All that Glitters

by Starsong

First published 25th of January, 2012

A pegasus named Dusty and his friends search Equestria for forgotten relics.

Beyond the Equestrian borders lies a frontier filled with magic and mystery, history and treasure, but also incredible danger. A young Pegasus named Dusty dreams of making his name and fortune by scouring these lost lands for ancient artifacts. But Ivory, his childhood friend and stalwart companion is always at his side—even if her magic isn't exactly what one would expect from a unicorn.

When their escapades run them afoul of the royal fleet, Princess Celestia sends one of her old guards with them for a mission that, unbeknownst to them, may change the world forever. Some remnants may be better left in the past, and others are timeless gifts, waiting to be rediscovered... but one thing is for certain: the friendships that these ponies make will last forever. If fortune is on their side, it will be enough to save them.

Chapter 1

The sun, thought Dusty, could not have been more spectacular than it was viewed through the windows of the royal palace. Its awe may have spellbound him were he not putting all his effort in keeping his hooves in place. He told himself he managed, forgiving the unsightly tremble in his haunches that no doubt amused the two armored pegasi who guarded the chamber.

He did not let himself pretend for a moment that he was an honored guest. No, the room had been the best place to stash him out of the way given the circumstance. The guards were there not to keep him safe, but to keep him from escaping. Celestia was making him wait an agonizingly long, comfortable time because he was trouble. More trouble than he'd ever known.

I can still smell the smoke. The sickening groan of wood on wood as their ship scraped against the royal yacht.

The two guards looked up, at the door. They never looked up. Not unless... hoofsteps. A few graceful chimes of hooves on the floor before the doors whisked open and Celestia stood there in all of her glory. It was enough to make Dusty swoon, in spite of himself.

“You're dismissed,” she informed the guards. They turned in practiced fashion and for a brief moment Dusty thought he caught a bit of emotion betrayed by their eyes.

Pity.

The princess tipped her horn and closed the broad double doors. Then she set about retrieving tea from the side chambers, seeming to take some pleasure in the action, while she spoke.

“When I heard that there was a pirate problem, you were not exactly what I had envisioned, pegasus.”

The tea tray came down on the pedestal between them and she took a ceremonial sip. Dusty nudged his nose in to sip at the cup, rattling it in spite of all of his efforts.

“Begging pardon, your majesty,” he started, forcing enough strength into his voice so she could at least hear. “We're not pirates. We're treasure hunters. I 'ken the lot you had locked up last morning were more the swashbuckling type. Scroll and crossbows and all that...”

Another sip. “That may be so,” she said, and it hurt because she sounded like she wanted to believe him, “but if that's the case, could you please explain to me what you were doing with a stolen airship, titled and chartered in Canterlot herself?”

“It wasn't what it seemed,” Dusty stammered. He tried to pass it off just like that.

The stare. The aire of omniscience, the raised eyebrow, the look that could make the proudest of roses droop in shame. Dusty could not grovel more, his coat never more rusty, his mane more straw than gold, his wings but lame dusters upon his back, no emeralds in his eyes but... well, it was a withering stare, to say the least.

And he didn't like thinking about their last adventure.

'ey, check this, boss! Just found the cure for the common colt!' Jaw-creaking words. Yeah. Good thing he was better at wisecracking than firing kitchen utensils about.

There wasn't anywhere else to run. Just a beautiful swan of a ship waiting to be driven out of the dank old cave.

“We stole it... stole it back from other pirates,” he explained. “I mean, the real pirates! We wouldn't have even been down there if we weren't lookin' for Starswirl's Augment. That didn't belong to no one but it sure belonged more to me than to a pirate.”

Clink. Celestia's cup came down. “I think you know, my little pony, what we call those who steal ships from pirates.”

“Heroes?”

Any other time she might have laughed. Her eyes repeated pirates. And for a little while he thought he could see the moon in them.

“I was going to give it back,” Dusty continued, sounding more sure of it than he had, dancing on the deck, proclaiming his mastery over land, sea, and air. He presented his cutie mark with the tip of a wing: a sparkling sapphire pendant. “Magical artifacts. Not stealing. That was the first one I ever set eyes on... and I knew right then that I was meant to spend my life searching for them. Didn't matter who got to keep them. I got to find them.”

And for just a moment the power of the Princess, the thought of disappointing her, it was all washed away by the same love and wonder that seized him when he set his hooves upon the Pendant of Penchants. “I wasn't even sure what I was doing that first time, but when I dug up that piece of jewelry, it was like being reunited with a long lost friend. Rescuing it from the tomb of the earth... I could feel its magic singing through my hooves, and I fell in love with that voice. I wanted to go out into the world and find all those lost things, to know them, and then bring them back.”

He realized she'd been watching him practically jig around the room and shrunk behind the blush in his ears. Still, something about that youthful bounce of his cracked her royal demeanor. In a lot of ways he still was just a colt.

“You're certainly something, if not a pirate,” Celestia said, “and more talkative than your companion. Miss Ivory? She won't so much as look at anyone, let alone move or speak.”

Dusty stiffened mid-bounce. “She's probably catatonic, right now. Terrified.”

Princess Celestia sighed and relented her weight onto her haunches. “Why would she be afraid? Even if you were criminals, surely she would understand that...”

“She's afraid of you,” Dusty said, and was surprised to see her recoil. “It's not... not you you,” he tried to assure her. “The thing is, her special talent... her special magic... she thinks that if you find her that you'll take her away forever.”

The princess' wings bristled a bit. “Why would I do that? Is it illegal? Evil?”

“No,” he said. “It's just... weird. Different. Backwards? No, I can't explain. Magic doesn't... work the same for her.”

“Can you tell me what it is?”

Dusty gritted his teeth. “No,” he said, “under your oath and all that, I cannot. Banishment or not.”

He supposed that Celestia would mark the end of their pleasantries with that fierce denial. And indeed she remained silent for a time, until putting the tea away with a flash of magic. She stood and brought the pegasus's flank up with her horn.

“I think I understand,” she said. “Perhaps she'll be more open to speaking with you. I think it's time we paid your friend a visit.”

Dusty swallowed. As much as he worried about his friend, having the princess nearby wasn't going to make things any easier. And the aire of her judgement loomed. He could feel it hanging over his head, waiting to fall like the massive crystal chandeliers in the royal corridors. Seeming to hang gravityless from a thread of horse hair, but when the moment came, it would crush him wholly.

He may as well have been invisible for all the attention the guards paid to him, saluting Celestia as they made their walk. They didn't tell him where they were keeping Ivory, though he figured she was in a similar predicament. The trot seemed to last forever even though they stopped before another tower that he could have seen from his window.

“Why don't you go first,” suggested Celestia.

Two unicorn guards flanked the door. They glared at him, then opened it.

Ivory sat inside. Not just inside, but in the far corner of the chamber, ignoring the sprawling bed, the cushions. He almost missed her in the first glance, though her brown coat and generous figure did little to camouflage her against the pearl pure walls of the palace. He ran to her side and coaxed a wing at her.

Any sort of response would have done. A hug. A buck to the face. She just stared glassy-eyed at Celestia in the room and he could feel her breath stifle.

“Why did you bring her here?” she squeaked. Dusty tried not to smile. She never made sounds like that.

Celestia did not let them linger. “I believe your story well enough, but it wouldn't do well just to leave you alone, I'm afraid.”

“Punishment?” Dusty stammered. His mind flooded with the possibilities.

Celestia smiled a little as if to let the thought simmer, but a glance at Ivory made her clear her throat and continue. “If things went as you said, it's a legal gray area. If you can do something for me, I'll make sure that the guards look the other way.”

Ivory's horn sparked a bit. “So she's blackmailing us?”

“Minded you're under no obligation to do anything,” Celestia said, opening a wing as if ushering the thought out the open window. “As of now you're free to go your own way. It's just that Equestria could use someone with a talent for recovering old, lost things.” She paused and lifted a hoof. “Enough so that I would be willing to offer you a royal charter. A home to operate from, funding for your equipment and travel... oh, I suppose you'll need something from the royal office to give license to your... occasionally questionable methods.”

Dusty's eyes widened and his mouth hung open. His friend was less inclined to trust her generosity.

“What's the catch?”

“Oh, none at all! It's just that the guard isn't trained for archaeological work. You just happened along at the right time.”

The two ponies looked into each others eyes, silent. Ivory glared. At least she stopped looking sick to her stomach. It looks like we have a choice, but you know I'd never say no. Dusty tried to apologize with his eyes, which he found to be a profoundly useless gesture. He tried not to sound too excited.

“Yes, of course we'll do it!” He flared his wings to make himself look as big as possible. “It would be an honor to serve you, Princess.” A few moments later he bowed, for good measure.

Princess Celestia tried not to laugh. “I'm most grateful. It will take some time to make your arrangements....” she then flicked her horn and produced a scroll from thin air. “Looks like the Golden Hoof Society has put out a bounty for the return of their airship. A rather wealthy sum if you ask me.” She nodded. “It's settled, then.”

“It is?” Dusty and Ivory said together.

“Your expedient return of the ship was fortuitous,” she said. “It's always heartwarming to see my subjects taking such a proactive interest in tending to the problems of the realm. You'll get the full reward as funding. And no,” she added with perfect gentleness, “you can't keep the vessel.”

Dusty's ears drooped without his willing, betraying his sense of loss. So quickly departed from his newfound love. So heartlessly pulled apart without a farewell. He tapped his hoof on the floor. “Someday I'll be able to afford my own.”

“Perhaps,” Celestia entertained. “Forgive me for being short, but there are other matters I must attend to. Someone will be here to show you out of the palace shortly.”

Dusty whipped a hoof up in salute. “You'll be in touch, right?”

“Of course. You'll need your first assignment.” Celestia smiled and then pushed her way out of the room. The doors hung open, as if an invitation to freedom.

Ivory pushed the still-saluting pegasus over and sighed. “You are such a dope. Suck up enough, did you?”

The pegasus shored his wings up and looked the other way. “Hmph. I was being formal. You know, trying to cover for you.”

He expected a clever retort but found none. Instead his friend let a shallow sigh, still shaking in her hooves. One little surrender wouldn't hurt him too bad, he supposed. He let it go and they walked to the doorway. A particularly burly guard met them there and looked them over.

“Enjoy your stay?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

“I, uhm,” Dusty stuttered. Ivory just glared somewhere in the shadows.

The guard chuckled. “Speechless. Well, that's the usual response. Everyone's always reluctant to leave, but unfortunately it's time for me to show you out.”

The two friends exchanged glances, and shrugged. Whatever had occurred there, the Princess had kept it quiet. Perhaps they were off the hook, after all.

As they went, Dusty couldn't help but look around. He hadn't had a chance to when he was dragged there in binds. Now, though, the palace had a sort of peaceful feeling to it. Red pathways sprawled for what seemed unfathomable lengths, bordered on each side by stained glass windows that seemed to glow with captured light. Each scene a landmark in Equestrian history. A national hero, an old legend, depictions of the royalty... he could recall a number of the stories. The history of the world always held him in its thrall, with all its nooks and crannies. Old legends also had a habit of leaving relics around, and that was always a bonus.

Unfortunately their escort seemed determined to keep him from gawking in peace.

“You ever consider a career in the guard?” He asked, looking down his barrel of a chest at Dusty. “About the right age if you want to get into it.”

“Not really,” the pegasus said, flustering. “I've thought about it. But I don't think I've got the mettle...”

“Sure ya do.” The guard gave him a healthy nudge, throwing him off his gait. “All it takes is spirit. All the other guardly stuff comes with time. And months of intense training, of course.”

“Maybe someday,” said Dusty. “My wo.... I mean, I travel a lot, so it's not a good time.” He hoped the guard would drop it. His lack of love for law and order probably wouldn't have gone over too well, if it got out.

“Fair enough,” said the guard. “What about your filly friend? No? Phew, haven't seen a look like that since I got chatty with the Captain. Solid officer, really. One of the best, but way too old fashioned if you ask me...”

Dusty heaved a long sigh, and the guard kept talking even though no one was listening. It was both too quick and too long that they arrived at the gate of the palace and silence hung for but a second.

“The princess said to expect a scroll after sunrise tomorrow,” he explained. “Lucky ponies you are, getting a personal word Celestia. I'm afraid I must return to my patrol now, the larders don't protect themselves after all.”

Ivory and Dusty looked back to find their escort still speaking even as he vanished into the palace. The doorway closed and they were left on their own. Soon they met the courtyard, slipping through a road of unicorns. Among them there was one that Dusty recognized. One they paid no special attention to, a charcoal covered unicorn in a black cloak that tailed them for a few trots and then broke away after a rude and rather sudden brush past his flanks.

“Aren't you going to stop her?” Ivory asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dusty shook his head. “It's useless now anyway,” he said. “Remember? You grabbed it in the chaos. With your magic.”

Ivory's eyes widened as she traveled back to the scuffle, and then she looked down. “Sorry. I really hate...” The last word wilted under a look from Dusty, but she looked back at her cutie mark with clear distaste: a sparkle of stars in the midst of fading. Anti-magic or negamagic or something else. Dusty had never figured it out, and Ivory got angry whenever he brought it up, so he left the matter settle. She was useful in her own special way, after all.

“I think it all worked out, anyway,” said Dusty. “You look like you could use a hay shake, though...”

“Ugh, I don't know if I can stomach anything still.” Ivory shook her mane out. “But I know you're not going to give up if food is involved.”

The two worked their way towards the market district while the black unicorn dipped into the shadows. She hastily unwrapped the parcel she'd lifted from Dusty's saddlebags. A silver cone in the shape of a horn, spiraled and suited for most grown unicorns.

“At last, the power is mine! Those fools thought they could hide it from me...” She laughed, unaware that she was drawing attention to herself. With haste she slipped the cover onto her horn and felt it settle into place. She closed her eyes and called up a spark of magic...

Nothing changed.

“Argh! Stupid piece of junk!” she hissed, flailing to remove it with her hooves. The volume had managed to attract the attention of a rather haughty pair of unicorns who gave her a queer look.

“Is that some new fashion trend?” One wondered to the other. The other tossed her mane.

“I say, that will never catch on. You best fire whoever made you that thing, madam, it looks positively ridiculous...”

A frustrated scream echoed through Canterlot, much to the befuddlement of the local ponies.

Chapter 2

Just as the sun was beginning its slow descent into the night, a young brown buck in a proper cap and attire (and one ribboned scroll for a cutie mark) approached Dusty in the market. How he'd managed to come all that way without drooling all over the scroll was somewhat disturbing.

“Couldn't you just have used your bags?” Dusty inquired as he hefted the parchment from the messenger's mouth.

Once free, the young colt licked his lips. “Most ponies think you have somewhere important to be if you're charging about with a scroll in your mouth.”

Dusty could not help but laugh. “Fine,” he said, and pulled out a couple of bits. Much to his relief, he placed them in his bag proper. Then he pulled out another scroll and was on his way.

Ivory leaned in from her wheatgrass malt and raised an eyebrow. “He's reminds me of you.”

“How?” Dusty stared, agape. “Making a spectacle just to have my way...”

“Is it from the Princess?” Ivory managed to keep a cheerful expression.

He tugged the ribbon off with his mouth and carefully unrolled it on the table. A single brass key neatly hugged the curve beneath the script.

As per our agreement, I've enclosed the key to the Honeydew Estate, the former guild hall located in the Gate District. There you will find offered sundries and assets for your charter, including 500 bits. If any of the property is missing, please inform the palace immediately. Your first assignment will be arriving shortly.

Ivory leaned in over his shoulder the way most ponies her size could. “What do you reckon happened to the old guild?”

Leading Dusty to leer back at her. “They did not die horribly,” he insisted. “They just retired, that's all.”

“And by retired you mean gruesome fate.”

Dusty sighed and rolled up the scroll and key, tucking them away. “I don't think they would have just dissolved in that case. Word is they just... stopped about twenty years or so ago.”

Moving on never seemed to discourage Ivory from pressing the issue. “Why would an adventurer retire?” she asked.

“I try not to think about it,” he said. “But maybe... they just found what they were looking for after all that time.”

Ivory nodded. “Something to put their spirits at ease.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“The big sleep.”

“Ivory, we're not going to die...”

“Well I certainly won't.”

She kept on long enough that they passed the place at least once. It was old. Old enough to attain merit, at some point, and then old enough again to become forgotten in the backdrop of the city. Everyone was just used to it being there, another face in the towers and gilded cityscape of Canterlot. No one paid Dusty any mind as he delicately mouthed the key into the lock and gave it a twist. Old things came in two fashions, after all-- impossibly sturdy or about to break.

The lock clicked, a steadfast salute and he pushed his way inside. The princess must have had the place cleaned beforehand because it was immaculate, ancient but not dusty. Wooden floors in slats polished from a million hoofsteps and grooves in the floor that Dusty could only imagine became the favorite resting place of worn guests and stalwart adventurers.

Ivory made faster work of exploring, pacing through the back kitchenette, then upstairs. Dusty stopped over every little thing, feeling it with his hooves. The ponies that had been there before were real, full fledged adventurers.

“Well this is horseapples,” Ivory shouted from upstairs. “One bedroom! How do they expect us to get by with that? I thought this was a guild house?”

“Was.” Dusty flicked his ear towards the wall as the unicorn shuffled back downstairs. “Can't you tell from the architecture? About a fifty year difference between this wall and the rest. And, go on, listen.”

Ivory gave him a long, long look and then pressed herself against the wall. Even Dusty could hear a little bit of a din from the other side. “Voices,” she said. “And a bit of clamor.”

“We passed a cafe on the way here... the Rich family must have annexed a ton of this place. Suppose with it in disuse there wasn't much to say about it.”

“Which means we're down how many glorious private baths?” Ivory rubbed at her horn with a hoof. “Oh, it's not like we're going to be here that often anyway.”

And on proper cue, a flash of blue light came from the corner of the parlor. They scrambled over and, nexted between several stacks of books and cases, a single writing desk with a blue gem. In front of it sat a freshly written scroll.

“It's not magic, is it?” Ivory said, eyeing the device nervously.

“No, I figure you could tell if it was.” Dusty raised a hoof against it, finding it still warm. “But it's a proper conduit. Suppose this place used to be important enough to merit a permanent line with the castle.”

“Or they want to keep an eye on us.” Ivory sighed. “Go on then, open it.”

Dusty already had half the parchment in his mouth. He pulled it down with both hooves. This time inside there was a proper map of Equestria and the surrounding territories. Pretty standard stuff. But Dusty noticed a few things that weren't supposed to be there. Oddly named landmarks, like Gryphon's Teeth and Standing Stones of Whitehorn. One of these, a cavern marked Galehooves Rest was circled.

“Gryphons don't have teeth,” Ivory noted.

“It probably wasn't a gryphon who named it.” Dusty rolled the map aside. Another short letter.

Many explorers have sought the lost caches of Galehooves Rest, but the greatest of them still remains. The Guardian Statue of Galehoof once provided protection for a clan of ponies, but now is forgotten in the dark. I would place it in Canterlot so that it may be known and the families of the plains remembered. If you succeed, may our relationship be fruitful and everlasting.

Best of Luck,

Princess Celestia

Dusty shivered. To see the Princess' seal again, for sure. But the name of that group of ponies sounded familiar. To double his luck, the bookshelves were filled with old tomes of lore and history about the surrounding region. A perfect reference for ruin delvers of all colors. Whoever arranged the guild house had been kind enough, he noticed, to place the Galehoof Histories on top of the stack. He promptly pulled it down and opened it.

“Sounds like a standard dive to me,” said Ivory. “Too easy?”

“I think she wants to make sure we're capable.” Dusty shoved a hoof at the page. “Bloody.. they're thin. Do you think you could help me?”

Ivory sighed and tilted her horn. It gave an odd sparkle and the current page wobbled a bit before it turned. Dusty probably could have managed himself, but he tried to push Ivory into using her magic whenever she could. If she didn't use it on enchanted things or interact with other unicorns, she could usually pull off simpler tasks. Even that was a bit of a strain.

It's just... different, she explained when in a particularly forgiving mood. I'm surprised I could even do it at all. The school just figured I was a dunce... I don't want to think what they'd do with me if they knew something was wrong with me.

And that was that. Ivory had gotten into the groove of shifting page after page comfortably now, quickly enough that Dusty almost missed the chapter heading he was hoping for.

“Back a pinch,” he said. “There. Thank you.”

“It's just a cavern,” said Ivory. “Right? So why not just go and get it? If other ponies have scoured the place, I'm sure it can't be that bad.”

The pegasus smoothed the page down under a hoof. “If they haven't found what we're looking for, it's probably hidden deeper than any of these books know. But maybe there's a clue in here. The thing is, we've poked around in Galehoof territory before. Nomadic ponies. Couldn't carry a lot around with them back then, so they'd cache things for safekeeping or to share with other groups.

“We knew that, but this particular respite was founded by Grace Galehoof, the matriarch of one of the wandering groups. Became kind of a meeting place in happier times and a haven in the winters. Eventually they just... ceased to be.”

Ivory shuddered. “What could have caused that?”

“Life.” Dusty shrugged. “Once Equestria was founded, settling became more popular. And those that didn't have a taste for it moved on to explore the rest of the world. Some blended in, others left, and... I suppose the winter got to some of them.” he sighed. “Point is, no one comes around these caves anymore. And it's probably right the guardian is moved to where the descendents of Galehoof can find it.”

“Awful noble of you,” Ivory teased.

Dusty smiled. “Well, some things are meant to be found.”

The treasury, a single chest in a closet, Dusty found opened with the same key that went to the doorway. Inside was a freshly minted pile of bits. Enough to stock up for the expedition. He and Ivory spent the rest of the day stocking up on supplies. Flint and tinder, bedrolls, spikes, spurs, bags of dry food. A whole grocery list that they moved through automatically. And they barely made a dent in their resources, in spite of their spontaneous dinner at the adjoining cafe.

For Dusty, the night before the departure was always the worst. Imagining each step, each scenario, each outcome and conversation and the sheer excitement of being out the door the next day made the present seem frustratingly there. And while he normally would lay out under the stars, the nightly patrols probably would not take too kindly to his loitering.

So he found the polished groove on the floor and laid his bedroll. Ivory set herself on the adjacent sofa and curled her legs underneath herself.

“If you squint, the moonlight through the cracks kind of looks like stars,” she said helpfully.

Dusty laughed. “I suppose. But that couch does not look like a bed, and there's a perfectly vacant room here.”

“It's too old and too weird to be alone.” Ivory curled up a bit tighter. “What about you? We could afford to stick a big spread in the corner and you're camping on the floor like a fresh colt. What's next, the floor is lava?”

He couldn't help but laugh again. She had that effect on him. One of the reasons he didn't mind her being so close all the time. “Just looked like someone probably spent the night here a lot. Why do you think that is? Maybe this place used to be crowded enough even when it was ten times bigger. Or someone they didn't want to leave even though it was less comfortable. Or maybe they just had a bit too much cider and couldn't make it to their room most nights.” He folded his wings over himself and closed his eyes. “Whatever, whoever, I think I would have liked to know them...”

Ivory didn't respond. Typical when he got a little carried away with himself. Then he heard the delicate hum of a snoring filly.

And that was music enough to his ears to make him fall asleep.

* * *

The two ponies made the long journey west. There were no stops between Canterlot and Appleloosa, so they had to hop off at the closest junction and walk. The two of them seemed to enjoy the long stretches of wild and quiet that ensued. Dusty kept watch from the sky, and even occasionally modified the weather patterns to make their journey more pleasant. Thankfully, Cloudsdale never found out. One way trip to a cloud prison. Dusty didn't know how it worked, and he did not want to find out.

Canterlot's grasslands eventually gave way to rolling hills and beyond that, as the kingdom's influence and interest waned, the wastes began to creep in. Cracked patches of dirt and weakening flora until all that was left was dirt, dust, and cacti.

Three days and nights they traveled. Dusty checked their map again, made sure that they were headed towards the right cluster of rocks. Then with a bit of pencil in his craw he stroked a line from the castle to the cave while humming an adventurous jaunt.

Ivory just raised her eyebrow and stared.

“Just think. Only generations ago, there were still ponies who made this journey their entire lives. They must have had to stay really close...”

“We're hardly a herd, Dusty,” she said. “But I think I know what you mean.”

Odd. Landmarks always had that inexplicable feel to them. Some attracted pegasus clouds for no explainable reason. Others just seemed out of place. Galehooves' Rest was in the belly of a red-rock mountain too craggy to settle upon. Its trenches wove about it like dark veins leading into the cracked earth. Fortunately the path worn by hooves long and far still remained, showing them the way to the proper opening.

As they paused and looked on in the usual wonder, the wear of travel began to ache into their hooves. Ivory lifted one and rubbed it at her chest.

“Tell me again why we didn't rent a ship?” she sighed.

Dusty frowned. “There's no telling how well this is going to go. No sense in blowing our entire budget on the first excursion.” He paced near the entrance, and turned his gaze towards the crags.

“Besides... it's a dead giveaway where you park.”

A bright red balloon sat on one of the ledges. Secured and empty. Dusty traced the tracks leading down, and counted the fresher ones before they faded into the packed down dirt.

“We might not be the only ones looking for the statue,” he said. “We need to hurry.”

The two ponies strapped their gear on tighter and approached the mouth of the chasm. Ivory's horn flickered and sparked before producing a dim pearl light, revealing only rock and the breath of warm darkness.

Chapter 3

Dusty descended into the earth with Ivory not too far behind him. Being their only source of light gave her ample reason to stay close, and him some comfort from the heavy darkness below. It parted like fog and the red rock gradually turned tan, the tunnel opening up into a larger chamber. Little bits of light crept in through slats somewhere in the rocky ceiling and the ponies squinted until their eyes adjusted.

Vast. The only way to properly describe Galehooves rest. It wasn't a mere hole in the rock. Soft sand spread at the bottom of a stone stairway, opening a field of always-warm ground. Several wells dotted the middle and all about this sprung a collection of nest-like ledges and caves. Even after being picked clean over the years, it still felt like a whole herd could be packed away in there somewhere.

“Seems like some ponies weren't shy about what they were doing here,” said Ivory. She pushed a hoof against an abandoned excavation pole with impunity. “How could they have missed something so valuable?”

“By looking too hard, I imagine.” Dusty paced past her. “Come on, let's peek around a bit. It's probably not that dangerous.”

“What about the other ponies here?” She looked from one side of the cavern to the other. But it was empty, still.

“We'll just have to hope that we get to the statue first,” said Dusty. “And if that doesn't work, well, we'll try the diplomatic approach.”

Dusty rounded up towards the back of the cavern and couldn't help but peek into some of the shelters. Now, ponies were used to living in houses. Back then it wasn't unusual just to sleep under the stars. But in times of cold or need... it had to be the next best thing. He knew that the barren rock and floor didn't do the place justice. He could almost see woven mats and beds of soft grass. It would have been snug for one family but the retreat itself offered plenty of room to cook, clean, and play.

“Find something?” asked Ivory. Dusty realized he'd been staring and shook his head.

“I'm thinking,” he said, brushing is thoughts of the past aside. “Something like a guardian statue would probably have been kept in the open, don't you think?”

“Makes sense to me,” said Ivory. “Unless it was dangerous.”

Dusty tapped his hooves together. He had that feeling in the base of his wings that he always had when he was on to something. “I doubt it,” he said. “But if it wasn't taken away by an expedition, it must either be hidden in plain sight... or somepony moved it. So where would you hide a guardian if you had a place like this.”

“Somewhere safe,” said Ivory. They were ascending one of the ledges, further from the courtyard. “This place was supposed to have caches?”

“Yeah, but those have been excavated already.” Dusty's wings began to perk. “If this is a shelter then they must have had a safe room.”

“But where?”

He scanned the chamber. Hundreds of caves, perfect warmth and lighting and corridors that stretched towards the back. But a safe place would be have to be close to everything, accessible to everypony. He saw a large archway which led into a small amphitheater. A meeting hall. His wings flared open and he flew higher up in a burst of excitement.

“There,” he said. “It has to be there!”

The two of them raced towards the ends of the cavern. There the light faded from natural to a sense of firelight, not just from the red of the rock but from the fact that a few torches had been lit in the room and burned quietly even as they entered. The big slab of polished marble dominated each descending row, echoed by a groove where thousands of others must have sat before. The ceiling, too, seemed to stretch up to a single glass dome through which sunlight kept filtering in.

“Only the Galehoof clan probably knew about where the hidden rooms might be,” Dusty pondered. “Do you detect any magic?”

Ivory frowned and slid past another tableau. “No,” she said. “But I think there's something else.”

“And what's that?”

The unicorn pointed a hoof towards the back of the chamber. Shadows shuffled about in the vague shape of a pony from behind the supporting pillars. Dusty's ears dropped a bit and he swept to the ground on instinct. He lifted one wing and gestured it at Ivory. Stealth mode.

Down through the rows they crept, closer to the belly of earth until they began to hear the shuffle of hooves in the distant chamber. They kept their heads down and slipped behind the white stone pillars, carefully leaning into the doorway to try to spy whoever was inside.

Inside paced a white earth pony, who seemed to be distracted with the tapestry-like carvings on the walls. Every now and then he would pause, sit, and study one before sighing and moving to the other end of the room.

Dusty shrugged at Ivory. And then the two of them walked in together.

“Pardon me,” said Dusty, “but are you looking for something?”

The other pony jumped and Dusty swore he could feel the floor shake, stone and all. He whipped around and lowered his stance for a flash of a moment before promptly unwinding. “Aside from a bit of common sense regarding sneaking up on another pony,” he said, “I'm thinking that there's something amiss about this room.”

A sigh of relief escaped Dusty. One other explorer, and hopefully reasonable. “I sure hope so,” he said. “Where are my manners? I'm Dusty, and this is Ivory. To whom do I owe the pleasure?”

The stranger looked up from adjusting his cloak. A proper cloak in tawny brown, covering up the exposed parts of his back and his flanks. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “Bruce.”

“Bruce?” Ivory repeated.

“Bruce.” The earth pony nodded with obvious pride.

Dusty and Ivory shared a look before approaching him.

“So what are you hear looking for?” Dusty said. Something about Bruce's behavior just struck him as queer. Maybe he had something to hide, too.

“Ah, something like a famous statue.” Bruce tapped his hoof. “If I would have hid it away somewhere, I'd probably have put it in here.”

A little buck! escaped Dusty before he could hold it back. “I see,” he said. No sense in trying to be coy about it, he thought. “And what if we happen to be looking for the same thing?”

Bruce tapped his hoof thoughtfully. “I suppose whoever found it first...”

“But you look like you need a little help to figure this out,” said Dusty. “Can't be too kind on you for that if you're going for my treasure, sorry. Now if you're being helpful I certainly don't mind making sure you get a cut of the take, or whatever else we happen to find.”

The earth pony listed back a bit. “You plan on selling it?”

“Not so much. Just that someone very important is paying us to get our hooves on it for them.”

“Well,” Bruce said, “Arguing won't do us a lot of good if we're stuck here.”

Dusty planted his flanks on the floor and stared around the panorama of the room. “Aye,” he murmured, and then his brain took over.

It was pretty archetypal of an old ruin. Stories in pictures, true stories with a bit of exaggeration in regards to the size of one's horn or speed of one's flight. He recognized many of them from the books that he'd leafed through. The pictures began with a lithe earth pony leading the wandering herds back to this place, immune to the pounding of hail and scorching droughts.

They could have spent days just making sense of all the little pictographs. He skimmed over them all once, twice, while the other ponies paced and studied them in sequence. Then there was a part that he thought stood out, three ponies standing beneath the radiant sun.

“Ivory,” he said, suddenly. “A little light here, please?”

She brought the dim horn of her light over. “What is it?”

Dusty leaned in and showed her where the light caught the rock just a little bit differently. “Different material,” he said. “And I didn't see this one in any of the books. I wonder why?”

“Maybe the scribes ran out of parchment,” said Ivory. “What now?”

“I've got a hunch.” Dusty looked over his shoulder at Bruce, who had abandoned his observations to watch them. “Could you lend us a hoof?”

He lumbered over and paused at the plate. “What you need?”

Dusty practically took up the bigger stallion's hoof and laid it against the image of the earth pony in the carving. It was hilariously mismatched but somehow seemed appropriate. Then he directed Ivory to put hers over the unicorn's.

“Galehooves Rest was about community,” he said. “It strikes me that no one person would be able to open the inner sanctum. And a good number, to me, seems to be three.”

He lifted his hoof over the pegasus', nudging between the other two on the sun. There was a discrete click and then nothing happened.

Ivory sighed. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Dusty looked down. The wall had changed, after all. In front of Ivory and almost a foot higher than her head was a small hole about the size of her horn.

“Heh, I think I can figure that one out,” said Bruce.

“Is it magic?” Dusty asked, biting his lip. Ivory shook her head.

“No,” she said. “None that I can feel.”

Dusty wiped his brow with his free hoof and nearly fell over. There wasn't much more to say on the matter, and the two gentlecolts politely averted their gaze as Ivory leaned over and slid her horn all the way into the hole in the wall, grunting a bit as her forehead pressed against it.

Another click. Then a sudden groaning and grinding in the wall that shuddered the room around them. Ivory leapt back first and then the others followed, laughing as the slab in front of them began to lower.

“Brilliant,” said Dusty, wings giving a swift flap.

“Always the unicorns,” muttered Ivory. “Always.”

But even she was a little bit excited. Secret doors always did that to a pony, especially if they just happened upon them. They had to move single file, but beyond the hallway began to open up again.

“How do you figure no one ever found that before?” asked Dusty. “I know explorers are reclusive, but...”

“I think someone may have,” sighed Bruce.

Dusty's gaze snapped up. The final room was plain by necessity. It wasn't made for occupation, merely a vault made to protect its contents whether they be ponies or baubles. Lots of empty space, and all of it empty, except for one thing.

A sharp ascent, an almost royal staircase leading far away to a few makeshift beams. And at the center of that was the statue. In the dark, they couldn't make out any of the detailing.

“Looks like we're in luck.” Dusty sighed. “The one thing no one's bothered to take.”

“And why do you think that is?” another pony asked.

The three ponies spun about. Dusty and Ivory recognized her immediately. The cloaked, rusty coated unicorn that had stolen the horn at the castle. Their constant shadow, and the one who more often than not got to the goods first.

“Garnet.” Dusty huffed. “I should have known.”

“Yes, you should have.” The unicorn trotted past him, flicking his nose with her tail. “You may have given me the slip back in Canterlot, but I'm always one step ahead. I just needed you to do the one thing I couldn't.” She whipped her black mane towards the door. “We're not all that different. Suckering someone else into doing our dirty work.”

“That's not it at all,” Dusty flicked between glowering and looking at Bruce with puppy eyes.

“And what were you planning on doing with the statue once you all got to it, hm?”

Dusty swallowed. What was he supposed to say? He had to get that statue for Celestia, and that might mean doing what he had to do to overcome the competition.

“I thought so.” Garnet laughed. “Not that it matters, since I'm going to get there first.”

A single second of silence followed, and then both ponies bolted towards the statue at once, leaving Ivory and Bruce behind. Dusty flew ahead, fighting the still air with his wings. Much to his disdain, he was trading paces with the unicorn as she cleared series of steps and platforms in single bounds.

He was beginning to realize that the statue was farther away than he thought, that the vault was much larger than he'd believed... and as the statue came into view he realized it was more than a mere trinket. A beautiful carving of two ponies reared their hind legs, propped neck and neck against one another. At first glance one might think they were fighting, but as they got closer, Dusty realized that wasn't the case. One was allowing themselves respite, and the other looking outwards. He could practically feel the threat rolling off of the guardian pony. Strike, and face the consequences.

Dusty and Garnet raced and raced as the other ponies followed them up the stairs. Dusty poured all of his momentum into a glorious forward arc as Garnet took to the air. They arrived at the statue at the same time.

“Guh!” Dusty groaned as he smacked into the statue, wrapping his hooves around it. “This thing must weigh a ton!”

Garnet stopped at the top step and laughed. “Of course it does! It's practically a fixture. Not that it matters for someone of my caliber.”

And she flicked up her horn with a flourish of scarlet magical energy. The same energy began to engulf the statue. It gave a little wiggle and Dusty clung on tight.

“It's not yours to take, Garnet!” Dusty hissed, now wrapped all the way around the statue's circumference.

“I think that whoever has the stones to carry out the stone gets it,” she said cheerfully. As the stone began to lurch, though, Ivory cleared the top of the stairs and used her own magic. The statue stood still.

Garnet jerked her head about. “Oh, not this again. You aren't going to stop me this time.”

Her horn flared and a small red ring glowed near the base. Garnet's magical aura enveloped the statue again and it began to grind across the floor. She and Ivory strained back and forth and it seemed for a while that Garnet would overpower her.

Then Ivory's horn sparked like a giant bolt of static. The two unicorns stumbled backwards as the spell was broken, and a dull hum came from beneath the statue.

Then the vault began to tremble.

Garnet growled and flicked up her horn, but now Bruce was at the statue. She was outnumbered and the shaking was not going to stop. “It's kind of ugly anyway,” spat Garnet, and then she fled.

It was a good idea. Dusty ran five lengths before he realized he was alone. Bruce rubbed his head.

“What's happening?” he said, having to speak up over the increasing churning of the earth.

“If I had to guess,” said Dusty, speaking as quickly as he could, “the statue was what was holding the local magic in a particular order, and Ivory could not tell because it wasn't a proper enchantment-- it felt too natural. They must have upset the balance and that means we should probably get out of here.”

Bruce stared. And then he nodded, standing with his back to the statue. “Alright,” he said. “I gave you a hoof, now give me one. Just give it a nice little buck up top.”

Dusty stared dumbfounded. But now that bits of gravel were beginning to fall from the ceiling, he didn't feel like arguing. “You go ahead, Ivory.” he said, taking to the air. “I'll catch up.”

They looked into each other's eyes once, because they'd recited this exchange before. I'm not leaving you here alone. No, it's too dangerous. That's exactly why I need to stay! No one is going to be able to help me if we're both dead. Dusty always won those arguments, and they were both still alive, so she turned about.

“I'm going to make sure we have a way out,” she said dutifully, and was gone down the stairs.

Dusty sighed. All there was left to do was buck the statue about and then be gone. He made care to strike the statue about the shoulders, because it only seemed polite. As he did he heard something like thunder below. Bruce's back hooves struck the statue and the little bit on top in the opposite direction was just enough, after being upset by the unicorn's reefing and tugging, to make it topple.

Right onto Bruce.

Dusty gawked as the white pony braced himself from the floor and propped the entire thing on his back.

“Keep it steady!” he called, somewhere between a bark and a laugh that seemed eerily familiar. Dusty flew behind the crazy stallion, nudging the pillar of rock when it'd tipped one way or another.

His balance was uncanny, even going down the smooth sides of the stairway. The quaking was violent now, and weaker parts of the walls were beginning to cave in. Yet the pony still took one hoof after the other and soon they were out of the vault.

Dusty would never look at this pony the same way again.

The vault, being the stablest part of the Rest, fared far better than the other chambers. Many of the housing caves had already collapsed in from the pressure. Dusty even felt a little dizzy just from the vibrations in the air.

All they had to do was clear the courtyard and hope that there was an exit still intact.

Rocks were falling all about them as they met Ivory in the central excavation site. She waved her hooves frantically towards another passageway.

“It's still clear,” she said, and then lowered her gaze. “I'm sorry.”

“You can buy us drinks when we're safe and sound,” Dusty huffed. “Come on, and help me with this lout.”

Bruce grunted. Even with his immense strength the strain was beginning to get to him. He had to put all of his effort into keeping the thing steady, keeping them moving, and now it took the three of them together to maneuver up the winding ascent towards the surface.

Everything happened at once. The echoes of the quake became deafening and the ponies couldn't hear each other shouting as they struggled to keep their footing. Rocks crashed down around them and one nearly knocked Dusty from the air.

They could see sunlight. And that's when the earth opened up in front of them.

Ivory leapt over the fissure on instinct alone. Dusty hovered long enough to watch the crack widen under Bruce's foot. He tripped, and fell.

“Bruce!” Dusty gasped, zipping down.

The earth pony managed to grasp the opposite side of the fissure with his fore hooves, but couldn't pull himself up. Dusty saw why. He had the statue clenched in between his hind hooves. No matter how strong he was, it was going to fall.

Dusty landed on the edge of the fissure and almost fell over from the vibrations that jarred through him. He and Ivory grasped the stallion's hooves and pulled, but the weight of him pulled back and they all slipped a little closer towards the drop into the abyss. Dusty pulled and pulled until he thought his heart would burst from the pressure. He didn't want to let it go. But there wasn't another way.

“You're going to have to drop it!” Dusty screamed, just to get over the clamor. “Just let it go.”

Bruce looked up at the two ponies. And what argument was there? He slackened his grip on the statue and it plummeted into the abyss, rock bouncing off of rock until it fell out of sight. The fissure continued to widen as the two ponies pulled Bruce from the drop and they raced for the exit together.

The rest was just running and flying. Something Dusty was far too used to, and far too used to doing with a nice bit of loot under his wing. The ground kept shaking as they burst out of the cave. They ran until they couldn't feel the ground moving anymore, and then fell in a heap on the dirt, panting.

Several minutes passed. They looked back at the oncoming fog of dust and debris from the remains of Galehooves Rest.

“That could not have gone worse.” Dusty groaned. “The princess is going to kill me.”

Bruce coughed. “We're still alive,” he said.

Dusty didn't feel like it, entirely, and Ivory wasn't making any efforts to demonstrate otherwise herself. “We destroyed a piece of history. I'm not sure that's better.”

The earth pony laid a solid hoof across his back. “No one ever stays there anymore, and someone was bound to bring the place down someday. This way no one got hurt.”

There was always Dusty's pride, but the wound made whimper rather than rage. Ivory exhaled.

“It was Garnet,” Dusty said, glancing over.

She nodded and closed her eyes. “It was almost mine.”

And before the utter silence could conquer them all, Bruce laughed. “You're too young to be worrying about what-ifs. Why don't I go with you back to Canterlot and buy a round of cider. We can work out what happens next after that.”

* * *

Normally, Dusty was not predisposed to letting strange ponies invite themselves to his entourage. But after their ordeal and Bruce's surprising displays of strength, he was not inclined to argue.

They all shared stories on the road back to Canterlot, Bruce mostly of his patrols in the north and Dusty of his and Ivory's ventures. Garnet came up frequently, of course, and on the first night he thought he spied her balloon fading into the dusk.

Only when they were back in one of the palace chambers did Dusty manage to piece it together, and only after Bruce had put on the golden armor belonging to the royal guard, sitting beside Celestia herself. Even in such a graceful company, he couldn't help but facehoof. The loudmouth guard, the chatty old man. The very same one.

“Don't be too surprised,” said Bruce.

Celestia seemed unusually calm, though she had most certainly gotten a report from Bruce beforehand. Still, she listened patiently as Dusty explained all that had transpired. Everything, even his candid musings, up until they'd lost the statue and escaped with their lives, leaving rubble in their wake.

“Please forgive me,” said Dusty, nearly pressing himself to the floor. “I do not think I could have failed you more spectacularly.”

And the Princess' voice came like a gentle wind after a long stillness. “I think otherwise,” she said, and did not give him time for clueless theatrics. “I sent along Sir Ironoak along not to spy on you or to hinder your way, but to tell me what he thought of you. This outcome is one of many that I considered. It was not my intention to have the statue in ownership, but to judge your character.”

Dusty looked up, eyes brightening. “So does this mean...”

The princess' lips pursed. “Given that you do not have any relic to show for your efforts, I cannot yet contract your services and cannot officially offer you any compensation...”

She inclined her head ever-slightly and the door latched shut, the curtains drew and an almost fae sense of peace settled over the room. Celestia sighed a sigh Dusty had never heard before, not one of royal acquiescence but of a pony ready to confide. “I know I can trust all of you, now, and I must ask of you a favor most personal.”

Dusty's eyes widened. All three of them stared, and could not help it. Princess Celestia let slip just a fraction of the guard she'd built for millennia, and it made her no less regal, no less resplendent. The presence of the alicorn threatened to hold them spellbound, and threaded the guilt she had even as she looked upon her eager subjects.

Chapter 4

With Dusty and all of the others in full attention, Celestia looked towards the ceiling and spoke. “Your travels and your research must have made you quite acquainted with the Old Kingdoms. How much do you know of it?”

“Little more than stories,” answered Dusty. “An old land that Equestrians had to abandon, once proud civilizations that fell to an eternal winter, brought about by their ceaseless bickering. There's scarce a foal that doesn't know that, and no one I can find that knows more.”

“Pride,” said Celestia, her wings curling to her sides, “has much to do with that. Those that survived the journey did not like to speak of their heritage. And perhaps it is one better left behind. But it was not always a place of strife.

“Though this was a time before the rule of myself and my sister, we did come to mingle from time to time. Princess Luna grew fascinated with the master craftsmen and artists, the ingenuity of ponies of all kinds. And they would give her many gifts, many of which have been lost to time. However, I believe that some may still remain.”

Dusty shivered. Eternal winter. Worse than eternal night. “And you cannot send your guards?”

The princess gave him a look. A long, long look. “It is not that I do not trust them,” she said. “These are affairs of the past. Not to trouble the minds of our time. But seeing as you already make a point to be digging around in it...”

Dusty understood. Still, the pegasus couldn't let it rest. “Do you know how much he talks?” he asked, jerking his head towards Bruce.

“The old soldier has earned my trust,” said Celestia. Dusty leaned in for more but she left it at that, circling about. “In those lands, in the long forgotten city of the pegasi, there is a place which may yet remain untouched. My sister received many gifts back then... I want you to find them. No. I... want you to retrieve the gift I gave her so long ago. Even if it does not help mend old wounds, it may at least help put her at ease.”

“What are we looking for?” Dusty flapped his wings.

Ivory piped up. “Is it dangerous?”

“No,” said Celestia. “No more than the lands surrounding it. You will... know it when you see it. If it still exists. Forgive me if I seem uneasy in making this request.”

“It's quite alright,” said Dusty, sweeping his wings low. “For you we would do anything,” he said, fully aware of Ivory's gaze-- 'we would?'-- before continuing. “It is a long, long journey. But if you would ask it.”

Celestia bowed her head down and closed her eyes. She could not ask, but she could not refuse the help of her subject. The longing in her heart overpowered her sense of responsibility and royalty just long enough for her to slip through. “Please,” she said, and smiled. “There are parts of my request that you'll enjoy, I'm sure. If you will be so generous as to stay at the palace until I've gotten things ready for you...”

* * *

“We're flying!” Dusty whooped.

“You're a pegasus,” said Ivory, rolling her eyes. “A pegasus.”

The three of them now stood upon the top deck of an airship. Celestia had not said that they could keep it, but then, she did not give any indication that they would need to return it. Dusty chose not to interpret the worst way he could. And sure, it wasn't a luxury liner. More of a schooner with an old looking balloon to hold them aloft as the magical engines churned under deck. Room enough to sleep half a dozen people and hold their things. A handful of rooms below deck. About as cheap as you could get for a vessel.

But to him, it was the royal flagship. The lead of his world and he the officer.

The ramparts of Castle Canterlot shrank beneath them. Dusty could feel his wings flex as they ascended through the cloud layer. Both Ivory and Bruce were looking around, and in spite of their lack of apparent enthusiasm, non-winged ponies always had the same look of wonderment and surprise. No matter how many times they've been up in a balloon or chariot.

It didn't actually take that much effort to keep the vessel on track, at least in the Equestrian realm. Weather was on a scheduled pattern so all Dusty had to do was correct their course on occasion. Still he could scarce pry himself away from the wheel, and given how crowded it could get inside, the others preferred to rest in the open air.

“Hey Bruce, you've been in the service,” Dusty said, listing the ship a bit to port, “for what? Like fifty years?”

The earth pony snorted and tapped his hooves on the deck. “Thirty and going strong, thank you very much. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if you had any idea about who's gone to the Old Kingdoms. Patrols and expeditions and the like.”

Bruce hummed and strolled across the deck. Dusty could feel the ship shift with his weight. “Honestly, not a one,” the earth pony said. “As far as we know there's nothing living there anymore. No point to patrolling. Nothing to look out for. Though now that you mention it, I think the Long Patrol ended up there by accident.”

Ivory lifted her head from her hooves and blinked. “The ranger guard?”

“The one and only.” The earth pony stood so that the prevailing winds cast about his mane. “Now a patrol is a strange thing. The princess always keeps the most experienced and most trusted guard close to the castle. And when it comes to dealing with our neighbors, well, you can bet that the next greatest and loyal will be sent. But when it comes to the outlying lands...”

“Criminals and layabouts?” Ivory asked.

“Guardponies who got a little too violent?” Dusty leaned in.

Bruce flicked his tail and snorted. “As if their lot would last a day in service to the crown. No, but there was certainly something off about these people. It's not that they weren't fit for duty, they just felt... dangerous. It's like the idea of being sent to some strange and vicious part of the world was what they were born for. And don't ask me what their talents were, because I haven't a clue.

“Finding trouble might have been one thing. You probably didn't hear much about it since you were little more than a foal at the time, but even I couldn't help but share in the whispering going around the barracks. Her majesty had sent the patrol to the furthest borders of Equestria, in answer to some concerns about their safety.”

“Whoa, hold on.” Dusty waved his wings and leaned upon the wheel. “You're telling me that there's some secret squad of ponies that got lost in the north?”

“No,” Bruce gruffed, looking down. “Not really. I mean, they were a rough bunch that could handle themselves. Never could find any of the supposed trolls that were wandering in from the north. 'course they weren't satisfied with a sweep. Had to check the other side, on the wild lands. As far as we knew it was still cursed. Could see the chill of your breath even on a summer's day, and heaven forbid you hit during a snap. Well, all sorts of nasty beasts in there. The patrol drove them further and further back, and the land about seemed to be all the better for it. But...”

“But what?” Dusty fussed. He could feel a tingling in his wings that he only felt when something was amiss. “What happened?”

“They don't talk about it,” sighed Bruce. “Only half the patrol came back. Nothing about the others. No armor or nothing. No one knows if they died, or they deserted, or got lost, or what.”

The wind shifted, which made Dusty startle. The others not so much. It was little more than a bob that jerked the airship to the west. About two degrees off course. He hastily corrected it and glanced down. A handful of pegasi over Ponyville, some colorful, some as gray as the clouds, shuffling the weather about.

“Looks like they've rescheduled a storm down there,” he said. “I'll have to keep an eye on where we're going for a while.”

Ivory propped herself against the rail. “We've never gotten lost before,” she said. “This might be our best shot.”

Another feather twitched. Dusty frowned and locked the wheel, again. “Okay. Enough of that. No more depressing stories, no more vanishing comrades, no more doom and gloom.” He pointed a hoof at Bruce. “Go below deck and put on some coffee. And put a smile on that face.”

The large earth pony stood, eyebrow raised, whole hulk aimed at Dusty. The pegasus flared his wings.

“This is the captain's wheel,” Dusty said, nodding. “So I think that makes me the captain.”

Bruce tried his best to keep a straight face. “Aye aye, then,” he said.

Ivory watched him descend until he was out of eyesight and snickered. “Are you serious, Dusty?”

“I know!” The pegasus laughed. “I just can't help myself. It's like I've waited all my life for this moment, and now I don't know what to do with it.

Ivory looked at him, but he wouldn't back, too focused on the smattering of clouds ahead. Rolling hills and verdant forest for miles. There would be pony cities, but they were going far beyond that, into the land where the blue and white of the sky met and shadow lived during the daytime.

“You're worried we won't return, either,” she said.

“Princess Celestia wouldn't send us if there wasn't a chance we'd come back,” he said, quiet enough so that Bruce could not hear. “The danger is obvious, but she believes in us. Enough to entrust us with this.”

“Or get us out of the way,” Ivory suggested, “from snooping around where she doesn't want us to.”

Dusty shook his head. “I believe in her. And I believe in us. That should be enough.”

Ivory shrugged and pulled herself down onto the deck. “If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me. I'm going to see what's taking that lunk so long.”

* * *

The three ponies fought the chilly nights with warm coffee and more stories. The further they got from Canterlot, the larger the spaces between pony settlements became. Eventually the train tracks ran out, and the land became more and more wild. They spent the daylight hours flying and landed overnight, usually by a city where they could find food and drink and good company, having to save their stock of all for the wilds.

After only a few nights, Dusty had exhausted his repertoire of tales that didn't end up with him and Ivory walking away empty handed. So while they recanted mountains and jungles, Bruce had far more to tell. Long journeys, small incidents, everything from rescues in the Everfree to keeping the rabble off of the princess in Manehattan.

“... and she thought she could hypnotize Celestia with a tuning fork,” Bruce said, rumbling with laughter at the crescendo of another story. “A tuning fork! Can you believe it?”

“I really can't.” Dusty wiped tears of laughter out of his eyes. “By the stars, I thought we were the craziest ponies in the world.”

“We're up there,” Bruce agreed. “Though now we're out far enough to find the rest of 'em.”

Ivory looked over at him. “I haven't met this many hospitable ponies in a long time, actually. It's almost otherwordly.”

Bruce shrugged his mighty shoulders and looked over at the constellation of lamp lights coming from the town a walk away. “The closer you get to the wilderness, the more people rely on that hospitality to survive. You don't live out here unless you're willing to trust, and you don't stay if you don't earn your own.”

Dusty curled his wings back and looked between his friends. They'd been through a lot together, and even Bruce seemed to be falling into their collective quickly. He thought of the guild hall back in Canterlot and how it would look if he'd managed to get another handful of friends, more recruits to his trade. They could scour the world anew, and always know that they had a family to come home to.

“Dusty. You should get a look at this.”

Ivory was standing on the back of the ship, looking up into the western sky. In the shades of twilight, they could see a dark shape slowly growing as it emerged from the mountains. Dusty snatched up the spyglass and dashed beside her to look. At that distance he couldn't tell how big the ship was or how many were crewing it, but he did recognize the colors they were flying: a black flag with a skull and crossbones.

“Exactly what we didn't need,” Dusty groaned. “How long do you think they've been tailing us?”

“Who?” Bruce asked, standing to rigid attention now.

“Pirates.” Dusty rubbed his temples. “I don't know who's captaining them.”

“And why would you?” Bruce chuckled. “The only thing we need to know is when to kick their flanks and lock them in the dungeon.”

But Dusty was already in motion, bringing the ship back to life. The balloon sighed as it swelled and they began to lift into the air. The pegasus took the wheel firm between his hooves and cranked it. “Ivory and I aren't really fighters. And how many guards do you see around here?”

Bruce blinked. “There hasn't been a patrol in... right. We're kind of on our own, aren't we?”

“It's not like we've got anything worth taking,” said Ivory.

“We have the ship.” Dusty growled and pointed them northwards. “And they won't be locking us up to take it. We can't get the town involved. Which means one thing. We fly, and hope they decide to turn back before we get to the Old Kingdoms.”

“Aye aye,” said Bruce.

“We're with you,” Ivory assured him, and they stood behind him, watching the horizon creep ever closer as the sun set.

Dusty knew he would have to coax them to sleep, soon, but not just yet. They would need their rest, because they would have to fly in shifts if they had a chance to keep ahead of the corsairs. If they could keep the ship running full tilt. If the pirates weren't going to try to burn them out. They had a long journey ahead. All the raiders had to do was catch up to them, and then worry about repairs later.

He gripped the wheel tight and covered it with his wings. The last time, he and Ivory had the advantage of stealth and surprise. But he wouldn't let it come to blood. All he needed was to think of something, before it was too late.

Chapter 5

The black flags of the pirate ship flapped wildly in the breeze, the sound bringing to Dusty's mind the old pegasus raiders of antiquity. Or maybe it was his imagination, but somehow he heard it over the now-screaming wind that rushed past as he and his friends broke north as hard as they could without ruining the ship.

Ivory and Bruce had decided to remain above deck. His friends, his sword and shield, sworn to stay with him to the end. Which was the nice way of saying that his lives were now in his hooves, and he wasn't going to take it lightly.

Something whistled past Dusty's ear and he felt a shear of air cut through the wind. Then something smacked into the balloon's plating and hit the deck. A smouldering stone, no larger than an acorn, rolled across the deck.

“They've got unicorn slingers,” Dusty said. “I don't know if I can get enough distance before they hit us.”

Bruce hefted the rock and tossed it overboard. “What are they going to do with a few pebbles? Why don't they have cannons or something?”

Dusty glanced over his shoulder. “If they haul too much heavy artillery it'd be real easy to outrun them. Unicorns can fire a good stone hard enough to punch holes in solid walls...”

Before he could explain the rest, another rock struck the wooden railing and exploded. Dust and splinters flew across the deck and the ponies ducked.

“All they have to do is pierce the balloon and we're down,” Dusty said. “If it comes down to it... we're going to have to abandon ship.”

“We won't be able to do this without our supplies.” Bruce snorted. “And I am not going back to Celestia having lost everything she's put upon us.”

Dusty sighed and cranked the ship hard to port, just before a hail of stones rained upon the balloon. It wobbled and a bit of the plating hit the deck with a crash. “I know,” he said, “but if it's your honor or your life, I'm not letting you make that decision. Neither of you.”

The ship lurched to the side and the three ponies clung to the edges for support. Ivory looked back at the ship which was now closing in. She could see the lines of unicorn standing at the side, preparing another volley.

“They're using magic,” she said. “If I could get a barrier on that side of the ship...”

Dusty flapped his wings. “It's too risky. You could go nova or lose control. If you so much as brush the engines or something, we won't have to worry about being overtaken because we'll fall right out of the sky.”

“I can do this,” Ivory insisted. “It might not be proper magic but I can still keep it under control.”

The pegasus reefed the wheel again. A section of the deck burst beneath them.

“It won't be much longer before they remember how to aim,” said Bruce.

“You're going to have to trust me.” Ivory bumped against Dusty's shoulder.

He looked over at her. It wouldn't be the first time she'd bailed him out of a jam. And sure, it could go wrong in countless ways. But he trusted her. And that was all that really mattered.

“Alright,” he said, gripping the wheel. “Do it.”

Ivory grinned and cantered to one of the remaining rails. “You just keep focused on getting us out of here, fly boy. I've got this.”

The next volley came, more violent than the last. They were losing breathing room. Then the projectiles struck the barrier, a sickly field of white that flickered with each impact. Ivory flinched and steeled herself. Once the stones passed through the field of magic, they took a sharp turn downward and clattered uselessly against the deck.

“Not bad!” Dusty hooted. “Keep that up and we just might get out of this.”

Bruce stamped his hooves. “They're going to board us.”

Both ponies looked back. The shadow of the ship was starting to eclipse them, the whirr of a second set of engines starting to drown out the sound of the wind whipping by. Dusty couldn't hear the pirates but now they were close enough that he could see them. A trio of pegasi lined up. Laughing. About to take flight, and once they were on board, it'd be impossible to fend them off and keep control of their course. They were outnumbered. If only they could shake them...

“Ivory.” Dusty locked the wheel and raced to the unicorn. The stress of holding the shield was bearing down against her, pushing her towards the ground. He propped her up. “Can you knock them out?”

Three pirates took flight from the airship. She nodded and her horn crackled. “I'll do it.”

There was no way they could have seen it coming. The twisted shield of light that had stopped their fire now flattened and distorted. A snap of wind echoed through the sky as she let it go in a single shot. They didn't see anything. Then there was an odd quiet. Their engines sputtered and stopped as the strange magic rushed through them, and the lift of the balloon kept them from more than a rough descent as they fell towards the earth. The three pegasi that had gone into flight turned around immediately, chasing their falling companions.

Then they hit the ground in a cloud of dust. Every moment they flew brought them further away from danger. Well, thought Dusty, one danger, at least.

For a while all they could hear was the hum of engines. And then the three ponies laughed and fell to the floor.

“That was amazing,” Bruce howled. “Right out of the sky!”

“It never gets old.” Dusty folded his wings and sighed. “Knowing her handiwork it'll take them at least an hour to get that thing flying again. If they didn't manage to break anything.”

Ivory just smiled. A bit weary, but a smile nonetheless. “I could use some water,” she said. “And maybe a corn cake.”

Bruce gave a salute. “Anything at all, ma'am.” The bulk of a pony tromped below deck to oblige. Hero of the hour. Dusty gave her shoulder a brush and then began to sweep the scatterings of rock and debris from the deck. He'd patch the ship up once they were in the clear. His first flight, first ship, and already it was seeing some battle scars. But it kept them flying without complaint.

“Did you think I'd be able to get us out of that one?” asked Ivory. Dusty startled, dropped a piece of railing with a clatter.

“Yeah.” Dusty shrugged. “You've always bailed me out like that. I didn't worry about it for a second.”

“I wish I could get there myself.” The unicorn touched her horn against the planks and dragged it in a small circle. “You've always believed in me and I never really got why.”

Dusty looked across the ship. They were far from the Equestrian heartland now, where even the summer winds come with occasional chills and frost dots the landscape. Rows of mountains building to a forest of rocks and trees that seemed to daunt them even from the air. And a mist that persisted in crawling about their hooves like little tendrils of light.

“You've never let me down. Besides, that's what friends do. If I started worrying about what we can and can't do all the time, we may as well just stay home under the covers. Now I think I hear some corncakes on the way, and you'd better share...”

* * *

By the time night had settled, the mist had come.

And once they all had slept and gone on their way again, it was there still, more persistent and thick than before. The white-blue landscape was fading quickly into the distance like a painting, the fair roads of Equestria giving way to hills and then mountains like porcupine spines. Dusty kicked at the puffs of moisture and they simply dissipated before soaking into the air again. The warmth of the sun was gone and only a bleak echo of daylight chased them through the impenetrable fog.

“The patrols never said it was this thick,” Bruce said. “I wonder what's making it worse.”

“Nothing that we'll want to deal with,” said Dusty. “We get in, get the Princess' treasure, and get out.”

He peered over the edge of the ship. He couldn't see the ground. Just a sea of mist that seemed to stretch down forever. As their flight was passing he was losing a sense of where the top of the sky was, where the ground was. Even hours and minutes seemed to be obscured by the land, tricking even his most innate of pegasenses.

“If we're not careful, we're going to smack right into the mountains.” He rubbed his temples. “Or we'll fly too high and suffocate ourselves. I'm not even sure if we're going straight anymore. This is ridiculous. We can't even try to land without the possibility of crashing.”

Ivory shoved him upward with her snout. “At least we know we're not being followed. You think you can fly down there find us a place to set down?”

Dusty shivered and felt his wings tightening. Why did the notion of free-flight scare him, suddenly? All pegasi had a little experience with low visibility. But something about it was off.

No. He flared his feathers out. The last thing I want to be known for is crashing my friends face first into a mountain.

“I'm going to take a look around,” he said. “Light the sky lanterns so I can find my way back. We'll find our way out of this.”

One by one they lit the lanterns along the side of the ship. Because of Ivory's condition, Dusty had gotten used to picking up special burning oils from an apothecary near Ponyville. A bit of sunflower, tangleroot, something Dusty couldn't even comprehend, let alone pronounce, bask in firefly light... if they were magic it was a kind that wasn't bothered by Ivory's presence, and the faint blues and greens could flare as bright as the sun and last almost as long.

They set a dozen alight in the windows and along the deck, and Dusty took one between his teeth before taking the plunge. His friends didn't look worried at all. They looked expectant. And why not? He was a pegasus in his prime.

See you on the other side, he thought, seizing the lantern tight as he flew up and then out, off of the ship, into the mist. The mist left a coat of wetness around him but even if it could get into the lamp glass, it wouldn't be able to extinguish his light. His one and only lifeline, should something go wrong.

Arguably, it was wrong from the start. A few solid flaps and he'd lost sight of all but the lamps along the airship. And he constantly looked back, up, to make sure he could still find it as he descended. Down and down with only gentle wafts of wind and cold wetness sticking to his coat. He went slowly, never sure if he'd be met with a sudden smash against rocks and trees.

It seemed to go forever. How high up were they? The Old Kingdoms were in a valley. But before that was the mountains, and he never remembered passing through them.

The twists of miasma-like fog were dizzying. He couldn't tell north, and the shadow of the sun barely met him. And from all angles. He felt as if there were not a right way to go. No east, or west, no left or right. Each stroke of his wings seem to leave him in the same place, or worse, back the way he'd came. And still no ground.

This isn't natural. He swallowed, gripped his lantern tighter. Not unicorn magic, either. Older than that...

He looked up again to search for the reassuring dots of the airship. Then he wasn't sure he was looking up, and he couldn't see anything but mist.

Oh Celestia, no. Where are they? I can't leave them...

Dusty began to flap his wings and as soon as he determined the pull of gravity he launched himself in the opposite direction. He trembled, teeth grinding on the handle of the lantern. The cold was starting to penetrate even his pegasus hide and he shivered to the bones.

Higher, and higher, and still he could see nothing. No ground. No clouds. No ship.

I don't want to die out here... I don't want to fall forever.

And he did the only thing he could think of. He flew. He let his instincts take over, and hoped whatever made him a pegasus would also be what saved him. He flew for what felt like hours until his wings were aching. The wind was beginning to pick up and bite at his feathers.

Snowflakes. Little bits dapping on him like cold frosting, and melting away to join his now slick sheen of a coat.

Ivory... Bruce... I hope that you're okay. Even if I get lost... maybe you can make it home. The old loudmouth is a soldier. She'll be fine. They'll be fine...

His wings were starting to fail him, and the worst thing he could do was fall. There was probably a ground, somewhere, and he would probably hit it very, very hard if he gave up.

The skies, however, were endless. And they were winning. He let his wings rest for just a moment, limp at his sides. The lamp jangled and he closed his eyes as he fell, cold and sore, into freefall.

For one second he thought it was over. Then a second passed and he hit a thick layer of snow with a resounding shoomp, going to the tips of his ears in the crater. The walls of snow kept out a bit of the mist and the cold, and he let a sigh of relief.

Guess the world isn't crazy after all.

When he opened his eyes again he didn't know how long it had been or where his lamp was. All he knew was that the mist had thinned, just a little, with the increasing gales. And he could see two bright fires flickering in the distance like eyes.

Then whirring. He looked overhead and saw the line of lanterns on the airship still shining bright. He stood up. Even if his wings were broken, he'd somehow have flown back there.

With a few wingbeats he came back over the top of the railing, causing both Ivory and Bruce to leap back in alarm.

Dusty laughed. “Who did you think I was?”

“I don't know!” Ivory scowled. “You just came out of nowhere.”

Then she did something that surprised him. She tackled him and pinned him to the deck in the most uncomfortable hug that Dusty had ever experienced, up to and including the horn that kept poking him at impossible angles.

“Was I gone that long?” Dusty murmured.

Ivory squeezed him so hard it hurt. “It felt like days.”

Bruce gently cleared his throat. “I don't think it was that long.”

“Doesn't matter,” Ivory muttered. “It was too long.”

And beneath a pile of friendship, Dusty began to realize just how tired it was. How long it'd been since he'd gotten a good night's sleep, even before they'd reached the border of apparent madness. He would have gone to sleep right there if Bruce hadn't pulled him out from under Ivory.

“More importantly, did you find us somewhere to land?” he asked. “The ship might be able to fly forever, but there's too many cliffs to be flying around like this.”

“Yeah,” Ivory muttered. “We learned that the hard way when someone scraped a glacier.”

Dusty frowned. More damage on his ship. He didn't know what bothered him most: that his friends were wrecking his beautiful boat or that he just couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. “We're about five hundred feet up,” he said. “Not as far away as we thought. But I saw something out there. It might be a settlement. I want to check it out.”

There was no dissent. A settlement could mean unfathomable danger. But it could also mean warm beds and fresh food and a sense of where they were.

“It was north of here,” Dusty continued, pointing the twin lights out. He could see them more clearly now. “There. Do you see it?”

Bruce and Ivory stared into the distance. “Nope.”

Dusty flared his wings. “Seriously? It's not that far away.”

“Maybe it's a pegasus thing,” suggested Ivory. “Because all I see is fog and more fog.”

“If you know where it is, just get us there,” said Bruce. “Don't matter what we see, after all.”

The pegasus sighed. “Alright,” he said.

They flew closer, and closer. The lights grew bigger and Dusty didn't ask whether or not they could see them again. It looked almost as if a pair of moons was hanging in the sky, on twin towers, somewhere, like a gateway or a harbor. Then they looked like flame, and then nothing more than falling snow.

A gentle snow, for which he was thankful. The fog was still persistent but they found they could see further and further. And soon the slope of the mountains came out as if painted by a sudden stroke of a brush. Green pines and rolling waters and the sun still hanging over the horizon overhead.

In front of them was a wide hillside, and Dusty set them down on the flattest part of it. Up in the hills, he could spy a number of small flags, some red, some dark blue, some so old he couldn't tell. Tents and quickly erected cabins sat gently puffing smoke into the sky.

The northern country rose around them in welcome, the mountains on one side and a deep valley in the other. Clouds hung motionless over everything, chalk-white and mute. Wherever they had traveled, it was certainly in the right direction.

Dusty snapped to attention as figures moved out of the settlement. First came a gryphon, with stained white feathers and a golden lion half. He was flanked on either side by a pair of pegasi, each looking equally weathered, cloaks across their backs. They landed on the front of the ship with such force that Dusty had to take a step back. His wings came up in automatic display.

He wanted to be cordial, open things up in a friendly manner and hopefully win them some love and help. And food. A warm welcome, he thought, and yet all he could say was, “What do you want?” Their sudden intrusion made him edgy.

The gryphon scowled. “This is our territory,” he said, not seeming to understand the irony of ponies and gryphons claiming territory together. “And you're trespassing.”

A moment of silence passed. Then the large, white pegasus in a faded golden cloak stepped forward.

“Bruce?” she asked, incredulous.

The earth pony stepped forward and snorted. “Galebright? You're alive?”

Dusty looked between them. The gryphon looked the other way. The sudden, strange reunion was taking them all for a loop. Yet why am I surprised.

“I'd ask the same of you,” she said, raising an eyebrow, “right after 'what the hell are you doing here?'”

Bruce chuckled and wandered across the deck, pushing between the gryphon and his cohorts with such a smile that they did not know how to react. “I'll explain everything, if you will,” he said. “Assuming of course we're welcome.”

The gryphon stared at her. “You know these ponies, Gale?”

“Just this one,” said Galebright, sighing. “But if he's here... they're not going to be causing any trouble. Let them stay, Char.”

His tone changed immediately. The whole beast seemed, in that moment, far more regal and wild than anything Dusty had ever seen, his white feathers like iron even under the light filter of snow. “Then they can stay, for now.” He stepped aside and bid for them follow. “I am Tok the Charred-Tongue, and it is an honor to welcome you to Camp Firelight.”

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The gryphon and his followers led them to the heart of the camp. And there they saw dozens of faces, moving from tent to cabin or towards the ridges with purpose. A patrol came in on the wing; another departed by foot. None of them wore any colors, but Dusty could tell that many of them had once been soldiers and that others had fallen into line.

“As much as it loathes me to say it,” said Char, each step leading them towards the largest hut like the patient sea, “this land still belongs to the ponyfolk. As inhospitable and damned as it is.”

“The three tribes once ruled here,” said Bruce. “But that was centuries ago. The gryphons haven't moved in?”

Char waved a black wing dismissively. “It is not like us to share much territory, even for such a grand claim. Besides. The cursed land tends to keep everyone towards the outer ranges. Even coming in as far is this is considered ill fortune.”

Dusty bounded ahead, pushing his way through the other ponies, who grumbled and shoved him on the way. “I wanted to ask you about that,” he said. “First about the... curse, if there is one... and why this is called Camp Firelight. Does it have to do with the beacons?”

The gryphon stared at him, and though no one else had seemed to notice, he found it strange and silent. Then he just shook his head. “I will explain our purpose only because I believe that you can further it. But first, a warm fire and fresh vittles. You need not worry about your ship. I assure you that our guards will be ever vigilant in watching it against the snow and wind...”

#

They met in the Great Hall, a half dug out pit surrounded by rising cabin walls. A bright fire roared in the center, the smoke vanishing somewhere near the ceiling. Magic, Dusty though. And magic that kept the place from somehow being as hot as a sauna and as comfortable as a spring day.

“We don't get a lot in the way of fresh vegetation around here, but we make do,” Char explained. While he certainly had his own appetite to tend to, he maintained a polite company and shared the same wide spread of hard breads and foraged snowberries. “The constant string of weather makes it impossible to grow more than a small crop around the year. Fortunately no one has seen fit to slash our supply lines...”

“That's because no one in their right minds would want to lay claim to this hellhole,” said Galebright. The pegasus sat down close to the fire—close enough that Bruce, trying to join her, had to move back from the sheer heat of the flame. She smashed a handful of berries on bread and set it on a stone, shoving it closer.

“So why all the effort guarding it?” Bruce wondered. “You could come home any time you want...”

“We're doing our duty to the crown,” she said, eyes locked the fire. The edges of the bread were beginning to tint brown, then gold, and the smell of sweet fruit filled the air. “Working day and night to restore this land to its former glory. It would also improve relations with the gryphons...”

“And make it easier to keep the giant beasties out,” chuckled Char. Dusty thought he heard something distant and otherworldly howl, but no one paid it any mind. He rubbed his head and drank as much water as he could manage, hoping it would help.

Ivory lay down near the fire and laughed. “So you think that after hundreds of years things can just go back to the way they were?”

“We've got to try,” said Galebright, raising an eyebrow. “And seeing as you're traveling with one of the Princess' men, I would guess that she thinks something can be done as well.”

All eyes fell upon Bruce. Dusty would have felt more insulted if he didn't have his snout buried in a tankard of apple cider.

“If that were the purpose she hasn't told me,” he chuckled, hiding his uncertainty. Galebright still would not look at him, no matter how hard he tried. “I was sent along to ensure the safety of these two... it's their mission to recover some lost artifact from the cloud city.”

Galebright drew back the stone, lifted the bread, and bit deep. And smiled. Dusty thought she did, however brief it might have been when the berries first hit her tongue. So much so that he began to quietly imitate her preparations.

“She is not always direct in her intentions,” she said, “but not misleading. Perhaps what you are looking for and what we need are one in the same. Were the situation better, we could show you there ourselves.”

Bruce frowned. “What's the 'situation'?”

Char tapped his talons against stone. “Frost shrikes from the west. Snow wolves from the north. And we believe that some of the ancient mounds have been coming to life. We may be soldiers but we are not exterminators nor are we here to wage war against the wilds. Our only lucky stroke so far is that they seem to be mere beasts, not an organized force. But you need not occupy yourselves with our fight.”

“Just point us the right way and we'll get it done,” said Dusty, his snout now covered in berry juice.

“Were it so easy.” The gryphon sighed. “The frost shrikes,” he said, and Dusty could barely imagine what they must be, some snowy bird of formidable size, “have set up several roosts in the old city. If you go there alone you're going to be torn to shreds.”

“Have you ever seen one?” Galebright laughed. “Bigger than Char here, and most of that is beak and talon. What's left is a mottled mess of pure hate that'll freeze you dead in an instant. And if you're scared enough, well... you just might manage to outrun them. Maybe.”

Dusty pondered. “Well, maybe an invisibility spell...”

“No. We tried that once. Clever bastards played along. Long enough for our men to get cocky and go to the middle of their nests before being ripped to shreds. They don't need to see you. They can feel the heat from your body.”

“Then what are we going to do?”

“We've made a lure,” she said. “A mess of magic. That should get even the stubborn ones to chase us. There are nets set up on the south ridge. We're going to lure them out and then capture them.”

“So that takes care of that problem...”

Galebright laughed. “Our runners are fast, our aim true. Of course it'll only keep the place clear until something else decides to move in. More shrikes. Wisps. Or maybe something even worse is lurking.”

He chowed down the rest of his food thoughtfully. “When is the operation?”

She glanced at Char. The gryphon sighed.

“I had been wanting to put this off until we could lure more of them into the ridge... but given your sudden arrival, expedience may be necessary. Galebright, tell the others that we will be going through with the plan tomorrow morning.”

The pegasus shoved the stone back into the fire and stood. Several of the ponies present were already murmuring amongst themselves but they quieted down when she so much as looked their way. “Yes, sir,” she said, and departed.

As she did, a pleasant chatter rose from the ponies around the fire. Dusty stared into the whisking flames and could not help but think of the vision that had led him there in the first place. An undecipherable amount of time later, he heard Char speaking.

“... make any preparations you need to before the morning. You can spend the night here in the hall. It's not very private but you will be safe.”

“Uh?” Dusty said, and looked up. The gryphon just stared at him. “Yeah,” he said. “We'll be ready.”

The gryphon just chuckled, shook his head, and left. Dusty looked over towards the others. Bruce was busy chatting up a couple of the old guards.

“You know, the palace hasn't been the same without you.”

“There are times when I miss the mild weather and the comfortable beds... and our beloved princesses. But our duty is here.”

“Yeah, and the last time you 'volunteered' to guard the royal baths....”

Dusty couldn't hear much more over the boistrous laughter. Even Ivory was over on the other side of the pit, prodding Bruce incessantly.

“You still haven't told me what your deal is with Gale.”

“We worked together,” the old soldier said wryly.

Ivory frowned. “That's not what I meant.”

“Well, maybe I'll tell you when you're older.”

Dusty folded his wings about himself and curled up on the woven rug. He tried to sleep but found the fire too hot, the room too noisy, and yet somehow perversely empty. The cold seemed to managed to bite him from outside the sweltering, blurry hall. At the far corners of the world, he felt positively tiny.

And seemed to shrink inside until he winked out into slumber.

#

How long he had been sleeping, he didn't know. The fires in front of him roared out of control, and all beyond the hall was blackness. Two? Sweat rolled down his back and he rolled it off of his wings as he stood and spun about. Black stone propped him up in the void. He tried to call out for his friends and found nothing came out.

“What's this?” A strange voice echoed. “It isn't safe for you here, little pony.”

Stilted. Dusty reefed on his hooves to find that they were frozen to the ground and stared up at the two pyres that now seemed as bright and large as twin suns. The voices seemed to be emanating from them. Old, gruff, somehow familiar.

“Where's that bravado you love so much? Can't speak? That's too bad.”

Ice was beginning to coalesce around his legs, freezing them numb. He felt the echo of a chill working down as the sweltering heat bore upon him from above. His mane flickered and then sprung up like a brushfire. He felt only the ghost of pain and grunted as the antipodal elements pinned him from either side.

“Stripped of everything, and your only choice is the frost or the flame... can't make up your mind? That's alright. We can always do it for you.”

The pegasus flared his wings out to his sides and bared his teeth. He locked eyes with the terrifying flames, now like a pair of ruby eyes glowering in the empty sky. He couldn't squeak out so much as a thought, but he demanded answers anyway. Why? Why him? What was the meaning behind the flame, this place?

“Choose, little pegasus. Then perhaps you will understand where you are.”

Flames broiled around him and the unmeltable ice gave way. He forced his eyes open to the blackness, silhouettes of pegasi drifting in their ancient home. Before the snow came, when great beasts lurked in the shadows and the brave ponies struggled to keep it safe. Families in the shadows, strange metals licked by flame and transmuted into vapors. The images made no sense. The torches made no sense. There was no such monument in the old kingdom.

“It's right in front of you. Open your eyes.”

Dusty blinked and still the void swirled in front of him. Then the soft tap of hooves on stone. Someone approaching—a unicorn? From out of the flames a ruby silhouette. Their body an inferno with a twisted smile. It lowered its horn which curled with a rainbow of fire and brought it closer and closer.

“You'd better open your eyes...”

Was it him thinking, or a warning? Dusty frantically tried to wake up, but found himself rooted in place in space and time. Then the unicorn turned, and stood in front of his friends. Ivory. Dusty. The Princess. Everypony he'd ever met and many he hadn't. And one by one burned them to dust.

Finally the figure turned to Dusty and chuckled. “It's not like you could help it anyway.” The prismatic flame caught on his feathers and seared through him and like a phoenix he immolated and everything went white.

#

In the great hall, lit only by the glow of embers, Dusty snapped awake and stood, poised for flight. He panted and swallowed his muted scream before wiping the sweat from his brow.

A nightmare. Strange... I'm not usually bothered by places like these.

He looked around the room as his eyes adjusted to the light. No guards—not inside at least, aside from the ones sleeping in snug circles around the cushioning and fire pits. Bruce had fallen asleep where he had spent the night.

Ivory...?

Dusty looked to the other side and heard a soft snore. His friend had apparently come back, just a hooves' reach from him. He smiled a little. However she was sleeping, she didn't seem to be suffering the same visions that he was.

He tiptoed his way outside and gave the doors, thankfully unbarred, a nudge. They groaned softly and the wind coaxed from the outside, but after his dream he was quiet willing to step from the heat to the chill.

Two ponies glanced at him as he stepped outside.

“Shut the door,” one of them cautioned, and that was all. Dusty nodded and did so before wandering into the field.

The snow had stopped completely now, and he could see the stars above. The moon leaned towards Canterlot, as if longing for its keeper. Everything was quiet and still.

A taloned hand set upon Dusty's shoulder and he jumped.

Char chuckled. “Never did rest easy before a mission myself,” he muttered. “Too official. Too much pressure and too much on the line. Things used to be simpler before the ponies came back. Cursed, but simple.”

“How long have you been here?” Dusty asked, and the gryphon raised an eyebrow as if his question had been more than a little immodest.

“Longer than you have been alive,” he said. “Long enough to know that reason that wild beasts don't like to come up here.”

Dusty blinked. “Why is that?”

“Well, you don't seem like the sort to believe in superstition.” The gryphon splayed his pinions. “Back when the valley was full of ponies, there was apparently a pegasus and a unicorn who commited a treasonous act. Since imprisonment was impractical and exile was no better, well...”

The twin pyres flashed in Dusty's mind and the heat drained from his face. “What...”

Char slapped him back on the wing. “They were publicly denounced and had their effects destroyed. A unicorn's things are rather dangerous... doubly so for one who has been wronged. And magic released can sustain a fire for a very long time.”

The pegasus sighed, unsure whether to be comforted or not. “Not exactly the song and marshmallow fare.”

“This is more of a cider gang anyway. People believe what they want to. But even stories around here tend to take a life of their own, so we have to be very careful.”

Dusty drew a hoof for the snow. “The only story on my mind is the one where I find the treasure and go home for a good celebration.”

“That's the spirit,” said Char. “Now why don't you get some real rest?”

“Yeah, I...” the pegasus looked down. “Could you do me a favor?”

“Perhaps.”

“My friends... they won't be able to come to the city with me.”

“Oh, we can probably dredge up somepony that knows the Cloudwalker enchantment... we don't have much use for it but someone is bound to know it.”

Dusty winced. Even if they did, it wouldn't stick to Ivory. “I need to do this myself,” he said. “I can't let them be in any danger.”

“Sounds like someone wants to be a hero. Not that I'm going to stop you.”

“It's like you and Gale said.” Dusty swallowed. “There's no telling what might be lurking in there. I know I dragged them across the world for this, but this place... I won't risk them. Make sure they stay safe.”

The gryphon started to walk away. “Fine. But you're going to have to be the one to convince them to stay.”

“Don't worry about it,” Dusty said. He stood in the snow and watched the gryphon depart, and as soon as he was certain that he was alone, he flew.

The lookouts would probably see him, but it didn't matter if they knew he was going. They didn't stop him, and he wasn't going to give Ivory the chance to say no. In all of his expeditions and adventures, he'd never traveled alone. Someone always had his back. In his gut, though, he felt as if the jaws of something sinister were closing about him.

Chapter 7

In the hours of twilight there was yet to be an attack. No raid, no devious trap, and Dusty glided through the winter's chill without a sound. This, he thought, would be the way the ancient pegasi would have done things. With fancier hats, to be sure, but nonetheless. It was why they needed the other races to mitigate their behavior. Because without it, they'd all have died long ago proving their valor against impossible odds.

Still, Dusty kept comfort in knowing that in no way would his friends come to harm now. Whatever was going to happen, they would be well out of the blast zone of. He was cutting his way over drifts and sprawling mountains, towards the epicenter of the valley where the cloud city lay in ruins.

He had not seen a single creature, although on occasion he thought he saw something moving in one crevice or another. The lack of interference emboldened him. It didn't leave his mind that this was exactly how some other ponies died. But he trusted his wings.

The snow parted like a curtain onto the scene of the clouds, leaving only diamond sparkles in the air to bounce light to the far corners of the ruins. A field of former-houses and satellite platforms drifted a bit in the wind, some cloudfluff shredding off in the breeze. Bits of pillars and lonely remnants, anything else having been buried in the snow dunes below.

At the center, though, one great building remained. The pegasus architects designed it to be so, a veritable palace of columns and clouds so thick as to be fortress-like. Some of the structures had held up so well that, to his surprise, he recognized some of the techniques replicated in the Canterlot Royal Palace, which, in turn, was established with the greatest techniques of all three ponies.

His deep fascination in architecture would have to be pushed aside. He set his hooves down on the clouds and they made a soft puff but otherwise did not announce his presence.

As he was looking around, a shadow passed over him. His wings frizzed and he bolted into the open archway, inside.

“Straighten up, soldier. We're expecting a princess.”

Dusty jerked his head up. Nopony was there. Not behind him, not in the white entryway, not further in the hall. He inched in further and the voices became clearer.

“Ugh. Not that snooty unicorn mare again.”

“Excuse me, Lieutenant?”

“Sorry. Not that snooty unicorn mare, sir?”

Dusty followed the voices, although he wasn't sure if they were echoing around corners or inside his head. He found a spiral of clouds leading upwards to a darker second floor. For a moment he'd wished he'd brought a light, but then remembered the shrikes' affinity for heat. Upstairs, in another hall, several railed platforms overlooked a hall of cloudseats below. The voices continued as he searched among them.

“No, not a unicorn. Our strange visitor from before. Nocturnal, a bit queer...”

“And she'll be visiting us, not the unicorns. Hah. That'll stick it in their hooves, huh? Er... sir.”

“I imagine it will. See to it that the guest chambers are in proper shape.”

Something brushed past Dusty. He glanced back and his mane frizzed as he caught what appeared to be the shadow of a mare. It persisted, shuffling past tables and he started to realize that she was carrying flagons of cider to various circles of pegasi. Pegasi in armor of darker shades, all guffawing and trying to speak over one another in the din of the hall.

An iron-coated hoof shook him by the mane. “You deaf, soldier?”

Dusty looked back to see himself face to face with Commander Hurricane. In the flesh, or something close to it, eyes hard and demanding an answer. He reached up to adjust his helmet, red brush swaying in the air and swallowed. “No, sir,” he stammered. “Princess' chambers. Tip top shape. Consider it done, Commander.”

The leader of the pegasi raised an eyebrow, then made a half-hearted sigh before he turned and proceeded to find more of his kind to set straight. Dusty made himself look busy and began wandering towards the back. This would be the perfect opportunity to find what Celestia had sent him for. It should have been his first thought. But it was more like his third. His second was pondering the strange magic that was making this possible. It felt like it. Or he had died and gone to pegasus Valhalla. Unlikely.

The first, of course, was an ecstatic squee. Had anypony ever been this deep in their ancient history? It was like a dream come true. Some adventurers dug up musty old relics and some walked among living legends, but never like this.

Whatever was causing the vision was giving him a roll to fulfill. He did not ghost along naturally with the pegasi he was occupying, if there even was such a thing. And it did not help that he did not know the layout of the palace at all. No books recorded had remembered it in such detail.

He turned to one of the pegasus colts that looked especially janitorial and tapped him on the shoulder. The boy gave a jump and then saluted. Dusty managed to only smile a little.

“I've got orders. Need you to polish the guest chamber for our big visitor. A little re-fabrication and the like.”

The colt glanced about nervously and then gave another nod. “Aye, sir,” he said, and began off towards a stairwell. Dusty sighed in relief and trotted after him. He couldn't help but worry that a shrike, wherever they were, would set down upon him in some fevered vision and do away with him before he noticed. But something bigger was going on, and he had to find out what.

Light was filtering in through some of the gaps, the 'windows' lined above the stable flooring and out over landing platforms. Far more light than should have been there, and the lands looked green and verdant—though if he squinted he could still see the frozen wastes filtering through. He didn't want to lose the vision. He thrust away reality and followed the serving colt all the way to a squat tower and the chamber contained within.

The light changed, although it may have just been the slant into the room. It seemed darker, more indigo almost. The coolness of a summer night was there and while the colt worked the seams out of the floor and moved enchanted furniture back into place, Princess Luna looked over from a drawing table and smiled right at him.

He had to try not to let his jaw hit the floor.

#

Ivory stirred from sleep to the sound of ponies throwing on armor and tromping around the great hall. She looked over to that space near her where Dusty was sleeping, and then to the other side. She scanned the room and frowned when she could not find him. Then her ear flicked up to the sound of Bruce who was interrogating a pair of old guards.

“What do you mean, you have no idea where he is?”

One shrugged helplessly. “I only got word a few minutes ago. One of the watchponies saw him taking off last night.”

“You shouldn't have let him go,” Bruce growled, stamping his forehooves against the floor. Both ponies backed up. Galebright, having finished inspecting one group, paused in front of him and shook her head.

“He's not one of our own and you're not prisoners here. What did you expect us to do?”

Bruce snorted. “Someone should have told me. He's one of ours. Do you have scouts out?”

“No,” said Galebright. “We can't risk tipping off the birds before we start the mission. Besides, if your friend has gotten anywhere near them...”

Ivory, fully awake now, practically bull rushed her way into the conversation, soon standing with her horn between the two white ponies. “What about Dusty? I don't care if he's not one of 'yours,' you can't just leave him for dead.”

Galebright raised an eyebrow. “Someone grew a spine,” she said. “Or at least a mouth. I didn't say that he was dead. I said we can't risk tracking him right now. Maybe he left a message.”

Ivory shook her head. “It doesn't make any sense. Dusty doesn't go anywhere without me.” She lifted a hoof and stared at it. “Not since we were small. For him to just take off like this... something must be wrong.”

“You worry too much.” Char had come now, his gryphon body seeming all the more massive in a mess of crimson woven armor. He stood between them and the fire, casting shade and coolness over every pony between him and the door. “I had your friend tend to a special assignment for us. One flier patrol to make sure there aren't any changes on the eastern plain. It won't take him anywhere near danger.”

Ivory stared at him. “He would have taken me with him,” she said.

“I'm afraid that's impossible, really. He's safe in the air. Anyone on the ground would be breakfast for the wolves.”

“Then you could have sent someone else.”

“I needed him.”

“You're lying.” Ivory narrowed her eyes. “I know him better than any of you. And I want to know where my friend is.”

Char exchanged glances with Galebright, who shook her head and stormed off. The gryphon rubbed his temples with a pinion. “Where exactly your friend is, I cannot say. I can say that if our mission succeeds, then he will be in no danger. And if it fails... I can't promise his safety.”

“We should go to him, danger or none,” said Ivory, stamping her hoof even harder than Bruce.

“If you do, you will die,” replied Char. “I was not lying about that.”

Bruce gave her snout a comforting bump of his which nearly bowled her over. “There must be a reason for this.”

“I cannot think of any...”

“Then we'll make sure he's safe. And ask him ourselves.” Bruce ruffled her mane a little. It did not cheer her up.

“Oh, I'll do more than ask.” Ivory's horn sparkled, and she ignored the scent of ozone. She twisted and shouted after Galebright. “We're going with you and your little platoon and making sure you get the job done right.”

The white mare didn't even blink. “Have it your way,” she said. “I'll never turn down more fodder between those hellbirds and my soldiers.”

And just a little, she smiled, leaving Bruce to sit, stumped.

Char settled his wings. He had been watching, considering what he had said to Dusty. “Well then, sounds like you just volunteered for the ground teams. Why don't you head out and get familiar? And remember, no one is going to hold it against you if you decide to stay behind.”

“Not on your life,” muttered Ivory.

He smiled in a way that only a gryphon can smile. “No, I didn't think you would. Good luck.”

#

The princess of the night allowed Dusty to stare his fill before eventually speaking. It surprised Dusty—it was not the traditional Canterlot voice, but then, Canterlot did not yet exist, and the volume may very well have blown out a wall if used wrongly. “What is your name?”

Dusty straightened his helmet plume and bowed his head. “Oh, uh, Dust Devil.”

Luna laughed briskly. “You are a terrible liar,” she said. Her starlit mane seemed to skew as it flowed towards eternity. “It is daylight here but still I sense the night. I can see it... as if you're far away.” She lifted a hoof, glass slipper holding snug as she touched it against his cheek. “Your eyes carry secrets.”

The pegasus flustered. “I would keep no secrets from you, Princess Luna.”

“Has our reputation preceded us?” She tipped her hoof beneath his chin and then released hit, leaving him listing forward towards her touch. “No. These are secrets kept by a magic old and strange. Why have you sought me, my little pony?”

Dusty squirmed in his hooves, pondering what to say. Her gaze was cutting through him. Patient but demanding. Meeting her perfect blue eyes was like looking deep into the night sky and deep into himself all at the same time. It made his head spin. The truth seemed so distant and at the same time the only thing he could offer.

“Your sister sent me,” he whispered, “and said that there was something here. A gift that she gave to you, something left behind. I am to return it to... er, I presume, you.”

Princess Luna looked across to a stack of cherrywood drawers in the corner. “I see,” she said. “My sister is always kind... even now she's looking out for me in her own way.”

Before she could open the drawer, two ponies were approaching. She shoved Dusty under the table and her pointed her horn at him.

“No time to explain,” she said, magic crackling around her. “Do not move. I will keep you safe.”

The sensation of being bathed in cool liquid silver fell over Dusty and a net of stars sparkled in his vision. He could barely see the room through them and got the sense that whatever it was had obscured him in some way. Just in time to see a pegasus—a captain, judging by his chest plate—and a red-maned brown unicorn.

“I understand that your time here is precious, princess, and I would not ask for much of it,” said the captain. The unicorn glared at him, and he quickly shuffled to fashion a door out of the clouds to give them some sense of privacy. Then the unicorn sparked a spell and their voices became soft, muffled.

“Ruby Horn and Captain Storm, yes?” she asked, and the two ponies nodded. “We appreciate your concern.” Luna's posture shifted and she leaned up, looking down upon them. “But do not understand this need for secrecy.”

“Our people work well together,” said the unicorn, “but are short-sighted. They wish to keep things as they are. Laboring to maintain balance in the world at the cost of their potential.”

“Having control of the sun and the moon,” explained the captain, “would give the pegasi unprecedented glory. The responsibility of maintaining this land has always belonged to us. So we have decided to construct a device that will allow me... allow the pegasi to relieve the unicorns of their burden. I have chosen my allies carefully, and Ruby is the only one I trust.”

Luna tilted her head away. “Pardon our asking, but what, praytell, do you gain from involving us?”

Ruby Horn's aura flared and he produced a scroll. It floated onto the table above Dusty, and he was left with a star-speckled view of three sitting ponies as they studied the design.

“It is sound in theory,” said the unicorn, “but I cannot find a way to perfect the link between pegasus and unicorn fields. Even our most complex theories have failed to solve this concept. It would take years of testing, made worse by the fact that we cannot speak of this openly. However, if you forgive me saying so, Princess, you seem to be the perfect candidate.”

Luna leaned back a bit and hesitated. “We... are not in the position to be tested upon.”

“I understand your trepidations,” said the Captain, “but you and your sister's efforts have not gone unnoticed. Achieving any level of harmony will take great time. And much less if we share this bond. Please, we are begging you...”

The princess muttered something. Ruby Horn laughed.

“You will not be harmed,” he said. “All I need to do is expose the device to your magic and I should be able to handle the attunement myself. With your consent.”

It took a long, long time for Luna to finally relent. “If it will help your people, we will cooperate,” she said. “Just this much.”

“Excellent.” The unicorn chuckled and produced what looked like a mess of gems melted together. Dusty recognized the centerpiece as moonstone. “Hold still, your highness...”

Ripples of magic drifted through the room like the rings a stone leaves behind when thrown into a pond. It smelled just a bit like burnt cheese and Luna flinched as the stone crackled over her. In just a few moments, it was over.

“Is it sufficient?” asked Luna, sounding a hint tired.

“Yes, yes... thank you, your highness. Now this is troublesome. I'll have to make some major adjustments, but I think that... one moment...”

As the unicorn paced and wandered, Captain Storm flared his wings up. “Don't mind him. Most unicorns are just like this. Always lost in their thoughts, with no consideration for present company.” He looked aside, to see if his jab had stuck; it did not. He huffed and lowered his wings. “You, on the other hand, are quite exemplary...”

From beneath the table Dusty could see Luna's legs stiffen. The unicorn paused his rambling long enough to tap the Captain on the helmet.

“That's enough out of you. I will need to perform more experiments, and they will not be nearly as enjoyable for you. Fortunately,” he said, voice shifting towards Luna, “pegasi rather pride themselves on their threshold for pain and other trials. All bravado, if you ask me...”

The two unwanted guests groused a little before both coming to attention to the princess again and putting on an air of intense politeness.

“You have our eternal gratitude. Without you, this task may have been utterly impossible. If there is any way we can repay you....”

Luna tapped her hooves against the floor. “Share your well-being with all ponykind and that will be enough for us. If you'll forgive our rudeness, that magic was more tiring than I'd anticipated. We would like some time to ourselves, before the banquet...”

“Yes, of course,” said the captain. The two ponies roughed one another a bit before edging out. A moment later, Luna lifted the veil.

“Maybe it was the spell that brought you here, or maybe something different,” she said, resuming their conversation almost immediately. “The effects will probably wear off shortly. It should be safe to come out. And I am sorry that I will not see you again for a very long time. Somehow, seeing you fills me with both joy and sorrow...” she laughed and shook her head. “We should not be so informal. It may make things awkward in the future.”

Dusty opened his mouth and then closed it again, huddled beneath the furniture, pinched somewhere in time with the princess of the night. And no words came. She leaned in and tapped his forehead with her horn and a spark of magic surged through him.

The light shifted to twilight once more. Luna dissolved from his vision and the ancient walls darkened. The sound of pegasus revelry felt like a distant echo. He crept out and stood up. The tower he had been in was missing its top, only a few tendrils of cloud leaving him in the old guest room. A pair of icy wings flashed outside the window and a cry like the shriek of wind filled the air.

#

Ivory was short of breath and forcing her aching legs to crash through a foot of snow. All the ire in the world and the only thing keeping her from dropping off was Bruce's constant nagging every time she started to fall behind. She looked behind at the flock of shrikes chasing them. At first she had thought that they looked too much like Princess Celestia's pet phoenix. Just way too big and way too cold. Now the resemblance didn't occur to her. Their eyes were like blue diamonds, their wings like ice shearing up from the frozen sea. They screamed like winter over a broken plain, and an entire flock was blotting the sky as they ran deeper and deeper into the snow filled ravine.

“How was this a good idea!?” she shouted breathlessly at Bruce, who mustered a laugh and looked over at her.

“It isn't,” he said. “But the things you do for your friends, or your country...”

It seemed like only minutes ago they were standing on a ridge overlooking the cloud city. Ivory had thought she'd spotted something familiar, some shade of red floating amongst the clouds. That's when Char had blown the horn. Two of the guards sparked up a strange stone with magic and Galebright flew ahead with it. All hell broke loose.

Now, they were managing to funnel the birds down a narrow ravine that seemed to have no end. They were fighting the wind and snow and could barely see the runners in front of them. Some of the soldiers dipped off down crags in the side. And some of the flight teams disappeared into one valley or a grove.

Then it dawned on Ivory. “Of all the places to be... she showing up here?”

“Who?” Bruce wondered.

“The red balloon. I swear I saw it. The tart of a unicorn you saw when we met in the wastes. She's some sort of crazy stalker, I swear.”

“Well, whoever she is, I'm sure Dusty isn't in any real danger...”

“Yeah.” Ivory glanced over her shoulder. “Where the hell are the traps? This gorge just keeps going. And where is everyone?”

They could feel the chill of the shrikes behind them and only a few of the runners remained with them. The canyon was opening up and the high mountain walls seemed to continue forever. Ivory saw no nets, no ponies waiting, just rocks and snow and more winter than she ever wanted to see.

What she saw next made her gut wrench. The canyon twisted to the right and ended in a pocket of high cliff walls. Char stood at the top of the summit, watching as Galebright swooped down and dropped a shining object at the center. Ivory, Bruce, and a few other old guards skidded to a stop.

“They're going to bring the mountain down on us,” Ivory hissed. “We're going to be buried alive with them. We have to get out of here!”

Bruce turned in place just in time to be swept over, ducking the rake of talons from a shrike. The blue birds circled them now and he laughed. “Well, if we're alive long enough to be buried, that'll be something impressive.”

She couldn't see but she thought that Char looked quite happy with himself as he once again blew the horn, and the whole mountain seemed to quake beneath them, and sheets of white began to funnel rapidly down the bluffs. The birds descended and Ivory braced herself.

“At least we gave Dusty a chance,” said Bruce as the shadow of the mountain descended over them.

#

Just as soon as the birds had come for Dusty, the horn had sounded. It must have been the plan set into motion. He laid low until he was sure that every frost shrike had gone and would not notice him rooting about. Then he waited a little longer.

Being shocked into the present was never a pleasant thing. He quietly lurched forward. There, propped against the edge of a window and a dip in the cloud floor was a cracked cherry wood chest of drawers.

This has to be it, he thought. He carefully reached for the drawer Luna had gone for. He gave the drawer a tug, and then drew back with a yelp as white heat raced up his back.

Red aura crept over him and he twisted in place without a thought until he was floating and held low beneath a rusty looking unicorn. He laughed with a voice male and female, past and present, a distortion perverting the very space of the world. The familiarity crept into him all too fast. His eyes widened as he met Ruby Horn's gaze. Full of fire and anger and raw power that kept him bent to the ground. The pyres of Camp Firelight now burned before his breathless, useless body.

Chapter 8

The twin avalanches filled the gorge and Ivory growled as she galloped past the other ponies. “This plan is horse apples. Run if you want to live!”

Not one of them hesitated. Already the crushing surge of snow and rock was bringing down some of the shrikes, burying them alive. Their path took them straight towards the angry flock. One swooped at Ivory and she dodged aside, but even being close to it was so cold that it bit frost deep into her flanks. She hissed a breath.

“There's no way we're getting through there,” said Bruce. But he didn't stop running.

Ivory held her horn high. “I'll figure something out.”

The stallion laughed. “Like maybe a reverse flight-spell, or some sort of thermal shielding...”

Ivory charged ahead, her horn sparkling with white energy. She didn't have any such plan, no brilliant technique. She just forced every bit of magic she had through herself and held it at a single point until the birds were about to strike.

The unicorn howled and discharged the spell. The shock waves pushed back the avalanche a bit and the frost shrikes cried out in pain as the twisted magic flowed over them. Ivory found herself smirking just a little. The more magic, the less well it reacted to her spell. And the discomfort was enough to send them plummeting from the sky.

“Good job.” Bruce pushed by her. “But I hope you've got some more tricks up your sleeve.”

Ivory looked up. Another tide of snow was flooding in front of them, blocking the way out. She stamped her hoof and her foot sunk in.

“Not yet,” she huffed. “Not like this!”

Once the avalanche was upon them, there was nothing more they could do. It trapped their legs and quickly rushed towards their torsos, necks, leaving them scrambling for footing. For just a moment it blotted their vision.

Then Ivory and the others were free, airborne, caught tight between the hooves of white pegasi. Galebright dragged them up onto the edge of the bluffs, now empty of the fallen snow, and set her down. The others soon joined.

Ivory nearly knocked Galebright over with the side of her face. “What were you thinking? What kind of plan was that?! We almost died.”

Galebright did not retaliate. She met Ivory's gaze, and then turned it at the sound of flapping wings. The gryphon. Char looked quite pleased with himself as they settled on the new mound of snow.

“Well, they won't be coming back,” he said. “Away from their sustenance they will simply dissipate into the earth. I've only seen it once before... but I'm sure that our problems, at least with this particular flock, are over.”

Galebright was far less kind than Ivory in her retaliation. She turned held herself airborne, putting all of her weight into bucking both hind legs into his shoulder. There was a crack and he fell to a heap on his side.

“What is wrong with you?” she hissed. “That was not the plan. Where were the nets? The traps? I should bury you with them.”

Char made an avian cry and pulled himself to his feet, wings flared. “Nets? Cages? Those things cannot hold a shrike. And even if they did, what then? Hope they make good prisoners? This was the only way. Our problem is solved.”

Galebright stood her ground. “It isn't your problem anymore.”

The gryphon's eyes narrowed to slits. “You couldn't possibly be that dull.”

“You almost got good ponies killed. Friends and strangers. It isn't our way. It was a mistake to let you decide our operations here.”

“There was no other way! There will always be more ponies. The lot of you breed so recklessly.”

The pegasus bared her teeth. “You'd be better suited to finding some gryphons who find you just as disposable. Because you aren't welcome here, and if you give me a chance to reconsider, I might just see fit to bury you as well.”

Char opened his beak and then closed it again. His fury overwhelmed his need for the last word and he took off with such force that it nearly knocked the ponies over. Then he was just a body in the sky. And then a speck.

And then he was gone.

Galebright and her company dug down to get away from the cutting wind and she stood to buffer Ivory and Bruce against it.

“I'm sorry,” she said, hanging her head. “That wasn't supposed to happen. Nothing like this at all.”

The two ponies leaned in and raised her head with their own. “It's never what you expect it to be,” said Ivory, closing her eyes. “And it wasn't your fault.”

“We shouldn't have been listening to him for a long time.” Galebright ruffled her wings out. “His experience in these lands was invaluable but he was always making one reckless decision after another. It was no secret that his methods would eventually come back to haunt us. And yet I allowed him to...”

“You had your whole people to think of,” said Bruce. “I think you made the right decision. Even if it led here. Decisions I couldn't make. That's why...”

“It's over now,” Ivory cut in, shaking her head. “If it bothers you that much, you can help us out. Dusty is still out there. We can have the mushy pow-wow later.”

Galebright glared at her, and then laughed. “Fine,” she said. “But how do you plan on getting into the clouds? You've made it pretty obvious that enchantment isn't the answer.”

Ivory tapped her horn. What would Dusty do?

Ah, yes. The solution was far more simple than she'd thought. “We don't need any magic,” she said. “Follow me.”

#

Dusty wiggled his hooves. The spell trapping him allowed him a generous amount of room for squirming but his jaw was more or less wired shut. The unicorn paced around him.

“Right now you're probably wondering what I want with you,” he drolled. “'oh, Ruby Horn, how could you possibly be here? Didn't you die a long time ago?'” then brushed the pegasus' cheek aside. “Pegasi. So irritatingly simple. It irks me to think that you were the secret that the Princess was hiding so long ago. One stupid, meager pegasus...”

Dusty made a mental sigh. A bonafide villain. That was just his luck. And with that irritating love for his own voice.

“Don't give me that look. You came here because I wanted you to come here. Because your coming here was all a part of the grander scheme of the world. And now that it is ready for me, it no longer has any use for you.” He canted his head up. “Still... it would be a shame if no one were here to witness my first steps to glory.”

The pegasus continued to squirm as this stranger walked to the chest and pressed his hooves against the grooves. He yanked and pulled and sparks flew from his horn. He battered it relentlessly but it shunted him back.

“How odd. It seems to think that only you can open it.” Ruby horn waved his magic aside and let Dusty fall to the floor. “Well? Don't keep me waiting.”

He seemed thoroughly unimpressed when Dusty rolled to his feet and tried to tackle him, only to be deflected with a sudden flash of a magic shield. Then twice more, until they were facing one another from across the room.

“Your kingdom is gone,” said Dusty.

“Of course. I think I like yours much better, anyway.”

“The princesses will--”

“Make the right decision once they realize the power that I gained from Luna.”

“So what makes you think I'm going to open--”

“Because if I kill you, it only sets me back a few seasons. And if I let you live, it gives you the chance to stop me.”

Dusty sighed. “You know you're really--”

“Annoying?”

“Amateur.”

Ruby smiled and nodded. A tight ring of red magic aura braced around Dusty's neck and constricted. He tried desperately to pull it off but it only cinched tighter, and soon he was writhing on the floor trying to scream but only whimpering while the unicorn reclined and watched.

“Don't try to call my bluff, boy. You're going to find me quite accommodating.”

#

Ivory stood at the helm of the airship as it pushed through wind and snow, twisting the wheel wildly. Galebright and Bruce stood behind her clinging to the railings.

“Are you sure you know what you're doing?” Galebright called. “All pegasus guards get basic pilot training. Maybe I should...”

The craft reefed to the right, then the left as it plowed towards the city. Ivory pointed with a hoof to a flicker of churning red magic.

“There! I doubt they taught you how to do this in the academy, anyway...”

#

Dusty twitched and some of his feathers, still crackling with electricity, singed off in smoke. He leered at the unicorn, who seemed to be having a most delightful time. “Are you done finding fun and interesting ways to torment me? Because if you want to do that, you could just keep talking.”

Ruby Horn's ear twitched. He smiled but his eyes lit up and he tugged the pegasus upright by the neck. “I know that you're stalling,” he said. “And it will not help you. I also know that you value your life more than you're letting on and that you are not going to push me any further.”

Dusty tried to meet his stare, but looked away. He could keep up the facade forever, but he was trembling. And how would his friends have found them there? The unicorn was right. He did not want to die alone, for no reason. Almost as much as he did not want him to be right.

“Fine,” he said, using the clouds to pull himself towards the drawer. “Just shut up. And stop smiling.”

He didn't look back, but could tell that Ruby was not smiling. Just staring with those fire-lit eyes as he set his hooves upon the box and pulled. The drawer tugged forward and for one quiet moment he could observe the insides.

Collections of portraits of ponies, most he didn't recognize. Some of the younger Princess Luna and Celestia. Had they aged at all? And a carefully wrapped button-eyed pony doll that, judging from the frayed ears,was supposed to resemble a bat pony.

How he could have missed the spike of crystal glimmering just in front of him? The moment he set his eyes upon it, golden rimmed and brimming with magic, it flung past him, slicing through the fur of his cheek and hovering in front of Ruby.

“Thank you kindly,” said the unicorn, clearly appreciating his own manners as he hefted the pegasus high into the air. “And since you know so much about me, I think you know what's coming next...”

#

Ivory threw back a lever and the balloon of the airship swelled. They raced upwards towards the dilapidated cloud tower and scooped right beneath it. The prow sheared clean through the cloud material and the ship shook violently.

“Hold on” Ivory roared, and spun away. Vaporous fog filled the deck and magic sparkled about. A few moments later it cleared up, leaving a mess of furniture on the deck, along with Dusty, who lay with his wings over himself, and Garnet, her cape back, pushing at his snout insistently.

“What did you do?” Ivory leaped to the lower deck. Galebright seized the wheel before they spun out of control and locked it into place.

Garnet looked up and frowned. “I didn't do anything,” she said. “Really, truly, believe me. He was just gibbering like this when I found him.”

Bruce and Ivory leaned down close to their friend, and Garnet leaned back. The two ponies nudged him and tried to make out words, but it sounded like two conversations buckling in on themselves.

“You think she's telling the truth?” Bruce muttered.

Ivory looked up. “I think so,” she said. “This is not her brand of trickery.”

“But she left us to die!”

“I was pretty sure you could get out on your own,” Garnet muttered. Ivory silenced her with a glare, and then shook her head.

“She's never attacked anyone. Especially not Dusty.”

“I don't get it...” Garnet rubbed at her horn. “I figured you dolts would have some idea what was wrong with him.”

Ivory leaned in closer. “What is that? On your horn.”

“This?” Garnet tapped at the bronze ring around the base of it. “Something I found back in the retreat when you three were too busy to notice that I was scraping the place clean. It sort of augments my magic.”

“And the crystal?” Ivory said, eyebrow raised.

“What crystal?” she put both hooves up and rubbed at her horn, and when they ran over the glassy surface, she startled. “What is going on!?”

Dusty groaned and stirred. “Telepathy...”

Ivory knew what to do in an instant. She jammed her horn at the base of Garnet's and let a spark of magic surge through it. The unicorn cried out in surprise, and then the ring, the crystal casing, fell off of her horn and clattered onto the deck.

Both unicorns stared at the strange objects. “What does it mean?” wondered Garnet.

Dusty pushed himself up and laughed. “It means you have no idea when you're being used. Any of you.”

Garnet sighed a little, but Ivory held her back. “Hold on, something isn't right here.”

“Aren't you quick?” Dusty stretched his wings wide. “Oh, this is far better. I can see why wings are a part of the package. It would be a shame to just go back to plan unicorn royalty, all things considered.”

Ivory lowered her horn and fired a stream of magic at Dusty. It bounced harmlessly off of him. Not even a flinch as he lowered his head onto the ring and crystal. They settled into place as if over the shape of a natural horn.

“I have gotten everything I need from you,” he said, “and I am alive again.”

This time both Garnet and Ivory lashed out together with magic. Bruce and Galebright made to pin him down and with a single swipe of magic, a single red flash from the crystal, the magic fizzled and the ponies blew back against the deck.

“I'm especially disappointed in you,” said Dusty, stepping over and putting his front hoof against Garnet's chest. “A unicorn this dumb. To think I had to live inside of you for so many years, festering...”

Garnet coughed and pushed at his hoof. “What...?”

“I don't know what amuses me more.” He dug his hoof in and sneered. “That you loved the bits more than you loved him, or just how much you hated yourself for it.”

Garnet shoved him aside with a sudden telekinetic push. The ponies were gathering for a second assault while he prepared another spell.

“Go to sleep,” he uttered, “for the last time.”

Their eyelids were beginning to droop against their own volition. The ship floated. And in one last burst of strength, Ivory charged forward and jammed her horn beneath the ring on Dusty's forehead. She locked eyes with him, diving into the fires that burned into his irises as she reefed and tugged her way into his mind.

“Get out of there,” she growled, “or I will rip you apart!”

Dusty laughed. Their magics twined, briefly, and then everypony passed out where they stood.

Chapter 9

In a black, featureless void, Dusty sat with Ruby Horn. The unicorn seemed distracted, featureless. Dusty was beaten and bruised but somehow suddenly calm.

“What... happened?” he uttered.

“You gave me control of your mind,” Ruby replied, slow, as if trying to make the meaning sink in. “As I have explained countless times before. Your greed took over. You gave yourself to me. And all you have to do is look through this little window to see that I've given you everything that you wanted.”

“I don't understand...”

The unicorn pressed a hoof to his head. “Of course not. It's not like you grasp this state of flux. It's not like your tiny pegasus brain could comprehend the nature of magic the way I have. Your friend's love of treasure was what brought my consciousness into being. What let me set my plan into motion. By invading the past, you made a connection to this timeline, thereby altering...”

Dusty groaned and held his head. “Stop. I'd rather you just strangle me some more.”

“Mmp. Try explaining a closed temporal loop to an idiot. Maybe this is my punishment for my hubris.” He waved his hoof at a space nearby Dusty and another window appeared. “Think back.”

The pegasus leaned over towards the four-paned window, a small slot through haze and time.

A ruddy red pegasus colt dived, pushing a brown unicorn filly out of the way of a rock slide. The debris deafened them to their own cries as they fell into a pinched nook. A boulder pinched his wing and the two of them sat panting for breath. A little bit of fresh air pushed in a gap in the rocks, through which they could see the red filly staring back with wide-eyes.

“Garnet,” gasped Ivory. “Dusty's hurt. You have to dig us out.”

The young garnet stared, and then looked down at the pile of treasure that they'd unearthed together. She looked at them again, and down, and the guilt seemed to plague her forever before she took it and ran.

“Garnet!”

“It's okay,” said Dusty, laughing a bit. “She's just scared.”

“Shut up. It's not okay. She can't leave us to...”

“We'll be fine,” he said, wincing as a jolt of pain shot up his wing. “We can breathe, and someone will come to investigate the slide. We're going to make it out okay.”

“Dusty...” Ivory huddled down in front of him, tears in her eyes. “If I could use my magic...”

“You wouldn't have saved me last time.” he pat her on the horn. “It's my turn this time, okay?”

Dusty shook his head as the window dissolved. Ruby still looked away, towards that forbidden view as he shrugged his shoulders.

“She chose riches over you, and you forgave her in an instant. Ivory still hasn't let it go, but you... do you think yourself kind? Or do you know the real reason?”

“It's just the kind of person she is,” said Dusty, looking down. “A phase. She was young. It...”

“Look again,” sighed Ruby, “and maybe you'll understand. This is your window. This is why I chose you, and why you have let me in.”

The pegasus turned around and wilted a little inside as he looked into another memory. It was one he considered fondly. So why was he afraid of it...?

Back when he'd first gotten his cutie mark. Back when he believed in the height of adventure and treasure for the sake of treasure, Dusty had dragged a young Ivory away from their hometown and into a collapsed ruin he'd found in the forest.

“I still don't know why you wanted me to come with you,” Ivory muttered.

He smiled and pushed his way through vine and rubble, down into the depths of the temple. “Why not? It's awesome, and no one else is brave enough to come. Every adventurer needs a sidekick.”

The filly rolled her eyes. “It's just that no one ever invites me anywhere.”

“They're probably just afraid of you,” said Dusty, which made Ivory flinch. He shrugged. “You just come off as a bit too serious and dangerous at times.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And what do you think I am?”

“Cool enough to come into a lost temple with me. Come on. It's right over there! That idol... I bet the Canterlot museum will pay like, a million bits for it.”

Together they came upon a pedestal where sat an intricate bracelet, a scene of ponies carved into sodalite and bone. He picked it up and looked around, expecting a trap. But nothing.

“Alright, let's get out of here,” said Ivory, shivering. “This place gives me the creeps. Hey, don't put that on... what are you...”

He'd felt compelled to do it when he picked it up. And when he had... the feeling was indescribable. Worse than the torments that Ruby had put him through. He fell to his knees and began trembling. He shook his hoof and cried and bashed the bracelet against the floor, but couldn't get it off.

It squeezed tighter, and another appeared around each of his hooves, and around his neck. He choked out a sob.

And as soon as Ivory realized what was going on, she leapt onto him and began spraying magic wildly. It only took a few solid hits before the bracelet snapped into place and fell to the floor, inert and useless; disenchanted.

He stared up at her, tears in his eyes. They didn't speak the whole way back, though he did remember their inevitable conversation.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

“Whatever. My magic is wrong. At least I was able to use it...”

“Hey, there's nothing wrong with you. If I ever get into trouble again, I want you by my side, okay?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And believe me, I plan in getting into a lot of trouble!”

“... thank you.”

Dusty stared as the window faded again. Ruby waved his hoof.

“You see? You figured out that by accepting her and her faults, she would bend to your every whim.”

“Stop it.”

“You grew addicted to her admiration and her friendship. But it wasn't enough. You see, I was able to control Garnet because she wanted everything in the world. All that glitters would have been hers, but then I found you. You don't care about the treasure. Dusty, you want everyone in this world to love you. And if you found a way, you would do anything to make that happen”

“Shut up!”

Ruby turned and laughed darkly. He did not even have eyes anymore; only the two torches of flame that, for him, burned eternally. “Even you have to appreciate the irony. Everyone always hated me... hated my ambition, my presence. They hated what I wanted to do, attaining the power of every kind of pony out there. And it's the same power I'm going to use to control them all. Oh, yes, they'll love us. Every last one.”

Dusty reared back and then charged the unicorn. But instead of contacting, he just flew straight through.

“You're wrong,” he said.

“Am I? Or are you just unwilling to admit it to yourself? It doesn't matter. You will never know suffering as I have. I won't fail again, and you will never know what it feels like to be betrayed by your own people. Betrayed and burned. Do you know what that is like!?”

The fires seemed to seep from his eyes until all of his body was burning, dripping and burning fire, whole and furred and skeletal and dying all at once. “To live in that moment forever. Oh, but they're dead now. Dead and long gone and I'm about to get what I want. And I have you to thank for it.”

The horrifying image faded and left the rugged unicorn to gesture towards the darkened window again. “Come. See through my eyes. See your dreams come true.”

Dusty stifled a withering cry. He knew it was true, in some way. That bit of longing inside of him at times flared up, at times became his entirety. And it had lead to this. He'd tried to fight it, but in the end he couldn't defeat himself.

He walked towards the window and everything started to fade to black.

And then, white.

The two shades twisted amongst each other and then finally he blasted backwards across the voidscape, falling at the bottom of a pile of ponies.

Ivory pulled him to his feet. “Don't tell me that you're believing all this crap.”

Dusty groaned and looked around. Instead of blackness, he saw lush, soft grass and flowers springing up beneath them. A small patch of solace in the bleak landscape. He saw Ivory and Bruce and even Garnet and Galebright straightening themselves up.

“How did you get here?” Dusty blinked. Ruby growled from the darkness.

“I'd like to know the same thing myself.”

Ivory shook her head. “Well, when I figured out what was going on, I sort of snapped and tried to pull this geezer out of your head. I'd heard of some mind-effecting spells and thought if I just improvised, I could make it happen. Well, since I'm all backwards...”

“The genius shoved us all inside your head.” Garnet frowned. “I did not imagine it would be this depressing.”

Ivory stuck her tongue out. “I'm guessing all the mares in bridles are somewhere behind one of those doors, back there. Don't go wandering off.”

“Gross!” Garnet gagged. “Do you think I'm back there, somewhere.”

“Oh, undoubtedly,” Ivory mused.

Before they could chatter any longer, Ruby roared an unpony roar that pierced the very corners of Dusty's mind. “Enough of this! I may need one of you to fulfill my destiny, but the rest of you are expendable. You have made a mistake coming here.”

“I think the mistake is yours,” said Ivory. “Because it's not your head. And I don't care how powerful you are, you can be evicted.”

“I...” Dusty stared at the grass-void.

Ruby chuckled. “Oh, yes. You invited me in. Are you going to get rid of me so easily?”

“It's true.” Dusty looked away from his friends. “I'm sorry. It's all...”

Ivory pushed him up. “Who cares? Whatever stupid reasons you had, it doesn't matter now. Just get rid of this loser so we can all go home.”

The red unicorn twisted up and unleashed a rain of magic upon them. Dusty leapt forward and spread his wings, feeling the magic sear but weaken as it soaked into him. Ruby would not risk killing his host. Garnet and Ivory erected shields that deflected some of the rest as he readied a second volley.

“Don't bother fighting. Your fate is inevitable.”

“Could you be more of a walking cliché?” Dusty spat, glancing over his shoulder. “You two. War buddies. Pin him down.”

Ruby laughed long enough for Galebright and Bruce to pincer him with unnatural speed, jumping and pinning him down. He prepared a spell but found it quickly countered by Garnet.

“You spent a little too much time with me,” she laughed, tickling his nose with sparkles until he sneezed. “With you like that there's no way you can surprise me. I'll counter everything you throw out before you can even think it.”

Dusty smiled proudly. “You shouldn't have made the mistake of letting me know this was my head. My room, my rules.”

The red unicorn stared. “You couldn't figure that on your own. Good gods, how dumff—”

Galebright clenched a hoof over his mouth and glanced at Dusty. “You are the weirdest bunch I've ever seen. But what do we do now?”

Dusty tapped his forehead in thought. He had the moment he needed to put it all together. Then it dawned on him. Ruby may have been inside his head, but it was the artifact that was sustaining him. It was what kept his mind and then implanted it into whatever poor pony he could penetrate. Which was, of course, on the outside of his mind, in a realm where none of them were awake.

There was only one thing he could think of.

“Bruce, I need you to buck me in the face.”

The earth pony stared dumbly. “What?”

“Your girlfriend can keep the guy down...”

“He is not my boyfriend!”

“She is not...”

“Whatever.” Dusty waved a wing. “I'll concentrate all my thoughts on displacing the magic. Ivory, I need you to zap me as hard as you can when he kicks.”

Ruby let a muffled groan and glared. Dusty rolled his eyes.

“Of course it's going to work. When you put your whole scheme together you were only thinking of rudimentary magic. Even with studying the princess you couldn't possibly gather all of the power of all three ponies acting in cohesion.” He nodded at his friends. “Do it.”

Of course his friends would never question his strange wisdom. Bruce came first and turned, twisting onto his hind legs and using his momentum to send his boot-clad hoofs for Dusty's skull. Ivory sent a blast of magic and the two forces coalesced into one hell of a headache, which Dusty forced through himself until he was trembling. For a moment he didn't think it would work, but something in his mind clicked and the actions of his friends magnified.

Somewhere far away, the artifact popped off of Dusty's head and shattered into pieces. One by one, the ponies began to fade and the darkness began to splinter until only he and Ruby were standing on broken shards.

“Well, congratulations,” Ruby spat as he pried himself up. “You've broken your mind and my device, but I'm still here with you. And I'm not going anywhere.”

The unicorn reeled back and a thin wire of magic encircled Dusty. “I was willing to play nice, but it looks like you're just going to have to sit in the corner while I take you over completely.”

Several coils of the magic came about Dusty, along with that searing heat. Then he flexed his wings and they burst off in an instant. Ruby blinked.

“How did you...”

“Ivory ended up shoving a lot of magic in me by accident,” he said, laughing. “And without your weird horn thing...”

“It's a casing, you idiot.”

“Without the casing... your power is dwindling. I may not be able to cast a single spell in the outside, but in here, if I focus, I can concentrate it all on one point.” He spread his wings and tipped his head towards Ruby. “And I think it would be perfect right there.”

Ruby looked about frantically as particles of white light began to form around him. “No. I will not be bested by a brutish pegasus! I will kill us both before that happens.”

“You died a long time ago,” said Dusty. He took to wing and swooped around the unicorn, bringing the inherent magics inside of him around Ruby like a whirlwind. “Let it go, Ruby.”

“Never! I.... never.... agh!”

The magic and anti-magic and all the inherent thoughts of him and his friends enveloped the unicorn in a sphere, and the sphere shrunk and shrunk until it was but a spec, and then evaporated.

Dusty landed on the platform and looked around at the splintered portions of his mind. “Alright, guys. One bad guy defeated. Now if I'm lucky, I have enough juice left to fix this place up. It'd be nice to go back.”

He spread his wings wide and flew up, out, over, through the seams of his mind as if weaving his own thoughts together. The gaps seemed to seal on its own, and maybe like removing an infection, the removal of Ruby was enough to set it in motion, letting his friends help, just a little, to bring him back together.

#

He awoke, hours later, on the airship bound for Equestria. Galebright had the helm with Bruce, and both Garnet and Ivory were fussing over his body. At least until he started to wake up.

“Two fillies... I could get use to this again.” he grinned, bleary eyed. It was a line he knew he could only have delivered after returning from the brink of death and got away with. An opportunity he seized with pleasure.

“And he's gone?” Ivory asked, looking into his eyes. “Not even a tiny bit of the crazy unicorn left in you?”

“I don't know.” Dusty shook his head aside and tapped one of his ears. “I think the two of you might have left a little bit behind.”

Garnet punched him in the side. “I am never,” she hissed, “doing that again.” she looked away. “But... thank you. When you took him away from me, I felt such a burden being lifted...”

“Sorry, but believe me,” said Dusty, “that was not what I intended to do at all.”

“Nonetheless.” Garnet nodded. “Perhaps the three of us should sit down and talk this out, once this is all wrapped up.”

“Maybe.” Dusty looked up at Galebright. “What's she still doing here? I thought the camp needed her.”

“Iron Wing can take over for her,” Ivory echoed, as if she'd heard the speech several times. “In the meantime she feels a responsibility to see us safely back to Equestria, and to give a proper update to the Princess.”

Dusty frowned. “She's at my wheel. Flying my airship.”

He tried to stand up, but it just hurt too much. Ivory and Garnet eased him down to laying again.

“I know,” said Ivory. “Besides, she is way more gentle than I was.”

Dusty gave her a weary look, and then looked around the ship. The deck was in tatters. Bits of clouds still clung to the rail. A mess of furniture was half-lodged and parts of the prow looked ready to burst off. A bit of the balloon had to be patched as well.

The pegasus just sighed and hid under his wings. It was going to be a long flight home.

Epilogue

Their arrival in Canterlot was only met with a couple of guards, who gathered all of the things onboard the ship before escorting them to the Princess' chambers. It was nearing dusk and Celestia, in spite of all her regal attire, seemed quite tired. She smiled when Dusty and his friends entered the throne room.

“I read the report that your friend sent ahead, but I could hardly believe it. The danger you faced is more than I'd be willing to put anypony through. I apologize.”

Dusty shook his head. “I have a feeling it was inevitable,” he said. “I'm sorry that what you were looking for ended up destroyed... I failed you again.”

“Did you?” Princess Celestia tilted her head, and gestured towards one of the guards, who nodded and wandered off. “I did not intend for you to bring the artifacts here. I think you would have understood what I was looking for. At any rate...” she nodded to Galebright. “I must thank you and your brave ponies for your service, but please. It is important that you receive relief from time to time. Equestria is here to support you, not abandon you on the frontier.”

Galebright flustered and looked down. “I'm sorry, your highness. I was afraid that you would think we had abandoned you...”

“I do not, child.” Princess Celestia smiled. “Though your methods aren't the ones I would have chosen, you seem to have been doing good enough of a job. And now that I am able to receive word from that distance, things seem to be improving. Some of the unicorns believe that the ancient spell was serving as sort of an anchor to the chaos of olden times, and in breaking it, the land will be allowed to heal. Magic will return to its normal state.”

“Thank you,” murmured Galebright. She could not help but blush.

“It seems you all have served me in ways greater than I had imagined.” The princess laughed, and then stood. “It is time for the day to end. Would you be so patient as to stay and watch my sister raise the moon?”

How could they refuse? They nodded with as much modest enthusiasm as they could muster, and Dusty could hardly contain himself. He had only met Luna the other day—or was it hundreds of years ago—and would be seeing her again. Would she remember?

As Celestia took her place in the courtyard, preparing to lower the sun, Princess Luna descended into the throne room. She paused at the sight of Dusty and tilted her head.

“Beg pardon, sir, but you look awfully familiar.”

Dusty flared his wings out and tapped a hoof against his head. “Um, yes! Maybe. Would it make more sense if I had one of those fuzzy helmets.”

Luna squinted at him. “We... apologize, but find your question confusing,” she said. “Apologies. We must see to our royal duty.”

The pegasus slumped, leaving his friends to comfort him as the sisters joined in the courtyard. Celestia went up first, and seemed to both with her magic and her very body, move as one with the sun, and bowed as it tilted into the horizon. Then Luna came up, and for a moment they seemed locked in dance as a bright full moon began to reach over the cups of the horizon and take its place in the sky. Night settled over Equestria, quiet, peaceful, and warm.

The two sisters returned to the throne room, chatting quietly.

“You should retire, sister,” said Luna. “I think I can handle this bunch for a while yet.”

“In a moment, Luna,” said Celestia, and she waved a hoof.

The guard who had departed previously, and one of Luna's royal guards, came in bearing the ancient wooden drawers. It had apparently been repaired and polished since its unkind landing on board the airship. They set it down in front of Luna and Celestia brushed over the top of it.

“It seems like just yesterday that everypony was doting over you,” she said, making the blue princess shy away a bit. Celestia then looked at Dusty. “Nor will it be the last time. But, I hope you recognize this.”

Princess Luna carefully leaned down and opened one of the drawers. She stared a single beat, and then swept up the bat pony doll with her magic before squeezing it tight against herself. Her guard looked away politely, tinged with blush.

“You made this for me so long ago, I had nearly forgotten,” she said. “I can't believe it's still intact. Sister, how did...”

Celestia nodded towards Dusty. “I had someone special pick it up for you,” she said. “It had to be just right. Someone whose special talent was recognizing what real treasure was and preserving it.”

Dusty opened his mouth to respond and then only managed to squeak, much to the amusement of his friends. Princess Luna laughed and leaned over to ruffle his head with a wing. This only made the ponies laugh more audibly.

“A little devil and a little angel... I did not think that you were more than some strange dream! You have my gratitude.”

Princess Celestia stifled a yawn. “I hope you understand that we cannot make your success a national holiday, but I can say with certainty that you now have the full support of my sister and I.”

The pegasus' eyes lit up as he reared up into the curl of Luna's wing. He buckled down again sheepishly. “Does this mean...”

“Yes, you can keep the guild house and the airship,” she laughed, rolling her eyes. “You may need it, what with all the friends you've been collecting.”

Dusty could not contain his joyous squeal as he leapt into the air. Princess Luna stepped away in surprise, but laughed quietly as he danced about his friends. It was the grandest adventure he'd ever had. And sure, his saddlebags were not brimming with bits, but he felt richer than he could imagine.

“Alright,” Bruce laughed, tugging the colt's ear with his teeth to bring him back to earth. “I think we should give the princesses some space. Plus the others probably want to see your new base of operations.” He bowed to Celestia, then Luna. “By your leave.”

“Of course,” said Celestia. “But feel free to come by anytime. You will always have a special place here.”

“With us as well.” Luna bowed likewise.

They filed out, looking back only once. The two sisters were eager to explore their memories together in private. And the guildhouse, Dusty hoped, was still warm, even if it was just feeding off of the heat of the neighboring cafe.

“I thought you had to get back to your post?” he asked Galebright, who just shrugged.

“The Princess is going to be sending a full contingent to help keep the place in order... and she suggested I get a little downtime after ten years on the job. I hate to leave my ponies alone, but I trust them. And hanging around with you seems easy enough.”

Garnet stuck her tongue out at Dusty. “And while I may have had far more luck than you digging up gold and gems, you seem to have far more fun. So you're stuck with me for a while yet.”

“Fine with me.” Dusty was just happy to be back in Canterlot, among other ponies, feeling the warm stone of the roads beneath his feet. The sound of the city alive even at night, flooded with joy and drama and love. So many ponies that did not and would not know them as they retreated together to the far corners of the city where they would shelter for the time to come.

Once the others had pulled ahead, Dusty scooted over to Ivory. “You know, I don't think I would have made it through that if it wasn't for you. I'm really sorry I acted like such an ass.”

“I'm used to it,” said Ivory, and when she'd let him look ashamed enough, gave him a little nuzzle. “And I forgive you.”

“Even if my intentions weren't exactly pure?”

Ivory rolled her eyes. “Even if you could trust what that old monster was telling you, it doesn't matter. Maybe at the time I just desperately wanted to be accepted by somepony. Anypony. We're friends now, and that's what matters, don't you think?”

Dusty smiled. “Yeah,” he said. “Always.” And all of his doubt and guilt seemed so strange, then. They walked off into the night together to catch up with the rest of their friends, made in times of calm or adversity. They walked together as they always had, and always would, and if none of them had anything left in the world, they would have each other.

And as long as they had each other, Dusty knew, all of Equestria and beyond would be there waiting for them.