My Little Pony: Forever Stranger

Neither Gear nor I spoke much after Topaz left. She was going back to Fillydelphia, to be closer to her family and friends, she said. Apparently the box of parchment I gave her every month for letters wasn't good enough. She said she would keep sending us her research, but I told her not to bother. So no, we didn't part on good terms. I wasn't taking help from her, for the same reason I wouldn't take help from my peers now, even if they begged me. Truth be told, I couldn't care less where she is now. She couldn't hack it, she wasn't the real deal. Not the kind of pony I wanted at my side anyway...

Looking back, I think she knew we were heading for another expedition. It was bound to go longer and even farther from Equestria. It had to, if I was going to make any progress. Someone, some creature, somewhere had the answer, and I'd find it if it was the last thing I'd do...

Three months after Topaz left, my peers' rumor mill started up again. I was a failure who turned to adventuring in a hysterical attempt to hide his lack of any worthwhile contributions. I gave them a nice, long rebuttal at the Grand Galloping Gala later that year. Right in front of the Princess, in fact. One of them, my former classmate Leatherbound, was near in tears when I took apart her most prized 'achievements.' Potion-making, lowest of the low. Suffice to say, her sparkling flasks were closer to soda than she was to a scientist...

The horrified looks the nobles gave were just as rewarding. All posh and dignified and without a clue of what was really important in the world. And they acted as if they were better than the rubes they spent the evening bad-talking. Joke's on them; they're all rubes. Different strain, same germ. I made sure to let them know before a couple of the Princess's meatheads in shining armor escorted me out...

I found Gear later that night. We had to get out of Equestria. I had to get out of Equestria. No more parties, no more classes, no more being surrounded by prissy, pampered, stuck-up ponies pretending to be something they're not...

He was nervous and dragged his hooves, of course. 'What about our other research?' he said. 'Bringing in other variables could destroy everything we've built up so far.' I told him: in the pursuit of great things, there lies a choice between truth and safety. I have chosen and always will choose truth. If I wanted to be safe, I would've become a watchmaker.

Ivory Slate, The Scientific Mind

The attack came before dawn.

Though he slept poorly, his last dream was by far the nicest. He was in the throne room, in captain's armor. Princess Celestia was smiling down at him as she signed decrees and listened to dignitaries. He belonged here. He'd earned it.

Eyes were still closed when he woke up. When he opened them, it was black. The torch had gone out. Shouting and stamping metal rapped against the door, muffled by the mat. He was cold again, but his hooves no longer hurt. Neither did his horn, and he made a light. Right when the metal stampede was loudest, just outside his door.

A steel-stamped hoof threw the makeshift curtain aside. The bull's eyes widened, then grew brighter with Gale's horn.

"He's in here! In he-!" The armored ox went down hard, 'here!' becoming 'heuughh!' when Gale flew past, sword out, horn flaring in the darkness. He reached out with his forehooves and shoved another bull who clattered onto the rock. Following the light of the streams, he sprinted down the lava tube towards the common area.

The world became very small. The only sounds were his breaths, long and fast as his steps became wider and his hooves blurry, and rattling gravel flicked his belly. He lit a semi-circle of cave, bordered by the turquoise streams that twisted and curved like glow-in-the-dark train rails. They were looking for me. Gotta get to the coast.

Two more minutes of galloping, and he hit a roadblock: another pair of steel-clads. They were guarding the entrance to the common area, wherein the shuddering light of torches rattled the cave walls, and shouting breezed past them and into Gale's ears.

No time to slow down. He picked up his knees and went faster. The bulls presented their horned helmets to him in unison. He lowered his head and took aim at the one on the right. Small flash. The steel-clad went down, and his comrade turned his head slightly to look, exposing his unarmored collar. Gale went into a savage leap, and his hooves never hit the ground. As he and the second steel-clad rolled into the common area, they took out someone else's legs before hitting the edge of the center pond. In spite of his burning lungs, in spite of the hulking grey crowd forming around him, he raised the broken blade's pommel and tested the tensile strength of the helmet lying underneath him- hard.

Whatever rest the night had given him was gone now, replaced by a maelstrom that turned the cavern into a loud blender. He got off the dazed bull, ran and dove behind a stalagmite on the periphery of the cavern, not only to hide his glowing horn, but the rest of his body from the rubble that whipped around the room fast enough to chip away at the walls. Oxen everywhere were scrambling for cover as the brown whirlpool pelted them. One by one the steel-clads' torches snuffed out as they were dropped, or blasted by dirt and wind.

Gale eased his back against the stalagmite, sliding down until his muzzle was level with the cave floor. He slowly gathered a hornload of rocks, arranging them on the ground around his head, to hide himself when he leaned out from behind the stalagmite.

The cavern brightened as the shouting steel-clads relit their torches. A couple swept the room, overlooking Gale behind his darkened ring of rocks. He watched as they yanked dozens of other oxen out from ditches, behind boulders, and in one case a young calf who tried to hide in a shallow stream. She made soft whimpering sounds for her mother as she and her neighbors were shoved and herded out into the tunnel.

Gale gave silent thanks that the steel-clads were more concerned with rounding up Summit's oxen. But he was still trapped in here, with who knows how many shaggy giants standing between him and the exit, wherever that was. He was tired, more tired than he could remember ever having been in his busy life at the academy. He sheathed his sword, feeling his horn smolder. Need to save it. Dark once they leave. They'll lock down and sweep the whole place once it's empty. No sooner than the steel-clads and their prisoners leave did another squad of four enter from another tunnel. One of them barked an order and they all spread out, fanning the cave with their torches. It was only a matter of time now.

He made then discarded a dozen plans. Might as well have just stepped out during the maelstrom and opened his mouth. So tired.

Hoofsteps- loud to him but not to the four bulls, with their clattering armor and crackling torches by their heads. He peered across the room and saw a small, shivering silhouette, slightly off-color from the cave wall, sneaking between shadows.

Suddenly Gale had a plan. It was outrageously simple, risky, and very, very low. But it might work, and he told himself he didn't have much of a choice.

He wrapped the cloak around his horn and waited until the silhouette slipped behind one of the steel-clads, towards one of the cavern streams. The water's glow masked the aura of a nearby cluster of rocks, which soon came tumbling down by the silhouette's hooves.

The closest steel-clad shouted, "Over there!" and the calf screamed, taking off down one of the tunnels. All four of the large bulls pursued, leaving Gale alone in the once safe and cozy cavern.

It took him five minutes to read the air currents and catch up to the steel-clads and their prisoners from the common area. He followed them, staying just out range of the light, ducking from one black rock to another. The last, long stretch to the surface was paved with rusty mine rails. Fingers of sunlight were slowly reaching into the cave. When it became too bright Gale shoved himself in a darkened alcove on one wall and waited.

Until now, the fear of getting lost or caught in the dark had filled his head since he lured the squad of steel-clads away. With the kid. 'The good of the many...' quickly descended on Gale's thoughts, and directed his attention elsewhere.

A cracked voice from outside. "Have we found the old goat yet?"

A second voice, breathing hard. "Not yet. I think he or Flint lead some out through the tubes."

"And the unicorn?"

"We lost him rounding up the cavern."

"How? He should have been surrounded!"

"He was. He cast some kind of spell and got away. We'll probably have to carry Halberd and Stick out of here. The pony got them good."

"Fine," he first voice growled, "I'm gonna talk to Slate when we get back. I'm not sending anyone else after the pony until I know how to deal with him."

"He won't be happy about that."

"Well, Slate's not happy with much of anything we do these days. Still better than living down here with...them."

"Should we ask about Summit? Or the pony?"

"The group we captured last month didn't talk. I doubt any of them will."

"Hope we've got enough cells."

"The Stone Heart's got plenty of room-"

"For them to be comfortable, I mean."

The two traded more complaints, about escorting the oxen all the way up the mountain, about food and the cold. All the while more steel-clads were emerging from the bowels of the cave, often with three or four oxen between them. They must have captured over half of Summit's group. The last to pass Gale's hiding place was the squad from the cavern, and in the middle of them Gale's decoy. The young bull had long stopped crying, and marched silently with his head down. He'll be alright. They all will. Just need to get out of here.

It took another twenty minutes for the steel-clads to decide that they weren't going to find everyone. The second voice, whose name Gale discovered was Hornfel, seemed worried about not finding Summit and the rest of the oxen. The first, Grout, conjectured Summit was too weak and dumb to last the rest of winter. It was only a matter of time, he said, until Summit had to swallow his pride and come crawling back to Slate for help. It was the least the lying old codger deserved, said Grout. He barked an order, and the steel-clads began marching their prisoners out of sight and sound.

Gale waited another five minutes before venturing from the safety of the tunnel. Dawn came quickly after. No sun, again. Its clouded light cast a purple-grey tint on the sky and snow, but did little to halt the chill stalking through the foothills.

A deep, cold breath billowed from his muzzle, and he bit his lip. A mob of hoofprints pockmarked the snow. Dozens and dozens of circular of plate-sized divots, and half again as many smaller ones. Worse still, more than seven uneven rectangles of pushed snow that snaked towards the mountains- drag marks.

The coast was calling, some fifteen miles away, and with no supplies he'd have to stop to forage for water and warmth. Grueling, even with his training.

There was an almost inaudible scraping behind Gale to his right. He reacted before his mind thought 'ambush,' and he flipped his head back in time to see the shadow and spear before his world went brown.

"Traitor! We let you into our home! Kept you safe! And you led them here!"

Even with Flint crushing him, Gale managed to wheeze out, "I didn't lead them here..."

"But you did," said Summit. He knelt by Gale's squirming head. "And now we have no food, shelter, or time to find either." Gale twisted his head to the left. A crowd of oxen standing there, glaring at him. He counted: twenty-four.

"We're all that's left," said Flint. "We won't make it the rest of winter. Because of you."

Gale pushed against her, uselessly. "I told you, I didn't lead them here."

Summit looked away and shook his head. "Let him up, Flint." Before Gale could finish standing Summit reached across and pulled out Slate's book. He opened it, finding the map of Bovaria. Gale had been using it as a bookmark.

"I should have known," Summit mumbled. An oxen in the group held a torch. Summit beckoned and held the map up. The old parchment wheezed then doubled the flame's size.

The spell that would have let Slate track its location wasn't difficult. But how did Summit know? "The map came from Equestria," said Gale. "Slate used his magic to make a copy there. He's still up there, falling back to the Stone Heart."

Summit turned to look at the remains of his tribe. Even now, they tore their scowls away from Gale to look at Summit, their eyes sagging and chests falling.

"What are we going to do, Summit?" asked one.

"We're not trusting him, are we?"

"They took my son!"

"They destroyed the food!"

Summit patted the air with his hooves. "I know, everyone...I know. We will find a way to get back the ones we lost, and our food. We will make it through the winter." He paused. "Before we do anything else, we need to decide: Bearing Gale has agreed to send word to his leaders in Equestria. If they are as wise and kind as Slate led us to believe, then they will come help us. But Gale must leave by this afternoon if he is to travel back to his home."

"You can't be serious, Dad," said Flint. "You want to let him go?"

"Flint's right," added someone in the crowd. "What good will it do sitting around waiting for ponies to save us?"

"If they'd even help..." murmured another.

"What choice do we have? We can't do anything down here. They might as well have taken all of us. What 's this pony going to do?"

Silence. Then Flint spoke up, "He could take us to the Stone Heart." The oxen looked to one another. Many nodded. "Every time we've tried, Slate's guard stopped us," Flint went on, "But with magic..." All eyes fell on Gale.

A bull at the front of the pack stepped forward. "This pony is here. He's the reason we're in this mess. He should be the one to help us." More nodding from the oxen.

Summit looked away and sighed. "Will you excuse us a moment?"

The oxen entered the cave in one big group. Gale stood alone at the mouth, waiting, catching with his ears the occasional eruption of shouting from the same oxen he'd seen laughing and cooking in the cavern not seven hours ago. Some argued for letting him go; others, stay.

Gale shut his eyes. But when he opened them, he wasn't on the bench at the cadet dormitory. He was standing ankle-deep in frozen water, trying to decide whether he should make a break for the coast while the oxen had their backs turned.

Too late. The oxen emerged, forming a semi-circle around Gale.

Summit stepped forward, with Flint right behind him. "Bearing Gale. If what you told me it true, and Slate is at the Stone Heart, then we have no hope of rescuing our people or surviving the winter. We need help. Here and now."

Gale's gut twisted. He said, softly, "And if I say no?"

The oxen looked at him, wide-eyed, open-mouthed. No hate-filled stares or stamping hooves, just awe- and perhaps more than a little revulsion.

Summit sighed. "Then we will go to the Stone Heart alone, and hope your princess comes."

Gale lowered his head, turning away slightly. Impossible to think with all those probing eyes. As smart as the oxen were, none had stopped to wonder if he was even capable of helping them. He wasn't a princess. He couldn't just wave his horn and move mountains. Say he did come with them, and say they did reach the Stone Heart in one piece, then what? Walk up to Slate and say, 'your food and your money?' Bovaria was dying, and helping the oxen wage war on each other wasn't going to solve that. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle- they could sort this out. Just a wave of the horn and they'd-

But if he took care of this himself, then there'd be no waiting. Bovaria could be saved in a matter of days. The oxen had blown this disagreement with Slate out of proportion, on both sides. Come to think of it, it's likely Slate was simply caught up in this mess too, and trying to use his machine to fix it. Frazil's group must have had him locked up somewhere. It was the only explanation that made any sense to Gale.

If the princesses thought this required their attention, they would have come themselves. He was here. He could do it. Not explore or investigate, but act. Discover the truth, end the oxen's war, and save Bovaria from becoming a frozen pit. All in a day's work for an agent of the princesses, and he knew they'd agree with him. So would Slate. Gale scooped up The Scientific Mind and faced Summit.

"We're going to the Stone Heart. Today."