When Darkness Falls (Reboot)

(This chapter is presented blm95tehe)

My vision was fuzzy, and my thoughts were scattered. I had no idea the whereabouts of myself or Cloud, but as I opened my eyes, Cloud poked his head out from a nearby tree. He giggled and receded his head back inside, causing it to shake. After a few moments, he jumped out and started hopping towards me, with the widest smile he could muster up.

“Where......Where are we?” I asked him, still in my daze, and gulping for air.

Cloud gave me a confused look. “We’re in the Everfree Forest, silly! Where else would we be? You blacked out on the trip down. I can’t fathom why, though, I thought you were tougher than that!” Cloud said playfully.

“Fine. Next time I’ll hit your head against a rock, and we’ll see if you like it.”

Cloud giggled. “That's ok, I’ve already hit my head on a rock before, remember? When I fell out of that tree.” He raised his eyes to the sky, recalling an earlier memory. “I saw something when I blanked out.”

“Yeah, I remember that. The doc said there was nothing wrong with you, and I told him that there has always been something wrong with you.” I gave a sarcastic smile. “You crazy nut!”

“Just remember I’m the nut who saved your flank from drowning.” He giggled.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You're such a hero. What would I ever do without you.” I deadpanned.

“You would most likely panic since, unlike you, I have an idea where we’re going.”

Cloud started marching far ahead of me, singing some song about an old river. I couldn’t make it out myself, as I was too busy taking in my surroundings. I’ve never really understood why everyone thought the Everfree Forest was so creepy. It may have been because it was still daylight, but the lush foliage was a beautiful sight for my sore eyes. Of course, my perception could completely change if we ran into a Timber Wolf, or any one of the dangerous creatures that lived here. At that moment, however, I didn’t care in the slightest.

Eventually, Cloud started getting out of sight. I called out for him, but as usual, he was too lost in thought. I started running after him, but as I ran, I heard hoof steps, ones that weren’t my own. They were muffled, and very faint. I immediately dug my hoofs in the dirt and stopped. The hoof steps would do the same a few seconds later.

It seemed that with every step I took, another pony’s hooves steps would follow. Nervous and wary, I took a look around my environment. I looked to my left, then to my right, but saw nothing. Still listening carefully for the sounds from before, I kept on walking...

SNAP!

“CLOUD, GET OVER HERE!!”

Cloud stopped, turned 180 degrees, and gallivanted back over to where I was standing. He was about to open his mouth to say something, but I shoved my hoof into his face so he would remain quiet. After a few seconds of searching, I took a deep breath, and shouted, “Come on out! I know you're following us. Just give it up and show your face!”

As I figured, Cloud was completely confused, and removed my hoof from his mouth. Immediately, he spoke up, asking me all sorts of questions I wasn’t paying attention to. I closed my eyes, trying to figure out where the hoof steps were coming from. I could hear one here and there, but I couldn’t pinpoint where they were coming from. Eventually, the noise ended altogether. The environment was completely silent.

Then without warning a fiery bird dove at us from the treetops.

KA-KAAAAWWWW!!

Cloud was the first to react. “TAKE COVER!” Cloud shrieked, going into a prone position. I dove to the side immediately afterward, and with luck, the bird missed us both. Cloud started crawling away apprehensively for a few moments before rising to his hooves and sprinting with all his might. Locking my sight onto him, I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, catching up to Cloud in moments. Soon afterward, the mysterious creature swiftly flew in front of us and landed with force, causing Cloud to jump backwards and fall over.

We were both scared stiff as this giant bird started walking towards us. Now that it was in plain sight, I could tell what it was. It was a phoenix, of all things. A giant phoenix, about a foot taller than we were when it stood upright. However there was something different about this one:

Instead of having a glowing reddish-orange color all over, this one had a deep purple color to it’s body, while the feathers and tiny flames on it’s wings were midnight blue, not unlike Luna’s night. It’s claws and beak were pure black, and it had a aura of navy blue.

Soon after I got my bearings, Cloud got his. Both the phoenix and us were about to charge at each other, when a male voice called out from up a tree, interrupting us:

“Stop it, both of you! you two are acting like children.”

Cloud, the phoenix, and I halted our plans to charge, and looked in the direction of the voice. “Children? What are children?” I asked myself.

I looked up into the tree overhead to see this...thing. It wasn’t ugly, nor scary, and it was hanging from a tree branch. Partially obscured by the branch’s leaves, I couldn’t quite make out what it was. After it had had enough of our staring contest, it jumped from the tree, landing on the ground directly in front of me.

My mouth opened in shock. He was a dragon! This wasn’t your normal dragon, however. Its head was more rounded than normal for a dragon, ending in a small snout, and he stood at about the same height as myself. His eyes were more pony-like, with a dazzling, deep topaz blue color to them. His body was a lush green color, and black strips danced around his body, except for his under belly, which was a grey color, like my own coat. His spikes were a darkish green that shone brilliantly. He walked upright while his average-sized tail dragged on the ground. Noticing his lack of wings, I figured that he was probably a Drake, and no older.

He had this curious look on its face as he spoke: “What are two young ponies doing in the Everfree?” he asked. Cloud was busy cowering behind tree, poking his head out every now and again to see what was going on. I had no idea exactly what he was. A dragon I was most sure of, but what kind? As it approached me, his face turned white.

“Are you two alright?” he asked.

I thought was a odd thing to say at first, but then I took a look at myself, and it hit me. After the events of the past few days we were covered in blood, muck and cuts, and my wing looked like it was hit by a carriage. Cloud reluctantly decided to leave his hiding spot to greet the strange dragon, while I was a little more hesitant to move forward. To my surprise, when Cloud held out his hoof for a hoofshake, he was pulled back with force. The dragon wrapped his arms around him in a crushing bear hug.

“Hello! It’s so nice to meet you!” he shouted. “I love meeting new ponies! What’s your name?” The dragon released Cloud from his friendly hug of doom.

Before Cloud was able to answer, I pulled him by the ear. “Come on, Cloud. That will do.” I said with finality.

“I’m Night Swirl...” he paused. “Are you hurt, too? Come on, I can help.”

Cloud gave him a confused look. “I’m not hurt. What are you doing here?” he asked. Night Swirl didn’t answer immediately. I was about to go over to drag him away, but before I could move, I was swept up in a light green aura. Levitating in the air, Cloud ran over to Night Swirl. “Asher! Night, let him go!” Cloud demanded. Once again, he was ignored.

“What is this? Magic?” I barked at the dragon.

“Relax. I’m doing nothing to hurt you, but it’s funny to see two ponies covered in blood wandering through Alpha Dragon territory.” Night Swirl said matter-of-factly. “Also, yes, this is magic. What else would it be?”

Cloud was visibly shaking in fear and awe of the dragon’s magic picking me up so effortlessly. I, however, somehow remained calm, despite being ponyhandled by a strange dragon’s magic. For some reason, I felt that I could trust him. “What's an Alpha Dragon?” I asked.

“Really? Don’t they teach pon...”

Cloud interrupted before Night Swirl could finish. “Is there any way you could get us out of here? Please! I’ll do anything!” Cloud shouted desperately.

“SHUT UP, CLOUD!” I screamed, hoping to shock him into calming down.

It was no use. Cloud had worked himself into fit, shouting at Night Swirl to both let me go, and get us out of the Everfree Forest. Having grown tired of his loud voice, I asked Night Swirl to sedate him. Before he could do anything, however, Cloud panicked, turned to run, and smashed his head against a tree. After stumbling about for a bit in a daze, Cloud fell over, and passed out. Both Night Swirl and I chuckled at Cloud’s amusing display. After a few brief moments, Night Swirl ended his spell, gently dropping me on the ground.

I rose to my feet and spoke. “Now that that’s over with, what was the spell you just used on me?”

“That?” Night Swirl reassured. “That was a basic analyzing spell. All I did was look into your subconscious, and searched for any intentions or traits that would keep me from trusting you. Since I found nothing, you’re in the clear.” He walked toward me and stood at my side. “Also, I’m sure you trust me as well. Very few ponies I use that spell on submit as easily as you did.”

As he said that, I realized why I could trust him so easily. “If you were truly out to get us, you could have done that a few minutes ago with the phoenix.” I revealed. “Anyway, I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself. My name is Asher.” I extended a hoof out toward him. “Nice to meet you!”

Night Swirl reached out and held my hoof, but instead of hugging me like he did with Cloud, he gave my hoof a pleasant shake. “Pleasure to meet you. Sorry about hugging your friend as hard as I did. I guess I got a little over-excited.”

I looked over at Cloud, who was still unconscious. Night Swirl walked over to him, and picked him up with his magic, with seemingly no effort. I was in awe at how easily he was able to carry my friend. I’d seen many Unicorns with a knack for magic, but never one that could hold a pony of his weight so effortlessly. Carrying Cloud alongside him, he started walking along the path. “Come on, Asher. We have to get going!” Night Swirl commanded.

I snapped out of my daze and quickly joined him. “While he’s out cold, I guess we can talk, now,” I said. “To start off, where are we going, and what's an Alpha Dragon?”

“We’re heading to my village,” Night Swirl replied. “Again, don’t they teach you about our species in school anymore, or what?”

“I guess not. I’m from a place called Aspen. It's in a pretty isolated corner of Equestria.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not too surprised. My kind hasn’t left the Everfree since the Nightmare Moon uprising about a thousand years ago.” Night Swirl turned to face me as we walked. “Now, to answer your question from earlier: There are two types of dragons in this world. You have the big scary flying ones, which are just called Dragons. Then there's us, the Alpha Dragons. We’re an ancient race. In fact, we were the first to discover Equestria, about a hundred years before ponies did, and we settled here in the forest.”

“Why would anypony settle in the Everfree Forest? This place is a hell-hole!”

Night Swirl raised his arm in defiance. “First off it's everyone, not everypony. Pony talk has some weird habits, doesn't it?”

With that comment, I recalled what he said before. “I remember you calling us children’ earlier when that phoenix attacked us. As a matter of fact, where is that bird brain, anyway?”

“That ‘bird brain’ is my pet,” Night Swirl stated. “His name is Shadow, and he’s probably right above us, keeping watch, or something.”

Sure enough, when I looked up, Shadow was there, circling us in the sky. Watching him flying around, I was reminded of my injured wing. Man, I wish I was up there right now, I thought.

Night Swirl resumed our conversation. “Anyway, before you interrupted me, I was talking. As you can see, we don’t have wings, so, obviously we can’t fly. We can, however, use magic, but you’ve probably figured that out already. We lost connection with the other races outside of the Everfree about a thousand years ago, except for Princess Celestia.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Night Swirl spoke first. “I know what you're going to ask. Back when Nightmare Moon rose up, she took control of some of our cities. When Celestia was finally able to capture and banish her, our leader, and my father, Fiery Night, closed the borders, in the hopes that such a event wouldn’t happen again.

Anyway, I guess the basic info about our race would be that we’re dragons that use magic, but lack wings, and that we average four-to-five feet in height. We are also one of the more intelligent races out there. Anything else you would like to know?” he said with a sarcastic tone.

I processed the information he gave me, then asked, “Can you breath fire?”

“Of course we can!” He answered. “We are dragons, after all.”

I had no more questions to ask, so we continued walking in silence. After a minute or so, Night Swirl was the first to speak. “So, um, what are two ponies doing this far in the Everfree?”

“Well it’s kind of a long story...” I said sheepishly.

“We have time.” Night Swirl replied.

As we made our way through the forest, I recalled my memories of the past few days: The encounter with Discord, the fate of Aspen and my parents, the adventure on Mt. Hedon, how we ended up in the Everfree. I also told him about the griffon we encountered. I made sure to spare no expense, and told him everything.

When I was done, I looked over at Night Swirl. To my surprise, he had an intense look on his face. It reminded me of the look Cloud had when he was beating the griffon with the rock. It was pure, absolute rage. Without warning, he dropped Cloud, causing him to mumble incoherently about being chased by birds. I looked with interest at Night Swirl, as he slowly walked toward a tree. Looking down toward the ground, he leaned his arm against the tree, and stayed there, facing away from me, not making a sound.

Curious, I approached after a few seconds of waiting. Standing by his side, I discovered why he turned away: He was crying. Sobbing away softly, like a child. I wasn’t sure what I said that could’ve had this much of an impact on him emotionally. Whatever it was, it must have been important enough to make this seemingly emotionally hard creature break down like this.

As Night Swirl stood there, Shadow had come down from the sky, standing next to him. He did nothing more than look on, more than likely understanding what was going on. I, however, was still in the dark about the situation. I let him be for a few brief moments, then spoke. “Night? What’s going on? Did I say something wrong?” I put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off quickly, and turned to face me, wiping tears from his eyes.

“It’s okay, you didn’t mean anything.” Night Swirl replied with a sniffle. Sighing, he continued. “It’s just that...whenever anyone mentions Discord, I lose control of my emotions.” He paused briefly. “Long ago, Discord killed my mother. Even after all these years, I’ve never fully gotten over it. It’s silly, I know, but she was everything to me.”

For an instant, I felt disgruntled, furious at what Night Swirl had just told me. How many people has Discord killed over the centuries? I thought to myself. Is there anyone who hasn’t been affected by him? However, that feeling quickly subsided, as I had a newfound friend in front of me who needed a bit of comfort. “I’m sorry,” I solemnly said. “I know how you feel.”

After another sigh, and one last sniffle, Night Swirl spoke with finality. “I guess he still gets a kick out of killing mothers. Come on, we have to keep going.”

Night Swirl picked Cloud up once again with his magic, and we continued onward, Shadow flying overhead. It was quiet for the next several hours, no one electing to speak. I didn’t mind, though. The silence gave me a few hours to go over the events of the last couple of days. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much my life had changed over such a short period of time...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightfall came slowly, but surely. We had set up camp in a small clearing, one with a surprisingly nice view of the sky, which was perfect for Shadow to keep watch. I marveled at the little guy’s stamina. Except for when he came down every so often for a bite to eat from Night Swirl’s feed supply, he remained in the air, vigilantly guarding us. It was his job, and he was the best at it.

Night Swirl took this time to heal some of my injuries with his magic. “Don’t worry,” he said. “My father taught me a little bit about healing magic. We rarely die due to injury, thanks to our healing spells.”

“I’ll be fine, but I’m going to need proper bandages.” I replied.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll be able to patch you right up.” Night Swirl said, his tone finally lightening up a little bit.

“Thaaaannnn....” I was about to express my gratitude, but my eyes grew heavy all of a sudden. It seemed with every second that passed, my vision grew darker. The last thing I remember before passing out was seeing the worried expression on Night Swirl’s face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I woke up, I found myself in a world filled with white. The sound of the laughter of foals echoed throughout the void. “Hello?” I asked the emptiness. “Is anypony there? What’s going on?!”

“Oh, hello there,” My body immediately tensed. I knew that voice. “My, my, my! I haven’t seen you in a few days, my little pony.” The voice cackled.

Shocked, I pinched myself, hoping this was a dream. To my dismay, I wouldn’t wake up. That's when my fears were confirmed. Discord faded into sight right in front of my hoofs. Terrified, I started to run. With an audible snap of his claw, he teleported in front of me.

“Where are you going?” He grinned. “Didn’t you just get here?”

I just stood there for a few moments, frozen in fear. He took the pause as an opportunity to laugh. That sickening laugh. It pierced my eardrums, going right into my subconscious. It was what I needed to wake myself up, and face my fears.

“Where am I, Discord?” I demanded. Figuring I wouldn’t get an answer, I continued. “I swear, if you lay a hand on Cloud, I’ll find you, trust me.” I said, as coldly as I could. “And when I do, I’ll be ready. I’ll slowly choke you until I see your little beady little eyes roll back into your head, you bucked up little bastard!”

Discord was unaffected. “Oh such harsh words! You’re making me sad! If you keep this up, you’ll break my heart!”

“It won’t get to break, ‘cause I’ll tear it out before it gets the chance!”

Discord just brushed it off with a wave of his lion claw. He started circling me with his toothy smile. With another snap, it started raining chocolate milk, like before.

“You know what? I grow tired of milk.” He snapped his finger a few more times switching between different types of rain. Iced coffee, apple juice, and even tea poured down from above, until he finally decided on lemonade. “That’s better, don’t you think?”

“Like I said before, you’re bucked up.”

“Now now, I’m just here to see how things are with you.”

I grew increasingly tired of his showcase. I demanded answers. “WHERE AM I?!” I screamed.

“You are a really tense pony, you know that?” Discord stated. “You are asleep right now, and under my total control. So, please tell me, what happened to your wing?”

“You don’t know?” I asked. It was useless, I could tell he already knew. “One of your goons did it.”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry.” he barked with a painfully obvious sarcastic tone. “I was hoping he would finish the job for me. He was my best gift from a friend in a faraway land.”

“You mean the Griffon Republic?”

“Try again. It’s even farther than that.”

“How far then?” I said, growing impatient.

“Don’t worry about that. Now, listen up, because I am only going to say this once. My friend has an entire group of followers he calls ‘The conquered’. Guess what? That griffon was their leader, until he staged a coup, and gave him to me. I saw you two kill him.”

I tensed at those words, flashing back to that horrible event. Everything flashed by in an instant, ending with Cloud striking the final blow.

“Why would you do such a thing? I’ve always known you to be above the killing of others.” He paused, raising his claw to his chin. “His name was Dark Wing, and I loved him like a son.”

“I’m not sorry, Discord. It may have been inadvertent, but Cloud freed him from your spell, and if that’s what it took, then so be it.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Discord said. “I lied. He was just a plaything to me. Anyway, I grow bored with you. I have to leave you, anyway. I need to deal with six annoying little ponies elsewhere.”

With that statement, he faded away, back into the void.

“WAIT! Who’s your friend? What’s going on? I demand answers from you, Discord!”

All I got in return was a chuckle. After a few moments, my vision receded into a tunnel, turning black. Suddenly, I started dreaming my old dreams of fire and destruction. However, this time, it was also a mixed with sunshine and happiness...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suddenly, my vision cleared, and I gasped loudly. I quickly regained my bearings, and took in my new surroundings. I was in a small, nearly empty hut, lying in a fairly comfortable bed. Cloud was standing next to the bed, hovering over me with a shocked expression, which soon gave way to relief. I just gave him a clever smirk in return. I slowly sat up to see Night Swirl leaning against a wall, looking out a window. He then turned to face me, shooting me a look of determination, as if he already knew what I was dreaming earlier. I looked back apprehensively, waiting for him to say something.

Finally, he spoke. “Cloud, could you step outside for a moment? I need to talk to Asher.”

“Sure, not a problem.” Cloud said with a chirpy tone.

After Cloud left the hut, Night Swirl approached me. “How long was I out?” I asked him.

“You were only unconscious for a few minutes, but soon afterward you went into a normal sleep, which lasted for hours.” Night Swirl said. “I have some explaining to do, however. Soon after you passed out, I placed a spell on you, so I could look into your dreams.”

“I take it you know what happened, then.” I said

“I wish,” he replied. “Every time I placed the spell, all I saw was black. Whomever blocked my spell must have been very powerful. The only reason I know you went into a normal sleep is that when you did, I could see your normal dreaming.”

I turned away in dismay. “It was Discord, Night Swirl. He sent me into a void in my subconscious. We had a nice talk, too.”

Night Swirl nodded, his suspicions confirmed. “Did you get any information from him? I need to know what he’s planning.”

“He made hardly any sense, so I’m not sure how accurate his claims were, but...” I paused recalling everything he said to me. “Do you know anything about a group called, ‘The Conquered’? He kept talking about them, and their leader, whom he only stated was his friend. He never gave out a name. Have you ever heard of this group?”

“I haven’t, but I’ll be sure to ask my father about it.” Night Swirl answered. “If anyone would know anything about this, it would be him.”

He beckoned for me to follow him. I climbed out of bed, and shakily stood. Taking my time, I walked with him toward the direction of the exit. On the door was an old painting. I took a few moments to examine it.

It was a mural of what looked like an ancient battle. On one side were Alpha Dragons, slashing their swords towards an incoming wave of ponies, the royal symbol brandished on their armor. Pegasi were dropping rocks on the dragons, while the earth ponies were acting as knights, equipped with swords and shooting arrows. Looking further downward, a grey dragon with burning yellow eyes was holding hooves...hands with two alicorns, who looked to me like the princesses Luna and Celestia. The words “Harmony Will Always Find a Way” were engraved at the bottom. Night Swirl waited for me to finish looking, then spoke.

“This mural is a testament to the everlasting unity between our races.” He proudly said. “It took a lot of sacrifice from all of us, but we made it in the end.” He then gripped the small door knob, which was engraved with ivy vines and a sun symbol in the center, and pulled it open to it’s fullest extent.

I cringed as the light burned my eyes. Blinded, I stepped outside. Suddenly, I heard a joyful yell from above me. Looking up, I could see that Cloud had jumped from the roof, hoping to surprise me. I inched a little to my right, and he faced planted on the ground with giant thud. I swear, the earth moved a few feet. I’m sure he caused a small earthquake when he cracked the ground below us. I snickered, watching Cloud quickly get his bearings. He stood up slowly, and looked at me with a giant grin. Some things never change, I guess.

“I’m glad to see you’re okay, Asher!” He declared.

“Same to you, Cloud.” I declared back.

As my eyes adjusted, I discovered that we were still in the Everfree Forest. Night Swirl had used the hut as a temporary shelter, which explained why it was so empty. Starting back on the trail, I looked back at the old hut I found myself in this morning. The paint on the outside was almost completely washed away, and it leaned on its side against a stick, no doubt being used to keep it from completely falling down. An angry old oak tree blocked the sun from hitting the hut, only adding to it’s run-down look.

Looking up, I once again saw Shadow flying overhead, staying steadfast in his duty. I began to think that he didn’t ever need sleep. “So,” I asked Night Swirl, turning toward him. “What was that painting doing there on that old hut’s door?”

“That old thing?” Night Swirl replied. “I did that years ago. That old hut was something my father and I built years ago. It was my old club house until I gave it to my brother. When you fainted, we were conveniently close by, so I used it as a shelter.”

“It’s really beautiful, Night Swirl. You did a fantastic job.” Night Swirl blushed, clearly proud of his creation. Satisfied, I asked another question. “What is the painting of, exactly? It looks like no war I’ve ever heard of before.”

Night Swirl sighed. “Really? I would think that they would teach you guys about the Great Dragon War. Or as we call it, the Pony Wars.”

Cloud was astonished. “That’s what that’s of?” He exclaimed. “They do teach us about it, It's just...I’ve never seen it illustrated like that before.”

“Well I guess I’ve never thought about like this, but both sides have different views of the war.” Night Swirl explained. “The specific illustration on the door is a painting of the Battle for the Everfree. It was the last and most important battle before my Father and Princess Celestia signed the Treaty of Harmony. It marked the end of the war, and brought peace to each of our lands.” Night Swirl paused for a moment, reminiscing about the past. After a few seconds, he quickly shook his head, and continued. “I took an art class when I was younger, and I was testing out my shading technique. I think it's rather stupid looking if you ask me.”

Before I could reassure him that is was nothing short of a masterpiece, Night Swirl walked ahead of Cloud and I. After a few more minutes of walking, I began to notice something about the bottoms of the trees. They had a peculiar arrangement of holes going right into their trunks. After a few seconds, I realized what they were. They were windows.

“Cloud and Asher, welcome to my village!” Night Swirl proudly exclaimed. “The village of Saltus!”

Unlike much of the Everfree, the sunlight here had no trouble getting through the tops of the trees. Everything was bright and vibrant. Cloud and I took in the beautiful sight, marveling at the beauty that was the sleepy village of Saltus.

Each house grow out of a tree, and the outside walls were engraved with personal drawings of what ever the occupants wanted. One treehouse had vines wrapping around its trunk, with stars engraved all over the tree. Another was showing a gigantic, detailed etching of a dragon dressed in a suit of armor. Lantern cases also grew out of the home, each with an ornate look to them. Just like the engravings, they were all custom designs, made to fit the occupant’s needs. It was all outstanding.

Looming over everything was very large, plain, old-looking castle, with guards keeping watch at the top and bottom of it. It had no windows or any type of decoration on it. It had a dual sandstone color, which made it stand out in the green and brown forest. A single massive tower rose from its center. The final feature I noticed was a giant, wood-stained door. Unlike the rest of the structure, this piece had engravings, proudly displaying itself for all to see.

It was of a dragon and a pony holding their forearms out. In between them was an orb with the word ‘Concordia’ on it. What that meant, I had no idea. The edges of the door were not lined with cement or gravel, like normal, but instead were made of sunflowers, carefully lining the edges. As we walked up to the castle, The guards above left their post, and shouted to open the gate. Soon afterward, it slowly swung open.

Looking at Cloud and I with a smile, Night Swirl entered. “I think my father would like to have a word with you.”