Evening to change fateby SaikaUnlimitedChapters1 Is it fate?2 I want to believe3 Beginning of a New Day4 Beginning of an journey5 Mystic Meeting1 Is it fate?On a grassy hill to the east of Ponyville a lonely blue pegasus is setting up her gear for a peaceful and quiet all night stargazing session, while the full moon already stands in its zenith "It's a lovely night for stargazing no cloud blocking the sky and I slept the whole day, so nothing stops me from enjoying the night. Except my stupid brain, which constantly reminds me of those stupid things like keeping contact with my former room mate and best friend or how I stay alive for another month. As if it's my fault our society is day centred and that no one has use for a night owl like me. One just has to wonder what happened." Jerra said quietly as she slowly drifted away into her memories. [I lost most of my friends to the distance between citys some moved to a diffrent city and the rest were left behind when my mother and me moved from Manehatten to Ponyville. I still remember the adventure that made me discover my love for electronic music. My best friend and I snuck into a nightclub and I was instantly mesmerized by the lights as I lost my senses to the music and the melodic movement of the DJ to the beat. It took my friend twenty minutes to get my attention and that only worked because he dragged me to an booth on the other side of the club at first I didn't understand why he wanted to take a seat since we both were bursting with energy until I noticed the grey earth pony ,we shared the booth with. She looked so elegant and classy with her bow tie, just by looking at her you could tell it was her first time in an club like this. (I only realised with whom we were sitting in that booth three weeks later as my mother dragged me to the last concert in Manehatten of the Canterlot Orchestra in which she was playing the Cello) I wonder how that crazy grey unicorn, I called best friend, is doing these days.] A sudden flash ripped Jerra out of her thoughts she then looked to the sky to look for the source of the flash and it didn't take long to find it since it was clearly a pony, a pony that was about to crash in her precious telescope [Come on Jerra now is not the moment to just stand here get in the air and catch the idiot before your equipment is destroyed!] She was already on the move, while that thought occured to her and she managed to slow the falling Pony down and crash land with him in her hoofs only two meters away from her stuff. The gray unicorn was the first to regain his senses or rather being snapped awake by the landing, shortly followed by the blue pegasus. After seeing her awake the unicorn said "Thanks for saving my flank Miss Hearthfire." The blue pegasus responded "You're welcome. Wait how the buck do you know my last name?" His answer was quite unexpected for the blue one "Come on Jerra. You can't tell me you forgot your best friend after mere two years." Jerra rapidly blinked for a moment and asked "Si-Silver is that really you?" "Yep, the one and only! Silver Lining." The gray stallion exclaimed playfully. "What in Equestria happened to you? Wasn't your mane color dark blonde and more curly than spiky?" She asked. "You know the usual procedure being kicked out of school for being too lose on the rules then killing time with other means like music and using magic to experiment with different mane styles and colors and finally traveling around looking up old friends. By the way did you know that both Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody live here in Ponyville, awsome right?" He stated nonchalantly. In a light shock the pegasus stammered "It....is.....cool, but how did you manage to get kicked out of that junkyard of school? I mean everypony there was breacking the rules on an daily basis and no Pony ever got any trouble! Wait you didn't hurt somepony, did you?" "Well no pony got hurt but still they could not laugh about the small chalk dust explosion I caused." He said guiltily. "Let me get this straight you caused an explosion and you didn't expect to get expelled for it. That was more than stupid what would you have done if somepony was hurt or if you were hurt?" "I would have faced every consequence, if that had happened. But it wasn't all bad. I got my cutie mark because of it and if you havent noticed it's a card of jack with every color of an regular card game and a chaos star in the middle." He said in an attempt to calm his friend down. "That's nice and all, but what reason could you possibly have to become the Pony version of Discord! I don't see the Pony from back then in front of me." Tears beginning to fall as she spoke these words. "I know I can't undo what I did, but ......" He began but was cut off by her. "No buts, buddy. There's nothing you could say to change the fact that you aren't the same anymore." Slightly dropping to her knees and crying a bit harder. Thanks to the bit of moonlight that's left her tears seem like silvery streaks running down her face. Every tear hurting him and every little sob feeding his guilt more, but he still does his best to kepp his composure as he reasures her. "I know that and I admit that I changed a lot, but the last thing I want to say to you is that I'll promise you to never do anything chaos related ever again and Luna be my witness if I ever do it again I shall lose my horn! But please stop crying and smile again, okay?" "I will stop crying and I'm willing to give you a second chance you were my best friend after all, but you better not expect me to go easy on you just because of that." "I wouldn't even dream about you going easy on me and if you want to punish me go ahead I won't complain." "Please don't get my hopes up and besides I could use the help of a friend myself. So will you be there when I need you?" She asks as the last of her tears twinkles in the light of the rising sun. Author's Note Hi, thanks for reading and if you have any tips for me feel free share them. 2 I want to believe“I'll stay with you as long as you need my help.” Silver proclaims as a mild breeze began to flow over the hill. “ Please tell me what is it that you need help with” He added after a short pause. “You really would do that? Well it's my life that I need help with. I would completely understand if you don't want to help any more since I'm asking too …” She managed to say before he cut her off. With a welcoming smile he said “It's not too much you ask of me, if that's what you need help with I'll gladly help you. Only problem is I need a place to stay.” Jerra embraced him in a big thanking hug as she tells him “Thank you! Thank you so much you can live at my house if you want. I just happen to have an empty bed at home since my last room mate left for Canterlot.” “Are you sure you want me to live with you? After all I want to help you and not to be a burden for you” He said while he gently rubbed her back. “Don't be silly!” She giggled. “You aren't a burden. I'd say you're more like a anchor that will keep me steady, but don't rub my back ever again.” She said with a menacing look in her eyes. “I hope I can live up to your expectations then, the last thing I wanna do is to disappoint you.” The Unicorn said with slight grin “Should we head to your house now or should we stay here for a bit longer?” Silver asked while staring at the clouds. With a dreamy face Jerra answered: “I'd say we stay for now and exchange stories even if I'm not interesting enough to have any story to tell, but I'll try my best. Why don't you go ahead. I mean you got to have quite a book full thanks to your travels.” “Oh I have a few good ones but what I really want to get out is that this whole situation reminds me of how we first met.” He said with a nostalgic smile. “Really? How?” The blue Pegasus exclaimed with surprise shaken voice. “Yeah! Well kind of. You might want to punch me for what I'm about to say, but it felt strange how we met and became friends. Not strange in a bad way more like strange in a there's more to it than just your standard friendship way, something deeper and more important. But I never managed to figure it out.” He tried to explain and make a little sense. “Okay..... I don't know where you're going with that, but if you confess that you love me I will punch you as hard as I can.” She warned him. “Good to know but I wasn't heading there. Before we met I was just a lonesom weirdo with too much interest in old magic but after we met a circle of lunatics formed around us. It took me quite some time to figure this whole deal out. How the pieces fit together the only ones I wasn't able to place yet are our pieces. You're the centre of our circle everypony we knew came and stayed because of you, I was merely a ghost or an echo of the old and mythical that no one else was and most likely is not interested in. So what was I for our circle? Was I the soil or was I the base? I don't know yet but I will figure it out one day and while I'm doing this I'll try my best to get our lives back on track. I know that sounds all kinds of crazy and like it might not even make sense but it does. Because destiny not straight planed out chain of events it's more like a wibbly wobbly mass.” He explained madly. “Do you always talk that much rubbish? Wait now I get it you want to fool me play a cruel joke on me you idiot.” Jerra giggled slightly. “Actually no I'm not joking. I'm an idiot that much is true and I'm only talking rubbish when the day is too long but all I said is my way of processing thoughts.” The Unicorn said plainly. “Oh great, so that means you won't shut up tomorrow!” She exclaimed. “Why? Is tomorrow special?” He asked sheepishly. “No it's just the day on which Ponyville hosts the Summer Sun Celebration. So totally not special at all, just the longest day of the year.” The Pegasus said her words dripping of sarcasm. “Wasn't there something related to the longest day of the year? Miss stars and prophecies.” He said teasingly. “Where should I start with the mare in the moon or with the legend of Nightmare Moon?” The blue one mused with fangirlish glee. “We've got banishment and return of the same mare, don't we?” The gray one pointed out calmly. “If you say it like that yeah both are about Nightmare Moon.” Jerra admitted. “Then I choose answer c none of the above.” The conversation fell silent with his statement and they both looked up into the sky. As they did they right away spotted a golden chariot heading towards Ponyville. “You're seeing this too, aren't you?” She asked bewildered. “Yeah I do. Do you want to check it out?” Silver asked, as the breeze carried the scent of white Iris with it. It's the smell both favoured but only of them would admit it. 3 Beginning of a New DayAs the chariot proceeded to land in Ponyville and the scent of the white Iris slowly got carried away Jerra made her decision. “Let's not. I want to go on an adventure!” Silver averted his eyes off the landscape to look at Jerra as he stated:“You know I'm always up for one. What do you have in mind?” “Well my plan is to go to the Castle of the Two Sisters and look for more informations on the prophecy and this whole elements of harmony business.” She explained with a spark of excitement in her eyes. “Sounds interesting, but I seem to miss the adventure part. To me this castle sounds like a public place, like a museum or something.” The gray Unicorn said bored by the mere thought. “Yeah the name is a little irritating. It's actually a ruin in the Everfree Forest, there you have your adventure and a big no on the public museum part. At least if you're not us, for us it is a museum, a library, a playground or a hideout. Let's pack my stuff and go there.” The nocturnal Pegasus explained with an innocent smile on her face. “Alrighty but there's one thing I don't understand and that is how Pegasi can pull a cart through the air. I mean seriously shouldn't the cart pull you down or something?” Silver asked with serious demeanour. In a moment of sudden realization Jerra said: “I never tried to do that. But now that you mention that. It's strange I mean for Alicorns it would be easy to pull off, but normal Pegasi how are they doing that?” “Anyways should we walk or fly there?” The chaotic Unicorn asked his friend, as he finished strapping all the stuff on the cart. “Since you're a unicorn I'd say we walk, unless you can suddenly fly.” She told him in a deadpan voice. “Of course I can't fly but I can levitate myself with magic and the cart wouldn't be a problem either.” Silver said with a smug grin on his face. “Right.....I totally forgot about the whole magic stuff sorry. I'm such an idiot sometimes.” She said in an almost self destructive way. “Woah! Where's that coming from. Listen you're not an idiot you are the smartest and most creative mare I've ever had the honour to get to know. So don't beat yourself up about a small thing like that.” He said in an surprised attempted to cheer her up. “Might be true but I should have thought of the possibility.” Jerra said in a still saddened tone of voice. In a further attempt to cheer her up he said:“Actually no. Most Unicorns seem to not even know about the possibility of it.” “You try to keep me positive even though we just met after two years.” She says as she slowly accepted his words. “We really need to get those thoughts out of your head. Come along now we're going to those ruins and we will research and whatever is necessary to get behind all that. There might even be a possibility to meet Nightmare Moon or the royal sisters, so cheer up and come with me or rather you have to show me the way.” The gray stallion said with all the determination he could find. The blue Pegasus brightened up a bit and said:“Okay. Thank you and now follow me!” They both took off into the air, Jerra lead the way while Silver levitated close behind her with her cart in tow. It didn't take them long to enjoy the fresh breeze as they soared through the air. After a while they started to talk again. “As fast as teleportation might be, there's no way of travelling that's more comfy than gliding through the air. And it's the perfect way to start an adventure.” Silver said with a soft smile on his face. “And it's faster than taking the train, but at the same time it's more tiring, so for long trips the train still wins. But if you can think of anyway that could make travel by flight accessible to everypony with the comfort of an train ride then go for it. I bet you could make a good coin with it, if you do it right.” Jerra suggested with an thoughtful expression. “Making something like that happen would be the right way already, everything else would just be a bonus. But then again there's no way one pony alone could manage that.” Her Unicorn friend explained. “Maybe we should travel around Equestria, get ourselves a team and do it after we are done here and make it possible to travel that way.” The Pegasus spouted with new determination. “You're saying that now but in the end you don't want to leave your life in Ponyville behind. I mean what would your mother say about that?” Silver interjected firmly. “I don't know. But I guess she would support me as long as she's sure I can handle it. Tell me what did your parents say about your plan?” She challenged him. “You mean my foster parents. They didn't say anything. I told them what I was about to do and left I didn't care if they objected or not. As soon as I closed the door behind me and I did my best to get out of town fast.” He countered fast, hoping to avoid the topic if possible. “Wow and you were on the road since then? That's hard to believe that your foster parents didn't do anything to find you.” The blue one stated a bit bewildered. “You're giving them too much credit if they did guards would have talked to me or tried to catch me or anything like that and since they didn't I figure they didn't do anything. But enough of my past what makes you so sure your mother would let you leave the town with out any safe place to stay?” The gray one changed the topic. “Well she allows me to live alone in a house. I don't see why she wouldn't allow me to travel with a friend.” Jerra said while glancing at the old castle “Anyways let's just focus on our adventure for now and discuss this later or do you want to keep hovering above the Ruins?” “All right, then let us dive into the library.......for now.” Silver acknowledged. “You don't have to rub it in. I know that I have to confront my mother with that idea.” She admitted. “Even if she might not like it.” She added as they headed into the library. Dust danced in the light coming through the window as they entered. The smell of old books made both of them feel welcome and at ease, but at the same time fascinated with the towering bookshelves filled with mostly forgotten knowledge just waiting to be recovered. “This place is a mess, but there sure are a lot of books. I will look for books on old, forbidden or forgotten magic. I hope I won't drool all over the important parts of the books.” The stallion exclaimed, while wiping some drool off of his muzzle. “You remember that we're here for research purpose and not some fun trip.” The mare mocked her friend as she examined one of the shelves. “What I do is research too. Just in another field. My fields are magic and mythical creatures so let's hit the books.” Silver said as he dusted off an old book. “Keep telling yourself it's research, but you're still right.” Jerra sighed. “You'll be happy for my research one day.” The Grey Unicorn whispered while copying an old map. A whole day of research, copying informations and sleeping on books later, a unfamiliar voice ripped them out of concentration or dream. “I return after a thousand years of confinement and what do I find in my old library? Two foolish foals snooping around.” A midnight blue Alicorn stated sternly. “Hey Jerra? Am I dreaming or is that really Nightmare Moon standing in front of us?” The stallion asked half asleep. “No you're not dreaming that really is Nightmare Moon.” The blue Pegasus confirmed. The atmosphere seemed to tense up with every spoken word. “In that case. It's an great honour meeting you in person your highness.” Silver, now fully awake, said with all the politeness he could possibly find. “Your highness, please excuse our intrusion. We would be honoured to assist you.....” Jerra stated with a slight bow before she was interrupted. “Oh you want to assist me? Aren't you afraid of me? Don't you despise my night?” Nightmare Moon asked, expecting them to confirm their despise or fear. “In order. Yes, we'd like to. No, we're more surprised than afraid and no, we love the night it's beautiful.” The Unicorn answered quickly and a little smug. The Pegasus started to explain: “But more importantly the night is as important as the day. Ponies nowadays are even enjoying the night as much as the day. Those who work hard are resting and others are blowing off stress at parties or in clubs there is just so much you can do in the night.” “What are you implying?” The Alicorn questioned in a threatening tone of voice. “I'm implying nothing all I'm saying is that there's more stuff you can do in the night than thousand years ago.” Jerra stated nervously. “So my sister made a better night than me. Is that what you're saying?” The midnight blue mare pushed further. “Oh no she wouldn't say such nonsense. I believe what my friend's trying to say is, if you cooperate with the Ponies of Equestria instead of solely focusing on ruling them you'd be able to make an even better nightlife than there already is and I think we should take our leave now before anypony says something regrettable and gets hurt. But do yourself the favour and think about what we said. Good night Princess.” Silver stated to try and defuse the situation. “What are you talkin....” The blue one started as she was interrupted by a bright flash “about...did you really have to teleport us out?” she asked flatly. “Yes I had to, since you had to put me in the position of the responsible one.” He said, while checking if all of their stuff got teleported too. “Sorry I guess, but you would have done the same. What do you mean with the responsible one? You did nothing except grabbing me and running away.” Jerra complained about the method. “Well yes I did for a good reason, if I hadn't intervened you might have landed us both in the dungeons or something. I..... I just had to get us out of there. Imprisonment is the last thing we need at the moment.” The Unicorn said while avoiding eye contact with the mare in front of him. “Fine you win this time. So what shall we do now?” The Pegasus gave up on arguing and wanted to face the future. “Let's head over to your place relax a day or two and then head over to Canterlot. The archives and the library there are filled to the brim with legends and old magic. Wait we still need to talk with your mother about our travel plans, so let's make it three to four days at your place. And we should probably get a map to plan our routes and where to go.” The grey stallion began plan out. “See you're fit as the responsible one.” Jerra giggled “You planned all that in what ten seconds or so. You might be chaotic but far from irresponsible. Let's go then!” She cheered as they headed back towards Ponyville. As they approached the edge of the forest they noticed the rising sun and interpreted it as a sign to leave the past behind and start into a bright future. 4 Beginning of an journeyTwo days had gone by since the events in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Jerra and Silver stayed at Jerras house to rest. They stayed inside her house for most of the time except for one uneventful trip to Sugarcube Corner for a tasty treat. On the morning of their third day reunited they decided visit Jerras mother and talk to her about their idea. “It's been quite a while since we last saw us, hasn't it Silver?” Mrs. Hearthfire asked with a warm smile as they sat by the fire place of her house. “Yeah I guess it's been two years or a little over it. Are you still in contact with my foster parents?” Silver replied with a small smile of his own. “No. No I don't, I only ever talked with them when there was something happening at your school.” The older mare answered reassuringly. “I see. Well there's something Jerra and I discussed a little while we were in the library of the old castle. I told her what I was doing for the past few months and what I did ever since you moved here.” The Unicorn started to explain. “And we talked about the luxury of flying and I suggested to travel around equestria looking for ponies who can help make flying available for everypony and not just Pegasi and Unicorns like Silver here.” Jerra finished the explanation of their idea. “And you wanted to ask me for permission? Jerra I have to admit that is surprisingly mature of you.” The light blue Pegasus said with a little bit of surprise in her voice. “Actually I was the one demanding it.” The grey stallion added with a hint of embarrassment on his face. Mrs. Hearthfire was taken a back by that as she said “That is even more surprising. Um sorry.” “No problem. I was kinda surprised by that myself.” Silver brushed the statement off as if he was used to it. “So mom what do you say may I travel with Silver? Or do you want me to stay around here in Ponyville?” The younger Pegasus asked a little shyly. “As much as I love to have you around, I know that there comes a time in a young ponys life where you just need to go out on an adventure. In other words go out and have your adventure, but be aware that I'm not around to help you the only one that can help you in this is Silver.” Her mother answered with motherly calmness. “I know mom.” Jerra acknowledged. “If my life has taught me anything so far then it's that at some point Jerra will be the one who has to bail me out.” Silver exclaimed with a chuckle. “That wasn't funny.” The blue Pegasus commented. “It wasn't a joke. I was serious for once. I mean you do know I blew up a classroom because I was bored.” The Unicorn in the room countered. “Right you did and I still think you should have attended Celestias School for gifted Unicorns.” Jerra said to change the subject. “I agree but my foster parents never gave me the chance to do so. It makes you wonder what would have become out of me if did attend it.” Silver trailed off in thought. “We will sadly never know, but with your knowledge of magic it would have to be someone important. Like a teacher at Celestias school or even a Royal advisor.” Mrs. Hearthfire decided to join in on the topic. “Might be but the probability of him in a stationary position is slimmer than the legs of a daddy long legs. He just loves adventures too much.” Jerra said jokingly. “She's right I'd rather do the fandango with a bunch of Changeling than to teach or be in a dusty office for the rest of my life. But that's beside the point, the point is I'm not cut out to be in any respected position.” He said jokingly as his eyes trail off towards the ceiling. “That's not quite true. To me it looks like you're actively keeping away from chances. How many opportunities did you have to live a stable life?” Mrs. Hearthfire deducted curiously. “Depends on the definition, because according to mine I've had none.” The Unicorn stated in an dismissive motion. “So what's your definition then?” Jerra questioned with new found interest in the topic. “Well a mare at my side and a decent job and an affordable flat or house.” Silver complied and gave her an honest answer. “Wow that is quite reasonable but in two years you never met somepony you could imagine your life with?” Jerra got closer to Silver and looked at him intently as she dug for further informations. “And you didn't have any job options either? And here I thought a Unicorn has all the possible option that don't require flying.” Mrs.Hearthfire said with a little disappointment in her voice. “Well you know that I've got an reputation in Manehatten and once I started to travel around I never stayed in one place long enough to make friends, to be completely honest these past few days are the longest I stayed in one place and got to sleep. As for the matter of Bits, I worked as a courier from time to time it gave me enough to sustain myself and my travels and it actually made travelling easier.” He explained calmly. “Well that's something. Well to change the topic how do you like Ponyville so far?” Mrs.Hearthfire changed the subject to something more endearing. “It's nice and quiet, even though I haven't seen much of it other than Jerras house and Sugarcube Corner.” Silver said with an relaxed smile sneaking across his face. “So you met Pinkie Pie and still say it's quiet around here?” Mrs.Hearthfire communicated her observation with surprise. “Pinkie who?” He said with an questioning look plastered across his face. “Pinkie wasn't there when we went for a snack.” The young Hearthfire tried to explain. “Oh okay that explains it.”The older Hearthfire accepted the explanation. After a few hours of talking and reconnecting with Jerras mother, Jerra and Silver made their way back to Jerras house to prepare and pack for the upcoming journey. “Well then what do we need for this adventure? I mean you do have a plan, don't you?” Jerra asked her now travel companion. “What do we need? The most useful are usually rope, a sharp knife and duct tape but we can pick that up on the road or after we were in Canterlot. And please as if I had a plan for any future stops yet, you can ask for that again after I compared the old map I copied to an up-to-date one.” Silver stated with a straight face while sprinkling in some sarcasm. “I have to say you're pretty fixated on this old map. Is there something you want to share with me? Some location maybe?” She released a series of question on him as she tiptoed around the room. “Well I can't say it'll be an destination in the future, but I have to verify it's actual location first it's marked on the old map as Puppeteers Curse but I have not a dang clue about the terrain or what the location might be nowadays. So map first then decision.” He explained with uncertain certainty. The blue Pegasus fluttered her wings slightly as she said: “Okay we'll visit the Canterlot library and then make our way there.” “I'd prefer the royal archives, but the library is a good choice too.” The Unicorn stated his preference but agreed with her choice. “Are you kidding me the archives? Are you aware how crazy that is?” She questioned as she looked at him petrified. “I'm aware of that. That's why I settle for the library. Because you're with me on this one otherwise I'd totally take the risk.” He explained and nudged her to get her out of her petrified state. “Why don't you consider it now then? I mean you know me.” Jerra inquired, while acting as if she was hurt by his nudge. “Well lil'J my reason is quite obvious. I just don't want to drag you with me in eventual imprisonment and that's a risk not worth taking.” Silver stated with a small chuckle. “If I didn't know any better I'd say you somehow developed feelings for me.” The Pegasus said with a cocky grin. “Nope I just dislike to risk the freedom of my friends.” The Unicorn said with a straight face. “We'll see about this. By the way how do you really make money on your travels?” She finally gave in to her curiosity “Of course you don't believe what I told your mother, even though it was partially the truth and since my love for old magic leads me into ruins I occasionally sell trinkets I find to the highest bidder.” He said with a sly little smile. “Sure and now the truth.” The blue one said with a knowing grin. “What I told your mother is the whole truth nothing sketchy nothing borderline legal. My mind and my skills might be heavily based on chaos but I'm not a criminal.” The grey one admitted defeat and told her the truth. “Okay. So how are we going to get by now that we are travelling together.” Jerra asked with a slight frown. “Well I guess we just have to wing it from now on.” Silver said in a laid back tone. “We wing it then. But you should keep the selling trinkets line in mind, you might be able to impress some fillies with it.” She said in a teasing tone. “Sure but only if I get a new face along the way.” He countered sarcastically. “Hey you never know maybe you meet somepony with no standards at all or a nice blind one.” The nocturnal Pegasus assumes jokingly. “Whatever, you should get to packing. And lil'J thanks for accompanying me.” The chaotic Unicorn said in a soft voice. “Maybe now you'll notice how important you are for my life, but since we both changed a lot you probably won't.” Jerra whispered to herself as she walked to her room. After finishing packing the two of them made their way to Canterlot via train shortly after they arrived at the Canterlot train station they spotted an strange and seemingly out of place entity at the other end of the station. “Hey mister mythical creatures ever read about something like what's standing over there?” Jerra asked as she poked Silvers shoulder to draw his attention to the other end of the station. “Maybe, but only one way to make sure.” Silver stated as he started to make his way over. They swiftly made their way through the crowd of ponies over to the mysterious stranger. As soon as they reached him Jerra started a conversation. “Excuse me. My friend and I were wondering if you'd be willing to answer us one question?” Jerra asked curiously, but still polite. “Okay you may ask your question, but it sure is a strange way to approach someone.”The stranger commented as he agreed to answer their question. “Would you happen to be an Peryton?” Silver asked without any hesitation. “Funny I didn't expect anypony would know the name of my kind these days.” The now identified Peryton chuckled slightly as he took a bit of pride in his kind being recognised. “Well there isn't much knowledge about your kind left nowadays all, there is to go on are the name and the title guardian of the forest. Oh and a rough description that varies from source to source.” The grey Unicorn explained quickly. “We are lost from history then. What a shame.” The unnamed Peryton deducted by the quick explanation. “The reason is probably that none of your kind show up anymore.” The Pegasus hazarded a guess. “That might be, but then again we weren't needed after the princesses showed up, so my ancestors went far to the west. They kept the stories and teachings the different equestrian inhabitants shared with them. And those old stories are the reason why I'm here. I tried to convince my tribe to work close with ponies once again but everyone thought of it as ridiculous and since I was quite persistent about it I kinda got kicked out.” The brown coated half bird told them in an quick and informative manner. “Would you look at that another one that got kicked out of something.” She commented excitedly. “Yeah but you can hardly compare him with me. He got kicked out of his tribe while I got kicked out of an bad school.” The Unicorn discarded her comment in an deadpan manner. “What did you do pinched your teachers flank or played a prank on the principle?” The half deer poked fun at the Unicorn. “I blew an classroom up so yeah. I got bored one day and pulverized a lot of chalk, spread it in the air and let a spark of magic do the rest.” Silver nonchalantly retold what he did to get expelled. The Peryton was shocked to hear such a thing and said: “Wow just wow. I never expected to hear a pony tell about something like that, but I should go now.” “Wait can you tell us your name before you go?” Jerra asked quickly. “Sorry I can't.” The Chimera said after a short moment of silence. “Interesting why would that be?” The chaotic Unicorn asked with peaked interest. “Well it's kind off a culture thing my given name is only known among my tribe and I don't have a name among the equestrian population yet.”The young stagexplained his situation. “How about Vis as your name?” The grey stallion offered. “Vis that should work, even though I didn't ask for it. Does it mean something?” The now named Peryton asked as he accepted the name. “If my memory serves me correct it's an ancient word for nature.” Silver translated after a short moment of thought. “Very well then the two of you may call me Vis from now on. But still I need to go now. Good bye.” Vis told them as he spread his massive wings and took off into the sky. “Bye!” The two Ponies shouted after him. “So a Peryton is a mix between bird and deer, kinda like a Griffon.” The Pegasus said intrigued by the encounter. “Not quite like a Griffon that would be a Hippogriff, but they are just a matter of myth, but then again they are all part of the same family. Any ways let's go to the library.” The Unicorn explained as he started to make his way to the library. They decided to take the route along the Canterlot Castle garden. It's a quite busy street so they both decided to fly low above the crowds to avoid getting separated from each other. “Say Silver, what are you expecting to find at this Puppeteers Curse place?” Jerra asked and when she got no answer, she started to look around for Silver “Silver? You got to be kidding me! How the buck did I lose him? I have to find him before something stupid happens. Silver where are you?! If you can hear me get your dang flank back to me this instance!” She shouted in an attempt to hopefully grab her friends attention. “Excuse me miss. I don't know why you shout for me in that manner but here I am. Commander Silver Shield of the Royal Guard how can I help you?” Silver Shield asked after he introduced himself. “Oh I'm terribly sorry sir. But there is a misunderstanding here I was actually shouting my friends name who coincidently is also named Silver, Silver Lining to be precise, and he seems to have this strange habit of falling asleep while levitating himself and float of to where ever.” The blue Pegasus explained the situation in an angry and slightly panicked fashion. “I see that might be a problem. Where did you last see him?” The Commander asked her in an calm voice. “Near the castle, he better not cause any trouble in the garden of the castle or worse.” She said slightly more angry now. “What's the worst thing that could happen?” The armoured Unicorn asked, hoping to shift the mood. “Well he might drop from the sky onto a guard or worse on the princess or he might crash through the window of princess Celestias bedroom or worse her bathroom.” Jerra answered now more panicked than angry. “Okay let's relax for a bit. Would you kindly tell me your name miss?” Silver Shield requested to distract her a bit from the situation. “Oh right I didn't introduce myself, did I? Well I'm Jerra Hearthfire and I really think we should get going before anything can happen.” The passionate Pegasus introduced herself with a calm facade but remarked the need for urgency. “Yes and we should hurry.” The grey Unicorn guard acknowledged her remark and ordered her “Follow me!” Silver Lining was levitating above the garden hitting some smaller branches from time to time, while Jerra and Commander Silver Shield were rushing towards the garden of Canterlot Castle. Jerra and the Commander could only watch in mild shock as Silver fell out of a tree face first towards a medium sized cake. The falling unicorn awoke shortly before smashing into the cake, but couldn't avoid it and landed face first in the cake sitting on a table in front of Princess Celestia, splashing her and a nearby guard with cake. “Um hello Princess I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your afternoon tea, but I think I can fix the cake.” Silver said in an apologetic tone. “And how do you intend to do so?” Princess Celestia questioned with curiosity in her voice. “With an very old spell I found a few months ago.” The cake covered answered as he pulled out his notebook. “Okay you may proceed.” The white Alicorn said intrigued by what she heard. “Very well all I need to do now is find the right page of my notebook and here it is.” he said as he flipped through the pages of his worn out notebook. After finding the right page he concentrated on the cake and recited the words written on the page “Sit tempus unda supina.” As soon as the words were spoken, the cake rebuild itself as if time was flowing backwards for the sweet treat. “That was impressive, I haven't seen this kind of magic since Starswirl the Bearded. Tell me how come a talented Unicorn like yourself never attended my school for gifted Unicorns?” The Princess questioned surprised by the display of old magic. “My foster parents wouldn't let me. That's the whole reason but that didn't stop me from learning and studying magic. Speaking of which I need to get to the library and catch up to my friend. Oh wait there she is.” The grey Unicorn explained in an flat voice. “Silver that was amazing! I can't imagine what else you learned in the past two years.” Jerra exclaimed completely astonished by what she just witnessed. “Oh I haven't even introduced myself, have I? My name is Silver Lining and the mare over there is called Jerra Haerthfire. It was really nice meeting you princess and the cake was fun but my friend and I need to head over to the library.” Silver said in an polite tone of voice. “May I ask what you're researching?” The rainbow maned Alicorn asked curiously. “Of course, I need a modern map to find the location of an old curse of which I roughly know where it might be.” The chaotic Unicorn gladly provided the requested information as if he was simply sharing an homework assignment. “A curse? I hope you aren't planing on using it on somepony.” Princess Celestia said in a worried but warning tone. “I assure you I don't have any plans like that. Now it was an honour to speak to you and I'll bring you an copy of the curse for the royal archives. Goodbye princess.” He reassured the Princess as he walked over to his friend. “It was an honour. Goodbye Princess.” The blue Pegasus said her goodbyes politely to the Princess and shortly after they were out of the garden she asked her friend: “That was amazing, how did you do that cake thing?” “That was just reciting the right words and then the magic just happens. But let me tell you time is easier than fixing a hair problem.” Silver explained with a small laugh at the end. “But aren't you using magic on your hair?” Jerra asked him in confusion. “Yes, but I'm not fixing an problem I'm modifying my mane colour and maybe to style it.” The Unicorn simply stated to clear her confusion. “I see, so it's easier to create an problem than to fix it.” The Pegasus deducted with the provided information. Afterwards they quickly made their way to the library, where Silver immediately sought out different maps of Equestria and compared them to the old one he copied at the old Castle of the two Sisters. In the meantime Jerra was wandering around the bookshelves near her friend, when she heard a familiar voice next to her. “Jerra what brings you to Canterlot?” An emerald green eyed Earth Pony asked in an hushed but surprised voice. “Emerald? What a surprise and to answer your question he did.” Jerra whispered back to her in a friendly tone as she pointed at Silver. “Never thought you'd ever have a coltfriend and a handsome one at that.” Emerald teased the Pegasus Quietly. “Listen Em it's not like that he's an old friend from my Manehatten days, there's nothing between us.” The gold eyed Pegasus explained in low volume. “Oh lil' J sometimes I think I understand you better than you do. Now then why are you two here?” The beige Earth Pony asked with curiosity in her eyes “Not much just getting a modern map to figure out the exact location of something ancient, you know the usual.” The blue Pegasus stated as if she ordered a coffee. “Your interest in this kind of stuff fascinates me almost as much as your nonchalantness about it as if it was a trip to the bakery.” The ivory maned mare said while she nudged the other mare. “I thought you were fascinated by the fact that I can function with less than eight hours of sleep.” Jerra said as the two walked over to Silver. She then proceeded to introduced her friends to one another. “Now then let me introduce you to Silver Lining. Silver this here is Emerald Dust.” “Nice to meet you Silver. Have you found what you were looking for?” Emerald asked as she glanced over some of the maps spread out in front of the Unicorn. “Yes I have it's two days south from Appleloosa, thanks for asking. So what's your weird obsession?” Silver answered her and shot her an rather blunt question. “WHAT? I studied cartography, but I wouldn't call it an obsession. I don't think I have anything that might qualify as such. Why would you even ask something like that?” The beige Pony said slightly offended by the question. “Sorry if I offended you by that, but it's just that I find it hard to believe that Jerra has a normal friend but I suppose it's possible.” The grey Unicorn apologized with a small explanation. “What's that supposed to mean?” The Pegasus questioned her friend. “Not much just that I'm your friend and I'm not normal neither were any of our or rather your friends back in the day.” He stated while giving Jerra a flat look. “I guess you have a point. Anyways Emerald what are you doing these days?” Jerra admitted and threw a question to the other mare to change the subject. “Not much other than spending my day here in the library ever since I stopped studying.” Emerald answered nonchalantly. “So you're a cartographer now that's cool.” The blue mare assumed by her friends statement. “Actually I'm not I just stopped. Say would you mind if I accompanied you guys?” The emerald eyed Earth Pony confessed and followed it up with a new topic. “Uh...wh-why? I mean I don't mind but why would you want to do this?” The Pegasus stumbled over her words at first but came through in the end. “I don't know for a change of pace I guess. And what's your verdict?” The beige mare said and looked at the stallion. “I can't guarantee the place will be safe or easy to reach, so if you feel like you can handle it be my guest.” Silver listed and stated his conclusion with a smile. “Awesome! Let's go then if get a train now we can be in Appleloosa by tomorrow morning.” Emerald cheered and exclaimed but got quickly shushed by other visitors of the library. After a short while of talking they made their way back to the train station with a short stop at Emeralds flat so that she could grab some supplies. They managed to get on a train heading towards Appleloosa. 5 Mystic MeetingAfter an uneventful overnight train ride the three friends arrived in Appleloosa where they rested a little and stocked up on food and other essentials for their walk through the desert. The trio started their two day journey through the desert once they finished all their necessary preparation. “So it's two days of walking south in a straight line from here?” Emerald while scanning the horizon in front of her. “Pretty much. We might even be able to make the trip in a little less than two days, if we don't take too many brakes that is.” Silver replied while doing the same as his green eyed companion. They have been walking for almost two days, with only a few brakes, when reached the final stretch Emerald whined “Ugh..... how far do we still have to go?” “Oh come on Em, I can already see it. At least I hope what I see is what we are looking for.” Jerra said to keep her beige friend going while spotting a small tower in the distance. “Don't worry it should be what we are looking for. But even if it isn't, it's at least a place where we can rest with a roof over our heads.” Silver reassured his two friends as he picked up his pace slightly. “How are you two not phased by the heat or the sun or the sand?” The beige Earth Pony asked in disbelief at the energy of her friends. “I think we're just ignoring the heat and sand. As for the sun our shades do a pretty good job making the sun bearable, you should've brought some as well.” The blue Pegasus said after a short pause. “I would've done that, if they weren't broken. Let's hurry now I want to get out of the sun.” The green eyed mare said in an annoyed voice, while she started to run forward. It didn't take them long reach the small tower like structure. They were able to enter it over a small balcony that now resides on ground level. The balcony connected to a small study filled with bookshelves made from natural oak wood filled with books of unknown age or origin. Above the door ,that presumably lead to a stairwell, was a circular inscription with a dark purple crystal in it's center. That crystal flashed brightly once the trio reached the middle of the study. Emerald woke up alone in a colourful meadow filled with wildflowers. “What happened? More importantly where am I?” “Ah young one you're finally awake. Are you feeling alright?” echoed a seemingly omnipresent voice. “Except for a headache I'm feeling better than before I passed out actually. But could you please show yourself, I really don't like speaking to a disembodied voice.” the mare explained, while looking all around herself “Understandable. Tell me young one are you not wondering where your friends are?” the owl like spirit asked as he appeared in front of Emerald. She sheepishly replied “I do. Can you tell me?” “Your winged friend has pressed on forward and your magic using friend turned back and is now waiting where you last remember. What will you do young one?” the spirit explained in a matter of factly fashion. “That doesn't sound right. They wouldn't split up and leave a friend behind or rather Jerra wouldn't and it's even stranger that Silver would turn back he was adamant to find this place.” Emerald muttered to herself as something dawned on her “Wait a sec where am I even, this isn't the old tower I passed out in.” “Oh is that the case? What makes you so sure that they would not leave you alone?” the spirit asked teasingly. “Okay then let me enlighten you. My friend Jerra is not the kind of Pony that leaves friends behind and her friend Silver is driven but I don't want to believe he would do that either and we are clearly standing in a nice flower filled meadow last I remember I was in a tower in a desert. So I don't believe what you said about my friends.” the emerald eyed pony explained rather aggressively. “Well done young one. You figured it almost all out. But have you considered that you never moved out of the tower?” the ancient owl said with a cocked head. “No, I haven't. I assumed I was knocked out while being teleported here, but I guess that could be.... wait WHAT?!” the Earth Pony exclaimed in surprise. “Yes young one you are still in the tower right next to your friends. But I can only let you proceed further inside by a test of heart.” the ancient spirit explained. “Okay go ahead what's the test?” Emerald inquired. “I will ask you a few questions that you shall answer with absolute truth. Tell one lie and you shall not venture past your point of entry.” the spectral owl explained sternly. “I understand and I'm ready.” the mare stated firmly, after she took in a deep breathe. “What is your name?” the ancient spirit asked his first question “My name is Emerald Dust but my friends call me Em.” “Speaking of your friends. The two that came here with you, what are their names and why did they come here?” “Well their names are Jerra Hearthfire and Silver Lining. Jerra came here because she was bored with her life in Ponyville and wanted to go on an adventure with her old friend. As for Silver, all I know is that he's seeking some kind of old curse and that he's friends with Jerra so I guess he doesn't have bad intentions.” Emerald told the spirit but wavered a little on the last thing she said. “You guess that last part but it's still the truth to you. What do you know about this place?” “If you mean the place I'm in right now not really anything and if you mean the tower that my body is in, nothing more than the location and what I saw as I entered.” Emerald said calmly. “Why did you join your friends on this journey?” “Pretty much the same reason why Jerra joined Silver, I was bored.” “ Is that really all there is to it?” the ghostly owl inquired with slightly peaked interest “No, I also didn't see any future for me in Canterlot. I wasted my time studying a field that needs to be experienced not learned exclusively from books.” Emerald explained with a hint of excitement in her voice. “So there was more to it. What are you hoping to discover?” “Nothing. I just want to experience the world around me and share the knowledge I have with those who are willing to listen.” the emerald eyed pony said with a small smile. “I didn't expect such an answer from such a young soul. But you seek to share knowledge, which is admirable. And I grant you access to this house of knowledge.” the spirit said as he spread his ghostly wings while the meadow filled a warm light. “Thank you.” were Emeralds last words to the ancient Spirit, before she woke up. As she woke up she saw Jerra and Silver waiting for her. Jerra was startled as she woke up surrounded by knights in dark red armor and said “Why are there knights looking at me?” The knights quickly bowed to her in recognition and stepped to the side revealing a long stretched hall behind them. Decorated with all kinds of banners, trinkets, statues, paintings and hardwood furniture. “Wow! This hall is so.....” the blue pegasus started to say something but is interrupted halfway through by a tall unicorn mare. “Beautiful? I know. I was the one who decorated it. My name is Nightfire; now would you kindly share what brings you to my former residence, miss Hearthfire.” Nightfire explained as she walked up next to Jerra. “Sure, seeing as you are serving as a guardian for this place. My friend found a map that led here, he is looking for an old curse, and I just tagged along because I was bored.” Jerra explained as if what she said was the most normal thing in the world. “Oh, aren't you surprised that I know your name? But that aside what is it that you're expecting to find on your journey?” the unicorn mare questioned calmly. “I was a little shocked to hear my last name but I chalked it up to you being some kind of manifestation of my mind. As for your question I'm not expecting anything from it, I might be hoping to deepen my relationship with my friend Silver but nothing more.” the Pegasus explained rationally. “HAHAHAHA! You are living up to your family name, at least judging by what you just said. But you are mistaking in one aspect I am no manifestation of mind but your bloodline.” the older mare laughed and pointed out. “What are you talking about?” Jerra asked in a confused tone and a tilted head. “How should I put it, I'm basically your aunt from a couple thousand years ago. My sister Winter was the first Pony to carry the family name Hearthfire, as far as I know that is.” Nightfire said to help Jerra out of her confusion “So if I understand this correctly then the building that my body is in at the moment is the birthplace of my family name, right?” “Yes.” “Do I technically have the right to claim ownership over this property and is your full name Nightfire Hearthfire?” “I believe you do have that right and no my full name is Amber Nightfire and I was the last one to reside here.” Amber said with a sad smile. Jerra didn't notice Ambers smile and said “I can't wait to see how this place held up. By the way what were you doing here in the middle of nowhere?” “We were independent lore-keepers. We archived spells, legends, myths, stories and even a few religious texts. It's amazing how much we collected here over generations, I believe there are a few family heirlooms that started out as payment from the rest of ponykind and you know, the best part about it is it's all yours now. You can share it with your friends or keep it all to yourself. It's all up to you.” the tall unicorn explained in a fast-paced manner. “Why would I ever keep this from my friends? I mean what kind of friend would I be if I didn't share it with them? I'm interested in all the legends and prophecies that are stored here and I bet Silver would love to read his way through everything magic and mythical creature related and Emerald might be able to track down interesting places on a map. This is so exciting!” Jerra exclaimed radiating excitement. “I would love to spend more time with you, but I believe it's time you continue your journey.” the amber eyed unicorn noted. “I agree, maybe we can talk again later aunty.” the blue Pegasus agreed with a big smile on her face. “I'll be here if you find a way to talk to me. Farewell.” Amber said with a small smile of her own. Jerra was the first one to regain consciousness. After a short moment of confusion, she shook her head and reoriented herself. And as she looked around the room she started to pace. With a small groan, Silver woke up in a forest of some sort “Let's see there are leaves on the ground and lush green around me, interesting.” “As expected you are the calmest of your group. Oldened soul tell me what you desire.” the ancient spirit greeted. “I desire nothing other than knowledge, I don't intend to use any spells that might cause harm to others.” Silver explained calmly as he tried to figure out where exactly he was. “You already acted against your statement in the past. Why should I entrust you with the knowledge kept in this mansion?” the spirit inquired sharply. “If you're talking about the Time spell then I can assure you I never use spells I can't control or spells I haven't completely studied yet. Especially now that I travel with my friend.” the grey Unicorn elaborated a little. “Interesting. Now let's proceed with testing you.” the ancient owl moved on without another question. 'T lx ly pypxj ez pgpcj xzcelw estyr. T htww yze deza lyo T htww yze cpde. Hsz lx T?' “To get to my riddles core you need keys of which eleven you have already scored the twelfth still needs to be found.” the ancient spirit gave him one clue and observed the reaction of the pony in front of him. “Well isn't that a nice challenge. Let's see what you're hiding.” Silver didn’t show much of a reaction as he accepted the spirits challenge. “It appears to be just a bunch of random letters, but I bet there's more to it. Maybe it's some kind of code. But what about the clue with the keys, that doesn't make sense for a code, which means I'm looking at a cypher and not a code. So that makes eleven or twelve my keys to possibly decrypt the question and then it should be easier from there.” the Unicorn analyzed quickly. “Impressive, you are the fastest to identify it.” the ghostly owl praised the Unicorn. “Okay, let's see what I'll get when I use twelve as the key.” ‘H zl zm dmdlx sn dudqx lnqszk sghmf. H vhkk mns rsno zmc H vhkk mns qdrs. Vgn zl H?’ “Hmmm, not twelve so it has to be eleven.” ‘I am an enemy to every mortal thing. I will not stop and I will not rest. Who am I?’ “Well that was easy, if you know what you're doing. So then next is the question. Hmmm…..an enemy who doesn't stop or rests. The obvious answer would be death, but it explicitly stated mortal things. So my answer is going to be time.” Silver answered confidently, after his decoding and thinking about the possible answers for a short while. “You really are an interesting pony.” the spirit said with a smirk on his ghostly beak. “Was my answer correct or was wrong?” he asked the owl, with a questioning look. “You were spot on, your first conclusion would also have been correct. So you may go on into the mansion” the spirit answered him, as the wind picked up speed and created a vortex of leaves all around Silver. Silver closed his eyes and as he opened them again he was back in the study, where Jerra was pacing back and forth.
1 Is it fate?On a grassy hill to the east of Ponyville a lonely blue pegasus is setting up her gear for a peaceful and quiet all night stargazing session, while the full moon already stands in its zenith "It's a lovely night for stargazing no cloud blocking the sky and I slept the whole day, so nothing stops me from enjoying the night. Except my stupid brain, which constantly reminds me of those stupid things like keeping contact with my former room mate and best friend or how I stay alive for another month. As if it's my fault our society is day centred and that no one has use for a night owl like me. One just has to wonder what happened." Jerra said quietly as she slowly drifted away into her memories. [I lost most of my friends to the distance between citys some moved to a diffrent city and the rest were left behind when my mother and me moved from Manehatten to Ponyville. I still remember the adventure that made me discover my love for electronic music. My best friend and I snuck into a nightclub and I was instantly mesmerized by the lights as I lost my senses to the music and the melodic movement of the DJ to the beat. It took my friend twenty minutes to get my attention and that only worked because he dragged me to an booth on the other side of the club at first I didn't understand why he wanted to take a seat since we both were bursting with energy until I noticed the grey earth pony ,we shared the booth with. She looked so elegant and classy with her bow tie, just by looking at her you could tell it was her first time in an club like this. (I only realised with whom we were sitting in that booth three weeks later as my mother dragged me to the last concert in Manehatten of the Canterlot Orchestra in which she was playing the Cello) I wonder how that crazy grey unicorn, I called best friend, is doing these days.] A sudden flash ripped Jerra out of her thoughts she then looked to the sky to look for the source of the flash and it didn't take long to find it since it was clearly a pony, a pony that was about to crash in her precious telescope [Come on Jerra now is not the moment to just stand here get in the air and catch the idiot before your equipment is destroyed!] She was already on the move, while that thought occured to her and she managed to slow the falling Pony down and crash land with him in her hoofs only two meters away from her stuff. The gray unicorn was the first to regain his senses or rather being snapped awake by the landing, shortly followed by the blue pegasus. After seeing her awake the unicorn said "Thanks for saving my flank Miss Hearthfire." The blue pegasus responded "You're welcome. Wait how the buck do you know my last name?" His answer was quite unexpected for the blue one "Come on Jerra. You can't tell me you forgot your best friend after mere two years." Jerra rapidly blinked for a moment and asked "Si-Silver is that really you?" "Yep, the one and only! Silver Lining." The gray stallion exclaimed playfully. "What in Equestria happened to you? Wasn't your mane color dark blonde and more curly than spiky?" She asked. "You know the usual procedure being kicked out of school for being too lose on the rules then killing time with other means like music and using magic to experiment with different mane styles and colors and finally traveling around looking up old friends. By the way did you know that both Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody live here in Ponyville, awsome right?" He stated nonchalantly. In a light shock the pegasus stammered "It....is.....cool, but how did you manage to get kicked out of that junkyard of school? I mean everypony there was breacking the rules on an daily basis and no Pony ever got any trouble! Wait you didn't hurt somepony, did you?" "Well no pony got hurt but still they could not laugh about the small chalk dust explosion I caused." He said guiltily. "Let me get this straight you caused an explosion and you didn't expect to get expelled for it. That was more than stupid what would you have done if somepony was hurt or if you were hurt?" "I would have faced every consequence, if that had happened. But it wasn't all bad. I got my cutie mark because of it and if you havent noticed it's a card of jack with every color of an regular card game and a chaos star in the middle." He said in an attempt to calm his friend down. "That's nice and all, but what reason could you possibly have to become the Pony version of Discord! I don't see the Pony from back then in front of me." Tears beginning to fall as she spoke these words. "I know I can't undo what I did, but ......" He began but was cut off by her. "No buts, buddy. There's nothing you could say to change the fact that you aren't the same anymore." Slightly dropping to her knees and crying a bit harder. Thanks to the bit of moonlight that's left her tears seem like silvery streaks running down her face. Every tear hurting him and every little sob feeding his guilt more, but he still does his best to kepp his composure as he reasures her. "I know that and I admit that I changed a lot, but the last thing I want to say to you is that I'll promise you to never do anything chaos related ever again and Luna be my witness if I ever do it again I shall lose my horn! But please stop crying and smile again, okay?" "I will stop crying and I'm willing to give you a second chance you were my best friend after all, but you better not expect me to go easy on you just because of that." "I wouldn't even dream about you going easy on me and if you want to punish me go ahead I won't complain." "Please don't get my hopes up and besides I could use the help of a friend myself. So will you be there when I need you?" She asks as the last of her tears twinkles in the light of the rising sun. Author's Note Hi, thanks for reading and if you have any tips for me feel free share them.
2 I want to believe“I'll stay with you as long as you need my help.” Silver proclaims as a mild breeze began to flow over the hill. “ Please tell me what is it that you need help with” He added after a short pause. “You really would do that? Well it's my life that I need help with. I would completely understand if you don't want to help any more since I'm asking too …” She managed to say before he cut her off. With a welcoming smile he said “It's not too much you ask of me, if that's what you need help with I'll gladly help you. Only problem is I need a place to stay.” Jerra embraced him in a big thanking hug as she tells him “Thank you! Thank you so much you can live at my house if you want. I just happen to have an empty bed at home since my last room mate left for Canterlot.” “Are you sure you want me to live with you? After all I want to help you and not to be a burden for you” He said while he gently rubbed her back. “Don't be silly!” She giggled. “You aren't a burden. I'd say you're more like a anchor that will keep me steady, but don't rub my back ever again.” She said with a menacing look in her eyes. “I hope I can live up to your expectations then, the last thing I wanna do is to disappoint you.” The Unicorn said with slight grin “Should we head to your house now or should we stay here for a bit longer?” Silver asked while staring at the clouds. With a dreamy face Jerra answered: “I'd say we stay for now and exchange stories even if I'm not interesting enough to have any story to tell, but I'll try my best. Why don't you go ahead. I mean you got to have quite a book full thanks to your travels.” “Oh I have a few good ones but what I really want to get out is that this whole situation reminds me of how we first met.” He said with a nostalgic smile. “Really? How?” The blue Pegasus exclaimed with surprise shaken voice. “Yeah! Well kind of. You might want to punch me for what I'm about to say, but it felt strange how we met and became friends. Not strange in a bad way more like strange in a there's more to it than just your standard friendship way, something deeper and more important. But I never managed to figure it out.” He tried to explain and make a little sense. “Okay..... I don't know where you're going with that, but if you confess that you love me I will punch you as hard as I can.” She warned him. “Good to know but I wasn't heading there. Before we met I was just a lonesom weirdo with too much interest in old magic but after we met a circle of lunatics formed around us. It took me quite some time to figure this whole deal out. How the pieces fit together the only ones I wasn't able to place yet are our pieces. You're the centre of our circle everypony we knew came and stayed because of you, I was merely a ghost or an echo of the old and mythical that no one else was and most likely is not interested in. So what was I for our circle? Was I the soil or was I the base? I don't know yet but I will figure it out one day and while I'm doing this I'll try my best to get our lives back on track. I know that sounds all kinds of crazy and like it might not even make sense but it does. Because destiny not straight planed out chain of events it's more like a wibbly wobbly mass.” He explained madly. “Do you always talk that much rubbish? Wait now I get it you want to fool me play a cruel joke on me you idiot.” Jerra giggled slightly. “Actually no I'm not joking. I'm an idiot that much is true and I'm only talking rubbish when the day is too long but all I said is my way of processing thoughts.” The Unicorn said plainly. “Oh great, so that means you won't shut up tomorrow!” She exclaimed. “Why? Is tomorrow special?” He asked sheepishly. “No it's just the day on which Ponyville hosts the Summer Sun Celebration. So totally not special at all, just the longest day of the year.” The Pegasus said her words dripping of sarcasm. “Wasn't there something related to the longest day of the year? Miss stars and prophecies.” He said teasingly. “Where should I start with the mare in the moon or with the legend of Nightmare Moon?” The blue one mused with fangirlish glee. “We've got banishment and return of the same mare, don't we?” The gray one pointed out calmly. “If you say it like that yeah both are about Nightmare Moon.” Jerra admitted. “Then I choose answer c none of the above.” The conversation fell silent with his statement and they both looked up into the sky. As they did they right away spotted a golden chariot heading towards Ponyville. “You're seeing this too, aren't you?” She asked bewildered. “Yeah I do. Do you want to check it out?” Silver asked, as the breeze carried the scent of white Iris with it. It's the smell both favoured but only of them would admit it.
3 Beginning of a New DayAs the chariot proceeded to land in Ponyville and the scent of the white Iris slowly got carried away Jerra made her decision. “Let's not. I want to go on an adventure!” Silver averted his eyes off the landscape to look at Jerra as he stated:“You know I'm always up for one. What do you have in mind?” “Well my plan is to go to the Castle of the Two Sisters and look for more informations on the prophecy and this whole elements of harmony business.” She explained with a spark of excitement in her eyes. “Sounds interesting, but I seem to miss the adventure part. To me this castle sounds like a public place, like a museum or something.” The gray Unicorn said bored by the mere thought. “Yeah the name is a little irritating. It's actually a ruin in the Everfree Forest, there you have your adventure and a big no on the public museum part. At least if you're not us, for us it is a museum, a library, a playground or a hideout. Let's pack my stuff and go there.” The nocturnal Pegasus explained with an innocent smile on her face. “Alrighty but there's one thing I don't understand and that is how Pegasi can pull a cart through the air. I mean seriously shouldn't the cart pull you down or something?” Silver asked with serious demeanour. In a moment of sudden realization Jerra said: “I never tried to do that. But now that you mention that. It's strange I mean for Alicorns it would be easy to pull off, but normal Pegasi how are they doing that?” “Anyways should we walk or fly there?” The chaotic Unicorn asked his friend, as he finished strapping all the stuff on the cart. “Since you're a unicorn I'd say we walk, unless you can suddenly fly.” She told him in a deadpan voice. “Of course I can't fly but I can levitate myself with magic and the cart wouldn't be a problem either.” Silver said with a smug grin on his face. “Right.....I totally forgot about the whole magic stuff sorry. I'm such an idiot sometimes.” She said in an almost self destructive way. “Woah! Where's that coming from. Listen you're not an idiot you are the smartest and most creative mare I've ever had the honour to get to know. So don't beat yourself up about a small thing like that.” He said in an surprised attempted to cheer her up. “Might be true but I should have thought of the possibility.” Jerra said in a still saddened tone of voice. In a further attempt to cheer her up he said:“Actually no. Most Unicorns seem to not even know about the possibility of it.” “You try to keep me positive even though we just met after two years.” She says as she slowly accepted his words. “We really need to get those thoughts out of your head. Come along now we're going to those ruins and we will research and whatever is necessary to get behind all that. There might even be a possibility to meet Nightmare Moon or the royal sisters, so cheer up and come with me or rather you have to show me the way.” The gray stallion said with all the determination he could find. The blue Pegasus brightened up a bit and said:“Okay. Thank you and now follow me!” They both took off into the air, Jerra lead the way while Silver levitated close behind her with her cart in tow. It didn't take them long to enjoy the fresh breeze as they soared through the air. After a while they started to talk again. “As fast as teleportation might be, there's no way of travelling that's more comfy than gliding through the air. And it's the perfect way to start an adventure.” Silver said with a soft smile on his face. “And it's faster than taking the train, but at the same time it's more tiring, so for long trips the train still wins. But if you can think of anyway that could make travel by flight accessible to everypony with the comfort of an train ride then go for it. I bet you could make a good coin with it, if you do it right.” Jerra suggested with an thoughtful expression. “Making something like that happen would be the right way already, everything else would just be a bonus. But then again there's no way one pony alone could manage that.” Her Unicorn friend explained. “Maybe we should travel around Equestria, get ourselves a team and do it after we are done here and make it possible to travel that way.” The Pegasus spouted with new determination. “You're saying that now but in the end you don't want to leave your life in Ponyville behind. I mean what would your mother say about that?” Silver interjected firmly. “I don't know. But I guess she would support me as long as she's sure I can handle it. Tell me what did your parents say about your plan?” She challenged him. “You mean my foster parents. They didn't say anything. I told them what I was about to do and left I didn't care if they objected or not. As soon as I closed the door behind me and I did my best to get out of town fast.” He countered fast, hoping to avoid the topic if possible. “Wow and you were on the road since then? That's hard to believe that your foster parents didn't do anything to find you.” The blue one stated a bit bewildered. “You're giving them too much credit if they did guards would have talked to me or tried to catch me or anything like that and since they didn't I figure they didn't do anything. But enough of my past what makes you so sure your mother would let you leave the town with out any safe place to stay?” The gray one changed the topic. “Well she allows me to live alone in a house. I don't see why she wouldn't allow me to travel with a friend.” Jerra said while glancing at the old castle “Anyways let's just focus on our adventure for now and discuss this later or do you want to keep hovering above the Ruins?” “All right, then let us dive into the library.......for now.” Silver acknowledged. “You don't have to rub it in. I know that I have to confront my mother with that idea.” She admitted. “Even if she might not like it.” She added as they headed into the library. Dust danced in the light coming through the window as they entered. The smell of old books made both of them feel welcome and at ease, but at the same time fascinated with the towering bookshelves filled with mostly forgotten knowledge just waiting to be recovered. “This place is a mess, but there sure are a lot of books. I will look for books on old, forbidden or forgotten magic. I hope I won't drool all over the important parts of the books.” The stallion exclaimed, while wiping some drool off of his muzzle. “You remember that we're here for research purpose and not some fun trip.” The mare mocked her friend as she examined one of the shelves. “What I do is research too. Just in another field. My fields are magic and mythical creatures so let's hit the books.” Silver said as he dusted off an old book. “Keep telling yourself it's research, but you're still right.” Jerra sighed. “You'll be happy for my research one day.” The Grey Unicorn whispered while copying an old map. A whole day of research, copying informations and sleeping on books later, a unfamiliar voice ripped them out of concentration or dream. “I return after a thousand years of confinement and what do I find in my old library? Two foolish foals snooping around.” A midnight blue Alicorn stated sternly. “Hey Jerra? Am I dreaming or is that really Nightmare Moon standing in front of us?” The stallion asked half asleep. “No you're not dreaming that really is Nightmare Moon.” The blue Pegasus confirmed. The atmosphere seemed to tense up with every spoken word. “In that case. It's an great honour meeting you in person your highness.” Silver, now fully awake, said with all the politeness he could possibly find. “Your highness, please excuse our intrusion. We would be honoured to assist you.....” Jerra stated with a slight bow before she was interrupted. “Oh you want to assist me? Aren't you afraid of me? Don't you despise my night?” Nightmare Moon asked, expecting them to confirm their despise or fear. “In order. Yes, we'd like to. No, we're more surprised than afraid and no, we love the night it's beautiful.” The Unicorn answered quickly and a little smug. The Pegasus started to explain: “But more importantly the night is as important as the day. Ponies nowadays are even enjoying the night as much as the day. Those who work hard are resting and others are blowing off stress at parties or in clubs there is just so much you can do in the night.” “What are you implying?” The Alicorn questioned in a threatening tone of voice. “I'm implying nothing all I'm saying is that there's more stuff you can do in the night than thousand years ago.” Jerra stated nervously. “So my sister made a better night than me. Is that what you're saying?” The midnight blue mare pushed further. “Oh no she wouldn't say such nonsense. I believe what my friend's trying to say is, if you cooperate with the Ponies of Equestria instead of solely focusing on ruling them you'd be able to make an even better nightlife than there already is and I think we should take our leave now before anypony says something regrettable and gets hurt. But do yourself the favour and think about what we said. Good night Princess.” Silver stated to try and defuse the situation. “What are you talkin....” The blue one started as she was interrupted by a bright flash “about...did you really have to teleport us out?” she asked flatly. “Yes I had to, since you had to put me in the position of the responsible one.” He said, while checking if all of their stuff got teleported too. “Sorry I guess, but you would have done the same. What do you mean with the responsible one? You did nothing except grabbing me and running away.” Jerra complained about the method. “Well yes I did for a good reason, if I hadn't intervened you might have landed us both in the dungeons or something. I..... I just had to get us out of there. Imprisonment is the last thing we need at the moment.” The Unicorn said while avoiding eye contact with the mare in front of him. “Fine you win this time. So what shall we do now?” The Pegasus gave up on arguing and wanted to face the future. “Let's head over to your place relax a day or two and then head over to Canterlot. The archives and the library there are filled to the brim with legends and old magic. Wait we still need to talk with your mother about our travel plans, so let's make it three to four days at your place. And we should probably get a map to plan our routes and where to go.” The grey stallion began plan out. “See you're fit as the responsible one.” Jerra giggled “You planned all that in what ten seconds or so. You might be chaotic but far from irresponsible. Let's go then!” She cheered as they headed back towards Ponyville. As they approached the edge of the forest they noticed the rising sun and interpreted it as a sign to leave the past behind and start into a bright future.
4 Beginning of an journeyTwo days had gone by since the events in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Jerra and Silver stayed at Jerras house to rest. They stayed inside her house for most of the time except for one uneventful trip to Sugarcube Corner for a tasty treat. On the morning of their third day reunited they decided visit Jerras mother and talk to her about their idea. “It's been quite a while since we last saw us, hasn't it Silver?” Mrs. Hearthfire asked with a warm smile as they sat by the fire place of her house. “Yeah I guess it's been two years or a little over it. Are you still in contact with my foster parents?” Silver replied with a small smile of his own. “No. No I don't, I only ever talked with them when there was something happening at your school.” The older mare answered reassuringly. “I see. Well there's something Jerra and I discussed a little while we were in the library of the old castle. I told her what I was doing for the past few months and what I did ever since you moved here.” The Unicorn started to explain. “And we talked about the luxury of flying and I suggested to travel around equestria looking for ponies who can help make flying available for everypony and not just Pegasi and Unicorns like Silver here.” Jerra finished the explanation of their idea. “And you wanted to ask me for permission? Jerra I have to admit that is surprisingly mature of you.” The light blue Pegasus said with a little bit of surprise in her voice. “Actually I was the one demanding it.” The grey stallion added with a hint of embarrassment on his face. Mrs. Hearthfire was taken a back by that as she said “That is even more surprising. Um sorry.” “No problem. I was kinda surprised by that myself.” Silver brushed the statement off as if he was used to it. “So mom what do you say may I travel with Silver? Or do you want me to stay around here in Ponyville?” The younger Pegasus asked a little shyly. “As much as I love to have you around, I know that there comes a time in a young ponys life where you just need to go out on an adventure. In other words go out and have your adventure, but be aware that I'm not around to help you the only one that can help you in this is Silver.” Her mother answered with motherly calmness. “I know mom.” Jerra acknowledged. “If my life has taught me anything so far then it's that at some point Jerra will be the one who has to bail me out.” Silver exclaimed with a chuckle. “That wasn't funny.” The blue Pegasus commented. “It wasn't a joke. I was serious for once. I mean you do know I blew up a classroom because I was bored.” The Unicorn in the room countered. “Right you did and I still think you should have attended Celestias School for gifted Unicorns.” Jerra said to change the subject. “I agree but my foster parents never gave me the chance to do so. It makes you wonder what would have become out of me if did attend it.” Silver trailed off in thought. “We will sadly never know, but with your knowledge of magic it would have to be someone important. Like a teacher at Celestias school or even a Royal advisor.” Mrs. Hearthfire decided to join in on the topic. “Might be but the probability of him in a stationary position is slimmer than the legs of a daddy long legs. He just loves adventures too much.” Jerra said jokingly. “She's right I'd rather do the fandango with a bunch of Changeling than to teach or be in a dusty office for the rest of my life. But that's beside the point, the point is I'm not cut out to be in any respected position.” He said jokingly as his eyes trail off towards the ceiling. “That's not quite true. To me it looks like you're actively keeping away from chances. How many opportunities did you have to live a stable life?” Mrs. Hearthfire deducted curiously. “Depends on the definition, because according to mine I've had none.” The Unicorn stated in an dismissive motion. “So what's your definition then?” Jerra questioned with new found interest in the topic. “Well a mare at my side and a decent job and an affordable flat or house.” Silver complied and gave her an honest answer. “Wow that is quite reasonable but in two years you never met somepony you could imagine your life with?” Jerra got closer to Silver and looked at him intently as she dug for further informations. “And you didn't have any job options either? And here I thought a Unicorn has all the possible option that don't require flying.” Mrs.Hearthfire said with a little disappointment in her voice. “Well you know that I've got an reputation in Manehatten and once I started to travel around I never stayed in one place long enough to make friends, to be completely honest these past few days are the longest I stayed in one place and got to sleep. As for the matter of Bits, I worked as a courier from time to time it gave me enough to sustain myself and my travels and it actually made travelling easier.” He explained calmly. “Well that's something. Well to change the topic how do you like Ponyville so far?” Mrs.Hearthfire changed the subject to something more endearing. “It's nice and quiet, even though I haven't seen much of it other than Jerras house and Sugarcube Corner.” Silver said with an relaxed smile sneaking across his face. “So you met Pinkie Pie and still say it's quiet around here?” Mrs.Hearthfire communicated her observation with surprise. “Pinkie who?” He said with an questioning look plastered across his face. “Pinkie wasn't there when we went for a snack.” The young Hearthfire tried to explain. “Oh okay that explains it.”The older Hearthfire accepted the explanation. After a few hours of talking and reconnecting with Jerras mother, Jerra and Silver made their way back to Jerras house to prepare and pack for the upcoming journey. “Well then what do we need for this adventure? I mean you do have a plan, don't you?” Jerra asked her now travel companion. “What do we need? The most useful are usually rope, a sharp knife and duct tape but we can pick that up on the road or after we were in Canterlot. And please as if I had a plan for any future stops yet, you can ask for that again after I compared the old map I copied to an up-to-date one.” Silver stated with a straight face while sprinkling in some sarcasm. “I have to say you're pretty fixated on this old map. Is there something you want to share with me? Some location maybe?” She released a series of question on him as she tiptoed around the room. “Well I can't say it'll be an destination in the future, but I have to verify it's actual location first it's marked on the old map as Puppeteers Curse but I have not a dang clue about the terrain or what the location might be nowadays. So map first then decision.” He explained with uncertain certainty. The blue Pegasus fluttered her wings slightly as she said: “Okay we'll visit the Canterlot library and then make our way there.” “I'd prefer the royal archives, but the library is a good choice too.” The Unicorn stated his preference but agreed with her choice. “Are you kidding me the archives? Are you aware how crazy that is?” She questioned as she looked at him petrified. “I'm aware of that. That's why I settle for the library. Because you're with me on this one otherwise I'd totally take the risk.” He explained and nudged her to get her out of her petrified state. “Why don't you consider it now then? I mean you know me.” Jerra inquired, while acting as if she was hurt by his nudge. “Well lil'J my reason is quite obvious. I just don't want to drag you with me in eventual imprisonment and that's a risk not worth taking.” Silver stated with a small chuckle. “If I didn't know any better I'd say you somehow developed feelings for me.” The Pegasus said with a cocky grin. “Nope I just dislike to risk the freedom of my friends.” The Unicorn said with a straight face. “We'll see about this. By the way how do you really make money on your travels?” She finally gave in to her curiosity “Of course you don't believe what I told your mother, even though it was partially the truth and since my love for old magic leads me into ruins I occasionally sell trinkets I find to the highest bidder.” He said with a sly little smile. “Sure and now the truth.” The blue one said with a knowing grin. “What I told your mother is the whole truth nothing sketchy nothing borderline legal. My mind and my skills might be heavily based on chaos but I'm not a criminal.” The grey one admitted defeat and told her the truth. “Okay. So how are we going to get by now that we are travelling together.” Jerra asked with a slight frown. “Well I guess we just have to wing it from now on.” Silver said in a laid back tone. “We wing it then. But you should keep the selling trinkets line in mind, you might be able to impress some fillies with it.” She said in a teasing tone. “Sure but only if I get a new face along the way.” He countered sarcastically. “Hey you never know maybe you meet somepony with no standards at all or a nice blind one.” The nocturnal Pegasus assumes jokingly. “Whatever, you should get to packing. And lil'J thanks for accompanying me.” The chaotic Unicorn said in a soft voice. “Maybe now you'll notice how important you are for my life, but since we both changed a lot you probably won't.” Jerra whispered to herself as she walked to her room. After finishing packing the two of them made their way to Canterlot via train shortly after they arrived at the Canterlot train station they spotted an strange and seemingly out of place entity at the other end of the station. “Hey mister mythical creatures ever read about something like what's standing over there?” Jerra asked as she poked Silvers shoulder to draw his attention to the other end of the station. “Maybe, but only one way to make sure.” Silver stated as he started to make his way over. They swiftly made their way through the crowd of ponies over to the mysterious stranger. As soon as they reached him Jerra started a conversation. “Excuse me. My friend and I were wondering if you'd be willing to answer us one question?” Jerra asked curiously, but still polite. “Okay you may ask your question, but it sure is a strange way to approach someone.”The stranger commented as he agreed to answer their question. “Would you happen to be an Peryton?” Silver asked without any hesitation. “Funny I didn't expect anypony would know the name of my kind these days.” The now identified Peryton chuckled slightly as he took a bit of pride in his kind being recognised. “Well there isn't much knowledge about your kind left nowadays all, there is to go on are the name and the title guardian of the forest. Oh and a rough description that varies from source to source.” The grey Unicorn explained quickly. “We are lost from history then. What a shame.” The unnamed Peryton deducted by the quick explanation. “The reason is probably that none of your kind show up anymore.” The Pegasus hazarded a guess. “That might be, but then again we weren't needed after the princesses showed up, so my ancestors went far to the west. They kept the stories and teachings the different equestrian inhabitants shared with them. And those old stories are the reason why I'm here. I tried to convince my tribe to work close with ponies once again but everyone thought of it as ridiculous and since I was quite persistent about it I kinda got kicked out.” The brown coated half bird told them in an quick and informative manner. “Would you look at that another one that got kicked out of something.” She commented excitedly. “Yeah but you can hardly compare him with me. He got kicked out of his tribe while I got kicked out of an bad school.” The Unicorn discarded her comment in an deadpan manner. “What did you do pinched your teachers flank or played a prank on the principle?” The half deer poked fun at the Unicorn. “I blew an classroom up so yeah. I got bored one day and pulverized a lot of chalk, spread it in the air and let a spark of magic do the rest.” Silver nonchalantly retold what he did to get expelled. The Peryton was shocked to hear such a thing and said: “Wow just wow. I never expected to hear a pony tell about something like that, but I should go now.” “Wait can you tell us your name before you go?” Jerra asked quickly. “Sorry I can't.” The Chimera said after a short moment of silence. “Interesting why would that be?” The chaotic Unicorn asked with peaked interest. “Well it's kind off a culture thing my given name is only known among my tribe and I don't have a name among the equestrian population yet.”The young stagexplained his situation. “How about Vis as your name?” The grey stallion offered. “Vis that should work, even though I didn't ask for it. Does it mean something?” The now named Peryton asked as he accepted the name. “If my memory serves me correct it's an ancient word for nature.” Silver translated after a short moment of thought. “Very well then the two of you may call me Vis from now on. But still I need to go now. Good bye.” Vis told them as he spread his massive wings and took off into the sky. “Bye!” The two Ponies shouted after him. “So a Peryton is a mix between bird and deer, kinda like a Griffon.” The Pegasus said intrigued by the encounter. “Not quite like a Griffon that would be a Hippogriff, but they are just a matter of myth, but then again they are all part of the same family. Any ways let's go to the library.” The Unicorn explained as he started to make his way to the library. They decided to take the route along the Canterlot Castle garden. It's a quite busy street so they both decided to fly low above the crowds to avoid getting separated from each other. “Say Silver, what are you expecting to find at this Puppeteers Curse place?” Jerra asked and when she got no answer, she started to look around for Silver “Silver? You got to be kidding me! How the buck did I lose him? I have to find him before something stupid happens. Silver where are you?! If you can hear me get your dang flank back to me this instance!” She shouted in an attempt to hopefully grab her friends attention. “Excuse me miss. I don't know why you shout for me in that manner but here I am. Commander Silver Shield of the Royal Guard how can I help you?” Silver Shield asked after he introduced himself. “Oh I'm terribly sorry sir. But there is a misunderstanding here I was actually shouting my friends name who coincidently is also named Silver, Silver Lining to be precise, and he seems to have this strange habit of falling asleep while levitating himself and float of to where ever.” The blue Pegasus explained the situation in an angry and slightly panicked fashion. “I see that might be a problem. Where did you last see him?” The Commander asked her in an calm voice. “Near the castle, he better not cause any trouble in the garden of the castle or worse.” She said slightly more angry now. “What's the worst thing that could happen?” The armoured Unicorn asked, hoping to shift the mood. “Well he might drop from the sky onto a guard or worse on the princess or he might crash through the window of princess Celestias bedroom or worse her bathroom.” Jerra answered now more panicked than angry. “Okay let's relax for a bit. Would you kindly tell me your name miss?” Silver Shield requested to distract her a bit from the situation. “Oh right I didn't introduce myself, did I? Well I'm Jerra Hearthfire and I really think we should get going before anything can happen.” The passionate Pegasus introduced herself with a calm facade but remarked the need for urgency. “Yes and we should hurry.” The grey Unicorn guard acknowledged her remark and ordered her “Follow me!” Silver Lining was levitating above the garden hitting some smaller branches from time to time, while Jerra and Commander Silver Shield were rushing towards the garden of Canterlot Castle. Jerra and the Commander could only watch in mild shock as Silver fell out of a tree face first towards a medium sized cake. The falling unicorn awoke shortly before smashing into the cake, but couldn't avoid it and landed face first in the cake sitting on a table in front of Princess Celestia, splashing her and a nearby guard with cake. “Um hello Princess I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your afternoon tea, but I think I can fix the cake.” Silver said in an apologetic tone. “And how do you intend to do so?” Princess Celestia questioned with curiosity in her voice. “With an very old spell I found a few months ago.” The cake covered answered as he pulled out his notebook. “Okay you may proceed.” The white Alicorn said intrigued by what she heard. “Very well all I need to do now is find the right page of my notebook and here it is.” he said as he flipped through the pages of his worn out notebook. After finding the right page he concentrated on the cake and recited the words written on the page “Sit tempus unda supina.” As soon as the words were spoken, the cake rebuild itself as if time was flowing backwards for the sweet treat. “That was impressive, I haven't seen this kind of magic since Starswirl the Bearded. Tell me how come a talented Unicorn like yourself never attended my school for gifted Unicorns?” The Princess questioned surprised by the display of old magic. “My foster parents wouldn't let me. That's the whole reason but that didn't stop me from learning and studying magic. Speaking of which I need to get to the library and catch up to my friend. Oh wait there she is.” The grey Unicorn explained in an flat voice. “Silver that was amazing! I can't imagine what else you learned in the past two years.” Jerra exclaimed completely astonished by what she just witnessed. “Oh I haven't even introduced myself, have I? My name is Silver Lining and the mare over there is called Jerra Haerthfire. It was really nice meeting you princess and the cake was fun but my friend and I need to head over to the library.” Silver said in an polite tone of voice. “May I ask what you're researching?” The rainbow maned Alicorn asked curiously. “Of course, I need a modern map to find the location of an old curse of which I roughly know where it might be.” The chaotic Unicorn gladly provided the requested information as if he was simply sharing an homework assignment. “A curse? I hope you aren't planing on using it on somepony.” Princess Celestia said in a worried but warning tone. “I assure you I don't have any plans like that. Now it was an honour to speak to you and I'll bring you an copy of the curse for the royal archives. Goodbye princess.” He reassured the Princess as he walked over to his friend. “It was an honour. Goodbye Princess.” The blue Pegasus said her goodbyes politely to the Princess and shortly after they were out of the garden she asked her friend: “That was amazing, how did you do that cake thing?” “That was just reciting the right words and then the magic just happens. But let me tell you time is easier than fixing a hair problem.” Silver explained with a small laugh at the end. “But aren't you using magic on your hair?” Jerra asked him in confusion. “Yes, but I'm not fixing an problem I'm modifying my mane colour and maybe to style it.” The Unicorn simply stated to clear her confusion. “I see, so it's easier to create an problem than to fix it.” The Pegasus deducted with the provided information. Afterwards they quickly made their way to the library, where Silver immediately sought out different maps of Equestria and compared them to the old one he copied at the old Castle of the two Sisters. In the meantime Jerra was wandering around the bookshelves near her friend, when she heard a familiar voice next to her. “Jerra what brings you to Canterlot?” An emerald green eyed Earth Pony asked in an hushed but surprised voice. “Emerald? What a surprise and to answer your question he did.” Jerra whispered back to her in a friendly tone as she pointed at Silver. “Never thought you'd ever have a coltfriend and a handsome one at that.” Emerald teased the Pegasus Quietly. “Listen Em it's not like that he's an old friend from my Manehatten days, there's nothing between us.” The gold eyed Pegasus explained in low volume. “Oh lil' J sometimes I think I understand you better than you do. Now then why are you two here?” The beige Earth Pony asked with curiosity in her eyes “Not much just getting a modern map to figure out the exact location of something ancient, you know the usual.” The blue Pegasus stated as if she ordered a coffee. “Your interest in this kind of stuff fascinates me almost as much as your nonchalantness about it as if it was a trip to the bakery.” The ivory maned mare said while she nudged the other mare. “I thought you were fascinated by the fact that I can function with less than eight hours of sleep.” Jerra said as the two walked over to Silver. She then proceeded to introduced her friends to one another. “Now then let me introduce you to Silver Lining. Silver this here is Emerald Dust.” “Nice to meet you Silver. Have you found what you were looking for?” Emerald asked as she glanced over some of the maps spread out in front of the Unicorn. “Yes I have it's two days south from Appleloosa, thanks for asking. So what's your weird obsession?” Silver answered her and shot her an rather blunt question. “WHAT? I studied cartography, but I wouldn't call it an obsession. I don't think I have anything that might qualify as such. Why would you even ask something like that?” The beige Pony said slightly offended by the question. “Sorry if I offended you by that, but it's just that I find it hard to believe that Jerra has a normal friend but I suppose it's possible.” The grey Unicorn apologized with a small explanation. “What's that supposed to mean?” The Pegasus questioned her friend. “Not much just that I'm your friend and I'm not normal neither were any of our or rather your friends back in the day.” He stated while giving Jerra a flat look. “I guess you have a point. Anyways Emerald what are you doing these days?” Jerra admitted and threw a question to the other mare to change the subject. “Not much other than spending my day here in the library ever since I stopped studying.” Emerald answered nonchalantly. “So you're a cartographer now that's cool.” The blue mare assumed by her friends statement. “Actually I'm not I just stopped. Say would you mind if I accompanied you guys?” The emerald eyed Earth Pony confessed and followed it up with a new topic. “Uh...wh-why? I mean I don't mind but why would you want to do this?” The Pegasus stumbled over her words at first but came through in the end. “I don't know for a change of pace I guess. And what's your verdict?” The beige mare said and looked at the stallion. “I can't guarantee the place will be safe or easy to reach, so if you feel like you can handle it be my guest.” Silver listed and stated his conclusion with a smile. “Awesome! Let's go then if get a train now we can be in Appleloosa by tomorrow morning.” Emerald cheered and exclaimed but got quickly shushed by other visitors of the library. After a short while of talking they made their way back to the train station with a short stop at Emeralds flat so that she could grab some supplies. They managed to get on a train heading towards Appleloosa.
5 Mystic MeetingAfter an uneventful overnight train ride the three friends arrived in Appleloosa where they rested a little and stocked up on food and other essentials for their walk through the desert. The trio started their two day journey through the desert once they finished all their necessary preparation. “So it's two days of walking south in a straight line from here?” Emerald while scanning the horizon in front of her. “Pretty much. We might even be able to make the trip in a little less than two days, if we don't take too many brakes that is.” Silver replied while doing the same as his green eyed companion. They have been walking for almost two days, with only a few brakes, when reached the final stretch Emerald whined “Ugh..... how far do we still have to go?” “Oh come on Em, I can already see it. At least I hope what I see is what we are looking for.” Jerra said to keep her beige friend going while spotting a small tower in the distance. “Don't worry it should be what we are looking for. But even if it isn't, it's at least a place where we can rest with a roof over our heads.” Silver reassured his two friends as he picked up his pace slightly. “How are you two not phased by the heat or the sun or the sand?” The beige Earth Pony asked in disbelief at the energy of her friends. “I think we're just ignoring the heat and sand. As for the sun our shades do a pretty good job making the sun bearable, you should've brought some as well.” The blue Pegasus said after a short pause. “I would've done that, if they weren't broken. Let's hurry now I want to get out of the sun.” The green eyed mare said in an annoyed voice, while she started to run forward. It didn't take them long reach the small tower like structure. They were able to enter it over a small balcony that now resides on ground level. The balcony connected to a small study filled with bookshelves made from natural oak wood filled with books of unknown age or origin. Above the door ,that presumably lead to a stairwell, was a circular inscription with a dark purple crystal in it's center. That crystal flashed brightly once the trio reached the middle of the study. Emerald woke up alone in a colourful meadow filled with wildflowers. “What happened? More importantly where am I?” “Ah young one you're finally awake. Are you feeling alright?” echoed a seemingly omnipresent voice. “Except for a headache I'm feeling better than before I passed out actually. But could you please show yourself, I really don't like speaking to a disembodied voice.” the mare explained, while looking all around herself “Understandable. Tell me young one are you not wondering where your friends are?” the owl like spirit asked as he appeared in front of Emerald. She sheepishly replied “I do. Can you tell me?” “Your winged friend has pressed on forward and your magic using friend turned back and is now waiting where you last remember. What will you do young one?” the spirit explained in a matter of factly fashion. “That doesn't sound right. They wouldn't split up and leave a friend behind or rather Jerra wouldn't and it's even stranger that Silver would turn back he was adamant to find this place.” Emerald muttered to herself as something dawned on her “Wait a sec where am I even, this isn't the old tower I passed out in.” “Oh is that the case? What makes you so sure that they would not leave you alone?” the spirit asked teasingly. “Okay then let me enlighten you. My friend Jerra is not the kind of Pony that leaves friends behind and her friend Silver is driven but I don't want to believe he would do that either and we are clearly standing in a nice flower filled meadow last I remember I was in a tower in a desert. So I don't believe what you said about my friends.” the emerald eyed pony explained rather aggressively. “Well done young one. You figured it almost all out. But have you considered that you never moved out of the tower?” the ancient owl said with a cocked head. “No, I haven't. I assumed I was knocked out while being teleported here, but I guess that could be.... wait WHAT?!” the Earth Pony exclaimed in surprise. “Yes young one you are still in the tower right next to your friends. But I can only let you proceed further inside by a test of heart.” the ancient spirit explained. “Okay go ahead what's the test?” Emerald inquired. “I will ask you a few questions that you shall answer with absolute truth. Tell one lie and you shall not venture past your point of entry.” the spectral owl explained sternly. “I understand and I'm ready.” the mare stated firmly, after she took in a deep breathe. “What is your name?” the ancient spirit asked his first question “My name is Emerald Dust but my friends call me Em.” “Speaking of your friends. The two that came here with you, what are their names and why did they come here?” “Well their names are Jerra Hearthfire and Silver Lining. Jerra came here because she was bored with her life in Ponyville and wanted to go on an adventure with her old friend. As for Silver, all I know is that he's seeking some kind of old curse and that he's friends with Jerra so I guess he doesn't have bad intentions.” Emerald told the spirit but wavered a little on the last thing she said. “You guess that last part but it's still the truth to you. What do you know about this place?” “If you mean the place I'm in right now not really anything and if you mean the tower that my body is in, nothing more than the location and what I saw as I entered.” Emerald said calmly. “Why did you join your friends on this journey?” “Pretty much the same reason why Jerra joined Silver, I was bored.” “ Is that really all there is to it?” the ghostly owl inquired with slightly peaked interest “No, I also didn't see any future for me in Canterlot. I wasted my time studying a field that needs to be experienced not learned exclusively from books.” Emerald explained with a hint of excitement in her voice. “So there was more to it. What are you hoping to discover?” “Nothing. I just want to experience the world around me and share the knowledge I have with those who are willing to listen.” the emerald eyed pony said with a small smile. “I didn't expect such an answer from such a young soul. But you seek to share knowledge, which is admirable. And I grant you access to this house of knowledge.” the spirit said as he spread his ghostly wings while the meadow filled a warm light. “Thank you.” were Emeralds last words to the ancient Spirit, before she woke up. As she woke up she saw Jerra and Silver waiting for her. Jerra was startled as she woke up surrounded by knights in dark red armor and said “Why are there knights looking at me?” The knights quickly bowed to her in recognition and stepped to the side revealing a long stretched hall behind them. Decorated with all kinds of banners, trinkets, statues, paintings and hardwood furniture. “Wow! This hall is so.....” the blue pegasus started to say something but is interrupted halfway through by a tall unicorn mare. “Beautiful? I know. I was the one who decorated it. My name is Nightfire; now would you kindly share what brings you to my former residence, miss Hearthfire.” Nightfire explained as she walked up next to Jerra. “Sure, seeing as you are serving as a guardian for this place. My friend found a map that led here, he is looking for an old curse, and I just tagged along because I was bored.” Jerra explained as if what she said was the most normal thing in the world. “Oh, aren't you surprised that I know your name? But that aside what is it that you're expecting to find on your journey?” the unicorn mare questioned calmly. “I was a little shocked to hear my last name but I chalked it up to you being some kind of manifestation of my mind. As for your question I'm not expecting anything from it, I might be hoping to deepen my relationship with my friend Silver but nothing more.” the Pegasus explained rationally. “HAHAHAHA! You are living up to your family name, at least judging by what you just said. But you are mistaking in one aspect I am no manifestation of mind but your bloodline.” the older mare laughed and pointed out. “What are you talking about?” Jerra asked in a confused tone and a tilted head. “How should I put it, I'm basically your aunt from a couple thousand years ago. My sister Winter was the first Pony to carry the family name Hearthfire, as far as I know that is.” Nightfire said to help Jerra out of her confusion “So if I understand this correctly then the building that my body is in at the moment is the birthplace of my family name, right?” “Yes.” “Do I technically have the right to claim ownership over this property and is your full name Nightfire Hearthfire?” “I believe you do have that right and no my full name is Amber Nightfire and I was the last one to reside here.” Amber said with a sad smile. Jerra didn't notice Ambers smile and said “I can't wait to see how this place held up. By the way what were you doing here in the middle of nowhere?” “We were independent lore-keepers. We archived spells, legends, myths, stories and even a few religious texts. It's amazing how much we collected here over generations, I believe there are a few family heirlooms that started out as payment from the rest of ponykind and you know, the best part about it is it's all yours now. You can share it with your friends or keep it all to yourself. It's all up to you.” the tall unicorn explained in a fast-paced manner. “Why would I ever keep this from my friends? I mean what kind of friend would I be if I didn't share it with them? I'm interested in all the legends and prophecies that are stored here and I bet Silver would love to read his way through everything magic and mythical creature related and Emerald might be able to track down interesting places on a map. This is so exciting!” Jerra exclaimed radiating excitement. “I would love to spend more time with you, but I believe it's time you continue your journey.” the amber eyed unicorn noted. “I agree, maybe we can talk again later aunty.” the blue Pegasus agreed with a big smile on her face. “I'll be here if you find a way to talk to me. Farewell.” Amber said with a small smile of her own. Jerra was the first one to regain consciousness. After a short moment of confusion, she shook her head and reoriented herself. And as she looked around the room she started to pace. With a small groan, Silver woke up in a forest of some sort “Let's see there are leaves on the ground and lush green around me, interesting.” “As expected you are the calmest of your group. Oldened soul tell me what you desire.” the ancient spirit greeted. “I desire nothing other than knowledge, I don't intend to use any spells that might cause harm to others.” Silver explained calmly as he tried to figure out where exactly he was. “You already acted against your statement in the past. Why should I entrust you with the knowledge kept in this mansion?” the spirit inquired sharply. “If you're talking about the Time spell then I can assure you I never use spells I can't control or spells I haven't completely studied yet. Especially now that I travel with my friend.” the grey Unicorn elaborated a little. “Interesting. Now let's proceed with testing you.” the ancient owl moved on without another question. 'T lx ly pypxj ez pgpcj xzcelw estyr. T htww yze deza lyo T htww yze cpde. Hsz lx T?' “To get to my riddles core you need keys of which eleven you have already scored the twelfth still needs to be found.” the ancient spirit gave him one clue and observed the reaction of the pony in front of him. “Well isn't that a nice challenge. Let's see what you're hiding.” Silver didn’t show much of a reaction as he accepted the spirits challenge. “It appears to be just a bunch of random letters, but I bet there's more to it. Maybe it's some kind of code. But what about the clue with the keys, that doesn't make sense for a code, which means I'm looking at a cypher and not a code. So that makes eleven or twelve my keys to possibly decrypt the question and then it should be easier from there.” the Unicorn analyzed quickly. “Impressive, you are the fastest to identify it.” the ghostly owl praised the Unicorn. “Okay, let's see what I'll get when I use twelve as the key.” ‘H zl zm dmdlx sn dudqx lnqszk sghmf. H vhkk mns rsno zmc H vhkk mns qdrs. Vgn zl H?’ “Hmmm, not twelve so it has to be eleven.” ‘I am an enemy to every mortal thing. I will not stop and I will not rest. Who am I?’ “Well that was easy, if you know what you're doing. So then next is the question. Hmmm…..an enemy who doesn't stop or rests. The obvious answer would be death, but it explicitly stated mortal things. So my answer is going to be time.” Silver answered confidently, after his decoding and thinking about the possible answers for a short while. “You really are an interesting pony.” the spirit said with a smirk on his ghostly beak. “Was my answer correct or was wrong?” he asked the owl, with a questioning look. “You were spot on, your first conclusion would also have been correct. So you may go on into the mansion” the spirit answered him, as the wind picked up speed and created a vortex of leaves all around Silver. Silver closed his eyes and as he opened them again he was back in the study, where Jerra was pacing back and forth.
