Of Dragons and Mortals

Chapter 13: A Train of Thought

For those who care to know such things, there is a popular roosting place for dragons on the edge of Equestrian territories, inside an active volcano called the Melting Mountain. Furthermore, those with proper security clearance know that since dragons are well-known and dangerous predators, any identified roosting grounds near the Equestrian border are under constant surveillance by the Royal Guard. At this particular roosting ground, a small guard post stands on a nearby cloud, hidden from sight by a cloaking spell.

It is considered both a very dangerous post (if the dragons do anything, you’re screwed) and an extremely boring one (they never do anything, the lazy bastards). As such, it was the quintessential punishment post. Until yesterday.

Yesterday, a complete stranger suddenly appeared and almost casually defeated a dragon, which frightened the other dragons roosting in the area. Most of them flew away while some lingered, apparently listening to the stranger give some speech. The lone guard who was manning the post immediately sent a message to his commanders and kept up his observations. However, by the time investigators arrived, the stranger had disappeared.

Groups of guards were sent all over the area to keep track of the scattered dragons, and the lone guard who had reported the event had been reinforced. Now three guards were manning the usually understaffed guard post, and the newcomers had brought defense and surveillance equipment with them. Just in case something else happened in the area.

Tensions were high in the small guard post. As the sun rose, the guards’ sharp eyes were scanning the horizon and the caldera for anything out of the ordinary.

They got their wish. The stranger who had been spotted only the day before appeared again.

One of the guards saw the stranger move into the caldera, and alerted the others. All three guards flocked to the edge, and one of them used a listening scope--a device that the post had sorely lacked the first time the stranger had appeared.

“... I told you yesterday that I would give you some time to make your decision,” the stranger was saying, “and at the time, I thought that we had time to spare. However, it has come to my attention that things are moving faster than I thought.”

The stranger paused, apparently to let his words sink in, and the dragons mumbled a bit among themselves. He spoke up again once the moment had passed.

“Those of you who are still mulling it over can stay here, and I’ll come back at the time we agreed on to ask for your answer. But those of you who already know that you want to be a part of this, come with me.”

The guard who listened in on the conversation related everything he heard to his colleagues, and they scrambled, one of them readying himself to pursue this stranger and the other one preparing a message to send back to Canterlot. The stranger might be able to appear and disappear seemingly at will, but how hard could it be to follow a pack of dragons, should they decide to follow him?

Without warning, the stranger turned, and the hidden guard could swear that he was staring right at him through the scope of the monitoring device. He made to shout a warning to his colleagues, but suddenly they all felt a presence in their midst.

“Of course,” the stranger said, his face concealed inside the hood of his robe, “I can’t have you people following us. Sorry about this.”

The guards raised their weapons, but it was a futile gesture.

Twilight had never seen anyone die in front of her before. Admittedly, he had been trying to kill her, but still, watching a spirit fox tear his throat out in front of her had been a jarring experience to say the least. Nevertheless, there was an unconscious stallion here who needed help, and her friends were standing around uncertainly, anxious and confused.

Be a Princess.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Handle it.

“Rarity, I need you to check on Whistle Blower,” she ordered. “AJ, secure the door. Keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary: rapid movement, strangely shimmering air, anything strange.”

Applejack and Rarity both jumped to their assigned duties, although AJ gave her a quick questioning frown. Twilight didn’t sense any other magical disturbances, but…

This one might not have been working alone.

Almost as an afterthought, Twilight quickly cast a combination of tracking and protection spells on her friends. Now she would know if anything happened to them.

“Rainbow, go find a doctor or a nurse and hurry back here. Carry them if you have to.”

“On it!” Rainbow zoomed out the door and away.

“Pinkie! Are you... sensing anything?”

“No. I mean, I got this ache in my knee before the crash, and then we ran in here to check on you, but it’s gone now.”

“Good. Fluttershy--” Twilight turned to the shy mare, and lost her words.

Fluttershy had picked up Maximilian, and was cradling the small fox in her arms, snuggling him protectively. She turned to acknowledge Twilight.

“Yes?”

Twilight blinked, and lost her train of thought. Spirits weren’t supposed to be able to manifest tangibly in the physical realm, and most definitely not such a small and weak one. Twilight had assumed that both Felicia and this little one were invisible to non-alicorns.

But then again, Felicia had probably manifested herself physically in order to maximize the force behind her attack. And if she could do that, then she may also have manifested her subordinate for… some reason Twilight was not aware of.

Such a feat should not be even remotely possible, though. Despite her already high assessment of the fox’s power, Twilight suddenly worried that she had underestimated Felicia’s abilities. Spirits shouldn’t be able to do that. Her brain was tying itself into a knot, trying to process this new information.

What are you, really? And what’s with this? Is this your way of telling me that you don’t care if I tell people about you? Or is this an act of trust? Or a test? Or a prank, or what? Damn you, Felicia!

“Twilight?”

Fluttershy’s demure voice snapped Twilight back to the present. She looked up into the pegasus’ eyes. Fluttershy was scratching the small spirit between the ears, clearly trying to calm what she must have thought was a wild animal. The spirit, in turn, seemed to be basking in the attention. Twilight kind of felt the need to sit down, but firmly shook it off. She could think about solving this conundrum later.

“... Take care of that thing,” Twilight said, pointing at the fox. She had completely forgotten what she had meant to say before the tangible spirit creature had broken her brain. But having Fluttershy keep an eye on him could only be a good thing.

“Twilight!” Rarity called, drawing the princess’s attention. She saw Rarity with her cheek inches from Whistle Blower’s face, a concentrated frown on her face. “He’s breathing, but there’s an awful stench about his muzzle that is making me feel a little light-headed. I think he’s been drugged.”

Twilight approached, while Rarity proceeded to feel the stallion’s throat for a pulse.

“His pulse is strong,” she muttered. “His windpipe sounds clear...”

“Is he going to be okay?” Twilight asked, staying back a bit to let Rarity do her thing unimpeded.

“Probably. I see no sign of physical trauma, so it depends on what he was drugged with.” Rarity gently moved the stallion off his chair and down on the ground, laying him down on his side in the recovery position, then stepped back. Whistle Blower gave a final loud snore while he was moved, but then fell silent and started breathing normally. “That’s all we can do for him right now.”

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“Oh yes,” Rarity replied, “the light-headedness faded quickly. I’m just fine.”

The sound of a train’s whistle flowed in through the open door.

“Uh, girls?” Applejack called out. “The train’s a’comin’.”

“Okay. Pinkie Pie, go flag them down, keep them from leaving if we take too long here. We need to be on that train when it leaves.”

“Roger!” Pinkie cried, then ran off.

Twilight took a second to mourn the loss of sanity the conductor was probably about to experience.

Now they had to wait for Rainbow Dash to return with medical personnel. Twilight took the opportunity to do another sweep with her magic to check for disturbances, and powered up her spirit-vision for good measure.

The only magic anomaly she could find was an imprint on the spirit realm where Felicia had torn through the veil between the realms. Twilight could use the trail to try to study the fox’s mindset, the feelings she had experienced when she tore this little hole in reality. She made a mental note of her findings, then turned her attention back to the--still tangible--Maximillian.

She could read the little spirit’s emotions more easily than his mistress’, since he was not even trying to hide what he felt. He seemed calm, and his enjoyment of Fluttershy’s fussing was genuine. His carefree and relaxed demeanour actually helped calm Twilight down, seeing that this impromptu guard apparently didn’t think that they were in danger.

Then AJ called out that Rainbow Dash was coming back, and a moment later Nurse Redheart ran in through the door and knelt down at the fallen stallion’s side. Rainbow Dash backed in immediately after, her fists raised as though she was expecting an assault and her eyes scanning the street for any potential attackers.

“I flew to the hospital and carried the nurse here,” she said, turning around. “The stretcher will be here soon.”

“Excellent work, Rainbow.” Twilight nodded. “Thank you.”

Redheart tended to the fallen stallion. She looked over her shoulder at the rest of the girls.

“I believe he’ll be alright,” the nurse stated, much to everypony’s relief. “We’ll take him to the hospital for observation and further tests. Is there anything you can tell me about what happened here?”

“We believe he inhaled something that knocked him out,” Rarity said. “I’m afraid that’s just a guess, but it’s all we have.”

“Very well,” the nurse said, and turned back to her patient.

Twilight heard the chiming bell of the approaching stretcher-bearers, and suddenly remembered that she still needed the tickets for the train. They could not afford to miss it. The medical personnel streamed in, but Twilight ignored them, instead running over to the empty ticket booth, where she found her pre-ordered tickets. She grabbed them, and left a little extra change for the trouble.

When she looked up, she noted that Whistle Blower had been placed on a stretcher. The old stallion had started to wake up and was trying to make a fuss, but the paramedics simply carried him away.

Twilight briefly considered questioning Whistle Blower, but the assassin had been invisible, so he probably didn’t know anything. It would most likely be a waste of her time.

Rainbow Dash had picked up the would-be assassin’s glove and was holding it up to a lamp, examining it curiously. Rarity was standing a hoof-length away from his empty clothes, scrutinizing them with a mixed look of disgust and intrigue. Fluttershy was still cradling the fox in her arms, and Applejack had not abandoned her post by the door.

In fact, AJ was blocking another pony from entering, a purple earth-pony stallion with a fancy orange mane and mustache, who Twilight did not recognize. As she watched, AJ and the stranger both stood aside to let the paramedics carry Whistle Blower out of the building, and the fancy stallion managed to lean past the doorframe a bit. His eyes wandered over to Rainbow Dash and the glove that she was holding. His gaze seemed to freeze on the alien object, and he frowned, then promptly left.

“AJ! Who was that?” Twilight cried out as she ran to the door.

“Said his name was Rip Tide, what…” the farm mare trailed off as Twilight hurried past her and out into the street.

The stallion--Rip Tide--was nowhere in sight.

“He said,” Applejack said from behind her, “that he saw the paramedics run by him, and he got curious.”

AJ stepped out and stood next to Twilight, helping her friend to look around.

“What’s wrong? Should we go after ‘im? Should Ah have grabbed ‘im?”

Twilight gave it some serious thought. She had a hunch that he knew something, but not how much, and she had no idea where to begin looking for him. And they were on a tight schedule. Any attempt to find Rip Tide would mean missing the train. Not acceptable.

“No…” she finally said, answering AJ’s question. “We need to get on this train. Cadance is counting on us.”

I could go to the hospital and question Whistle Blower, Twilight thought. I could spend who knows how long tracking down this Rip Tide to see if he knows anything. I could even go back and try to make Spike tell me what he knows in case it relates,but…

Twilight gave the small blue fox in Fluttershy’s arms a lingering glare.

I think I know who is sitting on all the answers I want. Damn you, Felicia.

“Rarity, gather up that robe and that knife, please,” Twilight ordered. “We’ll examine them on the train. And careful with the knife; it may be poisoned.”

“Alright, Twilight,” Rarity answered. She picked up the items with her magic, and wrapped the knife in the robe to keep it safe.

“What about this thing?” Rainbow Dash asked, holding up the glove she was still examining.

“Bring that too, and Fluttershy…”

“Yes?”

Twilight hesitated a moment. She still wasn’t sure these spirits could be trusted, but...

This one might not have been working alone.

“Bring that fox with us.”

The girls walked out of the station house and quickly found Pinkie Pie standing over by the train engine. She was wearing an elaborate feather headdress, carrying a pair of cymbals and had a dozen colorful balloons tied to her tail.

“Aww,” she whined. “You girls are early!”

As it turned out, Pinkie’s distraction wasn’t really necessary after all. The girls boarded the express-train to the Crystal Empire half a minute before it was scheduled to depart. They navigated their way past the early-bird travelers (mostly business-ponies and tourists from the Empire heading back home) and stepped into their private compartment.

It was a conference compartment with seats for up to eight people. The girls all sat down, while Rarity kept the bundle of assassin’s gear in her lap.

Twilight closed the door and turned around to find that all the other girls were staring at her, quietly demanding answers.

The intense silence was actually a little unnerving.

“Okay, so…” Twilight looked at the fox seated on Fluttershy’s lap. He had nestled in, closed his eyes, and looked like he was about to fall asleep.

Twilight did not want this information to get to Felicia. Not yet, anyway: If Felicia was going to withhold information to use for bartering, so would Twilight. She needed a way to keep this fox from hearing what she had to say about their errand up north, but how to do that? Although, Maximilian was a physical creature now, wasn’t he? Could it really be as simple as...

“Fluttershy, could you cover the fox’s ears for a bit? I don’t want him to hear this.”

Fluttershy gave an unsure frown, but placed her hand on the fox’s head, flattening his fluffy ears.

“Maximillian?” Twilight asked. “Can you hear me?”

No reaction, not even from Twilight’s spirit vision. He didn’t hear a thing. It was that easy.

“Twilight!” Rarity yelled. “What is going on here? What aren’t you telling us? Why are we suddenly traveling to the Crystal Empire, and what happened to you at the station?”

Rarity’s outburst was met with affirmative noises from the rest of the group. Twilight took her seat, and a deep breath.

“I was attacked,” she stated plainly. “The creature who left those items behind tried to assassinate me.”

Her statement caused shocked gasps all around, and Rarity immediately dumped the bundle of clothes and gear she was holding on to one of the empty seats, as though it was on fire. Everypony tried to ask questions all at once, ranging from “are you alright?” to “who sent him?” and a few choice insults towards the would-be assassin and his parentage. It took Twilight a few minutes to get everypony to quiet down, and explain what she knew.

As soon as she got home yesterday, after talking to Felicia and receiving Cadance’s message, Twilight had sat down and written a complete transcript of her conversation with the spirit fox while it was still fresh in her mind. She had even added footnotes about the spirit world, and her own insights into Felicia’s state of mind, to complete the experience. She wanted the readers to know everything that she did.

The original pages had been sent to Celestia earlier, but Twilight had made copies for all of her friends. Not all of them were enthusiastic about being forced to read a lengthy report, but they all saw the seriousness of the situation, and no one complained. Thus, the first hour or so of the train journey was spent bringing everypony up to speed about Felicia, their extra passenger, and the strange assassin. Questions were asked, explanations were given and small details that hadn’t made it onto the paper were clarified.

The trolley-pony stopped by, and the girls bought some breakfast and snacks as they read and made conversation.

“Alright, so…” Applejack said eventually. “You fended this fellow off, and then this Felicia…” She gestured to her copy of the report. “Shows up and finishes him? Well… Glad to know she’s on our side, at least.”

“Indeed,” Rarity said, nodding. “So can we assume that, should this unpleasant fellow’s compatriots show themselves, we can simply poke our snoozing little friend over there and he will call in the proverbial cavalry?”

“Yes, that seems to be the case,” Twilight responded. “I’m not sure how seriously he’s taking this, though.”

Indeed, the little spirit was still cuddled into Fluttershy’s lap with one of the shy mare’s hands over his ears, apparently sleeping soundly.

Twilight didn’t know that spirits could sleep, but apparently there were a lot of things she didn’t know about spirits.

“Yeah, that’s great,” Rainbow cut in, “but why are we going to the Crystal Empire? Shouldn’t we, like, call the guards and hunker down in your castle or something? I mean, if there are assassins after you, should we really be heading out like this?”

“Yes, about that…” Twilight took a deep breath and organized her thoughts. “It is possible that our errand in the Crystal Empire and this event are related.”

Twilight’s statement was followed by a long moment of tense silence, only broken up by the rhythmic sound of the train’s wheels. Rainbow was the one who finally shattered it.

“Yeah, okay, that’s… Why did Princess Cadance ask for our help?”

Heaving a determined sigh, Twilight took out the letter she had received from Cadance’s messenger, as well as a rolled up map of Equestria. She spread the map out on the table and set the letter down to show Cadance’s seal.

“There’s been some sort of battle near the Crystal Empire,” she said.

There was no outcry from her friends this time. Everyone fell silent and waited for Twilight to continue, so she gestured towards the northern parts of her map.

“Here is the Crystal Empire as we know it: the Crystal Palace, the capital,” she began. “Over the years, some small villages and ranches have been established in the area, but the Empire is still very centralized around the Palace, and there are only settlements inside this area.”

Twilight drew a rough circle, stretching a little bit north and a lot more south from the Crystal Empire map marker. “However, the Empire officially claims all of this area.” She drew a much larger border, encompassing all of the Crystal Mountains and a fair bit of the Frozen North. “The territory north of the Palace is uninhabited and hostile, but the Crystal Guard does regular flyovers to keep an eye on things.”

She marked a spot far to the north of the Empire’s capital. It was in the Frozen North, just past the Crystal Mountains. Far away from the inhabited area, but still just barely within the Empire’s sphere of influence.

“Four days ago, a guard patrol flew by this area. They didn’t find anything. Yesterday, they flew by again--”

“And vanished?” Pinkie interrupted, her eyes wide and horrified. The others stared at Pinkie, then back at Twilight, concern plain to see on their faces.

“No, Pinkie,” Twilight said in a reassuring tone. “No pony’s been hurt, at least as far as we can tell. But the patrol found a pack of fire elementals drifting around the area.”

“Fire elementals?” Rarity interjected. “In the Frozen North? That sounds ominous...”

“You’re not kidding…” Rainbow said, her voice surprisingly serious. “The main reason why no one lives that far up north is because the natural magic of that place basically sucks the heat out of everything. I hear you need special magical protection just to light a campfire.”

“Right you are, Rainbow,” Twilight cut in. “Which indicates that something summoned the elementals and is sustaining them, since there is no way they are naturally occurring.” She frowned. “Anyway, the guards continued the patrol, traced the trail of elementals back to their source, and found the site of a newly constructed military camp. A camp that the elementals were in the process of burning down.”

“So it ain’t their camp, then?” Applejack asked.

“No. There were signs of combat throughout the area. It seems as though the elementals attacked whoever made the camp, and defeated them.”

“How did the elementals react to the Crystal guards?” Rarity chimed in.

“The guards didn’t land. They made their observations with binoculars from a safe distance, then half of them retreated to report while the other half continued the patrol. When Cadance received the report, she sent messengers to me and Celestia, and started making arrangements to send out a specially equipped guard patrol to make a temporary outpost in the area. They should be set up by now.”

“The guards didn’t leave anypony to keep an eye on things while they were there?” Applejack asked. “It’s what Ah would have done.”

“No,” Twilight explained, “like Rainbow said, the unnatural cold of the Frozen North means you need specialized equipment if you want to to spend any time there. While the guards have enchanted armor to protect them on their patrols, they would not survive the night without special equipment.”

“What exactly were those ‘signs of combat’ you mentioned?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight frowned and thought about it before she answered. She had only made the possible connection between her mystery attacker and this camp about an hour ago, and it hinged on one specific piece of information in the report she had been handed.

“Most notably, there were scorch marks, discarded weapons and… empty suits of armor lying out in the open. As though the wearers had been struck down, and their bodies had been burned to ashes or... vanished.”

“Just like the assassin from this morning…” Dash remarked.

“Yeah…” Twilight nodded. “Felicia said that ‘his kind don’t leave bodies behind, at least not anymore.’ So maybe his friends pitched that camp and they suffered the same phenomenon when the elementals got them. Or the elementals burned the bodies and left the metal armor behind.”

“That still seems unreal,” AJ said, “the whole body disappearin’ thing.”

Rarity nodded, frowning softly.

“You are certain it was not some sort of magical construct, Twilight?” she asked.

“I’m sure,” Twilight said, slowly shaking her head. “He was as real as you and me, and then he just… he just disappeared.”

The group fell silent yet again, lost in their own thoughts. Some time passed in silence, broken when Rarity dumped the assassin’s gear on the table.

“I may be able to corroborate your theory, Twilight.”

The girls cleared the table and leaned back as Rarity spread the empty robe out. Twilight grabbed the knife with her magic and held it aloft, coating the probably-poisoned blade in a protective sheen of magic and pointing it away from her friends while Rarity did her thing. The strange glove resisted the fashionista’s attempt to move it with her magic, but she merely pushed harder until it finally rolled away. She leaned in and examined the dust-grey fabric of the robe closely, focusing her attention on the holes, where the robe had apparently seen some wear and tear.

“I think…” she muttered, then her horn lit up and an eyepiece floated over from her bag and fitted itself over her eye. “Yes, I see…”

Pinkie promptly invaded Rarity’s personal space and hung on her shoulder, trying to peer into the same eyepiece Rarity was using. The fashionista was too focused to react, however, and didn’t budge.

“What?” Pinkie asked. “You see what?”

Applejack reached up and plucked the pink mare from her perch.

“Come on now, sugarcube. Let her concentrate.”

They didn’t have to wait long. Immediately after Pinkie had been placed back in her seat, Rarity spoke up, still concentrating on the tears in the robe.

“At a glance,” she began, “this robe looks torn, but it’s been cleaned up.” Rarity plucked out her eyepiece and sat back up. “In actuality, these holes are the result of fire damage.”

“You’re sure?” Twilight asked.

“Positive. I cannot identify the specific fabric that this robe is made of, but the way the fibres have curled up around these holes is definitely from excessive heat or fire… Hmm…” The fashionista fell silent and examined seemingly random patches of the robe.

“What?” Rainbow prodded.

“I cannot be completely sure,” Rarity muttered, concentrating on a patch of undamaged fabric. “But I think I see signs of exposure to cold temperatures here.”

The room fell silent as the implications sank in. It was looking more and more likely that these two events were connected, but how exactly? Who were these creatures that had tried to kill Twilight, and why? And who was controlling the elementals that had apparently defeated them? Were they friend or foe?

The silence continued for a while as they passed around the message from Cadance and studied the transcript of the conversation with Felicia.

For that was yet another question: who was Felicia, and what was her role in all this?

Damn you, Felicia.

The silence was broken by Fluttershy, of all ponies, whose low muttering rang out clearly through the quiet compartment.

“Um, what’s this about ‘high dragons?’”

The girls turned to her, a surprised look on their faces. Fluttershy squirmed a little bit, but recovered quickly and pointed to a specific paragraph in the transcript.

“Here, in Twilight’s report,” she said. “‘Newly recruited high dragon,’ ‘high dragon, true dragon. What you call them is a matter of personal taste...’”

There was a fluttering of pages as all of the girls searched for the bit Fluttershy was referring to.

“Yeah, that part’s a bit odd,” Applejack said.

“Wait a moment, I recognize this term!” Rarity exclaimed, drawing the attention of the others. “When Spike visited me the day before yesterday, he said something about ‘true dragon’ in reference to himself. He abruptly fell silent afterwards, and I got the feeling he was not actually supposed to say that.”

“Did he say anything else?” Twilight asked, leaning forward with her ears pointing straight towards her friend.

“No, I am afraid not,” Rarity said. Twilight leaned back and groaned, but Rarity continued. “I sensed that it was something of a sensitive topic, so I dodged it. We had a nice mood going.”

“You know…” Twilight said. “I considered trying to question him this morning, to see if he knows anything about what’s going on… I would have, too, if not for Felicia’s warning.”

“‘The others will punish him’…” Pinkie read aloud. “That’s mean, forcing Spike to keep secrets from us.”

“But what does he know?” Rainbow asked aloud. “And who gave him the information? That Quick guy?”

“Seems logical…” Twilight mused. “He met with Quick Wits before he changed, and Quick gave him that gem.”

“Gah!” Rainbow exclaimed. “So many damn questions!”

“Yeah…” Applejack agreed.

“It doesn’t help,” Rarity chimed in, “that Felicia, the one creature who seems to know what is happening, is apparently holding back information.”

As the other girls started speculating and asking questions they had no answer for, AJ let her eyes wander over to the sleeping spirit fox. Fluttershy had kept her hand over the fox’s ears, and he hadn’t moved during the discussion. Such a careless thing, to be acting as their guard. He seemed so relaxed, like…

“Actually…” she said, interrupting the others. “Ah don’t think Spike knows about this.”

“What makes you say that?” Twilight asked.

“Well, look… If anyone knows what’s goin’ on here, it’s Felicia. Right?” The other girls nodded. “Right, and look at this here transcript. Whatever’s happenin’, she’s got lookouts all over the place, reacts in a single shake of a lamb’s tail, and she’s ready to fight in a heartbeat. She’s worried. On her guard.”

“That… makes sense, AJ,” Twilight said. “But what does this have to do with Spike?”

“Well, Ah may have missed somethin’, but… Spike didn’t seem to be worried.”

There was a moment of silence as the girls thought back on the last few days, but they all reached the same conclusion.

“You’re right, Applejack…” Twilight muttered. “He’s seemed rather carefree, hasn’t he…”

“Yeah, like this little guy here.” AJ gestured towards the sleeping spirit fox. “He doesn’t seem to think we’re in danger, so he’s relaxin’. And Spike doesn’t think we’re in danger either, so he’s not worried. But Felicia, who sees the whole picture--or at least more than we do--is frettin’ about it.”

“Are you implying,” Rarity cut in, “that Spike may be as much in the dark here as we are?”

“Maybe. Ah think he’d be frettin’ a lot more if he thought something was wrong. Even Felicia agrees, right here, that he’d ‘die to protect us.’ Ah mean, somethin’s happened to him, and Ah guess it’s possible that it’s related to this mess somehow, but whatever he knows or doesn’t know, he doesn’t seem to feel the need to worry.”

“As opposed to Felicia, who apparently knows enough to be seriously worried,” Twilight concluded.

“Exactly,” Applejack agreed. “Now don’t get me wrong, Ah’m mighty curious about what this ‘high dragon’ thing is all about, but, like Ah said, it may not be related to… all this.”

“Yes… yes, I think you’re on to something,” Twilight said. “Let’s focus for now.”

The group fell into silence again. It was short lived.

“Uh, Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “Focus on what exactly?”

“On this crisis, of course, what do you think?!”

“But… what can we do right now?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. There was a simple honesty to that statement that disarmed her: what exactly could they do right now? She had told her friends everything she knew, and they were on their way to hopefully make a difference, but right at the moment…

“You’re right, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Right now, all we can do is wait. I sent a report to Princess Celestia this morning and asked her to keep in touch with us via royal messenger. She knows we’re on this train, and the messenger will show up if she has any input for us. Until that happens, there’s not much we can do but wait to arrive at the Empire.”

“Okay then…” Pinkie said. She took a look around the cabin, scanning her friend’s serious faces before producing a deck of cards out of nowhere. “Who’s up for a game of go fish?”

Some time passed in the speeding train as the girls simply chatted about things, played cards, and enjoyed each other’s company while they traveled. The adventuring mood had struck them properly now, and they were committed to it, so they took the opportunity to relax now, since they did not know what was going to happen next.

Fluttershy had removed her hand from Maximilian’s head, but the fox made no move from his position on her lap, which was fine by her.

Twilight pored over the report again and again, as though repeated readings would force new information to appear on the pages.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were losing a game of Candyland to Pinkie Pie. Again.

Rarity, meanwhile, was busy studying the assassin’s glove. It was a rigid thing, more of an armored gauntlet than a glove, but still surprisingly light-weight. The shell of the glove felt “slick” to her magic somehow, and any telekinesis she tried to use on it slid right off and dispersed. She had to push rather hard to actually touch it with her magic, no matter what kind of spell she tried using. However, this did not seem to be an enchantment. Rarity had seen something similar before in Zecora’s hut, an alchemical coating of some kind that made the thing resist magic.

This efficiency and rate of magic dispersal on this glove was far, far, beyond anything the shaman had ever shown her, however.

The intricate pattern on the glove seemed have no real function, likely only cosmetic in nature. When Rarity finally devoted her attention to the snaking golden pattern, she started to see what it was supposed to be.

A rushing tide.

Rarity could see the waves in her mind’s eye, the foamy crests moving forward towards land with a deafening roar of the massive, unrelenting force of the very ocean itself. A natural disaster that could never hope to be stopped, only escaped from. And even escape could only take you so far away from the tidal wave before it inevitably caught up and crushed you under its weight.

Rarity was snapped out of her trance by a sudden knock on the door. Twilight got up to answer, and Rarity looked down at the glove in her hands again.

There were no magical effects present on the item.

The girls all watched as Twilight exchanged a few words with Celestia’s messenger, a Royal Guard with two colleagues escorting him. The guard bowed before the Princess and handed over a stack of scrolls bearing the seals of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

The guard proclaimed that the Royal Sisters wished for him to carry a report back, and stated that he and his colleagues were to take up guard positions while they waited for “her highness Princess Sparkle and her entourage” to read the Princess’s correspondence and write up a reply. He then stepped outside to assume his defensive position and closed the door behind him.

Having trained soldiers looking out for them made all the girls feel a bit more comfortable, even though the train ride had been uneventful so far.

Twilight walked back to the table and set down the stack of scrolls.

“I was not expecting so many letters…” she muttered out loud.

“Well go on then, darling,” Rarity said. “What do they say?”

“Mmm, give me a few minutes.”

Twilight sat down and opened the first scroll. The other girls stayed quiet, allowing her to read in peace.

“Uh, I should probably tell you girls…” Twilight started. “I wrote to Celestia yesterday and told her about us and Spike. I’m not sure how she’s going to react.”

Nopony knew how to feel about that. Visions of Princess Celestia ran through their minds, ranging from her fussing over them in happiness to her chewing them out for “corrupting” her adopted son. Between all of the fuss and emotions of the past few days and this sudden trip, they hadn’t even considered her.

The silence became even thicker.

As Twilight studied the scrolls, the girls eventually began to strike up their abandoned conversations, and soon the sounds of good friends socializing filled the train compartment once again.

Eventually, Twilight cleared her throat, which brought all the conversation to a screeching halt. She gestured towards Fluttershy and the spirit fox in her lap, and the shy mare immediately placed a hand over his ears again. Maximillian didn’t seem to care, snuggling deeper into Fluttershy’s lap to catch another nap.

“Well, girls,” Twilight started, “it seems like the Crystal Empire isn’t the only place where strange things are happening.”

“Lay it on us, Twilight,” Rainbow boasted.

She visibly deflated when Twilight piled the scrolls on the table and gestured towards them meaningfully. “You girls can read the reports if you want.”

Rainbow groaned miserably.

“But I’ll paraphrase, so you don’t have to.”

Rainbow perked right back up again.

“Anyway,” Twilight continued, “Rainbow, Rarity, do you remember that volcano we followed Spike to that one time?”

“Yeah?”

“That place is apparently something of a dragon hotspot, and the Royal Guard have a post nearby.” Twilight unfolded the map of Equestria once again and pointed to the volcano in question. “Yesterday, they spotted a stranger who fought and knocked out one dragon, scared most of the others into leaving, and held some kind of conversation with the remainder.”

That certainly raised some eyebrows among the others. Twilight handed over the guard’s report, and the girls crowded over it.

“Princess Luna flew out to investigate,” she continued, “but the stranger had left by the time she arrived. She tried to question the dragons who didn’t flee from him, but they weren’t willing to talk. The only thing of note that she learned was the word ‘Dragonheart,’ which she believes is the name or title of this… person.”

“Dragonheart, huh…”

“Does that mean anything to you, Rainbow?”

“Nah, I just think it sounds pretty cool.”

“Right. Anyway, the Princesses have increased the guard presence in the area, and they will get in touch if anything else happens. So far they haven’t reported anything.”

“Good to hear,” Applejack affirmed. “Any idea who this fella is?”

“Well, considering what we know…” Twilight scanned her friends for a moment before continuing. “Spike met with someone just before he changed, right? That bard, Quick Wits. Now he’s missing and someone is approaching more dragons. I don’t know if that means anything, but he’s a potential lead that we haven’t explored yet.”

“So,” Rarity mused, “do you think Quick’s related to this?”

“Possibly,” Twilight confirmed. “Right now all we have is circumstantial evidence, and maybe he’s innocent and unrelated, but… he meets with Spike and completely vanishes. Unless someone knows why he left? Girls? Pinkie?”

Everypony shook their heads silently. Pinkie in particular had spent time with him earlier that evening, and he hadn’t said anything about leaving town. In fact, he had implied that he wanted to stay for a while longer.

The room fell silent for a while, and the chug-chug-chug of the train was the only sound as the girls thought back. Finally, Twilight spoke up again.

“While we’re on the topic of Quick Wits, what exactly do we know about him?”

The girls exchanged glances. This time it was Rainbow Dash who spoke up.

“Well… I think I was the first one who met him.”

It was morning, and Rainbow Dash was up early setting up the weather for the day. (That day’s order: cloudy skies with a mid-day rain shower.)

She was on the outskirts of the town when she suddenly saw somepony strolling down the road. Her curiosity piqued, Rainbow flew down towards the stranger, findinghim to be a unicorn stallion dressed in a well-worn traveler’s cloak, with a burlap sack casually slung over his shoulder. He was singing softly to himself, a cheerful little nonsense tune.

“I am happy, you are happy, let us be happy together, whether the weather is rainy or shiny…”

“Rainbow,” Twilight interrupted, “You said he was wearing a cloak? Could you describe it?”

“Uh, sure? Dark grey, stained, kind of worn, had a hood, but it was folded down…” Rainbow trailed off for a moment. “Made of some kind of thick wool or something, and I think the bottom was hemmed, and… Oh, it had big, stylized crescent moons stitched into the shoulders and a full moon on the back. In some kind of silvery thread, I think.”

“Interesting… You see, there was a description of ‘Dragonheart’ in the report. The guard never saw his face, so we can’t confirm, but the cloak he was wearing seems to match your description.”

“So? We already suspected that he was involved.”

“Yes, but every bit helps. This implicates him as Dragonheart, and I trust your memory.” Twilight wrote Rainbow’s narrative down, then looked up. “Before you ask, Luna has no idea who he is. But please, go on.”

“Hey there!” Rainbow called out, causing the stranger to look up at her. “Haven’t seen you around before.”

“Oh, I’m new here,” the stallion answered with a warm smile. “My name is Quick Wits, traveling bard. I’m just heading to Ponyville to see the sights and rest my hooves for a while.”

Rainbow landed and gave the new guy a once-over. He was cute, and there was something about the way he smiled that made it easy for her to smile back.

“Well, let me be the first pony to welcome you to Ponyville.” She held out a hand. “The name’s Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh yes, I’ve heard good things about you,” Quick said, giving Rainbow a firm handshake.

“Well, I do what I can…” Rainbow said. “But yeah, I’m pretty awesome.”

“Modest, too, huh?” Quick chuckled. “Still, from what I hear, you’ve earned a bit of confidence.”

“After that, he asked me about the weather schedule, we talked for a bit and then he walked into town while I got back to work. He seemed like a nice guy.”

“Alright… Did you meet him again?” Twilight asked.

“Not really. I mean, I saw him a couple of times, but we basically just waved and said hi.” Rainbow fell silent for a moment, but when Twilight was about to speak up, the athlete continued. “However, I did hear him perform on the street corner a couple of times, and at Pinkie’s party. He’s really good.”

“Oh, tell me about it!” Pinkie suddenly chimed in. “He’s great at writing music, and he was tons of fun when I met him!”

So there I was in Sugar Cube Corner when I suddenly sensed that there was a new pony in town that I needed to meet. I took an early lunch break and ran off. Soon, I saw a casually dressed stranger come wandering down the street and ran straight for him!

“He wasn’t wearing his cloak when you met him, Pinkie?” Twilight interrupted, taking notes.

“Nopers!”

“Ah don’t recall seeing it either.”

“Neither do I.”

“Excuse me! I was talking!”

So anyway, immediately when I saw this guy, I just knew that he was a good guy and deserved a warm welcome. So I ran right up andgave him one of my top class friendship hugs while shouting a welcome to Ponyville.

He laughed and hugged me back, so I picked him up and spun him around, so he laughed more. When I put him down he lifted me, too--which was impressive considering how scrawny he looked--and spun me around as well, which made me laugh. When he put me down I picked him up and spun him around, and then he spun me and I spun him and-

“Pardon, darling,” Rarity interrupted. Pinkie stopped spinning in place. “But how long did this go on?”

“About two minutes or so. Then I invited him into the Corner, bought him a pastry and we wrote a song together. Wanna hear it?”

“Maybe later.” Rarity frowned. “And you did not think it odd or inappropriate to greet him--a complete stranger--in that manner?”

“Aw, silly Rarity. A stranger’s just a friend you haven’t met yet.”

“But we’ve all seen you greet new arrivals in Ponyville, dear. You are not usually so… affectionate.”

“Well, I…” Pinkie frowned, suddenly thoughtful. “I don’t know. I just had a feeling that he’d be okay with it, and that he’d be fun. Like, I got a real strong gut feeling. I usually go with those.”

“I see…”

Rarity’s sudden thoughtful look drew the attention of everypony present.

“Somethin’ on your mind, Rares?”

“Did the rest of you have any interaction with Quick Wits?” Rarity asked, seemingly ignoring Applejack’s question.

“Ah saw him perform at the market more than once,” Applejack replied, now curious. “He was a good bard, and Ah dropped a few bits into his tip jar, but Ah can’t say Ah ever really spoke to him. He seemed an alright sort, what little Ah saw of him.”

“What exactly makes you say that, darling?”

“Ah dunno? Just got this… good feeling about him. Can’t put mah finger on it.”

Rarity nodded and turned towards the remaining two of the group.

“Fluttershy, Twilight?”

“Well…” Twilight began, “I really only talked to him once. He stopped by the library and chatted with me a bit…”

“Welcome. My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said as the stranger entered the cozy little library. “How can I help you?”

The stallion guest met Twilight’s eyes and smiled.

“Princess Twilight, it is truly an honor to meet you.” He took a few steps closer and extended his hand in greeting. “My name is Quick Wits.”

“Charmed,” Twilight answered. When she grabbed the stallion’s hand, Quick brought it up to his lips and placed a small kiss on it.

“I won’t take up much of your precious time, princess. I’m looking for books concerning recent history. Could you point me in the right direction?”

“Certainly.”

“Then I took him to the history section and left him there to browse,” Twilight finished. “About half an hour later, Spike came home and the two met. They talked for a bit and then went down to the basement.”

“Anything else, Twilight? Anything you left out?”

“Well… Looking back, I remember feeling oddly proud and happy with myself when he said that it was an honor to meet me. I could tell that he meant it, and it was… nice. He seemed like a good person, all told.”

“Hmm…” Rarity muttered. “Fluttershy?”

“Oh, I only saw him a few times around town. I did hear him play once, though! He was very good, and he seemed nice enough.”

“Alright, Rares, we gave you our stories,” Rainbow insisted. “Now let’s hear yours.”

It was a normal day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the marketplace was bustling and the casual cheer of a warm summer day permeated the small town.

Ponyville’s number one fashionista, the amazing Rarity, was at the marketplace procuring fabrics for her next line of magnificent-

“Rarity,” AJ cut in, “would ya please speak plainly? Ya went to the market to buy fabrics for your shop, then what happened?”

Rainbow nodded along, and Rarity gave her friends a brief glare.

“Well… Like I was saying before I was interrupted...”

As Rarity walked back towards her home, she caught sight of a pony she hadn’t seen before. She was genuinely surprised to find that this stallion was one of the prettiest stallions she had ever seen, even prettier than most of the models she had worked with, male or female.

And so, with that thought in mind, Rarity approached the stranger.

“Excuse me, sir?” she called out. The stallion stopped and turned to acknowledge her with a small smile.

“Yes? How can I help you, madam?”

“Well, I would like to make you an offer, sir. I work in the fashion business,and I happen to be looking for a male model to show off my latest creation. Are you interested?”

“Rarity, that kinda…”

“I know, I know. He thought the same thing.”

“I dunno…” the stallion drawled. “This is sounding an awful lot like the start of a cautionary tale.”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, you know.” He affected a shady tone of voice. “‘Hey there, pretty boy, are you new in town? Wanna be famous?’” His voice returned to normal,and he smiled teasingly. “Next thing I know,you’re selling nude photos of me on dark street corners or something.”

Rarity fell silent, and her face went red in embarrassment, even so far removed from the event.

Her friends tried to hold back their snickering.

“Anyway,” she finally managed to say before anyone else could offer their thoughts, “I did not take that well…”

“What? Why, I never… I wouldn’t…” Rarity tried to speak, but she was far too flustered to get the words out.

“Relax. You’re Lady Rarity, right? My name is Quick Wits. My apologies for teasing you like that; I just couldn’t help myself.”

“Well, Mr. Quick Wits, I’ll have you know… Wait, you’ve heard of me?”

“Of course, I recognized you straight away. Miss Rarity of Ponyville, dressmaker extraordinaire. Oh, where are my manners.”

Like a gentlecolt, Quick swept in and plucked Rarity’s bag from her hand. He then seized said hand and placed a small kiss on it in a flawless noble greeting.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Lady Rarity. If you need a model, I’d be happy to help.”

“I took him back to the Boutique and had him model the outfit I had in mind. He even stayed for lunch.”

“You sound like you’re leading us towards something, Rarity,” Twilight observed. “Did something special happen between you and Quick that brought this on?”

Rarity was silent for a long moment, seemingly lost in thought.

“Opal liked him.”

“Is this it?” Quick asked as they reached the door to the Carousel Boutique.

“Yes, simply allow me to get the door…”

Rarity stepped around the stallion, unlocked the door, and stepped aside, allowing Quick into her home before she followed him. There was a light patter of paws, and Rarity looked to the stairs where Opal was coming down.

What happened next was… strange, especially for the normally belligerent cat.

Opal saw the stallion and locked eyes with him. For a few seconds,they held the gaze. Then Opal suddenly darted forwards. Rarity worried that her guest was about to be attacked, but Opal instead ran up to Quick’s hooves and started rubbing herself against his legs.

“Well, that’s new,” Rarity said.

“Oh?” Quick stepped over the amorous cat and deposited the bags on a nearby table.

“Yes, my dear Opal usually doesn’t like strangers… or anyone, for that matter.”

With his hands now free, Quick reached down and picked Opal up, cradling her in his arms.

“Well, what can I say? Animals tend to like me.”

“And then a few minutes later…”

“Opal, dear, please get out of the shot.”

The cat did not listen. She was rubbing herself along Quick’s legs and made no move to stop or even acknowledge her owner’s request. Quick struggled a bit to maintain his pose under the cat’s uncharacteristically affectionate attack.

“I’m dreadfully sorry about this--”

“No,no, it’s alright.” Quick knelt down to meet Opal’s eyes. “Opal, could you please get out of Rarity’s shot for just a moment?”

The cat looked deep into Quick’s eyes, then reluctantly turned and walked off.

Rarity stared at Quick in awe as he resumed his pose.

“Are you the cat whisperer?” she found herself asking, only half-joking.

Quick merely laughed.

“That kept happening... I have never seen Opal take to someone new so quickly.”

“I’d say,” Fluttershy piped up. “It took a while for her to warm up to me.”

“Yes… it got me thinking…” Rarity fell silent for a long moment, seemingly lost in thought. “When I first saw him, there was an instant sort of... kinship, or something, that made me think ‘I can trust this person.’ I imagine Opal had a similar reaction, albeit more pronounced.”

“Hey, yeah…” Rainbow chimed in. “There was something about him, now that you mention it…”

The other girls all nodded thoughtfully along as their own experiences dawned on them.

“It makes me wonder,” Rarity continued, “what exactly is it about him that makes everyone relax like that?”

A moment of silence passed. Twilight was the one who broke it.

“Are you suggesting that he has some sort of mind-altering quality like a Glamour spell or the like?”

“Possibly,” Rarity answered. “I mean, what do we really know about him? He’s a stranger who walked into town, and everyone who’s ever met him seems to like him, even if they, like Fluttershy, never talked to him. And that’s about it.”

“Hold on a minute,” Applejack cut in. “Ain’t that going a bit far, accusing him of manipulatin’ our minds?”

“Well, It would explain our reactions to him,” Twilight said. “But if he has some sort of effect on people, it probably isn’t magical in nature. If it was, I should have noticed it when we met.”

“Well, he is a good guy,” Pinkie insisted. “He plays music for free, he’s nice to everypony, he helped me throw the party I had this Wednesday, and he’s great with the kids. I never saw--or heard of--him doing anything mean.”

“Okay, so he doesn’t use that power of his for evil.” Rainbow nodded. “That’s good, I guess.”

“If it is some kind of power,” Applejack said.

Twilight made a frustrated sound and rested her head on the table, on top of her notes.

“So many questions!” she shouted into the unfeeling wood.

Silence fell over the compartment again, until Fluttershy suddenly spoke up.

“Rarity, you said you took pictures of him, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“Do you happen to have any on you? We could send a picture to Princess Celestia so she knows what to look for.”

“No… but I did bring my camera with me, and I think his pictures are still on the film.”

Rarity began to go through her bag, while Twilight perked up from her position on the table.

“I have a spell that can project your pictures, like in a movie theater,” she said.

Rarity found her camera and immediately handed it over. Twilight’s horn lit up, and and a picture of a sunset projected itself from the camera onto the wall.

“Go back a bit, darling.”

Twilight nodded, and a series of images flashed past. A picture of Rarity at the breakfast table (probably taken by Sweetie Belle), a few of a mannequin wearing a fancy dress, a few pictures from Pinkie’s Wednesday party, until she finally stopped at a picture of a pretty stallion wearing a very proper suit.

It was undoubtedly Quick Wits, and the way he posed, the look in his eyes and the alluring expression on his face, were quite captivating. With just one picture, he had put most models (both male and female) to shame.

The girls wordlessly stared at the picture for a moment, but their thoughts weren’t on the stallion’s appearance. Instead, they were struck by a sudden sensation of… it was hard to put words to it… wrongness?

“That’s him, right?” Rainbow said, her voice uncertain.

“It looks like him…” Pinkie remarked, but the frown on her face betrayed her own concern. “But it doesn’t feel like him.”

As soon as Pinkie said it, it clicked: whenever she had been near Quick, there had been something about him, a presence or aura that drew attention to him and made her relax. As she looked to the (admittedly professional) picture and compared that stallion to the one they had met, the difference was clear as day.

Quick Wits’ presence had a direct effect on people. An effect that didn’t translate into the picture.

Pinkie looked to her friends and saw them thinking furiously. She could tell that none of them had made the connection, probably because none of them had spent as much time with Quick as she had. She needed to take command here.

“When I was with Quick,” she started, drawing the attention of her friends, “I felt safe. He seemed to be able to calm ponies without even trying. The kids never cried around him, and always seemed to show respect. Even little Pineapple, and she’s just a baby. But more than that, his smile was infectious, and…” Pinkie fumbled for the right words, not sure how to describe this feeling. “The smile on that picture is great, but…” She ran out of words to explain herself.

“Just not the same…” Rarity filled in.

“Pinkie,” Applejack cut in, “are you sayin’ Rarity’s right about this? You spent more time with him than anyone here.”

“Yes.” Pinkie nodded.

“Then who or what exactly are we dealin’ with here?”

Pinkie knew a thing or two about pony psychology, and one phenomenon she was familiar with was rose colored glasses. She racked her mind, meticulously studying every bit of memory she had, looking for signs that maybe he wasn’t as nice a guy as he seemed, but she came up short.

She remembered when little Pineapple had stubbed her hoof and started crying. Before anyone else could react, Quick had picked her up and given her a playful raspberry, making her stop crying immediately. He then spent at least fifteen minutes playing with the little filly until the pain went away. No matter what effect his aura had on ponies, this action and many others sprung to mind, while she couldn’t think of a time he had actually been mean.

“He’s a good guy,” Pinkie finally answered. “No matter what kind of aura-thingie he has, I meant it when I said that he hasn’t done anything bad.”

“Unless he’s a spy,” Rainbow said. “You know, trying to hide his true self? Messing with ponies’ heads to make himself look good. It’s awfully convenient that he vanishes just as you’re attacked, Twilight.”

“But it’s possible,” Twilight chimed in, “that he’s not aware of this effect himself, so let’s not judge too harshly. And it’s quite the leap to implicate him for conspiracy to commit regicide.”

“Guys, I’m telling you! He’s not a bad guy!”

Twilight gave Pinkie a questioning look, but it lightened to a smile.

“Alright, Pinkie. We trust you.”

A few seconds later, Twilight’s horn flashed brightly and a paper copy of Quick’s picture materialized against the wall. It dropped, only to be caught in Twilight’s magic and rolled up with the notes she had taken.

“We don’t know much about Quick,” Twilight began to summarize. “He has some odd aura about him, he had a secret interaction with Spike, and he might very well be this mysterious Dragonheart. However, we have no real reason to believe he’s a bad guy. Benefit of the doubt, right girls?”

“Right.”

Twilight knocked on the door, and the guard from earlier stepped in. After a short exchange of words, the sergeant left his two colleagues behind to protect the princess, and flew off to Canterlot.

The calm chugging of the train was the only sound in the compartment for a while. Finally, Rarity clapped her hands together and smiled.

“Alright then. With all that serious stuff taken care of for the moment, did Princess Celestia say anything about our new relationship with Spike?”

“She did, in a separate letter.” Twilight held it up. “She doesn’t seem to be upset or anything, and she wishes us well, but she wants to meet with us and talk, face to face. In a few days, as soon as she has time, she’s going to come visit Ponyville.”

Author's Note

Editing done by:
Feo Takahari
TheDaringExplorer
shawkthorian
Pearly (not on this site)

Thank you all for your patience in waiting for this chapter to be published. I'm sorry it took as long as it did, I was dealing with some personal drama and other shenanigans. I'm doing okay now, so don't worry about me.

I really feel like I've cleared a hurdle with this one. This chapter's been in the planning stages for some time, it's been difficult to write, and I realize it's a bit exposition-heavy. However with this block of exposition dealt with, I'm hoping I can focus and get back to actively writing again.

I hope you enjoyed this installment of the story and I hope you'll stay tuned for the next one.

Best.
Rakni