Griffinstone United

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter One : Messages
Chapter Two : Treason
Chapter Three : Meetings
Chapter Four : Cozy Hearths
Chapter Five : Squad
Chapter Six : Preparations
Chapter Seven : Thunder Gate
Chapter Nine : New Worlds, New Dangers
Chapter Ten : New Civilizations, New Peoples
Chapter Eleven : New Kingdoms, New Queens
Chapter Twelve : New Worries, New Creatures
Chapter Thirteen : New Knowledge
Chapter Eight : New Beginnings, New Views

Prologue

"The Red Gear has no fear, we make our words very clear!"

The singsong voice cut through the air, the freezing breeze carrying it down to the fledglings' camp supervisor who grinned at the children's adorable confidence. Despite it only being the birth of fall, the trees were bare of any golden leaves. It wasn't too crazy, however, since they were to the northernmost part of the empire, past the border. The unexpected weather was still odd, however, as a light snow had begun to fall earlier and the breeze was soon becoming a harsh wind. The skies above were a dull grey, the sun nowhere to be seen in the barrier of cloud.

Naked trees swung back and forth, their dead, claw-like branches seemingly bending down to grasp at the marching children. Beyond their voices, the frigid forest was abnormally quiet, besides the whistle of the wind. No squirrels scrambled about. No birds or crows called out. No rabbits hopped across the pathway that they all walked down. The whole place was devoid of life.

"The Red Gear will not fear, your armies are completely mere!"

Shoulda' brought a jacket, the supervising griffon, Gare, grumpily thought amidst the warmth from the children who were donned in thick cloaks and scarves. With deep, crimson red plumage similar to the Red Gear's color, and an even darker red coat, he had decided to leave his thick coat back at the cabin in the kiddie-combat camp. Now he sorely regretted it as the gale blasted against him, ruffling his feathers, making him shiver like a madman. Where is Greave, anyway?

This was a valid question. The assistant supervisor of the camp, Greave, who had only been hired days ago, had wandered off to grab some berries for the young griffons to munch on today, but he had left yesterday morning. The supervisor wasn't fretting about it; the way the wilderness was now, there wasn't a single threat to the kids or him. Either way, he should've been back in an hour or so, but instead he still hadn't returned even in the morning. That was the whole reason he'd set up this little march, to maybe look for him, but it was becoming evident that Greave would not be here. Regardless, they'd continue on while Gare looked around.

The whole scene was eerily serene. With no wildlife to watch or point out, the trip was mostly just scenery of dead trees that were whipped back and forth in the heavy gust, the snow that they had accumulated being discarded, falling to the ground. Twigs and bits of brown grass poked out from under the bright blanket of snow, and beyond the scrawny trees, Gare spotted a small lake that had been frozen over, the pale, silvery shore free of trees.

Maybe we could have a little picnic there, he thought off topic. The little griffons could skate around and chat with one another while I search for Greave. Perhaps he would do that, for the search was becoming fruitless. They might as well return to camp and alert somebody of the disappearance if he isn't back by tomorrow-

The cheery voices of the small griffons came to a screeching halt as they all stopped. Gare looked over, a frown painted over his beak. "Hey, why'd you stop..."

His jaw dropped, as the children's already were, at the sight before them. Paralyzed, a familiar looking griffon was encased in an uneven block of thick, crystal-like ice. His beak was contorted in agony, hands reaching out in fearful anguish, wings frozen in a way to where it seemed like he was trying to fly, yet he was entombed in his frigid prison. All of the fledgling's slowly started backing up, and one of them screamed out.

"C-c-coach G-greave is dead!" the leading child shouted, causing everyone else to panic as they flew off, zooming past Gare as he stood there, rooted to the ground in shock and awe. Their screams eventually started fading as he stared up at his frozen companion, Greave's iron gaze looking down at him, seemingly begging for help. Eventually, he started to stumble backwards, dizzy and lightheaded. His gut wrenched as he hacked up a mix of bile and leftover sandwich from their last bonfire, the dark brown sludge oozing over the clean ground, staining the snow.

We need to get the authorities here immediately, he thought, backing away, hands raised in caution as if the statue were going to attack. Gare didn't deserve this. His feet started going quicker and quicker until he broke out into a run, dashing after the fleeing children. The trees to the sides of him became a chromatic blur of grey on grey as he sprinted towards the camp.

He only swiveled his head to look back once, but he had caught a glimpse of some sort of figure standing above the oversized griffon popsicle, cobalt, luminescent eyes gazing back at him. A twisted grin was below those wicked eyes, but the strange creature vanished as soon as Gare focused on it, making him question if it was even real. Even if it was, it didn't matter. He just had to run. Run, run, and run...

Chapter One : Messages

The black coated griffon bid his friends farewell one last time, each one waving back at him from the packed doorway. "I'll see ya' later," he called out, all of the waving griffons shouting out a similar phrase.

"See you, Bennie!"

"Have a good one, Benedict!"

"Later."

The door swung shut as Benedict went back to walking to his next destination, pebbles falling from the old stone brick building from the impact of the door. He didn't see why they didn't give the place a renovation since it was decades old. Only now had the practice arena been in high use, soldiers of Griffinstone testing their arts of combat against one another.

Benedict looked up at the grey sky, clouds blotting out the sun just enough so that there was a shade all around, but not too much so that it was a dark storm. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, panting. His tongue hung out from his black beak as he looked back at the ancient structure. Built like a coliseum, there were rooms on the whole of the first floor, everything above being benches for the seating of big events. All the way across from the entrance was the armory, there was the armory that was restricted from non-soldiers of Griffinstone, containing swords, daggers, axes you name it. Anything but the Red Gear's style of combat. Benedict preferred the daggers, however, and soon he'd finally get his own pair of them. There weren't any bows or crossbows to practice with, however; those were at the Griffinstone Range.

In a blur, he dashed towards the sky, coming to a steep stop once he was just above the arena. The nice wind ruffled his white-and-purple plumage, the tips of his feathers and his spotted chest and neck being a dark lavender. Benedict stared down at the arena, watching all of the tiny ants as they swung at each other. He smiled, thinking of what the new arena was going to look like. Only high ranking griffons like himself knew about the plans, but it was supposed to be grand, the Academy's very own.

The Academy. That brought up strange thoughts; once that group of ponies had been let into Griffinstone, they had set to work immediately, and the King himself had found a use for some of them. Particularly unicorns, but the others had also been useful, especially the earth ponies and their overwhelming strength. Benedict had learned the hard way that sparring with an earth pony in a hand-to-hoof fight was not a good idea. While he had more grace and speed, that earth pony struck with raw force that more than tripled his own.

I should probably head off now, he thought to himself, flying at a steady pace towards his next location. He pulled off the hood of his thin cloak, a symbol of a claw grasping lightning embedded in the back to let everyone around know who he was. It was a deep black, almost indistinguishable from his charcoal coat. A brown belt was strapped at his waist, but small streams of the silky fabric hung down, cut so that they were all separated. In short, a perfect example of Griffinstone's delicate and fabulous artistic taste. His standard battle armor was a chainmail top and sometimes a helmet, but that was the extent of it. He preferred to be nimble and quick, waiting in a battle to strike at the right moments while leaping back from his enemy's continuous swings, then pouncing when they're left open.

While flying, he pulled out a small pad of paper he had written on. It showed a small list of errands that he had to run, the last being Talonton, the sprawling town that Gilda was staying for her short vacation away from the big capital of Griffinstone, coincidentally called Griffinstone. Until then, however, he still had to go retrieve his order at the blacksmith's, and then he might pop in at the Range. 'Till then, he thought, stuffing the pad of paper back into his cloak's pocket, I gotta go to the ironsmith.

He smelled it before he saw it. The smell of sweat, hard work in the forges, and burnt metal. He also heard the banging of metal against metal, but it was the smell that was the most distinct. The building, made of cobblestone bricks that were less than uneven, was near the forest area of Griffinstone that took up more than a fourth of the town. After some public opinion, the King and his Council had decided to make a cavity in the great grey wall of stone that protected the city, stopping at the shorelines, as Griffinstone was a city with massive docks and a small beach of pristine sand that was like sugar. Now there was a large open gate that was expanded nearly a mile across, manned my many guards, of course, in the middle of the forest area, letting a ton of wildlife into the forest inside the wall. Now, you'd see deer and chipmunks on a regular basis in the forest inside the wall, and it was much easier to get in and out of the city.

While Benedict didn't like the grand city of Griffinstone as much as smaller villages like Plumeport or Craggle Creag, it was still the base of operations for his squad, and that was where the King, Gilda's bakery (And their home.) and the Council were. Benedict's mother had talked of moving, despite the negatives that it would bring business-wise. Sure, they'd get much less income, but they'd be able to see white-topped mountains that pierced the sky or grand waterfalls and a more wild forest rather than a grand castle and dense streets.

The northernmost part of Griffinstone were grassy fields, that was where the Griffinstone Range was, but outside the city was still so much more than this, at least to him. The next biggest city was Talonton, and it was much less dense than Griffinstone. Not to mention, it was located in a hilly, lush forest, and it was close to Griffinstone, so it'd be quick travel from one another. Even better, it was where the Academy was, though this was a closely guarded secret and would be revealed to the public once it was completely finished. There were also more ponies there than there was in Griffinstone, making it a diverse mixing pot. Until then, they picked out certain ponies and griffons who could help in creating the place. It was the perfect home, at least to Benedict, and it was also the location of the picnic Gilda had been planning. And as another plus, it even had its own archery range and practice arena.

The griffon shook away these thoughts as he landed right in front of the cobbled together shack, a large plume of smoke rising from a chimney. Eager for his order, he knocked on the rough, wooden door thrice. There was a pause in the rhythmic slamming of hot metal on an anvil as someone inside was stepping towards the door. This really needs a sandpapering, Benedict thought as the door opened to reveal a buff but short griffon. Benedict was at least a head taller than him, who had a tan plumage with a coffee brown coat. He grinned when he tilted his ash-smeared face up at the hulking figure that was Benedict.

"Bennie, I just finished yer' order an hour ago! Come in, come in," he ushered him in, a blast of heat encompassing him as he was pushed in. The door shut behind him, making the only light in the room come from a blazing fire, a beam of metal currently hanging over the tiny rock platforms.

"Hey, Irvin, how's it going?" Benedict said as the short griffon bustled about his small workplace, opening a door and rummaging through racks of gear. While he was one of the less popular forgers, he did an amazing job at it for much less steep prices than the others did, him and his humble little shack.

He tossed a large rock behind him while he dug through a trunk. "Well, I think you'll like yer' custom order. I've been slaving over it for the past few weeks, an' business's been booming since last month, what, with all these ponies who've been interested in my wares." He spoke in a high but gravelly voice that was unfitting for a griffon of his size, and when he said 'booming,' he meant that he had more than two or three orders.

"That's good," Benedict said absent-mindedly, looking around the dim room. The red hearth glowed, embers floating about. An iron workbench lied in the corner of the room, a red-hot piece of metal hanging off of it at a bent angle, a hammer right next to it.

"You know, some of the earth ponies 'v been looking fer' work in here, but I don't think I could fit any other people in here other than me'self for a whole day. It'd be a clustered mess, it would." His body perked up and he pulled his head out from the doorway, holding two leather-sheathed blades. Benedict took them, wide eyed as he slid one out from its case. With jagged yet smooth edges, the black blade shined in the firelight, a decorated handle fitting comfortably in Benedict's claws. He looked up at the silent midget who waited for his approval, a grin on his face from his customer's initial reaction.

"Irvin, this is amazing," Benedict praised, spinning it around in his hand.

"Oh, thank you Ben, I couldn't appreciate ye' better." Benedict inspected the finely crafted weapon as Irvin described it in his odd voice. "Twin daggers with some expensive and unique blades made from a carefully crafted mix of obsidian and steel."

Many had their own likings and hobbies. Fashion, architecture, everyone had their own thing that they thought of as a beautiful art. You could judge someone else of theirs easily, as could someone else do to your favorite. Even though he never actually forged or made his own creation in it, forging was something Benedict appreciated greatly. While some may think of it as something normal, Benedict marveled at the craft of forging. The twin daggers that he held in his hands were a perfect example of the art that forging created.

"Say, need anything else done?" Irvin asked, awaiting orders.

Benedict snickered, shaking his head as he snapped the daggers onto his belt. "No, I think I'm good. Hey, I got a tight schedule right now, but let's hang out some time, eh? Scurrying around and being cramped in this hovel can't be good for you. Get some sunlight," he said. Irvin laughed back at him in a deep, throaty chuckle.

"Ah, but that's what I'm best at, scurrying around and being cramped. Well, have a good one, Bennie." He walked out, the door slamming behind him as the noises of metal clangs returned. Irvin was weird, but he was a good man. And a damn good blacksmith, if Benedict had to say himself. Of course, the ultimate test is in efficiency and durability, not just beauty.

Once again, Benedict zoomed towards the barrier of clouds, ready for his wings to carry him to Talonton; he'd skip the Griffinstone Range. He soared through the air, squinting his eyes against the rush of wind. Now much higher than the arena, he had a breathtaking view of the surrounding dense forests, the tips of mountains just below the heavens in the distance. He glided over the wall of Griffinstone, patrolling guards waving at his passing. The dark fluff above roiled about, threatening with a storm that was soon to come. He could only hope that this didn't happen before the picnic.

———

"About time," the purple-spotted griffon scolded her approaching son. "For a moment I thought you wouldn't come." There was a chilly breeze that shook the nearby trees as she spoke, the grass alive and dancing around the two. While Benedict didn't mind the cold, he still tightened his cloak as he landed, lessening the draft that passed through his back. The sky above hadn't let up, but it wasn't any worse.

"Sorry, Mom, was busy," he said, lying down on the velvet-white checkered blanket that had been laid out, two weaved baskets right beside Benedict's head. He rolled over, fanning out his wings while leaning his head on his hands, his gaze shifting from Gilda to the two baskets, the enticing aroma that came from them not going unnoticed. "So, what'cha make?"

Gilda immediately lit up; she loved everything about cooking and baking. It was her passion. Give her a loaf of bread and a carrot, and she'd make an elaborate cake that tasted better than anything the hoity-toity griffons in the other bakeries sold. She could probably sway someone into drinking poisoned mead when they knew it was contaminated by spicing it up a bit.

"Well, I made a dozen of my griffon scones, some jerky, this amazing peach tea and a couple ribs fresh off the barbecue." Under her breath, she muttered, "Though, maybe they'd be more fresh if you'd gotten here quicker."

"Hey, do you wanna hear the scoop or not," Benedict said jokingly, immediately digging into the basket and snatching some jerky.

Gilda put out two bronze mugs, pouring the golden-pink honey-sweet liquid into them as she chuckled. "Alright, you win." She only took a moment to finish before passing one to Benedict, then grabbing herself some saucy ribs and plopping them on her plate; there were about a dozen inside the one basket, which might seem like a lot to someone, but Gilda had always had a large appetite, and the trait had been passed on. She clapped her hands, rubbing them together, a grin that belonged to a child on her face. "So, what's been going on with everything?"

Benedict made his mother wait for an excruciatingly long time before swallowing the salty jerky and taking a gulp from his cup. "Well, you remember what I told you about the Academy, right?"

"Yeah, of course. Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone." Gilda put her claws up to her beak, making a gesture to zip it shut. Benedict had really told her little about it, other than the fact that it had to do with magic and it was a secret. "So, what about it?"

"Well, they've been picking out more griffons and some non-unicorn ponies who could keep a secret and were interested. I heard that they've finally got their first class of mages properly trained with simple spells."

Her jaw dropped. "Griffons? And magic? That's... well, that's awesome! But how in the world would it work?"

Benedict had been awaiting this question, for he had only learned the answer last night. "Okay, so unicorns would use their magic to... like... bless gemstones and crystals, which would then be used for staffs. That, or someone would draw power from it, but they'd still need the gemstone handy, which is why it's easy to have it implemented as a staff. From there, it grants the user magic, and it only takes a bit of training before they can work without a gemstone at all times... or something like that."

He had to stifle his chuckle from his mother's reaction. Her pupils had turned to pinpricks, mouth wide enough for Benedict to put his head inside. He had to wave his hand in front of her face before she blinked, shaking her head.

"Sorry, that's just so..."

"Amazing?" Benedict finished, Gilda nodding earnestly.

"It's just, well, I never thought of it to be real! And what's it called?"

He shrugged. "Well, it doesn't really have a name, besides the Academy. I hear that the King's got his Council to put nearly half of the kingdom's funds into the place, trying to make it as grand as possible, besides being hidden away in the grove not too far from here. For research of other certain categories, I've heard."

Rather than another lowering of her jaw, she just looked out at the meadow that stretched across her vision. Talonton was one of the largest cities in Griffinstone, true, but it was mostly farmland and a small amount of actual city. "We've really progressed, haven't we?" She proceeded to nibble on a rib as Benedict scooted over, looking out over the fields and at the mountains that pierced the heavens.

"Mhm," he said softly, taking a sip from his tea. Dang, that's good tea!

A certain topic crossed his mind as they looked out at the fascinating landscape. One that he'd been meaning to talk about earlier, but was afraid of the reaction Gilda would give.

"Er, Mom?" he asked, her mother turning at the mentioning of her name. "It's crossed my mind a bit, but what if we moved out here in Talonton? You know, away from the bustling city." It was partly pathetic that he still lived with his mother, but he had no other place to sleep yet, and he loved his mother. He didn't want to leave her, as childish as it was.

"Bennie, that's," she paused, looking for the right words, Benedict wincing for the upcoming words, "well, that's exactly what I've been wanting to do!"

"Wait, what?" he asked, giving Gilda a puzzled look.

"What is it?"

"Well, I guess I just expected a different answer from you," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh, I see," Gilda said, chuckling. "This is about me and Peyton, isn't it?"

"Wait, what?!" he repeated.

She raised a skeptic eyebrow. "Oh, come on Bennie. I've seen the looks you give me when he's around, and I know how awkward you are when we're together." She smirked, pulling her little boy closer. "I know it's weird for you, trust me, I've been in your place as a kid, but you still can't not admit how handsome he is."

Benedict's eyes twitched, and only after Gilda's burst of laughter did he realize it was a joke. "Very funny," he muttered, although he did eventually crack a smile at his mother's goofiness. Only Gilda, he shook his head, raising his ribs to his beak, ready to chomp down.

"Benediiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiict!"

"What was that?" Gilda asked, looking around. Benedict frowned at the calling of his name, scanning the sky, where it had come from. Two tiny dots were slowly growing, and it took him a moment to realize that they weren't just dots, but two griffons. He leaped out of the way, Gilda doing likewise as the screaming figures crashed to the ground, one of them smashing into the rib-filled basket headfirst. The second, a dark navy griffon with arctic blue plumage and light markings on her face, scrambled to her feet, watching as her partner skid to a screeching halt, the basket stuck to her head, a long imprint left in the dirt from where she'd slid. Her figure was wrapped up in the checkered sheet, one wing sticking out. Envelopes littered the ground.

Gilda rushed over to help, despite the ruin to all of her hard cooking. Benedict did the same, working on untangling the griffon...

...until he realized that it wasn't a griffon, but a pegasus. And a familiar one.

"Whoops!" an unsteady voice from the basket proclaimed. Benedict raised the palm of his hand to his face. It was none other than Ditzy Doo the mail mare.

"Ditzy," Benedict mumbled, working on untangling her as Gilda was tugging on the basket, watching with horror as multiple sauce-covered ribs hit the dirt. Gabriella stood there, pumping her fists in the air.

"Yes, I told you I'd make it first!" she said, gloating at the blind pegasus. Ditzy got up dizzily, ignoring Gilda's helping hand, as she started making her way towards the mailgriffon.

"No, I landed first!" she said, holding up a hoof before toppling over. Gilda once again tried taking the basket off, yanking Ditzy's head back in the process. "Ow!"

"It doesn't count if you crash," she said, pointing at the trail Ditzy had left behind. The basket finally came off with a pop, Ditzy immediately getting up and facing towards the griffon, putting a hoof on her chest.

"I still landed first," she said, poking her with each word. Benedict walked over, holding his beak in two claws while breaking the two apart.

"Can I ask why you were in such a rush that you had to destroy our picnic?" he asked, irked as he raised a claw towards the demolished area where Gilda had walked over to pick up the other basket which had been tipped over but remained closed.

One of Ditzy's eyes went to the right until her muzzle crumbled up. "Oh, right!" she said, searching through her disheveled mailbag and holding an envelope in her teeth. Gabby snatched it from her mouth, however, proffering it for Benedict to pick up.

"Hey!" Ditzy said, pouting as Benedict grabbed the paper and looked it over, irritated.

"There was still no reason..." He stopped, staring at the exquisite A that had been stamped into the envelope; this was sent by none other than the Academy.

Gilda noticed the silence, walking over and peering at the paper from over his shoulder. "Who's it from?"

"The Academy," he mumbled. Why would they send a letter to me now? Suddenly, he looked at the two griffons and mare, tucking the envelope in his cloak and getting in a position to dash towards the sky.

"I've gotta go," he said. Without another word, he zoomed off, leaving Gilda to watch the two mail deliverers fight over who won their little competition.

Chapter Two : Treason

The Academy had changed... a lot.

In his last visit, the whole place had just been an abandoned building, a couple of the rooms being used. But, now, it had been renovated beyond comprehension. It didn't even look like the same place to Benedict!

Two shining marble fountains were put on opposite sides of a gravel pathway, shrubbery delicately cut so that they all portrayed different scenes, from a claw rising out of the ground to a large pony on their two hind legs. The canopies above blotted out the sun, though the clouds were already doing a fine enough job, making the only light coming from the gap in foliage for the building and the flickering lanterns placed at certain intervals of the pathway.

"How'd you get all this done?" Benedict asked, the pink unicorn with a blue mane who he had been walking with, also one of the professors at the school of magic, answering as sly as possible.

"Well," Sea Swirl (That was her name) said, smirking, "we have been looking into a lot more than the simple magic you've heard about last time. Magic that even we didn't know about in Equestria." She stopped at the building, Benedict doing the same, and gazed upon the building, obvious pride washing over her face. The large brick structure had a hulking entrance and spanned on with left and right wings, the roof of the entrance a large white dome that reflected the light from above. Birds chirped and the fountains spewed out water that returned to the pools below.

Benedict wasn't sure if it had changed, but there were ranks in the Academy. Students were all griffons, but a couple ponies had also joined as learners. Teachers and professors were mostly unicorns, but some griffons who immediately grasped the concept of a certain magic had started to take over. He had read the message while he flied, and it was some sort of emergency that the Academy was going to be active in, and Benedict had already shown his interest in the place.

"Like what?" Benedict asked the cryptic mare as two chatting griffons passed by, both dressed in crimson robes. This obscured his previous understandings of the place, as all students wore black robes or cloaks, and they were obviously students.

They stopped just in front of the building, Sea Swirl tapping her chin with a hoof before responding. "Well, we've learned that earth ponies contain a certain magic to them, one that makes them as strong as they are, and more that we have yet to figure out. We're calling it Geomancy, the magic of earth ponies. I'll lead you to the headmaster, she's the one who called for you."

Okay, so the rankings had changed. Now there was a headmaster, and the change of robe color most likely meant something as well. The grand oak doors creaked open, revealing a clean marble floor that forked left, right, and forward. Torches hung on rough walls of cobblestone, flowing banners filling in the gaps. There were only four, the blank spaces that continued on empty. The first was the same red as the two griffon's robes, the symbol of fire and water smashing against one another painted on the silky fabric.

"What are these?" Benedict asked, gazing at the other flags. The next was a dark emerald background, a smaller flag painted atop that depicted the sun with a field below, crops growing. The other two showed a golden cross with black wings atop pure white and a darker green flag with a large black tree.

"Hm?" Sea Swirl looked up at them, then she grinned, happy to explain. "Well, we're always looking into new fields, but the red flag is for Elemancy, which is our main combat school, as well as the most popular. They deal with fire, water and ice, that sort of thing. The green one is, as I mentioned before, Geomancy, though it's more just a research field, and the white one is our school of Abjuration. Oh, and that one over there is the Skirin Grove. I'm sure you've heard of it, right?" She pointed a hoof at the darker of the two green flags, the one with the tree.

He had, indeed, heard of it. It was a band of mages, which had most likely grown since his last pop in at the Academy, who were masters of magic, some griffons, others unicorns. He didn't know if there were any non-unicorns in there yet, but it'd make sense if there was. All one needed was some proper training and a magical crystal to start learning, so a pegasus or earth pony would easily be able to use magic. Then again, it seemed that earth ponies already had their own magic now. Wonder if there's a magic for pegasi.

"What's abjuration?" he asked, feeling dumb.

The wiser unicorn turned as they walked down the torch lit hall, approaching the intersection. The Academy was relatively empty, with only a couple ponies and griffons passing by. "It's sorta like protection and aid," she said, flipping a hoof half-and-half to show that it wasn't easy to explain. Benedict was satisfied with the answer though. He realized that Gilda had been right; the world really was changing and progressing.

Geomancy seemed interesting, so he'd have to check it out some time. Until then, though, Benedict had to talk to the headmaster about the 'emergency.' They continued down the hall, not turning either way, until there was eventually another pair of large doors. Sea Swirl bowed her head and backed away, leaving Benedict alone.

Here we go. He opened the door just a creak, looking around at the dark room that looked like some sort of study, a long desk set right in front of a large window, filtered light coming from the bright yellow curtains. Benedict took a step into the room, looking around. Seems empty-

Flash!

"Hi!"

"Gah!" Benedict leaped back, hitting the back of his head on a grand bookshelf, making it wobble. His beak opened to yelp as it started to tip over him and he held up his claws...

...but there was never any impact. Instead, Benedict opened one eye and saw a sunny aura mask the shelf, slowly but steadily going back to its original position. Bemused, he looked behind him and saw a yellow unicorn in a small black cloak, a brown mane all ruffled up. She waved, grinning with a mouth full of big braces, but Benedict didn't feel as happy.

"What the hell?!" he yelled, getting up and looking at the unicorn. She flinched as he took a step forward, cringing back.

"I'm so, so, so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you! I just wanted to, oh, ya' know, give you a scare!" She grinned sheepishly, and eventually Benedict stopped glaring at her, and rather stared in confusion. She turned her head, noticing the odd look. "What's wrong?"

"Well," the black griffon said, "I guess I expected something else, kind of like an old guy with a..."

"...flowing beard and one of those cool looking party hat things?" she finished, waving a hoof. "Heh, the griffons who wanted me to run this place expected somepony like that, but instead they got me, Banana Toss, the best unicorn in Griffinstone!"

She speaks so fast I can barely make out what she's saying! "Wait, you're the most magical pony?" That didn't sound right, and she was just so upbeat and happy... It was nothing like what he was expecting.

"Yeah!" she chirped. "I can-"

Flash!

"-teleport!" she said atop the bookshelf behind Benedict, making his eyes widen. "I can float myself around, which takes a lot of effort since your levitating yourself, by the way." The sunny aura from before returned, enveloping her as she started flying around the room.

"Oh, and I can do this!" she flared her horn as a translucent, ghostly banana appeared in the center of the room. "It doesn't really do anything, but, by Golly is it cool, am I right?"

Benedict just gazed, beak dropped open. Eventually, he found his voice. "That, well, that's amazing!" Banana Toss's cheeks turned rosy at the praise. He then remembered that there was an emergency.

"Uh, wasn't there some urgent thing happening?" he asked, Banana Toss immediately perking up.

"Yeah, you're Benedict right, okay, so this is what's happening," she said, not waiting for a response. "So, Griffinstone had some spies lurking in the Red Gear, but they got caught and are tried for treason, so they're getting executed tomorrow or the day after. There's about twenty of them, and they're all in this prison caravan that's heading towards Cobble Claw, so I thought, 'hey, why not flex our muscles and test our magic?'" She looked at Benedict. "Right? You following?"

"Yeah," he said, although he didn't understand parts of it due to her overly-happy super-fast way of speaking.

"Okie-Dokie! So, that's why I'm having a couple of professional Elemantics and Geomancers of the Skirin Grove go there and save them, as well as some of the elite squad griffons that your part of. You up to it?"

"Hell yes I am!" Benedict said. "When are we doing it?"

"Right about," she stopped, looking at the clock on the wall which had just turned to the hour mark, "now!"

*** *** ***

"How in the world are you guys going to fly with us?" Benedict questioned, looking at the stallion and two mares.

The large red earth pony nodded towards the other two Geomancers, griffons, while the two unicorns did the same. "One of them is carrying Big Mac, and the other is carrying us two," the green one, Bittersweet, said, an Aid, which was someone who practiced in the Abjuration school.

"Eeyup," he agreed.

The pink one, Sunshine Smiles, nodded. She was an Elemantic. The whole thing was still sort of confusing to Benedict.

It was a squad of six elite griffons, including Benedict, with three Geomancers, three Elemantics and two Aids. The plan had been laid out for all of them; four elites would be working with the Elemantics to take out the guards while two Geomancers worked on breaking whatever confinements the spies were captive in, as well as two other elites. Big Mac had volunteered to be the fighting Geomancer. Bittersweet would be keeping the prisoners from harm while the griffon Aid protected the group.

Only one of Benedict's friends from the elite squads that he knew well had come, his name Jared. Unlike Benedict, he favored heavier armor and carried a large hammer. He sat down on the bench with Benedict, looking at the Geomancers with keen eyes. He had a brown coat and cream-colored plumage.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" he said, making small talk as the group prepared. "I mean, years ago, I don't think anyone here would even think of a griffon possessing magic as possible."

"Yeah," Benedict said, stretching. "Times are changing, I guess."

Jared chuckled, "You can say that again, brother." He looked down, silent. There was no other conversation, and tension was hung in the air, being carried with the wind. Their destination was somewhere near Cobble Claw, one of the Red Gear's big cities, up near the north.

Benedict pulled his twin daggers out, flipping them around in his hands, catching Jared's eye. "Where'd you get those beauties?" he asked.

"There's this blacksmith in Griffinstone, near the forest-y part. You know Irvin?"

"Ah, no. I might go see him, though, if he can make something like that." The silence returned. Benedict assumed they'd be leaving after a couple minutes.

Unlike the two griffon Geomancers, Big Mac held no gems. It made sense to a degree; he was an earth pony, and that was where the magic originated. Benedict found himself wondering how much would controlled Geomancy differ from an earth pony using it subconsciously. Maybe they'd be able to hit ten times as hard, or perhaps it wouldn't be anything of a noticeable change. Only time would tell.

The griffon Geomancers started to strap the ponies to them, signaling that it was time to go. Benedict got up, inspecting his gear one last time. He wore chainmail under his cloak, and he had a crossbow inside of the cloak. While he didn't favor bows and crossbows, they were useful at times, so it was always nice to have one when the opportunity arose for its use. Benedict took off, griffons following after him. The last of the group to be airborne were the griffons hindered by the weight of the ponies, but they quickly caught up, Geomancy allowing them to flap their wings faster and harder.

The fourteen only took one break throughout the eight hour flight, stopping on the peak of a small mountain just near the border between Griffinstone and Red Gear territory. By the time the griffon that they had appointed to be a quiet recon had announced to the others that he'd found the caravan, the moon shone brightly in the sky, clouds absent.

Nightfall would mask their attack. The plan was quick and quiet; there would be no witnesses.

Benedict was next to Big Mac and Jared, feeling their breath on the back of his neck, watching the approaching carts from the cover of bush. Just as Banana Toss had said, there were twenty griffons, all of them beat to hell, trapped inside of a large cart, iron bars keeping them from easily flying off. Ten Red Gear soldiers walked along with the cage, but the recon had told of two more flying high in the sky, and there was a rustling in the bushes to the other side. The canopies of trees would hide them until they stepped out onto the dirt road. The Red Gear would've put more soldiers on duty for this, but it seemed that they wanted to keep this low profile. Fortunately, the secret had slipped from their grasp.

The Red Gear soldiers were like any other; they all donned similar pads of leather and chainmail tops, helmets, and some had metal plates. All of them, however, were dressed with a cloak donning the Red Gear's emblem, three black gears with a sword in the middle on top of a crimson background, and they carried the Red Gear's signature device, of one way or another. The lighter guards, there were six, were armed with the long revolving muskets that the Red Gear were known for, small pouches of their ammunition strapped to their cloaks and belts. The other three that were visible had long spears, and one held a small axe in each hand.

The revolving muskets were build like long rods of metal, wood making up a sort of stock that griffons would put up near their arm. A small trigger stuck out from under it, a revolving wheel at the base of the weapon holding six individual metal pellets enchanted with dragonpowder, spinning as each round was fired so that the next would be available in the barrel.

Benedict looked to his left; all of the elite griffons nodded, raising their weapons, two of them with bows. The musket griffons would be the most dangerous, so they were immediate targets. To his right, Big Mac quietly whispered, "Eeyup," the other Geomancers, Elemantics, and Aids nodding their agreement. He raised three of his claws, slowly counting down silently. Three, he mouthed. Two. One.

In a graceful motion, Benedict dashed out from the foliage in a blur, the two archer elites' arrows hitting the leading musket griffons' heads with sickening thwocks! as they dropped to the ground, wooden ends poking out from their heads. Jared had jumped upwards, dropping his hammer on the top of one musket griffon's head with an audible crack.

Benedict ran on his legs, claws held to either side, each one grasping a black dagger, though they'd soon be stained with the Red Gear's blood. He slid directly under a spear-wielding griffon's legs as he turned in confusion, digging his blades into his thighs and dashing forward, dark red fountains appearing as he fell. The axe pony turned towards him, raising his axes as Benedict got up.

Big Mac had not tried to make himself quiet. He galloped towards one of three remaining musket griffons, sending dirt flying as he screeched to a halt and raised his hind legs to buck the surprised griffon. His head snapped back from the impact, sending him flying into the other side of the bushes, yelps coming from them. Sunshine and her two Elemantics were immediately on the foliage, letting loose a blazing inferno. Screams sounded from the bushes, revealing the hidden soldier's locations as they burned alive.

The remaining musket ponies raised their guns at Big Mac and he whinnied, backing away. There was a flash of green light as the barrels of their weapons exploded in a brilliant light, two small blurred balls of metal zooming towards him. He winced for the incoming barrage, but the griffon Aid had come to the rescue while the other two griffon elites flew over to the cage, raising their shields as gunfire rang out from the skies. There were dull thuds as metal balls dug into the wooden boards of their shields and the magical blue shield that the griffon Aid had created for Big Mac. He opened one eye and saw what had happened, nodding his thanks before going to dig his hoof deep into the first's stomach, making him double over in pain and vomit before getting smacked in the side of the head.

One of the griffons in the sky fell as the archer elites fired their arrows. One missed, but the other had hit home, a musket griffon spiraling towards the ground, an arrowhead sticking out from his neck. The Geomancer griffons ganged up on the remaining musket griffon on the ground, grabbing her head and smashing it against the wooden cart repeatedly, blood and grey matter staining the dirt as they jumped off and started prying at the cart's iron bars, Bittersweet casting a translucent dome around the whole cart so that nothing could get through after the two elite griffons on top of the cart zoomed up at the last airborne griffon.

The Elemantics kept fanning the forest with fire until the screams died out, then spraying a frigid frost over the blazing trees, extinguishing the fire before it spread and did damage to the actual forest, the griffons floating over the inferno as they sprayed it out from their claws, Sunshine doing her work on the ground. One of them, however, plunged into the raging fire as there was the crackle of gunfire in the night air, the musket griffon in the air shooting him down. The two shielding griffons swarmed him afterwards, pulling out spiked maces and bashing them across his flesh.

The griffon Aid flew into the forest, the other griffon Elemantic following him, spraying an ice mist so that the two would be safe from the fire. The Aid emerged with the bloody body of the griffon, setting him down on the dirt and holding his claws over the wound in his chest, a yellow light emitting from his hands as the wound slowly healed.

The two elite shield wielders dashed towards one of the spear griffons, Big Mac taking one on himself with only his hooves, Benedict and the axe griffon circling one another. He stared at his fallen allies in both awe and terror before masking his fear, staring into Benedict's eyes. Then, making a stupid decision, he leaped towards Benedict, axes raised.

"Rah!" he grunted, slicing at air as Benedict easily dodged backwards. Benedict smirked as the axe griffon's eyes lit up in a furious rage. He continuously swung his axes at Benedict, the black griffon easily dodging and weaving. His opportunity finally came when he feinted to the right, making the axe griffon raise both of his axes to the right of Benedict, swinging downwards when he rolled out of the way. Then, as he was readying for another swing, Benedict slid to the left, curving to the right and raising both daggers, planting them both in his side. He cried out in agony, axes dropping and his corpse soon following.

The night was relatively silent as Benedict slid his blades out from the dead's body. Big Mac had easily defeated the metal plated spear griffon, a large dent in the breast plate. The shield griffons had efficiently clubbed the other spear griffon to death, and the fire was extinguished. Their wounded Elemantic slowly rose, clutching his chest as the griffon Aid rushed back over for him to lean on. The bars had been torn off in an amazing feat of strength, leaving a hole large enough for the prisoners to jump out of. The dome vanished and the group slowly came together, the Griffinstone spies' self appointed leader walking towards Benedict.

"We can't thank you enough for your acts of courage tonight," he said, putting a hand on Benedict's bloody shoulder.

"It was nothing," he said, waving a hand.

"Oh, I disagree," he said, taking his claws from Benedict's shoulder. "I will see to it that once we're all safe in Griffinstone, you all get a-"

BOOM!

In an instant, the old man's head exploded like a gore-filled pinata, the treat of bits of flesh and blood nearly blinding Benedict as he jumped backwards, Bittersweet immediately throwing up a large transparent wall.

"Shit!" Benedict shouted, "my eyes!" He rubbed furiously as one of the archer's stared at the figure that dashed away in the night sky, a sniper of sorts. His jaw dropped.

"Guys, that's a dragon!" he said. Murmurs went through the group of prisoners who cringed back from their fallen leader.

"Oh, dear god!"

"A dragon?!"

"I heard them saying something about dragons," one shouted out. They all watched in awe, besides Benedict as the griffon Aid tried to clean his face, as the figure blended in with the dark-lavender canvas of the sky.

Chapter Three : Meetings

"So, how does Geomancy exactly work?" the black griffon asked the larger stallion, both of which were seated on a bench near the sunlight, the Academy providing shade as the morning sun rose. He simply shrugged.

"Jus' feels natural," he replied in his deep voice, looking at the table. Benedict shivered, pulling his cloak tighter. Since when was fall so damned cold? The griffon gazed at the table as well, where his two obsidian daggers lied. Despite saving nineteen prisoners, last night still felt like a loss. One had died, and the dragon — he still couldn't get over it — had flown off, most presumably telling of the mages he'd saw. Albeit, the Red Gear also revealed that they had dragon soldiers.

Big Macintosh was a quiet buck, barely ever talking. Big, strong, handsome; everything a mare would want, probably. Another question came to mind for Benedict. "How exactly do the griffons use Geomancy?" He was obviously peeved at having to answer so many questions.

"They use one of them magical gemstones and suck the magic out of 'em, gainin' a permanent power. Jus' like the other magic griffons, they 'ave to refuel ev'ry now an' then by fuelin' themselves off a gem, making it o' little more use than a piece of glass." That's new, Benedict thought.

"Has to be a certain gem, though," he added. "Like for a Geomancer who ain't an earth pony, they have to use emeralds." This was news, since Benedict had always thought that they could just draw upon their power. Apparently, they needed fuel.

A group of griffons followed a unicorn professor, dressed in the red robes that symbolized the Elemancy school, walking out from the building behind Big Mac. Eventually he grunted, getting up, taking his daggers. Big Mac looked up and nodded his farewell, putting his head in his hooves afterwards. Benedict had gotten some rest before the mission, but the large stallion looked restless, rings around his eyes.

Benedict planned on getting home and lying in bed, maybe stopping at the arena to practice on the way.

It was a short flight, only an hour or so from Talonton to Griffinstone, but it had taken longer as Benedict stopped, staring at the hectic streets of Griffinstone below him. They were always busy, it was Griffinstone after all, but there were griffons bustling through, shoving others out of the way. Curious, Benedict made his way downwards towards the commotion. Numerous griffons brushed past him, shouts and curses being yelled by all.

"Get outta the way!"

"Ah, shit!"

"Hell yeah!"

His dark velvet cloak that told of his rank helped him get through, but that didn't make it much faster. Eventually, he heard an annoying voice yell out, "News! Big news! All come hither, big news story!"

Benedict had to shove an especially large griffon out of the way who gave him a glare to get to him. There was a scrawny griffon standing on a box, ink stains covering him from head to talon, his hands clutching multiple newspapers. Benedict couldn't tell whether he'd stole them or was one of the scribes at the Griffinstone Print, but he reached out for one. The griffon jumped back, holding up a claw, then making a gesture for Benedict to give him something. "One bit per paper," he said in his ringy voice.

Benedict frowned at this. Despite all the years that had passed, some griffons were still greedy. Grumbling, he reached into his cloak and pulled out a golden bit, flicking it at the griffon's chest. He scrambled to catch it, tossing one of the papers at Benedict and then continued his advertising, shouting at passerby. Nearby, someone yelled of a thievery, but it would be next to impossible to catch someone in this mess. Flying upwards so that he was feet above the surging crowd, he unfolded the newspaper, wondering what was inside. It could be about the prison caravan, but it wouldn't have caused such an uproar. At that, he began to read, sitting down on a rooftop.

Insane Weather Strikes Red Gear

We've all felt these cold winds the past few days, but it seems that it's much more

than a simple harsh winter. Recently, the Red Gear revealed in their own words that

strange things were happening in their empire. In a camp near the mountainous

north, just north of Whitewing, children screamed and a camp director flew in

terror as he reports that his companion supervisor had been killed, and I quote,

'He was frozen in this giant block of ice, paralyzed, dead for sure. He was so

damned young, too. When I ran away, I saw this, this thing above him, smiling.'

The article continued on, but this was enough for Benedict. It just seemed like some guy had gotten frostbite, and some witness was exaggerating what he saw, adding his own touch. Some griffons did that; whoring for attention, whether it's cruel or not.

'I saw this thing above him' my tail, he thought, gliding towards Griffin Scone Superette, both Gilda's bakery and their home on the second floor. He lightly landed on the balcony, knocking on the door before pulling on it, only to find it locked.

Makes sense, he thought, waiting, the streets are a madhouse. After a short moment, there was a click and the door creaked open, weary golden eyes peeking out atop a purple mask. They lit up at the sight of Benedict.

"Bennie, come on in!" she said, opening the door to its full extent and closing it behind him with her tail. Benedict took off his armor and cloak, quickly opening his bedroom door and throwing them inside before continuing with her mother. She embraced him in a warm hug that was greatly returned before backing away, ignoring the craziness outside and rather asking about something else.

"So, how'd the whole surprise attack go?" she asked, walking down the stairs with him.

"Well, we saved nineteen prisoners, but one died, and now the Red Gear knows about the magic stuff." It was only after Benedict said this did he realize that Gilda shouldn't have known about it. He stopped as Gilda continued, opening his mouth to ask how she knew such, but he saw his answer sooner rather than hearing it.

Sitting in the downstairs living room behind the counter and kitchen was a griffon with a dark navy coat, a lighter blue plumage that was greying from age. He sat in one of the two couches of the room, making room so that, to Benedict's silent disapproval, Gilda could sit with him. Benedict sat down at the other couch, the hearth between them giving off a comforting heat.

Benedict was good friends with Peyton, but his whole demeanor changed from one of a happy griffon to a passive aggressive hostility towards him whenever he was with Gilda, like she was a territory that Benedict had claimed. The fire flickered as the tension in the room stood, Benedict silent. Eventually, Peyton spoke up in a deep voice.

"Hello," he said simply, Benedict hesitant to respond. Eventually, he relaxed, cursing at himself for being so weird. It's nothing wrong, cut it out Benedict. Gilda had said so herself.

"Hey." The silence once again returned, Gilda frowning. She eventually broke the thin ice between the two, speaking up.

"So, why don't you tell us about what happened?" she asked, shaking in excitement. Benedict winced at the word us.

He shot a look at Peyton. "Didn't he already tell you?"

Troubled, Gilda was about to say something, but the old griffon interrupted. "Benedict, this is silly. I only told her about the problem, but I'm sure there's more to it, especially from a first person perspective."

"Spies got kidnapped, one died, we rescued the others," he grumbled, looking down. Once again, he cursed at himself for being so rude, but he couldn't help it. Gilda was shooting daggers sharper than his from her eyes, the look silently telling him to snap out of it or she'd spank him right then and there, despite that he was nearly twenty-one years old. He complied, dropping his ridiculous attitude.

Peyton brought up another topic. "So, you've read the recent news, right?"

"Yeah," Benedict said, looking up and, as commanded, dropping his attitude. "Some guy in Whitewing got frostbite."

He chuckled. "It was more than frostbite, a lot more, actually, based on what the Empress of the Red Gear is asking of us."

Benedict perked up, intrigued. "Wait, what's she asking?"

Peyton, glad that the room was cleared of tension, replied, "Well, unbelievably, she's asking for a peace treaty and will be arriving all the way from her home in Lyonroyle for a meeting with the King and his Council some time tomorrow. Apparently, this isn't the first time one of them got frozen stiff near the northern parts, nor is it the first that griffons had seen something in the distance."

"How do we know it isn't a trap?" Benedict asked, crossing his arms. He didn't like the whole war between them, but he still didn't like the Red Gear, not after what had happened before.

"Oh, it won't. She's agreed to be completely stripped of apparel and gear, as well as dignity, then given back appropriate items. And there's suppose to be a couple dozen guards surrounding the Tree where the meeting's happening."

"Huh," he thought, interested. The Tree was the King's residence, the large castle slash tree that was surrounded by another stone wall within the city's walls, as well as the Council's meeting place. There were more reasons to its being, but those were the main two.

A sharp ding! rang from the kitchen, Gilda getting up and eagerly leaving. "Scones are done!" she yelled through the doorway. Once she left, there was another awkward stillness. This time, Benedict was the one to break it.

"So, you know about the Academy, right?" he asked. In response, Peyton snorted.

"I know the place up and down, everyone in the Council has been making regular stops there to oversee it. Banana Toss has been asking us to come over more, she's crazy." He paused. "Er, you do know who Banana Toss is, right?"

"Yeah, I know her, the headmaster," he said, Benedict bummed that he already knew everything. It wasn't very long until Gilda was back with a steaming tray of griffon scones, setting the plate on the table and grinning. The two both knew how good Gilda's cooking was, so they immediately dug in, despite them being smoking hot. Benedict didn't know Peyton's reason, but he had only then realized that he was starving.

The three chuckled and shared stories, though Benedict's mind had begun to drift afterwards, for two reasons. He excused himself, both griffons understanding why just by looking at his fatigued posture. He climbed up the stairs, his mind groggy from his lack of sleep, also trying to focus on the Empress of the Red Gear. He had never thought that this war would end in his lifetime, and it was even more unthinkable of the Red Gear being the ones who wanted peace. Then again, they were doing it because of these supposed 'frost attacks' that were beginning to seem much more real.

He sighed, opening his door and flopping onto his bed. The fact that Peyton and Gilda were together didn't even cross his mind as he refused to get up to put away his daggers, instead just tossing his belt at a table, missing horribly. He also didn't realize that the sun was setting, the light turning to an intense red after being filtered through the crimson curtains of his room.

He gazed about his room, bored. The curtains complimented his bed sheets, casting a strange glow over them. His carelessly thrown apparel had been tossed beneath a small cloak rack, with various knickknacks strewn about some shelves and tables. Pictures of his family, besides his father, books, broken hilts of weapons and more. He never thought that he'd fall asleep, but it happened instantly upon closing his eyes.

*** *** ***

"Benedict..."

"Benedict?"

"BENEDICT!" she screeched, making him jerk in his sleep.

He mumbled "Five more minutes," but the griffon above wasn't having it. Instead, she grabbed the sheets and tore them from the sleepy griffon, moving him on the process. He fell on the floor with a thud, but he still didn't move, instead muttering for more time. Gilda frowned, leaning closely towards his ear, holding her claws up as if to tell a secret.

"BENEDICT! WAKE UP!" she screamed, finally getting a reaction. He jerked open, yelping and clutching his ear, hitting his head against a table.

"Ow!" he grumbled, slowly crawling back towards the bed while holding his head. His efforts were fruitless, however, as he just tumbled back, Gilda dragging him to the middle of the room, yanking the curtains open. Benedict hissed at the blinding light of the morning sun, holding up his claws. His mother only rolled his eyes, walking out. A minute later, she appeared with a sloshing bucket. He didn't know until it was too late that she was pouring a gallon of ice and water on him.

Splash!

"Benedict, so help me, if you don't wake up," she said through her beak, seething. "There's a man outside who wants to talk to you about the King!"

At this, and the barrage of cold water, his eyes widened and he jumped up, shaking his head. "You didn't have to do that," he grumbled, grabbing his cloak and stumbling towards the bakery's front door in a lumbering gait. He strapped his belt around his waist as shambled over like a zombie. He bumped against the door, taking a moment before opening it. Gilda stood at the staircase, tapping the railing impatiently and bitterly.

A griffon with a stiff posture and clean, pressed uniform stood there, looking him over with skeptic eyes. He held a yellow envelope in his hand. "Are you Benedict?" he asked, expecting a 'no' by Benedict's current appearance. Rather than being formal, he grumbled a yes and snatched the letter, tearing it open with his beak after two failed attempts with his unsteady morning claws.

He unfolded the paper and saw that it had been personally written in the most formal handwriting. His exhausted eyes went over the words, his beak moving while reading it to himself.

"Elite Knight Benedict,

It has come to my attention that you are one of the best of the best, and I, King Harold, must require you to perform a task. Empress Selena has recently asked for peace, unbelievably, and I have recruited many of Griffinstone's most loyal to guard the Tree. We don't know what games she is playing, and are afraid that she is using us as pawns. So, I ask of you, Elite Knight Benedict, to be my personal bodyguard. The meeting will be occurring at sixteen hours, so please be ready and meet at the Tree's top balcony. I will be awaiting you personally."

*** *** ***

The city of Griffinstone was still waking up as Benedict landed on the highest perch of the Tree. Few griffons roamed about, unlike the other day when the streets had been packed. Mothers and fathers happily led their children down streets, stopping at stores and restaurants alike. He, however, had a duty to do that was very important.

He waited silently by the door after rapping on it three times, leaning on the railing while feeling the cold wind smack against him. Humming a tune, he gazed down and looked about the grounds that were inside the wall. There was one gate that opened up to the city, a large cart stopped inside, multiple guards of Griffinstone staying near it. Selena must be inside already, he noted as the door opened, one of the King's many servants poking his head out, a nervous expression plastered on his face.

"Sir Benedict?" he asked, the charcoal griffon responding with a nod and showing him his ruffled cloak. He opened the door further, bowing his head for Benedict to come in. He had white plumage, an uncommon mark on his forehead, and a brown coat. "Sir Benedict, welcome to King Harold's home. He has tasked me to lead you to him."

"Alright." Benedict picked at his cloak as the servant shut the door behind him and started walking towards a staircase. It looked like they were in a bedroom, bunks all around. Probably the servants' quarters.

The Tree was a giant, created upon an enormous, white tree, though it was now covered with stone and enlarged. It split off onto branches leading to multiple rooms, but the main throne room was a floor above the entrance, and the Council's room nearer to the top of the tree. Benedict assumed that the meeting would occur in the Council's room.

After taking a couple flights of stairs, the servant ushered him into a room that was empty, save for some flickering torches on the walls. Another set of oak doors were set across from the ones he had come from, as well as a large griffon in an elegant robe. Benedict squeed when he saw him.

King Harold the magnificent stood before him, the actual King Harold! Dressed in a flowing and shining lavender garment with a white, fluffy outline, an axe bigger than any that Benedict had ever seen, a small iron head of a griffon molded onto the top. The King had a dark brown beak on darker plumage, a dark purple coat below it complimenting his apparel. Immediately, Benedict closed his eyes, bowing as the servant had. Rather than hearing a 'hello' or 'welcome,' he just heard a throaty laugh.

He chuckled as Benedict looked up. "Please, there's no need for that." He flashed a charismatic grin, the fire to his left and right creating creeping shadows. Benedict was even more surprised to see a hand reached out to him, waiting for him to shake it in return.

He did as so. "I, uh..." Dammit, quit stuttering! "I didn't really expect this," he said, looking at him and then around the room.

He chuckled once more. "Oh, this isn't the Council room. It's the room behind these doors, but you must know something." Benedict raised his eyebrow. "Empress Selena has a bodyguard of her own who had been let to carry weapons, since if we didn't let her, Selena'd cancel this whole thing."

"Is the Council in there as well?" he asked. He nodded.

"Now remember, as your job of my personal bodyguard for this moment, you must keep your eyes peeled on her bodyguard. If she tries anything, be ready to react. Now, ready?" Benedict nodded, earning a clap on the shoulder as the King pushed open the doors. I was expecting a much more... less... him-like King.

Stained glass windows cast the room into a rainbow clutter, all of the griffons (And ponies) painted over with the light of the windows. Banana Toss looked up and waved, but Benedict was more focused on the griffon at the other side of the table.

Sitting down was Empress Selena, a flat expression on her face as the King slowly took his seat. She had a white plumage and a grey coat. Beside her was the noted bodyguard, a griffon wearing a chainmail top and a crimson scarf, the holster of a long revolving musket on her back, earning her the stares of multiple guards that stood in the corners of the room. Similar to Benedict, she had a dark black beak and claws, but the similarities ended there.

With cream-colored plumage that ended in tips of a brown that was the same color as her coat, she stared hard at Benedict, as did he. In case she reached for her musket, Benedict would be ready to pull out his unused crossbow.

King Harold scooted his chair in after seating himself, looking down at his filled cup of ale that everyone else around the table had, Benedict standing firmly by his side. He noticed few familiar faces, but Peyton was visible next two griffons he didn't know. Banana Toss was now looking at the Empress, however.

"Empress Selena and Miss Carolyn," the King said, the Council quiet. She simply nodded. "So, you have come from Lyonroyle to ask peace between the Kingdom of Griffinstone and the Empire of the Red Gear, correct?"

"Yes, we are looking for a peace offer." she said in an annoyed tone. It was obvious that she wanted to get this over with. King Harold smiled, however.

"And we are glad to offer one, so that we can join nations and become one unified Griffinstone, and to put an end to this fighting. But, may I ask you why have you asked for something like this so soon?"

"I've already fuckin' told you," she muttered in a gravelly voice, taking a sip of her ale. One of the griffons among the small audience gasped; no one would dare speak of the King that way, but he merely smiled.

"But would you mind explaining it so that me, my bodyguard, and the Council of Griffinstone may hear it?" King Harold leaned back, awaiting for an explanation.

Eventually she groaned, giving up on stalling. "Well, it all started a couple months ago when we were sending some reconnaissance teams to scout out the north. We were hoping to establish some new territory. They never returned, and when we send a team to find out what happened to them, only one of the cowards returned to report that his fellow soldiers had been 'frozen to death by this thing.' We ask him what it was, of course the damned idiot doesn't remember.

"And so a month passes and we forget about it, assuming he was delusional and the reconnaissance team had died or gotten lost. The end, right? Well, apparently not. There's another death, but this one was actually an attack on us rather than us sending griffons to the north. A family on some camping trip had been found paralyzed and frozen, the son missing. His body was later found ripped apart in a lake. No witnesses.

"More time passes. We can't find anything pointing to what or who caused this, but now we're sure that it was a 'what.' Surely you dimwits have noticed the cold weather recently, right?" The Council once again looked up at the cool headed King nervously to catch his reaction, but he simply nodded and waved a claw for her to continue, unsettling her for she expected a more aggravated response. King Harold held his claws up to his beak in a thoughtful expression, waiting.

"Well, one more death was found. It was in this small camp for children to practice in combat training in Whitewing, for aspiring soldiers and such, but the supervisor's assistant had gone missing. After a short walk, they found him frozen solid in a brick of ice. The supervisor reported seeing some black figure, just as helpful as the other idiots. Everyone's gone paranoid and are afraid of the north, and we need to fix this problem before it gets out of hand. This isn't natural either; if you'd seen the body of the kid, you'd know. It was ripped to shreds."

There was a long silence before King Harold finally put his claws to the table, taking a long drink from his ale before responding. "We will happily accept your offer with a vote among me and my Council, but we must first discuss the conditions."

"What are they?" she asked, skeptical.

"Well, I understand that asking of you to rid yourselves of those guns and muskets would be impossible now, so I will not forbid them."

"Hang on a minute," she cut him off, slamming the table. "You won't forbid them? If we're joining together, I expect that the rulers of two nations will still be rulers, not the idiot in some ugly robes and him only."

"If you'd let me get to it and not interrupt like a child, that would be pleasant." A deep frown creased her beak at this blatant insult. "Yes, I am completely fine with you retaining your high ranking as a ruler, but we will both be rulers together. That means that we will both make decisions together with my Council." He paused. "Er, you do have something similar to the Council of Griffinstone, yes?"

"Yeah," she said with a wave of a hand, as if it was obvious, "I have the three leaders of Irelion, Cobble Claw, and Whitewing."

"Oh, and I've also heard that you have recruited dragons?"

"And I've heard that you've got some mages and wizardry shit going on," she retorted, the King's pleasant smile unchanging.

"Tha's me," Banana Toss whispered, waving a hoof, despite the rest of the Council's silence. Despite trying to keep a serious manner, Benedict had to stifle a laugh at the mare's goofiness, quickly regaining his composure as a threatening, strong bodyguard.

"So, do we have an agreement in conditions? Your empire gets to keep their wrong weaponry, we will unite, and we will both be of equal power?"

Everyone was silent, heads turning towards Selena. She grumbled an "I suppose," leading to the Council all grinning and cheering. They had just ended the war!

"Well, I guess we don't need a vote to tell that everyone thinks the same. Now, I assume that you'll be off to tell your empire of the changes? I will be holding a meeting with my own people." he said, getting another nod for a response. He gave a warm grin. "Great. Now, I'd like to discuss these deaths near the north with you once you are done with your message. Come to the Tree when you return."

Selena was about to get up when the King held up a claw. "One more thing, a request. I'm guessing that Carolyn is one of your best, as is my loyal guard Benedict, so I was thinking that the two could spend some time together."

"What?!" They both screeched at the same time. He stared at her, as did she, in disgust. Benedict looked up at the King, confused.

"Why?!" he blurted out, perplexed.

"Simple: I'd like you two to bond while I discuss things with Selena once she returns, both as a sign of our nations getting along and as part of a plan that I have for these murders in your Empire, Selena." Carolyn looked at Selena for support, but she just looked down.

"Might as well," she grumbled, making her droop miserably.

"Now, I don't care how you two do it, but I suggest that you, Benedict, might show her around Griffinstone. Then she can show you around the Red Gear's empire."

Benedict was unable to decline, he was the King, but he was still incredibly peeved by this. Before he could dwell more on this, King Harold rose up and held up his mug. "Now, I was expecting this, so I had the chefs create a feast for all of us on the lower floor." Murmurs broke out through the crowd as they all rose, passing by the King. Empress Selena and Carolyn followed pessimistically, the guards following. This left only Benedict and King Harold in the room, both bathed in the varying colors of light.

Rather than repeating 'why?' Benedict decided to ask a different question.

"Uh, King Harold?" he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yes?" he looked down at him, a good head taller, making Benedict feel like Irvin.

"She was being so... well, bitchy, but you acted as if she were complimenting you."

"Oh, I did that to annoy her," he grinned. "It was amusing, I must admit, but I think she'll warm up to me. Everyone does."

Chapter Four : Cozy Hearths

Carolyn had been right; it was evident that, compared to anywhere else, Cobble Claw had suffered the most from the freezing temperatures and brutal weather. Benedict wore a thick coat over his chainmail, his normal cloak over it, as he flew over the city below a light sky.

It wasn't called Cobble Claw for nothing; nearly the whole city was constructed of cobblestone. The streets, buildings, everything. Nearly every building had a fire burning inside, a chimney billowing smoke. A small river of ice ran through the city, bridges covered in a thin sheet of snow running over them. Thin pathways ran along the sides of the river below the actual streets, empty holes in the walls that led to some sort of sewer or tunnel system, but Benedict never planned to go down there. It was filthy, with each one having a couple giant rats scampering in and out.

"Squeamish?" the ex-assassin next to him said, smirking at Benedict's expression once seeing a cannibalistic rat nearly half the size of Irvin eating smaller vermin. While showing her around the uneventful town of Talonton, they'd talked little to each other. She had revealed, however, that she had been a hired gun; nearly everyone in the Red Gear was a mercenary of some sorts, showing the greedy side of griffons. Before being hired by Empress Selena for her infamous skill, she'd been a thief and assassin, murdering even an official for the Red Gear if it meant bits. Of course, the Red Gear would be changing soon. That didn't mean the people would, however.

"No," he muttered, raising a hand over his eyes as they flew to keep out the snow as it bombarded him. This wasn't the worst of it, however; there was a scheduled blizzard after a couple hours. The cream-colored griffon only snickered, picking up her pace. The two weren't friends, but they had definitely evolved from silent enemies. "Say, where are we even heading?"

She seemed to consider whether she wanted to tell him before she did, putting a claw to her beak. "Lil' place that shouldn't be too far, serves the best drinks in the city. Also a great place to pick a fight." Benedict wasn't sure what she meant by that last bit, but she was obviously keeping it a secret, waiting to relish the moment of him finding out. And so they flew silently, side by side, across the vast city of Cobble Claw. Few griffons dared to venture through the incoming blizzard, making them barren of crowds. Street lights with hanging lanterns had been extinguished by the harsh winds, their glass confinements cracked and broken by the wind. Less civilians made more ruffians and bums, however, making a whole new danger of walking through them.

Eventually Carolyn slowed, holding up a hand. "We're here!" she shouted, flying down towards the ground. Benedict followed.

The griffon skid to a halt, talons screeching out at the ice puddle that Carolyn had landed on, sending a mist of ice and snow. Benedict made a more controlled landing, letting his wings slow as he landed on the ground straightly. Immediately, Benedict searched his surroundings. Tall buildings were to either side of him, both of their walls made of cobblestone. Icicles hung from above, glistening.

Carolyn raised a hand towards a wooden door even rougher than Irvin's set into the right wall, steel hinges covered in rust and in dire need of lubricant. There was no sign to advertise the place's contents.

"Back door," she told Benedict before he could question her. She rapped on the door thrice, waiting patiently for it to be creaked open. Eyes poked out from the opening, lighting up at the sight of Carolyn, but then growing suspicious at Benedict.

"Who's the new guy?" the griffon behind said, his voice rough and hoarse.

"A friend," she said, leaning on the wall. "C'mon Ironeyes, let us in." He grumbled a reply as a chain was unhooked and the door opened wider, revealing an older, but much larger, griffon who bore a scar over his beak and grey plumage. Carolyn strolled right on in, but he raised a hand towards her accomplice.

"Hey," he said, stopping Benedict. They met eyes, the black griffon suddenly uncomfortable in his iron gaze. The nickname was fittingly appropriate. "You look familiar," he looked up as if trying to remember something, Carolyn quickly pulling Benedict away without a word. Benedict looked around at the dimly lit room, soaking in the details.

A violinist played her instrument near the back of the room in a quick and tense, wordless song, some griffons banging their claws against tables to the rhythm. Booth seats were on the walls, multiple rough looking griffons sitting, some with their heads on the table, passed out. A bartender stood behind a long lumber counter, stools seating more griffons, most of them laughing. The bartender was rubbing a glass mug with a rag when he saw Benedict, yelling out the phrase "Welcome to Ralph's Rioting Tavern" as if he'd said it a million times. The shelves behind him were stocked with a variety of colorful bottles. There had been a front door, but it looked like it wouldn't budge, the windows on either side of the frame blocked by a barricade of snow.

The floor boards were in dire need of polishing, and the walls were made up of logs. There were numerous wooden tables in the middle of the establishment, each one with multiple scars and scuff marks, all of them clearly unsturdy and worn down. Multiple chairs creaked and groaned as the griffons seated around each one laughed and moved. Support beams that ran up to the ceiling between each table, and to the left of the violinist were two pool tables, both in use by four very competitive players.

However, the main attraction was to the right of her, where two drunken griffons were battling one another, each one's step unsteady. The violinist seemed to be working hard at playing in rhythm with the fight, her music in line with each of the griffons' movements. By some stroke of luck, the first drunk landed a blow that toppled the second, though it seemed to be more from alcohol than the actual punch. Everyone cheered and clinked glasses as the winner quickly toppled over the others unconscious body, making the crowd cheer even more.

Benedict followed Carolyn as she took a seat at one of the bar stools, slapping some bits on the counter as the bartender rushed to get the regular's drink, but Ironeyes had stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Benedict muscles tensed as he looked back.

"Wait, I think I do know you," he said, squinting. Carolyn scooted off of her seat and got between the two.

She looked at Ironeyes. "Hey, back off," she said, glaring at him, which proved to be ineffective.

"Why'd you bring that trash with you? He's Griffinstone! I seen 'im before." Heads started to turn as Ironeyes was not afraid to make a scene.

"Well, maybe he's come here to visit the local trashcan," she retorted slyly, turning away and lightly whacking him with her tail. He was immediately infuriated.

"Why, you little-" he immediately swung his arm, ready to knock her to the ground, but her hand came up in a blur. She snatched him by the wrist and gave it a sharp twist, making him howl in pain before slamming him into the table twice, dropping him to the ground with a chipped beak. The audience cheered, but some were exchanging glances.

Satisfied with herself, she took a gulp of her drink and grinned at Benedict, who was mortified.

"What-? Why-?" He struggled to find the right words. "What's wrong with you?!"

"What?" she asked innocently, walking towards the violinist. "It's legal."

"That doesn't make it right!" he loudly whispered, pouting. As he watched Carolyn, he saw, in the corner of his eye, that some griffons were slowly getting up and coming near him, all of them baring scars of some sort. Once Carolyn had returned, the violinist was playing a slow tune, slowly picking up the pace as two griffons that Benedict hadn't noticed earlier joined in, one with two sticks that he clacked together and a single drum, the other with a lute.

"What did you do?" Benedict was wearily peeking at the crowd, shifting his gaze between them and Carolyn, who had a smug grin on her face.

"I thought that it'd be interesting to see you fight," she said simply. The band started warming up as one of the rough griffons came face to face with Benedict.

"Uh, I, um-"

"You've got five seconds to leave before I bash your skull in," he said, spitting at the ground near Benedict. He stepped back as he started counting.

Dammit, Carolyn! "Look, I don't want any trouble," he said, backing away.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Fi-"

Before he could do anything, Carolyn slapped the griffon with a force so hard that he was thrown to the ground. The other griffons immediately started to advance, getting into stances.

"C'mon, Ben!" Carolyn yelled over the increasing and fastening music of the band. "Fight!" Benedict watched as someone leaped at her, Carolyn easily jumping to the side to let the attacker smash face-first into the side of the counter. He hadn't even noticed the griffon behind him that was about to slam a bottle down onto his head.

"Ah!" He rolled away, sweeping the rough griffon's feet out from under him, the bottle smashing into a hundred tiny pieces that shined on the ground rather than Benedict's skull. Another, much less drunk, swung at him, but Benedict had much more combat practice than her. He easily dodged back, grabbing an empty chair from behind and hurling it toward her. She squawked when she was sent back, the chair collapsing on her. Benedict made quick to grab one of the legs, holding it like a club. He had honor; he wouldn't pull a blade unless someone else did.

The drummer brought his sticks together to the beat. Clack clack!

Behind him, Carolyn was dealing with two buff griffons as Ironeyes started to get up. The first was brown while the other was a deep red, both holding pool cues. They took jabs at her, but, like Benedict, she easily hopped backwards. Once she saw the opportunity, however, she grabbed a bottle from the counter and tossed it at the brown assailant's crotch region. He buckled over, wheezing as he fell sideways, pool cue falling to the ground.

The second one swiped from the left, giving her a chance to roll to the left to grab the fallen pool cue. She clutched the long wooden rod in her claws and easily smacked the red griffon's out from his hands. As he scrambled to pick it back up, she backed away and, with as much force as she could muster, threw the pool cue like a javelin, the end piercing his neck. She couldn't discern the crimson liquid that started spurting out from the red feathers.

The band continued to pick up the pace as some griffons began to fight one another rather than just Carolyn and Benedict being the center of attention.

Clack clack!

Benedict was trying to be nonlethal, but it was hard. A griffon slid over a table, Benedict running to the side as the drunk crashed into a support beam that proved to be sturdy enough to not break from the impact. Stunned, he held his head as Benedict came closer, raising and lowering the chair leg in a swift motion onto his head. A crack was audible as he fell.

The black griffon had an incoming attacker when he heard Carolyn yell, "Catch!" He jumped up to catch the slim pool cue that flew through the air, but he hadn't even looked in front of him. The result was him smacking against a giant grey griffon's chest with a thud. He looked up at the hulking mass of muscle and saw Ironeyes, his furious gaze freezing Benedict in place, broken beak turned to a sneer. Before he could gracefully roll backwards, he grabbed him by the neck in both hands, squeezing intensely.

Clack clack!

Carolyn saw what was happening and grabbed her current drunken foe's head, throwing it backwards with ease, making sure to dig her talons into his flesh as he yelped, and grabbed an eight ball. She tossed it at the behemoth of a griffon, if only for a distraction, and it worked. Benedict was dropped to the floor, gasping for breath as he turned. Carolyn immediately ran away behind the first pool table so that she was between the two. Ironeyes returned his attention to Benedict, who had scrambled away to retrieve the pool cue.

There was a moment of silence between the two as they stared one another down, some of the drunken brawlers turning to look, obviously eager to see Ironeyes fight. There was no way Benedict could beat him in a game of pure strength, so he'd need to be smart about this. He'd also have to make quick decisions, however, as Ironeyes immediately charged towards him. He rolled away, but Ironeyes was ready for this, holding out one arm and slashing at his shoulder with uneven talons. The thick coat protected his flesh from being penetrated, but scraps of cloth now hung down from his shoulder. Unlike the other unfortunate griffon, Ironeyes ran right through the support beam, sending splinters flying.

Clack clack!

Carolyn and Benedict both met eyes, both knowing that one another had the same plan. Like a bull, Ironeyes charged once more at Benedict after regaining his balance. Rather than staying on the ground, he flew upwards, hugging the ceiling as the giant dashed below him. Benedict snatched one of the bottles from the counter and bashed it across the sleek surface, sending fluid everywhere. He hastily tossed it to Carolyn.

Ironeyes charged again towards Benedict, but this time he was directly in front of the first pool table. Rather than going to the side or above, which Ironeyes was ready for, he took the risk of sliding right under him. His beak was inches away from the hefty griffon's chest as he slid across the floor.

Ironeyes skid to a halt, but not soon enough. His eyes widened as Carolyn, who'd stuck the bottle onto the pool cue to make a makeshift spear, thrusted it forward. Unable to stop himself quickly enough, Ironeyes howled in pain as his body's momentum carried him directly into the weapon, taking the glass spear with him as he toppled backwards. Benedict had returned, however, and grabbed his head with both hands, repeatedly smashing it against the pool table's edge. He still wasn't done yet, though. He grabbed his body and, with lots of effort, hurled it towards one of the tables, shattering it.

Clack clack!

"Hey," Benedict panted, "this isn't that half bad!" Carolyn smirked at him.

She yelled over the noise, "Told ya' so!" Behind, Benedict saw someone with a knife coming towards them. Formulating a plan, he unsheathed a dagger and tossed it to Carolyn who caught it easily.

Now more coordinated, Benedict got into a stance as a griffon prepared to jump towards him. Her wings expanded and her arms were outstretched, claws grasping for Benedict's face as he had jumped from the side. He ducked his head down, raising his hands and grasping her by the waist, turning her course of direction so that she was heading over the pool table. She squeaked in surprise as she was thrown over Carolyn, the griffon raising her claws upwards toward the airborne foe's stomach and digging the obsidian dagger through her stomach, cutting it open.

Like a gory pinata, the skin holding her stomach together turned to flaps, a steady stream of intestines flopping outwards like streamers, blood speckling the ground and Carolyn's head as the dismantled griffon slammed into the wall, leaving a bloody trail as she slid down the wall. She grinned as she tossed the bloodied blade back to Benedict who wiped it off on a fallen griffon's cloth.

Clack clack!

The band came to an abrupt stop when it was apparent that there were only five griffons who weren't unconscious or something beyond, excluding Carolyn and Benedict. They exchanged glances.

"Should we leave...?" Benedict asked, looking at the door.

"Probably."

*** *** ***

"I gotta admit, you're a lot better than what I expected," Carolyn said, shutting the window and closing the blinds, the howling of the wind coming to a screeching halt. It almost sounded as if rain were drumming against the roof of her small home, a stone cottage built near frozen-over waterfall, because of how hard the snow was coming down. The lake her home was next to had been transformed into a giant ice skating rink.

"What did you expect?" Benedict asked, sitting down on the leather couch and tossing his cloak and undercoat over the back of it. A hearth glowed in the center of the wall, providing a comforting heat as Carolyn handed a steaming cup of hot chocolate to him, of which he gratefully accept. The bottom half of the walls were cobblestone, but the upper half was a smooth timber, painted over to look dark red. A couple Red Gear banners were distastefully hung around the room, as well as some paintings.

"I don't know," she responded, taking a sip of her own mug before sitting down to the cushioned seat across from him. "A prissy sourpuss who would be too afraid of getting their outfits wrinkled?"

Benedict chuckled, sipping at his cup as well. Despite the closed windows, the scream of the wind was still quite audible, almost as loud as the fire's crackles and pops.

"You know," she said, shifting in her seat, "I still can't believe you live with your mom."

His cheeks reddened. "Wait, why?"

She snorted. "It seems kinda pathetic, you know? I mean, one of Griffinstone's best fighters live in their mom's house."

"Well, I just..." He continued on in a hushed tone, mumbling. It wasn't until Caroyln put her mug on the coffee table in front of her couch that she got up.

"I guess I'm going to hit it," she said, walking towards a rickety cot. "You can sleep here if you want."

"Thanks." Carolyn settled herself into the bed as Benedict lied on the couch, head propped up on the comfy arm. He eventually fell asleep, but it had taken a while. He had had to focus on the hard hitting snow and insane winds before he could even get the chance of some shuteye. His last thoughts floated around his mind during his slumber: I guess everyone in the Red Gear isn't too bad.

Chapter Five : Squad

"Huh?" Benedict grunted, putting his book down, looking towards the door as the fierce knocking continued. Before she left, Carolyn had told him not to open the door unless she did her secret knock. She had made lots of enemies, and they visited her home frequently, which was why she kept her valuables in an old shack deeper in the forest.

This, however, wasn't her secret knock.

He inched towards the window, lifting the curtain slowly and carefully to look outside. Two rough griffons stood by the door, one a dark pine green, the other of a lighter hue, looking away from him, thankfully. Both carried what Carolyn had redefined to him as flintlock pistol. It was similar to a revolving musket, but with a much shorter barrel, making it less accurate. It was small and easily concealable, though, not that these two cared for that factor.

She'd told him to just stay, but the two looked as if they were ready to break the door down. He went back to the couch, deciding to stay on guard. If they did attempt to break the door down, he'd use the plush seats as cover, dusty crossbow ready to fire.

There was a moment of stasis before they rapped on the door once more. However, it was cut off shortly after, punctuated by a scream. Benedict scrambled towards the window, opening it to its full extent to see Carolyn waiting, two green griffons behind her, face down in the snow which had been stained a crimson red. She held two shopping bags, which Benedict took and set down on the table.

"Seems like you've been busy," she said, looking back at the griffons.

"They just arrived a minute before," he informed, looking through the bags. Some beef jerky (Benedict doubted it would be as good as Gilda's cooking), a couple apples, and a loaf of bread.

"You really strive for a king's meal, don't you?" he said, taking one of the apples and biting into it.

Carolyn smirked. "No, just a humble Empress's," she retorted, taking the bread and slapping it on a counter next to a wood stove. From the cabinets, she pulled out a tomato and some lettuce, cutting it all up to make some sandwiches. Benedict watched as she returned with a plate of them, setting it on the table. They ate the breakfast in silence, staring out the window. The storm had let up, but the remnants of it were still left, the snow nearly four inches deep. Birds chirped as the morning sun rose over a cloudy barrier, naked trees swinging in the breeze.

Benedict swallowed the last bit of his sandwich, getting up. It had been pleasant, or at least interesting, with Carolyn, but it was about time to go. She noticed this.

"Leaving so early?" she asked, mouth full.

"Yup," he responded.

"May I remind you that your wiseass king instructed us to be together?" she said, obviously wanting to show Benedict around more.

Before he reached the door, there was another knocking. He didn't have to check who it was, however, as the familiar dark blue face of a griffon looked through the window, lighting up at the sight of Benedict. He opened the door, Carolyn raising a hand cautiously.

"Hi Benedict!" Gabby squealed, waving an envelope at him eagerly. He took and opened it.

"Hey," he said, pulling out a slip of paper and looking over it.

"Gotta run!" She flew off without another word, more deliveries awaiting to be filled. By the time he had finished reading, Carolyn was peeking over his shoulder.

"What's it say?"

"It's from the King. He wants you and me to come to Craggle Creag to meet the other operatives." At Carolyn's puzzled expression he elaborated. "Oh, Craggle Creag is this small rocky city, just by the border. Anyway, he says to bring all your weapons and gear, and to pack your bags. I guess this is going to be an extended trip."

She smirked. "Well, looks like we'll both be going," Carolyn said happily, grabbing a bag. "Well, lets go to my stash, shall we?"

*** *** ***

It almost felt wrong, the warmth of Craggle Creag, after being in the frigid temperatures of Cobble Claw. The whole town was bustling with activity, but it always was, no matter the weather.

Encompassed by small mountains and a valley, Craggle Creag was a town filled with merchants located on a rocky plateau, barren of any trees or grass. It was all dirt and stone from there on up. Benedict knew for a fact that if you needed something but couldn't find it, Craggle Creag would have it. Griffons and ponies alike from all over would come here for the thousands of goods that the merchants supplied, or join in with the market. It was all just one giant marketplace.

As Carolyn and Benedict walked through the winding paths of the colorful town along with the crowd, they took in all of the eye candy. Flags and banners were propped up everywhere and at each stand, adding a touch of color to the otherwise barren landscape. People stood at each stand, advertising their wares under a long cloth roof for shade.

"Collectors and normaltons alike, do you wish for a little more pizzazz in your home?" someone yelled, Carolyn looking up at the shady griffon. "Well, I've got some authentic, one hundred percent real artifacts and trinkets that you'll all love!"

"Congriffon," she whispered, Benedict nodding.

"Come and get the most ripe, plumb-puckerin' delicious apples you'll ever taste, ya' hear?" another pony yelled, standing on a box behind a rack of opened oak crates, each one holding dozens of red, green, and yellow apples.

"I've got the most colorful tapestries your eyes will ever lie sight on, hand woven!" a griffon yelled, flying over his stand, carrying a pole that reached out to either side of him, each end sporting a beautiful banner.

"What?!" a voice yelled over. Benedict turned to see a rivalry merchant pointing at the other. "My draperies are much more extravagant than those vile pieces of garbage." To prove it, he unfolded a cloth to reveal a breathtaking banner of a griffon flipping his head back on an amber-striped background. The two came together, face to face, the drama attracting a couple shoppers. Carolyn and Benedict weren't here to shop, however.

"So where's the place?" Carolyn asked, looking over the heads of other griffons and ponies.

Benedict shrugged. "It said somewhere around here, but I don't see it."

She stopped. "Maybe it's an old, abandoned warehouse."

"Maybe," Benedict muttered, walking forward until Carolyn stopped her.

"No, look." Benedict followed her pointed claw to an old building, its wood walls rotting.

"Oh." He followed her, the two of them slowly approaching the neglected warehouse. Carolyn rapped on the door, the peephole sliding open immediately. Two eyes looked out at them before a careless voice sounded from behind.

"Well, I've done my job. Banana, go ahead." Soon after, a griffon shot out from the patchy roof, flying away. Benedict's assumptions were correct and he grinned at the sight of the yellow unicorn.

"Benedict! You're here!" she squealed, bouncing up and down. "Oh, and Carolyn! Come in, come in!"

The inside of the building was the same as the outside, forgotten. The only signs that someone had been here were the lanterns and papers everywhere. Rays of sunlight shone through the ceiling of dried grass. This place'd fall apart if there was a slight storm, he thought, looking around. "Er, why exactly are we here?"

She perked up. "Well, just follow me to this back room, it's only a bit smaller than here but its where everyone else is. The guy who left was acting like a squatter, you know, for less suspicion." Banana Toss struggled to keep her pace at a walk as Carolyn stared at her.

"Who in the hell?" she asked.

"Banana Toss," Benedict informed, "she's the headmaster of the Academy."

She cocked her head. "The what now?"

"I'll tell you about it later," he said, going towards the door. He reached for the rusted doorknob, but it turned without his need and opened. He casually strode forward as the door was opening all the way...

...Until he saw the dragon.

"Ah!" he yelped, Carolyn jumping back as Banana Toss held up her hooves.

"No, no, he's friendly guys!" She helped Benedict up who had fallen backwards, Carolyn staring at him.

"Hey, wait a minute, I know you," she said, realization creasing her face. "You're Blaze, right?"

The dragon silently nodded, cheeks turning red. "Sorry if I scared you," he mumbled, surprising both of the two. As Benedict regained his posture and recovered from his sudden blip of fright, he studied him. About three heads taller than him, Blaze was a skinny, grey dragon with a snow white belly, alabaster, rounded spikes jutting out from his back and all the way down to his tail.

"I-I didn't mean to be threatening." He looked at the ground, hands behind his back.

"Aren't dragons supposed to be big and scary?" Benedict asked, wiping the dirt off from his cloak.

"Well, most of us are, but I, uh, well, I was kind of different," he stuttered. There was a short silent until Blaze and Banana Toss made eye contact, him immediately getting out of the way. "Oh, um, sorry, come in."

Benedict gazed at him for a moment longer before heading inside, still unable to wrap his head around a shy dragon, Carolyn and Banana Toss following. Benedict was met by a vast difference in ponies and griffons alike, all of them either sitting down on creaking crates or chatting with one another. The room was about the same size as the previous, but much cleaner and with a shorter ceiling. The floor was of smooth dirt, tables set up around the room with numerous boards and papers pinned to walls. One of the griffons, however, started to make his way towards them.

Carolyn slapped her forehead with a hand. "Shit," she muttered as he approached, Benedict looking at the stranger. He bore a giant grin, his plumage a light hue of blue and his coat of a darker color. He wore a cloak with golden swirls etched into it, leather shoulder pads and a leather top to protect him. To either side of his waist lied an occupied holster for a modified flintlock pistol, a revolving musket's revolving mechanism set into the base of each of them.

"Carrie, what's up?" he said in a smooth voice, wrapping a arm around her and grinning at Benedict. Carolyn looked as though she was ready to snap his neck.

"Get. Off," she growled.

He backed away, chuckling. "Woah, calm down, Carrie!" The invader of personal space looked up at Benedict. "And who's your date?"

"Alexander, why the hell are you even here?" she grumbled, not giving Benedict an opportunity to answer.

"Was invited," he answered simply, pulling out one of his revolving flintlock things and spinning it around with one claw. Upon further inspection, it also had intricate golden swirls etched into it, a tiny skull at the end of the barrel.

"What are those?" Benedict asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, these? They're just the newest model for the arsenal, they call 'em revolving flintlocks. I just call 'em revolvers." He was pleased to be able to show them off before snapping it back to its holster. Benedict eventually strayed away, letting him chat with (Annoy) Carolyn while he went over to Banana Toss. She was standing behind a small stack of crates, shuffling a pack of cards before Benedict caught her eye.

"Oh, hi!" she said, tossing the stack away to let it all flutter to the floor, quickly teleporting back to her in a neat pile.

"Hey Banana, can I ask why we're here?" he asked, looking at the crowd. There were two ponies across from them, one of them Benedict recognized to be Big Mac, both chatting in hushed tones and glancing at him.

She stirred after what seemed like a daydream. "Oh, yeah! So now that Griffinstone is united and all that jazz, the King and the Empress decided, 'hey, lets get some people to look into this whole weather thing,' so they asked me to round you all up!"

"Wait, what?!" he loudly whispered.

"It's okay, they all know."

"That's not why I said that," he muttered.

"Well, before I go ahead and tell this boring speech, go ahead and meet all the people here. That way you all are a bit more 'acquainted' or whatever," she said, looking back at her cards that Benedict had caught a glimpse of to find that they were all just sketches of goofy faces.

"Er, alright," Benedict said, looking around. Big Mac and the unicorn were already in a conversation, Alexander was still annoying Carolyn, and Blaze was silently standing in the corner of the room. That left a single griffon with a bright white plumage and slightly blond coat, yellow dots on her face making it seem like she had freckles. She looked pretty young compared to the rest of them, younger than Benedict even. She wore a white cloak and a rough bow was on her shoulder, a quiver equipped on her back. As soon as he started stepping towards her, she looked up from a book.

"Hey," Benedict said awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "I'm Benedict, and, er, I guess Banana Toss wants us to meet one another?"

She grinned and nodded eagerly. "Yeah, alright!" she said in a high voice. "I'm Ellie. So you've heard about what Banana's planning for us, right?" Inside, Benedict sighed with relief that he didn't have to start the meat of the conversation.

"Yeah, she just told me the gist of it, but could you maybe explain to me a bit more?"

"Oh, sure!" she said, putting her book on a nearby table. "Well, requested by the King and Empress, Banana Toss has recruited a bunch of people — us — to look into the strange weather recently, as well as the murders near Whitewing, and the King was specific. He wanted to get seven people, each one to fulfill a role needed for this squad. Me, I'm a student Aid, but she says I've really progressed.

"Oh, and him over there," she pointed a claw towards Big Mac, "That's Big Macintosh, a master of Geomancy."

"Yeah," Benedict interrupted, "I know him."

"Oh, neat!" Ellie stopped, looking at the mare. "Do you know Amethyst?"

"Er, no," he said, following her gaze to the purple unicorn. Ellie was more than eager to explain.

"Well, Amethyst Star is a master of Elemancy and she's been researching advanced techniques of telekinesis."

Something clicked in Benedict's head, and he remembered the whole gem fuel thing. "Wait, what kind of gems do Elemantics and Aids use?"

"Well, we use pearls, so we always carry a pouch of them." She pointed at a small bag on the table beside her book. "Elemantics use rubies. Her advanced telekinesis doesn't take anything, though, since she's a unicorn and all unicorns have telekinesis.

"Anyways, that over there is Blaze," she said. "He's like the marksman of our team, I guess you could say. He's super reserved and shy, which if you ask me is pretty ironic. I don't know much about Alexander though, he was trying to flirt on me a minute ago." She lowered her voice, raising a hand to her beak and whispering, "He's kind of an asshole."

Benedict watched as Carolyn gave him a brief slap, making him stumble. "I noticed."

"Who's the girl you came with?" she asked.

"Oh, that's Carolyn. She's like an ex-assassin-ish."

"Huh," she said, looking at her. After a moment, she turned her head back up to Banana Toss and pointed. "Oh, she's getting ready to give a speech or something." Benedict looked and saw that Banana Toss was, indeed, getting ready to tell the short speech, though Benedict had saw that the cards were just sketches of goofy faces. She cleared her throat so that everyone looked up, shifting. Benedict saw a red mark on Alexander's cheek, the aftermath of the hard slap.

"Hi!" Everyone just looked at one another, and someone coughed. "I'm Banana Toss, and I bet you all have noticed all the freezing snow that's been dropping near the north lately. Well, to make it short, you all have been recruited to be in a special squad to investigate the oddity!" She did a whispered yay. "Um." She looked at her cards, thinking.

"Welp, I guess that's kinda it," she said, awkwardly laughing before regaining her train of thought. "Oh, right! So, here's what you're all tasked to do. Griffinstone is supplying you all with a net mass of fourteen hundred bits for you to shop around here for anything you'd think you'd need, two hundred for each of you, as well as some food and water." Carolyn's eyes widened. "After that, you'll all be tasked with going to Whitewing, checking out the camp where the one thing happened, then to Stonetail City where you'll meet me."

Very specific, Benedict thought. She started to trot away from the podium before perking up, remembering something and rushing back.

"Oh, and we'll be supplying our mages with all the gems you'll need, just stay here with me while the rest leave, Amethyst and Ellie. So, you'll find the caches of bits outside in the first box on the left, grab one and go ahead. Once you're all done, meet back up in this warehouse." Everyone was silently standing. "What are you waiting for? Shop on!"

People started shuffling towards the doorway, awkwardly. Benedict kind of felt bad for Banana Toss to get such awkward feedback as he went out with Carolyn, opening the box that Banana Toss had told of. Inside were several large rucksacks, each one bulging with bits. He hefted two of them, giving one to Carolyn who greedily accepted, flying off to the market place. Benedict himself made for the door, slinging the sack behind his shoulder.

It'd be a long day of shopping.

*** *** ***

The sun was setting when the blue griffon finally returned, his sack even heavier than it was before with anything but necessities for their trip. Now the shafts of sunlight came from the holes in the walls, the orange sky dying out.

Benedict sat on his crate, quietly cursing as he put his hand of cards on Big Mac's deck, right beside the two empty bottles of hard ale. He'd bought a pack of cards, but he turned out to be no good compared to Big Mac, his poker face never faltering. It was pretty much a game between him and a drunk Carolyn, who'd joined shortly after Benedict's third loss in a row. Big Mac then had some actual competition.

Amethyst Star had stayed away from everyone but Big Mac, her gaze distrustful. Benedict had been the third to arrive, just after Blaze and Amethyst, and he hadn't been able to get any words out of her.

Blaze had been silently sitting alone in the corner of the room before Ellie had joined him, now both of them reading their own books that the two readers had bought. The dragon was skinny, scrawny even, compared to other dragons. Benedict slowly pulled out of the game, letting Carolyn and Big Mac keep his deck of cards. Instead, he watched as Alexander started unpacking all of the needless garbage he'd bought. His skull wasn't too thick so that he didn't think of buying a thick coat like the rest of them, but the reasonableness ended there. Broken swords, empty jars, and more junk tumbled out from his sack.

Despite that they were getting food for free, Benedict had went ahead and bought a couple dozen packs of beef jerky, as well as two decks of cards and a thick, warm coat, as did everyone else for the latter. This left him with about a hundred bits. Carolyn had spent most of her money on booze, drunkenly claiming that she'd stop at her stash on the way to Whitewing, since Cobble Claw was on the way. Benedict had no idea what Big Macintosh had bought, but Ellie and Blaze had both purchased books, and Benedict had learned that Ellie's arrows were enchanted.

That left Amethyst Star, who was in the other corner of the room near the entrance, a weird set of objects that she'd purchased laid out on a couple crates, along with multiple volumes. When she made eye contact with Benedict, she pouted and turned back to her work. He'd been observing her for a while and learned that the strange magical array of tools and objects were all some sort of spell-combining set, which she'd been working on ever since she'd arrived back. She was the only one, besides Alexander, who'd spent all of her bits.

Eventually Benedict left for the back room, going to lie in one of the neatly made beds that Banana Toss had procured while they were gone. He fell asleep pondering what would happen the next day. He was sure it'd be eventful.

Chapter Six : Preparations

"Wow."

They all just gazed upon the grisly scene, the tree branches overhead swinging furiously in the howling wind, the two poles barely rooted to the ground as the sign they held with rusted chains swung back and forth. The soldiers that had been guarding the camp lied about, the snow splattered with crimson. Or at least what was left of them.

"What happened here?!" Ellie blurted out, rushing over to the lower half of a gored, mangled corpse. With the powerful gust, the upper half of it dangled and swung from the branch of a tree, hanging from a long intestine that had been wrapped around the branch. Blaze had refrained from looking, but Benedict just gawked. Big Mac and Amethyst both kept their opinions to their selves, quieter than the lifeless forest itself.

"Wait a second," Ellie muttered, almost to herself. She poked and prodded with a claw before wiping it in a clean patch of snow and rising, turning her head back towards her companions. "These corpses are fresh."

"You m-mean whatever d-d-did this is s-still here?" Alexander stuttered, quivering. Carolyn smirked from behind, mouthing the word 'coward,' though Blaze was practically hiding behind a tree.

"Yeah, and it's right behind you, ooooo," Carolyn waved her claws in the air, making a spooky face. Alexander frowned, this time elbowing her for a change.

"We'll need to stay on guard," Benedict said, addressing the others. He'd sort of been the self-appointed leader of the group ever since they'd woken up, and Amethyst was in no way pleased. "Maybe we can find something that'll shed some light on this whole thing."

"Oh, like a scavenger hunt," Ellie said, her somber mood turning back to a more upbeat one. It kind of disturbed Benedict that she saw it that way, but everyone had their own ways.

"The camp is large though, how are we gonna cover it all? We've gotta meet that Banana gal tomorrow," Alexander whined, shivering and pulling his coat tighter.

"We could split up," Benedict suggested.

"Seems plausible," Amethyst spoke up. "Red Gear soldiers, do any of you know the layout of the war camp?" She obviously didn't think highly of them, the way she addressed the three. Although, she didn't think of anyone highly, besides herself and the large red stallion beside her.

"Yes, 'Academy Mage Pony,' I've visited here before," Carolyn spat. "There's a big lake, the cabins and bunks, and a large field for the fledglings to practice fighting."

"I'll check out the supervisors' cabin," Benedict offered, Ellie perking up.

"Can I come with?" she asked, giddy. In the long flight, she'd been in awe of him the whole time, asking him questions nonstop.

Benedict hesitated before saying "Yes," making her squeal, Carolyn rolling her eyes. "Who'll take the lake?"

Everyone just looked at one another until Blaze raised his hand. "I can go if no one else wants to," he said in a hushed tone.

"We'll check the battlegrounds and the location of the frozen griffon," Amethyst proclaimed, her silent companion nodding his agreement.

Alexander raised his hand suddenly "I'll go with Carolyn," he stated, slyly wrapping an arm around her.

"Oh, hell no," she said, throwing his arm away.

"Well, there's nobody else to go with."

Carolyn looked hopefully towards Benedict, who just shrugged. "You two seem to know each other, why not?"

She opened her beak but faltered, instead muttering a curse and stomping back towards Alexander, a smug grin of victory on his face before he spoke. "We'll check out the perimeter and bunks."

"Alrighty," Benedict said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them together, "we have a plan, then. We'll all meet up at the frozen griffon?"

Alexander flashed a smile. "Sure."

"If it's what you want," Blaze said in a near whisper.

"Alright, let's go." And at that, they all split up, Ellie following him as they flew their separate ways, besides the two earthbound ponies. None of them even noticed the near invisible creatures who watched in the distance.

*** *** ***

The cabin groaned along with Benedict as he opened it, the shack of timber logs threatening to collapse as he slammed the door shut.

"Nothing," he said, Ellie pouting.

"Are you sure? Maybe you missed something, I can go look-"

"No, I'm sure." He moaned, leaning against the wall that croaked in protest. After an hour of searching the dusty old place from top to bottom, he'd come up with nothing. Under the floor boards, behind paintings, underneath the desks. Absolutely nothing. He doubted that Ellie's assistance would've helped. At the rejection, she visibly slumped before perking up again.

"Wait, maybe there's something around the cabin! I'll go look," she said, dashing away.

Benedict just sighed. "I doubt it."

He stood there for a while listening to the wind's cry. There had been near to no snowfall yet, but the wind had been picking up. Darker clouds loomed in the distance, crawling at a slow but steady pace. A blizzard would be coming soon, so it'd be best if they found something before it wiped away any possible clues. Assuming there are any, he thought, snagging a piece of beef jerky from his pack and biting at it. His fingers trembled from the frigid temperatures as he held the brownish stick.

Eventually, Ellie returned, her expression creating a spark of hope inside Benedict. "What'd you find?"

She was more than happy to respond. "A trail! It's behind the cabin, you can barely see it but its there!" She waved a hand for him to follow as she flew up and over the snow wrapped roof. He landed right beside Ellie who was pointing at the ground. "Look!"

He crouched over it, squinting. Sure enough, there was a faint mark of a griffon's claws and paws. They continued down a snow-laden trail, the trail growing more visible as they went farther from the cabin.

Maybe this search will turn out well, Benedict thought as he hovered over the trail, Ellie following, a grin on her face. She was almost always smiling.

It continued on for a while until coming to an abrupt halt and turning back around, though the trail indicated that whoever fled had actually flown. It took him only a second to find the frozen griffon. The giant brick of ice was pretty obvious.

"You found anything?" a voice from the side whispered, Benedict jumping and putting a hand to his daggers. His muscles relaxed when he saw two familiar ponies coming out from the bushes.

"Yeah, a trail." Benedict thought that he saw the ghost of a smirk on Amethyst's face, but it turned to her normal glum expression as quickly as it had come.

The purple unicorn turned her head past the paralyzed griffon, nodding. "His tracks continue for a little while, just before a cave, before turning back. There's bigger spacing between the steps on the way back, so I assume he was panicked and fleeing from something." Her head turned down and then rose along with a small book that had floated out from one of the pockets sewn on her coat, encompassed in a purple aura. It lowered in Benedict's waiting hand.

"It's a journal," she stated. "Presumably his."

Benedict absentmindedly nodded his understanding, flipping the pages of the small book. He didn't understand why she was so formal. Nevertheless, he began to skim through the pages silently as Ellie inspected the griffon popsicle.

... believe I got hired! I...

...the little guys are adorable...

...broke his arm again...

He only stopped to actually read the final sentences. That thing's been lurking around the camp again. I didn't want to alarm Gare, so I've decided to go check it out for myself, telling him I was picking berries. It's probably nothing. Soon afterwards, his words written in ink stated quite the contrary.

Some sort of spy for Griffinstone or something. One of their pegasus ponies, she's really tall. She's been trotting through the forest like she owned the place. I'm going to follow her. She's in this cave, and I'm waiting for her to come out so I'll get a closer look.

Obviously, he failed at that last goal. Otherwise, he wouldn't be frozen in ice. Benedict turned towards Amethyst and Big Macintosh. "Have you read it?"

"Eeyup," Big Mac responded, Amethyst nodding.

"Who do you think the pegasus is?" Benedict asked, Amethyst shrugging. "Maybe it was some rogue Elemantic from the Academy?"

"Not possible. The Academy always keeps track of who signs up, and nobody who has signed up has left. Everyone has been accounted for." Benedict frowned at this. What else could it be?

His thoughts were broken by the rustling of bushes. Everyone tensed, Amethyst's horn glowing with a purple orb, but it fainted when Carolyn scrambled out from a bush, Alexander soon popping out afterwards. It reappeared, however, when Benedict gasped.

Their coats were tattered and ripped, strips of cloth hanging. Both breathed in ragged, shallow breaths, panting, Carolyn holding her revolving musket. Ellie turned with a start, but Alexander held up a hand.

"We're... Okay... Focus on them," he breathed, pointing a claw behind him before leaning on Carolyn for support, and this time she didn't shrug him off and move away. Big Mac ushered them behind him as they leaned against the ice block, Ellie returning her attention to the frozen griffon after casting a dome around them, only shooting mere glances at the two. Amethyst and Benedict, however, stood at the ready, horn glowing and blades unsheathed.

Silence. Nothing came. Benedict slowly lowered his daggers. "Who is-'"

Multiple things happened in a single moment. In a blur of movement, figures dashed out from the white topped bushes, sending snow flying. Amethyst's expression faltered for a mere fraction of a second before she lowered her head, horn facing towards the creatures, and let loose a raging inferno, the creatures whimpering in response. Benedict had jumped backwards in surprise and instinct, dropping his daggers. He recovered quickly to hastily search for them amidst the action.

From behind, Carolyn's rifle rang out as a metal ball whirred by Benedict and into Amethyst's blazing light show, a dull thud sounding through the crackling and popping of wood.

The creatures eventually backed away, but more had come. Burning logs and a puddle of ashes that had mixed with the melted snow lay on the ground. Amethyst gasped at the sight of the wolflike creatures as they all stared. "Timberwolves."

"Timberwolves?" Benedict whispered, confused. Their descriptions did fit the name, however. They had the build and shape of a wolf, but they were made up of white birch wood. They all growled, snouts contorted in gnarled snarls. Each of their eyes shone like an emerald.

"Creatures from Equestria," she muttered, almost to herself. "How did they end up here?"

There was no time to answer as one of the beasts lunged towards them, Amethyst throwing up another wave of fire in response. One, however, had leaped from the side, pinning Benedict down. He struggled with it, pushing against its snapping mouth with all of his might until a pair of red hooves smacked into the side of the beast's head, splintering it. It's head snapped back at an unnatural angle before the whole thing toppled over, Benedict wearily getting up and nodding his thanks to Big Mac as he galloped towards another timberwolf who was trying to sneak past Amethyst's blasts of fire.

As soon as he left, another timberwolf jumped out at Benedict, but this time he was ready. He leaped to the side as the creature skid across the snow, giving Benedict the opportunity. He jumped on top of the thing and wrestled with it with one hand while raising a dagger with the other. He slammed it down into the creature's eye socket, the strange glow dissipating instantly as it jerked and twitched.

Amethyst finally came to a stop, wiping sweat off of her brow and looking at the ashes and burning logs of the creatures. She was still bewildered, but she quickly hid her emotion under that flat expression of hers. She stared at the smoking piles for a moment longer before turning. "We need to leave, this isn't right."

"Wait," Benedict said, "Where's Blaze?"

Everyone's expressions went blank before they all rushed towards the direction of the pond, Carolyn and Alexander included. Ellie, however, stayed behind, seemingly unaware to their leave. Rather, she just stared up at the frozen griffon's face, contorted in agony and terror...

...until one of the eyes looked down at her.

She stifled a shriek and jumped back, the dark shadows from her hands extinguishing. Behind her, Benedict shouted for her to hurry. She backed away, taking one last glimpse at the griffon and mouthing the word 'sorry.'

*** *** ***

"It was just wrong," Amethyst repeated as Carolyn set her down, Benedict releasing the large red stallion onto the stone roof of the building with a sigh of relief, then went to sit on the lip of the building and gaze at Stonetail City. The sky was blood red, the light of dusk piercing through the dark, rumbling clouds to create the hellish color. A light snowfall had begun, but if the clouds told anything, it'd only get worse.

"What's so wrong about it?" Benedict asked. "I mean, I know those things were weird, but I wouldn't say wrong."

"That's not what I meant," she snapped, turning away with a frown of concentration. "Timberwolves belong in Equestria, not here." She paused and looked up when the door's groaning hinges sounded, a tired Carolyn waving her farewells, Banana Toss passing by her and approaching the three; Blaze, Ellie, and Alexander were already inside.

She stared at Carolyn as she brushed past her, the shredded clothing not going unnoticed "I'm guessing that it didn't go well." Amethyst just sighed in response, putting her head in her hooves. Benedict still didn't understand what was so 'wrong.'

"Well," the headmaster began, "I'll be getting those two some new coats by tomorrow. But I came up to tell you some useful information for when you're passing by Thunder Gate. I've already told Alexander and Blaze, so those two should tell-"

"Wait," Benedict stopped, "Thunder Gate?"

She looked more confused than him before grinning. "Oh, it's the name of the canyon that crosses from here to the north, though the knowledge about it is ancient. I don't think anyone knows what lies on the other side of there, so you all are going to find out.

"But, there's some important things you should know." Amethyst and Big Mac looked up from their hushed tones, listening. "Now, Big Mac, since your a Geomancer and the strongest of the group by default, you'll be the one carrying the cart full of supplies through the canyon. You okay with that?"

"Eeyup."

"Okay, great!" she said, giddy to continue. "So, a couple things you need to know about Thunder Gate. The winds are always incredibly strong, so fierce, in fact, that if you even open your wings, you're going to fly away from the insane gusts. That's why you all will have to travel from the multiple trails and just hoof it. The cart is all set to go with more bits, the food and water as promised, and some more necessaries for your journey."

"Well, thanks for the info," Benedict said, looking back at the menacing clouds. "How long do you think this'll take?"

"Depends," she shrugged. "Could be just a week, or a month, depending on what's out on the other side. We stocked enough food for a month, though, so whenever you're running low, return back."

"Okay."

"Oh, great! Well, you three should sleep now, you've got a long journey ahead of you." And at that, she pranced off, a skip in her step as she headed towards the doorway. Benedict sat back down on the edge of the building, gazing at the horizon.

From behind, Amethyst asked, "Are you coming?"

"Hm, oh, yeah," he mumbled. "I'll be down in a minute."

And so he sat as the door shut, leaving him by himself to look at the ominous ceiling of clouds that approached at a slow pace. It wasn't just going to be a blizzard. It'd be a storm, and a big one.

Chapter Seven : Thunder Gate

She wasn't kidding. This was hell.

The fierce winds tested their might as Big Macintosh pulled the cart, the fierce gusts and enormous snowflakes that slapped him in the face making it hard to move at a normal pace. Everyone else stayed behind, Benedict at the head of the back with Blaze in the rear. The narrow path that ran along the steep, gray rock walls had continued on for an hour, and it showed no signs of ending soon. They were in it for the long haul.

He was freezing, but his coat and cloak wouldn't go any tighter. His canteen of water swung in the harsh winds, as did everyone else's. Rather than putting them in the cart, everyone had also agreed to carrying their rucksacks from Craggle Creag and their contents on their own persons, figuring that it'd be a huge load off of Big Mac's back.

Blaze looked about frantically every time a pebble fell, jumping down and holding his hands over his head before peeking through his fingers. They were all careful to keep their wings shut tight, those with wings, anyway. If they even opened them slightly, the winds would tear them open and fly you away, just as Banana Toss had said. Though, the paths were more worrisome to Benedict.

Narrow but thankfully flat, there was a sharp end to the canyon's endless downfall, a trail that was only a couple feet wide, the cart barely fitting on it. Above were topless mountains in multiple sheets of snow, threatening an avalanche. If any of them tripped or fell, they'd be done for, falling into the endless chasm of nothingness that was below them, completely black. He'd tried tossing a bit down to hear when it landed, but it never did.

Or the howling wind obscured the noise, you never know.

Amethyst and Ellie were silent to one another as they walked together, though they were most likely listening to Carolyn and Alexander like Benedict was.

"Why'd you buy so much garbage, anyways?" Carolyn asked, looking at the bulging sack that he carried, waving in the wind despite its weight.

Alexander snickered. "I was practically scamming the suckers, the low prices they sold these for. This 'garbage' will make at least double what I spent."

Carolyn just snorted. "Oh yeah, because everyone wants to buy useless junk."

Despite himself, Benedict stifled a chuckle. The two's bickering was nonstop.

"How'd you even get recruited into this squad, anyways? Everyone else has a somewhat special position, but you're just an asshole-"

"Ah!"

Everyone jerked to a stop, turning to see the white dragon crouching against the grey ground once again. Benedict frowned.

"Not this again," Carolyn muttered.

"D-d-did you g-guys f-f-feel that?" he questioned, eyes wide, teeth chattering.

Alexander just laughed. "Blaze, ya' gotta calm down. There isn't anything here-"

Roaaaaaar...

Everyone froze, looking up. "Th-then what was th-th-that?!" he asked, frantically looking everywhere. The earth began to shake, and pebbles started to roll down the steep wall, clinking against the ground and bouncing into the chasms beneath. Benedict tensed up. What was that, he repeated in his mind.

Eventually everything calmed, but Benedict certainly didn't. "Guys, I think that-"

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

That was much closer, and it sounded like the bellowing of a dragon. A very, very big dragon. More pebbles began falling, and Blaze ran over to the cart, hiding behind it and peeking over it. The pebbles turned to rocks, smashing against the ground, cracking as they rolled. Benedict narrowly avoided one that was planning a collision course with his skull, leaping away and cursing.

"We need to get out of here!" he shouted over the wind, though they were all looking at the sky, transfixed. Benedict followed their gaze to a flaming, blue ball that zoomed towards one of the mountains, soon disappearing from their view.

That was about the time everything went to shit.

>>BOOM!!!<<

Now the earth shook furiously, and everyone began to stumble. Rocks turned to boulders that crashed downwards, clashing with the stone path. In a blur, one of them smashed against the wooden cart, sending supplies and chips of wood flying into the gaping abyss below, but Amethyst had started galloping towards Big Mac when he screamed out in pain. Blaze scrambled away towards Alexander, who was teeter-tottering over the lip of the path, beak wide.

Benedict narrowly dodged another rough rock and looked over it, seeing that one of Big Mac's hind legs had been crushed beneath the boulder, trapped. He didn't even see the large, black rock that smashed into Amethyst's side until it was too late.

She screamed, wrapping a hoof around Big Mac's as he was forced over the black pit, dangling. The big, usually-silent buck's screeches of agony could be heard from Griffinstone and beyond as flesh started to rip, and eventually his leg was torn free from the cart, falling with Amethyst and leaving a blood trail from his leg. Both plunged into the void below.

Just as that happened, Alexander began to plummet, but he had reflexively opened his wings. The wind immediately tore him backwards, but his hand clasped against Carolyn's arm. She was immediately pulled back with him, digging her claws into the rock with horrible scratches. Blaze looked up with one eye, jaw dropping. Hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed one of Carolyn's arms and started to pull hard, trying to ring them back in, claws digging into the already-scratched ground, toothpick-thin muscles straining.

"No!" Ellie screamed out, rushing over and diving down after Amethyst. Right as she did, however, Benedict witnessed a smaller rock, but still heavy, fall on the back of her head, her cries cutting short as she went silent, eyes absent. She plummeted downwards, and Benedict screamed in horror.

"Ellie!" In a flash, with no second thoughts, he dived down after her, squinting his eyes against the rush of wind. He slightly opened his wings, thinking not much of it, but he had made a huge mistake. Just like that, his wings were ripped open to a spread-eagle form, and he smashed against the wall below the pathway, the world going fuzzy as he dropped, wings bent at an unnatural angle.

The last thing he saw was a chain of three people flying away in the insane winds, going farther and farther away, before blacking out.

Chapter Nine : New Worlds, New Dangers

Ellie shivered, breathing on her hands, but it was no use. Her used breath simply floated upwards before being carried away by the gusts. Her talons were numb even as she held them over the dying fire. Amethyst noticed this and immediately dropped a sphere of fire onto the little firewood that was there. Ellie was thankful when a short wave of heat washed over her. Repeated balls of fire wouldn't keep them warm forever, though.

Big Mac better get back with those logs soon, Ellie thought, her fingers regaining little feeling. They had just left the cave two hours ago only to find the center of a harsh blizzard to greet them. The wind howled like a pack of wolves, but she was beginning to get used to it. No place was safe from the snow, however, as it didn't hold back it's endless barrage. The sky was invisible, mixing with the grey pellets of snow.

They'd set up camp under a ridge, a small pocket in the side of the steep rocky dirt wall, the ground only baring small sheets of snow. Ellie had casted a protective wall around them to deflect the relentless snow as they ate a dinner of apples from Big Mac, one for each of them as to conserve food. Ellie wasn't sure when this would end, assuming it did.

She stopped herself. Bah, gotta stop thinking so pessimistically. Thankfully, Amethyst had stayed quiet of the book, but Ellie wasn't sure whether that was because she hadn't read enough to know about her or if she was just merciful.

Everyone had been assigned jobs for the time being; Ellie and Amethyst stayed at the fire, the unicorn keeping the fire going while Ellie kept their packs and sacks safe. Benedict had run off, unable to fly, to scout for a safer place to stay. Big Mac was getting more firewood, whether it was a twig or a dozen logs.

Amethyst's teeth chattered loudly, but Ellie paid her no geed. Rather, she eyed the sacks made of the rough, brown fabric. She had made sure that she'd stuffed her bag at the very bottom of the messy pile, which was easily distinguishable because of the red splatters on it. She shook her head, dismissing the train of thought that would soon follow. Better to just not think about any of it.

Ellie looked out through the wall that she had kept up, only noticeable by the white, glowing edges and illuminated center. That was how most shield spells worked for Aids like her. You focused your energy on one point, that would be the center of the wall, and then expanded it. She could curve it if she wanted to make a curved wall or dome, or just keep it straight or slightly slanted.

Despite all of the events that had occurred, she was quite bored. Slumping against the wall, she spared a glance at the pile of rucksacks. She'd love to read some of her books, perhaps learn some more of Ray's concoctions, but she wouldn't dare open the book in front of Amethyst. If she asked about it, one thing would lead to another that either ended in her book being given to her or a mounting suspicion. Ellie knew how the second felt, and it was painful to have a friend unable to put his or her trust in you. It'd happened so many times...

And it'll happen again, God added, his voice almost mistaken for a whisper of the wind, but Ellie had heard him long enough to know how he sounded. Ever since she was little and found all of them, and since she touched it, she'd had this voice stuck in her head. It asked her to do multiple things, killing was the most prominent. But it was easy to ignore, especially in pain, unless she was stressed. Stress led to God having more control over her, but she would never let that happen. The first time it did, she...

No. She wouldn't think about those times as a fledgling. That's why she had left in the first place. Her mind eventually traveled to other places. If we're going to the north, she thought, I might get to see Ray, if I can even find him. The blizzard didn't give her much hope, however.

What did, however, was the returning form of Benedict, a rusted iron axe slung over his shoulder. Ellie immediately broke her ghostly shield, the crazed winds instantly extinguishing the fire much to Amethyst's displeasure. Her face lit up at the sight of Benedict.

"You are back," she noted, Benedict nodding as he dropped the axe, leaning it against the wall for the wind to only blow it over.

"Yeah, and I finally have some good news," he said, grinning. Ellie felt somewhat guilty about Benedict losing his ability of flight, for he had jumped down after her, but she remained silent.

"Oh?"

"There's this small tower a little ways from here, and it seems like it goes underground. The top room seems like a bedroom, and all the windows are intact, but it was locked. Now, I'm thinking that we the keys are somewhere downstairs, but I thought that come back here and bring one of you back with me to the tower." Ellie saw that he was eying her. "Oh, and I got this axe for you, Ellie. Was lying near the staircase, and seems like you've only got that bow. It'd be convenient to have both a ranged arm and your own weapon for close combat, I think, and it's sturdy enough."

"Thanks," Ellie said.

"Ah, it's no problem." He walked over the fire, looking from Amethyst to Ellie. "So which one of you want to go?"

"I will!" Ellie said, perking up and raising her hand like a student eager to be called on. Benedict just chuckled.

"Alright, I guess you won the vote. Amethyst."

"I will stay here, thank you," she responded quietly.

"Well, alright then. Let's go El, I wanna get the tower secured quickly."

She grinned and nodded, inwardly squealing. He called me El! As she got up, she paused, glancing at the pile of sacks. She didn't want Amethyst to be looking through her stuff when she was gone...

She grabbed the axe and walked over to Amethyst as Benedict went outside to wait. Then, in a hushed whisper, "Listen, while I'm gone, can you please not go through my stuff?"

"I understand that it is of a private nature, so I will abide."

Ellie's face both drained of color and she was relieved. So she might know about it, but she promises not to look into it. She would probably avoid talking with her, for she feared any further awkward questions. The less they know, the better.

The deader, the better, God added.

*** *** ***

The tower rose out of the ground, though it wasn't as big as Ellie imagined. It was a wide pillar of cobblestone, the top of it with four glass windows poking out of each side of the wall. It wasn't as much of a tower as it was just a really tall shack made of stone.

"This is it," Benedict said, stopping near the door. He opened it for Ellie who thanked him and went inside, Benedict following. She could still hear the wind's howls, but now they were muffled and echoed, adding a slight creep factor to the place. A couple dusty boxes lied in the middle of the room, an even dirtier lantern sitting on top of the stacks. A staircase spiraled upwards and downwards.

"Should you-?" Ellie began, Benedict nodding and grabbing the lantern. After a couple scrapes of a piece of flint, it burned to life, a ghostly glow filling the room. He grinned.

"So we're going down?"

"Yep," he said, speaking as he descended. "I already checked out the first parts of the basement, just snooped around a bit, and it seems pretty extensive. Tons of doorways, but I just went to that one room."

"Huh," she said, looking at the strange and wicked shadows that the lantern cast. There were small cubbyholes in the walls, empty save for cobwebs and spiders. One particularly large one dropped on her shoulder, making her panic before realizing what it was. They finally reached the bottom, the stairs giving way to a room of cobblestone walls, similar to the outside. Torches that Benedict must've lit already brightened the room.

Despite the fact that Benedict had already been here, Ellie had begun to clutch the iron axe, wearily looking left and right as she moved throughout the room, Benedict going ahead towards the door across from the entrance. There was something... off about this place. The tables held numerous pieces of parchment, quills lying in dried out inkpots. Padded chairs were toppled over, and naked bookshelves lined the walls. Someone must've been here before Benedict...

Probably, God whispered in her ear, making her pout. The voice usually told her to do bad, but it would sometimes acknowledge her thoughts and even help her. One of the perks of insanity, I guess, she thought, shrugging, her paranoia returning as she came to a halt next to Benedict.

"I was thinking that I'd go ahead with the lantern, lighting the way while you inspected everything, assuming it isn't just another room." Ellie nodded, ready. When he pushed against the door, however, it wouldn't budge. It wasn't until the third time that it finally creaked open, Ellie joining in his efforts to shove the thing open. There were cracking sounds once the door had fully opened, each one sending shivers down her spine.

The first thing she noticed was the smell, that familiar smell that she had come to know so well. Death.

Beyond the door was a long tunnel, the walls intricately carved to make swirling patterns. Cobwebs dominated any corners, and skulls of varying creatures lied in the dusty pockets in the wall. Griffons, ponies, unicorns, and more that she didn't quite recognize. The rocky ceiling was high above Ellie's head, but that only increased her fear of spiders dropping down on her, many of the creepy little bastards crawling around on the webs above her. There were two pockets for each slot in the wall, each pocked carved on top of the other, like shelves.

Before she could stop him or voice her concerns, Benedict was lighting torches, proceeding to go further and further away. "I'll holler if I see something," he said, getting further and further away. She raised a claw and opened her beak, but decided against saying something. Rather, she looked back at the closed door to see what that noise was.

She gagged at what she saw. Scratch marks had been carved into the wooden door long ago, and the decaying corpses of two griffons lied by the door. Each one donned a tattered piece of cloth with the symbol of the Red Gear.

What had made those scratches? She wondered, both confused and nervous. Or, maybe it was those two soldiers. Maybe they were trying to run away from something, something terrible, maybe-

Snap out of it, she told herself, shaking her head. She turned back only to see that Benedict had left, leaving a trail of blazing torches. Ellie slowly made her way through the catacombs, cautiously looking at each shelf. At first it was just bones and pottery, but after three slots, there were full skeletons. They were all in the same position as well, like some sort of creepy synchronized act, hands on their chest and skulls lying on a stone brick, propped up. She jerked back when a particular skull's eye socket gave birth to a rat, the vermin squeaking before disappearing back into the dark hole.

This place isn't right, she thought once again. She didn't know why, but she could just sense it. With the other side of her magic, she could sense some sort of force here, something about all these dead bodies and skeletons. Then again, the other side of her magic was focused around death in the first place.

The pattern was the same for everything beyond, multiple twists and turns leading her through the maze-like tomb. It was only then that she noticed out of the corner of her eye a glint of metal. Peering closely at the skeleton, it was of a griffon, a female by the looks of the bone structure. Unlike the pattern she'd been seeing, only one arm was over her chest, the other leaning outwards from the shelf, grasping a corroded dagger. After poking and prodding with the tip of her axe, the bony hand and claws went limp, the knife clattering to the dirt ground.

What was this place? She knew that it was some sort of burial place for the dead, but this was different. She'd been to many, she knew how they were usually laid out, but this was different, and her darker magic was once again sensing something. But what is it? she asked herself, continuing onward. As she went deeper, it became apparent that almost all of the skeletons had a weapon of some sorts, whether it was a knife lodged into one's eye socket, a club or sword leaning limply from one hand, or a dusty shield on one's chest.

Eventually she came across a large stone coffin, the heavy slab of rock that held it shut not budging when Ellie tried to lift it. She frowned, wedging her axe into the seam and twisting it up, trying to crank the lid off with little success. She didn't need to, however, when a bony set of claws pushed it open.

She screamed, jumping back as another hand appeared from the coffin, this one wielding a dagger. It swung blindly as she backed away further, yelping when there was the popping of bones behind her. Turning, she saw the skeleton of an earth pony with a battered metal helmet rising, toppling over and slowly getting up. All of the dead around her started to do the same as she backed away, looking about frantically, both scared out of her mind and amazed.

I didn't animate them, who did?! She backed away as more and more long dead ponies and griffons began to shift out from their shelves, each holding some sort of weapon. Her powers would be useless against them; unless you were the Necromancer who had raised them, you couldn't use many of the tricks on them that you could on a living person or on your own dead. Few of them worked. For instance, Ellie couldn't manipulate their bone or flesh, rendering her magic useless against them. She was screwed.

Run, God whispered.

She only began to regain her wit when one of them grasped her shoulder, jaw opening with a croak to reveal a swarm of roaches. Screaming out, she raised her axe and slammed it down against the arm, it immediately falling off. She silently thanked whatever was up there that the opposing Necromancer hadn't casted any bone-strengthening spells. That didn't stop him from using his other arm, however.

"Ah!" she squealed, jumping away and making a dash for an escape, following Benedict's trail of torches. As she passed, the skeletons began to have bits and bits of more flesh, and a cold breeze became more and more noticeable, but she ignored the rising corpses. She couldn't fight any good in these halls and tunnels; she needed to find a bigger room.

And there it was. Well, it was there, but it was sealed off by an iron gate, closed. Beyond it, she thought that she could see Benedict lunging at a corpse that had large amounts of flesh on him still. She cocked her head, looking up at the glowing hole in the ceiling. The pieces clicked in her head immediately.

The cold must be freezing the fresher corpses, keeping them from rotting, she figured. But... where did the bodies come from?

She didn't have enough time to answer that riddle, however, as multiple skeletons were shambling towards her, the torches distorting their appearances with warped shadows. Luckily, there was a stairway to the left of her. She took it immediately, scrambling upwards.

Thankfully, there were no more shelves to hold dead bodies up here. She stopped at the top of the ramp and took out her bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver, the tip of the cold, sharp metal glowing. Closing her eyes, she mouthed the name of a bone-corroding slash bone-weakening spell and enchanted the special arrow, letting it zip directly into the rising earth pony that still bore patches of skin, jaw hanging loosely by some threads of flesh.

It shattered her skull, sending pieces of bone everywhere like she had just bashed one of the pots near the entrance. Her arrows were enchanted to where one could cast an advanced spell on them rather than just a simple enchantment. Basically, it was an enchantment that enabled enchantments. There was a hissing sound as the bones collapsed, but Ellie didn't have time to watch. Instead, she rushed through the unlit hall, using her healing magic to light the way instead.

Eventually there was a light coming from a doorway to the right. Turning led her to a swinging, structurally-unsafe bridge, the wood planks only held together by loosely-bound rope and a couple nails. The square room was large, with the floor below the bridge slowly sloping upwards to a platform, something similar to a shrine built on top of it. The wind from above traveled through the hole in the ceiling along with a ray of white light, revealing all of the disturbed dust that floated about. The wind rocked the unsturdy bridge to the left and right, but that didn't worry Ellie. She just flew across. She suddenly felt a pang of guilt when she landed at the column of rock that was in the middle of the room just below the hole, thinking again of Benedict's crippled wings.

Benedict! She looked down, remembering that her friend was in danger. Ellie might have, but Benedict didn't know how to deal with these things. Simple slashes at the bones wouldn't work unless they were extremely acute and well-placed. You had to either break, crush, or destroy bones completely to destroy the living dead, which is why a blunt weapon would work best. Sadly, Benedict only had his daggers.

She looked down at Benedict, biting the lip of her beak as the skeletons approached her, each one clutching a curved sword. The first two were frozen corpses with large chunks of flesh left, giving them a ghoulish, zombie-like appearance, both griffons, while the other was the skeleton of a unicorn.

Just kill them all, God begged. The dead and Benedict, he's not that important.

No! Shut up, she screamed back.

He'll find out sooner or later, best you stop him now. God ended at that, and she actually questioned herself, pausing long enough for the unicorn to swing her sword right at her throat. She barely had enough time to jump back.

It's the stress, dammit! Ellie leaned in towards the dead unicorn and swung her hefty axe over her head, splitting the horn in half before obliterating the rest of the skull. The two zombies looked at her with lifeless eyes, one of them dangling out of its socket, before they both lunged forwards. She yelped, flying to the side and equipping her bow, holding it sideways. She nocked two of her arrows at once and squeezed her eyes shut. Another bone eroding spell will work.

Her hands dulled as she cast the spell onto the enchanted tips before letting them loose. Both arrows zoomed in two different directions, both striking home as they smacked into the cold flesh and tissue.

I can help, God whispered, his voice encouraging. Just let me in you for a moment, I can show you new knowledge.

Never. More skeletons started flowing out from the doorway, clustering together on the bridge. She saw an opportunity. Balling her hands together, she broke out in a sweat as a small sphere of shadows started to form, growing bigger and darker every second. Her pearl reserves were running out quickly, so she'd need to recharge immediately, but until then...

Ellie's hands started to tremble, losing control of the ball of death and decay in her hands. Bone erosion mixed into a deadball to send these bastards back to the grave. A deadball was like a fireball, but for a Necromancer. It was one of the most effective attacks against the living dead, breaking their curse and rendering the body useless. It was one of the first things God teached her.

She let it go.

Like a whirling black hole, the void of shadow whirred towards the group of dead warriors, leaving behind a smoky mist that sparkled and glittered. It clashed with the leading griffon in a dark explosion that sucked away the light from the room, a loud hissing noise sounding once the black mist dissipated. It left behind a pile of bones and bits of flesh.

She grinned, dashing downwards and slamming her axe into the spine of a pony who was about to stab Benedict in the back. He looked up, nodding his thanks. Deadballs didn't explode like that unless they were charged like hers, though charging one drained a lot from her reserves. Normal deadballs just penetrated a single walking corpse's spell if they were hit.

"Thanks!" Benedict shouted as skeletons banged against the iron gate, its hinges squeaking, threatening to give out. Ellie saw that he had only succeeded in defeating three of the dead.

"You've gotta use something heavy on them, your knives won't work!" she yelled back, the scraped griffon acknowledging this bit of information with another nod.

One particularly fleshy earth pony fell from above with a sickening smack, getting up slowly and shambling towards them, multiple worms and maggots falling from her rib cage. Benedict glanced at Ellie before rushing forward, grabbing the dead pony with one claw and throwing it back to the ground. He then grabbed a nearby rock and bashed it against his skull. It hissed immediately. He looked up at Ellie for approval, and she grinned, giving him a claws-up.

They both jumped as the room got a thousand degrees colder, a loud creak sounding from behind. Ellie turned and gawked at the creature that rose from a black coffin, the heavy slab of stone that was the lid clattering to the floor. The candles around the shrine extinguished as it rose, the large skeleton looking over the two of them with angry, disapproving eye sockets that glowed a bright turquoise.

He was a griffon almost twice as tall as Benedict, and he was already a big griffon. It wore tattered blue rags that might have been a flowing robe in a time long ago. A freezing aura radiated off of him, making a shiver go down Ellie's spine, though she wasn't sure if it was from the cold or raw terror. And around his neck was a golden key.

"Who dares to disturb me?" he demanded, his voice magnified and echoing all across the room. In response, Benedict hefted the rock and tossed it at his bone chest. Ellie face-palmed with her claws when it simply bounced off harmlessly. So this one does have a bone strengthener.

Both of them leaped opposite ways when a long icicle struck the ground where they just were. Balls of ice were casted at Benedict as he swerved around, attempting to strike the hulking mage from the side. Ellie was about to join in when the gate behind her broke, a horde of skeletons streaming out, gripping Ellie with panic.

Those were a lot of dead ponies and griffons, she thought, gulping. Her axe would be useless against them all, they'd drag her down and strip her of her skin in mere seconds if she attempted to come near them.

I can help, God offered, Ellie turning him away after a quick second.

No, I won't let you hurt Benedict!

Just let me in, I promise I won't hurt him, God whispered in response. Ellie reconsidered it, frowning. She didn't have enough time to formulate a plan, and God had always been honest in his promises to be let in, even if he did encourage murder. And every previous time that she'd let him in, she did learn something new, something that Ray hadn't covered...

"Okay," she whispered aloud.

As the skeletal griffon and Benedict were wrestling behind her, the crowd of skeletons actually stopped and looked up at Ellie as she rose, screaming. She rose from the ground without flapping her wings, eyes rolling back before turning a ghostly white. God flexed Ellie's claws and smirked, looking out over the crowd of warriors.

"Weaklings," he said through Ellie's beak, grinning as a shadowy mist began to spread around her. Oh, how he relished having a body.

He floated higher in Ellie's body as the dark fog thickened, and he clenched Ellie's fist, shadows leaking out from it. And then, he slammed it downwards to the ground, sending dark shockwaves of black that rattled the bones of the skeletons. Benedict shoved away the giant skeleton and gasped as they all collapsed into piles of bone, Ellie falling to the ground, weak.

Enjoy the gift I have bestowed, God whispered in her ear as she opened her eyes. Enjoy the treat of bypassing the rules. Enjoy being able to manipulate others' dead minions.

Her head once again throbbed as God left her body and retreated to her mind. She lied there, unable to get up. This was normal, and it happened every time she made a deal with God. Until she felt strong again, which should be in a minute or so, she could only crawl to a wall and watch the fight. Moments like these made her appreciate her insanity, though she was sure that God would start to annoy and pester her moments after.

"Griffons," he intoned in a booming voice, refraining himself from attacking, "I warn you of this place. Leave now, or I will be forced to act." His blue eyes flickered dangerously and his bone hands and claws twitched.

"Look," Benedict began, shooting glances at Ellie every now and then — she knew she was in trouble later — "we just need that key around your neck so me and my friends can stay in that top room for the night or two."

A look of what almost seemed like sadness flashed across his face. "Then I am sorry." His eyes blazed as he let loose a spray of frost, freezing the ground. Benedict could only run away, his wings binding him to the ground. Only Ellie could counter the bone strengthener, but God's shockwave-thing had drained her completely. She reached with a trembling finger and grabbed a couple glistening pearls, draining and tossing them away. Her hand glowed with a white light as she held it up to her head, performing a general wellness spell. It was the least effective an Aid could perform, but it was meant for minor things like slight headaches.

She got to her paws and started to fly, trying to stay inconspicuous as she nocked an arrow in her bow and cast a bone erosion spell to counter him. Once she let go, it zoomed towards him, going directly in the ribcage, flying through it and snapping on the dirt wall behind. She swore, nocking another arrow and aiming it at his head, casting the same spell over the enchanted arrow. This time, it hit home, extinguishing one of his dead eyes and getting stuck in the back of his skull.

He howled in pain as his bones hissed, slowly cracking and falling. Eventually he himself fell, dropping to the floor with a loud crash. Once he was on the ground, Benedict looked up at Ellie, beak wide. She cringed as she slowly descended from the air, thinking of what he'd say, looking down.

I'm screwed, he's going to tell everyone else and-

"That was amazing!" he said, surprising her.

She looked up, confused. Huh?

"What did you do to do that stomp thing? It was awesome!"

Ellie gulped. She was digging herself a bubbling tar pit of lies, and she was only going to get deeper.

Chapter Ten : New Civilizations, New Peoples

"Two days, Carrie, two damned days!"

"Oh, boohoo, we've all been starving," Carolyn said, jabbing a claw at him.

"Easy to you to say, you've been drunk the whole time," Alexander shot back before giving a glare to Blaze, the dragon immediately cowering back. The two had been arguing day and night, Alexander constantly complaining, but Blaze refrained from saying that last bit. He did not want to be the center of the output of his anger, so instead he had kept his distance, always lagging back behind the two. This time, however, it seemed that he couldn't hide from his rage.

"And you!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the mountaintops, making the tall dragon shrink back and quietly whimper. "You had the chance to get us all a meal that would sustain us for more than a week if we conserved properly, but no, you just couldn't kill such an innocent fucking animal!"

"Oh, give the kid a break," Carolyn butted in, Blaze thankful even as his stomach grumbled. "He's vegetarian like the ponies anyway."

He slowly started to back away while he had the chance, before he was mentioned again. While the Griffinstone people might've found it funny, Blaze hated their arguing. They were constantly at each others' throats, and it gave Blaze a headache on another note. Both had

The mentioning of them reminded Blaze of what had happened. Alexander had fell, got caught in the wind, and latched onto Carolyn — she had made that very clear almost every hour — who Blaze had tried to save, but he had ended up being carried along with the wind. Blaze didn't even regret it; it was one step away from his horrible anxiety and shyness. Plus, Carolyn was much more friendly with him, though she was also drunk most of the time as well, as Alexander had pointed out.

Blaze had always been the runt of the litter, never able to harm an animal like the other dragons. Instead, he always stayed away from 'hanging with' the guys, staying with all of the creatures in the Dragonlands, whether they were giant beasts or tiny, fluffy bunnies. He'd heard rumors of a pony in Equestria named Shutterfly or something along those lines, and she had been able to talk with animals. Blaze could only wish that he had that ability.

Of course, not being able to harm an animal also meant no food for a dragon. Dragon society, if you could even call it that, was harsh; if you were weak, you'd die a weakling, and that was exactly what Blaze was. The result of him never harming an animal was him being thinner than a toothpick, which led to him always being picked on and teased. Back in the Dragonlands, he didn't have any muscles, though he really didn't have too much compared to the strong dragon soldiers in the Red Gear's barracks now. But he barely had enough to fly with his wings back then, that was his point. That meant that he couldn't defend himself or fly away from dragons like Punk.

Punk. It was a fitting name, to say the least. He had always wanted to stand up to the lard ass, but Blaze never had the courage. By himself, the pig might lose in a fight against Blaze, but he had created his own little gang to keep him protected at all times. Blaze didn't know why people would stick with him since all Punk did was sit on his fat ass sticking food in his mouth twenty-four-seven, but he suspected that he paid them to stick with him. It was well known in the Dragonlands that Punk was rich in gemstones, though Blaze didn't know how he didn't go bankrupt since he ate them all the time.

Anyway, if you even looked in Punk's direction, you'd face his thugs. Blaze had once saw a friend that tried to stand up to him, but Punk himself had crushed him with his enormous, fat blob of a stomach. And so, Blaze just endured the hazing that was forced on him. Everyone knew that he was weak, and everyone beat him up every once in a while, but Punk did it almost daily.

The Dragonlands was in a state of crisis before it fell like Equestria, and Blaze knew it all too well. Lord Ember was the new ruler of the Dragonlands before it collapsed, and Blaze had to admit that he had a crush on her. Rival dragon lords had laughed at the frail dragon that was Ember, saying that there was no place for such a small girl. She tried to prove them wrong with her argument that dragon lords could be smart, not just strong, but it failed miserably. She tried to create a stable government and cities, but they all turned corrupt or were ruined, about the same time that Equestria fell into ruin.

Being in a thief gang was nearly the only way to survive in the Dragonlands, scamming the rich and whatnot. Blaze also had to admit that, after being bullied by Punk all the time, scamming the rich was an alluring option.

Oh, how wrong he was in that.

He had tried to look for some underground gangs that would accept them, but they all laughed and turned him away. At the time, opposing dragon lords and their kingdoms began to think of completely ravaging Lord Ember's kingdom, slaughtering and raping any that they found in their wake, and some did start attacking. There were many different kingdoms in the Dragonlands — they were vast — and each of them had different values, besides the handful that were all just rampaging despots. Sadly, all those others were farther inland, and Lord Ember's kingdom was just on the shoreline.

After a month of searching, Blaze was finally accepted into a thieving gang full of sly females, all of them snickering and grinning by Blaze's arrival. He was fine with being in a crew of girls at the time, but things inevitably got worse.

On their first job, they were planning to sail through a lava canal and murder a trade boat that was stocked full of gemstones. Blaze had been anything but helpful, preferably not killing anyone except for when he was asked to by the crew leader, Scratch. They all noticed his weakness quickly, and he soon became their bitch, at a lack for better words.

For a year, he was beat by them every night. What little food he got that wasn't meat was stolen or plucked away with a laugh and a punch to the gut. Of course it got worse, and he became their plaything for whenever they were feeling horny with nothing to do, but he wouldn't go into detail on that topic. In short, he was forced to stay with them, for what else could he do? He had no other options.

Or that was until the griffon recruiters came.

They claimed that they had flown all the way from what they called the Red Gear, the griffons. Word spread like wildfire, and Blaze ran away from his crew immediately, eager to sign up. Anything to get away from the brutal Dragonlands. Just like that, him and a couple dozen other dragons were put on a ship and sailed back to the Red Gear's empire, leaving the place for good. The last Blaze had heard, Ember had also ran from her position, flying away to an unknown location, though it was a common theory that she was kidnapped.

And here he was now, in the mountaintops with two griffons under a sky of cloud that never let up and never held back its freezing contents, after a year of training with their strange weaponry and building a small fraction of the other dragons' muscle. He shouldered his rifle; it was a unique design for snipers, with a scope to magnify his sight from a long distance.

He looked back at the two griffons, both in one another's face. He sighed, slowly walking up towards them, his clawed feet burrowing in the snow with each step. He wanted to get away for a little while, and he had an excuse. It worked last time, but that was when Alexander had gotten tired of Carolyn and followed him, only to find him watching a small pack of white rabbits.

Immediately, their shouts were heard in full force. He winced, burdened with the task of trying to talk through their dispute.

"...damn alcoholic!" Alexander screeched, jabbing his claw at her.

"Um, hey," he uttered, but neither paid him attention.

"And? So what, I drink whiskey from time to time?" she said through a gritted beak.

Alexander laughed. "Time to time, huh? Time to fucking time? You drink a bottle every damn hour." This caused Carolyn to blush immensely. She was obviously insecure about it, Blaze noticed. He had always been good at reading expressions; it was something one picked up as a scamming con-artist, even if you weren't a good one.

"Um, hey," he asked, tapping Carolyn on the shoulder. She looked up.

"Yes?" Carolyn asked nicely, ignoring Alexander and happy for an exit from the conversation.

"Well, um, I was just thinking that I'd go scout around the area," he said in a hushed tone.

"Oh, and make sure to not gather us food, like you did last time," Alexander yelled over the rising wind. As Blaze walked off, he realized something. He had accidentally chosen a side in their constant debates, both by gaining Carolyn's respect and banishing any that he had from Alexander. It worried him.

He pulled his heavy rucksack off from his back and started looking through it as he walked, bored but eager to be away from the two. Back at Craggle Creag, he had purchased tons of books along with Ellie, though the griffon had mentioned something about bringing books from home. He was big on reading; it was an escape from the real world, an opportunity to get away from life and put yourself in a fictional world that was so much more interesting than the bland one that they lived in. And he needed that more than anything right now.

His idea was to find a quiet place to read, and that was it. They had been traveling through mountaintops for the whole of yesterday and only now has the land been getting less steep and mountainous. It was mostly hills and valleys now.

Blaze had brought some books with him as well, but not many. One of the books he had purchased, however, was an old book that told of the Dragonlands, or at least from a griffon's perspective. It was funny to him, how dragons were described as volatile, vulgar beings, and then there was him. He never felt like he fitted in, and that was because he didn't. He'd want to object to the claim of all dragons being horrible, but he couldn't; it was true, with him being an exception. And he knew it firsthand...

He stopped, something in the distance catching his eye just as he crested a very tall hill. The whole trip had been a mix of bleak greys and dull whites, but there was a large patch of green afar. He stuffed the thick text into his sack and walked forward, gasping.

No, it was more than just a patch of green. It was a vast meadow, bare of snow. There was an enormous gap in the clouds that seemed near impossible compared to everything around the field, the sun shining down with majestic beams. The beautiful piece of land continued on for a long time, only stopping at another mountainside.

Blaze dropped his sack along with his jaw and continued onward down the hill, the snow becoming less and less thick. It was some sort of village, with giant tents and huts built around the meadow, a small patch of farmland not too far from the center of the charming town, ripe crops bursting out from the ground, somehow growing in the frigid temperatures without any hindrances, along with a couple trees that were full of bright green leaves, each one shining like an emerald.

But that wasn't even the most fascinating part. Blaze could see figures roaming about, and after a further observation, he realized that he recognized the creatures. He'd read about them in books, centaurs they were called. With the lower body of a horse, and the upper body of something else, unbeknownst to any scholar or researcher. The most famous of them had been someone named Tirek, but no one knew where he came from. It was a secret, known by none.

Blaze was shaking from excitement rather than the cold when he realized that he had just found out the secret.

He quickly started flying back, snatching his rucksack and dashing towards Carolyn and Alexander's direction, biting his lip eagerly. This is so amazing!

*** *** ***

Everyone stared at him as he walked across a dirt path, the red creatures giving him curious and suspicious glances. Nearly all of their upper bodies' skin was red, or at least a shade of it. Their piercing eyes made him very uncomfortable. He wanted to run somewhere, make himself scarce, and hide, but there was nowhere to go. So instead, he continued with the tall centaur that was leading him throughout the village, quickening his pace so that he was beside the lumbering figure rather than behind him.

"You and your companions are welcome to stay with us for as long as you all like," the centaur, his name was Tawil, said, his voice deep but welcoming. He looked down on him with black eyes, yellow dots the size of pinpricks inside. Two curved horns grew from his head's sides. "But I must ask, dragon, why do you come to Gladendale? It has been very long since a visitor, years upon years."

"Um, well, it's a long story," he mumbled, scratching his neck. "Where are my friends, though?" Tawil had saw them first and took it upon himself to give Blaze a tour across the camp with pride, his stride even and confident. Carolyn and Alexander had been led in another direction by two other centaurs.

"Ah, I see. I've let some friends take your friends to our guests' tent to be nourished and fed properly." He stopped suddenly at the entrance of large tent made of the same fabric as Blaze's sack, two guards with stone-tipped, rough spears standing on either side. "Please, head in," he said, bowing in respect. He silently said 'thank you' and walked through the flaps that danced in the light breeze.

So far, the centaurs seemed like an amazing people to Blaze. They were very respectful and well-mannered, despite their rough-looking appearance. They all donned similar robes or were topless, and held makeshift weapons, all basic, but some had very strange weaponry that Blaze just couldn't describe. They all spoke in a strange, accented tone that was very exotic to him, and though he hadn't seen much of it, their culture seemed quite complex and beautiful.

The inside of the tent proved just that. Exquisite, handwoven banners hung on the thick walls of brown cloth, a campfire in the middle of the tent sending flickering shadows across the room. Some logs had been cut so that they'd serve as seats, and to the side were tables covered in various herbs and spices. Masks were also stuck to the wall, each one carved in a unique pattern. Blaze gawked for only a moment at the female centaur chopping patiently at one of the tables, his eyes glued to her enormous breasts that were barely covered by a thin robe of many patterns. He shook his head, remembering that it was rude and sat down quietly. Tawil followed.

"Meril," he said as he sat down, "please fix me and my guest a drink, if it isn't any trouble." She nodded eagerly, as did her bobbing breasts before she disappeared through the tent flaps, Blaze transfixed before stopping himself. They sat quietly, one another across from each other, the fire crackling and popping between them. He wore no robes like some, his bare muscles glistening in the firelight.

"So, Blaze, is it?" He nodded, and Tawil continued. "Well, I understand that you have many questions about us, it is normal to our kind. After all, it seems that centaurs are unremembered by history, and Gladendale is the last surviving camp of centaurs. But before you begin, and I hope it doesn't trouble you, but we'd like to know about you and your companions. I'm sorry if I am prying into your life, but my kind has been forced to be skeptical of any who approach us, with all that we have endured it has only come naturally. Also, it has been a long time that my kind has seen a dragon, besides her pets."

"Oh, it's nothing at all," Blaze said, raising his hand, wondering who 'her' was. "Er, well, I don't really know where to start, Tawil. I don't know too much about my friends, we were actually just partners in this military squad, but you should probably know that Carolyn and Alexander hate one another. But, um, in short, we got split up at this place called Thunder Gate, and so them and I have been traveling through the mountains. That's when I found you guys."

He stopped, remembering something. "Oh, um, before you get the wrong idea, I'm not like most dragons. I know that we're supposed to be 'mean' and 'scary,' but I'm different."

Tawil smiled. "I figured." A thoughtful expression seemed to pass through his face before he asked a question. "Do you, by any chance, know a griffon by the name of Ellie?"

The dragon frowned, puzzled. "Um, yeah, she was in our team, but we got separated."

"Mm, what a shame. Ray was really looking forward to another meeting with the young girl." He had spoken almost to himself before looking up, sitting up straight. "I suppose that you'd like to know about us, correct?"

Before Blaze could respond, Meril pushed through the tent's entrance, two mugs of ale in each hand as well as a plate of baywraps — rolls of thin, flat bread stuffed with boiled barley and vegetables — balanced on top, though the young dragon was more focused on other sections of her.

"Thank you, Meril," Tawil said while taking the plate and the mugs, Meril bowing, and Blaze swore that she was just trying to stir up a certain region of Blaze's, for he got an eyeful of her bountiful breasts. Not that he didn't like it, of course.

"You are excused," he said, and she silently left. Blaze pouted at the loss of eyecandy, taking his cup and a baywrap with a 'thank you.' They sat silently as Blaze took a sip of his mug until Tawil used the opportunity to speak up.

"Now, I must warn you, the historical tale of us centaurs is a long one."

"Wait," Blaze stopped him, setting down his mug and grabbing his rucksack, "is it okay if I take notes on this?"

Tawil chuckled. "No need, Blaze. We have a library filled with the the knowledge that we could recover of our ancestors and beyond, though the 'beyond' part is in a strange language that we have studied for years, but we still have no clues to what the books mean. Of course, it is still invaluable."

"Of course," Blaze said, the scholar side of him agreeing with these centaurs and their beliefs. He had the opportunity to be a scholar when he had come, but he was simply too shy for that, even if it was what he really wanted to do. He loved any new knowledge, and excitement overrode any possible anxieties at this point. He took a bite of the baywraps, noting how delicious they were.

He didn't talk until he had swallowed. "These are great!"

He raised a hand, closing his eyes. "Please, don't thank me. Meril is the one who procured them, one of our best cooks. Personally, I am no good at the culinary arts." He looked up at him, his expression suddenly serious. "So, are you ready to hear of our long story?"

"Yes, please, I'd love to," Blaze said, trembling with giddiness, all of his anxieties and fears suddenly washing away to the bottom of his mind. Instead, all he could think about is how amazing this opportunity that he'd gotten was. Well, that and Meril, whom wouldn't leave his mind very easily. He eagerly sipped at his warm ale and tasty baywraps as he listened carefully, making sure to pick up every word.

"Well," he said, clapping his hands together, "it all started long ago. Now, we sadly cannot tell of our people's beginnings, for they have been lost to time as well as 'Her Highness,' but we can tell that the people before us were very advanced in technology, evidence being some of the things that us centaurs at Gladendale have acquired. Our only hypothesis on what happened was a quick and sudden wipe-out of life.

"However, one thing that remains is the Empty. The Empty has been in the world for ages, corrupting anything it can get its hands on, assuming it even has hands. Like our ancient ancestors, we do not know much of the Empty, even though we have live with it forever. It is an... entity, at a lack of better words, that can take the form of anything it touches. It knows nothing but hate, death, and decay, and we have lost many friends to the Empty, for they strayed too far away and were swallowed up, returning back to us as an abomination against any kind of life.

"The Empty lies to the farthest and tallest peaks to the northeast, and it thankfully cannot move from where it came from. I mentioned someone named Ray before, if you recall. Well, he has always believed that we could harness the elements of the Empty and use them for ourselves. While my opinion differs from his, I will not try to output any bias onto you, for a free mind is the best thing for a smart man to have. Anyway, Ellie had been a sort of student of his, always sneaking away from her home so that she could practice in his arts. One day the two took a trip to the Empty's location for a close study, and she returned baring strange powers that were even beyond Ray's abilities, though he still kept teaching the young griffon, quickly understanding her abilities."

"Wait," Blaze said, holding up a finger as he swallowed a bit of baywrap. "What kind of powers did Ellie get?" He certainly didn't know that Ellie personally knew these folk.

"Well, the Empty leaves a strange touch on people. It is common that it will simply corrupt and taint someone beyond salvation, but in Ellie's case, she was touched but left physically unaffected. She gained a magic similar to Necromancy. Though many suspected something in her to be mentally tainted. We can't know until she returns, I suppose."

He shook his head after a moment. "Enough of the Empty, however. It is no worry to anyone unless they seek it out. Let us get back on track. Now, you see, my people have always held tradition over most things, as well as knowledge and respect for those who are deserving. We have had few that disagreed, such as a certain centaur that many Equestrians know as Tirek, but that is besides the point.

"You see, my people used to be plentiful in these lands, with griffons minding themselves to the south while we minded ourselves. Many creatures that others have come to known came from these lands, if our historical library is to be correct. Timberwolves and limewolves lived here before migrating to Equestria, the bones of the earliest accounts of ponykind were found north of our camp, of course they are now in our library for study, as well as many other unique creatures.

"Well, my kind has lived in relative peace for a long time. We had grand feats that made all centaurs proud. All of it changed, however, when a mare known as Queen Lilac arrived."

"Queen Lilac?" Blaze asked, eagerly leaning forward.

"Yes. What Equestrians would call an alicorn, I believe, and they are ageless, or at least appear to be. She arrived along with a small army of wizards and mages that she called Peacekeepers, who could pull on one's emotions, though they were anything but. She asked if she could settle there, and we eagerly accepted her request, wanting to learn of the alicorn. The last thing we learned were her intentions for our lands, however.

"One day, she turned against my kind with an incredible power, turning the weather against us all along with many of the creatures that roamed these lands, once peaceful. This earned her the title of the Goddess of Ice by some. She struck quickly and brutally, multiple ancient dragons completely demolishing our cities under her control, along with many other guardians. Her monoliths rampaged through our villages, crushing and murdering anything the golems of ice and stone saw. It was a... bad time.

"Many believed her to have been touched by the Empty, for she had begun to rise the dead, using them in her armies. The theory would certainly answer her sudden turn on us, though I believe that her intentions were always cold-hearted. And so my kind went into hiding, though some like me had braved through it all and defended against her forces, using our own might, our studies of the Empty, and the strange things that we had salvaged from our ancient ancestors."

He let it sink in, Blaze restlessly waiting for him continue. This was absolutely fascinating.

Then, something clicked in his head.

"Wait a second," Blaze said, thinking, "so if Queen Lilac is some sort of evil weather-controlling goddess, that would explain why it's getting so cold back down in Griffinstone and the Red Gear, along with the attacks, right?"

Tawil grinned with a nod. "You are very keen to pick up on that detail."

"Wait, but how is this area free of snow? And it's so warm!"

"Ah, well the answer to that is simple: magic." After a confused glance, he elaborated. "You see, centaurs have a magic of their own, similar to how many unicorns have spells and how the Empty has its own touch. Our magic is of a more spiritual level, however, and it would be very hard for me to explain right now. It wouldn't bother you if I skipped this detail, would it?"

"Oh, not at all!" Blaze said. "Go ahead with the story."

"Alright. So, our kind has slowly been dying out, and this is all that remains of my people, because of Queen Lilac and her overwhelming forces and powers. We've kept her at bay for the most part, but our defenses have slowly been waning. I am sorry that you have come upon us at such a state."

"Don't say sorry," Blaze said, surprising himself. "It's the Queen's fault, not yours."

Tawil grinned. "I appreciate your support, but the truth is that we have been failing to keep our kind thriving. The only things that have helped us are Ellie's occasional visits, the strange technology we have salvaged, and ourselves, but all of those beams of support have been lessening immensely. Last year our village had four hundred occupants. Now, after a monolith was let loose through our camp, we are only of a hundred. Luckily, the Tallow Wicks further north have taken it upon themselves to protect our young, bless their souls."

Blaze frowned once again. "What's a Tallow Wick?"

"Creatures similar to ponies, but also quite different. If it does not trouble you, however, I'd rather that you and your friends find out yourself. You see, in such dire times, I was actually wondering if you were all willing to help our village out. Now, I understand that you all have your own lives and-"

"Of course we'll help!" Blaze blurted out, cheeks going red as he quickly sat down. "Er, I mean, I'd love to, and I think it might be a good opportunity for us to try to find the people that I got separated from."

Tawil smiled deeply at this. "I could not thank you further for this, and neither can my people. And I believe that you will gain quite the recognition here by doing this. You may become a hero to my people, for all we know."

He blushed deeper. "Well, I don't know about that..."

"It could happen," Tawil reasoned. He looked behind him before covering his mouth and whispering, "I saw how you looked at Meril, by the way. I'm sure that you will also get many of the ladies' recognition."

His cheeks were redder than the sun now, blazing hot. "I, um, uh..."

He laughed, gesturing that it was a joke. He awkwardly chuckled along with him, eventually laughing as well.

Tawil eventually stopped, silent for a moment. "Ah, but seriously Blaze, I cannot thank you enough for the support you offer. And we are in need of many things. We do the best we can, but our best has never been enough against the Queen. I am glad that you can help us. In fact, I believe that there is a certain job we have for you and your friends to-"

At that moment, another centaur burst into the room, a spear that dripped a dark purple liquid in hand, robes smeared with both the strange liquid and crimson stains. He rushed over to Tawil, eyeing Blaze as he looked on curiously.

"Master Tawil, something horrible has happened," he said, panting. The larger centaur put a hand on the guard's soldier.

"Calm down, Alvin," he said, giving him time for his breath to steady. Blaze got up and walked near them, watching earnestly. Eventually the panicked centaur looked up, breath stabilized. "Please, what is the matter?"

"Master Tawil, a pack of Unrights had just appeared out of nowhere, and they've attacked the camp! Only one of us were injured, but guest Alexander was hurt immensely, and I believe he's been Touched. You must come quickly!"

Blaze was still processing this when Tawil threw his mug to the ground, galloping to the doors before stopping, looking at the skinny dragon. "Well, come along! You're friend has been hurt!"

Chapter Eleven : New Kingdoms, New Queens

"It looks pretty okay," Benedict said, squinting his eyes as he stared through the morning light that came through the window. Ellie looked and saw that it was, indeed, a much lighter snow, and it was falling steadily rather than being blown about by the wind. The sun wasn't actually visible, but it shone through the grayish-white clouds brightly, making the snow look luminescent.

She hung near the back of the room, sitting on a trunk at the end of the bed that Big Macintosh had taken. The rest of them had grabbed some pillows from the bed and slept on the floor. The whole room was circular with a wall of stone, the creaking floorboards covered in dust. The giant stallion was still asleep, his light snores being the only noises in the room besides the three's chatting.

Well, two. Ellie had avoided talking to Benedict and Amethyst for fear of her Necromancy being brought up. Amethyst may or may not know and she had told Benedict that it was some abjuration, so she thought it best to let the topic fade from their minds before even thinking of conversation. Until then, she'd be as silent as a mouse. Or a Big Macintosh.

"Do you want to go out once Big Macintosh is awake?" Amethyst asked in her formal, never faltering tone. Before, Amethyst had always talked to everyone in such a way to make them feel lesser than her, but now she had warmed up to everyone.

"Sure." Ellie eventually tuned out from their conversation and got up, opening the trunk and looking inside it. Of course, it was empty; they had searched through it, as well as the desk and drawers in the room. They had found a couple bits, but what use were they? In the middle of nowhere, bits would mean nothing.

She slumped back on the trunk, bored. She always kept an eye on her books, however. The sacks had been moved by the wall, stacked in a pile that was anything but neat. She eventually zoned out, being jostled back awake by Benedict.

"Hey, time to go," he said, walking towards the stairs after Amethyst. She yawned and grabbed her bag, Big Mac following soon afterwards with a slight limp. A wave of cool air washed over Ellie once she had stepped outside, much warmer than the previous day however. She scanned her surroundings. The sky was still smeared with clouds, but they were much lighter than before, and there was no snow, just a light breeze.

"C'mon," Benedict told everyone as he climbed up the crest of an especially steep hill, one that none of them noticed because of the harsh weather. It had acted like a veil before their very eyes, but now it was just a slope of pure, white snow, twigs from the barren trees above lying in the ground, snapping from their passing. Ellie lagged behind, thinking of what God had showed her last night. It was like a deadball, but a wave, and it had affected all of the dead rather than just one or a small area. Well, besides that Goliath, which was a term used for already dead Necromancers, though it was the first time she'd seen one.

A Goliath was only possible if a Necromancer like herself died and was brought back by another Necromancer, giving the dead one the power to sustain them self with their own magic, though Ellie preferred to call herself a Dark Aid. It sounded better than Necromancer, even if it was the proper term. Plus, she did know the normal powers of an Aid, so it made sense.

Her train of thought was stumped when she bumped into the back of Amethyst, who didn't even notice her. She frowned, wondering why everyone had stopped at the top of the hill, walking up to where Benedict was...

...And then she saw.

A landscape of snow, trees, and lakes went on for miles, ending in a canvas of mountains and a strange structure that stood in the distance, spiraling towers rising to pierce the sky, but that wasn't what her eyes were glued to. No, Ellie was staring at all of the creatures that roamed about. Dozens on top of dozens of strange, glowing jellyfish-like things flew over the ground sluggishly, ranging from the size of a brick to a house.

Large boulders that could move fascinated Ellie, and she noticed that Big Macintosh was staring as well at the same thing that she was, one of the biggest things. It looked like it was made of ice, and it stood on two long — but very large — legs. It had to have been at least a hundred times bigger than Benedict and Big Mac combined, with near minuscule glowing pink dots that must've been eyes, the thing's head shaped like a triangle. There were more of the strange things, some with stubby legs and large bodies, jaws jutting out with rows of jagged stone teeth that glistened, as well as smaller versions of the pink-eyed colossal beast, and more variants.

Many common creatures also frolicked across the field along with the patches of naked tree, such as squirrels, rabbits, foxes, bears, and more. All of them scattered, however, when a familiar roar rang out across the mountaintops in the distance, traveling all the way to Ellie's ears. Everyone tensed, remembering that roar all to easily.

Everyone then gasped when the enormous dragon emerged from behind the castle-like structure in the distance, but a further inspection revealed something... strange.

"That dragon, it is made of bone!" Amethyst said, voicing Ellie's thoughts. It was, indeed, made of bone, bones that were just as big as the ice giant. Thankfully, the thing wasn't flying towards them, but rather to the left of the castle. Everyone still gazed upon it in awe, Amethyst especially. Suddenly, Ellie realized something.

That thing, it must be controlled by a Necromancer, she thought, both stabbed with fear and dread as well as a sudden giddiness. And a really dang powerful one at that! Maybe I can find whoever it is and ask them things, maybe I can try to relate to them! She had always longed for someone who she could chat openly to about her magic, besides Ray, as he was more of a mentor than anything else. Where is Ray, anyway?

The thought was banished when Benedict shouted something, Ellie not hearing it. Luckily, Amethyst asked, "What? Where?"

The griffon pointed a claw in the distance. "Look, over there!" It was barely discernable, but Ellie could make out a small group of ponies marching towards them, each one of them with a beautiful banner swashed with a deep sapphire blue. Benedict looked from Ellie back to Amethyst. "Should we check them out?"

Of course, everyone answered yes.

*** *** ***

"Halt!" they yelled once within earshot, though they had seen one another instantly in the flat field of white. The leading pony, a unicorn, galloped forward, Ellie complying along with the other three.

Despite the cold weather, he was covered in sweat, his beautiful blue robes sticking to his body once he skid to a halt. He had a mane almost as white as the snow that they stood on, but with a tint of blue, along with a deeper shaded mane that curled in multiple different directions. The hood of his robes hung from his neck, left off because of the sudden nice weather. He wore a bulging saddle as well as a harness, a gnarled wooden pole stemming from it, ending in a flowing banner.

Makes sense why he's sweating, Ellie thought as his panting eventually stopped as well.

"Hello," he said, letting out a long whoosh of air.

"Er, who are you?" Benedict asked, regarding him with curious eyes, unlike Amethyst's mounting suspicion.

"The name's Peacekeeper Snowdrop, and we saw you strangers from a mile away," he said, giving a large smile and extended a hoof. Amethyst did not shake it, but Benedict did, earning him a glare. "Ah c'n see that y'all are strangers, right?"

Benedict nodded.

"Alright," he said, his grin growing, "that's great! As soon as we saw you busting into those old catacombs, Her Highness immediately ordered us to come to you once the storm was over, and coincidentally it ended just this morning!"

"Her Highness?" Ellie mumbled, earning another smile from Snowdrop.

"Well, yeah, Queen Lilac. Surely you've heard of her?" An awkward silence followed. "Well, goodness gracious then, welcome to her kingdom! We always treat our guests with the utmost quality, and we sure as heck haven't had one for a while."

"Wait, wait, wait," Benedict said, a puzzled expression plastered over his beak. "Why did you even come?"

"Why, to give y'all a warm welcome. Ah know y'all would need it after last night, how cold it was and whatnot. That's why Her Highness herself sent me and my team of Peacekeepers to invite you over to Her Highness's grand castle for a hot dinner under warm hearths. Ya' see, these here lands c'n be mighty dangerous, so she thought it best for us to relay the message. Now, Ah'd love to elaborate and whatnot, but it'll be safer to chat inside the Queen's home. Y'all wouldn't find any trouble in us leadin' y'all to it, would ya'?"

"Nope," Big Mac spoke up for the group. Snowdrop's country slang had easily gained his trust, it seemed, but his unicorn companion did not feel the same, whispering something loudly in his ear that Ellie could easily hear.

"Are you crazy? Doesn't it seem just a tiny bit odd that all this cold weather stops right-"

"Sure, I guess," Benedict said, interrupting her and surprising Ellie. The brashness, immediateness of his answer was odd.

Snowdrop grinned once again and turned hoof. "Well, come along then, it's an hour's walk back." And so they did, Amethyst shooting suspicious glares at everyone, including Big Mac and Benedict. Ellie was glad that she was the only exception of her gazes. As they walked, the dragon's roars continued to echo throughout the peaks of mountains back to them, and the castle loomed in the distance.

*** *** ***

The flowing banners that hung from the tall, arching ceiling showed the same symbol as the flags that the Peacekeepers had held, but much, much bigger.

"Wow," Ellie muttered, pausing on the crimson carpet to study the detailed cloth, the wall of cobblestone behind it baring large windows between each gap, similar to the Academy's entrance hall's torches, though this hall was much grander and brighter, the arched roof made of glass to let the sunlight that could break through the clouds shine the room, stained glass showering the room in beautiful purples, blues, and reds. She saw the others continue and quickly caught up with them.

Snowdrop and his small band of Peacekeepers had left them with another group of Peacekeepers, this time just two, who were silently leading them through the halls. They were apparently going to the throne room of 'Her Highness.' Ellie was just as skeptical as Amethyst was, but Benedict and Big Mac were seemingly under a spell, both nodding to any request or offer before the mare and her could butt in with their own objections.

Eventually Amethyst lagged behind the red stallion, coming close to Ellie and gesturing for her to do the same. She uncomfortably complied, hoping this wasn't what she thought it'd be about.

"This 'Queen,' those so-called servants, this whole place, it all smells fishy," she whispered, Ellie nodding in agreement.

"I know, it doesn't seem right. And I've never heard of some 'Queen Lilac' before."

"Me neither, and I'm starting to question whether I want to." The mare paused, looking around before adding, "Doesn't it seem the least bit odd that the cold weather that has been increasing rapidly came to a halt in a single night?"

"Yup."

"It's just a theory, but I believe that all the dots, connected, leave a clue about this weather situation. Do you think that this Queen Lilac could be-"

"We're here," one of the robed soldiers said, cutting her off. They both looked up as two grand oak doors creaked open, chirping birds flying through as sunlight poured into the hall, nearly blinding Ellie.

She lowered her hand and eventually adjusted to the sudden bright light, staring. It was quite a strange throne room.

Gardens and flowers somehow lived, piercing the sheet of snow that blanketed the courtyard, multiple fountains spewing ice-cold water, which was fittingly appropriate. More robed figures' heads rose at their arrival, chatting ceasing. All of their eyes followed in unison as they walked towards a short staircase of ice, and there were was only one thought in Ellie's head: This is creepy as fuck!

Above the staircase was a circular platform of ice, glistening in the sunlight. Multiple birds were perched on the top of the ridiculously big chair of ice that housed a tall white unicorn, watching them approach. About twice the height of Amethyst, she had a coat of pure white and a flowing blond mane, but Ellie could feel her cold sapphire eyes piercing right through her. There was a strange air about her; she seemed confident, and Ellie suddenly felt the will to bow down, but it was easily suppressed. She wore golden plates for her hooves, along with a diamond-encrusted necklace and crown, along with a very simple, humble green cloak.

And then two majestic wings sprouted out form her sides.

What the-?! Ellie saw that everyone's reactions were similar, but they quickly regained composture, except for Amethyst. She thought that she heard the mare whisper to herself, "Sweet Celestia, an alicorn."

The mare slowly got off from her throne, speaking in a warm, welcoming voice that contradicted with her eyes.

"Welcome, travelers, to our sanctuary and kingdom," she said, her refined, beautiful voice the envy of any masterful singer. "My name is Queen Lilac. Who you four are, however, is a mystery to me."

"Uh, well," Benedict stumbled through his words, obviously surprised by the whole 'wings' thing. "Well, I'm Benedict, that's Big Mac, that over there is Ellie, and next to me is-"

"Amethyst," the purple unicorn finished, the passive aggressiveness practically emanating from her tone in waves, similar to the 'alicorn's' confidence. She really made you feel so much lesser, somehow, especially Ellie with that fixed gaze.

The cold look evaporated, replaced by a welcoming one. "Well, hello then. May I ask how you came across here?"

"Er, we fell down a canyon, Thunder Gate."

"Oh, the other day? Oh, goodness, I am very sorry for Xerxes, I'm sure he didn't mean it." She rose a hoof to her chest, slightly bowing.

"Xerxes?" Ellie asked as the Queen Lilac trotted to the side of her throne.

"My pet dragon. Surely you saw him. Sweet little thing, he is."

Amethyst went wide-eyed. "Sweet?! The damned beast of bone nearly killed us, and its almost the size of this castle!"

"Oh, don't worry, he is sorry," she said reassuringly, but neither Ellie nor Amethyst bought it. Benedict and the buck next to him, however, were transfixed and gawking at the perfect mare.

"'He is sorry?' He's a damn thousand-feet dragon!" Amethyst said, Ellie unsure whether to agree or stay silent.

"Listen, I am quite sorry, I really am, and I'm sure he didn't mean it." She perked up, and it seemed like she just had an idea. "Oh, what if I hosted a feast for all of us, and gave you all temporary residences in the castle? I'm sure that we can all get this sorted out tomorrow morning, but you all look famished."

Benedict suddenly came out of his daze, raising a claw. "Please Your Highness, you don't have to-"

"No, I insist," she said, Amethyst and Ellie both gazing at him. He's only known this suspicious so-called 'Queen' for a couple minutes, but he and Big Mac are already bowing down to her, calling her 'Your Highness!'

"Snowdrop, Ice Skates? Please direct our guests to the grand dinner hall, and I will be there in a moment."

"Yes, Your Highness!" they both said in unison, turning to Ellie and her companions before marching forwards, what now seemed like a forced smile plastered on his face. As they were led away from the courtyard and into another brightly-lit hall, Ellie and Amethyst stayed together. They didn't need to talk to know what the other was thinking: this isn't right.

God chuckled dryly in the back of her head, not saying anything more.

Chapter Twelve : New Worries, New Creatures

"Uughh..."

Blaze watched with wide eyes, unsure of what to feel. The last thing Alexander had said to him was a petty insult, and he was never really nice to him in the first place, so now, he just didn't feel anything for the moaning and groaning griffon. No chagrin, sorrow, grief. Nothing.

"I am so sorry for what I've done," a hand rested on Blaze's shoulder, giving him a sudden start. He saw that it was just Tawil, however, and turned back, head in his own hands. The medical unit of the camp had been a large tent of rough, white fabric, cots set up around the room, many figures moving around, all in robes. It was trivial now, but the dragon was just slightly disappointed that none of the women centaurs' breasts stuck out as much as Meril's had.

"What did you do wrong?" he mumbled in response, looking back up. Something he hadn't noticed before, on Tawil's right horn were two rings, one silver and the other gold, but both were encrusted with diamonds.

Tawil sighed, looking up from the ground with two yellow eyes. "I was the one who sent him to this area of the camp. It is my fault that this has happened, and for that, I am deeply sorry."

"It isn't your fault, it was the Unrights'." After hearing the term 'Unright,' he had asked and found out that those were what centaurs corrupted by the Empty were called, though the term could also be used to name a corrupted pony. Or a griffon, in Alexander's case.

"It is my fault, and I shall take all responsibility," he said solemnly.

After a moment, Blaze sighed. "Where's Carolyn?"

"Well, Blaze, I'm not sure how to put this, but she had passed out drunk soon after arriving. She sure can chug a bottle, though," he said, friendly punching Blaze's shoulder lightly, trying to cheer the mood. After no effect, he pouted, sitting down at a nearby chair that creaked in protest, watching as Alexander slowly rolled from side to side under the covers of the bed, the whole thing drenched in sweat.

Eventually, a centaur came by, a bowl of a strange slime-like substance in her hands. "We must apply this," she told Blaze after a glance. "It will not stop or prevent the Empty, but it will lessen his pain and slow the infection process. I am very sorry for your friend, Lord Blaze." Blaze scooted away, watching her. Everyone had been calling him, Alexander, and Carolyn 'Lord' while addressing Tawil and other authorial centaurs as 'Master.' It made Blaze feel uncomfortable, but he'd get used to it.

She slowly lifted the sheets, setting the bowl on a nearby table and proceeding to dip her fingers into it. This gave Blaze an eyeful of Alexander's arm, making him gag once again.

His claws and some of his arm was a sickly purple, dark cysts and blisters sticking out, as well as a small pocket of pus. There was a deep gash that ran along his arm — it wasn't long, but it had cut deep. As soon as the green substance touched his skin, he winced, muttering intelligibly. It was all just too much for Blaze.

He got up and left, trying to stay out of everyone's way before slumping against the trunk of a tree. Tawil slowly walked after him, but not before a much older and skinnier centaur did. Blaze gazed up at him, confused at why the stranger had stopped by him.

He had an ash grey coat and wore a thick cloak that must've been made of a bear, but it was gnarled, strange veins popping out. A Touched bear. One of his horns were a mere stub, ending in a jagged stump, while the other rose and twisted, sticking through the cloak. He wore multiple rings, both in his nose and on his black horn. Foggy eyes traveled to Alexander's cot before roaming towards Alexander.

"Oh, Ray," Tawil acknowledged, stopping. The elder centaur smiled at his approach, waving him onward.

"I see that your friend has been Touched, dragon," he said in a gravelly voice. "Before anyone can get your hopes up, there is no cure for the Empty, and there never has been."

Tawil gave him a glare. "Ray, that is a little harsh."

"Oh, relax, he certainly seems fine, doesn't he?" Blaze just listened, slightly annoyed but still feeling hollow. He should be feeling something, anything, but instead he was emotionless of Alexander's state.

"Dragon, I'm sure that Tawil has told you of me and my student, Ellie. As has he told me how you were traveling with her."

Blaze nodded, slightly annoyed that he was addressed as 'dragon.'

"Well, she must have progressed, and if you can find her, she might have something to help us rid Alexander of the Empty, or at least prevent it."

A thought occurred to Blaze. "What about amputation?"

Ray chuckled. "Oh, amputation won't work. The Empty has Touched him, and it is a part of him now. It is only momentarily until it spreads physically." He glanced at Tawil before clasping his hands together. "Now, I actually came baring some news. That little monolith has been spying on our camp again."

"The same one?" Tawil asked, Ray nodding eagerly.

"Yes, the blasted little thing, and it's started to stray off to our friends, the Tallows. That's why I was hoping that our guests could help us with it."

Tawil looked like he was ready to slap the old man. "Are you insane or inconsiderate, Ray? Do you not see what our guest is going through?"

"I am both, actually," he corrected, making Tawil's brow furrow in frustration.

"No," Blaze interrupted, standing up. "You all have been so hospitable, so nice to us. We're going to return the favor."

Tawil held up a hand. "No, you do not have to."

"Please, it's the least I can do. And I want to help you people," Blaze said.

Tawil looked from him to a smiling, hunched over Ray, and then back again before giving a sigh of resignation. "I suppose, but you really do not have to do this for us."

"I want to," Blaze said before his stomach growled loudly, gesturing that it wanted food, and it wanted it now. He blushed slightly. "Well, maybe after some food."

Tawil finally grinned, bowing, glad that he could do something for Blaze. "It will be ready in less than an hour," he promised.

*** *** ***

Despite his previous hunger, all Blaze could do was pick at the kabob of various berries and fruits that had been prepared for him. The sun shone down on the camp outside, the massive food hall tent's entrances completely open. A kitchen tent was next to it, where the food was all prepared. The tent that he sat in, however, was occupied by rows of benches and roughly made tables, which in turn seated many centaurs. They all laughed or chatted with one another, but Blaze didn't feel like doing any of it.

Meril had been the one to make the food and bring it out, giving Blaze a little boyish entertainment, as well as some other ladies who were bringing out plates, breasts big enough for the plates in their hands to be laid down on them. To Blaze's dismay, they all wore robes.

I guess I'm not too different from all the other dragons, he thought absently, picking at his food further. More masks and colorful displays of handiwork hung on the walls, the breeze that passed through the brown tent causing the banners to flap around. Tawil had told him that Carolyn would (hopefully) be ready once he had finished his meal, though he suspected that it'd take a while for him to eat.

He began to wonder why he even offered to help. It was just a sudden rush of events, him unexpectedly wanting to help out of the blue. He guessed he wasn't too hollow, after all. Eventually a lone centaur took a seat next to him, looking at him.

"We are very sorry of what happened to your friend, Lord Blaze, and we cannot thank you enough for any small amount of help that you give. Not saying that you agreeing to defeat a monolith is small." He grinned, offering him a handshake that was gladly accepted, though it felt like Blaze's hand was getting crushed in between two boulders. None of the dragons back in the reserves had respected him, but they also didn't pay him any attention. While he was usually a shy little thing, he was beginning to like this.

After a couple minutes and a small bite of food later, Blaze saw the centaur's head whip around as a woman holding a plate with two baywraps appeared, setting it down and bowing to Blaze. It was getting harder and harder to suppress the urge to just stare, even more so the stirring of a particular region once again. Despite himself, he grinned. Nope. Not too different at all.

*** *** ***

They flew in an awkward silence, which was fine by Blaze. The wind had picked up as soon as they'd left Gladendale's boundaries, but, for some reason, it had stopped snowing. The weather was actually quite nice compared to previous days, which was odd to him.

The two had two goals, though Carolyn was rather cranky about it. First was to defeat the monolith, then check up on the Tallow Wicks, which had sparked Blaze's interest ever since their first mentioning. But until then, they'd fly over the hilly lands.

Eventually, Carolyn spoke up, muttering more to herself than Blaze. "Damn, Alexander..."

"Huh?" Blaze looked over.

"I could care less about that jack ass," she snapped, frowning.

"I didn't even say anything," Blaze said, genuinely concerned for her. He had saw moments when the two warmed up to each other — albeit, those were before Alexander pulled them all into the mountains. He had always suspected the two to have a relationship of some sort, but she didn't even bat an eye when she heard the news, or at least that was what the centaur who'd told her told him.

They flew quietly until Blaze pointed down at the ground. "There's the cave that Tawil told me about." They both descended silently, unholstering their weapons. He only knew what Tawil had told him about monoliths, so he didn't want to take any chances.

"The hell even is a 'monolith?'" Carolyn asked as they walked down the slope in the earth, the endless sheets of snow eventually giving way for a rough, stone floor. Crystals shone from the walls with magnificent blue auras, giving off an odd light.

"Well," Blaze began, reciting what Tawil had told him as they walked, "they're creatures of stone and ice, like a golem or something close to one. They can vary in size, from something as big as us to a grand giant, and-"

"Save the lecture and just tell me what they look like," she grumbled, looking at the luminescent crystals with interested eyes, the light reflecting off of her eyes.

"Oh. Um, they, er, well..."

"Spit it out!" she barked. Her voice echoed across the dark cave, a booming rumble coming back in response, sending a shiver up Blaze's spine.

"I think we're about to find out," Blaze mumbled, backing away when a loud crash sounded from deep within the cave. Eventually, two glowing blue dots that Blaze realized to be eyes stared at them from the darkness. And then it charged.

"Ah!" Blaze yelped as he leaped away, hand over his head, shaking as the mass of ice skid to a halt. He quickly stopped, however, and recovered, his brow furrowing in determination as he aimed at the creature with his rifle.

Just like Tawil described, it was a sharp mass of ice with rocks jutting out from him. Crystal spikes jutted out from his head, and two enormous eyes ringed with stone staring at him. It stood on two stubby legs and had two large arms that were probably strong enough to squeeze him to death. The monolith's jaw stuck out, sharp rows of stone teeth lining it. A disgusting smacking sound came from its mouth.

Crack!

Blaze hastily grabbed another enchanted metal ball to stick into the rifle as cracks spider webbed through the impact zone, making the thing furious as it charged Blaze. He ran to the side as Carolyn's revolving musket rang out, rounds smacking into the back of the creature. More cracks began to form, and a piece of the creature shattered and clattered to the ground, making it stumble before veering off course and crashing into the wall, a piece of its jaw cracking off.

Huh. Blaze was hit by a sudden thought. No wonder the centaurs talked of these creatures so badly. They didn't have any proper tools to shatter them, besides brute strength perhaps. That's the monoliths' weakness.

Carolyn let loose another burst of three before her musket clicked, the rounds once again smacking into the creature, sending more shards to the ground. In the time that the small monolith slowly recovered, Blaze had gotten far enough away to use his rifle properly. He held his breath as his cross hairs aligned with one of the glowing blue eyes, and slowly pressed down on the trigger.

The gun bucked back, the metal ball whirling towards its eye in a fraction of a second. The round, however, simply went through its eye like it was a strange, thick fog. Something important for the thing must've been inside it, for cracks began to form all over the creature once the ball impacted him through the eye. Blaze watched in awe and mounting curiosity as the thing raised his arms, screeching.

Carolyn took aim at the creature after reloading her revolving musket, smirking. A single round from her weapon was enough to release all the tension in the monolith's cracked figure, shards and rocks showering to the ground as its blue eyes extinguished. Carolyn and Blaze looked at each other once all the pieces had settled on the floor.

Carolyn snorted. "That was what the fuss was about?"

"I guess it was a little easier than I anticipated," Blaze said, grinning sheepishly.

*** *** ***

"So what even is a Tallow Wick?" Carolyn asked, confused on what they were doing. She'd been more open for conversation on their continued flight, and surprisingly, Blaze was fine with it.

He just shrugged as a response. "Nobody really told me much about them, besides that they're somewhat like a pony. That, and they protect all the children centaurs in times of danger, which would be now, since there's the whole 'Queen Lilac problem.' They all live in this giant cove."

"Is that it?" Carolyn said, stopping and pointing towards a large gap in a steeply rising mountain, the stone ground bare of snow. It was set just a couple feet above the ground. Flickering torches lined the entrance on poles, most rusted or bent.

Blaze and Carolyn slowly descended until they landed. A dim light came from the right of the cave, which Blaze gestured to. "I think it's over there."

Carolyn nodded and they both walked quickly. After taking a couple steps, Blaze was hit with a wave of warmth, and a feeling of coziness. Like he could lie down right there, despite the rough ground and chance of frostbite. He could see that Carolyn's muscles became less tense as well.

They stopped at the corner, where the warmth had grown enough so that he felt a little uncomfortable with the thick and bulky coat on. The two looked at each other and nodded, stepping out only for their jaws to drop.

It was like an entire village build underground. Buildings of stone and logs were set up all around, hanging from the ceiling, on the ground, stuck on the walls, on poles, everywhere! Bridges connected almost all of them, creating a breathtaking web of paths that winded around one another. Candles were in every place imaginable, from the ground up, giving the place a beautiful dimness, yet still visible.

However, Blaze was more fascinated by the things that trotted about. At first, he thought that they were ponies, but then he saw how they dripped. Their forms were goopy and didn't look quite solid, and some had candles sticking out from their heads, which Blaze had at first mistaken them to be horns. Some even had wings, though he couldn't fathom how one could get off the ground with their forms.

And then one approached them.

She (Blaze thought it was a she) trotted forward at a brisk pace, waving happily with an ear-to-ear grin on her face. Her coat (or body, Blaze didn't know what to call it) was an orangish-beige, and her mane that dripped freely was a lighter hue, though it seemed to glow. She wore a loosely-hung striped sweater that complemented her bright blue eyes, and she also had a candle sticking from her head.

"Hi!" she said once she had stopped, extending a gooey hoof. Blaze hesitated before shaking it, a sticky residue getting on his claws, Carolyn getting the same treatment. Curious, he raised it up to sniff it, and he perked up. It smelled like pumpkin pie! The pieces clicked together further. And this is wax!

"Welcome to our home," she continued in an overly-enthusiastic voice, "and we haven't seen a dragon, or a griffon, in a long time. My name is Pumpkin Spice, but who are you guys?"

"I'm Carolyn," she said, still looking at the Tallow Wick curiously.

Blaze realized that it was his turn to speak. "Oh, um, I'm Blaze. Tawil sent us, if you know who-"

"Oh, so he sent you here?" she said. Blaze nodded. "Well, the children are doing great, and we haven't seen any threats nearby. Well, if you don't count the Queen's magic, but that's been here for a while. Come on in!" she waved for them to follow.

"So, are Tallow Wicks like candle ponies or something? Er, no offense," Blaze added, pulling out a slip of paper and a piece of charcoal.

Pumpkin Spice laughed. "Pff, offense? Why would I take offense? But yeah, pretty much." Blaze scribbled this down as they walked past more goopy ponies, his eyes straying to each of the Tallow Wicks. A blue stallion with dripping wings and a sharp tie that seemed to be melting, his spiky mane a glowing turquoise. A bright pink mare with an even brighter smile, who seemed to be more gooey than the others, caught his eyes especially with the strange orb that hung around her neck, like a pink candle trapped inside a sphere of glass.

Those were just two, however. There were a group of various Wicks chatting as they left a humble shack that looked to be a store, each one a color of fall; brown, gold, red. The red one had a candle coming out from his head, just like Pumpkin Spice's. At first, Blaze was assuming that it was like a unicorn's horn, but the red Wick was carrying nearly a dozen bags in his saddlebags, rather than levitating it all above him. Maybe it was just a preference? Or it could be that they can't use magic, Blaze brainstormed. Then again, it could just be a preference of his.

None of these Tallow Wicks have cutie marks like normal ponies, he noticed, tapping the charcoal against his chin as they went up a wooden ramp, the railing on the right partially destroyed, the tips of broken beams splintered.

"Heh, yeah," Pumpkin Spice said, grinning sheepishly once she noticed Blaze's looks around the place. "We really need to repair this place when we get the chance."

"Oh, er, no, I wasn't," he stumbled through his words, blushing before stopping himself from saying anymore. He was already a bad talker, he didn't want to screw anything more up.

Something sparked in his mind. "Just wondering, could you give us a tour around, maybe?"

Pumpkin Spice waved a hoof dismissively, sending some globs of wax flying off to splatter against the floor. "There really isn't much to show. I mean, every single building here is home to someone, and most double as stores so that they can make a living." She pointed towards a much newer-looking building, saying, "That's where all the children of the centaurs sleep. Right now, we're heading up to my dad's house."

Blaze shot a curious glance that Pumpkin Spice perked up at and elaborated. "I thought that we'd make dinner for the new guests."

The warmth inside Blaze increased, but it was a mental warmth from these Wicks' generous hearts. Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow. "You all are vegetarian, right?"

"What? Why wouldn't we, who eats mea-" Her foggy eyes widened. "Oh, right, the whole dragon thing-"

"No!" Blaze interrupted, holding up his hand. "Nonono, I, er, I don't eat meat either."

She cocked her head. "I thought dragons always had a strict meat-and-gemstone diet."

"This one doesn't," he mumbled quietly. Though, he did enjoy a gemstone from time to time. That was one thing that all dragons loved.

They continued through the winding bridges, ramps, and platforms, Blaze gazing about in awe. Even with its state of disrepair, the underground village was beautiful in its own way, what, with the hanging buildings and spiderweb of bridges, along with all of the candles that were placed in every possible location.

They stopped in front of a more pretty shack that clung to the cave wall, connected with what looked like wax. Blaze questioned whether this was safe, but he quickly remembered that nothing around here could even be marked as 'safe,' with all the monoliths and freak earthquakes. Beautiful amber curtains hung from two cavities, dripping candles that Blaze thought of as a fire hazard set right next to the silky fabric.

After a second knock from Pumpkin Spice, the door swung open to reveal a disheveled stallion, a smile lighting up across his face (literally) at the sight of Pumpkin Spice. He had a dark bronze wax coat, which was especially drippy. Unlike most, he bore no wings nor candle, instead what must've been the earth pony variant of a Tallow Wick, which Blaze reminded himself to write down later. He wore a brown coat that blended with his wax coat, a lighter, toffee-colored undershirt coming out of the coat in riffles, along with a bright yellow bow-tie. He had a glowing chestnut mane and tail, both in ruin, small flames coming off from it, and his eyes both literally and metaphorically glowed.

"Pumpkin!" he said sweetly, embracing her in a warm hug before opening an eye at Blaze and Carolyn. "Oh, and guests! Well, where are my manners, come in! I've got some coffee almost done brewing." He hurried to usher them inside, Blaze gawking at the house. He'd expected it to be cramped just by a quick study from the outside, but it actually seemed quite cozy.

The house cut into the wall, offering more space, where there was a fire place with multiple candles on top of it, two everest green sofas to either side, able to seat two persons each. Decorated plates hung from the walls, and the floor's many fanciful rugs were covered in dry wax drips and splatters spots. There were three beds that ran along the wall, decorated plates on shelves on the wall above the comfy-looking cots. One of the beds had a large lump under the checkered sheets, making Blaze guess that someone was asleep.

There was a metallic ding! that signaled the coffee to be done brewing. The brown stallion's swirly eyes turned to pinpricks and he started prancing on the tips of his very-rounded hooves before zipping towards it, getting several mugs of coffee ready in a blur. He slowed down for only a moment to hand Carolyn, Blaze, and Pumpkin Spice a steaming mug before getting one of his own, taking a sip and giving a sigh of relief.

"Welcome, strangers," he said in a pleasant but quick voice, "my name's Coffee Bean, and I'm sure you've met my daughter Pumpkin Spice. I run a coffee shop just below here," he nodded towards the hole in the ground in the middle of the room, a metal firepony's pole running down.

"I'm Blaze, and that's Carolyn," Blaze said, pointing towards the cream-colored griffon who was mixing a bottle of rum with her mug of coffee. His gaze shifted to the counter that the chocolate-colored stallion was leaning on as he took a rather large gulp of his red-hot coffee. "Er, who are those for?"

"Hm?" Coffee Bean followed where his claw pointed to the other five mugs of coffee. He looked back confused. "Me, of course, who else?"

Blaze was going to say more, but stopped himself. So, he likes coffee, he noted as the hyper Wick reached for a second cup. ...a lot.

"So," he started, slamming the now empty mug down, "the kids are doing fine, but how are things back in Gladendale?"

Blaze scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Well, I don't really know if I could say. I've only been there for a day. You see, we kind of got lost traveling north," he didn't want to elaborate, and thankfully, that was enough for Coffee Bean. Before he could speak, however, there was a dull thud from behind. Everyone glanced at the figure that scrambled around to the side of the bed, tangled in sheets.

"Oh, Whacko, you're awake!" Coffee Bean exclaimed, trotting towards him (Or was it a her?) once he was out from the sheets. Unlike many of the Wick's kind that Blaze had seen so far, this one was very dark. His wax coat was a purple so dark that it was almost black, and his mane and tail didn't even glow! Rather, it just fell straight in front of his eyes, only a little bit brighter than his body. Whacko gave Coffee Bean a glance before trotting past him, not even acknowledging the visitors.

"No coffee?" he shouted after him, holding a mug. Whacko frowned, shaking his head before scampering away and out the front door, two dark wings spreading to either side of him.

"What's his problem?" Carolyn asked once he was out of earshot, leaning against a table.

Coffee Bean gave a troubled frown. "He's always like that. Never wants to talk, always wants to be somewhere else." He silently tapped a hoof on the ground, seemingly waiting. Blaze was about to ask what he was doing before there was another ding!

Coffee Bean grinned and waved for everyone to sit. "Dinner's ready!"

Chapter Thirteen : New Knowledge

The two robed figures traversed the dark halls silently, their hoofsteps unheard. Their cloaks were pulled tight, their faces invisible in the darkness. Dim, flickering torches cast wicked shadows on either wall. They didn't utter a word, not even take a breath, and instead walked as quiet as could be.

Limewolves howled outside, the noise echoing across the cobblestone and marble halls distorted. Peacekeeper Snowdrop looked to his partner, who was also a unicorn. His eyes looked straight ahead, not even regarding Snowdrop and rather staring off to space. He pouted, uncomfortable. It had always been weird, serving with ponies like his current partner as they sneaked through the palace, and he'd never gotten used to it. As far as he knew, there were maybe a hundred other Peacekeepers like him, but that was in her reserves of more than one hundred and fifty of them. That meant that there were about fifty like his partner — foggy-eyed and silent.

He'd served for Queen Lilac ever since she had saved her from those limewolves and timberwolves, where he had used to be a small colt all by his lonesome, an orphan lost in the forest. And now he was her right-hoof pony, and a master at the magic of the north. Times had changed. Immensely. Especially when she struck up that deal. That was when she started to work on what she was calling the 'Age of Ice.'

He couldn't say whether Queen Lilac was right or not. True, these lands did belong to her long ago, but there was a reason that she was sealed away, right?

He shook his head, dismissing the thought. The last thing he wanted was for Queen Lilac to be secretly looking into his mind and find that he was questioning her. He put his mind back on course, and just in time for his partner to hold up a hoof. Snowdrop stopped at the door as well and floated out the dirty sack from his saddlebag, cautious not to get any of the dirt on his robes. Honestly, why couldn't we have at least cleaned this up?

"Y'all think it's ready?" he asked, his blank-faced partner giving a mere nod. Snowdrop sighed, still unsure of whether he wanted to do this. That griffon gal seemed nice enough, suspicious of them, maybe, but Queen Lilac had insisted that he did this, giving no elaboration or reason. Snowdrop wasn't going to be disagreeing with her anytime soon, however. He didn't want to die, much less die and be added to her other Peacekeepers.

The plan was simple enough: rush in, throw the enchanted bag over her head so that she'll go unconscious, and drag her to Queen Lilac. Nothing could go wrong-

His mind was broke once again when his partner was slammed against the wall by seemingly nothing, the noise of multiple ribs cracking sounding afterwards.

What the hell?! He looked around, wide-eyed, and he thought that in the darkness, he could see another unicorn, but she wasn't clad in any robes.

"Woah, wait-!" he yelled out, but he was cut off when he started to raise a foot off the ground, then another, and eventually several more, a purple aura surrounding him. And then he was slammed to the ground, all of his hooves' bones shattering. He yowled in pain, and the edges of his vision were starting to get blurry. He quickly quieted himself as the purple unicorn trotted past his body, raising an eyebrow at him before wrapping his partner in another field of levitation and slamming his skull against the wall three times.

She regarded him with curious eyes, then the sack. She seemed to be considering something. Tears of pain began to form in Snowdrop's eyes, and he raised one broken hoof.

"Please," he begged through ragged gasps, "don't kill me, I can help you, I-"

The last thing he saw was the enchanted sack slowly going over his muzzle before everything went to black.

*** *** ***

Ellie jerked up at the noise of the creaking door, her weary eyes looking about. She'd been awake all night, restless, and the strange thumps from outside had only stirred her more. She quickly checked to see that her bow and arrows were still beneath the luxurious pillow, along with the axe, which they both were. She let out a held breath when she saw that it was only Amethyst, but concern quickly overwhelmed the relief.

"You are awake," she noted, closing the tall door behind her. Moonlight streamed through the window just above Ellie's grand bed, lighting the room enough so that Ellie could see.

"Amethyst, why are you here?" Ellie asked, slowly getting out from the bed.

"We must leave, this place is dangerous. I sneaked out from the room she had given me and caught them enchanting something, which I recognized the spell as a sort of knock-out spell. That and I caught two of these alleged Peacekeepers chatting, and I caught some interesting conversation. The ponies who planned to knock you out are just outside, and I've already evacuated the guys, who claimed to not remember anything from the previous night, so-"

"Right outside!?" Ellie whispered frantically, snatching her bow, but Amethyst stopped her and put a hoof on her arm.

"Neutralized, Ellie."

"Oh."

"Now gather your things, time is precious. I suspect that all of these Peacekeepers are connected somehow, and I fear that killing just one alerted the rest. Some sort of shared mind, I assume. Now come, I've found a route that will get us out of here."

A shiver went up Ellie's spine at the mention of a 'shared mind' as she grabbed her rucksack. It was all too familiar to her; multiple dead that a single Necromancer have risen will all have the same mind, offering coordination at the price of more concentration.

Oh, this sounds fun, God whispered at the back of her mind.

*** *** ***

"Anything?" Ellie whispered, to which Amethyst shook her head and waved her forward. It had been silent for the whole time of their sneaking through the palace. Amethyst had explained the route further as they walked, telling her that there was a cave system that ran beneath the castle, and the kitchens were build right above them, with the cave area beneath converted to storage rooms for food, among other things.

Ellie looked back once before shutting the kitchen door, following the purple mare and gazing around the room. The black-and-white tiled floor was covered in food splatters, and multiple knives were stuck in the sleek, wood counter top. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, only a couple of the candles lit. Slabs of meat and various veggies and fruits lied on the counters, though the meat seemed to be rotting. Ellie quickly snatched some carrots, putting them in her pockets.

"So where are we going once we're out of the caves?" Ellie asked as they approached a staircase that led downwards.

"Simple," she began, "the caves open up to the east side of the castle, and from there we can circle around to the south side of the castle and then head back to the tower that we had stayed in last night."

"Wait, where are Benedict and Big Mac if we're leaving this way? Did they already go through here?" Ellie asked, following Amethyst down.

"I used my levitation to float them over the castle wall, though it left me rather exhausted. I was lucky to get to you before those two Peacekeepers, and I'm afraid that it would be too strenuous to try to float myself over the wall, so I thought it best for you and I to go through the caves."

"Oh, thanks for that," Ellie said, realizing she still hadn't thanked her. Amethyst said no response as they reached the end of the stairwell.

The stone floor had been smoothed enough for hundreds of wooden crates to be placed, piled up against the walls that had been cut into to make more room. Most of the jagged rocks that rose from the ground had been cut away, but there were many that hung from the ceiling of the cave.

"Dang, look at all those stalagmites," Ellie said more to herself than Amethyst. She'd never actually seen one before, and these glistened with glowing blue crystals that jutted out from them, along with purple and pink ones.

"Stalactites," Amethyst corrected, earning a frown. Ellie started to stray towards one of the crates, but Amethyst yanked her back with levitation. "No distractions."

They continued in everlasting silence, their steps echoing through the cave. It was very moist, and ice formed around all of the glowing crystals. Ellie wanted to say 'no distractions' back to Amethyst when she slowed to gawk at them, but bit her tongue.

They had walked for about ten minutes before she spoke up. "Why is this place so empty?" Ellie asked. "I mean, why don't they expand through here?"

"To that, I wouldn't-" she stopped, holding up a hoof.

Ellie raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Do you hear that?" she whispered. Ellie listened closely, but all she heard were the drips of water and the strange, vibrating hums that came from the crystals-

No, wait, she did hear something! Voices!

"Quickly!" Amethyst whispered, galloping towards the side of the cave silently, next to a crystal. Ellie followed, and the Elemantic unicorn took out a ruby, quickly draining it of color before casting a thin wall of ice, thick enough to hide them but thin enough so that they'd hear the passing conversation.

"...they again?" a male voice asked.

There was a feminine chuckle. "I don't know, but Slush reported seeing them going through the kitchen, so they must be coming through these damn caves soon."

Ellie glanced to Amethyst, worried. A trap? her eyes conveyed.

"Damn dead," the male voice began, his voice pessimistic. "Don't have no mind, but the Queen still wants us to serve with 'em. I mean, watch." There was a short silence. "See?! You c'n fuckin' wave in their faces and they won't respond. Damn emotionless, I tell you what."

"Useful, though," the female responded. "They're all coordinated, and are useful in groups by themselves. And they aren't emotionless, they'll scream like they actually feel pain."

"Can't think by themselves."

"Fair point, but they're good to just end into battle ahead of you. They're so replaceable, especially with the coming of the Age of Ice."

"Yeah, I guess that's-" there was a pause and a strange rumble before some a scream sounded.

"Oh sweet Lilac, we've got another rogue one!" the male voice screamed out before there was a loud crash and a strange, throaty roar. "Two more on our flank!"

Amethyst and Ellie met eyes, and they both nodded with the same thought. The wall that Amethyst had created for them shattered upon her magical demand, all of the shards floating around the unicorn as she slid away. Ellie followed and immediately saw what the sudden ruckus was about.

Those strange ice golems that they'd seen, there were three of them! Two of them were ball shaped, with jaws that stuck out and two large, glowing blue eyes each, but the third was one of those tall ones. Much smaller than the biggest that they'd seen back outside, it had long legs and arms, and rather than having spikes of ice, the creature was well cut, with the ice it was made out of being smooth, and there was no stone in it, unlike its shorter counterpart. It was completely made of ice, and two glowing, pink, beady eyes were in its smooth head, which almost scraped the roof of the cave, with the giant's, well, giantness.

Ellie watched in awe as it slammed a foot down on a fleeing Peacekeeper, his insides quickly coming out from his mouth as there was a hissing sound — the sound of a Necromantic minion dying. The two smaller ice-golem-things were also fighting, one snatching a robed mare and squeezing her while the other chased another Peacekeeper, using its long, ice-muscle arms rather than its stubby legs to carry it forwards.

At first Ellie saw this as a good thing. These things were wiping out all the Peacekeepers! Then she saw one turn towards them, two hooves hanging from its jaw from bloody strands of flesh and meat.

She yelped as the thing charged at her, flying up to where it couldn't reach her. A glowing ball shot past her, and she looked back to see that two Peacekeepers were focusing on her. Ellie cursed and, forgetting that Amethyst was there, tapped into her Necromantic powers, constricting both of their throats. She suddenly thanked God, remembering that he had given her the ability to bypass this rule of manipulating other Necromancer's dead's flesh and bone. While this wouldn't work on a decayed corpse or skeleton, their bodies were relatively working from Necromancy, meaning that the loss of breath would at least hinder them.

Sure enough, they reached up for their throats, faces going purple. They would survive the suffocation, but it was a good distraction as she drew and nocked an arrow, looking back down at the ice golem. It was jumping up at her hopelessly, roaring. Unsure of where to hit, she just let it go through its eye.

That was a good guess. Immediately, cracks ran up and down its body before it shattered. Meanwhile, Amethyst had been glancing at the choking ponies for only a moment before sending her whirlwind of levitation and Elemancy at one of the Peacekeepers who shouted in surprise in the same voice as the one who was talking before, every single shard of ice slicing through his robes and body to bring a trail of blood. Once they all shattered into tinier, blood-stained pieces against the wall of the cave, he had turned into a crimson fountain, dropping to the ground.

While Amethyst was spurring up a fireball for the other short ice golem, Ellie noticed that one of the unicorn Peacekeepers had a bow of their own, and they had it aimed directly towards Amethyst from behind. Ellie rushed forward and created a translucent shield right before it could reach her, the arrow snapping from the impact. Amethyst looked up and nodded her thanks before throwing the fireball at the ice golem, which did near to nothing, besides making it drip a little bit.

Ellie looked from one of the glowing crystals to the short ice golem, and something clicked in her head. They're made of the crystals, not ice! Or at least, not entirely. She looked back at the taller ice golem. It definitely was made out of ice when she compared it to the shorter of the two, from her observation.

There were only two Peacekeepers left, besides the two that Ellie was continuing to choke. She finally stopped and they both dropped, chests heaving. Ellie flew over and raised her axe, slamming it down on the first's head, turning her head away to avoid the splatter of blood that came afterwards.

She sliced through the other easily before looking back at Amethyst, who was using her water Elemancy to propel her in different directions, a steady stream coming from each of her hooves as she flew about the cave, avoiding the short ice golem. Ellie flew to her aid, the other two Peacekeepers running from the taller, occasionally shooting a bolt of ice that dinked off from the lumbering giant.

After missing twice, Ellie finally landed a hit through the smaller ice golem's eyes. Unlike the other, it was chasing Amethyst around, making it a hard target with its strange movements. Amethyst's water cut short and she dropped to the ground in a controlled descent. Both looked towards their remaining opponents. One of the Peacekeepers had been smushed, the other galloping away, screaming. Ellie guessed she was the other living Peacekeeper.

The giant turned towards them.

"How do we kill it?" Ellie asked, staring at it.

"Can't you shoot it through the eyes again?"

"Do you see how tiny those things are!?" Ellie shouted. It took a step towards them, sending pebbles falling.

"Throw fire at it!" Ellie screamed, Amethyst frowning and backing away as the thing took another step.

She pointed at the remains of one of the shorter ice golems. "Didn't you see? It did nothing!"

"I think this giant one is made out of ice, though. Those shorter things were made out of those glowing crystals," she reasoned, pointing to a cluster of them jutting out from the ceiling.

"I..." A thoughtful expression came across her face. "I'll try."

It took another step towards them.

It was just a small, glowing orange orb above Amethyst's head, but it grew quickly. First it became the size of a burning marshmallow, next a campfire, and then a raging inferno the size of Amethyst, but it kept growing until it was nearly the size of the goliath that Ellie had encountered earlier. And it kept growing, beads of sweat beginning to form on Amethyst's brow.

The giant stopped, and Ellie thought that he seemed curious. Its long arms ended in frosty claws, each one sharper than a steel blade could ever be. It took another step towards them, but Amethyst wasn't moving anymore. Rather, she was pouring all of her effort into the ball of fire. Soon enough, however, she stopped.

She's out of power, Ellie figured, but Amethyst wouldn't need any more rubies. The raging hell above her was nearly a fifth the size of the giant. Before it could take another step, she tossed it up at him.

As soon as the fireball struck it in the chest, there was a large explosion. The whole cave shook, and stalactites began to fall, Ellie rushing over to Amethyst and casting a dome over them for protection. Griffon-sized chunks of ice that were melting as they hit the ground shattered into even more pieces, each one still melting. The dust had finally settled enough to reveal the giant's torso to be nearly demolished, water streaming down from its neck from the immense heat of the blast.

Eventually, the two thinning — but still very large — pieces of ice that were holding up his neck snapped, the head falling to the ground. It shattered into a million pieces once it reached the floor, sending shards flying everywhere, many bumping harmlessly off of Ellie's dome.

Amethyst was panting once everything had settled, pulling a ruby from her coat and draining it. She looked up at Ellie.

"We must hurry," pant, "and meet up with Big Mac and Benedict."

"Do you need help...?" Ellie asked, concerned. She was horribly exhausted.

"No," she said, pushing away her hand. "We must go, before more come! They expected us here."

Chapter Eight : New Beginnings, New Views

Awaken.

She awoke to pitch black.

Rising unsteadily, she placed a hand on the damp, uneven stone wall for support. She couldn't see her own claws in front of her face, but that could easily be fixed. Digging into her pouch, she grabbed three of the small pearls and drained them.

She tossed the colorless balls away and held out her hand. Quickly, a brilliant light shone from it, bathing the area in a yellow light. While the magic didn't have any target to heal, it still shone light, slowly burning away her magical reserves.

She inspected her surroundings. A steep wall of stone that was slightly slanted stood in front of her, leading to a darkness above. The tunnel continued behind her, jagged rocks protruding from the uneven ground.

How did I end up here-?

All too soon, the memories came flooding back, along with a horrible, thumping pain. The cart being destroyed, the ponies falling into the chasm, her diving after them, then everything going to black.

Ellie smacked her dry beak, only then realizing how thirsty she was. Her head throbbed heavily, and she bore many scrapes, cuts, and gashes, but she worked through the pain, searching for her canteen of water, hopefully not spilled. While some might be cursing in anger or stifling a cry of agony from the sheer amount of pain that she felt, she was fine with it. Pain was the only thing that quelled the voices.

Once she found it, she eagerly uncapped the bottle and relished the water that flooded her mouth. In the distance she could see another canteen. Curious, she walked over and stared at it, her sluggish, throbbing mind slowly processing what it meant. Once she did, her eyes widened.

The others!

Her hand shone brighter and she could see red splatters in the ground, a sniff confirming her assumptions. She followed the trail and found a large red stallion in a ripped coat, and she cringed at his leg. The bone was showing, a large chunk of flesh ripped free from his leg. Blood had been flowing freely from the wound for a while, for there he was lying in a small dried puddle of it. A rucksack full of apples lay nearby, spilling its contents out onto the ground, away from the crimson pool.

She stifled a yelp, instead focusing her healing magic on the giant buck. The tissue started to reform excruciatingly slow, showing that the injury would take weeks, maybe even a month, to heal fully even with all of her magic.

Well, healing magic, that is.

"Come on, come on," she mumbled to herself, putting her head down and listening for a pulse. It was slow, but there was a steady thumping by his hoof. Ellie sighed in relief, opening her own sack that was still strapped to her cloak and pulling out bandages, thinking of what she could do. She might be able to mend his leg enough to where the flesh was back and the skin had reformed, but he'd still have a sore hoof for a long, long time. Big Mac wasn't going to be able to buck anything for a while, apple tree or otherwise.

About thirty minutes later, Ellie tore off the end of the gauze with her beak, leaving it be once she was done wrapping his leg. She began to talk to herself as she broke out in a sweat. "He'll be okay, it's okay, everything's okay." I hope, she thought, biting the lip of her beak. But what of Amethyst and Benedict? They could be dead! Or worse, they might be lying in pieces, making it impossible for her to fix. No, she had to stay optimistic, though. She always did.

She easily found the purple unicorn lying face down, much less wounded. The entire side of her body had turned a sickly yellow, a giant bruise. Okay, so a bruise wasn't that bad. But... What if she had some internal damage. Ellie fretted, considering what she could do. The rock had slammed into her pretty hard, and she was sure that there was some sort of cracking sounds. Maybe just a few broken ribs, hopefully.

She quivered, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to use it, not on her new friends, but it was the only option to make sure that her insides were intact or not.

Wincing, she raised her shining hand while she lowered the other, a dark sphere slowly forming in the palm of her hand. It sucked away the aimless light from her other hand, creating strange shadows in her hand. Hesitating, she raised it towards the fallen unicorn, tapping into the other side of her magic.

Ellie cringed as she could see the insides of Amethyst's body in her mind, every small detail. The lungs were working properly, the heart was beating, but two ribs had been cracked. No big deal.

Immediately extinguishing her ball of shadow, she started to work her good magic, her healing magic, on the broken rib, putting it back in place. Ellie wouldn't be able to do much for the cracks, they would heal slowly on their own, but she could stop the broken piece from traveling anywhere and sticking it back in the right place.

Behind her, Big Mac began to stir, muttering things. Ellie immediately rushed over, hushing him.

"Shush, it will be fine," she said, masking her fright with a nervous smile. His eyes began to dart all over the place before calming, staring directly at her. His mouth moved, but no words came out.

"What was that?" she asked, leaning closer.

"Water," he croaked.

Of course! She'd been parched, so why wouldn't they all be? As she walked back to the other fallen canteen, she could feel her pearl reserves getting low. Pouting, she reached into her pouch and grasped several more, draining them and then tossing them to the ground before grabbing the canteen. They rolled around on the floor behind her as she returned, uncapping it and putting up to his mouth, his face easing with comfort. He began to move his legs to get up, but she stopped him.

"No, don't." He looked up at her questioningly. "Your leg, it's horribly wounded. I'll help you up later, but just stay here for now, I'm going to find Benedict." He silently nodded in response, shifting to a more comfortable position before she left. As she left them in the darkness, she could hear Amethyst begin to move.

It's all going to be fine, Ellie continued to tell herself. Everything will be just fine-

She stopped, aghast, beak dropped at what she saw. Just in the far corner, her light shone what looked like a wing. A bloodied, bent wing...

"Benedict!" she loudly whispered, gripped with panic. She let out a whoosh of air when she saw that the wing was still attached, and was just sticking out from behind a rock barrier, hiding Benedict. Then again, it being bent at a horribly unnatural angle wasn't all that better.

Ellie was already unpacking her bandages and gauze, magically mending his horribly broken wing. It had nearly been torn in half somehow, and the other wing was almost twisted all the way around. She had to use her other magic to manipulate the flesh and bone, twisting it back to its original position. She wouldn't dare do it on the other mangled wing however; the last thing she wanted to do was fall in the habit of using that magic, and his other wing could be fixed without it.

She lightly shoved him into a sitting position, propping him up against the large mass of stone that he'd been behind. There weren't many other wounds, besides a couple more cuts and gashes, but everyone had that. She seemed to have the most, but that was a good thing. More pain to suppress him, at least.

A light came from the distance, making her tense, but she quickly calmed. It's probably Amethyst, she thought.

Just as she'd guessed, the purple unicorn slowly approached, a ball of fire above her to light her path. She stopped in front of Ellie, and both of them met one another's eyes.

"I see that you've been working," Amethyst noted. "I saw Big Macintosh's leg, and I went ahead and gathered the remaining canteens; I saw the one you left by him."

"Oh, that's good," she said, walking away from Benedict.

"Beyond," she stated, keeping a flat face. "All of our supplies were destroyed or lost back there. I'm grateful that you've seen to our health, Ellie."

Rather than responding with a 'thank you,' Ellie just frowned. "How are you so calm during all this?"

"One must always keep a cool head," she replied simply. And not have voices in their heads, she added silently, frown deepening. Amethyst walked past her and stared at Benedict for a moment before turning to her. "He won't be rousing for a while, will he?"

She sighed, sitting down beside the sleeping griffon. "No, probably not. His wings are pretty messed up."

Amethyst slowly sat down next to Ellie, wincing slightly as her bruised left flank touched the cold stone ground. "So now we are two."

"Huh?"

"Our squad of seven has turned to two separate groups. It seems that the Red Gear soldiers are not with us.

"Oh." The two sat with each other for a while silently, Ellie shooting looks at Benedict every now and then.

"You care for him, do you not?" Amethyst asked, surprising Ellie. She didn't expect her to spring a question like this on her.

"Well, I, uh..." She couldn't find the right words to say, tongue tangled.

For the first time that Ellie had seen, Amethyst smirked. "I'm guessing that's a yes."

"Yeah," she said, breathing out.

"As soon as we are all ready, we should find a way out immediately."

"I don't think that Big Macintosh will be ready to walk."

"Oh, he will. You underestimate the power of Geomancy greatly. It will dampen the pain, strengthening his muscles. The only food we have is Benedict's purchases at Craggle Creag and the apples Big Macintosh got there. Our canteens are the only sources of water, but I'm sure that we can try to eat the snow, if we find any of it that's clean.

"I'd rather not admit this, but I have actually been quite eager to go through Thunder Gate since the start, regardless of our current failure. There is so much we don't know about the north, lost by time, and these recent events have only sparked my interest. If I can, I'd love to log everything that happens so that I can share my findings when or if we get back."

Ellie paused. "If?"

"Of course," Amethyst said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You must have realized that this could be a one way trip, correct? I see no feasible way to get back home, besides perhaps venturing further north to investigate why this cold weather has spread southwards and then there afterwards finding a way back through Thunder Gate, or another cross way."

"Oh." Ellie stared at the ground, moving her talon in circles. Amethyst looked at her, leaning her head back.

"You've focused so much on our well-being, but you are bleeding from numerous scrapes and cuts. Perhaps it'd be best if you-"

"I'm fine," she cut her off quickly. They sat in silence for a while more, the ball of fire crackling in the air. Ellie came to a start when Benedict jerked upwards beside her, eyes twitching open as he came to a coughing fit. She immediately rose, as did Amethyst.

"Hey," he croaked, turning his head, "can I get a drink of water?"

Amethyst beat her to it, floating one of the bottles to his beak for him to start swallowing. He nodded his thanks and rose unsteadily, Ellie putting a hand on his shoulder, worried.

"Can you-?"

"Walk?" he finished. "Yeah, but my wings hurt like a bitch. What happened-" His beak immediately went open and his eyes went wide, obviously telling her that the memories were coming back for him now. Amethyst trotted away from the two, flaming ball above her to light the way.

He stumbled, leaning on the rock that he had earlier sat against. "Oh, good God, I'm going to be sick," he muttered. Ellie hurried to his side once more, giving him her shoulder to steady himself, even if he did have the rock.

"Amethyst thinks that we should leave here as soon as possible, search this cave for a way out," Ellie told him, who nodded absentmindedly. Looking past him, Ellie noticed Amethyst standing where Ellie had woken up, leafing through a book. She then realized that she'd left her rucksack full of books...

Her mind put the dots together all too quickly. She rushed over, Benedict raising an eyebrow, snatching it from her telekinetic grip like a madman. She wasn't far from one, honestly. Amethyst just stared at her with her flat expression before turning around and trotting towards Big Mac, albeit at a much slower pace than before.

What'd she read!? Ellie thought frantically, flipping through the pages while one hand still glowed so that she could read the page numbers. She looked to her side and saw that she had caught Benedict's attention, who was slowly approaching. Immediately, she shut the dark leather tome and stuffed it in her sack, the golden word Ray glittering from her light before being crammed into the cloth bag.

She grinned sheepishly as he stopped in front of her, beads of sweat dripping down her head. Please don't say anything, please don't say anything, please don't say anything...

Benedict frowned, eyebrow raising even further skeptically before shutting his eyes tight and sighing. It was evident that he was too worn out to question her. Next to Big Mac, he had been injured the worst. He began to walk towards Big Mac and Amethyst, both wings covered in gauze and bandages like a mummy. She caught Amethyst's eye, and she silently begged her to tell her what she now knew through the eye contact, but she remained solemnly silent, turning when Benedict asked her a question.

Better off to kill them, God whispered as her multiple pains were subsiding completely.

No! She reached into her dirtied white cloak and pulled out a small blade from a pocket, running it down her arm, away from the others' sight. The pain caused God's voice to vanish, if only for a while. She slumped against the wall where she had woken up, slowly sliding down, clutching the rucksack close to her. Blood dropped freely from the wound, dripping onto the brown sack. It wasn't a deep wound, it never was, but it was enough to silence him for a little while.

She couldn't deal with him right now, she wouldn't. Her friends needed her, and she needed them. Besides, the voice was always telling her to kill the people she met. It was almost never that it actually spoke truth or helpfulness.

Almost.