Hex

"You sure this is a good idea?" Applejack walked away from the farm, her saddlebags full of food and supplies. Breeze flew above her.

"Absolutely! It's the only way to undo my curse!' he explained.

"Yeah, I get that, but why do Twilight and I have to go with you?" He landed in front of her.

"Well, I might need some back-up if anything along the way tries to rush at me." Applejack looked confused.

"Okay, one, you got to Equestria on your own without a scratch on ya, so clearly ain't nothing happened to you and you got lucky, and two, we're goin' through the Everfree forest! If anything goes off the rails, you really think two mares are gonna be enough protection?" she asked.

"Princess Twilight's, well, a princess! We don't gotta worry," he explained.

"Don't you think that's all the more reason to bring along somepony else, sugarcube?"

"Ah, you're asking too many questions!" He turned around. Applejack was getting angry.

"Breeze, I like it here in Ponyville, and I'd really like to be able to come back from this little trip to Araiyah in one piece! We're gonna need somepony else with us!" Breeze brought his hooves up defensively.

"Alright! I'll find somepony! Just meet up with Twilight; I'll catch up." He flew off, dropping his saddlebags nearby. Applejack picked them up, taking note of how light they were. She shrugged, put the saddlebags on her back, and continued along the path. Breeze sat on a house rooftop in Ponyville, observing the ponies that passed by as the owner looked up at him, upset. What about that one? He looks like he... wait, no. Yeah, no... He remained still for a couple more minutes, looking for the right pony to ask. Suddenly, he heard somepony behind him. He turned his head and saw a ladder being set up. As he stood, a white hoof reached the top,

"Dang it, Silent Breeze, you're making ponies concerned. What are you doing up here?" a voice asked. Breeze immediately grinned.

"Yo, Steel Shield! I gotta ask you for a little favor..." He helped him up.

"Sure; I'm not doing anything at the moment. What do you need?"

"I'm headed back to Araiyah to undo this curse, and Princess Twilight and Applejack are coming with me! Applejack insisted that I get another pony to come along, and you're a royal guard, sooo..."

"No." Breeze frowned.

"Yes," he replied.

"N-"

"Yeah." Steel Shield and Breeze stood in silence before Steel Shield grunted loudly.

"Fine!" he shouted, throwing his hooves up to his head. "But I better make it back. I'm only going with you because you're a good friend." Breeze patted him on the back.

"Yo, this is gonna be so much fun! Come on, we gotta meet up with them at the entrance to the Everfree." Breeze began to fly off towards the forest as Steel Shield climbed down from the roof.

"Hold on; I should go get my armor. If we're headed to the forest, then I'll probably need it." He landed and sighed.

"Aw, alright... I guess I'll just... I dunno, go with you, or something?" Steel Shield chuckled and lightly pushed him towards Canterlot.

"Alright, Silent Breeze. Let's go find my armor, I guess."

Applejack arrived at Twilight's door just as she was exiting. She looked puzzled.

"Applejack? What are you doing here? We were supposed to meet at the entrance, right?" she asked.

"Yep, we were. I just decided to come get you since Breeze flew off to find another pony to join our little group. He said he'd meet us there."

"Oh, alright, let's get going; we don't want to be late. Do you have everything you need? We don't know how long this will take, you know." Applejack turned and started walking.

"You betcha, got all the food and stuff we'll need right here. I reckon Breeze also packed a few things; I dunno. His saddlebags seem awfully light..." She suddenly stopped and set the saddlebags on the ground in front of Twilight. "I'm gonna look inside." Twilight jumped and placed her hooves on them when Applejack reached forward.

"Applejack! We can't just do that without Silent Breeze knowing!" she scolded. Applejack smiled.

"Twi, it ain't like this is his diary or anything. You think he's gonna be all saddle-sore about us taking a quick peek inside? I dumped a bucket of water on him to get him up the other day, and he barely did anything! He ain't gonna mind." Twilight slowly took her hooves off the bags.

"I dunno; it still doesn't feel right..." she said.

"Come on, sugar. At some point in this journey, we're gonna see what's inside, anyway! Finding out a little early ain't gonna hurt anypony." Applejack slowly and carefully began opening them.

"We don't have time! He could be waiting for us right now!" Twilight blurted out. Applejack looked up.

"Nah, he ain't. He's probably just messing around in town. He'll remember he's got somewhere to be at the last minute. Trust me, he's done this before." Her smile grew larger and larger as she flipped open the right saddlebag. As she looked inside, her smile slowly began to fade to a mystified look. "... Huh?" Twilight slowly began to shift her eyes to the inside of the bag. The absence of food and essentials surprised her. Only a long piece of rope was inside.

"He didn't pack anything else?" she asked. Applejack took out the rope.

"There's a couple of blueberries in here as well, but other than that, it don't seem like it. This rope here... Look's like enough to tie up a full grown manticore..." she observed.

"Why would he pack so much? Why would he need so much?"

"I dunno. He is a thief, after-"

"Rogue," Twilight corrected.

"Thief, rogue, whatever! Anyway, I reckon he knows some sort of hidden route, and this here rope is to help the wingless ponies through." Twilight thought for a while.

"That makes sense, but it doesn't seem all that likely... Check the left one; maybe we'll find out." Applejack did as Twilight said. The left one contained a large pair of scissors and the Araiyan spell book. "Hold on, when did he take this?"

"I can't answer that, Twi; I ain't got no idea. We know why he brought as much rope as he did, at least." Before she could close the bags, Twilight stopped her. "What is it?"

"Look at the spell book again." She pointed to the book. There was a bookmark on one of the pages. "That bookmark isn't mine; he must have been reading through for a spell of some sort."

"That's ridiculous; he's a pegasus! He can't do the spells in here, no matter how many times he reads them over. He ain't got the magic," Applejack explained. Twilight opened the book to the bookmarked page.

"Even so, this page must've been important." She read over the spells. When she reached the last one on the page, she froze.

"Twi? You alright?" Applejack asked. Twilight simply turned the book towards her and used the bookmark to point out the spell's name, unable to speak. "Alright, let's see here... Silence of the Void. Says here that the spell, when cast on any living being, will erase their body, transporting their soul to the Void... I don't see why you're so shook up about this, Twi. It's like I said, he's a pe-" She was cut off by Twilight pushing the book closer.

"R... R-Read the..." Twilight began trailing off. Applejack shrugged and continued reading.

"The spell requires the use of Arcanis's sacred chant, and can... Can..." Her eyes widened. "... Can be done by any Araiyan-born pony in possession of this knowledge..." She shook her head slowly. "T-Twi, do you think he..." Twilight closed the book.

"Why else would he have the rope?" she asked, the fear in her voice rising.

"But... What about them other spells? There are three more!"

"Silent Breeze doesn't seem to need them. The spells look like they help out with stealth; he's already stealthy enough, don't you think?"

"I... I dunno. But, wait! What are the odds that he knows this chant? We don't know if he's even heard of this spell!" Applejack shouted, trying to ease her friend's worries.

"He's stolen countless objects, both common items and royal artifacts, back in Araiyah. He might have learned the chant, or is planning to... We have to confront him about this."

"No! What if he, you know, accidentally put the bookmark on the wrong page? Look..." She reopened the book to the next page. "...Right here! Soul Song! It says that it's a song that calms everything in the area. He could have been trying to learn this in case we run into any trouble in the forest, and was rushing, so he..."

"Applejack..."

"He could have! Why would he..."

"I don't know; that's why we have to ask him." Applejack and Twilight looked into each other's eyes for a moment, sharing expressions of fear, worry, and lust for answers.

"A-Alright; we'll talk to him. But not right away, okay? He's just starting to trust the ponies of Ponyville; if we accuse him of plotting against us and we're wrong, he'll go right back to the shadows."

"You're right... We'll ask him when we reach Araiyah's edge. That seems like a good place." Applejack carefully re-coiled the rope and set it back in the right saddlebag.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get going." Twilight put the bookmark back where she found it and dropped the book in the left one. Applejack then picked up the saddlebags, and the two left for the forest, unsure of what was to come.