I burst into the clearing before the portal, just it in time to see one of the black changeling creatures standing over the prone figures of two ponies, a green magical aura surrounding it. It saw us, turned, and fled through the portal as one of the wolves dived after it. There was a deafening shriek, and the wolf re-emerged, pulling the thing back into the light by one of its hind legs whilst it tried desperately to pull itself away. In a flash, one of the minotaurs grabbed the creature and pinned it down, drawing a sword.

“NO!” I shouted at the great beast. “I want it alive.”

The warrior turned and eyed me curiously before obediently lowering the blade, still keeping the changeling firmly secured in a grip that could have bent iron like candle wax. For now, the vile changeling could wait. My gaze fell upon the two ponies, my heart leaping into my throat as I recognised one of the prone shapes before the portal. Shadow reached them at the same time I did. They were still, grey, cold to the touch… a tangerine pegasus and a white mare with a golden mane and tail. My heart faltered, the magic within me answering with horror and anger, lending a strength I didn’t want right then… not now.

“Tingles?” I leaned down, nudging the prone form with my muzzle. “Love? Please, wake up, love, I’m here now.”

She was completely unmoving, her hide ice cold to the touch, and all the colour looked like it had been drained from her. Tingles’ cutie mark was a tragic reflection of her condition – colourless, and devoid of any warmth. Was she…? Shadow nuzzled her as I collapsed to my knees and lay my head across her, feeling for a pulse, for any sign that the spark of life still remained. The thestral warrior sniffed Tingles’ body, snuffing and nuzzling her. Oh gods… Tingles… Those deep green eyes, once so full of life, were now closed tight. How had it come to this? How?! It was all my fault too. I’d been so damned stupid, so unimaginably careless, sitting on the porch smoking that bastard pipe when I should have been there to protect my loved ones. If I’d kept my wits about me, if I’d listened, maybe I could have heard-

Thump…

Wait… was that-?

Thump…

I waved for silence to the increasingly agitated warriors whilst Shadow leaned over Tingles, her eyes blazing. “Fairlight,” Shadow breathed, “is Tingles…?”

“No,” I said shaking my head. “No, she’s still alive… barely.”

Gently, I raised the pegasus’ head and dribbled some of my life essence into her open mouth, hoping it would help restore her, but all it did was drip back out onto the muddied ground. I tried moving her. She was so light, like a ragdoll with its strings cut, used and discarded upon the cold, hard ground. More than anything right then I wanted just to wrap her up and take her home, to get her some proper care, but some of Meadow’s advice came back to me about not moving an injured pony. Was this the same sort of situation? Tingles just lay there silently, her life fading before my very eyes. There were few injuries, certainly none life threatening that I could see, but I still couldn’t detect any sign of the vibrant mare I loved so much except for that slow beat of her heart. What the hell was I supposed to do now?!

Panic, anger and rage cascaded through me as I looked up at the cause of her suffering - the changeling. I nodded to the warrior without taking my eyes from the thing he held. The minotaur watched me carefully, waiting, retaining his grip on the slick black creature. The other warriors of the tribe moved up around me forming a circle. Behind them the wolves made a plaintive, low howl, clacking occasionally in their strange manner. It was like the watchers of the dead, waiting for the passing of a soul. Several warriors brought pole lanterns and set them up around us, lending at least a little light to the scene. I leaned down and nuzzled Tingles. Her body frigid, and not even my magic was enough to help. She was slipping away from me. A tear rolled down my cheek and I heard the creature, the monster that had done this, buzzing its bee-like wings. Of course… of course I knew what they’d done… The stories had been true. All too true.

“Repair the damage you have done,” I whispered, holding Tingles’ head in my forelegs. “Fix this now or I swear by the moon I will tear your still beating heart from your body.” In reply the thing chattered and hissed its defiance, those soulless eyes staring blind hatred at me. I motioned to the creature’s captor. “Release it.”

The minotaur hesitated. “My Lord?”

One glance was all it took. “Do I have to repeat myself?”

I growled deep in my throat, watching the creature as I rose to my hooves, letting the magic sing, listening to its howl of fury as it seared through me in a torrent of unbridled rage and hatred. White fog billowed up around me in a tempest, faster and faster, silver motes of magic mixing and swirling, with myself, Tingles, and the creature at its heart. My horn glowed and ice formed around the creature’s legs, freezing it to the ground. Helplessly it beat its wings and tried to fly, the unexpected additional weight keeping it bound to the earth.

“I gave you your chance,” I hissed, forming a short dagger of ice before me. The blade, unnaturally sharp and thin, floated in the air, held up before the changeling’s face. “If you will not help me, then perhaps your screams will bring her back.”

Shadow trotted over shaking her head, “Fairlight… don’t…”

I stared up at her, my eyes brimming with anger and tears alike. “No. Shadow, look away… please.” I turned to Nimble. “Corporal…” Dutifully, the young stallion trotted up as I gazed at Shadow. “Take Shadow away, I don’t want her to see this.”

He stared at the changeling and then back to me. “Cap’,” he said, swallowing, “this… this isn’t right…”

I looked him in the eyes, “And if that was Ruffles lying there dying before your very eyes, where would your morality be then, Nimble? Tell me, explain to me now, exactly how you could walk away and let this thing go as the mare you loved died before you, and you did nothing… NOTHING!”

He lowered his head silently, and without another word led Shadow gently away. Meanwhile the creature that had caused this glared at me, its blue-green eyes looking for all the world like some giant insect’s – emotionless, and completely devoid of expression.

I whispered into its ear, “I know you can understand me, I’ve met your kind before. You’ve drained her of emotions, left her an empty husk of who she is…” I sighed, closing my eyes and tapped the knife on the changeling’s chest. “I’m going to leave you empty now… One piece at a time.” The knife trailed down until I found a joint in the carapace below its belly. “Take a deep breath now,” I hissed, baring my teeth to the thing. “I want to hear your screams fill the void you’ve left in my soul.” I pushed the knife firmly but slowly forward. “This might take a while…”

The creature suddenly shrieked and hissed, “Pleasssse!”

“It’s too late for begging,” I whispered to it. “Far, far too late…”

“No! I cannn helllpp!” It stared up at me, struggling against the grip of the ice. “Pleasssse!”

Reluctantly I stayed my hoof, taking the knife away but kept eye contact with the disgusting thing. “You have one chance. Only one.”

The changeling swallowed, nodding towards Tingles. “I mussst be nearrr.”

I nodded to one of the minotaurs who lay the changeling between Tingles and the white mare. The white mare… Did I know her? She looked familiar somehow, yet strangely there was no cutie mark on her flank which… Oh goddesses…

I grabbed the creature roughly. “Both. You help both, you understand?”

It nodded quickly. “Yesss, I underrrssstanddd.”

A deep emerald glow emerged from the thing’s horn, slowly becoming brighter and brighter as it grew in intensity, spreading out to cover both of the mares. In the flow of magic I saw patterns, swirling black and blue lines travelling from the tip of its horn and into the bodies of the mares. The strain was clearly telling on the changeling and, horribly, holes began to appear in its legs, wings and even its mane. The beast cried out and gasped as the magic flickered out,

“I… I’vvveee donnne all I cannn,” it hissed weakly, “I cannn givvve nooo more”

I pushed the thing away and lifted Tingles in my forelegs once more, watching her chest for movement, praying for some sign, no matter how small, of the spark of life within her. She was as cold as she had been before, but her coat…

Shadow rushed up beside me, roughly shoving Nimble aside to reach her friend. “Tingles!” she cried out nuzzling her, “Alive!”

I looked up at her, my heart as still as a millpond. “Shadow… she’s…” I couldn’t say it. I… I couldn’t...

“F...Fairlight?” A voice, barely a whisper, no more than a breath on the night’s breeze, entered my ears and I looked down to see a pair of large green eyes staring back at me.

“Tingles?” I stared at her in frozen shock.

She smacked her lips dryly. “You took your time…”

Loofa was the first to react, hurrying over with a canteen of water for the weakened mare. “We need to get her out of here, Captain,” Loofa cautioned. “I’ve contacted Brandy and Mitre, they’ve got whoever they can spare on the way already, including a few medics. They’ll rendezvous with us at the tavern.”

I nodded my understanding. “Get the carriage, Loofa. Take a couple of the griffins with you and fly like the wind.” He said no more, but I felt the blast of air as he soared into the sky to collect the carriage.

Tingles leaned into me, shivering. “I’m so cold…”

I snuggled her into my fur, wrapping a cloak around her that one of our warriors had thoughtfully brought over to us. With Shadow on the other side, I stroked her mane. “We’re here love, it’s going to be okay now. We’re with you.”

I gave her a kiss, gentle and soft as she reached up and pulled me into it, her customary strength only a fraction of what it had been. But even as she held me, barely noticeable in the poor light, I could still make out the familiar colours of my mare gradually returning to her coat. It was slow at first, but it was definitely there, a gradual wave of tangerine vibrancy spreading out from her head to her tail. I let her take all she wanted from me. I had enough for her. For my loved ones, there would always be enough.

“Fairlight,” she breathed, her eyes visibly brighter than they had been. “You’ve got Lumin haven’t you? Please, tell me you have him?”

I laid my forehead upon hers, closing my eyes against the torrent of emotion. “We’re going after him now, love. Don’t worry, we’ll get him back.”

She nodded, tears welling in her eyes. I’d hear the expression ‘feeling a little off colour’, but this was quite literal, the vibrancy of her coat looked like it had simply faded away. I glared at the thing that had done this to her, to my family. It had stolen my son, killed my friends… I felt my teeth tingle and a growl in my throat rose up as my vision narrowed. Hatred, bitter and insatiable, seized my soul. This thing had to die… They all had to die. Whilst even one of the these evil creatures existed within Equestria it was a threat to everypony around it. Purging them from our lands was the only possible-

“Fairlight!”, I whirled round at the call. Nimble was kneeling beside the white unicorn. “She’s still alive, she’s coming to.”

Leaving Tingles with Shadow, I walked over to the other mare, her golden mane and tail as limp and lifeless as Tingles’ had been. But there, just noticeable in the lamplight, her chest rose and fell with a strong steady rhythm. She was most certainly alive, whoever she was. I looked closer… Other than the lack of a cutie mark she bore a striking resemblance to Celestia, at least at first glance anyway. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more this elegant creature reminded me of that strange friend of Velvet Cream’s, the one who’d killed my friends in the warehouse that terrible evening at the wharf. Looking down at her body now, any doubt about who she was vanished the moment I caught a faint hint of her perfume. It was her. The human.

A large purple eye opened and peered up at me in unfocused confusion. “Wha… What’s happening? Where-?”

I looked down at the despicable creature as the fog of the wendigo swirled around me, echoing my mood. “Where are you?” I finished for her. “A good question. Maybe you’d like to tell me what you are doing here, and where my son is?”

Tingles tried to push herself weakly to her hooves, the effort clearly straining her. “Fairlight, please…Annabelle tried to save us, she’s a friend.”

“Annabelle?” Yes, that was her name. Annabelle. Even her name sounded alien. “She’s no friend, Tingles. No friend at all, I can assure you.”

The white mare whispered quietly as Nimble held her in his hooves, “Fairlight? C… Captain?”

Hearing that name, from her… How could it… Memories slammed into me with all the subtlety of a burst dam. One after another they deluged me: a room, a dark, cold room, a saddle and bridle. I shook my head, trying to free myself from the invisible bonds. It was there. It was all there. The taste of the metal bit, the orders, the hose water pounding my body as I hung suspended from the ceiling in a fog of endless pain and humiliation. She was my mistress, I must… I had to… A heavy thud behind us announced the arrival of Loofa and the chariot, together with the griffin escort. Whatever spell this damned mare had me under disappeared as quickly as a popped soap bubble on a summers day.

“Loofa!” I near shouted, turning to face him.

“Yes, Captain?”

I gave myself a hard shake. “Get these mares back to the tavern and have the medics look them over. Take the griffins with you as escort too.”

The alabaster coated unicorn lifted her head to stare at me, the dark shadows under her eyes betraying her weakened state. “Captain, is that… is that you?” She blinked, trying to make sense of her situation. She had never seen me in my wendigo form, and yet somehow… somehow she still knew it was. “Please,” she said pleadingly. “I have to… to tell you something.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“Please!” the white mare insisted. “It’s important, please listen! It’s about-”

I couldn’t listen to her any more. “Loofa, get her out of here. Now.” I turned away. I couldn’t bare to see that bitch’s face for another second longer. I couldn’t recall it all as yet, but there was enough. More than enough. If she didn’t leave now I might have lost what little control of myself I had. I took Loofa to one side while Nimble helped the unicorn to her hooves. “Watch her, and keep her away from Tingles. I want guards all around her at all times, you understand me? If you’ve got a hornlock, use it, otherwise multiple guards.”

He cocked his head to one side. “She’s very weak, Cap’, I don’t think she’ll be much of a problem.”

“Don’t trust her Loofa, I’m serious.” I tapped him on the shoulder, fixing him with a gaze that brooked no nonsense. “Trust me, you don’t want her in your head…or your heart.” He looked unsure at first, but nodded and turned to help load her into the carriage as I helped to secure Tingles into the seat next to her. “You’ll be alright love, Loofa will get you home. I’ll have little Lumin back with you soon too. We’ll all be home soon.”

Nodding silently, Tingles struggled to keep her eyes open. “Soon…” she muttered. The exhausted pegasus was starting to nod off already. Seconds later the chariot lifted off and swiftly disappeared into the sky across the forest, back towards the relative safety of Smiling Borders.

One of the minotaurs lumbered over, it was Heavy Hoof. “Lord Fairlight, what are your orders?”

I hefted my war scythe and smiled, nodding to Shadow who had her axe ready on her back, her eyes burning like the sun. “We go forward, my friend, always forward. Fortune favours the bold.”

“How are we to find your son?” Heavy asked.

“I have a little something to help us.” I lifted Starswirl’s beacon up before him. Tingles must have taken it with her hoping it would lead her to our son. Instead it had nearly led her to her death. Now, it was my turn. Rotating on the end of its chain, the ethereal light shone brightly toward the portal, “It shows the path to what its wearer desires most," I said levelly, "and right now, I want my son back.”

Shadow prodded the prostrate changeling. “Him?”

I curled my lip, eyeing the thing. “I think we’ve got all we’re going to get from it.”

Heavy Hoof scratched his stubbly chin. “Want me to kill it?”

I shook my head, smiling. “No. Let him go.”

There was a chorus of shocked mutterings from the other warriors standing behind us. I cast my blue eyed gaze on them, silencing the dissent in a heartbeat. “You heard me, Heavy Hoof. I said let him go.” Reluctantly, the bulky minotaur brought the stricken creature to its hooves and I removed the ice from its legs, leaning down to stare into the creatures soulless insectoid eyes. I grinned, white mist dripping from between my teeth. “Run…” The thing looked at me and tried its useless wings before turning to look into the forest. I snarled at its hesitation. “I SAID RUN!”

It didn’t need telling twice. The changeling held its head down and charged off into the forest, quickly disappearing in a whirl of broken twigs and kicked up grass and ferns. A pair of glowing feral green eyes stared at me from the darkness, the hollow wooden click-clacking, inquisitive and questioning. I smiled and nodded to my new ally. He knew what to do. After all, sharing was what friends did, wasn’t it? I turned and headed for the portal, joining my warriors as they began to file through one after the other. Shadow and I shared a kiss before following them into that mysterious enveloping silver light. What awaited us on the other side? Who could say? It didn’t matter anyway. Fate would reveal it to us in her own inimitable way regardless.

The last sound I heard from the forest was the lonely cry of a timber wolf in the distance. I looked back momentarily and smiled to myself. Justice had been served…deliciously.

********************

Travelling through these portals was very much a hit and miss affair with regards to how it would affect you once you emerged on the other side. The trip to the human world had resulted in a rapid evacuation of my stomach contents, making me the perfect target for any potential enemy. This time though I hoped I’d be able to keep everything down. More worrying however, was that I had no idea where this portal lead, only that Lumin was in danger and needed me. Thank Luna that Tingles would be getting help back at the tavern, and as for that white mare… Damn it all, whenever I tried to think of her my mind recoiled like an alarmed kitten. Was I frightened of her? I don’t know, but whatever she’d done to me she’d really bucked me up good and proper. Right now though, I had to concentrate on the job at hoof. Concerns about mystery mares, human or otherwise, would have to wait. Besides, Loofa was keeping an eye on her and with the agency team there too, she wasn’t going anywhere. I, on the other hoof, was. Exiting the portal was all but instantaneous. In the blink of an eye I emerged with Shadow by my side and the warriors already taking their positions in ranks before us under the instruction of Heavy Hoof. The first thing that struck me however, was the light here. It had a peculiar green tinge to it that bathed the world with a hazy, sickly hue. Even sun, faded and washed out looking, felt… ‘wrong’ somehow. Were we still in Equestria? It was a valid question, the portals could take you to other worlds as I already knew, but the changelings, as alien as they appeared, were still a part of Equestrian history. Or, more specifically, Equestrian ‘folklore’. Mind you, I had a much healthier respect for the writings of our forebears nowadays, particularly as creatures I had once believed to be no more than myth were popping up around me at an alarming rate: thestrals, changelings, wendigo, and things I had no name for either, like the huge pony-eating worm thing in the cave. I gave my mane a hard shake, letting my eyes adjust to the surroundings. The ground, the trees... everything I could see here looked as if it were sickening from some form of insidious malady. Gods, even the air tasted strange, reminding me in part of the sulphurous air of the dragon lands. As for our enemies, there was no sign of the changelings other than their hoofprints in the soil leading off into the distance. In fact, other than ourselves, the area around the portal was completely devoid of any signs of life whatsoever. There were no birds overhead, no small critters chattering in the warped trees, nor even the sound of the wind. Strange, why was there nopony here? Our minotaurs had gone through first, ready to act as a battering ram whilst the rest of us followed, but rather than meeting any resistance, we’d been completely unchallenged. At least, so far.

Shadow looked about her, shaking her mane irritably. “I don’t like this place. It feels wrong.”

I let go of my magic, taking out one of my flasks. “I know,” I said scanning the area around us, “it’s like it’s shielded somehow. In fact…” I stared up at the sky, watching a shimmer of magical energy flicker across it momentarily, “…it is.”

This would explain why Equestria hadn’t seen changelings for such a long time. The damned things had been sealed away for a reason, and no wonder, the murderous insects were a scourge that I’m surprised ‘old burger buns’ hadn’t given the wendigo treatment too long ago. Instead, it looked like her royal highness, or whoever it had been, had stuck them here in this glorified goldfish bowl. Unfortunately, it looked like somepony had left the bloody door open for them to come and go as they pleased. But why? And just as importantly, how? From what we knew so far, somepony was clearly using these monsters for their natural ability to infiltrate, the royal wedding venue being the case in point. On the face of it of course, that seemed like a good idea – for all intents and purposes the changelings were absolutely perfect for assassination or espionage roles. The only problem, however, was that now they were able to enter Equestria through this very portal on a whim, and from what I had seen so far, there was nothing to stop them coming back in force too. Come to think about it, what the hell was a portal doing in the middle of nowhere anyway? The ones I’d seen had been deliberately placed, either a long time ago or, more recently, by the smugglers. This one was in the middle of a bloody forest, so- Suddenly an image of the white mare flashed through my mind again. It was her, her and the smugglers, Velvet Cream, the commissioner, the changelings in Canterlot...

“My goddesses,” I breathed. “Shadow, this whole thing… the portal, the attempt on Celestia and the infiltration of the wedding. Somepony’s set this damned thing up to use the changelings as a game changer.”

Shadow shook her head. “Foolish,” she said firmly. “Monsters cannot be reasoned with. Too dangerous.”

She was right. Whoever was behind this was not only playing with fire, they were throwing fuel on it for good measure. The portal sat behind me, shimmering with that now familiar silvery light. The engravings, the construction, the lack of any visible weathering… This wasn’t some ancient structure that somepony had somehow managed to reactivate, it was all new. Somepony had manufactured it, and recently too. One thing was for sure, whoever had built it was highly skilled in magic. But where would you even find skills like that to learn in the first place? It was hardly the sort of thing taught in night-schools or colleges, was it? In fact I doubt most ponies would even know what a portal was, let alone how to reactivate and use one the things. The more I thought about it the more insidious the whole matter seemed to become. I had a horrible feeling we were out of depth here, and massively so.

One of the griffins walked up to us, bowing, “My lord, may I have your permission to scout ahead?”

It was an excellent idea. With no clue as to the topography of this land nor the disposition of the enemy, any intelligence we could garner from aerial reconnaissance would be essential, particularly as we were likely to be outnumbered too. Whichever way you looked at it we were in the changelings back yard here, and whether they expected us or not they would find out we were here soon enough. How they’d react to our presence remained to be seen, although somehow I doubted it would be with a tray of cakes and a pot of tea. I nodded to the griffin. “Yes, but keep as low a profile as possible. I don’t know if they’re aware we’re here or not yet. If they’re in the dark, let’s try to keep it that way.” The winged creature nodded and returned to her fellows, issuing orders.

Shadow nuzzled me, “Lumin…”

“I know, love,” I smiled. “See? The beacon’s brighter than ever now.” I held up Star Swirl’s pendant, noting how the light shone with a distinctly purer light than it had on the other side of the portal. Shadow closed her eyes and nodded before giving herself a shake. It was time to move out.

With Shadow, Heavy Hoof and I taking the lead, the rest of the warriors fanned out either side of us in a loose formation whilst the scouts watched our flanks. Without exception, each and every one of us kept alert for any signs of danger. We were in hostile territory now, and there was no way I was going to be caught with my pants down out here. Not that I really wore pants all that often of course, but the analogy still works - mostly. We trudged onward, following the hoofprints of the changelings as they disappeared off into the distance. By the way the ground had been churned up, they had been running at not inconsiderable speed too. Whether that was because they had feared pursuit or simply because they wanted to take their prize back to their masters as quickly as possible, it was impossible to say. They’d taken considerable casualties during the attack on the village, plus the fight in the forest. They must have realised we’d be hot on their hooves, so I wouldn’t discount the possibility that panic had overridden all else in their desperation to escape. What really concerned me however, was that to assume there wasn’t going to be some form of attempt to recover Lumin would be either ignorant in the extreme, or supremely arrogant on behalf of their leaders. Then there was the third option of course – the portal had been left open deliberately. Could we be walking into a trap of some sort? And if we were, what choice did I have? I had to recover my son, come what may. Unfortunately I was all too aware of the fatigue of my warriors. Many of them looked tired from their exertions in the forest as it was, whilst others sported various injuries. If we were going to be successful I wanted any operation here to be quick and decisive so we could get out as fast as possible. And that was only part of it. Once back in the Everfree we’d still have to navigate the treacherous depths of the forest before we reached home. Still, if we were being pursued at the same time we’d have a chance to evade them in there. What truly struck me about this place though was the sheer bleakness of it all, the emptiness, as though the land itself was on the verge of death but never quite tipping over into the emptiness of the eternal abyss. The foliage, if you could call it that, was all dark and wilted like the trees - nearly dead, barely alive, surviving in an eternal half life between life and death. I checked my supplies. Fortunately I’d been able to bring a fairly decent stock of life energy with me and I paused to retrieve a flask. It was halfway to my lips when, to my surprise, I realised I didn’t really need it after all. Curious. I scratched my chin and replaced the container. When was the last time I’d had any? I’d pushed myself to the brink healing our people back in the tavern of course, but that was exceptional rather than the norm. We’d fought since then, fighting in the forest where I’d expended magic fighting off the changelings, yet for some reason I didn’t have that familiar hollow feeling that tended to follow any extended use of my magic. It was a pleasant revelation, though nothing of particular note. Even so, I’d have to keep an eye on it. The last thing I wanted was to push myself too far and not realise I’d burned myself out until it was too late. I’d ponder it later when my pipe and a brandy would be a nice accompaniment to any thought processes. Them, and some chocolates. A nice mare or two would be good as well, afterwards…

Shadow nudged me. “Love?”

“Hmmm?”

She motioned to the green tinged sky. One of the scouts was returning, a hippogriff male by the looks of it. He landed a few feet away, bobbed his head, and trotted up to me.

I nodded to him, “Report.”

“My Lord, enemy forces are massed ahead,” the hippogriff said gravely. “I kept low as you ordered. I don’t believe they saw me.”

“Good,” I replied. “Estimated numbers?”

He grimaced slightly. “I couldn’t say for certain, they were massed tightly. I would certainly estimate several hundred, including some larger ones I believe are leading them.”

Heavy Hoof strode over. “My lord?”

I turned to look at our warriors. Although quite capable of taking on a larger force, there were so many of the changelings that there was a very real possibility we could be overwhelmed. Heavy Hoof rubbed at a bandage on his arm in thought whilst I considered our position. Everypony had been hurt during the fighting, even with my wendigo powers backing us up.

I lifted my head. “Scout!”

The hippogriff bowed, “My Lord?”

“Show me where the enemy are, the rest of you wait here. Shadow, Heavy Hoof, keep a lookout but make sure these warriors get some rest.”

We took to the air, the half pony, half eagle creature a curious sight as he lead the way across the strange landscape. Not that I had any room to talk really, he probably thought I was just as odd to look at too. After all, how many wendigo had he ever seen in Smiling Borders? Or anywhere else for that matter. Still, hippogriffs were far from a common sight in Equestria. If I remember correctly, once upon a time they had their own lands, rather like the wendigo I suppose. Whatever had happened to it was yet another gap in my sieve like knowledge, as well as an uncomfortable reminder of just how little I knew of our world outside of the princess’s cosseted domain. I kept pace with the scout quite easily, marvelling at this extraordinary blend of two species. His pony hind quarters bobbing along blended seamlessly into his feathered forelegs and head. Like I’d seen with many of our griffin contingent, he carried with him a quiver of short throwing spears and a curved sword by his side. Add to that his lethal looking hooked beak and claws, the curious warrior was certainly a force to be reckoned with. I yawned, stretching my legs. Well, if there was one thing I’d learned about the tribe so far, it was that I would definitely have to spend more time with the enigmatic denizens of Smiling Borders when we got back. It was my home after all, and besides, it was always good practice to keep in with the neighbours, no matter what the species.

Ahead of us the land rose sharply and then dropped away into a deep valley, shrouded in shadows. Both of us came to a halt, quickly dropping quietly to the ground whereupon we shimmied forward to peer over the edge to take in the sights below. I took a moment to take it all in, every single, terrifying detail of it. The hippogriff hadn’t exaggerated their numbers. If anything, he’d underestimated them. Arrayed in the valley was a huge force of armed changelings, the scale of which I’d never seen outside of my ancestral memories of the great war. This was no mere band of raiders, it was an army, and not just a specialized attack force for an assault on the royal wedding either. No, it was way too big for that. The black sea of creatures buzzed and clicked, the sound of such a mass of the things creating a wall of noise which reminded me of waves breaking upon the shoreline, an inexorable force that would crash upon Equestria leaving nothing in its wake. If Tingles and the white mare were any indication of what awaited everypony if this lot were unleashed, then Equestria was facing a threat that would have put Nightmare Moon’s legion to shame. I watched them for a moment longer before creeping back from the edge and taking a deep breath to clear my head. Maroc’s memories flared up a moment later, flooding me with images of the war, the final battle at River Valley and the sheer numbers that had been involved. Back then there had been thousands involved on both sides: ponies, griffins, minotaurs, hippogriffs, dragons… I swallowed, trying to make sense of it all. Was I overthinking things? The world had been a very different place back then after all, and River Valley it had been a set piece battle, with both armies arrayed like playing pieces on a chess board, with each side waiting for their commanders to make their respective moves. Here we were talking about a force of shape-shifting monsters that were, in all likelihood, poised to launch a surprise attack on the capital of my homeland. Even if there were only a few hundred of them, with our country’s hopelessly depleted armed forces reduced to little more than a ceremonial role, we wouldn’t stand a hope in hell. Gods above, if it wasn’t for Celestia and Luna’s presence, a foreign invader would be able to walk right in and set up shop with next to no opposition whatsoever. Come to think of it, what would happen to us if an assassin actually did manage to take them out? All it would take would be an MAD in the right place at the right time, and BOOM, it was game over. They’d tried it once, why wouldn’t they try it again? I shook my head. No, there was no doubt about it. This… this was an invasion force. We flew as fast as we could back to our own force, its size pitiful in comparison to the changelings. As much as I respected the tribe’s strength and fighting prowess, we didn’t stand a hope in hell against such numbers.

Heavy Hoof watched me as I approached. The hulking fellow was emanating anticipation like a furnace. “My Lord, you have news?”

I nodded, taking the hulking minotaur, Nimble and Shadow to one side out of earshot of the warriors. “Heavy Hoof, how many warriors do we have here?”

The great beast scratched his chin and held up his claws, muttering under his breath. “Uhhhh…”

Oh goddesses, what a question to ask him! Nimble placed a hoof on the minotaur’s elbow. “It’s okay big guy, I’ve got your back.” He turned to me. “One hundred and fifty, give or take a few.”

“Out of them, how many are fit for battle?” I asked.

“Around a hundred,” Nimble replied. “The other fifty are sporting some nasty injuries.”

Heavy Hoof snorted, gripping Nimbles’ shoulder. “They can fight!”

“I know,” I nodded to him placatingly, “but by my count we’re outnumbered around eight to one.”

Shadow whinnied. “Too many. We are too few.”

“Even with my magic and yours, we’d be overwhelmed,” I said looking at the warriors arrayed before us.

Heavy Hoof hefted his axe, apparently unphased by such insignificant details as being heavily outnumbered. “We are strong,” he growled. “They are weak, frail things. We should attack, surprise them. We could win!”

“Maybe…” I sat on my haunches and checked my saddle packs. “I am inclined to agree with you, Heavy Hoof. Speed, aggression and surprise would be of great advantage to us. However, what happens after the first few minutes when the others have rallied from the initial shock of our attack?” I looked up at him. “We would be swamped, and many of our warriors are already hurt.” I shook my head, “No, my friend. If we fail, Smiling Borders would be open to attack and my family, your family, would be drained of everything that makes them who they are and left to die. You saw what they did to Tingles, would you want that to happen again?”

The minotaur slumped forward. “No, My Lord.”

Nimble’s ears pricked up. “I say we go round them, rescue your lad, then lay charges on the portal. We can them bail out and leave these buckers to rot in their prison shit-hole where they belong.”

“What if there’s more than one portal?” I replied. “How long before somepony returns to repair what we destroyed? You saw that portal, Corporal, it’s new. Some bastards are making them.” I shook my head. “No. No, we have to stop them here. The question, of course, is how.”

Shadow reached back into an equipment pannier strapped to her armour. I hadn’t really noticed it before with all the excitement in the Everfree, but not I was able to get a good look at it, it was quite clearly thestral armour. Where in Equestria had she got that from?! I don’t remember her bringing it with her from the Withers, and it was hardly the kind of thing that fitted neatly into the small amount of luggage we’d been able to bring with us. I’d have to spend more time with her when we got back… If we got back. The midnight coated thestral pulled out a white leather pouch and tossed it to me, her eyes burning brightly as she said one word.

“Etrida.”

Nimble looked at the bag like it contained a snake. “Etrida?”

“She’s a dragon,” I said quietly. “The elder dragon from their realm in the Wither World. She helped us get home, but to ask her to come here and fight for us?” I smiled thinly at Shadow. “That’s quite a different matter, love.”

Heavy Hoof sat down and re-tightened his bandages. “A dragon? My ancestors fought with dragons. They are strong.”

They were that. I’d fought the enormous reptiles myself and was nearly barbecued in the process. If it hadn’t been for Shadow when that big bugger came for me at the monastery I sure as hell wouldn’t be here now. I could picture in my mind like it had happened yesterday, the way that wonderful thestral had rushed in to save my bacon and… Hmm… Thank gave me an idea. I picked up the bag and grinned to myself. Yes… Yes, it could work…

“We need to think tactically, everypony,” I said thoughtfully. “But first things first. A tactical withdrawal is in order.” Heavy Hoof looked like a vein was going to pop on his forehead, opening his mouth to protest until he saw the look in my eyes. I hefted my scythe. “Don’t worry my friend, your time for glory is near.”

He stared at me for a moment, snorted, then nodded once before crossing his hands on the hilt of his axe. “Good,” he huffed.

Leaving a small contingent of scouts on the changeling side of the portal, we took station back in the Everfree, setting up a small camp and a defensible perimeter. Heavy, as always, took command of his troops like a seasoned veteran. Shadow meanwhile, trotted off to help the medics look over our wounded, leaving me to see how things were going in the wider world. I tapped my communications device.

“Brandy? It’s Fairlight, you receiving?”

A few moments later a strained voice came back. “We’re still here, just. The damned things are everywhere, Fairlight. The army’s backing us up but there’s just no end to them!”

My heart sank into my stomach. I’d been right. Damn it all, it looked like we’d missed the boat too. “I’m sorry to say that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg,” I replied gravely. “We’ve found a portal into their homeland. There’s nearly a thousand of the things here and they look like they mean business.”

“How many troops do you have?” Brandy shouted back over the sound of magical weapons fire.

“Not enough.” I wiped my muzzle, accepting a flask of water from one of the warriors. “The troops mitre’s sent will be at the village by now, and I want to keep them there in case any more of these damned things turn up. Brandy, how many MAD’s can you get to my position, and how fast?”

“MAD’s? Fairlight, I… Damn it, fine! I’ll get you what we’ve can spare.” There was a shrieking burst of static. “For Luna’s sake, watch him! Watch him!” Another blast of energy fire, and then, “We can’t transport them by magic, the bloody things aren’t that stable, not to mention the distance. I’ll get my fastest fliers on the job, and if you can have one of your team meet us at the village to guide them in, that would speed things up.”

“I want a special order too,” I added. “You remember those things that they had on the barge?”

Brandy was livid by the end of the conversation but thankfully agreed to my requests, albeit somewhat reluctantly. I could only hope they’d arrive in time of course, but considering the gravity of the situation, none of us were in a position to argue over such petty issues as ‘formal requests’ and ‘permits’. The changeling army would be on the move soon, and the tension was almost palpable amongst our troops too. I used the opportunity to administer to wounds and meet the warriors I would be fighting with. Griffins, hippogriffs and minotaurs, were the ones who made up the bulk of the forces. The ones I hadn’t conversed with, oddly enough, were the ones of my own species – ponies. Several armoured stallions and mares were sat smoking and playing dice at the edge of the clearing by their stacked weapons. At my request, the troops had started clearing ground around the portal and were beginning to array sharpened stakes, spike pits and, just as importantly, to take it in turns to have a break from all the work. These warriors, as strong as they were, needed a moment to relax and restore some of their energy. I was all too aware that they’d been fighting for hours and although they probably wouldn’t admit it, some were clearly at the point of exhaustion. Around us, the clamour of chopping and digging continued unabated.

“Evening ponies,” I said trotting up to the small band.

One of them looked up at me and rose to his hooves, saluting smartly, “My Lord.”

I shook my head, smiling to relieve a little of the tension. “Please guys, my name’s Fairlight. If you want to be formal, fine, but just not right now, okay? I‘ve had enough of that bullshit to last ten lifetimes, never mind one.”

The stallion looked a little unsure, but bobbed his head politely. “As you wish, my… Fairlight.”

I motioned him to continue. “And you are…?”

“Oh… I’m Dusk Haze,” he explained, holding out a hoof to indicate his comrades. “This is Thistle, Blue Rummy, and Jasper Star.”

I greeted them all one by one, noting their names, faces, every detail that I could, committing it all to memory. These weren’t nameless, faceless fodder for the grinding wheels of war; they were ponies, creatures with thoughts, feelings, and lives of their own. I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, forget that. Maroc’s memories tugged at me, as we talked. He’d known his warriors, each and every one. He may not have recalled every name of course, but he knew them nonetheless.

“How are you keeping up?” I asked, taking out my pipe.

Blue Rummy scrubbed her mane, “We’re all a little tired, but we’ll be alright.”

“Yeah!” Thistle added. “We’ll make our ancestors proud. Nopony bucks with the four winds tribe.”

Dusk Haze nodded. “We’ll be ready, My Lord, don’t you worry about that.”

Jasper Star, the chestnut coated mare sporting numerous dents and scrapes along her armour, sat quietly, staring at the ground.

“Jasper?” I asked. “What about you?”

The quiet unicorn mare didn’t move her head but stared up at me with intense yellow eyes. “We won’t run if that’s what you want to know,” she said levelly.

Something in the way she looked at me... her eyes… “I didn’t expect you to, Jasper,” I replied.

She spat on the ground. “We’re not bucking cowards, whatever anypony else says. We don’t run from a fight! I won’t run!” Blue Rummy gave her a consoling look and placed a comforting foreleg on her. She closed her eyes, her voice dropping to a whisper. “We don’t run…”

I had a sudden image of a lone pony on a hilltop, standing strong and proud against the storm coming towards him, the banner of the moon goddess held in his hooves. In Jasper’s eyes I saw the same stern determination, the acceptance of fate... of death. This one, these ponies, we were all one… all of us. It didn’t matter whether we were unicorns, earth ponies, pegasi or wendigo, we were all children of the goddess.

Thistle rose to his hooves. “Excuse me, my lord Fairlight, it’s our turn at the defences.”

I nodded, watching them go. As Jasper stood to leave I stopped her with an outstretched hoof. She turned to look at me, those baleful yellow eyes of hers staring into mine. “He didn’t run,” I said quietly. “When others did, he stood as immovable as a mountain in the storm.”

She didn’t look at me. She didn’t need to. “Do you know his name?”

I shook my head sadly. “My memories aren’t complete from my ancestors. I mostly recall pieces, fragments of events from the past. The final battle at River Valley is one of the largest ones, though even that is like trying to read a book where half the pages have been torn out.”

Jasper Star’s voice was distant, as if she were looking into the past. “Moon Rise,” she said quietly. “His name was Moon Rise.”

I looked up at the sky. Luna’s moon was disappearing now, the sun beginning its silent journey above the forest canopy in its stead as the orange light of dawn caressed the edges of the mountains. It was quietly beautiful in its own way, perhaps even sombre, but with a melancholy feel to it that echoed the sadness in my heart right then.

“Moon Rise,” I murmured. “Was he a relative of yours?”

“I don’t know,” Jasper replied softly. “To those who were there he became symbol of what it means to be a warrior of the goddess, to defend that which you love. Even…” She swallowed. “Even when all is lost.”

Jasper bobbed her head and trotted after her friends. Moon Rise; I wouldn’t forget. As long as I lived, the tribe would never forget either. So many heroes, so many lost, both on the side of Celestia and of Nightmare Moon. The stories of their heroism and sacrifice had been lost to the mists of time, and yet here was one pony, one solitary warrior, who had given his all to hold the banner of the goddess aloft against impossible odds - until he was cut down. Any what for? Maybe it really was all pointless. After all, whoever truly wins in a war? The world still turns, time passes, ponies lives come and go as memories slowly fade and what was a time of fear, pain and suffering, becomes no more than an interesting passage in a history book nopony reads. Perhaps it really had all been for nothing, but that didn’t change the reality for those who had lived through it. I gave myself a shake and went back to helping with the defences. Hours passed as we worked, the rows of lethally sharp stakes we’d set up presenting batteries of death and injury to any unwary foe that might be foolish enough to enter the killing ground. Pit traps and other ingeniously cruel creations were also liberally sprinkled around the approach to the portal. It wouldn’t stop them all of course, not the kind of numbers I’d seen in the changeling realm, but we had one advantage. As big as this portal was, it would act as a bottle neck for the changelings, like the restriction in an hour glass. Part of the problem however was that come of them could fly, and we had precious little air cover. My musings were interrupted by two of our scouts flying in from the south. Everypony paused to watch before Heavy Hoof, ever the consummate professional, bellowed at them to get back to work.

Nimble shouted over to me excitedly, “Captain, it’s Loofa!”

Sure enough, the pale blue pegasus flew into the middle of the clearing, carefully landing his cargo whilst trying desperately to catch his breath. I’d never seen him so winded. “Somepony… ask for… a special delivery?” he gasped.

I clopped him on the shoulder and checked the cargo under the thick tarpaulins. They were exactly what I’d ordered, but how they’d managed to get them loaded and all this way to the Everfree was nothing short of miraculous. “Heavy, get your boys over here and get these things into the entrenchments,” I said urgently. “Nimble, take charge of your team and get them ready.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n”, he replied, saluting smartly.

I turned back to Loofa, clopping him on the shoulder as the doctor looked him over. “Thanks, my friend. Any news from home?”

He nodded, knocking back a large gulp of water. “Tingles and Annabelle are doing okay. The doc’s wanting to move them to Manehattan but they’ve refused to go.” That sounded like Tingles alright. As for ‘Annabelle’, I wasn’t so sure. Loofa continued, “The detectors have been going off all over Equestria, converging on the palace. Shining Armour believes a major assault is imminent on the wedding party but he’s confident the shield will keep them out.”

I nodded to the portal. “Unless somepony leaves the door open.”

Loofa nodded. “I heard over the comm that they’ve been coming in from another location too. The agency and army are dealing with it, but the damned things are popping up all over the place like gophers.” He hoofed me a heavy bag. “Careful with that. Brandy said you‘d know what to do with them.”

Opening it up, I peered inside. A box of innocent looking egg-like devices sat nestled inside their packaging; eggs, awaiting hatching. I shook my head, smiling to myself. “Loofa, you never fail to deliver.”

“Ha!” he chortled. “You can always rely on the Loofa.”

Laughing, I helped him unload the last of the supplies and sent one of the hippogriffs through the portal with orders for the scouting party. It wouldn’t be long now.

“Any chance of reinforcements?” I asked Loofa as I carried a box of gear over to a minotaur who was directing distribution.

He shook his head. “Everyponies out there trying to contain those damned bugs. The army’s even pulling their troops back from the border outposts, but you know how it is, boss, the poor sods have been mostly ceremonial for years. Training, numbers, equipment - you’ve seen the state of them.”

He was right, the equipment they had was mostly archaic, the training too. Saying that, the majority of the warriors here were armed and armoured like something from the pages of ancient history as well. Dishing out modern PDW’s and pulse guns now with no training would probably lead to a massacre of our own troops, let alone the enemy. Thank the goddesses that Nimble and Loofa were here to help. I tapped out my pipe on my hoof and stowed it back in my pack. I don’t think Tingles could complain about my ‘bad habit’ right now. No, she’d probably let me have it later at full volume later when all this insanity had come to an end instead. Smiling wryly to myself, I looked up at the sky. Dawn had arrived.

I’m not a particularly religious pony to be honest. It’s rather hard to be when your gods live in a very solid, and also very real palace up on a mountainside where you can call in and see them pretty much any time you fancy. Having tea and cakes with the local deity of your choice tends to diminish the necessity for what the religious call ‘faith’. It also doesn’t help when one of them turns out to be a complete bitch either. I was little surprised to find some of the warriors from the village still worshipped Nightmare Moon as the one true goddess too. I’d overheard them saying prayers to her in their own way. Whether Luna heard them or answered their prayers, remained to be seen. As for myself… well, Luna may have been that very same vanquished being from one thousand years ago, but now, I wasn’t so sure. Somewhere inside I felt that the real Luna, her altered self like the wendigo inside me, was never that far away. In some ways I wished I could have seen her before the battle, but then... why? Was I expecting to die today? No… No, this was something different altogether. On some level she was somepony special to me, one who had loved my ancestor, and one for whom, should history have been kinder to them, could have taken a very different path in life. Would life in Equestria have been better with Nightmare Moon in charge and the Legion running things? I don’t know. And secretly, I was rather glad I didn’t either. I shook myself and took a deep breath. Most of the work was done now, and melancholy thoughts wouldn’t serve me well in the coming battle. Instead I pictured the princess in my mind and silently offered her my thanks her for her kindness and help. If she could hear my thoughts, she didn’t let on, but still…

The portal shimmered as one of the scouts flew in, looking around urgently before spotting me and swooping in for a quick landing. “Lord Fairlight,” she said urgently, taking a steadying breath. “The enemy are approaching.”

“How many?” I asked.

Her avian eyes never blinked. “All of them.”

I glanced around at our defences before turning back to her. “How long before they get here?”

Right on cue the rest of the scouting party flew in and took positions. The scout ruffled her feathers as she replied, “Estimate around twenty minutes before their advance party arrives, My Lord.”

I nodded my thanks to her and turned to face Heavy Hoof and Nimble. Loofa stood with his team watching close by. They knew already.

“This is it everypony,” I shouted. “Get your warriors into position.”

I walked into the middle of the glade and watched the portal, the way the silvery liquid magic rippled and sparkled; it was bewitching. Sunlight was just starting to catch the edges of the structure and glinted off the armour and weapons of the warriors who were all watching me intently. Nimble waggled his eyebrows at me and I turned to see that I was, suddenly and rather unnervingly, the centre of attention. Oh Luna’s furry arse! I knew what they wanted of course, it was some bloody pep talk from ‘Lord Fairlight’, something to give them courage and drive in the coming battle. Damn it! What the bloody hell did I know of these things? Maroc’s memories had given me a few brief hints, a smattering of suggestions here and there, but each one of them had been tailored to the specific situation. However one common thread ran through them all. All of them, every single one… came from the heart. I breathed deeply, steadying my breath, sweeping my gaze around the clearing, taking in the sight of my warriors. They were my tribe. My people. I gave them my trademark Fairlight smile.

“Warriors of the Four Winds,” I called. “You are here with me today not as my soldiers, but as my brothers and sisters. You accepted me, a stranger to your home, as the new lord of the fortress in the mountains, and of your tribe. I knew little of our people and little of my past, but now…” I raised a hoof and swept it around in an arc. “I can say truly that I feel as much a part of the tribe as I do of my own family. You are part of that family now, each and every one of you. I may not know all your names, but I know your faces, and I know your heart. I will gladly fight by your side and defend you all with my life. This coming battle may decide the future of Equestria, and also of our very existence. Your loved ones and my own are depending on us to stop these creatures, to throw them back into their own lands and make our home safe once more.” I looked at Jasper Star. “Many of us share ties with our past, with a history we will never forget, but I say we must also forge ahead, holding the past dear, but pushing boldly into a new future. We have a chance here, an opportunity to restore the honour, the glory of our people and home, to rebuild and be strong once more. I say we seize that chance by the balls and take what is ours.” There was a loud murmuring from the warriors, a general nodding of heads and smiles on weary faces. I unleashed the magic within me, feeling it surge through my body as my wings burst from my back and a shuddering force of anger and hatred flooded my heart and soul. My vision tinged blue and I reared on my hind legs, holding my war scythe high above me, the winds of winter swirling around the clearing. “Brothers and Sisters!” I cried, my wendigo voice deep and frigid as the mountain air, “Bring down the wrath of the Four Winds upon our foe. Join me in the song of war, sing the refrain of battle in your hearts.” I snorted and shook my mane, grinning. “They have brought us woe, but let us not be poor hosts…” The first of the creatures emerged from the portal, its head dropping away from its shoulders, the dark spray of its viscera spraying my chest. I laughed, the sound rolling out across the clearing, “…LET US BRING THEM A FEAST OF DEATH!”

A cheer rose from the warriors of the four winds. Every weapon was ready, every eye keen, their hearts and minds focussed on what must be done. War was upon us, and we revelled in it. Our ancestors would be proud.

The tidal wave of black flooded through the portal, some flying, most running, straight into a storm of bolts, arrows, and magical energy weapon fire. Although we had few PDW’s and pulse guns, at this range their fire was murderous. Those that made it through the hailstorm of fire tried to get through the ever increasing mass of bodies, stumbling and crawling through the stakes and pits, only to be cut down by the axes and swords of the waiting warriors. The discipline of our tribe was impressive indeed. Despite the excitement and adrenalin of battle, they kept their heads, making every shot, every thrust and cut count. Nimble and Loofa kept up a steady crossfire across the portal, concentrating on the fliers. We couldn’t let any of them get past us, the next target on their way into Equestria would most likely be the village - our home. Shrieks, cries and screams resounded across the forest, rending the morning air as the bodies of the changelings were rent asunder before us. Blood, black as oil, fell like rain upon us all, making my heart soar to heights of ecstasy I’d never known. Life… Death… This was where a wendigo lived. This was the true heart of the tribe. Celestia had been right, war was the natural element of our people, and looking at the eyes and expressions of my warriors, my brothers and sisters, they understood it too. I laughed aloud, leaping the barricade and gutting the changelings that rushed me, struggling over the bodies of their comrades. One by one they fell, their charge endless, unceasing… Faster and faster, more and more of the things came through, the clearing filling with dead and dying alike, but to these creatures there appeared to be a single minded drive, like some monstrous hive mind behind their willingness to die on our axes, swords and spears. If death was what they so desired, then they had come to the right place. We would give them their fill.

One of the griffins shouted down to me, “Lord Fairlight, the portal!”

The flow of creatures slowed momentarily and we looked on, watching keenly as monstrously huge claws appeared around its edges with nails like scythe blades and skin as black as coal. Slowly hauling itself through the opening was a creature the likes of which I’d never seen; a hideous, terrifying thing of spikes, teeth, and demonic hate. It shambled in on two legs as thick as tree trunks, roaring its defiance as the pulse gun fire danced across its hide.

I shouted my orders. “Loofa, Nimble, keep fire your fire on the changelings, ignore that big bastard…” I grinned. “He’s mine.”

I unleashed a blast of sparkling white mist into the clearing at waist height, freezing cold and laced with raw magic. The thing, dragging a massive iron club behind it, saw me... and swung. For its size the beast was incredible strong, but it was also slow. Far too slow. The ice began to form on its body, cracking and snapping as the creature tried desperately to reach me. My scythe swung in response, biting into its skin, barely making much impression on its thick, gnarled hide. I weighed up my options; this would require something a little more aggressive than mere blade work. I took a deep breath and let the magic build as the creature tried to free itself from the icy prison. Peaking, and with a scream of released power and rage, a beam of purest magic lanced from my horn straight at my adversary whilst around us, the battle raged on. Flooding around the things legs, the changelings continued their attack, none of them seeming to notice their juggernaut had stopped its advance. Confused, the beast stared at me, then looked down. I grinned at the baffled look on its face. The hole was so large I could have flown through it without touching the sides. And finally, with the speed of a glacier, the things brain realised… it was already dead. The ground shook when the enormous corpse fell, its size so grotesque that it managed to smash some of the barricades beneath it, and with a hissing shriek and howl, the changelings began surging toward the gap.

“Now!” I shouted to Loofa and Nimble. “Now’s your time!”

The sacking and branches were pulled back and the multi barrelled machines swivelled to face the attacking horde. Nimble and Loofa, more experienced with such things, brought a whole new level of violence to the proceedings. Some of ours warriors stood in shock, staring at the carnage before them as the metallic whine and roar of leaden death swept through the changelings ranks, filling the air with body parts, entrails and gore. To see these things in action, to watch them killing… this wasn’t war. This was murder. Maroc’s calm voice echoed through my memories, ‘victory is victory, my descendant, however it is achieved.’ He was right of course. The battlefield was no place for sentiment, especially not for so cruel a foe. For what these creatures were capable of, death was the only answer. They still had my son. For that, and that alone, there would be no mercy. No mercy at all. But all too soon the firing, the shouts and the clash of arms, gradually ebbed away, draining into the morning air like the blood soaking into the ground around our hooves. Was it over already? I took a breath, standing there, still and quiet atop the pile of changeling dead. It was hard to find a spot that wasn’t approaching waist deep in the insect-like things. The ground of the clearing was a virtual lake of black blood, many of the beasts twitching or crawling about only to be silenced with a sword, axe or spear. The multi-barrelled guns clanked in the chill dawn air as they cooled, allowing the teams a chance to reload them.

Loofa shook his head. “Not many rounds left, Captain. These things eat through them in seconds. Should be more on the way though… hopefully.”

Spreading my wings I flew across the scene of carnage to the portal. Taking a deep breath, I plunged through it once more. Before me was a sea of black and green, interspersed with more of the giant club wielding creatures and larger pony-type things. They would be on us in moments. Quickly, I ducked back through to the clearing. It was nearly time. Screams and shouts reverberated around me as my scythe swung, my magic flaring. The second wave had begun. Frozen, burned and cut changelings piled up around me while more of the giant creatures clambered through, one after another. The tide was reaching its peak. Soon… Soon we would be swamped in the sea of chittering black horrors.

I shouted over to the hippogriff, “NOW! DO IT NOW!”

She nodded and flew to the top of the portal, landing on its apex and pulled out the detonator. Flicking the switch, the brave warrior ducked to throw it into the portal when a wild swing from one of the giants took her in the side and flung her broken body clear across the clearing and into the trees.

“Buck!” I shouted, trying to cut my way to the device. But no matter how hard I fought, it was hopeless. The ground and air were both thick with a solid mass of the changelings. I was giving them everything I had, yet despite cutting them down in droves they just kept coming, more and more and ever more. To my horror I saw our lines begin to falter under the inexorable tide, our warriors struggling to keep the defensive line intact. Heavy Hoof bellowed as a wickedly curved sword pierced his shoulder, the mighty beast bringing his axe down to cleave his changeling adversary nearly in two. Loofa and Nimble, their main weapons out of ammunition, had resorted to their pulse guns, the things all but glowing as they overheated with the excessive firing. Despite it all, regardless of the death dealt to them, the changelings surged forward, trampling their dead and wounded in their single minded determination to break through our lines. If this kept up… I looked at Nimble and he stared back, his face ashen, eyes wide with the adrenalin coursing through his body… He knew, as I did… We were losing.

From the corner of my eye I saw a flash of silver and black armour. Somepony was running, leaping over the corpse of one of the fallen giants. In the blink of an eye they picked something up and with a toss of their head, sent the thing in through the portal. I watched them turn, try to run back... and fall, a spear lodged in their side. I cried out and flung my rage and hate at the things before me, even as the fire storm of magic blew through the portal with the strength a hurricane. The world screamed around us in that inferno of green fire and death. Lives that ended in the initial flash were the fortunate ones, whilst the others… My goddesses, what had we done…? Burning and shrieking changelings ran at us in blind terror, flames pouring from their half melted bodies. Putting them down was a mercy. Many crawled, whimpering as they were sent to the next world by our steel. The stink of burnt changeling was something I will never forget, not for as long as I live. It was terrible… simply terrible. The warriors of the four winds tribe staggered wearily amongst the wounded enemy, dispatching them at will. No prisoners were taken here, no mercy was even considered. It was simply a job that needed doing. Taking advantage of the lull, I passed the piles of dead and made my way to the edge of the portal. She had to be here. She had to be! I pulled the dead creatures aside, kicking the remains of their burnt and mangled bodies away to reach my goal. There! A chestnut leg, still twitching, emerged from the charnel pit before me. I shouted for help and two of the minotaurs lumbered over to help move the badly burned body of one of the giants to reveal the mercifully still breathing form of the pony below. Heavy Hoof rushed over to help and between us we carried the wounded mare to the makeshift dressing station one of the griffins had set up. When he saw us he cleared his table and we rested our wounded comrade on the makeshift pallet.

Jasper looked up at me, pain keen in her eyes. “I didn’t run, did I?” she coughed. “I didn’t…”

I smiled down at her. “You didn’t run, Jasper. You saved us. You saved all of us.”

The spear protruding through her had nearly run the stricken mare through completely. Only her armour had protected her from being crushed and, perversely, the giant’s body had shielded her from being incinerated in the ensuing blast. I nodded to the griffin medic, indicating the spear.

Realising what I intended, Jasper cried out suddenly, “NO!” She grabbed my barding, pulling me down. “No… you do it… Please...”

I gazed into her eyes. “I’m not a doctor, Jasper. I can use my magic to help you, but not when the weapon is inside you still.”

“I don’t…” She gasped in a ragged breath. “I don’t care… you’re my lord. Please… If I’m going to die here, I want you to see me. I want you to watch me…” The young mare winced in pain. “I won’t run…”

Motioning to the warriors around us, I closed my eyes momentarily. Gritting my teeth, I took a deep breath. “Hold her down.” Each of the warriors took a leg. Dear gods, she looked like a toy next to the huge minotaurs. But even so, she was still one of them - one of us. I marvelled at her bravery. “Jasper, I wont lie to you, this is going to hurt.”

She gritted her teeth, nodding and gave me the oddest smile I’d seen in a long time. “Do it…”

I took the haft of the spear in my forelegs, twisting it, rotating the thing as I pulled. Maroc’s memories were guiding my hooves, advising me on how to remove the vile weapon. What they didn’t prepare me for her pitiful cries of pain. Jasper gasped and whimpered, desperately trying to keep quiet, to not lose face in front of her brothers and sisters. I leaned down and looked her straight in the eyes as I pulled.

“Open your mouth.”

In a haze of agony, Jasper did as I commanded and I clamped my mouth over hers, pouring my life essence into her as the spear finally came free. The mare thrashed and shook beneath me, her eyes never leaving mine. There was a wild look of fear about them, of anger and pain combined. She looked almost… feral. Smoke poured from the wound as the magic went to work, and slowly, gradually, the flesh began to knit, arteries, veins and muscle knitting as her hide returned to its proper place. Jasper’s tongue lapped at the fluid, taking it in, repairing and restoring her life drop by precious drop.

It was done.

Moving away from her, I staggered slightly, the loss of so much energy hit me hard. Loofa tapped me on the shoulder, a flask held in his outstretched hoof. “Thirsty?”

I could have kissed him, but instead was taken with a sudden and loud bout of laughter. It was a deep echoing laugh, one full of relief, joy and… Damn it, I had to see for myself. Downing the flasks contents, I stowed my scythe and rushed to the portal, followed by worried shouts from the warriors. I didn’t care, I had to know, to see what had… Oh dear sweet goddesses… The world beyond was fire. Nothing could have lived through this, and nothing had. A molten sea of black corpses, almost impossible to recognise, had melded together in the heat from the blast of the multiple MAD’s. Jasper had indeed saved us, the cost to the enemy of such selfless bravery... immeasurable. For as far as the eye could see there was nothing but bodies, mostly massed by the portal, but many flung away by the blast, rendered into chunks of bone, limb, and entrails. It was like the very gates of hell had opened and I had wandered in to see its infernal sights. Hoofsteps behind me caught my attention, but I couldn’t look away from that dreadful vista no matter how hard I tried.

“Oh Celestia…” Nimble breathed. “What have we done…”

The spell finally broken, I turned back to the portal, giving him a hard look. “We’ve saved our home, Corporal,” I said plainly. “That’s what we’ve done.”

Chapter Six - Heart of ice

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CHAPTER SIX

HEART OF ICE

Back in the clearing the warriors had already begun to repair the barricades, undertaking the odious task of clearing away the dead and readying weapons for an onslaught that wasn’t coming.

Heavy Hoof looked up from bandaging a wounded stallion at my approach. “My Lord?”

I bobbed my head to him as I passed by in silence. Standing there in the centre of the clearing, I spread my wings and took a deep breath. My scythe held high above my head, the blade swung out and I shouted my exhaustion, my relief, and my heartfelt jubilation to the morning sky for the world to hear.

“VICTORY!”

For a moment, for that briefest of seconds, there was silence. Then, the bellows, shouts, and howls began, the cries of the victorious filling the forest air. Weapons covered in the evidence of their grisly work held above their heads, the warriors of the tribe of the four winds savoured their survival and the defeat of our enemy the way soldiers had for countless generations. It was over. At least for now, we had prevailed over seemingly insurmountable odds – and won.

Loofa stumbled over to me, watching me curiously as I released my grip on my magic. Like many of us, the back-blast through the portal had singed his fur and several feathers were badly charred. He winced slightly in pain, yet his expression was one of relieved expectation. “Is that it?” he asked. “Are there more?” When I shook my head he closed his eyes, the tension visibly dropping from his features. “Dear Celestia, Cap’, I thought we’d had it for a minute there.”

Behind him I could see Jasper, who was busy being checked over by the medic despite her irritated attempts at pushing him away. She’d be alright, but by the gods she’d be ravenous in the morning. Taking another deep breath, I let it out in a long slow exhale before answering the pegasus stallion. “Want to have a look for yourself, my friend?”

He looked to Nimble who was staring at the ground, his eyes like saucers. “No,” he said quietly. “I don’t think that’s necessary, Captain.”

I nodded my understanding, motioning towards the corporal. “Loofa? Go and check on Nimble, would you? I think he needs to see a friendly face right about now.”

Loofa gave me a thin smile, hefting his pulse gun over his shoulder. “Yeah… Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s okay.”

“Love?” I closed my eyes, letting the familiar scent of my mate fill my senses. “Hurt?” Shadow eyed me worriedly, looking me up and down as if surprised to find me still in once piece. By the gods she smelled wonderful! Emotion surged through me as I span round, grabbing her in my forelegs and kissed her passionately.

“No,” I smiled, hugging her tightly. “Are you?” I stepped back, making sure she was unharmed. “I lost sight of you in the fighting.”

Shadow shook her head. “With the doctor,” she said, nodding towards the medical team. “Protecting.” The black coated mare tossed her long black mane, glancing towards the portal. “More?”

“I don’t think so, love,” I said. “We’ve given them a bloody nose at the very least, so I doubt they’ll be coming back for a while just yet. Anyway, now that the army’s on full alert they’ve lost the element of surprise.” I sighed, rolling the ache out of my shoulder. “Our next job is getting Lumin back. But first, we need to take care of our people. Without them we’ll stand no chance of mounting a rescue.”

“They will not hurt him?”

I closed my eyes as a wash of anger seethed through me. “No,” I said simply. “I don’t believe so. They wanted him for a reason. If it had been their intention to harm him they would have killed him when they broke into the tavern. I don’t know what they’ve taken him for, but he’s still alive alright.” I turned to face the portal once more. “I can feel it.”

The air ruffled my mane as one of the griffins landed beside us. “Doesn’t look like any got through, My Lord, and…” She tilted her head, smiling broadly. “If you look to the east, you’ll see a wonderful sight indeed.”

Everypony followed her gaze, and there, sure enough, was a large group of army sky carriages with a number of agency ponies amongst them heading towards us. Thankfully we’d managed to clear enough ground for them to land, but it was a tight squeeze even so. One after another, dozens of soldiers jumped down from the carriages, many of them armed with magical energy weapons as well as the usual mix of crossbows, swords and spears. These guys weren’t the usual polished armour brigade I’d seen knocking about the palace either. These were professional soldiers by the looks of them, the ones that I doubt most Equestrians knew even existed. Their armour was dull, yet clean, showing evidence of having been used for far more than poncing around foreign dignitaries at state dinner parties. Suddenly a familiar face appeared before me, stepping down from one of the chariots and brushing the dust off his agency barding.

“Lady Shadow,” the agency stallion said, bobbing his head. He turned to me. “Agent Nox, or should I say, ‘Lord Fairlight’, now?”

“Just Fairlight will do,” I grinned. “Hello, Brandy. Where’ve you been? You missed all the fun.” He went to shake my hoof, but instead I grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. “Thank the goddess you’re safe, and thank you for coming here, my friend. Is Smiling Borders safe? And Tingles?”

Brandy took a step back, grinning. “She’s safe, the village is safe, and as for you… hell fire, Fairlight, you look like shit.”

I raised an eyebrow, smirking, “Missed my morning shower I’m afraid. Bloody agency inefficiency, that’s what it is.”

The stallion clopped me on the shoulder, “No inefficiency from you though.” He glanced at the enormous pile of bodies being stacked amongst the trees. “And I thought we’d had it bad.”

“Had it bad?” I asked.

“There was another portal,” he said gravely.

I hung my head, realising my earlier fears had been realised. “Dear Luna, I feared as much.”

“Hundreds of them,” Brandy explained, scrubbing his mane. “They attacked Canterlot in droves, but not until one of them had impersonated the bride-to-be and attacked Princess Celestia.”

Loofa and Nimble began shouting at once, which Brandy stopped by raising a hoof. “She’s alright,” he assured them, “the elements of harmony saved the day. A young mare in particular, one Miss Sparkle, Captain Armour’s sister would you believe.”

I nearly fell over. The little librarian mare from Ponyville? “Twilight Sparkle?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes, that’s the one,” Brandy replied. “Do you know her?”

I shook my head, I didn’t want anypony to find out that she’d gone behind Celestia’s back to help me. “Not really, Brandy,” I said dismissively. “She lived in Ponyville when I was in the watch there. I thought she was just the local librarian.”

“Just goes to show you can’t judge a book by the cover, eh?” He quipped. Brandy scratched his mane and looked about him at the weary warriors of the tribe who were getting some strange looks from the newly arrived soldiers. “We’ve got enough carriages here to take the wounded back to the village,” he continued. “There’s proper medical teams and tents set up there ready, just in case. You can take well deserved breather now, Captain. Our ponies will secure this area so your boys can go and rest up a while. By the looks of them they need it too.”

He wasn’t kidding. As exuberant as the warriors of the tribe looked right then, fatigue was beginning to tell on all their faces. “Those that want to, can,” I said, picking a stone out of my hoof. “But I can’t Brandy, my son’s still out there somewhere. Somewhere on the other side of that damned portal.” I smiled at him sadly. “I’ve got no choice, my friend, I have to do this.”

Brandy looked at me in shock. “But Fairlight, you’re in no fit state! At least have a break, get a drink and-”

“I’ll take a break when my son’s home with his mother and I,” I interrupted. I wiped a piece of cloth over my scythe, checking the edge was still true. “If it was your little Brandy in the clutches of those monsters, wouldn’t you do the same?”

“Of course I would,” he said sharply, shaking his head. “But going in there half dead on my hooves wouldn’t accomplish anything except giving the enemy what they want.” he pointed a hoof at me. “Have you considered that this could be exactly why they kidnapped Lumin? To lure you there?”

“I think you give me too much credit,” I huffed.

“Do I?” The agency officer shook his head. “You don’t give yourself enough. Look around you. These people trust you, they believe in you. You inspire ponies, Fairlight, and that alone is something that few ever manage to achieve. Even without your wendigo magic, you have accomplished far more than I think you realise yourself.”

I let out a snort, bobbing my head towards the piled corpses. “Well, if you can call this an ‘accomplishment’.”

“I do actually,” Brandy replied. “If you hadn’t have been here we would have found ourselves fighting on two fronts. We barely managed to hold our own at the capital as it was. If this lot had turned up it would have been a different story altogether.”

“It still doesn’t explain why they attack Smiling borders and kidnapped my son,” I pointed out. “If they wanted to get to me, then they could have easily killed me when they had me under their bloody mind control.”

Brandy rubbed his chin in thought. “True, but then they had sent you in there with an MAD. Whether you had managed to kill Celestia or not, I don’t think they had any intention of having you walk out of there alive.”

“And now they’re trying to finish the job?” I asked. “I doubt it. This has been pre-planned, and I don’t think they would have had time to come up with something so elaborate in so short a time anyway.”

“A contingency plan, plan?” Brandy offered. “This could have been their fall-back position if the assassination failed.”

“Perhaps,” I admitted, “But there’s something else going on here, and something that involves Lumin specifically.” I tossed my mane. “No. If they were so keen to kill me, they could have done it before now.” A thought suddenly occurred to me. “Brandy, there’s a white unicorn in the tavern. Her name’s Annabelle, she’s the human that’s been hanging around with the commissioner and Velvet Cream. If anypony around here knows what’s going on, it’ll be her.”

“The human?” Brandy’s expression darkened. “Yes, we’ve heard about her.”

“I imagine you will have,” I said bitterly. “She’s the one who tortured and brainwashed me into becoming a mindless assassin. Be careful with her. Don’t let her get inside your head. Believe me, I know all too well what that sick bitch is capable of.”

“Leave her to me,” Brandy assured me. “I’ll get to talk. Anyway, what are you going to do now? I’d send troops with you but our orders don’t include punitive raids into changeling territory. I suspect Celestia will be taking care of that once she’s recovered, so there’s always the chance of a diplomatic solution to this. It may be the best option considering the alternative.”

“I’m not waiting for that,” I said quietly. “Lumin won’t wait. Have you seen what these things do to ponies, Brandy?”

By the look in his eyes he knew all too well. “Yes, and far too much of it. Look, Fairlight, get something to eat and drink. Your warriors need something too. Good goddesses pony, look at them, they look like they’ve been to hell and back!” He smiled at me. “Listen, get the wounded away and take this opportunity to resupply and fill your canteens and bellies. Remember, Piss Poor Planning…”

“…Promotes Piss Poor Performance,” I finished. He was right, charging in could get us killed, and who would help Lumin then? “I wouldn’t worry too much, old friend,” I said wiping my face with my foreleg. “I won’t be going in completely blind, but I’ll take up your kind offer of supplies, food, and a nice cup of something hot.”

Brandy passed me a cigarette which I took gratefully. “Any thoughts on what to do next?” he asked, offering me a light.

I drew on the sweet tobacco and exhaled a small smoke ring, feeling my muscles relax slightly. “Oh, yes.” Grinning up at the rising sun in the sky I raised an eyebrow, fixing him with a blue eyed gaze. “There’s always a plan ‘B’.”

A steady stream of chariots, carriages and supplies, began to arrive shortly after we’d finished evacuating the wounded. The army ponies set up an impressive defensive perimeter around the portal, including a large number of magical energy weapons and even human made firearms. Regulars and Royal Guard alike mixed with the tribe’s warriors surprisingly well, although in fairness I think the real credit for that was more down to Loofa and Nimble who acted as a go-between between the groups. It was surprising how natural distrust and wariness could be tempered in the melting pot of facing a common foe. Still, despite the contrasting mix of newly manufactured magical beam guns amongst the newcomers, many of the Royal Guard still carried melee weapons that looked like they’d be more suited to posing at the royal court than on a battlefield. Old habits die hard I suppose. On the subject of contrast though, the tribe stood out like a sore hoof, and not just because of the home-made armour. Many of them had a certain look about them, a hardness and distance that only comes from facing a foe on the field of battle. Our fight had been up close and very personal. Ramming a bladed weapon into your enemy, one who is only literally inches away from you and trying to do the same, is something you never forget. The smell of their sweat, the sound of steel against steel, the look in their eyes as their life leaves them... These were things that all us would have to live with now. It was a truly terrible burden for anypony to bear, whatever race or army they belonged to.

Shadow gave me a nuzzle, watching Brandy walk away to help direct his ponies. “He fears me,” she said quietly.

“Who? Brandy?” I asked, looking up in surprise. “I don’t think so, he-”

“His scent,” she cut in suddenly. “He smells of fear. Fear of me.”

I shook my head. “Shadow, look around you. There’s minotaurs, griffins, hippogriffs, unicorns, earth ponies, and I saw a couple of timber wolves over by the supply wagon that one of the army lads was feeding. Do you really think you stand out here?” I clucked my tongue. “Honestly, love, I think you’re worrying about nothing. After all, if the princess can accept a wendigo wandering around Equestria, why not a thestral? Are we really so different, you and I?”

Shadow expression was hard to read. Those burning red eyes didn’t seem convinced, but she didn’t pursue the topic. “I will help the wounded,” she said softly.

I gave a kiss. “Of course, love,” I replied. “Please, don’t worry about Brandy. He’ll see you as one of the family before you know it.”

“Mmm...” And with that the elegant black mare strode away, heading back towards where the medical teams were busy setting up their equipment and tending to the injured.

I was a little troubled as I watched her go. I was sure she’d be alright of course, after all the tribe had readily accepted her virtually the moment she’d landed on the village green along with myself and Etrida, but for some reason Brandy’s apparent fear of her had struck a nerve. Personally I hadn’t noticed it… but she had. When all of this was over I’d have to see about getting us all together and arrange something to break the ice a bit better than we had when they’d first met. Perhaps a little guiltily, it still made me chuckle when I thought about it. The poor sod had nearly crapped himself when he’d seen her walking up the street towards the tavern. At the time, Shadow had seemed to revel in teasing Brandy about it, and yet now for some reason it had begun to bother her. Hopefully it was nothing to worry about. My chain of thought was interrupted by a loud clatter of harness and vocal swearing as a group of army lads walked past me towing a siege catapult that was so ridiculously overpowered it could have put a hole through a mountain. Grunting and puffing with the effort they readily let me join them after I walked over to give them a helping hoof, though even with so many of us hauling the numb thing it was far from easy work. Sweat broke out on my brow almost immediately. How the hell had they managed to air-lift something so huge all this way?! And what were they expecting to come through the archway anyway? Ursans? What made matters worse was that the ground had been so churned up it was like dragging the damned thing through treacle. But finally, with the reasonably helpful instructions of the engineering team, we had the enormous catapult set up in place facing the portal. Gods help us, if there were many more like this to set up we’d be so knackered by the time the changelings turned up they wouldn’t need to launch an attack, they’d be able to just walk in here like they were having a Sunday stroll and push us over! I let out a groan of relief. My heart was beating like a steam-hammer in my chest, and I took a moment to lean against a tree, trying to catch breath. Ha! So much for relaxing!

“Take five, boys,” an officer called. Oh, thank Luna!

“Thanks for that,” one of the soldiers said to me, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Get a lot of dragons through here, do you?” he jerked a hoof towards the portal.

I grinned in reply. “Only little ones. You guys regulars?”

“Ha! Not likely,” the black and white stallion replied. He took off his neckerchief and tipped some water over it before giving himself a wipe down. “First border battalion, all the way.”

“You’re from the border?” I asked. “What, the one that borders Yakistan?”

Another of the soldiers wandered over, passing around a pouch of tobacco. “You better believe it. They recalled most of us, and the next thing we knew we were being dropped right into a bloody war zone.”

“Bucking changelings,” the first soldier snorted. “Thought we’d seen it all up there on the wall, but these things? Celestia’s buttocks, the damned things can alter their shape to look like anything.”

“Or any pony,” his comrade added. “Say, what unit you from?” he asked me. “Don’t recognise the get-up.”

“Agency?” the first one asked.

I glanced down at my barding. It was torn and bloodied here and there, but still relatively serviceable. Proper armour, however, it was most definitely not. “I suppose you could say that,” I smiled. “I’m a bit more, um… ‘freelance’ these days.”

“Oh, ho!” one of the soldiers quipped. “He’s a merc! I knew they’d end up doing that one day. What did I say, Whizz?”

“Yeah, yeah, we all heard you,” the first pony, ‘Whizz’ apparently, replied. He turned back to me. “What do you reckon of this lot though?” His voice dropped an octave as he bobbed his head towards a small group of minotaurs who were playing dice under the shade of a tree.

“What, the minotaurs?” I asked. “They live in the village nearby. Bloody handy in a scrap though.”

“I bet they are!” Whizz exclaimed. “Gods almighty, what’s the country coming to when we have to pull in that lot to give a hoof, eh? My old dad would be turning in his grave if he’d seen ‘em. Army’s gone to hell in a saddlebag.”

“Why, what’s wrong with them?” I asked curiously.

One of the soldier leaned forward, pointing a hoof at me. “What’s wrong with them?” He shook his head in amazement. “What’s right with them, you mean. Bloody hell, those things are mindless killers! They fought for Nightmare Moon for the goddesses’ sake. Don’t you know anything?!”

“He’s right, mind,” Whizz agreed, nodding his head. “They did fight for the other side during the great war. They say they’re so numb you could put a siege bolt through one and it would still keep coming at you with one of those bloody great axes of theirs.”

“Cleave your right in two,” one of them added helpfully.

“Yeah, the best part though is that they’ve got a bunch of ponies and other whatchamacallits hanging around with ‘em too,” the second soldier pointed out a little sarcastically. “Gods above, that’s playing with fire if ever I heard it.”

“Bet the girls like ‘em though,” one quipped. “How’d you fancy one of those big buggers grabbing you arse, eh, Coaster?”

The mare, Coaster, nickered loudly. “Bollocks to that!” she laughed. “Give me a regular old stallion any day.”

“Like Whizz, you mean?” one called out.

“Nah,” Coaster chuckled. “I meant a real stallion. Whizz ‘as given ‘alf the girls the clap already. I like to stay as pure as the driven snow.”

“What a load of bollocks!” Whizz snorted. “You don’t know what you’re missing girl. You’ll come round, you’ll see.”

“Yeah, likely!” Coaster teased, shoving her friend.

Sitting here with these ponies reminded me of old times with my comrades in the Watch. The same tall tales, the same levels of bravado and good natured teasing, even the same prejudices; the faces may be different, but some things never changed. It was all here, just the way it always had been, and in truth, probably always would be. In many ways it seemed like only yesterday I had been sat around the rickety old watch-house canteen table talking about insubstantial nonsense with my comrades, and yet at the same time it was as if it had been at least a dozen lifetimes ago. And another me. It was hard to reconcile just how much my life had changed of late, and in such a short period of time too. One minute I was just another grunt working the streets of Manehattan, the next I’m thrown into a world that was so alien to me I may as well have been on a different world altogether. Maybe one day I’d wake up and find all of this had been some sort of warped fever dream, the conjuration of a diseased mind that had taken one too many thumps on the noggin fighting with drunks on a Friday night. Once, I suppose I would have wished for just such a thing to happen. Now, with my foals, my mares, and my new friends and home in Smiling Borders, to even consider such a scenario playing out was the stuff of nightmares. I stretched, feeling some of the tension slipping away from my tired muscles. No… No, I was who I was, and whether for better or worse the world had moved on, taking me along with it like a leaf on a river. Who knew where it would take me in the long run, but right then, I think I had accepted my new life on the whole. All I needed to do now was bring Lumin home, and tidy up a few loose ends. I chuckled under my breath. They didn’t know what was coming for them...

“Hey,” Whizz said, giving me a shove. “Heads up, looks like the brass are after you. Time to earn your pay, buddy.” I looked over my shoulder. It was Brandy, he’d re-appeared with an army officer in tow. Bidding my new friends farewell I trotted over to greet them.

“Lord Fairlight, this is Colonel Graceful Quartz.” The agency officer held out a hoof formally. “Colonel, this is Lord Fairlight of the tribe of the four winds.”

I reached out to shake her hoof, and for a single tense second she stared down at as if it were a poisonous snake before warily accepting it. “Lord ‘Fairlight’…” She frowned in thought. “Are you not the one we were ordered to hunt down not too long ago?”

“That’s right,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “I can’t help being popular I’m afraid. I presume that the princesses have informed you of the current situation, Colonel?”

Quartz looked like she’d eaten something sour. Something also told me that I wasn’t exactly on her favourite pony list either. “Yes,” she replied warily. “Her Majesty has appraised me of the situation. I can’t say I’m exactly enamoured with it, but whatever happens, and regardless of my personal thoughts on the subject, Equestria’s security is always my first priority.”

“Well said, Colonel!” I quipped. “But don’t worry, Equestria’s military won’t have a single blemish on its name when all this is over will it? That’s why we’re here, am I right?”

Brandy looked worriedly at the Colonel before swapping his attention to me. “Fairlight, you know why Equestrian forces can’t enter the changelings domain. Regardless of the provocation, the princesses want to establish peace with their leader and this would only escalate the situation, possibly beyond redemption.”

“Escalate it?!” I laughed shaking my head. “It’s already beyond redemption, Brandy, it has been from the moment they foalnapped my son.”

Brandy closed his eyes, nodding gravely. “I know, Fairlight, and that’s why only your warriors can do this.”

“Plausible deniability, eh?” I offered with a sardonic smile.

He nodded, “You guessed it.”

Turning to the Colonel, I motioned to the engineers behind her who were busy unloading barrels marked with explosive hazard labels. “If you’re going to destroy the portal, I’d appreciate you doing it after I get back please, Colonel Quartz?”

The officer narrowed her eyes. By look on her face I’d been right on the money. “If we see evidence of another major changeling incursion, Lord Fairlight, then we’ll have no choice but to blow the gateway.” The mare lifted her head, staring down her muzzle at me imperiously. “Until that time we’ll be waiting to hear from either you or your… ‘troops’. I would therefore suggest you complete your task as quickly as possible to avoid such an action becoming necessary.”

“I see… Would you excuse us a moment, please?” I took Brandy to one side and spoke quietly so the colonel couldn’t hear us. “Brandy, Celestia knows what we’re going to do, doesn’t she?”

He nodded. “Princess Luna assured me that she does. Even if she doesn’t necessarily give it her blessing, she understands the rescue of the child is paramount.”

“But if they’re going to ‘negotiate’ with the changelings anyway, then why would she endorse this?” I asked, genuinely perplexed. “It seems out of character for her to be so, um… flexible.”

The agency stallion peered back at the Colonel who was intently brushing dust off her uniform. “After what those bastards did, Her Majesty doesn’t trust them, nor do we have any kind of guarantee that we’d get your foal back through diplomatic means anyway.” He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. “Fairlight, look, there’s been some mention of Lumin being important to them for some reason, and it has Celestia worried, Luna too. Don’t ask me what it means, I haven’t got a clue, but whatever you need to do to get the job done, you have carte blanche to do it. Whatever happens out there though, it’s on your own head. The princesses will simply deny any knowledge of it.” He clopped me on the shoulder. “Get Lumin back safely, Fairlight. Princess Luna has instructed us to wait here for you, and in the meantime I’ll make sure there aren’t any ‘unforeseen accidents’ with the explosive charges until you’re home safe and sound. Unfortunately the communicators don’t work across the portal, so you’ll have to get your job done and your arse out of there as soon as you can.”

“Well, so long as Celestia keeps her word I’ll do my bit for Queen and country.” I let out a sigh and gave my legs a stretch. “Guess this is it then,” I smiled. “Time to kick some flank and save the day once again.”

“What can I say?” Brandy laughed. “You’re good at what you do.”

Chuckling I nodded to Heavy Hoof and the others who hurried off to assemble the troops and gear for our next foray. “Do me a favour, Brandy?”

“Of course, Fairlight.”

“Make sure nothing happens to Tingles and Shadow, okay?” I stared up at the sun wistfully. “If… you know, if I don’t come back…”

He pushed me hard with his hoof. “Don’t say it. Sometimes, thinking bad things makes them happen. If the shit hits the fan, then bug out and get back here as fast as those fancy hooves of yours can carry you. You’re not the only one who has a ‘plan b’, my friend.”

I gave him a wink. “Give my regards to your family. We’ll be back in two shakes of a manticore’s tail.”

Brandy leaned forward and embraced me briefly, making me jump in surprise at his uncharacteristic display of emotion. “Be safe, my friend. You may be the lord of the tribe of the four winds, but you’re still a son of Equestria.” He bobbed his head towards Shadow who was walking towards us, adjusting her armour. “Or daughters.”

I felt a warm feeling flush through me. I’d never seen Brandy like this. I nodded to both him and the Colonel who gave a brief nod in return. “Warriors of the four winds,” I shouted. “Let’s move out.”

************************

We marched on, trudging through that nauseating, blasted hell-scape, constantly on the lookout for any sign of our quarry. By my reckoning we’d covered a lot of ground already, although with no maps, and no idea of just how large this land of monsters actually was, it was more guesswork than anything else. Compasses were useless here too. Whether it was a side-effect of the magical shield or some natural quirk of this poisoned world, it played hell with the things, sending the needles spinning crazily. Somehow, it seemed oddly fitting. The bleak and foreboding land around us was more reminiscent of the Wither World than Equestria. If the old stories I’d heard about the changelings were even half true, it was hard to believe that this had once been a verdant paradise, home to a race of beautiful creatures that had somehow become warped into the vile things they were now. There was one piece of good news though; the other portal used as the initial invasion point, at least the one we knew of, had been located and locked down by the combined agency and army forces. Where it was located in this world though, was anyponies guess. That, however, was not my problem.

Nimble, Heavy Hoof and Loofa marched alongside me, the troops spread out in a column behind us with our scouting parties out to the flanks and front. So far, other than the blasted remains of the changelings, we’d not seen any sign of life since we’d entered this goddess-damned place. The green tinge of the magic shield never changed, the sky a constant palid green casting the world around us in a sickly haze that made me wonder how anypony could become accustomed to it. Then again, considering the vile nature of the inhabitants it probably suited them just fine. As for me, it my mind skin crawl. The sooner we got Lumin back, the better for all of us. We marched in silence, occasionally checking our bearings from the glow of the pendant. How far we’d travelled, or how far we had to go, was a complete unknown. With no sun nor moon to give you an indication of the passage of time or even a direction, the magical gift of Star Swirl the Bearded was the only thing that stood between us and potentially becoming hopelessly lost. Moreover, it provided us all with a focus. And more importantly, hope. I don’t know what it was about this world, the land itself just seemed to suck your vitality from your body as surely as its denizens did. I hated this place, probably more than I had the Withers when I’d first arrived there. Damn it all, by comparison that place was almost welcoming! I stared at the faint yet clear glow of the beacon, putting my trust in that small, magical object from another time. It hadn’t led me astray so far, and all I could hope was that it worked as well here as it had in the home of the thestrals. I lifted my head, noticing a change in the ground beneath my hooves. Up ahead of us the land was beginning to rise slightly before dropping away into a long shallow valley. Tree’s, or at least what had probably once been regular equestrian trees, stretched out before us, lining the banks of a river and lake along which I could just about make out what appeared to structures of some kind.

“Captain?” Loofa held up a hoof to the sky. “Scouts coming in.”

A hippogriff landed several yards away and trotted up before bowing. “My Lord, we’ve surveyed the land for several miles around and have found no sign of enemy forces. Their trail however, leads directly down to what appears to be a small settlement of some kind on the edge of the lake.” He pointed off to the peculiar structures in the distance. “We’ve seen changelings there, but no military units.”

“Numbers?” I asked.

“Estimate around sixty to eighty,” the hippogriff replied formally.

I nodded to the scout and held up the pendant once more. The light shone brightest in the direction of the settlement which, I hoped, would lead us straight to my son.

Heavy Hoof strode over to me. “Lord Fairlight, your orders?”

I tucked Star Swirl’s precious give back into my barding before making my decision. “We will advance on the village,” I announced, turning to ensure everypony could hear me. “Scouts and flanking parties are to maintain a lookout for enemy forces whilst the rest of us sweep the occupied area.” I scrubbed my mane, feeling the tingle of adrenalin surging through me. If it was happening to me, I knew damned well I wouldn’t be the only one. “Remember this is a rescue mission, Heavy Hoof. Getting Lumin back is why we’re here, so no unnecessary confrontation with the locals unless absolutely necessary. Once we have my son we’re pulling out. Understood?”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Loofa was busy scanning our objective with his binoculars. “Looks like a village alright,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “There’s some movement down there, but nothing that would suggest they’re expecting an attack.”

I took a swig from my canteen and felt a surge of anticipation. Was Lumin in the village? By the gods, they’d better not have harmed him. If they had… “Keep alert everypony,” I said suddenly. “I don’t want any surprises down there. We’ll use the trees to camouflage our approach. Officers, take charge of your warriors.”

Almost immediately we began our descent down the gentle hillside, filing through the trees in near silence. I couldn’t help but think back to the white crystal forest, the black river and the bridge near the Beyond. Thorn’s son… They’d crucified him on the other side, leaving him there in agony for his father to discover what those sickening filth had done to his child. And find him he had... before he’d burned in the searing flames of magical fire. It had been a message. A warning. I closed my eyes as a wave of barely suppressed emotion rolled through me, making my heart rate increase. If anything had happened to my foal, if they had so much as touched him… Shaking my mane I gave a snort and refocussed on the task at hoof. This was no time to speculate, this was a time for caution and readiness for action. We were in the enemy’s homeland, they had an advantage over us here, and in some strange twist of fate we were doing exactly what they had done to us. I wondered if they understood the concept of irony? I would bring them the concept of steel. Through the trees, their blackened bark and dark green foliage dappling the light, we slipped as rain through a grate. The lake to our right sparkled and rippled quietly against the gravelly shore, reflecting the green light of the shield high above us. Gradually, step by careful step, we closed on the village until, in a rush of feather and fur, one of the griffins came into view through the sparse undergrowth.

“My Lord, still no sight of enemy forces for several miles around,” he reported. “Several of the changelings appear to be armed, but there’s no sign of any alarm or organised military presence.”

Thank the goddess for that, it looked like we’d taken them by surprise. “Good,” I replied. “Join the rest of the main force for now. When we’re in the village itself, get your team aloft and maintain a watch on the perimeter. Keep us informed of any approaching forces.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

The scout hurried to the back of the column to take his position with the rest of his squad. As he passed by, the warriors watched with a look of excited anticipation in their eyes. Muscles twitched as magic, claws and hooves readied weapons for battle, their earlier tiredness forgotten. Meanwhile, Nimble, Loofa and myself trotted over to a thick group of bushes to observe the village below. Taking my position I parted the foliage, careful to remain out of sight. Sure enough, there were all the signs of what you would consider to be normal village activity - if you liked black as your predominant colour scheme. The buildings were all slick, oily black affairs, looking as insectoid as their builders. Frightening in their alien appearance, they looked for all the world like monstrous wasps nests bulging out of the ground. The doorways of each were reminiscent of a cone, barely big enough for a pony to pass through, but not much else. Overall they seemed fragile affairs, at least compared to the more familiar equestrian built dwellings, however they must be serviceable enough for the needs of the changelings nonetheless.

Loofa finished his observation and passed the binoculars to Nimble who grimaced. “Is this our objective, Cap’?” the young corporal asked. “It doesn’t seem like the sort of place anypony would keep a hostage. It just looks like a village; a very weird village of course, but still a village. Maybe we should go around it and pick up the trail on the other side.”

“It’s a little late for that,” I said quietly. “It would take hours to go around, and besides…” I held up the pendant for him to see.

Nimble nodded. “Understood.”

Suddenly Loofa tapped me on the shoulder, his voice dropping to an urgent hiss. “Sir! You see that?”

I grabbed the binoculars and swung them around to try and find where he was pointing. “Where?”

Loofa’s exceptional eyesight guided me. “There, behind the first building on the right of the street.”

Panning the binoculars round I found the building, the trees around it, a patch of thick dark bushes, and…There! Movement, barely any at all really, but the sure sign of somepony trying to sneak through the undergrowth in an attempt to remain undetected.

“Oh goddesses…” Loofa breathed.

“What?” Whispered Nimble irritably. “Damn it all, I can’t make it out!”

I kept watching through the binoculars. And then, like a stone dropping into a still mountain pool, the realisation of what I was looking at hit me. “It’s a mare,” I said plainly. “These buckers have captives.”

As I watched, I heard Heavy Hoof assembling the warriors quietly behind us. I barely noticed it. My heart was hammering in my chest now, the adrenalin surging like a raging torrent. I could feel my spirit begin to burn with anticipation as I watched, riveted to the spot as the unfolding scene played out before us frame by terrifying frame. Whoever they were, the pony was desperately trying to keep low and stay out of sight behind the bushes as she attempted to slip away from the village. She hadn’t got far when a clicking cry and hiss from behind her caught my attention as well as the mare’s. Desperately looking behind herself for the source of the alarm, she spotted her pursuers no more than a heartbeat after they’d spotted her. Immediately pulling herself free of the foliage, I could see her digging her hooves in, her muscles flexing ready to bolt. But it was too late. The changelings were already charging towards her, closing the distance with frightening speed. With a loud neigh she launched herself forward, galloping for all she was worth for the safety of the tree line, and, as fate would have it, straight at us.

Loofa shook his head. “She won’t make it, boss. She looks weak, and those bastards can fly.”

True enough, skipping through the air like monstrous wasps the changelings were on her in moments, pinning their victim down, their horns glowing with a vile green glow as they began to rip the emotions from the helpless creature’s tortured body. The mare put up a spirited resistance all the same, kicking one of her attackers square in the jaw and sending it sprawling. The other one however, kept up the flow of warped magic, quickly wearing her down. Gasping and thrashing, the mare’s movements gradually slowed until, in an instant, the green glow of magic surrounding her disappeared as if turned off like a household lightswitch. Nimble lowered his pulse gun, watching for my response.

I smiled. Raising my hoof, the magic responded to my call with alacrity, surging through me as white fog rolled out from the trees into the space before the village. Like some mythical army of ghosts from the ancient past, the warriors of the tribe surged forward toward the village. Banners snapped in the wind and horns blew, Heavy Hoof bellowing a deafening war cry while he lead our warriors into the settlement. As for myself, I made for the pony who was lying shaking on the ground whilst the tide of armed warriors passed around her like water around a rock. I stepped over the remains of the changelings and passed her my canteen.

“It’s alright, we’re Equestrians,” I assured her. “You’re safe now.”

She looked up at me with deep bronze eyes full of weariness and dread. “Who… who are you?”

“Lord Fairlight,” I said gently. “But that doesn’t matter now. What’s your name and why are you here?”

A medic rushed over to us as we spoke, checking her for injuries as she tried her best to answer me, “My… My name’s Olive Glass. I was on holiday with my family travelling from Neatsfoot to Canterlot for the wedding when these, these ‘things’ attacked our carriage and dragged us here.” She swallowed, wincing slightly as the medic washed a cut on her flank. “They’re still in there,” she breathed. “Some of us anyway. The rest… the rest they…”

I lay a hoof on her shoulder. “I know, Olive. Listen, are there any foals there? A grey unicorn with yellow eyes?”

She frowned in thought, trying to remember. “I… maybe… I don’t know, they split us up when we arrived. Those that were too weak they drained and slaughtered like… like we were nothing to them.” She took a drink from my canteen. “Lord Fairlight, they’re monsters… all of them! Please, can you help my family? I was the only one still fit enough to run. I thought I’d be able to escape and get help, but...” She shook her head, her voice starting to crack under the enormous emotional pressure. “I just want us to go home!”

I nodded to the medic. “Is she going to be alright?”

The young griffin look up at me gravely. “With time, but she’s in shock. We need to get her back to the village.”

Taking a deep breath, I lifted my head and faced the village. “Do the best you can for now, doc. Take care of her.”

As I charged away, I heard a questioning voice behind me ask, “What is he?”

“A wendigo,” the answer came, drifting away in the sound of pounding hooves. “The last of his kind.”

I ran on. Despite my orders, parts the village had already descended into a battleground. Screams and shrieks rose from the inhabitants as the warriors fought those foolish enough to resist, cutting them down like wheat before the scythe. Some had attempted to flee before our assault, but were swiftly brought back by the scouts and flanking parties where they were subsequently held at spearpoint. Thankfully, something approaching order was quickly dragged out of this chaos by the swift thinking of our officers. In short order, the changelings had been round up and marched out into the clearing between the tree line and the village whilst our troops swept through the buildings, searching for any who had tried to hide or any sign of other captives - if these vermin had left any alive.

Heavy Hoof trotted up to me, gore staining the blade of his axe. “Lord Fairlight, we’ve found something. You’d better come and see.”

Steeling myself, I followed him. We crossed the village, passing by the torn bodies of our fallen foe as we approached the building he was leading me towards. The huge minotaur had to duck through the doorway of the odd structure. This one was a lot larger than the rest and it was as dark inside as the colouring of the changelings themselves, black and shining like wet leather. Two of our warriors were already inside with lanterns, lighting the scene of what I can only describe as a nightmare made flesh. In the large room were tables, four in total, two with the motionless bodies of ponies still tied to them. One was only a young filly, no more than twelve, maybe thirteen years old. They’d both been drained of their emotions to the point were their bodies had simply… stopped. The sadness and emptiness of their final moments was etched forever on their colourless faces, tugging agonisingly at my cold heart. I swallowed, fighting down the horror and fury building with me. I couldn’t begin to imagine the horror they’d suffered at the hooves of these… these evil… things. Grief tore at my heart, my soul screaming out in horror and grief at the unimaginable cruelty before me.

Nimble walked up next to me, his own horror plain for all to see. “Oh Celestia,” he murmured. “Dear sweet goddesses, what have these monsters done…?”

I took one of the lanterns and held up it up, taking a deep breath of the foetid air as its wan light illuminated the hideous cocoons that ranged the walls. Shadows… shapes… inside them... Some were empty, but most still held the still forms of ponies, griffins... it didn’t seem to matter to these things. They were simply food. Food for these demons.

Nimble swallowed, unsure of what to say. All he could mutter was, “Captain…”

I pushed past Nimble and spoke to Heavy Hoof. “Get them out of there commander, even the dead…” I headed for the door, fury surging through me. “Get them out!”

Outside in the alien light of what passed as day in this living hell, the changelings buzzed and hissed, huddled in a mass surrounded by the tribe’s warriors and a cordon of sharpened steel. One of the creatures I noticed was bigger than the rest; black and green, with the now typical holes in its slick carapace and wings.

“Who is in charge here?” I asked, fighting to keep control of my anger. “Which one of you filth can take responsibility of this… this atrocity?”

The large creature looked up at me, its eyes full of cold contempt. “I am,” it smirked condescendingly, “…Pony.” Whatever this thing was it was clearly female, and far more equine in appearance than the others of her race. She spoke in remarkably clear equestrian too, totally devoid of the more familiar hissing speech of her fellows. The utter derision in her voice however, was as thick as the atmosphere she had apparently dismissed as being as unimportant as the lives her people had so cruelly destroyed.

I walked up to the tall changeling, my anger flaring and vision turning blue as my teeth itched with hunger. “You have a name?”

“I am Sliver,” came the dry reply.

I glowered at the creature, my anger bubbling dangerously behind my more conscious thoughts. “Sliver, I do not intend to harm your people. I only wish to recover those you have captured from our home.”

“Your home? That is our home!” she hissed at me suddenly. The other changelings muttered their agreement behind her. “Equestria has shut us in here for years,” she continued, “for lifetimes, for countless lifetimes, leaving us to starve and wither away to nothing inside this… this prison!” Her dark eyes narrowed dangerously. “Your precious ‘princess’ has left us here to die.”

“You think that justifies what you have done?” I rumbled. “Your people attacked innocents who had done you no harm whatsoever, sucking the life out of foals and adults alike.” I waved a hoof at the pitiable creatures being lead or carried from their cocoons. Many of them looked half dead already, whilst some would likely not survive the trip home without my help. “Look at what they’ve done, Sliver! Do you think this right?!” I let out a snort of white mist. “You view us as nothing more than food,” I hissed. “Is that why you invaded Equestria? To feed upon our people, our friends, and our families?”

“FOOL!” she shrieked. “You ARE food! All of you are nothing compared to our people! You are cattle, cattle to be fattened and bled to feed those who will one day be your masters. Our great queen will soon become the undisputed ruler of your land and dominate the whole of Equestria, nay, the entire world! You cannot stop us. Nothing can stop us! Whether today, tomorrow, or ten moons from now, all of you will be drained to serve her glorious majesty!”

I could almost feel the scythe on my back crying out to be freed. “Sliver,” I said in a low voice, “I will ask you once only. If you value your life and those of your people, answer truthfully.”

She sneered at me. “Your weakness shows, Equestrian. Your show of magic does not frighten me nor does it intimidate us. Ask your question then. Ask, and I shall answer.”

I unbuckled my scythe, letting the haft slip past my hoof to rest on the gritty soil. The grain of the wood felt smooth, old... reliable. A press of the release catch sent the blade snaking out to lock into place, the green light of the changelings land glinting off its razor sharp edge. Magic roiled through me, the warriors around the changelings watching me as much as their charges.

“Tell me then, changeling,” I asked, “where is the grey foal - the unicorn with the yellow eyes?”

Her eyes were locked on the blade. “The foal…” Her earlier bravado faltered momentarily. “Yes, the foal. He is the source, the one who shall give us power - the strength we need to break free of our bonds and take back what is ours.”

“The source of what?” I asked.

She closed her eyes, licking her lips. “The foal has an inner power, an endless supply of emotion and strength to feed our queen and give her the strength to break the barrier.”

“You have already broken free of the barrier,” I stated plainly. “Your people have invaded Equestria without need to destroy the magic that has imprisoned you.”

She snorted loudly. “The doorways?” The mare tossed her head. “They are no more than a single hole that is holding back the flood. Take them away, remove the barrier, and we will drown you as surely as a dam breaking before a storm. For now the witch can plug those holes with her magic, when she finds them. But we seek more. Much more. The day of reckoning will soon be upon you.”

“Where is he now?”

She stared at the blade then did the worst thing she could have done - she laughed. “You think I’ll tell you?” the changeling grinned. “You are nothing! Your people are nothing. You are simply cattle, cattle to be drained and...”

I turned to see a foal fall in the dirt, his face covered in bruises and dried blood. He looked up at me as the hippogriff gently picked him up and placed him on his back. The small pony’s body was almost skeletal, his colour washed out and pale… he was so small…

“…you are pathetic! None of you will-”

Her mouth was still moving when her head hit the floor, my tears landing in the dirt around my hooves like crystals of frozen pain. I took a deep breath while snow began to fall around me.

“Kill them.”

Heavy Hoof frowned, unsure if he had heard me correctly. “My Lord?”

“You heard me.” Blue fire reflected in his dark eyes, shimmering like mirrors from Hades. “Kill them all, every single damned one of them.”

I stood there, my eyes closed, drinking in the changlings escaping energy until I was near drowning in their released life essence. The shrieking, clicking, and screams of the living blended with those of the dying, washing over me in a wave of glorious suffering. The irony was delicious, if somewhat bitter-sweet. They had drained our energy, stealing the life of our people, including my beloved Tingles. And now, I drank theirs to feed those from whom they had stolen. It was only fitting. There could be no redemption for such evil creatures. The solution was simple really too - they had to die. All of them. I would show them as much mercy as they had shown my people - none. Mercy, was for the weak.

Nimble walked over to me, his grey coat spattered in gore. “Captain? I-”

I held up a hoof. “I know what you’re going to say, Corporal and I’m only going to say this to you: if you want to leave, then leave. I won’t stop you, but so long as I draw breath I will not allow these monsters to hurt another pony, nor any other living thing. I will find my son, I will bring him home, and anypony, any thing who gets in my way, will die.” I looked at him square in the eyes, my cheeks still damp with tears. Loofa stood listening beside him as I said, “Leave if you want to, Corporal. Nopony will stop you.”

I walked away, not bothering to hear his reply. If there even was one. My mind was a blank, wiped clean of such frivolous weaknesses and distracting considerations as empathy, understanding, and compassion. The mission was my only concern now, as well the safe return of our people. Nothing could distract me from this. Nothing at all. I walked over to where the tribe’s medics were tending to the freed prisoners. The surgeon saw me approach and shook her head in dismay.

“We have to get them out of here, My Lord,” she said gravely. “Some of them won’t last long otherwise.”

Heavy Hoof joined us, thumping his axe into the ground by his hooves. “We cannot send warriors back. We must stay together.”

Loofa nodded. “Cap’, Heavy’s right, we’re understrength as it is and if we divide our force we’ll be leaving ourselves open to attack. On the other hoof, if we keep them with us, some are going to die.” He hung his head for a moment before adding, “It’s your call.”

One of the freed captives was being hugged by Olive Glass who was whimpering and crying into their fur. I couldn’t take my off her. She was just an everyday mare out on a trip to the capital to join in the festivities that only a royal wedding could bring, yet instead of cakes, music, flag waving and joy, her world had been turned into a living nightmare beyond imagination. Mothers, daughters, fathers, sons… it didn’t matter to these things who they destroyed. They were a virus – a plague. I closed my eyes. No, this had to end. This had to end now.

I shook my head. “Heavy Hoof, organise a small detachment and two of our scouts. Find a sky carriage, there must be something around here we can use, and get them back to Equestria as fast as possible.”

The large minotaur warrior slowly nodded his head. “As you command, My Lord”

Damn these things, what the hell else was I to do? Sending them back would weaken my force, but bringing them with us would be like having a millstone around our necks. We couldn’t communicate with the troops on the other side of the portal to send help, and besides, they had been expressly forbidden from interfering. That bloody Colonel Quartz would see to that, that was for damned sure.

I held up the crystal pendant, watching it glow before me as brightly as ever. “Get them on their way, doctor. The rest of us, let’s pack up and move out.”

Soon, with the worst affected stabilised and made comfortable, the evacuation team set off on their journey back to the portal as the rest of us moved onward, following the light of the pendant. To my surprise, Nimble drew up alongside me. We walked in silence for a while before he finally spoke.

“Cap’?”

“Nimble.”

He took a breath. “What was that business about Lumin being the ‘source’?”

I pondered that for while. I’d heard the word before, both from Sliver and one of her underlings in the forest. Lumin was ‘the source’ apparently, but the source of what? The only thing that made sense to me was that they were going to tap into his ‘power’ somehow, and it was this which the queen of the changelings was going to use to break through the barrier and launch an all out attack Equestria.

“He’s inherited my family’s magic, and that of Etrida as well,” I answered. “Luna said he would grow to be immensely strong in magic, and it seems that our changeling friends want to tap into that to break free and attack our home.”

“But... ‘tapping into that’, would mean-”

“Draining him, yes,” I finished for him. “But from what that creature said, he was like some bottomless well for them to drain, again and again and again…” Anger, tinged with a hint of fear for my son’s safety, shivered through me as I gripped my scythe tightly in my magic. Stowing it away I snorted, “This isn’t just about Lumin now, Corporal. I think you can see that for yourself now.”

He bobbed his head, his eyes staring at the ground. “Yes, Sir.”

“Good, that’s as it should be.” I tried to smile, to comfort my friend, but all I could manage was a cold, hard grimace. “Come on, hopefully we won’t have far to travel.”

We trudged on, following the beacon’s light, the troops back in their column formation and scouts flying out as our eyes and ears. Joining them, Loofa flew a circuit around us, using his keen eyes to watch out for any threats. There was a sense of tension in the air but the troops were in good spirits, with Heavy Hoof leading some song about females and… unicycles? I tried to make it all out but could only catch the chorus, “When she rides, she’s like the tide, she’s rolling in and she’s rolling out. Hey fi! Hey Fo! She likes a buck and a fol de do!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. Even Nimble smiled, nudging me, “Never heard that one before. Bloody hell, it’s a bit near the knuckle too! I’m going to see one of the lads later to get the lyrics. Never know when a good song will come in handy round the campfire.”

“That’s all we need,” I beamed. “The singing corporal!”

He smiled expansively. “I’ll keep it quiet around Ruffles though. I don’t think she’d appreciate it.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I said glancing over my shoulder. Sure enough, the female warriors were joining in as much as the males. “Something tells me our feminine contingent will have songs just as bawdy.” Not only that, but Nimble seemed to be painfully innocent sometimes, particularly when it came to girls. If that photograph he had of his marefriend was anything to go by, I suspected our young Ruffles was a touch more frisky than young Nimble realised. One day, and in the not too distant future, he would be in for a quite a surprise by my reckoning. We didn’t have a chance to hear the song through though as Loofa abruptly shot forward like a comet to meet one of the scouts coming back the other way. Heavy Hoof noticed it too, waving to the column which immediately fell silent.

Loofa landed beside us. “The scout reports there’s a castle over the next rise, Captain. By the looks of it, we’re expected too.”

“Enemy numbers?”

“From what we can see,” he said, settling his wings, “around twice our number, including several giants and those large changelings. They’re formed up for battle Cap’. Looks we’re in for a scrap alright.”

Heavy Hoof snorted, his expressionless face twitching into what I could only presume was an attempt at a smile. “We’ll give them one.”

I clopped him on the elbow. “Why not let me give them a little taster first, eh?”

The magic of my ancestors surged through me as Maroc’s memories found their outlet once more, flooding my mind with images of battles, tactics, and combat manoeuvres from a thousand years ago. It was all there laid out in perfect detail, everything from where best to place archers, spear carriers, aerial units, magic users, assault troops, and more. Much more. I think Miss Sparkle would have liked being a wendigo; having a library in your head would probably appeal to the young academic protégé of the princess. Whether she would have appreciated the topic however, was a different matter. For her it would be a fascinating insight into the past. For me, it was a matter of life and death, for me, my people, and my son. At first it had been unsettling seeing somepony else’s memories as though they were your own, hearing their voices, sometimes even having conversations with them. Thank the goddess they were at least interesting. And that the goddess too, that hearing voices wasn’t the sign of insanity that it normally would have suggested. Mind you, sometimes I seriously wondered about that last point. We reached the peak of the rise indicated by the scouts and kept out of sight once more, peering down to the changeling army below. It was a fraction of the size the invasion force had been, but still substantial. Had they split their force for some reason? Whatever had happened to them, at least they weren’t here now, and that was to our advantage. Still, we underestimated them at our peril. Coming at us piecemeal through the portal we’d had them in a bottleneck and could concentrate all our strength in a localised area. Here, their numbers would be a challenge, and there was always the danger of their fellows putting in an appearance once the battle was joined. If we were going to do this we’d have to do it quickly and decisively. I gave the orders for our warriors to form up, three ranks deep and ready to engage. The heavy warriors would fight in the front ranks and then change with those behind so none were in battle for very long, giving each a chance to rest before returning to the fight. Of course, that was ideal for a set piece battle and utterly useless against magical energy weapons, but so far, we’d held our own. The changelings tactics so far had been mass wave attacks and close in melee. This lot however, looked somehow a damned sight more organised than I’d expected. Giants, or whatever the hell they were, headed their column. These would be the veritable battering ram of the assault. The smaller changelings made up the bulk of their forces, with the taller ones most likely acting as officers would in your more traditional military setup. Still, one thing struck me about this whole sitiation as being decidedly odd - there were no flankers of pickets of any kind that I could see. Normally they acted as the eyes and ears of the main force, protecting the bulk of the army from surprise attacks. This gave me some cause for concern, however as Maroc’s memories reminded me, ‘Never interrupt an enemy when they’re making a mistake’. They certainly seemed to have made one now. Or was I overlooking something here? I had full confidence in our warriors to handle anything that came their way of course, I’d watched them in action and had always been impressed by their discipline. From what Grimble had told me they’d been trained in the martial arts from birth, ready for the day they were called upon to serve the Lord of the Four Winds once more. Now, their time, as well as mine, had finally come. That said, it didn’t mean I had the right to throw their lives away by rash actions.

“No scouts,” I said quietly.

“Could be a trap, boss,” Loofa replied.

“Or arrogant over-confidence,” I replied. “Even so, if we don’t deal with them now they’ll be between us and the way home. When the shit hits the fan I want a clear run out of this shithole.”

He squinted, focussing on the massed ranks below. “You think they may have your lad with them?”

“If they do then we may just get a chance to get out of this without a blood-bath,” I suggested. I lifted the pendant, noting the glow. “It’s no brighter though.” Slipping it back into my tunic I moved back, addressing my entourage. “Time for a bit of diplomacy, I think.”

“What, you want to go and talk to them?” Loofa blinked in surprise. “Erm, I hate to say it, but that didn’t really work so well last time, Cap’.”

I huffed, shaking out my wings. “Nothing ventured, Loofa...”

I took to the air with Loofa and our griffin commander, Halberd. She was a quiet sort, and one I hadn’t spoken to except for a brief introduction in the Wyvern’s Tail one evening. Like the rest of the tribe she’d simply accepted me as the leader without question. I could only pray that her confidence in me was justified. The three of us glided down the reverse slope, landing around a hundred yards from the changeling force and waited for one of their number to react. Loofa opened his mouth to speak just as a large changeling pushed her way through the throng and approached us, flanked by two of the gnarled looking giants. She had the same look of distaste and arrogance as the last one I’d encountered in the village. Hell, the bloody thing even looked the same! Perhaps they could tell each other apart by the arrangement of holes in their bodies or something. The female, her head held high, stopped a few feet away and lifted her muzzle, staring at me as if she’d smelled something distasteful.

“Why are you in our territory, Equestrian?” she demanded. “Speak!”

Ah, so introductions weren’t the order of the day here it seemed. I shook my mane, trying to weigh her up. Was she playing for time, or was she genuinely surprised to see us there? “Perhaps you haven’t been keeping up with recent events, madam,” I said politely. “It appears that some of your ‘friends’ have invaded Equestria, attacked the royal family, and taken to kidnapping our people.” I cocked my head to one side, eyeing her. “I doubt you’d be all that surprised that there’d be some level of… what would you say now, ‘retaliation’? Is that the word?”

“Who are you?” She asked irritably.

“Who am I?” I nodded to my griffin commander. “Halberd, do the honours would you please?”

The grizzled veteran stood straight and tall, calling out to those around us, her voice like the cry of the eagle in the mountain tops. “Before you is the Lord of the Fortress of the Four Winds, Lord of the tribe of the Four Winds, descendant of Maroc and Arathea, last of the wendigo, and bringer of the northern winds.”

I looked at Loofa. “Oooh, she’s good! I like the ‘bringer of the northern winds’ bit. Not sure what she means, but hell, y’know, I’d go with it.”

The changeling glared at me. “What do you want, Equestrian? Speak quickly!”

Magic flowed around me and I ruffled my wings, allowing the fog to build around me and roll out around the hooves and feet of our adversaries. The changeling female looked down worriedly. “Let’s see now…Oh, yes!” I stepped forward and bared my teeth. “Give me back the ‘source’ and any other Equestrians you may have. Or…” my voice lowered to a growl, “I’ll kill the bucking lot of you.”

“What? You?” She sputtered. “You think you could actually defeat us? You come into our land with your pretentious magic and half-breed freaks and demand we surrender the source?” The mare began to laugh, but even then I could hear a note of uncertainty enter her voice. “You must be insane. He is our prize! He is the key to us escaping this accursed land.”

My teeth itched as I glared at her. “I don’t give a damn about that. You can argue all you like with Celestia, or whoever else locked you in here. This is between you and my tribe.” I took a breath, trying to control my rising temper. “Give me back the foal you stole.”

“The queen will not-”

“Ah, yes! The queen,” I said loudly, cutting her off. “Bring her out would you? I’d like to speak with her. It’s always better to deal with the organ grinder than the monkey.”

I must have hit a nerve as the haughty creature hissed at me furiously. “You insolent dog!” she roared. “How dare you speak to me in such a manner!” She closed her eyes, shaking her wings in a display I presume was meant to intimidate. “Her majesty is away on business. I am regent here, and I speak for her in her absence. And I say you will NOT have the source. He is far too valuable to be left in the hooves of some… some beast of the fields.”

Loofa spoke next. “Miss, please, you really don’t want to go down this path. Your people will stand a better chance of negotiating a favourable deal with Celestia if you release the foal. Surely you can see that?”

The creature’s wings buzzed angrily. “All I ‘see’, pony, are Equestrians in our homeland, threatening us unless we accede to their ridiculous demands.” She tossed her mane imperiously. “You will leave at once and not return, Equestrian. Be grateful that I do not slay you were you stand. These negotiations are over.”

Loofa held up a hoof in protest but I stopped him with a loud snort and a flap of my wings. “Remember Shard, changeling?”

She paused in mid-turn to look at me. “What do you mean… ‘remember’?”

Loofa muttered under his breath, “Oh goddesses, Fairlight, don’t!”

But my blood was on fire, the blue blaze of my eyes burning with the storm of magic swirling around and through me. I bared my teeth, the whist mist dripping from my maw to the ground. “You’ll be finding out if you don’t hoof over the foal, you reeking piece of filth. GIVE ME BACK MY SON!”

The changeling took a step back, “I-”

And then the lid really did blow of the pot. An arrow suddenly thudded into Loofa’s shoulder and he fell back on his haunches with a cry of pain. A moment later one of the giants suddenly took a step forward, swinging his huge black club at me which I dodged nimbly before bringing my scythe round and raking it across the things face, blinding it. With a horrible scream, the giant flailed with its club, smashing the changeling leader’s head into black and grey paste which flew in the air like hell’s fountain. I fired a beam of concentrated magic from my horn, taking the giant’s head off at the neck as the other lunged at Loofa. He managed to fly up and away from the thing just time for me to breathe another blast of magic at the monster, turning its head into a frozen lump that shattered into pink lumps when it hit the ground. Halberd and I leaped high into the air and I screamed my war cry to the heavens, the horns and battle cries of our warriors echoing in response. The ground and even the air began to shake as they charged.

The battle, at last, was joined.

Below us the changelings seemed unsure of what to do next. With their leader gone they appeared to be having difficulty in deciding on a course of action, and so simply stood frozen in place instead. It was a fatal error. The warriors of the tribe surged down the slope, ploughing through the changeling ranks like they were as substantial as a warm breath on a winter’s morning. I flew above the mass of panicked creatures, my magic lashing through them, cutting them down in droves. The slaughter was beyond imagining, the screams and howls of the dead and dying echoing in the valley around me - and yet I laughed. I laughed and I sang. This was why I was alive! No, this was beyond life, beyond such foolishness as love and joy. This... this was ecstasy. My wendigo spirit thrilled in the fight and I danced through the air, cutting down the flying black creatures, bringing a black rain to the parched land beneath the green sky. The warriors below gritted their teeth, bellowed and shrieked as they swung, thrust, and cut their way through the fleeing changelings. Most of the things died quickly, some trampled by their own as they attempted to escape, whilst others simply stood there in shock. Devoid of leadership they were as lost as a soul in the underworld. The boats of Tartarus would be filled to bursting this day, and I revelled in every delectable moment of it. I don’t know how long the carnage lasted. Those that fled were hunted down quickly and killed until, there were simply no more changelings. None living anyway. Silence fell as heavy as a shroud upon the battlefield before the castle, the great stone fortress standing there as mute witness to the slaughter of its own people. Heavy Hoof stood breathing heavily, his huge chest rising and falling whilst sporting a grin on his big bullish face. Around me, the tired but smiling faces of my warriors was a sight that filled my heart.

Dusk Haze walked over to us and grinned, “My Lord, the gates are open.”

I lifted my head, staring up at the large arched gateway. Green tinged light spilled through the opening, yet of any signs of life within, there was none - no archers on the battlements, no guards spilling out to defend their home. Nothing. I didn’t like it. It was time to gather my commanders, leaving Loofa to be tended to by the medics. It didn’t look as though the arrow had hit anything vital, but I’d rather he had professional help rather than just yank the damned thing out. Walking over to the veterans, every eye was upon me. Heavy Hoof was ready to charge in already, whilst the others too were wide eyed with the flush of adrenalin from our victory.

“Steady Commander,” I cautioned the minotaur, holding out my foreleg. “A spider lets its prey enter her web before springing the trap.”

He snorted and lowered his axe, irritated at the lack of inaction. “What do we do?”

“We accept the invitation, naturally,” I smiled. “Just in our own way. Halberd, come with me.” With a strong beat of my wings I flew up and landed on one of the turrets with the griffin commander as the rest of the winged warriors circled, watching for any signs of movement.

One of the scouts called down, “No sign of anything, My Mord, there doesn’t seem to be anypony here.”

I held up the beacon, its light stronger and brighter than it had been earlier, leading straight to the largest building in the castle. I channelled my magic and sent my voice out, letting it resonate around the castle’s interior, the temperature dropping as the magical winds whistled through the seemingly deserted structure. “Your soldiers are slain, your castle is surrounded. I give you one chance, as I gave them. Surrender the source or we will put you all to the sword. I will spare none who dare harm my son.”

Silence.

“Heavy Hoof,” I called down to the minotaur. He stared at the open gate, waiting. “Take this place apart. If they resist, kill them.”

The minotaur snorted, hefting his axe. “Yes, My Lord.”

Heavy Hoof was in his element now. Like some well oiled machine the tribe’s warriors began their search of the castle. But as the scouts had already confirmed, the place was, for the most part, completely deserted. We located some more captives, all of them held in those sickening cocoons. Like the ones we’d recovered from the village, they were found and freed before being sent to the medics for treatment. Meanwhile myself, Nimble, and two of our warriors raced through the strange black walled castle following the beacon’s light. Corridor after corridor, doorways and rooms all flashed by in a blur as I raced to find my son, lead on by the ever increasing light from Star Swirl’s pendant. I suppose I would have liked to have spent more time examining this strange alien place, but right then, right there, there was only one focus for me – Lumin. With the enemy defeated they would be desperate, and desperation could lead them to act rashly. Finally the glowing crystal led me to a large set of heavy black doors. They were locked solid.

Nimble moved up beside and cleared his throat meaningfully. “Cap’, let me. Your magic’s a bit… you know…” He held up a breaching charge from his saddle pack.

Snorting, I backed away as he set the small explosive device on the door. My heart was thundering now, my mind focussed on Lumin. My son was in there. I knew he was! With a nod, Nimble set the device off which blew the centre of the door out, allowing him to buck them so hard they flew open with a crash almost as loud at the explosion.

“And you think I’m excessive?” I muttered before rushing headling into the room.

My hooves clattered on tiled floors, my breathing heavy and eyes wide. The interior held several cowering changelings, a few armoured guards, and a large cocoon that was surrounded by glowing green pillars. The cocoon was a peculiar, slick construction with bubbles running through it, the translucent centre allowing a clear view of its tiny occupant, curled up in a ball with his eyes tight shut. He looked like he was asleep, or… I changed focus. Before me, covered in smoke and debris from the exploding door, a dark blue robed changeling with a long flowing white mane was trying to pick himself up off the floor. The others stood there motionless as I strode over and grabbed the creature in my magic, allowing my warriors to back the other changelings into the corner. They offered no resistance.

I tightened my grip on the changeling’s throat. “Release him.”

The creature choked, struggling for a moment before relenting. “He… He is the source…”

“He’s my son, changeling.” I hissed. “I won’t repeat myself again.”

He swallowed. “I… I cannot.”

“Cannot, or will not?” I asked. I snorted loudly, shoving the creature aside. “You drain the emotions of others don’t you? Suck it out of them?” I motioned over to one of the cowering changelings. “Bring it over.” The minotaur warrior dragged one of the struggling creatures over to stand before me. I looked into the insectoid things eyes. Those emotionless orbs stared back at me, alien and unblinking. “Strange creature, isn’t it,” I said, softly stroking its head, “Do you think it would hurt, having its life essence drained from its body? I imagine it would. All it takes is just one little nip and then I simply take it all away. And you know, right now...” I bared my teeth. “I’m very, very thirsty.” The creature stared up at me, clicking and buzzing nervously.

The robed one gasped, “You… you won’t! You’re a pony!”

“Wrong on both counts I’m afraid,” I replied calmly. “Firstly, yes, I will do it, and secondly, I’m a wendigo, not a pony.” I stared into the large changeling’s eyes, my voice dropping to low growl. “And I’m your worst bucking nightmare. Release my son or I’ll kill every single changeling I find in this sick land of yours until the whole of Equestria forgets your monstrous kind ever existed.” I smiled, “You won’t need to break free then, will you? Think of it as me doing you a favour.”

He stared at me in absolute horror. “You’re insane!” he gasped. “A demon!”

“Now I haven’t heard that for a while!” I laughed, giving my mane a shake. “What nostalgia!” I turned, smiling to Nimble, “Forget it. Corporal, we’ll take the cocoon with us. Kill the rest.”

Nimble drew his sword. “Yes, My Lord.”

The changelings eyes watched the blade come free, listening to the sound as it left its scabbard. “NO!” the robed one shrieked. “I’ll release him! Just don’t… don’t kill them. Please!”

“You see, Corporal, they do know how to be civil after all.” I lowered the changeling to the floor and shouldered my war scythe. “In your own time, friend.”

The changeling nodded, closed his eyes and concentrated. Slowly, his horn started to glow, pulsing with magic energy as the curious green light synchronised with the pillars around the cocoon. My mouth went dry. Heat was beginning to pour off the thing in waves, shimmering in the air, the fluid inside bubbling furiously. I felt myself begin to panic. Just when I was about to charge in the cocoon abruptly broke open with a gut wrenching cracking sound as the fluid poured out in a rush on to the hard floor. Carefully, the robed changeling reached in and brought out the soaking body of Lumin and passed him to me.

“He is unharmed, Equestrian.”

I stared down at the tiny form of my son, stroking him gently and trying to listen for any sign of a heartbeat or breath. But even then, even in my state of elation, I felt a wave of bitter cold soak into my heart. My son… my precious son! Closing my eyes I concentrated, pressing my ear to his chest. “He isn’t breathing…” I said quietly.

“He will,” the changeling said urgently, “his body is readjusting…” He lifted a hoof. “See! He lives.”

True to his word, the changeling was right. Lumin’s body shook suddenly and he coughed out a lungful of the fluid he’d been suspended in, his hooves twitching and eyes slowly opening. A pair of tiny yellow eyes, rich as molten gold and bright as the morning sun, looked up at me as he tried to speak. All that emerged was a gargled squeak. But it was enough. I held him tenderly to my chest and tried to send my body’s warmth into his - he was freezing cold. The changeling watched me with its dark eyes, so pony-like, yet so strangely alien to us.

“You have your foal,” he said coldly, “now leave us in peace.”

I placed Lumin in my fleece lined pannier I’d prepared for bringing him home before addressing the changeling. “Who are you?”

He seemed surprised I’d bothered to ask. “I am Tena,” he said, swallowing. “A simple member of the royal court.”

“A simple member, eh?” I said doubtfully. It didn’t matter, he could keep his secrets now. “So tell me, Tena, why?”

“Why?”

“Yes, why.” I regarded him with my blue eyed gaze. “Why invade Equestria. Why kidnap our people and do this to them? Surely there must have been a better way than this?”

He shook his head sorrowfully. “We have lived like this, in the darkness, imprisoned from the sun in the heavens, for years beyond counting. We are all prisoners here, each and every one of us. Prisoners, of your beloved princess.” I wasn’t so sure about that part. He continued after sitting on his haunches and rubbing his neck. “Do you have any idea what that is like? Generation after generation of your children growing up in a prison, never seeing the sun or the moon? Never to know the taste of clean water, to feel the warmth of summer or the cold of winter? Why should they suffer for something that our ancestors did?”

“What did your ancestor’s do?” I asked genuinely intrigued.

He clucked his tongue, tossing his mane bitterly. “What did they do? They made a pact with a monster, a vile creature that promised them eternal life, happiness…” He sighed loudly. “The usual lies to draw in the unwary, and by the gods we were.” He shook his head. “The price was this.” Tena held up his legs which showed the holes his kind had in abundance. “We are like these now: empty, hungry, always hungering.” On some level I knew what that was like. Tena hung his head. “Some time ago, another liar appeared and dripped honeyed words into the ear of our beloved queen. Poisoned words promising escape, and power, power to even change the fate of our people…”

“Who was this?” I asked quietly.

“She called herself the ‘Mistress’.” He gave an ironic laugh. “The same name many of our people use to describe our queen. I overheard some of her colleagues call her by another name when they thought none of us was listening. They called her... ‘Annabelle’.” My eyes went wide and he looked up at me from under his heavy brows. “You know her, wendigo, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Yes, Tena… Yes, I do. You’re not the only one she’s played with. She’s played us all.” Turning, I motioned my warriors to follow me out. “Tena, you have shown me a side of your people I wish I had seen before this nightmare began. Perhaps… Perhaps if I had only met you sooner...” I closed my eyes and wished the images away. “Celestia is willing to negotiate with you, to help your people. Seize that opportunity and bring your people out of the darkness. You may find her more willing to help you than you expect.”

He gave a thin smile. “I can only hope so.”

“Tell your people to let us go in peace and I will leave your lands as quickly as I can.” I bobbed my head to him respectfully. “Farewell, Tena. I pray that one day we will meet again. In happier times.”

Outside, the tribe’s warriors had wasted no time gathering up prisoners and tending to the wounded, repairing weapons, and all the other things soldiers do when they have spare time on their hooves. Card games had sprung up spontaneously around the place too, together with shouts of laughter and dismay.

Nimble tapped me on the elbow. “Cap’? What now?”

I paused, staring up at the strange green sky.“We’re going home, my friend. We’re all going home.”

The changelings from the castle unmolested, we backtracked through the changeling’s lands, following the scouts who helped us to navigate this odd terrain. I don’t think I’d ever wanted to leave a place as much as I had this one. I didn’t even know its name, or if it even had one. Not that it really mattered, it wasn’t exactly a holiday destination anypony in their right mind would want to visit, and I had no intention of coming back here any time soon either. Or ever for that matter. Walking with the people of my tribe I could see the scarred and battered warriors sporting odd trinkets: swords, helmets, banners, and all manner of oddities. It was as if I’d gone to war with a bunch of magpies. They were laughing and joking, swapping the things they’d collected along the way like kids on summer break. I couldn’t help but smile as Maroc’s memories pulled at me, and I plunged into them willingly, leaving part of my consciousness plodding along in the waking world.

“Maroc,” I said respectfully.

“You’ve come a long way, Fairlight,” the grey stallion said in his customarily calm voice. “The spirit burns brightly within you, as it does with your son.”

Arathea’s appeared beside him, her lilting voice warming my heart. “He is strong with your magic, Fairlight. He has the strength of the elder dragon inside him.”

“Whilst he is young, he will be vulnerable and a target because of who and what he is,” Vela said in his deep timbre. “Keep him safe, Fairlight, the future of the tribe is in his hooves - and yours.”

Maroc stepped forward. “Beware on your way home, Fairlight. This is the time when an army is at its most weakest, when they have thrown away their caution in the afterglow of victory. Here they will be vulnerable and not expecting an attack. Keep alert my descendant. Remember… always keep alert.”

The green glow of the changeling realm oozed back into my conscious mind and I looked around me. There was nothing but dead trees and that constant green glow for what looked like miles in every direction. We’d slaughtered the changelings, their invasion force, the one at the castle - what the hell could they have left anyway? Maroc’s warnings were valid, sure, but we’d be home soon enough, and then I’d be able to get this little one back to him mum. I cooed at him in his pannier. The carrier was armoured and sat on my back, if a little awkwardly, but it did the job well enough. Still, I didn’t think I’d need to worry too much about fighting now, thank Luna. We kept following our tracks back the way we came. It wasn’t exactly hard, the army had- What was that? I squinted, trying to make it out. Ahead of the column, one of the scouts was circling like some vulture over a corpse. Moments later they rushed back to land before Heavy Hoof, the two conferring with each other. Heavy nodded, then hurried over to his troops whilst the griffin headed my way.

“My Lord,” the warrior reported smartly. “One of the scouts we sent back with the captives we rescued…” He swallowed. “He’s dead. Shot though with arrows.”

I hung my head and took a breath. “What about the rest of them?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, My Lord. Their tracks continue over the ones we made coming here, they don’t deviate from them.” The griffin grimaced. “There’s more. I saw a large column of dust in the direction of the portal. I would have gone to investigate, however I saw fliers above it. My orders are-”

“I know,” I finished for him. “You did the right thing, brother.” I clopped him on the shoulder. “Join the others now, we’re going to need every hoof and claw we can.” I turned to my officers. “Heavy Hoof, Nimble, Halberd,” I said urgently, “Get your warriors shit together and get ready for engagement. Double time them, I’m going up for a look. Scouts and flankers out.”

A familiar face appeared beside me. “Need an extra pair of eyes?” Loofa smiled at me. “That silver stuff of yours worked a treat.” He brushed at his shoulder where the vicious arrow wound had been, showing off the bald spot. The flesh had already healed over, leaving it nearly white. “Takes a bit out of you though.”

“Me too,” I grinned. “You okay to be up here?”

“Sure,” he assured me. “Doc says I’m in one piece, just need to build my energy reserves back up apparently. I think you should work on the taste and smell of that stuff though, it’s like dog breath.”

“Oh, thanks! Maybe I should have brushed my teeth first, eh?”

“Ha!” Loofa chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

We soared above the empty land until we saw them. Sure enough, what the casual observer could have easily mistaken to be heat haze proved to be a huge mass of changelings, and sporting more of the giants mixed amongst their ranks for good measure too. They were stood in a direct line to our destination - the portal home. If this lot had caught up with our released prisoners they wouldn’t have stood a hope in hell.

Loofa grimaced. “There’s a lot of them… A hell of a lot. Think they came through the portal?”

I shook my head. “No, not past the army and agency crew. These things have magic but they’re no match for the amount of firepower around that portal now. No, my guess is they either came through another one and were on their way back to the castle or it’s a relief force heading out that we missed somehow. Whatever it was, it looks like the buckers ran into our people.”

“They could have made it through,” Loofa offered optimistically.

I felt a cold flash of anger sear through my heart. “I hope you’re right. By the goddess, Loofa, I really do. Those poor sods...” I closed my eyes. “I should have-”

He lay a hoof on my shoulder. “You did what you had to. The only thing you could do,” Loofa said firmly. “If you’d brought them with us half would have died on the way, and the rest would have been a liability. We’d have had to have split our forces in half just to protect them.” He shook his head. “Don’t start second guessing yourself now, boss, we need you. Lumin needs you.”

I clopped him on the shoulder and nodded my head without replying, returning my attention to the black mass before us. It was difficult to say at this distance, but there was definitely the remains of a couple of carts at the rear of the mass of changelings, many of whom buzzed through the air like some massive swarm of devilish bees. Their ground forces outnumbered us horribly as well, and right now, things didn’t look favourable for us at all. Damn it, Maroc had been right – the bastards had been waiting for us. Heavy Hoof and the rest of the warriors thundered up, coming to a halt below us. Landing, I addressed him.

“We’re in for a fight my friend,” I said honestly. “We’re heavily outnumbered too.”

The minotaur grinned, showing me his huge white teeth. “Small chance of winning, big chance of dying.”

Loofa chipped in, “What’s not to like, eh?”

I shook my head, chuckling despite the worry gripping my heart. “Where do you guys pick these things up from? Gah!”

Nimble trotted up. “Captain? The troops are in position. We’re ready when you are.”

I nodded, taking to the air once more. Commander Halberd joined me, flying up alongside Loofa and myself, the veteran giving the pegasus a cheeky wink as she did so. Loofa grinned back at her before turning to me.

“Getting déjà vu here, Cap’,” the pegasus said ironically. “Maybe I should have gotten some of that armour from the quartermaster after all.”

“Just try not to get shot this time then will you?” I jibed, “Can’t have you wasting the medic’s time again.”

He chuckled, tossing his mane. “I’ll do my best, boss. What’s the plan, drop a few names here and there?”

“I don’t see why not,” I said. “Tena seems to be one of the head honchos around these parts, so with any luck we can get safe passage out of here. Goddess willing, if they’ve taken prisoners we may be able to negotiate them back too. It’s got to be worth a shot.”

Halberd looked around suddenly and called to us animatedly. “I don’t think they’re open to negotiations this time, they’re coming right at us!”

Damn it all! “Shit!” I swore, pulling in my wings. “Let’s haul flank!”

We dove like comets, sweeping back to the rest of the assembled tribe and landed in a shower of earth. We barely had time to ready ourselves for the coming onslaught, however I did have one ace up my sleeve to play still. Whether it worked or not however, remained to be seen.

One of sappers rushed up, clopping his hoof to his heart. “Field has been sown, my Lord Fairlight.”

I smiled, treating him to my toothy grin. “Excellent news. Get back to your section, they’ll need you.”

Nimble shook his mane. “It’s bucking typical, isn’t it? Just when you think a job’s nearly finished, some bastard comes and ruins it for you.”

“Oh, I would worry too much just yet,” I said, readying my pulse gun and removing a leather case from my pannier. “My dad used to say, ‘It’s always nice to go out with a bang’.” I held up the MAD remote. “It may not be Nightmare Night, but I always do so enjoy a good firework display.” The ground shook with the rumbling of the changelings as their main force charged, the fliers above them turning the sky near black with their sheer numbers. Among them, larger changelings and giants lumbered forward, hissing, bellowing and clicking, the whole terrifying scene sending a chill up my spine. Thank the goddesses for Brandy Wine, he’d come through with the goods. And now… let’s just hope the bloody things worked. “Annnd…” I clicked the detonator, “Let the show begin!” I was near blinded by the intense flash of light, the sound coming in moments later. “GET DOWN!” I screamed, but the warriors didn’t need any telling. The combined blast was a hell of a lot stronger than I remembered. What in Equestria had they put in those things? I didn’t recall them being this powerful!

Wind, grit, rock, and body parts hammered down around us even as the shrieking and bellowing remainder of the enemy force crashed into us. Even with their forces massively reduced, they still heavily outnumbered us. Our ranks bent beneath the enraged onslaught, wavered, and then held fast. We were holding our own, but now, it was a fight for our lives. The clash of steel and flash of magic rippled along the lines back and forth, warriors falling and being dragged back by their comrades, changelings dropping around us like flies in a tornado from the blaster fire. Despite the bravery and skill of our troops, regardless of the MAD blasts, these damnable creatures fought with a determination and tenacity that was unlike anything we’d encountered so far. I knew why too - Lumin. Tena had said he was the key to their prison, and they sure as hell weren’t going to pass this opportunity up lightly. They didn’t seem too bothered about injuring him in the process either, as their sheer numbers threatened to swamp us comletely. I wasn’t exactly much help with Lumin on my back either. It was time to pull one last rabbit out of the hat.

I took out the crystal orb, held it to my lips, and kissed it gently. “Etrida…”

A voice, feminine yet full of unfathomable power, rumbled back a moment later. “Ah, Lord Fairlight, I presume. Want something do you?”

Goddess save me from females! “My fat’s really in the fire now, Etrida,” I said earnestly. “Some backup would be gratefully received right about now.”

There was a pause. “Do you have my Lumin with you?”

I nodded. “I do, but he’s getting jostled a bit.”

“Now that I won’t stand for!” she growled in a low voice. “Not at all!”

Barely five seconds later an ear splitting crack rent the battlefield, unnoticed by many lost in the maelstrom of battle, but not by those carried away in its shock wave. Nimble looked up, his pulse gun near glowing and his coat slick with sweat. “Thank Luna…”

I smirked. “I think you’ll be able to do that in person too.”

He gave me a grin in reply. “‘Plan B’?”

“Plan B,” I repeated. There should always be that extra rabbit.

The cavalry were here. Above our heads the sky was suddenly filled with armed warriors, descending on the changelings in a screaming, howling mass of shining armour and lethally sharp blades. Amongst them flew the terrifying form of a war dragon like some huge juggernaut – unstoppable, and totally untamed, roaring through the changelings, incinerating many with her white hot flame. I watched entranced as two figures I knew well detached from her back; one in armour as black as the midnight sky, her eyes burning with white hot magical energy and already sending black lightning into the foul beings below her. The other flew down to meet me, her red eyes burning as brightly as mine were with their blue inner light.

“Love,” Shadow said nuzzling me. “I brought friends.”

Returning the gesture, I gave her ear a quick nip. “And I have guests that need attending to, my love. Will you join me?”

Shadow laughed and helped me pass Lumin’s pannier to a group of thestral warriors who bowed to us both. “Take care of him.”

“Yes, Lady Shadow,” the warriors said in unison. She certainly had them well trained!

The song of war singing through us and our warriors re-energised by the appearance of our allies, we crashed through the changelings, letting its eternal refrain carry us through the dance of death. Shadow and I stood side by side, cutting through our foe, the thestrals and the warriors of the four winds tribe working as one, cutting down their enemy with a machine-like efficiency that was as horrific to behold as it was exhilarating. Above our heads, Etrida roared through the green sky, strafing and blasting fire into the enemy. The intense heat of the dragonfire burning away wings and flesh alike. Around us, flaming bodies fell like hail. Those that still lived had their suffering quickly brought to an end by the warriors below. The most terrible sight on the field by far however, was the beautiful yet terrible alicorn who burned whole swathes through the changeling horde with long lances of energy that was so intense it left an after-image on my eyes. The mistress of the night, the goddess of the moon, and the scourge of the Celestian’s…Nightmare Moon herself. Nothing could stand before us now. All they could do was fall, fall beneath claw, hoof, blade and magic. Horns blew, and the advance began. It was a machine, a grinding, merciless automaton of death that chewed up lives and spat their crumpled remains out onto the cold, unforgiving ground. There was no mercy here. No quarter was asked, and none given. Changelings fell, one after another, until… there none left. Fires burned all around us, but not with wood nor coal. The stink was terrible to my nostrils, but it still a good smell - the smell of victory. Nightmare Moon swept down to us, effortlessly alighting upon the churned ground, her long tail and mane glittering and flowing in the ethereal winds of magic. She was a sight no mortal should behold, and yet here we were, all of us bowing before her terrible majesty.

“Stand, my warriors of the moon,” the goddess commanded. “You bow before no-one. Each one of you, each and every one, has earned that right this day.”

Her voice rang out across the smoke filled field, and even Etrida, landing with a gust of wind from her flared wings, bowed to our goddess. My heart sang with joy and pride. We had pleased her, we had redeemed ourselves as her trusted warriors after a millennia of despair. Nightmare Moon laughed, swinging her blue-black sword up and back into its scabbard before leaping over a giant’s corpse to address us. I bowed low, despite her command.

“Your Majesty.”

A silver shod hoof gently lifted my chin. “Lord Fairlight, descendant of Maroc and Arathea. Do not bow before us. Not this day. Today is a day for celebration, is it not?” She lifted her head, her beautiful eyes catching the strange light of this alien world. “Bring us the child so that we may see the future lord of the tribe.”

Without hesitation, Shadow collected Lumin from the thestral warriors who had kept him safe when all around us was insanity and bloodshed. Together, walking as one, we presented my son to the goddess. It was honour few would have imagined possible, yet here she was, the dream made a reality before us. She reached in a tentative hoof and, thinking better of it, magicked him out while she sat back on her haunches, cuddling him in her forelegs. We stood there, Shadow and I, watching the goddess nuzzle and coo at the little fellow who was lapping up the attention and gurgling happily with the odd squeak emanating from him. I’d have to have words with Tingles about that, I’m sure there was some mouse in him from somewhere. I’d have to try him with some cheese to be sure…

“Lord Fairlight?”

“My Lady,” I replied, bobbing my head respectfully.

“That’s better!” The midnight coated mare removed her helmet and shook out her mane, her magnificent visage changing before my very eyes back into the more familiar, and altogether less intimidating, Princess Luna. “Fairlight, we… rather, ‘I’ must go back to my sister now and give her the news that the invasion has been foiled, as well as that young Lumin is safe. After that, we shall need to look at negotiations with the changeling queen.”

My brow furrowed. “Where is she?” I asked. “The changeling queen, I mean.”

“Oh, she’ll be back here shortly,” the princess replied. “Tia has her ways.”

Of that, I had no doubt whatsoever. “Thank you for helping us, my lady,” I smiled. “If it hadn’t been for you-”

She held up a hoof. “If it hadn’t been for Shadow, you mean. This magnificent mare brought the tribes together, convincing even Etrida to help. And as for us... well, sometimes it feels good to have a change, wouldn’t you agree… My Lord?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

My vision was suddenly filled with a black muzzle and burning red eyes. Shadow nodded to Luna, “Excuse me.” I heard a mock cry of outrage from the princess at the intrusion as my thestral mate grabbed me roughly and brought her muzzle up to brush against mine, sniggering under her breath. Wait, was she really sniggering? By the gods, she was! “Love…” Shadow’s voice was little more than a whisper as she pulled me into a kiss that melted my heart into a sea of bliss. Right then, with my friends, my mate and child safe and sound, I could have drifted away into eternity.

Chapter Seven - To the victor, the spoils

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CHAPTER SEVEN

TO THE VICTOR, THE SPOILS

The warriors of the tribe filed back through the portal, tired, yet relieved to be home. Tonight would be an evening of joyful celebration at our victory, and rightly so. Each and every one of these brave souls fully deserved my admiration and respect. They had, after all, risked their lives to rescue my son. Some had even paid for that with their lives. For that, I was grateful beyond words.

The princess watched the last few of them passing through, bowing respectfully as the bodies of our dead were carried through. “May they find peace in the herd,” Luna whispered under her breath. Slowly, she lifted her head once more. “It is time for us to leave, I fear. Tia only lowered the barrier to the Wither World temporarily so that we could send help to recover the little one. After all, she still has her own inner demons to face.”

I looked up at the green sky. “As do we all, my lady.”

Luna nudged me with her nose. “Some day I’d like to bring all the tribes home, Fairlight, but not yet. Equestria is not yet ready for such change, and in some ways, the tribes are not ready for Equestria either.” She held a hoof out to me to kiss. “You, Lord Fairlight, are the start of a fresh page, a new story in the history of our land. Perhaps one day your foal, like his given name, will bring light where once there was only darkness.” She looked up at the sky, smiling softly. “Even if that darkness cannot be always be seen.” Shadow hugged Luna farewell and we watched the princess return to the assembled thestral warriors as our friends took flight once more.

Etrida called back over her shoulder as she lumbered into the air after them, “I shall be calling upon you soon, child of the wendigo. Remember your promise.”

“I shall!” I called after the huge creature. And, with a flash of blue and green magic, they disappeared back to their homelands leaving only their hoofprints in the ground to remember they were ever here. Now, it was time for us to return to our home as well.

“Um, boss?” It was Loofa, I thought he’d already gone through. “Er, you aren’t going to, you know...” He cleared his throat, blushing slightly. “What I mean is, the guys on the other side might be a bit surprised to see a wendigo walk through, yeah?”

“What are you- Oh!” I lifted my hoof and stared at it, as if seeing the snow white appendage for the first time. How long had I been in my wendigo form? I looked at Shadow in surprise, and yet… and yet I didn’t feel as if my magic were depleted at all. Not even one drop! Ah, of course, it must have been all the life energy I’d been able to absorb during the battle. Mind you, I couldn’t remember changing back since I’d arrived here. Sure enough, the flasks were just as full as they had been after I’d healed our wounded. Shrugging, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, a released my grip on my magic. But, dear gods, it was so hard! I felt like a child clinging onto something warm and familiar, unwillingly to give it up and face the cold, harsh reality beyond.

“Are you alright?” Shadow asked, watching me closely. “Hurt?”

I felt a shiver run through me as my body changed back, rubbing my eyes with a foreleg. I felt suddenly very, very tired. “I’m fine, love,” I assured her before breaking out into a ridiculously wide yawn. “Mind you, I could do with a nice cup of tea and a warm bed right about now. Hell, I can’t even remember the last time I had any sleep.”

“Sleep at home. Soon.”

And that was that. She certainly had a way with words did our Shadow. Wearily I tromped through the muddy ground, vanishing into the silver mirror-like surface of the portal. I was the last one, and true to my word, nopony had been left behind, not even our dead. Stares from the soldiers and the agency teams spoke volumes, particularly a certain officer by the name of Colonel Graceful Quartz. That imperious creature watched me with all the rapt attention of a cat stalking its prey, her piercing gaze giving away what lay beneath that implacable exterior. She hadn’t expected me back, nor any of us I suspected. Brandy on the other hoof, was overjoyed to see us. He was helping one of our soldiers onto the back of a sky carriage when he saw Shadow and I. In a heartbeat he was before us, his smile brighter than the sun, and even more warming to my weary heart.

“Well, we’re back,” I said with a cheeky smirk. “I hope you’ve done the dishes, I hate coming back to a mess.”

Brandy shook his head in dismay, but his smile said it all. “Mission accomplished?”

“As if you had any doubt,” I replied, indicating Lumin’s pannier. “You have any trouble?”

The agency stallion’s eyes flicked to the colonel and back. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.” He walked up to the pannier on Shadow’s back and peered in at Lumin, letting out a sigh of relief. “Thank the goddess. Is he alright? They didn’t harm him, did they?”

“No,” I said plainly. “But Brandy, listen, I think Celestia is making a serious mistake thinking she can negotiate a deal, or pact, or whatever the hell it is with those things back there. They see us as nothing but food, and anything that thinks like that is a danger to every living being in Equestria. If it were up to me I’d block that place up good and proper and throw away the key. You can’t trust them.”

The stallion frowned in thought, then asked, “That wouldn’t have something to do with anything you’ve done by any chance, would it?”

“I did what needed to be done,” I replied sharply, lifting my muzzle. “It was ‘off the books’, remember?” Brandy looked like he was going to say something, then thought better of it. Looking around, I noticed a familiar cart behind a group of soldiers. It was near the medical tent, and definitely not Equestrian. “Did anypony come through here before us?” I asked.

Brandy nodded. “As a matter of fact, they did. Quite a few in fact.” He bobbed his head in the direction I was looking. “They came through here in a panic with a group of your warriors, shouting that the changelings were right behind them. Some of your lads...” He closed his eyes. “We lost two of them. The others we sent back to the village after they were treated.” Brandy shook his head. “Would you believe they wanted to go back through and find you? The colonel wasn’t having any of it of course, and even threatened to shoot them. It was all I could do to stop her blowing the portal right there and then.”

The colonel in question was currently on the other side of the clearing, bossing around some other poor sods who she apparently didn’t think were working fast enough for her exacting standards. Every now and again I noticed her glancing in my direction, but she never acknowledged me. Not even once.

“Well, all’s well that ends well, Brandy,” I said, turning back to my friend. “So long as all my people are home and the ponies we rescued are safe, I’d call that a job well done.”

The agency officer lifted a hoof and ran it through his mane. “I can’t argue with you there. You going to stay and watch the fireworks?”

It was tempting, but I’d seen enough destruction and explosions to last me a lifetime already. “Thanks for the offer, but all I want now is a wash, a hot bath, and a warm bed. Besides, this little fella needs his mum.” I gave him a cheeky wink. “Stay cool, Brandy. Oh, and next time you and your boys are in the village, the bar’s on me.”

Brandy chuckled. “I’ll hold you to that.” He nodded to Shadow. “Goddess be with you my friends.”

Shadow and I followed the last of our warriors, clambering into one of the rough army wagons and sat back, letting some other poor bugger do the work for once. At least Brandy had been overjoyed to see us, even if the colonel hadn’t even acknowledged our presence. How bloody magnanimous of her! It must be something that comes with rank. Either that or she was just butthurt that Equestria’s most wanted was now ‘one of the gang’ so to speak. I sighed and sank back into the seat. As hard as the army issue thing was, to me right then it felt decadently luxurious. With a long sigh, Shadow leaned across me and snuggled her head onto my chest as she closed her eyes. Like me, she was utterly exhausted. I stroked her mane.

“Thanks love,” I smiled. “I don’t know what else to say. Words just can’t explain how much my heart soared when I saw you appear like magic in the sky.” I ran my hoof over her ear, gently stroking it from base to tip. “I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t arrived when you did. Our whole tribe owes you a debt we could never repay.”

She looked up at me with one half open eye. “Mmhmm.” And with that simple expression of her thoughts on the subject, she closed her eyes and fell asleep for the remainder of the journey back to Smiling Borders.

Evening was approaching quickly as we skimmed low over the forest, the lights of the village twinkling in the distance a truly welcome sight to my tired eyes. The sky carriage banked into a low sweeping arc, and we landed with barely a jolt just outside the Wyvern’s Tail. Despite her tiredness,Shadow was visibly excited at being back. Stumbling slightly in her attempt to rush out of the carriage, I managed to catch her and help her regain her footing. Before I could say anything else she reached back inside the carriage, scooped up Lumin in his pannier, and charged through the front door of the inn. I’d barely made the door when a familiar shout of joy and a chorus of cheers rang out, making me shake my head with a smile. Sure enough, a tangerine Pegasus stood before us, alternately hugging Shadow and Lumin until her gaze fell upon me. Tingles passed Lumin to Shadow and walked deliberately over to me, standing tall and fixing me with a large green eye.

“You’re late…”

What was it with ponies saying that to me lately? “I-” I never got a chance to finish as the mare grabbed my barding and pulled me into a kiss that took my breath away. Around us the common room erupted in cheers and shouts from the warriors and villagers who had filled this most wondrous of places with a degree of life and energy I didn’t think possible. Tingles broke the kiss and leaned her forehead on mine.

“I thought we’d lost you,” she breathed. “When you disappeared... the changelings... and then I had this dream…” Her large green eyes squeezed shut, I felt her shudder slightly. “You came to me… in the forest…”

“You don’t remember?” I asked.

“Not really, everything’s fuzzy,” she grinned. “Like your ears.” She lunged up and nipped one of my long suffering ears right on the tip. Hard.

I yelped in pain. “Ow! Bloody hell fire, Tingles!”

Laughing, the tangerine mare pranced away swishing her tail provocatively. “What are you going to do about it then, Mister Salt?”

“Ooh, you!”

Howls of laughter and encouragement from the tribe followed me up the stairs as I raced after the fleeing mare. Tingles slammed the door shut behind me as I charged in, locking it behind her. Those green eyes blazed with a passion I’d last seen in the shower cubicle at the agency. The tangerine pegasus was panting heavily and advancing on me like some starving predator. Why did I have a sudden image of a manticore popping into my mind? Dear gods, she looked hungry… A hoof on the end of a long slender leg slammed into the wall beside me, her eyes locked on mine, her pupils wide.

“Tingles,” I gasped. “I’ve just got back! I haven’t washed or-”

“You stink,” she growled. “You reek, you’re dirty, and you’re covered in the blood of those you’ve slain.” She pushed me up onto my hind legs and ran her chest up against mine. “What are you, Fairlight…Who and what are you?”

“Me? I…” I licked my lips nervously. “I’m a wendigo, the lord of the tribe of the four winds.”

“A warrior,” she rumbled.

“Yes… A warrior,” I managed.

She bit my shoulder, hooking a foreleg around my neck, her tail swishing around and tickling my flank. “You have your victory, My Lord. Now, it’s time to take your spoils…” Tingles kicked my hind legs out from under me and somehow twisted me round, flinging me onto the bed and simultaneously landing atop me with a flurry of wings. I gasped as she licked my muzzle and took my head in her hooves. “What do you want, Lord Fairlight?”

I swallowed, staring into her beautiful eyes. “I want…”

“I mean, right now,” Tingles whispered. “Here. Now. What do you want?”

“I want you,” I managed.

“Say it again…”

My heart was hammering in my chest, my energy returning like a river breaking its banks. “I want you, Tingles.”

She sighed, smiling down at me before lowering herself with a throaty gasp. “Oh, Celestia!” The pegasus mare squeezed her eyes tight shut before collapsing on my chest. Brushing her sticky mane from her eyes, Tingles raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to get it now. This is for sneaking out for a smoke!” She raised herself up and then rammed herself down again, making me gasp at the rush of heat. “This… this is for getting kidnapped!” Again the tangerine mare pulled herself up and slammed down, whimpering slightly under her breath. “And this… this is for making me love you so much!” Tingles ground herself into me viciously, biting my neck, my ears, and scrabbled at my chest with her hooves as she made use of me to her hearts content. I closed my eyes as the beautiful mare cried out and screamed her passion into the room with complete abandon, her wings flaring out stiff as boards, quivering with her mounting excitement. “Oh, goddesses!” she shrieked, leaning over and steadying herself on one of the bed’s supports. With a panting finality, Tingles’ whole body shook and she gasped for breath, collapsing onto my chest before rolling off onto the bed beside me in a sweat soaked heap. As for myself, I wasn’t finished yet, and I leaned over to catch her. She stopped me with an outstretched hoof. “No,” she breathed. “Tonight, you have other duties, My Lord.” My libido temporarily derailed, I looked at her quizzically. I didn’t understand, what did she mean? Tingles of course knew precisely what she meant, and slipped off the bed with a chuckle. She walked, if a little wobbly, to the bedroom door, pulling it open. “Meet me in the bath when you’re finished,” she grinned. “Oh, and leave Lumin with Heather would you?”

I lifted my head. “Tingles…?”

She trotted out, clopping hooves with a heavily armoured mare who entered the room, deftly kicking the door shut behind her. Burning red eyes locked with my own. I swallowed - It really did look like I was in for it tonight! Shadow began unbuckling her armour in silence, as if I wasn’t even there. She worked with a swiftness born of experience, each heavy piece falling noisily to the floor, her sword and axe propped in the corner. She walked up to the window and slid it open, sitting back on her haunches and closed her eyes, breathing in the evening air.

“Fairlight?”

The wash of cool forest air wafted over my fur, cooling my sweat soaked body. “Yes, love?”

She stared out the window. “I want a foal.”

I knew she did. That was why she’d been so keen to go to the chamber in the fortress wasn’t it? Gods above, of all the places she could have wanted to go, why there? But still, if it was what she wanted… “I know,” I said quietly. “We’ll go to the fortress as soon as we’ve rested up a little, if that’s what you want to do.”

“It is,” she whispered turning to me. “But tonight… I want you… Here.”

Did she sound more, I don’t know, eloquent somehow? Normally she clipped her sentences, not unlike the way many of the minotaurs did. I don’t know why she did when most of her people spoke perfectly normally, if you could call their words appearing in you head with all the subtlety of a runaway freight train of course, but then the enigmatic creature had always been a mystery to me. She was like the Wither World itself, like the Everfree too: wild, untamed, and deliciously exotic. I rolled off the bed and sat beside her.

“We’ll have a foal, my love,” I murmured, looking deep into her glowing red eyes. “But tonight is for you.” I allowed the magic to thrum through my body and re-energise me. “For us.” White fog began to swirl around my haunches and dripped from between my teeth. Shadow gasped as I reached up and nibbled her horn-like ears sending a shiver running down her spine, that gorgeous tail of purest black, flicking up to tease my spine with its electric touch. I returned the favour, making her whinny slightly as she turned to face me and looked me in the eyes.

“Fairlight, don’t I frighten you?”

I chuckled under my breath, continuing my work. “You terrify me.”

She cocked her head on one side. “I do?”

I nodded, running my diamond hoof down her chest. “Yes… It terrifies me just how much I love you, my Shadow.”

She sniffed, a tiny red tinged burning tear rolling down her cheek. “Oh, Fairlight… you frighten me too.” Shadow kissed me gently on the nose. “For the same reason.”

We kissed. Shadow and I rolled on the floor, bathing in the sparkling fog, the white clouds making the room look like some otherworldly place where time and the concerns of the outside world vanished into nothingness. Here, the light from our eyes reflected back at us blue and red in the white glow of magic. She growled, biting my neck, almost but not quite piercing the skin and making me gasp in ectasy. I ran my tongue up her neck, tasting her ear, taking it in my mouth and running my teeth along it to the tip. Shadow bit deeper, pulling me to her, the fires in her eyes at an intensity that was both frightening and insanely desirable at the same time. She stood, turning away and rested her fore hooves on the window sill, her gaze inviting, her tail gliding slowly up her rump, waiting for me to take her as she wanted. I knelt down, reaching up with my muzzle and tasted her. Shadow gasped and pushed back at me, giving a wordless moan of pleasure, urging me to carry on. I did so willingly. Gently, yet firmly, I tasted and caressed my mate, taking note of what she enjoyed most and letting her guide me as much I took her there. Never letting up my delicious work, Shadow surged up to the peak in short pants and gasps before she finally cried out, her legs shaking and collapsed to the floor. I caught her in my fore legs and held her close. Shadow’s breathing began to return to normal and she stood up, guiding me to the bed where she lay on her back, legs outstretched, pulling me onto her with a sigh of contentment. I mounted the midnight coated thestral, her smell filling me with its hot and spicy fragrance. I loved her, as much then as I ever had. She had saved my life and my foal without a second though. This mysterious mare, this warrior from another world, I would protect, care, and serve her as long as I drew breath. I murmured into her ear, as we lay within the caress of magic...

“I love you…”

********************

Cleaning off alongside the bathing area was both relaxing and re-energising. By the gods I needed it too. I’d had no idea just how dirty I’d become until I watched the grey tinged water as it sluiced away after a good soaping down. When I had been thoroughly cleaned off by my enthusiastic mares, Tingles and I started on Shadow. Her coat, for all its leathery appearance, was much the same as any regular pony’s - soft and shiny, even if it did accentuate her rather ‘bony’ appearance which was a noticeable characteristic of the thestral race. Shadow’s fur was shorter of course, and surprisingly fine too, with a feel not unlike that of silk. To be honest, Tingles and I were so used to this enigmatic mare now that it was hard to imagine anypony being alarmed by her at all. The reaction of the soldiers by the portal when we’d emerged however, had unfortunately been all the reminder I’d needed of the way some Equestrians were likely to treat her. They hadn’t said anything out loud as such, but the worried stares and the way some of them had backed away had said far more than mere words could ever convey. Thankfully the tribe hadn’t said anything about Shadow being ‘unusual’ in any way shape or form, or at least if they had, I certainly hadn’t heard about it. Personally I was so used to be referred to as a ‘demon’ by all unsundry, not to mention the terrified stares I received when somepony caught sight of my eyes or my wendigo form, it didn’t really bother me all that much nowadays. I sighed inwardly. Sadly, this kind of inbuilt ability to startle easily was rather typical of Equestrians as a whole. In fact I seem to remember there had been a story doing the rounds in Ponyville some time ago, telling the tale of a zebra mare who’d arrived one morning at market after moving into a hut in the Everfree. Instead of our foreign visitor being welcomed with warm curiosity, she’d been met with outright terror and with locked doors, stalls, and, sadly, hearts. The story goes that the elements of harmony worked their own particular brand of magic and brought the citizens of the town around to seeing her as just another living creature like themselves. Whether it worked or not, who can say? I doubt it would be so simple with a thestral. Zebras looked like us pretty much, whereas thestrals were… well, ‘different’ I suppose. I ran the long toothed brush through Shadow’s tail and worked out the knots, pondering the question - would anypony accept a thestral? To me she was beautiful, intelligent, fiercely protective of her loved ones and extraordinarily brave, but I wasn’t so stupid as to believe others would see her the same way. After all, Equestrians were generally a flighty bunch and more prone to flight than fight in a confrontation, particularly these days. And sadly it was that very nature that had been exploited by scum like Velvet Cream, allowing him and his vermin to prosper almost unimpeded. I don’t know how many times I’d interviewed witnesses to a crime that had happened no more than a few yards away from them, only to me met with ‘Didn’t see nuffin’ or words to that effect. No, it was always best to plead ignorance and keep out of it, wasn’t it? Yeah… until it was your neck on the block. It was amazing how talkative ponies suddenly became then!

Tingles swapped with Shadow and we began to work on her coat and mane. The tangerine pegasi’s wings stood out from Shadows’, or was that the other way around? They were feathered rather than the skin like membrane which all thestrals had of course. I fact my own were more like a thestrals than a pony’s, powerful certainly, but nowhere near as agile or manoeuvrable as a pegasi’s feathered wings. Tingles washed her own wings as a matter of course, careful to adjust each feather in turn and apply the right kind of conditioner. I’d made the mistake of using in the shower one day thinking it was shampoo, and boy, had I copped a full broadside from her over that! Naturally, that level of care spoke for itself. They virtually shone when she was finished, and she was careful to keep them out of the hot water when she slid, hind legs first, into the hot spring. Not so Shadow, who dived in muzzle first, rearing up and splashing us both before falling back and creating a wave that had Tingles spluttering in outrage. Shadow just laughed at Tingles’ protests and swam off into the steamy waters, emerging behind me like a water serpent to envelop me in her forelegs. Tingles just shook her head at the sight and waved us over to sit by her after Shadow had expended all her energy splashing me.

The orange pegasus kissed me on the cheek. “You haven’t seen Meadow for a while, love. We’ll have to pop over and see her later.”

I leaned back, stretching my forelegs. “How’s she been?” I asked, hoping for news.

“Scared for you.” Tingles closed her eyes, leaning back against one of the large rocks. “I wouldn’t keep your disappearance from her, and I couldn’t have anyway even if I’d wanted to. You know what the herd’s like for finding out information. Besides, it’s not good to hide things, love, you only store up trouble for later when you do.” She sighed, letting out an ironic huff. “I already know all about that! Anyway, she and Sparrow are well, so we can go and see them whenever you’re ready. You can tell them all about your latest exciting adventure when you do.” Tingles yawned, rubbing her eyes. “What happened anyway? I never found out properly.”

“Didn’t anypony tell you?” I asked.

“Only what Brandy and Mitre told me,” Tingles shrugged. “That you’d been kidnapped and had your memories altered and couldn’t account for the period between sitting on the porch and appearing somewhere in, where was it now… Canterlot?”

I groaned, staring up at the sky. “Pretty much.”

“What in the name of Celestia were you doing there?”

“Ah…” I closed my eyes, unsure of where to begin.

Tingles raised an eyebrow, fixing me with a curious stare. “What’s ‘Ah’?”

I explained the whole story, or at least what I could actually recall which wasn’t all that much to be honest. A lot my memories had indeed returned, however many were still little more than fragmented images of places and faces, with one in particular. Thankfully she’d been hoofed over to the agency, who were in all likelihood asking her some very uncomfortable questions right about now. Speaking of whom, if there was one thing that all these pieces of the last few weeks had in common, it was an overriding undercurrent of fear - fear, I noted, of disobedience. As expected, Tingles took most of it in her stride, which in itself was a little troubling. Was she actually becoming used to such bizarre happenings surrounding our family? Considering she’d been in the agency for a good part of her life then her experiences of some of the darker side of Equestrian society would certainly have helped prepare her to a degree, but in all honesty, I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or concerned. I guess it’s true what they say – You’d be surprised what you can get used to. Yes, ‘normal’ didn’t seem to apply to the Fairlight household these days, if indeed it ever really had in the first place. As the story drew to close, Tingles’ eyes went wider and wider.

“You mean Annabelle was somehow involved in your abduction?” she asked in surprise. “This ‘reprogramming’ or whatever it was?” Tingles look perplexed, as if I’d just tried to describe the sky as being a bowl of carrot soup.

“I don’t know about ‘somehow’,” I huffed bitterly. “Try ‘definitely’. I know she did things to me that keep giving me nightmares, that’s for damned sure. One thing I do know for a fact it that she’s the human who’s been working with our old pal the commissioner and that twat Velvet Cream. She was even involved with the changelings. I’d go so far as to say she could be one of the most dangerous ponies I’ve ever met.”

Tingles shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t believe it! Annabelle… a human? She can’t be! She’s… Well, she’s…”

“She’s what?” I prompted. “A blank flank?”

Shadow tapped me on the nose. “That’s rude!”

I looked up at her in surprise. Apparently somepony had been teaching her about Equestrian society. Considering thestrals didn’t have cutie marks, it was quite likely she’d encountered the derogatory term already, and if not, she would sooner or later. “Sorry,” I offered, “but she quite literally doesn’t have a cutie mark of any sort, which for an adult is unheard of. Surely you both noticed?”

Tingles shook her head again, as if trying to shake all the information into a shape she could make sense of. “I just thought it was some sort of birth defect,” she said absently, “like being albino or something. I didn’t want to offend her by enquiring about it.”

“I’ve seen some crappy cutie marks, but I’ve never heard a birth defect leaving you without one at all,” I replied. “It’d be like being born without a head!” I stretched my legs, trying to make myself a little more comfortable. “So what’s the big issue then? I know she was wanting to tell me something before we went to face down the changelings.”

“You didn’t let her tell you?” Tingles asked incredulously.

“No!” I said suddenly. “Every time I look at her, or even just think about her for that matter, my bloody mind does backflips for some reason. Whatever she did to me, she screwed about with my head like it was her own personal playground. That blasted mare is up to her neck in this mess, Tingles, and I don’t want anything to do with her - not now, not ever!” I raised an eyebrow, lowering my voice. “And I don’t want her anywhere near my family either. Let the agency deal with that maniacal lunatic, I’ve done my bit for queen and country fifty times over already, thank you very much.”

Tingles turned back to plaiting Shadow’s mane. “You can ask her when we get back.”

“Eh?” I frowned, trying to get my head around what she was talking about. “What do you mean, ‘Ask her when we get back’?”

“Weren’t you listening?” Tingles clucked her tongue. “The thing she was going to tell you that-”

“WHAT?!” My eyes went as wide as saucers. “She’s still in the tavern?!”

Tingles never batted an eyelid. “Of course, why wouldn’t she be?”

“Haven’t you been listening to what I’ve been saying?” I blurted out, incensed at her casual dismissal of what I’d been saying. “She’s a bloody criminal! That mare’s not only non-equestrian, she’s been involved in guns, drugs and slavery that’s ruined the lives of who knows how many ponies! Good goddesses, Tingles, has she been messing with your head too?”

The tangerine pegasus fixed me with ‘that’ look. “I speak as I find, Fairlight, and that mare tried to save Lumin from the changelings when she found out what they were going to do to him.” Tingles finished Shadow’s plait and stood back, nodding, satisfied with the result. “She came here to warn us, just before the changelings attack the village,” she continued. “She fought with us to try and stop them taking Lumin and… Well, you know the rest don’t you, you found us.”

My jaw hung open. “I don’t believe this! I… Ah! Sod it…” I flopped down, holding my forelegs over my eyes. No matter what Tingles thought about our turncoat alien, there was no way in hell she’d swap sides just like that because of some ‘unexpected discovery of morality’, or whatever the hell it was. As far as I was concerned that one was as devious as they come, and the sooner I got her out of my home and out of my life, the better for all of us.

As I lay there, Tingles reached across me to Shadow. “Shadow, are you alright?”

The thestral mare had her head down, her eyes duller than usual. She murmured something under her breath. It sounded like… “Non-equestrian.” Oh goddesses...

I sat up quickly. “Shadow, I didn’t mean you, love,” I said gently. “I meant that mare’s a human. She’s not even equine.”

The dark mare looked up at me, sadness and confusion in her face. “I’m a non-equestrian!”

Tingles pushed past me and reach down to take her hoof. “You’re right, you’re not an equestrian, but what does that mean? Your life has as much value as anypony. We’re all different in this tribe, Shadow. I mean, look at us.” She stepped back and spread her wings. “I’m a pegasus, and this…” she tapped me on the forehead, “is a wendigo. Don’t you think ponies would be more frightened of him? He scared Meadow and I shitless when when we first saw him transform the way he does!”

“Tingles!” I shouted, “And you tell me off for swearing!”

“Oh belt up, you’re the worst offender here!” she snapped.

Shadow wiped her eyes and smiled faintly. “I’m sorry, it is all… so new for me.”

I’d worried about this, about her decision to leave her home and family behind for a world she knew nothing about except from dreams. She’d given up everything to be with a pony she barely knew - a foolish and impetuous stallion who didn’t know how lucky he was to have met such a magnificent creature. All I could say was,

“Shadow…”

She picked up her panniers, Tingles and I following suit. Despite Tingles’ assurance, Shadow had a far away look on her face, and one that left me lost for words. Slowly, she turned and walked towards me, her hooves clopping quietly on the hard ground. Her eyes looked deep into mine and I could feel myself falling into them, my heart calling out to her.

“When I first met you,” I said softly, “I was unsure of who and what you were. I was frightened of you in a way, yet you showed me to look beyond my pony instincts and to see the world around me for what it really is. You helped me to open my eyes to the wonders of life, friendship, and love, to see you for who you really are.” I lifted her hoof in mine, holding it against my cheek. “You accepted me for who I am without question, and without fear. You gave me your love and showed me the way when I was lost and afraid. Shadow, I love you more than I could ever express in words. You, Meadow, Tingles, Lumin and Sparrow are the anchors for me in this turbulent world, and together, all of us, we will show this world the tribe of the four winds is one of strength, not only of the body, but of the heart.”

Shadow kissed me on the lips, gently, then walked over to Tingles for a hug. The tangerine mare smiled at her, “He’s not usually that eloquent you know. Better in the muscle department than grey matter.”

“Hey!” I protested.

The mares giggled together, watching me gather my old coat and hat I’d brought with me.

“Going somewhere?” Tingles said looking up at me.

I nodded. “There’s somepony I haven’t seen for a while. You have to share me sometimes you know. Coming?”

Shadow stuck her tongue out at me playfully then started to tickle Tingles. The two quickly ended up rolling on the ground, laughing like foals. So much for having a bath then! Tingles finally broke free and wiped the tears of laughter from her face.

“You go, love,” she chuckled. “Shadow and I will be okay. Besides, we’ll need to give Heather a break soon. It’s nearly time for Lumin to go to bed anyway.”

My thestral mate nodded then resumed her tickling assault on the ribs of the grinning tangerine mare. Shaking my head I disappeared into the night, my hooves clopping along in the quiet landscape of Smiling Borders. The breeze was cool tonight, tugging playfully at my mane and tail as my coat flapped against my sides like a loose sail. Closing my eyes for a time as I walked, I could imagine myself back on duty in the watch. It felt like a lifetime ago now. Gods, had that really been me? The young grey stallion with the magnifying glass cutie mark and brown eyes… Ha! I’d never quite cut a fine figure in society, that was for damned sure. My black and white mane and tail certainly made me look, as foals liked to joke at school, like a ‘cart horse’. Meadow had seen beyond that unfortunate epithet, to the ‘me’ that lay beneath. What she’d found when she looked certainly escaped me! I chuckled to myself. She was an amazing mare and I missed her guidance, the way she’d effortlessly soothe my mixed up mind after a hard day at work, and that look in those big lantern yellow eyes of hers which melted my heart every time I gazed into them. Even with the love of Tingles and Shadow I still loved my Meadow. She was the first mare who had captured my heart, and that was something nopony could ever take away from me. She had borne my daughter, Sparrow Song, that tiny life taken away from the world of the living before she’d even entered it. She was such a delicate and beautiful little thing, I… I stopped, brushing the tears from my eyes. Goddesses, I was always going to be a bucked up mess wasn’t I? The great Fairlight, Lord of the Four Winds, former Captain of the Equestrian Watch - a messed up emotional wreck of a pony. I shook my mane and tried to think of other things. I had to remember to avoid being on my own like this in future; my bloody brain obviously hated me! The feel of branches and leaves catching on my coat made me snap my eyes open to the bright silvery light of the glade, the berry bushes around me heavy with their lush, red and fragrant fruits. I leant down and sampled a couple of the sharply sweet treats. The familiar taste of Grimble’s brandy was a fond memory in my mind, and one which was quickly reinvigorated by the flavour of the berries. I wished I’d brought a bottle of it with me, and my pipe too. Sighing, I sat just inside the edge of the clearing and felt the magic of the place flowing around me, the way it tingled my horn and sent a gentle feeling of warmth along my spine. I didn’t remember it being quite this physical. That was new… it felt wonderful too…

“Meadow!” I squeaked, looking round to find myself staring into big pair of yellow eyes. “I wish you wouldn’t keep sneaking up on me like that, you could give me a heart attack!”

“Well now,” she said in a sultry voice, “that means I’d have you all to myself at last. Poor Tingles and Shadow would just have to wait, would they? The way I have to.” She tutted and shook her mane. I heard some humour in her words, but also a note of sorrow, a longing and emptiness that made my heart cry out to her.

“Oh Meadow,” I whispered, “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Moving into me, the green mare held me. “It’s alright my fine stallion, I shouldn’t have said anything. It was wrong of me to say that. It’s just, sometimes… you know.” She trailed off and I nuzzled her neck, taking in her scent. It was floral, and wonderfully feminine.

“I miss you, love,” I murmured into her fur. “You must be sick of me saying it by now, but my heart yearns to be with you so much I...” I closed my eyes. “I just want to be with you again, for all of us to be together.”

Meadow sighed, rubbing her head along my neck. “I know. Life stinks, death too sometimes. All that sunshine and blue sky… It’s simply terrible.” She sniggered and lifted my chin with her hoof so we were face to face. “Oh, Fairlight, come on now… no tears, you big filly.” Meadow wiped the tears from my eyes, her own voice quavering with emotion. “I don’t want to see… to see Sparrow’s dad… her dad… oh!” Tears flowed down her face and she collapsed into me, shaking as sobs wracked her body. “It’s not fair!” she sniffed. “Damn it, why did it have to be like this! I want to be with you, you’re my bloody husband for Celestia’s sake, and I want to be with you!”

I held her tightly, shaking with the emotion raging through my heart and soul. I never wanted to let her go, but I knew that all too soon, with the coming of the first light of dawn, she would have to go - back to the herd once more.

She moved away from me, her eyes wet with tears. “I share you with two mares, Fairlight, because you need looking after when I’m not there. But damn it all, you’re still mine!” She beat on my chest with her hooves. “You’re still mine!”

I kissed her on her soft nose, taking her forehoof in mine and planting a kiss on it too. “I always shall be yours, my love. Forever in my heart for as long as I breathe and the stars burn in the heavens, I shall be your stallion.”

Meadow suddenly shoved me and I lost balance, toppling over onto the grass with the beautiful green mare standing over me, her cheeks wet from crying, “Damn you, Fairlight! Damn you!” She collapsed on top of me, hugging me tightly. “Blast it, Fairlight, why do I love you so much? Why do you love me? I want to go home with you, to be a family, the way we were meant to be. Why did have to end up like this? WHY?!”

Why was she torturing herself like this? Meadow was usually so calm, so level headed and sensible. This emotional outpouring wasn’t like her at all, and my heart was in torment with my inability to ease her pain. Damn this world, I wanted to be with her too, but what could I do? All the magic in the world couldn’t bring back the dead.

I kissed her cheek, tasting the saltiness of her tears on my lips. “Is something wrong, love? I haven’t seen you upset like this before.”

Meadow shook her head and flicked her mane out of her eyes. “Is something wrong? Of course something’s wrong you berk! You disappear, nopony knows where you are, Lumin and Tingles get kidnapped, and you nearly die in a fight! Goddess almighty, how the hell would you feel if that was me?!”

I sighed at my own foolishness. Had I become so accepting of this world of madness that it barely even registered with me any more now? “I didn’t want all that to happen, love, it just… It just did.” I smiled sadly, staring off into the darkness of the wood beyond the glade. “I just wanted to be left alone, to live my life with you and Sparrow like any normal family. Fate’s been a bitch to us ever since.”

“Fate...” She bopped me on the nose. “That mare has a lot to answer for.” Raising an eyebrow I opened my mouth to speak but she stopped me with a hoof on the lips. “Star Swirl explained it me some time ago. He said you’re a, I don’t know, a ‘lightening rod for destiny’ or something. It curves around you, sometimes being drawn to you, changing what was meant to be and what is to come. Honestly it all sounds very odd, and a bit frightening to me.”

“It does to me too!” I said in alarm. “I didn’t know about all this. What does it mean?”

“It means events like the things that have happened to you so far, will keep occurring.” meadow motioned with her hooves. “Destiny, Fate, call it what you will, will seek you out. I’m sorry, love, I’m not the best at explaining these things. And unlike some ponies, I actually bothered to listen in school too.”

I couldn’t make head nor tail of any of this. A lightning rod? What, I was some sort of natural attraction for crappy events or something? What sort of a bloody life was that?! Despair threatened to engulf me.

“I don’t want this!” I exclaimed. “He can’t be right, that uptight old goat’s got to be wrong! For Luna’s sake, Meadow, what you’re saying is that I’m going to keep on attracting all the crap that’s out there for the rest of my life? That means it’ll risk harm to anypony around me, and all of my family too.” I sank to my haunches, that pit of darkness calling me into it once more. “I… I’ll have to disappear, to go away. I can’t risk any more lives… Not again…”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

My head shot up at the mention of her name. “Wha-? Twilight Sparkle? What about her?”

Meadow’s eyes gazed into mine. “She’s one too.”

“A lightning rod for destiny?” I snorted. “She’s one of the ‘elements of harmony’, isn’t she? I don’t think I’m one of them, love, not unless I’m the ‘element of bollocks’ or something.”

“No, you’re not one of the elements,” Meadow replied quietly, “but she attracts destiny just the same way you do. All of the element holders do in their own way.”

“So why does destiny want to bother me?” I asked. “What the bloody hell has it got to do with some poor sod from the back end of nowhere?”

Meadow held my head in her hooves. “I don’t know, but you’re a special stallion, and one that’s loved by so many it makes me a little… jealous.” Meadow kissed me gently. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I’ve upset you.”

“No,” I said quietly. “You were right to tell me. I guess deep down I knew, or at least suspected, that something like this was going on. All the horrible things, even the good things, everything seemed so… I don’t know, ‘big’, somehow. You know, ‘larger than life’.”

She smiled. “Star Swirl said that you have the power inside you to ‘bend’ destiny. You can be the master of your own fate, Fairlight, not its slave. I know you have it within you to do that, and you’ve not done too badly so far.”

I scrubbed my mane, considering what she’d said. “With the help of my friends, maybe.”

“And there you go.” Meadow lifted her head, peering down her muzzle at me. “How many friends did you have when I first met you?”

“Not many,” I confessed. “Virtually none really.”

“See?”

“Not really, no.”

Meadow sighed, face hoofing. “And this is another reason why I want to be with you - you’re absolutely bloody hopeless!” Shrugging, my breath was suddenly squeezed out of me by a strong hug from the green mare. “Now shush this worrying and hold me. My mind’s in a state and my emotions are running wild right now. I need to feel my husband beside me. I want to feel safe… with the stallion I love.”

Together we lay there on the grass, Meadow’s head laid across my neck, wrapped in each other embrace amidst the silver glow of the glade. We stayed like that, warm and happy until the sun’s early rays began to leak into the dawn sky. Meadow stirred, rose and leaned down to kiss me on the lips.

“I love you, my brave stallion,” she whispered. “I’ll be here for you… always.”

I returned the kiss, knowing that any moment she would have to return to the herd. “I love you too, my beautiful mare. Don’t worry, we’ll be together before you know it. Wendigo aren’t immortal after all.” A sudden thought hit me. “Are they?!”

She laughed. “No, silly! And you know how I know that?”

“No?”

Meadow grinned wickedly. “You’ll find out one day, love. Good grief, you really are hopeless!” She suddenly grabbed me and gave me a deep kiss before backing away into the bright magical light that began to envelop her. “Take care, and do try to stop getting captured by strange ponies, eh?”

And then, in the blink of an eye, my beautiful wife, the mare who had stolen my heart all those years ago, was gone as if she’d never existed at all. I stared at the ground, and there, sure enough, were her hoof prints and the imprint of where her body had lain next to mine only a few minutes earlier. I bent down and sniffed at where she’d been. If I concentrated I could still detect her scent on the lush, verdant grass. Meadow… Despite everything, rather than feeling melancholy I felt suddenly alive and reenergised, all of my worries, sadness and dismay popping like a bubble in the bath. Ah, to hell with it! We’d be together again sooner or later, all of us in fact, but right now I had some living to do. And as for Fate? Bollocks to that too, I say! I tossed my mane, munched down another of the berries, and headed off back through the glade to whatever the world could throw at me next. And what could it? I was alive, my family were safe, my tribe on the up and, now that I thought about it, our lands would eventually be given back to us too. Not a bad result all in all. Not bad at all!

Trotting back to the village the sun was just starting to peak its golden head over the forest, washing the land in rich, warm orange glow. I loved this time of morning. It spoke of hope, life, and the promise of a day that lay ahead full of promise and expectation. The village was still very much in shadow, though like the world itself, would soon be brought into the full light of day. Birds, strange long tailed black things rose from the tree tops squawking, whilst around me songbirds sang a merry refrain of the breaking dawn. I felt exceptionally alive today - happy and pleasantly positive. First off I’d grab breakfast and then go and have a little chat with our mysterious visitor before she was whisked away by the agency mob. Maybe they’d send her back to the human realm. Who knew? And, truth be told, who cared either? Personally I wanted answers to what she’d done to my poor abused brain. Even now there was a big gap there in my memories, and I wanted to know what was missing. I suppose if I… What the hell was that? Something kept niggling on the edge of my hearing, and it was coming from my pocket too… Fishing about inside, I took out my old watch communications device. Heavier and more bulky than the agency ones, I hadn’t used the thing since that business in the alleyway with those young thugs and Bingo. It was so long ago now that… Bloody hell, it was buzzing! It wasn’t my imagination after all!

I tapped the receive gem on the side. “Hello?”

The signal was terrible. “….F …F … light… ou…. eive…”

Turning on the spot, I tried to get a better signal. “Your signal’s breaking up. Say again?”

“Fairli… et… ly… out… ow!”

Damn it! What the hell, it sounded like Mitre. “Chief, is that you? I can’t hear you!”

There was a momentary pause as the static cleared slightly. “Fairlight! Get… amily… out… om… Repea… bomb…”

Dear goddess… Shoving the communicator back in my pocket I broke into a gallop, pushing my legs as hard as I could. The wind whipped past me, magic flowing through my veins. Every fibre, every ounce of strength I could muster I threw into my single minded determination to reach the tavern. I couldn’t think now. I had to-

The ground shook.

A flash like a second sun blinded me moments before the shock-wave hit, throwing me violently to the ground. A deafening roar and a boom like thunder in the green magical after-glare accompanied the shower of wood and tile fragments that rained down around me. I stood in shock, ignoring the debris clipping my coat as it fell, clattering on the cobblestones. it wasn’t really happening of course, all of this was in my imagination. Of course it was. I’d run too fast. If I were to back up a little I’d be back on the worn road surface happily looking forward to a nice breakfast with my loved ones, not staring at the ruins of… of… Villagers and warriors started to pour out of their cottages, standing and staring in horror at what I still couldn’t fathom. Blood from multiple cuts and splintered wood covered my face, chest and neck, but right then I felt nothing. I was numb. How could I be anything else? Feeling and emotions would mean I had to accept what I was looking at, and then… Oh gods, the tavern… the Wyverns Tail… It was gone. Simply… gone. Burning pieces here and there evidenced that a building had indeed been there, but where was it? I’d taken a wrong turning on the way back from the glade! What a bucking idiot I am! I started laughing. What a stupid, stupid idiot!

“My Lord! Thank the goddess you’re alive! You’re- Oh, no…”

I half turned towards the large minotaur, his face blackened with burns and superficial cuts. He’d probably been arsing about with his bloody forge again. “Hello Vent!” I chirped. “I seem to have taken a wrong turning here, my friend. I…”

“MEDIC! Get a medic here!”

The world began to spin, and I fell, collapsing onto the ground in a pile of legs. Some of me felt a bit odd too. There was definitely something wrong here and there… I wonder what it was? I smiled. I’d be home soon and be able to see Lumin again. I hadn’t played with him since we’d got back, but he’d been too sleepy, just like his old dad… I yawned widely. I was so, so tired…

Chapter Eight - A cottage for three

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CHAPTER EIGHT

A COTTAGE FOR THREE

Somepony was rubbing my face with a damp cloth whilst a chatter of many voices surrounded me. I have to say, it was oddly reminiscent of the time I’d awoken in the agency upon my return from the thestral realm. No trip to the Wither World for me this time though, just black nothingness and a muggy feeling like I’d been hitting Grimble’s brandy too hard. Speaking of whom, somepony was shouting at me, or rather, some griffin. Unfortunately I couldn’t hear too well for some reason, there was this horrible high pitched whine in my ears of the kind you get after being exposed to overly loud music or fireworks. Enormous fireworks at that! Luna’s ears, what the devil was going on? I’d end up with blasted tinnitus at this rate... I opened my eyes, looking up at the feathered face, the beak, those avian eyes gazing worriedly into mine. I wish people wouldn’t keep doing that. I was fine wasn’t I? I’d just stand up and- Panting, I fell back into the arms of Vent. My screaming had been loud enough to wake the dead, the pain on a level I hadn’t felt since… since when? Hell fire, my head was such a mess! Oh, hello… who was that?

“Oh Celestia, no! no, no, NO!”

Meadow? No… No, it was Tingles… Tingles and Shadow. Who was that with them though? Some big white mare, that- Aha! Of course, the mistress… I wonder if she was still angry with me. I hadn’t been a good pony after all lately. In fact, I’d been very, very bad indeed. I’d tried my best of course, but that didn’t matter. I hadn’t done as she’d commanded, and that meant punishment. Celestia still lived, the bomb hadn’t gone off, or… Or had it? Wait, maybe it had! That’s must have been what the loud bang was! Oh thank the gods for that! I was starting to get worried there for a minute. But where was I? Was I still in Canterlot? And what were my family doing here? Tingles leaned forward, tears pouring down her face as she shouted something at the medic. Shadow’s eyes, normally so vibrant and full of life, dripped liquid fire onto the ground beside her. I tried to reach out and touch her, but nothing seemed to be working the way it should for some bloody weird reason. Whatever it was, my body just seemed to be wrong somehow. Mind you, I didn’t half feel light - really light! The pain from before simply drained away from me, like water vanishing down a plughole. It was cold too for some reason, but as a wendigo I didn’t mind that one little bit. The sun was rising in the sky, but strangely I couldn’t feel its rays this morning. Was winter coming already? Probably. Lumin and the girls would love to play in the snow, to… to… I yawned. Gosh, I was so tired! The griffin’s voice was far away now, drifting to me from a different place, a different land that may have been a thousand miles away right then. But who cared? I didn’t! This was like that warm feeling you get when you’re tired from a hard day’s work, yet simultaneously full of Grimble’s brandy, a nice pipe of Starbeard’s finest tobacco, and a beautiful mare snuggled up beside you. It was a little slice of heaven. Ah, yes, what I wouldn’t give for- Ouch! I blinked, trying to cover my face. Was somepony shining a torch in my eyes? Whatever the source of that light, it was bright enough to guide bloody ships in! Not only that, it was as white as snow. Really, really white snow. What in the name of all the gods was going on now? And why was everything so blasted white? Gradually my eyes began to adjust to the glare and I checked around myself. All my friends and family had vanished, leaving nothing but an endless sea of pure, featureless, whiteness. It was like I was enveloped in cloud, and most certainly not the kind I used to enjoy flying through either. I have to admit that it was all a bit weird to say the least, but I certainly didn’t feel afraid. I was more… curious. There was a loud ‘pop’ and a huge wooden desk appeared out of thin air a few feet in front of me, behind it a heavy chair on castors, a standard lamp, and a hat stand for some reason followed. A moment later, upon the desk appeared an impressively large ledger complete with a long quill and inkwell. I stared at the displaced office furniture, my mind doing cartwheels. It all looked rather familiar. In fact, it looked very familiar. I face hoofed as its golden coated owner walked in through a doorway that hadn’t been there only a second ago, his half moon glasses perched on his muzzle. The alicorn walked over to the chair, re-arranging his wings before taking his seat up behind the desk. I watched in silence as the strange fellow floated up the quill in a golden aura of magic and, after lifting the dainty silver lid on the ink well, dipped it in ready to begin writing.

“Name,” he intoned wearily without looking up.

“Hello, Aethel.”

He began writing, the quill scratching noisily over the ancient page. “Hmm, nice to see one of the old classics again. Ponies these days don’t often show an appreciation for heritage as a rule.” He adjust his spectacles. “Right then, ‘Aethel’...” The quill paused. “Sorry, is Aethel your first or last name?”

“Neither,” I replied.

The alicorn furrowed his brow, staring at the old tome in irritation. “What? I thought you said your name was Aethel? Listen, I’m a very busy fellow and I don’t have time for-”

I banged my hoof of the desk, snatching the quill from his magic’s grip and threw it aside. That got his attention alright. The alicorn’s golden eyes went wide in indignation as he looked up into my blue eyed gaze. I thought he was going to choke.

“YOU!”

I treated him a particularly thin smile. “Like I said, Hello Aethel, it’s good to see you again.”

He sputtered and stood up suddenly, his wings flaring and sending the stricken chair shooting out from behind him. “You… You’re that insolent wendigo!” he roared. “What was your name again? It was-”

“Fairlight,” I cut in firmly. “That’s, F. A. I. R. L-”

“I know how to spell it!” Aethel bellowed angrily.

I picked up his quill and placed it neatly back on his desk. “Look here, Aethel, I’m not sure what’s happening right now, so either this is some bloody flashback sequence or I’m badly injured and probably going to end up stuck in that frigging black sandy place again while I heal up. So,” I tapped his book, “let’s just cut out the middle-stallion and get me sent back now so we can all forget this silliness ever happened, okay? I have to get back to my family.”

Aethel stood there staring at me, his pure white mane flowing in an invisible wind that stood out in relief against his rich golden coat. Honestly he looked for all the world like some kind of pop singer, the type fillies go nuts over when they see them flouncing around the stage in their frilly shirts and tight pants. I’d been so jealous of his type when I was younger too. Truthfully, I needn’t have bothered. It was all an act, and one engineered by clever marketing execs to bring in a huge amount of money for the short time these guys were actually popular. Give it a year or two and everypony had forgotten they’d ever existed, moving on instead to the latest ‘in thing’. I didn’t find out until later in life that the ‘pop idols’ the girls swooned over on a regular basis weren’t really alicorns after all. Instead they had stick-on horns or wings to make them more ‘attractive’ to their target audience. As much as I had to admit it had been effective, it was still all smoke and mirrors, essentially conning the gullible out of their hard earned bits. Bloody ponces…

“Are you suffering from some sort of delusionary state?” Aethel asked, his eyes narrowing.

“I’m sorry?”

He sighed. “Fairlight, wasn’t it?”

I nodded. “Yes, like I said. Now look here, I-”

The alicorn held up a hoof. “Look about you, Fairlight. Tell me, what do you see?”

“What do I-?” I paused, looking about us at the place we were in. Not that you could really call it a place of course, it was utterly devoid of everything except the two of us and some magical office furniture. “Lots of white nothingness,” I replied. “Why?”

“The last time I saw you,” Aeithel explained, “was in the Withers, was it not?”

“Hard to forget really,” I said shrugging. “The black sand, the black sky, the alicorns trying to impale me. It was hardly my holiday destination of choice you know. The simple answer though, is ‘yes’. Why, what are you getting at?”

He sighed. “Do I have to explain it all again? For the goddess’ sake, Fairlight...” Aethel rummaged in the desk drawer. “I’m not going through this again. Right then…” The large alicorn produced a rather highly polished brass bell which was attached to a wooden gem studded device, placed it on the desk, and tapped it with a hoof. “Miss Bunny, would you please contact the relatives of, let’s see now… Ah, yes, applicant four six two five.”

A voice emanated from the device. “Yes, Mister Aethel. Anypony in particular?”

“It doesn’t matter, just pick one!” he replied curtly. “And do it quickly please, Miss Bunny. It’s nearly time for me to knock off.”

I sat on my haunches and looked about at the emptiness. “Hey, Aethel, how long’s this going to take? I’ve melded with the spirit now, so you’ve got no reason to keep me here, right? You can send me back any time you like. Like now, would be good. No need to stand on ceremony.”

He snorted, apparently unimpressed by my request. “Don’t get snippy with me again, young stallion! I was in quite the state after dealing with you the last time. There’s no need for rudeness you know.”

Never mind last time, what the hell was going on this time?! I fidgeted with my wings in irritation and watched him as he paced back and forth, clearly waiting for-

The device on the desk began making a ringing noise. Quickly, Aethel tapped the large gem on the top, listening carefully. “Yes? Good! Send her in please, Miss Bunny.”

I sniggered under my breath. ‘Miss Bunny’!

There was a loud metallic ‘click’ and the sound of a door opening. To my left a doorway into a more everyday sort of office interior appeared out of nowhere - quite literally too. Through this unexpected opening in the sea of white, a coal coloured mare could be seen ushering somepony through. Whoever it was, was shrouded in shadows cast by the bright glare, both from the realm of white and the sun streaming in through the windows behind them.

Miss Bunny’s voice drifted through the open door. “Right this way please, Miss- I’m sorry? Oh, yes… He’s through there with Mister Aethel. Don’t forget to sign out when you all leave, and there’s some paperwork to complete first too. I’ll have it ready for you when you come back.”

Looking around the door tentatively was a grass green face with a pair of large yellow eyes looking around in bewilderment. At first their gaze fell upon Aethel, then the desk… and then finally me. The rest of the mare followed in a blur of green. Ignoring the alicorn’s protests, she rushed past Aethel and threw herself at me, near crushing a couple of my ribs in her fierce grip. I could feel her heart pounding in her chest, her breath against my neck as she shook with emotion. My mind went as blank as the white landscape. I didn’t know what to say.

“Daddy?”

A young voice drifted out from the open doorway as a small grey foal peeked round the frame at me. Her large yellow eyes looked up in wonderment. “Daddy, is that you?”

Like a light switch being flicked, something inside me burst into life. My mind, so recently befogged and confused, cleared as if the sun in the heavens had suddenly burned away the clouds of ignorance revealing the world below in all its glory. At least for now anyway. “It’s me, love,” I said laughing as the tears started to pour down my face. “It’s me…”

Sparrow half ran, half flew up to me and I caught her in an outstretched foreleg, holding the two girls in my embrace. Goddesses above, was this it? I wasn’t dreaming this, was I? I was here… I was actually-

Aethel pushed the book over to me, snapping me out of my daydream. “Sign here please, Mister Fairlight.” I didn’t bother looking at it. In a daze I simply took the quill and signed quickly where he indicated and he shut the ledger with a thump. “You get the idea now?” he asked.

“I don’t understand it,” I frowned, staring at the girls as if expecting them to evaporate into mist at any moment. “I was running for the tavern, and then... then there was this loud bang and a flash of green light.”

“And then you’re here,” Aethel announced as if explaining things to a foal. “Explosions tend to do that to you, Mister Fairlight.” He adjusted his spectacles, staring over them at me like my old school headmaster. “I don’t think I need to go into any further details, do I? Especially with a foal here listening to everything we’re saying. It’s not the sort of subject suitable for young ears.”

I was just about to reply when Meadow reached up and bit my ear. “OW! Bloody hell!” I squeaked, wincing. “Will you mares leave my ears alone!”

“It’s not a dream is it?” she asked, half to herself. “You’re really here. With me?”

I shook my mane and rubbed my sore ear. “I’m here, love,” I said a little awkwardly, “sore ear and all.” I gazed down into her beautiful eyes, trying to make sense of it all. “I just can’t believe it. I was only talking to you a few minutes ago and then…” I stared at the desk with its large, leather bound ledger. I was completely lost for words.

Disregarding my current state of confusion, Aethel ushered the three of us into the office beyond the white void “This way, this way… Come along now, there’s a lot of paperwork still to do you know, and I knock off at five.”

Knock off at…? “Hey! Just a minute!” I moved to protest, but it was like trying to hold back a glacier with nothing more than good will and best intentions. Aethel was a hell of lot stronger than I’d given him credit for, and before I knew it I was stood there like a plank of wood in front of a young mare who was busy pouring water from a kettle into a pair of mugs. Ha! I think there must be something in that you know...

Miss Bunny passed me a large mug of cocoa, another one to Meadow, and a carton of apple juice to Sparrow. Aethel kicked the door shut behind us with a bang, earning an admonishing look from his secretary. He raised his eyebrows in apology and went over to a filing cabinet.

“Right then…you’ll be needing this, this… Oh, and this,” he announced. “There you go!”

A pink folder floated onto the desk in front of me with large gold lettering on the front with several brochures and booklets neatly placed inside. The letters glowed faintly, which I read aloud almost instinctively. “Eternal Herd Orientation Guide. Third Edition.” Well, that certainly didn’t leave anything to the imagination!

Aethel meanwhile was busy rummaging about in a draw, from which he pulled out a sheaf of paperwork, stapler, paperclips, and a fresh quill. Armed with this impressive assortment of office supplies, he proceeded to place one thing after another in front of me on the desk, pointing to the areas he wanted me to sign and muttering something under his breath which I couldn’t quite catch. In my defence I was in so much shock right then I could have been signing absolutely anything – even my own death warrant. Mind you, I think that was a bit of a mute point now wasn’t it. Or was it? Wait… was I… was I dead? I mean, really, actually, permanently… dead? No, that couldn’t be right. I’d been in this situation before, hadn’t I? Or something like it anyway. At least… at least I think so. In actual fact I had no idea what was going on here at all, other than the very obvious fact that Meadow was here along with my lovely daughter. A daughter, I might add, who was apparently completely oblivious to her dad’s befuddlement and instead munching happily on a lolly whilst attempting to feed another to a small toy alicorn.

Desperate to find something solid I could cling to in this sea of insanity, I flicked open the front page of the guide and read, “Some disorientation and discomfort may be experienced within the first few hours due to the realignment of the soul with the conscious mind. This is perfectly normal, and there is no need for concern. You should begin to feel a sense of connection with your new home shortly after arriving, and your friendly staff at the welcome centre are on hoof to answer all your questions…”

The golden alicorn closed the guidebook with a ‘snap’. “There’s time aplenty for you to read that in the comfort of your own home, Mister Fairlight. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to get off home. The wife will kill me if I’m late – it’s pasta night.”

“Just a minute!” I shouted at his retreating form, “What the hell’s going on here? Aethel!”

He turned to look at me as if I was some stupid hick from the backwoods of Bumbletown. “Don’t tell me you haven’t worked it out yet?” The alicorn clucked his tongue. “You’re dead, Mister Fairlight. D. E. A. D. Dead. Honestly, Meadow, I don’t know what you see in him.” And with that he picked up his saddle packs and hat, and opened the outer door. Calling back over his shoulder he let out a bark of laughter. “Welcome, Mister Fairlight Loam… to the afterlife!” The door shut behind him with a click that seemed abnormally loud, echoing the feeling in my heart.

“I… I’m… Dead?” I muttered, half to myself. “I’m actually dead?”

I felt a warm pressure on my neck as Meadow nuzzled me. “Come on love, it’s time to go home.”

In a near daze I followed her outside onto a well kept path bordered by fragrant flowers and neatly pruned shrubs. Aethel had already gone, no doubt dashing off for an enjoyable evening meal with his dear wife. Wife… Meadow, Sparrow, the two of them were both here as plain as day, walking beside me as if it were something we did together every day of the week. It all felt so… so… normal. But it couldn’t be! Could it? Only a few minutes ago I was in the village, hurrying back to warn the girls about… whatever the hell it was now. It was something important though, wasn’t it? I remembered the flash of light and a deafening bang, but other than that my memories were evaporating like morning dew whenever I tried to focus on them. Bloody hell, I don’t know about an explosion, but my brain was a right scrambled mess. I couldn’t seem to remember anything properly at all. Which begged the question - was any of this real? I stared down at the ground, listening to the sound of our hooves clopping quietly along as we walked quietly up the country lane, the sun warm in the pure blue sky overhead. A gentle breeze was blowing, keeping the whole at a perfectly comfortable temperature, rustling the leaves in the lush trees and the verdant grass. Here and there cherry trees grew, their branches heavy with fruit. Occasionally a pony would be visible collecting the cherries in wicker baskets and trotting off with them to who knew where. Nothing was rushed, there was no sense or urgency, only peace… peace, and absolute calm. If there was one word I could use to describe this place, it was ‘idyllic’. A carriage was waiting for us at the side of the road. Its darkened wood showed signs of use, but it seemed to be strong and sturdy enough. The driver was sat next to his conveyance on a long green bench reading a paper. Meadow called over to him and he looked up, smiling.

“Hello, Miss Meadow. Ready for off?”

Meadow bobbed her head politely. “We are, Grain.” She nudged me happily. “All of us are.”

The tan coloured stallion with the brown mane rolled up his paper and stuffed it back in his pannier before pausing, only to take it out again and pass it to me. “Here, if you’re new to the herd you may find this interesting. Take a gander at page four.”

I nodded my thanks, and after we’d settled ourselves onto the well sprung seats, the carriage lurched into motion almost immediately. Meadow sat opposite, quietly watching me whilst Sparrow seemed more interested in her plushie than anything else, keeping up a steady stream of chatter to the little figure. I couldn’t help but smile. By the gods, she was such a sweet little thing. Meadow raised her eyebrows and motioned to the paper which I dutifully opened out. It was ‘The Inquirer’. Very original, I’m sure… Let’s see now, page four… page… four… Here we go! Right then… I ran a hoof down the page and there, at the bottom, was a heading - ‘Our Newest Friends’.

Meadow smiled, “Come on then, read it out.”

I raised an eyebrow then dutifully read aloud, “Today we welcome a pony whom many of our readers will already know of from his exciting exploits in the news over the last few years - Mister Fairlight Loam of Smiling Borders, Equestria (43).”

“Wha-! Bloody hell! Why’d they put my age?” I sputtered.

“It’s a press standard, love,” Meadow said. “Go on…”

I cleared my throat. “Mister Loam, or simply ‘Fairlight’, as he prefers to be known, was tragically killed in an explosion of unknown origin this morning and, after extensive deliberation by the Herd Ethics Committee (HEC), the controversial decision was made to allow him entry into the Eternal Herd. Opponents of his acceptance into the herd list concerns regarding his ‘violent and unpredictable nature’ with ‘a predilection towards cruel and unnatural acts’. Principal Star Swirl explained the HEC decision:

‘Fairlight Loam is a rare and special individual who has proven himself to be of good heart and, whilst not the most intellectually stimulating of Equestrians, has a talent for quick thinking and decisive action. Who can forget the tragic events of the Summer of Tears? The brutal murder of a young mare and her unborn foal by two evil ponies would have adversely affected the mental state of any mortal. Mister Loam rose above that and, as many of you know, was instrumental is saving Equestrians from slavery and death in the human world, not to mention his heroic defence of two our princesses.”

“Dear goddess...” I shook my head. “It goes on…” Closing my eyes, I leaded back in my seat. “I don’t want to read any more.”

Meadow put her hoof on the paper. “I still can’t believe you’re here, love. It’s like a dream, and I’m worried that if I say anything, or if I close my eyes even for just a second, I’ll wake up and that’s all it would have ever been.” She swallowed, clearing her throat as she changed tack. “Sparrow talks about you all the time you know, and it’s not just us who’ve missed you. There’s your mum, my folks, and even Glimmer’s been asking after you. Ooh! I can’t wait to show you off to them all!”

I stared up at the sky, lost in my own little world. “I’m frightened to blink,” I whispered.

“Why?” Meadow asked.

“Because if I do,” I replied, “all this: you, Sparrow… it’ll all disappear and I’ll wake up somewhere…alone.”

A green face suddenly loomed over me, the sunlight glinting like tiny sparks through her flowing mane. “But you’re not alone, love. We’re here… We always have been.” She leaned forward and kissed me, gliding her forelegs around my neck and taking my heart to a height of happiness I wouldn’t have believed was even possible. I was home. I was actually, finally, home.

Sparrow Song giggled, “You’re kissing!” She laughed, clopping her tiny hooves together in girlish glee. “Oooh! I’m going to tell Nanna on you!”

The cheeky little beggar! Meadow turned round and held a hoof up to her mouth. “Shhh! Don’t tell Nanna, or…”

“Or?” Sparrow asked in her squeaky voice.

Meadow grinned slyly. “Well, it depends who wants butterscotch ice-cream tonight, doesn’t it?”

Sparrow took a huge intake of breath, just before unleashing... “I WANT BUTTERSCOTCH ICE-CREAM!”

Oh Luna, what a racket! The deafening noise, with its youthful squeakiness that only a filly could muster, made my ears flatten in surprise. “Nothing wrong with your lungs, young filly!” I beamed, rubbing my ears.

“I’m still a foal, daddy.” Sparrows brows drew down as she admonished me. “You’re silly!”

I burst out laughed and caught Meadow as she leaned back into me sighing, “You know, I found something interesting out today…”

“Oh?” I asked. “And what’s that?”

“You read the paper, didn’t you? Mister ‘Loam’?”

“Ah, yes…”

The cheeky mare chuckled, nudging my ribs. “Come on then, what’s the story?”

“What’s to tell?” I replied a little testily. “It’s my family name. I didn’t like it and so I don’t use it. It was bad enough being grey with brown eyes, but add to that the whole black and white mane and tail thing and what do you have? The kids used to call me ‘Cart Horse’ or ‘Gypsy’ in school. When they found out my family name was ‘Loam’, it made things even worse. A lot worse! I’ve never used it since.”

“But you never told me either!” Meadow exclaimed. “All your letters and paperwork only ever called you ‘Fairlight’. Loam’s not that bad! Good grief...”

I gave her a light nuzzle. “I’m sorry, love, it never entered my head to tell you. To be honest, it’s never really come up since I left school anyway. Even after I joined the watch I’ve simply been ‘Fairlight’.”

“So that make me Mrs Loam?” Meadow asked.

“Oh gods, please don’t!” I protested, holding up a hoof. “‘Meadow’ is just fine as far as I’m concerned.”

“Or should it be ‘Lady Loam’?” the green mare pondered. “Lady Loam, wife of Lord Loam of the Four Winds. It does have a certain ring to it, doesn’t it, Lord Loam?”

I reached forward and subjected her to a merciless tickling. “Stop it!” I joked.

“Argh! Stop!” Meadow shrieked, twisting away from me.

“No more Loam?”

Meadow shook with helpless laughter, trying helplessly to escape my assault. “Yes! I mean, no!” she squeaked. “ No more Loam, I promise! I yield! I yield!”

Finally I relented, letting her fall into my embrace where we stayed, panting and grinning like a pair of overexcited foals. I gave Meadow a tight hug, revelling in the simple sensation of having the one I loved against me. By the gods, it didn’t get any better than this...

The carriage rumbled on until Sparrow shouted excitedly, “That’s our house! Look! Daddy, daddy, daddy, look! See!”

“Oh, good grief!” What a noise! I leaned forward and tickled her until she too started squeaking in laughter. “And as for you, you little pest!” I leaned down and gave her a kiss on her forehead. “Come on then, let’s have a look at your house.”

We jumped down from the taxi, thanking the driver who tipped his cap and clattered away into the distance leaving me to stare open mouthed at what Meadow and Sparrow called home. It was… My goddess, it was absolutely, indescribably beautiful. This, this was the very embodiment of all the dreams and wishes I could ever have shared with my wonderful wife. Straight out of the kind of countryside magazine Meadow and I used to drool over, the freshly whitewashed cottage sat there in a sea of lush green grass, quietly awaiting its returning family. With an almost golden thatched roof, very neatly done too I might add, it was everything I could have ever dreamed of. And more. The trim hedge and white picket fence around the outside showed splashes of colour from the many varieties of flowers that bloomed here, whilst brightly marked butterflies flitted over the buddleia and song birds sang in the pear trees. Meadow pushed open the gate and let me enter first, with a little nudge to help me on my way of course. I was nearly overwhelmed with the sheer beauty and vibrancy of it all. The wonderfully heady scent of the garden caressing my nose, the warmth of the sun, the unimaginable peace of it all. It was, to put it simply, sensory and emotional overload. I could feel tears welling in my eyes and found my knees were trembling as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing.

All but stumbling up the path, I faintly noticed the green painted wooden door had a brass bell next to it for visitors to ring, and a letter box from which peeked out the corner of a piece of post somepony hadn’t pushed all the way through. Meadow came up beside me, chuckling, and deftly opened the door which creaked slightly on its hinges. I’d have to oil that later. Just like old times in Manehattan, I collected the letter and followed her inside as Meadow bounced past me in a flurry of feathers and legs. I barely noticed. I didn’t know where to look next! Unlike some of the old homes I’d been to in the past, the atmosphere inside the cottage was surprisingly light and airy, the smallish windows restricting sunlight to a degree but still providing just enough to keep the place bright enough to be comfortable. Numerous bookshelves lined the walls with collections of decorative plates, paintings of landscapes, and of course, ponies. It was all very… Meadow. I looked at the pictures hanging over the fireplace in the quiet of the living room, with one portrait in particular catching my attention. It was Apple Pop, Meadow’s father, standing there in his uniform looking proud and professional. He’d been an inspiration during his time in the watch, and was virtually a legend there. I wonder what he’d think of his son in law now…

Sparrow’s laughter rang through the cottage from another room and I caught a glimpse of her with another colourful plush, ‘flying’ it through the air as she galloped and leapt about the room. Her tiny wings were developing so fast! One day soon I’d see her fly and, even better, I’d be able to fly with her too. What a day that would be! Returning to my perusal of my surroundings, the next picture was of…wait… me? It was! There I stood, resplendent in my dress uniform at the formal passing out ceremony holding my badge. Where had she got this from? And there - more pictures of me, Meadow, and then…landscapes… extraordinarily beautiful landscapes of Equestria. They were all unsigned and looked so familiar. Had I seen them in an art gallery before? Meh! Probably. A clink from behind me drew my attention away from the paintings to see Meadow placing a cake stand down on the dark oak coffee table. A pot of tea under a cosy and two china cups next to it, sat ready for pouring. The grass green mare sat back in the large wicker chair and leaned back with a sigh.

“Well?” Meadow asked with a wry smile. “What do you think?”

My face must have been a picture. “It’s… it’s all so… beautiful,” I breathed.

Meadow raised an eyebrow. “It is, isn’t it. Everything you and I dreamed of. And now, here it is. And here we are.”

“That’s right!” I said suddenly. “All of it is! I know I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but I don’t understand it, Meadow, what’s going on? I’m so confused and I can’t think straight. I feel I’m forgetting something important, and I just can’t put my hoof on it.”

Meadow ran a hoof through her mane and motioned for me to pour the tea whilst she placed the cakes on china plates – one for each of us. My magic enveloping the tea pot with practised ease, and I have to admit that it was a welcome diversion from my current worries. Meadow smiled with a far away look which I couldn’t quite make out.

“It’s the adjustment process, love,” she said softly. “It’ll take a little while for you to get used to things here, and then this,” she waved a hoof indicating the interior of the cottage, “will all become an everyday part of your life. Just the way it did with mine.”

There was a note in her voice that pulled at my heart. Was she alright? I reached out a hoof and gently touched her foreleg. “Is something wrong, love?”

“Wrong?” Meadow closed her eyes and took a long breath. “No, not really. I just can’t believe you’re here. I mean, I was only speaking to you this morning and then all of a sudden I have Aethel’s secretary calling me, and then there you are, stood there like…” She sniffed.

I took a sip of my tea. “Like what?”

“Like you’d never been away!” Meadow exclaimed suddenly. “Haven’t you noticed anything about yourself? About me? Anything?”

Although it was always considered rude to stare, I did so then at Meadow who had an intense look of expectation on her face. Scratching my head I gave here a cheeky grin. “You look as beautiful as you did that first day I met you. But then, you always did. Always have really.”

She nodded. “And?”

“And what?” I asked, a little baffled by what she was driving at.

Meadow rolled her eyes. “What about yourself?”

Shrugging, I looked at my foreleg. “Me? I look the same as always - grey.” A shame really, I’d always thought when I died I’d end up white or gold, maybe even silver! Shining and glowing like the sun or starlight, now that would have been so cool!

Meadow clucked her tongue. “You can’t tell by looking at your leg you daft bugger, here…” She picked up a mirror and passed it to me in her magic. Good grief, she could have done that in the first place! I gave her a long suffering look and gazed at my reflection in the mirror. “I-” My words died in my throat. The image reflected back at me was… me… but not me. The scar over my eye had gone - vanished! Vanished without trace! The fur on my face was lustrous and smooth, my horn neat and trim, and there was a distinct absence of all the smaller scars I’d accrued over the years. My eyes were the most shocking thing though - they were brown, just as they had been before my misadventure in… in where was it again? Placing the mirror down, I looked up at the gorgeous mare. “Meadow, I look...” I took a deep breath. “I look like I did when I was in my early twenties! Why are my eyes brown again, and why can’t I remember why they were blue? I mean, they were blue, weren’t they?”

She let out a loud groan of exasperation. “I’ve already told you why! Honestly, Fairlight, do you ever listen?”

My ears drooped as I held the hot cup of tea in my hooves. “Of course I listen, it’s just this is all so confusing, it’s like I’m trapped in some weird dream world and I’m going to wake up and all this will disappear. I’ve already had somepony mucking with my head, and now here we go again! My memories feel like somepony smashed them to pieces and they’re all jumbled up in there.” I took a sip of tea, trying to settle my racing heart, “So,” I said looking at her over a fairy cake, “How come I remember you and Sparrow if can’t remember bugger all else?”

“Page sixteen.”

I paused. “What about ‘page sixteen’?”

Meadow magicked over my guide book, flipping to the correct page and pushed it under my muzzle. “Here. Page sixteen… Read it out.”

I read the title next to the friendly picture of a pony with a big question mark over its head. “CONFUSED?” It read. Bloody right I was confused! I read on…

“Right now, you may be experiencing anxiety and some confusion due to your recent soul realignment. This is perfectly natural and should be expected.” A pony’s smiling face was drawn in the margin. “Memory dislocation often occurs during relocation. In the case of trauma prior to arrival, symptoms may often be exacerbated. Fortunately in the majority of cases these are only temporary, and the individual’s pre-mort recollections and memories should return in their entirety over time.” Well, that was encouraging! “You will also find your appearance has altered during your transition. This is your mind and body’s optimal state based upon…” I took a bite of my cake, skipping over the techno-babble. “You will be assigned a case worker to help you during this adjustment period. However, in most cases, a member of your family is usually assigned to help you upon arrival.” I looked up at Meadow who smiled knowingly. “A member of my family,” I said raising an eyebrow. “Family.”

“Don’t worry about it too much for now,” she said sipping her tea, “your memories will come back on their own soon enough, love. I could tell you about them of course, but it’s not recommended as it can often cause more confusion. Just try to keep calm, relax, and they’ll come back naturally. When that’s done, we’ll go and meet your old friends.”

“My old friends?”

“Oh yes!” Meadow smiled. “They’re driving me nuts going on about you all the time.”

Sighing, I stared out of the window at the azure blue sky. “I’m sorry, Meadow,” I said quietly. “I’m not myself right now.” I held up my foreleg. “Not myself at all it seems.”

Meadow shrugged. “How do you think I felt when I came here? I was pregnant, terrified, and completely alone. Dad was away with work and I had to be assigned a case worker straight away until they could get mum here. You’re lucky I don’t live that far from Aethel’s office.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t realise...” I squeezed my eyes shut in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I’m being so selfish…”

“No,” she said, laying a hoof on mine, “I am. I shouldn’t be throwing all of this at you. You only arrived here an hour ago for goodness sake. Look, come on, let’s just enjoy the tea and cakes, then we can go sit in the garden and enjoy the sunset together.”

“What about Sparrow?” I asked, noting the decidedly un-devoured cakes.

“She’s busy playing,” Meadow replied dismissively. “She’s may be a foal, but she’s not helpless you know.” She clopped her hooves together. “Now then, try these blue frosted ones, I think you’ll really enjoy the minty taste…”

********************

Warm sunlight filtered into the bedroom through the narrow gap in the curtains. It was bright and wonderfully inviting, washing over me with its gentle promise of a day full of infinite possibilities. Every day was like this here – perfect. Perfect in every way. It rarely rained, and when it did it was usually at night, providing just enough water for the grass, plants and trees to be healthy. Carefully, I slipped out of the bed. Meadow was still dozing beside me and snuggled into the pillow murmuring softly in her sleep. Resisting the urge to give her a nuzzle, I quietly left the room and sneaked past Sparrow’s bedroom into the kitchen and then finally the garden. The sun was brilliant in the morning, and the birds sang a happy refrain as it rose into the sky. I don’t suppose I’d been here that long, but it was hard to say to be sure. Meadow had told me the eternal herd’s realm had a different time line to that of the mortal one and it wasn’t ‘linear’ either, meaning that it was virtually impossible to predict. True to her predictions, gradually over the days my memories had started to come back piece by tiny piece. First were my memories of family, then friends and loved one, eventually places, events, until like a well bubbling up with water from its depths, I was finally ‘me’ again. In some ways I wished I wasn’t. This place, this world, it didn’t feel ‘right’ for me somehow. Now I don’t mean that I wasn’t happy here of course, it was without doubt the most wonderful place I had ever been, not to mention I was finally with my wife and foal who filled my life here with joy. No, there was something… I don’t know, ‘off’ about my being here, like I hadn’t accepted by the afterlife, or conversely, been accepted by it. Whatever it was it was driving me crazy, and I’d been uncharateristically irritable the last couple of days until my ‘case worker’, Verity Sparks, had written to us to say she was going to be arriving for an ‘Introductory Visit’. Bloody marvellous. I really wished I had my pipe and a brandy right now, but there was little in the house except tea, coffee, juice and water.

I shook my mane and a shudder ran down my spine. “What the hell’s wrong with me?”

“Daddy?”

Sparrow stood behind me, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with a foreleg. She yawned expansively before I scooped her up in my hooves and gave her a kiss on her forehead. “Good morning my sleepy girl, how are you this morning?”

“Mmmm-okay,” Sparrow smiled up at me. She was bigger now, her yellow eyes keen and bright, those wings looking stronger and more flight worthy every day.

“Have you been practising your flying when I was away?” I asked. “You need to get them nice and strong so you can soar…” I whisked her up into the air, “…like a bird!”

She squeaked and shrieked with laughter, her sleepiness gone in an instant. Sparrow flapped her wings and I could feel the power in them, the way they pushed at the air with each sweep, and I knew then that it wouldn’t be long before we had a very mobile daughter. Goodness knows how Meadow would catch her then! Ah, that would probably be my job I suspected, but… come to think of it, I hadn’t used my spirit’s power since coming here, had I? I hadn’t seen the need really, nor did I especially feel like I wanted to either. The anger, rage and hatred that tended to accompany it just wasn’t there the way it had been. Furthermore, my eyes no longer had that magical blue glow to them. Now, I was just a pony… at least, in appearance.

“Daddy?”

Sparrow tapped my leg and I looked down. “Yes, love?”

“Are you going away again soon?”

My eyebrows shot up and my mouth hung open in shock at the directness of her question. “I… No. No love, I don’t think so. Why are you asking, is everything okay?”

Sparrow shook her head. “You don’t look happy, Daddy. Every day you look across the fields and your eyes are really sad.”

My heart skipped a beat and I looked up to gaze out at the beautiful scenery. The grass, the trees, the woodland and the lane which disappeared into the distance. I mussed her mane. “I’m not going anywhere, love, don’t you worry.”

“Do you miss the scary pony?”

“Scary-? Oh! You mean Shadow?” I sighed, nodding my head. “I do love, yes. And Tingles and Lumin too.”

“I like Tingles,” Sparrow announced, “She’s got wings like me! I’m going to fly like her soon, and zooooom!” She rushed off, flapping her wings and jumping, the wild flapping propelling her further and higher than a normal jump. She was growing so fast. Like Lumin… without his dad. Without me…

Sparrow’s laughter abruptly stopped and she stood on her hind legs, leaning up to me. “Daddy you’re crying. Are you sad?”

“I… Am I?” I reached up to see what she was looking at and, sure enough, tears were running down my cheeks, soaking into my fur. “Oh! Sorry love, daddy’s just being silly. We’ll all be together one day. You waited a long time for me to come home after all, didn’t you?”

“Yeah!” Sparrow hugged me, her tiny forelegs barely even covering my chest. It was agonisingly adorable. “I love you daddy.”

A heartfelt surge of fatherly emotion pounded through me and I held the little foal close, kissing her on the forehead again. “And I love you too, my beautiful daughter. Never forget that, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Now, come on, let’s get your-”

“-Breakfast?” Meadow stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame smiling at us. Her mane and tail were a mess and she had that early morning sleepy look which I found infuriatingly attractive. Goddesses I loved her so much. “Mmmmm.” I reached a foreleg around her neck and kissed her on the lips. “I know what I’d really like for breakfast…”

“Fairlight!” she laughed pushing me away. “Not in front of Sparrow!”

The small grey pegasus jumped about around our hooves. “I want sugar sparkles! Sugar sparkles! Sugar sparkles!”

“Good grief! All right then you little pest,” I laughed scooping her up. “Come on, let’s get you hyped up on sugar. Bloody hell, I hope they have good dentistry round here.”

Meadow tapped me on the nose. “Language, mister.”

I rolled my eyes and trotted into the kitchen to feed the lovable, pestering child. The three us finished our breakfast in relative peace before Sparrow was free to run off and play, suitably filled to the eyeballs with a sugary mixture of milk and whatever mysterious concoction was in that colourful cereal packet. Meadow passed me the crockery and I began washing up the dishes. It was a simple, yet curiously pleasurable part of our morning routine now, and it worked pretty well to be honest. I’d always been a big believer in fairness and sharing. In my mind it was an effective way of keeping harmony and balance in a relationship I suppose. Well, it was more of an ideal than anything else really, but a guy can dream. After seeing how my mum and dad drifted apart I was determined never to let that happen to me. History had a habit of repeating itself, but if it did, it wasn’t going to take me without a fight.

Meadow dried one of the breakfast bowls, leaning down to put away in the cupboard. “She adores you, you know.”

“I know,” I replied wiping one of the bowls. “She’s the best daughter we could have ever wished for. She’s growing so fast too. You’ll be needing a net to catch the little pest when she starts taking wing.”

Meadow chuckled. “I know, her wings are so strong now! I picked her up the other day and one of her wings caught me a right clip around the ear. She didn’t mean to and was really upset about it afterwards, but I just couldn’t believe the strength in them. They look so fragile.”

I nodded. “Probably gets that from your side, love. There weren’t that many pegasi on mine. The tribe had a bit of a thing for unicorns.”

“You still do, don’t you?”

I chuckled. “Oh, yes!” I eyed that gorgeous green flank while she placed more of the morning’s crockery in the cupboard.

She turned to face me, taking her pinny off. “Fairlight?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course love,” I replied. “What’s up?”

Meadow sighed, suddenly looking a little concerned. “It’s… Look, I don’t want to…”

I smiled at her. “Meadow, come on now. No secrets between us, okay?”

“Other than the ‘Loam’ thing?”

I sniffed, raising an eyebrow. “Except the ‘Loam’ thing!”

Meadow shook her mane, her face suddenly serious. “Fairlight, are you happy here? With me, I mean, and with Sparrow?”

My heart lurched in my chest. How could she ask me something like that?! And right out of the blue too! “Of course I am!” I said, turning to face her. “Good goddesses, Meadow, why in Equestria would you think I wasn’t?”

She lowered her head, her ears drooping a little. “Because… because you keep staring out up the lane back towards Aethel’s office. I’ve seen you, its everyday, Fairlight, and it’s frightening me. I spent so long here without you, missing you, and then all of a sudden, here you are! And yet… And yet you’re not ‘quite here’ somehow.”

I sat on my haunches and fetched the teapot. I didn’t know what to say. I certainly did feel detached from this place, true, but not from Meadow and Sparrow. Not from them. Never from them.

“It’s Shadow, Tingles and Lumin isn’t it?” she said quietly.

Pouring the tea out, I closed me eyes for a moment. Was she right? “I don’t know, love, I suppose so. I do miss them, they’re our family after all, and it was all so sudden. I never got to see Lumin’s first birthday. I never got to say goodbye to any of them in fact, and I just can’t get the feeling that I left something behind out of my head. I don’t feel this place is…” I shook myself and took a gulp of the tea. “Oh I don’t know! It’s probably this ‘adjustment process’ or whatever it says in that stupid guide book. What was that thing it said again? Something about ‘Culture shock’?” Meadow stood where she was, silently staring straight ahead of her. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of something glint as it fell to floor. “Oh goddesses, no…” I rushed to her, taking her in my forelegs. “Meadow, don’t love, please. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry, oh no…”

She sniffed and looked up whilst I brushed her tears away. Looking into my eyes, Meadow grabbed me and kissed me. “I love you, you stupid stallion,” she said sadly. “I want us to be with everypony, all of us, Tingles, Lumin, and Shadow too. But they’re not here, and I am. I want to be with you the way we were meant to be! I need you, Fairlight. I guess… I guess I just don’t want to be alone again. If that happened, if you went away… I don’t know what I’d do! Is that selfish of me? Am I being a selfish mare?” Meadow hugged me tight. “I don’t want to be without you ever again.”

“I’m not going anywhere, silly,” I teased. I nuzzled her and playfully kissed her nose. “You taste salty, Miss Meadow. And I do so like salt.”

She reached up and nibbled my ear. “I know you do, my bad stallion.” She pressed her muzzle into my neck, her heart beating against mine. “Maybe we should… you know?”

Her scent, so heady and yet so delicate, tingled my nose, filling my senses to the brim with her femininity. It was early in the morning, the sun was just coming up, but right then she was all I could think of. My wife was with me. My wife whom I had missed so badly all this time, was here, here in our beautiful home - with me. Our eyes met. If we locked the kitchen door, we could-

Sparrow rushed into the kitchen in a clatter of tiny hooves. “Mummy, Daddy, there’s a funny looking pony at the gate. She’s all stripy!”

A high pitched grating voice called into the house, “Hello? Heeelllooooo?”

I rolled my eyes, releasing Meadow. Any thoughts of a morning fooling about with her disappeared with the arrival of, I guessed, the bloody ‘case worker’. “Shit,” I muttered to myself. “The old bag’s bloody well early too!”

Meadow chuckled. “Sorry love, maybe later, eh? And will you please watch that swearing!” She gave me a whack on the behind. I shrugged, giving her a cheeky smirk before trotting to the gate to meet our ‘stripy’ visitor.

Sure enough a bizarrely coated mare stood on the other side of our white gate, peering over at me from beneath a huge yellow sun hat and half moon spectacles. Sparrow hadn’t been exaggerating either, our visitor’s coat was a tiger striped affair of red and yellow, with a pair of vivid purple eyes set in a slightly pudgy face. She was a middle aged mare by the looks of her, and bore an air of authority that suggested to me she expected to be the one doing all the talking. As for me…well, I don’t think I needed to finish that line of thought.

I bobbed my head politely. “Hello, Miss…?”

“Its ‘Ms’ actually, Ms Sparks, Verity Sparks.” The school mistress type didn’t really appeal to me, but I didn’t mind playing the naughty school boy at the right place and time. “Am I addressing Mister Fairlight Loam, formerly of Equestria?”

I cleared my throat. “It’s Lord actually,” I corrected her. I peered at her clipboard pretending to be looking for my name on the list. “Lord Fairlight, of the tribe of the four winds.”

She glowered at me over her glasses and tossed her bangs out of her eyes. “Really? It doesn’t say anything about ‘titles’ in your dossier, ‘Mister’ Loam.”

I chuckled, biting back the bile in my throat. “Just call me Fairlight, Ms Sparks, or may I call you Verity?”

The case worker looked unfazed. “‘Ms Sparks’, if you please… ‘Lord’ Fairlight.” I rolled my eyes, turning to let her follow me into the house where Meadow was waiting with a freshly made pot of tea and some scones. Our enigmatic visitor’s eyes lit up when she saw her. “Meadow! Good gracious, what are you doing here?!”

Meadow nearly dropped the teapot in surprise. “I don’t believe it! Sparky?!”

I sat on my haunches and chuckled to myself. “Sparky!” I think she heard me, as the colourfully marked Ms Sparks shot me a look that could have frozen molten lava solid.

“Meadow,” she sniffed, turning back to the green mare. “I didn’t realise you’d moved on, the last time I saw you was… well, you know.”

“I know,” Meadow smiled sadly. “Things didn’t quite work out as I’d planned. I got married, ended up here, and had Sparrow Song who you’ve already met.”

“That cute little foal’s yours?” Sparky exclaimed delightedly. “She’s gorgeous! Oooh! I’m SO jealous!”

Meadow stuck out a hind leg, nearly tripping me up. “And where do you think you’re going mister?”

Damn it! “Um, well, you ladies are clearly old friends and I’d hate to interrupt your re-union,” I reasoned. “So I tell you what, I’ll just pop out for a while and let you catch up. Sound fair to you?”

“You will do no such thing!” Meadow stomped her hoof, stopping me in mid-escape.

Ms Sparks’, apparently devoid of any sense of humour whatsoever, locked onto me like a hungry predator. Those intense eyes of hers bored into me while she pushed her glasses back up her muzzle. “I am here to speak to you, ‘Lord’ Fairlight,” she announced, “on the subject of your recent acceptance into the eternal herd.”

Oh bollocks, this looked like it was going to take a while… “Tea?” I suggested.

Thank the goddess for Meadow. Ms Sparks appeared to be an old acquaintance of hers, although personally I knew next to nothing about her other than the fact she worked for what passed as the ‘authorities’ here. Celestia buck me ragged, even being dead didn’t get you away from bloody bureaucracy! Ms Sparks began by explaining, in somewhat generalised terms, about the layout of the realm. Most of which went completely over my head. Regardless of the feeling of being calm and relaxed which seemed to leach into your very bones here, I still had that disjointed feeling that the ministry mare was not exactly doing much to relieve. Honestly, I couldn’t wait for the snotty creature to piss off back to whatever office she’d oozed out from.

“So, Fairlight, how are you finding your new home?” Sparky asked tapping her folder with her quill. “You must be over the moon to be in such a beautiful place with your family, am I right?”

I nodded enthusiastically. Hopefully if I played along it may satisfy her enough with her visit that she’d leave a little quicker than she might have otherwise. “Of course, how could I not be?” I smiled. “I get blown to smithereens, and then all of sudden I’m in a fairytale land in a fairytale cottage with my beautiful wife and daughter. Add to that picture, the fact that I now look half my age for some reason, my memories go through a blender, and everyday looks like summer.” Damn it all, that didn’t quite come out how I’d planned, but it’d do. Hopefully she didn’t understand sarcasm. I looked out of the window and took a breath. “I’ll be honest with you, Ms. Sparks, it’s all so wonderfully good here that it doesn’t seem right somehow, like I’m not meant to be here. I don’t think I would be exaggerating to say that this is all like some magnificent dream I’m going to wake up from and wish to all the gods that I hadn’t.”

Meadow shook her head and looked concernedly at her friend. Ms Sparks gave her a consoling pat on the shoulder then turned her attention back to me, smiling at me like I was some irrationally frightened foal. “I understand, I really do,” she began. “It can sometimes be a frightening experience for ponies entering the herd. Not everypony expects to come here you see, and when they finally do it can be quite a shock to the system to find themselves in the afterlife.” She took a sip of her tea. “This realm was created by the gods and goddesses for all of us for when we ‘pass over’, and we make of it what we will. Quite literally in fact. Indeed your home, this wonderful cottage and everything in it, was what Meadow had in her heart and soul when she died. The magic of the realm ‘recognises’ that and brings it into being ready for the new arrival.”

“All very convenient,” I said trying my best not to sound sarcastic, “but how come we never see anypony? Why’s it just us three here? Other than birds and insects, you’re the only other pony we’ve seen in ages!”

She lifted the quill and made some notes. “Well, that’s simple. It’s because, Fairlight, you are currently in a state of quarantine.”

“WHAT?! QUARANTINE!” I banged the table making the mares jump in fright. “D’you think I’ve got bucking rabies of something? Am I a prisoner now, is that it? Is this why I can’t see my parents or friends? Goddess almighty, mare, you’d better start explaining yourself pretty bloody sharpish, because I’m going to get seriously pissed off in a minute!”

“Mister Fairlight, Please!” Ms Sparks said in alarm. “You are a special case you know. Wendigo are, um… ‘very rare’ in the herd.”

I didn’t like the way she said that at all! My heart was thundering in my chest now, and I could my temper rising too. “I don’t understand this bollocks at all,” I said, tossing my mane. “If I’m dead then what does being a wendigo matter anyway? I was a perfectly normal pony before that blasted spirit inhabited me. And in any case, what difference does it make? What, do you think I’m going to go on some sort of psychotic rampage or something? Buck me ragged, I’ve never heard such absolute bloody tripe in all my damned life. Or ‘afterlife’ if you want to be that buggering pedantic about it!”

Ms Sparks looked at Meadow and she nodded as if affirming something I wasn’t aware of. “Very well.” She closed her eyes, took a breath, and continued, “Fairlight, you probably didn’t know this, but the herd has not had a new wendigo in a long time. A very, very long time.”

“They are here though, aren’t they?” I asked, leaning forward. “I mean, they must be. The tribe of the four winds did exist, after all.”

“Yes, of course, unless they opt for reincarnation of course,” Ms Sparks said with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

I frowned in confusion. “Reincarnation?”

“Haven’t you read the guide book?”

I hadn’t.

Ms Sparks shook her head. “Page one hundred.” She took a sip of her tea, the cup clinking on the plate as she put it down. “Wendigo, like you, have their powers ‘sealed’ when they arrive for the safety not only of other resident, but also themselves. You may have experienced a ‘tingling’ feeling when you passed through the doorway?” I nodded. I didn’t like the way this was going. “I’m afraid that the unpredictable and dangerous nature of wendigo would upset the balance here in the herd and, like you said yourself, they were ponies to begin with were they not?”

I shook my head, looking to Meadow for support. “I’m ‘dangerous and unpredictable’ then, am I? Dear goddess, you make me sound like I’m not safe to be around. I’d never hurt my family or anypony, Ms Sparks. Surely you can see that, right?”

She raised an eyebrow and took out a list which she passed to me. “Do you recognise any of these names?”

I looked down the list. Most I didn’t know, but there… ‘Melon Patch’, ‘Gates’, and some other names I recognised too… I cleared my throat. “These are all ponies I…”

She took back the list from my unresisting hoof. “Indeed. I think you can see now why some of the herd were, shall we say, a little ‘reluctant’ to allow you entry at all. Don’t worry though, your quarantine will be over soon - once the ethics committee have considered your case.”

“What do you mean, ‘considered’?” I asked pointedly. “What happens if they don’t think I should be released from quarantine?”

She stared at me, her face devoid of expression, before that half smile I’d begun to associate with the odd mare re-appeared as if by magic. “Lets not think about that right now, eh?” she chirped. “Happy smiles is what the herd is all about!” It wasn’t reassuring. Ms Spark clopped her hoof on her file and went to stand. “Right then, I’ll take my leave and leave you two lovebirds in peace.”

Meadow reached out and caught Ms Sparks’ hoof, a look of worry in her eyes. “Verity, please, I’m really worried about him.” She looked me in the face as she addressed her friend. “He’s not settling in the way I was told he should. Is this really just the adjustment period? Maybe you can get him some help?”

The committee mare held Meadow’s hoof and smiled warmly. “Meadow darling, of course you’re worried, it’s only natural. Everypony adjusts at their own speed, and Fairlight is just a little ‘slower’ than normal that’s all.” She laughed the matter off, concluding, “Must be a stallion thing!”

I laughed sarcastically, “Ha, ha, very funny…” Bloody pain in the arse! Quarantine, decisions by committee – was this really the afterlife we’d all been promised? What was next, ID cards and border checks? I climbed out of the chair and walked to the door. “Don’t you think a few visitors to my idyllic prison cell would help me ‘adjust’, Ms Sparks? Or are you worried I’ll infect them with my wendigo sickness?”

Her half smile quavered for a moment. “There’s no need for that attitude, Mister Fairlight,” she intoned officiously. “I’m not your enemy you know.” Meadow gave me a look which suggested I’d be getting a lecture later on. “Look,” Ms Sparks sighed, “I’ll see what I can do. Meadow’s already suggested somepony who could come visit, so all I can say is to leave it with me. Principal Star Swirl has a particular interest in your case, so I will be speaking to him this afternoon.”

“Star Swirl the Bearded?” I asked.

Sparky looked at me as if I were an imbecile. “Are there any others by that name?”

I shrugged. “Well, now that you come to mention it…”

The striped mare tutted and walked to the door, giving Meadow a hug before we accompanied her to the gate. “I’ll do what I can for you, Fairlight, just…” she sighed. “Do try to be on your best behaviour, alright?”

“Yes, Ms Sparky,” I replied sarcastically.

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “Good luck, Meadow.” And in a quiet voice added, “You’re going to need it with this one.”

I opened my mouth to reply but a hoof from my wife stopped me and I bit my tongue – metaphorically speaking of course. But gods above, that bloody stripy menace! Mind you, I suppose if she could get me out of this quarantine it would be worth putting up with her sarcastic tone of voice in short doses, but what then? Where could I go? What about Shadow, Tingles, and Lumin? I closed my eyes and tried to calm my racing imagination. Letting it run riot like this didn’t help matters one little bit. Eventually though the strangely coloured mare trotted off up the lane and then simply vanished. It was something of an anti-climax really, I’d hoped for a loud magical ‘Pop!’ or perhaps a lightning bolt… Still, you can but dream, eh?

Meadow was looking at me sadly. “I’m sorry love, I had a feeling they’d do something like this but you arrived so suddenly nopony told me about it until just now.”

I sat myself down on the garden bench, leaning back against the cool stone wall. “It’s alright. Considering everything that’s happened to me the last year or so I’m not that surprised really. What does surprise me is that they actually allowed me in here at all. Good goddesses, that list, Meadow… All those lives…”

“But you’re here now, aren’t you?” Meadow said, quickly distracting me. “That’s what’s important, love. Please, I just want us to be happy. It’s not much to ask is it?”

She nuzzled me gently as she snuggled in on the bench next to me. “You know,” I said quietly, “when we met in the glade I was so happy to see you and yet at the same time terribly sad too. I wanted you to stay more than anything in the world, or to leave with you – preferably the latter! Now that I’m actually here...” I groaned, rubbing my temples. “It’s so hard to get my head around it all. Maybe if I hadn’t died so suddenly it would have been a lot easier to fit into this place.” I kissed her ear. “But I will, don’t you worry! With my wonderful and beautiful mare by my side, how could I not?”

Meadow giggled. “I missed you terribly you know, Fairlight. You were always rushing about doing all these dangerous things. Mind you, there was... ‘something’ about that.”

“Like what?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.

She snuggled into me. ”Mmmm, dangerous… unpredictable…” Meadow reached down and grabbed something that made me gasp. “My, my, you are a bad boy. And I haven’t forgotten your swearing, or being rude to my friend.”

Bollocks to the friend! “So what are you going to do about it, Miss Meadow?” I teased.

Large yellow eyes peered into mine, that familiar spark of life kindling a fire in my heart. “I’m going to have to be strict I’m afraid, and take you firmly in hoof. But not… too firmly.” With that she took my hoof and pulled it down to her haunches. “Sparrow’s dozing in the playroom, so we’ll have to be quiet. Can you be quiet?”

“Oh, yes,” I grinned. “Let’s see if you can be too…”

Meadow’s coat was as wonderfully smooth and silky soft as that fateful day I’d met her on the hillside in Ponyville, her feminine fragrance tantalising my nose with its indescribable allure. She was my first love, and had filled my heart with joy and warmth every single day since we’d first met. So many things had changed in our lives since then, and yet here we were, kissing and loving one another in the warm sun of a perfect day in the realm of the eternal herd. I had known sadness, loss, pain and torment, all the negative emotions no pony should ever have to face in life, and now, at long last, it was gone. Gone as if it had never existed. I was adrift in a sea of calm and happiness such as I’d never known since my beloved Meadow had been so cruelly taken from me. But now, she was here, and in my embrace. It didn’t get any better than this...

She giggled and looked up into my eyes. “What are you thinking, my ‘lord’ Fairlight?”

Smiling, I kissed her nose. “About how much I love you.”

Meadow’s eyes glistened and she threw her forelegs around me tightly. “Oh goddesses, Fairlight, I’ve never felt happier than I do right now. I love you so much!” In a flourish she jumped from the bench and gave her mane a shake. “Come on now, we’d better get the dinner on and then we can go for a walk if you fancy.”

And so we did, the excellent meal of heritage vegetables and mushroom soup as warming and satisfying as our stroll through the lush fields around the cottage. Countless days passed like this, each one as blissful as the last. What I’d said to Ms Spark hadn’t been an exaggeration; watching my daughter growing and developing, helping Meadow with little tasks around the house, it was like being in some dream which I never wanted to wake from. I still thought about Tingles, Shadow, Lumin and even little Tarragon too of course, but I knew in my heart they were unharmed and safe with our friends in the village. I was still anxious to see them, naturally, but surely there would be some way to visit the mortal realm to see them just as Meadow had with me. I’d have to ask her about that. Just… not right now. In any case, I couldn’t visit anywhere for the moment even if I’d wanted to. The so-called ‘quarantine’ had put paid to any excursions beyond the brow of the hill, and that included communications from the mortal realm which weren’t ‘technically’ supposed to be allowed anyway. Star Swirl’s position in the herd obviously had its advantages, and one which he’d used himself on more than one occasion. Still, being here wasn’t so bad. The fields, the cottage... it truly was a wonderful fairytale home, even if it was a prison of sorts. As far as I was concerned they could throw key for all I cared. Considering all the horrors I’d experienced, this was a welcome break from it all. I leaned back and closed my eyes as I sat on the wooden bench in the front garden. Meadow had gone shopping with Sparrow, leaving me to enjoy this gorgeous morning and simply sit here, listening to the birds singing in the pear trees. It a little routine we had now. A couple of days a week I’d watch Meadow trot off to the market in the nearby town and tidy the cottage until she returned some time later with wonderful things for the table. At first, more out of curiosity than any actual concerted effort, I’d tried to go there myself a few times only to find I’d somehow returned back to the lane outside the cottage. Not that I was really bothered by it to be honest. Let’s face it, who would be? My only real concern, as strange as it might sound to the casual observer, was that one day I’d become bored with this timeless paradise. After all, eternity was a long time…

Chapter Nine - The visitor

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CHAPTER NINE

THE VISITOR

Sat on the garden bench one afternoon I had been happily wiling the time away dozing in the sunshine. I’d just finished reading the paper which Meadow would bring me back from the market. It was always the same one - ‘The Inquirer’, your ‘top source for what’s happening in the eternal herd’. And your only one apparently. Not much in the way of independent news reporting here it seemed. The ice cracked in the glass of fresh orange that sat on the table beside me. It was by far my favourite fruit juice of all the varieties I’d tried, and unfathomably delicious. Meadow had collected the oranges from the farmers market herself, and picked up a copy of ‘Mares Own’ too, which had a selection of recipes from ‘around the world’ for her to try out on me. She was quite the accomplished cook at heart, but some of the things we’d tried… I shuddered at the memory. There are some things you simply shouldn’t do with mayonnaise, and making cakes was one of them. I’d read the recipe afterwards, ‘Submitted by Mrs Finn of Higher Dene’. I don’t know about ‘submitted’, but Mrs Finn should have been ‘committed’ for subjecting that terror on the populace. Gods above, it makes you wonder what happened to Mr Finn!

Clinking and the sound of bowls being moved about emanated from the kitchen and I made a point of keeping out of the way. The kitchen was Meadow’s domain and she protected it fiercely. Although a modern mare in many respects, she was still traditional at heart and had a fierce passion for cooking and baking. Today she was trying out a recipe for a sweet treat called ‘baklava’. I’d never eaten griffin cuisine before, due to them being carnivores of course, but she’d assured me this was suitable for ponies too. I hoped so, I’d nearly eaten something called ‘bacon’ once. Good goddesses, I’d even had it in my mouth and could still remember the saltiness on my tongue. Like many equines, it was that natural attraction to salt which had drawn me to the frightening stuff in the first place. At least until Meadow had told me what it was and stopped me from potentially making myself ill. Bloody street vendors. Why did it have to smell so good though?

Meadow was currently chatting with Sparrow in the kitchen, the only other living thing allowed in there except when there was washing up to do. I’d had flour thrown at me last time I’d ventured inside, and a whack from a large spoon too when I’d attempted to sample the intriguing mixture in the massive mixing bowl. Damn it, I wanted to try some and I’d put money on our angelic little blackmailer getting her hooves on some before me. Peering up at the window, I saw Sparrow smirking down at me and… licking the bloody bowl! Hey! I had my hooves up at the glass and stared longingly down at the bowl currently being scraped clean and disappearing into the grinning maw of the very sticky looking foal. Sparrow laughed at me until her mum started wiping her mouth with a damp tea towel. Her exaggerated look of distress made me burst out laughing and I put down the paper so I could indulged in one of the best things a pony can do when they’re out of the public eye - a damned good roll in the grass. And boy, did that feel good! It was so cool and soothing I went at like a pony possessed, waving my hooves in the air until I was thoroughly worn out. Wonderful. Simply wonderful.

“I’m not interrupting anything important am I?” the grey unicorn smirked from over the hedge.

“Gah! Bloody hell!” I sputtered, spitting grass clippings from my mouth whilst frantically trying to get back on my hooves. “Couldn’t you have warned us you were coming?”

The old wizard watched me with a half smile until I’d composed myself with a good shake to get rid of the grass stuck to my hide. “Would you like me to come back at a later date, my boy?”

“No!” I squeaked, coughing out a stuck blade of grass. “It’s fine, come in, you just caught me off guard that’s all.”

Star Swirl pushed the gate open. “Hmmm, apparently so.”

“Can I offer you some orange?” I asked, motioning towards the bench and the jug of juice.

He shook his head, unhooking his saddle bags. “No, I’m fine, thank you for asking. I believe Miss Sparks visited you recently to speak to you about the quarantine?”

“It’s ‘Ms’.”

Star Swirl paused, frowning at me. “I’m sorry?”

“She likes to be called ‘Ms’ Sparks,” I pointed out helpfully, “not ‘Miss’.”

He lowered his eyebrows. “Quite.”

With a flourish of his black and gold embroidered cloak, the bearded unicorn swept into the cottage to be met with a floury hug from Meadow and an especially bouncy Sparrow. Like some long lost uncle or grandfather, Star Swirl looked like he belonged here with them rather than an alchemical laboratory full of bubbling bottles and flasks. Considering how much he’d helped them after their traumatic entry into the herd it was little surprise they held the old wizard in such high regard. I just wish I could say the same. Star Swirl had always given me the impression of the kind of fellow who directed battles from up on high – never getting his hooves dirty himself, but more than happy to send others to their deaths if it furthered his plans. Whatever they may be. Still, I suppose it was best to have him in my corner than as not. Sparrow certainly seemed to think so. My daughter excitedly jumped about between his legs nearly causing him to trip. Thankfully Meadow was on hoof to field our energetic offspring, guiding the old fart into a chair - and a front row seat for the freshly made sweets that awaited him. A pot of tea was duly brought over and I helped to pour him a cup, secretly disappointed that Sparrow hadn’t sent the manipulative shit face first into the quiche. I noticed something about this strange old unicorn then too - he wasn’t ‘old’ at all. In fact he actually looked more around my age, or rather the age the herd made you when you trotted through it’s not-so-pearly gates. It was beard that threw you. It was still as white as it appeared in all the depictions of him I’d seen growing up, and even when I’d seen him first-hoof in the glade too for that matter, but here in the flesh he was a young stallion, bright and alert. I noticed he still had the staff he habitually carried strapped to his saddle bags, but he didn’t lean on it nor seem to have it for any particular purpose. Maybe he just liked the thing? Or posing. He looked the type.

“So,” he began, “how have you been adjusting? I believe from ‘Ms’ Sparks that you have been having some difficulties since you arrived.”

I nodded. “I expect our intrepid welfare officer has explained her findings to you in excruciating detail already, and I’m sure you don’t want me to go through it all again, Star Swirl.”

He smiled wryly. “Ms Sparks did explain to me about your discomfort, my boy, and I can wholehearted sympathise with your plight. I assure you that your death, and that of poor Meadow and Sparrow, was something none of us predicted. There were no prophesies of this happening, nor warnings of any kind.”

“So that’s it then, is it?” I said slapping my hind leg. “That whole ‘mystical destiny’ thing was a touch off the mark in the end as it turned out, wasn’t it? What with me being dead and all.”

Meadow rolled her eyes, passing a slice of the baklava to the wizard. “He’s right though, Star Swirl,” she said politely. “I mean, if he’s dead, then how can he affect destiny?”

“Or be affected by it,” I added sipping my tea.

Star Swirl twirled his beard with an idle hoof as he frowned in thought. “I’m not certain… yet.” He stared into his tea. His intense gaze, wreathed in steam as it was, made for a rather impressive visage. “From what I have been able to determine thus far,” he continued, “by rights you shouldn’t be here. Not for a while at any rate.”

I nearly dropped my cup. “What?” Rubbing my ear, I asked, “Say that again, I don’t think I heard you right. I’m not supposed to be here?”

Meadow grabbed Star Swirl’s foreleg. “No,” she said firmly, shaking her head. “No, Star Swirl, that’s wrong… It’s wrong!” Panic began to enter her voice. “I don’t like where you’re going with this! My husband is here now. He’s passed over, and that’s that.”

The old wizard patted her hoof. “Meadow, please?” Removing her hooves from the bearded unicorn, Meadow relented. With a reluctant glance, Star Swirl continued, “Destiny and prophecy were not fields of magical study I had much interest in during my lifetime I’m afraid. Far too… what would you say, ‘abstract’ for my taste. Things like that are much better left to those kinds of ponies who have a natural talent for such amorphous concepts. Personally I preferred dealing with subjects that had at least some substance to them. All I can tell you is that our friend Fairlight here, shouldn’t be ‘here’ right now at all.” He held up a hoof, forestalling Meadow’s impending outburst. “However, I would not discount the distinct possibility that his presence in the herd may simply be as a result of destiny changing its path.” He adjusted his hat. “It happens from time to time.”

Swallowing my tea I fixed him with a look “So what if it has? I’m done rushing off to fight ‘goddess knows what’ at the drop of a hat all the time, Star Swirl. All I want to know right now is what’s happening with this quarantine business. As wonderful as it is here, I’d like to walk a bit further than a hundred yards like some bloody pet hamster in a wheel.”

Rummaging in his saddle bags, Star Swirl pulled out a scroll and floated it over to me. “You don’t need to read it, I can tell you. Your quarantine’s been lifted, my boy. I’m sure you’ll both be relieved to hear that.”

Meadow let out a breath. “Thank the goddesses.”

Polishing off his pastry, the grey unicorn stood and pulled out his pocket watch. “Well, I’d love to stop and chat but there’s no rest for the wicked. It was just a flying visit to give you the good news since I was in the area. In any case, you’ll be wanting to get out and about I’d imagine – there’s a lovely cake shop in town that’s simply divine.” He paused, tipping his hat. “Not a patch on yours though, Meadow my dear.”

I nodded dumbly. Ignoring everything else the old wizard had said, my mind had latched onto one precious, glorious fact. I was free, free to go and explore the world of the eternal herd beyond the confines of our cottage and surrounding field. By the goddess, I couldn’t believe it! As lovely as this prison was, it was still just that. Meadow still looked worried however, but still managed a smile.

“Star Swirl, can we still visit the mortal realm?” she asked.

The wizard nodded sagely. “The barrier has been lifted, my dear. So yes, you can. However I would caution you both to keep such knowledge to yourselves, yes? Tongues are like tails – they like to wag.”

I shook my mane, feeling a little embarrassed at my negative opinion of the fellow. “I guess I should be thanking you, Star Swirl. You spoke up for me didn’t you? With the Ethics Committee I mean.”

“Ah, you read the newspaper article.” He shook his head, holding up a hoof and waving it off as being of no import. “Don’t give it another thought. Besides, you have some very influential friends here in the herd, my boy. One day I’ll introduce you to them, but for now just get yourself out there and see what the herd has to offer, yes?” Meadow passed him a small box with some of the home-made sweet treats for later. “Thank you, Meadow, you’re a good mare,” he said accepting the gift.

There was a crash from the kitchen. All three of us looked at each other, noticing that one of our number was missing. Without another word, Meadow rushed off to investigate.

“Oh no! Sparrow!”

Our lovely daughter had somehow managed to cover herself in flour and was now a lovely shade of white, sneezing great clouds of the stuff across the floor. “I’ll see our guest out, love,” I called in through the door, making a hasty escape. “I’ll give you a hoof in a minute.”

She didn’t hear me. The poor thing was far too busy trying to dust off our now decidedly floury foal. Star Swirl however found the whole situation highly amusing. He laughed and clopped me on the shoulder. “Quite the family you have, my boy,” he announced loudly. “Never had any time for one myself of course, though that’s the researchers lot in life for you. Mind you, I was never short of mare or two back when I was a young fellow!” He chuckled quietly to himself. “Now, I’ve got all the time in the world.” Walking to the gate he suddenly pulled me to one side, his voice dropping to a near whisper as he glanced over my shoulder towards the kitchen window. “Fairlight, there’s somepony I want you to meet. But… I don’t want Meadow to know. She may not… understand.”

I looked the old stallion in the eye. “I don’t keep secrets from my wife, Star Swirl. I’m grateful for what you’ve done for me, and for Meadow and Sparrow too, but I’m done breaking my neck for anypony who clops a hoof in my direction. So, whatever ‘scheme’ you may have planned for me, then I’m sorry, I’m not interested.”

The old wizard sighed, shaking his head resignedly. “I understand. I just thought you’d like to meet somepony who you know very well already. You could almost say, he’s a part of who you are. Still, it’s your decision to make, so I’ll just be on my-”

“What was that?” My ears pricked up and I took a step towards him. “Who are you talking about? Who is it?”

Star Swirl paused. “Meet me by the cherry orchard tomorrow, around two in the morning. I’ll reveal everything to you then.”

I sighed, scrubbing my mane. I was going to regret this, wasn’t I? Once again my inquisitive nature, coupled with my months of isolation, had latched onto this titbit of information like a starving dog at a bone. “Okay,” I said resignedly, “but if Meadow asks me where I’m going, I’ll have to tell her.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Very well, until tomorrow then.”

The old bugger had piqued my interest, and what was worse, he knew it too. He hadn’t come here to give me the good news about the lifting of my quarantine at all, or rather that had been incidental to the primary reason for his visit. No. This... This innocent sounding request of his, was the true reason he’d graced us with his magnanimous presence this morning. It hadn’t been the first time I’d been manipulated by the cunning old trickster, and unfortunately I doubted it would be the last either. But here I was, sticking my head into the metaphorical noose once more like a trained poodle at the circus de Star Swirl. Truth be told I was more concerned about what the ramifications of this would be on the rest of my family, both here and in the mortal realm. I hated the feeling I was keeping things from Meadow especially, but I suppose there was no harm in finding out who this ‘mystery pony’ was and what they wanted, was there? Nope, I’d simply go there, chat to them, and then that was that. There was no way in hell I was going to agree to anything Star Swirl was going to pull out of his hairy arse! Those days, thank the gods, had long gone – along with my mortal remains. What was more interesting to me right then however, was finally being able to get out of here and see the world - so to speak. I watched the ancient stallion trot off up the hill, climb into a waiting carriage, and rumble off into the distance. I’m not sure what I was expecting to be honest. A puff of smoke and a showy flash of magic, perhaps? I don’t know… it just seemed more his style rather than a simple four wheeled conveyance. Curious old bugger...

In the kitchen, Meadow was struggling with a wriggly pegasus foal who was completely covered in flour and-

“Oh no! Sparrow!”

“What is it?” I said, trying to see what had Meadow’s gander up.

The green mare slowly peeled the tea towel away from Sparrow, staring at it in horror. “She got covered in honey!”

I face hoofed. It looked like it was going to be a long day.

“I’ll get the shower running.”

************

That evening I was dozing by the log fire, the latest newspaper open on my lap. It was just the usual rubbish anyway: more mundane reports about ‘new arrivals’, recipes, and celebrities carrying on with other z-rated celebs nopony gave two hoots about - that sort of thing. Still, if nothing else it was damned effective at sending me into the land of nod. They could market the contents for insomniacs – they’d make a bloody killing. I have to say though I was excited about my impending foray into the wider world of the herd, but I wasn’t in any particular rush. Besides, the battle with a squirming child, particularly one covered in a delightful mixture of culinary ingredients and soap, had quite taken it out of me. Sparrow was in bed now, and my wonderful wife was crocheting something in her craft room, the ‘inner sanctum’ as she called it. It was all so tranquil it should come as no real surprise that a loud clanging from the doorbell nearly made me leap out of my skin.

“I’ll get it!” Meadow called from the hallway, trotting to open the door.

I could hear the latch lifting and my ears twitched, trying to hear what was being said. It couldn’t be ‘Ms Sparks’ at this hour, could it? Opening one eye I looked across at the old grandfather clock in the corner just as it began to chime eight o’clock. Suddenly there was a squee of excitement and a rush of hooves before a loud clattering of plates and cups in the kitchen was followed by loud voices, female voices, drifting through to me. One of Meadow’s friends probably, I thought to myself, yawning. I snuggled into the chair and reached for my glass of juice. I wished it was a brandy, it was one of the things I really missed about home. Home… Good old Smiling Borders. I sighed; this was going to take quite a bit of getting used to. Nearby the racket from the kitchen continued unabated. I could imagine Meadow putting on the kettle, arranging cakes, maybe even constructing a selection of sandwiches despite the lateness of the hour. From a young age I had always been warned about the health problems that came with eating late at night, but if it was my mare’s treats on offer, I think I could permit myself to indulge… a little. I sniffed, taking in the warm scent. I could smell them now, warm and spicy. A hint of lemon caught my nose making it twitch.

“Mmmm,” I sighed under my breath. “Delicious…”

“I’m glad you think so, Captain.” A dark coated muzzle full of short sharp teeth was inches from my face.

I shot out of the chair like a cork from a bottle, sending the paper flying and barely catching my juice. “Wha-?! Good goddess!”

“Miss me, cute flanks?”

A muscular thestral mare stood in front of me grinning from ear to ear, her eyes burning as bright as the coals in the fireplace. I hadn’t seen her since… “Glimmer?” I gasped.

“The one and only, ‘ghost pony’. Pfff!” She sniggered, shaking her long shining black mane. “You like the perfume? Meadow helped me pick it out. It’s called ‘Lemon Surprise’. Sure gave you one, eh?”

Any sense of decorum lost, I reached out and touched her face, unable to believe what I was seeing. “It is you… My goddesses, Glimmer. The last time I saw you, you were-”

Glimmer shrugged. “Yeah, I kinda got over that.” She leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “I’ll let you into a secret… I’m a ‘real’ ghost pony… WHOOOO!”

“Stop it!” I laughed, pushing her away. “Luna’s ears, I don’t believe it. You’re here!”

“Where else?” she asked, chuckling. “I’ve been trying to get to see you for ages. Would you believe I needed a bloody permit to come here too? Ah, well, you know what the herd are like.”

I frowned in puzzlement. “Permit?”

Meadow trotted in with the cakes and tea. “He didn’t read the manual.”

“Hey, that’s not fair! I bloody well did!” I protested. “And I listened to your mate Sparky too. Kind of. I know thestrals mostly live in their own realm, but I didn’t know you needed a ‘permit’ of all things.”

Glimmer nodded to Meadow, accepting a chair and a cake. “I suppose you can’t blame them really. To most Equestrians we do a look a bit, y’know, scary.”

“What do we look like to you, then?” I asked.

She smirked, running a long red tongue over her teeth. “Delicious...”

My heart jumped at her gesture, and it certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Meadow who tapped her friend on the flank. “Behave you, you’ll give him nightmares.”

Glimmer’s eyes flared as she laughed. “Bah! If he hadn’t already been taken, he’d have made a fine mate. Lady Shadow has a good eye, even if he is a little soft in the haunches.”

“SOFT?!” I squeaked. “I am bloody well not ‘soft’!”

“You are too!” Glimmer smirked. “You were in flood of tears when I’d been shot, virtually blubbering like a little filly too.”

Meadow shook her head. “You can be a bit, um, ‘emotional’ at times, love.”

“And don’t you go agreeing with her, now!” I threw up my forelegs. “Good goddesses, give me a break!”

The two chuckled and began whispering to each other. Whatever they were saying it had Meadow blushing and giving me a decidedly odd look from under her long eye lashes. I was glad I was sitting down as it had a strange effect on me that evoked a stirring I really shouldn’t be having in company. The thestral warrior watched me like a hawk watched a mouse before murmuring something to Meadow and the two of them began roaring in laughter.

“Mummy? I can’t sleep.”

Ah, you had to love kids. They had ears like a bat and could appear like a silent assassin, listening to every single little thing you said no matter how quiet you thought you were being. Considering how effective a foal’s capacity was for absorbing everything around them, as well as their unfortunate tendency to regurgitate it at the most inopportune times, it was indeed true what they said – foals could get you hung. Our microscopic ninja in question happened to be standing in the doorway now, wearing a cute set of pink pyjamas and carrying her Celestia plushie on her back. Glimmer reached down and picked her up.

“And how’s my favourite little girl?” she chuckled.

Hoisted into the air in front of the bony creature, I was waiting for a shriek of fright from my daughter. What I got instead was, “Auntie Glimmer!”

It all came back to me now. Meadow had said something about Glimmer having ‘missed me’ when I’d first arrived here and, like everything else during that wonderful introduction to the joys of the afterlife, it had gone completely over my head. Apparently these two had become firm friends, their link to me helping create a common bond that had helped Meadow cope with my ‘absence’. Mind you, there were no doubt a hoard of relatives somewhere just waiting to pounce too: mum, my grandparents, Meadows folks… Good grief, I had the impression I was going to be busy doing the rounds alright. Back in the present, Glimmer, Meadow and myself talked for hours, along with Sparrow who was now mercifully fast asleep, curled up with the ‘not so scary’ thestral. For all her references to Shadow being the ‘scary pony’, Glimmer didn’t seem to fall into the same category. She was simply, ‘Auntie Glimmer’ it seemed. And speaking of whom, for somepony who’d been riddled with bolts, she looked absolutely amazing, especially without all that spiked armour on. She smiled at me and waved a hoof.

“You’ll need a bigger house when the others get here, cute flanks.”

“Who?” I asked. Oh, gods! Not the bloody in-laws…!

“The rest of your herd of course,” Glimmer said, rolling her eyes. “Shadow, and that other one… ‘whats-her-name’.”

“Tingles?”

“Something like that, yeah.” Why did I have impression she wasn’t impressed?

Meadow clopped her on the shoulder, “Glimmer!”

The thestral chuckled. “Well, if you’re accepting new applicants, I wouldn’t mind signing up…”

I nearly choked. “Gah! Glimmer, what? I-”

She sniggered wickedly. “Just kidding, cute flanks. I’ve got a couple of stallions waiting for me at home, anyway,” Glimmer winked at me. “You can’t beat a bit of that soft pony flank, ooooh yeah!”

I rolled my eyes. “You mares…”

As the tea emptied and the cakes were reduced to no more than a memory of crumbs on the empty plates, our evening all too soon drew to a close. It was time for bed, and not just for us. Glimmer carried Sparrow to her bedroom, carefully tucking the sleeping foal into her quilt.

“She’s so cute, you can really tell she’s your daughter.” The thestral said gently. “She has your colouring, Meadow’s eyes too.”

Meadow gazed lovingly at our sleepy girl. “She’s an angel. Bright as a button, but a bit of hoofful at times. Gets that from her dad, I reckon.”

Yeah, she was probably right. I always seemed to be getting myself mixed up in things that nopony in their right mind would want to involve themselves with. Mum used to say that of me all the time when I was a youngster. Dad had felt that the discipline of the watch would make me a better pony and I suppose he was right. What he’d think of how I’d turned out after all my trials tribulations however, was a different matter.

“Time for me to be off then,” Glimmer announced. “You guys going to festival next month?”

“Of course!” Meadow nodded happily. “We’ll be able to meet everypony as a proper family at long last, and get to see the royal family there too. Personally I can’t wait to see the latest fashion lines, and listen to the music they put on. Not to mention they’ve got a craft fayre setting up in the town square this year. The last one I went to was amazing, so I’ve got high hopes for this year’s.”

“I’ll bring Shale along with me,” Glimmer replied. “He’ll be able to keep our ghost pony company while we go off and do mare things. Hooves crossed they give me a pass for two, but you know what they’re like about thestrals. Don’t want to terrify the locals too much, do we now?”

Oh goddesses, what a bloody nightmare…

A ring at the door turned out to be Glimmer’s taxi. “Well, time for me to head off, you two.”

Glimmer leaned forward and whispered something into Meadow’s ear who blushed beet red, holding her hoof to her mouth as if hearing something utterly scandalous. I just pretended not to notice. Considering what Glimmer was like, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if it was. Thestrals weren’t exactly known for subtlety. Passing me on the way to the gate, the dark mare turned suddenly and gave me a hard nip on the backside.

“Ow!”

“Ho Ho!” she nickered, leaping the gate in a single bound. “What do you know, you really are delicious!”

I stood there in wide-eyed shock, utterly lost for words. Gods, that bloody mare! Waving a hoof, our old friend, the mare who’d save my life in that deserted city on another world, disappeared up into the night sky laughing in the back of her taxi. Shaking my head I seriously began to wonder at the absurdity of life… and death, I guess. It was enough to make anyponies mind reel, let alone my churned up old noggin. I went to move and winced as a sharp pain from my rear pulled me up short.

“Oooh, she didn’t have nip my arse, the bugger,” I hissed. “Those teeth of hers are damned sharp.” I rubbed my bottom, which went at least some way towards relieving it. I was glad that was all she’d nipped too - thestral’s could do some serious damage with those choppers.

Meadow raised an eyebrow. “She likes you, you know. You’re special to her.”

“Jealous?” I asked cocking my head to one side, noting her tone. “That’s not like you, love.”

“Oh, you don’t know me as well as you think you do, ‘cute flanks’,” Meadow smiled wryly. “Every mare gets jealous when another mare eyes their stallion. I was jealous with Shadow and Tingles at first too, but now…” She shrugged. “Well, they’re family now aren’t they? Doesn’t mean I don’t want you all to myself though.”

I hung my head but she grabbed me quickly and looked into my eyes. “Don’t start that now, you!” She kissed me gently. “I don’t mind sharing with the girls, but no more, okay? Three is more than enough.”

I nodded. “Okay love.”

“She’s right about one thing though,” Meadow said in a sultry voice. “You do have a cute arse, and I’d better take care of that nip she gave yours too. It looks sore.”

“It bloody well is, dammit,” I complained, rubbing where she’d got me. Thestrals must have hide like armour plate if they carried on like this all the time. Come to think of it, Shadow used to… I shook myself. I couldn’t keep wallowing in self pity, especially not now. Drowning in memories was something I did all too often and their oddly alluring pull would drag me down into the dark depths of emptiness that were never very far away. Meadow, thankfully, knew me all too well.

“Lie down there, Fairlight, and let’s have a look.” She took out some ointment and began dabbing it on my rump. “You’ll live. I’ll have a word with that thestral next time I see her. Nipping you is one thing, but she’s got some cheek biting my husband’s bum.” A soft whisper by my ear added, “That’s my job.” I looked over my shoulder and she licked my muzzle. “You worry me sometimes you know.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” I sighed, staring into the fire while she rubbed. “You know me too well, love. I just wish there was something I could do about it, but I can’t just switch off my feelings, or my heart. I think it’s a part of who I am now, whether I like it or not.”

“There’s a little touch of darkness in all of us,” Meadow replied philosophically. “I don’t think many ponies like to admit it, but it’s there.” She closed her eyes and sighed quietly. “It always has been, and it always will be. I know you dwell on things you can’t change, but it frustrates me that I can’t make it better for you. Even with all my medical training, I can’t magic everything better, much as I’d like to.”

I harrumphed. “Damaged goods, eh? That’s me; broken and unwanted, cast aside by society.”

“Now there you go again, that’s precisely what I’m talking about!” Meadow put down the ointment and passed me a juice. “You know as well as I do that that’s not true. You’ve been through a lot, Fairlight, me too don’t forget. But we’re here now, you and I, and we’ve got a lovely home, a beautiful daughter, and friends who care about us. Don’t forget that.”

“I know, love, I know.” I nuzzled her softly, taking in Meadow’s wonderfully feminine scent. “Sometimes I find myself falling into that dark place and end up feeling like I want nothing more than to just hide away and lock the door. I know I’m being stupid, but I can’t seem to help it. No matter what I do there’s always somepony who gets hurt, or rather got hurt, because of me.” I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling a shudder run down my spine. “The tribe fought and died to protect our home, and to bring Lumin back to us. How many of them suffered because I sent them into battle against ridiculous odds? It was because of me, because I couldn’t protect my family the way I should. Their blood is on my hooves, and no matter how hard I wash myself, that’s something I’ll never be able to rid myself of. And… And those creatures… the ones in the village… Oh, Luna forgive me. The things I’ve done...”

“Shhh...” Meadow gave me a hug. Her soft forelegs pulled me to her, holding me close. “They didn’t have to follow you if they didn’t want to, and I think you’re overlooking one thing – Lumin is one of them. If one of the tribe’s children had been taken instead of Lumin, wouldn’t you have done the same?”

I nodded slowly. “I know… But it doesn’t make it any easier.”

“If you hadn’t had a brain in your head and your wendigo magic,” Meadow reasoned, “it could have ended very differently. Who knows what those monsters would have done to him, or to the rest of the tribe.”

I let out a sigh, feeling a little of the tension melting away. “I suppose none of it really matters now anyway,” I said wearily. “Now I’m with the herd and they’re in the mortal realm, my presence shouldn’t be attracting trouble the way it was. At least, I hope not.”

Meadow nuzzled me. “There’s a pony here who could help you, you know. She’s worked with pony stress disorders before.”

“You think that’s what’s up with me?” I asked, looking up. “P.S.D?”

I’d heard of it before, especially with regard to border guards coming back from their stint up on the northern wall. The things they’d seen up there could… affect them. We’d get reports through about any ex-squaddies coming into Manehattan so we could keep a surreptitious eye on them. For the most part they were fine, but there was always the odd episode which often involved alcohol. They were hard stallions and mares, each and every one of them. All it took was some smart arse making his mouth go and they could find themselves facing a soldier who could kill them faster than they could blink. I still remember that poor bastard who was two days out of retirement. He’d come into the city for a drink before heading off west to a new life on the family apple farm. He’d never made it. Some buck-wit had commented on his scars, laughing about how crap our army was. The rest of the report was sketchy, but apparently the squaddie had broken the guys neck in front of everypony, finished his drink, paid up, and left. We found him the next day. Single gunshot, right under the chin and into the brain, severing the spinal cord. P.S.D they’d called it. Pony Stress Disorder. Celestia’s mercy, there wasn’t enough help out there for these poor buggers. The thought that I may have it was terrifying.

“I don’t know, love, maybe,” Meadow said gently. “You’ve been through things nopony would normally have to, and you’ve seen things I can’t even begin to imagine. She helped me when I got here, and we’ve kept in touch ever since. You can trust her. Everything would be strictly confidential.”

“Yeah...” I wasn’t so sure. “Look, Meadow, I’m just being selfish. Ignore me, I shouldn’t be moping around like this. You’ve been through a damned sight more than me and I just kind of assumed that you were…” She was what? Alright? Happy? Goddesses above, she’d been murdered and ended up having a foal here, alone and frightened. Hadn’t the sheer horror of that dawned on me? Buck me, I was such an arsehole. A selfish, self-centred arse of a stallion. Did I always think of myself all the time? I closed my eyes as the black pit of despair loomed ahead of me. I could feel its pull on my heart already, beckoning, calling me to its familiar-

“Stop it!” She bopped me on the nose. “I know that look, mister. Here…” Meadow lifted my head despite my resistance and looked into my eyes. I could feel them welling up. She was so beautiful, and I knew I didn’t deserve her. I had never deserved such a wonderful creature.

Meadow kissed me gently on the lips. “I love you no matter what, do you understand? No matter what, Fairlight. You are still the same wonderful stallion I married and had a foal with, so get that through that thick skull of yours will you? If I didn’t love you I wouldn’t be here now, okay?”

Closing my eyes I nodded. “Meadow, what happened when you came here?”

She sat on the floor next to my chair and leaned back into me. “I thought I told you.”

“Some of it,” I agreed, “but I get the feeling you skimmed over it. You always know what’s in my heart, love. I want to know what’s in yours.”

She sighed. “It’s not that important, but…” Meadow sniffed, rubbing her muzzle. “When I… died, I found myself in front of your friend, Aethel.” Some friend! Meadow continued, “He passed me over to a case worked straight away, and within days of arriving I went into labour. The doctor was fantastic, he came along with the midwife and helped deliver Sparrow in no time at all. It seems I was a special case as babies are fairly rare here in the herd, they’re more of a ‘mortal’ thing apparently. And so it was big news; what had happened to me, to us... it was dubbed the ‘Summer of Tears’.”

“I saw it mentioned in the paper,” I said quietly. “I didn’t know what it was referring to.”

Meadow nodded. “Star Swirl came to see me soon after and I suppose you know the rest. Mum and dad have been fantastic of course, your mum’s been great too, but Fairlight… I needed you. It was all I could think of, and when Star Swirl showed me the way to reach you through the veil, I was so happy, I didn’t know what to do with myself.” Meadow’s eyes looked damp. “It wasn’t enough though. I wanted more - I wanted you, here with me.”

Leaning down I kissed her on the top of her head. “I’m here now, love, knackered mind and all.”

“I think we’re both a bit messed up,” Meadow chuckled, “especially after everything that’s happened.” She stood back up and walked over to the table, collecting the medical kit. The ever considerate nurse checked my poor posterior once more. “How is it?”

I winced. “Still tender, but a lot better thanks, nurse Meadow.”

She giggled. “I know my trade, Captain Fairlight. I’ve had to patch you up before, remember?”

“You patch my heart up too, love,” I said happily. “When I’m adrift you’re the rock I can cling to for support. I want to be that for you, too.”

Meadow smiled and licked my cutie mark. “You always have been, ‘cute flanks’.”

A shock of warmth rocketed through me and my heart began to race. “Meadow?”

“Shush, you…” The green mare moved closer, her eyes sparkling in the firelight. “I want to try something Glimmer told me.”

“What?”

She put a hoof to my mouth, stopping my question and simply gave me a knowing smile as she glided alongside me. A soft pair of lips barely brushed up the edge of my ear and I could feel her warm breath tickling the inside. An involuntary shudder took me and I moaned under my breath.

“You like that, don’t you?” she breathed.

I nodded. Her breath was like a warm breeze on a cold day, tantalising and delightfully wicked. She blew softly into my ear, the sensation odd but deliciously exciting at the same time. I wanted to kiss her, but I knew Meadow better than that, she had her own plans and would take her time experimenting with me. And goddesses damn it, I loved it! Meadow’s hoof lifted my chin and she ran her tongue from the bottom of my neck right up my throat to my muzzle, pulling away before I could react. Always on the edge of control, she kept me balanced there like some sort of talented acrobat. Meadow always seemed to know just how far to go… Gradually her horn began to glow and I could feel its magic enveloping me, starting at the tip of my horn and working its way down my body. Meadow’s magic had a particular feel to it which gave me a shiver of sensation every time, sending little sparks of electricity throughout my entire being. I kept my eyes shut tight against the surging tide of emotion and testosterone that threatened to sweep me away at any moment, but it was far from easy. This wicked green mare knew it too. She chuckled quietly and I felt, from the tightness beneath me, that I’d soon have to readjust myself before I ended up painfully uncomfortable. Meadow reached down and, with both hooves, lifted my hind leg, exposing me for her inspection. She made a purring noise and blew… softly. I nearly cried out, the feeling was like gossamer and fire, a bizarre feeling that wracked my loins and mind. I wouldn’t be able to hang on at this rate…

Suddenly, she ran a hoof up the inside of my hind leg, up my hock, and hung on when I twitched instinctively. I hated anypony, or anything, touching my hind legs, and like most ponies would buck if I felt anything on there. I was frightened I’d kick her, but she knew just what to do and kept tight hold, putting me at ease with the strange feelings raging inside me as she kept up her assault of licks and nibbles. In a surprise move, Meadow ran a firm hoof along my spine, over my croup to my tail and lifted it. There was that horrible moment when I hoped I was clean down there, especially with what she did next. I nearly shot out of the seat when her teeth gripped my dock and scraped along it. I think the squeak I let out was the signal she needed to know that I was about ready to either leap on her or black out; I hadn’t felt this excited in ages! She ran her hoof over my flank and pulled over a chair, leaning over it and peering back at me seductively.

“Hungry?”

The beautiful green mare was as warm, soft, and wonderful as she always had been. Her scent, the warmth and the knowledge that such a magnificent creature was in love with me was beyond anything any stallion could ever ask for - in any world. To be one with her was a gift that surpassed anything I could imagine. Her cries and gasps were a symphony of delight to my ears as I found my rhythm and moved with her. In our passionate throws, Meadow’s drool dribbled onto the floor, her huffing increasing in speed until, with a loud moan and shudder, her hind legs gave way. The green mare collapsed to the floor, her chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath. I lay down next to her, taking in the bedraggled mess of green pony that was helplessly trying to compose herself.

“F… Fairlight…” she gasped, “…great Celestia…” She laughed and tried to stand, falling into me. “What have you done to me? You… you…” Meadow swallowed. “My bloody legs have gone!”

I smiled as I held her, brushing some of her light green mane from her muzzle. “Did I do alright, love?” I chuckled.

She reached up and kissed me, the heat from her overwhelming. “What do you think?” she huffed. “Good grief, I never… not like that!”

I felt a rush of warmth flood through me from the tip of my horn to my tail. I’d made my mare happy, and that alone made my heart soar to new heights. “I love you, my beautiful mare,” I whispered into her ear. “I really do.”

Meadow rubbed her face with a foreleg. “I love you too.” She laughed suddenly, “I’m going to need to wash my hair again now, look at the state of my mane, and my tail too!”

“Sticky Chic” I grinned.

Meadow clopped me on the chest playfully and looked down. “You didn’t?”

“Nah, I’m good,” I smiled. “Seeing you like that is all I need. Besides, I don’t want to wear you out too much!”

She shook her mane. “That’s not fair, Lord Fairlight. Come here…”

Meadow pushed me on my back and began to lick me, her tongue soft yet rough. It was indescribably wonderful. She looked up at me. “We can… you know, if you like?”

“Are you up to it?” I grinned. “You look worn out.”

Yellow eyes flashed up at me, the glow from the fire making them stand out in the dim light. “Mares have more strength than you think, Mister Loam.”

“Hey!”

She pushed me onto the floor and then pulled over the rug and a couple of cushions, lying on her back before the fire. Meadow’s eyes glinted in the firelight, sparkling and alive. Holding out her forehooves, I lowered myself onto her and kissed her neck softly. In a rush she grabbed me and pulled me down onto her, moaning into my mouth, “Goddesses, Fairlight… I love you so much.”

Kissing her I gazed into my beloveds eyes, “You ready?”

Meadow took a deep breath and shivered. “Always...”

Time seemed to stop, the fire’s glow passing from flickering flames to dying embers in the hearth. The warmth on my face lulled me into a deep cosy sleep, my mare dozing by my side. We could have gone to bed of course, but neither of us really cared to, nor had the energy for anyway. Reaching over her tired body I pulled the throw off the settee and covered us both, snuggling into my beautiful wife. I kissed her on the muzzle and she returned it weakly.

“You know, we’re going to have to see the girls soon, don’t you?” Meadow murmured.

I smiled gently. “But not tonight, eh? Bloody hell, I’m ready for the knacker’s yard.”

Meadow grinned. “They’ll be missing you, love. I did.”

“Hmm,” I replied. “But there’s a selfish part of me that-”

She stopped me with a hoof. “I know what you’re going to say, but please, don’t. I feel the same way, but we both know they need you just as much as I do. They love you too, and little Lumin.”

I didn’t want to think about that now, but she tapped me on the nose keeping my attention. “One day, love, we’ll be one big family. All of us, together. I don’t need to remind you about that do I?”

“Of course not,” I said quietly. “But… can we not talk about that now, love? I just want to feel you next to me, listen to your heart beating beside mine.” I pressed my muzzle into her soft fur. “You smell so… wonderful.”

Sparkling in the light I saw a tear roll down her cheek. “You always know how to get me just there, you bugger.” She snuggled into me, rubbing her head up against my neck. “But you’re still mine, Fairlight,” she sighed. “You always will be.”

The following morning and a good shower later, Meadow and I extricated young Sparrow out of the nest she’d made for herself with her quilt and got ready for my first trip into the local town. I was strangely excited about this little sojourn to be honest, despite still feeling a touch worn from last nights frolics. Meadow on the other hoof looked disgustingly bright and alert, all but bouncing on her hooves.

“I don’t know how you do it,” I groaned, stretching my legs.

The young mare just laughed. “You want to try delivering a foal darling, it takes it more than a good bucking to stop this mare.”

“I bet!” I sniffed. I didn’t doubt that for second!

Meadow produced a large sun hat, the same style as the one I remembered from when I first met her. My heart thumped in my chest when I saw that, and a flood of emotions burst in my mind like fireworks. I didn’t say anything, but then, I hardly needed to. There was a change in her today, and one that made me feel lighter than air. She was positively glowing with energy and vibrancy that put Sparrow’s to shame.

“You look full of beans, love, excited to go out together?” I asked happily.

“Of course!” she replied fixing her hat. “I always love shopping, and today I’ve got my very own helper with me too. You can look after Sparrow while I have my hair done.”

“What?” My eyes went wide as realisation hit me. “Oh no!”

“But oh, yes!” Meadow chuckled, poking me with her hoof. “Anyway, It’ll do you good to have some quality Sparrow time. Go and have a wander about the town with her, she knows where the best places are. I shouldn’t be any more than an hour or so.”

Oh, joy! I’d bloody well hated visits to the mane dresser’s in the mortal realm, and I doubted it’d be any different here either. I usually stayed outside when I could. They stank to high heaven of chemicals, and were havens for bored mares who seemed to love nothing more than a long chat with anypony who’d bother to listen to them. And boy, could they talk! If you wanted to know where gossip sprung from, look no further than your local mane dresser. Personally I preferred a trip to the barber myself, but only when I was all but tripped over my own tail. Still, at least it didn’t stink like an alchemy lab. Maybe it was a stallion thing, but you rarely found any of them hanging around to chat. One short trim, a quick tail tidy up, and you were good to go. Meadow was right about one thing though, it would be good to spend some time with Sparrow, just the two of us.

The three of us headed out into the morning sunshine, walking along the lane and over the hill with Sparrow running around us like an excitable furry grey comet. Honestly I half expected to find myself back at the cottage at any moment, but sure enough below us lay a fair sized town that was more akin to Ponyville than anywhere I’d ever been before in my life. Colourful thatched buildings, tree houses, and brightly painted carts lay haphazardly around a central fountain that depicted two outrageously large prancing alicorns. Thank the goddess they weren’t ‘anatomically correct’ either, or we’d have had a scandalized riot on our hooves. And speaking of riots, I wish I’d brought sunglasses with me. All around me prim and proper equestrians trotted about in a panoply of mind-warpingly garish colours that should never have been put together. Throw in an abundance of big hats, big feathers and furry saddles, and you get the general impression.

Meadow saw me staring and nudged me. “It’s all the rage this year,” she informed me. “The celebrities are all wearing it.”

“Well I hope you don’t wear it!” I huffed. “You’ll end up in a nut house trotting around in that kind of get-up. They look like they’ve got bloody rabies or something.”

“Fairlight!” Meadow admonished. “For Celestia’s sake, stop it! You’re already drawing enough attention as it is.”

“I am?”

I looked around and, true enough, saw that I had developed an impressively large exclusion zone around myself, with ponies avoiding coming any closer than a few yards. Ah, sod them, they probably thought I was going to eat them or something. Anyway, it suited me just fine - bunch of bloody posers. Had Equestrian’s always been so highly strung in the mortal world? I shrugged to myself. Yeah, they probably had been. As a watchstallion I’d paid very little attention to fashion or, goddess forbid, that most terrifying of terms - ‘the latest trends’. When you walk around wearing a uniform that should have been hung up in a museum years ago whilst trying to avoid having your head split open by some random drunkard, such frivolities ceased to bother you. I decided to do my best to ignore it, particularly when Meadow disappeared into the chemical smelling boutique and I was left outside with a hyperactive foal whose wings were starting to work far too well. And with mum gone, almost immediately Sparrow leapt into the air, flapping her wings to try and stay aloft. She almost managed to do it too, narrowly avoiding a precariously placed plant pot before I caught her.

“Careful!” I called. “You nearly crashed, you silly billy.” She just laughed at me.

Hmm, if you have a hyperactive foal who’s full of energy, what the best way to keep her quiet? Ice Cream of course! As the goddess willed it the ice cream parlour was nearby, and I took the fateful decision to indulge myself, and Sparrow too, in as many sweet treats as I could ram into my muzzle. One thing I noticed as we peered in through the windows of the colourful shops, was that for some reason everything here was free. Absolutely free. I couldn’t believe it! As much as you could eat, and it didn’t cost you one single bit! Just as well I suppose, as I didn’t have a penny to my name right then anyway. Meadow had told me as much, but to be honest I thought I’d misheard her. But no, she was absolutely bang on the money – so to speak. In the herd ponies worked for ‘the common good’ as she’d explained it. Well, I guess there wasn’t much point in striving for a living if you can just sort ‘imagine up’ your own house and ‘poof!’, there it is! That said, all citizens were still expected to do their bit for the community, and at some point I’d be found something to keep me ‘occupied’. Bloody Sparky was going to see to that alright. Huh! So much for peace in the afterlife! Food was certainly plentiful, and I was impressed to discover nopony took more than their share either. Gods, if this had been Manehattan the stallholders would have been crushed to death in the rush to fill as many pockets and panniers as possible! It was one of the most bizarre things I had ever come across in my life. There was no pushing, no arguing, no bartering even. In fact none of the things that I was used to from life in the big city. I was still marvelling at it all when I discovered that my ever inquisitive daughter had led me straight to the door of ‘Raspberry Ripples’, the place of choice for the those wanting to fur up their arteries with deliciousness. The door bell tinkled as we entered, Sparrow making a bee-line for a brightly coloured waitress with a chocolate mane.

“Sparrow darling!” she laughed, picking up the squealing little pest. “You want your favourite table?”

“Yes please!”

I chuckled. “Make that two please, miss.”

The waitress turned to face me with a smile. “Certainly, s- Argh!” The tray crashed to the floor with a deafening metallic crash as the waitress backed into the wall, her eyes wide with fright. She lifted a hoof, pointing it straight out at me and began to stammer, “It… It’s you! You’re him! The d… d…”

Oh goddess no, not this again! I hung my head and waited for it.

“DEMON!”

And there we go. There was a moment of silence as everypony in the place turned to stare at me, and then, as surely as night follows day, absolute pandemonium broke out around us. Screams and shouting echoed throughout the room while ponies rushed to try and jam themselves through the door all at once. Successfully managing to get themselves stuck, a number of others outside were peering in to see what all the panicked commotion was about. I gave them a wave. The waitress was still cowering under a table shaking like a leaf when Sparrow, highly amused at the proceedings apparently, trotted up to her and tapped her leg.

“This is my daddy!” she chirped. “Come and say hello!”

The terrified waitress just continued to shake and stared ahead in blind terror, but me being me, I couldn’t resist taking the opportunity for some mischief. I leaned over and gave her my widest grin. “Table for two please, miss.” Honestly, I thought she was going to wet herself and I stifled a laugh. Sparrow just looked confused, sitting next to the waitress and deciding what she wanted from the menu.

“What in the name of all that’s holy is going on out here? Mabel! MABEL!” A pale cream mare with green eyes and a two toned red mane and tail, walked out from the back of the shop wearing a striped apron. “Mabel? Great goddesses girl, what ya’ll doin’ down there?” Completely ignoring me, the enigmatic mare hauled ‘Mabel’ from her hiding place like she was a sack of grain. “Ah kin hear the commotion from way back in the office, Mabel. What’s goin’ on here an’ why are ma customers stuck in the doorway?”

Sparrow pulled on her apron. “Miss Jubilee? Can I have the butterscotch sundae please? Daddy wants one too, don’t you daddy?”

“I guess so.” I raised my eyebrows in exasperation. I hadn’t even seen the blasted menu yet! Still, if it was good Sparrow, then it was good for her old dad. “Oh, and a coffee please, milk with one.”

The mare Sparrow called ‘Miss Jubilee’, turned and fixed me with a meltingly warm smile. “Why, yes sir, it would be ma pleasure to serve y’all”. Jubilee started pushing the almost catatonic Mabel toward the kitchen before stopping in mid stride and turned back to me, her eyes going wide. “YOU!”

Rolling my eyes, I plopped Sparrow on the seat opposite me. “Yeah, look, before you start screaming ‘DEMON!’ like these others idiots did, I’d like two butterscotch sundae’s and a coffee. White with one sugar… please.”

Julilee’s mouth flapped open and shut several times before she gave herself a shake and backed up towards a cowering Mabel. “Why… of course sir, comin’ right up.”

Sliding into a less uncomfortable position in the hard plastic chair, I sighed. This sort of lunacy was going to keep happening wasn’t it? I was some sort of bloody celebrity here, and one nopony wanted to mix with either. Some magical land of sunshine and smiles this shithole turned out to be. Naturally, Sparrow didn’t seem to notice anything of the commotion in the shop and simply amused herself by drawing pictures on the napkins with some crayons that were probably meant for the waitresses to write with. Our waitress wasn’t likely to complain though, she was near fit to faint. Several minutes passed and the rush of panicked ponies had subsided into a now all but empty shop with just a frightened waitress, a beleaguered and flustered owner, plus two grey patrons gracing the establishment. The cream mare reappeared from the rear of the parlour, carrying a tray on her back and shot a look at her waitress who scampered away.

“Ah’m sorry darlin’, y’all will have to forgive mah gal there. Y’all are some sorta big news ‘round here.” She took the tray off her back and deftly delivered our sundaes and a hot cup of coffee without spilling a drop. I envied earth ponies their dexterity.

I nodded my thanks. “Thank you, miss…?”

“Oh! Where are ma manners? Ahm Apple, Apple Jubilee, and this here’s mah fine establishment.” The mare bobbed a quick curtsey. “Apologies for the behaviour of mah young gal, Mabel. She’s a fickle young thing. Now don’t y’all worry yourself none, ah don’t believe a thing those nasty reporters say about y’all.”

She batted her eyelids at me, displaying the pink eye shadow above a pair of deep green eyes. I’d always had a thing for country girls, and she had a sort of mature attractiveness that appealed to the stallion in me. Actually, come to think of it, it was funny to think of her as ‘mature’ in the first place, as just about everypony around here looked between twenty and thirty. Some, unfortunately, in stone.

Jubilee stroked Sparrow’s mane. “That alright for y’all honey?”

Sparrow looked up from her sundae, wearing half of it around her mouth. “Uh-huh!” Ah, the good old Fairlight family manners kicking in there. I’d have to say something though.

“Um, Miss Jubilee?” I asked.

“Yes darlin’?”

“I’m sorry for frightening off your customers,” I continued, “I had no idea ponies around here would behave like this. I haven’t done anything wrong, have I?” I gave her the old Fairlight ‘foal eyes’ routine.

Jubilee smiled gently and shook her head. “No, darlin’, ahm sorry. The papers have been fulla stories about ya exploitations see? Seems y’all have been doin’ stuff that many ponies around these parts find a little, frightenin’.”

I sniffed quietly. “You… you don’t think I’m… I’m a ‘demon’ too, do you, Miss Jubilee?” I hung my head low and flopped my ears. It worked like a charm.

Jubilee hurried to my side and stroked my mane. “No! O’course not darlin’! Ahd never say anythin’ like that!” She shot a glare at Mabel who was peeking around the corner. “Mabel! Don’t stand around girl, tidy up the danged restaurant before more customers come in!”

Gingerly, Mabel re-entered the restaurant and began clearing the tables, keeping one wary eye on me.

“You must be that ‘Fairlight’ fella, right?” Jubilee asked.

The way she said my name was like melting butter. ‘Fair-laht’. I chuckled to myself. I wondered if I could ask Meadow to role play one day? I could imagine what she’d say too…

“I thought I’d find you two hogging away in here.”

“Eep!” I cleared my throat quickly, spinning round to face the familiar green mare walking through the door. “Meadow! Darling! I thought you’d be hours, yet!”

“Mmm! Well, I would have been,” she said with a forced smile, “but for the fact that ponies are running around outside screaming that we’re being invaded by demons from another realm. Having your mane done during the apocalypse proved to be a little troublesome apparently.”

“Ah...” I closed my eyes. “Yeah, about that...”

Meadow just sighed, shrugging helpless. But thank Luna she was here! I was starting to feel like a prize fish in an aquarium sat here like this. Ponies of all shapes and sizes, having given up on their earlier attempts at fleeing in blind terror, were now pressed up against the window staring in at me, some of them even clambering on the backs of others to try to get a better view.

“Morning Kitty, you looking after my two miscreants?” Meadow asked politely.

Jubilee nodded. “Hi there, Meadow darlin’. How y’all doin’ this mornin’?”

“Oh, not bad, bit of a queue outside though. Looks like our celebrity drew quite the crowd.” Meadow raised an eyebrow at me meaningfully. I smiled at her as I took a mouthful of my sundae. It was delicious.

Miss Jubilee tapped her forehoof against her chin a moment in thought before withdrawing a pad and pen from her apron, whispering to me, “Play along now, Fairlight darlin’, okay?” Not knowing what she was after I simply nodded, giving Meadow taking the opportunity to pinch some of my sundae. In a rush, Miss Jubilee ran to the door, flinging it open. The ponies outside surged back suddenly reminding me of a school of fish approached by a predator. “Ah don’t believe it!” she shouted. “He’s here, in mah shop! An’ ah’ve got his autograph too! WOO HOO!” She waved her notepad in the air and jumped about.

One of the ponies outside shouted through the throng, “But that’s that pony that killed-”

“POPPYCOCK!” Jubilee shouted, “Ah don’t know who y’all are talkin’ about, but this here’s Fairlight, the pony who travelled to another world ahn’d saved a buncha little un’s. He’s the same Fairlight who rescued the princess! He’s the Fairlight who’s the friend of our very own premier Star Swirl the Bearded!” She bucked in the air and squee’d, “A real life hero! An’ he’s here in mah shop!”

I turned and gave them all a big smile and a wave. It was all it took. One of the ponies at the back shouted, “A hero?! Hey! I want his autograph!”

“Me too!”

“Get out of the way, there!”

“Let me in!”

The same surge of ponies who had rushed out earlier were now trying to get back in, and by the looks of it bringing half the townsfolk with them. Miss Jubilee jumped into the fray waving her notepad as if it were a conductor’s baton. “Alraht everypony, getcha selves seats and we’ll get to y’all soon as we can. One autograph per customer, an’ that’s free with every order!”

I looked at Meadow for salvation but all she did was shrug, giving me a beaming grin. “Don’t worry love,” she chuckled, “I’m sure your fans won’t bite.”

Sparrow, oblivious to the proceedings, held up her now nearly consumed sundae and licked her lips before tapping her mother’s foreleg. “Can I have another mummy?”

“You haven’t finished that one yet, lovey,” Meadow replied in that gentle reasoning tone all parents are born with. “Remember what happened when you ate one too fast last time?” Sparrow shook her head. Apparently she either genuinely didn’t remember, or simply didn’t care to.

Miss Jubilee called over, “Don’t y’all worry none, Miss Meadow, ah’ll get the little one what she likes, and you too.”

Meadow didn’t get a chance to protest the dubious suggestion of the application of even more sugar to our already bloated child, as right at that very moment the overwhelming equine tidal wave burst forth, engulfing our table. Before I knew it I found myself signing everything in sight, from napkins to newspapers, notepads to receipts, and only the goddess knows what else. Thankfully though, the boisterous crowd gradually ebbed away until the three of us were finally left in peace, leaving me to lean back in my chair nursing my poor overused horn.

Meadow, somewhat predictably, merely sniggered at my discomfort and rubbed Sparrow on the head. “Come on you, time to go. We have to get daddy some new clothes and get something for tea tonight.”

Sparrow’s stomach was noticeably bulging when we pulled her from behind the table and, I noticed to my alarm, she had a distinctly green tinge about her too. “I think she’s overdone it a bit, love,” I offered.

Mum came to the rescue. “Sparrow, love? Are you feeling alright?”

Our daughter just groaned and I lifted her up and onto my back, shaking my head at her sorry state. “Too much ice cream, by the looks of it. She’s going to get fat.” I scrubbed my mane. “Come on love, let’s get the Fairlight flock out of here. A bit of fresh air will do her the world of good.”

Jubilee shouted goodbye and even the nervous waitress, now running around full tilt to feed the other patrons, gave an embarrassed wave of her hoof. Good grief, what an introduction to the herd! Still, I suppose it was better than having ‘DEMON!’ screamed at me every five minutes. Outside there were still the odd smiles, waves, and even some hoof-shakes to contend with, but like some has-been celebrity we soon blended into the background noise and were barely noticed. I wasn’t sure what to make of it all really. What a bloody fickle bunch they were here.

Meadow nudged me. “How’s it feel to be the centre of attention?”

“I don’t like it!” I said, flicking my mane. “I used to wonder what it was like to be in the spotlight all the time and you can bloody well keep it. It’s not for this pony.”

Meadow nodded. “I know, but at least it’s out of their system now. I had a feeling something like this would happen, especially after all those radio and news articles.”

I shrugged it off. “Never mind, it’s over now anyway. By the way, can we go this way?”

The green mare raised an eyebrow in surprise but followed me into the shadows between two buildings. “What’s up?” she asked curiously.

I moved closer, smelling her mane and nudging it with my muzzle. She’d had it plaited on either side and hi-lighted in two shades of green. “You look amazing,” I rumbled. “Meadow… I…”

She pulled herself into me, whispering in my ear, “You like it?”

I swallowed. “Oh goddesses, yes…”

Giggling Meadow kissed me on the nose. “Not with Sparrow here, Fairlight. Maybe later, okay?”

I felt a shiver run through me, making my tail twitch. “I don’t know how you do it to me, love.”

She grinned mischievously and waggled her eyebrows. “Meadow Magic.”

Well, I certainly couldn’t disagree on that point! ‘Later’ it would have to be. We trotted back into the cobbled highstreet and headed up to the stallion’s clothes shop, ‘Gallant’s Garmants’, a large three storied building decked out in an austere paint scheme of black and gold. Compared to the bright and decidedly lively colours of the ice cream parlour, this ominous edifice looked more like a funeral directors than a shop. What was worse, as we approached it I had the horrible realisation we were going to spend at least the next few hours here staring at monstrosities that nopony in their right mind would ever willingly wear. Not that I would have much say in the matter I suspected... Aside from that though, something else was bugging me.

“Meadow?” I asked.

“Hmm?”

I tossed my mane, enjoying the faint breeze blowing through it. “Why’d you call Miss Jubilee, ‘Kitty’?”

“Oh that!” Meadow snorted out a laugh. “It’s a nickname, that’s all. She models herself on some western that was serialised on the radio some years ago. She roleplays the ‘southern belle’ part to get the stallions in.”

I clicked my tongue in disappointment. “Aww… So the accent’s not real then?”

Meadow rolled her eyes. “Oh it’s real enough, just a little ‘exaggerated’. All that ‘y’all’ stuff’s a bit overdone if you ask me.” She paused. “Hey! Don’t tell me you actually fell for that routine, did you?”

“Well, not exactly…”

Meadow groaned loudly. “You did! Oh, Fairlight, I can’t take you anywhere!”

Anywhere but the bloody shops, I thought to myself sarcastically. Desperately I tried to change the subject. “Anyway, I thought you said everything was free here?” I pointed towards the large window of the tailors, noting the not-so-subtle tags hanging off the clothes displayed there. “There’s prices on everything here.”

“Well, not quite everything,” Meadow said adjusting her hat. “You can still work, get a job, and get paid. The realm has its own economy, it’s just not ‘dependant’ upon money the way the mortal one is.”

“So what, it’s just for luxuries?” I asked.

“Uh-huh…” Meadow nodded dismissively, lifting up the hem of a deep blue tunic. “This is nice, it should fit you too. Here, try it on.”

The rest of the afternoon passed in much the same way; shopping, shopping, and even more shopping. Celestia’s hairy arse, I was absolutely sick to the back teeth of it all by the time Meadow finally loaded us all into the taxi. It wasn’t that far to our home of course, but I’d have needed a builders cart to pull this lot back on my own. As much as I felt sorry for him, it was much better to let some other poor sod do it. Interestingly, now that the subject of ‘occupations’ had come up, it transpired that Meadow had originally been earmarked to work at the local clinic in town due to her previous nursing experience. At least, that had been the plan before she’d had Sparrow. With help from Star Swirl, my mum and her folks, she’d been able to raise our little daughter and go off to help at the clinic on a part time basis, occasionally nipping off to the glade to see me from time to time as well. Now that my quarantine was over I could see a discussion about future work looming on the horizon, but that would have to wait until ‘Sparky’ deigned to grace us with her presence for yet another one of her interminably laborious visits. That evening, after I’d been pushed, pulled, and generally yanked about in every direction by the many tailors in town, my own wife decided to get in on the act. Not one born with anything approaching what you could even conservatively call ‘fashion sense’, I was thoroughly worn out and sick to damned death of the sight of clothes by the time she’d finished with me. I’ll admit they were quite smart overall, and stylish too, but no matter how hard they tried I still managed to make such elegant examples of the tailors trade look like rags regardless of the attempts by the shop staff to fit me out in the ‘latest fashions’. Perhaps I simply wasn’t the type who looked good in fancy clothes, rather like some ponies aren’t photogenic in the least. Damn it all, I wished I still had my old coat and hat with me, all this nonsense was making me nostalgic even for that ancient garb. Mind you, it had probably been burnt to a frazzle in that blast like…Hmm, come to think of it…

“Meadow?”

She looked up from her latest magazine. “Hmm?”

“How did you know when I was in the glade?” I asked. “You just appeared like magic and I never asked how you did it.”

Meadow appeared lost in thought for a moment before answering, “I never told you?”

“Nope,” I replied, scratching my chin in thought. “I know my memories been a bit iffy, love, but I think I would have remembered something like that.”

“It’s that thing there.” Meadow nodded towards the crystal globe sat on the mantelpiece above the hearth. I’d always assumed it was just another of those pointless collectibles ponies buy from the kind of shops that sell incense, colourful figurines and bells with peculiar chimes. “It’s that thing there,” she explained. “It’s a ‘trans-something-or-other’ that allows us to know when a pony we’re attuned to enters one of the glades. Star Swirl could tell you its proper name, but it’s something you won’t see very often in the herd. This one’s been on loan to me ever since I arrived. He felt keeping in touch with you would help me settle in better.”

Good old Star Swirl. As much I felt he was a bit of an interfering busybody, he had been extremely helpful and kind to Meadow after her traumatic arrival in the herd. Me too, I suppose. But that begs the question – why? Why would he stick his neck out for us like that? Call me cynical, but I found it hard to believe that the old mage had simply acted out of the goodness of his heart, particularly after his most recent visit. The fact that he’d taken such an interest in the affairs of the Fairlight family gave me genuine cause for concern too, not to mention the nagging feeling I had that there was some hidden catch, or some sort of price to this that he’d come to collect one day. Maybe it was just my watch trained mind kicking into high gear again, but still, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat suspicious of his motives.

“So what’s it do?” I asked inquisitively.

Meadow tutted in frustration at my interruption to her reading. “It glows on and off to let you know somepony’s there.”

“Wouldn’t happen to be blue would it?” I noted. “Make a tinkling noise too?”

“That’s right, it- Fairlight!” Meadow shot out of the chair, her magazine discarded.

My heart was suddenly racing now. “Damn it all, what do we do?” I asked in a mounting state of agitation. “Sparrow’s in bed, we can’t just leave her and rush off!”

“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Meadow replied reassuringly. “Here, leave it to me.”

The green mare hurried to Sparrow’s bedroom and reached up, turning the large hourglass on the wall beside her door. A moment later a faint humming sound filled the hallway as a gentle magical energy field quickly began to flow around us, enveloping the door and walls of the bedroom. Now this was new! What other pieces of objet d’art were there in our home that held a mysterious purpose I knew nothing about? Bloody hell, I was beginning to wonder if anything was safe to handle in this place. And what about Sparrow? Children had a habit of picking up things that they shouldn’t, which was precisely why she was kept well away from such everyday household items like kitchen knives, kettles and the like. If dangerous magical objects were just lying around like this, she could-

“Come on, we’ll teleport there!” Meadow announced said suddenly, interrupting my train of thought.

“What?!” I squeaked in surprise. “I don’t know how!”

“Oh, for goodness sake,” Meadow huffed, rolling her eyes. “Right, hold my hoof.”

Without thinking, I reached out and did as she asked. I’d barely touched her when there was a loud ‘pop’, and in a flash of blue magic we appeared outside in the darkness near the edge of the woodland. Down the slope I could just make out our home. The lights were still on and smoke curled lazily from the chimney. One moment I was there, the next I was here. Good goddesses, how did we-? I turned back to Meadow to express my surprise when the world lurched to one side. “Oh… Oh, goddesses, I…” I grabbed a tree for support and emptied my stomach’s contents into the bushes in a great plume that would have put even the most hardened drunkard to shame. For a moment I thought that was it, that it would all be over in a moment of sickness the way my portal journey to the human realm had been. Unfortunately I was being hopelessly optimistic. My skull felt like my brain was trying to batter its way to freedom, whilst my guts rumbled and shook with all the subtlety of a pissed off volcano.

Meadow put a foreleg around me. “Fairlight! I’m so sorry! You’ve never teleported before?”

I couldn’t answer, my stomach had taken over my entire world view right then. Damn it all, how much was in there?! It just kept going and going and going... Sweat poured off me in sheets and my guts were on fire with the incessant retching. Just to add to the misery, my damned knees went next and I ended up on the ground gasping for breath.

Meadow rubbed my back. “Do you want to wait here?” she asked gently. “I’ll go and see the girls and-”

“NO!” I barked, the bitter taste of bile acrid in my throat and mouth. “Not after all this time...” I swallowed back the horrible taste. “No love… Just give me a second, I’ll be okay.”

Meadow didn’t seem convinced but helped me up all the same. It wasn’t a good idea. Almost immediately nausea threatened to overtake me once more, washing over me with a wave of disorientating heat that mercifully left as quickly as it had arrived. I paused to catch my breath and pulled myself into a somewhat less than stable standing position. A touch wobbly perhaps, but back on my hooves again I felt a little better - but not much. Together we walked and, admittedly, stumbled into the silvery light of the clearing. My heart was racing fit to burst now, and not just from the sickness either. When my eyes finally readjusted to the bright ethereal light, there, there in the middle of the glade…

“Tingles…” I said weakly, nearly stumbling as I tried to reach her.

The tangerine pegasus rushed up and grabbed me, crying and sobbing into my mane, nigh on crushing my neck in her outflowing of emotion. I held her in my forelegs, closing my eyes against the welling tears. Goddess above, I must have looked a fright.

“Fairlight! Oh, Celestia!” Tingles sniffed, wiping away the tears. “I thought I’d never see you again! All those nights I came here, night after night, and nothing, nothing at all!” She took a shuddering breath. “Shadow’s beside herself, and locked herself away in that awful fortress and… and the whole village is in mourning! I don’t know what to do! Oh Celestia… I just don’t know…”

Meadow put her forelegs around her and the three of us hugged, tears flowing from more than just one of pair of eyes. Tingles looked up at me through eyes red and puffy from crying and sniffed, “You… You look ill! Are you alright?” She turned to my wife. “Meadow…?”

“He’s alright,” Meadow smiled, placing a hoof on Tingles’ trembling shoulder. “We teleported to the glade and I didn’t stop to think that he hadn’t done it before. Nausea is common the first time you do it.”

I shook my head and instantly regretted it. “I didn’t even know you could do that!” I groaned. “Bloody hell, I feel like crap.”

Meadow nudged the worried Tingles. “Never mind the big foal’s blouse, what’s been going on?”

“Oh, Meadow,” Tingles began, “it’s such a mess, I don’t know where to begin.”

I tried a smile. “It’s alright love, take your time.” Goddess knows I tried to be positive, but my stomach was still rumbling menacingly and my head was pounding fit to burst. Still, at least it distracted me from the emotional roller coaster that I was on right then.

“After the explosion,” Tingles explained, “there was absolute chaos. Thank Celestia not many of the villagers had been in the Wyvern’s Tail when it went up. With everything that’s been happening lately, none of us could sleep so we’d all gone off to have an early bath at the hot spring. We heard the blast and poor Lumin was terrified, he wouldn’t stop screaming for ages.”

“Is he okay?” I looked her over, checking she was in one piece. “Are you and Shadow alright?”

Tingles pushed me away, shaking her head. “Of course! We’re all fine, which is more than can be said for some of the villagers. Three of them had been sleeping off the night before when the bomb exploded. But… when we got back, we saw you… standing there. Just… standing there. I don’t know how you were still on your hooves! I…” She started to well up again until Meadow kissed her on the cheek.

“It’s alright now, Tingles, we’re here with you,” Meadow said gently. “Take a deep breath and calm your heart before you tell us the rest. In through the mouth, out through the nose... that’s it… good girl.”

Tingles’ breathing slowed and she visibly began to relax. Finally the three of us lay down in a circle and continued to chat. In some surreal way, it was like we’d never been apart.

“We tried everything to save you, but you were so badly hurt the medics said there was nothing they could do and that only…” Tingles took a breath, “only the goddess could save you.” She choked back a sob. “I was livid, I didn’t know what to do! And then… and then Shadow went berserk and had to be held down by some of the warriors. I’ve never seen her like that! I was so frightened!” Tingles swallowed. “We left Lumin with Heather, we didn’t want him to see his dad… like that.”

I kissed her on the nose. “I know, love, I’m glad Heather’s okay too.”

She nodded. “Only by the grace of Celestia. She was bringing us towels when that terrible explosion went off. She was thrown across the ground and had her hair singed too.”

Perish the thought her hair got singed! I shook my mane, smirking to myself. Thank the goddess they were okay. I didn’t know who the three were in the tavern, but for blowing up my home, my people, some day I’d find out who it was and return the favour. A thought suddenly popped into my head. “Shit! What about Tarragon? Is she okay? I haven’t seen her since that whole changeling business.”

Tingles tutted at my swearing but explained, “Yes, she’s fine, she was with us at the spring. She follows us everywhere, it’s like she’s attached to Lumin for some reason. I know I had reservations about her at first, but she’s a little love really, and so protective of the family. The only reason she didn’t come with us when we went into the forest was because she’d managed to get herself locked in the cupboard looking for treats.”

I’d better not mention what happened to those dog creatures that time. The ‘little love’ could tear a pony apart in seconds if she had the mind to. That said though, I was damned glad she was safe and sound. I sighed. So… they were all safe at least. The only casualty from our family was the usual poor sod - me.

“Where’s Shadow?” I asked.

Tingles shook her head. “After you…” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath under the watchful eye of Meadow. “She couldn’t handle it, none of us could, but Shadow… She lost her mind completely. She unleashed some sort of lightning magic and destroyed two of the villagers homes before we could stop her. Shadow was kept in the village doctor’s home after that, heavily sedated until we could decide what to do with your body.”

Meadow watched Tingles intently. “So what happened next?”

“After the explosion, your body became surrounded in what looked like some strange sort of ice,” Tingles explained. “It was hard, like diamond, and didn’t melt even in the sunlight. Shadow wouldn’t let anypony near you, and then a few weeks ago she simply disappeared, and you along with her. We found out from our griffin scouts that they thought she was heading for the ruined fortress, but nopony can get near it. They’re all terrified of the place and I can’t blame them.”

Oh goddesses, ‘a few weeks’? “Tingles, I’m so sorry love,” I said resignedly. “I wish there’d been some way I could have come to see you sooner, but I wasn’t allowed.”

Tingles smiled sadly, her green eyes sparkling in the light of the glade. “It’s okay now though, thank goodness. We can see each other again.” She looked up at the stars above us. “Even if it is only for a night.” A hint of sadness tinged the orange pegasi’s voice and I reached over a hoof to comfort her.

Meadow gave me a pained smile. She’d been here, countless times already. “Tingles, do you know who planted the bomb?”

Tingles shook her head. “No. We’ve no idea, and if we did the villagers would have torn them apart. Everypony in the village is so tense it’s like living on a knife edge all the time. After the changeling attack, Lumin being foalnapped and then you…” She closed here eyes. “It’s like nopony trusts one another any more. To think there’s a murderer amongst us and they tried to kill you, and maybe even…” She didn’t need to say it. With me gone, Lumin was the next lord of the four winds, and potentially a target for whatever sick freaks had unleashed this hell upon us in the first place. In the absence of any intel or motive, we were completely in the dark.

Meadow furrowed her brow in thought. “What happened to that white mare you mentioned. What was her name again? The human?”

“Annabelle” Tingles murmured. “She disappeared right after the explosion. We never found her.”

“She didn’t go to the spring with you?”

“No, she was feeling poorly and stayed in the tavern. If she was in there when it exploded…” Tingles shook her head, sniffing back a tear. “Great merciful Celestia, there was next to nothing left of the place! Our home, our memories… Oh, Fairlight, they’re all gone!”

I kissed Tingles on the muzzle. “They’re not gone, love. They’re still right here in your head and your heart.” I smiled, giving her a wink. “And mine and Meadow’s too, you know.”

Meadow gave a little whinny. “What are we going to do about Shadow? After all the effort to bring her here, this happens, and now she’s alone in that horrible castle with a frozen corpse. We can’t just leave her there like that.”

“What can I do, Meadow?” I asked in exasperation. “I can’t do anything! Some bastard killed me, nearly killed my family, and now I’m about as much use as what I am here - a bloody ghost.”

She gave me a shocked look and I mentally kicked myself. “Oh hell, look love, I’m sorry, I’m just so-” I shook my head. “For Luna’s sake, I want to do something and I can’t! They’re in danger and I can’t help them. None of them!”

Meadow’s ears flopped and she looked away. “It hurts, doesn’t it, when you can’t help the ones you love…”

I wanted to bury my head in the earth and scream at the heavens all at once, to curse the gods and goddesses for doing this to me. Buck fate, buck destiny, and buck me for not being able to do anything to help the ones I loved. I stood up and walked to the edge of the clearing and held out a hoof. It was like hitting an invisible yet solid wall. This place was a glass bubble of shattered dreams and hopes, of memories that still walked, talked, and occasionally, could touch. My heart was burning with the pain and emptiness of cold realisation that both death and life had been denied to me in equal measure. Somepony must have cursed me. But for whatever reason it was, by the goddesses, I must have done something terrible to deserve this.

“Where were Mitre and Brandy whilst all this was going on?” I asked sullenly. “Aren’t the agency doing anything, or have they abandoned you all too?”

Tingles looked from me to Meadow and back again. “Mitre’s arranged for detectors to be installed around the village and supplies to help us repair and rebuild the place. Princess Luna came to pay her respects and told us that… that Celestia has agreed to return the lands to the tribe. She was going to come here herself, but there’s a lot of commotion in Canterlot over the business with the changelings still.”

There was a moment of absolute silence while my mind, still in a mess from the teleportation spell, tried to digest what she saying. “Wait, what? Celestia actually came through? I don’t believe it!”

Tingles nodded. “She’s not a liar Fairlight, regardless of what may have happened in the past.”

I had to admit, she had a point. Still, honouring an agreement was one thing…but, ah! What the hay! We had our lands back, or I should say, ‘they’ had their lands back. Not much use to a dead pony. Damn it to hell, I’d been blown up at the worst possible time, now…

Meadows hoof gently stroked my shoulder and I looked up into those big yellow eyes, my chaotic and troubled thoughts melting away; my rock in the storm.

Tingles nuzzled me, “I missed you, both of you, Lumin and Tarragon too.”

I gave her a kiss, “I missed you too, all of you.”

Meadow gave her a nuzzle. “We’re a family, Tingles, all of us, whether in this world or the eternal herd, we’re all one.”

We talked, cried, laughed, and generally wiled away the hours together until at last the time came to bid farewell. I promised to try and think of something that would help us with Shadow, and Tingles assured me she would keep trying to find another route to the fortress that was less dangerous. She was certainly resistant to my assertion that she shouldn’t attempt the journey herself until I pointed out that should anything go wrong, Lumin could end up with no parents in this world at all. That worked. Before I knew it, Meadow and I were back in the blindingly brilliant sunshine and blue sky of the eternal herd, leaving the other half of my family behind. Meadow looked at me, raising her eyebrows, but before she could say it...

“NO!” I stomped a hoof for emphasis. “No more teleporting! If you want to, go right ahead, be my guest. Personally I want to keep my body and brain in one piece, thank you very much.”

She sniggered and hid her smile behind her hoof. “Are you sure now? It only takes-”

“NO! Goddesses, Meadow, I mean it.” I tossed my mane irritably. “How in Equestria did you learn how to do that anyway? I thought that was some alicorn-only trick.”

Meadow shrugged as we began our walk back across the fields to home. “Not really,” she explained. “It is a bit tricky, but like riding a bike you get a feel for it eventually. There’s a few unicorns who can do it in the mortal world, although they’re usually only the ones who are at the top of their game, magically speaking. Star Swirl the one who showed me how to teleport. He thought that encouraging me to study magic would kept me occupied when I wasn’t nursing Sparrow or working at the clinic.”

“Didn’t you end up barfing everywhere?” I asked.

“Er…”

“I bloody knew it!” I snorted. “You didn’t did you? It’s another ‘Fairlight thing’. Bloody hell fire, I’m cursed! I must be!” Meadow burst out laughing and broke into a trot, making me have to canter just to try and catch up with the cheeky creature. Fortunately the house wasn’t that far and we arrived barely out of breath. Horribly though, a thought hit me. “Oh damn, Sparrow!”

I burst through the door, rushing to her room to find the hourglass on the wall still trickling sand. It had barely moved since we left. Pushing me out of the way, Meadow trotted up and rotated the curious object with a tap of her hoof before applying the barest whisper of magic from her horn. A moment later the room and door began to shimmer and glow, just as they had when we’d first left. And then, with a faint ‘pop’, the door opened to reveal the still soundly sleeping form of our daughter snuggled up in her bed.

“How did you-?” I began.

“Maternity spell,” Meadow said quietly. “I found it in one of those old books on magic, a very old one too.” She waved her hooves in an attempt to visualise her words. “It sort of ‘freezes’ time at a specific location. Well, it more ‘slows it down’ really. It used to be used a lot once by mothers who were single.”

Ah ‘the good old days’ no doubt, when loved ones went off to war and simply never came back. When ponies harked back to the past as some sort of ‘golden age’ for Equestria, they did so not so much through rose tinted glasses, but ones soaked with blood. The best part is, they probably didn’t even know it either. History has an interesting way of hiding the truth through the fading memories and biased perspectives of those who had actually experienced it first hoof, leaving their descendants a somewhat ‘skewed’ interpretation that those interested in such matters have a hard time deciphering. I collapsed into the chair by the fire and looked at the clock. Wasn’t I supposed to be doing something right about now? Gods, I don’t know. I was so tired I could- Oh shit! I’d missed the appointment with Star Swirl! I grabbed my new coat and hat.

“Meadow, I’ve got to go out,” I announced suddenly. “Are you going to be okay for a bit?”

Meadow blinked in surprise. “Eh? What do you mean? Where are you going all of a sudden?”

“I’ll explain when I get back, I promise!” I called, and hurried out the door.

Leaving Meadow like that I felt a pang of guilt course through me, but quickly rammed that awkward feeling away. I’d make it up to her later. Mentally I kicked myself for the second time today; why didn’t I think ahead? I used to be the commensurate planner, always checking times and schedules, using charts and calenders. It had been an integral, and also vital, part of my watch training. Now I’d become lazy and slack, filling my days with days of sunshine and apathy. The good life of the eternal herd was dulling my edge. Thankfully the cherry orchard was nearby, back down the lane that lead towards Aethel’s office. No taxi required this time, it was simply a case of a damned good gallop in the cool air. Still, it was times like these I wished I had access to my wendigo powers and could actually do something other than my usual object manipulation and hovering flame trick. Like this I was more like a foal’s birthday party magician than a unicorn. No teleporting or flying for me then! Bollocks to it, I’d have to study those books of Meadow’s later, and then I could learn how to pop up around the place like a bloody jack in the box too. I may even avoid puking my guts up as well, my stomach was still sore even now. Galloping to the orchard was definitely ‘not’ helping matters either.

Cresting the rise, the familiar cherry trees were laid out below me on both sides of the lane. It was early morning and nopony in their right mind should have been up at this hour, but there was one, lying under one of the trees with his staff and pack lying beside him. As I approached I noticed the large brimmed wizard’s hat adorned with small brass bells around its brim. It was pulled down, shading his eyes. Other than the lighter coat colour, at a distance I could almost believe it was the thestral mage Star Beard. The cheeky bugger had without doubt pinched the name, or as he saw it, used it to honour his tutor. Maybe I was getting cynical in my old age. At forty three going on twenty, I was going to be a grumpy old stallion before I knew it, and still look like I was barely old enough to shave!

The brim of the hat twitched as Star Swirl let out a groan. “Do you know what time it is, boy?”

I put on my most serious voice. “My apologies, Premier Star Swirl, my wife and I were answering a summons from the ‘other side’. I fear the dead have no power to resist such powerful magics.”

A hoof pushed up the brim of the outrageous looking headgear revealing a big yellow eye which stared up at me. A moment later, Star Swirl burst out laughing, “You haven’t lost your sense of humour then!” I reached down to help him up, not that he really needed it, he was as fit as I was. The wizard brushed a few errant twigs from his coat. “Your family are safe then, I take it?”

“I think so,” I replied. “I just wish I knew who the rat was who planted that bomb. It could have been anypony.” I huffed out a breath. “So much for friendship and trust.”

Star Swirl gave himself a shake, “Friendship is one thing, trust is quite another, Fairlight.” He tapped me on the chest. “Trust is earned, not given or bartered away like something on a flea market. You will find, as I did, that it is something that those who have a lot to lose cannot afford to give out easily.”

“I think I already learned that lesson,” I said snorting loudly. “I’ve found few who I could, and even then there’s that niggling little seed of doubt at the back of your mind that keeps asking, can you really trust them? Will they betray you? Honestly, Star Swirl, I think trust is a weakness.”

He smiled sadly and re-adjusted his hat. “Come on, we’ve delayed long enough.”

Around us the world was stirring as we walked along in the morning sunshine, listening to the dawn chorus. I’d always enjoyed this time of day, even here it filled me with a sense of renewed hope and its promise of better times ahead. To pass the time we talked of my visit with Meadow to Smiling Borders, the old stallion nodding and occasionally asking questions. It was rather like a friendly interrogation of sorts, just without the shouting and shining a lamp in your eyes. Not that many of us did that in the watch any more of course. I was still at a loss as to where we were going though, and despite his age and apparent ‘wisdom’, Star Swirl still had quite the talent for drama. He seemed to enjoy the suspense and, I suspected, did it all very deliberately. I’d met another pony like that once. What was her name again?

The wizard lifted a hoof. “We’re here. Follow me.”

We had arrived at a rather nondescript building which looked like some sort of hotel, if its sheer size was anything to go by. I could vaguely remember seeing it once before on my way from Aethel’s office, although admittedly I hadn’t been paying much attention at the time. My memories of my unexpected arrival in the herd were still hazy, which was more likely due to the shock of being torn from the world of the living and thrown unceremonious into the afterlife than anything else. Come to think of it, it was probably just as well. But sure enough, further along the lane was that annoying alicorn’s office. Thankfully we weren’t going there today, nor was there any sign of the alicorn in question either. In fact, other than the occasional bird flying overhead, it was as quiet as the grave. Nopony was around yet, which wasn’t really all that surprising due to the early hour of course, yet despite the mown grass and neat flower beds there was still a peculiar ‘abandoned’ feel to the place that I couldn’t quite put my hoof on. Rows of empty windows stared out of the hotel, each one perfectly clean, neat, and well painted. And yet there was no name, no signage, nor in fact anything above the door to suggest where we were at all. It was simply a functional building that served a purpose. Whatever that was. We walked up the large stone steps and pushed open the equally large doors. I half expected them to creak ominously, but instead they simply swung open on well maintained hinges allowing us to enter completely unimpeded. Inside was a large tiled atrium with a number of chairs and loungers dotted around. Here and there were strategically placed pot plants, a few tables, and there, up against a wall, was a long desk with a board behind it covered in keys. Our hoofsteps echoed as we approached, but once again there was nopony here either - no customers, no staff… If I wasn’t dead I’d probably be fearing for my life right about now! Star Swirl of course wasn’t phased in the slightest. As if it was something he did every day, he lead the way up a large flight of stairs and along a red carpeted hallway lined with numbered doors.

“Fairlight,” he whispered. “I know you want to tell Meadow about this, and I can’t stop you of course, but nopony else can know about what we discuss here, do you understand?”

“Of course,” I replied doubtfully. “What’s going on here, Star Swirl, my hackles are going up like noponies business.”

He gave me a hard stare. “And so they should.” He placed his hoof on the handle of one of the doors and pushed down sharply. “BEHOLD!”

The door swung open, dramatically revealing… an empty bedroom.

I looked back over my shoulder. “Er, Star Swirl, there’s nopony here?” Had we got the wrong room?

“What?!” The bearded unicorn pushed past me into the room and drew his staff, magic flowing around it and lighting the dim space in a brilliant golden glow.

I trotted over and opened the curtains to let in some natural light, taking the opportunity to have a look around. It was, for all intents and purposes, your typical hotel bedroom. There was a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, two bedside tables, and a dresser. The bed covers were untidy and a quick check revealed the mattress was still warm, so whoever had been in here hadn’t been gone long. The creak of a floorboard behind us made us turn quickly to see a side door from an adjoining room slowly beginning to open, a faint trickle of steam curling out from the gap. My heart was hammering in my chest and I could see from Star Swirl’s reaction that he too was preparing to face whatever came through that ever increasing mass of steam. Hell fire, I had no effective magic, no weapons - nothing! My muscles tensed and I instinctively reached for my wendigo power that just wasn’t there any more. Warm, floral scented air tickled my nose as the door was eventually pushed wide open and a damp looking unicorn walked in.

“Good morning,” he said with a yawn.

The grey unicorn stallion standing before us sporting a rather bored expression on his face, was busy scrubbing himself with a large blue towel. I let out the breath I’d been holding in, whilst beside me Star Swirl visibly relaxed as well.

“Ah, there you are,” the wizard said, leaning his staff against the wall. “I’ve brought our guest.”

I’m sure the old bugger was just as tense as I was, but if he was he hid it well. This mysterious new unicorn looked... well, to be honest he looked a lot like Nimble, if just a little taller. Truth be told he was quite nondescript really: grey coat, horn, yellow eyes, black mane and tail, and a white snowflake cutie mark. If I had to guess I’d say he looked like a pony who could have well been one of the four winds tribe. Being the cynical type I’d always suspected it would only be a matter of time before one of them put in an appearance.

I nodded politely and greeted him. “Good morning, my name’s Fairlight. Pleased to meet you, mister…?”

“Maroc, former lord of the four winds,” the stallion replied absently. “You may have heard of me I believe?”

Just as well I wasn’t carrying anything. My jaw dropped open and my eyes went wide as I sat back on my haunches. “Maroc? You mean...”

“Yes?” He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Lost for words, boy?” He shrugged. “Well I can’t blame you being a little overwhelmed. It’s not every day you get to meet the legend himself, am I right?”

Star Swirl shut the bedroom door. “Don’t tease him, Maroc, please. He’s had a rough time of things, as you know all too well.”

Maroc sighed. “You’re right, I’m sorry Fairlight, forgive me. It’s a habit Arathea keeps telling me off for, but you know how it is, old habits die hard and all that.”

I just stood there like a statue. What the hell could I say? I had no idea what was going on here, but whatever it was, I had a bad feeling about it. Maroc walked up to me, examining me like some sort of prize bull, shaking his head in what I could only assume to be disapproval. His big yellow eyes fixed me with a critical stare.

“Hmm, well you certainly look like one of the tribe, other than the eye colour.” The stallion clucked his tongue. “Brown, not yellow… not a pure bred pony then.”

Now that got my back right up! I took a step away from him, narrowing my eyes. “Do you mind? I’m as much a pony as you are, friend. I’m sorry I don’t come up to your ‘exacting’ standards, but I think I’ve done pretty well all things considered. Anyway, you should know all of this already, right? We’ve spoken enough times for goodness sake.”

He cocked his head to one side. “Spoken? No, I don’t- Oh! You have the memories, do you? I see.”

“No, I don’t see at all,” I huffed. “What in Equestria are you talking about?”

He glanced at Star Swirl. “He doesn’t know?” He clicked his tongue. “What you have are memories, Fairlight, nothing more. All of our bloodline have them. It’s an old magic from way back to help us cope with the changes we have when we meld with the wendigo spirit. They’re more of a...” He waved a hoof in explanation, “‘simulacrum’ of your ancestors. Not the real thing.”

I scratched my head. “But you, the ‘other’ you, saved my life! It took me over and used the wendigo’s power.”

Maroc shrugged. “Like I said, they are like us, but not us. What saved you is more likely to be yourself, your subconscious tapping into the memories and utilising the spirit’s magic directly.” The stallion rubbed at a damp spot on his ear. “I don’t have all the answers, Fairlight. For that you’ll want to ask old Star Swirl here. He’s the resident bookworm.”

The old unicorn wizard rolled his eyes. “Thank you for your confidence in my knowledge, Maroc,” he said sarcastically, “but you know I’m no expert on your people. Perhaps you can explain to young Farlight here why we dragged him away from his pretty young wife and foal?”

Maroc smirked. “Pretty you say? A chip off the old block eh, Fairlight?” Laughing he waved me to one of the chairs which I climbed into before he continued, “I’d offer you a drink but there’s no room service here unfortunately.”

Star Swirl took out a selection of items from his saddle pack. “Fortunately, some of us think ahead old friend.”

In the glow from his magic, a series of bottles, cups, and a wrapped box of pastries settled onto the table between us. Unscrewing the lid I noted the distinct smell of elder flower, one of my favourites. Without standing on ceremony we all tucked in, Maroc talking around a mouthful of cake.

“Delicious!” The grey stallion wiped the crumbs away and waved a hoof. “The reason I wanted to see you, or really, both of us did,” he raised an eyebrow in Star Swirl’s direction, “is because we have a problem which we believe you may be able to help us with.”

Damn it, here we go! I was ready to get up and leave right then and there, but my blasted curiosity got the better of me as usual, and I’m sure that strange old unicorn knew it too. If I didn’t know better I’d swear he was grinning knowingly behind that ridiculous beard of his.

Maroc continued, “It’s my son, Vela.” He took a deep breath and turned to look out of the window. “Star Swirl, could you…?”

The old wizard reached over and laid a reassuring hoof on his shoulder. “Of course, my friend.” He turned to face me. “Fairlight, many of the ponies in the eternal herd are aware of the attacks on Equestria by the changelings, as well as the other troubles which have been plaguing the mortal realm for some time now. I am also well aware of your involvement in those events and how you fought to save our old home. This has not gone unnoticed.” Well, that was positive. I think! Somehow though I had the feeling that this was leading up to something, and it was probably going to be a ‘something’ I didn’t like either. “You are already aware that Wendigo have their powers sealed when they enter the herd, yes?” I nodded. “Some of the wendigo didn’t take well to that,” the wizard continued, “and refuse to integrate with the rest of pony society.”

Maroc turned back to me with a far away look. “It’s hard for us. Very hard. Unlike you, many of us were born knowing what we would become, and our people would join with the spirit as soon as they were old enough. When you live your life as a wendigo, to have its power denied you… it’s like losing a part of yourself - a cruelty many of us couldn’t accept, and don’t accept.”

“I take it this is where Vela comes in?” I asked. “But he didn’t become a wendigo in his mortal life did he?”

Maroc shook his head sadly. “No. He died being unable to achieve the joining, and in death he has become embittered and resentful of both the living, and the ‘authorities’ here in the herd.”

Star Swirl spoke next. “He has left the land of the herd and entered the realm of the thestrals. We hoped that he would find happiness there as many from the wendigo tribe have, but his anger has lead him down a path which now threatens both realms.”

“How so?” I asked. “If he has no power then what threat can he pose?”

Maroc’s voice lowered. “We believe, or rather we know, he has been working with somepony in the mortal world, passing them knowledge that has lead to the suffering of innocents. My tribe never did this, Fairlight. We never allowed this sort of… ‘sickness’ to occur. Whatever possessed my son to do what he did…” His eyes narrowed as his voice cracked. “Star Swirl, you tell him…”

Before he could reply I filled in for him, “It’s the portals isn’t it? Vela gave them the knowledge of how to build them.”

Star Swirl nodded sagely. “Well deduced, my boy. That knowledge was locked away and none save the royal family knew about it. From the most ancient times some portals still remained, but none should have had the knowledge of how to align them, let alone build one, and certainly not connect it to the human realm.”

“But it’s not impossible, is it?” I pointed out. “Somepony must have found out about it originally, and even if the knowledge was lost, there was always the chance it could be rediscovered.”

Star Swirl began to fidget with his beard. I had the distinct impression he wasn’t telling me everything here. He cleared his throat, “True, true, but we know that Vela did pass that information across. Like your ‘Equestrian watch’, we have our own sources of intelligence here in the herd.”

I took a drink of my flavoured water. “There’s more to it than that though, isn’t there?”

Maroc curled his lip. “Oh there’s much more than that, my dear Fairlight.” He let out a low growl. “That damnable fool of a pony conspired with those disgusting ‘things’ to attack Equestria in some totally insane attempt to return the power of the tribe.”

I nearly choked. Bloody hell, Vela was behind the attack on the capital by the changelings?! “Good goddesses!” I exclaimed. “Why the hell would he think such a deranged thing would work?” I shook my mane in amazement. “Even if the changelings had managed to take over Equestria, they would have sucked it completely dry. And what then? There’s no wendigo left in the mortal realm to ‘return to power’ in any case.”

Maroc stared into my eyes. His own had a timeless look to them, one which spoke of sights that I couldn’t even begin to imagine, making me feel very uncomfortable indeed. “You’re wrong. There are,” Maroc said levelly. “Some fled to the far north, and they remain there to this day. They’re ponies, like the rest of the equestrians, but still descendants of the tribe.” His voice dropped an octave. “Just as you are.”

“But they’re just ponies!” I exclaimed. “Without the spirit, without the joining, they are no more nor less than any unicorn.”

Maroc slammed his hoof of the arm of the chair. “You sound like one of those damned Celestians! What are you? A coward?”

Anger, real anger, flooded through me. It was the first time I’d felt such a thing since I’d arrived in the herd. It was… invigorating. Jumping from the chair I bucked it away from me across room, sending the thing smashing into the wall. Taking a low fighting stance I growled up at him, “How dare you… How bucking dare you! I have fought dragons, I have fought armies side by side with my brothers and sisters, and you have the damned affront to stand there and accuse me of being a COWARD?!”

Letting out a neigh, Maroc spat on the floor. “And what have you done to find your lost brothers and sisters of the tribe, wendigo? Have you searched the north, the empty wastes, to bring them home? NO! You’ve been running about bucking mares and playing with baby dragons!”

My blood was boiling with rage now. “And what about you? What have you done? Been swanning about here in the world of sunshine and smiles sitting on your plump arse waiting for what? For some frigging miracle? I’ve done what I can. I’ve got our lands back from Celestia, and that’s a little bit more than you damned well managed isn’t it? At least I didn’t get turned into a pile of bucking bones on a goddess forsaken mountainside!”

A solid wall of magic hit me and I was flung bodily across the room, crashing heavily into the bedside unit.

“ENOUGH!” Star Swirl stood on his hind legs, his staff held out, glowing with a bright golden magical aura. “Will you two stop this infernal nonsense? I thought I was dealing with stallions, not testosterone fuelled colts!”

Maroc picked himself up and gave his coat a shake. Dust and broken bottle fragments cascading from him, he laughed out loud. “Damn that felt good! Really good!” I stared at him incredulously. Maroc noticed my expression and raised an eyebrow, smiling, “Don’t tell me you didn’t feel it too, Fairlight? I know who you are, and what you are.” He walked up to me, his yellow eyes shining in the sunlight from the window. “You’re the lord of the four winds… I know you are. The world knows you are.”

He was right about one thing though, it did feel good. The emotional suppression of this realm, the utopian happiness which I felt all the time, was strangely wearing. Was this why I hadn’t felt completely settled? The wendigo part of me, its magic at any rate, was suppressed, true. But the awareness, my mind, I was still me and it was part of me now whether it was hidden or not. I’d forgotten the exhilaration of battle, the song of war…

“Yes… YES!” Maroc laughed. “I can see it in your eyes! You do remember don’t you!” He reared up and grabbed my shoulders in his hooves. “You are the one, Fairlight, you have the power to change the world!”

I grimaced. “Maroc, look, I think you have the wrong pony here.” He looked taken aback momentarily, but I continued, “I’m dead, remember? Besides, I have a foal and wife here.”

“Pah!” he snorted. “Details.”

“DETAILS?” I shouted in surprise. “Being dead is a bit more than a frigging detail, pal!”

Maroc sniffed, rolling his eyes. “Talk some sense into him would you, Star Swirl?”

Looking more than a bit flustered himself, Star Swirl scratched his beard. “You’re both right.” Maroc raised his forelegs into the air in exasperation and walked over to lean against the windowsill. Star Swirl merely shrugged at his friends reaction, clicking his tongue before continuing, “Whether you like it or not, Fairlight, destiny is not finished with you it seems. Not at all. In some way, I cannot say how precisely, you are still tied to the mortal world even now.”

Hang on, say what now? I took a step back. “No… Oh, no way, Star Swirl! I’m dead… DEAD! For the goddess’s sake, haven’t I been through enough already? I don’t want any bloody ties to the mortal world. You have magic, don’t you? Do something about it; cut it, block it, something! I don’t want to leave Meadow and Sparrow again, and I’m not, d’you hear me? So you can shove any bucking stupid plans you have for me right up your arse. I’m done with this, and I’m done with being every ponies bitch too. Goodbye.” I stood and headed for the door.

“Tingles will die, Fairlight.” The wizard’s words froze the very blood in my veins. “But what they will do to Lumin will be far, far worse.”

I stopped in mid-stride, hanging my head, my determination to leave suddenly doused in the cold water of realisation. “What do you mean,” I asked levelly.

Star Swirl spoke sadly, “If Vela succeeds in his plans, hell itself will be unleashed upon Equestria. He knows that Lumin has within him a magic that could help bring his plans to fruition – a magic that holds both the power of the lord of the wendigo, and that of the elder dragon, Etrida.” His gaze never left me. “He would be sucked dry, again and again, but not by changelings, but by the very things he is trying to release - things much worse than what you’ve faced so far. Vela thinks that he will be restoring the glory of the wendigo. What he will be doing... is destroying their last hope.”

THE END

Fairlight - Blood of the Foal

by Bluespectre

Chapter One - Enemies amongst us

Chapter Two - Master and servant

Chapter Three - Assassin

Chapter Four - Private Investigations

Chapter Five - Black Blood

Chapter Six - Heart of ice

Chapter Seven - To the victor, the spoils

Chapter Eight - A cottage for three

Chapter Nine - The visitor