Author's Note

It takes strength to be gentle and kind.

-Steven Morrissey.

A Gentle Right Arm

I walked down the stairs with Rin, the faint smell of ink growing as we traversed down the staircase. Daring and her crew waited for us at the bottom, Blank holding the Alicorn Amulet in her hooves. I was still a bit skeptic about the power of this thing, but if it was something passed down through the times about what it could do, then I wouldn't wait to see how the story would fully unfold; not with finding out what happened to the last user.

''You guys ready?'' Daring asked us, Rin frowning and getting some dust off her hoodie. ''Graceful would be more than willing to help out, seeing that this is more or less her life's work, trying to extract the exact secret about what makes that thing tick,'' I gave a nod, hoping to put all of this craziness behind us. It was definitely a journey, but on this side of the spectrum, I was faced with fighting in another world just to get back to mine.

The battle was far from over, and the war was certain to be a lot more than just a walk in the park.

''I guess so,'' Rin held open a door laden with mosaic tiles and strange looking letters, which I assumed to be their writing. The wear and tear on it was very obvious, along a few dark lines and indentations, maybe from a confrontation or. . .something, I don't know, it's a door.

Doors can't talk back.

''Let's get this over,'' I said with determination, Grass Song coming over and taking my hand in her mouth, the feeling not full of teeth as I would have thought. She was careful to purse her lips and have a gentle, but firm grip as she pulled me inside, and I immediately saw one of the few things that gave Graceful Wind her namesake. Past the door, it was immaculate, the floor polished to a degree that we could clearly see our reflection and, to my surprise, not a imperfection that I could see, besides us.

The ceiling was adorned with varying scribbles of their language, covered by dark blue lines and what looked to be numbers, engraved deep into the structure itself , but in the middle of that, I sensed a type of deeper meaning to it, as to say there was a very specific reason for all of that to be there, and my suspicions must have been outweighed by Rin's by a split second.

"Why is the thing shaking?'' my friend asked, getting in front of me when it began to gravitate more towards a particular corner of the room, where I just happened to be the line of sight of. ''Is it trying to-''

''Oh, sorry, that's only the wards that I put in place,'' a voice called from within the room, only it sounded like it was right by all of us, Daring and everyone else looking as nonchalant as ever as me and Rin instantly got KingSlayer out, passing me King as I loaded a round and stood back to back.

Daring looked ready to smack one, or both of us. ''What are you-''

''Show yourself!'' Rin proclaimed, her eyes darting back and forth around the room. ''Where's Graceful Wind?''

''She's-'' Blank tried to calm us down after us being a tad bit scared. ''Invisible.''

I paused, taking the time to consider that possibility. But how it would apply in this case had me curious. I asked, though a bit hesitant. ''Magic?''

''Magic,'' Daring nodded to us, trotting over to a table with charts and graphs and throwing her hat towards me. ''watch this,'' the hat flew in my direction , but stopped short as it caught on something sideways. ''Say hello, Grace.''

''Oh, ok,'' a raspy, quiet voice agreed, the shape of a pony coming out of nowhere. ''Sorry about the minor scare, I just wanted to poke a little fun at you, but I guess that I didn't really think about your feelings.''

''It's ok,'' Grass Song smiled, patting the unicorn on the back. ''They didn't seem so bad to be affected by you joking them.''

Graceful snickered, but gave an understanding smile. ''I know, but I still want to apologize for spooking you if I did,'' Graceful offered an apology.

''I can tell that you're sorry, but we don't have time for all that,'' Daring walked back over to me and Rin. ''You've met everyone on my crew except these two. Meet Rin and Jamir, they're humans from another world. Introduce yourselves.''

''Hi there, it's nice to meet you./Hello,'' Rin and I spoke at the same time. ''Nice to meet you.''

''Hello!~'' Graceful bowed a little. ''It's nice to meet you, though I wasn't expecting you to pick up some new crew members on your way back from securing the Alicorn Amulet.''

''True, but when they fell out of the sky, I didn't have much of a choice besides almost having the jump on them when we first met,'' Daring chuckled, I would peg the fact that she knew what really went on when we first met, but I didn't want to really embarrass her anymore then she already did. ''But they did help with actually getting the darn force field.''

''Really?'' Graceful gasped, walking over to the tables and consulting a few notes. ''That shield was really powerful, not even someone like me or Captain Shining Armour could try and put a dent in there.''

Thank Rin's unnatural strength for that, well the Life Drive a little too.

''We managed, but putting aside getting stopped by some poachers, fighting a Hydra and not really having a plan gave me a result that I liked at least,'' Daring boasted, giving us all a big smile. ''Good job, crew.''

''We appreciate that,'' Rin spoke up, gesturing to the tarped case. ''But can we talk about trying to find us a way home? We do have our own responsibilities on Earth, and the sooner that we get back is the better.'' I had to second her thoughts, least we leave the city as we know now to be reduced to ash, and then, the whole world could be next if we're late. ''Daring said something about not being to able to use it, even though from what I heard; it's pretty powerful.''

Graceful uncovered the tarp with her magic, seeing the amulet spar jiggle and shake a tad as the gem in the center glowed red. ''She was right, and for a very good reason. This amulet, based on the finding that were made by the last few known users as well as my great-grandfather before his passing, basically equates to it being very dangerous. The Alicon Amulet's origin's are sketchy at best there are some things I can confirm, and none of it good.''

''H-How bad?'' Echo asked. ''I-Is it something that we s-should all be worried a-about?'' I watched as Graceful clicked her tongue and channeled some of her magic and experimented with the case and seeing if something would change.

''Well, see. . .if this was to come into come into contact with somepony, it could extract the negative intentions and use that to fuel its own power to be even more of a thorn in my side,'' the hum of her magic began to fizzle once she tried to infuse it with the amulet. ''Daring here saved you guys from possibly going mad.''

''So, we got you the amulet, so now what? How do we make sure that this thing is put down as a bad part of our history?'' Daring wondered, genuinely sounding drained. It could be from all the time that was spent looking for this one thing, and who knows exactly what they really had to go through to lead them to this point.

Graceful began to ponder that as she brought forth a book and began looking through before she found a page and scanned it for a few minutes, her eyes sometimes widening and narrowing at certain points in time before blowing a raspberry with her tongue. ''There's something that might help us, but if this book is any indication on how we should go about it, we'd be better off trying to consult a higher power like Celestia or Luna,'' my interest was piqued at those names, and how they sounded like overcompensation.

''Just tell us,'' Blank said outright. ''The quicker is the quicker we all can put this all behind us, and me and Echo can reap the reward.''

''So you're just doing this for yourself and your sister, is that it?'' Graceful looked a tad surprised. ''What about the mission about making sure that this never infects another living being and causes nothing but death and sorrow?'' Blank snorted for a second and brought her little sister closer to her.

''Yea, there is that, and I would like for that to not be a reality, however, some things are just a little more important, like making sure we can be here long enough to be do that. So we should really be more along than this, right?''

Graceful pushed Blank back a tad, looking like she just swallowed lemon juice. ''Daring, did you know about this? I thought we were all in this together,'' the unicorn said as she looked at Daring, taking off her hat and steeling herself for what she said next.

''Yea, I did, and that was something that I had to take into account for all us when we came into this line of work.'' Daring said. ''Blank and Echo made it clear that while making sure that the Alicorn Amulet can't be used for evil again, the prospect of getting paid was something that they wanted.'' Rin and Graceful looked a little upset at what Daring said. ''We all know why Grass is in this, but I can't speak for Rin and Jamir.''

Graceful held her look of what I looked at to be a mixture of disappointment and sadness. Maybe she really treated Daring like family. I wonder if it would be our place to speak.

''Well, I guess since you guys are new to all of this, I should be courteous and ask if you guys what you're trying to get out of this. Is it money too?'' Graceful asked.

With not a second to spare, Rin spoke for us. ''We need to get home, there's some bad people that need to be dealt with. We were hoping before you told us about it, we could maybe try the Alicorn Amulet to get back.''

Graceful laughed, trying her best to not spit at our thought. But, the more she tried, the worse it got. So I spoke. ''Why does it seem so out of the ordinary? I mean, beside Daring telling us she would try and help us get home, it's looking like the Alicorn Amulet is something to lean on,'' I scoffed, Rin, laying her hand on my shoulder and squeezing very lightly, reminding me to not step out of line. ''It's just. . .I guess I would be willing to take what would come with it if it meant we could get back.''

''And that's just why we had to make sure that this would be taken care of before something like that could happen to somepony else, and between you, me and the crystal floor, it's not gonna happen.'' Graceful said, taking the amulet in its case and putting it inside of a chest before locking with a puzzle lock. ''The easy part is over now that I have it here, but keeping this buried will be the hard thing,'' Blank and Echo looked on, seeming to look at something that we didn't see, but I bet this would be the wrong time to interrupt. ''Once again, I thank you, Daring, and your crew for helping me out with this, and-''

''It's no problem, just doing my job, and also helping to do some good, so it wasn't nothing,'' Daring patted the unicorn on the back. ''Now there's the matter of us getting paid and we should be on our way unless there was something else you needed to be done.''

Closing her mouth and trotting away, Graceful sat in a seat after securing the chest with talismans and what looked like magic circles, she went to looking at some documents.

''Grace?'' Daring asked. ''You there, what's the sitrep on our pay?''

No response.

''Okay, this isn't funny, what's going on with our money?'' Blank walked forward, laying her hoof all over the table. ''Talk,'' her yellows eyes narrowed into slits and wings fluttering, displacing papers. I was wary that a fight would break out but our friend here sighed and handed Daring a paper, our captain looking at it and instantly yelling and cursing.

''What the hell?!!'' Daring's ears went down as she slammed her head on the table, a loud thud making her friends wince as she hit the floor, rolling around and growling. ''Damn table!''

''What's wrong?'' I asked, worried about what could be wrong this time, or in this case, what else. Blank went over and looked at the paper, doing the same as Daring.

''We're not getting paid!'' Blank yelled. ''Grace, you got some answering to do!'' she bared her fangs. ''Messing with my money is like messing with my emotions, and you just seen what we talked about-''

''Wait, wait!'' Graceful teleported to the far end of the room, looking scared for her life. ''I. . .can't actually pay you, but I do know somebody who can.''

''And who might that be?'' Daring asked. I too was curious, if only because should this impede our own mission to get home, I would like to know now so we can plan accordingly.

Graceful looked a bit sheepish and almost wanted to cry. It seemed like she didn't want to lie to her friends, but seeing as it was something that she needed to do get the Alicorn Amulet, a means to an end, I would say. And yet it still doesn't make what she did right just to get a certain result.

''I guess one thing that I could do is send you to somepony who might be able to solve both of your problems of money and getting you two guys back home,'' Graceful said, giving us the rundown. Apparently, we would have to go and see a Starlight Glimmer, according to Graceful, her magic was much more focused and vast while she may have some money that she would be willing to part with in exchange for a few favors from us.

''That's not what we agreed on, Graceful, you told us that we would be paid upon completion,'' Daring looked to see Graceful backing further away. ''I don't like being lied to,'' Daring let Grass inspect her as Blank looked livid, Echo scared as usual, and Rin and myself wondering.

''But it was the only way that I knew you guys would be sure to help,'' Graceful's point was in one way, valid, yet if these were her friends, they shouldn't have a problem with helping out, but they also don't need to be lied to. ''For what it's worth, I'm sorry, but I wasn't gonna take a chance to let this get away from any longer. . .I hope with time you can understand.''

''You know, I don't think so,'' Rin said, speaking her mind. ''We risked our butts for you, for a whole lot of ponies apparently, and they can't be given their due? I mean, who is gonna know about this besides the people in this room and maybe a few others? I don't get a sense of accomplishment from having what I did be made public, but just knowing that it was the right thing to do and it was done the right way should be made clear.'' I couldn't disagree on everything besides the result factor; as long as it gets done, then it should be no problem really.

''Ok, ok, I can see we're all a little surprised on what's happening but I can assure you that you can be given just due when you go and talk to Starlight and tell her I sent you.'' Daring looked not amused at the words of her friend. ''If you just head East, you'll be at the edge of the Crystal Mountains, which will lead you to where you can find Starlight's settlement, right here,'' Graceful showed us a map in her magic, circling a place that looked like a desert, yet Rin still tried to push her point forward.

''You sure we're supposed to go there?'' I asked, looking at the map we were provided with. From what I saw, it seemed as if we would be going to a desert. ''I don't know the distance really well, but we may be going a small distance to talk to this friend of yours.''

Graceful tapped the map a few times, catching my attention. ''I would go with, really I would, but my hooves are tied here. Do you trust Daring?'' she asked me.

''I mean, to a degree, but what does that have to do with what I asked you-''

''Daring, against what anypony else might think, does trust me a lot, and I have made it a point to not abuse that trust.'' Graceful said.

''Except this one time,'' Blank muttered, giving her friend a cold look.

''Regardless of that, she's a smart pony, so if you just trust in her, then everything should work itself out for the most part,'' we were all looking to Daring to get her input on the matter.

''Well,'' Daring looked to weigh two different things, hovering in the air a little. ''When life sets you back, you need to set up for a comeback, one example being now. Things changed, guys but our respective missions haven't. We still have to go back to the Avernus Jungle to see if we can handle what we originally came for in the first place before helping out Graceful,'' she looked to her crew, then to us, smiling a bit. ''And we can't forget helping out our new friends and trying to see if a way home for them is here, I know it, so we're gonna have to split time and effort.''

''So we're going to see this Starlight?'' Blank asked, smacking her lips. ''That'll put us off schedule.''

''Blank, a lot of things has,'' Grass said, siding with our leader. ''We all gotta adapt to change, and if we wanna get paid and help Rin and Jamir get home, it looks like we'll have to be off schedule for a minute.''

''S-She's right sis,'' Echo said, standing with Grass. ''We'll be okay with for a little bit helping other our friends.''

''So we're in agreement, then?'' I asked, going towards the door.

''It would seem that way,'' Daring eyed her friend one last time before just walking off and putting her hat on, her face hardened and her wings spread out as we walked out with the ma. ''Decrahu, guys; the sooner the better.''