Across a Dark Desert

by AirmanAlex

Rating: teen
Tags: Nightmare Moon, Original Character, Gilda, Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 13185

Treasure hunting adventures, of an Earth Pony, and her companions. Get ready for some action...

Dust Streak always had a thirst for adventure, so when Princess Luna asks her to retrieve a powerful artifact from the depths of the Zebrican Desert, of course she jumps at the chance! But things get complicated with the arrival of a power hungry fortune seeker, a dark and mysterious cult, a few bandits here and there, and a secret Luna is hiding from all of Equestria... Joining her on this quest, are Gilda, a Griffon with a temper, and Tails, a Warg with a past he's not willing to reveal...

(Note: I came up with this idea before the Daring Do episode, so enjoy a Daring Do themed story, without Daring Do...)

Published 2012-03-02 21:54:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-04-07 16:42:03 UTC

Letters and Statues

Letters and Statues

The traffic on the streets of Canterlot was clearing out, the weather Pegasi decided to drop a surprise drizzle on the ponies below. Well dressed Mares and Stallions were heading for the awnings of various shops and houses, no doubt thinking of their expertly groomed manes...

I on the other hand was grateful for the sudden shower, it felt refreshing after a three day journey from Appleloosa by hoof. The dust covering every part of my body, was being washed away, though you couldn't tell the difference between the real dirt and mud, and my unbrushed, naturally dusty brown colored, coat and mane. I received disgusted glares from the stuck up ponies cowering from the rain. I wasn't the kind of mare who would normally live in Canterlot, with my muddy, black boots, and tattered utility jacket, but I really didn't "live" in Canterlot, my apartment just happened to be here. I truly lived in the wild, a place of adventure and excitement! I was always eager for an adventure, ready to take any job. Ponies say I'm a real life Daring Do! Though unlike Daring Do, my adventures usually end up as wild goose chases, but they still had that sense of danger and suspense.

My apartment finally came into view, it wasn't one of the lavish suites you usually find in Canterlot, but it was far from a peasent's hovel. It was well furnished, but nothing to fancy, except maybe my bed, I spent a bit of money on that... Totally worth it, that's the closest thing an Earth Pony like me would get, to sleeping on a cloud.

I walked in, and headed for my bed, I was exhausted... but something laying on the coffee table caught my eye. It was a letter, but that wasn't odd, I received letters all the time, requests for help, a new adventure, bills, or death threats... what made this letter demand immediate attention was the seal, the seal of the Royal Court of Canterlot. This had to be important! Maybe they accepted me as the new curator at the Canterlot museum, that was always a dream of mine... or it could be an invitation to the Grand Galloping Galla, its about time I was invited to that, about half of the artifacts in the main hall were found by me! Or... I could be in a spot of trouble... raiding burial tombs, and abandoned palaces might not be the most "legal" of hobbies... guess theres only one way to find out...

I undid the seal, and two sheets of parchment rolled out, a map of some kind, and a letter, I chose to read the letter first. It wasn't very formal, considering that this was from the Canterlot palace... it was written like any other letter i would receive, except it was written in an older style of Equestrian, I recognized it from the many old documents I have seen, the type of documents that usually starts a treasure hunt...

To my loyal subject Dust Streak,

I have heard, from many of the Noble-ponies, that tyou are a seeker of adventures and quests, and that you are an expert in Equestrian history, and archaeology. It is for these reasons, that I have turned to thee for help. It has come to my attention, that an artifact, of great historical importance to Equestria, has been located in the Zebrican Desert. I would like to bestow a request upon you, if you are willing, which judging from the many reports I have received, there in no doubt in my mind, that you shall accept. You shall seek out this artifact, and return it to myself at once! It is of great importance, that nopony else retrieves it! It must be returned to me, and nopony else, as the artifact may contain ancient, protective curses, that I alone, are able to disarm. It is recommended you seek help for this quest, as the deserts of Zebrica, are harsh and unforgiving. If you should complete this task, I will provide a substantial reward for your services to Equestria.

A map, with the supposed location of this artifact hath been included with this note, remember, this artifact is to be delivered to myself, and myself alone!

Signed,

Princess Luna

Wow, even Princess Luna has heard about me, and is actually asking for my help! That substantial award could help out a lot. But what really sealed the deal, was Zebrica, that place was full of adventure, it was a wild and lawless land! Perfect for me.

The included map showed most of Zebrica, it included all of Zebrica's towns and cities, which told me this map was written pretty recently... and as the letter stated, there was an area circled on it in pitch black ink, no doubt the location of this artifact. But what was this artifact? The letter didn't exactly say what I was looking for... That might be something I would want to know...

The circled location seemed to be on the edge of a mountain or hill, I held it up to the candle, to get a better look at the details, I realized a dark spot printed on the other side of the map... Turning the page over, I saw it was a set of ancient dark blue armour, it didn't look like any armour i have ever seen, it was a bit chilling to look at, almost disturbing...

I ran over to my bookshelf, and grabbed a book entitled "Equestrian Military History". I took about ten minutes to skim over the pictures and diagrams... Nothing...

I grabbed the next book, "A Complete Guide to the Canterlot Guards", I went through this one in a few minutes, again, nothing...

After three hours of research , I had gone through every book on armor and weapons I had.. from "Weapons of the Griffin Empire" to "Zebra Guerilla Tactics", nothing in any of them resembled this armor I was supposed to find... For something of "great historical importance" it seemed to neither be important, nor appear in history... Looks like I was going to have to trust Luna on this one...

I decided to set out the next morning, I would have usually grabbed my saddle bags, and dashed out the door the minute I finished my research, but my previous adventure in Appleloosa completely sapped my energy, I needed some rest...

I woke up at dawn the next day, I wanted to be out of Canterlot before the snooty nobles got up, and filled the streets. I packed up the usual supplies, food, maps, guide books, a few bits to catch a ship in Manehatten, and my trusty machete. I also packed a few supplies specifically for the Zebrican terrain, ropes, extra canteens, and a few books on Zebra culture, and legends. I plotted my route, I would take a road along the outskirts of Ponyville, to avoid traffic, I would then have to make my way to Manehatten, and find a ship to take me to Ze'bra-lex, a port city in Zebrica, from there on, it would be nothing but wide open deserts and overgrown jungles, until I reached my destination.

The letter recommended that I would need help for this journey. Luna obviously doesn't know me as well as she thinks, I don't need anypony watching over my shoulder getting in ma' way! Sure, I've had help before, but that was because the situation called for it, this was a simple "find and fetch" job, nothing that required a support team...

I set off just as Celestia's sun was just coming over the horizon, This was my favorite time of day, quiet, free of any other pony... just me, and this beautiful sight... But, I had to get moving, Luna did sound bit urgent in her letter...

I was out of Canterlot within an hour, despite being such a large city, you could get around pretty quickly in the early hours of the day. It was a long journey downhill to Ponyville by hoof, sure, the train would have been much faster, and much easier. But I don't do things the easy way, I do things the best way, walking kept you in shape, a necessity for my line of work.

It was about noon when I reached the outskirts of Ponyville, and as I expected, the streets were bustling with activity, ponies trying to sell their produce, heading out for lunch, or just clogging the streets chatting to one another. I wanted to avoid all of that, it's not that i didn't enjoy the company of others, I had my own circle of friends. I would just prefer to get on with my work.

I started on the small forest path that loops around the East side of Ponyville. It was a slightly overgrown, unused path, with only a trickle of sunlight reaching the dirt path. A rabbit or two would dart across the path from time to time, but other than that, it was completely serene and peaceful, just perfect...

I came to a statue that stood a bit off the road, It was nothing important, just a statue of a mystical figure from an old pony tale... I paid no heed to it at first, I've seen in many times, nothing to draw much attention to it. But as I was passing it, something caught my eye... I couldn't put a hoof on it at first, so I trotted over to the statue... and gave it a quick look over...

Nothing at all, just a statue of a tall, dark looking pony, with evil eyes, haunting wings, and some old spooky looking... armour... The exact same armour, on the back of the map! The same armour I was supposed to find!

I gazed over it again and again, there was no questioning it, this was the armour I needed to find! I noticed a plaque near the bottom of statue, on it was written, clear and simple...

"Nightmare Moon, Bringer of Eternal Night"

Griffon in the Bush

The road to Manehatten was long, and somewhat treacherous, as it ran right next to the Everfree Forest in some places. I should have been to Manehatten by now, but I was held up in Ponyville by a bubbly, pink Earth Pony... There was no way I was going to make it to Manehatten by nightfall, Luna's moon was already starting to rise over the horizon. I figured I would go as far as I could, then stop for the night. No matter how experienced you were, you never wanted to travel around these parts at night. This was going to throw my entire schedule off, now I wouldn't be abe to catch a ship until tomorrow...

This road saw a lot of traffic during the day, merchants, trade caravans, all sorts of ponies. But at night, the trail took on an eerie, ominous, feeling. I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder... watching the shadows created by Luna's full moon... I sudden low growl caused me to loose my concentration, and stumble.

"Who's there!? Show yourself! I'm not afraid of you!" That last part, was a little less then true...

I searched for my machete and brought it out, my eyes darting back and forth, searching for whatever made that noise...

I heard it again, and then realized the source of the menacing noise... It suddenly occurred to me, that I haven't eaten since I left home...

I decided to stop for the night and eat. I couldn't walk much more tonight, and lack of sleep has obviously made me a bit paranoid... I stepped off the road, and settled down in a small clearing. I decided to have a daisy sandwich for dinner, the food was always better at the start of a journey, you still had fresh food, not like those dry, disgusting MREs...

I sat down under a tree, enjoying the fresh daisies in my sandwich, I probably only had another days worth of fresh produce... in a few days, I would be trying to choke down freeze dried wheat grass...

I trotted over to my saddle bags and unpacked one of my thick, wool blankets. I could sleep just about anywhere, though like any other pony, I would rather sleep in my own, soft, warm... custom made bed... But all the cold nights, dry food, and sore hooves would be worth it if I found this armour. I could picture it now, once word got around, I would have Job offers left and right! I would become the most famous adventurer in Equestrian history! That job at the Canterlot museum was as good as mine.

I decided to sleep under the leaves of a large tree, in case the Pegasi decided to drop a night time rainstorm on me, which always seemed to happen when I slept outdoors... Lucky for me, it was a warm spring night, so I wouldn't be freezing my flank off. It was time to get some well needed sleep...

I must have only been asleep for an hour or two, because the moon was still high in the sky. But something had awoken me... something just a few yards behind the tree where I was sleeping...

As much as I wanted to jump out, and see what was keeping me from my sleep, my professionally trained mind told me to wait, and listen... At first, all I heard was some rustling in the bushes, and trees, but after a few seconds, I heard the sound of tearing, and searching... most likely my saddle bags. Somepony was trying to steal my stuff! I swear... if they take any of ma' food...

I've had enough of this, who ever was out there was going to get there jaw bucked clean off! I slowly got up, with my back to the tree, making sure to make no sound at all... I peered around the trunk to see what scum bag was stealing my stuff...

Right away I noticed a pair of brown, flustered wings. So my thief was a Pegasus, no doubt he would try to run... I was gonna have to surprise him... But then my eyes quickly darted to something... odd... a lion's tail? I stepped out from behind my hiding spot to get a clear look at my target. Right there, standing over my saddle bags, eating my food... was a Griffon.

She, as I could now tell from the distinct coloring of her feathers... seemed to have taken no notice to my presence, she just continued eating myfood...

"Get your grubby claws off of ma' food!!" The Griffon, perked up for a second, then went back to scavenging my bags...

"You better get your rear end out of here, feather brain!" She stood up, and turned around.

"Buzz off!" She stared at me, and flexed her claws, trying to intimidate me.

"Im warning you If you don-"

"What part of buzz off, don't you understand!?" The Griffon then turned around and went back to my saddle bags...

"I'll give you one last chance to get out!" I've had just about enough of this...

"And I'll give you one last chance to buzz off ya' loser!" She then stepped forward, and made a swiping motion with her right claw.

"Thats it!" And with that, I lunged at her, knocking her to the ground.

She then kicked me in the chest, and tried to slash at my leg with her razor sharp claws, which I barely dodged... I knocked her back again, but then she jumped forward, half running, half gliding on her large wings, and swiped me with one of her wings... knocking me into a large Oak tree.

"Ha! Is that all you got!? You ponies are all the same, wimps!"

Then, I noticed something gleaming among the spilled contents of my saddle bags... my machete! I reached for it, and turned around to meet the charging griffon behind me. I jumped at her, knocking her on to her back, I then pinned her hind legs down with mine, and brought the cold metal of my machete to her throat...

"What are you doing here!?" The griffon still didn't seem scared, or nervous.

"I just needed some food..."

"Well, get food somewhere else, you no good thief!" I was pissed, this Griffon was gonna get it. "When I'm done with you, your gonna have to drag yourself back to whatever hole you crawled out of!"

"Chill out... It's not like I took anything important, those daisies were tasteless anyways..." This Griffon was asking for it now!

"Whats your name?" As much as I wanted to knock the living daylights out of her, Griffons could put up one hay of a fight when cornered so maybe I can resolve this without getting my throat slashed...

"Why should I tell you!?"

'Well, I do have a machete to your throat!"

"Fine. If you want to know so badly... My names Gilda, it would do you some good to remember that!"

"So, what are you doing all the way out here, stealing my stuff!?"

"Well, I've been having a rough time lately... and just needed some food." She finally stopped being so stubborn...

"What kind of rough times?'

"None of your business!" We both were quiet for a minute, but she finally spoke up again.

"Now.. do you think you can get off me!?" I had completely forgotten I still had her pinned down...

"Oh... sure" She got up and brushed herself off, and then walked laid down under a near by tree.

"What the hay are you doing!?"

"Sleeping, that meal made me a bit drowsy." She chuckled as she said that last part... "You don't mind if I crash here right?"

This Griffon was insane! She steals my food, and nearly kills me, and she has the audacity to sleep in my camp! Although, deep down, I did somewhat admire her boldness...

"Fine! But stay out of my stuff!" I can't believe I just agreed to let her sleep here...

I repacked my saddle bags, and dragged them over to where I was going to sleep, I wasn't going to have "Gilda" run off with my supplies in the middle of the night... If I wasn't tired before, I certainly was after that scuffle... Before I fell asleep, I checked my supplies. Everything was there, except my fresh daisies...

Once again... I was awoken from my sleep... I could hear some muffled sounds coming from the area Gilda settled down in. I did a quick check of my stuff, nothing was missing.

I decided to walk over to Gilda, and maybe shut her up... As I walked closer, I thought I could make out the sounds of... crying? From what I could tell, Gilda did not seem like the crying type... But, as the large Griffon came into view... I could tell, she was crying.

"Umm... Is something wrong?" I was truly confused right now...

"I-I- Umm... Uh... No... Nothing, W-Why would you think somethings wrong?"

"Were you crying?" I knew she was, but I was hoping she would say no, so I could just get back to bed...

"No, of course no-..... Ok! Yes! I was! It's just... I-I... I just lost my only friend... She was the only one who cared about me... the only one who ever hung out with me... The only one... who was always there for me...."

Every feeling of annoyance, and anger melted away... She had lost someone close to her, and from what I could tell, her only friend...

"What happened? Did your friend.. umm..."

"No... it was because of me... I was an idiot... I chased her away... I chased away the only friend I ever had..."

"Couldn't you have made up with your friend, or something?" I was struggling to find the right words... I never had to deal with something like this before...

"I couldn't just make up... I couldn't go back... after what I did to her... and her friends..." I could tell she was struggling to hold back tears... "She was all I had left... and I blew it... I have nothing now... no friends, no family... no home... that was one of the reasons I went to her in the first place... I needed some place to stay for a few weeks..."

I felt so guilty now... Not only had I screamed at her earlier... but I almost killed her... she was desperate... she had nothing...

But then, I remembered what Luna's letter had said...

"Well... you could maybe... hang around with me for awhile. I could use some help with my job"

"What kind of job?" She stopped sobbing... the look on her face was one of hope...

"A treasure hunt."

"You would let me tag along? Even after what I did..?"

"Sure... I sort of understand what you were going through... and the whole fight was kinda my fault..."

"Ok... I'll come with you..."

"Good! Now, can we please get some sleep!? I- I mean we have a long journey ahead of us."

"Sure, no prob!"

"Thank Celestia..." I turned around, and trudged towards my tree..."

"Hey! I never caught your name!" Come to think of it... I havn't told her my name yet...

"Dust Streak, but you can call me Streaks." Now... time to slee-

"Hey Streaks?" Oh for cryin' out loud!

"Yes?"

"Thanks... for everything."

Legends Revealed

Finally, I could see the Manehatten skyline in the distance, only another hour or two, until I got there, well actually, until we got there. It's been a long time since I had a companion on one of my adventures. I havn't had someone tag along since... nevermind that...

"Hey Streaks, you said you were on a treasure hunt, mind if I ask, what exactly you do for a living?" Hmm... guess I didn't tell her that...

"Which job do you want to know about? The one on my resume, or the one I actually do?"

"Umm, I guess both..."

"Well, I went to school for archaeology, but I work in the field, collecting artifacts and items, so I guess you could say im more of a treasure hunter or explorer."

"Cool, so your not one of those dweebs running around in the museums then." We both shared a laugh at that one. "So, anyways, what are we hunting for exactly?" I should really start telling her these things, since she is gonna be helping out.

"See for yourself!" I said as I tossed her the sketch Luna sent along with the letter.

"Were looking for a place called Zebrica?"

"Turn it over..."

"Oh... Looks like some kind of armour or something. It's pretty cool looking, all sinister and dark..."

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that armour would you?" The griffons were a more aggressive, military based society, maybe she would know something.

"No, Griffon armour is a lot cooler, with spikes, and stuff." Guess not... "So.. what kind of armour is this anyways?"

"Im not entirely sure... but I have a hunch. I think it might be some kind of ceremonial armour, having to do with Nightmare Night. It might have been used in ancient times, during Nightmare Night rituals, to try to please Nightmare Moon." I was quite proud of myself for coming up with that.

"Nightmare Moon?"

"Its some old pony tale, something about eternal night, and locking a pony in the moon, I don't know too much about it. But, its just that, an old pony tale, no truth to it at all! Just some story to scare little foals. I hear they have a pretty big celebration in Ponyville, though I've never been there for it myself."

"Ok. So, How do we go about getting this armour?"

"Well, we need to find a captain in Manehatten, that would be willing to take us to Ze'bra-lex, from there, its straight across the Zebrican desert, then into a jungle region near the mountains, nothing to dangerous."

"Ok, got it!"

The next hour was spent talking among ourselves. I told her about a few of my other adventures, and that Hearth Warming Eve part I snuck into at the museum. I learned that Gilda grew up in Cloudsdale, and sadly, she lost her parents at an early age, and spent most of her life on the streets. I tried to find out more about her friend, but she wouldn't tell me anything, whatever happened between those two much have been pretty traumatic...

"Finally were here!" I should have been here a couple hours ago... but so many delays... "Now, we just need to find a ship, you wouldn't happen to know any ship captains would you Gilda? Gilda?" Where did she run off to...

"Watch where your going loser!!!" That would be Gilda...

"I-Im sorry..it was an accident.... honest!" A young colt was cowering on the ground in front of Gilda...

"Sure it was... Now you get out of my way, before I tear your neck apart ya' stupid egghead!"

"Yes M'am n-n-no problem!" As he dashed past me I thought I saw him crying...

"Gilda... what was that!?"

"That numb skull bumped into me, so I taught him a lesson!"

"Was all of that really necessary...?"

"Of course it was! Im not gonna let some losers walk all over me, in a city like this, you got to show these ponies whos boss!" She had a point there, Manehatten wasn't exactly the friendliest of cities...

"Well, if your done terrorizing the locals... we need to get down to the docks and find a ship to Zebrica."

"Fine..."

The ports were busy during this time of the day, workers loading and unloading the various cargo freighters, tourists disembarking cruise liners, I even spotted a Griffon battle cruiser with a huge gaping hole in the side, sitting in a dry dock.

"Now, we need to find a ship willing to take us for about a hundred bits, so try to find a smaller ship, like a fishing trawler or something..."

"You let me handle the haggling, Im sure I can get us on any ship for that price, Ill just-"

"You are not going to threaten anyone! But I do like the way you think!" Though I guess if it did come to that... "Lets try this one..."

We walked over to an old, faded orange, fishing boat, with an old grey Unicorn sitting on the gangplank...

This fellow looked liked he was in need of a few bits... "Uh, hello, my friend and I, were wondering if you would be able to take us across the sea to Zebrica..."

"Where in Zebrica you goin' miss?" His voice had that jaunty fisher pony tone...

"Ze'bra-lex, we need to get ther-"

"I don't care what you need to do there, what I do care about is how much you willin' to pay?"

"One hundred bits, sir."

"One hundred you say! For that much I'd take you to the edge of the seas!" Great... so I was getting ripped off...

"So you'll do it?"

"Sure, just let me know when you be ready to set off! I'll be waiting right here for y'all" Well that was easy...

"Ok, well be back around night fall, I have to wrangle up a few supplies first, I'm kinda low on food now..." I gave Gilda a sharp glare as I said this.

"Again, I don't give a hoot what you need to do!" Just wants his money... typical...

"Ok, we'll be back later..."

We were hungry so we headed into the coastal district for dinner, can't believe I missed two meals today... And of course Gilda wouldn't eat any of this "garbage" as she called it, at any restaurant I picked... So we ended up at a bar...

"This place looks good. I could go for a drink, how 'bout you Streaks?" I guess I could go for a vodka or something... plus bars usually had a good deal of information scattered among the drunken ponies, which never made sense to me, guess it's true when they say "beer is the answer to everything"...

"Sure..."

I was shocked at what we saw when we walked in, everyone there was calmly sitting at there tables, drinking whatever drink they had ordered, some were quietly munching on hay fries, or something... Guess I was expecting to walk in on a huge bar fight, with chairs being thrown, and ponies smashing bottles over each others heads...

We took a seat at a small table in the rear of the bar, the place wasn't very well lit, the corners of the bar were a darkened, and the lamps on the walls, flickered whenever some pony in the bar, slammed a hoof down, or set something down on a table.

"Why doesn't any place serve meat!?" There was just no pleasing her...

"Guess I'll take an apple pie... how bout' you Streaks?"

"I'll get a wheat grass sub sandwich. Do you mind ordering for me, Im gonna go around and see if anyone happens to know anything about that armour."

"Sure, whatever... doubt you'll get anything out of these drunk losers..." She was probably right...

The first pony I went to was a yellow Earth Pony with a badly groomed magenta mane, sitting at the bar, he didn't look to drunk, might be able to get a conversation going...

"Hey there!" He payed no attention to me. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions-"

'I'd prefer if you didn't missy! just lost me job, and don't care to be bothered right now!"

"Oh, sorry about disturbing you sir."

I trotted over to a table near the door, with two unicorns sitting at it.

"Hello, I was wondering if I could-"

"I'se doesn't wants to be bothered now! So, just G'it your flank outs of heres!" This light green unicorn was obviously way to drunk to be of any help to me... perhaps the other one would be sober enough to make complete sentences...

"Ok... So how about you Sir?"

"I-I-I don't feel to hot... Im... gonna go outside... for fresh air... or something..." He got up, and staggered outside, bumping into the door frame as he tried to leave... This was followed by some extremely... disgusting... stomach turning sounds...

The next pony I tried was sitting in the very back of the bar. He was wearing a ragged, stained, brown cloak, with a hood covering his entire head, so I couldn't get a good look at his facial features. I didn't see any bottles or plates near the table, so didn't look like he had anything to drink tonight...

"Uh, Hello there, I was wondering if you would be willing to answer some questions." Please don't throw up like that other one...

"Sure... Knock your self out..." His voice was rather quiet, and tired sounding, and he was laying his head on the table.

"Ok, do you happen to know anything about that old legend, Nightmare Moon?"He perked up slightly at this.

'"I happen to know a little... what exactly do you want to know?"

"Do you happen to anything about this?" I grabbed the sketch from my saddle bags, and flung it on the table.

He sat up, and reached for the parchment sprawled out on the table, as he brought his arm out from the sleeves of his cloak, I noticed something strange, he seemed to have, light grey paws, instead of hooves... I chose not to bring it up, as this pony seemed to have information that I wanted.

"Uh... Where did you get this drawing?" Looks like I got his full attention now, though the sound of his voice took on a slightly more worrying tone.

"It was sent to me, along with a letter, from Princess Luna, why do you ask?"

"Uh... no reason... I happen know a bit about this armour, but the info is gonna cost you..." Great...

"How Much?" He saw me reaching for my saddle bags, but shook his head.

"I don't want money, I just need something to eat! I'll take anything you happen to have, leftovers, scraps, even rotten produce! I just need something to eat!" Why does everyone want my food...

"How bout' I buy you dinner?" I glanced back to my table, and saw Gilda yelling at a waiter, who happened to be the same pony that had bumped into her earlier today.

"Sure, that will work!" He suddenly got a lot more cheerful.

"Ok, come over to my table, and we'll talk a bit more." As he got up out of his seat, I noticed something else odd, his tail was bushy, and scraggly, not at all like a normal pony's tail... something was definitely odd about this pony...

We both sat down at the table, and Gilda finally got done with screaming at the waiter...

"Hey Streaks, guess what! I just got us free dinner!" What did she put that poor pony through... She then turned and looked at my cloaked companion, and said... "Who's this loser?"

"I apologize for my friends, rudeness... Now, about that armour..."

"Ok, you know about that old legend, about the two sisters, and the entire Nightmare Moon fiasco, don't you?"

"Well... Not Really..." I was a bit embarrassed at how little I knew...

"Ok then... You know how Equestria is ruled over by two Alicorn sisters?"

"Of course! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!"

"And you know the older one controls the sun, and the younger, the moon?"

"Yes..." So far I wasn't impressed with his so called information...

"Well, anyways, about a thousand years ago, the younger of the sisters, Luna I think, grew jealous of her sister's sun, or something like that... So, Luna tried to bring forth, eternal night, and plunge Equestria into darkness forever. But, unfortunately... Celestia, did some "hocus pocus" magic garbage, and shoved her into the moon for a thousand years!"

"What do you mean "unfortunately"? Preventing eternal night seems like a pretty good thing to me!"

"Maybe to you but... uh, yeah, it was good, thank goodness Celestia stopped her, because I certainly don't want to live in a world without Celestia's wonderful sun...!" I couldn't help but notice the nervous tone in his voice...

"Ok... So what does this have to do with the armour?"

"Im getting to that... Anyways, after her thousand year imprisonment, Nightmare Moon, as she was called, returned to once again plunge the world into eternal darkness."

"Wait! So that legend is true!?" It couldn't be... it was just an old pony tale...

"Yep, though the details might be a bit shaky in places, but overall, its all true."

"Ok then, what about the armour? What does that have to do with your story?" I said this a bit harshly... but I was still shocked, at that old myth being true... though I was still skeptical of this mysterious... pony... though Im starting to doubt he's even a pony...

"Well, six brave, powerful warriors, went to face Nightmare Moon in battle, wielding the Elements... of... umm...

"Harmony?" He knows everything about an evil pony that shouldn't exist... but he can't remember that!?

"Yeah, that's it, The Elements of Harmony! Well, the six warriors, wielding the Elements, went up against Nightmare Moon, and... somehow... managed to defeat her. The Elements, restored Luna to her former self, and she went back to rule over Equestria with her sis'."

"So... Nightmare Moon was defeated then, and this armour was just for battle?"

"Not exactly. Yes, she did wear that armour during her battle with the six warriors, but its importance, came in after that battle. The Elements couldn't fully destroy Nightmare Moon, though they greatly weekend her. Some of the "Nightmare" possessed the armour Nightmare Moon wore during the battle. Luna fearing the armour's power, had it taken away by a squad of Canterlot Guards, and hidden. To ensure the location of the armour remained a secret, the guards, had to remain in the cave where they had concealed the armour, forever..."

"Princess Luna would never do something like that! She would never send a pony to life long imprisonment like that!" She wouldn't, she couldn't have! But then again... Nightmare Moon wasn't supposed to be real... this pony had to be lying! "But go on, what happened next?"

"The youngest of the guards, feeling that the Princess had betrayed him, refused to stay, he escaped from his would be tomb, and sealed the others inside. But after that.... no one knows what became of him... So, the location of the armour is supposedly, still unknown..."

I couldn't believe this! If this story was true, I would be searching for an artifact of great power, and importance, to not only Equestria, but Princess Luna herself! But it also made me think... Why would Luna want the armour back, if it could turn her back into that monster, Nightmare Moon? There had to be more to this story, something that this pony didn't know, and something that Luna didn't want me to know...

But there was something still bothering me... this pony sitting in front of me... Where could he have gotten all of this information... I've studied myths, and legends most of my life, and I never came across information as complete of this. And his odd looking tail, and "paws"... that concealing cloak he was wearing... something just wasn't right... and i was going to find out what.

"How do you know all of this?"

"Well... I..." Just then a pair of ponies walked in, they were wearing a pair of jet black robes, that covered there faces completely. On the back of the robes, where your Cutie Mark would be, there was a light blue, crescent moon stitched into the fabric. The two ponies stood there, then proceeded to a table to a table in the very back of the bar.

"Uh... I-I-I... have to go, now!" He quickly got up out of his seat, and made a dash for the door. He then proceeded to smash into Gilda, who had left the table during my conversation, and was walking around, swiping food from other tables.

"Can any of you losers in this stupid city, watch were your going!?" Gilda was up on her hind legs, with her claws around the neck of the cloaked pony, and was holding him up against the wall.

Before I could get over to her, and stop Gilda from scarring another pony for life... She apparently had had enough of these ponies bumping into her, and threw him to the ground... That's when I realized what was odd about, my "hooded friend". His hood had fallen off, and I could clearly see, that he definitely wasn't a pony...

What Gilda had pinned down on the floor, was a Warg, a race of evil, dark hearted wolf-like creatures, that roamed the Everfree Forest at night, preying on travelers, and ponies that had become lost in the forest. They were notorious raiders, and thieves, able to sneak around silently at night. They were strong and fierce, and had a burning hatred for all races of ponies, and there rulers. I knew much about about them, the only thing I didn't know, was why a Warg would be here, in Manehatten. I wanted to find out, but I had to be quick, otherwise Gilda would paint the walls with his guts...

"Im getting really sick and tired, of you stupid, brainless, idiots, bumping in to me! I've had just about enough of it!" I'm starting to have second thoughts about bringing Gilda along... "Whats gonna stop me from smashing your empty skull on the pavement!"

"Gilda, do you have any idea what your dealing with!?" She appeared to be completely oblivious that the creature she had pinned on the floor was capable of tearing her to shreds! Though I noticed this Warg didn't seem as strong, or intimidating as most other Wargs...

"I know exactly what I'm dealing with, an idiotic mutt, who can't watch where he's going!"

"Gilda, let me talk to him, before you tear off his head." She got off of the Warg, and backed up, muttering "she never lets me do it my way..."

He got up, and brushed himself off a bit, he looked very startled, and fearful, not only of Gilda, but of myself as well.

"So, what are you doing here?" I tried to sound as intimidating as I could, and I made sure he saw the machete sticking out of my utility jacket.

"I-I was just resting here, I swear I wasn't up to anything!" He kept casting uneasy glances to the back of the bar.

"I don't believe you! You Wargs are always up to no good!"

"I have a name you know..."

"Well, what is it!?" Not that I really care ...

"It's Tails... but... can you please let me go, I really need to get out of here..."

"So.. Tails is it? What makes you think I'm just gonna let you wander out of here!

"Well I did give you all that information you wanted! I've been sitting in this bar for hours, and I havn't caused any trouble! If its that big of a problem, I'll leave!"

"Can you three take this outside!?" The bartender was leaning over the counter, scowling at me. "I have customers who don't want to listen to your squabbling!"

"Fine... C'mon Gilda, were going to continue our talk with "Mr. Tails" here, outside."

"Cool, do I get to rough him up a bit?" Her idea of "roughing him up" was probably more along the lines of a mauling...

We stormed out of the bar, with Gilda dragging the Warg behind us, we went into an alley way next to the bar, it was a dark night, the clouds blocked out most of the moon, and the street lights didn't penetrate the darkness of the alleyway...

"So, are you going to talk? Or is my friend, Gilda here gonna' have to make you!" I pinned him up against the wall, with Gilda close behind, just in case he tried to fight.

"I swear! I wasn't doing anything! I just stopped here to rest! I've been walking for days!" I noticed his eyes quickly darted to the alley's entrance, near the street. The two, black cloaked ponies were standing there.

One of them stepped forward, and spoke in a cold, emotionless voice... "Would you two ladies mind leaving us? We would like to have a talk with this, fiendish Warg."

"Now look here you dweebs!" Gilda had started walking towards the cloaked ponies... "We got this covered, and we don't need any help from you losers, so you can just get your flanks out of here, before I kick you out!" Her temper seemed to be improving, at least she didn't threaten to rip out there necks this time...

"It would be very wise of you, to step aside my fine feathered friend..." His companion pulled away part of his cloak to reveal what looked like a, dark black scimitar...

"Make me!"

"Have it your way..." and with that, he whipped around, faster then it seemed possible for a pony, and bucked Gilda, directly in the jaw, causing her to stumble back a bit.

"Your gonna wish you didn't do that!" Gilda grabbed him by his neck, and threw him over her shoulder, then turned to tackle the second pony, who was struggling to ready his sword against the charging Griffon.

"Hang in there Gilda, I'm coming!" I got off of the Warg I had pinned down, I figured we had bigger problems then him now, I was about five feet from Gilda when a knife landed directly in front of me, it must of been thrown with some force, as the knife was firmly embedded into the concrete...

As I regained by footing after that sudden shock, two more knives were lunged at me from the roofs of the neighboring buildings. There were more of the black cloaked ponies on the roof tops of the various buildings along the alleyway. Though, some of them seemed to large to be ponies...

The ones on the roofs let loose another volley of knives, forcing me to seek cover behind a stack of wooden crates, I saw another group of them standing, down at the other end of the alley, they were blocking the only other escape route... I saw Gilda, who was frantically dodging knives, grab a barrel and lunge it at some of the ponies on the rooftops, knocking a few of them off balance, causing them to fall onto the hard concrete below.

Just then, the lone Warg I was interrogating earlier, Tails, leaped over the crates, and ducked down, not noticing that I was there as well.

I wacked him in the head with my right hoof, and once again, pinned him down... "Who are these ponies!? And what do they want!? I swear to Celestia, if you brought them here, I'll end your pathetic life right now!"

"They want that map! They want that armour! And they will take it from you, even if it means killing all of us!" His voice was fast and panicked, he had sweat dripping off of his light grey fur.

"How did they find out about the armour!?" If this Warg told them, he was going to die right now!

"The two of them in the bar must have been spieing on me, and they probably overheard our conversation, and alerted the other members of the cult!"

"What cult!? And why were they spieing on you!?"

"It's a long story, and I don't think this is the time or the place, for story time! We need to get out of here, NOW!"

Then Gilda leaped over the boxes, and landed on top of Tails, she had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing life threatening.

"Gilda, we need to get out of here, were gonna rush through the thugs near the street, then make a run for it, to the docks where our boat should be waiting. Got it?"

"Sure, but what do we do with the mutt?" She knew that she was still standing on top of Tails, but still didn't get off of him...

"I really don't care about the "mutt" right now..."

"Fine, leave it to me I got a plan!" She stepped off of Tails, making sure to stomp on his stomach as she got off.

Apparently, Gilda's plan involved throwing Tails at the line of Cult members at the alley's opening, then run like there was no tomorrow... She really did not like that Warg.... Though... the plan did work, somehow...

Luckily for us, the streets were empty, so we had a clear run to the docks. Unluckily, so did the forty-some cult members behind us...

"That was a horrible plan you stupid feather brain! You could have thrown something else, like a crate! But no, you had to throw me! I think I broke a few ribs...."

"Shut up ya mutt!"

"Would both of you just shut up!" Even when were running for our lives, Gilda manages to pick a fight...

"Hey! Wait up!" Tails had tripped, and was now half running, half limping after us.

"Gilda! Did you trip him!?" I could of sworn I saw here wrap her tail around his paw before he fell...

"Maybe..." This griffon was pure evil! "How much farther to the docks?"

"Just a little bit farther! It's at the end of this bloc-" I was cut short by a sudden blow to the head. A group of three, Scimitar equipped, Pegasi dropped out of the sky, one of them kicking me in the back of the head, as he landed. Two of them lunged at Gilda, the other one brought his sword to my throat...

"Hand over the map! Or I slice you, and your friends throats!"

"Ok... just let me get it out of my saddle bags..." I kicked him off of me with my hind legs, and unsheathed my machete. He made a dash for me, I jumped back, but nearly caught his follow up swipe. I swung my machete at him, but he met it with his sword, and parried my blow, and sent me staggering back a few steps.

"You are a fool if you think you can hide from the Nightmare!"

He made a quick jab at me, knocking me onto my back, he swung downwards with his sword, but I met his blade with mine just inches from my face... I glanced over at Gilda to see if she would be able to help me, one of the Pegasi was laying in pool of blood, no doubt dead... the other one was desperately trying to deflect Gilda's ferocious slashes...

"Looks like I'll just have to pry it from your cold dead hooves." He let out a cold, evil chuckle. He raised his sword to strike the finishing blow...

"Streaks!" Gilda grabbed the pony she was fighting, and flung him at the one looming above me... I could hear bones breaking as they both slammed into a near by wall... Gilda was one hell of a fighter...

"C'mon Gilda... Lets hurry up..." We made a mad dash for our ship, don't know how the captain would react to an angry armed mob following us...

We ran past the warehouses, and loading docks, and found our captain and his tiny orange fishing boat...

We jumped aboard, and bucked away the gangplank. "Start the engine, now!"

"Now, what be the rush there missy?"

Gilda who was pulling up the anchor, turned to the captain, and yelled, "Shut up and drive, ya' old fart!"

"Now look here, this is ma' ship, and I demand respect from-" We all heard the thundering hoof steps, and turned to see the mob, scimitars shining in the moonlight, charging towards the docks, with a familiar grey Warg ahead of them...

"Ya... I'll go and git' ready to set sail..." He bolted to the wheel, as fast as a Wonderbolt, and fired up the motor, which slowly sputtered to life.

"GO, GO, GO, GO!" Gilda and I screamed simultaneously...

The boat lurched forward, Gilda and I were pushing off from the docks, trying every way imaginable to get the ship moving faster.

"Wait for me!" Tais had caught up and jumped into the back of the boat just as we left the docks.

A dozen of the cloaked ponies were standing on the docks, staring out to sea, some of them yelling curses, some trying to lob knives at us...

The captain came out from the small cabin on deck, that housed the wheels, and controls, "What in the name of the wide open seas was that all about!? And who the hay is this?" He turned to glare at Tails.

"Well, You see..." Before I could make up some crazy excuse the captain interrupted me.

"On second thought, I don't care! You paid me my money, and this mutt ain't carrying any weapons, so I don't care!"

"Ok..." That went well... I turned around to check up on Gilda, to make sure we both got out in one piece, and I wasn't at all surprised at what I saw...

Gilda was leaning over the stern of the ship, and holding Tails over the side of the boat...

Operations in a Desert Storm

"How much longer till we are in that stupid port, so I can get off this stupid boat!"

Gilda had gotten seasick earlier today... and has been leaning over the side of the boat, "releasing her lunch" ever since then... and I was stuck here, rubbing her back in a fruitless attempt to comfort her, hoping that none of that revolting "slop" got anywhere near me... Pegasi, and Griffons always seemed to get seasick, probably because they were so accustomed to the skies, not the seas.

"I like her better this way, she finally stopped trying to toss me overboard..."

Tail's was the only one on this boat happy about Gilda's sickness, though I can't really blame him for that Since we left Manehatten, Gilda must have tried to throw him overboard at least seven times. Im not sure if she was just messing around with him, or if she really, really hated him...

The sun was creeping closer to the horizon, only another hour or two until the sun set completely, hopefully we would be in Ze'bra-lex by then. I was way behind schedule now, thanks to that incident in Manehatten, everything Gilda had caused, and due to the fact that the boat we had chartered wasn't exactly a high speed racer... The minute we docked, I wanted to dash off into the wide open Zebrican desert, and get moving, onward to adventures, and fulfilling my dreams! But, seeing how things have gone so far, I highly doubt that was going to happen... I just hoped we got there before nightfall... Ze-bra'lex wasn't the type of city you wanted to be wandering around in in at night. It was a hub for all kinds of "under the table" activities, thieves, bandits, mercenaries, it had any low life you could think of... Better check up with the captain on our arrival time...

"Hey, Captain, when do you think well be arriving in Ze-bra'lex?" He was reclined in a faded red chair, fumbling with a few dials, and levers.

"Well, if the seas keep calm, we should be there within the hour! Which, is good news for ya' winged friend. I've never seen such a seasick land lubber in ma' entire life..."

"Ok, thanks."

I could use this time to deal with something that has been on my mind since we left Manehtatten, involving Tails... He wasn't an ordinary Warg, he seemed to be lacking the physical strength, the powerful flesh ripping jaws, and the razor sharp claws, that Wargs were most known, and feared for. He also wasn't as aggressive, or intimidating as Wargs usually are, most Wargs would have fought to the death against those ponies who ambushed us back in Manehatten. Which brings up another question, what did Tails have to do with that "cult", and why were they following him? He said it had something to do with my map... which brings me to yet another question, how did he know so much about that armour...? I wanted answers, and he was going to give them to me.

"Tails! Can I talk with you for a minute?" He was a bit shocked at the sudden outburst, he was staring out to sea, seemingly tuning out everything else...

"Uh... Sure..." I led him over to the side opposite to Gilda, I needed to get information out of tails, without Gilda butting in, or trying to kill him. Plus, Gilda was really starting to gross me out...

"So... What exactly do you want to talk about...?" He was becoming a bit nervous, which is another thing not attributed to Wargs...

"I want to know about you!"

"M-M-Me!? What... what could you... possibly want to know about... me?"

"Everything! Where your from, what you do, who you are, and why a huge, sword wielding cult, was spying on you!"

"Ok... I guess I should tell you since Im gonna be traveling with you guys..."

"Who said anything about you coming with us!?"

"Well... I assumed, since... well, after that incident in Manehatten... you could use some help... or something..."

"I just met you, under some "not so good circumstances", and I still know, absolutely nothing about you! Maybe if I knew a bit more about you, I would consider it..."

"Fine... I'll talk... What do you want to start with?"

"How about, where your from. Call it a hunch, but I don't think your a native of Manehatten..."

"Ok... Well, I was born on the Northern Edge of the Everfree Forest, in a small Warg village. It was filled with log cabins, and large huts, with the lower ranked Wargs, living in tents on the outskirts of the town."

"Lower ranked Wargs?" In other cultures this would be the poor, but I didn't think the Wargs had much of an economic system...

"Well, In Warg society, your ranked according to your combat abilities, strength, speed, and agility. It goes from the Alphas, Omegas, and Warriors at the top, to the lowest rank, grunts."

"Mind if I ask, where you ranked on this social ladder?"

"I was a grunt..."

"So you were one of those living in the tents?"

"Actually no. You see, my father was part of the Warrior class, and my mother was an Alpha, so I got to live in a cozy little cabin. The reason the lower ranked Wargs always lived in the camps, was your strength, and abilities were usually passed down through the family. Which is why my parents were expecting there pup, to be a mighty warrior. But instead of that...

"They got little wimpy you?" Wow, that sounded a lot meaner out loud...

"...................." He just stared angrily at me for about three minutes.... The awkward silence was only broken by the churning of the sea below, and the churning of Gilda stomach... Until he finally spoke up again.

"Anyways... as you could guess my parents were upset with getting wimpy little me, and if you don't mid, I really don't want to go into all of my home life, and family..."

"Why not?"

"Lets just say, I didn't have the cozy, warm, and loving childhood that you ponies enjoy, and leave it at that..."

"Ok, that's fine..." My conscience was really getting me for that "wimpy" remark now... "But, how did you end up in Manehatten, and where does the cult, as you called it earlier, come in?

"Well... after a few...events... I just, left. I packed up what few things I had... and left..."

"Why did you just, all of a sudden, leave?"

"There was nothing keeping me there anymore..." He seemed to get a bit choked up as he said this...

"So.... Why did you choose Manehatten? I always thought Wargs despised Ponies..."

"Most Wargs do, pretty much every Warg but me... I wasn't like other Wargs, I didn't hate ponies, I didn't attack travelers, I didn't steal... and I... I didn't... kill... It just wasn't me..."

"And this caused problems in your "wolf-pack?" A Warg, that, really wasn't a Warg...

"It didn't cause to many problems... except the part about refusing to kill... which, in a way, completely ruined my life... but I just couldn't kill out of hate..."

"How exactly did it ruin your life?"

"I really don't want to talk about that... it's personal... and..." He just stopped... it looked like he was struggling, to hold back... tears...

"Ok, forget that part! Just tell me about the "cult" instead..." My conscience was going to chew me up now...

"Ok... Well... Wargs, they..." He paused, and turned away from me... he took a deep breath before he continued "Well, Wargs love the night, it shelters us, aids us, and its when were able to do our... robbing, and raiding... So, its only natural that we would love Nightmare Moon as well. An all powerful ruler, who can bring forth eternal night! That would have been a dream come true for all Wargs. We would have terrorized all of Equestria, pillaging, raiding, stealing whatever we wanted, when ever we wanted!"

"So the cult was just made to worship Nightmare Moon?"

"Not at first, most of you ponies don't know, that during the first time Nightmare Moon tried to overthrow her sister, the Wargs were helping her, which is what the cult was originally for. She made a promise to us, that if we aided her in bringing forth eternal night, she would return to us, our ancestral homeland, which we were forced out of when you ponies first settled Equestria..."

"During the First Hearth's Warming Eve?"

"Well... we called it "The Great Pony Invasion"... but yes..." We returned to an awkward silence for minute, until Tails continued. "And, you know how the first attempt went... Big battle, lots of explosions, Nightmare loses, Celestia banishes her to the moon, and we get forced to the very edges of Equestria..."

"So, it didn't end well for the Wargs?"

"Not at all... So, the cult that was originally formed as an army to support Nightmare Moon, continued to believe she would come again, to kick some pony flank for us... so in order to please her, they worshiped her, built temples, shrines, all sorts of things, until one night, she did return..."

"And!?"

"The Wargs got defeated again... But this time... Nightmare moon was gone forever! She went back to her normal pony self, Princess Luna... and with that, every Warg had there dreams crushed... except for me, my dreams would be crushed a little later on...

"But the armour... you said it could bring back Nightmare Moon?"

"Yes, and once the cult found out about it... they celebrated like it was the Full Moon Festival or something... that's when they began to rearm the cult. But there was still one problem, they had no clue, where in the wide world of Equestria the armour was! Which is where you come in..."

"My map..."

"Exactly!"

"But... that still doesn't explain why they were spying on you!"

"They were probably just searching for me after I left the village. Just making sure I wasn't trying to sell information to the enemy, stuff like that."

"Then they heard our conversation, alerted the others, and attempted to ambush me?"

"Yep..."

"I think were done here, I know everything I need to know."

"Good, now back to about me tagging along with you..."

"What about it...?"

"Well... I don't really have anywhere to stay... and Im not familiar with this barren wasteland were going to, plus most ponies arn't very friendly to a Warg that happens to wander into town..."

"Fine... But you get to tell Gilda your coming along with us." I'm starting to think Gilda's personality is rubbing off on me...

"Fine... I'll go do it now while she is to sick to... kill me..." He slowly started to walk over to the other side of the boat...

All the pieces were finally starting to fit together... it was obvious, that I wasn't the only one after this armour. I was going to have to be a lot more careful now... not only was I going to have to watch out for that cult, which I was sure was going to follow us, but i had to make sure no one else found out about it. I was also going to have to keep a close eye on Tails, sure he seemed trustworthy enough, but he seemed to have a very mysterious past...

My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden clanging of a bell, and the captain shouting, "Pony overboard!" The boat made a quick 180 degrees turn... which nearly knocked me off the boat. I dashed over to the captain's quarters...

"What's going on!? Who went overboard!?"

"Yer' little wolf friend, he's... pardon the pun, doggy paddling a couple yards back."

"Gilda..." I should of known!

"What was that miss?"

"Nothing, just swing around, and I'll pull him aboard."

"Okay Miss. I wonder how the fell'er fell overboard in the first place..."

"Yes... It's one big mystery..."

I walked over to where Gilda was rolling around on the deck of the boat, laughing hysterically...

"Gilda!"

"What?"

"I know you threw Tails overboard..."

"He's not coming with us..."

"I had a talk with him, and he seems decent enough... and it doesn't seem like he will try to kill us in our sleep or anything. Plus he knows a lot about this armour, and the legends surrounding it, so we need him on this journey! That mean's no more trying to drown him!"

"Can I rough him up a bit?"

"No!"

"How about-"

"No!"

"Fine! He can come... but he's going to regret it!"

By now, the boat had make it back to where Tails was bobbing in the water, he was shivering, Thank Celestia he knew how to swim... I pulled him aboard, wrapping him in a shaggy, old, and worn blanket that was sitting near the back of the boat. Gilda refused to help at all, and walked over to the front of the boat, mumbling something inaudible to the rest of us...

'"So, how did it go?" Figured I would brighten the mood with a little sarcasm...

"Well... She didn't kill me... so I'd say pretty well!" He tried to force a laugh, but instead, broke out into a short sneezing fit... From what he told me, and the way Gilda's been treating him, he seemed to be having a very rough time lately. But if it was bothering him, he was doing a pretty good job at hiding it...

After helping Tails to dry off a bit, which was a bit difficult due to his large amount of thick, shaggy fur, the Captain finally came out of the control room, saying we were going to be pulling in to port in a few minutes.

"Gilda, Tails, grab your stuff were docking!"

"Okay, I'll just grab my cloak..."

"Tails is gonna' carry my stuff, Arn't you!?"

"Sure Gilda..."

"Ok... Just Get ready to-" I was interrupted by the sudden jolt of the boat, along with a loud grinding noise.

"Darn'd it! I think I hit something!" This is what happens when you charter the cheapest boat you can find...

"Streaks, remind me again why we charted this loser..."

"I resent that! Though... I guess it be deserving since I did just go an' ram me boat into a dock..."

"Okay... Do you think you'll be able to float us back to Manehatten once we do what we need to?" That is if he doesn't sink his ship before then...

"Sure, I'm just an old crazy sea pony who ain't got nothin' better to do! Not like I'll be doing anything important." I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not...

We disembarked, we didn't need to deploy the gangplank, as our brilliant captain, manged to wedged the boat half a foot into the rotting wooden dock...

"Were finally here guys! Zebrica, an uncharted land of adventure and treasures! You can practically smell the adventure waiting to happen!"

My spirits were high, I forgot all that had gone wrong so far, the delays, the scuffles, the swordpony who nearly killed me, none of it mattered, I was in my paradise...

"It smells like crap..."

"I have to agree with Gilda on this one... Not exactly a desert oasis..."

"Fine! If you don't like it you can go wait on the ship with Admiral Crash-a-lots!"

They both sighed heavily, and followed after me down the sandy streets of Ze-bra'lex, the streets were supposed to be paved with cobblestone, but frequent sandstorms would quickly overtake the streets, leaving only small patches of stone visible, and from the looks of it... It seemed that another sandstorm would be hitting the area soon... yet another thing that would cause delays... What in the name of Celestia have I done to deserve all of this!?

The streets were lined with small, closely packed, red brick apartments. There were many taverns, bars, and inns along the streets, all hot spots for various illegal activities. Unfortunately, I was almost certain a sandstorm was brewing, which meant, we would have to seek shelter in one of these Inns for the night, hopefully we could slip in under the radar, and not attract any unwanted attention, though I'm sure Gilda would prevent that from happening. That Grifon could pick a fight with anyone... though she could also win a fight with anyone... I don't think Tails would be a problem, he seemed to have a way of blending in with the background, and staying out of other pony's ways... He had his cloak on again, once again covering his face...

"Tails, why are you wearing that cloak out here? It's nearly ninety degrees."

"Well... things just work out better if no one one knows I'm a Warg..."

"Oh... I see..."

I felt really bad for Tails, it seemed he had a rough life, and, it's sad to say... most ponies arn't very open or friendly to Wargs, but for good reason, they are a large nuisance in the Everfree area, and are responsible for many attacks on travelers and their families... and usually leave them, injured and dieing on the side of the road... I've also never heard of a Warg who ever left his pack, or was friendly to ponies. Tails definitely wasn't your typical Warg...

"Streaks... This wind is really starting to pick up now... and I don't like to get sand in my feathers, I just finished preening them on the ship!"

"Fine.. we'll stop somewhere for tonight. Anyone see a nice place we could stay in?"

"How 'bout over there?"

The building Gilda was referring to, was a two story, Inn and Tavern, with boards nailed over one of the front windows. Since, there wasn't a huge choice in hotels here... we decided to go in. I nearly tripped over a zebra slumped over on the curb, either passed out drunk, or dead... We strolled in through the worn wooden door, that was only held to the door frame by one set of hinges...

The tavern was pretty calm, as about two thirds of the occupants were passed out drunk, hanging out of their booths, or just laying on the floor... the other third of the ponies were either on the verge of passing out, or were fumbling around with packages, and pouches. But what really caught my attention were two Zebras sitting at the bar. Propped up next to them, were a pair of rifles...

Guns were very rare in Equestria, they wern't illegal, you just needed a special permit to have one, which was a big hassle to get. You had to go through extensive background checks, training, and you needed to purchase a magically sealed safe, that your gun had to be placed in at all times, when you wern't using it. Another reason you never saw guns in Equestria, was no one really had a need for them, the only use was for sport, or if you happened to be travelling through the Everfree Forest. Also, if a pony was going to use a gun, it had to be custom made, obviously a pony couldn't operate a trigger, like those on Griffon weaponry. Pony guns were fired using either a pump or a lever, underneath the front of the gun's barrel, and unless you were extremely skilled, you would have to rest the gun on something to fire it. Plus, most ponies were just plain scared of guns...

"Welcome to the Oasis Bar and Inn, how can I be a service to you three?"

The Zebra leaning over the counter was, a young, cheerful looking fellow. He attire consisted of a dirty brown jacket, and a wide brimmed hat, adorned with a feather of some kind.

"Well, my companions and I, need a room for the night."

"Sure, no problem there! The rooms are a bit small, and only have one bed, so one of you is gonna have to sleep on the couch, and one of you is gonna get stuck with sleeping on the floor..."

"I got the bed! Streaks, you can take the couch, and Tails, you got the floor!"

"I'm paying for the room! So I get the bed! As for you two, you decide who's sleeping where!"

"Fine... Tails you get the-"

"The floor... I know..."

The Zebra behind the counter was chuckling at this whole display. It also attracted the gazes of the other patrons in the bar... So much for avoiding attention... I'm just glad the two Zebras with the guns chose to ignore us...

"Well, if you three have that all figured out, your free to take a seat anywhere in the bar, first round of drinks is on the house! Just try not to step on any of my customers who are," napping", on the floor."

"Sweet!, I'll take a Red-Griffon Lager, extra strong! How bout' you Streaks?"

"Eh, I'll just take a Vodka, any brand will do. Tails, you want anything?"

"Hit me with the strongest thing you got!"

"You sure about that lad? That would be the Black Blizzard... last pony who had it passed out on the curb..."

"Trust me, where I'm from, we got drinks ten times as strong as anything you got here."

"Okay... if ya' say so..."

The bartender brought us our drinks, Gilda's was some thick, blood red stuff, served in a tankard. I got my Vodka, and for Tails... The Bartender brought out a tankard, filled with a frosty black liquid, with a label that said, 97% alcohol, which meant that stuff had to be fermented via magic...

As Tails eyed up the "liver failure waiting to happen", in front of him, Gilda leaned over and whispered something to me...

"Bet you five bits he passes out before he finishes that thing." It would be a miracle if that thing didn't kill him...

By now every other pony and Zebra in the bar, who was still conscious, was watching Tails. The bar built up an atmosphere of suspense...

Slowly, Tails reached for the tankard... the bar was completely quiet now... It seemed like everyone in the bar had lost the ability to speak... everyone's eyes were glued to Tails as he brought the Tankard to his mouth... and chugged the entire thing in just a few huge gulps...

Every pony, zebra, and griffon in that bar was staring at Tails... watching to see, what would happen to the Warg... if he would just pass out on the floor, or if he would just drop dead...

He just sat there, he didn't falter a bit, he just looked straight ahead at the bartender...

"I'll take another one!" His speech wasn't even slurred...

The expression on everyone's face in that bar was one of disbelief... Gilda was sitting there with her jaw hanging down... and I heard about four ponies mumble, "That ain't buckin' possible..."

The Zebra at the counter hesitated for a minute, perhaps waiting to see if Tails would pass out suddenly... then went to fetch Tails another drink...

"How did you... I mean... What..." I couldn't find the words to respond to this...

"Told you it was nothing. Back home, we had this drink called "Black Death", was pure alcohol, in it's most concentrated form. Could knock you unconscious for days... and of course you had to drink a whole bottle of the stuff when you were assigned your duty in the raiding parties. I guess these weak pony brews don't effect me!"

"Well, you just earned your self a little bit of respect from me! But your still sleeping on the floor!" Even Gilda was impressed...

The next hour I spent talking to Gilda, getting to know a bit more about her. Tails just sat there quietly, after finishing his third glass of "Black Blizzard"... it still wasn't affecting him...

Two hours later, we decided to retire to our room. I was tired, Gilda had just knocked the wind out of a drunk Zebra who tried to flirt with her, and Tails still wasn't drunk...

We walked up the creaky, rotting wood stairs that led to the rooms on the second floor. Our room was one of the few that had an actual door on it, most of the others just had a curtain draped over the doorway. The room was fairly small and simple, just a bathroom, a small coffee table, and a room divider separating the single bed, from the couch.

"Okay... I'm going to bed... I don't care what you two do, just keep it down..."

"Might as well get some sleep, not much to do in this lame town..."

"And I'll just sleep here... on the cold... hard... wet... floor...."

"Shut up Tails, no one likes a whiner..." They better not be like this all night long...

"Both of you! Shut it!" What in the name of Equestria was I thinking when I invited these two to come along...

I trudged over to my bed... If Gilda and Tails kept quiet, I might actually have a chance at a proper night's sleep... The bed was actually pretty soft, but it creaked and shook when I got in, for a minute I thought it was going to fall apart... But after I assured my self that the bed wouldn't break apart in my sleep... I settled down for a nice sleep... my mind full of dreams... dreams that would finally be fulfilled once I brought this armour back to Princess Luna. All my hard work would finally pay off. I closed my eyes... and allowed the sweet comfort of sleep to overtake me...

---II---

"Hey, whats that?"

"Looks like some saddle bags... They probably belong to the mare that was sitting there earlier, you know, the one with the friend who chugged three glasses of "Black Blizzard."

"Yeah, whatever. Lets see if there's anything worth stealing..."

"I doubt it... She didn't look very rich... and I really don't want to mess with her other friend, that Griffon... did you see what she did to Reggie!?"

"Doesn't look like there's anything good here... Yuck... MRE's... I hate these things..."

"Same here..."

"Wait a minute... what do we have here?"

"What is it?"

"Some type of a map... there's a letter in here too... from Princess Luna!"

"Luna!? You mean the co-ruler of Equestria!?"

"No you idiot... I mean the other Alicorn named Luna, that happens to be a princess..."

"..... Just read the letter you idiot...."

"Lets see here.... loyal subject.. blah blah blah.. archaeology... Zebrica... wait a minute... this might be something worth looking in to! I say we bring this to the boss, see what he thinks!"

"Okay, lets just hurry... we should get that back to that mare before she gets her Griffon friend after us..."

"Agreed..."

---III---

"Hey Gilda... I need to ask you something..."

"What Tails... I'm trying to sleep here..."

"It's just something I need to know..."

"Well spit it out already!"

"Do you... Do you... hate me?"

"Well... I wouldn't say I hate you... I find you a bit annoying... but... I don't necessarily hate you..."

"Okay... That's fine... Goodnight Gilda..."

"Tails... Why would you ask something like that?"

"It's just that... I've been through a lot... and it's just something that has been bothering me...

"Okay... Now... be quiet so I can sleep...

"Sure thing Gilda."