> Song and Dance of the Desert's Garden
>  by Renaissance Muffins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1- Ruin and Salvation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	










Song and Dance of the Desert's Garden

A MLP:FiM Fan Fiction
All official characters are copyright to Hasbro and their rightful owners; 
Copyright infringement not intended



Author: Angry Muffins

























Chapter 1- Ruin and Salvation







Abner, a wolf whose life was saved by a few soldiers in Celestia’s legion. Abner was unconscious, thus unaware of the event until he awoke in a tent of the legion’s encampment. Abner rushed out from the tent, confused and lost, he began to run around trying to figure out what was going on. His mind was dizzy, he felt sick, every step he made he stumbled more and more. The new weight on his head was barely in his peripheral vision, he lowered his head and felt the object with his paws. It was a course spiral texture, there seemed to be some bandaging holding it to his head which he couldn't get it off no matter how much he tried. Holding strong against passing out from the dizziness until he reached the edge of the camp, he looked upon the razed ruins of a town that he held dear to his heart, his home.

His place of living, gone. In the distance he could see objects that looked like his family and friends. Abner rushed to the objects, scraping his feet against debris that were burned black from the fires that left him alone. For a moment he wondered, how did he survive, but any thoughts pondering his survival quickly escaped his head. He stopped, looking at the charred remains of his old home. Sifting through the burned planks, some still glowing in a dark orange hue, he found nothing. The last thing he could remember was fleeing for his life and losing track of his family among the confusion. The town itself only consisted of fifty or so wolves but as compact as the town was, crowding was only a problem when town meetings were called together.

Abner then found himself staring at a mirror, noticing the horn on his head. He realized that it was a unicorns and the bandaging was keeping it still. He felt no difference in his body, still he was only about a year old, barely a full grown wolf. Abner sat down, gazed into the mirror as the memories of his once happy life passed him by. He wanted to cry but the tears refused to show and his feet slowly leaked blood that mixed with ashes covering the ground. Hanging his head down in sorrow the young wolf slowly walked around the the rest of the village to see if there were any more survivors. 

Collapsing debris startled him, ash from remaining fires slowly coated parts of his fur. The desolate wasteland , once a place full of lush greens and cheerful air, now a flattened mass of burned planks and remnants of things that made the place home. Slowly, Abner tried to make his way back to the campsite. His feet were tired, sore, and his head ached. Still he stumbled back until his vision began to blur and his ears ringing until finally, he collapsed. 

Two Legion soldiers carried him back to the encampment. Armed as if they were expecting the young wolf to fight them. Instead they found the young wolf laying on the ground, breathing heavily. Both of the soldiers wondered how the wolf survived and who implanted the horn onto his head.

Abner soon awoke again, to find himself in the same tent as before, covered in a blanket and being watched over by a member of the Legion. His head was spinning still and the ringing in his ears hadn’t quite stopped. Abner tried to stand, but quickly realized that his weakened state refused to let him move as freely as he did earlier. Perhaps it was adrenaline that kept him going at the time. Abner quickly fell back asleep and the thoughts about what happened still ran like trains through his head, the biggest ones being who saved him and how is he still alive.

Awakening once more Abner saw his caretaker, a Legion soldier sporting the trademark gold plate armor and blue  accents, preparing food, weather or not it was for himself, Abner wasn't sure. Slowly rising to a sitting position with his vision gradually getting sharper, the wolf himself unable to speak from aching pains and sores. Abner watched as the soldier took care into adding the final touches to the food before plating it and smiling in a contempt joy. The soldier looked at Abner and brought him the food that was carefully prepared, a small meal consisting of a quality meat and herbs mixed into it. The backwoods and strong flavor reminded Abner of what he would normally eat at home. Abner wagged his tail a bit, joyed that something from his home was still in existence.

The Legion soldier chuckled, “Name's Whisk, not sure if you're understanding this though, but I'm glad you're liking the meal little guy.” The words were muffled a little as the pounding in Abner's ears still hadn't subsided completely and not being able to understand the pony's language completely wasn't helping much either. His personality seemed modest, why the colt was a chef in the Legion was a muddled thought to Abner. “I researched what I could from the books I found about this particular village, food's quite a bit different than what I'm used to making, but I worked it out.” The pony trailed on a bit talking about his favorite meal that hes cooked up on his deployments, jokingly adding in little incidents from nearly maiming himself to little things like burns and scratches.

Whisk, a colorful character once he got to talking for a bit about his cooking talents, finally settled down once Abner finished his meal. Coincidentally, another pony walked in, this one dressed in a white smock and a stethoscope having a gray coat, short and straight dull light blue mane with eyes the same color. Whisk turned to the doctor, “Hey Doc, our little buddy here is finally awake.”

The doctor halted and blankly stared at Whisk, “I can tell.” The Doctor's reply was snarky and filled thick with sarcasm. “Anyways, I've come to check up on our unusual survivor but from the looks of things he seems to be stomaching your awful meal pretty well.” The Doctor said setting his tools out on the table at the other side of the tent.

“Doc, you know that wolves cant eat the same stuff that we can. It was a pain in the ass to get some of those meats without any previous hunting experience.” Whisk replied in a more serious tone than his delightful tone he had before. “Your sarcasm isn't always necessary you know.” He added. 

Abner, barely comprehending the conversation was able to follow somewhat by the different accents and pitches in the different voices, muffled words were still filling his ears. The Doctor approached Abner with a flashlight and a small pair of scissors that had a distinct bend in them. “Well, let's get these bandages off your head. I'm Doctor Blue Cuff, one of the Legion's most trusted and well reputed doctors.” With the glowing of the doctors horn, he used the scissors snip away at part of the bandage and used the flashlight to see parts where natural lighting couldn't reach. 

The squeeze on Abner's head loosened and the pounding gradually died down until it was a minor inconvenience. The dizziness subsided a bit as well and his vision became much clearer than before, everything had clearer outlines, the smell of grass and cool night air also became comprehensible. Abner took a deep breath once the doctor finished taking off the bandage and the muddled words became more coherent, but something was off. Their lips moved but the words didn't match, he seemed to be hearing their language in his native tongue. Perhaps this was some magic of the horn infusion, however their way of speaking was still the same.

With the bandages finally off, “Well, this certainly did heal pretty well, despite not having to perform the surgery to produce something like this. I don't even know any spells in the medical field that can do something like this, it's astounding really.” Cuffs remarked.

Whisk cut him off with sharp tone “Doc, save it for later. I know anatomy fascinates you and what not but honestly, could you keep it to the same species here?”

Cuff stared again at Whisk with a harsher furrow of his brows. “Whisk, could you keep your head out of the gutter. I was simply questioning the notions that occurred for something like this.”

Whisk rolled his eyes, “Doc, I was joking you know. I'm curious too, but I'm not going to ponder that all day. With both of the princesses showing up today I've got food to worry about if they even think about desiring a grand feast of any sort, unlikely in a place like this but hey, you never know.”

Cuff remarked harshly, “Ah yes, thats right. I doubt that they would have a feast of any sort, you know, next to a razed village in the middle of a forest. Great image there.”

The two continued chat and walk outside the tent, the Doctor taking his tools with him and Whisk taking a few of his cooking utensils, a pair of tongs, a spatula, and a mixing bowl which he placed in a brown cloth satchel that was draped over his back. 

The tent, quiet now, perhaps quieter than when it was empty the first time around, Abner slowly made his own way out of the tent. Even with his legs as sore as they were and as young as he was, he always went by the motto his mother taught him, “It could be worse.”

Abner making his way out with bandages still wrapped around his feet from running over the debris, wandered through the encampment again. The place was more lively than it was the day before. The jeering and chit chat between colts and fillies filled the air as if there were some sort of festival, likely more because of the arrival of the princesses that is scheduled. Abner wondered what possible reason would bring them out here, still, he wanted answers. 

Suddenly, a forced ripped him from his thoughts, Cuff had pulled him into a tent that he had been passing by. “You shouldn't be walking around you know, especially with your feet in that condition. I guess I shouldn't lecture you though, but you would do well to rest.” Abner sat down near the entry way of the tent as Cuff rummaged through medical books for anything that could relate to Abner's predicament. “Would you happen to be able to talk?” Cuff questioned. Abner simply shook his head no, his throat was too rough from the ash and smoke that he had inhaled the day before. Cuff seemed somewhat disappointed, “I've should've known better to ask such a silly question. If it's possible you could always write you name down on some paper I have on my desk there” He said sifting through another pile of books. “Good gravy I need to get one of them never ending bags” he mumbled to himself. 

Abner walked over to the desk and found the only organized things in the tent, some parchment paper, quill, and ink vials. Abner looked at the items questionably for a moment and glanced over at Cuff, who was buried up to his eyes in books. Abner thought for a moment, as he had just recently learned how to write in his native language. Tilting his head he picked up the quill with his mouth and began to write his name onto the parchment. Unfortunately the doctor would need a translator now instead of his books. After writing down his name Abner left the tent and wandered around some more. Once he got a few steps away, he heard Cuff shout at the top of his lungs, “AH-HA! Found it!” A few curious ponies gave strange looks towards the tent, but continued their tasks.

As Abner progress through the campsite, he found the edge that lead to the field between his village and the encampment. He sat down again, also recalling the memories again while watching some Pegasuses fly around performing aerial maneuvers from Immelman Turns to rolling dives. A few plumes of smoke still rose from the burned down houses and shops. There were several ponies that were on the ground that seemed to be inspecting the damages.

Abner's ears perked at the sound of some crunching grass, a voice rang out “Thought you would've stayed in the tent.” It was Whisk, his armor was projecting a glare from the sun in Abner's direction. “I'm not gonna force ya though.” His voice now sounded more calmed and sincere than before. Perhaps Cuff talked some sense into him or maybe it's just his personality. Whisk sat down beside Abner, “It's a shame what happened here, just a normal trade routine and everything goes down the drain. Of course, thats what I've been told, there are a bunch of different rumors going around. I was just part of the first response group, we picked you up and boy were you a bloody mess with a majority of it from your head, right where that horn is now.” Whisk recalled, quickly pointing with his hoof to the young wolf's infused horn. “Even Cuff is having a hard time figuring out what the heck happened to not only you, but the rest of the villagers including the traders that we sent here as well.”

Abner looked at Whisk and let out a short growl, Whisk drew back a little, but understood that the wolf needed some time alone to get his thoughts together. Whisk got up, nodding his head in understanding and walked back into the camp. The young wolf continued to watch the two squads of pegasus roam the sky, engaging in mock battles with one another. Abner hoped that despite what has happened, that there wouldn't be a battle of any sort anytime soon.

Wandering around the camp some more, Abner was able to find small groups of ponies sparring against one another, honing their skills. It was interesting for him to watch, as he had never seen anybody hold swords with their mouths or fight against magic with shields crafted to withstand it. Although, it was likely the magic wasn't very strong as to avoid injury. Abner, like he had done before had watched in awe at the astounding abilities of these ponies and their different characteristics. Blurs of color streaked across the ground and through the air, all in practice, a beautiful practice.

Before long the commotion settled down, the ponies withdrew from their training exercise and began to head back to their tents. The sun sat in the sky, seemingly half past noon on a bright and cloudless day. Curiously none of the other ponies seemed to pay much mind to Abner, he did get the occasional glance, but it seemed as if they had no interest. Until one pony, approached Abner with a curious look on his face. “Well, up and about already are ya?” His voice was stern, rough, and sharp. His wings had been folding back up, presumably from flying. “My name is Charger, Captain in the 81st Battalion leading the advanced recon. You, my little friend, are one lucky son of a bitch.” Charger stared into the young wolf's eyes, “Those eyes of yours, that feeling you give off is one of determination, courage and that you will never be held back burns so bright. Come with me, I want to show you a few things on how we fight.” He took off his helmet, revealing an electric yellow mane that clashed with the dull white coat. Combed his mane back a little bit and put his helm back on. “Follow, I'll let you pick a weapon to fight with.”

Abner followed Charger to the weapons tent, filled with practice equipment and major weapons that Abner had never seen before, even at the smithy that he visited quite often after his classes. The most common weapon that they had was the standard short sword, a gladius. Another common one were the spears that were lined up against the makeshift walls inside the tent. There were a few exotic weapons: a few ornate katanas, couple of flamberges, a double-edged sword, and lastly a very ritualistic looking zweihander. An over exaggerated blade about the length of his forelegs outstretched, end to end with a full tang and its hilt about the length of his own head. A large diamond shaped pommel with two perpendicular bisecting circles encasing it. The blade itself had a golden tint to the patterns trancing down the center of the blade. The pattern itself like solar winds dancing among stars in a two-toned enchantment of wonder. The guard a simple rectangle with angled ends and a bolt through its center. Hard looking cloth, like leather, had been wrapped around the neck of the blade, creating a more forward hilt before breaching out into symmetric notches in the blade made to catch another; two on either side. Large sharpened edges were reflective, polished as if the sword had been reforged.

Charger voice broke the silence in the tent, “You're quite interested in that one aren't you?” Abner looked back at Charger who had been standing at the table behind him. Abner nodded his head yes, but at the same time he felt that he had seen this sword before, in a place of relic ancients. The feeling too vague to make out anything specific. “We found this among the ruins in one of the larger buildings, looked like it used to be a blacksmith. It seemed to be kept away and hidden away from the other dilapidated weapons caught up in the fires.” 

Abner then noticed the sheath that had a harness that allowed the sword to be placed on the back. The sheath exposed a majority of the blade and had an open side to allow for a quicker draw. The end of the sheath covered a small portion of the blade at the bottom.  A medium strength magnetic bar stiffened the spine of the sheath and held the weight of the zweihander fully and surely. The wolf couldn't help but think that this sword was important, there was something special about it. Wasting no time the wolf hefted the sword upon his back, surprisingly light, and snapped the few buckles of the harness into place. Abner walked out of the tent where Charger was waiting for him.

Charger led Abner to an unoccupied area of the training ground, coherently noting to Abner that  quite a few of the ponies had tried to left the sword before, having no luck until Wrecker came along and hefted the sword back to the camp. Even resisted magic used to lift it. He then taught Abner a few basics: parrying, blocking, attacking, and proper stance.

Once Charger got into position and drew his short sword, Abner positioned himself a good distance away and drew the zweihander from the sheath, his jaw fitted comfortably around the hilt. Giving the sword a couple swings to get used to the weight and length, Abner readied in a stance he thought was quite good. Despite his bandaged feet, they did not increase in pain nor did the weight effect them. Abner advanced towards Charger and horizontally swung the large blade towards him. Charger parried the attack, thrown off balance by the weight of the blade and the substantial impact and got underneath the blade and maneuvered to Abner's left side, an obvious opening. Charger jabbed Abner in the side with the sphere pommel of his short sword. Abner yelped, hopped back and retook his fighting stance. Rushed again towards Charger only to fail again. The third time Abner charged, he managed to get around the parry by faking the swing and switching it to a vertical swipe to make contact with the helm. Charger immediately dodged and Abner unable to control the swing any further let the blade smash the ground, kicking up chunks of dirt and grass.

“You've had some training before haven't you?” Charger said sheathing his sword, Abner followed suit sheathing his own. “There's quite a few openings, but you learn quickly, thats good.” A surge of pain shot through Abner's legs from his feet, he could feel some blood begin to leak out from the wounds on his paws. Abner immediately sat down to take the pressure off his feet. “Ah, your feet have given out, thats no good. I'll walk you back to your tent, I'll have one of my subordinates call Cuff over to treat your feet.” Charger looked around and called one his troops over, the pony listened closely, only glancing over to Abner once or twice. 

Once Abner and Charger arrived at the tent where Abner had began his day, waiting for Cuff to arrive. Once Cuff did arrive, he stopped the bleeding and re-bandaged Abner's feet. Suddenly, a fanfare of trumpets broke the silence in the air, it seems that the Princesses had finally arrived.

“Finally here are they?” Charger remarked.

“Well, what else would they call out the trumpets for, dinner?” Cuff witted. “Let's get going, everypony is required to show.”

“Even our little wolf buddy here?” Charger questioned.

“I would assume so, he seems to be able to be able to understand us, maybe he'll get some answers.” Cuff knelt in front of Abner, “Just don't go attacking her, she's quite a bit more powerful than  the lot of us, no matter what the situation might be.”

Abner nodded his head, assuring Cuff and Charger. They walked to the area where Abner had before sat and watched the Pegasuses on their training routines. They had placed a large platform with a podium facing the gathering audience, whom so ever spoke would have their backs against the finally fading smoke and lowering sun. The jeers and whispers of the other ponies filled the air, they knew that the princesses would be arriving, Abner had however overheard a few of them that it is unusual for them to be in the same place and time. Adding that the two of them held the courses of the sun and moon, a tradition that was passed down in the royal family. Abner also overheard a pony's concern over whether or not there were other survivors from the village.

Charger had lifted Abner up onto his back so that who could see above the heads of the other ponies. Although they had to be in the back of the crowd, it wasn't all too difficult to see the platform. The sun begun to be pierced by the trees and mountains in the horizon as the noise finally began to settle down. The Brigadier General, Charger pointed out earlier among the audience, stood behind the podium and announced the arrival of the princesses. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, our very honored guests have arrived to address this situation personally. Everypony is to honor and respect their words, consequences will be handed out otherwise.” The Brigadier General strutted off the platform and everypony bowed before the Princesses who begun the ascend their way onto the platform.

Celestia spoke first after glancing back from the ruins, “What we have here, is another event of sadness. We have time for mourning these lost folk, whether wolf, pony, pegasus, or unicorn and thus we give them a moment of silence. Everyponies head lowered in succession, an air so quiet the not even the birds chirred and the wind remained still. Instinctively it seemed, everypony rose their heads back up at the same time. Celestia continued, “This incident, after heavy investigation from recon forces and research teams, has lead us to conclude the same about the previous and eerily similar incidents that this is the work of a dragon, Stribog from the Ring of Guardians.” Everypony gasped, Abner had heard of this once before, peaking his interest further. “Do not fright. We will do everything in our power to stop this senseless killing. First, we will locate his whereabouts and we will take him down. If we have to, we will end him.” Celestia's voice had hints of rage. Exhaling, she turned to Luna, “Luna, please explain the plan.”

Luna nodded and approached the podium as Celestia left it, “Troops, we've come here today to end the tomfoolery that the great dragon Stribog has unleashed upon us all. We present to thee, the means of ending this.” Luna continued to explain the means to draw out the dragon and how to bring it down then perhaps reason with it and if it comes down to it, kill the beast.

Luna's voice seemed to fade out in Abner's head as it filled with the thoughts of the dragon. He hadn't remembered anything flying over the town before hand, there were no bells tolled to alarm them nor did anyone run when the attack the began. The incident began with the ground shaking and suddenly there was fire everywhere. Abner had remembered walking out the door of the smithy to escape the fires and into the streets which were filled with even more fire and smoke. Panicking, he ran back towards his house but another force violently threw him into a trading wagon. He was surprised that he didn't have any broken bones anywhere that he knew of. Still what happened for him to get the horn on his forehead. He had faintly remembered someone leaning over him before he had blacked out.

Withdrawing from his thoughts, he had realized that the audience had began to split down the middle and the two princesses made their way through. Charger immediately set Abner back onto the ground and moved to the side, Abner followed and sat down next to Charger. The Princesses walked on by, their heads held high and the troops saluting their leave. Abner noticed that Charger was clearly nervous by the subtle shaking in his legs. Abner looked back towards the Princesses, Luna and Celestia both eyed him as they walked away single file. The sun began to set and the stars began to shine, starting with the brightest and earliest, the North Star. Everypony began to head back to their tents, Charger once again guided Abner back to his tent, where Whisk, Cuff, and two other ponies he had not met yet, were waiting.

“Welcome back to your tent, little fella” Charger said, “Well, what do you guys think about this plan the Princesses came up with?” He said turning his head towards the group after closing the flaps of the tent. 

The female sea-foam green coated bright white maned blue-eyed unicorn pony with a cutie mark that resembled calm waters spoke up, “Well, sir, what is our responsibility over this wolf we found?”

“It appears that we'll be keeping him with us, our royal highnesses..” Charger snickered a bit, “did not approach me or our little buddy here. Marina, you'll still be in charge of field updates when were out. I know we've lost Prudence, but we can still keep going, I know we can.” Charger paused for a moment, Abner could tell that the loss was heavy to the group. 

Whisk spoke up, “Well Charger, I'm sure whatever she did, she did it for the better of us all.”

Charger replied and lifted his head back up, “I suppose you're right, Whisk.” He walked along side the group, turned a faced the other pony that Abner had not seen before. An orange furred, unshorn fetlocks, short red mane and long silver tailed, brown-eyed and lastly a cutie mark displaying an exploded boulder. “Wrecker, I'm thinkin' you might get along pretty well with our new friend. You're in charge of demolitions and supplies as usual.” Wrecker silently nodded, accepting his position. “Whisk you're in charge of food as usual, and Cuff you're sticking to what you do best, first aid and all that.”

“Understood Captain.” Cuff replied surely.

“Alright, that just about sums up our rolls for now, go back to your bunks, sleep well, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.” Charger trotted out of the tent first, the rest of his squad followed. Wrecker gave Abner a glance before leaving the tent. Abner felt as if the loss of this Prudence pony was somehow connected to him.

The sky finally dark and filled with stars and the full moon. Abner looked again at the zweihander, trying to remember where he had seen it before. Lost in thought he had not realized he had fallen asleep, drifting away in a quiet slumber on the bed made of hay and covered in a large green sheet. His dream, began with a dense fog, the sun shone through the clouds above creating pillars of light all around him. Barely able to see his feet, he felt as if he should walk forward, so he did. Until he came upon a ghostly figure taking the form of a pony he had not seen before. A rose pink mare, with red mane and tail, a grayed semitransparent horn on her head, a cutie mark of a clock. The mare spoke, “Abner,” her voice resonated, echoed as if she were a spirit. “I am Prudence, the unicorn that Charger spoke of. You must take the sword and return it to its proper place in The Guardian's lair. I will continue to watch over you. I have imbued the horn with light magic, a magic I know you will find very useful.”

Abner felt as if to speak, instead, he lowered his head wondering why would this pony know what to do, where to go even. He looked back at Prudence whose figure was certainly not solid, almost ghost like.

Prudence spoke again, “I see that you are confused, of course. Why I saved you, why couldn't I have just left you there, to die, to fade away into nothingness.” she paused for a moment, realizing that her words were a bit too harsh. “None of us could do it, even I who can predict futures, could. That sword was crafted by great ancestors of a multitude of species that were good of heart. Your race was chosen for being the bravest, to deliver the Sword of Light to The Guardians as a promise to never step foot in their lands.” As she spoke a wall appeared behind her and in it were visual inscriptions of the events that occurred. “The lands were in great strife for decades, plagues and floods casted by corrupted Guardians and the outcry of our species as a whole demanded an end to it all. So they requested the sword be forged, one to smite the evils that lie in their hearts. In exchange, they would give to us, the Elements of Harmony.” Prudence began to walk up to Abner and lowered her head. “As you may know, the Elements have been in our possession for a very long time.”

Abner's memory of the sword's location slowly came back again. A large circular room with six pedestals equally placed around the room, pillars of granite and marble reaching high into the sky, the ceiling never in sight. The floor a giant stained glass mural of the exact events that Prudence had described moments before, the characters involved, and lastly, the messenger of Abner's species. The messenger had similar traits to one of his great godfathers, a painting of whom hung in the living room of what used to be his old house. A scar over one eye, oak tree bark patterned coat, chipped ears and silver eyes. 

Abner's mother would always tell him stories about that painting the hung above the mantle, the wolf who adventured out into the great beyond, leaving his wife and children behind. He never returned, but word slowly spread from those who traveled with him of his success, his sacrifice. The tale was only passed onto those who knew about it and what was written in the texts of Equestrian history were just the words of the outcome of events. No telling of those who were involved, no pictures, just the events that created the outcome. His mother always preferred the quieter life, never really cared much for the luxuries of the castle. She always told Abner that she was glad that her ancestors never stayed in a castle to spoil themselves. 

Abner's father on the other hand, often visited Canterlot Castle and the towns outlying it. One town in particular he always loved to visit when he couldn't come back home after long days. Ponyville, as his father always recalled, often reminded him of home. The calm, and cheerful villagers running around. Yearlings playing simple games with one another to pass the time. His father often spoke of the kindness and pure of heart the village and its inhabitants often shared with him. Sometimes he would bring home things that were bartered for, a wind chime, a small toy windmill, and perhaps an apple pie offered by the Apple family. Abner, sadly, had recalled that his father was returning from Ponyville one day and when he went to greet him, was essentially when all heck broke loose.

“Abner!” A voice called out to him. “Abner! Abner!” Again and again the voice rang out. The memory of his mother calling to him from amidst the fires crowding the streets and filling the houses. Abner was confused, scared, terrified. Remembering that he had found her and pulled her up, his brother, and his two sisters up from the debris of his home. They searched frantically for their father. They found him running from the trade wagon he usually had with him alongside another and larger wagon being pulled by some ponies who broke from their harnesses and fled alongside Abner's father. “Abner!” The voice called again. The ground quaked, sparks flew all around them, and that deafening roar, that deafening terrifying roar. Abner had been shoved and pulled away from his family by various collapses of houses and other crowds of ponies or wolves that lived along side them.

When Abner had finally realized that he was trapped amongst the fires, he ran around trying to find somewhere to had. However, when the earth quaked again, he froze in fear. A quick and powerful impact to his side threw him through a fire and into one of the larger wagons.

Abner awoke, frightened and visibly shaken. One final call of his name not realizing that he had just woken up was shouted out by Whisk. Unknowingly, Abner quickly rose to his feet and rammed his into the bottom of Whisk's jaw tossing him back and knocking him out cold. When Abner's vision finally refocused and his mind somewhat clear he had realized what occurred. It appeared the Cuff was already tending to him and that they were the only two that had come into the tent.

Cuff approached Abner, “It's funny, I told him not to wake you, but it seems he went ahead and did it anyways. I'm taking Whisk to the infirmary, make sure he's okay.” Cuff quickly levitated Whisk and took him out of the tent but not before mentioning that there were some guests that wanted to see Abner.

Abner yawned, quickly repressing the disturbing memory and waited for his guests to come in. Who these guests were, Abner didn't seem to mind, he still seemed preoccupied with the thoughts of his dream and memory so vivid that repressing them just bothered him more. Sitting on the bed, Abner waited and waited. He wondered whereabouts his guests were, the thoughts of his dream slowly fading away. 

Suddenly, the flaps of the tent were pushed open, two Pegasuses entered, both with horns, both earth browns and more natural colors and mares. “So, our eyes did not betray us after all. A horned wolf, forbidden magics, yes. Banished? Perhaps.” The only two horned pegasi he had seen at the camp were the Princesses. For what reason could they have to visit Abner? The same mare spoke up again whilst unveiling themselves that they were the Princesses, “Banishment, most questionable, considerable even. Coincidence that Stribog attacked your home town and to point this out, unlikely.” Abner found this a most odd and intriguing way of speaking, but yet it was still comprehensible. “The disappearance of a Legion soldier after the attack that was with the reconnaissance squad sent to scout out the area. A unicorn soldier mind you...” The darker of the two, Luna, whose coat was a dark indigo and mane and tail ethereal dark blue and indigo with dots of what could be stars in it. Her voice was somewhat distraught, as if she had grown tired from speaking and perhaps travel. “Although we see no harm in leaving you alone, to travel on with the reconnaissance squad that had found you.”

The other princess spoke up, her coat, bright white and also an ethereal mane and tail with teal and pink coloring. “You no doubt have an adventure of great proportions ahead of you even though you're still so young. The Elements of Harmony are in safe hooves, so don't fright about those.” Celestia for a bit circled around Abner, as if she were inspecting him, surveying his stature. “Luna, banishment is unnecessary.” Celestia paused, “Please do forgive my sister, she is still getting used to a few things but thanks to one of my students it hasn't been entirely difficult.” Abner had remembered reading about the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco, an incident that was emotionally troubling for the both of them. 

Abner intrigued, tilted his head, curious what the whole point of this conversation even was. Abner was humble and was unwilling to interrupt, his throat still dried from the ashes and smoke. Abner heard something though, a great change in wind. Thrusts of wings like a bird forcing air out to create lift, but this object was far too large to be a bird. Then there was again, that deafening roar, the dragon, Stribog. The fire crackling through the air perked Abner's ears further and quickly, without much thought. Abner with movements light, equipped the zweihander and its harness all the while projecting a force field of light facing the outer walls of the tent. The Princesses confused by Abner's actions remained behind the shield and just when they themselves heard another roar they reinforced the shield with their own magic. 

The tent quickly burst apart from every seem and was torn from the ground. A rush of cold air and wind blew past the shield as a frozen river of water poured down from above completely encasing the shield, making it pitch black inside. Another roar and the sound of sirens filled the air followed by the scrambled voices of soldiers panicking and others getting troops in line to fight back. 

Abner lit up his horn as a light in the sudden blackness, Celestia and Luna followed. Celestia quickly teleported the three of them out from the icy hemisphere and to the front of what used to be the front of the tent. Walls of ice and soldiers trapped inside was disheartening, Celestia and Luna both went to work quickly thawing the ice to free the soldiers even if they couldn't be saved. Charger's squad and several pegasi managed to get the dragon isolated over the plains before Abner's old village. Abner, shaking was unsure of which way he should go, either stay with princesses or go and try to help out Charger and the other soldiers.

Once realizing that the princesses were fine on their own, Abner began to walk over to the ruined village to help Charger until Cuff stopped him. “Look, wolf, its better that you stay here instead of running off to battle where you could wind up dead.” Abner looked at Cuff, his fore leg in front of him, covered in cuts and scratches. “I need you here to help recover these soldiers, get the ones that we can back on their hooves.”

Abner, somewhat unwillingly, complied. He followed Cuff back into the torn up camp. Some of the sights that Abner saw, the remains and hearing the cries of those soldiers that were seriously injured yelling at the top of their lungs for medical help or wishing to see their family members again. A few quietly remarked that they wish they couldv'e seen their son or daughter when they were born. Cuff was leading what was left of the medical teams. Cuff had Abner help with lifting some of the less injured soldiers, soldiers who had maybe a broken bone or non-fatal injuries. The roars of the dragon could be heard from the encampment, distracting Abner from what he was doing. Oddly enough, when Abner walked into the medical tent he spotted a filly near the front, Abner wondered why a filly would be in such a place as this. Perhaps he can ask Cuff later about it after this engagement with the dragon. 

After a good while of moving disabled soldiers, Cuff dismissed Abner and told him to rest in whatever tent was still standing. Abner instead joined a group of soldiers unable to fight, but able to stand, watching the fight with the dragon from afar. The dragon's size easily dwarfed Wrecker's heavy build and Marina's apparent special control over water kept the dragon from creating anymore ice from its massive jaws. Charger was running from place to place avoiding the stomps of the dragon and the numerous pegasi kept the dragons forearms busy. 

Lines of rope draped around the dragon until it became almost impossible for the dragon to move. Every one them, pulled the ropes and brought the dragon down to the ground. The bystanders all cheered in their victory. Abner slowly began to walk towards the dragon, his heart nervous and feet heavy. He slowly transitioned to running, some of the other ponies began to follow, ones who were cleared of injuries. Whisk had began to trot alongside Abner, almost as if it were a race. 

When they had all finally reached the dragon, Charger, Marina, Wrecker, and the rest of the ponies that fight with them were finishing the preparations to keep the dragon tied down. Massive chains and shackles kept his more major limbs from moving. They all appeared rather exhausted, but had proud auras surrounding them. The dragon had stopped its struggle, solemnly accepting the defeat.  For a moment Abner saw a apparition of Prudence walking towards the the dragons head, Abner followed with a slow walk. None of the ponies seemed to notice him walking towards the magnificent creature. A skin of light blue scales and white underbelly, graceful golden horns that pointed the opposite direction, making a sort of mask from the front. His wings were of darker hues and his large eyes were white as snow and emitting some small strange smoke the same color.

The apparition of Prudence Abner had followed vanished once he was looking at the dragon's face head on. The beast blinked, exhaled a cold and heavy breath causing several hairs on Abner's fur to freeze. The dragon spoke, a roughened, deep and olden voice, ghostlike, “Abner.” His voice vibrated the ground and stunned the ponies that were parading today's heroes. “Thou hast been blessed with magics. Does thou understand the meaning of thy blade thee holds upon their back?” Abner thought back to the strange dream he had the night before, and nodded.  “Then I shall not repeat the tale a second time. Thou must return the sword after bringing it to the Palace of The Guardian's. Place unto the pedestal thy sacred blade, thus returning thee corrupt ones back to thy normal selves. Dost thou understand?” Abner again nodded. Still, he did not know why the sword was taken away from its holy place.

One thing that Abner hadn't realized is that he was perfectly understanding the ancient language the dragon was speaking. Better yet, the journey ahead of him, something that is bound to be perilous.
> Chapter 2- The Dragon Under Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2- The Dragon Under Canterlot


Several days passed by on the journey back to Canterlot with the dragon in tow, tied onto a large wagon made for lumber pulled by nearly fifty stallions and a bit of help from those who could enchant strength unto the soldiers. The princesses, quickly left after the encampment was safe and finally dismantled, busy with other tasks that required them elsewhere. The filly that Abner had spotted in the tent during the battle was a member of the village that he left behind. 

Her name was Lark, was quiet but grew to adapt to her new surroundings, chatting with those she was interested in. She stuck with Abner throughout the trip. Abner appeared to enjoy her company, glad that he was not the only survivor. Her calming blue coat, dark brown black streaked mane, hazel eyes, and white hooves made her stand out from a lot of the soldiers and contrasted greatly against Abner's own soft white fur. Abner had vaguely remembered seeing her sing at a talent show the village school held at one point, her voice was lovely if he recalled correctly.

Still, this didn't entirely fill the hole in Abner's heart. He had no idea where his family was, where they could've gone and whether or not they're even alive. During the nights when the battalion would rest, Abner would wander over to the dragon, who was sleeping throughout the trip, to see if he would wake up. Then he would wander back to Charger's squad and watch the coals burn solemnly. Every spark seemed to remind him the fires that destroyed his home, sometimes he would try and see how many sparks he could control before getting too tired. 

The river they had camped by tonight reflected a beautiful full moon, no clouds to block the view. Abner sat by the trunk of a large tree overlooking the bay pondering the thoughts of where to begin, how, what to learn, and the possibility of never seeing his family, or anyone else that he knew. Unbeknownst to him, Lark had walked up beside him, humming a traditional song that was known in  their village as a song of good luck, strength and spirit. Slowly, Abner drifted to sleep, his worries seemed like a distant memory.

“Another night, another day.” Charger said as the morning horns sounded. Once again, the battalion moved closer to Canterlot and by the afternoon they could see the castle embedded into the side of the mountains. The town below came up over the horizon after another hour or so. The troops pulling the dragon branched off after reaching the main road a ways out from the town. “Almost there. Whisk, it seems like you'll be back to bakin' cakes again.”

“Charger, my cakes are awesome, you know that. The best dish I make though has to be the Alfalfa Penne Pasta with some asiago sauce. Everypony I know that is a regular usually orders that.” Whisk nudged Charger with his hoof, “I keep telling you to try it it too, but no, you always want the Hay Grain Apple Sandwich.”

Charger nudged him back, chuckling, “You know what they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor aw-.”

Cuff quickly butted in,rolling his eyes, “You're making that lame excuse for a joke again?”

“C'mon doc, have some humor would ya?” Whisk replied. Cuff didn't respond.

Marina's accented voice, strong on A’s and O’s, came from behind Abner who was walking in the middle of the group. “You colts need to keep that stuff for when we're off duty.”

Lark giggled, Abner smiled a bit, Charger and Whisk laughed some more, and Cuff sighed.

Once in the Canterlot's lower village, Abner stayed beside Whisk, Lark stayed with Marina, Charger and Cuff went to the castle to deliver proper reports about wounded and other paperwork. Wrecker was helping to tow the dragon into an nondescript location along with other notoriously strong members of the legion.

Following Whisk around long winding roads up the side of the mountain to his new home, Abner noted the various things that caught his eye: the view over the town, the drifting music from the outdoor orchestra, the small jeers of young colts and mares, the songs of birds from the trees that dotted the mountain side and the sun barely setting over the horizon.

Whisk's voice broke his wandering thoughts, “Hey Abner, over here.” Whisk motioned him over to a restaurant called the Fuax Blue Tavern. Two windows in the front, one holding an unreadable sign, to Abner at least. It sat a good distant away from the main road, behind a shoe store and clothes shop. The building itself was a pale gray blue, the windows had vanilla white shutters and the frames were the same. The roof was slightly pitched and uni-directional towards the left side. Approaching the front the second floor towards the back of the building slowly disappeared from view.

He guided him through the small lobby, weaved between the numerous round tables that filled empty space on the floor that the booths didn't cover. The beams of sun through the window hinted small spots where a thin layer of dust showed on the edges of the table cloths. It was clear that the place had been closed down for quite some time, as if Whisk had slowly neglected the place as time went on. Soon enough, Whisk had guided him through some double doors into the back, where the kitchen was, a rather spacious one. Knives and other utensils hung solemnly from the beige walls. Portion pans sat stacked on green barred shelves hoisted to the walls. Three metal counters with lost sheen sat on the opposite wall. A series of grills lined the wall on the other side with grease hoods stretched along the ceiling to catch smoke and thickened air made by food. 

Lastly, Whisk opened another door leading to a flight of stairs to the second floor. Abner followed him up the stairs and into a room that was somewhat unorganized and the floor littered with blankets and cook books. The room was shaped much like a trapezoid, had is bed against the wall separating the room from the stairs. Whisk quickly glanced around the room, telling Abner that he'd work something out for bedding and food, rambling on about how he could order the food from a market. Without warning, Whisk pushed over a large empty three tier bookshelf, tossed several of the blankets on top, folded them and placed a pillow on one end. “That'll work, go ahead and try it out, may want to set your sword up against the wall though.”

Abner followed through, resting the zweihander against the wall horizontally and then hoping up on to the hard wood backing of the bookcase. He nudged at the blankets until they felt right to him and moved the pillow into the corner. Abner then slowly let his eyes drift away, clearing his mind of the days stress. Vaguely he could hear Whisk trot around the room and clean things up.

Finally drifting away into a deep sleep, Abner again found himself in a field of fog. He heard a familiar voice speak out, “Ah, Abner, nice to see your mind has calmed a bit more.” Prudence emerged from the other side of the fog, her translucent horn aglow to part the fog between them. “I see you met the Princesses, and that your magic helped to save them. Admittedly they may have just been just fine however.” Again the events appeared behind her in detailed stained glass. “The dragon Charger, Marina, Wrecker, and the others helped to subdue; they've imprisoned him in a cavern of ice, where the air sits still enough so birds can't even fly.” She seemed nervous, a visible chill went down her spine. Suddenly the environment of the cave surrounded them both, as if they were actually there. They both could see the dragon in all its glory. “Stribog truthfully, is under a weak amount of Blight, or corruption so it were.” She slowly walked around the dragons large snout, who was still heavily asleep. “The biggest problem here is that the Blight will spread to those who wield magic, starting with the unicorns who helped to subdue Stribog.” A worried look crossed her face, this is a problem that I've had all my life, however I've managed to contain it, until I met you.”

Abner walked closer to Prudence curious by what she was on about. Her eyes seemed to water up but she didn't cry. “Anyways I'm sure Stribog here told you what to do with that sword, return it to its rightful place and all will be peaceful once again, so we all hope.” She looked down, dismayed. “Abner, I ask you to complete this task, whether it be on your own or with your friends.”

She walked past Abner,her head hung down to his height. Abner was curious about her, why she too had to deal with this 'Blight'. “If you're curious about the Blight, it is not quite dark magic, but a corruption of light and dark magic. Any research of it proves fruitless aside from what I've said.” Abner could her voice echo off the cave walls, leaving a slight ringing in his ears. “For myself, the Blight was an unfortunate encounter with an infected creature that had wandered into my home when I was young. My parents casted seal upon seal to keep it in check, eventually the Blight infected them as well, slowly corroding their magic until they finally passed away because of it.” She walked over by Abner again, he could her voice shake a bit, “In the end however the seals saved me, I learned how to contain it using a spell combining both light and dark magic.” She lifted a hoof to wipe her eyes, “When I met you, that container transferred over to you. It seems that the Blight can only affect living beings, I'm glad that it didn't back fire.”

Abner sat in front of the dragon, curious of what to do when he did find the dragon. How would he find it in the first place. When would he even be able to. Prudence spoke up again, sighing, “Abner, learn what you can, seek an audience with Celestia, then seek out Stribog's location. Lark's singing, I have a feeling will help you out in the long run.”

The scenery slowly faded back into a fog. Abner could feel his mind slowly bend back into reality. For a moment he wondered what he dreamt is something he should follow through with, they're simply orders from a complete stranger. Although the circumstances put much against it being just a dream. He heard an owl call from outside the window, Abner's ears perked up. Opening his eyes as Whisk's snoring became audible. The crickets and cicada's chirping were loud and obnoxious, just as they were back home. He hopped down from the makeshift bed and walked towards the window. It had enough space on the window seal for him to sit on and so he did. Staring out into the clear and beautiful night sky, a full moon. He could almost make out an aurora borealis in the distant, shimmering its teals and pinks and light blues, dancing it seemed, to the wind. The lights in the town below marked streets and those households that stayed up later than anyone else. His heart felt so content with this, staring at the moon, the stars, the sound of nightly critters filling the air.

Suddenly he heard Whisk grumble something aloud, “No waiter, I'll have the usual...why wait...muffins...pancakes...” Abner smiled, amused. He saw a latch on the window, he opened it and walked onto the fenced deck. Vaguely, he could hear singing, the same song that Lark had sung before. Letting out a melodic howl into the deep night sky. After howling, Abner felt lighter, as if something had been lifted off his shoulders. Shrugging it off, the song died down and as he turned around to go back into the house, he saw a large flowing shape standing on the roof. 

“We welcome thee to Canterlot, Abner.” Princess Luna stood atop the roof, just above the window. Abner sat down intrigued. Her voice was unquestionably loud, strong, and moved the air around her. “Thou expressed a most divine howl into our night sky. Tell us, dost thou speak?” Luna questioned her volume slowly decreased to a more appropriate level. Abner simply shook his head no. “Shame. Perhaps enrolling thee into Canterlot's finest academy will help. We also are curious, would thou recall a Prudence?”

Abner for a moment, thought how to explain the issue. Without realizing it, his horn lit up and a ghostly image of Prudence appeared beside him. She was smaller than her size from his dreams, only the size of his paws put together. She spoke, her voice the same as it was in the dream. “Luna, I apologize that I return in this form. It was all I could do, to save Abner and my consciousness.”

Luna seemed heavy hearted, she lowered her head, “Please explain Prudence”

Prudence sighed, “To begin, I was scouting out the village. Celestia sought a treaty agreement with the village for its crafting skills and was willing to offer protection for them should something happen. I was with the village mayor when the initial attack occurred, I was able to protect the mayor and myself but in the confusion we got separated. I tried to make my way out when I encountered Stribog. Personally, I tried to fight him off but the Blight within him kept canceling out my magic. Eventually he struck me with a fatal blow and the wound was too grave to heal with my magic. I stumbled upon Abner, whose yelp I heard over the fire. I used my special talent of fate sighting on him. What I saw was our salvation if I saved him, and our destruction if I didn't. Anypony could try and return the sword but they would all fail.” she paused for a moment, as if to take a breath.

Luna softly spoke, “Intriguing, we ask thee to continue.”

“That way of speaking never gets old, Luna.” Prudence remarked. “I saw that I could revive Abner if I induced a massive flow of magic throughout him. Summoning up a transfer spell, I used up all my magic. In doing so, I sacrificed my horn, the magic veins, and the Blight container. My physical body turned to dust and went up with the ashes. Now I reside, spiritually, inside of Abner.”

“We understand, Prudence. However, how does time fair in light of this?” Luna asked.

“My best guess is that if Abner doesn't visit Stribog soon, not very long at all. Otherwise we perhaps have a month or so. That only delays the Guardians from finding the sword by force.” Prudence explained.

“What would thee do when thou confronts the dragon?” Luna asked.

“I still haven't quite figured that part out yet, I'll think if something when we get there I suppose, maybe even beforehand.” Prudence answered. “Perhaps I can transfer the Blight into the container that I created.” Prudence looked over to the horizon, the sun was breaking, faint hues of orange and yellow slowly graded into the dark night sky.

“We should be on our way.” Luna seemed disappointed that should could not stay to talk longer. “Tis' a shame that we must leave. We advise caution when approaching Stribog. Farewell for now, Abner and Prudence.” In a large puff of smoke she vanished and Prudence's ghostly figure fade away. 

The magic projection left Abner with a slight headache. Abner turned his head towards the rising sun, another astounding sight from this view in the mountains. “Beautiful sight isn't it?” Prudence's voice echoed in his head.

Abner yawned, feeling sleepy again, wandered back inside and lied down on the bed that Whisk threw together for him.

The roasting of fire and food woke Abner in the early afternoon. Groggily walking down the stairs his ears picked up the chatter of the ponies in the dining portion of the restaurant. Whisk was busy prepping food laid out upon the counters. “Hey there Abner, hope you enjoyed your sleep.” He looked out the window in the wall, giving him nearly full view of the dining area. “I take out the closed sign in the window and I'm already busy. Fortunately, I sent notice to my employees ahead of time.” He turned to one of the other chefs, a monochromatic blue colt, “Weave, don't burn the apples.” Whisk turned back to Abner, “Marina and Lark I think her name was, are waiting for you outside the door. Marina said she'd guide you around the town and if possible, the castle.” Whisk hurriedly grabbed a satchel and attached it to the harness that Abner wore. “Here's some lunch for later, not the same meal as before, but its a favorite here. Now go, meet up with Marina.”

Abner found his way through the dining area and to the main doors. Outside he saw Marina chatting with Lark, who seemed to already know the Equestrian language. At first, Abner thought Lark was a filly, instead she was a young mare; a misconception for her age he figured. “There you are!” Lark zipped over and hugged Abner tightly until he made a slight squeak sound. “Oh, sorry, my fault.” she giggled and Marina had good laugh from it. Abner sighed after a short cough.

Marina spoke up, “Looks like she pretty happy about seeing you again. Anyways, lets get going, I suppose we'll go by some of the major landmarks first.” 

Walking down the well paved walkways, they made their way to a short clock tower located in the middle of a courtyard in front of a large academy. Cobble sidewalks met and circled the tower with foliage lining the foundation. The old red brick and grout had years of wear and the clock faces on each side seemed to have lost some of their shine. The academy itself was a duller blue bricked structure with arms branching outward toward the main road. A large bell hung from a small belfry above the main entrance. The architecture used the theme of pointed arches just about everywhere, from the pillars to the doors.

“This place looks pretty important, what is it?” Lark asked curiously, tilting her head in Marina's direction.

“It's the famous Canterlot Academy. Ponies of any creed and species can attend here, whether to learn magic, writing, music making, fine arts, or history. There's many more than that though.” 

“Are the teachers nice at least?” Lark asked as the three of them approached the main entrance.

“Depends on who you take really. One teacher's style of may suit you, but another may not.” Marina answered confidently. She seemed quite eager to show the two of them around.

“Does Marina come here to learn at all?” Lark wondered.

“I used to, got a degree in writing. Joining the legion allowed me to attend here though.” Marina replied. The entrance exams are very rough and legion soldiers are exempted from some of the prerequisites for entry, however going the soldier route is very rough and tough. Gotta be able to keep up with the bigger ponies.” She chuckled merrily as the group entered into the main library just across from the entrance.

The library was large, it seemed to hold the entire encyclopedias of the known world, mysteries, nonfiction and nonfiction novels alike, art books, architecture, music studies, and magic books that covered everything from levitation to brewing a thunderstorm. Rows and rows of shelves covering three whole floors. The library itself was circler, the main desk positioned front and center, several filing cabinets in a semicircle behind the desk. 

Behind the desk stood an lavender coated, a dark indigo mane with two streaks, one pink and one purple. The violet eyed unicorn shifted her nose through some pages of a book while organizing some files with magic that glimmered the same lavender tone as her coat. The mare seemed entertained by whatever she was reading. The magic encompassed her horn and whatever she levitated through the air or moved about. Her cutie mark consisted of a small cluster of six point stars, one large pink one with a smaller white one behind it and surrounding the center star were five tiny white stars in random places. 

Marina spoke up in a soft voice, “Miss Twilight Sparkle, it's been awhile. How do you do?”

Twilight quickly shuffled away the files and turned her attention away from the book and to Marina, Lark, and Abner. “Indeed it has, Marina and I am doing quite well as usual. How may I help you on this fine day?”

Well I've got two little folks here that could use some apprenticeship in magic if you're at all interested.” Marina asked in a polite tone. Twilight gazed in contemplation, raising a hoof to her chin. Twilight moved out from behind the desk to inspect them further. “Well?” Marina questioned.

“Interesting, I've read about tribes of wolves and ponies living together in the paper and through some old folk tales. I've also read about magic induction, something very hard to do. Achievable, but there are many risks to it, extremely dangerous ones.” Twilight stopped walking around the two for a moment. “Perhaps, instead of physical training, Charger should be able to handle that. I can lend out a few books for beginners. Do remember to bring them back though.” Twilight lead the three of them up some stairs the curved with the central circle's edges. She stopped at a section labeled by a sign on the side of the bookshelves stating, Beginners Magic, 0 to L. “This is where you should begin. I'd start with the more basic ones, starting with Forming and Levitation: First Edition.”

Marina asked, “You wouldn't happen to have any books for traditional folk songs would you?”

Twilight laughed delightfully, “Marina, you should know by now that I have a book for just about everything. What for, I'm curious.”

“It's for this young mare here, Lark. She says her special talent is singing, and from the few songs I've heard from her, she says they're passed down in her family.” Marina answered.

Twilight, without much thought said, “Well there are quite a few books on those alone, finding ones with just the lyrics shouldn't be too difficult. Come with me Lark, I'll pull out a few books for you to choose from.” They both began to walk off after Twilight remarked that Marina should stay with Abner out of concern for safety. 

Abner had already been looking through the books during the conversation, seeing which ones he could use for light magic. The Equestrian alphabet transformed to his own language when his eyes passed over them. There were plenty abound. Each book a different color, a different binding structure, a different leaf page, various authors, thicknesses, heights, some with gilded linings, and some with extremely decorative covers. Through the hours, three books caught his interest the most. 

First, Light Based Magic: First Edition by Gleaming Phosphorescence, a book with the brightest white covers and gold decorating the corners, aging pages turned beige, and the writing were more notes and quick sketches of what the results should be. Extremely simple things were described,  creating a candlelight by which to guide oneself during the night, a sphere of light to help not only the caster but others who may be following them, or simply bringing up a light from one's horn to read more easily in dark areas.

The second book, Levitation and Projection: Do's and Do Nots by Levo Promineo, a flat shade of purple and a simple dull yellow border meeting the edges, the pages were not worn, and the writing was simple with no marring and easy to understand imagery on separate pages from the text. Some of the writings described example encounters and problematic situations and how to get over them, one situation it described the hypothetical of a broken down bridge over a canyon. The solution being that levitating oneself over to the other sider, projecting a temporary bridge to connecting the two edges together, or bringing the broken halves of the bridge back together if at all recoverable.

The third book, Advanced Shaping Techniques: Shaping Magic Into Forms by Alter Way Forming, bound together by threads due to its worn out covers which held stains of tea or coffee on its blue surface with corners lined with a rugged leather like material, the pages were filled with hundreds of small sketches and notes on thought processes for certain techniques. Transformation techniques ranged from turning a blade of grass into a small dagger to turning the large leaves of a ficus tree into a large shield to protect from dangerous weather conditions.

Content with the books after skimming through a majority of the pages in each, Abner shelved the books atop of the satchel Whisk had given him earlier in the day. Bringing a strap over the books to keep them in place, somewhat. Marina had fallen asleep whilst reading a novel of her own, The Grand Adventure of Hoofbert and Gallamane, a book sage green with out much decoration other than the white letters in the title and two thin stripes along the binding. Carefully, Abner nudged her foreleg a bit until she drowsily awoke. Coming to, she hastily remembered what she was doing, bookmarked the page she was on then closing the book all the while pacing to a slow trot as she lead Abner back down the stairs and to the front desk where two other ponies had been getting some help by a small purple and green spine finned dragon named Spike.

One pony had a frantically happy voice and a cheerful smile to go along with it. Her speaking was quicker than what the translation magic could keep up with. Her eyes a cyan zooming around the room as if they were directing her head. The dark pink mane she had was as fluffy as a cloud. Abner, following close behind Marina, saw that the pink pony was carrying a basket on her back. He was somewhat curious, but before he could finish his thought the excited pink pony zipped over to Abner and immediately began to ask questions. “I haven't seen you around before! Are you new!? How'd you get that horn? Do you want to have a party because I love throwing parties, parties are my special talent. Do you have a special talent, mine is throwing parties!” She began to hop an unusual height around Abner filled with more glee without a breath wasted. 

Marina spoke up for Abner, “He can't speak our language, he also seems to be rather mute or just extremely quiet. So, Pinkie Pie, please for a moment, calm down. Twilight is around I just need to find her.” Marina had talked to Pinkie Pie in a bit of stern tone, as if annoyed by all her talking and hyperactivity. 

Pinkie Pie had calmed down for a moment and then began to eye Abner as if she was going to stalk him. The other pony, a unicorn, that is with Pinkie seemed to be very upright with her mannerisms. A finely groomed curled indigo mane and tail contrasting from her light azure grey coat made her stand out from others. She had azure colored eyes, finely tuned lashes, and light blue eyeshadow. Certainly beauty and grace on multiple levels and tell tale signs of Spikes slight nervousness whilst speaking to her were some proof of that. “Spike,” her  was voice elegant, clear, proud, “darling, where is our dear twilight, Pinkie Pie does miss her so.”

“Well, Twilight is usually pretty busy in the library here.” Spike pointed out.

“Yes, of course, but she should drop by and visit more, I worry about her becoming a shut in.

“Rarity, she has made many friends here, just as she did at Ponyville.” 

“Of course, but still-” She stopped herself and looked at Marina, “Marina, dear its been much too long.”

“It certainly has Rarity.” Marina replied.

“Spike, could you be a dear and fetch Twilight for us?”

“Of course Rarity, anything.” 

Spike hopped down for the chair behind the front desk and ran off to search for Twilight. Rarity approached Marina, “I finished that dress for you dear, its back at the boutique though. I didn't know if you'd be coming back. Did Prudence happen to come back?”

“Relax Rarity, I told you I'd be fine.” Marina looked down, disheartened, “No, we lost her during the initial attack on Abner's village, this poor wolf's home. A dragon of wind came down and utterly destroyed the village, Prudence was lost in that.”

Rarity in turn was disheartened, shocked, Pinkie's mane went from it's fluffy cloud look to extremely straight. “That's rather unfortunate,” Rarity's voice audibly shaken, “She was a good pony, always helped out, always helped me out with my dresses without asking for anything in return. She was a good student of Twilight's too.”

Suddenly Twilight's voice broke in, confused, “Who was a good student?” For a few minutes there was an awkward silence, enough for Abner to start hearing every heartbeat. Pinkie, Rarity and Marina shot glances at each other. Twilight broke the silence, “Is it something to do with Prudence?”

“Yes.” Marina spoke up, “She went missing in action a few days ago when the dragon incident occurred in Abner's town.

“That's...unfortunate.” Twilight's voice went from a subtle joy to a slight sadness. “Lets get your books check out.” she sighed and wandered over to the front desk. Abner tried for a moment to recall what she looked like, to see if he could again get Prudence to appear as a projection. However, it didn't work, not even Prudence's voice met his conscious. Perhaps its something that requires the presence of a much stronger magic. Twilight looked at Abner, “Put the books on the desk.” Abner did so. She looked at the books intrigued, flipping through them for the numbers to check for listing them as currently checked out. “This is a very interesting selection here: Gleaming Phosphorescence, Levo Promeneo, and Alter Way Forming. Each one of them use sketches, notations, and comparisons to common things in their writing.” Twilight was mildly amused. “Alter's writing is quite humorous when remarking mistakes in casting spells.” It's as if she read through the books a multitude of times before. “Levo is kind of strange, his drawings are more like blueprints using geometric shapes, his notes archaic. Hard to read if you're not used to the style.” She skimmed through the pages of each book to make sure each one was there, intact. “Gleaming is a popular author, light based magic is always nice to know when finding your way in the dark. Even helps working in areas that natural light can't reach.”

Twilight handed the books back to Abner, and asked Lark to hand her the book that she had. After making several remarks about finding it the wrong location. Twilight admitted that misplacements do occur, luckily her magic helps quite often when it does occur. Twilight asked Spike to keep tend to the front desk. She appeared disheartened, trying to hide her sadness. Rarity consoled Pinkie for the moment and Marina read through Lark's recently checked out book. Twilight teleported herself to the top floor and with everyone busy, Abner sneaked away up the to the top floor of the library. 

There he found a simple door, purple in color and golden hinges and handle with a deadbolt lock. Abner sat in front of the door for a moment and proceeded to knock on it with one of the books. The door opened, its hinges squeaked quietly as Twilight poked her head out. “Ah, it's you, Abner if I recall correctly. You're quite the silent one.” She thought for a moment and opened the door further, “Come in, I suppose I can give you some back story to Prudence. Maybe if we're lucky she'll appear before us.” She let out a short laugh that also exposed her sadness. Closing the door after Abner slowly walked in whilst putting the book back in the satchel.

Her room was quite typical couple of shelves for her own books, chest-of-drawers with a large mirror on top with some makeup equipment on laying on top. An ornate room divider for dressing behind, a large bed against the wall with a circular window allowing sunlight through. Another door led to a balcony that gave a good view over the central area of the academy, a park or zen garden of sorts. The floor was a deep purple as was a majority of the furniture, and the walls are a off white cream color much like the skin of a tree, beneath the bark.

Twilight looked in the mirror, recollecting all the memories, quickly placing them in a proper order and began her story of Prudence, “Prudence was a good friend to have for those who knew her.” She turned to Abner, who sat still and listened intently. “She came into Ponyville looking for work. She wandered in without her parents, who she says passed away due to an illness on their journey here.” Twilight slowly walked over to the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room and pulled out a photo album. “She first delved into the many books in my library after helping Applejack in the apple orchards. Willing to helping anypony out, her heart was generous much like Rarity's and she held strong bonds with each of us. A young mare at the time, she was full of energy, staying up late and studying in her own house that carpenter's recently built at the time. Eventually she decided to attend Canterlot Academy, coincidentally around the same time I moved here to work the library.” Twilight sat down on the bed and motioned Abner to hop up while flipping through the pages with her magic. Abner sat beside her, looking at the pictures of Prudence helping with party arrangement's, modeling dresses, feeding animals, reading books, collecting apples, and moving clouds. “There was one night though, Prudence came to me feeling sick and her magic appeared to be going haywire. Asking for a book on sealing spells I gladly helped her out.” Twilight stopped at the last picture she had of Prudence, one of her before she left on her journey to Abner's hometown. “I had asked her what was wrong, however she didn't reply and she didn't look too happy either. She took the books with her and returned them before she left. I've heard of magic going haywire during pregnancy, but she didn't look it.” Twilight looked out the large circular window and sighed as a longing look crossed her face. “Still today I wonder what she needed the books for, as she usually told me why she would need a book and chat about the subject before leaving.” Abner could tell that despite not knowing Prudence very well, she had quite the impact on whomever she met. “Speaking of her leave,” Her head quickly turned back towards Abner, “She said one thing beforehand to me in secret, unusual for her, 'A wolf born of light quieter than earth will come in my stead.' I guess this is what she meant by that, perhaps that's what her cutie mark resembled, foretelling.” Twilight began to cry slightly.

Abner again tried to recall Prudence, to project her before Twilight. Then her voice seeped into his consciousness, “Abner, you've sought out Twilight as I told you, good. Why is she crying?” Abner pointed his eyes towards the photo album. “Oh dear, Marina told her, didn't she. Twilight knows well that a dragon attack of the scale leaves little to no survivors.” Abner could hear her voice echo inside his head. “Just a moment Abner, I need to tap into certain parts of your nervous system, that talk with Luna drained a majority of the magic that I had stored within you. Are you willing to risk temporary and even perhaps permanent impairment for this?” Abner nodded his head yes, without Twilight noticing. “Very well, prepare yourself.”

Abner's head began glowing a brilliant white light and a ghostly white fire emerged from his eyes. The fuzzy projection of Prudence appeared on top of the pages. Twilight for a moment reeled back in surprise when the magic began to pour out. “Whats happening?” she questioned worriedly. When the magic settled down, she realized what occurred. Prudence was right there, before her very eyes incarnated as a translucent projection from Abner's horn. “Prudence,” she stammered, “is that really you?”

“For the most part, yes.” Prudence answered. She then told the same story she had told Luna, starting with her mission to treaty with Abner's village to its ending of her physical form turning to ash after transferring her magic and horn to Abner. Towards the end, her projection began to fizzle and fade. “I can't hold this form much longer, I'm already endangering Abner doing this. Please, Twilight, don't mention this to anypony else.”

“You have my word, Prudence.” Twilight remarked confidently.

“Promise me” Prudence said sharply.

“I promise, Prudence.” Twilight said with high esteem. “It's good to know that you're still around”

“Thank you, Twilight.”

They both smiled as the projection of Prudence fizzed away into the air, as well as the brilliant white magic that went with it. Abner's eyes went back to normal, rendering him blind for a few seconds. He could feel his entire nervous system burn up and pricking skin coursed throughout his body. He endured the pain until it faded away a few moments later leaving him breathless. Twilight was crying, glad that she was in some way, able to say goodbye again. Looking into Abner's eyes Twilight hugged him saying, “Thank you Abner, for bringing Prudence back to us.” Abner tried to hug back, but it was difficult to move. “Tell you what, I'll lend you a book to help increase your magic efficiency. Don't worry about returning it, it's a book I wrote, I have quite a few copies to myself.” She broke away from Abner and lifted a book from off her desk and placed it in Abner's satchel. “Come back again tomorrow around noon, I'll give you a few lessons to start it.”

Twilight led Abner out the door and watched him walk down stairs. When Abner approached Marina she asked, “Where's that lunch that Whisk gave you, Pinkie's feeling mighty hungry and hopping around quite frantically now. Rarity managed to cheer her quite a bit.” Abner proceeded to pull out the lunch from the outer most pocket of the satchel and handed it over to Marina. 

The group made their way out to the central garden on the middle of the Academy. Other ponies wandered about, making their way to their own classes or lunch. Pinkie guided the group near a large tree that provided quite a bit of shade. She chatted about the delicious sweet food she brought with her in her picnic basket as Rarity pulled out a large red and white checkered, flattening it out and placing it on the ground. Immediately Pinkie began pulling out food ranging from cheesecake to a bunch of chocolate glazed apples. Rarity quickly organized the food and placed the large salad that Whisk made. Marina said that Whisk always knew what she liked for food, further stating that that colt is such a romantic sometimes. 

Abner heard familiar voices coming from the nearby entry way. Eventually a familiar sight, Charger and Cuffs followed by Wrecker who towered over them. Lark began running over after Abner had pointed his head in their direction. Lark dragged them over, Cuff looked displeased as if he was already busy enough. The three were not in uniform, Wrecker however still wore armor to keep his face and the majority of his body hidden. Charger was enjoying the situation, “I see you're all out on a little picnic. Ah, Pinkie Pie and Miss Rarity, it's been quite some time. Pinkie, how about you set up a party for Abner and Lark at Whisk's restaurant.” Pinkie quickly scarfed down one of the cakes she brought along, whole and quicker than you could say higgledy-piggledy. She dashed off as nothing more than a pink blur.

Abner was dumbfounded, he had never seen anything move that fast before. Charger was amused and Cuff barely twitched a muscle in his face. Rarity spoke up, “Charger, I see you're in as good shape as ever. How is one of our famed captains of the Legion doing these days?” Rarity asked, still calming herself from laughing at Pinkie's quick departure.

“Other than taking down a fearsome dragon who controlled wind, not half bad.” Charger answered nonchalantly. 

Cuffs appeared visibly irritated, “Not half bad? Charger I hope you realize how many casualties that dragon caused. Everypony that was critically injured may not be able to serve again, there are limits to what healing magic can do.”

Charger rolled his eyes, “I know Cuffs, stop being a negative nancy. Now I hear you need an audience with Celestia, Abner.” Abner's ears perked up, “Tomorrow, late afternoon before the sun sets, I'll be waiting in front of the castle's inner gate.”

“How is it that this wolf is able to understand every word that we say?” Rarity asked.

Cuff swiftly answered, “Probably translation magic, whoever gave him the ability to use magic likely casted the spell that either has an extremely long duration or permanent. Permanent effects require materials other than the spell itself, much like alchemy. Prudence was pretty knowledgeable about that sort of stuff. Helped out when we didn't have proper materials” Cuffs way of speaking was a lot like Rarity's, upright and proper, well mannered. He seemed easily irritated though, a colt more for logic than nonsense.

The conversations carried on, as if they were all old friends meeting up again. Rarity left after realizing she was going to be late for an appointment with a client. Packing the blanket and remaining dishes and food back into the basket Pinkie had left. Eventually they all made their way back to Whisk's place, the Fuax Blue Tavern as the sun began to set. Lark was asleep, carried by Wrecker and for the most part the walk was quiet. The scenic view over the lower town lit up  by the setting sun was breathtaking. Marina, Charger and Wrecker had seen it numerous times before, but to Abner it was stunningly beautiful.

Entering the Tavern, the inside was nearly pitch black with curtains drawn over the windows. An eerie silence crept about and the air was still. Suddenly, just seconds after the door closed, fires lit up the candles around the room. Ponies popped out from behind every booth and table, Pinkie Pie was right in front of them with a party horn in her mouth and blew it until just the tip hit Abner's nose. Everyone of the ponies yelled surprise. Charger smiled, Cuffs didn't react much and made his own way over to a series of tables that were set up for a vast amount of food Whisk and his team of chefs had prepared along with various deserts. Whisk quietly escorted Wrecker to his room to let Lark, who was still fast asleep, sleep someplace more pleasant.

All throughout the night, guests came and left until the moon was at its highest point in the sky. Charger was busy retelling the battle with the dragon but made sure he never mentioned the name. Whisk was there too, telling his own version of the story with crazy incidents that never actually occurred. Cuffs sat by himself for most of the time, busy writing papers. Marina headed upstairs to keep an eye on Lark and perhaps get some sleep of her own. Pinkie was constantly bouncing around to check on things. Wrecker seemed to have disappeared after Whisk escorted him upstairs. Abner sat across at one of the larger tables being introduced to everypony that was at the party, Most of them didn't seem too bothered by the horn on his head.

Once the party finally died down, confetti scattered across the floor balloons floating dangerously close to the candles, a table or two knocked over and somehow Whisk wound up stuck in one of the chandeliers, leaving Pinkie to laugh hysterically. Charger fell asleep at the table he was telling his tale with strokes of black ink turning his face into a canvas of random drawings. Abner headed to the back and up the stairs to Whisk's room and once again went to sleep on the makeshift bed not minding Lark and Marina cuddled up against each other with a blanket drawn over them. Wrecker was still no where to be found. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, a training session with Twilight, an audience with Celestia, and perhaps going to icy cave where the dragon, Stribog, awaits.

The next morning the chime of brass bells marked the hour after the had risen, echoing into the distance. Abner again awoke to the smell of food. He felt a heavy weight against his side preventing him from moving the lower half of his body. Lark had snuggled up against him in his sleep and Marina slept on the other side of Abner, a large blanket draped over the three of them. Abner was somewhat amused, although a bit confused why they both moved over to him in his sleep. Squeezing his way out, Abner made his way downstairs, bringing the zweihander with him, sheathed. 

Whisk had this time cooked him some breakfast, a pasta much like the salad from the day before. Large leafs of romaine lettuce, rigatoni noodles, some sliced chicken that was bread and cooked to a golden brown. A few sprigs of rosemary garnished the meal, with a little bit of shredded parmesan cheese sprinkled across the top. “I don't do breakfast meals very well, so instead I cooked you something that I might serve for lunch or dinner for a carnivore like you.” Whisk spoke up, sitting in a chair pulled up to one of the counters. He had a very exhausted look on his face, as if he had stayed up the entire night. “Gah. I feel like crap.” He complained. “I cooked Lark and Marina something too. I guess you managed to sneak down here without waking them.”

Abner took him up on the breakfast, he enjoyed it much to his surprise. After finishing his meal, Lark and Marina came down the stairs, tired and groggy. Lark quickly spotted the food sitting on top of the counter. Her eyes widened and dashed over but before she grabbed the bowl of salad, she politely asked Whisk after looking around the room for him, “Whisk, is this for me?”

“Yea. It is. The other bowl is for Marina. I already ate so don't worry.” Whisk answered. Happily, Lark grabbed the bowl and took it out to one of the tables in the dining area; Marina did the same. “Abner, good luck.”

Later that morning, towards the early afternoon, Abner and Lark guided again by Marina, headed to Canterlot Academy's library to see the great Twilight Sparkle. Marina had to leave to attend to other duties of her own, saying that the small aquatic zoo she worked for needed her help. She describe it as a large glass square holding thousands of gallons of water. In the water stirred various amounts of creatures that thrived in the oceans, from krill to extraordinary large angel fish.

Twilight Sparkle came down from the top floor, she seemed eager to teach them as a cheerful smile ran across her face. Twilight asked Spike to attend the front desk again, then she guided Lark and Abner to some archery grounds. The grounds were located behind the academy and had been unattended for some years as training for archery dwindled eventually the course was dropped from the curriculum altogether. The targets at the other end were overgrown by vines and weeds and the points to take stance that were once barren dirt gave way to lush grass and patches of flowers.

Lark seemed anxious to learn, Abner was curious to see what kind of spells he could learn. “Today,” Twilight started, “I will show the both of you the very basics of magic. First we'll see how well your focus is.” Twilight's horn gleamed lightly, a translucent purple sphere about the size of her hoof in front of her nose. “Okay. Concentration is key here. Imagine that the magic is an extension of yourself, clear your mind. Have it take shape as a sphere in this case.” 

For next hour or so both Abner and Lark tried forming a sphere about the same size as Twilight's. Abner tried to think back to the moment when he projected the force field to help protect the Princesses from Stribog before. He didn't think much other than casting some form of protection. Before he could form his own sphere, Lark cheered loudly, sharply stinging Abner's ears. Twilight quickly congratulated her. Glancing over at Abner, who was still having plenty of trouble trying to even draw out any magic. Twilight realized that his magic was too low to complete the task. Instead she had him read the book he checked out by Alter Way Forming. Demonstrating a few of the sketches from the book for him and Lark.

As the sun came close to setting, Twilight guided them towards Canterlot Castle's main gate. She then told the guards that Captain Charger is awaiting their arrival. “This is where we part for today, I hope to see you tomorrow. I did thoroughly enjoy teaching again.” Twilight waved goodbye and trotted off back down the cobble road. 

The guards allowed the two of them entry, a third guard led them to Charger, who stood still in a full suit of armor. “Ah, Abner, Lark, you two finally arrived. I don't think you two understand how hot it get wearing all this armor.” Charger whispered. Him and the guard that led Abner and Lark switched their positions. “I'm honestly not sure how Wrecker walks around in his all day long with out much of a problem.”

Opening a door built into the inner gate, Charger guided them into a large foyer. A grand staircase and large glass chandelier met their eyes first. The entire room was filled to the brim with royal purple hues with yellow highlights from the pillars and stained glass to the carpet and intricate crown moldings along the ceiling and floor. Celestia sat on a golden throne carefully carved two match the awe and nobility of her grace. “You're early.” She said, her eyes behind a large scroll she was reading. “I see you've brought the wolf and his friend. You wanted to guide him to the prison of that dragon we've imprisoned, correct?”

“Yes, your Highness.” Charger sternly replied. “I assure you that there will be no trouble in doing so. I'm sure your sister has already told you what the consequences would be in not taking care of the matter.”

“Indeed she did.” Celestia recalled, rolling the scroll back up and making it vanish into thin air. “ Luna also stated that she had gotten this information just two days ago from her apprentice, Prudence. Whom I recall went missing in action after the initial attack on this young wolf's village.”

“Well, she also told me last night, Luna did.” Charger looked to be in some disbelief.

“Explain.” Celestia was intrigued, her interest piqued.

“Well, it appears that Prudence used some magic that is ill-advised to use out of safety for oneself and possibly others. Transference magic combined with healing magic. She knew she couldn't save herself but she knew she could save the wolf after she stumbled upon him. Abner had suffered a glancing blow from the dragon's tail it would seem. Prudence's use of the magic consumed the rest of her, reducing her physical body to ash.”

Celestia, once interested, was now saddened. “She was one of my diplomats, I had hoped to see her return before her birthday came up where she was also to receive a promotion.” She paused for a moment, looking confused. “You said her physical body correct?”

“Well, when she used her transference magic, she also transferred her consciousness somehow. I don't know how your unicorn mumbo-jumbo magic works. It also seems like she can't come out on her own free will so I'm not entirely sure you can talk to her right now.” Charger answered, his voice  full of sorrow but he was trying to hide it the best he could.

“There's a lot more to her than I remember. She'll be awarded with the proper medals and a proper funeral. I'll make it a private one, you are all welcome to come. I'll be sending the letters to Twilight tomorrow.” She began pulling out papers from thin air and writing on them. “Now onto the matter of the dragon and the wolf, you already know where to go. Be safe, we certainly don't want Canterlot being turned to shambles. You have two days.”

“Very well Celestia. I shall see what I can do.” Charger confidently replied, turned and had Abner and Lark follow him. 

As they left the castle, Lark was downtrodden, sad about what she had heard. “Mister Charger,” she asked. “Is it possible that my parents are still alive?”

Charger smiled, trying to put on a happy face, “It's perfectly possible that they're still alive. They may be making their way here already or at some other safe haven.” 

Lark didn't seem entirely cheered up, but it gave her hope.

The next day, Abner and Lark went to Twilight early in the morning. The grass at the archery range was soaked from the nights rain. Today, Abner managed to form all sorts of different objects from a small sphere to a large wall. Twilight worked with Lark to have the songs she learned become magic spells that acted like enchantments and controlled certain elements. Learning from the books, Abner sought Twilight's help when he needed to. It was all good practice, it opened up both of their minds to new ways of doing everyday tasks.

Later that evening, Charger rounded up the squad but left Whisk and Cuffs to attend their daily jobs. The group headed outside of town and around the base of the mountains into the lush woods below. After sometime walking along the steep mountainside, they approached  a cave tucked away and hidden by trees. “Alright, stand back and let me handle this.” Charger let loose his large white and silver tipped wings and pulled himself up towards the sky. He positioned his body parallel to the mountainside, circled to pick up speed and flew straight into a hole further up in the rocky mountain. 

Suddenly, after a brief pause, the trees blocking the caves entrance moved. They were fake, placed on large camouflaged cogs that turned beneath the ground. The caves entrance was larger than Abner and Lark had originally anticipated. They entered despite feeling the cold freezing drafts of air that came out. Charger rejoined them half way through using some access tunnels from elsewhere. “When was the last time we had to imprison a giant beast here, I wonder.” Marina thought aloud.

“Well, according to the texts I've read, about five or six years after Discord's imprisonment after his reign.

“Whatever happened to it?” Larked asked, scared, sticking close to Abner's side.

Charger mused the thought, “Well, I think it died from old age and if I recall correctly, it was a shape-shifting creature whose original form wasn't unlike our own. One more thing I remember though is that it seemed to lack its ability to do its talent once it was here though.”

As they traveled further into the increasingly icy caves, their footsteps echoing, they began to hear the dragon's snoring. A sound which got louder and louder the more they approached it. Lark was getting very nervous and stuck to Abner more and more. Marina, Wrecker, and Charger didn't seem nervous at all, as if they had all been here quite a few times before. 

“Strange, I don't remember the cave being this long before.” Charger remarked.

“Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?” Marina asked.

“Not that I can tell...let's keep moving” Charger answered.

Eventually, the group happened upon the dragon, Stribog, who slept in deep hibernation. The stalactites and stalagmites had been broken from bringing him in here or from him furiously tossing about in a fit of rage. The large dome shaped section of the cave contained the dragon quite well. The dragon was curled up, hiding his face behind his massive tail. Its wings were folded up and its light blue scaled skin reflected the dim light from the torches perched high up on the walls. The ground was cold, the air was stiff, and the  silence was overwhelming. For a moment the dragon stirred and the group became frightened.

“Abner,” Wrecker spoke up, his voice was deep, powerful, and perchance could move mountains if he shouted loud enough. “Go.”

Abner shook Lark off of him, having Marina hold her. Approaching the beast, Abner was scared, but he kept his feet moving knowing that if he backed down unfathomable events may occur in the future. Stirring up again, the dragon arose from his slumber, “So, you've finally arrived. The sword, hand it to me.”

Prudence's voice again echoed in Abner's conscious, “Do as he says, trust him, the Blight is not affecting him at the moment.”

Drawing the zweihander from its sheathe, Abner placed the sword on the ground and backed away from it. The 
dragon reached one of his claws down and grabbed the sword.  His hands began to burn, the dragon endured the pain. 
Then in an instant, Stribog thrusted the zweihander into the center of his chest where his heart is. Sudden rushes of white and black air released from the dragon's body. Stribog began to quickly age before them, his scaly skin peeling away with each progression. His webbed wings decayed, broke and shattered.  The torrents of air rushed around the chamber and the ponies huddled up against each other. Abner stood steadfast against the wind and Stribog's body began turning to dust.

The winds ceased, the dragon faded away, and the sword clanged several times against the ground. What was left, a floating wisp of pitch black that fluctuated and pulsed. “Pick up the sword, touch the dragon's soul with your paws.” Prudence's voice rang out in Abner's mind.

Following her words and entirely unsure of the consequences in doing so, Abner picked up the sword and approached the wisp which gradually lowered itself to the ground. Reaching one paw out to touch the wisp, the wisp itself began reaching to him. Before he realized it, he was entirely engulfed by the dark wisp. Scared, Abner panicked and began using light magic to keep it from seeping into his body. A voice called out to him, “Do not resist. This is not the will of the Blight.” The voice was familiar, it was the dragon's. It seems that he is going the same way Prudence did.

Calming himself yet still nervous, Abner felt the constant pricking in his nerves and skin as the engulfing wisp slowly merged into is own body. A shockwave of silver colored magic ejected outward after the ritual completed throwing the group of ponies back a ways. Able to see again, Abner sheathed the sword and began walking back towards the group. His entire body burned, as if he were an inferno. Coughing quite a few times, he began to stumble in his walking and moved until finally collapsing.

Lark quickly ran towards Abner, crying out his name with tears in her eyes. The rest of the group quickly followed. Lark nudged her nose against Abner to see if he was still alive. Marina checked his vitals and confirmed that he was still living. Lark was happy, Wrecker quickly lifted Abner up and placed him on his back. Charger quickly led the group out of the caves as the ceiling began to collapse around them. Marina guarded the group as they left with a magic force field. Quickly heading back into town, Charger lead the group to the small hospital where Cuffs worked.

Placing Abner in an intensive care unit, they waited for the diagnostics. After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, Cuffs came out to them, “He'll make it, unfortunately it's going to take several days for recovery. It seems an exceedingly large intake of magic overwhelmed him, what exactly happened?”

“Well, we're not sure, we went into the dragon's chamber and it used the sword to kill itself practically. Turned into some ball of gas, Abner touched it and it swallowed him I guess would be the best way to put it. Then it seemed to merge with him I suppose.”

“That's...quite unheard of.” Cuffs was puzzled. “Now you've got me curious. Charger, go ask her to come and visit would you. You're all welcome to stay until visiting hours are over as usual, just remember to check in with the nurse at the front desk.”

The days past by ad Abner's health slowly began to change for the better. After being discharged from the hospital, Abner resumed his training under Twilight Sparkle. The day of Prudence's funeral swiftly passed. The night after the funeral, Abner's dreaming became a nightmare. Beginning as a walk through Canterlot on his own, everything back engulfed in black and blue fire. He could hear the voices of all the ponies cry out in terror and pain. He could hear the flames snap and crack in the air. Prudence's translucent body appeared before him, “Abner, we may not have much time left after all. The Blight contained within the dragon wasn't extinguished, instead, it merged with the Blight that I had contained. I've managed to contain it again with the dragons help. His soul is now part of yours but his consciousness is not. Your magic power is tenfold of what it was before.” 

Abner could feel the heat of the fire singe the tips of his fur. Prudence began to ran off motioning him to follow. Trying to follow her, the fire beginning to singe his fur. Abner's legs felt heavy and slow to moved. He could feel something pulling him down. He could see the flames ceasing to wave wildly and Marina's steps become slower. The world began to distort and twist until it snapped to black. A white light surrounded Abner for a moment, he tried to keep running but his movements felt stiff. Looking behind him he saw arms of black burst out of the ground, entangle and cling to his feet and back. It was akin to trying to escape a tar pit. The arms of black eventually engulfed him entirely.

Quickly snapping out of the nightmare, Abner awoke gasping for air. The sound of nightly critters quickly filled his ears again. The open window let in a cool breeze. Abner again went outside onto the deck, the breeze softly shifting his fur, a full moon lit the peaks of the cloudless mountain tops. The constellations just a bright as the moon dimly twinkled in the sky above. Thin cirrus clouds slowly shifting across the sky changing colors as they moved in front of the moon.

He tried to recall the dream, but the memory faded until he couldn't remember. He looked down at the road and saw a shadowed figure with glowing white eyes. “Abner,” Lark called out from behind him, Abner turned to towards her. “You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost.” Abner noticed that she was speaking the language of their village. Abner calmed down and looked back toward the road, the shadowy figure gone. “I suppose you may not have been sleeping too well.” She walked over by Abner and sat down, looking at the moon. “The nights beautiful isn't it? Perhaps a song might calm you down a bit, I'll try not to be too loud.”

Softly, she sang a song that brought out emotions of relaxation and happiness. The words gently graced his ears, each melody of the sweetly enchanted words danced in the drums of his ears. He had realized that the translation magic wasn't changing the words of the song, but it didn't matter. The tone of the song helped him forget the troubles of today and remember all the good times that he had with his family.

A time when his oldest brother, Lev, showed him the blacksmith shop to show him how crafting metal objects worked. His second oldest brother, Kafziel, who had moved away to participate with a group of adventurers. Kafziel and Abner always raced through the town to see who would be the first one home. Naamiy, his oldest sister and twin to Lev, was well known by everyone in the village. Nitza, the youngest and his sister, looked to the family garden and helped his mother to sell flowers to other villagers. His father was the leader of the village and somehow he managed to make time for his family every night. His mother looked out for them, always giving them some sort of guidance in the morning.

As Lark's song neared its end and the memories subsided a bit, Abner's eyes let out a few tears. He smiled and wiped his eyes leaned against Lark's side. Lark continued her song, the moving sonnets relaxed his eyes. He had forgotten how much he missed his family, he wanted to see them again. But how in Midir's name would he even be able to find them? 

Before he realized it, he had fallen asleep again, drifting into a dream that had him drifting in auroras across a clear blue sky with stars dotting the air around him. He twisted his body as if he were swimming underwater. The aurora danced with muted sound of Lark's song. A warm and comforting air surrounded him like a blanket. He swam through the air, shooting stars trailing behind him. He could hear the voices of his family echo and collide. Suddenly, they formed out of the aurora and greeted him with a loving joyful smile. However, their movements were like photographs, frame by frame with each blurring into the next. Series of stars made up their skeleton structures in a simple manner. In the midst of the illusional reunion, the aurora turned into a cloud of blue and pink smoke and the ground became reachable again. 

His family faded away with the smoke and from it, another wolf whose form bled a fiery golden light from their back cutting through the colored fog. The form quickly morphed into a glowing sphere and whisked its way around Abner. It slowed down above Abner's and stretched itself out along his back. The warm light coursed throughout his body and pricked every nerve. The sensation lasted for minutes on end. As the sensation faded away, he could feel him self wake up from his slumber. 

The sun began to rise, lighting the town ablaze in vivid colors of oranges and yellows. He had been covered with a thick blanket, but he could feel another body against his, Lark's. She slept beside him, the words of her sonnet still rang in his ears. The sun rise was cut up by clouds of which he could spot a few pegasi sleeping on. He could hear the rustle of wagons moving through the streets below, their squeaky wooden wheels clacking against the cobble.

Bringing himself to his feet and pulling the blanket over Lark, he made his way out of the Tavern with his zweihander sheathed away in the harness and headed towards the Library Canterlot Academy. 

On his way, an odd gray pony with crossed eyes carrying a messenger bag handed him a letter. The pony gave him a look of confusion for a moment, “Abner?” Abner gave the pony a look just as confused as hers, but shook his head yes to confirm his identity to her. She clapped her front hooves together and flew off. Thrown off by the encounter, Abner continued making his way to the library, taking the letter with him.

After arriving to the library and realizing that it was currently closed until later in the morning, he took the opportunity to open the letter he had received. Multiple pages had unfurled from the ribbon binding holding it closed. They were letters, one from Pinkie Pie, another from Rarity, and one from Charger. Pinkie had sent him a invitation to a welcome back party for a pony over in Ponyville. Rarity had come up with a new design for the harness that Abner had, one that would be sturdier than the current. Charger wrote some ramblings about getting time off so that he could train Abner in physical combat. It appeared he disliked the current way of taking time off, a lot of paper work he complained.

After he had read through the letters, he saw Spike coming in from the main door with some books in his hands humming a little tune not unlike Lark's sonnet from before. “Oh, hey there Abner, coming in early today I see.” he said pulling out the key from a small bag slung around his shoulder. “Twilight's been pretty cheerful as of late, been trying for a teaching profession it appears.” Opening the door, Abner followed Spike inside where beams of sunlight fired through the windows lighting the shelves in golden white hues. “Always nice seeing this every morning. Never grows old.” 

Twilight was looking through a book at one of the tables on the first floor wearing blue and yellow starred pajamas. Her eyes were relaxed and she sipped on a cup of tea. Every time she flipped a page, she used her nose instead of magic. Spike went over to her dropped off the books he was carrying, told her that he would head off to sort some of the new books and check the rest of the library  for books any that were lying around on other tables. She thanked him and continued reading, not noticing Abner's presence.

Abner decided to explore the library on his own and traversed the floors of the library, looking for one based on sword fighting meant for larger melee weapons. Eventually, after spending a few hours in the library and finally finding the proper section, he pulled and replaced a great number of books looking for the right one. Eventually he came upon the book Combat: Pikes, Spears, and Zweihanders by Art Bihooves. Faded brown frayed hardcover book with etchings of the weapons on the front cover. Shelving a different book he had pulled out, he went over to a nearby table and began looking through the pages again, having quickly skimmed over them beforehand. The drawings of the ponies taking each step were similar to the movements that the smithy master that had started training him before the attack on the village.

An hour past by. The pillars of sunlight faded away leaving the room in a more normal coloring. Conversations of the students traversing the hallway could be heard quietly echoing in the hallways. Abner had fallen asleep at the table he had been sitting at and awoke from the smell of cinnamon. Recovering from his dreamless rest, he closed the book back up and carried it to the front desk. Twilight was attending it as usual, “Oh Abner, when did you get here?”

Spike cut in, standing on a ladder behind her filing some folders in a cabinet, “He was he this morning, I tried talking to him a little bit, still as mute as ever.”

“Of course, he doesn't know how to speak our language but the translation magic that Prudence gave him gives him full comprehension of our Equestrian language.” Twilight replied, not seeming to pick up on her assistant's subtle sarcasm. “Anyways, looking to check another book I see.” As Abner levitated the book from his back and onto the desk. “Hmm, I see.” she said looking over the book like she did the other ones. “Charger is taking the reigns of training in physical combat, I'm guessing?” Abner nodded his head yes and Twilight stamped the book before handing it back to him. “Any idea when?” Abner shook his head no. “Very well. You should head to the archery grounds again, practice a bit. I'll send a letter to Marina and Whisk letting them know that you're here.” She called for Spike while Abner made his way out of the library. 

Making his way through the towering halls and stairways, he found his way to the archery range by heart. It felt different coming here without Lark and Twilight's presence, Spike sometimes came along when he could. The wind was whirling around more than usual, the sun was blocked by passing clouds and various pegasi flew around pushing them in coordination. Abner opened the book once more and turned to the beginners section. Drawing the zweihander from the sheathe, designed to hold just the end and the guard in place, Abner held the hefty blade by its hilt using his mouth. Swinging the sword around a multitude of times using simple movements helped him get used to the balance again.

Oddly, he saw a shadow swiftly pass by from the corner of his eye and footsteps on the wooden roofing covering the stands. Turning around to face the stranger, Abner saw nothing. Confused, Abner cautiously went back to practicing and kept himself alert of the surroundings. He heard the footsteps again but didn't turn to face the stranger, only holding still, listening closely to the movements. It sounded like a normal earth pony that appeared to be stalking him, not Pinkie though, wasn't the right scent. This scent was dark, ambiguous, and strange, as if the stranger had come from the cave that had collapsed. “So this is his latest offspring, I'm quite surprised.”  Abner heard the beginnings of the words he spoke, the same ancient language that the dragon Stribog spoke. Abner immediately turned and reared himself into a fighting stance. The stranger vanished before he saw him. “Relax,” his voice was light, jokingly putting his words together, “I am one of your ancestors companions, Drystan.” 

He went on explaining the story of what happened to his ancestor and the group that went with them and how they crossed the desert before the Guardians temple. An odd tale of meeting a nomadic tribe, inexplicable blizzards and monsoons that occurred knocking down their visibility to a minimum even with a magic force field around them, and the last part that seemed to irk him the most, his ancestors death finally placing the sword into the altar of their lair. “We took his body home and buried it and as far as I know, I'm the only one left. Now you may wonder, why am I telling you all this, it's simple really. You need to be prepared. Now another question that you for a fact I know you want answered, as well as the others like Prudence for example.” Abner felt Prudence's conscious become alert with the mention of her name. “Oh, that startled her didn't it. Anyways, the sword was broken, worn and weathered by the elements. Naturally the sword also began to lose its power to purify the Blight corruption.” He paused for a moment, “So I stole it from it's resting place, and passed it to the smithy in your village. There it was reforged anew.”

Prudence spoke from Abner's mouth, he usual soft voice enraged by this Drystan character, “You son of an ass! Explain yourself at once or so help me I will tear you apart with gravitational forces that you would never be able to comprehend.”

“Oh oh ho. Hold your tongue prissy pants. You couldn't hope to touch me for I bear a power quite rare. I took it to his village because that's where Abner was, I could care less about the rest of them. Abner, you're something else, your body now holds the soul of a great dragon of wind and a unicorn whose power is just barely able to rid the Blight forever.”

“Then why Drystan, why didn't you leave the sword alone?” Prudence sounded to have calmed down a little.

“Reason reason reason. Ah, right. There's a certain ability that his species is born with that skips generations and that is the ability to absorb souls but only through death of the subject. His brothers and sisters could've wound up with the sword, but it was luck that Abner picked it up. His siblings are able to do it, but it still has to be unlocked for them, so to speak.”

“You talk quite a lot don't you?” Prudence remarked

“I was the talker of the group. I do my research meeting those I meet, maybe a little reading here and there. You could say I was like the Mysterious Mare Do Well. I do pride myself on it.” Drystan boastfully spoke. “I suppose next you want to ask what I look like don't you. Not going to happen, you see I'm a shape shifter. I could easily be a shadow or another pony in a crowd, oddly enough, I can't remember what I used to look like all those centuries ago. I do wish I could stay and chat for a little while longer, please do take care of yourself, don't need you dieing now.” he laughed as the footsteps that he took slowly faded away with his voice.

“His presence may become problematic.” Prudence stated as she pulled her control from Abner's body. Abner was thrown off balance once she did this and quickly regained his balance. He rested for a moment, to let his mind rest the thoughts. He could hear Prudence's voice echo in his head, rambling on about the whys and hows this Drystan character came to them and no one else. Enjoying the breeze of the warm wind, Abner climbed up onto the fence on the side of the small field and precariously perched himself and one of the posts. “I suppose we'll all have to play along with his little game for now.” Prudence grumbled .

Abner took in the view from the archery range. It overlooked another expansive valley filled with forests and single river running through it. He could see a large flock a sparrows moving about from tree to tree. Larger birds soared in circles over the river, looking for a meal that may likely be in the large river. One of the peaks reached well into the clouds and covered in blinding white snow.  All this beauty of nature's work, something that Abner would like to protect. He wanted to protect his new friends too, but he would like to see his family again as well.

“Abner, what are you doing!?” Lark shouted out from behind and quickly running up to him. Abner turned his head toward her and smiled, Lark stopped in her tracks. Lark saw the beautiful scenery in the valley below, “It's gorgeous. I never really looked down there before.” A long pause rose between them until Abner stepped down from the fence post. 

Both Twilight and Charger stood in the doorway, like they were watching over children. “Shall we get to work?” Twilight asked.

“After you, I don't need tired students first day of training them.” Charger wittingly replied.

For the remainder of the afternoon, Charger took over training Abner after Twilight was done training him with magic spells involving force fields and having them contain special properties to allow certain items to pass through. Twilight took Lark with her to the library to look up more spells that could be incorporated into the songs that she could sing.

Another two days passed by without much incident. No sign of Drystan for the time being. Abner and Lark began packing up food and the books Twilight let them keep.  They received a train ticket for a late evening train ride. They took the day before off from training to relax and hangout for awhile.  There wasn't a party thrown, just enjoying the weather. Abner and Lark stayed together for a majority of the day. They found a relatively quiet place in the one of the parks and the two of them sat down.

From here they could see the valley that was overlooked by the archery range. A low hovering rain cloud poured over the middle valley. Some of the larger land animals were visible from their spot in the park. “Abner, do you know why I'm always concerned about you?” Abner thought back for a moment but noting rang a bell so he simply shook his head no. “I figured as much. Your parents asked me to babysit Nitza a couple of times and oddly enough you were always away when I was at your house. Coincidentally, your father asked me to keep an eye on you just before the tragedy occurred.” Her voice was tinted by sadness. “I promised him I would, I'm so glad that I didn't fail on that promise. I do hope the rest of your family is alright though. You never did learn to speak our language very well did you? I'm rambling a bit much. I just wanted to be sure you're okay. I'll stick with you till the end, Abner, I want to see this adventure through.” she mused a thought and became suddenly delighted, “Perhaps I should sing a song that represents good luck on our journey and companionship.”

So she sang again. The song lightened their hearts and the birds in the trees nearby seemed to chirp along, the wind providing some unexplained ambiance to it all. The melody was delightful, cheery, and its notes danced with the chords. Abner couldn't help but tap his foot along with it, Lark did the same to keep her beat proper. 

After the seemingly short song was finished, Lark took a nice long deep breath of air. “Perhaps that will give us some good luck on our way. It would be nice to stay here but I'd rather journey with you.” she began to walk away from Abner who hoped that she was right about the good luck. “Come on, we'll miss the train.”

Abner turned just in time to see a dark figure swoop down from the sky above.  Abner quickly reacted and shoved Lark out of the way. Abner felt the talons dig into his body and yelped. Drawing the sword using levitation magic, he cut at the massive vulture with three successive strikes. Releasing its grip and reeling back. Falling to the ground with his stomach feeling as if it were stuck in his upper chest. He held the sword with the magic, not realizing how far up the creature had taken him. Stumbling, Lark regained her balance and saw what was happening, she quickly used levitation to slow Abner's descent to the ground. Once he managed to reach the ground, he immediately looked around for the vulture which had limped in flight, the massive bird had crashed to the ground and was completely unable to move. 

Abner swiftly ran down the sidewalk of the park and jumped through the bushes where he estimated the creature's point of impact would be with Lark following close behind him. The wounds in Abner's side stung and burned giving him a slight limp. His instinct drove him harder, not caring about what else he ran into. He ran with the sword levitated behind his back and the gaping wounds left a trail of blood behind him. Finding the foal vulture through scent and hearing, Abner drew his sword against the vulture and pinned it while it was crawling away. Approaching the blackened vulture, he saw that it resembled the ink like substance that appeared to have drowned him in his dream. Prudence spoke up, clueless to what was going on, “What in the hay is going on Abner?” He felt her eyes look through his. “This must be a manifestation of Blight. Slay it, we cannot allow it spread. I do hope that Celestia's magic will be able to handle any more of this if it gets out of hoof. Who knows how far its already spread.” 

Without much thought, Abner dispatched the vulture like creature with a single blow to the heart. A stir of black air whisked into the air and surrounded Abner and merged with his body just like the wisp from the dragon had turned into before. “Abner, why the sudden shove and falling from the sky? Whats with the wounds in your sides?” Lark asked as she began to move closer to Abner who now had a sort of mysterious black aura around him. She gasped, “Abner?”

The mist of black air surrounding Abner dissipated into Abner's body, his eyes aflame in a ghostly white that slowly fizzled away as he turned to face Lark who had been standing in a pillar of sunlight that created a sense of helplessness. Abner approached her, dragging the sword behind him and slowly sheathing it away. Lark lowered her head to him and he simply walked on by, further revealing the shallow wounds that were left. 

Abner healed himself using healing spells in increments of time. Lark was confused and followed Abner back to the Tavern. Abner 's breathing was heavy and the wounds ached enough to make him limp. Lark realized that the spell he was using was shoddy and improper. Silently singing a song of healing she had combined with a magic spell and directed it towards his wounds. The pain remained but the wounds closed up, leaving small bald spots of fur in his coat.

They arrived at the Tavern one last time before leaving for the train. Chargers entire squad was able to go with them. Wrecker and Charger were to go as escorts, Cuffs for medical attention, Whisk handed the Tavern over to another pony that also ran the place and to act as the food provider, and Marina would be the one that would help protect the group from extreme weather conditions. Abner's wounds completely healed by the time they had gotten to the train as the sun was beginning to set. The train then set off for Ponyville, where Abner is going to attend a welcome back party and retrieve potential research that Prudence had in her home there.
> Chapter 3- Arrival and Departure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter-3 Arrival and Departure



The train ride to Ponyville was calming for the most part. Abner slept for most of the ride. Charger and Wrecker switched watch duty for some time before they relaxed. Cuffs tended to Abner's wounds that were missed by the healing spells. Marina and Lark chatted for some time when they weren't sleeping. Whisk ordered food when dinnertime usually came around. They arrived in Ponyville's small and humble train station after the sun set and before the moon would be at its highest point in the sky.

Hopping off the train, the light of torches lit the extensive wooden platform. The crackles of the fire could be heard through the glass that contained them. The clacking sound from the hooves of the ponies, from the group and from two or three late night travelers boarding the train, quietly echoed in the calm night. Moving through the quiet and brightly lit interior of the train station, where on the walls hung maps, job offerings, and lost posters for pets. The colt attending the main counter rested his head upon it, half asleep and mumbling sweet nothings.

Charger appeared to recognize the colt, tilting his head trying to recollect any resemblance. “Well, I'll be damned if it isn't Lionel” 

The steel colored and brown maned blue-eyed colt quickly snapped back to his senses with his eyes half blinking and a line of drool hanging from his mouth that he quickly wiped away. “Who, what, when, where, and how?” Regaining a more proper composure his eyebrows raised up in surprise, “Charger, what brings you to these parts? I thought you'd never come back round here after joining up in Celestia's Legion. You really ought to write more.”

“Well, you know me Lionel, always busy with something. I write letters when I can. Never thought you'd be tending to a train station.” Charger said wholeheartedly and partially jesting.

“You're still starting off your conversations with 'well'.” Lionel squinted at him and lightly punched him in the upper foreleg. “Well,” Lionel mimicked. “you know I've always been into trains. I just got this position recently though, already learning up on my engineer stuff to drive one of those bad boys.” He chuckled. “Anyways, what are you and I presume, your squad of soldiers, doing out in this neck of the woods?”

“Well, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.”  Charger joked with a cheesy grin on his face.

“Oh, for cripes sake Charger, really?” Cuffs brought his hoof to his face in disgust of the terrible joke. Whisk silently laughed and Marina smirked. Wrecker, stood there like he normally does. Lark and Abner both looked at each other and raised a brow at the unusual joke.

“Not one for humor is he?” Lionel remarked. 

“Well, he used to be but now, not so much.” Charger replied. “Anyways, we're here to gather some information the one of our former squad members left behind in Ponyville and to escort these two some place.”

Lionel scratched at is scruffy beard for a moment, “You don't happen to mean Prudence do you?”

Charger raised a brow intrigued, “How do you know about her death?”

“Death, sorry Charger, she's more alive than a jack rabbit running across a hot greasy griddle. Figuratively speaking of course.” Lionel answered, confused.

Charger looked back at the rest of the group then back at Lionel, “Well, for all the years we've known each other Lionel, I hope you're not lying. Where's her place of residence?”

He guided Charger over to a large map on the wall that had the current layout of Ponyville stumbling over a chair and some books behind the counter. Pointing first to the train station's location, “We're here.” He moved his hoof further up the map, “At the crossroads of the school you'll make a left...” he moved his hoof again, “...onto a narrow path leading to a small yellow house with an old squeaky windmill that has a small pond in front of it. Her daughter, Tiva, should be there this time of day.”

“Well, I suppose we'll get going then.” Charger began heading towards the door. “Prudence was confirmed killed in action fighting against a dragon a little more than a week or so ago.”

“I beg to differ Charger, saw her this morning grabbing some flowers for her garden. I've been looking to ask for her hoof in marriage as we've been dating for quite a few years now.”

“Well, I would say congratulations, but it appears that we either have misinformation or shenanigans are ahoof.” Charger harshly remarked.  “When is your shift done?”

Lionel looked at the clock perched above the map, slightly angled from the lose nail. “About negative three minutes ago.”

“Well, that's good because you're coming with us.” Charger bumped Lionel's foreleg with his hoof,  “Mares first.”

Traveling through the still night air and the walkway lit by torches, Lionel led the group to Prudence's home. It was as Lionel said, a tall windmill, small pond, a garden encompassing the fence surrounding the house, and the house was humble. “Never thought Prudence to be one with such a humble home.” Marina complimented.

Abner tried to call Prudence up in his mind, to see if she had anything to say about the situation but there wasn't a response. Charger asked Lionel to knock on the door, a filly answered the door, “Mister Lionel, what are you doing here, especially this late?” 

“Is your mother home, Tiva?” Lionel asked.

“She's asleep at the moment.” Tiva answered in a sweet and light voice. “Why?”

Lionel turned to Charger then back to Tiva, “Well, some of her friends are here to visit.”

“Oh, well, um, can they come back tomorrow, she hasn't been feeling good the last few hours.” Tiva. 

“Ok then, no need to be rude.” Turning back to Charger, “Charger, she's feeling ill, we'll have to come back tomorrow.”

Charger rolled his eyes, “Well, that's fine I guess.” He seemed a little upset that he couldn't just waltz in and figure out what was going on. “Where can we find some lodging?”

“There's an inn at the center of town.” Lionel handed him a small map from the satchel he carried. “There should be some rooms available.”

Charger grabbed the map and handed it to Marina. “Very well, we'll come back tomorrow.”

“Mister Lionel, you're welcome to stay if you like, I'm sure mommy would like to see you.” Tiva said somewhat nervously.

“Sure I will.” Lionel answered. “You can find your way to the inn right?” he asked Charger.

“Well, I think we'll be fine. Marina can read the maps a lot faster than I can so we should be good.”

Heading back to the main intersection of Ponyville, the group found the inn easily enough. A tall two story house with a sign labeling it as The Ponyville Inn hanging from a decorative spiral made of twisted wrought iron. After renting out two rooms both fit for three ponies and retiring for the night, the group set out again to Prudence's home. 

Wrecker stayed outside as he was much too large to fit properly through the doorway, Marina stood guard as well. Abner and Lark stayed with Tiva in the back yard and watched her play. The young pegasus showed the two of them the many toys she played with and the dances she loved to do. Entrancing movements that bewildered the viewer, the dances had slow movements that were also strong in feeling. All the while, Cuffs kept an eye on Prudence, something that bugged everyone as the conflicting cases between Lionel and Charger both reveal different ends and completely different circumstances. Charger played fetch trying to find Prudence's notes based on what she told him. Charger found a few of the notes of Prudence's study on the Blight, but they were small trivial accounts that revealed little information. He retired to the inn along with Cuffs and Wrecker.

Marina went into the back yard to fetch Lark and Abner and bring them back to the inn. “Abner, Lark, we're heading back to the inn. Come-” Marina stopped speaking, stunned by the graceful movements that Tiva preformed without any missteps or poor form. 

“Oh, hey Marina. I was just showing Lark and Abner my favorite talent.” Tiva said in her adorable and cheerful voice. Her extraordinary large wings lightly dragged across the ground when they folded.

“I see that,” Marina  commented. “It's pretty graceful.”

“Well, you can go ahead and go, I need to keep an eye on mother.” Tiva walked back into the house with her long crimped and folded blonde mane gently poking the ground as she did.

“Let's get going, that reunion party starts in about an hour. Don't want to be late.” Marina said as she turned to lead Lark and Abner back through the house and towards Sugar Cube Corner, where Pinkie Pie resides.

Approaching a house that looked not unlike a gingerbread house, Marina pressed the tablebell, emitting a high pitched ringing that could be heard throughout the house. A light cyan earth pony with a two tone rose colored mane came through some short batwing doors and her smile gently greeted the group. “I'm Mrs. Cup Cake, how can I help you folks?”

Marina somewhat nervously asked, “We're here to meet Pinkie Pie for a party that she's throwing together, a reunion party for someone.”

“Oh, hmm...” Mrs. Cake put her hoof to her hoof in contemplation, and then delighted at what she recalled, “I do believe she went over to Apple Jack's Orchard to use the barn for it.”

“Thank you Mrs. Cake.” Marina threw open the map she had received before. “You wouldn't mind showing me where 
it is on the map would you?”

“Sure thing sweety pie.” Mrs. Cake answered confidently. Pointing out the small house with its several barns amidst the large orchard on the map, “You can ask Granny Smith which barn they're using when you get there. You may be able to tell by how noisy Pinkie Pie can get though.”

“Thanks Mrs. Cup Cake.” Marina said.

“Before you go I have a question. I'm curious as to what a dog doing with a horn like that?” She asked.

“I honestly don't know, my group of friends and I found him this way about two weeks ago in a village ravaged by a fire.” Marina answered delicately making sure that she didn't include any information about the Legion and the dragon.

“Oh my,that's, unfortunate. I do apologize if that brought up bad memories.” Mrs. Cake remarked.

“It's quite alright really, what matters is that we're safe and sound.” Marina smiled as she rolled up the map and put it back in the satchel that Abner had attached to his harness. “I suppose we'll get going then, thank you again for your help.”

“You're welcome dear.” Mrs. Cake happily waved them goodbye while the three of them left the confectionery shop. 

Making their way over to the apple orchard, the sound of birds chirping became clearer and the scenery became more green with trees and bushes lining the dirt roadway. Abner gave a look back to the houses that were in Ponyville, most of them had roofs made of straw or wood and were usually beige and color with the light brown crossbeams streaking across their outer walls. A windmill sat next to a small river, the arms motionless from the still air that refused to blow. 

A mare came into view as they approached the hill that the Apple Jack's family home sat upon. Her light yellow coat and naturally flowing pink mane made her a stark contrast to the red farm house. She was petting a dog that wore a red color with a circular tag on it. She glanced over at Marina, Abner, and Lark who were making their way up the hill, she quickly jumped up and slowly flew over to greet them. Landing in front of them she greeted the party with a shy “Um, hello,” followed by a shakingly nervous question, “Are, are you coming over for Pinkie's party?”

“Yes, we certainly are.” Marina answered. “Fluttershy isn't it?

The mare's strong cyan eyes widened as she gasped, “How, how do you know my name?” At this point she appeared frightened.

“Pinkie Pie told me a bit about you while she was in Canterlot. She loves to talk about her friends. She always seems to be able to cheer up somepony.” Marina replied trying to calm her down.

Fluttershy settled down, “Oh, okay.” She said scratching at the dirt lightly with her hoof shyly looking away. Her voice squeaked, “I'll show you the way to the barn she's holding it in. I mean, if that's okay with you.”

“Lead the way, Fluttershy.” Marina answered lightly.

“Is, is the wolf your pet?”Fluttershy nervous asked.

Marina mused the thought glancing at Abner, “In a way I suppose. Still not sure why he has the horn though aside from granting him magic. Picked him up from a burned down village, he was one of the few survivors. Don't worry, he won't bite, he's pretty quiet as well. The sword he carries is something of a heirloom for his family I think.”

“Oh my, I'm so sorry to hear that. By the way, if it's okay with you, I mean, could you introduce yourselves?” Fluttershy said, her voice shook from her nervousness, her shyness was something inherit that kept her almost socially inept aside from those she has formed a close bond with.

“Sure thing, I'm Marina, the wolf's name is Abner, and this young pony here is Lark. Abner seems like the heroic type to me and Lark I know just loves to sing, shes been diving into books of sonnets and ballads to traditional songs.” Marina was happy to answer Fluttershy's question.

They approached a small gray barn standing before a small field of wheat. Chicken coups dotted the outside surrounded by chicken wire. The sound of gentle music muffled by the barn could be heard swaying through the air. Abner smelled something familiar, something that reminded him of home. The small barn doors opened up to them, out came Pinkie with a big smile on her face as usual. “You came!” She exclaimed at the top of her lungs. “We're going to party so much!” She hugged each of them before zipping back into the barn. Abner walked in first just as Pinkie poked her head back out and saying, “Come on in, the party's just getting started!” 

Abner still was curious as to why it the party was for a reunion. After entering and letting his eyes adjust for a quick moment, all to familiar voices and smells came to his senses. The smell that had bothered his nose came from the lily and rose flowered scent of Nitza whose dull tan fur and jade colored eyes released a gentle aura; his younger sister tended to keep flowers tied to her collar. Kafziel's loud and obnoxious voice conversed with a light turquoise pegasus that had a rainbow colored mane that appeared to have a similar and fitting personality of someone competitive. Kafziel, had several large scars running across his face and upper back, his light blue coat and his sharp brown eyes gleamed with his thirst for adventure. The gray and white spotted fur of his oldest brother Lev, stood beside Nitza, watching over her with his teal eyes. Naamiy, his older sister, slowly approached Abner with her bright golden white and golden eyes. Her naturally romantic voice called out to Abner, “So, you're alive after all, and with some rather odd additions I might say. This isn't a dream Abner, I know you well enough that you can tell the difference.” She turned away, “Mother and Father have been waiting for you. Hello Lark, its certainly been awhile hasn't it.”

Abner still couldn't believe his eyes. Pinkie Pie sat beside him, crying subtle tears of joy that she wiped away with a handkerchief. “Such a happy reunion isn't it?”

“Come on Abner, I know you're a bit stunned but have some fun, catch up with your family.” Whisk's voice surprised the three of them.

“When the buck did you get here, Whisk?” Marina retorted from his sudden appearance. 

“I've been here all day, I cooked the food. It's my specialty, you know.” He answered with a most upright sense of confidence.

“Okay then.” Marina nudged Abner before moving on to the buffet of food and drinks. Lark followed her the same and chatted with Naamiy, the two were best friends after all. 

Abner wandered around the barn a little bit, trying to find his mother and father. When he did, he saw that they sat on the loft connected by a ladder. He made his way up by bales of hay that were conveniently stacked to allow for it. “Ah, my son Abner has returned from the depths the great fire I see.” His fathers voice was roughened from age and the battles that he fought to protect the village from bears and other hostile creatures that roamed the edges of the forest. He spoke much like a king without the formalities drowning his words. “I also know that you've made a few new friends, that's good to hear.” he said as he hugged him. “Lark, did well to survive the fires as well. As for us, we ran to the forest, several guards and I rounded up what villagers we could  and migrated here.”  Feeling Abner's horn prick his ear, he drew back slowly, “You've got something new on your head there, doesn't look like a prop either. The horn color is familiar however, it reminds me of a certain pony that came to town before the attack. Says she was looking for a trading agreement with us to trade with Princess Celestia, likes a lot of the stuff crafted with my paws and the hooves of the ponies that coexisted with us. What was her name?” Abner's father mused the thought before asking his wife.

“The mare's name was Prudence, dear.” She spoke as if she were wise beyond her years, much like an oracle. Her white fur and ice blue eyes made Abner's father quite proud of her. “She had a silver horn, rose pink coat, red mane, a clock with hands that were rather warped, and pink eyes.”

“Hon, I've told several times not to use your photographic memory on everyone who arrives into town.” He joked as he nuzzled her neck.

“You know I can't help it, it's part of my talent after all.” She answered him in a bashful manner.

“So thats what it was. She seemed quite well versed in magic from what I could tell. I do believe she tried to help defend the village from that dragon. Which also reminds me that another shady pony came in a few days before, asking for the blacksmith and requesting to repair an old sword he brought with him. A sword dusty, rusted, and cracked, specs of sand covered his entire body.” Abner's father walked around him, looking over the sword and his ash colored coat. “I see you've got a couple of battle scars, your ribs were broken along with two of your legs. Something helped fixed all that though. Healing magic, transference magic, and and perhaps sealing magic? Who ever casted this sure left their mark.”

“You're rambling on again, Melek.” Abner's mother butted in.

His father chuckled, “Right, silly me. We should be enjoying this moment as family. Come on, let us join the others.”

Spending the rest of they evening catching up with his family, listening to the tales that Kafziel told about adventuring through lost temples, exceedingly beautiful ravines that he traversed in a small hot air balloon, and his most marvelous venture of traveling through a lush jungle that was frozen over by magic a millenia old from a wizard that sought a rather extreme form of isolation. In one of the temples he sought and retrieved a goblet that was held  in high regard by an extinct race, many of the traps they had he outran with great speed. The venture through the vast ravine gave him an adrenaline rush unlike any of his previous journeys as vultures flew circles above them all the while trying to avoid the trees with their outstretched arms. His walk through the unusual icy jungle led him to the wizard's hovel in front of a tower that barely stood over the trees, there he found the wizard's remains and found a book of unreadable texts and symbols which he kept for himself.

Lev and Naamiy were like two peas in a pod, figuratively speaking. The two of them kept an eye on the survivors, trying to keep them in good health lest more misfortune befall them. The villagers looked up to them, much like they looked up to his father, Melek. Lev was a good fighter but also a good scholar learning from reading material brought in from all parts of Equestria. Melek was held complete and total trust in his oldest son to take care of the village should it ever occur that he would pass away due to some misfortune or natural cause. Naamiy was much like Princess Celestia, she was held as the beauty of the village, a symbol of fortune, wisdom, and beauty. She learned from the many books that Lev kept in the library he had started up with some of the villagers. Lev managed to steal away some of the rarer books in his possession whilst escaping the fires. Naamiy strived to be a teacher that was able to travel abroad and Lev looked forward to taking over his fathers standing with his people but now he looked to be a librarian in Ponyville.

Nitza, the shy one of the family, kept  to herself most of the time. She tended to their mothers garden as well as the flower shop that they ran together. Her innocence was also a hefty part of her adorable personality. She was nervous when she was talked to by those she didn't know well, normally hummed quietly to herself when she tended to the flowers in the extensive garden that resided behind their home. It was obvious that the raging fires that separated her from the garden left her heartbroken, she never had much of a chance to make any friends in the early stages of school and even then it was doubtful that she would've made many. Her father and mother loved her though, they kept her well in the time that it took to get into Ponyville. Nitza was known to wear a short gray and white plaid scarf with frayed ends, a gift she received from their late grandmother.

Abner's mother, Yiskah, had taken damage to her hind legs and eyes during the fire causing her vision to become shortened and blurry. She looked over the people in the village, and much like her daughter, she was sought out for her great wisdom and knowledge. Villagers often came to her for problems in their personal lives or advice on certain things. 

Melek, Abner's father, having a light brown coat with dull black stripes much like the bark of an oak tree and dull white eyes. He previously worked as a trader between their village and Ponyville. At one point, the village looked for a new leader, as the older leader became extremely ill. Melek, was called upon to be the new leader for not only his skills in traveling, but the experience that he gained in interacting with the citizens of several other villages and towns. The villagers were all in overwhelming agreement for him to take the position, which he gladly accepted as a natural born leader. Unfortunately his rule didn't last for long, as he accepted the position a few months before the attack.

As the evening passed by, Abner stayed his usual muted self. He felt as if he had forgotten how to speak from the ashes that still seemed to choke him. Still he greatly enjoyed the reunion with his family. After lighting a few candles to brighten the darkened barn, Lev, Nitza, Kafziel, Naamiy, and Yiskah had curled up against each other forming an odd multicolored mound of fur. Abner sat outside the barn, by the doors, staring up at the moon. Lark and Marina had headed back to the inn for the night, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Apple Jack, and the light turquoise colored mare that he later learned was named Rainbow Dash, all turned in to sleep for the night. 

Abner, while staring at the moon and counting the stars that were vivid and unobstructed by clouds, was joined by his father. Sitting down next to him, quietly spoke to his son, “Son, I know that sword. It was one of our earliest ancestors who delivered it to the home of the guardians. I'm sure you've heard the tale a great many times already from your late grandfather and myself, as well as your mother. Our blacksmith reforged the sword, re-engraved the magic symbols, and replaced the stone that resides in the pommel.” Exhaling deeply, as if he was preparing to let go of something precious. “I know that you have to travel to the desert where our ancestor went and face what lies there.” His tone went on to sound like an old person reminiscing about the past. “Your mother often says I talk too much, she's right and I don't blame her for it. Those magic symbols that are imprinted as tiny marks on your spine, I know exactly what they mean and Prudence is the only one I know that can use those types of spells.” Abner felt ashamed, as if he didn't want his father finding out about the ordeal. “Can you call upon her, I have to know that if she, along with Lark, can look after you throughout your journey.”

Abner closed his eyes and called out for Prudence within his consciousness. Feeling the magic course through his veins and softly prick his arteries, he could feel the manifestation of Prudence take shape and present herself before him as an entity that could be seen when his eyes are closed. “What is it, Abner?” Opening up his eyes and looking towards his father, he could feel her look through his eyes. “So, your family survived after all. I suppose I can answer what questions your father may have.” Abner's horn lightly shimmered casting a ghostly projection of Prudence's figure on the ground. 

“So this is how you appear now.” Melek spoke, anger softly rising. “Tell me, Prudence, why did you choose my son? Why did you potentially condemn my son to death with a journey he may not be able to achieve?”

“Where to begin?” Prudence mused. “Let's see, I choose you son out what I saw with my talent, I can foretell ones potential fate. Your son, as you know, got separated from you during the fires trying to find Nitza I believe, unfortunately he got hit by the dragons tail as it made its escape, flew through the fires and into the trading wagon that you brought home earlier that morning. I managed to find him despite my own injuries and after what I saw with him, with his future wielding the sword he would succeed at saving Equestria and more. I merged my magic into his body as well as my conscious, transference magic much opposed by the natural laws. In doing so I also had to transfer the Blight and the seals that kept it in check. The healing spells I casted kept him alive, slowly repairing his broken bones until a detachment of Celestia's legion arrived there.” 

“And if you didn't cast these spells, what would've happened?” Melek asked the fuzzy image of Prudence.

“Simple, the dragon would've continued his rampage, destroying everything that dared attacked him or whatever civilization that he could find. Even if the dragon was taken down, there would've been no way to keep the Blight that resided in the dragon from seeping into the earth and infecting the creatures that thrived off the land. Unicorns are ones to be affected that most as the Blight primarily is a disease that spreads among those who can use magic directly.  Essentially a plague that feeds off magic, even sealing magic. The sword likely would rust away in an armory if it was found.” Prudence explained.

“How is it that the sealing magic that you've used on it doesn't wither away and succumb to this plague?” Melek quickly asked.

“It's a spell that I created after multitudes of trial and error. Precious gems and stones as it turned out, helped to amplify the magic tenfold thus suppressing the Blight further. As it stands now the magic will last for quite a few years before breaking under the Blights power. The sword is made to act as a seal as well and as far as I know there is no way to purify the Blight despite the enormous amount of research I've done.” Prudence said disheartened.

“Even killing the subject taken over by this 'Blight' wouldn't get rid of it I'm guessing.” Melek said doubtfully.

“It will not. I had a pet rabbit that was infected, that rabbit died and the disease spread to me without much notice from anyone until I started getting severely ill and my magic would go berserk. My parents also got infected by the disease, they worked to seal it, but it proved futile. I discovered some stones that I dug up before I buried them. I came to realize that they were a missing part of a more complex version of the spell that my parents couldn't quite understand or were unable to cast.”

“Sounds like you've had it pretty rough.” Melek jested. “I accept that you know what you're doing and will entrust you with my son. Bit of a change of subject here, but my wife seemed to have noticed a change in Abner's soul, something different, as if he had the soul of dragon.”

“It's true. Your son absorbed the soul of the same dragon that attacked your village. The beast took its own life using the sword that your blacksmith reforged. The magic within the sword still needs to be reimbursed, as it still gravely deteriorates now. We need someone with an extraordinary amount of light magic, I still have yet to find them.” Prudence solemnly answered.

“That's interesting. There's an old temple that's in the forest east of our village, I'm sure you remember the place. The old carvings in the alter depicted the worship of a light based guardian. There might be something there that you can use.” Melek suggested.

“I remember the place. We'll go there and I'll find out what I can. Still, I'm not sure what we would do once we get there.” Prudence said with uncertainty. “Anyways, I can't keep this form for much longer, it drains the mind quickly. So I guess this is goodbye for now.”

“Understandable, farewell then, Prudence.” Melek said with a small wave of his paw as her projected image cracked and fizzled away with the draw of magic retreating back into Abner's horn and fading away. With a deep sigh, Melek spoke up again, “Come son, you need your rest.”

Abner followed his father inside and went to sleep on a pile of hay strewn about in a corner away from the rest of his family.

Morning came with the cracking cry of a rooster. Abner traveled back into Ponyville's central square, if it could be called that, and visited the inn where his new friends bunked in for the night. He met Lark, Marina, and Whisk in the inn's small cafe on the first floor. The inn itself was rather square in its overall shape, the front desk a semi-circle with two attendants behind it. Several chairs lined up against the walls next to the doors for those who waited for their friend or family member to rent out a room. The inn's cafe was located in a corner that had windows that looked towards the open dirt roads of Ponyville's central square. Small chandeliers lined the ceilings with a single torchlight to each with gold chains hold them up and short glass panes for decoration.

Greeted with friendly hello's from the three of them, Abner sat down next to Lark and listened in on their quiet morning conversation about the party the night before. Eventually Charger and Cuffs joined the four of them. After eating, the six of them went outside to meet up with Wrecker, who went to check on the apparent apparition of Prudence. When they arrived, all was well as it was before. Charger again, went over the notes that Prudence had taken with her. Her health was better than it was the day before, providing much easier communication between the two of them. Lionel stayed by her side when she lost her balance, her illness did leave her bed-ridden long enough to disrupt her ability to walk properly.

Before Charger had realized, it had once again gotten late into the evening. Every one went their separate ways except for Abner who was asked by Tiva to stay for just a little while longer. She wore her favorite blue and white checkered handkerchief that her mother had given to her for her third birthday. When she spoke to Abner, she appeared sad and scared. “Abner,” she said with her voice shaky from the cold night air. “My mother wants to speak with you, alone.” 

Abner assured Lark that he would be fine and followed Tiva back into the house, now dimly light by candles. Abner moved over to the side of Prudence's bed, where she rested with several blankets covering her. She coughed a few times and spat out a few drops of blood that she quickly wiped away with her hoof. With raspy breaths she spoke, “Abner, as you know, I'm an apparition, a collection of thoughts and memories of those I knew well. I had created a spell that would activate in case I would pass away.” She laugh halfheartedly. “Low and behold, it worked. Charger, has all of the notes that he needs to send to Princess Celestia.” She paused for a moment, looking over to her nightstand on the other side of her bed. “The drawer of my nightstand, there are some stones that you can use on your journey, they'll amplify certain magics pertaining to their properties. Pinkie Pie can tell you more about them.” Abner walked around her large bed and grabbed the gems from the nightstand that had a rather simple simple four-legged design. She had a candle lit on top of a stick which stuck in a stand nailed to the nightstand. “As for Lionel and my precious daughter Tiva, I'll tell them I will be passing away soon. The conscious portion that is with you, is keeping this spell going. That's why you couldn't call on me when you were here the first time around.” She stopped talking for a little bit, catching her breath. She glared sharply at Abner as if she were contemplating something. “You'll wake up in the forest tomorrow morning, injured and sore. I can't tell you why, there's some sort void I can't reveal.” She looked towards the ceiling with a smile on her face, “I suppose a part of me will be among the stars and the other down here on the earth. It's a funny thing, life is, so much to do, so little time.” She shed a single tear from her eye, reaching a hoof towards the ceiling as if to grasp the stars beyond. “But I don't regret what I've done, I've always been one to help out.” She said in a sincere voice, bringing her hoof back down. “Go back to your family, Abner. I'm sure they'll want to see you again.”

Abner slowly walked out of Prudence's room, and saw that Tiva had been waiting by the doorway. “Abner, what did my mother talked to you about?” Abner simply looked at her and pulled out one of the gemstones that he had stored in his satchel. “She gave those to you, huh. She said they have magical properties, but I never saw her use them.” She seemed mildly upset, as if she had listened in on the conversation and started crying, but hid the tears. “I suppose I'll see you later, Abner.” She waved bye to Abner as he left through the short front door.

After passing the fence that stood in front of the garden in the front yard, Abner felt several strong gusts of wind pass him by. He saw golden streaks catch his peripheral vision. Drawing his sword and taking a defensive stance, he waited for the subject to move again. He heard the rush of wind come up behind him and brought his sword to bear. The mysterious subject vanished again. Continuing his walk to Apple Jack's barn, he heard again the rushes of wind pass him by. Once he left Ponyville and began stepping on the road to Sweet Apple Acres, the air felt stiff and the crickets were extremely quiet. 

Halfway there, he felt a sudden chill down his spine and a quick snap to the backside of his neck. His legs gave out and his body went numb, his vision blurred until everything faded to black. Any sound that caught his ears became heavily muffled and dulled. A familiar voice spoke up, a dull white colored pony with golden hooves stood before him, “Sorry about this, Abner, just following orders.”

Waking up to the obnoxious sounds of birds, frogs, and other noisy woodland critters, Abner slowly opened his heavy eyes. His head throbbed and his ears rang, the smell and feel of wet grass tickled his nose. Slowly rising to his feet, he realized that something was missing, his sword had been taken away and his satchel stripped from his harness. Trying to get to his feet, he saw that they were bound together. Whoever bound him and through him in the forest obviously had all intentions to get rid of  him.

A bear moved out from behind some rather large bushes covering the gaps between several trees. This particular spot in the forest was a circular gap, small and tucked away. The bear slowly approached Abner and he could tell that it was in no mood to be friends. Struggling at first to remove the binds but failing when the tightened with each tug of the rope. He then tried to use magic to disintegrate the rope, but alas this failed as well, his magic had been drained from him. Panicking, he wrestled the rope with his as much as he could with his teeth, barely getting it lose before the bear raised his claw to attack. Abner closed his eyes, scared and afraid of death's approaching grasp.

Something stopped the bear's attack, a loud cracking thud and the bear's roar of pain struck his ears until it smashed into the trunk of a tree. A familiar voice he had heard only once before, spoke up, “Come on now, get up and out of those ropes, I already got them cut.” Abner opened his eyes to see a figure encased in an ink like substance that flickered like fire. His figure not entirely conceivable. Rising to his feet, he felt dizzy and his body felt incredibly light without the sword on his side. “Surely you remember my voice, Abner, after all I taunted Prudence a bit.” The mysterious figure morphed in a wolf much like Abner, then into a lion, a ram, and lastly, a colt. “Ah that's better, can never remember which form was my original, at least, not properly. That bear should be out cold if I'm right, not moving terribly much.” He walked over to help Abner steady himself. “You good? I'd really not have to carry you out of here.” Abner nodded yes. “Okay, good. I can't have you dieing on me, or us rather. You need to get the sword back from whoever took it from you, even if you've got to fight Celestia.” He began to walk away when he realized something, perking his head up, “Oh right, I suppose I should properly introduce myself, I'm Drystan. I'll lead up to the village as much as I can, after that, you're on your own. I'll keep myself to your shadow from then on, most sentient critters don't like the whole black fiery ink look.”

Following Drystan through the thickest of brush and vines, the suns rays peaked through holes of the canopy in the forest, lighting the majority of their path. Avoiding traps set by fur traders and other commonly hostile creatures until seeing the trees lighten up in their thickness. Abner heard a voice calling out for him in the distance, his ears perked and he looked towards the direction of the sound. The voice became clearer the closer he got, eventually he was able to decipher whose voice it was. It was Larks, her delightful clear and majestic voice rang throughout the forest. Drystan saw where he was headed and merged into his shadow, completely blending in as if he was never there.

As he ran he could feel the magic within reimburse his veins, he used it to phase through the multitude of trees and hasten his running. The cast of magic left a streak of light blue from his horn, he could feel the power of the dragon's soul begin to manifest and amplify his magic. He could hear the curing words of Lark's voice clearly despite the noise from the grass and whatever twigs he stepped on that snapped and cracked beneath his feet. Finally finding Lark, he slowed down and approached her, “Abner, you're alive!” She shouted with glee. “I was so worried that you had gotten lost on your way back to your family.” She hugged him and began walking back towards the edge of the forest. “Everyone's worried about you, Charger and all of them have up and left, heading back to Canterlot early this morning, I think I saw them carrying something similar to your sword.”

Abner instantly became enraged, he knew that even if Celestia had the sword to keep away the Blight, it wouldn't save everyone. Releasing a massive burst of magic that caused the ground to crater beneath their feet, grass to disintegrate, and trees to become partially uprooted he went from the speed of a turtle to the speed of a bullet. He phased through every tree and house on his way, gratuitous amounts of wind blasting through the center of the town shattering several windows and cracking many more. Wind chimes tangled amongst themselves and what stones were in the road were uplifted and thrown out of place. “Abner! Slow down for a minute,” Drystan's voice called out, “If they've already left this morning, then its better to wait for a train to conserve your magic.” 

He stopped in front of the train station and ran inside at a normal pace. Lionel was attending the front desk. “Abner he said in surprise, “I thought you left with the others. I saw you leave with them.”

Lark trotted inside out of breath, “What's the big rush, Abner?” She was only answered by silence and a look of anger that made her reel back. “Are you okay? I've never seen anyone fly through the town like that, nor release a blast of energy that caused trees to start uprooting.”

Lionel expressed a look of shock, “What in the world...If you're really eager to catch up to them, I suggest you leave now or wait for a train to save your energy and take Lark with you.”

Relaxing his muscles a bit, Abner turned to Lark and back to Lionel, Lark saw what he was thinking an asked him, “When does the next train leave for Canterlot?”

“In about two hours.” He said after scanning the chart he had on his desk. “I was planning on visiting Prudence on my lunch break, her health has greatly declined since yesterday. A doctor checked on her this morning, said she just had an extreme case of magic fluctuations that are messing with her body.”

“When is your break?” Lark asked, still catching her breath.

“Luckily, in a good five minutes, but I suppose I could leave a little early.” He turned to another pony, a pegasus, “Hey Steam Cloud, I'm leaving a little early, so if anyone asks, let them know.” The pegasus gave him a quick nod and went back to reading her newspaper.

Arriving again at Prudence's house for what could be the last and final time, Lark, Abner, and Lionel found Tiva waiting for them in the doorway to the house with tears in her eyes. She approached him and starting shouting, “How could you take mother away from me! Why didn't you just die! Why!” Her voice turned into a murmur as she pounded her hoofs against Abner's shoulders.

“Tiva,” Lionel spoke up, “What are you doing?” she didn't answer and continued to sob, slowly stopping her hoofs against Abner.

“I'll handle this, Lionel. You and Abner head inside.” Lark spoke up, sadness and confusion in her voice. 

Lionel quickly trotted inside, Lark pulled Tiva away from Abner who followed Lionel inside. “Lionel, I knew you'd come in my last hours of living, my love.”

“Don't say it dear I don't want to hear that, I know you can make it through it, we've always have.” Lionel said with deep concern.

“Always the optimist weren't you.” She smiled, she coughed and spat some blood, her voice became more rasped and dry. “Love, you knew this day would come, I told you that since we started dating. I greatly wish that we could've been together for years well past our marriage.”

Lionel sigh sadly, his eyebrows raised, “I don't, I don't know what I'll do without you, Prudence. You're the one mare that made such a great difference in my life, but now you've got to go away and it isn't a choice by our hoofs that we can make.” He approached the bed and held one of her hooves in his, “Dear, please say you'll make it through this.”

“I'll make it through this, we both will. I've told Tiva the truth about this past month and the main reason behind this illness, it's terribly clear that she doesn't exactly understand all of it. I don't have much longer now.”

“Save your breath, Prudence, you need it. I'll find it out myself even if I can't understand it. Tell me again, love, that you'll make it through this.”

She softly laughed with a smile on her face, “I'm so happy, yet I can't help but feel sad. We'll make it through this. I love you, I always will” she slowly spoke her last words placing her other hoof on top of his, before finally closing her eyes and tears slowly dripped from her eyes.

Lionel remained silent holding his fiance's hooves in his, his head hung low. The air felt suppressed, still, stiff. “I love you too, Prudence.” Lionel choked with his last words to her now lifeless corpse. Abner could feel her soul thrust back into his consciousness, he could hear her crying with such a terribly deep sadness deep from within her heart, it filled him with uncertainty. Her body dissipated into the air. Lionel sobbed quietly, “Dammit.”

Lark came in with Tiva quietly sobbing at her side. “Mister Lionel?”

He lifted his head up staring at the wall, his voice became heavy, “Lark, was it? Keep an eye on my daughter for a little while, I need some time alone. You too, Abner.” The three of them left the house, Lark said to Abner to stay in the shadows and make sure Lionel doesn't do anything drastic. Lark took Tiva to a nearby hillside, trying to cheer her up. Abner used Drystan to keep himself cloaked in the shadows. Lionel sat in a chair, an unending stare befell his eyes as tears slowly rolled down his face. “Perhaps Luna can tell me, she was her teacher.” Lionel quickly rummaged through her books until he found a book on magic spells to summon mythical beasts, but it did not contain any proper pages.

Prudence's physical form she once had gone forever, she would not be able to use such a draining spell again.

Lionel kept Tiva by his side for the rest of the day. He allowed Lark and Abner to ride the train to Canterlot for free out of the kindness of his heart. Abner could still feel the aching sadness that resided in Prudence in his mind and he could hear Drystan silently trying to get her mind set straight on their current goal. Waiting on the boarding platform, Lark quietly hummed one of her favorite songs of hope and good luck and Abner quietly slept on a bench against the outside wall.

Lark began seeing something in the distance, a train coming from Canterlot, going much faster than what it should. She nudged Abner awake and pointed at it. Lark walked back inside the station and asked Lionel if there was supposed to be a train coming from Canterlot. Confused, Lionel said that there shouldn't be one arriving, the next one from Canterlot arrives thirty minutes after theirs. The train's horn started blowing rapidly as it chugged ever closer. Suddenly, the train lifted itself off the tracks, derailed and began running aground. 

“Umm, this can't be good.” Lionel said. “Everyone back inside, now!” The bending and warping metal could be heard screeching, ear piercingly so. The train cars bunched up into one another, collapsing in on themselves and contorting in extremely violent manners. Sliding across the ground, the engine peeled the rails up and split them apart. Abner ran towards the oncoming train and set forth a spell to slow the train even further. As he ran alongside the train, he made the spell wrap around the entirety of the train and began treating the spell as if it were a lasso around bull's neck. 

Eventually he got the train to come to a halt and released the spell. As the dirt, dust, and smoke cleared, Abner and Lark walked alongside the wreckage, listening and carefully looking for any movement from within the train cars. Seeing some boards shift on one of the cars in the back, which had flipped over onto its side, Abner quickly rushed over to the rustle, Lark followed closely behind. Suddenly, the pile boards busted open, exploding outward causing more smoke to fill the air and from it, two ponies emerged from the dust. “That was crazy! Should totally do that again sometime.” A familiar voice exclaimed.

“Whisk, that could've gotten us killed! First high jacking the train then derailing it by  using a makeshift explosive under the engine, which by the way, is outrageous in its own right.” The other one lectured.

“Well, the handle for the brakes broke, how else was it going to stop without completely passing Ponyville? Look at it this way, Marina, there wasn't anyone else on board and nopony got hurt.” Whisk chuckled.

“Just be glad I agreed to coming with you in the first place. I still don't know how you got it in your head that Celestia's gonna start going looney.” Marina complained.

“I've got my sources, Marina, you know that. Not to mention the heavy increase of guards and security checkpoints that were setup, there's also the magic field around the center tower where Celestia resides. Not to mention I saw a wanted poster for our new friends on the notice board at the station.” Whisk pointed out.

“Okay, okay. You've made your point, Whisk, jeez.” Marina groaned. “Anyways, let's find Abner and give him back his sword. I still don't understand why he took it in the first place.”

“Whisk, Marina, what happened?” Lark said as she approached the two. 

“Whisk can tell you, I've got to get this ridiculously heavy sword to Abner.” Marina again complained as she handed the sword over to Abner, out of breath and battered.

Whisk told the rather short tale of the two of them hijacking the train and leaving Canterlot, after successfully sneaking the sword away from Charger and then proceeding to hop in a train that was stored away. It was stored away but made to run on the same track during months with higher traffic. As the four of them made their way to the train station, Marina re-equipped Abner with his sword and satchel that had been taken from him. Whisk also explained the reasons of the of them being wanted were treason and conspiracies against Celestia, both things were something that Lark and Abner never thought would be placed on their heads.

As they made their way into Ponyville's train station, the group found themselves looking at dozens of the citizens in shock and awe from the display of destruction and heroism to keep the train from potentially destroying the station. Whisk assured them all that the train was empty besides the two of them.

“Should we really be attracting this much attention?” Marina asked Whisk.

“We'll be fine, besides we're going to leave Ponyville by tonight anyways. We've got a cat and mouse game with the Legion now. As long as we're on the move we'll be good. I know where we should out next anyways.” Whisk explained with much confidence and calm.

“Awfully calm about this aren't you?” Marina said as they made their way out of the station.

“Better than being stern, quiet, or stressed out about following orders precisely.” Whisk smartly replied. “The three of them will come around anyways, trust me.”

Lionel approached Abner before they left, “Abner, before I forget. Rarity dropped this off earlier this morning, asked me to hand it over to you in case you stopped by, it's a new harness to replace your old one, which looks to be rather worn out.” He said as he pulled the folded heap of rough brown leather from off his back. “I have to stay here and make a report on the ruckus you two decided to cause.”

When they arrived back to the barn on Apple Jack's farm, Abner received the worriment of his family when he didn't return the night before. His father didn't express too much concern however, he always knew that one way or another, that he would survive his predicaments. Whisk discussed in detail with Melek about the area around Abner's home, in particular the temple that was known to be in the nearby forest. Melek visited the place several times when he was a traveling merchant. Recalling one time when he met a archeologist there, he described it as a place that worshiped a goddess that represented the sun and the heavens. The archeologist was, conveniently enough, able to effectively translate the ancient language inscribed on the alters and tablets that were scattered throughout the small temple. He told Melek that the goddess was called Belisama, her description escaped him. The archeologist noted that the ancient tribe of ponies that dwelled here mostly consisted of earth ponies that were unaware of magics that unicorns possessed, not only that, they coexisted with other tribes, namely intelligent wolves that called themselves the White Strand Tribe and another tribe of griffins that called themselves the River Claws.

The temple itself, was a stepped  pyramid that had now been overgrown by trees vines and other such foliage. Melek stated that it shouldn't be too hard to find, but he also warned of a cursed creature whose lifespan was far greater than most, that if it was killed, it would release a spell that would turn everything within a certain area into stone. A certain potion could be used to release those that get trapped within its spell, but the ingredients are also extremely rare. Whisk pointed out that a spell to break petrification was discovered, it could be used if it was necessary.

As evening drew closer, Whisk, Marina, Abner, and Lark began their long-distance trek following one of the more dangerous routes through the Everfree forest. A path known for its gruesome tales of death and disease brought on by venomous insects and attacks from wildly large predators that took refuge nearby. The route was shorter than the safer paths through and bypassing the checkpoints would be far easier than taking the other routes.

The moon rose as a waning crescent, but still bright enough to show the group of friends to find their way to the entrance of the forest. Strangely enough, they found Lionel and his soon to be daughter awaiting them there. The silence of the meeting was accompanied by the churring of crickets and nocturnal birds. “I figured you all would take this route.” he said dimly, his eyes tired and weary.

“What brings you here?” Marina asked quietly. 

“I heard from my daughter about what happened to my fiance. What I loved, who I loved deeply with all my heart so if death came to take it away, my heart and mind would tear each other apart trying to find some sort of resolution.” He said with an extremely heavy heart. “I have but two things to ask of you. Marina, you knew Prudence well, do you believe I was in love with some cruel concoction of her magic, a fake if you will or was I truly loving her for who she really was?” Lionel spoke weakly, confusion in every word he spoke.

“Well, she was certainly one to keep secrets of certain things about her past, but she never lied to anyone. Even if the body she left behind was fake, she left behind her personality, not to fool you, but to continue loving you until the day that came to pass that she had to pass away, she could spend it with you and her precious daughter.” Marina answered in an apologetic and sincere voice. “She was one to love what she came to have, not destroy it.”

Lionel sadly smiled and closed his eyes, recalling all of the loving memories that she had left behind her. “I suppose you're right, Marina.” He said, slowly wiping away a tear from his eye. “The second question, are you willing to take my daughter with you, her first birthday wish was to explore the world with her mother. I feel that if she spends her time with you four, she'll be able to achieve that wish, that promise the two of them made together.”

“If you both agree on it, but she has to be sure to stay close to us. We may not be able to watch her at all times.” Marina replied.

Lionel and Tiva talked it over for what seemed to be the hundredth time, whispering to one another until Lionel finished their short conversation with a heavy sigh and a hug that seemed to last an eternity between the two of them. “She'll go along with you. Although it pains me to let her go, as she was just as much of my life as her mother. She has calmed down about Abner essentially taking her life. Harsh way of saying it I know, but I don't have any other way of putting it.” He paused, his voice choked, “Please, don't let her down. I'm going to head back into town, I have a station to attend.” He slowly trotted off back into the town, looking back only once to assure himself that his daughter would be safe.

“I'll be fine, Father! Please take care of yourself.” Tiva shouted to him, tears in her eyes.
> Chapter 4- Clackerton
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4- Clackerton


Despite being slowed down by the tear-jerking departure of such a family in a rather unusual way, the group pushed their way through the darkened forest, lighting their path with light magic. Whisk kept himself from crying, but it seemed he was reminded of something similar in his own life. The dirt path narrowed to a long wooden bridge over a swiftly flowing river bottomed with rocks. 

“This reminds me of a moment long ago from when Charger and I hung out together all the time.” Whisk reminisced. “He was born by nobles, and I was born from one of their servants. Naturally, as time passed by, we became really great friends. Although I was the ruffian, he was the one trying to keep me in line, but it was all in good humor.” he let out a soft chuckle. “At one point, his family had a dispute with my father. We were cast out without much say, it separated us for some time.” He said as they finished crossing over the rickety wooden bridge. 

“You're making your story sound like a lover's romantic tale, Whisk.” Marina remarked.

Whisk laughed loudly, “If that's what you think, go ahead. It's more of a tale of us reuniting by coincidentally winding up in the same squad upon our recruitment to Celestia's Legion, becoming best friends again. Although, Charger had changed after I left, he became more stubborn, stricter, and a little less friendly. I managed to relax his attitude enough over the years that he went back to his old way of speaking, starting his parts of the conversation with 'well'. We trusted each other quite a bit, that's why he trusted me with that heavy as buck sword Abner's got when we before we jacked that train from the station.”

“We'll set up camp here, this area should be relatively safe for now, but I'll set up a camouflaged barrier for safety.” Marina stated. “Do continue your story, if you wish, Whisk.” They set up their camp in a nicely tucked away pocket of space just a few yards off from the beaten path. Trees blocked any light coming from the waning moon.

“Not much more to add to it I think, however, if you're wondering why we trusted each other so much, it's because of the numerous adventures we had in the woods in the farthest end of his family's backyard. “We built a tree-house, some little forts for snowball fights during the winters. It was a nice little patch of woods that had a creek running through it. It was nice to hang out there with what friends we had, to enjoy our childish endeavors.” They all sat around the warm fire that Marina had started, listening intently to Whisk's story. “If I remember right, you attended the same school Charger and I did. Boy did he ever have a crush on you, I found it hilarious.”

“Whisk!” Marina snapped her cheeks turned red, “You know I don't like to talk about that. Charger is a blasted knuckle head, he never thinks anything through despite how intelligent he is.”

“Marina, I joke. I just love seeing that reaction out of you. Anyways, he gave up on you eventually, turned his mind towards his studies and work, as did I.” Whisk cleverly remarked. “I started that Tavern of mine up soon after the three of us graduated from boot camp. Cooking was something I loved to do in my spare time, so I figured why not. My first customer was Prudence, funny enough. She loved the food and the drinks I provided, she often chatted about her diplomacy job. I once asked her why she told me all this random stuff about paperwork and meeting with other leaders of various countries and small communities that started up outside Equestrian borders.” He paused for a moment, catching his breath, “I haven't talked this much in awhile, leaving me short of breath. Prudence answered me with a proposal, If I became part of her little squad she was starting up, a type of special forces squad that worked as undercover escorts in return for free drinks for a year.”

“Prudence didn't offer anything in return?” Marina questioned. “It seems unlike her to do something like that and I thought our squad was instated by Celestia, not Prudence.”

“Celestia did give permission and filled out the paperwork to start it, she left it up to Prudence to find the members though. As for what I got in return, she offered show her talent to me. She began with Charger, who she knew well as he had already been guard to her chambers several times. Through Charger she heard about my craftiness in improvising explosives during training sessions plus my talent for cooking proved useful in the grand scheme of things. She found you, Marina, from one of her visits at the aquarium. She saw that with your talent of water manipulation down to the the last drop, you could help tell the weather and where the nearest source of water would be. Your talents would also be useful for something we encountered not too long ago.”

“The dragon, Stribog.” Marina said, mildly surprised. “Now that I recall, she offered to cover my school expenses if I joined the squad, I was desperate at the time. I feel like we've all been used.”

“In a sense yes, but you know as well as I do that that isn't her intent. She knew that our fates were intertwined, it's part of her talent.” Whisk delicately remarked.

“Can you tell us what she showed you with her special talent?” Lark interjected.

Whisk looked over at her and smiled, “I can't, I promised her not to, but I can tell of whom later on. She knows you all will be able to figure it out on your own.” He looked over at Tiva, who had fallen asleep at Lark's side. “Looks like Tiva has taken a liking to you, Lark.”

“It seems that way doesn't it.” Lark smiled. “Song and dance do go together, don't they.” 

“You're not wrong, that's for sure.” Whisk answered.

“So, Whisk, where do Cuffs and Wrecker fit into Prudence's scheme?” Marina asked.

Whisk looked at Marina, eyebrows raised, “I'm getting there, I'm getting there.” he said before clearing his throat. “Wrecker, was a mercenary, soldier for hire. He scared a lot of potential clients off because of his sheer size, but he lived up to his nickname of Wrecker. Prudence got him involved in all of this because she knew that we would need his unmatched strength.”

“That's true, no telling how many times he's busted us out of a jam because of your drinking habits.” Marina jabbed.

“Hey now, I've loosened up on my drinking since I started working with you guys. Anyways, Prudence figured we would need medical attention at some point in time, so she recruited Cuffs, one of the Legion's best medical officers that worked in field. He proved his worth when he was healing up Charger after we ran into that group of bandits that managed to get a lightning bolt spell off, piercing his front legs. Cuffs had that patched up in an instant, left Charger a little sore but he walked it off pretty well.”

“You practically know what's going to happen this entire trip don't you?” Marina inquired.

“No, Prudence only told me three things when she revealed her talent to me, one being my fate, the second being the fate of Canterlot should she not assemble us together, and the third fate being her own. The third fate was the reason why I accompanied her alone to Abner's village and the reason why she transferred the leadership role over to Charger. I would've taken up the role, but she insisted that I was too friendly and that I would break under stress.”

“She certainly wasn't wrong in that regard.” Marina remarked. “Let's get some sleep, it's already plenty late. I think your story put those three asleep.” she said glancing over to Abner, who had fallen asleep, stretched out beside the fire.

“You do that, I'll stay up and keep watch, at this point we can't let our guard down. I'll get some sleep when you wake up.” Whisk assured her.

The morning came swiftly. The forest came alive with the sound of birds chattering in the trees. The suns warm rays gently pierced through the canopy and into the barrier that Marina had set up the previous night. Stretching out and getting their yawns out of their systems, the group put out the fire and packed away the small supplies they had taken out. A piece of flint and steel, some kindling, and a small knife that Whisk used to carve up some breakfast out of apples and various other fruits and berries. 

Continuing down the beaten trail, they made their way through thickets of vines and webs that stretched between the trees and blocked off a good portion of the trail. The sun today seemed discomforting, it glared brighter but a tad darker from its normal orange hue. It felt as if the sun would engulf them in fire, swallow them whole in flames of delight. Marina feared the worst of Canterlot, she silently hoped that the Elements of Harmony and Celestia would be okay. 

A small patrol squad of Legion pegasi flew overhead, gently flapping their wings to keep a good gliding speed. It was hard to see through the forest's canopy, but it was clear that Celestia had known about the passage way and she had no intention of letting Abner leave Equestria. “It appears we'll have a bit of a problem before we reach the temple. She's sending the faster fliers out.” said Whisk, disappointed.

“There's always the opportunity that we can avoid them entirely by taking the mountainside path.” Marina suggested.

“We'll have to stop at the temple first anyways, I'll see about convincing them that we're not the ones they're looking for, that is if they're even looking for anyone. If we're lucky, they won't know anything about the train jacking or the wanted posters back in Canterlot.” Whisk exclaimed.

It was surprising enough that the group never came under attack creatures of the forest, perhaps they had moved through the route because many of the animals preferred easier prey. Another likely possibility was that Celestia's soldiers began moving down the other routes which were longer and far less risky. 

Approaching the group five of soldiers who stood on either side of the piked fencing made of sharpened logs of nearby oak trees. The patrolling officer who paced from the view of the field and the view of the darkened forest, halted the seemingly odd group of travelers who had unbeknownst to him, disguised themselves in tattered clothes of silk and cotton cloth. “Stop there and state your purpose.” the guard yelled in the quite usual fashion befitting them.

Whisk casually approached the mare, but kept his distance, knowing that getting too close would result in undesirable consequences. “My associate...” he started, gesturing a hoof towards Marina. “and I are traveling merchants making our way to Clackerton town, it's on the other side of the mountain path. We were hoping trade some wares there.”

“Very well, but I need to see some identification papers so I can make note of anyone who passes through here.” the guard insisted sternly.

Whisk gathered the papers he had forged together before leaving Canterlot, and carefully  handed them to the guard after clasping them together in small leather binding. “Here you go, please take your time if you like, we don't have an appointment of any sort.”

The guard carefully looked over the papers, being sure that the portraits of Whisk, Marina, and Lark matched up to their imagery and the faked information written delicately so, “Okay, this all seems to check out, you do bear a striking resemblance to some one that hijacked a train yesterday morning however. I'll let you go, but you must tell me what you need the wolf for and who the young filly is, security reasons.” The guard said, seeming tired and sicken of the new deployment of forces and searches for suddenly wanted folks who had no history of crime.

Whisk quickly spurred up an answer to the guard, “He helps carry some of the equipment, he also makes a good guard, you know, with the extra hearing and all that. Tiva here is our daughter.” He finished as he gestured a hoof in Lark's direction. Lark gave him an odd look, but played along and Tiva didn't seem to mind, she didn't seem to pay much attention to the conversation either.

“Reasonable enough. Go on ahead, but I must warn you that there has been an increase of wild animals venturing the plains lately.” The guard moved aside and kept his head high and his eyes leveled, carefully watching the group.

Grabbing their papers back as they passed and waltzing across the field until the checkpoint was no longer in sight, they all let out a deep sigh of relief. “Got to admit, that was impressive. Never thought I'd be able to fool a guard like that. Come to think of it, that one looked oddly familiar...” Whisk quietly hummed as he mused the thought for a moment. “Well anyways, onwards to Abner's village that I for some odd reason can never remember the name of.”

“That's because it didn't have one, Whisk.” Lark snidely replied.

“Really. I thought I heard Prudence say the name of the place at least once.” Whisk remarked. “Let's get moving, no telling when the field is going to expand into Ponyville.”

From the middle of the windy fields, they began their trek. Marina checked the map that she had brought with her from Prudence's residence. Embedded with the map there were multiple spells that tracked their location which showed the direction that they were facing, the distance between two points and any holds that might come to pass. “It seems like we might have to travel through Clackerton anyways to get to Abner's village.”

“Why's that, Marina?” Whisk inquired.

“The map seems to vaguely showing a large ravine that recently opened up due to an earthquake, completely shutting down the road we took to get back to Canterlot.” She answered. Going through Clackerton might take a little longer, but if we're quick it should only take about tweleve hours longer.”

“Well, that bites.” Whisk huffed. “What's the current expansion rate on the field, measure from the edge and to Clackerton.”

As she charted the two positions together, she changed the topic, “You know, I'm still curious as to why Celestia felt the need to put up a field like she did. It felt as if it was draining my magic, but also twisting it in a unusual manner. It felt so strange.”

“That's because it was, I may not be a unicorn or a pegasus, but I could tell that nothing there was on the right side of the tracks. Recall this, Marina. All of the guards were pegasi, any unicorns were lined up at makeshift first aid stations, and any earth ponies that were walking around seemed completely oblivious to the entirety of it all. Remember, Marina, I'm a pony-smart pony, not a book smart pony.”

Marina rolled her eyes, recollecting what memories she could if she hadn't forgotten them already, “I think you're right. Well, the field is expanding, but at a slower pace than before. Only about halfway to Ponyville, it'll reach Clackerton within three days time. We'll get there tonight if we take a break or two.”

“Sounds good. Two days should be plenty of time to track down an old friend of mine whom last I recall, was living in Clackerton quite recently.” Whisk replied.

After crossing the expansive plains, they came upon the edge of a small thick of woods with a large cobblestone path running through it. There they took a short break, filling up on what berries and fruits were growing nearby.

Whilst they ate, the wall-eyed pegasus that Abner had run into back in Canterlot visited them, dropping off a rather sturdy package about as big as his torso. After seeing the pegasus fly off and handing her a few apricots and peaches, Abner opened the package and saw a sheet of paper attached to a rough burgundy colored leather harness hoof made from some very durable material. The letter itself was from Rarity, saying that the harness was something that she had quite some trouble creating at first considering materials. Having a keen eye like hers, she was able to accurately guess the measurements that she need to take to make the harness. She stated that the sword that Abner wielded was much too large to swing around a lot of the time, so she crafted a squared hook that could hold another, shorter sword like a gladius or khanda. She had some trouble conversing with the mail mare before having the package delivered, but she knew that she would do her job appropriately so.

Abner spent the next few minutes trying to get the harness on, embarrassingly so. Fumbling his legs and the separate ends and straps to tighten and loosen lightly smacked him in the face. Despite using magic to finally achieve the equipping of his new item, it was still a small struggle to get it right. Seeing another piece of paper attached to the bottom of the box, which was covered by the harness, was another letter from Rarity. On it read a rather discerning message, a short few sentences expressing her worries about the sudden illusional mindset of Celestia and the twisted distorted magic of the field. She was scared, as was the rest of her friends. Twilight had constructed a barrier of her within her library, protecting hundreds of other ponies. They knew however, that the barrier wouldn't last forever, the barrier needed constant boosts of magic from unicorns. She felt that the fight would be lost if the situation continued.

“We know the Elements of Harmony are safe for the most part, the bothersome part is how long that barrier of Twilight's is going to last.” Whisk said with a disheartened voice. “I suppose the faster we get to the Guardian’s Lair, the less time they have to worry. I suppose we can write up a letter back to them when we get to Clackerton.”

After setting forth down the long cobblestone road the twisted and winded its way through the ever thinning wood. Upon meeting with entryway, They were welcome by the towns guards who stood under a arch made of smoothed granite stone that was tinged in a deep blue color. The crowded town bustled even more than Canterlot, a good majority of the houses and shops being at least two stories high snugged up against each other with barely any room between, alleyways were few and far between. The streets were all cobblestone with small patches of grass bursting up through the cracks and the sides were adorned with poles with unlit torches that were encased with hinged panes of glass. The sound of metal clanging together and the grinding of gears could be heard from the clocktower which stood in the circular intersection that appeared to mark the towns foundation. The smell in the air consisted of an odd mixture of spices, sweets akin to donuts being cooked, and cleaned steel.

The crowded houses, shops, and taverns were unlike the ones in Canterlot. Arched windows and doorways were incredibly common with each passing of a building. Light brown bricks and gray plaster built the walls and the foundations were concrete blocks that probably weighed more than the average filly. Wood still made up for structural integrity where it was needed, but the color of the wood ranged from dark reds to lighter browns and often matched up with whatever color the building was painted. Many of the buildings had lamps that hung over the doorways from decorative wrought iron that twisted as in flowed in a circular patterns.

Quite a lot of the citizens of Clackerton all seem to wear fancy clothing, dresses and suits, monocles and top-hats. Lower income citizens it seemed, wore more rugged clothing that was more everyday wear and could stand up to the elements of nature to a certain degree. A few older ponies slowly move down the sidewalks with walkers or canes. One side of the sidewalk sat a small trading shop that specialized in kitchenware, another one next to it sold harnesses of various types and yokes made to pull wagons.

“Home sweet home.” Whisk thought aloud. “Still has that smell of scented steam and sound of gears slowly grinding together somewhere. A lots changed compared to when I left, I wonder how my parents are doing.”

“So how is it that you came to know the wielder of the Elements, Whisk.” Marina asked politely as they walked down the wide straight roads that were also cold and muddy. 

Whisk raised a brow, “If I recall correctly, Pinkie was the first to visit, caught wind of how good the deserts were and dropped by. Rarity second, she stopped by looking for a place to eat after visiting a client in Canterlot. Twilight came by a few times for our breakfast meals, she enjoyed looking at the sunset from the porch.” The group turned a corner at an intersection that revealed an unusual busy section of the town. Whisk naturally raised his voice, “I remember Rainbow Dash's first visit, being dragged in by Pinkie Pie, telling her of the great food and customer service. I took a liking to Rainbow at first I'll admit, but I was never really one for relationships.” He sighed as if remembered something that broke his heart. “Now Fluttershy, she was a rather peculiar one. Always quiet, always one that didn't want to heart anyone's feelings. Extremely friendly with animals, if they're not scary. Apple Jack and I have met often, I get my cider from her apple orchard.”

Walking around the large circular crowd that yelling over one another, screaming at the top of their lungs prices for some rare items that were being displayed on the stage in front of what appeared to be the mayors home. Several guards stood on all sides of the stage to keep them from approaching the stage and stealing away whatever is displayed. A single colt dressed in a blue and white pinstriped shirt repeated the higher bids that his potential customers offered.

“Are they always this noisy?” Lark asked, using magic to deafen the sound that assailed her ears.

“Only on auction days which are once a weekend. They're not the most organized events, but surprisingly there haven't been any riots over what matters occur. It's a bit crazy.” Whisk answered in an almost delightful tone.

As they progressed through the town, they came upon a towering structure at the end of a road. Cylindrical in shape, much like the ones placed at the corners of a castle's walls. A single guard stood in front of the door way, wearing silver armor that shined like the sun and reflected the environment around it. Chain-mail was worn beneath the shining breastplate, the small intricate chains looped together flawlessly but were less appealing in their sheen. The colt had a build much like Charger's, the athletic type built for long distance endurance. His brown color palette was simple enough, almost all of the hue of mound of wet dirt. “Halt!” The guard said in a rather strong and demanding voice, slowly approaching them. “I cannot allow any ponies past this point under the order of the noble family and the mayor. What business do you have here?”

“I'm just here to visit an old friend. Tell me guard, what is the meaning of the word egg?” Whisk smirked.

The guard muttered the question under his own breath, “What kind of question- wait a minute, there's only two ponies that ever ask that question, and by the looks of things you must be Whisk. Seems you've brought a family along with you.”

“You could say that, but these are just friends of mine. Dirty Dirt wasn't it?”

“That's right. After all the mares you've met, you still haven't chosen one to be with you forever. Last I heard you were in the Equestrian Legion, parading around with a squad under Celestia's direct orders”

“Well, you know me, Dirt, I'm always busy with something. I still am, right now I'm on a bit of a leave as you might say.” Whisk answered slyly.

“Ah, well, go on through, can't be caught slacking. You know how it is.” Dirt stood aside after opening the door.

After getting a good distance from the entry, arrived at a large home, almost like a mansion. It stood three floors tall and just as wide. The house was everything a rich pony could ask for, a roof made from ceramic shingles, large windows crafted from the finest panes of glass where not even a single bubble found its way, and the walls were built from gold colored bricks and the dark wood of the crossbeams were pulled apart from the finest cherry trees. Large ornate gardens surrounded the house in a square fashion, but stood a good distance away from the walls of the house and some plants stretched out to the tallest parts of the rod iron fencing. The walkway had a deep blue and purple streaked slate stone that was glazed and polished to a very fine finished.

“So, this is where you and Charger lived, never would've thought he'd be this rich.” Marina remarked. “Also, what kind of name is Dirty Dirt?”

“Well, I used to live here, my parents and I moved into the town after the dispute we had. I figure could take refuge here though, as they still welcome me with open arms. The last letter I got from my parents said that they moved back in here, but as residents and not butlers.” Whisk stated.

“May I ask what the dispute was about?” said Marina.

Whisk sighed, “Honestly, I don't remember it all to clearly. I think it was some remark I made towards his sister. What the comment was, I have no idea. His parents threw a fit and my family suffered the consequences. Guess they finally forgave me.”

“That somewhat reasonable I guess but they didn't need to boot you out.” Marina said as the group approached the door.

Whisk pressed the doorbell which triggered a series of chimes from bells inside the walls. A light tone that changed its pitch in a manner that suited a calm garden on a sunny day. Hearing the hoof clatter from inside, Whisk backed away from the door. A black suited white colt slowly swung the door open. “Ah, so we have guests. May I ask what the occasion might be? As the master's butler, I am aware of any meetings that he may have. Today, I am quite sure that he has none. Again I must ask, what brings you fine folks here this afternoon?”

“Aw, you don't recognize your favorite cook?” Whisk remarked, trying to ring a few bells in the butler's head.

“Favorite cook. I do believe I had one, but the name, I can't seem to recall.” He mused the thought for an extremely long time.

Whisk changed his look to a troubled stare, “Jeeves, it's me, Whisk. Charger's best friend, Son of your master's best servant. I've dropped by for a visit.”

“Ah, yes of course, how could have I forgotten such a reputable member of the house hold. You two were always such rascals. Come on in, I'll see to the empty rooms that we have and call down your parents, don't forget to wipe your hooves. I'll ask the chef to make something for you, and your friends here.” He gave Abner a strange look, raising a brow and almost whispering, said to Whisk, “Did you tame this wolf, the creature seems most unusual.”

“Don't worry about him Jeeves, he'll be fine. He was raised in a family much like ours. We've taken a liking to each other is suppose, and honestly, I can't really leave him alone.” Whisk answered.

“Very well then. I'll shall take my leave here and your parents will arrive shortly thereafter, please try not to break anything.” Jeeves said as he pulled the door open further, allowing the five to come inside and take in the seemingly rich air in the household. 

“So what is it like living in a place like this?” Tiva asked shyly.

Whisk looked down at her and gently smiled, “Well, Tiva. Running around in such a large place like this is fun, but there are many rules that the richer like to apply to their homes. For one, no running. Two, always wipe you hooves off before entering the house. The third rule that I always seemed to have trouble with is to dress appropriately, dressing in a suit all the time was a blasted hassle to me.” He paused for a moment, as if to take the atmosphere once again after all of his years away from his first home. “The food's nice though, so I can't complain about that.”

Marina let out an audible sigh directed at Whisk, “Is food all you ever think about, Whisk?”

“Always is, always will be. You should know that by now, Marina.”

The foyer was large, two staircases lined either side, leading do a walkway for the second floor that passed over the short hallway through to the dining room. Red rugs with gold trim ran in every direction the halls and stairs went, creating a road of its own and the tiles were of a white marble that was clouded with spots of gray. Small plants lined the sill of every large window to be found, some were vine-like and climber up the decorative  trim on their sides. Candles were placed on simple bars of steel mounted to walls of white slate striped on the lower third with its darker cousin of dark blue slate. Every now and then, there was a patch of geodes that broke up the monotonous of light and dark. The geodes were colorful, pinks and oranges purples, and azure blues, whites and silver. Several pillars of bronze stood tall and unyielding to the weight of the ceiling, which had its own unique structure of white slate crafted in circular patterns bordered by the same dark blue slate the lined the walls beneath it. Needless to say, the environment was breathtaking and Charger's parents sure had some high end tastes in design.

Abner's ears perked up to the sound of several sets of clattering hooves trotting down from the hallway on the second floor. Whisk quickly took notice and looked in the same direction and just as quickly as he did look, a small filly like pony hugged him in a flash, followed by two more ponies that were old in their age. Whisk, unable to bear the sudden shifting weight fell over with a look of delight across his face.

Once they all had their short laugh and managed to get back on their hooves, Marina covered her mouth with one hoof and snickered before asking, “I didn't know you had a sister, Whisk.”

Whisk threw her and odd stare knowing that she had misunderstood the standing between him and the mare who so eagerly assailed him. “She's not, she's Charger's older sister and she's still short as ever.” He said while roughing up her hair. Marina didn't say anything back, it was odd and unusual to see a mare her age as short as her. 

“It's been a long time, Whisk.” The older colt said, with a smile of deep joy.
“That it has dad. Mom you appear to be holding up well, and Rosamond, you still look great as usual.” Whisk sounded as if he had longed for this reunion for a very long time, he never imagined the day when he would finally come back home and visit his family again.

Rosamond noticeably blushed and smiled, “You look good too, Whisk.”

“Aw, Whisk, I never took you for one to be such a love bird.”Marina chimed in, poking fun at the little reunion between the two, who seemed much like lovers. Lark giggled quietly to herself and Tiva, as young as she was, seemed confused, unable to comprehend the situation.

Whisk stuttered for a moment, “Marina, what makes you think that, honestly?”

“Oh nothing, just thought you could introduce us to your parents and vice versa.” Marina replied.

“Right, right. This mare here is Rosamond, Charger's sister as you're already aware, I honestly can't remember what your occupation is. My father, Wooden Spoon is a retired chef and servant and my mother, Cast Iron Pan is much the same in her work.” He turned around to face his traveling companions and pointed to each as he listed them off from left to right. “Tiva, the little filly wanted to travel with us, for adventure, to explore. Marina here is a coworker so to speak, a member of the squad I'm in for Celestia's Legion. Lark, now she'll sing a pretty song, whether to heal your heart or to perchance bring some better luck. Now the wolf, Abner, intelligent as he is, is rather mute, but his actions speak for him. Please, do feel free to chat to one another when you can.”

“Interesting bunch you have here, son.” Wooden said, stroking at his beard. “I've heard of intelligent wolves before, never thought I'd see one in person. It's unusual to spot one outside of its tribe, and alone for that matter but I wonder, what's with the horn and the sword?

“There's a reason for that, I assure you, father. I can tell you the tale of my little adventures once dinner comes around. We could use a little rest, we've been walking almost non-stop the past few days.” Whisk answered.

“Of course son, stay as long as you like. The journey here from Canterlot must be quite tiring. Jeeves should be coming back soon with rooms for you to use.” Cast delightfully spoke, incredibly happy that her son had finally returned after being away for years on end, their only form of communication had been letters sent to and fro that had at least a days worth of time between.

At that moment, practically on cue, Jeeves came back and spoke proudly. “Sirs and mistresses, your rooms are ready, follow me.”

They followed Jeeves down the hall up on the second floor, the walls and floors were relatively the same as the foyer, keeping a sort of monotonous feel to the house. “Must have cost a pretty bits to build this place.” Marina commented, shifting her eyes from one wall to the other with its immense ceiling height that could had to been four times as tall as Wrecker.

“The cost of this household was a great many pretty bits indeed, madam.” Jeeves replied before stopping at a room and opening the door, a door which was dull dark red in color and double wide, the top portion converging to a wide arching point. “This room is for the three young misses, do make yourselves at home. However, try not to wreck the beds.” Lark, Marina, and Tiva slowly wandered inside and took refuge, quickly relaxing their sore hooves and muscles. Jeeves closed the door and continued further down the hall, with Abner and Whisk following close behind.”So, Whisk, you appeared to have matured greatly since the last time we saw you. May I be right to guess that someone you know has passed away?”

“How, did-?” Whisk stumbled for the proper words for a moment and sighed deeply. “You've always been able to see right through me, no point in hiding it I guess. Prudence passed away due to her hereditary disease.” Whisk appeared to be content with knowing about Prudence's death, but it seemed that he didn't feel good about the lies he had to tell. The entire events behind the incident wasn't very widespread in terms of information. Only the soldiers and the civilians that were there had knowledge of the dragon's attack.

Stopping at another door, two rooms down from the the mare's that parted with them just a few moments earlier. “I see. That is rather unfortunate Master Whisk. You always spoke of her in your letters, when she did stop by your tavern. By the way, how is that endeavor going?” he asked as he opened up the door.

“It's going well. Although, I handed it over to another capable fellow that could run it just as well, one of my first employees. You can already tell that I won't be staying long, can't you?”

“Of course, Master Whisk. May I ask where to?” Jeeves politely inquired.

“Further west, into the Frosty Desert. I have a favor to ask of you though, would an old friend of mine happen to living in town, you should who. He's a bit of an alcoholic, likes to play with gizmos and gadgets, invents odd stuff all the time.”

“I'll send word out to the guards, see if they spot him and give you word if he shows up.” Jeeves happily accepted the request.

“Thanks, Jeeves, I owe you one.” Whisk thanked him, shaking his hoof as he followed Abner inside the room. Jeeves closed the door behind them. Then silence filled the air until Whisk let out a short coy laugh before saying in a low voice, “Pretty damn sure I owe him a lot more than that.”

Abner sat on the large window sill that acting much like a couch, staring down into the garden, watching several caretakers tend to the delicate flowers that bloomed brightly in the mid-summer and they appeared sprout from the thick roots of a massive oak tree towering from the center of the garden. The ones that they tended to reminded Abner of similar ones that his mother and younger sister, Nitza took special care of. The flowers were much like orange tiger lilys, only they were turquoise in color with pink spots said to glow brightly during nights of a lunar eclipse. His mother told him a tale of the flowers, how the mythical Olwen eternally slept under a great oak tree during the night of a full lunar eclipse the brought the brightest night upon the land and the clearest sky without a single star. Olwen awoke from her slumber and seeing that there were no stars in the night sky, she cried over the roots of the oak tree and from those roots, the Flowers of Olwen bloomed to replace the stars.

At least, that was how the myth went. His mother never told him what kind of animal Olwen was, he remembered that his brother had asked at one point. To which she replied that the figures of myth are often represented in many different ways, as a great many of them were known to shape shift to more easily fit into their surroundings, if it was at all required.

Some time passed before the two of them were called for dinner. Whisk had taken the fine clothes of a typical black suit and neatly tightened the sleeves and the stomach band, snugging the black tie up to his neck and tucking it in behind the buttons the held the coat to his chest. Once he had finished preparing himself for the family dinner and stretched out to make sure the buttons wouldn't snap, him and Abner began making their way down the hall. He asked Jeeves if the mares had already made their way to the dining hall, he was answered by a quick yes in his verbose manner. Upon entering the hall, they were welcomed by all the maids and butlers of the house, a good handful of stallions and mares all varying in species and color of mane and coat and that stood along the outer wall.

A grand table awaited them, with platters of all sorts of meals that one normally wouldn't think of to eat, the chefs here were quite creative with the food that they had. Cooking and preparing things ranging from the pasta that Whisk often made at his tavern to large healthy leaves of burdock plants which were notoriously irritating because of the burrs that got caught up in their tails and manes when the plants were fully grown. Large silver coated wooden bowls filled to the brim of various fruits and vegetables dotted the centerline of the table, containing well beloved apples and the hourglass shape of pears. Another bowl contained cobs of corn and another had the dangling vines of green and purple grapes barely overflowing the edges. Large barrels  sat against the back wall, full of cider, ale, a concoction of burdock roots and dandelions created an odd bitter flavor mixed up a strong tasting apple juice. 

Much like the foyer, the dining hall stood the same with the same types of walls of stone slabs and pillars, only accented by the gratuitous amounts of dark red cherry wood that made the floor and lined the walls where they met. The table was made of much the same wood, albeit a light polish but hard to notice from its being covered with a massive graphite gray tablecloth adorned with golden accents stitched in patterns of large diamonds the reached every edge of every draping fold. Oddly enough, the table ran short of the total length of the hall, as it doubled for holding a small stage at the other end with no use of curtains or a backstage for performers to precariously prep themselves beforehand.

Like the floor, the stage was also made of wood, a dull white stained randomly from the trunks of mountain ash. The stage sat between two door ways on the other side, leading into another hall that the chefs and servants could use to deliver what food they had if it was at all necessary. On the stage sat a single stand made for an old-fashioned ribbon microphone and a set of old vintage styled speakers, brown and decorative gold flaked trimmed lining the edges. It appeared to be set up recently, as dust had not settled upon it, compared to the bars that held up the candles. That, or it had been cleaned up a bit.

Whisk looked at the table and its many attendants of ponies he did not know and couldn't help but notice something felt a tad out of place, “Where are Charger's parents?”.

His father spoke up, almost hesitant, “I suppose you could say that they moved elsewhere, their daughter staying here to tend to the house. With her knowing next to nothing about tending to it, she hired your mother and I to help out in that matter.”

“Suppose? I guess I can talk to you about it later, betting it's something that you'd rather discuss in private.” Whisk responded, pulling out a chair near to his father who sat at its end and next to Rosamond. “By the way, I don't see Lark either, or Tiva and Marina.”

“That it is, son.” Wooden answered and answered his other question, “Your friend, Lark, will be performing for us. We politely asked her to, after I recalled that I had attended one of her small concerts here in town, the other two are probably getting ready still.” He turned to Jeeves, “Do check on them would you, Jeeves. Wouldn't want our guests to miss dinner.”

“Will do, Master.” Jeeves bowed his head and walked back towards the room that they had recently occupied. Waiting for the two to show up, Abner sat by Whisk's chair much like a loyal dog to its master. Small amounts of chatter arose from the other guests who seemed, Abner listened in to a few conversations. They weren't really of much relevance of the current situation as the ones he listened to simply whispered to one another about either his appearance, Whisk, or something in their personal lives. The sound of several sets of hooves lowly echoed and stopped at the top of the stairs. Everyone looked towards the stairs as Jeeves called out to Wooden, “Master Spoon, your guests.”

Marina sported a simple jade colored dress with elegant white frilled edges and two thin stripe coursed its way in a water-like fashion down the seams. Her mane was knotted up in a bun to keep from catching the small ties that held the dress to her torso. She stunned all of the onlookers, except Whisk, who appeared to have seen her dressed like this before. Lark wore a dull white dress that was just as elegant as the songs she sang, beautiful and heartwarming. The length of the dress did well to keep her hindquarters covered. She kept her mane loose and flowing but pulled entirely to one side. A simple black band she wore kept her hair back and out of her eyes, attached to the band was a flower brought in from the gardens and faintly shimmered in the the candlelight. The reaction from the other patrons was much the same as before but Abner could feel a slight hint of jealousy from Rosamond. Tiva shyly pulled out from behind the two of them as they began to descend the stairs. She had on a burgundy shaded dress that shone greatly in the sunlight that was beginning the early stages of sunset. Its collar and rim were enforced with a bright white stripe.

As they took their seats at the table, the conversations between the other residents seemed to sing the same tune. Mostly pertaining to the new guests that wore magnificent dresses as if they were crafted by a professional whose skill could be wildly unrivaled. Jeeves quieted them down before Whisk's father began to introduce their new guests. “Residents of the Palatial Manor,” He began, “I introduce you two my son, Whisk and his friends that accompany him. Some of you may recognize Lark, she is a singer well known for her songs that reminisce the birds of paradise. His loyal wolf companion is Abner, Tiva is the young filly here, and Marina is the one you all seemed to gape your jaws at. Treat them well and let us toast to their well being, much like we have done before with those who sought a living here.” They all raised their glasses high, glasses made for champagne filled with the cider from the aforementioned barrel.

As the food was passed around the table, it was cut to the recipients liking. Some of the residents took to more healthy amounts, a few others wanted to gorge themselves, Whisk took a fair amount of every one of the dishes, portioning it evenly among the plates that had been neatly stacked before them. Tiva remained silent and shy, thankfully Lark helped her out in choosing what food she took a liking to. Something that she had experience with from when she babysat Abner. The two of them took to the salads and fruits, the way their plates were set were nearly identical. Marina, took to some of the vegetation that the seas provided and mixed it together with some of the cubed fruits that had been simmered with a honey glaze. She had an exotic taste to say the least. Whisk took an extra plate and sorted out a few items that Abner could eat and had Jeeves place it in a dog food bowl that had long been unused by the house. Abner greatly enjoyed it, even after hesitantly taking the first few bites as his diet wasn't quite used to what the ponies preferred in their everyday lives.

As dinner wound down and the sun's setting grew closer, Jeeves and a few other servants went to close up the large brown curtains to cover up the large windows that peaked to a small rose window made of multicolored stained glass. Then they set up several torches that sat precariously beside the stage, careful not to set it aflame. Humbly, Jeeves asked Lark to take the stage and sing a song of her choosing. The conversations died down, the silence rose and thickened the air much like fog on spring morning, only the quiet breathing of the audience could be heard before the air was softly cracked by Lark's voice into the microphone. She, as usual, sang a song in a different language, one that Abner could surprisingly understand thanks to the magic the Prudence had bestowed upon him what seemed like such a long time ago.

The words she herald brought forth an air of ambiance and a sound sweet backed by the bitterness of the words. The patrons all felt the same despite what knowledge they could have about the language. Throughout the coursing melodies of the song, the entranced audience had mixed reactions of sadness and happiness, heartwarming and heartbroken. Abner had heard this song before, when he was younger. He remembered a moment in time where Lark had helped put him to sleep in the small bushel of hay that was conformed to a doughnut like shape, with a blanket softly draped across its surface. Lark had sang the song quietly at that time and it urged feelings of sleepiness, but now that his senses were more keen than before, the song gave him chills.

As the suns rays slowly faded away from the backside of the curtains, the small show ended with the last notes of Lark's beautiful and seemingly tragic song of the heart, one broken and then content upon returning home one last time. Awfully fitting to Abner and perhaps, Whisk. A multitude of scenarios could be played to the song, all reveling in the same message. When the echoes finally left their ears, the other residents clapped in a slow manner. As Lark descended from the stage, she was thanked and complimented on her talents. Making her way through the crowd until she returned to her seat beside Abner.

After dinner and the small impromptu concert was over, the residents of the house made their way back to their own rooms. Whisk stayed behind and talked to his father about Charger's parents. It was apparent that something tragic had happened to them while they were away after Whisk returned to his room. His head hung low, he was saddened, but not entirely downtrodden by the news. Hanging up the suit he wore in the closet and folding the shirts atop of a footlocker at the foot of the bed, he lied down on its soft, quilted surface, gazing out the window. “You know, Abner,” he began, “Its astounding how many things can happen over the course of a few years. Astonishing, even. This past decade, I've been through a lot, seen a lot of things others could only dream of. Even if being in touch with your family can update you on things back home, its not surprising that you'll miss something.” To Abner, it was evident by the way he spoke, that Charger's parents had passed away. “Rosamond had informed me that her parents had moved on, but I guess she was afraid to tell me what really happened. Afraid I would wallow in grief and drown myself in alcohol.” He raised a hoof to his eye, wiping away a single tear, “Heh, I wonder how long its been since I've cried, I honestly can't remember.”

Whisk slowly fell to slumber as he reminisced his memories of Charger's parents. Abner couldn't fully understand his feelings, his time being parted from his own family was filled with confusion and uncertainty, even now he wasn't sure how they fared back in Ponyville. He hoped that the field which had been erected at Canterlot, hasn't reached that far. 

Abner himself fell into a deep sleep, snugging up against Whisk to keep warm. His dream lead him again into a thick oddly colored fog. Prudence sat in the middle of the room, so to speak, where the fog was dispersed. Drystan's looming shadow brought forth an unending feeling of fright. “It's a shame.” Prudence's voice echoed again inside of Abner's head. Looking out the window, a storm began to rear its ugly head. “Charger's parents were good friends with my mother.”

“And I could care less.” Drystan sarcastically chimed in. “How much longer do you two intend on hanging out with these clowns?”

“We need their help. Abner may be capable of making it there on his own, but he doesn't have the experience of traveling on his own, he would be overwhelmed by the wilds, or winding up lost.” She answered the question without much thought before snapping to the realization that Drystan had been stealing away to Abner's shadow. “How can you even hear my voice?”

“Not hard when I can easily tap into Abner's consciousness. The Blight helps so much in that matter. Your seals are easy for me to crack, Prudence. As impatient as I am, I am curious as to why you just don't guide Abner to the temple. You're entirely capable of controlling him from what I can tell.”

“Quiet!” Prudence was getting understandably irritated by Drystan's assessment. “You should know full well I can't, not in this state. I remember reading the tale about you now that I recall, your being a shapeshifter allowed you to thieve away many artifacts that others simply could not.” Prudence revealed.

He laughed, delighted that someone had actually studied the ancient tale. “Of course. Tell me Prudence, you silly little filly, do you remember what the animal was that you brought into your house that fateful day you fell ill?” Abner could feel Drystan smirk in his shadow.

Prudence was confused, she answered carefully, “It was a rabbit. What does that have to do with this.”

Abner felt Drystan's smirk creepily turned to a twisted smile, “Guess who that was.”

Suddenly, the feel of blood red rage coursed through Abner's veins and the burn of magic ran through his nerves. “That was you, you're the cause of my life being this way!?” Prudence's voice roared inside his head as Drystan began to laugh maniacally. Abner quickly willed his fairly new magic against Prudence's control, canceling it out to prevent her from doing something reckless. “Abner what are you doing? Stop that.” He growled in a way that told her to calm down. Anything to do with her tragic past seemed to upset her and would stop at nothing to know how they knew or what their reasoning was.

“It seems even your pet knows how to control your magic well enough to cancel it out. Still naive.” Drystan said, happy that he succeeded in angering Prudence. “You need me, Prudence. I have the keys and you know it, eliminate me and you can say goodbye to saving the whole of the world.”

Feeling her magic die down, Abner released his concentration, leaving himself exhausted not realizing how strong she still was. Perhaps it would be good to ask her not to control his gifted magic. “You bastard. I won't forgive you.”

“Typical.” Drystan muttered, rolling his eyes.

Abner stomped his foot, signaling them to stop their bickering. He wondered for a moment if the dragon's consciousness could be brought back enough to keep them in check. Then again, maybe four voices in his head, counting his own, would be too much.

Abner awoke the next morning, alone, to the sound of rain softly pattering against the window pane. Relieving a large yawn as he stretched in various ways, he felt the blanket of the bed shift and slowly fall off his back. Whisk must have covered him up before he left. Shaking away the thoughts of the dream, he drew his magic to wrap the harness around him yet again and place the sword wrapped in  its torn cloth, in the buckle and closed tip of the openly designed sheath. Yawning again and shaking out his feet one at a time, he made his way to the door and opened it.

He was passed by two young foals chasing each other down the hall, playing a game of tag. Abner smiled softly, remembering when he did something similar with Kafziel. Before he reached the stairs in the foyer, he was confronted by Rosamond, she patted him on the head and asked him a rather simple question, somewhat rhetorical. “I wonder how Whisk came about in finding you. You seem so adorable, comforting, but yet so distant.” Just as quickly as she asked, she trotted away wearing her everyday dress. Attire that still made her appear as if she were going to a ball. Abner shrugged off the compliment but the statement of being distant muddled his thoughts.

Smelling again the fruits of the night before, he made his way to the dining hall. Its curtains thrown open and anchored, revealing the mighty rain of the sky and the grand oak tree shimmering in its wake.  Looking around, he saw that Whisk was not attending the breakfast, but the time appeared well overdue. Glancing at the wooden and ornate grandfather clock, it was half to noon, he recalled the dream and humorously thought that it all occurred in a comprehensible slow motion. Grabbing what food he recognized and enjoyed from the night before and beginning his calm breakfast. As he did so, he observed the other residents of the manor, all of them had their own personalities that few of which and ironically fit together like a piece of a puzzle despite their obvious differences. It was heart warming that they could get along. He realized then that this was similar to how his father felt when he told him of his visits to Ponyville.

After eating, Abner left the table uninterrupted and made his way toward the front door, the grand entrance. He spotted Whisk chatting with Jeeves with hardly anyone else around. “...so he moved back in his old home huh, filled to the brim with his usual gizmos and whatnot, remind me again whereabouts that is.”

“It's about two whole shops down from the Drunken Clover, make a left into the alley and his place of residence 
should be at the end of the road there. I must also pass on that that area has been particularly run down, trashed, so watch for thieves. I suggest you take Marina and Abner with you, Rosamond isn't suited to the task, and the way she dresses will simply attract too much attention, you should understand.” Jeeves explained.

“Of course, Jeeves. Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.” Whisk replied.

“I am but your humble servant, Master Whisk. In spite of my old age and my ever weakening legs, I can still get around fairly well you know.” Jeeves kindheartedly chimed.

Whisk smiled, clearly remembering the favors that he had asked years ago. “Right, I'll be gathering a few things and on my way out. I honestly don't know how long it's going to take.” 

“Very well, I'll let your mother and father know that you'll be out for the day, do send word on your way back.” Jeeves commented before making his leave and headed towards the staircase. 

Whisk glanced out the window, thinking for a moment before heading toward the residential halls to fetch Marina.  He passed by Abner without much of a glance, although he subtlety acknowledge his presence. As Abner waited, listening to the rain and thinking about this friend of Whisk's who was a gear head of sorts, he wondered what kind of strange machinery his friend had come up with. A few moments later, Whisk came back down the stairs with Marina, instructing her on where they were heading and why. That was something Abner had thought about for a brief moment.

Making their way outside, Marina covered them with a thin barrier to shield from the rain. The streets were almost completely empty. One shop keeper was visible through the window, bored out of his mind. The open air stores were closed up, saved for a few that braved the weather. A few townsfolk that they passed by recognized Whisk and quickly exchanged friendly hellos before going their separate ways.

Finally, the three of them found their way into a narrow alley after passing by several houses that had their windows boarded up and seeing a few rascals scurrying through the street as if they had stolen something. “Looks like we're at our destination, well, almost. We have to reach the end of this alley to get to my friend. We'll make proper introductions once we get out of this rain. Just as a forewarning though, his way of speaking is very unusual.” The slosh of water under their hooves created a unique clapping sound against the cobblestone road. As they approached the end of the alley way, they saw a small house that was in a sturdy condition, but had numerous amounts of apparently useless scraps of metal littered in front of the entrance. Whisk maneuvered through the junk and knocked on the door as loudly as he could as the sound of grinding metal ate away at their ears.

The noise came to a halt as Whisk knocked again. A voice yelled from the other side, in some sort of drunken stupor. “Yeah, yeah, hold your horses you forsaken little...” his voice trailed off. Flinging open the after violently loosening it from a jam, an extremely disgruntled voice answered them, “What in the bloody shite do you squandering mongrels want? Wait a sec.” Her carefully eyed over Whisk. “Whisk! For fucks sake where have you been you damned bastard? Come inside, I assume these two with you are you rightful companions of sorts. Get you out of this forsaken rain, I think that damned wife of mine is angry again. Too much time in the workshop she says, then I just tell her she spends too much time in her blazing flower garden.” He trailed off again as he held the door open for the three of them. “Excuse the mess, I can't help it really.” The unicorn wore a set of glasses that had several layers of magnifying lenses attached to the gold colored frame. The main set was a square shape, but the lenses he used to magnify his sight were round.

“I see you're still up to your old shenanigans as usual.” Whisk commented as he glanced around the room. The group were welcomed by the sight of a dozen different models of  prototype designs that were created with the concept of flight in mind. Airships like zeppelins, some sort of straight winged craft labeled a plane, and hot air balloons hung from either chains or strong ropes attached to the ceiling. Each craft was constructed from some odd mix of metal plates that appeared to be reforged and recoated in a different finish. The floor on the other hand was littered with more models, half finished or just random parts indescribable consisting of similar materials. 

The unicorn scoffed, “When am I not? You've come in a nick of time too. You lucky folks can test out one of my new inventions.”

“Oh boy, what is this time?” Whisk sounded displeased as the unicorn led them down an endless spiraling flight of stairs. “A robot, time machine, an automatic slingshot, or somesort of new flying device you regularly devise.”

“You're actually quite close with that last guess you ass.” the unicorn laughed off the half insulting phrase as he triggered a series of torches to light up the room. The group arrived into a room consisting of more complete conceptual designs, still having a matching number of random heaps of metals, gears, and other doohickeys scattered about. The path around the room however, was still clearly definable amongst the rubbish. What they saw in the center of it all was a large canoe shaped basket meant to be attached to a gas bladder allowing for flight. There were several masts branching of the sides, allowing for sails to change direction. The basket was raised above the floor, creating enough height to work on a set of rudders oddly vibrant colored red and green rods. The size of the craft itself was larger than the house above, which was in itself, just about as large as the tavern that Whisk used to own back in Canterlot. It appeared that it also had two floors to it, allowing for bunking and storage on one level, and another for maintenance. “I've been working on this bad boy for about three years now. Getting the majority of the parts for this thing has been a huge pain in the ass. I've had to construct and replicate a good majority of moving parts for the engine myself out of the metal you see laying around. Major pain in the ass. I'm just about done with the fucker too, all I need is a canopy of sorts for trapping the gas, maybe a few funds even.”

“Could you slow down for one second, Gear? I would've like to properly introduce you to my new friends here before you dragged us down here.” Whisk interrupted.

“Of course. Where are my bloody fucking manners, I am Flight Gear, aerospace engineer extraordinaire.” He said proudly after shifting around the tool-belt wrapped around him. “Now who are these friends of yours, Whisk?”

“The wolf is Abner and the mare's name is Marina.” Whisk answered him. 

“Sound like some mighty nice names. I suppose I should ask what brings you around these parts.” Flight Gear asked, pulling parts from the piles of scrap and melding them into gaps into the bow of the ship, covering small holes. The scrap was coincidentally the same color as his coat, a warm bronze. His coat however, had white spots, something unlike most others they've seen.

“Well, I was wondering if you could lend us an airship built for at least five, six counting a pilot.” Whisk stated. “We need to get to Abner's home town and visit a temple near there.”

Flight's face went bright as smiled widely. “Of course, you damn well bloody know that I can build something like that within a week. Heck, I'll pilot this baby for its maiden voyage once its done and your group can be its first passengers.” His dark blue mane and its lighter blue tinges along with the thin silver streaks of his greasy mane appeared to dance as he quickly shifted back and forth pulling out nuts and bolts, washers and  screws to assemble a small scale model of something. “Although, I must ask, what purpose do you even need my help?” He inquired.

Whisk hesitated, “Well, I've done something not exactly advisable nor is it very smart, but it is crazy, the kind of scenario you've always liked.”

Intrigued and raising a brow Gear asked, “Interesting, you piss off Celestia or did you get yourself wrapped up with a mafia of some sort?”

“The first guess is for the most part, right. I didn't exactly tick her off, rather, she's gone a bit off the deep end. There's this disease that's been spreading in Canterlot, caused by a dragon that was affected by it. It's called Blight, it eats up the magic veins of unicorns and spreads by the use of magic. It'll continue to fester and eat away at the organs as well. I wrote to you about this once or twice if you can recall.” Whisk answered. “Anyways onto why we're running, is because they're after the sword that Abner has here. Celestia wants it because she believes it'll protect her, it would, but it wouldn't prevent the wrath of The Guardians from wrecking everything.”

“Hot damn that's some serious shit Whisk. I would say I wouldn't believe you, but you've never really had a good enough reason to lie, at least, not to me.” Gear said as he started up the miniature engine model that he had assembled during the conversation. “I'm guessing once you return the sword everything will be fine and dandy. I've flew over that desert before and from here, that would take at least a week by hoof. A few days at most by flight, maybe less with this new engine contraption.” Gear set the model engine down by Whisk, it was silent and was aglow a bright creamy white, the same color as his eyes. He lifted the glasses he wore away from his eyes, and let them rest by the strap around his neck. “Unfortunately the only downside to this is that it has to have unicorn magic to fire it up the first time around and its lifespan is that of a few months. This should get us to where we're are going to fly to, unless I have grossly miscalculated.”

Whisk could smell the faint hint of whiskey emanate from Flight Gear. Whisk spoke up, “Right, how long do you think it'll take to get this done? I can offer you the space on Rosamond's property so you're not cramped up in here.”

“Rosamond, that's a lovely name I haven't heard in awhile. How is that fine young mare doing anyways?” Gear said.

“Ahem.” Whisk derailed his question.

“Right, right, I can bother with that later.” He said as the pistons and camshafts of the engine tugged and pulled, rotated and fired. It was quiet and its design was relatively curved in the front and bulky in the rear. A large intake like the nose of an anteater extended forward from the center, to allow for either cooling or for the combustion ratio required to make it run. “I should be able to get this down within two days, that's pushing it. Four days, I'll have everything together on it. I should be able to get it up and running by five.” For a moment he rolled his eyes to think, “For you, I can do it in less than five, three days providing you're willing to pay a little extra. As for the offer in property, that will cut down the price a little for you and as a friend, even a little more.”

“Get to the point, Flight.” Whisk impatiently said.

“Okay, okay. How does eight hundred bits sound, that's one thousand less than what I would charge for something like this. However, I'm going to have to charge extra if it takes any longer and I will have to bring the rest of what scrap parts I need to finish the job.”

Whisk thought for a moment, contemplating whether or not he could drive the price down any further, but convinced himself that it was already a good enough deal as it stood. “Deal, just don't wreck the house or drink up all of the cider. I don't need you constantly drunk while you're working on this. Get everything together and move it over tomorrow.”

“Sounds good enough to me, a little strict but I'll manage. By the way, Whisk, there's not something you're telling me is there?” Flight Gear questioned. “There has to be some good reason why you would want to rush this, tell me.”

“I didn't think you would ask, but I should have known better.” Whisk turned his head towards Marina, “Marina, grab 
the map from Abner's satchel.” Unfurling the map from its many folds and presenting it before his Flight Gear, Whisk pointed out the massive red circle resembling the field that Celestia had set up before they fled. “This red circle, it's a field of sorts that Celestia put up between the time we were in Ponyville and its effects are, disturbing to say the least.” 

“The heck? I assume the Blight disease or whatever the fuck it is is bugging out her judgment and she put that up. However, you mention effects, what kind of effects?” Flight Gear blabbered.

“That seems to be the case. Like I said earlier, the Blight feeds off magic. So its using the field as a means to feed off of it. As it stands now, it has expanded halfway through Ponyville, which I hope they're doing something to fend themselves from it. I have no way of contacting anyone from there. The map doesn't have any other barriers or fields marked up, so I can't tell if Twilight has her barrier up still.” Whisk explained, worried about the significant distance the barrier appeared to have gained over night.

“I'm guessing that you figured it out by how things felt when you went into Canterlot, right?” Flight Gear quickly inquired.

“Correct.” Whisk assured.

“I got something you might be able to use.” Flight Gear went to the back of his workshop and rummaged through some half completed projects of sorts. “Not it. No, no, no. Not it! Fucking fuck where did I put that blasted thing?” Then he suddenly snapped in pain. “Fucking shit! I'm fine Whisk, just a scratch. Son of a mother's ass that's gonna leave a mark.”

Marina had a rather perplexed look on her face, “As nice as your friend seems to be, he seems a little off. Short tempered.  Are you even sure he'll uphold his end of the bargain?”

“He will. No matter how much he rambles with his scrambled swearing, he always pulls through. Despite the number of random stuff he has invented, only a few things actually served a major purpose. However, it seems that those inventions are one of a kind and not very easily replicated.” Whisk reassured Marina in his decision. Marina silently accepted his answer.

“Got it, the little fucker was hiding in the corner.”  Pulling out a set of three circular arcane magic runes attached to the rods of tripods made for cameras, he set them up and as he flipped a switch on each one, they flickered in a purple light. Floating circles of runes created a complex cylindrical shape for one to step inside of. “It's been awhile since I've had to use this, I'll explain.” he took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, carefully collecting his thoughts. “This is a long distance communication device that allows for visual and sound reception and delivery. Think of it as a letter that you leave up to the postal system, but you can reply within the second they respond, allowing for quicker communication.”

“That sounds like it would be incredibly useful. Why haven't you made more of these?” Whisk asked, somewhat confused as to why his friend was living large. 

“I was insanely drunk and can't remember what the fuck I did. No matter how many times I tried to recreate it, it fails. I even drunk to the point where I blacked out and it still didn't fucking work.” Flight Gear answered in flat tone. “Even tried having another magic engineer try to figure it out, says I used shit he couldn't understand. The runes were too difficult for him to decipher, funny because I can read the lot of them fine.”

“Then it's something about the order or materials you have to figure out, right?” Whisk implied.

“Eh, could be. Tried quite a few combinations before I gave up. Anyways, see if you can talk to Twilight. Whoever the fuck that is.” Flight Gear's voice remained unchanged. “Anyways, I'm not sure how long the connection will last.”

“Wait wait wait, Wouldn't you need something on the other end to receive the signal?” Whisk quickly asked.

Flight Gear sighed. “As far as I can tell, just as long as the receiving end has some form of magic, it'll work. Like I said, I have no fucking idea how I did it. Step inside the circle and visialize the location and persons you want to communicate with. I'll try to keep the connection stable.”

“Alright, then.” Whisk stepped into the circle of fluctuating magics and concentrated on visualizing the library of Canterlot's Academy as he closed his eyes. He could feel a force of energy transpire through his body, as if he were being drowned in water. Feeling his conscious float away and thrusted into the scenery of the library, he regained his vision. The sudden change in environment and feeling of whiplash left him breathless, momentarily. He opened his eyes to a fuzzy scene of the library,  the sky above it was darker than it was before he had left, an everlasting assortment of storm clouds. “Twilight?” Whisk called out. “Twilight?” He called out again with no response. “Twilight?” He yelled louder, hoping to get her attention from further away, if she was even there at all.

Suddenly he heard an answer just as soon as he was about to ask Flight Gear to cut the communication, “Whisk, is that you?” Twilight appeared before him, weary and dreadful. “How are you even doing that?”

“It's a long-distance communication device a friend of mine invited, not entirely stable and he hasn't been able to replicate it either but that's not important right now. How have things been going there despite Celestia's sudden twist of fate so to speak.” Whisk quickly said in rebuttal.

“Extremely tiring. The Elements of Harmony are having a hard time holding up after this many days of constant use. Constantly infusing them with more magic to boost the barrier I have put over the library hasn't sufficed. The Elements are using more magic than we can supply, even with all of the other unicorns helping out on a consistent rotation of sorts.” She stopped herself, “How did you know about the field and Celestia's sudden lunacy?”

“The signs were all over the place when I returned there with Charger. The only pony that can put up wanted signs without much paperwork, order up useless vaccines, and put up a barrier that feeds off magic would be Celestia. Prudence informed me of quite a few things, not to mention I've done my fair share of research as well.” Whisk was confident in his speaking to her. “How are the other holders of the Elements?”

“That explains a lot. They're doing alright. Rarity started getting a bit weird with her magic, but it appears to have settled down. The others are fine and are wildly unaffected by this Blight Field, as I've come to call it.” Twilight paused and quickly prepared a question for Whisk. “How long will it take you to get the Guardian's Temple?”

“Minimum, I would give it a week. The weather as you know is unpredictable out there. I'm sure you've read the book on its random blizzards and monsoons. So we won't be able to take my friend's zeppelin.” Whisk remarked. He was aware that the trip could take even longer if there were any more delays, he wished that the trip could be shorter.

“That reminds me, there's a mythical creature out there called the Giglioi Whale, named after the pony who reported it. He or she, the report never stated the pony's gender, said that there is a nomadic tribe that follows its path, allowing them to completely avoid any of the storms for days on end. The nomadic tribe says it exists but evidence on the contrary says otherwise. Once you get to the desert, try finding them, they may be able to lead you to the temple.” Twilight exhaled deeply after recalling the information.

“I'll keep that in mind. Did you receive the package I sent you?” Whisk inquired.

“Yes. I've opened it, but all it is is just scriptures and chicken scratch. I don't know what any of that has to do with this, Whisk.” Twilight pointed out.

“They're Prudence's notes on Blight, she wrote them in a different language,  some type of Cuneiform. You should be able to find at least one book or pony in your library for translation.” Whisk paused and continued explaining, “A good majority of those notes should be seals to help ward it off.

Flight Gear's voice cracked in, “Whisk, I can't hold up this god damned fucking connection much longer, hurry up.”

“That voice sounds familiar, who is that?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Flight Gear, unfortunately, I have to cut this conversation short. This communication magic is starting to wear him thin.” Whisk replied. “I'll see you again, hopefully.”

“Flight Gear, rings a bell, but I''m not sure. Anyways, good luck on your end. See you soon.” Twilight answered back to his ever fading and crackling image.

Whisk's conscious thrusted back into his main body, instigating another whiplash and a quick strain in his head. “Jeez that is the weirdest feeling.” He held his eyes closed and placed a hoof to the side of his head until the ringing of pain went away.  “That's going to bother me for the rest of the day. I'll discuss with the conversation with you guys after this head ache goes away.”

“I'll start moving the stuff over later tonight, I need some time to pack stuff up and carry it over. Might make it a shorter process if you get me some help.” Flight Gear suggested.

“I'll see what I can do.” Whisk slightly stumbled around while he regained his balance. Abner perked his ears, hearing another set of footsteps. Whisk took notice despite his disorientation, “What's up, Abner?” Abner stared towards the top of the stairs and sniffed the air, a familiar scent, one of metal and earth. The steps were heavy, each one shaking his heart and each breath sounding like strong gusts of wind. Short squeaks and creaks of armor shifting along a body in motion made Abner's ears twitch to the sound. “A friend of yours supposed to visit Flight Gear?”

“Whisk, I barely have any friends. You know how fucking unsociable I am.” Flight Gear snapped.

“Right, silly me. Any way to see who or what Abner is alerted for?” Whisk quipped.

“On it. I'll recalibrate the messaging system to work like a camera.” Flight Gear quickly got to work and in a matter of seconds it seemed that he got the system to project a feed from a camera that  appeared to record live footage. Each of the mirrors placed on the rods projected a light toward the wall. The imagery fizzled into a recognizable square shape like a silver screen and revealed a black and white high contrast image of a rather large character in a full suit of armor making his way down the stairs. “Friend of yours, Whisk?”

“Indeed so. Looks like Wrecker., a sight for sore eyes. Curious how he found his way here though.” Whisk answered, then squinting his eyes. “Can you zoom in a bit, he doesn't seem to be in the best shape.” Whisk stated as Flight Gear adjusted the equipment further. “He's injured, I've never seen that guy injured. This is a first.” Whisk broke away from the screen as Flight Gear shut down the communication device and recalibrated it to its original function. “Flight Gear, grab some whiskey or liqueur, we may need it to ease the wounds Wrecker has”

“Got it.” Flight Gear ran towards the other side of the shop to grab some flasks and oddly square shaped glass bottles from their shelves.

“Abner, Marina, come with me, we're going to have to help him down the rest of the way.” Whisk ordered as he started his brisk walk into a run. They made their way up the stairs until they met up with Wrecker, who was leaning against the railing and breathing heavily. “Wrecker.”

Wrecker's iconic voice came from behind his cracked helmet that, much like the rest of his armor, covered every nook and had a unique scaled look to it while keeping simple geometric shapes intact. “Whisk.” His voice quivered.

“Let us help you out. You can tell us what you went through after you've rested.” Whisk motioned Abner and Marina to lift him up and down the rest of the stairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Flight Gear made a temporary bed out of a straightened and thinned out sheet of steel that looked like it was meant to be attached to the bow of the ship.

“Your friend looks like shit.” Flight Gear said as he took a quick swig of whiskey from a flask he had attached to his belt. 

“You're okay with us taking the armor off right, we have to see where the wounds are to treat them properly.” Whisk carefully asked.

A low pitched hum came from Wrecker. “Very well. It's heavy.”

“A stallion of few words isn't he?” Flight Gear remarked. “Let me do this. I can already see the way this armor has to be disassembled.” Flight Gear loosely walked around Wrecker for a moment and began picking off the numerous smaller pieces that covered the gaps the larger portions couldn't. Flight Gear quietly talked himself through the process, vaguely describing each piece he pulled off. 

Pulling away the armor revealed a body full of muscle and several large scars that were fading away, his fur had not regrown in their place quite yet. The new wounds ran across one eye and along several of his major tendons on his hind legs. His charcoal black fur was short and stiff with a single tan stripe running down his back. The relieving of armor unveiled his silver tail and red mane, both short in length. Removing his helmet uncovered his light green eyes. The final pieces, his leggings, allowed for sight of his frosted white hooves. “Well?” Whisk broke the silence.

“I'm a god damned engineer, not a fucking doctor.” Flight Gear rudely replied. Wrecker had a smile run across his face, it reminded him of Charger and Whisk's conversations.

“Marina?” Whisk asked without flinching from Flight Gear's answer.

“I'll try my best.” Marina answered and began to scan over his body, checking every wound and every scratch. She used some water magics to clean the wounds and removed the extra blood with a moist napkin that Flight Gear provided. “This isn't exactly the most sanitary environment, so don't go blaming me for infections.”

“And when has any environment we've had to do in the field first aid in has been.” Whisk commented, almost sarcastically. 

Wrecker exhaled as if to release a laugh. “None. Some whiskey if you wouldn't mind.” Flight Gear levitated a bottle towards him and opened it, then tilted it in such a way that it allowed Wrecker to drink in a small amount. He coughed from the burning aftertaste, “Thanks.”

As the talk settled down, minutes seemed to turn into hours as Marina cautiously worked her magic to seal up the several gaping wounds and the small ones the disabled his one of his hind legs. Abner found himself exploring the ship as Flight Gear worked his own way on patching up more holes and assembling more pieces to form mounting brackets and wires to go through them. Whisk went to the tavern that they passed by earlier to get some food for them to eat as the day had begun to roll into the late afternoon. Whisk wondered what kind of crazy shenanigans Wrecker had gone through to manage his way here. A better question was how did he even wind up finding out where Whisk and his companions were in a town he was likely quite unfamiliar with.

Upon arriving back into Flight Gear's workshop, Whisk saw that Marina was done performing the surgery. “How is he?” He asked.

“Hard to tell honestly, but as far as I can tell his vitals are okay and he's stable. Just a few days to get him healed up should be good. There's also something a bit odd about his muscle structure though.”

Whisk raised a brow and naturally asked, “How so.”

“I spotted several remnants of magical augmentations. That kind of practice is extremely uncommon, too many risks involved.” Marina answered worriedly.

Whisk rubbed a hoof across his chin, rubbing against some short hair that formed a red beard. “We'll not worry about that for now. Right now, we have to focus on leaving here and getting to that old temple by Abner's home, and this airship is the quickest solution. Let's be glad that he's on our side. Unfortunately, that leaves Charger and Cuffs against us, plus Celestia's Legion.”

“You are way to calm about this, Whisk.” Marina commented.

“Calm? I'm scared, scared like the fear of constantly reliving the same nightmare over and over again. I just constantly tell myself, 'It could've been worse.'” Whisk replied. “Honestly, I'm surprised we've even made it this far.”

Marina answered him with a look of concern and with a slight smile, “Why is it that you've never taken charge of the group?”

Whisk thought relatively hard, “I'm not good with losing close friends, I'm just doing the best I can, going from what I learned from Charger. He was always pretty fond of my skills to communicate.”

“I can't imagine why.” Marina joked. “Anyways, I'm going to rest my head a bit. That prolonged use of magic has made me a bit dizzy.”

“Right, I'll stay here until Wrecker wakes up.” Whisk told her while she left through the curtains made various types of metals from the scrap piles. Oddly enough, Flight Gear had a blanket in the workshop to use as a doorway. As Marina left, Abner walked in and sat down by Whisk. Whisk gave him some meat that he purchased from the tavern. “It's not much, but I hope it'll do for you.” Abner nodded his head in understanding. “I just hope Wrecker wakes up soon. We need to leave before Charger and Cuffs show up.” Abner gladly accepted and ate up the squishy and tender piece of raw meat. 

Abner pulled out one of the books he had kept from the Canterlot library with Twilight's permission. He read through a chapter on understanding the movement of light and its effects. An expansive chapter compared to the quick studies that Gleaming wrote about when different objects were struck by the same light source. The word's again, twisted and shaped themselves into the language that he could understand. It seemed at this point, Prudence's translation magic became completely and entirely passive.  This particular chapter, expressed Gleaming's study of how can bend around objects or pass through because of its transparency. Light to Gleaming, seemed to be a marvel of sorts. As he wrote in front cover, 'light has an infinite value, it is something that we as ponies can barely comprehend at this point in our culture.'  Overall, Abner found Gleaming's style of writing intriguing and the many relatively detailed drawings brought about further understanding of what he discussed in the book. It also appeared that the last portion of the book had an assortment of spells, runes, and symbols for casting light based spells. Abner felt himself memorize the spells, almost instantly, and could differentiate between the symbols and their meanings in order to manipulate things to his own liking. On the downside, it left him with a slight headache and the information made him a little disoriented, it almost seemed as if he had already knew the spells as the familiarity with them was astounding.

As Abner finished up reading through the chapter and the spells, Wrecker, groggy and sore, came back to his senses. His usual heavy voice awoke Whisk from the chair he had accidentally drifted away in. “Where am- oh, right.”

“You're awake finally.” Whisk exclaimed. “What happened?”

“Don't badger me, Whisk. Let me get my head straight.” Wrecker replied. There became an uncomfortable silence as Wrecker shifted himself around in the stiff hammock. “I'm a former mercenary. Tracking ponies down is part of my job, you were extremely easy to track. Cuffs didn't take too kindly to my running off and cut away at my tendons.”

“Cuffs scary I'll admit, I'll assume the Blight is infecting him on a drastic level then.”Whisk commented as Wrecker continued his story.

“I guess. After I managed to get away, I felt the magic augmentations near my wounds begin to fester. So I tore them out.” Wrecker made his story short, he seemed unfazed in telling his short tale.

Whisk looked at him, shocked, “You live up to your reputation don't you? What's with these magical augmentations?”

Wrecker gave it some thought, “They're exactly that. They're stones that can be enchanted by a specialist. Extremely difficult to come by and obtain successfully. The augmentation process is also incredibly painful” 

“No possibility of getting new ones then?” Whisk asked, half jokingly.

Wrecker ravaged through his memories as he recalled that his augmentations were obtained from a tribe, who performed the operation after he collected the materials. “There was a tribe that I went to for this. It was ritual, every year, one of the members were selected for the process.”

“Then we'll go there.” Whisk said, trying to cheer him up a bit.

“There's a problem with that though, I don't remember where the place is.” Wrecker said in response.

“You've got to be kidding. I'll be surprised if we run into them at some point.” Whisk said, scratching his head. “Well, you'll have plenty of time to think about it before we reach the desert.” 

“Desert? I thought you were headed to a temple in the forest by Abner's hometown.” Wrecker questioned.

“The desert is our final destination, that's where the Guardian's Temple is apparently. We have to stop at the temple at Abner's first though, something to do with the sword apparently.” Whisk shrugged.

“All this over a sword. Well, I've been asked to do even more ridiculous jobs.” Wrecker sighed.

“Yea, we'll be heading out in a four days time, thee days time for Flight Gear's construction on his airship. Hope you're not confine to a chair or a bed for too long, going to need you in the future.” Whisk said.

Wrecker let out a little smirk. “I'm stronger than a mountain.”

Whisk let out a short laugh. “Right. Anyways, I've already asked Flight Gear if hes alright with you staying here, he said no. So we'll have to drag you to my place.” Abner bugged Whisk for a moment by tugging on his tail and showed him a page of the book that he was reading. A teleport spell. “Oh? Looks like we might not have to, although this spell looks like we'll need a sender node and a receiving node. Abner, you understand what this entails right?” Abner nodded, assuring Whisk of his confidence. “We'll try it, but, to be safe, I'll have Flight Gear and Marina assist you.” Abner again nodded his head to accept the offer. 

They proceeded to take apart the curtain set up and began drawing out the markings for spell, a different set of symbols at each quadrant of a circle surrounding the bed. Each quadrant being separated by chalk, white in color and quite dusty to boot. Caused Abner to sneeze once or twice. The four circles contained a mixture of geometric shapes, several rings around each contained either a mathematical formula or the longitude and latitude of the location they want to teleport to. The grand circle connecting the four smaller ones held the words appropriate to ignite and cast the spell. It was a proven method that was known well to work without any fault. Earth ponies on their own however, had a hard time with such spells as unicorn magic is essentially a requirement, and magic dust is extremely difficult to find. Its properties were problematic, magic scans were nullified, and mining attempts proved too expensive, causing more loss of the dust than gain.

Abner remembered the great oak tree in the manor's backyard, Flight Gear managed to get the coordinates from his telecommunications device and relay them to Abner and Marina, who were drawing out the spell upon the floor. Normally, it would be possible to use a teleport spell that would transfer all of them, but that would require Abner to travel along with them. The chance for an error to occur could cause catastrophic damage or merges into the environment of the destination. Drawing out the spell would create a clearer and much safer path to the destination.

After finishing up the last marks of the spell, Abner cleared his mind and pulled the force of magic out from deep within his heart, feeling the flow creep its way through his body and into the silver horn on his forehead. The energies ignited in a white glow and thrusted towards the ignition point of the magic circle. The symbols pulled themselves from the floor and floated on a a vertical plane, each one seemed to levitate at a different elevation at random. As the spell circle and the symbols become engulfed in white, ghostly fire. Flows of magic became torrential until in an instant, Wrecker and the bed he laid upon, vanished in a flash silver light. The magic relieved itself of the toll on Abner, slowly seeping back into his horn and back into his veins.

Wrecker and the makeshift hammock he laid on were gone, hopefully transported safely to the destination. Marina and Flight Gear nervously looked on into the video feed that his device provided of the location. Whisk had left well ahead of time to ensure everything was proper with Wrecker, biologically and psychologically.  The video feed showed  Whisk quickly look over their friend, and sighing in relief. He smiled and signaled that he was in good condition aside from the wounds he had received. 

Flight Gear smiled, cutting the video feed, “I guess I won't have to worry about transportation problems for the air craft. Let me borrow that book for a bit Abner, I'd like to replicate the spell to teleport this blasted thing out of here and into Whisk's backyard.” Abner thought about what the two of them had agreed upon earlier, and anything to help them to get to the temple faster that would greatly speed up the trip is entirely welcome. Abner complied, pulling the book from his satchel again and carefully handing it over to Flight Gear. Their magics intertwined as they exchanged in a way, a hoof shake, with the book of magic spells. “Thanks, pup. You folks will be damned pleased as to what I can pull of with this stuff. Now if you two would kindly leave my workshop, I'd appreciate it. You know, before the bloody wife gets back.” He said the words with an odd smile, as if he loved his wife, but the relationship the two of them held was one of annoyance and bickering. Somehow, they still managed to to get along.

Marina and Abner made their way back up the stairs in a quicker manner than their earlier descending down them by use of a teleport outside the piles of scrap metal that laid beyond the front door. The sudden teleport Marina initiated lurched Abner's mind around a little bit before he regained his balance. “Flight Gear is a rather peculiar one. A drunkard like him is going to pilot that aircraft. Sometimes I worry about Whisk's choices in friends, but for some odd reason, they always seem to be the right choices.” Marina silently chuckled to herself, raising a hoof to cover her mouth. “Come on Abner, we've preparations to make for Flight Gear's arrival.”

They passed through the streets now gleaming in a bright sun after the storm. The shops and markets became again abundant with customers willing to purchase wares of all sorts of varieties. The noise was to the same level as it was before when they had first arrived the day before. Abner cautiously pulled the straps that bound the sword to his harness tighter to ensure that it wouldn't get stolen. A crowd of ponies appeared to circle around a center of attention, some ruffians picking on young foals it seemed. Abner picked up the delicate conversations that the bystanders blurted out, all saying that somebody should do something. Abner looked up at Marina, he felt like an ant among the taller ponies, it was as if he was staring upwards at castle walls from their base. 

Marina was hesitant at first, but managed to get their own front row seats of the show. Three guards, obliviously drunk and picking on a couple of young colts whom they suspected were thieves that had stolen their coin. One guard spoke in rambles about why the citizens should obey them, another held one ruffian down while the third used his magic to beat the other colt with the leather sheath for his sword. “This is what happens when you steal from the Clackerton Guard. You get yourself a beating, but that's generous. With these two young colts, we will show them a finer punishment. Cobble, bring out the block.” The one pony standing by, holding down the other colt, multiplied his levitation to bring out a large concrete slab that had indentations where the hooves be locked down and presumably hacked off from its owner.

The crowd gasped and mutter more nonsense that Abner couldn't quite catch. The words all seemed awfully terrible in their tone however. Cobble, the pony who pulled out the slab, proceeded to lock down the colt he held. The colt cried and begged much to his amusement, he smiled as he drew the sword from his own sheath and spoke with a proud, drunken voice, “If there is anyone who wishes to challenge the guard and defend these impudent ruffians who stole away our coin, we would love to see them approach.” Cobble sneered.

Abner was a bit hesitant, if not more than Marina was. They both knew that getting involved in incidents like this could cost them precious time, but a benefit would be that they could be more likely to fight against the field themselves if they made some sort of impact. They looked at each other and ignored the potentially negative consequences, coming to a silent agreement. Abner slowly released the bindings on his own sword and stepped forward and Marina glared lighting up her horn with a blue fire that matched her eyes. “We step forward.” She shouted loud and clear.

The three guards became bewildered. The rambling one replied in a sarcastic manner, “Oh, a mare and her dog with a sword, how delightful. You going to yell and bicker at us and have your stupid pet bark us up a tree?” He and the other two guards laughed. “Very well, since you two were the only ones who stepped forward, have at you.” 

Cobble charged forward, wielding his sword with his magic, in a wildly loose form. Abner moved in and blocked the attack with his own sword, recalling the training he had with Charger and Twilight. Swinging the zweihander from its sheath on his right and swinging it to the left to parry the weak attack, Abner successfully threw the sword out of Cobble's magical grip. Unfortunately, Cobble summoned three swords from magic to wield as weapons. Abner quickly improvised by using  his sword as a shield, using his own magic to control its movements instead of using his mouth. He kept up with Cobble's attacks for the most part, but he was being pushed back.

Marina on the other hand kept the other two guards at bay with her specialty in water magics. Pulling water from the small puddles that formed in cracks of the streets. She did a fine job too, she easily overpowered their drunken prowess and eventually managed to get the water to pin them down in some rather uncomfortable positions. After that, she moved to release the colt from the slab and free the other one from the small shielding that trapped him. She glanced over to Abner, who was holding his own fairly well, but she knew that he would lose if he didn't think of something. Interfering wouldn't be the best idea because it could cause some rather unwanted injures. She instead kept her focus on the young colts.

Abner recalled for a moment, the spells that he had burned into his mind earlier. A blink spell, that would give him the upper hand, he just needed to pick a place and teleport to it. Thoroughly going over the spell in his mind and picking the spot where he would blink to, behind Cobble, and began a fake charge towards him. Abner furthered the brightness of his magic and instead of the teleportation feeling he felt earlier, he felt as if he was running at an extremely fast pace. He could feel the light slow down, everything turned darker hues and only their highlights appeared as if he had been running around at night through the thickest of forests. Small sparks of light bounced off his body as he shifted through space and time felt as if it had slowed down at a rather gratuitous rate. It all reminded him of a dream he had once.

The colors came rushing back to him as he began to slow down in his spell, which transported him behind Cobble. Abner quickly picked up on his dulled senses and surroundings and fell the unicorn   with a blow to his hind legs. The sound of several cracking bones filled the air, Abner had struck him with the broadside of the sword, smashing apart the armor he wore. The unicorn collapsed, gasping for air as he cried out in pain. Thankfully Abner had only broken Cobble's leg and heavily bruised the other, but it could still end his career as a guard. Abner was frightened by his cries, he heard ponies cry out in pain before, but not when he was the one inflicting the damage. A strong hush overcame the crowd and Marina, who had managed to set the young colts free from their temporary imprisonment. 

The two colts approached the wolf as he sheathed his sword, cheering for him and thanking him for his kindness. Abner began feeling bad about the injury he caused however. Marina followed closely behind them and casted a spell to numb the pain centers in Cobble's legs, thus relieving him of a majority of the pain until medical help arrived. “Abner,” she spoke softly as she lowered her head and after quieting the kids down. “I can tell you're feeling bad about this, but, we did it for the better. Look at the bright side, no one's dead.”

Abner sorrowfully accepted her words, but it pained him to hear them. The young colts ran off into the crowd and greeted their mother, who like them, had been dressed in ragged clothes. She extended her thanks with a smile from a distance. Marina and Abner then, became further cheered and celebrated over the victory. Abner and Marina left through a passage the crowd unanimously formed and headed up to the manor through streets that held a vast difference between the sections of the city.

Once they had made the trek back to the manor, they made their way past Dirty Dirt and his gateway. Upon making their way up to the front doors, they saw that the aircraft that Flight Gear was constructing had already found its way to the side yard of the manor, easily managed by the large size of the yard's overall area stretching from back to front. Both the manor and the aircraft were comparable in size, where the deck of the craft lacked in space it more than made up for in the size of the frame for the bladders.

Quite a few of the manor's tenants and servants stood from a distance, expecting to see someone to peer out from over the edge of the decks low walls. It seems that Abner and Marina had arrived just after Flight Gear teleported his aircraft over. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared before them. Flight Gear stumbled end over end before crashing to the ground with a loud thud. Some of the witnesses began to chuckle softly, a few gave curious looks. Flight Gear lashed out, “Don't fucking laugh. You bloody fucks try teleportation magic when you're incredibly drunk.” His words were horrendously slurred, but still surprisingly understandable. The comment also quelled the snickering. Flight Gear stumbled over his hooves again, “Marina, Abner, you made it back okay. That's good, that's good. I'm off to take a damned nap, also seems that my wife has settled down a bit.”

Flight Gear stumble again as he turned around and teleported himself onto the deck of the ship to enter the  captain's quarters. Everyone slowly went back into the manor, one by one. Abner and Marina soon followed suit, hoping to meet up with Whisk and Wrecker. Jeeves, oddly enough, was waiting for the two of them to enter into the foyer. He motioned them over and subsequently had the two of them follow him to where Wrecker was roomed. Abner for a moment, wondered how Lark and Tiva were doing on their own. Marina, appearing to have read his mind, asked Jeeves the question. To which Jeeves replied in an assuring manner that the two of them were okay. Lark entertained Tiva with  her songs, several walks through the garden, and some play around the oak tree. Jeeves appeared to feel a bit nostalgic.

Finally making their way to a nursing room, a room much like a hospitals. A long lengthy room that ran underneath the bedrooms above with some twenty beds lining either wall. Keeping in theme, they had the floor a clouded green tiled stone with white grout. Light green curtains hung from stainless steel rods attached to the white walls made of the same massive stones in the foyer, the ceiling was of course, quite a bit lower. This manor appeared to have everything required to become its own self-sustaining residential home. Perhaps that's why it was isolated away from the rest of Clackerton, sitting atop a grassy flattened portion of the small mountain tops. 

Jeeves let them be and Marina thanked him for his guidance. He saw Whisk in his slumber and carried him away to his room. “Master, you must quit sleeping in chairs.” Jeeves muttered to himself as he left.

Throwing open the curtains, they came upon Whisk sleeping in a chair, much like he had done before at Flight Gear's workshop. Wrecker was wide awake, fiddling with a small golden pocket watch.   Looking up from the pocket watch and closing its lid, he said, “You two are slow.” Exhaling deeply as he closed his eyes for a moment.

“Um, sorry?” Marina answered him confused. “We ran into a little scuffle on the way here, save some supposed ruffians from some extremely drunk guards.”

Wrecker opened one eye, her statement rung a bell. “Drunk guards? Did you happen to catch their names?”

Marina was still mildly confused, “Only one, Cobble. Why are you bothering with this?”

“Oh nothing really. A couple folks in this town wanted to be clients of mine, one being a group of three. I can't disclose their information though, part of my job. You understand.” Wrecker stated as he close his one open eye and placed the pocket watch upon the nightstand.

“Why don't you just leave then?” Marina barked, she felt offended, but she seemed to not realize it.

“I'm not done with my current job. Once thats over, I'll be off on my own again.” Wrecker replied.

Marina was momentarily taken aback and eyed him carefully, “Current job, Wrecker? Prudence got you into this, 
didn't she?”

“Indeed she did. Whisk actually managed to, persuade me to help.” Wrecker answered her, he sounded impressed after recalling the conversation he had with the two of them.

“Persuaded? Whisk doesn't seem to be that type.”

“We had a sparring match of sorts. If he managed to dismantle a piece of my armor during the match, I would join him. It was a good fight, although, he used a few moves I wasn't used to seeing. He's a good fighter, definitely has the endurance despite his noble upbringing. I blame his win on luck though, only fight I've lost, although, no one ever hears of it as there wasn't an audience other than Prudence.” Wrecker recalled.

“Ah, well, he can be a bit crafty at times. His method of derailing a train was rather, how do I put this, oblivious to his our safety.” Marina remarked. “You should get some more rest, you'll need it.”

“I heard about that.” Wrecker yawned. “I suppose you're right, been awhile since I've had any.” He rolled over and stared out the window which looked out into the yard, the same yard that now held the aircraft.

“We'll see you later, I'll see about dropping by after dinner is served.” Marina finished, before turning away and leaving.

Abner followed Marina out and head towards back to the room that he and Whisk were provided. Marina, on the other hand went her own way to check on Lark and Tiva. He again passed Rosamond, who carried a short stack of books on her back. “Ah, the wolf has returned, and with some friends I see.” She raised a hoof and patted him on the head. “I saw Jeeves carrying Whisk back to his room again, he still hasn't quit that habit.” She smiled and giggled to herself. “I still wonder what brings you along with him. Perhaps I should ask, would you happen to be headed his way?” Abner nodded his head, letting her acknowledge his destination. “Oh good, I have some books from our study he wished to look through. Please lead the way.”

Abner continued to walk the path to his destination. He could feel the aura around Rosamond, one of gentle kindness, pure heart, and her unchanging cheerful attitude made her appear less threatening, as her elders always seemed to give off more serious tones from what was presented in the portraits hanging on the walls. She was like a light in the darkness, her parents appeared to hold her in high esteem, but she didn't let it get the best of her.

Entering the room Abner and Whisk resided in, Rosamond went ahead and set the books down on a table that sat near the window overlooking the backyard. She walked over to the bed and sat down, staring at Whisk's sleeping face. She smiled a smile of remembrance as Abner closed the door behind him a stood the sword  against the side of the armoire. “I do wish that Whisk didn't have to leave so soon, I thought so much of him while he was in Canterlot, I always wished him the best of luck when he left for the missions that he traveled on. I wonder if he still has that ring he proposed to me with.” She looked at Abner and sighed, concerned she said, “Abner, please promise to protect Whisk as I do wish for his safe return, as well as everyone else that traverse with you.” Abner nodded his head in acceptance as he unlatched the bindings of his satchel to place it upon the floor where his sword stood. “Thank you, we greatly appreciate it.”

Abner acknowledged her thanks before she left the room. It appeared that the relationship between Whisk and Rosamond was forelorned, forsaken. Perhaps it was due to the social standards between them. They both appeared to have accepted the social norm, they were hopeless romantics in a sense. 

Before Abner realized, he himself had dozed off into a deep sleep. Again, his vision was hazed by  the dense gray fog that contorted in an unsightly manner. Drystan's voice chimed in a most discourteous echo, sinister, and writhing. “So, Abner, how does it feel? To invoke injury upon another, to cause harm and discomfort where the consequences may lead to things undesirable?” Silence was Abner's only answer. “Of course, Marina told you it would be alright. Lo' and behold, that the words alright would make everything better for you. The memory will haunt you, you know that. I know that.” The words crept into Abner's mind with an eerie presence. “Your silence is unrivaled it seems. I have a proposal for you,” Abner could feel his voice twist with the winding fog, “should you ever require dark magics, trickster magics, you may call upon me. After all I do hide in your shadow, watching indefinitely until you fade away into nothing. However, there will be a catch, something I will not tell now. For now, enjoy your sleep, a new dawn awaits you, perhaps some enjoyment as well.”

Abner wasn't sure at this point if Drystan was friendly or a foe, aside from his knowledge of the temple, what need is there for him to have Abner do this monumental task? Was the concept amusing to him, or was there a necessary requirement that Abner possessed that others did not? 

Abner's thoughts turned away from the matter as his dream turned into revival of memories that he had lived. One of individual moments that he spent learning with those he met, being guided by their wisdom and knowledge. From his father he learned a great many tales about his own experiences in his travels. His mother always spoke of folk stories about legendary people that bewildered the mind, many of gods and goddesses and how they helped to craft the world by tearing apart the sky. Kafziel taught him how to hunt along with several basic survival skills. Lev showed Abner what it means to have a heart, to share and revel in its kindness, but also revealed to him that not everyone's hearts were filled with good intentions. Nitza, as shy as she was and as young as she was, still managed to teach Abner something, what few plants they had were edible and how to grow them in a proper environment. Naamiy's beauty was something that she took pride in, but she warned Abner that boasting about some things can land him in a bit of trouble.

From the new folks that he met after the dragon incident, he learned about sorrows that come along with unfortunate events. He learned about the different ways they cope with sadness. Despite their sadness, they came through in their own way and taught Abner many things about the world outside of his village, from magic to summarized histories of Equestria and several of its protected colonies, as well as its protected states. Twilight taught him quite a bit in such a short period of time, which reminded him that he still hadn't gotten around to reading through the book that she had given him. 

His traveling companions that helped him everyday to get to their destination, taught him things that he may have never had learn otherwise, aside from magic. Charger's training in melee and ranged combat, while short and basic, allowed for his skills to be further built upon in his own way.  Cuffs didn't really teach him much other than some very basic first aid, slowing blood flow, wrapping wounds with bandages, and a low level healing spell. He was always caught up in paperwork, research on breakthroughs in medical technology, he called it. Whisk's generosity in giving Abner food and helping him was incredibly unbound, perhaps it was because of Prudence that he did so. He didn't seem to mind carrying out Prudence's final orders before she passed away, in her physical form at least. Perhaps he knows that her consciousness still exists within Abner, a discomforting thought. Marina appeared to help out as much as possible, as her faithfulness never seem to betray her or anyone else for that matter. Wrecker didn't really teach Abner anything, aside from the fact magic augmentations exist, but are extremely dangerous to attempt. His strong silence up until now appeared to be some sort of trust building that he conducts without telling others. Maybe his introverted personality kept him from talking unnecessarily during normal conversation. Prudence, she was what brought them all together, her sacrifice weighed heavily on the groups emotions. What she studied and what she knew, was passed on to Whisk and her husband, Celestia as well.

Memories of Lark from the number of times she had to babysit Nitza were vague, but his sense of familiarity with her didn't make him feel at all uncomfortable. Her songs were always soothing to him and they drowned out thoughts of worry. Tiva's father, Lionel, showed Abner what it was like to lose someone dear to your heart. In retrospect, leaving his daughter with Abner may not have been the best idea in the long run. Abner wondered how well he was holding up after they parted ways. Tiva missed her father, she expressed those feelings a few times, but Lark always seemed to comfort her. She was quite motherly. Tiva confided in Whisk whenever she needed a more fatherly perspective. She very rarely approached Abner however, she knew what her mother had done for the sake of their futures. Traumatic, but Abner wasn't at fault for it, he unwillingly became tangled up in the aftermath. Tiva has yet to understand that though, in due time.

Unfortunate as the current events have been, the thought of being a hero was something anyone could yearn for. To save the land from an unspeakable evil, to rescue a princess from the clutches of an evil king who wished to drive out a good one, or perhaps just saving the one you love from depths of darkness. With every tale, however, was some sort of downfall, whether it would be the hero, or a close ally. Something Abner hasn't really learned to deal with quite yet. The thoughts of the hypotheticals trailed away as his dreams drifted his mind away into an ethereal state.

A floating feeling phased him through and through. The echoes of song and wind danced along an aurora of light. A other worldly voice called out to him, “Young wolf who holds the Sword of Light, I hear from the earth that you are soon to pay a visit to my refuge. I shall welcome you at its entrance by way of twelve deer who hope through the forest around my abode. Ceremonials will be performed, you and you alone must attend the ceremony.” The voice was majestic, as if a goddess were speaking down to him. Just as quick as the drifting dream appeared, it fizzled into nothingness, its memory becoming indescribable. The words stirred in his mind before receding into lost pits of thought.

A mixture of dreams then came to be, haunting Abner. Some odd concoction of yelling and upset voices strewn about. Thunderclaps and heavy gusts of wind all thrusted through the core of his being. Thrashes of planks and metal flew through the air as the nightmare progressed. Creating a mass of figures masked in smoke colored in hues fluorescent and incredibly bright. The sudden onslaught of convoluted sounds and senses overwhelmed him and in a cold, heated sweat, Abner awoke, breathless and eyes pained from the sunrise. As he gasped for air and regained his senses, he looked around to assure himself that the dream turned nightmare wasn't still going. His racing heart slowly retreated back to a normal pace.

It had been quite some time since he had a dream that shook him awake in such a manner. Slowly, Abner struggled to his feet, relieving his legs of tension built from his slumber. Stretching the muscles felt good, maybe all the walking he had done recently made his body sore. Perhaps the use of magic had drained his energy, making his muscles tired and sore. Shaking off the thoughts, he made his way out of the room, beams of the fresh morning sun gleamed through the windows and the gaps of curtains. The smell of morning grass soaked by dew and the cool air seeped through the walls of the manor, creating an oddly earthly essence. Without much thought, he made his way out the doors that led to the side yard where Flight Gear had parked his aircraft.

From the ground he saw the same two foals he had seen yesterday morning were pretending to be pirates on the bow of the ship playing with swords made of cardboard. Carefully climbing the ladder  leading to the deck, Abner saw Flight Gear sleeping on a small set of stairs leading to the rather small bridge. He mumbled senseless randoms as he snored and shifted around in his rather uncomfortable position. Reeking of whiskey that stung Abner's nostrils ever so slightly, he sat atop of the stairs, watching the foals play with one another while listening to Flight Gear's rather amusing rambles. The little sense they made and the intermittent words concocted some odd sentence about a bear and a lion on a business trip. 

Glancing around, Abner saw Tiva sitting on the highest point of the skeletal structure for the bladder of the balloons. She was surrounded by birds that perched alongside her and a few on her shoulders. She gazed into the distance, toward their destination. All that met her eyes were fields of forests and rows of low rise mountains, dotted with small lakes and ponds. A few small rivers all fed into a single stream, creating an extremely large delta. A single small pillar of faded smoke could barely be seen at the edge of the horizon, just about where Abner's village was located. Perhaps other survivors moved back in and began to rebuild.

In the other direction, to the southeast, a large looming sphere of dull red embedding itself into the ground, made its contents obscure by clouding them in writhing mass of white smoke. The field that Celestia had placed had further expanded its reach, it appeared to have already engulfed the entirety of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Storm clouds and tornadoes thrived in little pockets just outside the field's shell. It tore everything to the ground before finally consuming it within its walls which appeared to fluctuate and twist every time it advanced. Vaguely, small colored streams of magic, presumably absorbed by unicorns, coursed through the field like veins and arteries under the skin. A wicked sight indeed. All Tiva could do was hope, pray that her father was okay, the same for Abner and his family.

Tiva turned away from the sight, looked at Abner with a saddened and worried face. She flew down from the skeleton and approached, glancing over at Flight Gear for just a moment. “Abner, I think I know why father left me in your care. It's all still a little confusing, but I think I'm beginning to understand.” Abner looked down at her with gentle smile. She continued, “You're always so quiet, why?” Abner quickly gestured with one paw, a slashing motion across the throat and pointing to himself. “Oh. Sorry. Mother told me quite a bit about your quest, she said that you're like the hero in my favorite fairy tale she would always read to me. My favorite one being about a hero, a mighty stallion, fair in his morals and his looks, kind of like Whisk. He journeys throughout the land to a tower that held a lone princess, whose beauty was greater than the Queen. Mother always described her looking similar to Marina now that I think about. Anyways, the hero confronts a dark sorcerer, who kidnapped the princess, holding her hostage for his own evil deeds. Of course the hero out of sheer force of effort despite the sorcerer's overwhelming power.” She paused, regained her breath and continued her story. “The hero marries the princess, becoming heir to the throne. They all live happily ever after.” She choked on her last few words, sniffling quietly, “I wish I could say the same about mother and father.”

Abner exhaled deeply and brought Tiva closer to him, hugging her, comforting her in her sorrow. She cried more heavily, but still just as quiet as she was before. Her tears made Abner's white fur matted and stiff. She welcomed his gratefulness, welcomed his heart. Her tears eventually dried  up.  Turning away as she freed herself from Abner's side, she wiped away a single final tear from her eyes. She silently thanked him with a smile.

Suddenly, Flight Gear hopped up out of his sleep, tripping over himself  and tumbled down the two remaining steps below him. “Fucking bloody shit.” He grumbled. “Fucking dreams waking me up so damned violently.” Regaining his footing and turning around to see Tiva trying to hold her laughter from the suddenly active pony. “Gah, shit. Of course someone would be by me.” He dismissed their company and wandered off the side of the ship to enter the manor. In his stupor of a hangover, he had forgotten to use his magic to help him out. “Fucking son of a mother's ass!” He shouted. Tiva continued to hold in her laughter as Abner peered over the side to check on Flight Gear. Again he stumbled to his hooves, “I'm okay. Fucking hangover almost got me killed. Anyways, I'm gonna start working on the ship after I get some breakfast.” He stumbled again before asking Abner to keep an eye on the ship and headed inside.

As soon as the door shut, Tiva let out her laughter. “I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous. I've never seen anyone wake up in such a manner.” Abner shrugged as he went back to go into the bridge, an enclosed structure with windows facing every direction. Tiva followed him inside. The bridged protected the two of them from the chill of the morning air. “Although, one thing I will say about Flight Gear, is that his massive amount of swearing is unusual.” Abner whirled  his paw around one ear, signaling that Flight Gear was a little looney. Tiva giggled, “Perhaps. Mother always told me that Whisk had some unusual friends that were scattered far and wide.”

Waiting for Flight Gear to return, Tiva and Abner watched the two young foals who had been sword fighting with cardboard cutouts, begin to grow tired and head back inside, apparently on their mother's whim. They were quite a bit younger than Tiva, having yet to get a cutie mark. Tiva's cutie mark was an orientation of black horseshoes placed in a fashion related to a certain style of dance. Something she certainly didn't resent, but embraced. However, Abner wondered if she felt as if she was useless to this whole situation, this journey to save the land.

Drawing his mind away from thoughts of depravity and anxiousness, Abner glanced around the bridge of the aircraft. All sorts of wires hung out from beneath counters that appeared to hold various sorts of displays and gauges. Several were already installed, barometers, internal and external temperatures, three fuel gauges, five tachometers, and two large altimeters. All these items were quite unusual for someone who hasn't seen them before. What their purpose served and how they worked was a conversation with Flight Gear for another time. What intrigued Abner more was a layout, a blueprint almost, hooked to some sort of complex wiring that loomed of complex magic. It was vaguely reminiscent of the telecommunications device that he let Whisk use the day before to talk with Twilight Sparkle. The blueprint itself hummed a low tone, as if it were a device that had to remain active in order to work properly. Each compartment of the ship was labeled in an appropriate manner with minimalistic line work to outline the edge of each. A small cargo bay, an armory, bunks, and a mess hall that appeared rather unfinished. The print also appeared to have enough room to display the balloons that Flight Gear required and the extremely incomplete engine bay.

Veering away from the console and venturing to the front and center of the bridge, was a spot designed for the captain of the ship. A place for him to stand and control the movements, a navigational center. Again, like the complexity of the blueprint before, it appeared much too complicated for any one to figure out by just a glance. Some rudimentary board with four spots that appeared to act like pressure pads, by Abner's assumption, acted as a steering mechanism for the entire ship.

Tiva seemed awestruck by the advancements of technology that she had never seen before. To think that one person was crafting such meticulous hardware to work in such a fashion was mind boggling. Perhaps Whisk already knows that Flight Gear has such a level of work, extremely likely that he does. 

Then, by some odd coincidence, Whisk had entered the bridge, “Ah, Flight Gear is always advancing in his work as usual.” He thought aloud. “Shame he always seems to make these major advancements in his drunken stupor. Perhaps I could convince him to lay off of his drinking a bit.” Whisk's sudden appearance startled Tiva a little, she jumped and moved to the side. “Tiva, Lark wanted to talk to for a bit, a book she found in the library that you might find interesting.” Tiva grinned excitedly and left the bridge and made her way back inside the manor. “Abner,” Whisk said with a sigh, “I heard a report from Dirt that you and Marina assaulted three guards that attempted to deal out punishment to two foals that were accused of being pickpockets.” Abner gave Whisk his full and immediate attention and nodded his head, confirming the report. “Right, good thing you two did that. Oddly enough, those three were about to get the boot out of the guard due to their gambling habits and a murder they were trying to cover up. Station was going to catch them in the act of bribery, something else they were suspected of, but thanks to you and Marina, they didn't have to.” Whisk seemed rather amused by the situation, as if it was something he heard of once before when he used to live here. “Dirt also said that most reports from that area often went unnoticed because those three held such a tight grip there, something the station was apparently unaware of. Good portion of that area is treating you two as heroes, in a way.” Whisk shifted his eyes around, as if he were looking for a change in the subject. He snapped his hoof against the tiled wooden flooring, “Wrecker is all healed up aside from a little soreness where his more major wounds are. He'll be able to help around the ship, which will be nice.”

Flight Gear butted in, making a surprise appearance much like Whisk did, “I could always use the extra muscle, Wrecker would do nicely for that.”

Whisk raised a brow and looked at Flight Gear, “You seem awfully happy this morning, something good happen between you and your wife last night?”

“Yup, remembered her birthday, it's today, got her some flowers that shes always wanted to put in her garden. Extremely rare apparently. She was so fucking happy that she caused the house to float off the ground a little bit.”

“Maybe you should have her stop by later on. Speaking of which, I haven't seen your wife. I did read that you were married in one of your letters you sent me. Your penmanship could use some work, by the way.” Whisk said in a joking manner.

“Aw, fuck penmanship. I can read, I can write, might be a little messy but fuck it, honestly. I build shit, not write fancy ass words on some parchment.” Flight Gear spoke without faltering to his words, unfazed by Whisk's would-be insult.

“I, guess. Should I leave you to your ship?” Whisk answered with a shrug of his front legs and a roll of his eyes.

“That would be for the best, I'll have it done in two days, remember that. You're damned lucky I already got the framework done. All I need from you Whisk, is a little funding from your parents so I can get the appropriate materials for the bladders and balloons. Oh, and some fuel.” Flight Gear said, confidence soaking his voice.

“Fuel?” Whisk questioned.

“Ah right, I forget that a majority of you folk are unfamiliar with that term. I just need some gems and crystals that can react in a proper manner. That mashed down into a powder, then transmuted into a liquid form. Another thing I developed for the engine I showed you yesterday.” Flight Gear jogged towards the console where the captain of the ship would stand. Rifled through some papers and pulled out a short scroll that had some sort of chicken scratch etched into its surface. “These are the materials I need. Fetch boy, fetch.” Flight Gear smirked.

Whisk looked the paper over, completely ignoring Flight Gear's statement. “Well, I hope my memory still serves correct for the location of the old stores you would always visit.” Whisk remarked, rolling up the scroll and leaving through the doorway.

Flight Gear turned his attention over to Abner, “You seem mighty curious about the consoles. I'll teach you a few things about this newfangled technology that I've created.” Flight Gear had an stark contrast of character compared to the yesterday. Maybe his wife gave him something in return for the flowers. Flight Gear went into the specifics of how every gauge functioned, how the steering was going to work, the small display that had the different portions of the ship laid out upon it. Abner listened well, nodding and changing his facial expression when after Flight Gear simplified some of the more complicated pieces of equipment. Tiva, in her own interest approached the two of them and eagerly learned this new information. 

Whisk simply listened from a distance, he felt an odd sense of accomplishment in his heart, but he also felt as if he was saying goodbye. It was strange, but he was happy to see Abner learn. Whisk didn't think much of Tiva, but the numerous times she approached him to ask him about Clackerton and the manor, she always seemed a little shy. However, Whisk slowly felt himself wanting to protect both her and Abner, the same feeling he got about the rest of his squad when he first became acquainted with them. 

Turning to leave and approaching the edge of the deck where the ladder had been placed, he saw Wrecker carefully walking his way out the doors of the manor. Whisk quickly rushed to his aid and caught him just as he was going to fall. Wrecker didn't react, only glanced to Whisk who was having trouble just keep Wrecker's head up using his head. “Always using your head.” Wrecker joked.

“At least it works.” Whisk retorted with a short laugh. “Honestly, you should be resting still.”

“Right, right. I'll be fine in a few hours.” Wrecker shrugged off his concern. “I wanted to see this aircraft you went on about before you fell asleep reading the paper.” Wrecker looked over the ship, scanning it from its bow to its stern as Whisk slowly pulled his head from underneath his. “Certainly well done, that's for sure. Seems Flight Gear is more than just a drunken clown with shiny toys.”

“That's one way to put it I guess. Says he'll get it done in two days provided I get him the bladders and balloons by the end of the day today.” Whisk replied.

“You've got no idea where to get any of that do you, despite growing up here?” Wrecker guessed.

“Unfortunately and I'd rather not walk around the market on my own either, especially if I have to go through the run down areas again like I did yesterday.” Whisk sighed. This town is primarily one for carriages and engines.

“Well, lets get going then, things not going to build itself.” Wrecker mused.

“That's plenty obvious, Wrecker.” Whisk answered.

The two again entered into the town, Whisk asked Dirty Dirt if anything big was scheduled for the day. Nothing was aside from the usual auction in the market square. After arriving to the relatively early to the market square, Whisk thought it strange that the place was so unusually empty. Shrugging off the thought, Whisk asked a few shopkeepers if there were any places that sold aircraft material. Turns out there was one that had started up a few months ago, convenient. Heading to the outskirts of the market section of town and reaching the edges of the industrial sector over a rough and downtrodden road beaten by years of disrepair. The town itself was thriving, but the conditions in some areas were utterly deplorable. A rather confounding thought. 

Locating the shop, Wrecker and Whisk entered the building made of a mixture of steel, stone, and wooden beams supporting a roof made of corrugated metals. The building, much like Flight Gear's workshop, was quite a bit larger on the inside. Rows of shelving units lined out from the walls, almost like a library. Upon the shelves rested all sorts of hoofmade and mass manufactured parts packed in boxes made of dull colored cardboard with company logos. “May I help you sirs?” An eccentric yellow earth pony popped up from behind the front counter.

Whisk fumbled his words for a moment, “Um, yes, um...I'm, I mean, we're looking for a bladder and balloon skinning for an aircraft.”

“Bud, you're gonna have to be a lot more specific than that. I need dimensions and how many you want.” The storekeeper replied.

Wrecker answered almost immediately, “Two two hundred average hooflengths, part number should be AIS912 and AIS913 for the skins. About ninety-eight average hooflengths, part number should be AIB914 and AIB915 for the gas bladders.”

There was an awkward silence for a moment, then the shopkeeper spoke up again, “Right then, I'll grab those, give me a moment.”  The shopkeeper waltzed away, weaving his way through the shelving units and sifting through a book or two to recall the location of the parts. 

Whisk gave a strange look toward Wrecker, “How did you even know what Flight Gear needed?”

“I've had quite a lot of time to study, a mercenary such as I must know these details. Don't want to bring the wrong tools for the job after all.” Wrecker answered him with great self confidence.

The shopkeeper hurried back with the parts that he was asked to fetch. Adding up the prices on his register and after several successive dings and clicks along with a small length of paper that protruded its way out from the top of the machine. After mashing the last key and a short moment of silence between the shopkeeper and the register, the shopkeeper spoke up, focusing his attention back to Whisk. “That will be forty-eight bits and seventy-two cents, sir.” Whisk rustled through his bag and pulled out the appropriate amount, handing it to the shopkeeper. “Thank you sir, have a nice day.”

“You're welcome, you too.” Whisk replied as the two of them exchanged the items on the counter. Upon leaving the building, Whisk asked Wrecker, “You know, Wrecker, you're quite a bit more talkative than your usual self. Normally you just keep quiet, not saying that that's a bad thing though.”

Wrecker gave him a quick glance as they began to make their way back to the manor, “Only talk when I'm asked to.”

“I guess. Anyways lets head back to the manor. I'm sure Flight Gear is anxious to get these parts.” Whisk replied, then recalled an old memory of his friend, “ It's funny, this is the first time I've seen him work on something on this large of a scale. Usually he works on smaller things, one of them was a glider that had controllable wings. I remember testing that out with him, had quite a few crashes until it was finally successful. I think, maybe, he forgot about the project. He has left a good majority of them unfinished.”

“Perhaps.”

“I've gotta say, it's kind of weird talking to you this much, and without your armor on. How are your legs holding up anyways?”

“Weird, huh?” Wrecker scoffed. “ Legs are a bit sore, but they'll be fine by the time we leave here.”

“That's good to hear. You know, this is the first you've been this open about your past. Marina told me about some of the stuff about your augmentations last night.” Whisk exclaimed.

“I figured she would.” Wrecker answered him. “Going to my tribes people is entirely up to you. Abner's journey is top priority though.” Wrecker stopped in his tracks and raised his head high into the air, “We're being followed, small group of bandits, I'm counting six.”

“Really, now. I was counting four.” Whisk sighed. “We don't have time for this. Let's get this over with then. On the bright side, the street is empty. Been awhile since I've done some close quarters combat.”

“You and I both.” Wrecker replied.

“This many for two ponies is a bit ridiculous though.” Whisk jested. Six ponies hopped out from various angles, surrounding them. Three pegasi, one unicorn, and two earth ponies. “You get the unicorn and the earth ponies, I'll deal with the the pegasi.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Wrecker agreed as the two of them took a stance, back to back.

From the roof, the unicorn overlooked the looming battle, giving a skin tight shielding to the two earth ponies who approached from the dimly lit alley and a rather notable speed enhancement to the pegasi who swooped in and hovered over head. They all wore similar outfits, light brown masks and dark blue leather armor with white fur lining at its edges. 

The group of bandits  began their charge, but the unicorn stayed on top of the roof. Whisk commented as the pegasi dived towards him. Whisk quickly jumped into fray. Dodging the first pegasus, pulling him by his tail and knocking him into the second pegasus and then tackling the third who was moving in to flank Wrecker. Whisk quickly incapacitated the third pegasus with a knock out and moved back to the first two who were stumbling to their feet. He again grabbed the second one by his tail and pulled him to the ground, then smacking him in the back of the neck to knock him unconscious. Wrecker  threw one of the earth ponies into the first pegasus that had charged Whisk, causing the two of them to crash into the stone wall of the building behind them. Four down, two to go. The second earth pony charged at Wrecker at full speed. The bandit crashed into his side as he turned, Wrecker was unfazed. He grabbed the pony by the collar of his armor and brought him around, smashing his backside into the cobblestone they stood on. The impact broke apart his armor and made him completely winded. 

The poor earth pony gasped for air as Wrecker and Whisk turned their attention to the unicorn, who approached them with his horn aflame with magic. Whisk motioned  Wrecker to go ahead as he turned away to tie up the ones that they had immobilized. The unicorn began firing bolts of magic consisting of different elemental bases at Wrecker. The bolts nullified against Wreckers skin, the augmentations were crafted with this in mind. With the bolts of magic disintegrating against Wrecker's orange coat , the unicorn backed away. Frightened by Wrecker's domineering stature, the unicorn eventually found himself backed into a corner. 

With one quick movement of his right foreleg, he gently placed his hoof on the unicorn's horn, further negating his magic through the use of his augmentations. Wrecker then asked in a most commanding and low voice drawn from the deepest of his lungs, “Who sent you?”

The helpless unicorn shook uncontrollably, it hindered his voice as he said, “No, one, just a group of random ruffians, bandits, you know.”

“The matching outfits say otherwise.” Wrecker remarked with a smirk as Whisk sifted through the pockets of the pegasi and earth ponies.

“Um, Wrecker. These guys are from Celestia's Legion. A scouting party, undercover. Appears mister unicorn there received these orders two days ago. Must have been outside the field, their C.O is likely inside the barrier still.” Whisk called out.

“That also proves otherwise.” Wrecker demeaned the unicorn further.

“Shoot, you've found us out. Just don't kill us.” the unicorn pleaded. 

“Kill? We have no intention to.” Whisk commented. “Instead, you six are under our orders now. I'm pulling rank here, so your current C.O cannot object. You six are instead going to protect this town from the field, which will stretch its reach here in four days. What's your name.”

“Fumbles, sir.” The unicorn saluted after Wrecker released his hoof from his horn. “How should we carry out your orders sir?”

“Name's Whisk, current C.O of Celestia's Diplomacy Squad. The big stallion here is Wrecker. As for your orders, use a barrier spell, have everyone take shelter at the manor on top of the hill, it's in the northern most part of the town. You'll need to work with Clackerton's guard for that. My group and I will be heading out one day beforehand, that's when you, Fumbles, will erect a shield to protect the town from the field reaching out from Canterlot. At the manor, you'll seek the help of Rosamond, have her lead you to the library and ask her to raise the manor's barrier, this will help to reinforce your own.” Whisk Paused for a moment. “Got it?”

“Understood sir. Quick question sir, where is the guard station?” Fumbles asked.

“Center of town, backside of the market square.” Whisk quickly answered. “Now get to it. One more thing, you six could learn some better formation techniques, too easy to read.”

“Appreciate the information sir.” Fumbles again saluted as Wrecker and Whisk trotted away back towards the manor, leaving Fumbles to untie his own comrades. “I'm always screwing this shit up up.” Fumbles groaned.

Wrecker and Whisk made their way back to the manor around noon, the sun high in the sky. It appeared that its cycle was set in motion normally, which meant that Celestia still retained some of her sanity, or Luna took over for her. Whatever the case, it was good news to see that sun and moon rose and set right proper. “Dirt,” Whisk called out to the guard, who appeared asleep and leaning softly against the wall. “Dirt?” Whisk tapped at his helmet a few times, and then checked for a pulse. “Shite. Wrecker break the gate down. I don't have anything to improvise a breaching charge. Dirt's knocked out and not dead thankfully.”

Wrecker immediately followed his order and bucked the rod iron gate with one swift blow. The buck, however, caused a few of the scabs to reopen. Blood seeped into the bandages at a slow and steady pace. Wrecker shook off the quick stings of pain and charged in through the gate. Whisk quickly followed behind him.

Bolts of light magic were fired from the deck of the airship at several pegasi that circled above. An earth pony was tossed over the side and fell unconscious against the hard ground. “Looks like we're not too late for the party.” Whisk joked. “Come on, Wrecker. We need to get up there and sort this out.” Whisk and Wrecker ran towards the ship, avoiding Tiva, who was climbing down the ladder to make her way inside. “Good to see you're okay, Tiva.” Whisk said as they passed her by. “Wrecker, toss me up.” Wrecker grabbed Whisk by the back of the neck using his teeth, spun around once and let go. Launching him high enough to get over the deck railing. Wrecker quickly followed, using his augmentations to give him a boost in his jump.

What came next was surprising. The four pegasi who were circling overhead, charged towards Abner. used a pulse of magic that gleamed brighter than the sun, tossing all four pegasi aside followed by restraints made from parts of the ship by Flight Gear's magic. An earth pony charged toward Abner, who quickly dodged and tripped up the pony's charge by throwing himself into his hindquarters. Flight Gear quickly followed up with morphing metals conforming into a one large strap to wrap the pony like a cocoon. 

Another unicorn stood atop of the bridge, apparently commanding the other five of this particular group. The unicorn fired off several bolts of lightning based magic from his horn, all homing in on Abner. Abner swerved and dodged the first, the other bolts zigzagged in different patterns. Abner managed to counter one, striking it down with magic of his own. Another two bolts of magic came in from behind which Abner quickly avoided. The bolts stopped before hitting the ships main mast, twisted and turned around and hurled themselves back toward Abner. As the unicorn controlled the last two remaining bolts, he summoned dozens more to do his bidding, homing them in on Abner; paying no heed to Whisk and Wrecker's appearance. Flight Gear intercepted many of the bolts that rained down on Abner, who brought up a shield to cancel out the bolts of magic. 

In the midst of the onslaught, Wrecker and Whisk tried to sneaking around, to flank the unicorn. Much to their surprise, the unicorn had brought up an invisible barrier that prevented such an attack. Wrecker's negation of magic failed, it would not budge under his strength, strange he thought. Only one pony would know of such a way to nullify Wrecker's augmentations. All the while Abner's shield began to falter as Flight Gear moved in to reinforce the protective bubble of golden light energy. His heart pounding hard, his breathing wild, Abner quickly sought the answers to defeating the foe in his mind. As he thought about this, everything slowed down, like playing a film or a vinyl record slower than its recommended speed. Abner began to feel, in a way, the light that surrounded everyone and the way that it moved in the most violent and gentle manner. With one deep breath, closing of the eyes and one extensively long exhalation of it with opening his ice blue eyes back up, everything turned to monochromatic grays. He could see each particle of light bounce off a surface as if it were rain, gently coloring the surface for barely a moment. Everything appeared frozen in place.

Stepping forward, slowly, he exited the shield of his creation and approached his foe. Each stride began heavier than a thousand elephants and fell like the greatest waterfall. He could hear each pound of the heart his foe made, each pound of the heart his allies made. Their smells and the dew that stubbornly clung to the grass beneath, and the odd mixture of steel and wood. Each landing of his paws wrought an earthly and heavenly feel until it felt like he was walking on air. For a moment, he thought to have caught a glimpse of another world, which vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. He came up alongside Wrecker and Whisk, confronting the barrier the two of them had encountered. Abner touched the magical wall with one paw, the particles separated and formed around his outstretched limb. A gentle warmth expelled from the reformation of the particles and for a brief second, recolored the air around his paw. With three more steps, he was inside the barrier.

On his final steps to his foe, he realized that this unicorn was someone he had already met, someone that he had already traveled with. His foe had cloaked himself in a long robe, brown as a cup of coffee. Before unmasking this familiarity, Abner projected a barrier to prevent the unicorn from firing off any more bolts of magic. Abner raised his head, and pulled the hood from up off the stallion's head. Thus the revelation became that the unicorn was Cuffs, the doctor who had helped them throughout their journeys. Shocked, Abner backed away, unable to reach a conclusion as to why Cuffs would be attacking them. However, that's when he realized that there were swirls of black clouds in his eyes and numerous patches of the Blight wrapping around his head and neck. The disease almost appeared to emanate a thin black smoke out from his dirtied mane that was once a brilliant light blue and from his now blackened nostrils. Carefully, Abner sought out the remainder of his magic and tied Cuffs hooves to the bridge in such a way that it would be difficult for him to get out of.

With one last deep breath, closing his eyes until he felt the light flow back to its natural ways. Abner reopened his eyes to a fallen stallion, unable to use his magic, he neighed, snorted, and huffed in an extremely primal manner unfamiliar to everyone. Abner became breathless and barely able to move, panting hard and using every muscle to hold himself up to keep from collapsing. The final bolts of magic fizzled away along with the shield Flight Gear commandeered. Whisk was slow to comment, “Cuffs, you look like shit.”

“I know.” Cuffs replied, barely able to piece his words together to begin with.

Unbeknownst to the group, Lark came onto the ship, dragging Abner's sword with her, sheathe and harness altogether. Catching Abner's eye, he willed himself to move toward her and when he did, he drew the hefty zweihander from its sheathe and began walking back towards Cuffs. Collapsing several times along the way until Wrecker lifted him up onto his back, the sword dragging along the thick oak boards of the deck. Wrecker gently set him down before Cuffs, who writhed with struggles to escaped, but a part of him tried to keep calm, knowing that this could be the end. Abner sat down in front of him, dragging the sword around. In one final movement, Abner gently rested the sword on top of Cuffs. This action caused a rapid expulsion if Blight out from Cuffs, forming into a cloud of swirling black smoke. In a fit of fury the Blight thrusted itself into Abner, burrowing in through his chest, causing his eyes to burn, ears to ring, heart to race, nostrils to inflame, and mouth to dry. After the sudden piercing of his senses, Abner collapsed, blacking out into a unworldly dream of silences and vast emptiness. His use of magic sapped him of all strength.

Eventually, Abner found himself drifting away in a blanket of white backing. Again, he felt as if he were swimming trough the air, light as a feather and free as a bird. Feeling his heart soar and become delighted, he danced round with swoops of grace and glides of swiftness. The weight of the world felt as if it head been lifted up from off his shoulders, a thought that had escaped him after the Stribog's attack on his village. Pausing for a moment, Abner saw trails of bight golden light tracing from his tail. It followed the path he flew, through its loops and dives, rolls and turns. For quite some time he amused himself in the trails of light, drawing out different shapes and objects of sorts. Eventually, he grew tired of this. He wasn't sure if he had died or if he had simply passed out from overexerting his magic.

In his thought, he heard a voice echo, it cried for help. Delicately maneuvering, Abner tracked down the cries using his keen sense of hearing. He happened upon a crude figure of smoke, it appeared to burn like a flame but drip like water. It sobbed like a child, loud and ringing but the sound appeared to change in pitch and modulate in an unusual way. Piquing his sense of curiosity, Abner circled around, the object had no eyes, no limbs or mouth to speak of. He remembered the words of his brother Lev, “The soul is mysterious. Many fathom its existence, others are unable to comprehend such a thing so simple yet complex. Some say it is what binds out hearts and minds, helps us feel, helps us to have a conscious, or that it is a synonym for our instincts. Yet the soul remains invisible to our eyes, a construct of thought, like time and imagination. Some have reported that those who see their souls are departing from this world or are the verge of. A smoke that burns like fire, pours like water, cries like a newborn, and is entirely featureless in other characteristics; as one report put it.”

It seemed funny now, that Lev's early revelation to Abner about the soul of a being was accurately portrayed in the book he read. Abner, ever the more curious, raised a paw to touch the smokey fire. It retreated away, its crying shifted in a sharp high pitch. Confused, Abner repeated his actions. Again the orb of smoke shifted away with a sharp low pitch. Its crying toned down, became quieter. Confounded, Abner began to follow the orb of smoking water. It didn't take long before Abner realized that the orb was taking him somewhere. A question lingered in his mind however, was this his soul, or one of the three others that had essentially merged theirs with his?

Continuing down the unmarked path the orb led him on, he eventually came upon a large cathedral, dilapidated and decrepit. It appeared in a frozen state of disrepair, remains from the outstretching buttresses and multilevel rose windows branched outward and held firm in midair. An elaborate and extremely worn frieze wrapped around the entire structure, its imagery resembled battles of the past. The cathedral was tall, daunting, and unending in its height, a strain to the neck if one tried to see the top. Its color was black as ink to the whitest paper, white outlined every corner and nook. 

Pulling his eyes away from the cathedral's exterior, Abner looked for the orb, which now burned an ice blue, much like Stribog's scales. It appeared to motion him to follow, rocking back and forth. Abner entered the building and thought to himself, perhaps this is the memory of Stribog, a dragon who was once part of the Guardians. This was likely the reasoning behind his mass reserve of magic, in the books he read, there was no one who was able to control light at such a level. The orb opened the doors, which had torn in two but their height still required them to be opened manually. 

Upon entering the cathedral, Abner saw not rows and rows of seats, but spiraling stairs that reached far into the unseeing sky above. That large hall opened up to a circular area, where prayers would be silently spoken before an alter. A casket, lathered in a single coat of brown paint sat towards the back. The floor was lined, directing movement and flow. Drawing his eyes away from the scenery again, Abner saw the ice blue orb pulsate and move towards the circle located before the alter. Where it joined  two others, one of raging black fire and amber water-like droplets, the other burned a rose pink and dripped red in color. The orb that led him here, took a stance behind the podium that stood before the casket and after the prayer circle. A strange reverberation echoed from it, as if it were speaking. The translation magics that resided within him were subsiding. Still confused by the matter, he sat down on the ornate circle, which in a stained glass fashion, depicted the tremendous final moments of the last battle within the building. The floor softly glowed orange, highlighting specific parts one at a time as if to tell the story like a graphic novel.

It played out the final moments, in epic fashion, animating each pane of glass to create the different characters involved. Every swing his ancestor made destroyed hundreds of enemies made of pitch black ink. He ravaged through the hordes and made his way to a set of extremely tall towers, obelisks breaching the highest clouds. At its base was a large colonnade set in a circle, Gothic style arches connecting every pillar. The size easily dwarfed the mountains of Canterlot. The entry way was incredibly similar to the cathedral Abner occupied. Stepping inside, his ancestor was followed by several companions, Drystan, was one of them. He looked the same as he does now, holding the form of an earth pony with blackened coat that bleeds like ink wash on paper. A large battle worn griffin whose claws looked to devastate anything in one swipe and his third companion was a large elemental golem whose head and torso were made of earth and limbs of unyielding ice. 

They took to the massive spiraling staircases, evenly splitting up the group to either side until they reached a floor filled to the brim with creatures indescribable. A hulking figure guarded the exit, a dragon bearing strong resemblance to Stribog's. He breathed fire and ice before and brought forth every attack he could muster before succumbing to defeat. Passing him by, the group made their way across a bridge connecting to yet even taller tower. There, they fought a Chimera with the head of a lion, forelegs of a mighty eagle, hind legs of of a bull, and a tail consisting of a venomous two headed snake. Again, with much ease they blew through the room and defeated the Guardian. Making their way across the final bridge the group was split into two, a large aircraft of sorts crafted by the likes of the Blight crashed into the bridge. His ancestor and Drystan made it across, the golem and the griffin remained on the other side and stood their ground against hordes of monsters that chased them. In the last and final room, they faced off against two enemies, a large bird made of lightning, the other a giant nine tailed fox. Drystan battled the fox, while Abner's ancestor fought the bird made of lightning.

The animated stained glass cut to the end of the battle, both Guardians defeated. Never once did his ancestor draw the sword from its sheathe, its aura could be seen bright and vivid, swirling about. With the Guardians defeated, his ancestor drew the sword and placed it upon an alter, where it then activated a massive spell that eradicated every creature solely made of the Blight and cleansing those who were infected by it. Abner's ancestor turned to stone, Drystan remained to guard him and the Guardians that they had defeated roosted in the same room and they too, changed to stone. The way it all ended was confounding. The glass reverted to a look that summarized the events that occurred. The three orbs of fire and water shifted about, floating over to the casket upon the alter. Abner followed as the lid to the casket creaked open, finally revealing its contents. It was a mirror image of Abner, seeing himself in a casket instantly threw him into confusion and shock.

Running out of the cathedral, he felt unable to bear the image. Thinking himself dead, running into the overcoming blackness the reached out from the horizon and consumed the ground beneath and the sky above. He heard the cries of a single voice, “Abner!” it cried. “Snap out of it, don't die, please, don't die.” It echoed from far away. Shaken and confused, he started to feel sweat drip from his head and fall to the ground silently. His legs became heavier and the voice became louder. Before long, he realized that legs were sinking into the ground, melting and morphing into the blackness. One last call of his name came to be before he began to hear a melancholy and heartbreaking song in a language his ears failed to translate. He stopped struggling and let himself melt away into the blackness. 

Slowing feeling his senses, smelling the mountain air, hearing the groves of forests below rustle in the wind, feeling the wind softly brush his fur, the taste of his lunch still lingering on his tongue. He slowly opened his eyes to a clear a beautiful blue sky gently touched by an orange hue. He could feel his heart beat slowly calm down along with with his breath. A cry of relief followed by a strong hug by Lark frightened him for a moment, he tried to hug back, but his forelegs were extremely heavy. His body had taken the burden of a massive overexertion of magic. In hindsight, he wasn't sure about how he managed to cast such a spell. He thought about the book by Phosphorescence, he had read about light sources worked and how it traveled in certain environments but he never thought that he would wind up actually it within such a large area. It was baffling.

Softly shaking his thoughts loose of the battle and taking the overwhelming joy of relief that Lark had, her tears, much like Tiva's, matted up his fur. Her muffled and stifled speech constantly repeated her relief. Abner smiled as Whisk peered in, making himself barely visible over Lark's shoulder, “I would love to ask how you even managed to do such a thing, but I'll save that for later. We need to get both you and Doc to the infirmary.” Whisk turned away and Lark pulled herself off. Abner was lifted up by Wrecker and set upon his back. Cuffs, barely able to walk, apparently came back to his senses and was helped by Whisk and Flight Gear. Lark took the sword and sheathed it, using both her magic and forelegs to do so. While Abner was dreaming, Whisk had told the soldiers the same thing he told the group that Fumbles commanded.

Things were quieter than usual, a low ringing remained in Abner's ears. As they traveled back inside, several of the tenants looked on curiously. It felt like they were silently welcoming some hero's return who was unable to complete his journey because of injury. He saw a few of the ponies speak, but he could not hear their words. Wooden Spoon and Cast Iron Pan, Whisk's father and mother, confronted him asking what had happened. Whisk's words were barely audible as they continued making their way to the infirmary, following Jeeves down the hallway. Abner and Cuffs were rested onto separate beds as they waited for a doctor to check on them. Cuffs mouthed the words “Thank you.” to Abner. In response, he gently nodded his head to acknowledge it before peacefully falling asleep. He slept undisturbed for the remainder of the afternoon and well into the next morning. The vision he saw of his ancestor replayed over and over again as he slept, burned itself in to his memory.

The next day he awoke to the sound of a heart monitor beeping in unison with his pulse. It took Abner a moment to remember how he got there and when he did, he began thinking of other ways he could have approached Cuffs yesterday afternoon. He pulled himself forward, raising his head so that he could get a better view of everything. Half covered in a thick and practically colorless quilt, he looked around, saw both Lark and Tiva asleep by his bed cuddled up together underneath a blanket of their own. He gently smiled before seeing the tube that connected from his foreleg to a bag filled with water hanging from a metal stand attached to the wall. He saw that Cuffs had been discharged from the infirmary, as he was not in the bed he was placed in the night before. Abner also feared that he may have been taken to the morgue as well, a thought that he quickly shook off to ease his mind. 

He wondered how long he had been asleep, a day or two perhaps? Hopefully he hadn't woken too late, having the rest of the group waiting on him would be a bit of hassle. He heard some footsteps approach the doorway, his ears perked and he stared at the entrance with all the curiosity of a cat. Two familiar voices along with the bodies that they came from stepped through the frame and into the room. Cuffs and Whisk, with looks of happiness came forward and approached him. Cuffs spoke up first, “It's good to see you're finally awake, and well it appears.” He did a quick scan with a magic spell of his own, crafted to detect any unusual anomalies. “You've been sleeping for the past day and a half. I would say that your were practically in a coma. Such a drain of magic and an excessive use of it is incredibly enduring and tiresome. However, what you did affected your entire nervous and muscular system as well, so the body needed even more time to recover. No permanent damage thankfully. It's really quite astounding how a novice such as you even managed to cast such a spell in the first place. Furthermo-”

Whisk moved his hoof to cover his mouth, “Cuffs, shut your trap for a moment would you? You've been on this for the past day and a half.” Whisk sighed and planted his hoof back on the ground. “Anyways, what Cuffs is trying to say is that you're better. Might need a little time to get used to walking properly again, but you should be all good.” He looked over to the other side of the bed, seeing Lark and Tiva cuddled up together. “Lark's been worried sick about you. Kept saying that she didn't want to break her promise to your father and breaking a promise like that would be devastating to her. Anyways, Cuffs, go ahead and pull him off of the sensors and the IV.”

“Will do, Whisk. Back to working with Flight Gear afterward?” Cuffs said as he unplugged the heart monitor and gently pulled the needle out from Abner's foreleg, placing a pad of gauss following by some bandage to keep it in place.

“Yup, not going to stop until the sun sets. Flight Gear needs all the help he can get and we have to leave tomorrow evening at the latest. That field is halfway through the Everfree Forest, what kind of beasts will come from there is confounding to even think about.” Whisk remarked. “How is Charger by the way?”

“Understandable.” Cuffs paused for a bit, recollecting his memory of the events and finishing up the bandaging on Abner. “I had him mind controlled. I casted the spell, but it should be broken by now considering the magic was mine alone. Hopefully the Blight didn't manage to manifest to mess with his mind to such the extent I was in. After the battle with Wrecker, we went back to Canterlot and requested a few soldiers. They gave us a few to work with that were thankfully not yet infected with Blight. For a few days I had them pursue your group. Charger was supposed to lead the group that attacked you and Wrecker. It's likely that he could still be in that area, or he's assuming that we've already made it to the temple on the outskirt's of Abner's village. Odds are that under my mind control, which I casted while I was under the influence of that damned disease, Charger likely has no recollection of the events that transpired and therefore is going off of what he already knows. My best guess  he'll grab a map and be on his way about the same time we leave.” Whisk stared at him with a blank face. Cuffs raised a brow and gave a look of confusion, “What?”

“Anyone ever tell you you talk too much?” Whisk asked.

Cuffs scoffed and shifted his eyes to the side, “You have plenty of times, I know.”

“That was a bit of a rhetorical question but whatever.” Whisk said as he turned away and headed towards the door, then continuing, “Simplifying your rather long reply, we just wait for Charger to show up?”

“Correct.” Cuffs assured him.

“Good, I'd rather not have him miss too much, he always loves a good fight.” Whisk remarked as he exited the room.

A moment of silence overcame the room before Cuffs broke the silence and faced towards Abner, who still lied on the bed, “I hate his attitude sometimes but, he's the jester of the group so to speak.” He said as he helped Abner to the floor and onto his feet, “You can go ahead and rest some more Abner, get a bit of food, and perhaps work on the aircraft a bit afterward. Maybe you should stay here to assure Lark you weren't sent off to the morgue.”

After seeing that Abner managed to get back on his feet well enough to walk on his own, Cuffs left the room. Abner heavily considered his words as he looked over Lark and Tiva. He curled himself up along Lark's backside and closed his eyes again. Unable to sleep, he thought of the origins of the Elements of Harmony. He had remembered that the sword was a gift to the Guardians in exchange for the Elements. Perhaps the Elements had to be taken away from them to prevent them from becoming more powerful. He remembered Twilight Sparkle mentioning something about the unfathomable power that the Elements seemed to possess, their drawback being how they had to be used. All six pieces had to be in in close proximity to one another and the mental state of mind had to properly coordinate with each individual user to present the desired effect. No matter how much he seemed to think it over, it just seemed that there was a piece of the puzzle missing, something history may have decidedly left out.

Then he thought of the crazed vision he had after he lost consciousness. Certainly he saw his ancestor turn to stone through the glass's tale. He thought about the casket, when this vision took  a turn into a much unwanted nightmare. The vision filled presented a somewhat different chain of events compared to the story that Prudence had told him when they first met. However, she never spoke of a group of four vastly different in their species and talents and neither did his mother and father. Perhaps their names got lost to the long twists of time. Abner began to feel the thoughts weigh his mind and cause a slight headache. He sighed deeply, letting go of the foreboding thoughts that sought to plague his mind.

After a few minutes, Lark began shifting her body around. She raised her head up and yawned, wearily opening her tired eyes. Looking at the bed for a moment, taking in the emptiness, she thought for a moment if she had fallen asleep at the wrong bed. She carefully moved to not wake Tiva, then she felt Abner's fur brush along her own. She immediately became overwhelmed with joy and happiness, hugging him tightly. Abner, with a straight face, expected this reaction. The last few months had taught him that Lark was one to be easily emotional, easily worried. She was always one to be optimistic though and always held herself to her words. She never spoke much about her family however, perhaps her behavior is a facade to her secrets or maybe she was adopted by the townsfolk. Whatever the case was, Abner was happy to have her come along. Her cheeriness is always admirable.

“Abner, I'm so glad you're okay.” She said, her voice crooked by her sleep and apparent soreness. “I was so worried about you. I've never heard of anyone using such a high level spell. Whisk told me that in one moment you on the front deck, then everything seemed to turn gray for just a second and then you had Cuffs tied down to the roof of the bridge. It sounds like a teleportation spell, but that usually doesn't have such an effect on the area around the user.” She took a deep breath, stopping herself from rambling on about the magic and set Abner back on his feet. “Anyways, I'm extremely glad and greatly overjoyed that you're okay. Let's go see the the aircraft, our ticket out of here.” She smiled has she used levitation to lift Tiva up and carried her out the door. Abner found her actions amusing and smiled as he followed behind her.

Making their way outside once again, Abner saw that the air bladders and their inflation, as well as exoskeleton construction, had been completed. The hull and deck of the ship had been repaired with the help of the soldiers that attacked them not too long ago. Flight Gear was busy testing the new engine design as Whisk finished up some final wiring to the ships interface systems. If someone knew how to create advanced magic systems, Flight Gear was certainly one of them. Flames erupted from the engines exhaust pipes, violently throwing air outward in all directions. Two large rudders had been attached to the hull of the ship with propellers set between the two. A main sail and a head sail laid outstretched from the main mast. The several outlying wing-like structures, essentially angled masts, also had their sails ready and well secured. The crows nest had been replaced with something more stable after displaying its initial fragility during the battle beforehand. It was an astonishing sight to see all this effort go into one airship and be completed within a such a short period of time.

Lark went on her merry way and wandered into the crew quarters with Tiva, telling Abner that she wanted her to rest somewhere a bit more comfortable than the infirmary floor. Abner went about his own way, exploring the ship from its somewhat small cargo bay to its easy flowing hallways going through the crew quarters up to the captains nest, which had a spiral staircase leading up to the bridge in the back of the room. The mess hall had enough tables to feed the Abner's group plus the eleven soldiers that were currently helping out. Abner overheard Whisk talking with Fumbles, the unicorn that he had apparently met the same day Abner lost consciousness. Fumbles told Whisk that the town guards were uneasy with the sudden request. The chief told Fumbles that such a request would take time to complete and under three days may not be enough. He did however acknowledge the impending threat as he too notice the significant increase in the size of the field expelling outward from Canterlot. Whisk understood the claims that the guard chief answered and told Fumbles to continue carrying out the orders he assigned him.

Abner continued on, exploring the engine bay, rather large in its size and elaborate. It was considerably the heaviest part of the entire aircraft. Two adjustable exhaust outlets allowed for aid in steering and lifting the ship off the ground. Large canisters of fuel reactant to magic had various lines fed into to the tops of different cylinders that contained pistons. Pistons that rotated a camshaft to give power to the propellers which were barely visible from the inside, their mounts made of heavy steel and iron kept them in place. Flight Gear was cranking a few wrenches on a certain part of the engine, fine tuning the engines final outputs. The size of the engine easily dwarfed Abner's size, being quite a bit larger than most exquisite carriages made to taxi rich folk to a gala.

Flight Gear stepped away from the engine, taking a deep breath of relief and wiping his brow. He glanced over at Abner, who he saw out of the corner of his eye. “Abner, glad to see you're alright.  Although you being up and walking around may not be the best idea. Lark seems to take quite the liking to ya, maybe she loves you.” Flight Gear joked he laughed at his own joke until he coughed. His voice had gotten raspy. “Fucking fuck, must be coming down with a cold again. Doctors told me when I was young that I have some magic handicap. Always get sick when I use my fucking magic too much.” he sighed. Despite the engine's large size, the noise it created was less than one would initially think. Most of the noise came from the spinning internal parts that were dampened by their containment and the other portion of the noise came from the fluctuating purple and orange fire that came out from the exhaust. “Come here a moment, Abner.”

Abner did so and sat down next to him. After taking a quick sip from his flask, Flight Gear began explaining the various parts in a simplified manner. The fluids from the canisters consisted of two different types of rock that had been liquified that needed to be stored separately otherwise it would create an explosive when exposed to water. The fluids mixed in a sealed reservoir which fed four different lines to a series of pistons wrapped around a center point. Another reservoir contained water that were injected into each cylinder in insanely short instances. This triggered a blow-back effect where it forced the piston back to the top of the cylinder containing it. Each piston was time to fire off at different moments to create the desired movement of the camshaft, the rods that moved the large propeller blades. Byproduct of the combustion chambers were fed into another part of the engine, the main exhaust. However, Flight Gear had concocted a way to get more out of it instead of just some pretty purple smoke. By casting a spell of amplification and using a small amount of solidified magic by binding his magic with a rare crystal he obtained and exposing it to the main engines exhaust, combined with a secondary rotation provided by the pistons from before resulting in a massive boost power for use in acceleration and lift. Flight Gear also added that instead of relying on the sails for maneuvering, annoyingly slow to him, he fitted the two exhaust pipes with flanges that could be angled and rotated, providing quicker lift and quicker handling. He stated a downside to the engine's design though, being that a good portion of power was necessary to started the pumping process and the initial rotation as well.

He finished his long explanation with a quip remark about some older legendary airships, “It'll be quicker than the Flying Mongoose, turn better than the River Fury, and stronger than Mountain's Hammer. This baby could withstand a massive amount of damage to the hull provided they don't hit the engine. Even if they do shoot out the bladders, this engine will keep the ship going quite nicely.” He chuckled, smiling and felt a great sense of achievement. “Would love to put some fucking awesome as all fuck armaments on this thing, but I don't have the time.” He sighed, his mood changed from happy to almost melancholic, “I've always wanted to fly, you know. Take to the fucking skies like those damned pegasi. I love seeing my wife dance among those clouds so gracefully, made me jealous. All these years I've constructed one thing after another that allowed for better flight. Moved around to the point where I was a ball in a tennis court.” he said  heavyhearted, looking up for a moment. He continued, “Eventually I came back here, met, engaged and married Albedo Snow Freshet. She calmed me down, warmed my heart, my stressing lifestyle finally slowed down a bit. For awhile I stopped drinking, but stress got the better of me and I relapsed. Fucking hilarious that it happened just a few days before you guys showed up.”

Giving Abner a short stare, who was intrigued by his short life's story, he changed his attitude and stopped himself from rambling on about his life, “Well, anyways, I managed to convert that telecommunications device that Whisk used a few days ago into something a bit more reasonable.” With a few quick flicks of his magic, he pulled a flat cylindrically shaped device that had a single button in its center. Purple in color with silver lines intricately decorating the entire surface. The device was approximately the size of his hoof. “Which also reminds me.” he said as he pulled a book towards him that had been laying next to a small pile of unused metals, “This blasted little book of yours helped me out quite a bit, thanks. Now for a long as all fuck explanation of the device here, it performs the same functions as the telecommunications device. Magic is required to power it, but it works as a charge. A ten second induction of magic to this little thing will allow for ten hours of use. Now when you press this button here, it will expand out to a larger form. It will cast out a locator spell in which you give a specific person's name. After the user's input, it searches throughout the land to find the recipient, then has the option to accept or deny what is essentially a phone call. It cancels if denied, if accepted than it displays a live image of the caller to the recipient and vice versa.” He paused catching his breath and taking another sip of whiskey from his flask, “Take it, then you can call on me for when you need a ride somewhere, so long as nothing fucking happens.”

A long period of silence between the two arose, neither one wanted to start a conversation. Abner couldn't think of how as his voice was taken away from him by the fires or by the costly process of transference magic. Flight Gear on the other hand, seemed to have run out of things to say after Abner graciously accepted his offer of the telecommunications device. Flight Gear gazed at the engine with a sense of accomplishment as the noise of hammers upon nails their final hits upon their surface. A clapping of hooves walking down the hall found their way into the engine bay followed by a voice, “Flight Gear, the hull and every deck of the ship is completed and awaiting your final approval. We'll be waiting in the mess hall” It was a soldier from one of the squads that they fought off yesterday.

“Ah, really? That's good to hear, I'll be up in a moment. I'm going to check this thing over one more time and then I'll hop on up there.” Flight Gear answered him. He sounded relieved that his work was finally done. The soldier left as Flight Gear took a long sigh. “Guess this will be my magnum opus in a way. Be damned if this all goes to shit later.” Abner looked at him with an odd sense of understanding. Unsure of his words but yet had the feeling that he knew what he meant by how he was saying it. Such a melancholy feel.

Flight Gear got up, inspected every part with strenuous testing and scanned each to make sure they met the proper numbers that he needed to keep the massive engine together properly lest it fall apart while in flight. Every time he inspected a piece, numbers and descriptions matching the individual part displayed itself on a small screen that he had apparently installed on one of the five  adjustable lenses of his glasses. Another confounding piece of equipment he constructed that was more than what it appeared. After finishing his inspection, motioned Abner to follow him, Abner did as he had nothing to do in the engine bay as it was.

Abner gave one last glance at the engine, as if he were hoping that nothing did happen. He looked at the small telecommunications device Flight Gear had given him, he formed a small bag out of some magic and placed it inside, then wrapped straps connecting to the bag around his ribs and around his collar bones. It was temporary but it would hold long enough until he reequipped his satchel that held his sword, the books he had, and the stones Prudence had given him. He wondered what he could do with those, the books he had told no instructions of them and their use. As he followed Flight Gear out and up to the bridge through the halls, he recalled that each of the stones were unique in their shape and inscriptions. Perhaps he should seek out Prudence's guidance on them. 

Flight Gear and Abner made their way to the mess hall of the ship, which had yet to be named. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by everyone who had worked on the ship, almost like a welcome home celebration, more of a going away party instead. The soldiers they fought, everyone in Whisk's squad, Lark and Tiva, and there were even a few of the tenants of the manor that chipped in some of their own hard work. There was however one pony that Abner had not seen before, sporting a shining and glittering snow white coat. Her straight mane and tail were crimped to create long waves within the lowly saturated grass green colour and shined just as much as her coat. Her eyes matched her mane with speckles of white dotting her irises. She wore ice blue mascara on her eyelids. She was a stunning beauty, jaw dropping beauty. It was reminiscent of Abner's older sister, Naamiy.

“Snow, dear, I thought you had work today.” Flight Gear smirked. 

“I took the day off when I heard from Whisk here that your aircraft was finally done. It's going to be sunny for the rest of the day anyways.” Her voice flowed as well as the streaking patterns of ice blue in her wings, straight, pure, and almost melting in their form. She was one that any stallion would absolutely fawn over. “Have you thought of a name yet?” She brushed by him and circled around. 

“Not yet, I think I've got a good idea though. I'll do something about it in the morning before the maiden voyage. I need some time to fucking relax you know?” Flight Gear answered her, almost bemused by her graceful movement. She appeared to be a more cuddling type of mare. The beauty adoring the drunkard, the princess and the poor stallion. An odd relationship it appeared but somehow, it worked for them.

For the remainder of the evening, the folk were in celebration, in a calmly manner. Everyone seemed to chat among their own groups. Flight Gear and his wife caught up with Whisk on the things they've missed. Marina and Wrecker stood with them as well, remaining quiet for a good portion of time. Cuffs sat a table reading through one of the books that Abner had brought along, his interest was still piqued by what Abner had done. Abner stuck by Whisk's side, listening in on the rather interesting conversation. Whisk fleshed out a good portion of his story behind the current events and Prudence's departure. Some of the things Whisk told them left Flight Gear in awe like the runaway train incident when he was leaving Canterlot and used improvised explosives to stop the train as much as possible. 

Flight Gear told a few stories of his own, one in particular in went into some detail about. He recalled an unusual order by a rather shady customer, a pegasus wanting an enhanced flight system for an upcoming race that weaved its way through a treacherous ravine. The customer was very precise in the materials he wanted to use and the shape of every piece of equipment, leaving Flight Gear with very little room to work with but less work to do in the long run. Flight Gear mentioned several instances where he had an unusual amount of difficulty keeping some parts the correct weight, making compromises with certain pieces to get the desired outcome. After about five solid months of hard work and excessive testing, he completed the project and his client finished the race in first place. Oddly enough, the other racers had their own flight modifications, all different in design and materials. Coincidentally, his client was considered a surprise contestant who had only made it into the race because of a fault in the qualifiers that was left uncorrected.  After that, Flight Gear had a good portion of new customers at his door, wanting to get gear of their own. Flight Gear added that this also provided the opportunity for him to get his name out and train others in his techniques which he had invented for use by any species of ponies.

The sunset grew well into the night, descending its bright glow below the horizon as the celebration began to settle down. Abner had returned to his own room along with Whisk, who had gotten decidedly more drunk than Flight Gear. Abner had to use his magic to keep Whisk from falling over. Whenever Abner had to shift his grip of magic around Whisk, he could feel his weight press against the magical surfaces of his spell. Once he got him inside the room they were residing, Abner cover Whisk up with the massive royal red and white lined blanket that lied upon the bed. Afterward, he sought his satchel and placed the book that Cuffs had borrowed and the the compacted communications device within. 

Resting in the sheathe of the harness, the zweihander emitted a feeling of hope and salvation. Abner wondered for a moment, if he would wind up suffering the same fate as his ancestor. The Guardians he fought were defeated, but they were not killed, perhaps he was unable to accept a truth, or fate, that was presented in such a manner. However, there was never a single mention of the Elements of Harmony in his vision. Perhaps there was more and perhaps the Elements weren't even involved in the first place. These questions continued to muddle his thoughts as he tried to sleep. Eventually giving in to his curiosity, Abner got up and equipped the harness, then proceeded to head down to the manor's library. 

The still night air filled the entire manor like a thick morning fog accompanied by a waning half moon. Abner's quiet footsteps were joined with the soft nicking of his claws against the stone flooring with a mild echo reverberating throughout the hall. He saw Jeeves making some final cleanup rounds, polishing a vase and dusting the podium it sat upon. The two of them greeted each other with a nod of their heads. After that, Abner entered the library and began to look through the vast index of cards stored in multiple filing cabinets, each card being a directory of where to find each book by its title and genre. He sifted through the cards to find one containing the entirety of Equestria's history and another book about the runestones that Prudence had given to him. The one of Equestria's history was quite easy to find, but a book on runestones was relatively difficult. A good portion of ones relating to them wound up being only quick mentions and jabbing theories unexplored upon. Perhaps the type of magic used is incredibly different than the type used by the common folk of Equestria. In a world full of magic, it's rather difficult to imagine how expansive the fields maybe.

Unbeknownst to Abner, Jeeves approached him without his notice and spoke clearly in his roughened old age, “Sir Abner, may I ask what you're doing up at this hour, in a library of all places?” Abner was taken aback for a moment, initially frightened by his sudden appearance. He took a short deep breath, to calm his jumping heart, then proceeded to pull the runestones out from his satchel, presenting them in full view of Jeeves eyes, which always appeared to be closed. He opened one eye, peering through the lens of the monocle he wore.  “Runestones? I haven't taken a good gander at these little things in a good twenty years, maybe more.” His face was aglow with the feeling of nostalgia, “I know the perfect book for these. No doubt that you would like to hold on to it as well, considering your limited time here. Now lets see if I remember the title right and properly.” Jeeves opened a drawer to a filing cabinet that Abner had not yet opened and began to quickly sift through the well-organized cards.  Closing the drawer after pulling out a single index card with satisfaction. “Found it. Now, I shall lead the way Sir Abner, please do follow.

Abner followed him throughout the library, it seemed to pride itself on its openness and its two floors of nothing but books and a few tables throughout. A much more simple style in its shape compared the Canterlot's Academy library. The entire room containing the mass of books and shelves was nearly a perfect square with a glass dome in the ceiling and the topmost shelves of books were like straight blades of cut grass reaching for the sky. Four tall rectangular windows stretched from the trim of the floor to the frieze just before the intricate crown molding that broke up the emptiness of the great stone walls which made up the entire manor. The second floor to the library was like a block of wood that had slots in it to allow the flow of the bookshelves to flow through them. Wrapping around and cutting past the white stained windows and creating the same effect made the entire layout symmetrical. 

Making his way up a set of stairs that were at the front of the library, just after the main entrance. Stopping at each aisle, Jeeves checked the card and the labels of the aisles to make sure they matched accordingly. When he did, he then matched the card to the set of shelves that were labeled accordingly. The whole system seemed a bit troublesome to Abner, but it works. Organizing the books in just their alphabetical order would take quite some in its own right. Jeeves found the book after hovering his hoof to keep his eyes on track with their titles. Pulling it off the shelf, he flipped through a few of the pages and made sure that it was the proper one. He then handed it over to Abner.

Abner looked over the book, quickly examining its frayed cloth cover dyed with a rich red that had a weave of knots neatly bordering the edges. Its pages were a rough parchment with similar knotting borders of red ink. Various pages held different pictures representing runestones of a certain type. The drawings were rough and worn, some parts of a few appeared to be missing, as if the ink had vanished or had been burned off the page. He closed the book up and looked at the dusty cover again, it was titled Rune Magic: Stones and Engravings, written by Falu Red. The font of the text vaguely resembled the earlier stages of writing known to his own race, single strokes of quickly drawn lines that represented a word combined with simple symbols in place of everyday objects. Elemental aspects were drawn out much the same, obvious to what they were. The cover itself appeared to have been replaced with a translated version of the original, as the wrapping had been made well after the book was discovered.

“Now, Abner, do take care of the book, as it is an original copy. Falu Red wrote only two editions about runestones, this is one of the first editions that he kept to himself.” He said and then he remembered something as if had forgotten about it. “When I first found the book in this library, there were a few pieces of stone lodged in the back cover, the librarian said they were decoration. I read through this book to discover that they were actually pieces to a single runestone. There was, however a single runestone missing either lost to time or in the hooves of someone the author trusted.” he said, pulling the pieces out from one of the pockets of his black overcoat. They were banded together with a single rubber band and appeared to have very little wear compared to the book. “I was unable to keep them bound together in their original form.” Holding the broken stone out in his hoof, Abner took the banded stone and placed it in a smaller pocket on the outside of the satchel.

Without much else to do, Abner took to an empty table nearby and set the books he searched for on top. He first opened the history book of Equestria, carefully looking through the index for related entries of the Guardians. There was one, but the chapter was relatively short and seemingly incomplete as it only describe what led up to the exchange of the sword and the Elements and his ancestor's and Celestia's involvement. There was no description of the Guardians or their names, as if the vision that Abner had seen was one incredibly vivid dream and that the chaos that occurred from the Blight was excluded entirely. The chapter simply concluded that the events that occurred were peacefully diplomatic and no battles were fault. Something was afoot with what Prudence had told him and what Celestia had done.

Jeeves took the seat across from Abner, “You remind me of Charger when he was young, loved this library. Every other night he would stay up late by a lantern's light reading through stacks of books.  His genius surprised most of us when he applied to the guard just after passing every single test  the school system here could offer him. From there, he went on to join the Equestrian Legion. Despite that, he always managed to have some free time to parade around with Whisk. That was until Whisk asked for Rosamond's hoof in marriage. Charger's and Rosamond's parents were rather strict in that matter, their father approved but their mother did not. Thus leading to the unfortunate event of Whisk's family being forced out.” Jeeves telling Abner some of Charger's back story filled in a few things about him. Jeeves sighed heavily after a moment of silence, “Unfortunately, Charger's mother and father passed away just a year ago and it wasn't the most pleasant either.” Abner continued listening while skimming through the paragraphs of the history book.  “I shouldn't talk about it, troubles me far too much.” 

Changing the subject, Jeeves asked Abner what he was reading, to which, Abner turned the page to the beginning of the chapter where a conceptual picture was drawn to resemble the temple of the Guardians and turned the book around. Jeeves, adjusted his monocle and read the title silently to himself. “Ah, yes.” he muttered. “This ancient event, before the days of Discord and Disharmony. You think there's more to it don't you?” Abner nodded his head in agreement. “Of course. I will fetch a book for you, one of myths and legends. I recall quite a few referring to a wolf of similar depictions, all around the same time as well. In the mean time, look through the runestone book there. I shall be back in a moment, Sir Abner.”

Throughout the night, Jeeves brought several more books that all referred to his ancestor, some even produced a name, Malakai, rather ironic considering his vision. In Abner's language, it meant messenger and there was always this saying of not shooting one. Abner learned a variety of different legends surrounding the same characters, however, they all seemed to tell the same story and always left off where another one began. Malakai was born in the same place Abner was, he began his life much the same as well aside from the dragon attack. When the Blight came around, it sought to destroy the plant and wildlife of their homes. The entire conglomeration of races moved elsewhere, far north of Ponyville. Taking refuge in a forest met with the edge of a great ravine, they settled down again as the Blight loomed on the furthest horizon. For several weeks, a single negotiator talked with the chieftains in secret leading to rumors abound. 

The chieftains called for a town meeting one day as refugees started coming in, fleeing from the Blight. The lead chieftain was of the wolf tribe, White Strand. He commanded that Malakai come forth and receive the task set to end the onset of dark times ahead. Malakai had proved his worth fighting off would be predators during their travel all the while delivering messages from one chieftain to another. Other warriors in the tribes respected him greatly as well. Leonard, the strongest griffin of the River Claws fought beside Malakai numerous times against the writhing creatures of the Blight. Leonard was asked to join him in the journey. 

Their first task was to gather two more companions and then proceed to Canterlot and receive the sword of light, called Matan, from its leader who had it forged using materials found from various places known to produce high end equipment of all sorts. A single stone in the pommel that had long since fallen out, metal crafted from the finest of steel and the purest of tungsten for the blade finished in a dark varnish. It was decorated with enchantments from the most prestigious magic users from all sorts of different specialties, creating an odd aurora dotted small stars varying in color. A cloth covered brass chord wrapped around the hilt. The forward grip hadn't changed much, the cloth appeared to have been replaced.

Malakai traveled across the canyon on a bridge made from a large shard of magic solidified and harder than titanium. He traveled through the forest in search of the frozen forest, the Forest of Howlite. A legendary sorcerer exiled from his kingdom and left for dead. Instead of seeking revenge, he shut himself in what was left of an old castle. From its last turret he lived out what was to be the remainder of his days. Malakai and Leonard found him through the forest of gigantic cauliflower fields made from the sorcerer's name-sake, Howlite. White and gray tinged with dark browns translucent in a way almost haunting. Skeletons were amassed in certain areas, consisting of creatures unknown and others familiar. Approaching his abode without doubt or fear, Malakai and Leonard entered and were greeted by a golem crafted of earth and ice ready to fend them off until halted by an old creature.

His claim to immortality was a dreadful tale and the reason for his banishment. Howlite was described briefly as being a unicorn where portions of his body became the gem of his name-sake with his eyes glowing a vivid white and slow burning fire. A large beard with streaks of howlite stretched from his mane and hung down to just below his collar. The sorcerer gave him a few stones, gems, enchanted with certain spells to help him along his journey. The elemental golem also joined Malakai on his journey with his master's permission only after the sorcerer was told about the ordeal of the oncoming Blight.

Making it safely back to the new camp set up by his tribespeople. The congratulated him and he was given his next task by the negotiator who had remained there. He was to travel to the swamplands of the Everfree Forest, far south of Ponyville now stands where he would find another companion rumored to be formed by the blackest inks and able to shape-shift to anything it desired. 

Malakai went forth, fighting and subsequently defeating anything that sought to fight him. He passed through several camps set up by refugees of varying races and species. Finally when he came upon his destination, his group found this ink-like creature sitting in a pillar of sun bleeding through the forest's canopy. Looking up and through, straight at the sun, the creature changed forms from a Chimera, to a griffin, to an alicorn, and then lastly into an earth pony that fulfilled the description given by the negotiator. An entirely blackened figure made purely of ink that bubbled and constantly poured from his body and dissipating upon touching the ground with blank white eyes. The creature turned to them, reared up and presented to them that it had been trapped in chains of magic and bound never to leave. With the runestones provided to Malakai by Howlite, they freed Drystan who agreed to join them on their journey. 

After days more of travel with the Blight coming ever closer, the group made their way to Canterlot. The place was in ruins, the walls were torn apart and the towers collapsed, houses razed and burned, and the injured wandered aimlessly through the streets searching for what they've lost. Soldiers sought to restore order to the looters and riots. Upon entering the throne room with the negotiator joining them, a tired and weary king greeted them and brought them to the mages chamber. From there they retrieved the sword after it was enchanted with a spell that took an entire hour to complete. Then they were granted necklaces from the king that permitted them entry anywhere they went and presented that they were his envoys.

They spent an entire month traveling to the desert, helping travelers and refugees along the the way. Many who became allies to Malakai and his companions. Once they had finally reached the outskirts of the desert's expanse which bled into a drought landscape before turning into a mountain range that separated the two vastly different habitats of a lively forest and decrepit sands seeking to drown trespassers. Walking forth into the sandstorms colliding with multiple blizzards brought by unsettling cold. Traversing through thick snow and fierce winds that made the eyes water until taking camp one night in the eye of  an incredibly massive storm cell. Setting up a barrier and sleeping until the sun rose again, the four ventured out almost lost until the nomadic tribe of an unusual species happened upon them. Wearing robes that hid their looks, only one of them revealed their face and he had them follow along their trek behind the Giglioi Whale. A massive beast that resembled a normal whale, swimming through the desert sand at an extremely slow pace. It had two large dorsal fins that protruded outward from its back, these fins were the only things visible of the Giglioi. 

Following the tribe in exchange of their necklaces the king gave to them, they walked for another three days until they finally found the Guardian's Temple. Blight oozed from the ground and began to perpetuate into thousands of creatures indescribable. From there, the vision Abner had in his little coma filled in the rest, practically down to the letter written in the texts.

There was still something lacking however, the king never sought the Elements. The Equestrian history texts always mentioned the Elements of Harmony, but this seemingly first hand account spread throughout multiple works by different authors presented evidence on the contrary. Why falsify something so historical? Abner took a breather, letting this new found information sink in to his mind. He wrote down a good portion of notes from the texts he read and wondered if their were any texts that perceived any history after last little epic he read. This was all occurred well before the era of Discord, perhaps three-thousand some odd years ago.

Thinking of a way to communicate with Jeeves, who read through a novel of his own. Abner thought of the translation magic that Prudence had initially instilled upon him when they met. Deciphering the spell in his head after somehow locating it in the depths of his mind, he reverse engineered and began to write on the notepad he had received under Twilight's guidance. He asked Jeeves, in the Equestrian alphabet, If there were an more books or other texts that referred to where the Elements of Harmony had come from. Another question Abner asked was whether or not there were any more texts that described what happened to the heroes. Jeeves, was at first astonished that Abner was able to ask the questions in his language, but that feeling didn't last very long. He got up from his seated position and proceeded to look through the drawers of index cards again. He returned without much luck, as far as he knew, the Elements appeared when the trade occurred and when Celestia and Luna came forth to oppose Discord's reign of chaotic mischief. 

Abner recalled what Prudence had originally told him about the Elements, saying that they were a trade for Matan, the zweihander, by The Guardians. Something wasn't right, perhaps the four necklaces that the king had given to Malakai and his companions were a part of it. Perhaps it was never even about the Elements in the first place, just a scapegoat for their origins. Quickly losing himself in thought, Abner had forgotten that he had closed his eyes and fallen asleep.

Losing himself in the thoughts of possible reasons before finding himself drifting with an aurora borealis. He saw one end leading into a veil of black smoke and the other end leading to a single hour glass resting on its side, evenly filled with sand on either end. Abner chose to go into the cloud of smoke and as he began to get closer, the smoke began to envelope him until every inch of empty white space was covered. 

He came upon Drystan who seemed to wander about aimlessly amusing himself with his own chatter, speaking in different accents and pitches of tone. “Abner! So glad you came by.” he sounded delighted, unusual for him. “I hid in your mind a little bit while you were reading. Well, the questions you have I don't have an answer for, but the intriguing point you brought up is what happened after Malakai was turned to stone. I stayed behind to guard the sword and Malakai, both that golem and Leonard returned to their homes, maybe you'll find them or their descendants there.” he paused and lifted his head up and looked at Abner. “I've never heard of the Elements of Harmony until Prudence had mentioned it to me in one our talks. You see, she has been catching my up on a few things that I've missed over these three thousand years between then and now.” Abner scribble some words on the ground using some of his magic, Drystan raised a brow, “You're asking if I really caused her family to become afflicted with Blight? No, it wasn't me. When I aggravated her memory, I tapped into it to see her part in this. I played the bad guy to test her personality so to speak. I spent years trying to find the right blacksmith, the right mage, and the right wielder for this damned sword just to keep the seal together.” Sighing heavily, Drystan went on, “Its been some three thousand years and not much has changed aside from some new scenery. Immortality is such a tiring curse. Anyways, if you want to know more about the Elements of Harmony, perhaps you should just ask your dear Princess Luna if she's not busy; Belisama might have something to say. Abner, do me a favor would you and find a way to rid this curse.” 

Suddenly, the smoke cleared and Drystan remained, his inky body still flowing like water. Abner turned the other direction, to look at the hourglasses yet again. He thought for a moment of how this dreamscape was more of a second conscious than a dream. Never before had he dreamt like this, that was until he got wrapped up in this mess, in these unfortunate events. Perhaps it wasn't so bad, he had met new folks that provided him a different outlook on ways of living and how they find their own ways around problems they have to confront whether they're large or small. Abner looked back at Drystan, who now stood beside him and asked in another scribble of magic to apologize for his trickery on Prudence, he hesitantly agreed. Abner and Drystan briskly walked over to the other end of the aurora, where the hourglasses began to float away as they approached.

They found Prudence appearing lonely and depressed. She had always lived a happy and thorough life with her family and friends but ever since she sacrificed herself to save Abner, she found her thoughts lost as she essentially became useless. All she could do now is give some form of guidance and her active lifestyle always never let her hold still. Drystan called out to her, “Prudence, remember I told you that the creature you picked up that fateful day was me. I lied to you and I'm sorry for that. Three millenia of isolation had me lose touch with this world.”

“I figured it wasn't you.” She replied, her voice sounded choked and tired, as if she had been crying over something. “What point would there be in lying to someone you've just met?”

“To hide a secret, perhaps.” Drystan lightly joked.

She sighed, “That was a rhetorical question you dolt.”Anyways, I see that Abner has slipped into this state of consciousness again. Which is good as I've been wanted to tell you something. That spell you used in order to get to Cuffs when he was infected, was a powerful space distortion spell. However, you still don't know how to control more powerful spells properly so the spell practically backfired and exploded for a short time. Normally a spell like that would lighten gravity and disorient the target.” She stopped herself from continuing on about the subject and changed it. “I get the feeling that's not the only reason you're here.” Abner scribbled some text on the ground that she could read. Writing a synopsis of sorts about what he had read from the 'fictitious' texts that he read. “I had a feeling that those weren't works of fiction. It's troubling that they're not included in Equestrian history books. May never find out the reasoning behind that. Anyways about the Elements, I get the feeling that the four necklaces that were handed over to that nomadic desert tribe were part of it. Unfortunately, that's something out our hoofs now more than ever, we may find some more information on what happened with those, though. I remember hearing a rumor at Whisk's tavern from a traveling merchant who met a nomadic tribe in that desert, said their chieftain had lived more than a thousand years.”

“Immortality magics are not something to be trifled with. Celestia, Luna, Discord, the Guardians, Howlite, and myself have all suffered greatly from that shit.” Drystan butted in, Abner was a bit surprised by his reaction. 

“Discord and the Guardians were both sealed away in stone, that's a bit different than actually living. Before that, were they immortal?” Prudence queried.

Drystan was reluctant to answer her at first, but he answered her. “I have no idea about Discord, but the Guardians, yes. I ruled beside them in a way, their messenger amongst them.”

“How come you've never mentioned this?” Prudence questioned him carefully and curiously.

“That's a lengthy story and now isn't really the best time to talk about it. Instead, I have a question for you, dear Prudence.” Drystan flipped the tables on the conversation, “What future do you foresee after this is all over?”

“Peace, of course. That's what I always strive for when I was still 'alive' and that's what I'll strive for now.” She answered confidently. “There's a spell for immortality?”

“Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but it'll do I suppose.” Drystan replied. “To the topic about the immortality spell, it requires a hefty payment of sorts. Not in just magic, but something else. The way it is cast is similar to alchemy spells with a combination of pure unrefined magic crystals. I'm not entirely sure if Celestia and Luna have such a spell on themselves, perhaps their lifespans are just incredibly long; maybe a dragon shared his life force with them.” He paused, recalling something of his past. Figuring that by giving an example of what the spell required as payment, it would draw Abner and Prudence away from allure. “My payment for the immortality spell was grievous, cost the lives of the entire civilization that I came from and to this day I can still hear the cries of my friends as they were torn apart piece by piece, consumed by that awful black mass of a cloud.” Drystan's eyes appeared to look long into the distance, into nothingness

Prudence and Abner were both taken aback by his revelation. Prudence spoke up with a shaky voice, “Is that the cause for your shape shifting abilities as well?”

“No, this form and the shape shifting was well after that all occurred.” Drystan answered.

“Were you even aware of the consequences?” Prudence began to badger him with one question after another.

“Of course not, I was young, stupid, and careless. I was tricked and I tricked my friends into coming with me out of greed.” Drystan's rage started to get the better of him. “No more questions about that, if you would be so kind.”

I was clear that Prudence wanted to ask him more questions to find out about his past, to fill in the blank parts of Equestrian history as well as the many mysteries behind the Guardians and who they were. She stopped herself from doing so, understanding his troubles. “Very well, I will not ask any further questions about that unless the situation calls for it.

“Good. Prudence, Abner has some questions he would like to ask about the Elements and their origins. From what Abner and I have learned, they were never conceived by the trade with the Guardians.” Drystan said, putting Prudence into a deep state of thought.

“The only thing I know...”she started softly, “is what you two do. Although the four necklaces given two Malakai and his companions could've very well have been the Elements in a dormant state. The other two may have been already possessed by the tribe that followed the Giglioi Whale around.” she suggested. Which also leads to the possibility that Celestia and Luna were originally from that tribe and that the king who gave you those necklaces was Discord.”

“That's possible, but the king we received the necklaces from was not a draconequus, but a pure white pegasus and unfortunately that's all I can remember about him.” Drystan's countered part of her theory. “We should get our information straight from Luna or Celestia; Luna would be preferable though.”

“Good point, but I'm not even sure how to call for her.” Prudence replied.

“Your little friend here will figure it out, surely.” Drystan said, patting Abner on the head a few times. “Rise and shine, by the way, Abner. Rise and shine.”

The dream world quickly blanked out into black and the lids of Abner's eyes were met with the warmth of the sunshine pouring through the domed ceiling of the library. Shifting the shoulders of his forelegs a bit as he opened his eyes, Abner realized that he had been covered up with a blanket. Looking around without moving his head, he saw that Jeeves was nowhere to be found but instead the books he read the night before were gone, presumably re-shelved. He saw Rosamond sitting across from him reading through a small book of her own. Abner kept still, enjoying the warmth of the blanket for the time being. It was nice to relax for once, even if it was just for a moment. He felt as if he could smile.

It took some time for Rosamond to realize that Abner was awake and when she did, she pulled a double-take with her head. An initial quick glance over and back to her book, followed by her turning her head back to Abner again. “Abner, you're finally awake. Jeeves left me a note saying where you were and here you are, buried in stacks of books and novels of sorts. I remember my brother staying up every night when he went to school, he would read through at least ten different books at a time, he was the family genius after all.” She put the small pocket sized book away in a purse just barely large enough for it. The purse itself being attached to her dress, an everyday one she would wear around the house presented in a simple design. “Come on now, you've already missed breakfast and lunch is almost here.” She pulled away from the table, pushing the stool back as she did so. “You were shivering in your sleep, which is why I brought a blanket for you.” She said as she rounded the table and pulled the blanket off of Abner.

After she had folded the blanket it up and handed it over to Jeeves who waited by the door, Abner followed Rosamond to the dining hall filled with the same people who had been at the celebration the night before. Abner could feel a sense of sadness coming from Rosamond. She sat at the top of the stairs, overlooking the crowd and Abner did the same. “I suppose today is the day I'll be saying goodbye again. I only wish that my brother would have been with you guys and that perhaps the time you all could be here was longer. Understandably, you have places to go, bad guys to defeat.” The last words seem to have made here chuckle a little bit. “Please, Abner, I'm not entirely sure if I've asked this of you before, but please keep Whisk safe. I have to stay here and follow through with his plan, otherwise, I would gladly go with all of you.” Abner sympathetically rubbed his head against her foreleg, knowing somewhat of how she felt. As he had left his family behind in Ponyville, he could only wonder how they were fairing against the magical field that absorbed every ounce of magic. “Thank you, Abner.” She said, wrapping her foreleg around his back. “Lets get something to eat, shall we.”

Lunch was alight with joys and goodbyes. Whisk spent a good portion of his time saying goodbyes to those he knew him at the manor and going over the plan he had conjured up with Fumbles once more. Flight Gear was unable to attend lunch, busy doing one last round of tests and inspections to make sure that everything was in working in order. After lunch was over, Marina, Lark, and Tiva gathered up some extra food to take with them while Whisk, Abner, and Wrecker packed up their own equipment that they had brought with them. Wrecker donning his armor once again, Whisk carrying three bags stitched together and containing maps and navigational equipment needed for once they got off of the ship. Abner carried what he normally has, the zweihander sheathed with his harness, and the detachable satchel that contained his books and the runestones.

Everyone in Whisk's party soon made their way onto the airship which had now been given a name of its own, The Intrepid Goshawk. Fitting considering the bird that it's named after has a bluish gray that resemble the color akin to the numerous steel parts of the aircraft. Flight Gear even had an artist come by and paint imagery of the bird in flight next to the name of the ship. Large bold letters that could be read well and clear placed below the railing of the deck on the port and starboard sides near the bow. 

The residents of the manor and the small batch soldiers that Whisk commanded for a few days all came out to see them off. Rosamond and Whisk's parents stood in front of the crowd. A light shimmer of tears in each of their eyes. Whisk waved goodbye to them all as the engine began to roar to life, firing a continuous  blast of purple and orange fire outward. Within a few minutes, the extraordinary craft began to lift off the ground and for a moment hovered, before more power was pushed through the engine. The sudden moment of weightlessness caused a few people to lose their balance. Then the ship began to thrust forward, pushing itself through the air towards their destination, the Temple of Belisama. 

It took some sometime before they reached a good height above the land, ponies looked like ants crawling around among their neatly organized houses and roads. Clackerton looked significantly different against the skyline compared to Canterlot. The same feeling of uncertainty arose among everyone on the ship,  they would never know if they would run into any form of civilization along their path. There was also the concern for the unknown, what encounters would they face on their way to the temple. Abner recalled his father telling him of the beast that guarded the temple should it be disturbed in some manner. 

The noise of the massive engine seem to quiet down as the whipping wind crashing across the mainsail. The ground beneath them appeared to move like a conveyor belt beneath them and they were close enough to the clouds that they could actually be touched in some parts. The top of the mast would gently strike through the clouds it touched, pushing it aside like water underneath a boat.  A couple of curious birds soared alongside the ship for a bit of time, unfazed by the noise and subtle shaking the engine produced throughout. One even landed on the ship, next to Abner, whose fur was brushed wildly like a rapid and shallow river coursing its way over some stones. 

In the distance, along the treeline of the Everfree forest, he could see the stations that guards from Celestia's legion had set up.  The maelstrom of magic induced lightning in the massive field writhed about. A few weakly formed tornadoes could be seen tossing up dirt and a few mailboxes, even a few small trees that were unable to keep themselves rooted. However, for the first time, he could see something else, as circle of light that sought to pierce the roof the magical field. Its colors were of a faded rainbow, much like the casting presented by the Elements of Harmony when they're used. Looking around a bit more, he could see another point the appeared to resist the magic field. A small hemisphere of white wrapping itself around a good portion of Ponyville.  A sense of hope stirred in his heart, a feeling that he had almost forgotten. Whisk and the rest of the group stood beside him in a line, looking on in the same direction. “You see, Abner, not all is lost. I'm sure your family will be fine, as well as the wielders of the Elements. Unfortunately, time is still a factor, hopefully we don't stall too much along the way, eh?” 
> Chapter 5- Labyrinth at Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5- Labyrinth at Home


It didn't seem to take much longer before they reached the edge of the forest before Abner's village. Some of the trees were a lot taller than Abner had imagined, a few of them brushed against the bottom of the ship, forcing Flight Gear to fly the ship at a higher altitude. Some trees he even had to steer around because they reached so far up into the open sky. A couple of branches managed to scrape away some boards in the hull, but they would eventually be replaced. Abner remembered that a certain forest civilization took refuge in this area, they often traded with them but their meetings had continually dwindled before Stribog attacked. 

Just before sunset, they broke the edge of the forest and slowed down significantly over what remained of Abner's home. It was a bit heart wrenching at first, remembering the moments of fire and ash strewn about the air. However, something changed on his return. Houses had been rebuilt, shops replaced, and villagers roamed the makeshift road of dirt. Several groups lumber workers dragged  trimmed logs away from the forest to be hacked up in to boards or posts. Abner was bewildered but at the same time curious. Abner ran into the bridge and got Flight Gear to set the ship down onto the plains where the encampment used to be.

Abner and Lark decided to venture into this new place. As they they wandered about, they saw familiar faces working frantically, rebuilding what they had lost. Abner brought nothing with him to keep suspicions lowered. He wondered why his father had not come back here and begun to rebuild, instead of staying in Ponyville. Unless he had, it was too soon to be making assumptions of any sort. After walking for a bit of time, they ran into a small set up of several structures clustered together where the meeting house once stood. To the left stood a few walls of the once brick house that Abner used to live in and to the right stood a rebuilt blacksmith shop.

One of the forest creatures emerged from the largest tent, standing well over Abner's own height. A large dusty orange-grey coat of fur covered in blotches of black and dusky gray. Around his neck he wore a necklace signifying the relationship between Abner's village and their feral tribe of the tropical forest, a necklace made of several sprigs of evergreen pine trees and a single ruby colored stone in the center strung together by the toughest piece of string their tailors could make. His eyes of piercing orange stared into Abner's, “Ah so you've finally returned, Abner. I was expecting your father to return with you, but it appears he choose to stay in Ponyville.” The leopard spoke his words with much coy and arrogance, but it was obvious he never meant harm.  “I am Carvillius, leader of my kind, who reside in your near forests. This unicorn you bring, is Lark if I recall.”

Lark answered him, she seemed nervous, Abner knew that she hadn't met the leopard leader before, she had seen them roam within the village a few times before in her younger years. “That's correct. Carvillius, was it? A pleasure to meet you.”

“Yes, yes. Lark, do tell your captain that I need to speak with Abner, alone. I shall be done with him within an hour or two.” Carvillius slyly spoke. 

Lark raised a brow, suspecting harmful intentions, “Why do you need him for that long?”

“If I were to divulge such matters to you, who've made a fateful oath to Abner. I would have to destroy what we've prepared. Now go.” Carvillius began to grow impatient with her.

Lark turned away and whispered to Abner that he should fight back if he has to, he nodded his head stiffly in agreement. After Lark was far past the village's entryway, Abner followed Carvillius into the largest of the clustered huts. Another one of the leopard race approached Carvillius and whsipered into his ear. Carvillius appeared satisfied with what his follower had to say. Abner was nervous, scared even, but his father trusted this suspicious character and perhaps he should as well. “Abner, follow along, closely now.”

Carvillius lead him to the furthest hut, away from the center of the village and closer to the forest. Carvillius asked Abner to stand in the center. The hut was extraordinary larger than the rest of the huts up front. Abner wondered what the suspicious leopard was pulling. Carvillius and some followers of his, dressed in ceremonial robes, joined him in a chant at the outer edge of the hut, initiating a glow from magic circles and symbols drawn upon the ground. Whatever light came in from outside became pitch black. Magic burst from ground a shattered the roof of the hut, revealing a pillar of royal purple light breaching into the clouds and through the sky itself. Suddenly, Abner felt a surge of wisdom that began to fill his mind with further knowledge of his own magic and others. As quickly as the magic bursted upwards, it faded away. Abner could feel his new found knowledge burn into his mind and when his vision became clear again, he saw a sword piercing the ground before him. It appeared to have broken the circles of magic. 

Carvillius approached Abner from the other side of the sword, “A marvelous success indeed. Without your help Abner, we would not have been able to summon this sword for you.” Abner immediately understood why he summoned the sword, it was to help him through the temple's labyrinth. “You will need it, it is also quite a bit lighter than Matan as well.” As the bright magic dust finally faded away, Carvillius told Abner that the sword was called Rembrandt; a sword of wisdom. Carvillius sent Abner away after assuring him that everything thing in the village would be reconstructed as it once was and awaiting his return. 

Abner looked at the sword levitating it in front of him, noting its design and its engraving as he walked back to the Goshawk. The blade was notably shorter than Matans as well as a thinner width. A silver finish created a mirror effect on the rectangular blade, everywhere except the engraving. A lengthy engraving stretched from the base of the guard to a comfortable distance away from the flat end of the blade. It was like a green looped rope, that was laid out flat and twisted; forming a braided knot. The engraving itself was rough and dotted with black specs throughout and the twists never touched another one. The guard and pommel were much the same, elongated square dipyramids connected by a straight and narrow hilt wrapped with a rough rawhide. The sword wasn't exactly designed for fighting, but Abner felt that its power would be required. Adjusting the buckles of the empty sheathe to fit his new sword and gently placing in that openly design sheathe, he could feel the massive difference in weight. 

Lark was the first to greet him upon his return, as she usually did when he came back from times of hunting.  Abner showed her the new sword and assured her that he was fine. It would lead the way for them when they entered the temple. Abner remembered what his father said about the temple of Belisama, he never mentioned anything about a labyrinth beneath it. He did however, mention the creature that would awake provided something was disturbed. Unfortunately, his father never mentioned what or perhaps Abner couldn't remember. 

To begin their venture into the temple, they decided that a small group would be best, less supplies to carry and less worry about unnecessary losses. Whisk, Lark, Cuffs, Wrecker, and Marina decided to accompany Abner there. Soon they found their way once again wandering into a forest bright and filled with life, a stark contrast compared to Everfree. Rembrandt would release a small plume of light from its engraving every time the group traveled underneath the thickest canopies, allowing for them to continue on without hassle. Using the map again as their guide, they eventually found themselves at the entrance to a dilapidated structure overgrown by flora. The canopy filled in the gap where the trees once stood and sunlight beamed through its openings. Avian species wildly chirped away amongst the trees and the calls of monkeys echoed throughout. A moat of water surrounded the square stepped pyramid with a single collapsed stone bridge branching outward from its foundation where it once crossed the moat. Two weathered statues representing Belisama were now unable to show her proper form and between them, the entrance inside.

Wasting no time, the group ventured in, greeted by small room with stairs leading further down.  Rembrandt once again showed them the way with a green glow. Their steps echoed as the climbed down the seemingly endless hall and the air was musty. Cobwebs were quickly burned away with a little fire magic from Cuffs. Everyone was silent until they reached a large dome shape room with a single beam of light down its center reflecting of a triangular prism, illuminating the entire room. The room itself being constructed from stone painted white and held up by pillars of wood, constructed from the hardest oak trees. Cross beams stretched between them, dispersing the weight of the ceiling and from them hung sconces by a short length of chain and the sconces made from thin cast iron to cradle a ball of pitch. The flames of which, burned out long ago. Primitive drawings forming the shapes of those who worshiped Belisama here were scattered about the room on tablets appearing untouched by the archeologist his father mentioned.

There appeared to be no other halls except the stairway they traversed. Whisk spoke up, frustrated, “Okay, now that we're here, what do we do? Look at the fancy drawings on the wall?”

Cuffs interrupted him before he could say something else, “Whisk, calm down. If there's a set of clues, we'll figure it out. After all, it shouldn't be too difficult finding a clue or two in here.”

Whisk seemed to be a little impatient recently, as if he were wanting to head straight into the desert to find the Guardians. Then again, perhaps they all felt the same way. Abner wandered around the room for a bit, its untarnished floor showing very little wear but a good portion of dirt and dust that collected over the years. Suddenly a voice echoed from the pillar of light ad the group gathered around, curious. “Abner, I thought I heard the noise of stone under feet. I see that Carvillius was successful at his end, this is good.” Her voice was ghostly, echoing slightly throughout the room. “This was once a room to my worship, but those who lived here have moved on to greater things.” Abner looked on with great interest. “Abner, use Rembrandt's surface to reflect my light and ignite these fires once more. Then the path will be revealed to you.” 

Abner could feel her presence fade away from the pillar of light. Following her guidance, Abner quickly pulled 
Rembrandt out from its sheathe and placed underneath the light, directing it towards each one of the torches. He could feel the immense heat begin to seep through to the sword's hilt. Resisting its burn, Abner continued on until the last ball of pitch was set aflame. The pillar of light suddenly vanished but the room stayed lit. Without warning, the walls around them cracked and pull themselves under the floor revealing a massive hall that had taken its form within a ravine. As the hilt began to burn Abner's mouth, he sheathed Rembrandt away and immediately walked forward into the ravine. The rest of the group followed after him, with the bright glow from Rembrandt illuminating the way.

Wandering down the narrow ravine, cold and damp as it was, they found themselves coming to the edge of a cliff. A dead end perhaps or maybe this was a test for them. Belisama's voice rang out again, “Abner, my child. The way before you is an empty labyrinth, Rembrandt's wisdom will guide your way. Be wary, the beast that wanders these paths still lives, should you manage to kill it this entire forest within certain measure will turn to stone and will petrify all life its touches.” With that she raised an incredibly winding flight of stone stairs leading down into the labyrinth.

Hours passed by as they traversed the halls, they could hear the snoring of the creature dosing away echo heavily off the walls. The sound was enough to drive them insane, but with a simple flick of magic from Cuffs horn the sound faded away as he casted a barrier to cancel out the sound. Avoiding pitfall and traps that could've very well led to dismemberment of each one of them, they eventually found themselves in a room exactly the same as the one that they started in. 

“Um, did we just go in one massive circle?”, Whisk asked aloud.

“I don't think so. The map says we're well away from the entry point of the labyrinth.” Marina remarked.

“Maybe we should wait for whats her face to show up then, eh?” Whisk joked.

“Your humor is amusing, mortal.” Belisama showed her true form before them, gleaming in bright yellows and golds like the sun. Wings of copper in the shape of a a peacocks covered a large portion of her sides. Her size easily dwarfed Wreckers. Having the claws of a lion and the head of a wolf she opened her mouth again as Whisk backed away from her with much surprise. “Welcome to my home, young ones.” Abner approached the large hybrid animal and presented Matan before her, placing it upon the ground. “Ah yes,  the sword that calmed the Guardians. They were once heroes, you know but then they wanted to become something more. Drystan knows far too well the cause of it and the unfortunate results.” She raised a single claw of her foreleg off the ground and gently placed it on Matan. It then set itself aflame in a fiery light of gold, absorbing her power until she pulled away from it. “The deed is done. Matan is once again enchanted.” She winced slightly as if she had noticed something. Gazing into the labyrinth behind them, she realized that the creature had awaken and was slowly approaching them. “I will meet you outside, the beast has awoken. The exit is your entrance.”

Abner quickly sheathed Matan, immediately feeling the immense power of light magics breaching its new form. Belisama quickly vanished. Quickly and carefully the group made their way back through the labyrinth, ensuring that they would not attract the beast's attention, whatever it was. Successfully, they found their way to the stairs from the ravine and began ascending. Suddenly they heard a miraculously loud howling roar, the beast had found them and was positioning itself to charge at them. A massive red bull with five horns appearing to swivel in any direction and dozens of broken spears protruding out from its back, blew smoke from its snout like dark dust from coal. Abner and the others stepped up their pace and headed through the ravine at full speed while quickly setting up barriers and magic traps to slow down the bull. Another successful run, they made their way out of the temple to see the sky almost at sunset. Belisama reformed herself in front of them, congratulating them on making it out alive. Unfortunately, their feeling of success did not last for long, the massive bull busted through the entrance and gave Belisama a grievous wound from which stunned and shocked everyone. The bull tossed her limped body aside into a large tree and refocused its murderous intentions on Abner's group.

Again the beast snarled and roared, willfully twisting its horns to target the one who stood the closest, Whisk. Whisk quickly pulled out one of his hand crafted explosives, lit the fuse and threw it with all his might at the bull's face and then making a run for it. Bursting into a fiery ball of fire and shrapnel that pierced through the bulls face and eyes. To avoid the explosion, Abner quickly summoned a barrier to protect his companions and himself. The bull pulled away from them, tripping into the deep moat. Abner and the others quickly rushed over to Belisama, Cuffs immediately began administering what first aid  he could, stopping the bleeding of the deity’s glittering yellow blood. Still half conscious and heavily breathing, she reached out to Abner and began pouring her knowledge of the Guardians into to him. 

Another roar from the bull, now bleeding heavily from the shrapnel, began to charge with all its fury. Marina took water from the moat with her magic and forced it under the feet of the beast, causing him to collapse, it wasn't long before it managed to get back up on its feet again.

“We need to get out of here, now. Cuffs, have Abner help you carry her. Lark think of some song to help slow this bastard down or to help us. Marina, keep doing what you're doing.” Whisk quickly and decisively ordered.

Each of them followed through, Lark casted a song to reduce Belisama's body weight, making her much easier to carry. With a tactful retreat and numerous uses of explosives and barriers casted, they made their way through the forest. Abner quickly forced trees aside to make way for Cuffs who carried Belisama on a magic hammock. Lark kept mumbling the song to keep the spell active as Whisk through his last and strongest explosive at the ravaging bull. Ultimately putting it out of its enraged misery and as soon as he did, the beast dissolved into the ground and began transforming it into stone. The entire group quickened their pace, Abner began to pull entire trees out of the ground and toss them aside with little effort. Marina caught up to Cuffs and helped him carry Belisama and Whisk stayed at the back of the pack. The petrification was quickly catching up to them, some of the animals the fled alongside them were unfortunate, turning to stone themselves. Even the birds that shot through the air were affected and crashed violently to the ground. Suddenly the animals stopped running away, the spell had stopped its spread. 

Abner turned around having noticing it, a feel of devastation quickly over came him as he saw Whisk slowly begin to turn to stone. He had broken his promise with Rosamond. “I guess this is it for me.” He let out a short laugh trying to keep his cheerfulness. “Abner,” he said as the petrification began to climb into his torso. “I'm gonna miss you, friend.” He smiled as a single tear dripped from his cheek. He had mentioned that Prudence showed him his fate, but he never knew when it would occur. His butter yellow coat with white spots along his back, rust red beard connecting to a blonde mane, a sage green tail and eyes the same, all turned to stone except his long scarf striped dark brown and light gray. Abner stood still in absolute shock as Marina and Cuffs moved to cast spells of their own to try and break the petrification. Every spell failed, bouncing off the surface. Belisama demanded them to stop to save themselves and to prevent Whisk's new form from shattering apart.

They hesitantly back away from Whisk. Abner stayed where he was, looking on, confused and all of his thoughts were lost. “Come on, Abner.” Marina choked on her words. “We need to get back to the ship.” 

Belisama spoke up, short of breath, “We can stay here tonight, I can set a fire for your companions. You all deserve some rest.”

“But we need to get you to some place better than this for your wounds.” Cuffs argued.

“I know you wish for that, but I can only stray so far from the temple, no matter its state of being.” Belisama retorted.

“Very well then.” Cuffs sighed. “I'll take charge for now. Marina, refill the canteens. Lark and Abner, start a fire. I'll tend to your wounds Belisama.”

As the sun finally dropped under the horizon, the party resided in grief and sorrow, mourning Whisk. Abner continued to stare at Whisk, trying to get his thoughts together. Despite only spending about three months together, Abner hadn't realized how attached he grown to him. The exaggerated tales he told boastful and jokingly were something everyone enjoyed. His ability as a chef was always top notch even when he tried new recipes, he always seemed to get them right the first time around. Might be part of the reason he was such an excellent craftsman with his explosives. Being people smart was something very rare among the society he grew up in.

The crackle of fire was quiet to everyone's ears. No one spoke, although there was a feeling of wanting to change the subject to something else other than Whisk was heavy. Being a core part of the group, Whisk was a major part of all of their journeys. With the full moon shimmering off the grass and stone, Abner remembered that his father mentioned something of an antidote, a cure, for this petrification, but Whisk said that he had it covered should the event occur. 

Marina approached Abner, quietly speaking up, “You know Abner, Whisk calling someone a friend means a lot coming from him.” She tried to sound happy to hide her sadness. “Despite the numerous ponies he knew, there are only a few he regarded as true friends. The rest of the squad, Flight Gear, and you. One of his favorite lines he used to say, 'it could be worse'. Always got us thinking how good we have it compared to others. To be honest, he could've had something worse happen to him.” Abner thought about what she said for a moment, he figured that she was right. Yes, Whisk wouldn't be able to accompany him any further, but there's still the potion that can be made to treat this problem. How to craft it was something that they had no knowledge of however. “I hope he's not conscious, who knows how long it'll be before he gets out of there.” She sighed. “Come on Abner, lets get some sleep.” Abner politely refused, “Very well, say your goodbyes at least before you do.”

Marina walked away, it was clear that Whisk's sudden departure had the most effect on her. Perhaps she was falling in love with him, but that would be something that would get in the way of their line of work. It appeared to be a matter that the two of them discussed at some point well before Abner came along with them.

With the moon rising higher into the sky, cirrus starkly dotted across the night sky. A cold and gentle breeze blowing across the ground. Abner remembered a song of mourning Lark once sang for one of the villagers that passed away, it took him several tries to figure out the right tune on his own, silently humming away in his head. He couldn't remember who the song was sung for, but it tugged at his heart. He choked on his breath for a moment, not sure if he should let himself cry or hold it in. 

A strong gust of wind came from behind Abner, he turned to see Belisama standing alight in her magic that graciously wrapped around her neck and ankles. “This mortal is important to all of you isn't he?” Abner confirmed her question, rubbing one of his eyes. “Most other deities would not even consider this. Very well, I shall protect this mortal's fragile coil with the utmost until you return from your journey.” Belisama stepped foot onto the petrified ground and she herself began to turn to stone. By the time she had become entirely encased in the stone, she looked like a statue keeping watch over Whisk. Her voice called out to Abner like a whisper in the wind, “Seek out Howlite. He will have more answers for you.” Abner acknowledged with a simple nod and walked toward the flickering campfire, on its last few twigs of wood.

Morning came quickly and the party headed back to the Goshawk with heavy hearts. The mood was much the same as it was the night before. Abner felt as if his shadow had faded a bit, but he shook off the thought, focusing on Belisama's last words to him. He thought about the numerous ways he could've saved Whisk. If he had known that Whisk was going to get caught up in the petrification spell, he would've try and saved him. It was regretful, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Losing his focus, sought out Prudence in his mind to see if she had any guidance for him, but she appeared to have locked herself away further in his subconscious. 

At mid-morning, the party boarded the Goshawk and relayed the news to everyone about Whisk's petrification. Flight Gear broke down, immediately mourning for his only friend he probably ever had, a friend who remained true to him. Although at first, he was in disbelief. He had, after all, helped him test a good portion of his inventions before they were forced to part ways. Albedo had come along during their departure from Clackerton, she held him tight and reminded him of the stories he would always tell her of their tribulations testing their homemade equipment. Consequently, Flight Gear kept the ship grounded for a good portion of the day until he got his thoughts together well enough to pilot the ship again.

Abner rested some more, blankly staring out the window of the room assigned to him. The ship's engines were at a low hum,slowly gaining speed in their revolutions. As the engines began to stir up to their proper lift speed, Abner felt a presence enter the room. Drystan had entered from beneath the door and had taken form as a hoof of the ship. Reshaping his body into a more suitable form as a shadowy clone of Abner. He pulled a scarf out from a section of his own body, the same scarf that Whisk always wore, except when he was working his bartender or chef duties. Tossing the scarf on Abner's back and revealing a sheet of paper with some sort of recipe written on it. “Whisk wanted you to have this, Abner. It's the cure for the petrification spell, but it also means that one or two of you will have to fetch it at some point.” Abner was somewhat confused, but came to his own conclusion that Whisk's conscious had remained active after his petrification somehow. “Our next destination is Howlite's home, correct?” Abner nodded, confirming is question. “Can't say I'm unfamiliar with the concept of losing someone close to you. As unfortunate as it is, you'll grow from it and learn that death is another part in the cycle of life. You have to keep going, even if it all goes to shit.”
> Chapter 6- Mongoose, Fury, and Hammer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6- Mongoose, Fury, and Hammer


The ship lurched and began its slow lift into the air and pulled its way forward toward their new destination that lied northwest of Canterlot, north of the mountains beyond Ponyville. Surprisingly, the magic consuming field brought on by the Blight's infection of Celestia hadn't spread to there yet. Perhaps they can make it there before the field consumes that place as well. Once again, they leapt into the sky, the engines roaring without a care and the air became a constant wind pattering against the sails and whomsoever walked out onto the deck of the ship.

By morning the next day, they could see Clackerton on their left and a small glimpse of Ponyville on their right. The barrier hadn't expanded since they had left, it was still slowly pushing its way through the Everfree forest. It appeared that the magic that it fed off of was almost at its limit. It got Abner wondering however, how much longer do those afflicted have left to live? Prudence mentioned that her parents died because of the disease, but she never gave a time stamp of any sort. Considering that there was still plenty of time before their destination, Abner decided to sleep for a good portion of the time. He constantly thought about how those trapped within the field were doing and tried to mentally connect himself with Prudence once again. She always seemed to be hiding away in his mind, unreachable and out of contact. Perhaps she doesn't want to influence his decisions in anyway or perhaps she's trying to do something with Stribog's soul.

Abner dropped the thought, staring out the window once more, looking at the magical field the Blight formed. Levitating the scarf the Whisk left him once more, Abner recalled the memories that the two of them shared. Whisk always seemed willing to go out of his way to get something done for him and those he knew. Aside from the days that Abner spent training with Twilight Sparkle and Charger, Whisk was always working hard to make sure that both his employees and his customers were happy at the tavern. Abner let out a long, sorrowed sigh knowing that Whisk wasn't dead and there was hope for him to come back to them. Wrapping the long scarf around is neck Abner something stiffen its surface. Curious, he took the scarf off and tugged gently until he felt the stiff part with his paw resulting in a crunching sound the same as paper's. Searching for the edges to find the opening in which the paper was slipped into, Abner felt himself get a little bit anxious to its mystery.

Successfully pulling the carefully creased sheet of paper that had weathered a bit from its exposure to moisture out from the veiled pocket, Abner gently unfolded it at each crease. Upon looking over its contents, he noted some rather odd; a recipe for a sort of portion calling for three feathers of a phoenix, eight petals of Olwen's lilies, twelve howlite crystals, twelve individual pieces of kyanite crystals, and a single sunstone. A note in Whisk's writing followed after the list of ingredients, “Note to self: after collecting above ingredients, grinding them together to form a paste followed by submersion in liquid bismuth, and then bottled in a jar of nephrite jade. Applied to the victim of a petrification along the spine and at the feet. First time in a long time I've had to create something that doesn't explode. Just glad I'm getting this down well before our departure for Abner's home.” Looking at the over the recipe once more, Abner saw that had already checked off the petals of Olwen's lilies; must have picked them at his parents.

It was a relief that Whisk had been thinking about this before hand, but where would one get feathers from such a rare creature as a phoenix? Bismuth and kyanite, sunstone and howlite, finding such things will be difficult. Howlite would be easy provided Howlite's Crystal Forest still stood and kyanite could likely be found in the same area. The other two stones Abner had no idea how to find, perhaps Flight Gear might know someone who does and even better if its one of his former clients. Remembering where Whisk resided in the quarters, Abner quickly wrapped the scarf around his neck once more, tucking the paper back into the hidden pocket beforehand and went out into the corridor. 

Upon entering Whisk's former quarters, empty as it was, Abner saw Whisk's bag laying on his bed, opened with a small journal beside it bound shut by a small and nimble lock requiring a key. Curiosity was talking hold of his mind, but he dropped the thought and began to look through Whisk's bag until he found the petals of the lily. Much to his surprise, the petals kept their faint glowing and cloudy blue color. Carefully placing them in his own satchel, he then headed to the bridge, where  Flight Fear would most likely be lazily piloting the ship from the captain's chair. After making his way to the deck, Abner noticed a massive change and a massive twisting stir in the maelstrom. A nose of a ship peaked out from the field, creating a hole that clinged to its edges as it passed through. When the rudders escaped the field, the gaping hole filled back up while lightning shot outward from it.

Wasting no time, Abner forced open the door into the bridge to see that Flight Gear had already started to give out orders to his crew. Telling the one in charge of navigation to put the engine up to full speed and prepare for evasive maneuvers and another to assemble those who were able to fight onto the deck. Sure the Goshawk didn't have any weapons of its own but unicorns could easily substitute for that. He then approached Abner after receiving word that the ship the flew out of the field was the Flying Mongoose, creatures that were notably agile on the ground. “Abner glad you came up here, hope you don't mind helping out in this ships defense. The Mongoose is on a course to cut us off from our destination, although the Goshawk is faster, it's not going to be able to escape this interception course.”

It seemed that Abner's questions for Flight Gear would have to wait until after this upcoming battle. Abner scurried back to his quarters and grabbed grabbed the entirety of his harness with its satchels and sheathed swords. As he arrived on deck, everyone could see the Mongoose closing in. With a sleek design of its own a number of propellers and rudders that appeared as if they could be rotated individually. Kept aloft by bladders that peaked through the bottom of the ship wrapped with wooden struts. Triangular shaped sails attached to short masts stretched across the entire length, each with several leads of rope attached to their corners. Small windows outline spots where cannon fire could come from and the spot where the captain would drive the ship was exposed, a single wheel on a post was all that stood to control the ships movements. The Mongoose was however, already damaged for some reason, several gashes in the hull and the main mast toppled over, hang over the edge by just a few large slivers. Stains of black and thin clouds of black smoke poured out from several of the holes in the hull and from the propellers themselves. It was incredibly haunting.

Suddenly, the ship seemed to burst to life as several of the windows opened up and cannons peaked out, firing in a rapid succession. The cannonballs were disintegrated on impact against the shield that Marina had set up. The Mongoose began to fire one shot after another with every impact making Marina wince.  Lark supported her with her own magic, but without a usual song, perhaps she had the chant memorized, thus negating the need to audibly chant the words. Their efforts wound up futile however, as a final cannonball plowed through her shield and  smashed into Goshawk's deck. Luckily, it wasn't holding a charge of any sort.

As the Mongoose began dangerously close, its cannon fire started to become more rapid and less time was spent aiming. Abner spent a good portion of his own magic to try and catch the cannonballs and hurled them back at the enemy ship. Wrecker managed to catch quite a few that Abner missed and threw them back as well, a remarkable feat of strength. The battle was becoming a stalemate and Abner could feel his magic start to dull, perhaps he still hadn't fully recovered from the moment he essentially froze time. As his magic slowly drained, Abner began to feel something else stir inside of him, something dark and twisting. He could feel it begin to writhe and contort, had the seals that Prudence created finally broke and the Blight it contained escaped? Quickly trying to suppress the dark thoughts of destroying everything and consume the magics held be his companions, Abner struggled to maintain a straight face and push forward with his own strength. He began to wonder how many  more cannonballs the ship had left to fire and he also noticed that the ship had no crew running around the top deck. Strikingly odd considering that the Mongoose was doing nothing to prevent the cannonballs repelled from hitting its hull. 

Then, as the Mongoose fired its last shot, both ships were passing over the mountains north of the Everfree forest. Abner felt the surge of Blight within him begin to overwhelm him and a moment of silence he heard Drystan speak from his shadow, “Abner, give into it, I can help you control this. Remember my words from before.” Abner had a feeling that he was right as Prudence seemed to have left him to his own judgment, he wondered if her conscious had completely vanished from his mind. Taking one last deep breath with a close of his eyes, he felt Drystan guide the Blight through his body and overtake his nervous system. The power he was overcome with was immense, almost uncontrollable, but Drystan kept it from pouring out.

Abner's once mountain ash fur became decorated with hooked swirls that stretched and branched from the very tip of his tail to each major joint in his legs, along his spine until it reached the bridge of his nose. Once he opened his eyes, Abner's vision also changed, he could see beyond the hull of the Mongoose, revealing a dozen pony shaped bodies that looked to bleed like ink much like Drystan. Their bodies were lit up like the sun against now black and white surfaces.  Abner's mind became clear of the thoughts he was feeling previously, perhaps Drystan was taking that burden for him.

Veering ever closer the Mongoose set itself on a collision course with the Goshawk. With his new found powers, Abner leaped the railing with a running start and landed on Mongoose's deck, still a considerable distance away. Immediately after landing, creatures entirely made from Blight seeped through the deck boards and rose to fight him. Creating a chain like weapon from his own shadow, Abner swung his head around causing the long section of his new weapon to sweep through the horde of is enemies. During the midst of his battle, he noticed that the weapon would end its length against solid objects. His vision still the vibrant smokey haze of black and white, the fiery orange that marked his enemies shifted around and began to merge together into one large entity.

Slowly backing away, not to retreat, but to keep himself at a safe distance, all the while forming his new weapon into a more recognizable shape, a solid black chain that reflected no light. When the Blight finished its merging, it appeared as a three headed hydra without a lower body and each one appeared to give off a different elemental effect. Letting out a deafening roar and several growls afterward, it began to spew needle shaped fire, ice, and rocks in a sporadic fashion. The elements appeared as multiple purple hues but distinctly identifiable. Swinging the elongating chain through the Blight hydra,  Abner saw that it was have little effect against the creature. An issue which he quickly resolved by catching the needles of ice in the chains openings and catapulting them back at the horrific beast followed by the earth elemental and then a burn with redirected fire. Needless to say the hydra dropped fairly quickly and Abner tossed Matan up into the air, caught its hilt by his chain and thrusted the zweihander's blade right into the writhing corpse of the Blight hydra.

Without much thought, Abner essentially disengaged his new power feeling it drift back into the deepest part of his soul, calmly and collectively. Everything began to shift back into its normal colors, bugging his eyes at first as he approached Matan to sheathe it away. However when he saw what it had pierced he became shocked. The sword had been driven through Charger's chest and peaked from his back. He lied there, coughing and bleeding from the massive wound and not wanting to lose another friend, Abner stirred up his magic, preparing a spell to reverse the time on his wound. Again he felt the world slow down, almost to a standstill and as the sword seemed to slip out from his chest all on its own. Eerie as it was to see the blood creep back into Charger's body, Abner kept the spell going until the tip of the sword had fully escaped his body. As soon as he stopped the spell, the hydra began to reform. Turns out undoing his wound in turn resurrected the hydra. Abner sprung up with Matan at the ready, immediately going into a sprint. Once more he drove the sword through the hydra's center and again it disintegrated. Only this time, Abner could feel its dust seep into his skin and add to the Blight that was already there.

Approaching Charger again, Abner saw that he was unconscious and breathing heavily. The pain must have been excruciating. Steering the Mongoose back towards the field and setting it aflame, Abner fled from the wreckage with a great leap and with Charger on his back. He seemed smaller than the last time they had been together. With some help of Tiva and Albedo, who had apparently decided travel along after seeing the Goshawk pass over the plains. Abner made it back to their ship and proceeded to hand Charger over to Cuffs.

The night was dark, cold, and dreary and the wind howled with a freezing wind that creeped through the boards of the ship. Abner's mind was exhausted from the massive strain of the powers that have come to fruition. He tumbled around in his bunk, restless with thought. There was just so much to do between here and their final destination and there seemed to be no time to sort out his own thoughts on the matter. He was glad that he had saved Charger from the Blight, but what confounded him was how it was able to manifest itself upon Charger. It was better to let him rest for the night and not badger him with questions, but the urge to ask just one was overwhelming. The graphite gray markings that covered his body remained on his ash colored fur. Drystan hadn't spoken up since the end of the battle either. Abner wandered around the ship, hoping that pacing would help settle his uneasy feelings. 

Flight Gear had settled the ship down in a discreet nook in the mountains. Abner made his way down the plank from the deck of the ship, a cracking warmth of fire was put up by some extra crew that Flight Gear had hired before departure. They were a seemingly random batch of earth ponies, probably looking to make a living as deck hands. Three of them slept, snoring in their own musing dreams and the other two quietly entertain each other with stories of their own. If there was one thing people always told, they were stories of all sorts, fairy tales and legends to shenanigans and mournful. 

Abner's  ears perked from the sound of water gently splashing around as if it were in a pool of some sort. He made his way through a small thicket of trees that had blocked the entirety of the Goshawk from view. On the other side were several torches that had been set up by someone, he heard two familiar voices, one distinctly identifiable as Lark and the other not so much, but he had heard it before. Gently pushing through a few bushes, Abner saw that Lark, Tiva, and Albedo had taken away to themselves and relaxed in a hot spring. Lark held Tiva close to her, the young filly probably hadn't learned how to swim at all. Even though the water wasn't very deep there was still the possibility of drowning. Albedo was discussing a few things about love to Lark, how she had fallen for Flight Gear and his go for it attitude. Despite his drinking behavior that she had actually helped him tone down on.  She was always surprised at numerous amount of little seemingly useless gadgets he created for flight guidance and training resulted in astoundingly good results in the long run. 

Noticing Abner's presence, Albedo whispered something into Lark's ear that made her a little bit flustered and Tiva giggled quietly to herself. Abner was interested at first, but realized that those shenanigans would stay between the three of them.  Albedo welcomed Abner to the hot spring with her usual sly voice, “Hop on in, Abner. I've been meaning to ask you a few questions. I've brought a pencil and a pad for you to write on if that makes things easier for you.” Abner was intrigued, but he saw no harm in was she was saying. He grabbed the pad of paper and the pencil from the rock they sat against behind Albedo with a few flicks of magic and cautiously stepped into the water. It was warm and soothing, melted into his bones and gave him a quick chill along his spine. Levitating the pad in the air and gently holding the pencil in front of it, waiting for Albedo's questions.

Albedo cleared her throat after gently combing her wings through the water and began to ask Abner her questions in mind. “First off, and the one bugging me the most, there's no species of wolf that I'm aware of that possess a horn on their heads. I'm well aware transference magic that's largely frowned upon because of its rather sacrificial properties. I do wish to know how you came in possession of a unicorn's horn.”  Abner thought for a moment and  wrote down the simplest way of explaining the reason behind it, the dragon Stribog had attacked his village and a unicorn that was there at the time saved him but practically at the cost of her own, which also resulted in hi s ability to use magic. Abner excluded a good portion of what set him off on this path that Albedo joined in on.  She followed up his answer with a question regarding the dragon, “What happened to the dragon?” Abner flipped to another page and began to write down his answer, explaining that the dragon was eventually captured and held in the depths of a massive cavern under Canterlot. 

Albedo asked a completely different question, changing the subject, “What's your family like? I heard from Lark that you met up with them in Ponyville, a place with a rather interesting history. Where the current wielders of the Elements of Harmony grew up from. Anyways, about your family.” Abner quickly described the most notable perks of each one his family members. His father would ramble on about certain topics aloud, even if it didn't relate to the current topic. His mother was ever watching, she would immediately notice  if something changed in her children or others.  Lev, his oldest brother and twin to Naamiy, preferred to keep his nose in books but he also had a strong heart. Naamiy was considered the beauty queen of the entire village, something that also made her extremely popular, her golden fur always had a bit of shine to it. Kafziel, was the fastest of the group and had a dull blue coat of fur, he was also older than Abner. Nitza was the youngest and the most gentle, she had not quite yet made into school and she always enjoyed her time gardening with their mother.

“An intriguing family. Your sister, Naamiy, was it? Sounds like she had a handful of wolves chasing after her.” She held in a short laugh as if Abner's quick description had reminded her of herself. “That's something that I can relate to. Anyways onto my last question for tonight. Have you ever thought about love?” Abner was was a bit shocked, love had never been much of a thought to him, he hadn't one to concern himself with it. He had recalled that there was one female that had tended to stick around him during his first few weeks of classes but he couldn't quite understand those feelings.  It made him wonder if she had survived the catastrophe. He was a bit hesitant, unsure of what to write down. Simplifying his answer to her, Abner jotted down that he hadn't experienced love, aside from his family. “Hmm, I surmised as much. Lark here is always worried about you as you already know. She adores you so much and from how Lark talks about you I think I know why.” Albedo finished her questions and added, “Feel free to keep that pad of paper and pencil. It may become rather useful for you in the long run.”

Albedo got up and had Lark and Tiva follow her back to the Goshawk. Abner set the pad and pencil down on the rocks behind him. He had wondered what she had meant by saying such a thing. Perhaps it is something that he'll figure out in the long run as the journey appears to be providing him with plenty of hardships and decisions he hadn't had to think about before. It was something else that he would have to figure out along the way. Then he remembered the way that female wolf looked, deep red coat with  black stripes counter-shaded with white. She always seemed to be a little bit shy but her voice and other actions appeared to escape him. 

He stared up at the moon again, it was barely in a waxing crescent. He wondered if calling out to the moon again would yield a response from Luna. Then he thought about the device that Flight Gear handed to him before their departing of Clackerton, wondering if it was possible to contact Twilight Sparkle once more. Perhaps, he could peak into the throne room somehow having visiting it once before. It didn't seem like a bad idea, but it was possible that it could alert Celestia, who knows what state of mind she's in at this point. He stirred his paw around the surface of the water, making random strokes with no overall shape. Then he started thinking about Whisk, how he had stuck by his side without a single word of complaint. Whisk was doing so much for him that he hadn't realized it until now. 

Shaking off the thoughts, Abner called out Drystan, who came out as a small pony shaped doll out with a long strand from his tail attaching to to his shadow. “Nice little hot spring you found. I haven't taken a soak in one of these things in years.” Abner slightly raised his brow, Drystan's positive attitude seemed similar to Whisk. He proceeded to ask if there was anything else about the new vision he acquired. “Other than heat and elemental, seeing pockets of magic in the land is possible as well but those are few and far between. You've got a feeling about this hot spring don't you?” Abner confirmed his suspicion and asked for him to engage the vision solely by itself. “What are you thinking about in doing this?” Abner answered back with his writing once more, saying that the hot spring felt as if it was slowly refilling his magical energy, the rejuvenating energy seeped into his skin. “Very well.” Abner felt a quick stir of darkness pollute his mind and vanish again. He looked around in the stark black and white with its subtle blur. Looking straight down at the bed of the spring and the pool of magic was revealed to him as a bright purple with a long spout leading into the hot spring. He then disabled his new vision. “Looks like you were right, Abner. What are you going to do now?” Abner quickly answered him back with his writing once more, saying that he'll just rest here for the night and sleep nearby. “Thought you might've had something else in mind.” Abner pulled himself out of the spring and curled up underneath a tree with Olwen's lilies surrounding it.  “I haven't been able to reach Prudence, by the way, she seems to have locked herself away in some recess of your mind I can't figure out. Whatever she's doing, she should at least tell you.”

Drystan was right, Abner needed to know what Prudence was doing, he could still feel her presence within his mind. Before long, Abner had closed his eyes and lulled himself into a deep slumber that for once, birthed no dream or vision, just the stark black of the back of his eyelids. For the first time in awhile, he awoke to the chatter of birds hopping around him in the tree and the buzzing of several hummingbirds hovering around the lilies. Several deer and other forest critters had taken interest in Abner's presence with sun appearing to shine directly on his body. Rising up from the ground and stretching out his legs, Abner saw that the animals surrounding him did not run away and instead stayed and drew closer.  He was confused, why would they move closer? Then he heard a voice call out from behind him, “Abner, you've stumbled upon my yard.”  a blue ethereal wolf appeared before him, in front of the all the creatures that had gathered. Her entire body appeared to made from a nebula of stars. “My sister visited me while I slept, she told me your story. The legend that precedes you and its current faltering outcome.” Abner noticed lilies slowly sprouting up from the ground beneath her feet. “The Blight now bound to you will soon entangle itself with the light in your heart and corrupt your mind. A gentle and pure heart will delay but it will hinder its progression.” She explained as she sat down before him, her height much the same as Belisama's. Her entire body seemed more like a cloud of gas than a solid object. “Close your eyes for a moment, young one.” Abner did so and suddenly he could feel a blinding light warm his eyes and when the feeling vanished, he opened his eyes again. A soft amount of weight fell upon his ears. “These rather simple earrings are part of my own gentle heart. They shall give you a new light, so to speak. I trust you will find out their purpose.” 

Abner was uncertain, but he assured her that he would. However, he was confused, why do these deities consistently help him? Perhaps it is for the better, although he felt kind of odd having something feminine hanging from his ears now. Before he could ask a question and without a word, Olwen vanished, as did the animals that had followed her. He could feel the flow of her gentle energy course through his mind as he walked over to peer into the springs which seems to have stopped bubbling. Instead, its surface became super reflective, almost like a portal into the cloudless sky. The earrings were simple enough, opaque in a dark blue and hung from the lowest part of his ear but a comfortable distance away from his head. A horn, spiral markings, and earrings all look a little weird in combination with each other. 

A distant thundering of rotors began to nag at his ears, almost as if they were coming from the other side of the mountain. They sounded very unfamiliar to Goshawk and then two massive ships much larger than the Goshawk and Mongoose combined, sporting even larger cannons requiring some sort of rail system to absorb recoil. If those get to the Goshawk now, they'll be sitting ducks. 

Quick on his feet, Abner sprinted back towards to the Goshawk, weaving his way through the thin layer of trees and bushes. Suddenly a loud crack snapped the air and pierced his ears just as he made it to the other side. Everyone aboard the Goshawk was scrambling about to get the ship up and running. Charger was already barking out orders to the his squad, limping about the deck with a broken wing. A gaping hole caused one of the of the air bladders of the Goshawk to collapse. Abner quickly sprang into action as soon as one of the larger ships fired its largest gun which peeked out from the bow. Without much thought, Abner redirected the cannonball away by bending the light around it. He then activated  his Blight abilities but something was different, his vision was a lot more clear, more defined than before. Able to see each ship individually, he used the chain as a grappling hook, lassoing it around the main mast of the closest ship that began to circle around the Goshawk. Landing on the ships deck, it was a lot like the Mongoose in terms of its crew members. 

Abner barged through the doors down into the lower decks and began clearing out the decks and quarters one by one. Eliminating each and every foe down to ones the climb the walls and others that popped out from cracks in the floor, even some that blocked entire halls. Abner eventually made his way to the engine room where a writhing mass of Blight clinged to every part of the engine. The engine bay was cramped, reinforcement beams seemed to jut out in all sorts of directions. Not wasting any time, the abomination attacked with spike protrusions and projectiles straight from its body. There was one problem that Abner realized in the midst of battle, without Matan he could not defeat the creature. He improvised quickly, focusing long rang attacks on the engines fuel tanks avoiding the attacks of the creature altogether. With several successive strikes, Abner pierced the shell, pulled the fuel out as if it were water and set a spark to it.

A massive explosion cracked open the haul, destroying the ships structural integrity and sending it hurdling to the ground below. Abner protected himself with a shield, nullifying blast and once he was able to see through the smoke, he saw that the creature held fast to the ship's main mast, which was reeling down into the ship's stern. The explosion had taken out the entire engine bay and several decks above. Unable to move and with the air bladders popped from debris, it began to lisp and every board started creaking along with metal that wined as it twisted and snapped. Abner had to escape as the explosion had forced him to the ship's bow. Getting back on his feet as he began to slide down, Abner quickly made his way to one of cargo doors that had been blown out and leaped toward the Goshawk. 

He landed safely enough, the fiery wreckage streaking down the side of the mountain, tearing apart as it dragged on further down. Seeing the other ship at a standstill as well, Abner ran to the Goshawk and retrieved Matan from his quarters without his harness. Still having his Blight powers activated, he started feeling its strain on his body. His heart felt as if it were decaying and his legs were heavy. Pushing through this inconvenience, Abner forced himself onto the top deck of the Goshawk. Again he made use of combining Matan and the chain, piercing through and through the other ship's hull and with some tugging he forced the ship to crashed into the peak of the mountain, splitting nearly in half. Another Blight abomination resided in that ship as well, it fled, smashing itself into the ground and moving in the direction of where the other one should be. Other, smaller bits joined in on its charade, merging into it and subsequently becoming larger. Abner dispatched the beast and chased after the other one down the mountain side, following the wreckage that was left behind.

Weaving through the trees on this heavy incline was difficult, as gravity only served to force him into a tumble at some points. Nearly tripping over several exposed tree roots and breaking through walls of vines, Abner found the other mass of Blight, which seemed to take on a more defined shape now more than ever. Abner had switched back to his normal vision as he descended the mountainside. The creature seemed to have played some sot of illusion on Abner, as it presented itself as Whisk. Vaguely, Drystan began to yell at Abner to make him snap out of the illusion.  Abner shook his head, reassuring himself that Whisk's being here would be impossible and again brought Matan to bear. With one final strike, Abner decimated the Blight. Waiting for the Blight to fade away, he saw the animal that had been affected by it- a single phoenix. Remembering the recipe for the petrification cure, Abner plucked three feathers from one of its wings and proceeded to carry the majestic bird on his back.

Before Abner could make it back up the mountainside, Flight Gear had already been moving the Goshawk over to his position, he must've seen the light expelled from Matan's use. Hovering low, just above the trees, they dropped down a rope ladder for him to hang on to and reel in. As they took flight once more, They all saw the pluming trails of smoke from the fires of each ship, threatening to burn up the forests below. Distancing themselves further and further, the smoke began to reach the stratosphere resulting in the scrambling of several pegasi to put out the fires with a heavy rain cloud. 

Flight Gear began work on repairing the broken parts of the ship after setting their destination. Charger sat down on the small set of stairs leading to the door of the bridge, out of breath and tired. He signaled for Abner and Cuffs to come over to him, they did so. “Well, Doc, fill me in on what I've missed.” 

“Haven't lost your touch, not one bit. Anyways, we're heading to Howlite Forest, a home to an ancient magic user said to be immortal. Hopeful-

“What did I miss, Doc?” Charger interrupted. It seemed the pain from his broken wing was making him a bit short tempered.

“Right, I apologize. Whisk and Marina took the train back to Ponyville, collected Tiva, Lark, and Abner. Headed to Clackerton through the Everfree forest and proceeded to head back to where this all essentially began. Went to the Temple of Light, where Belisama imbued the zweihander here with a good portion of her own magic. Lost Whisk to the bull that released a spell of petrification that consumed both Whisk and Belisama. Leaving there with much heartbreak, we ran into you apparently piloting the Mongoose- the fastest ship in the Legion.” Cuffs properly answered him.

“Well, after you mind controlled me I think I felt the spell release, but the Blight persisted. Eventually I was living a constant paradise dream that consistently turned into one nightmare after another.” Charger remarked. “There were several points where I could barely differentiate reality from fiction. I think, I think my mind still needs some rest.” Charger sighed. “I recall Melek, Abner's father, mentioning something about a cure for petrification. Any ideas?” Abner quickly ran to his quarters and back, bringing the scarf back with him, leaving the phoenix he captured in Marina's care. He proceeded to  pull the small recipe paper out from the hidden pocket and handed it to Charger who read the words aloud, quietly to himself. “Well, he did say he had something to solve the issue, didn't he. I guess he's not lost to us after all. This is, relieving.”

Cuffs finished rewrapping the bandages around Charger's wing, positioning it in such a way that it was incredibly difficult to budge it. Charger thanked Abner before heading down to his own quarter. Abner thought for a moment that Charger was going to ask him about his new powers but surmised  that it wasn't necessary. Perhaps he trusted Abner enough to know that he wasn't going harm his harm his new companions. Abner wondered what kind of nightmares Charger had, referencing his own that he had back when he was still in Canterlot.
> Chapter 7- Circles of Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7- Circles of Magic


By high noon they once again were soaring over a forest, alarmingly close to the Blight field. The storm inside seemed more clear than ever, revealing every little twisting whip of wind and all the little drops of rain slowly falling from the clouds trapped inside. Compared to the field, the ship was practically a small house fly buzzing its way around. 

Eventually the Goshawk and its crew made their way to a large ravine, a village on the forest's northern edge sat across from gigantic clusters of crystals. Crystals a cloudy mixture of white and brown, jutting out from the ground like flowers with petals unable to bend. A bridge constructed from rope and wooden planks stretched across the ravine, connecting loosely made dirt paths.

Circling around, Flight Gear managed to find a spot to land the ship just on the edge of the village. Debarking from the ship, Abner was first, followed by Cuffs, Charger, Tiva, and then Lark. Marina and Wrecker choose to stay behind to stand guard. As they began to enter the rundown village, they realized that the place was practically abandoned long ago. There were still remnants of those who lived here, plate-ware and rusty hunting equipment sat against the sides of partially collapsed houses. Several stables meant for farm animals had their boards eaten and rotted. A beaten gravel road easily made its way from one side to another and surprisingly, the grass and weeds hadn't overtaken the small houses.

Abner recognized a good portion of the buildings from the vision he had of Malakai. Despite a good portion of the buildings not having their original shape or form, they've withstood the test of time- well over a thousand years. As for any civilization, signs of life, it seems as though they had all fled away from the field of magic. 

Making their way to the bridge and proceeding to cross one by one with Abner being the last, they began to move up to the walkway. Charger lead the way, following tracks recently made by a rather heavy wagon. Scraps of clothes and inedible food sat on the edge of the road as they made their way further up the road. It appeared that there were still some people living at the village, but why had it been so worn down. A thought that was each one of their minds whether they knew it or not. Passing under the massive crystals and further progression up the winding road, they could see a tall tower that resembled a defensive turret for a castle; eerily similar to the rook in chess. 

Eventually, they caught up to the convoy of villagers who had left the village, but something wasn't right. They all seemed ghostly in their shape and bodies translucent. As Abner's party approached ever closer, the ghosts paid no heed to their presence and continued on to the turret. Abner saw that a good portion of the ghosts consisted of tribe members that Malakai used to live with. The crystals themselves appeared to let off a bit of ghostly glow themselves as they passed by. The urge to say something about the ghosts and this strange environment was a thing that deserved some sort of comment, but all of their words escaped them.

Continuing forward, they found themselves at the foot of the turret, where the convoy of ghostly villagers began to unpack their things from the wagon they dragged along. The turret itself seemed to have a couple of attachments added on to it, from the outside it appeared that they were meant for a bedroom, a fireplace, and a circular shaped that connected at the edge in the back of the turret. Theses add-ons to the turret appeared to be relatively recent, unless the owner kept everything well in its upkeep but the turret itself was incredibly worn and aged. Abner remembered that the turret had been here long before the village ever was.

Without hesitation, Charger lightly smacked the aged copper door knocker against the dark oak wood door three times and waited for a response. Almost immediately, the door was opened by a pony who had not aged very well. He peeked his head out the door and without a word closed it up again. Charger was a bit confused and after waiting for a moment, he knocked on the door three times with his hoof and waited again. Growing impatient, Charger went to knock on the door again but as soon as he raised his hoof, the door opened with no one behind it. 

They each entered one by one until the door shut behind them. The door was large enough on the outside but the inside made it seem even larger. Everything a small research department was there. Almost an entire library of books were there to sift through, a small alchemic area in which to mix chemicals together, and a small kitchen with a table and chairs to boot. It was all rather nicely furnished. A spiral staircase climbed the up the wall, leading to what would probably be the bedroom that the owner slept in. Abner wasn't sure if this was the same place of residence that the Howlite from his vision or the old stallion just found too much time on his hooves.

Descending the stairway was an alicorn whose body almost consisted of the same type of crystals they saw outside. This ancient being was still moving around quite easily it appears. Abner was curious if Howlite had remembered his ancestor. Then he spoke up, “You've any idea how long I've waited for you folk to show up at my door? Rhetorical, don't answer that.” His voice was light, but it was clear that he had trouble speaking, as the right words always seemed to make him fumble his speaking. “Abner, you've come here to learn more about those runestones and more. Lark and Tiva, I have something for you two to learn as well. Cuffs, as per your talent of medical knowledge, I've prepared several spells for your use in the field. However, they're not the answer to everything.” He paused for a moment, “Charger, you're the one I couldn't quite figure out something for, as all you have  are intelligence, flight, and speed. I thought about crafting a set of goggles for you, but Flight Gear could make a pair just as easily. Instead and perhaps, I can show you a better way to fight.”

Charger spoke up after a bit of a pause, “Well, that's great and all but prepping something for each of us without at least introducing yourself is rather rude, which I'm sure you know, is a rather bad way make a first impression.”

“Right. Of course, of course. I apologize, I was getting ahead of myself. Perhaps I was anxious in my want to see some form of civilized creature again. My name is Howlite, the crystal forest outside is named after me and with good reason, one that is both regretful and my reason I'm still alive.” Abner felt a similarity between Howlite's way of speaking and Drystan's. He wondered, momentarily, if they may have been brothers.

As the day moved forward and into high noon, the air around the turret seemed to make the sky appear a light purple color instead of the vivid sky blue they were used to seeing. Howlite told the party not to concern themselves with it, as it was caused by the magic of the crystals leaking into the air. After a little instructional brief about the stones to both Abner and Cuffs, Howlite began showed Lark and Tiva a spell that required both a song and a dance performed by two ponies. He did, however, state that the spell could only be used once and that its result would be devastating. Lark and Tiva both agreed with each other that the spell would be a last resort method. Moving on to Charger, Howlite showed him a book that had been forged with ancient methods of fighting with all sorts of different weapons, from spears, staffs, scepters, and broadswords to more exotic and unusual weapons like chakrams and guan daos. 

By the time they were done, having several failures and successes, night had began to come about. Howlite invited them all to stay for the night, as he had prepared to keep them there for as long as it took to train the party properly. Charger agreed to, assuring the rest of the group that it would be better to take their time with their new found knowledge. Each of them began to go to bed, one by one, all except Abner. Choosing to stay awake and study the he had last looked at them, six of them, each having their own inscription. He had learned enough now that he could properly identify each one, as confusing as they appeared.

There existed seven circles of magic, each under a higher order. The first circle of magic was essentially raw energy gathered from the very essence of existence, making it the most the dangerous and destructive. Ann odd feature of this circle however, was that it was a four sided diamond shape that contained the lower order circles. The second circle of magic consisted of light and dark magic placed at opposite ends of the diamond. Each one had their own subsection of magic, order and spirit for light and necromancy and blood for dark. Arcane magic was the third circle, with its edge intersecting the midpoints of the smaller circles of light and dark. Four small circles lied in quarters on the arcane circle with their own properties of time, renewal, space, and illusion. Following the third was the most complex, as it made up the primary elements that require life; fire, earth, water, and air. Each element was positioned much like the four orders under arcane under a larger circle and instead of bisecting, it met their circumference. Four lines connected the four circles together, forming another diamond. Another smaller set of the elemental circles surrounded the sixth circle of magic and created another smaller diamond with another set of lines creating a center lines for the entire fourth circle of magic. These inner most ones also switched around the element positions to create different para-elemental effects. The fifth circle of magic were para-elemental, spells that required the fourth circle of magic in order for them to work. These spells were also to be placed in a circle but placed along the lines that connected the different elemental circles. Included under this fifth circle was steam, lightning, metal, smoke, ice, sand, crystal, and clay. The sixth circle of magic was a touchy one as it required the presence of all of the other magic orders in order to function. This particular circle pertained the subjects of immortality and transmutation, both magics that were well regarded as forbidden and costly. There was a seventh circle that was mentioned in the texts, but these did not require magic circles as they pertained to simple manipulation spells that were natural to perform. Telekinesis magics fell under this jurisdiction, as well as emotionally based magics. The elements mentioned were the most prominent in the people's mind, the Elements of Harmony. 

It appeared that the book that Howlite had given to Abner that the functions and use of each circle were used amongst those that had no direct way of interacting with it except through the runes. It appeared that the use of magic runes had faded out long ago as the population of avid and natural magic using species began to propagate further. However, as technology advanced further in its use and design, a good portion of magic runes became practically useless but there was still a small niche market for them. 

Howlite spoke up quietly, standing by Abner's side, “You know, you remind me of a wolf a met once, long ago. I recall sending an elemental golem to aid him in a journey not unlike your own.” His crystalline mouth moved easily with his complicated speech. “I only wish that I would've met the wolf on better terms as I personally enjoyed his company. Heart of a warrior he had.” He paused in revelation, “Ah, that's right, he was your ancestor.” Abner continued to read through the different rune layouts as the old crystal bodied stallion talked. “Succeed he did, but it was the seal on those guardians that failed. A good portion of seals collapse throughout their aging. It is unavoidable.” The air around him suddenly changed to a dreadful tone. “Come outside with me for a moment, after you're done of course.” 

Howlite seemed to sulk in his thought as he exited through the aged door reinforced a number of times by small metal bars. Drystan spoke up, silently whispering into Abner's ear, “I can't quite put my hoof on it, but something about that fella feels, familiar. I feel like he's silently calling me.” Abner, ever curious decided to proceed after Howlite just after he had finished looking over the last rune configuration.

Stepping outside, there were more ghosts now than ever. “Abner recall for a moment, the sixth circle of magic and its jurisdictions.” Howlite sighed depressingly and continued, “Now imagine a mage at the top of the hierarchy in a vast kingdom and at the time I went by a different name. The name of Falu Red.” The tale he began to tell was like something he had heard from a legend he read at Rosamond's. “I was a fool, a damned fool. I tried my hoof at an immortality spell as my superiors demanded. At the time, we knew not of what improper magic wrought. I painstakingly crafted all the orders, something that required more than a year of study. In a spare lab of the castle I drew out the orders upon the stone brick floor with the help of two assistants whom you've already met.” This perked Abner's interest in Howlite's story. “After constructing the circle, I needed some howlite, crystals named for their soft howling sound when under the proper conditions. The same crystals you see out here.” He gave Abner a moment to listen, he was right. A faint howling sound could be heard from the incredibly large crystals formations. Perhaps it was caused by the light of the moon. “With the proper procedure completed, howlite was acting as a catalyst for each circle of magic. It was the catalyst for a good portion of runes at the time. We used a recently passed child as a subject, I was uncomfortable with it at first. With a couple of words the spell was complete and then what happened next was unfathomable, even for me. I was a fool for not realizing the consequences sooner.” Howlite yawned and continued, “Once the torrential wind calmed down, the entire top half of the tower was destroyed and my assistants had been casted out of sight. A ravaging beast of black tar raged throughout the town, having no discrimination between good and evil. The child had vanished, I presumed that that beast is what he became. That's also when I noticed I had this new form, pure howlite crystals encased my body. I ignored the beast and came around to finding my assistants, Celestia and Luna.” Howlite sat down and stared into the sky. “By the time the havoc was brought to a stop, the entire castle and its outlying districts had almost been entirely wiped out. I did what I could to stop it, but it proved futile. When I came upon the child again, he had become an odd Chimera of all that he had slaughtered- ponies, zebras, dogs, cats, and so forth. At that time I recalled the child's name, Drystan.” His started to choke on his words. “He was my son, they used me to resurrect my own son they murdered. I never sensed the illusion magic they casted on him. I was furious, but out of my own foolish loyalty I refused to continue the destruction. The king banished me here, these crystals rose from my rage. Judgment passed on Celestia and Luna, banished to the Frozen Desert and my son chained to an altar in the forests far south of these mountains.” 

A long moment of silence lasted between the two before Drystan's voice came to be as began to take form as a black tar pony branching away from Abner's shadow, “Father, it seems like you succeeded at the spell then.”

“I know I did, son. The cost was too great, all those precious lives lost was ultimately my doing. I was just excuse for your wrath caused by my neglect. I never meant to neglect you, you know.” Howlite cursed himself.

“Father, I was a child then. My mind was never clear. I tricked others in harmless pranks. I wanted to visited you that day, a guard caught me; I can still feel the wound.” Drystan tried to assure him that it wasn't his fault.

Howlite seemed to imagine the event play out in his mind. “You're right, you always were a bit of a prankster. Those kingdom days are long gone now.” Howlite chuckled quietly and wiped his eye as if he was crying. “I've forgotten that I can't cry anymore. It's good to see you at long last, my son. I'm sure you can't stay here so I ask of you, to aid Abner and his companions. Consider it an old stallion's dying wish.”

“Father, why are you speaking like death is becoming you?” Drystan replied.

“It's not, but sometimes I wish it would. You know as well as I do how much a curse immortality is.” He paused for a moment, changing the subject. “That also reminds me, the Elements of Harmony and the Blight were essentially the result of this spell. The four heroes who possessed them after my banishment only held four out of the six. They weren't even heroes, they were pets to the king.  Malakai held the remaining to before entering the tower. Which means...” Howlite began connecting the dots in his head and started laughing in a lighter tone. “Why hadn't I noticed it sooner.”

Drystan asked confused, “What are you on about?”

“My assistants hadn't forgotten about me, Celestia sent Prudence to me one day, she told me about our meeting. I assume the field of magic on the horizon is caused by Celestia?”

“In a way, yes. She's been infected by the Blight. Luckily the Elements of Harmony are in good hooves. Six individuals whom I'm afraid may not have much longer as they're practically dead center of that thing.” Drystan answered. “Have you ever tried leaving here?”

“At first, but I restricted by these ghosts, these ghosts are from all those lives I stole, they've refused my leaving.” Howlite replied. “Perhaps I can convince them to fight alongside you guys, it would take some time unfortunately.” Howlite pondered as he brought a hoof to his chin. “Yes, that just might work, I'll have to brush up on my persuasion skills again, it's been such a long time.” Howlite changed the subject again, “Abner, I feel another presence with you, other than Drystan's- a familiar one that I've met before.”

“It's Prudence, Father. I remember her saying something about transference magic to save Abner's life.” Drystan said, filling in the blanks.

“That's unfortunate, I assume it had to be done?” Howlite questioned. Abner and Drystan both confirmed his assumption with a nod. “Very well. She was a prodigy, I think. It appears her conscious has locked itself away in your mind or she locked herself away.” Howlite began to mutter some words to himself and a white gleam of magic emitted from his crystalline horn. Finishing his muttering, he  lowered his head to Abner a fired a small shot of magic which threw him back into a sudden lucid mindset. Everything flash to white, the entirety of his own memories flashed pass him like a filmstrip until he had met Prudence, her memories began to pass him by, starting from her presence in Abner's village to the point where she had buried her own parents. Then everything thrust forward in time again until Abner regained his sight of the real world. “You'll be disoriented for a little bit, it'll pass. The festering Blight within you that she had passed on has sent her into a perpetual nightmare. The same happened to your companion, Charger.” Pausing for what seemed like the longest break in conversation in awhile and muttered two words under his breath, “Libero Umbra.” Another shot of white magic fired off and pierced through Abner's head. He could feel an immense shadow lift from his mind, revealing Prudence's presence once more. He could feel her aching mind and exhaustion begin to flow into his own. Drystan seemed to be affected a little bit as well. They both endured the spell until Howlite released his grip of power. “The release spell is something Prudence never learned I believe. You see, she had received some training from me when Celestia sent her here as a messenger. She learned well.”

The entire conversation came to a close with that last sentence. Drystan faded back into Abner's shadow, saying goodbye for what was probably the last time. Abner wondered for a moment, how Howlite received his new name. He came to his own conclusion that he had been given it by local legend that had passed away long ago. Abner went back inside to get some much needed rest while Howlite stayed outside, scheming his next move.

Morning came around, the party stretched their limbs and practiced their new skills once more before heading back to the Goshawk in the late afternoon. Howlite left Abner some final words for his journey, “Never forget yourself.” The words at first had no meaning to Abner but as he dwelled on the thought, he came to realize that they words to live by in times of hardship.
> Chapter 8- The Serpent's Cave
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 8- The Serpent's Cave


By high noon they once again were soaring over a forest, alarmingly close to the Blight field. The storm inside seemed more clear than ever, revealing every little twisting whip of wind and all the little drops of rain slowly falling from the clouds trapped inside. Compared to the field, the ship was practically a small house fly buzzing its way around. 

Eventually the Goshawk and its crew made their way to a large ravine, a village on the forest's northern edge sat across from gigantic clusters of crystals. Crystals a cloudy mixture of white and brown, jutting out from the ground like flowers with petals unable to bend. A bridge constructed from rope and wooden planks stretched across the ravine, connecting loosely made dirt paths.

Circling around, Flight Gear managed to find a spot to land the ship just on the edge of the village. Debarking from the ship, Abner was first, followed by Cuffs, Charger, Tiva, and then Lark. Marina and Wrecker choose to stay behind to stand guard. As they began to enter the rundown village, they realized that the place was practically abandoned long ago. There were still remnants of those who lived here, plate-ware and rusty hunting equipment sat against the sides of partially collapsed houses. Several stables meant for farm animals had their boards eaten and rotted. A beaten gravel road easily made its way from one side to another and surprisingly, the grass and weeds hadn't overtaken the small houses.

Abner recognized a good portion of the buildings from the vision he had of Malakai. Despite a good portion of the buildings not having their original shape or form, they've withstood the test of time- well over a thousand years. As for any civilization, signs of life, it seems as though they had all fled away from the field of magic. 

Making their way to the bridge and proceeding to cross one by one with Abner being the last, they began to move up to the walkway. Charger lead the way, following tracks recently made by a rather heavy wagon. Scraps of clothes and inedible food sat on the edge of the road as they made their way further up the road. It appeared that there were still some people living at the village, but why had it been so worn down. A thought that was each one of their minds whether they knew it or not. Passing under the massive crystals and further progression up the winding road, they could see a tall tower that resembled a defensive turret for a castle; eerily similar to the rook in chess. 

Eventually, they caught up to the convoy of villagers who had left the village, but something wasn't right. They all seemed ghostly in their shape and bodies translucent. As Abner's party approached ever closer, the ghosts paid no heed to their presence and continued on to the turret. Abner saw that a good portion of the ghosts consisted of tribe members that Malakai used to live with. The crystals themselves appeared to let off a bit of ghostly glow themselves as they passed by. The urge to say something about the ghosts and this strange environment was a thing that deserved some sort of comment, but all of their words escaped them.

Continuing forward, they found themselves at the foot of the turret, where the convoy of ghostly villagers began to unpack their things from the wagon they dragged along. The turret itself seemed to have a couple of attachments added on to it, from the outside it appeared that they were meant for a bedroom, a fireplace, and a circular shaped that connected at the edge in the back of the turret. Theses add-ons to the turret appeared to be relatively recent, unless the owner kept everything well in its upkeep but the turret itself was incredibly worn and aged. Abner remembered that the turret had been here long before the village ever was.

Without hesitation, Charger lightly smacked the aged copper door knocker against the dark oak wood door three times and waited for a response. Almost immediately, the door was opened by a pony who had not aged very well. He peeked his head out the door and without a word closed it up again. Charger was a bit confused and after waiting for a moment, he knocked on the door three times with his hoof and waited again. Growing impatient, Charger went to knock on the door again but as soon as he raised his hoof, the door opened with no one behind it. 

They each entered one by one until the door shut behind them. The door was large enough on the outside but the inside made it seem even larger. Everything a small research department was there. Almost an entire library of books were there to sift through, a small alchemic area in which to mix chemicals together, and a small kitchen with a table and chairs to boot. It was all rather nicely furnished. A spiral staircase climbed the up the wall, leading to what would probably be the bedroom that the owner slept in. Abner wasn't sure if this was the same place of residence that the Howlite from his vision or the old stallion just found too much time on his hooves.

Descending the stairway was an alicorn whose body almost consisted of the same type of crystals they saw outside. This ancient being was still moving around quite easily it appears. Abner was curious if Howlite had remembered his ancestor. Then he spoke up, “You've any idea how long I've waited for you folk to show up at my door? Rhetorical, don't answer that.” His voice was light, but it was clear that he had trouble speaking, as the right words always seemed to make him fumble his speaking. “Abner, you've come here to learn more about those runestones and more. Lark and Tiva, I have something for you two to learn as well. Cuffs, as per your talent of medical knowledge, I've prepared several spells for your use in the field. However, they're not the answer to everything.” He paused for a moment, “Charger, you're the one I couldn't quite figure out something for, as all you have  are intelligence, flight, and speed. I thought about crafting a set of goggles for you, but Flight Gear could make a pair just as easily. Instead and perhaps, I can show you a better way to fight.”

Charger spoke up after a bit of a pause, “Well, that's great and all but prepping something for each of us without at least introducing yourself is rather rude, which I'm sure you know, is a rather bad way make a first impression.”

“Right. Of course, of course. I apologize, I was getting ahead of myself. Perhaps I was anxious in my want to see some form of civilized creature again. My name is Howlite, the crystal forest outside is named after me and with good reason, one that is both regretful and my reason I'm still alive.” Abner felt a similarity between Howlite's way of speaking and Drystan's. He wondered, momentarily, if they may have been brothers.

As the day moved forward and into high noon, the air around the turret seemed to make the sky appear a light purple color instead of the vivid sky blue they were used to seeing. Howlite told the party not to concern themselves with it, as it was caused by the magic of the crystals leaking into the air. After a little instructional brief about the stones to both Abner and Cuffs, Howlite began showed Lark and Tiva a spell that required both a song and a dance performed by two ponies. He did, however, state that the spell could only be used once and that its result would be devastating. Lark and Tiva both agreed with each other that the spell would be a last resort method. Moving on to Charger, Howlite showed him a book that had been forged with ancient methods of fighting with all sorts of different weapons, from spears, staffs, scepters, and broadswords to more exotic and unusual weapons like chakrams and guan daos. 

By the time they were done, having several failures and successes, night had began to come about. Howlite invited them all to stay for the night, as he had prepared to keep them there for as long as it took to train the party properly. Charger agreed to, assuring the rest of the group that it would be better to take their time with their new found knowledge. Each of them began to go to bed, one by one, all except Abner. Choosing to stay awake and study the he had last looked at them, six of them, each having their own inscription. He had learned enough now that he could properly identify each one, as confusing as they appeared.

There existed seven circles of magic, each under a higher order. The first circle of magic was essentially raw energy gathered from the very essence of existence, making it the most the dangerous and destructive. Ann odd feature of this circle however, was that it was a four sided diamond shape that contained the lower order circles. The second circle of magic consisted of light and dark magic placed at opposite ends of the diamond. Each one had their own subsection of magic, order and spirit for light and necromancy and blood for dark. Arcane magic was the third circle, with its edge intersecting the midpoints of the smaller circles of light and dark. Four small circles lied in quarters on the arcane circle with their own properties of time, renewal, space, and illusion. Following the third was the most complex, as it made up the primary elements that require life; fire, earth, water, and air. Each element was positioned much like the four orders under arcane under a larger circle and instead of bisecting, it met their circumference. Four lines connected the four circles together, forming another diamond. Another smaller set of the elemental circles surrounded the sixth circle of magic and created another smaller diamond with another set of lines creating a center lines for the entire fourth circle of magic. These inner most ones also switched around the element positions to create different para-elemental effects. The fifth circle of magic were para-elemental, spells that required the fourth circle of magic in order for them to work. These spells were also to be placed in a circle but placed along the lines that connected the different elemental circles. Included under this fifth circle was steam, lightning, metal, smoke, ice, sand, crystal, and clay. The sixth circle of magic was a touchy one as it required the presence of all of the other magic orders in order to function. This particular circle pertained the subjects of immortality and transmutation, both magics that were well regarded as forbidden and costly. There was a seventh circle that was mentioned in the texts, but these did not require magic circles as they pertained to simple manipulation spells that were natural to perform. Telekinesis magics fell under this jurisdiction, as well as emotionally based magics. The elements mentioned were the most prominent in the people's mind, the Elements of Harmony. 

It appeared that the book that Howlite had given to Abner that the functions and use of each circle were used amongst those that had no direct way of interacting with it except through the runes. It appeared that the use of magic runes had faded out long ago as the population of avid and natural magic using species began to propagate further. However, as technology advanced further in its use and design, a good portion of magic runes became practically useless but there was still a small niche market for them. 

Howlite spoke up quietly, standing by Abner's side, “You know, you remind me of a wolf a met once, long ago. I recall sending an elemental golem to aid him in a journey not unlike your own.” His crystalline mouth moved easily with his complicated speech. “I only wish that I would've met the wolf on better terms as I personally enjoyed his company. Heart of a warrior he had.” He paused in revelation, “Ah, that's right, he was your ancestor.” Abner continued to read through the different rune layouts as the old crystal bodied stallion talked. “Succeed he did, but it was the seal on those guardians that failed. A good portion of seals collapse throughout their aging. It is unavoidable.” The air around him suddenly changed to a dreadful tone. “Come outside with me for a moment, after you're done of course.” 

Howlite seemed to sulk in his thought as he exited through the aged door reinforced a number of times by small metal bars. Drystan spoke up, silently whispering into Abner's ear, “I can't quite put my hoof on it, but something about that fella feels, familiar. I feel like he's silently calling me.” Abner, ever curious decided to proceed after Howlite just after he had finished looking over the last rune configuration.

Stepping outside, there were more ghosts now than ever. “Abner recall for a moment, the sixth circle of magic and its jurisdictions.” Howlite sighed depressingly and continued, “Now imagine a mage at the top of the hierarchy in a vast kingdom and at the time I went by a different name. The name of Falu Red.” The tale he began to tell was like something he had heard from a legend he read at Rosamond's. “I was a fool, a damned fool. I tried my hoof at an immortality spell as my superiors demanded. At the time, we knew not of what improper magic wrought. I painstakingly crafted all the orders, something that required more than a year of study. In a spare lab of the castle I drew out the orders upon the stone brick floor with the help of two assistants whom you've already met.” This perked Abner's interest in Howlite's story. “After constructing the circle, I needed some howlite, crystals named for their soft howling sound when under the proper conditions. The same crystals you see out here.” He gave Abner a moment to listen, he was right. A faint howling sound could be heard from the incredibly large crystals formations. Perhaps it was caused by the light of the moon. “With the proper procedure completed, howlite was acting as a catalyst for each circle of magic. It was the catalyst for a good portion of runes at the time. We used a recently passed child as a subject, I was uncomfortable with it at first. With a couple of words the spell was complete and then what happened next was unfathomable, even for me. I was a fool for not realizing the consequences sooner.” Howlite yawned and continued, “Once the torrential wind calmed down, the entire top half of the tower was destroyed and my assistants had been casted out of sight. A ravaging beast of black tar raged throughout the town, having no discrimination between good and evil. The child had vanished, I presumed that that beast is what he became. That's also when I noticed I had this new form, pure howlite crystals encased my body. I ignored the beast and came around to finding my assistants, Celestia and Luna.” Howlite sat down and stared into the sky. “By the time the havoc was brought to a stop, the entire castle and its outlying districts had almost been entirely wiped out. I did what I could to stop it, but it proved futile. When I came upon the child again, he had become an odd Chimera of all that he had slaughtered- ponies, zebras, dogs, cats, and so forth. At that time I recalled the child's name, Drystan.” His started to choke on his words. “He was my son, they used me to resurrect my own son they murdered. I never sensed the illusion magic they casted on him. I was furious, but out of my own foolish loyalty I refused to continue the destruction. The king banished me here, these crystals rose from my rage. Judgment passed on Celestia and Luna, banished to the Frozen Desert and my son chained to an altar in the forests far south of these mountains.” 

A long moment of silence lasted between the two before Drystan's voice came to be as began to take form as a black tar pony branching away from Abner's shadow, “Father, it seems like you succeeded at the spell then.”

“I know I did, son. The cost was too great, all those precious lives lost was ultimately my doing. I was just excuse for your wrath caused by my neglect. I never meant to neglect you, you know.” Howlite cursed himself.

“Father, I was a child then. My mind was never clear. I tricked others in harmless pranks. I wanted to visited you that day, a guard caught me; I can still feel the wound.” Drystan tried to assure him that it wasn't his fault.

Howlite seemed to imagine the event play out in his mind. “You're right, you always were a bit of a prankster. Those kingdom days are long gone now.” Howlite chuckled quietly and wiped his eye as if he was crying. “I've forgotten that I can't cry anymore. It's good to see you at long last, my son. I'm sure you can't stay here so I ask of you, to aid Abner and his companions. Consider it an old stallion's dying wish.”

“Father, why are you speaking like death is becoming you?” Drystan replied.

“It's not, but sometimes I wish it would. You know as well as I do how much a curse immortality is.” He paused for a moment, changing the subject. “That also reminds me, the Elements of Harmony and the Blight were essentially the result of this spell. The four heroes who possessed them after my banishment only held four out of the six. They weren't even heroes, they were pets to the king.  Malakai held the remaining to before entering the tower. Which means...” Howlite began connecting the dots in his head and started laughing in a lighter tone. “Why hadn't I noticed it sooner.”

Drystan asked confused, “What are you on about?”

“My assistants hadn't forgotten about me, Celestia sent Prudence to me one day, she told me about our meeting. I assume the field of magic on the horizon is caused by Celestia?”

“In a way, yes. She's been infected by the Blight. Luckily the Elements of Harmony are in good hooves. Six individuals whom I'm afraid may not have much longer as they're practically dead center of that thing.” Drystan answered. “Have you ever tried leaving here?”

“At first, but I restricted by these ghosts, these ghosts are from all those lives I stole, they've refused my leaving.” Howlite replied. “Perhaps I can convince them to fight alongside you guys, it would take some time unfortunately.” Howlite pondered as he brought a hoof to his chin. “Yes, that just might work, I'll have to brush up on my persuasion skills again, it's been such a long time.” Howlite changed the subject again, “Abner, I feel another presence with you, other than Drystan's- a familiar one that I've met before.”

“It's Prudence, Father. I remember her saying something about transference magic to save Abner's life.” Dyrstan said, filling in the blanks.

“That's unfortunate, I assume it had to be done?” Howlite questioned. Abner and Drystan both confirmed his assumption with a nod. “Very well. She was a prodigy, I think. It appears her conscious has locked itself away in your mind or she locked herself away.” Howlite began to mutter some words to himself and a white gleam of magic emitted from his crystalline horn. Finishing his muttering, he  lowered his head to Abner a fired a small shot of magic which threw him back into a sudden lucid mindset. Everything flash to white, the entirety of his own memories flashed pass him like a filmstrip until he had met Prudence, her memories began to pass him by, starting from her presence in Abner's village to the point where she had buried her own parents. Then everything thrust forward in time again until Abner regained his sight of the real world. “You'll be disoriented for a little bit, it'll pass. The festering Blight within you that she had passed on has sent her into a perpetual nightmare. The same happened to your companion, Charger.” Pausing for what seemed like the longest break in conversation in awhile and muttered two words under his breath, “Libero Umbra.” Another shot of white magic fired off and pierced through Abner's head. He could feel an immense shadow lift from his mind, revealing Prudence's presence once more. He could feel her aching mind and exhaustion begin to flow into his own. Drystan seemed to be affected a little bit as well. They both endured the spell until Howlite released his grip of power. “The release spell is something Prudence never learned I believe. You see, she had received some training from me when Celestia sent her here as a messenger. She learned well.”

The entire conversation came to a close with that last sentence. Drystan faded back into Abner's shadow, saying goodbye for what was probably the last time. Abner wondered for a moment, how Howlite received his new name. He came to his own conclusion that he had been given it by local legend that had passed away long ago. Abner went back inside to get some much needed rest while Howlite stayed outside, scheming his next move.

Morning came around, the party stretched their limbs and practiced their new skills once more before heading back to the Goshawk in the late afternoon. Howlite left Abner some final words for his journey, “Never forget yourself.” The words at first had no meaning to Abner but as he dwelled on the thought, he came to realize that they words to live by in times of hardship.

----
The Goshawk lifted off once more and headed towards their next destination, Wrecker's home. Living just a little ways east of the Frozen Desert, lying on the other side of the mountain range that acted as a natural border. A tribe of ponies much like him that thrived off strength and trails that were insane to even attempt. They were going there to replace the runestones that were once embedded into his hind legs and perhaps learn more about them. This was their last stop before their final destination.

Two days passed by. During that time the Blight Field, as they began to call it, had expanded into Clackerton. Whisk's instructions were thoroughly followed as the map Marina had clearly showed the barrier put in place by Rosamond. Charger had taken a liking to Whisk's scarf, wearing it in memory of him. Howlite had given them some howlite crystal shards to use for the formula that they need for curing the petrification. Abner had improved upon his use of the Blight activation, controlling the barbed chain that formed from his shadow proved difficult at sometimes as pulling a defensive maneuver after an attack was quite the effort. Albedo seemed to express some joy seeing who won the sparring matches they held on the top deck. Lark and Tiva appeared to cheer them on from the side lines as well. Abner won a few and lost a few on the grounds that he'd only use magic against an opponent that could. Wrecker was the most formidable, his size and stability made him hard to corner and the magic nullifying stone in his chest limited the options for those who sparred with him. 

Breaking through the border of the forest and riding low in the vast mountain range filled with light indigos and snow capped peaks with waterfalls pouring into a single rushing river. Trees dotted the peaks small cliff sides and course terrain that made traveling without any equipment pretty much impossible for those who couldn't fly. Even if one could fly, they would have to watch themselves carefully as outcrops jutted outward from many direction. The thick clouds above forced Flight Gear to slowly steer the ship through the mountainous terrain. Some areas forced him to move the ship higher as excessive downdrafts sought to thwart their travel to the other side. Their namesake was incredibly accurate, The Windy Peaks, as they were labeled according to the map. It took several hours to make it through the massive mountain range. 

As they broke through to the other side of the mountains, they saw an expansive village that stretched from the gaping opening from the ravine below and spewed outward like a flower. Wrecker confirmed Flight Gear's location and proceeded to land the ship at a dock that they had already prepared, strangely enough.

At the mouth of the ravine lied a mass of river deltas originating from the mouth of the ravine. Each cliff edge had carvings, like statues, that immensely dwarfed Canterlot Castle by a long shot. The statues were identical, each an earth pony striped in ceremonial markings that representing different focus points along the body, primarily the joints and the head- where the six senses lie. They both were carved in a very uniform sitting position with their forelegs stretched across, meeting at the center. 

The tribes people lived among the delta marshes, tall grass blocked the view of the complex web of walkways that they could see from above. Huts were mostly built around large eroded trees that appeared dead at first glance, as leaves were few and far between. Their huts themselves consisted of the long grass switches dried and tied together in large bundles and the walls constructed from either wood or mortared stone on well constructed stilts of each material.

Wrecker again donned his armor and headed off the deck of the Goshawk first, greeting a local who wore a large cape crafted from large feathers like that of an oversized ostrich. The local, like Wrecker, was a large stallion was oddly enough, much larger than him. They greeted each other without any verbal communication, instead they appeared to recognize each other by specific sounds. Wrecker motioned for Abner to come down, with both of his swords. Abner did so, having them sheathed away in his harness. Wrecker then assured the rest of the crew that they would be absolutely fine.

Walking through the village, the high humidity began to make Abner pant a little bit, he hadn't been in this type of environment before. As they traveled through the marsh, Abner noticed that a good portion of the huts were furnished very minimally, beds, shelves, a fire pit, and maybe a rack of large spears or other strange exotic weapons similar to the ones that Charger had learned about. Strange thing of it was that a good portion of the homes were empty. Perhaps they were all out hunting large game, something a bit odd considering that they were herbivorous creatures. Maybe, like their guide leading the two of them to who knows where, they wore the skin of their prey like trophies. It all seemed incredibly primitive. It is, however, another perspective on how people live their lives. The livelihood here was based more on survival rather than necessity and hard work unlike the more advanced societies that relied on refined magic and technology to live.

Traveling further inward, towards the ravine where the statues lied, the creaking and cracking wood beneath they walked on floated strangely on the extremely soft ground. Stepping on some parts cause a spot of land to rise slightly nearby, aquifers caused by the ground being unable to soak up the massive amounts of water running throughout the land. A couple villagers nearby noticed them walking along and began to follow, they were children who were eager to become warriors themselves. One of them donned a mask to Wrecker's likeness, another to Abner's, and a third to a creature unrecognizable. Perhaps they strived to become warriors much like Wrecker and heroes like Abner. They each bared small marks on their bodies, much like the statues that were becoming ever closer. Then Abner remembered seeing the same markings on Wrecker's fur, but their center points wrapped around the runestones embedded in his body. The murmur of the children following closely behind appeared to explain the story of a poem or play and oddly enough, the translation magics that Prudence had embedded in his mind wasn't catching a single phrase. Abner could however, feel her conscious pick away at the language, slowly deciphering it one by one; a good sign from her.

As they continued, the children were called by their parents, a call they obeyed as they each went their own way. The quiet walk was almost uncomfortable to Abner, as he had grown used the the random half-insulting banter and various stories between the members of the party. This dreary silence was new and strange but oddly fitting considering the circumstances. They progressed through a cave the winded upward from the foot of one of the statues and up to the top of the head where a ceremonial pyre had been set with another one clearly visible on the other side. Both had corpses laden with oil, the smell twitched Abner's nose quite a bit and their prized weapon in their hooves. For these people this was natural, to burn the bodies of their warriors on large pyres to send them off to the other side- if there even is one. 

The guide continued on, having the two of them follow him on to the bridge which was well constructed between the forelegs of the statues. At its center lied a circular platform, designed for small gatherings and the ritualistic runestone process. There were more ponies here than Abner had seen below, all larger in size compared to Wrecker and each wearing a cape from a different animal. At the platforms entrance, unroofed and painted in green, blue, and red markings resembling something or other, the guide stopped and motioned for the two guests to enter. Their obvious chieftain greeted them with an open attitude, he was most delighted to see the both of them. 

The chieftain had aged quite well, he still hunted with his best warriors and had refused several times to let an injury slow him down. He seemed like one who had been wed according to their customs and had a child of his own. His gray body, orange mane, white hooves, and brown eyes was almost like a signature of sorts. His face paint, however, is what made him more recognizable as their chieftain. Four vertical streaks of red below his eyes, a large headdress crafted from the switches of one of the many willow trees and a robe made from a softly furred animal that was fiercer than its looks. Although the small patch that he wore only appeared to be a small part of the whole. His mane was long and greasy, much like his tail, and both having two switches of cattail grass tied around several strands of hair.

What struck Abner as odd however, is that the chieftain appeared to refer to Wrecker as a different name, Stepping Mountain, according to Prudence's magic. By the time the Chieftain finished greeting Wrecker, Abner fully understood a good portion of their rather simple language, crafted by the way things sounded or by the way things looked. They were all kind of gestural with their speech as well, providing a more mental image with an unusual flow to the conversation. The conversation ended after a short brief description of what sounded like an assignment. Wrecker turned and told Abner that the Chieftain wanted them to dispose of a monster that had taken a liking to an area that contained the runestones that Wrecker required. A small oasis in the middle of the salt flats which ended the flow of the river deltas. 

Wrecker took a deep breath, looking over the edge of the cliff, a small shimmer could be seen south of the village, a good walking distance. “Abner, hop on.” Abner thought that was an unusual request, but obliged and hopped on Wrecker's back. Almost instantaneously, Wrecker sprinted alongside the cliff edge and in a few minutes the oasis began to come into view. Wrecker's speed certainly wasn't on par with Charger's and Kafziel's, but it was a heck of a lot faster than Abner could run. Wrecker stopped in line with the oasis and jumped off the cliff to the ground below, creating a crater on impact about the same length as the Goshawk. It was an incredibly long fall, Abner began to think Wrecker was absolutely crazy doing this, but it certainly matched both of his namesakes. 

The oasis certainly was gorgeous and quite a bit larger than Abner originally thought. Exotic trees bursted up in all sorts of directions and grass of relatively short length surrounded the small lake in its entirety. Wrecker set Abner down  once they reached the lake's shoreline. It was strange that there wasn't any sort of civilization there but there was probably for a good reason for it. Then he figured out why, several statues made of sand that looked like they were eating the fruits from the trees were in forms similar to the tribespeople that Wrecker talked to. Numerous patches of crystals lined the bed of the small lake and at the center where it was the deepest, a faint outline of an underwater cavern could be seen. Wrecker jumped in and swam into the cave, Abner followed closely behind with a little help of magic to help with swimming.

After swimming for a good bit through a twisted cavern with large crystalline structures breaking through and through and almost blocking the way entirely, they surfaced inside a large cavern filled with all sorts of different types of stones. The height and width was almost a perfect circle that had naturally formed pillars of limestone stretching from the floor to the ceiling. There must have been an underground river here at some point, having dried up due to changes in the environment. Unless there was another reason behind it. “I remember this.” Wrecker said, his deep voice easily echoed off the walls. “I moved an entire mountain on my own to reveal this after receiving the runestone ritual.” He paused, “Lets continue.”

They continued on down the cavern with natural light bounced from crystal to crystal, changing color just about every time. Abner collected a few pieces of crystals as souvenirs, figuring that Lark and Tiva might like a few. After what seemed like hours of traveling through the immense very linear cavern, they happened upon the snoring sound of a creature, quietly echoing against the walls. Silencing their footsteps, Abner and Wrecker both snuck along the ledge of the den. It appeared the large serpent like creature burrowed in here from the surface, as a hole leading from a cave above connected to this large opening under the ground.  The serpent itself was very dragon like, having the scales and smoke from its nostrils but no limbs or legs. Its head resembled a mask made of bone and flattened facets connecting from one joint to another.  Dark green in color and a cloudy blue in its face and underbelly with horns dried white and dusty. 

Wrecker approached the serpent, silently. Odd considering the armor he was wearing was normally pretty noisy. Abner followed closely behind, stepping in sync with Wrecker and as they neared closer to the large serpent that could easily wrap itself around the Goshawk at least once, Abner made a false move, slipping a small stone. Luckily, the noise didn't wake the beast. Wrecker then motioned Abner to draw the zweihander and thrust its blade between its eyes. Abner did so, keeping his movements quiet, walking over its head with a magic platform. Abner then thrusted the Matan into the serpents head, but instead of piercing its thick mask, the blade bounced off and lightly scratched the surface. Trying the neck of the serpent and having the same effect, Wrecker thought how to defeat the creature. Its underbelly was just as tough, perhaps there was a weak spot under the mask. Wrecker carefully grabbed one part of the mask, near the cheekbone and under the ear. With one swift  motion, Wrecker tore the serpents mask in half not only awaking the beast but also revealing its true face, a terrifying mass of living bone cracked and aflame in purple hue. 

The serpent's head smashed into the ceiling and then into the walls as it thrashed about. Wrecker and Abner retreated back to the ledge and took a fighting stance. Abner activated his Blight powers again, the mass of fire remained the same color but the rest of the creature was almost entirely black, its outline marked by a thick white line. As it settled down, it began to attack Wrecker and Abner with fire from its mouth illuminating the entire cavern even more. Abner went one way and Wrecker the opposite, yet the serpent managed to split its fire and follow them both. Avoiding the fire until the beast had to breath again, Abner saw the opportunity and threw out his chain, wrapping its end around the other horn. Wrecker quickly joined Abner and smashed the serpent's head into the ground- dazing it long enough for Wrecker to tear off the other half of the mask. Again the creature thrashed about in its rage. The serpent then fired beams of side winding magic from its head and blew another flame from its mouth. Wrecker managed to get a few of the beams to hit the creature's tail and began to climb the serpent's back. The serpent tried hard to shake him off until Abner once again caught the serpent in his chain, restraining its movement. Wrecker tore several spinal fins from the  serpent's back as he ran towards its head where he used the fins as a final blow. Piercing the serpent's skull Wrecker continually hammered the fins in further until it stopped moving. To make sure the beast was done, Wrecker twisted its neck, severing its spinal chord and breaking the nerves apart. 

“Job's finished.” Wrecker remarked as Abner disabled his vision once again. “Now to get this thing back to the village.” Without much effort, Wrecker began to use some rope he had brought with him to drag the serpent back through the cavern. 

The trip back felt shorter than the trip in. With the serpent defeated, Wrecker waited just outside the village to be greeted by the Chieftain. The villager's appeared to rejoice in the result of the battle. The Chieftain made his way through the crowd and greeted them both with a smile. Abner saw the children with the masks again, the one who had worn the mask of the beast appeared incredibly happy, throwing it upon the ground and breaking it. Wrecker chatted with the Chieftain once more, who invited them to stay for the night in one of the tents they had set up for them. One that overlooked the village below from the statue, opposite to the one that they had initially climbed. 

There, they both feasted on a buffet that they both enjoyed alongside the finest warriors and the Chieftain.  There was something about the atmosphere that made things delightful once again, but they both knew that it may not last for long however, neither one worried. Abner and Wrecker both went to rest in separate dens within the statue that night, one next to the other. A single window overlooked each room, the setting sun putting each ablaze with light. Abner drew the curtains closed in his room and relieved himself of the heavy harness on his back. He hadn't taken the satchel with him, leaving him bored with nothing to do.

As the night passed, Abner stared at the ceiling unable to sleep. Not due to thinking, but due to an anxiousness, he could feel that the journey was nearly over but it was still going to be a long trip. Eventually, the feeling passed and Abner slowly drifted off into another lucid state of dreaming into a blank white field once more.

Prudence stood before him, extending her hoof in thanks to him. Abner touched her hoof with his paw proceeded by 
a synced retraction. Drystan joined in from Abner's left, appearing from a large puff of smoke and a faint figure of Stribog appeared from Abner's right. The large dragon was a figure Abner had almost forgotten already but as he recalled his their last meeting, Stribog's shape became more opaque. Prudence spoke up, “I thank you all three of you. Without the dragon's magic, you would have been easily overwhelmed by my magic. Drystan, despite the lie you told me, without your help Abner would not have made it through the moments were my magic was temporary unavailable. And Abner, I thank you with all my heart as you are carrying the same job your ancestor carried all those years ago.”

“Prudence, you act like you're passing away for good this time.” Drystan comedically remarked.

“Well, I can't stay in his head forever, can I?” Prudence snapped back in a light tone.

“Point, but how long is the question.” Drystan commented.

“I don't know. It would take some time to figure that out as I haven't bothered to calculate for that measure.” Prudence replied

Stribog spoke up, “My magic is well, ages it would take to drain.” 

“I've been pooling our magics together, but I've left Drystan's untouched as you are after all, a creature of Blight.”

“Yes, and I'm sure you know why at this point.” Drystan answered.

“I do, it is that fact that I haven't. Combining all three magics would require some sort of catalyst. A catalyst that I have no knowledge about, I don't even know what it would be. Perchance something of Falu Red's book might mention something.” Prudence conjectured. 

“We shall reach a conclusion in time then.” Stribog assured her.

“Indeed. Abner, this burden you carry is practically the weight of the world on your shoulders. All that's left is for your party to travel with the nomadic tribe in the desert and bring this matter to an end. Preferably one that leads to a peaceful resolution even if some of us pass as unfortunate as that would be.”  Prudence spoke with sincerity but almost apologetically.  “My magic will be unavailable to you for some time, Abner. However, Drystan's shadow magic and Stribog's elemental magics over fire and water. For now, sleep.”

Abner was suddenly thrown out from the white abyss and once again swam among ever changing curtains of light floating against a black backdrop dotted with stars. Twisting his body around, Abner stood on air once more. Among the auroras he saw the memories he made with others. Their happiness, sadness and in times of hardship that they carried each other through. He saw his childhood once again flash before his eyes. The short hunting trips into the woods and the school he attended. The bitch that had stood by his side until the Stribog set the village aflame. He wondered, who that was. He couldn't recall a name, not even a hint of a syllable. Each aurora appeared to be a different string of memory connected to his recollection of a particular individual or a single moment in time. All the memories where he knew he said something became distorted. It wasn't the ashes of the fire that had taken his voice, it had been the catalyst for Prudence's transference magic along with her physical body. It was a disheartening fact, something that would take a toll on his mind.

A hard knocking on the door woke Abner from his slumber. He wearily hopped out of bed, eyes half shut. Looking through the small peephole, Abner saw Wrecker waiting on the other side, standing beside him was the guide who had led them through the village when they arrived. Abner hopped down from the door and grabbed his gear, this would perhaps be the last time he had to equip the harness. He looked down at the Goshawk through the window before departing the room. 

He joined Wrecker and the guide to the meeting ground between the outstretched forelegs of the statues once again. They had set up a roof this time, as the weather had brought about a rainstorm with its rain shattering loudly against every surface. Quickly making their way to the circle, Abner and Wrecker stood to the left of the Chieftain in front of his finest warriors and their three blacksmiths who had two objects under thick veils. The Chieftain spouted out a few words of congratulations and the crowd cheered a victory shout. The Chieftain had one of the blacksmiths lift the veils and the other two bring the gifts to Abner and Wrecker. To Wrecker, runestones to replace all of the ones that he had lost and the ones he still had along with a set of armor crafted from the serpent they took down. To Abner, two circular blades with a hilt built into it. It was strange at first, but as he looked over the new weapons, he saw that they had runes bearing resemblance to the elements. One of earth and air, the second of fire and water. Abner recalled these blades fitting to chakrams from Charger's book.

The Chieftain stood before the two of them and explained the functionality of the runestones and the chakrams. The runestones were pure and no more were they subject to corruption. Two of the stones represented the unbreakable skin that the serpent had, two others represented the strength of the mountains; redundant but perhaps they were more effective. The last runestone represented gave Wrecker the breath of fire that the serpent wielded. The new set of armor appeared much the same to Wrecker's old set, only dark green with bone facets attached to the larger parts. It was almost as if a dragon had taken the form of a pony. 

The Chieftain then stood over Abner, and began explaining his new weapon, the chakrams. They were crafted to randomly spit out any one of the two elements embedded on either ring. Instead of wielding the chakrams with his mouth, they would spring back to the wielder by use of a small stone that they were bound to. When attacking, they are meant to be thrown directly at the enemy. Defensive use depended on the amount of magic forced into the rings, the further out they would expand as well as their speed. 

They were both granted a tent nearby. There, Wrecker went through the painful process again to reform the runestones to his back legs and replace the other three. Wrecker took the painstaking process with little gripe. Abner went into another tent, where one of the villages weavers crafted a piece of cloth and attached it to his harness. Embedding the small chakram stone along with it. There the Chakrams sat, barely floating above the stone and between Abner's shoulder blades. Abner jokingly made a remark in his mind, wondering if he'd get any more weapons before his journey ended. 

Equipped with their new gear and a final victory shout from the warriors, Abner and Wrecker headed back to the Goshawk, following the guide through the village once more. Children happily skipped along behind them, it was nice to know that what Abner was doing was helping but this all seemed like one massive detour from their final goal. Although, the more to fight alongside them, the better. After all, they didn't know if whether or not an army of Blight creatures awaited them. He was so lost that he failed to notice the necklaces of kyanite crystals they looped around his head. Lifting off once more and explaining what had happened after waving goodbye to the villagers,  Abner anxiously awaited their arrival into the Frozen Desert. 
> Chapter 9- Nomads and Ancient Beasts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 9- Nomads and Ancient Beasts


It was almost an hour before they began to feel the harsh winds from the never ending blizzards that plagued the desert. Between the village and the desert, the salt flats gave no sign of life- not even vegetative life could sprout. Unable to pilot the ship any further, Flight Gear landed the Goshawk and Abner's party was forced to continue on foot. Albedo's control over weather had no apparent effect on the clouds, they were apparently under someone else's control.

Following the map and forcing their way through the storm with a thick shield of magic, they eventually came upon an eye in the blizzard where they saw a small camp of tents black in color. Rushing toward their destination, the camp appeared to be empty, until one robed pony came out from a tent, apparently from just waking up. Another one arose from a tent, followed by another and so forth until they began to roll up their tents and walk away from them. Abner's party eventually caught with a brisk jog, careful of not spending all of their energy for the upcoming battle. The nomadic tribe continued on without much notice, following the Giglioi Whale as if it was calling them.

Practically an entire day passed before the tribe stopped moving again. They immediately set up camp and began to rest. It was hard to tell when it the day had become night and night into day. Abner's party stopped as well, not sure if they should trail behind the tribe or travel in one big group with them. Abner took this discussion time to look over the chakrams again with their perfectly circular shape. Their outer edges had blades of a shining blue with whimsical grooves that went from each runestone to the other. Each groove ended at an engraving around either runestone that represented whichever element and the grooves themselves represented the elements on each chakram. Each chakrams blade was crafted to represent the elements that it held within. The inner edge was merely a ring of woven cloth lightly tanned.

Charger took it upon himself to pay the nomads a visit and ask if the Giglioi Whale was still following the same trail. They confirmed that it was and asked why they wished to follow the whale with a few weapons drawn. Charger answered calmly that they only wish to follow it to the Guardian's Temple. The nomads withdrew their weapons and continued their wandering among the camp, they appeared a bit irritated by the newcomers. The nomadic tribe consisted of various different species. Some appeared to be ponies of sorts, another few as wolves, more as tall golem like creatures. They all wore robes of black with gold and white patterns lining the sleeves and collars. Large hoods and veils prevented their faces from being seen along with short white capes that drifted lightly along their backs. The winds in the eye were a lot nicer compared to the ones outside it.

One by one the Nomads went to their tents and slept for the night. They were practically in sync with the whale's sleep pattern and movements. Who knows how many generations have traveled behind the whale, Abner's memory recall no specific date when they started to. Their history being almost entirely undocumented, perhaps he could ask the leader of the tribe, if there was one. Looking around, Abner saw a few familiar faces from the vision he had of Malakai. One of the golems stopped before him and they silently stared at one another. “Malakai?” The golem spoke softly in a gravel voice. “That can't be right, you're dead. Name yourself at once!” Abner wrote in the rune scripture that the letters of the runestones drew from onto the pad of paper Albedo had given him. The golem of earth and ice was surprised at first at Abner's claim of descending from Malakai's lineage. “Then you must be here to stomp down the invaders.” Invaders? There shouldn't be such a thing, not here. Abner asked the golem to explain. He answered solemnly, “These creatures, writhing in black mass. I've only fought such crazed beasts once before; thousands of years ago. They hunger for primal magics and cease to halt their famished stomachs.” So the Blight had made their way here in an effort to prevent Abner's party from reaching the Temple. Abner hoped that such a thing wouldn't happen but at east there would be some excitement. “Abner, was it? I recall Drystan going out for help, taking the sword with him. Seeing you here now means he was successful in his task. Tell me young one, did he return with you?” Abner nodded to his shadow, Drystan gave a short wave. “Ah, he never took a liking to any form. You and you party may continue following us. We shall reach the Temple in two days time.”

Two days seemed awfully long, it could be enough time for Celestia's magic field to take over the mountain range they'd recently crossed. Which means that if they didn't place the sword upon the altar soon, they would be surrounded. It felt like forever before they came to a rest, Abner's party hadn't taken such a long walk in ages it seemed. The closest was probably walking from Whisk's tavern to Canterlot Castle. Abner wondered how the nomads kept themselves fed and knew when to continue or stop. Njödur, the golem he had talked to before, filled him in. Most of the ones who required food no longer needed it, as they had a spell casted upon them, “Nourishment”, he called it.

With another day passed without much notice, the nomads lead them to a large dune that encircled the Temple, creating a basin and surprisingly, the snowstorm didn't bother to touch the area. It was high noon with a clear sky. In the center, the faint outline of the three towers could be seen. Before leaving, Abner asked Njödur about Celestia and Luna, mentioning what Howlite said about them being banished here. He called the tribal leader, who had lived amongst them the longest. A reptilian being, a short and stout dragon tan and white all over but had no wings. Another interesting feature were the small spikes that wrapped his around his lower jaw and the back of his neck Abner asked the leader the same question, the answer which he received was a bit lengthy.

“Well, Abner...” the dragon spoke in a hoarse and wise tone. “...The Celestia and Luna you speak of, were banished here by their kingdom of old. Some odd years later, your ancestor sought the Temple as well. He and his companions gave four necklaces to us, each was engraved with a rune representing a specific emotion if memory serves me right. Celestia and Luna had already obtained the two themselves. I've pondered for some time what those were for but I've long since stopped. They both found their own way and where they are now escapes my knowledge.” The short dragon sighed lightly, “May Giglioi's will help you.” He finished before leading the Nomads away from Abner's party to follow the Whale once more. Njödur joined Abner's party knowing that the more people they had, the better their odds would be. 

The entire party consisted of Cuffs, Charger, Lark, Tiva, Abner, Njödur, Marina, Drystan and Wrecker. They marched forward to the Temple at a brisk pace confronting no enemies. About halfway there, a howling sound like a boat's foghorn roared over the chilling wind and broke through the storm front. Everyone ceased their movement. A massive black oblong diamond shape that appeared to emit a continuous black fog began to fire hundreds of cannons in their direction. Abner activated his Blight Vision to check if it was a single entity as Marina, Cuffs, and Lark projected a protective shield. As the airship began to break through the front further, it was followed by dozens of smaller ships who also opened fire. Luckily, the ships were a single combined mass but something else was afoot- several of the ships appeared to dropping balls of smoke that released foot soldiers in the dozens.

Charger began giving orders, not letting the armada's size concern him. “Lets get to the Temple before they do and set up a defensive perimeter. There's a colonnade that we can use to achieve an advantage.” Abner deactivated his Blight Vision and was the first to start running to the Temple; the rest of the party followed suit. Amazingly, they avoided all of the cannon fire and razor sharp beams of magic. Charger flew to the top of the colonnade and began to give orders and keeping Tiva safe behind him. Abner used some magic to run up the steep colonnade that wrapped itself around the three towering obelisks. “Abner, hit them hard. Use the runestones Prudence gave you.”

The largest ship began to rise in altitude and began another barrage of cannon fire almost in unison with the other ships. Abner took a short quick and deep breath, drawing from Stribog's pool of magic within him and projected a massive square shaped shield that successfully detonated every cannonball and deflected each massive beam. The foot soldiers began a full-on charge towards the small group with their numbers well into the tens of thousands. Abner pulled one of the runestones from his satchel and activated it with a little magic. It was one of lightning, a para-elemental stone that allowed the user to fire bolts of lightning from the stone which each magic induction. Abner levitated the stone in front of his nose and fired off nearly four dozens bolts and took down nearly a dozen of the  smaller ships that had broken through the storm front. Each ship crashed into the sand drifts below and reformed itself into dozens of large creatures. 

Abner continued going through each of the stones until they burned out. He used fire to create a wall, water to create massive sinkholes in the sand, earth to assemble projectiles out of hardened sand and hurl them towards the Blight, and air to form dust devils to throw off their advancement. The last two stone Abner had at his disposal was one of crystal and one of metal. The flag ship, the largest in the fleet, still held a menacing presence as it still floated above the battlefield. Something else was launched from the ship this time, small fixed winged planes began approaching in droves. Abner had Wrecker launch him toward the incoming planes with the full force of his might. Wrecker's strength sent him straight into the middle of the planes and with one quick movement, Abner created a sphere of metal spikes around him and used a blast of magic energy to propel them outward; effectively eliminating a good portion of the small fighter fleet. Abner let gravity take over his descent down to the sands below, where a mass of Blight creatures variate from the mundane and incredibly complex with their size ranging from the incredibly small to the ridiculously large but still dwarfed by the Temple's colonnade structure with numerous arcs connecting each one together. Abner used his free falling force in combination with Matan to pierce the head of the largest creature that had taken form as a massive hammer wielding statuesque figure shaped after a minotaur.

After impacting the desert's surface and throwing up a massive cloud of sand and smoke, Abner summoned a field of flowering crystal masses with the last runestone. Breaking through some of the crystals, Abner using his chakrams as a defensive perimeter, wielded Rembrandt with levitation magic and Matan with his mouth, like he had always done. Charger and the others aside from Marina, Tiva, and Lark, threw themselves into the fray. Charger went forward with his saber, Wrecker with his brute strength alongside Njödur, Cuffs charged in using bolts of magic. Having slayed more than a thousand in a few minutes and avoiding sniper like beams from the last and the largest flagship in the sky. Abner dodge, rolled, parried, cut through, and utterly destroyed wave after wave of enemies to get underneath the ship's center. Charger had the rest of the fighting party to regroup on Abner and defend him. 

Abner stopped dead center under the ship where it appeared to be unable to aim. Drawing from Stribog's pool of magic once more and slowly merging it with Prudence's gathered a large mass of raw light magic in an ever enlarging 
pulsating sphere at the tip of his horn, steadily aim and released it as massive beam that acted like a static charge from its base and to its point of impact which disintegrated the back half the ship. The resulting mass was thrown forward towards the Temple, where it then collided and broke through each one causing a collapsing chain reaction. The army of Blight began a full scale retreat. 

The fighting group ran back to the Temple's colonnade and regrouped with Tiva, Lark, and Marina.  Charger was the first to speak up among the silence, “Well, the Blight retreated but its only a matter of time before they return. Abner, Lark, and Tiva, find the altar in which to lay that sword on. The others and I will set up a perimeter in the meantime. Cuffs, Wrecker, set up as many traps as you can. Marina and Njödur, see what you can do to bottleneck them. I'll stay on a short patrol just outside the perimeter. Lets get to it.”

The destruction wrought by the ships collision with the towers created a large field of debris of sandstone and limestone that made up the towers. The bridges that had connected the towers together managed to hold up rather well at their entry points but the strain of the earthshaking impact broke them apart at their center. The shortest two of the three towers had their top halves cut off and the ship had barely nicked the third and tallest tower but had managed to scrape off the pyramid that topped the structures. Coincidentally, the winds caused by the collapsing debris managed to clear off a good portion of sand from the base of towers. A very peculiar design that reminded him of one of the design's from Howlite's notes but the rubble had obscured a good portion of the design.

Abner found a smaller alternate entrance into the tallest tower. He was followed by Lark and Tiva who awed at the towers church like décor. The same décor that Abner had seen just before the vision he had of Malakai. Only everything was in color, partially eroded, and dimly lit. The same four spiral staircases located by the entry way still stretched high towards the sky, their ends overshadowed by the floor above. The stairs were the only way up and as much as Abner would like to stay and admire the architecture, they needed to continue on. Tiva took to flying up to the next floor, Abner and Lark took to the stairs, using teleportation to shorten the trip. 

Upon their final step at the stairs end, they were greeted by the breeze of wind, the empty desert below had remnants of the tower in a very linear direction and the clouds of snow in the distance were ever ominous. The stained glass floor from the vision was there, before the altar instead of the podium. However, something was a little bit different, the altar was located in the center, atop of the glass. It was a simple altar made of a stair-stepped stone base and engraved with an image similar to the dunes of the sands. It was a gray color with several jades embedded into each corner that meet the small and very lacking top surface of the altar. A large single piece of the tower pyramidal top remained, the peak of its shadow rested atop the altar, casting an odd feeling of strange accomplishment.

The other three guardians remained petrified. A bird whose feathers looked like lightning the streaked past his tail with a beak long and narrow directly left of the altar and standing as tall as it could, barely taller than an average home. To the right lied the Chimera, claws and forelegs of an eagle, full neck and head of a goat upon its back, hind legs of a bull, body and head of a lion with a tail made of a venomous serpent that sat with his head bowed. The third statue resembled a large sly fox lied equally space between the other two sporting nine tails and about the same size as the bird. The remains of the fourth statue was where Stribog should've been, directly opposite of the fox. 

Abner looked around for the remains of Malakai, who should've been in stone still, but Njödur said that he had passed away, probably from being petrified for such a long time. However, most excerpts about petrification say that the one petrified does not pass, but remain in a state of immortality.  Drystan mentioned that Stribog may have shattered him when he awoke. What was strange is that the seal hadn't broken on the other three beasts. A question for another time perhaps.

Abner drew out Matan for the last time and rested it upon the altar. Placing it vertically into the slot that had been carefully crafted for the large sword. As Abner withdrew from the altar, four circles of went ablaze in orange light. Each one began at the feet of the petrified beasts and had a single line coursing to the altar where the light climbed and seeped into the blade and retreated back into the magic circles. When the light vanished, the petrified beasts shell of stone began to crack and break away. Each one of the beasts began shaking of the smaller bits the remained and stretched out their limbs. The feeling that something wasn't right arose among Abner, Tiva, and Lark as they slowly backed towards the spot where Stribog once stood. The three beasts instead of confronting to fight Abner, touched the altar instead. A sudden flash of light shattered the altar apart and the beasts began to vanish into thin air, but their souls remained as orbs of light with each being a different color.

Without warning, the three orbs thrusted themselves into Abner's body. Throwing him into an alternate plane of existence, entirely empty in its content aside from a floor and white space. After getting his senses together, Abner realized that he was stranded here with all of his weapons. The three beasts arose together a good distance away from him where they began to spew out creatures of Blight from their bodies. Abner easily disposed of them and charged toward the beasts. With a single leap and a single blow, Abner rid the plane of the fox. The nine tailed fox had other plans however, as it split into multiple, three smaller bodies and began to attack as the Chimera's serpent tail struck at Abner. Abner avoided the attack with a quick teleport and proceeded to trap the fox in a magic cube while avoiding the lightning fast dash attacks from the bird. These three beasts had been trained well to work together, he wondered if Stribog had been as well. 

Abner first focused on the Lightning Bird, eventually tricking it to run into Matan's blade by  making himself appear vulnerable while fighting the Chimera. Turning him in a fury of lightly colored brown ashes. Abner then moved to the Chimera which had began spit venom from his tail at a distance and use the goat's head to block attacks from its side. Abner first cut off the Chimera's tail and the serpentine head at its end and then climbed the side of the beast as it turned around as Abner pierced the goat's head from underneath its jaw with Matan. From there Abner swung around the collapsing mass and went for the Chimera's head like an arrow as the fox defeated the magic box Abner had trapped him in. Abner thought well not to strike a clean blow as he had done before. He recalled his vision and looked for any clue that lead to the fox's defeat but to no avail. The fox crafted began crafting little dolls that bore a resemblance to Whisk and the others, but the heavy ink-like body the Blight consisted of received Abner's strike without hesitation. Abner summoned up ice magic to freeze the three scurrying foxes, each had inherited three tails from its normal form. After turning a good portion of the near endless plane into a glacier, Abner managed to contain each one in a solid crystalline block of ice that looked like a large projectile impacting a low angled surface. Abner followed each frozen target with a hefty swing of his sword.

The plane vanished into blackness and Abner awoke where he had collapsed on the tower, Lark and Tiva nowhere nearby. With the Guardians taken down, Abner recovered his breath among the silence. The Blight essence that had resided within them remained scattered across the ground until Drystan slipped out from his shadow and the inky substance began flowing into Drystan's body. Abner slowly backed away as Drystan's body grew in size. “Finally, after all this time. The Blight of the Gaurdian's is mine and I have you to thank you for it, Abner. I am, however, still incomplete. There rests the Blight inside you that I could not obtain, release it and I shall end the crisis. If you don't then I have no choice but to dispose of you.”

“I thought he would trick us. Abner, Blight works like a weed in a garden, you cannot get rid of it unless you dig up the roots.” Prudence remarked.

“I can still hear you, Prudence. If you wish to fight, then so be it.” Drystan said. Drystan morphed into a figure similar to Whisk's and charged toward Abner. Abner avoided his attack and as he turned to face Drystan, he taunted him “Abner, are you sure you can kill your own friends?” A hundred figures well crafted to look like Whisk suddenly encircled him. “After months of traveling together, forming bonds of heart, are you sure you can burn down those bridges you've built?” 

“Keep pressing forward, Abner. If I'm right, we're still in the same dimensional plane.” Prudence said. “Remember that its only Drystan you're fighting.”

“I can hear you, you know.” Drystan added, as all of the clones charged toward Abner. Abner jumped up only to be thwarted by ones further away who had changed into triangular faceted figures of Charger who tackled him to the ground. “Do you know what happens to all the Blighted creatures you've killed? Did you think that it just went away, became purified so no more harm was wrought?” Each mouth of the clones talked simultaneously, becoming one echoing voice that perturbed his hearing. Abner shook the clones off of him, remembering the way that Charger fought in close quarters and used his weight against him. Each clone that Abner threw to the ground vanished in a puff a smoke but each time that occurred, an electrical shock pierced through Abner's body that tensed up every single muscle. “That, that there is exactly what I mean. Abner. I endured that every time you killed one of the creatures but each one means more power.”

After the shock, the scenery changed from the top of the tower to the nightmare that he had one night in Canterlot where he chased after Prudence but woke up after experiencing his body melting away into the ground with buildings aflame all around him. Drystan changed some of the clones into the rest of Charger's original squad, Prudence, Wrecker, Marina, and Cuffs. Abner drew Matan from his sheath, ready to fight and charged forward. With every shock that coursed through him, Abner became more enraged. Not because of the pain and his tiring strength, but because Drystan betrayed him and was fighting using his friends image and not his own. All of the clones had been unable to use any magic and their fighting styles were practically the same.

He slayed every clone one by one until none remained and by the time he could catch his breath, his fur was singed and burned with smoke trailing from his body. Drystan reformed again, taking on Abner's shape. “Endure it, Abner, as I have over thousands of years!”

“Abner, if you keep pushing forward like this, I don't think i'll be able to heal you properly.” Prudence worriedly warned him.

Abner forced himself forward, defending himself from duplicate attacks that Drystan threw at him. They clashed their swords to a standstill, “Can you defeat yourself Abner? Every attack you've made I can easily duplicate.” Abner brought about his chakrams to strike from both sides only to be blocked by Drystan's own. “Almost at your breaking point and yet you still insist on fighting?” Abner pulled himself away and Drystan did the same. Every action, down to breathing and walking, Drystan managed to duplicate easily without any effort. Abner fired a quick beam of light magic from horn only to be canceled out by Drystan's own. “Everything you know, I know. Just give up and I won't have to kill you.” 

Abner continued to fight on, using everything he had, the elemental magics he knew as well as arcane and primal. Each spell of his canceled out by equal power or more. He fought Drystan using each of his melee weapons. If he swung Matan from the side, Drystan parried or blocked it. If he threw his chakrams forward, Drystan blocked it with clones of his own. If he used Rembrandt for a quicker swings using levitation, Drystan forced his magic grip loose and threw it back at him. Abner even used the spell to fire off the magic beam that took down the flagship only to have it fizzle away in front of Drystan. Even wrestling him down to the ground failed to work as Drystan would just force him off with a quick arcane blast. The Blighted Chain held no effect, as the impacts barely phased him.

Abner thought about giving up momentarily, but an idea came to him, Drystan hadn't learned how to combine light and dark magic. Abner casted an opaque shield around himself and began drawing out the runes required onto his shoulders by carefully burning off his hair to shape them. Prudence concerned at first until Abner assured her not to worry by writing a few words on the shield's interior. A secret that Howlite had told Abner without his son's notice. After having drawn the lines to direct the flow of magic to his horn, Abner released the shield and focused his magic energy to the tip of his horn, where it gathered up as a small clear and smoothly flowing orb. Abner charged forward and locked his blade with Drystan once again and when he did, Abner fired off the charged magic into Drystan's head, shattering his image of Abner as a dark shadowy figure and returned to his original alicorn shaped form.

Drystan lied on the ground with the Blight slowly seeping away from his body, revealing the colors of his fur and mane. Prudence was in awe and unable to speak. Drystan turned around to face Abner while lying on the ground. “So you've can burn your bridges and you can overcome yourself, but can you kill someone?” he said, changing into an all too familiar shape with the voice to match. “Well, can you?” Abner stepped back, seeing that he had changed into Lark. “Not so easy is it? What are you waiting for, the world isn't going to fix itself.” The memories of Lark coursed through Abner's mind like an ocean in a ravaging storm, he hadn't realized how emotionally attached he had grown to her. Everything she did was normally for him and he always thanked her silently. “Come on Abner, you can fight, you can save, but you can't kill someone who betrayed you!? I'm sure you've hunted a few rabbits in your lifetime, it can't be this difficult for-” Abner struck Drystan's chest with Matan with all of his might, causing him to writhe in pain for a good minute. “-you. You've done it and I thank you. Living forever is such a hassle.” Drystan remarked with a smile as his body fizzled away into the air as specks of light, flowing high into the dark empty sky.

The Blight Drystan had threw itself at Abner, forcing him out of the dimensional plane and back into the real world where he was being shook a bit by Lark until she saw his eyes open. “Oh thank goodness you're alive, I was so worried.” She said, wiping a few tears away from her eyes. I carried you down here, the center point between the three towers, Charger saw that the design in the foundation holding the towers had a design that resembled something you might be able to work with. We've cleared off the rest of the sand so you could study it.”

Abner stumbled for a moment, his body ached from the fight. An odd feeling considering that none of his wounds he had received were visible. He walked around the engraved stonework, seeing that it was in fact a massive rune the held every circle of magic with two more attached to either side; one of song and one of dance. The seventh circle lied outside of the Primal Diamond but touched its touched the top, just above the rune of light. In the middle was the sixth circle, slightly raised. When he stood in its center, he felt a sudden surge of magic flow through him and then he knew exactly needed to be done. 

He opened the satchel on his harness and pulled out just a little bit of howlite powder and placed it in the engraved rune beneath him. Abner activated the rune, which forced the Blight out from Abner and destroyed it in a beam of light, but the hooked swirls remained stained in his fur. He then planted the blades of both his swords equally apart in front of and and placed one chakram over the hilt to rest on the guard. He walked over to the seventh circle and upon its activation Prudence's consciousness was forced out of Abner and she took on her original form once more beside Tiva. Abner's head felt a bit lighter but he could feel his magic powers lessen to a great extent. Prudence struggled to get back on her feet, she had nearly forgotten how to walk. Tiva immediately helped her up with great joy jumping in her heart. The horn remained with him, but Prudence had her own as well.  

Abner continued on and activated the seventh circle again to remove Stribog's soul from his body, who also retook his original form behind Abner. With Stribog taken from him, his magic pool drained down one miniscule bit, enough to trigger one last rune. He walked over to Marina and gave her his satchel and necklace after taking the last bit of howlite he needed, leaving enough for them to remove Whisk's petrification and perhaps Belisama's as well. He turned back to the center of the main magic circle, the sixth circle that held the product of life and its related functions: immortality, creation, and transmutation. 

He poured the howlite into the engravings and had Lark stand on the circle of song and Tiva on the circle of dance. Abner then spoke with his own voice, “ Tiva, dance gracefully along and Lark, sing to me that ballad.” His voice was clear and filled with weariness and still held the vibrant youth he once had, full of heart. Lark sang the ballad, holding back her tears and Tiva danced gracefully danced along knowing the result. 

The ballad began at first calling the earth and its restless strife. With the second verse, the ballad was about the heart and light. The third verse spoke of the planet's four primary elements. The fourth verse was apologetic and spoke of the bell's knell. Finally, the last verse and shortest cleansing be brought forth by rain in a garden. With the last line, Abner activated the rune and from there came an enormous field of magic that rapidly flowed outward into the storm with every circle of magic softly glowing. The blizzard's clouds were disintegrated upon meeting the magic field and as the field grew ever larger, everything that was tainted by the Blight, was cleansed. However, the same could not be said for those who may have perished from it. The magic field pierced through and engulfed the one that Celestia had erected and continued on until it made its way around the entire planet. Once the spell was finished, its light gray surface fizzled away and what remained of the magic circle was an incredibly luscious garden and a stone figure where Abner stood on all fours, proudly looking in the direction where his home was. The garden was filled with Olwen's lillies, chrysanthemums, roses, purple achimenes, brodiaea, and veltheimia. It reached out to the colonnade where nearly a dozen brachychiton trees grew, blocking a good portion of the arches. His weapons remained untouched but impossible to remove.

Lark cried her heart out, Marina silently comforted her. Prudence looked on with Tiva helping her stand. Stribog flew up to the colonnade and let out a mournful roar that signified the end of the journey. Charger and the others walked in from the bottleneck entrance they created out of the debris. “Well, looks like the little guy did it.” he said, relieved but saddened. “Marina, does that satchel have the telecommunications device Flight Gear gave Abner?” Marina nodded to confirm. “Toss it over. We can't stay here, we have homes to go to and people to help. Lark, I know you would like to stay, but you'll starve out here by yourself. Njödur, you can stay here if you like, Stribog may stick around though; that's up to him. Prudence, it's good to have you back.” Charger paused. “Well now how's this thing supposed to work?”

Charger quickly figured out the device and called for Flight Gear, giving him the coordinates on the map Marina had. Lark gathered her strength up again and boarded the Goshawk for what could be the last time and headed back to Canterlot, a good three day trip without stopping. That day, they all left with heavy hearts and minds. Their victory, their journey, ended with a sacrifice that would be burned into the the history of textbooks everywhere. Their journey would become a legend that would be passed on for generations to come.
> Chapter 10- Closure and Rebuilding (Epilogue)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10- Closure and Rebuilding


Four months passed after their journey ended. The group received medals of honor and bravery. Parade and celebration followed. Prudence was relieved of her duties and her gravestone in Canterlot removed. She married Lionel and had another child, an unicorn colt bearing Lionel's resemblance. Lark moved back to her home in Abner's village and funded a small statue in Abner's memory. Stribog and Njödur guarded Abner's Garden and the nomadic tribespeople he once lived with continued to follow Giglioi's Whale. Wrecker continued to serve alongside Charger and Whisk, who had been released from petrification before they went to Canterlot. Whisk married Rosamond and happily ran the Fuax Blue Tavern together, handing the ownership of Palatial Manor to Charger. Albedo and Flight Gear had a child of their own, a pegasus filly that beared resemblance to her mother. The wielders of the Elements of Harmony helped rebuild Canterlot before returning to Ponyville and rebuilding there. Cuffs implemented the runestone system with the medical field, providing an easier way to access magic by creating tools and control boards for them. Howlite successfully managed to have the ghosts that haunted him pass on peacefully. Abner's family moved back home after visiting his garden and mourned alongside dozens of others who wished to see the hero. Belisama watched over their village in secret. 
> Author's Notes and Discarded Chapter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Following is a series of notes, images, and an unused chapter.
None of the contents really spoil the story at all.  A good portion of these scans are a bit light in contrast

Table of Contents
Section 1: Unused Chapter
Section 2: Weapon Sketches
2A)Chakrams
2B)Matan
2C)Rembrandt
Section 3: Flight Gear's Airship, the Goshawk
Section 4: Character Sketches
4A)Abner
4B)Charger
4C)Whisk
4D)Marina
4E)Prudence
4F)Lark
4G)Tiva
4H)Wrecker
4I)Doctor Blue Cuffs
4K)Flight Gear
Section 5: Wolves, Other Species, Golems, and the Blight.
Section 6: Circles of Magic




---Section 1: Unused Chapter---
Info: This chapter was discarded, partly due to the fact that it would nullify one of the major story elements. However, I still wanted to write the chapter as a bit of practice for later fight scenes. This takes place in Chapter 3, after Abner gets knocked out. In this instance, Abner decides to head to Canterlot to retrieve Matan and get Celestia to stop the Blight field she was forced to setup.


….Lionel kept Tiva by his side for the rest of the day. He allowed Lark and Abner to ride the train to Canterlot for free out of the kindness of his heart. Before leaving, Lionel told the two of them that the holders of the Elements of Harmony that still lived in Ponyville also traveled to Canterlot that morning. Abner could still feel the aching sadness that resided in Prudence in his mind and he could hear Drystan silently trying to get her mind set straight on their current goal. As they arrived, they saw a massive shield of light protecting the the city, then the train came to a sudden halt.
Looking outside the window and towards the front of the train, “What in the world, they've got some sort of station set up, it looks like it's to screen ponies. I think you might have to break out that massive burst of magic you used earlier to get by.”
A couple of soldiers hopped into their train car, Abner and Lark sat in their chairs patiently awaiting what they were going to do. “All right, listen up everyone. By order of Celestia, her royal army is to search every incoming and outgoing train for two persons, a unicorn and a wolf with a horn for reason of treason and grand theft.” Abner's ears quickly perked up and he hid himself under the seat, using illusion magic to conceal himself, Lark did the same but only ducked down to change the color of her fur and mane. The two soldiers steadily made their down the aisle, thoroughly and quickly searching each seat for any evidence. Eventually, the two finished their search and left the car.
“That was close.” Lark whispered. “Why in Equestria's name are they looking to arrest us, we've done nothing wrong.”
The train began moving again as the engine roared to life as it began accelerating again. Hoping off the train, they saw that shield was barely touching the entry way to the station building. “Abner, I'll cast a spell of illusion and one for canceling out the shield so we can pass through.” Prudence said quietly in his mind. She had full faith in her abilities of magic to challenge the Princesses on her own if she could.
Making their way through the city, they felt that the air was darker, less harmonic than it was before. The birds didn't sing and the crowds of ponies spouted selfish nonsense at one another. Several non-hostile abominations could be seen haunting the alleyways, their eyes gleamed a dark soulless red. “What in the name of Equestria is going on? It's as if everypony has gone mad. I don't understand.” Lark was openly expressing her concerns to Abner. “Perhaps we should make our way to Twilight's library first. No doubt that Charger and his crew are already safe inside the gates of the castle.”
Trying to remember the way with the new twisted cobblestone roads that played tricks on the mind, Lark and Abner frantically ran around Canterlot bumping and shoving their way through random crowds that barked madly. The sky was lightly tinted with a rose pink hue and darkened the light from the sun. Lark was reminded of the Discord incident the occurred about ten years before, where everything in Ponyville was getting flipped around; up was down and down was up, turtles flew and fire was frozen. It was a tale that her mother told her a few times when she was a filly.
Finally making their way into the inner parts of Canterlot, they found the academy once again. To their dismay, it seemed unprotected but Lark and Abner both could feel the strong surge of magic coming from within. Cautiously making their way to the library, avoiding the heavy security using illusional magics. Abner and Lark both phased themselves through the walls, they saw that the library was extremely crowded, filled to the brim with ponies that looked as they had taken shelter within the library to protect themselves from the madness outside. Everyone of them chatted silently to one another, it was almost deafening.
Lark whispered to an older looking pony, “Excuse me, but have you seen a pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle?” The old stallion blankly stared back at her, he turned his head towards the center of the library and pointed his hoof towards the third floor, where stood a single pony that continually release a stream of magic to keep a shield powered. Lark and Abner quickly made their way up the stairs and slowly approached the purple pony. Twilight was visibly drained and exhausted, but still deep in concentration. “Twilight,” Lark softly spoke up, “do you have any idea what's going on here?”
Twilight struggled to open her eyes, “Oh, Lark, Abner. I didn't feel you guys come in through my shield.” She released a final burst of magic before keeling over. Abner quickly caught her with levitation. Her breath was rasped and sore, “Thank you. This shield should hold for the next day or two, I didn't realize it would take up so much magic.” She steadied herself to get back on her feet as she used the railing as leverage. “I'm getting incredibly exhausted. Anyways, Lark, what are you doing here? Are you not aware that both you and Abner are wanted for the crime of treason, a charge I see by all means inconceivable.”
“That's what we're trying to figure out, Twilight. We're also wondering way Canterlot has gone into such a disharmonious state.” Lark replied, confusion filling her voice.
“I wish I could answer both of those questions, Lark. I've kept myself here amongst these students. Protecting them from what is occurring practically on our doorstep. I've sent multiple letters to Celestia, but she hasn't responded at all considering her last letter before all this was written in such an unusual way. The way she wrote threw me off, she had inane ramblings about obtaining a sword and using it to protect Canterlot. She was always mentioning herself and her most loyal subjects, the Elements of Harmony.” She looked down over the crowds of ponies who were all visibly frightened and concerned. “I began sensing a dark aura coming from her letters. I had to confine Spike to the bed, the aura was driving him to again steal out of greed and selfishness.” Suddenly, she had a moment of epiphany, “Why didn't I make this connection sooner. Prudence told me of what the Blight can do, she told me also how it can be defeated.” She trotted off towards her room and came back with a golden crown with purple gems embedded within. “This is the element of friendship, take it with you. I have to stay here and hold up the shield in case anything happens. If Celestia's gone made, this can at least help to clear her mind long enough for you to force the Blight out of her.”
“Twilight,” Lark spoke up, “Lionel told us that the other wielders of the Elements took a train into Cantorlot this morning, what should we do if we meet them?”
Twilight gave the situation some thought, “If you meet them, tell them what I said, if they don't believe you, use a memory recall spell to reveal this conversation. If at worst, you have to fight them, use my element to knock them back to their senses. If I recall correctly, Prudence said that the Blight only affects those who have any sort of magic, recessive or not, in their genes. Unicorns being the first to fall victim to the disease.” 
“Wait, if unicorns are affected far more easily, how did you know when to cast this shield up?” Lark asked in a most curious manner.
“I saw the shield go up around the entirety of Canterlot first, I inspected it and found that nothing is supposed to escape its grasp. It eternally confines and consumes the magic from the land, this was after I received the letters from Celestia just yesterday.” Twilight confidently answered. Lark looked surprised, shocked even. “I know, how could this spread so quickly, you ask. It's the shield.” she emphasized. “Get going, here's a scroll for the recollection spell.” She hugged the both of them and wished them the best of luck, like a mother who saw her children off before they left home in the morning.
Quickly making their way back down the stairs they saw an earth pony in ragged clothes come rushing in through the front door. “Miss Twilight, dozens of Legion soldiers are making their way here, what should we do?”
Twilight spoke loudly and clearly, “I've got it covered. You needn't worry.” She glanced over at Lark and Abner and nodded, they both knew that she was basically giving them permission to attack the soldiers if need be. 
Abner and Lark made their way outside to face the soldiers of Celestia's Legion. One approached the two of them, a pegasus that somewhat resembled Charger in color, but the ever reddening tinted light made it difficult to discern that. “By her highness Celestia, Abner and Lark Song are ordered to be captured dead or alive for the high crime of treason. You are gravely out numbered, surrender now or repay your crimes with your lives, make your choice wisely.”
Scanning over the few dozen soldiers that were systematically lined up behind the colt, Abner and Lark both looked each other and back to the soldiers. Lark loudly proclaimed, “No, Celestia is not in her right mind, the Blight is corrupting her and this kingdom.”
“The Blight is nothing more than a made up term to perpetuate the idea the Celestia is tyrannical and unfit to rule.” The leader harshly replied.
Lark whispered to Abner, “Looks like they're all fooled. We'll have to fight them off on our way up to Celestia. Your area burst is going to be very helpful here.” 
Abner acknowledged her words and reared back like a horse and stomped his feet onto the soft ground, causing a massive uni-directional quake towards the soldiers and released a horrendous amount of magic pressure to know them all over. The dragon's magic was greatly amplifying that which Prudence had already given him. All of the soldiers lost their balance and struggled to get back on their hooves having been piled up on each other. 
The two hastily made their escape among the ruckus and ran towards the castle at full speed. Abner used his magic to push their running speed even further. They stopped when they heard a familiar voice. A jeeringly loud one, lighthearted and friendly. “You two knocked them over like dominoes!” 
Looking behind them they saw Pinkie Pie with a grin on her face. “Pinkie! Where are the others?” Lark swiftly asked.
“They're already in the castle of course. Why?” Pinkie asked.
“We have to save Celestia from destroying the kingdom, and because Twilight said to.” Lark quickly answered back to her, the three of them beginning to make their way to the castle with the soldiers slowly catching up to them. “We need to move faster. We really don't have much time to explain. I'm relieved to see that you've been unaffected by this madness.”
Suddenly, yellow streak of light passed by in front of them, halted and planted his hooves to the ground. “Abner, Lark, I'm afraid I can't let you into the castle. I have to stop you here.”
“Charger, was it you that left Abner in the forest?” Lark interrogated.
“I was simply following orders. Orders are orders and I'm not one to disobey them.” Charger answered almost in a furious anger. He was joined by Wrecker, who carried the zweihander that Abner was responsible for.
Instantaneously, Abner used light magic to create a bubble around them that drastically slowed the light that permeated it. Abner, to them seemed to move in slow motion, while he quickly pulled the sword from Wrecker's side and sheathed it away into his own harness and continued past them. Lark and Pinkie followed them. “Well, he didn't give us too much trouble.” Lark exclaimed.
Suddenly, the thrashing of water and the swooshing sound of metal coursing through the air. Lark quickly casted a shield protecting the three of them from harm as they were crossing the bridge running in front of the waterfall. Marina rode on a cylinder of water throwing spears of water at them. “Abner, Lark, give up!” Cuffs joined in throwing finely forged medical instruments at the shield. Abner quickly used his own magic to pull out the water from underneath Marina and levitating her, then tossing her into Cuffs, who stood on the other end of the bridge. The two of them collapsing to the ground upon impact.
Rarity came out from a house that they passed by, wondering what all the ruckus was about. Pinkie Pie quickly double backed and grabbed her. “What in the blazes is going on here!?” She shouted, her voice broken up by trying to catch up after Pinkie swooped her up.
“Glad you could make it, Rarity. We're ridding Celestia of this Blight infestation, starting with her.” Lark yelled back. “Would you happen to know where the other three are?”
“I believe they're in the castle still. Could you please slow down, I haven't limbered up enough to start running, I just got done getting some beauty rest.” Rarity groaned.
“No time, the soldiers are after them.” Pinkie chimed in.
“Oh my, is this to do with the false accusations that you two have incurred?” Rarity asked, worriment toning her voice.
“That's right, Rarity.” Pinkie chirped again.
“I see. I do hope that what you're doing is going to solve all of this. Also, Abner, the harness I made you is back in Ponyville. I'll get it to you as soon as all of this is over. I do apologize that I wasn't able to give it to you beforehand.” Rarity said sincerely.
“We'll worry about that later, Rarity.” Lark said, almost breathless from their running.
They arrived at Canterlot's inner castle doors where two guards kept a pegasus and an earth pony from entering. “What in tarnation is this about, Rainbow Dash gets to go in, but we don't. We're the Elements of Harmony, there is no reason why Celestia should be barring us from the royal palace.” a light orange coated and light yellow maned pony wearing a rather well kept stetson hat. The guards kept quiet. “You all aren't making any sense. Come on Fluttershy, we'll wait for Rainbow Dash back at Rarity's place.” Abner swiftly approached the extraordinary gates followed by the rest of the gang, passing right by her. “Jumping jalopies! What are you all doing here!?” Her thick country mannerisms heavily effected the way she spoke.
Pinkie Pie hopped towards her with a smile on her face, “We're breaking the law.” she said deviously but cheerfully.
“No time to explain, Apple Jack.” Lark quickly said as she passed by her.
Abner proceeded to use his magic to throw the guards out of the way. He tugged on the large wooden doors with his magic, it was locked with a large crossbeam from the other side. Pushing out more magic he forced the doors open, tearing them off the hinges and pulling them out from the archway, then throwing each one aside with tremendous force. The loud cracking of wood and steel enforcements hurt everyone's ears for a moment. A smaller steel lattice gate was on the other side of the doors, Abner released a large force of magic to warp the steel in such a way that it looked like a gigantic boulder had crashed through it. He continued inside, followed by Lark. The rest of the group was stunned by his actions, jaw-dropping feats that most magic wielders could only dream of. 
“That's just ridiculous.” Rarity said in amazement, marveling at the sheer power that Abner was displaying.
“Come on sugar cube, I've got the feeling we should be following them inside.” Apple Jack said confused by the entire situation.
Easily enough, Abner and Lark found their way to throne room. Celestia sat brooding in a bright white chair on top of a series of circular shaped steps. “I figured Charger wouldn't be able to get rid of you. That's exactly why I framed you two for treason by using the Blight as political propaganda aimed at overthrowing me.” Her voice was discerning, it echoed with a sense of wrong in the well defined speech that she alone had. It was as if the Blight had taken control, using her as a medium to spread further chaos. “Rainbow Dash, do me the honors of riding my land of this trash.” Her distorted elegant voice called out, it reflected the duller and darker colors that her coat and ethereal mane now had instead of their usual brighter and more calming colors.
A sudden flash of dulled rainbow colors streaked across the room and stopped in front of Abner. She boasted her speed and loyalty to protect Celestia, breathing like a bull and swiping a hoof across the ground, ready to take off. “Rainbow Dash,” Apple Jack started, “What are you doing? We're your friends, why are you attacking Abner? He hasn't done you any harm.”
“I'm protecting Celestia, duh.” Rainbow said, treating Apple Jack like an idiot. 
Apple Jack got a little irritated and pulled out her lasso. “Dash, now listen here, I don't want you to get hurt, but if I have to tie you up again, I will.”
“Go ahead and try.” Rainbow Dash answered, challenging her skill.
“Apple Jack, we're trying to get this down before the moon rises.” Lark stopped her from readying the rope.
“Well, if you say so, you two are the only ones I know of that know what's going on.” Apple jack trailed off, she was obviously frustrated by the whole situation.
Dropping the zweihander, Abner began controlling the particles of light around him as Rainbow Dash swiftly circled around him. Waiting for the right moment he focused on a single line and created a sort of teleportation effect that made him vanish from Rainbow's point of view. He then encased Dash in a bubble and amplifying the gravity twofold, forcing her to the ground and unable to move. Apple Jack moved in and tied her up. “I hate losing.” she grumbled to herself.
“Now what did I tell you?” Apple Jack said, almost mockingly.
“I honestly thought she was going to put up more of a fight than that.” Celestia said with grave disappointment. Abner went back to grab the  zweihander and sheathed it. “You think you don't need the sword to defeat me?” She began to sound irritated. “The Elements of Harmony will not have the same effect without Twilight Sparkle, if that's what you're thinking.” she said, making her way down the steps
Abner pulled out the crown from his satchel and begin pushing a stream of magic into it. The other elements began to arise from the others who held them. The possessed Celestia began to get scared and began to slowly back away. A sudden flash of white light filled the entire room, the air fell silently still. Approaching Celestia as the sun began to set and the moon began to rise, Abner saw that she was no longer possessed, but the presence of Blight had not disappeared entirely. Pulling out the sword once more, he planted into the ground in front of the defeated Celestia. The sword sucked away the infernal disease and purified her of it.
“We see that our sister has been returned to normal and a more stable state of mind.” Luna shouted aloud in her royal Canterlot voice. “However, this is just the start. The entire city must still be cleansed of this infernal Blight.”
“How do you propose we do that?” Celestia said wearily.
“Ask your most faithful student.” Luna unveiled an extremely beaten Twilight Sparkle, who leaned up against Luna, breathing heavily. “She held her own against your soldiers my dear sister. She had already drained most of her magic deploying her magic to protect several dozen innocents from them and the madness you're corruption wrought. Thankfully we were able to rescue her before things took a turn for the worst.”
Twilight's friends rushed to her side, assuring themselves that she would be okay. Lark casted a healing spell to fix her wounds and remove bruises from her almost limp body. “Thank you, everyone.” Twilight said before closing her eyes and passing out from her exhaustion.
“The central point of this barrier you've put up, where is it?” Luna questioned.
“In the old tower located in the main garden.” Celestia answered.
And so, the entourage of ponies, followed by a mystic wolf weilding a sword enchanted by the light, used their powers entrusted by the Elements of Harmony to infuse the shield overshadowing the whole of Canterlot, using it as one gigantic cleansing spell that effectively eliminated the dark essence that slowly exterminated races imbued with magic. This cleansing rid those infested with the Blight and brought them back into the light, back into harmony.








---Section 2: Weapon Sketches---

The following pertains to the weapons that Abner carries around. He was originally going to get a bow instead of chakrams, but the bow didn't make much since and chakrams are more notable for their relevance to magic in a good portion of other sources.


--2A)Chakrams
The chakrams don't have a name, I designed them pretty quickly and couldn't think of any names to match their function

http://imgur.com/4v0ZT

--2B)Matan
This is the main sword, a zweihander that Abner uses throughout the story. The name is derived from Hebrew 
http://imgur.com/kfbJz

--2C)Rembrandt
This sword signifies the wisdom and the guidance from a deity known as Blodeuwedd (Welsh) The design of the blade is the middle one and the hilt draws from the bottom drawing.
http://imgur.com/4zJpY









---Section 3: Flight Gears Airship, The Goshawk---
The following links are all sketches I came up with for the Goshawk. Mostly design ideas and how flying a ship might work without a steering wheel and taking after modern day aircraft controls.


3/4 View from the outside
http://imgur.com/tMwrD
Simple view with one of the air bladders drawn as to not block the rest center portion.

Front View
http://imgur.com/Z2Zil

Rear View, Propulsion and Vector Thrust
http://imgur.com/HQNNP

Vector Thrust Control Mechanisms and Propeller Control
http://imgur.com/JhQfw

Wing Designs
http://imgur.com/dlZtU
Wings take after forward canard wings like that off the Typhoon aircraft. 

Flight Control Board/Console
http://imgur.com/6xqex






---Section 4: Character Sketches---
Below are character sketches that I drew up, not the best of course. There are some ideas with a few of the characters that I couldn't get to, primarily because they didn't fit in with the story or it just didn't work. Some character background I wrote up is here as well.


4A)Abner
Originally, I thought about having Abner as a pony, like most original characters but then I figured, why not a wolf? There's already griffons, timber wolves, zebras, and good load of other animals (mythological or not), that are canon. It's simply a question of why not. It also gives more in character building as I had to devise different ways of interactions between Abner and the other characters. I wanted to add a portion towards the end of the main story where Celestia in someway betrays Abner and petrifies him herself while not affected by the Blight. Thus resulting in a grudge against her in a possible sequel which I may never write. 

4B)Charger
Charger was someone I wanted to use as kind of a loner, but socialized well. Reason being that while he grew up with Whisk, all of the friends he knew were friends of Whisk; essentially becoming a third wheel. I did want to delve into a darker part of his past where he commits parricide as part of a mission, but in accident. One scenario I developed but never wrote was that he was to eliminate two unnamed targets that were bribing officials while he was part of undercover operation. From there he vowed revenge and succeeded taking down the group he worked for. As for his cutie mark, I couldn't really think of anything other than a lightning bolt. It took a few tries to make it so it doesn't directly resemble Rainbow Dash's.

4C)Whisk
Whisk, street smart and renowned chef his tavern. Whisk is really supposed to be the joker of the group. Whisk learned quite a bit about improvising from his friend, Flight Gear. He learned a few things about blowing stuff up with a box of scraps. As for a last name, he doesn't have one as I had originally written him in without it. He was also to be adopted into Charger's family. His cutie mark is his name, simple enough.

4D)Marina
Marina is a caretaker at an aquarium and had always been good with directions. She had grown up in an agricultural environment. She attended and graduated from Canterlot Academy with a zoology degree of some sort. Prudence offered her a spot in her squad, in turn paying off Marina's schooling.

4E)Prudence
Prudence's name is based off of Greek mythology, derived from Metis, then the Latin "Prudentia". Her cutie mark a broken pocket watch, representing a broken fate. She practically worked her entire life to set Abner and the others up from behind a curtain. Part of the reason behind her forming the squad under a diplomacy guise was to change what could've happened had she never done so.

4F)Lark
Lark, being a singer naturally gifted, tended to Abner in his younger days. Her cutie mark is a very old fashioned ribbon microphone, one used for broadcasting in particular. Ribbon microphones are also very sensitive, being that if they are blown into, they break. This representing the incredibly emotional side of Lark that we don't see much of. The name Lark is rare name, but in this instance, it draws from the songbird. The reasoning behind her mane and tail is a bit obvious.  Incantations and songs is how Lark summons up magic. She learns the natural thought magic seen in the show, levitation and the like, from Twilight Sparkle. 

4G)Tiva
Tiva draws from the Native American word, Hopi. She wears and black and white checkered handkerchief around her neck. As for her cutie mark, setting a series of hoof prints can be confusing and a reference image is generally hard to find or too humanoid to use. A rearing horse could mean something else and one in any other pose would be confusing as well. Her talent is Dance, ballet is part of that and the reason I didn't simply draw in a tutu as Dance can show in various other forms.

4H)Wrecker
--Wrecker's helmet
--Wrecker's Breastplate
--Torso and Foreleg Armor
Wrecker is basically the strong, silent type. Part of the reason behind this is the tribe he was birthed from communicated with gestures, as described in the story. He left his tribe as part of a journey to find himself, eventually becoming a hoof for hire, a mercenary so to speak. As for the runestones, these were given to him after he had moved the mountain to uncover the cavern from Chapter 8, well before he had met anyone from the story. The pictures of the armor represent the armor he is seen in at the beginning of the story.

4I)Doctor Blue Cuffs
Mainly goes by the name Cuffs, a name like this would suggest an officer, but his title suggests otherwise. Cutie mark is a stethoscope. Also the one to read up and research just about anything that captures his interest. Whisk tends to think that he is a bit creepy once he begins obsessing over something.

4K)Flight Gear
Pretty simple character I think. Drunkard, builds random crap all the time which actually proves to be useful, his long distance communication device being one example. Aside from his questionable drinking, he's credited with working with many pegasi that have competed in grand prix events that may take several days to finish and branches out over a couple regions. His language is course because swearing was part his nature and environment as he grew up, he does mind his manners when he needs to though. His cutie mark is a bronze gear with a blue wing and coloration is a bit unusual as well.


---Section 5: Wolves, Other Species, Golems, and the Blight---


The wolves that Abner's people derive from are sentient and use the runestone shenanigans described in Chapter 7. However, they've also developed a way to summon magic by chanting, singing, or speaking an incantation. As for their existence, they mostly isolate themselves, well away from common society. 

Clouded Leopards are basically what I consider the elves of the forest. Mysterious, magical, and wise. Should anyone ever encounter them, is a blessing. They live amongst the thickest and darkest forests and in trees the reach well into the sky. An entire civilization that has gone unnoticed. As for the Guardians, the Forest Bull, Olwen, and Belisama, each of these derive from some mythological source. 

Golems are basically what you see in many RPGs today. A living construct of stone and other earthen mass, be it fire, water, earth, air. 

The Blight, now this was an idea that I had come up with well before the season 2 finale introducing the Changelings. The concept is basic enough, a plague that in a way acts like a hive, one collective conscious provided by a being with great magic. It's sole purpose is to consume, like the botanical disease it's named after. The Blight also acted as a parasite that would keep the conscious of a victim locked in an eternal dream state of nightmares. The Blight feeds off magic and in the world that Equestria takes place in, magic is a big deal and most of those who can use at a flick of the wrist take it for granted. Blight was developed, or born from, Howlite's successful attempt at immortality, something that was more than a simple spell. The result brought forth a plague that would seep its way into the earth. Abner finishes what Howlite started.



---Section 6: Circles of Magic---

The entire magic circle
Magic circle descriptions
Runes
Rune spell examples

The magic circle itself was something that took a bit of research to do. After citing multiple websites, I eventually drew up my own with several concepts that are not included in this. The first link is every circle drawn out along with the Primal Diamond as I call it. Second link includes the hand written description that is almost word-for-word in Chapter 7. In the third link is each individual rune, each one is Dalecarlian based and in order from top to bottom by their order. Each rune combines the first two and last letter of the main use of the spell. I used the Gaelic word for water as the Dalecarlian Rune alphabet does not have some letters of the English language. The fourth link contains a few examples to give a better picture of how a rune would be set up. Setup usually goes: Magic Circle/Order Level, then the main spell. Para-elemental spells have to include the normal elemental rune in order to get a para-elemental spell. Ergo: Elemental, Fire and Water, with para-elemental linked to the combined result. As per seventh level magic, an emotion spell goes: Mind, Emotion, and then the emotion subset, such as honesty or kindness.