Fellowship is Madness

Chapters

Midsummer's Nightmare, Part 1
Midsummer's Nightmare, Part 2
Midsummer's Nightmare, Part 3
Midsummer's Nightmare, Part 4
Golden Ticket, Part 1
Golden Ticket, Part 2
Overwork Day, Part 1
Overwork Day, Part 2
Griffon a New Home, Part 1
Griffon a New Home, Part 2
Better Magics, Part 1
Better Magics, Part 2
Dragon's Peak, Part 1
Dragon's Peak, Part 2
Dragon's Peak, Part 3
Poison Joke
Cutie Mark Crusade, Part 1
Cutie Mark Crusade, Part 2
Running of the Leaves
The Art of the Dress
Best Young Fallers
Welcome to the Show
Appleloosa, Part 1
Appleloosa, Part 2
Tales of the Cutie
Tales of the Cutie, Part 2
Best Night Ever, Part 1
A Change of Pace, Part 1
Best Night Ever, Part 2
A Change of Pace, Part 2
Bonus: Races of Equuis
Character Spotlights, Part 1: Elements of Harmony

Midsummer's Nightmare, Part 1

“Iron, have you seen my book on the Lunar states?” Kajiik, a foreign exchange student to Princess Celestia’s school, from Zebrica, looked up from his telescope, “Something doesn’t look right.”

The Royal Guardspony assigned to him stopped in the middle of his staff drills, and pointed with the oak staff pinned between his teeth, “O’her dere.”

Kajiik felt his hoof warm up as he scratched a quick summon circle into the dirt on the balcony, and teleported the book to his side. He flipped it open and flicked back and forth between the book and the telescope, “Iron, I think I know what’s happening with the moon,” he glanced at the calendar. The Summer Sun Celebration was in less than forty-eight hours. The thousandth since Nightmare Moon’s banishment. “Where’s my notebook?”

Another grunt from Iron Hoof and a point with the staff. He summoned the book to his side and grabbed the stylus out of the spine. Quickly, he jotted down a message in it, Princess Celestia, I have recently come across some information of potentially Equuis shattering importance. At the time of my writing this, we have less than forty-eight hours until Nightmare Moon is released from her thousand year banishment. Please respond as soon as possible. Your loyal student, Kajiik

He pressed the stylus back into the spine, triggering the spell that transferred a duplicate of the message to a paired notebook in the Princess’ study. At this time of night, she was almost guaranteed to get it.

Exactly seven point four six second later, the notebook buzzed and started glowing. He flipped it open and stared at the words on the page. My dearest student. I would recommend that you stop reading those horror stories so late at night. They’re messing with your logical thinking.

It buzzed again and more words appeared In order to help you get back to a sensible mindset, I will write up a special lesson plan for you, which I will give you in the morning. Now get to bed. Staying up so late is bad for a growing colt. Sleep well.

-Lady Celestia Solus Invictus

He scowled, “Come on. It’s not even that late…” he glanced at the clock glowing softly by his bed, then at the guardspony hardly paying attention to him, “Or, it’s three in the morning.”

Kajiik sipped at his tea, staring at the pile of parchment that he had found stacked outside his door when he woke up. It was very clear instructions. Go to Ponyville. Oversee the Summer Sun Celebration. Make some friends. Relax. He finished his tea and looked at his personal guard. Iron Hoof was already in full barding, magically attuned steel plate clipped onto maille that was held securely to his form by a series of leather belts over a cotton tunic and trousers, hoof-blades securely fixed to both forehooves, and his staff on his back.

He trotted over to his own dresser and pulled out his robes. Cotton tunic, leather boots, maille hauberk, wool overtunic and cloak, then his saddlebags which he loaded up with his research books and magic notebook. A hoofful of chalk pieces found their place in one pocket, in case he couldn’t find any dust to draw in.

“Ok, let’s go. I hope the Princess is right.”

“Has the Lady Above been wrong before?”

Kajiik sighed, “No. But if there was ever I time I didn’t believe that, it would be now.”

The chariot was already waiting, two Pegasi hitched to the front, ready to pull it up into the sky, and down to the small village. He wished they could have taken the train.

The Pegasi set the chariot down in the middle of the town, and let Kajiik and Iron Hoof out. They looked around, both performing analysis of the town. Kajiik saw it as a sort of farm village, mostly revolving around the farms surrounding it. Hicks, Earth Ponies. Kind of like the village he came from, back in South Zebrica, on the plains.

Iron Hoof, deep in his Guard training, was already searching for hiding places, potential dangers, anypony with the desire to harm his charge. He found very little that might be a hazard, and stepped away from the Zebra.

“Ok, Iron, our first stop is food, at the Blueberry farm. Gotta make sure they’re ready,” he took off in a moderate canter. Iron Hoof followed, clanking along in his armor. The farm came into view quickly, and Kajiik trotted under the square wooden sign. Standing out in the field, a purple unicorn with a blue mane was levitating a bucket and floating small berries into it. The pony stopped as Iron Hoof clanked up to Kajiik’s side, and slogged back over to them, settling the bucket on the ground before raising a muddy hoof.

“Welcome to The Blueberry Hills. My name is Blueberry Jam. What brings you two out here?” The mare didn’t even react at all to seeing a Zebra and Royal Guard on her farm. Was it her farm?

“Hello. My name is Kajiik. This is Iron Hoof, my bodyguard. We were sent by Princess Celestia to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. We were informed that your farm is the one in charge of this year’s food preparations.”

“Yes, of course. We won’t be the only farm providing food for the event, but everypony is going to be meeting up here to go over the final preparations. We already have several of them here, using our ovens, because the Hills happened to be oriented above a large natural gas reserve, so we have oven space to spare. C’mon in.”

He followed the mare, staring at her as he trotted into the barn. He stopped very abruptly as he entered and saw ponies of all shapes and sizes moving around carrying platters of food, both cooked and uncooked, components in buckets and everything. The walls were lines with huge stone ovens filled with flickering fire, and he saw that a hoofful of Unicorns were carefully monitoring the temperatures in the boxes to ensure that nothing was overcooked or undercooked.

“Well, there you have it. We’ve got the Apples over there,” she pointed, “Carrots, Tomatoes, Harvests, Oranges, Melons, Pumpkins, Peaches,” she pointed at each group as she turned, “and last, the Berry Extended Family, Blueberry, Strawberry, Raspberry, and Snozzberry.”

He stared. All those ponies working together, so easily. A massive red Apple stallion stepped over a tiny brown Orange filly carrying a platter of what looked like loaves of bread, and neither slipped up even slightly.

“Okay. Iron, it looks like they’ve got food well in hoof. Let’s go before they try to feed us,” he glanced at where the Guard had been standing, then at the line, where Iron had his helmet off, and was tucking into a pumpkin pie, “IRON HOOF! ATTEN HUT!”

The stallion snapped to attention, pie hanging from his muzzle, and trotted back over to his charge, “Fine. I was hungry though.”

“We’ll get to eat soon. Right now we have work to do,” he started trotting away from the barn, and smiled at the clanking of armor following him. The next was to check the decorations. Some place called ‘Jack-in-The-Box’. He stopped as a brilliant, eye-searingly bright white mare with a cotton candy pink mane stopped directly in front of him, almost splattering him with mud. Her hoof picked his up off the ground, “HIHIHIHI! You must be new. My name is Fleethoof. I’m the Premiere Party Pony around here. Are you here for the celebration?”

“Yes I…”

“KNEW IT! Decorations are all ready, poppers, sparklers, streamers, the works. You’re gonna LOVE IT!”

“And yo…”

“Oh, right, I’m the Co-owner of Jack in The Box, here’s my card,” she pressed a completely blank card into his hoof, and vanished so fast it left spots in his eyes. He couldn’t even tell what race she was. And his mane was all frazzled now.

“Iron, What just happened?”

“It would appear you were accosted by a walking party favor. Pegasus.”

“Thanks. Good thing your helmet has that glare reducer in it. Remind me to enchant a pair of goggles later. Now, she said the decorations were already ready. That’s good,” he checked that off the scroll, and looked around, “Now, the Smithy. Apparently that’s where the music is being prepared. No idea why.”

As they approached the Smithy, he heard a soft chiming noise, joined by a loud thundering noise. Trotting around the corner, he spotted the source of the noise. Mounted on giant iron tracks was a rack filled with bells with a Thestral thundering away at the keys of the carillon. It was deafeningly loud, and he was confused about how she wasn’t suffering severe hearing loss. Maybe she was. His own vision was blurring, but the music suddenly stopped. His head stopped ringing around the time he felt a hoof poking his snout. He blinked. Then blinked again. Then heard a voice that seemed to be shouting, “Hey, can you hear me? Are you OK!”

He blinked, “What? Yes? That’s loud!”

The Thestral shook her head and he saw a brass talon…talon?...pressed against her forehead, “Yes. That’s why it’s behind the Smithy. Nopony but me is crazy enough to come back here when I’m playing.”

“I only listened for like ten seconds. How do you play that thing without going completely deaf?” He noticed Iron Hoof shaking his head. The sound dampers in the helmet had a side effect where they generally discharged the excess energy in the form of a bright flash. A prepared guardspony could usually close his eyes to block out the light. Usually it wasn’t such a huge flash though. And it was inside the glare reducer, to keep it from being visible.

She ran her hoof…there it was again, a brass talon…through her mane and pulled something out of her ear. She held it out to him, “I am completely deaf. This little device replaces my eardrums.”

He stared at her, dumbfounded. He had never studied pony anatomy, but no magic he knew could completely replace a deaf pony’s hearing.

She seemed to realize what he wanted to say, and continued, “It has an artificial membrane and tiny gears that stimulate a lightning crystal that is pressed against my aural nerves. The specific pattern of vibrations the mechanism induces in the crystal modifies how it affects the nerves, and I can hear. I have to leave it off when I’m playing though, because the crystal is very sensitive to loud noises.”

She slid the mechanism back into her ear, briefly exposing a leather patch over one eye, “So what brings you two nuts back here while I’m playing?”

“Oh, my name is Kajiik, and this is Iron Hoof. We came back here looking for the Music organizer. Our information told us they would be at the Smithy.”

“Oh, yes, that would be me. My name is Hammer Soot.”

“And you’re completely stone deaf? And what are those things on your arms?”

“Yes, those are my Talons. Ferrous helped me make them after the accident. They give me better control over hot metal than my wings ever could.”

“Oookay…Well. The music sounded wonderful. So, Iron and I have a few more preparations to go get ready. We’ll see you at the festival later,” he waved as he walked off.

“Ok, so the weather is supposed to be completely clear. It doesn’t look like that’s ready. Unlike everything else in this little town. I just wanted to get everything checked off so I could get back to studying,” he scowled up at the sky, “Seriously. Last task on the list. Why couldn’t it be done already!” Not watching where he was trotting, he plowed into a green mare, knocking both of them into a mud puddle on the side of the road.

“HEY! Watch where you’re walking!”

Iron Hoof sat on the dirt beside them, “Kajiik, please watch where you’re going. The Princess is getting rather tired of paying for repairs.”

“Well, Sorry,” he drawled over his shoulder, “Not my fault there’s ponies everywhere out here!”

“Hey, colt, you ran into me. Now I’m gonna be late to get the Pegasi together to clean up the clouds! I can’t get them all rounded up if I’m stuck in the mud! Gah!”

“You’re the one in charge of getting the weather organized?”

“Yeah. I’m Barkskin, Weather Coordinator for Ponyville. Who in Tartarus are you?”

“Kajiik. I’m here on Princess Celestia’s orders, to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.”

The mare’s horn lit up and flicked the mud off of her face, “Really. Well my crew seems to be missing, and you’re not helping. I’m not supposed to do this because it messes up the magic field over the town, and makes it hard for Pegasi to fly for almost a whole day…Oh Buck it! They deserve it, the lazy jackasses,” Her horn glowed, and the clouds overhead dissipated, “There. Done. Now, I’m going to go home and take a nap before the party.” She sauntered off, sloshing mud onto the ground even as a cloud formed over her head and poured down on her before a searing wind blew past, drying the mud puddle, and the mare at the same time, revealing her brilliant white mane.

“That went well. Iron, where am I supposed to be staying for the duration of the party? My instructions got muddy.”

Midsummer's Nightmare, Part 2

Kajiik stared up at the massive oak tree and frowned, “A tree. I don’t see why I have to sleep in a tree. I’m going to go back to the farm. At least they look like they’ll have extra room for us.”

The Guardspony pushed on the trunk, where a door was carved into the surface. It opened, “Kajiik, there’s a whole place inside the trunk. Inside, now.”

The Zebra stopped and turned around, following his guard into the tree. With a flick of his wrist, the enchanted fabric on his collar lit up, and showed the interior of the tree, and a bunch of moving bodies. He snapped a piece of chalk out of his saddle-bag and started scribbling on the floor, even as Iron Hoof stepped in front of him and his staff swept forward into a combat stance.

A pair of brilliant white wings flared out, “SURPRI…!” The shout was cut off by the dull thwack of wood on flesh as Iron Hoof lunged forward. He stepped back just as quickly, staring at the white Pegasus lying on the floor.

“Oh, Buck,” the lights had gone on just in time for the surprise. Just a moment too slow for Iron Hoof to stop. He had pulled his strike, so she would definitely, live, if a little bruised. She looked up from the floor, winced, and touched her hoof to her side where a bruise was already forming.

“Right…Don’t surprise a royal guard. Uh…Surprise,” she waved her hoof in the air.

Kajiik stepped forward, past his guard, “Sorry about that. Uh, I’ve had several threats on my life that started with a shout. You’re actually pretty lucky the lights turned on. Otherwise, I don’t think Iron Hoof would have stopped in time.”

She stood carefully, and looked at the bruise, “Thanks for the warning. Anyway, Welcome to Ponyville, sorry for the surprise, and here, have some cake.”

Kajiik scratched the chalk circle off the floor and stepped into the crowd, trusting his hauberk to protect him from any hidden blades. Of course, there weren’t any attempts on the way to the table, where he picked up a plate. A quick inscription in the frosting showed no poison, and he chewed on the slice before waving Iron Hoof over, “Come on, have some cake. It’s delicious.”

Iron hoof slid through the crowd, his heavy armor pushing ponies aside as he made a beeline for the table. Not having quite the same training, he simply picked up a slice and downed it, “Tasty. Now, why are you all in our home?”

“Party, silly. Didn’t you see the ‘Welcome To Ponyville’ sign over the food table?”

“Get out. We will discuss this breach of a secure area later,” he pointed his hoof at his visor, then at the white Pegasus, “I’m watching you…”

When she mimicked the motion, he barely suppressed a groan, and when she echoed, “I’m watching me too…” he had resist the urge to slam his head into the table, being still in his helmet.

“Out!”

The morning was beautiful. Cool weather, no clouds, and everypony was ready to see Princess Celestia step out from behind the curtain. The mayor, Mayor Mare, pulled back the curtain. Kajiik wasn’t looking, having seen the act numerous times over his studies under Celestia herself, but at the crowd’s collective gasp, he turned. Nopony was there. No Celestia. His hoof scratched at the dirt, carving a scrying spell into it as the sky darkened. A glance up at the moon overhead confirmed his suspicions, even before his the circle of dirt lit up like the surface of the sun. He kicked dirt over it, disrupting the flow of mana, and grabbed Iron Hoof, “She’s gone. My Scry showed me Sol itself.”

“So, you were right about that whole Nightmare Moon thing then?”

The Zebra looked at his bodyguard, “I wish I could say what I want to, but it just seems inappropriate to point at the sky and say ‘I told you so’, you know.”

“So how did it say to defeat Nightmare Moon?” Iron Hoof was already starting for the library, an unassuming building on the edge of the Town Hall, “Anything in there about how Celestia did it last time?”

Kajiik sped up as they got closer, “Something about the ‘Elements of Harmony’. Powerful gems that could banish Nightmare Moon, or kill her.”

“How do they work?”

“Well, I don’t actually know. I know they need an influx of harmonic magic, but I don’t know any musical spells, or anything like that. And I don’t think that Carillon will work either. I mean, if I was a Unicorn, I’d use it to bash her over the head, but I can’t levitate it.”

A loud cackle echoed across the field as they reached the library, and slipped inside. Moments later, four more ponies slipped into the library. Kajiik looked at them, “What are you doing in here?”

The purple Unicorn from the farm, Blueberry Jam, he recalled, shook her head at the door, “Library’s made of solid quarry stone from the Everfree Forest. It’s the sturdiest structure in town.”

“Ok. Sure. Just hide out here then, but be quiet. I can’t have Nightmare Moon knowing I’m here. She might try to stop me from stopping her.”

“Why would she care about a little Zebra stallion?”

Kajiik pressed a hoof to his face, then stared at the Thestral, “Because I’m the personal student of Princess Celestia. That makes me a default target.”

“Ok. Do you have a way to defeat Nightmare Moon?” the Thestral again.

“Yeah. I need to get the Elements of Harmony. They were last seen here…” he pointed on a map of the area, at an old castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest, “in the Castle of the Two Sisters. I need to go now, before this night lasts any longer.”

Before anypony could protest, he was out the door, galloping all out for the edge of the forest. Once inside, he would be safe from the prying eyes of the Nightmare. It was only once he was inside the forest that he realized he had been followed. Not by one, or even two ponies. All five of the ponies he had been in the library with were there.

“Go back. Protect your families. Iron, make sure everypony gets into the library. It’s safe there.”

A chorus of negatives echoed out from them, with the Weather Unicorn shaking her head, “I’m also the local forest guide. So, you ain’t going in there without me.”

Blueberry Jam joined in, “I might be a Farmer, but I know how to fight, if it comes to that.”

The Thestral giggled, “Tartarus, I was practically born to do this,” she flexed her talons, still a rather creepy action to him, “That monster won’t be able to beat us.”

“We can handle ourselves, and besides, if all else fails, we can give you the time to figure out how to make them work,” the Pegasus settled onto the dirt, and he noticed a pair of pink saddlebags full to bursting with who knows what.

His own Guard nodded. Not a word, but more message passed between them. Promises. Oaths. Swears. It was all punctuated with the resounding sound of the wrist-blades snapping open.

“Fine. Let’s go.

Midsummer's Nightmare, Part 3

The forest was dark, but between the two Unicorns and Kajiik’s magic tunic, there was enough light to see by. They stopped at the edge of a cliff, looking out across the forest. The castle was visible in the distance, an intimidatingly long distance away, and they had to stay in the forest to keep out of sight.

“I think I see the path over the…” the cliff dropped out from underneath Iron Hoof, and Hammer Soot darted forward to catch him, but Barkskin got there first. He had both of her hooves in his, sliding towards the new edge, “Pull me up!”

She shook her head, “I can’t. If I stand up, you’ll fall. I’m stuck here.”

“Drop me then. I’m just slowing you down if you can’t get me back up.”

She shook her head again, “No sir. I can’t leave you behind any more than you could leave Kajiik behind. You understand, right?”

“Drop me. I’d rather you lose one pony than two.”

“I’d rather we don’t lose any!”

A pair of hooves and a pair of cold brass talons gripped his armored sides, and he felt himself rising up onto the solid dirt again, “Thanks. Let’s go, that landslide was sure to alert some creatures that we’re here.”

“I hate Manticores. Angry ones more so,” Iron Hoof stared at the creature as the four mares attempted, poorly, to immobilize it so they could pass. A turn of its head revealed the reason for its rage. A massive slice out of its flank. Even if it healed, the Manticore would be permanently crippled, and would likely starve to death. He growled.

“Ladies, back away. I’ll handle this!” He started forward, hooves locking the various joints along his spine into an immobile sheet. It was the jousting set-up, but it worked wonders for being hard to eat. He charged, and let the creature scoop him up, “Kajiik, SHROUD!”

Everything went black, and he silently slashed at it, even as the Manticore tried to swallow him. A severed artery meant it bled out rather quickly, while a half-lucky shot at the neck severed it’s spinal column. The creature fell limp, and he wormed his way free, “Ok. Let’s move on. Quickly,” he had done Mercy Kills before, but this was the first on a creature that could have eaten him. He didn’t need to justify himself yet though. The blood would wash away.

Trees. Trees coming to life and laughing. That was disconcerting. And Fleethoof’s nervous laughter wasn’t helping. Hammer Soot covered her head with her talons, carefully crossing the sharp fingers between her ears.

Something touched her muzzle, and she yelped, lashing out with one talon, to find a split piece of bark that looked like a laughing face, “What?”

“Well, you looked scared, and my whole job is to make ponies happy. I couldn’t just let you suffer, so I went and got you a happy mask,” Fleethoof was grinning, ear to ear.

Hammer looked at the mask on the ground, then around at the trees. Several had bare bark, but it didn’t look like cut marks, “Where did you get the mask?”

“Oh, did you want another? Lemme go grab one.”

Grab one? From where? She watched the Party Pegasus dart over to one of the trees, give it a massive, slobbery kiss on its horrible face, and leaned back, holding the face-bark through what appeared to be sheer force of will.

She hoofed it over, and Hammer Soot pressed it against her muzzle, “Awesome. We can’t be too much further from the Castle.”

The sea serpent making the river too rough to cross stared incredulously at the Thestral rolling on the bank, curled up in spasms of laughter, “What are you laughing at? My fabulous moustache has been destroyed! I look hideous! Almost as bad as You!”

The Thestral stopped laughing, and stood up, “As bad as me? As bad as me!” She stomped forward, talons sinking into the dirt, “Your bucking Moustache will grow back! You’ll have that silly lip worm back in a week!” Her wings tensed, like she was going to lunge, “My Hooves! My Ears! My Bucking EYE! Won’t! Grow! Back!”

“Yeah, but I’ll be UGLY for a week! I won’t stand for that!”

At that, she did launch into the air. Talons slashed through the serpent’s neck, then through the bloodied facial hair, then she landed on the ground on the other side, “Quit Bitching at me,” she giggled, chortled, then started laughing loudly as she shook the blood off her fur, “Damn, that bastard was ugly.”

Of course the bridge was out. Why would the bridge ever be available when they needed one. The two fliers were beginning to tire, and were slogging alongside the groundbound. Even their bark-masks were beginning to get heavy. There was no way all of them could get across without a bridge. Kajiik looked at the two fliers, “Ro Sham Bo for who goes and puts the bridge back up.”

He was surprised when Blueberry Jam stepped up beside him, “I know a spell to give me wings. It’s only temporary, but I can get the bridge set up, no problem.”

“Do it.”

Yellow insect-like wings stretched out of the purple mare’s sides, and flapped twice before she launched herself across the gap, wings buzzing like a bee. She landed on the other side and tucked her wings back into her body, blinking at the burning sensation of a partial transformation. She pulled the bridge rope up to the mounting post and started tying it when a voice from behind her, closer to the castle, interrupted her focus on her magic.

“That was a pretty flippin’ sweet trick there. How long can you do that for?”

“A couple of minutes, why?”

“We would like for you to join our team, the Shadowbolts!”

“Alright, lemme just tie up this rope here, and let my friends know.”

“No. You have to come with us, right now, if you want to accept our offer.”

“Honestly, as much as I’d love to join you, I can’t. I need to help my family back on the farm, especially my little sister. See, she’s getting to that age where she’s starting to get curious about things, like why she suddenly has wings.”

“What in Tartarus are you talking about?”

“Oh, I would have thought that a team, such as yourself, would have done research on possible recruits. If you had, then you would know I’m not a normal Unicorn,” green fire licked back along her body, revealing a chitinous shell, and she darted forward, stabbing at the Pegasi as her wings lifted her into the air. A glide was easy. Hardly took any energy, but actively flying, that made her have to drop her cover. The Pegasi vanished, and she dropped back down, tying the ropes up as she recharged her magic to re-cast the disguise. It started, her chitin changed to purple, and the blue patterning of her mane appeared on her fin, but she remained a Changeling as the others started crossing. None of them knew about her. She had remained hidden for her entire life, with her family. The Blueberry family were entirely Changelings.

The first across was Kajiik, who moved right up to her. He sniffed at her throat, then kept walking, “Well, what took you so long, Blueberry?”

He acted like he didn’t even notice the chitin, but she figured it was just the light, and kept trying to recharge enough to finish the disguise, though the lack of love energy this deep in the forest made it difficult.

The castle towered over them as Kajiik led them into the throne room, where the stones had been seen last. It was a long shot that they were still there, but the book said each one weighed a significant amount, and they didn’t smell of food anyway, so they ought to still be sitting on the dirt on the floor.

There they were, too. Five stones sitting on the raised dais in the middle. He reached for the nearest one, to collect them all, when a cloud of purple smoke swirled into the room and formed on the dais, close enough that he could smell the moondust.

He lunged back as she stomped, but the stones shattered into dust at the impact. His voice darkened as he began inscribing a pattern on the ground. He finished it just as Nightmare Moon started charging at him, “I’ll distract her! Figure something out!”

The ring flared a brilliant white as Nightmare Moon charged over it, and he reached up, grabbing blue steel armor in his teeth as she teleported away from the Scry of the sun. The air disrupted the chalk and the sun flare went out as quickly as it came.

“Everypony, grab the fragments. We’ll figure this out. Kajiik’s got enough chalk and knows enough combat spells to hold his own for a few minutes,” Iron Hoof started collecting the stones. He didn’t know a huge amount of magic, but there were some spells he knew intimately, thanks to being in the room during Kajiik’s studies. One of those was the Beacon spell on his armor. It could be called with a specific rune, or sent to with another. He suspected that the latter was what his charge would do. “Ok, we need a ring, here. Use the shards and your bodies. It needs to be a perfect circle,” he started carefully laying out an imprisonment spell ring in the dust, pouring some on the ponies he was with, “That means wings opposed. Horns opposed. When they appear, Kajiik will land across from me, and we’ll trap Nightmare Moon.”

“How do you know it’ll work?”

Iron Hoof sighed, “I have no idea.”

With a flicker, the two ponies, still locked in combat, landed in the circle. Kajiik threw himself backwards, landing perfectly in the circle. A pattern stitched into his tunic fell into position and the circle flared white. It pinned Nightmare Moon in the middle.

She dropped to her haunches, “Alright. You’ve caught me. But the moment one of you tires, I’ll be free again. You don’t have the power to stop me. I destroyed the Elements.”

Kajiit smiled at her, “Did you now?”

At the stares from the others, he smiled wider, “You destroyed the physical artifacts. Not the essence. See, all six are here.” More stares of confusion joined the monster.

“Barkskin, for refusing to leave a pony behind, even when he ordered you to, you represent the Element of Loyalty,” shards of crushed stone formed around her neck, making a perfect duplicate of her ‘Cloud on a Stick’ cutie mark.

“Blueberry Jam, for being truthful to yourself, even at the risk of being ostracized for it, you represent the Element of Honesty,” shards of stone formed into a duplicate of her glass-jar cutie mark.

“Iron Hoof, for laying a mortally wounded Manticore to rest,” three gasps burst out, “you represent the Element of Kindness,” his crossed blade cutie mark formed up around his gorget.

“Hammer Soot, for your, err, rather unorthodox method of cooling the raging sea serpent, you represent the Element of Laughter,” even Nightmare Moon cringed watching the burning cog cutie mark form around the Thestral’s neck.

“Fleethoof, for your gift of terror-masks in the forest, at great risk to yourself, you represent the Element of Generosity,” her balloon animal cutie mark formed from another pile of stones. The imprisonment spell circle was almost broken completely through.

Nightmare Moon laughed, “You’re still missing one!”

“Yes. It took me a few minutes to realize what the last was. In unity, we made it through the forest, we imprisoned you. Fellowship is the answer. For bringing this group together from a group of scared fillies in the library, I represented the Element of Fellowship.” The remaining shards formed around his neck as the circle broke. Beams of brilliantly colored light shot into the middle, bathing Nightmare Moon in rainbow shades.

Midsummer's Nightmare, Part 4

Nightmare Moon’s armor fell off in a flash of light as she shrank to barely taller than Kajiik, shorter than Iron Hoof by a few hairs, and the six ponies around her fell back on their haunches, staring at the mare before them. Clearly an Alicorn, like Princess Celestia. She coughed a couple of times, and Kajiik rolled forward, scratching a piece of chalk on his hoof as he held it out to her, “Drink. It’s just water.”

“What are you doing?” The Thestral growled at him, but was stopped by Iron Hoof.

“Trust him. If anything goes wrong, he’s still standing inside an enchanting circle.”

Kajiik smiled as the Alicorn sipped water that magically portalled into the frog of his hoof, “Lunari Nocture Invictus, welcome back.”

The others stared at him. All six of them. The Alicorn spoke up first, “How do you know my name, Zebra?”

Kajiik smiled, “I can read. I wondered why it was called the Castle of Two Sisters, so I did some research. Nothing explained why you had suddenly disappeared, but I worked it out.”

She stared at him, eyes unfocused, “But…Zebras can’t do magic…Only artifice.”

He smiled, “We figured that out a century ago. I am your dear sister’s prized student now.”

The lunar princess leaned towards him, lips against his ear, “I know that pattern in your fur. I knew your ancestors. They helped me become what I was.”

He leaned in to her ear, “And I helped bring you back. Back to Celestia. Where is she?”

“I sent her to the sun. Didn’t think it was fair…” she coughed into his shoulder, “…that I face her fully charged, while she was weak.”

A flash of light appeared behind him, and he heard another choked sob from the fallen princess before a familiar, soothing voice cut through the gloomy air, “Sister. It has been far too long.”

Kajiik moved back, breaking the circle to allow the Alicorn to pass. The two princesses embraced, necks pressed together as they breathed on each-other’s wing-roots, “Can you forgive me for what I’ve done?”

“Luna, you never need to ask that. Remember our oath?”

The nightly blue Alicorn nodded gently against her sister’s coat, “I’m so tired. Can we go home now?”

Celestia stood up, nodding to her sister, towering over everypony, “I must raise the sun over the chilled land.”

Kajiik looked at the pair of mattresses on the floor on one side of the tree-house, “Whose place was this before?”

“Well, the deed says Star-Swirl the Bearded. I think it was his laboratory.”

“Great. I’ll make sure not to blow anything up then. Goodnight,” he flopped down on one mattress, muttering, “I can’t believe the Elements bought my gibberish,” not even bothering to remove his clothing first, and slipped into unconsciousness, quickly followed by his Guard. Nopony overheard him, and if he had his way, they would never know just how scared he was of his plan not working.

Iron hoof sighed, and began the laborious processes of removing his armor and hanging it on a rack.

Blueberry Jam sighed as she slipped into her room and looked over at the other bed in her room. Her little sister’s bed. Right now, the maroon filly was at some pre-season school event that one of the teachers had thought up to keep the foals from interrupting the older ponies. Now, that was a saving grace, as she flopped onto her bed and blacked out.

Barkskin slipped into the hut she had built on the edge of the Everfree Forest. It was perfect for keeping an eye on the wild weather there, as well as convenient when somepony wanted a tour of the woods. But right now, it was just perfectly placed for her to stumble into and drop off on her couch.

Fleethoof made it halfway up the stairs of her cloud bedroom, permanently parked atop Sugarcube Corner and anchored in place by clever use of rope and cloud-pillars. Cup Cake and her husband carried the slumbering Pegasus the rest of the way and set her on her bed, tucking her in gently.

Hammer Soot looked at her forge, then at the heavy cart holding her Carillon, then decide she could get the instrument tomorrow. It wasn’t like anypony but Macintosh Apple could move it anyway. Her bed smelled of ash and soot, with an undercurrent of meat from the Jerky she stashed in her heavy-duty pillow-case for night-time snacking. She was too tired for that though, and dropped unceremoniously into the embrace of sleep without even pulling out her hearing aids to recharge the crystals.

Dear Princess Celestia,

This is my first report on the magic of Fellowship, so I will attempt to keep it brief. I will probably fail at that, but here goes.

This week, I learned a great many things about Fellowship. The first thing I learned is that random happenstance can bring together a group, but it’s what that group does that binds it together. I believe that myself and my newfound friends may be together for the rest of our lives.

The second thing I learned is that water and crushed marble tile makes an excellent bonding paste for bandages. Barkskin had to patch up my ribs before she would let me go home. I swear, she's more motherly than my own mother.

That segues into the third point. I learned that when a Unicorn Mare tells you to not move, she means it. Barkskin cast a paralytic spell on me when I tried to leave without getting bandaged up. Do you know any counterspells for that?

The fourth thing was that no two fellowships start the same, nor do they remain the same. Five examples of that showed up in the discovery of the Elements of Harmony, just to me. It turns out that Fleethoof knew Hammer Soot back in flight school, when Hammer still had all four limbs. She was the main reason Hammer Soot is still alive after the accident, which she still won’t tell me about. And that damned giggling of hers...

That’s the fifth thing I learned, that Fellowship sometimes means trusting the other party even when they have secrets, because they probably have a good reason. She said she would tell me later. I might not be ready to hear it.

Your loyal student, Kajiik.

PS: Please let Princess Lunari know that I wish her the best of health and a speedy recovery from her ordeal. I would like to offer my aid in any way I can.

Golden Ticket, Part 1

“Thank you for helping me harvest the crops, Kajiik. I really appreciate it,” Blueberry Jam lifted a cluster of berries off a bush as Kajiik tucked a bucket under another one and shook it. Iron Hoof did the same to another bush on the other side of the aisle. It was hard work, overall, but both the Zebra and the Guardspony found it rewarding in its own right. Both also had blue tongues from all the berries they had swiped when nopony was looking.

Just as Kajiik was about to swipe another hoofful of the delicious berries, his saddlebags buzzed. He flipped them open and found that his notebook was glowing, “Hey, guys, the Princess sent me a message. I’ll be right back.”

He opened it, and found a half-dozen golden tickets. Tickets to the biggest event of the fall. The Grand Galloping Gala. The letter with it was short, and to the point, My dearest student, I sent you six tickets to this year’s Gala in the hope that you would be able to bring your new friends up to Canterlot. I admit a little bit of selfishness on my part with that, as I wish to show off the Elements of Harmony to the Nobles.

-Celestia Solus Invictus

He smiled. This would be great. He quickly trotted back to the rows of blueberry bushes, “Blueberry! C’mere!”

The purple Unicorn trotted up to him and looked at the six sheets of gold paper in his hoof, “What are those, Kajiik?”

“Tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. I’ve got six of them, so me, Iron, and four other ponies. I would love to take all of my friends.”

Blueberry looked at him, then blinked, her deep blue eyes gazing at the tickets, “I’m sorry. That’s right in the middle of the last harvest week. I can’t take the time off. I can’t just go get somepony to sub in for me either.”

He sighed and tucked the tickets into his saddlebag, “Ok. If I find you somepony to cover for you, will you go?”

“I dunno. It’s not really my thing, you know,” she waved her arm, indicating the hills covered in blueberry bushes.

Outside Sugarcube Corner, Kajiik stared at his daisy sandwich, “I really hope I can convince them to go. These tickets are expensive, and the Princess won’t be happy if I can’t bring my friends. She was really looking forward to having all six of us.”

Iron shrugged, “Yeah, but we can always just get a few other mares and take them.” A scowl from the Zebra ended that thought, then all of the following thoughts were cut off by a sudden downpour. Iron glared up at the dark clouds overhead, even as a blue head poked through, topped by a rainbow colored mane. She seemed to be fighting a giggle.

“What!” Iron was on his hooves, and already going for his crossbow. It was time to go skeet shooting. With a Pegasus target.

He was stopped by a hoof. Green, thin, and wrapped in brown canvas bands. Barkskin smiled down, the looked up at the small hole in the clouds. Her voice thundered out, louder than the actual thunder even, “RAINBOW DASH! GET YOUR LAZY ASS DOWN HERE!”

The blue Pegasus dropped out of the sky and hovered above them, “Hey, boss, you told me to lay out the rain over Sugarcube Corner and start it off.”

“Not until after the Lunch Rush! Can’t you look at the time scheduling instead of just running through your task list as fast as you can!”

The Pegasus shrugged, “Sorry. You should just give me the early afternoon stuff then.”

“Go clean this up and don’t start it again until Two. If it doesn’t start up then, I’m docking your pay. Again.”

As the Pegasus flew off and started pulling the clouds away, Kajiik reached into his saddlebags and pulled everything out, holding it carefully above the wet table until he found his chalk. He scribbled a circle onto the table and set the pile inside it before a bright red light flashed out of it, “Thank Celestia my books are all waterproofed. Just had to evaporate it before the ink started running. Oh, uh, I’ve got something for you.” He handed Barkskin a ticket, “I got six of them. Still working on getting around to all of us, but I’d really like it if we all went together.”

She looked at the golden ticket, “I don’t know if I can. Too much work wrangling these airheads sometimes. And if I leave town for even a day, I know they’ll cause some sort of havoc. I’ll have to stick around to keep them on track.”

“Oh. Well, keep the ticket. If you find somepony to cover for you, I’d love to have you join us.”

She nodded and trotted away, tucking the ticket into her saddlebag.

Fleethoof dropped out of the cloud cover and landed with a soft splash on the wet concrete, “I heard the word Tickets! What for? Should I be happy, or sad that you have tickets?”

“Happy. I’ve got six tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, and the Princess wants all six of us to be there, but I’m having trouble convincing at least two of our friends to go. Will you be able to go?” He was practically begging with his eyes. Even one Yes would make him happy.

She flipped out a calendar and flipped through it, “Ooh. It’ll be a tough squeeze. If I can convince Cheerilee to bump the Graduation party for the Senior class out one day, I can make it. That shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“Good. Here’s your ticket. Talk to you later.”

The Smithy was loud, but not as loud as it had been three days ago, when Hammer Soot was playing her Carillon. The monstrous instrument was sitting there, visible behind the gate, but all the noise was coming from inside the building. He stepped up to the door and looked at the sign on it. It clearly said Open, but there was more text underneath, in rather poor hoof-writing.

He managed to pick out the words Earmuffs, Goggles, and Scarf, as well as what looked like an arrow pointing at a small box of bronze letters and a tack-board.

Quickly pulling on the earmuffs and goggles, he tied the scarf around his muzzle and grabbed the board. The letters stuck to it easily as he pinned in the message Have Ticket to Gala for you. Say Yes please.”

He slung the board onto his back and opened the door. It was like stepping into a blast furnace. Even with the open back and the magical breeze he felt, the air had to be at least fifty-five degrees in there. Sweating under his robes and the bandanna, and half-blinded by the thick crystal glass in the goggles, he barely managed to even find his friend. She was standing at an anvil, hammer in her talon crashing down on a glowing sheet of steel. Beside her, at a second anvil, he saw the back half of a Griffon banging away at another sheet of steel. The roar of the fire was almost crippling up close, and he could see that the ends of Hammer’s talons were glowing a pale orange. He held up the sign so she could see it, and pointed at it.

She continued banging at the steel until it was barely glowing, and thrust it back into the fire before turning to him, and pressing her scarf covered muzzle against his earmuff. He heard a faint, almost overwhelmed, “Sorry. Can’t.” before she went and pulled the sheet of steel back out and went back to hammering it. He almost sat on his haunches to wait for an explanation, but at the last second, he noticed that the floor itself was glowing faintly, and everywhere he stepped left thin hoof-shaped marks on the concrete.

He hurried out, and set the sign down, knocking the letters back into the bin before sitting down on the cool grass to examine his hooves. Slightly seared at the bottom. He stared at the burnt hoof-nail for a few minutes before he heard the door opening and hoof-steps approaching him.

Hammer Soot trotted around him, scarf down around her neck, tucking her hearing aid back in, “Sorry about that. I couldn’t leave the plate in the fire too long, and I couldn’t let it cool down too much either,” she looked at his hooves, “You forgot to put on a set of boots. There’s a bucket of them right next to the scarves. Didn’t you read the sign?”

He shrugged, “Did you write that?”

“Ha, no. That was Master Bruin. His Equestrian isn’t very good, but he’s the best Blacksmith on this side of Canterlot,” she giggled, then her face got serious, “He’s actually the reason I can’t go. The Royal Guard put in a massive order for Etched Mithril plate. We might be done by a week after the Gala.”

“Oh. Is there anything I can do to speed that up? I had tickets for all of us, but everypony else has an excuse not to go. I don’t want it to be just me and Iron there again this year.”

She shook her head, “You aren’t nearly physically fit enough to bend Mithril, and it’s a magically neutral metal, so you can’t do the etching magically either. I’ll talk to him about taking the day off for it, but he’ll probably say no. Now, I’ve gotta get back in there before he starts wondering if I’m on my lunch already.”

She was pulling out her hearing aids before he had the chance to offer her lunch, and back inside before he could stand up, “Well, there goes that plan. What other ponies would want to go?”

Iron Hoof looked at him, “Hey, don’t look at me. I’m actually partially guilty for her being so busy,” he pointed at the door, “One of those Mithril armors is for me. Actually, you know what, I took some metalworking courses in middle school. I’m going to go help her out.”

“Fine. You do that. I’ll go see what I can do to get the others free. Or get replacements. Sweet Celestia, why did you send me so many tickets!”

He stormed off, leaving bits of seared hoof-nail on the grass, before stopping to stare at the Smithy. Mithril armor was expensive as armor came, and was only used for specialty armoring for very specific ponies in a battle. Commanders primarily, but also for the Jesters, ponies who’s sole job in a battle was to be an arrow magnet. If Celestia had ordered every Guardspony armored in it now, after Nightmare Moon, there was something big coming. A war the likes of which he had never even dreamed of.

He knocked on the door to the shop, and heard the faint clomping of leather boots on the hot concrete coming closer before his friend’s voice pushed through the smoky wood, “Yes?”

“I’ll be in the Library. Come find me when you’re done.”

“Ok.” The boots clomped away, and he started for the library, not hurrying, but moving at a fair clip. He needed to find out what sort of threat they might be encountering if Nightmare Moon hadn’t been enough to put the Guard on Mithril Alert, but this was.

Golden Ticket, Part 2

“You’re joking, right? Are you?” Blueberry Jam looked at the Changeling Drone standing on the outside of the fence. He was disguised as a lemon yellow Pegasus. Being genetically rooted to hiding their true self, no Changeling showed real emotions. It made telling a joke from complete seriousness near impossible. Right now, she wished it didn’t work that way. This one had just told her that his hive, Hive Chrysalis, was going to be moving through Ponyville around the middle of the fall. Right in the middle of the last week of Harvest season. During the Grand Galloping Gala. Now, not only was she stuck in town while her friends went to Canterlot, but she had to stick around during a Changeling rush. She hated the Déjà vu effects it caused, how other ponies would be pointing out how weird their friends were acting.

She groaned. If it was after Harvest, she would be able to hide away in the barn during the whole thing, but now there would be duplicates of everypony in the village…Everypony including her.

“No. I am being completely serious. Queen Chrysalis expects that the town will be ready when we come through, so everypony can grab a quick snack on the way through, and top off our Love-beasts. As the current envoy of Hive Berry, you are expected to ensure proper preparation and adequate tribute for our hive.”

She smiled at him, fangs poking through her disguise, “I think we can manage, if the Queen would do us a favor in return. Should this request of ours be fulfilled, we will even find you a spare Love-beast somewhere, and make sure it is also filled up for you.”

The changeling smiled back, “Is that so?”

“Yeah. We’ve got a few dozen here. At least one has probably had a kit in the last year, so we’ll have an extra or two.”

The drone blinked. He really hadn’t expected this conversation to go so easily. Normally, Farming hives had an intense dislike for traveling hives. Chrysalis had sent him on this route specifically because she had been close to the last queen of Hive Berry, and had expected the bond to hold out even after the late Queen’s unfortunate demise at the horns of Hive Daxon.

“So, you see how my schedule is all filled up, except for this one say here?” Cheerilee looked at the calendar spread across her desk, a white hoof pointing at several days around the end of the fall season. The day right after the planned graduation party was completely blank, and had no other commitments penciled in. Of course, the Graduation was a late night event, timed right after the young mares and stallions finished their final classes.

“Uh huh. Why is that important?”

“Well, you see, the graduating class is going to be all tired after their classes. They’ll want to go home and have their private parties at home, then sleep it off. Not go sit at a stuffy ceremony before getting to party. If we moved the party over one day, to this opening here, then they can do the sitting part after a fresh night’s sleep, then party. They’ll be a lot happier that way, and it’ll give me one more day to get it all ready,” not that she would be. That party was already almost ready. Everything was in a box in Sugarcube Corner’s basement, ready to be set up. She would be at the Grand Galloping Gala.

“Well…I don’t know. Will it really make them happier to wait a day to graduate?”

Fleethoof sighed, and leaned over the desk, stretching her wings up into the air, “Wouldn’t you have been?”

Cheerilee stared at the Pegasus before her like she had suddenly grown a second head, or a third even, “I don’t know. I was wasted before second hour. I don’t even remember my ceremony.”

“See. Let them get the partying out of their systems first, then they can remember the ceremony. And not wake up with tattoos in embarrassing places.” Cheerilee abruptly remembered the black ink around the base of her tail that she always made sure to keep covered by a carefully tied bun around the root. It itched to even think about how drunk she had been to even have wanted to get inked at all.

“Ok. Fine. I’ll let them know.”

“Ok, so in order to get that specific day off,” Barkskin brushed her hoof across several different profiles, “I need to put somepony competent in charge.” The grey Thestral across from her sighed, like he knew what was happening, and why she needed that day off. “Can you send somepony down from Cloudsdale, or even Manehattan?”

“No. They have enough on their plates right now. It’ll have to be one of your team. I know you have several Pegasi up for raises soon. Possibly one of them is also up for a promotion.”

She flicked several of the profiles aside, “Ok, well, Ditzy Doo always does a good job, but she has issues with getting distracted. She needs a pony to keep her focused on the task. Rainbow Dash is efficient, but always tries to get her entire task list done in as short a time as possible so she can go ‘Practice for the Wonderbolts’.

"Peregrine has some good skills, but he isn’t nearly fast enough to keep up with the entire town. It’s why I’ve kept him on the East winds. Not a whole lot of span to them. Maybe Thunderlane. He’s been practically my right hoof since it dawned on him that I can’t see the top of clouds. I would definitely put him up for promotion.”

“Excellent. I expect to see the results of his Supervisor test in a week. And I expect they will be quality.”

She nodded. “I can do that. The results will be in your mailbox by the end of the week.”

As the Thestral flew away, she touched her horn to the radio crystal on the wall of her hut, “Thunderlane, please come to my office. I need to talk to you.”

She could hear the jeers of the other ponies. Of course, they rarely heard her call anypony to her office unless they were in trouble, so it was justified. As was the stallion’s confused expression when he squeezed through the door, “Yes ma’am?”

“Thunderlane, I have recently been informed that a new position has opened up at a higher pay level than you are at right now.”

“Really?”

“Yes. In fact, the position is a high enough pay grade that you can afford a desk.”

His confusion turned to horror, “You’re taking me off Wrangling?”

She laughed at that, “No. You’ve been my best wrangler for five years. You just get a few extra tasks to do on top of that.”

He started turning slightly green.

“But you get an extra seven bits an hour. That will almost double your pay. Actually, with the extra hours, you’ll be getting more than double pay.”

His face went from green to white, “What do I have to do? Oh please don’t make me supervise Rainbow Dash!”

“No. She’s not going to be under you. Well, she will, but Cloudkicker will be in charge of her still. You’ll just be taking the whole Everfree edge.”

His face regained its color and he slumped onto the desk, “Oh thank Celestia. As long as I don’t have to sit at a desk all day.”

“Good. It’s settled then. You start your supervising job on Monday.”

His face paled once more.

“Where did you learn to etch Mithril?”

Iron Hoof looked at the Griffon Blacksmith, and smiled, “Well, etching I learned in school. Mithril though, that was kind of self-taught.” At the confused look, he added, “I was playing around in Kajiik’s lab and knocked a vial onto the Mithril. I found out that it was specifically the etching compound for Mithril, and that that sample was thinned too much with the splash to be useful anymore, but I know how much to use now.”

The armor plates were elegantly etched with protective runes. It was one of the reasons why Mithril was used for special armor. By itself the frail metal was almost useless, but because it was magically neutral, it didn’t cost any mana to pump spells through it. It was one of the reasons that the metal was so expensive. The other was that it was incredibly rare. Maybe fifty kilograms of pure Mithril came out of the mines every year, and it took five to make one breastplate. A full years work mining was barely enough for a full suit of plate. Not including the maille underneath. Celestia had ordered thirty full suits. And he had seen the pallets of Mithril ingots sitting out back. They were labeled from places as far off as Prance to the North and Sibearia to the South. It had to be every kilogram of Mithril dug out of the ground across Equus for the last six months.

With a smile, he got back to work. They had completed one whole, and with him doing the etching, they didn’t need to keep an eye on the chemicals as much, so they could focus entirely on forging the armor itself. At this rate, they would be done a week before the Gala, but would have no time to do anything else but sleep.

“You have been a great help to us, colt. Fortunately, I do not believe you will need to be stuck in here with us for the rest of the month. I contacted several of my acquaintances in Gryphonia. They are sending me a few extra talons. Their own apprentices, I believe. They will be arriving with the next shipment of Mithril from the Talos mines.”

“Oh, thank Celestia.”

“Yes. It will allow both of you to rest, as well as me. Though, I don’t know how well three Griffon lads will cope with being in Equestria proper. The nearest is coming from Pisa. He’s only been barely integrated into Pony society because of the shared territory up there.”

“They’ll manage. I’ve been out to Gryphus a couple of times. It’s a drastic shift, but manageable.”

“Some of them have never even seen an herbivorous race. Be prepared for that.”

He nodded. It wasn’t going to be easy to have three exclusive carnivores joining the village for a time, but it wasn’t that much different from integrating Thestrals, who were technical omnivores, but were partial to meats.

“So that that mean I can go too?” Hammer Soot butted into the conversation, still cooling helmet clenched in her talons, “I’m totally ready!”

Both of the stallions looked at her, “Really?” She was covered, head to hoof in leather and thick, soot filled cotton, and her goggles hung off her neck, also covered in soot, although one lens was clearly covered in black paint. It merely covered the eyepatch.

“Yeah, totally. I just need to get a dr…dre…er…dre…”

“Dress?”

“Yeah, one of those. Or maybe I can talk Rarity into making me a dashing suit instead.”

Iron Hoof just groaned. He realized that he would have to wear a suit of his own to the Gala. And it was probably going to be not armor. He liked wearing armor everywhere. And his was enchanted to keep him comfortable in any weather too. “Buuuuck…I’ll need a suit too.”

“That’s wonderful. I knew you could figure this out. So, we’ll need to get clothes. Dresses for the ladies, Suits for me and Iron.”

“And me,” Hammer raised her hoof, “I refuse to wear a frou-frou d…dr…”

“Dress. Sheesh. Hammer, do you want me to look at your brain and fix that speech issue?”

Hammer scowled at him, “No. I’m fine. I’ll just wear a suit.”

Overwork Day, Part 1

“Trust me, I can get it all done in time Master Bruin,” Hammer Soot looked at her boss. The Griffon was lying outside the forge, in the yard, both talons wrapped securely in a good six or seven kilos of bandages soaked through with burn cream, “You just lay here and get those talons healed up.”

She stepped back inside the forge and looked at the glowing furnace and the pile of metal beside it. She needed to get at least five of the swords done today, and that normally meant the two of them would tag-team the blades. She would hammer at them, he would sharpen them on the grinder and stack them for the tempering oven. Not today. And that meant she had to take longer on each blade, since she couldn’t stick the next one in until she was grinding the previous one sharp, or it would get too hot. And the fine detail work on the anvil, and the grinder required talons. It had been one of the reasons her prosthetic hooves were shaped more like talons than actual hooves.

She was interrupted halfway through grinding the first blade down by Iron Hoof stepping into the workshop. Quietly, she raised one hoof, and pointed to the wall where the sign-board was located. Without her hearing crystals in, she couldn’t hear anything he said anyway. The sword ground out smooth enough, and she set it on the rack where the other four would be joining it as Iron Hoof came back inside with the sign-board covered in letters.

By the glow of the hot steel bar on the anvil, she read out the words he had pieced together.

[Do you need any help with this? Your Boss looks hurt.]

She shook her head, and pointed with her wing at the other three bars of steel on the table, waiting to go into the forge, then leaned over the glowing steel on the anvil, “He got burned. I can handle it though.”

He started shuffling the letters around again, running out to grab more letters in the middle, [Don’t forget you promised to help Fleethoof later today.]

She shrugged, “Busy. After I finish.”

He sighed, and rearranged the letters again, [I don’t know if she’ll be as alright missing out on baking with you as I will about missing a training day.]

She flinched at that. She had promised to let him train her to fight better, less like an untrained blender and more like a Griffon. But missing that was surely not that huge of a deal, and she could always bake with Fleethoof some other day. But the pointed look he was giving her…

“Fine. Let me finish this one, and I’ll get the other three later today. I just need to be back by dinner, or I’ll never get done before nightfall.”

He smiled and went back outside to wait as she finished grinding the second blade smooth. The forge would take a couple of hours to warm up again, so she would have to stop back around three to start it back up, and make sure her master was resting where he could keep an eye on the flames.

Iron Hoof greeted her out on the field, training stave already in a guard position. “Now, I know you’ve already been working hard today, but this is going to be using different muscle groups than hammering at hot steel. You have four hours before you have to be at Fleethoof’s, so that’s four hours to get one hit on me with the staff. If you can do that, then we can move on to the more Griffon specific stuff next week.”

She smirked at him, only stumbling a little as she took the stave in her talon. Her forelimbs might be mechanical, but they suffered fatigue the same way real limbs did. Probably something to do with the magic. She tried to make a mental note to ask Kajiik, but was interrupted by the unmistakable sensation of a pine stave colliding with her ear. She spun, moving her head and body with the impact, knowing that if that were a real attack, her neck would probably be broken, if not removed along with her ear. Her return sweep was nowhere near the mark, but she tried again.

Iron Hoof struck twice more, thumping her ribs with pinpoint precision as her staff merely stopped him from breaking them. How was he moving so fast? She waited for him to lunge, to give her an opening, and leapt into the air, wings spread as she brought her staff down on…Dirt. She didn’t even have time to react before his instinctive twist drove his stave into her jaw hard enough to clack her teeth together.

“OWW!” She moaned, then stopped, letting out whimpers because it hurt too much to move her jaw even enough to cry out in pain. He rolled her onto her back and poked at the spot on her jaw where a welt was rising. She flinched and nearly put a talon through his throat. His reaction time was amazing, she wanted to think. She wanted to admire the way his muscles gleamed with sweat under his tunic. She wanted to make some sound other than whimpers of pain.

*Clonk* Maybe not ANY other sound. Her head lolled to the side as his knee-jerk reaction to being stabbed was a matched strike to the side of her head with his staff. She faded out for a moment before coming back to his holding up his hoof? Hooves? She counted at least two.

Her ears didn’t seem to be working right either. He sounded like he was gargling water. She held up a hoof to pause both of him? All three of him? Her ear felt unusually slick when she pulled her hearing crystal out and stared at it. The tiny crystal was covered in blood.

Shaking it off, she tilted her head sideways to keep her bleeding ear away from the crystal, “Say what?”

“Ha ha. How many hooves am I holding up?”

She stared, trying to focus. Her eye was working, mostly, but it was all blurry, and she was seeing multiples. She slid her hoof over her eye-patch and pressed down on the socket hard enough that stars appeared in her vision, along with tears. No more blood though, “Ah, two.”

He nodded. Ok, now look at my hoof,” he waved a hoof back and forth across her vision. Her eye focused on it, but she couldn’t help but stare past it, at the dotted line of blood on the grass. She must have rolled after the hit.

“Ok, I think you should probably go see the doctor. I think you might have a concussion. I can let Fleethoof know you were hospitalized for a possible brain injury so you can’t help her cook.”

“No, I’ll…I’ll do it on my own. I’ll be fine. I promise. I’ll just head over there, and then go to the hospital. They’ll give me a clean bill of health, and I’ll get back to the forge.”

He stared at the mare as she trotted off. His training never actually covered what to do if a pony with a head injury got up and just, well, left.

Hammer wrapped her ear in some gauze she found in the first aid kit on the wall of Sugarcube Corner’s kitchen, checking that it sat right. Her vision wasn’t all that blurry anymore, and she wasn’t even tired. And Fleethoof sounded so happy behind her.

“We’re gonna bake some muffins today, Hammer. But, you know, the Cakes don’t trust me with the oven, so you’ll have to do that part.”

No problem. It was just like the tempering oven back at the forge. Electric, temperature controlled and timed. And mixing up the ingredients was easy, right?

“Ok, so to make these mufflers, first we…” She thumped her hoof against the side of her head, below her bandaged ear, resetting the crystal.

“Can you hear me now?” The party pony had a smile on her face, “Ok, good. So first, we need three bags of chocolate shits.”

“Huh?”

“The brown bags in the top left cabinet. Grab the bag of flowers while you’re up there.”

She was pretty sure she was hearing what Fleethoof was saying correctly. Maybe… Three of the brown bags. Ok. And the flowers. "Dried and pressed, or ground up?" she asked.

“Ground, of course. Pressed flower would make a terrible muffin.”

She grabbed the bag and set in on the counter. “Ok, so mix two heaping scoots of flower into the mixing bowl, and pour in the chocolates.”

Scoots? Like that little Pegasus filly at the orphanage? Strange measuring system, but she could eyeball it. That was, oh, half the bag. All of it if the filly was laying on her face after a crash. “What kind of heap?”

“Tall one.”

Ok. Whole bag it was then. She dumped the bag into the mixing bowl, then sliced the three brown bags open, dumping them in. “What’s next?”

“Baking Soda. One cup from the blue can under the counter. Then five cups of water. Stir it really well.”

She looked. There were three different blue cans. Only one felt like it had any kind of soda in it, and her vision was beginning to blur again. Probably too much moving around. At least she could rest her eye while stirring. She poured it into one of the plastic cups sitting on the counter that looked about right. It was just the plastic version of what she used to measure out the water and clay for tempering blades, or molds. Perfect. She poured that in, then added the five cups of water and began to stir the mixture as Fleethoof came over with another bowl, “Ok. Keep stirring. I’m going to pour in the thickening pasta.”

Didn’t look much like noodles to Hammer, but she knew that even the long stringy noodles she liked started as goo, so if that was what Fleethoof needed to use, ok. She kept stirring until she was told to stop.

“Now we use these scoops to fill the muffin molds.” This was a part she was very good at. Hammer Soot took the scoop and filled up her half of the pans quickly before checking the oven. It had the same dials and buttons as her tempering oven at home.

“What temperature do we set the oven to?”

“Three hundred and seventy five degrees.”

She stared at the numbers. There was a silly little F on the dial, but there was also the familiar C. Perfect. She ignored the F and turned the dial until the number 375 was lined up with the tab on the oven front. As it started to heat up, she looked at the muffins, “Ok, so how long do we cook them for?”

“About fifteen minutes. The oven should be heated up in about three, then you can stick them in and start the timer.”

The timer went off, not that either pony heard it over the screeching smoke alarm. Fleethoof yanked the oven door open, then backed off, her feathers practically curling in the flames blasting from the commercial oven.

Hammer Soot reached in with her metal talons and grabbed the first of the trays, sliding it down the counter where a spray of water from the sink put the flames out. Hammer smiled. It was just like dipping metal in the oil bucket to rapidly cool it, then. She sent the next tray down, then the next, glad the oven was finally calming down as she finished pulling the last tray out and reached up to turn the oven off with her wing, since her talon was still glowing with gathered heat.

“I see why they don’t want you using the oven, Fleet. Your feathers would curl like little raisins if you did,” she smiled as she trotted over and grabbed one of the still cooling muffins, “How long until they’re ready to eat?”

Overwork Day, Part 2

Fleethoof stared at the Thestral standing in her kitchen. The muffin was still smoking, and charred so black it was starting to crumble.

“I don’t think these will EVER be edible.”

“Aw, don’t be like that. It’s just a little over cooked. They’ll be fine, right? Food’s more tolerant of that than steel,” Hammer Soot tossed the charred muffin into her mouth and crunched her fangs through it. A couple of hard chews and some peculiar horking sounds from her friend, and the Thestral was done swallowing it, “Maybe a little hot still, but I think they’re probably ok.”

Fleethoof picked one up, poked it a couple of times, “Ok. I guess we’ll just sell them as a new flavor.”

“Nurse, we’ve got another one!” An Earth pony doctor shouted over the head of the new patient he was bringing in. So many ponies were coming in violently ill that the hospital had been forced to set up tents out in the courtyard and even call in the off duty staff to get a few extra pairs of hooves on the grounds.

Nurse Redheart stepped up to them and pressed her hoof to the pony’s forehead, “Lemme guess, Chocolate Charcoal flavored muffin?”

The patient moaned, “Three of them. They were SOOO GOOD!”

“Well, sir, unfortunately, you’ll have to wait over there for the stomach pump to come around. We only have two.” Her eyes tracked over the heads of everypony in the tent, noticing that the majority of the sufferers were Pegasi and Unicorns, not known for their particular resistance to illness. A few were Earth ponies, even a few Zebras. Not a single Thestral. Not that she expected any of them to get sick. The Thestrals were a creation of the Nightmare, a thousand years before. Not only were there not a huge number of them, but they were notoriously omnivorous. If any of them came in for anything less than physical damage, she would be surprised.

Hammer Soot stared at the sword she was hammering away at. Her eye had finally stopped blurring to the point where she could read the ingredients lists properly. And after the incident at Sugarcube Corner, her talons power crystals had needed changed again. They overheated so quickly anyway. She hadn’t really expected them to last through the whole day anyway.

Now with the new crystals, her talons were holding the blade securely on the anvil, while her wing struck it with the hammer, over and over. She blinked, realizing that the red glow was gone from the blade. She tapped it with the hammer again, watching it carefully for specific sparks.

Lifting the blade away from the anvil, she rotated it. The end was far too flat to be any good, and the tang was still far too thick. She tossed the metal to the side and grabbed a new bar, which slid into the forge to be heated anew. She sighed and turned around to see Iron Hoof leaning on the door-frame, “What do you want, Iron? I can handle this on my own.”

The stallion shook his head, then slid a pair of earmuffs over his ears and trotted in, the board on his back shaking with each step. She looked at it, then scratched her head.

[You beat that last sword to death.]

She frowned at him, even as he trotted past her and plucked a mouth-glove off the shelf. He shook it a couple of times to get the dust off. It wasn’t too often that it got used when the entire staff had wings and talons. He slid his face into the glove and secured the neck-strap behind his head before reaching into the forge and grabbing the tang of the sword-bar in his mouth. He moved it onto the anvil, ignoring the stunned Thestral standing there, and grabbed the hammer in one hoof, shifting his grip so he could see the glowing steel. With precise strokes, he began shape the steel into a sword. It wasn’t entirely perfect shaped, but it was certainly a measure better than what she had done in her mid-afternoon daze.

She took the blade from him as he hoofed it off the anvil, and began grinding it smooth before looking at him again. He was leaning against the anvil with a smirk on his muzzle, board beside him with more letters pinned to it.

[You can handle it on your own?]

She shook her head as she set the blade on the rack, “Of course I can. I only have two more to do today.”

[Did you go to the hospital yet?]

She sighed, and shook her head again, flinching as a bolt of pain lanced through her skull, “No. I didn’t want to be late.”

He reached over and grabbed her un-bandaged ear in his teeth, “Cmf oomph.” He started dragging her out the door, towards the hospital.

“Nurse, please check her for a concussion. I think I whacked her in the head a few too many times during training earlier today.”

“Earlier? She should have come in immediately.”

Iron shrugged, “I told her to go straight to the hospital, before she went to help Fleethoof cook.”

“Help Fleethoof,” the nurse rolled her eyes and pointed at the tents outside, “Cook. Have you seen what that resulted in?” She held up a bag with one of the black muffins, which Iron grabbed.

He tapped the muffin carefully, then licked it. His face went from passively annoyed to wholly disgusted as the taste simmered on his tongue. He set the muffin back in the bag, then calmly walked over to the line of ponies busy throwing up into a trench several nurses had dug quickly because there wasn’t enough trash cans. His face paled as he retched into the trench for several long seconds.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she has a concussion. No other explanation for how she thought that much brown sugar was part of the recipe.” He rolled his tongue around his mouth a couple of times, “And I’m pretty sure there was a bunch of shredded daisies in them. And what is that flavor…It tastes like degreaser.”

The nurse stared at him for several long, uncomfortable moments, “Uh, what?”

“Spend twelve years in the Guard, eating nearly identical slop, and you learn to pick out the ingredients just for the entertainment value.”

“And you know what degreaser tastes like?”

“You’re an Earth pony, ever tried polishing a lead-slinger with your tongue?”

She shook her head, “No, I don’t think I ever have. It’s not sanitary to hold things in your mouth at a hospital. Now about this patient. Bring her inside.”

Hammer Soot blinked at the nurse, unable to hear her without the crystals in her ears.

“I can’t hear you. Can you write what you are trying to say?”

The nurse slapped a hoof against her forehead, then grabbed a clipboard and a sheet of paper, [Please remove your eyepatch.]

She slid one talon across the patch and disconnected the metal latches holding the leather sheet on her face, before peeling the piece away, exposing her left eye, a crystalline construction with enough gears and springs in it to make a watch jealous. They twirled and spun off kilter, shifting the myriad of sheets of glass inside.

The nurse leaned in with a small flashlight, pointing it into the array of glass. After a couple of seconds, she moved away and scribbled something else on the board, [You aren’t tracking right. I need to bring in a doctor to fix that.]

Hammer shook her head, then pressed her talon over the lens, “Your doctor won’t be able to fix it. Only me and Master Bruin know how to fix it. Same with my talons.”

More staring, then some more scribbling, [Not that eye. The organic one.]

Doctor Helping Hoof stepped into the room and looked at his newest patient, and possibly most recurring. With a sigh, his horn lit up and started scanning over her head, “Another concussion this time? Not burns? No broken limbs? Cuts? Skewering? Grinder burns?”

Nurse Redheart shrugged, “Not this time. Her escort says he clonked her over the head during training.”

Helping Hoof turned to the Guardspony and just gawked, “Training for what? Her eye socket’s split, and you dislocated her jaw. It’s a miracle she even made it to the hospital conscious.”

Iron Hoof shrugged, “She wanted to learn to fight. I’ve been training her every day, during her two hour lunch-break at work. She’s taken harder hits than that.”

“Really? Because my scan says she’s been walking around with a dislocated jaw for at least four hours, and if she wasn’t already deaf, she would be. I’ll have to reconstruct her ear canal before she can even use those hearing aids again. She definitely has a concussion, but I can fix it all. Again. Let her recover for at least twenty four hours before she does anything requiring fine motor control, like flying or grinding anything.”

The Guardspony sighed, “Can she still use a hammer?”

A glare from the doctor made the Guardspony sit down on the chair, “No. She is going to sit on her haunches and do nothing. For a whole day. Is that PERFECTLY CLEAR!”

Iron sighed, and pointed at the blacksmith on the bed, “She has two more swords to forge tonight to keep on schedule.”

“Not happening. I will keep her here until tomorrow afternoon if you can’t keep her from trying to work. The schedule will just have to wait.”

Iron scowled, “Good luck convincing her of that. I’ll see what I can do about the schedule, since this is my fault anyway, well, mostly. She’s the one who wouldn’t accept help in the Smithy with Master Bruin out.”

Hammer stared up at the ceiling, “Come on! Can’t I do something! I know I can’t do anything strenuous or precise, but I can’t just stare at the ceiling! I’ll go crazy!”

“How about a book?” Nurse Redheart was glad that her patient’s other ear was at least in good enough shape that her hearing crystal didn’t slip off, so she could at least hear.

“Ha, right…I’m a blacksmith’s apprentice, not an egghead. Besides, doesn’t turning pages count as precision work?”

The nurse just snickered, “Yeah, it does, so somepony will have to read it to you.”

“AWW! I Don’t want to be stuck here! I feel like a cripple!”

Nurse Redheart pointed at the brass talons sitting on the sheet, “You know, I recall a little filly saying those exact words to me fifteen years ago. In fact, I’m pretty sure you do too.”

The Thestral scowled at her nurse, “I know, I know. Look, can you read me a book then?”

Redheart smiled, “Yes. We have some excellent books I think you would be interested in. It’s all about the things you like. Action, adventure, and machinery.”

“Really?”

“Daring Do. So, here we go.”

Daring Do looked around herself, then at the map in her wing. “Ok, so if I head left at the river,” she looked at the clear water flowing in front of her hooves, “Then I go five kilometers along the riverbank, the temple should come into view.”

She was just about to start when she heard a low growl, which turned out to be coming from a rather large feline. And with her wing out of commission thanks to that stupid carriage accident, she couldn’t fly away. She lunged forward, driving her hoof into the cat’s ribs…

“YEAH! Go Daring!” Hammer Soot’s talon leapt into the air, then dropped to the side of her head as she moaned in pain, “Right…Ear…”

Griffon a New Home, Part 1

Ferrous Talus rolled over on the mattress in his shared berth. The Airship PCA Requiem was certainly a luxurious way to travel from Asgard to Canterlot. Unfortunately, his final stop was Ponyville. He had to hop a train, and make sure he dragged his little sister along, to the job he knew was waiting. She was still sleeping, drool running out of the side of her beak. Master Bruin had promised them a place to stay as well, since there were few places, even in a town as tolerant as Ponyville, where a Griffon could eat meat without being criticized for it.

He sat up and grabbed his hat off the floor where it had fallen at some point. Out the window, he could see the clouds of Cloudsdale and the crenellations of Canterlot’s outer walls. That meant the flight was almost over. As much as he loved flying in an airship, it got very boring and a little cramped after sitting in the sealed gondola for the whole ten day flight. Slowly, Ferrous moved towards the small closet that held their saddlebags. Inside was a notebook and a pen. He tore out a sheet and scribbled a note to his sister before he slipped out into the hallway. The cool air in sank into his bones, and he hurried aft, towards the observation deck. It wasn’t open to the sky, not entirely, but it had enough space that he could open at least one wing all the way. A five meter wide room wasn’t really enough for his full seven meter wingspan, but it was enough for him to preen one wing at a time.

It was nearly three hours later that she came staggering into the observation deck, sleep still crusting her eyes, and wings all in disarray. “We’re landing in a few minutes. Get your wings cleaned up quick. I’ll get everything packed up.”

He pivoted and made his way back to the room, wings hanging limply against his back and brushing loosely along walls when he turned to unlock the door. It wouldn’t take long to get everything packed. His grooming kit consisted entirely of a feather pick and brush for his beak. Her kit had a lot more pieces in it, but she had that with her. Pillows were easy to stuff into the backpack, even if they were pretty big normally. They were designed specifically to hold a Griffon’s head comfortably, and were filled with Griffon-down feathers. Most of them his own. It was better than the pony-made pillows that tended to rip and scatter fragments of Pegasus feathers all over the room.

Next, he had to fold her blanket and stuff that into her saddle-bag. It was the single comfort item she had brought from home. He laughed. Still a fledgling at heart. The next thing he grabbed was his coat. The brown Leather dust-coat was a gift from his father on his Signing day, the day his wing-pattern came in, the black and brown lightning-bolts that indicated that he was now a full adult, that symbol of clan Talus. Over his back, slung between his leather-sleeved wings, he settled his hammer, Forge Legio. It was a comforting weight, the forty kilogram hunk of enchanted iron and bronze.

A pair of sun-shade goggles around his neck completed his garb, and he padded out into the hall with both sets of saddlebags swinging across his flanks as the ship came in for a landing.

From the inside, the Requiem was a luxury liner. From the outside, it was a flying whale that was impossibly graceful. Impossibly fast, for an airship. It had a top speed of one-hundred and sixty kilometers a day, more than any train on Equus. And now, it was settling into the berthing fields on the east side of Canterlot with all the grace of a trained stunt flier. The ramp extended onto the thick grass with a soft thump, and the doors opened to allow passenger debarkation.

Ferrous was the third to step onto the grass, behind his sister and a brown Earth Pony stallion in a blue suit. He snagged her tail in his beak and started dragging her towards the edge of the field. They would have to catch a taxi across the city to the train-yard, unless they were going to walk the forty kilometers across the city in a day.

He hated the idea of trapping himself in a small cage on wheels strapped to a steam engine, but it was the fastest way across the city. His sister though, he wasn’t sure how she would fare. This would be the first time she had ever left the Empire, let alone ridden in Pony vehicles. She seemed somewhat twitchy around the Ponies. Sure, she had met some through the exchange program Cloudsdale had with Asgard’s flight school, but those were unique, and there was only a couple of them. Probably because most ponies couldn’t stand to see Griffons eating meat.

There weren’t very many Non-pony races wandering around in the port anyway, the occasional Griffon, an Ibex family, which he pointed out to her, and even, was that a Camel? He smiled. Canterlot was a trade hub for a reason, but Ponies were the only race that really left their own homelands for any reason other than business. Even he was a little hesitant about leaving his home for this.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by her camera flashing in his face, “You look like a tourist, sis.”

“I AM a tourist,” she smirked and snapped another picture as her brother waved for a taxi. The first one to stop was a rather large one, driven by a Griffon with his head-feathers braided in a trio of strands that hung off his neck. Pointless for flying, but stylish. They climbed in and slung their bags onto the floor.

Ferrous handed the Griffon several bits, “The trainyard, please. Quickest route.”

The Griffon smiled, “Certainly. Good to see more of my kind in this city. Especially outside the glue factories.”

The vehicle began moving, rather quickly, clipping over curb edges and squeezing through gaps Ferrous swore it wouldn’t fit through. Somehow it managed to reduce the time necessary to travel to only an hour. A sickening hour, but one that he didn’t have to walk through.

As the two staggered out of the taxi, he handed a few more bits over to the driver, “Your speed is appreciated. Thank you for the ride.”

He grabbed his sister’s tail again to drag her away from gawking at the elegantly carved sculptures on the outside of the building. Inside was even more beautiful sights, but he didn’t look at them. It was necessary for him to locate the train to Ponyville.

The train was not nearly as luxurious as the airship, but it was good enough. The engine was a magnificent 4-8-4 with twin smoke-stacks and a crew of a dozen greasy stallions getting it ready to roll down the tracks. Double deck carriages ran back almost half a kilometer, some filled with just seats, others with berths, for those who wanted a little privacy, and even a few staterooms for those going further on this rail, like out to Manehattan.

He had just gotten a pair of seats on the upper deck, which was open to the sky at the back, so they could stretch their wings and trail them in the wind.

Boarding went smoothly, and he secured both sets of saddlebags to the deck under the seats as the locomotive started with a cloud of smoke. It roared as it began to crawl along the rails, slowly picking up speed.

Ponyville’s trainstation was much smaller. It wasn’t so much a hub of activity as a water-stop that had grown out of farmers need. More for freight than passenger comfort. There was barely a receiving dock, and portable ladders had to be set up along fully half the length of the train to allow passengers to climb down safely.

Ferrous started looking around before he even got up from his seat, trying to spot the old Blacksmith who had offered him the job. Master Bruin Gilded Feather was among the greatest Smiths in the whole of Equus, and being invited to apprentice at his shop was a great honor.

There he was. Grey feathers tufted up in that pattern the elder Griffon always wore in the photographs he was always posing for. Ferrous dragged his sister down the stairs and out the door, making sure that his little sister didn’t bump into anypony. Not only would it be probably harmful to whomever she bumped, but she had a bit of a short fuse at the moment, after sitting for a week and a half, then getting thrown around in a taxi and dragged onto a train that somehow managed to be tall enough to clip every single cloud along the route. Ponies, with the exception of Pegasi, who didn’t normally ride trains anyway, could pass through the clouds like they weren’t there. Griffons, on the other talon, couldn’t. It was like running into an unmoving pillow, at forty kilometers an hour.

As soon as they were clear of the throng, he dragged her over to Master Bruin, who bowed deeply to them, “Welcome to Ponyville. Do you have all your bags?”

“Yes, we do.”

“Excellent, and who is this fledgling with you? I don’t recall your letter saying you were bringing a guest.”

His sister made a cheesy grin, “Gilded Talus the Third. Pleasure to meet you.”

Ferrous nodded, and Bruin pointed over his shoulder, “The Smithy’s over on the other side of town. Unfortunately, Ponyville isn’t big enough to warrant a cab service, or auto-carriage service station, so we will have to fly, or walk. I hope that isn’t too much of a burden for you two fledglings,” the Smith turned up the edge of his beak in a grin. He was only going into his eighties, but his job kept him fit enough that he never needed to hit the gymnasium. Wherever that was.

“Do you have a map of the town? Gilda probably wants to go exploring,” mainly for a gymnasium. He never understood why his sister was so devoted to her speed-training. It wasn’t like Griffons could join the Wonderbolts anyway, “And she’s going to need something to eat that isn’t prepackaged travel food. Is there any-place on the way?”

Bruin nodded and turned slightly, leading the two onto a long corridor of dirt that seemed to curve off to the west, “Welcome to Main Street Ponyville. It’s a circle, or near enough. From here, you can get anywhere else in the town. Industrial complex is in the middle of the circle, with more farming influence the further out you go. Dead center,” he pointed at a tall spire poking up in the circle of stone buildings, “Town hall. That’s where all the Legal magic happens, and also your landmark if you get lost. It stands fifteen meters tall, and is visible from the outermost edges of the Apple farm to the North, and the Cotton plantation to the South. The train-tracks mark the far East edge, and the West edge has the assorted Berry farms.” He made a left and padded up to the front of a building that looked like a giant pastry, “This is Sugarcube Corner. Owned and operated by the Cake family. They don’t serve meat here, on account of it being a pastry shop, but their cupcakes are the best thing to soothe a travel-worn stomach.”

Griffon a New Home, Part 2

Fleethoof stopped abruptly at the edge of the counter, and set down the tray of muffins she was carrying before swiping a pair of bright pink cupcakes from beneath the counter, along with a dark red one that she hoofed over to Bruin before she lifted the talons of both of the other Griffons, and placed the two pink pastries in their talons, “Here you go! Have a welcome cupcake, on me.” She looked at the two for a long minute, then leaned in close.

Gilda stared back as the pony came dangerously close to touching her, beak-to-muzzle, “Gilda? Izzat you?”

For a moment, the Griffon was stunned, then her memory caught up, “Fleethoof? What are you doing here? I thought you went back to Cloudsdale after the Exchange.”

“I did, but then I came here because it was what my Cutie Mark told me to do! Oh you’re going to love it here! Some of our old friends from camp are here too! Remember Rainbow Dash?”

Gilda smiled menacingly, “Rainbow Crash is here too? What’s her job? Can we mess it up? Pranks?”

Fleethoof waved a wing at the ground dismissively, “Nah. She’s on the Weather team. Still a slacker. She wouldn’t be any fun to prank. But Thunderlane…He’s grown up.”

Gilda had to restrain a squeal of delight, “Thundie’s here? Oh this is gonna be great. Wait, does he know I’m here yet?”

Ferrous shuddered at the tone of his sister’s voice. He remembered the stallion. In fact, it was Thunderlane he had swapped with for the Exchange program. They had been friends, through the mail, until Thunderlane had discovered that Gilda was his little sister. He couldn’t imagine the kind of torment the stallion had suffered at her claws that he would break all contact over it.

Now, he was starting to get a little twitchy. He turned his head and glanced out the window. Thunderlane knew what he looked like, because they had exchanged pictures as recently as two years ago. And he knew that the grey Pegasus with the tight square mane-cut and Weather Service vest trotting in the door was his old friend. He turned around completely and clapped a talon over the stallion’s muzzle, dragging him out into the street. As soon as they were outside, he lifted Thunderlane’s face so they were eye-to-eye, “Thunderlane, it’s Ferrous. Remember me?”

The stallion nodded, and Ferrous let go of his face, “What was that about?”

“Gilda’s here, with me, for the duration of my apprenticeship with Master Bruin.”

He hadn’t known that it was possible for the grey stallion to go any more pale, but he succeeded in getting at least four shades light, “Fuck. Hide me?”

“For three years? Not likely.”

“She’s gonna kill me! Or Kiss me! Or…Or…”

“Oh, Ferrous, you found Thundie…Thanks big brother.”

“…Fuck me.”

Ferrous grabbed his sister before she could say the response he KNEW was trying to worm out of her beak, “No. Gilda, leave him alone."

Fleethoof smiled wickedly, "He’s happily engaged already.”

Both Thunderlane and Ferrous stared at her for a seemingly interminable moment before she grabbed his wing and slipped something around the root, pulling his head close to hers, “It’s a fake ring. Play along.”

Ferrous let go of Gilda’s beak, “Now apologize for trying to accost him.”

“I’m sorry, Thundie. I didn’t know you were already…” she noticed the matching rings both Pegasi wore, “Really? Of all the ponies we went to camp with, you picked the one that buttered you up and strung you up on the flagpole by your danglies?”

Fleethoof snorted, “As I recall, you were the one that did the buttering. I just melted it for you.”

Ferrous backed away from them, “Yeah, I think I’ll go, uh, be somewhere else. See you at home later, Gilda.”

Ferrous slipped into the Smithy quietly. Or at least, he tried. His beak was closed gently around hit gloves so the hard surfaces didn’t clack together when he breathed, and he was creeping along on his knuckles so his talons didn’t click against the floor, dirt as it was. His wings were tensed to his sides so they wouldn’t brush against anything. And his mind was fully focused on being absolutely inaudible to the mare he knew was waiting to tackle him. If he could get the jump on her, for once, he would have bragging rights for at least a week, and she would owe him money. He smiled around his gloves at the idea, then spat them to the floor as a pair of cold brass talons grabbed his shoulders and a grey muzzle rubbed into his head-feathers.

He lunged to the floor, but it was too late, she was already getting comfortable on his back, pulling his leather-clad wings across her body like stiff blankets, “You’re so warm Ferrous. What took you so long?”

He reached into his saddlebag and grabbed a pair of bits that he passed up to the Thestral on his back, the payment for getting caught again, and sighed, “Gilda has a bit of a history with some of the ponies here. We got tied up. Master Bruin’s still over at Sugarcube Corner with them, either trying to break them up…”

“…Or laughing his feathered ass off. Probably the latter. Which ponies?”

“Uh…Thunderlane, remember the colt that I swapped with that summer? And Rainbow Dash, and that white Pegasus at Sugarcube Corner. I think it was Fleethoof?”

He felt the weight on his back disappear, and turned to see that his load had fallen to the floor, and was curled up in silent peals of laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

“Thunderlane’s face right about now. He told me he was terrified of Gilda. Said he’d rather marry Fleethoof than deal with the risk of another ‘date’ with your sister!”

“Well, she did say that the two of them were engaged. So, I guess he got his wish.”

The Thestral froze, mid laugh, then pulled her saddlebag off the wall and dug her talon into it, pulling out a sack of bits. Judging the weight briefly, she dropped it in a bin marked ‘Bruin, Master Smith’, Dammit. There goes my gambling money for the month. I SWORE he was going to pop the question in front of all of town at the next town hall.

Ferrous looked at her, “So they went behind everypony’s backs and did it in quiet?”

She rolled her eye at him, “Fleethoof is nothing, if not dramatic. If he popped the question, the ‘Yes’ would have echoed across the town. And she never would have had the nerve to ask. They must have snuck out of town last…night…But Thunderlane had the Night shift. He couldn’t have done it then.”

“So, then which one popped the question? I just saw her slipping his ring onto his wing. Smart colt, leaving it where it won’t get los…” once more, Hammer Soot was rolling on the floor, barely restraining her laughter, “What?”

“I can’t believe…” a cough, a couple of gasps for air, “…she actually…” more gasps and a wheezing noise, “…Oh Fuck. What color were the rings?” She lunged up and grabbed the Griffon’s collar.

“Uh, gold. But they had kind of a silvery sheen after she slid the ring onto his wing-root.”

Hammer shook her head, “I never thought she’d actually go through with that. But, since the question hasn’t been popped, I get to keep some of my bits.”

“Only some?”

“Yeah. The rest go to Rainbow Dash. She bet that those Zebrican mating rings would be the perfect way to get them together. I told her Fleethoof would never do that. I was wrong,” she grabbed a crowbar and a hammer off the wall before trotting out, “You coming?”

Thunderlane was looking increasingly red as Gilda tried to slug him. She was NOT happy about the idea of him being claimed. Admittedly, neither was he, but all he could do right then was lay on the ground and try to think about what her fist would feel like when it actually managed to get through the magical field surrounding him and Fleethoof. Who notably wasn’t helping the issue by sitting between his wings making lewd gestures at Gilda. And he swore there hadn’t been anything liquid on his back before she sat down.

“Fleethoof, what did you do?”

“I gave you a ring, silly.”

“If I take the ring off, does everything go back to normal?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“How do I get the damn thing off then?” His wing was starting to hurt from tugging on the ring with his other wingtip.

A thoughtful pause, that had Fleethoof grinding her hips against his spine, and he was sure he was going to get an answer, only to be interrupted by a Thestral he recognized arriving with a crowbar and a hammer, “Gilda, chill out.”

Gilda stared at the Thestral, not ceasing her attempted hits, “Hammer? What are you doing here?”

“I work at the Smithy. I know what’s going on. And I have a crowbar.”

Fleethoof looked at the crowbar, then the hammer, “Won’t work silly. The rings will only come off if we get off.”

Hammer walked up and reached through the shield, gently caressing Fleethoof’s muzzle with the hammer, “I seriously doubt that,” the hammer twisted and collided with the ring on Fleethoof’s side with a sickening crack.

Gilda’s fist was stopped a claw-length from Thunderlane’s muzzle by her brother grabbing her arm as the field collapsed. Another sickening crack and the rings turned golden in color again. Thunderlane was airborne a moment later, streaking into the clouds, where the golden ring would fall from several minutes after everypony had left.

Hammer set down the tools she had brought, and pried the dented ring off Fleethoof’s now broken wing, “Go get that fixed. I’ll fix these.” Fleethoof cradled her wing and trotted away slowly, so she didn’t make it any worse.

“So, why did you do that, and why did it work?”

Hammer sat on her haunches and pushed the ring into thespace between her and Gilda, “This is one half of a pair of Zebrican Mating Rings. They are used in the tribes when the population is low to ensure a pregnancy. They are very powerful, and can normally only be removed by actually mating.”

“But hitting it with your hammer worked?”

Hammer Soot picked up the heavy headed tool and twirled it in front of her in a way no pony with hooves could ever even dream of, “Cursebreaker is Master Bruin’s. He got it for graduating to the rank of Blacksmith.”

“Really? So is that why Ferrous lugs that massive thing around everywhere he goes?”

“Yeah. Although,” she turned to her friend, “you shouldn’t really carry it around town normally. Ponies get spooked when they see a hammer the size of a foal.

The ring was carefully deposited in the mailbox of the tree-home wrapped in a note, explaining what it was, and where the other one would be. Hammer Soot dragged Gilda and Ferrous away before they could ask why a tree had a mailbox, or a home in it.

Fleethoof scowled. It had been her own behavior that had led to her temporary grounding. Not even metaphorical grounding either. The Cakes would have been fine with sending her to her room to think about what she had done wrong. Hammer Soot was not nearly as willing to pass off the use of dangerous magical items as a prank, and had instead gone and pulled out her own magical artifact stock for Fleethoof’s punishment. She had secured a pair of Grounding Studs to Fleet’s wing-roots. The artifact had quite literally, taken her wings away. She could feel them moving around in whatever space they were in, but she couldn't use them, or see them.

She would get her revenge later. Oh how sweet her revenge would be.

Better Magics, Part 1

“Ha! I got it!” Kajiik stepped back as a flash of light obscured Iron Hoof from his sight. As the spots faded, he saw the Guardspony standing, completely encased in a suit of armor that looked like it was molded entirely out of oak. From the way the normally swift Earth Pony was moving, it probably weighed like it too.

“Impressive. Now how is the ability to grow heavy oak armor useful again?” Iron started picking at the pauldron, trying to free himself as his charge trotted in a circle.

“Well, now I can make all of my friends armor in moments if I need to.”

Iron shrugged out of the right sleeve, “Do they really need armor though? Most of them are faster without it.”

Kajiik sighed, and his head drooped, “I’m the one with the magic, really. I mean, Blueberry can cast levitation and a few illusions, but none of that helps if we get in over our heads. I’m basically the only one of us who knows how to cast buff spells, and this Oak Armor will be really useful if we need to make an escape from something we can’t handle.”

Iron sat, wriggling his hindquarters out of the wooden shell, “That’s not your only part in the Elements. Remember, you learned to fight, from me.”

Kajiik stopped at the window, “I know. But next to the fillies, I feel like the squishy one. I’m a Stallion. I’m supposed to protect them.”

“I know, it’s ingrained into your head. But, you know, your talents are more useful spread out. Don’t be so focused on buffing them that you forget to use some of those offensive spells you know.”

Kajiik’s head met the thick glass with a dull thump, and he stared out at the sunny pavilion in front of Town Hall. A muted groan escaped his lips, “Iron, do you remember if I refreshed the tree’s fireproofing runes?”

“Yeah, you did that right before you forgot to brush your teeth again. Why?”

His question was answered by the room, with the exception of a conical shadow cast by the Zebra’s head and hood, being brightly illuminated, “Somepony decided to pull out the fireworks again. Except we’re in the dry season, so those are temporarily banned.”

Kajiik pulled his face away from the window, “Well, time to go enforce the rules. You know there’s only a few Guardsponies in town. They won’t really be able to handle a mob.” He tucked his hooves into his boots, making sure the extensive runic stitching in the leather and steel plates stood out as his shoes locked into the rungs on the bottom of the liner. Iron Hoof was pulling on his own armor as he followed Kajiik out into the sun.

Standing out at the base of the steps was a positively gargantuan oddity. It looked like somepony had taken the front half of a motor-carriage and stuck it underneath the leading edge of a locomotive wagon. And the side had opened up to reveal a full stage too. There was a light blue Unicorn mare standing on it, forehooves in the air, kicking at nothing. She wore little, except for a cape and hat, even her hooves were bare. Not even the most basic shoes were visible.

Kajiik knew that it meant either she was too poor to afford proper shoes, or too rich to need them, as most ponies who had enough money simply let their staff take care of anything and everything that could possibly lead to a chip or a cracked hoof. Based on the carriage, this mare was the latter.

“Come one, Come all! Bear witness to the amazing magics of the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!”

The crowd of ponies that had gathered made a group effort to cheer.

“Watch as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most Spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!”

A white mare that Kajiik recognized as the fashionista he and his friends had hired to make their clothing for the Gala muttered at his side, “What amusing boasting. All I’ve seen so far is a few sparklers. Even my little sister can do that.”

Iron sighed, and moved to turn back, “They aren’t real fireworks. No real hazard, so I guess I’m not needed here.”

A hissing voice rolled down from a cloud that floated over Kajiik’s back, “’Sides, Kaj here’s got a lot more magic than that hussy. Even if he doesn’t have a horn.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Hammer. I’m curious what she’s gonna do next. Her aura doesn’t feel like an illusionist.”

Another voice, smoother, and deeper, echoed from his opposite side, “Yeah, Hammer. Have a seat, relax. We’ve got ponies like this who come up to the Kingdoms occasionally. Even some Griffons who are particularly talented. It’s called a Magic Show. None of it’s real.”

The blue mare on stage suddenly was looking right at the small knot of ponies and the griffon, “It sounds like we have some naysayers in the audience. Who could be so ignorant to challenge the Magical ability of the Great and Powerful TRIXIE! Do they not know they are in the presence of the Most Powerful Unicorn in all Equestria!”

Ferrous raised a talon, “In our defense, there’s only two Unicorns in this conversation. You, and Miss Belle, here.”

“My point stands,” the mare huffed and stood taller, puffing out her chest and throwing her head up.

Kajiik decided to break the argument off at the start, “Alright, Trixie. What makes your magic so incredibly Great?”

“Why the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic powerful enough to vanquish the Dreaded,” sparks flew from her horn as an illusory shape formed in the sky overhead, “Ursa Major!”

Another cheer from most of the audience, but Kajiik and Iron Hoof remained unimpressed.

“Yes, Trixie is, indeed the Most Powerful in Ponyville!” She paused for what must have been dramatic effect. Kajiik couldn’t fault her style, but her illusions still left much to be desired. She was obviously never formally trained. “Well then, I hereby challenge you, Citizens of Ponyville! Anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who ever lived!”

A brass talon nearly clipped Kajiik’s muzzle as Hammer rolled over and let out a giant yawn, “Blow it out your smokestack, and get on with the real show already!”

“Very well, monster. Show me something you can do that I can’t!”

The Thestral smirked and shoved one shining brass talon into her nose, rooting around for something. It came out covered in a greenish hunk of mucus, “Ha! Beat that!” she even took care to intentionally fling the gob of phlegm at the Unicorn.

Trixie caught the gob in her magic and discarded it off the side of the stage, “That was, horrendously disgusting. You really should clear out your nasal passages more frequently if you have that much goo up there. Allow the Great and Powerful Trixie to assist you,” a string of magic lifted Hammer by her nostrils, and she slid down, leaving behind two streaks of ooze and drool on the magic, “There. That should solve your little nasally voice for you.”

“WHY YOU!” Iron Hoof tackled Hammer Soot out of the air before she could even clear the cloud, and hissed in her ear, “Do you really, really want the Element of Laughter to be seen as a murderer? You’re lucky I covered for you with that serpent. Barkskin can’t hide this body.”

“What about you, valiant Knight. Can you do something the Great and Powerful Trixie cannot!”

For a moment, the Element of Kindness considered performing a very unkind act, there, to stop the mare. He reconsidered, and stepped up on stage, drawing his combat staves. He tossed one to her, then started spinning the one still in his hooves. It moved faster and faster, blurring in the air as he moved from three limbs on the ground to only two. The whirring stave began to click against the deck repeatedly, kicking out a staccato beat on the wood before darting across the stage and being stopped abruptly by magic just a hoof-span from her muzzle.

Both staves began spinning. Obviously she had some reasonable baton twirling as part of her showmare training. The two staves blurred into each-other, and Iron began to rethink his challenge as they shot towards him, anchoring him to the wooden platform as they arced and slammed him onto his belly. The two staves stopped in an X shape across his back.

“Oh, alright. How about Trixie gets a REAL challenge! Maybe one of you Unicorns out there!”

Rarity Belle sighed, “I take your hint, but a Belle is above such nonsense. My parents did not raise a ruffian! We conduct ourselves with grace, and,” she glared across her muzzle at Trixie, “Tact.”

“Oh, is the pretty Unicorn afraid she’ll get a tangle in that purple Rat’s Nest on her head?”

“A lady must, at all times maintain an air of grace and beauty.”

Trixie sighed, and her horn flashed. A lock of Rarity’s mane fell in front of her eyes, and she stared at it for a moment, then tentatively touched it, then gave it an experimental tug. Then dropped to the dirt, flat unconscious. Her seaweed green mane flopped wetly to the ground.

“Anypony else?”

Kajiik growled under his breath. All of his cultural upbringing was telling him to stand up on his hind legs and pound his armored hooves against his chest, then go beat the living daylights out of this boasting, arrogant filly. All of his political training classes told him to turn and walk away. So he did. It wasn’t worth causing an international incident.

The green mane had worn off, and Trixie had let Iron Hoof go, eventually, so Iron and Hammer had joined Kajiik at Sugarcube Corner, “I don’t really know what to do about this braggart. I mean, I’m supposed to be some sort of force for Harmony, but I can’t really see myself making friends with anypony who can’t see that she is hurting others for entertainment.”

Hammer looked at him over a pile of sliced potatoes that smelled rather strongly of blood, not ketchup, “Well, maybe she really just needs a taste of her own medicine. I could go mess her carriage up pretty bad.”

“That would just mean she’s stuck here longer,” ah, Iron Hoof. Always the voice of reason, “Besides, I don’t think it’ll work anyway. She’ll just fix it like she did the stage after she yanked my staves out of it.”

“I still think she’s just a showboating illusionist though. I’d have to prove it to get her run out of town, but she managed to convince everypony back there. She’s going to damage the names of every powerful Unicorn out there.”

Oddly, sense came out of Hammer’s mouth first. Well, second, since the bloody potato goo in her mouth came out first, “So challenge her. Show her that a Non-Unicorn can cast better than her.”

Kajiik looked slightly green, either at the idea of going up on stage, or the nastiness on the plate in front of the Thestral, who didn’t even react to the half-chewed mess on it when her head dipped to grab another hunk of it.

Iron Hoof, for his part, seemed to agree with Hammer, “Yes. You challenge her, get her run out of town, and Hammer can stop plotting ways to kill her in her sleep, and I can stop watching Hammer every second she’s awake. It’s a win-win.”

Better Magics, Part 2

Iron Hoof was just about to trade posts with one of the Night Guards outside the Smithy when a pair of colts he recognized from the crowd galloped past, screaming. He sighed, and followed. As gangly as the taller one was, he was a trained Guardspony, and easily overtook them, “Alright colts. What’s all this about. You better have a good reason to run screaming through town, or I will have to charge you with disturbing the peace.”

The orange one spoke first, “Major problem!”

“Like Ursa problem,” the blue one added.

They ran off before he could get more. But he had gotten enough partially useful information from them. Ursa Major. Or Major Ursa. Either one was a big deal. But he could handle a Major Ursa much easier than an Ursa Major. After all, one was a noble, if terrifying carnivore from the Frozen North. The other was a Celestial Being. He swallowed and went the direction the colts had come from, hoof settling at his gorget, where a communication crystal had been sewn. It was only able to broadcast light-signals. The longer he pressed it down, the longer the matched stone on Kajiik’s hoof would stay illuminated. If it was really just a normal Ursa, he would be fine. If it was a Celestial, he would be panicking and probably tapping out the emergency Purge code.

He rounded the last corner and stopped. Slowly meandering down the hill was a giant purple bear. His hoof instinctively started tapping out the code on his collar. No need to panic. He was a Guardspony. He could certainly control himself.

His body began to settle into a combat stance, even as he repeated the code twice more. The flickering of light at the edge of the town was mildly reassuring. Kajiik had assured him that the town itself was designed to be a powerful focus anyway, and the stone path around the perimeter was a shielding spell produced by Star-Swirl the Ancient.

He was about to turn his back to calmly return home, as Celestials couldn’t withstand direct sunlight for long, when he heard a shattering sound. He looked at the shield, where it should have been flickering a faint blue along the ground where it was sucking power from the ley-lines below the town. It wasn’t. And the Ursa was still approaching.

Kajiik arrived at the border, along with a harried looking blue Unicorn being dragged by two colts. He recognized her, “Trixie? What are you doing here?”

Iron Hoof placed his armored hoof on the Zebra’s shoulder, “She’s here to vanquish an Ursa Major. That Ursa Major.” He pointed at the creature making its way closer and closer to the center of town.

Trixie went pale, “I can’t Actually vanquish an Ursa Major! I made that whole story up! It’s what I do! I’m an entertainer!”

The two colts glared at her, “Made it UP! Do you have ANY idea how hard it was to find that thing in the FIRST place!”

Kajiik turned to the two colts, then to Trixie, “Trixie, go back to your trailer. Hide. It probably won’t help, but it’s worth a few minutes. Colts, get your tails home. I don’t want to see you again for at least three weeks, because your parents WILL hear about this, and they WILL ground you for at least that long. Do I make myself CLEAR!” He roared the last bit, aided slightly by the indelicate bellow from the Ursa.

Next came the part he would least enjoy. He turned to face certain doom, and stopped, “Iron Hoof. You called that an Ursa Major. Correct?”

“Yes. See how…” Kajiik cut him off with a hoof, and scratched a summoning circle into the dirt. A book appeared in his hoof, and he flipped it open, “Look at the tail there. See how it has that upward curve. That means it’s only an Ursa Minor. That’s nothing big. Princess Celestia took me to see some of them on one of those work-study trips we went on.”

“Uh huh. And they were running wild through a town?”

“No. They were stuffed and on display, why?”

“Because that one isn’t stuffed, though by the time it finishes EATING PONYVILLE! I’m sure it will be!”

“Oh, right. Um, the Princess said they were afraid of the sun, so if I can get a couple of Solar Beam spells around it, we can guide it back to its cave and secure it there until it goes to sleep.”

“Ok, then what stops it from coming back tomorrow night?”

“Celestial Beings don’t need to eat. Or even wake up, ever. Sol is a good example of that. The princess makes sure that Sol stays in deep slumber so it doesn’t wake up and accidently crush Equus. The Ursa won’t wake up tomorrow night.”

“Great. Now how do we get a bunch of guided solar beams on it in the middle of the night, with our only usable Unicorns not trained in Combat spellcasting?”

Kajiik smiled, and dumped his saddlebags. A pair of headbands with metal boxes on one side fell out, “Put this on your head. Box on the front. It automatically casts Solar Flare constantly for three hours. And I can draw up a quick gate beam when we get to the cave.”

Iron Hoof grabbed the band and strapped it to his head, watching as Kajiik tossed one to each of the colts, and one to the blue mare. As soon as he was certain they were all wearing them properly, he turned towards the Ursa.

With a loud click, all five boxes lit up like small stars, and the Ursa’s attention was immediately drawn to them. Iron took command, directing the colts to run up and around, in effect leading it, while keeping their beams pointed like rails. Kajiik and the mare he used to help keep it from turning around, while he used his own beam to prod it forward along the path they were making.

“Do you think this is going to actually work?” the mare howled over the sound of the Ursa crunching trees underpaw.

Kajiik responded in kind, “I certainly hope so!”

“You HOPE!”

“Hey, in my defense, this is the first time I’ve ever tried to corral a Celestial Being at night.”

Iron chose to add his own two bits, “First time he’s ever tried to corral anything that could move, too!”

“Shut up!”

The mare muttered under her breath, drowned out by the roar of the Ursa, then stopped abruptly, her beam diving into the mud as she tripped over a root. Iron started shouting, telling the colts to stop and bring their beams together, to block it from moving too far forward, even as Kajiik moved instinctively into a position to create a closed triangle. Iron galloped up to the mare and grabbed her around the ribs, hoisting her up onto her hooves, “Keep your eyes on the ground. The beam will take care of itself. If you break the corral, we can’t keep the Ursa contained.”

She looked about to cry, and he pressed his forehead to hers, her horn pressed against the contour of his armor, “Look, I know you didn’t mean for this to happen, but I need you to focus right now. I’ll get you ice cream after we finish this, but we have to survive first. And that means we have to get this corral to the cave up there.”

She sniffed, hard, but stood as tall as she could manage, and stepped back into her position as Iron trotted back to his, “RESUME PROGRESS!”

The colts moved quickly. Either they had overheard the offer of ice cream, though it wasn’t for them, or they wanted to not have this angry Ursa between them.

The cave was wide enough that it took Kajiik several minutes to trace out the degrading light spells onto the dirt at the mouth. The mare held up remarkably well, as did the two colts, right up until Kajiik declared that he was done, and the cave mouth lit up like the surface of the sun. The colts dropped like sacks of potatoes. They may have been eager and excitable, but they were still young, and didn’t know how to regulate their energy expenditures.

He scooped the two up on his back and started back down the hill, letting Kajiik and the mare follow him down. Kajiik’s little light boxes lasted just long enough to get back to the lights of the town, and Iron was glad that it was finally almost over. He just had to get the colts to someplace safe. The school-house probably, since he couldn’t very well ask two slumbering colts where they lived.

He looked at the mare, “Miss, I will meet you at Sugarcube Corner in a few minutes. Kajiik, you should get home. Let the Princess know about this event. The more information she has about it, the better, and I know the local Guard have already submitted a report.”

Sugarcube Corner was not known for being open particularly late, but then, tonight was a special occasion, of sorts. Mrs. Cake had let Iron Hoof and the Great and Powerful Trixie sit in the back corner, where the light wouldn’t disrupt anypony in, or outside Sugarcube Corner.

“Trixie, listen, what you did tonight…”

“It was all Trixie’s fault. Trixie didn’t stop them. Trixie is just a big liar!”

Iron pressed a hoof to the back of her neck, and pulled her into a loose hug, “I know you lied. Almost got a lot of ponies killed.” At her crestfallen expression, he sighed and pulled her closer, “Nopony died, or was even seriously injured, Trixie, but your auto-carriage isn’t going anywhere for a while. It looks like a hunk of shrapnel from one of the houses the Ursa stepped on got into the engine and tore up the pipes pretty bad. Forge-Master Bruin can repair most of the damage.”

“But Trixie can’t stay here! Ponies will hate Trixie for what Trixie has done!” Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Iron Hoof paused for a moment, letting her get it out, then stood, pulling her to her hooves, “Trixie, let me tell you a story of a young stallion. His introduction to most of the town was cracking the ribs of the happiest pony in town with an oak staff. The entire town forgave him, and they will forgive you too, because nopony was hurt.”

Trixie stared at him, “That’s absurd. Trixie destroyed several homes. That stallion only bruised one pony. Trixie could have KILLED sompony!”

Iron sighed again, “I was that stallion. They won’t hate you. Besides, most of those homes were old and needed replaced anyway. You won’t be run out of town either.”

“But then, where will Trixie stay?”

That question actually stopped him. He had no idea. She couldn’t stay in the library, there weren’t enough rooms. The Blueberry farm was out of the question. He knew that letting her see the changelings would be bad for the town. Sugarcube Corner, also a bad idea, since she couldn’t very well sleep in the cloud hanging over the building. And the Smithy probably was already full, what with the Griffons staying there. He couldn’t take her to the Outpost either, because she’d probably panic the moment she saw the armed Guard. He thought for a moment more, and went over his mental map of the town. Besides that mane-coloring incident, Trixie hadn’t done anything serious to Rarity, but the mane thing in itself might lead to friction. Possibly the Apple farm. Yes, that would work perfectly.

“Trixie, we will go over to the Apple farm after the sun comes up, and see about you renting a room there for a few days while your auto-carriage is repaired.”

She said nothing, but her eyes spoke volumes, tears tracing line down her cheeks as she silently thanked him for not locking her up on the spot.

Dragon's Peak, Part 1

Iron Hoof rubbed his eyes as he looked out his window. There was a black cloud hovering over part of the town. He sighed and trotted to the stairwell in the middle of the tree, making his way calmly down to the ground floor. He slipped out the front door and looked at the cloud again. The air smelled faintly of soot. Probably the Smithy. With that new griffon in town, and two more that had slipped in in the middle of the night about three days ago, he had gotten used to there being soot in the air early in the morning, but not that much. Slightly worried, he started for the building, hoping that it wasn’t on fire. After all, above the cement floor, it was almost entirely made of wood, the most reasonable construction materiel in the area.

Rounding the corner, he saw that the cloud wasn’t emanating from the Smithy, or from its chimney. It was coming from somewhat further away. Out of town. His eyes traced the cloud towards the tall volcanic peaks nearby. The train tracks ran right past the volcanoes, and for a few minutes, he was concerned that they might have become live again. It seemed that the smoke was only coming from one of them though. Fortunately, that meant if anything, it could be easily controlled. But that meant he had to grab the local fire department. Which in a town like this meant volunteers. Civilians. And of course, since Kajiik was here, he was by default in charge, as the Princess’ direct charge. Iron swore as he turned back to the tree to go wake the Zebra from his slumber. He hated waking the stubborn stallion. Especially early in the morning, when he hadn’t yet gotten his armor on.

Kajiik was already awake when Iron Hoof pushed the door to his room open, and was sitting with his messaging notebook open on the bed beside him.

Iron tried to speak first, “One of the volcanoes…”

“Has a Dragon slumbering in it. I know. The Princess just told me. Woke me up and everything.”

Iron’s jaw stopped halfway back up, then descended again, “What do you mean a Dragon?”

“Big. Red. Firebreathing. Naps for a thousand years. Snores black smoke. Eats ponies.”

Iron sighed. I’ll go get the others. Gather the necklaces and get my armor ready. I’ll be back.”

“Yes, Barkskin, I know the smoke is wrecking your cloud schedule. We’re going to go send the dragon away,” Iron sighed. The Unicorn was quite hard-headed sometimes, he was finding, but after he mentioned that it was a dragon, she let out a sound that was half-way between a gleeful yelp and a horrifying battlecry before running into her house to get something. He leaned his head into the open door, “We’re all meeting up at the tree!”

Blueberry Jam seemed like she was already ready, wearing her saddlebags loaded with farming tools. Sharp ones, he noticed. Before he could speak, she started past him, “Gotta move quick. Black clouds obscure moods and make ponies hostile. Depression isn’t very filling.”

He blinked, then turned to follow the Changeling, “Oookay. We’re meeting at the tree. Better to have all six of us.”

She nodded and changed direction for the tree.

Hammer Soot was in full armor when he got there, the Mithril shimmering in the dull glow of the sun through the smoke, “I got Kajiik’s message already. Master Bruin wants me to let him know that Earth Elemental messengers need to come up outside the door, please. They wreck the concrete.”

Iron didn’t even pause as he turned towards the last location on the loop, “Ok. I’ll meet you at the tree.”

Fleethoof seemed a bit panicked at his intrusion. Or possibly at something else. He hadn’t figured the Party Pegasus out yet, but she had shoved at least two dressers in front of her door. Dressers that fortunately for him, were made of clouds, like the door. He trotted right through, coming out the other side with piles of her clothing hanging off of him. She was hiding under her bed when he finally spotted her.

“Come on. We have a dragon to send packing. It’s sort of important. Get out from under your bed or I’ll get you out from under it.”

Fleethoof shimmied out and pulled some of her clothes off Iron’s back, sliding into them, “Fine. I’ll come with, but I’m not going near that dragon.”

He swallowed, “I never said it was a dragon.”

She shook her hoof at the window, “OF COURSE IT’S A DRAGON! CAN’T YOU FEEL THE EVIL!”

Iron sighed, “Look, we need you, or the Elements of Harmony won’t work,” he tried to think of a way to appeal to her other sides, “Plus, after it leaves, there’s going to be plenty of gold and jewels for you to pay for so many more parties with.”

She shot him a look that could wither century old oak, but he didn’t flinch. It was no worse than he had gotten in training.

“Tree. Ten minutes or we’re coming to get you.”

The Cakes were quite happy to let five heavily armored ponies into their diner to grab the sixth. They waved politely as three of them wrestled their employee out the door. Cup Cake even offered a polite ‘Best of Luck to you!”

At the edge of the town proper, where the railroad wove towards the volcanoes, the Elements of Harmony were stopped by four more creatures. Thunderlane had on an authentic Guardspony dress uniform, as did Cheerilee. He sighed. Right, those two were part of the Guard auxiliary. They couldn’t be dissuaded from joining this adventure. And the other two were a pair of Griffons he had first met at Sugarcube Corner almost a week ago. He nodded to them. If Ferrous hadn’t managed to convince his little sister to stay home, there was little chance of Iron persuading her either. And if she was going, there was no way in Tartarus the older Griffon would stay home.

Ferrous had a giant hammer cradled on his back, and a second adorned Hammer Soot’s armored spine.

His own sword was at his hip, and both wrist blades were settled comfortably, “Alright. So here’s the deal. We get up there, the four of you STAY OUTSIDE until we know for sure what we’re dealing with. Is that clear?”

Both Guard auxiliaries nodded, saluted, and barked out ‘YES SIR!”

Both Griffons nodded, but said nothing.

The walk would have been much longer had Thunderlane not had the foresight to call ahead and have one of the small pusher locomotives brought in from the lumberyards on the opposite side of the town, along with a carriage to ride in.

The bottom of the volcano was immense. Of course, with the peak stretching fully four kilometers up into the sky, the base had to be big to support all of that weight, but it was still rather imposing to look at. At least, it was for the eight that were looking at it. Fleethoof had her head under her hooves, and her wings wrapped around her hooves on top of that, and didn’t even want to get out of the carriage.

Hammer sighed and dragged the element of Generosity onto her back, securing her beside the hammer. “Come on. Let’s get this dragon dealt with. I need to get back to the Smithy before Master Bruin notices that me and Ferrous are gone.”

Ferrous grabbed his sister, “I agree. The sooner we get this issue solved, the sooner we can get those suits of armor finished up, and shipped up to Canterlot.”

Iron Hoof started up the path, leading the party, “How many of those do you have left?”

“Oh, sixteen or so. We’ll be done within the week if everything goes smoothly. But this, right here, this is not going smoothly. We can’t run the forge with ash in the flues, and if this cloud gets any bigger, ash will be raining down into the chimney.”

Kajiik nodded, “And if the ash gets into the vegetation, who knows what effects it will have on this year’s harvest.”

His sentiment was echoed by Blueberry Jam as she joined them on the march up the trail. Gilda was strangely silent, and not a word tried to escape from Fleethoof’s muzzle.

The trail curved up around the mountain, and was strangely normal looking. There was absolutely no evidence that the mountain was inhabited by a dragon. Grass was green, flowers were blooming. Barkskin picked a couple in her magic and chewed on them as they climbed higher. Finally, Fleethoof started speaking, instead of quivering on Hammer’s back like a sack of jello.

“You know I can’t do this! I can’t go up against a dragon. It won’t work. The elements won’t work on Dragons. They’re immune to magic, you know. Even the magic of parties.”

Hammer scoffed, “What makes you say that?”

“Have YOU ever seen a dragon smile at a party? NO. It’s all swoop down and burn everything to the ground. Streamers, balloons, even the poor ice-cream cake!”

Kajiik put a hoof on the Pegasus’ back, “Did you bring any of those things with you?”

She shook her head, “No. I packed a rifle, but it won’t be able to do anything, you know. Scales like armor.”

Iron Hoof smacked his hoof against his breastplate, “Yeah, armor that will stop a sword, maybe. If a magical friendship rainbow can’t do it, I’ve got a Solaris class Battlecruiser on call, Princess’ orders.”

Kajiik smiled, and he heard Hammer Soot’s talons grinding together as she gleefully wrung some air between them, “Nice.”

Cheerilee spoke up next, “What, exactly, is a Solaris Class Battlecruiser? And should we be thinking about a way off the mountain if you do need to call it?”

Iron laughed, “No. It would be disgraceful of a noble Guardspony such as myself to call in an airstrike on an innocent creature. If I need to call in the Gargantua, you won’t need to worry about anything at all, ever again.”

The violet mare shuddered, and started wondering why she had thought joining this expedition was a good idea in the first place. After all, it wasn’t like helping get an Ursa Minor back to its cave wasn’t enough life-threatening adventure for one lifetime.

“So,” Ferrous trotted up beside Kajiik, “If the magical juju necklaces don’t work, how long do we have to delay it before the cannon-fire arrives?”

The Zebra thought for a moment, “The cannons on a Solaris Class Battlecruiser are fifty centimeters bore. They propel a chunk of steel weighing two tons, four thousand kilograms, out of an eighty caliber barrel at a velocity of fifteen hundred meters per second. One and a half kilometers, approximately, in the time it takes you to take a single step. The Airship Gargantua is in stable orbit along the south-side air-base of Canterlot, approximately five hundred kilometers away. The rounds from the cannon will take approximately five and a half minutes to reach us. We will have plenty of time to all be dead before the shells reach us.”

“ShellS?” Cheerilee had clear emphasis on the plural, and an edge of panic in her voice.

Kajiik nodded, “A Solaris Class Battlecruiser has fifteen long-guns. All of Gargantua’s are loaded and ready to turn this volcano into a crater.”

“So, we’ll be getting hit by fifteen of those things then?” Now it was Blueberry who was getting inquisitive about the nature of potential raining death.

Iron Hoof shrugged, “If the captain only authorizes a warning shot, sure. But since this is a dragon, he’ll probably authorize at the very least a Warming salvo. That’s six shells for each gun. They’ll be spaced thirty seconds apart. If the Princess decides that the mountain must go, for the last five minutes of our lives, we’ll be watching an incoming rolling salvo. Two seconds between shells until the stores run dry.”

“So, we might survive then?”

Kajiik laughed, “That means there is a Three Kilometer gap between shells. The first shell will arrive with thirty-five shells remaining in the stores. If you survive the first, you won’t survive the second.”

Dragon's Peak, Part 2

“GET DOWN!”

Iron Hoof tackled Kajiik towards the inside of the trail as everypony else dove after him. Rocks ricocheted off the wall and the trail around them as a rockslide tumbled past. Ferrous spread his wings, creating an awning of a sort over his sister and Hammer Soot. Barkskin and Blueberry Jam had decided the safest place to be was beneath Thunderlane and Cheerilee. Thunderlane had also decided to drag Fleethoof with him.

The rocks settled into a rhythm, pounding away at the path for several minutes before finally stopping. Iron Hoof went to stand, but found himself buried beneath the stone. Tapping his hoof against the ground beside Kajiik, he sighed, “Anypony hurt?”

Kajiik grunted a Negative from underneath him, and he heard echoes that he hoped were from the others.

Ferrous blinked in the dusty darkness, “Gilda, you ok?”

His sister let out a bit of a choked groan, “I’m fine. My wing feels like it’s stuck though.” His wings shifted slightly, an effort to maybe open up some more space to breathe. It had the opposite effect though, the weight of the rocks crushing down on his back. As strong as he was, a Griffon was meant to hold weight by pulling their wings down, not pushing them up, “F…Gilda, see if you can reach my saddlebag. I stuck a shovel in there.”

He felt her nodding, and tried to roll his bag lower so she could reach it.

“OW! Ferrous, get your ankle off my wing!”

He shifted his paw forward and set it gently down on something soft, “That’s my stomach.”

He tried to find a solid surface to put his paw on, and finally settled for setting it on Hammer’s spread wing, “Deal with it. I could drop the mountain on you.”

Barkskin’s horn lit up, revealing an armored Pegasus standing over her. His legs were braced against the walls of the little cavern he had formed, and his head was tucked beneath his torso, while his wings were clearly locked in place by his armor, though the steel was beginning to warp under the weight.

“Thunderlane, are you ok?”

A warbled groan slipped out of his lips, and she quickly cast a scanning spell on his head. He had to have taken a pretty solid hit from one of these rocks.

Another groan from beside her made her look down. Fleethoof was lying on her side, but didn’t seem injured. Even after a scan.

Cheerilee was overjoyed to see the sickly green glow of Blueberry Jam’s horn in the dark. She was less excited to see the black chitin on the ground beneath her. She knew what changelings were, of course. But she knew that they were effectively banned from Equestria, and any that the Guard found were, according to the regulations book, to be imprisoned for interrogation, or in the event that imprisonment was unfeasible, killed. Well, she wasn’t going anywhere for a while, “Alright, Changeling, what made you think taking over one of my close friends was a good idea?”

The changeling groaned, and blinked at Cheerilee’s armored face, “Really, Cheers? I have a green-card. Do you want to see it?”

“No. You don’t get to use that tone. You’re a changeling! I’m supposed to be asking the questions here!”

“Great. Ask away. I’ll be laying here slowly suffocating while you use up all our air.”

“You have magic! Can’t you just magic up some air? And how do I know you even need to breathe!”

The changeling lunged forward, slamming her hoof into Cheerilee’s ribs, “Cheerilee, I’ve known you since you were a filly. You’ve known me too. Now, if you could stop acting like a rules-lawyering book-worm, maybe we’ll survive this, and you can ask me about it later.”

Kajiik’s cloak started glowing a dull white, enough for both stallions to see that the rocks around them were shifting more and more with every breath, as Iron’s armor crumpled under the pressure, “Iron, if you can hold out just a few minutes, I can get a bracing spell up.”

The runes were easy to draw, if a little tough because the surface wasn’t entirely level. He wasn’t sure exactly what radius he put on it, but it wasn’t sucking his mana, it didn’t matter right now, “Alright. I’m going to activate the runes now, Brace yourself.”

The cavern lit up like the surface of the sun for a split second, but the mountain stayed intact as Hammer shifted off of the surface. Good.

“Ok, so we have a stable cave. Now what?”

“I fused the rock. Now we’ll need to dig our way out. So that will be this rune here…” The rock began to melt under Kajiik’s hoof, turning to dust that he scooped out of the way with his other hoof.

Ferrous felt the rock climb away from his wing surfaces, and let them fall. The rock didn’t follow, and he rolled to the side, freeing Hammer from beneath his paw. It was still pitch black, but he had a better idea of how much space they had, “We still need to dig our way out. Gilda, do you have the shovel?”

Gilda clicked the shovel against the side of the cavity they were in, “Yeah. But this feels like stone, not loose gravel anymore. I don’t think the shovel will work.”

“My wing’s stuck. The rock fell on it. And I think I’ve got some of Gilda’s feathers pinned in there too.”

“Ok. Did any of us pack a chisel? Or a knife?”

Hammer let out a shout, “Tartarus, NO. YOU are NOT cutting off my wing! Gilda’s feathers maybe, but not my wing!”

“Hey, feathers itch when they’re growing back! Yours won’t itch!”

A tearing sound, almost immediately drowned out by an earsplitting scream, echoed in the cave, leaving Ferrous curled against the wall, talons over his ears. “…Fuck was that?”

A whimper escaped Hammer’s throat as she stood up, mane brushing the top of the enclosure, “I found my knife.”

“You just said we weren’t…”

“I said YOU weren’t. You don’t know anything about Thestral wings. I couldn’t be sure you’d cut in the right places…Dammit. Now it’s gonna bug me for a week.”

“Ok, so you’re free, and bleeding. How are we going to get through this stone then? Nobody has a chisel.”

Through gritted teeth, Hammer grinned, “I’ve got it under control. Cover your ears. Eyes too.” He heard the sound of steel grinding against stone, and, realizing that he hadn’t felt Hammer’s hammer anywhere on the floor, leapt over his sister once more.

The mountain shook, and Thunderlane fell on Barkskin. She rolled him onto his back, not worried about the rocks falling at the immediate moment, because they looked stable. “Ok, now I’m stuck in a stone egg with a concussed Pegasus. My Canary spell tells me we have maybe half an hour of air if we don’t panic. Stoneshape says the rock is only a couple of feet thick, but I can’t drill through it. Any ideas, Thunderlane?”

The dazed Pegasus just moaned and his head lolled to the side.

“Wake up soldier. If you die on me, I’ll have to promote Derpy to your position!”

The Pegasus sat up and snickered before wincing, “You wouldn’t dare!”

Fleethoof poked Barkskin, “Stop talking. You’re wasting all our air.”

“What’s all that crashing out there?”

“I don’t know. How would I know that?”

“You’re a changeling. Aren’t you supposed to be able to read minds?”

Blueberry sighed, “No. We eat excess emotion. That’s about all we can sense anyway. And I’m getting a lot of elation from the left of us. Some anger from the right. I’m still getting six other signatures though. Everypony’s still alive.”

“Good. Let’s keep it that way. I’m watching yo…” The wall of their stone prison collapsed towards the side Blueberry had sensed the elation, which quickly turned to disappointment as Hammer Soot spotted the Changeling and Earth Pony in the green glow and dust.

She turned and looked back into the cave behind her, “Wrong direction. Cover your ears again.”

Blueberry cast a sound-shroud into the hole just as the mountain rocked again with the force of Hammer’s blow, and suddenly light was streaming in through a hole in the stone.

Light poked around Kajiik’s hoof as he scooped out the last inch of stone, and pushed his way through like a newborn rhinoceros, tumbling onto what was left of the pathway. Iron Hoof followed him out, and stopped, staring at the gaping hole in the stone façade where Hammer Soot stood, blood dripping from a ragged stump on the end of her wing, hammer clutched in her talons that had to weigh as much as her entire torso, “Hey, I’ve got Cheerilee, Ferrous, Gilda, and a changeling here! You?”

“Uh, me and Iron Hoof,” Kajiik started scrambling on the rock with his chalk, drawing a transparency spell, when the changeling poked her head out of the hole, “Kajiik, they’re over here. I can’t get to them, and I don’t think it would be safe for Hammer to break them out.”

Kajiik nodded, and moved to where the changeling was pointing, “Thanks Berry. Can you help get everypony up onto the trail on the other side of the rubble?”

Cheerilee just stared at the Zebra as she was lifted from behind and carried onto more level ground.

“Hey, I think they’re coming for us! Hey! HEY! We’re HERE!” Barkskin was loud, for a moment, before Fleethoof’s hoof cupped over her muzzle.

“They know. Now let them get in here before you waste any more of our limited air,” the Party pony hissed.

Thunderlane just gurgled and lay on the floor like a sack of drooling potatoes.

Kajiik’s hoof pushed through the rock, and he felt it press against a hoof on the other side. Quickly, he brushed his hoof to the side, pushing stone out of the way so he could see in. Three ponies were visible in the light, and he could see how big the gap was.

“I don’t have enough mana to cut you all the way out, so I’m going to need you to get behind Thunderlane’s armor and cover your ears and eyes.”

Fleethoof was already there, and Barkskin only took a moment to roll Thunderlane so he was facing the back wall, and his wing was covering her.

“Ok. Hammer away.”

Barkskin’s protest was drowned out by the thunderous crash as the hole became a doorway, “Alrighty then. Come on OUT! We’ve a dragon to slay.”

Fleethoof was, once again, hesitant to go after the dragon, but having two Griffons threaten to chase her if she tried to run helped them climb up the mountain faster. Right up to the entrance of the cave. The black smoke was pouring out of the mouth, and black soot already covered the stony terrain thick enough that Kajiik was glad to have worn tall boots today.

He passed out the necklaces, “Ok, we should be able to call on the Elemental power to send the dragon packing. Uh, make a circle. Ok, now focus on your element.”

Several tense seconds later, Thunderlane rolled off Barkskin’s back and landed on the ground with a nerve-rattling thump. No magical rainbow of light.

“I think they’ve figured out that I was pulling that whole speech out of my ass.”

“So how are we supposed to get rid of the dragon now? It’s not like it’s made of stone, and it’s already immune to fire, so neither my hammer, not Hammer’s will work on it. And nopony else has anything that will scratch it, or even delay it for those five minutes we need for the cannon-fire to arrive.”

Dragon's Peak, Part 3

Iron sighed, and raised his radio out of his saddle-bag, only to see that it was crushed into shards of plastic and wire, “Kajiik, if you message the Princess, how long would it take for her to forward it to Fire-Control?”

“If she’s in her room, minutes. If she’s still in Day Court, it could be hours. We’ll have to deal with this on our own. Which means we need to figure out a way to either fight it, or make it leave.”

The smoke let sunlight through, that reflected off Iron’s armor at Kajiik, and everypony looked up. The dragon was awake. But where was it. A growling voice echoed out of the cave, ”What are you doing in my hoard!”

Iron’s head snapped around, and he realized that one of their number was missing. Fleethoof, “Ferrous! Where’d she go?”

The Griffon pointed into the cave, “I wasn’t gonna stop her. She’s been trying to go everywhere but the dragon until you pulled out the broken radio.”

Iron paled, “Ok, Kajiik, what are the facts right now? We need a plan.”

“Fleethoof knows dragons are Eeevil, yes with three E’s, that’s important. She fought actively to stay away from the dragon. She has NO combat training at all. She’s not fireproof.”

Gilda held up the shovel, “I’ll start digging her grave.”

”What do you mean, CAN I SLEEP SOMEWHERE ELSE!”

Ferrous pulled a second shovel out, and held it up, “I’ll help.”

Kajiik turned and looked at the cave, where it sounded like a pile of gold was shifting, “Iron, I think it’s coming this way!”

He heard a terrible gurgling sound, and the sound of bones crunching. A very feminine scream tore out of the cave, followed by the sound of the dragon swallowing.

“I don’t think there’s enough left to bury.” The dragon’s head left the cave, arcing over the assorted ponies on the stone before crashing to the ground with a choked gasp.

There was a lump in its throat, and something sticking down through the neck that was dripping blood. Iron Hoof stepped over carefully, and looked at the knife. His knife. Sticking straight out of the dragon’s throat, pushing up the armored scales from beneath. He pulled lightly on the bloody knife with his hooves, wiggling it up, towards the scale, and noticing that it was somewhat stuck, like it was attached to a hoof. Kajiik joined him, prying the skin apart and pushing the scales away as Iron wriggled his blade loose. It came out with a blood-stained white hoof that he was glad appeared to be still attached to an arm still. He tugged the blade out of the hoof, passing the hoof off to Barkskin, who was already whipping up a medical sensor spell. The knife, he flipped around and slid back into the dragon’s hide, using Kajiik’s hooves as guides to make a long incision that revealed more and more of the mare inside.

It also parted what appeared to be gold coins and jewelry, until the mare was completely exposed. He realized that her dress was missing too, “Where’s her dress?”

Ferrous started into the cave, pushing his way through the space, “Found it! Not torn!”

Kajiik sighed. She must have peeled the dress off for some reason. It wasn’t like ponies wore clothing all the time, but it was enchanted for personal climate control. Why would she have taken it off? He started peeling her out of the bloody hole in the throat, rolling her onto the stone. She was still breathing, and fairly well, considering the sound of bones shattering. He reached into the neck and pulled on the layer of precious gems and gold she had left behind, laying the weighty assembly out for counting.

“There’s gotta be fifty kilos of bits here, plus the gems. Did she really try to rob a dragon?”

A coughing noise made the Zebra turn his head, and he watched her spit up some blood, and something green and ooze-like, “Antagonize. Not rob. I am SO GLAD that potion worked.”

Kajiik just gawked as the mare leaned over and continued hacking out the green ooze.

She finally stopped and looked at him, “What? The dragon’s dead now. Its evil is gone. And I drank a potion from the hoard.”

Iron Hoof slammed his armored boot into his helmet as Kajiik grabbed the Pegasus by the shoulders and slammed her against a rock, “YOU COULD HAVE DIED! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! HOW WOULD WE ACTIVATE THE ELEMENTS WITHOUT YOU?”

She rolled her eyes, “You said you just Bullshitted, and they worked. Find a new Element of Generosity, I guess. Maybe that nice Nurse at the hospital. She does a lot of pro bono work.”

“Great,” Kajiik’s head drooped, “Ok, so how long do we have to get back to the tree and get a new radio to call off the cannons?”

“Three hours. Not enough to hike all the way back down, and I’ll need to give my authorization code. If I jump, I might be able to get to the bottom in time, but I’ll never make it on hoof.”

Ferrous let out a grin, and snatched the Guardspony in his talons, “Hope you like flying. We’re going for a ride.”

Strained wings were a bit tricky to use, but the trip to Ponyville was literally a straight-line glide. And the wind felt so nice on his muscles.

Kajiik slung the party-pegasus on his back and started down the mountain, “Well, if they don’t get there on time, we’ve got three hours and five minutes to be off this mountain.”

Barkskin scooped up her saddlebags, and all seven of them started down, Gilda and Hammer flying down the side carrying Thunderlane between them.

Iron Hoof grabbed the countertop radio and pressed the button twice, the call for entering message. The voice of the Guard Switchboard in Canterlot made him smile, “This is Guardspony Iron Hoof, Ponyville Regiment. Access code Seven, Seven, Four, Three, Alpha.”

”Confirmed, Ponyville. Standing orders: Requisition for excessive force. Fifteen minutes remaining on order. Recurring orders: Sharpening paste and polishing compound. Monthly.”

“Excellent. I need to cancel the Requisition for excessive force. It will not be necessary.”

Very good, sir. Requisition cancelled. Forwarding notice now. Have a nice day.”

The stallion collapsed onto the floor of the library, “Thank you Canterlot. Ponyville out.” The radio set fell from his hoof to the floor, “Shit that was close.”

“Are you sure it will get through in fifteen minutes?”

“Canterlot Central is the central hub for the entirety of Equestria. The message will be radioed up to the airship, at which point it may take as much as two minutes for the onboard switchboard to relay it to the cannons. We’ll be fine.”

Poison Joke

“Hey, where is everypony? Aren’t the weather teams supposed to be clearing this storm up?” Kajiik looked at his newspaper. The weather was usually consistently slightly cloudy, but today was scheduled for completely sunny, and that meant Pegasi were supposed to be zipping around busting up any clouds that strayed into town.

Iron Hoof nodded, and glanced around the empty streets. Vendor stalls were all set up, but unstaffed, left alone. And he was certain that it wasn’t supposed to be a holiday of any sort today. He would have been informed, as Officer in Residence of the local Guard. “I don’t know. There’s no holiday I know of, and we would have been informed if everypony came down with something.”

Kajiik started tracing a circle on the dirt, a simple tracking spell that would tell him where every warm body within five hundred meters was. He didn’t quite have time to finish it before a wing grabbed his tunic and yanked him through the door of Sugarcube Corner.

“Get in here, quick. Hide!”

Kajiik broke free of her grasp and rolled across the floor, coming up to see that what looked like half the town were packed into the building, “What’s going on? Who are we hiding from?”

Hammer sighed, “You haven’t been here very long. Of course somepony would have forgotten to tell you about the Enchantress.”

Iron rolled his eyes, “What enchantress?”

Fleethoof popped up, “An Eeevil Enchantress. Capital E. That’s important. Just look at those robes she’s wearing. She’s obviously trying to hide a warty muzzle.” Kajiik glanced out the window, and spotted a lone figure wearing a robe that looked like it had been rolled around in weeds and dirt for years, but underneath it seemed to have been originally grey. He didn’t have the chance to see any more, because he was yanked away.

“Plus, the last time she was in town she cursed some ponies. Gave ‘em all these weird potions that made them act silly. They were all like ‘Dude, check this plant out. It’s soo far out!’, but they were holding the carrot in their hooves.”

Kajiik sighed, “Really? Did you ever bother to have an alchemist check out those potions?”

“No. He was one of the ponies she poisoned.”

“And she hasn’t been lynched because?” Iron was already pressing glyphs on his armor, preparing it for a magic fight.

“She’s an Evil Enchantress. She’ll poison all of us.”

“Really? How frequently is she in town? I haven’t seen her in town before and I’ve been here almost three weeks.”

“She comes into town about once a month, picks some of those tumbleweeds and locoweed from the alleys, and leaves. Sometimes she lurks at the stalls.”

Kajiik sighed. He was getting a fair idea of what this pony was like, “Does anypony even know her name?”

“The ponies she poisoned call her Zecora.”

Kajiik’s brain stalled out for a moment, “What species is she?” He was almost certain he knew this Enchantress.

“Zebra, like you, but why does that have anything to do with anything? She’s clearly Evil,” Fleethoof was shaking nervously, “She’ll poison all of us if we give her the chance.”

Kajiik sighed, “I’ll go talk to her,” he was halfway to the door when he heard one of the mares in the building shout.

“Apple Bloom’s missing!” He groaned and pressed his muzzle against the glass, looking through it. The little yellow filly with a giant pink bow was doing a horrible impression of a ninja across the street, towards the enchantress, who was already leaving town.

“Iron, I’m going after her. You get Apple Bloom, I’ll go talk to Zecora about scaring folks.”

“You sure?”

“I’m a Zebra, she’s a Zebra. If anypony has a chance of talking to her, it’ll be me.”

“We’re going with you. No sense in letting you get cursed alone,” Hammer was hefting her magic hammer onto her back. Even if it couldn’t magically harm a pony, if push came to shove, it was still a heavy block of metal on a pole.

The six of them filed out the door and started off after the filly. Hammer intercepted the filly, flying low and fast, and turned her around, “Get back to town, Apple Bloom. We’ll handle this. I promise.”

The filly smiled, but she seemed to want to join the adventure, “No, Apple Bloom. Go back to your family. We’ll let you know when it’s safe to come back out.”

The edge of the forest came into view, and Kajiik tapped his bracers together, activating a deflection spell. It would block any magic that the Zebra sent their way, but if she was who he thought she was, she wouldn’t throw anything at them. Or at least, at him. He skidded to a stop as the retreating figure paused and turned to them. Her striped muzzle came into view, but he couldn’t see enough of it in the shadows to identify the pattern, which was unique between families. The others stopped around him, ready to fight. He heard the clicking of Hammer’s talons around her hammer’s grip, Iron’s armor clicking as the plates shifted over his rippling muscles. Fleethoof was flapping overhead, wings kicking up a small amount of dust and flower petals. Blueberry and Barkskin stood to either side, horns glowing with power.

“Beware, Beware, Pony folk. Those blue flowers are not a joke!”

Hammer giggled, “Lame. C’mon, if you’re gonna curse us, use a better one than Beware!” her talons flicked through the air, miming a stage actor, hooked over the air dramatically.

Kajiik sighed, realizing he knew exactly who this mare was, “Zecora Aures Dejjar, do not toss curses around lightly.”

She froze, then fled into the forest. He blinked away the after-image of utilizing name magic. If he had genuinely made her flee, he was right in his guess. Which meant she hadn’t been cursing them. Or, she had, and he was wrong in his guess.

But as far as he knew, curses took a lot more time than one sentence, “We’re fine. She didn’t curse us.”

“Really? Then what was all that?” Barkskin mimed the rhyming that the Zebra had used.

Kajiik nodded, “Just smoke and mirrors, meant to distract us, to scare us away. You know, like at a circus. Let’s go home. I need to do some research anyway. There’s no way for even Barkskin to track a pony into the Everfree, no matter how fresh the trail is. We’ll need to use a map and find out the most likely places for her to be living.

Kajiik looked at his roof, then at the floor. Back to the roof. Why was his bed on the roof? He carefully stepped off the side, expecting to fall to the floor. Instead he fell to the roof. Everything was blurry. He dragged a hoof across his eyes, trying to wipe the sleep out of them, but nothing happened. He could see well enough to tell that his room was actually right way up, he was just mixed up. And everything was blurry still. He tried to draw a spell to bring up his reading glasses, but his hoof wouldn’t stay stable enough to draw the lines.

“IRON! WHERE ARE YOU!”

A clanking sound echoed around the room as his bodyguard and friend trotted in. He got a blurry look at the armor, “Oh, good. You’re already armored up. We need to find Zecora. I think she actually cursed me.”

“Us. I woke up like this,” Kajiik watched through blurred eyes as his friend removed his helmet, and apparently his head.

“Dude, put your head back on, that’s gross.”

“My head isn’t there. I can’t find any of my actual body. Just my armor. We need to find the others.”

A crashing sound told them where at least one was. Fleethoof flapped into the building upside down, crashing into the ground, “My wings are upside down. How am I supposed to cook like this?” Another crash brought her upside down onto the couch.

“What about the others. It looks like the curse is playing with our fears and pride…Iron?”

“I’m fine. Fearless, you know.”

“But then, what about Hammer, Barkskin, and Blueberry?” Fleethoof stared over the arm of the couch, waiting for the door to open.

She didn’t expect it to open to a Griffon with flaming wings, flanked by the brown Unicorn and a purple Alicorn with an iridescent sheen to her fur.

“Hammer? Blueberry?” The Griffon and Alicorn nodded as they came in, Hammer being careful to not touch anything flammable with her wings, which Kajiik saw were gleaming bronze underneath the flames.

Blueberry sat, wings ruffling the air, “I don’t like having wings. How do you Pegasi deal with them falling underhoof? I’ve stepped on mine a dozen times since I woke up.”

Fleethoof flapped her upside down wings, “Keep them folded up. Feathers to your flanks. ‘Cept mine are on upside down, so they keep tickling my nose.”

Hammer tucked her flaming wings close to her back, muscled tail whipping around nervously.

“What about you Barkskin? You don’t look any diff…” Iron was cut off as the Weather manager raised her hoof, revealing roots burrowing into the carpet, “…Er…So probably don’t hug Hammer right now.”

“I always wondered what it was like to be a tree. Now I guess I’ll get to find out. Unless we get going right now so I don’t get stuck to the floor here.”

Kajiik scooped her up and tore the roots from the carpet, “Ok, let’s go. We’ll trot and talk. Can’t let Barkskin grow into the dirt until we’ve solved this.”

The forest loomed ahead, and Kajiik could feel Barkskin trying to get off his back, where he had her currently attached by a series of small roots that had woven themselves into his tunic, “No, stay on my back. We don’t want you to get stuck somewhere in the forest.”

Navigation wasn’t hard, but they had lost the map because of a not particularly well thought out grab by Hammer that burned it to ash. Fortunately, Barkskin hadn’t lost her tracking abilities, and from her perch was able to follow something that Kajiik couldn’t identify to Zecora’s hut. And what a hut it was. The structure stood above a pool of water, balancing on nine tree-trunk poles jammed into the mud. It was held together with rope and vines, with a carefully hoof-made rope bridge leading out to the front porch. The roof was a combination of leaves and tarred hay, and the hut appeared to have two floors. The upper window was glowing with candle-light, and Kajiik pointed, “Fleethoof, go check the door.”

The Pegasus flapped over, hanging upside down and pushed gently on the door handle. The door swept open, and she flapped inside, before landing in an ungraceful crash.

The flickering light in the upper window dimmed for a moment, the sign of a candle being lit. Kajiik darted across the bridge, sliding to a stop inside the hut, “Fleet, you ok?”

She nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve crashed harder than this”

He looked up the stairs as a striped hoof came down gently on the thin plank, “Zecora, I need to speak to you.”

The other forehoof stopped halfway to the step, then began to retreat, “Zecora Aures Dejjar, I DEMAND that you come down here and speak to me.”

The hoof was clearly shaking as it continued down the stairs, but it travelled down anyway. Three more steps, and her bare torso came into view, not even wrapped in the typical yellow-grey fabric of the tribe. Her face came into view, frowning, and she looked like she was going to scream something, but as soon as her eyes locked on Kajiik’s, she stopped. Her legs carried her right up to him, “Kajiik?”

“Oh, good. I was right. Uh, what curse did you use on us? We need to reverse it.”

Iron commented from outside, “Not permanently though, I could make use of this one.”

“It’s not a curse, Brother Dope. You stepped in Poison Joke,” her hoof rose, colliding with Kajiik’s ear, “”

“I had to be sure it was you. Can you fix this?”

“Yes, I can. The cure is in this pan. A bath you must take, normal again, it will make.”

“Must you rhyme. It’s really a pain to try and understand you.”

“My Equestrian is better, when I speak rhyme to the letter.”

“Fine. Is the cure ready?”

Zecora nodded, and poured the simmering liquid into a bottle, “Use this as Shampoo, and once more you will be You.”

“Thank you.”

The spa had been more than happy to lend the six of them one of the larger baths to reverse the Poison Joke effects, and they scrubbed themselves until everything reverted to normal with a flash of light.

Iron Hoof looked at the bottle, “Hey, Kajiik, do you think you could get some vials of this stuff. Just in case, you know.”

“I can ask Zecora.”

Cutie Mark Crusade, Part 1

Cheerilee looked across her class. All rather eager to learn, except that one orange Pegasus filly in the back, who just looked bored. Some were still talking, but she knew they would stop as soon as she rang the bell, “Alright class, quiet down. We have a very important lesson today. Today we will be learning about Cutie Marks.”

Almost immediately, several students, none of the brightest ones, she knew, stopped paying attention. The Pegasus filly in the back didn’t react in any noticeable way to the news, just stared blankly at the board. One grey Earth filly raised her nose, “Boo-ring,” which she terminated with a dramatic sigh.

Cheerilee made a note to dock the filly several points for the day, and kept talking, “You all see my Cutie Mark, right? Like all ponies, I wasn’t born with a Cutie Mark,” she held up a picture of herself in school, cringing slightly at the poofy mane style she had worn then. One student, a tan filly with a slight lisp, made that sound everypony made at seeing something so uncontrollably cute that their language centers shut down, and Cheerilee made a note to talk to her parents about her mental state, “Anyway, one day, when I was about your age, I woke up to find that my Cutie Mark had appeared.”

This picture made her flinch away, and she immediately regretted choosing that picture. The day it had appeared, she had chosen her clothes specifically to show it off. While male ponies wore clothing that would hide their Cutie Marks, and often only revealed them when they needed to, Females had a tendency to accent their Marks, to frame them with clothing such that they stood out.

Cheerilee had, that day, chosen an unfortunate combination of neon leg-warmers and torn jeans with a lime green mesh shirt and the highest pseudo-afro she could make out of her mane. Even as the picture panned so every student could see it, she debated dropping it in the garbage and lighting it on fire. A few weak laughs, and she dropped the picture face down on her desk, “Moving on. I had decided that I would become a teacher, and the flowers symbolized my hope that I could help my future students bloom if I nurtured them with knowledge. The smiles represented the cheer I hope to bring them while they are learning. Now, can anypony tell me when a pony gets their Cutie Mark?”

The same tan filly raised her hoof, “Yes Twist?”

“When he or thee discoverth that thertain thomthing that maketh her thpethial.”

“That’s right, Twist,” Cheerilee tried not to correct the lisping, and made a mental note to talk to her parents about getting the filly a speech tutor, “A Cutie Mark appears on a pony’s haunch when he or she finds that certain something that makes them different from every other pony. Discovering what makes you unique isn’t something that happens overnight,” she noticed a pink Earth filly trying to get another filly’s attention,” and no amount of hoping, wishing, or begging,” she was about to stop and draw attention to the pink filly, “would make a Cutie Mark appear before it’s time.”

Now, she saw the pink filly trying to pass a note, and strode up, snatching the piece of paper, “Miss Rich, please do not interrupt my lesson by passing notes,” she opened it, and looked at the blank sheet of paper, “Especially blank ones.”

The rest of class went by quickly and without incident, though Cheerilee suspected that was more because each and every student had their eyes locked on hers, worried that she might catch every little mistake they made, than because they wanted to keep listening.

Class let out, and the students filtered out, leaving their teacher behind to grade assignments.

The tan filly, Twist, grabbed one of the others, a red filly with a bright green mane, the youngest of the Berry siblings, “Hey Strawberry, do you want some peppermint sticks? I made them myself.” Strawberry Punch sighed, and shook her head. “Come on, they’re really good.”

“No…”

The pink filly, Diamond Tiara Rich, groaned, “Why did we have to sit through a lecture about getting out Cutie Marks. I mean, waiting for a Cutie Mark is sooo last week. You got yours, I just got mine. We all have them already,” she looked at Strawberry, still lacking a Cutie Mark, “Oops, I mean, Almost all of us have them already. Don’t worry you two, you’re still totally invited to my party this weekend.”

A silver filly who seemed perfect for the part of evil minion added her own two bits, “It’s going to be amayayzing!”

“It’s a party all to celebrate me and my fantastic Cutie Mark. How could it not be!?”

The two did a fancy hoof-shake, ending by smacking their haunches together and rolling on the ground laughing. Strawberry Punch sighed, “Gimme a break.”

The two stood up and trotted away, still laughing.

Strawberry looked at Twist, “I should get home.” She trotted off as fast as her legs could carry her.

“It’s just not fair! How does a spoiled rotten brat like her get such a nice Cutie Mark?”

Blueberry smiled and ran a hoof through her little sister’s mane, “Don’t get all huffy. You’ll get your Cutie Mark eventually. Everypony does. It’s just…”

“What? Is it because we’re Changelings?”

Blueberry sighed, “Yes, and no. When you find your special talent, it will show in your true form, whichever you choose that to be.”

“But, how long will that take? I need one now! I can’t go the party without one, I just Can’t!”

“Of course you can. I did. I was nearly the last in my class to get mine. Only Applejack was later. I knew my ultimate destiny was to become the next leader of the Berry Hive.”

“But your Cutie Mark is a Blueberry branch, not a crown?”

“That’s…Much more difficult to explain. I’ll tell you when you’re older, Kor’el’k.”

Cutie Mark Crusade, Part 2

Strawberry Punch knocked on the door of Twist’s house, and waited for her to open the door, “Oh, Hi Strawberry. What’s up?”

“I was thinking, maybe we should still go to Diamond’s party. Since neither one of us has our Cutie Mark, it won’t be so bad.”

Twist made a small, barely muted groan, and turned, revealing her Cutie Mark, a pair of crossed peppermint sticks, “Isn’t my Cutie Mark cool? I’ve always loved making my candies, but it took me some time to discover that it was my talent. Pretty sweet huh?”

Strawberry lowered her eyes. The taste of unrestrained glee was everywhere, and she had to turn her head to avoid the urge to just bite down and drain her friend right there.

“Hey, this doesn’t mean we can’t still go together. You are still coming to the party, right?”

“Of course she will,” Diamond Tiara showed up, of course, right when she was least wanted. And her minion was there too.

“It’s not like being the only pony there without a Cutie Mark would be, like, the most embarrassing thing ever!” More laughter followed as they strolled away, neither noticing the low hissing sound coming out of the Changeling’s throat.

“Goodbye Twist. I will see you at the party,” her voice was stilted and clipped as she forced the words past her lips, trying to conceal her emotions.

“Hey, li’l Berry. What’s up?” Fleethoof floated over the filly’s head, “You look down.”

The filly looked up, “There’s a party this afternoon to celebrate Diamond Tiara getting her Cutie Mark, and everypony else in my class has theirs, and I wanna get my Cutie Mark, but I don’t know what to do, and d’Jar’k says it’ll happen soon, but I want it to happen before the party so I’m not the only one there without my Cutie Mark.”

Fleethoof paused, brain trying to sort through the data, “Ok. Who’s D’jar’k?”

Almost without thinking, Strawberry responded, “My big sister.”

“Uh…Your big sister is Blueberry Jam. Are you ok?”

Strawberry thought back across what she said, and froze, “Uh…Brain slipped. That’s the name of her character in our Castles and Chimeras game…” Inwardly she was begging that the Pegasus would believe her, and almost let out a relieved sigh when the party pony nodded.

“Oh, yeah, I know how into characters you can get. Hey, could I join your game at some point?”

“Not this campaign. We’re too far along, and it’s kind of a Berry family thing. Play by post, you know. We send out a letter every week with our actions and dice rolls to the Manehattan Berry’s, where the game-runner lives.” Her relief was almost tangible, at least to a Changeling, when Fleethoof agreed that it wouldn’t be good to force her way in.

“So, do you want me to help you find your Cutie Mark then?”

“But Blueberry says we can’t force it…”

And,” Fleethoof giggled, “Who are you going to listen to, Second to Last-in-her-Class, or First-in-her-Class? I always knew I liked making ponies happy, but I really wasn’t fully invested in it until the DJ collapsed on stage and I stepped up to the plate. I discovered my skill at bringing life to a party there, and Boom. There was my Cutie Mark.”

“Good, good. Stretch out your legs. Get nice and loose. The key is to try as many things as possible, as quickly as possible. One of them is bound to work. Ready?”

“Yeah?”

“Good! GO!”

“Ok, so that narrows it down a little. You aren’t a Juggler, a Hang-glider, Definitely not Karate. How do you lose a Kite? Roller Derby is definitely out. Eating Cupcakes didn’t work either. Baking them didn’t work. Oh, hey, look at the time. It’s party time. Here’s your party hat.”

Strawberry looked around the room, “Uh…What? I wasn’t going to go to the party, not without a Cutie Mark.”

“Too late, kiddo. Get out there and have fun,” Fleethoof pushed her out of the kitchen.

Strawberry looked around. The party was already in action, and she struggled to adjust her skirt to hide the blank spots on her haunches, even as Twist slipped up next to her, “Hey, Strawberry. I see you decided to come after all. Nice outfit.”

“Eh, it was just something I threw together. So my new Cutie Mark wouldn’t outshine Diamond Tiara, you know.”

“Ok,” Twist looked at the skirt curiously, “What is it?”

“I’ll show you later. I don’t want to be the center of attention.”

“Oh…Kay,” Twist turned to walk away, and Strawberry went to follow, feeling her skirt catch on something. She couldn’t stop in time, and fell, ripping the fabric loose and leaving her bare rump in the air.

“Uh, where’s your Cutie Mark, Strawberry? Didn’t you say it was awesome? There’s nothing there.”

Diamond Tiara turned around and looked, “Hey, Blankie!”

A squeaky voice rang out, “You have a problem with that!?”

The white Unicorn filly with a purple mane stood tall, even as Diamond Tiara’s minion pointed at her, “The problem is that it means she’s totally not special.”

“No, it means she’s still got potential!” The orange Pegasus filly added, “She could be great at anything!”

A griffon cub raised his head too, “She could be a scientist, or a Blacksmith, or a Hunter, even the Mayor. And not a stuck-up brat like you two!”

Strawberry stared at them, “You two don’t have your Cutie Marks either? I thought I was the only one.”

“We thought we were the only two,” the Pegasus said.

“And Griffons don’t get Cutie Marks anyway, so Ha.”

“Whatever, losers,” Diamond Tiara turned back to her party.

The four moved together, “I’m Scootaloo,” the orange filly started.

“Sweetie Belle,” the white Unicorn.

The Griffon smiled, beak twisting eerily, “Cuuper Talus. I’m here with my big brother and sister.”

“Strawberry Punch. So, I guess we’re the only ones then?”

A fifth pushed into the group, “Uh, Ah’m Apple Bloom. I don’t have a Cutie Mark either.”

“Yeah. We should totally make a club, and they,” Scootaloo pointed at Diamond Tiara, “aren’t invited.”

“We need a name for it though. Something to do with our Cutie Marks, you know,” Sweetie Belle pushed in.

Cuuper tapped his beak thoughtfully, “Destiny Seekers?”

“No, something to do with our Cutie Marks,” Apple Bloom pointed out, “Cutie Mark Five?”

“Cutetastic Fantastics?” Scootaloo tried.

Cuuper shook his head, “Fanatics, maybe.”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Sweetie Belle.

A violent lurch from Cuuper dragged their attention to the Griffon, “What…Haven’t any of you studied history? The Crusaders were horrible ponies.”

“What about Destiny Knights?” Strawberry voiced over Cuuper’s head.

“I like it.”

“Definitely.”

“Do we get armor?”

“Of course we get armor. I’ll see if I can get some scrap steel from the forge. We’ll be unstoppable!”

Running of the Leaves

“Welcome to the Fifteenth Annual Running of the Leaves!” Fleethoof settled into the pillows in the announcing balloon, floating over the starting line.

This race promised excitement, rewards, and fellowship. A fifteen kilometer sprint through obstacles and the edge of the Everfree forest, teams of two ponies at the start, whose times were averaged at the end. Standing below her, holding the start flag, was Barkskin, who had already run the entire track in reverse, to make sure it was safe and clear.

Kajiik stood beside Iron Hoof, both wearing loose running tunics and shoes, with numbers pinned to their backs. Across from them, on the other side of the crowd, Hammer Soot and Ferrous were crouched, ready to launch off the line. Their wings were tied down, as flying was not allowed, but that didn’t seem to dampen their spirits at all.

Blueberry Jam and her brother Raspberry Jam stood to their left, the crimson stallion ran his hooves through his tar black mane, and flicked them to the ground with a sigh. Trixie stood alongside Zecora, the two paired up by Kajiik mainly to keep Trixie out of trouble.

“Ready! Three! Two!” Raspberry’s hooves dug into the ground and he swung back, preparing to launch forward. “ONE! GO!” The start line disappeared in a cloud of dust as everypony tore across it, into the forest. “And they’re off!”

Iron Hoof was much faster without his armor on, but Kajiik was falling behind. An orange Earth Pony and blue Pegasus veered off the side of the trail, a team, but clearly not a good one. He leapt up and kicked off a tree, redirecting around the sharp corner, into the first obstacle. The course was covered in a thick layer of mud, and he hit it muzzle first, using his momentum to slide across the slick surface, ignoring the rippling sensation of rocks just beneath the surface. Coming out the other side, he saw that he was not in the lead. Blueberry’s very large brother was. He watched in amusement as the massive Unicorn plowed into the second obstacle, a thick fishing net running up into the trees, which blocked the entire trail. He leapt, using the Unicorn as a kick-board to get higher. Hooves were not ideal for climbing nets like this, but he thought he was doing pretty well until a cold metal talon grazed his back, followed by hooves digging into his flanks. Hammer Soot launched past him, using his head as a springboard and her talons to pull her up to the top of the net.

He watched, stunned, as she rolled over the top of the net and dropped like a stone, hitting the ground rear-hooves first. Ferrous shot past next, landing in a roll, and took off. Iron scrambled over the top, and dropped onto all four, darting forward in the same motion.

Kajiik reached the net, and rather than take the time to scramble up it, seeing the large Unicorn stallion still struggling up it, he tucked his head and thanked Celestia for his slender build as he shot through the net, hooves just barely clearing it as he rounded the next corner. This one was his favorite obstacle, the Labyrinth, a four story tall oak maze. Completely dark inside. His eyes flickered green as he traced the last lines into the runic pattern painted on his face. Everything became clear as he slid into the maze and started up the stairs. A right here, a left there, drop through this hole intentionally, scramble up that one, out the window. Lights off as he shot into the sun. It looked like he might be in the lead now. He hit the ground and tumbled back into a run.

Trixie scrambled out the window and dropped, her teammate right behind her. The two mares rounded the next corner, right behind Kajiik. Both of their previous careers, Traveller and Alchemist, lent themselves to physical endurance, and while the bookish Zebra was running out of energy only three obstacles in, the mares passed him, barely even trying. The barrel-bridge brought them to a pause. Trixie stared at the barrels chained to the bottom of the river, then launched herself onto the first barrel, and promptly found herself in the river, scrambling back to the shore. Zecora laughed, then pointed at the barrels, “If we go as one, the barrels will know not which way they’ve spun.”

Trixie smirked and grabbed Zecora’s hoof, leaping onto the first barrel. Hopping onto opposite sides gave them enough time to balance and leap to the next barrel. Quickly they cleared the barrels, only to run into the back of a Griffon and Thestral paused at the base of the next obstacle.

“Ferrous, how in Tartarus are we supposed to get through this?”

‘This’ being a tunnel made of fire. Hot, blue flames. The heat was barely bearable, and the floorboards were crackling. In front of them stood a blue and a brown Pegasus Stallion, staring at the blaze.

“Jack, I’m not liking this obstacle. Where’s the bypass button?”

“Maybe it’s on the other side? I’m going through.”

The brown Pegasus sighed as his companion charged into the flames, howling. He shot out the other side, and stopped, turning to look back. The tunnel was long enough that the flames hid everything on the other side from sight. He growled, and shouted, “It’s only an illusion!”

Thestral ears were far more sensitive than normal pony ears, and magical hearing aids were even better. She heard the shout, and darted forward, dragging her partner into the flames. With a shout, they shot out the other side and charged along the trail. The next obstacle was well known to everypony who ran the trail. It was known as cart-wreck chasm, and with good reason. The two launched over the edge, trusting their momentum to carry them across the five meter gap, tumbling to a stop on the other side, laughing.

Their laughter stopped abruptly as Thunderlane shot past them, Cheerilee on his back. He landed deftly on his front hooves and galloped past without even slowing down.

Thunderlane rounded the next corner after the chasm and slid hooves struggling to find grip in the mud as he tumbled into the icy river. This was, of course, another part of the challenge. This time of year, the river’s peak was already starting to freeze over at night, and chunks of ice floated down, sapping the heat from the normally pleasant water. This particular section of the river was shallow enough that during the summer, and middle of the winter when the river was dry, carts could be dragged through it safely. Of course, right now, it was cold, and Thunderlane’s feathers trapped the water by his sides as he slogged across. Cheerilee had gone on ahead, preparing for the next obstacle as her short coat shed the water quickly.

After the water was the dreaded gas chamber. Many ponies struggled with the noxious tear gas brought in from Canterlot, but Cheerilee just held her breath, remembering her guard training, and plowed through, eyes closed but burning.

“And currently in the lead is team Iron Hoof and Kajiik. Directly behind in time, but ahead physically, is team Thunderlane and Cheerilee. How in Tartarus are the bookworm teams in the lead? Where are our athletes?” Fleethoof looked over the side of the basket as the teams plowed along, pushing through obstacle after obstacle. The next one would slow those two, she thought. The High-wire was the main choke point in the entire race, followed by another series of obstacles.

Sure enough, the teams started piling up on the ladder up to the wire, scrambling over each-other. Medical teams were already in position to catch any fallers, as this was genuinely the most dangerous part of the run. Here was where the taller races had a slight advantage. A pair of Minotaurs shot up the ladder on the back side, taking advantage of their fingers to haul themselves up and across the bottom of the rope.

Hammer Soot reached the peak barely behind them and started across, basically galloping in a strange linear gait that just barely missed clipping the hands of the second Minotaur. Ferrous was just barely behind her, his paw-pads wrapping around the cable and propelling him forward as his talons slid along the wire in a loose loop that almost took off the Minotaur’s trailing hand as they reached the far side at the same time.

The next obstacle, Hammer loved. Ferrous didn’t. As a Griffon, he was slightly claustrophobic. Thestrals, being natural cave dwellers, weren’t. This narrow barrel tunnel was tight enough that it would have slowed him down if he hadn’t had his team-mate’s talons pushing on his haunches painfully hard. He shot out the other side and streaked across the open plain, ducking, leaping, and flipping around the gobs of mud being flung by magical slings. Each hit would slow him down, so he didn’t let them hit him.

Hammer Soot slid across the line on her back, Ferrous passing overhead in a long leap that ended in a tumble. Almost immediately, they rolled upright and started looking around. One or two ponies had beaten them across the line, but they weren’t from the same team, so it was highly unlikely that Hammer and Ferrous lost the race. Hammer wriggled out of her ropes and looked at the leaderboard. Times were still running on the massive board, but their team count had stopped, not quite at the top, but moving up every few seconds.

Finally, everypony had arrived, and the numbers settled down. Kajiik sighed as he gazed at it. Him and Iron had ultimately come in fifth place. Hammer Soot and Ferrous had come in first, and he turned away as the Thestral grabbed the Griffon and mashed her muzzle against his beak, “Guh. Get a room you two!”

The Art of the Dress

Rarity smiled at the five outfits hanging on ponyquins, three dresses, one suit, and one hybrid of the two for the Thestral. That had been an interesting project to work on, as it was something she had never done before. For five of the Elements of Harmony, the sixth being required by decorum to wear his armor to the Gala, designing clothing was practically a dream come true. Gala dresses were a request that came about once in a decade or so for most tailors. Four at once was unheard of for all but the most prestigious tailors. She had spent two weeks pouring her heart and soul into these dresses, and that suit, and now it was time to show them off. The five, and the Guardspony, all arrived exactly on time. Exactly as was intended, they lined up across from the matching ponyquin, positioned by the Guardspony as their eyes were closed.

“Ok, everypony. You can look now.”

Five pairs of eyes opened, and five jaws dropped.

“What do you think? Very pretty, are they not? I made each outfit just for you, themed specifically to fit your own specific personality. Oh, it took forever to match the colors to your coat, Kajiik. You would think black and white is easy, but in stripes, it really isn’t. And they all turned out so beautiful, don’t you think?”

Kajiik looked at his suit, a black jacket with black striping down the back and sleeves, and a white bowtie in the front. It was amazing, and even had runic patterns embellished in the weave. He recognized most of them, “Rarity, is this why you borrowed my book on runes?”

“Yes…”

Fleethoof somehow managed to slip hers off the dummy and onto herself in a blink, “I love it! It’s beautiful. How does my flank look?” She shook it to show off, and Kajiik nodded dumbly.

Blueberry Jam poked at hers, “What are these funny little flaps here?” She lifted a flap on the back, “They’ll expose my back.”

“Yes. Kajiik told me you had a little spell that would give you wings temporarily, so I added those in case you felt like showing off a little bit,” Rarity had a slightly smug overtone tucked into her words, but it fell in with absolute faith in her words being truth.

They were, of course. Blueberry might very well wish to show off her wings. In fact, she was planning on it, if only to test the waters for when the Changelings officially revealed themselves. She just hadn’t told the others about it, “Yes, well, I might not, and I have the feeling revealing my back while dancing will be inappropriate.” She leaned in closely, and whispered, “Can you button them closed?”

Rarity smiled, and whispered back, “I will certainly try.”

Barkskin admired her dress, a blue and brown, draping thing that had thick ruffles in it. It would be near enough to impossible to tell that she was an athletic Unicorn under there, possibly even make her figure look fuller, like the rich nobles liked, “It’s a little floofy. Can you cut back the ruffles a little? I’d like to be able to move in the thing.”

Rarity took a note on a piece of paper floating in her magic, as Hammer Soot approached the final ponyquin.

The Thestral began examining the fabric, rubbing it against her leathery wing, “This will tear. And the sleeves are not going to be in very good condition after my talons are through with them.”

Rarity’s eyes dimmed, and began to collect water at the base, until Kajiik stepped over to her and put his hoof around her shoulder, “Rarity, perhaps there is some canvas, or even some leather in your stocks?”

Through barely held back tears, Rarity smiled, “Yes, I believe I do. Thank you Kajiik.”

Barkskin stepped into the boutique, “Rarity, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, dear. I finished the modifications you requested. Would you like to look at it?”

The modified dress was much less billowy, revealing her arms and part of her chest. The cut was low enough that Barkskin feared it would be too revealing, “Uh…How low is the waist cut?”

“Don’t worry darling, I made sure it would cover you up. I got all your measurements.”

Barkskin sputtered, “From who?”

“Iron Hoof. He’s really quite good at measuring things. I’d almost say his special talent was measuring, if I didn’t know any better,” Rarity smiled, “Anyway, what do you think?”

“It’s nice…A little more fluff than I’m used to. And my arms would be bare. I don’t do that…”

“Well why not? All the work you do, your arms will have fine definition, a prize for any stallion.”

Barkskin sighed, and pushed up her left sleeve, revealing a pattern of missing fur and scars, “Uh, I didn’t really have the best um…How do I put this…My childhood was…Rough…”

“Oh, of course. I shall fix that immediately. How do you feel about bracelets? A pair of fine copper sleeves?”

“Thank you Rarity.”

“I brought over some more references for my suit, specific runes that will not only look dramatic, but also be entirely harmless should they activate at the Gala.”

“Of course dear. Anything else?”

“Can you get rid of the stripes? It makes my head hurt thinking what that will look like on the floor.”

Rarity nodded.

“Can you make it bouncier? I need it bouncier.”

“These bracelets will break the first time I land on them. Can’t they be made of something stronger than glass?” Blueberry looked at the shoe floating in her magic. Her steel work shoe was larger, and without a doubt would punch holes in the fragile glass with ease. She needed something sturdier so she wouldn’t have to pull out all of the nails before putting on the glass shoes, “And of course, my steel shoes will not be coming off for just the one night. I won’t have enough time logged on this quad to safely get re-shod.”

Rarity smiled, but inside she was screaming. Yes, the customer was always right, but sometimes they forgot that this was for the Grand Galloping Gala. One cannot simply wear work shoes there. Even the workers would plan months in advance to give their hooves time to grow out adequately. As it was, she had to work around normal shoes, but the heavy work-shoes of the farm mare were massive enough to require completely custom shoes with a split heel to distribute the weight evenly. Unicorns were fairly light normally, but farm ponies were generally hefty, even the Unicorns, simply because of the way growth magic worked. Still, she nodded, and ushered the purple Unicorn out the door.

Hammer Soot. Now her dress was a pain. The skirt had to be durable enough to resist the dance floor, and any accidental brushes of those talons. The jacket had to be the same, though some clever work with leather and silk and she could conceal the talons, blunt them a bit without compromising the design of the whole thing. The gloves would have to be subtle, gilded silk perhaps? Yes, of course. That would work.

The test fitting went well, though she had to adjust the seams along the joints, “And you’ll have to remove the spiked elbows before you put the gloves on, or they’ll tear right through.”

Hammer nodded, “Of course.”

Fortunately for Rarity, Hammer Soot was an easy customer. Durable, and nothing else really mattered.

“What do you mean ‘Hoity Toity the Fashion Designer is in town and wants to see my designs!?’ They aren’t ready!” She looked at the mailmare, “I’m sorry Fluttershy, I didn’t mean to shout, I’m just…I don’t know what to do.”

The yellow Pegasus nodded, “It’s alright Rarity. I was kind of hoping to see it too. If that’s alright.”

“Yes of course, dear. I would be happy to have an audience.”

Rarity peeked past the curtain, then back at the four mares and Kajiik, “Ok. It looks like the crowd is ready. You remember what I told you, right?”

Kajiik stepped up and shook his head, tossing his mane to one side before pushing past the curtain and into the lights. It was so bright he couldn’t see anything, but he kept his head high and took five steps exactly, then stepped backwards one, reared up and kicked at the air before dropping back down and spinning. Three backward steps to show off, and a quick trot back into the shelter of the back-stage area. As he passed through, he tapped Hammer Soot on the shoulder.

The Thestral took seven steps, as planned, eye closed entirely. Her eye-patch had been replaced with an embroidered black leather one that matched her mane near enough that the entire left side of her face melted into the black color of her mane. Her talons clicked softly through the gloves as she rose, wings outstretched, onto her rear hooves. The skirt billowed out as she gave a twirl and launched into the air. As planned, she landed in a sweeping bow and spun on her left talon before trotting off-stage and opening her eyes, “Blueberry.”

Blueberry Jam slipped out onto the catwalk, making sure that she didn’t shake the snaps too much, so they wouldn’t rattle until it was time. Two twirls to show off the dress itself, then her wings snapped out in a blaze of green fire, pushing past the snaps and bringing her to all fours facing the other way. She too trotted off the stage quickly, diving under Fleethoof.

The party Pegasus soared out to the end and alighted on the raised director’s box, dress fluffing out around the half-platform. With a twirl, it rose into the air again, sparkling as the gold ribbon concealed in the ruffles was exposed. She landed on all fours and back-stepped twice, rising to her rear hooves and bowing. Even on two legs, she was nimble enough to step back twice, then forward three steps before returning to all fours and trotting off the stage.

Last up was Barkskin, still worrying her new bracelets as she trotted out. She raised her head and spun, throwing the pleats and ruffles into the air as she whirled. As athletic as she was, the ability to balance on her forehooves had come up once or twice, and she did that now, walking on her forehooves as the dress folded around her, revealing the dark green fabric underneath the main skirt. A flip at the end put her back on her rear hooves, and she bowed to Hoity Toity and backstepped four times exactly. One step forward for balance, and she froze, looking out at the audience for a long moment before nearly teleporting herself back behind the curtain, moving so fast it left after-images.

“What was that, Barkskin? You just froze up there,” Kajiik was concerned because he had never seen the weather mare pause for anything, and wanted to get to the bottom of it quickly.

She gave him a sad smile, “I wish I could tell you…” her front hooves crossed, pressing the bracelets together and tucking them back into the ruffles, “I’m sorry.”

“Who was it.”

“I can’t tell you. And don’t try to make Iron get a name either. It isn’t Guard business.”

Best Young Fallers

Blueberry Jam stopped outside the library, her cart, now emptied of merchandise, coasting to a gentle stop at the door. Something was different from when she had passed it this morning. There was a small blimp floating above it, tied on the balcony railing, and she could see a leather clad grey figure hanging off one of the engines, “Hammer! What are you doing up there!?”

The Thestral turned her head, and dropped, wings splaying out to bring her to the ground in a more-or-less gentle crash, “You didn’t hear the news? Cloudsdale’s going to be overhead for the Best Young Flier competition, and Ferrous ‘n me are gonna be in it. I’m getting Kajiik’s blimp ready to sit up there ‘cause him an’ Iron, an you an Barkskin can’t walk on clouds.”

Kajiik leaned out the door of the blimp, “I’m working on it. I’ve almost got a spell to let us walk on clouds, but I haven’t figured out that wing growth spell.”

Blueberry sighed at him, and shook her head. He had been trying to actually make a spell to sprout wings ever since he had seen her true form. Maybe he would eventually figure it out. She gawked up at the blimp, “So, how long until we leave?”

“Forty-eight hours. I’ve got your tickets already onboard. Just dress nice and I’ll get us all enchanted before we arrive.”

She smiled, “Ok.”

The trip up was mostly uneventful, after a bit of a squeeze to get all seven of them into the gondola made for three. Eventually, Barkskin just called up some extra clouds to make a patio around the gondola for Ferrous, Hammer, and Fleethoof to sit on. Upon reaching Cloudsdale, however, it became obvious that many other spectators had the same idea. The sky was full. Kajiik grumbled a little, but he finished drawing the lines on the deck, and with a flash, all of them had the cloud-walking spell on.

Blueberry was the first to test it, as she could pop her wings in an emergency. Proving that it worked, she encouraged the others to step out onto the cloud. With a little bit of a rush, the seven headed across the clouds of the landing field, and into the cloudeseum, a massive ring of clouds open both above and below. Rings of cloud seats filled with Pegasi and Griffons made up the majority of the walls, but there was a booth, the Royal booth, where Princess Celestia sat, along with two other figures, one a dark blue, the other a faded grey. The blue one was curled up on a cloud pillow, hiding her head from the bright sun, but the grey one stood tall, head high in the air.

The group split up, letting Hammer and Ferrous slip down to the staging deck as they made a path for the stands.

There were a good fifteen pairs in the staging deck as Hammer arrived, and she swiped their numbers as she signed in. They were going up as number thirteen, together. From what she saw, several of the other groups were going as pairs, but there would still be about twenty presentations.

Up in the Royal Booth, Princess Celestia raised her hoof, ready to present the opening act, the Wonderbolts. Before she could open her mouth, a grey, weathered hoof pressed hers back down to the cloud, “May I do the introduction, Daughter?”

She nodded to the elderly creature at her side. A Norse Arachnipony, Sleipnir stood half again as tall as Princess Celestia, on eight legs. His wide stare caught everyponies eyes as he stepped up to the railing and raised his forehooves. With a rumble that could make even stone quiver, he spoke. The Royal Voice, ”Children of my Children. Descendants of Wind and Fire. I welcome you to this, the One hundred and Seventy Third Best Young Fliers Competition.”

His voice tapered off as a scream tore through the air. A white smoke trail and a red smoke trail intertwined into the middle of the circle, where they stopped abruptly. Two Pegasi in blue jumpsuits with yellow streaks on them, one golden furred, the other the color of freshly cleared sky. Their right forehooves barely touched as they hovered in place for a moment before spinning into a tornado of white and red smoke that exploded out across the crowd, exposing an empty chasm in the middle.

“Ha! I never get tired of that, Spits,” the blue pony, a stallion, slapped his hoof on the other’s back.

Merlin Spitfire shook her head. Her partner and second in command of the Wonderbolts, Armstrong Scimitar, was a fifteenth generation combat flier, but a showpony at heart, “Soarin, I will cut off your wings if you touch my back again.” And he was far too touchy feely for her. Always poking at everything he could get his hooves on. It was why he only had his left ear. The right one was entirely prosthetic after a ‘Completely Unexpected Early Detonation of a smoke rocket’ that had been slung over his back. Backwards. The green smoke had stained him almost jungle green for three months, and the launching charge had burned his ear clean through at the root. Exactly like she said would happen if he poked at it instead of focusing on the run.

He didn’t even look hurt at the potential risk to his wings, or scared. She figured that was because he was insane. He was literally only allowed to fly in the Wonderbolts because of his father, though he had definitely earned his rank.

The first thirteen presentations went well, and it was time for Ferrous and Hammer to go out and present their show. Five minutes. Both unseated their enchanted hammers, and flew out, dragging the heavy metal tools through the air. Taking up their places on the scattered clouds, they began to recreate a mythical tale.

In five minutes, of course, they couldn’t do the whole thing, but the first act of ‘How Equestria was Made’ was a drastic event. Even sped up so it didn’t take two hours, they had needed to clip out most of the speaking, leaving in only a few key shouts. And swinging of hammers.

Very intentionally, they slammed the hammers together, the impact making a rainbow burst of light that tore across the arena. Hammer stood on air, her wings flapping slowly but powerfully, “Loki Laufey, Liesmith, Thorsbrother, Errantson, I Exile thee from Asgard to a new world, where trouble will seek you, never to let you rest. None shall believe your lies, nor, indeed, your truths. BEGONE!” And with that, Hammer swung her hammer into the cloud she had been standing on, setting off a ball of lightning that flashed bright enough to nearly blind everypony in the stands.

Returning to the staging deck, they encountered the towering grey stallion, who leaned in and whispered in a voice that nopony else heard, and if they had, would have denied it. At the same time, it was chilling, and steaming. It ripped through the Thestral and Griffon, yet touched as light as a feather, Excellent performance, my children’s children. I regret to say though, that the true story was not nearly so dramatic. I certainly don’t remember my father wielding a hammer against the Allfather. A spear, yes. But the hammer was always my uncle’s weapon.”

Ferrous swallowed, “What do you mean, the True story? I thought the whole thing was a myth.”

Sleipnir let out a sound that was half derisive snort, half giggle, and entirely unsettling, “If only it was that simple. Let me tell you a story…”

A scream of fear tore out of the smaller of the last pair as a gust of wind slammed her into her partner. Her wings crumpled and she dropped out of the sky, scream fading out as she lost consciousness. The Wonderbolts launched, but they had been running non-stop for three hours, doing a presentation every fifth show. They would never be able to catch up. And with how low they had been to start with, she was already out of range of the emergency crews.

Blueberry launched herself over the edge, casting quickly, first an acceleration spell to boost her faster than her legitimate terminal velocity, then a strength spell to help her wings as they tore from her back. Her hooves wrapped around the unconscious mare, and her wings flared, burning with the strain of doing a hard-brake. The Wonderbolts arrived and took the load off of her quickly as her wings disappeared in a cloud of green fire.

“You saved her. It’s ok. You’re both safe. How in Tartarus did you do that? I’ve never seen a Unicorn sprout wings out of nowhere.”

“I’mma special Unicorn. Blueberry Jam, Ponyville.”

The Wonderbolt carrying her nodded, “Armstrong Scimitar. My fans call me Soarin.”

“Nice t’meet you Soarin. You mind setting me with my friends? Row eight. They’ll take care of me.”

”It would appear that the show is over. What a shame. I shall have to finish my tale later. May the ancient winds be at your back, and fly safe.”

Welcome to the Show

“Where are we going, Blueberry?” The little Griffon, Cuuper, hopped up into the air beside Blueberry Jam.

She sighed, and muttered under her breath, “Far away from town,” her voice rose to audible as she finished, “Somewhere you can hang out, besides the kitchen.”

The six ‘Destiny Knights’ trailed behind her in a line, and Blueberry had to keep glancing over her shoulder to check that they were still there, and that Scootaloo hadn’t tackled Sweetie Belle into another pile of brambles. Finally they arrived, and she stepped aside, presenting her old treehouse to them.

The spit-adhesive she had used originally had long since degraded away, leaving just the rotten wood and rusty nails hanging off the tree.

“What is it?” Sweetie Belle was the first to speak up, followed by Strawberry Punch.

“I think it’s a tree house,” she had no idea, since it resembled more a pile of scrap than a house.

Rumble just stood there and shuddered at the mess that used to be a treehouse.

Applebloom was the next to comment, “It looks like the one Applejack told me to stay out of on our farm, except it has a ramp. Applejack’s doesn’t, so I can’t even get to it.”

“Well, I think you could use it as a clubhouse. It used to be mine, when I was your age. I know it looks like it hasn’t been used in a few years, but it’s empty, and on a secluded part of the farm, well away from the important crops,” she smiled, “It’s all yours. It just needs a little TLC.”

Scootaloo scoffed, “Tender Loving Care, or Total Lost Cause?”

“How are we supposed to make this into a clubhouse?” Applebloom added.

Blueberry pointed her horn at the rotten timbers, “Well, maybe you’ll get Cutie Marks for house building or something?”

Scootaloo’s wings buzzed as she helped Rumble lift a new beam into place. The timber was fresh, purchased with some bits Applejack and Ferrous had given them, after a bit of sweet talking from Cuuper and Apple Bloom. The treehouse was coming together nicely, actually a bit larger than it had been originally. Probably because they were following some plans Strawberry had swiped from Kajiik, when they had gone to the library to look up building codes.

It had the ramp leading into a large room, with the tree as a centerpiece, and enough room for them to store all of the extra pieces of equipment they had bought, or borrowed, then up a pair of spiral ramps, a second floor made up of three rooms built onto the strong branches. One room was for Cuuper and Rumble to decorate however they wanted, while the fillies shared the other two. Between the six of them, it was almost complete by the time Blueberry called them all in for dinner.

Scootaloo hooked her scooter onto the front of the wagon they had borrowed, and all of the others except Rumble climbed in. He decided that it would be safer to fly overhead back to the house.

“So, what have you gotten done today?” Raspberry Jam asked them as they trotted in the door. He had been told about the treehouse, and had even snuck out to take a peek a few hours before, but he knew stoking their egos would get it done sooner, and he could get his tools back.

Sweetie Belle’s voice rang out first, “We’ve got a map, and a clubhouse, and transport, and I wrote a theme song, and we’re going to need to borrow some stuff tomorrow, we’re thinking about trying cloud surfing.”

The large stallion stopped abruptly, “No. Half of you can’t fly, and neither of you Unicorns have enough power to cast cloudwalk on yourselves, let alone others.” He was already planning what to tell the weatherponies so they could keep an eye out for the ‘Knights’.

Cuuper objected loudly, “I won’t let them fall,” it was true, mostly. His wings were rather large for a Griffon chick, already almost as broad as his elder sister, despite his age. Of course, he still hadn’t learned how to catch a non-griffon in his talons without injuring them.

“Why don’t you stop breaking things around town,” Rarity shooed her sister out the door, “Go try something else.”

Cheerilee caught the six as they made their way down the road, dejected, bruised, and bearing the signs of everything they had tried that day, “Children, you’re going about this all the wrong way. Instead of trying to get your cutie marks in things you aren’t familiar with, why don’t you try something you are good at?” She pulled out a flyer for the school talent show, “Try this. It’s the perfect place to start.”

“That would be perfect. We could get our talents for Juggling!”

“Acting?”

“Magic Tricks!”

“Square dancing?”

“Tightrope walking!”

“Tiger taming!” Five sets of eyes glared at Scootaloo.

Cheerilee just pressed her hoof to her forehead, “You’re missing the point, children. Think about what you already enjoy doing. Think about what you’re already good at.”

“Sure, we can do that.”

“Of course, Miss Cheerilee.”

“No problem Teach.”

“Sweetie, where are you taking my sewing machine?”

“Don’t worry, Rarity, I’ll bring it back after the talent show!”

“Thanks bro, we’ll bring your fan back soon.”

Thunderlane stared at his brother, then at his home gym, which was now lacking in a decent breeze, “What?”

“Six two-by-fours, four sheets of plywood, a box of nails, four cans of paint, and four brushes,” Scootaloo smiled sweetly over the counter at the hardware store, standing on Strawberry’s back.

The clerk rolled his neck back to look at the stocks, “And what colors of paint will you be needing?”

“Red, Yellow, Blue, and um…”

“Black,” Strawberry called up from below.

“Ghosts, Goblins, and Ghoulish Figures? What on Equestria do you need that for?” Kajiik hoofed the book over to Apple Bloom, and she darted out the door, “Thank you. We’ll give it back as soon as we’re done with it!”

“Cuuper, you better bring back those tools. Master Bruin will be cross with you if you don’t.”

“Yes, Hammer. I’ll bring them back tomorrow-ish.”

“Ok, Knights. Props are good. We’ve got the song written out. Costumes look great, Sweetie Belle. Now what’s left?” Cuuper looked at the list, “Oh, right, PRACTICE!” He was the only member of the group with any sense of practice, probably because it was how he had learned to hunt. The fillies and Rumble didn’t have the instinct yet to repeat an action until it became habit. Though it occurred to him that using his eyrie voice inside the clubhouse was probably not the best move. Nor was baring his teeth.

This occurred to him when he felt a pair of teeth close around his throat, and a pair of hooves slamming his wings into the deck. The teeth released him, and his talons went to his neck to check for blood, even as Strawberry Punch sheepishly rolled off of him, “Sorry…Instinct. Uh…Don’t bare your teeth at me…Please.”

“Oh. Kay. Anyway, uh, I’m not bleeding, so let’s get to practicing our act,” Cuuper rolled his neck and flapped his wings as he took position on top of one of the sets. Sweetie Belle slid onto the stage with a smile. Scootaloo joined her, and Cuuper’s talons started sliding across the electronics panel he had swiped from Vinyl Scratch. Without asking. She would kill him if she found out.

Applejack nudged Blueberry, “They’re pretty good, right?” She cringed a little as Strawberry swept Sweetie Belle off her hooves and slid across the temporary stage, then off the end.

Blueberry just pulled her hat down over her eyes, her other hoof pushing Applejack’s down, “They sound good at least.”

“…And on the count of Three, this rabbit will disappear, and something tasty will appear in its place,” The bunny looked furious, arms crossed and a scowl on its otherwise adorable face. Most of the audience felt at least a little sympathy for the poor creature Snips held in his magic, one mare even had her hooves over her eyes, like she didn’t want to see it.

“A one, a two, and a three,” the rabbit floated into the hat, and out floated something else. It resembled thin noodles, at least until the yellow strands exposed the head of a filly, “SNAILS! Where’d the carrots go?”

His partner in the act failed to conceal the carrot he was chewing on in time.

“Ok, that’s it for the Snips and Snails Magic Act,” Cheerilee sighed, and waved the two off the stage, “Up next, Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie in ‘Poetry in Motion’.”

“Are you sure you’re ready? This is a really complex act for the amount of time you’ve been able to prepare in,” Kajiik looked up from the script he had been provided by Cuuper, “I mean, even the Royal Playwright Company wouldn’t do something like this without weeks of preparation, and they’re professionals.”

Cuuper nodded, “I agree. I know I can handle the lights and the soundboard…And get them back to Miss Scratch before she notices I borrowed them.”

“Right. No criminal acts that I’d have to report…” Kajiik smiled weakly at the young Griffon, “I better not have to see that report across Iron’s desk.”

Cuuper nodded, “Affirmative, Sir. You won’t see a thing.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. Break a leg,” he watched the Griffon go, followed by the rest of the act. Cuuper would be down in the orchestral pit, while the other five would be up on stage.

Cuuper settled onto a pile of pillows he had placed with the board, and spread his wings across the panels, his talons taking up the middle, “Begin!”

The haunting sounds of the music floated patiently out of the speakers, almost passively dissonant to their purpose. Smoke floated out over the stage, concealing Scootaloo and Rumble, wearing matching costumes, with one major difference. Rumble’s grey wings were concealed beneath chainmail, while Scootaloo’s were encased in ribbon streamers. The black leather glinted as the stage lights burned into the smoke.

He slowly dialed up the microphone volume, “Look here, at six little ponies, ready to sing for the crowd!”

Scootaloo leaned back as Rumble leaned forward, lifting her into the air. The music softened only slightly, “Listen up, ‘cause here’s our story.” A little wobble on the filters, and her voice came out hauntingly deep, with a crackle of lightning echoing through.

Rumble’s voice melted in with an echoing melody that slowly rolled over Scootaloo’s voice, “When you’re a younger pony, and your flank is very bare…” his voice went cold, almost angry, with a slight offset reverberation, “…Like the sun will never come, when your Cutie Mark’s not there.”

Two more voices rolled in, crackling with power from the two Unicorns, “So now, we must fight! There is nothing that we fear! We’ll have to figure out what we’ll do next!”

All five melted into a haunting background moan as Apple Bloom’s gritty voice took center stage and she stepped between Rumble and Scootaloo, “Till our Cutie Marks are here!”

The two Pegasi rolled to their hooves, wings flared behind Apple Bloom, “Like the Knights of Old, on a quest to find who we are!”

Two horns lit up and wind ripped across the stage, filling it with thick black fog that rolled over the stage and filled the orchestral pit, concealing the Griffon from sight entirely.

“They say you’ll get your mark, when the time is right! And you know,” Applebloom cut out and dipped below the smoke, her black body-sock blending in perfectly, “Just what you’re supposed to do, And your talent comes to light!” The stage lights flipped from an illuminating white to a fearsome red that accented the makeup on the two Pegasi’s faces and made the ribbons look like dripping blood.

Scootaloo dropped backwards, dramatically, into Rumble’s waiting hooves as he threw his head back, “But it’s not as easy as it sounds,” Cuuper had to hold back a snort as Rumble’s voice cracked, “And that waiting is so hard to do…”

Sweetie Belle stepped into the brilliant spotlight, a single spot of white shining off her hip as the red flooded everything else, “So we test our talents everywhere,” the fog blew away in a gust of wind, revealing that Sweetie Belle was less than a hoofspan from the edge of the platform. The red light went blue, and she spun, falling off the platform, into a new cloud of white, “Until our faces are blue!”

“Like the Knights of Old, on a quest to find who we are!” Rumble’s wings flapped, rattling the chainmail loudly, timed to conceal the sound of Sweetie Belle landing with a thump on the cloud, a real one Rumble had snuck under the set earlier. He raised his hoof into the air as Scootaloo returned to his side, dropping to her knees and wrapping her forelimbs around his leg.

He stopped wobbling, having a stable-ish platform to lean on as the lights went down and the sound cut out. As soon as the crowd disappeared into darkness, he dropped to all fours and they hurried off the stage, meeting up with the rest of the Knights.

“I can’t believe that worked!” Scootaloo grinned, and flapped her wings, “I hope it was caught on film.”

Applebloom wrapped a hoof around Sweetie Belle’s shoulder, “I saw at leas’ two cameras out there. Anypony else want ta throw up?”

Cuuper mimed gagging, then genuinely coughed up some black fog, “Maybe next time we don’t use Hammer’s vegetable soup as our fog juice. That stuff’s rank!”

“Oh quit whining, you carnivore,” Strawberry jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, “It’s not like some veggie juice is gonna hurt you.”

“Alright, time to get back up on stage. Awards are being passed out,” Cheerilee seemed far too excited about giving fillies and colts large pieces of pointy metal, but they followed her back to the stage anyway.

“Alright, our first award of the night,” Kajiik held up the tall metal model of a pointed hat that resembled a dunce cap far too much for his liking, “Snips and Snails, for Best Magic Act!” Only magic act. And it was blindingly obvious how they did it. Runic window etched into the hat. The other end was inside Snail’s coat, which he hadn’t been wearing, hence the poor filly getting pulled through.

Cheerilee lifted the next award, “And Best Poetry goes to Canyon Carver,” The young Thestral trotted up and grabbed the fake gold book in his teeth, smiling as he moved over to the line of winners.

After what seemed like forever, Kajiik finally got to the award he wanted to give out. It weighed as much as a filly, and stood taller than he did, with three posts and a golden microphone on top, “And the final award of the night. For Most Dramatic, The Destiny Knights, with their original song, Trials of the Mark.”

It took three of them to lift the monstrous trophy, and he could hear them arguing about who got to display it at home as they trotted away. The argument devolved into a wrestling match, and he cringed as the sound of breaking metal hit his ears. Moments later, though, the fight was silenced by Strawberry Punch, “How are we going to fix this?”

Appleloosa, Part 1

“How fast do you think we’re going?” Hammer Soot mashed her muzzle against the window of the train, fangs scraping at the glass.

Kajiik looked out the window on his side of the carriage, “Ninety kilometers per hour. That’s what this stretch of rail is rated at.”

Blueberry Jam sighed and tried to tuck her head into her pillow, “How long is this train ride?”

“Twelve hours,” Iron Hoof gave off no hint of caring how long the journey would be. It was, after all, shorter than many of the rides he had sat through before being assigned to Kajiik. And even after.

Blueberry let out a muffled groan, “Couldn’t we have taken the airship closer?”

Barkskin shook her head, “No, Appleloosa doesn’t have an airstrip. The only reason this isn’t a longer trip by train is because the Soviets are Equestria’s allies, so we can go from Moscow’s airstrip.”

“But it’s so boring…”

“Go to sleep Berry,” Kajiik waved his hoof, “Don’t make me waste chalk on you.”

The train rolled up the rails, clattering along with almost a mile of carriages behind it. Inside the powerful engine, three stallions kept watch. One fed coal into the engine, while the other two pointed shotguns out the side windows.

“I see something. Incoming stampede!”

“Some on this side too. We’ve gotta slow down for this stretch…Clever bastards.”

“They knew where we had to slow down. They planned this.”

“Coal, how fast can we take these turns?”

“With a train this long, this heavy, not more than eight K. We’ll have to cover the train all the way through.”

“I don’t think we can.”

The train rattled around the first corner in the steep, zig-zagging trail up the side of the mountain leading into the Coltorado plateau. The wheels rumbled as the machine steamed up the hill, but it struggled as the first Buffalo slammed into the side. A second slammed into the next carriage, and the whole train rippled, struggling to stay on the rails.

Hammer fell to the floor with a thump, “Mwahhuh? Trains don’t shake like this normally. Do they?” The train shuddered again, and she sat up, looking out the window. Her talons started jabbing Kajiik in the side, “Kajiik, train’s under attack!”

The Zebra rolled over and looked at her, eyes half closed, “Trains don’t get attacked. ‘Cept by dragons. Nopony else is big enough to even consider…” the train shuddered again, and he spun around, looking out the window and throwing Hammer to the floor again.

The train lurched again, “I’m going to give those Buffalo a piece of my mind.” She stormed to the back of the carriage, and slipped through the gap between the carriages, “Come here you little!”

The carriage rocked away from her, and the wind dragged her away, flinging her to the ground. She tumbled to a stop, groaning as a buffalo leaped over her, then another stepped on her.

Kajiik galloped to the front of the carriage and pushed his way through, glad that the passenger quarters were so close to the engine, for the first time that he could remember. He scrambled up onto the tender, and staggered across the coal, dropping down into the engine. Immediately, he raised his forehooves, “Don’t shoot! I’m here to help!”

The stallion shoveling the coal in stopped, “How are you going to help us stop a stampeded? Can you even use a shotgun?”

The Zebra smirked and whipped out a pair of sticks of chalk and started climbing up onto the outside of the boiler. “Where are you going?” another stallion shouted at him, “That’s not for passengers!” he left out that it was also not for crew while the train was in motion at all, but the Zebra didn’t seem to care, staggering up the walkway and hoofboards.

Kajiik reached the front of the locomotive and dropped between the light fixtures. Wind blowing his mane about, he turned and started dragging the chalk across the front of the boiler. A last impact of his hoof on the center of the runes forced his own energy into the chalk, then through it. The engine let out a bellow of steam pressure as the heat was torn forward and forced through the runes. The wheels went suddenly very silent, adhering to the track as Kajiik fought his way back to the engine, “Floor it!”

The crew stared at him, “I cast an adhesion spell on the train. As long as nothing damages the pattern, you can go as fast as the engine can handle!”

The train started roaring across the tracks, screaming away from the buffalo, except for one that managed to get up on top of the carriages. She slipped between the cargo carriages and the passenger carriages, and started kicking at the coupling. Several hits, and it came loose, the wheels locking up. The carriages screeched to a halt, almost throwing the small Buffalo to the dirt, “Ha! We got it!”

The train hissed to a stop at the edge of a primitive station, little more than a set of mobile stairs at the end of each carriage. Kajiik slipped down first, “Sheriff? Where’s the sheriff’s office? We need to report an attack.”

A brown stallion stepped up, nodding, “Ah’m the sheriff here. Braeburn Apple. Ah noticed half the train’s missin’. Buffalo?”

“Yeah. We got away from them, but we couldn’t stop them from getting the food-stuffs.”

Braeburn’s hoof pinched his hat, “We need that food to last the year, until the trees are ready to bear fruit. Or at least until next month’s train arrives.”

Kajiik nodded, “How many times has this happened?”

“Ever since we first arrived. We’ve been living off the last little bits of the first train and whatever we can scrounge up of the desert plants.”

“Have you tried talking to the Buffalo?” Now Fleethoof was getting in on the conversation, “Maybe you can talk them into…”

“Tried it. They said no,” Braeburn growled, “They want us to pack up and move our trees. We can’t do that.”

“Are there other options?” Iron Hoof clanked down the stairs, armor still shining silver in the light, “Maybe you just need some more authority. Let us help.”

“Celestia…My head…” Hammer Soot clutched her head in her talons, “What ha…” her eyes opened and she froze. All around her were Buffalo. Male and female. And wearing all manner of garb from tanned leather to strings of beads. One of the smaller females leaned over her, muttering something she couldn’t understand.

“What? I can’t understand you.”

A few more unintelligible words pushed into her ears, before the Buffalo traced lines on her muzzle with a hoof. The next words, she understood, “You hit your head when you fell off the train. We patched you up, but you’ll want to stay off that hoof,” the Buffalo pointed at her right rear-hoof, wrapped in a thick layer of plaster, “At least a week.”

She nodded, then something occurred to her, “Where am I?”

“You are in the healer’s tent of Thunderhooves Tribe. We had to bring you along.”

“Who are you ponies? Did you tell anypony you were taking me?”

“No. They left you behind. You got a minor concussion.”

Hammer sighed, “Alright. Which way is Appleloosa? And who are you?”

“My name is Strongheart. Thunderhooves is our Chief, my father. Appleloosa is fifteen miles south. You’ll never make it on three hooves.”

“You kidnapped me!” The Buffalo looked hurt, and shrank back against the side of the tent as Hammer’s talons flicked in and out and the Thestral took to the air, “Let me make this clear. I am one of the six Elements of Harmony. Kidnapping me is essentially a capital crime against Equestria. I would be justified in slitting all of your throats and leaving.”

Strongheart started pushing herself against the side of the tent, like she was trying to push through it. Probably to get away from the furious Thestral, “We saved your life. We’re sending a delegation to Appleloosa tomorrow after breakfast. You will be coming with.”

Hammer landed softly, wincing as her injured leg touched down, “I don’t want to kill you, but if you cross me. If you lied to me…” Her talons slid across each-other, making a grinding noise that shook the young Buffalo’s nerves. She slipped out the flap of the tent and closed it, trapping the Thestral inside.

“You’re meeting with them tomorrow. No argument. No discussion. You WILL figure out a solution to this problem,” Iron Hoof scowled at Braeburn and stormed off, “Isn’t there supposed to be a Guard regiment out here? What happened to ‘One in Every Fucking Town!’, Huh?”

Kajiik sighed, and watched his friend trot away, “Blueberry, can you give me a hoof here? We need to have a plan. Fleethoof, go talk to the locals. Take the sheriff. Barkskin, see what you can do about the weather. If we can get some mud going, it’ll make a stampede harder if the diplomacy doesn’t fix it.”

The Unicorn looked at the Sheriff, “Where is your weather station?”

“We…Uh…There isn’t one. We’ve only got two Pegasi here, and they tend to meet at the bar to plan.”

She sighed, cupped a hoof over her eyes, and trotted off, “Why in Celestia’s name would you start a town without a weather station!”

“Alrighty, Sheriff, come with me. Who do we know who can help us make this shindig go according to plan?” Fleethoof wrapped a wing around Braeburn’s shoulder, sliding a feather into his saddlebags surreptitiously.

“Ok, so how do we talk to a Buffalo tribe about letting Appleloosa leave their trees here. And why would the Buffalo be against it?” Kajiik’s hoof traced out lines on the dirt, “We need more information on them. Can you…?”

Blueberry smiled, and started trotting off, “Already on it.”

Iron Hoof stopped at a barely stable structure with iron bars on the windows, and Sheriff written over the door. Even in the smallest towns, the sheriff’s office shared a building with the Guard HQ. That meant that the roster of even reserve guard should be posted in the event active Guard needed that information. Unfortunately, there was only one name on the list. Braeburn Apple. “Shit. Town like this should have a full regiment until they get stable. And this situation is definitely not stable,” he pressed a hoof to his radio, “Kajiik, is there a broadcast station here?”

His earphone crackled, ”No. We’ve got nothing. We’ll have to send it by train back to Stalliongrad. That’s the nearest broadcast station.”

“Dammit. Get a runner going. Don’t we have a courier here?”

”Negative. Monthly postal run, on the train.”

He blinked, “I hate this place. Why can’t we let the Buffalo run it over again?”

Celestial order. We need to establish this outpost to refill trains going to the Salt Flats outpost, so we can get cargo out to Ursland for trade.”

“Right,” Iron sighed, “Why in Tartarus don’t we have a Guard regiment on such a vital route.”

Kajiik groaned, “Couldn’t afford it. Even with Reserves, we’re still stuck short by a few hundred thousand.” Or more. The largest number of Guardsponies was in Canterlot. Fifteen Thousand of them, for a population of over five million. And less than a thousand for Manehattan and Detrot. As it was, the Guard was spread so thin that a town of five hundred rated one, maybe two ranking ponies and five or six reserves. A town like Appleloosa, fifty ponies total, one reserve was about the limit.

Appleloosa, Part 2

“I don’t think I have a concussion. I’ve had one before, you know,” Hammer looked at the medicine Buffalo sitting in the tent with her, “Last time I got a concussion, I was bleeding out of my eye-socket,” she bumped the back of her head with a talon, and caught the crystal and brass assembly as it fell out of her face. She glanced at the back of it, “No blood. That means the fragmented bone didn’t get shoved through anything. See, this right here is where my brain connects directly to the lens array.”

She pointed to the back of the structure with a talon, where several wires protruded into the air, “See, if I had anything wrong with my brain, that would be bloody, and probably leaking.”

“Uh huh. You hit your head pretty hard there, didn’t you missy.”

A hiss slipped out of Hammer’s lips, “Let me go. Seriously, this isn’t funny. I am an Element of Harmony. Do you know what that means?”

“Do I care. That’s the question,” the medicine Buffalo shrugged, “Nope. You attacked my clan, and you helped ponies that are trying to destroy my clan’s stampeding grounds. That means you get to stay here until tomorrow, when we go to the diplomatic event. There, you will be used as a bargaining chip to get us our land back.”

“This land,” Chief Thunderhooves spat, “has been in my tribe since my father’s father’s father was but a concept in Faust’s mind. We have stampeded this trail for many generations. It is a sacred tradition to run this path every year. But this year, we found these…Settlers, Appleloosans, they planted trees all over without asking permission.”

“Well that’s not very nice,” Fleethoof shook her head, “Don’t trees take a few years to grow though?”

Strongheart sighed, “Normally, yes. But this land was gifted to us by Faust herself. Things grow faster here, and live longer.”

“But why do you need to stampede through here?” Kajiik waved his hoof across the plain behind him.

Chief Thunderhooves let out a grunt, “We cannot. This land is ours, and those trees are in our way. We are prepared to make an offer.”

Iron Hoof nodded, “What is your offer?”

“You ponies move those trees somewhere else, not in our stampeding grounds, and we give back your nightmare," he muttered something under his breath that Kajiik didn't catch.

Kajiik and Iron stared at the Buffalo, “What do you mean?”

A pair of Buffalo with war-paint on stomped up, carrying Hammer Soot between them, lashed to a wooden framework, “Your nightmare. She attacked us when we made our attempt to redirect your supplies out of our territory.”

Blueberry looked at the Thestral, and cupped a hoof over her muzzle, barely stifling a snort, “Our nightmare?” Another snort slipped out, and she started laughing, rolling on the dirt, legs kicking in the air, “Our nightmare!”

The chief looked at the purple Unicorn rolling on the dirt, “What is so funny, child? It is a child of the darkness and fear.”

Blueberry stopped rolling around as Barkskin placed a hoof on her leg, “Yes. But she is on our side.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow. She is restrain…Urk!” Chief Thunderhooves stopped abruptly as a pair of brass talons wrapped around his neck.

“See, I’m not their nightmare. I’m yours. This discussion is over, you will find a new territory to stampede over, or as a child of Thanatos, I will paint the orchard red,” a horrifyingly familiar tune slipped between the Thestral's lips.

The two Buffalo that had been holding her rack were now on the ground in growing puddles of red, “You know, I’m one of the Elements of Harmony. I don’t think I’ve told you yet which one,” the Thestral grinned, baring her fangs, “Efficiency. Or maybe it was Nightmare, since you seem so convinced that that’s what I am.”

Kajiik started to step forward, to stop Hammer from causing a more severe diplomatic catastrophe, but Iron caught him, “I believe Hammer has this under control.”

“Sheriff, they’re coming! I don’t think the diplomacy happened. Sheriff!”

Braeburn shook his mane out of his eyes and pulled his hat on before stepping outside. And immediately stepping back inside, “STAMPEDE!”

Kajiik watched the Buffalo charging, through the window of the hotel, “Huh. I thought Hammer was pretty persuasive.”

“She threatened to slit their throats and leave the bodies to rot if they didn’t find someplace else to stampede,” Iron Hoof just groaned as his armored hoof hefted a shotgun, “I really, really hope we don’t have to kill them all.”

A loud clank hit the dirt beside him, “I’m looking forward to it,” Hammer’s eyes glinted, not with the sunlight, but with darkness. Her teeth dripped with saliva, forming a puddle onto the dirt, “I’ll take ‘em all on!”

Iron sighed, “Elements of Harmony, right? Kajiik?”

“That…May have been a mistranslation. There’s over a hundred of them out there, and I guessed at the specific ones there, probably missed a couple of them.”

“So what element did Hammer actually have?”

“Before we defeated the Nightmare, I don’t know yet. I’ve been cross-referencing the magical signatures, but that takes time. Now, she’s picked up the darkness itself.”

The first Buffalo to cross the line made it four steps before his forelimbs split under the assault of Hammer’s weapon. The Thestral spun on her hooves, twirling the Warhammer with far more grace than anypony would have expected from one so devoted to brute force. Not that the grace interfered with her brute force in any way, as the heavy weapon crashed through Buffalo after Buffalo, shattering ribs and skulls alternately with hooves.

Kajiik started scraping his hooves against the dirt as bullets started to fly from the townsponies, and arrows flew from the Buffalo. A brilliant light shot up from the ground, echoing out with the sound of a titanic bell, forcing the combatants to the ground with a wall of sound. As the ringing stopped and the light faded, he noticed that only one pony still stood. Dripping blood and chunks of Buffalo meat, Hammer Soot balanced lightly on her hooves, talons thrust into the air with her hammer balanced across her shoulders. Her wings were tilted slightly down, trails of blood running off them like crimson rivers.

With a flick of her shoulders, the blood splattered across two Buffalo who were trying to stand up after the assault. Kajiik noticed a glint of black on her wrist, the fearsome color of the Nightmare, manifesting itself with her teeth fully exposed, ”CEASE!”

Fleethoof darted up and tackled the Thestral off the Buffalo corpse she was standing on, even as the sheriff stepped up onto a hay bale, “Ok, now that that’s over, can we PLEASE have a peaceful discussion about what we intend to do?”

Strongheart stepped up, leaving the other Buffalo on the ground, “We cannot change our stampeding grounds. I understand that you need these trees to survive. I would like to make an arrangement to move the trees to a different location, where they are not in anyponies way.”

“Your tribe has lived here longer, miss Strongheart. Perhaps you know of a better location.”

It was obvious that they were nervous, and trying not to cause another diplomatic incident, also known as a genocidal rampage. Which it would be if Hammer could stand up with three of her friends piled on her back, and two Buffalo to boot.

“I agree. We will collect our dead and remove them to our sacred burial lands, and convene in one week’s time to discuss the new location of the trees.”

Braeburn nodded and held up a hoof, which Strongheart took with a forced smile, and shook.

“Fare well, and I will see you in a week,” Braeburn waved as he turned to the other townsponies, “Alright, colts. Let’s get these bodies rounded up and would somepony get…Oh…Put in a telegraph for a new undertaker.”

Tales of the Cutie

“Why is none of this working! How come we can’t get our Cutie Marks?” Apple Bloom scowled at the list of attempts on the wall of the clubhouse, covered in black lines crossing out suggestion after suggestion.

Sweetie Belle lifted her head out of the tub they had set in the middle of the floor, pulling on a clump of sap stuck in her mane. Again, “Oww. Cuuper, can you get this chunk?”

The Griffon dug his talons into the purple and pink mane, and started dragging them through carefully, gripping with one side, and pulling with the other. The sap slid out slowly, bit by bit, “I’m guessing we need to try things that relate to our talents, not just throwing ourselves at everything we see.”

Scootaloo spat out a chunk of Rumble’s mane, and started rubbing at the sap in it, “We’ve gone through a dozen bottles of shampoo in a week. Maybe we should start asking the other ponies in town how they got theirs. Get some new ideas,” she gritted her teeth and jerked a stubborn hunk of sap out of Rumble’s hair, “Or we can try my brilliant plan.” Her hoof absently pointed to the last suggestion on the list, and the only one not crossed out. Cannon-fired ponies.

A chorus of “No!” rang out through the treehouse, if muffled slightly by the water and suds, followed by Strawberry Punch popping her head up out of the water, “I think we should start with family. They’ll probably be more open about their stories.”

This time the chorus was unanimous in the affirmative.

“So, y’all want to hear how I got my Cutie Mark then?” Applejack looked at the assembled fillies and colts, “Well, shoot, Ah was barely older than y’all.”

Iron Hoof looked at the Destiny Knights, and shook his head, “I didn’t have it when I went into the service. I thought maybe by getting out to see the world, my mark would show itself.”

”On your knees MAGGOTS! Give me eighty!” The white Unicorn stallion towering over Iron Hoof stomped on the dirt in front of him, “I want to see your eyeballs sweat!”

Iron growled under his breath, but said nothing, even as the commander stepped up to a small filly, barely old enough to convincingly lie about her age, “Give me real pushups, or get off my field!”

“She was too stubborn to give up there, or ever really, but she couldn’t keep up in combat training.”

”Block! Block the strike!” The drill sergeant was swinging his pugil stick faster and faster, striking the filly’s failing defenses, when the staff stopped abruptly.

“What’s this now,” he looked down at the grey colt gripping the pugil stick in his teeth, “It’s supposed to be one-on-one, maggot eight. Where is your partner?”

Iron rolled the stick in his teeth, “Right in front of me.” The staff floated away from his mouth and landed on the ground.

“I believe I gave you explicit orders to stand in line with Maggot Four. And wait your turn!”

“I believe you were beating on a defenseless filly. AFTER she begged you to stop!” he pointed at the filly on the ground, “First time she EVER gave up, and you didn’t let her. LOOK!” He stepped aside, and pointed.

“Ultimately, she wound up with only a broken arm, and by the time the news came back, I realized that my Cutie Mark had appeared, representing my need to get between other ponies and harm. And she wound up third in our class,” he smiled at the memory, “But that probably won’t work for you, since you can’t actually join the Guard until you’re at least sixteen.”

Dejected sighs filled the air, but one spoke up, “In the Empire, we’re required to join the home guard at six. Training includes thirty-six months of out-of-country training, to ensure we know…Uh…Um…About the cultures around the world.”

“Yes, I trained with a Griffon during his own. It was interesting.”

“Are you girls still obsessing over your Cutie Marks?” Rarity smiled at the Knights, “I know how you feel. For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t have mine. It all came to a head one day after I was recruited to make the costumes for the school play…”

“Hey, it’s not so bad. Sometimes it just appears. Like my Cutie Mark,” Kajiik tapped a rune carved into his bracer, one that matched his Cutie Mark, “It was the greatest day of my life, the day I met Princess Celestia for the first time.”

The day was clear, nothing but blue skies over Canterlot. Kajiik stood in the middle of the room, ready to take his entrance exam’s practical portion. If he passed this part, he was basically guaranteed a position in the class, regardless of how he did on the written portion. Which was good, because his mouthwriting was awful, at least in Equestrian script. His Zebrican was much better, but none of the proctors could understand it, so he had to do everything in Equestrian.

Luckily runes were universal, a language that had been passed down by magic users since the beginning of writing. He withdrew a piece of chalk from the box the proctors had provided him with, ensuring that he was required to use his own energy to fuel the spell matrix, rather than any in the chalk.

Five different overlapping runes made up the first part, a simple shielding matrix. The second part held eight runes, wrapped in a circle around the first, the basic encryption template that would light up the outermost layer. Twelve runes in an overlapping circle pattern that would force his energy into the encryption template, then into the shield.

With a flourish, he rolled the last line of the final rune in. His eyes lit up, and the proctors leaned eagerly forward. The inner circle went brilliantly bright white, and the room lit up before a circle of the room vanished entirely in a sphere of destruction that blasted everypony in the room out onto the grass. As the spots faded from his vision, Kajiik spotted the circle he had drawn, sitting in the middle of the hole where the explosion had hit. Perfectly intact, even if none of the rest of the room was. The radius had been exactly enough to encompass the runes, and barely beyond that, so it hadn’t cut off it’s own energy flow. But what had exploded exactly?

“What did I do wrong? Oh no…I failed, didn’t I?”

Princess Celestia shrugged off a piece of roofing and trotted over to the circle, “Looks good to me. Mostly. It looks like you forgot to put in a regulator between the supply runes and the encryption matrix. Remember that next time, and you’ll make a fine student.”

“But I failed. I blew up the room.”

The princess sighed, “You are only six years old. I wouldn’t expect you to know everything about regulation. I also didn’t expect you to need it. You have much more power than I expected.”

“And she recruited me as her student that day. It wasn’t until I got home that I found my Cutie Mark.”

Fleethoof shook her head, “It’s a long, and very boring tale, really. You see, I grew up on a cloud plantation just south of Cloudsdale.”

Fleethoof gazed out across the plain of clouds. Fifteen acres across, and almost five miles deep, the top surface was wispy, and they got darker as a pony went further through the layers. Her brother was already trotting across the clouds, towing a special plow designed to shave layers of cloud for seeding. In a few months, those clouds would be ready for shipment to wherever in Equestria needed them.

She had a different job today though. A thin wooden rod with nails protruding from the shaft went on either side of her saddle, and started pulling on her as she glided through the wispy upper layers, harvesting them for shipment to Manehattan tomorrow. It was boring work, mind-numbing, and boring. It only took a few minutes to do, anyway. Afterwards, her parents allowed her to go into town, to hang out at the park.

The park. What a joke. That was where all the jerks hung out. She hated it, but her allowance wasn’t until next week. That meant no movie. Belatedly, she sat outside the theater, watching ponies come and go, and trying to figure out what movie to go to after she had some money. This part of the city wasn’t the best part for a filly to be hanging around though, and she noticed a cutpurse slipping around several groups of ponies, then wandering casually away.

That wasn’t right. She tucked beneath the cloud layer of the street and crawled over to the alley where the cutpurse was counting his prizes. Her own hooves moved quickly, swiping one of the bags sitting on the clouds.

“He never noticed me, even as I slipped past him with two bags. I pocketed one, you know, for later, but the first one I swiped had a name on it. I slipped up behind the crowd and called out the name…”

The stallion that responded was one of the Wonderbolts, though he was in his civilian attire. He checked the small bag, and counted out several coins, which he hoofed over to the filly, “Here you go, kiddo. Go see a movie or something, on me. Thanks.”

Almost as soon as the crowd turned away, she felt a tingling on her haunches and looked back. Beneath her skirt, she spotted a new pattern on her fur.

“And that was how my Cutie Mark appeared,” She smiled at them, “Is that all you wanted to know?”

“Almost. Do you know where Hammer is?” Cuuper responded as the other Knights nodded in agreement.

“No, but Blueberry might know.”

“Blueberry, do you know where Hammer is?” Sweetie Belle put on her most information extracting smile as the words rolled past her lips.

Blueberry sighed, “This is about your Cutie Marks, isn’t it? You’ve been asking everypony around. But you haven’t gotten to ask a Thestral yet. Is that it?”

“Yes,” Scootaloo responded guiltily, “We just want to get all of the information we can so we can find our own.”

“Well, maybe I should add my story too. It’s not like the others, you know.”

Strawberry smiled. She never tired of hearing Changeling stories about Cutie Marks, mostly because a Changeling’s mark was never related to their true talent as an infiltrator, but rather to their secondary talent.

“Well, it all started when I was a filly. I travelled to Detrot for an education in civil sciences.”

”So, I’m supposed to find this hotel on my own. In Detrot. By myself. While disguised as a harmless Pegasus filly. Thank you very much mom,” the purple Pegasus filly trotted off the train, muttering to herself. Detrot was a large city, the main production center for autocarriages and locomotives. It was also home to a number of gangs.

The ‘Civil Sciences Studies’ document was more or less a lie. It was meant to get her around any searches, along with the nearly empty backpack that held only a notebook, a quill, and an inkpot. Really, she was here to practice her infiltration skills, to sneak into a group of criminals and bring back information without being caught.

She was watched closely by a taller green Unicorn, a stallion who had passed his own infiltration test years before. He was actually her older brother, but that was a secret, as secret as she was supposed to be here. He had helped plan the entire processes. Detrot was a Changeling hive itself, run by Lord Silvertongue Skunktail, Prince of the Skunktail hive, and the fifth generation of career criminals. He knew exactly what to expect, and where his sister would be challenged.

“So I wound up visiting several key locations in the city, and smiled at the right ponies, and pretended that I wasn’t scared.”

It took her almost two weeks to investigate the entirety of the gang, but something about it never sat right with her. “I want to go back to my farm, honestly. I don’t belong here, among you. As nice as you ponies have been to me, helping me survive out here on my own, I really would be happier back home. I promise I won’t tell anypony anything I’ve seen here.”

“Thank you for your honesty, miss d’Jar’k. We will send you home on the next train, and this whole incident will be forgotten.”

Her jaw dropped, “I’m afraid I don’t understand. Who is d’Jar’k?”

The Don, a broad winged Griffon, shook his wings into the air, and black flames licked at the feathers, racing down to his back, revealing crimson red wing surfaces. A black shell with two white stripes appeared behind the flames as they licked across his body, consuming the white striped fur across his back, “My name is S’Tol’k, dear niece. You did an excellent job of blending in. If we hadn’t been watching you from the time you stepped on the train, we would not have been able to tell it was you.”

“But that’s not my name. I’m not a Changeling.” A scowl, and the Don’s horn lit up. Everypony in the room flickered, including Blueberry, revealing themselves as Changelings. “Well fuck. I forgot about that spell.”

“Language, filly. Your brother is here to take you back home whenever you’re ready.”

“My cutie mark appeared the day I decided to come back, and Raspberry came out to pick me up.”

Tales of the Cutie, Part 2

“Well…I don’t know if you want to hear how I got my Cutie Mark,” Hammer Soot looked, skeptically, at the six young ponies before her. Four fillies with pleading eyes, and two colts. One of those a Griffon. He was probably the only one she had no problem telling the whole story to. And why she hid it so intently beneath layers of leather. Nonetheless, she began the story.

The Griffon Empire was really not a place for any filly to walk about unsupervised. Even a Thestral, but she trotted around the airship field like she wasn’t scared. The Griffons respected power, and courage, so that was what she would give them. The powerful Griffon who greeted her noticed such, with her shoulders held high enough that he could see the muscles tensing with every step.

“Hammer Soot?”

She froze in place, and her ears swiveled to locate the source of the voice, before drooping back into a natural position as she recognized the old Griffon’s scarred beak, “Master Gilded Feather,” she bowed, wings sheltering her muzzle respectfully. She peered over her wings at him, waiting for the signal to rise.

His eyes shifted, and he nodded, wings flaring for a moment, “Rise, hatchling. Welcome to the Empire, to your future.”

“What does you going to the Griffon Empire have to do with your Cutie Mark. Cuuper says they don’t even get them over there,” Scootaloo looked confused, and somewhat bored.

Hammer just sighed, and raised her wing, showing a pattern of dye permanently embedded into the underside, “Not exactly like we do, no.”

Steel clanged against steel as the small filly swung a shaping hammer in her teeth, colliding it with the metal pinned by her leather-clad hoof.

“Very good, Apprentice. Now remember to check the color of the steel between blows, otherwise you might damage the piece.”

She stopped and looked at the steel, “Ith fadith.”

“Back into the fire with it then,” the Griffon nodded to the open furnace, roaring in the background. She gripped the end of the bar with a leather bite-glove and guided it into the flames, careful to keep her eyes closed, and using her wings to judge the distance from the fire.

As she backed away, she opened her eyes, “I leave it in there for five minutes, then take it back out?”

“Correct, Apprentice. Now that you have begun to shape the steel, can you see where it wants to be?”

Her eyes flitted back and forth along the wall of weapons and tools on the wall, “Uh…No master. I didn’t know steel could want anything. Just that you told me to make a sword.”

“Do you know why I told you to make a sword out of that specific bar?”

“No,” she looked at the bar in the furnace, “Why did you?”

He laughed, “That bar wanted to be a sword, when I picked it up. So it is to become a sword.”

“Is that why you put down so many bars before you chose that one?”

“Yes. There is a spear in there, and your True Steel as well.”

“What is True Steel, miss Hammer?” Sweetie Belle interrupted the tale with her expected query, but before Hammer Soot could respond, Cuuper took over.

“True Steel is like your Cutie Mark. It’s what the pattern permanently stained into our feathers means, and is represented to outsiders in the form of a weapon. It is why every Griffon, male and female, must undergo a one year smithing apprenticeship. When we draw our Steel out of the pile, it is much the same as a pony finding their Cutie Mark. We just…Know.”

Hammer nodded, “Yes, exactly.”

“Now, I believe you have progressed far enough in your training. It is time. Give me a Warhammer. Take as much time as you need.”

She trotted around the forge, sniffing the air, looking for the specific metal she would use, and not finding it, “Master, did you remove all the hammers?”

“Close your eyes, hatchling. Open your mind. Feel the metal without touching it. You know the shop like the back of your hoof. It should be easy for you.”

She growled under her breath, “I’m not a Griffon. This isn’t easy for me,” but she did as she was told. The instant her eyes closed, she saw what he meant. The ceramic template. The sandbox mold. The raw iron ingot, chisels, bars of raw steel. Quickly, she gathered the pieces into the middle of the floor and began.

Scootaloo yawned dramatically, “Boooring! Everypony else at least had an exciting story to tell us.”

Rumble elbowed her in the ribs, “Be nice. She’s getting close to the end, see?”

The first step was to prepare the ingots. She slid them into the fire with tongs, and turned to the bars, tying the three long shafts of metal together with thin wire. This went into the fire as she pulled the ingots out and started hammering and folding them together, folding carbon dust in and tailoring the steel very specifically, how it wanted to be. The heavy block went into a crucible, melting into a pool of smooth steel as she hammered the three metal bars into a single hexagonal staff two thirds of her wingspan long.

The Griffon watched patiently as she shaped the sand in the mold, then took the crucible out and poured it carefully into the mold. The steel hissed as it fell in, and she slid the entire box into the fire to keep it from solidifying while she shaped the end of the staff into a broad frill. The staff returned to the fire, still glowing, and the box slid out, onto the floor. With a hiss, she shoved the end of the staff into the liquid steel, and set to work on the far end, heating it with a wing-held torch before hammering it down and shaping the steel into a sphere, a stopper and pommel in one. Before the steel had the chance to finish cooling, she pressed an iron stamp in, forever shaping the runes of strength and resilience into the metal.

With a grunt, she drew the hammer from the mold and lowered it into the oil-bath with her hooves. The oil caught fire, flames licking at her muzzle as she tempered the hammer before pulling it out. The hammer was nearly complete. It needed only one thing. Five strips of leather, and six hours of wrapping and braiding and oiling gave her a thick, solid haft she could grip in her teeth, or a Griffon could hold in his talons or wing.

“Very good. Now, do you understand what the metal told you, why those specific pieces called to you?”

“No master. I just know they did. They demanded that I use them for this hammer. That mold, that leather.”

The Griffon’s talon stopped less than a hoof’s length from the haft, “Demanded? Not requested?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

“I cannot touch that weapon. Take it out back, and set it down, very carefully, on the grass. I will be out in a moment.”

“Really? A weapon he couldn’t touch? Is this really your story, or are you just making stu…” Scootaloo was muffled by Cuuper squeezing her mouth shut in his talons, and hissing at her.

“That means it was her True Steel. An Apprentice may touch a Master’s steel, only because their training enables that bond. A Master may NEVER touch an Apprentices steel. It could kill them.”

Hammer nodded, “He brought out the well-bucket rope and waited for me to set the hammer down. That was when it all went wrong. Or right.”

The metal touched the grass, and Hammer Soot was thrown back against the side of the smithy hard enough that she heard bones crack. Everything went blurry, then black as she lost consciousness.

Upon waking, she quickly tried to look around, but her head wasn’t moving. And her hooves weren’t responding either. She stretched one wing out and felt the side of a hospital bed, “Master? Hello?”

Several quiet moments passed while she tried to feel out the bed with both wings, then tried to raise them up to check why her head wasn’t moving, only for a familiar pair of talons to catch the tips of her wings and stop them from moving. She couldn’t hear what he was saying, but thanks to long hours of barely being audible over the roar of the furnace, she could read his beak well enough. “What do you mean, I should be dead?”

“What happened with the hammer?”

She scowled at his response. There was no way it could have hospitalized her. Even if it had thrown her back into the wall, Thestrals were tough enough to take being hit by anything the sun could throw at them, “Why can’t I feel my arms? Or move my head.”

Again, the answers made her unhappy, and confused. She raised her arms into view, struggling to lift them high enough to see the bloody gauze encasing where her elbows had been the day before. “The blast blew out my eardrums?”

The answer was affirmative, and her eye too. A shard of, well, the shard hadn’t been found, but the mess of an eyeball that had been left appeared to have been slashed open with a knife, but only dirt had been found in her wounds. “I can fix this. Get me crutches, and give me a forge. I’ll make my own hooves if I have to!”

The Griffon smiled, and she frowned at him, “Why in Tartarus would you have already made a pair for me, how long have I been out?”

A day and a half. Not long enough to forge a pair of useable hooves. Let alone the talons he was holding in front of her. They had to have taken a month, “And my ears?”

He held up a pair of crystalline devices, and mouthed something that looked suspiciously like ‘one week’, ignoring her angry scowl, “Why do I have to wait a week to hear again!”

Cuuper stared at her, “So now we know you blew yourself up. What about your Cutie Mark? Your True Steel?”

“I’m almost done, colt. Calm yourself.”

Hammer was happy to get the cast removed from her broken pelvis, and even happier when she looked at her haunches and saw, indelibly, for the rest of her life, a flame-licked hammer Cutie Mark. And moments later, stained into the surface of her wings, a pattern of Griffon runes. Master Gilded Feather only smiled at seeing that.

“Is this a prank? Please tell me the ink comes out! I can’t go home with Griffon runes tattooed onto my wings. My parents’ll kill me!”

The Griffon shook his head, “I’m sorry. That’s not ink. And it’s not a prank. You must have Griffon in your ancestry.”

“So what? The Steel chose me then? Blew off my arms, and picked me to carry it?”

“Yes. Now go get your weapon out of my yard before somegriffon trips over it.”

“Why didn’t you move it then?”

“Because he couldn’t touch it. Technically neither can I. I had to re-wrap the haft with Equestrian leather to keep it from blasting my talons off every time I move it.”

Best Night Ever, Part 1

“Is everypony ready? Our chariot will be here soon!” Kajiik glanced around the room at his friends, three in dresses, one in full armor, and one wearing something that was half dress, half suit. He was garbed in a finely striped suit that blended to his fur neatly. He had to remember to get Rarity a nice souvenir from the Gala when they got there.

Fleethoof was bouncing around already, a loop of rope around her middle as Blueberry attempted to make her stop before she started sweating on her dress. Barkskin was fidgeting with her bracelets, even though Kajiik had helped her get them secured snuggly in place so they wouldn’t show any of the missing patches of fur.

Hammer and Iron were the only two who didn’t seem to be nervous about it, at least to Kajiik’s eyes. He had never seen the Guardspony so still, in fact. Even the flares of gold foil and spring-steel didn’t tremble a millimeter. Hammer, on the other hoof, moved in measured paths, not a single muscle movement out of place. Perfect poise, he thought. And yet he couldn’t remember her telling him where she had learned such control. Especially since Griffons weren’t known for their self-control.

He didn’t have any extra time to ponder the fact, because the airship carriage arrived with a resounding clank as the lift hit the dirt outside the tree. He had been sure the Princess would send an airship for them, she had implied as much in the letter, “Ok, everypony. Time to go. Mares first.”

Iron stood at full attention until the lift rose away with the four mares on it, then he dropped into his normal half-attention stance, “You think this night’s going to be alright?”

Kajiik smiled at his friend, “Oh, you know it’s going to be the Best Gala Ever. Right? We’re going with friends, so no more dancing by ourselves in the corner looking like idiots.”

Iron snorted a laugh, “This is gonna be good.”

Iron Hoof stifled a snicker as he watched Hammer Soot pull out her hearing crystals and tuck them into her dress’s pouch. The others had started singing, led by, of course, Fleethoof. He hadn’t expected Kajiik to join in, but right now, he was making a valiant effort at a duet with Blueberry.

“All our dreams will come true, Right here at the Gala! At the Gala!” The two were tone deaf, and completely off key with Fleethoof, but somehow they managed to not make him cringe, “All our dreams and our hopes from now until hereafter! All that we’ve been wishing for will happen at the Gala! At the Gala!” Was that a wink at Hammer? Iron couldn’t tell, and he was certain that the Thestral, with her talons pressed into her ears, and her eye clamped shut, didn’t see it at all.

The airship came in for a soft landing, and Hammer hit the dirt just a moment before Iron could jump down, and scold her, as soon as she put her hearing crystals back in.

“Princess! How wonderful to see you!”

“Kajiik, how wonderful to see you as well. How have your studies been?”

“Excellent. Oh, I’m so excited to be here! I haven’t seen you in so long!”

Princess Celestia sighed, “Kajiik, it’s been three months. Some of the ponies here haven’t seen me in years, if ever,” she shook her head, “I spoiled you, didn’t I?”

His head sagged towards the floor, “Yes Princess.”

Her hoof touched the back of his neck, “Well, what are you groveling for? We’ve got five thousand hooves to shake, and only eight hours to do it in.”

His head snapped up so fast that his neck popped as he settled into a position beside the Princess and held out a hoof. It was no secret that he was her prized pupil, at least, here in Canterlot, and as such, his hoof was as good as hers to the nobles that came to shake hooves with the highest of nobility.

Fleethoof was practically vibrating with excitement. Or maybe it was the five slices of cake she had eaten. Probably the cake. Her eyes flicked back and forth, locking onto any particular stallion for a moment before getting distracted by another set of toned legs. Her white fur contrasted with the faded pink ruffles and gold trim on her dress as she moved around, hovering on her vibrating wings with almost no effort.

Barkskin had slipped out the back, never really a fan of the huge crowds, out into the garden. The field covered in trees and grass, held only one other pony. The creature was indistinct in the darkness, but still clearly a pony, wearing some sort of draping garb that warped its shape. She couldn’t even identify the gender.

She approached slowly, quietly, wanting to relax away from the crowds, to mingle with the animals and watch the clouds up here, high above Canterlot.

“Maybe we’ll even catch my youngest star dancing in the sky, dear,” the words somehow bypassed Barkskin’s ears entirely, and she felt the distinct urge to vomit on the grass as the words settled into her brain like blood pudding and wood shavings.

“Did I…”

“Say that out loud? No. Yes. Maybe? The nature of reality is such sometimes. Especially around my wife’s son,” again the words just felt wrong as they appeared in her head without any of the mucking about in the space between the stallion and Barkskin. “I’m sorry, Barkskin. It was rude of me to not introduce myself. I am…” The string of sounds that came from the stallion left her retching into a rosebush, with her magic holding her mane back, “Sorry. My daughter-in-law just uses Really Fat Gran. I am alright with that moniker.”

She stared at him, “Really. Your name is Really?”

“That is the safest form of it for a mortal to use, yes.”

“Would you mind speaking to me normally?”

“I…Suppose.” The pressure in her brain lifted and the sound moved to her ears. It was still an uncomfortable voice, but it didn’t make her want to throw up again.

“Thank you.”

Iron Hoof stood patiently in line with the other Guardsponies. It was his assigned place. Of course, every Guardspony would get a turn to dance, but right now it wasn’t his turn. He watched patiently as other ponies spun and twirled across the floor. He had been assigned first shift watch, one hour of standing watching the Princess and Kajiik shake everypony’s hooves as they entered. He smirked as he saw Kajiik’s face falling after a half hour, and over three hundred hooves shaken. He wasn’t going to be suffering the disgrace of that.

His turn slid up quickly though, and just in time, as he was starting to get bored watching Kajiik. Him and one of the other guards had taken to betting on the direction the shakes would go. So far, he was winning five to one. They were betting something he hadn’t quite heard before he shook on it, so he was glad he was winning. At least, until his shift was relieved and he found himself being tackled to the ground by another guardspony in light armor. He knew it was the one he had been betting with, but couldn’t identify who it was, until she raised her helmet. Her face hadn’t changed since Basic training, and the chip in her ear that had been hidden by the armor’s enchantment made it clear exactly who it was.

“Longbow? I thought you were out on the border!”

“Yet you bet me a makeout session, and you won.” He swallowed as the olive colored Pegasus moved closer, stalking him like he was some sort of food, “So that means you get to kiss me five times, and I get to kiss you once.” Another gulp, and he instinctively checked the latches on his helmet. She knew exactly who was under the armor, even though the enchantments were supposed to hide a pony’s identity. It was her special talent, True Sight the Unicorns called it. And she wasn’t going to let him get away. There would be no blending into the crowd and escaping. Instead, he opened his visor and tensed up.

“Fine,” he remembered how voracious she had been in Basic, and she hadn’t let up for a moment, unless she was ordered to. She was, at least, good at following orders, “Take your prize. But I’m trading mine in for dances instead.”

She leapt at him, knocking him to the floor and rolling under a table, lips locked to his.

Blueberry danced, her body moving with the music, though she wasn’t really putting her all into it. She was listening for the band to start on a tune that would suit her presentation. It simply wasn’t coming, not from these slow orchestral ponies. That simply would not do. To her amusement though, she saw a white Unicorn mare with shocking blue spikes for a mane, garbed in a Neo-Steam styled dress awash with glowing wires, lean in and whisper in the ear of the stallion waving the conductor’s wand. Or maybe it wasn’t a whisper, judging by his reaction. Nevertheless, he seemed to have gotten a suggestion from her. Or maybe it was the lewd action she made towards the Bass player that gave him the idea to switch up the beat.

Rock music began, wafting out of the speakers, slowly picking up speed. It quickly became clear what track was playing. Enter Sandmare, by Maretallica. Blueberry stretched out away from her dance partner, a stallion whose name she hadn’t asked, and didn’t care. She was on a mission now. Her ears flitted to the music as she spun on her hind legs, mere centimeters from falling over. She twirled, leapt, and flitted about, wingless, like a dancer on a cloud. The song hit the crescendo, and she leapt far higher than any sane Unicorn would over a tile floor. Fire streamed out of the slits in the back of her dress, unfurling into her wings. She spun slowly, wings cupping the air as the track spun into another chorus.

Hammer was starting to grow bored when the music started pounding. Immediately, her ears perked up and she snapped to attention, heart pounding to the beat. Her wings flared out, baring the black streaks of her True Steel for the sun, and everypony in the room to see. Her skirt flared out as her talons spread and reflected the light in the room like a pair of bronze disco balls. The beat dropped off and the bellow of a new beat rang out. A cackle that made several of the more noble ponies lunge to the floor at the shout of ‘All Aboard’ just made her laugh and roll in the air, sliding into a smooth twirl across from her friends. Her, Blueberry, and Fleethoof formed a perfect triangle, spinning slowly to the beat, heads bobbing in time to the music. That track ended and a new one folded into the air with a beating sound. Hooves stamped from all the ponies who recognized it, including a number of Guardsponies.

Even Iron Hoof and his dance partner stomped to the beat of King’s ‘We are the Champions’. At least until Princess Celestia stepped up to the stage and stopped the music with a burst of yellow.

”Everypony, thank you for coming to the Grand Galloping Gala!” she smiled softly, hiding humorous thoughts of the nobles panicking over the modern music. She herself had considered ducking for cover at the witch-like cackle of one track. Fortunately, a hoof from her student kept her upright and noble. ”Tonight is especially unique, more than just the wonderful playlist. Tonight, I would like to introduce my Elements of Harmony!”

Iron Hoof pulled away from Longbow and galloped up to the stage to stand with Kajiik and Barkskin, who had just come in from the field. Hammer settled carefully atop Iron’s back as Blueberry and Fleethoof settled onto the other two.

A Change of Pace, Part 1

Queen Ch’Jar’S, of the Changelings, Matriach of a clan eight thousand strong, trudged up to the forest side edge of the Berry plantation. If the information her scout had passed back through the lines was accurate, she would be met here. She looked around, already plotting how to torture the scout for false information, when she felt the touch of a heavy metal shoe on her back, right between her wings.

Her instincts launched her in an arc that brought her hoof down on where a normal pony’s skull would be, which coincidentally happened to be the shoulder of the stallion. Her chitinous hoof crunched painfully against a much harder shell, the touch natural crystalline structure of a combat unit. Her eyes widened as she was gripped in glowing crimson magic and twisted around until her blue-green eyes met the black streaked crimson eyes of her nephew.

“Or’Sen’K. Put me down this instant or I will have you flayed and salted.”

He dropped her with a deep laugh, “Auntie Ch’Jar. How pleasant. D’Jar said you’d be coming through. Left me with this list. Now, Ponyville isn’t a large town, so not everypony gets to disguise themselves as a pony. Wagons will be provided, but you should stick to the shadows anyway.”

She nodded, “And our excuse list?”

“Also here. There are a number of travelling caravans that come through every year, and I can confidently say that nopony will notice a gypsy tribe moving through in the middle of the night, escorted by several natives of the area. You of course, will be taking on the role of our Mayor.”

“I see,” a flicker of green crawled down her back, leaving behind the mayor of the small town. A perfect illusion, or near enough in the dim lighting. They would have to move fast, to keep their non-concealed hive-mates hidden. He hoofed over the two lists and faded away into the darkness, even his glowing red eyes vanishing as though he had never been there. She scowled. The Berry clan was always better at hiding in the shadows, even under the full moon. Still, she had a hungry hive to feed, and a short time to do it in.

Quietly, escorted by what appeared to be the six Elements of Harmony, a horde of gypsies moved through the town. Dozens of carriages rolled softly across the mud, filled with sacks of what would have felt like jewels and fabric, but were really those Changelings who were unable for some reason or another, unable to disguise themselves as any of the ponies on the list. Ch’Jar’S trotted alongside a Changeling disguised as the venerable commander of the Ponyville Garrison, who quietly counted the wagons sliding into the village, “My queen, we have seven more wagons, but we do not have enough identities for those that remain in the forest, nor enough space in the wagons.”

“Ge’Sen, Please remember who I am disguised as. What if a pony heard you?”

“Yes, ma’am. Of course. What is your plan?”

“Tuck them into any space you can find. Have them duplicate the children, everypony who can. Use them to disguise the rest of the bundles in the wagons.”

“Understood, ma’am.” He trotted off, armor not making a sound, being formed out of his carapace itself.

“Missus Heartstrings? What are you doing out here so late at night? Don’t you have a show in the morning?”

The Changeling, one Tu’el’S stopped abruptly, and looked down at the red furred filly on the side of the road, and blinked. It was way after this filly’s bedtime, and she didn’t smell like a Changeling either, so she had to be not one of them. Her stare pierced into Tu’el’S for a long minute, “Oh, nevermind, Missus Heartstrings, or whatever your name is. My brother probably just forgot to double check the aliases he gave your Queen.”

She choked, “I’m sorry, what?”

Blue fire flickered down the filly’s back, revealing a pair of ivory white wings that resembled her own, when she wasn’t disguised as a silly Unicorn. Almost as quickly, in a flash that made her think she was hallucinating the whole thing, the wings were gone, “Kor’el’K, at your disservice. My brother told me you might need some help navigating everypony through.”

Tu’el started trotting again, “Fine. Why couldn’t he be here?”

“My whole family was in that list. I just brought a few extra identities for the older Changelings.”

“Don’t…” her hoof instinctively covered the filly’s mouth, “You’ll give us away.”

The filly started laughing, softly, but clearly, “I grew up in this town. Nopony here would notice. Trust me on that one. I spent a whole day with my wings out and everypony thought my sister just found a new spell for harvesting from trees.”

“What exactly are you saying?”

“This town is an Earth Pony town on paper. They only make up about thirty percent of the population in all honesty. And a quarter of that is the Apple family and extension. The rest is a mix of every species under Celestia’s sun. And some that aren’t. I swear, that DJ is a vampire. And her marefriend is a lupomorph.”

“What DJ? Tu’el was actually getting nervous. She had heard that vampires could bite right through a carapace, even the soldiers. And her infiltrator breed carapace certainly wasn’t thick enough to stop it, “What DJ?”

“That one, over there,” the filly pointed at a white Unicorn with spiky blue mane and tail. Then she slapped Tu’el on the rump, “Real one’s at the Gala. Don’t worry about it.”

Overhead, flying on the air currents and clouds, another horde of Changelings in disguise as Pegasi and Griffon traders soared past a real Griffon huddled in a cloud. His beak twitched as he sniffed the air. He could pick out a changeling from many meters away, and knew that not a single one of these ponies, or Griffons for that matter, were authentic. The only thing that stopped him from declaring a state of emergency was his friend making conversation with one of them. Strawberry was using her magic to her advantage, making that wing spell that her sister had taught her. None of the Changelings suspected a thing. He took notes of them as they passed. Every pony he knew, he marked down on the list for later interrogation, just in case his sniffer was wrong.

One Griffon-shaped Changeling landed on the cloud beside him and looked at the notebook. He made no effort to hide it, since it was written in Griffonian Talon-Script. Impossible for any other species to interpret. At least, he thought so.

“So, did the Queen set you up to make sure we didn’t use any of the identities twice?”

He stayed silent for a moment, “Yes…”

“So why are you writing it in Talon-Script? You know you’ll just have to translate it back to proper runes later.”

“I…Need the practice?”

The Griffon sniffed at his neck, then opened her beak. He dove, wrapping his wings around her body and his talons around her beak, slamming her head into the cloud repeatedly, “Shut up. Shut up!”

After several strikes, the female started to sway, dizzily, and he looked into her eyes, “I won’t tell anypony about this. I swear. My friend is down there too. She knows too.” He left out that she didn’t know he was up there, “Just don’t scream when I let go. My name is Cuuper. Cuuper Talus.”

His talons released her beak slowly, and she whispered, “Gale Force. At least, that’s my cover name. Yes, it’s authentic. I’ve been using it since I was a hatchling.”

“Nice to meet you. Do Changeling Griffons get True Steel?”

Already to the interrogation. Ga’el’S, Gale Force, shrugged, “My father, Geist Force, did. He says it’s a pain in the flank, ‘cause it doesn’t change when he turns into other Griffons. And it shows up in his Pegasus forms too.”

Cuuper stared at her, “Uh huh,” he hadn’t even really started interrogation yet. He had just asked one question, and was already learning the history of this Changeling, “So, you don’t have yours yet. Well, we’ve got a club going here in Ponyville, and we’re all looking for our Destinies, my True Steel, their Cutie Marks. It would be nice to have another Griffon in the club, even if you aren’t really…”

This time it was her that tackled him to the cloud. He tensed against her efforts to beat him unconscious on the cloud surface, “I am too! You don’t know anything about Changelings, do you?” she hissed at him angrily.

“Hey, hey…I’m sorry. Maybe you can teach me then, if you can convince your father to let you stay here. I’m sure the Forge has an extra room for you.”

She stared at him for a minute, “I will talk to him. Maybe we can stay on our way back.”

“I would enjoy that greatly, now I have to get going before he gets suspicious,” she launched off the cloud and soared into the air.

Ge’Sen flicked his eyes upwards as he watched his daughter float onto a cloud. They stopped there as she didn’t immediately launch off to keep following, “Ma’am, I need to check on somepony really quick.”

“Go ahead. I’ve got this.”

Almost before he could get to the cloud to shout up to it, his daughter tumbled off the side, and soared forward. He waved her down, and looked at her as sternly as he could manage. And in this form, he had quite the stern glower, “Ga’el. Explain your delay.”

She looked up at him, large eyes watering up, “I was tired. I’ve been flying all day. It was just a little nap.”

He sniffed the air, grumbling under his breath at the inconvenience of a mere Earth Pony nose, when he instead could have come as a Griffon, as himself. But he had been advised that the three mature Griffons in the town were quite knowledgeable about the familial patterns. His daughter had been allowed to use her own form for two reasons. First, she was young enough that her ability to change forms accurately was weak. Her ability to stick to her default form was good enough, and she didn’t yet have her patterns, still stuck in the spotted pattern of a very young hatchling.

She was also clearly lying to him. “Why did you stop.”

“There was a Griffon on the cloud. Male. Natural. He was taking notes on our identities. He swore not to tell anypony. He said he had a friend who knew, who was helping us.”

“Who?”

“Uh…The red Berry filly. Talking to one of our infiltrators back there.”

Her father laughed, “That’s nonsense. She’s an infiltrator in training, not a native. None of the Berry hive is out of their homes tonight, so we can use their identities.”

“I understand, father. It is ridiculous. Still, if he believes that the Berry filly was here, she may be able to convince him that it was all a dream.”

“Still. I know you have the ability to mind-wash at least a few minutes. Go clean up your mess. I want to see the cub before he flies home. I’ll know.”

She grabbed at the sides of her head, her ear-feathers crumpling in her grasp, “Fiiine!”

She took off, darting for the cloud, and landing gently atop the cloud, next to the Griffon, “Hey.”

“Welcome back. What’d your commander say?”

“He told me I needed to wipe your memory of this event and send you home, so you would be convinced this was all a dream.”

“Oh, is that all,” he scoffed, “So what does a pony with their short-term memory wiped act like?”

She looked at him, and gave him a goofy grin as her talons lit up with blue magic and she moved them towards his head, “Kind of like a zombie. You’ll see.”

“Hey! Whoa! You are Not guh…” He faded into a dull gurgle as his scalp lit up in her magic.

“Follow,” she leapt off the cloud, and flew down to the ground. He followed her down, and landed beside her father, “See. I wiped the whole thing. The last ten minutes are drooling stupidity.”

“Yuh. Guh…Chelig…”

“Ok. I’m convinced. Send him home.”

“Go home, minion. Refresh, blank write. Erase commands.”

“Yuh. Migith…” He took off, flying wobbly towards the Forge, right up until he was out of sight of the Changelings, “Ha. Zombies. I can’t believe he fell for that. I should totally get my Steel in acting.”

Best Night Ever, Part 2

Kajiik tilted his head slightly as Iron arrived at the stage, “You’ve got something on your muzzle.”

“What?” Iron lifted his bracer and looked at his muzzle’s reflection. He couldn’t see anything, but he wouldn’t have put it past Longbow to try and get makeup on him. It wouldn’t have been the first time either. He scowled, “There’s nothing there.”

“Yep, and now you look like a proper guard. All huffy about everything,” the Zebra smirked.

Barkskin sighed, and checked her bracers again. It would be especially bad to have them slip up here, where everypony was watching. Her horn lit up slightly, a minor illusion, but more power intensive for her, her talent being in weather control, not light manipulation. The illusion would at least make it look like there was fur around her forehooves. She couldn’t show them off here. She couldn’t really honestly show them off anywhere, but in Ponyville a slip was less likely to get the entire city torched. Rarity had no idea what that pattern of scars was, but the stallion in the garden, Really, had identified them without even looking. He terrified her, but that information had been useful, if out of nowhere. She set her hooves back down, and started focusing on balancing Fleethoof across her shoulders. The Party pony was probably going to hover just a little bit above her anyway, but she could certainly take the load if she needed to.

Fleethoof slowed her flapping to a gentle one per second, falling into a steady hover. Not distracting, and not a particularly draining thing for a Pegasus who spent as much time airborne as she did. The only thing she had to watch was that her wings didn’t hit Blueberry, standing on Kajiik’s back.

The Changeling fluttered her nearly transparent wings, but nopony reacted to them. Not even in wonder. She made a mental note to check if the cake was drugged later, because if it was, that would be useful for the official reveal of Changelings in the Court in three months. Her brother would be there with Queen Chrysalis to make sure the meeting went smoothly. She would try to get the day free as well, but it wasn’t as reasonable for a second True Queen to be there. Lord Skunktail would be there as well, arriving via the Manehattan Express, and she had the feeling that two armies of Changelings in the capitol was enough. Her own did NOT need to be there. Plus, hers was mostly farmers.

Hammer Soot sat on her haunches, atop Iron Hoof’s armored back, talons upraised. This was possibly the most fun she had ever had at a party, with clothes on, at least. And the Princess was announcing them to the whole crowd. Maybe she would get to talk shop with one of the nobles. Or possibly more of them. If any of them had a brain, anyway.

Iron Hoof lowered his helmet, hiding his face from everypony. It wasn’t like he hadn’t already shown his face, but if he left his helmet off, he had the distinct feeling that Longbow would ignore the whole ‘Princess is Talking’ thing and try to suck his tongue out of his mouth again. Inside the helmet, he heard the faint echo of Celestia speaking, not through the enchanted crystal that transmitted to every helmet, but through her own voice. It trembled on his ear-tips.

”These six have proven themselves to be the embodiments of what I always hoped my ponies could become. Because of their assistance in resolving the Nightmare Moon fiasco, I have decided to take them on as a special team. The Elements of Harmony are to be respected and any orders given by them are as my own,” she glared down at one particular noble, Prince Paladin Blueblood, ”And are to be followed exactly as intended, so no misinterpreting them, Nephew.”

The white Unicorn nodded so abruptly that his mane looked like it was trying to make a break for the stage, wrinkling his perfectly ironed uniform in the process, “Yes Milady. I understand.”

Almost before he had the chance to move, Iron was torn out from underneath Hammer, “Ok, enough of that. Time for your five dances. Let’s get started with the Fox-stalk.” The music rolled into the slow dancing beat to guide the ponies in one of the oldest imported dances from the Gryphon Empire.

The stallion sighed, knowing that he had no choice. Sure, he could order her to leave him alone, but that would only last as long as her attention could be kept on leaving him alone. Which, given that he was at the largest, most distracting party in the entire country, was probably not going to happen. And even if it did work, eventually she would come back and lay claim to those dances. Which reminded him, “Longbow, don’t you owe me fifty bits?”

“For wha…Oh,” she stared over his shoulder, “Yeah, fifty for you from me, and another hundred from the betting pool.”

“You better be joking about that. That is quite literally impossible. It was my turn to put bits on the impossible option this time,” he twisted his head so he could see the reflection on her armor, “Damn. How much have those two had to drink?”

“Current count is at seven for Hammer Soot, two for Kajiik. Colt never could hold his liquor,” the voice faded into his ear out of the crystal in his helmet.

Iron smiled, “Apparently Hammer can. I’m going to go check on them,” he started moving away from his dance partner, but she wouldn’t let him loose, her long wings curled around his back, “Hey, let me go. I don’t want those two to get into anything they’ll regret when they get sober.”

A feather flicked his snout, tucking through his eye-slit, “I’m fairly certain it’s too late for that. Kajiik’s going the regret drinking in the first place. I don’t have the time to console him about…That.”

“Aw, let them have fun, Iron. I’ll keep an eye on them,” another voice faded through the crystal.

A gravelly sound echoed through the helmet, then Hammer’s voice slid into his ears, “Y’know I can hear you, right?”

“Civilian, get off this frequency.”

“Nyeh!” Iron saw Hammer stick her tongue out at the guards on the balcony, and sighed again.

“I’m so getting demoted for this, aren’t I?” The guard up on the balcony groaned, “Eternal torment for not checking the frequencies.”

Another voice rang out, “Nonsense, Private. You just get to clean up their mess,” The Captain of the Guard, dressed in a crimson uniform, pointed at Hammer and Kajiik.

“Please don’t do that to me Captain!”

“Too late.”

“I think this is going rather nicely, Son. You?” The stallion sitting in the garden turned away from the window and looked at a stone statue on a pedestal. The creature was a race known as Draconequii, a peculiar combination of races made possible by how his Abilities mixed with Equestrian Magic. He didn’t expect a response, not immediately at least. His son could speak to only the pony who trapped him in his stone prison. And as far as Rl’yeh knew, she wasn’t on speaking terms with his son.

“I know, I know. You think I’m a senile old bat, don’t you? I shouldn’t be trying to communicate with a statue,” Nine hundred and ninety-nine years, eleven months, and fifteen days had passed. The Elements never did things by fractions. It was always precisely One Thousand Years. He should know. He created them, at least, the first two. It wasn’t his fault that Harmony and Magic bred like rabbits, or maybe it was, “What do you think Son? Is that whole thing inside my fault?”

Kajiik slipped quietly off the stage, away from the eyes of the noble ponies, and downed his second drink of the night. Iron had warned him to stay under three drinks for the night, so he could ride home without stumbling out of the airship. That was all good, but he knew that the only pony who would be drinking less than him was Iron Hoof. He turned to Hammer Soot to see how she was doing, and found his muzzle being pulled away from him, then the touch of warm lips on his, flavored with every kind of alcohol available at the party, “Huh?”

The Thestral pulled him closer, confusing him, “Hammer, what are you doing?”

“Making out with you. Duh.”

“Are you drunk?”

“Very.”

“You’re going to regret this in the morning.”

“Less than I did with Ferrous.”

The Zebra stared dumbly, “I’m sorry, what?”

“You don’t have talons. No claws.”

“Uh, yeah. Maybe when we’re sober. Or at least you are.”

She scowled, and wrapped her wing around his neck, dragging him out of the building.

Barkskin slid a small pouch of bits to Princess Celestia, “Coulda sworn he’d make the first move.”

The princess laughed, and slid the pouch back, “She’s wasted, my little pony. It does not count.”

“She’s still sober. Remember, Hammer grew up in the Empire, and she’s a Thestral. Much higher tolerances. Like Yours, Princess.”

Another laugh escaped Celestia’s lips, “And how much do you think I have drunk tonight?”

Barkskin blinked, “Uh, I’ve seen you refill your glass three times, so at least four.”

“Would you believe only one? I have been turning the alcohol into water for most of the night.”

Barkskin sniffed the glass, and sure enough, it smelled like water, “That’s cool. But why do you do it? I can’t imagine enough of the ponies here are sober enough to remember what you act like drunk.”

Celestia nodded, then in a much softer voice, responded, “Have you ever wondered why the old castle looks burnt?”

“No. I figured at some point it caught fire in the forest.”

“No. That was me, the last time I got inebriated. I lost control of the sun, and it scorched the castle.”

A Change of Pace, Part 2

Ga’el looked back over her shoulder, trying not to make it obvious. She was slightly afraid. Not because she thought she might get caught, no. It was because she had actually liked that Griffon, and she had just made him forget her, forever. He would never be able to even talk to her again, nor even see her. It was a side effect of the Changeling’s mind-wipe. It was not truly erasing their knowledge, merely locking it away and actively preventing them from seeing the Changeling ever again. It did tend to make those who were wiped frequently, by many, kind of senile. Especially when their brains simply removed every Changeling around them in a hive.

Tears formed at the edge of her eyes, “Father, why couldn’t I simply make him my minion?”

“He was a native. Ponies would notice if he was missing.”

“Would they? Could we not leave behind an infiltrator in his place?”

“No. Not a Griffon. If he were a pony, I would let you keep him, but Griffons have a way of Knowing. If their True Steel does not contain their familial pattern, it would give them away.”

“But he was young. That would not be for years!”

“Honey, I already told you, no.”

The Griffon kit scowled and took to the sky again, leaving her father behind as she took a seat on a slow moving cloud.

Strawberry Punch fled from the crowd of moving Changelings when she spotted the young Griffon flying towards the treehouse. Something suspicious, of course. She would investigate. The kit flew wobbly, but clearly fully in control of himself as he dipped down into the trees, and she took off, running after him as fast as she could manage without changing form again. She slipped through the trees and caught up just in time to see the fluff at the end of his tail slipping through the open window. Her magic grabbed the door handle, and she slipped inside, shutting it behind her. The kit was sitting on the floor, and turned to look at her, “Oh, Hey Strawberry.”

She scowled, “What were you doing out there?”

“Spying. They’re Changelings. I got to mark a new species in my ‘Species of Equus Bingo’.”

Her jaw slid up and down, churning air, “What?”

“Yeah. They were totally doing a horrible job. You were out there too. Intel gathering, right? You used that wing spell to make them think you were a Changeling.”

Strawberry paused. He didn’t know yet. If she was lucky, she could enthrall him now, make him her mindless servant. Her eyes started slitting, preparing to guide his mind away from thoughts of Changelings. Of course, that meant she had to drop her default form, go full Changeling. The red flames licked down her back and out to the tips of her wings, “Look into my eyes.”

“Doesn’t work. That cute filly on the clouds tried it already.”

“Huh? You shouldn’t have been able to resist being enthralled. And you certainly don’t smell enthralled.”

The Griffon laughed, “Immune. Haven’t you ever wondered why Griffons are so much harder to enchant?”

She said several words that would have made her sister shove a bar of soap in her mouth, then pushed him against the wall with her hoof, “Explain. Why isn’t this working?”

He gave her a smug grin, “Griffon Magic. It’s why our wings are so much longer than a Pegasus. They only need to manipulate the magic pervading every cloud and breeze here. We, well, can’t directly manipulate the natural magic. Only the Forge can. Likewise, natural magic can’t affect us directly. So, no enthralling. No mind wiping.”

“Uh…”

“My turn. Where are they going, Changeling?”

“Canterlot. Three months trot.”

“Shouldn’t you be getting out there then, joining them?”

“I’m not going with them.”

“Well you certainly can’t keep pretending to be my friend, Strawberry. When two of her start showing up around town, ponies’ll get suspicious.”

She stared at him. When he had thought she was herself, he had referred to her as such, but as soon as she had gone full Changeling, he had started treating her as an infiltrator. That wasn’t a big issue, except that she would have to trick him into thinking that she was leaving, when she wasn’t. Or she could just tell him outright and see how he reacted. After all, her sister had revealed herself to that Zebra librarian, and he was alright with it. Maybe Cuuper would be too.

“Well, are you going to go now, or do I have to drag you out to the tail end of the line?”

She sighed, “Ok, fine, Cuuper. Here’s the truth. I am Strawberry Punch. Blueberry Punch is my older sister.”

“I saw the documents. And I know Strawberry. She isn’t a Changeling. Neither is Blueberry. I can tell the difference. You smell like a Changeling.”

Strawberry snorted, “What does a Changeling smell like?”

“Soot and lies. You should know. It’s rolling off you in waves.”

She sniffed her elbow, and focused for a moment, “Ok, what about now?”

“Er…Lilacs? Strawberries? What are you doing?”

“Changing my scent. Like every member of my family, and any infiltrator ever. You think that a Changeling family would go anywhere without concealing their scent?”

He stared, “Is that why she smelled like a Griffon? I thought that was just perfume?”

She nodded, “Yeah. Duh.” She let him drop to the floor, and barely managed to follow as he shot out the window, screaming into the sky, “Shit. Come back here!” She darted out after him, wings churning through the air, “Don’t go out there!”

She barely caught up to him before he dove down towards the female kit. He rolled over and glared at the Changeling holding him, “What do you want, Strawberry?”

“Don’t do it. If they catch you, it’ll be bad for both of you. Trust me on this. Unless you TOLD her that she didn’t have you mind-wiped, she thinks you’ve forgotten she exists. Let me handle this.”

He hissed, “No. I have to do this.”

She slugged him in the wing-root and threw him onto a cloud, red fire searing across her carapace. As a near-perfect duplicate of Cuuper, she dropped down and eased into a glide above the other Changeling, “Hey. I have a message for you.”

The Changeling turned to Strawberry, “From who?”

“Your Thrall.”

Ga’el locked up, “I told him to unenthrall himself and forget I existed.”

“Uh huh. Anyway, he told me he still likes you, and thinks you smell like perfume. So, whenever you come back, he’ll be here waiting for you.”

“Thanks…I think?” Failure to make a Thrall obey was pretty high up on the list of things a Changeling should never do.”

Bonus: Races of Equuis

RACE SPOTLIGHT

TERRAN

Alias: Earth Pony

Average Height x Length: 2m x 3m

Natural Magic: Growth, Endurance

Territories: Equestria, Soviet Union, Ursland, the Mild West, Cervidas

Sub-Races: Clydesdale, Mustang

PEGASUS

Alias: Cloud Pony

Average Height x Length: 1.5m x 3m

Natural Magic: Flight, Weather

Territories: Equestria, Soviet Union, the Mild West, Germaneigh, the Griffon Empire

Sub-Races: Peacock, Dodo, Peregrine

UNICORN

Alias: Mage Pony

Average Height x Length: 2m x 3m

Natural Magic: Any

Territories: Equestria, Germaneigh, Prance, Cervidas

MERPONY

Alias: Fish Pony

Average Height x Length: 1m x 4m

Natural Magic: Water

Territories: Large bodies of water

Sub-Races: None

GRIFFON

Alias: Bird-Lion

Average Height x Length: 3m x 5m

Natural Magic: Flight, Endurance

Territories: the Griffon Empire, Equestria

Sub-Races: Peregrine, Greybeak

ZEBRA

Alias: Stripe Pony

Average Height x Length: 2m x 3m

Natural Magic: None

Territories: Zebrica, Equestria, Cervidas, Camelu

Sub-Races: Northern, Southern

THESTRAL

Alias: Bat Pony

Average Height x Length: 1.5m x 3m

Natural Magic: Flight, Shadow

Territories: Equestria, Ursland

Sub-Races: Dracul, Lunar, Solar

CHANGELING

Alias: Bug Pony

Average Height x Length: 2m x 3m

Natural Magic: Shape, Illusion

Territories: Any

Sub-Races: Infiltrator, Soldier, Informer, Royal

ALICORN

Alias: Deus Pony

Average Height x Length: 4m x 5m

Natural Magic: Celestial

Territories: Any

Sub-Races: None

ARACHNIPONY

Alias: Spider Pony

Average Height x Length: 5m x 5m

Natural Magic: Nature, Shadow

Territories: Equestria, Ib’Xian Empire, Prance, Neighpon

Sub-Races: Widowmaker, Recluse, Nordic

DRACONEQUIS

Alias: Dragon Pony

Average Height x Length: 4m x 8m

Natural Magic: Chaos

Territories: Equestria

Sub-Races: None

ELDER

Alias: Deus Prime

Average Height x Length: Unknown

Natural Magic: Chaos, Order

Territories: All

Sub-Races: None

IBEX

Alias: Monk Pony

Average Height x Length: 4m x 5m

Natural Magic: Order

Territories: Ib’Xian Empire, Neighpon

Sub-Races: Tibetian, Neighponese

CANIS

Alias: Dog

Average Height x Length: 3m x 1m

Natural Magic: Growth, Endurance

Territories: Canidae, Equestria

Sub-Races: Diamond, Major, Minor, Garou

BISON

Alias: Cattle

Average Height x Length: 4m x 4m

Natural Magic: Endurance, Strength

Territories: Equestria, Cervidas, the Mild West

Sub-Races: Spotted, Northern, Western

URSA

Alias: Bear

Average Height x Length: 4m x 1m (2m x 3m on all fours)

Natural Magic: Weather, Endurance

Territories: Ursland, Equestria, Boardor, Hosstralia

Sub-Races: Grizzly, Polar, Brown, Black, Striped, Celestial

CAMEL

Alias: Hump Pony

Average Height x Length: 2.5m x 3m

Natural Magic: Endurance, Weather

Territories: Camelu, The Fringe, the Boarean Tundra, Zebrica

Sub-Races: None

DRAGON

Alias: Fire-Lizard

Average Height x Length: 8m x 30m

Natural Magic: Fire

Territories: Any

Sub-Races: Red, Black, Gold, Green, Blue

PHOENIX

Alias: Fire-Bird

Average Height x Length: 1m x 3m

Natural Magic: Fire

Territories: Any

Sub-Races: Cold, Necrotic

TA UR IN

Alias: Half-Pony

Average Height x Length: Minotaur: 3m x 1m; Equuitaur: 4m x 4m; Lamia: 1m x 8m

Natural Magic: Growth, Endurance (sometimes Enchantment)

Territories: Any

Sub-Races: Minotaur, Equuitaur, Leonine, Lamia, Dracotaur

Character Spotlights, Part 1: Elements of Harmony

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: KAJIIK

Full Name: Kajiik Dejjar

Race: South Plains Zebra

Age: 22 Years

Gender: Male

Fur Color: Grey/ Black stripes

Mane Color: Black/ Grey stripes

Eye Color: Black

Elemental Affinity: Light

Legal Status: Dual Citizenship Equestria/ Zebrica

Military Status: Element of Harmony, Magic

Political Status: Direct Apprentice of Princess Celestia Solus Invictus

Current Residence: Ponyville Central Library

Primary Armament: Force Enchanted fore-limb wraps.

Career: Runic Artifice Mage

Known Family (to date):

Sister: Zecora Aures Dejjar – South Plains Zebra

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: BARKSKIN

Full Name: Barkskin

Race: Eastern Everfree Unicorn

Age: 25 Years

Gender: Female

Fur Color: Brown

Mane Color: Green

Eye Color: Green

Elemental Affinity: Wind

Legal Status: Citizen Equestria

Military Status: Element of Harmony, Loyalty

Political Status: Everfree Forest Translator

Current Residence: Ponyville, Everfree Wall

Primary Armament: Oak Stave

Career: Weather Manager, Ponyville

Known Family (to date): None

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: BLUEBERRY JAM

Full Name: d’Jar’k (Blueberry Jam)

Race: Northern Changeling (Eastern Everfree Unicorn)

Age: 19 Years

Gender: Female

Fur Color: Black (Purple)

Mane Color: Yellow (Blue)

Eye Color: Yellow (Blue)

Elemental Affinity: Earth

Legal Status: Dual Citizenship Equestria/ Northern Everfree Hive

Military Status: Element of Harmony, Honesty

Political Status: Changeling Full Infiltrator

Current Residence: Berry Plantation, Ponyville

Primary Armament: Magic

Career: Spy (Farmer)

Known Family (to date):

Brother: Kor’el’k (Strawberry Punch) – Northern Changeling (Eastern Everfree Unicorn)

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: IRON HOOF

Full Name: Iron Hoof

Race: Canterlot Draft Earth

Age: 24 Years

Gender: Male

Fur Color: Grey

Mane Color: Maroon

Eye Color: Grey

Elemental Affinity: Iron

Legal Status: Citizen Equestria

Military Status: Commissioned Lieutenant, Royal Imperial Guard; Element of Harmony, Kindness

Political Status: Personally Assigned Guardian of Kajiik Dejjar

Current Residence: Ponyville Central Library

Primary Armament: Forehoof Katars/ Oak Staff

Career: Royal Imperial Guard

Known Family (to date): None

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: HAMMER SOOT

Full Name: Hammer Soot

Race: Central Everfree Thestral

Age: 17 Years

Gender: Female

Fur Color: Grey

Mane Color: Black

Eye Color: Grey

Elemental Affinity: Fire

Legal Status: Dual Citizenship Equestria/ Griffon Empire (Provisionally)

Military Status: Element of Harmony, Laughter

Political Status: Provisionally exiled from Griffon Empire

Current Residence: Gilded Feather Forge, Ponyville

Primary Armament: Brass prosthetic Talons/ Enchanted Warhammer

Career: Blacksmith

Known Family (to date):

Adoptive Father: Bruin Gilded Feather – Japaneighs Griffon

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: FLEETHOOF

Full Name: Fleethoof

Race: Cloudsdale Pegasus

Age: 20 Years

Gender: Female

Fur Color: White

Mane Color: Pink

Eye Color: Red

Elemental Affinity: Water

Legal Status: Citizen Equestria

Military Status: Element of Harmony, Generosity

Political Status: None of note

Current Residence: Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville

Primary Armament: Knife

Career: Baker

Known Family (to date): None