North Wind: Earning your Cutie Mark

by BlackBonitaCherry

Rating: everyone
Tags: Fluttershy, Adventure, Lyra, Diamond Dogs, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Second Person, Dark, Rainbow Dash, Drama, Original Character
Length: 100762

Just because she was a pegasus didn't mean she wanted to be like all the others of her tribe especially when it came to earning her cutie mark. But just because you want a cutie mark in a certain field didn't mean you get the cutie mark you wanted.

Just because she was a pegasus didn't mean she wanted to be like all the others of her tribe especially when it came to earning her cutie mark. But just because you want a cutie mark in a certain field didn't mean you get the cutie mark you wanted.

Rewriting entire story for those who've already read it, changed a bit of the plot, okay, alot and hopefully everyone does like the changes.
I did delete the comments from the old version to prevent spoilers if anyone's wondering why they are deleted.

Published 2017-02-11 18:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-03-15 20:39:11 UTC

Prologue- Pegasus in Binds

Author's Note

Rewriting a story I did three years ago is weird, but hopefully this fleshes out North's reasons for later in the story and give me motivation to actualy finish the series.

Prologue- Pegasus in Binds

How did this happen?

“Move pony pup,”

Wasn’t this supposed to be a world of magic where everypony is nice to one another?

The binding on her wings chafed and her entire body ached as she forced it past the limit to pull the mining cart.

She was the sister of the Pegasus who would grow up to be the Element of Loyalty and one of the fastest flyers in Equestria.
Her hoof met a sharp rock and she bit back the whimper at the sudden pain and the wet feeling of blood, the thought of the wound getting disinfected pushed away at the warning growl in her direction for pausing.

She was born in a city known for its weather control and founded by one of the Equestrian Founders in an event now celebrated as Hearth’s Warming.

The dust filled air made her want to cough even as she came to the marked spot and picked up the pickaxe to dig at the wall.

Was this an alternate version of Equestria? Or is this something the show could not have touched upon?
The back of her jaw ached, and she knew that some of her teeth would fall out from the abuse they’ve endured (good thing they were baby teeth.)

Why had she been reincarnated in this world, in the Loyalty Bearer’s family, who cast her aside for something she could not control?
A purple gem fell to the ground and detaching the cart from her back, she picked it and several others that had fallen out and placed them with the scant number of gems she had in the small cart they had given her.

She wished she hadn’t been born as a Pegasus, in fact, she wished that she hadn’t been reborn at all.
They threw a shovel in her direction and she obediently picked it up and started digging, ignoring the rotted wood that was in her mouth. No doubt she would have to pick out splinters later.

Her sister had seen that that stallion bind her wings and did nothing, her parents did nothing as he assured them she would see the error of her ways by the end of summer.
She spent thirty minutes digging a hole before they barked at her to dig another one, laughing as she stumbled over her aching hooves to obey them.

Rainbow Dash ignored her pleading look, the filly touching her left ear which looked as if something had cut the tip off, causing North to flinch back as realization dawned that maybe, her sister hadn’t forgiven her after all.
Her wings were begging to be released from their confines, and she could hear the canines behind her contemplating tearing them off so she could fly to the ceiling to get more gems.

The betrayal, the hurt tore up inside of her as she watched her family turn away from her to go back inside the house, her uncle’s hoof around her shoulders feeling heavy and forbidding.
Even if they took the bindings off, she won’t fly, because she had sworn never to use her wings again. She would never feel the air beneath her wings, but that was fine, because she would never fly, not with her Pegasus magic.

“Still think you do not deserve punishment?” he continued on before she could defend herself, “It is abominations like you that make it difficult for us Pegasus to uphold peace in Equestria, best to have those accursed wings restrained lest you do something worse’
‘It had been an accident!’ she wanted to tell him, tell anybody, she hadn’t meant to hurt anyone!
She’s been here for three weeks with no sign of him returning, and she’s pretty sure the bindings were not supposed to be on this long.

The canine that met them at the mine looked nothing like the Diamond Dogs she remembered in the show, in fact, he resembled more of a Rottweiler and the gem on his collar wasn’t a Diamond but a dark red ruby.
Apparently Diamond Dogs were just one kind of bipedal sentient canine around and inside Equestria, just like how ponies had three (known) tribes, the Jewel Dogs had four: Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires, and Emeralds. Her uncle had placed her with the Ruby Dogs of whom apparently, he held a debt with.
“We do not do pup labor,” the Ruby Dog, who she later learned was Pico, had not been impressed upon her uncle revealing his reason for being there.

She didn’t know what he did to persuade the canine, having been pushed into the mine lift where another Ruby dog was giving her glances that she did not like.
Pico entered the elevator and had a conversation with the other canine she couldn’t understand but that seemed to displease them both. The Ruby dog marched out of the mine lift and they left her alone with Pico who didn’t spare her a glance as he took them down.
Her second hole bore fruits of her labor and she was able to fill her mine cart up to the bare minimum before she was urged to hurry up.

He gave her the smallest cart and stared at her bound wings with an unreadable expression but said nothing as he led her to an alcove where other Ruby dogs were having a lunch break, albeit a messy one.
“Take cart to Cas, then report to out duty,” she gave a small grimace but obeyed, approaching the Ruby Dog with a close resemblance to a German Shepherd.
“I met the mark,” he gave her a disinterested glance, inspecting her cart and waving his paw for her to leave it with the others.

“This Wind Scar’s niece, North Wind, she works under Cas to pay off Scar’s debts as mine worker,” he said this in a warning tone as some of the canines had given her a look upon learning who she was related to.
She passed other ponies working in the mines, some not even looking at her, though one paused in his work to leer at her, only for a Ruby Dog to smack him back into working.

None of the Ruby Dogs were happy that she was there, apparently their desires for debts paid off did not extend to filly-pups doing the work.
She kept going till she reached a room where a horrible stench was visible as a Ruby Dog came out. He bared his teeth at her in a smug sneer, wiping his paws on the packed dirt beneath them.
Ignoring him, she entered the ‘out’ room, one of many in this long cavern, and picking up the only shovel, she went to work.
All the pony workers were relegated to clean up duty in these rooms, none of the canines wanted to do it as it was a chore reserved for the lowest on the food chain.
In this case it was the ponies.
Despite three weeks of doing this, the smell still hit her, at least she had stopped throwing up from the smell despite it being so close to her muzzle.
She really needed to learn how to use the shovel without it being in her mouth, but despite it being five years since she was reborn, there were parts of her body that she was still getting used to.
It was embarrassing, but it took her quite a bit to figure out how to ‘grasp’ objects with her hooves, and her mouth writing was still a mess (she didn’t care that she was only five, it still wasn’t an excuse.)

The only upside she could find to this chore was that certain ponies found their ‘interest’ in her gone in favor of turning away (the canines didn’t express interest in her despite that harrowing first day.) But she had the sinking feeling that it was not going to deter them forever.

One of the lone female canines appeared and grabbed her around the middle as soon as she left the out room.
“Come, time for bath,” they weren’t rough with handling her, but they weren’t all that gentle either.
A river ran through parts of the mine, but they didn’t directly bathe in it for health reason, instead several workers were put to work gathering water into large buckets over a fire and a trough.
One was supposed to wipe off as much as possible with the trough before going into the hot water, and this was only allowed once a week for each group.
The bindings around her midriff were worn down and stained, unable to be washed at all.
“Still not off?” the Ruby female gave her bindings a frown, clearly displeased, “Much work need done on ceiling, you only flying pony, no magic ponies allowed,” apparently unicorns had to pay off their debt through other means as their debtors did not have the means to stop them from wielding magic against them.
North didn’t bother telling her that she couldn’t fly, even if she dreaded the moment the bindings did come off. But flying was out of the question, no matter how much it angered them.

The Ruby canine, whose name still hadn’t been given, led North to the mess hall which was empty except at the back where various workers were setting up dinner. A dark blue griffin was preparing dead chickens, an Earth pony was stirring a large pot of soup, and to her dismay, the pony that had leered at her was working on the dough for the rolls. A large Ruby Dog with a black lab resemblance grinding up some sort of rock, looking up when she was dropped in front of her.
“Eat then cook,” a bowl of undetermined soup was placed in front of her along with a chunk of bread, no doubt leftovers from the day before.

Being a picky eater in her previous life, soup was one of the main foods she did not touch at all.
In this life up till the mines she managed to avoid eating soup with her family (if only because they barely cook it except for ‘fancy’ dinners.) Now she had no choice but to eat it, otherwise her malnutrition would be worse than it is becoming with the lack of necessary vitamins.
Making quick work of the soup (and trying not to think of the ingredients) and bread, she joined the black lab canine who placed several strange mushrooms in front of her along with a knife.
“Cut mushrooms for pony soup when done eating,” there was a sneer in the canine’s voice at ‘pony soup’ and North quickly finished her food, not wanting to make them impatient and began cutting.
She spent the next hour cutting all sorts of mushrooms, some that had a slight greenish glow to and others that had strange shapes. The sole griffin in the mine was right next to her, which she didn't mind, even if the scars on his back and the missing right wing was a bit scary. He never glared or glowered at her, rather treated her indifferently which she preferred to the interest of her 'fellow' ponies. The smell of boiling chicken wasn't all that appetizing but vague memories of what it tasted like made her hungry all the more and curse the fact she was born as a herbivore, who knows what chicken would do to her system.

"Stop," the command had all of them dropping their cooking utensils, "Leave, supper time for us," they all left, the griffin actually walking alongside her which had the added benefit of keeping that one stallion from following them. She stopped at the room they had given her, apart from all the others, and turned to her companion.
"Thank-you," he tilted his head, amber eyes focusing on her,
"Keeping yourself bound is not the best way to deal with your fears," with that he disappeared into his own alcove and she went into hers, pondering at his words.

Early the next morning she stared at the ceiling, mind swirling as she tried to think of anything, anything to get out of this.
Could she get away with telling them she’s not old enough to fly? No, that won’t work, they’ll make her fly anyway.
Say she’s crippled? No, she has both wings and they wouldn’t buy that either.
Maybe outright tell them that she doesn’t want to use her Pegasus magic at all? Even the thought of their reactions made her shiver.
If only she could get a bit of cloud into the mines and climb on top of it to get to the top, but there’s no way she’d be able to get a piece of the clouds to do it.
Some sort of ladder? No, waste of resources.
Trying not to panic visibly and wake any Ruby dogs within hearing distance, she turned on her oil lamp, grabbed a broom and started sweeping.
Normally all the pony workers were supposed to sleep in the same room, but instead due to her ‘special status’ as Wind Scar’s niece; they had placed her in a really, old storage room filled with scrolls and dust all over. By the end of this three months sentence they wanted the room spick and span to make way for whatever. Reading the scrolls proved useless as they were in Ruby dog language, which apparently not even the Ruby dogs could read. Reading or writing hadn’t exactly been a top priority for Ruby Dogs when they were more focused on production.
So, all North could do was sweep till the floor was the clear rock it was supposed to be, and to make sure there were no creatures hiding in any holes. She also practiced sweeping bipedal, ignoring the pain in her back in favor of a more familiar position.
Her blue wings itched to fly, and she flinched as the worn bindings around them starting giving, when before it they felt like a corset a size too small around her barrel.
‘No’ she told her wings, she was not going to fly, she was never going to fly. As if in protest, her wings twitched and with terror she watched the magic binding spark as cracks appeared.
“No, no," that cursed magic was trying to get out and she knew that she will not be able to control it.
No matter what she did the next few days trying to keep her wings calm didn't work and more and more cracks appeared in the binds.
Something the others noticed, the canines even going so far as to put down notes of her doing flying practice.
Unfortunately or not, that earth pony or Corn Husker as he's called, his obsession with her ended up changing everything. The last of her binding was hanging by a thread and she was hiding in the cavern trying to focus on sweeping, sweat on her brow as she felt the whirlpool in her grow.
“So, enjoying your special treatment,” the voice made her freeze mid-sweep as she turned to Corn Husker who was giving her a smug grin, “No more avoiding me brat,” she tried to swing the broom at him but he smacked it away, his Earth Pony strength splitting it in two. Backpedaling, she tried to find the nearest exit, but he was blocking it with his body.
“You know, before you came here, I was thinking about your dear uncle and how I owe him so much,” his hoof reached in to caress her face and she shivered, “After all, he’s the reason I got trapped down here, why my own family disowned me, why I have to bow down to these mutts,” his face turned into a malicious sneer, his eyes flashing with disgust. His hoof came to her neck and she cringed as it slid down to the spot between her feathers.
“Then I saw you, the resemblance so uncanny, and thought, well he isn’t here, but somepony like him is, and you are such an adorable little filly,” she had known he had unsavory intentions towards her, but it was one thing knowing it, and another thing for it to actually happen.
‘Get away, get away’ she mentally chanted this as his other hoof came towards her, she turned to run but his hoof snagged on the cloth and with a frustrated grunt he ripped it away, ignoring her warnings and pleas.
"Oh no you don't," North cried out as he smacked her across the room, crashing against the wall and staring up at him with fright as he approached her once more.
“Get away from me!” she screamed, her wings snapping forward, what came next was the very thing she feared would happen.
He went down with barely a shout and she closed her eyes, running out of there, running to get away from what she had just done.
“Hey what’s going on!” the voice made her run faster, because what were they going to do to her when they see the result of her losing control.
She had to get out, she had to get out!

The magic in her wings swirled around and wind swept through the mines, startling her chasers and she begged it not to hurt anyone, but at the moment she knew it wouldn't listen to her. Her hooves beat against the ground as she picked up speed, eyes closed against the dust the wind was picking up but ears alert.
"She's heading towards pit!" the shout made her gulp but she didn't stop, if memory serves her right, there was a blocked off cavern that none of the other dogs went into, if she could just squeeze in there. A growl sounded to her left and with a yelp she jumped, wind surrounding her as her hooves touched wood before she was jumping again. The magic was building up around her again and she realized too late that she was over a very large pit.
'Oh' she fell.

Chapter 1- Filly-Pup in Mines

Shouting was the first thing to hit his ears and his muzzle scrunched as one by one his senses turned back on. The familiar smells of mining came to him along with the sweet, nauseating smell of ponies, which confused and infuriated him because they were not supposed to be in Jewel Dog territory. He could also feel wind, which was strange as he knew they had imprisoned him in the deepest part of the mine where wind was impossible. Then the significance of this hit him and his eyes shot open, realizing that, yes, this was not another hallucination form his long imprisonment, he was actually free.
It did not take long for his eyes to adjust and he looked at the accursed chains responsible for his long sleep, chaining him like a pet around this stupid collar. Chains that were supposed to keep him asleep for another three hundred years, created by the greatest magic users on the planet, never to be broken.
Had been cut

He blinked several times, looking closer and realizing that yes, these six foot thick chains had a clean cut right through them, cutting off the connection to whatever enchantment that accursed Starswirl.
Just the thought of him had him growling, the sound echoed through the chamber and there was a squeak from somewhere above before the sound of something falling reached him. Without even pausing he held out his paw and something tiny and really blue fell into it.
Never ceased to amuse him that the domestic dogs were cursed with color blindness while his Canines were born with the ability to see color, and even to smell it.

Unfortunately, the blue color of what he had caught sent him into a flashback of someone else who had been blue, and it took more effort to snap himself out of those unwanted memories.
Luckily whatever fell was now unconscious and he allowed himself to bring them closer so that he could get a better look without them freaking out.

A filly-pup, a blue one, a [really blue one with a sapphire coat and different shade of blues in its mane from a pale Diamond blue to a dark Turquoise, and several other colors that reminded him of other blue gems.
The wings told him of what tribe she came from and gave him a clue of how he was freed, but his nose told him a different story and he felt like growling again if it weren’t for the sounds of his Canines running around barking and growling.
With a huff he looked up at the mine and then down at his form. He was too big to even fit, and while he hated it, it looked like he would need to take a new form.
Sometimes he envied those alicorns with all that power, and they didn’t need to be the size of a mountain.
Sometimes.

Glancing at the filly-pup of whom he owes his freedom, however unintentional it might have been, he took a peek into her thoughts for a canine form and raised an eyebrow before shrugging. Not the worst form he could take.
His form blurred as he shrunk, his fur going from its multi-colored fur to a dark red, the spikes on his back and tails receding as it replaced them with fluffy fur, joining into a single curled tail.
The filly-pup was now only a third his size and he had the thought of becoming larger before huffing. No, it wasn’t like his strength weakened anyway.

Taking a measuring look of the nearest opening, he flicked his tail before giving the slightest push.

The Ruby Dogs all converged at the entrance where the loud growling from before had caught their attention.
Some of them had no clue what went on and assumed it was something else, but a few like Chief Cas and Beta Pico knew the significance and exchanged looks.
A small figure appeared right in front of them, revealing a red canine with a curly tail holding the fully pup in his paws and Cas instinctively flinched from the scent the stranger was giving off, one that the chief of each of the Four Canine tribes (even the Diamond Dogs no matter their ignorance of other subjects) memorized when the previous Chief stepped down. Pico himself knew the scent from when his granddog was in charge and he broke into the canine’s private cavern to look through his things.
It was the last time that he did so.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the other Ruby Dogs.
They all charged the unknown canine, ignoring Cas’ warning to stand back, but it was too late. The small dog appeared right in front of Cas looking unruffled while all the dogs behind him fell over, bruised and bloodied.
“Master Ruffalo,” Cas assumed the proper position, baring his neck as he knelt down before the canine, Pico doing the same beside him.
“You Chief?” the voice was quiet with an almost unheard echo if the Ruby Chief hadn’t been straining his ears.
“Yes, Cas, Chief of the Ruby Dogs at your service,” apparently what he said was wrong as a rumbling growl reverberated through his fur.
“Ruby Dogs?,” too late did he remember that the division of the canines occurred after this one’s imprisonment.
“Jewel Dogs divided centuries ago in a dispute, now Ruby, Emerald, Sapphires, and Diamonds, Cas sorry Master,” the entire ground shook under the rage of the canine and the two conscious Ruby Dogs prepared for their deaths to be swift yet messy.
Then there was a whimper and the shaking stopped, and they both dared to look up to see the filly-pup in the canine’s paws shaking.
Ruffalo’s eyes were glowing red as he bared his teeth before he adjusted the little one, the fur on his head no longer spiked up.
“Explain the dispute after you explain why filly-pup is in cave with scent of binding on wings, and why this one also bears the smell of blood not her own,” Cas swallowed, this was not going to end well.

Master Ruffolo stared at the scene before him, a blank expression on his face.
“You are telling me that this Cornhusker had an interest towards the filly pup that no one put an end to?” Chico's ears pinned to his head as he tried to think of defense for the tribe.
“We Ruby dogs do not interfere with the ponies, we make them work to pay off their debts,” the ground shook and they couldn’t say anything right could they?
“ This filly-pup had no debt!” they trembled at his shout, “Now explain to me exactly what happens that you would do this, I did not think that my tribe, my canines would fall so far as to force filly-pup of this age into work we do not even do this to our own pups unless that has changed as well?” Cas looked offended.

“No master Ruffalo, we do not force the pups to do the work that this one has, but her uncle holds influence and debts as well with three of the four tribes and gave us no choice but to accept her in place of him. He threatened to send her to market and we decided that it would be better for her to remain in our sights than to condemn her to an even worse fate." This angered the Alpha even more but the shaking did stop (which caused them to sag in relief.)
Ruffalo returned his attention to the mess in the room.
“When did you discover this pony?” the smell was rather unpleasant.
“We discovered him 10 minutes before your arrival my lord, he gave a great shout and when we found him it was too late and the filly pup’s wing binds were scattered across the room.” Pico explained.
Ruffolo bent down and picked up a cloth with her scent and frowned as it was covered in the stallion's blood that now lay in pieces on the floor.
Considering she had managed to slice straight through a magically enchanted chain, it didn’t surprise him that this kind of thing could happen as well. But it did not make any sense. This kind of magic was different than Pegasus magic yes and back then he remembered winged species commanding the winds much more precisley than any other pegasus, some with the ability of 'wind scars', but to this extent?
Something was not right.
"Where is The Record Keeper?" he asked, it is their responsibility to make sure that no knowledge of the jewel dogs is lost.
The two unfortunate canine shared glances, swallowing as they dreaded this part of the conversation. Their god was not going to be happy.

When she woke up, it was to an entirely different storage room from before, with books instead of scrolls and where the ceiling was even lower.
It didn’t take her long to remember what happened, and she immediately started searching for an exit, panic overriding her common sense.
They had found Corn Husker, they knew what she did, she had to get out!

“This Ruffalo suggests you sit down before falling over, your stunt depleted your energy dangerously,” at the voice she froze, only then realizing what he said as her entire body locked up on her and she fell over.
There was a sigh before he picked her up, setting her back on the cot she had been lying on.
“Pony pup not in trouble, guards punished for letting foolish male pony leave fight.” A bowl of stew was placed before her and at his urging she drank the whole thing, feeling her energy return.

He took the bowl away and she looked down at her hooves, flinching when she saw the red stains on them.
The image returned and this time she felt her stomach heave as the stew she had just consumed ended up on the floor.
Tears came to the corner of her eyes as she stared at yet another mess she had made.
“Please don’t tell them, please,” she was whispering this as another Ruby Dog appeared to clean everything up.
“Don’t tell who?” his calm tone caused whatever restraint she had to break.
“My family, or my uncle, if they knew,” she shivered, “Don’t make me fly, please don’t make me fly,” she felt horrified at breaking down in front of this canine who she didn’t even know.
He said nothing as she continued sobbing and begging for him not to make her fly. She did not know who he was, he had the crimson fur of the other Ruby Dogs but he didn't put off the same airs as the others either.

When she finally calmed down he helped her clean up and gave her some water that actually didn't taste bad.
“Pony pup should never have been here, but Wind Scar a dangerous, foolish pony,” the air became heavy as she looked up at him, “We cannot return you to him for fear of what’d he do, but we also cannot have you working as you did before, even if you learned to climb mine walls,” those words caused confusion.
“Climb walls? I ha," but she had grabbed onto something when the wind sent her back up, had she grabbed onto the ceiling instead of ground like she thought?
“It is not safe to run in mine with eyes closed, if not for Pegasus magic, you would have smashed your head against wall,” she felt numb, her magic made her climb the wall? Could ponies do that?
“What are you going to do?” he coughed into his paw, looking even more severe.
“Pony Pup will stay in this room and clean, walls and floor very dusty, pony pup can also help Gaius the griffin with food retrieval and prepping. We’ll make a tally of your work to take off Wind Scar’s debt,” and that was that.

Warmth from the sun after a long time underground made her feel a bit drowsy, and she almost fell asleep if Gaius (finally learning his name was a bit embarrassing but he didn't seem to mind it.) Had not dropped the bucket in front of her.
"Ocean this way, permission to go farther," she nodded, picking up the bucket while he pulled the cart. She would've pulled her own cart but her wings were not liking anything around them and after the third broken harness she was just going to use the bucket.
However, other than the occasional breaking or unscheduled wind sending dirt everywhere, the wind didn't feel as built up or wild as it was before. She had a feeling it was because she released a lot of it into that strange pit, but considering her new duties and freedom, she didn't break anything important.

For some reason she felt like something out there was cackling at that last sentence.

"We'll stop here," with a start she realized they were near the ocean and the sight was a whole lot better than the desert they were in before. With unease North thought back to being dropped off in an area with trees and grass, how extensive was the Ruby dog mine?
Gaius was watching her again and she hurried to join him,
"Does filly know how to swim?" North thought about it before nodding, "Good, will need help gathering some seaweed and fish for dinner." her ears fell back, he was eating fish and she was stuck with seaweed, her stomach didn't like that.
"Fish?" he tilted his head,
"Yes, and since we are out in the open I was thinking of smoking and grilling, how do you take yours?" she blinked.
"I've never had fish," he dropped the sticks in his talons.
"What?" she cringed at the whisper, "What about shellfish, chicken, or Tartarus even bugs of any kind?" she shook her head with a frown.
"My p-parents gave us vitamins every morning for nutrition, and I ate a lot of fruits and vegetables, and oats, I asked about meat once and they didn't take it well," Gaius' eye was twitching and she swallowed, "Anyways, I thought with our teeth we can't have meat," he scoffed.
"In small bites you can," then he started muttering about 'no wonder pegasus rely on magic for flying' which caught her attention.
"Is it possible to fly without magic?" the eagerness in her tone threw him off and he frowned,
"Let's get food, it recently stormed after all," drooping a bit at her question being ignored, North swam out into the ocean and dived a bit before bringing up some seaweed in her mouth.

After ten minutes her stamina waned and she swam back, wings beating against the current and reached the shore, only to stop at Gaius' raised eyebrow who pointed behind her.
With some dread she turned and nearly screamed at all the floating bodies behind her, some cut in half. Others with cuts along their throats.
"Swimming will have to be out," she stared at the carnage, flinching at the wing covering her head, "Dinner will be big," she whimpered.
"I didn't even feel the magic leave," she tilted over and there was a sigh,
"Rest for now," he cobbled together a net from debris and used it to scoop up most of the fish while North stared at the sand, her hoof swirling around the sand as she contemplated her future.
It didn't look all that good.

The next morning they returned to the mine with a cart filled with smoked and grilled fish, and one shark, along with a bucket filled with shellfish, including an unlucky crab that had startled North by pinching her hoof. Gaius prepared dinner by himself with only North helping, the other ponies had their debts reviewed and some were released while others were relocated to other parts of the mine in case they tried asking questions about Corn Husker. Ruffalo surprisingly helped as well, cutting up vegetables that he himself had gathered and listened to what happened with a blank face, only his tail twitching revealing the discomfort.

North would be tempted to hug him if it wasn't for the aura he released anytime she so much as thought about it, as if he knew what she was thinking.
"This is troubling," Ruffalo rubbed the tuft of hair underneath his chin and flicked North on the nose when she leaned towards him, she tried not to pout, "From what I've learned her Uncle refused to remove the bindings despite the laws against them and did not give any instructions on how to remove them. This kind of magic should not be contained, especially when it is newly awoken, when did it first appear," North gulped.
"Three months ago," she wanted the answer to remain there but the raised eyebrow had her continuing with great reluctance, "I was startled and panicked and accidentally hurt my sister," she thought back to Corn Husker and shuddered, "I could've killed her," she said with horror, only to receive a bop on her head.

"No," Ruffalo's voice was firm, "What happened with Corn Husker was an unfortunate side affect of the binding as well his own actions. What he received was a mercy compared to what is normally done with these types," the look in his eyes made North shiver, but at the same time she felt a bit of comfort from his words.
"But how long will this continue? I killed all those fish on accident, what if I accidentally hurt someone else? Is there a way to get rid of it?" the silence that fell made her look at both adults. Ruffalo's face was twisted into a frown but it was Gaius who caught her attention.
"Yes," he whispered, a sad expression on his face, "But the alternative is not worth it," he spoke as if he went through it himself, but that made little sense, Griffins don't have magic, do they?
"You used to have that magic," Ruffalo's statement was not a question and Gaius nodded.
"A long time ago, but an incident with my own tribe resulted in the ability being lost forever, and after that my wing was taken from me as well. Little one, I know that you believe it to be a curse, so many do, but so long ago they considered it a gift," she avoided his look.
"My own family sent me away because I hurt my sister, they saw my uncle bind me, and I-i don't even know if it's normal or not, I have less than a month before he comes to pick me up and I can't go back without the assurance that I will be able to control this so called 'gift.'" there was a sigh.
"This one would suggest to have you remain for Gaius to teach you, but there are answers you must seek for yourself that is unattainable for non-ponies in Equestria. But if filly-pup wishes, we shall do what we can to help," North stared at the canine, a bit overwhelmed and the short canine found himself almost bowled over as the blue filly-pup cried into his fur.

Feeling a bit out of his depth, Ruffalo glared at a smirking Gauis, awkwardly patting the one responsible for his freedom and resisting the urge to throw her off. Someone of her talent should be nurtured and encouraged into a great asset, and he wasn't going to let whatever corruption is among the ponies now ruin that talent.
Even if it meant dealing with those damn Alicorns again, at least this time around Starswirl won't be around to interfere. Now, what could they do to make sure this filly-pup's magic doesn't dice without her say-so?

Chapter 2- Pegasus in Library

It’s been two months since she’s returned and North can honestly say that she’d prefer the mines and the strange presence of Ruffalo to the suffocation she felt in Cloudsdale. In her early years before the horrible summer the only issue she had about Cloudsdale was the lack of reading material (she ready everything in the one sole library which only amounted to around a hundred books)
The one bookstore she found specialized in sport and flying books with the occasional weather one and even the foal books were all about flying to win the race, defending Equestria as a Royal Guard like her dad was, or contributing to Weather patterns like her mom. While the frustration towards lack of reading material had mounted, North had felt nothing else and figured she could always go to Canterlot or maybe even Ponyville (before the Return of Nightmare Moon of course, she did not want to get involved in any of the events.)

Now? The moment her hoof touched the cloud it was like everything had screamed and she passed out right in front of Wind Scar and her dad, or Bow Hothoof. She wasn’t sure he deserved the title of Dad from her anymore.
She woke up on Bow’s back and was given a slight scolding for being dramatic and not giving a proper farewell and gratitude to the stallion who put aside time to train her all summer.
Mining was supposed to be training? Then she recalled Scar’s warning of not telling her parents the truth and wondered exactly what they thought happened to her during the summer with her wings bound.

Her mom provided the answer, albeit an unwanted one,
“We’re so glad that you went along with your uncle, we were so scared he wouldn’t be able to help you but he assured us that they would deal this ability of yours. Ooh I can’t wait to see what he taught you,” North just stared at the deluded mare, looking down at her nearly starved form and the marks on her wings.
Whatever. She went passed the mare to the table, grabbing a sandwich and going upstairs to the normal room, only to no longer see her name next to Rainbow Dash’s.
Ok, maybe they moved her to the next room.
Unfortunately, the room she assumed to be hers turned out to be a shrine to her older sisters. Looking down the stairs where she could hear her parents whispering together, she sighed and went further up the stairs to the attic which wasn't all that stuffy thankfully.

Downing her sandwich, she moved several boxes, finding winter coats but setting them aside and eventually finding an old hammock that she couldn’t really remember where it came from. It did not take long to put it up, and she laid out a winter coat before curling up and going to sleep.
It did not get better from there and North honestly didn’t know why she rejected Ruffalo’s offer in favor of returning to this place.

It felt like she was being suffocated every day and every night when she went to sleep the same dr- no nightmare appeared of a certain factory. A nightmare resembling certain fan videos she remembered from her previous life and she tried to make sense of it or at least get a different dream, but it stayed.
Whatever happened when her magic freed itself started affecting her senses in protest of her refusal to release it. It wasn’t present in her house but the moment she stepped outside it felt like a pressure on her shoulder blades that increased the closer she came near the factory or the schoolhouse (which sucked because she had to go to the latter every day.)

This just made her even more determined to find answers, and she waited for the perfect moment to go to Canterlot.
Which was difficult when her parents were on her case for things like refusing to flying at all to subtly (for them) blaming her for Dash’s absence from meal times. The latter stopped when she stopped going to meal times and left a note under Dash’s door telling her not to be worried about running into North Wind and that her younger sister would miss meal times to make her perfect life easier.

North couldn’t help the desire to add that little bitter note.
If Rainbow Dash felt anything from the note she did not reveal it, nor did she try to approach North at school even when her younger sister’s classmates were giving her a hard time about being an ‘egghead’ and failing as a pegasus
Should North feel guilt at the fact the filly meant to grow up to be the Element of Loyalty was proving the opposite of that trait, maybe; and should she herself feel guilty about upholding Rainbow Dash to the mare she wouldn’t become for another decade?
After a moment North decided it did not matter, she had no plan on getting herself involved with the major characters and Rainbow Dash distancing herself worked.

Even if the hurt remained.

“I’m glad you came with me to guard training North, I guess Wind Scar knew what he was doing after all,” if Bow Hothoof had seen his daughter’s flinch, he might have thought differently, might.
“Right,” North chose not to say anything else. It had taken careful maneuvering and conversations to convince her parents she had seen the error of her ways (even if the whole avoiding mealtimes stayed)
The balloon landed in Canterlot and Bow placed is daughter on his back before flying to the castle. They arrived at the guard quarters where he placed her on the floor.

“Watch Daddy train with the others okay,” she nodded and he beamed before joining his men. North forced herself to watch the entire session, glad that Wind Scar wasn’t there, even as his name was mentioned as a top ranking guard with a rare pegasus talent that had made him so feared in the army. It made North sick, knowing that if he was this highly regarded, there was no way she could destroy his reputation unless she had the right resources. At six no one was going to take her seriously until she was finished with school and had her Cutie Mark.

But skipping grades in Cloudsdale couldn’t happen till she was at least eight or nine, and she needed to prove beyond anything that she held the knowledge that their twelve-year-old graduates had. Which meant she had to familiarize herself with the biased pro-pony propaganda that this EEA (didn’t take long to find out who was responsible) brandied about.
North took a deep breath, finding the weight from Cloudsdale slide right off of her even as there was a different sort in Canterlot. Much more manageable and she tried to think up a plan to get down here more that did not involve Royal Guards fighting against one another. Then she could focus on her goals much more easily and work on what Master Ruffalo had told her.

Goal One: Study up on magical theory and see if she could apply it to her own, or at least lead her to other areas of magic to look for.
The areas of magic available for study among pegasus were just as restricted as their libraries were, and North was hoping to find more branches, at least ones in control. Gaius taught her meditation and how to look inside for her magic, and even gave her several steps to follow each day to avoid ‘accidents’, but she still wished for it to be gone.

Goal Two: Look up all knowledge on speleology and spelunking because she needed to be more prepared before the next summer (even if Wind Scar didn’t plan on sending her there, she was not going to young flyer’s camp.) She needed to meet up with Ruffalo and Gaius again because so far they were the only adults in this world who knew her ability and did not condemn her for it. Whether they were wishing to use her North did not care, and a bonus of helping Gaius was the collection of pearls and other jewels that were set aside for her. She didn’t take them with her, instead she put them in a box and with Gaius permission put it in an opening no one else could reach in the pit.

Goal Three: Avoid her family and find the easiest way to get emancipated so that Wind Scar couldn’t influence her through them anymore. Something that was getting easier every day with their utter obliviousness and favouritism towards her sister. Not to mention she found out by accident that her parents were feeding Rainbow fish secretly to make her a ‘stronger’ flyer. North made a note to get her own food. The magic grew restless from lack of nutrition and she didn’t want to put anyone in danger.

Goal Four: Earn her Cutie Mark in anything not flying or Pegasus related in the hopes this cursed ability of hers would calm down till she could get rid of it. She studied everything about Cutie Marks as soon as she started understanding what they were (her memory of the show a bit spotty, so she wasn’t sure.) While the whole naming convention of foals that somehow led to their Cutie Marks resembling them annoyed her, she ignored it in favor of an unsettling observation about the Pegasus in Cloudsdale. One that gave her yet another reason for getting out as soon as possible with the bonus of never returning to the place without an excellent reason.

Goal Five: Use the magic in other ways to avoid build up and find someway to get to the ground without them getting suspicious so she could figure out the walking on walls trick. A bit Naruto, but she knew way more about that show than this one, to be honest. She barely knew the storyline of My Little Pony apart from the major characters and what they represented, which concerned her a bit because of timeline issues. Then again, this could be a completely different alternate universe and it would be far safer just going her own way.

Until she could fly safely, or not at all, she will have to focus on cloud hopping to get her through the sky, without earning a Cutie Mark in it of course.
“North!” her dad scooped her up with one of his wings and she tried not to stiffen as he plopped her on his back, “Did you have fun, you know, I was thinking we could go get some ice cream and talk about the benefits of early guard training,” they were halfway out the gate when one of the unicorn guards called his name, stating there was an urgent meeting, “Oh,” he set her down, looking a bit disappointed, “Looks like that won’t happen today sweetie, here,” he gave her a small bag of bits, “Get yourself lunch and I’ll meet you,’ he trailed off, thinking about it, she didn’t want to but she still suggested it.

“The library? That way if I’m done with lunch I can go somewhere that won’t kick me out for staying too long, and it’s the only building closest to here,” he looked at her for a moment and she thought maybe he was going to deny it, instead he smiled.
“Great idea! Perfect place for a little filly to pass the time, tell me if they’ve updated their comic selection okay?” he disappeared through the gates and with a sigh she went towards the library, stopping at the nearest cafe where she grabbed a sandwich and water bottle.

Finishing the last of her lunch right before the entrance, she checked for crumbs before going over to the magical theory section.
Which of course only contained unicorns, some of which gave her odd looks she paid no mind to in favor of grabbing the lowest books on the shelves and going towards the science section to find a table and some books on speleology.

Dead end. She found books on geology and one tiny book about spelunking adventures, but apparently cave studies was not a big thing in Canterlot.
Which was on a mountain, a very tall mountain, no doubt with a large cave system that might or might not have pony-made passages leading into the castle (not that she would go for that very purpose, of course.)
Taking out a scroll, she started on making notes, writing them in the Ruby dog script that reminded her a bit of Japanese kanji (which was a kind of funny since Ruffalo looked like a Shiba Inu.) She would need examples of griffin script but from Gaius’ accent it might be like Gaelic script and while she wasn’t familiar with it, he promised to teach her or find some way of giving her a language primer.

(“Might be nice to have someone interested in learning our language,” he grumbled underneath his breath, she pretended not to hear it.)
Letting the quill drop from her mouth, she rubbed her sore jaw and tried not to let her jealousy show at the sight of the unicorns using their magic to write notes.
“What I wouldn’t give to have hands,” ‘again’ she thought the last part to herself, why couldn’t she have been reborn as a Minotour, those existed here right? Glancing at the clock and her remaining books, she sighed and put them all on a cart where the librarian would return them after hours and made her way back outside.

Finding the nearest bench, she made herself comfortable and kept an ear out for Bow’s voice, soaking in the sun and finding herself dozing a bit.
A blast of powder caught her off guard and before she could even react she was already asleep. Water in her face woke her up and spluttering, she shook her head, glaring up at her kidnapper which turned out to be a unicorn filly only a little older than her.
With a light aquamarine coat, gray cyan mane with white highlights, and gold eyes observing her, North could only wonder why she felt the need to kidnap other fillies.
“Ok,” a light shone in her face and North flinched back, “Tell me everything you know!” the demand made her blink.
“About what?” the filly huffed,
“Don’t play dumb, I heard you talking in the library, you know something!” her hoof nearly hit North’s face as she pointed and the six-year-old sighed.
“Can you please get to the point so we don’t go in circles?” the light turned off, and a picture was slammed against the table she’d been placed at.
“What do you know about humans,” she stared at the picture for a moment before pointing at the mouth.
“I know that not all their teeth are pointy, there are a few pointed ones for eating meat but most of them are kind of flat, and humans don’t have tails either,” the picture was taken away, and she stared at the filly who was looking at her with tears in her eyes, “Um, did I-” her question was cut off by being tackled to the ground and it was only the size of the filly’s hooves that stopped her from stiffening at the sudden contact.

“Finally, someone else knows about humans. When I heard you say hands, the options were Minotaurs or humans,” the tears in her coat were increasing and North wondered if she should’ve denied it after all.
“Ok, but why kidnap me?” the filly flinched and pulled back, looking a bit sheepish as she rubbed her eyes.
“I didn’t know where you lived and did not want to ask you in public where ponies could hear us. Humans aren’t a popular subject right now, and I was close to giving up on researching anything about them. Last night I even wished on a shooting star for a sign,” and she was being hugged again, “And you came!” North was a bit bemused, and opened her mouth to reply when the door to the room they were in burst open and a mare with a darker coat but similar features to her kidnapper stood, Bow right next to her still in his Royal Guard uniform.
“Lyra Heartstrings! I did not believe it when this stallion came to me with the news of you kidnapping another filly but here you are, I hope you have a goo-” her eyes fell on the picture and the scowl made Lyra flinch back, which North did not like.

“I see,” the mare breathed out through her nose, “Instead of giving up this stupid pursuit of yours, you decided instead to rope an innocent filly into your theories. Humans are nothing but a myth and from this point on,” the picture was lifted and burned into ash, “There will be no more talks, I apologize officer,” North watched Lyra stare at the ashes, ears flat against her head and gritted her teeth at the hopeless look the filly had.
“What’s wrong with believing in humans?” her question caught the adult’s questions, the mare blinking.
“Sweetie, what Lyra has to-” she cut the mare off, ignoring Bow’s disapproval.
“I knew about humans before Lyra came to me, and they may be myths now, but myths start from somewhere. She might have kidnapped me, but if she went this far based on a comment I made, then she must want someone to confide in that cannot be found in her own family.” she slipped out of the ropes, (the filly wasn’t good at tying knots.) And sat next to Lyra, who was staring at her with wide eyes.
“There’s nothing wrong if she talks about humans with me, is there, and doesn’t kidnap anyone else?” it took a moment before the unnamed mare finally responded.

A week later
Lyra stared at the visitor, mouth a bit open.
“You came back,” she squeaked, flushing at the amused look.
“Do you have anywhere private that we can talk?” Lyra looked taken aback but thought about it,
“Well, there is my great-uncle’s old observatory,” it wasn’t far from her house and Lyra tried to think about what the filly could want. She was still surprised that her Mom didn’t banish North from the house or got mad at her. Instead, the mare sent them off with a pensive frown and said nothing the whole week about the incident.
They took the secret route to the place (since technically Lyra wasn’t allowed in there) and Lyra helped hold up the loose panel for North to get in.
“So, I’m surprised your parents are letting you talk to me, although I foal napped you,” there was a small scoff from the pegasus.
“Took little actually, so long as I ask about ‘seeing’ Bo-Dad’s guard practice and do all the exercises he wants me to do, they don’t really care much. Besides, I asked if it was alright to befriend a unicorn and dared them to say no,” Lyra’s brow furrowed.
“Why would that work?” North shrugged, taking a broom and to Lyra’s shock, stood on her back hooves and started sweeping.
“We live in Cloudsdale and there’s a sort of mentality there about pegasus superiority. With him working as a palace guard, if there’s any talk of him refusing to let his daughter befriend a unicorn, there might be talk. But now, so long as I have a friend that does not live in Cloudsdale, I can visit even when there is no Guard practice,” the unicorn frowned.
“Are we friends? Sounds like you are using me as an excuse or something,” she took a broom as well and tried to imitate the other’s posture but the pain made her fall back down, “How are you doing that?” her curiosity warred with the weariness at the other filly’s reasons.
North put down the broom and Lyra watched as the pegasus lied down,
“You can say it's an excuse, but you can also say that we both have interests we want to do that are hindered by adults. So long as they think we are doing ‘safe’ activities, they won’t bother us. I’m studying certain objects and need the library in Canterlot to do it, and you want to learn about humans while hanging out with someone who does not make fun of you. If we do become friends in time, then that’s it, but right now getting to know one another is important,” Lyra thought about it. It sounded like fun, sort of, and it’s not like she had anything else apart from those stupid tutoring sessions.
Huh.
“Okay, but as part of whatever agreement we have, promise that it will not be a one-sided give or take thing,” North looked offended.
“It won’t,” she stated, holding out a hoof, “Now, my name is North Wind, I’m six years old and wish to study magical theory, speleology, and to earn my Cutie Mark in something that has nothing to do with my name,” Lyra hesitantly took the hoof.
“Lyra Heartstrings, I’m eight years old, and I wish to study humans, music, and to earn my Cutie Mark in Music as well,” they shook and she couldn’t help but giggle a bit before stopping, “So what do you want to do first? Go to the library? They don’t have a vast selection of human books,” North pointed a hoof towards the center of the observatory.
“Cleaning,” Lyra tried to protest, then ended up coughing on some dust from the previous sweeping.
“Right,” guess they were starting this ‘friendship’ with cleaning.

Chapter 3- Unicorns in Cloudsdale

After a year of knowing North Wind, there are twelve things that Lyra could say she knew for certain about the cunning little filly.

The first is that despite sounding so calculating about everything (including the reason for their friendship,) North herself is desperately lonely and needs somepony to be there for her. Lyra heard briefly about somepony named Ruffalo and someone under the name Gauis, but the blue Pegasus kept those details to herself and refused to say anything more on the matter. Considering it was only their third time meeting one another, Lyra felt it was fine if her younger friend needed to keep secrets.

The second is that North has a slight obsession with being organized and orderly, Lyra had only found this out when she entered the planetarium to find the entire area spotless and North working on the library with scary intensity. There was no housekeeper to maintain the building so Lyra had been using one or two rooms, keeping them in a somewhat clean condition, North apparently did not agree with that. Every time she arrived at the planetarium she found North wiping down everything and she even went and got a trash can for every room that they used marked recycle and regular trash.

Third is North’s awareness but obliviousness of her own physical and mental needs, Lyra did not want to know why North seemed to think eating two days a day is okay. Or the fact that the filly looked all over Canterlot for a griffin run restaurant and actually went in to get a meal with meat in it. At one point Lyra found her opening a crate that came from somewhere and almost gagged at the smell and sight of the dead fishes within. There were two crates of meat, one filled with smoked meat while the other was filled with ice and raw ones with a book on how to prepare them. North had asked her if it was possible to use the freezer in the observatory and despite her disgust Lyra led her to it. This was definitely something that the filly wanted to be kept secret and after eating a small bite of smoked fish and not getting sick, Lyra decided not that bad after all. North admitted to needing fish for her diet and how her parents refuse to give her meat for fear of it 'corrupting' her while giving it to her sister who actually 'needs' it.
Lyra was really starting to hate this so called family of North's.
Then at one point they found out that the Pegasus direly needed glasses, Lyra had only noticed this when she caught her squinting at something on the wall and forced the filly to take an eye exam. She ended up with glasses for reading and one for nearsightedness, she also heard something from the doctor about similar cases from those who spend a lot of time reading or working in the dark. When she asked North about it, the filly stated she read in the dark but did not elaborate any further. This added another key to the puzzle that Lyra had on her friend.

Fourth is that North's knowledge in certain areas should not be possible, nor should her interest in them. When Lyra complained about the tutoring that she was getting in magic (none of her teachers understood why she was having difficulty), North asked her some questions, looked at the material her tutors had assigned her and two hours later she produced an entire scroll of all the theory broken down in a way that Lyra understood much easier. Within an hour she was producing a ball of light from her horn and couldn't help the squeal coming from her mouth. After two weeks she could do levitation and telekinesis spells (even if her limit was anything under ten pounds.) Unfortunately or not, while she was practicing the magic, North devoured the rest of her magical books and did notes not just to summarize them, but to critique some of them. Mutters about favoritism and narcissistic unicorns filled the air, and she gathered all the useful notes into a notebook which she placed into a folder; which was then put into the bottom of the bookshelf in one office in the observatory.
There were ten rooms within the observatory, not including the main one with the telescope and they had gone through each room to decide what to do with the contents. Lyra felt bad in the beginning since North spent most of her time cleaning on the one day she came down. Then she started staying for the entire weekend, and Lyra knew if there was a way North would only attend school in Cloudsdale during the day and sleep in Canterlot at night. They arranged the first two rooms to contain all the research that the previous owners had done and the third room contained all the equipment which had been difficult to move around. Rooms four through six were their study rooms, Lyra bringing over all the books that used to belong to her dad before her mom tried to throw them away. Room seven was North's private room located right in the basement where she warned Lyra to knock before coming in. The seriousness in her eyes made the older filly agree. Room Eight was Lyra's own private room, she even put a small bed in there and all of her comics that she did not want to keep at home. They left the last two rooms alone just in case (even if she'd seen North cover the walls in maps of cave systems.)

The fifth thing that Lyra learned about North Wind was her desire not to get a Cutie Mark that resembled her name. Of course, she already knew the Pegasus didn’t want to get one in areas Pegasus were good for, but this was a kind of different. The bookworm was adamant about gaining a Cutie Mark that has no relation at all to her namesake and went into a rant about how it makes little sense that so many ponies got their Cutie Marks in areas that centered on their names.
“I mean, how do the parents know? How is it possible for them to somehow know what their foals would be like? I mean, it would make more sense if somepony was named after their Cutie Mark, but no, are there seers put at the hospitals who tell the parents some clue or,” Lyra stuffed a ravioli in her mouth and pointed at the other ponies staring in their direction, causing the Pegasus to meep and hide under the table in embarrassment.

The sixth thing was that North was terrified of using her wings in any situation, and that she learned how to get around by the most unusual means.

“Use your wings and flap up,” she called down to the terrified pony who dangled on her rope, a simple spelunking expedition had ended up with North’s rope somehow falling from its grip on the rock above and the poor filly was clinging onto a jutted rock. Lyra knew that her wings worked from the exercises she'd seen the filly put them through, but the pegasus refused to fly for any reason. North took her rope and eyed her choices, the trembling in her hooves betraying her nerves but she seemed to know what she was doing as she knelt before jumping on another rock, scrambling when only her front hooves found purchase and climbed on, tears building up in her eyes which she wiped quickly. Lyra wanted so badly to go find help but they were somewhere far from a village and she did not want to leave North by herself and she frantically tried to summon magic for a levitation spell. Then she watched in disbelief as North stared at the rock before climbing it vertically with no ledges, as if she was walking on the ground. As soon as those blue hooves came over the ledge Lyra grabbed her and held her in a tight grip.
“Never do something like that again,” the unicorn begged her, only to despair at the calculating edge that took over the terrified sheen from before. Questions about North's strange ability put on hold till the filly could master it herself, not that Lyra wanted to learn it at the moment with all her focus on her own magical abilities.

The seventh thing she learned was the reason behind North’s fear of the Rainbow Factory, and she did not know whether to be horrified or amused.
“Where did you hear those stories anyways?” this was met with mumbling and mutters about rumors and dreams and she sighed,
“Have you thought about investigating it?” this was met with furious headshakes and she did not even know North could look as terrified than she did in the cave, so she dropped the subject. She did not blame North for being so scared either, there were horror stories about things done to unicorn fillies and colts who were found to be ‘lacking’ in magical abilities, and the horrors about the statues in the gardens kept her away from the Canterlot Castle.
“So you haven’t visited the place to see what they do at all,” she sweat dropped at the answer, after all, her mother must be worried to death about her daughter’s (ir)rational fear of the Rainbow Factory where she worked. Not that Lyra cared what the mare must think if what she is getting from North is any indication.

The eighth thing she learned was about North’s tendency to collect, and when she meant to collect, she meant hoard. She came across the filly putting different rocks they found in caves on the shelves in the planetarium and the gems (that one place in Ponyville contained a lot of gems.) in a safe for future emergencies. It wasn't just rocks either, soon every research paper North wrote found themselves on the shelves in book or scroll form, blueprints of caves they visited and records of what happened going on a different shelf. After Cider Season in Ponyville (they started visiting after Hearth's Warming) Lyra had to draw the line when she found the wooden mugs handed out by the Apple Family were cleaned out and filled with pens,
“Please collect things that make sense,” she had begged the stubborn girl (filly, the girl was term humans used.)
The next week she stared at the seed collection and had to face hoof when North admitted to liking the idea after hearing Granny Smith (why were most of their trips planned to Ponyville anyway?) talk about her family in the old days.

The ninth thing she learned was that for her age, North was exceedingly strong. It had not been as obvious before when they were just going through research stuff or going on hikes or spelunking. But once they came across a traveling magician who needed help to pull a cart out of the ditch and Lyra’s jaw dropped when North took the harness and started pulling with the unicorn. The cart came out easily after that and as thanks, he gave them some books on his trade which North added to her book collection. Then it was as if the veil lifted as Lyra saw her friend doing physical things that should not be possible at all for her, but she did not voice it, sure she would find out the reasons later.

The tenth thing she learned was the real reason behind North’s fascination with caves, why her eyesight was poor, her eating habits and everything. Summer had begun and she was surprised to learn from North that she was being sent to her uncle’s again like last year when it was obvious the filly hated him. But grew concerned when she overheard Rainbow Dash mutter something about hoping the lessons stuck this time and about a wing binding.

When North came home a month early (her parents had demanded it) Lyra had confronted her, but even then, she could see the obvious difference. North looked exhausted but at the same time, she had a muscle tone to her that Pegasus normally don’t, the marks cleverly hidden underneath the wings that North rarely used in her home. This answered the question of why North was so strong for her age if she had been mining the whole time, though this time apparently the Diamond Dogs (Ruby Dogs North had corrected her) had forced her to enter some sort of battle royal to prove her toughness. Lyra wanted to give the adults an earful, but North had stopped her, saying adults would always believe other adults over children, and so long as North did good work, her uncle couldn’t do too much to her.
“Though I do not see him as Uncle, he is forever Wind Scar to me, despite my distaste for the same word in our name,” she had said and Lyra growled.
“It is not fair though, you are supposed to enjoy your summers, not work, and your wings,” she looked ready to cry and North quickly gave her a handkerchief.
“It’s fine, I have friends among the Ruby Dogs who I enjoy seeing, I actually saw one of them recently. Having a network in the underground could prove to be useful,” groaning at the pun, Lyra gave her friend a look.
“Just promise me that if he does try anything, you will find a way out of there,” her friend blinked before smiling,
“It will be fine, my uncle won’t be able to run from his debts for very long anyways,” Lyra decided not to ask after seeing her friend’s expression, there were some things a seven-year old’s face should not show.

The eleventh thing was that when she wasn’t around ponies in Canterlot or from visits to Cloudsdale via cloud walking spell, North Wind secretly had a sweet and spicy addiction. Lyra lost count the amount of times when they were at Sugarcube Corner and North would order a chocolate milkshake with different peppers, one time it would be a ghost pepper, the other time with a jalapeno one. The other customers would stare and wince at the steam coming from North’s ears when she ate a hot one but the filly did not seem to notice. During Nightmare Night, she made hot sauce from various peppers and dipped candy canes and other candies they had gotten from their trick or treating night. North had dressed up as an explorer while Lyra had dressed as a mummy.

“Ok, I’m curious, why the fascination with hot sauce?” Lyra asked and North took her spicy flavored candy cane out of her mouth.

“I like spicy stuff,” she explained, “And combining them with sweets makes for interesting flavors and combinations,” she took out a notebook and Lyra slammed her face into the table at the title ‘Sweet vs. Spicy’ on the cover.

“Of course, you are recording those as well,” then she had a thought, and it came out of her mouth before she could stop it, “Isn’t Rainbow liquid said to be the spiciest in Equestria,” and saw North’s mouth pull into a frown,

“Not something I will try,” she said dryly and Lyra sheepishly apologized, putting something in her mouth and too late realized it was one of the already dipped candy and rushed to the nearest trough to get rid of the burning taste.

The twelfth thing happened when Lyra brought two fellow unicorns with her to Cloudsdale, one from her school and the other who was a former mate in kindergarten. She had gotten accepted into a program for fillies and colts, who wanted to attend Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that was held on the campus itself and had run into one student there. Despite the unicorn’s haughty and arrogant attitude, Lyra felt something similar with her she felt from North and saw if the two would hit it off.

Unfortunately, when North arrived the unicorn decided she wanted to see the Rainbow Factory immediately but when the youngest filly said it was closed because of maintenance, had suggested they sneak in to see what was going on.

“Unless of course, you are afraid of seeing something you shouldn’t,” the orange-furred unicorn taunted the blue Pegasus causing the other two of their group to tense.

“I do not want to get in trouble just because you want to fulfill some sort of superiority or inferiority complex that you have. I may be the youngest and not even have my Cutie Mark, but that does not mean I am naïve. If you want to see the Rainbow Factory, you can arrange a visit in the future when it is open to the public, but not today, who wants to visit the stadium where all the flying sports are played?” and the discussion was dropped. Lyra couldn’t tell whether her upperclassmen was impressed with North’s show of spine, but the green unicorn felt her own respect growing for the studious filly.

The twelfth thing she learned about her friend that even if she had her ways and believed certain things about her race, she would not disobey rules to satisfy an older pony’s ego. This should not have been new, but Lyra felt it best she tell herself this before she could forget.

Of course the orange unicorn never returned but Lyra could only muse that if they had met differently, North Wind and Sunset Shimmer would be great friends. There were still areas where she felt like she did not know anything about her friend, but in their journey through Equestria that no one but the two of them knew about, Lyra decided she did not really care. There were secrets that one must keep till they are ready to reveal them, and she wasn't in a rush to demand the now seven year old to tell her anything.
Even if she was dying to know who keeps sending the filly those crates of meat without anyone getting caught.

Chapter 4- Pegasus on the Rock Farm

“Cloudy Quartz, thou must come and see this letter,” with some concern she did so, the moment her husband had opened the letter he had stood rock still and hadn’t even scolded Pinkamena for accidentally knocking over the cart of rocks.

“What is within this communication?” she took it from him with his permission and began reading.

“A filly by the name of North Wind ahs requested our hospitality for the last month of summer. She wishes to learn from our ways and pick at our knowledge of geology. This North also states that she will work and sleep in a nearby cave if we are unable to provide boarding.” What an unusual request, and Cloudy Quartz could not find it in her to be offended at the insinuation as they have never had anyone over before.

One thing did stand out to her however.

“By her name we can only assume which tribe she is from,” he nodded, a grim look on his face as they thought about why a pegasus filly was interested in their way of life.

“But tis not a horrible idea,” she agreed on that part, on the whole they get requests to sell their rocks and even do construction work sometimes. They also harvest crystals to sell to unicorns for certain spells and apart from asking the local weather team for certain conditions to be maintained; no one has ever requested to live on their farm to find out what they do day to day.

Looking back down on the letter she searched for the filly’s age but it was remarkably blank apart from a forwarding address to Ponyville

Did this filly have a good reason for wanting to stay with them on the Rock Farm?

North had a good reason for wanting to stay with the Pie Family on the Rock Farm. In fact she had several good reasons.

Number One was that it meant she didn’t have to deal with her family and Chief Ruffalo agreed to let her spend the last month of summer on the Rock Farm before they would pick her up to maintain cover. He was still searching for the traitors in the Ruby Dog tribe that had sworn loyalty to her uncle but it was proving harder than he expected. Not to mention the stallion somehow got holds in the Diamond and Sapphire tribes respectively. The Emerald tribe hadn’t been seen in quite some time and unfortunately there was no records of where they had gone in any of the archives she could get to. As far as her parents were concerned she was with her uncle doing special ‘training’, they did not even push for her to be in flight camp.

Well, technically her f- Bow Hothoof tried once but Windy Whistles insisted on her going with Wind Scar again for safety and Rainbow Dash said nothing, as usual.

Number Two was the fact that she found evidence of a cave somewhere near there but needed to ask permission from them to use it. There was said to be some sort of strange magic in the cave and she wanted to see for herself what it was.

Number Three was her growing interest in geology and speleology and the decreasing material available for her to devour. The idea of a rock farm appealed to her and she was hoping that they would have new material she could look at.

Number Four is the fact the name of the family was Pie which meant Pinkie Pie was there. She hadn’t known that the filly lived on a rock farm (her knowledge of the show was spotty at best) and despite her misgivings about meeting other main characters, her curiosity of the Element of Laughter’s home village won out.

Number Five, she was going to put together a project that would impress the teachers and earn her an early graduation. She had already cleared it with the teacher in charge of the graduating class whose bitterness at the way things were done in Cloudsdale (he wanted to be a painter but his dreams were crushed years ago.) led to him agreeing to reading her project and giving her two separate tests, one near the end of summer and one at winter. If she passed both she was considered for graduation and did not have to worry about school anymore. He would file her graduation to be announced by the end of the year, at which point her parents might figure it out too late, but she would be out of there.

Hm, maybe she could arrange a transfer to Lyra’s school, maybe? Unless they did not let Pegasii or Earth Ponies attend their school which did not seem all that fair to her. Then again, going to Canterlot permanently means a chance at running into Bow Hothoof, Wind Scar, or worse, Princess Celestia herself.

Maybe two years ago she would have considered going straight to the princess about what happened, used the opportunity of her dad being a Royal Guard to slip into the palace and try to find the alicorn.

Then she read an edict sent by the princess and vowed never to go into the castle. The princess apparently decreed that all bearing the ‘Blessing of the Wind’ (a title North gagged at when she found it) were to be taken into custody by the Royal Guards. Those who had been taken in the past were never heard from again and she did not want to find out what happened to them, at all.

Why her parents hadn’t done it yet was a mystery, but she had a strange feeling Wind Scar was behind it, as was her mo-Windy Whistles who she caught arguing with Bow about it once. Not that it mattered to her in the end, they’ve already proven that they did not have her best interests at heart and the constant meat withholding in an attempt to keep her curse in control was getting tiresome.

A week after sending the letter to the Pie Farm, she went down to Ponyville where Granny Smith greeted her with a mane rustle and a reply.
“Never met a rock farmer, yer sure you want to do this?” the Apple matriarch asked, a bit concerned, but North gave hear a reassuring grin.
“Yeah, it’s the best option,” the school year was almost over and she had a back-up plan in case they couldn’t take her in.
Go to Klugetown. She hadn’t been there yet but Ruffalo and Gaius made her promise not to go there by herself, or just with Lyra.
“Well I do hope you plan on visiting sometime this summer, none of my grandchildren want to listen to my stories anymore, and I need someone to share embarrassing stories with,” she whispered the last part, making North snort.
“More like someone to keep the embarrassing photos you’ve taken somewhere safe so that they don’t try to destroy them,” the green Earth pony winked.
North liked Granny Smith, she was one of the only mares in Ponyville who didn’t automatically try to coddle her or force her to give up her parents’ names so that she could contact them. She accepted North’s interest in weird areas and had plenty of stories about the past.
Even ones about the Wind.
North didn’t say she had it and Granny never asked her, but North learned more about legends and the like from this mare than she did in the books contained within the Ruby Dog archives. Including a particular rumor about a place capable of relinquishing the Blessing back to the Wind itself albeit with a price. Gaius had said something similar but refused to tell her anything and made her gut fish in retaliation when she tried to push the issue.
Gutting a fish with only a knife in her mouth was kind of disgusting and she gave up asking him.

North figured the mare was trying to subtly warn her away from doing such a thing by also telling stories of those who used their Blessing to protect their loved ones; but the filly felt they had a better hoof or claw at life than she did. They didn’t have family members who hoisted them off to a wicked uncle who was too lazy to pay off his own debt.
Ripping open the letter she skimmed over it, letting out a breath of relief, they said yes, with the added note that yes, they did have room for boarding.
“Well that is good news, why don’t we celebrate with some mulled cider and nachos, without my son finding out of course,” North couldn’t help but laugh at that, Granny was always trying to enjoy her favorite foods, but her overprotective son has lately been trying to get her to eat more healthy and cut down on salty foods.
“Sure, with cheese and habanero sauce?” they went into the grocery store and came out with a bag of chips and mentioned items, taking them to a secret spot where they settled down and began eating, trading words and embarrassing stories. North talked about the caves she’s been to and Granny Smith about her farming days.
It was nice.
“I can’t believe you had a picnic with Granny Smith and didn’t invite me,” Lyra pouted as they waited for the train.
“Sorry, it was sort of last minute and I was only there to pick up a letter which thankfully had good news,” she had the minimum packed to avoid suspicion, and was dreading the moment her uncle arrived.
“Sorry I can’t come with you, but I’m going to music camp,” the mint green unicorn said apologetically, North waved her off.
“It’s fine, make sure to at least message me when you can, and no casting magic willy nilly either,” she said dryly, Lyra winced as she remembered a few memorable moments of failed magic casting.
“I won’t, I’m actually thinking of signing up for a different instrument than the lyre to play, I’ve been taking so many lyre lessons but I’m already proficient, and it will be good change up between instruments,” they said one last goodbye before Lyra disappeared on the train and North spotted her uncle with his usual unsettling smirk heading right towards her.
‘It’ll only be two days’ she told herself, ‘two days’ as the stallion forced her into the next train and put the binds on which he then covered with a Wonderbolts shirt.
‘T.W.O. D.A.Y.S.’ she reaffirmed, trying to focus on how she’ll be spending the next month on the Pie Farm.

Over the past two years she had exhausted all the resources on speleology and magical theory at the Canterlot Library, even the Archives that she was able to gain access to once. In Ponyville she tried not to be dismissive of their selection which contained more books on speleology. Her and Lyra must have gone to fifty different caves over the past two years when they could. The only areas near them that they had not gone to were the caverns said to exist beneath Canterlot and the cave system in the Everfree Forest. The former because they did not have the clearance nor did they know where to start, and the latter because, well it was the Everfree and even North had enough preservation not to go in there till she was older. Lyra had been very patient when it came to her interests, even though at some points the unicorn looked like she wanted to quit cave exploring.
There were several things that North had learned about Lyra through the past two years they had known one another.

First was that Lyra’s fascination from humans had stemmed from a book that her deceased father had had in his collection. He read it to her once as a bedtime story and she learned all she could on humans from him. But when he passed her mother put a stop to the subject and Lyra had been forced to keep her interests hidden, it didn’t last long.

Second was that Lyra had way more patience for North’s ‘quirks’ which North admitted to herself would drive any other pony crazy. Sure, the mint unicorn had interesting expressions when North did something particularly strange, but at least she had the sense to ask instead of judge on it (especially the sweet and spicy obsession North herself had.)

Third is something North feels Lyra’s mom is unaware of, and that is Lyra’s prodigious talent in the field of music. When it comes to memorizing music or playing, Lyra practically had a perfect pitch and great memory when it came to music. Though if Lyra could only use that memory for magical spells and how to perform them correctly, North shook her head. She tried teaching North music but they both found out the hard way that while she can read notes and such, she could not sing. Lyra's despair was almost amusing if North didn't find it somewhat annoying that she could not sing at all.

Fourth is Lyra’s noble front which North had witnessed once or twice when she saw her at a dinner with other ponies. It was obvious the pony had gone through years of etiquette, and North did not know whether to be impressed or freaked out that Lyra could pull off looking so poised and elegant, and calm.

Fifth is that apart from being afraid of the statues of the garden of Canterlot, Lyra had a small fear of fire, and was kind of wary about dragons. Something about a migration incident and a torched campsite (along with Lyra’s stuffed animal.)
Sixth is that Lyra’s uncle was a very important person despite his young age and that the planetarium had belonged to his father who had been a very important astronomer. Lyra had an interest in studying the stars herself, just not to the extent of looking at it as a career. Her uncle had found out about them using the observatory, but instead of getting mad, arranged it so that they wouldn't get in trouble for using the place and even put the observatory under Lyra's name.

There were other things that North learned about Lyra that she could write a small report on, but above everything, North was glad the older filly was her friend. Being mentally older than a lot of fillies, North thought her only friends would be Ruffalo and Gaius till she got older and made friends with adult ponies. (Even if Ruffalo was gruff most of the time and tried to deny the fact of them being friends.) But Lyra was a breath of fresh air, who did not mind that despite being two years younger, North was much smarter than her in some areas. They both had an understanding that there were things the other was good at, that the others were not, so no jealous or ugly feelings had risen, yet at least. Sometimes North wished she was a unicorn, and sometimes Lyra wished she was a Pegasus, but it was something the two debated over several times despite knowing it could never be possible for them.

The whole month she spent between hunting and controlling exercises with Gaius and in an entirely new archive that Ruffalo had managed to unseal. Luckily there was some sort of special magic in place that kept the work from rotting, but all that she found in there were mining records and complaints about ponies and griffins on the ‘surface’. Ruffalo also had her giving reading and writing lessons to some of the high-ranking canines in the tribe, Ruffalo himself included. Then of course there was the fighting matches she did the previous summer that she had to do again to increase her rank among the canines. She had to do this without her curse activating which also served as a way of strengthening her mental fortitude and control. Control she’d been perfecting in the basement of the planetarium for the past two years along with her fighting abilities. Lyra was so confused when North asked if she could borrow some of the old training equipment from her house’s attic that she felt a bit bad. It probably didn’t help that she asked Granny Smith for some old round-up training poles that she could practice jumping and weaving around. But if she didn’t practice there was a chance of her losing a lot more matches than she did and she did not want to risk being caught off guard.

Now finally she was done and if Wind Scar were to ask where she was, they would tell him she was at a different mine.
“Are ye North Wind?” forcing the desire to raise an eyebrow at the old way of speaking, she turned to see a stallion standing with an impassive face, wearing a hat and with a straw in his mouth.

“Yes, I am, Mr. Pie?” she asked attentively and he gave a slow nod. He then turned and walked away and she had to trot to catch up to him as he led her to the Pie’s rock farm.

There were not that many rock farmers and North (before her thoughts turned to Lyra) had been thinking about her reasons for choosing the Pie Family Farm to learn from that had nothing to do with her other goals.

The Pies were the foremost experts in geology and have had their own dealings with different canine groups in the past. Hopefully not all of them were negative ones.
They came upon the rock farm and she could see the Pie sisters in the distance, turning or flipping over the rocks,
“There is to be a rain schedule for tomorrow, so we must finish what needs to be done,” Igneous Rock Pie explained and she hummed in thought as they reached the house where the mother was spooning out soup.
“So this is the little Pegasus interested in how we do things here,” Cloudy Quartz looked down her glasses at North who straightened under her gaze, “If ye want to stay here, ye will be expected to finish chores and listen to everything we say,” she nodded and the mare called her daughters in for a meal break.
One of Pinkie’s sisters approached her and looked at her through narrowed eyes,
“Stay away from Houlder’s Boulder fly pony,” she said pointing at the large rock off to the side of the house and North nodded quickly, not wanting to get on their bad sides. The filly sniffed and entered the house, grabbing her bowl of rock soup that her mother handed her.

“Sorry about Limestone,” one of them said, a blank expression on her face, and North gave a small smile.
“I do not mind all that much, it is very important to your family right?” the older filly nodded and led the Pegasus to the dining room where bowls of rock soup were being devoured by the younger sisters.
“It is surprising one your age is not pursuing other interests, what made you interested in asking for our guidance?” Igneous asked and she took a deep breath, there would be no point lying to them.

“I’ve been researching caves, mining, and geology the last few years in the hopes that my Cutie Mark could come of it. But so far the only thing I have acquired are the dos and don’ts of speleology. I was hoping to work on a rock farm and learn from those who deal with rocks yearly, I might get some insight on whether I am missing something,” when asked if she had any of her reports with her, North’s cheeks darkened, “One or two,” and she dropped one of her bags on the floor and opened it to reveal several notebooks and scrolls.
“One or two indeed,” the Mrs. Pie said dryly and North looked sheepish.
They sent her out for work with the sisters while their mother looked over the notes with their father and was partnered with Maud who was the most knowledgeable about rocks.
“I plan on getting a Rockterate when I’m older,” the filly stated blandly and North tilted her head.
“Are you interested in a certain type of rock? Or is there a specific area you are hoping to live in and add to the science world?” clearly the filly didn’t expect this kind of question.
“Few outside our family are interested in such things,”
“They should be, especially those in Canterlot, where do they think their roads and building materials come from,” North muttered under her breath about the close-mindedness of the nobility while Maud gazed at her from the corner of her eye.
“You are very interesting,” the blue Pegasus shut her mouth, embarrassed.
“Sorry, sometimes I can’t help myself,”
“It is no trouble,” they worked for several hours before ‘Ma’ and ‘Pa’ as the sisters called them, summoned them back inside.
“I noticed a few irregularities in the notes you took on this one chap’s books, I fear that he mixed sandstone with something else,” North looked dismayed as she looked over the notes.

“Oh, that’s not good,” then she saw some notes written about the Sapphire Dogs and realized they must've read her report on what she knew about Jewel Dogs. But they didn't say anything so she kept quiet and nodded in thanks.
“I will give you the correct information tomorrow, now it is time to rest,” and they all went to bed.
It was so strange to see a non-smiling Pinkie Pie, her straight hair caused nightmares to appear and North had to steady herself and try not to show how freaked out she was.
‘I have to forget about the Psycho Pinkie stories, they don’t exist, Pinkie Pie just has not learned how to smile yet’ she took a deep breath, turning the rock in front of her ninety degrees like the others had done. The rain had flooded the area a bit and they had to make sure all the rocks were accounted for.
The next two weeks passed like this, North spent ten hours outside (five in the morning, thirty-minute lunch break, then five hours in the afternoon.) Then she would spend several hours studying with one of the adults and learning about the different companies that they had contracts with.

“Some ponies come asking about where to find the best gems,” the distaste in his tone told her how he felt about that, “But we primarily deal with construction companies or toy ones that want to buy rocks for pets,” North had to whistle, inwardly, there were sure a lot of building companies that depended on them.
She, of course, did the report on the weather and how it affected the rocks, and after several revisions and a review by Mrs. Pie, she sent it by mail to her teacher. She did not want it getting lost when she went through the cave.

At the end of three weeks (two weeks left till she had to return), she was ready to go and the Pie family gave her gifts as several smooth stones, and with Igneous an old book on rock lore that also contained information about not just Jewel Dogs, but a race of ponies called Nocturne. Huh, so there was a fourth pony tribe? She looked up at him but he shook his head,
“Take heed and do not take unnecessary risks,” he warned her, knowing where she planned to go, and she gave him a salute.
“I’ll be fine, if there is something I’m sure about, it is how to navigate a cave. Besides, I packed some snacks and a water bottle so I should be good for a few days at least.”
Despite their concerns, they let her go and watched as she entered the cave with a headlamp strapped to her head.
“At least she didn’t break Holder’s Bolder,” and that was the only nice thing Limestone had to say about the strange filly.

Applejack tossed and turned in her bed. The noisy nightlife of Manehattan had kept her up these past few nights, and she couldn't wait for morning to come, even if it meant another day in this lonely and foreign city.

Rarity struggled to stop her horn from dragging her further, it had dragged her through forests and strange places the last few days, and she wanted it to stop now!

Twilight was nervous as she waited for her turn in the entrance exam, several ponies went ahead of her, and she saw the looks of those who came out, feeling increasingly nervous at the defeated expressions most of them had. How was she going to get through this?

Fluttershy wished she was anywhere but here, it was her last year school, she had no Cutie Mark which led to much ridicule in her class and those younger than her. Her parents were gone on a trip with her brother and she had insisted on improving her flight, but now she was regretting it.

Rainbow flew, rejoicing in being able to fly as much as she wanted. No more crashing for this pony. She got over that! The grin on her face disappeared when she saw two familiar bullies approaching Fluttershy, who she only knew from this camp and wouldn't be able to defend herself. With a determined nod, she flew down to stop them.

North Wind climbed down from the very tall cliff, using the pick-ax she had stowed away as a hook with a rope tied to it, she wanted to master this part of spelunking without having to use her strange ability to climb down with her hooves. But it would be so much easier if she had fingers! With a sigh she dropped to the ground and turned on the headlight that one of the Pie sisters had given her, too small to fit any of their heads now but was slightly big on hers. Making sure all of her stuff was secure, she recalled the map in her mind and looking at the two paths before her, took the one on the right. Just as she reached another split path, a rumble sounded and startled, she looked up to see stalactites above her, and they weren't attached to the ceiling!

Above the cave in the sky the first sonic rainboom in centuries exploded through the sky, breaking glass in several places and scaring not just the residents of villages, but the animals as well.

Chapter 5- Butterflies in the Cave

Fluttershy eeped as the loud boom echoed through the valley she was in, the animals scattering as a rainbow light passed overhead.
“Oh dear,” she went to get them out of their hiding spots when she heard a distinct sound, a voice. Fluttershy had always prided herself on her hearing, it was one of the things she was used to using growing up, and she could hear a voice.
“Help!” to her astonishment it was coming from down below and she pressed her ear against the ground, hearing
another ‘help’ and her eyes widened.
“There must be a cave, but,” she looked around, searching for something that might help when she remembered the animals.
She approached the squirrels in the trees, the birds in the clouds and the animals that hid in the water.
“Please, can you help me find where the voice is coming from?” the butterflies and squirrels scattered and she kept her ears strained, hoping that she could hear the voice once again.

A squirrel tugged on her tail and chittered, pointing in a different direction, and she followed the animals to an opening just large enough for her to pull herself through.

She entered the dark cave, feeling her stomach tighten with fear, how was she going to find the one who needed her help if she couldn’t see?
A glow appeared before her and fireflies swarmed around her, forming a line to lead her through.
“Thank-you,” she was awed at their willingness to help and the fact she was able to understand them. Terror overcame that awe when she heard squeaking and a growl.
The glow from the fireflies showed something hanging from the ceiling and a large object approaching them. They looked like a bunch of cocoons and the large figure had two points on its head.

“H-hello?” Fluttershy trembled, if it was a monster or a d-dragon, she didn’t know what she was going to do!

Something landed in her hair and she was met with two brown eyes as the face they belonged to chittered at her, and her ears straightened.

“Oh, you heard what was going on and want to help me?” the animal nodded its head and pointed at the large object in front of them which now that they were close enough, the lights showed it to be a bear. Fluttershy might not have been on the surface all that much, but she knew what a bear looked like and now that she thought of it, weren’t the animals attached to the ceiling called ‘bats’?

It led her to what looked to be a rock fall and gasped when she saw the hoof sticking out at the bottom.

“Oh no, oh dear, please help me free her,” the bear grunted, grabbing the larger rocks and moving them to the side while Fluttershy and the bats moved the smaller rocks, the fireflies (since they could not carry anything) providing the light.

When Fluttershy saw the filly she gasped, recognizing her from Cloudsdale and wondering how in Equestria she got down here.
“We have to get her to a hospital,” blue eyes fluttered open as their owner woke up, a help on her lips when she noticed Fluttershy. While her body had been covered with rocks, the only injury she appeared to have was her back foot which was bleeding and several cuts on her neck and back.

“Who?” the fireflies flew closer as Fluttershy did so as well

“Hello, I heard you crying for help and I asked these animals to help me and they led me to you,” the filly struggled to her feet but the bear saw how panicked Fluttershy was and knelt down, nudging the small filly onto his back.

“That’s nice of you, you are like a rescue pony,” Fluttershy blinked at those words, cheeks warming.

“Rescue pony?”

“Yeah, I mean, a rescue pony, or are they called rangers? Being able to talk to animals and have them help find other ponies is a perfect fit for the job,” Fluttershy smiled to herself, her a rescue pony? She thought speaking to animals was a pretty great talent, but using it to help rescue ponies?
‘A rescue pony’ she didn’t notice the glow on her flank, lost in her thoughts before a rumbling sound caught her attention.
“Um, what is that?” the bats, squeaking in alarm, flew ahead, and taking that as a cue, Fluttershy, and the bear broke out into a sprint, just as the cave started shaking and more stalactites fell towards them.

They tried to go the way Fluttershy had earlier but were forced to turn away when they came across a bunch of rocks and strange vines that reached towards them.
“In here!” Fluttershy entered a cavern that was glowing, flying as hard as she could when a splashing sound was heard and she turned to see the bear staring at a rippling pool with puzzlement, the blue filly gone from his back. He had tried to dodge a vine thrown at him and the weight on his back had disappeared before he could blink.
“Oh no!” she flew towards the pool, about ready to dive in when the blue filly herself popped out, spluttering and spitting out water.

“Be careful please,” she said giving the bear a deadpan look, climbing out of the freezing water, not seeing their expressions change from worried to shock, “This is a really strange cavern, all the pools are glowing, some sort of algae maybe?” she wondered and Fluttershy gulped.
“Um,” she winced as those eyes met her, “The pools are not the only ones glowing,” she pointed at the filly who gave her a puzzled look.
“What do you mean-fireflies don’t glow like that, and I’m out of the pool,” she looked down at herself, giving a yelp at the brightness coming off of it, “Oh no no, tell me this isn’t permanent, I don’t want to be a glow stick,” in a panic her wings flared and she cried out as wind swirled around her, sending her into the air into another pool.
Fluttershy winced at the sound of another splash as the filly landed into yet another glowing pool.

It took ten seconds for the glowing filly to emerge, this time sporting even more strange additions which she refused to look at.
“No matter what, do not let me look before we are out of here,” she told Fluttershy firmly who nodded quickly.
They searched for an exit, being careful to avoid falling into the pools and the odd rocks and vines that came at them.
Upon coming into another open cavern, the two fillies and animals stared wide-eyed at the jungle of thorns and vines surrounding what looked to be a tree.

“That does not look good,” Fluttershy looked worried for the poor tree and North looked at it in confusion before shaking her head.
“The first thing we need to do is get out of here, there is nothing we can do for the tree at this moment,” which was the truth.
But the moment they left the cavern, the image of the tree was gone from their minds, leaving them confused as they stared up at stairs that led to what appeared to be a forest.

Fluttershy flapped alongside the bear as they went up the stairs, wobbling a little but feeling uneasy about being near the cave any longer than she should be.
North gave a sideways glance at Fluttershy as they went through what she realized to be the Everfree Forest,

‘I didn’t realize it was Fluttershy at first, which was stupid because who else could speak to animals? But what is she doing down here? Is today the day she realized her what her Cutie Mark is?' Against her will, her eyes strayed to the filly’s flank and if she had not been on top of the bear she would have stopped walking, as it was, she froze which the bear noticed. His grunt caught Fluttershy’s attention and she turned to North to ask what was wrong when she noticed the blue filly’s attention was on her, or rather a part of her. Blinking in confusion, she glanced down only to gasp,
“My Cutie Mark! I got my Cutie Mark,” she was so giddy she didn’t notice the horrified look that crossed North’s attention.
“T-that’s great,” North erased any negative feelings from her face in order to not tip off the excited yellow colored Pegasus.

‘How did this happen? Am I in a parallel universe after all? Is that why Rainbow Dash is the way she is, or the fact there are so many dark elements among Equestrian society?’ how else can she explain that Fluttershy’s Cutie Mark, the one that emphasized her special talent, that all Bronies knew on sight, was completely different?! She didn't know the plot as thoroughly as they did, but she knew what they're Cutie Marks looked like at least.
Sure, there was that one fic where Fluttershy’s Cutie Mark was the definition of ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ but this is ridiculous.

“It even includes Mr. Bear,” Fluttershy gave the bear a sweet smile and its cheeks turned red.

For on her flank were the four animals instrumental in helping her save North Wind. There was a blue butterfly with pink crosses in its wings on the left, a pink bat with a blue cross in the middle on the right, the firefly had a blue outline with a yellow glow with a pink cross in the glow, and there was a small pink bear print on the bottom with a blue cross. Their positions formed the cross of the Rescue Ponies and Fluttershy felt her heart soar at the thought. Sure, there were other animals that had helped but these four ones had been the ones to help her find the younger one.

“B-but,” North Wind finally stuttered out and Fluttershy gave her a concerned look,

“Are yo-!” she squeaked in alarm when the filly’s eyes went back into her head and she fainted, “Oh no! We better get her to a hospital quickly!” she didn’t want the filly to have a fever or die from untreated injuries!
As the two ponies, bear, butterflies, fireflies, and bats traversed through the forest, several other ponies went about their day in different ways.

Applejack greeted her family happily, she should never have thought going to Manehattan would solve all her problems. Sweet Apple Acres was where she belonged, and it is where she will be in her future. Her cutie mark appeared in a glow, showing three red apples which led to another reason to celebrate apart from her return.

Rarity watched the play in front of her in delight, oh the costumes looked so magnificent with the gems added to them. Her teacher seemed to think so because she gave her a delighted grin,
“Good job Rarity,” she said sincerely, the light from the gem-encrusted costumes shining off of her glasses and a feeling a tingling on her flank, she glanced down.
“My Cutie Mark!” as she celebrated her Cutie Mark, her teacher gave a soft smile, happy that one of her students could figure out their path for the future after so much frustration and fear that it would never appear.

Pinkie wished that her friend (they were friends right?) North Wind had stayed a day longer because then there would be someone else, she could cheer up. She had never realized what her Pinkie Sense had been telling her before her delight for joy and laughter was found, but now she recognized it telling her that North Wind was someone that needed cheering up.
“I’ll message her and find out,” she hopped about, happy about her own family enjoying the party, their smiles warming her heart.

Twilight chattered to her parents excitedly about the fact she had been chosen as the princesses’ new student. She had been so scared that she wouldn’t be able to pass the test, but that explosion had activated her magic and she was so happy it worked. She pretended not to see the caution that had appeared in their eyes, after all she had accidentally turned them into plants, and no matter how much it hurt that her parents thought she should request study time in the castle after hours, she would keep going. Her talent was magic and maybe Princess Celestia would teach her how to control it as soon as possible, she did not want to hurt anypony else, thank Celestia that Shining hadn’t been there. Seeing the caution in his eyes would have killed her, and she did not want her big brother to look at her like that at all, more than her parents.

Rainbow Dash was cheering as her parents were called to the flight camp and reporters and a bunch of other ponies appeared. She had performed a Sonic Rainboom, her! There was no way anypony else could pull it off like she could, and her Cutie Mark signified what her destiny was, to be the fastest flyer in all Equestria.
‘I got my own special abilities that North doesn’t have’ she thought to herself, trying not to feel guilty at how pleased she was that this ability of hers wasn’t feared like her sister’s was. She tried not to think about the distance between them, because there was plenty of time in the future for the two of them to bond. Where they didn’t have to worry about North’s curse and her parents didn’t have to be afraid about North being taken away anymore. She wondered if North, despite everything, would feel prou- Wind Scar's voice reached her ears and she beamed at her uncle, happy he'd taken the time out of his schedule to see her. The pride in his eyes made her swell as he boomed about her being a future Wonderbolt, her parents agreeing right along with him.

Princess Celestia stared at the sky as she thought over the events, several fillies apart from Twilight Sparkle had received their Cutie Marks. Someone would be blind not to see the Sonic Rainboom that went across the sky, she had not seen Pegasus magic like that for centuries! And she had heard from other sources of fillies in Ponyville receiving a Cutie Mark.

‘Does this mean what I think it means?’ she knew the power of the Elements had been cut off from her all those years ago when she had banished Luna. But she had held hope to once again be able to see her sister, Elements or no Elements, and had been searching for ways to take the Nightmare essence from her baby sister.

But now she has a new student, one whose Cutie Mark she had seen once before on a certain tree (she frowned, she had not visited that place in a while. But as soon as she remembered the thought slipped from her again) which might mean soon apart from her sister and Cadance, a new Princess would be coming. There had not been an ascended princess since Cadance who had been a real surprise, in, she frowned, was there ever one who ascended apart from Cadance? Shaking her head, she glanced down to see slitted green eyes as the owner sucked on his tail. That had been a surprise, Dragon Eggs being hatched by magic were rare and if it weren’t for his egg being found in ruins, she would try to find his parents. But what to do with him,
‘Twilight Sparkle hatched him’ a small voice said, and she hummed in thought. Maybe she could teach Twilight differently than she taught Sunset, starting with responsibility, and how to have a friend.

The glowing pools in the cavern where North and Fluttershy had been slowly lost their light as the day ended. The thorny vines from before had fallen into the matter and whatever magic contained within the waters themselves were absorbed. One by one, the seven pools were drained of their energy, two going faster than the others for certain reasons. Even the vines themselves started withering, the seeds that had sprouted them withering till only a few remained, not to sprout again for another 12-13 years.

Where once a rainbow of lights flashed across the ceiling, there was now darkness, nothing to be left for anypony to find, its purpose was done.

Fluttershy ran through the forest, the friendly bear next to her as she found herself panicking. She needed to find a hospital, but where was there a hospital? She was deep in thought and nearly crashed into a mare just outside the forest.
"Oh!" the surprised gasp had her looking up, and she eeped, almost withdrawing in herself before realizing what running into someone means.
"I-i'm sorry, but where's the nearest hospital? My f-friend," she nodded to the nonconscious filly, getting another gasp from the mare.
"Oh dear, let's get you there," she seemed weary of the bear but he followed behind them sedately through the village, getting stares and such from the residents who did not know how to deal with a bear walking calmly through their town. Upon reaching the hospital, the mare ran to get a doctor while Fluttershy had to wave goodbye to the bear who grunted at her thanks and placed a saddlebag that she hadn't seen before.
"Oh, is that North Wind's?" the bear huffed and walked back the way they came. Several orderlies took North from where the bear placed her and disappeared down the hall, leaving Fluttershy by herself.
The filly gulped, feeling herself tremble at all the stares.
"Are you okay, dear?" the tan mare from before looked concerned, her orange mane in a low ponytail, "Do you have someone we can contact," Fluttershy hid behind her hair.
"My parents are on a trip," she whispered, the mare coming closer to hear her better, "I was at Flight Camp and fell down," she looked through the saddle bags, wondering if she should message Rainbow Dash, when she pulled out a letter from one of the pockets.
"If found, return to North Wind, if unavailable contact Lyra Heartstrings in Music Camp at this address," on the back of the letter there was a picture of a unicorn filly and bit her lip. How was she going to contact her?
"Well until we can get in contact, how about staying at my family's farm till your friend gets better? I promise we don't bite," Fluttershy turned red, not sure what to say, and when the mare leaned forward, she gulped.
"Ok," she whispered.

Chapter 6- Pegasus in the Hospital

Author’s Note: I do not own MLP, just my character, and please ignore lack of accent on Granny Smith’s part, not very good with writing them and can’t find any articles or books on the subject.

Lyra didn’t know what to think when a robin landed on her table, a letter tied to its foot. She knew with North Wind’s numerous ‘quirks’ and desire to remain discreet that she could’ve developed new ways for secret communication. She once stated that she was trying to find a spell for linked journals where what’s written ends up in the other journal and vice versa. Lyra knew that such a thing did exist from stumbling upon Sunset using the journal (she immediately wiped that thought from her mind, no matter how much of a brat the former personal student of Celestia was, her disappearance was still a blow and it was agreed upon not to say anything about her in Twilight Sparkle’s presence.)

Wait, that wasn’t her writing at all.

“Is this for me?” she questioned the bird, feeling a bit stupid since it did have her name, but it merely chirped and held out the letter again. She opened it and read the first sentence, her horn flared and the robin flew off in panic as the instrument in front of Lyra let out a sound not unlike a guitar which shouldn’t happen since it was a violin.

“Miss Heartstrings!” the camping instructor was heading her way and Lyra decided it was in her best interest, to leave.

“Sorry got to go, thanks for the wonderful time!” she ignored the stallion’s sputters, grabbing her bag and everything else and heading for the train station that was only a few miles away.

Unfortunately, her instructor was a unicorn and Lyra found herself lifted up into the air and brought back before an unamused stallion.

“Why are you in a rush?” he demanded, Lyra swallowed.

“I just received a letter saying my friend’s in the hospital,” the aura around her flickered and she almost fell if he hadn’t rushed to grab her again.

“I see,” he was silent for a moment, “How about this, you can leave at the end of the week despite there being two weeks left. I shall get your mother’s permission and we can even refund the bits for the rest of your stay. But I cannot let a filly such as yourself go around unsupervised, so I shall accompany you,” she bit her tongue to prevent the sentence that wanted to come out. Both her and North Wind had been on their own plenty of times and done well, then again North was better at planning than she was and always made sure they had the necessary supplies before going somewhere. Wait, did Lyra even know how to get to Ponyville from here?

“Alright, but is there a way I can send a letter really quickly?” her eyes were wide in a plea and the stallion sighed.

“Very well, to whom am I addressing?” she looked down at the letter once more,

“Uh, Fluttershy? She’s in Ponyville,” her instructor blinked, a confused expression on his face before he cleared it.

“What a coincidence, I plan on moving there within the next few years, now, let us return to our flute lessons,” he adjusted the bow around his neck, “And maybe we’ll add some dancing ones?” her ears flicked up as she hid her smile, this stallion really liked dancing for some reason.

“Yes sir, Sonic Recorder sir,” he turned to trot away and she hummed to herself as she followed him, maybe someday she could convince him to teach her some of his magical spells that revolved around sonic sound of all things.

Though right now he was being very stingy about it.

Fluttershy got out of bed, quietly exiting the room that they were letting her stay in, and made her way out the door to finish up whatever chores needed of her.

The Apple family had been gracious enough to let her stay with them till her parents came to pick her up, and despite their protests she insisted on helping around the farm. Granny Smith, who apparently knew North Wind, agreed and had her use her special talent to take care of any critters that were in hiding or terrorizing the farm. Bright Mac and Buttercup were taking turns between doing chores on the farm and taking Buttercup to the hospital for a check-up. They were trying for a third foal and the Earth mare was excited for a new treatment coming in. Their oldest son Big Mac scared her a bit with his talkative nature, so she did her best to sneak out to the hospital before he tried to catch up to her to talk about the calculations of the labor she’d been saving them. They had a daughter as well but from what she heard Applejack was still in Manehattan trying to find herself.

By the time the sun was peaking over the hills she was out the gate and down the road towards Ponyville hospital, almost bumping into the local mailmare if they hadn’t seen her first.

“S-sorry,” she whispered, hiding behind her mane, the older mare laughed.

“No biggie filly, hm, your Fluttershy right? Got a letter for ya,” eyes widening, Fluttershy accepted the envelope with a quiet thanks and tucked it in the saddlebag on her back which also contained a packed lunch from Granny Smith.

Did her parents already get the letter about her being in Ponyville? Or did Lyra already reply even though should’ve received the letter just yesterday?

Fluttershy didn’t open the letter till she got to North’s room, the younger filly still unconscious with her wing and leg bandaged (something about her wings angered the doctors and it was only upon Granny Smith’s stern reprimand that they didn’t interrogate Fluttershy.) Curling up on the window seat, Fluttershy opened the letter, blinking at the unfamiliar hoof writing, or is it horn writing in this case? Why was it written on music paper?

“Dear Fluttershy,

Is North okay? Is she awake yet? You didn’t send a message to her parents right? Because in case you didn’t, do not, and I repeat, do not tell them anything, do not even tell Rainbow Dash what happened okay? As far as her parents are concerned she’s off with whatever her Uncle is forcing her to do, and if they find out that she managed to go somewhere else for the whole summer they will flip. Or tell her Uncle, which is a really, really, really, bad idea. Sorry, did not mean to frighten you, I am grateful for everything that you did for North Wind, she’s my best friend and the only one who believes in me in Canterlot, which is kind of sad when she isn’t from Canterlot. Since you’re in Ponyville, and Granny Smith knows that North is here, just tell her it was an incident from one of North’s ventures and she’ll understand. I am going to try to get there as fast as possible without getting in trouble with my camp who will no doubt report to my mom who might make a fuss if she finds out the reason why.

She does not like North Wind, which is one reason that filly rocks.

I should be arriving in Ponyville sometime this weekend so don’t worry.

Do not message her parents, her uncle Wind Scar, or even Rainbow Dash, okay?

Love, Lyra

Fluttershy gulped, glad that she hadn’t thought to message Rainbow Dash, what would have happened if she did and it was too late?

Trembling, she tried to calm her nerves by reading one of the animal books that she checked out of the library but found it difficult to focus. She was in Ponyville, a town that she had never been to before, where she knew no one but the unconscious filly on the bed (even then it was barely.) But for some reason, the panic was kept at bay, it felt more peaceful here than it did in Cloudsdale. These ponies didn’t care about whether she could fly or not, and for the most part they were a friendly bunch.

Taking out a new piece of paper from the side table, she wrote a reply to Lyra, finding that the words come easy when it’s not talking to somepony face-to-face.

“Figured you’d be in here,” she eeped, jumping up as Granny Smith entered the room, “Missed mah grandfilly’s return which might be for the best while Big Mac fills her in,” Fluttershy retreated behind her mane a bit as the elderly Apple matriarch took a seat next to North’s bed, eyes not on her but the blue filly whose barrel was barely moving, “Must’ve been pretty scary yesterday, those nurses shouldn’t have panicked you like that,” Fluttershy winced, recalling how on the previous day North ended up flatlining several times despite only her wings and back leg being injured.

Then there was the side-effect of her fall into the strange water; the doctor almost called for emergency quarantine if Nurse Redheart hadn’t been there to reign him in.

After some thought and Fluttershy getting an examination of her own, they decided that the effects were not contagious and just an unfortunate new addition to the strange filly. Attempts to track down her parents were stopped by Granny who in no uncertain terms told them that North’s parents were not to be informed.

After reading Lyra’s letter Fluttershy realized the mare was right, which worried her all the more. What was going on in Rainbow Dash’s family?

“So did that unicorn filly reply yet?” the question broke her from her thoughts and she blushed.

“Um, yes,” she showed the letter, wincing at Granny Smith’s scoff once the other mare had finished it.

“So ‘at’s what these two ‘ounguns were worried about, if that stallion is involved,” her ears twitched.

“Y-you know who Wind Scar is?” Granny shushed her, staring at the door with a furtive look.

“Never know whose listening, but yes, that stallion is just a part of the darkness in Equestria, one that the Princess herself is unaware of because of bureaucracy,” the sneer made her shiver, something the Apple matriarch noticed, “Don’t be scared now, both North Wind and Lyra ‘ave their own way of dealing with him, and he ‘ant avoid the law forever,” with that promising statement, she went to the corner and started knitting, Fluttershy returned to her reply, occasionally glancing at the unconscious filly, trying to see if those eyes were opening or if her breathing stabilized enough to take the oxygen mask off her muzzle.

If nothing else, staying in this town was better than going back to flight camp, something she felt guilty about but put it in the back of her mind.

Several Days Later

With a pounding headache, North found herself unwilling to open her eyes to make the pain worse, but the whispers were increasing and she couldn’t help the groan from escaping.

The whispering ceased and suddenly there was a flash of light that made her flinch,

“She’s awake! Get the Doctor,” the unfamiliar voice faded away as other sounds came to her ears. Something was taken off her mouth and she breathed in the smell of linen and medicine.

Hospital then?

“North?” and there was Lyra, hovering way too close to her face and tears in her eyes.

“L-“ she tried to say and swallowed, grimacing at the dry mouth, immediately a cup of water was floating in front of her and she opened her mouth enough for some to pour in. Looking for the caster she saw the unicorn in the corner, a recorder peeking out of his saddlebags and dark curly hair on his head.

For some reason he looked familiar but North found it difficult to place so she sat up and looked at Lyra.

“How long?” her friend huffed.

“How long?! You’ve been unconscious for four days! Poor Fluttershy has been going out of her mind with worry, not to mention how I hurried here after finding out your solo trip ended up going wrong!” uh-oh, Lyra was mad.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect that rockfall to happen,” she cast a glance around the room, “Who else knows I’m here?” Lyra rolled her eyes.

“Just Fluttershy, Granny Smith (your in Ponyville by the way), some of the Apple Family, me, Sonic Recorder over there who is my camp counselor, and Nurse Redheart. The doctors know not to try and contact anyone despite some close calls and your family is still unaware,” then the door opened as two pegasus ponies and a colt appeared, “But I may have forgotten to tell Fluttershy not to tell her own family,” the filly lowered her voice a bit, “Hey Mr. and Mrs. Shy, how was the tour,” she leaned towards North, “They arrived last night.” But it wasn’t adults who answered but the colt that North recognized from Rainbow’s class. His green coat and pale yellow mane were the only things he had in common with his family, the smug smirk on his face however was not. Zephyr Breeze, the bane of her sister’s life who refuses to see that his crush is one-sided.

Of course when he isn’t bothering Rainbow he’s trying to get to her through North who he sees as an easy target.

“Hey there Rainbow Dash’s sister, does she know you’re here?” North’s eyes narrowed at his smug look.

“Does Rainbow Dash know you’re the one that cut her hair and are keeping it in a small bag underneath your pillow?” he blanched, glancing at his parents and Fluttershy who was now glaring at him (wow she didn’t expect that. Seems there were some Fluttershy did not get shy with.)

“Um, I have no idea what your talking about,” North scoffed, taking another sip of her water.

“You also cut the hairs off of Lightning Dust, Ditzy Do, and other fillies in your class and the one above you,” he was stammering, trying to defend himself as his sister came towards him with murder in her eyes.

“Excuse us for a moment,” the two disappeared, leaving their parents standing awkwardly and Granny Smith giving them a look, no doubt that it was Fluttershy who deigned to get mad at him while they had the confused look of parents wondering what was wrong. North knew compared to her own parents they weren’t bad ones, their shy demeanor explained why Fluttershy was shy; but they needed to learn how to deal with their son’s atrocious behavior and at least help Fluttershy with her own confidence issues.

“So, your Fluttershy’s parents huh? Why don’t we leave the two young’uns here to catch up while I talk to you about both of your children,” the two swallowed and followed behind her. Lyra sighed in relief the moment the door closed,

“Good, I was hoping to talk to yo-“ she saw Sonic Recorder was still there, but he merely took out his recorder and started playing it, “Okay,” she climbed on top of the cot, giving a weary glance to Nurse Redheart who was checking the medical equipment and not even looking at them, “Did you find anything?” North took another sip of water as she thought about it.

“Apart from what a Rock Farm contributes to Equestria, not much, they did have some information on some of the other tribes that they’ve been dealing with but that’s it. Although, did you know that there’s a fourth Pony tribe?” the music cut out for a second and Nurse Redheart nearly yanked the tubes out of the IV drip, Lyra just stared at her.

“What?” the unicorn asked, a bit shocked, North smiled.

“Yeah, and let’s just say they have a different sleep cycle and a different set of wings,” she pointed at her own wings for emphasis, her friend’s eyes grew wide.

The subject changed to what Lyra had been doing for the summer, the filly talking excitedly about the different instruments that she got to try and gesturing to her chaperone from time to time.

“He uses music to do different things, but he refuses to teach me,” she pouted at him, he pretended not to see it.

North tilted her head at him, realizing she hadn’t heard him talk at all throughout the time she’s been awake.

“Have I seen you somewhere before?” her question threw him off and he finally spoke,

“Ah no I do not believe so,” his British accent took her aback and while she knew that the accent itself was common in certain parts of Equestria, it just added another piece to the puzzle of this strange stallion.

“Hm,” she continued staring at him, brow furrowed while he avoided her gaze, sweat dripping down his head. Lyra looked between them, a bit put out that she was missing something.

“Well,” Nurse Redheart’s voice took North’s attention, to the relief of the unicorn, the Earth Pony writing something on her clipboard, “You seem to be recovering well, but I must ask that you take care not to do anything with your wing and hoof, they’re still in cast and I do not want anything to happen to make them worse. You will be here for another few days and afterward we will release you into your guardian’s care,” that said she left, Sonic Recorder giving one more nod to Lyra before making his own escape, leaving North huffing when she realized it.

“I don’t think he’s coming back,” Lyra deadpanned, giving her an unamused expression, North coughed.

“Water,” the change in subject did nothing to change the unimpressed look and she tried not to pout at the fact she wouldn’t be able to figure out why the stallion was so familiar.

Had she seen him in her past life, maybe? Nah, that would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it?

Fluttershy returned with a sullen Zephyr, the colt giving her a disgruntled pout that she felt no guilt for, while his sister went up to her bed.

“Are you feeling any better?” those big blue eyes were staring up at her in worry and North felt herself twitch, nudging a coughing Lyra who was trying to hide her own laughter.

“Yeah, thanks, for getting me out of the cave and taking me to the hospital,” cheeks turning pink, Fluttershy stared at the floor, kicking her left front hoof as she mumbled ‘You’re welcome’. North rubbed the back of her head, not sure how to converse with the filly while Lyra was content to talk about what the two talked about in their letters.

“Having different animals deliver the notes was a new experience, and this filly here has the neatest writing I’d ever seen!” the poor pegasus was turning red from Lyra’s compliments and North, after looking at Lyra, realized she was doing it on purpose.

“Maybe she could give you some tips,” Lyra gaped at her.

“What’s wrong with my writing?” she demanded, “I get top grades in it,” she huffed, North raised an eyebrow.

“You also tend to write your notes on your music paper and also tend to be really informal in the writing, like writing Love at the end to someone you don’t know,” Lyra raised a hoof before turning to Fluttershy who was peeking at them through her bangs.

“Uh, did I do that?” the pegasus filly nodded and Lyra’s face turned pink, “Oh, sorry if it embarrassed you, I don’t know how else to end it,” Fluttershy shook her head.

“It’s fine, i-it d-did not embarrass m-me at all,” North was going to say something when she saw Zephyr staring at the clipboard Nurse Redheart had been writing on, the mare herself was changing out the IV drip and paying no attention to them.

“Hey what does this note mean?” Fluttershy’s shyness disappeared once again once she caught sight of him at the end of North’s bed, “Lights off?” her eyes widened, and Lyra stiffened right next to her as Zephyr went to the light switch. Nurse Redheart turned to see what was going on and joined in their alarm, to North’s confusion.

“Zephyr stop!” but the colt ignored his sister, flicking off the switch and turning the room dark.

Which did not last long.

Eyes twitching, North stared at the glow coming off of her in different shades of blue, raising one hoof to get a closer look.

“Lyra,” her quiet tone caused Lyra to flinch, the filly avoiding her gaze, “Why am I glowing?” Zephyr burst out laughing which soon turned to pleading when he saw his sister approaching with a dark expression and death in her eyes.

“Um, from what the doctors and Fluttershy told me, you fell into some magic water that had a bioluminescent effect? That- well won’t be going away anytime soon. Good news is it isn’t contagious or dangerous or anything!” that did not reassure North at all.

How was she going to hide this from her family let alone Wind Scar?!

Over the next few days she tried to put together a story that would not reveal her actions to Wind Scar, considering she could not even go back to the mines at this point. Fluttershy’s parents took her and Zephyr Breeze back to Cloudsdale, not at all happy that they had not been contacted by flight camp about Fluttershy’s disappearance. Sonic Recorder had already gone back to the camp, and Lyra camped out in North’s room despite protests, having arranged for her uncle to pick her up with a cover story for her mom to prevent suspicion.

On the second to last day she received a package with fish in it (Nurse Redheart confiscated it the moment she opened it, only to return with them cooked and already picked from the bone, a stern warning to eat them carefully) and a note that informed her of Ruffalo’s knowledge on what happened and that they told Wind Scar she’d been in a mine collapse and sent to the nearest private clinic to be treated. The fact the canine also knew of her new ‘ability’ was somewhat surprising, as Lyra herself denied sending him a letter on the account she didn’t know where he was.

The last day her and Lyra ended up in a loud argument that ended in the older filly marching off in a huff and North pulling the covers over her head. Lyra thought Fluttershy should join them in their adventures while North was all for keeping the filly at a distance. She even tried throwing away a letter Fluttershy sent her, but Lyra stopped her.

She tried telling Lyra that Rainbow Dash being Fluttershy’s friend would wind up with her being torn between the two and that it was more important for those two to be friends.

Lyra thought that was stupid and if Rainbow Dash was Fluttershy’s friend, why didn’t she check up on her after it became obvious, she wasn’t at camp anymore? Or how at flight camp she stepped in to stop the bullies when at the school Fluttershy still was getting bullied, but the filly never did anything.

North couldn’t argue with that, but she still knew that it was important for the two to be friends in the future as fellow Element Bearers, something that Lyra might not believe her about. Or if she did the filly would insist on taking it to Princess Celestia and North did not want the alicorn to know of her existence.

“Well this here is a strange sight,” the voice had her sitting up and staring at Gaius, the griffin walking further into the room and taking a spot next to her, “You moping is not good,” with the IV no longer in her she was able to get out of bed and hug the griffin, a bit awkwardly though thanks to the cast.

“You’re here!” Gaius ruffled her mane,

“Course, can’t very well take you up to Cloudsdale by yerself,, now I signed the paperwork and everything, but it’ll take awhile before they are ready to release you. So why don’t you tell Gaius why you were covering your head and your musical friend looked like she was going to cry?” North bit her lip, wincing, she hadn’t meant to make Lyra cry,

Again.

“We just had a disagreement about something is all,” she tried putting it off, but he merely raised an eyebrow and she slumped, “The filly who rescued me from the cave is supposed to be friends with my sister and I can’t explain why, but its important that they stay friends. Something that can’t happen if Fluttershy is also friends with me, and Lyra is mad that I want to keep Fluttershy at a distance,” Lyra somehow bonded with Fluttershy in their letter exchange, and was fascinated by her talent with animals and the way she can be shy and still get angry at her brother at the same time.

“I see, and there is no way for her to be friends with both you and your sister,” her ears flattened.

“No, because sooner or later she would be forced to choose, and I don’t want her to be hurt because of it. Above all else her and Rainbow Dash being friends is much more important, and I’m not going to get in the way of that,” instead of him answering, the door burst open and there was Lyra and Fluttershy?!

Both were crying, North straightened, giving the griffin an alarmed look that he ignored in favor of stepping aside for both fillies to glomp her to the ground.

“You idiot!” Lyra was squeezing her neck, “No matter how you think it’s important, it shouldn’t stop you from becoming friends with someone just because of Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy’s head was buried in her barrel, her pink hair tied back in two ponytails,

“I-i can be friends with both of you! I promise not to be a b-bad friend,” North was flailing, trying to get up, but it was kind of difficult.

“Fluttershy, it’s dangerous to be my friend, if my uncl-“ the filly tightened her squeeze and North let out a wheeze, sending a pleading look at Gaius who wasn’t staring at them anymore but at the elderly mare in the doorway.

“Peaches?” his whisper caught the other fillies’ attention as Granny huffed.

“Don’t use that name no more, and Ah’d appreciate it if you not call me again, at least not in front of my family,” she had a strange expression on her face, “What happened to never approaching this pony-infested town again?” Gaius actually looked stricken and the fillies didn’t need to be told to leave the room, North being helped by the other two to be led out. Under the watchful eye of Nurse Redheart they ended up in the cafeteria, North eating some of the leftover fish while trying to ignore the other two’s stares.

“Why is it important for Rainbow Dash and I to be friends?” Fluttershy’s question almost made her choke and she quickly drank some water to wash it down.

“Well, uh, so, um, why are you back in Ponyville?” Lyra glared at her, eyes red and puffy.

“To invite you, well us, to her cutiecencera,” Fluttershy hid behind her hair a bit a she took out an invitation with her Cutie Mark on it to North.

“It’s tomorrow,” she whispered, North staring at the invitation, quickly adding, “My parents are going to throw it here in Ponyville as thanks for taking me in after my fall, they don’t want to do it in Cloudsdale. They’re going to throw the party at Sweet Apple Acres, Granny Smith was the one who suggested it, since they already celebrated the cutieceneara of her granddaughter Applejack, and a filly named Rarity is having hers at one of the fancy restaurants in town, at least, that’s what I heard,” Lyra blinked.

“Huh, you know I got an invitation to Twilight Sparkle’s cutiecenera, apparently hers appeared while she was taking the entrance test to Celestia’s school which was,” her eyes widened, “The same day you had the accident,” North swallowed as Fluttershy’s eyes widened as well, before an uncomfortable look appeared on her face.

“Rainbow Dash got her Cutie Mark as well, she, well she had her Cutiecenera yesterday,” it took a moment for that sentence to sink in, Lyra scowled while North shrugged.

“Oh, well at least I don’t have to worry about a party then,” her voice shook a bit and she inwardly cursed, why was she bothered about Rainbow having her Cutiecenera without her? It has been made very clear to her that she wasn’t a real part of the family.

So why did her chest hurt?

“Oh, that’s a bummer,” the new voice had all of them jumping, “Here I was planning to invite you to my Cutiecenera but instead I should be throwing a cheer you up party!” Pinkie Pie threw her hooves into the air, confetti sprinkling down around her.

“Pinkie-“ she spotted the rest of the Pie family, “All of you? How’d you,” then she couldn’t breathe under the tight grip of the Earth filly, who for some reason smelled like a mix between bubblegum and cotton candy when just a few weeks ago she didn’t.

“Wwwweellll, I had the sense that you got hurt and would need cheering up, and Maud found the cave you went to, and when we saw the cave-in and blood on the floor we thought the worse! Then Maud saw a trail and realized somepony must’ve rescued you. Soooooo! We decided to find the nearest village, and wow it took a bit because for some reason no one wanted to tell us if you were here or not! But then we got a letter from a Granny Smith apologizing about the mix-up and that it was alright for us to know where you were, hello I’m Pinkie Pie!” she directed this to Lyra and Fluttershy who was looking at a paling North in concern.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie, stop choking North Wind this instant,” Pinkie let go and North let in a large gulp of air, rubbing the back of her head.

“Oopsie, forgot my own strength for a moment,” she was still beaming though, and it took North a couple moments to get herself together.

“It’s good to see you too Pinkie Pie, but what about your rock farm?” Limestone scoffed.

“That’s what I said,” Cloudy Quartz shushed her, approaching North and giving her a once-over,

“I see thou are alright, we apologize for arriving so late, and for our daughter’s suadden excitement, do you know where Granny Smith is? We would like to greet her and express our gratitude,” North told them the room number and their other daughters went with them, leaving Pinkie who went back to hugging North Wind.

“So, Pinkie Pie right? Are you saying you got your Cutie Mark as well?” the filly grinned

“Yep! There was a big boom and a rainbow that made me smile and want to make others smile! I threw a party and got my family to smile, then this appeared!” she pointed at the balloons on her flank, Fluttershy’s eyes widening.

“Wait, there was a boom and a rainbow that scared the animals and caused me to discover my talent in talking with them, before I heard North’s cries for help and rescued her,” Lyra stared at North who gulped, avoiding her gaze.

“You know, I heard Applejack saying something about a rainbow pointing her home, and I’m sure if I ask this Rarity and Twilight, they might say something similar. And Rainbow Dash has something to do with this, right? Fluttershy I don’t suppose you can tell us how she got her Cutie Mark?” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together, brow furrowed.

“S-she performed a Sonic Ra-“ her eyes widened, “inboom,” she trailed off, realization dawning.

“Hey, looks like they’re changing to lunch and putting out the cookies,” North tried to escape but Lyra’s magic held her in place.

“North GlowWorm Wind,” North gave her a deadpan look.

“Really?” but Lyra was still staring at her, Pinkie and Fluttershy doing the same, though the latter at least had the sense of looking apologetic about it.

They should’ve just stayed in the room and endured whatever the awkward thing was between Gaius and Granny Smith.

How was she going to get out of this?!

Chapter 7- Dragon in the Egg

Author's Note: I do not own MLP, just my character

Lyra lowered the book on Predictions and Prophecies, North wilting under her stare while a pale Fluttershy and flat maned Pinkie Pie were staring at the book with wide eyes.

“W-we’re s-supposed to save E-equestria from E-eternal night?! Nightmare Moon is real?!” Fluttershy looked very alarmed and Lyra was glad that North managed to get them to wait a month before talking about this. She made them swear a Pinkie Promise, something that actually startled Pinkie since it was an off-shoot of a Pie promise that her family took very seriously.

Apparently, Pinkie had yet to come up with it and North facehooved when she was told that. So apart from holding a Cutiecenera celebration for both Pinkie and Fluttershy (the Pie and Apple families were very awkward, and the former were rather glad to go back to their Rock farm, even if they did promise to arrange a letter exchange with Granny Smith.) Gaius took North to Cloudsdale in a balloon separately from Fluttershy and her own parents while Lyra hopped on a train to Canterlot to get ready for school.

They all promised to meet up in the planetarium after Lyra had her uncle put a bunch of silencing and privacy spells on it, which actually took a whole month because he was pretty busy with his own duties. North surprised Fluttershy by ending up in her class after taking a placement exam, something that ended up getting North in trouble with her own parents and Rainbow Dash who hadn’t even known she was doing it. Any attempts to move her back to the previous grade was stopped by the headteacher who was ecstatic at finally having a student who would break the record for youngest graduate in Cloudsdale. He had an ongoing rivalry with someone in Las Pegasus who had a graduate at age 11, one year earlier, and the fact North would be graduating at age 9 made him giddy. Plus, her report on how weather affected rocks in different ways was so fresh compared to the boring reports that the other students did through the years. It didn’t stop other students from harassing North Wind, but she paid them no mind and continued producing good enough grades that the teacher accepted her request to become Fluttershy’s permanent desk partner on account of the filly being the only ‘mature’ one in their class.

She used this as an added excuse to visit Fluttershy’s house and to do homework with the older filly who didn’t seem all that upset at having a filly three years younger than her helping her. If North also used this time to show Fluttershy books about animals, no one knew about it.

But now here they were, in the basement of the planetarium with shredded training dummies and three out of four with shocked expressions.

“Nightmare Moon is r-real?” Pinkie was shivering, the eleven-year-old didn’t look at all peppy at the moment. Which was understandable, compared to her future self she was just a filly who recently learned how to broaden her emotional range.

“North! Shouldn’t we go to Princess Celestia about this? Warn her?” North gave her a look.

“She wrote that prophecy, she knows,” was the deadpan before the blue filly sighed, “And I’m not even sure whether my information is accurate, there are so many things different from what I expected. Maybe there are other Elements, or maybe she has a different plan to take care of Nightmare Moon. I only have a vague memory of what happened,” Lyra huffed, still not at all placated.

“And when did you plan on telling us, telling me that you had a past life where we were fictional?! And you were a human!” North raised an eyebrow and Lyra trailed off, recalling one of their conversations where she had asked how North knew about humans and the other joked about having been one in her previous life, “Wait, technically you did, how was I supposed to know?!” North was snarky on a good day, some things she said seemed too impossible to happen.

“Look, I never planned on telling anyone my knowledge because there’s no way for me to prove it, if I say anything about the future then they’ll just think I put together information from the prophecies. Or they might accuse me of being a villain, but at least now you know why I was trying to keep you away Fluttershy,” the yellow pegasus frowned, color returning.

“Well I don’t care,” the statement made North blink as the filly’s shoulders straightened and her wings flared in agitation, “Even if Rainbow Dash and I are supposed to Element Bearers, and Pinkie as well, I don’t see why that means I cannot be friends with you; besides I’m a bit peeved with Rainbow at the moment,” she said this last part in a low voice.

“Why?” North asked, Fluttershy withdrew into herself once she saw that she was the sole center of attention, but still answered.

“She told me to stay away from you,” the words were said in a dark tone, “That you were dangerous and it was for the best,” Lyra scowled.

“Seriously? She ignores North Wind and goes out of her way to avoid her, but she’s even trying to make sure North doesn’t have any friends? Wait, she never approached me,” Lyra wondered if she should be offended at that.

“That’s just not nice, why would she do that?” Pinkie looked shocked, but it was North that grabbed their attention as the pegasus filly was still and staring at the floor.

But there was no surprise or shock on her face, but a sad understanding.

“North,” Lyra’s voice was quiet, “What else is there?” she looked at the training around them, noting the cuts in the walls and the way some of the dummies were stitched back together or still in pieces on the ground, “Does it have anything to do with this?” she gestured at the scene, North closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out before replying.

“Blessing of the Wind,” her voice carried in the empty room, Lyra blinking while Pinkie and Fluttershy gasped.

“B-but, I thought that was a myth,” Fluttershy’s statement was overshadowed by Pinkie’s.

“You have a Blessing too?!” North’s head lifted up, all of them staring at Pinkie Pie who stared back, “What?” Lyra growled.

“Can someone explain please?” she had no idea what they were talking about, North however was staring at Pinkie.

“Too? What do you mean by that?” Pinkie rubbed the back of her head.

“Oh, the Pie family has always had a touch of the Blessing of the Earth, it’s hereditary and each of us get our own kind when we get our Cutie Mark. Well technically, we have some of it that gives us feelings here and there, but we don’t understand what it is till we discover our destiny. On top of her sense Maud found out that she can talk to rocks! It was really cool, my Pinkie sense I’m still trying to find out though,” then she saw the way Lyra was looking at her and giggled, “Oopsie, okay, you know that Earth Ponies have this connection with the ground? Well there are some of us who also have the Blessing of the Earth that goes way beyond, some of us have the affinity to become like the ground, while others have the ability to tell what is going to happen before it does.” Fluttershy stepped forward, eyes on North Wind, realization dawning.

“That’s not the only Blessing, there is also the Blessing of Water, Fire, and Wind,” North flinched, “But there are tales of the Wind being more dangerous than even Fire with every generation, even capable of not just controlling tornadoes by one’s own magic, but slicing through anything as well. Rainbow Dash’s ear,” North closed her eyes, not wanting to admit it but not wanting to lie either.

“It was an accident,” the whisper made Lyra’s stomach drop, and when Fluttershy touched the filly’s shoulder the rest of the story poured out, from the time the ability activated to having her wings bound and put to work in the mines. Her interactions with the Ruby Dogs and other workers, and even the part about Corn Husker.

Pinkie Pie ended up needing a bucket, and Lyra felt terror at certain points, especially as any shyness disappeared from Fluttershy whose face kept getting darker and darker.

“I’m sorry, I understand if you don’t want to-“ all three glomped North to the ground.

“It’s not your fault,” Pinkie backed up Fluttershy’s fierce declaration, tears falling from both of their eyes.

“Yeah, she’s right, you warned that big meanie and he still continued, the Blessing of the Elements become very fierce if they feel someone is targeting their chosen. If someone were to try to figure out my Pinkie sense for the wrong reasons, they’ll end up in a lot of accidents, and that’s with the Earth’s Blessing spread out! But from what I can tell, your Blessing is way way stronger, I wonder why?” she pondered this, North sighed.

“Probably because a lot of bearers returned the Blessing,” Pinkie Pie fell over, sputtering.

“Returned?” she squeaked, “Why! That’s not good at all! Returning a Blessing?!” she peered at North, “You” her mane completely flattened, “You want to do that too,” Fluttershy gasped.

“North?” the youngest among them sighed.

“You call it a Blessing, but all I see is a curse with a thirst for blood, and it takes all of my energy to keep it contained and not hurt anyone. I’m close to finding out the location, but there is still a few things missing,” Lyra smacked the back of her head, “Ow! Lyra,” Lyra narrowed her eyes.

“If I had a newspaper, I would be smacking you till it was torn up, this is why you don’t fly is it? Why you don’t even open your wings, and why you don’t want to go to Princess Celestia either?” she’d known North had looked up something about Princess Celestia that caused her to avoid going near the palace whenever possible.

“By proclamation of the Princess all who bear the Blessing of the Wind should be taken into custody,” North stated flatly, “I looked up names of those who were taken into custody and there’s no report on what happened to them afterwards,” it became silent for a moment as they all pondered this before Lyra sighed.

“Alright, seeing as we cannot persuade you, will you at least promise to be more open about what is going on, and promise to tell us everything?” North clearly didn’t want to, but at the trio of puppy-dog eyes directed towards her, she gave in and made a Pinkie Promise to do so. Something that Pinkie elaborated on is tied to her Pinkie Sense and would tell her if it was immediately broken.

“This explains so much from the show,” North had muttered before Pinkie Pie tried using the Promise to get her to reveal things about the future, though Fluttershy put a stop to that.

“Like she said earlier, things are different now, and I think we should continue going on as if we do not know what the future is. I-if that’s alright with everyone,” the other three agreed and the subject was changed to what to do for lunch.

After that, Pinkie made a trip up every other weekend since she didn’t want to spend a lot of money on the train (even if her parents were glad that her new exuberance was being directed towards something else than throwing parties every day.) Fluttershy visited as well, though only when North did since she didn’t like taking trips by herself yet and the chance of running into strangers. The filly was trying to figure out what she wanted to do for the future with her Cutie Mark and was researching the Rangers since there were no books in Cloudsdale on the subject. Lyra started her own personal research project and looked up the different Blessings that she’d known nothing about before. Which she admitted to being annoyed about.

North on the other hoof, tried to continue her research but was finding it difficult to find any peace at home. Her parents were very unhappy that skipped grades without telling them and that she didn’t tell them about her personal project. Rainbow Dash was jealous and frustrated because there were fillies and colts at school making fun of her for having a nerdy sister. Not that her sister tried to confront her or anything, rather she decided to take a different approach to get back at North.

A week before the winter holidays, North came to the house, only to find all the scrolls she’d been working on in the attic in a huge pile and her displeased parents with a scowling Wind Scar.

“So, you plan on emancipating yourself and studying rocks huh?” North blanched, inwardly cursing the fact that she forgot to take those scrolls back to the planetarium. She’d just finished the second set of exams and while her teacher said she could skip spring semester, she was going to stay till Fluttershy was done.

“T-that’s-“ he slapped her with one of his wings, sending her to the ground while her parents did nothing but watch.

“You said you were researching the guard, was that a lie?” Bow Hothoof was unhappy and had the nerve to look hurt and Windy Whistles was frowning, giving her a disapproving look.

North saw Rainbow peeking from behind the house with that griffin friend of hers who was smirking and realized that her own sister had gone into the attic to get the scrolls when before not even their parents wanted to go in there.

“I think that you should be taught a lesson in what happens when you deceive your family,” Wind Scar flew up and bucked a cloud, sending a bolt of lightning into her scrolls and setting them on fire.

“No!” she ran to grab them but was backwinged into a different cloud, it felt like she’d been hit by an oversized hammer.

“This is for the best, sweetie,” Windy Whistles went up to her and tried to side hug her but North smacked her hoof away.

“Why is it you only pay attention when I don’t fit your stupid mold, and stop acting like you actually care,” North backed away and ran, Windy calling her and she could hear Wind Scar flying after her.

She did not want to get caught by him.

She dove through one of the patches of clouds and into a small tunnel that existed throughout Cloudsdale, patching up the cloud behind her and randomly going through different tunnels till she came to a bigger spot that had snacks and water bottles.

It was a project she gave herself when she wasn’t visiting Lyra and was forced to stay in the house. She needed a spot in Cloudsdale that no one else knew about that didn’t have that choking feel to it.

Then she accidentally fell in a cloud that was thinner and discovered a small tunnel that someone had dug underneath the school leading towards the snack shed. Through trial and error she expanded the tunnel till it went through all of Cloudsdale and made several emergency staches throughout it. She even used her sense in the wind to tell where exits were (though that’s as far as she got) and if someone else was in the tunnels.

Once she was done, she left the tunnels alone till she would actually need them, and so that no one would find out about them.

Good thing she did.

For an entire week there was no sign from North Wind, searches were sent out but no one could get a hold of her. Fluttershy, upon finding out what happened, wasn’t very happy with Rainbow who tried to search her room for the elusive filly. The rainbow maned pegasus tried to put up yet another case for why Fluttershy should stop being friends with North Wind, only for Fluttershy to Stare at her and state that of the two it was Fluttershy who actually knew North Wind.

She then threw Rainbow out (well Stared at her till Rainbow left) and told her parents that she wanted to spend Hearth’s Warming in Canterlot with Lyra’s family. They agreed and despite it being so close to the holiday, managed to book a room at one of the hotels big enough for Lyra and Pinkie (who had managed to persuade her family into seeing the Hearth’s Warming Play and see a geology exhibition that was on display with rocks and artifacts that had existed before Equestria.) to spend the night. Zephyr was forced to spend the time with his parents who had been talking with Granny Smith and were learning how to tell the colt no, much to his shock.

They ended up destroying the hairs he got from the girls and sat him down for a very long talk, Granny Smith on hoof just in case and gave him a very thorough lecture about why that kind of behavior was wrong in the first place. Granny Smith offered to have him work on the farm to learn the meaning of hard work, but his parents put that idea to the side to his relief.

Lyra had told them that Bow Hothoof tried to have her home searched and even tried to tell her that she was to no longer hang out with North Wind.

Instead of getting her mom (who didn’t need yet another excuse to ban the two of them meeting), she got her Uncle whose growing influence in Canterlot society made Bow stand down. Not having an actual good reason to forbade North without making himself look like a tribalist, and the uncomfortable questions about why she had run away in the first place caused him to retreat. Rainbow was with him and ended up with her hair being turned red to represent her betrayal and mistreatment of North.

(Though if Lyra were to be asked she would’ve stated it was to represent a Hearth’s Warming prank.)

Pinkie Pie luckily or not did not run into them, though she did huddle with Lyra to come up with a perfect prank for Rainbow Dash and Gilda for being meany-pants. Fluttershy, tellingly didn’t stop them.

“I mean, if Mom and Dad destroyed my party supplies I spent months gathering, I would be very upset,” Pinkie Pie was saying, while her family was supportive of her interest in parties, they did tell her to keep the parties to a minimum and said she had to finish all of her chores first.

“Yeah, it sucks when one’s parents tries to do stuff like that, and they found out she was going to emancipate herself too, and she’d been planning to do that without their knowledge,” they were getting ready to attend the play and Fluttershy was drawing a picture with Marble Pie whose quiet nature was calming. Limestone was pouting in the corner, having wanted to stay home to watch the Rock Farm while Maud was looking over a brochure of the geology exhibit. Granny Smith would’ve been there but relatives from the other parts of Equestria were visiting and she was busy putting together a feast for them.

“Do you think North’s okay?” Fluttershy’s sudden question caught their attention, the two paused in their prank planning to think about it.

“She’s fine, North’s been preparing Plan Run-away for years, she’s either with Ruffalo, Gaius, or probably still in Cloudsdale hidden somewhere, or maybe in the Canterlot Library sleeping in a hidden room somewhere.”

“Or she’s at the window waiting to be let in,” Pinkie Pie piped up, pointing a hoof at the window where a shivering North was knocking on the window. Fluttershy burst into action, opening the window and bringing her in, Lyra throwing a blanket around her and Pinkie Pie fetching some hot cocoa.

“Thanks, wasn’t sure if you could hear me through the thick windows,” Maud handed her a scarf which she wrapped around her neck and Fluttershy walked with her to the fireplace where she spent several moments warming up.

“Where did you go? No one knew where you were,” North sipped the cocoa, licking the whip cream off of her nose.

“Under Cloudsdale,” she explained, “I created tunnels under there and spent the entire time with limited supplies,” Lyra raised a hoof, “And yes I created a personal bathroom out of clouds,” the hoof went down.

Limestone and Marble shared a look before the former rolled her eyes and muttered about going to get washed up for the play and the latter hm’d before following after her.

“So what are we going to do? I mean, if you go to the play, where Princess Celestia is by the way, your dad or my mom might see you and tell your family, and Wind Scar. Are you going to stay in the hotel room?” North shook her head.

“Nah, I’ve seen the Hearth’s Warming Play before, Lyra’s probably told you I’ve spent every Hearth’s Warming here the past few years. I actually have a different plan,” she laid out an old blueprint, “The caves beneath Canterlot castle,” the three gasped.

“No one’s been down there in years,” Lyra protested, “What are you going there for? Why don’t’ we just go to the observatory?” North scowled.

“When was the last time you went there?” Lyra blinked, confused and worried.

“Um, I think a few days ago, why?” North showed them a picture of a pile of scrolls being burned.

“Bow went into the planetarium with your Mom’s permission and burned all my notes on the cave systems we went to, luckily he couldn’t get into the other rooms though,” Lyra stared at the picture, entire expression blank.

“Some of those scrolls contained pictures of us,” her horn was glowing, “And one of those was the song about humans that you North wrote down from one of the cave pictures that we had, a cave we can’t return to because it was flooded the next day,” items around them were shaking and Pinkie Pie disappeared before returning with a gingerbread house.

“Want to eat the house?” she tried to calm Lyra down, Fluttershy shot North a look who sighed.

“Lyra, I still remember the song,” the glow died down a bit, “I’ll write it down again, and this time we can change the locks, or if the exploration bears fruit, find a new hangout underneath the castle.” Maud stepped in as the magic winked out, Lyra still scowling but somewhat pacified.

“I’ll tell the adults that you three are not in the mood for the play,” North opened her mouth, “Going alone is not wise,” that got her unhappy looks from her friends.

“You weren’t planning on going down there by yourself, were you?” Pinkie Pie asked, North winced.

“You should spend the night with your families,” she tried, Lyra waved a hoof.

“Not in the mood after finding out what my Mom did,” Fluttershy nodded.

“Mom and Dad will understand,” and if it meant she didn’t have to deal with Zephyr Breeze, all the better.

“Eh, my family is already overwhelmed with being in the new city, if I’m still back to open presents it should be okay, we even did our Hearth’s Warming rock dolls before we left!” North stared at her.
“Rock dolls?” her interest made Lyra smack her own forehead with her hoof.

“North!” their friend looked sheepish.

They all bundled up, North borrowing one of Marble’s hats and a complete winter outfit from Lyra. The moment the play started they disappeared through several alleys and towards the end of Canterlot where North led them into a narrow opening.

“Found this when I was exploring once, didn’t want to go any further before finding out a layout of some kind for it,” they all squeezed through, North trying not to look disgruntled at the glowing from her body, the other three stayed silent.

Pinkie Pie zoomed from one end of the tunnel to the other, oohing and ahing with her pith helmet nearly falling off her head till Fluttershy went over to tighten it.

“This is so fun! There’s a mine and cave on the rock farm but I know every single tunnel and they’re not nearly as exciting as this!” she hopped around them, “I can’t wait to go cave exploring with you guys in other parts of Equestria, I mean, when you can that is,” Lyra and North shared looks, it has been a while since they went caving.

“Hm, we could revisit some of the caves to show you two the ropes, but technically speaking, we’ve been to every single one in Equestria, we’ll have to look farther out, although,” she thought about it, “Technically the Bad Lands are part of Equestria but we never went there,” North huffed, avoiding a sharp rock and leading them down a separate tunnel.

“Because it’s actually a settlement that I just found out belongs to the Nocturne tribe,” Fluttershy froze and Pinkie gasped.

“Nocturne? You mean the vampire ponies that drink your blood and haunt the night?” North tapped her mane, pushing her head back a bit.

“That is just malicious gossip meant to hurt their reputation, you can’t really say anything about Nocturne ponies till you see them for yourself,” Pinkie’s ears went back, looking chastised.

“Oh, sorry,” then she lit up, “Do you think they like parties?!” the question had Lyra giggling while North sighed and Fluttershy hid her own smile.

“You’ll have to go up to one and ask them Pinkie Pie,” then her and Fluttershy stopped, ears perked up, a frown growing on her face matched by Fluttershy’s growing dismay.

“There’s an animal in trouble,” she gasped, North put a hoof to her mouth to signal quiet and carefully walked down the path, tightening the clothes around her and covering up as much as her glowing coat as possible.

Not hearing what they heard, Lyra and Pinkie were forced to be quiet as Fluttershy and North kept their ears forward.

Then they reached a round opening with rocks jutting out around it, and the sound of shouting and growls below.

North crouched to the floor and inched forward, the others following her lead and peaking over the pointy rocks.

Fluttershy covered her mouth while Lyra and Pinkie stared at the scene in horror, North’s mouth was twisted into a grim frown.

Ponies in the Royal Guard armor were marching around, some with whips they used to punish unruly animals in their cages. There were a lot of cages spread out, some containing animals like a phoenix or a fire salamander with its flames being put out every few seconds by a guard shooting water at it from his horn. A chimera was in a different cage, arguing amongst it’s three heads and there was a griffin chained against the wall, roaring at some of the guards who were guarding a nest of eggs and poking it with spears that made the griffin even angrier. Lyra recognized them as griffin eggs and felt sick, what was going on?

North nudged her shoulder and pointed at a pair of eggs in the middle of the room, one orange with stripes on it while another was dark green with diamonds on it.

‘Dragon eggs?!’ did Princess Celestia know about this place.

Then everything got worse.

“Move it! If these items are still here by the time the plays over, I will make sure every single one of you are retired without severance pay!” North stiffened and Lyra stared at the blue pegasus stallion standing right in the middle,

If Wind Scar spotted them, but the stallion turned and exited the room, leaving the guard ponies by themselves and the few Jewel dogs that were there who were from the Diamond Dogs if their collars were anything to be judged by.

The four retreated and went into a separate spot where Fluttershy bit her lip and Pinkie Pie looked like she was restraining herself.

“We’re not leaving those poor creatures like that, are we?” Fluttershy asked, trembling from fear and anxiety.

“But how will we get them out without being discovered?” Lyra furiously whispered, Pinkie Pie looked at North.
“Windy?” her question and nickname snapped North Wind form her thoughts who gave her a strange look at the nickname but was now back with them.

“Pinkie Pie, how many party supplies do you have on you? And Fluttershy, do you hear any animals, insects or anything in the tunnels?” she turned to Lyra, “Lyra, do you know the Bringer of Darkness spell? I can deal with knocking everyone out, but I’m going to need a better cover, even my hair glows,” Pinkie was already taking out a bunch of party poppers and streamers from her hair and Fluttershy was speaking softly to some spiders that she had found. Lyra closed her eyes and sighed,

“Alright, I can even do a muting spell,” hopefully that was enough.

Chapter 8- Pegasus on the Run

Surprisingly the plan worked and while the guards and canines lay unconscious, one having run screaming into a wall from the spiders covering him and another knocked himself from being shocked by the party poppers and knocking his head against a cart. Pinkie Pie even produced some smoke bombs to cover their scent by stinking the place up. The rest North took care of with carefully placed hits while Lyra unlocked all the cages. The griffin they freed went straight towards the eggs and carried them off through one of the tunnels without a backwards glance.

Lyra kept silent at North’s look, helping her put the dragon eggs in a saddle bag and stripping the guards of their money but not their weapons (she heard about a tracing spell on them and didn’t want to risk it.)
Fluttershy managed to calm down the Chimera and pointed it in the direction of an exit, giving them some cheese and snacks she’d packed for the trip to satisfy them (one made a crack about eating them but was stopped by its siblings.) Pinkie Pie then insisted on leading them out and took them through a dizzying trail of tunnels till they ended up in the basement beneath the observatory. After a few months of knowing her, and a rudimentary knowledge on the Blessing of the Earth, the others didn’t question how she did it and just sat there to rest.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” Lyra said, stunned that they had gotten away, before panic set in, “Wait, what if they track the eggs to us? What if that griffin gets caught and tells them! (Can’t believe she left without saying thank-you!) W-what if we actually interrupted something Princess Celestia was doing and she sets out to arrest us,” a spider was thrown into her face and she spent the next few minutes rolling around on the ground screaming as it clung to her muzzle.

“North Wind!” Fluttershy scolded the filly who looked deadpan at the unicorn.

“Lyra, while there are many things about Princess Celestia that we don’t know, I’m pretty sure smuggling isn’t one of them. Especially griffins, and griffin and dragon eggs; you can stop screaming now,” Lyra got up, panting and the spider fell off her face to the ground before scurrying over to Fluttershy who picked it up and started cooing at it.
“I will get you for this,” she vowed, North rolled her eyes and brought out the dragon eggs, staring down at them.
“How about making sure the door to this basement is invisible first, Pinkie Pie is anyone coming?” the Earth filly stood on all four hooves and stared at the ceiling for a moment before shaking her head.
“Nope!” she joined Fluttershy in cooing at the spider, North shook her head and stared at the eggs.

They couldn’t hide them forever, and North knew for a fact that dragon eggs needed constant warmth in order to hatch. Otherwise they stay in stasis and refuse to hatch until they get the necessary spark.
Like what happened with Twilight and Spike.
But if she tried asking Lyra to hatch them, what will they do with two baby dragons that will have the same coloring as their eggs?

She started pacing back and forth, considering her options and discarding them as soon as she thought about the repercussions if they were discovered early.
Klugetown? No, they’ll end up as dragon slaves and she can’t live with herself if that happened. Chief Ruffalo or Gaius? No, that wouldn’t work either, they still need to root out the spies and she doubted the fact they wanted to look after dragon eggs.

Go to the Dragon Lands? But would that work and could she go straight there? Wait, wasn’t there a Dragontown in Fillydelphia, she could head there first.
Still there would be a lockdown and whichever guards were under Wind Scar would be under red alert for the eggs, and no doubt when she goes back to the house he’ll have her searched. She couldn’t go completely under the grid lest he suspects her of being behind the theft. For a moment she wished for a cellphone to have taken an instant picture of the operation, providing evidence of what Wind Scar is doing.

So she would have to wait till summer, or the end of summer, to figure out a way to get to Fillydelphia so she could hand the eggs over to whichever dragon was the leader there. But she would also need to leave a trail away from the city, but what- her eyes fell on a flyer peeking out from one of the books on the one bookshelf and a thought came to her.

“That’s it!” Pinkie and Fluttershy jumped while Lyra came back from warding the door.
“What’s it?” North grabbed the flyer and showed it to them.
“12 Month Training for Rangers, get experience in twelve different environments and catch the eyes of sponsors and organizations. Ranger?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened while Lyra took the flyer for herself, Pinkie peeking over her shoulder to get a better look at it.
“When did this even exist,” the unicorn filly asked in disbelief, “A twelve-month training course? Is that even long enough for Fluttershy to learn everything she needs to, and isn’t there an age limit?”
“Nope!” North said in a matter of fact tone, “You know that Fluttershy has had difficulty finding a college she wants to attend.”

“Um, I was going to do the General Course at the Cloudsdale Academy and maybe a General degree at the college?” she squeaked when North marched up to her.
“Fluttershy, you shake every time you talk about going to that place,” she pointed at the older filly’s legs which were indeed shaking, “We know your terrified of going there, I know its common for many ponies to go to secondary general education before they start specialization schooling in their Cutie Marks. But tell me honestly, do you want to go to high school with the same ponies you’ve been going to school with right now?” the yellow Pegasus shuddered as she shook her head rapidly.

“But what else is she going to do, technically you can start specialization school at age 15, and her parents don’t have the money to send her to a different school,” Pinkie nodded at Lyra’s statement.
“I’ve been homeschooled till now, but I’ve been thinking about attending a party school once I graduate,” she pouted, “If I can find one that is.” North patted her on the shoulder.
“Fluttershy won’t need to go to a different school, that’s why I’m showing you three this flyer,” she lied down, prompting them to do so as well, before continuing, “Those who will finish this course will be able to be accepted into an organization that will further train them. There are even apprenticeships available for those interested, they’ve been planning this kind of course for years and have just got the necessary sponsors and funding for it. There will be twelve master Rangers in a variety of Rescue situations from all over Equestria, and we will be traveling to different parts of Equestria each month,” Lyra raised an eyebrow.

“We?” she asked dryly, North coughed.

“Well yes, Fluttershy will need an assistant to keep track of her schedule and finances, and as her sponsor Trade Star approved it, there should be no problem,” Pinkie tilted her head.
“Whose Trade Star,” North blinked innocently at them.

“The pony that was gracious enough to lend her financial assistance of course,” Lyra’s mouth dropped.
“North Wind, please tell me you did not create false papers and a fake identity for this.”

“Of course not,” North looked insulted, and Lyra almost breathed in relief when she added, “I created that identity years ago with the help of Gaius and Chief Ruffalo so that I didn’t need to keep all my personal wealth in Cloudsdale.” Lyra looked like she wanted to strangle her while Fluttershy had wide eyes.
“Your paying for it?” her voice was small and North turned to her with a reassuring smile, knowing that the yellow Pegasus would need some convincing.
“Fluttershy, you’ve been having trouble finding scholarships because of general stupidity,” more than once while North was over she saw rejection letters from the Cloudsdale school board and other pegasus financial programs; Fluttershy also had red eyes from crying some of those times.

“I wouldn’t say-” FLuttershy tried protesting but North wasn’t having it.
“Fluttershy, do you want to be a Ranger or not?” Fluttershy stared at her hooves,
“Yes,” she mumbled, North leaned against her, Pinkie Pie doing the same and Lyra in front of her.
“Don’t worry, I know how to set a budget for the entire year, and if we go over, I have several back up plans, besides, I might get my Cutie Mark traveling around Equestria with you, and at least you won’t be going around by yourself,” Fluttershy felt a bit better at that.
“Hey! What about Pinkie and I,” Lyra protested, Pinkie nodding, North gave them a look.
“You two have school,” she reminded them, Pinkie drooped in disappointment but Lyra wasn’t deterred.
“But it doesn’t mean we can’t go with you in the summer, and I’m saying this now, but it is kind of freaky that you have your own account set up and no one knows. How’d that even work?” she demanded.
“Lots of careful planning,” was the reply, Lyra twitched.
“That’s not an answer,” she pointed out,

“I know,” the smug look made her snap and she charged at the pegasus, the two of them wrestling around till Pinkie Pie hopped on top with a wee and Fluttershy watched with a worried look. She always got anxious when Lyra and North start fighting, but after the first few times she realized it wasn’t out of malicious intentions or anything. Pinkie Pie joined in because she thought it was fun and Fluttershy knew they were silently offering to let her do it as well, but she was still getting used to the idea of fighting for fun.

Once morning came, the four separated and the moment break was over North and Fluttershy returned to Cloudsdale separately, the former reluctantly and the latter a bit nervous about having to return to school. Lyra promised to look after the eggs and be a warning system while Pinkie promised to keep in touch in case anything happens. The Earth filly was going to see about finishing her schooling up early because she wanted to go with them, though she stated that she might end up doing something different instead.

North was grounded the moment she came home, even Rainbow tried to threaten her away from Fluttershy, stating that she didn’t want North hurting her. North just gave her a silent stare before slamming her door shut and climbing out the window and jumping out into the cloud below.
Things got even more tense as time went on, North was forced to go straight home to her room and not even allowed to go to Canterlot with Bow Hothoof at all. Every night her parents tried to extol the virtues of a Cloudsdale Pegasus but she drowned them out, even ignoring them when they tried to appeal to her as her parents and that what they were doing was for her own good.

Closer to graduation time things came to a head when her mom scolded her for being so ungrateful for everything Wind Scar had done for her.
North felt her control snap.
“Ungrateful?” she whispered, “Ungrateful?! You call binding my wings and throwing me into a mine to pay off his debt ungrateful,” she glared at her mom with hatred, wind building up and saw the mare flinch, but there was no surprise at her statement, nothing, “Wind Scar is nothing but a gambling, low-scum monster who should be thrown into Tartarus or a volcano, and your no better than him,” she ran out, almost bumping into Rainbow who looked angry.
“He was trying to help you gain control, there’s nothing wrong with hard work,” North scoffed, ignoring the breaking of her heart at the fact Rainbow knew the truth of her summers as well.

“You have no idea what happened in those mines, and how about you bind your own wings for weeks on end before telling me that,” Rainbow stopped her from continuing, steam coming from the filly’s ears.
“You walk around like a martyr, but I know the truth, what you did to that stallion when he dared to get in your way,” so Rainbow knew that as well, huh? Looks like Wind Scar doesn’t hide his actions from her at all.

“So I should’ve let him toy with me?” she glared at Rainbow who stepped back, “Let him take his revenge on Wind Scar out on me because I look like him? Is that what I should’ve done?! Be raped and take it with grace because heaven forbid I deserve it because of my stupid curse,” the angry look on Rainbow disappeared, the filly looking startled.
“Wait, ra-” North pushed passed her and ran out, ignoring any calls to get her back and going to a certain part of the tunnel where she kept an emergency escape vehicle. Their class had recently done Cloud-Kart racing and she kept hers afterwards, adding a few of her own touches just in case and telling her parents that the teacher had confiscated it along with the others.

Moments later there was the whir of a blade as her CLoud Kart shot off the edge of Cloudsdale, wings on either side nearly the same size as her cart and small blades underneath each one to help keep it balanced.
It couldn’t be in the air all that long but it gave her enough distance, and with Pinkie’s help she managed to put some explosive power to make it go even further.
She didn’t even try to understand how the filly managed that.
Upon seeing her destination she released the parachute, slowing down her ride and landing non too gently onto the grass.

A streak of pink bowled her over, sending her out of the kart as the two of them went rolling down the hill.
“Windy!” North laughed as Pinkie Pie beamed down at her.
“What are you doing in Ponyville Pinkie?” the Earth filly helped her up, still beaming.
“My family wanted to come for cider season, and I’m taking baking lessons from Mr. and Mrs. Cake at Sugarcube corner! Granny Smith is also asking Mom and Dad about maybe building a barn from rocks to make it more stable. They’ve been exchanging letters since summer and Mom and Dad actually leave the farm more to socialize,” North hummed, a bit surprised at that, Granny Smith and the Pie parents getting along was the last thing she expected. For some reason Granny Smith ended up being the go to for not just Pinkie’s parents, but Fluttershy’s as well, the pegasus learning how to be more assertive, slowly, but it was working. They were trying to get their son interested in things and away from Rainbow Dash, once Granny sat them down and told them that the crush was not mutual, at all. Fluttershy put her own effort in and bought books with North’s help that had the slightest chance of pointing Zephyr down a certain path.

Hopefully it does end up working, because otherwise North wasn’t sure how long Fluttershy could deal with her brother without wanting to kill him.
“So why are you here Windy?” North let Pinkie lead her into town, the long line of ponies telling her where everyone was, although it seemed the Pie family already got theirs and were sipping them at a table outside Sugarcube Corner with plates of desserts before them.
“North Wind, tis good to see you again,” Igneous Rock gave her a nod which she returned, Cloudy Quartz was nibbling a daisy sandwich and letting Marble have a sip of her cider. The silent filly giving her a nod and small smile. Limestone was messing around with several different rocks, pouring different liquids over them while Maud read from a book, on rocks.

Pinkie sat with her at another table, munching on a cookie as North told her what had happened. She had to stop her friend from getting a hot-air balloon and going to Cloudsdale, telling her that so far no one knew of their association with one another and she didn’t want Pinkie getting in trouble. This younger Pinkie was surprisingly quicker to anger than she remembered, then again, Pinkie was still learning how to handle different emotions, as was her family who had been living a certain way for a while now. Her sister Limestone seemed to feel anger rather easily, though North guessed it was just her personality.
Since school was still in session for another few weeks ( North already had her graduation filed and everything), and Pinkie Pie got permission from her family to stay in Ponyville for a bit; North spent that time walking around with Pinkie and showing her the sights. She even introduced the filly to some of her favorite book series and they ended up at a book signing with Daring Do. North had started reading the series before her time in the mines and started collecting the books when she could. Daring Do’s character reminded North Wind of both the grown-up Rainbow Dash and Indiana Jones, and she found herself wanting to read more about the mare and her adventures. She kept the series in Lyra’s room, since the series had nothing to do with humans so the filly’s mom didn’t care whether they were there or not.

When they weren’t doing that Pinkie Pie was throwing parties left and right, using her allowance from the farm and whatever she earned helping out Mr. and Mrs. Cake to buy the supplies. North only asked her once about charging for the parties but Pinkie Pie didn’t feel all that good about doing it.
“Besides, how can I charge ponies when I’m still new at throwing parties? That won’t make them smile,” North sighed, she had a point but North didn’t want Pinkie using up all her money and needing to work constantly to throw parties that she never charged anyone for.
Once the school year did end, the pink pony took her to Sugarcube Corner (North had gone there once a week and Pinkie Pie had been busy each time, this was the first time they were both free together.) and Mrs. Cake made her the usual cherry muffin with spiced cinnamon frosting, sprinkled paprika, and dark chocolate peanut butter filling. The baker had made a lot of unique combinations over the years for her and kept part of the pantry filled with spice filled sweets. North technically was the only one to eat those kinds of combinations, though for some reason it was catching on with other customers who were curious to try it for themselves.

Pinkie Pie was no exception.

“Ooh, that looks good,” Pinkie Pie asked for one as well and even spooned some of the chili pepper sauce to dip the cupcake into. North tried to warn her, knowing that Pinkie had grown up on a rock farm with a limited variety of food and might get sick from trying such a combination so early.
But the filly bit into the cupcake with gusto and even drank the chili hot and pineapple mixed smoothie that North ordered with the cupcakes. Mrs. Cake actually looked relieved that someone else wanted the other half of the smoothie, apparently she just put the rest of it in a cup and put it out as a sample or kept it reserved for when North next came to town. North didn’t mind that part, she felt a bit bad for her strange requests but the mare liked the challenge of new combinations and didn’t say no when she asked.

“Really?” the deadpan tone made her look up at Lyra who was staring at their food in disgust, “Pinkie Pie, please tell me she forced you into eating that,” the Earth filly shook her head.
“Nope! This is really good! Want one? Mrs. Cake made twelve!” Lyra looked at Fluttershy next to her who was biting her lip, no doubt preventing a smile.
“Yeah no, I’m going to get a vanilla with mint icing, let’s go Fluttershy, leave these weirdos to their spicy-sweet cupcakes.” the pegasus giggled but followed Lyra in. North and Pinkie Pie shared a look before shrugging and downing a second cupcake each.
Once the rest of their quartet got their ‘normal’ cupcakes, the four headed towards Sweet Apple Acres where North had been building something with Big Mac and Bright Mac’s supervision. Applejack was missing, again, no doubt with her mom who was pregnant with a third foal after the treatment went through.
Something bugged North Wind whenever she went to Sweet Apple Acres, but she could never figure it out, like something was blocking her mind about the place.
Not like it was something big, right?

Fluttershy hid behind Lyra while Big Mac talked about the dimensions and calculations of whatever it was they were going to see.
Lyra felt the numbers swimming around her head and wished she knew a silencing spell to block out the very talkative colt’s voice as he went on, and on, and on, and on.
And on.
The only ones following him were Pinkie whose smile didn’t waver one bit and North who was probably used to it since she visited the farm more than anyone else.
“Right here it is,” Bright Mac opened the door, gesturing to Big Mac to help him and together the two removed the very heavy looking tarp.
Fluttershy blinked rapidly while Pinkie Pie let out an excited gasp.

Lyra groaned.

“North! You went overboard,” North looked smug as she placed a hoof on the cart, or rather caravan, the apple wood painted in the colors of pink and blue with the images of different animals. There was a hatch that if pushed would open up the top to reveal the sun or moonlight, but would make the cart not as heavy as it could be, though the top was still durable enough for tough weather. There was an underside for luggage and the like and there were seats that could fit four ponies facing one another that could be turned into a bed with very soft cushions Granny Smith helped her make. There was even an ice chest packed with food for a month and fresh juice and water that would last just as long.

There were other features but North decided not to reveal them just yet, she didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

Fluttershy sniffed and North looked at the tears in her eyes with alarm before falling to the ground as the other hugged her with great force.
“Ok, since Fluttershy likes it I won’t say anything, but how do you expect to be able to pull that?” North got up, patting a blushing Fluttershy’s mane before attaching the harness to her barrell and with little effort pulled it out.
Lyra’s eye twitched at the display of strength and the smug look on her friend’s face.
“And there’s a second harness in case someone else wants to pull as well, I actually wanted to do two stories but they stopped me,” she had the gall to pout and Lyra banged her head on the nearest wall rather than try to even strangle her.

“I know through these past few years Mom said not to say anything, but I would like to know what exactly your planning on doing with this,” Bright Mac asked, glancing at Big Mac, the scrawny colt yet to become the size of his father and was currently looking at the schematics for the cart, or it was more of a carriage, “Mac here decided he wanted to build his own and has been bugging me to create something similar,” he scratched the back of his head, “Then there’s the matter of you paying,” he held up a bag filled with bits, “Where’d you get this?” North cringed, her and her friends sharing awkward looks.

“Now wait just a darn minute,” Granny Smith stomped towards them, “Bright Mac what did I say?” the stallion opened his mouth but she stopped him, “It’s good enough that I know isn’t it? Now git! We still need to harvest the fields,” her son lowered his head, gesturing for Big Mac to follow and they disappeared. Granny Smith rolled her eyes and spat on the ground, giving the cart a once-over and lightly prodding it, “You sure picked up carpentry quick, I expect updates, even if its some secretive way, and don’t you worry none about that uncle of yours tracing anything to us. We have our own ways and this town is protected and closely watched by the princess herself for some weird reason,” Pinkie bit her lip and Fluttershy’s wings shook, but the two managed to not give anything away. Lyra had her own poker face on, years of practice at noble parties and North just kept hers blank.

Then she decided to be cheeky,

“Got it,” she smirked, “Peaches,” the mare sputtered, especially when Pinkie Pie and Lyra saluted and called her Peaches as well.
“Why you cheeky,” the four scattered, avoiding Granny’s hooves and they all left the farm at separate exits.
“Do you think she’s mad?” Fluttershy asked, a bit worried, once they gathered together in the town library, the librarian giving them cautious looks that they ignored.
“It’s fine, teasing Granny Smith is fun, and I can’t tease Gaius because he’ll end up giving me octopus instead of regular fish, and that’s difficult for me to cook,” Fluttershy gulped, shivering at the thought.
“Okay,” Lyra stared at the calendar.

“So we’re really doing this then?” she asked, nervous now that after a few months of planning the day was now here.
“Yep, I’m going to head back to the Rock Farm for a bit, get things ready,” North gave the party filly a dry look.
“And earn some more allowance?” Pinkie stuck out her tongue at her, causing Lyra to laugh.

“As far as Mom’s concerned, Sonic Recorder is throwing his own special camp that I’ll be attending for the summer,” she drooped, “Unfortunately I’m unable to graduate early, its impossible at Celestia’s School, and without a Cutie Mark I can’t make a case for transferring,” it was kind of frustrating that she didn’t have one after all the stuff she’s mastered with North’s help. In another world she might have focused on practicing the lyre tell she got her Cutie Mark, but in this one her friendship with North made her spread her interest over different areas. Not to mention North’s own frustration with getting her Cutie Mark made Lyra consider what she wanted for hers.

“I really didn’t have to hide anything from Mom and Dad apart from you three’s involvement, but I’ve been reading up on all kinds of animals, and what a Ranger is,” Fluttershy tapped her hooves nervously, “I even put together all my allowance and got everything on the list the program sent me when I applied. They said having an assistant is fine, but that they are not allowed to help me with any training, just to take notes and other stuff. Though I don’t know what they are going to think with three assistants,” North shrugged, a smile on her lips.
“I have a plan for that,” Lyra sighed.
“Course you do,” North Wind always did.

Chapter 9- Fillies in the Desert

Author’s Note: I do not own MLP, just North Wind
Las Pegasus was the center of entertainment throughout Equestria, from casinos to night shows, from wild rides going through hotels to conventions and concerts held at the biggest hotels throughout the land. Sure, Manehatten had Bridleway, but most of those shows end up in this party city anyways.
Of course travelers, most of whom were ponies, lost their entire fortunes and were forced to work to earn enough bits to get home, but that didn’t stop others from trying to make their own fortunes.

It was also where a certain stallion was stated to visit rather frequently, so covers were paramount when one wanted to visit the city.
Fluttershy wished for such a cover as she watched the crowd heading towards the Las Pegasus Convention Center, gulping as her resolve started to waver.
She couldn’t go in there! All those ponies looked tough and that one had a shark tooth necklace! Why did she think she could be a Ranger? She was getting scared of just a crowd, and she wanted to get in a profession that interacted with strangers everytime?

She was wasting everyone’s time- a passing pony accidentally bumped into her and she apologized at his angry mutter about holding up the path. Then she realized something got knocked loose on the vest North got for her and paused as she caught sight of the whistle that her friends had made for her. North had carved it while Lyra put in the holes and Pinkie Pie painted it to give it a cheerful look. It was supposed to imitate different animals based on what holes she covered, and it resembled a penguin rather than the hawk North tried going for. Something that bugged the filly but Fluttershy loved it all the same.
She stared at it for a few seconds before putting it back in her vest and resuming the trek into the hotel. She wasn’t going to let her friends down, not after everything they did to help her, and she did not want that Wind Scar meany to ruin things either.

A Ranger is what she got her Cutie Mark for, and a Ranger she is going to be.

Her pace quickened and she took one step into the hotel, seeing the larger crowd but not even pausing as she headed towards the exhibition hall, the tag on her vest visible and letting her in without any trouble.
Across the street, two ponies watched from the cart, the cover and drapes falling from it covering their forms.
“See, told you she wouldn’t let her fears get the best of her,” Lyra rolled her eyes at North’s statement.

“Yeah, but I still think we should’ve walked in there with her, give some more support?” the younger (in body not mind) gave her a look.
“But then she wouldn’t be able to go in there on her own, and I can’t meet up with her yet, remember? And your going to be late for your own appointment, Agape Flare” Lyra twitched, staring down at her chili red fur and the now pink and red colors of her mane.

She hated this part of the plan.

“Your lucky this is only temporary,” she hissed at the golden furred filly who had her own long, green mane in several braids, instead of cutting it like she made Lyra do.
Golden Lotus raised an eyebrow, pointing at the vest covering her body, and the invisible binding on her wings, which gave ‘Agape’ pause.
Right, part of the plan was Golden pretending to be an Earth filly, which meant she had to wear a binding the whole time (thankfully a cosmetic and not an actual one.) The filly went so far as to design ‘Cutie Marks’ for both covers, just in case. Agape Flare had fire swirling through and around a heart-shaped ocarina (her protest about a fake Cutie Mark died down when North reminded her that she did, indeed, know how to use an ocarina.)
Golden Lotus herself had a golden lotus embedded onto what looked like a fancy carriage, having to do with her talent in carpentry and gold embellishments. Plus the fact it was a carriage would make sure no one would question how she could pull it.
Sometimes her friend’s plans scared Lyra on a different level, but this one kind of took the cake.

“So when are you going in? Orientation starts in two hours,” Golden showed her a permit that wouldn’t let her go through the bigger doors (the cart wouldn’t fit through the front) till thirty minutes before the orientation began.
“They’re doing a security check and everything, so before then,” she nodded to Lyra who sighed.

“I’ll take the special cargo with me on a tour of Las Pegasus,” which was stupid consideri- but then again, this was meant to throw anyone off their path, wasn’t it?
Muddy the trail and make it difficult in case anyone suspected them of the theft. North- sorry Golden, even packed a ton of trivial things that were going to throw anyone off.

At least, that’s what she declared to the rest of their quartet when they asked why she was packing a certain trunk into the cart.
After an hour, Golden started pulling the cart towards the back of the exhibition hall and as she passed a bush, the fountain at a different hotel erupted, looking more than a geyser and turning into different colors. While everyone was looking, Golden ‘as well’, no one noticed the red furred filly jumping out of the cart and disappearing into the hedge along the sidewalk. Golden peered at the fountain before shrugging and resuming her trot to the designated area.
Might as well be close to the loading area when they’re allowed in. Too bad there wasn’t an earlier time, she was really interested in seeing the exhibitions of the Search and Rescue convention.
It would have been really interesting.

Fluttershy accepted the free brochure with a soft thanks and added it to her saddlebag, which was already filled with a bunch of other free giveaways from the other booths. So far it had been fun, she got to see what the different options were for those interested in Rescue, got free food samples (that trail mix looked especially good), and thanks to some advice from North, avoided the ‘timeshare’ booths.

She also avoided the Royal Guard booth, though made sure it wasn’t obvious, she recognized one of the stallions from Hearth’s Warming and did not want to risk getting recognized. There were those at the booths who saw her tag declaring her as a potential trainee in the Ranger program and did not bother her as much, seeing as she was already in one of the programs. Then she came to a booth where there was a St. Bernard with a first aid kit around his neck and had a nice conversation about what he did.
Then his owner joined in.

“You can understand him?” Fluttershy jumped and stared at the Earth pony with wide eyes. His white coat and brown mane nearly blended in with his own booth and she felt embarrassed at not greeting him first.
“Um, yes,” she tapped the floor, feeling her shyness kick in and he raised a hoof.
“Didn’t mean to startle you, it’s just rare to run into somepony of your talents,” he saw her tag and smiled.
“Ranger program huh? Wish that existed when I was younger, but I’m quite happy at my occupation,” she looked at his booth, the snow theme and pictures giving her an idea.
“Snow Rescue?” he smiled, and she felt herself relaxing a bit at the calm aura he was emitting.

“Yeah, been rescuing stragglers and unfortunate souls from avalanches, their own accidents, and Comet here is my partner. I’m also the sheriff of my town, but its small enough that I can do both jobs. I believe its one of the stops in this twelve month training session, hope to see you there,” she thanked him, petted Comet with his permission, and went on her way. She found a few more booths where animals were used in in rescue operations, a mare offered her information about training animals in rescue operations once she found out Fluttershy’s talent.

“Would be good if the animals actually knew what we were training them for instead of making them guessing all the time with treats,” Fluttershy giggled as the monkey on her head leant over, staring into her eyes and asked if she had any bananas or peanut butter, and if she could tell the mare that the stallion at the other booth had a rare bug that it wanted to eat and if she could get it for him.

“Sorry, I don’t,” she turned to the mare and whispered about what the monkey told her. The mare shot a glance at the booth with a frown, thanked her, and when Fluttershy disappeared to a different booth, she caught sight of the mare confronting the stallion and her monkey lifting a box with a bug that had several other vendors charge the sweating stallion.
“Oh dear,” she didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

“Huh, and here I expected Agape to make a big scene,” the voice had her twitching at the unfamiliarity of it, but when she turned to the speaker, she blinked at them.
“Miss Fluttershy I presume,” knowing that was a quote somehow, she gave Golden Lotus an unamused look, the filly giving her a cheeky grin, “I got the cart like Trade Star wanted, do you want me to get anything here before orientation? There’s a surplus store down there,” Fluttershy thought about it. She had gotten everything on the list, but found her options limited for some ‘suggestions’ that the program had.

“Well, a few more iodine pills wouldn’t hurt, and since the first stop is a desert I was thinking of some sunglasses and maybe one of those mini-fans you put around your neck?” she trailed off, wondering if it was silly, but Golden saluted to her and went to the booth, no one batting an eye at the Earth filly pulling what looks like a heavy cart.

Then again, if the filly’s wings were visible, there would actually be reactions. Fluttershy tried not to think about how her friend changed her voice as well and went into the orientation hall, taking a seat near the back and swallowing at the others that were there. Some looked like they were a decade older than her and others looked like they finished high school first before coming here.
Was she the only twelve-year-old?

“Um, hi, is this seat taken?” the stripes on the colt were a surprise, and his Cutie Mark looked like a circle with a line through it and two dots on the top and bottom facing each from each other.
“N-no,” Golden would probably not detach from the cart, so Fluttershy felt that she wouldn’t mind.
“That’s good, I wasn’t sure if any of the others would let me join them,” he sighed with relief as he took the seat, “I’m Bao Kilima,” Fluttershy blinked before giving her own name and they sat for a moment watching the rest of the trainees arrive.

“Got what you needed Miss Fluttershy,” Golden appeared, handing her a pair of sunglasses with a cord that she could hang around her neck, before looking at Bao, “Oh a Zebra, hi I’m Golden Lotus, Miss Fluttershy’s assistant,” he gave a shy smile.
“Bao Kilima, not many know I’m a Zebra at first sight,” he rubbed the back of his head, Golden shrugged.
“I read a lot, though,” she tilted her head, “I thought Zebras spoke in rhyme,” Bao winced.
“When I was small I did, but let’s just say I had reason to learn how to speak without it,” Golden accepted that explanation, glancing towards the front and taking out a notepad which she started writing in.

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s a Zebra?” Fluttershy whispered to him, he didn’t mind and told her about his homeland, or at least his grandfather’s, he actually hailed from the Badlands at a small village and was looking to get experience and become a Ranger in order to gain more opportunities for himself and his kin.

“There’s not many out there, planting out there is a nightmare but we’re still persevering, I’m hoping to perfect my potion abilities a-” a bell interrupted him and they turned to the front where twelve ponies were seated, all of them looking at one pony who was standing at the podium. His wings were slightly open and his Cutie Mark was a shield with a cross in the middle.
“Greetings, my name is Cross Shield and I welcome you all to the first ever Ranger Training Year-Long Seminar. My fellows and I would like to thank you as well for giving this program a chance to turn you-” he gave them an overview of the program, the same information on the pamphlet.
The twelve trainers that were mentioned on the flyer were each introduced, representing different environments that they specialized in along with their apprentices who were there to help manage all the trainees, which turned out to be fifty. The whittling down part was unsettling, if a trainee was seen to have little potential in the field, they would kindly but firmly be dropped from the program to try again another time or find a different career.

“I don’t want to ruin someone's chances,” Fluttershy looked devastated as they went to the first training area on the schedule, the San Palomino Desert which wasn’t all that far from Las Pegasus. Bao had looked scared as well, but given her a brief good luck before going to get some last minute supplies.
Agape Flare would meet up with Golden in two weeks once she was done with her own errands, and Fluttershy was a bit concerned, she did not want to leave Golden by herself. Some of the trainees had their own assistants, but it did not stop them from eyeing the cart Golden was pulling.

At some point along the trail the entire group separated, each one going to an assigned area where one of the trainers would meet with them. To Fluttershy’s dismay that meant Bao and her weren’t in the same group, and she could only watch as the colt went off with a not so nice looking group. Each trainer had four trainees to look after, in some cases they had five, and while Fluttershy was disappointed that Bao wasn’t with her, she tried to console herself on the fact she was in a group of four.

While Golden set up camp, Fluttershy gathered her courage and tried to make conversation with the three others in her group.
It didn’t go well. One of them, a white coated earth colt a couple years older, gave her and Golden a frosty glare before turning away. Wilting, Fluttershy next went to the sole unicorn of the group, but was met with similar derision as the pink unicorn dismissed her as a weakling. The fourth member was a pegasus who had a similar mindset to the unicorn, and knew Fluttershy from tales at flight camp.

“Great, well at least I don’t have to worry about Cluttershy being a threat,” there was the crash of cooking implements and Fluttershy fought off the despair to go restrain Golden Lotus who had a pan in her hooves and was eyeing the stallion with a dark promise in her eyes that actually made im take a step back before he remembered himself and sneered at her.

“Golden, you can’t,” Fluttershy whispered to her urgently, “Please?” Golden calmed down, but it didn’t stop her from glaring at the colt.

“The first snake you come across, ask if it wants to wrap around your neck, and make sure its poisonous,” the yellow pegasus sighed, but couldn’t help the smile on her lips.
“Alright,” it’s not like she was afraid of snakes, so it was a simple request, and if it made No- Golden feel better she would do it.

They were there for two hours, Fluttershy settled down to read books on the desert, when the assigned trainer met them, an Earth pony with a shawl wrapped around her head and green eyes eyeing them.
“I am Amethyst Storm, you four come with me, but the assistant stays here,” Fluttershy gulped and waved to Golden before following after her group, keeping some distance from them and trying to tell herself it would get better.

Despite the fact there was no one for miles, North didn’t relax and kept the disguise up. She mapped everything within a two-mile radius during the first two weeks, where certain plants and animals were, and keeping track of the weather patterns. At one point she had found some cacti that weren’t poisonous and marked them as emergency food and water supply before returning to her spot.
During the third week, Agape Flare finally joined her and together they found the ocean, spending several nights exploring along the shore line, finding different sea caves that they hadn’t been too before, collecting all the seashells they could find. Golden set up different fishing traps (not wanting to eat all their food) and whatever she caught was grilled or set out in the sun to dry. The meals were simple as Golden’s talent when it came to cooking only came to meat dishes and preparation, for some reason she couldn’t make simple dishes.

The fourth week was spent relaxing, with Golden telling Agape different stories she could remember from her old world and Agape telling her what happened to her in Las Pegasus at the different concerts and performances. She even regaled her of diving through a mosh pit and grabbing the drumstick one of the band members had thrown. The manic look in her eye had Golden eyeing her in worry, but she calmed down in time to help with dinner.

The day Fluttershy returned, Agape was recovering from an ill-gotten attempt at cactus (Golden had warned her to look for the blue marked cacti and stay away from the green ones, but she had forgotten which was which.) Golden was going over all of her notes and arranging the pictures she had printed (Agape’s reaction to her turning the cart into a dark room ended with her chasing Golden into the ocean.)

“You two were out here the whole time?” Amethyst blinked at them, a bit surprised at their healthy state, though having been informed of Agape’s presence (cover of which she was Golden’s sister that was watching her) she didn’t bat an eyelid at the unicorn. The trainees were in similar states of surprise, though Fluttershy wasn’t, the snake around her neck uncoiled and slithered to one of the fish that Golden Harvest placed in a small dish, hissing thanks to her before opening its mouth and swallowing the fish whole.

Golden smiled and poured some water for it to drink as well before turning to Amethyst,
“Yep, took a bit to adjust,” the trainer took a moment to think about the bizarre scene of the filly being unafraid of a rattlesnake and chuckled.
“Huh, glad to know your friends are adaptable as you are, though your gift with animals was a sight to behold when you had to rescue these other trainees,” with that parting shot she left, the others following behind her, not looking as confident as they had a month before, leaving Fluttershy to be questioned by her friends on what the mare had meant.

Chapter 10- Pegasus in Canterlot Gardens

Author’s Note: I do not own MLP

Two Weeks into the Program

The crane held over the planetarium swung back, ready to demolish the empty building and turn the lot into another estate.
Though the filly standing in front of it was making things rather difficult.
“Look, I have a busy schedule today, I’m sorry you loved hanging out with your friends here, but we were paid to tear it down and tear it down we shall,” Pinkie Pie glowered at the construction pony, ears flat. She was lucky her Pinkie Sense had told her to come to Canterlot, otherwise she might’ve been too late.
This was the HAA (Human Appreciation Association), the place where she became part of a group and had friends who didn’t think she was weird, and she would not let them tear it down.

One of them tried to grab her in his magic but she dodged it, to his shock, and produced a key that she used to unlock the chain blocking entrance into the building. Before they could stop her she jumped in and shoved gum into the locks and a bunch of objects in front of the doors before disappearing into the planetarium.
They couldn’t tear it down when someone was inside, right?

With a groan the stallion tried to open the door, but found his magic unable to grasp the gum for some reason.
“Come on! We need to get that filly out, now,” he stomped his hoof, before a soft voice caught his attention.
“Um, E-excuse us, what are you doing?” the pegasus family that appeared looked at the construction with confusion, “Why are you tearing down this building?” the colt was looking at the equipment with awe and he made a mental note to monitor him.
“Because we were hired to, the owner made it quite clear she wanted this place gone,” there was a cleared throat.
“Funny, and here I thought I held the deed to this place,” with a roll of his eyes, he turned, yet again to give the stallion who spoke a piece of his mind.
Then he saw him and gulped.

“F-fancy Pants, y-you own this p-place?” the rising socialite did not look happy.
“Yes I do, and I remember rather clearly gifting it to my niece as a hideout, I do not remember giving permission for its demolition,” he did not stomp his hoof, but his eyes narrowed and Meteor Strike swallowed.
This is not going to look good on his record, especially if his boss finds out he accepted a bribe to tear down this place.
He was going to get fired, wasn’t he?

Once the entire crew left, Fancy rubbed his head, looking rather annoyed, before he spoke to the Shy family.
“I do apologize about our interrupted lunch, I’ve been wanting to speak to the family of at least one of my niece’s friends, and yet,” Mr. Shy shook his head.
“Not your fault, our Fluttershy told us about this planetarium and it being the group’s meet-up, we owe a lot to those three fillies for helping her get out of her shell, bit by bit,” then he frowned, “But why would someone tear down this planetarium, and without your authority?” Fancy scowled.
“I know exactly whose behind this, and I will express my displeasure with her thoroughly,” his sister needed a firm reminder that destroying the property of her own daughter was not going to get her to stop. That Bow Hothoof was giving her the wrong ways of dealing with Lyra and he was going to make sure that stallion was never going to come near their house again, Royal Guard or not.

But first, he gestured for them to follow and walked around to the back where a section of the wall was a bit paler than the others. Pressing his hooves in the correct sequence, he walked in, waiting for them to come in as well and pressing a button that closed the section up again.
There was a gasp before a pink form darted across the room, disappearing into a room and slamming the door shut.

“Was that Pinkie Pie?” Mrs. Shy asked, looking worried, “I do hope those stallions weren’t thinking of wrecking the place when she’s still in,” she walked over to the door and knocked on it, “Pinkie? It’s Mrs. Shy, it’s fine, the demolition ponies are gone,” it was silent for a moment before the door opened and a blue eyes peeked out.
“They’re not going to tear this place down?” she asked anxiously, Fancy shook his head.
“No, I own this place and have no intentions of destroying it,” her eye narrowed.
“Or taking any scrolls out and burning them?” Mr. Shy frowned.
“What do you mean?” Pinkie opened the door further, stepping out and giving them a serious look.

“Windy’s dad came in her with Lyra’s mom, took a whole shelf of her research and burnt it, just like her uncle did in Cloudsdale because its not pegasus related,” she bit her lip, “Your not going to do anything to Lyra’s human research right? Because I’ve seen it and don’t doubt it,” Zephyr almost scoffed but his mom’s quelling look stopped it.

“I see,” Fancy rubbed his head, “Oh Harper what am I going to do with you,” then he lowered the hoof and bent down to look Pinkie in the eye, “Is it alright if I at least take a look at the research? I promise not to destroy it,” she stared at him, a mysterious look in those big blue eyes.
“Pinkie Promise?” a shiver hit his spine but he nodded, bemusedly copying the movements, the other three doing the same when she looked at them.

“Okie dokie lokie,” she lit up and hopped to an unfamiliar room, opening the door and leading them into a room filled with scrolls, “We had to rearrange everything when Fluttershy and I came, the first shelf is party books, the second shelf is animals, third is magic, and fourth is all about humans and other creatures,” one half of the shelves were filled with books on the subjects she pointed out, but the rest looked like bound journals, “Windy did the journals, they’re the research she put together,” something about that caught his attention and he took one of the journals from the magic shelf, opening it to see the contents.

“She did all the journals?” Mrs. Shy gaped at the shelf, “I mean, I know she likes taking notes, she summarized her and Fluttershy’s books in one of their study sessions, but all of these subjects as well?” Pinkie shrugged.
“She likes research, she pointed me to books to help study party planning and even put together a list of all the different parties that ponies throw,” Zephyr went to the corner where there were scrolls piled up and took the one from the top.
“Ble-” Pinkie Pie tackled him to the ground, grabbed the scroll, and shoved it into her hair.

“No!” she pointed at him with a stern stare, “Those shelves,” while Mr. and Mrs. Shy looked shocked at seeing their son tackled to the ground and Zephyr himself was stunned, Fancy was still reading the journal.

“I say, this is remarkably similar to the study guides I’ve seen Lyra use when she’s working on her magical studies, and,” he flipped through the pages, using the table of contents (this filly was rather thorough) to find a spell and after glancing at it, put down the journal and cast the spell on a stuffed toy in the corner, its eyes glowing blue as it stood and started dancing, “My word, even the notes make sense,” he looked giddy, before seeing their expressions and clearing his throat, “Apologies, the Inanimate Animation spell always eluded me because the instructions never made any sense! But just reading the notes and I was able to cast it on the first try,” he picked the book back up and read even further, “If I had these kinds of primers in scho-” he trailed off, a lightbulb flashing that almost blinded them.

“Oopsie,” Pinkie hopped on top and turned it off, “Forgot to fix it,” Fancy gave the bulb a weary look before shaking his head and clearing his throat.

“I-i don’t suppose your friend would mind if I published these books,” she climbed to his head and stared straight into his eyes, he smiled, “Then you won’t have to worry about them being destroyed and those who are having difficulty with their magic can learn from these notes.” she pursed her lips, “How about this, I pay for them to be published, and I will put all royalties in a safe for your group to use at your leisure,” she hopped off his head and to the floor, sitting down and staring at him with her hooves pressed firmly against the ground.
“Her family cannot know she’s the one who wrote them,” he let out a breath.

“Well a pen name will work then, I know you are unsure, but the magic guides they have now are too dry for students. How about you think on it for a bit while I’m still in Canterlot,” he had to go to a diplomatic meeting after the month was over, and he wasn’t really looking forward to it. Then, remembering himself, he turned to the Shy family, “How about attending the Canterlot Garden party tomorrow as my guests? I do feel bad about our lunch meeting being cancelled and wish you to experience some of what Canterlot has to offer,” they looked taken aback.

“Garden party?” Mrs. Shy’s eyes lit up while her husband looked a bit unsure, but seeing his wife’s enthusiasm he agreed.

Pinkie Pie rejected the invitation in favor of having something else to do, while Zephyr did not have much of a choice, though he did look interested in seeing the castle.
He took them to his house, not wanting them to put up bits for a hotel, and when he was sure they were comfortable, made his way to Harper’s house.
They were due for a very long talk.

Pinkie Pie reinforced all the doors and windows before heading into the basement where she would spend the night, thinking about Fancy’s offer.
It sounded fun but should she wait to ask for Windy’s permission to publish her notes? She didn’t want the nine year old getting mad at her, but if they published all the books and they became popular, North wouldn’t have to worry about her dad or uncle destroying them.

At that thought she got up, staring at the wall as she shivered, today had been a very close call, and she was scared that next time it wouldn’t be a bribed demolition but an ‘accident’ that would end up destroying everything.

Which would sadden North and Lyra, and Fluttershy would be upset of course, but the place had been the former two’s home away from home and seeing it destroyed with all their work down the drain; they might not recover.
Besides, Fancy Pants could have decided to publish the books without her consent and not let her friend have any of the royalties; but instead he’s letting her think about it and give the decision.

Oh, she wished part of the plan didn’t involve cutting off contact with one another, she wouldn’t be able to join them for another few months. Plus, if she waited those few months and the planetarium did get destroyed, Windy had a good memory, but with all the research she’s planning on doing, Pinkie had a feeling she wouldn’t remember what she did before. So, maybe it is a good idea to publish the journals?
Oh, why did this have to be hard?

Zephyr Breeze watched his shrinking parents in boredom and a bit of embarrassment. His mom thought the ‘garden’ part was literal and bought a straw hat and gardening implements. Not wishing to see his parents embarrass themselves (Fancy Pants had been dragged away by some other nobles) he went looking for the snacks table. Filling a plate, he then left the party to find a quiet spot to eat his food. He sighed and took out a book his sister had given him in the hopes of piquing his interest in the subject and while he could see why she thought so, did he really want to put all that effort in this kind of study area? The past year had been blow after blow as first his parents were treating him with a firmer hoof than before and they forced him to look at his behavior.

How was he supposed to know cutting a filly’s hair and keeping it was creepy? The other colts dared him to and even after he did it they didn’t want to hang out with him. Fluttershy also got after him more and told him in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about North Wind or ‘spy’ on her if they request it. Whether that was because she overheard Rainbow Dash talking to him about it he wasn’t sure, though the filly gave up asking him halfway through when he asked what was in it for him.

“Ooh, is that a copy of Wing Chi?” the voice startled him from his thoughts and he turned, only to gulp at the sight of Princess Celestia standing there,

“U-uh it is, my sister gave me it, but I don’t understand it very well,” he wanted to hit himself at the admission, maybe he should leave before he embarrassed himself any further? But instead of insulting him, she gave him an encouraging smile.

“Well, it is something relaxing, if I had the time I would be doing it as well, to at least release the stress and all,” wait, what did that mean?

“Stress?”

“Yes, Wing Chi has you doing motions that involve graceful movements where you use your entire body, including your wings. There are Earth Pony and Unicorn versions as well, but I’m still waiting for the Alicorn version,” she winked at him and his cheeks turned red, to his mortification and he hastily looked down, causing her to giggle.

“But graceful isn’t something I’m good at, I’m more of a go with the flow kind of guy, and I don’t think I will be able to focus into all of those movements. Compared to my sister, I’m not very good with putting my effort into anything. This isn’t the only book she gave me either, but they all have the same kind of thing about helping ponies relax and that kind of thing,” what he did not know was that North had likened him to having the attitudes of those zen like guys if he could put in the effort and with the amount of care he puts into his mane, she figured he might as well learn about it properly.

“Well I don’t see anything wrong with that, we could use more ponies that can do that, and going with the flow? Sometimes that can lead to the most interesting situations and adventures, so long as you know when you should not go with the flow,” she looked and a small grimace appeared as some nobles came their way before she smiled, wiping the frown away, “Well, looks like I have to get back to work. It was nice speaking with you,” she left and he returned to his book, intent on finishing it now that the princess herself spoke of how useful it was when a sneering voice cut into his reading time.

“Think you’re a big shot now that Aunty Celestia spoke to you?” he turned to see an older colt who was giving him a mean look.

“U-uh,” who was this colt?

“Why are you even here? It is obvious you have no nobility about you, maybe I should call a guard and tell them you are trying to steal something,” he stiffened and felt burning anger well up as he stood up, fur standing on end as he opened his mouth to lash into the obnoxious unicorn when Fancy Pants appeared.

“There you are Zephyr, your parents got worried, would look rather bad if I lost my invited guests in the castle,” he turned to the unicorn colt who looked as if he had bit into something sour, “Prince Blueblood, I do hope you are treating the guests properly, I would hate to tell your aunt that you’ve been spouting unicorn superiority again and trying to make trouble for your own amusement,” Blueblood paled, gave Zephyr a glare as if it was his fault and pranced off. Fancy Pants gave a sigh as he led the green Pegasus colt back to the garden party.

“I do apologize for his behavior, colts like him feel like they hold the world around their hooves and expect everything to be given to them on a silver platter. I feel bad for Princess Celestia who must cater to his family, they are descended from Princess Platinum you know, the whole ‘aunty’ business only relates to the fact he’s descended from royalty and she is royalty. Now, I asked the kitchens to prepare some special treats that I know a growing colt like you will enjoy,” as they were led off, Zephyr thought over the words, colts who feel entitled to stuff right? He compared his behavior with Bluebloods and while he wouldn’t deliberately make trouble for someone, he had a feeling the ponies see his actions as such. Cheeks burning, he lowered his head, staring at the floor, no wonder everyone thought him an idiot, he wouldn’t want to be friends with Blueblood either, but then again, no one wanted to be his friend in school.

He was silent the rest of the Garden Party which his parents noticed and after begging off invitations (ponies wanting to get in with ponies who were acquainted with Fancy Pants, they weren’t comfortable with ponies like that.) led him to a donut shop to talk with him.

“Am I a bad colt?” he asked when they had sat down and the two shared a startled glance,

“What makes you say that?” his father asked and he sighed,

“I ran into Prince Blueblood and his behavior rubbed me the wrong way, and Fancy Pants said something about him being one of those colts that feels everything has to be handed to them on a silver platter. Then I remembered that I pretty much acted the same, and you probably wish I was more like Fluttershy instead of a demanding son,” tears trickled down his cheeks and his mom took him into her hooves.

“You are still a colt, at this young age you are expected to act like that, you should have seen your own father when he was younger, or even his brother,” Mr. Shy rolled his eyes which were surprising, “Your uncle for years couldn’t find something he truly enjoyed doing, and he expected your grandparents to put up with him every time he failed, it got to the point he stopped trying altogether. But then your grandfather broke his wings on a route and your uncle after much prodding, delivered letters and packages, and he realized that he did enjoy doing that kind of thing, especially the traveling part. He never realized his Cutie Mark’s usefulness till that moment. So yes, I admit that your father and I would not mind looking after you for a long while in the future, we know that there are times when parents must be strict with their children. Luckily that won’t happen for a long while yet, so you do not have to worry about that kind of thing, unless it is improving your grades in school. Oh! Did you want to attend flight camp? I forgot in all the excitement these past few days, registration is at the end of the month, we still have time too,”

“No,” they looked at him surprised and he blushed, raising a hoof, “I don’t mean that in a bratty way, but I’ve heard from Fluttershy that Flight Camp isn’t all that great. Actually, I was wondering if you can send me to a different camp, it involves the use of wings, just a different kind,” he had seen the flyer at the end of the book and while he wasn’t sure if the practice was something he would enjoy, it would not hurt to at least try.

His parents took the pamphlet and looked at it, their eyebrows raising at the kind of camp it was then back at a nervous Zephyr Breeze who was sipping at his Boba Tea, focusing all of his attention on it.

“I don’t see why not, it sounds like a delightful place, and they even hold gardening courses, I have never heard of this style before,” his mother looked interested, his father had a smile on his face.

“Well, I guess we better get you signed up, if that is what you want,” he hastened to add, Zephyr’s face broke into a grin.

“Yes!” maybe, he could get his Cutie Mark as well, he wondered what Fluttershy was doing and winced, he better write her an apology letter for being such a bratty brother, and maybe apologize to North Wind, if he even knew where she was (her running away was a big thing, and even he knew the whole Rock Camp thing was a farce to avoid being found out.)

Meanwhile Fancy Pants approached a publisher, a saddlebag filled with different scrolls and journals.

“Can I help you?” the bored secretary asked, not even phased at his presence, having dealt with many a noble who wished to spread their ‘brilliance’ in the world of literature.

“Yes, I would like to start an entirely new magazine, with different articles on magic and other subjects,” Written Records gave him an incredulous look, books were one thing, but a magazine?

“What is the name of the magazine?” there is no way it’ll become popular, but he was willing to humor them.

“North Star,” Fancy Pants answered, a secretive smile on his face.

“Alright, fill out these forms please,” he accepted the papers and started filling them out. He wanted to turn them into a book series, but after a talk with Pinkie, decided a magazine would work better.

“Ah, is it alright if we do separate accounts?” He wanted to do one for the fillies and a separate one to help pay off the amount it took to publish them.

“Depends on how popular it gets,” he said, but his tone said he did not believe that it would.

Author's Note

Instead of starting this one from scratch like my previous chapters, I decided to keep most of it since it was pretty long and I only had to edit a few words.

Chapter 11- Diamond Dogs in the Smokeys

“Wait, so Bao didn’t make it?” Golden asked, brow furrowed as Fluttershy gave a sad smile.
“No, he was disqualified among a few others who ended up getting lost in the desert, I overheard Amethyst talking with one of the other trainers about it,” Agape, having not met Bao, was currently looking through the pictures that Fluttershy had taken.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you exhausted all the film,” embarrassed, Fluttershy looked away, ears down, Golden kicked Agape’s shin, “Ow!” but the filly ignored her ‘sister’s’ exclamation, leaning against her embarrassed friend.
“Must’ve been a lot of animals,” the comment knocked Fluttershy out of her embarrassment and with great enthusiasm, she went into a retelling of all the animals she had come across, from tiny insects to the snake, to buzzards hanging around, and even a desert fox.

“They were so cute!” she exclaimed brightly before a yawn escaped her, “Excuse me, um,” Golden led her to the hotel bed (Agape kicked up a stink about staying in an actual hotel and Golden only complied because she knew Fluttershy could use the rest, plus it was part of the package.)
She didn’t want to make a habit of it though, there’s a reason she made the cart for sleeping as well as traveling.
“I’ll take the film from our cameras and develop them tomorrow morning, and afterwards I’ll go to the post office to see if Trade Star received anything,” she had a mailbox set up in every city, not only for her but for Ruffalo and Gaius as well. They had several ponies in their employ who didn’t want to leave even after they were told they could as mining was the only way for them to gain both shelter and food. They had freed other ponies from the Diamond Dogs and when it was clear they were not going to strong arm these ponies in working for them, they gained some loyal informants in every city.
It also didn’t hurt that these ponies could go into the post office without a second glance, which meant that Ruffalo or Gaius didn’t have to do it. The griffin still hunted and cooked for the Ruby Dogs, but somehow, with Ruffalo’s presence, he gained the permission to build a shack near the ocean with a shed filled with various fishing and hunting implements.

She still did not know where Ruffalo came from, or why his presence made the other canines shudder when he was a small dog, but Gaius told her not to think too much into it.
“-lden, Golden!” jumping at Agape’s voice, Golden looked at the annoyed unicorn who had a bucket of water in her aura, “Finally, I’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes!” Golden stared at the bucket, something that had Agape laughing nervously, “Only as a last resort,” she lowered it and gave her a serious look, “It’s been a month, maybe two, since you left home,” the golden filly frowned, where was her sister going with this?
“What’s your point?” her ‘sister’ gave her a look.
“You managed to get to your ‘zone’ at least once a month to deal with your ‘stress’ build-up, but while we’re in the desert you didn’t take off the binds once (and don’t think I forgot the fact they need a second pony to take them off, which is how I know you didn’t have them off while I was in Los Pegasus.) So, where are you planning on training?” Golden Lotus grimaced. She was kind of hoping Agape wouldn’t notice.
“Technically, these binds work differently and I don’t actually have to take them off?” Agape’s eyes narrowed.
“I. Will. Get. Fluttershy,” the ‘Earth’ filly gulped, staring at the sleeping pegasus and imagining what her reaction would be.
“Fine,” the bonds were getting itchy anyway.

Of course even though she already agreed, Agape still told Fluttershy the next morning and for two hours she was treated to a lecture about taking better care of herself and the whole time she wanted to hide under the bed or push a smug Agape out of the window.
The latter got even more tempting when she saw a popcorn bag hidden behind the curtain and the unicorn eating one at a time while watching.
As revenge she switched the strawberry syrup for her own special chili blend at the breakfast table and watched with satisfaction as Agape Flare took one bite and ran screaming to the water fountain.
A cleared throat made her wince, and she reluctantly handed Fluttershy the chili, pouting as the filly placed it in her saddlebag and resumed her own breakfast of oatmeal.
She hadn’t poured it over her own pancakes yet. Guess she must settle with the jalapenos honey then.

Luckily not every group was in the same hotel, so they did not have to deal with any of the sleazy ones trying to mess with the cart that North put in one of the storage containers underneath the hotel (a lot of travelers came with their carts.) Unfortunately, Fluttershy had to let the rattlesnake go, which Golden found unfair, but Amethyst had a point about taking an animal out of their environment. Though seeing one of the ‘weaker’ trainees with a poisonous snake around her neck changed a lot of opinions about her, and her group seemed less dismissive of her. Golden still hoped Fluttershy found another dangerous animal to befriend, maybe a spider, or a ferocious tiger? Because while her group might have changed their minds, it did not mean they were going to be nice to her, and there were other groups to consider.

If what she suspected was true, Bao and the others getting lost was not an accident, and she wondered if maybe this program failed in the original universe because of all the sabotage; or because no one wanted trainees who sabotaged others who were training to rescue ponies. The ‘whittling’ down part of the program was being taken too literally, and she wanted to despair at the fact none of the saboteurs thought about the fact Cross Shield was only talking about letting trainees go if they weren’t up to the rescue training; not because there was a grand prize for the finalists. This program not only trained Rangers, but also Police and other professions involved in the rescue process, and if a trainee proved their worth in a certain section of training, they could still get recruited even if they dropped out.

Then again, it could be their ego telling them that the ones with best performance would get the best offers, or something.
She can tell that Amethyst is impressed by Fluttershy more than the others in her group, so there’s a chance that Amethyst might take her as an apprentice afterwards, or help open doors to others who could help her.
Speaking of Amethyst- as soon as all the groups were gone, Golden went to the post office, Agape Flare right behind her (the unicorn didn’t want to admit her curiosity, she tended to overreact at the thought of any underground dealings that North Wind did; which the reincarnation decided not to elaborate on. Hm, should she tell Agape that there are mailboxes set up for their covers as well? Or that ‘Trade Star’ set up bank vaults for them as well?
(Nah, Agape would try to strangle her again if Golden told her that, best save it for a later date.)
The office was nearly empty as they went in, Agape staring at the envelopes and scrolls, contemplating whether to buy one while Golden trotted up to the clerk and asked for access to the Trade Star mailbox.
“Huh, you too? I get a lot of the requests dealing with that one,” the clerk said, peering down at her suspiciously, but she gave an innocent smile.
“Hm, Mama has a lot of workers!” she exclaimed, tail wagging. The clerk raised an eyebrow and put a paper in front of her, looking almost apologetic.
“You’ll have to answer this correctly if you want access,” giving the question a once over, Golden grabbed the pencil he handed her, grimacing at the taste, and wrote the answer in a very messy scrawl that was almost legible.
“There you go!” he read the answer and with a shrug led them to the mailbox which was right at the bottom in the corner, with a combination lock.
“Wait, if there are combination locks, why did you have to answer the question?” Agape demanded, incredulous as Golden did the combination.
“Because if the one who did it got the answer wrong, the clerk pushes a button that sucks the mail out of the box into a secret compartment in case the pony still tries to get to the mailbox, or burns the letters instead of it’s really bad,” red ears flattening, Agape felt her eye twitch.
“Is this your doing or the clerks?” because this did not seem like a normal thing at all.
“Hm, the security measure itself is one of the highest and most expensive, and Mama doesn’t want any unauthorized ponies getting to it,” Agape decided not to ask anything else. She already had a headache.

The trip to the bank was similar except for Golden depositing some pearls and sea glass that she found, telling the bank clerk about her adventure at the beach and running into an octopus which distracted him from wondering how a filly got a hold of five pearls and a pound of sea glass. Agape figured telling him there were thirty more pearls and even more sea glass back in their room would invite unwanted attention. Especially since she did not want to recount how they found a chest at the bottom of a sea-cave buried under seaweed and rocks with a leather (she did not want to think about what it was from) bag filled with them. Or the fact Golden spent two days scraping off barnacles and restoring the trunk to a better state and had yet to open it.

Or the fact the trunk had a skeleton in a straightjacket chained to it.
Instead of leaving it like Agape wanted her to after taking out all the pearls and sea glass, Golden wanted to practice her carpentry skills using the tools she brought in the trunk. Agape just chalked it up to Golden’s mild OCD that always led to her wanting to restore old objects and just told her to be careful about not letting others see it.
As soon as they got back into the hotel room, Golden shut the curtains and opened the first letter while Agape went over to practice her magic by creating her own lyre harp. Sonic Recorder had suggested it, saying if she went into making her own instruments that she might gain better insight into playing music.

She was the only one of his musical students to actually want to do it, all the others wanted to do was play music, but she loved all kinds of music and didn’t want to limit herself.
There were tons of wood used to make instruments which affected the sounds that they made, and she learned the basics from private tutoring that he gave during the year.
Right now she was using washed up beach wood to create the lyre harp along with some cherry and pear wood pieces that Golden had gathered on the walk up to this town.
“Hm,” Golden was staring at a letter, a pensive look on her face
“Something wrong?” the filly jerked up, blinking, and rubbed the back of her head with one hoof.
“Oh nothing, just a new errand I need to go do for Ruffalo. I’ll be right- hey!” she lunged for the letter but Agape’s magic brought it out of her reach as the unicorn read the letter.
Golden tried to take it from her but Agape just wrapped the flailing filly in her aura while she read the letter.
“Agape!” Golden did not like the feeling of being restrained in the air and tried to break out of it.
It did not work.
The letter burst into flames and Golden yelped as she was dropped to the floor, groaning and freezing at the shadow of Agape standing over her.
“Golden Lotus,” Agape hissed, “Why is this errand of yours involving Diamond Dogs?” eyes darting around for escape, Golden gulped at the dark look in her ‘sister’s’ eyes.
This would not end well.

Maybe Agape should’ve left Golden to her ‘errand’ instead of acting overprotective.
Because this? This was mind-numbingly boring.
“They’re just mining, can’t w-” Golden shushed her and Agape pouted, sinking back to her position behind the rock and huffing, she couldn’t even work on making the lyre harp because it might get the canines’ attention.
This was their third day of reconnaissance and so far all they did was watch a bunch of dumb, bulky canines with bad grammar, bad work ethic, and even worse, smell. They just went in and out of the ground, occasionally bringing out carts filled with gems that were then taken away, sometimes knocking it over and having to pick it all up.
From what she heard, compared to the other tribes, the Diamond Dogs were the ones that were the most disorganized, with no ambition for improvement and no records since they destroyed them centuries ago.
Something that North ranted about whenever the subject of the Jewel Dog archives came up so the rest of their quartet didn’t bring it up (unless Pinkie decided she wanted to see North’s rant again because of how funny it was.
Sometimes that filly worried her.)

“Moth Spell,” Golden hissed and Agape did so with a roll of her eyes, antennae growing on her and Golden’s heads and bringing the voices of the canines from barely heard to right next to their ears.
She still didn’t know how Golden found that spell, but considering it was a sound spell she found it easier to learn than the others.
Even if the accessories were unwanted.
Grimacing at the nasally voice of the ‘leader’, it didn’t take long for Agape to realize why her sister wanted her to do the spell.
The Diamond Dogs were planning on tunneling underneath the nearby town to get into a vault rumored to have gems in chests and gems growing in the walls.
The only issue was, if they dig underneath the town, there’s a chance of them causing a sinkhole or causing a mass flooding of broken pipes.
Wind Scar’s name appeared and Golden’s lips thinned, Agape paling and nudging Golden till they both retreated from the spot. As soon as they were a safe distance away, she cancelled the spell, and they returned to their hotel room with heavy thoughts.
“Send an urgent message, now.” where the hell was the contact in this place? They should be the ones dealing with this, not Golden.
“Right, the next message pickup is two days from now and the dogs are planning on their break in tomorrow,” Agape gaped at her, seeing the look on her face and narrowed her eyes.

“Golden, no, Golden this is a bad idea,” but those blue eyes were unwaveringa as they glared at her.
“This is our only chance, unless you want this entire town to become a sinkhole?” Agape frowned, seeing her point but not liking it.
“I’m guessing that going to the police is out of the question?” Golden just raised her eyebrow, “Ugh fine, but after this you will be taking those binders off,” she watched the flinch with some satisfaction. Hah, she didn’t think she was going to get away with that, was she?
“Fine, but we cannot let ourselves be discovered, or let our description be given to their boss,” Agape deadpanned.
“Something tells me that won’t be an issue,” the Diamond Dogs giving an accurate description?
Yeah right.

Crispy did not know why things kept going wrong, or why his pack was having so many issues with a simple task.
All they had to do was dig straight into the city! Straight, and yet somehow they ended up digging a hole in the same area, and somehow the ceiling collapsed as they were getting out. Their carts were becoming harder and harder to move, and he really wanted to find the cook responsible for the mess that was lunch.

If they did not complete their task, Wind Scar was going to take his displeasure out on them. He was still fuming over the dragon and griffin eggs being stolen, and his temper worsened at the news of his niece disappearing without a trace. Diamond Dogs had been sent after her, but none had found her through her scent. Crispy shuddered as he recalled the male pony’s reaction at the news.
Something reached his ears and he cocked his head, looking towards the source and spotting a red and gold coats, that did not belong to any of their Diamond Dogs.
And none of their pony-slaves had those colors either, or were that small.
“Hey!” the ponies jumped and ran, and he growled at the rest of his pack, “Get them!” they dropped their mining tools and ran, Crispy taking a different path to catch those pony-pups, particularly the horned one.

He used a collapse part of the mine to get to the surface, tracking the scent of the pony-pups who had found themselves surrounded by his pack.
The closer he got, the easier it was to make out their scent, and he growled, recognizing it as a scent that had been around their area for moons now.
“So you are the pups that have been sabotaging Crispy’s operation,” the golden pup stood in front of the red one, blue eyes narrowed, and for a moment, Crispy wondered why they looked so familiar, and why it sent a shiver down his spine.
One of the dogs growled, the fur on his head completely gone after one of the incidents, one that Crispy tried not to recall, before lunging towards the golden pony-pup who leaned on her front pony-paws and kicked with a back one, sending the dog flying into the sky.
Triggered, the rest of the pack charged, and Crispy could only watch, flabbergasted, as one after the other they were sent yelping into the distance or punted into the ground so hard they went through it into the mine shafts below.
Seeing how easily they were taken down made his eyes narrow, and with his own growl, he charged at the gold filly, only for a strange sound to reach his ears, making everything fuzzy and he stumbled, falling to the ground and finding his strength leaving him.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the remains of his pack falling to the ground, one of them even snoring, and the only ones unaffected were the pony-pups.

Wind Scar was not going to be happy about this.

She did not know why she chose that spell of all things, but when she saw how Golden was lagging, she thought of a way to take care of all the dogs.
Now, how did her nanny do it? The one that quit after six months dealing with her mother?
Agape recalled the sound of that spell, a lyre made out of magic appearing above her head as she recounted how it was cast.

The lyre started playing and the music notes emitted from it surrounded the dogs who started falling asleep one by one. The chief dog charging at them also fell asleep, but Agape did not let up till Golden was nudging her.
“Agape, Agape you did it, they’re out,” the unicorn blinked tired eyes, magic fading and feeling drained.
She needed to lie down.
Thankfully, Golden took care of the rest, tying up the dogs using their own rope and cutting off the tips of their nails to make it harder for them to dig. Agape stumbled over to the cart, collapsing inside of it and closing her eyes.
This Master Ruffalo should pay her for taking care of his problems, even if she ended up helping save the town.
But she definitely wanted to talk to him about using a nine-year-old filly as his personal agent.
Even if No- Golden did not seem to mind doing it.
“Alright,” Golden’s voice sounded from outside the cart, before it jerked and started moving forward, Agape groaned under her breath, “Don’t worry, with the message sent early this morning, the messenger should get it sometime tomorrow, and they’ll be able to deal with the trapped dogs, though whether they’ll still be there by the time they arrive is unknown,” Golden’s voice started fading out, and before she knew it, Agape fell asleep.
Cold water woke her up, and she squealed, glaring at Golden, who was filling the hotel’s bathtub and filling it with many soaps.
“Was that necessary?” she complained, but the need to get all the dirt off overwhelmed her and she hopped into the water.
Her fake Cutie Mark melted away, and soon she had another reason to squeal.
This time in happiness.

Chapter 12 Pegasus in Tall Tale

“While we’re waiting for them to clear the area, I think just staying in town should,” Golden trailed off, staring at Agape with a deadpan look as the unicorn was still staring at her flank. Two days had come and gone, and the unicorn seemed to take turns eating food, staring at her Cutie Mark, looking over her instruments, staring at her Cutie Mark, and not even wanting to leave the hotel room.

Which had given Golden the chance to go to the post office herself to message her contacts and arrange for the pick-up of the Diamond Dog clan. Agape herself admitted that the sleep spell always lasted a good twelve hours, though the dogs themselves might wake up faster than that.
At least their scents would be still around for the search party, even if Golden was rather curious on how they were planning on punishing the Diamond Dogs.
Oh well, she could always send a letter asking, at some point.
Seeing that the unicorn was too occupied, she let out a sigh and decided to go visit the library.
She might as well get some research done here.

Especially since Agape, no Lyra’s Cutie Mark was very different from the show.
Well, technically different, it was a golden lyre, in that it was a lyre harp with the golden color and a star with a heart in the middle at the bottom.
She had no idea how Lyra got her Cutie Mark originally, and it was bad enough that Fluttershy’s Cutie Mark also changed, even if the filly seemed rather pleased with hers.
Wait, don’t think about it, don’t think about it, shook her head, still feeling that uneasiness that made her wings want to flare.
She tightened them under the binds and went out.

The rest of the second week Golden spent in the library while Agape tested her magic over and over again, trying to replicate what she did with the sleeping spell with her other spells which came much easier when she summoned the lyre harp and played a song, or any other instruments. Golden put a stop to it when she came back just as Agape accidentally made all the hotel furniture come alive while humming and playing a certain song and one of the unicorn staff had to put it right again.

"You have plenty of time to practice when you get back," she told Agape, who sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. By the end of the third week it was Agape's turn to pull Golden to a stop in her research when the unicorn saw the mountain of scrolls in the room Fluttershy had slept in.

Then she read the contents.

"Have you been researching my Cutie Mark?" Agape asked, a bit stunned to see a quarter of the scrolls on lyres or harps, their meanings and other ponies who had a harp as a cutie mark.

"Well yes, I'm still trying to research why they call it a lyre harp even though the two instruments clearly have differences from one another! All I know is some lyres represent a talent in poetry and harp is the instrument of bards, but what does it mean together," North looked frazzled and rolling her eyes, Lyra picked the younger filly up with her magic and took her to the other room away from the chaos.

"Look, it might be both of those things, the lyre harp just represents my desire to represent meanings of the lyre and the harp. I secretly like poetry though I don't tell many that, a bard is something similar right? Besides I've mastered practically every single type of instrument there is. With my best ones being all the types of lyres and the ten types of harps, but I didn't find what I wanted to do till you told me about those fictional ‘Harpers.’ How they were teachers that traveled around, telling stories and educating others and such, the other ones preserving history and art, generally being the good guys I wanted to do something like that. Sure its missing the crescent you said was part of the symbol and technically its not the real harp but it is something. Besides, you do not have to worry about me and my Cutie Mark, okay?" the unicorn stared at North whose ears drooped before she nodded, "Good, I'll arrange to have these scrolls sent to Pinkie in Canterlot. We cannot take them with us.”

A few moments later she stared at the large pile with a deadpan, "This will take a while, I really wish I knew that spell the princess gave Spike, I heard she is going to teach him how to send messages through fire when he's older," she stared at the pile hard, horn glowing as she summoned her magic, shaping it into a guitar and narrowing her eyes, she tried to remember how the spell sounded the one time Princess Celestia had done it in front of the class.

The guitar started a fast pace song as she tried to recall the sound of the spell and both of them flinched back when the entire pile of scrolls disappeared in a green flash, Golden’s face drained of color as her research for the past two months’ disappeared in a flash.

"Oops, sorry,” Agape laughed sheepishly, “Maybe it wo-” she stared at the fainted filly in deadpan, her magic grabbing a hold of the blue spirit that started to disappear through the ceiling and slammed it back into the body, "Your fine," she rolled her eyes, the filly could have more faith at least. The fact that they did disappear showed she sent them somewhere, right? Recalling suddenly she didn't specify where to send them, her eyes turned into pinpricks, what if Princess Celestia received them?!

Princess Celestia was teaching Twilight another lesson when a large pile of scrolls appeared in gold flames and music notes, covering the both of them.

"What is this?" Twilight cried out, popping out of the scrolls while Celestia blinked a couple of times in surprise.

"It appears someone has mastered my mailing spell," she leaned in to open one of the scrolls when a small note appeared in the same manner and she raised an eyebrow upon reading it,

"Looks like Miss Lyra got her Cutie Mark and sent the scrolls to the wrong pony, it appears this was her first time doing it,” Celestia chuckled, “she asked 'what is the fastest way to wake up somepony who thought I destroyed her entire research of two months doing the spell and fainted?', sounds a bit like somepony I know," Twilight's cheeks pinked before realization hit the purple unicorn.

"This is all from two months?" she squeaked, there must have been fifty scrolls here at least! Celestia opened one of the scrolls,

"Oh my, this is rather neat hoofwriting, let's see, Sand Dollars and their Properties, this is rather detailed," Twilight, seeing what her mentor was doing, took a scroll herself and started reading.

They were so engrossed in the scrolls it took a flash bang to startle them out of it,

"Your Majesty, my niece sent me a note in a rather peculiar fashion begging me to hurry here and get some mail she sent while experimenting, I see its still here," Fancy Pants had an amused look at the twin looks of embarrassment as the two were caught snooping through someone's research.

"I see," Celestia coughed, gathering up the scrolls into a neat pile, hiding her disappointed look better than Twilight who was rather interested in a detailed report on the prehensile capabilities of a pony's mane and tail to see if it was possible for ponies to write with them.

Fancy Pants took the scrolls in his magic and gave a bow before leaving,

"There is an interesting new column in the Canterlot Times for you to read if these caught your attention, articles written by North Star," he left and it was silent for a moment before Celestia called for a newspaper, using the time to finish teaching Twilight the lesson.

Unaware of this, it took Golden a few minutes to wake up and see Agape's unamused expression,

"The spell worked, Princess Celestia sent me confirmation a moment ago," the annoyed unicorn told her and Golden sat up, a blush on her face.

"Sorry, the spell looked too much like certain other flames that took my scrolls up into smoke, well more like lightning but," Agape softened at that and bumped into Golden, thinking about what would happen if someone did that to her instruments and shuddered.

"No big, knew I got the rhythm right," she cheered and Golden raised an eyebrow,

"Rhythm?"

"Yeah, I was trying to recall the sound of the spell Princess Celestia used and it worked," she saw the filly’s expression and started backing away, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You can hear spells and remember what they sound like?" Golden’s eyebrow started to twitch,

"Uh yeah? What's so special about that?" she’s always been able to do it, can’t everyone hear them?

"And the sleeping spell you used, did you remember the sound from hearing someone else's spell?” Agape was starting to have a bad feeling about this.

"Well yeah, I recalled mom doing it whenever I got too rowdy, though she always ended falling asleep as well," luckily that stopped when Uncle Fancy put a stern stop to it when she entered magical school.

"So maybe your talent is pitch perfect spells, something that isn't at all common?"

"Um, I guess?" Golden’s magic was flaring around her, and at another time Agape would feel impressed that it wasn’t destroying anything, but right now she felt too cold at the moment.

"And you have had the ability to hear the sound of magic this whole time and didn't think to tell me in all the times we were trying to figure it out?" her glasses were glinting and the air in the room was getting even colder. Shivering at the cold presence, Agape laughed nervously,

"Sorry, I didn't think it was all that important," then she noticed her sister’s focus towards the door and realized what the filly was intending.

"Golden, no library, bad Golden!" she chased after the filly who made a break for the door then pivoted and jumped over her towards the window, but a few strums of magic and her momentum sent her crashing into the thankfully sturdy glass, sliding to the ground, Agape wincing at the impact.

"Oops, let's get you to bed," muttering under her breath about studious ponies, the disguised unicorn tucked the younger filly in, taking in the dark rings under her eyes and made a vow to keep her sleeping for twenty hours if she had to.

Then she saw Golden’s eyelids fluttering, and something moved on her barrel, but Agape couldn’t see what it was.
Realization hit her, right, she knew what they were doing in the morning, and she was not going to let Golden, no North Wind, get out of this.

Next Morning

“Alright, the Diamond Dogs are completely gone. They’ve cleared the mining area, and your ‘contacts’ have ensured us they’ll keep an eye out for Wind Scar and any Royal Guards. Take them off,” Golden avoided the unicorn’s stare, staring at the mine’s walls and wishing that her ‘sisters’ new Cutie Mark distracted her a bit more.
“It’ll be fine, it’s not like the binder is actually restric-” losing patience, Agape’s horn flared and Golden yelped as the straps on the binder fell off and it was taken from her, freeing her wings. Caught off guard, her wings flared and wind swirled around her, cutting into the walls and sending one of the discarded carts scattered across the ground.
At least Agape wasn’t in the mines, Golden grimly thought, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as she directed the wind towards the walls, making the space around her even bigger.
“Take a step back,” she told Agape, who disappeared from the opening, and Golden sighed, right, no more putting this off.
She let go.
For the next few years, ponies would talk about the mini canyon that appeared overnight, looking like some sort of large earthworm had fun with the place. They eventually turned the area into a skating park with the different passageways and it became a popular attraction for the young ponies.
As the sun rose, Agape whistled as a panting Golden appeared, before collapsing on the ground next to her.
“Feel better?” a hoof pointed in her direction, gesturing for the binding, and Agape rolled her eyes, “Fine,” she gave it to the filly who slipped it back on, looking almost relieved as her wings disappeared.
Golden shook her body, sending dust everywhere, Agape gave her a look.
“Your taking a very long shower,” she got a deadpan stare in return.
“I know,” she went ahead, and Agape gave one last glance at the new impression in the dirt before following after her.
“Your not restraining yourself for more than a week again, right?” she asked pointedly, Golden sighed.
“Fine,” she didn’t have to look that reluctant about it, Agape thought to herself, sighing, this was going to be a long two weeks, wasn’t it? And she was going to make sure Golden relaxed, nothing else.

By the time Fluttershy returned, pulling a cart behind her full of fruits and veggies, Agape had tied Golden to the bed seven times, once each night at seven, playing her song and having the pony sleep till the sun rose the next day. She kept a strict schedule of going to the beach with her till noon where they would then have lunch at a restaurant or one of the stalls, bring back whatever seashells, rocks, or sand they collected back to the hotel before going to one of the stores marked as acceptable on Golden’s list. At four they at a light dinner before Agape let the younger filly go to the library till six-thirty, at which time she dragged the Pegasus filly, kicking and screaming in her magic back to the hotel, ignoring the complaints of unfinished scrolls or research as she dumped the filly in the bath for ten minutes before giving her a light snack and sending her to bed with the spell. A spell that unfortunately, Golden somehow became immune enough she woke up at midnight and continued working on that accursed trunk. Then, once every three days, she dragged a reluctant ‘Earth’ filly to different abandoned areas, from where the ‘canyon’ now was, to a small underwater cave on the beach. Golden would then release her magic and try to keep it in a contained area, which proved harder than it should be. Something kept throwing her off and once she ended up cutting through a cave floor into an even deeper passage. Agape had to stop her from exploring when the water from the ocean found a way in, flooding the cave and making it difficult for further exploration. At least she got a few more pieces for her trunk restoration.

Fluttershy returned to them just as Golden finished restoring the trunk and giving it a new paint job. She gave proper exclamations over Agape’s Cutie Mark, then asked if the two had fun in Tall Tale over the past month.

Agape then whispered something in Fluttershy’s ear, which somehow ended with Golden being ‘grounded’ from her spices for the next week. Glaring at an unrepentant Agape, Golden walked over to the cart Fluttershy had brought in, asking where she got it from.

"Oh I got the cart from a nice family on Smokey Mountain, and the vegetables from the other family, the Hooffields and McColts," Golden spluttered, catching her friend’s attention as she asked what was wrong, but the filly waved her off.

"I'm okay," she could laugh at the names later. Giving her one last concerned look, Fluttershy explained that during the month she had come across animals who had told her of the two families fighting one another and bringing the valley between two of the peaks to ruin.

"They told me the real reason behind the whole feud and I convinced Miss Amethyst to help me talk to them," the Earth Pony had not been all that thrilled with the situation but had agreed and the two made each family meet in the middle of the valley where Fluttershy told them the real truth, "I realized the families each had a talent that could be combined to make the valley thrive, and Miss Amethyst who knows Earth Ponies better than I do, managed to convince them to combine their talents so that one family doesn't have to suffer bad buildings while the other can have the right amount of food. In the end they thanked our group by giving us a brand new cart filled with vegetables and fruit." Golden saw that Fluttershy had clearly gained some confidence from this venture and smiled, though Lyra frowned

"Wait, what happened to the other groups, where were they this whole time?" Fluttershy looked uncomfortable.

"Actually they avoided those two mountains and some of them had egged on the families, one group taking most of the produce while the other took building supplies when the families weren't looking. Miss Amethyst and the other trainers weren't very happy with them. Though some of them kept to the forests surrounding the mountains," Golden wasn’t all that surprised.

"I'm just glad you didn't have any problems, I know how you are with heights," she commented and Fluttershy retreated behind her hair.

"I didn't look down," she admitted and froze, as if realizing something, "Oh, we have to travel on mountains to the next stop," she started shaking, it had been easy to ignore before because of how much the animals needed her help, but the Unicorn Range?

Golden and Agape exchanged looks, this was not going to be easy, was it?

Ch. 13 Unicorn Down the Unicorn Range

“Are we there yet?” Golden huffed, increasing her pace and trying not to snap at Agape’s cranky tone.
“No, we’re not!” well, she failed, and speaking did nothing to help with how her body was feeling at the moment, like she was trudging through sludge.
“A-are you okay Golden Lotus?” Fluttershy was peeking through the opening, the cart’s top blocking the two passengers from the rain.
The driver not so much.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” just as she said this a sneeze escaped her and with a groan she hoped that her friend had not heard that.
A hoof touched her head and she flinched, backpedaling into the cart and it was only Agape’s magic that stopped their transportation from going over the side.

“Golden?!” the two hopped out and face flushed for a different reason, Golden avoided their gazes.
“Sorry, you startled me,” her legs felt heavy, and she could feel the surrounding wind, pushing her to direct it, but she resisted. Shaking her head to clear the haze caused her to gag and as soon as the harness was taken off her barrel she ran to the nearest bush to throw up. Agape lowered the harness and Fluttershy watched Golden, a worried frown on her face.

“We need to get to some shelter,” the ‘Earth’ filly couldn’t even protest as Fluttershy took her into the cart and there was silence for a moment before the cart started going forward again, at a very slow pace.
Golden could see Fluttershy struggling to pull the cart and tried to stand up.
“I-i can,” Agape pushed her back down, frowning.
“No, you can’t. If you didn’t feel well, you should have told us, and do not say its just the rain either,” she added, when North opened her mouth, “Even before the storm began you were lagging, and this fever couldn’t have come from being wet for twenty minutes,” Golden knew she was right, even she did not know why her body felt so hot, or why it felt like something was fighting inside of her body.
She needed to meditate, to figure out what was going on.
Sh- her body thumped to the ground and she hard Agape calling out her name in panic.

“North!” her eyes closed, yellow and blue light swarming behind her eyelids as sleep overcame her.

“She’s never been sick like this,” Agape fretted, as Fluttershy prepared some soup with the vegetables and fish that they got from Tall Tale.
As soon as they got to the cave, they set up a small bed and placed an eerily still Golden, her breathing so quiet Agape feared the worst till Fluttershy checked her pulse and told her the filly was still alive.
Even with the disguise, her coat still glowed in the darkness of the cave not touched by the light of the fire the yellow pegasus set up.
“You said her magic’s been acting weird?” Agape blinked, glancing up at Fluttershy. Right, they had mentioned that right?
“Yes, you saw the crater her magic left, and that was her just letting go after it being restrained for almost two months, I tried to get her to release her magic as much as possible, but she doesn’t consider it her magic. She sees it as more of a curse that cannot be controlled and hates using it in anyway. I even tried suggesting she have it ‘lift’ something, but she gave me a weird look and I had to drop that suggestion,” Fluttershy put a wet cloth on her ‘patient’, biting her lip in worry at the lack of reaction.
“Is she still looking for a way to get rid of the Blessing?” they didn’t refer to it as a blessing around North, because they knew that the filly did not see it as such.
“Yeah, she’s been exchanging letters with that Ruby Dog tribe and that Griffin contact of hers, and I’ve seen her circle Dragon Town in Fillydelphia, which, you guys won’t be getting there for another two, three months?” Agape hated the fact that she was still in school, and wished that Celestia’s School for Unicorns wasn’t the kind of school where you are required to have complete mastery over your magic before graduation.
Then again, with her ‘perfect pitch’ magic, Agape had the feeling it was about to get interesting for her at school.
Or very bad.
Fluttershy took out her saddlebag from the cart, pulling out the program’s brochure, as well as something else.
“Oh! My letters from my parents are in here,” Agape nudged her.

“Go ahead and read it,” she glanced outside as lightning lit up the cave, “Man they went all out for this exercise, we haven’t even seen any of the other groups, where is everyone?” had they gone that far ahead already?

Amethyst looked over the trainees, frowning and looking down at her check list before turning to her group,
“Have any of you seen Trainee Fluttershy or her companions?” the three shook their heads, and she gave them another look over before joining the other trainers to report her concerns, feeling anxious.
It had been several days since everyone apart from those three arrived in Vanhoover via train and she felt like something was off.

They were supposed to have taken the Unicorn Range, get some practice in traveling through the mountains (Smokey Mountains did not count in her opinion), but an unexpected storm was planned by the pegasus team in the area due to a previous one being forgotten.
Amethyst just wondered why they could not have scheduled it for another time.
Hopefully they did get the memo about taking the train instead, because if they did not show up by the end of the week, she would have no choice but to expel Fluttershy from the program.
As soon as she turned her back, the pegasus of her group let out a breath, while the Earth colt gave her a glare.
“If they find out what you're up to, I won’t be defending you,” she glared at him.
“Just be thankful that Southern Cross didn’t want you out of the way, we’re supposed to be dwindling down trainees so that only the best of the best could come out of the program; that filly practically humiliated us with her freaky talent of being able to talk to animals to help her out. Didn’t you know that those with the worst points every month get dropped from the program? They don’t want to admit it, but this program for Rangers is just as cutthroat as any other training program, whoever gets the best results will end up recruited by the best of the best. But if they publicize that kind of thing, they wouldn’t get as many applicants. If Cluttershy ends up a ‘star’ graduate of the program, do you know how humiliating that will be?” just the thought of how she had to play nice with the younger pegasus made her sick. The shy filly wasn’t even a good flier, what was she doing applying to be a Ranger where she was expected to save ponies with her own strength, not just animals?
“And if they get here before the deadline and Fluttershy tells them you were the one who told her where to go?” she stiffened, feeling her blood run cold, before she shook it off.
“I didn’t tell her, I just did not inform her about the change in plans, It’s her fault for not checking in with us,” she trotted off, and the two remaining in the group sighed.
“Let’s just wait it out, if we do anything, Southern Cross will get mad at us, and he is not someone to piss off, especially with his connections,” the pegasus left as well, leaving the Earth Pony by himself.
“This is going to backfire,” he sighed to himself, wishing that they were in the snowy mountains already.

He was in the mood for some snowboarding.

Agape fiddled with the pan, trying to get all the food to stay inside as she poured the soup into different bowls.
“Oh!” nearly dropping the pot at her friend’s exclamation, the unicorn quickly set it down and went over to where the pegasus was staring at her letter in shock.
“What, what is it?” it took some nudging before Fluttershy handed the letter to her, blue eyes still wide,
“I-it’s Zephyr, h-he, he,” the pegasus looked very shaken, ears flat, and Agape bit back a groan, glancing down at the letter,
“What did he do-” she paused, brow furrowing as she reread the words again, before blinking and rubbing her eyes, giving the letter another once over.
“Do you think your parents know Zephyr knows how to replicate their mouthwriting?” Fluttershy snorted, the sound echoing through the cave and making the unicorn glance at her friend in shock, the pegasus herself looking surprised.
“N-no, Zephyr never learned that kind of skill, and it is rather mean that you think he would lie like this,” Agape gave her a look.

“Who was the one in near shock from the letter,” the pinkette retreated into her hair, the unicorn rolling her eyes and looking back at the letter, “I wonder how he’s doing then, that program North told me about goes from the summer and lasts till winter, unless you fail of course,” Agape decided not to tell Fluttershy there was a chance Zephyr didn’t make the cut and was hiding it out somehow till he could get home.
Or that the program North researched never had an actual graduate showing themselves or anything, which meant it might be fake.
What kind of program has their ‘campers’ do a normal camp for two weeks, then throws them into the mountains for a month to find their headquarters?
Thunder clashing caused them both to yelp and Fluttershy clung to her side, shaking, while Agape stared outside with wide eyes.

This was going to be a long night, wasn’t it?

“Ugh, this is never going to end, we should’ve accepted those stupid counselor’s offer to stay out the rest of summer at the camp, my parents should have never put out bits for this scam,” the voice grated on everyone’s ears, and Zephyr wished that he could drown the pegasus out.
Here he thought he wouldn’t have to deal with Prince Blueblood again, but then there came this pegasus version of him.
The other pegasus next to him looked like they were torn between agreeing with the colt or strangling him.
The first two weeks had been great, the camp itself had been in a very large treehouse, with each camper getting their own room and everything. They were given free reign of the place, from the library to the cooking lab, and from the obstacle course to the crafting gazebo. The walls themselves were decorated with images of the mountains, a different scene on each wall and there was never the same scene twice.
Zephyr checked, several times, because looking at the painting was really relaxing and he liked to start from the bottom of the treehouse where the beginning of the ‘trek’ was and go all the way to the top of the treehouse in the watchtower. The watchtower panels showed a cool looking compounds with architecture he vaguely recognized from a comic about a talking panda practicing martial arts.
He didn’t talk to any of the other campers, and they didn’t talk to him, preferring to hang around those they already know, or around that Blueblood Pegasus, what was his name? Iron Wing? It didn’t matter, Zephyr knew avoiding the colt was the best idea, and spent time in areas the colt didn’t head to.
Which is how he ended up exploring the treehouse and to his surprise, the library.
In fact, there were practically no other campers in the library at all, everyone preferred the obstacle course (Zephyr privately thought that going up and down the treehouse stairs was enough of an exercise, but didn’t say it out loud.)
There weren’t a lot of books, in fact, the library wasn’t any bigger than the one in Cloudsdale, so Zephyr figured he could make a dent before the two weeks were up.
The counselors did not tell them what to expect, but Zephyr started with the history of the Peaks that they were going to. Peaks that were cut off from the rest of the world and where no cities had been built and were near the ends of Equestria.
That had been a long train ride.
By the time the two weeks had gone by, Zephyr read at least twenty books and some scrolls, which he thought was rather good, considering he didn’t read all that much anyways.
‘If North Wind was here, she would’ve devoured the entire library in three days’ was the thought that ran through his mind as the counselor had shooed him out of the library to join the others. Then it was a full day’s walk through the forest to a mountain path, with a hut right next to it.
“You will be allowed to choose what you want to take with you, and afterwards, you will be given two weeks to reach the Peaks, good luck. If you wish to come back with us to the camp till summer ends, feel free to do so,” and they flew off, leaving behind the fifty campers, twenty of whom shared looks and flew back as well.
“Ha, cowards, alright everyone, if you want to survive, follow me,” Zephyr deadpanned, watching the colt go into the hut before marching out with a ton of equipment on him.
Watching the rest of them disappear with the guy, Zephyr shook his head, heading into the hut to see if there was anything left and grabbing a small knife and canteen, checking to make sure that the jacket his mom had packed for him was there.
Then, walking out, he saw a few stragglers looking uncertain where to go, but paid them no mind as he glanced up the path, feeling a sense of deja vu.
Because looking at it from the side, it kind of looked like- he paused and turned to the hut, now that he thought about it, wasn’t there a hut at the beginning of the painting? If he remembered correctly, the path up to the peaks wasn’t the one that the counseler left them out, instead. He went to the back of the hut and spotted a small opening in the trees.
Right. there.

The path led up a narrow climb, and the boots covering his hooves did nothing to stop the feeling of the cold air that made him shiver.
Briefly the thought of going to the camp entered his mind, but he shook it off, remembering the tears and look of pride in Mom’s eyes when she sent him off on the train.
He took in a deep breath and continued forward.
He could do this.
That was twelve days ago, and Zephyr was proud to admit that he managed to reach just below the peak of the mountain, with a few hiccups.
One of the stragglers spotted him disappearing just as the large group with the Blueblood pegasus returned, their path having led to a dead end.
Which meant the path soon became kind of crowded as more and more campers went behind him or around him. Some glared at him while others ignored him, including that arrogant pegasus.
Though Zephyr had a feeling it was because the other felt humiliated by him for some reason.
They camped several times, and campers would fight over food and the like while Zephyr and others found small ice lakes to fish or gathered berries that had not been frozen in the snow.
Several times they tried asking how he knew where he was going, but he just repeated the same answer every time.
“The treehouse was the map, they painted it on the walls,” some believed him, others called him stingy when he refused to lead them or give hints.
It got to the point some pegasus turned and went right back, or just gave up and muttered something about camping in the mountains instead of going further up.
Two days before the deadline, and they were just a few miles from the peak.
A peak covered in fog and strange smoke.
Zephyr swallowed.
Right, here goes.

Just two more days.

“The deadline is two hours, we’re really far behind!” Golden ran through the forest, the cart jostling behind her as Agape and Fluttershy clung to each other and the cart.
“She’s definitely feeling better,” Agape muttered to Fluttershy, who nodded quickly.
The moment the strange fever woke up, Golden’s eyes snapped open and she urged them to leave the cave immediately.
At least the storm had ended.
But Agape was a bit concerned about Golden pushing herself.
So was Fluttershy.
“Golden, you just woke up from a three day fever,” “I feel fine,” “You were barely breathing,” “I’m breathing now aren’t I?” “NORTH WIND,” Fluttershy’s voice struck like a whip and Golden froze, coming to a stop.
Fluttershy got out of the cart and stood in front of the younger filly, face still stern,

“Find a different way to get down the mountain that does not involve you straining your body,” was the order, and Agape had a sinking feeling at the thoughtful look on the disguised filly’s face.

Seeing no sign of the missing fillies and not having received word at all from her contacts or anyone else, Amethyst sighed, feeling her heart sink at the loss of such a promising candidate.

Hopefully, the other trainers find them soon enough, because they were nowhere in Tall Tale.

“Alright, come on, we need to get going,” she and the other trainers led the trainees onto the train and as she was the last one to board, her ears picked up something, that of screaming.

“Does anypony else hear that?” her question was soon irrelevant as a bright set of lights appeared, the sound of music making her want to cover her ears as something huge flew over the train and landed on the platform. Amethyst lifted her head and gaped at the sleigh on the platform, and the three missing fillies on it, the one in front with a smile on her face, while her friends looked pale.

“See, told you we’d make it!” Golden said cheerfully, the two passengers did not agree at all, Fluttershy looked like she was going to pass out. Relief and anger flooded her system in the next instant.

“You made it! Where have you three been?! They said you headed for Unicorn Range but we weren’t doing that mountain range,” she demanded of them and Golden rubbed the back of her head as she hopped to the ground and pressed something, making Amethyst’s eyebrows shoot up when the sleigh turned into the cart she had seen the filly pulling around before.

“Never mind,” she turned to go, but the Earth filly tugged on her vest.

“Just so you know, no one told us about the storm on the mountain, or that we were meeting here,” then she ran to scold the train ponies who were near her cart, telling them she didn’t want a scratch on it (Agape Flare looked ready to strangle her and Fluttershy had to hold the younger filly from blasting the other one into smithereens.

“Well your lucky, we were just about to leave,” as she led them onto the train, there were looks of disbelief, especially from the rest of Fluttershy’s group, the other pegasus looking on in complete disbelief.

“You three can sit over here, Golden if you want your cart, you’d better tell them how to make it even smaller if you don’t want it in luggage,” the filly frowned thoughtfully before she shrugged and followed the train ponies to the baggage carriage, her two friends following behind her.

“Actually, if you could wait a moment,” the voice had her turning and she frowned at the Royal Guards entering the platform.

“The Guard training isn’t for another few months,” she informed them, confused, but in the corner of her eye she saw Agape Flare and Fluttershy pale a bit, Golden’s face was blank.

“We know that, but there was a strange theft in Canterlot a few months ago, and we received an anonymous report about fillies carrying around suspicious cargo, so if you could open up that cart please,” Golden took a step forward.

“What was stolen?” but the guard ignored her, approaching the cart while the other trainees stepped to the side. Amethyst noticed a smug expression on one trainee and tried to remember who he was.

Wasn’t that Southern Cross? Why did she have a feeling he had something to do with it?

But first.

“You can’t just go through her belongings like that,” several guards stepped in front of her.

“We can if it is Royal Guard business, so step aside,” Amethyst gaped at him.

That wasn’t right, not right at all. She glanced at the other trainers, but they also had Royal guards stopping them from moving forward.

The golden Earth filly tried to stop them from opening a compartment of the trunk, and Amethyst felt her heart squeeze when she saw the desperate look on the little one’s face.

What was going on?

Ch. 14 Griffin in Galloping Gorge

The Royal Guards surrounded the cart, ignoring any attempts to stop them as the Captain nodded to his subordinate.
They popped open the hatch in the back, pulling out an egg-shaped container that made Golden try to push back one soldier, only to be ignored as the top of the container was opened and turned upside down, the soldier holding up a hoof to catch the egg within.
Except all that fell out was ash, spilling over his hoof onto the ground.
Everyone stared as the ash decorated the ground, till the only thing left was a white speck that when the guard inspected, he yelped and threw it, sending it crashing against the train with a ding, before it fell onto the platform.

There were quite a few yells and screams as everyone made out the white object.
Amethyst felt her eyes widen as well.
It was a bone.
There was a sniff, as Golden went to the pile of ash and tried to clean it up, lips wobbling and tears in the corner of her eyes.
“G-g-grandma!” Then she burst into tears, a wail escaping through her lips that made all the guards take an uncomfortable step back.
Amethyst went around the guards, about to help Golden with the ashes, when the filly’s sister beat her to it.

Agape stomped forward, a glare on her face as she gave them a disgusted glare.
“Are you happy now?” she demanded, horn glowing as she tore the vase out of the guard’s magic and helped Golden clean up the ash, “Golden promised our grandma that she would scatter her ashes at Rainbow Falls, and you, you,” she quivered with rage, “What kind of Royal Guards are you? Does Princess Celestia know you are even here doing this?!” her demand actually made some of them pale and she sneered, “Wait till I send a letter to my parents, they are going to be furious, come on Golden,” she sent the rest of the ash into the vase, summoning the bone and leaving it at the top of the ash before glaring at the Guard who wearily handed her the cap.
As soon as it was twisted on, she placed it in the cart and wrapped a hoof around her sister’s shoulders, leading her inside past Fluttershy who, to Amethyst’s surprise, didn’t look all that shy anymore

Instead, her eyes were narrowed and her lips were pulled back into a frown, disappointment and anger in those eyes.

“Making a little filly cry, do you have no shame?” her voice cracked like a whip and when she met the gazes of the guards they all stiffened, “You had no warrant, nothing, and you accuse a little filly of being a thief without proof? It’s a good thing I don’t want to be a Royal Guard, if it means working with bullies like you!” she humphed and spun, going inside and speaking with one of the conductors who stepped out to bring the cart to the back, eyeing the guard wearily as they did so.
“Everyone, get on,” Amethyst ordered, watching the trainees and trainers get on, then she turned to the guards, “You better hope Cross Shield is lenient with your punishments,” one of them was going towards the train and she stomped, creating cracks in the platform and making them fall, “And none of you dare step a hoof on this train,” the Captain straightened, looking down at her and she bared her teeth at him.
“You cannot or-” “I can if you are acting on noble orders and not the Princess’s, and I will verify whether you are here in official capacity, and I have you all memorized,” she entered the train herself and stood at the doors, staring at them and daring them to enter the train.
Then the doors shut and she waited as the train left the platform before going into the car to check on everyone.

Looking over the different ponies, she searched for the trio, but did not find them.
“I think they went to the back,” her Earth Pony trainee piped up, sitting on the opposite side from the rest of her squad and looking very reluctant to join them.
The Pegasus was glowering at the ground while the Unicorn was staring out of the window, ignoring them all.

She’ll address that later, right now she needed to make sure that Golden Harvest was okay.
Going through the rest of the cars exercised all of her patience as some of her fellow trainers tried to stop her, either to talk or tell her to return to her squad.
She noticed some trainees missing however and realized something was amiss, hurrying her pace and arriving at the last car where a unicorn with auburn fur and a blue mane was ordering two Earth Ponies and three Unicorns to forcefully open the last car. His Cutie Mark of a constellation resembling a cross told her who he was.
None of the other passengers looked ready to stop them, all staring straight ahead, Amethyst frowned, taking out a camera from her bag and positioning it just as one of them noticed her.
“Sou-” the flash interrupted them and Amethyst took several more pictures before putting the camera back in her bag.
“Go back to your seats, or you will all be expelled,” her tone offered no room for arguments, and Southern Cross looked like he bit into a lemon, before he cleared his face and gave a smile that reminded her all too well of nobles thinking they were being charming.
They weren’t.

“We were just trying to make sure the little filly is alright, but it seems they’ve accidentally locked themselves in,” there was a yelp, one of his lackeys pulling back a hoof that looked bright red, Southern’s smile twitched.
Amethyst let out a breath, before her own smile appeared.
And it wasn’t a nice smile.
“Go back to your seats, no fuss, just because you happen to share a part of your name with the founder of this program, it does not mean you will get any special treatment,” his auburn fur darkened, his smile disappearing as he stalked passed her with his ‘group’.

“Oh and Southern,” he stopped, “Anymore disappearances or suspicious accidents, you will be expelled, as well as anyone else who collaborated with you, and you will not be allowed to reapply,” the train door slammed behind him and she continued to the back car.
The knob to the back still looked a bit hot, but she worked in heated conditions and it did not take her long to unlock the door and open it.
“Golden Harvest, Agape Flare, Fluttershy?” she didn’t spot them right away, the luggage was stacked everywhere.
Then there was a loud bang and the sound of heavy falling objects reached her ears.
Feeling the blood drain from her face, she ran towards the sound.
Had they knocked over suitcases and were buried?
She rounded a pile of golf clubs just as brown blur crashed into her, sending her against the floor.
There was a soft gasp before the clatter of hooves went towards her, lifting the heavy, warm object off of her as a red hoof pulled her up.
“Are you okay Miss Amethyst?” blue eyes met hers from her rescuer’s side, and that shiver went down her spine.
She’d never admit it out loud, but those eyes always made her shiver. Their resemblance to a phantom of her past never fail to scare her.
But this was a filly, not that Phantom, which helped keep her reactions in check.
Though something told her the filly could tell.
Back on her hooves, she glanced towards Fluttershy who was giving a stern warning to the griffin that crashed into her.
Wait.
“Who are you?” she demanded, having not seen any griffins board the train, hazel eyes glowered at her.
“I don’t need to answer to you ponies,” Agape scoffed, causing the griffin to puff up.
“I’m guessing you were the real reason those guards were at the platform, if they said they were chasing a griffin rather than a filly there would be more upset right? Why aren’t you in Griffinstone if your hiding from Guards, they can’t search for you there,” brown wings bristling, she glared at them, meeting Fluttershy’s eyes.
“If you expect me to go back to the place that sold me in the first place, your nuts,” ‘sold?’ Amethyst felt a cold chill go up her spine.

“What do you mean sold?” her question was interrupted by a wail and the griffin blanched, turning and leaping on top of some luggage to reach a basket, bringing it down and trying to quiet the cub within.
Golden disappeared while Agape and Fluttershy cooed at the four griffin cubs in the basket. Two shared similar features of a golden eagle, though one was darker than the other, both of them had gold eyes. The third cub resembled a dove with their white coloring and bright blue eyes while the fourth and last resembled a raven with dark eyes.

The griffin herself resembled an osprey with chocolate brown feathers and hazel eyes. She pulled a bottle out of somewhere and shook it a few times before squeezing a few drops into each of their beaks. Then she dug out a container which contained mushed fruit and worms, spooning them and stiffening but not protesting when the three fillies took a spoon and helped her feed them.
Golden lightly patted the back of the white cub who burped, while Agape had the raven who dribbled down her back.
“What are their names?” Fluttershy cooed at the cub in her hooves, the griffin huffed.
“Like I should tell you,” Amethyst rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
“I would like to know first what this ‘sold’ business is about, and what your name is,” the griffin tossed her head back.
“Fine, Reese, but if you want to know anything, ask these three, they’re the ones that broke me out,” a spoon clattered to the floor, Agape spluttering while Golden had gone stiff, ‘Reese’ scoffed, “Did you think those disguises would fool me? Especially you with your magic? I recognize that color when it melted the locks on my cage and let me out, and you might be able to disguise your coat, but I’ve been able to tell wing binders from my time in captivity,” wing binders? Amethyst glanced at Golden whose face was now cold, no emotion at all, before she sighed.

“Agape?” the unicorn’s horn flared.
“Silence bubble is up,” the Earth mare took a deep breath, feeling her patience wane a brit.
“So is someone going to explain things now? Or should I get one of the other traine-” “No!” the three fillies told her, and taken aback by how in sync they sounded, she waved a hoof, raising an eyebrow.
Golden sighed, looking resigned.
“My real name is North Wind, and Wind Scar is my Uncle,” that sentence sounded so simple but Amethyst felt every part of her lock-up.
“Wind Scar? Y-your uncle is Wind Scar?” Fluttershy stared up at her in concern.
“Miss Amethyst?” even Agape was looking concerned, but the other filly was still calm, and she swallowed.
“You know,” Go- no North, let out a bitter laugh.
“I’ve been investigating my uncle since he forced me to work in the Ruby Dog mines to pay off his debt to them, though unluckily for him they had a complete re-haul after an incident and are conducting an investigation within their ranks and other Gem Dog tribes. But I didn’t find out about you till Gaius saw your name on the program and told me,” that name made her stagger.
“Gaius? H-he’s, he’s still alive?” the last time she saw that griffin was when that pegasus cut one of his wings off, leaving him to fall into a ravine.
“Yes, he said you were Wind Scar’s classmate in the Royal Guard Academy,” Amethyst shuddered, unwanted memories swirling in her mind.
The cruelty of that pegasus will always haunt her.

“One of the reasons I left that place was because of him. I knew there was no way I could reveal his real side to the administration, not with his achievements and grades. Becoming a Ranger was the next thing I could do, rise in ranks and earn favor before I could even do anything,” all the while raising her daughter, not that she could tell them this.
Then a thought occurred to her,
“That vase doesn’t hold your grandmother, does it?” the filly shrugged.
“It contains someone’s grandparent, never met mine,” she admitted. Agape groaned.
“Don’t remind me, do you know how creepy it is carrying around somepony’s ashes and making sure the container doesn’t open?” Amethyst ignored her shivering and frowned.
“Why did you feel the need to do such a thing and can you explain what Reese meant by breaking her out?” the griffin took the time to chime in.
“Yeah, what did you do with those dragon eggs I saw anyways? I saw you bag them,” ‘dragon eggs?!’ Agape glared at the griffin while Fluttershy gulped and North smacked her head with a hoof.
“I would like the rest of that explanation, now please,” the filly’s head dropped.
“Fine,” so she was told of the filly’s adventures in the caves beneath Canterlot, how they came across the suspicious room and used distractions and tricks to trick the guards before breaking out all the prisoners.
That they took the eggs somewhere safe and were planning on returning them to the Dragons by going to Fillydelphia,
Amethyst took this all in, not sure whether she should feel impressed that these fillies managed to get this far.
“Where are the eggs?” she asked, but North kept her mouth shut, and the others didn’t offers anything either, so she sighed, “Fine, it’s not my business anyways, but you,” she directed this to Reese who stiffened, “Cannot keep running with four cubs to look after, you need to find somewhere to stay,” did she want to know what that stallion wanted with griffin eggs?
No, no she did not.
“I don’t have anywhere to go, I only ended up on this train because the previous town I was staying in reported me to the guards,” Amethyst took in the bags under the griffin’s eyes and how thin she looked.

How old was she? When was the last time she had a good meal?
“If I might have a suggestion?” the male voice made them all jump and Agape’s horn flared, breaking the silence bubble and sending a piece of luggage flying at the one who spoke. There was a smack as the suitcase was caught and dropped without hesitation, the speaker stepping in the light.
Amethyst felt her eyes water.
“G-gaius!” the elderly griffin gave her a soft smile.
“Well hello Amethyst, been a while,” she took one hoof forward, slowly, before throwing herself at him, feeling his one remaining wing wrap around her in comfort.
Nothing was said for a while as she tried to gather herself, feeling embarrassed at breaking down in front of her trainee and the others.
“What was your suggestion, Gaius?” North’s voice spoke up, Amethyst looked at him as well as he gave the pale Reese a look. She looked like she’d seen a ghost.
“Y-your Gaius, b-but,” the griffin’s eyes rolled back in her head, and Fluttershy lunged to catch the cub in the griffin’s arm as she fell.
“Why do I get the feeling you hold an important position in griffin society?” North asked dryly, Gaius dryly chuckled.
“Not anymore, but here is my suggestion, and I’m afraid the cub there isn’t going to like it,” as soon as he gave his suggestion, Amethyst winced.

Yeah, this was going to be a mess.

As the train stopped at the station outside Galloping Gorge, Agape stepped off, looking a bit grumpy and reluctant as she hugged a teary Fluttershy and Golden goodbye.
“Back to school,” she spotted something in the distance and beamed, waving, “Over here Pieces!” a chocolate colored pegasus appeared around the corner, stalking towards her and looking so done.
“Don’t call me that,” the ‘mare’ hissed, Agape laughed, the grumpiness disappearing.
“Come on, Mom arranged for us to go on an airship back to Canterlot, school starts in a week after all,” the pegasus drooped, helping Agape with her luggage and giving the two fillies by the door a look before leaving.
Fluttershy waved with a sweat drop, still unsure about the plan and still feeling unease.
“Is this really going to work?” she said under her breath to Golden who gave her a brief nudge.
“It’ll be fine, Gaius called in a few favors, and the replies from our contacts told us they were willing, even your parents said so,” that was still a surprise, not unwelcome, just surprised Fluttershy how willing her parents were with the plan.
The insane and complicated plan that Gaius and soon North worked on the whole two hours it took to get to Galloping Gorge.
That ‘unexpected’ tree on the line sure helped with the time it took the train ponies to remove it, and the other trees that had fallen behind it.
“Right, go have fun in the Gorge, I’ll be in town waiting for the book signing to begin,” her tail wagged in her excitement, the redness under her eyes slightly faded but were still there.
Fluttershy waved her off, took a breath, then went to join her group, Amethyst nodding to her when she saw her.

Gaius was nowhere to be seen, then again, he was probably already gone, fulfilling the rest of the plan.

Two Weeks Later
“This is so stupid,” Reese grumbled, tugging on her disguise as she sat in the planetarium. Pinkie was wrestling with Lyra across the ground, the both of them trying to tickle the other into submission.
“Come on Pieces!” Pinkie called out to her, the griffin disguised as a pegasus bristled.
“Don’t call me that!” damn it, why did she end up with this nickname?
“Blame North, she’s the one obsessed with Reeses Pieces, some sort of peanut butter and chocolate candy,” she explained when Pinkie gave her a questioning look.
The pink filly shrugged and tried to wrestle with her before her ear twitched and she glanced up.
“Mail!” she squealed and disappeared through a hole in the wall, and Reeses gave Lyra a look.
“I still can’t get used to her,” she stated bluntly, Lyra raised an eyebrow at her before smirking.
“By the time she leaves, she’ll have a file on your favorite dessert, party preferences, and possibly your entire fears list, ugh, I don’t want to go to school,” she said, glancing at the time and groaning, Reeses twitched.
“I don’t want to go either,” she snapped, not happy about them finding out her age and forcing her to attend Canterlot High School.
She had to be disguised as a pegasus the whole time, which she still wasn’t happy about, and something still seemed off to her.
How in all of Tartarus did they have the magic for this? This group still scared her somewhat, especially that filly’s connection to Gaius of all griffins.
She shuddered.
Pinkie returned with a bundle of mail, throwing her some envelopes and handing Lyra her own mail, settling down with a letter addressed to her.
Reese glanced down at the envelopes and sighed before opening the first one.
She stopped and stared,
Oh.

There was a photo of an orange Earth stallion with scars on his body, one across his throat, but there was a smile on his face as he tucked two brown pegasus foals in their crib, their lids slightly open to reveal gold orbs. The names Caramel and Glaze were carved into the crib.

She flipped to the next letter, seeing a pair of pegasus, one with the same coloring as that shy pegasus training to be a ranger, while the other had a green coat. They were holding a white pegasus colt with a green blanket, the name Frost stitched in yellow stitching.
Tears came to her eyes as she came to the last card, opening it to reveal a family of Earth Ponies standing in what looked to be a field of rocks, the stern looking patriarch glancing down at his wife who was holding a dark blue colt in a basket, a rock with the name Ganache carved into it.
“That’s my family!” she jumped at the unexpected contact, blinking as a pink hoof pointed at the picture.
“Isn’t my new baby brother so cute?!” Pinkie beamed up at her, and Reese felt the words caught in her throat.
Before she could even say anything, there was a choking noise from Lyra’s direction, and the two of them looked up to see the unicorn staring at a magazine with wide eyes.
“Ooh, I meant to tell you about that,” Pinkie began, wincing at the unicorn’s expression.
“What’s wrong with that magazine?” Reese asked, seeing the filly swaying a bit as she flipped through the pages before reaching the back and yelping.
“Why is my Uncle’s name listed as the sponsor for a magazine filled with North’s journals?!” her voice echoed through the basement.
Pinkie Pie rubbed the back of her head.
“He was impressed with her research?” she began, Lyra’s eyes rolled in the back of her head and she fainted.
Huh, had she looked like that when she saw Gaius?

Ch. 15 Pegasus in the Throne Room

In front of the throne room in Canterlot Castle, one guard paced back and forth while the other tried to maintain his vigil of staring forward, before his nerves got the better of him.

“Would you stop pacing already?” the idiot was going to get them in trouble with the Princess, and then Wind Scar would have their heads, his wings and the other’s horn for the black market.

Making a deal with that stallion for promotion was one of his greatest regrets.

“Do you think they actually sent a letter to the princess, identifying us?” Gleaming Helmet rolled his eyes, staring at the panicking stallion.

“You idiot, we snatched any mail those program ponies sent and torched it, remember? The Princess is not going to find out,” sure they might have traumatized an innocent filly, though what she was doing traveling without parents he wasn’t sure, but in their defense, she was carrying around a suspicious-looking cart that was not in any of the registered catalogues.

(The fact that it could’ve been designed and built by her did not occur to any of them.)

If they ended up finding that griffin that escaped last Hearth’s Warming, along with whatever chicks hatched, it might have smoothed over the stallion’s temper somewhat.

The break in and the disappearance of his niece months later put him a terrible mood, and when the Ruby Dogs cut off all contact, it became even worse.

Then the incident in Tall Tale had him going into a complete rage, especially when the Diamond Dogs involved were taken away by their fellow canines.

But the destruction of the mine caused a fervor in him, as he was convinced his niece was responsible and with the rumors of the escaped griffin in the same area, he sent a squad to deal with it.

Gleaming shivered, recalling the dark look in those blue eyes as the stallion heard their report, and the lack of any sighting of the filly.

“You idiots, she’s obviously in some sort of disguise, you should’ve completely seized that cart,” their lieutenant made the mistake of protesting the fact there was no need to further distress the filly, and lost his head a moment later.

Giving the rest of them the joyous task of doing a cover-up and hiding his body. Wind Scar left after that, muttering something about getting someone less conspicuous to find his niece.

If Gleaming had any curiosity about what the man wanted with his niece, it was smothered with the reminder of what happened to those who got too curious about the former Captain of the Royal Guard’s past.

They never lasted long.

“You sure? What if Cross Shield himself comes to complain?” “He won’t, he’s too busy with that silly program of his,” that he chose to create his own program over becoming a trainer for the Royal Guard Academy still rubbed a few ponies wrong.

He claimed it was a chance to improve the competence of every field, make it easier, and these Rangers were supposed to be able to do everything Guards could do outside of the Castle. Some took this as an insult, never mind that the Royal Guards rarely ventured out of the capital unless specifically sent by the Princess on a mission.

‘But you weren’t sent by the Princess’ a voice reminded him, he silenced it, glaring at the other till they returned to their post, before resuming his stance and staring down the hall.

They were fine, the Princess was never going to find out, Wind Scar has been active for years and learned how to avoid the alicorn’s attention.

So it should be fine.

Fine.

The doors behind them slammed open and both stallions spun, spears in their magic/wings respectively, only for an unimpressed alicorn to stare them down, a letter in front of her face.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

This is Amethyst Storm of the Rangers Program you approved with Cross Shield several years ago,” Gleaming Helmet felt all the blood leak out of his face, his fellow Guard didn’t look any better,

“I am writing to you to ask, if not inform, why it was felt necessary to send a squadron of Royal Guards to Vanhoover to harass a filly assisting one of our trainees. Not only did they ignore protests and behaved unprofessionally, they disturbed the ashes of the filly’s grandmother, turning it upside down and spilling it across the station floor. Understandably, the filly and her sister who was also with her were quite upset, and despite being proved wrong about accusing a ten-year-old of theft, without even saying what was stolen, the guards did not even apologize. Luckily, I stopped them boarding the train and harassing the filly further, but I wish to make you aware, if you aren’t already, of this miscarriage of Royal Guard authority. If you did send this squad, please send a reply if what was stolen was so important to involve this level of impropriety,

Your faithful subject,

Amethyst Storm,”

The letter was smoldering at the edges, and the guards gulped as their ruler stared them down.

Her mouth opened.

“Inside now,” her voice boomed across the hall, sending paintings askew and shattering the vases in the hall.

They followed her in, staring at the floor and trying to maintain their composure.

Which was somewhat difficult when the Princess left black footprints in her wake, the smell of ash hitting their noses.

Gleaming Helmet resigned himself, looks like he wouldn’t have to worry about Wind Scar’s rage.

He would be scorched instead.

For so long she kept a lid on her rage, making sure none of her pony subjects saw how angry she could get. It had been difficult, dealing with nobles and trying to do what she can to keep Equestria running without the help of her sister.

Making sure treaties held up, that there were no threats of invasions from those who refused to make a treaty with her.

Dealing with the fear of Blessings going out of hand and making sure that panic did not consume the ponies. Earth blessings were the easiest, not many of them tapped into the potential beyond affecting plants or ‘psychic’ visions.

Which reminded her of the Pie family, that family had a daughter with the Blessing right? They sent a letter to her about the filly figuring out what it gave her and the results made her smile sometimes. All Earth ponies had a connection to the earth, that wasn’t disputed, but the Blessing of the Earth gave them abilities common in races outside of the ponies.

Like how the Jewel Dogs were able to dig through tunnels with ease.

Blessings of the Water tended to pop up randomly, and she left that bit to Queen Nova to deal with, the hippogriff turned sea-pony having quite the extensive knowledge on the subject.

After all, Luna wasn’t here to do it.

Blessings of Fire made her hesitant, as the range of which it could be applied were never explored, some if not most practitioners frightened of their abilities.

She was unfortunately one of them, being the oldest bearer, and it caused her some regret that she couldn’t give Sunset the proper instruction either.

But that wasn’t even the Blessing she had the most regret with.

The Blessing of the Wind always haunted her, its oldest Bearer having fallen out with her centuries before over her pacifist ways, calling her a coward when she refused to make things official, for fear of her ponies’ reaction.

She didn’t deny it. Even when the Blessings became stronger in the recipients, causing them to accidentally lash out and hurt others, she only pointed them in the other's direction in the hopes of them learning to control it, and not to fear it.

She never heard from those ponies again, but she figured that her contact ‘allowed’ them to live with them, or they never wanted to return to their homes.

Today also happened to be the anniversary of their falling out, they day when they would’ve been married to one another, but she let her fears take over.

It was a day of many regrets for her, second to the anniversary of banishing her sister.

It was not a good day for bad news of any sort.

Then this letter came in.

But the letter she read just now wasn’t all that had been written, the P.S. on the back caused what anger she had at the contents of the letter

It was a good thing Twilight was at home with her parents, recovering from spell burn out after she decided to practice the same spell.

Twenty times in a row.

She could see Raven in the corner of her eye, the unicorn with a cup of tea and a questioning look, Celestia shook her head and flicked her ears, causing her assistant to pale somewhat before she nodded and disappeared behind the throne, leaving the cup of tea on a table next to her.

Looking down at the pale guards, her lips thinned as she stared at them.

“So, are you going to tell me who else was involved in this rogue mission, that I did not sanction?” the smell of urine hit her nose and with an annoyed flick of her magic she banished the mess, the embarrassed unicorn trying to avoid her gaze.

The pegasus remained silent, and Princess Celestia centered herself,

“Right,” her horn glowed and there were three pops as guards in various states of undress appeared in her throne room.

It didn’t take a genius to understand where they had been, and Celestia decided a bathtub full of water and scented bath salts would serve to get rid of the smell.

If it ended up drenching not just them, but the other two, she didn’t care.

Any protests from the summoned guards were cut off when they recognized their compatriots, and the angry look on their Princess’s face.

They fell silent.

“Now, is anyone going to tell me exactly what was stolen? Or should I have to guess?” while she had been given a name, revealing she knew who their leader was would make them lock up tight.

And Wind Scar would end up disappearing and going underground.

It was times like this that she wished she was on those peaks near the outside of Equestria, resting in the tranquil air and releasing their anger.

Hm, she wondered if they received any new students. Their requirements were stricter than her own school.

And far more dangerous.

Even if a full grown dragon appeared at hers last year.

But it would be nice to take a dip in one of their special steam baths, and to take in the lovely view.

It was a lovely view, Zephyr could admit that.

He just wished cleaning wasn’t taking away any enjoyment he could have.

-Reaching the peak through the fog had been a nightmare of dodging fallen rocks, avoiding falling into holes, and ignoring voices trying to lead him astray. It still ate into his time, and he cursed himself for ending up in that strange path that ended up leading him further down the path and having to start all over when the previous path closed up.

The temptation to fly had never ceased, but he knew it would lead to his expulsion so he ignored the urge and kept his wings close.

Then he came to a crossroads, three different paths leading from one peak to the other. One led directly the peak he’d been climbing, looking like polished marble with gems in the path. The one on the left was made of onyx and led to a peak he could barely see, with suspicious smoke coming in that direction.

The third path consisted of wood with rickety rope and seemed to be the longest one.

He considered his remaining time, two hours and three minutes, and shrugged.

Five minutes later

“What is that idiot doing? The peak is right there!” the remaining campers stared at the crazy green colt, the pegasus humming to himself as he trotted leisurely down the wooden bridge, a creak here and there echoing through the mountain.

Several went down the onyx path, while the majority went the shortest route, including the Blueblood type pony who somehow managed to get to the top despite his complaints.

The remaining ponies shared looks, recalling their journey so far, and took the same path that the only colt who knew where’d he been going went.

What could they lose huh?

At the sect on at the top of the peak, several residents went about their days, meditating or sparring against one another. Griffins, dragons, and a few ponies of several races were there, having been there for years and long getting over any prejudice towards one another.

“The deadline for the sect membership ends in five minutes, did anyone bet on newbies this year?” Greta the Griffin asked, dodging a strike from her dragon opponent and hitting him with her wings.

“There has not been any new students for years, they all choose the other sects,” a pony with bat wings commented, looking sleepy, before covering his head with his wings and falling asleep. Those around ignored him, used to his random naps, and added their own agreements.

Then the sound of groaning and shifting rock was heard, and they all glanced in surprise at the entrance of their sect, a dirty green hoof appearing over the edge, followed by a yellow mane as a pegasus colt pulled himself up and onto the ground.

“Made it,” he gasped out, panting, before shifting as a few more ponies joined him, looking equally as exhausted.

The sect members were silent, staring in surprise, before Greta coughed, wiping away the surprise on her face.

“Right, good job newbies, there’s a spring to wash yourselves up and supper is ready as well, you’ll begin your first day tomorrow,” they weakly cheered before dragging their bodies in the direction they pointed.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Greta grabbed her sparring partner and stared at him with wide eyes.
“Does anyone here remember how we trained newbies in the past?” she hissed, they all shared looks.

“Uh,” that was a good question actually.

Which is how Zephyr now found himself cleaning various parts of the sect, his fellow trainees getting their own assigned parts.

They ended up sharing a room the first few nights while the student dorms were ‘aired’ out.

It didn’t take long to realize their new teachers did not expect any of them to make it, at all, or to choose the wooden bridge.

Cleaning wasn’t the only thing, the dragon, Cyril, trained them in basic sword form in the mornings, and Greta was their martial arts instructor.

The leader of the peak was in seclusion at the moment, but they were assured about meeting whoever it was at some point in their training.

The bat pony, or Nocturne as he explained he was, was called Night Terror (he refused to elaborate why he was named that) was the ‘Doctor’ of the Peak and gave them each a physical on the first day, before plopping down on one of the cots and konking out.

There were other members of the peak, but they were busy working the rice fields on the other side of the mountain, or on trips to other peaks to trade.

Apparently the other peaks had a different focus, and after hearing them, Zephyr was kind of glad he chose the wooden one, even if they seem to be making up training schedules as time went on.

The golden bridge to the middle peak, lead to a sect called the Jinjiao or Gold Cult, that focused on scholars above all else, and maybe the occasional meditation here and there. From poetry to artwork, they were more of a literary sect than a martial one. They were involved in paperwork involving the other two peaks and required all their ‘newbies’ to read at least five books a day to catch up.

The other peak was the complete opposite, and their practices involved nothing but the martial arts, and meditation was a passing thought. Their sect was called Quiangpai, or Powerful Sect.

It was also on a sleeping volcano and Zephyr was so relieved that he didn’t go that way.

This peak was a blend of the two, though much less strict, and when they weren’t learning martial arts, they were allowed to choose between either learning poetry or some type of art to do.

This sect was called Yunhumen or Cloud Lake Cult. There was the promise of teaching them the language these sects used, and Zephyr wasn’t sure whether he was looking forward to it or not.

Then he reminded himself why he was there and visited the library first chance he got to look at the books.

His three fellow students seemed somewhat reluctant to enter the library, and he pegged them as being from Cloudsdale as well.academically

The pegasus instructor on the peak saw their hesitation as well and gave a rueful grin.

“I’m guessing Cloudsdale is disdaining as ever of scholars, most of the time, the other peak, Gold Cult, ends up losing their students within the first few months and have gotten so used to it they have a system in place for it. Now I am sorry to tell you this, but for however long you are with us, we will be expecting you to become a bit more academically inclined, any of you fans of Daring Do?” they all raised their hooves, he gave a half-grin, “Well you’ll be delighted to know that A. K. Yearling visited here a while ago and actually wrote a book based on our sects, the manuscript is in our library and she has promised not to publish it till our sect leader gives permission. But I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if our students, after being diligent learners to our satisfaction, will be able to read it,” the three shot into the library and Zephyr raised an eyebrow at the older stallion.

“And what exactly is the level we have to reach for that to happen?” he got his mane ruffled before the stallion nudged him to the library.

“Have fun reading,” staring after him, Zephyr gave a huff before heading straight towards the poetry section.

There were quite a few fun ones that he wanted to reread.

Author's Note

Might end up changing this one in the future to make it go smoother, but I'll finish the story first before I go back and start changing the chapters again.

Chapter 16: Pegasus at the Rainbow Falls

Golden sighed, eyeing her butter yellow friend trembling underneath the blue cover, the snowflakes looking like they were moving as the pegasus panicked.

The younger filly knew for a fact that she’d written their destinations on the itinerary, that it was even marked on the map of Equestria she bought.

Unfortunately, Fluttershy pushed the terror of their location to the back of her mind and didn’t start panicking till they were already in their hotel room.

At least they hadn’t run into yaks or yetis, or somehow stumbled on the Crystal Empire a decade early.

But despite being in the same area, Mount Everhoof was still quite a distance, even if the ski resort they were on was nearer to the Yaket Range. They couldn’t even take a train there, and everyone had to fly there via airship.

Which did nothing to help Fluttershy’s anxiety or Golden’s own issues with heights.

Fun fact, her wind magic, outside of Cloudsdale, loved being high in the sky. It made her wings tingle and it took every ounce of willpower to keep her binds from tearing apart under the eager winds.

Focusing on her friend’s fears helped with ignoring her surging magic, and she thought of a way to get Fluttershy out of her funk.

“Fluttershy, this training is for Rangers to learn how to save others in the mountains, you’ll be learning how to navigate a mountain safely and quietly.” the shaking stopped, but her friend still hadn’t removed the cover, Golden smirked, “And there are fluffy animals in the snowy mountains,” blue eyes peeked out, yellow ears alert.

“F-fluffy a-animals?” the disguised filly hopped onto her friend’s bed, smiling at her.

“Yep! Polar bears, snow bunnies, leopards, foxes, wolves,” despite the possible ferocity of the animals, her friend slowly retreated from her ‘safe spot’, looking less and less afraid.

“And maybe snow owls?” she asked, somewhat tentatively, a hopeful look in her eyes.

“Yes, why don’t you call one right now, I’m sure they won’t mind you having one in the classes,” that seemed to wipe away any remaining nerves and Fluttershy hurried to the window, taking out the owl whistle she received on her birthday and blowing on it. A soft low pitched hoot sounded and it didn’t take long before an owl flew in, landing on Fluttershy’s back and giving a small clicking sound with its beak.

Fluttershy giggled and Golden left her to it as she looked over the brochure for the seminar being held during the weekend.

This time they were letting all the trainees stay in the same ski resort with the trainers who were each giving a lecture and doing a separate class. Now before Golden kept a record of their names and such and what each one did, but she had to go back over the list to see if there were any classes she wanted to attend. Quill in her mouth to mark an X or O next to the lesson.

First was Amethyst Storm (Earth Pony) whose years of experience in the desert lent her considerable knowledge in the field. She would be giving a lecture on safety gear (despite their first destination being a desert) for long periods in the desert, the stories of her starting out and how she got her Cutie Mark ( a poison green scorpion with an amethyst in its back in the middle of a sand storm.) O

The second was Onyx Arrow (Unicorn) who represented the Forest Rangers as best in his field, would teach about navigating a forest using a compass, his own Cutie Mark was of an arrowhead floating in a puddle of water. O

The third was Cliff Edge (Earth Pony) representing Mountain Rangers and he was in charge of teaching them how to navigate a mountain, as well as making their way through an avalanche. His Cutie Mark was a hook crossed with an ice hook. X

He would also be having everyone go through a safety course to sign off on before they navigate the dangerous mountain.

The fourth was the Lifeguard representative Sharp Whistle (Earth Pony) who would give them a brief CPR session and taught them how to read the waves and sky for storms or big waves, the rules and regulations of a lifeguard, and of course his own stories and showing off his whistle Cutie Mark. X

Fifth was the Coast Guard pony, Algae Anchor (Pegasus) who technically was the first military representative and would tell them about the dangers of pirates and violent animals in the ocean. Her Cutie Mark was a black anchor wrapped in seaweed and Golden wryly noted how it wasn't algae at all, not out loud of course. O

Sixth was surprising, apparently, Geo Cache (Unicorn) did rescue service for Archaeologists, doing a survey or going with them to explore different ruins and making sure nothing would happen. His Cutie Mark resembled the masonic symbol North remembered from her previous life with the geocache circle plus x in it. O

Sheriff Star (Earth Pony) represented the Police and was Seventh, he was in charge of police procedures and upholding justice and how essential it was for police to have skills in how to rescue others. His Cutie Mark was a cherry blossom petal in the shape of a star. O

Eighth was a firefighter named Baton Swirl (Unicorn) who would do the same as the others with talking about his own work and how he got his Cutie Mark (a swirl of water surrounding a baton on fire.) X

Ninth represented the Medical Rescue Team led by Nurse Redheart who was giving a class on first aid and diagnosis on most common ailments on lost ponies. Her Cutie Mark resembled the Ponyville Hospital's symbol with the red cross and hearts. O

Tenth was Palm Olive (Earth Pony), who would be giving a lecture on surviving on an island but seeing how an island wasn't on their schedule, there was a note for an additional course on her island if anypony was interested. Her Cutie Mark was a lighthouse with a palm tree design. O

Eleventh was Aviation Rescue led by Air Gear (Unicorn) who would talk to them about the different flying contraptions used in the air and how sometimes it was necessary for them to be alert about it. Her Cutie Mark was a pair of goggles with wings on either side. X

Twelfth and last of all was the Royal Guard (and one North didn't attend.) led by Cross Shield (Pegasus) who was the one in charge of the entire thing. Having retired from being a Royal Guard a decade before, he had been organizing rescue operations in different parts of Equestria. X

Golden had some respect for him because of articles he’d written in the past, but despite that she crossed his name out of lectures to attend before asking Fluttershy if she wanted to attend all of them or some of them.

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to learn what I can from all of them, but then it would be a busy weekend,” Fluttershy then looked at her choices and blinked, “You didn’t mark all of them?” Golden pouted.

“I’m not that bad,” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and the Earth filly cleared her throat, looking to the side to avoid her friend’s gaze, “Fine, there’s a,” she mumbled something and her friend stepped forward.

“What was that?” the owl staring at her was not helping.

Golden muttered something and Fluttershy was almost leaning against her as she gave a small, teasing smile.
“Sorry?” “There’s a Daring Do signing tonight!” she almost shouted, cheeks burning, which became worse when the pegasus giggled.

“Alright, why don’t we head on over to the conference center to get ready, we should be able to attend the lectures you want to,” Golden huffed, heading to her suitcase to bring out a notebook, “Did you bring your Daring Do hat?” her protest had the pegasus giggling again and Golden wished she never told the other filly about attending every book signing.

She’s been collecting Daring Do first editions since she could afford them, keeping them hidden in a secret compartment of the planetarium and keeping an ear out for the next book in the works. Her friends read them as well, but didn’t know why she was a big fan of them so much. Golden could admit that one reason she started reading them was that she knew Rainbow Dash would be a big fan of them in the future and thought it would be a nice bonding moment.

She’s not so sure now, but the books are enjoyable, and the fact they were written by a pegasus who got a Degree in Literature and a Doctorate in Archeology were an inspiration for a pegasus filly despairing at the literature-phobic atmosphere in Cloudsdale.

Though tonight, she’ll have to be careful in her disguise and not give out any clues, even if she is still going to have the same message written in the books.

Hopefully, A.K. Yearling doesn’t point it out.

Attending the lectures was relaxing, and she made plenty of notes from each of them that she planned on giving Fluttershy to go over. The pegasus received some odd looks for the owl, but at this point everyone knew what her special talent was and left it alone.

Some staff was shocked however, apparently, this owl hated going near anyone and was notorious for being grumpy.

Fluttershy informed them after a brief conversation with the owl that the bird avoided contact with the hotel staff because she had overheard some of them wanting to find her nest and didn’t want to risk it.

That ended up turning into an hour-long talk with the manager and owner of the hotel respectively, the latter furious when he realized that the manager was abusing his position of power for ‘publicity’ and informed all of his staff that the animals on the mountain were under a protection act he signed when the hotel first opened.

The manager and a few others ended up being fired and his assistant promoted to the position after Fluttershy called a few animals that vouched for her kindness and protection of the smaller animals.
Golden took her friend for some hot chocolate and piping hot vegetable stew freshly prepared by the kitchen. It took some time for the filly to recover from the intense interaction with strangers and Golden brushed her hair back into several braids till she got her composure back.
“Oh, that was so nerve-wracking,” the snowy owl barked softly and rubbed her head against Fluttershy’s ear, making her giggle as she ran her hoof through the soft white feathers.
“Are you up for lectures? Or do you want to come with me to the signing?” the pegasus shook her head, taking another sip of the soup and letting out a sigh.
“I think I’ll return to the lectures, it’ll be less crowded if what I saw of the Daring Do fans was accurate,” Golden had to cringe, recalling some of the cosplayers and their antics.
She was a fan and could understand their enthusiasm, but if there had been a role-playing event, she was pretty sure the organizers would prefer the attendees not to dig out every single pot in the lobby, looking for some sort of ‘secret treasure’.
Though one pony she was pretty sure was not cosplaying with strange goggles just buried themselves in a pot and giggled creepily as they pulled the plant back in over their heads.
Yeah, she’ll let the staff deal with that one.
Right now she had a signing to get to.
It was a good thing she had a reservation ticket in advance, and as she trotted passed the snake-like line leading from the signing event to the exit, she could feel the dark glares from the ponies as she showed her ticket to the security guard and was allowed in.
Hey, it wasn’t her fault they didn’t know about the essay contest, and she was kind of excited, considering as North she did not dare enter the contest and just waited in very long lines (when she didn’t bring a tent. Lyra would have made fun of her, if the filly didn’t have her own tent for concerts.)
Daring Do’s publisher advertised the contest months ago and there were hundreds if not thousands of applicants who sent their essays in.
Only the top ten ponies in the contest would get in and each one would get the first edition of Daring Do’s new book, Daring Do and the Yeti’s Flute, centered around Mount Everhoof,
The inside of the conference room was decked out in a fake Winterland theme, with yeti stand-ins here and there. Food booths were on one side of the room with merchandise ones on the other side, some containing all the novels written so far in the series. Ponies could go to the booths instead of waiting in line, though Golden suspected not a lot of ponies would want to do that.
These were Daring Do fans after all, who would skip the line for the booths?
There was a raised platform with a tower of books next to it and a seat with A.K. Yearling written on it. The author was nowhere to be seen, which wasn’ t a surprise as she was a reclusive pony at best. As she took her spot, Golden could feel the disbelieving stares as the youngest in the group. Some were teens while others were adults, and she felt it was a bit unfair of them to be so surprised. Just because she was young didn’t mean she couldn’t write an impressive enough essay.
At least no one was informed of who was exactly first place, and she chose to be in the tenth spot so that she could get her bits ready. She was getting a free first edition, but she wanted a book for herself to read while keeping the first edition in pristine condition. She had two copies of every book and was planning on keeping with that tradition.
“Alright everypony er,” the announcer caught sight of the griffin in seventh place and corrected himself, “everycreature, welcome to the Mount Everhoof Daring Do signing event, and here’s the VIP herself!” he gestured wildly to the side where the author appeared from a door, climbing onto the platform and taking her seat.
She looked tired, and Golden felt a bit bad, because she knew that the author was in for a long night.
The first pony went up and went into a rant about how much he loved Daring Do’s books, while nitpicking a few details, and Golden resisted the urge to smack her face.
Who let this pony be one of the winners? He always got into squabbles with other ponies if they expressed an opinion about their favorite part of Daring Do that he didn’t like.
Did someone proofread his essay and tone down the offensive bits? Because Golden was pretty sure his writing was as insulting and quibbling as this stallion.
It got to the point the announcer gave a fake laugh, grabbing the stallion and his signed book and leading him off the stage for the next pony to get their book signed.
Having been to several of these events, Golden thought her excitement would be a bit tamer, but she still felt the butterflies in her stomach as the platform grew closer and closer.
At least security wouldn’t let the other line in till they were done, otherwise she was pretty sure she would get trampled on.
She hated being tiny.
A cleared throat had her looking up, and cheeks burning at the announcer’s annoyed stare, she hurried up the platform and saw Daring Do’s raised eyebrow as the mare looked her over.
“Golden Lotus, right?” she nodded, feeling her tail wagging and saw the amusement in those rose-red eyes, “Read your essay and thought it was very well researched, reminded me of a filly years ago that suggested Mount Everhoof as a location for one of my books,” crap, keep your expression blank Golden, swallowing, Golden gave a small laugh.
She, almost forgot about that. It had just been a suggestion when they did that little Q&A in Manhattan and the publisher (hovering behind Daring Do) asked every attendee what location they would want a Daring Do book in next, while ignoring her author’s pointed glare. Most ponies wanted it in their hometown, some suggested a made-up place, trying to test the author’s knowledge, North Wind chose Mount Everhoof and mentioned reading about an artifact hidden in a cave guarded by Yeti’s.
“Well this is my first book signing, so I wouldn’t know them,” she gave a nervous smile, the author raised an eyebrow as she grabbed a book from the pile and placed it in front of her.
“Strange, because the message you requested sounds so similar to hers whenever she comes,” she signed her name on the inside of the cover, under the printed message that Golden sent with her essay. All winners had their personal editions printed with a message on the inside cover.
“Well, its a message my uh sponsor had me request for, so, maybe a coincidence?” the book was handed to her and she clutched it to her chest, turning towards the bookstall and nearly freezing at the author’s parting comment.
“And I suppose you are getting a second copy and putting that signed one in a safe spot,” Golden gave a quick nod to the mare and scurried off, hearing a low chuckle that made her cheeks burn.
That was the cue for the doors to open and the stampede of ponies made the floor shake as the security guards struggled to keep them in a straight line.
Quickly buying her second book, she put both books in a bag and looked at the line before heading to the merch stall, nodding to the griffin who was eyeing some of the merch with intrigue. The quibbling guy was already reading the book in the corner along with a few others, and Golden made a mental note not to go over there.
She bought a flute, knowing Lyra would get a kick out of it, and some souvenirs for Pinkie and Fluttershy before her stomach grumbled.
Right, time for food, though that would be difficult, considering the line completel- she spotted a staircase leading to a small bridge to the other side and grinned, wow whoever planned this event was very thorough.
Trotting up the stairs, she thought about what kind of food she should eat and kind of glad that the lines wouldn’t be long,
So wh- a voice hit her ears that made her freeze.
“She has to be here somewhere! She’s a big fan, I’ve seen her reading the books, she wouldn’t miss it!” her sister was practically yelling, her rainbow mane easy to spot near the carrot dog booth.
Golden felt the air in her lungs freeze, and to her horror her magic started acting up in her distress.
Windy Whistles said something to Rainbow in a low voice, while Bow Hothoof in his Guard armor was peering around the room, no doubt searching for her.
A rip appeared in the curtain overlooking the bridge and Golden gritted her teeth, backing up and quickly descending the stairs, immediately heading towards the exit.
She had to get out of here.

As her dyed tail disappeared out the door, she didn’t spot the rosette eyes that glanced at her retreating form, or how they fell upon the trio, seeing the blue coat color of the filly and her rainbow mane.

“Where is she?” Rainbow munched on the carrot dog, feeling worry and irritation rising up in her.
It’s been almost five months since North ran away, and a month since school started with the filly being nowhere in sight.
Sure she graduated and everything, but she still didn’t have a Cutie mark, which meant she was still supposed to be in their parents’ care. And was supposed to be attending Cloudsdale High that their parents already registered her for.
Rainbow Dash still thought about her accusations and her side of what happened with the pony she slaughtered, and still felt torn about it.
But even her mom was concerned about what North’s magic could end up doing, and when that crater appeared near Tall Tale, Uncle Wind Scar appeared and expressed his own concerns about North losing control of her magic.
Which meant, if they didn’t find the filly soon, she might end up losing control in a populated town, and her parents felt responsible for not keeping a better hold on her.
They first went to the planetarium Lyra’s mom told them about, but all they got was a bucket of red paint dumped on them and Betrayor stamped across her Cutie Mark, while Worst Parents were on theirs.
It didn’t fade for weeks and she had to wear her Halloween costume to cover it, getting a lot of teasing at school.
Her parents tried talking to the Shys after that since both Fluttershy and Zephyr were gone, but ended up receiving a rather cold reception before the couple asked ‘politely’ for them to leave.
It was only chance that she spotted a postcard from Fluttershy and swiped it before the couple could notice.
She didn’t even get scolded for it as her parents read the information on it and her mom went to look up the program Fluttershy was in.
Rainbow Dash still couldn’t wrap her head around the shy pony participating in such a thing, or the fact she’s lasted past the first month.
“I don’t know dear, but she’ll be here somewhere, if not, we can always ask Fluttershy,” Mom patted her hair, fussing over the ketchup on her mouth while Dad still looked through the crowd.
“Cross Shield is supposed to be here somewhere, I can just ask him, and tell him if our daughter is tagging along with the program without an adult, it is not ethical at all and he could get in trouble for it,” Rainbow Dash wondered why Uncle Wind Scar wasn’t here to help look, but then again, he was a busy pony.
But being stuck at a geeky book signing was not what she wanted to do with her weekend.

Even if the decorations were kind of cool.

“My sister and parents are here,” were the first words out of her mouth once she was able to pull Fluttershy and Amethyst to a separate room.
Fluttershy paled while Amethyst looked confused.
“Is that a bad thing?” Golden gave her a look.
“If they find me, Wind Scar does,” the mare blanched.
“Right, and if they see Fluttershy they’ll try and interrogate her about your whereabouts,” the mare thought about it before smiling, “Well, there is a small airship arriving in the morning to take guests to the Rainbow Falls Trading Exchange,” her interest was piqued.
“Trading Exchange?” Fluttershy gave Amethyst an accusing look that the mare returned with a sheepish look.
Golden was too busy thinking about what she could get at this exchange.
But first she needed to put her first edition in a safe spot, because she’d seen some eyeing her when they first came in and knows she’ll be the first target for a Limited Edition.
And if they saw the message, no doubt her identity would be suspect.
She eyed Amethyst thoughtfully,
“I don’t suppose you have a lockbox in your room,” the mare sighed.
“Yes, yes I do,” Golden beamed and took Fluttershy back to the hotel room.

They need a good night’s sleep after all.

“Golden! Slow down,” Fluttershy hurried to keep up with her friend, trying not to lose sight of the bouncing filly as she went from one stall to the other, the cart behind her remaining on the ground no matter how many times the ‘Earth’ filly went up and down.
Being off the mountain seemed to do wonders for both of them, Fluttershy felt her anxiety levels much lower, and after putting some distance between her family and herself, Golden was completely relaxed.
Fluttershy made a mental note to talk to the filly about her Blessing, because she hadn’t been able to take the bindings off somewhere safe yet to release her magic build-up.
Pulling her own cart, the pegasus was looking for an animal booth, having never been to the Exchange but had been treated to a long lecture about it from Golden on the airship.
The thought of rare creatures being there made her a bit excited, though she had to remind herself that she couldn’t have too many on the trip.
Maybe just one, or two?
The snowy owl went back to her nest before they left, and Fluttershy thought about getting her some ribbons and comfy cloth for her nest.
Golden was near a stall with books, Fluttershy wasn’t too surprised about that, and was negotiating rather fiercely with the stand owner to trade some books she got from some store in Tall Tale. She ended up trading ten of them for a book with a strange language on it, the owner looking quite surprised at how eager she was to get it.
“What kind of book is that?” Fluttershy asked, stopping to look at some animal whistles to add to her collection.
“I recognized the writing from my studies, it actually contains information about the Blessings founding temples, and I’m hoping to read something about mine,” Fluttershy’s eyes widened.
“Haven’t you been looking for that kind of book for ages?” Golden gave her a wry grin.
“If I’d known about this kind of place sooner I would have visited years ago, it’s a good thing I had the books that stand owner wanted in exchange,” Fluttershy frowned.
“What if the owner knows what the book is about and talks about it?” her friend sighed.
“It was a risk I had to take, and that mare knew nothing about the book, just knew it was a family heirloom that no one could read. She’s trying to get rid-” Golden paused and veered, throwing Fluttershy off as the filly stopped right in front of a booth with antique jewelry, surprising her, because Golden wasn’t one for this kind of thing.
Golden unhooked her cart and on unspoken agreement, Fluttershy stood guard while the filly explored the booth, blue eyes running across different jewelry and dismissing them.
The owner of the booth was dressed in a prim suit with a white shirt and was keeping a close eye on both of them while dealing with his customers.
Finally, Golden stopped at a wooden box, ears twitching before picking it up and unclasping the top.
“Unless you intend to exchange something, please do not touch the merchandise,” Fluttershy bit her lip at the stallion’s stern tone, but Golden was unphased.
She placed the box on the counter and went to the cart, fishing out a safe deposit box that she placed in front of the stallion along with a certificate.
“I’ll trade these for this,” she tapped the box, “And those two Faberge Eggs on the top shelf,” she pointed at the top shelf where two of the jeweled eggs were on display.
The stallion looked disbelieving as he reached for the box and opened it,
“I’m not sure a few baubles wil-” freezing as he caught sight of the contents of the box, it took him several minutes to gather himself before he grabbed the paper she placed right next to it, giving it a thorough glance over.
Then he gave Golden a shocked look that she returned with an innocent smile.
It did not take long before they were walking away from the booth, the stallion placing the box she gave him in a bigger safe.
They got some lunch and rested in a spot away from other ponies.
“What’s in that box that you got?” she asked as the filly brought it out while munching on a hayburger.
“Something that I got for Agape,” Golden showed her the pendant inside, a diamond-shaped gem that was a clouded white with pearls and shimmering sea glass surrounding it. Fluttershy oohed at it.
“That’s so pretty, but what made you think of Agape?” the filly shrugged.
“Don’t know, thought I heard music coming from it and decided to get it, don’t worry, when I see something that screams you, I’ll get it,” Fluttershy waved her hoof.
“You don’t have to do that!” she protested, but Golden smirked, leaving the yellow pegasus exasperated.
They parted once lunch ended, Fluttershy finding the Ancient Beasts stall and seeing if there were any creatures she could get.
If only to free them from their cages of course.
After a thorough scolding to the cowed owner for providing the wrong treatments, she left with two new animal friends, both of them nestled either on her hair or on her back.
Ponies gave her a wide berth at her company but she paid them no mind as she searched the crowd for her friend.
The sound of fireworks reached her ears and she quickly soothed her little friends, eyeing the direction it came from and letting out a sigh.

Golden was definitely over there.

Golden spotted FLuttershy and spoke before she could say anything.
“It wasn’t me and the fireworks are safe,” the pegasus gave her a disbelieving look and she pouted, “It’s true! Come on Trixie, show her!” the unicorn she’d been talking to shuffled, looking a bit shy before her horn glowed and fireworks appeared above her head, popping and appearing in different illusions before fading away.
Golden turned to gesture at Fluttershy in a ‘you see’ manner, then she saw the animals in the filly’s presence and blinked.
“I’m surprised you didn’t grab all of the animals,” the filly blushed and stroked the scales of one of her new friends.
“I actually traded my entire cart’s contents for these two beauties, I wish I could’ve rescued more of them,” Golden patted her shoulders, feeling a bit sheepish herself.
“I would help you, but I just traded the last of my own stock to this illusionist,” she pointed at the wooden chest next to the filly who scratched her cheeks.
“Trixie’s still unsure if a demonstration was worth this much,” the ten year old could feel her friend’s surprise and just grinned, holding up two metal rings.
“Don’t forget these, and it’s fine, I had more fun restoring that trunk than anything, and if anyone can put it to use, it’s a future illusionist,” she ignored the filly’s correction about being a show mare specializing in magic and nudged Fluttershy towards the exit, “COme on, the air ship departs in an hour and I need to grab a few more things before we can leave,” they trotted away, her waving to the filly till she was out of sight.
“Are you sure? You spent so much effort restoring it,” Fluttershy sounded worried and Golden nudged her, careful not to jostle the animals and mindful of the eyes watching her.
“I am, like I told her, the restoration was the fun part, there’s no point in lugging it further now that I found someone who can make use of it,” her friend looked confused.
“Isn’t it just a trunk?” her question made Golden chuckle,

“You could say that.” it depends on Trixie after all.

Trixie stared after the strange filly, wondering why she hadn’t been disappointed at the show and instead praised her.
After being dropped from Celestia’s schoo, Trixie found her confidence fall to depressing levels. Her parents took her to this Trading Exchange in hopes of cheering her up.
They even encouraged her to do a few small shows, to get over her stage fright.
She didn’t actually expect anypony to approach her for a show, or for the filly to offer a large trunk in exchange.
It didn’t seem like a fair exchange at all, but Trixie accepted anyways.
Though what she was going to do with this trunk she did not know.
Frowning, she opened the trunk, seeing its empty and clean interior and blinked, withdrawing and looking it over again.
That didn’t look right, the outside was bigger than the inside.
A secret compartment? She pulled down the lid and spotted a small slot, perfectly round and drawing on her magic, inserted her horn into the opening.
There was a click before floor lifted and she pulled, eyes widening at the contents at the bottom.
“B-but this is,” she glanced back to see if she saw the filly, but there was no sign of her, and she turned back to the trunk with a dry mouth. Hooves shaking, she picked up the book underneath the chains and a black robe with a red interior.
“Illusions for the Beginner Volume 1: Fool other’s senses, make them believe something is there that isn’t.” she swallowed, glancing down and rummaging through the chains, seeing a Volume II and III and felt kind of faint.
Then she opened the books and nearly blacked out.
The writing was loopy and a bit faded in some instances, but it wasn’t printed at all.
These were literally first edition.
“Trixie are yo- Bellatrix!” her mom caught the fainted filly, foam at the mouth, picking up her book and putting it in the trunk before closing it, eyeing it wearily.

She’ll get her husband to look at it.

Fluttershy and Golden Lotus entered the lobby, carts put away and cooing over Fluttershy’s animals.
“There they are!” they both glanced up startled as Rainbow Dash stomped over to them from where the filly had been talking to Fluttershy’s trainee group.
Fluttershy caught the pegasus’ eye who sneered at her in triumph before looking away, just as Rainbow Dash grabbed Golden and started pulling at her barrel.
“Ow!” the Earth filly cried out in shock and pain, “Let me go! Who are you?” the Wonderbolt fanatic huffed, glaring at her.
“Do you really think you can fool me North Wind? After all the times you talked back to our parents about wearing a binder, and you put one on for a lame disguise like this?” she gave another tug, ignoring the filly’s yelp as she tried to rip off the binder, “You might be able to disguise your coat but you can’t hide those eyes, why won’t this come off?” she gave a harsher pull and something finally gave, but it wasn’t a binder.
Fur came away in her hoof and she stared at it in bewilderment.
“What the?” the sound of hissing made her look up and she cringed at Fluttershy’s look.
Or was that the three headed snake glaring at her from the filly’s mane?

“Rainbow DASH,” oh crap.

At the train station outside Rainbow Falls, the train conductor eyed the griffin and his luggage wearily.
“What’s in the cooler?” there were strange stains on there that made him anxious, and he wished that the Guard hadn’t been too busy for security. Princess Cadance had left as soon as the event was over, flying into the sky with her guard scrambling behind her, yelling about being in the chariot but were ignored.
The scarred griffin shrugged, grabbing the led with his talons and opening it.
The sight made the attendant turn green and he looked away,
“Close it, close it,” the griffin chuckled, looking amused.
“Some of my greatest catch I do say, those boars are right nasty ones,” the attendant tried to shake the picture of the severed boar’s head and waved the griffin in.
With a smirk on his beak, the griffin went to the back of the train, ponies avoiding him upon spotting his cargo, others smelling it and turning green.
‘Works every time’ he thought, picking his spot and opening the lid, sending the smell of his catch to the other passengers who fled to the next car. He moved a panel and looked into bright blue eyes, their owner staring at him as suspicious chewing sounds reached his ears.
His eyes narrowed.
“You get two and that’s it,” the eyes disappeared as the stowaway curled up, the chewing sounds growing louder as if to mock him as he slid the panel shit.
Sighing, he checked on another compartment, not really fond of this part of the plan.
Precious cargo or not, he wasn’t keen on having them so close to his own merchandise.
Especially if the scents end up lingering and his clients get the wrong idea.
Right, next stop, Fillydelphia.

Chapter 18- Pegasus in Hollow Shades

‘Golden’ groaned, face planting onto the table in front of her and ignoring the looks of the other diners.
She couldn’t help it! Two months after she arrived to help Fluttershy, and she was bored! Acting according to Golden’s persona had been fun at first.

But she wasn’t meant for research! At least, not the extensive kind that her friend had been doing.
The first month had been fun after that little incident at the beginning, and Fluttershy finally found some friends among the trainees after the other pegasus and unicorn were expelled. The earth pony had finally broken out of whatever standoffish attitude he’d been and helped Fluttershy learn how to ski.

In return, she gave him her other animal friend upon seeing its interest in the other pony and was promised by the ecstatic pony that he would take care of it. Though that was before he quit, stating his intentions on staying at the hotel longer and wanting to focus on snow rescue.
Golden watched over Fluttershy’s runespoors who ended up sleeping most of the time they were on the cold mountain and feeding them the occasional fish that was delivered to the hotel. They had spent the second month in Fillydelphia, and it took every ounce of her willpower not to go over to Dragon Town to meet the dragons living there.
She managed to pass the time in the library, doing random research and finding some interesting books on parties while Fluttershy did some sort of police training.
Now they were in Hollow Shades and while Fluttershy was in the swamp with another group that had also lost a few members, Golden was staying in town to live with the residents.
Which were Nocturne.
And they did not like her gold coloring at all.
If someone had told her a year ago that she would be in Hollow Shades staying amongst ‘bat ponies’, she would have panicked and gone to the nearest store for garlic.
Even though her own family sort of worked with Nocturne, it was a rare thing and it was mainly her parents that worked with them.

Remembering North’s reprimand back then made her cheeks burn as she sipped the spicy broth they placed in front of her.
Apparently Hollow Shades main export was ghost peppers and other types as well, with an apple orchard at the edge of the village. She’d seen a few Apple ponies walking around, but they seemed to get along with the residents, even if it was a bit strained.
“Ugh, another daywalker?” ears perking, she looked in the corner of her eye and stilled every muscle at seeing the bright blue coat of her friend taking a seat at the bar next to a Nocturne with oak brown fur and a black hat on his head. He glanced down at her with a raised eyebrow but she didn’t look at him as she placed her order and accepted her glass of water from the chef with a thankful nod.

Golden sighed, finishing her own food and placing the bits on the table before going towards the exit, fighting the urge to glance back at North, she knows if she did that she would end up hugging her.
Time to go to the library.

Again.

“Looks like that filly did not want to talk to you,” North saw the reflection of Golden leaving and let out a breath.
“Why would she want to? We’re strangers,” she stated, he chuckled, tufted ears flickering.
“You know, my special talent is knowing whether or not someone is lying, has helped me a lot on cases,” stiffening, North glanced at him, but he didn’t look mad about her lying so she sighed.
“As far as certain ponies are concerned, we have never met, so there is no reason for us to converse,” a plate of bacon-wrapped ghost peppers slapped down in front of her, and she pulled it towards her while her fellow diner gave the chef a ‘look’ that had him wilting and going away.
Before coming back with a bowl of chocolate pudding that she immediately dipped a pepper in, making him turn a bit green and retreat.

“So, what is a filly like you traveling without an adult or Cutie Mark, doing here?” she let out a breath.
“Just curiosity, and a question,” humming, he got down from the stool, placing his bits and gesturing for her to follow.
“I suppose you know who I am then?” “Judge Oak, your the leader of this village despite it already having a ‘mayor’, and your brother is the leader of the Nocturne tribe in the Badlands, which is on the outskirts of the Forbidden Jungle,” he paused in his steps before continuing.
“I’m guessing by your questions you are going to ask about a certain temple?” she spotted some Nocturne glancing in their direction, ears alert.

The village of Hollow Shades had a sort of Gothic feel to it, with stone buildings two stories high and a pebbled road leading in different directions. He led her up some wooden stairs on the side of one of the houses, unlocking it with a key he pulled from his pocket with his wings, an action that got her interest and made him smirk as he let her in, locking the door behind him.
The inside looked cozy, with a desk at the end and a long couch with dark blue cushions.
“This is where I hold most of my meetings before court, my living quarters are downstairs, though I make it a point to always keep the two separate. Now, when I received that letter from Gaius, I was rather surprised, but nothing compared to receiving a forward by Master Po himself, that dragon hasn’t sent any letters for decades,” North shivered, recalling the training and wishing she did not.
He saw her shiver and sat in his chair, giving her a searching look.
“Why don’t you tell me the reason for coming here and I will see what I can do,” she took a deep breath.

Right.

8 a.m. the next morning
Golden glanced up at the tall building, its tower like structure the highest in all of Hollow Shades.
Hollow Library was on the sign above and she climbed up the stairs, shivering at how cold they felt as she read the open sign.
Surprisingly it was open 24/7, though there seemed to be a few more rules for day goers than those who went at night.
She stepped into the library, not liking how empty it felt as she went passed the check-out desk which was being manned by an Apple stallion with a green coat and orange mane, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning as he waved off a dark purple Nocturne with an even darker mane and brown eyes who was packing up their bag to go home, looking just as tired. Neither of them spotted her as she trotted passed them, heading straight towards the doors leading into the library and nearly freezing once she did step through them.
Well, now she knows why it’s a tower.
From the ground level, all the way to the top of the tower were shelves of books, and as she craned her head going forwards, she spotted tables and chairs on a few of the levels, while others seemed to be closing in and were only shelves.
A bright yellow caught her eye and the first thought to come to mind was Fluttershy, but that didn’t make sense.

Fluttershy was still in the swamps, right?

Fluttershy let out a breath, trying to remind herself how far she’s come since this program started.
Even if this stallion didn’t seem to think so.
“What did I say trainee Fluttershy about relying on your animals?” his voice was raised as he gestured at her fellow trainees, “The rest of the group managed to get through this course without the crutch of others, the fact that Amethyst Storm let this go on so long is,” he shook his head, and Fluttershy felt herself shrinking, which he did not like, “Stop doing that!” he barked, “Celestia above, this is what happens when you have a mare like Amethyst Storm letting you coast along, you should’ve been dropped from the program in the first month!” she could feel her stomach dropping as the other trainees gave her dirty looks, some sneered.
But, she’d been doing so well, and the reports of how they passed got to the head of the program right? Surely if he saw something wrong with her method he would’ve said something right?
Onyx Arrow huffed, looking none too pleased with her,
“Looks like I’ll have to correct what she did not, at the end of this exercise, you're dropped from the program,” her legs buckled and she felt her heart stop.

What?

When she climbed up the stone steps to the level she saw the yellow from, she realized that no, it wasn’t Fluttershy, but a Nocturne pony.
With a very similar yellow coat and silver mane tied up underneath a pink beret, the Nocturne could pass as a close relative of the pegasus.
If it weren’t for the leathery bat wings curled around her, one holding a book while the other turned pages with the small fingers at the other.
“That’s a neat trick!” her voice made the older filly eep before the book dropped from her grasp and she dove underneath a table, silver tail shaking.
Golden stared at her before making a mental note to check out Fluttershy’s family tree.
Going to the table, she lied down her stomach and peered into pale, slitted blue eyes, making the other gulp and cover her head with her wings, still shaking.
That made the Earth filly frown, not liking that reaction at all.
“Hey, I’m not going to do anything, I actually saw that coat of yours and thought you were my friend for a moment, she’s one of the Ranger trainees so I thought it was a bit strange so see her here, but when I came up here I thought, wait, Fluttershy isn’t a Nocturne, and she doesn’t have pretty silver hair either,” a wing moved and one eye glanced at her, taking in her form before the shaking stopped altogether.
“Your an Earth filly,” she whispered, Golden grinned.
“Yep! The names Golden Lotus, what’s yours?” the filly got out from underneath the table and shuffled in front of her, looking very shy.
“I-i’m Crescent Spiral, did you need help finding a book?” Golden spotted a name tag that said ‘Volunteer’ on the filly’s beret and hummed.
“Maybe, I was just curious because this library looked cool, although,” she frowned in thought, “I saw a Nocturne pony changing shift with an Earth pony, don’t you have day time Volunteer to fill in so you could go to bed,” that was clearly the wrong thing to say if the way the filly flinched and draw into herself was any indication, muttering something.
“What?” Golden stepped forward, stopping when Crescent flinched.
“I’m the Day Volunteer,” she whispered, an ashamed expression on her face, Golden blinked, taken aback.
“Oh, but what about your sleep schedule? I heard that it’s easier for you to sleep during the day than at night,” a bitter smile appeared on the other’s muzzle.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she gestured to herself.
“Um, obvious?” Golden’s question seemed to agitate her.
“Yes, obvious, because I have a yellow coat and not a dark one, I’m a Day walker masquerading as a Nocturne who is only supposed to be born with the colors of the night to honor our Lunar Princess,” ok, North did not say anything about this.
Though, something did puzzle the party filly.
“But you do have the colors of the night,” she pointed out, getting a glare.
“And how is that?” Golden opened her mouth but was interrupted.
“She’s right, you do have the colors of the night,” North appeared right next to her and Golden smoothed the excited expression before it could be spotted.

Taken aback by a new stranger, Crescent Spiral looked ready to bolt before realizing what she said and becoming angry.
“No I don’t! Stop messing with me!” her voice echoed through the tower, but North sighed.
“Seriously,” she stepped right up to the filly and touched her coat, “Waxing Moon,” then tugged a hair, “Starlight, seriously, has your whole tribe thought only dark co-” she was glomped to the ground as Crescent Spiral hugged her very tightly, tears falling from the filly’s eyes.
Blue eyes locked with hers, North mouthing help that had Golden giggling just as the librarian ran up, looking out of breath and looking ready to scold them before he saw the scene and his mouth dropped open.
“Crescent Spiral?” the filly saw him and turned red, getting off of North and covering her face with her wings. He then looked at them.
“Right, can one of you tell me what is going on here?” North had her own unimpressed expression, looking back to him.
“How about telling me about this whole Day and Night color thing the Nocturne have going on?” there was a steel in her eyes that Golden hadn’t seen before, and she was surprised to see North’s wings actually moving as she stared at the stallion, waiting for her answer.

The stallion actually looked intimidated.
Golden knew why North was upset, if Crescent Spiral was acting like Fluttershy did, then that did not mean good things.

Hopefully, Fluttershy is alright.

Fluttershy panted, dropping the last of the markers in the basket, trying not to break down.
After her friends put so much effort into helping her, she was letting them down, and the crushing disappointment was suffocating.
She spotted Onyx in the distance with another unicorn stallion next to him and grabbed her bucket, hurrying towards them and stopping.
“Mr. Onyx please, I promise not to rely on my animals, please give me another chance to pass,” she pleaded, he looked her over before snorting.
“Your lucky, my friend here has a problem of his own he needs fixing, and if you help him solve it, I will let you finish the program,” the unicorn smiled at her and Fluttershy felt a shiver go down her spine.

“How do you do, I heard of your talent with animals, and of this Stare of yours, tell me, what do you know of Vampire Fruit Bats?”

“Pink,” “Setting Sun welcoming the Moon,” “Fire red,” “Meteors from the sky are on fire aren’t they?” “White,” “Stars,” “Crimson Red that isn’t fire,” “There are red stars,” she deadpanned, earning whispers as the group of Nocturne colts and fillies surrounded her.
Golden and Crescent watched them from a gazebo in the park they were in, the latter sewing together a bag with her wings while the former watched the spectacle in amusement.
“This has been going on for three days,” Golden had lost count of how many residents approached her friend upon hearing of her declaration of any color being in the night sky.
It got to the point that Golden saw North writing down another one of her research scrolls, consulting an astronomy book next to her while going through different colors.
There had been a few that scoffed, but North went right up to them and asked point blank if the reason they didn’t want to believe it was because then the reason they’ve been bullying others over what coat they were was rendered mute and immature.

They spluttered and anyone else who tried saying anything negative received a very thorough lecture about why they started being prejudiced against their fellow Nocturne and a pointed comment of Princess Luna herself having a white crescent moon as part of her Cutie Mark.
No one wanted to get caught into a debate with her after that, and this is when colts and fillies approached her, especially the ones that had a coat color the others condemned as sun colors.
“Green,” a green Nocturne colt called out, she sighed.
“There’s a green-ray that appears after the sun sets or rises in the sky, and it is one of the colors of the aurora borealis that can only be seen at night. You know, a night rainbow,” that revelation made the colt light up and a few exchanges glance before they ran to the planetarium in the village, no doubt to see if it was true.
Finally they all disappeared and she went up to their gazebo, looking kind of exhausted.
“At this point, I’m just going to write up a list and pin it to the outside of the library,” Golden giggled, thinking of North Star magazine and getting a strange glance from the other filly that had her clearing her throat and looking to the side. The two of them had ‘introduced’ themselves to each other and were very careful about acting only as acquaintances, even if she mentioned how someone named ‘Rainbow Dash’ mistook her for the other.
That had been a fun conversation.
Crescent let out a huff, surprising them as she glared down at her work, looking extremely frustrated.
“Are you alright?” the yellow filly flushed, seeing their worried expressions.
“It’s just, I know what I want to do,” she gestured at the bag, biting her lip, “But no matter how many bags I make or perfect, or how many different designs I try, there’s just something missing. And I’m passed the age of when someone gets their Cutie Mark, I even threw a coin into the wishing well last week, not that it did much good,” she wilted, looking ready to cry.
North looked at the bag, brows furrowed in thought.

“Well, if it helps,” she began, Crescent looking up at her, “There’s a filly in a town I visit a lot, she’s a fashionista and designed clothes since she was old enough to use a sewing machine. But like you, no matter how many outfits she made, nothing seemed right, and she almost gave up. Then something happened and she came upon a cache of jewels, and when she added them to the costumes she was making, she got her Cutie Mark. So,” Crescent lit up, before deflating again.
“I don’t have any jewels,” she said dejectedly, “There not as abundant here as they are out there,” North glanced at Golden who grinned and ran off, coming back with a chest from the cart and placing it in front of the filly.
She opened it and gestured at the Nocturne who gasped at the contents,
“Go ahead,” the filly picked up a ruby, marveling at the beauty, before shaking her head and putting it back. She did the same with other jewels, looking awed at their appearance but not choosing them.

Then she came to the bottom and her hoof paused,
“What’s this?” she brought it out, the tip sharp, “What’s this end,” she flipped to the open end and oohed at the inside of it.
Golden and North exchanged bewildered glances,
“Uh, that’s a shell? You’ve never seen one, even in the swamp?” Crescent cleared her throat, looking away.
“I don’t like the swamp,” she whispered, before fishing other shells from the chest and spreading them out, blue eyes shining, “These will work,” she undid the seam on her bag, making it come undone and the two left her to it, going to the fountain in the middle of the park that others were near.
North stared at the water, the bits shining at the bottom of the fountain, and Golden watched as the filly ran a hoof through the water, her blue eyes shimmering.
“North?” eyes blinked, the shimmering disappearing as North broke away from the fountain to look at her, “What are you doing after this?” the filly let out a breath.
“I got my answers from Judge Oak, but there are still a few questions, and he said the answers are in the Bad Lands with the other Nocturne Tribe, but that it will be a bit more difficult to earn their trust. Apparently, they’ve been having issues with a local village and tensions are a bit high at the moment,” Golden hummed, thinking about it.
“Well i-” they were cut off by squealing, turning to the gazebo where Crescent was dancing on her hooves, twirling and looking really happy.
The glowing on her flank told them why and North sighed,
“When is my Cutie Mark going to appear?” but she was smiling, and Golden shut her mouth, following her back to the gazebo.
She’ll ask if North was planning on staying to wait for Fluttershy.
At least so that the filly stops fretting over whether the dragons would eat her or not, or if Wind Scar caught her in Fillydelphia.

But the filly will be relieved to see North safe and sound, Golden just wished they did not have to wait another few weeks for that to happen.

Somewhere in the Badlands
“Quick! The chains are coming off,” several Nocturne rushed to tighten the chains, ignoring the hissing from their captive before flying out.
One of them looked uncertain, glancing at his fellows and frowning, his ash coat and poison green eyes filled with doubt.
“What if someone comes looking for her?” he got a scoff from the leader, the older colt sneering,
“Then that unicorn will be the one in trouble, no one will think to look here, now hurry up! We need to leave before one of the chief’s spies catches us,” the rest followed him, leaving him last.
Glancing into slitted pink-red eyes glaring at him, a muzzle on the prisoner’s face stopping her from biting any of them, her yellow tufted ears flat against her head.
Sighing, he gave her a soft apology before turning to go.
He stepped on something and glanced down, realizing it was a strand of hair that must have fallen off the prisoner when they brought her down here.
Brushing the hair aside, he climbed up the stairs, ignoring his guilty conscience.
He hated the color pink anyways.

Author's Note

Hey, I have no idea why I decided to put Charmander in the story, a white one at that, I was actually going to try and make it a dinosaur that hatched, but that plan kind of went south.

Two more chapters and this story is finished, wonder what I should call the sequel?

Chapter 19: Thestrals in the Badlands

“Um, North, while I’m happy you learned how to fly,” Golden clung to the straps, wishing that the seatbelts were more secure, “Don’t you think we’re going a little fast?!” her concern was ignored as North’s wings gave another beat, increasing their beat and sending waves of wind that shattered the clouds to either side of them.

“I agree with Golden,” Crescent gave up flying once she realized how fast the filly was going and was cowering in the cart, “I-i know you worried for your f-friend, but it won’t d-do any g-good if you tire yourself out,” that got a pause, before North veered down, sending them screaming as she flew towards the ground, blue wings wide as she glided down.

Though Golden was more interested in the translucent wings shaped like a dragon, white trails on either side surrounded the wings.

She had a feeling North didn’t want to tell them why she flew like this, or what this ‘Spyro’ thing the filly muttered was when they first started.

Then she glanced further down and spotted clouds forming underneath them into a large pillow, North landing right in the middle and detaching herself, dragon wings disappearing as she went to the cart and pressed a few buttons.

A splutter, then a roar as the hidden rockets on the cart started, sending them forward. Golden grabbed her as soon as she got close enough to the cart, feeling the filly stiffen before relaxing against her hold.

“If your cousin hadn’t sent a letter about what went on,” North directed this to Crescent who looked grim, pulling out the letter from her cousin Ghost Pepper in the Badlands, writing to her about strange events going on in the settlement near their underground Nocturne city and rumors of a yellow filly helping a unicorn with the Vampire Fruit Bats.

Golden and North had not even known that Fluttershy was even missing, and Golden’s Earth Blessing didn’t work in the swamps all that much because of the saturated soil there. So when Crescent got that letter in the middle of her Cutiecenera, it did not take long to realize the filly mentioned in the letter was their friend.

Golden no Pinkie felt that caramel hot anger rising in her, finding it hard to be bubbly and even harder maintaining her cover.

North had no such issues and recalling her reaction sent a chill down the Earth filly’s back, especially when they tracked down one trainee and interrogated him about Fluttershy. It did not take much to get the truth out of him, once he stopped screaming from the ghost pepper cupcake Golden shoved into his mouth.

Amethyst Storm had been sent ahead to prep for the trainees since her group was reduced to one, and Fluttershy’s new group had more issues than her last one. Then there was the stallion in charge who berated the pegasus for ‘relying on animals’ and threatened expulsion.

Unfortunately, he did not know anything beyond that, and the last time he had seen Fluttershy was two weeks ago

Two Weeks

North did not take hesitate and asked for a map to the Badlands, getting Crescent instead who volunteered to show them the way and be their guide in the other Nocturne city.

Though not before North urged them to send a letter to Canterlot Hospital and practically screamed at them when they seemed reluctant to do so.

Judge Oak intervened and agreed, freeing them to go.

“North, why did you want them to contact Canterlot? Is Fluttershy going to be severely injured? Shouldn’t we have gotten a Nocturne doctor then? What if Win-” she saw how North gritted her teeth and fell silent, not wanting to irritate her.

Blue eyes saw her reaction and there was a sigh.

“I would have asked the Nocturnes for their medical experts, but they wouldn’t have the necessary medicine we’ll need,” Crescent’s brow furrowed, looking a bit offended.

“What do you mean? Our medicine is just as good-” Golden placed a hoof on her shoulders and she trailed off.

North didn’t seem to notice, staring straight ahead of them, wings bristling at her sides and hoof scratching at the cloud below.

“What do you know about Vampire Fruit Bats?” her question caught them off guard, Crescent thinking about it.

“Um, they are bigger versions of fruit bats that are meaner and more aggressive?” the answer got them a head shake.

“Didn’t you ever wonder why there are Vampire Fruit Bats, or why the species themselves have teeth sharp enough to pierce flesh?” “Because there are strange animal species affected by magic?” Golden hesitantly put forward, “No, because Vampire Fruit Bats didn’t always have Fruit as part of their name,” North narrowed her eyes, a grim look on her face as the two behind her exchanged startled looks.

“Five hundred years ago they were just Vampire Bats, and as you can guess, blood was the staple of their diet, and they had no qualms attacking anything with a beating heart. But an issue arose when creatures they bit started having strange reactions and ended up attacking others before collapsing. It got to the point that a team of unicorn mages concocted a spell together, to change the diet of the Vampire Bats and turned them into Vampire Fruit Bats. It took two decades after that to wrestle together a cure and wipe out the disease altogether. But if what Crescent’s letter relayed about the incident is true, the unicorn that dealt with the Vampire Fruit Bats didn’t use the usual noise spell meant to scare them off, and there is a spell meant to change an animal’s diet. Crescent, you said there have been other strange things happening that were listed in the letter,” the Nocturne nodded, looking pale.

“The Zebra/ Earth Pony settlement have their orchard and the Vampire Fruit Bats appeared a month ago, destroying their crops, so they sent out the request for aid. But after the unicorn did cast the spell, the fruit was still disappearing, the crop was destroyed, and after a week ponies started getting attacked. There is no description of what was attacking them, only that it happens at night and there’s a small sting and they have a cut somewhere on their body. But while the settlers were injured, Even the Nocturne settlement in the caves is being attacked. There hasn’t been any sign of the illness you mentioned, but if it is the bats,” “There’s a possibility that at the moment the bats are trying to figure out what they are hungry for and only scratched ponies. But there is also a possibility of the attacks escalating,” they appeared over the Bad Lands, North hooking herself up and the two gulped as she flew down with them.

She glided towards the ground, the translucent wings making a brief appearance, creating grooves into the ground when she landed.

The day settlement was a mile ahead of them, with a cornfield on one side being maintained by Earth Ponies watching them, well Crescent wearily, while the other side had fruit trees, some with plums others with apples.

North eyed the corn wearily, sticking closer to the side near the fruit trees, her wings tense.

“North?” the filly twitched an ear,

“Just know, if I see any young creature walking out of those corn stalks with creepy smiles, I don’t care if it gets me in trouble, but I’m torching that corn,” a Zebra passing by coughed at her words, looking amused instead of alarmed.

Though upon spotting Crescent, the amusement disappeared and he retreated past the trees. Crescent wilted, not looking surprised but her ears were flat as she hopped out of the cart.

Golden patted her on the shoulder, earning a thankful smile before she spotted a familiar zebra colt entering the settlement with baskets on either side of him filled with different herbs.

Recognizing him, not just from Fluttershy’s letters but from her family’s run-in with them, she called out,

“Bao! Over here,” the colt jumped and turned to them, spotting Crescent and blanching before trying to run away.

North appeared in front of him and raised a hoof, stopping him in his tracks, her friends glancing at the spot she’d been in with bewildered stares.

“Hello, Bao,” she smiled, making him swallow, “We have some questions you see, about Fluttershy,” the name made him flinch and he glanced around, looking a bit panicked as the other two closed in.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t say anything, and you need to leave, especially your friend, the town isn’t happy about a Thestral being here,” Crescent flinched and the two fillies glared at him.

“Nocturne,” North hissed at him, looking displeased, “You’ve been living near a tribe of them for how long and never caught on to their actual name?” he bowed his head.

“It’s not that, look, even if they do call themselves Nocturne, some of them don’t. We’ve been having a group swooping in calling themselves Thestrals and harassing our farmers. We’ve sent messenger after messenger to the caverns to get them to stop, but anyone we sent returns shaken and bruised.” they exchanged looks, surprised.

Then North frowned,

“What does that have to do with you not telling me about Fluttershy? She’s missing Bao!” the zebra sighed.

“I know, but no one in the village has seen her since she helped that unicorn keep the bats in one place so he could place a spell on them to stop them from eating our crops,” North closed her eyes while Golden and Crescent looked horror-struck, he gave them a confused expression, “Uh-” North cut him off.

“Have there been any escalations in the attacks not by the ‘Thestrals’,” her face grimaced as she said the name, looking like she swallowed something bitter, Bao looked taken aback.

“Actually yes, we’ve found animals half-dead, and-” he paused, North finished it for him.

“Blood drained and wounds not scabbing over?” Bao nodded, shock on his face.

“H-how did,” “Isolate those animals and make sure they haven’t bitten anyone, if anyone reports being bitten by the bats isolate them as well, I’ve already sent for an antigen from Canterlot. Now,” she stepped towards him, lips pulled back, “Where’s the unicorn responsible?” he swallowed.

“He’s with the chief,” Golden joined North in staring the colt down,

“Take us to him,” they both said, Crescent shivered behind the poor zebra who trembled as he led her to a big tent in the middle of the settlement where a zebra with face paint was conversing with a unicorn.

He had a pale grey coat and ash-blonde hair, a smug expression on his face as he spoke to them about dealing with the ‘Thestrals’.

“Um, chief, this filly wants to speak to Duke Venture,” the chief blinked at the nervousness on the colt’s face, and of the three fillies behind him, all looking unhappy.

“Ah, are you all fans,” he smiled at them, though gave Crescent a searching look that made her bristle.

Golden saw North step forward and felt uneasy, her Blessing making a shiver go down her spine as the atmosphere grew cold.

“Who sent you to kidnap Fluttershy?” North questioned, tone cold and eyes narrowed, the unicorn flinched back at the name, before shaking it off and clearing his throat.

“I’m sorry, who do you mean?” the chief gave him a surprised look.

“The yellow pegasus filly right? The one that was with you,” Duke gave him a searing look that made him take a step back, before giving a strained smile to North.

“Ah, yes, I sent her back, took her to the station and everything,” did he seriously think she was dumb enough to think that?
“Because no one has a heard a word from her in two weeks, and there was no notice given to the program about Fluttershy going with a strange shady unicorn,” his eye twitched at the shady part, and she plowed forward, “Now tell me what you did with her, and why you did such a moronic thing with the Vampire Fruit Bats,” his nervousness disappeared and his horn glowed.

“I don’t appreciate your tone filly, I saved the crops of this colony,” “By changing the Bat’s diet to not eat the crops?!” “Yes, a quite difficult spell not many unicorns can pull off,” he stated this quite proudly and she could feel the anger in her growing colder and colder.

“As I told my friends, that spell was originally used to turn Vampire Bats into Vampire FRUIT Bats, you taking away their preference for fruit made it so that they would turn to what they used to feed on. And if you needed Fluttershy to use her Stare, that meant whatever spell you used affected her as well. Who sent you to sabotage Fluttershy’s chances of being a Ranger, and do not give me the bucking excuse of hearing about her abilities. Bao could attest that the program was filled with trainees willing to do anything to sabotage the others,” in the corner of her eye the colt was staring at the ground, an ashamed expression on her face.

The unicorn puffed himself up,

“I will no longer tolerate an-” “I don’t care you incompetent dropout,” she snarled, her wings bristling, “You might have saved the food, but if nothing is done the only living thing here will be the crops, because what you just did,” she sneered, “Is going to unleash a disease from the bats that will wipe out this entire settlement,” those in hearing distance blanched, and a zebra ran to a cauldron, throwing several ingredients into it and stirring it a few times.

Then they took a sip and stood still for a moment, eyes glowing yellow before shaking their head.

“She speaks the truth,” their statement sent gasps throughout the crowd, everyone looking towards the stallion who realized his popularity was rapidly diminishing.

“C-come on, she’s just a filly. A pegasus at that! Who could know whether this disease still exists! And who's to say she is not working with this Thestral to stir up trouble,” that did it.

Before the unicorn could blink she was in front of his face, hoof smashing into his cheek and sending him past the tent, avoiding other buildings and crashing into a dead tree, sending it crashing to the ground.

North took several deep breaths before turning to Crescent who was gaping at her in shock, Golden silent.

“Can you go get your cousin, we need to clear up this understanding, find Fluttershy, round up the bats, and find Fluttershy,” a villager stepped forward, protesting her age and she glared at him, “If a single one of you hasn’t insulted, antagonized, or accused the Nocturne of ulterior motives. If there is a single one of you that did not agree with his plan of using a diet-changing spell using a filly who no doubt looked scared to death being with him, you can step up,” no one did.

Luckily, Chief Half Moon of the Nocturne Badland Tribe was willing to hear her out, and upon hearing about a group calling themselves ‘Thestrals’ groaned and rubbed his head.

“I have a feeling they might be responsible for your friend’s disappearance,” North hurried to the cart, letting out the runespoor from its cage. Hissing and sending a few residents back, the snake did not seem to need directions as it slithered across the hot ground in a random direction.

Chief Half Moon sent for a bat wrangler from his tribe who used their talents to imitate the bat’s vocals.

Soon all the bats were in one spot, some with blood on their mouths and others looking starved, eyeing the ponies with hungry expressions that made them nervous.

Golden and North ended up following the runespoor, Crescent, and her cousin Ghost Pepper right behind her. Bao elected to stay in the settlement to help with preparing medicine.

The two fillies came upon a small opening, crawling through and ending up in a larger cavern with different paths.

The runespoor headed down the passage on the far right and they went after the serpent, following them down a carved staircase down to prison cells.

Golden bit back a sob while North froze at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the muzzled Fluttershy who was hissing at them, her blue eyes now a pinkish red and looking very out of it.

“Golden,” the filly stiffened, staring at her friend, “Get Fluttershy out,” wisps of wind circulated around her, responding to her anger and wanting to lash out.

Her friend quickly unlocked the cage, breaking the chain and muzzle with ease and ignoring the growling in her ears.

“Hey! What are you doing,” North spun around feeling her tension rising further as several Nocturne entered the room, one of them glared at her, “Leave daywalker, that’s our pet, not yours,” at ‘pet’ North felt the last of her control slip.

And her vision went red.

Golden, no Pinkie, desperately tried to rouse Fluttershy out of her dazed state, the feral pegasus either hissing at her or trying to get away from her.

“Our pet, not yours,” the sentence made her entire being turn to stone, her heart stilling as she fought against going into a rage.

Unfortunately whatever North had been feeling was set loose and the sound of screams echoed through her ears.

Almost afraid to look, she clutched Fluttershy to her, seeing North in the middle of a war zone, most of the ‘Thestrals’ collapsed around her with cuts on their bodies.

One of them was still on his hooves, staring at North with fear in his eyes,

“Y-you, your blessing,” she didn’t give him the chance to say anything more before he was crashing against the ceiling, his wing smacking against the wall in a sickening crack that made Pinkie want to puke.

Then North turned to her and before Pinkie could control herself, she flinched when the filly stepped towards her.

North froze, staring at her before taking in the scene and Pinkie saw the realization followed by horror on her face as she realized what’d she done.

“Nor-” wind swirled around the cave and suddenly her friend wasn’t there anymore, “North!” a yellow hoof patted her shoulder and she was staring into those slitted eyes that didn’t look so feral anymore, but exhaustion was obvious as the older filly drooped against her.

“G-golden? Where’s Nor-” the filly fell unconscious and Golden was the only one left awake in the cavern.

She didn’t want to be.

Those outside spotted a glowing blur burst out of the cavern into the night sky, and someone shouted something about a dragon.

But Crescent Spiral knew it wasn’t a dragon.

Where was North Wind going?

She couldn’t breathe, her wings boosted her forward, she couldn’t think, a wild storm appeared and she flew right through it.

She needed to get away.

Chapter 20- Pegasus in the Forbidden Jungle

Fluttershy gasped awake, eyes opening and flinching back at the bright lights,

“She’s awake! Pinkie turn off the lights,” Lyra’s voice was right next to her ear and as soon as the light stopped burning through her eyelids, she opened them and was surprised that she was still able to see her friends.

“I thought you turned the lights off, I can still see the both of you,” Pinkie bumped into Lyra while going towards the bed, looking sad and withdrawn, while the unicorn looked uneasy, horn lighting up and levitating a mirror into her hooves.

“Fluttershy, take a deep breath, and think about all the nice puppies and kitties or whatever animals you like the best,” feeling nervous, Fluttershy didn’t look at the mirror, still staring at her friend.

“Lyra, what is going on?” she asked, but the unicorn shook her head, pointing at the mirror. Knowing that she wouldn’t like it, Fluttershy looked down at the mirror and shrieked, shattering the glass and turning her bed into a dangerous hazard.

“W-why-” before she could even finish asking, the memories of before trickled through her mind and her wings covered her head in terror at the nightmare.

A shudder went down her spine when she realized it wasn’t feather wings covering her head, but leathery ones.

If there was ever a doubt as to where Fluttershy got her Stare, one only needed to make her mother angry.

“So you sabotaged my daughter, arranged her to be kidnapped by this quack,” her hoof pointed at the unicorn chained up in the middle of the room, but she was still staring at Onyx Arrow who had lost his smug air five seconds into their meeting.

“She was relying on anim-” “That’s her talent you slimy son of a-” Fancy Pants decided to step in,

“Miss Shy, I understand your anger, but we need to figure out what exact spell he used so we can reverse your daughter’s transformation. I don’t suppose you have any ideas Judge Oak?” looking uncomfortable in the Canterlot throne room, the Nocturne frowned in thought.

“Unfortunately, this is the first instance I’ve come across of a non-Nocturne transforming into one,” “As if your own race aren’t descended from transformed Pegasii,” standing right next to Judge Oak, Crescent Spiral bristled at Onyx’ words.

“Enough,” Celestia’s Royal Canterlot voice sent most of them across the room while others bent down to cover their ears.

Rubbing her head, Celestia glared at Onyx and the unicorn,

“I have had a very long few months since finding out there are traitors in the Royal Guard, and finding out that a program I helped plan with one of my best former Captains being sabotaged by pettiness and jealousy, resulting in the few promising candidates being chased out; I am not happy. Now we have a missing filly, her friend traumatized and dealing with new changes because of your incompetence (your license is hereby revoked by the way. Both of you.) Now, I am going to ask a very important question, and you better know the answer,” she stalked towards them, leaning down so that her eyes were meeting his,

“Where is Amethyst Storm?”

Fluttershy stared at her reflection in the mirror that Lyra prepared, her own slitted blue eyes staring back at her, her now fanged mouth open in shock.

“Well, at least your eyes aren’t red anymore?” Lyra offered, wincing at Fluttershy’s expression.

“I have bat wings Lyra,” “They’re pretty wings?” “I have fangs,” “Now you can chew meat much easier!” “My tongue is forked,” “You can grab food without leaving your seat!” “My ears Lyra,” “Hey now you can hear everything much better!” Fluttershy looked at Pinkie who was still slumped, her ears down and looking forlorn.

Then Fluttershy realized something, something she did not want to realize.

“Pinkie?” the filly flinched staring up at her, “Where’s North Wind?” tears fell down her pink cheeks.

“F-fluttershy,” she cried, scaring the pegasus, “I’m sorry, I didn’t, I didn’t mean to, she ran off befo-,” she wailed, collapsing to the floor and crying into her hooves.

Fluttershy’s heart sunk down to her stomach.

*Creak* *Crash* *Snap* *Crash* pounded in her ears as the tree fell around her, but she kept going, not wanting to stop.

Forget what Po said, there’s no point in gaining control of this curse if it is just going to scare her friends.

She needed to get rid of it, she needed to let it go.

Now if only her chasers would leave her alone.

“Get back here pony!” fire shot passed her, setting a tree on fire and with a wave of her wings she snuffed it out.

Her curse might be destroying the forest, but she’d rather not have it go down in a blaze of fire. With a glance behind her, she saw the three teenage dragons chasing her, one a darker shade of green than Po’s with blue scales, his buddies were orange and purple respectively with scars on their bodies and rips in their wings.

And they’ve been chasing her for two hours.

“Just leave me alone!” she shouted back at them, shooting herself forward and through a narrow space between trees that were entwined with one another.

“This is our territory!” another one growled flying passed and trying to clip her but she dodged and punched him right in the snout sending him reeling back and waving her hoof, mouthing ow as she consulted the mental map in her head.

If she was right, those trees were the second marker leading to the spot, and from what she read in the books at Hollow Shades, there were five in total.

A map would be easier, but considering she left before she could ask the stallion, using her knowledge was the only option.

The third marker was supposed to be some sort of stone statue in the shape of a dragon, which is how she suspected these jerks ended up claiming the area as theirs.

Never mind its the fact that its a Forbidden Jungle filled with ruins and belonged to no one. In the corner of her eye she spotted stone in a clearing and flew over, barely stopping as she made sure it was the statue that she was looking for.

Mentally checking it off her list, and decidedly not focusing on how much it looked like Master Po, she flew right over into a valley filled with moss-covered skeletons of creatures she could not identify, except for the fact none of them were ponies.

Time to search for the fourth marker, a swipe at her mane sent cut hairs to the bottom floor and gritting her teeth, she folded her wings and dove, the translucent wings shielding her as she made her escape.

Now if only these idiots will leave her alone.

Fluttershy stared at the covers, Pinkie’s story swirling around her brain while the Earth filly avoided looking at her, Lyra off to the side biting her lip.

“It wasn’t your fault Pinkie,” she whispered, shaking her head when the party filly wanted to protest, “I’m the one that was silly enough to fall into their trap, North warned me about trusting the wrong ponies and I let my fears overrule me instead of going to the pony that could’ve spoken up to Onyx Arrow.” she saw them exchange glances and paled, “What is it?”

“If you mean Amethyst Storm,” Lyra began, uneasily, “She’s missing,” “What?!” Fluttershy exclaimed, “For how long?” “Since you guys arrived in Hollow Shades, all of the program ponies were rounded up and Cross Shield stated that Amethyst has been out of contact for a while,” Fluttershy’s heart stopped.

“You don’t think it was,” their downcast faces told her enough.

Oh what- voices outside the door caught her attention and she flicked an ear towards it, the voices clearing up.

“What if the Princess arrives before we can take them away?” “Don’t worry about it, she’s too busy dealing with the political storm of Nocturnes being in Canterlot and that program going sideways, they will occupy her with that situation till nightfall. We just need to grab these fillies before she does,” the blood drained from her face as the other chuckled, relieved, “Hey, do you think Wind Scar will let us have a go at them? That yellow one is especially cute, and I’ve always had a thing for bat wings,” “Sick bastard,” the other teased, not sounding disgusted at all.

“We’ll grab them in four hours when the shift changes,” Fluttershy turned green, shaking her head when Lyra lifted a bucket and swallowed, forcing the bile down.

She quietly relayed what she heard and soon they shared her feelings of revulsion.

“We need to get out of here and find North,” Lyra stated, firmly, Pinkie gulped,

“But how? We don’t know where she is?” the unicorn summoned her magic and placed a dresser in front of the door, also putting a bar through the handle, twisting it around without making a sound.

“It will require a locator spell, I’ll be right back, do not give them a reason to want to come in, Pinkie, we’ll need supplies,” the pink filly nodded and Fluttershy blanched, realizing they were both leaving.

“W-wait,” Lyra gave her a reassuring glance,

“It’ll be fine Fluttershy, just rest up till we can leave, okay?” reluctantly, Fluttershy settled onto the cot, forcing herself to keep an ear on those stallions, no matter how much their words disgusted her.

She could do this, she needed to do this.

Even if all she wanted to do was bleach her brain of that stallion’s voice or fill her ears with cotton to drown them out.

‘Don’t worry North, we’ll find you’ Fluttershy stared out the window, hoping beyond hope that they manage to do so before the filly did something stupid.

And maybe, just maybe, they’ll find Miss Amethyst as well.

Swooping through an archway with cloud formations etched into the stone, she marked off the fourth marker with relief.

Now all that was left was the fifth marker.

And she managed to lose the dragons as well!

With aching wings, wind wings or no, it was still exhausting she decided to finish the rest of hr journey on hoof. Finding a rock-laden path, she landed and began running, keeping her already strained senses open for a possible ambush. The path widened and she paid mind to the broken stones and any obstacles that would make her trip or pierce into her hoof.

A pyramid appeared in her sights and she almost sobbed with relief.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t granted a reprieve when upon bursting out into the clearing, her eyes met the three and she was veering to the right, hearing their shouts and roars as she sped into a doorway attached to a hall leading to the pyramid.

With great reluctance, the surrounding wind stirred, and she was in the air, holding the wings tight against her and avoiding cutting into the walls.

The only good thing to come out of that five-hour chase was the control over her wings and preventing the same damage as in the forest.

She just needed to enter the pyramid and find that door said to lead into the secret passage to the temple.

A horrible stench met her nose and nearly gagging she barely had time to react when a familiar small dragon appeared in front of her.

Wide purple eyes met hers before she was bumping into him, the dragon yelping and landing on her back as she continued flying.

“Hey! Put me down!” “If you want to get down you’ll have to jump because I’m not stopping!” she called back, wishing she could shut off her sense of smell.

There was a grumble from the weight on her back, before he spotted the dragons chasing her and froze.

“No no no, hurry up, I’m not dealing with them,” she wished she could glare at him but the sight up ahead needed her entire focus as she dodged fallen pillars and avoided sharp spikes emerging from the walls.

A wall appeared in front of her, but she increased the size of her wings, making the dragon flatten against her back to avoid being touched by them as she reared one back and threw it into a sideways arc, her other wing striking from the other side.

The wall crumbled instantly, the curse stopping them from falling down on them as she came to some sort of inner chamber. Seeing steps leading below, she aimed in that direction, hearing the curses of her pursuers and the pained groans of her passenger.

“What’s wrong with you?” “Molting, itches,” was the strained reply, ah, she had read about the dragon’s growing their wings later in life, but she didn’t expect it to be like this.

Though that did explain Spike’s lack of wings and North lamented at the fact she didn’t watch all the seasons before ending up here.

More knowledge about this world would’ve been nice.

“Why are you glowing? Do all ponies glow?” his incredulous tone was not welcome, at all.

“Yes, and we bleed pink cotton candy because we’re weak and fragile,” she snarked, and there was a huff.

“You are weak, you need to use dragon wings to fly instead of the- oh no,” too late did she realize why he was saying it before there was a hiccup and a roar of fire sending her veering away into a different room, crashing into the walls with one wing that made a popping sound that she did not like.

Shaking her head, she glared at the smelly dragon,

“What possessed you to do a stupid thing like that?” he returned the glare.

“I didn’t do it on purpose! Why didn’t you use your Blessing to avoid it?” the bitter tone at ‘Blessing’ made her groan.

“Well it-” a cracking noise made her blood run cold and fearing what she would see, she looked down.

“Do not move,” she hissed, trying to summon her wings again but the pain in her wing made it difficult to focus.

“Don’t tell me what to do pony,” he snapped, getting to his feet, causing another cracking sound.

“Unless your wings appear in the next five seconds, do what I say,” she snapped, “Or do you want to end up the first dragon to die from falling?” she wasn’t sure if that was true actually, but it got his red scales turning grey as he looked at the floor, seeing the cracks spreading under them and realizing their situation.

“Uh, I don’t suppose you can just shoot us out with your wind?” “If you want to end up in pieces,” was her dry response, he straightened.

“You can’t do that, befor-” “Before I was barely trained, but I spent two months with Master Po,” he conceded the point,

“So how do you propose we get out?” opening her mouth, North barely said a word before they were falling, three heads popping up above them and sneering at them,

“Serves you right trespasser,” “Hey Garble, hope your wings grow in!” another called, laughing.

The third was holding his nose, smirking, not saying anything at all.

But none of them flew down to catch them, and North saw the hurt expression on Garble’s face before he wiped it away.

She touched the wall of the tunnel, trying to adhere to it with her hoof but to her horror it slide right off.

“Can you grab the walls with your claws?” she called to the dragon who tried digging his claws into the wall, only for both of them to cringe at the screeching as the walls repelled his attempt.

Magic and Dragon proof walls?

“Oh Celestia dammit,” she cursed as the two fell into the tunnels below.

“Alright, time for a shift change,” the Royal Guard said cheerfully checking his watch, and feeling himself salivate at the thought of that yellow filly in the other room.

Then the doors opened and all the blood drained from his face at the ponies that entered.

They were not Royal Guards.

Catching himself, he saluted, his partner along with him, and tried not to sweat underneath the Princesse’s gaze.

“Open the doors,” she ordered, he bowed and tried to open the doors, frowning when they wouldn’t budge.

Glancing at the alicorn, he swallowed, putting even more effort and strength into trying to push it open. The door creaked inward but did not open, and there was a sigh before a golden glow enveloped the door, the sound of squeaking appearing before the door was lifted off the hinges, revealing a bar on its handle and a dresser in front of the door next to the hospital bed.

The empty hospital bed.

With disbelief, he ran into the room, only to trip over some sort of wire and a tin filled with a foul-smelling substance smashed into his face, sending him rearing back.

The heat in the room rose and as he wiped the glop from his face, staring at Celestia in fear as the alicorn picked up a note pinned to the window.

“Take your bat filly fantasies and shove them up your butt!” her tone promised death and it only just occurred to the stallion that the pegasus with bat wings might have enhanced hearing as well.

Oh buck, he wasn’t getting out of this, was he?

“Would one of you like to tell me what this note means? Or would you like to explain it to her?” she pointed at a yellow Pegasus mare with a light red mane, eyes narrowed and a frown on her face.

“Yes, why don’t you explain what you wanted with my daughter,” his limbs locked against his will and he watched the approaching mare with fear.

He should’ve run when the others were caught, screw Wind Scar.

But where did those fillies even go?

“This is worse than North’s flying!” Pinkie clung to the cart feeling her poofy hair flying behind her as the cart rolled down the streets of Canterlot.

“We need to gain momentum,” Lyra defended herself, “This a very difficult vehicle to use,” her horn flared, getting ready to activate the sails on the flying airboat her mom kept for viewing reasons.

She’ll have to thank Reese for getting it, no questions asked, and hopefully Uncle Fancy can prevent the griffin from getting in trouble for doing so.

“Fluttershy, to the right!” the filly spun the wheel, turning the ship away before it crashed into a snack stand selling cupcakes with gold leaf on them.

Ew.

Luckily for them, there were few living souls in the streets, most of the ponies either at a late night Wonderbolts show or attending the last viewing of a famous opera.

Wait, dang it she hasn’t watched it yet, oh well, next time, maybe.

“We’re getting to the train station!” Pinkie called, pulling goggles over her head.

“Right!” come on Reese, she thought, staring at the empty road, heart pounding, please. Then she spotted a ramp being pushed in their path with a familiar disguised pegasus, surprisingly there was a Nocturne right next to her who waved at them as Lyra released the sails and Pinkie set off the rockets, propelling the boat off the ramp into the air.

Pinkie Pie set off another blast to quicken the ascent and Lyra groaned as she used her magic to keep it moving.

It was harder than she thought.

Chirps and hoots greeted her ears and she gaped at the birds appearing around their boat, grabbing ropes that were at the sides and flying ahead. There were crows and ravens, owls and eagles, and all sorts of other birds as well.

“What,” her and Pinkie glanced at Fluttershy who was rubbing the back of a buzzard who nuzzled cheek with one bald head before joining the others in pulling the boat.

“We do need to get there as fast as possible, right? Where are we going?” Lyra swallowed.

“Right,” hopefully that recording of the spell was enough, and she brought out a clump of blue hair, summoning an ocarina and surrounding it in a diamond barrier.

“Find North Wind,” the glowing diamond lifted into the air and shot ahead, soaring through the air.

The birds did not need to be told twice, and with Fluttershy gently guiding them, they were soon following after the tracking spell at a good speed.

She just hoped that it was enough.

It had to be.

As the walls started getting narrower and narrower, North knew she would have to suggest something that neither of them would like.

“We need to hold each other if we’re want to avoid getting squished,” he glared at her,

“I’m not touching you,” rolling her eyes, she turned and kicked off the wall, grabbing him around the neck and breathing through her mouth as he tried to push her off.

“These walls are dragon-proof, do you want to be sliced to shreds,” to prove her point one of his flailing arms caught against a sharp point and a slice appeared across his arm, dark red blood coming out.

He froze and clung to her, just as the both of them fell through a hole, narrowly avoiding being speared before they were in a bigger space.

Then they hit water.

Cold, cold water.

Rising to the surface, North gasped for air, swimming to the shore and shaking water off,

“That was fun-” she trailed off, looking at the water and around, but not spotting the red dragon.

Oh no, don’t tell her. She dove back into the water, pushing herself forward and ignoring the pain in her dislocated wing as she looked for a red sp- there. She swam down further, grabbing a hold of his tail with her teeth and swimming back.

She dragged him onto the cavern floor, spitting out his tail and wiping her tongue with a grimace, before checking his pulse.

He coughed water into her face and she spluttered, stepping back and wiping her face as he continued hacking out water.

“You dragons swim in lava,” she said dryly, he avoided her gaze, “You live near the ocean,” “Well not all of us enjoy going into water you know,” “Yes I can smell that,” he huffed, getting to his feet and scratching himself as weird scales appeared on him. Leaving him to it, she looked around the cavern, frowning as she stepped further and saw images on the cave.

It depicted winged creatures, not just ponies, flying around and wielding the Blessing of the Wind, some creating tornadoes with a beat of their wings, while others lifted objects up with the wind like they were unicorns. Other images depicted creatures sitting, surrounded by wind, ears straight up as waves of sounds entered their ears from a distance away where other creatures had a claw or hoof raised to their mouth.

All of these images showed what those with a Blessing could do, compared to a pegasus who while they had the ability to manipulate the weather, it was only on a smaller scale with the assistance of other ponies.

A pain in her side had her jumping away from Garble who huffed and walked away, and she stared at him in confusion before glancing at her wing.

Did he just pop it back in?

“Let’s just get out of here,” she caught up with him, raising a brow.

“Do you know where your going?” “No, do you?” she pursed her lips, thinking,

“There should be an exit if we do come upon a door with a wind symbol, I know they had two ways to get into the Temple,” he stopped, making her look at him.

“Your looking for the Wind Temple?” Garble breathed out, she rolled her shoulders, going forward.

“Yes,” “Why, to get more training, Master Po could train you further, he already likes you,” and there was that bitter tone again.

“No, I’m there to give that Blessing back,” a beat, and then a rock hit the back of her head, “Ow! What was th-” he was glowering at her, looking indignant.

“Do you know how long it has been since a Dragon received a Blessing?” he demanded, “Do you know how many would kill to have what is freely given to you ponies?” “My Blessing, no, my Curse is too dangerous for me to use, and if I use it too long, then I’ll end up going power hungry and hurting those close to me. I need to give it up,” she pleaded with him to understand, but just like Po, he was disgusted.

“Fine, whatever, this is why ponies are weak,” stomping ahead of her without a backwards glance, she watched him go with dismay.

Sure she didn’t like him, but giving up the Blessing was her choice, no one else’s.

Didn’t mean the reactions hurt any less.

She found him waiting in front of a large door, where the symbol of the wind greeted them with pipes peeking out of the structure.

Staring up at the design, she sighed and tried to send wind up the pipes.

Keyword tried.

The wind shot from her being towards the door and did go into the pipes, but the groan and shaking that followed did not reassure her, nor did the sight of cracks appearing in the door before it crumbled, much like that wall from before.

She glanced at a shocked Garble, his mouth open and eyes wide at the sight.

“Still think I should keep it?” he shook his head and glared, muttering under his breath about an awesome power not being respected.

Stone steps greeted them and they climbed up, surrounded on all sides by even more paintings of the lives of the Temple residents. Gems glowed, lighting their path, even if North’s own glow was giving enough light.

“Why was this place even abandoned?” Garble said, taking a gem out of the wall and biting into it, smiling as he enjoyed the taste.

It made North realize how long it’d been since her own last meal and her stomach started growling.

“If you see any plants or anything, please point them out to me,” there was no reply and she sighed, “This place was abandoned for a number of reasons, they started becoming afraid of their own Blessings, future generations of non-ponies faced a decreasing number of those born with the Blessing.” they reached the top an hour later, North’s legs about to fall off and Garble looking exhausted as well.

It didn’t help that his itching was getting even worse.

They came into an open area with a ceiling bringing sunlight in (despite the fact she was pretty sure they were too far underground for sunlight to reach them.) Light shining onto the center where a circular platform stood, an arch over it and the moment she stepped into the room, breath left her lungs and she collapsed.

“Hey!” claws gripped her shoulder, shaking her, “Don’t faint now pony,” North wanted to tell him to stop, but the suffocating feeling was kind of making it difficult.

Oh Celestia it was just as bad if not worse than being in Cloudsdale!

Pushing the feeling back, she struggled to her hooves and walked towards the platform, shaking her head when he made to follow her.

Maybe sensing this kind of atmosphere will go away once she gives it up?

Going up the last few steps required even more of her energy, but she ignored her protesting body as she walked through the arch onto the platform.

Or tried to, at least.

A shimmer surrounded her, keeping her in place as a voice appeared in her head.

“Are you here to give up your blessing?” the tone itself sounded resigned, as if it did not expect anything else, and she tried not to feel guilty as she gave her reply.

“Yes,” “Are you aware that you must sacrifice a part of yourself to enter the platform, as payment for the renouncement of your Blessing,” well no, no one had told her that.

“What kind of part?” “Anything, memories, body parts, except your mane, something you need,” well there goes that plan.

Knowing she was on a time, she tried to think of what she could give up that would not affect her.

The smell of Garble’s horrible molting reached her and she wished that she could block it ou- wait.

“Does my sense of smell count?” “It does, is that your decision?” “It is,” the shimmer went into her nose and she felt the urge to sneeze but held it back as it came back out and she was let onto the platform.

The circles within started spinning as she approached the middle, glowing and sending breezes into the air around her.

Right, this was it.

“Huh, sacrificing a sense never occurred to me,” the voice had her whipping her head and she looked into green eyes before a shimmer much darker than the one that trapped her wrapped around the owner’s neck, and she opened her mouth in horror as a snap echoed through the cavern, a blue stallion stepping over the fallen body of the one Ranger that had been on their side.

Who was now dead.

“Amethyst,” she whispered, cold blue eyes glanced back at the mare in disinterest.

“Foolish mare, thought she could take me down herself, huh, you have a lizard with you,” he commented, surprise coloring his tone as he stepped onto the platform, “If I’d known that, I would have saved her for something else,” North wanted to back away from him but to her horror her hooves were not moving.

“Why are you here?” he stopped right in front of her and raised one of his wings, a dark blue wind shooting out and cutting her cheek, a smile forming on his muzzle as she stared at him.

“Why, to accept your Blessing of course, my dear North Wind,” a dome appeared from the lit up ceiling, descending towards them as he continued smiling at her, the wind around them swirling even more.

No, North shook her head, trying to get away from him, No.

NO!!!

Chapter 21- Earth Filly in the Lighthouse

The clouds were thick and the youngest of the three fillies was near exhaustion from the flight.

Pinkie struggled to stay awake, needing to make sure that the cart didn’t crash into anything since Lyra enchanted it to follow the diamond. The birds themselves changed with other birds several times while others rested, and she wished that was possible for them. Fluttershy was still recovering from her imprisonment and lay curled up on the ground, wings around her head and soft snores emitting from her mouth.

Lyra was lying on top of her, also out of it, and Pinkie felt that the least she could do was stay awake for the three of them.

It wasn’t like she could help much with the cart after all, and despite what Lyra said she still felt guilt boiling in her stomach.

She knew North was sensitive about her Blessing, that the filly refused to see it as her own, and the one time she used it to protect them, Pinkie’s instincts were to flinch away from her. North hadn’t even hurt them, and now one of her best friends was by herself with Wind Scar after her.

And who knows what that stallion was going to do to her?

So lost in her thoughts she almost missed the fact the diamond was going down, and that a tall structure was right in their flight path.

Almost.

Yelping, she lunged for the wheel and spun, knocking it out of automatic and sending them veering away from the structure towards the ground.

The very hard ground on the edge of a cliff.

“Why?” North gritted out, body cold and wanting to move away, but she was trapped, “If you have the Blessing, why did you-” he tilted his head, clicking his tongue and tutting.

“I’m disappointed you didn’t think of it, I expected it with your smarts and that magazine of yours but,” ‘magazine?’ what he was talking about? Seeing that she still didn’t get it, his eyes glinted,

“Well, I suppose I should start with a story to explain it all, unfortunately, these rings take quite a while,” he rolled his eyes, “They hate doing this process and try to delay it as much as they can. Anyways,” to her shock he moved forward, and she flinched away from him when he reached towards her ear, he seemed to delight in that, “I had heard Corn Husker’s failed revenge left you with some trauma, but,” he shook his head, “A long time ago, a pony, bullied by their peers and harassed for their Pegasus weakness, find out that they had the Blessing of the Wind, and when they researched it, to their delight they found out that those who had it in the past had more power than anyone save for Alicorns. But when they tried training it, to their dismay it was as weak as if they were just a normal pegasus. They could create mini whirls in the air or send an object skating across the water, and they could hear someone talking about them from a block away, but that’s it. So they decided to go on a little training trip and found out about this Temple from their grandparents’ journals. They took them on their journey and found an entrance to this temple near the Dragon lands. For five years they searched for inspiration, for a way to increase their ability, to gain enough strength to get back at those who tormented them. Unfortunately for them it never worked, and the only thing they could do was come up with little tricks to hover in the air without using their wings and lift objects weighing less than three pounds. One morning they stumbled across this little miracle,” he gestured with his hoof, and North saw the rings had only moved one foot during that story, but they were still too close, “A platform for communing with the wind on a personal level, to connect to others with the same Blessing, and upon communing with the others, this pony came to a horrifying realization. The Blessing was too spread out, too many had it that did not know what to do with it. There were those who even had strong Blessings with the ability to cut with the wind but were too afraid to use it. In their anger, the pony demanded the temple to take away the Blessing of the other, give them to the ones who are more worthy. But the temple says they cannot take it away without permission, that each recipient of the Blessing had their equal share.

The pony did not like that, and an idea came to their mind, after all, why not give those who did not want their Blessings a way to give it up? There were over a hundred lines of pegasus Families, one or two of unicorn and earth pony each who also had the Blessing of the Wind. If the latest in one line gave it up, they gave it up for the rest of their future generations. Which means the Blessing wouldn’t be so spread thin. Of course, there were dragons and griffins and, if possible other races with the Blessing, but the pony knew they would want to get rid of their gift the most.

So they searched for those who were afraid, mostly other ponies, and brought them to the temple, telling them ‌they can give up their ‘curse’ and no longer have to worry about it.

It took twenty giving them up to realize that despite being in the same area, the pony was not receiving the Blessings, and then they heard the news of foals in other lines receiving stronger Blessings. In their impatience and rage, they came up with a new way to deal with the ponies.

At the moment of their Blessing being ripped away from them, the pony killed them and threw their body away.

They felt the Blessing go into them, but to their dismay could not wield it, the Wind refusing to bend under their control. So they did it again and again, and their anger increased as the Wind became even more uncooperative.

On one of their outings, they met a pony and ended up with foal, a colt-” wait, North eyes widened, “And the moment that colt was born the pony saw his blue coat and realized what happened. She waited,” blue eyes stared back at hers, “and when he turned five, he sliced his wooden blocks in half in a fit of rage. She now knew that her years of toil were for naught, and that is when her sanity snapped. For the next five years, she acted as the perfect mother, worrying about her little colt’s abilities and fretting over him, saying how his Blessing was hurting him and of how much it reminded her of his father who was destroyed by his Blessing. That colt became afraid, afraid of his abilities, to the point he begged his mother to help him with it, that he didn’t want to die.

So she agreed to ‘help’ him,” North was feeling sick, and Wind Scar was enjoying it, she could see that.

“During the summer months she made a production of helping search for a ‘cure’, and they went all over, even coming to a Dragon who tried training the colt to control the gift, and to urge him not to give it up. But she took the young colt away, accusing the dragon (out of hearing of course) of trying to get him killed. When they came into the temple, they ‘stumbled’ upon this room and were ready to give up his ‘curse’, her son gave up one of his kidneys and stood, ready to be free in society without fear of death. His mother appeared on the platform, having given up the ability to feel guilt, probably to stop her from hesitating, and tried to kill the colt while he couldn’t move.

She didn’t take into account his Blessing would save him, cutting her head off and stopping the ritual in its place. The terrified and betrayed colt felt his Blessing becoming stronger, and he found himself hovering off the ground without the use of his wings, a trick he’d only seen his mother do. It took him quite some time to gather himself, and he ended up pushing his mother’s body, and head, into the same dark space she sent all the others throughout the years.

He found her journals, anger, and hatred taking hold as he read through all of them and figured out where his mother went wrong.

For ten years he bided his time, accepting the sympathy of those who heard his mother was in an ‘accident’ and being in a group with those who were afraid of their Blessing. He talked of his own ‘fears’, and that his mother was in the search of a cure before her death. In their own desperation, they asked to help him search for it and he agreed.

He didn’t kill them, just stood on the platform after ‘testing’ it out and encouraging them as they did so. The Blessing went into him and he figured it was because his mother didn’t stand in the table with the others that she didn’t realize killing wasn’t needed.

He didn’t grow stronger, but he could feel the strength of the Blessing and did not care.

Some of the members of the group became his devoted friends, and when they married they named him honorary uncle to their firstborn. I don’t have to tell you who they are right?” he mocked, North glared at him, she wasn’t like where this was going, “Well this colt, now stallion, had a dilemma, he succeeded in ending most of the lines without drawing attention, but realized his plan would be a bit difficult. He tried dating in the Royal Guard Academy and came across a delightful Earth Pony who wanted to prove herself. Unfortunately, she wasn’t all that receptive, and left before the poor stallion could ‘settle’ things,” oh Celestia she wanted to throw up, “So the stallion found himself a bit alone, which was rather unfortunate because like his mother he realized he needed to have a blood relative, a close one to do a proper ritual. So he went to his old friends, and asked for a favor, a tiny one,” he grinned, eyes glinting, and North paled, “And they were all too happy to accept, after all, I helped cure them of their Blessing and prevented their first daughter from being cursed. It was fortunate that Windy found me attractive,” he chuckled, “And I do not believe I need to elaborate any further, right?” he leaned down towards her, “Daughter?” the word struck like a bullet and North wanted to throw up now.

The rings were a yard away as he stood over her, sneering.

Then a shining diamond slammed into him and North found her hooves freed, backpedaling away and nearly slamming into one arch as he struggled to his hooves.

“Pinkie? Pinkie!” the Earth filly felt herself being shaken and she jerked up, wincing at the light in her face before it dimmed, a worried Lyra and Fluttershy standing over her.

“Did I avoid the building?” she slurred, feeling dizzy as Fluttershy helped her up, taking her away from the ship which was teetering near the cliff.

“Yeah, you did, I’m sorry, I should’ve prevented it from- ow,” Lyra rubbed her head, grimacing, “My tracking spell just shattered, weird,” then she realized what she said and groaned, “Oh horseapples,” the other two stared at her with worried eyes.

“Can’t you do another one?” Lyra tried and winced, shaking her head, Pinkie swallowed, glancing at Fluttershy.

“Any animals near for tracking?” she asked. Hopefully, Fluttershy gasped and ran to the ship, pulling out a cage where a dizzy Runespoor fell out,

“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you three were still asleep,” three heads flicked their tongues at her and Fluttershy gave a tired smile, holding out North’s glasses and making Pinkie start as she realized something.

“Um, doesn’t North need those to see?” she asked, somewhat hesitantly, as the serpent sniffed the spectacles.

“She can see alright, just difficult for long-distance,” their unicorn friend muttered about learning a music spell for tracking before the Runespoor started was slithering across the ground towards the Lighthouse.

Fluttershy picked them up and ran ahead, telling them to relay directions, and the other two ran behind her.

‘Please North’ Pinkie begged in her head, ‘Please be okay.’

To her dismay, the arch wouldn’t let her go through, and when she tried jumping off the platform, she gently rebounded.

“You paid the price little filly, only one of us will be allowed to leave with a Blessing,” she faced him, eyes narrowing as he just regarded her with amusement, not at all bothered about her being able to move.

“Why do this? They did not bully you, you got revenge on your mom,” ‘grandmother’ a traitorous voice in her head said, she snuffed it, “Why continue her work?” he scoffed,

“To be strong of course, ever since I was a colt my dream was to reach the top, be the best there was,” “Then you can just be a Guard Captain or Wonderbolt-” “Do you think I would settle for those?” he asked in disgust, shaking his head, “When the best in the land is an Alicorn?” North blinked.

“You, you want to be an Alicorn?” her disbelief made him angry.

“Is it a rule that only mares can ascend?” his shout echoed through the platform, “Is it only females that are allowed to have all the power?! What insult is it that after a thousand years, the first alicorn to ascend is a pegasus filly, on Love of all things? Do you know how embarrassing that is to our Warrior tribe? Well,” he chuckled, “It won’t be an embarrassment any further when I become the Alicorn of the Sky once I receive your Blessing,” he was starting to look deranged and North wanted to get off of the platform.

“The Alicorn of the Sky can’t exist, Master Po of the drago-” “Will stand no chance against the stronger me!” the stallion roared, North felt annoyance warring with fear, the urge to face hoof almost overwhelming her urge to flee.

Did he seriously think he would be strong enough to beat a dragon-like Po?

“Pony?! Are you okay?” North heard Garble running up the steps and saw her da- no, uncle, turn in his direction, and before she could stop herself she was in front of the arch, blocking it with her body as the manic stallion took a step towards it.

“Stay away Garble,” she ordered, ears flattening as she heard him stopping just before the arch, a gasp escaping his lips when he saw the dead body across the platform and the stallion standing there, dark blue wind around his wings.

“W-” then the sound of scratching came and he cried out, the sound of rocks clinking hitting her ears as a smirk appeared on Wind Scar’s face.

“Oh, you know, I always wondered what would happen if a dragon in the midst of gaining his wings was pushed from a great height-” she tried to summon her wings but he smacked her away, heading towards the small dragon with a sick expression on his face.

“No!” she shot towards him but had to avoid a cut heading towards her neck, crashing into the invisible barrier and falling to the platform.

A wind blade formed in his right-wing extended, curving and looking like it was about to shoot out at the dragon.

“Leave him alone,” she ordered, he paused and stared at her,

“Why should I?” he challenged her, and she knew what she needed to do.

The secret passage they were in smelled like the ocean.

And not the good part of it.

Fluttershy wished that her enhanced senses didn’t include her sense of smell and that she could just shut it off as they ran down dusty, stone stairs, running through abandoned cobwebs as they tried not to run into one another down the spiraling descent.

“I’m getting dizzy,” Lyra groaned, and Fluttershy wanted to voice her agreement, but at that moment Pinkie lit up, her main poofing even more,

“I have something,” before they could ask her what that was, her mane lashed out and grabbed one of the torches on the wall, pulling it and causing a clicking sound from behind them that seemed to be getting closer.

“Pinkie, wha-” the stairs underneath them slid into the floor and they all fell, “t diiidd yyyoouuu dddooo?!” Fluttershy just wanted to know why the architects thought turning stairs into slides was a good idea.

But at least it made the descent faster, if a bit more dizzying.

Her scaled friend hissed in various states of excitement and panic,

‘Wheee’ ‘I want off this ride!’ ‘Get over here pink one so I can bite you!’ were a few of the choice phrases.

She wished they would come up with a name already, but they were still ‘debating’ over it.

Lyra lit up her horn just as the slide ended and they were rolling across cold hard ground, Fluttershy flinching as her new wings scraped against the rough ground, and bit back the whimper that wanted to escape.

‘Bacon pony is down that way’ ‘I smell Molting dragon, yum!’ ‘There’s an unknown scent of a stallion and a dead pony corpse, lots of them actually’ the blunt statement had her breaking into a run, surprising her friends.

“There’s a stallion up there, and they said there are corpses over where North is, along with a molting dragon,” the two quickened their pace.

“The corpse isn’t North right?” Pinkie asked fearfully, mane deflating, and Fluttershy glanced at the Runespoor peering over her mane ahead of them.

The blunt one glanced down,

‘It's the sandy pony’ there was only one pony they referred to that way and the sob escaped her lips before she could stop it, and it was only the fact she continued running that the others did too.

“No, it, it's Miss Amethyst,” Pinkie and Lyra blanched.

“Oh no, North,” Fluttershy blinked the tears out of her eyes, knowing she couldn’t break down.

She didn’t want her friend to be dead as well.

Please.

The strange substance wrapped around her hooves, and she refused to look up as the stallion chuckled, returning to his spot.

“Good girl,” he praised, and she wanted to glare at him, wanted to spit in his face, but she didn’t want him taking that as permission to hurt Garble.

The rings closed around them and she gasped as her wings opened and it extracted the magic that had been inside of her since she activated it into the air, turning into a funnel around them that grew taller and taller.

“Yes,” she heard him say through the agonizing feeling, “Come on!” blue filled her vision and suddenly it was like she wasn’t there anymore.

Images filled her mind, of so many ponies coming to this place, filled with the hope of being released from their curse, of those who left with relief but an empty feeling.

And those who felt despair as their would-be savior cut them down.

Then the visions changed to what this temple used to be like, residents laughing and using their Blessings to play with one another, to help those having trouble with their Blessing gain control of it.

Before fear from beyond took control of the ponies and had them looking at their Blessings with fear, causing the winds to go out of control and lash out.

“ind!”

Fear led them to give up their gift, fear led to a young filly almost mare coming down, looking for the power to take on the bullies that consumed her to the point of murder.

Fear led a colt to hatred and the hunger for power that caused the ruin of so many lives.

“Oth W-d!”

Fear led her to want to give up a Blessing and fall into her progenitor’s trap, leading to the death of a mare who did not deserve it.

She could only hope that Master Po takes care of him.

Because she had failed.

“North Wind!” the vision disappeared and she saw through the funnel, at the sight of her three friends running towards the stairs leading to the platform.

What, how did they? Pain lanced through her and she collapsed, the wind almost crying as it was pulled away from her.

Begging her not to let it go, begging her to keep the connection.

It didn’t want to go to Wind Scar.

“Oh, it’s those three,” his disinterested tone reached her ears through the weeping and their calls, “And here I thought I would only have to deal with the dragon as a witness,” the disinterest turned malicious, “At least with your Blessing it would be quick,” the wind stilled, and North got up to her hooves, feeling cold, seeping, anger taking over.

“You. WIll. NOT!”

And she ripped the wind back into herself.

The funnel at the top of the platform was terrifying and as they got closer she could see energy being torn out of North and sucked into the funnel, making it grow higher and higher.

“North Wind!” she could feel the protest in her vocals as she shouted up at the platform, watching in horror as Wind Scar raised one wing towards her, a familiar wind blade (that jerk had the Blessing?!) in North’s direction, an anticipatory look on his face.

Then he looked in their direction and the look turned into a grin as he said something to North, but what it was they couldn’t hear.

Though the result was obvious when the funnel stilled before turning in on itself and flying back into North who had a cold look on her face and a snarl on her lips.

“What?” the stallion was shocked, “How-” wind swirled around their friend, turning into glowing dragon wings that Pinkie told them about.

Though she didn’t say North could summon an entire Dragon.

Yellow and turquoise swirled around her wind-covered figure, not touching but whirling around one another before settling into two horns floating above her head that curved outward.

With an unspoken shriek, North dashed towards Wind Scar, horns aimed at his midsection but he dodged it, taking to the air and looking angry.

“How could you have ended the ritual? That power is mine by right! You will give it to me here and now. I created you for this moment and you will give it up,” that caused North to become even angrier, and while Lyra was digesting that information, her friend attacked the stallion once again, her translucent spiky tail shooting out and smacking the stallion into some sort of an invisible barrier and causing the platform to shudder.

Then Pinkie gasped,

“There’s a baby dragon up there,” she pointed up at a stone-like figure, and Lyra gulped, seeing the platform continue to shudder as the two Wind users fought one another.

“How are we going to get them down? Whatever that barrier is looks like it won’t hold forever,” as if what she said was prophetic, North reared back one hoof, the dragon claw around it lengthening before she slashed forward, Wind Scar managing to dodge it with the tip of one of his wings falling off.

The attack continued forward and once it reached the barrier, it didn’t stop, slicing through it like butter before dissipating.

A hissing sound appeared and Lyra saw the horrified look on Wind Scar’s face before North struck him with her tail, sending him crashing into the remaining barrier and breaking it, causing him to crash into the floor.

The platform gave another shudder and Pinkie cried out,

“The baby dragon’s falling,” she started running before they could stop her, and Lyra saw Wind Scar getting to his hooves, shaking his head and spotting the running filly.

Dread hit her at the look on his face and she tried summoning her magic, nearly stumbling as her reserves reminded her of just how much magic she’s been using.

Fluttershy took to the air to break the petrified dragon’s fall just as Wind Scar was a few feet away from them.

A tornado swept past them and sucked Wind Scar in it, sending him spinning and screaming far away into another wall.

Fluttershy grunted as she caught the statue, Pinkie reaching up to catch the falling pegasus and nearly getting crushed underneath the weight.

The crash made the stallion even angrier, if it was possible and he started yelling at North again about how the power was his, he was the one that earned it.

“You didn’t earn anything,” North’s voice sounded odd, slightly distorted and Lyra realized that the yellow energy was almost glowing from the filly’s eyes, “Do you want to know why you or your mother could not use the Blessings you stole? It was because the Wind found you abhorrent, it doesn’t like being connected to you. The only reason you survived and gained your mother’s power when she failed to kill you was that the Wind felt sorry and wanted to protect you. But you made it regret its protection, and now,” her ‘dragon’ wings flexed and she shot towards him at the same time as he did her, “You will no longer have its blessing,” what happened next made Lyra wish she hadn’t been looking.

But at the same time, the vindictive part of her enjoyed it.

Wind Scar was sent spiraling to a wall he hadn’t crashed into and he was suddenly falling into an empty pit none of them had noticed before.

But Lyra was more concerned at the wind around her friend dissipating and the filly falling towards the ground.

“No-” her voice cracked and a red blur in the corner of her vision shot out as clawed hands caught the falling filly, their owner flapping his wings and falling to the ground with an oomph.

“Ow,” the dragon muttered, “You're heavy,” a laugh escaped her friend’s lips before she was unconscious, and the trio ran towards them, dark pupils regarding them with wariness, widening a bit at Fluttershy’s appearance along with the Runespoor.

“Well this is not the scene I was expecting,” the unexpected voice had them all, sans North, whirling on a green dragon flying down, landing with his wings folded behind his back just as a bright glow appeared, revealing Princess Celestia.

An awkward silence appeared as the two regarded one another, tension brewing between them.

“Po,” the Alicorn frowned, “I do hope you have an explanation for this,” the dragon laughed coldly.

“Me? It was one of your citizens that was involved in this whole mess, shouldn’t you be the one giving me an explanation?” sparks appeared and Lyra swallowed.

Oh great, out of a tornado into an inferno.

Chapter 22- Pegasus in the Hospital Wing

It felt like she’d been asleep for months, her entire body felt heavy, and wind swirled around her form, giggling and playing with the strange magic she’d had since that fall in the cave.

The same magic that not only caused her to glow in the dark, but also wreaked havoc on her system, warring with one another and with the wind. She hadn’t really noticed it go on, but she knew that it wasn’t just by her own will the wind was suppressed and restrained.

Now, whatever happened in her fight against Wind Scar caused the energies to accept one another, and she could feel the energy flowing through her body, content and not demanding her to use it.

Though for some reason, she could also tell that it wasn’t happy with her, and buzzed its displeasure in her ears.

‘Alright, I won’t do it again, okay?’ she thought, exasperated, the buzzing stopped and she opened her eyes, thankful for the lack of light apart from her glowing coat.

She was in some sort of cot, and it felt far more luxurious than the ones in Ponyville General. So she definitely wasn't in Ponyville unless they decided to upgrade.

Wait, she had the vague memory of Princess Celestia’s voice along with Master Po’s.

Was she in Canterlot?

A whistling sound answered that question and she felt an eye twitch.

This was going to be a thing, wasn’t it?

Moving to get up, and surprised at the lack of IVs, she carefully got off the bed and went to the window, peering out at the night sky and taking in the sights.

She wished she could enjoy them.

Victory over that stallion or not, it doesn’t change what happened.

Amethyst Storm flashed through her mind and she shuddered, feeling sick.

Wind Scar killed her because North Wind told her the truth, she died because the reincarnation got too cocky and thought her plan was fool proof.

But it wasn’t, and a mare was dead.

Letting out a breath, North’s ears perked up at the sound of armored hoofs and eyes widening, she called for the wind and jumped out the window.

Yeah, she wasn’t going to risk it.

Taking to the air, she looked for somewhere to hide and paused, hearing the sound of voices, familiar ones in two different directions.

The latter sounded like they were in a heated argument, and the wind shuddered at the anger emitting from one of the speakers.

She flew away from that and to one of the towers, seeing a light on and adhered to the tower wall, wings tucked against her side as she peered into the window.

What the- blinking, she rubbed her eyes and looked again.

Lyra’s Uncle Fancy Pants, check.

Judge Oak, check.

Master Ruffalo, check.

A certain griffin, check.

Granny Smith, glaring at the griffin smirking in her direction, check.

A pink dragon with red eyes and two curled horns, check.

The Pie matriarch, check.

Fluttershy’s Mom, check

The Zebra chief from the Badlands, check.

A.K. Yearling, check.

This was the weirdest get together she’s ever seen, and Pinkie Pie was still in her early years as a party pony, so it definitely wouldn’t be the last.

Granny Smith smacked against the table, glaring at the griffin,

“If you think you have any right to your demands, you got another thing coming,” Cloudy Quartz and Mrs. Shy both nodded, the latter looking surprisingly serious.

It was rather scary.

North could’ve stayed a little longer, but the wind tugged at her wings in the direction of the other conversation and sighing, she detached and flew away.

Time to see what this other argument was about.

Nerves rose when she realize she was nearing the throne room, and she almost hesitated if it weren’t for a punishing pinch on her shoulder.

“Ow! OK, okay,” a window above the throne room creaked open and she flew in, surprised to see it was empty and frowned.

Huh. She went towards the doors but found herself turned around, leaves flowing into the room and forming an arrow pointing at a blank wall.

“Your enjoying this too much,” she muttered, going over and pressing the spot the arrow pointed at. It sunk in and with a click the wall slid away, just enough for her to slip in.

Her glow helped her to see in the dark and she found some stairs leading down, taking them and frowning at the dust and the lack of care in this place.

When was the last time anyone was even down here?

Oh well, at least she can go see what that argument was about.

“I have a feeling these two don’t even know what they’re arguing about,” Raven twitched at the words, feeling mortified as the ruler of their land faced off against this strange dragon.

It has only been a week since those two came back from the Temple, and at first nothing was wrong. Princess Celestia finished cleaning up the guard, invited the fillies to stay till their friend woke up; and dealt with paperwork that had been piling up since all this mess started.

The dragon, to everyone’s surprise, stuck around, lounging in the castle grounds, staying in the hospital wing despite the clear unease of the doctor. He even went into town, causing a bit of a panic as he went to all the noodle restaurants to try their food.

The panic soon turned to anger when he insulted the noodles, called them bland, and said its a wonder ponies are known more for sweets than savory.

To prove his words he challenged all the chefs to a cooking contests, even agreeing to a no-meat dish and sent them crying when a majority of the citizens preferred his noodles to theirs.

Whatever silent treatment the Princess was doing vanished at that point and she summoned him to the castle to politely ask him to leave.

At which point the stand off turned into an argument that ended up a shouting match.

Raven could only thank Harmony that Twilight Sparkle wasn’t in the room with them and was at school, though technically Lyra should be there as well.

Instead,

“Two bits on the Princess kicking him into the wall,” “No no, three bits on him setting her on fire, the attack not working, then the Princess shoving a cake in his mouth and daring him to insult them again,” “That’s not very nice….one bit on her phoenix setting him on fire,” and here she thought the yellow one was nice.

The dragon next to them was watching the exchange with wide eyes, and she couldn’t even blame him.

Despite his opinion on ponies being weak, the last week had been very eye opening, and he’d been exposed to the group of fillies longer than he should’ve.

A rumbling by the thrones got her attention, and she stared with an open mouth as the wall behind the throne flipped, sending a familiar filly that should be in the hospital wing crashing into the chair.

The sound snapped the two immortals out of their argument and Celestia turned pink, seeing the audience watching her, while Po gave the blue filly an amused look.

“Awake I see,” the other fillies, and dragon, saw North and ran towards her, tackling the filly and sending them rolling down the stairs.

“You too Garble?” the Wind user groaned, the dragon shrugged.

“They said it’s an acceptable thing to do,” he explained, pointing at Lyra and PInkie, the former glaring at North while the latter looked torn between excitement and guilt.

Fluttershy was crying into the increasingly uncomfortable filly’s neck, blue eyes pleading with everyone to help,

No one did.

“North Wind,” Princess Celestia’s voice got her attention and the filly paled a bit, ears flattening.

“Princess Celestia,” she greeted, looking nervous, the alicorn looked pained.

“The others have filled me in on your adventures over the years, and I do want to make it clear that my decree to take Wind Blessed into custody wasn’t a negative thing,” North grimaced.

“I know that now, but the books and statistics don’t paint a positive picture,” she stated, the Alicorn sighed.

“Yes, I should’ve glanced at the book’s contents more closely,” “There are a lot of things you should have done but didn’t,” the snide tone had the mare glaring at Po who was looking away from her, a smirk on his lips.

“Be that as it may, you are one of my citizens and I wish that you could have come to me with your concerns sooner, especially after you came across those dragon eggs and discovered black market dealings. DO you realize how dangerous it was to take this on your own?” Raven saw the pegasus flinch and her friends bristling.

“She couldn’t go to you even if she wanted to,” Lyra protested, Pinkie chiming in after her,

“There were a bunch of meanies working for WInd Scar, and her dad was a guard as well. Would she even have been allowed to ask for an audience with you?” Celestia opened her mouth to answer but a scoff had her whipping her head towards the dragon.

“Do you have something to add Po?” she spat out his name, glaring at him.

“Considering you were about to say a bunch of pyrate about how you listen to all your ponies, I would say yes, I do have something to add,” his tail smacked against the floor, sending cracks through it, “If you had been listening properly all these years, maybe you would have figured out that your philosophy towards maintaining harmony throughout Equestria was a load of sulfur. Your rule has left cracks in its system, and i wouldn’t be surprised if you still did not get all the traitors in your palace out,” Celestia gritted her teeth, glaring at him,

“Well maybe if someone had told me about ponies wanting to return their gifts, I could have done something,” Po let out a derisive laugh,

“Oh so you're blaming it on me then? You got so wrapped up in being a soft ruler ruled by her nobles that you would do anything they would say, including barring non-ponies from schools,” “That is not what happens,” Celestia spluttered, “If non-ponies wish to go to school they can-” “Then tell me why dragons in Fillydelphia, the only city throughout Equestria with a Dragontown, find their admissions to colleges barred, even though they live filled out the required paperwork?" He challenged, she furrowed her brow,

"They could have come to me-" "what like Amber Coral did twenty years ago? But was barred from the court on account of her not being an actual citizen?" "I don't even know who that is, a dragon has never appeared-" "You just do not pay attention Your Highness," Raven could see the conversation was going out of control and panicked, how does one intervene without getting punished.

Fortunately she did not have to.

‐---------

As the quarreling went on, North’s eyebrow started twitching as she realized what they were saying.

Her friends saw her expression and hid behind the throne, not even stopping her as she approached the immortals with a scowl on her face.

She asked the wind for advice and smirked when a trumpet appeared.

She sent wind through it, creating a screeching noise that cut the two adults off and Lyra to shriek at her about abusing the poor instrument and Fluttershy’s ears.

Making a note to apologize to her friend later, she glared up at Celestia and Po who were staring down at her.

"Right. I do not have the energy nor the inclination at the moment to pay my proper respects to your Highness, so let me be very frank with you, alright?" Looking taken aback, the alicorn nodded and North moved her gaze to Mater Po, the dragon huffing and waving at her in a go on motion.

Taking a deep breath and reminding herself about who she is about to scold, she focused her gaze at them and set her jaw.

"What I am getting from this argument of yours is the fact that if the two of you had actually spoken to one another about what was going on, if you had put aside whatever hurt feelings you caused one another aside, you would have found out about this Blessings Murder case a long time ago," "Wind Scar never see-" "It didn't start with Wind Scar," she interrupted her, "It started with his mother, who spent decades getting away with reducing most of the lines of the Wind before her attempted sacrifice of her son led to her own death and his furthering her work for his own ends," Po snapped his claws.

"Now I remember, there was this stupid pony mare who brought her colt to me, I offered rraining and she took him away, accusing me of having nefarious plans towards him. It was rather strange because I could sense her own Blessing, though it was rather weak," he trailed off, looking down at her pointed look and cleared his throat awkwardly while Princess Celestia looked shocked.

"Southern Skies did that? But I knew her, her family were wonderful guards, and her death," she gazed down at North in disbelief, "I cannot believe she would do that to her own son, that's too much," North sighed.

"Well that is what Wind Scar said, you can search for her journals if he left them there, but it's apparently what got him interested in doing the same thing to his own descendant," she heard her friends intake of breaths and lifted her head, gazing at the alicorns pale expression, a bitter smile on her lips, "you know what's worse in finding out your related to a monster like Wind Scar? Finding out that the sole reason for your existence in this world is to be used as a sacrifice to fulfill an insane stallion's dream of becoming the first male Alicorn," Po blocked the sight of the princess, looking indignant.

"Alicorn of what exactly? I'm practically the Spirit of the Wind," "Apparently he thought the boost of my Blessing would be enough to take you out," smoke emitted from his mouth.

"Oh did he now," his shadow seemed to fill the room, a sudden pressure trying to push her to the ground, the wind around her sounding very annoyed with the dragon.

The flare of the princesses magic destroyed the shadows and the pressure, shooting an unamused look at the dragon who returned his own, left claw flexing as if he was about to attack her.

North cleared her throat, making them pause and avoid each other’s glances.

Humming in the back of her throat, she spotted the unicorn watching them nervously by the pillar and got an idea.

“Hey, uh,” “Raven Quill Miss Wind,” “Miss Quill, can you hand me two pieces of paper, and two quills,” confused, the unicorn floated them over and North numbered each one from 1 to 10 before flating them herself to the adults.

‘Show off’ muttered Lyra, she rolled her eyes, tapping her foot as they glanced at the lists.

“List exactly what you thought the other did without getting into a fight, then hand the list down to me so that we can resolve this misunderstanding you two have without taking down the castle,” Princess Celestia looked like she wanted to object, but glared at Po when the dragon actually started writing something down and huffed, writing her own answers.

North’s stomach grumbled while they were doing this, sitting down on the floor and trying not to fall asleep.

A tray full of food appeared in front of her along with a steaming cup of hot chocolate and she nodded to the mare in thanks before digging in.

Her friends sat next to her, all of them watching the two grown-ups write their answers down.

North swallowed a bite of her sandwich and narrowed her eyes,

“Ten answers only, no additional,” the two twitched and handed over their lists, causing Lyra to snort under her breath and Fluttershy to gaze at them with wide eyes.

North looked at Garble, raising an eyebrow in question but he shook his head so she just tore each list in two, took one for herself, and handed the other pieces to her friends.

“Right, we are going to take turns reading aloud the grievances you have towards one another, and then we will see what the other has to say, without the writer saying anything,” Pinkie was snickering, recalling the amount of times they had to do this kind of thing when Lyra and North would fight, or Pinkie and fLuttershy would misunderstand something about the other.

The fact they were making adults do this was rather amusing to her.

Nodding to Fluttershy, she waited for the pegasus to center herself,

“This is from Princess Celestia:

Number One: Po took the ponies I sent to him and displaced them to his own private mountain, poisoning them against Equestria,” she trailed off, blinking, and North resisted the urge to smack her face as she gestured for Po to give his answer.

The dragon glared at Princess Celestia before giving his answer,

“I did not take any ponies,” North raised her eyebrow, “You were different,” he acknowledged, reluctantly, “In the past, when they were receptive to my training, I gave it to them and sent them on their way. Others that came searching for answers on how to relinquish their Blessing I tried discouraging on the basis that they can control them, but they were under the impression that it was nothing but a curse,” his emphasis on the word and his own pointed stare at North had her avoiding her gaze, so he continued, “Whatever happened to them afterwards remained unknown to me till now.” he crossed his arms, and North nudged Lyra to read off of her list.

“Right this is Master Po’s first accusation:

Number One: You banned anything to do with combat and are so obsessed with maintaining your harmony that you’ll go along with only keeping your pony citizens happy.” the alicorn frowned.

“I did not ban anything combat wise, I still have a Royal Guard as you know, and I care about all of my citizens, even the non-pony ones, As I said before, the Wind Blessing decree was me trying to help ponies afraid of their gifts, give them the hope of learning control. I had nothing to do with this fear campain against combat talent and Blessings.” North opened her mouth to read Celestia’s sixth statement when the door’s burst open, several Royal Guards running in,

“Your Highness! The patient, she esca-” they paused upon seeing her sitting on the floor, a torn piece of paper in her hooves.

“Seriously, I left like an hour ago,” she said, the Princess frowned at her guards who swallowed.

“We’ll talk about this later, leave the room,” they reluctantly left and she returned to looking at North, refusing to look in a smug Po’s direction, tail flickering in agitation.

“Go on,” North turned to Po, lips pursing,

“From Princess Celestia:

Number 6- You started the Battle on the Winter Islands of Reigns,” which was kind of confusing, because she never read anything about it in the history books.

Nor has she found anything on that kind of island.

Master Po growled.

“That Battle started as a result of one of your ponies pelting down the beach, screaming about Dragons eating the foals in the daycare, when in fact, the dragon was there to see if they were right for their own young and ended up being attacked by some rather foolish youngsters. When that dragon dared to defend himself, it was just as more of your pony settlers arrived and misunderstood the situation for something else. They killed that innocent dragon and paraded his scales around the island, which provoked the other dragons into attacking. I wasn’t even on that island, and whoever said I was behind it was lying,” Princess Celestia was pale, and North almost decided to stop the session right there.

Almost

“Pinkie,” she muttered, the Earth filly gulped.

“Right, from Master Po:

Number 6: You helped Starswirl seal away my brother and lied about it, to mine and your sisters’ face,” ‘wait, brother?’

“W-what?” Celestia looked shocked, “Starswirl wouldn’t have done that, your brother ran away and broke my sister’s heart, abandoning his own kind and letting them scatter.” a scoff echoed throughout the room, and it didn’t come from Po.

“Is that what you really believe, Sun Princess?” Master Ruffalo entered the room, red eyes glittering and teeth bared, “And here I thought you would have a little more faith in Fenrir, but here I am talking about a ruler whose neglect led to her sister being corrupted,” and that was how the fillies and one small dragon found themselves kicked out of the room, the shouting renewing in a different direction.

“So much for that,” North sighed, trying not to think about what the canine said, “So, what- OW!” she rubbed her head, glaring at Lyra, “What was that for?!”

“For running off on your own when you promised not to, and do not say you had to,” she added when North wanted to protest, “Pinkie told us what she did and you know it was involuntary on her part, you should’ve stayed and asked for our help. Then Garble here tells us that you willingly went back to the ritual when WInd Scar threatened him, and yes, it is noble, and yes, he could hear while being encased in that weird molting statue thing, but you knew what he was going to do to you afterwards,” North flinched,

“Lyra-” “You need to understand North,” Fluttershy interjected softly, slitted eyes staring at her, “When we saw you up there with that stallion, I-i, I thought you were going to die right in front of us, that we were too late to save you, just as we were with Miss Amethyst,” Pinkie leaned against her,

“And her death isn’t on you,” she told her firmly, “It was that meany pants pegasus that chose to do it, not you, and you stopped him from hurting anyone else,” North gave a weak smile.

“I did,” something occurred to her and she quickly glanced at her flank, seeing it blank and letting out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank goodness, my Cutie Mark doesn’t have anything to do with what happened,” earning a Cutie Mark from doing that to the stallion would’ve sucked.

Then something occurred to her and she frowned,

“Wind Scar said something about knowing how smart I am from a magazine-” her friends froze and tapping her hoof, she stared at them, “Well?” Lyra and Pinkie pointed at one another at the same time.

“Her uncle did it/she gave my uncle permission!” they said quickly, North looked at Fluttershy who took a magazine from her bag and handed it over to her.

Glancing at the cover, she read the title, flipping to the table of contents and feeling her wings bristle as she recognized the titles from her research scrolls.

Scrolls she sent to be stored, not published.

“Before you get mad,” Lyra coughed, “It is a very popular magazine and the articles have helped a lot of ponies and even some non-ponies with their issues. Those struggling with magic found it easier to use it, and those uncertain of their future made use of the career articles to find their paths. Over a hundred different ponies got their Cutie Marks, even ones well into their adult hood who practically gave up hope figuring out their special talent,” Pinkie chimed in, smiling at her.

“Not to mention what you did at Hollow Shades is also in the magazine, and there are a ton of Nocturne sending you requests for how their coat color represents the Night. Plus, it’s because of you that Crescent Spiral got her Cutie Mark as well!” her fellow pegasus smiled,

“And it’s because of your quick thinking and knowledge that the victims of the Vampire Fruit Bat attacks got the medicine in time before they could become seriously ill, and they published the story in the magazine as a warning to unicorns not to repeat his mistakes." Garble looked away when they stared at him expectantly, arms crossed and refusing to look at them.

North still felt the anger of her private research journals being publicized for everyone to see. But she understood where they were coming from.

She didn't realize her research could help others like that, she just enjoyed doing it for the sake of learning.

Her stomach growled and she huffed

"Right, why don't we continue-" she bumped into someone and ended up covered in a pile for papers.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry! I was taking these papers to Princess Celestia a-" at any other time, North would've greeted the filly with weariness and helped her pick up her papers before going on her way.

Then she saw a Royal Guard walking toward ls them and the wind told her who it was.

"It's fine, guys we got to go, bye Twilight Sparkle!" She ran off. Her friends confused before the Royal Guard called out and they ran off.

"Wait, how did she, was that a dragon," Twilight stared after the strange group, skittering back a bit when the Royal Guard flew down the hall in their direction. "Royal guards are not allowed to fly in the hall," she frowned at his lack of response and huffed. Picking up her papers, she continued down the hall, grumbling about rude strangers and how she should finish her project for the next magic lesson.

‐--------------

North led her friends into the passage, taking them away from Bow Hothoof who thankfully did not see how they disappeared.

"Right, let's see if we can get back into the- what are you all staring at?" They were staring down behind her and she followed their gazes to her flank.

Oh, she got her Cutie Mark.

But.

"What in the shards is this?" It did not even make any sense.

Epilogue- Creatures in Canterlot

“So how long can you stay up like that? Don’t your wings get tired?” North thought about the question, a giggling Pinkie jumping in the small wind tunnel she created, free of wind blades and letting the filly spin to the top before shooting out into the castle pond. Lyra already had her turn and was getting her bearings, swirls in her eyes, while Garble tried creating his own tunnel, flapping his wings and looking frustrated at his lack of progress.

Giggling hit her ears as the wind enjoyed the show, and she ignored it, glancing at Fluttershy who was bending her wings in different directions according to a scroll Judge Oak prepared for her.

“Consider I once flew for seven hours, five of which were spent fleeing from teenage dragons, I’m not sure,” blue eyes widened in surprise.

“Seven hours?! That’s a lot,” those eyes turned to her wings, looking a bit self-conscious, “Hopefully I’ll be able to fly as well, these new wings are rather different to what I’m used to,” North smiled at her friend, not looking back as Reese appeared out of nowhere to jump into the tunnel, tackling a shrieking Lyra into the pond with a cackle.

“You’ll get the hang of it, and if you don’t want to ask for pointers from the Nocturne tribe, you can always ask one of your similarly winged friends,” she wasn’t going to force the filly to meet with them after her ordeal, even if the one’s responsible were punished.

“Oh, no I don’t mind talking to them, Judge Oak and Crescent Spiral were rather kind, and the latter’s cousin sent me a bunch of tips on how to take care of my wings and even a new toothbrush,” Fluttershy bit her lip, “I just, I don’t know if I can go near the Badlands for a while, it’ll take some time,” North landed on her hooves and pulled the filly closer to her,

“That’s fine, no one’s forcing you to,” they would have basked at the moment a bit more and gone on to enjoy their picnic that the princess had arranged.

Unfortunately, someone had other ideas.

Both she and Fluttershy stiffened, and in the corner of her eye she saw Pinkie’s mane going flat, the filly glaring towards the exit with her hooves on the ground.

Sharing a glance, the two nodded before the wind tunnel disappeared, Reese pausing in flying into it with a look of confusion before yelping when North flew passed her, a tail made of wind wrapping around the disguised griffin and carrying her off while Fluttershy whispered to a confused Lyra and Pinkie galloped with a bewildered Garble clinging to her back.

They fled towards the castle, North leading them down a passage in the side, closing the door just as a Royal Guard appeared in their picnic area, looking around with a frown on his face.

“Why ar-” North shushed Reese, pointing at the Guard who took his helmet off, the illusion spell dissipating to reveal a rainbow mane, the stallion searching with his eyes, and they ducked before he could spot them through the bars.

“I thought Princess Celestia dealt with all the corrupted Guards,” Lyra hissed, “And didn’t that guy give up after the first time we avoided him?” North sighed.

“Probably thinks if he catches me, he can take me to Cloudsdale without getting into any trouble,” not to mention while he was associated with Wind Scar, he hadn’t done anything treacherous like the other guards had.

The only thing he was guilty of was delusion, and possibly neglect.

“Well the Princess does want you to give a briefing of everything, so maybe you can talk to her about it?," at the thought of the briefing North snorted.

"If we ever get to it," she muttered, seeing Reese's confusion and the others' understanding.

After Master Ruffalo's appearance and the fillies plus dragon hiding in the secret passage, Princess Celestia had been a bit sidetracked.

Plus, she sent some Guards with Po to search the temple for any journals.

And maybe Wind Scars corpse while they're at it. Until that time they were still guests at the castle, and North still wasn't sure what that group she saw before was doing.

Nor why Granny Smith was there either.

North could understand that, but she was itching to get it over with so that they could all move on.

The only upside was getting to cl-explore the secret passageways throughout the castle.

Whether or not the Princess was aware of them doing it.

With their combined abilities, Lyra’s Perfect Magic Pitch, Pinkie’s Blessing, Fluttershy’s talent with animals, Garble’s sense of smell towards different types of rocks, and her knowledge combined with the Wind had them mapping out a majority of the castle during the three days.

They found at least ten escape routes from the throne room (five unused, two a bit small for their intended use, not that any of them were going to say that to the princess, and the other three led to the kitchen, a private pantry filled with cakes, and a bedroom with a sun themed decor.

Pinkie almost got into the cakes, if Lyra hadn’t shielded them and Fluttershy hadn’t taken the younger filly aside to scold her for eating someone else’s food.

Even if it was obvious the Princess wasn’t supposed to have them, she even had some under preservation charms and upon checking the dates, they all agreed to leave the pantry alone.

Several passageways led into the crystal caverns and Garble gorged himself silly before they managed to drag him away.

Then they discovered a private chorus room with instruments that had both Lyra and Pinkie being dragged away.

Fluttershy was gently and firmly turned away from a strange window overlooking an even weirder butterfly garden, with creatures not unseen in fairy tale myths; and it took a promise to ask the Princess for permission that had her reluctantly continuing with them.

They did come upon a lab with old relics and the like, and North spent five seconds in the room.

That was enough for her to leave.

The Wind did not like it here.

The last room they discovered ended up with all of her friends dragging her kicking and screaming, pleading with them to let her stay in the room for one no two hours.

Five tops.

Lyra’s sleeping spell was the only thing that managed to stop her, and on unanimous agreement, everyone decided to play outside.

Which is how they came to this situation.

“You know-” “No,” pouting at her friend’s answer, North’s wings twitched, her eyes moving away from the wall towards another spot, hooves digging into the packed earth.

“I just nee-” “No,” “No one’s touched that ma-” “For good reason-” “THere’s no good reason for that kind of negle-” “Ask the Princess for permission first,” Fluttershy interjected, North shot her a betrayed glance, but her normally shy friend just raised an eyebrow in response.

North grumbled to herself, mind whirling as she came up with the idea after idea on how she could fix something like that machine.

Lyra groaned,

“If you need to fix or clean something, why don’t you start with the passageways? That one behind the throne room-” “I already did,” “was dir- what, when?” North avoided their glances, finding a particular spot on the floor fascinating.

Huh, looks like she wasn’t as thorough as she thought.

“North Wind,” Fluttershy’s voice was firm and she winced, glancing up at her friends, all of them with unamused looks, well, except Reese and Garble who found it amusing.

“Wwwelll, I could not exactly sleep, and the Wind doesn’t like dirt just lying around-” “Do not use your Blessing as an excuse,” Lyra warned her, North huffed,

“I could not get it out of my head okay? They should hire more maids, or fire the ones they have if they’re neglecting their duties,” Lyra facehooved.

“You realize, they might not even know its there,” “Not an excuse,” North stated, “Now if you’ll excuse me since we’ve explored the whole castle now, let’s just go back to the Planetarium, I want to see how to mess- what,” all of them, even Garble were exchanging weird glances and North narrowed her eyes, “What’s wrong with the planetarium?” Pinkie Pie nervously laughed.

“About that-” she trailed off.

Twenty minutes later

North stared up at the building, feeling the annoyance bubble up as ponies went in and out of the place like it was public property.

Which apparently, it now was.

“Uncle Fancy did it to prevent Mom from trying to destroy it, he figured turning it into the base for the magazine would be more helpful. Don’t worry about your research, everything was filed and put into the basement which was converted from a training room into an archive. Each of our rooms more or less remained the same, the only exception being a dark room and a printing room installed near the back. North!” Lyra called after her, but North was already entering through the doors, a frown on her face as she watched ponies with ‘North Star’ written on a hat or vest hurrying around, shouting about deadlines and the like.

There was a very large desk with four different ponies, all of them sorting through files or dealing with customers standing in a queue, waving around letters or books in their hooves. To the corner of the planetarium, there was a climbing wall, a tunnel at different heights that climbers of different ages would crawl through, emerging from a tunnel at the top using a rope.

"Excuse me," a nerdy-looking colt with glasses and pimples blocked her from going any further, "You'll need a ticket if you want to participate or tour the place," Lyra caught up to them as North contemplated scaring away the colt by dissecting the reason he had pimples despite not being human or just ignoring him.

"It's fine Point Dexter, she's on Uncle's list of approved personnel along with my friends," the colt took a step back, looking mortified.

“S-sorry about that,” he went away, making North click her tongue in annoyance, glaring at Lyra,

“So, I have to find somewhere else to live then?” the planetarium was the only place she could sleep in Canterlot, and she wasn’t keen on spending the night at Lyra’s place.

“You’re fine North, the Princess is letting you stay in the castle remember?” North knew that it is after everything is settled down that she is worried about.

“Come on! We can talk in the letter room!” Pinkie bounced ahead of them, a key jangling at the end of her mane as she stopped in front of North’s former research room, unlocking it with a flourish, “I have cider in here,” she said in a low whisper, grinning as they all went in, locking the door behind her. The lights turned on and North saw the piles of unopened letters along with different boxes one would see in a mailroom.

“So, letter room?” she asked, Lyra going to one of the boxes and retrieving a few envelopes, passing them out to the others.

“Yep, it’s where the mail to North Star is stored and where they put our mail as well-” she paused in reading her letter and with a snort of disgust, turned it to ash, “Another letter from Mom, what’d you get Garble?” the dragon jerked and hid his letter somewhere on his body.

“Just a letter from my sister, that’s it,” he crossed his arms, looking stubborn, and the unicorn rolled her eyes.

“Alright geez, I won’t bother you about it, can you please make up your mind about whether you want to be a grump or not?” the red dragonet avoided her gaze, North nudged her from pushing further, shaking her head.

“Another postcard from Dad! He’s still watching the rock farm while Mom’s here, and he sent another picture of the family!” Pinkie passed it around while Fluttershy smiled over her letter.

“Is that from your Dad about Frost?” North asked, it’s been a while since she’s had an update about the cubs and she wondered how they were adjusting.

The implications of their presence made her wake up at night sometimes, worried for the future and any changes, but the alternative for these little ones was worse.

The future was derailed at this point anyways.

“Oh no, it’s from Zephyr, his training on the peak is going well, and he got his Cutie Mark-” huh, North was rather surprised to hear no exasperation or annoyance normally present when the pegasus talks about her brother.

Wait.

“What peak?” she blinked, confused, seeing Lyra bite her lip and Pinkie look away as Fluttershy gave her confused expression.

“The one you had me recommend to him, you know, the one with the brochure? He got accepted into their training and everything,” she even held up a picture, showing the colt with his Cutie Mark showing, dressed in a training outfit she vaguely recalled from cultivation novels in her previous life.

The creatures around him had her rubbing her eyes, because if they were there, and he wasn’t lying, then.

“That place exists?!” she thought it was a hoax! She only gave him that brochure because she heard tales of campers forced to defend themselves and the fact it was a good character-building camp.

No one reached the peak! At least, that’s what her research said.

Fluttershy pursed her lips, staring at her, and North cleared her throat, feeling nervous.

“Care to elaborate?” the tone was soft but a shiver went down her spine.

Uh-oh.

Daring Do was finding it difficult to stay still, and she was itching to get to that temple everyone was talking about. Yet here she was, forced to play the curious author with an interest in history instead of the adventurer she usually is.

She normally did not stay in a place this long as A.K. Yearling, and especially not in a crowded place like Canterlot.

But Golden Lotus, or North Wind, caught her interest, and when Wind Scar’s name was brought up, she had to get herself involved.

The guilt of being too late to stop Amethyst ate away at her, and she wished that she had stopped the mare from stepping back onto the train at Canterlot. The mare had met with Princess Celestia while Daring researched the filly, and the two had met up over tea.

She knew the look in those eyes, knew that the Ranger had a dangerous idea in mind.

But her desire to figure out what was going on stopped her from doing so, and now a great mare is dead and four fillies are traumatized by her death.

One who even saw her die and of whom Daring knew blamed herself.

She hadn’t even been able to speak to the filly yet, Fancy Pants waylaid her and she found herself being dragged into a strange council of sorts to talk about several subjects that were going to change everything.

Though one thing everyone agreed on was sitting in on the briefing, and that was why they were waiting outside the throne room while the Princess finished day court.

“I’m just saying Fluttershy-” ears perking up, she and a few others watched the fillies and dragon walking towards them, North pleading with a frowning bat-winged pegasus, “It wasn’t meant to be malicious, and everything turned out great for him anyways right?” what were they talking about?

“Stop being mad at her Fluttershy, or are you forgetting your reaction to Zephyr’s character development?” yellow cheeks turned pink, and the filly avoided looking in her smug unicorn friend’s direction, spotting them, and it surprised Daring when the filly lit up upon seeing her and approached her.

“My brother is training at Yunhumen Peak and he said you have an unpublished script on the Sects, is that true?” that was not the question the mare expected.

“They finally have students again? Huh, usually campers choose the other two,” the only reason she ended up on that Peak was for research and artifact-related reasons.

“Wait,” North’s eyes were wide, “There’s an unpublished Daring Do manuscript?” feeling embarrassed, Daring rubbed the back of her head.

“Yes, but I don’t have permission to publish it yet, so they’re just keeping it there,” a calculating look appeared in those blue eyes before Lyra smacked the back of her head.

“You're not sneaking onto that peak,” North rubbed her head, muttering about how she wasn’t going to sneak, and Lyra gave her a look, “And you're not joining the peak either, Zephyr’s stuck there for the next who knows how many years, and you may not do the same thing,” Daring had to chuckle at the pout on her fan’s lips, there was a bit of mortification about being the reason for the filly’s idea, but she was used to weird fans at this point.

That one quibbling one caused a headache every time she saw him, and the letters he sent about her latest book not matching her series themes made her wish she could just ban him.

Even her editor was considering it, and the mare was obsessed with promoting the series!

“Hiya!” a different pair of blue eyes were staring at her now, their owner standing on her smaller friend’s back who didn’t seem bothered by it, still arguing with Lyra in a low voice.

“Hello, you must be the other Golden,” she mused, recognizing that shade of blue, the Earth filly giggled.

“Yep! Thanks for the help that one time, and while I might not be as big a fan as North, I do enjoy reading your books!” “Thank you, Pinkie Pie is it?” her eyes slid to Cloudy Quartz who was quietly sitting next to the yellow one’s mom, both of them watching their children. The mare nodded at her filly who beamed at her, and the scent of sugar reached her nose as the filly quickly hugged her mom before returning to her perch on top of her friend.

“You know, North did a book on Ahuizotl and I helped her with it!” the pegasus turned bright red, looking at her friend with a betrayed expression.

“That wasn’t a book report, and you said you’d never tell anyone!” the pink pony giggled, while Lyra rolled her eyes.

“It’s too technical to be a fanfiction, so yes, we’re being kind calling it a report,” Granny Smith cackled.

“Ah, that little book of yours you left once during Zap Apple season? Ah read it myself and ended up needing Big Mac to translate some of it for me,” the red turned even darker and feeling curious, Daring raised an eyebrow at Pinkie Pie,

“So what was this ‘book report’ about?” “I’m glad you asked!” and suddenly she had a filly on her own back who was ignoring the intake of breath from her friends, leaning on her head, flattening her hat, and bending down to look at her.

“It’s a review as written from the perspective of Ahuizotl himself!” the filly proclaimed, “In the story, the real Ahuizotl reacts to his fictional self and gives his critique of the others’ actions, and at the end, he talks about how relieved he is that the adventures are fictional. Or his job would be in trouble,” A.K. furrowed her brow, taken aback at that statement.

“Job?” the blush disappeared a bit as North furrowed her brow, looking confused.

“Um, his job as Guardian of the Tenochtitlan Basin. According to history records, he and a few others are part of a council made up to guard the artifacts of ancient cities against being taken from their home and are tasked with dealing with intruders in any way possible. I just thought writing the ‘book report’,” the words looked like they pained her, “would be interesting to speculate about. Though you’d think if they took so much pride in their ruins, they would at least do some sort of upkeep,” then she started muttering something about ‘restoration and cleaning potions’, but Daring Do was still stuck on the ‘Guardian’ part.

She wanted to deny that fact because of how big of pain and brute the creature was, but with that information swirling around her head, their interactions were starting to make sense.

And she did not like the implications of that, at all.

“W-wh,” she cleared her throat, chastising herself for the slip, “Where did you get these records? My research said nothing about this ‘Guardian’ thing,” that Ruby Dog chose the moment to speak up, looking extremely amused.

“From the Ruby dog archives no doubt, she figured out our language and practically translated all the scrolls, and even helped restore most of them. You can even ask your Princess about the truth of them, or visit our archives,” he bared his teeth in a grin, and Daring Do felt tempted.

But.

“I’ll start with Princess Celestia,” she sighed, that alicorn had some explaining to do.

Then Daring needed to find Ahuizotl, and clear things up with him, maybe, ugh, even apologize.

Great.

North was concerned about her favorite author, the mare looked as if her entire world was upended and the filly wished to know what caused it.

Did not help that Master Ruffalo was amused, as was the Wind, though neither were giving her any answers.

So she decided to think about something else,

“Granny Smith, the farm-” “Is fine,” the Apple matriarch waved her hoof, “My son can manage on his own, and a few cousins are staying on at the moment, got some business here with young Fancy,” she nudged the unicorn in the side who cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses.

“Quite, and I do hope you enjoyed your tour of the North Star Headquarters,” Gaius coughed into his claw as she gave the unicorn a deadpan look.

“Yes, funny how everyone is under the impression the writer of the magazine is a unicorn,” “Ah, that was an unfortunate necessity, the research on magic would not make sense otherwise, and I figured you did not want the attention,” “I don’t, didn’t mean I wanted my diary printed for everyone to read,” he paused in his next reply, looking surprised.

“Diary?” “Yes, diary,” they stared at one another, him with a lost expression while she had an annoyed one.

“Excuse me for saying, but the content-” “I’m not good writing out my thoughts,” she interrupted, cheeks once again turning pink, “Like with fiction, my writing always turns out to be a bit technical, and most of my observations were just that, observations and speculations based on my own findi It’s something I try working on, but it's difficult,” the doors opened before he could respond, and she huffed, turning away as all the court nobles exited, giving the group wary looks, particularly the non-pony ones.

The looks directed towards Fluttershy made her furious, a mix of pitying and fear at her new features.

Fluttershy drew into herself, wings covering her head and North saw Lyra and Pinkie with their angry expressions.

Reese had gone over to Gaius and was hiding behind him despite being in her pony disguise, the older griffin sneering at the snobby ponies while Master Ruffalo waved a paw mockingly at some.

“Come in,” they entered to see the Princess getting off her throne, ignoring Master Po who was holding a purple baby dragon in one of his arms, the little dragon was sucking on his tail, slit green eyes staring up at the older dragon.

To her surprise, a familiar unicorn filly was there as well, standing next to Raven Quill and writing something on a long piece of paper.

She didn’t even look up as they entered, and before North could ask about whether she was there to listen to the briefing, Celestia walked over to the filly,

“Twilight, why don’t you go with Raven and she’ll show you that File Organization spell of hers,” the filly stopped writing and lit up, purple eyes gleaming while Raven shot their ruler an unimpressed look, placing a hoof on the babbling filly’s back and guiding her out.

The door closed and there was a flash of gold as the Princess cast a silencing spell on the room.

“Right,” pillows appeared on the floor, enough for everyone to lie on, and the Princess summoned her pillow, glowering at Po when he leaned against her, still holding Spike (because who else could it be?) while his tail wrapped around one of her legs.

North saw the dusting of pink on her cheeks and hoped the two did not start fighting.

Again.

“You didn’t want your student to hear the story?” Master Ruffalo asked, Celestia, sighed,

“Not yet, I’m not sure if she is ready to hear about such a thing, and there are already enough that will hear it,” she gave the council of parents a look, getting innocent stares back.

“Considering our daughters were involved, we wouldst liketh to know what went down,” Cloudy Quartz stated, Mrs. Shy, nodded.

“Among all these adults here, I’ve known North Wind the longest, and we’re sure as heck not letting her other parents listen to this,” Gaius raised an eyebrow at Granny.

“I’ll have you know that Master Ruffalo and I are the ones who’ve known her the longest-” Princess Celestia cleared her throat, making them fall silent,

“North Wind, why don’t you start, and I need you to include everything about your Blessing as well,” North wished for some water at the moment.

This was going to be a long talk.

She started with the first time the Blessing appeared, when Rainbow Dash thought it would be funny to pull a prank she’d seen older students do at school.

“I was scared of heights at the time, and uh,” she cleared her throat, “I refused to go near the ends of Cloudsdale, preferring to stay in the house or the yard. My sister thought it was silly for a pegasus to be afraid of heights and kept trying to get me to fly but it did not work. So she thought it would be funny to steal my book and throw it on a path of clouds the older kids used for play. When I got close to the cloud she appeared, and grabbed it, retreating further while a friend of hers dissipated the clouds behind me, making it difficult to find a different route to her. I tried lifting myself with my wings but they wouldn’t cooperate. She started waving the book, and to my horror, started throwing those Pop-Cloud balls, the ones a colt at our school developed for a project, shrinking the cloud I was on and telling me the only way to get over was to fly. Then the last ball took away my platform completely and I fell a good twenty feet to the cloud below. The adrenaline of the fall had me shaking, and when I saw her running towards me, I panicked and flapped my wings, telling her to go away,” she shuddered, Fluttershy’s wing touching hers and she saw the concerned expression on the adults’ faces, “That is when the Blessing activated, seeing Rainbow as a threat and attacking her, sending her spinning away and,” she closed her eyes, “cutting the tip of her ear off.” Her sister’s scream echoed through her head.

“And you blame yourself?” Granny Smith sounded incredulous. “that filly should’ve been spanked by your parents for such an act,” North’s ears flattened.

“If they also didn’t believe that not wanting to fly was a disgrace to being a pegasus,” even before that they always preferred Rainbow to her.

“After that?” Princess Celestia looked calm, and North centered herself,

“My parents grounded me-” “But Rainbow-” Lyra’s outraged cry was cut off by a flat maned Pinkie who shook her head, and North continued, “And sent for Wind Scar, calling him my Uncle and he arrived, starting with how he is going to make sure I do not endanger anyone else with my dangerous abilities. Binding my win-” Celestia spluttered when Po smacked her muzzle, stopping her from saying anything, at the same time the flames on her mane were snuffed out.

North eyed them and anyone else, but when no one else said anything, sighed, “Binding my wings, he sent me to the mines to learn ‘discipline’ and I was left with the Ruby Dogs for the entire summer.

It wasn’t all that bad, apart from being on restroom duty, and they were mindful of my age, only having me pull smaller carts and letting me do two or three trips a day to fulfill my quota. The bindings were kept on, but there was talk of taking them off so they could have someone fly to the ceiling.

One of the other pony workers had a grudge against Wind Scar, and when he saw me and found out our connection, he thought it was the perfect chance at revenge. He cornered me while I was in the room and tried to force himself on me, but he ended up ripping the bindings, and my magic that had been suppressed lashed out.

He didn’t survive the attack,” she went on to talk about running away from the guards and passing out in a strange cavern. Then she woke up to Master Ruffalo and was assigned to work with Gaius on gathering food.

That her fear of her Blessing increased when she ended up slaughtering a bunch of fish just by ‘swimming’ in the water.

“That was quite a feast,” Master Ruffalo hummed to himself, Gaius rolled his eyes.

“When I returned to Cloudsdale,” North frowned, wondering if she should mention that part as well, before shaking her head, “The moment I touched the cloud I blacked out, it felt like I was suffocating. When I woke up the feeling was still there, and my parents scolded me for not being thankful to Wind Scar and for being dramatic about my return. After that I went to my new room and tried thinking of a plan to find information on how to return my Blessing,” angry buzzing made ponies tense but she huffed, “I told you I wouldn’t do it again,” the buzzing stopped and she went to continue, not seeing the confused expression on Master Po’s face.

“Wait, North are you seriously not going to say anything about your ‘new room?’” Lyra demanded, getting the other’s interest, which North did not want.

“Look, it’s not imported-” “I meant everything North Wind,” Princess Celestia told her firmly, and North groaned,

“Your Highness, this has nothing to do with my Blessing-” “What do you mean nothing?! They kicked you out of the room you were sharing with Rainbow Dash, and you had to sleep in the attic,” “The attic was comfortable,” she tried, Mrs. Shy raised her hoof.

“Pardon me, but I have been in that house, and I know there’s another room connected to Rainbow Dash’s, is that not yours?” North winced.

“I-it’s their trophy room for Rainbow,” she answered reluctantly, all the adults going still, “They keep all of their memorabilia in there,” “They also forced North to eat elsewhere because Rainbow didn’t want to eat at the same table,” “Lyra!” “What? You had to use Gaius as a supplier because your parents refused to feed you fish,” “What?” A.K. Yearling breathed, shocked, “Pegasus is supposed to have fish as part of their diet, why would-” “Because they figured me having meat would make the Blessing stronger,” at this rate they were never going to finish.

It did not exactly get better.

Her dead-end in Cloudsdale earned a few scoffs and derision, especially from her favorite author who grumbled about it still being a non-academic environment.

Meeting Lyra at least drew some chuckles, the unicorn going pink at North’s recounting of her being kidnapped and the filly’s continued meetings afterward.

Her Blessing training had Po frowning and glaring at Gaius who was giving him his challenging look, daring the dragon to say anything.

Surprisingly he didn’t, but North felt the tenseness in the air anyways.

The atmosphere lightened a bit with her trip to the Pie family, but when she brought up the cave-in and Fluttershy’s eventual rescue of her ending in being dropped into glowing pools, Princess Celestia straightened.

“Do you remember anything else about the cave?” North shook her head,

“I cannot even remember the location anymore,” which was strange, and she could tell that it troubled the Alicorn as well.

Time Skip to the fillies exploring the Canterlot Caverns and coming across the Black Market scene, Reese going quiet while everyone else looked grim.

“We brought the eggs back to the planetarium and tried to think of a way to return them to the dragons. But not knowing which Royal Guards were working for Wind Scar, we couldn’t risk taking them out of the city just yet. Then I saw a flyer I got for Fluttershy and came up with the idea of Golden Lotus and Agape Flare,” she could tell a few of them wanted to interject but the ones sitting next to them stopped it.

When they got to the Royal Guards at the station, North found it difficult to talk, recalling Amethyst Storm, luckily Lyra and Fluttershy helped her through it.

They glossed over the griffin cubs being distributed and what happened at the hotel when she spotted her family in the crowd.

The switch had Gaius shaking his head,

“To think the dragon eggs were in Canterlot the whole time, your lucky you two switched when you did,” North sighed.

“I know, sorry Pinkie,” she said, feeling guilty about Rainbow hurting her friend, but the filly waved it off.

Her own experience in Dragontown and the following training under the dragon had Po smirking, though Princess Celestia seemed displeased.

“Training a filly how to fly like a dragon?” she demanded, glaring at him, “Do you know how dangerous that is,” Po crossed his arms, scratching the green scales on top of Spike’s head.

“It’s better than her never learning control, isn’t it?” “Do ah have to get between y’all?” Granny’s question ceased their argument.

Fluttershy’s ordeal took some time to work through, and everyone took a break before it was time for North to tell them what happened with Wind Scar.

She started with the chase by dragons, finding the markers, and running into Garble while running from the dragons who did nothing to stop them from falling.

That caused the pink dragon from before to growl, Garble sighing and going over to stop her.

She still didn’t know if the dragon was his mom or sister.

Falling into the Temple, finding the platform, giving up her sense of smell (the horrified expressions on her friends’ had her realizing too late that she did not tell them about that, yet.)

“That’s when Amethyst appeared, used by Wind Scar as a sacrifice, and he told me the story about Southern Skies,” she shivered, repeating what he told her, and Master Po nodded, eyes blazing,

“I found the journals, seems he decided not to risk taking them with him,” the admittance made Celestia sag, the realization that one of her ponies went to such lengths leaving her shaken.

The news of her being his planned sacrifice was new to some of them, and Granny Smith started muttering underneath her breath, promise of pain in her eyes.

She came to the ritual and the dragon once again interrupted her,

“Wait, you stopped the extraction,” he sounded stunned, and North recalled Wind Scar’s own shocked reaction.

“Uh yeah?” how did he think she got out? “I took the Blessing back and dealt with Wind Scar,” Pinkie hopped up.

“Yeah! She was like, ‘You will not’, when he threatened to kill us, and all the pretty energy flew back into her before a dragon shaped wind appeared over her and it was slash, pow, as they tried to strike one another. She then sent him crashing through the barrier after cutting through it-” “Cutting through it?!” why did she not like the fact he was so shocked by that?

Why was she getting the sinking feeling that wasn’t supposed to be possible.

“Anyways, I did a final attack against Wind Scar, and, I well, let’s just say he won’t be able to wield his Blessing, or his wings, again,” she coughed, looking to the side, Celestia jerked.

“You know-” “That he isn’t in the dungeons? And not in the temple as well? Yes,” assuring herself that he wasn’t a threat didn’t work.

Because she was still scared of what he was could do.

“Wow, that is a lot to unpack, and while Wind Scar being free is alarming, there are other things that must be discussed, like these fillies’ futures,” she exchanged alarmed expressions with her friends, “Nothing bad,” Fancy hastened to assure them, “Just an idea that popped into my head that I have been working on with everyone here. With the information you’ve provided, and the incidents cropping up, we have realized that there is a bit of disconnect between not just the ponies and other creatures, but between the tribes as well. While articles are helpful in informing readers of this disconnect, it would be better for them to see for themselves face to face. To accomplish that,” his horn glowed and he levitated a scroll to the Princess, “We would like to develop the Undiscovered West for this project,” the Alicorn blinked, opening the scroll and running her eyes across it.

“That place hasn’t been occupied in centuries, what are you hoping to build here?” Fancy Pants smiled.

“A school.”

Bow Hothoof knew this was a last resort, but if North Wind was not going to cooperate, he would need to go straight towards the Princess.

Inform her exactly what kind of filly she has in her castle and that it was imperative the girl is separated from everyone else.

Recalling the terrifying wings she conjured made him shudder, just using that so willy-nilly, like a party trick, left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He and Windy failed in suppressing the curse, after so many years of trying to get her just follow the rules for her own good, making sure to do everything to prevent it from growing stronger.

It all failed because of her rebelliousness.

And now Wind Scar was missing and the fear of what happened ate away at him as all of his friends in the Royal Guard were taken away on false charges.

There has got to be some mistake! He knows these stallions, that they would never do what the Princess is accusing them of.

Whoever is backing North Wind has a lot of influence, and he has a feeling its that dragon seen arguing with the Princess and harassing the good folk of Canterlot.

He couldn’t push back the meeting any longer.

Approaching the throne doors, he nodded to his fellow Guards, stopping the frown that wanted to appear at the disgust he can see in their eyes before they stared straight ahead.

Ignoring him.

“Bow Hothoof,” jumping at his name, he went in, seeing the Princess and her assistant in the room.

No one else was there to his relief.

“Princess, I’ve come to talk to you about North Wind,” pale magenta eyes stared down at him and he swallowed, “I know she might have said somethings, but I need to bring her back to Canterlot, as her fath-”

“As I have come to understand, you are not her father,” the sentence made him pale a bit.

“Princess?” “Even if that was not the case and you two were related, I would still tell you that your guardianship of North Wind is no longer due to suspicion of neglect,” his eyes widened.

“Your highness-” but she wasn’t letting him continue,

“Restriction of food, destruction of personal property, forced to make her own room, Wings Bound,” the last two words made him blanch.

“Your Highness it was necessary!” the words left his mouth before he could stop it and the heat in the room rose.

“Necessary?” she asked softly, “Necessary?” she got off the throne, approaching him and leaning down so that they were eye to eye, “There is nothing in all of Equus that makes binding a five year old with Tartarus level binders necessary,” she straightened, “Bow Hothoof, I am relieving you of your Royal Guard duties,” his heart stopped.

“Princ-” “Your guardianship as well as your wife’s on North Wind is no longer valid, and the two of you are banned from visiting Canterlot.” “Prin-” “‌Furthermore, any suspected contact with Wind Scar will have you and your wife thrown in the dungeon and Rainbow Dash given to another family who can give her a proper home. Because as of this morning, I am declaring Wind Scar a traitor and threat to Equestria,” he sat down, no longer able to stand up, looking at her with wide eyes.

“Princess, please,” he pleaded, she narrowed her eyes.

“You are lucky that North Wind did not wish to press charges, but leave her alone, or we’ll be questioning your custody of your daughter as well,” that snapped him out of his shock and he left, feeling sick.

He didn’t want Rainbow Dash taken away.

Hopefully they’ll see how dangerous she is in time.

“I’m surprised that the Princess didn’t just tell him that you got your Cutie Mark and therefore meet the requirements for emancipation,” North shrugged at Lyra’s statement, watching Garble being taken away by that pink dragon while Reese was going to a study group with some of her classmates.

“No point,” he would take one look at it and become completely convinced that she was a troublemaker.

“I think it’s very pretty North Wind,” Fluttershy consoled her, North huffed.

“You say that, but I still do not know what it means, just because the passed year was spent on a plan to return eggs didn’t mean I wanted them as a Cutie Mark,” she gestured towards her flank where the Cutie Mark was, “I mean, I know what the symbol stands for, but I do not know what that has to do with me,” Lyra hummed.

“Yeah, to be honest, I kind of expected your Cutie Mark to be a-” a pink hoof shoved itself in her mouth and she gagged as Pinkie shushed her.

“Sh! You're going to spoil it for the readers, they’re not supposed to suspect anything yet,” “Pinkie, don’t break the fourth wall please,” North begged, feeling a headache coming on.

The filly shot her an offended look,“Lyra was the one that almost spoiled everything,” the unicorn pushed the hoove away, gagging and wiping off her tongue.

“What does her potential Cutie Mark have to do with that? I was just going to-” Pinkie held up a cupcake with a pepper on top, eyes narrowed, and Lyra twitched, falling silent.

Nodding to herself, the filly placed an envelope in front of North,

“Here you go! I asked Mr. Fancy Pants to get it for me,” seeing the Canterlot Bank logo in the corner, North tore open the envelope and pulled out the statement.

Her eyes widened at the amount, a strangled sound escaping her mouth as she stared at the amount.

The statement dropped to the table and her other friends looked at the amount.

Fluttershy swayed on her chair while Lyra whistled and Pinkie beamed,

North stared at it for a moment before sighing,

“Right, do you want your shares under your name or a fake one?” they looked like they were going to protest but she narrowed her eyes, “You all helped me with my research, and you all are getting an equal share, Lyra can put her money towards the Music college she actually wants to go to, Pinkie can pay for college or a party cart or something,” the filly vibrated in her excitement, “Fluttershy-” the pegasus waved her hooves.

“Oh no, I couldn’t after all the money you wasted on that program-” “It wasn’t a waste Fluttershy,” North told her, “And several of the trainers asked about training you, they offered you an internship and everything,” the pegasus still looked hesitant and North narrowed her eyes, “Fine, I’ll take your share and use it to buy a statue of you to place in the Badlands,” the pegasus blanched.

“You wouldn’t,” North leaned forward, smirking.

“Try me,” she challenged, “Accept your share,” the other pegasus pouted at her but drooped, muttering her acceptance with a sigh.

“So, have you thought about what to do with your own share?” Pinkie Pie asked her, eyes wide in interest, “Are you going to use it for that college that the Council of Creatures spoke of?” snorting at the name, North thought about it.

Fancy’s proposal had been met with a lot of surprise, and the support of the others in the group seemed to shock the princess.

In the end she did agree, but warned him about being careful, which he promised.

The project was due to start in three years, and North was offered a position at the school right away along with her friends.

For understandable reasons, Fluttershy declined, wanting to go straight into her career as a Ranger once she finished her internship and after she trained her new abilities with the Nocturne in Hollow Shades.

Pinkie also declined, saying while it would be fun, she felt it wouldn’t be for her at all, though she suggested one of her sisters could go in her spot. To the shock of everyone, she also said she was going to the Ruby Dogs to train, and Ruffalo admitted he knew of someone with a strong Earth Blessing who could help her.

Mrs. Pie said she would talk to her other daughter’s about it.

Lyra balked at the thought of being a part of a project like that and stated quite firmly that North was the only one in their group crazy enough to want to do it. Besides, she had her own training she wanted to do before focusing on music, which involved tracking down Sonic Recorder and asking him for help.

North tried not to feel insulted about the crazy part.

Instead she worried about the fact that Master Po wanted to take her back to his mountain for further training. She knew in the long run it was safer, but she didn’t want to be separated from them forever.

“We need a new hideout,” she said suddenly, getting their attention, “You said that lighthouse was abandoned?” Lyra rolled her eyes.

“You just want to clean it.”

“What’s your point?”

Pinkie suddenly started crying and brought them all together in a tight hug,

“I don’t want us to separate for three years!” the light flicking on startled all of them, and they turned to see a pony in the North Star uniform entering the archives, pausing at the sight of them. They stared at one another before the staff member quickly summoned a file to them and ran back up the stairs, squeaking out a sorry and shutting off the lights.
“I kind of forgot they were off,” Lyra commented, pointedly not saying why, which North appreciated.

The glowing thing still happened.

She wasn’t sure whether or not to find that annoying.

Pinkie went back to crying and hugging them, and North rubbed her back.

“We don’t have to separate Pinkie,” she assured her, “We can always arrange meet ups, and there is always letters,” that didn’t seem to make her feel better.

“But what about after?” Lyra tapped a hoof against the ground.

“Well, Nightmare Moon isn’t supposed to return for another eight years right? That means within the next years we just do what we can to cement our careers, then ‌live in Ponyville,” North looked away, grimacing,

She couldn’t really promise that, after all.

Thankfully, the others did not point it out, and Pinkie Pie became deep in thought for a moment before gasping.

“We can become sworn sisters, then we will never be apart!” Lyra hummed.

“That sounds good, I can come up with a way to make a friendship bracelet for us to wear with different special charms,” North nodded,

“And I can always ask Princess Celestia if she could show Lyra that spell on Journal Messaging, I’m sure if we tweak it, we can make it connect to four- Fluttershy what are you doing?!” the animal whisper squeaked at the exclamation, taking in her friends’ horrified expressions.

“Oh, this isn’t what you meant?” the tip of her hoof was bleeding and she was holding it towards them.

At their continued shock she started retreating behind her hair and Lyra panicked.

“No Fluttershy! It’s fine, I just didn- ow!” she glared at Pinkie Pie who spit out the safety pin in her mouth, hoof already bleeding, and after a moment Lyra held out her hoof.

Then they were all staring at her and North deadpanned, a small on her face.

Right.

Her sisters were weird.

“She fired you?” Windy Whistles asked horrified. She couldn’t believe it!

Her husband had dark circles underneath his eyes and she rubbed his back while furiously thinking of what their next action would be.

Some part of her regretted ever fulfilling that favor of Wind Scars and giving him a daughter and not stopping after she had her own daughter, but the loyal part of her kept that part silent.

“The Cloudsdale Guard agreed to take me on, but it’s a trial basis, and honey?” he gazed at her with a lost look, “Wind Scar’s been declared a traitor,” she went white.

A knock on their door had her running to check it, and she almost screamed at the stallion standing there, before catching him as he stumbled towards her.

“She’s too strong,” Wind Scar gasped out, “I should have never let my sentiment get a hold of me, I’m sorry Windy,” tears came to her eyes at his state.

“It’s not your fault Scar, and if Princess Celestia refuses to see it,” something told her that even fi they show his state to the Princess, no sympathy would be given to them.

“Wind Scar, I’m sorry, I want to take you in, but if-” Wind Scar shook his head, giving them a weak smile.
“I just need to rest for the night, I won’t trouble you any further than that,” Windy growled at her husband.

On the stairs, a small filly hid behind the banister, eyes wide as she processed the information, unsure of what to believe.

“But where will you go?” the filly’s mom asked.

“I need to find my other daughter that Amethyst hid from me and tell her that her mother is dead,” Bow Hothoof gasped.

“So she did survive? Amethyst said she died in childbirth,” “Amethyst hid a lot of things from me,” Wind Scar said sadly, “And I hope to reach my other daughter before its too late.” the couple hugged him.

“We’ll help you, and don’t worry, we’ll make sure that North Wind is brought to justice,” the stallion smiled at them.

“Thank you,” his eyes met with magenta before their owner retreated, no doubt to her room, a smile appeared on his lips, “Old Friends.”

Author's Note

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Chapter 17: Dragons in Fillydelphia

“What is going on here?” rosette eyes looked over the scene, muzzle pulled into a frown, her publisher just a step behind her with a mortified expression.

“Miss Yearling!” the resort manager, who’d been staring at the train wreck in horror, “I do apologize about this, but these guests were just leaving,” he gestured at the family, the parents watching their daughter and doing nothing.

Bow Hothoof cleared his throat, looking a bit taken aback

“We were just looking for our other daughter and suspected her to be this one,” he gestured at the Golden filly who was now hiding behind Fluttershy, the latter still glowering at a frozen Rainbow Dash.

Yearling glanced at the filly, raising an eyebrow before turning back to the stallion.

“Excuse me for asking, but your other daughter wouldn’t happen to be a pegasus filly?” the pointed question made him flush.

“Yes, but we figured she would use a disguise,” Rainbow managed to free herself from whatever Fluttershy did and huffed, glaring at her friend, or at least, who she thought was her friend.

“Look, I do not know how, but that filly has to be North, those are her eyes,” she pointed a wavering hoof at the blue eyes that disappeared as the younger filly shrunk against her friend.

Fluttershy narrowed her own blue orbs.

“How would you know? You haven’t looked her in the eyes properly since she was five,” Rainbow Dash flinched, looking stricken, and Windy Whistles stepped in, not liking the expression on her daughter’s face.

“I think that is quite enough out of you Fluttershy, I’m disappointed that such a nice filly like you would say such a thing,” Fluttershy opened her mouth, but was beat to it by Amethyst entering the lobby, a stern expression and a glare that became even darker when she spotted Bow Hothoof.

“Get those three out,” Bow Hothoof looked at her with wide eyes,

“A-amethyst? Wait, what-” the Earth Pony looked away, dismissing him and raising a hoof to the security ponies approaching them.

“Get them out please, they’ve been harassing our trainees about a daughter they claim is missing, yet strangely, there are no missing flyers posted,” she then turned to the parents and narrowed her eyes, “Tell me, did you start looking for her before or after your precious Wind Scar asked you to, I see you’re ever his loyal servants,” Bow Hothoof bristled face turning red.

“Do not talk about him like that, you have no idea-” the security ponies grabbed the two adults, while one stood next to Rainbow Dash who was still staring at Fluttershy with a lost lock that was ignored, the other filly turning and heading deeper into the hotel with the golden filly pressed against her side.

“I know exactly what and who he is, and it is disgusting how you refuse to see it,” Windy Whistles was being dragged away, but she gritted her teeth, glaring at the mare insulting her family.

“You do not understand, if she’s not found, lives could be lost, we’re trying to prevent that,” but there was no sympathy in those eyes.

Only disdain.

“Did he tell you that as well?” she asked in a mocking tone, “Or did you actually think of it yourself?” the winged mare turned red, and Yearling chose this time to add her own two cents.

“Makes one wonder why a filly would need to run away from her family, or why they would assume she would disguise herself. Brings up certain questions, no?” she looked at the rainbow maned filly who had finally turned to see that her parents were being pulled away, “Rainbow Dash, correct?” the filly jumped, turning to her as the author tilted her head, seeing the tip missing from one of the ears, “Do you feel safe to return home with your parents, or do you need to stay with a friend?” the lost look disappeared to be replaced with indignation.

“What is that supposed to mean? My parents haven’t done anything,” and she stomped off, muttering about stupid authors.

Her publisher twitched but she gave her a look before going to Amethyst who was still glowering after the couple.

“I don’t suppose you can tell me if you know anything about North Wind’s whereabouts?” the mare gave her a searching look.

“I do not know the filly myself so I cannot tell you, sorry,” the pegasus scoffed.

“Right, just curious since I did not see my number one fan last night, she always appeared at my book signings, and I was hoping to give her a personal copy. This new book was based off of something she suggested after all,” her words made those in earshot gasp, and Amethyst looked taken aback herself.

“Well I’m sure wherever she is, the filly would be delighted. Now if you excuse me, I have to make sure my trainee is alright, and then give a severe reprimand to the other ones for telling tales,” her eyes cut to the second pegasus in her group who blanched, the unicorn looking uneasy while the Earth colt rolled his eyes at them and trotted away, no doubt back to his own hotel room.

Yearling shrugged and went to check out, thinking about something as she and her publisher went out the hotel with their luggage.

“We’re going to Canterlot,” was her announcement, before they boarded the air ship, her publisher nodded.

“Right.”

As soon as they shut the hotel door, ‘Golden’ pounced on Fluttershy, hooves around her neck and sending them both to the floor giggling.

“It’s so great to see you again Fluttershy,” Fluttershy smiled, returning the hug, before hissing and a small growling got their attention.

“Oh!” her runespoor barely avoided being crushed while her other animal friend’s long ears were pinned back against its skull, its razor-sharp teeth bared at the strange filly, still growling.

“Ooh, sorry, have you named them yet Fluttershy?” before she could answer, there was a knock on the door before Amethyst entered.

She stared at them with a deadpan look.

“Alright, whose this and where’s the other ‘Golden’?” they gave her sheepish looks.

“Wweeellll,” Pinkie ‘Golden’ started.

“You cheeky brat,” North blinked innocent eyes up at the griffin scowling at her, licking her muzzle to get the sauce off her face.

“I stuck to two,” she defended herself, Gaius held up his cart.

“Yes, you ate two pig feet and a quarter of my bacon!” his words reached a pony’s ears on the sidewalk who gave them a horrified look before hurrying passed them.

The two turned to stare after them with blank expressions before exchanging looks and laughing.

“Eh, I’ll let it pass this time, if only because seeing others’ reactions to what we’re eating always makes it funny,” then he flicked her ear and she rubbed it, pouting up at him, “But stop eating my merch, I need it for deliveries.”

“I was hungry,” it was a weak defense, they both knew it, and he snorted as they walked towards the entrance of Dragontown. There were ponies going along the sidewalk, some looking at the filly walking next to the scarred griffin with suspicious looks, but upon seeing their destination, paled and avoided going near them.

“Hey! North Wind,” a call from behind made her ear twitch but she continued forward, hearing a groan of frustration as well as galloping heading in her direction.

Then they went passed the entrance and there was a beat of wings as two dragons flew over them and stopped the pursuer.

“Let us through dragons,” was the demand, a dragon scoffed.

“Didn’t we tell you Royal Guards that you are not allowed in here? We know you are not on Royal Duty, so you have no jurisdiction here,” North turned to see two Royal Guards staring down the dragons three times bigger than them.

One of the stallions locked eyes with her and she pulled down an eyelid, sticking her tongue out at him and watching him bristle with satisfaction before hurrying her pace to catch up with Gaius.

The Royal Guard stomped his hoof, giving the unimpressed firebreathing lizard a sneer.

“You are letting a little filly like here go through? She’s a runaway, she needs to be retrieved,” they shrugged.

“We don’t care,” one said, “Now go,” the other one continued, “Or we can have roasted pony for lunch,” they both stated, smoke coming out of their mouths.

The Royal Guards reluctantly retreated.

As soon as the stallions disappeared, the dragons flew back to their spot above a ramen shop where Gaius and North entered, taking their posts and keeping an eye on the entrance.

“Stupid ponies, they’ve been bothering us for months, don’t they have anything better to do?” his twin shrugged.

“Probably not if they think chasing after a tiny pony is worth their time,” they then resumed their watch, staying so still one could mistake them for statues.

North wished she could have seen the dragons and Guards fighting, but could only feel nervous as one of the goals of this trip was nearing its close.

All she had to do was give the eggs, then she could go to that Nocturne settlement and find out more about the temple.

“Calm down, they can smell fear,” she gave the griffin a look, getting a crooked beak in return as he pushed aside the curtain into the shop.

Upon entering they searched for somewhere to sit, North looking at it and couldn’t help but compare it to a Chinese Noodle Restaurant. There were a total of ten tables with surprising space between them, though considering the clientele, it shouldn’t be. There was even a bar surrounding the kitchen and Gaius led her over to it, taking a stool and she hopped onto the one next to him.

“Pork delivery,” he called out to the kitchen and the cook sauntered out. His emerald green scales shimmered under the light and his bronze stomach was covered with an apron. Slitted jade eyes glanced at them, focusing in on her with an intensity that made her straighten.

He didn’t have wings, but something about him told her he did not need them.

“Looks more like a pony one to me,” the dragon said dryly, making Gaius laugh,

“No, just pork and this one has her own separate delivery, if you can spare the time to meet with her,” North gave the griffin a searching look, but he was bringing out the meat from his container, getting quite a few interested looks from the diners.

The draconic chef took the meat and disappeared to put it away before coming back out to talk to them.

“Usual hotel?” he asked Gaius who nodded, “Take a bowl to go, I will meet you later tonight,” he gave them a takeaway container with two bowls and the two left, North feeling a bit off.

The surrounding wind seemed to settle in the dragon’s presence, and when they were a good distance away from the restaurant, became restless, urging her to go back to the restaurant.

But she continued forward, going into a twenty-story hotel and waiting for Gaius to get the keys before they entered an elevator.

“So what now? Give him the eggs and leave tomorrow?” Gaius thought about it.

“Usually I wander around the town for a few days afterward, get a few treats to take home, are you anxious to get back to your friends?” she shook her head.

“Not safe for me to be seen near them, but at some point, Golden Lotus and North Wind will have to be seen in the same town, and the program doesn’t reach Hollow Shades for another two months,” while the program will be in Fillydelphia, it was on the other side of the city and nowhere near Dragontown.

She just hoped they didn’t run into any trouble of the rainbow maned and delusional variety.

Their hotel room was rather fancy though the bed was sunk into the ground with just a smooth rock as the surface.

Luckily there were pillows and a mattress in the closet for those who do not have a scaly constitution.

North settled in against a very large pillow while sipping her noodles, enjoying the spicy broth and the seafood mixed in with the noodles.

Though eating the mussels took a bit of maneuvering.

Unfortunately, the bowl was empty too soon and she stared at the licked clean porcelain with sad eyes, earning her a snort from Gaius who was still nursing his.

“If you want more food, you will have to order it from room service,” he told her, she considered it.

“How is room service ordered though?” he pointed at a set of bell-like objects near the bed and she was surprised to see kitchen, cleaning, and management underneath them. A menu was plastered against the wall and she looked it over before making her decision. She pulled down the kitchen one and flattened her ears at the shill ringing.

“Yes?” the voice on the other end sighed.

“Yes, a bowl of spicy seafood soup and a Bacon Lover’s Pizza with two egg tarts and two red bean buns please, oh, and a pitcher of Volcanic Tea, thank-you,” she let go of the bell and returned to her spot.

“Hungry are we?” she gave him a sheepish smile.

“Kind of,” even she was surprised by how hungry she was.

North was halfway through her pizza when the dragon appeared, entering in from the window and stopping when he spotted her with bacon pieces falling from her muzzle as she swallowed. Along with the empty bowls and the half-eaten buns, and tarts, which she was crumbling up to put on her pizza with a bottle of complimentary chili sauce they had sent up.

“Gaius, you didn’t tell me they lifted that silly meat ban in the pony world,” there was distaste in his tone on ‘pony’ and North didn’t let it get to her as the griffin looked up from his own slice, having saved a few from North’s experiments.

“They didn’t actually, ponies are still against eating meat, apart from the occasional order, most of my customers are griffins or Jewel Dogs, and then you, Master Po,” Po sniffed, looking unsurprised.

“The ponies were always so slow to change, so close-minded, but I didn’t think you would participate in their antics,” Gaius blinked.

“What do you mean?” Master Po scowled at him, his dragon whiskers bristling.

“You bring a Bearer of Wind and claim not to know?” North stiffened, wings lying flat against her sides and the slice slipping from her hoof.

“She’s not here for that,” the griffin commented, “She’s actually here to return something that she found in a black market,” taking the hint, North hurried to her bag and uncovered the eggs.

A green claw took them from her and she almost marveled at his speed as he looked at both eggs, giving them a once over.

“And how did a filly such as yourself end up in a black market?” Gaius nodded to her and North recounted her adventures in the caverns below Canterlot and how she and her friends found the eggs.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring them to you straight away because of the suspicion of the guards, and Gaius has had his cart searched every time he left Canterlot or anywhere else,” it was only luck that the station manager decided not to search further.

“I see, and that is the only reason you wish to see me? No other?” North felt confused, staring at him.

“No?” her body locked up at as her wings moved without her permission and wind swirled around, making her pale as she tried to close her wing to no avail.

“You’ve been binding your wings,” his growl stirred up the wind and Gaius came to her rescue.

“Her wings were bound for months when she was younger, and recently she’s only been wearing ones to hide her wings for disguise purposes.” a claw ran across her wing and it tickled making her jerk but her body was rooted to the spot.

“Your wing muscles are surprisingly developed for one who has never flown with them, do you not wish to learn how to control your Blessing,” she remained silent and there was a scoff, “I see, you are just like the others then, I suppose you plan on going to the Nocturne tribe next?” her cheek spasmed and Master Po growled, “You ponies never change, afraid of what they do not understand?” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I cannot control it-” “You haven’t tried-” “Every time I open them they’re slicing something up or sending something across the room. Look, I just came here to return the Dragon Eggs before I was spotted and they were taken back. I will be out of your scales and despite what you think, my Blessing is too strong and out of control to be one,” wind swirled around her but to her surprise it didn’t feel like it was coming from her.

“I see,” she did not like that quiet tone, at all.

Yep, she didn’t like it, nor the fact that her pizza was probably in the trash somewhere, attracting flies.

That jerk didn’t even let her finish before knocking her out!

So now she was at the bottom of some tall mountain with bamboo trees everywhere and no signs of life in sight.

All she had was a letter taped to her forehead with a sticker in the shape of a bowl of noodles.

“Dear North Wind,

If you think you can return Dragon Eggs and expect me to take them without question, you are rather naive. Despite your beliefs, Blessings of the Wind are not a curse and there is a way for you to be able to control it.

But you refuse to see it.

Gaius filled me in and while it is not all that surprising that ponies are still spreading around such false ideologies, I will not tolerate a filly of your strength giving up her Blessing as well.

The top of the mountain is your only exit in this place, any other way will have you walking in circles.

You have a week, Master Po,”

That was the end of the letter, nothing else, and upon looking behind her, she spotted the fog and decided against testing her luck.

But even as she made her way, she reminded herself that no matter what happened, giving up her Blessing was the only way she could avoid hurting anyone else.

Nothing would change her mind.

“I’m surprised you actually decided to kidnap her, Gaius was rather put out with you,” the familiar voice made Po look down at the small red canine next to him who lifted his paw, “One word,” the warning had the smile on his lips die, even as he looked forward again.

“So, you got out, didn’t expect to see you for another hundred years at least,” Ruffalo grimaced.

“You can thank that filly over there, lost control and her magic sliced right through the chains,” Po absorbed that information.

“Those chains were reinforced and enchanted,” “They were,” “They were made of magic,” “Yes,” “And she sliced right through them?” “Well her magic had been bound for a few months, so it was a bit off, but yes,” “How old was she?” “Five,” the answer made him frown, looking in the distance at the pegasus who was traversing one of the obstacles to get here, obstacles that wouldn’t be an issue if she actually flew.

Which she didn’t.

“Too many ponies let go of their Blessing, what is that alicorn thinking?” his tail smacked into the ground, creating a crack and causing a piece of the mountain to fall off.

“Don’t know, why don’t you ask her?” the dragon avoided the other’s gaze, feeling frustrated.

“I have nothing to say to that mare,” Ruffalo clicked his tongue.

“Right, and yet you just kidnapped one of her ponies who wasn’t going to you for training,” “Do you know what will happen if she gives up the Blessing?” Po demanded, “How very few out there still have it? If she ends up giving it up, who knows how powerful the next one would be?”

They dropped the subject in favor of observing the filly’s progress.

“Did you sense her magic?” “You mean the one that allows her to glow in the dark, yes,” “Should we be concerned about that as well?” “Who knows, pony magic is always so restrictive,” “Like draconic magic is any better?” “Touche.”

A yelp sounded in the distance as the filly dodged attacks from a boar and ran up a tree, making it ram headfirst and pierce its tusks through the bark. She dropped down from above and dealt the animal a finishing blow. She barely celebrated her victory when there was even more squealing and with a terrified expression she tore down the path, even more boars appearing out of nowhere to chase her down.

“Bet you three salmon steaks she makes it by sundown on the sixth day,” “Only salmon? I’ll throw in three sharks and two swordfish that she won’t be here till after the seventh day,” “Deal,” the two shook on it and silence surrounded them for a moment, the rising sun behind them making them realize how long they’ll be waiting.

“I don’t suppose you brought a board game?” Ruffalo pointed at a mining car behind him filled with different games.

“Raided one of your dragon stores, you’ll have to show me the rules,” the two immortals sat down to play, keeping one of their senses trained on the filly while one taught the other the rules of the game.

As the days passed, game after game was played or met their end due to an outburst by one of ther players. By the time the sixth-day set, Po was setting fire to the board game, and huffing reached their ears as the filly slowly appeared from a path, covered in mud and her blue mane singed in some parts. She collapsed against Ruffalo, burying her head in his bowl of soup and not even caring as she gulped it down.

He patted her with a crimson paw while holding out the other one to Po who grumbled to himself before snapping his claws, summoning a dragon to come flying down with the promised seafood that was placed into an empty cart.

“So, you managed to do that entire climb without needing the use of your wings, rather interesting,” head still in the bowl, North muttered something not so flattering as she blearily lifted her head enough to reach over and snatch a bun, swallowing it whole before resting again.

The green dragon gave her ten minutes of rest before grabbing her with one claw and ignoring her struggles, walking from the table to a large hole leading into the center of the mountain.

“Now that you passed this part of the test, let’s see how you can get to the bottom without dying,” he dropped her down the hole and chuckled at the curses she let out before gravity took hold.

“You realize that even that is not going to get her to fly right? She learned how to climb up walls with her hooves,” Po blinked at the canine.

“As I’m sure other ponies do who do not have the use of individual digits like us,” he wiggled his claw, Ruffalo snorted.

“No, I mean she learned how to climb up,” Ruffalo put away the games and went to his winnings, “Have fun training her,” the ground moved underneath them and ridges appeared below the cart as he hopped on top of the shark that was still twitching. With a wave of his paw the cart started moving, as did the mining car behind him.

Po rolled his eyes,

“Show-off,” despite their unexpected reunion, he still found the Jewel Alpha rather irritating. Then something occurred to him and he paused.

‘Has someone told him about what happened to the Lunar Princess yet?’ because he couldn’t think of a reason why there wasn’t any news about the canine being released.

Oh well, time to check on his newest student, even if he hated ponies.

North felt her hooves protesting the treatment but kept focusing through her exhaustion as she moved out of the way of spikes and avoided hitting her head when the passage got too narrow.

He was seriously wanting her to fly wasn’t he?
That dragon was in for a surprise.

Finally she saw the bottom and got ready to jumpy, launching herself and realizing too late that the red speck she saw wasn’t a pool of lava but was an actual dragon, a small one, that stood up and yawned.

“Wat-” he turned to her in alarm as she crashed right into him, sending both of them into the wall and she fell against the floor groaning.

Then there was a growl and something grabbed her wing making her still.

“What is a baby pony doing here?!” she turned and saw the dragon was holding her wing in his claws, sneering at her.

Something seemed familiar about him, but she was more concerned with the distance between him and her wings.

“If you don’t want to die, let go of my wing,” the warning fell on deaf ears as he plucked a feather, making her flinch as a wave of wind sent him crashing on the opposite side of the cave with a shout.

This is the moment when Po appeared, and she cursed her luck as he took in the scene, Her standing with wide eyes and the dragon buried in the wall with a feather in his claws.

“Garble go back to your training, you filly, come with me,” the name poked at something in her memory as she grudgingly followed the dragon, the both of them paying no mind to the dragon who stomped off into a separate cavern.

“Training?’ her question had him sighing.

“Most of the dragons send their young to me when they become worried about their wings growing late, and I try what I can to help. Otherwise they’ll try and force it which will cause holes or tears in a young dragon’s wings that will never heal. I can tell Garble is still months away from his Molting, but he seems rather impatient and easily led by his peers,” North hummed, wincing here and there as her sore hooves met the hot ground, “In here,” Po turned into a cavern and she was a step behind him before stopping at the pools of water in the cavern, all of them with steam rising up and different dragons throwing flowers into the water. As the duo went passed them, the dragons bowed to Po and gave her a strange look but did not say anything.

She wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.

“Here, this is the least likely one to boil you alive, you will take a bath and afterward we will be going to the Cloud Room,” she was forced to wash herself off in a nearby mini waterfall before slipping into the hot water. It felt very relaxing and she felt the soreness and aches wash away as the herbal waters did their magic.

Eyelids growing heavy, she sank into the water, feeling very sleepy and tempted to close her eyes for just one mom- being snatched from the water interrupted her relaxation and she groaned as they took her away from her long needed soak.

“Stop groaning, you were in there for two hours,” not nearly enough, she muttered to herself, causing a chuckle as the dragon took her through the dark caverns, dozing off and almost falling asleep again if he hadn’t dropped her onto hard ground.

“Your task for the next few weeks is to get up there,” he pointed up and she blinked several times, feeling the exhaustion disappear as she stared up and up into what she was pretty sure was the sky above. It wasn’t a straight flight either, as there were pillars and pathways that would make it difficult to maneuver, “Also, if you use that trick with your hooves, then I will knock you down to begin again,” she scowled at him.

“You do realize I never accepted this training right?” he smirked.

“Too bad, it’s training long overdue, and you won’t have t worry about hurting anyone or destroying the cave, the walls are reinforced and can be regrown. Do not worry about food or water,’ he pointed at some fruit trees near a small pond, “Water’s always clean, and if you think you can go out the other way?” a rumbling had her looking at the entrance in dismay as it closed in on itself.

She really had no option but to go up.

“How do you exp-” the question died on her tongue and she twitched, staring up at the disappearing green scales as their owner flew out with no issues.

And here North was hoping that flying would not come into the equation till her Blessing was gone.

But the dragon was not going to let her go, and there is nothing telling her she can’t give up the Blessing if she does not learn how to fly.

If it had been before this hellish week started she would have been more stubborn about it.

But rather than take the day’s flight up the mountain she did the slowest path of walking, and rather than wearing her hooves out sticking to the walls, she could have flown down and not crashed into that annoying dragon.

Right, she stared up with a resigned look, recalling the flights of the pegasus and how they moved their wings before taking a few steps back and broke into a run. She flapped her wings and suddenly she was in the air.

But she was going too fast and when she tried to gain control, she ended up somehow spinning and crashing against the wall.

“Ow,” this, this was going to take a while.

The second attempt ended up slicing her fruit tree in half, sending her food scattering across the grass and into the water.

Third attempt, she got two flaps before her wings, eager to be in the air, accelerated her speed, and crashed into a pillar, falling into the water below with a great crash.

By the tenth attempt, Po took pity and flew back down, frowning as he came across the ruined tree and the groaning filly rubbing her head.

“Right, maybe I should help give you some pointers,” he looked down to see her blinking glazed eyes and sighed, “After you wake up then,” he poked her forehead and she fell backward, falling asleep and softly snoring.

These were going to be a long two months.

And here he thought he wouldn’t be teaching ponies again after that incident with that stallion colt, what was his name again?

“You said she was spotted in Fillydelphia?” Wind Scar looked over the reports, frowning as he thought about the unfortunate scene at the ski resort.

And the fact that Celestia was finally cottoning on and was asking questions he’d rather she did not.

“Yes sir, do you want us to try and enter the city again?” he waved it off, his frown turning into a smirk.

“Actually, it’s fine,” the Dragon Eggs were an unfortunate loss, and he would track down those Griffin cubs sooner or later.

“Sir?” the questioning tone made him look at the stallion who flinched, but he just looked back down at his reports.

“I know where she is now, it doesn’t matter,” and if he needed to draw her out, that yellow pegasus should serve as the perfect bait.

The unicorn unfortunately was too close to the castle to try anything.

And that earth filly was gone as well.

Anyways, it didn’t matter, North Wind was still scared of her Blessing, still scared of doing anything with it.

He had her where he wanted her.