Adventure Incorporated

by ImThatGuy

Rating: mature
Tags: Dark, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Mystery, Other, Adventure, Profanity
Length: 252650

A young aspiring Adventurer dreams for the respect of her hero and mentor but is forced to learn that a life of action and adventure can end up hurting as much as helping

A young, aspiring Adventurer discovers a mysterious artifact and sets out on an adventure to discover what it is to earn fame and her personal hero's respect. Along the way she meets various friends and companions who form a team with her on their adventure. She learns fairly early in that there is far more to the circumstances surrounding her adventure that she could have ever imagined and must learn to become a hero or risk losing everything and everyone she loves.

Published 2017-11-13 02:10:11 UTC
Last updated 2020-12-23 06:35:07 UTC

A Most Interesting Find

Chapter 1: A Most Interesting Find

Dust rolled across the ground as the distant sounds of digging ground its way into my tent. I had taken it upon myself to sit down at a small table and eat a plate of birthday cupcakes sent to me by my parents in Manehatten. They would do this every year on my birthday as I was away studying with Grit. Due to this, I would often find myself unable to go and visit them as often as I would like. For my birthday, Grit had taken me to a small mountainside excavation just outside of Canterlot, where an archeological group from Adventure Inc. had discovered signs of an ancient settlement around the edges of the city.

“Ivory, Where are you!” I could hear Grit's voice shout as I sat there eating my chocolate cupcakes(chocolate is my favorite).

I quickly finished my last cupcake and ran out of the small tent on the edge of the excavation site, “Grit I'm right here, no need to freak out!” I shouted back as I ran up to him.

“In the twelve years I've known you Ivory you have never been late to going to one of these, especially one I am taking you to for your birthday.” Grit patted my head as I took my place walking next to him as we approached the dig site. “You know there is no food once we actually get to the dig right Ivory?” he asked as if he thought I actually would(again), it took me several seconds to notice the cupcake frosting still on my face.

“That one time from Appleoosia doesn’t count, I mean it was just a candy bar wrapper.” I said with a snark that I thought would make me sound right as I licked the frosting from my face.

“Yes but it was a candy bar that freaked out half the research team into thinking a time traveling pony brought a modern candy bar back into Appleoosia from sixty years ago.” Grit was trying to joke around I think, I mean it seemed funny at the time seeing a bunch of smart ponies freaking about how a candy bar wrapper from today appeared in a pile of dirt, inside a hole dug into a section of the town no pony had lived in for sixty years. “Took a couple hours before they realized they freaked out over nothing which made them ornery for the rest of the week.”

“Yeah, Yeah I remember...but come on it was funny how easily they jumped to such a stupid conclusion right?” I smiled at Grit trying to lighten the mood a little.

“Well of course it was funny but the ponies of Adventure Inc. definitely believe in an organized time travel conspiracy from the future and would love nothing more than to go around saying they proved it. Then I would never hear the end of it.” Grit groaned a little before smiling back at me.

We arrived at the edge of the dig looking out at the several areas where ponies were chiseling and brushing away at piles of dirt. Some had some small piles of things next to them, pottery shards, refuse, etc. As we looked around a green Pegasus pony who seemed to be overseeing the excavation caught sight of us and with a big smile on her face zipped up to where Grit and I were standing.

“EMMY!!” I shouted as I got a better look at the green Pegasus with a coral mane when she got closer.

“IVY!!” she shouted as she rammed into me giving me a big hug.

"Hello Emerald” Grit interjected as I continued to greet my friend.

“Oh! Glad to see you here Mr. Grit sir.” Emerald gave Grit a quick salute. “I didn’t expect you two until tomorrow but whatever I am always happy to see my little Ivy here she said as she bopped me on my nose.

“Whoa Emmy, you got a cool pith helmet now...” I paused for a second looking at it with widened eyes “And that compass symbol on it...but that’s”.

“That's right Ivory, I am now and official member of Adventure Incorporated and now have the license to to become the worlds next great adventurer.” Emerald said this with a look of extreme pride on her face.

“Wow, that's amazing, you’re amazing Emmy!” I was so jealous that Emerald got into A.I before I did when I was the personal apprentice to its founding member. You see Emerald Flake and I have been best friends for like ever at this point. I first met her when Grit took me to the A.I office in Manehatten about six years ago where she had been determined to become the worlds greatest treasure hunter. I introduced her to Grit and she almost fainted the first time which I thought and still think was super cute. We had been writing letters and meeting up every so often since then.

“Yes, yes that is wonderful and I am very happy for you Emerald but did you get what I asked you for ready?” Grit interrupted our conversation rather suddenly. Emerald's attention suddenly shot back up to Grit who was standing over the two of us.

“Oh yeah I did sir, and I got a whole section just for the two of you to look through first.” Emerald said with a big smile on her face. I had always loved her smile and the liveliness it brought to her face.

“Wait, you got a whole area that no pony has looked through yet just for us? You’re the best Emmy!” she really was the best.

“Yeah Ivy, this whole excavation was my discovery you see. Its what got A.I to offer me membership and I am happy to let you and Mr. Stratum here dig around in our newest area.” Emerald pointed off and I saw a relatively untouched area that had been cordoned off with several ropes.

“Happy birthday Ivory.” Grit said while giving me a smile and gesturing me towards the site.

I gave Emerald another hug and darted off towards the dig site before stopping and turning my head, “Aren’t you coming to Grit?” as he was just standing there next to Emerald.

“Don't worry kid, I'll catch up in a minute, I just need to talk to Emerald for a bit and I'll be right up, so go and see what you can dig up!” He shouted back at me as he and Emerald walked into a nearby tent.

Emerald gave me a smile and a wave before going inside with Grit and seeing as I now had permission to start I decided to do just that. This was going to be amazing, I had never actually helped in an official excavation before. I had mostly just sat and watched as Grit and others would show me how to brush dirt and safely chisel away rocks and other boring stuff that they insisted I needed to learn.

I suppose that stuff came in handy as I got to work on some of the corners of the roped off area they had pointed me towards. I said to myself again that this would be amazing and that I would find something incredible here that would make me instantly famous and fast track my own entry into Adventure Incorporated. Grit had always told me that in order to enter A.I a pony needed to show they had the skills to contribute to the company in order to show that any resources spent on them would be worth while and that he wanted me to be completely ready before he sent in an application for me.

“This is it Ivory Star, today you finally prove yourself to Grit and the world.” I let out a large sigh and gently picked up a small pick in my mouth, sometimes being an Earth pony is somewhat inconvenient. I began to, as gently as I could, pick away at some of the stones in a spot I picked out for myself.

Emerald and Grit had been taking some time, in fact it had been over two hours that they spent inside that tent talking. Every so often ponies would rush in and out carrying things away from the tent in packages then coming back to pick up and drop off others. I did not mind much though as I was very content just digging away looking for my treasure. I had found some small things of course, mostly just some pot shards and what looked like some eating utensil. They looked rather different from other pieces found in the area from past digs I had read about. The old Unicorns who first lived here really liked to make very ornamental and highly decorated things and it was cool to find some implements of everyday life that actual ponies hundreds of years ago used regularly.

“Oh the stories these things could tell if they could only talk.” I mused to myself as I brushed the dirt away from a small coin, or series of coins......or a whole pot full of old coins! “Wow, these must be worth a bunch, especially now after all this time! I wonder if Grit or Emerald would let me keep one or two?”

As I stared at the coins I noticed something sort of odd about them because they seemed to have strange symbols or maybe a kind of writing on them. “This isn’t old ponish, and the pictures on this one are well....strange to say the least.” I rubbed my forehead with my hoof as the day had become hotter going into the afternoon. On the coin I had in my hoof was a picture of...of an Alicorn! “What? This isn’t Celestia, the manes wrong.” I looked at it closer, “Not Luna either, she should have been still banished at this time.” This was confusing.

I looked at the other coins and with a small magnifying glass I held in my mouth I saw something shining under the surface metal of one of the coins. I put down the glass and picked up a brush and swept away the dirt revealing a dull metal surface to the coin. But on one edge of the ancient bit I saw a glint of silver edging its way into my eye when I held the coin in the sun. “Ponies didn't make coins out of silver in this time period, especially the Unicorns. For them it was all gems and gold.” talking to myself helped me think.

I stared at it for several more minutes before going back to the spot I found the pot in. This was a good spot and if I could find more stuff like this I could definitely impress Emerald and Grit and get into Adventure Inc. I put my chisel and pick back into the ground and with a bit less care than I should have had I began to quickly pick away at the dirt. It took only about thirty seconds before I heard a smashing sound when the small pick I held in my mouth hit the dirt. “OH SWEET CELESTIA'S RAINBOW BUTT!! I BROKE SOMETHING!!”.

I looked down at what I had just hit thinking to myself that I had just ruined my my big find and my best chance at getting into A.I when to my great relief what I had just hit was an old box. Wait that was still pretty bad since this box was still a historical treasure. I used my brush to sweep away the surrounding dirt to find that the part I had hit was the lock holding the lid shut. The wood had pretty much petrified or had been enchanted because the outside was pretty much still intact and hard as rock. The lock on the other hand had chipped when I hit it allowing for the clasp to open up and unlock the box.

“Well I should at least see whats inside of it.” I told myself as an inner glee filled my body at the chance that what I would find would completely rewrite Equestrian history.

The item contained within the box was surprisingly simple at first glance, as if it was just a plain piece of what seemed like some kind of metal armband. As I brushed away the dust I could see carvings and engravings laced upon the edges and sides of the band. A single purple crystal adorned the outside as what seemed to be six vaguely pony shaped images stood around the crystal. There was what looked like three earth ponies, one rather large and two of them had some kind of symbols near them(cutie marks maybe?). There was a unicorn, also with some kind of image painted near it but I couldn't make it out and what looked like two pegasi with only one having a very faded picture next to it.

“Well well, what have you got there Ivory?” Grit's voice suddenly popped up behind me almost making me drop the artifact out of fright.

“Don't sneak up on me like that, I almost dropped it.” I said letting out a sigh of relief at not having dropped it. “Where is Emerald?” I asked looking around for her.

“One of the workers dragged her away to look at some pottery shards or something.” Grit said as he started to look at what I held in my hooves. Suddenly his face turned to one of sudden disbelief and almost shock, “Ivory did you just find that here!?” he quickly panted out as he almost seemed out of breath as he talked.

“Yeah it was in this box here, why is it something amazing that will change Equestria forever!??” I added as my face grew wide with excitement with Grit's own as I rarely saw him excited about a find.

“I don't think it will do that but still, this is something that I've never seen before and I have seen a lot.” he said as he regained his composure and continued to look even closer. As he looked I could see his eyes widening even further as he gazed over every inch of the band. “Give it here Ivory and let me have a closer look at this.” he said as he reached out his hoof to take it from me.

“Oh, uh sure, here you go.” I was unsure what he was looking for but if he was excited then so was I.

“I've seen these kind of markings before, and some of the pictures here around the crystal, I recognize them also.” Grit pointed to several of the images printed on the side of the band and the ones around the crystal. “The bits on the edge here are called Pre-Celestial Script and from what I know it was the first writing system in Equestria and was used by early unicorns.” Grit sounded very sure of this and of course that meant something cool.

“Grit?” I asked, “How can this be early unicorn writing, I mean it really doesn’t look like anything that came around later?” I had a point here. Grit had taught me some about several early pony languages and this looked like nothing that developed later in pony history.

“Well there are very few examples of it and I must admit that it only appears in a relatively limited time stamp so pretty much nothing is known about it.” wow something he didn’t know about, this was rare. “We don't know how it was developed and we can't read it but there is one thing we do know and that is that it predates Celestia and Luna and most of known pony history.” now he was getting very excited.

“What about the pictures around the gem there in the middle, those definitely aren’t the same writing system as that pre whatever it was.” I said staring at the center crystal.

“Oh yes this is where it gets interesting, you see that big one there on the side Ivory?” Grit pointed to a large pony pictured on the edge of the group. “Well that is a buffalo and a rather early depiction of one at that.” this was getting more and more interesting.

“So this is some kind of friendship thing made by ponies for the buffalo or maybe the other way around?” I asked trying to think of explanations for this.

“No its better than that.” Grit said with an ever growing smile on his face. “I also see a griffon pictured here and oh yes that is interesting.” Grit's face was now transfixed.

"What is it? Come on and tell me Grit!” I didn't realize it but I was starting to whine a little here.

“There are two images that I recognize very clearly here, these two pictures here are of very specific people that I definitely recognize.” he pointed at two of the ponies printed near the top of the band. “this unicorn here is Aurora Solstice, I can tell by the insignia pictured above her.” Grit pointed to an image of multicolored glittering lights above the head of the unicorn. “This was her cutie mark and became the insignia of her future family.”.

I looked closely at the pictures shown and several of them had the same insignias around them as well. One in particular had a strange picture by it since it seemed less like a cutie mark and more like a jumble of twisting lines, “What about this one?” I asked Grit as I pointed to it.

“This is the most interesting one in the bunch.” Grit said, “This looks like Abila the Unifier, one of the most legendary Zebras who ever lived.”

“Aurora Solstice and Abila the Unifier, who are they Grit?” my curiosity growing with each second.

“Aurora is one of the most obscure ponies in history, the only things we know about her are that she was considered a powerful wizard and that she started a settlement in the far north that many years later was formed into the Crystal Empire under another ruler.” Grit rubbed his chin with his hoof, “It is believed that her magic is what made crystal ponies...well....all crystalline to begin with, or at least a modified version of spells made by her.”.

“And Abila, why is she so famous, I've certainly never heard of her.” I was trying to sound smart here but Grit was making it hard.

“Zebras do not like to share their history with outsiders but from what I've learned over the years Abila was an ancient zebra hero who is said to have used some form of powerful magic to unite the scattered zebra clans following some great cataclysm that destroyed their old kingdom.” Grit puzzled over what to say for several seconds, “They pretty much revere her as a hero who saved and preserved their entire culture and people.” Grit wouldn’t or couldn’t elaborate any further than that.

“So basically this is a super important thing that depicts legendary pony, zebra and what I must also assume buffalo and griffon heroes on it for some unknown purpose.” I thought for several more seconds, “Maybe leaders from the various kingdoms back in the day had these made as a symbol of unity with all their favorite heroes on it to show their willingness to be friends?” That certainly sounded smart and I hoped Grit would also think so.

“I don't know kid but I think I know someone who might have some insight into what we see here.” Grit formed a small smile on his face as he said this.

****

OH MY GOSH!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!

I had lived in Canterlot for the last several years with Grit but in all that time I had never actually been inside the royal palace or personally met any of the princesses. But now finally Grit was taking me in to meet with Princess Celestia herself since he says she might have some information having been alive much closer to the time period he believes this hoof-band was probably from. As one last present for my birthday Grit also got special permission for us to take a tour of the palace before meeting the princess. The palace was very beautiful with wondrous tapestries hanging from the walls and lavender flowers lining the hallways. I especially enjoyed what was the most famous and well visited part of the palace; the hall of stories. In this room hung stained glass windows of the deeds of the legendary ponies known as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony led by Princess Twilight Sparkle.

As we walked past each window I loved how they sparkled in the light of the late afternoon sun with their myriad of colors reflecting off the shining walls and floors of the hallway. The room itself seemed like a rainbow flowing in every direction as a cool breeze swept in from several smaller open windows. And there at the end of the hallway was what I decided was my favorite window because it was about none other than Grit.

On the window piece was portrayed Grit Stratum standing alongside a small(relatively speaking of course) red feathered dragon and some weird blue pony with mismatched red and violet eyes. Grit was in a rearing position as the dragon blew cyan fire into several plumes around him as the other pony zapped some sort of ray gun at the center of the window. In the center where the three heroes faced was another stallion with a golden mane who held a miniature city within his hooves while looking down menacingly at it. This story I knew and in fact everypony knew it since it is what made Grit famous to begin with.

Leaving the hallway made me sad since I found it incredibly beautiful and made it a note to come back and spend more time in it someday; but we had a princess to meet. Not so surprisingly Grit and Celestia were good friends and had been for many years. Grit had not seen her much in the past twelve years because he was always so busy taking me around Equestria and teaching me things. The past several years while we had been in Canterlot though he had always been super busy working on a lot of projects. He never let me in on what they were but from what I could gather from snooping around his room whenever he went out was they involved rare artifacts from various places.

“When are we gonna meet the princess Grit?” I asked probably sounding a little to whiny for being about to meet one of the most important ponies in the world.

“Hold your horses there kid” Grit responded by patting me on the head, “Celestia is in a very important meeting right now and we will have to wait until she is done to see her...hence the tour” he said sounding clever.

We were sitting on a small (for a castle at least) bench that had been set up outside the massive twin doors that led to the royal throne room. I sat there next to Grit in wide eyed wonder as the room was filled with all sorts of cool things to look at. Tapestries hung from all the walls as chandeliers hung from the ceiling holding slender wax candles which emitted a warm glow around the room as the sun began to set outside.

This excitement soon faded as the minutes passed and I soon found myself becoming suddenly and irrevocably bored out of my mind. The tour had only lasted so long and we still had to wait a long time to see the princess. I tried to entertain myself by bouncing back and forth on the bench, singing my favorite winter wrap up song and popping in and out of the large tapestries that hung from the walls.

“Do you think Princess Luna will be there too, I mean since it is getting dark out she might come out to raise the moon, right Grit?” I asked Grit trying to get my excitement and anticipation to grow as we neared the time Grit said the princess would talk to us.

“Luna is out of town right now Ivory so I don't think we are going to see her here, sorry kiddo.” Grit's words brought a slight frown to my face since I had always liked Luna and thought she was really cool. She actually was in several of Grit's novels and had gone on some pretty crazy adventures with him in the past if they books were to be believed (which obviously they were).

Finally the two large doors opened outward into the foyer and several very important and fancy looking ponies exited talking and mumbling amongst themselves about matters that I suppose were probably important but not relevant to the excitement I was feeling for finally being about to meet the princess of the sun herself.

As Grit and I were ushered into the throne room by Two of Celestia's royal guards I listened to the horn blast as they announced our presence to the princess and then promptly scuttled out of the room and closed the door. I looked back thinking that kind of rude for such an important pony like Grit but then I turned around and got my first ever up-close view of Princess Celestia. She was breathtaking as she elegantly sat upon her golden throne looking out at us with a kind and gentle smile. I stood there dazzled as I gazed upon her sparkling white coat and flowing mane which shimmered in a rainbow of colors. Her face seemed so young and full of life even as she just sat there looking out at Grit and me. Yet even in its youthful appearance I noticed her piercing magenta eyes as they looked at me as if sizing me up for something. She rose from her throne and slowly began to walk towards us and with each step I could feel both the pride and compassion she held in equal measure.

I quickly looked over at Grit and saw that he was bowing down and not really knowing what to do I followed suit. Now I had never really bowed before so I just did my best to try and copy what Grit was doing before I tripped on my own hoof and face planted onto the floor right in front of the princess. It was at this point I believed my life was over for now I had just embarrassed bot Grit and myself in front of FREAKING CELESTIA! For his part Grit just looked over at me as I lay there on the ground with a slight redness on his face as Celestia stopped to stand in front of us.

“Wonderful to see you again after so many years Grit.” Celestia said with a kind and understanding smile on her face. “And this must be the famous Ivory that you have spoken of so often in your letters to me.” Celestia's voice to me sounded like a chorus of streams gently rolling off into the ocean, soft and gentle but leading to a sense of strength and control as she lovingly chose each word to say.

Grit rose up and gave a smile to his old friend, “Yeah it's been too long since we spoke last and I do regret not being able to find the time to visit sooner.” Grit said with some embarrassment.

Celestia gave a little chuckle as she looked down at me, still lying on the floor to embarrassed to move. “Don't worry Ivory, I don't bite that badly.” she said as she gently held out her hoof to help me up off the floor.

My face was redder than if you smashed a tomato and a whole bunch of cherries on my face as I slowly accepted her hoof and pulled myself up. “Th..th..thank you princess.” I said very awe struck at meeting the increasingly more amazing ruler of all Equestria.

“So I hear that Emerald's little project has found something interesting today that you wanted to show me.” Celestia said turning towards Grit.

“Well Ivory here is the one who found it though Emerald had already flagged the location and had simply given us first dibs on it.” Grit said probably trying to give credit to both me and my friend.

“Well then my little ponies lets see what you’ve got and I will do the best I can to help.” Celestia paused a second and then interrupted her own thought, “Although don't you think Twilight would be more helpful in this matter than I?”

“If what I am thinking is correct then this is a bit before Twilight's time and you would be the one to ask since you were probably alive back then.” Grit said as if trying to just casually correct the princess, “And beside isn’t she preparing for a trip to Saddle Arabia tomorrow, I wouldn’t want to get her behind just to help me out.”

“Quite right my friend.” Celestia answered sweetly in response. “Well then lets waste no more time and see what it is you have.”

I slid the saddle bag I was wearing off my back and slowly grabbed the band out of the bag holding it up carefully with my mouth and putting it into my waiting hooves. Celestia took one look at it as her eyes suddenly widened as she began to dart her eyes to every inch of the pictures and inscriptions.

“You say you found this here at the dig?” Celestia seemed very interested and almost nostalgic as the words left her mouth.

“Yeah it was in a chest buried with a bunch of weird coins but Emerald is currently looking over those.” on second thought maybe we should have brought the coins as well but I didn't want to leave Emmy with nothing to look at while I was away at the palace. “There was this one especially that had this strange silver metal under its surface covering and was all sparkly.” I added at the last second.

“Do you recognize it Celestia?” Grit asked now somewhat more curious than he already obviously was.

“Yes and no my friends.” Celestia said with some contemplation as she continued to stare at the strange little crystal that was set in the center of the band. “When Luna and I were very young and I mean when we were both still foals, I do remember having seen one of these very bands somewhere.”

“Where!” I almost shouted saying this as I wanted to know more about my first find.

“The one I saw, if my memory is right, was worn by one of the Alicorns that once lived here on this mountain.” Celestia stared in thought and continued, “But I thought that when they all disappeared they took everything with them and left nothing behind.” she said continuing to stare at the markings on the side of the band.

“Wait, so you’re saying that this...that this belonged to actual Alicorns!” my amazement matched only by my own disbelief at what the princess had just said.

“That's impossible, all of the Alicorns were said to have completely disappeared from Equestria without a trace.” Grit said adding in his own skepticism to the mix.

Suddenly Celestia's eyes lit up as she gazed at the pictures engraved on the edges around the crystal, “I recognize that Zebra, it's Abila if I am not mistaken.” Celestia sounded unsure but a reassurance from Grit assuaged her doubt.

“Each of the images on this band represents a famous hero from legends so old that even our own legends would consider them ancient.” Grit said looking straight at Celestia, “If only Star Swirl and the other pillars were still around we could get their take on this.” he added somewhat dissatisfied.

“How do you two know so much about the ponies on the bracelet here?” I mostly wondered to myself but actually said out-loud.

“My dear” Celestia sweetly said as she glanced down at me, “My sister and I grew up on some of these stories and when Grit started taking an interest in them we told him what we knew and he pretty much found out much more on his own.” she said as Grit began to blush a bit at Celestia praising him.

Grit regained his composure, “Well if this belonged to Alicorns then all we can do is go to the Adventure HQ here in Canterlot and see what the library has to say on the subject; there are more books in that one building than in the rest of Equestria, the Crystal Empire and every other neighboring kingdom combined.”

“Well then I wish you two luck in your search and If you ever need anything please return here and don't hesitate to ask.” Celestia gave Grit a hug as the two friends parted ways and gave me a smile as I followed Grit out of the throne room.

“So Ivory, what did you think of the princess?” Grit asked me as we walked out of the castle and into the cool Canterlot night.

“She was really cool, and pretty and obviously knows a lot stuff, almost as much as you.” I put that last bit in so Grit wouldn't think I liked her more than him. “Could we go and see the princess again once we find out more about the bracelet?”

“Sure kid, and maybe we could get Luna and Twilight in to see it also.” Grit was awesome and I am so glad that I have him as a hero.

Adventure Incorporated

Chapter 2: Adventure Inc.

Grit has taken me to several smaller offices of A.I(Adventure Incorporated) but in the twelve years I have been studying under him he has never actually shown me the main HQ here in Canterlot. We have walked past it on several occasions while living in the city but whenever I would beg him to show me around he would just say no and push me along without telling me why.

“Well Ivory, you wanted to see it and now I think your ready for it.” Grit was leading me up the walkway towards the main entrance of the rather large and imposing structure.

It looked about how you would expect it to with large columns on either side of the door and a large A.I hanging right above the two large gates with smaller spinning doors that made up the main entrance. On either side of the main building (which was still rather large) were several other large columned structures that were connected by means of hallways built into the buildings sides to the main hall. Around the doorway were several courtyards and even a large garden that led around back with ponies sitting around doing various kinds of relaxing things.

“It's pretty cool but the inside is what I really want to see.” now even more excited than when I saw the princess yesterday.

As we walked up to the front door ponies around the grounds began to stare and point at the two of us. I could hear some of the closer ones whispering about how they were actually seeing Grit and that I must be the protege that he had taken on. I will admit this gave me a hint of pride as I straightened out, trying to seem professional and dignified as I walked by the side of one of the most famous ponies in Equestria.

As we got closer I noticed just how big the two front doors really were especially compared to me. I easily could have fit seven or eight of me across and probably stacked myself up a dozen times still with some room to spare. And to my own surprise just before we arrived the small front door attached to the bottom of the larger door quickly opened only to have a familiar green Pegasus pony ram into me as she was obviously not looking where she was going.

“Hey watch it!” the Pegasus said as she fell to the ground only to look over and realize who she was talking to, “Oh! Ivy is that you?”

“Hey Emmy, whats the hurry there?” I said rubbing my flank as I lay there on the ground after having just been rammed into.

“Sorry but I just sent those coins of yours into the research team and I wanted to hurry back to try to find any more you might have missed.” She said as she lifted herself off the ground.

“It's fine Emmy, Grit and I went to see the princess yesterday and now he is actually going to show me around the HQ here so we can do some RESEARCH!!” I was very excited at this prospect since I loved reading (if you haven’t guessed that by now).

“Yeah it is pretty cool in there all right, I remember when I first got in and saw all of the neat stuff in there.” Emerald's eyes glossed over as if she was remembering her first visit even as she was talking.

“All right you two, settle down.” Grit interjected, “Emerald I'm glad your so excited but we have got to hurry on so if you could excuse us.” Grit gestured that he wanted to get me inside.

“Oh yeah, right, well anyway it is always great to see you two and you will let me know if you find out anything interesting right?” she said as she started to walk away.

“Don't worry Emmy I'll write you a letter all about it if I don't see you right away, ok!” I said turning my head back to the front door of the imposing structure in front of me.

It was finally time. It was finally happening. All of my dreams seemed to be coming true at this exact and very moment as Grit pushed the door open and allowed me to walk inside the main foyer of the main HQ of the main branch of the biggest and most famous organization in all of Equestria.

The main foyer was like nothing I had ever seen before in all of my life, I mean it was even bigger than the main hall of the royal palace for ponies sake. The walls and floors were marble as tapestries and cool looking artifacts hung all over the walls and hundreds of ponies stood at booths and desks of all kinds which hugged the walls and much of the center of the room.

“Grit” I whispered, “This reminds me of a Daring Do or Dash Venture convention.”

I don't think he heard me though as as soon as he walked through the doors dozens of ponies suddenly rushed him trying to talk to him. Some wanted his autograph, some wanted pictures, some even shoved papers into his face which apparently held their fringe time travel theories on it that they wanted him to read and approve for them. A group of ponies managed to push through the others to beg Grit to help fund and then go along on an expedition to southern Equestria to explore the old Sphinx ruins that had been found there.

“It's been so long since anypony has seen you here sir!” one pony said to him.

“Why haven't you gone on any new adventures!” said another interrupting the first.

“Yeah whens the next book coming out it's been like ten years!” a third pony shouted at him. All of the other ponies standing around seemed to all nod and agree on that last one and kept pressing closer to Grit with each passing second.

“Whoa there guys, slow down a bit and let me and my friend through we've got important business to do today.” Grit quickly shouted as he began to flap his wings, ascending to a hover over the crowd to ensure he was heard. He looked back down at me who I will admit was lying on the floor covering my head trying not to get trampled to death.

The crowd of ponies quieted down as Grit waved his hooves out to signal them to move aside finally giving me some breathing room. I slowly and cautiously got up and proceeded to dust myself off as I waded through the crowd of staring fanponies.

“Now I want you guys to apologize to my student here for giving her a bad first impression of our little group here.” Grit scolded the crowd and to my actual surprise they all turned towards me and actually began to apologize one by one. “And as for your questions I'm sure Hero will tell Equestria all about it when we're done!” Grit added in at the end.

“Don't worry about me, I'm pretty tough I'll have you know.” My physique as an Earth Pony allowed for a slightly higher pain tolerance to these sorts of things.

“Nevertheless” said one Unicorn stepping forward, “We represent the biggest and best organization in all of Equestria and we need to act the part of being members of it.” he waved the crowd away and they slowly began to disperse with mumblings and regretful head nods at the words of the random Unicorn.

I watched as each of the ponies in the crowd returned to their respective booths and desks to continue their day to day tasks and go on with their business. Grit landed back down next to me and gave me a friendly nudge as we continued onward towards the eastern building which the library was in.

“Sorry about the Ivory, I don't get in much so whenever they see me well you know what it's like to meet your hero for the first time.” Grit said with perhaps a speck of pride in his voice.

“Yeah, I get it and don't worry it's all good Grit.” we continued to walk towards the library, “Do you really think Hero will cover my find on her radio station Grit because that would be amazing if she did.”

“Finding something that belonged to the old Alicorn kingdom is rare and I don't mean just rare but extremely rare.” Grit took a quick look in his saddle bag where the bracelet was resting, “And in such near perfect condition I might add.”

“Well that would be so awesome and just wow, I mean to be featured on her show would get me into A.I for sure.” I was almost speechless but not quite.

Grit and I after several minutes of walking finally reached the door to the main library of the Canterlot Adventure Incorporated Headquarters and when Grit opened the door my mane almost exploded off of my head. It was positively the biggest library not just in Equestria but I had to assume in the whole world as well. I had seen the building from the outside but now that I actually stood in it the size seemed to at least triple as the enormity of the amount of information contained here simply boggled my mind.

On each wall were hundreds, no thousands, of bookshelves which climbed high into the rafters so it was almost that I couldn't even see the tops. I could see Pegasi hovering over these many rows and Unicorns levitating rows of books back and forth in every direction. Not only was the room exceptionally high but the halls went back almost forever.

“The back of this building is actually built into the center of the Canterlot mountain, that's why it looks smaller on the outside.” Grit quietly whispered into my ear, “And there are about four more rooms about the same size spread out across the interior of the mountain.”

I just stood there trying to soak it all in, I had been in some pretty big libraries before or at least I thought I had but this was just something else entirely. This one room which apparently was only one of five was already the biggest thing I had ever seen and I was a little intimidated at the sheer scope of just how much there was stored away here. All around were rows and rows of bookshelves, some of them hundreds of feet high, forming a maze of shelves that went from one corner of the cavern to another.

“I doubt even Princess Twilight could read all of these.” I wondered out loud.

“She did try once Ivory, she gave up after about two and a half weeks of straight reading.” Grit stated as he himself began to stare around the large room.

“This is amazing Grit but why haven’t we been here earlier I mean you literally created this place and you know how much I've wanted to be here?” I was now wondering as I quickly fell in love with this place.

Grit slid the saddlebag off his back and lifted out the band taking one last look into the dim crystal that adorned the center of the band and the unknown writing surrounding it, “Well here you go Ivory, have at it.” he said rather bluntly.

“Wait, what?” I was confused, “Your not going to help me?” I was definitely confused.

“Well you got to see one of your friends and now I am going to see one of mine and don't worry I'll be back after I have a little chat with him.” Grit slid the saddlebag back onto his back, “Don't worry I have left some notes on where you should begin to look and in what section the correct books might be in.”

“Don't you know, I mean you built this place and a good amount of the collection?” I asked him.

“Please Ivory I don't think anyone will ever be able to actually read even a tenth of what is in here in a lifetime.” Grit said as he turned towards the exit.

“Who are you going to see?” I asked him.

“You remember Blaze right?” Grit shouted at me from the doorway prompting a quick and very forceful hushing from a pony sitting to his side who quickly recoiled when she noticed she had just shushed Grit Stratum.

“Oh yeah that friend of your from back in the day yeah I remember him.” This answer contented me as I had met Blaze several times because he and Grit had been friends since they were each colts and Blaze had actually founded A.I along with Grit. Blaze was currently one of the acting chairponies for the organization and I guess he was in town since Grit was going to see him.

“If you need any help just come get me or ask someone to show you where everything is here!” Grit was now standing in the hallway.

“Don't worry I love it here and I'm sure somepony would help me if I asked!” I shouted back while getting several nasty looks from several surrounding ponies.

I stood there and watched as Grit disappeared from the doorway and several eager and smiling ponies quickly ran past the door in the same direction after him. I would sometimes forget that other ponies looked to him like a hero and role model aside from me but my entire time here was just shoving that fact in my face. But now was the time for research and reading, my two favorite things in the world that I could do at any time and any place.

I was a fast reader and I took pride in that fact, whether due to natural talent or just lots of practice I could read pretty much any novel or story in what I would always assume was a record pace. When I was a foal I read the entire Daring Do and Dash Venture series in about two weeks (that is 57 separate novels if you didn't know) and beside pretty much no direct sunlight or pony contact in that entire time I thought and still think it was entirely worth it to challenge myself like that. I of course had improved since then and could go through eight or nine books a day (depending on length of course) in a through and complete manner.

The note that Grit left me had a list of several dozen different books written about various subjects having to do with ancient Equestria. Any credible and in-depth work of ancient Equestria and ancient artifacts was listed from The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide to History of Equestria and everything in between. This part was both easy and enjoyable with the only hiccups I ran into was the book on the Elements of Harmony being filed wrong and it taking several hours to actually find all of the recommended books. But when I did find them all the phrase 'tore into them' didn't even come close to the voracity that I poured into my favorite activity.

****

Seven hours and about five books later I had found a whole lot of nothing after reading all the most promising leads first. I was actually getting the feeling of being slightly tired when it could be said that I caught the proverbial break in my search. I was sitting there reading Predictions and Prophecies in order to try and relate several lines in the tenth chapter to a small mention of magical accessories in the book The Unabridged History of Amulets when I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

“Whatcha reading there?” whispered an unknown voice through the monotonous silence in which the last seven hours had been spent.

“What!?” I said startled at the sudden break in concentration causing me to drop my book (super annoying) and almost fall out of my chair.

I swiftly turned my head to see a Pegasus standing over my shoulder looking down at my books and at the bracelet laying on the table. He had a white coat with a slicked back light silvery mane that ran smoothly down the back of his neck. His eyes seemed glued to the highly ornamental artifact laying in front of me which I quickly scooped up almost out of a selfish need to not have anypony else but me and Grit know about it.

“Whoa there, I didn't mean to startle you.” he backed off a few steps, “Let me start over,” he paused for a second and composed himself, “I am Silver Chaser and I was wondering what that strange piece of jewelry you had there was?” this strange Pegasus asked very politely while pointing at the band I held in my hooves.

“Wait, who are you and why do you care?” I responded not really caring to talk to this guy but not wanting to offend him either.

“Well you see I don't really recall seeing you around here before and I kind of have this thing about helping out new members to help them get more comfortable and such.” he said with a smile on his face, “Also that I haven't seen anything quite as interesting looking as that little piece you have there and I was curious.”

“Well I am sorry to tell you but I'm not actually a member of A.I yet..bu..but I will be soon.” It had just dawned on me yet again that I still wasn't a full fledged member yet and it annoyed me and made me want to go talk to Grit right away.

“Wait, really?” he seemed genuinely surprised, “Well I guess that's why your not in the members only section of the library.” he said sounding disappointed.

“The what section?” Why wasn't I told about this.

“Oh there is a special section of the library in the third chamber that only ponies who are certified members of A.I can go into, it has lots of very rare books which have only one or two known copies in the whole world.” Silver was obviously very enamored with the collection here as I was.

This could work, none of the books I had looked had yielded any real results and the rest really didn't seem like they would hold the answers I was after anyway. This members only section sounded like the right direction to find out some really useful information for my search. I suppose I wasn't technically a member yet but I no doubt would be soon and the organizations founder was my personal mentor so I thought to myself that it wouldn't be so bad if I popped in for a bit.

“Well thanks for the info Mr. uh what was your name again?” I admit I wasn't listening to his introduction and only the mention of a special area of the library interested me but I suppose showing him some politeness was warranted now.

“Oh it was Silver Chaser and so we can be on equal terms here what's your name?” he said with his polite smile never fading.

“My name is Ivory Star and it's good to meet you Mr. Chaser but I would prefer finishing up on my own here” I said giving him a smile of my own.

“Just Silver please and it was nice to meet you as well and if you don't want me bothering you I understand and wish you the best of luck with your research.” Silver gave me a little bow before flying off presumably to another section of the library.

He seemed nice if not a little forward for me but whatever, this news of a members only section was too good to pass up. I stuffed a few of the more interesting book I had found into my saddle bag alongside the bracelet and started trotting down the great halls of the library. I must admit I got lost a few times but eventually I discovered the exit to the chamber I was in and the entrance to one deeper into the mountain's interior. There were fewer ponies in here and in fact I think I only saw one hovering in some far off corner well away from where I was going. This made me stop and realize just how long I had been here in the library and how late it must be getting. It was probably just about getting dark outside or at least I think it was since there were no windows here in the underground room. Luckily there were very large magical lamps which hung from the ceiling that were bright enough to light up the entire cavern. It took several more minutes of walking around to determine that this was not the right chamber and I would have to head on deeper into the library to find the right one. Dang this library is big, I mean it is very big, even bigger than I ever could have thought from seeing the one building that I entered to get in here.

After probably twenty or thirty minutes of wandering around I finally exited the current chamber I was in and found the next one which hopefully led to what I was looking for. This chamber was a bit easier to navigate as the shelves were not quite as high here and by jumping I could even almost see over some of them. This part of the library was completely deserted and noticeably quiet even for a library. Even my breathing seemed like a troupe of trumpets blasting out and echoing out everywhere.

“OH SWEET CELESTIA IT'S TOO QUIET!!” I quickly slapped my hooves over my mouth to try and stop the huge scream I had just let out into the seemingly empty room. “Maybe I should wait and come back here with Grit, I'm sure he would let me in at least if I was with him.” or maybe I was just lonely in this seemingly never ending library and wanted an excuse to leave but curiosity is a very powerful thing especially for me.

Walking seemed to be a design flaw for this place, or maybe it was designed more for those with wings or magic users who could just teleport and float stuff around because this was just getting ridiculous. Persistence pays off because after more walking than I ever wanted to experience again I finally came to a large door built into the cavern wall with the big letters:

A.I Staff Only

“this has to be it.” I needed to say something just to break off this maddening silence.

I walked up to the door and tried to push and pull on the handles but it was locked up pretty tight. Now what was I going to do, I unfortunately couldn't lockpick my way in or anything as Grit had always refused to teach me how. Maybe there was a book or magazine around I could find that would teach me how but I didn't feel I had the time to look around for it. I sat down trying to think of a solution to this problem when I came up with the thought that Grit had probably helped build or at least design this place. Grit, as an adventure loving pony would most likely have personalized certain areas perhaps with some kind of puzzle or secret lever.

“Hmm, I wonder if I could find some kind of secret doorway or lever Grit might have installed for personal use or maybe just for fun?” I asked myself.

I quickly ran to the surrounding bookcases and began to pull out books at random trying to find one of those book lever devises. When I couldn't find one I stuffed my face right on all the edges of the door frame looking for a panel or anything that I could push in to open a secret latch on the door to open it up. I searched the entire frame even trying to climb onto a nearby bookcase to try and feel around the top of the door-frame with no success. I jumped back down to the floor to give the door another good stare down to see if I could find anything. I glanced hard at the door knob for several seconds and not really knowing what to do and getting impatient with my curiosity and frustration peaking.

“That's it! I know what to do!” I happily shouted to myself now certain nopony was around to hear me. With that I turned around sideways towards the door angled my hind hooves and with all of my strength kicked back at the doorknob. The first time I missed the knob entirely and the second I only managed to strike the edge (I need more practice bucking stuff) but the third time I actually managed to strike the doorknob and heard it bend out of place slightly. I kicked at it a couple more times until I achieved the desired result, the doorknob flew straight out of the door broken in half with the inner lock mechanism now openly exposed.

“Gotcha you dumb door!” I shouted extremely happy at my victory, “Earth Pony muscle ain't nothing to laugh about.” said the Earth Pony who never worked out a day in her life.

I took a look at the exposed insides of the former doorknob, “Wow this lock looks pretty complex, good thing it's mostly gone now.” it didn't take much to use my hoof to jostle what was left of the lock out of the door. I heard it clang on the other side of the door as it hit the floor again giving me that feeling that somepony might have actually heard it. “I'll have to apologize to Grit for this later but sure he won't be too mad.” I said trying to reassure myself what I was doing wasn't really that bad.

“Come to think of it this lock still came out pretty easily considering it sounds like it was made of metal.” I said to myself doubting that I could have made a heavy metal door handle fall out so easily. I took another closer look at where the door handle was resting and made an interesting discovery. It looked like it had been removed some time earlier or at least was close to falling out of it's socket by itself, “How long has this door been sitting here?” I wondered to myself.

The door slowly creaked open as I pressed my hoof against it trying to keep it slow as to not make too much noise. The inside of the room was dark as unlike the main chamber there were no active lights within it. This became my first task as I panned the walls looking for a switch or something to give me some light. Luckily I found one and when the lamp in the center of the room flickered on I saw why the door might have been a bit weak. The room was covered in cobwebs and dust coated pretty much everything, in fact it looked like no pony had been in this room in years or longer.

“Grit told me that construction on this library began about forty years ago so I wonder if anypony has actually been in here in all this time?” I wondered out lout trying again to break the silence. This room was not nearly as large as the main chamber but it was large enough that it might take some time for me to find what I was looking for if it was even here. There was something else rather strange about this room though I couldn't quite place it right away. I walked down the rows of old dusty books and scrolls reading what titles I could and marveling at what I saw here.

“Star Swirl's reconstructed journal, Luna and Celestia's old diary, writ's from the founding of Equestria, and what's with these necklaces with the empty jewel slots?” It was then as I continued to look around that I realized that this room was filled with actual historical treasures from the past. I ran around to other shelves and saw tomes written in old ponish and several other weird languages that I didn't recognize until I saw a familiar symbol.

“That's the pre-whatever script that's on the bracelet here.” I grabbed the book in my mouth and after coughing up a large cloud of dust placed it on a small table near the center of the room. I opened the book carefully and began to flip through the pages until a familiar image caught my eye. A picture of a Zebra with a beautiful glowing helmet stood in a crowd of other zebra as they all looked upon her with reverence. Around the front hoof of the Zebra was a bracelet that looked just like the one I had and from the crystal on it shot forth a dazzling rainbow of colors that chased away strange misshapen creatures drawn in a dark ink that made them seem rather unsettling.

“That mark on her flank, it's Abila.” I said, my gaze transfixed on the strange image drawn before me, “This bracelet must have something to do with her and what's with that cool looking helmet she's wearing?” I sat there combing through adjoining pages trying to find other pictures that went along with this one but to no avail. I flipped to the end of the book and on a page where the writing on it looked more scribbled in several different hoofwriting styles on than professionally printed was a map of a land I did not recognize that was marked with several symbols on it. I had no idea what most of them meant but one I did recognize as Abila's cutie mark (well I guess they are cutie marks but I didn't really know at the time). I memorized the area around where the mark was on the map and was about to keep looking around when I suddenly heard shouting from outside the door.

“The magical silent alarm went off, somepony is in the restricted section!” I heard a rather intimidating sounding voice shout out from outside.

Oh pony-feathers I had forgot to think if there was any security on this door before I literally broke into it. I quickly slid the book into the last bit of room in my saddle bag before I ran and hid behind a shelf hoping the guard ponies would run past me or give up looking. I really shouldn't have been surprised neither of those things happened but within a minute a Guard had spotted me and shouted to the others.

“Earth Pony Intruder!” the Unicorn guard shouted as I panicked and tried to dart past him as fast as I could only succeeding in slamming into him and knocking him to the floor.

“Sorry!” I yelled as I continued to rush out of the room only to find that my hooves had left the ground and I was being suspended by three other Unicorn guards who had been waiting outside the broken door.

Another guard came up and after looking at me for a few seconds said, “Hey I've seen her before, she came in earlier today with Prof. Stratum.” as I floated there trying to brute force my way out of the levitation field an idea hit me.

“Yes I am here with him and if you take me to him I'm sure we can sort this whole mess out.” I said somewhat nervously hoping they would agree and not just arrest me.

“Hmm, considering the circumstances we will agree to this but don't try to escape or you will be taken straight to the Canterlot dungeons!” he yelled very authoritatively at me. Well this was both lucky and unlucky as Grit would undoubtedly get me out of this but at the same time he will not be happy at all. I will admit this was a bad idea and in hindsight I would have done it differently but they did seem to not check my saddlebags for some reason and in my own rush I also forgot that I had placed the book inside it.

The guards kept me in the field as we exited the library walking past the few ponies who remained to my huge embarrassment. They all began to whisper as they saw me being dragged by the guards up to the top floor and I just knew some of them were the ones who saw me with Grit earlier. This would probably end up reflecting poorly on him which made me even more nervous as the guards neared the elevator to the upper floors of the main building.

As we neared the main office even though the doors were closed everypony could hear the argument that was going on inside. The voices were exceedingly loud but bot the kind of anger filled bile that most arguments tend to turn into. As we neared the doors some of the voices became somewhat audible.

“This is a terrible idea, you're going to get yourself killed!” I heard one voice say

“Oh come off it, we've gotten through way worse than this when we were still foals Blaze!” a voice that sounded like Grit's said.

“You're too old for this kind of stuff and you know I can't cover for you if you get caught anymore, they will NOT LET THIS GO!” the first voice yelled again.

“I have that covered you idiot, Jackpot already agreed to come along to keep those hoof biters happy and...” it was at this point the Unicorn guards knocked on the door to the main office. The two arguing voices immediately stopped and a set of hoofsteps could be heard walking towards the door.

“What is it!” The first voice that I guess was Blaze's said through the door.

“We caught a pony breaking into the restricted wing of the library sir and she says she is friends with Prof. Stratum!” The guard shouted in reply.

I could almost hear Grit face-hoofing inside the office when the guard finished talking, “Come on in!” I heard Grit yell.

The lead guard grabbed the door with a telekinetic grip and swung the door open revealing Grit sitting on a chair with a very frustrated looking red and yellow Pegasus with a fireball cutie mark staring out the window towards the darkening gardens below. I blushed sheepishly as Grit shook his head and let out a sigh waving his hoof and signaling for the guards to let me go. The guards followed his order and nodding their heads towards Blaze left the room and closed the door.

“Ah, Ivory it's been too long since I saw you last.” Blaze said putting a smile on his face for me.

I gave a sheepish smile to Blaze but when I looked over at Grit he had a slight scowl on his face while looking at me which caused me to turn back to Blaze. The office was a nice one with a large wooden desk surrounded by several nice looking chairs and a large window that gave a beautiful view of Canterlot.

“So whats this about breaking into a members only section of the library huh?” Blaze said looking right at me. I wanted to change the subject away from this and so went with the first thing that came to mind.

“Are you two ok, I mean what was that argument about?” My curiosity genuinely peaking at the strange comments the two were making.

“Business stuff and Grit being way too stubborn for his own good in his old age.” Blaze said giving Grit an angry look with Grit just shrugging and turning away in his swivel chair(wow, it worked).

“But you said something about Grit getting killed!” I said worriedly remembering what Blaze had said.

“Yeah overworking yourself at his age is not healthy!” he might have been talking to me but his comments were definitely directed towards Grit who had been silent this whole time.

“So um Grit” I said trying to change the subject again, “I found some information on the bracelet we found at Emerald's dig site.” I was being as polite as I could be here while trying to underplay the whole breaking A.I property part.

“Did you find it in the restricted section, you know the one that says staff only?” Grit said very obviously disappointed(dang it).

“Well yeah and just before you say anything I am sorry about the door.” I was kind of ashamed of that at this point.

“Wait the door is just sitting there wide open!” Blaze cut in, “He pressed a button on the intercom on his desk, “Ms. Stencil could you get some of the guards to go down and keep watch on the staff library and get an order for a new door apparently as well.”

“Yes sir Mr. Blaze!” a rather soft but enthusiastic voice answered back from the speaker.

Blaze turned back towards the window rubbing his forehead, “How did you get the door open?” he asked sounding rather frustrated.

“The handle kind of...fell off.” I said somewhat too embarrassed to tell them I kicked it off.

“How, that door was supposed to be able to stand up to magic blasts from an Alicorn!” Blaze was obviously a bit peeved off.

“Settle down Blaze.” Grit interjected before Blaze could get too angry, “Your overreacting to nothing again.” Grit said much more calmly than Blaze.

“Overreacting! That room has some of our most valuable collections in it! You want it to be stolen!?” Blaze was pacing in the air getting more and more worked up.

“Who's gonna steal it, we have one of the best security systems in Equestria and the whole kingdom loves us.” Grit said trying to calm his friend down.

Blaze stopped sweating and floated back down to the ground taking several deep breaths, “You're right of course but this day has just been too much, maybe I should do what you did and retire.” Blaze said while plopping down in his chair behind the desk.

“Come on, don't do that, you love this place more than I ever did. It was your idea originally after all.” Grit said trying to cheer his friend up. “And since Ivory here has seen at least some of whats in that room why don't we let her join because believe me she really wants to and I think she might be good for this place.” Grit said giving me a smile.

I can't believe Grit just said that, is he really going to let me join because OH MY GOSH THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!! I gave him a big smile of almost disbelief thinking he certainly wouldn't let me join after what I just did.

“Just don't go telling ponies what you saw in that room and I think we could arrange that.” Blaze said getting more calm by the second.

“Oh yes sir, don't worry I wouldn't want bad guys coming in and trying to steal Equestria's most valuable artifacts! I said eagerly and very excitedly.

“So anyway Ivory, what exactly did you find out about our little treasure?” Grit suddenly asked.

“What?...Oh yeah I did fond some cool stuff in a book I found.” I almost took it out of my saddlebag but I didn't want Blaze to start yelling again so I decided against it. “From what I saw this belonged to that Zebra you were telling me about, you know, Abila.”

“Really, that’s very interesting.” Blaze said from behind his desk. “I didn't think Abila was actually a real Zebra.” he said looking at Grit.

“Not based on what I've learned the past few years.” Grit said in response, “Ivory, show Blaze the bracelet.”

I carefully took the bracelet out of my saddlebag and set it on Blaze's desk for him to look at. He took out some glasses and put them on his face and began to stare intently at the different pictures and writing on the band. He stared for a few minutes giving off some “oohs” and “ahhs” as he scanned the surface of the artifact.

“That's definitely the symbol associated with Abila and a few other legendary ponies as well, and where did you say you found this?” Blaze added.

“Here in Canterlot, on a dig further up the mountainside.” I told Blaze

“Did you plan this Grit?” Blaze said turning to face his friend.

“Not in the slightest, this was just a huge coincidence.” Grit said with a somewhat smug smile on his face.

“Plan what?” I asked wondering what they were talking about.

“A very bad Idea.” Blaze huffed once again starting to sound frustrated.

“It's just one trip and now Ivory can come along also, she might not look it, but she is just as capable as anyone you have working for you.” Grit said as he sat up and began to float in front of Blaze.

“What trip!?” I said excited at the prospect of actually going on some kind of adventure with Grit.

“It's too dangerous for you, let alone a kid like Ivory here.” Blaze seemed adamant not to want us to go.

“Hey I'm not a kid!” and I meant it too.

“Please, I'm three times your age so yeah your a kid.” Blaze said trying to shut me up, “And would you really trust jackpot around her anyway, I mean you know what he's like?” Blaze really didn't want us to go.

“Yeah I know that when it comes down to it he is fine, and besides It's not like it will be just the three of us so stop worrying.” Grit really wanted to go.

“What are you two talking about!?” I felt I had to yell to be heard at this point.

“Well Ivory, it's sort of a pet project of mine that I've been working on for a few years now and let's just say it involves a new site that was found a while back in Khaweth, the Zebra Kingdom.

“What site is that?” this sounded more and more like an adventure every second.

“Well the A.I team that discovered it claims that it is the lost city of Numnah which was the capital city of Abila when she reunited the Zebra tribes into one kingdom.” Grit seemed very excited about something.

“And what is the project?” I asked getting somewhat excited myself.

“Yes, go on and tell us oh great and all knowing Grit Stratum!” Blaze sarcastically blurted out with some obvious disbelief.

“Lets just say that I might know where Abila's actual tomb is, if this is in deed the real Numnah.” Grit seemed sure but my only thought at this moment was...

OH MY SUPER SWEET CELESTIA THIS COULD MAKE ME SUPER FAMOUS!!

This was my chance, if Grit would take me along I could finally prove myself to him and to Equestria. A life of exciting adventure and action awaited me if I could only get to go on this trip and show off what I can really do.

“Don't worry Blaze I can handle it no problem, and with Grit by my side, I know we can handle everything!” I said with an air of confidence that judging by my actions earlier this evening was not warranted.

“I can't stop Grit once he gets his mind to something but you won't get any official backing from A.I aside from what you can drum up yourselves. And I still think this is a bad idea and that you both should just stay in Equestria.” Blaze said beginning to sound frustrated again.

“Why are you so against this Blaze?” I asked quite understandably.

“Should you tell her or should I?” Blaze said looking at Grit but Grit just mumbled to himself. “Well Kid, ever wonder why Grit hasn't left Equestria on any of his famous adventures in thirty years?”

“Only every day.” I responded, wide-eyed.

“Well this ruin just happens to be in an area of the Zebra lands known as the Broken Wilds.” Blaze said trying to sound scary when he said Broken Wilds.

“Never heard of those.” I said somewhat excited to hear about them.

“Well they aren’t called broken and wild for nothing but basically it is a massive jungle that is filled with monsters and lets just say other things, especially in the past decade or so.”

“What things and what does this have to do with Grit?” I asked expectantly.

“Thirty years ago, Grit and I went out there to find some legendary magic necklace or something and lets just say not everything Grit did made it into those books of his.” Blaze paused to think for a second then continued, “Grit messed up pretty bad and almost got an entire village of Zebras killed by some pretty bad people who still skulk around those parts.”

Wait a second, did Blaze just say Grit failed at something and that he almost got a lot of innocent Zebras hurt as well! I wouldn't have believed it if when I looked over at Grit he had turned his head away to avoid eye contact with anypony.

“How did he mess up?” I thought this a fair question but I guess I was wrong.

“Don't need to tell her that yet Blaze.” Grit said while still looking away from us.

“Yes, I suppose that particular occurrence can wait until we have you a bit more accustomed to how we do things around here.” Blaze said calming down again.

“Whats that supposed to mean?” it seemed that all I could do was ask questions here.

“You'll see in due time Ivory.” Blaze said, “And then we'll see if you have what it takes to stay with us here at Adventure Incorporated.”

“Well it's getting late and Ivory and I have one more stop to make tonight before we start getting ready for our first little excursion together.” Grit said as he got up out of his chair.

“Where is that?” I asked.

“There is someone we need to pick up before we can set out.” Grit said while trotting towards the door.

“That Jackpot pony you were talking about?” I said wondering what he would be like.

“Yup, just stay close to me and let me do the talking and this should be quick.” Grit said opening the door to the office.

****

It was late now, the sun had set about two hours ago when Grit and I trotted up to a medium sized two story building on the edge of Canterlot. Above the front door was a sign that read:

Cider Joe's House of Exotic Cider

“Grit, what does that dingy looking sign mean?” I asked, curious.

“It means don't drink the cider here if you don't want to feel sick in the morning.” Grit said with an expressionless look on his face.

As we neared the door I began to hear the faint sound of music and laughter as we neared the entrance to the building. Grit opened the door and slowly skulked inside with me following steadily at his heels. The inside was just as dingy as the outside but several dozen ponies were sitting around on stools and tables singing to a weird song I had never heard before:

We all love Cider it makes us so happy!
But too much of it down and we start to get sappy!
That wonderful stuff we all like to chuuug!
So in the morning we all wake face down on the rug!

This crowd of ponies seemed rather rowdy as they all stumbled around smashing into things and tripping on each other before shouting and yelling at each other and ultimately going up to buy more of the strange smelling cider. We carefully stepped past several passed out ponies and a few others who were dancing around the open area in the center of the room. Grit walked up to the counter where a brown Pegasus with a blond mane and a cutie mark of a pot of gold sat on a stool with a rather jumbled and ditzy looking Unicorn mare sitting on his lap laughing as he whispered stuff into her ear.

“Well well, look what the pony dragged in as I live and breath!” This pony who I guessed to be Jackpot shouted out, “If it isn't Mr. Adventure himself, Grit Stratum!” he was a very loud pony as he shouted this out to all the other ponies in the room. They all turned to look and cheered with very sloppy sounding voices.

“Jackpot I'm here to tell you we are leaving in about three days, so you better get your things ready!” Grit had to shout just to be heard in the very loud room.

“Yeah yeah, your big stickin it to the man party or whatever it was you've been going on about the past couple months!” this Jackpot obviously had had too much of this weird cider and was pretty loopy.

“Everything's ready but it looks like we're also bringing on a new member to our group!” Grit shouted a little louder to keep the attention of the Pegasus.

“Oh this little beauty here,” he looked right at me, “well hello cutie my names Jackpot and I'm happy to meet you!” he blurted out with a smile on his face. As he did so the Unicorn mare on his lap slapped his face and pouted off to another stallion off in another corner, “Can't take a joke that one.” Jackpot said laughing a little.

“This ones off limits Jackpot, this here is Ivory Star and I'm pretty sure I've told you about her.” Grit said waving his hoof in front of Jackpot trying to keep his face straight.

“Oh yeah yeah now I remember, jeez Mr. S, learn to have some fun now and again.” the very not well pony said as he stumbled to his hooves from his stool, “Hey Joe put my drink on my tab and I'll pay you when this job is done eh!” he blurted out to a bearded red Earth Pony who stood behind the bar.

“Um, hi Mr. uh Jackpot is it.” I said as I held out a hoof to shake.

“Pleasure I'm sure.” the brown Pegasus said grabbing my hoof with his wing and shaking it.

Grit patted Jackpot on the shoulder which caused the loopy pony to fall over onto the ground giving us a wave with his wing signaling he would be with us when the time came. Grit shook the fallen ponies wing and then proceeded to push me towards the door with his own wings. Once we were able to get out I found I could suddenly breath a bit better from when I was in the cider house.

“What was that place and why do we need to bring this strange pony with us?” am I just a question machine today or what.

“This is a place that you shouldn't frequent if you care about your health. We need Jackpot because he works for some ponies who, lets just say play a very important role in the running of Adventure Incorporated and want to make sure we don't break anything and other things like that.” Grit answered while still pushing me away from the cider house.

“You mean like investors and other ponies who help pay for all of this?” this sounded right to me.

“Yeah, that's pretty much it Ivory.” Grit said as he led us back home to prepare for this trip we were apparently taking in only three days.

The Broken Wilds

Chapter 3: The Broken Wilds

Those three days we had to prepare went by much faster than I could have guessed they would. Grit wouldn't say much in that time but he was probably too busy planning out all of the amazing adventures we could have along the way so I didn't mind too much. In the time between when we left Blaze's office and when we left I had been officially registered as a member of Adventure Incorporated by Blaze himself no less. I even got an official A.I adventurers pith hat just like what Emerald had on at her site in Canterlot. I was so excited to do this but admittedly my enthusiasm was curbed by this Jackpot that Grit brought on out of nowhere. He didn't seem very professional or particularly exceptional at our first meeting and was in fact kind of uncomfortable to be around but Grit seemed adamant to bring him with so I didn't argue (too much).

“So how long will it take to get to this weird Numnah city Grit?” I asked as we sat in a carriage cab heading towards the Canterlot train station.

“Lets see, we will be taking the train south past the Macintosh Hills for about a day and a half, then it's a simple two more day boat ride to Khaweth and another day to reach the ruins through the jungle.” Grit answered.

Nearly five whole days of just traveling seemed boring and some of my excitement began to die away at the prospect of sitting on a train for over a whole day doing nothing and boats made me queasy so I definitely wasn't looking forward to that. The jungle part however seemed more like a classic adventure that we could have some exciting encounters in.

“Will we be stopping to see the hippogryphs Grit?” I asked thinking it would be cool to finally get to see some for myself.

“No we will be going pretty much in the opposite direction so probably no chance of seeing any.” Grit said much to my disappointment.

As we arrived at the train station and Grit and I exited the carriage I saw a sight I didn't even know I had been dreading until I saw it happen. There was Emerald, sitting on a bench waiting to wish me luck like she had promised the other day but sitting right next to her was Jackpot who was trying to talk to her. Emerald had a very not happy face on as she was obviously trying to ignore the smiling Pegasus but her face began to glow when she saw me and Grit walking towards her.

“Oh Ivory please tell me that this jerk isn't with you like he says!” Emerald said as she quickly flew over to me and Grit.

“Well he is going to be traveling with us if thats what you mean.” I answered with a hint of caution.

“Well I just want you to know I think he is a jerk and a bad influence!” She huffed as she stuck her tongue out at him which prompted Jackpot to give a little smile and wave back towards us.

“So did he hit on you to?” I asked somewhat reluctantly.

“Several times in the past five minutes!” Emerald seemed distresses, “Wait he did it to you, and you want to travel so far with him, are you crazy!” Emerald was obviously worried.

“Don't worry Emerald.” Grit cut in, “Jackpot is mostly harmless.” Grit said with a teasing smile as Emerald's face dropped.

“Don't worry Emmy, I'm sure Grit will keep him in line and anyways he says Jackpot is dependable when he needs to be so it's all good.” I said giving my best friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Well anyways I came to see you off on your first outing and thats what I'm gonna do.” Emerald said giving me a smile.

“Thanks, it means a lot that your doing this instead of working.” I said very grateful to her.

“No problem, it's my pleasure, really.” Emerald said her smile growing bigger, “And when you get back with a bunch of amazing stories I want to hear all of them ok.”

“Sure thing.” I was looking forward to the return trip now.

The three of us walked up back towards Jackpot who was now gathering up several saddle bags he had stored at the side of the bench. He threw them all on his back and trotted up to meet us as we neared him. He put on his own smile as he used his wing to take a small flask bottle from the only bag that looked like it had anything in it and took several sips from it.

“Behaving yourself Jackpot?” Grit asked him outright.

“No more than usual old man.” Jackpot said in a cheerful manner, “Nice to see you again Ms. Star.” Jackpot said as he held out his wing to shake my hoof.

“Yeah, sure thing.” I said as I shook his wing, more out of politeness than actually thinking it was nice to see him. Although I had to admit he looked somewhat more decent than when we first met, not being so ungroomed and in a somewhat impaired state.

“Well Ivy, this is where I should be going now.” Emerald said as she took a glance at a clock hanging on the wall. “Good luck you guys and remember Ivy, I want to hear everything when you get back, and I do mean EVERYTHING!” she said sternly as she gave a stink eye to Jackpot who just stood there looking innocent.

“Don't worry Emmy we'll be fine and I can't wait to tell you all about it when I get back.” I said with a smile of my own.

“And when your done I might have something to tell as well!” Emerald let out with a slight shyness in her voice.

“Can't wait!” I responded to my friend.

With that Emerald waved us goodbye and flew off back towards her work site in Canterlot while Grit, Jackpot and I boarded the train heading south towards my first adventure. The train itself unfortunately was stalled and we didn't actually get going for nearly an hour after we were supposed to. This seemed to make Grit a bit nervous but Jackpot just kept staring blankly out the window of the seat we were in. Grit had actually bought us an entire car to ourselves so we would have plenty of room to spread out if we wanted. When the train finally got going Grit waved me over to the other side of the train car to talk to me.

“Ivory, do you remember what Blaze said about the place that we’re going to and it being dangerous.” he asked me with a level of seriousness he didn't often display.

“Yeah, he said that there are monsters in the jungle and bad ponies and whatnot running around, right?” I answered trying to recollect the conversation of several days ago.

“I just want to warn you that he wasn't overstating what was out there and in fact he might have understated how dangerous it can be in this area.” Grit said even more seriously than before.

“Well then, why don't you give me a rundown on what we might find out there.” I thought this was a good idea and so did Grit.

“The monsters and giant animals there can be handled relatively easily and as long as we stay smart they shouldn't be much of a hassle but yes I probably should tell you about the group that has all but taken over the area.” Grit sat down in one of the train seats with me and pulled out a map that he said was the area we were headed to.

The map showed a small village situated in the corner of the map while the entirety of the rest of the map was just a huge forest. Near the far upper edge of the map I saw a drawn in picture of some ruined buildings with the name Numnah written beneath it.

Grit cleared his throat and began to talk, “This area of the Zebra kingdom of Khaweth which is one of three total Zebra kingdoms. Khaweth is the closest to Equestria and the area has a long and cultured history dating back long before anything we've ever found in Equestria.”

“How old exactly?” I asked with my usual curiosity.

“The oldest thing I've ever seen from that area was about three to three and a half thousand years old.” Grit said while trying to remember what exactly it was.

“Wow that's actually really cool, what was it?” I asked him really wanting to know what could have survived that long.

“It was a tablet written in an ancient form of zebra dialect I was not familiar with at the time.” Grit said trying to remember something from decades ago.

“What was the story?” I asked him

“Confusing is what it was but it's not relevant right now because these kinds of things attracted less than savory treasure hunters from all over to this kingdom. No one really knows how but they eventually began to become organized with some impressive resources at their disposal and then they began taking over many of these ruined sights like Numnah.” as Grit said this his teeth seemed to clench somewhat as if he took this as personal.

“Didn't the authorities do something about this, I mean they couldn't have just stood by as these thugs went and started to take their heritage away?” even I was getting upset at this.

“Yes they did and still do but the robbers keep coming back with more force and more resources that allow them to exert power in that area.” Grit said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“And nopony knows where they keep getting the supplies to keep doing this?” This was beginning to sound like something a bit bigger than what I had in mind.

“Well not really but the fact is that they did end up buying out zebra officials in the area which has led to a lot of conflict in the area with the few towns that exist here getting caught between the two fighting sides.” Grit seemed a little hesitant saying this, “You might not like some things you see there but know that if we can get to the actual ruins we should be more than fine.” Grit said finally putting a smile on his face.

“Is that why you really brought Jackpot with us, for more protection?” I asked Grit.

“Yeah.” Grit said sounding somewhat unsure about something when he said it, “Jackpot is good at what he does and if you end up not liking him he should stay out of our manes mostly when we get to the ruins.”

“Well, I didn't say that I hated him but he does seem a little rude sometimes.” I had only really had a few interactions with Jackpot but with what Emerald told me I didn't need more convincing.

“We're going to be on this train for a while and Jackpot will be out there with us for some time so why don't you talk with him a little bit as long as we're here?” Grit said nudging me onward, It'll get boring just sitting here talking to me so go say hi and get to know him a bit, who knows you might end up liking him.”

“Well, I suppose that it could be useful to get to know my teammate so I guess I'll go talk to him.” I said somewhat exasperated.

“That's the spirit!” Grit said happily, “Remember, meeting new ponies and having new experiences helps you grow as a person!”

I slowly got up and began to walk towards Jackpot while trying to keep my balance on the moving train. Jackpot had settled in a small booth near the opposite end of the train car from where Grit and I were talking. He had stretched his wings out on the seat and rested his back hooves on the opposite side of the booth with his face turned to stare out the window at the passing countryside. I came up and seeing an open spot on the side his hooves had rested on and tried to think of something to spark up a conversation.

“Your friend at the train station seemed nice.” Jackpot suddenly said without ever even turning his head to look at me.

“Wait what?” I said confused.

“I said that you have some good friends with you.” he said a little louder knowing full well I had heard him the first time.

“Well, um thanks I guess.” had he heard me come in over the noise of the train?

“She's single right?” he then said putting a little smile on his face.

My face suddenly turned a little red, “Wait, why are you asking me this!?” I really didn't know what to say here, “I mean that um...as far as I know she is.”

Jackpot just laughed at my sudden embarrassment appearing to enjoy how red I had gotten, “Really? A mare as cute as her, no way she hasn't found a boyfriend yet, or maybe you're trying to get in with her.” he winked at me.

“What, no were just friends, I mean we've known each other practically since we were kids and we just have a lot in common!” I was getting flustered.

“That's not the vibe I got from her.” Jackpot said leaning his back into a more relaxed position.

“Hey, I know she likes me but it's not that way with us, I just like her as a friend.” I couldn't really keep my thoughts together.

“So, you have a boyfriend or girlfriend in this case then?” he was trying not to laugh but I didn't notice immediately.

“Let's change the subject ok.” I said, my face completely red now as Jackpot was now audibly laughing at my discomfort.

“Wow, you are a kid.” he said in between laughs.

“Please, you don't look much older than me so you're one to talk.” I said still somewhat upset how easily he got to me.

“Oh, I'm just teasing you a bit, just seeing how much you can take since we're gonna to be spendin some time together.” his laughs became a little quieter now.

I looked back out the hallway to where Grit was sitting and I could tell he was listening in and trying to hold back a few laughs as well. I was pretty frustrated with Jackpot but now I wanted to get him back and I was determined not to leave until I did.

“So, what do you do anyway?” I asked him trying to lessen the redness on my face.

“The correct word is 'who' in that question kid.” (the redness came back) Jackpot said rather nonchalantly.

“Behave Jackpot!” I heard Grit yell from the back of the car.

“I swear he's no fun sometimes.” Jackpot mumbled to himself, “But to answer your question you could call me a treasure hunter extraordinaire!” he said waving his hoof in front of himself.

“You know I have been Grit's pupil for twelve years now, how long have you known him?” this should show him that as Grit's pupil I should outrank him in our group.

“Lets see, I first met Grit about six years ago when he invited me into his little adventure club, and at the time I must have been a little younger than you are now.” Jackpot said rubbing his head trying to remember.

“Wait! Grit invited you when he first met you!?” I turned my head into the hallway towards Grit, “What's up with that, and when did it happen!?” I yelled at him.

“There were extenuating back then and I believe you were shut in on one of your Dash Venture reading binges at the time!” Grit shouted back.

“What circumstances!?” I shouted back but Grit didn't answer, “Come on tell me!”

“It's called personal business” Jackpot interjected as he poked his head out into the hallway next to mine before pulling it back in.

I sat back down in a huff to try and recollect my thoughts as Jackpot continued chuckling to himself. After a minute of letting my embarrassment subside I slipped my adventurers pith hat that Blaze had given me the other day for joining A.I and put it on my head.

“So if you're a member of Adventure Inc. as well where is your official hat with the company logo on it?” I was getting a bit desperate trying to hit him with this but it was all I could think of at the moment.

“I had one a few years ago but it got eaten by the Jade Jaguars of Huexotla.” Jackpot said while stretching out his legs and wings.

“WAIT!” I yelled suddenly, “You've actually seen the legendary Jade Jaguars, but they were supposed to be a myth!”

“Yeah they were annoying little bastards but I handled them well enough.” Jackpot said with a hint of pride.

“Language Jackpot!” Grit yelled from the other side of the train.

“I swear, no fun at all.” Jackpot mumbled again.

I didn't care, I was a bit in awe at this moment, “So you fought actual living Jade Jaguars and you were actually in Huexotla!” this was special because Huexotla was probably the second most legendary ancient city of the Equestrian jungles after Tenochtitlan itself.

“Like I said, I did, I was, they ate my hat and it still annoys me.” Jackpot said.

“So, did they really shoot out magical beams from their eyes that turns ponies into jade statues!?” I said excitedly.

“Yeah they did, almost lost a wing to those beams but I got through it.” Jackpot obviously liked talking about his adventures but I might actually like to hear some of them.

I forgot about trying to show him up and just began asking him a million questions about adventures he had and places he had been and things he had seen. He was like Grit but younger and less vague about things. He told me about the legendary Green Sword of Destiny and the Ebony Falcon, ancient treasures of Equestria and Griffonstone that he had recovered. He went on and on about various heroic acts he performed while on these 'world saving' adventures as he described them. I must admit I was somewhat swept up by his stories almost as much as some of Grit's more exciting stories that never ended up as books but he would still tell me after I begged him to enough. Jackpots adventure stories were enough to last through the whole train ride and onto the sailing portion of out trip. On this one I couldn't listen as much as I spent the whole time feeling sick from the constant rocking of the boat.

“Trains are fine, fast moving vehicles are whatever, but boats just kill me.” Is pretty much all I could say on the boat. I would repeat that line over and over just trying not to vomit too many times.

The length of time we were on the boat didn't help my situation much either. I was somewhat proud that I didn't start vomiting until we began the second day of sailing had started. Jackpot and Grit had to hold me up so my head would be over the side of the boat so I wouldn't make too much of a mess. Then when Jackpot started to make puns about my condition I just felt like punching him in the face but was too weak to actually do it, and he knew it. Eventually he stopped when I started to get really uncomfortable but we only had a few hours left at that point so my discomfort didn't stop much. When we finally arrived they had to help me walk onto the dock where several Zebra stood waiting for us. One of them stepped forward and was a bout to say something but I only ended up vomiting the last of my stomach onto him so he stepped back as Grit ended up apologizing for me.

The two remaining Zebra escorted us to a small hut near the dock where they began to discuss something with Grit and Jackpot. I was lying sick in the other room and so didn't hear much of what they had to say. After a bit the Zebra I had barfed on entered to room now clean and Grit nodded in his direction as the other two Zebra left the hut.

“Do you not think we should discover, when your friend there shall recover?” I heard a strange and foreign sounding voice say over me.

“I don't feel like joking right now Jackpot.” I said sitting up after feeling less queasy. When I looked over to the other side of the room it was not jackpot that had said that but the Zebra who I now recognized from earlier, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “Sorry about earlier.” is all I could say.

“That is all right my pony friend, it is good to see you on the mend.” The Zebra said putting a smile on his face.

“Aww don't talk like that you'll confuse the poor girl!” now that was Jackpot talking.

“Jackpot has a point, it's better we all stay on the same page for this part.” Grit said floating over to the side of the mat where I was laying.

“Very well.” The Zebra said in response.

“So, whats going on?” I asked finally strong enough to get up on my hooves.

“You got some serious motion sickness kid.” Jackpot said as he held me up when I wobbled a bit.

“It's just boats, nothing else, just boats.” I stammered, “Who is the Zebra?” I then asked looking at our visitor.

“I am Enyi and I am here on request from the local council to escort you and your party to the city of Numnah.” the Zebra said.

“Our friend here is a Zebra Storyteller and it's his job to record and remember Zebra history so it can be available for posterity.” Grit stated as he began throw some of the saddlebags of supplies over his back.

“That sounds pretty cool, I do know ponies don't know much about Zebra history since Grit is supposed to be the foremost expert in Equestria and he always says he doesn't really know much about it.” this could work for me if I would be able to actually learn something Grit doesn't even know.

“I am also here to instruct you on proper customs and to act as an adviser once we arrive at the site to ensure no cultural artifacts are harmed or damaged.” Enyi added with a charming smile.

And with that Grit and Jackpot finished gathering up the saddlebags which held our supplies with Jackpot carrying the same several empty ones he had before. Grit and Jackpot were eager to get going and so hurried out of the hut while Enyi stayed back to help keep me steady as I exited after them still being a bit wobbly. I must admit I did not expect to see what I saw in the village we were in once I exited the small hut. Now that I had my full bearings back I began to notice that the village was very run down with the huts (that pretty much comprised the entire village) were fairly poorly made with some nearly falling apart. They were small and round, most with room enough for just one open space and only a few slightly larger ones huddled together off in a small corner. The few Zebra that I did see were very gaunt with extended stomachs that made them look awkward and admittedly unpleasant to look at. I guess my surprise at the poor state of the village was noticed by Enyi, whose smile dissipated once he peeked down at me as we walked. As we neared the edge of the village I saw the thing that actually produced a gasp from me as we walked by; near the edge of the village lay several dozen mounds of dirt that seemed recently made, each with wooden planks sticking our from them and with symbols I somewhat recognized as the native Zebra tongue.

“Those were made last night.” Enyi suddenly and sternly said as my horrified expression only got worse.

“What....just what?” is all I could manage to say at the moment.

“It is dangerous to live here, because for us danger is always near.” Enyi muttered almost so I couldn't hear him.

“I'm so sorry.” these words were all I thought I could say without trying to pry too much into what was obviously painful.

“Come on pony and let us hurry, we do not wish to make your friends worry.” the Zebra guide said as he pushed me along towards where Grit and Jackpot awaited us.

“You all right Ivory?” Grit said with a concerned look, “I told you things here are different than in Equestria and if you want to be an adventurer you will have to go to many places like this.”

“It's just that I never....” I was finding it hard to talk with everything I was seeing around me and though I didn't realize it I was starting to cry just a little.

“Hurts, doesn’t it kid, seeing parts of the world you ain’t used to and that everything ain't like it is at home.” Jackpot whispered into my ear.

I didn't know if he was trying to help or just unsettle me more but I gave Jackpot a scowl and he backed off towards Grit as I just stood there trying to absorb everything I had just seen. Maybe when I talk to Emerald when I get back I will leave out this part and focus on any more exciting bits that I was now hoping would occur down the road. As we left the confines of the village only about a mile or so from the front gate stood the border of the great jungle in which lied our destination.

“Now remember Ivory, this jungle is far more dangerous than anywhere in Equestria so be sure to stay close to me and Jackpot ok.” Grit said giving me a reassuring smile and a pat on the back.

“Yeah, the old man an me will keep ya safe kiddo!” Jackpot said rather proudly. Enyi nodded in agreement as we entered the vast and dense jungle wherein lay our prize.

It was hot...and wet....and every other uncomfortable word I could think of in the jungle. Jackpot and Grit led the way ahead of us with Enyi and me heading up the rear. As we walked I stared at Enyi since I didn't have anything else to do and tried to think of something to say to him. I tried several times to strike up a conversation but he seemed too focused at staring at Grit and Jackpot to really notice me.

“Um, Enyi was it, weren’t you supposed to be our guide through the jungle here?” I finally managed to stammer out.

“Huh?” Enyi said somewhat not listening to me.

“I said that I thought you were here to guide us through the forest!” I said a bit louder.

“We went over the path while you slept, the correct path so far Grit has kept.” Enyi said back at me.

“So uh, whats with the whole rhyming thing?” I asked, “I don't mean to sound offensive or anything but it must be hard to talk freely that way?”

“I could talk as you ponies do, but I think this is more fun, don't you?” Enyi said with a slight laugh.

“I mean it is pretty cool and stuff but don't you think it could lead to misunderstandings and whatnot?” I said genuinely curious.

“In the past it has on occasion but not recently as far as I know.” said Enyi.

“Wait you just talked normal!” I said pointing at his mouth as if it would actually do something.

“For me the rhyming is normal but we mostly use it when being formal.” Enyi said making me feel somewhat silly and confused.

“You just switched back now, so do you just speak in rhymes or what? This is confusing.” the realization of me never having met a Zebra before was becoming painfully obvious to the both of us.

Enyi blurted out a little laugh, “Oh don't over think it, I am able to talk 'normal' as you call it but it is something we usually do only around ponies so I am more used to talking in the rhyming way, as it is the best way to go from our native tongue to your Ponyish.” he seemed a little disappointed, “But I will talk as such for your sake, for now at least.”

“Well uh...Grit said you were a storyteller so whats that about?” I asked trying to change the subject.

“It is something I take great pride in.” Enyi said appropriately proud, “We learn about the stories and histories of our people and record and memorize them to teach them to posterity.”

“So it's an oral tradition of record keeping?” I put in.

“Exactly right.” Enyi said nodding.

“You know, Grit always told me that oral histories were not a good way of keeping records because of the story changing over time and becoming exaggerated.” I told Enyi trying to sound smart.

“When there is a story that is an integral part of your culture and history you commit it entirely to memory and you do not change a word of it.” Enyi told me with his stern tone again, “And besides, there are very strict rules and rites one must go through in order to become a storyteller.”

“I guess that makes sense but if its all right could we talk more about it later because I have a friend back home who would love to hear some of the stories.” I told Enyi thinking about Emerald and how he could help us both.

“That is impossible I'm afraid.” Enyi said shaking his head.

“What, why?” I said disappointed.

“We generally do not share our stories with outsiders, it is forbidden unless special permission is given and even then the one who is told is put under oaths to not disclose it as well.” Enyi seemed rather serious about this.

At this statement I wondered how Blaze and A.I got a hold of that book about Abila that I just remembered I had snuck along inside my own saddlebag that hung around my flank. The book had probably belonged to Grit as I knew from stories and several of his novels that he had been to multiple Zebra kingdoms over the years and had made many friends along the way.

“But enough about me, I have answered your questions so allow me to ask several of you.” Enyi said while I was still thinking.

“Oh uh sure, what do you want to know?” I answered.

“From what I was told you are the apprentice of Grit Stratum right?” he asked.

“Yup!” I said proudly.

“What exactly has he taught you?” Enyi said leaning in close to hear me over the continuously growing sounds of the surrounding and deepening jungle.

“Well, he has taught me various excavation techniques and I am fluent in Old Ponish, Early Modern Ponish, Ponskrit, Pony Latin, a little bit of Classical Griffonish and I know about as much as Grit does of your native language but obviously its not much. Maybe you could teach me!” I said excitedly.

“Haven't you noticed I haven’t been speaking it, as I said we do not share knowledge with outsiders and that includes even speaking it in front of them.” Enyi said.

“Oh yeah.” now I was sad.

“Well, is there anything else he has taught you?” Enyi said bringing us back to the subject.

“Let me think here...” I pondered as we continued to follow Grit and jackpot over increasingly dense undergrowth, “He showed me how to use a bow and arrows, I even once impressed an Equestria Games hopeful with my accuracy!” it was my turn to say something with pride.

“That sounds impressive but what are the Equestria Games?” Enyi was now confused.

“Just know only the best of the best get in so you know it's legit.” I told the confused Zebra.

“I see.” Enyi said sounding somewhat satisfied, “So, is that all then?”

“Well he taught me all the basics, you know math, science et cetera.” I started to think again to all of the lessons Grit had taught me over the years, “I have a pretty good grasp of Equestrian history and I do even know some Zebra history as well.”

“Zebra history?”

“Well Grit didn't teach me much in that but do know a tiny bit about Abila and there was that old book I found but I can't even begin to read the weird language inside it.” as I said this I almost reached into my saddlebag to grab that very book out but some feeling deep inside of me told me not to so I quickly stopped myself.

“How much did Grit tell yo..” before Enyi could finish his sentence Grit and jackpot suddenly stopped moving forward and stuck both of their wings out in a gesture for us to stop.

“Grit, what is it?” I said running up to him.

“Somethings following us.” Grit said as he turned back to ensure everypony heard him.

Indeed as I began to look around I could hear something shuffling around on the ground some distance behind us. I looked back and saw several of the trees in a spot some distance from us begin to shake and stir for what seemed like several minutes before they calmed down. We gathered closer together and began to move forward at a slower pace in order to keep watch easier. Soon enough we could see the eyes of whatever was following us peer through the darkness of a patch of trees some distance to our side.

“Whatever it is, its fast.” I said to Grit.

“And big.” Jackpot added in, staring at the pair of eyes watching us from the darkness of the deep jungle.

“Adinagwo.” I just barely heard Enyi whisper to himself.

“What?” I said back to him.

“It's a Pyth.” Grit whispered into my ear.

I had read enough Dash Venture books to know what a Pyth was and enough to know that there are few animals in the world as dangerous. They were like snakes but much bigger and I do mean much bigger. Grit would tell me stories about some whose heads were as big as him and with equally large fangs. They had large leathery wings attached to their backs and while they couldn't fly they used the wings to leap large distances at surprisingly fast speeds. They were also known to spit corrosive acid from their mouths that they used to hunt large prey and according to some the acid could even melt dragon scales. None of us were eager to meet this beast so we quickened our pace with Grit and Jackpot carrying Enyi and me as high as they could get with the thick canopy above our heads blocking their ascent.

The forest had grown dark, especially since it was now getting late out and the few sun beams that penetrated the trees began to fade away. Even as Enyi and I watched out for the Pyth I couldn't help but begin to feel afraid as my vision seemed to fade away with the sunlight. I couldn't help but think that if this Pyth did attack we wouldn't even be able to see it until it was too late which by then it could have easily eaten us. But I knew Grit had experience with these beasts before, I mean in book seven, Dash Venture and the Ivory Temple (my personal favorite in the series), he had fought off four Pyth single hoofedly and come out on top. And while I know some of the events in those books were exaggerated they were still mostly true so Grit should be able to face one even if he is a bit older now than he was at the time.

“Yer a tad bit heavier than ya look, ain't ya.” Jackpot said after we had flown some distance with him carrying Enyi, “Are all of you Zebra like this or are you just weird?” Jackpot began to descend as he panted heavily trying to stay aloft.

“Perhaps if you were stronger, we could fly longer.” Enyi said while kicking down with his hind legs in a vain attempt to help Jackpot stay airborne.

“We’ve gone a fair distance and I don't see any signs of the Pyth having followed us this far!” Grit called out to the slowly sinking pair, “This area seems a bit more open than anywhere else and we should start to set up camp!” Grit now began to lower me to the ground after Jackpot and Enyi had already hit the ground.

The area we had landed was indeed somewhat of a small clearing although calling it a clearing was a bit generous. It was more like a patch of not so dense undergrowth that was slightly more open than anywhere else. Luckily grit was a good planner and we had packed everything we needed to set up a camp. All of our saddlebags were filled with various items needed to start a fire, set up several tents and we even had some preservable food with us that would last until we arrived at the site.

“Once we set up I want Jackpot to take a watch for a while to make sure we don't get any unwanted surprises while we sleep!” Grit yelled out to us while we worked to set up our camp.

“But I'm already exhausted!” Jackpot protested.

“Don't be such a baby, we'll switch off in a few hours then you can get some sleep!” Grit shouted back to him.

“Why can't Enyi or the kid take the first watch, we certainly carried them far enough that they should be well rested!” Jackpot sounded annoyed at Grit's decision.

“Because this is Ivory's first time out and if you payed attention you would see that Enyi is already asleep!” sure enough Enyi had already finished setting up his tent and was snoring away inside of it. This elicited some grumbling from Jackpot but he eventually did as Grit had instructed him and perched himself on top of an overhanging tree to the side of the camp once he had finished his work. As he sat down on a branch I saw him take out another flask from his saddlebag and take several large gulps from the liquid inside, reminding me of how thirsty I was.

It was definitely night out at this point as Grit and I were sitting in the center of our ring of tents around a small fire eating some nuts and drinking some of the water he had packed for us. Enyi had come out of his tent after Jackpot had been secured as the first watchpony but was sitting some ways off writing in a journal he had brought. Jackpot was still in his tree looking rather grumpy and uncomfortable but still with an alert look on his face as he stared out into the shadows created by our fire.

“This fire is sure to attract something so I think its time to put it out and get ready for bed.” Grit said standing up from where he had been sitting.

“Sounds like a good Idea.” I said shoving a pile of dirt we had set up to put the fire out into our small fire pit. I patted it down to make sure there were no embers left and then moved to enter my tent.

“Don't worry Jackpot, I'll be out in about an hour to take your watch!” Grit yelled over to Jackpot who just waved his hoof to acknowledge he heard Grit.

I laid down on the small mat I had packed as my bed only to notice just how uncomfortable and lumpy it seemed, “Great, I must have set my tent up on a root or something.” I said to myself. I squirmed around for several minutes before coming to the conclusion that sleep was impossible in such conditions. After only a short while I got up to go to the bathroom, only to realize there wasn't one and the realization I would have to go into the jungle was not super appealing. Nevertheless I ventured out of my tent and began to walk past Grit's when I heard arguing inside of it. The voices were clearly Grit and Enyi and while I knew eavesdropping was rude I heard the mention of my name and curiosity compelled me to listen.

“And the need to bring her along was how pressing?” I heard Enyi say.

“She was finding things out on her own and I thought that her staying with me would be the safest bet.” Grit's voice answered back.

“So bringing somepony as inexperienced as her to literally the most dangerous jungle in the world was your idea of safe!” Enyi sounded slightly upset, “If that monster had attacked you know I can't fight so you and...and don't even get me started on HIM....would have to protect me and your little pupil!” I could tell Enyi wanted to yell but he was trying to stay quiet, obviously to no avail.

“Jackpot was the best choice, you know how they trust him and besides he is very capable when he needs to be, or whenever he isn't drunk off that cider he keeps drinking, which he promised to keep to a minimum here!” Grit was yelling in a hushed tone as well.

“It's not his capability I'm worried about, you know my peoples feelings on him in particular, I mean why take the chance when you were barely let back here for your little project!” Enyi certainly didn't sound happy.

“And I think its time to let Ivory in on the plan, I promise we can trust her.” Grit said in a begging tone, “Shes a good kid and she might even be able to help us down the road.”

I wanted so badly to know what they were talking about but then suddenly Jackpot soundlessly swooped down and picked me up, plopping me down back near my tent.

“You probably don't want to hear the rest of that conversation right now.” he said rather seriously.

“What were they talking about Jackpot?” I knew he knew and I was beginning to feel upset at all these plans about this trip I was seemingly unaware of.

“They will tell you when they want to tell you, it isn’t my place to go blabbing Grit's little secrets.” Jackpot responded rather aloofly.

It was now that I realized that I still needed to use the bathroom so I excused myself from the conversation and turned around the other way towards the forest when I realized I would have to wait a little longer. Jackpot had a small lamp with him and the light from it just reached the edge of the camp where I had happened to turn to when I saw the pair of piercing green eyes staring back at me from the jungles edge. Jackpot immediately noticed it and swept me up while shouting for help as the large Pyth leapt out of the brush just barely missing Jackpot and me by mere inches. The beasts body hit the ground with a large and loud thud, completely crushing my tent underneath it's massive bulk. The lamp still lie at the beasts side and allowed me to see it's massive head which was at least as big as me if not slightly larger.

Grit and Enyi ran out of the tent and gazed in utter surprise and fear as the massive Pyth slithered across the camp. Enyi managed to leap away as Grit bolted into action, buzzing around the beasts head faster than it could catch him. Jackpot threw me to the ground and speedily flew up, smashing into the side of the monsters head while it was distracted following Grit. I had landed in several bushes only ending up getting tangled in the thick vines which grew entangled with the foliage. By the time I had gotten free Grit and Jackpot were flying circles around the slower moving body of the massive snake. I crawled around the edge of our ruined camp until I literally stumbled on top of Enyi who had been huddled under a log away from the fight.

“Wait, your hiding!” I said pretty much forgetting his no fighting comment from his talk with Grit.

“To fight is not why I am here, but for their victory I will certainly cheer.” Enyi said almost quivering as he spoke.

“Are you ok?” I asked hearing the fear in his voice. Enyi pointed towards the action and now even I could see what we were fighting.

It was even bigger than I had imagined as the Pyth's long body extended beyond the edge of our camp and out into the dense foliage of the jungle. Grit and Jackpot looked almost small when compared to the behemoth they were currently flying circles around. I thought to myself that I should join the fight but when I tried to move my legs I found that they wouldn't move. There was nothing wrong with them and they weren't trapped under anything but they just wouldn't move. I looked back at the fight and realized I was breathing heavily and starting to sweat more than the humidity of the jungle normally would allow. I was scared and I mean very scared; so scared in fact that my body was refusing to move from this hiding spot. The Pyth must have sensed this or something because it suddenly turned its head towards me and Enyi.

In a quick burst of speed I didn't expect from something its size The Pyth's wings spread out creating a gust of wind that blew Grit and Jackpot back far enough to give it's head some space. Its large gaping mouth opened wide as a green viscous liquid shot forth from several glands located on its lower mouth towards me and Enyi. What a time to not be able to move this was, I knew what that liquid was and I knew that if it touched me I would actually die. A Pyth's venom could burn through buildings let alone an unprotected pony like me and I was sitting there, paralyzed with fear and about to get slathered in the stuff.

“Watch out!” Enyi shouted as he moved just in time to grab me and pull me out of the way of a direct hit. A small portion hit the edge of one of Enyi's saddlebags which quickly disintegrated the bag and most of its contents which included some food and other supplies.

I landed on top of Enyi and once again finding myself unable to move could only focus on the fact that now I was pinning the Zebra and the next shot would likely kill Enyi and myself. Luckily that didn't happen as Grit and Jackpot each slammed their hind hooves into the side of the Pyth's face with Grit landing a blow directly into the beasts eye. The Pyth hissed in pain as it swung the front of it's body towards the two Pegasi knocking them each to the ground. It opened its mouth and charged straight towards the two downed ponies and missed by mere inches as they recovered and slid out of the way of the beasts gaping mouth. The Pyth lashed out destroying what was left of our camp and lifting up the front of it's great bulk smashed down on top of Grit as he still lay there on the ground. Grit only got his tail hit this time but it was enough to trap him there as the serpent went in for the kill. Enyi however had taken out a small vial from his saddlebag which he had hastily picked from the ruin of his tent and threw it at the lagging body of the giant snake. The liquid within emitted a foul and rank odor that suddenly threw the great monster into a frenzy as it turned it's head from Grit and smashed it into the ground.

The Pyth now hissed with a great rage and in one deft swish flapped its great wings and darted back into the jungle with its massive tail lagging behind finally allowing us to see its full length.

“Th..th..that thing must have been eighty feet long!” I said still almost too terrified to speak.

“More like seventy.” Grit said as he arose from the ground with a groan, “I forgot how big they can get.”

Jackpot was just laying on the ground several feet from Grit taking another swig from his flask as he also rose from the ground, “What was in that jar, it smelled like something that died and sat in the sun for a month.”

“Enyi crept forward, still shaking a little from his experience, “It was...” he paused to take a breath, “It was a concoction the villagers made. They deal with these things fairly often and so gave me some of these foul smelling potions to ward off any we might encounter.”

“Ivory, are you ok!” Grit yelled at me as I was still laying on the ground where Enyi had dumped me when he made his dash towards the tent.

“By the fucking princesses you were useless!” Jackpot groaned as he stretched out his slightly bent wing.

“Watch your language for Celestia's sake, please!” Grit shouted back at jackpot.

Jackpot was right though, I had been completely useless in that situation. For years I had read stories of Grit fighting monsters and always just assumed I could do the same when the time comes but actually seeing on up close and seeing what it could do just terrified me.

“I’m alright.” I said still breathing even more heavily than Enyi as I finally got my legs to move again albeit slowly. “I'm sorry I couldn't help, I was just...it was just that...” I couldn't finish.

“It's ok Ivory, when I first saw one of those things I did exactly what you did just now.” Grit said trotting over to give me a hug.

“But in your books you just fought them off like nothing.” I said somewhat surprised at his comment.

“You know plenty well that not everything I did ended up in those books...lets just say my less than heroic moments have been mostly omitted.” Grit sounded very sad as he said that.

“Well our camp is pretty much destroyed.” Jackpot pointed out, looking at the ruined tents and destroyed provisions.

When Grit went over to inspect his tent I saw my saddlebags sticking out from the smashed remains of my own tent. As I hobbled over I was very relieved to see that the book on Abila was still intact as well as the bracelet. I looked back over at the others and saw that jackpot was helping Enyi look through his own ruined tent grabbing a small box which Enyi said held the several remaining vials of the smelling ooze.

“You Zebras are supposed to be pretty good at the whole potion stuff,” said Jackpot, “So if we needed could you whip up some more?” the now clearly exhausted Pegasus asked.

“I'm afraid I could never master the motions, for it is very difficult to produce these potions.” Enyi said with some disappointment.

“That's just great, a novice adventurer who freezes up and a Zebra who cant do the one thing they are supposed to be best at, well were fucked.” Jackpot grumbled as he plopped himself down on the now dirty mat he pulled from under his tent.

Grit just sighed at this and pulled his own mat from the wreckage of his ten, “Get some sleep Jackpot, I'll stay up and keep watch for now.”

Jackpot was happy to do just that as he pulled his own downed tent over himself like a blanket and quickly fell asleep. I went and sat down next to Grit as I was now way too terrified to sleep myself while Enyi joined Jackpot in going to sleep for the night.

“Grit what were you and Enyi talking about right before the monster attacked?” I wearily asked Grit.

“I'll tell you all about it when we get home ok.” Grit said with a smile.

I took a deep breath, “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have frozen up like that.”

“Don't worry about it, everyone is like that in the beginning, even Jackpot was if the stories are true.” Grit said giving me a reassuring pat on the back.

“What stories?” I asked.

“Well everyone has those embarrassing newbie stories about messing up and he is no exception.” Grit said laughing a little.

“You know any!” I said feeling less afraid than before.

Grit straightened up and began to talk, “Well, when I first met him he was face first in a pile of manure...”

The Lost City

Chapter 4: The Lost City

The morning after the attack was not particularly a fun one for our little group. Jackpot helped to repack everything but was still pretty grumpy with me, Grit was the first one of us up, despite being the last one to go to sleep, Enyi was particularly hard to shake awake but when we got him up he busied himself helping Jackpot with the camp and Grit woke me up first of all of them to help wake the others.

“Well most of the food was ruined but from here it should only be a few more hours until we arrive at the ruins.” Grit said as he looked at what Jackpot and Enyi managed to save from the ruined campsite.

“What if we get attacked again!” I said realizing that it was a real possibility.

“The beasts here are surely a fright, but fortunately they only come out at night.” Enyi said giving me some assurance.

“Nevertheless, there are other dangers in the jungle and we would do well to get a move on.” Grit said while finishing gathering up our packs.

Enyi had about one good saddlebag left with only the one pack left on it, Grit still had two left which would end up holding most of our supplies and Jackpot slung his one full pack with his several empty ones over his own back. As for me my pack was already filled with the books I had brought along and of course the bracelet from Canterlot.

Once we were packed up and ready to go the group set out again into the thick jungle now more eager than ever to reach our destination. The day was even hotter than yesterday and as if Jackpot wasn't grumpy enough it started to rain about half an hour after we got going. The jungle itself also became far more dense than what we had seen up to this point with all of us working to clear out every inch of ground we walked over of the tightly packed foliage. The going was slow but we were still going as we passed the four hour mark of our journey that day.

“We should be there soon, right Grit?” I said in a somewhat whiny and exhausted tone.

“About another hour or so, we are getting pretty close at this point.” Grit said with a nod from Enyi that we were indeed getting close.

I was about at my limit from this point onward, the bugs were getting really bad and really big at the same time. Every time I saw something move in a bush or heard something fly overhead I would cringe back a little thinking that the Pyth had come back and every time it proved to be nothing more than some small scampering lizard or more insects. Grit needed to stay beside me most of the time just to keep me calm through the rest of the trip. I don't think that I was impressing Jackpot much anymore and I did get the feeling he would be annoyed with me the rest of the trip unless something big happened to change his mind. Enyi on the other hoof proved to be more enjoyable as he had seemed almost as scared as I was and it felt somewhat better to know I wasn't the only one.

“Hey Enyi?” I asked him as we were resting and watching Grit and Jackpot trying to tear down a heavy wall of vines which blocked our way.

“How can I help you Ivory?” Enyi said as he sat down to take a small break himself.

“I uh..just want to thank you for saving me from that acid stuff last night.” I said rather sheepishly.

“Oh, it was no trouble at all, after all I'm sure if you were able to move you would have done the same for me as well.” he said giving me a smile which I reciprocated.

“The paths clear so lets hurry up and get a move on!” Grit yelled back at us.

“Shall we go then?” Enyi said as he helped me to stand up.

“Yeah, I want to see this place more than ever.” I answered with my excitement beginning to return to me for the first time in a while.

The last leg of the journey went rather smoothly especially compared to everything else and within the hour we found ourselves standing on the edge of a stone bridge that spanned a small river. Enyi seemed to light up as we began to cross it, looking at every stone and carving which graced the sides of the bridge. I must admit that I too took a big interest in the carvings as they showed images of towers and Zebra magicians brewing powerful magic in their cauldrons. As the bridge went on the images seemed to follow a somewhat chronological order of events with the same tower appearing on multiple panels and each time becoming more built up and ornate. To my surprise and shock the final panel depicted a large monster, somewhat resembling a dragon, destroying the beautiful tower and sending burning Zebras running in fear. Enyi however didn't get all depressed when he saw it, instead getting even more excited.

“Hey Enyi, what does this show?” I said somewhat confused at his elation.

“It is a story that is very old, one which all Zebra children are told.” he said while still staring at the last several panels.

“It's an old Zebra legend about a dragon which could supposedly eat cities.” Grit said as he and Jackpot passed us by, “It is a common and well known myth so they don't mind talking about it too much.”

“It is what you call a nursery rhyme, that tells of a terrifying dragon from olden times.” Enyi added as he continued to closely study the old pictographs.

“I had no idea it was as old as this.” Grit added as he too began to examine the carvings. Jackpot just grunted and continued on towards the end of the bridge.

As we crossed the bridge we crossed one final small clump of trees before finally gazing upon the ancient city of Numnah. The city dipped into a small valley which gave us a pretty good view of it from our vantage point. It had several towers constructed of stone which circled a large empty area in the center. Outside of the circle of crumbling towers were several grass fields with smaller stone structures which had mostly eroded over time which each had a small gravel pathway which led out of them. The remains of several small canals could be seen interconnecting these structures with a little trickle of water still flowing through them and out into the river which we had just crossed.

“No offense, but this looks less like a city and more like a big hoofball field.” I said somewhat underwhelmed.

“This place has been laying abandoned in the jungle for thousands of years Ivory, its a miracle even this much survived.” Grit pointed out to me.

Enyi was extremely happy to be here and made it very obvious tot he rest of us. For as long as we stood there looking at the ruins he couldn't stop smiling a huge and somewhat nonsensical smile. As we walked down into the valley he made sure to point out to me every small thing that we passed that could have been connected to the ancient city. It was hard not to catch his enthusiasm so eventually I gave in and started to nerd out with him about every small stone or little drop in the path that at one point could have been a step or a railing or anything really.

The sun was high in the sky as we arrived at a small camp of Zebra guards who had been posted to keep out intruders or tomb robbers. Enyi showed them a special pass he had for us all to get in and we happily got to go and sit down by a nice fire and eat some weird but good tasting leaves the Zebras gave to us. The guards themselves then seemed to keep their distance and trotted back up the stairs to the entrance of the valley.

So Grit, whats your plan about getting us into this tomb of yours?” Jackpot said finally breaking his silence.

“According to the team that discovered this place there were a series of tunnels that ran beneath that ring of towers near the center of the city. After some reading up on what we know about ancient Zebra architecture it was tunnels like that where the rulers of the city were usually buried.” Grit said taking a stick and drawing several lines in the dirt to resemble tunnels.

“I could have told you that.” Enyi said while taking a look at Grit's diagram.

“Yes Enyi, I'm sure you could have but when it comes to bumbling around in ancient and half ruined tunnels I think I am a bit more qualified than you hmm.” Grit said to Enyi as the Zebra backed off after looking at the drawing in the dirt.

“So then Grit what'll we do?” I asked letting my eagerness to finally explore an ancient ruin build up inside me.

Grit sat and thought for several seconds before answering, “Once we get in there and see what we're dealing with I will assign everyone something do do while I look for the burial chamber.” the rest of us agreed and we set out towards the ring of towers which stuck out in the center of the valley.

“I wonder what these towers were?” I wondered out loud mostly to myself but loud enough that the others heard.

“They would most likely have served as the corners of the palace or house that the ruler of the city would have lived in.” I heard Enyi whisper in my ear, “It is a design choice many Zebra buildings keep even to this day.”

“Cool” I said in response.

As we approached the towers We saw that one of them had an entrance carved into the side of it. It was a tight fit as the edges were worn down and some rocks were blocking the inside but we managed to get through with little difficulty. Sure enough there was a set of stairs that led downward big enough for two of us to walk down at a time. Grit took out several small lamps from his saddlebag and gave one to jackpot and Enyi to light up as it got darker the farther we got from the surface. After a couple minutes the stairway finally ended and we entered a chamber which the lamps illuminated only a small portion of. Even in the dark we could see the copious amounts of pictures and writing on the walls which were written in Ungul, the ancient language used by Zebras.

“The language is of the correct time, the knowledge on these walls must surely be sublime.” Enyi muttered out loud.

“You can't read them?” I asked somewhat surprised.

“Only a little and not that well, this language was lost when the first kingdoms fell.” Enyi said as he continued to stare at the walls unceasingly.

At the other end of the room there were two hallways that led in opposite directions down darkened pathways. Grit took a quick peek down each one and came back to us with his plan for each of us.

“Enyi and I will go down the hall on the right, Jackpot you go down the left passage and Ivory, you stay here and take some rubbings of these writings.” Grit said quickly to each of us.

“Hey, why do I have to stay behind and what am I even supposed to do that with?” I asked somewhat disappointed.

“Because I don't know what might be living down here and you showed that you weren’t ready for any kind of monster attacks. As for the tools I'm sure the guards outside have some supplies for you and will be happy to take the rubbings from you when you are done.” Grit answered.

I took a rather depressed sigh, “oh, ok.”

“Don't worry Ivory, remember everyone has to start somewhere.” Grit said giving me a reassuring smile.

That did make me feel better and I waved the three goodbye as they each disappeared into their respective tunnels. I had to clamber back up the steps and try to communicate with the zebra guards what Grit wanted me to get. They did not speak Ponyish very well and seemed a little apprehensive around me but I eventually got what I needed from them. At least they were nice enough to give me a bigger lamp than what Grit was able to bring along so I could have an easier time with my task.

Even with the bigger lamp the room remained rather dark and even a little smelly surprisingly. I did what Grit told me and began to carefully take some rubbed off images of some of the more interesting looking pictures and writings with the supplies the Zebras gave me.

“Hard to believe nopony has done this yet.” I said to myself, “Or maybe Grit just doesn't trust me after last night.” this kind of thinking would only depress me so I kept on working for several more minutes.

As I worked, doing the best I could of course, I got to a section of the wall near the hallway Jackpot had gone down. Here in a small corner was written several letters in the same language as on the bracelet.

“Wait, what!” I shouted to myself. I took the bracelet out of my saddlebag to get a better comparison and sure enough there were several letters that matched up. At the end of the wall writing was in fact the same mark that Grit said belonged to Abila which seemed to mark down this specific hallway. It was small so unless somepony would have been looking for it they probably wouldn't have seen it.

At this point I had to follow the hallway as I kept scanning the wall and finding more of the same kind of writing. I was getting pretty excited as I made rubbings of more and more of the letters as I followed the hallway further and further from the entry chamber. At a certain point the writing would stop and pick up again further down the hallway which only deepened my curiosity and descent into the tunnels.

Luckily I had taken the lamp with me or else I would have missed some of the other things that had been drawn on the walls. Images of strange places and cities lined the hallways, next to them were rough etchings of Griffons, Yaks, Buffalo, Ponies (of each type), and even....NO WAY!!!

“Alicorns!” I gasped in a sudden spurt of astonishment. I quickly used the last of the etching paper I had as quickly as I could and then just stared at what I saw. I saw a troupe of Alicorns flying above the ground wreathed in a green aura of magic while spurts of energy shot out around them. On the ground were a stampede of Buffalo smashing into some darkened splotches on the wall. On the other side of the splotches were Yaks and Earth Ponies wielding large spears and shields as Griffons and Pegasi flew down from above them. Behind all the other lines stood Unicorns with glowing horns throwing up plumes of magic into the air above their heads in a rainbow of different colors.

“What is this?” I said, “This certainly isn't any Equestrian history I know of.” I followed the wall a little further down and saw a picture that scared the life right out of me. A great and beautiful tree sat in a ringed city of white stone, fountains and gardens grew up from the streets and buildings as a city right out of a fairy tail. Unfortunately directly above the city was a great cloud of night that seemed to penetrate right through my skin and chill my bones. The painting seemed to almost come alive as I looked at it thinking about what it might be.

“Could this be Sombra?” I said out loud to myself, “He was supposed to be some kind of smoke monster if I remember correctly.” I sat down as my hooves were getting a little tired and continued to think. “No, this is too old for him....maybe.....hmm.” I really couldn't think of what this could be.

Either way after a quick break I didn't want to look at this picture anymore and continued on down the hallway following some chipping noises I was hearing. About a minute later I came to a corner where I could see a small light poking out from around it. I peeked around the corner and with my light and the light in the room I saw a beautiful fresco of a beautiful Zebra covered in Emeralds and other wondrous gems. Around the Zebra were small silver clasps which held golden pots that glowed with little flickers of flame. As I stared at this beautiful sight I caught sight of Jackpot who was taking a quick swig from one of the flasks he seemed so fond of. It was then that I saw what he was really doing and when I did I let out a slight gasp. Around him were holes in the wall where he had picked out several of the many gems that had once adorned the fresco. The empty saddlebags he had with him were now partially filled with something and I easily guessed what they were. Unfortunately for me he heard that little gasp I let out and quickly turned around.

“Who's there!” he shouted so suddenly I stepped back and tripping over myself hit the wall and heard a little click.

“Ahh!” I shouted as the wall gave way and flipped me into a completely dark space where the only light trickled in from the cracks in the wall from the room I had just been in. “Ahh!” I screamed again not knowing what else to do with my sudden surprise.

“Oh shit!” I heard Jackpot say from behind the wall. As I stood there still frozen in the sudden shock and not being able to see anything at all. I heard hoofsteps as Jackpot ran around the corner to search for what he had heard, “Come out now and show yourself!” I heard him yell.

“Jackpot it's me!, I'm stuck in the wall!” I yelled back at him.

“Ivory, howd you get inside the wall?” he said seeming genuinely confused and probably thinking or at least hoping I didn't see anything.

“I don't know I must have hit something and the wall moved!” I started banging on the wall trying to get out.

“Um...hold on one minute I'll try to find a way to get you out!” Jackpot shouted through the wall.” I heard him running back into the room, probably to hide what he was doing. I decided not to mention it as I didn't want him to leave me here in the wall.

As Jackpot rustled about I heard several hooves come running down from a passage I must have missed. I heard Enyi's unmistakable accent as he and Grit ran into the room looking for the source of the yelling.

“I think Ivory's stuck in the wall.” I heard Jackpot say.

“What the hell did you do!” Grit yelled back at him.

“Nothing, I swear, she must have tripped something in the main chamber and wandered in this direction!” Jackpot yelled back at Grit.

I heard Grit's hooves run up to the wall panel where I was as he shouted through it, “Ivory just stay where you are and we'll find you a way out ok!” he shouted.

“Ok, it's pitch black in here so I can't see anywhere to go anyway!” I shouted to Grit through the wall. I decided to sit down as Grit and the others looked for any sign of a switch or button to try and flip the wall back around. Grit yelled at Enyi to go back to the entry chamber and look around there for anything that might get them through.

“Don't worry my pony friend, we'll have you out in the end!” Enyi shouted through the wall as I heard him running through the hallway.

I felt reassured by this and began to calm down until for a split second I thought I caught the whiff of some nasty odor coming from somewhere in the room. My ears twitched slightly as I quickly stood up and remained still as the smell slowly began to get stronger. I could have sworn that I was beginning to hear little pebbles shuffling about somewhere in the darkness. I stood there, alert and aware as I scanned what little the small trickles of light afforded me of the dark room. The smell was getting stronger now and even more repugnant with each passing second. It was then that I realized the smell was slightly familiar and then exactly what it was.

“Grit!” I yelled starting to panic, “I think somethings in here!”

The shuffling noise behind the wall stopped as I guess Grit and Jackpot began to smell the same odor as me, “Jackpot get the damn door open now!!” Grit angrily yelled as the shuffling noises increased. “ENYI GET BACK HERE NOW!!” Jackpot yelled even louder down the hall as Enyi's hoofsteps could still be faintly heard. “Ivory listen to me.” Grit said frantically, “Ignore what I said and just start running, right now!” he yelled very seriously.

“I can't see anything, there is only blackness!” I was getting panicked now.

“I don't care, just pick a direction away from the smell and start running right now ok!” his panicked voice was getting worse as he started banging on the wall himself.

I slowly turned my head as I now heard a very real hissing sound on the other end of the room. Laying there near the ground was a single glowing eye in the darkness, the other almost certainly the one Grit had kicked out last night. I stood there in absolute terror as all I could see was the one slitted eye starring at me in the darkness. The hissing was rather loud now as I knew it sensed me in the room and knew exactly where I was. I tried moving my hooves slowly at first, it didn't work, then I shouted to myself in my head to move or else I would die and slowly but surely one of my hooves started to inch outward.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, I SAID RUN YOU IDIOT!!!” Grit's booming voice suddenly shocked me out of my paralysis and got me jolting down in the opposite direction of the Pyth.

I felt a large mass suddenly burst past me, almost knocking me down but just barely missing me. With one eye gone and the nasty smell still permeating the monster seemed to still be slightly dazed.

“This place must be it's lair or something.” I said to myself as I just ran and kept running since I hadn’t hit any walls yet. I soon realized that I must have been in a hallway as I was able to keep running for a good while before slamming into a wall and dazing myself for several seconds. I was able to take a quick look back and saw that the one glowing eye was still coming towards me so I felt around for an opening and then ran down there.

“Lucky this snake is so big or else it could be faster in these confined hallways.” I said as I continued to run blindly down the darkened hallways. Every other second I could hear the hissing getting nearer and nearer and every time I heard it my body just moved faster and faster as adrenaline took over me.

As I ran I suddenly heard a strange splashing noise from behind me in the direction of the Pyth, “Oh no! The acid!” I immediately ducked down and scrunched myself next to the wall as a slather of viscous liquid splattered where I had just been standing. I was not so lucky as last time as several drops hit my flank burning my fur and skin horribly, just barely missing my cutie mark and causing me to cry out in pain.

“Princess Luna please help me!” I shouted as I cried in pain. The dark hallways reminded me of night and I thought that calling for her would either do something or at least give me some kind of courage to go on. With tears streaming down my face and a burning pain in my flank I picked myself up and continued to run down the dark hallway.

I wasn't nearly as fast now as I was pretty much limping which turned out to be lucky as I hit another wall. I turned around and the Pyth was closer than ever before now with it's hissing nearly on top of me. I lurched forward trying desperately and frantically to find the next passage in the hall as it jumped at me, smashing into the spot and the wall where I had just been laying. One of its wings flew out and knocked me down again off to the side.

“Lucky break, the hallway continues down this way!” I shouted, half panting from the pain and exhaustion I was now feeling. The Pyth must have dazed itself when it hit the wall as it's eye had closed and I could hear it shaking around back at the hallway corner. I could barely trot at this point with the acid still eating away at my coat and skin. Lucky it had only been a few drops or it might have eaten through me by this point if the stories Grit has told me were to be believed.

The smell coming from the Pyth was becoming overbearing for me and I had to stop a second to vomit on the ground as I continued to limp down the hallway. I leaned against the wall trying to get a few breaths in when I heard a low rumbling sound behind me, “Oh fuck no!” I screamed as I frantically began to run again down the pitch black hallway with the large monster close behind me. I was frantic, I was panicking and I was in serious pain as the leg the acid hit finally gave out and I had to go back to limping on three legs.

KAAAAAA!!!!!!

“Stay away from me!” I yelled just hoping that anything I did would work at this point. The beast was now almost on top of me, I could only go so fast on three legs and I was beginning to tire out very fast. The Pyth was now very close and very angry and probably very hungry as well. I heard a crash behind me as it leapt forward one more time in my direction with it's acid dripping from it's mouth. Luna must have answered my prayer for at that moment I hit stairs and flopped right down them with the Pyth smashing into the sloping ceiling causing it to collapse and block the passageway and the monster from getting to me.

My whole body was hurting now as I hit the bottom of the stairs, bruises covered my face and the burn mark from the acid had spread to cover most of my thigh. “That thing knows these tunnels pretty well I'd wager.” I said as I dragged myself back on to my hooves, “It'll find a way around before long.” I began to limp further down this new passage.

I had to stop not long after starting to move again as I was almost completely out of breath, “Where are Grit and the others?” I asked myself as I collapsed back on to the floor. I laid there for several minutes just trying to get any energy back I could. I slid off my saddle bags and took a look at them, “At least these weren't damaged too badly.” I said as I only saw a few small holes in one of the two packs. I slid out their contents and gobbled down the last few nuts that were left from the night before. I took a few glances of the books I had brought with me and ended up tossing all but the on written in the ancient script as I wanted to be as light as possible to conserve my energy.

When I was able to get moving again I stumbled my way away from the stairs and deeper into the tunnels. As I kept walking I slowly noticed a glimmer of light emanating from the end of the hallway I could now clearly see I was in.

“A light down here, how?” I wondered as I stopped to ponder if I should keep going towards it. “It might be Grit and the others or maybe some ancient trap.” I wondered.

The only way to know for sure was to go forward and going back really wasn't an option so I kept stumbling on. When I finally reached the hallway end I turned the corner and saw that the light was coming from a large open doorway at the end of the hall. Once I approached the doorway and saw where the light was coming from I almost couldn't believe my eyes.

The room was large with two more doorways leading out the sides of the great chamber, the room was well lit but I couldn't see where the light was coming from, only that it was there. On each and every wall was more frescoes of the kind that Jackpot had been picking gems off of but they were of more than just Abila. I immediately recognized them as I took out the bracelet and took a count of who was pictured on the wall.

“The Griffon is there and the Buffalo, the Pegasus, the Earth Pony and that is Aurora Solstice.” I said as I compared what was on the bracelet and the wall. Abila was of course up there as well and they all were positioned in a circle around a white Alicorn with a starlit raven mane. I took note of the appearances of each of the individuals shown on the wall as well as what they were pictured with.

“Lets see, the Buffalo and the Earth Pony each are shown carrying a pair of spears, Aurora has some kind of jeweled staff, Abila has her helmet, crown thingy, the Pegasus has a shield and the Griffon has a silver cloak.” I looked at the Alicorn in the center and saw that she was wearing a beautiful set of silver armor that even in the picture seemed to sparkle in the light in the room.

As I turned my head away from the beautiful frescoes I saw the far end of the room and probably the most amazing this I had ever seen in my life, “Grit was right, this is her tomb.” I said once again to myself as I approached the staircase that led up to a large stone container with a smaller directly in front of it. Written on the larger container was a few letters in the Pre-Celestial Script and next to it was several more letters in the Zebra language Grit had mentioned earlier.

“These must each be her name in both languages.” I said as I gave both etchings a good look over. I gave a small glance to the smaller box when suddenly a tingly feeling began to emanate from my saddlebag. I reached back and picked out the bracelet from the pack as it glowed and seemed to vibrate the closer it got to the smaller box, “Should I?” I asked myself kind of curious but also a little grossed out by what might be in the smaller container.

“Here goes nothing.” I sighed and pushed my two front hooves against the top of the stone chest and heaved all of the strength I could muster against it. My back leg began to hurt again but I managed to slide the lid slightly before collapsing back to the floor. I pulled myself back up and with the top already slightly moved I had an easier time getting it the rest of the way off.

“No way!” I said as I stared at the contents of the stone chest that began to shine in a silvery light once the top had been removed.

Within the chest sat a silver helmet, adorned with more ancient writing and the image of a large tree surrounded by a ringed city. It was the same image that had been portrayed back on the upper levels of the tunnel but without the dark cloud hanging over it. I slowly slid my hooves under it and lifted it up as the pain in my back legs seemed almost to vanish as though it was never there. The helmet was surprisingly small and had no ornamentation aside from what was etched onto its surface. It's weight also surprised me as being extremely light as it took almost no effort to pick it up in me weakened state.

“What is this made of?” I said as I turned the helmet around several times to get a good look at it, “It almost looks too small for my head.”

I was so enraptured by what I was looking at I didn't notice the foul smell begin to creep into the room. I decided that I should at least try it on and as I lifted the helmet and placed on my head it seemed to grow and fit naturally and comfortably as though it was made for me. Once it was on I felt a jolt of energy shoot through my body as the jewel on the bracelet began to glow brightly. It seemed to grow as it latched itself onto my foreleg and covered most of my hoof like a large glove.

Feeling much better all of a sudden I took the helmet off only for all of the pain and crumminess to come sweeping back onto me. I debated putting the helmet back on but decided against it, instead putting it in my saddlebag to keep it safe. It was now as I turned back around, looking at the new form the bracelet had taken on my leg that the familiar stench breached my nostrils.

“Darn it, I took too long!” I yelled as I immediately started to limp back down the stairs only to see the face of the Pyth slowly slither in through one of the two side entrances to the burial chamber.

I froze in place as it stared at me with it's one good eye and it's forked tongue whisked in and out of its fanged mouth. One passageway was blocked by rubble, the Pyth blocked another and the third and only other way out was too close to the snake and led to Luna knows where. I slowly backed back up the stairs to the tomb before slipping on my bad leg and falling on my back. The Pyth was being more careful now as it slowly coiled its massive length into the chamber, blocking any possibility of escape. It's body began to coil up as I just sat there on the ground not knowing what to do at all and wondering if I was actually going to die here in this dark and lonely tomb. Suddenly the Pyth sprang forward at a great speed that had surpassed anything it had shown me before. I instinctively threw my hooves up in front of my head as the jewel on the newly enlarged bracelet glowed even brighter. I closed my eyes and began to scream as I though I was done for when I was suddenly jolted back by a large burst of force. I kept my eyes closed as I was too scared to look until a large splattering sound hit my ears and I was suddenly covered in a large amount of some sticky substance.

I was breathing heavily as I carefully slid one eye open to see the Pyth lying there on the ground with half of its mid-section blown away. The bracelet was still emitting a small amount of magical energy as I saw last bit of its wave hit the walls of the chamber but doing no damage to them. The Pyth lay dead on the ground and I noticed all to soon that I was covered in it's insides.

“AHHHH!!!” I screamed as it's foul smelling guts and blood covered a large portion of the front of my body. I tried to crawl out of the mess but I only ended up slipping on the slimy entrails and falling down the stairs right next to the dead body of the creature. I must have hit my head on the floor when I landed because after I hit the ground I fell unconscious.

****

When I finally woke up I was back outside at the campsite that sat right outside of the city ruins. Grit was sitting there next to me at the fire pit biting his hoof with a nervous look on his face. Jackpot was sitting next to him poking at the fire with a stick and fanning it slightly with his wings.

“Grit, what happened?” I asked in a weak voice as I sat up.

“Oh thank Celestia!” Grit ran up to me and gave me a huge hug.

“It's ok, I'm all right.” I said as Grits hug was suffocating me a little.

“So, yer awake huh, well I have to say you did a number on that monster down there.” Jackpot said with a slight nod of his head.

“I thought you'd never wake up!” Grit began to cry a little as he continued to hug me.

“Really Grit I'm fine and I can't breathe.” I said now trying to push out of his very strong hold.

“Oh, um, sorry about that, I was just...just so worried and...”

“I know, I know.” I said as Grit finally relaxed his hold on me.

“You had us right scared for a while there kiddo.” Jackpot said as he floated above Grit and landed on the other side of me. “We searched all along that wall for whatever you triggered and when we heard all of that commotion we thought it had got you.”

“We managed to get in but the Pyth had just passed us and the first passage we tried was blocked at the end and then came the blasts and the screaming.” I had never seen Grit this worried about me before, but then again I had never been in any real danger before.

“Yeah about that Bracelet thingy you got there, its kinda gotten bigger.” Jackpot sad as he pointed his hoof down towards the now greatly enlarged piece of jewelry on my foreleg.

“Yeah it got that way when I put on...wait where is my saddlebag?” I suddenly realized it was gone. I began to look around and beside the fact that I was no longer covered in blood and guts I saw nothing that I was looking for.

“Don't worry kid, we got those Zebra guards to carry all our stuff back to the boat while we stayed here to let you rest.” Jackpot said gesturing for me to calm down.

“You mean all of our stuff?” I just remembered what I had seen jackpot doing before I got flipped into the wall and just gave him a look that I am pretty sure he understood the meaning of.

“Yes, all of it” he said as he turned towards Grit with a look of his own.

“Listen Ivory what matters now is that we are all safe and sound and ready to take a nice long rest and then head home, right?” Grit asked me.

“But Grit there is something I need to tell you!” I needed to talk to him about Jackpot.

“Like I said, we will talk when we get home, ok.” Grit gave me another reassuring look.

“Ok.” I answered giving a little smile of my own. “Oh and by the way, where is Enyi?” I asked looking around for but not seeing him.

“He's still inside looking at the burial chamber.”

“Or what's left of it.” jackpot interjected with a little laugh. I gave him a stern look for that comment but he just shrugged and retorted, “What, it was a compliment.”

“Either way, I just want to get back to Equestria and get some rest.” I tried to stand up only to feel a sharp, stinging pain shoot through my back leg prompting me to fall back down.

“Careful there Ivory.” Grit said as he stooped down to help me back up, “The acid from a Pyth will hurt for several days.”

“Great.” I said with an exasperated tone.

“Listen, I'm gonna go see whats taking our striped friend so long so we can head out soon, ok?” Jackpot said as he got up from his sitting position. Grit nodded at him while I just gave a worried expression as I watched him float up and over back towards the towers.

“Grit, we really need to talk about Jackpot.” I said once I saw Jackpot enter the tower.

“I told you Ivory, we will talk when we get back home.”

“Why, what difference does it make, I saw him..” I didn't finish as Grit put his hoof to my mouth to stop me from talking.

“I told you, when we get back to Canterlot we will talk about everything, I promise.”

“Will I like what you tell me?” I asked now being kind of concerned about what was going on.

“Once I explain it all to you, you will understand why Jackpot needed to be here but for now please don't hate him.”

I nodded to Grit and turned my head back towards the fire as I took a look at the now blistering burn mark that now graced my flank. It looked better than it did in the tomb but still it was not pleasant to look at so I turned away from it.

“Grit, were all of your adventures like this one?”

“No.” is all he said as he took a stick in his mouth and began to poke at the fire.

A little while later Jackpot and Enyi both emerged from the tunnels and Enyi ran straight up to me and gave me a hug just as tight as Grit's.

“I am happy to see you are awake, it is good your life that monster did not take.”

“Thanks and all but you’re um squishing me Enyi.”

“Oh sorry!” Enyi let go and changed from a hug to a friendly pat on the head.

“So was it her?” Grit said from behind me.

“Indeed it was our hero of old, much of her life the glyphs on the wall have told.”

“So that was really her then?” I asked.

“The glyphs on the tomb do not tell lies, I know I did see her with my own eyes.” Enyi sounded very honored as he spoke those words.

“I really would like to know more about some of the pictures I saw down there and about Abila and her life.” I said with a genuine interest.

“And one day I would love to say, but for now a mystery bids me to stay.”

“What mystery?” I asked.

“Grit must had told of our hero's magic crown, the fact it was not there makes me frown.” Enyi said with obvious disappointment in his voice.

“Wait but I..” again I didn't finish as Grit interrupted me.

“It is a shame that such a legendary relic of you people was not found here and I of course would have loved nothing more than to just have seen it but remember Enyi we still have business back in Equestria.”

“Oh you Ponies and your quests, as I promised I will continue without rest.”

“I wish I knew what you guys were talking about.” I sighed to myself.

“You'll know soon enough Ivory.” Grit said as he stood up to take another good look at the ruined city. “This was once the capitol of a powerful empire, I would love to stay longer but now that Ivory is awake I think we should be on our way.”

The walk back through the jungle was not an easy one, we stayed at the ruins long enough to see several more Zebra guards appear to replace the ones who had left to load our stuff onto the boat. Zebras apparently could move far more quickly than us ponies through the jungle and as I watched Enyi as we walked back I could see him struggling to stay slow enough so as to not leave us behind.

Walking was still fairly difficult for me. We needed to take many breaks to let the pain in my back legs die away which caused our journey back to take nearly twice as long as it took getting to Numnah. Spending an extra night in the jungle did not help matters especially since we had little shelter with none of our tents having survived the first Pyth attack. We were exceedingly lucky as we suffered no more giant monster attacks and just had to deal with large insects and other gross and disgusting animals.

Returning to the village was not an easy thing to do and not something I looked forward to. When we came back I could barley walk through the village as several more graves had appeared since we left nearly five days prior. Grit helped me hobble through the village as I was still somewhat scared to pass the graves on my own. The few times I opened my eyes I could see the Zebra in the village giving us disparaging looks as we passed. As we neared the dock where out ship still lay anchored and waiting Enyi suddenly shot up and ran towards a hut near the dock.

“I nearly forgot this.” Enyi said as he returned with my Adventure Incorporated hat in his hooves. “Due to your state of being when we set out, you forgot this here.”

“Oh yeah, I assumed it got crushed back in the camp but I guess I did leave it here.” I said taking the hat back and flipping it onto my head.

As we neared the boat my heart sank at the thought of spending two more days of suffering on that accursed boat made me queasy before I even boarded. Though the burn on my flank no longer hurt as badly as it did I dreaded the now double suffering I would be enduring on the ride back to Equestria.

It turned out to be every bit as agonizing as I had feared, luckily the weather held out and the water stayed relatively calm throughout the journey home. As I sat there with my head hanging over the edge of the boat I could see a large chest near the bow that Jackpot and Grit spent most of their time sitting near. Enyi would come over to check up on me from time to time which cheered me up at least a little since I had somepony to talk to that seemed eager to learn about ponies and decided to ask me. It felt good to get to tell somepony else a bunch for a change and he promised that he would reciprocate my information telling one day. Even with this the time passed slowly but eventually I found myself staring at the shores of home and even though another day and a half of traveling awaited me I still felt a sense of ease come over me as my first adventure came to an end.

Hard Truths

Chapter 5: Hard Truths

I grew somewhat giddy as the train pulled into Canterlot station after days and days of traveling. The burn on my flank had finally begun to heal and while it no longer hurt, it still had left a nasty looking scar that according to Grit would last another several weeks at least before it fully healed. It was good to see home again and to be amongst ponies and not uncomfortable jungles and the monsters that lived in them. I saw Enyi looking out the train window in a wondrous gaze at how different Equestria was to his own home. I went to sit next to him as the train stopped and the conductor's voice came over the speaker announcing that we had arrived in Canterlot.

“Well, how do you like Equestria so far?” I asked him as he stared out the window.

“It is...different.”

“It certainly is more hospitable than where you come from.” I said trying to be nice but only succeeding in getting a mean look from him.

“You have only seen a small corner of my home, you will find there are many places safe to roam.”

I gave out a little sigh, “Yeah, your right, I'm sorry.”

“Thank you.” Enyi answered in response.

I looked over at Grit and Jackpot as they dragged the large chest from the boat that must have held everything we took from the ruins. I wondered if I should tell Enyi what happened but I decided to wait until after Grit explained things more so I could get a better view of what was going on.

I put on my A.I adventurers hat as we all walked off the train and onto the station floor. The bracelet had shrunk down to its original size and was once again safely inside a saddlebag that draped over my flank. Enyi walked over to Grit and Jackpot asking if they needed help but they refused him and continued to drag the box over to a cab driver by the roadside. As I stood there on the station floor taking a deep breath in the air of my home I heard a familiar voice calling out my name from a distance.

“Ivy! Ivy, over here!”

“Emerald!” I shouted back as I saw the green Pegasus with her coral-pink mane fly up to me from a crowd of ponies.

“Oh, your finally back. I've been waiting here for hours and I didn't know exactly when you'd be back and OH MY CELESTIA WHAT HAPPENED!” she shouted as she saw the burns on my back leg.

“Oh, it's nothing really.” I said trying to sound tough.

“What do you mean nothing! Your back leg is covered in burns! What did that ruffian do to you over there!”

“Jackpot didn't do anything to me...this was an accident.” I said not wanting to scare my friend too much with stories of monsters.

“Does it hurt! How did it happen! Can I do anything to help!”

“No it's fine, Grit said it should heal on its own and it was just from an animal that we found there.” I said trying to comfort Emerald.

As we talked Enyi came trotting up to us getting a confused look from Emerald, “Um, hello there.” she said shyly, clearly never having seen a Zebra before.

“Ivory, It seems I don't know my way around the city and it would be very helpful if you would help me around.” he said to me while only glancing over at Emerald.

“Oh, uh sure thing but first say hi to my friend Emerald here.” I said pointing my hoof to Emerald.

“Um hi, I'm Ivory's best friend and you are?” Emerald said giving her hoof out to Enyi with a little caution.

“Oh excuse me.” Enyi said, “I am Enyi” he said giving his own hoof out to shake Emerald's. “It is good to some of Ivory's friends, hopefully my rudeness did not offend.”

“It's ok, but you’re a Zebra right?”

“Indeed.”

“Well I've never met a Zebra before and is it true that you always rhyme when you talk?”

“What do you think?”

“Oh um, sorry for just assuming.” Emerald seemed a little flustered.

“It is ok my little one, most ponies find the rhyming quite fun.” Enyi said giving a teasing glance at me to which I rolled my eyes.

“Hey, come on Ivory, you promised to tell me about your trip and now I really want to know what happened to you!” Emerald said persistently.

“Enyi here has a point Emmy, let me just show him around so he doesn't get lost then we will talk later, ok.”

“Well, ok but I want the full story behind that burn you got that!?” Emerald said sternly.

“Don't worry, I promise.”

Emerald agreed to this and flew off back towards the A.I main headquarters as I walked out to the street with Enyi. As we neared the street Grit and Jackpot waved us down to the end of the street as the cab pulled off with the chest towards Grit's house.

“Hey Ivory, can I borrow Enyi for a bit?” Grit asked me as we neared him and Jackpot.

“What?”

“I have a room set up for him in the palace with the princesses and I want to show him where it is.”

“But, Ivory has just agreed to show me around the city.”

“There will be time for that later, but I have some business to attend to before tomorrow and I don't want to have to hunt you two down later.”

“What business?” I asked.

“Well I need to tell Blaze that we're back and get some things ready for some other excursions I have planned.”

“Wait, you mean we're going on other adventures!?” I said with both excitement and a little bit of hesitation.

“If you want to come you can.” Grit said as he grabbed Enyi with his wing and pulled him away.

I stood there and watched as Grit led Enyi of towards another cab carriage and drove off towards the castle. I noticed at this time that it was just me and Jackpot standing there on the corner of the street. Jackpot reached into the last saddlebag he still had with him and with his wing, took out one of his flasks and gulped down the last of the liquid inside of it.

“Hey kid.” he suddenly said as we stood there in silence, “I feel we got off on the wrong hoof so whaddya say we go out and reacquaint ourselves?”

I stood there and looked back at Jackpot with a slightly confused expression. On one hoof I really didn't trust him that much after what I saw at Numnah but on the other hoof I felt that Grit would be characteristically vague when we talked later and I might be able to get some more info out of Jackpot.

“Ok then, but I want you to answer some things about what happened at Numnah.”

“Alright, deal.”

It wasn't long before we found ourselves at the same location I first saw Jackpot in, Cider Joe's. The building seemed just as dank as the last time I was here but now at least I felt a little bit more ready for whatever weird ponies I would meet within. Jackpot entered first and I followed him only to be greeted with a great applause and loud cheering coming from the ponies inside.

“Hey! Look whose back!” I heard at least twenty ponies shout out as I entered the musty atmosphere of the bar.

“Guess whose been all over the radio J.P!” An orange earth Pony shouted out.

“Wait, Hero's little radio station has already got us pegged huh!” Jackpot shouted back in a fit of laughter.

“Yeah, all Equestria's been talkin bout it the past week!” A yellow Unicorn put in.

“Whose the kid!” The light brown Earth Pony behind the counter shouted out.

“I'm Ivory!” I shouted back at him trying not to sound as overwhelmed as I felt.

“Shes Grit's little pupil!” Jackpot shouted out to the whole establishment.

All of the ponies in the room yelled out in cheers to me before dumping their faces into large mugs and smaller glasses all filled with drinks of all colors. Jackpot and I walked up tot he bar counter as Jackpot floated up to the counter top and began yelling again.

“A round of drinks for everypony, on me!” he yelled out to even more cheers and applause.

“What exactly do they serve here?” I asked Jackpot as he sat back down on the stool next to me.

“Well in terms of food, pretty much whatever you want, but the real pride of this establishment is the unique quality drinks created by our very own Cider Joe here.” Jackpot said as he pointed to the heavily mustached pony behind the counter.

“She's twenty one right?” Cider Joe asked Grit in a gravely voice.

“Pretty sure she is, ya know what how old are you there Ivory?” Jackpot asked me.

“Yeah, I'm twenty one, my birthday was a few days before we left.”

“Well then, hows about a few drinks for your birthday since I missed it and all.” Jackpot said with a friendly smile on his face.

“Exactly what kinds of drink are these?” I asked.

“Cider.” Cider Joe said in his Gruff voice.

“Oh, don't be so modest.” Jackpot said with a smile on his face, “This here is good ole fashioned Cider Joe's hard cider.”

“Whats that supposed to mean?”

“After a few of em, you'll know.” Jackpot said reaching out with his wings and pulling several bottles of a light and clear cider towards us.

Several ponies put down several baskets of freshly made popcorn down beside us as Jackpot slid one of the bottles at me.

I'll order us some real food in a bit, but for now you said you had some questions.” Jackpot said after gulping down several swigs of his drink.

“Um, yeah” I said as I stared at the bottle Jackpot had placed in front of me. I went to take a sip of it but when the cider touched my tongue I almost ended up almost spitting it out it tasted so bad.

“Ha!” Jackpot laughed as he saw me nearly spit out the drink, “Reminds me of when I first tried it.”

“How can you drink this, it hardly tastes like cider and its somehow sour and bitter at the same time!”

“Ya get used to the taste but you really don't drink it for that reason.” Jackpot took another swig from his bottle.

“Well anyway I still need to ask you about what you did at Numnah.” I said regaining my composure as I swallowed the little bit of cider in my mouth.

“So you did see it then hmm?”

“Yeah and what the heck was it about!” I put a scowl on my face, “You heard about the problems that place has and there you went and contributed to them!”

“That was necessary.” Jackpot said as he took a wingfull of popcorn and began to eat it.

”Necessary! You were grave robbing!” I shouted getting somewhat angry at Jackpot's statement. As I did several ponies looked over at us for a second before returning to their own conversations in the bar.

Jackpot let out a sight, “Look, it's not that simple ok.” Jackpot took several looks around and as he did I noticed a look on his face I never thought I would see, nervousness.

“What is it then?”

“Its like this Ivory, your little adventure club is run by some pretty bad ponies and Grit brought me along to pilfer some stuff to make it look like we were still working for them while he went after the real prize.”

I almost couldn't believe what Jackpot had just said. Grit would never do something like that and more importantly there was no way A.I could ever be responsible for something that bad.

“Blaze would never be ok with something like that.” I said trying to reassure myself.

“If you think that spineless wimp is in charge then you really are just a kid.” Jackpot said as he took another drink.

I looked at my own drink and took another sip of it. I still didn't like it much but the taste was not as bad as the first time and I managed to gulp down a moderately sized swig. I was trying to process exactly what Jackpot was saying to me, “So, what exactly is the situation then?”.

“You know that story that made Grit famous to begin with?”

“Yeah, the one where he and the dragon, Hero, teamed up to save the city of Marewaukee from the Ponyfire Club and ended up wrecking their whole organization.”

“Well, it turns out that the organization Grit took down was just a branch of a larger one and while I don't know much about the group as a whole I did end up working for them in a limited capacity before I joined A.I.”

“Those guys nearly took over Equestria and your saying they were just a little group of a larger organization?” this was starting to confuse me a little. Grit Stratum's first adventure was practically legendary already. It had occurred only about forty years ago and resulted in Grit gaining wide spread fame after stopping a power crazed lunatic bent on world domination from nearly blowing up an entire city. It was, of course, all chronicled in the first Dash Venture novel, Dash Venture and the Golden Mane, and the bad guys he took down were one of his most dangerous.

“The other groups were not too happy with Grit's actions and even though it took a while they were able to swoop in and take over Adventure Incorporated when it was still pretty small.” Cider Joe slid another bottle of cider towards Jackpot as he had just finished his first one.

“How?”

“Money, they had it and Grit didn't, so they came in and saved his organization with the intention of taking over.”

“No way Blaze and Grit would stand for that. Why didn't they do anything about it?”

“Look, I don't know the whole story ok! I came in way after all that, in fact I wasn't even born yet when all this was going on. You'll have to ask Grit when you talk tomorrow.”

“That must have been the reason Grit originally retired?” I said, mostly to myself, “What about Enyi, what does he know?”

“He knew as much as he needed to, I mean he knew the general reason we were there but not what exactly we were after.” Jackpot took another few swigs of the new bottle.

“He would never have agreed to you taking the helmet, especially since he thought he would still find it there now that I think about it.”

“Yeah, he thought we were there just for information about the new plans that the bad guys are cooking up.”

“What are their plans?”

“No idea, but Grit thinks it has something to do with what was in those ruins so thats where we went.”

“So Enyi doesn't know you took the helmet?”

“And we are gonna keep it that way.” Jackpot said sternly.

“It doesn't feel right, that helmet is important to his people and he is a historian of sorts so it must be especially valuable to him.”

“Yeah, so if he knew we took it he would run off with it and we couldn't use it for whatever Grit wants to use it for.”

“This is all very....hard to believe you know.” I said trying to wrap my head around the situation, “And you said you worked for these bad ponies right?”

“Eeyup.” Jackpot said as he tapped his nose with his hoof.

“So why are you helping Grit instead of them?”

“Despite what you might believe, I am not a bad guy and these guys are, so I decided to hell with them.”

I took another sip from my cider bottle and found I was getting a little more used to the taste of the cider within. I leaned back a little and stared at the ceiling trying to think about what all of this stuff Jackpot was talking about meant. My concentration was broken when Jackpot chugged down the rest of his second bottle and tapped me on the shoulder.

“What?”

“I think that's enough for tonight, Grit will undoubtedly tell you more tomorrow and I still want to make up for being a jerk back in the jungle.” Jackpot now had a slightly sluggish grin on his face, “So drink that up and lets have some fun before stuff gets all heavy and shit tomorrow, ok!” Jackpot shouted out into the crowd of ponies in the bar.

The enthusiasm of the bar ponies was admittedly infectious and hard to resist for long. I finished my first bottle when Jackpot let it out that my birthday was not long ago and all of the bar ponies came up and began offering me drinks of various kinds. I tried to explain that I really didn't like the drinks that much but I didn't want to be rude to all of these ponies. With Jackpot's help they managed to convince me to try out at least a few drinks that Cider Joe could whip up. They gave out small glasses that held just a small amount of liquid in it that Joe filled up to the brims.

“These'll get the party going!” the pony that bought them yelled out.

'What are they?” I asked.

“Just swallow quickly and try not to taste them too much.” Jackpot said leaning over me to grab one in his mouth.

He and several other ponies tilted their heads back with the glasses in their mouths and quickly swallowed the strange cider concoctions. Joe slid one over to me and I took a careful sniff of it before I did anything else. Grit's warning to me about this stuff the night I first met Jackpot rung in my ears and soon in my nose as the smell of the cider burned a little. The ponies gathered around me and began to chant, “Shot, shot, shot!” repeatedly as I stared at the small glass. I took the glass in my mouth just like Jackpot did and quickly jerked my head backwards and let the burning liquid slide into my mouth. I of course did not just immediately swallow it but let it sit in my mouth for several seconds to see what it tasted like but I quickly forced it down once my mouth started burning.

“Aww, that's nasty!” I said coughing from the dry burning liquid that was just in my mouth. Jackpot just patted me on the back as he took another shot of cider while the other bar ponies laughed at my coughing.

Lets get her something a bit easier.” Jackpot said to Joe as he ducked down beneath the counter.

“I think I'm good for now.” I said still trying to recover from the first shot.

“You'll like the next one, promise.” Jackpot said back to me.

Cider Joe came back up with a bottle of pink liquid and poured it out into several shot glasses that he passed out to Jackpot and myself. Jackpot gave me a smile and a wave with his wing as he stuffed two of them into his mouth at once and scarfed them down, eliciting cheers from the onlooking ponies. I looked at the glass in front of me and it certainly look a bit better than the last one so it wrapped my mouth around it and gulped it down.

“Fruity.” I said as I licked my lips after the sweet tasting cider went down.

“Yea, itss pretty gud!” Jackpot let out as he began to tip back and forth on his stool.

As the night went on I found myself enjoying myself more and more as the other ponies around the bar kept buying me stuff. Eventually Jackpot got a hold of some real hayburgers once the popcorn ran out for us to eat. After some time A pony booted up a jukebox that sat in the corner and many of the ponies ran out to start dancing(rather awkwardly) to the music. I sat there and watched as Jackpot stumbled out and tried dancing with a pink Pegasus mare only to be abandoned as he tripped around to the floor. Several ponies pushed me out and I soon found myself dancing around and singing with the rest of them.

I went back to the bar several times for more of the pink shots when somepony shouted out, “Get her some Everfree, she'll love it!”

At this point I wasn't in the mind of refusing things so I just nodded with a grin as Jackpot stumbled back up to a stool and shook his head at Cider Joe, “I don't think so kid.”

“Awwww, come on Jacky” I managed to stumble the words out, “I thought you wanted me to have a good time.”

“Trust me, Ya dun't want any o' that stuff.” Jackpot said as he slumped his head down on the counter, “Just get er a eh....Applewhisk or something.

Cider Joe nodded and poured out a dark brown liquid into another small glass which I quickly gulped down. After that I think several hours or so passed as Jackpot and I stumbled out of the bar carrying each other and holding the other up.

“I'll take ya to Grit's house, kay?” Jackpot groaned. I just nodded as I could barely even stand at that point and since I lived with Grit anyway it worked out fine for me.

It was a nice night out as Jackpot and I stumbled around Canterlot in the general direction of where Grit and I lived. Jackpot had filled up several more of his flask bottles and they were now hanging on a string around his neck that would clink together as we walked. As we neared our neighborhood I managed to lift my head enough to see Grit's house at the end of the street. I tried pointing at it but I couldn’t lift my hoof up without falling over but I should have known Jackpot already knew where it was. As we neared it we saw a shape moving towards us in the dim light of the few street lamps that were currently lit up. I thought for a second that it might be Grit going out to ask where I had been so late but it soon became obvious that it wasn't Grit.

“Hey she's cute!” I shouted out to Jackpot as we carried each other down the street. Sure enough the shape turned out to be a bright yellow Unicorn walking towards us.

“Oh yeah, she is pretty cute huh!” Jackpot slurred out with a smile as the Unicorn neared us.

“Fuck off!” the yellow Unicorn said as she pushed her way passed us.

“Geeeeezeeee! Rude much!” I shouted back at her as she walked away.

“What a fuckin bitch!” Jackpot said loudly making sure the Unicorn could hear him.

“Language.” I slurred out as I stuffed my hoof in Jackpot's mouth while laughing at what I thought was a super funny gesture.

We got to Grit's door and Jackpot finally let go of me almost making me fall over but I just barely managed to stay standing upright, “You ok to get in by yourself?”.

“Yeah, Yeah, I just gotta put the code thingy in to the box there to open the door.” I pointed a shaky towards a small metal box that was latched onto the wall beside the door, “Grit has a lot of valuable stuff so he had that installed so nopony can get in.”

“Well then, I'm off back to Joe's place.”

“Huh? Just go home Jacky, its late out ya know.”

“Honey, Cider Joe's is my home.” Jackpot said as he stumbled down the stairs a bit more balanced than I probably could have in my current state. I stood there and stared blankly as Jackpot tried to fly away only to end up hitting a light pole and tumbling back to the ground, “Maybe I'll walk.” he said to himself as he disappeared into the night.

I turned as best I could towards the door trying to remember exactly what the code to get in to the house was. As I tried pressing in the numbers I found my hoof too big to actually press anything accurately, or maybe it was just that the buttons were too small. Either way I kept getting a red light and a nasty beep every time I tried pressing a button on the doorside pad. It must have been about ten or fifteen minutes of me just standing there trying to press the buttons without messing up or losing my concentration but the door did eventually click open for me.

“See, was that so hard?” I seemingly asked the door. The front room was pitch black as Grit would have undoubtedly gone to sleep by this time of the night. The house Grit and I lived in at Canterlot was a fairly large one, it had three stories with several rooms on each floor. The first floor, which I had just entered had the living room by the door and connected to the right was one of Grit's studies(he had one on each floor) as well as a kitchen and dining room connected at the back of the room. On the right was a stair case that led to the second floor, here is where Grit kept most of his collectables and other trophies he collected in his many years of adventuring. The rooms were divided into his study, a small library of his personal favorite books and two trophy rooms. The third and topmost floor held his and my own room, another study and a guest bedroom for any friends he or I might have over.

I hobbled into the door trying not to knock anything over with my current lack of balance but the darkness in the room made that pretty much impossible. I managed to get to one of the couches set up in the living room and plop myself down on that instead of trying my luck on the multiple flights of stairs I would have to traverse to get to my room. I admit that I passed out pretty quick after hitting the couch and I fell into dreamless sleep.

****

When I managed to wake up the next day I understandably felt horrendously sick, in fact I almost threw up on myself as I lifted myself off the couch too quickly. I slowly turned my throbbing head towards the clock that hung on the wall, “Two o'clock huh.” I had slept pretty late but I hardly noticed. I tried walking around but I was still pretty dizzy so I propped myself up on the table that sat in front of the couch in the living room. I slowly made my way towards the first floor study as Grit liked to spend mornings in it and while it certainly wasn't morning I still hadn't fully realized that yet.

“Hey Grit, you in here!?” I said as loud as I could without hurting my own ears. There was no answer so I tried calling for him again as I entered the study, “Hey Grit, you he...” I didn't finish calling for him because I saw him. Grit was lying on the floor of the study, lying in a pool of drying blood that had pooled around him and had run off towards the entryway where I was standing. I stood there, still somewhat in a daze and looked down at my hooves to see I was standing in a small pool of his blood. I lifted up one of my front hooves and saw the blood on my hooves as an expression of horror slowly took over my face.

At first nothing could escape my mouth as I tried to process what exactly I was looking at but after a few seconds I just screamed as I backed up trying to get out of the blood only to end up falling on to my flank as the sudden surprise of hitting the ground frightened me further. I just screamed louder and louder as I couldn't believe what I was seeing just right in front of me. I frantically pushed my hooves forward to try and push myself out of the room and away from the gruesome scene in front of me.

“Hey! Whats going on in there!? Ivory is that you, what is it!?” that was Jackpot's voice as he shouted from the other side of the large front doors. My screaming had stopped as my breath ran out but now I just sat there staring at the lifeless body of my mentor and hero. I heard a faint beep as jackpot rushed into the house as several curious pony onlookers were staring in from the sidewalk.

Jackpot rushed in to the front room of the house where I was laying down staring at my blood covered hooves. He stopped and stared for just a second as the expression on his face dropped at a swift realization of the situation. He turned his head over to the other room and just looked over at Grit's lifeless body. He turned back towards me and gave me a hug, “Ivory, listen to me, it's ok, don't worry.” I had begun to cry and with the grotesque display before me and my body remembering I was still a little sick I suddenly vomited all over Jackpot as he held me.

Several ponies had wandered to the door from the street before quickly seeing what the matter was and fleeing back out the doors calling for the guards. They knew whose house this was and the realization for them made them just as frantic and frightened as me. Jackpot held a nervous look look on his face as several royal guards rushed into the house after several minutes. They nearly fainted at what they saw as one of them ran out of the house to get more guards and compose himself.

“Ivory, what happened, did you see anything!?” Jackpot was holding me tight and speaking quickly as he tried to piece together what happened in his own mind. I couldn't talk much less get a clear grasp on what was going on around me as I was practically catatonic at this point. Jackpot dragged me out of the house and onto the sidewalk as a large crowd of worried looking ponies began to gather around whispering and worriedly mumbling amongst themselves.

This time more guards arrived as several rushed into the house while the rest began to disperse the crowd of onlooking ponies. Jackpot was trying to clean both him and myself off when the guards tried asking us the usual question of if we saw anything or knew anything which we really didn't. Jackpot hadn't even been here and I spent all of last night and this morning passed out.

The news spread around Canterlot like wildfire as within an hour it seemed like the whole town was gathering around our guard filled street. Princess Celestia and Luna arrived with Enyi from the palace as even they rushed in with some vain hope of trying to fix the situation. I just sat there on the sidewalk silent and unresponsive to anypony that tried to talk to or even get my attention. To say I was in a state of shock would have been a vast understatement to say the least. Even Emerald and several other A.I ponies came rushing in to inspect the situation and see if I was alright. Emerald tried giving me a hug like Jackpot did but again I was unresponsive as I sat there with a dead expression on my face. She frantically tried talking to Jackpot and Enyi trying to find out what happened but as you know they either didn't know anything or just weren't telling.

****

I couldn't speak for the rest of the day and well into the next even as all of my friends constantly tried to comfort me.

“She's going to be ok right? Please tell me she's going to be ok!” Said the voice of Emerald right outside the door.

“Ma’am, she needs needs rest now but she will be fine.” said another unfamiliar voice, “Give her some time and I am sure she will be back up in no time.”

“I can't wait, I need to see if she is ok!” Emerald's voice again echoed into the small room at the Canterlot hospital I had been sent to rest in.

“The doctors say she needs her rest, I agree that this is best.” Enyi's voice said as I saw several silhouettes pass by the glass window that was fixed on the room door.

“We’ve been here all day and she hasn't said anything, I'm worried.”

“She has been through quite the ordeal, I admit I don't know what to feel.”

I could hear the two talking for several minutes but I stopped trying to listen as I curled up in the bed still trying to come to terms of what I had just seen earlier in the day. The day had ended and night had fallen over Equestria to the sounds of crying and great sadness. The news that one of Equestria's greatest heroes had just been murdered or that anypony had been murdered had just shocked the city and undoubtedly the whole kingdom. I still felt sick, but not from my actions the other night but just from the feeling that my friend and greatest hero, the pony who for the past dozen years had essentially raised me like his own child had just been killed. I moved my front hooves in front of my face only to see they had been cleaned of the blood that had been covering them but even so it was as if I could still feel it. I didn't know what to feel, anger, sadness, depression, everything was moving through my body and all it served to do was confuse and agitate me more.

I laid there thinking to everything I could about what I remembered about what happened, I ran through the events that I could recall about last night many times in my head. I laid there deep in thought until there was a sudden knock at the door that slapped me back into reality as I shot up in bed in both surprise and a tint of fear.

“You awake in there!?” I heard a voice that was unmistakably Jackpot's shout out from the hall.

“Yeah.” is all I managed to force myself to say in a slightly weakened tone.

“Good, bout time!” Jackpot yelled as he burst into the room filling it with the extremely bright light rays from the hallway. Behind him Enyi and Emerald trotted in slowly until Emerald burst out running towards me and crying, gave me a large hug.

“I'm so sorry Ivy, this wasn't your fault.” she said trying to cheer me up even though she obviously wasn't much better than me right now.

“I know Emmy, but thanks.”

Enyi walked up beside Emerald and gave me a reassuring smile of his own that managed to comfort me and which I reciprocated. Jackpot stood on the other side of the bed with a face that looked like he was thinking hard about what to say.

“I'm not really good with these kind of uh...delicate situations but it looks like your doing alright so thats good.” he said not really knowing what else to say.

“Ivy, I've been so worried about you, you haven't said a thing all day and you were in such bad shape and you haven't eaten anything and..”

“Emmy, I'm better now ok, but it's good that I have friends thinking about me.” I said smiling and realizing that I was starving.

“Hey, Emerald was it, why don't you go with the nurses and get some food for Ivory?” Jackpot asked.

“Um, ok, but when I get back we will need to talk.” Jackpot nodded and Emerald headed towards the door giving one last concerned look towards us as she headed out.

“We should tell her what's going on.” I said.

“I think that would be a tremendously bad and dangerous idea.” Jackpot answered as he sat down on a chair in the corner of the room.

“She should know, Grit was as much her hero as mine and she is my best friend.” I sternly said to Jackpot.

“Listen Ivory, Grit was a warning, I don't know how the hell they found out but they did and we don't want to give them a reason to go after Emerald too now do we.”

I hadn't thought of that, “But still, if she stayed with us we could keep her safe and still find out about what's going on.”

“I said no, the fewer ponies we tell, the safer it will be.”

“Well what do you think Enyi?”

“I do not know.”

I sighed, “Really, is that all?”

“If you must know....I agree with Jackpot.”

“Please Ivory, just keep it quiet for now at least, we should wait until we know more before we start pushing other ponies into danger.”

I still wanted to tell her but both Enyi and Jackpot were against it so I agreed to keep it quiet for the time being. After several minutes Jackpot moved out into the hallway to watch out for Emerald and the food she had promised to bring.

“So, how are you handling things?” Enyi asked me.

“How do you think.”

“I understand that this must be hard for you but..”

“Yeah its freaking hard!” I interrupted him, “This whole thing just blew way up and,” I almost couldn't finish my sentence, “Oh Celestia, Oh Luna, he's really dead!” I still could hardly believe it as tears once again began to form in my eyes.

“Ivory, do you know why I joined you back in Khaweth?”

“Not really.”

“Many years ago, when Grit last came to my country he befriended my parents and actually spent quite some time with the both of them before leaving.”

“Wait what!?” I had been told the last time Grit went there is right before he retired over thirty years ago.

“Yes, it was many years before I was born but they did some work together and because of that my parents gained a great love for the history of our people. This love passed on to me and was the inspiration for me to become a storyteller who recorded the history and memory of the Zebra.”

“I had no idea.” that was actually pretty cool, “So uh, do you happen to know exactly what your parents did with Grit?”

“When they would tell me the story of their adventures with the great Grit Stratum they would always mention that he always had a group of several ponies traveling with him. They would never go into detail but by the end of their adventures only one pony remained with them.”

“That must have been Blaze I guess.”

“Who?”

“He is Grit's best friend and the head of Adventure Incorporated.” it then just hit me, how would Blaze handle this! Blaze's name wasn't just for show, he was famous for his temper and once he heard about this I was kind of scared of what he might do especially since he tried so hard to convince Grit not to go in the first place.

“We could go to him and tell of our plight, he might be willing to aid us in our fight.” Enyi said with a little smile on his face which elicited a little laugh from me, “You look much better when you smile, you know.” I blushed a little.

“Hey Enyi there’s something I want to tell..”

Before I could finish Emerald and Jackpot burst back into the room with a rack full of delicious looking food. On the tray were several cakes, muffins, cupcakes, and a couple pies that all were in trays marked with the Pinkie Pie stamp of deliciousness.

“Courtesy of he royal sexiness, Princess Celestia!” Jackpot belted out as his face was alight while looking at all the delicious food.

Emerald gave Jackpot a little disturbed look but quickly fixed her gaze to me, “Look Ivy, the princess sent us all this yummy looking food.”

“Wow, that was really nice of her.”

“Yeah, Princess Celestia really is a great princess huh!” Emerald put on a big smile on her face.

“Yeah, great taste in food!” Jackpot said as he had already stuffed a large slice of chocolate cake into his mouth.

“I must confess, this food does look like the best!”

The food was indeed very good, we all got to sit down and just enjoy our late night meal of certified Pinkie Pie pastries. Being in a room with all my friends definitely made me feel a bit better but even with Jackpot telling bad jokes to try and make everypony laugh, Enyi regaling us with his rhymes and Emerald holding mt hooves in hers to comfort me I could not make myself feel more than just small bits of contentment every now and again. Although this was still a better state than I had been in all day and once we all fell asleep and woke up the next day the depression seemed to creep back in to my mind.

The night continued in a dark haze as rain pelted down on the roof of the hospital where I was still resting. My friends spent most of the night trying to cheer me up even though they themselves were in great pain. That night although we all tried, none of us could find it in ourselves to actually sleep. Emerald and Enyi stayed on a couple of small chairs next to my bed while Jackpot stared out the window overlooking Canterlot most of the night.

There was one point in the night when Enyi and Emerald had excused themselves to go tot he bathroom, leaving jackpot and I alone once again in the room. As I laid there I saw him just staring out of the window with a look of thought on his face.

“What are you thinking about?”

Just then his face lit up for a split second before immediately sinking into his uncomfortable looking nervous look, “Goldie Grail.”

“What?”

“I can't believe I didn't recognize her....or maybe I can believe it.”

“Jackpot, Who are you talking about!?” I asked a bit more sternly this time.

“That Unicorn we saw right before we got to your house, her name is Goldie Grail.”

“So you knew her... might explain why she was so hostile to us.”

“Ha ha, very funny, but that's not it...well maybe it is but not really.”

Suddenly I began to see where he was going and I did not like it, “then..what is it?”

“It was her.”

I paused for several moments, “How do you know?”

“She works for them and she is not a good pony.”

I looked down at the covers and pulled them up towards me a bit more, “How could you ever work for them?” I asked somewhat morosely.

“That was years ago.”

“How do you know this Goldie then?”

“I've worked with her before.”

“So you think she would be capable of this?”

Jackpot didn't answer immediately as if he was still thinking about something but after a few moments he turned his head and said, “Yes, it was her.”

“How could she have gotten inside, we have that code lock and none of the windows were broken?”

“I don't know.”

Could Grit have let her in, if he was pretending to work for these mysterious evil ponies he might have let her in but I was still pretty unsure. At that moment Enyi and Emerald entered the room holding a small devise in Enyi's mouth.

“Hey Ivy, one of the nurses let us have her radio to listen to!” Emerald said with a giddy tone in her voice.

“Wonder if Hero's show is on now?” Jackpot said.

“Who?” Enyi asked after putting the radio down on a small table near the bedside.

“She's a Dragon.” Jackpot answered.

“She is a what?” Enyi seemed a little surprised by this.

“She runs a little news show down in Marewaukee. She was a pretty big deal back in the day but she's so well known at this point that nopony really minds the whole fire breathing Dragon thing.”

“She sounds quite...interesting.”

“Oh she is an absolute joy!” Emerald said with a big smile on her face. Emerald quickly dashed over to the radio and switched it on, at first there was just this static sound but after Emerald turned the dials with her wings a ferocious yet fun sounding voice boomed out of the speakers.

HELLLLOOO MARES AND GENTLECOLTS!!! It's your Hero and I am here with exciting news! You heard right my little ponies, Grit Stratum is off on another exciting adventure! What will be in store for us, does this mean a new book series, only time will tell!

This wasn't cheering me up.

That was about two weeks ago that I gave that announcement my wonderful and definitely perceptive listeners. But today I bring some very heartbreaking news that...will be hard to hear.

“Shes never hesitated saying something before.” I knew in my mind what she was about to say.

Some of you may have heard already but it is with a truly heavy heart that I must report our hero and friend Grit Stratum was found dead in his home earlier today.

Emerald immediately shut off the small devise, “Oh um, I'm sorry, I didn't think this through.”

“It's ok Emmy.”

“She is certainly very loud.” Enyi said while rubbing his ears.

“You get used to it.” Jackpot laughed a bit as he said this.

“I wonder how Hero is feeling right now.” I thought out loud.

“That's right, her show is practically what made Grit famous back when he was first starting out.” Emerald said in answer to my thought.

“They've been friends that long?” Enyi really didn't know much about Equestria.

“Yeah, Grit's first ever adventure was with her and that weird partner of hers.” I said.

“Well, he wasn't her partner back then.” Emerald put in.

“Oh yeah, he was evil or something back then right?”

“Yeah, he was the big bad pony Fornix, remember?”

“The crazy guy with the dog, I remember. He was fun.”

“Remember when he tried to unleash a horde of parasprites on Hero's radio station but they turned on the city instead!” Emerald said with a little giggle.

“Oh yeah and they ate all of the apples in the market and Fornix ended up getting yelled at by Angela Apple.” that one was a favorite of mine.

“You two have read those books way too many times.” Jackpot said in a sarcastic tone as Emerald and I just giggled together.

“Well at least your laughing again.” Emerald said.

Answering the Call

Chapter 6: Answering the Call

The hospital had been pretty nice about letting me stay there a night to ensure that there were no immediate mental or psychological abnormalities from my experience. As day came from my friends and my sleepless night I was looked at by several Unicorn doctors who each concluded that beside some lack of sleep I was fine. The princesses were then nice enough to let me stay in the castle for a few more days while the royal guard finished examining and cleaning the house. It was here I learned that Enyi was also staying at the palace, at Grit's insistence, while he stayed in Canterlot which I must admit made my time there a bit more enjoyable by having a friend so close at hoof.

“The funeral will be tomorrow Ivory, you will be going with the rest of us?” Enyi asked.

“Of course I will. How could I not?”

“Your friend Emerald sent a letter today. She has been called away to some dig site in the jungles of eastern Equestria.” Enyi said as he slid an open letter onto a small table in the palace room where I was staying from a saddlebag he had on.

“Wait, what!?”

“Yes, it seems Adventure Incorporated wishes her expertise on the temples there. I was not aware she was so knowledgeable.”

“She knows pretty much more about that area than anypony else but this news can't be good.”

“Maybe or it could just be coincidence.”

“I need to talk to Blaze about this, I haven’t seen him since before we left for Khaweth. I wonder if he is doing ok?”

“Well, what is he like?”

“Lets just say they don’t call him Blaze for his calm and even minded temper.”

“In that case I can not see him doing well in this situation.”

“Yeah, that's why I want to talk to him. He and Grit have been friends since they were colts and if there are indeed a powerful group of bad ponies after us I need a pony like him on my side.”

“It does sound like he would have much cause to help us.”

“Yeah, plus he has A.I at his back and if push comes to shove the ponies there would most likely side with him over any other.”

“We should get Jackpot before we depart to meet this Blaze, he seems to know more about the situation than either of us.”

“I don't know, I have the bad feeling Jackpot and Blaze wouldn't get along that well.” I sighed.

“Oh, there is something else. Jackpot gave this to me yesterday.” Enyi stuffed his face into the other pack on his saddlebag and pulled out my A.I adventurers hat. “Apparently you forgot this at Jackpot's house the night we arrived here.”

“Oh, I completely forgot about this.” I said taking the hat and flipping it onto my head, “Maybe I should get a string or something so it doesn't get lost somewhere.”

“Yes, you do seem to leave it behind a lot.”

“Well there are certain circumstances that were involved.”

“So Jackpot tells me.”

“Wait what did he tell you?” at that Enyi turned around and began to walk out of the room with what I could swear was a little chuckle escaping from his mouth. “Enyi! What did he say!” I yelled as I chased after him.

*****

When Enyi and I arrived at the Adventure Incorporated HQ the mood was noticeably different from the last time I had been there. The main entry hall was nearly empty except for a few very sad looking ponies who were loitering around. The mood seemed to affect the room itself as it seemed less bright and colorful than before and a slight feel of unease crept over both Enyi and myself as we walked across the colorless room.

“You...like this place?” Enyi said as he looked around with some confusion.

“It wasn’t like this the last time. There was so much life in here before.” the dour mood in the building only served to remind me that I was still very depressed as my drive to see Blaze seemed to lessen as the cause for this dim mood was obvious.

The elevators to the top floor came quickly mostly due to the current emptiness of the building. The last time I was on one of these I was being dragged around by guard ponies but I thought it best to not tell Enyi that part. The top floor was just a nicely decorated as I remembered it to be. Sitting at her desk was Ms. Stencil, Blaze's secretary, typing away on her typewriter. She saw Enyi and me getting off the elevator and gave a friendly wave to us.

“Oh I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to prof. Stratum, I can't imagine what you’re going through.”

“Thanks Ms. Stencil.”

She gestured for us to go in with her hoof to which Enyi and I obliged. We turned down towards Blaze's office door only to see two guards standing in front of it. As we neared them I got the distinct feeling I had seen the two of them before. Standing before the door were two Unicorn guards and upon getting close to them I recognized one of them as the guard I had slammed into and knocked onto the ground and the other as the one who had carried me through the building after my bad idea with the restricted section.

“Hey Enyi, can you uh.. wait back here for a minute.?”

“Indeed I can, but why?”

“Please!” I gave my best puppy dog face.

“Very well.”

Thank the princesses he agreed or this might have been rather embarrassing. With that out of the way I put on the friendliest face that I could and walked up towards the door to Blaze's office.

“Hey there guys!” I said as happily as I could.

Each guard just grunted at me with the usual scowly looks one could expect from guards nowadays as they stood in the way of the door, blocking me. I stood there for a second trying to think of what to say to get them to let me in.

“No hard feelings about before right buddy!” I said trying to keep my happy face as I extended my hoof out towards the guard I had previously plowed over.

He didn't say anything but just continued to stare outwards when the other guard suddenly spoke, “No hard feelings about before right friend.” he said with just a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

My happy face turned into a slight pout, “I deserved that.”

“Yes you did.” said the guard.

“So uh... can me and my friend go in and see Blaze?”

The two guards looked at each other as if reading the others mind for a second before looking back at me and saying simultaneously, “Nopony is allowed to see professor Blaze right now. You will have to come back another time.”

“Guys, seriously I need to talk to him right now.”

“We are aware of the situation and while we do feel for you we still have orders that nopony is allowed to see the chairpony without his express permission.” they each said as if rehearsed.

“Look, I'm sorry about before but we really need to talk to Blaze. I'm sure you two want to find out what happened to Grit just as much as anypony and lets be honest the royal guard just can't cut it when it comes to this kind of thing. That is why we need Blaze's help to find out what really happened and make sure Grit gets the justice he deserves.” my face turned as serious as my voice and the two guards certainly noticed.

The guards looked back towards each other, their faces as emotionless as stone. After a second they looked back at me, “Fine, you can go in.”

YES! I got us in. And Enyi doesn't know how they dragged me through the building so overall this was a smashing success. I'm sure Blaze will want to help us and since I already know the overall picture of what's going on he doesn't need to worry about the whole vague secrecy thing that seemed to plague him and Grit the entire time I've known them.

Enyi came trotting down the hall after me as I waved him over. The guards pushed open the large office door and let Enyi and me go in. The room was a bit different from when I was in here last. For one thing there were several rather large holes in the wall (definitely Blaze) as well as the large Desk that Blaze had was also gone. Instead there was Blaze, laying head first into a small foldable table with a near empty bottle of some of that weird cider that Jackpot liked.

“Hey there Blaze, it's me Ivory.” I said with some hesitation as we neared him.

“I thought I said not to let anyone in.” I could hear Blaze grumble from his muffled face.

“I'm here to talk about Grit and I thought you would be in the best position to help me find out what happened.”

“Whose that with you?”

“Hello sir, mt name is Enyi and do not worry for I am friendly.”

Blaze rose his head up slightly and by Celestia did he look bad (his smell wasn't much better either). I trotted up to his table as his half dead eyes followed me around the room.

“What happened to your desk?” I asked.

“It broke.”

“Ok then, but we still need to talk about Grit.”

“Let the royal guards handle it. That's their job isn't it.”

“Blaze, I know whats going on or at least most of it.”

Blaze's head rose up a bit more almost as if he suddenly became frightened of something, “What do you know!?”

“Well Jackpot thinks he knows who killed Grit and more importantly he told me who this pony works for.”

“Jackpot? That idiot. He shouldn't have included you.”

“I became part of this when Grit died so you might as well agree to help me get some payback here.”

“Please Mr. Blaze do not stay in your daze!” Enyi put in.

Blaze let out a long sigh, “Please Ivory, just let it go.”

“But ple..”

“I SAID LET IT GO!” Blaze shouted. I recoiled a little bit at the sudden outburst as Enyi came to stand by me. “I'm sorry Ivory, I told him not to go. You were there. I tried to warn you two but nobody listens to me, nobody ever listens to me.”

“He was your best friend Blaze. How could you just accept this! You’ve known him since you were colts!” I was getting angry now.

“And I did my best to dissuade him from doing this! I told him they would find out what he was doing and I told him they would not stand for it!”

“But how could they have found out, please Blaze I will need your help if I want to get any justice for Grit!”

Enyi stepped forward again, “Mr. Blaze surely you must reconsider, if you don't the problem will only get bigger and bigger!”

“Ivory who is this?”

“His name is Enyi and he's..”

“I am the child of Ubab and Amayi.”

“Ubab? Amayi? Those two ended up having a kid huh.”

“Yes and they were friends of yours, were they not?”

“I knew them back when Grit and I would go to Khaweth yes.”

“Then help for Grit and their sakes, Spirits know we need it.”

Blaze just stared at Enyi for several seconds, “Yes, you do have Amayi's yellow eyes. I see it now yes you are their son. But you say you know whats going on and if you did then you would know that there’s nothing we can do.”

“Blaze, the first ever adventure Grit ever went on ended up with him beating these guys, so why can't we do the same?” Blaze was being more frustrating than I anticipated.

“Dammit Ivory, that was different, please just forget about all of this ok. I know its hard but please understand, you'll just end up like Grit if you keep down this path.” Blaze's eyes at least had that look of sincerity as he said those words. I could tell he was trying to protect me in his own way but I just couldn't accept his way.

“Blaze please!” I was starting to cry again, “I need help.” my voice was faltering.

Blaze looked at me for a few seconds, his own face calming down somewhat, “You said you at least think you know who killed him, then tell me who it was.”

“Jackpot said it was somepony named Goldie Grail.”

“Celestia forgive me.” Blaze mumbled to himself. “I should have tried harder. I'm sorry Ivory but I can't help you.” I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My face was welling up with tears as Blaze said those words.

“Fine then. Let's go Enyi.” I turned towards the door as Enyi and I began to leave Blaze's office. Before we exited I turned around and said, “Hey Blaze!”

“What?”

“Fuck you.” I immediately turned and left the office with Enyi close behind me. I don't know if he deserved that but I was too angry at this point to judge that.

“Are you ok Ivory?”

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

“If you need to talk.”

“I'm fine Enyi.”

“If you say so Ivory.” Enyi said with an obvious look of concern on his face.

We left the Adventure Incorporated HQ and headed back towards the castle as it was starting to get late out. Enyi tried getting me to talk the whole way back but I just didn't feel like it at this point. We got back to the castle just as night was beginning to creep over Equestria and Canterlot. Enyi did offer to walk me back to my room but I just wanted to be alone right now. He seemed a little disappointed but he just bowed his head in acceptance and walked down the hall back to his own room in the palace.

The next day was way too bright and happy for me to be. This was the day that Grit's funeral was being held and the princesses had spared no expense for their old friend. The ceremony was being held in the great hall where large events like plays and large state dinners would normally be held. The past couple days, after the news had spread, ponies from all over Equestria had arrived in Canterlot for this event. It was supposed to be sad and somber, as a funeral for such a great and respected pony should be, but the weather was just too beautiful for my taste.

“Never thought I would hate sunshine and rainbows so much.” I said in the depressed tone I was becoming far too used to in the past several days.

“I don't know, I think it provides a soothing and upbeat ambiance. This would be way too depressing to handle otherwise.” Jackpot just had to ruin my depression. “Wheres Enyi?”

“I don't know.”

“Well why not? I mean weren't you two hanging out all day yesterday?”

“We weren’t hanging out, we were doing stuff.”

“Ooh, I see, naughty naughty!” Jackpot shook his head in a mock sense of disapproval.

“Now's not the time for jokes.”

“Aww come on, somepony needs to lighten up this drab event, why not me?”

“Its supposed to be solemn and respectful.”

“Well I'm gonna respect Grit by doing my civic duty and cheering some of these b-e-a-utiful mares that have gathered here.” he took a quick glance towards the podium where princess Celestia and Luna were both standing and watching the crowd of ponies gather.

“I don't think they would appreciate your kind of humor.” I said noticing where he was staring.

“I've heard Celestia there appreciates a good laugh, among....other things.”

I just stared at him with that look of, oh my gosh what did you just say, etched on my face(I would never tell him I did laugh a little on the inside...just a little).

“See, it's cheering you up already!” he smiled as though he had accomplished something amazing. Jackpot drew out his wings and darted away no doubt to annoy random ponies with inappropriate jokes and not so subtle innuendos.

I just shook my head as he flew off, “I don't need his kind of crazy today.” I turned my head towards the main stage where the coffin had been placed. I didn't really know if I wanted or if I even could go up to see him. I felt my legs shaking again and my body unable to move just like when I saw the Pyth for the first time. Hundreds of ponies moved around me, some talking and laughing while others cried or simply stood there with sad looks on their faces. They were all dressed in black or other dark colors and once again I was reminded of the absolutely beautiful weather as the sun shone brightly in through the large windows which adorned the walls of the hall. I still did not like it.

“I wish to say, you look nice today.” said that unmistakable accent of Enyi. He was probably talking about the black dress I was wearing. It was nothing fancy, just a plain black dress that I had felt necessary to wear to the funeral.

“Thanks Enyi.” I said as I turned around to see my Zebra friend standing there wearing one of those collar only suits that sometimes passed for fancy dress at parties. “You also look nice.” I felt obligated to say back although as he was barley wearing anything he looked pretty much like his normal self (which admittedly was still not that bad).

“I was unsure about this collar here, but you ponies seem to like dressing up for things like this so here it is.”

“It's respectful Enyi.”

“I see. Well then I am glad I chose to wear this.”

“I think Jackpot was looking for you.”

“Do you know why?”

“No, he just asked but I didn't think to ask why.”

“Oh well, it is probably not important.” Enyi took a look up at the stage, “Were you going to go up and see him?”

“I don't know.”

“I think you should.”

“I know I should but, I don't think I can.”

Enyi took in a deep breath, “Here, I will go up with you if that will make it easier.”

“Thanks, that would be a big help.”

Enyi walked right next to me as we neared the stage. My legs began to feel like jelly as I slowed down the nearer we got to the coffin. Enyi, thankfully, saw this and with his own hoof, held one of mine as he helped me up the stairs and onto the stage. The coffin was very nice(and probably very expensive) and there was Grit, laying on his back with his hooves crossed across his chest. They had him in a suit that covered most of his body and as I stared at him I could see why. They tried to hide it but his nick had several gashes in it and looking at them started to make me a little sick. I started to shake as my body and mind tried to process what exactly I was looking at. I knew it was Grit but I had never really seen a dead pony before and to see a dead pony that I had known and admired for years was utterly heartbreaking and sickening.

“If you need to go, we can go.” Enyi whispered in my ear.

“No. I need to stay here for a few minutes.”

Enyi backed up a few steps as I stood right next to Grit. I didn't notice right away but I was starting to cry as I looked at him. Many of the ponies in the room began to look up at us as they began to realize who I was. They began to whisper amongst themselves and I could hear the faint echoes of, “poor dear”, and “what will she do now”.

As I stood there I felt a gentle touch on my back. A soft and feathery wing came over me as I looked up and saw none other than princess Celestia standing above me. I grabbed her in a hug and just began to cry all over again. I couldn't stop for well over fifteen minutes. Enyi then took me and helped me back down off the stage and out of the hall and back into the palace courtyard.

“Enyi, I can't let them get away with this.”

“I know.”

“We need to do something.”

“We will.”

“I don't care if nopony will help us, I just can't sit here and do nothing.”

“Ivory, I feel the same way.”

I was not just sad anymore. I was angry. After seeing Grit up close and what they did to him I was just angry. I wanted this Goldie Grail to pay and I wanted her bosses to pay.

“I need to make them pay for what they did.”

“You must be careful Ivory, I understand why you feel the way you do but you should not talk like that.”

“And why not?”

“I do not think Grit would like to hear you like this.”

“He was trying to do the same thing!”

“Yes but he was able to remain calm and come up with a plan, I think.”

“Yeah, what exactly was his plan?” I asked myself.

“I do not know but he did think some information that was held at Numnah might help. Yet I do not know if he found it or not.” I really wanted to tell him now but I still didn't know enough about what was going on to go blabbing about Grit's plans.

“We need to find Jackpot.” I said.

“I did not see him at all as we were leaving the hall.”

“He didn't seem too eager to stay when I talked to him. He probably did leave.”

I turned towards the exit of the courtyard and proceeded to slowly walk out and back into town.

You do not wish to stay for the service?”

“No, not now.”

*****

I really didn't think Jackpot would stay for long at the funeral so the place he would go to was pretty obvious. It was around lunchtime so he would definitely have gone back to Cider Joe's. Enyi was a bit reluctant to be dragged along but he still went with me.

“So, any fond memories I should know about?” Enyi whispered into my ear in a cheeky tone I didn't think he had.

“Wait, what?” Luckily it was at that moment Jackpot crashed in from up on the roof of the building. This time he was wearing several necklaces that each held one of the flask bottles he liked to carry around with him.

“Oh, hey there guys.” he said from the ground.

“Having fun?” I asked him.

“I'll have you know I do that a lot.”

“Fall off roofs?” Enyi said walking up to help Jackpot up.

“Yes.”

“It is commendable that you freely admit that.”

“Well you know, honesty and all that stuff.” Jackpot said as Enyi helped him drag himself up from the ground, his brown coat and blond mane now covered in dirt.

“Hey Jackpot, we really need to talk about what Grit was planning more.”

“Speaking about Grit, how was the funeral thing, seems a bit early for it to be done.”

“We left before it really got started.”

“Why?”

“I just...needed to talk to you about what we need to do.” I think Jackpot understood the slight undertone in my voice that screamed out how I was just too uncomfortable staying there.

“Well then, before we do that, Some of the guys in there wanna talk to ya Enyi.”

“Me?”

“Yup.”

“Why?”

“Go in and find out.”

Enyi looked at me with a slight bit of concern in his eye, “Don't worry, they’re pretty harmless.” I gave him a little smile.

“Very well, let us go and see what they want.”

“Sorry but I gotta go show Ivory something quick, we'll join you back here later.”

Enyi cautiously entered the bar as Jackpot waved him on with one of those innocent smiles that you can usually tell hid some secret agenda beneath it.

“What do you want to show me?”

“You all right to head back to Grit's house?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well the guards are done cleaning and 'investigating' so I was wondering if you are ok to go back there?”

“I guess.”

“Good!” he said with a smile, “Cuz I think yer gonna like this.”

*****

Standing in front of the house I had lived in for years should not have been this difficult. I had walked up these steps thousands of times and gone through the house just as many. But now was just the memory of seeing Grit laying there on the floor with his blood seeping into my hooves and...

“Hello, Earth to Ivory, you there!?” Jackpot's voice yelled breaking me out of my mental trance.

“Huh?”

“Here, take a swig of this, it'll help.” Jackpot snapped a flask off of one of his necklaces with his wing and shoved it into my hooves.

“This stuff again, really.”

“Just a bit, you don't need to drink the whole thing ok.”

I sat there thinking about it for a few seconds, “ok.” I said as I used my mouth to open the cover and then slipping the opening into my mouth I bent my head back and allowed a healthy dose of the burning cider to slide down my throat before tilting my head back forward.

“This...cough... it's terrible...cough” I sputtered out as the cider seemed to almost burn my throat.

“That's how you know it's working.” Jackpot said as he pushed me up the stairs to the front door.

Jackpot flipped his wing out and began to punch in the buttons on the security pad that sat on the wall next to the door.

“Hey, how do you know the code anyway?”

“Grit only gives the code to his house to friends and I was his friend so that's how.”

Grit did not like many ponies knowing the codes to his house(obviously) as there were many valuable things in it(not to mention he always liked privacy).

“What did your friends at the bar want to talk to Enyi about?”

“You'll see when we get back, it's kind of a present for the both of you actually.”

“Really?” this piqued my interest a little.

“Yeah but right now this is more important.”

“Ok, if you say so, but I can't see what could be so important in here, I mean I know pretty much everything that's in this house.”

Jackpot just opened the door and trotted inside prompting me to follow. I entered the main living room doing my utmost to keep my head pointing forward towards the stairs and not to the left where the first floor study was. Jackpot seemed to noiselessly float up the stairs as I quickened my pace to both follow him and get off the first floor.

“Hey Jackpot!” I shouted after him, “Why didn't we just take Enyi with us here, I mean he should be here when we talk about what to do next!”

Jackpot landed up on the third and topmost floor and stuck his head down the stairs that I was still climbing, “You'll see in a second!” he shouted back down.

When I got to the third floor, Jackpot was leaning against the door th Grit's room. He slid the door open when he saw me and waved for me to follow him into the bedroom.

“Jackpot, what are you doing?” I asked with the proper amount of caution that this situation seemed to be warranting.

“Oh don't give me that, just come in.”

I entered the room and saw Jackpot standing next to the right side wall, scanning over it closely with his face.

“What are you doing?”

“What Grit told me to do. Aha!” Jackpot slammed his hoof into a specific spot on the wooden wall and the panel of wood that sat there pushed aside. I stared as he slid out a suitcase from the hole in the wall he had just created. Jackpot opened the case and pulled out Abila's helmet, the bracelet, the book written in the ancient script as well as a rather old looking journal.

“That's where he put those.”

“Yeah, and luckily those royal guards didn't think to do a more thorough look through of the house.” Jackpot picked up the helmet and the bracelet in his two front hooves and handed it over to me, “Here, put these on.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

I first took the bracelet and slipped it onto my front right leg, then I slid my head right into the helmet as Jackpot held it up for me. The effect was not as noticeable as last time although thats probably because I wasn't in intense pain but I certainly did feel a slight rush of energy flow through me once the helmet slid onto my head. And just like last time the crystal on the bracelet began to glow as it grew to cover my entire forehoof just like last time.

“Man, that's cool.” Jackpot said as he stared at the grown bracelet.

“Yeah it did this the last time.”

“Yeah, I was playing around with this while you were moping around at the palace.”

“Well the helmet certainly seems magic. It also seems to power other magic things like the bracelet here.”

“And judging by the condition we found the Pyth in, I'm guessing the bracelet is some kind of weapon.”

“Good guess Jackpot.”

“Well I'm not a total idiot.”

I picked up the tattered book and flipped through a few pages, the helmet also seemed to make the reading go a bit faster with the extra energy it provided me.

“This here has some notes on translating the script in the book!” I said excitedly. Finally! Something I am good at!

“So, I'm guessing that book there is important.”

I immediately opened both books and flipped through them both at a speed that surprised even myself.

“There is still only a little bit here from Grit but...I can understand a few of these symbols...I think.” I said while still flipping vigorously through both books. “This book here is the journal of Abila, I at least recognize her name written at the beginning from the symbols written in her tombs at Numnah.”

“So, you got the book and the helmet from there?”

“No just the helmet, I stole the book from A.I.”

“Stole? Well well well, Ivory Star, and here you were chastising me for stealing while you were doing the same thing. For shame.” Jackpot shook his head in mock disappointment but I was still too busy flipping through the books to notice much.

“Grit has some stuff in his journal about what he was planning on doing.”

“Yeah yeah, I read that bit.”

“Lets see here, he wanted to use this book to locate six relics....then..... keep them away from...Sable?” I took a look at jackpot, “Who is this Sable Granite?”

“He's one of the family heads.”

“No need for vagueness here, tell me more.”

“Well, they don't really have a name for the organization as a whole but Sable Granite, or a pony just going by that name, was one of the two family heads of the ponies who took over A.I.”

“I'm guessing there used to me more than two?”

“Yeah, the Ponyfire Club that Grit and the dragon took down was headed by a third but when I worked for them they still referred to Sable one of the two heads.”

“Why didn't you tell me about him earlier?”

“Well I never actually met him and he tends to be very hooves off so it just slipped my mind.”

I continued through Grit's journal, “He mentions....Goldie!” I suddenly lost my concentration as my teethe clenched at reading her name. I suddenly felt angry again and confused as to why Grit would mention her. I kept reading, “Lets see here, it says Goldie suspects him of not being loyal and so he decided to bring...you along Jackpot.”

Jackpot just sighed, “Goldie always was clever....cute.....but clever. A bit too sadistic also.”

“You didn't...did you?” I said with a little shock on my face as my face grew that I can't believe you just said that look on it again.

“Well I tried but like I said she turned out to be way too crazy for me.”

I just shook my head and got back to reading. After a few more minutes of flipping through both books I finally found what I was looking for, “From what Grit figured out about the script and from what I'm able to read, it seems he was looking for six different artifacts to keep them away from this Sable Granite and his friends. He wanted to use Abila's journal to find them...he must have been happy when he found me with it... and then he would use them to seal something away.”

“Seal what?”

“I don't know, he didn't translate what exactly it was but he did want to keep it out of Sable Granite's and Goldie's hooves.”

“So I guess he wanted the journal to try and find these artifacts, hence the notes on translation.”

“Right Jackpot, but I think I can actually figure it out on my own from what Grit has here.”

“Well now, I knew you'd come in handy for something!” Jackpot said happily.

“Whats that supposed to mean?” I scrunched my face up a Jackpot in disapproval.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Look, I know your good with the brainy stuff. Grit told me what you were good at so I'm just using you in the most effective way possible.”

“Using me!?”

“That came out wrong.”

“Yeah it did!”

Jackpot stuttered around trying to think of a way out of his predicament when I spotted something interesting in Abila's journal.

“Jackpot, shut up and listen to this.”

“Oh, uh, sure thing.” he said, grateful for the break.

“This might be a little off but it looks like the last thing Grit was working on translating talks about Abila's friends.”

“Ok, and that's helpful how?”

“It says there was a Griffon, Buffalo, Unicorn, Pegasus, Earth Pony and....”

“And what?”

“An Alicorn.”

“Wait, you mean like the princesses?”

“Well, I can't tell what the name was but I think I know some of the others.” I lifted my hoof up to my face to look at the images carved onto its side. Sure enough the same races mentioned in the book were the same ones carved onto the bracelet.

“You think they're connected?” Jackpot said as he peered over my shoulder.

“It does seem pretty obvious.”

“Well then, all you have to do is use that journal to find out where we're going and all I gotta do is find some money so we can actually afford to go there.”

“Wait, what?”

“Oh yeah, I'm pretty much broke and I doubt Enyi has any money we can use so until then we pretty much can't afford to travel anywhere.”

“Well, Grit was able to pay for our last trip so I should be able to just find money the same way right?”

“Please, ponies were lining up to give him money and no offense but I don't see you having the same effect.”

“Well thanks for the confidence.”

“No problem!”

“That was sarcasm.”

“Whats your point?”

“Never mind.” I just sighed and closed the two books.

I set the books back into the box along with the helmet. The bracelet proved rather difficult as while it was in its extended state it seemed pretty attached to my hoof.

“We should go back to Joe's now Ivory.”

“Yeah, Enyi must be starting to get worried by now.”

“Yup, wouldn't want to make him too jealous after all.”

I blushed a little and began to speak quickly, “I meant that we've just been away a long time and with what just happened I wouldn't want him to think we were in danger or anything.”

“Oh, I'm just teasing you. But your right, we should get back before he starts to think that. And remember, don't tell him about the helmet yet.”

“I know Jackpot, apparently we do need it for something after all.”

Jackpot grabbed the suitcase in his mouth and shoved it back into its spot in the wall before setting the wall board back into place.

“I don't want to lie to him either but I've known enough Zebras in my life to know that this would really piss him off.”

“I know alright!”

“We'll tell him at the end of all this, once we have all of these relics and when we finish translating that little diary there we'll be good to go, ok.”

“Jackpot, I know.” it still didn't feel very good.

*****

It was getting kind of exhausting, walking around the city so much in one day but when preparing for something big it is better that you have everything you need beforehoof. This became pretty evident when I finally got to see the present that Jackpot and apparently the other bar ponies had put together for us.

“Well, whaddya think. I'm pretty proud of it myself!” Jackpot said proudly.

A fully(mostly) constructed obstacle course built in the lot behind Cider Joe's. It was complete with all the state of the art amenities that random ponies with no building experience could get. It had the barrel dodging section, several walls for leaping over, that part with tires your supposed to jump in and out of and more, it had it all.

“This may or may not help with the whole scaredy pony thing but a little strength and speed training might just save you in case we run into any more giant monsters or evil overlords or whatever.” Jackpot said with his usual cocky tone.

“Wow, this is cool!” I looked over at Jackpot, “I gotta say thank you, this is just really neat.”

“Naw, don't mention it. Really, you'll be a liability if you can't fight so really this is more for my own safety and well being than yours.” I knew that behind his ego he really did care though.

I looked over to the side and saw Enyi laying down in the shade of Cider Joe's panting heavily with several of the bar ponies waiting around him and congratulating him on making it through the full course.

“Decided to start without me eh Enyi?”

“These...ponies...were very....insistent....that I....try it out.”

“He really needed the workout and besides, we wanted to make sure it wouldn't collapse and our new friend here made the perfect guinea pig!” A rather chubby Earth Pony Stallion who was sitting down next to Enyi shouted out.

“Plus we've never seen a Zebra before, he's so exotic and handsome and really cute when he moves!” A far too clingy Pegasus mare who was also laying down next to Enyi just had to point out.

“So Ivory, wanna try it out?” Jackpot stepped aside and waved his wing towards the course.

“How can I say no.” I said as I trotted over to the line that marked the start of the obstacle course. “Before I start, I get why Jackpot wanted to build this thing but why did you guys help him?” I asked the ponies laying down next to Enyi.

Cider Joe himself walked out from the bar and said, “Jackpot here is my best customer and your a friend of his so when we heard about the trouble you was going through we all decided we wanted to help you out a bit.” all the other ponies hanging around nodded in agreement.

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah, plus Jackpot said he'd pay for most of it so it wasn't any trouble really.” I guess that was why he was broke.

I turned my attention to the course set in front of me. The first hurdle was the tire jumping section and being an Earth Pony, I had excellent hoof-eye coordination and was able to get through it with only one small trip up. There were two rope swings in front of me that I had to grab onto with my mouth, climb up(because why not) and then swing across(Here I fell a couple times). The next obstacle was a series of three jumping walls that proved little difficulty(naturally strong hooves) but I still hit the top of the walls with the edges of my hooves. After those was a full on climbing wall, it was about four or five times my height and very basic but it was enough. The next part was a series of panels with barrels hanging from the top I had to dodge my way through followed immediately by a low tunnel I had to crawl through. I hit a few barrels and didn't suck fast enough for the tunnel, resulting in me hitting my head on the top but I kept on going. A balancing bridge rose up a few feet and that was pretty difficult(mostly because of the hit to the head I just took) followed by some elevated stepping blocks I had to jump from block to block to pass. The last bit was an inclined ladder that once I clambered over I finally reached the finish line almost as exhausted as Enyi.

“Not bad but we can make it harder, I'll make a note to add more stuff in later once I have some more money.”

“I don't know jackpot that was...” I stopped to breathe a bit, “a pretty good course.”

“Well, if we all run through it a few times a day I think we could all stand to improve a little bit.” Jackpot said as if ignoring my comment.

“I think it is plenty hard!” Enyi shouted out from his shaded spot near the building.

“Well Ivory, now that you've warmed up a bit, it's time for the final bit of the course.”

“Oh by Celestia's silk stockings what is it now?”

“Sparring.”

“With who?”

“Me of course.”

“Wait a minute there! You want me to fight you after I just tired myself out in this course thingy here and your all fresh and rested!?”

“Wait here one minute.” Jackpot had assumed his cocky voice once again.

He then quickly flew up to the starting line and shifted his body into a ready position, “Watch this.” and at those words he burst forward into the course. The tire jumping was obviously nothing for him, he used his wings here to provide himself with lift as he effortlessly hopped from one to another in rapid succession. The ropes also proved no challenge as he easily grabbed on without even needing to use his wings as he climbed up and swung across in only a few seconds. He only needed to flap his wings a little to bound over the jumping walls and the climbing wall also proved easy for him. His agility proved equally as impressive as he dove in and out of the panels and hanging barrels only grazing against one for a split second. For the tunnel he quickly straightened his body out as he glided through it only touching the ground at the exit to straighten himself up. The bridge and the blocks were, that's right you guessed it, pretty easy for him as well(I swear, Pegasi and those wings of theirs). The final ladder he didn't even use his wings for as he simply hopped up it with seemingly no difficulty and reached the finish all in just over a minute.

“There, you happy?”

“Showoff.”

“We use our strengths and once you build up some of that earth Pony strength, you'll find it just as easy in time.”

“Well, you did the course so I guess I can't complain.” I shrugged as I said this, accepting that if I still wanted to be like Grit eventually I would need to know how to survive the rigors of being an adventurer.

“Wait one minute Ivory!” Enyi shouted out.

“What is it?” I said turning to Enyi.

“Your hoof!”

“Oh yeah, Jackpot and I figured out how to get this thing to work!”

“I remember what happened to the Pyth, maybe we should practice using that as well.”

“Good idea!” I turned to jackpot, “We should definitely try that next.”

“Agreed, but for now I want to see what I have to work with in the case of your fighting ability.”

Jackpot and I both turned to face each other, he still had the cocky look on his face that I was now growing accustomed to as he took off the necklace of flask bottles. He knew I had practically no actual fighting experience so this was probably for my sake as well as his. He had wings and from the obstacle course I had the distinct feeling he would use them if he felt he had to. So for now I would consider it a win if I could force him to actually try against me instead of outright beating him in a fight which I probably couldn't do. I knew that he had been on many adventures and therefor had more experience than me, especially if half the stories he told me on the train were to be believed.

I stood there, staring at every part of his body that I could and judging by his past actions he would probably try and just blitz me head on first. This thought was soon proven correct as he charged forward on his hooves towards me. He was still surprisingly fast for a Pegasi that was not flying but luckily he started far enough away that I could at least react fast enough to jump out of the way. I did not get so lucky the next time as now he was in close with me and he used that fact to his advantage. He swiftly and in one move turned onto his front hooves and landed a simple kick on me with his back legs.

“Come on Ivory, that was an easy one!”

I staggered back as his kick landed on my chest, “Ugh!” was all I was able to say as my breath slightly left me. It took me only a second to recover as the kick was not that hard but Jackpot was already on me again.

Jackpot charged into me again but this time I thrust my head out in front of me and headbutted him straight backward. I tried for my own kick but I took to long and by the time I had turned and arched on my front legs, Jackpot had been able to distance himself enough so my kick only hit air.

“Not bad but if you want to use that move you need to be faster and more agile in order to actually hit somepony with it.”

Jackpot now darted around to my side and this time arched back onto his hind legs and pushed up and forward with his usual speed. I was also unable to dodge this and the hit from his two front hooves knocked me back on my flank.

I scrambled to get back up but jackpot was already running straight forward at me. This time I actually managed to use my legs to jump up and straight into the running Pegasi. He fell flat on his back as I tumbled forward past him onto my stomach. He had taken the harder hit and so I actually got up before him and thought it was now my turn to charge at him. I was starting to pant a bit and was getting a little tired but I pushed on straight into Jackpot. He, on the other hoof, was waiting for this and in a quick hop vaulted over my head and pushed down his hooves right onto my back and threw me to the ground as he landed on his hooves.

“Ok.....that's enough.....I'm down.” I said as I panted on the ground.

Jackpot trotted back up to me with only a couple beads of sweat on his face, “Come on now, that can't be all you got.”

“I'm more of a sit in a room and read kind of pony and right now that's pretty much all I got.” I said as I slowly rose up only to sit back down and rub my now sore shoulders and chest.

Cider Joe walked up to us with a tray of rainbow colored drinks placed on it. He put them down on a small table that was set out next to where Enyi and the other ponies had been watching us.

“Here, this should help get some energy back.”

“I think I shall get stronger, if I stick with plain water.” Enyi said as he politely refused.

Cider Joe left to go get some water as Jackpot and I trotted up to the drinks.

“You'll like these Ivory.” Jackpot said as he wrapped his muzzle over one of the glasses and gulped down the rainbow colored liquid.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Oh Just try one.” Jackpot said as several of the other ponies got up and guzzled down one of the glasses each.

The drink certainly looked palatable and the rainbow coloring gave it that happy sunshiny kind of look the would entice anypony to want to have a taste. My own personal curiosity took over and with the knowledge that enough of these would help me to cope with the traumas of the past several days I eagerly grasped the small glass in my mouth and tilted my head back letting the hot liquid slide down my throat.

“SPICY!” I yelled as I wagged my tongue out of my mouth and slid my hooves on and off it in an effort to cool my mouth down.

Jackpot just started laughing as I frantically looked around for something to cool my mouth down. I saw Cider Joe walking out with Enyi's water and quickly ran up and wrapped my mouth around it, guzzling down the cool and refreshing water.

“It's...not...funny!” I panted out in a huff and Jackpot just stood there and laughed, taking another swig from the flasks he had previously set down.

Cider Joe just stood there confused for a second as he stared at the empty water glass, “I'll just go get another one then ok.”

“It's made with real rainbows ya know.” Jackpot said as he continued to snicker at my discomfort.

The coolness of the water quickly faded and my mouth was back to burning but this time Enyi made sure to snatch his water before I could get to Cider Joe as he re-exited the bar. Luckily he had actually brought a tray with some milk on it to help cool my mouth down.

“Don't worry Ivory, I'll just add this to Jackpot's bill.” he said with a wink and a smile.

“Hey!” Jackpot yelled in protest.

This time it was my turn to laugh and I took full advantage of it as Cider Joe trotted back into the bar with his own devilish smile on his face. The rest of the quickly fading daytime was spent running Jackpot's little obstacle course again and again. By the end of the day I managed to improve my time by a few seconds with Enyi lagging a little behind me. He was proving to be a bit more agile than I could be but my own slightly superior strength kept me in the lead overall.

The next day promised to be a bit better than the previous one. Cider Joe let me spend the night in one of the few spare rooms he had in the back of his building. Jackpot apparently had already rented one out for himself on a semi-permanent basis so it was no big deal to prep another one. Another big improvement was that Jackpot actually got me some slightly more tolerable drinks to try and a few that were even good tasting. It had the effect that I felt a lot happier and more energetic than yesterday and was willing to work on my time more on the obstacle course. Enyi also made a few seconds more progress but after only a few runs decided to return to his room in the palace to pick up some personal belongings he had brought with him.

While Enyi was away I decided to take another crack at the two journals and their translations. Jackpot was kind enough to get them for me but he of course left the helmet in its hidden wall position. Enyi seemed to definitely take his time so I was just more than happy to sit in a small corner try to decipher all the little bits of language Grit had already worked out. When Enyi did finally get back he came with a bit of a pleasant surprise with him.

“Ivory!”

I looked up from my very pleasurable reading experience to see what the very familiar accent calling out my name wanted. Jackpot looked up from the booth he was napping in as well to see what our Zebra friend was uncharacteristically yelling about.

“I found a pony who wants to talk to you!”

“Wait, what!?”

“Yes, he seems to be a member of that club you like so much.”

“An A.I member?”

“Yes, he..” just then a Pegasus with a white coat and silvery blue mane walked in through the bar door.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Um, yes...I don't know if you remember me at all but..” the pony said in a slightly quivery voice.

“Oh yeah!(I suddenly remembered) Your name was Glitter something or other(ok maybe not).”

“It was Silver, Silver Chaser.”

“Oh yeah, the pony from the library(nailed it!), I remember now.”

“Well the first thing I wanted to say is that I'm so sorry about the members only section thing. I didn't think it would get you in trouble and I'm so sorry.”

“What trouble?” This seemed to intrigue Jackpot and even Enyi perked an ear up at this.

“NOTHING!” I said, quickly running up to Silver and making sure he didn't tell anypony about having to be dragged through A.I like some common criminal.

“And the second thing was..” Silver seemed to recede just a little at my outburst there, “That I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to Prof. Stratum. I heard that he was a very good friend of yours and I just felt that I should say something and I was looking for you at the funeral yesterday but there were too many ponies in the way and you disappeared so suddenly..”

“Breathe Silver!” I said as he had started rambling by that point.

“Oh, right, sorry. But um yeah I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help or whatever, I mean that I've been a member of Adventure Incorporated for about seven years now and well in that time because of my particular position I uh.. have been given access to information that uh.. might help you to find out what happened to Grit.” he smiled after that most likely to give off some confidence as everypony in the bar was now starring at him.

I took a quick look at Jackpot and he seemed to understand, “What information and what exactly is this particular position of yours?”

“Well uh, you see..”

“Wait, did you say your name was Silver Chaser!” Jackpot suddenly blurted out.

“Yes.”

“I've heard of you.” Jackpot shot right up.

“You..you have?” Silver seemed actually kind of surprised there.

“Yeah your that fancy money...donater...” I could swear I saw several explosions of happiness go off in Jackpot's eyes.

“Um yes, I have funded several little trips in the past few years.”

“So you got money is what you're saying?” Jackpot was getting that look in his eye that a pony gets when when they think they have a good idea.

“Well, I've always loved history and artifacts and ancient legends but I've never really been the adventuring type, but yes I actually run a very successful shipping and delivery business and have used that money to help out other ponies who have shown to be more...physically inclined.” he seemed very proud of himself when he mentioned his own business.

“So you're saying you got money?” Jackpot was way to enamored with that fact.

I gave Jackpot a stink-eye but he was way too far gone to notice. I at least wanted to get us back on track, “You said that you had access to some information that could help us?”

“Oh yes, well you see because of my position as a funder I was um...how do I put this, uh I was asked to do some things I really wasn't very comfortable with by some of the ponies who seemed to run A.I.”

“Have you ever heard the name Sable Granite?” I asked.

“The name was mentioned in some of the meetings they made me attend yes, why is he important?”

“Have you ever heard the name Goldie Grail?” just saying her name actually got me mad again.

“Heard it, I've had the unfortunate displeasure of meeting her several times.”

I slowly went and sat back down in my seat, “Where, when?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes it does.”

“Well it was right after I joined and she was sent to um 'escort' me to the meetings I had with some of the higher ups.”

“Jackpot here thinks she was the one who killed Grit.”

Silver looked over at Jackpot and back at me, “Well she didn't seem all that pleasant to me but to do something like that.”

“Seven years ago huh, that's about when I was working with her.” Jackpot said from his seat.

I took another look at my books and the bits Grit had already translated. Silver trotted over as he had spotted the extended bracelet that still had itself covering my foreleg.

“What is that?”

“It's the bracelet you saw me with last time but apparently it can get a little bigger.”

“And those books your reading...is that Pre-Celestial Script!”

“You know it?” I said looking up at Silver.

“Know it! It's practically a hobby of mine. I have several pieces with this ancient writing on them at home in my personal collection.”

“Do you know anything about it?”

“Well...no but I have hired multiple linguist ponies in the past to try and decipher it. They never got very far but if that is your goal I could lend you what notes they took on it.”

“That would be helpful, thanks.” I said with a smile.

Jackpot pushed his way into our conversation, “So, you say you like to fund adventures huh.”

“Well I do seem to make a habit of it yes.”

“Well then, let me tell you of a golden opportunity coming up in a few days, right Ivory.”

“Oh yeah, with Silver's notes I might have something useful from this journal in a few days or more.”

“Well, if I can be of help I will. And of course if you tell me the full details of the trip I can get you hired by whatever A.I branch is in the area for the recovery of any artifacts which would net us both a nice profit if you are successful.”

“Sounds like music to my ears!” Jackpot said happily, “Lets just step into my office and have us a little chat on the details while Ivory sorts out more about what we are actually looking for and where we should go to look for it.”

The next several days went by very fast. Silver did indeed provide some notes on translating the script and while Grit's were better there were some snippets I managed to get from them. The work went by even faster once Enyi started to have a look at the notes. Jackpot gave some faces behind Enyi but I looked over it with him and he had a surprisingly few good insights on the language.

“Language isn't my specialty but I have seen these runes before.” at this he stopped at gave that suspicious kind of look, “This book has the name of Abila on it.”

“Yeah about that.”

“This was hers!” Enyi suddenly pushed his way past me and just shoved his face in front of the book, scanning over it with vigor, “Why do you have this?”

“We found it at Grit's house, it seems he was using it to find the location of a series of artifacts he wanted to use to stop those bad ponies from doing...something.”

“Why did he not tell me of this?”

“I'm sure he had his reasons.”

Enyi definitely seemed a little apprehensive about this and he suddenly became rather clingy about the journal.

“Enyi we need this. We need to translate this if we want to get revenge for Grit and stop these evil ponies from doing whatever it is they are doing!”

“This should be with my people, this could reveal so much we do not know.”

“Well then help me translate it so we can use the information for some actual good.”

Enyi took another look down at the book and then back at me, “Very well, but I would like to keep the book myself when we are not using it and when we finish this I will be taking it with me back home.”

I took a quick sigh of relief, “Thank you Enyi, I know this is important to you but we do need this for right now.”

With Enyi and myself working on it the work went by a bit faster and by the end of two days we had several pages translated or at least what we thought was translated. Jackpot came by a few times and confidently ordered drinks with the assurance that he now had some money on the way. Grit's and Silver's notes were helpful but they only went so far and even though we could now read the first several pages many of the words were...I don't want to say guessed but more like inferred from some other words we could identify. Luckily several important ones were readable. The important parts of the first couple pages read more or less like this:

News [comes] so slow out here. Whisperwind(same letters as the picture of the Pegasus on the bracelet) has died [recent(ly)] and her fame is such that the news has even [reached] out here. [They] say she was laid to rest [upon that piece of land] she found in the big water on the west coast. A palace of cloud that would shield her from view and protect her great treasure. This news makes me sad and I will miss the [gifts] she used give so [free(ly)] to us.

“I guess Whisperwind here is our first goal.” I said to the group.

“Yes but It does not give much as to her location.” Enyi answered.

“You say it mentions some kind of island or other on the west coast right?” Silver put in.

“Yes, it does seem to say that.”

“Well in the Luna Bay there are several large islands that could be the place.”

“Those are more in the north right?”

“Yes but they could still fit the description.”

Jackpot shot up from his relaxed position in his new napping booth, “Well then we have our heading! I say we pack up and head out.”

“Well it's all we got right now so I say yes to that.”

“Same.” Enyi nodded in agreement.

And so with this new information, Silver backing us and a very Eager to get payed Jackpot I finally got to set out on this new adventure.

A Town Called Money

Chapter 7: A Town Called Money

“Vanhoover.”

“What was that Jackpot?”

“We're stopping off in Vanhoover and from there we're gonna have to take a boat out to these islands.”

“Ugh, I hate boats.”

“I know ya do but if we wanna find this place we're gonna need to take a boat.”

The Canterlot train station was busy that day, mostly from ponies heading home from the funeral of Grit that had by now ended. Enyi, Jackpot and I were all waiting for our train to set out from the Canterlot station and it was of course late. Silver had prepared everything from the train tickets to chartering a boat(quiver).

“So how did you meet this Silver guy again Ivory?” Jackpot was keen to ask.

“I met him on my first trip to the A.I HQ with Grit. He gave me some advise that didn't necessarily pan out but he meant well.”

“So this guy gives bad advise, duly noted.”

“You're being overly dramatic.”

Jackpot was laid out on his seat in the private booth Silver had bought for us. He was taking up an entire side of the booth, leaving Enyi and I to share the other side. Enyi was too busy staring out the window at all of the finely dressed ponies shuffling about to be paying any attention to our conversation. I was sitting there spinning my A.I pith hat around on my hooves completely bored while waiting. Jackpot, of course, had several saddlebags with him, one empty and one filled with his flasks, newly refilled with all of his favorite ciders.

“Remember Jackpot we're giving everything back to the Vanhoover historical society when we get back, you know that right?”

“Ivory is right, it is good enough we bring the relics to light.”

“Yeah yeah I know, but these are for anything else interesting we find.”

“Like what?”

“I don't know, it could be anything.”

“Well anyway, we should go over the game plan so we know what exactly we are going to do and where exactly we are going to look. These Islands aren’t exactly small remember.”

“Well they ain't that big either and how hard is it going to be to find this cloud palace thing anyway.”

“Seeing as noponyies ever found it yet I would say pretty hard.”

“It is always good to have a plan Jackpot my friend,” Enyi out in while still looking out his window.

“I know but still, they don't call me Jackpot for nothing.”

“They call you that because that is your name.”

“Oh, silly little Ivory. Look at my cutie mark here”, he pointed to the image of a pot of gold on his flank, “this means I always find the treasure, I always hit the jackpot.”

“Yes, and its very impressive but a good plan will beat cutie mark magic any day of the week.”

“Says the pony with the weird cutie mark.”

“My cutie mark isn't weird!”

“Really, a compass that points west, what does that even mean! I think yours is broken or something.”

“It's not broken!” Jackpot knew how to just push my buttons.

“What is even the issue with these cutie marks?” Enyi said while finally turning his gaze from the window.

“What do you mean the issue!? I could say the same thing with those squiggles on your flank!” Jackpot was on point today, unfortunately this seemed to just aggravate Enyi.

“They are not 'squiggles'!”

“Sure look like a bunch of squiggles ta me!”

“They are a time honored ritual that..”

“Yeah yeah, I'm sure it's sooo important! Cutie marks denote who a pony is and what we love and who we are inside, way more important than a pile o' squiggles.”

“At least my glyph does not force me into being a criminal!”

“Whoa there buddy, I ain't forced into nothin by nopony!

This was going to be a long train ride.

The train ride to Vanhoover was mercifully short. Enyi and Jackpot spent the majority of it pouting over whatever it is stallions like them like to pout about while I just sat quietly in the middle of them with Jackpot's words about my cutie mark still ringing in my ears. I mean he wasn't technically wrong, my cutie mark was kinda weird but I had always known that following in Grit's hoofsteps was what I was meant to do. Even so the whole broken compass thing did always annoy me which prompted me to not think about my cutie mark so much and just roll with whatever was put in front of me.

We arrived after only a night of travel and thank Celestia's merciful mare-hood(oops, thinking out loud) for that.

“I swear you two have never argued like this this before.”

“I was defending you Ivory.” Enyi said with pride.

“Ha, that's a laugh! Yer just mad cuz you got a bunch of squiggles on your ass and not a beautiful pile o' treasure like me.”

“Ugh!”

The train pulled up at the Vanhoover station and I was more than happy to no longer be confined in a small car with my two esteemed companions bickering about who had the better butt stamp(I wasn't arguing, just thinking about it). Come to think of it, I had never really noticed the strange symbol that Enyi had in place of a pony cutie mark. I knew Zebra anatomy was a bit different than pony's but I had never thought much of. But then again I had never really met a Zebra before and had the time and clear mind to think about it.

“Ok guys, now we really need to focus if we want to find this cloud palace thing.” my two friends at least nodded to this.

“Ok Enyi, you got the two books right?”

“Yes I do.” he said as he turned slightly revealing the saddlebag he wore that had the obvious shape of two books in it.

“Good, we might need them later, they could have more stuff we haven’t translated yet that could help.”

“Yes, all hail our valiant book shelf!”

“And Jackpot, shut up please.” Oh what Grit must have gone through trying to wrangle Blaze in when he was younger.

Jackpot kept quiet and after a while even started to look a bit remorseful as I got us a cab to drive us all to the harbor since we didn't know our way around the city.

“It's pretty chilly here isn't it?” I said to break up the long silence that was beginning to form.

“Vanhoover is always chilly, even in summer.” Jackpot said as he stared out the side of the cab.

“I would not know.” Enyi said as he stared out the other. It was clear that my plan had failed so I sat back into my seat and just accepted the silence of our ride.

We finally arrived at the harbor where after a quick look around we found the boat that Silver had chartered for us. Standing next to it was a rather gruff looking Earth Pony who only introduced himself as Backlash.

“So, yer the ponies that Mr. Silver wants popped on over that that there Island eh?” he said in an equally gruff sounding voice while staring at my A.I pith hat.

“Um yes, that's us.” I said in response just staring in absolute dread at the old and leaky looking boat that he wanted us to ride in. On the side of the boat was painted the words S.S Tub which certainly did not evoke any kind of confidence in the safety this boat would provide on what was certainly going to be a very uncomfortable hour boat ride.

“Aww, don't worry bout the ole Tub there, she'll get ya wher ya wan ta be goin!” Backlash said with a surprising sense of pride that he was able to show.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Enyi said from behind me as he began to walk towards the leaky boat.

“You and me both.” Jackpot put in as even he looked a bit unnervingly at the old tub.

Well I'm sure you remember my delicate relationship with boats and the Tub certainly did nothing to alleviate that relationship. I began to feel sick almost immediately to where Enyi and Jackpot had to hold me over the side of the boat so I wouldn't vomit all over the deck of the 'boat'.

“Only an hour.” I said to myself over and over again as the boat chugged along the very wave filled waters of the frigid Luna Bay. There were several times where the boat would start to dip down that I would fear for my very life but even though it would always bounce back up that did not lift my hopes when it would dip down again moments later. This combined with the chilliness of the air made for a most uncomfortable ride where I was miserable the whole time and Jackpot and Enyi spent the whole time just making sure I didn't fall overboard.

“Behold, Celestia's shithole!” Backlash finally called out as we neared one of the islands. He wasn't lying either as on the island was built a small town, if you could even call it that, which was little more than a shanty town. “It's called Money.”

“Ooh, my kind of place.” Jackpot said looking eagerly at the pile of sticks somepony decided to call a town.

“What is this place?” Enyi asked as he looked over at Backlash.

“This place was founded by some crazy pony a few yers back now. He claimed to have visions of some treasure on the island so he called his little shack Money. Eventually he somehow got other ponies to follow him there and now there’s a whole town of crazy ponies out lookin fer treasure that don't exist.”

“Hmph! They obviously don't know how to look for treasure right!” Jackpot said nickering at the village. He took a quick look back at me and then said, “They got some kind of doctor over there or anything?”

“The city sent some kind o' doctor ther a few yers back now, somethin bout tryin to make it look like they care.”

“Good, looks like we'll need em. Ivory don't look too good right now.”

It was true the stress of the integrity of the boat, the choppy waters and the cold was getting to me and I had vomited at least twice in that last conversation alone. So much was my happiness when we finally landed on the shore of the most southern of the two islands that I fell to the ground(like I could stand) and kissed the ground repeatedly.

“You're gonna make Enyi jealous if ya keep that up.” Jackpot whispered into my ear as he helped me up. Enyi had just finished unloading our saddlebags and was putting them on our backs when a rather pretty looking peach colored Unicorn mare with lovely red hair and a red cross inside a heart cutie mark came galloping out of the crowd and right over to me.

“Bring her with me quick!” the pony yelled at Jackpot and Enyi.

“Wait, what!?” said both of my friends in surprise.

“Look at her, she's practically dying!” said the pony as she pushed past my friends and threw me on her back with a swift telekinetic burst before running off.

I must admit her back was not altogether uncomfortable but the way she ran jostled me around and if I were more lucid I would have noticed vomiting on her back as she ran but I wasn't. When I finally did wake up I was on another mat that lay on the floor in a small shack.

“I'm going to make a habit of waking up like this aren't I.” I said to myself. I did feel a lot better, better in fact than when I woke up in Khaweth. I could hear several voices coming from outside as this time I made sure to grab my hat before wandering out of the shack.

“She was just a little seasick, ya didn't have to scare us like that!” Jackpot said rather loudly.

“Indeed, a little sleep and she would have gotten up with a leap.” Enyi said in his familiar accent.

“Well I didn't know that, when I saw you on the boat she looked half dead to me.” another voice said rather nonchalantly.

“You are not a very good doctor are you?” Enyi said as I exited the shack.

“See, she's fine and if you look closely you can see the wonders my treatment did for her.” the doctor pony said.

“Good to see you awake kid!” Jackpot said with a happy smile on his face. “Now I have to ask you, are you gonna do this on every trip we go on?”

“Only the ones with boats.” I said as I walked up to my friends.

“It is good to see you up and about, but you did have to miss Jackpot pout.” Enyi said. I laughed a little at his rhyme and the redness that came over Jackpot's face as he said it.

“Well now,” Jackpot said no doubt trying to change the subject, “Now that we're all awake hows about we go looking for this treasure.”

“Oh, there's no treasure here.” the doctor pony said.

“Excuse me but whats your name?” Jackpot asked annoyed at the idea of somepony saying no and treasure in the same sentence.

“Oh it's Scarlet, Scarlet Aloe.” she said proudly.

“Pretty, but what do you know about treasure anyways?” Jackpot said.

“Well, ponies have been looking all over this island for about a decade now but nothing has ever turned up.”

“Backlash said that some crazy pony had dreams of treasure, where is he, maybe he could help in some way?” I asked Scarlet.

“Nopony knows, he went missing last year and nopony has seen him since.”

“Well that's just great. Where are we going to look now.” I said to myself.

“Don't worry Ivory, finding treasure is literally my calling in life, I'll get this done before squiggle-butt here can say 'Glyphs are better'.”

“Glyphs are better.”

“You're full of shit, ya know that Enyi.” Jackpot said as Enyi gave a little smile of satisfaction.

“Well if it will help you, Scraggy, the pony who disappeared, was last seen somewhere in the north of the island.”

“Thanks Scarlet.” I said with a smile as we set out north from the town.

Jackpot was a bit eager and decided to fly on ahead of us ans Enyi and I trotted the way on hoof. The island we were on was pretty barren and lifeless with mostly small patches of dried up grass and prickly looking plants sprouting up from the rocks.

“I like this place.” Enyi said to me as we walked along.

“Why, its so...empty here.”

“I do not know but it has a good feeling to it.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I like the way the island feels.”

“Well, that sounds like a good sign to me so I'm gonna take it like that.”

We continued north for about an hour. Every so often Jackpot would circle back around to make sure we weren't lost before darting back off into the sky.

“Ivory.”

“What?”

“Let us take a quick break.” I saw Enyi was starting to pant a bit so I found a nice little spot under half wilted tree for a five minute break to let Enyi catch his breath.

We sat there for only a minute or two before Jackpot slammed down onto the ground in front of us. He was panting hard and had a very worried look on his face.

“Hey Jackpot, what's wrong?”

“Ok, so we kinda have a pretty big problem.”

I quickly stood up from where I was sitting, “What is it?”

“Hurry, and keep low.” Jackpot whispered as he dragged Enyi up from where he was laying down.

Jackpot ran forward dragging Enyi along with him as I followed behind. We got to a hill where Jackpot pushed us all down onto the ground. It didn't take more than a few seconds to see what he was talking about. Down the hill a ways was a camp that had at least a couple dozen large and intimidating looking Unicorns all dressed in black, spy like outfits. Their faces and bodies were completely covered except for their horns and they all stood around the camp, walking around and gazing out into the island space around them. It was at that point that I saw her, coming out from a large tent in the middle the camp was a golden Unicorn with an even more bright yellow mane walked out, on her flank was an image of a golden goblet and I instantly knew who it was.

“Motherfucker.” I whispered to myself as Goldie Grail sauntered around her camp looking far to content for my own good. I almost instinctively rushed out towards the camp as I suddenly grew very angry but a spread wing from Jackpot stopped me.

“Don't be stupid Ivory.”

“But Jackpot, it's her!” I said rather loudly.

“Shhhh. You want them to hear us.”

“Who is that pony?” Enyi whispered into our ears.

“She's the one who killed Grit.” I whispered back, gritting my teeth as I said it.

I looked back down at Goldie and saw around her was a bandoleer which held several knives within a few sheathes. Around her neck was a string that a small box dangled from as she walked around the camp.

“What are we going to do Jackpot?” I whispered.

“We are going to head the other way and search the other side of the island for now.”

“But.”

“No Ivory, I'm not stupid enough to fight her and you're hardly ready to act as any kind of backup for her goons.”

Jackpot and Enyi slid down the other side of the hill as I just sat there and stared at Goldie for several seconds. I'm going to fucking kill her(seriously) if it's the last thing I do. I mean she just looked so happy and carefree I just couldn't stand it and I wanted so badly to just jump down there and pound her stupid yellow face in.But for now I set my anger aside and followed Jackpot and Enyi down the hill and away from the camp. This feeling was a very new one for me and I didn't know much how to react to it, I mean I had never really hated anypony before and I wasn't too entirely sure how to handle this feeling.

“Jackpot, we need to do something about her, I mean She's RIGHT THERE!”

“Oh for the love of Luna. Ivory we Can't do anything right now and I said keep your voice down, she could have goons anywhere and we need to be careful.”

“What of the town?” Enyi whispered to Jackpot.

“Yeah, if they find Money there might be trouble. We should go and warn them.”

“Listen it sucks ok but they need to take care of themselves, we need to find this cloud palace thing and Goldie being here probably means we're in the right place.”

“Jackpot!”

“Shhh.”

“Oh shut up, I can't let Goldie hurt more ponies ok.”

“There's nothing we can do right now. The best way to stop her is to find the treasure ok and we can't do that if we die defending random ponies in a pointless fight.”

“I agree with Ivory, we need to do something.”

“Fine, I'll fly back to the town and tell them, you two head south and just try to stay out of sight, I'll find you when I'm done.”

“How will you find us if we're hiding?”

“I just will ok.”

And with that Jackpot took a swig from one of his flasks and darted off into the overcast sky with soundless wing flaps. Enyi and I ran as quickly as we could away from the hill in the opposite direction. There was little in the way of anything we could use as cover but I we got some distance between us and Goldie we could stay well ahead of her and pretty safe. Enyi had a hard time keeping up but I guess his sense of urgency kicked in and he wasable to keep running for a while at least. We ended up getting pretty far when Jackpot finally swooped in from above us.

“That was pretty fast.”

“Well um...I didn't get to the town per say.”

'What?”

“I was too late, there were several of Goldie's goons there and they had already rounded up most of the townsponies.”

“Celestia's marehood Jackpot, and you didn't do anything!”

“Whoa there, I'm not a good enough fighter to take on a dozen of those guys singlehoofedly.”

“There's a dozen more!?”

“At least.”

This was getting bad, Goldie was filling this island up with her henchponies, there were only three of us and the only other ponies who could have possible helped us are now captured. Today was not turning into a good day and now I doubt we could even get back to Vanhoover safely if Goldie has this many ponies on the island.

“If she had the townsponies, do you think she knows about us?”

“It's hard to say.”

“Well I think we still need to find a way to help those ponies.” Enyi said, butting into the conversation.

“Yes, we should focus on that first and then once we have them on our side maybe we can use their help to get rid of the rest of Goldie's goons.”

“This is a bad idea Ivory, but if you're set on this I'll go along if only to make sure you two don't get yourselves killed.”

“Thanks Jackpot.” I said giving him a smile.

We immediately turned around towards Money and ran and flew as fast as we could towards it. Jackpot arrived first and got us a good spot behind some rocks where we could get a good view of the town. I almost immediately regretted that view as all I saw were bodies lining the streets as several ponies had been killed already. Goldie had arrived and was standing in the middle of the town with several dozen of the townsponies corralled up next to several of the shacks. She was standing there with a disappointed look on her face while wiping some red stains off one of her knives on the body of the pony she had just stabbed through the neck. I almost threw up again but Enyi was there to grab me and help me hold it in.

“All right!” Goldie shouted out, “I'm going to ask one more time and if none of you give me an answer I will kill lets say...five more ponies this time ok!” she cleared her throat, “We have on good authority that something we have been looking for, for quite some time, is here on one of these two islands.” she looked out at the crowd of terrified ponies, “So who knows where this palace in the clouds is eh!?”

How the fuck did she know about that! Seriously We only just found that out and apparently Goldie has known long enough to go out searching an entire island before we even get here. This really isn’t fair and now I found myself hating Goldie even more than I already did. The ponies didn't answer, well one did shout out that none of them knew but Goldie just seemed to ignore him.

“Very well, since you want to play it that way! You three, go grab five ponies and bring them hereto me.” three of her unicorn guards powered up their horns and in telekinetic grips dragged five random ponies out of the crowd and threw them and held them before Goldie.

“Jackpot.” I said worriedly.

“Just look away Ivory, she has too many guards around right now.”

I could hear the five ponies screaming and crying as they tried to force their way out of the telekinetic bubbles. I sat there behind my rock not knowing what to do when suddenly a pony rushed out from the crowd. It was Scarlet, the doctor pony, who ran up to Goldie before being thrown to the ground by another Unicorn.

“Please Miss! We really don't know anything! Look around, you think anypony here actually found the treasure on this island.” Scarlet was crying as well as she said these things to Goldie.

“Really, this town has been here for over a decade and nopony has found any trace or clue of any treasure, you expect me to believe that.”

“You must believe me, I know its daft that these ponies have stayed here but we really don't know anything, please just leave us alone!” Scarlet started to really cry as she crawled over to Goldie's feet.

Goldie stood there for several seconds, a look of contemplation on her face. She tilted her head down towards Scarlet, “Nope.” suddenly two of her knives flew out in a magic aura and slit the throats of the five crying ponies she held on the ground.

“YOU MONSTER!” Scarlet cried out as she burst forward to the five dying ponies. Her horn glowed as she wrapped her aura around their slit throats, trying to stop the blood loss. It didn't work and soon the five ponies stopped twitching and laid there still on the ground.

I fell backward onto my flank. My eyes were streaming with tears and I couldn't move much. Jackpot just sat there unmoving from his position while Enyi wrapped his hooves around me in a vain effort to comfort me. I slowly looked up at Jackpot, “Fuck you.”

“Ok then ponies!” Goldie shouted out, “It will be ten next time, including you.” she looked down at Scarlet.

Several telekinetic bubbles formed around more ponies as they and Scarlet were thrown down in front of Goldie right on top of the dead bodies of the five previous ponies. Now I just couldn’t take it anymore and rushed up, pushing Enyi to the ground and running right past Jackpot.

“Ivory, what in Tartarus are you doing!” Jackpot yelled as I ran past him.

I burst into the street, Jackpot close behind me and rammed straight into Goldie's side. Her guards didn't seem to expect me at all as my attack proved successful and I toppled Goldie right over only to end up tripping right over her and falling to the ground myself. Several of the guards now ran over with glowing horns but Jackpot swooped down on top of them and slammed their heads with his fast moving hooves. He managed to bring them down before landing right next to me and adopting an aggressive stance.

“Jackpot? That you?” Goldie said as she lifted herself up, seemingly unphased by my attack.

“Long time no see Goldie.” Jackpot said as he put himself between myself and her with his eyes now darting back and forth to the guards who now surrounded us.

“That was you in Canterlot right? I thought it might be but I almost didn't recognize you.”

“Yeah it was me.”

“And this must be the little pony you were with then huh?” she looked right past Jackpot and right at me.

“Yup.” Jackpot's gaze was now entirely fixed on Goldie and it was not a friendly one.

“So she must be that little pet Grit kept around, nasty business that but business is business after all.”

“WHAT!” I shouted as I brought myself up from the ground. “So it was you!”

“I really didn't try to hide it but yeah, orders are orders.” Goldie smiled as she said this.

“Celestia burn you in Tartarus!” I shouted.

“That all you got.” Goldie nodded her head as suddenly several blasts came from her Unicorn guards. Jackpot jumped backwards towards me and tried to push me out of the way but was just not fast enough. The beams hit both of us and after a second of searing pain I fell unconscious.

*****

I awoke tied to a tree with Jackpot right beside me. I looked around saw only that Goldie was sitting directly in front of us, watching Jackpot in particular with a solid stare.

“Ivory, you awake yet?” I heard Jackpot's voice say.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“So Jackpot, this is your new mare huh?”

I was still pretty groggy but I once again looked back up at Goldie and began to pull and tug at the ropes that bound us to the tree.

“Don't bother, you won't be getting out of those ropes anytime soon.” Goldie said with a smile on her face.

“Where are the townsponies!?” I shouted at her.

“Oh they're fine for now but now that I have you and Jackpot here I don't particularly need them anymore, understand.” she looked me dead in the face as she said this.

I understood her meaning perfectly so I stopped trying to get out of the ropes and settled down as best I could being tied to a tree and all.

Suddenly Goldie stuck her hoof right onto my stomach where the ropes didn't cover, “Hmm, she doesn't seem pregnant at all.” Goldie looked over at Jackpot, “What, you learn some self control this time or did I do more damage that I thought?” Jackpot just sat there with his head down, avoiding eye contact with anypony.

I looked over at Jackpot and saw just how red his face was even as he looked away from me. What was Goldie talking about I wonder? I didn't have much time to think about it before Goldie turned her attention back to me.

“So, you were Grit's little pet pony right?”

“I was his protege!”

“Well good fuckity fuck for you, I'm sure your so proud to be the ex protege of a dead washed up fraud.” her smile never faded as she said this.

My face turned back angry as I just pushed against the ropes again just trying to get at Goldie. I felt that urge again, the one I felt when I thought to myself how I would kill this piece of pony garbage. Goldie didn't even seem to care what she was saying, her face seemed so calm and almost happy as she talked about these horrible things.

“Seems I touched a nerve there.” she slowly slid a magic aura over a small knife with a red band going down the middle of it, “Do you wanna hear what I touched with this back in Canterlot?” she said with her stupid fucking smile on her stupid fucking face.

I stopped moving as I stared at the small blade in front of my face. My face was very visibly angry and Goldie certainly knew she was getting to me as I gritted my teeth and started to sputter my breathing.

“I see what you see in her Jackpot but really, cavorting with a pony who isn’t a Unicorn or even another one of your Pegasi, for shame. Goldie took the knife with the red band in a telekinetic grip and slid it up to my forehead, placing the blade right on top of my face, “I could make her a Unicorn you know, it would be so easy right now, I would just need to slide in her horn, just a little bit.” I just froze, Goldie staring at me with her calm and happy eyes just unnerved and terrified me as she slid her sharpened blade right over my face.

Jackpot finally said something, “Look, I'm sorry ok. It was my fault, don't take it out on Ivory here!”

“You betrayed us Jackpot, you left the family, you...don't...leave...the...family...ever!” Goldie finally backed off from us, “Oh well, you'll join back up, I know you too well Jackpot.” Goldie then pushed his head back and gave Jackpot a small kiss on the cheek before turning away and walking back towards the town.

“I hope Celestia sticks her horn right up her”

“Drop it Ivory, lets just focus on getting out of this mess you got us into.”

“Where's our stuff?” I said noticing our saddlebags were missing.

“I gave my bags to Enyi before I went charging off after you but your stuff is probably gone by now.”

“Sorry Jackpot.”

“No need for that, lets just get out of here.”

“I wonder what she plans on doing?”

“Well, she probably thinks we know about the treasure and will want us to help her find it or else she kills the villagers.”

“How did you ever work for these ponies Jackpot, I just don't see it?”

“I was young ok, but like I said just drop it for now and lets come up with a plan.” Jackpot began to look around what his narrow tied up field of vision allowed him.

“If Enyi is still out there he might come up with something, especially if they don't know about him.”

“You may ask me yourself, once I have freed you myself.” Enyi's wonderful accent said from behind the tree.

“Enyi, how did you get here?” I whispered.

“If there is one thing I know, it is how to lay low.”

“I know Ivory loves your rhyming but can we focus on just getting out of here.” Jackpot whispered back.

“Very well. I have already spoken with the village ponies, if we can free them they can hide in some old mines on the west side of the island until Goldie leaves.”

“Good job Enyi, you will need to do that, if we leave before they do Goldie will kill them before we get a chance to even get near them.”

“Very well Jackpot, I shall lead them to this spot.” I heard some light rustling as Enyi faded back out into the town.

“How is he gonna get all those villagers out?”

“I don't know Ivory but we better hope he can and soon.”

Within minutes Goldie came walking back up to us with a dozen of her Unicorn guards.

“All right, we got some search spots, get those two untied and lets get going.” the guards completely freed Jackpot but left me tied up as they led us away from the village. This was actually a lucky break as Enyi now he'd less guards to deal with and Goldie was also going to be gone. Maybe we could pull this off.

We were led out of town as Goldie stayed near the front of the group with Jackpot who was still kept completely free and unbound. From my vantage point in the back of the group I could see Goldie walking very close to Jackpots side as she would occasionally whisper things into his ear. I couldn't hear what she was saying and this both irritated and worried me. Every so often Jackpot would stop and look around and even sniff the air before pointing in one direction or another. Our whole group would then turn and follow his directions.

After a couple hours of walking Jackpot finally stopped. We were probably near the south end of the island and the sun was starting to go down. Before us was a plain empty spot that didn't even have any grass growing on it. It was pretty much just a bare rock that jutted out from the rocky ground.

“Whats this?” Goldie said, finally with some irritation in her voice.

“Treasure.” Jackpot said in response.

Goldie gestured to several of her Unicorn goons and they activated their horns surrounding the rock with a telekinetic glow. After a minute of tugging and pulling the Unicorns finally heaved the large rock from the ground and Goldie walked over to see what was left over. I tried to raise my head up to see what Goldie was looking at but there were too many goons in the way for me to see.

“This is just plain old treasure.” Goldie said as she lifted out a large chest with her magic aura.

“That's what you wanted isn't it?” Jackpot said.

“Lets see.” Goldie opened the chest and began to dig through it. She threw out several old looking papers and other small worn looking trinkets.

I managed to shuffle over to where one of these papers landed on the ground and stooped down to take a peak while all the guards were watching Goldie. The paper was very old and made out of some smooth feeling material that I didn't recognize as regular paper. The most striking thing was that it was written in Pre-Celestial Script but what it said I still didn't know.

“All of this shit is useless, none of it is what we're looking for!” Goldie said finally dropping her calm facade and having her own face turn red.

“It would help if I knew what I was looking for!” Jackpot yelled back at her.

“I don't know what we're fucking looking for!”

“Then how do you know this isn't it!”

“Because I do so shut up or I'm killing your friend here!” at this I snapped back up and stared right back at Jackpot. He grumbled a bit, turned around and kept walking in another direction.

Before we could get far however one of Goldie's goons ran up from over in the direction of Money and started shouting in a deep, hoarse voice.

“Captain! The villagers got out, they surprised our squad and retook the town!”

Hell yeah! Is what I thought but at the same time I was very sure this wasn't the original plan. Enyi or the villagers must have thought this up later and thought it was a better idea than just hiding. But if he actually managed to retake the town then its all the better for us with even less of Goldie's goons to worry us.

“For Sable's sake you incompetent idiot! What are you a Unicorn or a fucking Earth Pony, get all of our forces back and head towards the town, kill everypony and burn the shithole down!”

“That wasn't the deal Goldie!” Jackpot shouted. Suddenly Jackpot found himself held down by magic and bound just like me.

“Fuck your deals, it's time for some fun!” Goldie shouted as she and her goons dragged us back to the town at a very fast pace.

We got back to the town in minutes but when Goldie and her now almost two dozen remaining Unicorns got there the whole place was deserted. Goldie levitated all seven of her knives as she slowly walked through the center of the town.

“I thought you wanted to fight!” Goldie yelled, “Where are you!”

There was no answer at first. The town remained quiet and nopony, not even Goldie's other goons were to be seen or heard. Goldie stood there in the middle of the street looking around but there was just nothing there.

“Well that's disappointing.” She said as she lowered her knives.

I stood there, wondering what was going to happen when Jackpot whispered into my ear, “When we're free, go to ask Enyi where he hid our bags then look in mine.”

“What, why?”

“Get ready.” he whispered.

Suddenly a slight whistle was heard behind one of the small shacks over on our left side. Goldie and her goons turned towards the noise when a shovel suddenly fell from up and behind us, landing right on the head of one of the Unicorn goons. Within seconds more digging utensils came flying out from behind several buildings in various directions. Several dozen townsponies came out soon after once the Unicorns were busy levitating the falling debris with their magic. They didn't react fast enough as the ponies slammed into them before running off again.

The Unicorns were taken by surprise but quickly regained composure. They took several shots at some of the ponies, hitting several and burning their bodies until they stopped moving.

“Spread out and finish them off!” Goldie yelled.

Her goons followed her orders and soon darted off in various directions as they chased down the townsponies that had attacked them. I could hear their horns going off even as they got farther away as Goldie and two of her goons stayed behind to watch me and Jackpot. This didn't seem to help as once they were distracted Jackpot leapt up and got loose of the Unicorn holding him. He swooped back down and grabbed me before tumbling off and away towards the buildings.

“Oh fuck my horn! Get after them you useless fuck munchers!” Goldie yelled as her Unicorns fired several shots towards us. Luckily the shack provided cover and they missed as Jackpot helped me up and ran off towards the edge of town.

Enyi ran up from behind another shack, “Good to see you two made it.”

“Did you come up with this?” I asked as we ran.

“Well, I helped but it was mainly the villagers idea. The throwing of the shovels was my idea though.” Enyi said with pride in his idea.

“Good work Enyi but you need to go hook up with the rest of the villagers, they probably need more help! Ivory and I will soon meet you but we need to get our stuff back first!” Enyi nodded and pointed towards a lone shack near where we were running and veered off towards where the other villagers were running towards.

Suddenly a blast of magic shot past me just grazing my mane, “Look out Jackpot!”

Jackpot leapt upwards and somersaulted to the roof of a side shack. He jumped down and landed right on the head of one of Goldie's two remaining Unicorn guards. The guard fell to the ground as Jackpot flew back up towards the sky. I managed to make it to the building where Enyi had pointed to and run inside. I stopped and looked down, seeing our saddlebags lying down next to each other. I opened Jackpot's and saw it filled with his flasks. Then I saw what he had meant, beneath them was the bracelet and Abila's helmet, wrapped in a small cloth to help hide it.

I slipped the bracelet on and then the helmet and suddenly was filled with the energy that it gave me. The bracelet grew over my foreleg as the crystal glowed a bright purple. I put the helmet back in Jackpot's bag and fastened it shut, “It suddenly dawned on me that I never actually got around to practicing with this thing.” aw shit. I had no idea how it actually worked, I tried to think back to Numnah but can only remember falling unconscious as the Pyth pounced on me.

“Emotion.” I said as I remembered feeling how I was about to die and wanting that not to happen. I put my hoof up and thought to myself how I wanted to move through this wall but nothing happened. I poked my head out of the shack and saw that several of the neighboring houses were on fire and that the one remaining guard was there just shooting at random buildings.

I held my hoof out again and this time thought on how I wanted to stop him and Goldie when he turned towards me and charged. His horn began to glow as a beam of magic shot out towards me, I managed to dodge but the black took out part of the shack, causing it to collapse. I rolled away but when I looked up he was on me again. This time when he fired I lifted my hoof up again feeling that I was about to die again when the bracelet glowed and blasted me back. I opened my eyes and saw the Unicorn guard blasted with a wave of purple energy. He was blown back straight into one of the burning shacks behind him and fell with a thud to the ground.

I carefully got back up and crept over to where he was laying on the groundto see that unlike the Pyth he had not exploded. Instead he was lying there on the ground with a slight groaning as he was obviously unconscious. I held up the bracelet and looked back down at my downed opponent, I dragged him out of the burning shack and pulled off the black mask he was wearing. To nopony's surprise he was just a grey Unicorn with a brown mane.

“Well he's no monster.” I said as I looked down back towards the bracelet and thanked Celestia that I hadn't actually killed anypony. “Let's save that for Goldie.” I told the bracelet as it glowed even brighter as if in response to my question.

I ran back out of the village where I saw Enyi running towards me with several villagers, including Scarlet.

“Ivory, you have the bracelet?”

“Yeah, Jackpot packed it.”

“That is good, with it we can actually fight back now!” he said happily.

“Come on, my friends are in danger!” Scarlet shouted as she gazed back towards some smoke coming from the western side of the island.

“Where's Jackpot?”

“I don't know, he was with you.”

“I lost him in the confusion.” I looked around quickly but could see nothing. I just nodded towards Scarlet as we all charged off to help the other villagers.

We found several already dead as we ran closer to where we saw the smoke. There were also a few of Goldie's goons laying around but only about three were actually taken down. I counted ten dead villagers which disturbed me to no end but I just had to keep on going. We eventually got to the mine that Enyi had mentioned and saw that the remaining Unicorn guards had surrounded the entrance to the mine. Around the mine however was a small forest, well more like a bunch of trees and rocks that a pony could mistake for a small forest but it was enough to hide us in.

“How are we going to get past!?” Scarlet said with great worry in her voice.

“Leave that to me.” I said as I began to creep down to where the Unicorns were watching the entrance.

It seemed that the Villagers had pushed a large stone in the way of the entrance and Goldie's goons were trying to get past it. They were all taking turns blasting at the huge rock but it kept together. I crept up behind where the largest group of the Unicorns were standing, there were about five of them waiting for their turn to blast at the rock. I held my hoof up and ZZAT the bracelet let out a burst of energy that knocked out every Unicorn in front of me. This time I was thinking of protecting the villagers and the bracelet reacted in kind. The other guards immediately turned around and faced me. I now realized just how pretty much screwed I was at this point with all of them on me like this and just started to run.

I didn't get far when a shot blasted the ground where I was standing and threw me to the ground with a thud. I pulled myself up only to see about four more Unicorn goons standing over me.

“You're gonna regret fighting back!” one yelled angrily as all of their horns began to glow.

I knew I didn't have time to aim at any of them and that this might be it when suddenly several rocks wrapped in a red telekinetic field flew past and hit one of the guards in the head. Their concentration was broken as they all looked in the direction of the rocks to see Scarlet standing there. As they prepared to fire at both of us Enyi came in from the other direction and slammed a large stick he was carrying in his mouth into another guards head. With this distraction I lifted my hoof and with the thought of protecting all of us I blasted the two remaining guards. Unfortunately Enyi was a bit too close and got thrown back a bit by the blast as well.

“Oh, Enyi I'm so sorry!” I ran up to him as he slowly rose back up.

“Well, I do believe I am exhausted.” Enyi said as he stumbled back down.

“Hurry, the other Unicorns will be here soon!” Scarlet yelled out.

“Help me.”

Scarlet wove a magic field around Enyi, trying to pick him up, “He's...heavier...than he looks.”

“Put him on my back.” Scarlet lowered Enyi onto my back, “Ugh. You need to exercise more Enyi.”

“Criticize later, run now!” Enyi said from my back.

I managed to Carry Enyi away with Scarlet close behind me. Several more Unicorns arrived at the scene moments later before returning to their squad.

“We won't surprise them like that again.” I said.

“Oh, whatever are we going to to.” Scarlet began to cry.

“We have bought the ponies time, but I do hope that Jackpot is doing fine.”

“Yeah, I wonder where he is.” suddenly Goldie's words flashed through my mind, that Jackpot would join up with her again. He wouldn't do that, would he? He wasn't here and I didn't see him or Goldie in the village when we ran out of it. I shook my head rapidly, “Get those thoughts out of your head Ivory, Jackpot wouldn't do that.”

“Do what?”

“Nothing Enyi. Lets just focus on saving the rest of the townsponies right now.”

I poked my head out from the rock we were hiding behind, I could see about seven Unicorns in the distance still blasting away at the slowly cracking rock.

“That doesn't add up. Goldie had twenty four goons, two stayed behind and with the three the villagers took down, we should have taken out a dozen.”

“So only twelve left then.” Enyi said as he lay on the ground.

“Yes but we only see seven.” Scarlet added.

“So five of them are laying in wait for us.”

“We need some help here Ivory.”

“I know but we don't have any help.” I was acting very brave but that shot I almost took and now carrying Enyi was taking its toll, I was completely exhausted and starving. I was almost running on empty and I was beginning to show it.

“I just do not know what we can do.” Enyi said, his tone beginning to lose hope.

“If I can just get some good shots in I think I can take out all of those Unicorns.”

“So you need me to lure them out for you so your...thing there can take them out.” Scarlet said.

“Yeah but right now I can't really move much so you'll have to bring them here.”

“Well, I can't say how well I'll do but..” Scarlet looked back towards the mine, “I'll do it.”

“Thanks.” I said, giving her a friendly smile.

I dragged myself to the top of the rock where I could get the best vantage point, “Remember try to bring as many as you can here ok Scarlet.”

“I'll do my best.”

I watched as Scarlet crept closer back towards the Unicorns and the mine. I saw her use her magic to pick up several stones as she slowly walked into some bushes that sat near the clearing where the mine was. She tossed the stones into the backs of several of the Unicorn guards and then bolted from her bush. It was a good thing she did as the bush went up in flames as five Unicorns rushed from the woods towards Scarlet. What few trees were in this woods were quickly blasted down by the unicorns as they chased Scarlet but she proved to be speedy enough to evade them. It didn't last long however before she tripped on a rock and fell over revealing her to the pursuing Unicorns. This was now my part as I thought of only saving Scarlet and a ZZAT burst from my leg and right into the pursuing Unicorns.

“I thought I was done for there.” Scarlet said as she sat there on the ground panting.

“Don't worry, I got ya!”

“Hurray for Ivory.” Enyi said weakly as he was still laying on the ground.

“Not that the praise doesn’t feel nice but we still have seven Unicorns left to deal with.”

“Well, I don't think they can break through the stone if they take many more off of breaking it but we have evened the numbers out quite a bit.” Scarlet said.

“Yeah but Enyi's pretty much done and I'm out of juice too.” I said.

At this Scarlet lit up, “Well, now that we have a minute I will have you know that I am a medical pony and I was trained at Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns!”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means I know a few healing spells.”

“Wait, you actually know healing spells?”

“Well, they are just beginner level and I'm still technically practicing with them but they can keep you on your hooves in a pinch.”

“Well don't just stand there, lay it on us!”

Scarlet first went over to Enyi and her horn began to glow a light red color. Her face began to show some strain as she grunted and puffed as sweat poured down her face. After a few seconds of this her horn popped and a little light went over Enyi as his face perked up a little bit.

“Well now...that feels....something.” Enyi said as he was now able to stand up.

“It won't actually heal any injuries but this spell does restore some stamina...but I can't do it many times before I tire myself out so once I do you Ivory, I'll be pretty much spent.”

“That's ok, you'll have earned a rest by then Scarlet.”

Scarlet clambered up the rock to me and performed the spell once again. When it had been cast she slumped down and slid back to the ground. I, on the other hoof, felt a bit more energized. I was still starving and my legs were beginning to hurt but I could move again and that was ok by me.

“Thanks Scarlet. Come on Enyi, lets save some ponies!”

Enyi and I both trotted back down towards the mine. The Unicorns were back at it but this time only two were actually blasting away at the rock. The boulder was now showing some very serious signs of breaking so we had to hurry. The other five Unicorns stood around them, watching for us and any others who would dare to approach. They had made one mistake though and I noticed it. They were standing pretty close together as there wasn't many of them left. This meant with one good shot I could get them all at once or at least leave only one or two left, then Enyi and I could finish them up easily.

Enyi crept down into the last few available spots for cover as I lifted my hoof and took aim. I took a couple seconds to line up my shot in the in the now rather dark night air before the sound was heard, ZZAT. I hadn't been as good as I thought as only the five Unicorns watching for us were taken out but it was good enough. The other two immediately turned around and saw me from where I had fired. They charged forward and fired blasts from their horns which I only dodged by falling to the ground and getting hit by a falling tree branch which had fallen in the blast. The two Unicorns were now very close to me when Enyi jumped out from the bushes with another stick. THWACK, he managed to smash his branch into the face of one of the Unicorns but the other just instinctively bucked his legs out and threw Enyi to the ground. We were now both down, our stamina boost was now all but gone, the Unicorn's horn charged up as he took aim at me first.

THUMP, a rock fell on the Unicorn's head and he fell to the ground unconscious. Behind him stood one of the villager ponies, the stone had crumbled in the last seconds and this Unicorn had exited levitating several stones expecting a fight. Instead he ended up saving me and Enyi and we made sure to thank him for it. The rest of the villagers came out, only about thirteen were left in total including the one who charged out.

“You're all ok!” Scarlet yelled out as the ponies carried us towards her.

“Thanks to you and these ponies here we managed to come out all right.” The Unicorn who had saved us said.

“Not all of us though.” a rather young looking Earth Pony who came up said with a sad tone.

“Their leader is still out there.” I said from the back of a large Earth Pony.

“Goldie.” Enyi said.

“Jackpot!” I said as I realized he was still missing.

We all raced back towards the village as fast as our beleaguered legs could carry us. When we arrived most of it had burnt down but it's proximity to the Luna bay and the lack of vegetation had prevented the fire from spreading. We all stood there just looking at the devastation when Jackpot suddenly fell from the sky straight into some of the villager ponies who stood right next to us.

“Your wing is gone!” Scarlet yelled.

“Wait, what!” Jackpot shouted as he suddenly sprang up to inspect his wings.

Scarlet had overreacted, Jackpot still had both of his wings but one of them had a nasty gash through it with several feathers missing. Suddenly Goldie came running up with several large bruises on her face.

“Fuck.” is all she said as she looked at the crowd of ponies in front of her. She immediately turned around and ran the other direction back towards her camp in the north of the island.

None of us were in any condition to go after her and I'm glad she didn't know that or else she might have tried to take us all on(she might have won that one actually). But for now everypony just focused on trying to rest and recuperate.

“Get me my saddlebag!” Jackpot yelled as he lay on the ground twitching.

I hobbled over to the crushed hut and had several other ponies help in digging out our saddlebags. I slid Jackpot his bag and he slid out one of his flasks and proceeded to gulp the entire thing down.

“Ah, its been to long. Wish I had some of this while fighting Goldie, I might've stood a chance then.”

“How long were you two fighting? We were gone for a good while.” I asked.

“Hard to tell, time gets kinda fuzzy without my flasks here.” Jackpot said as he guzzled another one down, “Makes the pain hurt less.” he squeaked after finishing another one.

“Ugh, fine.” I said as I took another one from his bag and guzzled down several gulps before I had to breath. He was surprisingly right, after only a few minutes my body was not hurting as much.

“We need to get back to Vanhoover!” One of the ponies shouted.

“Scarlet is still to exhausted to heal anypony and there are still dozens of unconscious goons laying around the island!” said another.

“I agree but there's no way back until we call Backlash.”

“Well then it is a good thing he gave us this before departing.”

Enyi reached into his newly reacquired saddlebag and lifted out a small devise with a button on it with his mouth. He placed it on the ground and stepped on it with his hoof.

“What's that?” I asked.

“He gave this to me after Scarlet dragged you off, he should be along in a few hours if he is listening.”

“Ivory!”

“What?” I said.

“What do you mean what?” Jackpot, who was still laying on the ground drinking said.

“Who called my name?”

“Nopony called your name.”

“But I heard it.”

“Well I'm saying nopony called your name.”

“And I'm telling you I heard somepony call my name!”

“Well it wasn't anypony here.” the others nodded their heads in agreement.

I looked back out towards the inner island and suddenly my mouth dropped nearly right to the floor.

“Um, guys, look behind you.”

Everypony turned around and suddenly floating just above the island was a massive structure made of clouds. It seemed almost to float down and touch point just beyond the village as it hid the entirety of the rest of the island from view and seemed to illuminate the now darkened night sky.

“What the?” Jackpot said as he put the last of his flasks down.

“It's the palace, but how, when?” I said.

“I do not know.” said Enyi.

I rushed up towards the palace, my own wonder and curiosity overpowering my exhaustion in this situation. Enyi came with me while the rest of the ponies simply stared at the large cloud structure which now loomed over the village. Enyi and I reached the edge of the town to where the new structure had appeared. I took a single step towards it when suddenly its cloud walls opened up revealing a glistening interior.

“I wish I was a Pegasus right now.” I said.

Enyi then took several steps forward and then into the cloud palace, “Wait, Only Pegasi can...” to my own amazement, Enyi successfully landed on the floor of the main room. Ignoring what I previously thought I knew I followed only to find myself also within the structure.

“This place is amazing.” I said to myself as I gazed at the interior.

The room was a fluffy white, with cloud pillars on either side of us. A great staircase rose in front of us that split into two separate paths. We each walked up these stairs and chose to go down one path each. The path I chose led down a long hallway with the cloud walls swaying and swirling around me even as I walked past them. The hall led into another large room where a large stone sat in the middle of.

“How is this stone sitting in clouds?”

I trotted up to it and inspected it, even pushing it with my hooves to ensure it was real. A single word was written on this stone, it was in the Pre-Celestial Script but once my hoof touched it I felt that I knew what it meant, selflessness. Was this place trying to teach me a lesson, because it had a very funny way of doing that and it was a way I must say I didn't particularly like.

I looked up from this stone and then realized something very important. My hat had fallen off in the fighting! “Well, it can't be helped I guess.”

I looked around the room and saw one more passage, I followed it and at the end of this one was Enyi. He was standing alone in this room, looking up at the far end of it. I led my eyes to where he was looking and saw something that nearly stole my breath away.

A shield, bright and shining, hanging over a large container made of a strange golden cloud. I walked up and put my front hooves around the extremely light shield and lifted it down. Instantly I felt strange, as if nothing could harm or deter me from anything.

“The tomb of Whisperwind the Pegasus.” I said as I examined the golden cloud box. I was able to recognize Whisperwind's name from the same runes in the journal and what I now knew was the coffin.

“Is that what we are looking for?” Enyi asked from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, I think it is. Lets get back to the others now.”

Enyi and I left the palace and as we stepped out of the front doors the clouds dissipated and the palace was gone. We rejoined our friends to see Scarlet was up and treating Jackpot's wing injury.

“You won't be able to fly straight for awhile but it should heal.”

“Maybe you should give me a more thorough exam, I think I have some other parts that got hurt too.”

I slapped Jackpot on his face, “Now's not the time for that.”

“What?”

“It's no trouble Ivory, I'm just a beginner but I do have my medical licensee and I am prepared to give full examinations to my patients.”

“That's not what he meant by thorough examination.”

“Well what else could it mean?”

I face-hoofed, “I'll tell you later.” Scarlet just looked confused.

About an hour later Backlash arrived with his old leaky boat, “Hey hows it going....what in Tartarus happened to this place!?”

“Just take us home Backlash.” I said as Enyi helped Jackpot get on board the boat.

“Ivory, Wait!” Scarlet yelled, running up to the boat.

“What is it?”

“Can I come with you?”

“Wait, what?”

“Well, Money is pretty much gone and with the other ponies all planning on going back to the mainland I was wondering if I could come with you.”

“Why would you want that?”

"Well a lot of my friends were um...killed...and I need to make sure the ponies who are out to stop the ones who did that are always kept in tip top shape.”

“Let her join!” Jackpot shouted in a slightly slurred tone from the front of the ship where he was laying down with Enyi.

“Are you sure?” I said giving a worried glance towards Jackpot.

“Yes I am!” Scarlet said very adamantly.

“What are the rest of you going to do?” I asked the other village ponies.

The Unicorn who saved us at the mine walked up, “Well we are going to give you something for saving us then we're gonna go and round up all those unconscious Unicorns for when the authorities arrive. After that, we'll probably head out to other parts of Equestria or maybe come back here when enough time has passed.

“Listen, you don't really need to give me anything.”

“Well it's not really ours, or I mean that we didn't have it before today but Jackpot told us about that chest of old papers he found and we want you to have it as thanks.” two ponies came up, they must have hurried off when I was in the palace but there they were carrying the chest full of old papers.

They loaded it aboard the boat and returned to the island to set off with their final tasks on it. Backlash set out with the Tub with Enyi, Jackpot, Scarlet and myself now along for the ride. I kept the shield with me but it didn't help when I started to feel sick again from the rocking. This time though Scarlet was here and she spent her time casting one spell on me that kept the unease down to a minimum. I was suddenly very happy that she was now along with us as any boat trip would now be tolerable.

Legacy

Chapter 8: Legacy

By the time the Tub putted its way back to Vanhoover Jackpot had already passed out and Enyi and Scarlet were not far behind, although he was getting sleepy for reasons that were different(Jackpot chugged a lot of those flasks). Scarlet's spells had long worn off and we were all completely exhausted from the, lets just say fairly traumatic experiences of the day before. I kept the shield on my back the entire time and never let it out of my sight. When I did eventually fall asleep on the docked boat I slid it under me only to find out it made a surprisingly comfortable bed. It definitely seemed to be made out of the same material as Abila's helmet as it just felt and fit so naturally to me. As long as I held it on me I felt empowered almost as if nothing could phase me, not even seeing all of those ponies die seemed to affect me right now. I liked this feeling and didn't want it to go away but the next day I had promises to keep, promises that included giving up what we found to ponies who could hopefully keep it safer than we ever could.

Indeed the next day came as I was the first one to wake up from whatever time was left of the night. Jackpot wouldn't budge and Enyi and Scarlet just shook when I patted them to wake up so I thought it best to let them sleep. The shield remained tied to my back as I took it into town and towards the Vanhoover historical museum. We were supposed to meet a representative of the Royal Historical Society and give them the relics to be properly studied and protected. The Vanhoover History Museum was indeed a large structure that I certainly would have loved to visit if I weren't on business but alas I was. Straight inside the main foyer was my contact, a rather chubby Unicorn named Dusty Scroll who was nearly drooling at the glistening shield I offered him.

“Mr. Chaser gave me explicit instructions to only accept anything from a Miss. Ivory Star, I presume that is you?”

“Yeah, I found this on the south island, you know the one with the town on it.”

“Oh yes yes. I must say though this morning I saw several boats filled with royal guards floating out that way, I hope nothing bad happened.”

“I'm sure you'll hear about it soon.” I handed over the shield into his waiting magic aura. I am very glad he turned around to view it in the light of a small lamp that sat on a desk nearby for the instant I let go of it all those images of dead ponies from yesterday came flooding back into my skull. I almost fell over due to the sheer shock of the images of actual ponies actually being killed filling the forefront of my mind.

“Did you say something?” Dusty asked as he continued to inspect the shield in his telekinetic aura.

“If I were you I wouldn't touch it just yet.” I heaved as I said this as I had now started sweating.

Dusty turned around as I certainly hadn't sounded very well, “Oh Goodness!” he squeaked, “Are you ok!”

“I'm fine, just please take that and put it somewhere safe, like a vault or something.”

“Are you sure, you look absolutely dreadful?”

“Yes, I'm just tired is all.” I said weakly.

Dusty backed away slowly(I actually looked kind of scary, hunched over and sweating profusely as I was) and waddled his way into a stairway that most likely led to their storage basement. I'm glad he left as once he was gone I let go and collapsed on the ground crying as so many horrifying emotions that I had not felt just seconds before continued to rush into my head. I laid there for a good ten minutes before Enyi crept in from the street and quickly ran over to me.

“I want to go home Enyi!” was all I could say as I lay their on the ground crying my heart out.

“The others are awake, we will be going soon.”

“Now Enyi!”

He heaved me onto his back and running as fast as he could, carried me out and to the cab where Jackpot and Scarlet were waiting.

“What happened to her?” Jackpot said as he jumped down and grabbed me as I began to slip from Enyi's back.

“She had been through too much for now, we need to let her rest.” Enyi said.

“Yesterday was horrible for all of us, honestly I can't believe how you seemed so unaffected by it?” Scarlet said as she stroked my mane once I was in the cab.

“I guess the same way you seem to be handling it.” Jackpot snarked back at her.

“I'm a doctor, I've seen ponies die before but I wouldn't say I'm exactly handling it.” she was right, she had put my head in her lap as she sat in the cab and even I could feel her legs shaking as she talked.

“Well, I got my flasks and a naturally hardy constitution as for Enyi here, I guess Zebra's are just made of tough stuff.”

“I mourn in my own way.”

“See, tough.” Jackpot said while not seeing the unappreciative look Enyi was giving him.

The train ride back to Canterlot gave me some time to decompress, the other let me rest in my own little stall with only Enyi and Scarlet popping in from time to see how I was doing. I just sat there the entire ride back staring out the window and trying and failing to sleep. Every so often I would hear the raised voices of my companions outside but what they were saying I could not hear. I sat there thinking about what happened on the island and what I had heard and saw there. To get the images of dead ponies out of my head my mind kept flashing back to Goldie and I tried focusing on how much I hated her but that only inevitably led back to the image of her killing those five ponies and the knife she nearly shoved into my head. Then suddenly I remembered some of the things Goldie had told me about Jackpot.

“What did she mean by those things.” I could barley do it but I managed to lift my hoof to my stomach, “Why did she think I was pregnant?” and with that a more important question entered my mind, “What did Jackpot do when he worked for these ponies?” He certainly didn't seem like a bad person, a little inconsiderate maybe, but not bad or evil in any way like Goldie definitely was.

I think I was the only one not to sleep at all on the train, the raised voices outside my stall eventually quieted and all sound gave way to silence as our train ride entered the night phase. We would arrive back in Canterlot late in the night as we unloaded the old scrolls and papers we had been gifted by the citizens of Money.

Standing on the station floor was Silver, “About time you three came back...who is this...and you all look terrible!”

“Scarlet, Silver...Silver, Scarlet.” Jackpot quickly pointed his wings at each of them as he said their names. He was busy with Enyi unloading the old scrolls and papers we had been gifted by the citizens of Money.

“Hello there Miss. Scarlet.” Silver did a little bow as he said this.

“Ooh, an actual gentlestallion.” Scarlet did a little curtsy of her own.

“I have a cab waiting by the street, you guys can load up that chest in there if you want.” Silver said gesturing towards the chest full of scrolls.

As everypony helped carry the heavy chest to the street I pulled Silver aside, “You said that you had heard of Sable Granite before right.”

“Yes, why was... was he there?”

“No, but Goldie was.”

Silver's face scrunched up a bit at the mention of her name, “She was trying to stop you I presume?”

“Yeah, and she nearly succeeded.”

“Well, it seems you all made it through and even picked up a new friend along the way.” Silver said with a smile on his face.

I didn't smile back, “Based on what you've been told, what kind of pony do you think this Sable Granite is?”

“Ooh, I really can't say. As I said his name is really all I know, in fact as far as I know that's all anypony knows.”

“I wonder.”

“Wonder what?”

“Something Goldie said.”

“What did she say?”

“She used Sable's name the same way most ponies use Celestia's.”

“What do you mean?” his smile gave way to some concern.

“I mean I've read enough books with enough villains to know a bad guy who has ponies refer to themselves like some kind of deity is a very bad thing.”

“You're talking about Gold Mane right, from the first Dash Venture novels?”

“You know Gold Mane?”

“Yeah, I told you I love adventure stories and Dash Venture and Daring Do are the best(finally another pony with some sense).”

I stood there for a second as an idea hit me, “Hey Silver?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think you could maybe, since you have been before I mean, get a meeting with some of Goldie's bosses and see if you can get anything from them?”

“Wait, you have a mission for me?”

“Yeah.”

Silver's face lit up like an exploding Hearths Warming tree, “Yes! I..I..I would love to...I mean I may not be able to actually go out and fight bad guys with you but this I can do!” I could see the excitement exploding in his eyes. “Ooh, an actual adventure for me, how exciting! I won't let you down Ivory, I'll go right over tomorrow and...and...and I'll pitch some expeditions. That should get those money grubbing wing-nippers begging for some part in whatever loot they can scratch up and then I'll just cleverly wring out information just like some kind of super spy pony and then..and then”

“Ok ok I get it, you're excited. Just try and keep your calm, this could really be a big help if you can pull this off.”

“Hurry up you two!” Jackpot yelled from outside, “We gotta get Enyi and Scarlet settled into the house!”

“One minute Jackpot!”

“Don't worry Ivory, I want to help, I've got this!” Silver darted off into the Canterlot night sky very obviously filled with excitement.

I was completely exhausted by the time we got back to Grit's house and I was far from the only one. I took my own room(of course), Scarlet got the third floor guest bedroom and Enyi got to sleep in Grit's old room. This is the first time I had spent a night here since Grit died and for the first time ever in my life I felt uncomfortable in my own bed.

*****

The next day I woke up after the first proper full nights sleep I had gotten since Luna knows when. I woke up around noon and stumbled down the stairs, half asleep, into the kitchen. I stuffed some toast into the toaster and carefully poured out some orange juice with my mouth placed ever so carefully on the carton as to prevent a spill. Carrying a full glass of juice as an Earth Pony really made one jealous of Unicorns and heck, even having wings would make this a good bit easier. I had brought down stairs with me a first edition copy of Dash Venture and the Wild Wasteland(not one of his more coherent books admittedly but a weird enough tale to always keep me interested) which I proceeded to open and read between bites of toast and sips of my favorite kind of juice(oranges beat apples any day).

“Good morning Ivory!” Scarlet said cheerily as she popped her head in from Grit's study.

“I would appreciate it if you would stay out of there.”

“Oh, I'm sorry but you never told me you knew Grit Stratum!”

“Didn't we mention it?”

“Not that I recall but this must be his personal study, and the floor above us has some really interesting knickknacks in it!”

“Yes, I'm well aware.”

“What are you reading?”

“A weird book.”

“Ooh, can I see.” Scarlet popped over my shoulder and scanned the book with her eyes, “I should have figured a friend of Grit Stratum would be reading one of those books of his, whats this one about?”

“You haven't read it?”

“Oh, I haven't really read any of them(intense inner screaming).”

“What!?”

“Well, I've always been more into books about body parts and organs but I've heard a lot of his books were really good.”

“Well, this one is about Dash Venture traveling into another dimension.”

“That sounds kind of silly.”

“Yeah, but its fun, if you want to read it I've got another copy you could borrow.”

“Oh you don't have to do that, I just got here and I wouldn't want to impose at all.”

“It's no trouble at all, here.” I hopped to my hooves and walked over into the study, making sure to hug the wall and avoid the center of the room as I went. I bent over to a small drawer filled with books and pulled out an older and more ragged copy of Wild Wasteland. I held it in my mouth and set it down on the table for Scarlet.

“Wow, thanks Ivory, I'm sure I'll find it really fun!”

“Just watch out for that ending, its pretty....well its gonna hit you pretty hard.”

“Don't tell me, I don't like spoilers.”

“Sorry.”

There was suddenly a loud WHAM on the door as jackpot came stumbling in from outside.

“What was that about.”

“This Silver guy pays REALLY well, I was up all night at Joe's.”

“It sure smells like it.” I said.

“That's just my natural musk.”

“Well tell your natural musk to go away please.” Scarlet said holding her nose.

“You and your breath stink Jackpot, just accept it. We got a shower if you want(please take the very obvious hint).”

“You know what, I just might(Praise Celestia!)!” for whatever reason he sounded very superior as he said this before tripping over himself trying to climb the stairs.

“And remember don't try to use your wing, it might fall off!” Scarlet yelled a little too seriously.

“It's just a cut.” I said.

“It's a pretty nasty cut and beside, telling him bad news will only make him happier when it doesn't happen.”

“You sure that's how that works?”

“Hasn't failed me yet!”

I just rolled my eyes, sat back down and continued to eat. Enyi now came walking down the stairs still yawning.

“Jackpot smells unusually odd this morning.”

“Who knows what he spilled on himself last night.”

“He seems to enjoy those odd drinks of his a lot.”

“Well I can say they make you feel better for a while.”

Enyi just shrugged to this before going to sit down next to me at the table, “What are you reading?”

“Apparently its weird.” Scarlet said, sitting down herself.

“Is that good or bad?”

“Both.” I said.

Enyi just looked confused but again just shrugged it off. The rest of the morning went by very peacefully which given how my life has been the past few weeks was very surprising but not unwelcome.

Do you have a radio anywhere in this house?” Scarlet asked.

“Yeah, second floor, in the main trophy room, can't miss it.” I said finishing off the last of my breakfast, “You want anything Enyi?”

“I suppose you do not have any Kola nuts?”

“Can't say that I do but I do make a mean toast slice.”

“Well that will do then.”

“Do you know what toast is?” Scarlet asked while lightly stepping down the stairs holding a small radio in her magic grip.

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, I know Zebra's aren't from around here and I just didn't know if...”Scarlet looked over at Enyi with a small look of worry on her face as she said this.

“It is ok Scarlet, You meant no offense.” Scarlet's face calmed down.

“I'm sorry, I've never really met and Zebras before I just...”

“It is fine, I understand.”

“Thanks.” she gave me a very awkward look as she sat down.

Is it kind of weird to say I'm glad I wasn't the only one who asked Enyi a bunch of dumb questions upon first meeting him. But Scarlet put the radio on the table as I showed Enyi how to work our old and admittedly 'more complicated than the average toaster' toaster. Scarlet fiddled with the radio switches until she found everypony's favorite station, Hero Studios.

“That was those two new little DJ’s BubbleRap and Snicker Doodle, two locals from right here in Ole Marewaukee!”

“You like her?” Enyi asked Scarlet.

“Who doesn't!?”

“She still seems a bit loud to me.”

“NOWHAVE I GOT SOME NEWS FOR YOU! I'm sorry this is a bit late but I just had to gather up all the bits I could before reporting it. It seems our lovely sister city of Vanhoover had a little bit of a whole lot of stuff go down two days ago. On the southern island of Luna Bay it seems some mysterious ponies attacked a little camp of ponies situated on the island. Some strange lights and sounds were heard before authorities hit the scene.”

“That was us! We're on the news!” Scarlet squeaked.

“With the sad news that many of our pony friends did not survive the encounter the survivors name the pony who saved the rest of them as get this...the legendary Grit Stratum's former apprentice Ivory Star and a few of her friends! What!? You didn't know he had one of those, well he did and now it looks like she's following in his hoofprints by taking the fight to some bad guys!”

“Ivory, that's you!” Scarlet squeaked again.

“Multiple unconscious suspects were apprehended and are being questioned but I gotta say this little Ivory Star girl is really gonna make Grit proud! I am now issuing an official invitation for her to come down to Ole Marewaukee and pay us here a visit, I for one would love an interview! That's all for the Battle of Luna Bay(trademarked) y’all have a nice day now and Ivory, seriously come on down!”

With that the broadcast ended and a sample set of an old classical DJ set began playing. As Enyi and I sat down I slumped my head down on the table. I know Hero didn't mean it but did she have to remind me that a bunch ponies had just died in front of me. I guess Enyi noticed this and began stuffing his face into the slices of toast.

“This is very good, I would eat this all the time if I could!” he gave me a smile as he said this with Scarlet going along.

“Thanks guys.” I lifted my head up from the table thinking just how cute Enyi's little rhymes were.

“You still moping!” Jackpot said as he finally trotted down the stairs still soaking wet from presumably just standing in the shower this whole time..

“Jackpot, the bandage on your wing came off!” Scarlet said in a startled tone, “I'll get you another one!” Scarlet ran off past Jackpot and up the stairs.

“Come on Ivory, lets get going before she turns me into a mummy.” Jackpot pushed me out of my chair and towards the door.

“We're goin to Joe's, you can come to Enyi if ya want.”

“I think Ivory just needs some time...”

“Yup time with our wonderful friends at the bar, come on kid!” Jackpot hurriedly pushed me out the door.

“I guess I will just work on the journal some more!” Enyi called from within the house just as Scarlet rushed down the stairs with a pile of bandages.

“Jackpot, stop pushing.” I said as he ignored me.

“Come on, this'll cheer you right up.”

“Fine, but you're buying right?”

“Sure sure.”

“How are you not sick yet?”

“Can't get a nahgover if yer always drunk!”

“Wait, what!?” Jackpot eventually stopped pushing me as we got nearer to Cider Joe's. I was thinking that at least he might answer a few more questions I had if he stayed all...the way he was.

*****

“Back again Jackpot, this new job of yours must pay really well if you can still afford to come back.” Cider Joe said.

“Ivory here needs some cheering up! She's had a rough couple of days and needed a good time so who gives a fuck about money!” Joe just shrugged and nodded along.

“What was the name of that one drink you got for me before Jackpot, you know that pink one?” I asked.

“Pinkie's Surprise.”

“What's the surprise?”

“The surprise is that Pinkie Pie herself came up with it.”

“Wait, you mean that Pinkie Pie, the element and friend of princess Twilight?”

“Yeah, what you didn't know?”

“Know what?”

“Pinkie helped Joe here set this place up!”

“I find that hard to believe.” I gave a glance over at Cider Joe and he just nodded, “How? Why?”

“Well, apparently she was friends with Joe's grandpa back in the day and she liked all the weird drinks Joe here would mix up so she made one of her own and lent him some bits to start this place up.” Jackpot said as Joe set down two glasses Pinkie's Surprise.

“Yeah, she used to come in here all the time like ten years ago when I was first starting out.” Joe said.

“Wow.” I looked down at the small glass of pink liquid with a slight level of new found respect for the creation of a pony that was probably almost as famous as Grit(nopony is better than Grit). I slurped it up as Jackpot did his own glass, it tasted just as sweet as I remembered and still hit me with a minor punch as it went down.

“See, ya learn cool things when you hang out with me!” Jackpot said in a tone happier than his usual one.

Now was my chance to clear up some things, “Hey Jackpot?”

“What is it Ives.” he said with a smile.

“Ives?”

“What you don't like it, that other friend of yours has a nickname fer ya, why can't we?”

“Well, I won't stop you but whatever, anyway it comes to my attention that I don't know much about you while you know pretty much everything about me.”

“Seems to be the truth.”

“So then, tell me what Goldie was talking about when we were tied to that tree.” Jackpot almost spit out the next drink he was drinking(almost).

“I uh, don't recall what she said.”

“Why did she stick her hoof in my stomach and think we were a couple.” I said too embarrassed to actually say out loud the possibility of us..doing...the other things that she thought.”

“Why you so interested in this?”

“Listen Jackpot, my life has taken a sudden turn to fucksville and I want to know why?”

“Well, your language certainly has taken a turn towards fucksville.”

Oh my Celestia he was right! I had barely even noticed that I had recently been using words that would have made Grit douse my mouth with gallons of soap. Well I guess hanging around Jackpot would have some things rub off on me but the sudden realization of just how much swearing I had done certainly surprised me.

“Jackpot, this isn't what I wanted my life to be like.”

“Huh?”

“I saw ponies die Jackpot, a lot of ponies and I just...I just...Grit's adventures weren't like this, Daring Do's weren't and even Twilight fucking Sparkle's weren't and she constantly dealt with the fate of the world for Celestia's sake!” I slammed my face down on the bar counter where Jackpot and I had sat down.

“Ok, I see where this is going.”

“How could you, you're you! Nothing seems to bother you, except for fucking Goldie and I want to know why!”

“I told you, she's crazy.”

“It's more than that and you know it. You said that you and her never...you know right?”

“Yeah and it's true.”

“Then what was she talking about and why did she mention hurting you!”

Jackpot took another shot of Pinkie's Surprise, “You really want to know?”

“Yes! Whenever I don't know something I just feel uncomfortable, especially if I know somepony else knows it and isn't telling me.”

“Ok look, the truth is...” he though for a second, “The truth is, I've known Goldie pretty much my entire life.”

“Wait, what!?”

“Yeah, we were each born into that life. Our parents were members of...you know what let's just call em the Family, cuz that's what they are.”

“So, you were born a member of Sable's criminal organization, this Family as you call it?”

“Yeah only Sable wasn't a thing back then, he came around maybe...a little over a decade ago or something like that.”

“Jackpot, how old are you?”

“What?”

“How old are you, I just want to know.”

“Twenty six.”

“When did you leave them?”

“Well technically you don't leave them. I just stopped doing jobs a few years back when I started hanging out with Grit. Haven't had much contact since then but I think that once they figured out what Grit was doing they figured me for a traitor...which I suppose is true.”

“This is when you joined Adventure Incorporated?”

“Yeah, Grit wanted to use my connections with the Family to make it seem like he was gonna work for them again until he was ready to go all out with his little plan. First step was to get me to join his little club so we could work without suspicion.”

“And you're sure you don't know what the full plan was?”

“He never told me.”

“So you and Goldie were a...couple(gives me the shivers to think about that)?”

“Yeah and about the hurting thing, lets just say she didn't like me deciding to leave her.”

“That doesn't answer my whole question.”

“I may be drunk right now but there are some things I won't say no matter how bad I get!”

I took a breath, “Well thanks for sharing that much. I had no idea, growing up must have been hard for you.”

“Oh, it had its good times or at least what I thought were good times at the time.”

“Like what?”

“Joe get some more drinks! This conversation is getting a bit heavy for something thats supposed to cheer us up.”

“You're right Jackpot, I need to take my mind off some things anyway.”

“That's the spirit!”

The rest of the day started to go by fast, and as it turns out my emotions(and vocal chords) go kinda wonky when I have a lot of Joe's cider, but I kinda already knew that...just not to the extent of today.

“You know what Jacky!”

“What Ives?”

“My life is pretty fucked up now!”

“Yeah, I was there.”

“And so was I!”

“Yeah, I know!”

“And you...a pile of manure.” I chuckled to myself.

“What's that supposed to mean!”

“The first time you met Grit! Man you were a loser!”

“That piece of shit, I told him never to tell anypony!”

“Well he diiiiiiiid, and it was hilarious!” I started laughing some more.

Jackpot had a stack of about seven shot glasses in front of him now while I was up to about ten. We each had ordered like a dozen hayburgers and just started handing them out to other ponies when we couldn't eat anymore. Jackpot had, I think, kept ordering us stronger drinks because I certainly remember not liking the taste of some of them, but I couldn't be sure.

“You know what Jackpot.”

“What?”

“I'm really depressed that I couldn't save all those ponies that Goldie killed.”

“Hey, you did a damn fine job on that island! A damn fine job indeed!”

“Yeah but so many ponies got hurt and Goldie got away and...”

“Ya wanna know sometin Grit told me wance?”

“Huh?”

“He said Jackpot, don't do what ya think ya should do but do what ya know ya can do and evrytin else'll happen after, ya know?”

“Whuts dat suppose ta mean?”

“It means, ya did whut ya culd and you shuld be proud ya saved all the ponies ya did.”

“I guess yer rite but, *hiccup*,I still just can't forget about them. Am I even supposed to be doin this.”

“Yer doin fine Ives!” Jackpot gave me a friendly slap on my back with his bad wing, “See doesn't even hurt anymor and I'm sure Grit uld be prod of ya!”

“Really!” I almost fell over when I said that.

“Totally!”

Hours whizzed by us as we stayed ther, all of the bar ponies I was coming to recognize popped in from time to time. They all seemed so impressed that my name had been mentioned on the radio and they all bought me celebratory drinks to congratulate me.

“So Jacky! Dat Scarlet huh, she's pretty cute!”

“Well duh! But lets not tilk bout her, I wanna kno whuts betwn you n Enyi ya little scamp!”

“Whuut! Hes cute ok and his rhymes can be soooo funny somtims!”

“Ya want some private time wit him when we get ba...*burp*...ck?”

“Really!?”

“Yeah, jus say da wrd!”

“Ur da best Jack!” now I slapped him on the back.

Night came on us sooner than expected, and we had pretty much spent almost all of the money we had gotten from Silver for the job.

“Ya know wat we shuld fnd out Ives?”

“Huh!?”

“Dat thng on ur rist, whut els can it do?” Jackpot said while pointing his wobbly hoof at the now retracted bracelet on my hoof.

“Umm...it blows stuff up?”

“Ya shuld giv er a name, ya know?”

“Yeah, callin er the braclt all da tme ull get boring, ya got any ides?”

“Hows bout...boomy!”

“Naw...I always kinda wantd to be namd Pearly.”

“Dats stupid.”

“Fne...how bout Sparky, cuz it shuts out sprks!”

“Sounds fine ta me!” Jackpot yelled extremely wobbly.

Then in my last moment of clarity for the night I asked, “So everything you told me is true right?”

Jackpot looked down at me, “Yeah, it is, coltscout's honor.” Jackpot tried to pull off the coltscout salute but just ended up falling off his bar-stool.

After that it was hard to remember what happened. I think Joe ended up shoving us into one of the spare rooms in the back because that's where I woke up. It was dark as the room didn't have any windows but even so it was warm. There must have been a bed or mat or cot or something that I was laying on because I could feel one under me. On top of me was an equally soft and warm blanket, let it never be said Cider Joe doesn't know how to take care of his incapacitated customers!

I was just laying there in my little corner of bliss when something very strange began to happen, my blanket began to move around on top of me. This has to be my imagination, I mean who ever heard of a living blanket right? Here I am just trying to sleep and my blanket just up and comes alive on me, what nonsense would that be am I right? These thought poured my brain as I crept my eyes open to see what exactly was disturbing me. There was this strange pot or bowl or something just sitting there in front of my face. I couldn't tell what was in it but there was something shiny that seemed to be sitting at the top and inside of the bowl. I opened my eyes further to see it was indeed a pot of something...gold that was it, it was a pot of gold...and it was alive! It soon began to moan and groan as if in some kind of pain which I thought was kind of weird as pots and blankets don't exactly have mouths to make sound with but sure enough there it was right in front of me. After a second of my eyes adjusting I found that the pot had a leg attached to it...and beyond the leg some kind of body with weird feathery arms or something.

“Crap!” I shouted as I shot up finally realizing just what(or whom) was laying on top of me. As I did this I failed to realize the ramifications of quick and sudden movement as well as shouting in the condition I was about to find myself in.

I found myself very disorientated as I tried to jump up only to knock myself and my former blanket onto the floor. I then found myself feeling extremely sick and nauseated and vomiting all over Jackpot. He seemed to take to this rather poorly as he also shot up and after one quick look at himself vomited all over me.

“Oh luscious Luna, what happened!?” Jackpot moaned as he tripped over back into the pool of vomit that now spread across the floor.

I was almost too sick to even answer but I managed a few mumbling words, “What...did...we...do?” I looked up at what we had been laying on and sure enough it was a small cot that was only big enough for one us us to comfortably fit on.

Jackpot heaved his aching body up to take a look at the bed, “Looks clean enough to me so I would say nothing.”

“Your wing.” I managed to squeak out.

Sure enough Jackpot's wing seemed a bit crumpled, the gash hadn't reopened but it certainly didn't look any better and had began to swell up in some places. Jackpot's face then went pale white as he collapsed on the floor cradling his injured wing.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! My wing!” he moaned.

“Jackpot, I can hardly move.” My body felt so weak and my stomach churned with a gross feeling every time I tried to move about the vomit covered floor. It soon got worse as the vomit began to stink up toe small and enclosed room and the sweaty body odors that now emanated from Jackpot and myself did not help the matter.

After a minute there was a knock on the door to the room, “Hey you two, got somepony here to see you!” Cider Joe's voice yelled from outside. “They might still be sleeping, they were both up pretty late last night.” the voice then said.

I groaned again and this time the door opened with Joe and Enyi standing on the other side of it. I looked up at Enyi who just killed me with the stare of extreme confusion and disappointment as he and Joe stood there looking at me and Jackpot lying in a pool of vomit next to a small cot.

“I've got a hose out back.” Cider Joe said to Enyi.

“That will do.” Enyi said back. Cider Joe whistled and a couple of Unicorns(I recognized them as some of his regular customers) popped around the corner and began to snicker once they saw Jackpot and me.

“Can you two do us a huge favor?” Cider Joe asked pointing at us with his hoof.

“Happily!” they both said before wrapping us in a magical grasp and carrying us out the nearby back door.

I laid there on the ground in the hot noon sun when a fast and freezing burst of water rammed into my body. Jackpot was next as we were shocked awake by being drenched by streams of frigid water in our faces. The water at least cleaned us off(mostly) but the smell really didn't go away immediately.

“Enyi, I...”

“You must get home now, something requires your attention.” Enyi said flatly and stone-faced.

He bent down and with Joe's help hoisted me onto his back, Jackpot he left moaning on the ground, “I will tell Scarlet where this place sits, but seeing you like this will give her fits.”

“I'll watch him until your friend gets here.” Joe said, looking at Enyi.

“Thank you.” Enyi bowed his head and carried me off.

“Enyi, we didn't...”

“Quiet now Ivory, save your strength for the inquiry.”

“What?”

“Some royal guards wish to speak to you.”

This couldn't be good.

*****

When Enyi finally reached the house what I saw immediately shriveled whatever remained of my stomach. Blaze was standing out front, looking as unpleasant as when I last saw him, I could see several royal guards within the house as Scarlet just sat in a corner staring at them.

Enyi brought me inside and gently sat me down on one of the kitchen chairs, “As you can see she is not well, doing this another time would be swell.”

“We're sorry miss, but this can't wait.” said a unicorn guard in a rather fancier suit of armor. I recognized him as Freelance, the current captain of the royal guard. I had met him a few times in passing and from what I heard of him he was a very highly respected and reasonable pony.

“What is it?” I asked weakly as I tried to sit up as straight as I could without upsetting my slowly exploding insides.

“Well, it is regarding the...incident that occurred in this place of residence nearly two weeks ago.”

Had it been that long already, two weeks since...I shook my head as much as I could to get the thought out of my head.

“What about it?” Enyi thankfully said.

“Well during our initial investigation we cataloged the items withing the house to ensure nothing was stolen so as to rule out or discover a potential motive.”

“Are you saying something was stolen?” I asked.

“Yes, in fact most of the items in the house are stolen.”

“WAIT, WHAT!?” I shouted only to recoil back into my chair as my stomach felt like it was about to burst. Scarlet and Enyi just stood behind me silent.

“Yes, as it turns out many of the personal items kept within this residence are cultural artifacts from within and without Equestria that have all been reported as illegally smuggled out of their region of origin.”

“That's impossible! This stuff has been here for years!” I turned my head only to see several more royal guards clomping down the stairs with boxes that contained many of Grit's treasures on their backs or in magic aura fields.

“Be that as it may many of these items are illegally obtained cultural relics from Equestria, Griffonstone, Khaweth and the Crystal Empire. I am here to inform you that they are being confiscated and that a further investigation into recent actions by Professor Grit Stratum are currently underway.”

“This can't be happening, I can't be hearing this.”

“I'm sorry Miss Star, but no evidence we have uncovered has implicated you in any way, most of these items were taken long before you ever entered residence with Professor Stratum or before your stated date of birth.”

“Grit would never...” But would he. The memory that he had in fact worked under the Family for at least a short time did reenter my mind but even so there was far too much stuff here for him to have acquired in that short of time. But Grit had even told me stories of how he had attained some of his treasures.

The royal blowgun from the Mane-hunter Isles, the chalice from the Obsidian City, the Golden Minotaur Horns, and even the suit of ancient Changeling Carapace Armor. No way these things were stolen, they had hung on these walls since Grit's earliest adventuring days with some being from before Adventure Incorporated was even founded.

“Listen,” Freelance said, “I've heard about you and you seem like a good pony but the facts are the facts. I wanted to tell you before we made this information public because I heard what you did for those ponies over in Vanhoover. It's nothing personal, I'm just doing my job ok?”

“I understand.” My face(and heart) sank. As I looked down at the newly christened Sparky on my hoof I remembered the day I first dug it up, now almost a month ago. Grit had gone off with Emerald where I saw all those packages moving back and forth from the tent. And right before I left for Khaweth she said she wanted to tell me something but never did, what did she want to say! I had assumed she was going to ask me out or something but maybe...maybe it was something else. Could my best friend and hero have been doing this? No, Emerald would certainly never. But what if she didn't know, what if Grit had just been using her without her knowing!

I couldn't believe the thought going through my head, of course Grit would never do that, he was the greatest hero of Equestria since princess Twilight Sparkle, her friends and archmage Starlight Glimmer. This had to be Sable Granite's doing, another warning or maybe a way to try and divide my friends or destroy my resolve. I had absolutely no idea what was going on and I just sat there completely entranced in my own quickly escalating thoughts when Blaze entered the room from his spot outside.

“Blaze is all this true?”

Blaze took a glance outside, the guards had left the house and began to trot on down the street, “I'm sorry.” is all he said. He didn't need to say anymore, I probably wouldn't have listened anyway in the state I was in. Blaze turned to leave but took one look down into Grit's study, his face turned towards the floor for but a mere second before snapping back up as Blaze left.

“Oh dear.” Scarlet said.

“Ivory are you alright?” Enyi said putting his hoof over my shoulder.

“Enyi, can you carry me up to my room, I need to lay down for awhile?”

He nodded as Scarlet helped hoist me onto his back. Enyi carried me up the stairs, past the now mostly empty second floor and up into my own room on the third floor. He set me down gently on my bed.

“I will stay downstairs if you need me ok?”

“Enyi, can you just stay here for a while?”

“I need to direct Scarlet to Jackpot but I will be back soon.”

“Ok.”

With that Enyi left and I curled up inside the warm darkness of my blankets. My mind was racing with thoughts I didn't even know could fit in a pony's head at the same time. Sadness, disbelief, anger, disappointment, disbelief and a profound sense that I failed to see or even guess this in any way depressed me further.

“Am I really that naive?” What had Grit been thinking? What was he really going to do? What were his plans for me? Was he trying to make me follow in his hoofsteps? No that's not it, his reasons for keeping me inside Equestria so long and away from Adventure Incorporated until I seemed old enough seemed to show that.

I curled up even further and took a look at my cutie mark, the messed up compass never seemed so annoying as it did right now. What did this stupid thing even mean at this point, what was the point of even continuing on with this insane mission I was on.

“Wait!” I yelled as I suddenly shot up in bed which instantly proved to be a very bad idea. My stomach just twisted in on itself as my mouth quickly filled up with vomit. I was still way to sick and way to depressed to be making such sudden moves like that. I somehow managed to hold my mouth and swallow whatever had just come up from my guts(probably my guts) before laying back down only now with my mouth tasting like vomit.

The thought that had just entered my mind though, that could mean something. Goldie had called Grit a fraud back in the Luna Bay! This means...Sable...it was his fault. He probably made Grit do these things, yeah that had to be it. Or maybe he bought somepony off and they made the guards think those things were stolen. Sable Granite and Goldie Grail just keep fucking up my life!

“Ivory?” Enyi's wonderful accent said from outside my covers.

I slid my head out, my eyes swollen from the tears I hadn’t even realized I had been crying. Enyi had a look of extreme concern on his face as he looked at me.

“You do not look so good, but perhaps listen to me you would?”

“Listen to what?”

“Back in Khaweth, do you know if Grit took...anything with him back here?”

Of course I knew what he was talking about and I was very tempted to just tell him everything as he certainly deserved to know what Jackpot and I had been keeping a secret from him. The news of what Grit had apparently been doing for years...this had to be some kind of sign to come clean and just tell him. But on the other hoof I didn't want him to leave me now and with the helmet being the only thing that would make Sparky work I needed it for the now two ponies I had to take down. It hurt to say and it hurt to say it to Enyi specifically, especially since he was standing right here in front of me...with those deep yellow eyes...his slightly noticeably growing muscles...but I couldn't, not yet. I thought to myself the moment I got Goldie and Sable I would tell him and give him the helmet and even personally deliver it with him back to his people with him but for now I still needed it.

“No I don't know if he did or not.” seeing as I was the one who technically found it and Jackpot probably was more responsible for getting it back I probably wasn't lying that much anyway.

Enyi took a deep breath, “I believe you, thank you for saying as such.”

“Sable Granite.”

“What?”

“It's all him. Goldie probably goes where he tells her to, he must have ordered her to kill Grit and those ponies in the Luna Bay.”

“Sable Granite? His name is in Grit's journal yes, who is he?”

“Wait, I haven't told you?”

“It appears not.” Enyi said with some disappointment.

“Well, Jackpot only told me a little before we left for Vanhoover but he is the leader of the group that Grit was trying to stop, the one he wrote about in the journal.”

“They are the ones looking for these artifacts?”

“Yes.”

“Then they must have gotten to the helmet before us?” Enyi mumbled to himself.

“What?”

“It is nothing but I think I am beginning to piece together what their plan is.”

“WAIT, WHAT! HOW!” bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, still sick, still sick.

“Ivory, what I am about to tell you must remain between us.”

“Why?”

“You know that we Zebra are...secretive about our ways and history.”

“Grit mentioned it yes.”

“It is not something I particularly like about us but as a Storyteller I am bound to keep the oaths I swore.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Abila.”

“What about her?”

“There is more to her story than I think even Grit ever knew.”

This suddenly got me very excited. Something even Grit never knew!

“You may tell the others what I believe the plan to be but you must promise to never tell them the story I am going to tell you.”

“I promise.” I said perhaps a bit too quickly and eagerly.

“Abila was born over two thousand years ago in something even we know very little about, the first Zebra Empire. This empire stretched from Khaweth to what you call the Crystal Mountains in the north, Griffonstone in the east and Luna Bay in the west. She was born in this empire's final days as it was destroyed by the time she reached adulthood.”

“Wait, so a long time ago Equestria belonged to Zebra's?”

“According to our history, yes.”

“What happened to the empire, how was it destroyed?”

“I believe you have already seen it.”

“Where?” I honestly had no idea what he was talking about.

“At Numnah, on one of the tomb walls I saw a city surrounded by darkness, you saw it also correct?”

“Oh yeah, I did see that. Was that a Zebra city or something?”

“No, I do not know what city that was but in our oldest tales we Storytellers speak of the Great Darkness. It was...some being or force that engulfed everything it touched. It spawned demons, twisted nature, and ravaged our empire and people. One hundred years it is recorded that we battled before our last city fell, but before it did the last Zebra Magicians scryed that the Great Darkness had thoughts of a far away land and its destruction. Abila was chosen to go there and warn them of it's coming and to help them prepare so they at least might be saved.”

“That sounds...amazing. From a purely historical point of view I mean.”

“Do not worry, I understood. But go she did and what happened there nothing tells but when she returned over a decade later she brought you ponies with her as well as many other creatures.”

I looked down at Sparky, still on my foreleg, “Everypony on this bracelet, they must have all come from this place then, right?”

“They are the same as those that came with Abila, yes. But that is not all, Before she returned some few Zebra that remained in hiding told tales of the Darkness returning as well. Only after it followed some great light magic that sealed the beast away in the deepest pits of Tartarus. The legends say leaders of the tribes that came with Abila ventured there and sealed away what they found with a powerful magic. If the Sable Granite seeks the friends of Abila to unseal something as it says in Grit's journal I am guessing he wishes to unseal the Great Darkness and use its power for his own ends.”

“Hmm, well that certainly sounds bad.”

“Ivory you do not understand. There are many stories of this beasts power and I would tell them but I have no desire to hear such things spoken aloud ever again. The Darkness permeates our histories and is to us what you would call a bogeymare. We Zebra see these myths as historical fact and you would be hard pressed to find one of us who does not even fear the mention of it.”

“Ok ok, so this is pretty bad. How bad exactly would you describe this boogeymare of yours to be?”

“It is said it devoured cities, spawned legions of demons, twisted even the Immortal Dragons to its will, created the nightmare lords, Balaur and Lazilob, and threw down a millenniums old empire. I have heard of similar monsters in Equestria's past as well but they seem as only the twisted remnants of what came before.”

“Come to think of it, there a lot of unexplained mysteries of Equestria that nopony really knows the answer to.” my thoughts went to princess Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony. She was famous for battling legendary monsters such as Discord, Tirek and other villains that seemed to have no real past or history.

“If I am correct and Sable is able to succeed then he will have unleashed a power that makes the deeds of even your country's legendary Elements of Harmony seem like mere parlor tricks.”

“Ok I get it, it's bad.” I was understating this, it was very bad!

“As I said, it is merely a thought and I do not know for sure if this is their plan or not.”

Today was just the worst. Of any and all bad days that anypony probably ever had this was the...worst...possible...day...EVER! My hero ripped to shreds before my eyes and soon the eyes of all Equestria, the seemingly unending ick my body was pushing on me, the most powerful and evil thing ever possibly being thrown loose on Equestria for Celestia knows why and to top it all of my mouth still tasted like vomit.

I sat up as quickly as my body would allow and slid my hooves over my face, “I don't know Enyi, this is..this is all just too much for me today. First Grit and now this. How many times is life just going to screw with me before it ultimately dumps me in some hole somewhere.”

Enyi sat down on the bed next to me, “You have been through a lot since we first met Ivory, I have seen you handle things most ponies and even Zebras would shrink away from. But you faced them and you came out on top all things considered.”

“It sure doesn't feel that way.” I said falling back down onto the bed and almost losing control of my stomach again.

“But it is true! You defeated a Pyth for spirits sake! And let us not forget how you saved that strange town of ponies on the bay.”

“Yeah and I got even more of them killed.”

“That was not your fault, if you had not been there Goldie would have killed them all, including Scarlet! And Jackpot certainly would not have gone to help them, I believe it was you who changed his mind on that as well. And let us not forget how you inspired me to stand up and help you when but a month before I would have cowered and run away!” suddenly Enyi's face turned red. He immediately stopped talking as I just looked up and stared at him.

“No way I did that.” I said with a small smile forming on my face.

“But you did. I believe that is why Whisperwind's tomb came for you and nopony else, because you chose to help those ponies instead of looking for the treasure. You did the right thing Ivory and you did the best you could at it. Yes it is true you did not save everypony but you did save some, and perhaps next time you will save more and Scarlet, Jackpot and I will be there to help you.”

“Wow, that was...wow. But don't sell yourself short Enyi, you definitely played a bigger role than you think. Remember you freed the villagers and got them to safety while I was busy being captured by Goldie.”

“You know what, I suppose I did do that.” Enyi cracked a small smile.

“It was us as a team Enyi, without Scarlet we couldn't have saved the ponies in the mine and Jackpot helped me get to Sparky here and fought off Goldie so we could go save the ponies to begin with.”

“Sparky?”

“Oh yeah, Jackpot and I decided to name it Sparky.”

“It is a good name. May the sparks of Sparky never grow dim, so we can catch this Sable when we find him!” Enyi waved his hoof in the air as he said this.

This made me laugh a little as I laid there looking up at Enyi. I just looked at him for what seemed like forever. Enyi's words had managed to cheer me up and even revive my drive to see this adventure through! And without even thinking about it I leaned up and kissed him straight on his lips. When I finally realized what I was doing Enyi's face was frozen in a state of extreme surprise that quickly turned his face green and almost sick looking. Oh crap-baskets, my mouth still had vomit in it!

Enyi quickly pulled his face away as the fumes from my mouth certainly had slunk over into his. He began to heave slightly as I shoved my tomato colored face under the covers of my blankets.

“I will go get you some water.” he coughed a little after saying this.

“Yes...p-p-please do that.”

A Web of Treasure

Chapter 10: A Web of Treasure

It was a quiet and peaceful morning of eating whatever food we could find around the house before realizing that we would probably need to go out and buy some actual food when we got back. I (thankfully) did not feel any noticeably adverse affects from the drinking I had done the night before and was able to even kind of look forward to what Griffonstone might bring for us. I had actually never been there and Griffons were still somewhat of a rare sight in central Equestria even with the increased friendliness they had been becoming known for in the past several decades. Dash Venture, or should I say Grit, had several famous adventures in Griffonstone where he thankfully detailed a good bit about what it was like there so I at least wouldn't be going in not knowing at all what to expect.

“Remember guys, Griffons love treasure and money and they are probably going to be easier to deal with if we aren't stingy with it.” I said to my friends.

“Something tells me Jackpot will be getting along with them quite well.” Enyi commented as we left the cab that was dropping us off at the train station.

“If that last check from Silver is any indication he does seem good at acquiring bits.” Scarlet added.

“I'll take that as a compliment!” Jackpot said with pride as he hung his multiple saddlebags, both full and empty, over his back.

“Well it was meant as one.” Scarlet said to him.

As we entered the station we were met with a....how should I put this....silly surprise. Silver was there with a very large pack strapped to him. It must have been four or five times his size and he was visibly struggling to simply hold it up.

“Um Silver, what are you doing?” I asked.

“Simple, I'm coming with you!” he beamed.

“You sure about that? You remember what we told you about what happened in Vanhoover right?”

“Yeah well Griffonstone is so far away and I'm paying for this after all and I want to come!” he seemed very adamant about this.

“Um, excuse me for asking but what exactly is it you do again?” Scarlet asked coming up from behind Silver.

“Shipping and packaging of course!”

“So your like some kind of mailpony?” Scarlet said with some concern.

“Well its a bit more than that Scarlet. I manage pretty much all of it all over Equestria.”

“It just really doesn't seem safe for somepony with your uh....skills to be put into any potential danger. And don't you also have to um..you know...run your business?” I told him.

“Oh please Ivory! I've always wanted to go on an adventure like in the Dash Venture books and I've got other ponies who can cover for me for a bit so it's no problem!” his face just looked so sad when he said this.

I looked over ant Enyi and Jackpot who had finished unloading all of our stuff and Jackpot just shrugged at the idea while Enyi's face seemed to share the same concern as Scarlet's. It might not be such a bad idea to bring somepony like Silver to Griffonstone and he is correct that he is paying for all of this.

“Fine you can come, but if something bad happens I think you should try to stay out of the way.”

Silver's face lit up with happiness, “YES! I promise I won't slow any of you down! I've got everything set up, food, warm clothes for the mountains, guides, everything! You'll see just how useful I am!” Silver sped away with his oversized pack onto the awaiting train before any of us even had the chance.

“He seems eager.” Enyi said as he walked up besides me.

“I hope he doesn't regret it later.” I said back.

“Do you?” Enyi said, looking over at me.

I turned my head towards Enyi staring at him for several seconds, “Not all of it.” I said still eying him up. I think he noticed, mostly because he gave a small smile before heading onto the train with the others. Jackpot gave me a little nudge as he trotted past me with his own little snicker on his face.

“It's gonna be a long train ride ya know.” he whispered in my ear as he passed giving me a little bit of a blush.

We all boarded the train, Silver and Jackpot with their packs, Scarlet and Enyi each with their books and myself with Sparky adorning my front hoof.

It would be well over a full day of train riding and then a long walk up the mountains to get to Griffonstone proper. The city had, according to all reports of the time (I had never actually been there myself) grown exponentially since the days when Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends helped the Griffons open up their city to the rest of the world. I've read multiple books on the renaissance of Griffonstone and how, when Grit had gone there and established an Adventure Incorporated center, the Griffons had set to work exploring their kingdom and learning more about much of the history that had been lost following and preceding the time when they had kept the Idol of Boreas.

“Ooh this is going to be so exciting! I've always wanted to visit Griffonstone!” Silver excitedly squeaked out as the train had begun rolling out of Canterlot station.

“Yeah it's a pretty nice place nowadays as long as ya don't let the Griffons know how much money yer carrying.” Jackpot said as he relaxed himself into a padded seat in our private (of course) car.

“I too have heard of the greed of the Griffons. Many ancient stories of my people tell of battles fought between us over various treasures.” Enyi added.

“Come on you guys, that was a long time ago. Sure Griffons still love their bits but they are quite the friendly bunch. Why, I've known several Griffons back in Vanhoover who were very kind and generous and wonderful people!” Scarlet piped out at them.

“Grit always told me that Griffons were very intelligent and that's why they were so good at getting bits.” I said.

“I have done business with several Griffon companies in Equestria and I have always found them to be very shrewd and savvy in this regard.” Silver said, “But I always saw it as a positive trait that made dealing with them to always be exciting.”

“Remember guys, the Griffons have one of the most successful branches of the CMC anywhere and Griffons are very proud and noble as well!” Scarlet huffed.

“Well if there’s one thing I heard it's that the city itself is pretty amazing looking.” I said to the others, “I hear it's a massive tree that grows on the top of mountain peaks and that the Griffons have built an almost floating city where you can see for miles in every direction.” my eyes grew wide at the possibilities.

“The city is pretty cool looking I will admit.” Jackpot said while reclining himself in his seat, “When I was there last...” Jackpot paused for a second, “When I was there last they had built this massive statue to some Griffon named Gilda.”

“So you've been there!” I said almost squeaking, “Tell me more!”

“It was a while ago, I don't remember all of it.”

“What, how could you not remember!”

“I was just a kid Ivory.” suddenly I remembered what Jackpot had told me about his childhood and it kinda made sense. He probably didn't want to remember what happened since it probably wasn't anything good.

“Yeah Jackpot, you don't seem to be the kind of pony to pass on talking about yourself.” Scarlet said.

“If he doesn't remember then he doesn't remember.” I said giving a slight nod to Jackpot.

“Well in any case it seems that we shall all get to see it when we arrive.” Enyi said.

“Yes, and here’s hoping it will be just as amazing as I'm hoping it is.” said Silver.

In the car we were in were several seats placed out in the general area but in the corners of the car were several stalls that acted as private rooms for each of us. Silver had placed his rather large pack on one of the open seats in the main car area while Jackpot took up a whole other one. We each ended up picking a stall for ourselves and over the course of several hours milled about the car doing whatever we could not to get too bored.

“Psst. Ivory.” Jackpot whispered into my ear.

“Huh, what is it?” I answered.

“Ya know Enyi has been alone in his room for quite a while.”

“Yeah, and?”

“This could be your chance.”

I suddenly began blushing, “What! You mean just go inside and just ask him.” I said almost too loudly but luckily Scarlet was in the opposite corner talking to Silver and so didn't notice my little outburst.

“Why not? You might not get as good an opportunity as this for a while ya know.”

It was kind of annoying that Jackpot knew I had a crush on Enyi (thank Celestia he didn't know about the kiss) but he was probably right in this situation. This would be a good opportunity to at least talk to him some more and maybe...and I mean MAYBE talk about something more.

I nodded to Jackpot and began walking towards Enyi's stall in the train car before gently sliding it open.

“I will admit, the Equestrian countryside is quite beautiful to look at.” Enyi said while looking at the window before I could even step into the room.

“I have always been quite fond of it.” I said back to him as I walked in.

“It is very different from my home.”

“Whats it like, your home I mean and not just that little bit I saw?” I asked sitting down next to him on his booth seat.

“Great fields of long tall grass stretching out from cities built of glass.” Enyi said almost nostalgically.

“Nice rhyme, and you really have cities made of glass?”

“Well not really but many important buildings are constructed out of a very special gemstone that is found only in my country that when worked properly gives off the appearance of glass.”

“Wow, what's this gemstone called?”

“We call it wazipata. It means clear-stone.”

“That's pretty cool. I would like to see it one day if I could.”

“Yes but that is not all. Near the town where I was born is a string of great mountains that stretched for hundreds of miles. Forests grew near the base of these peaks surrounded by clear lakes which would reflect the stars every night to create wondrous lights.”

“Wow, I mean that sounds just amazing!” I was genuinely in awe of that.

“Yes my people would create such colorful stories about these lights in our past and even now they are still considered sacred to my people. We called these lights egwuine which means dancing lights.”

“What kinds of stories did you tell and do you know any of them?”

“I know them all yes. The Zebra believed that these lights were spirits of both ancestors and those that live beyond the world.” Enyi's tone of voice changed here. I could hear the respect and reverence in his voice as he talked.

“Wait wait wait, what spirits?”

“We call them the Valazama. The word is difficult to translate but you could consider to be similar to meaning our family or our ancestors or even our parents. They are the beings that we believe created us and all other living things although now they are mostly revered as traditional parts of our culture that few truly believe in but all still respect.”

“So its kinda like a multiple god system like what...”

“No no no, you misunderstand. We do not consider them what you call deities but as I said with Valazama they are our parents, our ancestors and our families. We would see them as a child saw their parent, not as some god or ultimate power but as what came before us and looks after us while we remain young.”

“So you see them more as family or friends; somepony who you respect and admire?”

“Yes, but as with parents they do not hold all the answers. The Valazama are wise and very knowledgeable but they do not know everything and we as Zebra can even in some cases attain wisdom and knowledge to rival or surpass them. That is what the stories say anyway.”

“That's pretty interesting, so the Zebra believe or believed that these spirits were more like family than some all powerful overlord. That's kinda how we ponies look at Celestia and Luna, they are so kind and wonderful to everypony even though they know and have seen more than any of us. They can still make mistakes and do not know everything but everypony loves and admires them greatly.”

“Indeed that does seem to be a good comparison. But unlike your princesses these spirits have little power now other than being respected parts of our culture and even though few still believe they actually exist their names are still held in high regard as examples to live up to.” Enyi spoke with a fondness that I had never heard in his voice before. This part of him was very soothing to watch and I would be lying if I didn't find it just the least bit...alluring.

“What do you believe?” I asked out of my own sense of genuine curiosity.

“I think that they are just stories but that they are good stories that teach us both good and bad things. They give us a view into our past and how Zebra thought and acted in our own antiquity.”

“Do any of these spirits have names?”

“Ah yes, some are named in our stories. There was Ukweli and his lessons of honesty and integrity and there were the siblings Imbu and his sister Unqala. They were the most popular and are said to have taught us how to speak and sing and tell stories. Without them we would have no way of learning or recording what we have learned.”

“So they must be especially important to you then huh?”

“Yes they are! They taught us to speak and sing, knowledge and wisdom do they bring! That is what we storytellers say anyway.”

I was just sitting there taking all of this in with nothing short of massive curiosity. My face was pretty telling that I was very interested in this and Enyi most certainly saw this as he continued speaking.

“Wow, thanks for telling me this. I know you said that Zebras don't usually like telling outsiders about things like this so it means a lot that you would.” I was starting to blush just a little bit as I began thinking about another question to ask him (you know the one).

“You are most welcome, I have the feeling that you do have respect for what I say and I can see genuine interest in your eyes.” I blushed a little more. “You and Scarlet I see have an interest in learning more and I would not mind speaking to you more of this but I must say I am more wary of Jackpot.”

“Wait, why don't you like Jackpot?”

“It is not that I dislike him it is just that he seems rather distant and unempathetic to others at times. I do not see him as a pony who would care enough about others to remain with us and his constant rudeness does admittedly irritate me.” Enyi's voice turned to its normal tone.

“Jackpot cares but he just seems, to me at least, to have trouble expressing it but that might be because...” I stopped myself here. I wasn't sure I should be blabbing what Jackpot told me in confidence to anypony, even Enyi.

“Why would he have trouble?” Enyi turned his head to look at me and I think he saw what I was thinking in my eyes or something because he backed off, “If I wish to know I will ask Jackpot.” Enyi smiled at me and I smiled back.

The next moments were both awkward and tense (for me at least). Enyi had gone back to staring out the window and I just kind of stayed sitting next to him for several minutes. I didn't want to leave but at the same time I really didn't want to just sit there looking nervous for too long without actually saying anything. I needed to take Jackpot's words to heart, this would be the best time to actually talk to Enyi about...well anything (just do it!).

“Hey uh..Enyi?”

“What is it Ivory?”

“Um...remember when we first met?” not the right thing to say here.

“Yes, you threw up on me if I remember correctly.”

“And uh...” I was really red, “You remember back when we were in my room?” I was trying to connect something that probably shouldn't be connected but I was nervous and just trying to say anything at this point.

If I had the courage to look at Enyi's face right now I would have seen that it was at this point probably nearly as red as mine.

“Yes.” he said raising an eyebrow.

“Well uh...whaddya say?” my voice squeaked and quickened as I said this.

Enyi paused for a second then sighed, “I thought you might do this.” Enyi saying this disheartened me. Enyi put his hoof beneath me chin and lifted up my head towards his, “This is why I did not ask you sooner.” he said now with a smile on his face.

To say I had a smile on my face would be the understatement of the fucking century. I immediately jumped into a he hug with Enyi my face almost in tears.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” I looked at Enyi, my eyes so wide and teary they were nearly popping out of my face. Enyi just looked back at me with a smile as he chuckled a little at the face I was making.

“You are very enjoyable to be around and I do enjoy our little talks very much. Plus you...” now I could see him blushing a little bit, “...are quite cute.”

YES! HE THINKS I'M CUTE!!

I sat there on my seat staring at Enyi with a smile on my face as he did the same. It had to be about five or ten minutes before one of us actually said something.

“Ok, now what do we do?” I asked.

“I uh, do not know exactly.” Enyi said rubbing his head with his hoof.

“Have you ever had a uh.. a girlfriend before?” I asked shyly.

“No. Have you?”

“What? A girlfriend?”

“Oh wait, I meant boyfriend...or girlfriend. It really does not matter to me.” Enyi gave off an awkward smile.

“Are you talking about Emerald Flake? We're just friends so don't worry or anything.”

“So you have never...”

“What!? No! I mean not that...what I mean to say is that.....no I've never had a special somepony before.” I definitely sounded as flustered as I was, if not more.

“I would have thought with you being around Jackpot so much and all.”

“No, Jackpot isn't like that! Or at least I don't think he is. You know I really don't know what he's like come to think of it.” I said continuing to sound flustered.

“Well let us not talk about it now.”

“Yeah, lets just think about us right now.” I slanted my gaze down from Enyi as my redness started to intensify on my face, “You wanna kiss again?”

“Forgive me if I think we should wait on that a bit.” Enyi said while definitely remembering what happened in my room. Me probably bringing it up earlier didn't help either but I was still disappointed nonetheless. “We could just cuddle?” Enyi asked with slightly less hesitation than myself.

“Ok!” I said a bit too eagerly.

I slid myself over closer to Enyi on our seat and slowly and nervously leaned over onto his side as I felt him relaxing himself on my side at the same time. Enyi felt nice. He was surprisingly soft and comfortable to be leaning on which only made me happier in this moment. I took little glances up towards his face and saw that Enyi had a little smile of contentment on his face which made me excessively glad to see I wasn't the only on enjoying this.

We must have spent hours like this since before I knew it I had actually fallen asleep and I think it was safe to say Enyi suffered this same fate as the whole time neither of us moved from our respective spots.

*****

KNOCK KNOCK

The two rather noticeable and loud knocks on the door woke both Enyi and myself from our nap.

“Hey you two alive in there!” I heard Silver's voice yelling through the door.

It was only too late that I realized that I was half asleep and was in fact on a booth style seat in a train car when the loud knock jolted me awake. I took a step right off the seat from my laying position and tripped over myself while grabbing on to the nearest thing I could to try and stop the fall. Of course the nearest thing was Enyi who was also sleeping and I only ended up dragging him down onto the floor with me with a loud THUD!

Silver burst into the room when he heard the us hit the floor only to end up staring awkwardly at Enyi and I tangled together on the floor.

“Uh, we were just going to go over the plan for Griffonstone so whenever you two are uh...ready...you can meet us in the main car ok.” Silver swiftly left the room and I swear he was trying to hold back a laugh or something.

When Enyi and I had managed to get up and untangle ourselves we each went out to meet the others who were now all sitting on the various seats in the main car. Silver was sitting straight up patiently waiting while Jackpot was laying on his stomach while Scarlet Aloe was applying some kind of spell to his hurt wing.

“Gotta admit, that spell there works pretty well!” Jackpot said excitedly as he stretched out his now healthy wing.

“Yeah, those books I got from the Adventure Inc. library had some really nice spells in them.” Scarlet said now with a sense of pride of her own, “But still be careful. Your wing might look healed but this spell really only affects small surface level injuries so the internal bone and tissue are still not recovered yet, so no strenuous flying or your wing might still fall off!”

“Yeah yeah, I'll be careful.” Jackpot dismissively said while lovingly stroking his wing. This lasted all of a few seconds before Jackpot looked up at Enyi and me with a devilish smile on his face, “Well well, look who finally decided to finally come out! Have fun in there you two?” He sarcastically said while wiggling his eyebrows.

“We fell asleep.” Enyi matter of factly said.

“Oh I’m sure you did.” Jackpot said mockingly.

“Well what else would they have done?” Scarlet said while looking at Jackpot quite confused.

Jackpot's face lit up like Hearthswarming lights, “Jackpot don't!” I said sternly to him.

“Don't what?” Scarlet said looking more confused.

Before Jackpot could open his mouth Silver interrupted, “Well I think It's time to tell you all what exactly I have planned out for us at Griffonstone.”

“Yes, please do.” I sighed in relief as Enyi and I sat down in an empty seat near Silver.

Silver cleared his throat, “Well the first thing we're going to do is meet a local guide that I hired that is going to take us to the site. After we meet her we're going to take a quick stop in the Griffonstone library (SCORE!) where she will give a quick rundown about the site and any information the Griffons have been able to uncover, thought you might be interested in that Ivory.” Silver said turning his head to face me.

“I think I will.” I said with a grin.

“She'll be enjoying more than that.” Jackpot said just having to interrupt to make a dumb joke.

“Shh! Don't interrupt.” Scarlet said to him.

Silver continued, “After that She's gonna take us right up to the site where we can ideally poke around at our leisure.”

“Where exactly is this place?” Enyi asked.

“Oh uh, its a bit eastward in the mountains around Griffonstone. I was told that a recent avalanche uncovered it and that's why its a relatively new site.”

“Well then I think it's pretty safe to say Sable and Goldie haven't gotten to it yet.” I said mostly thinking out loud.

“Right, and this should make this trip a whole lot easier than Vanhoover.” Jackpot said holding back a yawn.

“Let us hope so.” Enyi added.

The remaining time on the train went by pretty calmly. Silver kept rifling through his giant pack probably trying to see if he packed everything he wanted. Jackpot sat pouting in the corner as Scarlet kept poking at his wing and looking back at her medical spell books trying out whatever she thought might help. Enyi and I spent the rest of the ride together talking about what we thought we might see in Griffonstone and at this site Silver had found for us.

*****

When the train pulled in at the station we all eagerly exited to see the large mountain ranges now in front of us. I think Silver finally realized he might have over packed just a little when he saw how far up the path to Griffonstone went. His massive pack was not going to make this an easy climb for him and by extension us.

“You know Grit always told me that the first time he ever came to Griffonstone was with princess Twilight to help her begin building the Griffonstone library.” I said straining my head to look up as high on the mountain as I could from our angle.

“Yeah I remember that library. It just screams Twilight Sparkle.” Jackpot huffed as he was now carrying part of Silver's stuff along with his own.

Silver had nearly collapsed about half way up the mountain and now Enyi, Jackpot, Scarlet and I had split his large pack between us the best we could to give him a break. When we finally got to a point on the trail where we could see Griffonstone it was even more amazing than I could have imagined.

Jackpot noted that it seemed the great tree the main section of the city was built on had grown a lot since he had last seen it. The tree had dozens of large branches stretching out in every direction around the trunk of the tree and on each branch multiple houses. On one branch could plainly be seen the emblem of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Griffonstone headquarters and right above it was perched a large stone structure with the familiar face of Twilight Sparkle on it looking ecstatic by being surrounded by books. Even beneath the tree itself new sections of the city had been built on great platforms that had been both carved and built onto the side of the mountain winding down it a good ways before cutting off near the bottom. And at the top of it all stood Castle Griffonstone, looking ever so resplendent in the afternoon sun as it had since the Griffons started managing and repairing it many years ago.

“Ooh, pretty.” Scarlet commented as she stared up at the city where even from here we could see hundreds of Griffons fluttering about above the many buildings that dotted the upper city.

“Always liked Griffons ya know.” Jackpot said as we neared the front gate of the city, “They love money almost as much as me.”

“So we've established.” I said back to him.

“I must admit I have never seen a place quite like this.” Enyi muttered out as he was too busy staring up and down and all the high and low buildings as well as the many Griffons that dotted the ground and sky.

We crossed the main gate into Griffonstone where not far from the entrance a grey and blue Griffon sat straight up with a large smile on her face. When she saw us approaching she bounded up from the ground and happily hopped over to me and my friends.

“Whoa! You must be the Ponies from ADVENTURE INCORPORATED!” she said putting great emphasis on the last part of her sentence.

“Uh nice to meet you ms...” I said putting my hoof out.

The Griffon eagerly grabbed my hoof with both her front paws and began to violently shake them.

“Call me Patches! Everybody does ok!”

“Ah, Ms. Giselle!” Silver said eagerly as he came forward. “I'm glad to see you were able to meet us here today.”

“Wait, Giselle? I thought you said Patches?” I asked, puzzled.

“Well technically it's Giselle but I like Patches better.”

“Why?”

“Oh it's a great story about an ancient trickster and a treasure horde, ooh I just love it so muchI wanted everybody to call me Patches!” this Griffon was just a whole other kind of hyper.

Suddenly Patches' eyes grew super wide as she spotted my cutie mark and pushed me down and stuffed her face right into it.

“Whoa! Your cutie mark is sooo cool! I love these things! They come in so many kinds and colors and shapes and....WHOA! Your cutie mark is so weird! Compasses don't work that way ya know. And I would know, I'm an expert!”

“Are you now.” Enyi said hesitantly.

“WHOA! A ZEBRA! I’ve never seen a Zebra before! Oh please do one of those rhymey things you guys do!” Patches' eyes grew even wider as she stared expectantly at Enyi.

Enyi just stood there with a confused look on his face for several seconds as Patches slowly pushed herself closer towards him, her face growing ever more smiley.

“You seem full of energy, you should use this....cleverly.” Enyi said slowly as Patches was now inches from his face.

“WHOA! You do rhyme! That's so cool!” I gave Enyi a worried look to which he just shrugged.

“Well anyway Ms. Giselle we are...” Silver tried to start talking but Patches immediately interrupted him.

“Oh I'm sooo sorry! I was so focused on meeting you I forgot to ask your names oh stupid Patches!” Patched smacked herself on her head several times.

“No need for that dear.” Silver said quickly flapping over to the now sad looking Griffon and taking her claw in his hoof.

I trotted a few steps closer to Silver and the Griffon, “Hello I'm Ivory Star and this here is Scarlet Aloe, Enyi and it looks like you know Silver Chaser here.”

“WHOA! Your THE Ivory Star! WHOA! ADVENTURE INCORPORATED didn't just send anypony they sent Grit Stratum's actual apprentice and the hero who saved all of Vanhoover! WHOA!” Patches was on the verge of a complete fangasm while once again greatly emphasizing Adventure Incorporated.

“Wait, What!? What do you mean famous and saved Vanhoover?” I asked quite confused.

“DUH! It's all on the radio, you know, It's your Hero! HERO STUDIOS!”

“Wait, what exactly has Hero been saying?”

“Only that your the most awesome pony since Grit Stratum in his prime and how you saved an entire Island from a bunch of evil ponies!”

“Wait, you actually get Hero's station way out here?”

“Yeah, well I mean sometimes. We get some things every few days before the connection cuts out. We've been meaning to have Hero send somepony out here to set up a real connection but we're all just so busy with so many other things that I guess we just never got around to it.” Patches said giving of little laughs a she spoke.

“So you haven't heard anything about Grit recently?” I asked now beginning to feel a bit depressed again.

“Well I heard he died and that was super sad, like I mean SUPER sad but you know your here now so it's like he's still here and that's just soooooo cool!”

She hadn't heard then, about what the Canterlot guard had released about Grit and how most ponies in Equestria probably viewed him now. At this point I kinda envied her, reminding me of myself from when I was a kid and had first met Grit. But now I would definitely need to have a word with Hero in Marewaukee when we got back from this excursion of ours.

“So your a Grit fan huh?” Jackpot said slyly stepping forward, “You know I worked with him for a super long time and even went on his last adventure with him not to mention I was at Vanhoover with little Ivory here.”

Suddenly Patches turned towards Jackpot with even wider eyes, “WHOA! Tell me tell me tell me tell me!” Jackpot gave off a cocky smile as the Griffon girl was nearly drooling at his hooves.

Scarlet rolled her eyes as Jackpot stood there looking very pleased with himself until Silver interrupted.

“Yes yes We would all love to hear all about it but remember I'm paying you to do a job and time is something we really don't want to waste right now.”

Patches backed off from Jackpot (to his annoyance) and sadly walked over to Silver giving a long sigh, “Your right. I'm sorry I just got a bit excited is all.”

“It's all right Ms. Giselle, we all go a little crazy sometimes but for now we're on the clock.” Silver said patting her head.

“Yeah, Silver said something about a library?” Scarlet said putting herself into the conversation.

Suddenly Patches perked right back up, “Oh yeah! The Griffonstone library is a wonder to behold! One of our greatest accomplishments since lady Gilda put Griffonstone on the right track!

“Well then please lead the way beautiful.” Jackpot suavely said as he did a little bow and pointed his hoof out.

This time Scarlet, Enyi and myself rolled our eyes almost in unison.

Patches pushed out her wings, “Ok then follow me!” she then lifted off the ground and zipped away from us so fast the dust didn't even have time to hit us in the face before she was gone. We all just stood there in a daze for a few seconds before Patches zipped right back to us. 'Aren't you coming?”

“Well, Jackpot here can't really fly at the moment and Silver,” I looked over at Silver and though he was better than he was he was still very obviously tired from the long trek up here, “he's pretty tired and probably couldn't carry any of us.”

“Oops! Sorry, got carried away again!” Patches said giving off a slightly awkward laugh.

This time she walked with us as we all climbed our way up the trunk of the great tree that sat at the heart of Griffonstone. The library of Griffonstone was admittedly impressive as it sat on one of the largest branches that protruded from the tree that the city sat on. It was definitely about the size of the Canterlot Royal Library but still pales in comparison to the A.I HQ library that was built into Canterlot Mountain.

The inside was equally as impressive as the exterior. Everywhere I looked my face grew wide as I saw the countless books that were piled in great shelves that seemed almost to grow out of the walls and floors of the library. Some shelves grew high into the tall ceiling reminding me of the great chambers of the A.I library back in Canterlot but this place was much better lit and filled with Griffons swooping and soaring around with claws full of books of various shapes and sizes.

“It's busy in here.” I commented almost tripping over myself while straining my neck trying to view the entirety of the interior.

“Yeah! This place has really helped us Griffons reconnect with our heritage in a way we never thought possible!” Patches beamed. “No longer will all our history and knowledge be lost as the books rot outside in the elements! Now we can keep them safe and cherish them so the next generation can learn from and add to our collected knowledge!” Patches beamed again becoming somewhat teary eyed.

“Ah yes, this place is truly beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the lovely young Griffon showing it to us.” Jackpot said suavely as he bounced his eyebrows up and down in front of Patches causing her to giggle.

I decided to ignore Jackpot and instead focus on how much amazing stuff could potentially be here. “Oh what I could learn here.” I said still in amazement of the massive collection of knowledge unknown to ponies.

“It is really pretty in here. I like all the tree carvings how the shelves just grow out of the walls and ceilings.” Scarlet said eying up and running her hoof across a short but slender shelf of books, “Ooh, so smooth.”

“Yes yes, this place is quite interesting but we have a mission to do and we're all on the clock right now.” Silver pointed out to the rest of us who really weren't paying attention to him at this point.

Silver eventually had to bop me on the head to break my trance and the rest of the group soon followed. After feeling a little embarrassed we all followed Patches up a series of ladders and stairways that crisscrossed through the high up areas of the main chamber of the library. After a while it became detrimental to look down as we had gotten pretty high up and the walkways were annoyingly small.

“Sorry about this guys, Griffons can fly so walking paths were never really a priority for us.” Patches chuckled embarrassingly.

“You know sometimes being an Earth Pony really sucks.” I said trying to keep from getting too dizzy as I looked down at the sheer drop tot he floor of the library.

“Do not be wary of the edge, I shall catch you, this I pledge.” Enyi whispered in my ear soliciting a blush and low satisfying moan from me.

“WHOA!” Crap, Patches heard. “So romantic! And a rhyme!” she was perhaps a bit too excited about this situation.

Jackpot gave me one of those looks he has when he comes up with some naughty joke or whatever he thinks of when trying to troll me while Scarlet gave off a little chuckle and a soft pat on my head as she walked past.

We finally arrived at a hallway built into the side of the interior wall as Patches led us deeper into the library. We stopped at a small round room just inside the short hall where a large book sat on a table in the center of the room.

“It's not much but Mr. Silver is paying for it so here ya go! In this here book is all the Griffons have found out about the site we're all going to tomorrow!” Patches said with a grin.

“Well then, lets get this started shall we.” I said while eagerly staring at the large book that was laying before me.

Patches was right, there really wasn't much here. Only a few pages of this book were filled in and what was there was more like randomly jotted down notes than any kind of description of what we were looking for.

The little description that was given did say this: Mountain ledge, only one path on the ground that leads to it, very narrow. Large flat rock face with strange carvings and undecipherable letters. Large tree carved into the center of the stone (Griffonstone?). Style of the lines indicates that site is older than Griffonstone so perhaps it is some form of schematic? Near the bottom of the tree is a ruined image of several Griffons holding weapons out to something. The carving must have broken off or been removed as there is evidence of cracking around where the Griffons are facing.

“There!” I said pointing to a line near the end of the last page of writing. It says here what the undecipherable word was, look familiar?”

“Yes. It is the word for Greywing from Abila's journal.” Enyi said looking at the Pre-Celestial Script that had been jotted down in the book.

“Greywing?” Patches said scratching her chin, “There's no mention of a Griffon by that name anywhere in our histories.”

“How far back do your records go?” Silver asked Patches.

“Since the reign of Grover and the finding of the Idol of Boreas. Records really weren't kept from before that time and what little there was was ruined before the library was built.” Patches said growing a rather sad expression on her face.

“Aww don't worry there beautiful, we'll get this here ruin figured out for you in no time.” Jackpot said sounding even more flirtatious.

I rolled my eyes, “You said we're going there tomorrow right Patches?” I asked.

“Um yeah, it takes a while to get there so if we left now it would be to dark to really see anything and the mountains are dangerous at night if you can't fly.” Patches said while still blushing at Jackpot.

“So where will we be staying?” Scarlet asked.

“Oh, I got us a nice room in the castle.” Silver said proudly.

“Wow, fancy.” Jackpot said somewhat impressed.

After looking and taking mental notes of the rest of the book we all turned around and climbed back down onto the ground floor of the library and headed towards the castle.

When we arrived it was even more stunning than the library. The whole building was constructed of ancient stone and it rose even higher than the library in some places. Patches led us through the grand foyer where richly dressed Griffons sat and talked amongst themselves giving us only passing glances as we walked. Patches decided to be really nice and led us past the throne room which despite having been empty for more years than I could count remained an impressive sight to behold. Seeing the stone pathway that led up past the stoop where the legendary Idol of Boreas once sat and the old throne that sat further up the stone stairs gave me goosebumps.

“Yup, pretty cool isn't it!” Patches happily said behind me as I stared blankly into the room.

“Cool is right. Oh the stories this room could tell.” I pondered out loud as my gaze shifted about the tall ceilings and high passages of the throne room.

It does look very old.” Jackpot said impatiently behind me.

“WHOA!” I said, “Look, is that the window that Arimaspi broke to steal the idol!” I shouted pointing up to a single paned window high up on the wall.

“We think so.” Patches answered eliciting a sigh of awe from me. “I'm gonna be honest, I thought not many ponies bothered to learn Griffon history but that's Grit Stratum’s protege for you!” Patches said putting a big smile on her face.

“I think we should be getting to sleep soon.” Scarlet interrupted, “Early to bed, early to rise as they say.”

It was beginning to get late out and I was getting pretty tired so after a quick group ok Patches led us all to our rooms.

“So Ivory, I'm guessing you're gonna wanna share a room with Enyi tonight?” Jackpot asked in his usual cheeky tone.

I just froze where I was standing realizing what Jackpot had just asked. I slowly turned my head to see him trying to hold back a laugh. The others were looking at Enyi who seemed just as surprised as me at that statement. We each looked at the other and I will admit I gave it a thought before Silver (Oh thank Luna) interrupted.

“I payed for a room for each of us. Wouldn't want it to go to waste right?”

“YES!” I said quickly and eagerly. “Wouldn't want to waste bits, not here anyway haha!”

Jackpot looked a little disappointed as Silver took a deep breath and Scarlet stood there just looking confused at the situation. Even Patches put on a somewhat noticeably forced smile in the situation as she showed us which rooms were ours in the castle guest quarters. I locked my door, shoved my face under the large pillows that were on the large bed and just screamed internally about how much I hated Jackpot right now. No matter what I did for the rest of the night I couldn't get the image out of my head and when I did eventually drift off to sleep I was thinking of Enyi.

*****

The next morning I woke up very refreshed after having slept in a wonderful and very comfortable bed. I sat up and stretched my legs out to help my body wake up. My front hooves were a little sore but that quickly dissipated once my body fully woke up and I walked around the room a few times.

I opened my door and slowly walked out into the hallway when I looked over and saw Enyi walking down the hallway towards me from his room.

“Good morning Ivory.” Enyi said while finishing off a yawn.

“Morning.” I said giving him a smile.

He gave me a quick hug (*squee*) and we then continued down the hallway. At the end we turned a corner to see Silver talking with patches while looking over a map that showed Griffonstone and some area around it.

“Ah! Morning you two. Hope you slept well?” Silver asked in a friendly tone.

“Of course they slept well!” Patches beamed. “Griffon beds are the best in the world!”

“Yeah, I slept pretty well last night.” I said while giving a small yawn myself.

“It was indeed a restful sleep.” Enyi said after me.

“Whatcha two doing?” I asked.

“Oh, we're just going over the last details of the route we're going to be taking to the site.” Silver answered.

Jackpot and Scarlet now came trotting around the corner.

“You sure my wing is usable now?” Jackpot asked her sounding both hopeful and annoyed.

“Well it should be, I mean I don't want to give you any false hope but well...these books might not be good for all I know and...”

“You know you can just say yes or no right?”

“Well it's a new spell and it's not really that good of a spell and I don't know how good I am at it and...”

“Like I said, yes or no.”

“Well um, you still shouldn't do anything strenuous because um...”

Jackpot let out a long and loud sigh, “Ugh.”

“Leave her alone Jackpot, she's just trying to help!” I yelled over to him.

“Yeah I know but it's like she just doesn't know what she's doing some times.” he answered.

“Well it's a new spell and I just don't know how good I am at it yet.” Scarlet said back.

“Then just tell me straight!”

“I was trying!” Scarlet huffed back, “You just kept interrupting me!”

“What kind of spell are you two talking about?” I asked.

“Well it's a low level healing spell that I just read about from on of the books I have and it just sort of heals a bit of surface level injuries.”

“Scarlet here said she could use it to help heal my wing here but then went on to say that I still shouldn't use it!” Jackpot said in a rather upset tone.

“That's because the bones in your wing and anything else outside the surface level injury wouldn't be affected by this spell or at least not as much!” Scarlet said back sounding just as upset.

I slapped my face with my hoof in exasperation, Patches just stood there trying to keep her smile while Silver kept looking at the map.

“Well if she says not to do anything strenuous then you should listen to her.” Enyi said.

Enyi trotted out of the hall and back towards the main foyer of the castle grumbling to himself as he walked passed us. Scarlet stood there looking a bit depressed while Enyi went over to try and cheer her up. I quickly followed him (partly because I didn't want Scarlet having him all to herself) and joined in his attempts to cheer up our friend.

Silver and Patches soon finished what they were doing with the map and with Silver gathering his large pack up we all trotted out of the castle and set out to whee Patches said the site we were looking for was. The walk was not an easy one as Griffonstone was pretty much surrounded by mountains and with Jackpot's wing still not at one hundred percent we decided not to fly much while getting there. Patches would give us some short trips over dangerous terrain but aside from that our group stayed mostly on the ground. It was at this point that Silver's pack came in handy as he had packed his own climbing equipment so as not to have to buy it from the Griffons. Patches kept advocating that the Griffons had the best climbing equipment ever but Silver's gear was more than adequate for what we needed. When Silver eventually and inevitably began to become exhausted by his large pack Scarlet cast her stamina spell on him since we didn't have any towns to rest at while out in the mountains.

“Isn't that going to tire you out as well?” I asked her.

Scarlet was indeed huffing a bit from using it, “Not that much for just one pony but a somewhat tired me is better than an exhausted Silver right?”

It took all morning and went well into the afternoon but after hours of hiking with Patches leading us we managed to discover a small path at the base of a large and near completely vertical cliff. The cliff was very tall and we all had to strain our necks to look high enough to just see the top from the bottom.

“This whole area used to be covered in snow but an avalanche managed to clear this whole area out which allowed us Griffons to just stumble on this little cliff ledge here!” Patches beamed.

“So we gotta climb this whole cliff?” Silver asked with some despair in his voice.

“Yup!” Patches said excitedly, “Isn't it just so exciting!”

“Riveting.” Silver moaned.

Patches led the way up the small pathway with me following close behind with Enyi, Jackpot, Scarlet and Silver bringing up the rear. Several spots on this small path felt almost like they would give way at any second but Patches seemed almost instinctively to know which spots were safe to step on and which ones weren't.

We finally reached the top and when my head could finally reach over the top ledge of the cliff and I was able to see this site I stopped in my tracks and stared at the large wall as my friends got stuck behind me.

“Um Ivory! Hello! Equestria to Ivory! Move please!” Jackpot shouted behind me.

I realized I was kind of blocking the path so I moved to allow my friends to get up and when they did even Jackpot seemed almost entranced by the sight that stood before us.

“I read that description but that doesn't do this justice.” I said in awe of what I was seeing.

“Indeed.” Enyi answered from behind me.

In front of us on the cliff was a large and smooth wall which stood about eight or nine times my own height and was nearly twice as wide as that. Right in the center was carved a massive tree that stretched from the ground to the top of the wall. Hundreds of branches and limbs shot off of it in every direction as rays of light were carved off to the sides giving this stone carving an almost ethereal look to it. All around this tree were carved Griffons flying in many directions with all of them wearing intricately carved and highly decorated armor and carrying spears and long axes. And right there near the base of the tree was the broken carving of a group of Griffons extending their weapons to a section of the wall that had obviously broken off.

“What is this?” I said still in complete awe of the massive work of art in front of me.

“We think this is some early vision of Griffonstone or perhaps another city that no longer exists.” Patches said from behind me.

Scarlet had gone up to the wall and was inspecting many of the smaller images of Griffons that were carved near the base of the wall. Enyi had gone over to places where writing was and had taken out the journal and begun to write down some of what was written there. Silver went straight up to the center tree and seemed almost entranced by it as he stood there just staring. Jackpot also seemed transfixed on the large carving but he just stood near the back staring at it as a whole.

“This is amazing.” I said almost speechless.

“Yeah, it's pretty cool.” Patches said while staring at the carving herself with wide eyes.

“This definitely mentions Greywing.” Enyi said as he inspected the carved writing. “Although the rest of this I cannot properly translate.”

“I'll help you!” I said as I quickly sped my way over to him.

“Your help would be much appreciated.” Enyi said with a smile.

I nestled myself up next to Enyi as I began to take a look at the writing. My gaze darted between the journal and the wall as I started to piece some of the words together.

“Hey Enyi, what do you think this means? O melio eranama, o cala a sera frol, an morole cal quol esse se lore as sore ye erdimol.” I asked him.

“I do not know but if I must guess it seems like a song or perhaps a poem.” he answered back.

“Yeah, the rest looks pretty weathered but I think we can get some of these words.”

“Yes, I see them. The O there is the word 'a'. And the a is 'of''.

“So then let me see here...esse se is 'in her'.” I thought out loud. “Oh and the as is 'with' I think.”

“Yes, that does seem to match what we already know.” Enyi said.

We began to pour through the notes bot Grit and we had taken and what we had translated from Abila's journal. We found some more words we had forgotten about and managed to get the first part down.

“A beauty unparalleled, a coat of gentle gold.” I read, “Yeah definitely a song or poem.”

“What of the last part there?”

“Hmm. You have any guesses Enyi?”

“Let me see here...something about the sky being in her hair or mane.”

“Yeah, morole, what does that mean?”

“I think it means dark...no wait...darkened.” Enyi said looking back at the journal.

“So, the darkened sky was in her mane?”

“It seems so.”

“She sounds lovely.” I said looking back at the inscription.

“Indeed.”

“Hey!”

“What? You said it.”

“You're not supposed to agree with me on that!”

“Well it is a flattering description.”

“Let's just finish it.” I sighed. Enyi let out a small chuckle as I said this.

“A beauty unparalleled, a coat of gentle gold, the darkened sky was in her mane with...something.” Enyi read.

“This sounds like a pony, not a Griffon.” I said.

“Yes, you are right. This does indeed seem to be describing something other than a Griffon.”

“I wonder who it's about?”

“I do not know.” Enyi answered.

We continued to look through our notes and Abila's journal for the last few words and after several minutes did in fact manage to find them or at least words that were close enough to mean the same things:

A beauty unparalleled, a coat of gentle gold

the darkened sky was in her mane with power yet untold.

I hummed it to myself as we finished the translation.

“Beautiful.” I said after finishing.

“Griffons certainly do have a way with words.” Enyi said.

“Over here!” Jackpot yelled from the far side of the wall.

“What is it!” I yelled as the rest of us congregated to where Jackpot was standing.

“More of that writing of yours.” Jackpot said.

Indeed there was more writing and it was even a repeat of Greywing's name with a bulls-eye like image carved right beneath it.

“Looks like a keyhole to me.” Jackpot observed.

“Ah yes it does.” Silver added.

“So then where's the key?” Scarlet asked.

I put my hoof up to the image, “Whoa! Careful Ivory! Be careful with that, it's really old!” Patches squeaked from behind me.

I heeded her advise and gently pressed my hoof against the target and rat it along the carved letters and picture. I then gently tapped my hoof against the wall and it was then I could feel it.

“There's an open space behind here.”

Jackpot then tapped his own hoof gently against the wall with his ear pressed against the stone, “She's right. This is a door.”

“But how do we enter?” Enyi asked.

“No idea.” I answered. I quickly got an idea as I glanced down as Jackpot's saddlebags and then over at Sparky which was still on my hoof.

On second thought that would probably be a bad idea so I gave my head a shake and got the thought out of my head. This was then replaced with a new and probably better idea but an idea that would be tricky to pull off.

“Hey Enyi?”

“What is it Ivory?”

“So this door probably has some kind of key or something needed to activate it right?”

“That would be logical yes.”

“Well, I think we should fan out around this area and look to see if there is anything else beside this wall here.”

“That's not a bad idea Ivory.” Silver said.

“Worth a shot.” Jackpot added.

“Ok, Jackpot and I will stay here and see if we can find anything else while Enyi, Patches, Scarlet and Silver can spread out around the base of the cliff and look around there.”

“That sounds like a sound plan but would it not be better if we searched together?” Enyi asked.

“Jackpot can find treasure, that's kind of his thing, and with my know how we can be doubly effective. I need you and Patches to fill that same roll for the other group ok Enyi.” I said giving him my best puppy dog face.

“Very well, I see your logic.” Enyi nodded and smiled.

With that Enyi and Patches led the others back down the small path while Jackpot and I stayed up near the wall. I looked over the edge as they descended and gave a friendly wave once they all reached the bottom safely.

“So Ivory, what's your plan here exactly?” Jackpot questioned me.

“Did you bring the helmet?”

“Of course.”

“Well I don't see any keyholes on this door here so I wanna see if the door is activated using magic.”

“Probably should have kept Scarlet here then.”

“Only us two know we have the helmet and I don't want to upset Enyi by risking Scarlet being the one to tell him we have it.”

“Fair enough.” Jackpot said as he nodded his head.

Jackpot set down his saddlebag and reached in with his muzzle and pulled out the helmet wrapped in cloth. He unwrapped it and set the helmet down in front of me. I sat down next to it and with my front hooves gently placed it on my head. It fit just as perfectly as ever as my entire body was suddenly filled with energy and Sparky perked up and once again grew to encompass my forehoof. I walked over to the wall and once again placed my hoof on the target symbol and much to my annoyance nothing happened. I began to trace my hoof along the slender lines of the carving looking for anything that could work while Jackpot looked on just sipping on his flasks.

“Dammit, it's not working.” I said frustratedly.

“Try different spots.” Jackpot said while he sat down and reclined on the ground.

I walked along the wall and tried connecting my hoof and even the helmet itself against different points on the wall. I got back to the spot where the Griffon warriors fought the unknown enemy and stared at it. I ran my hoof along this part as something inside of me was screaming that this was important.

“Jackpot, come here!” I called over to him.

Jackpot hoisted himself up and gently floated on his wing over to me. When he landed I looked and saw a twinge of pain on his face as he quickly tucked his hurt wing in once he landed though he tried to hide it.

“What is it kid?” he said.

I slid the helmet off my head and put it on his.

“You look. You're the treasure hunter.”

I saw his face light up the moment the helmet once again slid perfectly on his head. I swear I could see it almost change size as it fit over his mane as if my some magic. Jackpot's wings shot out as the slight pain in his face disappeared. He floated up and around the great tree carved in the center of the wall as he slowly rose in elevation from where I was. When he got to the upper branches he stopped and started looking around as he floated bot up and down and side to side across the branches. Jackpot arrived at a spot on the tree I had not noticed before as there was something that had been carved right into the branch that could not be seen well from the ground.

It was here that Jackpot slid his hoof onto the strange image when a stream of visible magic shot out from the helmet and into the carving. Jackpot recoiled somewhat as the blast had undoubtedly surprised him but he was able to catch himself in the air before he fell too far. The tree suddenly began to glow a luminescent blue as magical energy began to spark and crack in the air around the wall.

“What did you do Jackpot!” I shouted as Jackpot remained floating in the air as the entire cliff wall now began to shake.

“I don't really know!” I heard him shout back down.

Jackpot quickly landed next to me as the tree suddenly began to split in half and the entire cliff began to shake violently. The image of the tree suddenly cracked down the middle and split into two massive doors which then proceeded to swing open with a rush of air than nearly knocked Jackpot and me off the cliff side.

When I finally pushed myself back up from the ground I saw Jackpot quickly gathering up all of his flasks that had shaken right out of his saddlebag. The helmet was no longer on his head but the saddlebag had some bulk to it so it's whereabouts were not hard to guess. I looked up back at the wall and saw that when once there had been a solid wall of stone with ancient carvings there now was a massive open doorway that went about as high as the tree had gone.

“Wow.” is all I could say as I stared in utter awe at the massive doorway.

“You all right kid!” Jackpot shouted as he ran back up towards me.

“Yeah yeah, I'm fine.” I said still transfixed on the massive opening in the former wall.

A swooshing sound suddenly came from behind me as Patches landed with a thud in front of Jackpot and me.

“You two all right!?” She panted frantically.

“Yeah we're fine.” I answered.

“Enyi sent me up, he and the others are climbing back up the path but he wanted me to make sure you two we're ok.”

Jackpot trotted over to the cliff edge and looked down, “Don't worry, Ivory's just fine!” I saw his smile return, “Though she might need you to kiss some boo boos that she was too embarrassed to show me!”

“I can take care of any injuries!” Scarlet shouted back up.

Jackpot turned his head towards me, his wings now slightly extended. He just winked at me before trotting past towards the doorway into the mountain.

Enyi quickly clambered his way up the cliff and ran straight towards me, “Ivory, are you ok! The mountain just started shaking and...”

“I'm fine Enyi, I'm fine.” I said giving him a hug.

“Your bracelet.” Enyi said noticing the now extended Sparky.

“Yeah, Jackpot found this carving further up and when he pressed it a whole bunch of magic started whirling around and Sparky here seems to have noticed.” I still felt uncomfortable lying like this but obviously we still needed the helmet and I now felt more than ever that I wanted Enyi to never leave.

“What was he saying about you being hurt?” Enyi asked.

“Oh, that was...that was just Jackpot being Jackpot.” I said blushing a little.

“Oh....OH!” Enyi said probably realizing what I meant and blushing a little himself.

Scarlet trotted up to me and Enyi, “Where are you hurt Ivory?”

“I'm fine Scarlet. Jackpot was exaggerating.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Well if anything starts hurting just tell me ok.” Scarlet said with a look of relief on her face.

“Sure thing.” I said back.

Silver came up last just staring with utter disbelief on his face and the change in the landscape that had occurred. Patches was standing next to him with much the same expression on her face.

“Ivory, this is amazing.” Silver said.

“Yeah. I don't really know what to say.” I said back.

“I say let's go in!” Patches excitedly said.

“We might as well.” Enyi said putting his hoof around my shoulder.

We all lined up right on the precipice of the now opened doorway that towered over us. The inside was a large stone room that with the light now flooding into it was covered in carvings of it's own. Enyi took a step forward, the look of awe in his eyes fading as a new look took over his face. I looked quizzically at him as he started to walk straight forward towards a very specific carving on the right side of the now opened room. We all followed him wondering what exactly he was looking at and when he stopped at the wall it became pretty obvious.

“Enyi, do you know what this is?” I asked him.

“Yes.” as he said this I got a better look at his face and the look on it was not a happy one.

The carving he had stopped in front of was kind of hard to make out but after staring at it I realized what it was. It was some kind of large bulbous creature that had multiple legs stretching out of its body on each side of it. It's face, or what seemed like its face, was covered in small beady eyes that even in carving form gave me the chills.

“Enyi?” I asked now slightly worried.

“Lazilob.” he said.

“What's a Labisob?” Jackpot said trying and failing to pronounce the name Enyi had just said.

“I've heard you mention that name, Lazilob, before.” I whispered to Enyi, “What is it?”

“She was one of two.” Enyi mumbled.

“Two what?” Scarlet asked.

“You saw one, on the bridge at Numnah.” Enyi mumbled in response.

I tried to think back to when I first met Enyi and when we first entered the lost Zebra city and looked at carvings on the bridge that led to the city. After a few seconds I managed to recall the image of the dragon that Enyi and Grit had mentioned.

“You mean that dragon you said could eat cities?”

“Yes.”

“Whoa! So this is an actual dragon!” Patches said still excited.

“No, Lazilob was no worm, she was...well she was...most similar to a spider I suppose.”

“I guess that explains the legs and eyes.” Silver said still staring at the picture on the wall.

“So what exactly were Lazilob and this dragon?” I asked.

“Lazilob and Balaur are two demons from our ancient history. Balaur was the more destructive of the two but Lazilob was the more feared and hated.”

“Wait, if this dragon wrecked more stuff how do you hate this spider more?” Jackpot asked.

“They were demons spawned of the Darkness. Each had their own magic and Lazilob ate light itself and could spin webs of unlight that sucked all life from wherever she went. Fields withered, forests died, crops failed, starvation and disease followed her and she was known to devour my people by the hundreds to sate her unending hunger.”

“Ok so that sounds...pretty bad.” Jackpot said now a little shaken himself.

“So what's this picture of a Zebra monster doing here in a Griffon ruin? Do you know what happened to these two monsters?” Silver asked quickly.

“What came of Balaur we do not know but of Lazilob it is said that she threatened the kingdom Abila had created so she went to do battle with the beast. Abila took all her greatest warriors and ultimately succeeded in driving the beast away but Abila herself died in the battle.”

“Shit.” Jackpot muttered to himself as he clutched his saddlebag.

“So his thing killed Abila?” I asked Enyi.

“Yes, this is why we hate her more.”

“Then maybe she came here and that's why her picture is here.” Patches said.

“Yeah, but if this is Greywing's tomb and he died before Abila how then why is this image inside of it?” I asked.

“Perhaps it was added later but what I do know is that we should not enter here. If the image of Lazilob in set into the entrance as it is then this place is cursed.”

“Nonsense!” Scarlet yelled, “No such thing as curses.”

“Maybe in pony magic but for us Zebra curses are very real.”

“Still, we need to go in.” I said. “If we leave this place and Sable finds it then you bet he will go right in and take whatever it is that's in here.” I said to Enyi.

He grumbled a bit, “I suppose you are correct. But we must be very careful.”

“We will, I promise.” I said putting my hoof under Enyi's chin and nuzzling his muzzle.

Enyi's face lightened as he let out a smile, “Ok Ivory, but we should not split up in here.”

“Fair enough.” I said softly.

At the far end of the room was one small door that led down a long staircase and into darkness. We walked towards it and past all the many carvings and writings that filled the walls of the main room of the ruin. If I had the time I would have certainly loved to stay there and just examine everything here but the rest of the tomb awaited and I didn't want to stick around too long in case Sable and Goldie were also on the trail of this place.

Silver reached into his pack and took out several flashlights which he handed out to the rest of us. These very quickly came in handy as once we started down the staircase the sunlight began to fade and complete darkness set in. With the light of the flashlights we slowly clambered down the long and twisting staircase following the smooth and well carved stairs down into the ruin. It soon seemed like forever as the stairs just kept going and going and going with no end in sight.

“You know what this reminds me of?” I asked.

“Princess Twilight's battle against king Sombra?” Scarlet answered.

“Good guess.”

After what seemed like an eternity we finally reached the bottom of the stairs and entered into another room that split into three different paths. This instantly made me regret that promise to Enyi as picking the wrong path would certainly waste time if not get us completely lost.

I really had no idea what to do here. I had promised Enyi we wouldn't split up but I mean come on a hallway that split into different paths! What were we supposed to do in this situation!

“I think we should take the left path.” Jackpot said finally breaking the silence.

“Why?” Scarlet said next.

“I have a feeling.”

“Well Jackpot seems to know how to find treasure so if his instincts say left then I agree with him.” I said.

I looked over at Enyi and he nodded in agreement. Silver and Patches also agreed which left Scarlet as the only one who was unsure but she came around after Jackpot pointed out that they might as well just pick a path and go down it.

Jackpot led the way as the left path began to slope ever slightly downward the further we trotted down it. As we continued down the light from the flashlights began to dim as more and more time passed.

“Hey guys, anypony here notice how we're kinda losing light?” I said.

“We shouldn't be. Those flashlights should last for days with the magic crystals I have powering them.” Silver said in reply.

“Well they are going out it looks like.” Scarlet said.

“Ooh, spooky!” said Patches.

“I don't wanna get stuck in here if these lights go out.” Jackpot said looking back at the rest of us.

“Wait one second.” Silver said as he slid his large pack onto the floor and rifled around until he found another flashlight. “Here, this one is fresh.” Silver used his wing to flip it on and it fared no better than the other lights that we were already using.

“This does not bode well.” Enyi said.

“Should we turn back?” Patches asked.

“I don't think anythings wrong with the flashlights but they are certainly dimming.” I added.

“Let's go on a bit further and if they continue to dim then we'll turn back.” Silver stated and we all agreed.

So we continued on and on and on and on into the dark as the flashlights continued to dim slightly but not to the point where we were in total darkness.

“Unlight.” Enyi whispered into my ear.

“No way that monster is here.” I whispered back to him (although it was mainly to ease my own growing worry).

“Look, a glow up ahead!” Jackpot shouted. He immediately ran ahead of us and disappeared into the bright glow that was coming from around a nearby corner.

“Jackpot! No splitting up!” Enyi yelled as we all chased after him.

When we turned the corner we all stopped in our tracks at the glorious sight that sat in front of us. Another large chamber but this one was instead of carving was filled with TREASURE! Piles and piles of it in fact. Mounds of gold and gems of all kinds littered the floor as Jackpot was already rolling around on the floor with the biggest smile on his face that I have ever seen. Everywhere I looked there was some kind of precious metal or gem or...piles of armor and weapons as well. All of them were gilded in gold and silver and around them was laid goblets and cups made of various shining metals as well.

“There’s gotta be millions of bits worth of stuff in here!” Jackpot yelled happily.

“Tens of millions.” Silver said, himself somewhat awed by the amazing sight.

Even Scarlet and Enyi were already staring closely at several suits of Griffon style armor that hung on diamond encrusted pegs in the corner.

“Ancient Griffons monarchs would often be buried with their treasures but I've never heard of one this rich.” Patches said herself in awe as well.

As everypony ran around the room just looking at whatever they could I saw out of the corner of my eye Jackpot slipping several small wingfuls of gold coins into one of his empty saddlebags.

“What are you doing?” I whispered angrily to him as everypony else was busy inspecting the various treasures.

“Oh come on, the Griffons didn't even know this existed until literally right now. They won't miss just this little bit.”

“Put it back.” I harshly whispered.

“Seriously, come on Ivory just a little bit.”

I swung my head around towards the others and they still hadn't noticed. Jackpot did have a point, the Griffons really didn't even know this existed and if he took just a small bit nopony would actually notice. But on the other hoof I didn't want Jackpot getting into trouble like Grit had done so I just shook my head and pointed hard towards the ground to signal my displeasure. Jackpot reluctantly slid the few coins back to the floor and moved on while grumbling to himself.

“Ivory, there appears to be another doorway leading out of this chamber.” Enyi said from the other side of the room.

I walked over to it but the moment my hoof stepped beyond the bounds of the chamber I felt something very strange about the floor. My hoof seemed to almost sink into it and it felt very soft to the touch. When I tried pulling my hoof up it stuck to the floor until I yanked with my full strength and fell backwards back into the treasure room.

“Ivory! Your hoof!” I heard Scarlet yell as I sat back up.

I lifted my hoof up only to see it covered in...in...CELESTIA'S STIFFENED TEATS, spider webs!

Enyi ran over and took a look at my hoof, “We must leave now!” I wholeheartedly agreed at this point.

“Um, guys!” Patches yelled as we all turned to look through the doorway we had come from.

Within it were several dots of light that seemed to emanate from nothing and that seemed to just stare at us. After a second several more appeared, then several more after that. A sudden chittering sound began emanating from the hall as we all backed up towards the web covered doorway.

“Shit.” Jackpot huffed as the chittering increased.

“I say we run for it.” I said.

The others apparently agreed as we were all soon running at full speed down the web covered hallway. Now when I say full speed I mean as fast as we could go while constantly tripping over the sticky substances that now covered all the walls and floors. The flashlights seemed to dim even more as we ran down the hallway which ended up only freaking me out even more.

“Ivory, look at Sparky!” I heard Jackpot yell.

I looked down at my hoof as best as I could while still running to find that the crystal that was set in it was now glowing and was glowing much brighter than the flashlights. Thank the princesses for this thing and thank Emerald. I thought as hard as I could about light and being able to see. In fact I don't think I ever thought about something so hard in my life as wanting to be able to see right now. I clenched my eyes shut and just kept running forward as the tapping and chittering of hundreds of legs began echoing throughout the halls.

Suddenly even my closed eyes beheld the light. Sparky exploded in an aura of purple and clear light as everypony in the group stopped at the sudden surprise of being nearly blinded for a second. The light soon faded into a gentle glow but the good news was the chittering had stopped (or at least quieted down) and we could now fully see where we were going.

“I knew this was a bad idea.” Enyi said.

“Are you ok Enyi?” I asked running over to him.

“Yes I am. I must say that Sparky of yours is quite helpful.”

“We're all ok thanks for asking!” Jackpot yelled as he rubbed his partly blinded eyes.

“Now what do we do?” Scarlet asked with obvious worry in her voice.

“Keep going.” Silver said.

“We can't really go back anyway.” Patches added.

“What exactly do you know about this Lazilob?” I asked Enyi, “Do your stories say she had any children of her own?”

“None that I know of though these stories are thousands of years old and date back to the old Zebra Empire.”

“How exactly did Abila drive this thing away?” Silver asked next.

“She had a team of about a dozen Zebra heroes who used flaming weapons and powerful acidic potions to fight her off.”

“I'm guessing you don't have those in that pack of yours eh Silver?” Jackpot asked.

“Afraid not.”

And at that we kept on going forward. Moving through the dark and web filled hallways was not pleasant one bit. Every so often eyes would pop up from the dark behind us and we would hear the feet of the spiders echo through the halls. I was spending the whole time wondering if they were surrounding us and leading us to where we would be eaten easier.

After another eternity of walking and getting covered in webs we finally came across another large chamber. This only grew our worry as the entire room was filled with webs that seemed to absorb the very light that Sparky was giving off. We made sure to hurry along and out of that room as soon as we could and not look back.

Once we entered the next hallway the chittering suddenly returned as specs of light appeared all over the darkened web chamber we had just left. This time I saw the vague shapes of many legged things moving through the dark as Sparky's light seemed to only penetrate so far.

We decided to run again so as to quickly pass through the hallways without getting overtaken by the spiders and by this point moving through the webs seemed just a bit easier. The next chamber, which came much quicker than the last, was also filled with webs but strung within them was more treasures from coins to helmets to cups of all shapes and sizes and made from all manner of shiny things. They seemed to hang from every wall and ceiling and we ended up needing to push past many of the hanging threads of treasure that dangled close to the floor.

“Wow, how rich was this Griffon?” Jackpot mused as he stared longingly at the countless hanging treasures.

“Richer than any Griffon tomb I've ever seen or heard of.” Patches noted.

“Giant balls of gems Ivory! Look at them all, like chandeliers of shiny silk!” Scarlet said staring up at the ceilings which did indeed contain wound up silken balls of dimly shining gems.

“Will this darkness ever end!” Enyi shouted out as we entered another hallway.

“Quiet Enyi. We're trying ok.” I whispered to him while holding his now shaking body. “He's not doing too well guys.”

“Ivory! Look!” Silver yelled as suddenly spiders, actual giant fucking spiders began creeping from the fucking walls and ceilings.

“That's our cue! Run!” I shouted as I pulled Enyi along as our group ran further into the dark.

Even Sparky was now starting to dim as we continued running further into the spider infested tomb. Behind us the ever growing sound of thousands of legs skittering across the floors and walls as the spiders closed in on us.

As we entered the next chamber which was much the same as the last there were several very large and very bulbous spiders waiting for us. They were easily three or four times my size which grossed me out immediately. Their round beady eyes centered on us as mandibles and clawed feet sprung from beneath them. They made horrible shrieking sounds (quite unusual for spiders I know) as they pounced across the room at us.

Without thinking I raised Sparky and let my emotions do the rest as a spark of purple magic shot out and blasted one spider square in the face. It crumpled onto the ground while the others dispersed. We just kept running as I noticed Enyi getting more and more jittery and nervous. To be fair we were all like that but he was way worse off than the rest of us were at that point. We exited this chamber with several dozen spiders crawling after us but with one more blast from Sparky they stopped and disappeared.

“Ok, I'll admit it. This was a mistake!” I screamed as we continued to run and stumble our way through the darkening rooms.

When we entered the next chamber a large spider leapt at us from the ceiling and knocked the whole group over. I heard Enyi scream and I looked over to see the monster on top of him. Before I could act though Jackpot rammed into the spider and though seemingly missing it the spider still backed off. Jackpot proceeded to chase it using his wings to simply provide lift and speed. The spider ran off into the dark, easily avoiding Jackpot, as Enyi lay there completely paralyzed in fear.

“ENYI!” I screamed as I ran over to him. “Please be ok, please be ok, please be ok!” I was near hyper ventilating.

Scarlet scrambled over and glossed over Enyi with her eyes, “I don't see any bite marks, just some small bruises but its so dark I can't see that well.”

“Scarlet please, can you do the stamina spell! Just a little bit so he can move!” I begged.

Scarlet nodded as her horn glowed red and then a small ball of light flew off and lightly landed on Enyi. I could now see him breathing again as his head started moving. Patches and Jackpot hoisted him up and tossed Enyi over Patches back before we continued moving.

“Will this place ever end.” I heard Silver say behind me.

“I don't know ok!” I shouted back while still running.

The next chamber we found now was so shockingly different I actually tripped over the floor because the webs seemed to disappear completely from it. I looked up and Sparky began to glow a bit brighter as the room was thankfully clear of those horrifying light eating spider webs.

“Oh thank Luna! Thank Celestia! I swear I'll never make you watch my dreams of you two again if we get out of this!” Jackpot wailed.

“At least this room is web free.” Patches said gently setting down Enyi.

“I wonder why that is?” Silver pondered.

“Let's just rest for a minute here before we do anything else. I don't hear those things as much. Maybe they don't like this room for whatever reason.”

“Whatever that reason is I now love it.” Jackpot said taking several deep breaths.

I walked over to Enyi and sat down next to him staring into his eyes, “You ok?”

“I think so.”

“I'm sorry, I guess I didn't realize how seriously Zebra believe in this Lazilob.”

“This simply proves she is real.” Enyi said weakly.

“Looks like it.” I said back.

“Ivory, there's the exit to this chamber!” Patches shouted as she flew across the room. She peaked in the doorway and flew back to us. “Looks empty but then again it's too dark to see properly.”

“Give us a minute.” Silver said panting heavily.

“Gather round me everypony!” Scarlet called out.

We all came to her when her horn began to glow a bright red and she scrunched up her face and started sweating from the effort. The spell was cast and our energy came back while Scarlet collapsed from the strain.

“I got ya.” Jackpot said, helping Scarlet up.

“That's all I got for now.” Scarlet panted.

“Thanks, no offense but carrying you around is still a bit better than we just were.” Silver said.

Jackpot helped Scarlet move the rest of the way as we carefully trotted down the hallway. Sparky was now shining brighter as the webs no longer soaked up its light and we were able to go forward with a bit more confidence.

When at last the hallway ceased we found ourselves on one last chamber that was once again free of webs and giant spiders. With Sparky lighting it up I saw that the walls were once again covered in carvings of none other than Lazilob and many of her spider horde. Small dots of blue light provided a natural ambiance to the room that felt quite nice compared to the previous ones.

This chamber had a lot of stuff in it the closer we looked. In the center of the large chamber was a staircase that led to a pedestal with a stone sticking up from it that split the room into two sides. I began to walk up the stairs and saw on either side of the pedestal that there were shallow holes in the ground that lined up with the wall. I hopped down over to them and saw more Pre-Celestial Script carved into the ground beside them.

“These are numbers.” I said counting five rows of five holes each.

I hopped back up to the pedestal and inspected the other side which was nearly identical. I trotted up to the rock on the top and saw that it had writing on it. I ran back down and slid Enyi's and my translation journal and began to read, look to the stars for they hold the answer. What the hell did that mean. There were no stars in here and we had no way of getting outside to stare at them.

“You know just how much I hate puzzles.” Jackpot grunted as I related to them what the stone had said.

“Well Griffons usually put tricks and traps like these to protect their inner sanctums. This is probably a sign that we're near the main vault or maybe even the tomb itself!” Patches said with her usual excitement that in this situation was kind of getting on my nerves by this point.

“Let's just hope there's a shortcut out of here or something once we get to this inner sanctum.” Jackpot sighed back.

“Well then we should probably try to find out what exactly this puzzle is so we can get out of here before the spiders come back.” I said, looking back towards the spherical holes that had been carved into the two sides of the room.

“You said the stone mentioned something about the stars right?” Enyi said in the dim glow of the chamber.

“Yeah but I don't see any stars and there is no way we can go back where we came from to see any.”

“I say let us look around this room a bit and see if we have missed anything.”

“Good Idea Enyi.” I looked over at the others. Scarlet was laying down near the wall of the chamber resting while Silver watched her. Patches was floating around the walls looking more at the carvings while Jackpot was standing around looking miserable.

“Whoa!” Patches yelled. “I see something down on the floor there!” She yelled while pointing to the far corner of the room.

I ran over to see what she was pointing at and laying there in the far corner were about ten small spheres carved with more Pre-Celestial Script on their outside.

“What are these for I wonder?” I asked myself.

We gathered them up and placed them in the center of the room by the base of the stairs. I sat down near them trying to just figure out what exactly this whole puzzle room meant and what the point of these spheres was.

I sat there for a good long while trying to piece this puzzle together when a loud clunking sound suddenly popped up from behind me. I will admit that it caused me to jump a little (maybe a little scream escaped me but nopony could ever prove that). I quickly turned towards the noise to see that it was just Jackpot messing around with some of the spheres. He had dropped one when he tried to pick it up with his wing and had obviously still felt some pain as his wing gave way to the sphere dropping on the ground. The sphere rolled away at the impact until it conveniently settled into one of the holes that permeated the floor of the chamber.

“I'm an idiot.” I said as I ran over to the sphere.

I looked down the row of holes and saw that they extended all the way to the wall. I looked at where the ancient numbers had been carved into the ground and counted the same number of rows as there were spheres.

“I think these spheres are supposed to go in these holes here.”

“How do you know?” Patches asked coming over by me.

“The number of spheres matches the number of the rows of the holes and it just kinda makes sense when you really think about it.”

Jackpot and Enyi came over and inspected the rows themselves.

“Ivory, look at where the holes meet the wall.” Enyi said pointing to the end of the row of holes.

Indeed there was something interesting there. Each row was relatively evenly spaced and directly where they hit was wall was a set of the blue dots that permeated the ceiling. I trotted over to them and began to inspect these dots closer.

“I thought they were just a light source but they're...they're constellations.” I said looking closely at them.

“You mean like star pictures?” Patches asked.

“Yeah, images made from stars which means...” I looked up towards the ceiling and sure enough the dots there began to form images from various constellations, “This puzzle has something to do with these.”

We all started staring back at the wall and the ceiling incessantly. The ceiling was covered in the constellations as numerous copies of each one dotted various spots around the roof of the chamber.

Suddenly Patches picked up one of the spheres in her claws and flew it over to a hole on the furthest row from us. This row had an image of the constellation Lyra and as Patches placed the orb in the hole it suddenly lit up with an orange tinted hue.

“Patches, what did you do!” I yelled excitedly.

“Oh I uh just counted the number of constellations and put the ball here in the hole that had the same number listed.”

“Beautiful and smart, not bad.” Jackpot cooed from behind Patches.

Ignoring Jackpot I quickly began to count all the number of the various constellations that were pictured on the ceiling. The others did so as well and soon we had placed all of the spheres in their correct spots resulting in a soothing glow from all of them as a stone slab on the far wall gave way to one more hallway.

We all trotted over to where the new passage had just opened up with Jackpot helping Scarlet make her way over with us. Any initial excitement I felt for a potential way out of these dark tunnels was dashed when we stepped into this new passage. Sparky once again began to dim and no light whatsoever could be seen through the dark tunnel prompting us to move back to the puzzle room.

“How much you wanna bet that there's gonna be more giant spiders down there?” Jackpot said sarcastically.

“It's not like we have much of a choice is it? Either we go back to get eaten by giant spiders or we go forward and maybe get eaten by giant spiders.” I answered in an annoyed tone.

“Not very good prospects either way.” Enyi added.

“Well I say we go for it!” Patches said still trying to sound upbeat.

We all lined back up at the entrance of the new passageway, each one of us no doubt dreading exactly what we would find in there.

“You know what guys, anypony think its weird that none of the spiders have followed us in here or that there's no webs or anything?” I said this trying to sound like I was being smart while in reality I was just trying to stall from going into the new passage.

“Yeah I did notice that.” Jackpot answered a bit too enthusiastically to not get the meaning of my tone of voice.

“You know if we just stand here talking the spiders will probably forget whatever reason is keeping them out of here and just come on in right?” Silver said(Luna dammit).

“Hey Jackpot, you got any cider left in your bags?” I asked.

“Yeah, here ya go.” Jackpot slid Scarlet down, much to her annoyance, and began digging through his saddlebag. I could hear the clinking of empty flasks as he dug his muzzle through his bags.

“How much of that have you had already?” Scarlet asked from the floor.

“You mean since we've been in here or the whole trip?”

“Ugh, never mind.” Scarlet said a little uncharacteristically brusque.

After a few seconds Jackpot pulled out a partially full flask and after a quick gulp passed it on to me. I grabbed it in my hooves and eagerly gulped down the remaining liquid; it burned a little going down but by this point it felt like heaven as the strength of it soon hit me. I coughed a little after draining the flask but the feelings ease and comfort the drink gave me far outweighed that mild discomfort. At this Jackpot helped Scarlet back up and after hesitating only a few seconds more I plunged muzzle first into the darkened hallway.

Sparky once again began to dim as the familiar feeling of stick webbing began to ooze around my hooves. I could see the small silvery strands glistening in the dull light of Sparky as the hallway gave way to a set of stairs that declined at a rather steep angle. This was not comfortable getting through as the passage really started to get narrow and with Jackpot practically carrying Scarlet it was slow going.

“I don't hear anything.” I said from my position in the front.

“Let us hop it remains as such.” Enyi answered from right behind me.

I don't like stairs. I never really have but it really wasn't until right now that I absolutely hated them. Imagine spending Celestia knows how long on one staircase, covered in magical light absorbing spider webs, in the dark, in a confined and narrow passage with two other ponies, a Zebra and a Griffon all stuffed right behind you. It was hot and stuffy with the only real comforting feeling I got was whenever Enyi would 'accidentally' brush up against my flank. To top it all off Jackpot and Scarlet began bickering about healthy eating habits or some other topic I really didn't care about. At least Silver and Patches seemed to get along well enough and were each professional enough to not start needlessly talking while we all remained cramped in the narrow staircase. When Patches did start talking, mostly because Scarlet and Jackpot began roping others into their little arguments, she had that optimistic tone that at this point was just really starting to annoy me.

“Oh thank Celestia's glowing butt!” I yelled as I finally stepped hoof into a large open space.

“Fina-fuckin-ly!” Jackpot yelled from behind me as he too showed visibly happiness to be out of that cramped stairway.

My joy was short lived when after stepping fully into the new room Sparky's light suddenly shut off and disappeared completely.

“Oh shit!” I yelled almost without thinking.

“Language!” Scarlet yelled from somewhere near me in the dark.

“Oh like anypony cares about that in this situation!” Jackpot's voice then shouted out.

'Will you two please just be quiet!” I heard Silver finally yell out from somewhere.

Just when I thought that this was the moment the spiders were going to all jump out and eat us Sparky began once again glowing softly in the darkened chamber. Around us were once again piles of treasure and I mean PILES OF TREASURE. These ones seemed to rise four or five times my own height as jewels and gold and so many other precious and shiny things began to sparkle and reflect the light of Sparky.

This would have astounded us if not for...lets just say...the elephant or in this case GIANT FUCKING SPIDER in the room.

“Luna and Celestia's exploding mare-holes what in the name of Equestria is that!” I shouted as at the other end of the large chamber a large shape loomed overhead. It was like nothing I had ever seen before; it was a spider...no it was like a spider but not quite. This thing sat on a large bulbous body on what looked like some kind of large platform or scaffolding. It's legs (it had many) were laying at it's side without any motion whatsoever. On the beasts face were several black round eyes surrounded by even more empty sockets that dotted it's face.

“Lazilob.” Enyi moaned as his hooves fell from under him and his body hit the floor with a thud.

Lazilob's body seemed to be made up of four or five large sections with dark splotches of...well...I really didn't know what they were. We all stood there expecting her to leap up at any moment and devour us but after about a minute of standing frozen in abject terror I opened my eyes to discover I had in fact not been eaten.

“Um guys, what's going on?” I asked as my friends also began to realize nothing had happened.

Scarlet pushed herself away from Jackpot and with wobbly legs slowly approached Lazilob.

“Whoa there Scarlet!” Jackpot called out, “No way I'm letting you near that thing!” Jackpot leaned forward to try and stop Scarlet from getting closer but a quick flick of magic towards hi hoof was enough to knock Jackpot off balance and onto his face.

“Just look at her.” Scarlet said transfixed on the hulking form before us.

“I am and she looks like she could eat us all in one bite!” I called out to Scarlet while beginning to run towards her.

“Scarlet do not go near her!” Enyi shouted out following me.

“Please, just give me a minute!” Scarlet yelled back at us, stopping me and Enyi in our tracks.

“Just be careful!” Silver called from behind me.

“See if she can talk!” I heard Patches shout out.

“Look at her face.” Scarlet said as she neared the massive arachnid's body, “Most of her eyes are missing.”

“Yes and there is probably a good reason for that!” Enyi shouted in a worried voice.

“Correct, and the reason is that she's dying.” Scarlet stated matter of factly.

“What!” We all shouted in near unison.

“She can hardly even move them anymore.” Scarlet said as I looked on and saw two of the few remaining eyes move slightly downwards towards where Scarlet was standing.

I stood there and watched, hearing only the sound of gulping as Jackpot swigged down more of his cider.

“Her legs are so old and tattered.” Scarlet said softly as she walked along the massive body of Lazilob. “She probably can hardly even see anymore also.” Scarlet pointed out to us.

“That does not mean she is not dangerous!” Enyi continued to shout worriedly as he began taking small steps towards Scarlet.

“I think I see it.” Jackpot of all ponies blurted out.

“Wait, what!?” I said.

Jackpot now began walking towards Lazilob, Silver and Patches slowly followed him. I looked at Enyi and then back towards Scarlet as we both now followed suite.

“What do we do?” Patches asked as she stood right up to Lazilob's motionless legs.

“We kill her.” Enyi said.

“WHAT!” Scarlet shouted out, “THIS IS A DEFENSELESS CREATURE!”

“This creature has killed thousands of my people.”

“Yeah, thousands of years ago! Maybe she's changed!” Scarlet sounded very distressed.

“I agree with Enyi.” Silver coldly said staring up at the near lifeless gaze of the spider.

Even Enyi looked a little surprised at that ad he confusedly yet gratefully stared at Silver.

“Well I think Scarlet's got the right of it.” Jackpot said getting even stranger stares from both Enyi and Scarlet.

“I thought of all of us you would agree with me Jackpot?” Enyi said.

“Well you thought wrong.” Jackpot answered him.

“Um, I also agree with Scarlet and Jackpot.” Patches squeaked as she continued to gaze amazed at various parts of Lazilob's body.

Enyi then turned towards me. I could tell by the look on his face he expected me to agree with him on this. Enyi wasn't exactly wrong, I mean this thing is supposedly a monster and not even mentioning those other spiders which were probably her children or something gross like that.

“Ivory.” Enyi said straight at me, “This monster is evil. Remember she killed Abila and countless of my ancestors.”

“Ivory!” Scarlet started pleading, “She can't defend herself and she certainly can't hurt us one bit.

I have to admit I was thinking the same as Scarlet but still, Enyi had a real point that this creature was at one point a horrifying monster that committed great harm to Enyi's people and was the one who killed his greatest hero. This and the fact I didn't want to upset him so soon in our relationship made me extremely unsure as to what I felt we should do.

“Remember Goldie.” Silver whispered into my ear, “This is the same for Enyi as she is for you.”

Princesses dammit he was right. I was hiding something from Enyi on the excuse that I needed it to get justice for Grit and make Goldie fucking Grail pay for what she did. If I sided against him on this how could I really keep justifying that fact to myself by not letting him get his.

“Ivory! Don't you dare hurt her!” Scarlet pleaded.

“Why do you care so much?” I asked, looking at Scarlet.

“It's just...it's just...It wouldn't be right Ivory. Ponies aren't supposed to act like that. Think about it this way Ivory; She looks like she is imprisoned here, maybe this is what the Griffons and Zebras from that time sentenced her to. None of those other spiders really hurt us and thinking back it really looks like they were just leading us here, don't you think?”

“Come to think of it yeah.” Jackpot interrupted, “Nopony but Enyi even really got hurt and he mostly got bruises from when that spider knocked him to the floor.”

“Do you not think that counts as an injury!” Enyi said now somewhat angry.

“Well it does but is it really that bad. Ivory actually blasted some of them so really we hurt them more than they hurt us already.”

“I am surprised Jackpot, I surely thought you would side with me on this matter.” Enyi said to him still somewhat confused.

“Listen, you don't grow up like me without seeing some things you don't much like and let's just say I'm not into hurting something that can't fight back.”

“Well Scarlet, what would you want us to do with her then?” I asked getting a look from Enyi.

“She looks like she's in pain. Maybe we could try and do something about that?”

“Like what?” Enyi huffed.

“Well I don't know any anesthetic spells but maybe we could try and rearrange some of her legs, they do look like they are in somewhat awkward positions.”

“This is a mistake! She is evil, we should not be helping her!” Enyi yelled back at Scarlet.

“I agree.” Silver said, “Something like this shouldn't get our sympathy.”

“I'm surprised at you Silver!” Scarlet said now very upset, “You didn't seem like that kind of pony.”

“What? How can you be sure this monster here wouldn't kill us all if she was able? Enyi is really the only reliable source of information on her and he says she has only ever been a plague on the world.”

While they all argued I stood there thinking to myself. I kept looking up at Lazilob's eyes( the ones that were left anyway) and seeing how darkened and dull they were. Scarlet was probably right on her not being able to see very well if at all and one look at her tattered and shriveled legs told me she couldn't move either. Even with this I could see Lazilob was still alive as her eyes would move back and forth with whoever was talking.

“I wonder if Lazilob can understand us?” I said out loud.

“With all of Scarlet's yelling she probably does.” Enyi huffed again.

“You're yelling just as much as I am mister.” Scarlet huffed and nickered right back.

Jackpot trotted up next to me, “I get why you're hesitating. I wouldn't want to upset Enyi if I were you but if my opinion means anything Goldie would have killed this spider without a second thought.”

“So what do I do then huh? Enyi is right about her being evil but Scarlet is also right in that she is completely helpless.”

Jackpot took a deep breath, “You're right and I guess I don't really know but I'm just saying I would leave her alone.”

“Scarlet may have had a point about those other spiders though.” I said garnering a quizzical look from Jackpot, “They really didn't hurt us and thinking back on it it does look like they were leading us here with blocking off our exit and all.”

“It's a mystery I guess.” Jackpot answered while shrugging his wings.

“Hey Enyi?”

“What is it Ivory?” Enyi stopped arguing with Scarlet to answer me.

“What did you feel when that spider jumped you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Answer as best you can please.”

Enyi stopped talking as a look of deep thought came onto his face, “I jumped back when I saw it coming towards me and I remember hitting the floor.”

“What did the spider feel like to you?”

“What did it feel like? I suppose once I hit the floor I really did not feel much other that terrified.”

“So you didn't actually feel the spider on top of you?”

“I suppose not...no.” Enyi looked thoroughly confused by this sudden realization.

“The spiders were leading us here or at least to that puzzle room.” I said mostly to myself.

“They wanted us to find Lazilob.” Patches, finally saying something, answered.

“What do you mean?” Enyi asked.

“Those spiders were illusions.” Patches said.

“What!?” We all said.

“Look here.” Patches was standing off to the side where she held a small box-like device in her claws. She pressed down on a small button and suddenly a spider jumped out before quickly disappearing into the floor.

“What is that?” I said completely in awe.

“There's a bunch of them behind Lazilob's legs.” Patches said pointing to a small corner where she had slightly moved a part of one of the legs and sure enough there were several of these boxes there.

“What the hell does this all mean exactly?” Jackpot said confused and scratching his head.

“Griffons often put puzzles and traps in their tombs remember. I think these spider boxes were one of them.” Patches exclaimed.

“A defense that leads somepony further into somewhere? Really?” Enyi said in disbelief.

“I think Lazilob controls them.” Patches said while looking closer at the box.

“Then she wanted us to come and help her!” Scarlet beamed.

“Or she was leading us here to devour us.” Enyi said back.

“How could she! She couldn't hurt a fly how she is!” Scarlet huffed back.

While they started to all argue again I walked up towards Lazilob's face. It was just high enough off the ground for me to not be able to reach it but I could still look into her eyes. What I saw was emptiness and loneliness at having spent an eternity in the dark alone. I just couldn't believe that this creature had been a city devouring demon like Enyi claimed she was. She just looked so weak and helpless, like one push and she would crumble to dust. I gently put my hoof on the front of her body and stroked it slowly. I could feel a slight shiver in her as I did this and when I tilted my head up I saw her eyes looking straight down at me. They just looked so sad that I put my hoof down and turned towards my friends.

“We're not hurting her.” I said.

Scarlet's face lit up and even Jackpot gave a sigh and look of relief while Enyi turned away nickering silently to himself. Silver just gave a quizzical look as if he were pondering something while Patches just continued to stare in awe of the massive spider-like creature that lay before us. When I put my hoof gently back on Lazilob Scarlet joined me as she gave a huge and dominating smile of pure happiness.

“Thank you Ivory.”

I looked back at Enyi with an apologetic look on my face before turning back to Scarlet, “I just couldn't hurt her, not like this.”

Just then a loud and large groaning sound was heard as the room began to shake. Piles of metal and treasure began to shake as bits and pieces began to fall and clang and clatter on the ground. Lazilob began to actually move causing us all to back up away from her in an effort to not be squashed by her large body. Then in a momentary flash she seemed to disappear before our very eyes, melting into the darkness of the webs of unlight that surrounded her.

“What the...” is all I could say.

The room stopped moving and in the spot Lazilob had formerly been in a pale light glowed forth as a large stone box replaced he large body. Sitting on top of this box was a statue of a large Griffon with a kindly smile on his face and a silver cloak in his outstretched claw.

*****

When we had taken the cloak on the claw that held it out was written Compassion in Pre-Celestial Script. The exit to the tomb, and a tomb it was, happened to be directly behind the sarcophagus of Greywing. The door led to a sheer drop of about two hundred feet that thank Celestia none of us fell down. Patches and Silver carried us down, with Silver having to leave his giant pack for last in order to actually carry anypony.

When we at last breathed the free and open air it was well into the night and near dawn of the next day. We slept, uneasily, at the foot of the cliff until about noon and it was well into the afternoon when Patches finally got us back to Griffonstone. She had kept the silvery cloak with her the entire journey back which did not afford me the luxury of seeing what magical effect it had but after the shield I was not entirely disappointed by that. Patches had even taken one of the illusion boxes for study by the Griffon library and to compel possible near future expeditions into the tomb.

We were able to sleep one more night in the palace before setting out back for Canterlot on the train the next morning. All that while I didn't talk to Enyi and I couldn't tell if he was angry for me not siding with him or that his decision had proved to be the wrong one.

The train had been underway for several hours and Enyi had taken to sitting alone in the same stall he had been in on our way over to Griffonstone. I must have stood outside the door for hours before building up the courage to go inside.

“Um, Enyi. Are you ok? If you want to be alone I under...”

“Please stay Ivory.” He said softly.

I trotted up and sat down on the seat right next to him.

“I'm sorry for not siding with you but...”

I didn't have time to finish as Enyi quickly turned around and planted a kiss right on my lips. I immediately melted down to the seat as he released the kiss.

“You did what you thought was best. I may not agree with it but do not think that it means I do not like you anymore.”

“Hehehe.” is the sound that I mumbled as I remained melted on the seat a blissful smile on my face.

Enyi stroked my mane and chuckled a little, “Our first fight so soon huh? Well I think I now know a bit more about you and you me.” he let out a little sigh as he turned his head back out the window as I laid my head in his lap.

It's your Hero!

Chapter 11: It's Your Hero!

“Come on Enyi! You can't just leave me like that!” I whined as we disembarked from the train.

“You only get one. I am mad at you after all.”

“So you just kiss me then leave me sitting there for a whole day in a small room on a train with you staring out your window?”

“Yes.”

I groaned, “Look the choice not to hurt Lazilob turned out to be right anyway so how can you be mad!?”

“It really is not that difficult.” Enyi said with a hint of smugness.

“Even if I did side with you the vote would have been tied, three to three. All it would have accomplished is making us sit in that cold, dark, spider infested tomb for a whole lot longer!”

“Listen Ivory, that monster nearly destroyed my peoples history,” Enyi said, his tone suddenly turning dour, “She nearly ruined everything Abila tried to save and killed her just to top it off. I can not accept letting that creature go unpunished.” Enyi turned away and kept walking.

I just stood there on the train platform staring down at my hooves in a depressed state that was becoming all to familiar to me. Jackpot and Scarlet each trotted up next to me and each gave me a friendly punch on my shoulder.

“If it makes ya feel any better we think you made the better choice.” Jackpot cheerily said.

“Yeah Ivory, it might not seem like it but you made the right choice. The fact we managed to get that cool looking cloak showed that it was what we were supposed to do after all.” Scarlet said giving a big smile.

“I know but Enyi is technically right, at least a little bit right?” I said looking at Scarlet.

“Well I suppose he was but she had obviously been imprisoned down there for a long time and from my point of view that probably was her punishment.” Scarlet said back.

“Yeah kid! Abila died thousands of years ago which means that Labi-whatever her name was must have been down there nearly as long right? That's longer than any prison term we have here in Equestria so that surely counts for something.” Jackpot added.

Silver now exited the train, his large pack still slowing him down, “I disagree.” he said sternly, “If what Enyi said about Lazilob was true she killed thousands and was feared enough to be considered one of the two greatest demons of the Darkness. You need to understand how that would make him feel and understand that a monster like that has a very little chance of just suddenly becoming good out of nowhere. I won't doubt that your choice worked out in the end but you really need to be careful in those kinds of situations.”

“I should probably do something for Enyi then!” I suddenly perked up, “Yeah I'll do something so he won't have to be mad at me!”

“Good idea, I say we discuss it over at Joe's!” Jackpot said sounding very excited.

“I don't know. I get the feeling Enyi doesn't like Joe's place very much.”

“Well I think you should go.” Scarlet surprisingly said.

“Wait, what!?” Enyi and I both said.

“It'll give him some time to cool off and give you some time to think of something as long as you two don't go overboard on that weird cider again.”

“Good point Scarlet!” Jackpot excitedly said.

“Well I guess that makes sense.” I said feeling somewhat happy to go back there myself.

“We'll go and have a talk with Enyi if it'll make you feel any better.” Silver said.

“Thanks, both of you.” I happily said before turning off with Jackpot towards Cider Joe's.

*****

It was a long night. Jackpot and I sat around for hours trying to think of something to smooth things over with Enyi to the point of getting rather hungry and thirsty. I admit I got...somewhat carried away but by the end of the night Jackpot and I had come up with the idea of showing Enyi around Emerald Flake's excavation site back in Canterlot. It was a pretty good idea to let him look around the place I found Sparky as there could be more Abila related artifacts that had not been found yet.

The next morning was not as bad as I thought it would be. I felt only a little sick, although I had not really had that much so I guess that makes sense, and after some complimentary pancakes from Joe I felt much better. Jackpot and I got some early morning training in on the obstacle course and some sparring before we set out for home.

“It's the afternoon! What took you two so long!” Scarlet huffed, very obviously upset with an equally as upset Enyi and Silver sitting next to her. They were all sitting at the couch in the front living room with Scarlet reading from Dash Venture and the Wild Wasteland.

“Well we had to do a lot of brainstorming and a lot of...”

“Don't say anything, I can smell your breath just fine thank you.” Scarlet continued to huff.

Silver cleared his throat to clear the air, “Well anyway I believe we all planned to have a visit with Ms. Hero over in Marewaukee.”

“Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that.” I said poking my head to signify a brain malfunction.

“Silver has already acquired the appropriate train tickets.” Enyi said while not looking at me.

“I'm sorry ok.” I said as apologetically as I could, “How about when we get back I take you to the excavation spot where I found Sparky here, you never know if any more Abila related artifacts could be just waiting to be found?” I put on the biggest smile of my life here followed by the best puppy dog face I could muster.

Enyi's eyes drifted down to me and my very, very, very adorable face and while he may have had a stern expression on at first it quickly softened into a little chuckle.

“Very well Ivory. I appreciate the offer and I think that I will take you up on it.”

“Really!” My face lit up.

Enyi leaned over and gave me a little hug, “Do not worry Ivory, as I said on the train I do not think any less of you for your choice, it is just not the one I would have made.”

I quickly returned the hug and turned my face so I would be staring right into his. He very obviously didn't take my bate as after he released the hug he sat up and started walking towards the door.

“Shall we go then Ivory? Our train does not depart until tonight so we shall have plenty of time to see this excavation of yours.”

I quickly got up and scrambled over to Enyi, “Don't worry guys, we'll be back later ok! Tomorrow I can show all of you all the best and most famous spots in Marewaukee ok!” I shouted as Enyi and I exited the house.

As I expected the excavation was still going on and while Emerald was no longer there she had given permission beforehoof to let me back in whenever I wanted. With this I took Enyi to where I had found Sparky and I even managed to show him how to properly dig around with the small brushed and picks that archeologists used. We didn't find anything but I for one was having a lot of fun just hanging out with Enyi here and judging by his facial expressions he was certainly having a fun time as well.

I was able to show him some things that had already been found by other ponies though. I walked him over to a table where recent finds were placed for examination and walked him through exactly what it was we were looking at. There was several pottery pieces from the classical pony period as well as a few hunks of malformed metal that had the label, coins, in front of them.

“I don't see it.” I said.

“Perhaps they are mislabeled?” Enyi mused.

“Well they are made of metal so I guess they might be coins?” I mused right back.

“These coins they do seem rather odd, but by your knowledge I am awed.” Enyi rhymed.

I gave a little chuckle of embarrassment, “Grit would have been able to tell you the exact year these were made, who made them and who that pony's cousin was.”

“He had many more years of study than you but I think you are going to surpass him before the end of all this.”

“Yeah, we have been learning a lot of previously unknown knowledge. I mean Grit wasn't even able to translate the Pre-Celestial Script much while we just keep getting better at it.”

“But without Grit's notes neither of us could have even started to translate Abila's journal.”

“That's true Enyi. Grit really was a genius.” a few tears started to fall from my eyes as I said this. “Too bad he wasted all of it in the end.”

“I did not know him as you did but he always seemed focused on the big picture goals.” it was at this moment he probably noticed me crying because his front hoof soon gently wrapped around me, “I know it is difficult to lose one who you admire, but with you his legacy will not expire.”

“Thanks.” I sniffled a little as I looked lovingly at Enyi before quickly giving him a small kiss on the cheek, “Got ya.” I said making myself laugh a little.

“Indeed you did.” Enyi chuckled back before gently kissing me right back.

When we got back to the house everypony noticed our improved moods(especially Enyi's). It was well into the evening and I was annoyed to see nopony had gone out to get any food. Jackpot, Silver and Scarlet had instead eaten the last of whatever little bits and pieces of food that had been laying around the house. I didn't want to go out again so soon and the others seemed just as lazy as me in this regard. Luckily they were good friends and had saved the absolute last bit of food for Enyi and myself which we happily ate before we all regathered our stuff and set out for Marewaukee.

*****

The train ride went quickly as we all slept on the ride over(overnight rides tend to do that). When we all woke up the city was cresting the horizon as the tall skyscrapers of the burgeoning metropolis came into view. I got very excited, this city was the center of so many pieces of modern Equestrian history and the place where Grit first made a real name for himself.

It was in this city that he helped the dragon Hero uncover a secret society and then save all of Equestria from them. Not to mention Hero herself who was the subject of many famous incidents from the several years prior to her first meeting Grit. Her famous recountings of her adventures on her radio station were essentially Equestrian history and now even had classes in universities from Twilight Sparkle's school to Celestia's school in Canterlot. Hero's stories were the stuff of some legend themselves due to her constant run ins with the insane pony scientist Fornix. Fornix fashioned himself a super villain who for some reason wanted to destroy Hero and her blooming radio station. His antics to destroy her and the many curious characters she encountered in her early investigations of the Ponyfire Club were nearly as famous as Grit Stratum's later adventures.

“Look! Marewaukee Central Station!” I excitedly shouted as the train neared it's final destination. “It was on this spot that Grit bade his heart warming goodbye to Hero and Fornix after their legendary adventures!”

The train pulled up and the doors opened onto the platform. Sure enough when I exited I ran right to the spot which had been conveniently marked by a small plaque signifying a historical moment in the city's history.

“And look over there!” I pointed straight to the far side of the train platform where a large half-melted block of concrete had been set up in a display case. “That's the wall that Fornix shot with his DESTRUCTONATOR!” I was in fanpony heaven.

Enyi laughed slightly at my unbridled joy as Jackpot, Scarlet and Silver followed us out of the train.

“This city obviously holds much significance for you Ivory.” Enyi pointed out.

“You have no idea how long I've wanted to come here Enyi. It's practically been a dream of mine forever!”

I eagerly led the group out of the train station and onto the busy sidewalk that connected it with the rest of the city. From out of the hustle and bustle and noise of the city I heard the unmistakeable and immortal words of one of the greatest ponies in the city.

“BUY SOME APPLES!” A high pitched voice with a heavy southern accent shouted out.

“It can't be!” I shouted myself in almost complete disbelief.

I turned towards where the voice echoed out from and there, a little ways away was a small wooden stand where a light orange pony with a deep blond mane stood (I know what you're thinking and no it's not the mare you're thinking of).

“It's Angela Apple!” I shouted, “No fucking way!” I shouted again before covering my mouth as a mother passed by covering the ears of her filly and giving me a dirty look.

“HEY YOU! YEAH YOU! BUY SOME APPLES ALREADY!” Angela shouted directly at me and my friends.

I broke into a run as my friends, surprised by my sudden outburst, merely stood there for several seconds completely confused until they realized what I was doing and followed after me. I stopped on a dime the moment I stood in front of the small apple stall that the young looking mare stood behind.

“Wait a minute...you're not Angela Apple. Sorry about that, it seems I mistook you for somepony else.” I said getting a little embarrassed.

“Huh? Whatcha mean I ain’t Angela Apple? I'll have ya know that that's totally my name!” the apple selling pony huffed in her country accent.

“No way, Angela Apple is at least as old as Grit, if not older. You on the other hoof look no older than me.” I said pointing to the definitely young pony's face.

“Wait an apple-pickin minute! You sayin I look old!?” she nickered.

“What, no. I'm saying you look too young.” I nickered back.

“Aww, yer so thoughtful fer sayin so.” the mare said suddenly sounding very cheerful.

“What?” I said confused.

“Well anyway, I'm Angela Apple! Purveyor of the finest apples this side o' Equestria, what can I do ya fer!?”

“So your saying you're really THE Angela Apple?”

“Uh, I believe that's what I said little missy.”

“How!? You should at least be in your sixties...no seventies by now!” I said completely shocked.

“I like ta think I aged quite well darling.” Angela said poofing her dirt covered mane with her hoof slightly.

“Ivory! Slow down, wait for us!” Jackpot yelled as he and the others finally caught up.

“Wow! More customers! How bout y’all buy some apples huh?”

“Who is this?” Enyi asked.

“Apparently this is THE Angela Apple.” I said.

“WAIT!” Silver interrupted, “You mean from the Hero Studio stories and Dash Venture books?”

“Apparently.” I answered.

“She's so young though? She should be like seventy or something now right?” Silver said confused.

“Is this a pony I should know?” Enyi whispered into my ear.

“Well well, we got some fans here I take it.” Angela said from her spot behind her small cart. “Since y'all seem ta be havin some trouble understandin, yes I am THE Angela Apple from yer friendly neighborhood news Dragon.”

My eyes began to grow and grow and grow and grow almost to the point of exploding out of my head. Angela Apple is a legend in the Dash Venture fan clubs and in Marewaukee history. She was mostly famous for being the only real friend the crazy mad scientist Fornix had in the early stories and Dash Venture books and for being the only pony who actually helped him with his constant craziness when all the psychiatrists and city-appointed doctors failed.

“So you know Fornix?” I asked eagerly.

“Oh yeah, me and little Pish Posh go waaaay back. He used ta actually buy apples ya know.” Angela said while pointing down to the ten apples she had sitting on her cart.

“Is that all?” Scarlet asked from behind me.

“Is that all!? Is that all!? I'll have ya know thems be the finest apples in all Equestria! Not even my cousin Applejack could grow better apples than this.” Angela said proudly.

“Well I'm sorry for not recognizing you but it's just so weird how you look so young and all.” I said sheepishly.

“Oh it's all dandy kiddo! Ponies make that mistake all the time.” she said waving her hoof dismissively, “So bout them apples?”

“How much?” Jackpot asked from behind me.

“Fer you nice ponies only two bits an apple!” Angela said smiling.

“Hmm, can't do one bit?” Jackpot asked back.

“Nope, two bits per apple please!” Angela said holding out her orange hoof.

I looked over at Silver who after a slight moment of hesitation slipped out ten bits, one apple for each of us. Angela took the bits happily and slid them into a small can she had sitting next to the cart.

“Well, how are they?” Angela asked.

I stood there munching on the sweet crispy red fruit. It took several seconds to hit me but the was the BEST APPLE I HAD EVER HAD. I got completely lost in the near overpowering flavor of the crunchy sweetness of the apple and if I had been paying attention I would have found my friends in similar situations. After I swallowed I came out of the trance to find Angela standing there expecting an answer to a question I had not heard.

“Huh?” I asked.

“How were the apples?” she asked again.

“Fucking amazing.” Jackpot absentmindedly blurted out.

“Glad ya like it now is there anything else I can do to help?”

“Oh yeah.” I said shaking my head trying to forget about the absolutely amazing apple I had just eaten, “We're looking for Hero.”

“Hero?...Oh you must be Ivory Star then!”

“Wait you know me?” I asked.

“Uh yeah, Grit and I have been friends fer years, too bad that guy had to be a jerk and do what he did.” Angela said sounding very upset.

“So, you know about the artifact smuggling too?” I asked as I suddenly felt my depression coming back before Enyi came up and gave me a little nuzzle with his muzzle to cheer me up.

“What? No, I'm not talkin bout Grit. I was talkin bout somepony else.”

“Who?” Silver asked, interrupting me.

“You don't know him but he's kinda a dumb pear bucker if ya catch ma drift.” Angela said pretending to whisper it to us.

“Ok then, like I said we really want to see Hero. Do you know if she's at her studio right now or off somewhere else?” I asked.

“Oh sure, she's home but she ain't lettin nopony in the last couple days. Only Pish and his little buddy can get into the studio these days.”

“Wow, she's really taking all of this pretty hard then.” Scarlet said worriedly from behind me.

“Yeah, last time I saw her she was pretty out of it.” Angela said while shaking her can of bits.

“Then I think we definitely need to go and talk to her.” I said.

“Yeah, my brother always says: 'Talkins the best way ta cheer somepony up!', or something like that.” Angela mused.

“Wait, since when do you have a brother!” I gasped at learning a trivia fact about a Dash Venture character that I did not already know.

“What ya haven't met him yet?...Oh yeah, that chapter hasn't been written yet.” Angela said, confused at first but then seeming like she figured it out at the end.

“What are you talking about?” Enyi asked, finally saying something.

“Oh, you'll see in time...or maybe not, as long as you don't run away again.” Angela said.

“Wait, I have never...”

“You're not making any sense, ya know that right?” Jackpot interrupted.

“I make more sense that your love life buster.” Angela said in an almost joking manner.

“Wait, what!?” Jackpot said, with a stumped look on his face as if he had just been punched.

“Yer gonna have to go back to those two someday, before it's too late.” Angela said, dropping her joking tone.

Jackpot just stood there with a completely shocked look on his face. He said nothing and did nothing almost as if Angela had actually unnerved him in some way. I looked up at Jackpot with an almost equal level of confusion as to what she was talking about.

“Jackpot, what's she talking about?” Scarlet asked Jackpot very obviously alarmed about Jackpot's sudden debilitated state.

Jackpot turned his face away and muttered something to himself that probably was not very nice and slowly walked a ways away from the group.

“What were you talking about?” Scarlet asked Angie with very obvious worry in her voice, “What's going on, I'm confused?”

“You'll grow out of that.” Angela answered more than likely only confusing Scarlet more if her face was any indication.

“You were always rather strange in the books.” Silver said, “I always thought Hero and Grit made all that up, or at least exaggerated it but I guess not.”

“You're one to talk.” Angela said straight to Silver's face. Silver backed up slightly as a small look of indignation appeared on his face, “Get a new hobby there Silver, this one you got going on ain't gonna help anything.”

“We'll see.” Silver said in a surprised sounding tone in his voice.

“Well this has been...strange. But I guess with Angela Apple that's to be expected.” I said now looking at my confused and dour friends.

“Yeah, I get a lot of that to.” Angela said looking as surprised at my friends reactions a I was. Angela now looked right at me, “You think things are strange now, you have absolutely no idea just how weird all this is gonna get.”

“Ominous.” I said, now slightly apprehensive myself.

“Thanks, I've been practicing.” Angela said with pride in her voice.

“Um...ok.” I was now very confused.

“Well anyhow, head on over to Pish Posh Orphanage. The big bad villain himself should be there right now if you want him to get you in to meet Hero.” Angela said, putting her smile back on.

“Wait, seriously! I'm gonna meet Pish Posh himself in the actual Pish Posh Orphanage!” I squealed suddenly very excited to meet another hero of mine.

“Whoa there kid, don't wanna be goin all crazy like round him. I uh...I'm sure you know what'll happen.” Angela pointed out to me.

“Oops, oh yeah. I forgot about that, silly me.” I said, calming myself down.

“What is she talking about Ivory?” Enyi asked.

“I'll tell ya on the way over ok Enyi.” I said still somewhat excited to meet a real life equestrian legend.

“I think we may need to wait several minutes before we head out.” Enyi said back to me.

“Why?”

Enyi gestured to the others and I saw what he was referring to. Jackpot was sitting on the corner of the sidewalk with his head bowed down looking depressed and Scarlet was staring at Angela with a look of half disbelief and half confusion on her face. Silver was just staring curiously at Angela as she stared right back at him but with an innocent smile on her face.

“I see.” I said rubbing my chin with my hoof.

I turned back to Angela and gave her a friendly wave as I ran over to try and calm my friends down. Silver only took a few pokes to regain his attention, Scarlet took that and a light knock on her head to help her recollect herself but Jackpot on the other hoof kept sulking. He trotted back over to me but I could tell by his face he was not very happy about something.

“Jackpo...”

“How the hell.” Jackpot mumbled, interrupting me. His face looked utterly stupefied as he said this.

“You ok?” I asked.

“Ivory, who is she?” Jackpot and I turned back towards where Angela was only to see that the apple selling pony and her cart were gone.

A throng of ponies had shoved their way past us on the busy street corner and in the hustle of the large crowd I had lost sight of Angela. When the crowd passed she seemed to have passed along with them.

“Wow, she really does that.” I said nearly speechless.

“Did she do that in these books you keep mentioning?” Enyi asked.

“Yeah, from time to time.”

“And who is this Pish Posh? I have heard you mention that name at some point I believe.”

It once again occurred to me, Enyi had never read the Dash Venture books nor did he really know much about Equestrian history aside from what we have each learned since our first meeting in Khaweth. It keeps being a problem, forgetting that anypony would not have read the greatest books ever written was an idea that while still strange was becoming too commonplace for my place. Although the legitimacy of the books is now somewhat in question and you can bet your flank I'm going to be talking to Hero about this subject as well.

“He's Fornix. The insane mad scientist pony who used to try and destroy Hero in her early days though he was really more of a really big nuisance than any kind of world conquering super villain.” I said almost instinctively.

“Again the name has been mentioned but I am still somewhat unsure as to who that is.”

“Everypony has at least heard of him, right?” Scarlet asked, trotting up to Enyi and myself.

“Yeah, even I've at least heard of Fornix.” Jackpot added.

“You know that whole multiple personality thing...yeah it's one of those except slightly different.” I said to Enyi.

“How so?”

“Well...it's like a whole other pony lives inside his brain. They can talk to each other, switch places at will and even physically change when one or the other is in control.” I said, drawing on my near encyclopedic knowledge of the subject of Grit's early adventures.

“So it has some basis in magic then?” Enyi said, confused.

“Yeah. Fornix is really weird but even when he was 'evil' he was always really fun to read and hear about. We really never did get an explanation about his state of mind though so nopony has ever really been able to do anything about it, not that he'd want to get rid of Fornix anyway.”

“Hmm, so then we will be in for another interesting conversation then?”

“Well if Pish Posh is in control probably not. He's actually pretty normal.”

“Well then it will be nice to finally speak with a normal, level headed pony.” Enyi said putting a little smile on his face.

“What's that supposed to mean?” I said trying to sound offended.

“Nothing.” Enyi whispered as he gave me a quick and light bop on my muzzle with his hoof.

I of course knew exactly where the legendary Pish Posh Orphanage was simply from reading about it for my entire life. It was a practical living breathing historical landmark here in Marewaukee. Crossing the busy streets and tall skyscrapers, ebbing our way past crowds of walking ponies and trying not to get hit by running cabs were all things we quickly got used to here in Marewaukee. I followed the street-signs from their descriptions in the books perfectly. I knew where I was going (mostly) but it was still a ways away from the train station so the walk took a good amount of time to complete.

“Here we go!” I said with excitement as me and my friends now gazed upon the front of the legendary Pish Posh Orphanage.

It was a large five story tall building. Colored purple on the outside with a big sign that read:

Pish Posh Orphanage
(yes we are a working orphanage)

“Why an orphanage of all things?” Enyi asked.

“It's a long story but...” I started to tear up a little bit, “It's just so sweat.”

“Wasn't it something about his parents?” Silver said.

“Yeah, Pish Posh is actually an orphan himself so he set this up when he first came to Marewaukee over forty years ago. It caused a lot of problems when he would turn into Fornix as the crazy pony had little interest in it so the Orphanage almost closed down many times.”I said wiping the couple tears still in my eyes.

“Aww, that's so sweat.” Scarlet cooed.

“Oh just remember to stay as calm as possible around Pish Posh. Any kind of craziness or mood swings or anything like that could push Fornix out and if he comes out we're probably gonna lose hims for a few..days.” I sighed a little at the last word.

Suddenly a slight creaking sound made my ear twitch and my head snap up. The two large wooden doors that were placed in the exact middle of the orphanage slowly began to open. I stood there, wrapped at attention, wondering just who might be coming out of the building. My eyes started getting bulgier and bulgier as I got more and more excited.

“Emerald's gonna be so jealous.” I whispered to myself.

The door finished opening when a charcoal black Unicorn with a graying mane stepped out through the doorway. Upon exiting he looked right up at us and just froze in place, staring at our little group with curiosity and surprise. He took a quick glance back inside the building, his face suddenly taking a very annoyed expression and said something that I didn't hear.

Immediately after him an elderly Earth Pony with a blue coat and a mane that I could tell used to be brown stepped lightly down the front steps. He had violet eyes, a cutie mark of monocle attached to a little mustache and a heart shaped bow tie on his neck.

I couldn't help it I started giggling as the elderly pony trotted up with the dark Unicorn behind him following suit.

“Well hello there, my friend here tells me you're fans?” Pish Posh said with a kind and posh sounding voice.

“OH YES!” I very eagerly said as I zipped up right in front of the elderly pony.

“Hold it right there! We really don't have time for you fan ponies today, right sir?” The Unicorn said abrasively.

“Now now Hubbard, don't be like that. These young ponies are Equestria's future! Be nice to them.”

The Unicorn audibly grumbled at Pish Posh's suggestion though it was obvious from his face that he would agree.

“WAIT! DID YOU SAY....HUBBARD! LITTLE HUBBY!” I squeed very heavily immediately looking down at his cutie mark. It was a wand made of bone with a small skull at the end of it.

“Um Ivory, did you not just say...” Enyi tried to say but I kept talking.

“Whoa! You're a lot older than you were in the radio interviews!” I said almost in awe.

“Those were forty years ago!” Hubbard said now very visibly annoyed with me.

“Wait!? You mean Hubbard, the Unicorn that uses dark magic!” Scarlet blurted out, very surprised and a little scared.

“Black magic!?” Enyi said suddenly taking several steps back from Hubbard.

Hubbard smacked his hoof in his face, “Nightmare Moon preserve me! See sir, this is why I keep telling you to have that dragon friend of yours stop playing those! Ponies very clearly don't understand the intricacies of what I do.” Hubbard said still very annoyed at us.

I turned back towards Scarlet and Enyi, “Guys it's alright. Hubbard's the only pony ever to be able to use dark magic without turning evil!”

“Oh yeah!” Silver chimed in, “I remember that little cult club he had going for Fornix back then.”

“Totally! He used to call him the, LORD OF INSANITY!” I laughed after saying this as I was filled with pleasant memories of my favorite stories.

Hubbard nickered once again with obvious annoyance. “I hate all of you.” he said in a deadpan tone as he trotted past us.

“He used to be so cute as a kid.” Silver said probably remembering the Unicorn's role in the stories, “Hosting that little club in his mom's basement. Just a cute little ten year old pony trying to summon demons and the like.” Silver chuckled to himself.

Suddenly Pish Posh began to laugh as well, “HAHA, they got you there, Little Hubby.” Pish said cheekily as he nudged Hubbard's side evoking another grumble from the also elderly pony.

“Wait, so this Unicorn knows actual black magic?” Enyi asked.

“It is simply another magical skill to master, so yes I do know DARK MAGIC.” Hubbard emphasized the dark part over the black.

“Hey!You ponies remember the story where Hubby's mom grounded him for 'excessively loud demon summoning'?” Pish giggled as he said this.

“Right in front of all his friends!” I said, laughing with him.

Silver started chuckling along with us, “Oh do I remember! I always loved how seriously he took his little demon parties.”

“Remember the demon shaped cookies his mom made?” I said now chuckling uncontrollably.

“Oh Hubbard's mom was a real sweet-heart.” Pish said, his tone turning nostalgic.

“Yeah, she was always just so nice! I always loved how she treated the whole demon cult thing with such silliness.” I said, still chuckling.

“Yes yes, my mother never took my passion seriously, can we move on now sir? We have things to do don't we?” Hubbard said, very obviously trying to get rid of us.

“Oh, lighten up you old fuddy-duddy.” Pish waved his hoof dismissively at Hubbard. “I swear, you've gotten to be no fun in your old age.”

Hubbard rolled his eyes at this, “If I don't keep you on track sir then nothing would ever get done around here.” Hubbard huffed.

“Oh fine fine fine, I'll be along in a minute.” Pish Posh waved for Hubbard to wait for him on the sidewalk.

“He might not have turned evil but he sure turned grumpy.” Scarlet said as she watched Hubbard trot over the street corner.

“Yes, it's a real shame to, he used to be so lively until he started getting older. But I guess that's just what happens when some ponies get up there in age.” Pish nostalgically chuckled to himself. “Well anyway if you want autographs or anything I will have to make it quick, I apologize but I have several important things to do today.”

I finally brought myself down from my chuckle-fest, “Um, actually Mr. Posh.”

Pish's eyebrow raised a little.

“My name's Ivory Star and...”

“Oh my dear!” Pish shouted. “So you're Grit's...” his own laughter now died as he suddenly began to look at me with much more sensitive eyes. Even Hubbard, who was standing near the street, perked his head up when he heard.

“Um, yes. I am or...was Grit's pupil and I really need to speak with Hero.”

“I just want to say I'm so sorry. Grit was a dear friend of mine for decades but to actually think that he would be...killed as he was. It's horrible.” Pish's voice turned very solemn.

“Indeed it was horrible!” Hubbard piped up from behind us, “Those who perpetrated such an act will pay dearly!”

“We already know who it was, which is part of the reason we are here now.” I said.

“Who then little pony!” Hubbard boomed.

“Her name is Goldie Grail and she works for...”

“Sable Granite.” Pish Posh said, interrupting me.

“You know him?”

“Yes I do. He is part of the organization I helped Hero and Grit take down decades ago. We here have never stopped keeping tabs on what was left of them.” Pish answered.

“We've heard his name whispered in the dark.” Hubbard said, “We have been trying to find him for some time but I never imagined he would go after Grit, especially after so long.”

“I'm sure you heard about what Grit was caught doing?”

“I do not believe it. Grit was many things but he was no thief.” Hubbard said defiantly.

“It's true though, Blaze pretty much confirmed it to me.” I said sadly.

Hubbard's face changed, it turned to one of shock and surprise, “Blaze knew something like this! I always knew he was untrustworthy!”

“So then the rumors were true. He was working for them.” Pish Posh whispered a bit too loudly to himself.

“It does seem so.” Enyi suddenly said from behind me.

“Wait, What!? You knew this to Sir?” Hubbard said to Pish Posh.

“No but over the years there were some signs. I chose to disregard them as nonsense but if Grit was smuggling around artifacts then I see that I made quite the mistake.” Pish Posh lowered his head and rubbed his chin with his hoof.

“It's not like that at all!” I yelled, “Grit was trying to make things right! Ask Jackpot here, Grit was trying to stop the Family and they found out!”

“Haven't you been listening to Hero's broadcasts lately? That's why Grit left for Khaweth. He needed to find...” Jackpot quickly glanced at Enyi, “information to help us stop their latest plan.”

“And who might I ask are you?” Hubbard asked suspiciously.

“My names Jackpot and I was helping Grit before he died.” Jackpot announced.

“Jackpot eh. I've heard your name before.” Pish Posh said. “Yes, back when Sable first came to power you worked for him didn't you.”

“That was a long time ago.”

Pish Posh turned towards me, “I've heard some stories about him, you sure you want him so close to you?”

I looked back towards Jackpot, his face was not happy again, “Yeah, I trust him. He's helped me out a lot.” I could swear I saw a smile on Jackpot's face when I said this.

“Well then I guess there's nothing to worry about.” Pish Posh smiled at me, “Well Hubbard, I think this changes the schedule for today doesn't it?”

“You just want to get out of work today don't you?” Hubbard said matter of factly.

“I like to think of that as just a bonus.”

Hubbard sighed, “Fine, I'll finish everything for today myself, but I want Fornix to get an extra day for doing this.”

“Done!” Pish Posh nodded his head as Hubbard rolled his eyes and trotted off down the street and eventually out of view.

“What does he mean, an extra day?” Scarlet asked.

“Oh, Fornix and I switch off every couple of days or so.” Pish said watching Hubbard trot down the street.

“Oh, ok.” Scarlet seemed contented by this answer.

“Well then, would you like me to take you to the studio?” Pish asked us.

“YES!” I blurted out a bit too excitedly before covering my mouth and blushing a bit.

“Ah, an eager spirit is an eager mind as I always say. Let's get going then.”

Pish Posh had a surprisingly light skip to his steps for such an old pony. He skipped down to the sidewalk as my friends and I trotted along just trying to keep up with him.

“Pretty spry for such an old looking pony.” Silver huffed as he switched between trotting and light flying just to keep up with Pish Posh.

“Fornix keeps me in pretty good shape!” Pish Posh shouted from the front. “He's always zipping around town annoying the heck out of ponies while trying out the toys he likes to make!”

“Ooh, could you take us to his lab?” I asked trotting up beside Pish.

“Another time perhaps dear Ivory. The lab's kind of a mess right now and we have more important things to do!”

“Hero's station in on the top of a mountain right?” Silver asked, himself flying up to Pish's side.

“You got it kiddo. Hero Studio's studio is on the tip top of good ole Mt. Matterhorn.”

“Shame you didn't bring your gear Silver.” I said to him.

“Don't worry my little ponies, there's plenty of ways up that mountain. We installed a lift a few years back and it hasn't broken down once!” Pish seemed proud of that.

Pish Posh led us through the busy streets of the city. Marewaukee reminded me a lot of my hometown of Manehatten although it wasn't quite as big and shiny as the famous city. After a while of being led through the city (Pish Posh doesn't like cabs...long story) we came to the edges of the city proper. From here I could just begin to see the peak of Mt. Matterhorn, the legendary peak where the famous Hero Studio built her world famous radio station well over forty years ago. At the top of the mountain I could see it, the station itself and the several radio towers that stuck out its top. Even from the distance I was at I could see just how absolutely amazing it looked perched on the top of an actual mountain.

Luckily here in Marewaukee we didn't have to worry about psycho Unicorn killers or giant spider demons and so the journey to the mountain went smooth and quiet. Pish Posh led us to the base where, as he said, an ingenious looking lift contraption had been built around the side of the mountain.

“Fornix's lab is on the other side of the mountain base! I always found it funny how your own base was so close to Hero's for so long and you never realized it until she told you.” I said, trying to impress Pish Posh with my extensive trivia knowledge about him and Hero.

“Yeah, that is actually pretty funny.” Pish Posh said, laughing a little.

“I have to admit it's pretty exciting to be about to meet one of Equestria's biggest celebrities.” Scarlet said as she gazed out the window of the lift as we rose higher and higher off the ground.

“Yeah, not everyday you meet somepony as famous as Hero.” Silver said, his own excitement obvious in his voice.

“I personally do not see the appeal.” Enyi said, shrugging.

“Imagine meeting Abila.” I whispered to him which got his eyes to pop open for a split second.

“I do not see how some entertainer could equal my peoples greatest hero?”

“She's more than an entertainer Enyi. Hero is a real life hero who once saved all of Equestria.” I said trying to sound very dignified.

“So you have informed me on several occasions.”

“Well you'll see when you meet her I guess.”

“I am sure I will find it interesting at least.” Enyi said.

I took a quick look over to Jackpot. He was sitting near the edge of the lift still looking unhappy. I just realized that he really hadn't said much since we met Angela which was unusual for him to say the least.

“So, howd you know to go to the orphanage to find me or were you just lucky with the first place you decided to look?” Pish Posh asked me.

“Oh, Angela told us where you were.” Scarlet responded, the new conversation knocking me back from my fix on Jackpot.

“Oh you met Angela? Hope she didn't confuse you too much.”

“She certainly hit something with Jackpot over there.” Scarlet said looking over at Jackpot.

“Yeah, she has that effect on a lot of ponies. You know she once told me this strange story she claimed to have read. Something about two ponies baking cupcakes until something went horribly wrong or something like that. It was quite the unsettling tale if you ask me but I suppose that's just Angela.”Pish Posh said rubbing his forehead.

“Reminds me of that time Fornix went to help run that factory in Cloudsdale...”

“Let's not revisit that one shall we. I'm just glad he ended up accidentally blowing up the building, had rainbows coming out of places I didn't even know I had for weeks.” Pish Posh shuddered a little remembering it.

“Hey guys! We're here!” Scarlet said excitedly as the lift neared the top of the mountain.

The lift raised us up and stopped at a platform that had been constructed at the peak and stretched out far enough to accommodate the size of the lift. Scarlet and Enyi were somewhat hesitant to step out onto it as even I had to admit it really didn't look all that sturdy.

“Nothing to worry about kiddos! This thing hasn't given way in...well since the last time. But we've been reinforcing it a lot recently so it's all good.” Pish Posh encouraged as he stepped onto the platform.

Jackpot and Silver were the first to hop onto the platform, “Come on y’all!” Jackpot hollered, “Don't be chicken now!”

“Easy for you to say! You have wings!” Scarlet hollered back.

“Listen, I'll catch you if ya fall so just come on already!” Jackpot seemed a little annoyed as he said this.

“Come on Scarlet. Can't let Jackpot show us up.” I said with an encouraging tone.

I hopped onto the platform and did a little jump to show it was sturdy. Enyi and Scarlet then stepped onto it as well and after a few seconds felt a bit better for not having fallen to their deaths.

“Open up ya ornery dragon!” Pish Posh yelled at the two large front doors of the station. “I got Grit's kid here with me!”

There was silence for several minutes. As I stood there I quickly began to notice the cold winds that were blowing past me(we were at the top of a mountain after all). I shivered a little and crossed my front hooves to try and warm up as Pish kept yelling at the station door. Enyi came over and began rubbing my shoulders with his own hooves which had the result of helping to warm me up. I gave him a warm smile as the front doors finally began to creek open.

“Why didn't you say you had Ivory here with you!” a very loud voice boomed from a small loudspeaker that hung above the doors. “Come on in!”

“That's our cue.” Pish said as he turned towards the group.

He led us into the large opening doors and out of the chilly mountain air. The warmth of the inside became immediately apparent as the winds stopped suddenly and a warm feeling washed over me. The inside was a hallway with several doors leading to other rooms dotted on either side and the walls were covered in old newspaper clippings and pages(most about Hero from over the years). As we walked down the long well-lit hall I kept my eye on the papers that lined the walls. I noticed that the further we got in, the newer the dates on the papers were. Finally we got to the section I was looking for, several large headings written in large bold letters:

Hero Studio teams up with Daring Do protege to save local philanthropist!

“Their first team up.” Pish Posh said sounding very nostalgic. “It's been over forty years since then. Hard to believe the time flew by so fast.”

“The pony they were trying to rescue was you right?” I asked him trying to remember the details.

“That was before anypony, including myself, knew I was Fornix.” Pish's eyes had turned glossy as several small tears pushed their way past his eyelids.

“There's so much here.” Silver said, his eyes wide from the hundreds of papers that lined the walls.

“Yeah, Hero kept every headline from every adventure she ever shoved us into.” Pish responded.

“You've had quite the life.” Jackpot said, himself entranced with several pages that had headlines relating to the Ponyfire Club.

“Ah yes. Our biggest mystery.” Pish Posh said, trotting up behind Jackpot. “Just another name for them, they've gone by many throughout pony history you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jackpot said in an emotionless voice.

“You and Grit were really good friends, weren't you?” I said looking over to Pish Posh.

“I thought I knew him for so many years.” Pish took a deep sigh, “I guess I'm just getting senile in my old age.”

“Your adventures are the stuff of legend Pish. I'd say your as well known as princess Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony by this point.” I said trying to cheer him up.

“Well, I don't know about that but a lot of ponies have certainly loved all those stories Hero used to tell.”

We continued down the hallway and as we walked I kept my eye on as many of the papers as I could. I still wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Grit but looking at all these good things he did certainly cheered me up and reminded me just how many ponies he had helped throughout the years. His status as a book character sometimes made me forget about all the smaller things he had done, from school openings, museums, helping Pish with his orphanages and many, many more things. He had been such a huge hero for so long that I suppose I just forgot about just how he got that title and then how it was all in jeopardy.

“I don't want all of this to go to waste.” I said as we neared the end of the hallway.

“Hmm?” Pish said.

“All this stuff here. For so long I focused on Grit's big adventures to far off lands and mystical cities that I almost forgot about all the things he did before that. I don't want ponies to forget about all the good stuff he did.”

“That's a nice idea but if all this about Grit's smuggling is proven to be true I think Equestria is going to be short one hero.” Pish said in a stern but sad tone.

“I just don't see how he would have agreed to do that stuff.” Scarlet said from the back of the group.

“Grit loved his adventures more than anything. If continuing them meant he had to do some dirty work for the Family it's not much of a stretch to think he would.” Jackpot added.

“And once he started, he probably found it hard to stop, even after he left.” Silver said, finishing the conversation.

Pish Posh opened the door at the end of the hallway and it entered into a medium sized recording studio. The room before us had another door that led into a booth with a darkened window and above it a green ON AIR sign shone brightly. Behind the window I could see a large shape, it moved every few seconds and when I squinted I could see the vague outline of a body moving. Suddenly the on air sign petered out and the shape rose up and headed towards the door. The Green sign quickly turned into a red OFF AIR as the door into the recording booth opened up.

Standing in front of me was a dragon, but not just any dragon, this dragon was probably the most famous dragon in Equestria. She was tall, probably a little taller than Celestia, whileher scales were red with a white belly and a black streak of scales stretching from her muzzle to her tail. Her wings were red with white tipped feathers on them and on her head was a messy brown mane.

“Wow, she really does have feathers.” Scarlet said almost breathless.

“A dragon with feathers huh? Don't see those very often.” Jackpot observed, staring at Hero as she exited the doorway.

“Well well well, aren't we lucky I was just finishing up playing some music or else I might've missed all of you.” Hero said in a tone that was familiarly fierce but not entirely frightening.

“Was it those two hooligans...oh what were their names again?” Pish asked.

“BubbleRap and Snicker Doodle yes. Can't tell you how much I've become addicted to those two. I'm thinking of inviting them on the show, I'd love an interview with them Pish.” Hero said, scratching her chin and moving with long, swift strides towards us as her wings whisked around behind her.

“It's your station. If you want to have a pair of unruly DJ's in here that's up to you.” Pish Posh said very casually.

“Look how casual he is with her.” I whispered to Silver.

“Well they have been friends for forty years.” he whispered back.

Hero flew right past us as if we weren't even there and went straight to the wall of the studio room where she proceeded to straighten up several golden vinyl records that hung from the wall.

“Whoa. Are those Scratch Record's old recording awards!?” I couldn't help but ask in a completely fanponyish way.

“You know, there's knowing stuff about your idols and then there's just being plain creepy.” Jackpot said, giving me a friendly nudge.

“Oh so you little ponies know who Scratch Record is eh?” Hero said, finally turning her head to notice us.

“Well yeah, this was his recording studio until he gave it to you Hero. He was like your hero and mentor! Everypony knows that.” I said, using my best explaining things voice.

“Ooh, Grit was right, you are a fan.” Hero said, chuckling to herself.

“Wait, Grit told you about me!” I said, completely surprised.

“You really think we never stayed in contact over the years? I remember the letters he sent saying he was taking on a little pupil of his own and how big a fan she was of all of us.” Hero floated effortlessly over to me.

I blushed a little at that remark getting another laugh from Hero, but this was a more hearty one that her little chuckle.

“Well anyway I have to say I'm quite disappointed in you young lady.” Hero said suddenly in a scolding manner.

“Wait, What!?”

“I invited you here some time ago and you're only just now getting here!” Hero yelled right into my face.

“Well I was a bit busy you know. I just spent the past couple days tramping around in the mountains and getting stuck in underground tombs filled with giant spiders!” I yelled back so as not to be outdone.

“Giant spiders you say?” Hero suddenly flipped out a notepad seemingly from nowhere and clutched it in her claws, “Do tell.”

“Huh? I have a couple of things to ask you before I say anything. Like what exactly have you been saying about me on the radio? I ran into a Griffon in Griffonstone that said you've been saying a whole bunch of things about me on your station!”

“Well, from what Grit always wrote me I had the idea you wanted to be known as a famous hero and adventurer. Was I wrong?” Hero puzzled.

“Well no, but...”

“She's got ya there Ivory.” Jackpot whispered into my ear.

“Listen, I'm not doing this to get famous right now ok.” I huffed.

“Then why are you going around fighting secret black ops ponies and stuffing yourself into mysterious cloud castles?” Hero produced a quill that she pressed against her notepad.

“Because of what they did to Grit obviously.”

“Haven't you heard? Grit's a fraud now. Ponies all over Equestria are giving up on him. You really want to protect an already ruined legacy?”

“I saw all those papers on your walls! Grit might not have been what I though he was but he was still a good pony and a hero. I don't want all that to get destroyed because of one mistake.”

“One mistake? You know while you were off in Griffonstone, tune in for that story, the Canterlot Royal Guard put out an official list of artifacts from various museums and personal collections that are now classified as smuggled? You know how many items are on that list?”

“Well no, but that's not important, I mean...”

“Nearly a thousand individual pieces.”

I halted in my speech. There was no way it was that many artifacts. I saw the guards take a dozen things, at most, from the house and while I guess there might have been a few more scattered about I couldn't believe that it was that extensive.

“No way it's that much.” I said in heavy disbelief.

“But it is. Cultural heritage artifacts from all around Equestria and beyond that have been in museums and universities for years are now being taken back as contraband stolen from other kingdoms.”

“How can this be happening now? All that stuff has been here for years, decades even! How is it that just now ponies are starting to say all these things?” I said continuing my greatly dissolving disbelief.

Hero straightened herself, “Obviously it has more to do things other than Grit's untimely death. He had a lot of enemies and seeing as what Grit was planning they...”

“Wait, you know what Grit's plan was!?” I suddenly shouted out.

“Of course I did. Grit tells me everything so I could help him when he was ready for it.”

I stood there, looking up at the dragon who now sported a large smile before igniting into a fiery chuckle. I was completely confused at this point, what exactly was Hero's game here anyway? One minute she's all nice then she goes on this accusatory rant on Grit and now she's on his side and nice again.

“You seem confused little Ivory.” Hero said, finishing her laugh, “I admit I didn't know the whole story, about the smuggling and theft that is, but Grit did write me about a year ago detailing a plan to help finish our great adventure from years ago.”

“You mean stopping the Family?” I asked, confused.

“Well we called them the Ponyfire Club but basically yes. When Grit was killed I had hoped you would be continuing on his mission and now I am satisfied to see you are and that you seem relatively serious about it.”

“Wait one flappin minute.” Jackpot but in, “Grit told you his plan but not me? I was supposed to be his fucking partner!”

“Ah, you must be Jackpot? I've heard all about you, tsk tsk tsk you naughty little pony.”

“Excuse me!” Jackpot said sounding offended.

“Oh yeah, Grit told me all about you.”

“What do you mean 'all about'?”

“I mean, every dirty thing you ever did with those nasty ponies you used to call family.” Hero smiled a little devilishly.

“So what.” Jackpot said shakily.

The rest of us were staring at Hero and Jackpot as Jackpot started sweating with Hero standing firm and unmoving above him. This was still an odd feeling, seeing Jackpot so utterly and obviously intimidated by somepony that he openly lost his composure.

“What it means is that I know you're trustworthy and won't end up screwing my sweet little Ivory here.”

“What?” Jackpot said as his tensed up body began to loosen up.

“Lighten up, I know you're good for it. Just do what you can to help ok, that's all I ask.” Hero said now sounding much less intimidating.

“Uh yeah, I will.” Jackpot said as he turned away and quickly swiped a flask from his bag and took several large gulps.

“And this must be the rest of the gang! Let me see here, you're Scarlet Aloe, you're Enyi and you...I don't know who you are, who are you?” she said to Silver.

“Oh uh, I'm actually kind of new to the team but I'm the one who's funding their uh trips.” Silver said, now visibly nervous himself as Hero stared straight into his eyes, “The names Silver Chaser.”

“You work for Adventure Incorporated?” Hero asked.

“Yes I do. I'm a sponsor and a patron of young up and coming adventurers and...”

“What was your name again?”

“What? Oh, it was Silver, Silver Chaser.”

“Ok ok, I do think I've heard of you. You run the Silver Standard Transport Company right?”

“As a matter of fact I do.”

“Ok that's all I needed to know.” Hero turned her attention away from Silver (much to his perturbation). “Let's see here, Scarlet Aloe.” Hero turned towards Scarlet.

“Um, yes?” Scarlet said.

“Sub par medical graduate from the Vanhoover Medical Institute, sent to the town of Money in Luna Bay so the city wouldn't have to bother with you, am I correct?” Hero said, looking straight at Scarlet.

Scarlet froze where she stood, we all stared at her as she turned her gaze down towards the floor, “Yes.”

“No way you're sub par.” I said, “She's gotten us through multiple situations with her healing magic even though it is a bit basic.” I said, seeing the depressed look on Scarlet's face.

“I'm just reading her record from the Vanhoover Board of Medical Excellence.” Hero said.

“But...”

“It's ok Ivory.” Scarlet interjected, “I'm used to that and besides, I am getting a lot better.” Scarlet put on a smile.

“I'll say.” Jackpot said stretching his wing out.

“Good to know.” Hero said as she checked something off on her notepad. Hero then turned towards Enyi, “And your Enyi...no last name.”

“Correct.” Enyi responded.

“Hmm, I knew your parents, Ubab and Amayi right?” Hero glanced down at Enyi.

“Yes, I am their son and of their children, the only one.” Enyi responded.

“My condolences, they were good people and we sure could have used their help right now.”

“Thank you.” Enyi bowed his head.

“Yeah, actually I think they were with Grit right before he retired right?” Hero asked.

“That is correct.” Enyi responded.

“Yeah, I remember I was having an interview with Blaze here, he was quite upset at being left behind, and I got a letter from Grit that he had met up with your parents in Khaweth along with this team of ponies to find some lost city or something.”

“From what I heard that last mission didn't end well.” I said.

“Yeah, it went so badly Grit retired immediately after.” Hero said.

“Hmm.” Enyi said to himself.

“What is it Enyi?” I asked.

“My parents told me of this quest remember? At the end of the mission Grit's team had but one member.” Enyi said, mumbling mostly to himself.

“Oh yeah, you did mention that. I thought it was Blaze but I guess I was wrong.” I said suddenly beginning to think more carefully about that situation. “Who was that last pony?”

“Well, there's nopony alive today who would know that.” Jackpot said.

“Food for thought!” Hero beamed up. “But I don't know about you ponies but it's starting to get late out and I'm tired from a long day at work.”

“I suppose it is getting to be that time of the evening.” Pish Posh said finally saying something and getting up from the seat he had taken in the corner. “I'm old and I need my rest after all.”

“As for the rest of you, I'll show you to the guest rooms and after we get some food we can get some sleep and continue this conversation in the morning.” Hero said.

And that is pretty much what we ended up doing. Hero had plenty of food for us stored in a large pantry that she always kept fully stocked. I had a wonderful meal and after that let Hero guide us towards a set of guest rooms she had in her studio. There were eight rooms in all, four on each side of the hallway. Scarlet took the one closest to the wall followed by me, Jackpot, Enyi and then Silver took a room on the opposite side of the hallway. The beds were large and very soft (wonderfully soft) and the rooms were well decorated. I was getting settled when I heard a knock at the door.

“Come on in!”

Enyi slid the door open and trotted into the room.

“What's up Enyi?” I asked.

“I have some questions I wish to ask.” he responded.

“Uh ok, ask away.”

I sat down on the bed and patted a spot next to me to signal him to some over, he did.

“I was wondering, are you certain Grit didn't bring anything back from Khaweth?”

Shit, I was hoping for him to not bring this up again. I still decided not to tell him just yet but I fully intend to once Goldie and Sable are dealt with.

“I already told you that he didn't.”

“Ok ok, I just needed to hear you say so.” (I felt so bad right now). “I am just happy you are being honest.” (just throw salt on my giant, pulsing gash why don't you).

I stared down at my hooves as I sat on the bed, “I'm just glad you still like me after Greywing's tomb.”

“Ivory, just because I think you made a foolish decision does not mean I would not like you. Compassion is a good thing to have but in that situation...”

“I know, I know, it was different for you than me.”

“Well at least you are aware this. Although there could be worse things to argue about I will admit.”

“Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better.” I said giving a little chuckle. "You know something I've been thinking about?”

“What?”

“My cutie mark.” I said in a now serious tone.

“What about it?”

“I got it when I snuck into a museum opening Grit was hosting and kind of...stole a peak at some artifacts that were being held in storage. I'm just wondering if that necklace I found might have been stolen.”

“That would be distressing to discover it was.”

“I wouldn't really know what to think if it was though. Maybe that's why the compass is wrong eh? Because my cutie mark knows that something was wrong about how I got it.”

“I do not think that is it although I admit I know very little about cutie marks.”

“What about your uh...what was it called?”

“The Glyph?”

“Yeah, what is it exactly?”

Enyi put on a slight smile, “I will show you.” He sat up and turned around giving me a clear view of his flank and the stylized lines and markings that adorned it.

I immediately blushed, “Wow.”

Enyi gave me a cheeky look.

“I mean the mark, not your flank...not that I'm saying it's bad...but I'm not like staring at it all the time or anything...not that I wouldn't want to...”

“Calm down Ivory, it is ok. Every Zebra gets a Glyph when they choose their own path.”

“So it's kind of like a cutie mark, except you get to choose what you want to do?”

“Yes, we do choose but once we have chosen there is no going back and we must continue down that path forever.”

“What if you decide you don't like what you chose?”

“Then we must live with it. The selection process takes much time as a result, I was twelve when I chose my way but some Zebra do not choose until adulthood.”

“That sounds kinda sucky.” I said.

“It is our way.” Enyi responded, “Look at the patterns, see the way the lines begin as one then open up into many pathways.”

“I see it.”

“This symbolizes the many roads history can wind and the of how the many stories branch out but eventually meet again in the present.” Enyi said tracing the lines with his hoof until the rejoined at the end of the mark. “These Glyphs are artificial and permanent so we must all choose carefully.”

“Well it still seems a little unfair but I do like the design of the storytellers mark you have. It almost reminds me of that tree from Greywing's tomb.”

“I suppose it does resemble it somewhat.” Enyi said turning his head back as far as he could.

“Well I'm glad we're a couple so you can tell me this stuff, I mean I know Zebras don't like to generally reveal stuff like this.”

“If we do want to continue our relationship I think it will be a good idea to get to know each other better, don't you?”

“Oh yeah! Totally!” I said eagerly, “Well, I mean you pretty much all there is to know about me but I would love to hear more about Khaweth and Zebras in general if you don't mind!”

Enyi smiled, “Of course, anything in particular?”

“Well, is there anything about...relationships that Zebras do that ponies don't? I mean just to avoid any future awkwardness in the future.”

“Well I do not know much about pony romance but we Zebra have a tradition of climbing mountains to search for rare gems and treasures to give as declarations of love.”

“Well, we're on a mountain.” I said giggling and blushing a bit.

“Indeed we are.”Enyi said, patting me on my head.

I slowly began to shift my body closer to Enyi.

“Well for us ponies, we really enjoy doing simple things like sitting on benches, eating together, and just generally doing stuff with the ones we love.”

“That seems fairly simple and enjoyable.”

“I know right! I mean big declarations of love are cool and all but I've always found that it's the little things that can really make two people grow closer together.” I was now practically leaning up against Enyi.

“I would tend to agree with you on this.” Enyi said before I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

“I will also say you are a...uh...god...kisser.” Enyi said his face getting rather red.

I really couldn't help but blush as my entire face turned red, “Well then you wanna...”

Enyi leaned in and gave me a kiss on my lips.

“How do you say I love you in your language?”

“I have already told you.”

“When...oh I uh, don't remember what it was.” I said embarrassed.

“Khemo Kariando Kho.” Enyi said slowly.

“Khemo Kariando Kho.” I repeated.

“Very good.” Enyi said in a gentle tone.

As he finished this I leaned in and gave him another kiss. This one lasted a bit longer before I realized I had been pushing against him harder that I thought. I realized this when I had pushed him over and fallen on top of him. This deterred neither of us as we continued to kiss and then...fall asleep several hours later.

The Next Clue

Chapter 12: The Next Clue

I opened my eyes to see a few rays of morning sunlight creep in through the window on the mountain top building. My gaze went down to see Enyi laying down, sleeping, right next to me with his front hooves wrapped around my waist. I tried moving around but only ended up groaning at how sore parts of me were feeling.

“So, you are awake.” I heard Enyi's voice say.

“I'm sorry, did I wake you up?”

“No, I have been awake for several minutes. I just thought you were sleeping.” Enyi opened his eyes which allowed me to stare in to them.

“You have nice eyes, gold is a good color for them.” I whispered.

“They were my mother's eyes as well.” he whispered back.

“Oh, that's right. I'm sorry if I brought up anything unpleasant.”

“It is no problem, it is a compliment.” Enyi smiled(thank Celestia).

Enyi sat up in the bed and stretched out his hooves with a yawn. I sat up after him and gave him one more quick kiss on the cheek before we got up out of the bed.

“Oww.” I said rubbing my flank.

“What is wrong?” Enyi asked.

“Just a little sore, gonna have to apologize to Hero about the sheets though.” I said taking a look at the bed.

“I am sure she will understand.” Enyi said as he picked up my saddlebag from the corner of the room, “You go to the dining room, I will collect the rest of out things.”

“Oh sure, thanks.” I said with a happy smile.
I trotted down the hall with a large grin on my face while humming a little tune to myself. I was happy, happier than I had been in a long time and I wasn't embarrassed to show it. I trotted down the hall and into the dining room that I had eaten dinner in last evening. Jackpot, Silver and Scarlet were already there eating from an assortment of various breakfast foods from cereals to toast and several types of juice.

“Hey there Ivory.” Jackpot said sporting the grin he usually had when planning something...Jackpotish, “Have fun last night?” he asked slyly while nudging Scarlet in her side.

“Oh uh, hey there Ivory...how was um...your um...night...did you do anything fun?” Scarlet giggled a little and looked up at Jackpot, “Did I say it right?”

Jackpot shook his head in disappointment, “Nope, but A for effort.” Scarlet looked back down giving off a face that obviously was her trying to reword what she said in her head.

I just stood there in front of the doorway completely red and utterly stupefied, “What?”

“You know we were literally right next door to you right?” Jackpot said still laughing a bit himself, “We could hear everything.”

“Also you left your door open.” Silver said in between bites of his cereal.

“Yeah, got woken up in the middle of the night by some weird noises and what do I discover? An open door and two very loud neighbors who were too busy to notice me standin there in shock.” Jackpot said trying to sound victimized.

“You two were rather...noticeable.” Scarlet said.

“I uh, don't really know what to say here.” is all I could think of to say.

“Might want to leave this out of the history books.” Jackpot said...still...chuckling to himself.

It was now that Enyi entered into the room from behind me with our saddlebags around his back, “Ivory you look red, are you ok?”

“I think I'm dead.” I said.

Enyi looked at the others with a confused look on his face which just elicited several more giggles from Jackpot and now even Scarlet. Luckily it was also here that Hero came in to greet us and say good morning.

“Morning friends.” she said before seeing the intense awkwardness that permeated the room. “I miss something fun?”

“Just a bunch of rhyming and whinnying.” Jackpot squeaked in between his now renewed chuckles.

“No.” I immediately said after.

“Ok, oh and by the way Ivory you know sound travels very well in this part of the building don't you?” Hero said.

It was now that Enyi realized what was going on as his entire face turned basically into an overripe tomato.

“All right, that's enough makin fun of em.” Jackpot said clearing his throat and reeling in his chuckles, “Seriously though, might wanna watch all that in the future, could end this little quest of ours right quick.”

“And how exactly could it do that?” I asked now feeling both embarrassed and annoyed at Jackpot.

“Well, what do ya think happens when a mare and a stallion love each other very much and...”

“Ok, I get it, I get it.” I responded realizing myself just what exactly he was talking about. I admit that got me a little worried about the previous night.

“Um, there are also some um...medical issues that could occur from...too...much...um...”Scarlet began to whisper.

“I said I get it.” I said nickering slightly.

“Well anyway, enough of this foreplay. Ivory, Enyi you two have the journal with you right?” Hero said annoying me even more with her very obviously intentional choice of words.

“Wait, what!?” Enyi gasped, “You know about...”

“Yes, the journal of that Zebra lady. Grit told me about it a while ago and I'm wondering if you have it with you.” Hero responded in a very serious tone.

“Yes I do.” Enyi said hesitantly.

“Can I see it please?” Hero asked.

Enyi hesitantly reached back into his saddlebag and gently lifted out Abila's journal as well as the book we had written down translation notes in with his mouth. He set them carefully down on the table and opened up the journal only to have Hero swipe it up in her claws. Enyi's face scrunched up at that before he quickly tried to intercept Hero but I put my hoof in front of him to let Hero do whatever it was she wanted to do.

“Hmm, interesting.” Hero said deftly flipping through the pages with her claws. “Grit's description did not do it justice.”

“How did he describe it?” Silver asked, finishing his cereal.

“Well he couldn't read it so I suppose he didn't really know how useful this thing is.” Hero said nonchalantly ignoring Silver as she stared into the journal.

“Are you saying you can?” I asked.

“Well, a little. I've done some dungeon crawling in my time as you no doubt know Ivory and in my time I've come across a few things laced with this language here.”

“What things?” Silver asked.

“Oh you know, coins, pottery; nothing really out of the ordinary.” Hero finished flipping through the pages.

“Well Ivory and I have done a rather extensive translation of it so far with much success.” Enyi said proudly.

Hero wrapped the other book in her tail and held it up as she flipped through it with one of her feathery wings. She seemed to effortlessly read both simultaneously as her blue eyes darted between pages.

“And done a pretty good job it looks like.” Hero said sounding impressed.

“What can I say, Grit taught me good.” I said, sharing Enyi's pride in our work.

“Yeah, he always good at these sorts of things.” Hero said somewhat nostalgically. “Just had to go and make things hard on you now though.” Hero sighed.

“Well, anything useful in that book?” Silver asked.

“Doesn't look like it, unless you care about...hello what's this?” Hero muttered as she gazed at a page near the end of the book.

“What?” Jackpot asked.

“If your translations are correct, and it looks like they are, and my own limited knowledge is right, it is, I have a passage here talking about...a war...an Alicorn...and a set of keys.” Hero gazed closer at the book.

“Yeah, we've seen several references to the war and the Alicorn but we haven't read the end of the journal yet so the keys are new to me.” I said.

“I think the Alicorn's name was Terria, if I remember the beginning of the journal correctly.” Enyi added.

Hero flipped back to the beginning of the journal, “Yes, there is a Terria mentioned but who that is I have no idea.”

“We've been using the journal to find locations where we have found several magical artifacts, these keys maybe. We've found...two so far and given them to ponies and institutions that can keep them safe from Sable Granite and the Family.” I said.

“Ah yes, Sable Granite. I've heard that name before.” Hero said, thinking to herself. “He does not seem like a nice pony.”

“No, he isn't.” Jackpot added.

“You know anything about him Jackpot? You used to work for him after all?” Hero asked.

“Nothing I haven't already told Ivory.” Jackpot responded.

“Which is?”

“Practically nothing.” I said.

Hero sighed to herself, “Well since this journal doesn't seem to have any more artifact locations...”

“We also have many other texts that speak of...”

“Yes, I'm sure they're very impressive but please don't interrupt me, ok.” Hero snapped, “If you hadn't I would have told you that I've been doing some asking around since Grit's death and I may have found a lead for you guys to follow.”

“A lead? To where?” I asked.

“Have you ever heard of a pony named Aurora Solstice?”Hero asked me.

“Yes, she built what would eventually turn into the Crystal Empire right?”

“Aurora Solstice was also a very powerful wizard in her time and traveled throughout the Crystal Mountains and what is now Yakyakistan. It seems some Yak friends of mine have recently discovered something that has an image that matches descriptions of Aurora's cutie mark.”

“Wait! Are you saying freaking Yaks actually discovered ruins or maybe even the tomb of Aurora!” I gasped.

“Yes actually. I know several Yaks that studied through all of princess Twilight's schools and have become quite accomplished archeologists.” Hero scolded me.

“Interesting that I didn't hear about this when I heard about Greywing's tomb at A.I.” Silver said in a confused tone.

“Oh, these Yak's aren't associated with Adventure Incorporated so I guess it makes sense they would hear about it later.” Hero said.

“Good for us then.” Jackpot said.

“Indeed, less of a chance those nasty ponies will find us if we go there.” Scarlet added.

“So, you'd be willing to tell us where this place is so we can get there before Sable?” I asked.

“Of course.” Hero said. “But I want exclusive rights to interview you about all the things you do from now on ok!” Hero said with a clever looking smile on her face.

“Sure. I really wasn't planning on getting interviewed by anypony but I suppose since you're you it will be ok.”

“All right then it's settled.” Hero said happily.

Hero zoomed out of the room and reappeared a few minutes later with a scroll in her claw. She placed it on the table and slid it over to where I had taken a seat next to Enyi. I clasped my hoof onto the scroll and slid it over to me and began to unroll it as Enyi and the others looked over my shoulder. The scroll had a map scrawled onto it of the Crystal Mountains that lay north of the Crystal Empire.

“You know, we could pay a visit to the Empire and see if we can dig up anything there about Aurora.” Jackpot said.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Scarlet agreed and so did the rest of us.

I looked back down at the map and saw several drawings placed around the base of Mt. Everhoof just east of Yakyakistan. Several lines(representing paths I think) spiraled around the mountain and connected Yakyakistan and the sites listed on the map with the Crystal Empire in the south. Sure enough one of the marks on the map was the same image as the cutie mark of Aurora Solstice that was on Sparky.

“Looks like it.” I said, satisfied. I rolled up the scroll and carefully stuffed it into my saddlebag.

“Of course, you'll tell me all about it in an interview when you get back right?” Hero asked expectantly.

“I said I would, so I will.” I said, nodding.

*****

We spent the rest of the day at Hero's studio discussing what I could say in an interview and everything I had gone through so far so Hero could report it on her news reports. We spent one more night at Hero's place, in our own rooms(groan) before setting out for a quick stop in Canterlot before heading straight north to Yakyakistan. Silver, of course, took care of everything like buying tickets, getting us a guide for Yakyakistan, and getting general supplies for the journey.

“Hey Enyi?” I asked before boarding the train for Yakyakistan.

“What is it Ivory?”

“I wanna talk about what happened at Hero Studios.” I mumbled.

“Did you not enjoy it?”

“No no I did, it was amazing, but I think we probably shouldn't do it again.” I said suddenly getting red again.

“I understand Ivory. It is riskier for you than I so if you wish to wait then I shall respect your decision.”

Oh that was a relief(an admittedly regrettable relief), “Ok, thanks Enyi.” I leaned in to his ear, “I love you.” I said as I kissed his cheek.

Enyi wrapped his hooves around me in a hug just as Jackpot, Scarlet, and Silver came trotting around the corner. Jackpot had his saddlebags(filled of course) as well as a necklace with a flask tied to the end of it.

“Interesting fashion choice.” I said.

“I'm just ahead of the curve.” Jackpot said in his usual cocky attitude.

“That's quite the flat curve then.” Scarlet said trotting up after him.

“Did you just...” Jackpot said, confused.

Scarlet just walked innocently past Jackpot and followed Silver onto the train.

“Did she just...”

“Yes, I think she did.” I said.

“She's making progress.” Jackpot said with a sense of satisfaction.

“Like we need another you clopping around.” I said back.

“More me is always a good thing, I am the best after all.”

“Yeah, the best at getting his ass flattened by a cup of cider.”

“You ain't got much to brag about there either missy.”

“Yeah, but I'm new to it, you're not.” I said flicking my tail in his face and moving onto the train.

“Oh you don't even know what I can do kid!” Jackpot yelled after me as he used his wings to zip into the train after me.

The train ride to the Crystal Empire would take a good while, luckily I got to spend more time with Enyi finishing up looking at what was left of Abila's journal to translate.

“So, did you ever manage to discover what was written on Sparky?” Enyi asked me pointing towards the bracelet on my wrist.

I lifted my hoof up and gazed at the Pre-Celestial Script that adorned the edges of the highly decorated band on my hoof.

“Yeah, it was pretty cheesy though. Kind of threw me off, such a simple phrase on something so old and powerful.”

“What does it say?” Enyi asked.

“Friendship is magic.” I said back.

Villainous Villains of Villainy

Chapter 13: Villainous Villains of Villainy

I rubbed my eyes as I finished off the fifth book about Aurora Solstice from the library in the Crystal Empire. As I closed the book a thin layer of dust shot out from the cover igniting a very loud sneeze from me as the dust filled my nostrils. The sneeze was loud enough to echo throughout the library and jolt a nearby sleeping Jackpot awake from his boredom induced nap.

“What? Huh?” Jackpot spurted out as he jolted up from the chair he had been napping on, only to end up flat on his face when the chair inevitably tipped over.

“Another dead end. All these books say the same damn thing.” I huffed in annoyance.

“And what's that?” Jackpot yawned.

“That nopony really knows anything about her except some very vague and very general factoids.” I crossed my forehooves in exasperation.

“And what are these factoids exactly?” Jackpot asked.

“Everypony agrees she was some powerful wizard or something and that she maybe founded a town that eventually became the Crystal Empire. After that it's pretty much a bunch of dumb theories that have no basis in facts or real supporting evidence.” I slammed my head down on the table.

“Well Enyi, Scarlet and Silver should be back soon with any more books, if this place has anymore about this Aurora whatever her name was.” Jackpot straightened his chair and leaned back in it.

“Her name was Aurora Solstice and maybe you could contribute something to our search instead of laying around doing nothing.”

“I am doing something! I'm providing moral support and supplying you with a steady supply of high quality cider to keep your energy up.” Jackpot said as he slipped the top of the flask that hung from his neck into his mouth.

I looked back at the pile of books and half-empty flask of cider that laid next to them. I leaned my head down and took another few sips before flipping back through the first book on the pile, “There just has to be something here, I mean these books don't really have anything of substance about Aurora. Grit could probably write a more informative book about her in his sleep!” I shouted, getting some angry looks from several ponies across the isle who were reading their own books.

“Well, I'm bored. Whaddya say we head out towards Yakyakistan now Ives?” Jackpot said stretching his wings out and yawning again.

“I'm too frustrated to head out now Jackpot. These Celestia damned books aren't giving me anything!” After even more dirty looks from various surrounding ponies I stuck my face back into the book I was reading.

“Ivory! We're back!” I heard Scarlet yell from across the library.

I didn't dare look up from my book for fear of the disapproving glare of random library ponies so instead I waved my hoof up to show I had heard her. Scarlet, Enyi and Silver plopped several more books down onto the table I was sitting at, their faces nearly as exhausted as mine.

“We searched and searched, but could not find where your books were perched.” Enyi said, very exhausted himself.

“I'm sorry Ivory but these few books were all we could even find on the early settlement of the Crystal Empire.” Silver said, stretching his own exhausted looking wings out. “We would have been back sooner but Scarlet here just had to read half a book on variances between Crystal Pony and normal pony skin types.”

“Hey! Where better to read about Crystal Ponies than in the Crystal Empire.” Scarlet huffed.

At this point the ponies reading around us got up and trotted away grumbling to themselves. I lifted an eye up from my book in time to see them give more dirty looks as they trotted away which I admit gave me some satisfaction that they were now not sitting there judging me on my friends noisiness.

“Well what other books were you able to find?” I said, looking up from my current book.

“Let us see here, we have: Obscure Unicorn History: Crystal Empire Edition, Early History of the Crystal Empire, Treatises on the royal Line of the Crystal Empire, and The Symposium of Memories of the Ancient History of Equestria and it's Various Neighbors By Account of Gallophon.” Enyi said, reading the titles of each book.

“I've already read Gallophon but I guess we could give the others a try.” I said, still disappointed by my lack of progress.

Enyi sat down in the chair next to me, “Then allow me to assist you in the reading.” he said smiling.

I gave Enyi a quick smile back before Jackpot's voice interrupted, “Just remember to close the door this time ok.”

“Oh shut up.” I said before shoving my face into one of the books(mainly to hide my blushing face).

To my dismay these books really didn't tell me much more than the previous ones did. The only thing I remotely found interesting was some vague and loosely connected link between Aurora Solstice and the original royal line of princess Amore, although I admit it was more interesting because the writer was very enthusiastic about this theory without providing much actual proof and the bit was fun to read.

“You've been looking over those books for hours.” Jackpot whined. “I think we got enough information.”

“Grit always said there is never enough information.” I said as I reread Obscure Unicorn History: Crystal Empire Edition.

I looked over towards Enyi and he was just as busy as I was reading one of the other books. His face, unlike mine, was entirely engrossed in the lines of writing that lined each page.

“Pony history is remarkably different from Zebra history.” Enyi mumbled rather loudly.

“Wouldn't know, you never tell us about Zebra history!” Jackpot continued to whine.

“Would you listen even if I did?” Enyi asked, looking up at Jackpot.

“Good point, now let's go please.” Jackpot said back.

I shut the book I was reading, “I think I'm gonna agree with Jackpot here. These books really haven't said anything that I didn't already know are could have guessed on my own.”

“Sorry Ivory, thought this might help.” Silver said.

“It's ok Silver. Always good to have a few more books under my belt and I still had fun.” I said glancing over at Enyi who was still reading.

It was finally decided to head out of the library and up towards Yakyakistan far to the north. From there Silver had set us up with a local Yak guide who knew the area and was willing to take us to the site where Hero's friends found up near Mt. Everhoof. Luckily, and Silver was very proud of himself for this, Silver had packed us warm clothing for the freezing weather that the Crystal Mountains were famous for.

*****

I knew the mountains would be cold but...”Why can't Celestia just melt all this already!” I shouted. “She controls the fucking sun, why can't she keep everyplace warm like Equestria!” I shouted to be heard over the howling and freezing winds that constantly blew over the Crystal Mountains.

“Give me one minute please.” I heard Scarlet say as the wind began to pick up.

“What did she say!” I heard Jackpot shout as his voice was almost drowned out by the howling winds.

“What!” Silver yelled as he began to lag behind somewhat.

“I think she said to wait for something!” Enyi yelled from behind me.

“Get closer to me!” Scarlet yelled as he horn slowly charged up with magic and she began to grit her teeth with the effort.

That on I heard and I turned back, grabbed Enyi and Jackpot and dragged them back towards Scarlet. Silver saw this and galloped up closer to us as Scarlet released her warmth spell. It only covered an area of a dew feet away from her but within the area of effect it was certainly much more tolerable.

“This storm just came out of nowhere.” I said as I huddled close to Enyi.

“We should have met your guide in the empire.” Jackpot grunted, obviously very uncomfortable.

“He was very insistent on meeting in Yakyakistan.” Silver answered. “Didn't have the heart to say no.”

“Hey, I think we should keep going. I can't hold this up forever you know.” Scarlet said, grunting under the pressure.

“How do you even know this kind of spell?” Jackpot asked. “Thought you were just about doctor stuff.”

“Oh this is 'doctor stuff' as you put it, well originally it was anyway. This spell was supposed to be for cauterization serious injuries but I could never take it that far so I settled for this. But we really need to keep going or at least find a cave or something because I'm really wearing out fast here!” Scarlet was now sweating profusely.

“She is correct, we must find shelter quickly!” Enyi shouted over the wind.

“We have to be careful about that! I've heard stories about monsters that live in these mountains!” Silver yelled.

“Those were decades ago! Haven't been yeti sightings here for nearly sixty years!” I yelled back.

“No confirmed yeti sightings you mean!” Silver yelled towards me.

“Come on! Let's just focus on finding shelter!” I shouted, pulling out from our huddle to lead the group in finding shelter.

The snow that was coming down was nearly blinding. If I hadn't been holding on to Enyi and he to the rest of the group in a chain we probably would have gotten separated and completely lost in the snow-storm. Scarlet's spell kept me from completely freezing over but after a while it's slowly lessening effects became very noticeable. This time luck was on my side as after a while I spotted an opening in an ice-cliff that looked like it offered some decent protection. I quickly turned in it's direction and shoveled my way through the piles of thick snow in order to reach the cave. When we finally arrived I collapsed on the cold floor of the cave, nearly out of breath.

“Well, it's better than out there.” I said, huffing as I lay on the floor.

“Not a bad find Ives.” Jackpot said, glancing around the large cave.

“It looks empty.” Silver said.

“Yes, but for how long?” Enyi asked in a worried tone.

“I need to rest.” Scarlet sighed as she slid down on to the floor next to me.

“Great job, the both of you.” Jackpot said, giving a smile and an approving nod to each of us.

I looked up from the floor around the cave. It went back quite a ways but I could still see the back of the cave wall so I wasn't too worried about things hiding in it. The cave was large enough to offer us decent protection as long as the storm lasted but not big enough for something to come crawling out of the dark crevasses like in some of the Dash Venture books. It was still fairly chilly and wet inside the cave as ice dripped from the walls and ceiling but it was still infinitely better than being outside.

“Are you ok Ivory?” Enyi asked, coming over and helping me up.

“Yeah, just a little exhausted from plowing through all that snow.” I said, grabbing Enyi's hoof and standing up.

“Don't mind me, I'm just laying down exhausted here too.” Scarlet whined as she waved her hoof signaling she wanted some help us as well. Silver trotted over and helped her up and Jackpot flew over to the back of the cave and began inspecting it closer.

“Yeah, cave ends here, shouldn't be nothin to worry about from this end.” he said.

This was enough to comfort the group so we all just kind of sat around for what seemed like hours upon hours. Every now and again one of us would poke our heads and look to see if the storm was letting up...it wasn't. After what seemed days now the storm finally seemed to shift into a gentler state. It would still be difficult to see far but the snow had let up a bit and the sun poked through the clouds, if only slightly and for short bursts. It was at that point we heard it or it would be more accurate to say Enyi heard it first, followed by Jackpot, Silver, Scarlet and then myself. A hollow roar breaching the blowing winds of the Crystal Mountains, rang through our ears and echoed throughout the cave. The walls and ceilings of the cave shook and reverberated as the shrill howl broke through the darkened mountain cave.

“What was that?” I said, shivering.

“Thought you said there were no monster sightings here for a long time!?

“Well, that's what all the books I've read on the subject said.”

“Then what was that howling?” Scarlet asked, worriedly.

“I say we leave before we find out.” Said Silver.

I was the first one out of the cave as the others followed close behind. The snow was still nearly up to my head in height and the path I had trudged out before had disappeared completely. Before we could get very far the monster leapt up from behind a large snow bank and let out a near deafening roar. It was definitely a Crystal Mountain Yeti, the kind that prowl on four legs and EAT PONIES FOR FOOD!

“Crap!” Jackpot yelled as he flung himself out of the way of the leaping beast.

“Silver look out!” Scarlet yelled as the monsters tail swung around and bashed into Silver, knocking him down.

The yeti was huge, at least four or five times my height and it brought back too many memories of another giant monster from Khaweth that I preferred to forget about. This time though I was more experienced and managed to get close enough to buck at one of it's legs as hard as I could. It certainly noticed that as the yeti nearly stumbled as I kicked the leg it had focused it's weight on. It howled again and turned towards me, thrusting downwards with it's massive jaw and even more massive teeth. The snow was deep and I didn't have any wings so dodging was pretty much impossible for me.

“Shit!” I screamed as the yeti's jaws got dangerously close to my entire body.

Luckily Jackpot had flown back around and smashed his front hooves into the yeti's face with a steep aerial dive. The monster was now knocked over with the sudden blow knocking it off balance, dipping down to me as it was. Luckily again the beast's body missed me and I was able to scramble my way to safety.

Silver and Scarlet, on the other hoof, had scrambled their way out of the way as Silver was still weighed down by his large packs and Scarlet really wasn't the fighting type. Enyi also was standing a good distance from the yeti, not as far as Scarlet and Silver, but far enough away as to not be an immediate target.

“Ivory, I'll get it's attention!” Jackpot yelled. “You go for underneath his belly! I'm sure you'll know where to h it!”

I knew exactly what he meant and now I was busy hoping this thing was a male or at least a very sensitive female. Jackpot swept his way across the yeti's face as it rose up, whooshing his way this way and that as he stayed ahead of it's snapping mouth. I ran as fast as the snow let me up towards the yeti's back while trying to avoid it's constantly shifting feet and large tail. Luck must have been with me today as Jackpot maneuvered the giant monster into the perfect position for me to get underneath and...BINGO, it was a male.

I acted as quickly as I could, lining up my buck as I shifted onto my front haunches and struck straight upwards. The yeti had moved again making my shot miss a direct hit but I still managed to land a blow to the pelvic region of the monster. I must have hit close enough though as the monster let out a howl and leapt backwards with a whine. Luck was again on my side as when it landed it fell right next to where Enyi had been waiting. The yeti was now too focused on the hard kick to it's groin to notice a naturally snow camouflaged Zebra lying in wait in the snow. Enyi struck a blow with his hooves at one of the yeti's feet as it landed, now fully knocking it over once again.

“Yeah! That's how ya do it!” Jackpot whooped as he flew in closer to the yeti.

Jackpot got too close however and the yeti gave a quick swing of it's long tail, knocking Jackpot tot he ground. I stopped my own charge at the monster as Enyi made sure to quickly evacuate the beast's presence as fast as he could. I ran over to help Jackpot up as the yeti shook off it's stunned state and re-centered itself. I could tell it was mad now and very very hungry. I helped Jackpot back up as he, Enyi and I now stood together.

“Ok, here's what we should do.” Jackpot said to us, “I'm gonna keep trying for his face, you two keep on opposite sides of it's body, that way he won't be able to focus on all of us at once.

“That seems quite reasonable.” Enyi said, nodding his head.

“Let's do this!” I shouted, now with some excitement.

Jackpot swooped in first, taking the Yeti's initial notice by flying close to his face and focusing entirely on not being hit rather than hitting back. Enyi and I split up and charged from the left and right side of the yeti. The snow still kept us rather slow but with Jackpot as agile as he now seemed it was of little consequence. Enyi tried to hit it first but the yeti must have seen him somehow and lifted his leg causing Enyi to miss him entirely. I now became very worried for Enyi as he had over-struck his kick and had fallen flat on his stomach with an angry yeti now focused on him.

Jackpot saw this and swooped back in, landing a light blow to the yeti's back and shifting his attention back to Jackpot. I ran over to Enyi and helped him to stand up.

“Give me a boost.” I said.

“What?”

“I have an idea.” Enyi nodded and stood up for me. I backed up and started galloping as fact as I could towards Enyi. “Kneel!” I shouted, nearing Enyi.

Enyi accommodated me as he knelt down as I got nearer to him. I jumped up and managed to land on his back before bending my legs again and leaping from my now not snow covered platform. Enyi saw what I was doing and the moment I jumped he sprang up, giving me a small extra boost as I leapt towards the Yeti's head. Luck just kept coming my way as my blow landed the four-legged monster square in the face. Jackpot timed his next attack immediately after mine which resulted in a twin sided kick to the yeti's face. The monster buckled under the force and leaping, got clear of the group. He let out several audible whines before limping away across the snow.

I stood there in the snow silently staring out at the monster as it limped away. It was now, after the fight had ended, that I noticed how heavily my body was shaking with excitement. I lifted one of my hooves up to my face and gazed as the adrenaline began to wear off and the realization of my having just fought a monster and won crept into my mind. “I'm getting better?” I said silently to myself.

“We must pursue it!” Enyi yelled.

“No, we don't want to get even more lost out here do we?” Jackpot yelled back, landing. Immediately after hitting the ground Jackpot's face scrunched up in pain as he collapsed, grabbing at his wing.

“What did I tell you!” Scarlet yelled, galloping over as fast as she could to look at Jackpot. “No stressful flying!”

“Well sorry for saving our lives!” Jackpot snarked back.

“I don't think wings bend that way?” Scarlet said out loud.

“What!” Jackpot yelled again.

“Oh uh, it's nothing. Your wing just looks a bit puffy right now.” Scarlet's horn began to glow as she clenched her face and exerted her full effort towards Jackpot. Withing seconds the puffiness went down and Jackpot stopped whining. “There, no more puffiness at least. That's about the best I can do though. The bones in your wing are probably still healing so you really can't fly like that.”

Jackpot just sat there staring sadly at his wing, “Will this thing ever fucking heal.”

“Not with language like that!” Scarlet huffed.

“Well we're alive at least. Thanks Jackpot, Ivory and Enyi.” Silver said.

“I say we go straight to Yakyakistan now and no more detours, no matter what.” said Scarlet.

“Yeah, let's go.” I agreed.

Jackpot trotted over to a small snow bank and lifted up his saddlebag which had fallen off during the fight. He brushed it off as the jingle of his flasks could be heard within.

“Those are probably frozen by now.” I said.

“You'd be surprised Ives.” he said finishing brushing off the last of the snow.

As I gazed at his saddlebag I saw the bulge that hid the noticeable(to me) helmet that he had continually snuck with us. I looked back at Enyi for a quick second before turning around and continuing on to Yakyakistan.

*****

Finally, after several more hours of tromping through head-high snow, we managed to find our way to Yakyakistan's gates. It looked about how I expected it to look for a Yak city. The walls and gates were all made of wood(where they got it in this frozen tundra is beyond me) and were slid open to allow us all to pass through easily. The city was a bit bigger on the inside than I expected with large wooden structures(again, where do they get all that wood in a frozen mountain wasteland!) and Yaks all around dressed in admittedly very cool and ornamental horn-dressings.

“Our guide should be there, in that Central house.” Silver said as he pointed towards a large wooden house in the center of a small ring of structures.

“Well prepare yourself Enyi, Yaks are very...well I suppose hyper is a good enough word.” I said.

“Have you ever met one?” Enyi responded.

“Well, not personally but everypony knows what Yaks are like.”

“And what exactly are they like?” Enyi said, staring at me as we neared the large house.

“I just told...” I looked back at Enyi and saw the face he was making and decided it would be best for me to not continue my current dialogue, “You know what, I've never met one so we'll see I guess.”

As we neared the house the door suddenly burst open and a very(very) large Yak came charging out and straight towards us. He had long, shaggy brown fur and large pointy-looking horns that were nearly as large as I was by themselves. He charged up towards Silver and then stopped on a bit right in front of us.

“Yak welcomes little ponies to Yakyakistan! Yak's name is Roose! It is proud Yak name! Now Tell me ponies names!” he bellowed in a loud, deep voice that almost blew me off my hooves.

“Ah, hello Roose. I'm Silver Chaser and these are the ponies you will be leading towards Mt. Everhoof.” Silver gestured towards the rest of us.

“I'm Ivory Star.”

“Call me Jackpot.”

“Scarlet Aloe, at your service.”

“My name is Enyi.” Enyi said, giving a little bow with his head.

“You look strange for pony!” Roose lifted a tuft of hair that hung above his eyes as he stared at Enyi, “Look very strange for little pony!”

“I am a Zebra.”

“Yak has heard of Zebras! Hear you are proud and knowledgeable people! Roose has decided that he likes ponies and Zebras!” Roose smiled as he bellowed.

“See Ivory, this Yak is a very reasonable and...”

Before Enyi could finish Roose grabbed our entire group in his hooves and proceeded to give a crushing hug. He let loose a loud and deep laugh as a large smile appeared on his face.

“Very well! Roose knows the way to ancient ruin! Must be very ancient and sacred Yak site! It is strange ponies are interested but wonderful at the same time!” Roose bellowed again.

“Well actually we think it might be an ancient pony site and...” Roose's hug squeezed most of the air out of me.

“You will follow Roose now!” the overzealous Yak said, letting go of the death-hug and tromping off towards the gate of Yakyakistan.

“Just like that? No plan? No advise for getting across the frozen wastes?” I said, still reeling from the death-hug.

“Yak prefer to take things as they come.” Roose said, continuing on towards the gate.

Jackpot moved past me, shrugged, then proceeded to follow Roose. Silver, Scarlet and Enyi followed suite with me following behind them, trying to catch up.

We continued at a brisk pace in the brisk mountain air of Yakyakistan. Roose had given us some warm coats made from yeti hair that he claimed were completely cold proof...and he was right. I felt it very soon, the feeling of sweat dripping down my face and body as the fur coat brilliantly kept all the cold out and the heat of my body inside.

“These coats are amazing!” I said, running to catch up to Roose who led our little pack.

“Yes! Yaks make best clothes! Ponies think they do but they don't know fine craft of Yak tailoring!” Roose yelled. “What confuses me is why ponies so interested in ancient Yak ruin? Ponies usually not interested in anything non-pony.”

“Well, I wouldn't say that's entirely true. Grit Stratum discovered many Yak heritage sites across the Crystal Mountains back when he was still an adventurer.” I said, doing my best to once again sound as intelligent as I could.

“Yes, Roose has heard of this pony. Yaks now have many lost items he took from us back along with many apologies from pony princesses.” Roose said in a loud but serious tone.

Seriously! He even took shit from the Yaks! By Twilight Sparkle's sparkling orgasms was there no fucking end to this Celestia damned realization that the fucking pony I based my entire life around was a fucking fraud. I at least intend to give the ONE thing I took back and I didn't even really take the helmet, it was Grit. My face began to show just how miserable I had suddenly becomeprompting Enyi to give me a reassuring pat on my back(and one other place) to cheer me up.

The next few hours of the hike proved easy if not somewhat awkwardly silent. This lasted until Roose stopped us at a large chasm that spanned several dozen feet on our intended path. The fissure was at least fifty or sixty feet across and fell downwards at least two or three times that length.

“We are now on height of great Yakyakistan glacier!” Roose bellowed out. “Ruin is not far on the other side of pit here!”

“Well I think I know how we're getting across.” Jackpot said stretching out his wings.

“Oh no you don't!” Scarlet scolded. “Were you even listening to me back there?”

Jackpot shut his wings back up against his side with an annoyed groan. I swiftly trotted over towards the edge of the fissure and took a look down the chasm. It nearly made me dizzy, looking down from such a high vantage point into a near bottomless ice-pit.

“Well it might take a while but I suppose I could try to carry some of us across.” Silver said, speaking up. “Although I can't say that I can lift our friend Roose here or...” he glanced over at Enyi, “I mean if what Jackpot has told me is true...”

“I am sure we will find another way thank you.” this time it was Enyi's turn to sound somewhat annoyed.

As we all stood there trying to think of a way to cross it Roose's face lit up like the Canterlot Hearths Warming tree, “I have an idea!”

“What is it?” Scarlet asked.

“Yaks have best Buckball team in all kingdoms!”

“What does that mea....” I started to ask before quickly realizing what he meant.

“KICK THE PONY!” Roose yelled as he suddenly charged at me.

“WAIT, WHAT!?” is all I had time to say before Roose barreled into me and sent me flying into the air and straight onto the other side of the chasm. I dug my face out of the snow-pile I had thankfully landed in. I shook off the snow and looked angrily back across the chasm, “What the fuck!”

“Haha! Roose knew that would work!” Roose said proudly before turning back towards the others.

“Don't even think about it.” Jackpot and Scarlet said simultaneously before Roose proceeded to buck them successfully across the chasm.

“You know I really don't want anything in my pack here to get damaged and I as I can fly I think you don't really need to...” Silver started to say before being thrown over the chasm himself by Roose.

“This will not end well.” Enyi said as he too went flying over the chasm, courtesy of Roose.

“My turn!” Roose yelled from the other side.

Roose backed up quite a ways away from the edge, “He isn't.” I said in disbelief.

“He's crazy.” Jackpot said, digging his head out of a snow-drift.

Roose started out at a charge towards the chasm. He let out a loud scream as he sped up faster than I though a Yak could go and leapt off the edge of the chasm. Roose flew through the air almost as if he was flying before landing safely on our side of the chasm with a loud THUD.

“How the hell!?” Jackpot said, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“Yaks strong!” Roose exclaimed with great pride in his voice.

“That's more than just strong, that was amazing!” Scarlet said with a look of wonder on her face.

“Most impressive.” Enyi said, still shaking snow off himself.

“Yeah but how about we don't do that again.” I said, still shaking the daze of being bucked across a large ice-chasm from my head.

“Ponies just jealous of Yaks! Is understandable.” Roose yelled out in happiness.

With a new-found respect (and fear) of our Yak companion we once again set out towards the base of Mt. Everhoof where the newest site was located. It took only a few more hours of hiking before the mountain truly came into view for me. The top peaks of the large mountain could not be seen as the clouds shrouded them in their misty embrace but everything else was absolutely beautiful to look at. With the snow-storms at an end the large majority of the mountains could be seen with startling clarity in the Yakyakistan sunlight. Glistening snow covering tall and imposing rock formations that had been forming for thousands of years, if not longer. The whole area seemed to sparkle as miles of untrodden and pristine snow covered everything allowing it to reflect the sunlight back onto us, creating a shining floor for us to trot on.

“Gotta say, without the blizzards and yetis this place is actually pretty beautiful.” I mused as I turned my head around in order to take in as much of the view as possible.

“And just look at the cliff edges!” Scarlet said in a delighted tone. “It looks like a pony can see forever from up here!”

She wasn't lying. I looked over towards the lower points of the mountain and could see in an unbroken line for miles on miles. If I squinted hard enough I could even just barely see the edges of the green fields that made up the borders of the Crystal Empire, protected by the Crystal Heart as it was.

“In Khaweth, the Zebra have many mountains similar to these. They might not be as tall as this but many of our own peaks are filled with gems which can sometimes be seen sparkling for miles about.” Enyi said, looking out at the views himself.

“What about the mountains that don't do that?” Silver asked.

“We do not speak of those peaks. They are...dangerous.” Enyi said cautiously.

“How so?” Scarlet asked in a slightly trembling voice.

“I will say this, there are worse things than the Pyth in those places where the Zebra seldom tread.”

“Worse than those monsters? Not possible.” I said in disbelief.

“Oh don't be so sure bout that Ives.” Jackpot said. “Enyi's right on the mark on this one.”

“What's a Pyth?” Scarlet asked.

“Giant winged, acid spitting snake monsters that could eat even Roose here in one bite.” I said back to her.

“Roose doubts this.” Roose said.

“Sorry I asked.” Scarlet said with a terrified expression on her face.

“Well, what's worse than a Pyth?” I asked, kind of curious at the prospect of something worse than a monster that nearly took out me, Grit, Jackpot and Enyi with relative ease.

“You do not want to know.” Enyi said.

“I do now!” I said excitedly.

“They are difficult to describe as they are rarely seen and the few who do see them do not speak of them much.” Enyi said with a modicum of hesitance.

“So they're some kind of terrifying monsters?” I thought out loud.

“Think giant squids with poison knives for tentacles that live in lakes. There's also the...” Jackpot started to say.

“Jackpot!” Enyi yelled, “How you learned these things is beyond me but they are not openly discussed among my people.”

“Well we ain’t with your people now are we?” Jackpot snidely said back.

“Please just respect my wishes this once.” Enyi said stuffing his hoof in his face in an act of annoyance.

“Fine but Ivory's gonna want to hear more if you want her to give you more later.” Jackpot gave a suggestive wink at Enyi and a mocking nudge.

“JACKPOT SHUT UP!” I yelled before quickly covering my mouth as a slight shaking noise suddenly came from up the mountain.

“We are now high enough for Yakyakistan avalanches.” Roose said sternly. “We must be more quiet from here on.”

“Let me guess, Yakyakistan avalanches are the biggest right?” Jackpot sarcastically asked.

“Pony is correct. Yakyakistan avalanches very big.” said Roose.

“Well then, I say we get a move on before something bad happens.” Silver said, readjusting his large pack and turning back towards the mountain.

“Yes, lets get to where we're going before we get buried in a hundred feet of snow.” Scarlet said, eagerly agreeing with Silver.

We all turned back towards the mountains as Roose took the lead and continued to lead us towards the site. With the now present fear of a large avalanche the talking pretty much ground to a halt for a while. Every now and again I could hear Jackpot saying something soon followed by a giggle or a gasp from Scarlet. I would look back every so often to see Silver looking eagerly at his surroundings, his head rolling back and forth as he took in all the majestic views that surrounded us. Enyi kept his face forward (I was in front of him) and whenever I looked back at him he would smile and give me a small wave. Eventually Roose dropped back a bit so he was not so far ahead of the rest of the group.

“Small pony. Yaks were wondering why you are interested in stone wall in middle of mountains?” Roose said, trying to be as quiet as he could while still being what I would consider loud.

“Well actually we have reason to believe it is actually an old pony ruin.” I said back to him.

“This seem unlikely. No ponies up here in Yakyakistan. Yaks lived here for many generations and have many stories of great Yaks doing great things.”

“I'm sure but I heard of some symbols that match the cutie mark of an old pony wizard from way before even the rule of Celestia.”

“How long is that?” Roose asked, confused.

“What do you mean how long is that? Everypony knows how long Celestia has ruled Equestria.”

“Yak is not pony.”

That's right, I forgot that Yaks would probably not be as keen to know pony history as ponies, especially since most ponies don't really know much about pony history. There were the ponies of Adventure Incorporated and of course professor ponies and museum ponies and such but they represented a relatively small part of the overall pony population.

“Well Celestia has ruled for over one thousand years.” I said proud of the fact.

“Hmm. Yak stories go back two thousand years. Yaks must have been here longer.”

“Well two thousand years is about the time period this pony probably lived in so really my case is still just as good.”

Something sounded a little off though about what Roose just said. I took a quick look back to Sparky, which still adorned my hoof, and saw the outlines of Griffon, Buffalo, Earth Pony, Pegasus, Unicorn and the Zebra all around the purple crystal, but no Yak. Enyi had told me that Abila disappeared for a number of years and when she came back she brought with her many creatures. Also according to Enyi the Zebras used to control pretty much all of this which means no Yaks. I stopped briefly, wondering if all the species that adorned Sparky, ponies included, were all the creatures that Abila brought back with her. It also got me wondering why the Yaks now seemed to match up their own history with this time table and why, if they were part of this group, they were not pictured on the bracelet.

“There.” Roose suddenly said, pointing his hoof towards a large cliff-face that had just appeared over the horizon.

“Finally.” Jackpot groaned as he passed me by, tromping through the thick snow.

“It appears we have arrived.” Enyi said, coming to stand next to me.

“I hope there are no monsters inside there this time.” Scarlet said as she caught up.

“Hard to say. This place is remote, even for yetis, but I guess you never know.” Silver added as he approached from the rear.

“We'll soon find out I guess.” I said, picking up my hooves and moving towards the rocky wall.

The spot reminded me of the Griffonstone entrance. A large, mostly flat, cliff-face that rose several dozen feet high and had carvings on it that were covered by snow. Scarlet got to work using her telekinesis to brush snow off of the high places on the wall with Silver dropping his packs and flying up to help her.

“We should hurry up. There's an hour or two of sunlight left at best.” Silver told me.

After several minutes the wall had been cleared off and the similarities to the Griffonstone site became even more apparent. In the center of the wall was another carving of a very similar tree that took up the majority of the wall. The tree trailed off into many branches as it gently curved off into slender boughs that spread out across the wall. Across the upper branches of the tree was written several lines of Pre-Celestial Script while images of stars mixed with rays and mists of light whisked across the base and mid-section of the tree.

“Any clue what that writing says Ives?” Jackpot asked, looking over to me.

“Is not ancient Yak writing.” Roose said from his position behind us.

“No, this is ancient pony writing.” I said to Roose, prompting him to rub hif hoof under his chin in a contemplative stance.

“You think you can fly me up there Jackpot?” I asked.

“If Scarlet wont complain I'd be happy to.”

“Just don't stay up there too long ok.” Scarlet responded.

Enyi, can I have the journals?” Enyi reached behind into his bags and pulled out Abila's journal and the journal filled with our notes. Jackpot began to gently flap his wings as he swiftly floated up off the ground. He wrapped his hooves around my waste and slowly lifted me up off the ground. “You ok Jackpot?”

“Yeah yeah, I'm fine.”

We continued to rise up until we came to the top of the wall until the writing came directly in front of my face. I looked intently at it before fumbling the journals open to be sure I got the words right: Tinuwiella era sel. Ea fidele an durin as se galia. As se galia unil ror ir edroe, Ar era Aleigh.

“Uh, whats that mean?” Jackpot asked.

“Give me a minute.” I said as I peered back into the journals. I flipped through several pages looking for anything that could help me translate the text as I had not seen several of the words before.

“Well?” Jackpot asked impatiently.

“Aurora Solstice is here. She made the door with her magic. With her magic alone can it be opened, this is truth. Or something like that.”

Jackpot lowered me back down to the ground, “What's that supposed to mean?”

“I think it means we need Aurora Solstice's magic in order to open the door.” I said.

The others trotted over to Jackpot and me, “And how exactly do we get that?” Silver asked.

“How should I know?” I said back.

“There must be something we are not seeing.” Enyi added.

“Yaks know little of pony magic. Roose suggests ramming the door down.” Roose said.

“Somehow I don't think that would work.” Scarlet said.

“Well if magic is necessary I say we let Scarlet give it some good whacks.” Jackpot suggested.

“I doubt my magic is even a tenth as good as this Aurora Solstice's was. Besides, My magic is mostly medical and I don't have anything really in the way of attack spells.”

“Just spit-balling ideas.” Jackpot shrugged.

“Well if magic is involved then I guess Scarlet will have to be our best bet since she has magic and all.” I said.

“Let's sleep on it and continue in the morning.” Silver said. “It's getting late anyway so we might as well get some rest and clear our heads.”

“Silver is right. I say we rest and continue this in the morning.” Enyi said, agreeing with Silver.

With that suggestion Silver pulled out the necessary items we needed to build a fire from his large pack. Roose plowed away a large area on the stone ground beside the wall of snow and prepared enough room to accommodate our group. Within several minutes Silver had placed the components for the fire on the ground as Jackpot got it going.

The night rolled on as I sat around the fire with my friends. Jackpot had spent an enormously long time regaling us with more stories of past adventures he had been on and was willing to talk about. Roose even told a surprisingly delightful story about the Yaks saving the world from a great evil, long ago. This story got me thinking again about the Yaks. They seem to appear the same time in Equestrian history as all the other surrounding species but why a Yak wasn't on Sparky I couldn't guess. I looked down at Sparky and all of the images that adorned its surface. Griffon, Buffalo, Earth Pony, Unicorn, Pegasus and a Zebra. Why those six creatures exactly? Why six?

“By Twilight I think I've got it!” I said, popping up from my thinking.

“Got what?” Jackpot asked.

“At Luna Bay there was a plaque in that cloud palace thingy that said selflessness, at Griffonstone the statue the cloak was on said compassion. Don't you see!? There are six creatures on Sparky here!” I said excitedly.

“What's that got to do with anything?” Scarlet then asked.

“The Elements of Harmony.” I said, looking back at the wall. “This is truth. Don't you guys see? It's a riddle.”

The rest of the group stared at me with confusion in their eyes. Silver grew a little smile on his face as he looked back up at the wall, most likely understanding what I was saying first.

“What about at Numnah?” Enyi asked, “I saw no inscription there that matched these?”

“I don't know. Maybe we just didn't find the right room or something.” I said.

“So the helmet could still be there?” Enyi said to himself.

“So what exactly is this riddle anyhow?” Jackpot said, changing the subject.

“The last line, this is truth. That's the answer. Compassion is kindness, Selflessness is probably generosity or something and truth is obviously honesty.” I said excitedly.

“So we gotta tell the truth?” Jackpot said worriedly.

“I'm sure it's more complicated than just simply telling the truth about something.” Scarlet said.

“What does pony suggest?” Roose said.

“I don't know. I didn't think that far ahead.” I said, shrugging.

“Well at least we have something to think about now.” Silver said.

Eventually as the others eventually drifted off to sleep I just couldn't. I stayed up and stared at the wall for hours without so much as a new thought on what to do to open it. When everypony had gone to sleep I crept over to Jackpot's saddlebags and dug my hooves into them. I slid the flasks out of the way and pulled out Abila's helmet, still wrapped in a cloth. I took a glance back down at the flasks and ended up grabbing one in my hooves and taking a few swigs to try and calm myself for thinking. I slid Abila's helmet onto my head and immediately noticed the swell of energy as Sparky sprouted up around my hoof.

My eyes darted across the stone wall in front of me. I found myself quickly taking in every inch, every crack and every image that graced the tall and imposing wall. I just needed a clue, I had to be missing something.

“Ugh! I hate not knowing!” I shouted before immediately shoving my hoof into my mouth. I turned my head towards my sleeping companions, Roose snorted a little as he slept but other than that they didn't stir. I rubbed my temples with my forehooves in frustration. “What could I even say? Would I even need to say anything? Is it some kind of feeling or maybe even an actual spell?” I just didn't know and it began to burn away at me.

I put Abila's helmet back into Jackpot's saddlebag and began to pace relentlessly. I looked up one more time at the many carvings that graced the side of the wall. “A tree, Aurora's cutie mark, various symbols probably representing magic, the riddle and...not much else.” A cold wind blew past me, I shivered as I curled inside the yeti-fur coat Roose had given me.

“Hey Ives, keep it down. Yer pacing is keeping me up.” Jackpot's voice suddenly shot up from behind me which gave me a little jolt of surprise.

“You scared me Jackpot. Don't just pop up from nowhere like that.” I said to my sleepy friend.

“Any luck?” Jackpot said, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“Ugh.”

“I'm guessing that's a no then.”

I slumped my face down into the fur coat and let out a groan of failure. Jackpot trotted over to me and patted me on the back with his wing.

“I just don't get this.” I said, frustrated.

“Well it seems that if we want to get in we need to be honest about something. That's what you said before right?”

“It's a guess. Plus something like that could really give a highly up to interpretation view of what exactly constitutes an honest confession of something. I mean does it have to be a secret or some kind of general truth. I could say that I like Enyi, which is truth but it's not really secret. Or I could say that I'm now ashamed and embarrassed of being Grit's apprentice which becomes more and more true with every passing day it seems.” I shoved my face into my hooves and started to cry a little bit.

“Yeesh.” Jackpot groaned. “I guess everypony has their own emotional baggage, at least everypony in this business.”

“So then Jackpot, what's yours? I mean beside you having worked for a secret organization bent on world domination or whatever it is they're really doing.” I said looking back up at Jackpot.

“Oh, I really wouldn't know where to begin, or end.” Jackpot let out a long sigh. “Did I ever tell you about the time I went to the Dragon lands?”

“No.” I said, curious.

“I must have been...eighteen at the time. Sable had been in power for a few years at this point and I got orders to go down to the Dragon lands with Goldie and steal some staff or whatever.” A scowl appeared on my face when Jackpot mentioned Goldie but he just continued to talk. “Goldie, predictably, wanted to go the direct approach and fight the Dragons to get the staff. I on the other hoof decided to take a more measured approach.”

“You, measured? I find that hard to believe.” I said.

“Yeah well, back then I was very committed to the Family and actually wanted to be successful with them. I knew that two ponies wouldn't stand much of a chance against all the Dragons so I found this really nice looking Dragoness...”

“I don't need or want to hear the end of that sentence.” I said flatly.

Jackpot cleared his throat, “Fine then, be that way. Well anyway I got her to trust me and get me in to see the Dragon-lord and her magical staff. Goldie, luckily, started to cause some noise outside which allowed me to get in behind and slip out with the staff with relative ease.”

“Wait, you were the one who stole Dragon Lord Embers staff? That was front page news for weeks!” I said in shock and surprise.

“Yeah, turns out that Sable wanted to use it for something with the Dragons but I never really found out what exactly that was. I'm not proud of it now of course but at the time I just...I just felt so accomplished and to have actually done something of that caliber was just...indescribable.” Jackpot's gaze turned towards the night sky as his eyes became somewhat glossy.

“I have to say, that was pretty honest.” I looked up at the door but it hadn't moved an inch. “Guess it wasn't honest enough.”

“Guess not.” jackpot sighed.

“I still find it hard to believe you and Goldie were ever friends.” I said, looking down at my hooves and avoiding Jackpot's eyes.

“We weren't friends.” Jackpot said.

“Huh, but she said...oh...OH!” my eyes opened as I remembered Goldie and Jackpot's interaction from Luna Bay. “And yet you two never...did anything.” I murmured.

“Nope. I liked her, don't get me wrong, but there was always something unsettling about her. I don't know...it was like she just didn't belong here or something. Can't say if it was her personality or how she carried herself or what.” Jackpot continued to stare at the sky. “I need a drink.” Jackpot nuzzled his face into one of his saddlebags and tugged out a flask. He took a large swig of the cider and turned towards me, “Want any?”

“Sure.” I said. Jackpot slid the flask over and I slipped the nozzle into my mouth, turned my head up and guzzled down a swig of the burning cider. “So, you did have feelings for her?”

“Yeah. She wasn't always cruel you know. Every so often she could be...normal, or at least mostly normal for a pony.”

“What do you mean?”

“I remember she used to smile a lot and not always when torturing small animals. Sometimes she would just sit outside and take in the cool breezes while holding onto this big smile that I always found adorable.” Jackpot started to look a bit too content talking about Goldie for my taste.

“Jackpot, what exactly made you leave?”

Jackpot did not answer right away. His face stayed turned towards the sky for a second before turning towards our sleeping companions. After he had stared at them for several seconds he turned back to me.

“I'm afraid I lied to you Ivory. I didn't leave because I thought what they were doing was wrong. I left because...I made a dumb choice and decided to run out instead of trying to fix it.”

“What did you do?” my curiosity was growing.

“I found this incredibly beautiful mare and decided I was in love with her. Goldie found out and...thing's didn't turn out well for me.” Jackpot squirmed ever so slightly as he said this.

I immediately put two and two together, “That's what Goldie meant. You and this mare...you had a foal?”

“Yeah.”

“And that's what Angela meant by visiting those two?”

“Right again.” jackpot squeaked as he immediately gulped down the last of his flask of cider.

“Why don't you?”

“Well, she pretty much hates me now and the kid barely even knows I exist. I tried supporting them for a while but eventually she found out I was tomb robbing and artifact smuggling and other things I would probably be thrown into a dungeon for if anypony found out. So I decided to cut my losses and venture out into the world by myself.”

“So you left the Family because of this mare you liked?”

“Yeah, and when that didn't work out I was too embarrassed to go back. Plus I think Goldie would have skinned me alive or something.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked.

Jackpot let out another sigh, “Truth door.” Jackpot turned his head towards the door with a disappointed look on his face, “Guess it didn't work.”

“Well thanks for telling me. It means a lot that you would trust me enough to tell me something so personal.” I lifted my hoof and gave Jackpot a friendly pat on the back.

“It's gonna be hard ya know. I have a feeling we're gonna be seeing Goldie again soon in all honesty...I don't know what I'm going to do about it.” Jackpot shoved his face into his hooves.

“What do you mean you don't know?”

“I grew up with her Ivory. I know how you feel about her but you need to know I don't hate her, not really. If we're pushed into another confrontation then I don't know if I could actually hurt her, assuming of course she doesn't just kill us and we can actually survive fighting her.”

I looked down at the ground, I understood what he was saying but if I saw Goldie again and I got the chance...I would take it. There would be no hesitation, no second thoughts and no stopping.

Suddenly from behind us a loud grinding noise came rumbling across the mountain. I shot straight up and turned around back towards the cliff-face. The tree carved onto the wall had suddenly had started glowing a bright blue as the wall itself began to rumble. Enyi, Scarlet, Silver and Roose each had thrown themselves up from their sleep and were galloping towards Jackpot and me.

“Ivory, Jackpot what's going on!?” Scarlet yelled.

“I don't know. The wall suddenly started glowing and...and moving!” I shouted back.

Indeed the wall had started to split in half as each side of the wall began to push to the side. The wall suddenly turned into two large doors that swung open with a large gust of cold air that came from within the now open chamber. From within the chamber the only thing I could see was a large pale light that shone out from the inside. I covered my eyes with my hoof and, curiosity driving me on, began to step towards it.

“What is that?” Enyi said as he came up behind me.

“I don't know, but I want to.” I stepped forwards towards the light emanating from the chamber as it began to fade the closer I drew to it.

“Careful Ivory, it's fading.” Silver called out from behind.

I crossed the threshold of the now opened chamber as the last bit of light faded away into the darkness of the night. What stood before me still glowed but with a softer light that only emanated outward slightly. A pony stood there, a Unicorn mare with a pink coat and a mane that was awash of various colors. Red, green, blue and purple hair flowed from her head as he body sparkled in the starlight that shone down on the mountainside.

“Is that?” I couldn't finish my statement as the pony's head turned towards me. I stared straight back into her clear, silver eyes as her mouth began to move.

“Maegola. Saya si Tinuwiella.”

I stood ther confused. I didn't really know what was going on so when she spoke I nearly forgot to say anything back. “Um, I'm Ivory Star. Are you Aurora Solstice?”

The pony stared at me before speaking more in her slender voice, “Ar era seya varr.”

“Your what? I didn't understand that last word.” I looked straight at the Unicorn only to realize she wasn't really looking back at me. I lifted my hoof and stretched it out to touch Aurora only to see my hoof slide right through her. “It's some kind of projection.”

The others approached carefully, not shifting their gazes from the shimmering image of Aurora that stood before us. Aurora suddenly turned around and began to slowly walk down the passageway that led further into the chamber.

“Oh no. Not more tunnels.” I groaned as Aurora disappeared down the dark corridor.

“HAHA! Roose not scared of dark tunnels.” Roose bellowed as he trotted onward into the tunnel.

“Come on there Ives! Don't wanna be left behind.” Jackpot said in a surprisingly cheery voice as he followed Roose down into the tunnel. The others all quickly followed him and with a groan I reluctantly went in last.

I ran down the hallway in order to catch up to my group and the mysterious image of Aurora they were following. As I looked around the tunnel I was extremely glad to notice the place had a vastly different feel to Greywing's tomb back in Griffonstone. The walls of this hall were not a rigid and had a delightful lack of light sucking spider webs covering them. The walls and ceilings had a slender curve to them that made the tunnel give off a more comforting feeling that eased my own tension of having to shuffle my way into another set of dark tunnels.

Come to think of it, the tunnels never even seemed that dark. Whether it was the dim glow that emanated from Aurora or some other magic that I didn't understand, the halls we passed never seemed dark or oppressive. In fact I could see perfectly fine the entirety of the time without so much as a single candle or light source outside from Aurora herself.

“I'm taking this coat off.” Scarlet said as she slid off the yeti coat. I could tell by looking at Scarlet that she was sweating and from that realized that I was to. The inside of the ruin was surprisingly warm and once I slid my coat off it became very comfortable. The rest of the group had taken their coats off as well and given them to Roose to carry.

“Ar royo.”the image of Aurora Solstice said as she looked back at us and turned down a side passage that connected with ours.

“What does that mean? Where is she leading us? And can she even perceive us or is this just some kind of recording?” I asked repeatedly.

“I guess we still do not fully understand the language yet.” Enyi said.

“It's just frustrating that I can get some of the words yet I have absolutely no idea what others mean! I hate only knowing parts of things.” I huffed.

“I don't know but I still say we follow her.” said Silver from up front.

“Wonder what we'll find here?” Jackpot asked, mostly to himself probably.

“I can't wait to find out.” I said.

Aurora led us into a medium sized room that seemed to naturally light itself up as we entered. This chamber was vastly different from anything I had seen in Griffonstone. There was no treasure or monsters but lines upon lines of writing that covered the walls. In fact the entirety of the room was filled with thousands of lines of Pre-Celestial Script that froze me in my tracks. I rushed up towards the walls and started reading every word I could understand.

“This is...this is amazing.” I gawked.

“What does it say?” Scarlet asked, trotting up behind me.

“This looks like some kind of record. The beginning...here, it starts with Aurora or...Tinuwiella, as she is called in Pre-Celestial Script, taking some ponies with her up north to search or watch for something.”

“Watch for what?” Silver asked as he came up behind me.

“This word here, Morlor. I don't know what it means.” I said, staring at the word.

“It is the Darkness.” said Enyi as he walked up behind me.

“How do you know?” Jackpot asked.

“It is similar to our word and it has some similarities for the scripts word for dark, Morol.”

“Oh yeah, duh! Why didn't I see that.” I said, slapping my forehead.

“So Aurora Knew about this Darkness thing as well then?” Scarlet asked.

“Looks like it.” I answered.

“Ponies, glowing pony is moving!” Roose called out to us as Aurora began to move down another passageway.

I didn't want to leave this room until I could translate more but I also didn't want to lose Aurora down here so I led the others in running after her. She continued for a while further down several more passages until she came to another chamber that was slightly larger than the last. This room had but a single image that had been set into the wall. The image an Alicorn with sapphires for eyes and diamonds set into her dark mane. Her white coat was lined in silver trim she wore an absolutely beautiful set of silver armor that was inlaid with beautiful, flowing trim and images of stars circling around a great tree.

“Beautiful.” Silver said in an awed voice.

“Amazing.” Scarlet added in an almost equally awed voice.

“It's almost as if you can feel the magic.” Jackpot said, himself entranced by the glowing picture on the wall.

“Terria.” I mumbled.

“What?” Silver asked.

“In Abila's journal she mentioned somepony named Terria that she was friends with. I think this is her.”

“She looks so sad.” Scarlet said softly.

“Yeah, she kinda does.” I said, staring deeply at the image while nearly losing myself in it.

Suddenly a strange noise came echoing down the passageway we had just come from. Aurora had disappeared when the noise turned into audible shouting.

“I think I heard something down here!” I heard a voice yell.

I suddenly had a terrible feeling in my stomach at what was about to happen. “Enyi.” I said quickly as I turned towards him, “Head on further down the passageways with the others and whatever you do, don't get caught.”

“What do you mean Ivory?” Enyi asked, confused.

“I don't think whoever's shouting down there is friendly.” I said nervously. “Take everypony else down and make sure you aren't seen ok. Please, just do this for me.” I said, giving him a little kiss on the cheek.

“Very well.” Enyi nodded and gestured for the others to follow him. They all followed Enyi down the passage except for Jackpot who insisted on staying with me.

“I'm not running from nothing.” Jackpot said defiantly.

“Fine, get into the corner with me.” I shoved Jackpot off to the side of the room.

Suddenly several ponies in familiar black body covering outfits came galloping into the chamber. They were unicorns and the uniforms immediately told me who they were, Goldie's goons from Luna Bay. I didn't hesitate. I jumped right out at them from behind and struck one of them in the face with my front hooves as Jackpot took down the other one with an equally impressive buck.

“Goldie's here.” I said, my body trembling with excitement.

“Fuck. How did she know we were here?”

“I don't think she does. She probably heard about this place being found and was ordered to come take a look. She probably saw that flash from earlier as well.”

Jackpot's face turned rather dour as he took a quick look down the passage. I looked also but didn't see any more ponies running down it.

“These were probably just scouts.” Jackpot said. “We need to take this carefully.”

I did not listen as I had already begun to run down the passage, Jackpot quickly caught up and took a position behind me. We got back to the writing chamber as about five more of Goldie's goons were standing around looking at the writing themselves.

“You got Sparky ready?” Jackpot whispered.

I nodded and stretched out my hoof before letting my emotions go and firing a large blast of energy that stunned two of the Unicorns while Jackpot swooped in and swiftly knocked out two more. The fifth Unicorn was so surprised that he just stood there as I neared him and dealt him a strong buck to the face, knocking him out cold.

“I'm sure somepony heard that blast. Doubt we'll be surprising them again like this.” Jackpot said, letting out several deep breaths.

“I don't care if they know we're coming. I just want to get to Goldie.” I said, my voice and body getting more and more excited at the prospect of bucking Goldie repeatedly in the face.

Jackpot quickly took the lead this time as he moved quietly through the warm hallways of the ruins until we came to right before the exit. Jackpot and I crouched down as he poked his head out of the doorway just enough that he could see but not so much that he could be easily seen.

“I don't see anypony.” Jackpot whispered.

“Doesn't mean they're not out there.” I whispered back.

“It's a trap you know.”

“I think we can take them. As long as I have Sparky here, they really don't stand a chance.” I said in my own cocky voice.

“You're getting decent but don't think you can take on a couple dozen ponies on yer own just yet kid. And that Sparky of yours is only gonna be useful if you can move your hooves to aim it. One good ambush and we could be knocked out before we knew what hit us.” the moment Jackpot said this irony stuck. Something hit me in the head hard and immediately made me lose consciousness. The last thing I heard and saw was Jackpot hitting the floor at the same time as me.

*****

My eyes fluttered as I lay there in a pile of snow. The blackness of my unconsciousness fading away as I opened my eyes to see a still unconscious Jackpot lying near me tied to one of the many large rocks that stuck out of the mountainside. It was still dark out so I had probably not been unconscious for very long. I tried squirming around but I was still extremely dizzy and my head was badly hurting. I tried to move my body only to find that I couldn't due to some tight fitting object that hung around my waste, keeping my hooves stuck pointing towards the ground. When I regained enough sense to look around I saw that I was being restrained with ropes against another rock a bit away from where Jackpot was laying.

“Well well, looky who's finally awake.” a voice that I instinctively hated said. I looked up to see Goldie standing over me with a large grin on her face. “I've been wanting to see you again after Vanhoover but I was beginning to think I was never going to get the chance.”

“Fuck...you.” I said weakly.

Goldie sighed as one of he Unicorn ponies trotted up to her. “Ms. Grail, from what we've seen this looks like the right place.”

“Good.” Goldie responded, “Let's make this go as smoothly as that mud pony's tomb.”

“Wait! What tomb!” I suddenly shouted out in surprise.

Goldie's grin grew just a bit bigger, “Oh we found one of your little relics and soon we'll have all the rest of them.” Goldie turned towards several other Unicorns that were standing near her. “Get everypony else into those tunnels! I want the artifact and any of Jackpot's other friends found!”

There were several dozen Unicorns gathered around the entrance, most of them ran in at Goldie's command while a few more remained outside. I heard a slight groan come from the side as Jackpot slowly began to open his eyes and roll his head around.

“Oh, your up Jackpot!” Goldie said with a giddiness in her voice that unnerved me.

“What? Goldie!” Jackpot said weakly as he stared up at Goldie, his eyes opening up wide as he saw her standing over him.

“Why didn't you come back yet Jackpot? This isn't like you.” Goldie said to him.

“Oh, fuck me.” Jackpot groaned.

“Don't tempt me.” Goldie said in a sultry voice as she ran her hoof through Jackpot dirty blonde mane. “Why are you still hanging around with these fuckers?”

Jackpot rolled his eyes and remained silent. Goldie's expression immediately went from unnervingly sweet to her more fitting enraged.

“WHY!” She yelled, her face enraged at Jackpot's silence.

“He doesn't have to answer you.” I said angrily and defiantly.

Goldie slowly turned her head back towards me then back to Jackpot, “Oh, I get it. Hahahahaha! She doesn't work for you, you work for her! HA!” Goldie started laughing near uncontrollably. “The great Jackpot working for some dumb-ass kid.” Several of the Unicorns even started to chuckle to themselves. “As for you, I remember one of those striped fuckers with you. How would you like your head cut off and shoved down his throat huh?” I immediately lost all defiance in my face as my body turned pale, “Thought that might shut you up.”

“Shut up already Goldie.” Jackpot said, rolling his eyes, “You obviously want us for something or else you would have killed Ivory here already.” my gaze darted straight towards Jackpot with a 'don't give her ideas' look.

A Unicorn trotted over towards Goldie, a small radio in her telekinetic grip, “Goldie, he's here.”

Goldie groaned slightly, “Fine, can't see why he didn't want me to just kill her but whatever.” Goldie looked straight at my face, “Somepony wants to talk to you.” Goldie moved to the side as the Unicorn floated the small radio down in front of me.

“What? Who wants to talk to me?”

A loud buzzing noise came from the radio before leveling out into a low hum.

“Is she here Goldie?” a soft voice from the radio said.

“Yeah, she's here.” Goldie grunted.

“Who are you?” I asked, curiosity taking hold of me for the moment.

“Sable Granite, at your service.” the voice said.

My face stopped dead, I clenched my mouth and began to grit my teeth as I tried to struggle my way out of the copious ropes that held me tied to a frozen rock.

“You must be Ivory Star, former protege to our former acquaintance Grit Stratum. I must say it is a pleasure to speak with you.”

“Go fuck yourself!” I shouted into the radio.

“Now now, no need for such aggression here my dear. I just simply want to talk with you is all.”

“I have nothing to say to you except that I'm going to find you and smash your face in for what you did to Grit!” I said, anger taking over me.

“Ah yes, that business with Grit was...unfortunate, but we all have our orders to follow. The past is the past my friend, what would you say to coming to work for me eh?”

“I would say again, go fuck yourself!”

“Ivory I understand your hesitation but you really do not know what is going on here do you?”

“I know all about this Darkness of yours and about how you think you can control it.”

“Ok, so you know the base level of my plan. It is true that these artifacts, the first Elements of Harmony, can be used to control this ancient force but do you even know what I plan to do with it?”

“Doesn't matter, can't be good.”

The voice let out an audible sigh, “Do you know what the darkness is Ivory?”

I didn't answer. It wasn't exactly that I didn't want to answer but my knowledge of what exactly the Darkness was was pretty much limited to it was evil and powerful and it destroyed the old Zebra Empire.

“So, you do not know what it is then. Do not worry I will enlighten you. The Darkness was the most powerful wizard to ever live. A being so powerful he brought the largest and most powerful empire the world ever saw to it's knees before destroying it utterly. The Zebra Empire, a nation that spanned continents and that had prospered for thousands of years, brought low by one being.”

“I already know that.” I said.

“Well then, do you know what the Darkness was or should I say who it was?” I had to admit I did not. “He was an Alicorn. An Alicorn who came from across the sea and who, over time, grew so powerful he as able to bring the world to heel. He destroyed cities, armies and countless millions of lives. The Darkness threw down empires and kingdoms like dominoes and brought about a century of death and darkness on the greatest empire in history.”

“Wait, what do you mean an Alicorn from across the sea?”

“Did you think Alicorns were native to Equestria? Where do you think they left to then? They simply returned to their own home after living here for some time. The Darkness created strife and discord throughout the world. It spawned armies of demons and monsters all led by two nightmare lords, Lazilob the spider and Balaur the Dark Dragon. He left vestiges of power that popped up from time to time in Equestrian history, from the many monsters that live in and around Equestria to the powers that corrupted Nightmare Moon and the Pony of Shadows. He was imprisoned in the first dungeon of Tartarus thousands of years ago for his innumerable crimes.”

“How is that possible? If he was as powerful as you say, what could have had the strength to imprison him?” I wondered.

“I would love to find out but unfortunately Grit decided to betray us before finishing his research on the subject.”

“Wait, what!? Since when was Grit researching this?” I was shocked he didn't mention it.

“It is what we had him doing before he decided to go after the helmet by himself to keep us from getting to it.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I want trust between us Ivory. It would make things so much easier if you would just join with the Family. We could all study and learn this together and then think about what we could use his power for. The Family is not some great evil entity as you have been led to believe. We do not seek to go around ruining lives for no reason. We seek knowledge and power so as to improve the world and bring some long needed order to it.”

“Oh please! I know about how that group Grit beat in Marewaukee were part of you guys. What Gold Mane wanted was far from orderly.”

“That was over forty years ago and yes, Gold Mane was not a good pony. It is good that Grit stopped his madness.”

“Listen, we both know I'm not going to go for this and if you tell me that we have so much in common or some crap like that I'm gonna punch you twice as hard when I find you.” I said, still trying to worm and push my way out of the ropes that held me down.

“Well if you cared to converse more you would find we share many similar interests. History, mythology, archeology, all these things I can help you with. Please Ivory, I would hate to have to let Goldie here finish off Grits legacy in such a manner.”

“I'm going to get out of this and when I do I'm going to destroy everything you're trying to build.” I said flatly to the radio.

For several seconds there was no answer from the radio. “There was a reason I had Goldie personally do it you know, would you like to know what that reason was?”

“Sable, don't put her through that.” Jackpot begged from the side.

“Oh, Jackpot is here as well. I must say it has been a while and I wondered why you disappeared for so long. Imagine my surprise when you suddenly popped back onto my radar asking to work with Grit on his little project. Even I never thought you would betray us like you did my friend. But alas, I think Ivory has a right to know.”

“Right to know what?” I asked desperately.

“You were not Grit Stratum's first little student Ivory Star. He helped her get her cutie mark you know, what was it, twenty years ago now?”

“Yeah, I was eight at the time I think.” Goldie said. “Always did want to end up one-upping him though, glad you gave me the chance.”

“WHAT! You learned under Grit?” I looked frantically at Goldie.

“Yup, old goat taught me all kinds of things. I was in awe of it all at first obviously, but after a few years I just felt the urge to go home to my wonderful Jackpot here.” Goldie pinched Jackpot's cheek with a small magic grip. Jackpot remained silent.

“So Ivory, what do you say? Join me and be able to see the truth, or don't and never leave this mountain. The choice yours.”

I just sat there, unable to get out of the ropes that kept me tied to the rock. Jackpot started yelling something at Goldie but I was to unfocused at this point to really hear him or what he was saying. There was no way I was going to even consider working with Sable in any way but I was still perplexed by the things he had said. I was now even more determined to stop him from getting his grubby hooves on the power that this Darkness had and I hated Goldie even more now for what she had done to a pony who once looked after as he had me.

“My answer is the same, fuck off.” I said, almost murmuring.

“That is a shame my dear but if that is your wish.” the radio cut out and was silent.

“Oh well, I told him this was a stupid idea but he had to be all smug about it.” Goldie said, kicking the radio away.

“Goldie, please! Don't do this.” Jackpot begged.

“Oh Jackpot, I want to do this. Besides, if I get rid of her then there's really nothing keeping you from coming back with me now is there.” Goldie said coyly as she ran her hoof through his mane again.

I looked up at Goldie, equally afraid and angry as I tried even harder to get out of the ropes, not even attempting to hide the fact that I was.

“You know Ivory, did I ever tell you about the time I decided I was in love with Jackpot here?” Goldie said, sliding one of her knives out of bandoleer that held them.

“Goldie please!” Jackpot continued to shout out to her.

“I had always liked him mind you but the moment I truly knew I loved him was when we went to that stinking Zebra filled shit-hole. This was what...seven years ago now, we had the job of looking for any information that would lead us to that artifact we had Grit looking for, you know, the one he betrayed us for.”

“Goldie, she doesn't need to know this! Please!” Jackpot yelled.

“There was this village that we thought would have some information you see and of course they had to go and make things difficult. Now I thought I was always pretty good at getting information but these fuckers weren't budging about saying they didn't know anything. Jackpot was getting rather impatient so he came up with a wonderfully successful way of getting the information we needed. Do you know what he came up with?” Goldie's face lit up with happiness.

“Ivory, don't listen to her! I swear she's...” Goldie kicked Jackpot in the face, not enough to knock him out or hurt him but hard enough to daze him for a few seconds.

“He put stakes into the ground and tied up all the adults on one side and the foals on the other, ooh I can still remember!” Goldie squealed in delight a bit, “He went up to the first adult and asked her nicely where the ruins were, she didn't know.” Goldie used her telekinesis to grab one of her knives out, the one with the red stripe on it. “He went up to the kid across from her and took this knife here and...”

“Goldie! Please don't” Jackpot's face fell down in utter defeat.

“...He slit the kids throat from one end to the other.” My face went white at hearing this. I slowly turned my head over towards Jackpot and stared at him, he was crying. “He tried to ask nicely again but the bitch was too busy crying so she had to go as well. He then went down the line, Zebra by Zebra until the last one finally told us what we needed to know.”

“You're lying. There's no way he would do that and besides Enyi said...”

“That cunt Zebra of yours wouldn't know shit. We burned the whole town down in the end, no less than the fuckers deserved though. Jackpot got called back to Equestria after that but I went on to have a bit more fun in Khaweth before I packed up for home.” Goldie now sighed, “Too bad I found out he was cheating on me.” Goldie dug out a small box out of a pouch on her bandoleer with her magical grip and waved it in front of me. “Luckily I took a bit of Jackpot to remember him by before he managed to run out on me.”

I stared ahead as Goldie dangled the little box in front of me but I was not staring at the box at all. Instead I was staring past it straight as Goldie, my eyes very overtly showing the extreme anger I was now feeling towards the fucking bitch in front of me.

“You look a little tense.” Goldie cooed at me, “Allow me to help relieve some of that.” she raised the knife towards my throat.

Goldie set the blade against my skin and gave her lips a satisfied lick as she stared at me with very eager eyes. Suddenly the ropes that held me fell away and the hoof the held Sparky shot straight up at Goldie. She must have noticed this and known what it meant because Goldie immediately backed up and leapt to the side as a red ZZAT shot through the air, hitting several of the Unicorns that were standing behind Goldie.

I leapt up myself and, with all my strength, kicked another Unicorn in the face that had run up from behind to try and restrain me. I was surprised when a small magical beam hit me from behind, knocking me down, as another Unicorn jumped from where Jackpot was laying. His horn was already glowing again before I even regained my senses when Enyi jumped from behind the rock I had been tied to and knocked the Unicorn down. I now was able to get up and kick the Unicorn Enyi was wrestling with down into unconsciousness.

Goldie was now back on us as she now had eight other Unicorns behind her. Enyi and I stood there as she raised up seven knives with her magic and started walking towards us with a devilish and furious look on her face.

“You're gonna fucking pay for that!”

“Enyi, I got her.” I yelled as I jumped towards Goldie, my hoof with Sparky leading.

Another ZZAT shot from Sparky but Goldie deftly avoided the blast which hit another of her Unicorns. Goldie now charged at me but I pivoted and tried bucking at her, hitting her face but not phasing her in the least. One of her knives found it's way to my leg and I fell down onto the ground bleeding. Enyi started running towards me until a very large blast of magical energy blasted Goldie to the ground.

“Ivory, You'll never guess what we found!” Scarlet's voice yelled triumphantly. In her own magical grip was a staff of glowing silver that was smoking slightly from the blast.

Roose and Silver followed her, who were then followed by about another two dozen Unicorns from out of the ruins.

“Ugh! More bad ponies!” Roose bellowed as he turned and shrugged off multiple blasts from the Unicorns before he rammed into them, scattering them.

The Unicorns behind Goldie were now firing magical blasts towards me but in the confusion Enyi had scooped me up and carried me behind the rock I had been tied to.

“Jackpot!” I yelled as I noticed he was still tied up.

Scarlet's eyes began to glow as another huge blast flew forth from the staff. The Unicorns shooting at Enyi and me were blown down onto the ground, completely dazed. Goldie rose, now covered in bruises from the blast and definitely more pissed off than before. Scarlet shot several more blasts but Goldie kept jumping out of the way as if they were nothing. I looked out from behind the rock and could see the nervousness in Scarlet's eyes as Goldie kept getting closer and closer. Eventually Scarlet let out a scream and turned around, running from Goldie.

Goldie, however was still faster, and had nearly caught up with Scarlet before Roose plowed himself into her. In the shock Goldie dropped her knives as Roose let his full body weight fall on her. I tried to limp out to help but Enyi held me back.

“You cannot. You are hurt!” Enyi said frantically as he saw my bleeding leg.

“Just a flesh wound. It's not deep.” I said, wincing in pain as I tried to walk on it.

I looked back up and saw Goldie throw Roose from her with a strong telekinetic throw. Roose yelled in surprise as he flew through the air and landed on top of several Unicorns who had been getting up after regaining consciousness. Goldie now looked up again and I wish I could have captured the look on her face when she saw Scarlet aiming straight at her with the staff. A powerful blast came from the staff and hit Goldie square in her chest. The yellow Unicorn was thrown back a good ways before toppling towards the ground.

Some of the other Unicorns were regrouping and shooting back at Scarlet. One of them hit the staff, causing her to drop it before Scarlet dove back into the passageways of the ruin for cover. I lifted my hoof from behind the rock, as best I could, and ZZAT, Sparky let loose another blast of energy. I missed them due to my pained leg but the distraction allowed Roose, who was now back up, to charge at them. His body slam broke the Unicorns up enough for Scarlet to pick up the staff once again. At this the Unicorns froze in place, their eyes filled with fear as they probably didn't know what to do now.

Just as I thought we could end this a knife flew past Scarlet, just missing her. Goldie was now back up if not a little wobbly on her feet as she still held six of her knives in her magical grip. She charged Scarlet and once again Scarlet yelped and turned to run. Goldie however, managed to catch Scarlet in her magic and throw her and the staff to the ground.

“I remember you, I said I was going to kill you.” Goldie aimed her knives right at Scarlet and nearly brought them down before I shot Sparky at her.

Goldie dodged again(FUCK) and turned back towards me. Her face was like a hurricane of anger now. She grasped Scarlet again and threw her against the cliff wall before coming back at me with her knives. I was too weak to keep holding Sparky up as my hoof was still bleeding and I was starting to lose energy fast.

Enyi jumped up between me and Goldie, “I will not let you hurt her!” he said before Goldie threw him aside like a rag-doll with her telekinesis.

I was completely terrified as I tried crawling away from her with all my strength, what little there was. My cut was still bleeding and Goldie was getting closer very fast. Every time I tried to pick up speed my leg would cry out in pain, slowing me down. Goldie was now nearly on top of me when I looked back to see her and her knives hovering over me.

I thought I was done for until Silver stepped out from behind Jackpot's rock. Goldie stopped dead in her tracks as she stared straight at Silver and then at Jackpot who rose up from his bonds.

“You little fucker, I should have...” Goldie didn't finish before Jackpot dashed forward straight into Goldie, knocking her way back and leaving Silver behind.

Goldie tried to fight Jackpot off but she had gotten too many injuries. I watched as Jackpot began to slowly overpower Goldie with a dead look on his face. Jackpot lifted himself from the ground with his wings and slammed his hooves onto Goldie's back, throwing her to the ground. Goldie flipped over and kicked up, knocking Jackpot to the ground as well as they each began to kick at each other.

“Ivory! The mountain!” Silver yelled.

I looked up and saw what I was afraid Silver meant. A large mass of snow and ice was barreling down towards us.

“Avalanche!” I yelled as Enyi galloped over and scooped me onto his back.

Roose had just finished chasing off the last of the Unicorns and was carrying Scarlet, our saddlebags and the staff on his back. We ran over and quickly scooped up Jackpot who was still grappling with Goldie.

“Get back here you...” Goldie started to yell before she looked up at the stampede of frozen death that was barreling towards her.

I looked back and saw her face turn white as she got up and tried to run in the opposite direction we were. Luck was on my side this time as the avalanche curved more towards Goldie than us. The last I saw of her was the avalanche overtaking my sight line and Goldie disappearing behind the wall of snow. Enyi, Roose, Jackpot and Silver were now all running at their top speed. The avalanche was now bigger and picking up speed as it expanded and barreled towards us.

“I've got this!” Scarlet yelled, picking up the staff with her magic and blasting beams of energy into the barreling snow.

The magic actually seemed to help as the beams blasted the avalanche black slightly, slowing it down. But even with this is still was catching up to us. Scarlet's face lit up as her horn glowed a bright red in conjunction with the staff and a massive telekinesis grabbed the front portion of the avalanche. This created a massive wall of snow that had the added effect of stopping the avalanche dead in it's tracks. Scarlet held this up for nearly a minute before losing the glow and falling back onto Roose's back. Roose luckily caught the falling staff in his mouth and barreled on ahead as Enyi, Silver and Jackpot followed. The avalanche was now far enough behind us and had been slowed considerably by Scarlet and the staff.

Luckily for us Roose had spotted a large rock that we were able to climb and stay on top of as the avalanche caught up and rolled past us. The rock jutted just high enough upwards to stick above what was left of the avalanche and because of a now unconscious Scarlet the avalanche had all but slowed to a crawl. It was with this sudden relief that realized my hoof was still bleeding as the last of my energy left and I closed my eyes and slipped into unconsciousness.

*****

“Oh, she's finally awake!” Scarlet yelled happily as she stood over my face.

I slowly opened my eyes to find I was inside one of the Yakyakistan houses. The gash on my leg was sealed up, most likely by Scarlet, but I was still very weak and could barely move.

“Ivory! Are you ok!” Enyi yelled as he rushed over to me and shoved his muzzle into mine, nestling against me in a worried rush.

“I'm ok Enyi.” I said lifting the hoof that didn't work to hug Enyi.

Enyi kissed me suddenly as he wrapped both of his front hooves around me, “Thank the spirits!”

“Whoa there Enyi.” I heard Scarlet say, “She needs rest now. She lost a lot of blood and should be lucky that knife didn't puncture anything too important.”

I looked down at the sealed gash on my hoof, “Was it really that bad?”

“Oh well, I didn't have to amputate, yet!” Scarlet said sternly, “But you might have some trouble walking for a few days before the parts under the skin heal up.” Scarlet said, wiping some sweat from her forehead.

“Scarlet here stayed up all night and day using everything she had on you.” Enyi said, giving a thankful look to Scarlet.

“Night and day!? How long was I out?”

“Oh, it's still the next day from when you went under but it is nearly evening.” Scarlet said.

“Where's the others?” I asked.

At this Enyi turned his head away from me.

“Oh they're around.” Scarlet said, trying to sound like nothing was wrong when something clearly was.

“What happened?” I asked.

“It seems some things were overheard with Goldie and...”

“Jackpot should not be with us anymore.” Enyi said, interrupting Scarlet.

“Enyi, you can't say that! We need him.” I said just as sternly.

“How does this not repulse you!” Enyi roared.

“It does it's just...”

“Just nothing. I cannot work with him anymore.” Enyi stomped up and walked to the other side of the room where he sat down on a mat.

“Um, I think I'll leave you two alone for a bit.” Scarlet said shyly as she slipped out of the house.

“Enyi, I know what Goldie said was...horrifying but we can't do this without him.”

“Yes we can. Why do we need him?”

“He's good at finding things and he's probably the best fighter we have in our group.” I said in a desperate attempt to get Enyi to see where I was coming from.

“It does not matter. He killed children Ivory! How can you forgive that!”

“He's not like that anymore Enyi. That's why he's doing all this, he's trying to make up for those mistakes.”

“I do not care.” Enyi stated adamantly.

“How did you not already know this anyway? You said you had heard of Jackpot before right?”

“I know the village Goldie spoke of. We were told it was a Pyth attack at the time and the thefts were said to be unrelated.”

“How does that make any sense? Why would they tell you that?”

“It makes sense now. The Family owned those who told us. They used those connections to hide the fact they were looking for information and attacking villages.” Enyi's voice lowered into a more somber tone.

“Then howd you hear about the thefts you say he was involved in?” I asked.

“Those came from the city of Qurt. Museums had been vandalized and broken into with many artifacts having been stolen. Jackpot was seen in the company of those who were caught robbing the museum so he was implicated and wanted as well.”

I rubbed my forehead with my one good hoof as I suddenly developed a splitting headache causing me to groan. I laid back down on the mat I was set on and groaned some more.

“Enyi please. Goldie said she found one of the relics. She has the one that belonged to the Earth Pony which means there's only one more left.”

“You mean two?”

“Huh?”

“Abila's helmet and the artifact that belongs to the Buffalo.”

“Oh yeah, I must still be a bit out of it.”

Enyi let out a sigh, “I am just happy you are ok.” Enyi trotted back over and gave me a small kiss on the cheek and another hug. “I will remain here with you until you feel fit to move around.”

“What happened to the staff?”

“Roose still has it. It was decided that we will return it to princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. It does belong to one of their founders after all.”

“That seems fair. At least if a princess is guarding it Sable won't be able to get at it.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “What about Goldie?”

“I do not know. Several Yaks have gone out to search the area but have not returned yet.”

“I'm sorry about all this Enyi. We'll definitely talk with Jackpot but please just be willing to listen to what he has to say.” I sat up and wrapped my one good hoof back around Enyi, following it up with a small kiss on his cheek.

Enyi visibly calmed down, “Ok Ivory. When we return to Canterlot I expect to have this conversation and I will listen to him.”

“Thanks.” My eyes got wider from staring into Enyi's. I gave him one more kiss before laying back down.

Harsh Words and Harsh Hearts

Chapter 14: Harsh Words and Harsh Hearts

The ride back to Canterlot was silent. Jackpot had closed himself off in one of the rooms on the train and drank what was left of his cider flasks until he passed out. Silver spent the time going through his packs while Enyi just stared out the windows the whole time. The only one of us who really seemed any kind of happy was Scarlet who was extremely giddy about how powerful that staff had made her magic. When we presented it to princess Flurry Heart, Scarlet nearly couldn't give it up.

“It just made everything seem so...straightforward.” Scarlet said to me, “It was like everything I had ever struggled with just faded away and became clear. And my magic! I mean did you see what I could do with that staff Ivory! It was wonderful! I was beating that bully Goldie even!”

“Well I really wouldn't say any of us were really beating her. Honestly, I think that avalanche might have saved us, especially if those Unicorns of hers managed to regroup and come after us with Goldie.” I said back.

“Well, I think we would have been fine.” Scarlet said, her voice still alight with happiness despite the dour mood in the rest of the train car.

“Hey Scarlet?” I asked.

“What is it Ivory?”

“What happened in the ruins after Jackpot and I separated from you?”

“Oh uh, Enyi must have taken a few wrong turns or something, followed by the rest of us in fact. We kinda got separated for a bit in there and it took a while for all of us to find each other again. I actually was the first one to find the staff and burial chamber you know.” Scarlet seemed proud of this fact, “The moment I picked it up with my magic I just felt like...felt like...” Scarlet's eyes misted up as her thought trailed off somewhere I couldn't guess as she giggled slightly.

“So Aurora didn't appear again?”

“Oh no, at least I didn't see her at all, although the staff was in her burial chamber I think. Well it looked like some kind of burial chamber or something. I might've seen a coffin or something but I don't really remember. Once I saw that staff everything else just kind of blurred out, if you know what I mean.”

“You don't know if any of the others saw anything?”

“Well we met up right after I found the staff and left the burial chamber so probably not. And now that the whole place is buried under a mountain of ice and snow I don't think anypony's gonna get back in there anytime soon.” Scarlet sighed.

“I am not looking forward to getting back to Canterlot.” I slunk my head down between my shoulders as a loud sigh left my mouth.

“Dear, I don't think any of us are.” Scarlet looked around at the other somber members of our group as they sulked around.

“I talked to Sable you know. Goldie had a radio transceiver or something and he talked to me.” I shivered a little.

Silver and Enyi each perked their ears up when they heard this.

“What was he like?” Scarlet asked eagerly.

“He seemed intelligent from what he said and how he spoke, he was definitely twisted and sick though. But I must say there was something off about his voice.”

“What was it?” Silver asked, coming over to the conversation.

“I don't know exactly. Something a bit familiar, no that's not it. His voice was softer than I imagined but when I really think about it underneath that, his voice almost sounded like Enyi's.” I took a glance over to Enyi.

“What do you mean his voice sounded like mine?” Enyi asked, very obviously confused.

“Well he kinda talked like how you do, you know he didn't use contractions much when he talked. And I could swear that under that low tone of his and the fuzzy radio that he kind had an accent similar to yours.”

“A Zebra?” Enyi said, partly contemplatively and partly in disbelief.

“That wouldn't make sense.” Silver said, mostly to himself.

“What wouldn't?” I asked.

“Oh, just that I always got the impression he was a pony of some kind. The few times I heard his name mentioned at A.I it just seemed they were always speaking about a pony.”

“Well I'm just saying what I think I might've heard so it might just be my imagination.” I said, shrugging.

“Well we should be arriving back in Canterlot in like twenty minutes so I suppose we can talk more then, or we can just wait until the morning.” Scarlet suggested.

“Yeah, I think we should all just take some time and think about what we want to say.” Silver agreed, “Besides, Jackpot really can't talk right now I think.”

“He is pathetic.” Enyi hissed under his breath.

“Goldie could have been lying or something Enyi. You shouldn't just say tha...”

“How can you defend him Ivory?” Enyi asked angrily, “His face was not one of innocence.” Enyi was right, of course. The look on Jackpot's face when he charged at Goldie was not one of a pony who didn't do what she had just accused him of.

The train arrived at the Canterlot station at its appointed time with Enyi and Silver taking our packs(they left Jackpot's saddlebag behind) back to the house. Scarlet stayed with me as we hoisted Jackpot onto my back and began to carry him out of the station.

“I think we should take him to Joe's for tonight.” I said, looking at Scarlet with my own exhausted eyes.

“Yeah, that might be best Ivory. It'll give Enyi some time to cool off at least.” she agreed.

I sighed, “Why does he have to be so difficult sometimes. He has to see we need Jackpot, right?”

“Well, from what he said on the train what Jackpot did was...” Scarlet's gaze trailed off almost as if she herself didn't want to say it, “Well, it wasn't a good thing.”

“Yeah I know but he's different now. It's the reason he joined up with me and Grit in the first place.”

“We can talk about this tomorrow Ivory. For right now let's just get him to that cider place and get some sleep ourselves.”

Even with Scarlet with me the walk over to Cider Joe's seemed a rather lonely one. Neither one of us talked much and Jackpot couldn't talk. When we got there the bar was empty, Joe helped me set Jackpot down on a small cot in the back room he usually slept in. Scarlet headed out while I went and took a seat at the main bar.

“Ugh.” I groaned as I threw my face down on the counter.

“What's the matter there Ivory?” Joe asked as he slid a shot of Applewhisk in front of me.

“I don't have any bits on me.” I said, staring up at Joe.

“On the house.” Joe answered back.

I slid the glass into my mouth and slid my throat back, allowing the cider to slide, burning, down my throat. “Jackpot's such an idiot.”

“Can't argue there.” Joe said.

“Can't argue with what?” Jackpot's voice suddenly slurred out as he wobbled his way out of the back room.

“Awake already?” I said, surprised.

“I'm never down for long.” Jackpot said, trying to sound impressive but coming out as mostly kind of pathetic as he slumped his body down on a bar-stool.

“You are not in a good position right now.” I said bluntly to Jackpot.

“Yeah, I figured Enyi wouldn't take that bit of news well.” Jackpot said in an exhausted voice.

“So it is true.” I mumbled to myself.

“Yeah, but I try not to think about it. The cider certainly helps.” Jackpot gave a wanting gaze towards Joe who just shook his head prompting a sigh from Jackpot.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked in a voice both worried and disapproving.

“Oh, so many things.” Jackpot mumbled.

“You know I'm going to have to defend you tomorrow right?”

“Yeah.”

“Against Enyi.”

“Yeah.”

I let out a groaning sigh, “This isn't going to go well.”

“Yeah.”

I gaze Jackpot an angry look, “Stop saying 'yeah'.”

Jackpot laid his head down on the top of the counter, “I wouldn't bother if I were you.”

I rolled my eyes, “Please Jackpot, any idiot can see that we really can't do this without you. If we ever run into Goldie again you are the only one who even has any kind of chance in getting us out of that situation alive.”

“Don't sell yourself short kid, a bit more practice and you'll be fine.” Jackpot mumbled.

“Don't give me that shit, we both know I don't stand a chance against her. There's only one artifact left and if she's there then she. Will. Kill. Us. All. Scarlet can't fight, Silver can't fight, Enyi can barely fight and I'm only a bit better than him. And she always brings help with her to. There's no way we can fight her and a dozen of her goons!”

“I think you should take my saddlebag Ivory.”

“Why?”

“Enyi isn't gonna want me around and I don't want to ruin the thing you got going with him. I think you should just take the helmet and go home.”

“Why does everypony I know turn into some kind of horrible person?” I asked, mostly to myself.

“Well in my defense, I've never really hid the fact I'm a terrible person.” Jackpot replied, trying to sound cheeky but only showing off how out of it he still was.

“Fine I'll take the helmet but I'm gonna give it back to you later so don't think about running off anywhere ok.” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

Jackpot let off a slight chuckle, “Got it kid.” Jackpot slumped his face down onto the counter.

“So I guess I'll...” before I could finish I heard snores coming from Jackpot. I looked back up at Joe, “Can you make sure he gets up at a good time?”

“Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll carry him over if I have to.” Joe smiled.

“Thanks.” I said as I got up and headed out.

It was late when I finally got back to the house. As I trotted up to the front door I saw some papers stuffed into the front mailbox. I grabbed them in my teeth and carefully entered the code to the front lock before going into the dark and silent house. I took a quick glance around the dark rooms before heading on up to my room, I could see our saddlebags spread out on the couch in the front-room. I headed up to my room and opened the door to see the empty space laid out before me. I gave a disappointed sigh, hopped down onto my bed and began to sift through the mail that I had found. I got a slight jolt of excitement when I saw one of the letters was from Emerald, who was still off in the jungles of Eastern Equestria, so I opened the letter and looked inside:

Dear Ivory,

I'm so sorry this took so long to reach you but getting letters in and out of the jungle is no easy business I'll have you know(the mail-service out here stinks!). I've been super busy down here and I am proud to say we've found stuff down here that even Daring Do and Grit would be proud of! I must admit that without you I do feel kind of lonely as I have nopony to really share any of my finds with that would appreciate them as much as you would. The team and I are going to be looking at some caves I found near a large waterfall tomorrow and I have very high hopes that we will find something inside. I have so much to tell you when I get back and so much I want to talk with you about. Anyway, I would love to hear from you as soon as possible and all the amazing thing you've been up to in our time apart.

Love,

Emerald Flake

“I wonder if I could get Emerald to join my little team?” I puzzled to myself as I finished reading the letter. Unfortunately for Emerald however, I had no idea what the address for the middle of the jungle was to send a letter back to her. Even with all that was going on Emerald's letter did manage to cheer me up slightly. “I hope Emerald's ok.” I sighed to myself. I carefully set the letters down on a small table near my bed, stuffed my self beneath the covers and slowly drifted off to sleep.

*****

I opened my eyes slowly as a ray of sunshine slipped it's way into my room via the window. I stretched my hooves out and let out a large and very audible yawn as I slid out from under my blankets. I walked over to the corner of my room where I had thrown my things down and rustled up my saddlebags to pull out Abila's helmet. I grabbed the bag in my teeth and quickly stuffed it in a small box that was placed beneath my bed where I liked to store various items of personal value to me.

I began to instinctively sniff around when I noticed the aroma of pancakes being made from downstairs. I doggedly made my way downstairs where Enyi was Scarlet was baking the pancakes and Enyi was sitting on a chair in Grit's old study, looking over some of the papers from Luna Bay.

“Oh! Good morning Ivory! I took the liberty of going out and buying us some food earlier so I could have some breakfast ready for when you woke up.” Scarlet said gleefully.

“Wow, they smell pretty good.” I said, intoxicated by the delicious smell emanating from the stove where the food was being cooked.

“Yeah well, I just figured I would do something nice.” Scarlet said as a smile popped on her face.

“Is Silver around anywhere?” I asked.

“Oh no, last night he said something about some emergency popping up at work so he said he would have to leave for a few days or so.” Scarlet answered.

“Morning.” I said to Enyi as I trotted over and gave him a light bop on his head.

Enyi jolted up from his concentrated reading and darted his head back and forth before settling it on me.

“You startled me.” he said.

“Sorry. Anything good?” I asked as I leaned my head over towards what he was reading.

Enyi sighed, “Unfortunately this says nothing of interest.”

“Food's ready!” Scarlet called from in the kitchen.

Enyi got up from his seat and laid the papers he was reading gently down on a small table that sat on the side of the chair. I gave him a little smile which he reciprocated before he stretched out his front hoof and gave me a little hug(it felt nice). We all sat down on the couch in the front room as Scarlet floated several plates of pancakes out for each of us. We ate in relative silence before I said something to break up the monotony.

“I got a letter from my friend Emerald last night.” I said.

“Who?” Scarlet asked.

“She's a friend of mine who also works for Adventure Incorporated. I've known for like, ever and right now she's helping a research team in the Equestrian jungles.”

“Wow, that sounds like fun.” Scarlet said.

“And what we are doing is not?” Enyi said sarcastically.

“Coulda fooled me.” I said back in a like-minded tone, this got a little laugh out of each of us.

“You don't think she might want to come and help us do you?” Scarlet asked.

“No way, I don't want her anywhere near all of this and besides, I don't think she would handle all of this well.”

“Yes, I remember meeting her at the hospital after Grit was killed.” Enyi said. “I agree that she should be kept away at this point.”

After this the silence continued until we had all finished eating. Scarlet floated all of the dishes into the kitchen and we all proceeded to sit on the couch for a while with more awkward silence. Luckily this time there was a knock on the door before too much time had passed and I went to answer it.

“Seriously.” I said with exasperation. Standing on the other side of the door was Cider Joe with a not to good looking Jackpot slung over his shoulder.

“Sorry Ives.” Jackpot said, laughing a little. “Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed is all.”

I could tell Enyi was starring daggers from behind me as I stepped outside to help get Jackpot inside.

“Ya know, I don't think I've ever seen you away from your bar Joe.” I said as Joe transferred Jackpot to my shoulder.

“Yeah, I don't get out much these days, too busy runnin the shop.” Joe said as he successfully slid Jackpot onto my shoulder. “Be careful with him, he wasn't doin good all night.”

“Ok thanks, I'll be sure to be gentle.” I said as I waved Joe off before stepping back into the house and closing the door behind me with my back hoof. I was right, Enyi did not look happy when Jackpot came in while Scarlet just fidgeted around looking a bit nervous. I carefully slid Jackpot onto a chair in the corner of the room before going back to sit down with Enyi and Scarlet on the couch.

“Now what?” Scarlet asked.

“Now we talk.” I answered.

Jackpot did the best he could to sit himself up on the chair, his wings were laying limply on his side and he groaned a bit as he got more comfortable.

“You don't look so good.” Scarlet said worriedly to Jackpot.

“Just a bit sick is all.” Jackpot said, once again doing his best to not look like a hot mess.

“Yes, it is called the cider virus.” Enyi said, still angrily looking away from Jackpot.

“Oh come off it ya striped stick-in-the-mud.” Jackpot did his best to snap back which elicited a very angry stare from Enyi.

“Ok ok, let's calm down and talk about this.” I said, trying to diffuse the tenseness.

“For me there is nothing to talk about.” Enyi said. “I say jackpot must leave.”

“Wait a minute Enyi.” I said, “Think about what that means.”

“It means he will be gone and I will not have to suffer his many odors and absurdities any longer.” Enyi huffed.

“Can I say something?” Scarlet interrupted.

“Of course you can.” I said back as calmly as I could.

“Well it's just that I think that Jackpot should stay with us, so that's where my vote is going.” Scarlet put on her best I'm serious face and nodded her head assuredly.

“I told you what he did correct?” Enyi asked harshly towards Scarlet.

“Enyi, calm down...” I started to say before Scarlet put her hoof in front of my mouth to get me to stop.

“Yes you did but the way I am reading this whole situation is that Jackpot is helping Ivory to make up for all that stuff and that he is different now from back then.” Scarlet said, even more firm.

“What is it with ponies and their overly forgiving nature.” Enyi said, a bit angry and confused. “He killed children! Not to mention the others who lived in that village!”

“How did you not already know about this?” I asked, “I mean you knew he was there and about the stolen artifacts but not about an entire village getting wrecked?”

“I was not told...” Enyi started to say.

“How would you need to be told? A whole village disappears and you just never found out about it?” I asked, a bit harder this time.

Enyi let out a loud groan, “You would not understand.”

“Then tell me!” I shouted.

“Yes, tell us.” Scarlet agreed.

“I cannot.” Enyi said back with a nicker.

“Are you fucking kidding me!” I let out an even louder nicker of frustration. “We're never going to understand if you never tell us shit!”

Enyi sat there stone-faced for several moments before opening his mouth, “I would need to tell you things that are forbidden for you to know about us.”

“For the love of...” I stuffed my hoof in my face, “Why can't you tell me specifically Enyi? You know you can tell me anything right? If you want we can go somewhere in private and you can tell me there?”

“No.” Enyi said flatly.

“Why the fuck not!” I said.

“Um, we can calm down at any time you know.” Scarlet said, interrupting me.

“You're right Scarlet.” I took a breath and looked back at Enyi, “Can you say exactly why you can't tell me?”

Enyi sat there for a minute before answering, “That incident...was...taken.”

“Taken?” Scarlet said, confused.

“Yes. Our leaders do not like embarrassments such as that. The theft of the artifacts could not have been hidden but the destruction of a remote village could have been.”

“You'd be surprised how big of assholes those Zebra uppy-ups can be. It's part of why I thought hurting them wasn't as bad back then.” Jackpot suddenly put in.

“Shut up.” Enyi snapped at Jackpot.

“So the fact of dozens of Zebras getting killed and a village getting wiped out is just covered up?” Scarlet said, shocked.

“No, it was more than that. At the time it did not occur to me what had happened, both with Jackpot and with the Zebra, but when Goldie said what she did I knew then what had happened.” Enyi said.

“What happened?” I said, now very confused.

“No...it is not something we speak of.” Enyi answered(if you can call that an answer).

“What is it with Zebras and their stubborn resistance to talking!” I said, doing a bad impression of Enyi's own comment on ponies and their forgiveness, “I thought you said you didn't even like that about Zebras?”

“I still made vows when I became a storyteller. Vows that I intend to keep, despite my own personal feelings.” Enyi said back, not looking all too happy.

“Um, I think we're starting to get a little off track here.” Scarlet said, interrupting the intense match between Enyi and myself.

“Well either way, it's two votes to your one. Jackpot stays.” I said, wanting this to be the end of the matter.

“We do not have Silvers vote.” Enyi said, making sure we all heard.

“Oh, I doubt he'll vote to get rid of Jackpot. He knows how badly we need him.” I said back.

“And how exactly do we need him?” Enyi retorted.

“So you wanna fight Goldie yourself the next time we bump into her?” Scarlet said.

“We can find some other way.”

“What if there is no other way?” I said, “Plus, he's good at finding things, especially treasure. It'll make things easier for him to stay with us.”

The debate continued on for a good long while with Enyi and myself arguing back and forth with an occasional comment from Scarlet. Jackpot stayed uncharacteristically quiet(makes some sense, given the situation) and mostly stayed slumped in his chair, recovering from all the cider he had drunk the night before.

“How can you stand by a pony like him? He killed children Ivory! Not to mention his constant rudeness.” Enyi said, completely frustrated with the seemingly unending debate.

“Because I can see that he is not the pony he was back then. He's trying to be better Enyi!” I shouted back, equally frustrated. “You know what, screw this!” I said, finally giving up and stomping my way out of the house.

“Where are you going!?” Enyi shouted, angrily.

“I'm going to Joe's!” I shouted, grabbing Jackpot and dragging him out of the house.

“Was that a good idea?” Jackpot asked, now a bit more awake and alert than he was in the morning.

“Probably not.” I said, “But I just need to get out of that house for a bit. Why is Enyi being like this?” I was very frustrated and angry at him right now.

“Don't blame him too much.” Jackpot said, “He's not entirely wrong in what he says you know.”

“Don't you turn against yourself now Jackpot.”

“I'm not but I'm just saying that you shouldn't hold this against him.”

I was just a bit too angry to listen to Jackpot right now. I needed to get out for a bit and Cider Joe's seemed like the best place to go and blow off some steam and recollect my thoughts. I ended up being very happy with my decision as the bar was full up tonight. Several dozen ponies were filling up the place to where some had spilled out into the back. Cider Joe had even opened up Jackpot's obstacle course for ponies to try and complete(for a fee). Bumpkin and his brother Lumpkin were there and the moment they saw me enter they boomed up and led the place in cheering for me.

“Looky here brother!” Bumpkin hollered out. “We got a genuine adventure pony in the place!” he said with a laugh.

“Yes indeed we do brother!” Lumpkin beamed. “And she looks a little miffed. Tell us Ms. Ivory, what's the matter?”

“Hey guys, we're just looking to blow off some steam.” I yelled back.

“Well you've come to the right place at the right time!” Bumpkin yelled. “Hero is about to have some fancy new DJ's on her show and they're gonna premier some new music or something.”

“Yeah!” Lumpkin followed, “Joe here was about to fill this place up with some tunes!”

The two had obviously had a lot of cider to drink but at this point I wanted to follow suit. It didn't take long to convince Jackpot to join in on the fun as once he started to get some free drinks he seemed to perk right up from his slump. Joe had turned the music up very loud to the point where nopony could hear any other pony talk but nopony really minded. The whole bar seemed to be too busy dancing and having fun to the loud and energetic music.

“Alright my pones!” Hero shouted over the radio, “Y’all may have heard bout little ole BubbleRap and Snicker Doodle up from Marewaukee and how much I love em. So now for the first time ever on Hero Studio's I give you the DJ Pon-duo!”

With that I began to lose myself for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening. I spent the rest of the day drinking Cider, listening to music, schooling ponies on the course and generally laughing and joking with all the other ponies that decided to hang out at Joe's for the day.

“So, how many you up to Tinny?” I asked a rust colored Earth Pony mare who had been sitting next to me at the counter and getting into an unofficial drinking match with me.

“Four.” she said back.

“How long you been here?”

“Oh, about an hour or so.”

“HA! Is that all. Hey Jackpot! We up to nine, or was it ten!?” I shouted only to see Jackpot sitting in a booth laughing while being surrounded by three other mares who were laughing at something. I ignored this and got right back to getting more drinks from Joe before heading out into the back lot.

I ran through the obstacle course a lot after that, although I didn't do very good as I found moving in a straight line to be increasingly difficult. It didn't matter though as everypony just ended up laughing whenever somepony fell off and onto the ground. After a few hours of this(and more cider) I stumbled my way back inside for food and more dancing from the music on the radio. It took a while but I soon found myself sitting in a booth in the corner, exhausted but still feeling absolutely great at the same time. But before I could get much time to rest a slight tap on my shoulder interrupted my attempt at a quick nap before heading back out to do some dancing. I slowly turned my groggy head up only to see Enyi standing above me looking none too happy.

“Am I interrupting anything?” he said with an annoyed look on his face.

“Oh hey! Just the zebra I was looking for!” I managed to say as I leaned forward, nearly fallout out of the seat I was in.

“Am I now?” Enyi said, slightly sarcastically but still annoyed.

“Oh yeah totally!” I gave Enyi the best sultry stare I could, “I was just thinking about how cool those stripes of yours are and how I would just love to...”

“Let me just stop you there Ivory.” Enyi said, putting his hoof on my mouth to signal me to stop. “Will you be coming back to the house or are you just going to stay here?”

“Oh, I'll be coming somewhere tonight if I can help it.” I said laughing, thinking this just sounded super funny.

Enyi rolled his eyes and turned away, “Fine, you know where I will be if you want to start acting reasonable.”

“Aww, come on. Stay here with me. I got this room in the back and nopony who'll bother us.” I leaned forward for a kiss but ended up losing my balance and falling on the floor with a thud and a laugh. Enyi turned around and with a light nicker began trotting back towards the door, “Wait a minute! I got some stuff I want you to bring over!”

Enyi stopped and turned back towards me, “What stuff?”

“Oh you know, just some things.” I laughed at how coy I was being, “Well, there's Jackpot's stuff, you know all his little cups and stuff. You know what just bring the whole saddlebag with you.”

Enyi sighed, “Fine. I will bring back his things but I want you to come back with me when I get back.”

“Jackpot's right, you are a stick-in-the-mud.” I huffed in disappointment(and I was disappointed). Here I was, his amazing, beautiful and super awesome girlfriend and he was just totally snubbing me! “How about you stay here with me when you get back?”

“I would much rather remain at the house where it is um...quiet.” Enyi responded as he nodded his head towards the cadre of ponies dancing to the rather loud music in the background.

“Oh I see, you like a quieter setting, ok.” I said, curling a fiendish smile on my face before trying to stand up and failing miserably with my wobbly legs.

“Are you ok?” Enyi asked as he leaned his head towards the dozen or so empty glasses that sat on the table.

“Those aren't all mine!” I said, thinking that the fact the now more than a dozen drink glasses I had had were taken by Joe when I was done with them. “Those are probably somepony else's...well most are anyway...some are mine.” You know, really thinking about it, it was probable that some indeed were mine, probably about four or five of them to be exact...ish. “You wanna know sometin? It's getting really hard to talk right bout now.”

“I bet.” Enyi said, now starting to look a bit more uncomfortable.

“Aww com on! Just stay here wit me you sexy Zebra!” he really was to.

“Ok, time to go.” Enyi said hurriedly, “It is pretty clear you are not yourself right now. I will return with the items and then I will ask you to return with me again. If I come back and you are passed out I will carry you home.”

“Promises promises!” Oh the implications! Enyi rolled his eyes “Remember they're in my room! Probably! Just don't go looking too deep you pervert!” The fact he wasn't laughing showed my brand of comedy was just far too advanced for Enyi to understand. I know this because several ponies in the vicinity laughed when I said this.

As Enyi left I managed to stumble back on to my hooves and back up towards the bar. I pulled myself up onto one of the bar-stools and slumped my head onto the counter.

“You alright there Ivory?” Joe asked as he leaned over me.

“Ooooooh yeah! Just Peachy!”

“What!” Yelled a pony whose name was probably Peachy.

“Not you Peachy!” Joe yelled.

“Oh, ok!” Peachy yelled back.

“Can...just have a.....whatever?” I managed to mutter out.

“You and Jackpot have had quite the bit already, I don't think it's a good idea to have much more.” Joe said.

“Oh, we'll just sleep here...it's ok.” I said carefully, holding back a sudden urge to puke my guts out.

“Really, that friend of yours seemed to want to take you home.”

“Well then he will and I will still be fine so ANOTHER PLEASE!” that urge to puke suddenly came back.

“Ok, if you say so.”

After a few more I managed to hobble over towards the spot Jackpot was sitting at. With each step I took I found that walking had become even more difficult than I had previously noticed. It was slow going because my stomach suddenly started turning in on itself but with the numbness that had begun to spread through my body I could hardly notice. I got close enough to notice that Jackpot had passed out before sitting down next to him, closing my eyes and losing consciousness myself.

*****

“Um Ivory? Are you uh, ok?” a very familiar voice said through the intense throbbing that was shooting through my head.

“You said you're a doctor right? Don't you have anything that could help?” I heard another voice that sounded eerily familiar say.

“Well, not really. I mean this isn't the sort of thing they taught at school and since you're the pony who invented this drink it's a pretty new thing so I don't really know how to treat it.” the first voice said.

“A good splash of cold water usually gets them up at least.” the second voice said.

“I don't think we could do that inside and they really don't look well enough to be moved.” said the second voice again.

“I guess. Don't want them vomiting all over the floor again.”

“Again?”

“Yup.”

“You ever think of putting a limit on the amount of cider you give to ponies?”

“It's been suggested recently so yes, I have begun to consider it.”

As the two voices continued to talk I managed to very slowly and very carefully open my eyes. They were open just enough to make out some vague shapes but I slowly began to recognize the bright red mane of Scarlet through the gloom of my half-opened eyes and the dim room.

“Did she just move a little?” Scarlet's voice said.

“I think so.” said the voice that came from the body I recognized as Cider Joe.

Scarlet's face closed in on me, “Hey there; you awake?”

I managed to squeak out a very light grunt but even that made me feel intensely nauseous.

“You got anything to treat nausea?” Joe asked.

“Well, just slight nausea. Not the kind she's probably feeling right now.”

“Anything would help.”

“Well I did just learn something from a book that might help.” Scarlet said as she lifted her face away from my own. A few seconds later I felt a slight pressure being lifted from my stomach. Not enough to make me feel good enough to move but enough to make me not feel like I am constantly going to explode. A satisfied grunt was all I could get myself to muster at the current moment to signify my approval. “Any idea when she'll be really up?”

“Probably a few hours.” Joe said.

“It's already afternoon.”

“Yeah well she had a lot last night and I mean a lot.”

Scarlet sighed, well I guess I'll head over to see how Jackpot is doing and try this spell out on him.

After those words I closed my eyes and slipped back into sleep. When my eyes opened up again Scarlet was sitting in a corner helping Jackpot hold up and drink a glass of water.

“Ok, slowly there. You don't want to throw up everywhere again do you?” Scarlet said.

“Scarlet?” I said weekly, barely being able to move my head up to look up.

“Be back in one minute ok.” I heard Scarlet say, “Oh look who's up!” she said as she carefully laid Jackpot's head down onto a small pillow and trotted over to me.

“What time is it?” I asked as I quickly realized that trying to move was a bad idea.

“Oh, it's about five in the afternoon.” Scarlet said as she leaned over me. “Guess you had quite the night last night huh?”

“Are we home?”

“Uh no, we're still at Joe's.”

“I thought I remembered Enyi saying he was going to carry me home or something.”

“Before we do anything else, Joe says water can help so I have a few glasses here for you to drink.” Scarlet floated over several glasses of water before using her magic to tilt my head up enough to get me to start drinking. “Just go slowly. Jackpot tried to guzzle his down and ended up throwing up all over me.” Scarlet's face went a bit red when she said that as she gave a disapproving gaze towards where I saw Jackpot still laying.

I followed her advise and slowly sipped down the first glass of water Scarlet had floating near my mouth. After a few of these I laid back down for several minutes before the smell of food caused my nose to start twitching. I managed to lift my head to see Joe, in the next room over, standing over a stove, cooking up some waffles and toast. I was able to sit up before the urge to vomit everywhere nearly took hold of me. I managed to catch myself and shut my mouth up tight to catch any that thought it could sneak out. After that thoroughly unpleasant experience I saw Scarlet standing next to Joe rubbing her forehead as he cooked the food.

“Hey Jackpot, you awake?” I managed to say.

“No.” I heard him mumble.

“Nice try but I can hear you.” I tried to laugh but my stomach seemed to almost explode when I did.

From my spot I could hear Jackpot groaning, “I regret so much from last night.”

“It was my idea remember, so consider it my fault.” I groaned back. “Can you move?”

“Not well.”

I slowly sat myself up as I continuously fought back the urge to puke out everything of whatever I had consumed the previous night. After standing up all I could do was stand perfectly still as to move would almost certainly spell disaster for me and anypony who happened to be in front of me(it was Jackpot).

“Oh thank Celestia you're awake!” Scarlet happily yelled as she cantered over to to where I was standing and where Jackpot was attempting to stand. “I thought I was going to have to dunk you in a lake or something, it was beginning to look like you'd never get up and...”

I lifted my hoof up to signal for Scarlet to stop talking. “I haven't puked yet....counting that as a win....if I keep talking too much....I'm gonna lose.”

“Oh uh, of course. Joe has been a dear, telling me all about what happens when ponies drink too much. It's mostly stories about Jackpot.” Scarlet sighted a little bit.

Scarlet gently let me hang my hoof over her shoulder as she walked me over to one of the front booths where she slowly set me down. She cantered off and shortly after came back with Jackpot draped over her shoulder, giving him the same gentleness she gave me.

“If only I still had that staff. Then I could easily fix you two up right away.” Scarlet said, sighing to herself.

“Hey Scarlet?” I asked.

“What is it Ivory?”

“Where's Enyi? I remember doing...something...embarrassing, I think, last night so I should probably go and apologize or something.”

“Oh, so you don't know where he is? I was kind of hoping you did.”

“Wait, what!? Are you saying you don't know where he is?” talking was a bad idea. I quickly shoved my hoof into my mouth again to prevent myself from vomiting everywhere.

“Slow down Ivory. And no I don't. He left to get you, then came back a bit later, then came galloping down the stairs and out of the house with some saddlebags a little while after that.”

Suddenly my eyes went as wide as the fucking sun as I realized what exactly had happened. “Oh fuckfuckfuckfuck, shitty Luna fucking....Celestia.” my head fell down on the table with a thud and this time I couldn't stop myself from puking a bit on the table as the vomit began to pool beneath my face.

“Joe!” Scarlet yelled.

“Oh really you guys! Again!” Joe yelled, very obviously annoyed, “Maybe I should start putting some restrictions on this stuff.”

“Um, Ivory, what is it?” Scarlet said as she tapped my shoulder with her hoof.

I lifted my head to talk but unfortunately it was covered in vomit so Scarlet quickly recoiled and covered her nose as Joe hurried over with a rag and water.

“Watch the food, it's pretty much ready.” Joe said to Scarlet. Scarlet ran off to finish up the food as Joe carefully cleaned off my mouth and then the table.

“So where is he Ivory?” I heard Jackpot mumble from across the table.

“I told him to go and grab your saddlebag and bring the flasks over.”

“Dammit.”

“Yup.”

“Then he probably found the...”

“Yup.”

“I'm so sorry Ivory. This is all my fault and...”

“Just shut up please.” I was in too bad a shape to really feel anything right now but despite this my stomach seemed to churn all on its own as my mouth suddenly filled with more vomit. Joe, luckily, thought ahead and had an empty bucked I could use, and believe me...I did.

“Who found what?” Scarlet said, as she trotted back over with several plates of waffles, toast and even a couple glasses of orange juice.

“Hey Joe, can you uh...” Jackpot pointed his head on towards the door to another room. Joe very quickly took the hint and left the room, with a few waffles and toast that he carried on a plate in his mouth.

“The helmet.” I said.

“What helmet?” Scarlet said back.

“Abila's helmet.” Jackpot moaned.

“Abila? You mean that Zebra Enyi was always going on about?” Scarlet suddenly paused as she probably realized what we were meaning. “Wait, so the big magical thing that belongs to her...you two had it all along? How did you get it?”

“Grit.” was all I managed to say.

“Wait, when did Grit...” Scarlet's eyes grew even wider, “So all that stuff they were saying on the radio and in the papers about his was true after all. And you two knew about this?”

Jackpot and I exchanged guilty glances, “It was mainly me and Grit. We went to Khaweth a bit before we met you and Grit managed to get his hooves on it and smuggle it back to Equestria. Ivory didn't know about all of this at the time though and she only found out after Grit had died and I convinced her to keep it a secret.” Jackpot explained.

Jackpot kept talking but I stopped paying attention rather fast. I was still wrapping my head around Enyi being gone. If he went right for the train he could be past the Macintosh Hills and half way to the ocean and to Khaweth. I needed to catch up to him somehow and explain everything to him. He would understand right? It's not like he was super...stubborn. “Oh sweet Celestia he's gonna hate me forever.” I mumbled as quietly as I could. Still I felt I needed to at least explain what the situation was. Oh shit I don't have the time. We still need to go after the last artifact and apparently Goldie has one and OH SHIT! Enyi might have just made himself a HUGE target, but again there was not really a way we could catch up to him at the moment.

“Wait, so some members of the Zebra government let Grit take the helmet?” Scarlet said.

“Yup.” said Jackpot.

“Then why didn't they just tell Enyi?”

“Honestly, I really don't know but if I had to hazard a guess I would say probably because he would have said no, as would most storytellers I guess.”

“Well I don't like all this sneaking around and doing this partly legal, partly illegal stuff, but If Grit knew what he was doing...”

“Whatever his ultimate plan was he didn't tell us.” I suddenly blurted out. “Now Enyi's fucking...gone and...fuck all of this!”

I stuffed a waffle into my mouth, swallowed it, then went on to chug a glass of orange juice.

“Well what should we do now?” Scarlet asked.

“We're going after the last treasure.” I said.

“But what about...”Scarlet started to say.

“If he wants to fuck off then let him. We need to stop Sable and making sure he has as little access to as many of those artifacts as possible is the best way to go about it. If Enyi has the helmet then noponies ever gonna get their hooves on it. I say let's focus on what we can do and go from there.” I said, just wanting to get this whole fucking thing over with.

“But we don't even know where it is.” Scarlet pointed out.

“Then let's go talk to some Buffalo and go from there.” I said firmly as I tried to move before remembering moving was the absolute worst fucking thing in the world and I once again vomited whatever was left in my stomach into the nearby bucket, nearly overflowing it.

Memories in the Mist

Chapter 15: Memories in the Mist

Focus. Concentration. Determination. If I focused on the task ahead of me then I wouldn't have to think about Enyi. I mean fuck that guy, seriously(I wasn't taking it well). Who does he think he is just leaving like that? He could have at least talked to me or something but no, he had to go and just leave in the middle of the night with the one thing I needed the most to beat Goldie! Without that helmet there's no way I can power Sparky and without Sparky...that won't be fun.

“Snap out of it Ives, we're here.” Jackpot's said, snapping me out of my daydreaming as the train pulled into the Appleloosa station.

Think later Ivory, work now.

“So you wanna just go right up to the Buffalo chief and ask him about this stuff?” Scarlet asked.

“That's the plan.” I answered back.

“Well, what if he doesn't know anything?”

“Well then Scarlet, we'll just have to go and fuck ourselves.” I said in a very clearly annoyed tone(probably because I was finding myself very irritable today).

“Ya don't have to get snippy there Ives, she just asked a question.” Jackpot said, trotting up to me and putting a hoof gently on my shoulder.

I stood there for several seconds before taking a deep breath, “You're right. Sorry Scarlet.” just because I could make myself sound calm doesn't mean I was.

“You sure yer alright there kid?” Jackpot leaned in closer to me, a look of worry on his face.

“Yeah yeah, I'm fine.” I pressed my forehooves into my forehead and gave it a quick stress rub.

“Well you don't look all that well.” Scarlet said, coming in close herself.

I took a look up at Jackpot's face to see that in his eyes was a look of self-guilt over this situation but I didn't want, nor could I afford to get myself and the entire group distracted in case of an emergency. I gave a quick smile to assuage their fears then continued onward and out into town to head towards the Buffalo grounds. I admit it probably wasn't the best or most convincing of smiles but as neither Jackpot nor Scarlet Aloe were smile connoisseurs it seemed to convince them that I was indeed perfectly fine(why didn't he even talk to me!).

Appleloosa wasn't the most scenic place in Equestria and if the records I dug into the last time I was here with Grit were any indication, the town used to be much smaller and much less scenic than it was now. It was hot though. I couldn’t nor would I ever understand why anypony would ever want to build a town in the middle of the desert. I mean think about it, it wastes resources with having to bring in food and water from outside as deserts aren't known for their abundant natural resources capable of supporting large populations and it's really HOT. Appleloosa has a river running near it but that only goes so far and from the town records the early settlers here nearly got trampled over by the Buffalo because they were forced to plant their orchards in that exact spot which, coincidentally, ended up being sacred land to the Buffalo. All I could think about while trotting through the town was how impractical it was to have a town even exist here.

Luckily tensions today were not quite as heated(tell that to the weather) as they were back then and the Buffalo and townsponies were pretty good friends these days. This made it easy to get directions to where the Buffalo village was and then even easier to get to said village. As we walked, Jackpot constantly attempted to lighten the mood with bad Buffalo jokes.

“What does a mother Buffalo say to her son when he goes off to school?”

“What?” Scarlet just had to answer(sigh).

“Bi-son!” Jackpot said, laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world.

I was not that impressed with the joke and only gave an eye-roll with a very(very) light smile.

“Oh, I see I'll have to try harder to get Ivory to laugh!” Jackpot yelled excitedly.

“Please don't.” I sighed.

“Sounds like a challenge to me!” he beamed. “Ok, what happens when two Buffalo meet, fall in love and go off to get married?...They Buffalope!”

Must...resist...bad...puns.

“What's wrong Ivory? You look like you're still....calf-asleep.” Jackpot looked really proud of that one.

At this point I gave in and let out a small chuckle as Jackpot's face beamed with pride as Scarlet looked on with a smile and a few chuckles of her own. Despite Jackpot's...'humor', the walk was still a long one and the desert is well, hot. The heat reminded me of Khaweth, where I first met Enyi, and how sticky and humid the jungle was but this wasn't nearly as bad as that got(plus no giant snake monsters, I hope).

At this realization I quickly slapped myself in the face with my hoof, “Can't go just one minute without thinking about him can you.” I said to myself as quietly as I could so the others wouldn't feel the need to butt in.

I had been to Appleloosa a couple times before with Grit but I never really got the chance to explore the surrounding areas as he had kept me on the 'this is for specific learning purposes and not a field trip' logic. As such I had never had a chance to interact with any Buffalo aside from the passing greeting of any who happened to be in Appleloosa that day. Despite the stress I was beginning to feel that there was a small, bitty pony in the back of my head that was making me very excited to go and see a Buffalo village and talk to them about any ancient legends or ruins that could lead me to the final artifact.

We were nearly at the village when it dawned on me that Silver wasn't here and that he hadn't set anything up for us; well, at least nothing I knew of anyway. Obviously I had read all about the Buffalo in various books that Grit had on them in his study and I knew a fair bit of their history. They were certainly not like the Zebras as they were always happy to share their history and stories with any pony who would ask. This of course was the subject of the Dash Venture book, Dash Venture and the Path of Fallen Timbers, where Dash(Grit) discovered an ancient grove that held a magical tree that told of the location to an ancient Buffalo city; the only permanent city the Buffalo ever seemed to build. He then fought off a series of evil tomb raiders who wanted to plunder the artifacts of the city and sell them for personal profit. While on this adventure Grit made many friends within the Buffalo tribe and got to speak with them a lot and learn all about them which he then put into little appendices at the end of the book.

Before long my little party arrived at the Buffalo village(a good thing to, it looked like Scarlet even wanted to start telling jokes). I was banking on any good-will the Buffalo had left for Grit for them to help me without too much trouble. Luckily for me this would pay off as there were still many older Buffalo who remembered the help Grit gave them many years ago, including the chief.

“Welcome little ponies.” he drolled in a slow and deep voice, “So, you are the pony known as Ivory Star. We have heard of you on the radio.” the Buffalo chief pointed his hoof towards a small radio that sat on a small rock in their village. “Many sad things we have heard on it lately but I still remember the great kindness and aid that Grit provided to my people all those years ago.”

“Well, that's great!” I said, doing my best to sound enthusiastic(I still wasn't over the whole Enyi thing...obviously, and this was still another reminder of my ever more confused opinion on Grit).

“This ancient Buffalo you spoke of that was friend to everyone, from Zebra to Yak, is indeed told of in a few of our oldest......hmmm stories.” Sweet Celestia this Buffalo spoke slowly!

I could tell from some of the rather exasperated expressions even from several surrounding Buffalo that this guy was probably like this all the time. I wonder if this was a personal thing....or maybe hereditary(Grit's Buffalo chief also talked like this, although she was a bit older than this chief seemed to be, not that this chief didn't still seem kind of old).

“The first tale is spoken of in the great counting of years in the seventieth verse of the great poem that makes up the eighth part of the first chapter of the histories of our people.” the chief's voice raised a little here, showing some amount of pride in this, which was understandable considering this was the ancient and sacred story of his people.

As the chief spoke I Found myself having a relatively enjoyable time. I loved learning new things and while I had read up on some Buffalo history there was nothing like learning it from a firsthoof source like this. There was a lot of stuff that I didn't know that the chief did and his story made that very evident. He spoke of the ancient Buffalo as they stampeded their way around southern Equestria and how they eventually came to settle where they lived today. He mentioned a Buffalo named Bighorn and how he was said to have been the first chief(score!) in the tribes known history.

I took a quick glance over at my companions as the story went on to see how they were holding up. I discovered that both of them(mainly Jackpot) were beginning to doze off slightly. A quick buck to their legs fixed this quick as Jackpot and Scarlet shot back up to attention. I gave them a quick dirty glance, telling them to be more attentive, but I could really hardly blame them. If the subject matter wasn't as interesting as it was(to me at least) this guy could probably put anypony to sleep. The chief's story went on for quite a while and he gave very little in the way of relevant information but when he came to the final verse his words caught my attention as he broke into a little poem:

Upon the ground we stomped our hooves, rumbling rock our coming proves
o'er the plains with roll of drum, the thunderous herd, we come, we come.
Bighorn led our mighty host, with great friendship he did boast
kinship with pony, bird and Yak, with great joy he led the pack.
Hooves of iron he held so dear, more so than his shining spear,
When one alone did ride away, upon the mountains he would stay,
on one peak with twenty more his treasures shall rest forevermore.

The Buffalo chief finished his long reciting of the histories with this poem that contained the one and only reference to a Buffalo that fit the description and time period of the one we were looking for. I had been completely fascinated with the entire rendition and committed myself to to putting the little poem at the end in my memory(I liked it). Jackpot and Scarlet on the other hoof seemed to not have been as interested in the admittedly long and slow rendition of several hundred years of Buffalo history(how?) and had begun to doze off(again), only to wake up when the story ended. I took note to myself that Enyi would have probably stayed attentive and listened to the story with me. It's always better to have somepony who you can talk to about things you like but...fuck! I had to stop thinking about him right now.

“One peak with twenty more?” I mused to myself, rubbing my hoof under my chin as I tried to think of any landmark that would fit that description. “I've never heard of a place like that.”

“Can't say I have either.” Jackpot said, shrugging his shoulders.

The Buffalo chief stared down at us with his deep eyes, “Some stories tell of such a sacred place but not of it's location. Many have tried to find it and all have failed.” he said in his deep and slow voice.

Scarlet sat a little ways from us thinking on her own. Her face was squished up in a very serious fit of deep thinking as she rubbed her temples trying to find any place that even remotely matched the description of the poem. I myself racked my brain as Jackpot hovered over to speak(flirt) a little with an admittedly nice looking Buffalo girl who had been standing within the crowd that had gathered to listen to the chief speak. I tried to gather every detail of the poem in my head; a spear, hooves of iron, mountains, one and twenty peaks...aaaaaand......nothing. I was just about to start getting aggravated when suddenly Scarlet bounced up with a super happy grin on her face.

“I think I have an idea!” she beamed.

“Huh? What is it?” I said, suddenly looking over expectantly at Scarlet, followed not long after by all of the watching Buffalo.

Scarlet Aloe bounced happily over to me as Jackpot floated back over to us(his new girl looked kind of sad). Scarlet's face was positively beaming with happiness when she popped in front of me.

“I remembered from a long time ago when I was still in training to become a doctor about reading about this flower that was used to cure some ancient plague or something. The flower was called the Petal of the Peaks and according to the books was found by a Pegasus who managed to fly across the Badlands where he found the flower in a pool of water on the top of a mountain surrounded by a ring of other mountains that hid it from view.” Scarlet spoke very quickly as she said this and her excitement made itself very evident.

“What kind of medical textbook was this?” I asked, somewhat confused about a university medical textbook talking about what appeared to be a legend about a magical flower.

“Well it probably wasn't a medical 'textbook' per se.” Scarlet suddenly sounded a bit less convincing, “Well I mean that it was about more um...mystical based cures that most mainstream medical professionals might call a little....far-fetched. But it came very highly recommended from the mistress of curatives herself, Zecora!”

“Wait a minute, you knew the Zecora?” I asked, rather unconvinced.

“Well no but she is mentioned as a source in the book and the opening pages have a quote from her praising the book.” Scarlet said rather defensively.

“What exactly was this book of yers called?” Jackpot asked as he plopped down on the ground next to Scarlet.

“Well, I don't really remember the name of the book but I remember reading about that flower and about the peaks being somewhere in the badlands.” Scarlet blushed a little here as she turned her face away from Jackpot's, her tone now showing the uncertainty and nervousness she was probably now feeling.

I let out a slight groan as I realized that this was the only thing we had to go on and that meant tromping back to Appleloosa and then going out towards the badlands and then tromping around that desert in order to look for something that nopony has ever been able to find before outside of a Pegasus, probably from a book about old legends or myths or something.

“Hey chief?” I asked, “Do any of your stories say anything at all about this mountain's location? Obviously I'm not expecting an exact location here but any landmarks or hints would be useful.”

The chief's throat rumbled as he pondered my question at his usual slow rate. “Hmmm....no location is given....but one tale does tell of a lake on the peak of the mountain.” the chief drolled in his deep and slow voice before clearing his throat with the obvious intention of reciting this new verse.

“Um, chief?” Jackpot interrupted, “I think we have enough to go on now.” Jackpot was obviously very impatient.

I threw him a dirty look as I kind of wanted to hear the story but I put that feeling on hold when I saw how bored my companions had grown.

“Well glad to see you two are taking this seriously.” I hammered at them.

“I'm sorry Ivory, it's just that it's hot out here and I'm not that partial to Jackpot's um...refreshments. I would appreciate it if we hurried this up, especially if we have to travel all the way to the badlands.” Scarlet panted as she sweated in the Appleoosian heat.

I could see how uncomfortable Scarlet was at least but Jackpot just looked kind of bored so with a heavy heart I was forced to say farewell to the Buffalo chief with only a mental note to come back here some time and listen to these stories from the best possible source.

Thankfully the Buffalo were very courteous and gave us some more water for the hours long trek back to Appleloosa. This made Scarlet happy as Jackpot just continued to sip away at his refilled flasks every so often. When we finally got back to Appleloosa the sun had begun to go down(it thankfully cooled down) and after some talking to the pony at the train station we discovered the next train wouldn't be until tomorrow. With this information in hoof we found our way to a small inn that sat not far off from the train station and spent the night there. Scarlet and Jackpot slept relatively peacefully(at least they seemed to) but I, on the other hoof, couldn't get to sleep. Now that some time had passed I began to really feel the lack of Enyi's presence in the group. I felt that inevitable gut-punch of guilt over the fact that his sudden departure was most likely my fault as my mind raced through the many ways I could have done it differently before I forced it back to my previous thought that it was Enyi being unreasonable.

“He didn't have to fucking leave.” I whispered angrily to myself over and over again throughout the night. I stretched out in the bed I was in which only made me feel more lonely in the moment as the realization he could have been here next to me kept poking me in the back of the head. “Why did he have to leave?” I asked myself repeatedly.

I turned over in my bed to see Scarlet and Jackpot sleeping peacefully in the other beds in the room and that just seemed to make me more irritable. I kept tossing and turning as I kept opening and shutting my eyes just trying to get to sleep and forget about Enyi for a few hours but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get to sleep.

I ended up spending the rest of the night completely miserable as I lay there in my bed unable to sleep. It was only when I saw the sun rising through a window that was in the room that I realized I had stayed up the entire night and not gotten any sleep. I got up from the bed and clopped my way over to the door where I made my way out to the front of the inn to sit and watch the sun come up. I hoped that doing this would help calm me down, sun-rises being beautiful and all, and I suppose in a way it worked but once it had come up I went right back to being grumpy, confused and now exhausted. The more I sat there thinking the angrier I ended up getting. I was angry at Enyi for leaving and I was now angry at myself for causing him to leave. As I sat there feeling both angry and sad a light tap came onto my shoulder from behind me and when I turned my head I saw Scarlet Aloe and Jackpot both standing there smiling.

“Honey, you're crying.” Scarlet said in her concerned voice.

“Huh?” I said, having not realized that Scarlet was right, I was indeed crying a little.

Jackpot stood there behind Scarlet looking very nervous and uncomfortable as he mumbled to himself. “I'm sorry Ivory. This is all my fault.”

“Well when we are finished looking for this mountain I think we could spare the time to go and find Enyi, how about that Ivory?” Scarlet asked in her sweetest voice.

“I don't know.” I answered faintly. I really wanted to go and talk to him but he probably hated me now and besides, he was probably in Khaweth and the prospect that they would treat me well over there once Enyi arrived with the helmet and told them everything was fairly low.

Jackpot's face perked straight up, “There ain't no 'I don't knows' here kid! When we're done here we're all gonna go and do what we can to make things right by you and him.” Jackpot's face lit up even further in a large smile, “I can plainly see that you two liked each other and we can't let a little thing like this get in the way of that.”

“Yeah, Jackpot's right!” Scarlet beamed, “It's not everyday you meet that special somepony that can make you this depressed by leaving.”

“But..”I started to say.

“No buts.” Jackpot said abruptly, “We are gonna get this...what was it a spear or something? And after that we're gonna fix what I messed up.”

*****

I sat there in my seat on the train leaving Canterlot station for the Badlands. After leaving Appleloosa we made a quick stop back home to get more supplies for our trek into the badlands and to see if we could find a copy of that book Scarlet had mentioned. I admit, it was a long shot that we would find it but the Adventure Incorporated library had pretty much every book ever and a near perfect filing system. It took only a few hours of searching the cavernous library to find the book and only a minute for me to find the part that mentioned the magical flower and its mountains of origin. There was some distress when we arrived back at the house to find no letters or anything really from Silver which made me(and Scarlet especially) a little worried.

“I hope nothing bad has happened. With everything going on I don't think no news is good news.” Scarlet said nervously as the train set out from the station.

“Why did he say he was leaving again?” I asked.

“I think he said something about an emergency popping up at his business.” Jackpot said, thinking back to the night Silver Chaser had left.

I let out a slight groan, “I keep forgetting that he's a rich businesspony.” in the back of my mind I was now kind of worried about Silver, especially after what happened to Grit, but right now there wasn't much that could be done about it besides getting the final artifact and making sure it couldn't be scooped up by Goldie Grail and her boss Sable Granite. Then heading out towards Khaweth and trying to find Enyi(now I was both mad at him and myself and I wasn't entirely sure how that would come across when I found him), this was starting to get a bit much for me again. I sat there and gave my forehead a good stress relieving rub as I continued to just stare out the window of the moving train to get a good view of the beautiful countryside. I wanted a nice, relaxing train ride before trekking my way through dozens of miles of the arid Badlands, then climbing through mountains in an attempt to find a mythical mountain peak that nopony has even seen in who knows how many hundreds of years.

After a while I discovered that there was only so much countryside I could take and turned my face back over to my companions. Scarlet was still reading the Dash Venture book I had given her along with a few of her spell-books that laid off to the side and Jackpot...well Jackpot was digging around his saddlebags organizing his flasks to try and make more room in the bags(probably for more flasks later).

“Hey Jackpot!” I shouted over to him, “Throw one of those over here!”

Jackpot's face shot up from his concentrated flask organizing before quickly recovering and nonchalantly tossed one of the full flasks over to me. I took a few quick gulps before stuffing it into my saddlebag along with the water I had now smartly packed. Walking through the Appleloosa desert was bad enough but now with the Badlands(much worse) coming up I wanted to be prepared for a long and extended stay. The cider was now going down pretty easy as I soon felt that calming, soothing feeling that one gets from a few swigs of strong cider. I slid back into my seat and dozed off to sleep to wait out the long train ride.

*****

The Badlands were a sparsely populated area of Equestria. Even Appleloosa was more densely populated and built up than this part of the country. Appleloosa at least had good soil for growing but the Badlands were just arid wastes that had little real value, plus it was near the changeling kingdom which was historically hostile to Equestria until about sixty years ago or so.

The Badlands encompassed a large area nestled between the eastern Macintosh Hills and the Forbidden Mountains that formed the western border of the jungles of Eastern Equestria. The very same jungles that Emerald Flake was now tromping around probably unaware of most of what was going on out here. My brain wheeled as a deep-seated feeling of satisfaction of being the first of the two of us to go on a large and important adventure and how jealous she would be of me. This feeling, however, quickly vanished as the thoughts of so many of the details of this adventure pushed past the petty friendship rivalry and the reality of some of the fucked up stuff I had seen came back causing a little shiver in me. The Badlands themselves were more like a massive valley, being completely surrounded by mountains, and was a flat and barren stretch of land that few could live in. The only remotely cool thing about them were the large rock formations that could rise hundreds of feet high, giving the area an admittedly cool look.

The train let us out in the town of Dodge which was the only largish town between Canterlot and the Badlands. From here we would have to hoof it to the entrance to the mountainous edges of the Badlands and from there spend Celestia knows how many days wandering around it just looking for any tangible leads. Scarlet had spent a good amount of time going over the book we collected in the A.I library and read that the mountains that might be the one we're looking for is probably somewhere in the southwest part of the Badlands. This made some sense as that area was a bit more mountainous than the other edges of the Badlands. There wasn't much in Dodge itself to interest us so we quickly made our way south to get to the entrance of the Badlands as quickly as possible. There was one pony in the town who told us about a small group of Buffalo that had set up a small settlement near the entrance to the desert in order to research and look into ancient Buffalo pictographs that had been found there. This came as a great relief as I was confident that we could get one of them to help in our search(since Silver wasn't here to hire anypony beforehoof).

*****

“It's really more of a couple of tents than a settlement.” Scarlet mumbled as we neared the small camp of Buffalo that rested between the mountainous entrance to the flat badlands.

The Badlands were completely surrounded by mountains and there was really only one way in from the Equestria side which we ended up going through. It was a relatively short cave that never even went deep enough to be darkened by lack of sunlight. At the other end the Buffalo had set up a small camp of about a dozen or so Buffalo who had been sent there to research ancient Buffalo habitation sites. I had read about these in a few journals that Grit had subscribed to and let me read when he was done with them over the years. Ancient pictographs of Buffalo had been found on several of the large rock formations that protruded from the otherwise flat landscape. Many of them were relatively well known by ponies(mostly ponies like me) and had been studied and translated as ancient stories, some of which were still common in Buffalo culture today.

The more I thought about what I had read about these pictures, the more I began to connect some dots that scholars among both ponies and Buffalo had been unable to. The oldest of the pictographs were estimated to be at least two thousand years old which matched up with the time-line of Abila returning across the sea with many creatures behind her. As I thought about it an old seeming desire crept back into my brain, thoughts of papers or perhaps even a book on the stuff I found out could catapult me into the forefront of pony historians. I could use that to find out even more and even perhaps truly and fully find out the truth about all the things I now knew Grit had been hiding from me over the years. Part of me still believed, or wanted to believe, in him and wanted to help clear his name. This part had been constantly getting smaller as the days and weeks had gone by but had never really gone.

“Thoughts for later I guess.” I said quietly to myself as we entered the small camp.

“Scarlet’s right.” Jackpot pointed out, “Just a few dirty tents and a couple o' Buffalo.”

“They're called tipis Jackpot.” I said, somewhat annoyed at my companions lack of knowledge on a subject I considered to be pretty common knowledge.

“And how exactly was I supposed to know that?” Jackpot said with a light nicker.

“Didn't you learn that in school?” I asked, partly rhetorically and partly seriously.

“Uhh, no.” Jackpot sounded like this should have been obvious.

“Where'd you even go to school?”Scarlet asked with a curious look on her face.

“Oh you know, around.” Jackpot answered with an elusiveness that very obviously irritated Scarlet.

“And where exactly is around?” Scarlet seemed undeterred.

“Here and there.” Jackpot seemed even more determined to remain elusive.

“That doesn't answer anything.” Scarlet said, now somewhat annoyed herself.

“Wasn't supposed to.” Jackpot said in his usual cocky voice.

“I have the feeling you didn't go at all did you.” Scarlet now answered, trying to sound a little sarcastic herself.

“Oh I did.” Jackpot answered as he leaned in towards Scarlet Aloe's face, “Whenever I wasn't chasing off beautiful mares or penetrating ancient tombs for long lost treasures.”

Scarlet's face turned scarlet as she didn't seem to expect Jackpot suddenly shoving his face in front of hers. This combined with the suggestive comment caused Scarlet to stop on a bit as Jackpot trotted on trying to hold in a laugh at Scarlet's reddening face and embarrassment.

“By Celestia's sultry sex life they've started flirting.” I mumbled to myself as my two friends trotted ahead of me.

Luckily before anything really interesting could occur we arrived in the camp proper. Upon closer inspection there were several ponies mixed in with the Buffalo who were busy stuffing their faces into old looking maps and books(I approved). As we stood there looking around like a group of lost tourists a smaller Buffalo came plotting along straight up to us with a huge smile on his face.

“Howdy there partners!” the little Buffalo said with a cheeriness and energy that I didn't expect from a Buffalo. “I'm Doublehead and welcome to this here research center for Buffalo history and habitation here in the badlands!”

“What, you mean this pile o' tents here?” Jackpot answered in his usual manner.

“Tipis Jackpot. Tipis.” I reiterated to him with a bit more emphasis this time.

“Well anyways, what can I...” Doublehead suddenly stopped talking as his eyes glanced down towards my cutie mark and then over to Jackpot's and Scarlet's. His eyes suddenly grew very wide as a huge smile swept itself across his face.

“You...you're Ivory Star!” the tiny Buffalo beamed excitedly as he shot off of the ground like a rocket in a moment of what seemed like pure ecstasy and happiness.

“Uhhh, yes.” I said, somewhat surprised by the sudden outburst.

“Oooh oooh, I've been hearing about you on the radio for weeks now! You worked for Grit Stratum right!?” Doublehead seemed ever more excited with each passing second.

Several of the other older Buffalo and even some of the other ponies around the camp turned their heads towards my and my friends. They had undoubtedly heard the little Buffalo's outburst and now looked on to the newcomers with some curiosity. Some had intrigued looks on their faces while others, understandably, turned their faces away with disgusted looks on them after only a few seconds.

“Don't worry about them.” Doublehead said, “A bunch of old book-snorters, the lot of them.”

“And what exactly are you then?” Jackpot asked.

“I'm new! Only been here about a week or so but Buffalo history is my specialty. So I thought that the new stuff that was being found out here would help me on the fast track to being accepted into Adventure Incorporated!” Doublehead looked straight at me with a big smile, “But you're already part of A.I so that means you could help me get in right!?”

“Well, we're kind of here on business.” I said back to the eager little Buffalo. I was also somewhat keen to change the subject from this Buffalo who obviously had no idea about all the stuff really going on with Adventure Incorporated and I didn't want him getting mixed up with any of it.

“Ohh! Adventure Inc. business!? I can help with that you know. I know the Badlands super well and I can help you find any ancient treasure you think is out there.” Doublehead was super excited.

“Didn't you say you've only been here a week or so? How can you say you know the area?” Scarlet inquired.

“I'm smart, that's why!” Doublehead said proudly. “That's why they call me Doublehead. Twice as smart as any other Buffalo.”

“Well, I suppose I won't say no to a nice Buffalo offering to help.” I said with a smile.

“Great!” Doublehead smiled even wider, “So uh, what is it you're looking for exactly?”

“Bighorn.” I answered, “The story of Bighorn, his spear and the mountain he supposedly went off to.”

“If it exists.” Jackpot added.

“Oh yeah! I've heard of that. It's mentioned in several old stories. So you think it's here in the Badlands?” Doublehead asked.

“Yeah. I read about something similar in a book years ago and we think it's worth checking out.” said Scarlet.

“We think it's somewhere in the southeast mountains that form the edge of the Badlands.” I added.

Doublehead stood there thinking for several seconds before perking back up and taking a very excited look over to the Badlands.

“Yeah, that makes sense. That area is a bit more mountainous than the others and it's relatively unexplored.” Doublehead pointed out towards the silhouettes of some mountains in the far distance, “I've been told that several groups have tried to climb those hills but they always ended back at the beginning of the trail. It's been concluded that there is nothing of note or worth there.”

“Well, maybe they just missed something. After all we know what we're looking for and we're determined.” Scarlet said confidently.

“Alrighty then!” Doublehead said, “Luckily the camp has just enough supplies stored away for one more expedition into the Badlands and since you brought some of your own supplies we won't have to worry about running low on anything. Although I will warn you that it's going to be a long hike, several days at least and then there's the actual mountain-climbing.”

“Don't worry, we're used to mountain climbing and long treks by now.” I said.

“And I can fly.” Jackpot said, very happy with himself.

*****

We were prepared for a long hike this time. With the water we had packed and the water from the camp's stores(procured by Doublehead) we were lead through the Badlands. Doublehead proved to be a skilled guide, strange considering how young he was, but no unwelcome. Along our trek were many of the famous stone towers that dotted the Badlands and Doublehead made sure to stop at each one we encountered to show off the ancient pictographs that lined their sides. They also made useful sources of shade from the sun whenever we stopped to rest and have Scarlet use her magic to reinvigorate us.

Two and a half days is what it took to reach the edge of the mountains we were looking for. I had to admit that at first glance they didn't seem all that impressive and the previous reports of their being nothing here seemed pretty accurate. When Doublehead found the path leading up to the mountains however, I quickly began to change my tune on the subject.

The paths we walked bent and twisted around the sides of the mountains and multiple times we did indeed find ourselves back at the beginning of the trail. However, unlike the other excursions here I was aware that something magical could very well be here and this whole turning you around thing was definitely something magic would do. Most of the day was spent like this, just when we thought we had passed further than before we would take a wrong turn and wind back where we started. We unfortunately continued this exercise in futility until the sun went down and we made a camp at the base of the mountain.

“There's definitely something magical here.” I said with the utmost certainty.

“I gotta agree with you Ms. Star. There's no way I could get turned around that many times on my own.” Doublehead said with a sigh and a nod.

“So, any ideas on how we're gonna get past this magic then?” Jackpot asked.

Scarlet had her face pressed into the book we had acquired from the A.I library. She had been carefully reading and rereading the book the entire trip to find anything that could help. I couldn't help but be somewhat impressed, I thought that only Enyi and myself could get that caught up in research like that.

None of us could come up with an immediate answer to Jackpot's question and as it was getting late it was decided that we should all get some sleep and continue in the morning. The Badlands turned pretty cool at night, giving us a break from the oppressive sun that had been beating down on us the past few days.

It was exceptionally clear out here at night. All of Princess Luna's stars could be seen as I lay on my back racking my brain trying to find the secret to this mountain. Doublehead had set up a fire(very quickly and efficiently I might add) and since I stayed up later than the others I kept it going, if ever so slightly. The book held no real answers, as Scarlet depressingly discovered after digging through all relevant sections over and over again.

“Maybe we should just have Jackpot fly straight up?” I mumbled to myself. “The Pegasus who found this magical flower in the book supposedly flew up the mountain.”

This seemed like a decent idea if not for the fact that just by looking around I could see that there weren't twenty mountain peeks surrounding anything. In fact I doubt there were even half that number of peaks we needed scattered around this corner of the Badlands.

“Well if it were easy, somepony would have found it already.” I said, sighing.

I stared up at the night-sky just trying to find any kind of real answer to my current conundrum. As I stared into the slender web of stars that shone overhead I let my eyes follow the rows upon rows of twinkling jewels that lay intertwined into the dark and peaceful sky. My gaze took me to the direction of one of the mountains that surrounded me and my group when something quite strange happened.

Off in the distance, at the very edge of the glow of the fire, I thought I saw a shape moving through the darkness. I sat up quickly as I continued to stare off into the craggy rocks and paths that shot out from where we had made camp. I squinted my eyes as I now very definitely saw something moving just out of range of any substantial light. I silently got up and crept off to where I saw the movement, so as not to wake my companions. The dark shape seemed to effortlessly glide down one of the paths leading up the mountain as my own curiosity compelled me to follow it. I didn't go too far however, not wanting to get lost up here and get separated from Jackpot, Scarlet and Doublehead. When I stopped following the shape it seemed to stop dead before staying in it's spot for several seconds before disappearing completely.

Just as I was about to turn away and head back to camp I heard a softand almost ethereal sounding voice call out.

“Ivory. Here.”

I had to have been imagining this! But something about this voice seemed very familiar, almost as if I had heard it somewhere before but I just couldn't place it. There was something inherently soothing and peaceful about it though, something enough to make me creep back down a little bit towards where I had heard it. Almost as if from nowhere I saw something that we must have missed before as we wandered around the day before. A new path had almost magically appeared behind several boulders that I'm sure we passed by several times the previous day.

I stood there completely astounded and confused as to how we could have missed something that now seemed incredibly obvious. I took a quick look down this path and saw that it stretched narrowly along the side of a large cliff-face and snaked it's way well off into the distance that was still shrouded in darkness. After staring for a good couple of minutes I wearily went back to camp and fell into a restful and rejuvenating sleep until morning.

The next day I told the others what had happened during the night and upon investigating the path that had appeared was indeed still there. This one kept us on a relatively straight path with little chance of getting lost in the labyrinth of rocks and mountains that had us stymied the day before. Unfortunately our ease of travel only lasted several hours before we found ourselves standing within what seemed from close up to be another maze of pathways to choose from. To make the matter worse, as the day continued on a haze of grey mist had come and settled upon the mountainside we happened to be standing on.

“I can't see a damn thing.” Jackpot groaned as he haplessly swung his wings back and forth trying to clear out pockets of mist as he led the group. “Still kinda hard to believe how ya found this thing to begin with.”

“I can't explain it, I just saw what I saw.” I answered, following Jackpot through the misty mountainside.

Scarlet, who was using a light from her horn to help Jackpot see into the mist he was trying to push away, almost slipped a hoof of the edge of the narrow mountain-pass. She let out a small yelp before quickly catching herself as Jackpot quickly spun around, holding one of his wings out to block her from falling off.

“Sorry!” Scarlet squeaked as she stood there, breathing heavily after almost falling what must have been hundreds of feet to the ground below.

“Careful there.” Jackpot scolded.

“Everypony ok?” Doublehead, who was bringing up the rear now, asked.

“Yeah, miss slippy hooves here just nearly got herself killed is all.” Jackpot said with a slight chuckle.

Scarlet let out a slight nicker before turning her head up trying to look as composed as possible, “I'll have you know I caught myself.” she let out a light pout.

“Well let's not have to have you do that again ok.” I said, concerned that next time might not be so fortunate.

“This is all really strange.” Doublehead remarked as his head swung from side to side taking in what could be seen of our surroundings.

“How so?” I asked back.

“These mountains really shouldn't look like this. Pegasi have flown over these mountains before and reported small pockets of mists here and there but nothing like this at all. And these mountains shouldn't be this big.” Doublehead's face had sunk into a mode of thought as he peered over the edge of the path into the misty chasm below.

“Who can really understand how magic works, especially magic as old as this probably is.” Being an Earth Pony really didn't make me any sort of expert on magic aside from the bits that all ponies were known to have. Despite my large array of knowledge on many subjects, magic was not one I had ever studies in depth before. I had read a few essays on it by the princess, Twilight Sparkle among others, but I never delved deep into studying it's many intricacies and contradictions. With a quick mental note to change that after all of this we continued onward along the winding and narrow path until it split into several others.

“Well I'm not sating we should split up or anything but...” Jackpot teased as we stood there at the divergence of the path as it led inward and away from the edges.

“I say we take the one that leads furthest away from this dreadful cliff.” Scarlet said.

“We'll be able to move faster through the mist without having to worry about constantly falling.” Doublehead added.

I gently pushed my way to the front where I took a look of what I could see of the paths that snaked in multiple directions ahead of us. I still really couldn't see anything but I was of the same mind as Scarlet and Doublehead, I wanted us away from the cliff so we wouldn't have to worry about anypony falling and disappearing into the mist.

“We'll take the rightmost path, there.” I said, pointing to the path that led away from the cliffs and had a slightly high leaning look about it, “Hopefully that will start taking us up the mountain and out of this damn fog.”

Once again Jackpot and Scarlet took the lead. Jackpot used his strong wings to blow as much of the mist out of our way as he could while Scarlet's horn lit as much of the path as it could. They were admittedly of limited success but every little bit helped. Luckily I seemed to choose correctly as the path did indeed begin to heavily slope upward the further on we went. Every so often Doublehead would stick his head onto the rocky ground and sniff at it.

“What are you doing?” I asked the odd little Buffalo.

“Just taking in everything. If I can get the smell of the surroundings I should be able to more accurately guide us down again in case we get lost.” he seemed very confident saying this.

“Um, if you say so.”

“Hey! Don't underestimate the power of smell!” Jackpot yelled from up front, “If in doubt, always follow your nose!”

At this point I wasn't in the mood to argue and just accepted their weird logic as we continued up the path. Without the fear one of us might take a bad step and fall off the edge of a mountain we moved at a far quicker pace. We were still cautious just in case something happened but we started to make good time as several more hours passed.

Finally after hours and hours of hiking we crested the top of the upward-climbing path as a large portion of the mist suddenly cleared away as we climbed over its top. We had indeed reached a small mountain peak but when we saw what lay before us it seemed like nothing at all. For indeed we had reached it; ahead of us was a seemingly massive mountain, rising straight up and high into the sky into more layers of mist. Below and around this mighty peak were many others, twenty or so, with us standing on one of them. The mists swirled below us and we could no longer even see the ground, instead there was simply a great sea of grey as the mists encompassed everything around the bases of the mountains. With the now setting sun once again visible, the light washed over this great sea and it seemed as if it began to shimmer like a great sea of silver as it swirled around the bases of the many mountains that surrounded the central great mountain.

“No way these are the badlands.” Doublehead gasped in utter amazement.

“Yeah, I think we would have seen something like this from the ground.” Jackpot said, his own face stuck in an expression of utter amazement.

“This is...this is beautiful.” Scarlet said, almost stumbling over her words as she stared into the great expanse before us.

“I almost can't believe it.” I said, myself nearly if not even more amazed than my companions.

My gaze soon began to shift upwards and a path leading far outward and towards the great central mountain ran below us and then further upwards as it neared what I decided had to be the biggest mountain in the world.

Luckily Jackpot was able to fly us, one by one, to this path and land us there safely before continuing forward. It was starting to darken as the sun began to sink beneath the slowly silhouetting mountains that loomed, ever-present, in the distance. The sun had nearly disappeared behind the mountains when we finally found a nice spot in which we could set up a small campsite. Doublehead had it set up in mere minutes(fire and all. I was quite impressed) and was soon relaxing be the side of the slowly growing fire.

“So, expectin any more ghostly visitors ta give us clues or pointers?” Jackpot asked as he settled down on a spot near the fire before stretching out his wings and hooves.

“I swear Jackpot, much more of that and you could be accused of public indecency.” Scarlet pouted as she found a spot, leaning against a small rock next to Jackpot.

“Good thing we ain't in public then.” he retorted with a slight chuckle as he set his saddlebags down and dug out a flask of cider.

“Throw some over here Jackpot.” I said, holding out my hoof to catch whatever he threw over.

“You made that last one this long did ya?” Jackpot threw the first flask he retrieved from his bag over to me before digging out another one.

“Yeah, but now I need some more.” I unscrewed the top before taking a few swigs and settling down.

“This is fun.” Doublehead said, “I love having fun in beautiful places.”

“Yeah, it is pretty cool here.” I said back. “Wonder what's up with all the fog though?”

“It's magic obviously.” Scarlet answered as her face turned towards the sea of mist below us and the haze that covered much of the top of the large central mountain.

“I hate unexplained magic.” Jackpot nickered, “Too many variables to deal with.”

“I think it's just all those obviously unresolved issues you have with Goldie.” Scarlet squeaked out.

Jackpot and I just stared at her, each of us with disapproving gazes. Jackpot turned his head away and nickered slightly at Scarlet's comment.

“Leave the bad jokes to me honey.” he said grimly before turning and curling up against the rock he had sat next to.

The mood was quickly turning tense and while I certainly did not enjoy Scarlet's comment I still decided to say something to help lighten the now growing tension.

“I've always found that that kind of magic is the best kind, unexplained that is. It makes sure to keep you guessing and leaves so many possibilities open for exploration. I mean what fun is it if everything is explained to you. Grit certainly understood this in his books.” I leaned back into a more relaxed position hoping my mood would rub off on the others.

“I agree with Ms. Ivory.” Doublehead nodded, “The Buffalo have a lot of stories like that. Stories that leave just enough unexplained to let our imaginations go wild.” as Doublehead spoke I could hear a reverence in his voice as he began to think and imagine the stories he had probably heard growing up. “My mentor always loved to tell me stories. He had some really strange ones about all kinds of creatures and places.”

“I'd love to hear one.” I said, somewhat intrigued at the possibility of hearing a Buffalo tale from a Buffalo that wouldn't put half of Equestria to sleep.

Doublehead cleared his throat as the rest of us settled into more comfortable positions around the crackling fire.

“Our oldest tales, tales so old that even chiefs and elders don't know where they originated from, say that the world and every creature in it was brought into being by the singing of the ancestors.” Doublehead gestured towards the darkened sky as the first stars were beginning to appear.

“The two siblings, whose ancient names are given as Kaya and Wematin, sister and brother, saw that Maka, the earth, was in love with Mahpee, the sky. Mahpee, however, did not love Maka yet still needed her. This way of things ended up causing great strife and so Kaya and Wematin sought to understand how and why things came to be and to learn the truth of the matter.”

“Hmm.” I said to myself, unintentionally interrupting the story.

“What?” Doublehead asked.

“That reminds me of something Enyi told me a while back.” I said, cocking my head in a thinking posture.

“Who is this Enyi?” Doublehead asked, confused.

“Ivory's boyfriend.” Jackpot said, still curled into his corner.

“Why is he not here then?”

“They're having some...communication issues.” Scarlet said as delicately as she could.

Doublehead nodded, “Hmm, I see.”

With this Doublehead continued his story and it went on for quite the while. It was enough to distract me from Enyi once again popping into my head but when the story inevitably ended Enyi had entered back into my mind, full force.

It was strange though, Enyi had mentioned to me once about a story of two spirit siblings who went on a quest for truth and now here again was a story that seemed almost identical to the one Enyi had only briefly described. It got me thinking of perhaps a shared and intertwined cultural experience, or maybe it was something important that could help piece together the missing links in the ancient histories of the two peoples. Or maybe it was just a coincidence and I was taking the issue too seriously and over-thinking it, after all it ultimately was a story about learning appreciate those in your life, something meant for Buffalo children I suspected.

With the story now complete we all curled up in our respective corners and one by one, slowly drifted off to sleep. It was surprisingly easy considering all the things that were currently on my mind but something about this place just seemed to calm me down now that I had some moments of peace, quiet and rest. I was still thinking about what I could do with Enyi when I finally did fall asleep leading to some very interesting dreams until I popped awake when the sun rising over the mountains hit my face.

I slowly opened my eyes as the rays of the rising sun crept over the many mountains that now surrounded us. I looked up the slope of the great central peak to see that the mists that we had seen the day before still covered the top of the mountain. I was both excited to see what was at the top and dreading having to wander through more dangerous mists that sat at the top of a very tall mountain.

Doublehead was already awake and was stoking a small fire with a stick he held in his mouth. He seemed preoccupied with this and didn't notice me immediately so I sat up and let out a nice loud yawn to attract his attention.

“Oh! Morning Ivory.” he said cheerfully.

“I gotta say, the mountains look even more beautiful with the sun rising over them.” I said, still somewhat tired.

“Yeah. It's weird though that something so big ant beautiful has gone undiscovered for so long. That nobody has ever been here in centuries is just so strange.” Doublehead turned his head towards the peaks of the many encircling mountains and stared almost longingly at them.

“Magic is as magic does, as they say.” I said back to him.

“How do you ponies ever cope?” Doublehead said, almost jokingly but still a bit serious.

“Scarlet's probably the one to ask about that.” I said back, giving Doublehead a little chuckle which he reciprocated.

After a few minutes Jackpot and Scarlet woke up and after a nice breakfast we eagerly yet cautiously began to move further up the central mountain. The hike did not take long as the mists were pretty high up and we were now well-rested and moved upward at a brisk pace. As we walked I saw Doublehead take out a little notebook and watched as he would sketch out the views of the mountains whenever we stopped to rest up a bit. He was surprisingly good at writing with his mouth(much better than I was) and indeed had some talent in drawing. He would sketch the areas around us with a fair bit of accuracy and almost seemed to be mapping out the way we took, now that we could see it.

“You're pretty good.” I said, looking over at Doublehead's drawings.

“Thanks. That means a lot coming from you.” Doublehead smiled.

The hike up this part of the mountain was as pleasant an experience as I can think of. The scenery was beautiful, there were no monsters or homicidally insane Unicorns to muck up the experience. There was still the mists that lay at the top of the mountain but I decided to worry about that when we got to it. Until then though, I decided to do all I could to enjoy this part of the adventure.

The mountainside was breathtaking, especially as we continued to climb upwards. Beautiful blue flowers that seemed to almost glow with a luminescent light began to pop up in small cracks in the rocks the further up we got. To accompany their glowing was a small humming noise they seemed to make, not an annoying buzzing but instead a harmonious sounding melody that both soothed and enticed us as we listened to them.

“The Petals of the Peaks.” Scarlet said, inspecting one of the flowers close up. “The book says that they can cure all sorts of things and that they make delicious tea.”

“Well, pick a few and we'll take em home.” Jackpot said as Scarlet proceeded to pick several of the glowing flowers and stick them into one of Jackpot's empty saddlebags.

“Finally, a use for those things.” Scarlet said.

Within a few hours we arrived at the bottom edge of the mists that we had seen from the base of the mountain. Now that we were close up we could see that these mists seemed different from the ones at the base of the mountain. These ones seemed to swirl around each other, constantly overlapping and moving about in thick clouds that Scarlet's horn could barely illuminate when she shined a bit of light near the edge. Even Jackpot, beating his wings as hard as he could, barely made a bit of difference in clearing out just a small bit of the cloud.

“So, how are we going to do this?” I asked partly to myself and partly to the group.

“Hop in and hope for the best?” Jackpot suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.

Scarlet proceeded to shake her head disappointingly, “That's a horrible idea.”

“Well, as long as we're really careful it shouldn't be too bad, right?” Doublehead said.

We eventually decided to just take the path at a slow pace in order to prevent ourselves from accidentally walking off a cliff or into some other unknown danger that could be hiding in the mist. Once again, Scarlet and Jackpot led the way with Scarlet's horn lighting up any tiny area Jackpot managed to clear mist from with his wings. This, again, proved only limited in it's success as the mist seemed to almost move back into place mere seconds after being blown away.

I'm not sure how long we wandered through the mist as the sun had been blocked out some time ago and we were left in a blank, grey haze. Even with this the ground still seemed to be leading in an upward direction which we assumed was correct.

“This mist is absolutely horrid.” Scarlet groaned from ahead of the group.

“Just be glad there doesn't seem to be anything too magical about it.” Jackpot said back to her.

“And what exactly would 'too magical' be?” Scarlet asked back.

“Ya know. The mist could be alive or something, or maybe it's poisonous or gives some other weird effect.”

“I think it's just a bit drab. Maybe it could be a different color like purple or pink or something.” Scarlet said half jokingly and half seriously.

“Any stories about mist like this?” I said, turning towards Doublehead.

“Not really.” he said back. “There is one line in an old tale that says something about mists of memory and misery, but that could be anything.” Doublehead tapped his hoof beneath his chin as he thought, “Like a metaphor or something.”

“Well, either way we should think of something. Jackpot, Scarlet, you two have any ideas?” I asked, turning my head towards where Scarlet and Jackpot were. “Jackpot? Scarlet?” I said again, when there was no answer.

I suddenly realized why there was no answer; there was no Jackpot or Scarlet! They both had seemingly just vanished into thin air in the few seconds I had looked away.

“Wait, what!?” I said, doing a double-take just to make sure my eyes hadn't just played a trick on me.

“They're gone!” Doublehead said, his voice in a near state of shock.

“Jackpot! Scarlet! Where are you!” I shouted as loud as I could as the swirling mists began to quickly crowd in around us.

“Doublehead stay close!” I said frantically as my field of vision quickly shortened with each second.

Doublehead zipped over to me and hugged my side as the mists enveloped us completely obscuring even the slightest bit of vision. All I could see was grey as even when I looked down at my own body I couldn't see it in the least bit. Everything was gone, even when I tried to talk to Doublehead he didn't answer back, leading me to the conclusion that he was now gone as well. Within the cloud it seemed as if all of my senses had left me alone. I couldn't see anything but grey, there was no noise, no mountain smells, everything was just a grey nothingness. I was frozen in place, not due to any lack of ability to move but more out of an abject fear that if I did move I might just disappear into the nothingness that surrounded me as well.

I stood there, frozen in fear as the great nothing surrounded me. It took several long, agonizing moments before I could even dare to try and take a step forward into the haze that now undoubtedly covered the entirety of the mountainside. I took one hoofstep forward and trembled as it hit the ground; I had half expected it to hit nothing and to then fall to my death off the side of the mountain. Each step came slowly as I inched my way forward, my mind racing with thoughts of falling or being lost in here forever and never seeing my friends again.

“Come on Ivory. You gotta get through this.” I said to myself as confidently as I could.

Inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter, I crept forward, constantly trying to be aware of the ground beneath my hooves. Putting one hoof in front of the other and leaning forward had never been so terrifying as it was in that moment. In vain I tried calling for my friends several more times but now even my voice seemed to be lost in the mists as I could only hear my own words as a whisper that had been lost on the wind.

Not only was my body lost in a complete haze but now even my head had begun to get muddled and confused. I was not only physically lost but I began to feel completely lost on almost every other level a pony can feel something on. I began to doubt as to why I was there and then even the knowledge of where I was began to slip from my mind. I stopped moving and again stood there in fear and doubt as I once again was afraid to move.

As I stood there, giving into the despair and confusion that was slowly overtaking my mind I heard a loud and cocky sounding voice call out in the distance. I recognized it at once as Jackpot's as I forced my mind out of the haze that it had sunk into and back into the real world. I frantically looked around, hoping beyond hope that I could hear the voice just one more time to see where it came from. My luck payed off as another call came out, but this time it was Scarlet Aloe's voice that called through the mist and landed into my ears.

“I'm coming!” I called out as I steeled myself and my nerves from the swirling mists that enveloped them.

I had a bit of hope and my heart seemed to leap forward with my body as I jumped to the direction I thought the voices were coming from. The voices seemed now to be louder as I began to feel happier and happier as I kept moving my hooves faster and faster forward. I moved quickly through the haze, though the calling had stopped, hopeful that I could find any of my friends if I just went on a little further.

The mists seemed to condense as I ran forward, heedless of anything in my way. I needed to keep moving, I just had to. I felt that if I stopped then I would lose the ability to keep going forever and ever after remain trapped in this accursed mist. My legs were at last beginning to physically give out as the mists seemed to just get heavier and heavier the further on I went. I was almost out of strength when an image popped into my mind; Enyi. The thought that I would never see him again and that I could never explain myself and try and make things right rang throughout my mind, it kept me going. Then as I concentrated I began to see him clearer and clearer in my mind. My heart fluttered as I focused in on specific parts of him, his smooth face, his tall mane, his lean legs, his amber eyes, his...other places. The happiness these thought filled me with sent my heart and body leaping forward and finally out of the mists and onto a path that was kissed by the incandescent glow of Celestia's warm and inviting embrace.

“Praise Celestia! Praise the sun!” I screamed as I threw my hooves out and landed on the now very visible and very real ground.

I felt a very real urge to start kissing the ground I was just so elated to be able to feel anything again. Before I could get into any of that though I raised my head up to take a quick view of my surroundings as my mouth dropped in a mixture of amazement and disbelief. I was laying on the top of the mountain and all about me I could see the tremendous view of the great valley below and the twenty mountain peaks that surrounded the one I was currently on. The sun was high in the sky and a cool breeze flew through the leaves of a few old and gnarled trees that grew here on the mountain summit.

“Whoa.” I said in astonishment as beyond the small patch of ground I was on was a little glade that sat at the very top of the mountain.

A few small trees, similar to the ones that sat nearer to me, littered this glade. They were not that big and had trunks that were thin and slightly twisted, forming the trees into various shapes. In the center of this glade was a pool of crystal clear water that sat there cool and calm. I stood up and carefully made my way over to it, careful to glance back and ensure the mist did not follow me up to the top of the mountain.

“Jackpot! Scarlet! Doublehead! Any of you up here!?” I called out as I neared the glade at the top of the mountain.

No answer came but as I neared the glade and the pool I saw something very peculiar and very important. I ran up to the edge of the pool and saw that on a small stone, just beneath the surface of the water, lay a slender, silver spear.

“There it is!” I said, happy to finally see it.

It was of pure silver with inlaid filigree of vines and flowers that ran along the shaft and up onto the slightly curved blade. Even under the water I could see it sparkling in the sun as the water spread the shimmering light around the pool giving the clear water a glowing effect. I stepped one hoof onto the water and to my complete surprise my hoof didn't sink but in fact stood there on top of the surface of the water. This followed with my three other hooves until I stood completely on top of the surface of the water. I slowly and cautiously trotted over to the spear, unable to grab at it as the water felt solid and my hooves did not pass through it.

“Luna's teats!” I shouted in frustration as I clopped my hooves fruitlessly at the surface of the water, trying to punch through.

My efforts were rewarded with nothing to show for it as I plopped down onto the surface of the water to take in a few deep breaths. As I laid there something quite unexpected happened as suddenly the sun seemed to darken and a dark shape appeared over my. The glare from the sun blocked out its features and all I saw was a silhouette standing above me. My first instinct was to immediately stand up and ready myself but that feeling dissipated quickly as I felt no evil intent coming from this shape.

“Why, hello there little one.” a deep voice that came from the silhouette and reminded me a bit of Roose's voice combined with the Buffalo chief said.

“Um, hello?” I said back, somewhat confused.

“Won't get at the spear that way.” the voice said, “the waters enchanted.”

I sat up and the shape backed up enough for me to now see it clearly. It was a Buffalo, large and old looking. He sat there next to me on the water with a large and kindly smile on his face.

“Ha! I see you're confused little pony. My name is...”

“Bighorn.” I interrupted.

“Oh? You know of me?” he said somewhat shocked.

“Just your name really.” I said back to him, my eyes wandering around his large form, almost not believing who I was actually looking at.

“Interesting. I wouldn't think anypony would remember after so long a time.” Bighorn said, stroking his long bearded face with his front hoof.

“How are you? Why are you?” I said, my mind finally comprehending exactly who I was talking to and my mouth unable to express my amazement.

“Yes, I suppose I am quite old.” the elderly Buffalo said, chuckling a little at my astonishment. “If it helps, this is not really Bighorn you're talking to. Unfortunately I'm just a memory, an imprint of a time long past.”

I didn't answer, instead I just stared at his every feature and every wrinkle on his kind old face as he sat there, still chuckling away to himself.

“I'm guessing you want my spear?” Bighorn said in a jolly voice.

“Well, it is kinda why I came here with...my friends!” I said, suddenly realizing that they were still trapped in the mist.

“Oh, they will be fine. The mist isn't that dangerous.” Bighorn said as if he knew why I was so worried, “It's just there to make sure no one bad comes to take my spear.”

“What exactly is that stuff?” I asked.

“Something a friend of mine whipped up. Little Aurora was always looking to experiment with new kinds of magic once she found the mind to do so.”

“Wait!” I gasped, “I met Aurora, I think. Her ghost maybe, or memory I guess.”

“Hmm, I thought this mist was a custom order, but maybe she wove some more magic in the world after I left it, or maybe it was something else. Aurora was not one to copy her own past work when she could do something greater.” Bighorn then let out a loud and mighty laugh as a smile formed on his face, “Wouldn't that be just like her! So much talent in such a little body, it boggles the mind.”

“I have to say, you don't sound like I thought you'd sound Mr. Bighorn.”

He looked at me quizzically, “Oh! And how exactly did you think I'd sound?”

“Well, Abila wrote all fancy in her journal while you just talk like anypony I would meet in modern times.”

“Ah yes, Abila was always so formal and...” Bighorn's eyes turned glossy as he let out several more laughs, “In fact, I recall once her trying to tell a joke to me once. She said: 'Bighorn, what, pray tell, is the difference betwixt a pony and a Giraffe? The Giraffe has a long neck.' Bighorn said this in a bad female voice impression of what I assumed was Abila(if only Enyi had been here, would he have loved or hated this?).

“Now I thought it was terribly funny but I remember it took Ironhoof a week to come to the conclusion that it wasn't funny! Ha!” Bighorn let out several more loud chuckles.

I giggled a bit as he spoke as his very voice just seemed to make me want to laugh and enjoy myself. I lifted up my hoof and took a look at Sparky and the image of the Earth Pony that was engraved on it.

“Ah yes, that's them all right. All of my friends.” Bighorn looked down solemnly at the band on my leg.

“Was that you a couple of nights ago?” I asked.

“Huh?” Bighorn sounded confused.

“I saw a shape leading me on the correct path up the mountain. Was it you?”

“Hmm, I can't say that it was. I'm pretty limited in fact, can't go lower than the mist you see behind you. Remember all I am is an an imprint, an admittedly extremely handsome and hilarious imprint, but an imprint none the less.”

“Hey Bighorn? Can you tell me more about all of the people on this band here?” I asked, lifting my hoof up to give him a better look.

“I'm afraid I can't my dear. It pains me to say this but my memory is not what it once was. The magic is beginning to fade and all of the knowledge that this old image has is fading as well. I fear I know precious little in what I was once an expert in.” As he said this Bighorn's face turned down and for only a single instant I saw what could have been sadness on his face but it quickly disappeared and his friendly smile returned.

“How about we get that spear eh?” he said cheerfully.

He lightly stomped his way over to where the spear lay beneath the water and with gentle grace he slid his hoof effortlessly beneath the water and lifted the large silver spear from it's resting place if though it was nothing.

“Aeglir, the Spear of Joy, as I called it.” Bighorn chuckled to himself, “I had the name engraved on the blade, see it there?” he said, pointing to the letters, beautifully formed upon the tip of the lovely blade-tip.

“Why would the element of laughter need a spear?” I asked.

“Laughter? Joy itself is what I bring. Laughter is but one of my domains, but as to why I needed a spear...I do not remember.”

Bighorn knelt down and lowered the spear to me, I opened my mouth and gently bit down on the spear, taking it from the old Buffalo. The spear was amazingly light and as I held it, all I seemed to be able to feel was the hope of everything turning out ok. I carefully took the spear into my hooves and slid it into the straps of my saddlebags, fitting it onto my back. I let out a laugh as I felt a happiness that I had never felt before in my life, a feeling of great relief and ease that put a spring into my step as I bounced back to the shore of the pool.

I turned my head back to Bighorn but I only found that he was gone. It was now just me alone on the mountaintop. It didn't last like this for long though as within seconds Scarlet and Jackpot came sauntering up from the mist.

“Guys! Up here!” I excitedly yelled.

“Oh Ivory! We were so worried!” Scarlet yelled out as she grabbed Jackpot in a telekinetic grip and eagerly dragged him up to where I was. “You found the spear!”

“Yup! And I even got to meet Bighorn, sort of.”

“Wait! You met him!?” Jackpot said, in astonishment.

“Yup, we had a nice chat.” I said, a huge smile on my face.

“Well, somepony looks happy.” Jackpot said, a smile of relief on his face.

“Yeah, it's kinda how you get through the mist I think. How'd you two get past it?”

Jackpot and Scarlet looked at each other for a second before letting out little chuckles. I stood there, somewhat bewildered and very curious(I would have been a bit upset at them not telling me but the spear wouldn't allow it).

“Oh, we found a way.” Scarlet said, sweetly as she blushed a little.

“Gotta say it was tough though.” Jackpot added, “Didn't think we'd ever make it out for a while there.”

“Where's Doublehead? Wasn't he last with you?” Scarlet asked.

“I haven't seen him.” I answered.

“We need to go back and find him!” Scarlet said, suddenly sick with worry.

“Come on, I'll lead!” I said as I immediately set out and ran towards the mist.

To my surprise however, the moment the spear hit the mist it began to clear and within moments the entire path down the mountain was completely open and visible. Doublehead was just a little ways down, nearly at the exit himself but still frozen in place, a look of fear on his face.

“Never thought I'd see a look like that on his face.” Jackpot said.

“Here, this should calm him.” I said as I grabbed the spear from my back and gently placed onto Doublehead's.

Doublehead's eyes immediately calmed down as a smile appeared on his face as his body unstiffened. His legs wobbled for a few seconds before he righted himself and blinked several times before facing me and the others.

“That was so strange.” Doublehead said as he let out several chuckles. “Felt kinda.....whooo.” he said, exaggerating the whooo.

“You ok?” I asked.

“Yeah, thanks!” Doublehead said happily. “I see the mist is gone.”

“Thank Luna and Celestia for that.” I said, letting out a relieved sigh.

*****

The trot back down the mountain went much easier. We made one more camp just before we hit the first layer of mist and in the morning Doublehead went in and once again the spear seemed to clear out the mist as we trotted down the mountain. As we went on and without the spear on my back I began to feel sad as when we finally left the mountains I looked back and the path itself seemed to disappear. The spot where the mysterious voice had shown me the way up was gone, as was any view of the great and beautiful mountains that it led to.

By the time we had arrived back at the Buffalo research camp I had gone through two more of Jackpot's flasks, leaving us with only two in total left. All the ponies and Buffalo at the camp were in complete awe of the spear and crowded Doublehead to get a look at it. They all asked him incessant questions as he struggled to keep up with them.

“If you have any questions, ask me.” I blurted out, much to their chagrin.

It was easy to see they still didn't care for me much, Grit's reputation was obviously not top quality here. Eventually they dispersed but not so much that they couldn't keep their own eyes on the spear, no doubt to return to questioning Doublehead after we had left.

“So, what exactly are we gonna do with the spear?” Jackpot asked.

“Well, Doublehead can take it back to Appleloosa and from their the Buffalo can keep it, or put it in a museum or whatever they want, it is theirs you know.” I answered.

“Are you sure that's safe?” Jackpot asked back.

“We're not having this discussion again Jackpot.” I said sternly, causing jackpot to back off and surrender the conversation.

“Don't worry, I'll keep it safe!” Doublehead beamed, “I'll take it right back to the chief and I'm sure he'll write me a letter of recommendation to Adventure Incorporated right away!”

I leaned in to Doublehead and whispered into his ear, “Take it from me and stay away from Adventure Inc. for now, ok.”

“Huh?” Doublehead said, slightly confused.

“Just wait a bit, ok. Promise me.” I said, staring right into his eyes.

“Um, ok?” he said, somewhat more confused.

“I'm sure there are plenty more opportunities for adventure before you get startled with some boring dig somewhere!” Jackpot suddenly interjected.

“I suppose you might be right, but I intend to get in as soon as possible.” Doublehead said with a smile on his face.

*****

When we finally arrived back in Canterlot I went straight home, laid down in my bed and clonked right out. I had some lovely dreams about Enyi and myself(hehe) before quietly waking up with the gentle morning sun warming up mt face as it shone through the windows. I trotted down the hall, down the stairs and into the kitchen where jackpot and Scarlet were sitting on the couch in the front-room, listening to the radio.

“Morning you two, hows it go...” before I finished my sentence I saw the look of absolute dread on their faces as I looked towards the radio and finally heard what was on it.

The Battle of Khaweth

Chapter 16: The Battle of Khaweth

“Contacts of the studio have reported great columns of smoke rising over the coast of the Zebra homeland of Khaweth and pushing out in all directions for many miles.” Pish Posh's voice said, stark and serious, over the radio. “For months now there have been official reports that hostilities between local Zebras and the highly organized poachers and criminals have greatly risen. Hero, of course, has elected to go and cover what our sources call, an all-out attack on the lands surrounding the ruins of the city of Numnah, the location of Grit Stratum's final adventure.”

My shocked face turned towards my friends, who themselves were locked on to the radio and the voice that so eloquently came from the speakers. Scarlet's face was completely aghast(apparently I had missed some of the more gory details earlier on in the broadcast) while Jackpot's face stood nearly emotionless as he listened closely to the broadcast.

“We don't know much and with how far Khaweth is from Equestria we will not likely know the full story until after the event has concluded. We do know, from multiple convicts arrested some time ago in Vanhoover, that these groups are connected with several criminal elements that have been seen within Equestria itself over the last few months. Zebra forces will no doubt soon be deployed in the area if they are not there already.” Pish's voice faltered somewhat here and a very audible sigh was heard soon after. “I'm going to be honest here, I have a feeling something very big and very bad is going on down there.”

“To any who have been listening to this channel recently, you know about the strange occurrences that have been happening around Equestria recently. Luckily, we have a certain hero of our own who has been going around and helping to fight off these ruffians! Please Ivory Star, go help Hero and the Zebras! Show the world you aren't what they're saying Grit was.”

I turned the broadcast off, my face very obviously betraying the worry and fear that I was feeling inside. My mind immediately went to Enyi and the too coincidental timing of this attack with him leaving with the helmet. My mind raced with thoughts of him getting seen by the wrong pony with the helmet and then the Family launching an all-out attack to get it.

“This ain't like them.” Jackpot said, looking up seriously at me almost like he knew what I was thinking.

“Huh?” I said, coming out of my deep and panicked thinking.

“They don't usually do big things like this. Something must be wrong.” he said, his tone both serious and contemplative.

“We need to go help!” Scarlet shouted up suddenly. “A lot of Zebras are going to be hurt in this and we need to go and help!”

“Have we heard anything from Silver at all?” I asked.

“Nothin.” Jackpot responded by shaking his head.

“This is just too worrying.” Scarlet squeaked, still trying not to let her worry get the better of her.

“This obviously has to do with us so of course we're going!” I said, pounding my hoof on the table.

Scarlet looked at me with a hopeful and grateful smile while Jackpot just continued to shake his head while taking a few quick swigs from his flask. I did agree that this seemed off as the Family had never, to my knowledge, tried to pull something this big off since the Ponyfire Club incident over forty years ago in Marewaukee. It gave me an uneasy feeling, almost as if a little pony in my head was shouting obscenities at my brain, but my worry for Enyi's safety and for the safety of Abila's helmet overshadowed this bad feeling.

Before much else could happen a sudden ringing at the front door broke me out of my determination trance. It surprised all of us as we jerked our heads as if something really bad was about to happen. All that did happen though was a letter slipping through the bottom of the door, pushed by a telekinetic field. I trotted over to see that the letter was addressed from The Silver Standard Transport Company.

“Hey guys! I think we got something from Silver!” I shouted over to my friends, remembering the name of the shipping company that Silver also ran.

“What does it say!” Scarlet whinnied, quickly running over to me to see the letter.

“Come on, tell us.” Jackpot agreed, himself getting up and smoothly floating over to me.

I tore the top of the letter open with my mouth before carefully unfolding the letter in my hooves. I could see that Scarlet was awash with worry and eager to see if Silver was alright so I set my eyes on the letter and read it aloud:

Dear friends,

I do apologize for my sudden departure but, well you see I have been seeking to expand my business for quite some time now and I was in the process of finalizing a deal with the Zebra of Khaweth to be able to expand my shipping opportunities to their country. I was called away shortly before our last trip and decided I could no longer afford to delay the process any further. Unfortunately, as you may have heard by the time this letter reaches you, Khaweth has been seemingly placed under siege and I unfortunately find myself somewhat stuck here. I know that you are one of those ponies that sometimes feel the need to help others(a trait I quite admire) so I would greatly appreciate a quick deviation from your schedule to help me and the good people of Khaweth out of our current predicament, I would be most grateful. I understand the urgent need to continue fighting that insidious Goldie and her band of ruffians but perhaps you might find something of use here in Khaweth, maybe one of those magical artifacts we are looking for.

Sincerely, Silver Chaser

“That settles it, we're definitely going!” Scarlet said emphatically.

“It's gonna take some time to get this set up Scarlet.” Jackpot said, bringing up the memory of Grit needing several days to set up a trip. “You can't just travel to Khaweth these days. You need connections, money, and all sorts of things we don't have right now.”

“Shut up Jackpot!” Scarlet said in a tone much more forceful than her usual self, “We can't abandon two of our friends to something like that!”

“Quiet both of you!” I nickered, “There's more, now if you would let me finish.” I continued reading:

PS: I understand that getting to Khaweth will be difficult so I arranged means of transportation should you choose to go. Everything is paid for et cetera.... You should just get to the nearest train station and show somepony in charge the badges I have shipped with this letter and you should have an express ticket to Khaweth.

Indeed, inside of the envelope were three curious looking badges, each marked with the names of Jackpot, Scarlet and myself. They were small, silver(he does have a 'Silver Standard' to live up to I guess) and each had a symbol of three lines converging to create one line that went straight out from the others, surrounded by a triangle(the symbol of his shipping company).

“Wow, he really does think of everything.” Jackpot mused as I finished reading the letter.

“Organization is a great virtue to have! You could learn from this Jackpot.” Scarlet said, almost enthusiastically considering the very dangerous situation she was so eagerly jumping into.

“I’m plenty organized.” Jackpot said, sounding slightly insulted.

“When it comes to cider it seems so, unfortunately for everything else you seem to have a lack of good fore-planning.” Scarlet sounded very snippy as she said this.

“What's with this attitude all of a sudden?” Jackpot sounded as surprised as Scarlet seemed snippy.

“I'm worried ok! It's mostly your fault Enyi went there in the first place and let's face it, all that violence is probably on account of that helmet he had that you two were keeping hidden from us. I have every right to be mad at both of you for this!” this kind of attitude was not like Scarlet which got me worried about just how worried she was about Enyi and Silver.

But Scarlet was correct, Enyi was probably the target of this and it was my fault that he ran off so quickly. Her words stung me very deeply and my face did not do a good job of hiding this fact as Jackpot and Scarlet continued to argue. The fact that Silver was now caught up in my mistake made me feel even worse about everything. I wasn't sure what to do or what to think, my actions had now caused my friend and the Zebra I had feelings for to get thrown into great danger.

Scarlet and Jackpot continued to argue with each other which only made my mental state worse. I couldn't think straight and I stood there, almost stunned, as though everything I currently cared about was a deer about to be rammed into, stunned by a Unicorn's horn-light, unable to run away. I mean, thinking about it, I really wasn't cut out for all of this. Grit taught me how to dig in dirt and not break anything(not my best lesson), he taught me how to read ancient languages and pursuits that wouldn't lead me to a situation like this. I hadn't been prepared for this kind of life. I couldn't help but begin to think that Grit had not only failed Equestria but somehow failed in teaching me. His actions would certainly have consequences for me, whether it was his lack of parenting skills or his illegal smuggling actions for the Family or other reasons.

My thoughts then raced back to Pish Posh's broadcast, 'Show the world you aren't what they're saying Grit was.'. I knew deep down that Grit just wasn't this evil thief that a lot of ponies now thought he was but I also knew that he had done everything he was being accused of. It had caused more than one confused inner monologue about how I was processing all of this(like this one). In all the years I had known him he was only ever what I thought him to be, awesome, intelligent, cool and suave and fiercely dedicated to his goals. There's no way he faked all of that, and with everything Hero and her friends said about him, that showed he was no villain. I thought back to all of the articles from Hero's studio and all of the great things Grit did with her and then with Adventure Incorporated before the Family took over.

Though,I admit Grit's ultimate intentions were probably lost on me and what his full plans and intentions were would probably be lost forever. I had spent my entire life practically worshiping the ground he galloped on and now, after everything that had happened, after all the confusion and loathing of both him and myself for thinking he was perfect the only conclusion I could come up with was that he was indeed trying to do the right thing at the end. Grit was a hero and before he died he came to the decision to do the right thing to try and make up for his mistakes and the best I could do in this situation is to try and do the same thing.

Enyi would have to be another matter entirely though. This one was my fault, at least partly. I could have sat there and laid the blame on Jackpot for convincing me to leave the helmet a secret but there really was nothing stopping me from telling Enyi and I suspected that Jackpot was feeling his own version of guilty about this as well. My heart was still(and probably always would) hurting for Enyi leaving like he did and it filled with dread at the idea that he wouldn't want to see or talk to me ever again. All I ended up feeling was fear and nervousness, mixed in with a bit of anger at both his and my own actions. I hoped, deep inside, that if I could just find him and explain everything that he would want to take me back and that everything would turn out all right. If that wasn't the case then...then I didn't know what I would do.

It was a strange feeling, what I felt about him. I had never really experienced love, save for the blind love I had for Grit in my more formative years and even though I had known Enyi barely a single summer I just felt something every time I looked at or thought about him(especially at night). There was just something about his eyes, his voice, his well...everything. Every time we dug into those ancient scrolls and tomes I felt comfortable and at ease with him and his insights on them certainly helped us to translate and understand them. With Grit gone I had worried, deep down, that I wouldn't have anypony to share my love for these kinds of things with but with him I saw someone whom I had a huge shared interest with and whom I though looked absolutely wonderful all the while. The only other pony I had anything like this with was Emerald and while she I always loved spending time with her I never felt anything for her like I did with Enyi. I knew that Emerald always liked me differently than I liked her and aside from a few curious, fleeting thoughts, I never really entertained the idea of being with her on any level besides friends.

As my friends argued, I stood there, took a deep breath and stomped my hoof on the ground to garner their attention.

“Guys, get whatever you need. We're leaving within the hour.” I said, staring down both of my arguing friends.

Grit's legacy might have been tarnished now but he did leave one thing behind, me. And I was now willing to do whatever I needed to do to make sure that the last thing Grit left behind was indeed something good that would save whatever legacy he had left behind. I felt that, that was the least Grit deserved for his many years of service to Equestria, years of service that seemed to not matter to so many ponies now. I might never fully forgive him, nor should he necessarily be forgiven, but I did feel that he deserved at least my best effort to ensure he had a chance at redemption, even if it was through me completing his final mission, to stop Sable Granite.

“You know, if this is what we think it is, Goldie is probably gonna be there.” Jackpot said quietly.

Scarlet's face immediately sank down as she realized what that would mean. She knew we simply couldn't beat Goldie and both Jackpot and myself knew this equally as well.

“We'll find a way, ok.” I said, comforting Scarlet as I gave a reaffirming nod and a confident look.

We raced around the house, gathering whatever we could think of that would be useful and stuffed them into our saddlebags. We had to move quickly if we wanted to get back to Khaweth in order to save Enyi and Silver from what could be certain death, if it wasn't too late already. I resolved myself not to think those kinds of thoughts as we all ran out the door of the house. One stop at cider Joe's so Jackpot could spend what little money he had left on refilling all of his flasks(for both of us at this point) and we were headed straight off to the train station.

We showed the badges Silver had sent off to one of the managers of the station and were conducted to a special train that ran off to the side of the normal trains. This was one of those new, high speed trains that were normally reserved for important ponies but the badge seemed to set the manager off enough so that when we boarded the train it started up almost immediately. I was still a bit too anxious to realize how odd and unusual that was and just wanted to get going as fast as possible and the fact we were leaving immediately didn't need any justification at the moment.

The train moved south quickly, at nearly twice the speed a normal train would move at. It was undoubtedly powered by magic as several Unicorns stood in the front car; horns glowing as they stared intensely forward towards the oncoming tracks. We were all on edge, Scarlet wouldn't stop fidgeting with her usual worry while Jackpot(with a few more flasks in his bag than usual) seemed distant and unsociable the duration of the ride. In my case, I was acting more like Scarlet than I would normally like to admit. My mind raced with hypothetical scenarios of everything bad that could possibly happen, happening. What if Silver was hurt...or dead, what if Enyi was hurt or...DEAD! What if he hated me now, what if he never wanted to see me again, what if we never got to have sex again(don't think like that now Ivory, there's more important things)! I sweated profusely to whole train ride south, unable to rid myself of all the horrible things that could go wrong in a place so far from home. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something really bad was going to happen once we got to Khaweth.

My nervousness and sweating only got worse when the train ride ended and I saw what now awaited me, a boat. Beside the boat was an orange Pegasus, looking very gruff as we showed him the badges and he went to prepare the boat for launch.

“Celestia's pregnant bitch-tits!” I lamented as I saw the very fast and very shaky looking boat that sat at the docks in front of me.

“Forgot you hate boats.” Jackpot said, nudging me from behind. He offered me one of the extra flasks of cider which I proceeded to chug until empty. “There, that should help.”

“Are you sure that actually helps?” Scarlet said doubtingly.

“She's getting on the boat now, ain’t she.” Jackpot pointed to me as I took a deep breath and landed my hooves on the speed-boat.

*****

The boat was small and fast, very fast. The cider seemed to help at first as my body seemed to go almost completely numb(Jackpot later said it was a lot harder than the stuff he normally got). When I eventually came to my senses(a good number of hours had passed, thank Celestia and Luna) the feeling of the rocking waves hit me harder than ever. I immediately rushed out of the small cabin that existed on the boat and barfed everything I had ever eaten in my life into the ocean(Scarlet's spells couldn't even help me now). I don't think my head ever left the side of the boat for the days we spent swiftly sailing across the choppy and highly disturbed waters of the sea, which greatly slowed the pace of the boat, towards Khaweth. This I noticed very eerily the closer we got to Khaweth; the waters themselves seemed blackened by some soot or other nasty thing I didn't want to know about. The few times I felt good enough to even move my head upwards I saw the sky, darkened by clouds with the sun unable to be seen as we closed onto the land. When we were but several hours from shore Jackpot and Scarlet came to my side and lifted me upwards.

“You might wanna look at this, kid.” Jackpot said, almost hesitantly and with obvious worry in his voice.

“Huh?” I moaned weakly.

“Um Ivory, you really might want to look at this.” I heard Scarlet mumble, herself seeming very terrified at something.

I managed to raise my head up with some effort almost to immediately wish I hadn’t. Above me and slowly rising over the distant shore were many great, massive columns of black smoke. Bits of ash and burnt debris now came, falling onto the boat the nearer we got to the shore. The Pegasus driving the boat gave us bits of cloth to protect our mouths with as the ash became thicker and thicker.

“Celestia protect us.” Scarlet mumbled under her breath as she stared out at the land, consumed by the black fog that seemed to be spreading out in every direction.

“What the actual fuck?”Jackpot said, almost in utter disbelief in what he was seeing. He swung his head around, closed his eyes and reopened them as if to try and deduce if what he was seeing was false or not.

“Indeed.” Scarlet agreed, herself to amazed and terrified to yell at Jackpot for swearing.

When the boat landed I almost regretted getting off it(even with the waves no longer disintegrating my insides). We landed in the same Village that I had landed in with Jackpot and Grit when all of this nonsense began and was welcomed with a very different sight. I thought the village couldn't seem any poorer or more rundown the last time but it seemed to outdo itself with this trip. This is because the village was gone, only a few burnt-out huts remained and the majority of the ground was covered in the burnt remains of what used to be the village. The sight was horrifying, dead Zebras lay all around me, several dozen at least. Some were burnt beyond my ability to identify them and I only guessed that they had been Zebras. Even the forest beyond the village was gone, at least from what we could see from the smoke in the distance. Everything around the village had been burned down. Scarlet's face went numb behind me, I heard her let out an alarmed squeak as we passed by a Zebra who had her stomach and what I guessed were all of her intestines carved and spread right from her stomach. Jackpot covered her face with his wings, his own face avoiding the gruesome sight that laid before us.

“How much you wanna bet I know who did that.” he said, asking this question in a way that was more of a statement of, 'Goldie is here'.

This horrendously gruesome sight angered me. I had plenty of reasons to hate Goldie but the sight of such an overly gruesome murder reminded me too much of what I had seen the morning I had found Grit. The only difference being that this Zebra seemed to have been mutilated, her insides carved from her body and splayed all about. My heart was filled with rage at what I was seeing as this sight seemed mirrored in the bodies that surrounded this particular one. Perhaps though I stared a bit too long as with the rage and anger came another feeling, nausea.

“I'm never gonna get used to this!” I belched as I almost impossibly vomited out more of my insides when I could have sworn I had nothing left inside my body at all.

Then as if out of nowhere, seven Zebra shot out from beneath the ash, surprising us and easily knocking me on the ground in my weakened state. Jackpot moved to cover Scarlet as her horn began to glow with any spell she could find to possibly help in any way before a Zebra with deep green eyes, who was their leader stopped the attack.

“This seems contrived! These ponies only just arrived!” she shouted to the other four who had now surrounded Jackpot and Scarlet.

“The fuck was that!” I yelled from the ground, angry at the sudden and seemingly unprovoked attack.

One of the Zebra eyed me for a second before deftly moving over and whispering something into the green-eyed Zebra's ear. She then gazed directly towards my flank and my cutie mark. She trotted over with quick but powerful strides and rolled me over, staring at my flank to get a better view.

“Hey! What are you-” I started to yell before the Zebra interrupted me.

“She is the one! We must bring her to him before the day is done!” she called to her companions, each of them nodding in agreement before exiting their fighting stances.

We had no time to ask questions before the Zebras lifted me up and pushed me back into my friends. The leader with the striking green eyes pointed towards something I had not noticed earlier, a large tent, covered by a group of unburnt trees, that sat a good bit of distance from us and the worst part of the smoke. Even as the smoke covered everything else, the tent seemed nearly unaffected as it stood there, now very noticeable in the barren wasteland that surrounded me. The green-eyed Zebra pushed us along towards the tent as the other Zebras gave us nasty looks before disappearing back into the ash on the ground.

“Where are we going?” I asked, somewhat incensed at the rough treatment I thought undeserved from this Zebra.

She didn't answer, instead quickly leading us towards the tent at the edge of the village. When we entered the tent a wave of relief washed over my body as Silver Chaser stood there, a wing wrapped in a sling, talking to a slightly larger and more muscular Zebra. They spoke quietly and I couldn't hear what they were discussing but it didn't matter I was so overcome with a sudden burst of joy at my friend not being hurt.

“Silver! You’re ok!” I yelled happily as I sprang towards him, Scarlet and Jackpot not far behind me.

“We were so worried about you!” Scarlet said, almost crying she was so happy and relieved. It didn't take Scarlet more than a few seconds and even less time to start fussing him over it as she began to examine it.

“I knew the whole time you'd be fine.” Jackpot said trying to sound his usual cocky self.

We all ran straight up to Silver and embraced him in a big group-hug which caused him to wheeze a bit as we tightly wrapped out hooves around him.

“Where's Enyi?” I asked with both eagerness and fear.

“I don't know.” Silver answered quietly, “I haven't seen much outside this tent since the Zebra rescued me.”

Then at that moment I became aware that it wasn't just me and my friends in the tent, there was still the green-eyed Zebra and the one Silver had been speaking to. I looked up(he was pretty tall) and saw his face staring at us with a mix of curiosity and something perhaps a bit more devious.

“Sir, this pony has the right mark, I think this conflict she did spark.” the green-eyed Zebra said, almost angrily.

The Zebra standing by Silver waved his hoof at her, signaling her to leave, “Thank you Siri, leave now and put aside your fury.”

The green-eyed Zebra, who I guess was named Siri, nodded and actually gave the leader Zebra a quick smile before swiftly disappearing back outside. The smile, I noticed, was not one of those every-day-friendly kind of smiles but an almost flirty one that I knew all to well from being with Enyi and(on further reflection) Emerald. The leader Zebra actually returned this smile before Siri had turned away and left the tent with an almost skip in her step that contrasted the very serious demeanor she had sported not moments before.

“No need to be so formal my friend.” Silver said cheerfully, “Ivory is quite the agreeable pony.”

I looked up at the Zebra who continued to stare at me with a very obviously interested look on his face. He was already planning something and he was making no effort to hide that fact. Just when I was beginning to think he could do no more than just stand and stare the Zebra turned his gaze towards Jackpot and spoke.

“I congratulate you on your pardon Jackpot, it must feel good to know I will no longer be hunting you.” the Zebra said in a voice that sounded nearly as confident and arrogant as Jackpot on his best days.

“Don't take it personally but you were just a huge pain in my ass.” Jackpot responded in an equally cocky tone.

I stood there, staring at the two stallions, each gazing at the other with faces that stallions usually give off when they are trying to compare whatever inane trait they thought made them more manly.

“Am I missing something here?” Scarlet asked, thankfully breaking the tension.

The Zebra spoke again, “For his part in the securing of the crown of Abila, Jackpot the Pegasus is officially cleared of any charge of wrongdoing that he may have committed against the Zebra in the past.” then in a move that surprised everypony the Zebra turned to me and spoke directly to my face. “The pony known as Ivory Star, however, is now wanted on charges of theft and artifact smuggling. My orders are to arrest her on sight with force authorized if she resists.”

“WAIT!? WHAT!?” gasped Jackpot, Scarlet, Silver and myself almost simultaneously.

To say that such an announcement came as a shock would be like saying that Twilight Sparkle got huge hard-ons for magic.....a big fucking understatement! I stood there in complete bewilderment as the Zebra simply maintained his calm demeanor.

“The Celestia-loving-fuck is that supposed to mean!” I shouted at the Zebra as my friends eagerly nodded in agreement and we all glared at him with gazes so sharp they would make Goldie Grail jealous.

The Zebra merely trotted over to a chair that was placed by a large table at the far end of the tent and sat down gingerly. He turned to face us in a relaxed position and spoke again.

“I am a Zebra of my word Jackpot. You are to not be implicated in any wrongdoings and any past actions have been pardoned.” his face turned serious as he continued to speak. “However, it seems that you have failed to live up to the agreement that Grit made to ensure the crown of Abila does not return to Khaweth.”

“What are you talkin bout?” Jackpot asked, his face now nearly as confused as my own.

“You did not know?” the Zebra looked confused, “We hired Grit Stratum to take the helmet away from Khaweth.”

What the double-fuck!? The Zebras? The Celestia and Luna at the same fucking time Zebras! Hired Grit! To steal and smuggle the biggest and most important relic of their whole fucking culture! And now I was being fucking blamed for it! The actual FUCKING FUCK!

“Hold on a princess-lickin minute.” Jackpot said, thankfully answering for me while my brain was busy processing what it had just heard. “Why the fuck are you blaming anything on anypony? Ivory wasn't even part of the deal! In fact, she barely knew anything at that point!”

“Exactly.” the Zebra said, “Grit failed on his end of the deal and so now we are forced to improvise. News that the crown was stolen will spark an outrage among the Zebra and we will need someone to blame. Ivory is a good choice due to her not being a Zebra as well as her affiliation to you and the now well-known smuggler Grit Stratum. That and blaming her does not contradict the terms of the contract I made with Grit Stratum. It sounds quite believable if I do say so myself.”

“You can't do that!” Scarlet wailed. “That's not fair! She didn't do anything wrong!”

“Then you should have made sure Enyi did not discover the crown, as Grit promised.” the Zebra said, remaining very calm amongst the hysterics.

“Fuck that fucker for having that fucking Zebra come with us!” Jackpot shouted out, losing control on his temper as he did. “What was he thinking would happen!”

“I do not know, but it does not matter now.” the Zebra answered.

“Ok ok, let's all calm down for a minute.” Silver interjected. “I'm sure we can talk this out like reasonable ponies.”

“You obviously can't be reasonable with fucking Zebras!” Jackpot shouted, his voice very obviously filled with anger.

“Jackpot! Shut up!” I shouted at him, causing him to whirl his face over to me in surprise.

“Ivory, you can't actually be going along with this...this striped piece of shit!” he was still quite upset.

“What choice do you think we had?” the Zebra said, now standing up, “Enyi will tell the council exactly what happened and as I said we cannot formally charge the child killer here.” the Zebra's gaze turned very harsh as he shot Jackpot a look that could have easily killed.

At the mere mention of that, Jackpot's face collapsed in on itself. I could tell he was on the verge of charging right up and bucking this Zebra right in the face but was doing everything he could to hold himself back. I could see his body shaking in both anger and regret as the Zebra seemed to know exactly what to say to shut Jackpot right up.

The real surprising thing was that this Zebra knew exactly who Jackpot was and what he had done. I suppose if he had been one of the Zebra chasing Jackpot(as he said) back then, then it would make sense he knew. There was certainly more to this Zebra than meets the eye if he was so lucky to be privy to information that Enyi and so many other Zebra were not allowed to know. For the moment however, my brain was just thinking that here was another guy who might know more about what was going on that me and if Enyi's descriptions of Zebras was anything to go by, he wouldn't tell me anything. This irritated the hell out of me but I had enough sense to not go around accusing this guy of whatever my brain decided to conjure up about him, especially if he holds whatever future I might have left in his hooves. Just who was this guy?

“I think we should get some air...well as much as we can seeing as the air is filled with smoke and ash, but it would be good to let Jackpot cool down.” Scarlet said softly as she put her hoof around Jackpot's near frozen body and slowly began to lead him out of the tent. Silver quickly followed leaving me and the Zebra alone in the tent.

I looked up at him and took a deep breath and slowly asked, “Do you know where Enyi is now? Is he ok? Is the helmet ok?”

“Enyi was attacked not long after landing here.” my heart shrank at hearing that.

“Is he...” I couldn't say it.

“No, he is alive. Several guards gave their lives so he did not have to, if that comforts you at all.” his voice was mixed with both stoicism and what I thought might be something that could in some alternate reality be confused for empathy.

I would be lying if I said it didn't and hearing that Enyi was alive and well quelled some of the anger I was doing my utmost to repress. Though, hearing that several Zebras were killed protecting him only made that anger for Goldie Grail and Sable Granite rise even more.

“Where is he?” I continued.

“Safe.” he answered.

“The helmet?” I asked.

“Taken.” he answered.

“So Grit failed on every level then.” I sighed deeply, on the verge of tears at hearing my mentors final good act had failed so utterly.

And now here I was, being thrown under the proverbial bus, in order to make up for this utter failure. It seemed my very soul was shriveling up inside of me. Everything I had dreamed for my life would probably never happen now that I was stuck far from home surrounded on one side by murderous ponies who wanted to rule the world and Zebras who wanted to throw me away for my mentor failing to prevent it.

It seemed to me that Grit's failure was now complete as not only did he fail himself but it would seem that I would be failing to be his legacy. Any chance of ponies ever feeling positively towards Grit again was practically gone, not to mention towards myself. I could practically hear my future waving goodbye as it boarded a ship, bound for unknown waters, never to return.

“This is not personal.” the Zebra said. “I have been hearing much about you Ivory Star. You are quite popular on your radio.”

“Wait.” I said, shooting my head upwards towards the Zebra, “You listen to Hero way out here?”

“She is here you know. Her and a peculiar apple vendor arrived a few days ago to help out and gather information. She has spoken very highly of you.” his tone now seemed gentler and he even garnered a small smile on his face which began to remind me of Enyi's smile a little bit.

“Then why? Why are you doing this to me?”

“I told you, You are involved in plans you knew nothing of, but involved you are. Enyi, like all storytellers, is stubborn and will relay events as he sees them. I have already spoken to him and you did indeed act to keep the helmet hidden from him and by extension our people. The Khaweth Council will not inform him of the full extent of the deal, for their own sake, and so you are the only one left who carries any blame. Keeping this attack a secret will be impossible and the Zebra of Khaweth will need someone to blame, and so, it will be you.”

Hearing it again did little to improve the deepening pit of despair that I was feeling and the fact that Enyi was inadvertently(I hope) helping to fuck me over made me feel even worse. I had failed as Grit's legacy, this act would all but ensure that he would lose any sympathy back in Equestria once they heard his apprentice was arrested for smuggling sacred Zebra artifacts. Not only had he failed but now I had failed him, my friends and myself as well. My brain now could only think of what my family would think, what would Blaze think, what would Emerald think of me. Could I even ever show my face in Equestria again? I certainly couldn't stay here, assuming I would ever get out of whatever hole the Zebras decided to throw me in.

“Do not worry little pony.” The Zebra lifted my sulking face up with his hoof, “I have plans for you in the future.” his smile was comforting but his eyes were devious.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Help us now and I guarantee the Zebra of Khaweth will hear about it. Hero will ensure Equestria hears about it. Ivory Star, the pony who saved hundreds of Zebra as she selflessly risked her life to defeat the Family and their insidious plot.” I was right, he was devious.

I had come with the intention of helping anyway and the idea that this would now benefit me in this horrible situation only made my resolve stronger. Plus if Enyi heard about it then that would certainly not hurt my chances of him not hating me forever.

“I came here with the intention of helping and that is still what I intend to do.” I stated firmly much to the Zebras delight.

“Good, then I will tell you what needs to be done.”

“No, here's what's going to happen.” I couldn't let this guy keep manipulating me forever now could I? “I know the pony who is leading this attack and I intend on finding her and bucking her fucking head right off of her bucking neck!”

“Her?”

Now I looked at him with a confused expression, “Goldie Grail. She's Sable Granite's right hoof pony.”

“Oh, Goldie....that is disappointing.” he did sound genuinely disappointed.

“What's disappointing about it?” seriously, Goldie Grail is like, the biggest target save for Sable himself. I could get preferring Sable be here but being disappointed that it was just Goldie made me feel a bit uneasy and belittled.

He let out a slight sigh, “Oh it is nothing, I had just hoped it was another but Goldie would be a worthy prize.”

I didn't know what or who he was talking about, Sable himself maybe? He seemed like the only other possible target. Either way if this Zebra could help me get to Goldie then I at least could make sure I at least got to make the pony who killed Grit and got me into this mess pay dearly for it. I remembered what I had reserved myself to doing to her while talking to Jackpot in Yakyakistan. When I found Goldie Grail, especially now, one of us wouldn't be leaving from that encounter. I didn't care that I stood no chance against her, I just wanted her to pay for everything she did to Grit and myself. If I could actually get at her then anything that came after would be worth it.

“I will tell you then Ivory, that my scouts believe their leader has made her base within the ruins of Numnah and that there have been signs of infighting among the enemy forces.” the Zebra said, looking back to the table where several local maps of the area lay.

Infighting? I didn't know ponies belonging to secret societies could have infighting. The way Jackpot described it pretty much everypony in the Family was raised to believe they were the best thing ever and any sacrifices made along the way would be worth it. Then again, the very fact Jackpot was with us and telling me these things proved that was not entirely true. Even so, the idea that there would be a noticeable amount of infighting here of all places was confusing and I couldn't even begin to comprehend the intricacies of an organization I knew practically nothing about.

“Do you know how many ponies Goldie has attacking with her?” I asked.

“A thousand at least, if not more.” he said, a hint of hesitation in his voice as he said this.

“WHAT! How many soldiers do you have?”

“Two hundred Socotra(elite Zebra soldiers).”

“WHAT! And you expect us to accomplish anything with odds like that!?” I swear my gasps could be heard in Yakyakistan.

“Oh we will win, but many Zebra lives will be lost.” he sounded regretful.

“How can you win, you're outnumbered five to one at least?” I was beginning to lose hope again.

“We...have a new toy I wish to test out. I am sure you will see the aftermath when you head out.” now he sounded almost gleeful.

He trotted up to the table where many maps of the area were laid out for me to look over with him. He showed me every location where the main fighting had or would likely take place and he laid out in great detail the route I should take to Numnah if I wished to arrive and avoid most of the fighting before I got there. His explanations were so detailed and well thought out that it almost made me think he had planned this before I ever arrived although Hero was here and knowing her she probably guessed I would follow and told this Zebra. It was an odd thought I had, that he would wait for me to deliver the horrible news he had and yet still knew I would somehow help him out. This Zebra was quite the conundrum and no matter how much he talked I never felt as though I had a good read on him. Although I was sure of one thing, I didn't like him very much. Sure I could just tell by how he carried himself that he at least seemed genuine and yet I just couldn't get over with how casual he took the job of screwing me over and potentially ruining my life. He seemed to care and yet at the same time not care, which freaked me out inside(not like I would tell him though).

“What's your name by the way?” I asked as he wrapped up his plan to get me to Numnah.

“My name?” he responded.

“Yeah, if you're going to send me off into a war zone and then ruin my life by destroying my credibility for arresting me for a crime I didn't commit, the least you could do is tell me your name.”

“That seems fair.” he seemed almost amused by my request, “My name is Karfiso and do not be so quick to think you will know how this will turn out, little pony.”

“Wait, so you're not going to arrest me?” my hoped rose.

“No, I will definitely be doing that.” my hopes sank down again.

“Well, I guess I don't really have much of a choice right now but to do what I can to help.” I sighed.

“That is the spirit!” Karfiso said gleefully, “Remember, positive thinking as you wander into a burning jungle filled with angry beasts and two armies of killers fighting to do what they do best!” ok, now I knew I was definitely going to die.

*****

I left the tent to see Jackpot sulking off a few feet away with Scarlet talking to him in an effort to cheer him up. I could see a flask in one of his wings and I desperately longed to have a few gulps of my own to put off the edge of everything I had just heard. Silver was standing closer to the tent, staring at the other two, and poking at the wing that was wrapped in bandages.

“Silver, what happened to your wing?” I asked now that I had the sense to pat attention to something other than my dreams being crushed.

“Oh, I ran into some of those Family goons. Karfiso and a few of his Zebra saved me.” he answered, sounding very thankful and somewhat in awe.

“How do they fight?” I asked.

“It was Karfiso and two Socotra...against a dozen or more Unicorns, it was...impressive.” yup, there was awe in Silver's voice but I really couldn't blame him. Three Zebra beating at least a dozen Unicorns was very impressive and Karfiso didn't have a single scratch on him.

Ok so getting on this Zebras bad side would be a very bad idea. Taking a look at the Zebra bodies that were littered around the destroyed village it was plain to see the Unicorns who had done that were very different from the ones Goldie had brought with her in our various encounters across Equestria. Those Unicorns didn't even seem to be using lethal spells(except for Goldie herself who always went for the kill) and simply used spells meant to incapacitate. That was probably Sable Granite wanting me to join him but since I refused him in Yakyakistan, Goldie and her ilk now seemed to be in all out murder mode. It really gives you the fuzzy tinglies inside knowing there are a thousand murderous Unicorns lurking in the woods just waiting to eviscerate you.

I slowly trotted over to where Scarlet was comforting Jackpot. It always unnerved me a little bit inside whenever I saw Jackpot not be the cocky, arrogant, crude, yet confident and lively pony I knew he was and this time was no different. To see him look so defeated was not a look that suited him and proved that Karfiso certainly did know a lot about our little group. It was a rare feat to make Jackpot shut up; a feat I only thought Goldie could ever really accomplish but apparently this Zebra had mastered that skill as well. It kind of gave me the shivers, knowing there was another person out there who could match Goldie in anything, but then again this Zebra really looked like he could smash Goldie's head in very easily(Ok, I might something about him).

“Come on Jackpot, Scarlet. We should be heading out.” I said as calmly and friendly as I could.

“Ivory's right Jackpot.” Scarlet cooed sweetly, “Maybe fighting some bad guys will cheer you up.” she smiled.

Jackpot tilted his head upwards, looking towards the line of trees, now burnt and black looking. He turned his head towards me and I saw how his face now sported an extremely determined look on it. He took one more aggressive swig from his flask, tossed the rest over to me and gave his normal, cocky smile.

“Let's fucking do this kid!” he said, his voice boasting his usual confidence.

Scarlet let out a little squee of happiness as she turned towards me, a big smile on her face.

“I think I'll call it, Ivory Star and the hunt for Goldie Grail!” a very loud and very fierce voice called out from behind me.

My body jolted around at the output of such a loud voice to see Hero landing behind me, the draft from her feathered wings whisking around me as she touched the ground. Angela Apple leapt from her back, a sack of delicious looking apples slung on her back.

“Howdy there partner!” she said gleefully, tossing three of her apples towards me and my friends. “These'll keep ya nice n' fit fer yer lil o' quest!”

“You won't come with us?” I asked, realizing that having a dragon on my side would basically ensure victory.

“Sorry kid.” Hero said in a slightly lighter voice, “I'm busy helping in other places. Besides I need to keep getting interviews from soldiers and prisoners, I don't have the time these days to have world saving adventures of my own anymore.”

“Don't worry there kiddo!” Angela beamed, “Jus' member ta keep ta yer wits and I think y’all will find what yer lookin fer!”

“I admit, the vote of confidence makes me feel a little better at least.” Scarlet said, taking a bite out of her apple.

I took a bite from the apple Angela had thrown me and it was even better than the apple she had given me in Marewaukee. It almost seemed to fill me with whatever energy I needed to keep going forward as well as the confidence I needed to not be weighed down by doubts and fears. Judging by Jackpot's and Scarlet's faces, they felt the same way about their apples.

Hero gave me a little reassuring hug before heading off towards Silver and Karfiso's tent. Angela trotted towards me and whispered into my ear before trotting off herself.

“Three lefts, two rights, then wait.” she winked before trotting off towards Hero.

“Huh?” I said as she trotted away, leaving me just as confused as the last time I saw her.

*****

The jungle was very different from how it was the first time. Instead of the wet, dense and animal filled jungle there was layers of ash that covered the ground and stumps of burnt trees strewn across the landscape. Thick clouds of smoke covered parts of the field but thankfully Jackpot was able to fly over them and scout out a more preferable path for us to take that led through the least amount of smoke possible.

It was almost mind boggling just how much destruction had been thrown at this land. I certainly didn't think the Broken Wilds were entirely pleasant the last time I was here but at least the jungle offered up a place just filled with flora and fauna that gave the area a life to it(even if part of that life was monsters). Now everything was barren and there were no animals to be heard in all of the surrounding areas. The only animals we did see were the eviscerated or burnt kind that lay intermingled with dead Unicorns that had been killed in the fighting by the Zebras.

“If you want to know just how good the Socotra are, look around you Ivory.” Jackpot said as he gazed upon the burning forest. “Not a single dead Zebra and yet there are at least two dozen dead ponies here.”

Jackpot's observation was correct of course, much to Scarlet's dismay. The dead ponies here were even more horribly mutilated than the dead Zebras we had seen in the ruin of the village. At least those Zebra had their body parts in a relatively near position to their bodies while these Unicorns, that wore the standard black uniform of the Family, had entire sections of their bodies blown off. Some were piles of mush that only vaguely resembled something that used to be a pony while others were simply parts of ponies with entire chunks of their bodies missing and their innards blown out in many directions around them.

“Karfiso's new toy.” I mumbled to myself as I viewed the bodies.

Luckily though, these bodies didn't make me want to hurl my insides out. In fact ever since eating Angela's apples me and my friends felt absolutely great, almost like magic. It felt great and I felt great. All the bodies did now was fill me with a great sense of dread and unease of accidentally running into a fight between these two groups and getting caught in the crossfire of something capable of blowing ponies apart.

These Socotra were scary but as we continued on we began to see a few Zebra bodies mixed in with the pony ones. They had empty vials and bottles next to their corpses, presumably to hold whatever alchemical concoctions that allowed them to blow up so many ponies. One of the dead Zebra had a vial on him that was not entirely empty. Scarlet carefully lifted it up with her telekinesis and held it up for inspection. It was a strange black powdery substance that seemed relatively harmless and benign. I couldn't imagine something so plain looking to be able to blow ponies apart with such intensity and quickly decided I didn't want to mess with it.

We continued on from the battle scene as we finally found ourselves in a part of the forest that wasn't completely burned down. The smoke began to clear away as green plants once again began to pop up in the now thin layer of ash that blanketed the ground. With the smoke clearing away I could see that the forest once again became dense a ways ahead as it seems that Goldie and her Unicorns lost interest in burning the forest down. The fires that caused the smoke were far from us as Karfiso had planned a route that led us away from the main blaze.

It felt good to see she wasn't able to destroy everything and that her destruction hopefully didn't include the ruins of Numnah themselves. Destroying such a historically important site would move her from unforgivable piece of shit cunt to, 'holy shit I'm going to rip off your horn, rape you with it, shove it down your throat, then rip it out your fucking stomach and shove it up your ass'. The darkness of these thoughts didn't dissuade me from having them as I began to imagine every worst case scenario involving Goldie. I thought up everything bad she could ever do and simply imagined that she had actually done them and allowed these thoughts to fuel my anger towards her.

My friends trotted onwards with dour yet determined faces while mine just began to seethe with the anger I was feeling towards Goldie. All she seemed to do was keep ruining lives; not just mine now but every pony and Zebra that died here was a life that simply ended because of her. Even if I felt no real sympathy towards any of the ponies under her command they were still living beings that she was ultimately leading towards their deaths. A pony that would toss the lives of her subordinates away so casually didn't deserve to lead them.

We trotted uninterrupted for hours. Even once we passed beyond the border of the destruction the jungle remained deathly quiet. No animals of any kind could be seen or heard by any of us save for a few dead ones that lay on the ground, their bodies torn apart by something, the fighting perhaps. It seemed as though the jungle itself was dead or at least dying in some way as the absence of any kind of living animals. I was beginning to think there were no more animals in the jungle when something dark caught my eye. A shape that I dreamed I would never have to see again, a long scaly tendril that stuck out from a patch of dense undergrowth. A scent of death and rotting flesh emanated from the beast, it was a Pyth, a dead one, but still a Pyth.

Jackpot let out a loud and audible whistle as we followed the tail of the serpentine monster up towards its head. This one was a good thirty feet long, not as big as the other one but still a monster nonetheless. Its body was covered in horrible looking gashes from which its certainly venomous blood slipped out and pooled around its body. Just looking at this beast showed what a horrific fight it must have been in and dished out to whomever attacked it. It took all of several seconds to figure out who it was when the real shock came when we saw what was laying around it; dead ponies and Zebras. Several dozen in total, more ponies than Zebras though. Their bodies were horribly burned by the beasts acidic venom, the sight of which made the spot on my flank I had been hit with burn again. Their bodies lay about the creature mangled and distorted by the burning venom. They no doubt suffered horribly in the seconds it would have taken them to die from such large amounts of venom coating them. I knew the feeling well and for a split second I actually felt sorry for some of the ponies whose bones I saw jutting from their quickly dissolving remains. This feeling was fleeting however when I remembered that these ponies worked for the very same ponies who had essentially ruined my life.

Jackpot carefully made his way through the bodies as he examined the scene, no doubt to try and deduce just how long ago this had happened. His investigation stopped however when he did, his face frozen at the ground in a glare that I could only describe as intensely sad.

“What is it Jackpot?” Scarlet asked as she held her nose and made her own way through the bodies towards Jackpot.

When I got to where he was standing I saw what he was staring at. A dead Unicorn pony stallion, light red coat with a purple mane and a set of dimples on what remained of his face. Part of the midsection of his body had been horribly burned away so that he was almost completely bisected in two. What parts of his face remained were frozen in a scream of complete and total terror, no doubt he was hit with a gout of venom and felt a horrifying burning as his own body dissolved before his eyes. Luckily Pyth venom is very potent and his suffering would have lasted mere moments.

“His name was Strawberry Dimple.” Jackpot said quietly and slowly, a depression in his voice, “When I was younger I used to make fun of how stupid I thought his name was.”

At that moment a thought hit me, a thought I should have thought much earlier but for whatever reason didn't. Jackpot had been raised his whole life in the Family and he would undoubtedly know many of them personally besides Goldie. I remembered back in Vanhoover when I took the mask off of one of the Family ponies Sparky had knocked out and being glad he was just a pony and not some horrifying monster. I swear, these ponies were making it very difficult to continue blindly hating all of them as I so desperately wanted to when I was forced to see them like this; just ponies, dead, dying, or with just plain looks of fear and anguish in their faces.

“Are you ok?” Scarlet asked as she tenderly put her hoof on Jackpot's shoulder.

“It's been so long.” Jackpot said, his words came slowly as he seemed to struggle to speak them, “He wasn't like Goldie.” is all Jackpot said as he turned his face and flew upwards and away from the scene.

I hadn't even considered that Jackpot might have known more ponies in the Family, which is strange as seeing as he grew up with them it would be pretty obvious that he knew many ponies who would be members of the Family.

As Scarlet and I stood there silently the calm broke when Jackpot came slamming into the ground from the sky. Scarlet let out a very loud eep as Jackpot was thrust into the body of his former acquaintance. Following him, five Pegasi landed in a circle around us so fast we hardly had any time to react to them. They each wore the typical black-ops like outfits members of the Family usually wore but what surprised me was that they were all Pegasi. I hadn't really seen any member of the Family, except Jackpot, who wasn't a Unicorn and this threw me off guard somewhat as we were quickly surrounded.

“Jackpot!” Scarlet and I both yelled as he hit the ground.

“Ha! Looky what we got here!” One of the Pegasi, the leader I guess, howled out in excitement. “We're here to fight one traitor and a second one just falls into our hooves!”

The fact that Jackpot had been taken out so quickly made me hesitant to move. My hooves were surrounded by bodies so my movement was limited and with Scarlet, a noncombatant, next to me I couldn't really risk moving much anyway.

“Dammit Sky Scraper!” Jackpot groaned before he rose from the ground, “Seems you never learned your lesson did you.” Jackpot put on a slight smile as he said this.

“Jackpot who are these guys!?” I asked, dropping into a fighting stance.

“A bunch o' kids who never listened when I tried to teach them bout fighting.” Jackpot said, nearly laughing now. “I'll admit you surprised me but once again your kick missed any spot that would have incapacitated me Sky Scraper.”

“That was a fluke!” Sky Scraper said angrily. “The next buck will break your rib cage!” Sky sprung forward, propelled forward by his strong wings towards Jackpot.

Jackpot's face resumed his cocky smile as he simply sidestepped the Pegasus, slamming his hoof into Sky Scraper's side and slamming him into the mud, propelled even faster by his speed. This Sky Scraper definitely seemed to have learned his fighting from Jackpot with his quick and forward attacks but Jackpot proved even quicker as he swept down and pinned the over-eager Pegasus to the ground.

“I'm disappointed Sky.” Jackpot mocked, “That hot mom of yours must really miss me to send her little shit to hunt me down.” as Jackpot said this he did something that actually shocked me. He pressed his hoof into Sky Scraper's wing and pressed down on it. A cracking sound came from the wing as Sky cried out in pain as Jackpot broke his wing, bending it in ways that wings were not meant to be bent in.

“Jackpot!” Scarlet roared, “What are you doing!”

Jackpot yanked the Pegasus’s mask off with his teeth, revealing a young looking rusty orange colored Pegasus. This kid looked no older than me, younger maybe. Jackpot got off from on top of him as he rolled on the ground, holding his broken wing and tearing up. The other four Pegasi actually started to laugh hysterically as Jackpot took a little bow looking all too pleased with himself.

“Wait, what?” I said, confused.

Sky Scraper got up from the ground and looked completely ashamed, his head falling low and a defeated(and very pained) look on his face. “I'm sorry sir. Goldie never took us out on ops so all we could really do is practice with each other and well...practice only takes you so far.” he winced with each word as his broken wing convulsed, ever so slightly with each word he spoke. Despite this Sky Scraper seemed to largely ignore the very obviously painful and crippling injury that had just been inflicted on him.

“Wait, what!?” this time Scarlet and myself said it together.

Jackpot ignored us as he talked to the young Pegasus, “What's going on here Sky? Last I checked all out attacks on kingdoms aren't our usual m.o.”

Sky looked at Jackpot with a quizzical look, “You didn't hear? I thought you guys would know everything, being the super evil nemesis who always seem to be one step ahead of us.” who's he calling evil!

“Um, we're not the bad guys here, you are.” Scarlet pointed out in a very matter-of-factly tone. Sky Scraper seemed to just ignore her.

“Goldie has betrayed Sable Granite and by extension she has betrayed all of us. She took every Unicorn who she could get to betray us and came here to seize power for herself by taking the last of the artifacts we need to complete our plans of saving Equestria. Sable Granite just arrived with every other pony at his disposal to stop her before she ruins everything and exposes all of us to both Khaweth and Equestria.”

“WAIT, WHAT!?” shouted all of us.

Jackpot rubbed his hoof worriedly through his mane. “Well I know there’s more than a thousand ponies under Sable's command so I'm guessin that Karfiso's Socotra are about to run into a bit bigger fight than they think.”

Jackpot and Sky kept on talking but I didn't listen. My mind was focused on what he had just said, “Sable Granite just arrived...”. This had to be the best luck of my life; the chance to take out both Goldie and Sable, or the chance that they would just kill each other filled me with more happiness than I would care to admit to my friends.

Despite my now intense happiness this news just didn't seem right from what I knew of Goldie Grail and Sable Granite. Goldie was definitely one hundred percent loyal to the Family and Sable practically was the Family so her turning traitor just didn't sit right with a part of me. And yet here was Sky, a soldier of Sable Granite, out to hunt Goldie and her followers as traitors to the Family. Something strange was going on I thought to myself but if it got me the chance to get at both Goldie and Sable I didn't much care.

There was of course the other things Sky had said about the Family trying to “save Equestria” but that just seemed like typical brainwashing to me. Jackpot had mentioned that ponies in the Family were raised to believe that the Family was a force for good after all.

“I just don't get it, not at all.” Jackpot sighed, shaking his head as he did.

It was now that I snapped out of my happy daydreams that only seemed to grow darker by the day. Jackpot and Sky Scraper had talked for some time but I had tuned them out for most of it. Jackpot was not entirely thrilled to have to retell me that Goldie accused Sable of treason then he did likewise to her. Most Unicorns followed Goldie here to finish their plan while Sable gathered the rest to follow Goldie and put her down. I suppose this made slightly more sense than Goldie just turning traitor but the office politics of secretive organizations that were tight-lipped by nature didn't interest me at the moment. I just assumed that they didn't believe in the power of friendship or something(as all villains seem to fail to do) and subsequently fell apart over it. An almost too convenient truth that I was willing to have myself believe as all my thought processes now seemed bent on finding a way to get to them so I could finish their jobs of killing each other for them and save Equestria and Khaweth as a bonus.

Jackpot cleared his throat as his posture and tone changed as if he were the captain of the Wonderbolts.

“Well, it seems your squad leader is injured.” he said authoritatively, “I suggest leaving the battlefield before any of the rest of you idiots gets yerselves hurt or killed.”

“Yes sir!” the troupe of Pegasi said in tandem.

The other four Pegasi helped Sky Scraper onto on of their backs before giving Jackpot a wave as they flew in the opposite direction than they had came from. Seeing as they had just agreed to leave the combat zone it was safe to say we now knew the general direction of where all the main fighting was going on and of course it was in just the direction we needed to go.

“Sorry bout that guys.” Jackpot said, slightly embarrassed, “Those were some kids who I used to train back in the day. They kinda looked up to me or somethin.” Jackpot explained how they were actually pretty nice kids and that they had one of those sibling rivalry relationships where they would always try and beat the crap out of each other whenever they met.

Still, I did sometimes forget the fact that Jackpot had once been a member of the Family and was very capable of the same ruthlessness that they employed. His casual action of cracking and breaking the wing of somepony he supposedly liked seemed almost alien to his personality now and was, admittedly, a bit unnerving for both myself and if Scarlet's face for the next few hours showed anything, her as well. It just didn't seem to fit him and I didn't like it much when he did show that side of himself that he kept insisting was gone.

*****

As we continued our trek through the thicker parts of the jungle it soon became apparent that we would have to find a place to sleep. It had taken over a day of uninterrupted trotting to get to Numnah the last time and this time we had to take a horrendously large amount of detours to avoid flames, thick smoke and strange distant explosions that we figured were not as distant as we would like them to be.

Jackpot continued to be a massive help here, scouting out paths that would be the safest for us to travel. Anywhere that had fire or foes he managed to lead us around(I can see why so many famous adventurers were Pegasi).

Every so often we could hear loud explosions coming from the distance, a distance that seemed ever closer to where we were. The battle was spreading out and we were heading right into the thick of it. It occurred to me that it would make sense for the fighting to get really bad the closer we got to Numnah and that once we got there shit would be hitting the fan, so to speak.

The sun eventually began to set and once again Jackpot came through with a place for us to (hopefully) sleep safely for the night. A small cave, well more like a hole in the wall...well more like a hole in a large boulder. It was lucky enough to be nestled into a thicket of trees that while it would be hard to find from the ground, it was spottable from the air. Thank Celestia for Jackpot!

The hole was just big enough for the three of us to fit inside as long as we stayed huddled together. Starting a fire would have risked detection or at least attracted any potential monsters that might still be prowling around. The days were hot and the nights were cold(same as last time) but now we had no fire, worse shelter, and several armies all around us trying to kill us. Suffice to say it took a whole flask of cider for me to be calm enough to actually drift off to sleep. Jackpot and Scarlet were still awake when I eventually drifted off to Luna's all encompassing dream-land which only made it easier for me to feel at ease as I fell asleep.

*****

BOOM!

I was immediately thrust awake to the sound of an explosion that sounded much nearer than I'm sure anypony would have liked. My eyes shot open as did my head, only succeeding in hitting my head against the boulder that I had been sleeping under.

“Time to go!” I heard Jackpot yell as I was yanked from my spot in the cave-like hole that I had managed to get comfortable in during the night.

Scarlet had me in her telekinetic hold as a red aura surrounded me, dragging me along the forest floor. Several bolts of Unicorn lightning zoomed past me as we were shot at before swiftly coming to an end as another explosion blew up from behind us, knocking all of us down in the process.

“Watch it you assholes!” Jackpot shouted, “We're here on orders from Karfiso!”

Jackpot's warning seemed to fall on deaf ears as a small spark lit over our heads, near the tops of the trees. Luckily Jackpot had acted swiftly enough to grab Scarlet and myself as he flew as fast as he could away, while carrying two ponies. He wasn't fast enough as the explosion blew him right to the ground before a Zebra leapt out at us from the undergrowth and right at Jackpot.

Jackpot had landed in a better position than myself and was up in time to meet the charging Socotra. The Zebra seemed to move with an almost supernatural grace as he spun and leapt around Jackpot. Jackpot was quick though and managed, with help from his wings, to keep pace with the Zebra and get some bucks into his opponent.

The Zebra though, countered every movement Jackpot made until he shot a hoof into Jackpot's ribs, grounding the Pegasus and knocking the wind from him. I had now gotten up, ironically knocked out of the exhausted daze I had gotten from my sudden awakening, in time to get behind the Zebra as he knocked Jackpot down. I threw my front hooves right between his rear legs, aiming for a spot I knew would hurt anypony. I hit home and the Zebra toppled over onto the ground, making it easy for Scarlet to wrap him in telekinesis as I jumped on top of him to help keep him down. Jackpot got back up, heaving and coughing from his hurt pride, as he joined in to hold the bucking Zebra down.

“Didn't ya hear me ya striped bastard! We're friends!” Jackpot yelled. “Hear that, friends!”

It took a minute for the Zebra to calm down, exhausting me even further just trying to hold him down. When he did he seemed to finally understand Jackpot's repeated use of the word friend. He was covered in an odd green paint, making marks around his body as to help blend in with the jungle. On his side were small pouches that had once held vials of the potions and poisons that the Zebra were known to use for various purposes(two bits as to what he had used his for). This Zebra clearly did not speak Ponish and seemed absolutely confused as to why we hadn't killed him yet. He seemed even more confused when we let him go, this time all of us chanting the word, friend, as we did so as to ensure he got the message. I even mentioned Karfiso's name just to be sure he understood us, he did.

“We're looking for Numnah.” I said slowly, “Numnah. Safe. Route.” it was clear from this experience that things would get exceedingly dangerous from here on out.

It took several minutes for the Zebra to nod that he understood what we were trying to say. He didn't speak at all himself which struck me as odd until I remembered that Enyi said the Zebra didn't share their language with outsiders. But hopefully he still understood our weird charades as he tried to motion out what we anted along with our words. He signaled he agreed but whether or not he actually understood us would only be shown in time.

Turns out he did understand us as the Socotra brought us along paths that seemed even better than the ones Jackpot had been scouting for us the day before. Paths so well hidden that several times I saw Unicorns and even from time to time, other ponies(Sable's soldiers), run right past us without even noticing our presence.

This Zebra knew his land well as we covered a good amount of distance in very good time. These Socotra were absolutely amazing! As we moved along the paths I couldn't help but admire his body. He was so lean and well-built that in terms of pure aesthetics he might even be nearly as hot as Enyi was(oh the thoughts of what the three of us could do! Or what Enyi could potentially learn to do!). He moved with grace and speed that would make Jackpot jealous(it did) and his hooves seemed to silently glide across the ground, muddy and plant filled though it was. If all of the Socotra were like this I could see why Karfiso said they would win against Goldie's forces, after all he had floored Jackpot with only mild difficulty.

“Are we there yet?” Scarlet whispered as our guide stopped us in the middle of a small copse of trees.

He held out his hoof to tell us to stay put as he peeked between the trees that formed the edge of the thick group of trees. He gestured for us to approach which we did as carefully as we could. I peeked through the same opening our guide was staring through and saw what he saw. Three dead Socotras surrounded by several dozen dead ponies at least. One of the Zebra had her head sawed off by something very sharp and I immediately knew who had done it and it made me even more angry.

He lead us for several more minutes as sounds of trampling hooves, shouting and several more explosions began to echo from ahead of us.

The sounds grew gradually louder as we approached Numnah. I could hear shouting and yelling as ponies fought with Zebras and other ponies at the same time. Pegasi flew overhead, spells were flung from Unicorns every which way and Earth Ponies knocked down trees and smashed in skulls as they all fought.

I could see a lot of it from our hidden location. The Socotra could actually still win this if they kept up what they were still doing. The fighting was mostly between Sable Granite's and Goldie Grail's ponies with the Zebra Socotra appearing and disappearing between the trees, launching their sparks of black powder at groups of ponies, blowing them apart.

Scarlet let out a shrill shriek as the blown-off head of a Unicorn landed square at her hooves, her eyes still open in a look of horror at her own death. Her neck leaked blood over Scarlet's hooves, turning them scarlet to match her mane and eyes. Jackpot had his hoof over mouth before her scream could be heard over the sounds of fighting.

All around us were dead ponies. Some with smashed bodies, others with blast and scorch marks from spells and still others with blow off limbs and extremities. Blood stained the forest-floor, turning it and all of the low-growing plants that still survived red. Several Zebra bodies were scattered around the field as well, though those were few and far between. Karfiso was right to have such faith in his troops and it seemed they could hold out until help arrived if not win outright with how many pony bodies already littered the forest floor.

The sight was ghastly to say the least but this time I found myself feeling no more pity for the ponies who died in the depths of the jungle. The churning in my stomach was not what it was when I arrived here and I found myself wanting to push onwards even when our guide motioned us to rest. We were so close to Goldie and Sable that I could practically see them before my eyes(Goldie at least, I didn't know what Sable Looked like, though I imagined it was rather ghoulish). The going was slow now as we found ourselves stepping lightly over bodies, sometimes piled in small...well piles. It was becoming hard to breath as the stench of them filled the air, a smell of rotten meat mixed with ripe dung which burned not only my nostrils but my whole body as well it seemed.

We met up with several more Zebra who had gathered in a small clearing about a mile from Numnah itself. Our guide whispering in their ears, explaining that we were friendlies and his cohorts seemingly nodding in agreement. It seems Karfiso had sent some notice ahead as one of the Socotra came to us and actually spoke in ponish.

“We were told of your coming, I hoped you would be more stunning.” his face showed a general look of being unimpressed at us before our guide whispered something else into this Zebra's ear.

“If you three could beat Kimya here, then perhaps you might not give into fear.” a slight smile crept over his face.

“We're here for Goldie and Sable.” I said, my face showing clear signs of anger as I said those names.

The Zebra looked over at Scarlet, “Your mark denotes...”he stopped, looking for the right word, “a doctor.” he looked relieved that he found the right word. “We have wounded, your help would be proper?” he asked this as his gaze caught Scarlet's cutie mark, the cross inside a heart that sat on her creamy-peach colored flank.

Scarlet suddenly looked a little embarrassed to be singled out by the super Zebra warrior. She let out an awkward laugh as she backed up several steps. Scarlet was I admit....not the best healer in the world, but since she joined us she had both improved and shown a desire to continue to do so. But with the kinds of injuries that I had been seeing around here her skills were perhaps not up to the task. She had been able to ease Jackpot's pain of having been kicked in the ribs by our Zebra guide as well as cleared up the bruise Jackpot had given him with a well-placed buck of his own. This, so far, was the acme of her skill and it now dawned on me that bringing her along with us was perhaps not the best of ideas, considering she was not a combatant on her own and her healing skills, so far, were still relatively sub-par. She would not do well if we confronted Goldie or Sable and so for that reason I put my hoof around her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

“You should stay and help them.”

Her face looked shocked, “But what if you need me!?” she stressed, her face turning a mixture of both scared and slightly angry.

I liked Scarlet, Jackpot especially seemed to like her, but the truth of the matter was she just wasn't ready for this kind of confrontation and come to think of it neither was I. Jackpot could at least hold his own against Goldie for a little bit but if she had any kind of help with her we would be screwed. But then again we did have a group of these Socotra guys here to help us and they at least seemed able to beat Jackpot, or at least give him some trouble. Four or five of these guys and Goldie and any help she might have wouldn't stand a chance against us. Plus having a half dozen Jackpots on our side with blasting powders would just come in handy in general I think.

Unfortunately it was not to be as this lead Zebra explained that they were about to head out and they needed an answer from Scarlet. I could tell she was unsure and she kept glancing at Jackpot and myself, hoping one of us could give her an answer. The silence was mercifully broken by Jackpot.

“Go with the Zebras Scarlet.” he said as gently as he could.

Scarlet's eyes nearly burst into tears, “What! No, I want to stay with you two! I-I-I need to be around to heal you two if you get hurt o-o-o-r...”

Jackpot put his hoof to her mouth, silencing her. “You've been a big help Scarlet, really. But if you go to fight Goldie with us and I mean a real fight, the kind of fight where one side.....doesn't come out of it...you. Will. Die. You don't have the combat ability and your magical medical knowledge isn't good enough to help us out and while I'm sure your practical medical knowledge is great I don't think Goldie will wait two months for a broken wing to heal.”

Harsh but true. Thinking about it, I mean really thinking about it, bringing Scarlet here was really irresponsible. Somewhere deep down I think I had wanted my own adventure companions, just like Grit did in his younger years. I wanted a crack team of individuals who would form an unstoppable juggernaut of awesomeness it seems that just isn't what happened. Jackpot was undoubtedly a good fighter, our best fighter in fact, I was probably only above average and Scarlet, as Jackpot said, had no reason for finding herself in the middle of the kind of fight that was about to go down. She might not be the best medic around but that is where she could do the most good.

“I agree with Jackpot.” I said bluntly. “Scarlet, you will do the most good with them. From what I've seen they don't have many, if any, doctors here right now and if these Zebras have wounded then you should go and help where you are most needed.

“Ivory!? Jackpot!? Please, I want to help you!” Scarlet had become very distressed at the thought of being left behind but Jackpot remained adamant.

He went over to our anguished friend and gently put his forehoof on her shoulder, “Scarlet please, they need your help more than we do right now. You can't fight and you know the Family is gonna exploit that. And besides, the Socotra can protect you better than we can.

Tears were rolling down Scarlet's cheeks as she whimpered words out, “But..I-I've come so far. I'm so much better and friends s-s-s-should stick together and...” it was clear that Jackpot wouldn't budge on this fact and I wasn't about to go against the decision of the far more experienced member of the party.

Jackpot's logic was sound as well and even though I thought Scarlet had as much stake in beating the Family as we did it was the right decision to not take her with us. There was also the fact that as we got closer and closer to Numnah I only found myself getting more and more angry towards Goldie. I didn't like it much when Jackpot broke Sky Scraper's wing and I didn't want Scarlet to see what I might do to Goldie, if given the chance.

This had to be a good idea, right? If Jackpot and I did fail then we would probably...well we wouldn't be around to make sure somepony else knew everything about what was going on. Leaving at least one of us behind to make sure all this information was safeguarded was logical, it made sense. And Scarlet was technically a noncombatant so making sure she didn't throw herself directly into a situation where she would be of little help just seemed smart. She really should stay behind and help as many of the wounded Zebra as possible, where she could be the most use.

Despite Scarlet's protests Jackpot was dead-set on his decision and my own support of the idea practically ensured it's implementation. The Zebras led Scarlet towards where they had constructed a small encampment to house their wounded. She went willingly in the end but the few tears that rolled down her face showed her displeasure of the decision. But they were leading her to safety and besides, they could protect her better than we could anyway.

As Scarlet moved away, accompanied by two of the Socotra who had gathered in the clearing I heard her mutter in between sniffles, “If only I was stronger, if only I still had that staff.” after that she disappeared into the trees with the Socotra warriors.

*****

The valley that Numnah sat in was in ruins(aside from the fact it already was...well a ruin). The fighting was heavy both down in and around the valley as several explosions blew trees and plants into Jackpot's and my own faces as we neared. A message had been sent to the other Socotra that Jackpot and I were friendlies and Karfiso had apparently sent another message that confirmed this that had just now reached his army.

Jackpot and I had sat ourselves in a blown-out hole that was carved into the edge of the cliff that overlooked the valley. The intricately carved stairs that I had once nerded out about with Enyi were largely destroyed as was the bridge that held the carvings of the nightmare dragon, Balaur. Here I could see the aftermath of the three armies fighting to kill each other as groups of dozens of ponies fought with each other in the valley as more ponies fought with Zebras in the upper parts of the valley and around it.

Every so often pained screams could be heard echoing across the forest as parts of the wall of the valley gave way to the black powder of the Zebras and ponies, alive and dead, fell from the top to the valley floor.

Lower on in the valley dozens of dead ponies and a few Zebra corpses littered the field. I won't go into great detail on the conditions of these bodies as even now, I still didn't feel entirely comfortable seeing some of them(they were bad).

Above us in the air, Pegasi soared around, dodging bolts of magical energy as Goldie's Unicorns shot at them from a fortified position in the ruins themselves. Every so often a Pegasi would get hit and fall, their bodies erupting as they were hit with the murderous intent of Goldie Grail and her goons. Around the ruins themselves the Unicorns had used telekinesis to lay many of the large trees of the jungle in between the towers that formed the center of the ruins and the entrance to Abila's tomb. They had laid them to form a wall and Earth Ponies would come and hack away at them every so often, only to be cut down by magical lightning from the Unicorns.

“There's got to be a couple hundred at least in the valley alone.” I whispered to Jackpot in between the roaring explosions and screams. “How do you propose we get in without fighting a whole Luna damned army?”

Jackpot had better eyes than me as he seemed to be able to scan far more of the valley than I could. It was too dangerous for him to fly out in the open but even grounded he still had the eyes of an expert flier and could easily make out distant objects and ponies.

“There's a spot in the back.” he whispered back to me, “Part of their wall has fallen down. We'll have to wait until night or until they are sufficiently distracted to sneak past it though.”

I squinted towards where Jackpot pointed and sure enough there was a small part of the log-wall that had collapsed enough that I could get in without Jackpot flying me over the wall and getting caught. About a dozen Earth Ponies lay dead around it though and there were several dozen Unicorns looking over it, unable to repair the damage and unable to go out and find new trees to repair the breach.

My attention was immediately diverted from the hole as several Unicorns blasted one of the ancient towers of the ruin, knocking it and the Pegasi that had been creeping on its top down. They were destroying thousands of years of history! I almost jumped out of our hiding spot right then but Jackpot was quicker than me and held me back.

“If we go out there without a plan then we're dead.” he said grimly.

“We can't wait here forever! They are going to destroy everything!” I shouted back at him, my fueled anger very evident.

“Better a few towers get destroyed than we get killed. I promised Grit I would look after you and that's what I'm going to do.” his voice was stern and he stared me down to the point that I sat back down in my hidden position, unwilling to disobey him for the present.

I didn't want to just sit here and watch the battle. Despite what you would read in a book or hear in some stories, actual battles were not exciting to watch. There was no epic music to hype you up, there was no glorious charge that filled you with excitement. It was screaming, pain and death. There were some parts of the valley that were pooled with blood and smashed insides from which a rotting and putrid stench seeped out of. The fires from the forest were growing, the constant magical attacks and the powder of the Zebras fueling and exciting it as it raged across the easily eaten jungle. The smell of blood and smoke filled my nostrils to the point that we had to relocate to a safer part of the upper valley.

Jackpot put us down lower in the valley in a small copse of trees that had not yet been destroyed by the fire of the fighting(there were only a few of those left, three or four at the most in the entire valley). I stayed inside the tree cover as Jackpot kept a lookout to make sure we weren't discovered and to watch for an opening in the battle. It took hours of waiting, Sable's ponies would attack, pull back for a bit, then attack after a small pause. Each time they were pushed back by the Unicorns but each time they managed to kill a few more of them as the Pegasi dive-bombed them from above while the Earth Ponies and Unicorns that had stayed loyal to Sable lobbed rocks and magic and whatever else they could find.

The noises from above the valley were not much better, Karfiso's Socotra were probably winning as the explosions never ceased and every so often I heard shouting in a language I didn't understand. It wasn't the despaired shouting of a beaten opponent but more of an adrenaline fueled roar of victory.

Jackpot, perched in the branches of a tree, kept a lookout over the fighting, looking for a good route to take and a good time to take that route. Despite my hesitation at wanting to watch ponies constantly trying to kill each other I did eventually peek my head out in pure, unadulterated curiosity. I was no expert mind you but the tactics I was seeing were to say the least, amateurish(I did read a book on the subject...once. But dammit it was a good book!). In the jungle the Zebras seemed practically unbeatable, so why Sable Granite even bothered to send all of these ponies after Goldie Grail in the first place began to gnaw at and bother my brain. Thinking about it, I mean really thinking about it, it made no sense. Instead of letting the Zebras finish her off he was pretty much sending everypony he had at his disposal to their doom. All the Zebras really had to do was pick off whoever went into the jungle and let the rest of the ponies kill each other off until they were all dead or help arrived. Karfiso was smart, really smart by what I saw, and I think he knew this and was carrying out this very strategy. It looked like Goldie had tried to destroy part of the forest to mitigate the Zebras ability to hide so effectively but the jungle was just too big and she must have given up. That's what it looked like to me anyway.

Goldie was here for the helmet, that much was clear, but still, Sable being here just started to make less and less sense and now I had my normal(more like exceedingly, massively, extraordinarily massive anger) towards them and now this general annoyance at still not knowing what was fully going on. Sable had to be planning something, he just had to be. But what? It bothered me and irritated me and I didn't want to think too hard about it but I just had to.

All of this, everything that was going on, it all bothered me. Something just wasn't right. I had read enough of Grit's books to have that instinctual feeling to know when something was going on, but what that something was I couldn't guess and had no real way of guessing. The fact that each Goldie and Sable were accusing the other of being a traitor just seemed as ludicrous. It made this whole situation much worse and even harder to understand. Nothing was clicking in my head and I hated it. Grit had to have taught me better than this! He would usually tell me all about his adventures, if I asked, and if those adventures weren't of importance to this plan he had and never told anypony apparently.

I could tell by looking at Jackpot's face that he seemed at least a bit bothered by all of this as well. Plus there was when he asked Sky Scraper about the unusualness of this situation so at least I wasn't the only one who found it all terribly confusing.

Eventually Jackpot pulled on my mane, signaling me that we were moving again. The sun was setting now and the sky was awash with the reddish-orange light that the sunset brought, that or it was just the light from the fires(hard to tell at this point). The fighting had died down some as night fell on the Broken Wilds. The explosions from above us became less frequent and the attacks on Goldie's tree fort all but ended as the shadowy embrace of Luna's night crept over the jungle.

*****

Jackpot had indeed spent hours watching the fields around the fort. He led me along the edge of the valley, hiding behind what shrubs and trees had survived the battle(not many). When there were none he would hide us behind any small hill or mound of dirt and even several piles of bodies that had begun to litter the valley floor. None of the ponies in the valley would go to collect the bodies. To Goldie's Unicorns they were to close to Sable's ponies and to Sable's ponies their wasn't enough cover from Goldie's Unicorns. So there they would lay, stinking and polluting the forest until one side wiped the other out and by then the stench of the blood bath would never leave the valley.

As we crept along the edge of the valley, Jackpot leading me skillfully as we got closer and closer to the wall, I noticed several drops of water hit my face. A rainstorm was about to hit the Broken Wilds and my initial hope was that it would help stop the fires which I could see glowing far in the distance. The rain had the added bonus of helping Jackpot and myself get even closer to the wall with a greater ease than without the rain. The clouds darkened the already darkening night sky and the rain, which soon grew heavy, masked our sound and shortened the sight of the ponies on both sides.

The downpour was sudden and intense. The ground, already muddied and trampled from the blood and bodies, quickly began turning into a swampy nightmare. Blood and guts ran past my hooves as Jackpot dragged me through the darkened battlefield. My hooves squished and sloshed through quickly growing pools of dead ponies. Then came the stench. The smell before had been sickening, yet I was able to manage not vomiting once I got used to it but now every horrid smell of every bit of what used to be living beings came at me full force. I heaved even as Jackpot continued to pull me through the route he had scouted out before, changing from his original route only when he saw a pile of bodies piled just a bit higher than the one he had picked out.

The experience was nauseating to say the least. Jackpot was actually using piles of dead ponies as cover to help hide us from unfriendly eyes. There must have been several hundred in the area we were in alone. I had never in my wildest and most horrifying nightmares ever even conceived of the possibility of me being surrounded by so much death and gore. Even though I hated these ponies and felt gladdened by each of their deaths, running through their horribly mutilated corpses felt wrong somehow and each time Jackpot stopped to survey our surroundings I kept my face pointed decidedly towards the ground, or towards the sky. Basically I was doing my best not to look at the faces of the bodies. I just...couldn't, and for some reason whenever I glanced towards one of them it was almost as if I was looking at the face of...well ponies.

It got worse as we neared where the wall was when Jackpot pulled me behind a pile of four ponies, an Earth Pony, two Pegasi and a Unicorn. He jerked me so quickly and suddenly I tripped over and fell, face first into a puddle of disgustingly discolored water. I scrambled as fast as I could to remove myself from the pool of fetid liquid, dreading what made it smell and look so foul when I found myself face to face with the Unicorn of the pile, buried beneath the other three ponies. This would have been horrid enough except that her eyes suddenly moved to meet my own as I lifted my head towards her.

I froze, my face staring blankly into the face of the dying Unicorn, her grey coat was matted and dirty. Blood from multiple cuts oozed out from between the bodies she lay trapped under, her purple mane was partly torn as though she had been participant to a particularly horrible physical altercation. Her mouth moved, or tried to move, as soundless words dripped from between her torn lips. Her eyes stared straight back into mine as I tried to move my head away only to hear a slight cry from the Unicorn.

“Ivory, you ok?” Jackpot whispered as he looked down at me, seeing what I was looking at. He lowered his face down to the Unicorn and when her eyes tilted to see him a small light of joy filled her slowly darkening pupils. Jackpot gently touched her forehead with his hoof and whispered gently, “Hey there Inky, go to sleep now, ok.” I swear I could hear his voice trembling as he spoke.

A few tears appeared on Inky's face, or maybe it was just the rain, as several more soundless words left her mouth. From her face she was happy, or at least not in complete despair any more. Jackpot pulled me away before he said or did anything else, dragging me from the scene and closer to the Unicorn fort.

“Who-”I started to ask.

“She liked to write, had a penchant for sappy romances stories. We dated for a few months when we were kids. I did it to make Goldie jealous.” If it wasn't raining, I would have seen Jackpot crying just there.

We both needed a few swigs of cider after that...well maybe Jackpot had more than a few.

*****

Jackpot actually got us right next to the wall as many of the Unicorns left it, scrambling for cover from the downpour. As I clambered over the wall, Jackpot looking out from behind me, hovering right over my head, I could see most of the Unicorns running into the remaining towers that formed the entrance to the tomb. Only a few dozen even remained outside and maybe half of them were even standing on the walls. They weren't expecting an attack in this kind of deluge, a decision I was sure either Sable's ponies or the Socotra would end up exploiting somehow.

Luckily the downpour had gotten worse and the sound and lack of visibility it created helped Jackpot and myself get up and over the ruined part of the wall. The only hiccup was several Unicorns who had been watching the hole in the wall for intruders. I admit that if it wasn't for the darkness and rain we probably would have been spotted but Goldie's Unicorns had looked away for just the right amount of time for us to sneak in and get behind a large stone that was situated near one of the towers.

From this point we had a good spot to hear and see what was going on inside the camp. With the rock on one side and the wall on the other we were almost completely hidden and with the help of the rain we certainly wouldn't be spotted at all. Most of the Unicorns had indeed gone to find shelter, wither inside the towers or under small shacks they themselves had set up as shelter. They were pretty much piles of sticks and had no finesse about them at all but from the looks of it they served their purpose well.

Among the shacks nearest to us there were two Unicorns in particular who were loud enough that we could hear them, even through the rain.

“I hate this place! Can't we just go back to Equestria? What's the point in staying if Sable has us all penned in like this?” Said one Unicorn, an orange stallion with a yellow mane.

“We have to stay!” Said the second Unicorn with a purple coat and an orange mane. “We need to protect our family. We need those artifacts Goldie has to do that, remember?”

“That won't do us any good if we're dead.” lamented the first Unicorn. “I've fought against enough former friends of mine and this needs to end. Besides...”his mood changed to a softer one, “...we can't get married if we die here.”

Twilight Sparkle fuck me with a fucking library of books about fucking! Dammit! I hated when these ponies made it hard for me to hate them! Why do they have to seem so fucking normal sometimes? Why can't they just always act as the evil henchponies I know they are and just be vile and nasty so I can buck in their faces without feeling bad(deja vu)? I've decided I don't like moral quandaries like this and that things like this would be much easier and straightforward without them.

“Ivory now. Follow me.” Jackpot whispered as he spotted a break in the Unicorn patrols.

He soundlessly glided just above the ground to mitigate any noise he might make while I, being an Earth Pony, had to tromp through the copious amounts of mud the rain was making. Luckily I managed to be quick enough to make it to one of the tower entrances just behind Jackpot and before any of the very miserable Unicorns could spot us. As we slipped in through the door it took me only a moment to notice; this was the same tower we entered last time, when Grit was still with us. I stopped for just a moment to look back outside, I couldn't see very far with the darkness and the rain but what I could see didn't look good. Everypony looked absolutely miserable which made me both happy at their misery yet slightly empathetic(a strange combination I know but that's just how I was feeling).

Jackpot led me down the familiar stairs of the tower; the passageway was just as cramped as I remembered. This time Grit wasn't here to supply us with lanterns so we had to go down the darkened stairs slowly. The ground was also muddy from when the Unicorns had run in from the storm, I wonder where they went? When we got into the first chamber, the one with the ancient Ungul writing on it, it was a slight relief to see that there were several lanterns lighting up the room and the two passageways that led out from it.

“Hey Ivory?” Jackpot's voice echoed softly within the chamber.

“Huh? What is it Jackpot?” I said, stopping right behind my friend.

“I've been thinkin...” he began.

Oh crap, this sounded bad.

“...I know why we're here...and I know that it needs to be done...”he said slowly.

Oh Sweet Luna's succulent slits, he was going to chicken out on me! Fuck no!

“...but I don't think I can-”

“Shut up Jackpot.” my voice was filled with rage. “You're not flaking out on me now. We have to take out Goldie, for good!”

“Ivory, she's my oldest friend and I...I...” Jackpot sounded extremely shaken up. This wasn't like him, he shouldn't be like this, he couldn't be like this, not now.

“I don't care Jackpot, she killed Grit, she killed all those ponies from Money and now look at all the death she's caused here. She needs to die and I can't hope to beat her on my own.”

Jackpot's face was desperate, “Ivory please. You need to understand that-”

“Oh I understand all right!” something just snapped, “She ruined my FUCKING LIFE JACKPOT! And a whole lotta lives besides mine as well. You think I haven't been paying attention to all those stories you told me? Well guess what I have and I know that you still have feelings for her, however faint and confused they may be. But guess what, by the time Karfiso and his Zebras get through, Goldie might find a way to slip away and we can't let that happen! And apparently now, thanks to you and Grit, I'm going to be thrown into some shithole prison somewhere in the middle of fucking nowhere and you can bet your feathery ass that I'm going to make sure I get something out of this before everything I ever hoped and dreamed for goes up in flames! So Jackpot, I want you to think to yourself, are you going to let me get fucked over by life or are you going to help me lube up my fucking ass so that life’s fucking dick doesn't hurt going down.”

Jackpot stared at me blankly. I stood there, heaving out heavy breaths as my body cooled down from my rage fueled venting. I was crying. He stood there, motionless, as my legs gave out and I collapsed on the floor. I lifted my head to look at Jackpot, his face had turned quite dour and he was no longer looking me in the eye. This whole idea was horrible, it was probably the most horrible idea ever in the history of ever. Two emotionally damaged ponies going to fight a homicidally insane Unicorn with a small army of troops probably surrounding her. I was going to die. My only consolation would be that I wouldn't have to spend the rest of my life in a Zebra prison and that maybe with this act, Enyi might one day forgive me.

“I'm sorry.” Jackpot said slowly.

“No, don't be.” I heaved. “This has been hard on you to, I know.”

I mean he had just seen a friend of his lying in a muddy pit of blood, slowly dying. Not to mention that other pony from earlier, Strawberry Dimple I think his name was...oh Celestia, I had barely even thought about how this was affecting him. And still here he was, willing to help me kill a pony he had once had feelings for, maybe even loved, though he would probably never admit it. The only thing the Family seemed to do was cause me and my friends pain, I was so glad we didn't bring Scarlet. I didn't want to have her see us like this and I didn't want the memories of her friends all getting killed by Goldie to warp her like my hatred for Goldie was so obviously warping me.

Had I become so callous that I now so desperately wished for the death of a pony and felt little to no remorse for the deaths of ponies who simply associated with her? The answer was yes, I don't know how Jackpot had resisted it; well I suppose it showed on him sometimes but he was at least trying to be a better pony than that. I just wanted all of this to end, if only Goldie would just show the fuck up, then we could end this and hopefully get some time to find some peace.

Jackpot helped me back up to my hooves, a determined and sympathetic look on his face and a reaffirming nod showed he would stick by me.

“I promised Grit I'd look after you. That's what I'm gonna do.” he forced a smile.

I gave him a friendly nuzzle and turned towards the two passageways that led out of the chamber. The one on the left, the passageway that led to Abila's tomb and the other passage Grit had gown down with Enyi.

I clasped my hooves together and ran them through my soaked mane. Driblets of water ran from my hair, pooling on the floor of the chamber. My coat and saddlebags had also been thoroughly soaked and my body felt cold and uncomfortable.

“Ugh, I'm soaking wet.” I groaned as I tried shaking off the water that had embedded itself in my coat.

“Wet? Impressive, Enyi's not even here.” Jackpot said, snickering.

'Oh Sweet Celestia', I prayed inwardly, 'save me from my idiot friend'.

“I really don't think now's the time for jokes Jackpot.” I grumbled, rolling my eyes, yet still slightly amused(not that I would ever admit to being amused by suck low-brow humor in a situation like this).

“Hey, just trying to lighten the mood a little.” Jackpot chuckled to himself. “Plus, I see that little smile on your face.” he said, pointing.

“Well I....” dammit.

*****

“Three lefts, two rights, then wait.”

The words of Angela Apple suddenly popped into my head. I don't know why they did or where they came from but nevertheless there they were. I turned my head left and without anything else to go on I just started trotting down the left passageway. Jackpot followed me without hesitation as we walked down the passage, lit dimly with lamps that either Goldie or other Zebras had installed.

“No way.” I said in disbelief as I looked at the exact spot where the secret door opened to Abila's tomb.

The wall on the left side oh the hallway had been blown open(Goldie). This was the second left. I ran in, saw the old hallway where the Pyth had chased me and turned left again, the third left. This was indeed the same route, If I kept going I was going to end up in the burial chamber. But Angela's directions didn't lead me there, I remembered enough of my terrified flight from the Pyth that the directions were just a bit off. That and the passageway was still blocked off from when the Pyth rammed into the ceiling while trying to lunge at me.

Jackpot and I continued down the halls, this time they were lit and I could see where I was going. There were passageways that I had missed before in my haste to escape the Pyth and they led straight down into the ruins, further down than Abila's burial chamber.

“We're here.” I said, taking the last right and then coming to the entrance to another hallway.

“Where is here?” Jackpot asked.

“Angela said to wait after taking three lefts and two rights. That's where we are now.”

“Wait, How the fuck does Angela know where we are supposed to go!?” he asked justifiably.

“I don't know, she's always kind of known stuff like that I guess. I mean when a mare that's at least in her seventies and looks like she's twenty gives you a vague and seemingly pointless direction you practically have to follow it.”

“No. No you don't.” Jackpot was obviously not convinced of the awesomeness that was one of the most legendary characters from Grit's early adventures.

“Listen, I don't know why but Angela is just weird like that ok. And besides, her advise is usually correct.”

Jackpot gulped down a lump in his throat, “That's what I'm afraid of.”

*****

We waited. And waited. Then we waited some more. Ok it actually wasn't that long of a wait, ten minutes at the most, but in this cramped hallway where the only noises were the occasional rumbling of something outside it seemed much longer than it actually was.

Jackpot and I were waiting behind the corner of where the two hallways met when I heard the unmistakeable sound of hooves galloping down the stone corridors. Then I heard an even more unmistakeable sound, the sound of Goldie Grail cursing and shouting as she ran down the long hall.

My body tensed up, I turned, facing away from the adjoining hall, scrunched up my body and began coiling up like a Pyth to unleash the most powerful buck I could muster the moment she ran past. Jackpot was looking down at me worriedly, himself crouching down so he wouldn't be seen by anypony that wasn't looking directly at us. I could feel myself tingling with nervousness and excitement(nervouscited?) as her hoofsteps got louder and louder. There were others besides Goldie's. She had ponies with her, she was talking to them and I could hear them talking back. It was not a cordial conversation; Goldie was fuming and cursing at them and presumably at herself.

“I fucking hate these striped fuckers!” Goldie cursed as she ran down the corridor.

“Miss. Grail!” one of her Unicorns shouted, “We have the spear and the helmet ready for transport. All we need to do is get the rest of our ponies down here and we can funnel out that back entrance!”

No! There was another entrance, crap! Goldie was planning on getting away with the rest of her Unicorns and that. Couldn't. Happen. But she was getting closer now, I could almost feel her.

“Fuck that Sable Granite!” what was Goldie saying now? “I should have known what he was planning! Hiring all those...non-ponies. One minute he acting all holier than fucking Celestia's fucking anus then he's trying to fucking get us all fucked. If I ever see that cock-munching traitor again I'll rape him with my fucking horn before ripping his damned soul from his damned ass!”

I was so unbelievably happy to hear Goldie so miserable I was hardly paying attention to what she was actually saying.

“First Jackpot and now this ass sucking dick-head! Every damned pony I trust just decides to dry-fuck me right up my ass!”

Dammit. And Jackpot already felt bad enough, that statement might cause some problems. And it was indeed, Jackpot shrank down even further behind me but Goldie's hoofsteps were getting loud now. Only a few more seconds and...

“We'll need to report all of this shit to-” Goldie didn't finish as she galloped straight past where I was waiting.

I sprung my back hooves out as fast and as hard as I could and they hit. My timing was good, my luck even better; Goldie flew sideways as my hooves connected with her face. I actually managed to knock her off her hooves! Yay me!

Goldie flew straight into the wall, hitting it with a crack as the wall itself dented with her impact. She was dazed but wouldn't be for long if her past durability was anything to go by. Jackpot leapt over me and at the two Unicorns she was running with. His front-hooves knocked the Unicorn of Goldie's left while his back-hooves hit the Unicorn who was on her right, rendering both of them skillfully unconscious.

Goldie got back up quickly though, her eye was stained black from my kick(Hell Yeah!). She was in complete shock, it was obvious she hadn't expected to see us.

“How the fuck!” She mumbled.

Goldie's face turned, looking straight at Jackpot. For an instant her face turned sad before turning to see me; then a rage took her. The kind of rage that only she was capable of having. Goldie's rage far eclipsed any kind of anger that I could ever muster up and that's saying a lot for this situation.

“It had to fucking be you didn't it! Of course he would send you two to.” she looked directly at me, “I'm going to fucking murder you to death.” she grimaced, her face looked terrifying as she ground her teeth together in rage.

I was repositioning myself, getting ready for her to come at me. Jackpot was behind her and while he might not be entirely reliable in taking Goldie out he would at least help fend her off from me. I really didn't stand a chance against Goldie head on; I knew this, Jackpot knew this and Goldie herself knew this. But Jackpot could usually hold his own for a bit and that is what would allow me to get in my hits and hopefully find a way to beat her.

It took me several seconds to notice, Goldie didn't have her knives with her. Was it my fucking birthday or what! Was I in bed with Enyi, with Luna and Celestia climbing on top of us or fucking what! Without her weapons we had a chance, I had a chance; we could do this!

Goldie noticed my eagerness at this impending fight and in a surprising move she pivoted, threw Jackpot down with a quick telekinetic shove and galloped, full speed, down the passageway where she had come from.

I couldn't let her reach her equipment! I set off after her with Jackpot recovering from the push after I had passed him a good ways. Goldie was fast too, faster than I could normally run but I had adrenaline pumping through me, I was galloping, as fast as my Earth Pony legs could move, down after her. I was slowly but surely closing her lead as I chased her down the underground corridor.

“I'm going to kill you Goldie! I'm going to make you pay for ruining my fucking life!” I was angry, I was letting my anger speak for me no matter how weird it felt saying something like that out loud.

Goldie shouted back, “Don't make me laugh you little shit, If death comes anywhere near me I'll rip her tits off!” Goldie started to increase in speed(magic spell maybe?).

Jackpot caught up to me, his wings propelling him forward.

“Calm down Ivory, we have to be careful with Goldie! We can't afford any mistakes here!” it seemed he had resolved to help me, that was good.

Goldie reached a large chamber filled with support pillars before we could catch up to her. The room was wide enough to support a couple hundred ponies and tall enough to stack maybe...five or six ponies upwards. She leapt off towards the side, her telekinetic grasp grabbing hold of three of her knives from a box before setting them down, a wicked smile across her face.

We reached the chamber and Goldie was standing in it's center. Her smile was pure evil as she floated a beautiful silver spear from a crate in the corner of the room.

Fuck no! She had one of the artifacts! Wait a minute, was that...was that Bighorn's spear?

“What the hell?” I shouted in obvious confusion.

“Oh yeah that's right bitch.” Goldie snarled, “We haven't been sitting on our asses while you were off playing adventurer.”

No, it wasn't the same spear. The etchings and filigree that graced the slender spear were different from the one I gave to Doublehead. If Goldie had hurt him too...but that was besides the point right now. Goldie had a...a...HOLY SHIT! She had a super powerful ancient magical death spear!

Goldie swung the spear towards me, I jumped, as far and as fast as I could. The spear hit one of the pillars, slicing through the stone and demolishing a part of the pillar as though it were melted butter. Ok, getting hit in any capacity by this spear was definitely a big no-no.

“For the Family!” Goldie shouted as she leapt towards me, her evil glare now emanating death as though she were the reaper pony incarnate.

Jackpot leapt at her from the side, pushing her off course. Luckily she wasn't trying to kill him(he must have known this) because he came at her head on and with no thought of defense. This allowed him to focus all of his strength into his attack as he pushed Goldie off course enough for the spear to miss me.

This did not last long as Goldie delivered a nasty buck to jackpot's face as well as a telekinetic thrust that slammed him towards the floor. He got the wind knocked out of him as he lay there, heaving heavily on the floor.

Goldie turned back towards me but I had been busy running towards the pile of crates where she had floated the spear from. Goldie didn't hesitate as the spear stabbed forwards at a speed that would have made Rainbow Dash herself jealous. It smashed through several pillars easily, making plenty of noise for me to hear it coming and jump sideways out of it's way again.

Goldie herself was closing in as she caught my tail in her telekinesis and flipped me over, knocking me into the pile of crates. My Earth Pony body allowed for a quick enough recovery to avoid instant death as the curved blade of the spear came down. It was close though, the blade sliced through part of my mane(a bit too close perhaps). I tried my best to scramble over the boxes, desperate to put some space between me and Goldie but she had none of it.

Goldie took her hoof and slammed down on my tail, stopping me cold. With her other hoof she bucked me in the face, blackening my eye.

“Payback for your little surprise earlier, bitch.” She growled.

But now I was close enough to her and I delivered a powerful buck to her stomach which both staggered her and made her even angrier. It did, however, release her grip on my tail and allowed me to scramble away from her. I looked back for just a second to see Jackpot slowly getting up from the ground, still breathing heavily.

“Jackpot, a little help here!” I yelled.

Jackpot sprung to the air, not at his best speed, but still fast enough to quickly close in on Goldie as she continued to stomp towards me, death in her eyes. Jackpot came at her from the side again, but Goldie was waiting for him this time. She turned to face him, keeping the spear facing me. Jackpot expected this and put a little spin in his attack vector, coming at Goldie slightly askew, enough to dodge her powerful buck that would have taken him down for a few more seconds.

Jackpot kicked upwards, sending Goldie flying up a few feet and knocking her down as Jackpot closed in on her, not giving her the time to use the spear. I leapt forwards, grabbing it in my mouth, trying to pull it from her magical grasp. I pulled as hard as I could but it wouldn't budge.

Jackpot was beginning to fall back from Goldie and that meant I would be dead if I was anywhere near that spear. I gave up on pulling it and once again began to run towards the pile of boxes, hoping beyond hope to find the other artifact I knew Goldie had.

Jackpot used his wings to great effect, staying just out of Goldie's physical reach as she tried to bludgeon him with the shaft of the spear. Goldie was quick but Jackpot was quicker, though he was not doing to head on fighting he was usually accustomed to.

Goldie was in a fuming rage as she spun her spear around herself, trying to hit Jackpot without actually hitting him. Jackpot could at least distract her long enough for me to find the helmet, he was good at that, even with Goldie. In fact I think all Jackpot could do was just dodge and weave around Goldie. She used that spear expertly, constantly swinging it yet always having it between herself and Jackpot, not allowing him any openings to counter her. She obviously wasn't trying to kill him but she certainly had no qualms with injuring and incapacitating him.

I had to shift more of my attention to the piles of crates, they were filled with various supplies; food, medical supplies, etc. Goldie must have been planning on carrying all of this stuff when she escaped out of the back entrance she mentioned.

SMASH

The noise broke my concentration as Goldie's spear broke through another Pillar that Jackpot had latched himself on to. Damn, even the shaft could break through solid stone; what was this thing made out of?

I searched and searched and searched, rummaging as quickly as I could while still being thorough in the crates. Most of what I was finding was useless in the current situation, despite the food somewhat tempting my rumbling stomach(I felt as though I was starving). But I didn't have any time for that, I had to keep searching.

THWACK

Goldie had hit Jackpot. He stumbled, falling over onto his side, his body convulsing in the extreme pain he was most likely in. Goldie swung the spear-shaft at his head, hitting it and knocking Jackpot completely unconscious as well as throwing his body towards the passageway that led out of the room. I froze for just a second at hearing the noise of their fighting stop. I knew I had a few seconds at most before I was dead as I smashed one last crate open with my hooves, frantic as I was.

Celestia suckle my butt! I fucking found it! There in the final crate was Abila's helmet, glittering with a silvery light, even in the dim light of the underground chamber. I wasted no time in slipping it on my head just as Goldie's spear came down on my head. The helmet had just saved my life as the spear rebounded off of it. The force of the blow knocked me down though no physical damage had been done. This helmet was amazing!

All at once my body suddenly filled with energy and all pain and discomfort just melted away. Sparky, still on my foreleg, shone with a bright purple as the band grew from a simple bracelet into a sheath that encompassed my whole foreleg. Goldie was actually surprised by this and took several steps back as I quickly shot up and turned to face her.

“This is for Grit, and every other pony you've hurt.” I said, grimacing.

“Dumb cunt, you don't even know what the fuck you're doing.”

“I know I'm about to avenge the best pony I've ever known.” I set myself into a low stance, ready for anything she could throw at me.

“HA! You don't even know you're being used and it's almost adorable. If I gave a shit about you I might be inclined to tell you, but I don't. In fact I'm going to really enjoy gutting you and making sure you die knowing that you. Knew. Nothing.”

“What?” I began to say before Goldie leapt towards me, leading with the spear in her magical grasp.

“I really hate you!” Goldie screamed as she swung the spear swiftly and deftly towards me. “I could be saving my family with Jackpot at my side right now if you and that dumbass Grit didn't come along and ruin my life!”

Goldie was relentless, even with the helmet I was unable to get my hoof up to aim at Goldie and shoot her with Sparky. Her swings were coming at such speeds that without the helmet I wouldn't have stood a chance. The only positive was that the angrier Goldie got the less focused her attacks became, her swings were getting wider and easier to dodge, her movements became obvious, even to me. But she still came on fast and hard, not allowing me to really do anything but stay behind whatever support pillars were left to avoid her blows.

But that gave me an idea, a rather good idea I thought at the time. I ran straight towards Goldie, she swung, she missed, I bucked her in the face as she tried peddling back from me. I was just a bit too fast as my hoof connected with her face, making her angrier. It gave me the time I needed to jump back, raise my hoof and fire as Sparky suddenly glowed a bright red as all of my thoughts and feelings went towards hurting Goldie.

ZZZAT!

A bolt of destructive red lightning shot forth from my hoof, I was nearly blown back, having to brace myself with my other three hooves. Goldie saw it coming and dodged, but I wasn't necessarily aiming for her. The bolt hit the pillar that was behind her and the resulting blast knocked two additional nearby pillars down with it.

Goldie jumped forward, swinging her spear in a surprisingly quick downward swing that caught the edge of my saddlebag. I ripped my bad in half, emptying my cider flasks onto the floor and pulling me to the ground with it. I managed to twist myself onto my back as Goldie lifted the spear for another swing. I raised my hoof and fired right into Goldie. She tried to dodge but the blast gazed her side, knocking her halfway across the room and leaving a nasty, blistering burn on the side of her golden coat.

I-I-I-I actually hit her! Holy fucking hell yeah!

Goldie was flung right into one of the few remaining pillars, cracking it as she hit. I stood up, even with the helmet on my legs were a bit wobbly, almost unable to keep me from falling over I was so tense. I stood there, taking in a few deep breaths as Goldie lobbed the spear at me from a distance. I ducked my head but the spear was thrown a bit wobbly, turning in the air as it flew and resulting in the shaft smacking me in the side of the neck, staggering and knocking me down.

The room began to rumble slightly.

Goldie rose from the ground, sliding the spear back to her with her magic. I stood up as well, feeling a bit weak even as the stamina and energy of the helmet coursed through me. She was starting to breath a bit heavily now; I was actually beginning to tire her out! As for me, though my legs were a bit wobbly, I still felt mostly fine and only had to catch my breath for a few seconds.

Goldie glared at me with her death-glare, her face was filled with hate and anger at my presence. Then her body relaxed and she let out a slight smile.

“You wanna hear how I slit his throat.”

Oh shit! Oh no! Fuck her! I had to fucking stop her from talking!

Now was my turn to lunge angrily at Goldie, my fear all but dissipating. I should have used Sparky but for that brief moment I just wanted to smash her in the face with my hooves. I lunged forward but the spear flew up and smashed straight into the helmet, knocking me down and sliding me several feet across the floor.

“Getting in was easy, all I had to do was ask that little fucker at your retarded adventure club for the codes to Grit's house and the rest was a cinch.” Goldie started to slowly trot towards me.

Who was she talking about? Who at Adventure Incorporated would.....Blaze. No, please Celestia, just no.

“He must have thought I was you because he waved a hoof at me as I stepped up behind him.”

I threw myself up, just trying to get her to stop. I kicked and bucked and did every move I had ever seen Jackpot do that I thought I could to just try and hit her and make her stop. Goldie side-stepped them all, smacking me back down with the shaft of her spear once again.

“You remember that red knife of mine right? It's somewhere around her. All it took was one motion; just one swift cut and he fell.”

“I'll fucking kill you!” I screamed as I raised Sparky up and fired a blood-red bolt of lightning at Goldie Grail.

Goldie managed to get out of the way, but as she moved her side crumpled in. She screamed in pain as her burned side felt the heat and force of the edge of my blast. She fell on the floor as the bolt hit the ceiling of the chamber.

The roof collapsed. Dust filled the room as stones and dirt flooded down from the roof of the chamber. I lost sight of Goldie as more sections of the room caved in, I dragged myself out of the way of a falling stone, half my size, just in the nick of time. As I did though, another stone, a bit smaller than that one, hit my head. Abila's helmet absorbed the force of the blow but the stone itself still knocked me down as another stone fell and hit one of my rear hooves.

“Jackpot!” I screamed as I lost sight of his unconscious body as smoke and dust filled the air.

The few remaining pillars had collapsed and stones and boulders now filled a majority of the chamber. Another stone had hit my head at just the right angle to knock Abila's helmet off. Pain shot through my body as another stone hit my head, knocking me out cold.

*****

Cough! Cough!

Dust filled the air as the stones settled into their new positions. I could hardly see there was so must dust and debris everywhere as I opened my eyes after coming to. I tried waving my hoof to clear away the layer of dust that floated around my face but to little avail. I had gotten sooo extremely lucky. Only my back-left hoof refused to move. Abila's helmet was gone.

“Huh...how long have I been...” I was disoriented, dizzy and weak.

My body felt like it was going to explode as I crawled out of a small pile of rocks and dust that had covered part of my body.

“Jackpot! Jackpot!” I yelled out as loud as my half-dead voice could manage.

I limped around, my body screaming at me every time I did. Even as it felt like hundreds of tiny knives were stabbing at me I knew that Goldie might still be around so I had to keep going.

My vision got blurry as I tried clearing out the dust from around my head only to realize it wasn't that. I was bleeding. Blood was dripping down my face, stinging my eyes and blurring my vision. I didn't have anything that was covered in dust so rubbing it out was out of the question. My hoof then stumbled onto something familiar, my torn saddlebag; there was still some partially filled cider flasks left. I opened one and poured it on my face, clearing out some of the blood as I pressed the dirty bag against my forehead. I finished another partially filled flask, the cider feeling like a Celestia sent orgasm as it went down my throat, swiftly dulling some of the pain.

I stumbled my way around the darkened, destroyed room. Some of the lanterns had miraculously survived, laying on the ground, cracked but still magically functioning. Plus Sparky glowed a faint white now, giving me the light I so desperately wanted.

As I limped around my hoof felt something cold and hard, one of Goldie's knives, the red one. I hated the sight of it but I needed something in case Goldie had survived and I wasn't about to use Sparky with the room already half caved in like it was. I slowly and cautiously lifted it into my mouth, shutting my teeth around the hilt of the blade; it tasted like dirt and hate.

I really didn't know where I was going, the chamber wasn't extraordinarily large but it was big enough that it would take some time to crawl through. I saw an opening as a large boulder leaned against a former slab of wall that made a hole in the bottom, just big enough for me to fit through. My body squeezed through the hole; I had to go slowly to make sure it didn't collapse while I was under it.

I managed to squeeze through as my body slid out of the hole with a pop. The dust was thicker here as I hears a faint rustling noise, as if somepony were digging themselves from a pile of dirt. I got excited at the prospect that it might be Jackpot...but it could also be Goldie. I crept over, hiding behind a fallen stone I poked my head out to see. I saw a pony on the ground, crawling through the rubble. The dust was so thick I couldn't see who it was. I heard a grunt, it sounded deep, a bit too deep to be Goldie maybe?

I crept cautiously up through the dust, getting closer to the pony. Finally I was within a few feet, enough to see who it was.

It was Goldie.

All of her legs had been broken in the cave-in. She was barely moving, using her chin to inch her way across the floor as she winced in pain at each movement. She was covered in blood, her own for once. I walked up to her, blocking her path.

Goldie's face slowly turned up towards me, her eyes meeting mine. They went wide for a second before forming into blazing suns of rage.

“Fu-” she couldn't finish. I made sure she didn't finish.

With one swift motion I swung my head down towards Goldie's, her knife still in my muzzle. I swung down as hard and as fast as I could, missing her face but hitting her neck. The blade caught into and then punctured her throat as her face bubbled in pain. I yanked out the knife, tearing out a chunk of her throat as I wildly yanked backwards.

Blood followed the knife, squirting from her neck as she let out a dying gasp for air. I tripped and fell on my flank, close enough that her blood dripped onto my face and chest. Goldie began to cough and sputter as her eyes went wide once again, her legs twitched as they tried to move. Her mouth sputtered blood as she tried to speak, only more blood came out though. It took several seconds for her to stop twitching; her eyes went dark, her body went motionless, and blood stopped spurting from her mouth and settled on leaking out the hole in her neck. It dripped from her dead body and began to pool on the floor, spreading out until it reached where I was laying.

I just sat there and watched Goldie die, unable to move away as her blood coated me. Either from when it shot out of her mouth and neck or when it leaked over to me as it pooled beneath her. I started to hyperventilate, I had never...I had never actually killed a pony before. No wait, I had. On Mt. Everhoof, the ponies I knocked out in Aurora's tomb and then the avalanche. No way they all got out of there alive. I had almost forgotten them, they had never even been a concern. I had thought that doing this would feel cathartic and in a way...it did. But at the same time I now saw something different. A dead pony. A dead pony that I had just killed, and it terrified me. I tried pushing back from the body but my legs stopped working. I wanted to vomit but there really wasn't anything in my stomach to vomit up. I began to panic, not believing what had just happened. Was it true? Did I actually...? But there was the undeniable proof in front of me...

Goldie Grail was dead.

The Tale of Two Friends

Chapter 17: The Tale of Two Friends

My eyes slowly crept open. I must have fainted at some point. Goldie was still there, lying motionless beside me, drying blood pooled beneath her broken body. I, of course, was covered in it as well. My rear left leg still seemed to not want to move and when I tried a gritting, shooting pain swept through my body. My leg had to be broken or nearly broken at least.

The main thing I noticed now as I lay on the cold, stone floor was that I was alone(besides Goldie's body which was perhaps the worst company I could ever imagine). I did manage to pull myself away from Goldie at least. My forehooves still seemed to work with only a few bruises here and there. The cut on my face seemed to have scabbed over so blood no longer would blur my vision. I grabbed my torn saddlebag in my mouth and slung what was left of it on my back, crawling away from the horror scene behind me.

I looked around, I had completely destroyed this section of the ruins. I could just imagine Grit having a heart attack if he saw what I just did. Who know what that room held, ancient writings, hidden treasure, lost knowledge; now we might never know and it was because of me. I was an absolutely horrible archeologist; so much for all those artifact preservation techniques Grit had taught me.

“Ivory!” a familiar, Celestia sent, voice called out.

“Jackpot! I'm over here!” I called as loud as I could which still came out as barely more than a whisper.

It must have been enough though as within seconds Jackpot deftly flew through the fallen stones and debris to where I was laying. I had crawled a good ways from where Goldie was laying so that her body wasn't visible from where we were(a vast improvement if you ask me).

“Where's Goldie?” he asked hastily, not looking carefully enough at me through the dark and dim light given off only by Sparky.

All I did was look up at him and move my hoof so Sparky's light washed over me. I was still covered in her blood, it was all over my hooves and parts of my upper chest and neck. If I looked as horrid as I currently felt then I was probably the ugliest pony on the planet.

Jackpot's eyes widened when he saw the blood and no gashes in me where it all would have come from. All I heard from him was a small, nearly inaudible gasp as he realized what had happened, or at least the general outcome. After his second of realization his eyes shrank back down to being only half open as his face suddenly turned depressed.

“Let's get you out of here.” he said solemnly. He knelt down, slid me onto his back and limped his way back to the entrance to the chamber. Jackpot had been knocked over there by Goldie; that was what must have saved him from the cave-in as the worst of it had been near me and Goldie, Jackpot must have only been hit by a few stray stones at most.

Jackpot had a pathway out. Well it was more like a general direction where a few holes that he had to slide me off to squeeze through made travel slightly less than impossible. We were silent as Jackpot, with me on his back, made our way back out through the underground ruins of Numnah and back into the antechamber. The only thing of note was that the two ponies who had been with Goldie and that Jackpot had knocked out had disappeared. Once we got here Jackpot gently set me down and dropped himself down a few feet from me.

“Where's the helmet and that spear that Goldie was using?” he slowly asked.

“I don't know.” I answered, my own voice low and slow. “The helmet was next to me but when I woke up it was gone. I don't know what happened to the spear.”

“How did Gol...” Jackpot began to ask but couldn't finish.

I didn't want to answer, so I didn't. I looked over at Jackpot's face, it was sunken and tears were in his eyes. I wanted to believe that it was from dust but I knew better now. However messed up it might have been, Jackpot had still known her practically his entire life and they were friends and then...still creepy to think about, even now. I know how bad it feels to lose somepony that you've known for so long and were very close to so I could understand what he was feeling at least somewhat. If only that loss hadn't been caused by the very pony he was now crying for.

I almost wanted to hate him now. Goldie wasn't worth crying for, she was scum, the worst kind of scum, no she was even worse than that. But now, sitting here, after the fact, I still didn't feel much better, if anything I felt worse. Oh merciful Celestia...I had just killed somepony.

I fell over, tears falling from my eyes. I hated Goldie, I hated her with every fiber of my being and I knew that if I hadn't killed her just now then she would have gone on to hurt more people. I did a good thing, I did a just thing...so then why did I feel absolutely abominable. My stomach was twisting and wrenching itself within my body, my brain just wouldn't, or couldn't, keep from forming the image of her dead face staring back at me. She had been practically helpless. All of her legs had been broken, her energy and stamina were gone, she couldn't have fought back if she tried and I just took her knife and...

If my tears didn't give it away then my loud sobbing did. Some of her blood had gotten in my mouth it seems, even now I could taste it. I hated it, I loathed it, but it was there, or maybe I was just imagining...I didn't know. I tried licking the floor of the chamber, not wanting to touch the Ungul scripts on the walls, feeling that I had destroyed enough history(I would probably have this place's destruction added to the already damming charges Karfiso and the Zebra Council were putting on me). This act accomplished nothing except adding the taste of old, cold stone to my mouth that made me almost gag(it was a bad idea, I don't even know why I did it).

“We should go.” Jackpot said, breaking the sounds of my sobbing. “Who knows how long until more Unicorns come down here.”

He was right of course, if any of Goldie's Unicorns came upon us we would be dead. Neither of us were in any state to fight, physically or emotionally. Jackpot could move at least but I could weakly limp a few feet at a time at best. The stairs leading back up to the surface were quiet. There were no sounds from up top, the explosions, even the rain, all seemed to have stopped. Just how long were we out for?

Jackpot helped me slowly limp my way up the narrow staircase back up to the surface. Neither of us really knew how we would get past the Unicorns in the camp but we would have to think of something. If we were spotted we were dead, simple as that. That little bit of knowledge, I hoped, would spur us onward to some great and amazing act of heroism that only the most overpowered and awesome action heroes could preform but it turned out not to be. Instead when we exited the doorway leading out of the tower we came upon quite the welcome surprise.

The rain had stopped and Karfiso was there, along with the green-eyed Siri and a whole bunch of very grim and intimidating looking Zebras. There had to be several hundred at least and they had mounted the wall and stood in every inch of the courtyard inside those walls. The Unicorns(the ones who were still alive) were rounded up and had been herded into one of the corners of the fort. They were being watched by many very unhappy looking Zebra Socotras. As I leaned off of Jackpot I noticed that the two Unicorns I had seen talking about their wedding were alive and among them. Even though I was hating them I felt glad that not everything that could have gone wrong did and maybe, with Goldie gone, they might be made to see the error of their ways.

Karfiso, on the other hoof, looked a little bit surprised to see Jackpot and me exit the ruins. He probably didn't really expect me to survive this little adventure; hell I didn't expect me to survive this. Be this as it was, he still looked somewhat pleased to see me, covered in blood and bedraggled as I was.

“Where's Scarlet and Silver?” Jackpot asked, speaking before I could say anything.

“Scarlet Aloe is assisting our doctors with the wounded and Silver Chaser fell behind on the march over here.” Karfiso answered.

“You just left him in the jungle!?” Jackpot sounded a bit incensed.

“If you worry about his safety, do not. The fighting is over, we have won.”

“Looks like you got a few more Zebras here than last time.” I noticed.

“Yes, it seems the Council finally decided to send aid. Two hundred more Socotra arrived ten hours ago; not long after you were seen entering the ruins.”

Ten hours huh. That was a long time to be unconscious.

“And speaking of the ruins.” what Karfiso meant by this was obvious.

“Goldie Grail is dead. I think Abila's helmet was taken while Jackpot and I were unconscious in the ruins, along with a spear that went with the helmet.”

“Spear?” Karfiso looked confused.

“Something I was after, you don't need to worry about it.”

“I see.” Karfiso said cautiously. “So, you failed to retrieve the crown but you succeeded in killing Goldie Grail. I sense the hoof of Sable Granite in this.”

It had to be him, I mean it was pretty obvious. But if Jackpot and I were unconscious then why were we still alive?

Karfiso took a deep breath and sighed. “I have one more question.”

“What?” I answered.

Karfiso pointed to my leg. Sparky was still glowing dimly and looking very impressive as it still had not receded into it's normal bracelet form.

“This is an Equestrian artifact. I got it in Canterlot and have it with the express permission of princess Celestia.”

“It is not of Zebra make so I will believe you. It is still quite interesting though.” Karfiso did seem to be staring at it intently.

“What's going to happen to them?” Jackpot asked, pointing at the captured Unicorns.

“They will be brought to the heartland; some will be executed and the rest will be put into forced labor until they die of exhaustion. The usual punishment for terrorists who cause so much trouble.” as he spoke the Socotra guarding the Unicorns began to lead them out of the fort, looks of despair and defeat on their faces.

It was disappointing but I felt no particular love for these ponies and Karfiso had the point of them being murdering terrorists. In my heart of hearts I hated his decision and I hated him just that little bit more for it but I raised no public objections to it. That is of course until Jackpot shot me a look. The kind of look where he wanted me to say something and I knew what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to say something to save his former comrades. He wanted me to convince Karfiso to let them go or at least spare their lives.

“Ivory,” he whispered, “can I get some help here.”

“These are their laws Jackpot, we need to let them take care of their own justice.” I answered back, Karfiso giving a quizzical look at out conversation.

“Ivory please, just get them life sentences or something. He'll listen to you more than me, just please try.”

He was giving me puppy dog eyes, how could I have said no.

“Hey Karfiso!” I said loudly so he couldn't ignore me. “Is there any way I could convince you to not have all these ponies killed?”

Karfiso thought for a moment before answering, “Your Scarlet Aloe has been most helpful and has saved several Zebra lives.” he rubbed his hoof beneath his chin, “If you will do one more task for me then I will consider it.”

“What's the task?”

“Goldie Grail is dead, that is one of three people I want dead, you will finish off the second one.” he smiled a bit, “No no, do not give me that look(what look?), this one you will like. I want you to kill or capture Sable Granite and retrieve the crown. When you have it, you will return with the crown and if he lives, Sable Granite. When that is complete you will be taken into custody, given a trial, then imprisoned.”

Fuck me with a parasprite.

He was right though, I still did need to stop Sable and if he was going to give me the chance to do that then who was I to refuse. The only real question is, where was he going to strike next and how, now that Goldie was dead and most of the ponies who worked for him were dead or captured. He had nothing, what exactly could he expect to do?

“It's a deal.” I answered.

“Thanks Ives, we'll get him, I know we will.” Jackpot said, his smiling face revealing his gratitude.

“Very good.” Karfiso said, satisfied. “But now on to your reward.”

I looked up at Karfiso, a confused look on my face now.

“Reward for what?”

“For helping. You killed Goldie Grail and your medic friend saved the lives of a dozen of my Socotra. I am grateful for your assistance and will now give you a reward.”

This was...unexpected, but at the same time not unwelcome. I had just been through a lot the last few days and would no doubt be through a lot more in the coming days. I think I deserved some kind of reward for all of my hard work over the last few days and the months before that. Something had to go my way eventually.

“Siri.” Karfiso commanded, “Get the potion.”

“WHAT! You can't be serious!? You can..cannot give her that! She has not earned it!” Siri seemed upset.

“She has earned it.”

“Only the Zebra are allowed to drink this potion. It will be nearly criminal for you to give her some!”

“There are many things that only Zebra can do.” he said harshly to Siri before his voice turned almost tender, “I will change that soon.”

Siri gave a reluctant nod before leaping over the crumpled wall and off somewhere I could not see. She returned several minutes later with several Socotra who were carrying a very ornate and highly decorated wooden box with them. An image had been masterfully carved on the surface of this case, the image of a tree that had the head of a dragon instead of branches. Siri took her hoof and slipped the top of the container open, revealing a vial of swirling white liquid.

“Celestia's rainbow orgasms! How did you get one of those!” I said, completely stupefied as I looked at the unassuming yet very recognizable potion.

“Uh, what is it?” Jackpot mumbled.

“What! Don't you know your princess history!” I yelped, almost insulted that Jackpot didn't recognize one of the most famous and powerful potions ever conceived.

“Should I?”

“This is an Oracle draught. Twilight Sparkle once used one to see visions of the distant past. But, how did you get one? I thought these needed Alicorn magic to work?” this had to be some kind of trick, no way Karfiso got his hooves on one of these!

“Our magic is sufficient to replicate those effects. After all, was it not a Zebra who first concocted this potion.” Karfiso said, a hint of pride in his voice. “We have had much time to work on this since those days, though I admit very few of these exist and only a select few are given access to them.”

“And you're giving it...to me?” my eyes grew wide.

“Do you refuse?”

“Hell no!” I exclaimed, quickly limping my way over to Siri and the potion. I had suddenly become giddy with excitement, these kinds of potions were beyond rare and the fact that I would be getting to drink it was almost beyond belief. I stood there, smiling as Siri carefully removed the phial from the box, yanked the lid off and presented the vial to me with a bow.

“All you need do is sip, then you will tell us of your trip.” Siri said humbly as she continued to bow.

I admit I was perhaps a bit over-eager with this part. I grabbed the phial in my mouth and used my cider drinking skills to their utmost, downing the whole potion in a few swigs.

“I don't fee-” suddenly everything went black as the curtain that was the world peeled back and my vision was filled with shining crystals as I felt teleported far away. Time itself seemed off, I felt everyday passing instantly yet not at all, I saw ages of the world pass beneath me as I stood, still and quiet, as all of time flowed before and beneath me. Suddenly, my eyes beheld shapes; perhaps a dozen or so, all pony...no Zebras. They were running and then...they disappeared as I felt unnaturally ripped from my vision and flung somewhere else.

The time things got really strange. I felt myself being flung across the world itself, a world that I could feel yet not recognize. Far, far away from what I knew this world was and yet it felt as though I belonged there, or maybe that was just the potion. Never before have I experienced sensations like I was feeling now. Now time passed at a great speed, as if all the long ages of the world reeled before me, going back further than time itself seemed to exist. The world I found myself in was a world of wonder and fear; a place of such incomparable beauty yet inconceivable anguish and suffering. Then I once more took shape and my vision returned and I saw.

~~~ooo000ooo~~~

I opened my eyes, everything was spinning as I hobbled to my now functioning legs. I couldn't see straight as I got up, a feeling of such wondrous comfort beneath my hooves that I almost didn't get up. Everything felt strange, like that I wasn't supposed to be here and yet that I was. My cutie mark was almost glowing, that strange mark with the off-kilter compass that ever annoyed me so; it felt almost...good. It was a weird feeling, belonging yet not belonging. There is really no other way to explain it. Then my sight returned to normal and I saw just what I was in.

I stood alone in a great field, but not just any field, a field of many flowers. Each one of them awash with reds and yellows and oranges, such that the field seemed almost like it was on fire; it was beautiful. The flowers stretched out over the field and the hills surrounding it, everything seemed so unbelievably vibrant I almost thought I was dreaming(I was technically dreaming, right?). I turned my head slightly and I saw, in the distance, great mountains rising high above the clouds. Great wisps of white and gold, covering the peaks of the largest mountains I had ever seen and there were so many. A whole range of mountains that would make Everhoof nervous.

Fields of deep green grass ran beneath them. Rivers, clear as crystals, ran out from them and cut through the very field I stood in. The sky, covering all, went on for eternity as the golden light of a forever sun radiated over the world, the flowers shimmering in it's incandescent rays. A breeze, cool yet still warm, blew past me, all the flowers moved with it, creating a great wave of color as though a huge glowing fire was swimming towards me. I stood there stupefied at the beauty.

I turned my head once more and there I saw it, the most amazing sight I had ever seen in my life: A great city, made of shining white stones, towers and spires rising high above the plains, the tops of which shone with silver. Within the city there stood a tree, but not just any tree, it was the tree. It was the treeist tree that ever treed. It stood huge and imposing, dwarfing the city below. It's highest branches reaching towards the heavens as its leaves glowed, radiating magic down onto the world below. I had seen this before, in Numnah on the walls. The picture on the wall of Abila's tomb, the city that was destroyed by...the Darkness.

Was this ancient Equestria? Was I in the ancient Zebra Empire or what!? No, I wasn't. I was somewhere else; the picture depicted so many creatures from ponies to Yaks, Buffalo, Griffons and even Alicorns. I was somewhere strange, somewhere new, somewhere nopony had been to or seen in a long time. As I stood there, my mouth hanging open I heard voices from behind me, not threatening but soft, soothing, almost magical voices. I turned around and saw two...two...two Alicorns!

They were young, one mare and one stallion. They looked almost like children...they were probably children. The mare was stunningly gorgeous, she had a coat that was white as snow, deep dark eyes and a raven mane; she was beautiful. The colt who accompanied her was of a beautiful silver with a mane of both silver and gold. I would have melted at how beautiful they both looked but I quickly reminded my brain they were both children(shut up!). The mare stood in the field looking quite sad while the colt was floating down from the sky above her, a look of concern on his face.

“I have finally found you my princess.” he said as he gently touched ground(she was a princess! Wait, weren't all Alicorns princes or princesses?). “Everything is settled with thine parents and...” he stopped, his concern growing, “Tell my, what troubles you my princess?”

“It came again, last night.” the Alicorn filly cried.

“The nightmare returns once again? Forgive me that I was not with thee to-”

“Please, no blame is upon you. It was my own folly that led to this and besides, thou were answering the summons of the king and queen, you did what was requested of you.” she looked both adorable and completely miserable as she broke out into a full on crying session.

The silver Alicorn colt landed next to the princess, holding her gently in his long wing.

“The blame is mine. I was told to keep you safe and safe is where I should keep thee.” he said gently. “Please, bestill thy tears my princess.” he smiled, “For you see I have discovered a magical pool where the stars shine, ever bright, even within the day. And if the water touches your coat then you will sparkle as if you were a star yourself.”

Suddenly the little Alicorn filly perked right up, a big and immensely adorable smile adorning her beautiful face, “That sounds amazing! We can pour the water on ponies at nighttime, then they'll never get to sleep! It's the perfect plan!” she said, smiling and laughing.

“Princess, for the thousandth time, why do you seek to enrage thine subjects so?” he rolled his eyes, “And yet thou will do it anyway.” he said, nickering with a small smile on his lips.

“I know that you know that you secretly love it.” the filly said with a smirk.

“I will prepare the customary apology speech.” he said, shaking his head and letting out a friendly sounding sigh.

“Come guardpony! I will have thee laughing all the way to my triumph!” she proudly exclaimed as she took off to the sky, her friend following her.

“Please do not call me that, thou knows what mine name is.”

“Then thou shalt end the protocol of calling me princess!” she shouted back, ahead of him in the sky.

“We both know I cannot!” he shouted back, following her up.

“Then thy name shalt be guardpony...number five!” she shouted triumphantly.

“What doth that even mean!” he shouted back before the vision blurred and I was transported yet again.

*****

My eyes opened again, this time I was standing in a room filled with strange arcane magical symbols, they seemed to coat the walls, floors and ceilings. The room pulsed with magical energy; this was a place of great magical power. The same Alicorn filly, now slightly more grown but still a filly, stood, stooped over and panting heavily. Her horn glowed as she practiced her magic, waves shot from her horn, transfiguring the circles and summoning forth many golden statues made of herself.

“Ha! Transmutation spell, mastered!” she yelled excitedly.

“And at the tender age of nine. Impressive but I had this spell mastered at eight.” said her silvery friend as he trotted up behind her.

“How come no matter how hard I practice thou always remain so far ahead of me? My mother is the most powerful wizard in the world and I should have inherited my family's talent!” she stomped her hoof on the ground, a magical wave shot from it, turning all of the statues she had created into swarms of doves that flew from the tower windows.

“It is true that her majesty the queen is the most powerful Alicorn in the world but thou art young and still far ahead of everypony at the academy, except for myself.” he said, a bit arrogantly yet still in a friendly tone.

“They say my mother was transmuting mountains by the time she was a teenager, a teenager! I'll be lucky to do that by the time I'm a couple hundred years old.” the princess plopped herself down in the corner, pouting.

Her friend came up to her, a clever smile on his face, “Well then, would thou appreciate a lesson?”

“Wait, what!(ooh, Alicorn magic!)” the princess perked right up again and with one great leap landed right next to her friend. “Pray tell, what kind of lesson did thou intend?” she said, fluttering her eyes.

“This kind.” he answered, his horn glowed silver as the tower suddenly began to shake.

“What is happening!” the princess yelled.

“I simply animated the tower, look.” he gestured to the window.

The princess flew to the window and I found myself running to a door that led out of the tower. The silver Alicorn had indeed animated the tower, it had arms and legs and everything and it was currently leaping over a great wall. Several Alicorns flew up from below, dressed in robes and wearing those weirdly shaped hats that I somehow knew meant they were school professors. They were flying after the tower trying desperately to unanimate it as the princess fell to the floor laughing.

“Whoa.” I said, unable to think of anything else to say at the insane displays of magic I was seeing.

“This...this is amazing!” the princess laughed. “Teach me thine spell, I command it!” she said, her tone turning a sarcastic kind of commanding voice to signify her joke.

The silver Alicorn's horn glowed as the tower stopped moving, it slowly found it's place on the ground as I saw several angry looking Alicorn professors teleport the tower back to it's rightful place. I was in some kind of magical academy, it was wonderful as I looked out of the tower door. All about me were Alicorns and Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth Ponies, Yaks, Griffons, Buffalo; they zipped here and there, going about their business. I saw the Earth Ponies, overseen by Buffalo, sprouting mighty trees, fully grown in seconds, I saw teams of Pegasi performing sonic rainbooms, their magic clashing to form the most wondrous shapes I could have ever imagined in the sky.

The Griffons carried great hordes of treasure on their backs; scrolls of enchantment in their claws. Some of them carried pretty things that I could tell was made of the same material that Abila's helmet and the other artifacts were made of.

I could hear the voices of the Yaks as their songs and poetry echoed throughout the courtyards of the academy. Birds followed their chorus as the music almost seemed to bring the world around them into some form of living music. The very ground where they stood sang with them as their great voices filled the air.

I turned back to the tower, watching the two friends as the silver colt began to show the princess great spells. I went closer to them and saw in the face of the princess a smile that Pinkie Pie herself would have been jealous of. I saw that she was truly happy; then the scene melted away and I was flung once again to another.

*****

My eyes opened to the sound of thunderous applause and a great cheering. I was standing in front of a large arena where the silver Alicorn, who now looked about my age, stood smiling and laughing as the princess, also now about my age, ran up and hugged him with a massive laugh.

“My cutie mark! Did you see it!? I got my cutie mark!” she yelled ecstatically.

Indeed on her alabaster flank was a beautiful cutie mark of a bright star enveloping a sturdy silver shield. I suddenly felt great joy as the princess laughed and danced around her friend whose face was lit with his own joy.

“This is indeed a great day for Marillion.” the silver Alicorn said, joy in his voice.

“Tis indeed!” the princess smiled. “Did thou see Fëarin, the child was cowering and then I swept in like Raihna herself and saved him! Did thou see?” she asked excitedly.

“Indeed, but doing so cost you the match.” her friend responded in a lecturing voice, “But your mark is quite impressive.”

“I suppose that since mine own mark appeared before thine, I am now the superior wizard! And behold, magic is my fate!” she beamed.

“Settle down my princess, you have yet to best me in any contest!” he said, still smiling and sharing in his princesses joy, “You have some ways to go before thou are as great as I.”

“Please, desist with that term. I do not like it.” she pouted(adorably I might add).

“You are my princess, I must refer to thee as such.”

“Wait! I am thine princess! How touching my friend. You know how some now speak of us?” the princess said coyly.

“You should pay no heed to rumors my princess.” he said, “All your people know and love you.”

“Can thou truly be so dense?” the princess asked, sighing slightly.

“How do you mean?”

The princess let out a giggle at her friends ignorance. It was pretty obvious that she liked him, even I could see that. I wonder if he was truly oblivious to that fact or was he just pretending?

“Come guardpony number five, my parents will wish to congratulate me on my marking. Will thou accompany me to them?” the princess said, wrapping her wing around her friend.

“What guardpony would I be if I abandoned you now.” he said, still smiling as they flew off together.

It was about here that I noticed something. Something about the princess seemed horribly familiar but I couldn't put my hoof on it.

“I know there's something familiar about her.” I said, frustrated that I couldn't guess it.

My own pouting was cut off when I was suddenly whisked off and away to the next vision.

*****

When my eyes opened this time I almost had a heart attack; I found myself clinging to the top of a mountain, it's bottom lost beneath the white-gold clouds.

“Holy butt munchers!” I shouted as I clung for dear life.

I frantically looked around for the two Alicorns I now suspected would show up at any second. Within seconds they were there, flying in and about the peaks of the great range of mountains I now noticed surrounded me. I must now be on the top of that great range I saw when I first arrived.

They were now each very tall, not as tall as Celestia perhaps but their height now eclipsed the height of an average pony. Both of them had grown intensely beautiful as the silver Alicorn's coat nearly glowed as he swept through the great and free sky, his silver and gold mane flowing elegantly behind him. The princess's mane now had within it the endless folds of the night sky, stars shimmering from within the flowing strands of raven hair that made her mane; it reminded me of Luna. They were flying between the great peaks that poked above the clouds, getting awfully close to me. As the whisked past me I could feel the free wind of the endless sky blow past and through my mane.

“I beg you answer me something.” The princess asked, her beautiful voice carried by the winds.

“What is it my lady?” her friend asked as he perched on a peak that was not far from my own.

“What you spoke of last night(ooh, did he finally get her hints?), you have spoken of this before but you seem greatly serious of it.”

“Indeed, we have seen much the past century my lady, I wish to expand my horizons and seek new knowledge and lands beyond this one(guess not, oh well).”

“But nopony, save my father in his youth, has traveled far beyond our shores. The great sea is too vast and too viscous for any to go more than a few miles. We would be torn asunder by the angry spirits!” the princess said, distressed.

“That is part of the challenge!” her friend said proudly. “Together we would conquer any challenge this world threw at us.”

“Come now, certainly there is much more to learn here. Why, we could search for the secret kingdom of the Elk among the Yak realms! Or perhaps we could dive to the depths of the great lake of Burin and search for the lost temple of my great great grandmother, Raihna.”

The silver Alicorn let out a small laugh, “Come my lady, there is still much to do in this world. We have yet to see and explore it all and I would be pained to prevent you from seeing all there is to witness.”

“Ha! You are right my friend! In fact I have a plan to find the Helm of a Thousand Smells. We can fill the entire network of Griffon mines in these mountains with the most odorous of odors. They shall never know what hit them!”

“Didn't thy father send that relic to Dragon Island for safe keeping?” the Silver Alicorn said, doubting his friends plan.

“So, art thou up for robbing a dragon?”

I had to laugh a little at that. These two were strangely starting to grow on me bit by bit. I mean robbing a fucking dragon! Who just does that! I had to let out a smile and chuckle as the princess laid out her plan to sneak up on the dragon while he slept and take the helm. The plan involved copious amounts of gelatin which I shuddered to think of a use for as the scene faded away and I was once again whisked away towards another one.

*****

I found myself in a great chamber, a hall with a roof of pearls and a floor of gold. The walls were adorned with silver and great columns rose hundreds of feet to the great roof above. Within the columns were streams of a glowing silvery metal, I recognized it at once as the same materiel of Abila's crown and the other relics.

All about me stood hundreds of Alicorns, proud and majestic. Their manes flowing as though wind swept through the magnificent hall. All around me echoed the sound of great trumpets as a deep and lovely voice began to sing:

In Elder days arose a town as fair as fair can be,
and in the heart of all that life there grew a golden tree.
From in the streets there could be heard the songs of harps well-strung
and on the rooftops could be seen the lamps of silver, hung.
A joyous place for ponykind, free of dark and cold
a thousand fountains lined the streets that into pools flowed.
A queen there sat on slender throne with starlight in her eyes,
A mighty palace hewn from stone, rose high to pierce the skies.
This city will forever bloom as flowers in the sun,
the lovely town of silver towers, loved by everyone!

I found my legs weakening as the slender and beautiful voice echoed throughout the hall. The song was filled with a joy so great that Pinkie Pie herself would be burst into tears. The words were mixed with a great happiness and all the Alicorns in the hall gave a great cheer upon its completion.

As the song concluded the silver Alicorn rose into the air above the crowd, to meet him rose another Alicorn. At first I thought it was the princess but I quickly discovered it was not as I crept closer. This Alicorn was...greater by far. She practically glowed with power and grace and her mane was like the princesses but her coat was of gold and power and strength were in her eyes in equal measure as beauty and loveliness. I nearly swooned just looking at her!

Then great claps of thunder rocked the chamber. The two flying Alicorns began sending forth blinding sprays of magic that dazzled the crowd of god-like ponies. Great bursts of magic came forth and manifested themselves in many shapes and forms, shifting with the need to get the advantage in the struggle. As the powers struggled the two Alicorns came at each other, their shields impacting off the others as rainbow sparks flew in every direction. Eventually the mare Alicorn's magic won out and came upon the silver Alicorn, but he was ready. A spell came upon the magical beasts that had beset him and they sprang around and back at the other Alicorn. She had obviously not expected this and one broke her shield as she flew back, one of the silver Alicorn's beams hitting her in her leg.

The room broke into a gasp as she was hit, yet calmed down when it had no effect. The beautiful Alicorn hovered in midair, smiling, proud of the silver Alicorn's accomplishment as a great burst of power came from her horn, the silver Alicorn's own magic betraying him, wrapping him up and sending him to the floor.

The room cheered as the female Alicorn lowered herself to the floor, the magic binding the silver Alicorn fading. Smiling, she helped him up with her wings and they both took a bow as the crowd cheered shouting:

Kera! Kera! Praise be her might!

I couldn't help but clap my hooves along with them at the wondrous display I had just witnessed. I had never in my life seen such a display of magic as I had just witnessed. The rainbow of colors and spells that clashed there astounded me as the magical energy fell to the floor, it's mere presence making my body tingle to the touch; though I wasn't even really there.

“You actually laid a hit on her!” the princess yelled, utter surprise in her voice.

“Yes I did, but it had no effect.” her silver friend answered, his face overcome with disappointment.

“What is with this sorrow my friend? Nopony ever had accomplished such a feat as thou! You should be proud!” she seemed very adamant.

The silver Alicorn let out a loud sigh, “Indeed, if only this land offered me more, I might one day prevail against thy mother.”

“What more could thou desire?” she asked, her smile fading, “Thou has me and mine! We have each other a-and we together, we can...we can accomplish anything!” she puffed out her chest and slammed her hoof on it in a show of determination.

The silver Alicorn's face evened out, “Indeed my friend. We are still young and there is still much time for my power to grow.”

“That's not quite what I meant.” the princess said sweetly, blushing slightly.

“What else could thou have meant?” he said earnestly.

She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, sighing, “Come, I hath discovered a patch of roses that change scents as the day turns to night and I wish to show thee.” she said, keeping her face down and grabbing her friend by his wing and pulling him.

I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. She had obviously developed feelings for this silver Alicorn of hers yet was too afraid to tell him. At least I eventually told Enyi how I felt, even if that romance was short lived. But the silver Alicorn just seemed a bit too dense to figure out how she felt, I think. Actually thinking about it better, in the last memory she mentioned they had been together at least a century(wow) and if that were true no way this guy didn't at least suspect. He obviously liked her, that was obvious; but why wouldn't he just get with her already!? And once again something about this Alicorn princess seemed just so familiar, but I just couldn't place it and it was itching my brain. As I thought all of this the scene faded away and yet another appeared(Twilight had to take multiple drinks to get multiple memories, why am I seeing so much from one drink?).

*****

When I came to I was in a smaller chamber, a bedchamber in fact, the princesses bedchamber in total fact(I couldn't help but blush at some of the stuff I saw in there...no I'm not telling). The princess, whose name I still didn't even know, was there, pacing frantically back and forth, a small letter on her nightstand.

“Should I tell him tonight?” she mumbled to herself in her lovely voice. “I must, I must, I must...nay, he will think it too forward.” she continued to pace.

What was she talking about? I went up and took a look at the small letter that sat on the nightstand, it had a...heart on it....holy sweet Celestia, she was going to tell him!

“Come on now, I am four hundred years old, I have lived the lifetimes of many ponies, this shalt be easy.” I heard her mumble, trying to convince herself she could do it.

“Come on princess! You can do it!” I cheered, quickly realizing that she could not hear and so my cheering was pointless which made me blush in embarrassment before I realized that my embarrassment was pointless because again, there was nopony here but me.

She continued to pace back and forth, sweating and nervously mumbling to herself as she went. I wanted her to just go and do it already, then possibly, do him(my mind has become somewhat dirty of late hasn't it...I blame Jackpot).

“Come on princess, I believe in you!” I had become strangely invested in this princesses story, maybe because I had literally just watched her grow up to be...four hundred...damn.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” She shouted. “I shall go and tell him now!”

Hell yeah!

The letter was wrapped within a silver aura as the princess galloped down the hallway. I followed her as fast as I could, only just barely being able to keep up with her love-powered frolicking. She ran like the wind through many wonderfully decorated corridors. Hallways more beautiful than I could even describe as I was almost lost in wonder at some of them. This palace we were in was truly something to behold.

The princess ran for about fifteen full minutes(damn this castle is big) before stopping at a large, dark blue door that had constellations carved onto it. The door actually kind of reminded me of that one puzzle in Greywing's tomb but I was too busy watching the princess for that to be more than a passing thought.

She quickly used her magic to fix her mane, straighten out the feathers on her wings and smooth her coat down before putting on the biggest smile she could. She took her hoof and slowly knocked on the door. The anticipation slowly built up in me as I watched her. She could totally do this! She would totally do this!

She knocked on the door again...no answer. Celestia fuck me with her horn the suspense was fucking killing me! She knocked a third time...no answer. Dude! A sexy-ass princess is knocking on your door wanting to literally hook up with you...why aren't you answering!? The answer to my query came as Terria slowly opened the door, the room was empty.

“Oh no, where could he be?” she mumbled to herself as she slowly entered the room.

This palace was huuuuge, her silvery crush could be anywhere and I wanted to see her get to him dammit!

The princess slowly entered his room, looking around for any clue as to where he might have gone. I entered after her, looking around myself as if in some effort to help her find the clue she was looking for. I rummaged around for several minutes before I heard a slight gasp from the princess. I frantically turned around to see her, there was a small table in the center of the room, the light of a fireplace the only way to see. On this table was a letter, sealed with the princesses cutie mark. She tenderly picked up the letter, opened it and began to read. I almost wanted to look and see what it said but this was probably private and with the odd familiarity I felt with the princess I felt that I shouldn't intrude. After but a few moments the letter dropped and the princess fled the room crying and dropping her own letter on the ground.

“Princess wait!” I called out in vain, but she was long gone. I bent over, now curious as to what the letter she had read said and why she had fled in utter tears. Her friend was gone, he had flown over the sea and left her here, heartbroken. “I know how that feels.” I sighed, thinking of Enyi, “Except him leaving probably wasn't your fault.”

I suddenly felt that pain of guilt creep back into me. I felt the pain of Enyi leaving me again and the surge of empathy for the princess. The pony she had loved and cared about for so long had left her and it wasn't her fault. A few tears flowed down my face as I sat down in the room, alone, as the image faded and the final scene played before me.

*****

I stood on a grassy field, on one side was the land I had just spent what felt like a lifetime in and on the other side was the sea. Seabirds flew overhead, their piercing cries filled my ears, filling me with an odd sense of ease as they did so. Far off on the horizon the sun was beginning to rise, a cool breeze blew in from the wide blue sea as the princess, now fully grown and at her full stature slowly walked up from behind me.

“Princess?” I said, once again trying in vain for her to hear me. She had become beautiful, extremely so, even since the last memory just minutes before. She was at her full stature and was even slightly taller than Celestia herself, her raven hair still holding what seemed like the infinite folds and recesses of the wandering stars of the great cosmos. Her coat, white as ivory(yes I saw the irony) glistened in the rays of the early sunrise.

I followed her towards the great cliffs that separated the land from the sea. They were, of course, beautiful as the cliffs were dotted with emeralds and sapphires that shone brightly as the light of the rising sun fell bright upon them. Her face was so unimaginably beautiful but yet in her face was great sadness. I wanted to go and give her a hug but I couldn't touch her as this was all a dream.

Tears flowed from her eyes as she looked out over the rolling waves of the great sea. It was a peaceful morning, the day would be beautiful, but nowhere near as beautiful as the princess looked right now, even in her sorrow. She stood there as a solitary stone, strong and resolute, but lonely and enveloped in sadness.

“Why did he leave? Did he even ever like me?” she whispered to herself.

“Oh no, I'm gonna start crying now if you start.” I whimpered from behind her.

“Was I not good enough, or was he just always like that and I never saw it.” she let out a small, depressed laugh, “Thou foolish girl, cursed to love one who shall never love you back.” she was crying now yet no whimper escaped her lips, even in her greatest sorrow, she was ever graceful and strong. She seemed so different now than how she seemed even in the last memory. Much time had passed and she wore her burdens on her face which had matured and grown wiser as she did. Then as if a chorus of divines had descended on the earth and sounded off, she began to sing:

I once was young and full of pride
but you I wanted by my side.
We traveled near, we traveled far
but now I know not where you are.
The road of life goes ever on
but my heart aches since you are gone.
On that day you stole my heart
then cruel fate pulled us apart,
the endless seas between us lay
but I know I'll see you one day.
And though you might not feel as I
my feelings they will never die.
The final verse, the words are few,
all that's left is I love you.

Within her song and within her words was a sorrow that reached the depths of the sea, a sadness greater than the infinity of the stars. I cried as she did, I felt as she did and all of the hatred I had felt before melted away, replaced with a sadness and empathy that I had never felt before in my life. This story had affected me, it made me happy and sad and I felt as though I now knew those two ponies extremely well, despite not even knowing their names. I looked back up at the princess, her gaze was towards the sky, a single star remained in the twilight of the dawn, blazing bright even as the sun rose around it. That star was extinguished as the light of the sun finally faded its brilliance from the sky. She had loved him as I loved Enyi and something deep down told me that her story already had an ending and that is was not a happy one. But also within me was lit a hope, a hope that, with the right choices, I could find Enyi and somehow make up for what I had done.

There was something else in her words as well. I couldn't put my hoof on it but something about what I had just seen and heard rang throughout my mind as important somehow. Why or how it was important eluded me but the feeling was now firmly placed in my mind.

As I stood there, watching the princess stand there, on the shore of the sea I felt I knew what I needed to do and what I was going to do. Sable Granite still needed to be stopped and after this I knew he would be heading back to Equestria.

“Farewell, my valiant guardpony. May thou find the happiness I could never give to thee” the princess said softly.

I looked back to the princess one last time as she slowly turned slowly walked away from the cliff. Her face was bowed and solemn, tears still fell from her face and I now heard quiet sobs come from her lips. Her great wings stretched forth and she flew into the air, the breeze from her flight flying through my mane. As she disappeared over the horizon the vision faded and I was thrust back into my own time and world.

~~~ooo000ooo~~~

My eyes opened to Jackpot and Silver watching over me. My eyes were sore from the crying I had done while under the effects of the potion.

“Hey everyone!” Silver shouted, “Ivory's awake!”

“Silver, your late.” I said, remembering he had not arrived with Karfiso.

“Hehe” he chuckled awkwardly, “Those Zebra are pretty fast in this jungle and with my hurt wing and all...well let's just say I got a little lost.” he blushed a bit which I thought was cute.

Karfiso pushed his way next to me, “What did you see!? Speak!” he said sternly.

“Give the girl a minute, she was just crying a minute ago, who knows what that potion put her through.” Jackpot responded in equally stern voice.

“It's ok Jackpot.” I said as he helped me up onto my hooves. I told everyone around me what I had seen and felt as I watched the life of the princess and her guardpony.

“Unfortunate that you saw nothing useful.” Karfiso sighed.

“Well I for one found it wonderfully interesting.” Silver said back to him.

As we continued to discuss the visions one of Karfiso's Socotra galloped up to him and began to whisper strange words I didn't understand into his ear. Karfiso nodded his head and in one swift motion leapt onto the wall and gazed upwards. Out of the mist of the post rainstorm jungle flew Hero with Angela Apple still riding on her back. They landed near the inside base of the wall and I could see that one of Hero's legs was in a sling. Her claw had been recently bleeding and her scales and mane were covered in dirt, grime and other foul things I didn't want to know about.

“Lady Hero, welcome to the victory party.” Karfiso said gleefully.

“Ah, there you are Karfi, and I see you have little Ivory with you, that's good.” she said, smiling.

“My name is Karfiso.” said Karfiso.

“Sureyeahwhatetever.” Hero said as Angela hopped off of her back. Hero then walked right over to where I was and leaned over to me, “Good to see you’re still kicking. Doesn't look like you got all the bad guys though.”

“Goldie is gone but Sable is still out there.” I said, disappointed by my failure yet eager to set out and end all of this.

“Well then, do we got sum news fer ya!” Angela said, smiling wide as Hero cleared her throat to continue.

“I just got this, came right over when I finished reading it.” Hero handed me a parchment covered in writing. “It's from Pish Posh.”

I took hold of the note in my hooves and began to read the letter:

Dear Hero,

I think you might be interested in knowing that several days after I asked Ivory to head to Khaweth by means of our station, several unfortunate events occurred here in Equestria. As per your request I made it my goal of keeping track of the various relics and artifacts Ms. Star retrieved during her continuation of Grit's final mission and a new development has occurred. These very artifacts were indeed reported to various institutions for their general safe-keeping but now I have received reports that these very items have now all been reported missing. There have been no signs of forced entry or the usual indications of a run of the mill robbery. It is my suspicion that these items were targeted intentionally and their locations are currently unknown.

“Well, we're fucked.” I moaned.

“What's it say?” Jackpot asked.

“Sable has all the artifacts.” my will gave out and I just fell flat down on the ground, face-planting in the mud.

“Oh my.” Silver gasped, covering his mouth with his hoof.

“If he can take control of the Darkness all of Equestria is going to be fucked right over a barrel.” I mumbled from my spot on the ground.

“What did you say?” Karfiso interrupted, his face suddenly gravely serious.

“Well it turns out that Abila's helmet is part of an earlier set of the elements of harmony and Sable Granite is planning on using them to somehow take control of the ancient Darkness that destroyed the ancient Zebra Empire.”

“This would have been good to know.”

“Oh I'm sorry, I assumed you already knew everything. Guess I finally got something up on you.” I said, slightly depressed but with sarcasm.

“That actually might make it a bit easier for us.” Jackpot interjected.

How is our arch nemesis getting on the verge of victory with us a continent away and no idea where he is making it easier for us exactly?” I retorted.

“Oh come on now Ives, you're smart enough to figure that one out. Hell, even I know where to go next.”

“Wait, what! How do you know?” I asked, confused.

“Well this Darkness is supposed to be some big bag..thing, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, where does Equestria put all of the biggest and baddest things in it's history?”

“What are you...Tartarus!” that took me longer to realize than I would ever admit to anypony else.

“Ding.” Jackpot said in a mocking tone that made me blush in embarrassment.

“A good thought but are we sure it's right? I mean despite how often Tartarus had been used nopony really knows everything about it.” Silver worried.

“Honestly, we really don't have anything else to go on and it's probably our best bet.” I sighed. “We need to collect Scarlet and then head over to Tartarus.”

“But Tartarus is protected by all kinds of magical seals and locks, nopony simply walks into Tartarus.” Silver said.

“I'm hoping that gives us the time to get there before Sable gets in and finds this Darkness.” I said hopefully.

“I expect you to return once you acquire the crown.” Karfiso added as we began to walk away.

“Don't worry your striped little flank, “I said, waving him off, “Right now all I want is for all of this to be over.”

I still couldn't say for certain what I planned to do about this whole imprisonment thing but Karfiso had given enough clues to tell me it was not going to be a permanent thing. I didn't entirely feel comfortable about being kept in the dark, in fact it quite annoyed me, but Karfiso was not the kind of Zebra you messed with so I simply kept my mouth shut as I took my friends to go and get Scarlet before we went to confront Sable Granite.

*****

“Oh Ivory, Jackpot, Silver! Your all ok! Thank Celestia!” Scarlet Aloe exclaimed as she ran up to hug Jackpot, then me, then Silver. Her eyes had some pretty deep sags beneath them, she had obviously been up for quite some time and was completely exhausted.

I looked around the large tent she was in as Zebra doctors rushed back and forth, caring for the nearly fifty wounded Zebra who lay on small mats on the ground. Their injured body parts were covered in strange goos and fungi that looked fairly disgusting yet I was certain they had some healing properties.

“Your leg! Oh dear let me help!” Scarlet yelped as she laid me down on a small mat before rubbing her stained hoof through a jar of the goo. She lathered it on my hurt hoof(it was the. Most. Disgusting. Thing. Ever!) and almost immediately she laid her horn on the goo. Her horn glowed red as a small light bathed the goo and it hardened into a cast and the pain dissipated.

“Wow, what is this stuff?” I asked in bewilderment.

“These Zebras are quite clever. This is a special ointment they made for healing damaged bones and if I combine it with a little magic it actually stimulates the plant ingredients to act as a sort of...super charged healing spell.”

“That's down right impressive.” Jackpot said, his eyes glued to the glowing cast on my hoof.

“Thank you Jackpot!” Scarlet smiled, “In only a few days I've already learned so much from these doctors, I'll have to come back one day and get myself some of this stuff.”

“Don't worry Scarlet,” I said, sighing once again, “We'll be back before too long.”

“Oh..yes I suppose your right.” she said sadly.

“Well anyway, enough of that. We've got a possible lead on Sable Granite and we'll need you to keep looking after my leg until we get there.” I said.

“Also my wing will still need some work.” Silver stated.

Scarlet let out a smile, “Of course! I'm here to help!”

The Zebra doctors let Scarlet take a full jar of the goo ointment with her as thanks for her help in the medical tent. Karfiso even gave us some food as I quickly realized that I had not eaten in some time and I was absolutely starving. Angela even sold(ever the salespony) me a new saddlebag for one bit(maybe not so much) as we filled them with anything we might need and were allowed to take from the Zebra camp. Silver, ever the prepared one, had a boat ready for us to leave in when we were ready. I was not too entirely keen on boarding the boat but I knew we had to get back to Equestria fast so I steeled my stomach and stepped aboard.

“We never got to see Enyi.” Scarlet pointed out as the boat set out.

“At least he's safe for now.” I said, relieved once more that he had not been hurt according to Karfiso. “I hope that by doing this he may one day want to talk to me again.”

“You really love him, don't you.” Scarlet said softly.

“I think so. He's like my own little guardpony.” I chuckled to myself but Scarlet didn't seem to get it.

Sable Granite

Chapter 18: Sable Granite

The doors to Tartarus stood open. All around us were the twisted gnarls of low growing plants that were common to the area. The sky was a bit overcast, hiding the noonday sun and darkening the area in cloud cover. I growled quietly as I realized that Sable must have already gotten inside and was probably making his way into the darkest recesses of Tartarus where the Darkness no doubt lay imprisoned.

“He'd have to get past that guard dog right?” Scarlet whimpered a bit as she poked her head over the rock we were currently hiding behind.

“You mean Cerberus?” Jackpot clarified.

“Yeah, him.” Scarlet weirdly enough seemed to calm at the mention of the big, scary, three headed dog monster that was famous for guarding the gates to Tartarus.

“Well, at least we know we picked the right place.” Silver whispered to me from over my shoulder.

“I don't see any guards or anything.” I said, getting somewhat nervous at that, “Either he came with a small group or maybe Cerberus did get them.”

“Cerberus is just an overgrown puppy.” Jackpot nickered, “He couldn't stop a little filly from getting in and out of here after all.”

“That was a long time ago Jackpot. Maybe he's gotten better?” Scarlet was doing her very best to try and keep herself, and us, calm in this situation.

We couldn't stay there discussing it for long, however, and we needed to get moving before Sable could get too far into Tartarus. We didn't want him to start releasing prisoners after all, especially the one we knew he was here to release.

“Come on guys, let's go.” I said, hopping over the rock and making my way to the open doors of pony hell.

Of all the places I had been the last few months, I had to say that Tartarus was not one a place I could ever have imagined myself willingly going into. Yet here I was, about to enter the pit that contained more evil than anywhere else in Equestria or the world for all I knew. The only noises I heard was the sound of jackpot nervously sipping on his cider flasks and then the sound of myself following suite as we neared the open gate. You can't really blame me for needing some liquid encouragement, this is Tartarus after all. Celestia only knows what kind of fucked up, horrid, hideous abominations I was about to see by trotting through the open gate and yet here I was, about to enter that place.

A couple of months ago I would have killed to be able to come here and snoop around, but a couple of months ago I was stupid. For the briefest of moments my body simply stopped me from moving forward, some voice deep in my head was shouting at me to turn around and run away from this place. It would be so easy to run away somewhere where Karfiso and his Zebras could never find me or at least, couldn't find me until all of this artifact smuggling and Family business went away. Yes, the voice shouting at me to do this was growing each time I took a pained hoofstep forward; my body slowing with each inch until I had stopped.

I craned my head back to look at my friends, maybe if they didn't want to go in I might be able to use that to convince myself to turn around. I had no such comfort; Jackpot looked like his usual confident self, Scarlet was definitely scared but in her eyes I saw an eagerness and determination as she carefully kept watch over the others, and Silver wasn't difficult to read at all, he wanted to go in. I knew that look, it was the look I got whenever I was reading a Dash Venture book, it was a look that yearned for excitement, it was a look that could make anypony follow him on an adventure. It made sense though, he was a fan of Dash Venture and of Grit, just the same as I was. It gave me a slight internal laugh at just how the same he looked now from when I first met him in the A.I library and then at Joe's when he joined us. I really couldn't say I had kept my bright eyed look through all of this but he had. I suppose he didn't go through all the shit I had to but he saw most of it or heard the rest. Yes, I remembered his look well, even if I hadn't sported it in some time. I wonder if I would ever have that look on my face again, a look that shows just how much a pony loves what they're doing. Maybe...maybe when I see Enyi again. Maybe if I could just talk to him, explain everything, maybe he would understand and then we could work through it. Celestia and Luna dammit! Either way, there really was no turning back now and after seeing the looks on my friends faces I was ready to go in and finish this. Sable Granite was in there and soon so would we.

I was the first to enter the large cavern that made up the entrance to Tartarus. Empty cages lay scattered about the sides of the cavern, reminders of prisoners past that had either been released or moved deeper into Tartarus.

If I've ever been somewhere completely horrifying yet entirely fascinating it was Tartarus. From the dying flora around the great gates to the dark and foreboding stones that made up the interior; I was simultaneously terrified and excited. My body seemed to chill as I passed through the gate and into the great, dark cavern. The air was cold and empty, a dreading sense of despair and loneliness almost overcame me as I gazed into the great expanse that was the entrance to the most dreaded place in Equestria. I shivered as I took a few steps more inside as thoughts of the horrors that were entombed here dominated my thoughts. The others in my group, even Jackpot, seemed hesitant to follow me in but once Silver merrily hopped inside the others followed.

The first place I looked was the prison of Tirek, not because he was still there but because it was something I had always kind of wanted to see. Tirek, along with many other prisoners, had been moved deeper into the caves many years ago but as a pony who knew her history, the spot where Tirek was first imprisoned allowed me to anchor myself in a subject I knew and was familiar with, history. The knowledge that princess Twilight and her friends had been here as well as Grit in one of his adventures lent me some comfort as the emptiness of the underworld flooded my consciousness. It took only another second for me to find Cerberus, or I should say to hear him, his snoring I mean. He was laying not far off from the great pit that led to the deep parts of Tartarus, a magically self-playing harp by his side to keep him asleep.

“Guess we know how Sable got past Cerberus.” Silver said quietly as we passed.

“How is that harp playing on it's own?” Scarlet worried.

“Magic.” Jackpot answered bluntly.

“Well I know that!” Scarlet nickered, “I mean how would Sable be able to do that?”

“He or somepony who works for him must have magic then.” Jackpot once again showed his bluntness.

I turned back to them and did my best to shush them up, “If Cerberus wakes up I don't think he'll be too happy to see us, so stay quiet.” I whispered.

Luckily Cerberus was off to the side of the chamber so sneaking past him wasn't that big of a deal, the bad part was that the only was to go deeper into Tartarus was to trot down a very narrow track that swerved down the cliff that edged the rear of the massive prison chamber.

“Easy, Silver and I will just fly you two down there!” Jackpot boasted as we stood at the edge of the black pit.

“Take a look down there Jackpot.” Silver said, pointing his wing down into the cavern.

Jackpot strutted his way over to the edge of the pit and casually looked down into the abyss. His face turned pale as a cold wind suddenly swept up from the darkness, making his eyes go wobbly as he suddenly lost his balance and fell over onto his flank.

“Wha-what.” Jackpot mumbled as his eyes rolled around on his face.

“Magic.” Silver stated, “To prevent anything down there from flying up. If you want to get out, you got to take the path, oh and don't look down. Makes it easier to catch escapees that way.”

“And just exactly how did you know this anti-flying magic existed anyway.” Jackpot said as Scarlet came over and helped him get up onto his wobbly hooves.

“Oh, it was in Dash Venture and-”

“The Skull of Corruption!” I said in unison with Silver.

“How did I forget about that. Grit came here once and tried flying down the pit and almost died when he realized he couldn't.” I slapped my hoof in my face as I remembered the plotline to one of Grit's earlier books.

“Yup, when you stare down into the abyss for too long it just sucks you in.” Silver said as he trotted over to the recovering Jackpot.

“Pretty profound coming from you.” Jackpot responded as he threw his wing around Silver's back in a friendly gesture.

“Thank-hey!” Jackpot just chuckled and when Silver gave me and Scarlet a 'help me' face we each gave a friendly giggle to go along with Jackpot. Silver rolled his eyes before joining in on the group giggle as we started down the winding path into the dark, careful not to look into the dark abyss as Jackpot had.

*****

Once you got used to it, Tartarus wasn't that bad. Sure the air was constantly heavy, dark, cold, oppressive and a whole slew of other words, but it got somewhat bearable the longer you spent in it. The pathway down into the dark pit went surprisingly fast only to give way to a maze of empty tunnels that seemed to go on forever. I swear, if Sable Granite is down here then he must be miserably lost because that's just what it seems to me right now.

There was very little light, only being enough to see that the tunnels kept going. There were several points where the path diverged and not wanting to split up in the literal underworld we came down to just randomly picking directions and going down them. Jackpot was always sniffing at the air or staring at the walls and floor as we went on and suggested paths that he either had a good feeling about or smelled not horrible. I didn't know what he was talking about most of the time so I would just nod and agree with him(he did have a knack for this kind of thing after all). Scarlet spent most of her time jerking her head back and forth at every perceived sound of hint of movement that wasn't one of us. With her though, I agreed that something seemed a bit off as every so often I would hear what sounded like heavy hoofsteps of flapping wings in the distance. Neither Jackpot or Silver were flying and Scarlet's and my own hoofsteps weren't near that loud so the constant feeling of being followed and watched constantly itched at the back of my neck. Nopony talked either, Scarlet was probably too scared and Jackpot was so focused on finding a way through the tunnels he barely paid the rest of us any attention. Silver kept at Jackpot's back and watched him carefully as he sorted out where we would head. And I just wanted to get through this and get everything over with, one way or another.

“There!” Jackpot suddenly shouted. “I saw something move down that passageway.” He quickly lifted off with his wings and flew over to the entrance of an adjoining passage to the one we were on.

This reminded me too much of Greywing's tomb and the spiders that had stalked us in it's own dark halls. This time though there were no spiders but some unknown thing that just seemed to follow us, or we were following it, or something. Either way, that was not an experience I particularly wanted to go through again so a different path was suggested along with a hope that whatever that was would just leave us alone.

“What if Sable already released the Darkness thing and it's stalking us?” Scarlet trembled.

“If something that powerful was released I think we would feel something, evil magic or the like, right?” Silver said, his head looking around us as he spoke.

“Well this place hardly feels wholesome and friendly.” I added as Jackpot stopped to inspect several hallways that shot out of the side of our own.

“You know Scarlet, some magical light would be great right about now.” Silver said as he squinted his eyes through the dim cave.

“I've been trying you know.” Scarlet nickered, a bit upset. “My magic seems to be a bit on the fritz right now.”

“So, magic doesn't work in deep Tartarus?” I pondered, “Makes sense I guess, wouldn't want the especially dangerous prisoners using it to escape.”

“Don't you dare leave me behind again.” Scarlet said, almost harshly but with a small whine in her voice. I didn't hold it against her, though there really was nowhere to leave her behind in here anyway.

It took me a few seconds but I remembered what Hero had said about Scarlet back in Marewaukee. She had apparently, according to Hero, been sent to the town of Money because no hospital wanted her on their staff(a great loss for them if her progress now is anything to show for it). Then what friends she was able to make on the island were killed by Goldie(I could understand that feeling) leaving her with nopony and nowhere to go. On second thought that's why she joined us, leaving her behind in Khaweth must have hurt her more than she let on.

“Shh!” Jackpot shushed us. “I feel some airflow coming from up ahead.” he whispered, signaling us with his wing to follow.

When he wanted to Jackpot could be very quiet, his wings flapping soundlessly as he slowly floated down the hallway ahead of us. It wasn't long before I felt a very weak rush of cold air pass through my mane. Scarlet squeaked a bit at how cold it was but her reaction only verbalized what I felt like doing. The passageway ended when we entered a large chamber with only a narrow strip of hanging rocks between us and another endless black pit. The bridge went straight across the chasm, expanded into a large platform in the center, then returned to being narrow as it reached the other side of the room. We decided to take a short break on the central platform while we caught our breath and discussed what our plan should be. As soon as we reached the center of the bridge however, I spotted the thing that had been following us, or more accurately I saw it's silhouette as it glided near the top of the dark cavern.

“Look, there it is again.” I pointed up towards the ceiling as the flying shape quickly flew across the chamber and towards the exit on the other side of the room.

“Is it Sable!” Silver shouted as Jackpot suddenly leapt up and towards the shape, his wings beating as hard as he could trying to catch the shape.

I almost lost Jackpot in the darkness as he and the shape danced around the dark ceiling as he tried to catch it. The shape proved quite slippery though as whenever I thought I saw Jackpot get near it, it would just pivot in the air and evade him. A few seconds later the shape disappeared altogether and Jackpot returned to the platform frustrated at his failure.

“I can't believe it got away from you.” Scarlet gasped in disbelief.

“What was it? Did you get a good look at it?” I asked, kind of scared but kind of excited at the same time(scaredcited? No that sucks).

“It certainly wasn't a pony, I'll tell ya that.” Jackpot huffed as he caught his breath. “I didn't get a good look at it but it was a bit bigger than a pony and whatever it was it had better eyesight than me. Could barely see my muzzle in front of my face up there.”

Hey, do you guys hear something?” Silver asked suddenly.

“Hear wha-” I started to say before my ears caught what he most likely heard, quickly followed by my eyes seeing what it was.

“Boulder!” Jackpot shouted as he quickly dashed to dodge the massive boulder that had suddenly smashed into the platform we stood on.

The boulder was massive, at least five times my size, and it smashed right onto the platform we stood on over the abyss. The ground cracked and Scarlet found herself loosing her hoofing and tumbling over the edge. Jackpot swept down to save her while I leapt over to help. When I hit the ground it gave way and now I found myself falling into the pit. I could only let out a scream as the ground disappeared from under me and I found myself falling into a bottomless pit. Luckily Silver swept over with his own wings to try and grab me but he was not as strong as Jackpot and when he neared me a falling rock hit his wing and knocked him off balance in the air.

“That wing just healed!” he screamed as he fell after me.

“Jackpot! Do something!” Scarlet yelled distantly as Silver and I fell farther and farther away.

There was no way Jackpot could have gotten to us, we had fallen too far and he had to find a safe place to put Scarlet down. I just kept falling and Silver fell right after me. Horrifying thoughts filled my head as I screamed bloody murder as I found myself being consumed by the black abyss.

“Jackpot! Jackpot! Scarlet! Scarlet!” I screamed as I flailed my legs around, vainly trying to latch onto something that wasn't there.

“Ivory! I'm here!” Silver yelled from a bit above me.

It was dark and I could only barely see his outline in the darkness. I saw the stone hit his wing so I knew he couldn't fly which, in my mind, left us pretty much dead; plus, I doubt he could fly in this anyway if the last pit was any indication.

“Fuckfuckfuckfuck! We're gonna die! We're gonna die! Luna! Celestia! Help!”

All I could do was scream as I quickly began to slip into panic. The endless black began to disorient me as some magic began to spin my head and eyes and I lost all sense of balance and self as I plunged, Silver at my side, into the dark pit. There was blackness and then there was blackness. This was the latter; everything seemed to just melt away as I fell. I had lost all sense of time anyway so after what felt like hours I lost all strength as my body went limp and my voice died. This time had to be it, there was no way I could get out of this, I was about to die here. If I didn't hit the ground then I would fall forever until I starved to death. Silver couldn't fly, even if he hadn't just hurt his wing again and....oh sweet Celestia, I'm about to fucking die!

“Scarlet, Jackpot...Grit, I'm...I'm sorry.” The last words I said before I lost consciousness amid the void.

*****

“Sable Granite!” I shouted as my body shot up from the cold, hard ground I was laying on. I was alone, my body was sore beyond belief and most importantly, I was lost. “I-I-I'm alive!?” I said with equal parts joy and confusion. “Wait! Silver!” I called out to no answer.

All I could do was slowly lift my aching body up from the ground. I looked around, seeing only blackness and some unnatural dim light that seemed to emanate from nowhere. There was a small hallway that sat at the end of the blackness, it was all I could see and so it would be my only option. At least one of my hooves had to be broken; whenever I tried to trot a searing pain would shoot through my leg and into my body. It took nearly all my strength to just hobble over to the passage and out of the dark room. It took some time as I was obviously slowed down by my broken hoof but I managed to make my way into the hall and down it until it opened into another large chamber. Here I saw Silver, standing straight up and staring at a massive gate, bound in writing I was far too disoriented to try and figure out.

“Silver?” I said weakly.

“Ivory! You're ok!” he said exuberantly as he galloped over and grabbed me in a tight hug. “You weren't moving and you didn't wake when I shook you. I-I thought you were...” he didn't finish.

“I think my front leg is broken.” I hissed as his hug began paining me greatly.

“O-o-oh sorry.” he apologized before letting go of me.

“Where are we?” I gasped, looking back up to the massive door that stood before us.

“It's that Pre-Celestial script. It's all over the door.” Silver answered, “Read it, maybe it will tell us.”

I just realized now that I didn't have my notes with me, “Damn Enyi. He took everything.” I immediately felt horrible for saying that but those notes would have come in very useful right about now.

Without the notes there was only so much I could remember about the language and this became very evident as I only was able to recognize a few of the words that were written on the door. I slapped my good hoof on my head, doing whatever I could to try and remember more but I just couldn't. I hadn't had nearly enough time with the language to actually learn it well enough that I didn't need my notes for a translation job as big as this. Despite this I didn't give up, All I could do was look at the words I did know and try and figure out the rest from context clues in the grammar and my own intuition.

“It looks like some kind of verse or, or-”

“A warning.” Silver finished my thought.

“Yeah.” I said, a bit surprised. “It's like some kind of spell or something. I can't make out the whole thing but I know the word for the Darkness and it's written all over this door.”

“So we're here then.” silver said solemnly. “This is it.”

I limped back a few steps, “Yup, looks like it. Prisoner zero, the great Darkness. At least we got here before Sable did.” as if that was some kind of consolation at this point. I realized that we really didn't have a way out of here and with my broken leg I was in no condition for climbing in the pitch darkness. All we could do right now was wait until th-

“That's not entirely true unfortunately.” A distant, familiar voice echoed from the dark, breaking me out of my train of thought.

“Huh? Wait, I know that voice.” I couldn't quite place it but the voice was definitely familiar. “Whose there!”

Suddenly a flapping noise came from up above me. The dark shape from earlier swept down from above me and landed not far from the massive gate to the prison of the Darkness. The shape was indeed not that of a pony, but a...a griffon?

“Patches?” I said in absolute and utter shock as the blue griffon I had met in Griffonstone stood before the gate. “W-what are you doing here?” I looked over to Silver whose expression had dropped to a stone cold look.

Indeed, before me stood the excitable little griffon who had led me to and through the tomb of Greywing. How she got here and how she was managing to fly so freely down here were beyond me. My first reaction was one of relief, to see somepon-someone whom I knew but that quickly fell away when I finally processed what she had said.

“Whoa! Ivory is that you!” Patches said in the same excitable voice I remembered her having, but now with a very obvious sarcasm to it. “It's been so long!”

“Huh?” My head was spinning at a million miles an hour as I stared at Patches.

“Come on now, I thought you were the smart on of your group.” patches sneered as I continued to stare at her.

“Wait, what!?” Is all I could still manage to say.

“Come on out everyone!” Patches called back into the darkness.

I turned my head as out of a second hallway that I had not seen came two more individuals. My eyes widened in utter shock as before me stood two more faces I recognized, Roose the yak and Doublehead the buffalo. My eyes frantically darted between the three creatures that stood before me, all with looks on their faces that were a far cry from what I remembered about them.

“Pony looks confused!” Roose bellowed as he entered the light. I could see that on his back were all six of the artifacts that had gone missing; the cape from Greywing, the spear of Bighorn, the other spear that Goldie had recovered, Aurora Solstice's staff, Whisperwind's shield and finally Abila's helmet.

I turned my head frantically towards Silver, a wild look in my eyes, “Silver, what are they all doing he-” I didn't need to finish to know. “Silver?” I said, almost whining as he passed my and headed towards the other group.

“I have to say that you did better than I thought you would Ivory dear.” Silver said, his tone of voice had changed dramatically.

“Silver?”

“That's not my name Ivory. Honestly I thought I gave it away with my name. I was certain you would piece it together at some point at the rate you were learning stuff.”

What was he talking about? What did he mean, figure what out? I knew the answer of course but coming to terms with it was another matter entirely.

“Silver Chaser, as in chasing down all of these artifacts, which are silver. Honestly Ivory, it's not that hard.” now he was just being patronizing.

But I wasn't paying much attention; I was just standing there, trying to balance on my bad leg, stunned and stupefied by what was going on in front of me. There's no way this was happening, there's no way this was real. This had to be some trick from Tartarus or something. Silver couldn't be Sable Granite, I talked to Sable while with Silver, well Enyi and Scarlet were with him. Then it dawned on me, Jackpot said he thought that the one we talked to on that radio wasn't Sable. Fucking dammit! What the hell was going on!?

“Well, if you're just going to stand there I think I'm going to open this gate now.” Silver said, motioning Roose with his wing to head towards the gate.

“Huh? What, no stop! Silver what's going on? You can't open that gate! You know what's on the other side!”

“Keep up Ivory, that's why I had you gather these artifacts for me.”

“The fuck!” I was still too stunned to move(plus my leg).

“The first Elements of Harmony Ivory Star. They will both open the door and let me control the power that sits on the other side.” Silver said as Roose laid down the six artifacts in front of the gate.

“You can't!” I shouted as I tried to hobble my way over but was stopped when Patches landed in front of me, blocking my path. “What's going on Silver? What was all of this for?” I was so entirely confused, nothing seemed to be making any sense.

My brain began to spin even more now. Everything that had happened now became both clearer and more perplexing with each passing second. If Silver was Sable than why had he been helping me, why did he free Jackpot on Mt. Everhoof, why did he get me to Khaweth to fight Goldie? Possibility after possibility flooded my mine, each one making less sense than the last. His plan would make no sense by helping me. If wanted the power of the darkness to control Equestria for the family then why team up with the pony trying to stop it and fight against your own organization? It just didn't make any sense and it made my head hurt as well as making me angry that I couldn't get it.

Silver motioned for Patches to move which she did. Silver slowly trotted up over to me, standing right in front of me and looking me straight in the eye.

“You've been such a big help Ivory. I suppose I could give you a bit of an explanation.” he turned back around and faced the gate again, “When I saw you in that library all those months ago I knew I saw some potential in you.”

Oh shit, Silver was Sable! Silver....had....Grit...killed.

“I'll try not to monologue too much but I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with you. You almost figured out my plan and no doubt you're trying to make sense of it even now. You see, the truth is that I don't actually want the Darkness to rule Equestria for the Family; I want to use the Darkness to destroy the Family.”

I could hardly breath. My mouth was hanging open, everything made less sense, my brain just couldn't process this anymore.

“Y-you ordered Grit...you had him ki...” I mumbled but Silver seemed to understand.

“That wasn't part of the plan. I was going to offer a partnership with him but I suppose the others grew a bit suspicious of me.”

“B-but you...you lead the Family, you're their leader and you...”

“We all have our masters Ivory. Remember, there were three heads to the Family. Grit beat one branch years ago, I'm in charge of the second and the third is still out there and believe me when I say that they make me look like a saint.”

“W-why?” I barely muttered.

Silver sighed, “Why do I want to destroy the very organization I help lead? Why Ivory, I'm not going to tell you. Understand that my reasons are personal and also understand the Grit's death was not what I wanted. I would have loved for him to be on my side but the other family head saw right through me and took that option right out.” as Silver said this I could see his teeth grit as a hint of anger filled his voice. “Now, I'm more determined than ever to see this through.”

“That doesn't explain anything. Why all of this? Why Goldie?”

“Goldie was a threat, she was loyal to the Family and not to me, no matter how hard I tried to change that. You saw how dangerous she was and in the end she managed to sniff me out and figure that I was trying to hurt her precious Family. I had to get rid of her and you and Jackpot seemed like the best bet to me. Plus I thought that giving you Goldie on a silver platter would help you to reconsider my offer.”

“Offer?”

“To join me of course. The one who offered it to you on Mt. Everhoof may not have had the luxury of telling you everything but the offer was genuine. With your help and the power that lies behind this door we can destroy the Family before they do something truly horrible.”

“Horrible? Like what?”

Silver hung his head down and shook it slowly, “I don't know. They've been planning something for decades but what it is I don't know. They're the main branch of the Family, they lead everything but I doubt their plan will be ready for several decades at least and I wanted to get a head start in foiling them.”

I had to force myself to calm down but I think I was beginning to understand. Silver never planned on helping the Family so I guess he had me and Goldie looking for the artifacts to simply find them faster. Then when Goldie discovered his plan he had me take her out to remove her threat and show me his words were genuine. I mean, Silver was the one who sent me to that restricted room in the library. It's almost as if he knew...what was in there....dammit.

“I don't care.” I said.

“Excuse me?” Silver said, a bit surprised sounding.

“I don't care about your reasons, you killed Grit, hurt all those innocent ponies and zebras, I'll never want to help you. How do you even know if you can control the Darkness, you know how powerful it is. Everything I've ever heard about it says it's the most powerful thing ever.”

Silver chuckled to himself and the other three joined.

“My dear Ivory, if the Darkness was truly so great it couldn't have been beaten and imprisoned now could it.”

Damn that made sense.

“It's all here, written on this door.” Silver fanned his wing out, moving my attention to the great gate that served as the greatest prison in Tartarus.

“What do you mean?” I asked, now both disgusted and curious.

“Remember those notes on translating the script I gave you? Well I may have lied bit. You see I've had the language translated for some time now. Grit did help me with it, even if he didn't know exactly why. It allowed me to translate these words here and what they say is quite interesting. So when I saw you researching that bracelet you have on I saw in you a pony that I could use to replace Grit. So you could say I pointed you in the right direction to see if you were up to the challenge.”

“What does the text say?” My brain just wouldn't let me not ask that question.

“It's an instruction manual. It tells how one can control the Darkness and exactly how to do it:

Hence comes an era of darkness and greed
but ancient power doth hold thy need.
Symbols of light and strength do hold
the memories of legends, heroes of old.

Six there were and six there are before the door of dark shall mar:
One crown for the Zebra to save her race,
One staff for the sorceress to earn her place,
One cloak for Gryphon whose heart is shown,
One shield for Pegasus with no fear known,
Two spears for friends whose strength is clear,
One heart from one who held them dear.
Together their strength it can hold fast, a terror greater than powers past,
A power which in earth it hides, In Tartarus where the darkness lies.

“The text refers to these artifacts, weapons used to bind and control the very Darkness itself.” Silver now had an almost aura of dread around him. “The first Elements of Harmony, the greatest power known to ponykind, or any kind for that matter.” as Silver spoke Roose and Doublehead had been arranging the artifacts before the door. “It also refers to me, it's destiny that I should control this power and use it to make the world a better place.”

“You're delusional!” I shouted angrily.

“Am I? Remember my company logo, it's the same as my cutie mark. Three lines combining into one, surrounded by a triangle, it's a peace sign. I'm meant to bring peace to Equestria and this is how I'm meant to do it.”

I did notice one thing in Silver's prophecy though, he missed something. There was a line he said, One heart from one who held them dear. He was missing something, an artifact or something else needed for them to work. The modern Elements of Harmony needed all of them together to work properly and these probably operated in a similar way. I didn't know what it was but if he tried to release the Darkness without every piece then it would either not work or the most evil thing in history would be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

“Silver wait!” I shouted.

“I'm done talking Ivory. I'll ask you once more, join me and I'll tell you everything. I've told you this much to show you that I'm genuine. I really do want what's best for Equestria and this will help me destroy the Family. Think about it, we can avenge Grit, end the violence in Khaweth and make sure whatever the Family is planning never comes to pass. You would be a big help.”

Thinking about it he had a point. His actions suggested at least some of what he said was true. The bad leadership shown among his forces at Khaweth began to make sense; kill as many of the Family as possible and have the rest arrested and Silver did leave to 'deal with an emergency'.

This was insane! How could I even consider working with somepony like him. The things he's done and had done are completely evil. He had Grit killed, he had Grit Killed! There was no way I could trust him in any capacity, I don't care what he says. Not to mention the years of having Grit do all those horrible things that have now nearly destroyed his legacy.

But what if he was telling the truth? What if there really was an even more dangerous piece of the Family out there that he was trying to stop for whatever reason. To have planned all this out he had to be smart so maybe he did know what he was doing? Silver wanted me to believe what he was doing was for some greater good but what he was doing was still dangerous and wrong. All of the hatred I had for Sable, coupled with the feelings of betrayal and confusion I now felt had bubbled out and now was creeping into my mind. Everything that had gone wrong with my life over the past months had been because of him. This is a pony who would order hundreds killed if his insane logic could justify it to himself, there was no way I could join somepony like that. A pony like him could never wield the Elements, even if they were only former elements. He had somehow deluded himself into thinking he could and because of the he was going to doom Equestria.

I spit at him, “I could never work for a pony like you! You hurt so many others, you don't care if innocents get hurt in your insane plan. You read Dash Venture, remember what happens every time somepony messes with powers they don't fully understand. It never ends well and that's what you're doing now. You could never understand the Elements of Harmony, let alone wield them. There's no way you are going to be able to control that power, it'll destroy you and all of Equestria!”

“So it's a no then, what a pity.” Silver turned around and trotted towards the assorted relics that sat before the gate.

“Silver no!” I tried to chase after him but my leg bent beneath me and I fell to the ground. Patches than dug her clawed paws onto me to keep me in place as Silver neared the door.

Silver stood inside the circle of relics and lifted his head up towards the massive gate. I tried to move my head to see but patches kept me pinned to the floor. I tried to struggle but with my broken leg Patches was stronger than me and her claws were close to digging into my skin. Silver looked at each of the six relics arrayed before him and muttered something I couldn't hear. I saw a tear fall from his face as he looked back at the gate and then back down to the relics. After a few seconds they began to glow with a bright light that blinded me and all the others in the formerly dark room. Patches lifted her paw to cover her eyes and I took my chance. Running as fast as I could on three legs I charged at Silver but I only got so far when a wave of energy pushed me back. Silver was now covered in a blazing light as the words etched on the door of the prison began to glow in an aurora of colors.

“Stop! You don't know what you're doing!” I shouted to no avail.

Silver and the artifacts began to float up in the air as they and the door glowed in a rainbow of light and magic. I couldn't get up but when I tried to move I noticed my leg had suddenly healed and I could walk again. I used all of my strength to stand up but that was the limit of what I could do in the swirling storm of magic. Suddenly, as quickly as the light and magic appeared something else did as well. A shape of a pony, no something greater, almost as if Celestia herself had appeared, came forth and let forth a cry:

“NO! He is not for you!”

Then all of the magic disappeared and Silver, patches, Roose and Doublehead were thrown against a wall. The floor beneath them gave way and they all fell into the darkness below, screaming as they went. The magic died down, the lights faded, and the artifacts fell to the floor, now dim and inert. I wavered a little as my legs turned to jelly and gave way. The last thing I saw before I fell unconscious was the Celestia-like shape fading into the dark.

*****

When I opened my eyes I was once again alone. The room was dark and quiet as all signs of what had just happened were gone. The artifacts let off a dim glow as they rested before the great doors to the prison of the Darkness. My legs and hooves were still weak as I rose from the ground, my body sore but my leg, which was previously broken, seemed to be healed. I shook it in almost disbelief as all the pain which had been shooting through it was gone.

I wasn't entirely sure what had just happened and my head was still spinning a bit as I hobbled over to the pile of magical artifacts. They lay there on the ground, dimly glowing but otherwise showing no signs of magical gate opening or malevolent evil releasing. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw that the gate was still closed. I found myself staring at it for several strange seconds as my gaze seemed fixed on the massive doors.

I was still trying to wrap my head around what had just transpired. Silver, or Sable Granite I guess, was gone, as was Patches, Roose and Doublehead. It came to mind that Goldie had mentioned something about Sable hiring non ponies, they must have been who she was talking about. How could I have not noticed it sooner? How could I have let that happen? Thinking back on it the signs were all there. A lot of things now made sense but at the same time made less sense.

“Ugh, my head hurts.” I grumbled to myself. “How am I going to carry all of these out of here? There has to be some kind of exit the Silver's goons made it in here.”

I looked around but saw nothing. Everything away from the artifacts and the door was shrouded in black. I didn't even know the extent of the size of the chamber I was in, let alone how far down I was or if I could ever find Jackpot and Scarlet down here. Shit! Jackpot and Scarlet! Where were they? All of my friends were gone and I was all alone. I hated being alone, I hated the dead feeling that standing in a place like this gave you. The air was cold and looking at the door for too long made me feel uncomfortable yet it seemed almost like something was pushing me towards it. That pony thing had disappeared, whatever that was. Her(it was a mare's voice) reminded me of somepony...that's right, it was the same voice I had heard before, several times in fact. First in Luna Bay right before I saw the cloud palace and then in the Badlands before I found the path that led us to Bighorn's spear. I wonder who that voice belonged to and if I would ever hear it again or if I would meet the owner of the voice? The shape I saw was that of an Alicorn, I had read about an Alicorn that Abila knew but what was her name? Terria, that was her name. Maybe that was her, this mysterious Alicorn who guards the legacy of her friends, maybe she was the heart that the prophecy written on the doors belonged to. Silver had obviously discounted her or maybe thought the heart was him or something. Either was she had rejected him, hmph, serves him right.

And then the realization finally fully set in. I had been betrayed by one of my friends. Silver was the head of a transport company...well I guess that explains why the smuggling was so rampant, Silver's company operated all over Equestria and even in some other kingdoms. In fact, everywhere his company had a strong presence was someplace where Grit had taken artifacts from or at least near those places. There was still a lot I didn't know, in fact I still didn't know why Silver had tried to do all of this and I honestly had no idea. He said Grit's death was not planned and that he had been forced to do it and I could tell that he obviously admired Grit in many ways(he was a Dash Venture fan after all). Maybe it had something to do with Grit, Silver obviously wanted Grit to be a part of it which didn't make sense with his former actions. Perhaps grit once again knew more than he let on or maybe this was something else all together that I could hardly guess at right now. And what of this other branch of the Family Silver spoke of? What was their plan? Why would they suspect Silver of betraying them? And why make him kill Grit to prove his loyalty?

“I'll have to remind myself to stay out of the politics of evil secret organizations.” I mumbled as my gaze went back down to the artifacts on the ground.

As I stood there thinking about what to do I heard a sound that chilled me to my bones. A strange creaking noise crept up behind me as I slowly and dreadfully turned my head and body around. The door to the Darkness' prison had opened.

*****

Horror rushed into me as I realized what had just happened. I let out a scream as I immediately dropped to the floor, my hooves covering my head as I cowered on the dark ground for the inevitable wave of ultimate evil I knew was about to come. After several moments I realized that nothing had happened. I poked my head out from behind my hooves and saw that the door had simply swung open slightly, in fact there wasn't even anything really holding it together in the first place. I carefully got up and pushed the door shut with my hoof, it simply limped back open when I removed it.

“The door wasn't even locked?” I puzzled as I looked at the side of the door to see that it was just a solid piece of wood and that there wasn't even a lock, holding the door in place. “Magic?”

I turned my gaze upwards and saw the inside of the room. I quickly turned away and hid behind the ajar door. Once again, nothing happened. I peeked my face around the door, my curiosity of what could be beyond overpowering my sense. The room was dark(duh) and seemingly empty. I crept inside a little bit as a bit of the room became more and more visible. Suddenly a small orb of light formed on my chest and shot down the large chamber to a small shape that sat at the far end.

“Ah! My soul!” I shouted as I once again fell to the floor, my head inside my hooves. But once again, nothing happened.

After a few more moments I rose again, this time looking and seeing the small shape that sat at the other end of the room. I squinted to see it better and Celestia nuzzle my muzzle with her butt if I didn't see a pony sitting there.

“Whose there!” the pony suddenly said, speaking in a loud but almost frightened sounding voice.

“Wait, what!?” I said, almost stuttering at how taken off guard I was at this pony suddenly talking.

“Who are you? And why are you here?” he said again.

“I-I-I'm Ivory Star.” I stuttered. “A-a-are you t-t-the-”

“Go away!” he commanded.

“Excuse me!” I said, a little offended.

“Please, just leave me be.” he said.

“Um, I told you my name so maybe you should tell me yours?” I'll admit this was starting to interest me as my previous fear disappeared at the thought of talking to this strange pony who apparently lived in the deepest pit of Tartarus. My curiosity and desire to know more had once again taken hold of me.

It took him several seconds to answer, “My name is Caelus.” he said.

“Caelus? That's a weird name.”

“Please leave now.” he nearly whined.

“Are you the Darkness?” might as well be blunt.

“Some used to call me that, yes.” Caelus answered.

Holy Luna's lady parts I'm talking to him! It wasn't what I was expecting though. I expected to feel horrifying evil or some presence of malevolence or dread but instead I just felt nothing. From what I could see this was just some pony. His voice wasn't threatening, in fact it almost sounded sweet, but not that kind of sweet where you can tell they're trying to sound that way no, it was the kind of sweet that comes from a pony who just likes being, well...sweet I guess. It was an almost comforting voice that made me feel safe just listening to it. You can guess that this did feel a bit strange coming from the supposed most powerful and most evil creature to ever exist.

I took a few steps closer, “Can you come out?” I asked hesitantly.

Did I just ask the ultimate evil to come closer to me? I must be going crazy!

Caelus rose from his position, I could see him turning around and then I heard the clopping of his hoofsteps as he entered the light. He was indeed just a pony, a Unicorn to be exact. He was the most unimpressive Unicorn I've ever seen, he was just grey. His coat was grey, his mane was grey, his eyes were grey and his face looked depressed. And...and he didn't even have a cutie mark!? What!?

“There, are you happy now? Will you leave now?” Caelus said, a bit annoyed.

“What was that light that came out of me?” I asked.

“It lets me speak your language. That way I could tell you to leave me alone.”

As he neared me he suddenly stopped, his face turned into one of shock and disbelief.

“What is it?” I asked worriedly.

“I can feel her on you.” he said.

“Huh? Whose on me?”

“The power of harmony. Why? Why does she keep doing this for me?” Caelus' face leveled out and he took a deep sigh.

“Who? Terria?”

Caelus snapped his face back in my direction, “You know her name?” his face was back to shock and disbelief.

“Yeah, I think she's been leading me here. I've seen, or heard, her several times over the past few months.”

Caelus let out a slight laugh. It was not a pleasant sounding laugh but more like a self-pitying laugh. It was not pleasant to see him do that, his face made him look so forlorn and sad that it almost made me sad just looking at it.

“I've spent so much time here, regretting so much. Do you know what I've done little pony? The horrors I have wrought? The lives I've ruined?”

“I've some notion yes. You destroyed the old Zebra Empire.” I said, trying to remember everything Enyi told me about the subject.

“Oh, I've done so much more than that. I've ruined more lives than you could possibly ever know. I've created abominations so horrible that you could scarcely imagine.” he wasn't boasting, I think he was trying to scare me off and make me leave.

“Yeah, I've seen some of them I think. Lazilob, the spider, or maybe some memory of her. I saw her in Griffonstone, she was nearly dead or maybe just a ghost. My friend showed her some compassion and she disappeared.”

“Truly? You have seen Lazilob and still you chose kindness over violence. That is...surprising.”

It then suddenly dawned on me, it was as if the feeling just came over me and the question popped into my head almost on it's own.

“Do you want to come with me?” I asked.

“What?”

“We could leave here. By the looks of it your imprisonment is over and your guard obviously wants you to leave.”

His face almost teared up at the mere thought. They were not tears of joy however, he was sad, very sad. I understood what he was feeling almost immediately, he didn't think he was worthy of being let out. I don't know what it is but I could just tell that this pony was not just some great evil, he was a pony who felt so horrible about his choices that he had become too terrified to ever leave the depths of his own ended imprisonment. I knew what it was to make bad choices(maybe not as bad as his but still) and it made me notice the small tear that fell down my cheek as I looked at Caelus' sad face. He may at one point have been the darkness but no more, he was now just a pony who needed some help. But I was probably the wrong pony to offer that help, after all I was going to prison pretty much the moment I left here.

“Hey Caelus? I know how bad making bad choices feels and so I'm here trying to make up for it. It's true that your past choices carry over to the present but part of life is learning to take responsibility and improve yourself and do what you can to make up for those mistakes. That's why I'm here now. I made some bad choices so I came to the deepest, darkest part of Equestria to right that wrong and do what I should have done a long time ago.”

I turned my head back tot he pile of artifacts, my eyes falling on Abila's crown as it lay there in the pile. I would have to make sure all of these artifacts were returned safely to their proper places. I could leave the others in Canterlot with the princesses and deliver the helmet back to Khaweth personally. Once the princesses had them I was certain all of the artifacts would find their way back to their own kingdoms for their own people to keep safe. If I could maybe help Caelus or at least point him in the direction of somepony who could I think that would be a good thing to. But I couldn't do it now, I had other important things to do and my own consequences to face.

“I'll be back soon ok. I promise that when I'm done making up for my mistakes I'll help you try and make up for yours.”

Caelus looked legitimately surprised by this offer. His face showed as much confusion as mine had been showing pretty much all day. Then he lowered his head and turned away.

“That would be quite the feat, I have much to answer for.” then he turned back to me, “But I suppose that if you are willing then perhaps...maybe she was right, maybe it is time.” for the first time I saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes as he spoke. “I once thought that my fate was set, then a pony whom I thought would despise me spared my life when it was worthless. I have long pondered that decision and I see now that she was far wiser than I.” Caelus now let out a laugh, a good laugh, “Perhaps I shall begin to listen to her advise now. I shall wait for you here Ivory Star. When you return we shall see what can be made us the both of us.”

From behind me I heard voices calling out, “Ivory! Silver! Where are you!” it was Jackpot and Scarlet, my friends.

“You know Caelus,” I picked up the hoof with Sparky on it and showed it to him, “ponies have been saying that friendship is magic for thousands of years, maybe there's something to it?”

“Maybe.” he answered.

I said goodbye and turned out towards the exit. I passed through the doors of the prison and began to collect the artifacts, slinging the shield on my back and using it to carry the other artifacts proved a good idea. As I held all of the relics I finally saw that there was a hallway that led up and out of the dark chamber and I began to head towards it when I suddenly heard Caelus singing from behind me. His voice and words were still sad but within it was woven a hopeful tone that made me think that everything might just turn out for the better:

Of peace I sing of peace long lived as fair as fair can be:
of silver leaves and golden grass beneath the elder tree.
In slender towers, shining bright, the glow of sun and moon,
upon the earth by soothing light, gentle hearts would swoon.
Upon the shores of Illumar, in Varna by the sea,
melodic hills upon the dawn and nighttime sang for me.
A loving friend is what I had as strong as any queen,
her heart was kind and full of life wrapped in a silver sheen.
All I had I thought of naught as further on I went;
the one whose love I held in trust was into sorrow sent.
I passed beyond the shores of care, my life I left behind,
I did not think what hurt I sowed, pushed so far out of mind.
What did I do, how could I know, the sorrow I would bring,
no more would grow in endless joy the golden grass of spring.
The countless stars of gentle night would glimmer in the sky,
strings of gems and jewels they were, yet long ago they died.
The whispering strands of southern isles, the wind would greet each morn,
those mighty cliffs and gentle seas in horror they were torn.
My friend is gone, her light is dimmed, to my failings she did lose,
but fight for me all time she did, to spare me she did choose.
But if of friendship I would sing, would they show some to me,
if ever I could return across the wide and rolling sea.

I met my friends by the exit to the chamber and told them about Caelus and what had transpired. We gathered up the artifacts and carried them down the passage where Jackpot had marked the way he and Scarlet had come. We found our way out of Tartarus, waking Cerberus up and making sure the door was closed and locked behind us.

“You know Ivory, I'm sure if we explained all of this to the princesses than they could get you out of this whole idiotic prison thing.” Jackpot suggested.

“I can't tell you how much I want to do that but no, I promised Caelus I would face the consequences and besides, doing this is the only way I can see Enyi ever forgiving me.” don't get me wrong, I didn't want to do this but I had the feeling my situation wouldn't stay this bad for long. I needed to do this for Caelus, Enyi and myself, besides I needed a break from all this emotional turmoil and the constant aches and pains I would no doubt be feeling in the coming months over all the injuries I've recently had and had quickly healed.

“You must really like him if you're willing to go through all of this just for the chance of him not hating you.” Jackpot said, a bit of regret still in his own voice.

“Yeah, I suppose I do.” I said back, “Don't worry though, I'm hopeful it'll all turn out all right.”

“I hope so.” Scarlet said.

End of Part One

Author's Note

Dear readers,

To those of you who have read this far I want to profusely thank you! As this is the end to the first part of the story I would absolutely love it if you could leave some comments/critiques/etc..It would mean a lot. If you're interested I will probably start part two early next year. Again, thanks for reading this far into my little hobby and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Interlude: A Look Back

Interlude: A Look Back

The winter winds blew heavily that day as Grit Stratum landed on the doorstep of Hero's studio on the top of Mt. Matterhorn. Nopony was there to greet him as Hero was rehearsing a radio interview with Grit's best friend and co-founder of Adventure Incorporated, Blaze. Grit's feathers were slightly frosted and freezing from the blizzard that had been raging for the entirety of the past several days but his strong body made easy work of the fly to the top of the mountain.

Grit grunted as he shoved the large doors of the studio shut, blocking the wind and snow from entering the heated and finely decorated building. He had to shake himself off for several minutes to remove all of the snow and ice from his body before he made his way to the a small heater that sat in the corner of the room. Hero, being a dragon, had no shortage of fire implements around the building so it was never lacking in magical, dragon fire powered, warming apparatus.

“Anypony home!?” Grit shouted down into the empty hallway.

He had to stand there for several minutes before coming to the realization that nopony(or dragon) would be coming to greet him. He grumbled as he slowly made his way down the hallway, lined with the past articles of his and Hero's many exploits around the city and beyond. When he got to the studio portion of the building he was slightly disgruntled at seeing the 'Recording' sign lit up despite Hero not currently airing her show.

“That explains the lack of a greeting I guess.” Grit sighed, “Damn that dragon, I need to speak with her now.” he asked himself.

Grit had been away for many weeks at that point. He had spent those weeks furious, miserable, and filled with the realization that he had just made what would become the greatest mistake of his career as an adventurer. A mistake of such great enormity that even now, surrounded by his own successes and in one of his favorite places in all of Equestria, he found himself utterly depressed. He needed to find some comfort after everything that happened, he needed to see his friends and garner a level of companionship that he would need to relieve himself of his pain. Grit floundered over to a small couch that sat against the wall and heaved his body onto the soft cushioning. He didn't pay attention to how long he laid there, only that it was some time before a claw tapped his shoulder. Grit turned around to see the excited expression of Hero looming over him with Blaze sporting a relieved look on his face as he stood next to the feathered dragon.

“Well well, look whose back, what took you so long Grit?” Hero said happily, a huge smile on her face. “Where's-”

Hero didn't finish speaking before grit shoved the tip of his wing against her mouth, shutting the dragon up. Grit slowly sat up from his position on the couch as Hero and Blaze watched on in amazement as the strongest pony they knew sported a face of utter misery.

“Grit?” Blaze said, “What's wrong? What happened?”

“They're gone. All of them.” Grit mumbled.

“Whose gone? Where's Rosetta?” Blaze asked. He was starting to get worried now. Grit was always the stronger willed of the pair and to see him so defeated hurt Blaze like nothing else.

“You knew, didn't you.” Grit stared down into Blaze, a look of anger in his eyes.

“Knew what?” Blaze was starting to get very worried now as Grit rose, still glaring at him as he grew to his full stature.

“She was one of them. Those scumbags who you let ruin our dream!” Grit had become extremely angry now. He practically roared at Blaze as his friend shrunk from the accusation of his own best friend.

“I thought she was different from the others!” Blaze yelled, trying to defend himself, “She said she wanted to help.”

Grit swiftly threw his front hooves out towards Blaze, only the timely intervention of Hero prevented Grit from breaking a few of Blaze's ribs on the spot.

“What the hell are you doing Grit?” Hero glowered down at the angry pegasus. “What happened out there?”

Grit backed off from Hero and Blaze, he angrily turned around and bucked a large hole in the wall of the hallway.

“Hey!” Hero yelled, “Why the hell are you acting like this?”

“I'm retiring.” Grit said flatly.

“What!” Blaze yelled. “You can't retire! It'll ruin everything We've worked for!”

“All that's dead already.” Grit growled. “I know it wasn't all your fault Blaze, but A.I has been dying for years now. I'm tired of all the lies and all the secrets. I hate that every time I go out I have to help them with their grubby little projects.”

“I know you hate it but that's what we need to do to keep appearances up.” Blaze was trying to comfort Grit as he gently laid his wing over Grit's shoulder. “Where's Rosetta?” he asked calmly.

Grit was barely able to stifle a laugh. “Look at you, staying so calm in all of this. I left her on the Equestrian border. She...she told me everything there. She told me the truth.”

“Grit, for the hundredth time, what happened in Khaweth!?” Hero persisted.

Grit trembled, his body shaking not from the cold but from a feeling of some great guilt that he now carried on his back. He shut his eyes as a few tears rolled down his cheek, he began to cry as Hero gently placed her friend in her warm arms.

“Those fuckers you said had to go with us Blaze.” Grit began, “We got attacked by some monster I've never seen before. It chased us further than we thought and eventually turned towards the town we were based in. Rosetta and I wanted to go and protect the town but...but those others wanted to let the beast kill those zebras while we made off with the treasures it had been guarding. I told them they could all fuck off and ran after the monster. Rosetta she...she suddenly sided with those fuckers and made me go with them. That's when I knew, that's when I knew she had been working for them all along. I didn't have a choice, They practically own us and Rosetta...I couldn't say no to her.” Grit stopped talking as his tears overcame him. He completely broke down in Hero's arms as Blaze looked on, worried for his friend.

“What happened to the team?” Blaze asked.

“They fell behind in the jungle on the way back. Folk get lost in there every day, ain't too much of a stretch for anypony to believe that.”

“Fuck.” Blaze grumbled, rubbing his forehead as he began to sweat a bit.

“Listen Grit,” Hero began, “We're going to have to be very careful from here on out. Equestria isn't going to understand why you lost over two dozen ponies in the middle of a zebra jungle, not to mention an entire village of zebras. As for the ponies who matter, they'll see right through that little lie of yours. We're going to have to come up with something better, especially if Rosetta is there to speak against you.”

“Hero's right Grit.” Blaze said, still worried, “If they find out what you did then it'll be both of our hides.” Blaze stood in thought for a moment before speaking up again, “I know you and Rosetta...liked each other, but she does work for the Family so her loyalty is going to be questionable.”

“I don't think she'd betray me, not like that.” Grit said, still sobbing.

Blaze breathed a slight sigh of relief, “Well then, we'll say that I was with you and that I messed it up. They trust me more than you anyway.”

“I know they do.” Grit said, nearly growling at Blaze again.

“Don't go thinking Blaze is against you now too.” Hero said, giving Grit a slap across his face. “He's your friend and he cares about you just as much as the rest of us.” Hero gave a reassuring nod towards Blaze.

“Thanks.” Blaze said, “As I was saying, I've been cooped up since you left. Nopony pays any attention to me anyway so it won't be much of a stretch to say that I was with you the whole time, especially if Rosetta backs us up. I haven't been in the field in years, I'll just tell them that I made a bad call against some monster and got the team killed. I'll take the blame and whatever punishment they want to give me.”

Grit got back up from within Hero's arms. He wiped the tears from his face with his wings as he turned towards Blaze, embracing him in a big hug.

“I'm sorry Blaze. I shouldn't have attacked you.”

“I'm sorry about Rosetta, Grit. I should have told you but she pleaded with me not to.” Blaze said to his mournful friend.

“What?” Grit asked in disbelief.

“If you think she doesn't care about you then you're the biggest idiot in Equestria.” Blaze smiled, “She thought you'd hate her if you found out who she really worked for. I wanted to tell you but she made me promise not to.”

“See Grit.” Hero said softly, “The whole world isn't out to get you. You can trust your friends as well as your girlfriend.”

Grit separated from Blaze, straightened himself up and wiped the tears from his face.

“No, I can't trust her, not anymore. Even if she doesn't rat us out to her masters her place on the team is gone. Like I said, I'm retiring and ending all of this.” Grit's face somehow grew even more depressed as he said this.

“Even if you retire, they'll still expect you to cooperate with them.” Blaze said.

“Fine, at least I won't be getting them any new artifacts. If they want those, they'll have to get them on their own.” Grit huffed.

“I hate this entire situation.” Hero sighed, “I wish I could just go right up to that boss of theirs and bit his head off.” Hero's mouth filled with a flicker of flame as her anger rose up.

“We can't fight them yet.” Blaze said, placing a wing on the angry dragon's side, “If they find out we plan on fighting back then they will turn Equestria against us in a matter of hours. We'll have to wait for the right time and that time isn't now.”

“When will the right time be?” Hero snarled.

“You might not want to work with Rosetta again Grit, but if she truly does love you then we should use her to fight the Family.” Blaze draped his wings over his two friends, “She can tell us things about them that we could never find out on our own. She's like a ticket into their inner workings.”

“I'm not talking to her ever again Blaze. If you want that traitor to help then you reach out; as for me I'm going to distance myself as much as I can from all of this. Maybe one day there will be a chance to get even but for now the Family owns us, as you said Blaze.” Grit laid himself back down on the couch.

“Rosetta Stone is one of the best pegasi I've ever had the pleasure to meet.” Hero said as she leaned down towards Grit's face, “The world is built on second chances Grit, you can't let a connection like this just slip away from you.”

“That was her doing. If she truly cared for me she would have told me herself, before foalishly exposing her lies at the expense of so many innocent lives.” Grit started to tear up again as the words left his mouth.

Grit was inconsolable at this point. He hadn't expected that talking about all of this would simply make his pain greater but it did. Each time Rosetta's name was mentioned it was like a stab to his heart as the one and only pony he had ever loved seemingly turned on him.

*****

She had been put there, introduced to him, to spy and ensure his loyalty and cooperation with the Family. Rosetta Stone had always impressed Grit with her intelligence, ingenuity, and skills as an adventurer; it seemed that she had been tailor made for him. Over the course of three years Grit had found himself falling in love with this energetic young pegasi. She was always there with him, they did everything together; Grit had even put her in a few of his books. They were the perfect team, Grit Stratum and Rosetta Stone. Of course he knew now that this had been intentional from the start. Rosetta admitted as much when she finally broke down and told Grit the truth when he pressed the issue on the way back to Equestria. Grit had been far to angry to notice the tears on her face as she admitted everything to him. He had left her there, on the southern Equestrian border, crying as he flew away. To Grit, Rosetta had betrayed him as part of the very body that had been destroying his greatest dream, Adventure Incorporated.

Rosetta had found herself enthralled in the presence that Grit had always exuded. She had been told to ensure the loyalty and cooperation of the most famous pony in Equestria and as a loyal member of the Family, took the assignment with seriousness and energy. Though she would often find herself caught up in his actions, his words, his...eyes. She couldn't help but always stand in awe of his abilities, abilities that matched her own in every way. Her loyalty to the Family would not waver in his presence but with each passing day she found herself wanting to do more to impress grit. She fought every monster that appeared before them, she exposed corrupt archeologists(as long as they were not Family), she traveled the world with him and faced every danger he did so she would not be parted from him. And when they found themselves alone and trapped in a cave by a rock fall deep within the dragon lands she...fell in love.

As Rosetta realized this her fears grew as fast as her love for Grit. Though they always made sure to pocket a bit extra for the Family she knew that Grit hated them for what they had done to his greatest dream. When their relationship began in earnest, Rosetta would live in constant fear that Grit would discover her true mission. When she discovered that Grit's friend Blaze had been made aware of her mission she would go to him and beg to not be exposed. Rosetta was terrified that if Grit discovered her then his hatred for her Family would turn towards her. Unfortunately her fears proved all to true as when Grit did find out the truth he left Rosetta alone and broken on the edge of Equestria, both of their hearts broken. Rosetta returned to her Family and spent the rest of her life protecting Grit from within.

Rosetta would often meet with Hero, passing on information that she would then pass onto Grit, without telling him her exact sources. Her desires changed to helping Grit leave the Family's thrall forever and whenever Hero asked her to help in that mission she would enthusiastically accept. This mission would never succeed, nor could it have. Grit would go on and develop his own plan many years later with no knowledge of the source of the many pieces that had come together to make it possible. Rosetta and Grit would never meet again after their schism and Rosetta herself would not live to see Grit regain his resolve after decades of inaction.

Reunions

Part 2

Chapter 19: Reunions

“Hey Ivory! Over here!”

What had my life turned into? When I started this adventure I could never in a million years have foreseen just what would happen and the agonizing twists my life would take. I had always dreamed of going on adventures with my hero, Grit Stratum, and raking in all of the fame and acknowledgment that would come with it. Instead, Grit ended up being murdered and I was somehow supposed to navigate my way through that reality and what came of it. I was a foal, barely able to comprehend just what real hardship and strife could be and I certainly couldn't deal with it in a positive manner. Secrets were kept from me and so I decided to keep secrets from one whom I should have trusted and who trusted in me. I ended up driving him away without even so much as a goodbye and as a result I ended up where I am now currently leaving, a zebra prison in the middle of fuck-all-nowhere.

“Didn't you hear me you dumbass!? I said over here!”

I ended up being used by multiple ponies for ends I could hardly have predicted or controlled. Silver used me for gathering those magical artifacts for Celestia knows what ends and Karfiso used and will probably continue to use me for whatever he plans going into the future. When I was able to make my own choices I couldn't say they were always the best or even that they were all completely thought through entirely. My adventure ended with me killing a pony and making a deal with a pony who might very well turn out to be the freaking pony-devil. I lied to Enyi, the zebra I liked(multiple times) and ended up driving away my first romance to the point where I might never even see him again, let alone get him back. I wanted to of course, more than anything. Over the past three years I would go to sleep dreaming of him often; his golden eyes, his slender stripes, his funny accent, his passion for old things that rivaled my own and of course there was the fact that he actually seemed interested in me.

“Ok, If I have to shout at you one more fucking time I swear I'm going to fly over there and wonk you on the head!”

“Huh?” I was instantly blasted out of my inner reflection to the sound of a large metal gate closing behind me. I had been trapped within those gates for three years now in what amounted to a hole in the ground filled with the most repulsive assortment of scum you could find anywhere in or out of Equestria. Of course I wasn't in Equestria but Khaweth, and the hole in the ground was essentially a giant fortress that sat in the middle of a rocky, barren stretch of land that was barely more than a desert(a very hot desert).

This was Arnband, the most feared and infamous prison within Khaweth. The ugly construct was located further south in Khaweth then I ever thought I'd ever go. I was far enough inland that the jungles and wetlands of the coasts gave way to savannahs and barren, rock filled wastelands. This is where I was now, in a prison that stood right in the middle of one of these wastelands. The prison was flanked on the north, west and east by the scorching scorpion wastes(I'll let you figure out why it got that name...it's giant scorpions). To the south, only about fifty miles or so, was the great range of the Ulur Dur, which, according to several inmates, means the mountains of unremitting horror and death. It was reserved for the worst of the worst, rapists, mass murderers, terrorists, traitors, and a cadre of other horrible criminals.

After my 'trial' I had been sent here as I had become almost universally hated within Khaweth once it got out that I had been the one who stole Abila's helmet. I wasn't the one who actually stole it but from the point of view of the one who told the ruling zebra council I was. This caused quite the firestorm amongst the zebras as crowds gathered around where I had been held previously to shout things at me I would rather not revisit. My trial had been a farce meant to cement me as the scapegoat and shove me away somewhere for a few years until things quieted down. I was very publicly sentenced to life in Arnband so the zebras of Khaweth could feel satisfied that the greatest criminal of their lifetimes would get the justice she deserved or whatever. Even though my guilt was practically a foregone conclusion the trial had all the pomp and circumstance one would expect from all the high profile trials. Witnesses, long winded speeches, catchy catchphrases, I think one zebra even fainted at one point from some dramatic reenactment of the moment I 'stole' the helmet right out of Abila's coffin. Karfiso informed me before the start of the trial that it would be mostly dramatics before I was stuffed away somewhere that I could be easily forgotten and I had been prepared for that. The part I broke down at was when Enyi was called up and told them exactly where he had found the helmet, under the bed in my room. It certainly didn't help my public image when I broke down crying as he was lead up to the stand to testify against me, the zebras took it as sure sign of my guilt.

“That's it, I'm comin over there!”

I quickly pivoted and began to gallop over to the source of the shouting, it was a voice I hadn't heard in three years and a voice I was more than overjoyed to hear after so long. Before me stood a pegasus with a brown coat, dirty blonde mane and a pot of gold for a cutie mark, my friend Jackpot.

“Hey there Ives.” he said, sporting a small smile on his face.

I didn't answer back, all I did was run up and trap him in the biggest hug I had ever given anypony in my entire life. I probably squeezed a little too tightly as Jackpot quickly began to squirm as my hooves pressed harder around him.

“Whoa there, Jackpot still needs to breath.” he huffed, wiggling out of my grip.

“Sorry.” I backed off a little bit, my head pointed down, “It's just that I haven't seen you in so long and-”

Jackpot started to laugh, “Oh lighten up, I wouldn't hold a hug against anypony. I've had and given more than a few 'hugs', if you know what I mean.” he winked.

“Gross.” Sweet Celestia I missed his dumb sex jokes. “What are you doing here Jackpot? I was told this whole getting me out of prison thing was supposed to be kept quiet for the time being.”

“It's simple really, I got a letter from Karfiso telling me to come here, so I did.” he shrugged and gave me another smile, “Plus, you didn't think I'd miss the chance to greet you after getting out of this hole now did you?”

It was then that my gaze was almost forced upwards towards his blonde mane. Something seemed a bit odd about it. Almost as if...”Jackpot! Did you comb your mane!?” I couldn't believe it, he looked almost respectable. Like take him home and introduce him to your parents kind of respectable; I didn't like it much, it didn't suit him.

Jackpot blushed a bit(will never not be weird), “Yeah, I thought I should look nice; you know, since it's been so long whatever.” it was then that his smirk appeared, “I love your new mane style, it's very non-existent. Much better than that whole bedraggled look you always seemed to have before.”

It was true, manes weren't allowed in Arnband, to easy to smuggle things in them apparently. Now was my turn to be a bit embarrassed as my hoof found itself rubbing my bare head, even my tail had been cut and not allowed to grow more than a few inches outward. I had lived so long this way that I had nearly forgotten about them and Jackpot just felt the urge to remind me. I didn't want to be reminded of that so a quick change of subject was in order.

“Is Scarlet here?” I asked, poking my head around to see if there was anything else to see. All there was was the prison compound, the rocky desert and a carriage that sat a ways off. As I looked I couldn't help but be surprised by what was pulling the carriage; it was some strange creature I had never seen before. It looked almost like a cross between a mole and a rabbit with stout, powerful legs, good for pulling carriages I guess.

“Unfortunately not.” Jackpot sighed, “She's been doing her own thing for about a year now. I kept us together as long as possible but eventually she got this silly idea in her head that she needed to be more ready for when you got out so she went to get some additional magical instruction.”

“Magical instruction? From who?”

“One of Hero's friends, that unicorn who was helping Pish Posh, Hubub something.”

“You mean Hubbard?” I asked.

Jackpot's face lit up, “Yeah, him!”

That was perhaps a bit disconcerting. Hubbard was one of the most accomplished and well-known wizards in Equestria but not for the reason that most others were. He was the only pony in the history of Equestria to not only learn but master the use of dark magic without it turning him completely insane and evil. Scarlet was a wonderful pony yet her skills in magic and physical fortitude were probably not up to the standard that high level magic like the kind Hubbard would use would require. Not to mention that Scarlet simply could not master dark magic as Hubbard was only able to do it because it was his special talent. I also don't remember Hubbard ever taking on any students at any point in his life and as he was a former companion of Grit I prided myself on knowing practically everything there was to know about him and his friends. The idea that somepony like Scarlet might be trying to learn dark magic was slightly unnerving but there really wasn't much I could do about it now so maybe that would be best saved for later.

“So, do you know where we're gonna be going?” I asked Jackpot as we made our way back to the carriage that was sitting a ways away from us.

“Equestria.” he said casually.

I looked up at him with slight disbelief, “You know I can't really go to Equestria right now, right?”

“I had a talk with Karfiso before I came here, he said you can have one month at the most to visit Equestria but after that you have to come right back here.” Jackpot looked somewhat proud at this, “It was me who convinced him to give you that long.”

“I find it hard to believe that he would just agree to that.” my disbelief was well grounded. Karfiso didn't seem like the type to keep me so close for so long then just let me go.

“Well, there was a slight concession I had to make.” uh oh.

“What was it?” I asked with tepid concern.

“You'll see in a minute.” Jackpot stopped and spread his wing in front of me to get me to stop. “First I want to ask you, are you ok?”

“What do you mean ok?” I backed off from him a bit.

“Well, you were in Arnband for three years. I've heard the stories of what it's like in there and I want to know if you're ok.” his face was now directly in front of mine as he stared me down, preventing me from looking away or dodging the question.

I admit, having Jackpot here helped me to forget for a few moments but he had to be a fucking piece of shit and bring it up. I know he didn't mean bad by it but still, I had no intention of reliving those three years and I certainly didn't want to tell him about the three worst fucking years of my life.

“Fuck you.” I pulled away from him, facing towards the carriage and continuing on.

“Hey! I'm just trying to see if you're ok.” he seemed upset, but so was I now.

“If I can go back to Equestria now then I'm going to do it now. Let's go.” immediately before I set hoof in the carriage something in my brain twinged. My ears twitched, my tail fluttered slightly and my nose began to discover a smell I hadn't gotten to smell in three years. I turned back to Jackpot who now had one of his deviously cocky smiles and in his wing an open flask of Cider Joe's cider. “C-c-can I-”

“You gonna behave?” he shook it a little to taunt me.

“Yes! I've had nothing but whatever paint thinner other prisoners could smuggle in for three fucking years! I need this Jackpot!” I practically pranced over like a dog looking for a treat.

“Paint thinner? What you been having in there?”

“Not this I'll tell you.” I was practically begging for the flask of cider. My tongue was practically dangling from my mouth as the smell got stronger the closer I got. Before I could nab it however, Jackpot lifted his wing up, removing it from my grasp. “Hey! You said I could have it!”

“You gotta say something first.” he smirked.

“Huh? Oh, please.”

“Nope.”

“Then what?” I whined.

“You were just pretty rude to me for asking how you were, what do you think?”

Dammit, he was trying to make me apologize. I didn't feel I had anything particularly to apologize for, he should just understand I didn't want to talk about it and that he should leave it alone. But he did have wings and I didn't. There was really no way I could get that cider from him and I reeeeeally needed it right now.

I sighed heavily, lowering my head, “Fine, I'm sorry I was rude but I just got out of prison and I don't want to talk about it, ok.”

His smirk disappeared but he lowered the flask down to me. I nabbed it between my teeth and took two big swigs immediately. This was slightly a mistake as I almost immediately began to choke and cough on the strong liquid that I was no longer used to. Jackpot just started to laugh again as I sputtered and coughed from the drink.

“Guess that paint thinner was pretty lightweight.”

“You have no fucking idea.” I finally stopped coughing only to take another, smaller drink from the flask. It felt and tasted so good as my nerves finally calmed down with the hot liquid sliding down my throat. “How much did you bring?”

He tapped his wing on a very full looking pair of saddlebags that hung from his back.

“Jackpot, I love you.” I said smiling.

“Don't give me any ideas.” he laughed, I just smiled back at him as I took another sip from the flask.

“So, what's with this condition?” I said, wiping a bit of cider from my lips before sucking it off of my hoof.

Jackpot rubbed his hoof behind his head nervously. “Well, I just wanna say that some things have changed in Equestria since you've been gone. I think it's obvious to say you and I are no longer members of A.I, or even welcome back there. Blaze started to say some...non flattering things about us and the ponies who remained in charge of A.I have been reinforcing this.”

“What!?” I was shocked, “Didn't you tell anypony about the whole controlled by an evil criminal syndicate thing!?” I almost couldn't believe it. Why would Blaze do this? I had been hoping the he, of all ponies, would at least not make my situation actively worse. Actually, thinking about it, maybe that was a vain hope. Goldie told me that she had help from inside A.I when she murdered Grit, Blaze would have been the only pony able to help her and I knew he had been helping the Family for years. Now he's turned the very organization I had once dedicated my entire life to against me; fucking piece of shit was just asking for a few broken ribs. A new thought then popped into my mind; what about Emerald? She's been a part of A.I for years now and if those fuckers have turned my best friend against me...they can all have their eyes pecked out by a griffon in Tartarus for all eternity. Still, I needed to talk to Blaze at some point. I needed an explanation to all of this and he would be the perfect pony to confront. It would take a while though, I doubt they would ever let me within a hundred feet of him now.

Jackpot didn't look any less nervous, “Yeah, the princesses looked into it and well, a lot of the ponies who got captured or killed in Khaweth were all employees of Silver's company. They couldn't talk and only after we got Hero to look into it openly did anything substantial come up. A few board members got arrested or resigned but other than that, nothing much changed. Although I will say that I made some good bits selling our story to Hero.”

“You sold our story?”

Jackpot's proud smile returned, “Don't you remember? We told Hero we would. She even threw in some extra bits to help out with expenses, seeing as how things turned out. She's been telling our adventures over her radio for two and a half years now. We're all pretty famous actually.”

Well, this is pretty much what I always wanted wasn't it. Fame, no fortune though, but fame nonetheless. Of course, Jackpot continued to tell me about how half of Equestria loved us while the other half was siding with the official reports on how I was a convicted criminal and hated my guts. Maybe going back to Equestria now wasn't such a good idea. No, I had to go back, I needed to. I needed that friendly, safe atmosphere after three years of utter fucking hell in the middle of a Khaweth desert. I needed some color in my life and some rest. Jackpot informed me that he still had Grit's old house in Canterlot because of Hero's money so my plan was to head right there after fulfilling my promise to go and get...Caelus. Aww shove the sun up my butt, what the fuck was I gonna do about him. I promised to help him but can I do that when I can barely keep myself out of trouble? Plus, how in fucking Tartarus was I going to get beck into...well...Tartarus? I promised him though, and I intend to keep that promise, stupid as I realize it was. I suppose introducing the most evil thing to ever exist to all my friends might be an interesting experience at least.

“Oh, and speaking of the condition.” Jackpot slid the door of the carriage open and sitting in the seat was a pair of familiar deep green eyes. Siri, Karfiso's right hoof zebra.

“Oh, he's sending a foalsitter.” I was suddenly depressed again.

Siri peered out of the carriage out at me and Jackpot, “I do not like it either, but Karfiso is my leader.” she huffed.

“She's coming to Equestria with us?” I was really hoping this was some kind of bad joke Jackpot was pulling.

“I am indeed, I do not expect to be well received.” Siri sat uncomfortable back in her seat in the carriage. I could tell just by looking at her that she didn't want this either. Fuck, I barely knew her and from the couple of interactions I did have with her she was quite unfriendly. I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought that Equestria might freak her out at least a little bit with how different it was from Khaweth.

Before I stepped hoof into the carriage I took one last look at our driver, the weird mole-rabbit thing. “What is that?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

“It's called a Rompo.” Jackpot answered, “Powerful beasts they are, wouldn't want to fight one yet they are pretty docile unless provoked. The zebras tamed em a while back and now they're pretty common in this part of the world, kind of like cows or oxen back in Equestria.”

The carriage was spacious enough for the three of us, though just barely. It was not fun being forced to stare at Siri's condescending gaze the whole two days it took for us to reach the coast. Jackpot was, unexpectedly, making Siri just a bit uncomfortable with the bad attempts at flirting he made. With each bad pun or dirty joke Siri just got more and more irritated until it seemed like she might blow the carriage right up with how mad she looked sometimes. The best I could do to avoid her death glares was stare out the window of the carriage for hours on end. There were times it was definitely worth it for once you got out of the wastes, Khaweth could be quite beautiful at parts. The mountains looked beautiful from a distance(even with Jackpot telling stories of horrifying monsters and cliff shattering earthquakes that they were supposedly filled with in them) and I found Khaweth to have an abundance of very clear lakes and rivers that the road would pass by. The long, yellow savanna grasses eventually gave way to fields of green grass as the coast approached. We even passed by several villages and towns which looked infinitely better than that one in the jungle that Goldie ruined. Each little town we passed began to remind me more and more of home. Equestria had many large cities, but I always found the little towns to be the most charming and homely when I really thought about it. Places you could just slow down and have an easy going, relaxing day; oh how I longed for one of those!

When the shining blue of the sea finally crested into view, I found this area to be quite enjoyable. There was a cool breeze, the sound of waves lapping at the shore, even the sounds of zebras just milling about and going about their daily lives seemed to soothe me. There was no signs of the intense fighting and violence that had occurred north in the jungles and this made me very happy. It was almost hard to imagine that anywhere in Khaweth was not some horrible, war-torn landscape that was constantly in ruins yet here it was, right in front of me. Another thing that brought me great comfort was just looking at the sky and seeing how wonderfully blue it was here. There was no bleak or oppressive shading here that would serve to depress a pony, just a nice beach, blue ocean and a tiny little village of zebras shipping different things up and down the coast. It almost made me forget about the impending torture I was to endure with the days of sailing we would have to do to get back to Equestria. The ocean was beautiful but also vomit inducing for me and the thought that I would have to spend at least four days on it and then another four on my return almost made me puke on the spot.

“Do you zebras happen to have any potions or something for sea sickness?” I felt compelled to ask Siri as the carriage pulled up to a small boat that was docked a little ways away from the main dock.

Siri was the first to exit the carriage, jutting her back-hoof out to stop me from leaving. “These zebra will not recognize your look, but better to stay here in your nook.” Siri trotted off after closing the carriage door right up to the boat and the zebra that was tending it.

“Karfiso said he'd have a boat ready for us.” Jackpot whispered into my ear, “She's probably just making sure this is the right one.”

“Is she sure none of these zebra will recognize me? I don't really feel like getting mobbed by angry zebras again.” I snorted, peaking my face out of the window to see if there were even any zebra around to watch us.

“Looks like a pretty small village, they probably don't even know you exist Ives.” Jackpot gave me a friendly and reassuring pat on the back as I took another swig from a cider flask to calm myself down.

Siri returned after a few minutes, swinging the door open with a wave of her hoof, “Let us board, we have sea-sickness potions in horde.” Jackpot gave me a friendly wink as he hopped out of the carriage before me.

Maybe Celestia hasn't completely abandoned me. The ship was of a modest size with more than enough room for Siri, Jackpot, the driver and myself. The zebra who was actually driving the boat also probably worked for Karfiso so I hopefully didn't have to worry too much about the dirty looks he gave me when I clambered on board. I, of course, went straight for a box filled with a bottles of blueish liquid. Each bottle had something written on it that I didn't understand(zebras don't teach their language remember) but since Siri didn't try to stop me I assumed these were the sea-sickness potions. My assumption paid off as the entire boat ride, aside from the general awkwardness between Siri and us ponies, went quite smoothly. These zebra potions were the real deal as my stomach had never felt calmer. The entire four days of sailing went by without a single instance of me heaving my entire digestive system over the side of the boat and into the ocean. When the boat finally landed it was only another day and a half back to Canterlot, of course there was one pit stop we needed to make before that.

*****

The doors of Tartarus were just as imposing as ever. All the pushing and bucking in the world wouldn't be able to even budge those slabs of enchanted stone and steel even an inch. Imagine my surprise when, upon placing my hoof on the door in some weird effort to try and feel it out, it swung right open, leaving me standing there completely dumbfounded. Behind the door stood Cerberus, looking as fierce(adorable) as ever.

“Now, how exactly are we gonna-”Jackpot began to wonder before the giant three headed dog simply stood aside and barked at us to enter.

“I guess we're expected.” I said as I trotted right into the front door of Tartarus.

“This idea is bad, leaving here quickly will make me glad.” I must admit that explaining what we were doing to Siri was not the easiest thing in the world. Saying she seemed apprehensive as I informed her that I would be trying to trot into hell and trot out with the very being who once nearly annihilated her people would be putting a heaping helping of mild on top of an already tasteless dinner. She went with us of course(it was her job), but the entire time she remained visibly uncomfortable and even more irritable than she already seemed to be naturally.

The trek into Tartarus was much easier this time around as the twisting and winding paths seemed to have disappeared from the last time and made way for a single, well lit path that went deep into Tartarus. It took us only what seemed like a few minutes to reach the room where three years ago, I faced down Silver and his goons. The hole they fell through was gone as though the room had magically repaired itself. There were several specs of light that floated across the ceiling of the room, providing enough light to see the massive doors that led to the prison cell. When I put my hoof on the door it simply slid open with such ease I could hardly believe to door was as big as it was. The door was many times my size yet felt like I was opening a door that was sized for a colt or filly.

“Hello!?” I heard my voice echo a bit as I poked my head into the dark room. I saw the shape of a pony sitting in the far end of the room, Caelus hadn't seemed to move in the three years since I had been here last. I saw his head turn around as the small trickle of light from the floating specs behind us illuminated his eyes and face just enough so I could see him.

At first he stared at me with an unbelieving gaze as if he didn't expect to ever see me again. “You actually came back?” I heard his frail voice say.

“Of course, I said I would, didn't I.” I said back, smiling despite the depressing surroundings.

Jackpot couldn't help but poke his head in after me. “Is that him?” Jackpot asked.

“Yup.” I said back.

“He's just some pony? I know you said he was but...I was kinda hoping for something more. You know, givin his reputation and all that.” well, it was good to see that Jackpot wouldn't be too nervous about him.

Just over Jackpot's shoulder I saw the unmistakable sight of a zebra mane poking over his now less than tidy mane. Siri had been taking a peek herself while she thought we weren't looking. The moment I noticed her, she noticed me noticing her and swiftly backed off towards the other side of the room.

Caelus got up slowly and moved towards me at an equally slow pace. When he got to the door he stopped just short of leaving the cell. His face turned towards mine and Jackpot's, then it slowly turned towards Siri. They looked at each other for several seconds before Caelus turned his face away and took his first step out of the cell. The moment his hoof left the entryway the door slammed shut and an aura of silver magic enveloped it, sealing it shut forever. I pressed my hoof against it once more only to find that the door was no longer a door but simply an image on the wall.

“I guess you were supposed to leave here.” I said after thoroughly examining the door.

“I wouldn't know. I haven't seen anything outside that room for thousands of years.” Caelus said, staring at the magically sealed door himself.

“Thousands? Why, you don't look much older than Ivory here.” Jackpot said, inspecting Caelus.

“Nothing ages or dies here in Tartarus.” said Caelus, “The magic keeping this place is strong enough to ensure that.”

“Now we should go,” Siri sounded quite insistent, “I prefer the suns warm glow.” Siri was already making her way towards the exit as I was still staring at the door. I suppose this might be a touch more uncomfortable for her, considering just who we were letting out of a two thousand year imprisonment.

There really was no reason to remain here in Tartarus any longer so we made a brisk and uneventful trip back to the gates of Tartarus. Siri kept ahead of us while Jackpot stayed near Caelus, his eyes constantly looking over the dull, cutie markless unicorn. Despite the fact we had seemingly been let in it was still a bit nerve-racking going out past Cerberus. He remained as docile as the was in but his eyes were still very carefully trained on us, with Caelus being his main target. I didn't feel entirely comfortable until the last of us had passed the door to the outside, my fear only fully subsiding when the doors magically slammed shut behind us.

The afternoon sun shone brightly on us as we stood outside the gates of hell to catch our breath. I could hear Siri constantly cursing something under her breath, I thought it might be about Caelus but I faintly heard my name mentioned once in there so I decided to just leave her alone until we finished the trip to Canterlot. Caelus was just standing there gazing up at the sky, his gaze transfixed on the sun and the clouds that rolled past it and through the sky. It must have been hard, being locked up in Tartarus for thousands of years. I wouldn't have been surprised if he even remembered what the sun looked like, let alone that it existed in the first place. Any worries I had about Caelus seemed to fade away as the foallike his face expressed just from looking at the sun grew ever more prominent. It was like Jackpot said, he was just some random pony and looking at him made it hard to believe he was ever an evil anything. This pony who was just standing there staring at the sun and sky like it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

“It's not like I remember it.” said Caelus, still gazing upwards.

“What? You remember the sky being different?” I said, somewhat curious at how he thought it should look.

“I'm not sure. There are many things I don't seem to remember correctly, or at all.” he turned his head down, the wonder in his eyes gone. “This was a mistake, I should go back.”

“Door's closed.” Jackpot said, knocking the sealed doors of Tartarus with his hoof, “Couldn't get back in if we wanted to.”

Caelus ran back up to the door himself, leaning his forehooves against it and pushing. When the door didn't budge he gave up and gave me quite the distressed look.

“Don't worry Caelus. You certainly don't look evil from this angle.” I said, You just gotta believe in yourself a little bit.” I said for both him and myself.

“Maybe once we get him surrounded by some other ponies he'll calm down a bit.” Jackpot suggested.

“Or he will kill you all, then you will have really dropped the ball.” Siri grumbled from her comfortable distance away from us.

“Ignore that sourpuss and let's go.” Jackpot said happily as he wrapped his wing around Caelus and dragged the surprised unicorn off towards the nearest train station.

“Maybe this could work. I might not be the best influence but I do know some ponies who might be.” I said, happy that things hadn't crashed and burned around me yet.

*****

The train screeched to a halt in Canterlot station, the pony conductor calling and leading ponies off and on the train. I was finally home. A sense of calm and ease set about me as all of the bright and happy colors of Equestria backed up by the sounds of normal ponies doing normal pony things surrounded me.

“Home.” I breathed.

“What is this place?” Caelus wondered, his gaze constantly being drawn around the street where we now stood.

“This is Canterlot.” I answered, “Capitol of Equestria.”

“So, the ponies made new kingdoms?” Caelus had quite the expectant face with this question.

“Well, Equestria is about a little over a thousand years old so I guess you would consider it new.” It's easy to forget Caelus is at least twice as old as Equestria itself.

“Only a thousand years? That is young.” Caelus' curiosity at what he was seeing seemed almost as powerful as when my own curiosity took over me.

“Young huh?” Jackpot asked as he yanked the last of his luggage over his back, “Just how old are you then?”

“Three thousand at least.” he said a bit too casually.

“What the fuck!?” I shouted in the middle of a crowded street corner. Several ponies harrumphed while others covered the ears of their foals with dirty looks on their faces. It almost seemed foalish to be so concerned about my language now but I guess I had forgotten Equestria was a bit gentler than the places I was unfortunately used to. Before we could set out in earnest though, two little fillies sped straight up, blocking our path.

“By Celestia! By Celestia! By Celestia! It's Ivory Star! I can't believe it's you, standing here, next to me!” both little fillies shouted almost in unison.

Two earth pony fillies, each of matching pink, blue and yellow, were standing right in front of me, staring up with amazement in their eyes.

“Huh?” was my only response to this sudden ambush.

“How do you know it's her?” the first little filly said.

“Her cutie mark and potty mouth!” said the second. “She's just like she in on the radio!”

Can I help you?” I said, glaring over at Jackpot who was covering his mouth with his hoof and wings, trying to hide his laugh.

“We love you on Hero's show!” they both said in unison again.

As I was standing there looking confused a mare, their mother obviously, came running up behind them.

“There you two are!” she said sternly, “How many times do I have to tell you to stop running off like that!”

“But mo-o-o-m!” how did they remain so perfectly in sync? “It's Ivory Star! You know, from the radio!”

The mare looked up at me and one glance towards my cutie mark was all that was needed for her to recognize me. Her mouth dropped a little bit and she suddenly began to blush intensely.

“O-oh I'm so sorry about my daughters. I-I-I hope they didn't bother you too much Ms. Star.” she was star struck. Jackpot mentioned this but actually seeing it made me both embarrassed and feel a little bit like I didn't actually deserve this.

“Oh no, it's ok. You have some cute kids ms.” I was blushing nearly as much as she was.

“Mommy and daddy are really big fans of you to!” the first filly said rather cheerfully.

“Yeah, especially daddy! He says your name in his sleep a lot!” the second filly beamed.

Fuck. My eyes slowly went back up towards the girls mother. Her face was beat red with embarrassment at the words of her daughters. “Uh...” is all I could say really.

“Itwasnicemeetingyougoodbye.” she said speedily before grabbing her daughters in her hooves and very quickly speeding off.

“That was...strange.” yes, it was.

“Looks like you got some adoring fans.” Jackpot said, trotting past me, laughing. Even Siri showed a visible smile on her face as she followed Jackpot. When I looked over at Caelus his face remained just as curious as before.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“Never you mind!” I said nervously, just as embarrassed as that mother...ok maybe not as embarrassed as her. “I just want to go home for a bit.” I looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was nearly ready to go down. There would only be an hour or so left of daylight and I didn't want to arrive at my house in the dark.

“Yeah, we should be right on time.” Jackpot said as he stretched out his wings to hail a taxi.

“In time for what?” I asked.

“Before I left for Khaweth I took a bit of time to set up a little something for your homecoming.” Jackpot smiled.

“So much for keeping me getting out of prison a secret.” I sighed.

“Oh please.” Jackpot laughed, “We took a train, in broad daylight. This was never going to be a secret here in Equestria. Plus, Karfiso told me about it in his letter, so I had plenty of time to plan this.”

I shrugged my shoulder and followed my companions into the first cab that pulled over by us. Weirdly enough Caelus didn't actually know what a cab was so it took a few minutes to explain the concept of paying somepony to take you where you want to go. I guess they didn't have cabs three thousand years ago(damn he's old.).

*****

There it was. Grit's old house. My current house. The house where I had first learned the horrible truth about Grit that messed me up so much back then. To think that was all years ago now. Jackpot was the first up to the door, using his wings to punch in a password into the security pad.

“Oh, I can't wait to fall asleep in my own bed for once.” I smiled, giving a sigh of relief.

“Will there be room for me?” Caelus asked, sounding rather sad.

“Of course, we got plenty of spare rooms.” I smiled at him. “Well, unless Jackpot filled them up with stuff these past few years.”

Jackpot smiled as I trotted up the steps towards the door. He grabbed the handle with his wing and swung the door open for me. The moment I trotted in I was met with a massive hug.

“MY BABY!” A voice I had not heard in a long time shouted out.

“Mom!? Dad!?” my parents were here?

“Of course honey!” my mom was nearly crying, “We were so worried! We've been writing and talking and bothering Jackpot here for ages to give us any news about you at all!”

“We've even listed to all of those radio stories about you that Hero put out.” my dad said proudly.

My parents were the loving sort. My mother, Frosting Star and my father, Lens Star had been together for over thirty years now. My mother was a baker and my father a photographer. They were wonderful parents whom I loved very much but once I went away with Grit I could only see them very rarely. Looking at their smiling faces as they smothered me in hugs and kisses only made me depressed. These last three years must have been horrible for them; their daughter a criminal, imprisoned in a foreign country with no way to contact them. They must have been suffering horribly and I didn't even consider them when I made my decision.

“These two wouldn't leave me alone while you were away Ives.” Jackpot smirked as he leaned against the door post. “Every day it was, 'where's Ivory this' and 'when is she coming home that'.”

“We were worried.” my mother said, wiping her tears away and she her and dad finally released me from the bear hug. “You never wrote at all that summer and there was no way we could get a hold of you in that terrible excuse of a kingdom those zebras have.”

Shit. Siri just came in.

My parents immediately stopped and turned their gazes to Siri who had just entered with Caelus. My parents suddenly realized what they had just said and who was now standing before them, a very scary and unhappy looking zebra.

“W-w-we didn't mea-”my father started to say.

Siri nickered, “That is fine, your opinions are no concern of mine.” Siri turned around and exited the house.

“Oh dear, me and my big mouth.” my mother pouted. “Who was that Ivory? A-a-and what happened to your mane and tail!?” she finally noticed.

I sighed, sitting down on the couch that was positioned on the wall next to the door, “Her name's Siri, she's my foalsitter. She's just here to make sure I head back to Khaweth in time for whatever they have in store for me. As for the mane and tail, apparently they aren't allowed in zebra prisons.”

“Ok, well who is this young pony?” My father asked, looking at Caelus, a quizzical look in his eye at Caelus' lack of color and cutie mark.

“This is Caelus, he's...a friend I met.” Ok I'll admit it, I think not introducing him as some ancient evil sorcerer would probably be the better option. My parents probably wouldn't even understand anyway.

“Oh! He's that pony you wanted to help from Hero's broadcasts!” my mother beamed.

“Told you we listened to every one of them.” my father said proudly.

Caelus just looked at them with curiosity and a bit of nervousness as he went to sit down next to me, nodding at the recognition by my parents.

“Sorry, he's just not used to being around ponies.” I said as Caelus sat down next to me.

“He wouldn't be the only one now would he.” a different voice said, coming from the kitchen.

I turned my head towards the sound as Jackpot tapped himself on his temple, “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you I got one other pony here.”

Out of the kitchen came a green pegasus with a coral pink mane. Emerald Flake, my best friend who was dressed rather professionally. She had a light purple suit and a slightly lighter purple skirt on as she effortlessly floated over to me. She had a very serious look on her face as she stared down at me from the air. I almost could hear whatever lecture she seemed to want to throw at me when her eyes glazed over and she flew down to wrap me in a hug that was somehow even tighter than my parents.

“You stupid pony.” she whispered as a few tears rolled down her cheek, “Doing stupid things like that.”

“I missed you to Emmy.” I said quietly as I returned the hug.

The hug lasted for at least a minute, with nopony interrupting it as I felt Emerald press herself tightly against me. When she finally let go she wiped the tears from her face and straightened herself up into a very professional looking stance.

“I have to ask Ivy. Did you steal that crown?” she was dead serious.

My parents stepped in quite suddenly, “We've told you a thousand times Emerald Flake, our Ivory would never do something like that!” My father protested.

“That's not what every official source says. The only ones openly defending you are your friends here.” she looked at Jackpot, “So Ivory Star, did you do it?”

What could I say here. I didn't steal it but from the sound of it she already believed, or at least mostly believed that I did. I could tell her the truth and say I didn't, but there was the biting fact that I had pleaded guilty at my trial and she would no doubt know about that. Yes, I pleaded guilty. Enyi was watching and I thought that since I was going to be pronounced guilty anyway this might do something to show him I was sorry. On the other hoof I did knowingly keep the helmet once I found out about it so I was still not entirely devoid of guilt. I had my reasons of course, and those reasons sure helped out in some instances but what I had done was still technically illegal. There was no avoiding it I suppose, I made a choice and now I would have to live with the consequences of that choice.

“I didn't take it, but I did keep it once I found out about it.” this was probably the best answer I could give(it was the truth after all).

Emerald let out a very disappointed sigh. “If those broadcasts of Hero's are to be believed you had your reasons. But Ivory, I have to tell you how exponentially stupid that was of you.” Emerald rubbed her hoof over her temples, “I guess Blaze was right to kick you out.”

This made me mad. How could she defend that fucking twat, “What! How can you stay a part of that piece of shit's organization!?” I yelled.

“Don't talk about Blaze that way!” Emerald yelled back. “He's done a wonderful job of running Adventure Incorporated. Yeah, some members got proven to be corrupt, but the princesses and Blaze worked together to make sure they were removed. He's been more honest and upright than you, so don't you dare say anything bad about him!”

Emerald's face was, for the first time ever, filled with rage. I had never seen her like that before and I didn't want to. She always had such a wonderful smile and seeing her angry like this actually scared me a little bit. Was this my fault? Emerald cared about me, maybe as more than just a friend and it seems I had been causing her a bit of stress over these past few years. On the bright side it seems she also had been listening to Hero's broadcasts about me so that was something I suppose. I would have to do something to make all of this up to her in the future.

“Oh, and one more thing Ivory.” Emerald said.

“What?”

“About this zebra friend of yours, Enyi.”

This was going to be an awkward question.

Emerald started to blush a little bit(Here it comes), “Did you two...actually...you know?” emerald clopped her two front hooves together as my parents suddenly looked away whistling to themselves.

Jackpot was loving all of this. He was just standing in the background trying not to laugh his flank off as my friend and I just kind of stared awkwardly at each other for a few moments. Caelus was trying to take everything in, he was constantly looking around and inspecting every bit of the house he could see from his seat next to me.

I started blushing (I need to stop doing that when talking about this subject) as Emerald stared intently at me. Something in me didn't want to say it directly to her(especially with my parents only a few feet away, pretending they weren't listening). It occurred to me that the only was Emerald could know this was that Hero had...broadcast about...me and Enyi...having...on the radio...my parents listened...oh sweet merciful Celestia I hope Hero didn't mention the whinnying part. I was going to literally kill her when I saw her again, I swear to fucking Luna and Celestia that I was gonna go over there, tie her wings together and throw her off a cliff or something. I looked right at Emerald and slightly nodded, avoiding saying it out loud.

Her ears drooped down when I nodded but she put a smile back on her face, “Well, where is he now huh? He obviously wasn't good for you Ivy.”

I'm so sorry Emerald. I wanted to tell her. To just say that Enyi leaving was my fault and I was doing all of this for him. That I still had hope for he and I and that she wasn't going to get what she wanted. But I just couldn't with all the emotional stress I had already put her through. Plus I was exhausted myself and I wanted to sleep.

“Maybe with some time I could get Blaze to let you back into Adventure Incorporated.” Emerald said. “You'd have to make some formal apologies and go through some probationary things but I'm on the board now so it might be possible if I sponsor you.”

Hold the fucking phone! “You're on the A.I board!? After only three years!?” nothing could have shocked me more.

Emerald smiled proudly, “Yup. With all the corrupt board members being arrested there were some openings. Blaze said that I was showing real talent with my work in the Equestrian jungles and that I had shown real moral character during my time there. He offered me the job on the spot so of course I accepted. It's a little unorthodox I admit, but this has always been my dream Ivory! If Blaze thinks I have what it takes, who am I to say no.”

I was just sitting there with my mouth hanging open. Only three years and already Emerald was part of the very body that had played a role in ruining Grit's life and then subsequently mine. If Blaze really did play accomplice in Grit's death then him putting Emerald on the board was fucking brilliant on his part. Fuck, I wish I didn't have to leave Equestria so soon for Celestia knows how long. Blaze has already been filling her head with his own agenda and when he finds out I'm out of prison he's going to be sure to be watching Emerald very closely. She was being used as a pawn and she didn't even know it. Her view of Blaze and A.I would make convincing her not to trust them impossible right now. Dealing with her now, Caelus, Siri, and the whole being used the Karfiso thing, my life was getting very complicated. I needed sleep. I needed some rest.

“I'm tired.” I was starting to yawn now. “I'm just going to go to bed.”

“I'll come with you Ivy.” Emerald said, “We're going to have a sleepover, just like when we were younger.”

“We're adults Emmy.”

“Doesn't matter. It doesn't seem you can be trusted so I need to stay by your side and make sure you stay out of trouble until you need to leave again.” she did an affirmative nod.

“We're all going to be staying here for a bit.” my dad said.

“Yup, you can bet you cupcakes we're spending as much time with you as we can before that zebra outside takes you away again.” my mom added.

“Well then.” Jackpot finally joined in. “The spare rooms should all be ready. I'll get Caelus and Siri situated, Mr. and Ms. Star have their own room on the third floor, and Emerald and Ives will be sharing her room, also on the third floor. Come on Caelus, let's get Siri”

Caelus looked at me, I nodded to him and he got up and trotted over to Jackpot. The two disappeared out the door while my parents each hugged me again before heading upstairs.

“Come on Ivy, I have everything set up already.” Emerald said, smiling.

Emerald flew upstairs quickly as I plodded up the stairs after her. Now that I had a chance to calm down and get a good look around I saw that parts of the main floor of the house had changed. I could definitely tell that Jackpot had been looking after the place as some cider flasks were laying around on various tables throughout the rooms. Old looking maps and newspapers littered any table that could hold them. Many of the newspapers were about us, stories printed not by Hero but some praising and some denouncing our adventures. How could ponies be against me this much? Jackpot said that Hero had proved that some members of the A.I higher ups were rotten and even that Silver's company was found to be filled with members of the Family. Speaking of Silver, Jackpot really hadn't mentioned him at all. I know he fell through that floor but Caelus said that nopony dies in Tartarus, this meant that Silver and his lackeys were still alive. They might be trapped in Tartarus but Silver was undoubtedly clever and if anypony could find a way out it would be him.

Today had been too much of an emotional and physical drain on me and I needed some sleep. I just hope Emerald would see that and not try and keep me awake like she used to do when we had slumber parties when we were younger. I got up to my room and saw that Emerald had set up a small mattress next to my bed on the ground. Emerald had situated herself on the smaller mattress on the floor and patted the bed, signaling me to lay down. I deftly hopped up on the bed and covered myself in my old blankets(they smelled a bit like cider so either Jackpot did this intentionally or he had been sleeping in my bed at some point).

“We're going to make everything all right Ivy. You'll see.” Emerald said, giving me one more hug before flying over, turning off the light and laying down on her mattress.

*****

When I woke up I felt great. The first truly comfortable bed I had slept on in three years was absolutely wonderful. When I sat up I looked down and saw Emerald still snoozing away on the mattress she had set up. I looked up at the window and saw the morning sunlight glittering through the glass. I looked around my room, it was also different but still had all of my old stuff in it, everything was just moved around which bothered me a bit more than it should have. I shuffled out of bed and crept out of my room so I wouldn't wake Emerald. I trotted down the stairs and onto the first floor to get some food. Grit's old, overly complicated toaster was gone and a new, more modern one sat on the counter. This saddened me as I liked that old toaster, impractical though it was. As I stared at it I heard some voices coming from Grit's old first floor study. The voices were Jackpot's and Caelus'.

“Really? I didn't think that was actually possible.” Jackpot said, he sounded excited about something.

“Yes, it's true.” Caelus said.

“What's true?” I asked, entering the room.

Jackpot had an excited look on his face as he sat on a chair opposite of Caelus. They had obviously been talking for some time as Jackpot had an empty flask of cider sitting on his lap. Looking at the flask awoke the realization that I wanted some as well. I had finished off the last of the flasks Jackpot had given me right before I arrived at the house last night and my body was telling me it wanted more.

“Caelus here was born an Alicorn! Can you actually believe that Ivory!?” It was rare to see Jackpot so gung ho about something other than cider or pretty mares. This added to the immediate effect of suddenly learning that Caelus was a freaking Alicorn!?

“Wait, what? Y-y-you were an Alicorn? H-h-how is that possible? Alicorns can't become normal ponies? Can they?” I was freaking out in a sudden burst of nerdgasm. “Some few ponies can become Alicorns but it can't work the opposite way! I-i-it's never happened before! Caelus you need to tell me more now!” I was talking at a mile a minute while Caelus was just sitting in his chair, leaning backwards as I suddenly pressed into him with a big smile on my face.

“It's not that overly complicated.” Caelus said. “I was born an Alicorn and now I'm not.”

“B-b-but all of the Alicorns disappeared. Luna and Celestia were supposed to be the only ones born here until Flurry Heart came along.” This was mind blowing! To think I was actually talking to a naturally born Alicorn who somehow turned into a normal unicorn.

“Well I wasn't born here. I was born in...” Caelus stumbled with his words. His face looked troubled as his mouth tried to move to continue what he was saying. “...somewhere else.”

“Where!?” I was probably being a bit too insistent but I wasn't paying attention at the moment.

“I just told you: somewhere else.” Caelus didn't look like he wanted to say any more so I backed off of him.

“Sorry about that.” I said sheepishly. “I just got a bit overexcited is all. It's not every day that you meet a new Alicorn.”

“Yeah.” Jackpot agreed. “You're pretty old so I'm sure you got a lot of cool stories you could tell Ives here. She likes those you know. Good stories that is.” he smiled.

“I don't think many of my stories would be very interesting to you. I can't remember my entire life and much of what I do remember is not particularly cheerful.” Caelus answered morosely.

It was important to remember that Caelus had apparently spent much of his life as something evil and horrible. After that he spent two thousand years shut away in a little room with nothing to do. A life like that wouldn't produce many good memories most likely. His words about not even remembering what might be his few good memories made me a bit sad to hear, especially as his face never lost that morose, desperate looking tone it had. I could tell he was not a very happy pony and it must have taken a lot for him to come with us like he did. Maybe it had something to do with Terria, the other Alicorn, but I felt like he didn't want to tell everything about himself all at once so giving him some time to get everything out was a good idea.

“Hey Jackpot?” I asked, “Did you ever find Siri last night?”

“Well, we tried.” Jackpot answered. He sounded a bit defeated, “She just seemed to disappear. I'm sure she's nearby watching us of course, Socotra like her are pretty stealthy after all and I don't think she'd just disobey Karfiso's orders to watch you.”

“You're probably right. We really didn't give her the best impression of ponies last night.” I sighed.

Before anything else could be said there was a very loud knocking at the front door.

“You changed the codes!? Jackpot open this door right now! I can't believe you didn't invite me to see Ivory! Jackpot open up, I know you're in there!” the muffled voice that sounded like some offended mare yelled through the door.

“Um Jackpot, anything you want to tell me?” I asked, turning to face Jackpot who just looked miserable now.

“I was trying to avoid this.” Jackpot mumbled.

“I'm gonna open it.” I said, trotting over to the door. Jackpot didn't do anything except slip another flask from his bag and take a big gulp of it.

The moment I opened the door Scarlet Aloe burst in, knocking me right onto my flank with a loud thud. She didn't immediately realize what she had hit and flopped over right on top of my stomach, knocking the wind out of me and leaving me slightly twitching on the ground as she rolled off of me.

“Ivory!? I'm so sorry!” she yelped. “It's just that I barely heard you were here in Canterlot and I rushed over all night and....oh, are you ok?”

“Yeah.” I gasped as my breath reentered my body.

Scarlet immediately turned towards Jackpot with an angry look on her face. “Why didn't you invite me back to Canterlot Jackpot? I can't believe you didn't even tell me you were going to pick up Ivory from Khaweth.”

“Slipped my mind.” Jackpot said halfheartedly.

Scarlet sighed. “Are you still upset about all of that? I can't believe you're being so stubborn about all this. He's your son after all.”

“You told her you had a kid Jackpot?” I asked, somewhat surprised as I pulled myself up from the ground.

“He told you too Ivory?” Scarlet gave Jackpot a dirty look. “I've been trying to convince him to go see them for years now but he just keeps refusing. For Scorpan's sake I've sent him no less than six letters since I went to stay with Hubbard and he hasn't returned a single one.”

“Maybe if you learned to mind your own business I might feel inclined.” Jackpot teased her.

Scarlet let out a slight nicker before turning back towards me, “Anyway, I'm so glad to see you again Ivory. Despite someponys best efforts I managed to be here and am ready to join up for any trips you might be planning for the future.” she smiled.

Now that the commotion was done I was able to recenter myself and get a good look at Scarlet. Something about her seemed a bit different: her peachy coat seemed to be a bit darker than I remembered and one of her ears had a strange black spot on it. Her mane, which was once a solid red almost looked like it had muddied a bit as well. It wasn't that it looked dirty but there was a certain hardness to it that hadn't existed the last time I saw her.

“Oh, you notice the changes?” Scarlet chirped. “Yes, they surprised me a bit as well but I suppose nopony can learn the kind of magic I've been learning without some changes.”

“You mean dark magic?” I asked somewhat hesitantly.

“Oh don't give me that tone Ivory.” Scarlet smiled, “Hubbard is a wonderful teacher who taught me all kinds of ways to control it.”

“Wait?” Caelus interrupted. “You have learned dark magic?”

Scarlet looked at him with a bit of curiosity before answering. “You must be Caelus. Ivory told me about you before she turned herself in. I must say you aren't quite as intimidating as I pictured a former super villain to be, but to answer your question: yes, I have been taught a little bit of dark magic. Turns out anypony can learn it, it's just the matter of not going crazy that makes it difficult to learn and master.”

“I'm mostly confused on just how and why you got Hubbard to teach you and why you haven't gone crazy?” I asked. “He's never really taken on any students before and dark magic hasn't ruined him because it's his special talent. You're cutie mark isn't dark magic so I don't really see how you were able to learn much of it.”

Scarlet let out a little laugh, “That flower I picked from that mountain we were on, you know, the one with the mist and the spear. In exchange for teaching me I let him have to to examine and study to his heart's content. The dark magic hasn't corrupted me because Hubbard is really good at it and knew what he was doing in teaching me. As for the why, well it mostly comes down to me wanting to be of more use.” Scarlet's smile dissipated and she turned her gaze back towards Jackpot, “Being left behind when you two went to fight Goldie hurt. I wanted to help. I wanted to be useful but instead you decided to leave me behind.” Scarlet's face grew a determined look, “I don't want to have to be left behind again so I decided to do something about it.”

“This is a dangerous road.” Caelus warned. “Very few can learn more than a trifling of this kind of magic without falling prey to it's temptations. Since you have welcomed me here I feel I should at least warn you that magic can be very dangerous if caution is not exercised in its learning. Dark magic in particular can draw creatures down dark paths without them even realizing it.”

“Yes, Hubbard warned me of that as well.” Scarlet sighed. “I've been going at it for a year now and am still reasonably unscathed. A little color change maybe but otherwise unharmed from the experience.”

“So what exactly did he teach you?” my curiosity made me ask.

“You know what!?” Jackpot shouted, “Now's not the time to go into this boring stuff. I have a plan for today and by Celestia's glorious butt we're gonna follow those plans through!”

“And what plans are those exactly?” Scarlet asked.

“Ivory and I are going to Joe's.” Jackpot got up, wrapped his wing around me and started dragging me towards the door, “The others are still sleeping upstairs Scarlet. If you wanna stay here and talk to Caelus that would be great; Ivory and I are gonna go and have some fun!”

Well, the idea of spending an entire day at Cider Joe's wasn't a bad one and with Scarlet at home to keep Caelus company one day out with my friend wouldn't be too bad.

*****

Cider Joe's House of Exotic Cider

The sign hung above the door to Joe's bar the same as it always had. The usual smell of the many types of cider soaked out of the slightly open door as I heard several voices coming from inside. Jackpot was ahead of me, eagerly making his way towards the door to the bar as I made my own brisk pace behind him. I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to this. I really needed some real relaxation and this would certainly be providing it. The emotions of the previous night could be forgotten for just one day and after that it would be back to business. After all, I just spent three years imprisoned in a foreign country and I fucking needed this.

Surprise!

A cavalcade of voices shouted out as I entered the doorway. Joe was standing there at the bar as all of the other bar patrons I recognized stood beside him. I could see Lumpkin and his brother Bumpkin standing in front of a small radio that was playing some music while all the other bar patrons cheered my name as I entered.

“Huh?” this was a surprise.

“We missed ya kid.” Joe said, smiling.

“Joe here has always had his radio tuned in to that radio station that's always singing yer praises!” Bumpkin, the large, green earth pony said with a big smile.

“Joe here even named one of his drinks after you!” a pink pegasus mare who had been dancing with Bumpkin chirped.

“Really?” this was too nice.

“Yeah, I call it: The Ivory Spark!” Joe proclaimed proudly. “It's a new mixture I made up. Stuff'll put you out like a boulder falling off Mt. Everhoof. Put in a little bottled magic for a little kick.”

The Ivory Spark huh. Not a bad name as drink names went but it did end up reminding me of something rather important.

“Got one more surprise for ya, Ivory.” Joe said before ducking beneath the counter and lifting a wrapped package from beneath.

“A present? For me?” I was stunned.

Joe blushed a bit here which was hard to notice beneath his red fur, “Yeah well, consider it a welcome home present.” he said, sliding the package over the counter and towards me.

I took no time in tearing open the colorful wrapping paper. Inside was an outfit that reminded me of the old adventuring suites Daring Do and Grit used to wear when they were younger.

“Had it special made, just for you.” Bumpkin said.

“Everypony here saved up for it for months.” Lumpkin said.

“Had it made of only the best materials.” Joe exclaimed, “It's practically a light suit of armor and should protect you from those villains you seem fond of tangling with.”

Indeed the outfit was modeled after the old adventuring gear of the past. The material was light but just touching it gave away how sturdy it felt. It was also filled with several good sized pockets for treasures and came with a new, very high quality saddlebag that I could sling around my back. It was obviously enchanted and very expensive. I almost started to cry as I held it in my hooves.

“I-I-I don't know what to say. This is just so sweet.”I sniffled a little bit.

“With all the business you and Jackpot gave me it was hardly any trouble.” Joe said kindly, “Just make sure it keeps you safe so you can come back and spend more bits here.”

I ran up and gave Joe a hug before carefully placing the outfit back into the box(I didn't want to get cider all over it). Looking at the adventuring outfit popped another thought into my mind. A question as to where my own trusty adventuring tool was.

“Jackpot, where's Sparky?” I asked. My super powered bracelet that with the right magic charge could turn into a laser shooting weapon of fuck yes. I had given it to Jackpot before I returned to Khaweth but now that I was back it seemed like a good time to ask about it.

“Follow me.” Jackpot smirked as he headed towards the back.

I followed him through the crowd of very happy and tipsy ponies. One would think it was a bit early for this many ponies to be so deep into their cider but time of day wasn't going to stop me I suppose so why the fuck would it stop any of them. At least I would have plenty of familiar company as I inevitably slipped into the cider induced coma that was likely to come later.

Jackpot exited out the back door and into the lot behind the bar. The old obstacle course was there, with several new additions on it. There was a motorized section with swinging sandbags as well as a tightrope that stood several meters off the ground and was at least fifty feet across. The previously existing parts had also been improved with some higher quality materials than I remembered it having last time.

“Wow. You've put some work into this.” I said, impressed.

“Yeah, whenever I have the bits I put on a bit or improve something that is already there.” Jackpot said as he moved to a small chest that sat just next to the door to the bar. His wing pulled out a small bundle of cloth and when unwrapped it revealed Sparky, just as ornate and ancient looking as ever. “Here ya go.” Jackpot said, tossing Sparky over to me.

I caught the bracelet in my teeth before slipping it back onto my foreleg. It felt good, having Sparky back after so long but the knowledge I would probably never be able to power it up again was a bit disappointing. Either way it felt right, as though Sparky itself was glad to be back on my leg, as though it were home. I stared lovingly at the little trinket that had started this whole insane series of events for me. I thought back to how I found it on Emerald's dig and going to the A.I library to research it, running into...Silver...for the first time and getting thrown into the most exciting yet depressing time of my life so far.

“Well then.” Jackpot took a breath, “We haven't really sparred in a while. Wanna go at it before we start drinking?”

“Do you have to word it like that?” I rolled my eyes before nodding to Jackpot's request.

“What can I say, it's a curse.” he smirked.

“What is? That you have the self control of a two year old.” I readied myself.

“Give me some credit.” Jackpot laughed, “I'm at least five.” he suddenly charged towards me with the speed I would have expected from him.

It had been some time since I was in a real fight. The first couple years in Arnband had been a daily struggle as one of the very few mares that was living within the walls of the prison. Being the only pony there didn't help much as I stood out like a sore hoof. The constant fear of being attacked always kept me on edge even when I was given a cell all to myself. There had always been the constant fear of being jumped by any of the hardened criminals that called the prison home. The guards had always been very little help, with the exception of a select few. The takeaway from all of this is that I had a lot of time to myself and the express need to learn to protect myself made the process of training myself go much faster.

When Jackpot reached me I had already side stepped out of the way. This didn't deter him as he pivoted his hind legs to buck me from below. I had prepared for this and had already reared my forelegs up and was already coming down on him before his own kick would have reached me. Jackpot seemed to either sense this or see it coming as he had rolled out of the way mere moments before my hooves came down, cracking the stone ground of the lot beneath me.

“Shit, you got some strength in those hooves now.” Jackpot gasped as he bounded around me.

“I'll try to hold back for you!” I yelled as I did my own leap towards him.

Jackpot was just out of reach of my leap as I landed, he came at me with a very quick buck to my leg. It hit but being an earth pony had it's advantages in the physical sphere. His hit barely registered as is pushed back to meet his own kick. Again he flipped to the side only moments before I could make contact.

“Ooh, felt the wind on that one.” Jackpot said excitedly.

Before he could recover though, I was on him again, kicking and pivoting to try and keep up with his dodges. I felt my body loosening up as I continued my flurry of kicks throughout the lot, keeping Jackpot on the defensive. He continued to prove quicker than me however and every time I would miss he would circle around me and deliver a blow strong enough to feel to one of my legs. It was continuously frustrating to see him constantly escaping my grasp until I slammed my hooves down on the ground, making a small shock just hard enough to shake him off his balance for a moment. One kick was all it took for him to bound upwards quickly into the air, just barely making me miss.

“That was too close.” I heard him mumble from above me as he weaved his way around me.

“Ha! Got you to use your wings!” I shouted as I began a run towards him. This was a proud moment for me as I had never gotten this far before in any of our previous sessions.

“Well then, I suppose I should take this seriously.” jackpot's cocky attitude was taking over as he swooped down towards me.

I jumped up at him but he predictably dodged. I turned my body to match his but trying to fight a pegasus like this in the air was a mistake, especially a pegasus who was faster than me. He had me knocked back on the ground before I even knew he had hit me. The blow wasn't that bad(earth pony resilience) but he had disoriented me for a few moments. Jackpot swept back down behind me and with little else to do I just swung my head backwards when his quick burst of speed gave him away. I got a lucky hit in as I felt the back of my head collide with his, knocking Jackpot to the ground. He continued moving however and still plowed into me, but without the control he would have had if I hadn't hit him. We both barreled over but Jackpot's wings allowed him to recover just a touch faster than me.

As I rose from the ground Jackpot had already made it on top of me, slamming me back into the pavement and fully onto the ground.

“Pinned ya.” he chuckled.

“Yeah yeah yeah, just help me back up.” I moaned as Jackpot got off of me and lowered his wing to help me back up.

“Maybe prison wasn't all bad if you learned how to fight like that.” Jackpot said. “You're a lot better than I remember you being. Not to mention that brute strength.”

I scoffed at him, “What would you know. You've never been locked up before.”

“Well not for three years.” Jackpot said as I dusted myself off.

“When were you ever arrested? I doubt any royal guard could catch you.”

“Yer right, no royal guard could catch me. I got caught when I decided to break into princess Luna's bedroom to go after the jewels in her crown.” Jackpot looked like he was remembering some fond experience.

“You got caught by Luna herself?” I couldn't help but chuckle.

“Yeah, spent three months in lockup with her visiting my dreams every night to teach me the error of my ways.” Jackpot laughed a little.

“I'm guessing her lessons didn't stick then?”

“Nah, I dug a tunnel out the back wall, started a fling with one of the beautiful guard mares, then got back to Goldie, with all the jewels stashed in my saddlebag.” Jackpot sounded proud of that until he mentioned Goldie's name, then his smile disappeared for just long enough for me to notice.

Before heading in there was one more thing I wanted to ask Jackpot. It was the perfect time as we were alone in the lot and I needed to know exactly what he had been doing with my name while I was gone.

“Hey Jackpot?” I asked before he headed inside.

“What?”

“What exactly did you tell Hero about me?” If my friends and parents knew about my actions with Enyi then I needed to be clear about one more event that Hero might have let loose. I needed to know what Jackpot had told Hero and what Hero had said about my last confrontation with Goldie. I could live with my parents and friend knowing about my love life but knowing I killed a pony might be a bit much for them.

Jackpot looked back at me and stared for a few seconds, “I didn't give Hero any specifics about what happened with Goldie.” he must have sensed what I was thinking. That or he assumed it because he had just mentioned Goldie. “I told her and she reported that Goldie was killed when the chamber caved in.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, “Thanks Jack-”

“I didn't do it for you.” Jackpot's face turned serious. “When I got to that part of the story I...I had trouble. I didn't see what happened remember. I just told her what the scene looked like afterwords.” he turned back towards the door, “I need a drink.”

*****

“You said you had a month before you had to go back.” Emerald whined as Siri, Caelus, Scarlet, Jackpot and I boarded the train. “I wanted to spend more time with you before you left.”

“Think of it this way Emmy: the sooner I leave, the sooner I get back. Then we can spend a day together, just the two of us.” I said, giving my best friend a hug, my new adventurer outfit feeling wonderful as I did so.

“You be careful around those zebras.” Emerald scolded, “I don't want you to do something stupid and get stuck there for Celestia knows how long, so you best behave yourself.”

My parents were standing next to Emerald with the normal concerned looks you would expect parents to give their children when they go off to Celestia knows where to do Celestia knows what. I had spent several more days with them after getting wasted with Jackpot. Siri had reappeared the morning after I woke up with the biggest hangover I had had up to that point. She never really said where she had gone, other than she had been observing me the entire time. I had no idea how she was able to do that but zebras seemed to have the ability to just disappear whenever they wanted so what did I know.

“I'm going to talk to Blaze ok.” Emerald said as she embraced me in a hug, “I'm going to tell him that you deserve a second chance ok.”

“I would love it if you could get me a meeting with him.” I said back. If this was how I was going to get to talk to Blaze then so be it. If I told Emerald what I thought Blaze had been a part of she wouldn't have believed me. Hell, she might not be trying to get me a talk with him if she thought that I had some vendetta against him.

Here I was again, not telling my friends what I probably should tell them and justifying it for some subjective greater good. I was going to be a terrible help to Caelus but luckily Jackpot and Scarlet seemed to have taken a liking to him. They might be able to help him come to terms with himself better than I could. Hell, I still needed to come to terms with a lot of my own life. I said my goodbyes and boarded the train. It would be over a week before I actually got to where Karfiso was waiting so I sat myself down and readied myself for whatever he had in store.

*****

So Caelus.” I said as the train chugged its way southward, “What's it like being out and about in the world again.”

“Everything is different. That's for the best though, I think.” he seemed rather contemplative.

“You know we're going to Khaweth, the zebra kingdom. We should probably keep who you are under wraps if we can. Even now the zebra seem pretty serious in their fear and hatred of you.” if Enyi's descriptions were anything to go by. Siri seemed relatively fine with him but I couldn't get any kind of read on her at all with the distance she kept between us.

“I never imagined I would return to that land, since I was the one who destroyed it.” Caelus was sounding depressed again.

“They seemed to have bounced back well enough.” I said, staring out the window at the clear, blue sky. “Khaweth has some really beautiful areas to it as well as a thriving population. Who knows, if you can remember anything about their old empire then some of them might really come to appreciate you.” speaking of the old zebra empire, I could ask him some things about that.

“All I remember is how I destroyed it.” maybe I would wait on that a bit.

“Well, you didn't destroy it completely. A zebra named Abila apparently rebuilt it. They practically all view her as a great hero.” Enyi had practically drilled that fact into me.

Caelus' eyes twitched when I said the name Abila. I suppose he must have been there at the end of it all, maybe he had even met Abila at some point. That would be an interesting conversation, especially if I got Enyi to listen to it. Maybe that would be enough to have him forgive me? For now though, I could see Caelus was thinking about old memories so I left him alone to be with his thoughts.

Scarlet and Jackpot seemed to have some tension between them. They had probably gone through a lot since I left and apparently that had caused them to break up the team. Scarlet had mentioned trying to get Jackpot to go and see his kid at some point and he didn't take it well. That seemed to be a consistent problem with Jackpot, every time his love life had come up he would always get far more restrained than he normally was. He had had a hard life and going through what he did with Goldie three years ago probably didn't help with closure on that. Thinkin about it I would probably agree with Scarlet that he should go and see his family. Even Angela had somehow known about that and told him to go when we went to Marewaukee.

“So, tell me exactly what happened with yo two.” I said, sitting down in the train car between my two friends.

“Jackpot's just upset because he knows I'm right and he's too stubborn to admit it.” Scarlet scoffed.

“Scarlet just doesn't know what she's talking about and should mind her own business.” Jackpot scoffed back.

“I'm just trying to help.” Scarlet said, trying to look Jackpot in the eye but he kept his face turned away from hers.

“This isn't something you can help with.” Jackpot grumbled. “I told you, Amber Glaze hates me. She doesn't want to see me again anyways.”

“Sounds like an excuse to me.” Scarlet huffed. “Why wouldn't you want to see your own colt? I'm sure he wonders about his father all the time.”

“She's probably made him hate me to. I'm telling you Scarlet, drop it.” Jackpot was pouting now.

Scarlet sighed and turned back towards me, “See what I had to deal with when you left. He was like this almost all the time. You don't know how much I had to go through just to get him to open up to me a little.”

“That's your own fault.” Jackpot grumbled.

“You know I could just mind control you and make you go see them.” Scarlet said, coyly.

Jackpot shot straight up, “You can do that now!? Shit.”

Scarlet just started laughing, “That was a joke you idiot.”

Seeing Jackpot get flustered was actually starting to get pretty funny. You know, thinking about it, I have some very weird friends now. A former criminal, a medical unicorn that now knows dark magic apparently and an ancient evil that once almost destroyed the world. At least my life would never be dull...

Community Service

Chapter 20: Community Service

“Ah, Ivory Star. I must say it is quite good to see you again.” Karfiso said, putting on a smile as I entered into his office alone.

We had made our way to the capital of Khaweth; a city named Khass. After a bit of pestering, Siri revealed that this translated to something nearing Zebraville, but that didn't sound as exciting so I decided to just go with their word for it. Khass was a city of colorful buildings and glistening crystal towers. It was easily as large as any Equestrian city-hub like Manehatten or Las Pegasus. Every building was constructed by stones of various colors; colors that would reflect off of the crystal towers to create glittering rainbows in the sky above the city whenever the sun passed over.

Karfiso had made his space in one of the large, glass-like towers of ancient gems that filled the city. Wazipata, Enyi had called them once, and after seeing them firsthoof I had to admit that they were beautiful. The sun and clear skies of Khaweth ensured that they always shone, clear and bright, like the most dazzling of diamonds while the magic of the zebras potions and poultices ensured the comfort of those inside. These towers were reserved for the highest of Khaweth society and only zebras of great importance could even be allowed to enter one, let alone have an office inside of one.

Karfiso's office was equally as impressive as the tower and city around it. It had been surrounded by very imposing looking guards, who only allowed me to enter to see Karfiso alone. His office space was filled with what I assumed were pieces of traditional zebra art. The inside had been paneled with finely grained wood so it looked more like the inside of a tree than a tower of crystal, giving it a more homely feel to it than it otherwise might have had. The only part of the room which was still blatantly crystal was a large panel on the outside wall which created a window that gave a view of the city below. Masks making many different and exaggerated expressions hung from the walls aside shelves filled with large, old looking books. Flasks and bottles of variously colored liquids hung from the ceilings and were ornamented with gold trims. On any open space on the wall hung strange looking spears and pieces of primitive looking armor made of what looked like wood or grass(These also had gold filigree traced along their slender shafts and edges, it all looked quite august). Karfiso himself had golden earrings slung from his ears as well as gold and silver bracelets on his legs as he sat behind a large, finely carved desk.

“Not like I had much of a choice.” I said, nudging the door closed and trotting up to the edge of Karfiso's desk. “You seem to be doing quite well for yourself.”

“Indeed, but being a member of the council will tend to lead to some affluence(explains all the guards on the lower floors). We, however, are not here to talk about my recent change in social status. We are here to discuss your future. I have received some very interesting news from Siri regarding a new friend of yours.” Karfiso's eyes narrowed as a smile appeared across his face.

It was obvious that he meant Caelus. Siri must have somehow gotten word to him about picking up his peoples boogeyman and trotting around with him. I expected most zebras reactions to be a bit more apprehensive like Siri's was but Karfiso seemed almost intrigued.

“Yeah, he's your great Darkness.” I said, sitting back in a chair that conveniently had been placed at the side of the large desk. “You know, destroyed your empire and almost brought your entire species to extinction.” I was gonna take every chance I could to hold anything up over this guys ears.

Karfiso smiled, “Most interesting. I would very much like to meet him. I feel we could have some enlightening conversations.”

No way was I gonna leave those two in a room together. Caelus seemed nervous enough being around ponies, if I left him alone with a zebra like Karfiso he would probably end up using Caelus in some manner similar to how Silver wanted to.

“He's with me for now.” I said firmly. “I promised I would get him out of Tartarus and that doesn't mean leaving him anywhere near you.”

Karfiso let out a sly laugh, “Very well, my plans did not include him anyway. You may keep your little demon, you will need him for the tasks I wish you to complete.”

“I guess that's why you let me out of prison. Planning on making me your errand pony or something?” might as well cut to the chase.

“I had some community service in mind, in return for ending your sentence early.” Karfiso sat back in his chair, his face had an almost sinister feel about it.

Hearing that gave me a moment of happiness but with Karfiso offering it so readily something in me pushed that happiness back inside, “Your willing to just let me go? Your zebras might not like that. I was told that council members were elected, if they find out that you-”

“The council will not exist for much longer so it will not matter much.” his face turned very stern, “You need not concern yourself much with our politics. All you need to concern yourself with is the tasks I wish you to complete. When those are done I will consider your debt to society paid and you will be free to return to Equestria with no fear of reprisal.” he smiled.

I had that bad feeling in the back of my throat about this. I mean, I was obviously going to do it if it meant never having to go back to Arnband but the feeling that these tasks would be bad was very eminent in my mind. My instincts were screaming at me to just go back to prison and sit there but my mind was busy strangling my instincts for saying that.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked with the greatest apprehension.

“Three things. I will tell you each task as you complete the previous, just in case.”

“In case of what?”

“In case you start talking.” his smile faded and his scary-stern face returned, “If you tell any creature of the tasks I am having you do, I will have you killed before you can ever hope to leave Khaweth.”

Fuck him hard with a rusty spike.

“Siri will be accompanying you of course, so I do not see that option as likely.” Karfiso's face returned to normal.

Something about Siri unnerved me. The way she could just disappear and reappear out of nowhere would naturally make anypony a bit wary about being around her for protracted lengths of time and the idea of going into potentially dangerous situations with a zebra I didn't trust was not confidence building. Combine that with the fact that she probably feels something similar about me and you've got yourself a recipe for a bad time.

“Come on, I don't need some foalsitter to do this. I came back after the whole Silver incident didn't I? Besides, I don't think Siri likes me or my friends very much.” I protested.

“Yes, you returned without Sable if I recall.” Karfiso said, giving me a slightly condescending look. “And Siri hardly likes anyone who is not me. Either way she will be going with you to make sure this task is completed to my liking. You may feel free to complain as much as you like but that is simply how it will be.”

Just for once I would like to be able to go off on some adventure where I wasn't being used or manipulated. It really saps the enjoyment out of something when you're forced to adhere to strict guidelines not of your own making. But as I didn't really have much of a choice(whoop-de-do) I might as well try and make it tolerable somehow.

“Well then, wanna tell me why exactly Siri is only comfortable around you?” if I was going to be forced on these long trips with her I might as well learn all I can about not constantly aggravating or annoying her. I don't particularly fancy being on the constant bad side of a zebra who could break my spine without even batting an eyelash.

Karfiso seemed to relax a little, “Well we are lovers for one thing.”(ok, not doing that) Karfiso laughed as he saw my face begin to redden, “You ponies are quite adorable at times I will admit.”

“Aren't you like, her boss or something?” this guy is weird.

“Yes.”

“Isn't that like...not allowed or something?”

“Siri is the commander of the Socotra. If one could so easily take advantage of her then she would not be in that position. No zebra in Khaweth would ever dare question the both of us.” Karfiso said with such a confidence that I almost felt the urge to back away from him.

Time to change the subject, “Well anyway, what is it exactly you want me to do?”

“If you are uncomfortable with the tasks, I would have you know that each one will help the zebra and Khaweth greatly. You might think me cruel of unfair in someway and while maybe I am a little, I like to think I am a good person at heart(ugh).”

Karfiso stamped his hoof on the floor with a loud thud. Within moments Siri had quickly made her way into the room and was standing straight at Karfiso's side. She then bent her head down towards a lower shelf on a bookcase that stood on the wall and grabbed a very old looking book in her muzzle. She placed it gently on the desk and nudged it open. The writing in it was Ungul, the language of the ancient zebras.

“This book is older than Khaweth itself.” Karfiso began, “It makes your Equestria appear as an infant, if that comparison is more to your liking. It was not a terribly important book by any means when it was written, but now it is an invaluable treasure.” I cocked my head as I stared at the ancient tome. “This book is an inventory of magical items from the old empire. A trifling thing that tells of powers long thought lost by my people(had to admit that sounded pretty cool). One item in particular appears in this text as well as several others of a similar nature.” Karfiso gestured to several other old books that sat on his shelves. “An item that appears to have been quite common in those days will aid in bringing forth much needed change here in Khaweth. I want you, Ivory Star, to head to the citadel of Umbaara and retrieve this item for me.”

That sounded hella cool. Obviously there was some kind of catch or Karfiso would have found it himself but still. This Umbaara place sounded pretty cool; it was obviously some ancient ruin from the old zebra empire days which means it would be somewhere Enyi would probably love(soon).

“What's Umbaara and what's the item?” I don't like the pronoun game but Karfiso's little speech made it necessary.

Karfiso took a breath, “Umbaara is a very special place. We do not know the original name of the city but we call it Umbaara because it is a place of great darkness. It is a fortress-city located in the Phiri mountains in the south that was destroyed by your new friend, thousands of years ago during the end of the old empire. It is believed by some to be the birthplace of Abila and the final stronghold of the ancient zebra against the Darkness. The item I want you to find is called an irpata, a memory stone. It is a small, black stone that was used to record moments of great importance or any moment I suppose. I want you to go to Umbaara and retrieve the city's irpata. It will most likely be in some vault, deep within the citadel of the city.”

“My next question is: what's the catch?” there had to be something more to this.

Karfiso looked away for a few seconds before returning his gaze to me, “The catch is that I sent a few Socotra to the ruins some time ago. They returned with news that a roc guards the gates to the city. Such a beast is not to be engaged lightly and so I decided to wait until the time was right to send you.”

Shit. “You want me to fight a roc? Like, the giant bird monster that eats dragons? That kind of roc?” double shit.

“Yes.” he answered bluntly. “Siri will come to assist you, of course. You will find her combat skills to be far superior to your own. I am certain her help will be invaluable.” Karfiso smiled at Siri who simply smiled back at him.

“I have hunted rocs before.” Siri said to me. “With my aid you will need little more.”

The thought that Siri had fought an actual fucking roc before and come out alive was...absolutely frightening. I remembered the Socotra we brawled with back in the jungle; it took our entire group just to restrain him. If Siri was even better than that we might actually stand a chance against a genuine monster. I would be lying if I said the thought didn't excite me more than a little bit. I had been cooped up so long that now a little action might be fun. We've all improved over the last three years so fighting one giant bird shouldn't be too hard after all, right?.

“Oh, and Ivory.” Karfiso glared.

“What?”

“If you feel the urge to look into the irpata I will allow it. But know that if you do and you tell any of what you see then-”

“I get it. This is all super top secret.” I groaned. After a while the threats get a little old. Come to think of it, I've had a lot of threats given to me over the past years. Maybe I should start to keep count; have my own little adventure threat counter.

“Good.” Karfiso smiled. “Then when this task is completed then you will return the stone to me and I will give you the next task.”

A thought just occurred to me, “What if it's not there?”

“What?”

“What if the stone isn't there?” I asked.

Karfiso seemed to ponder this question for a few seconds. “Then you go back to Arnband I suppose.”

“Have I ever told you that you suck.” I nickered.

“No but I am sure you have thought it many times.” he smiled. “Go now. The sooner you leave then the sooner you can get back.” he waved his hoof towards the door to signal me to leave. “Besides, I have other business to deal with today.”

I let out a small groan as I hoisted myself out of the chair and headed off towards the door. I used to dream about fighting a roc with Grit when I was still a filly. Now, here I was about to fight one with a zebra, a dark magic wielding unicorn, a former super villain and whatever Jackpot could be described as(I could use a lot of names for him).

Everypony was waiting just inside the doors that led back out into the city. Caelus was watching out of a small window while Scarlet was watching Jackpot rifle through his saddlebags as he counted his remaining cider flasks. There were several intimidating looking zebra guards that were watching them until they noticed me enter the room from the stairs. They gave me a disgruntled look before trotting past me and up the stairs, leaving me and my friends alone.

So, what's the plan?” Jackpot asked, looking up from his bags. Caelus and Scarlet turned their heads towards me once Jackpot spoke.

I sighed, “Ancient city, magical artifact; you know, the usual.”

“Where is this ancient city?” Scarlet asked.

“It's some place Karfiso called Umbaara, it's in the southern mountains I guess.” I answered.

Jackpot let out a groan, rolling his head, “If you thought the jungles here were bad, some of the things in those mountains make pyth's look like garden snakes.”

“Yeah, I guess we're going to be fighting a roc.” I said, affirming what Jackpot just said.

“Rocs are powerful.” Caelus said. “I remember many of the ancient zebra I used to fight against riding them into battle.”

“Seriously?” damn, that sounded cool. I wonder how Enyi would look riding on top of a giant bird?

It was now that Siri now entered the room. She had several large packs on her back and a determined look in her green eyes. “Come now. We will leave immediately.”

“Ooh, this is going to be so much fun!” Scarlet squeed.

Jackpot rolled his eyes but couldn't help crack a small smile on his face, “Wonder what kind of treasure I can find?”

“I will help in any way that I can.” Caelus said firmly.

“Alrighty then, let's go.” I said.

*****

The Rompo-drawn carriage took us swiftly southwards towards the mountain range that took up much of that part of Khaweth. The grassy plains and savannas of central Khaweth gave way to the hills and woods that sat at the base of the mountains. Siri took the time we had on the trip to explain the area and any dangers we might face there(luckily, Karfiso had apparently ordered her to act more friendly towards us so she stopped speaking in rhyme the whole time....dammit, now I'm doing it).

The lands surrounding the city were directly controlled by the Council of Khaweth. Normal zebra citizens were not allowed within the bounds of the city which had left it uniquely untouched compared to other ruins. The reason for this, however, was not a unique one considering the area of Khaweth the ruins sat in. The southern mountains(according to Siri and Jackpot) were rife with dangerous creatures and natural disasters. Large earthquakes were relatively common in this particular region, though the city somehow remained undamaged by the millennia of quakes it had to have been subject to.

As for the creatures, there was the roc of course(how...just how?) and apparently other beasts as well. A creature that was common in the area of mountain we would be poking around in, Siri described as nothing short of a demon. Brogels, she called them. They were small, dog-like creatures that had iron claws and fiery breath. They were known to swarm teams of explorers and burn them to death before devouring whatever remained of the corpses. They were particularly numerous in this region and have been spotted in packs of several dozen around the ruins of the city. Then there was the biggest challenge, the roc. They were uncommon in these mountains but according to Siri there were some eyries among the highest peaks where they nested. The one we had to contend with, however, had been seemingly guarding the city since it discovery, many years ago. No zebra or pony has ever set hoof inside the city-ruins proper which is why, I suppose, Karfiso thinks the irpata stone might still be among the city vaults.

“I have knowledge of near every demon we may encounter in these mountains.” Siri said. “Although I guess Caelus may have more in-depth knowledge than me since it was he who, according to legend, created many of these beasts in the dark times.”

As a member of the Socotra(especially as their leader), Siri was required to have an encyclopedic knowledge of all of Khaweth's most dangerous predators. She had mentioned hunting rocs before so I would have to trust in her knowledge to get us through this ordeal.

“We will come within view of the city tomorrow.” Siri said. “It lays behind that spur there.” she pointed a massive wall of stone that made up the edge of the mountains. “Once we pass those stones the lands will become very dangerous. There will be packs of brogels both within and without the bounds of Umbaara. Once we get deeper into the city I will not know what we may encounter outside of the roc; it has never been properly explored.”

The day had slowly melted away as the sun began to sink low behind the horizon. We had settled near a large bolder that stuck its way several meters out of the ground. Jackpot immediately got started in building a fire with some wood from a nearby copse of trees. Siri poured a few drops of a potion onto the wood and within seconds of Jackpot making a few sparks the fire roared to life.

In the gloam of the twilight I could make out the Phiri mountain range that stretched east and west further than my eyes could follow. Around the base of the cliffs were rows and rows of trees that gave way to the plains and savannas that we had just come from. Just looking at the mountains I could tell how ancient they were. All rocks are old, of course, and all we can really do is wonder what things they have seen in the countless years it would have taken for them to form and grow to the heights these peaks reached. What sights could they have seen? Who has climbed them in the past? Were any battles ever fought in their shadows? These mountains were doubtless older than pony or zebrakind so the things they could have witnessed would be more than any of us could ever imagine.

“I remember this place.” Caelus said as he took a seat near a large stone. Jackpot was starting a small fire in a small patch of ground with only a little grass. The sun had set and it had been decided that we should rest up before continuing onwards to the city. “I lived here for a time before...well, it was a beautiful place then.”

“Ooh!” Scarlet cooed. “I'd love to hear about it.” she said, smiling. Jackpot leaned up against the stone and nodded in agreement as the fire flared to life. Siri took up a spot further away from the rest of us yet still close enough so she could be within range of the warmth of the fire.

“But you destroyed the city?” Siri said as she looked over at Caelus. “Karfiso told me that it was a citadel of the old empire. That means you were the one who ruined it.”

Caelus looked down towards the ground and away from Siri. “That is correct. But of that, my memory is still somewhat hazy. I could tell you what the city was like before if you want though.”

“I think that would be pretty interesting.” I said, smiling with excitement at the opportunity to learn something that no pony or zebra had heard in thousands of years(also to lighten the mood Siri had just created).

Caelus' ears twitched as he stared down at the fire Jackpot had set up. “The city's name was Angkir, which meant Hardrock. I'm hoping the meaning is self explanatory. Despite the coarse sounding name, the city was a haven of scholars, artists and musicians. It held great libraries, studios and theaters. The mountains that surrounded the city provided a great resonance with the music that would flow from the streets, creating a great symphony that could be heard for miles in all directions. The sculptors and artisans brought forth great reliefs and statues that were more beautiful than any I had seen outside of my homeland. The architects ensured that every house, every hovel, was a wondrous work of art. It's archives held literature and history going back to the founding of the empire; millennia of songs and tales, older than the counting of years, were held in those halls. I remember there being a great colosseum where every year, on the beginning of each new season, great games were held to honor the spirits and heroes of ages past. It was a wondrous city.” Caelus halted in his speech and took a breath. “All that is gone now, I suppose.”

“Sounds like a fun place.” Jackpot said, poking at the fire with a stick before taking a sip from his cider flask.

“Oh it sounds absolutely wonderful!” Scarlet beamed. “I wonder what kind of magic the ancient zebra studied? Did they make potions back then? How did their spells sound I wonder?” she quickly became lost in her own imagination.

“It is all a ruin now.” Siri stated, shaking her head back and forth.

“Yes, we know.” I nickered back at her. “Honestly though, it does sound wonderful. I would have loved to see that library and all those scrolls and books. If we get the chance we're definitely going to have to find a library tomorrow when we enter the city.” even on the minuscule chance there would be something left I just needed to get in and have a look around one of these amazing sounding libraries.

“The storytellers say that the Darkness came with an endless horde of demons and laid waste to everything that was good about the old empire.” Siri nickered back at me. “You may be just a pony now Caelus, but you once were a great calamity that brought the land of Karfiso's ancestors to ruin.”

“Rude as that was my dear Siri,” Scarlet interjected, “It does make me curious about something. I know a bit of dark magic, but you Caelus...Hubbard said the Darkness was the originator. How powerful were you and how strong is your magic now?”

We all turned our gazes towards Scarlet. Siri looked at her with a look of special uneasiness while Jackpot looked on with curiosity. It was a good question and if what Siri had been saying about Umbaara was true, we would need all the magic power we could get if we were attacked.

Caelus didn't answer immediately. He rolled his eyes back and forth a few times as he thought of something. “I don't think I can say what I was like but I can say that I still do feel my own magic within me. Dark magic is not of ponykind. It's not natural. I do not know if any is still within me but if there is then I cannot feel it. So I guess that all I can say is that I could still perform suitable magic, if we have a need to.”

“Once we get into those mountains we definitely will have a need.” Jackpot said, giving off a slightly nervous laugh as his eyes quickly glanced towards the mountain.

“If it's truly as dangerous as Siri says, then I think we should all get as much rest as we can before we head out tomorrow.” I said, stretching my legs out and letting out a long yawn.

“That is wise Ivory.” Siri agreed. “I will remain awake for a while and keep watch until the fire goes out.”

“Ooh, it's going to be just like old times.” Scarlet said, a sparkle in her eyes. “The old team: Jackpot, Ivory and me; exploring ancient tombs and learning secrets long thought lost.”

“Very poetic.” Jackpot said, chuckling to himself as he settled himself against the boulder we had built our camp beneath.

“Hubbard always says that spells work better when they sound good, so he had me learn a little bit.” Scarlet responded. Resting herself near the pegasus.

Siri leapt up to the top of the boulder and sat herself facing towards the mountains. Caelus took a position opposite of where Scarlet and Jackpot had laid down while I settled in between him and them.

After a day of traveling sleep came fairly easy as the warmth emitted by the fire quickly lulled me to sleep. I had settled into a nice dream about Enyi for some time when the images were brought to a sudden end by a strange whooshing sound that snapped me back awake. It almost sounded like some kind of spell had gone off or something but the first image my waking saw was Scarlet's eyes opening alongside my own as the rest of the party stirred awake.

“Earthquake!” Siri suddenly yelled as the zebra jumped down from on top of the boulder, almost landing on my hooves as I still laid there on the ground.

“Huh?” is all my sleep-addled brain could muster saying before the ground I was laying on suddenly jutted up and threw me several meters away from where I was laying.

Our camp seemed to break apart within seconds as the ground opened up and throttled us around as we came to the sudden conclusion of what was happening. Jackpot swept Scarlet up in his hooves and hovered themselves off of the ground as Siri scooped me onto her back and moved me out of the way of a hole that had just appeared beneath me. Caelus had magic and levitated himself off of the ground with his horn glowing a dull grey. The rompos brayed and roared in a sudden panic, rearing up before galloping off in various directions, far out of sight.

As quickly as it started, though, the ground stopped shaking and tearing itself apart. Within seconds the quake had ended and all of us seemed to be completely unharmed. Jackpot let Scarlet down as she hopped back onto the ground, Caelus lowered himself down with his magic and I was able to slide off of Siri's back.

“Uh, thanks Siri.” I said, my body shaking and my mind swirling from the experience.

Siri didn't answer as she plopped herself down onto the ground once I was off of her back.

“Siri? You ok?” I asked as I saw her keel over.

I quickly shifted my gaze to her hooves, one of them had a rather large and sharp looking shard of rock sticking out of it. Blood had begun to rush from it as the jagged edges of the rock had cut away at her skin. She had gotten hurt saving me.

“Out of my way!” Scarlet yelled as she pushed past Jackpot and Caelus over to where Siri was laying.

The wound looked bad but Siri didn't make any sound as Scarlet made her way over. Her face seemed locked in an intense concentration as Scarlet's horn glowed a deep red. A black and purple jolt shot from her horn, instantly dislodging the rock and forming the blood into a protective cocoon around Siri's cut leg. The blood wrapped around the gash and near instantly seemed to stop the bleeding and even reform some of the torn skin.

“Hmm?” Scarlet said, “This spell works fast, but never this fast. Why, the injury looks practically healed already.” she smiled.

“Wa-was that-” Jackpot began.

“Nothing major.” Scarlet said, interrupting him. “Dark magic and medical magic, working in tandem. A little trick I came up with while I was with Hubbard.”

“Sweet Celestia.” I had never really seen dark magic used up close like this before. To see Scarlet so casually use it boggled my mind nearly as much as I saw how effective it was.

Siri quickly hopped to her hooves, her face still concentrating on something. “Thank you.” is all she said as she rolled her hoof around to see how good it still was.

“I must say that you seem especially receptive to my spell.” Scarlet said happily. “That or I'm even better than I thought!”

“You've gotten a lot better.” I said, curiously peering down at the blood bandage that had appeared around Siri's leg.

Thank you Ivory.” Scarlet smiled. “I got a lot better on my own with how much Jackpot would get hurt, and with Hubbard's assistance I think I'm quite top-rate now.”

As Scarlet admired her work I took a look back at the cracked boulder and the crevasses that had appeared where we had previously been sleeping. The pits went deep enough for darkness to obscure any sign of a bottom. Siri had just certainly saved my life back there; falling into some bottomless hole was not my idea of a fun time after all.

It was still a little bit strange, I thought to myself. I would never try and pass myself off as an expert on earthquakes but to do so much damage over the course of barely thirty seconds to a place that apparently had regular quakes just seemed weird. I flicked my head around to see that the area around us seemed relatively fine with only a few noticeable cracks having appeared in random spots. Only the area we had been sleeping on had received any kind of life threatening damage like the crevasse. The forest that spread about at the base of the mountains didn't have a single tree out of place from when I had seen it yesterday. This earthquake seemed to only have affected an area directly around us which instantly shot up a series of red flags in my mind.

“Come.” Siri said, turning towards the last mountain spur between us and the city. “We must hurry before some other calamity befalls us.”

That was probably a good idea so it didn't take long for all of us to have what things didn't fall down into the crevasse slung over our backs and to be heading out towards Umbaara. As we trotted along, Siri remained alert as he head constantly twitched back and forth. I could tell she was looking out for something despite the pain she should have been in from her hoof. In fact, she didn't seem like she was limping at all; she continued to trot along as though her hoof had never had a dagger-like shard of rock slashed through it. There wasn't a hint of limping or sign that she was even being slowed down. Was she just that tough or did Scarlet's dark magic infused healing spell just work that good?

We managed to go for several hours before Siri halted us. We were near the edge of the mountains and I could see the final turn we would have to take before the city was supposed to finally come into view. Jackpot immediately propelled himself high into the air and looked around as Siri gazed off into a patch of high grass not far from us.

“Somethings movin out there!” Jackpot called down to us from his elevated position.

“Brogels.” I heard Siri mumble.

“You mean those fire-dog things you mentioned?” Scarlet nervously answered her.

“Indeed.” Siri responded as she suddenly shifted into a more aggressive stance. “The earthquake must have brought them out.”

“Just how worried should we be?” I asked, sliding up next to Siri.

“Worried.” Siri answered, gritting her teeth together.

At that moment Jackpot blew past me, just above my head. As he flew over the moving grass I saw them; several bright orange dog-like beasts, about half my height, leap out of the grass at him. Jackpot easily avoided them but now that they had been seen they began to pour out of their hiding spots out at us. There were at least six of them that we could see and they sped at us on thin yet muscular legs. The first one to reach us was deftly pounded into the ground by Siri, her hoof finding its way into the brogel's face. One of them had sprinted off to the side and leapt at me but I wasn't about to be shown up so easily. With one kick the brogel was sent flying into the air and landed limply on the ground a ways away. Scarlet had grabbed one with her magic and had flung it away as well as Jackpot simply bounded between them, his wings ensuring his speed was far too much for them tot ouch him. Before the brogels even realized what had happened, Siri had made her way between the rest of them and proceeded to crush their skulls in with her hooves as Jackpot distracted them from above.

“Ha!” Jackpot laughed, “I thought you said we should be worried.” he said right before a ball of fire blasted him in the wing, sending the pegasus plummeting towards the ground.

“Jackpot!” Scarlet yelled as her red aura caught him as he fell.

“Karfiso said you were dim-witted but letting your guard down in a fight was not something I expected from you.” Siri said as the offending brogel was easily stamped into the ground by the zebra.

“Um Siri!” I yelled, looking in the opposite direction.

At least a dozen more brogels had made their way out of the grass and were speeding their way towards us. A few of them tried jumping towards me but the strength of my kicks sent them reeling into the dirt.

Scarlet was batting away any brogel that got too close to her and Jackpot with telekinesis, while Siri quickly made her way back to the group. There were now nearly two dozen brogels quickly closing in on us from multiple directions.

“Run!” Siri yelled. “They are trying to encircle us!”

She didn't have to tell us twice as Scarlet, carrying Jackpot, and I bolted towards the mountain heel. Siri easily made up the distance and was leading us away from the tall grass and towards the mountain and forest. Despite this the brogels closed in quick and the few that dared to close in alone were deftly clobbered by either Siri or myself. More and more of them closed in as three dozen of the little beasts were now following us. Despite our best efforts, their numbers won out and soon we found half a dozen in front of us, ready to pounce if we got too close.

“It seems I have little choice.” I heard Caelus say from behind me.

There was a blasting noise as a wave of blue energy shot past me with such swiftness that it almost knocked me over. The brogels in front of us were suddenly blown away and scattered as the blast from Caelus' horn hit the ground between them.

“Ha! Take that!” Scarlet yelled as we continued past the blown out brogel corpses.

“How many more of those you got in you?” Jackpot asked from Scarlet's back as we continued to run.

“That seems like the best I can do right now.” Caelus answered. “Took me a while to build up though. Give me a few more minutes.”

That quick feeling of hope I had seeing half a dozen brogels blown away so easily dissipated as the final pack of brogels appeared from the forest edge we had been hugging. Dozens more of them poured out from the trees as several fireballs landed at my hooves. I had to stop or else they would have hit me and burnt my legs off.

“Fuck!” I yelled as I tripped over my own legs and tumbled to the ground.

“Scarlet, help me!” I heard Caelus yell as a blue shield of magic suddenly enveloped the group.

“Oh, right!” Scarlet responded as she shot a beam of her own into Caelus', reinforcing his shield.

The brogels swarmed over the shield. Their claws scratching and hacking at the magical bubble that now surrounded us. In her rush to help Caelus, Scarlet had dropped Jackpot onto the ground and he was now cradling his burnt wing as several more fireballs slammed into the shield. Caelus was beginning to sweat as more and more pressure was being put onto the shield as the brogels backed off and began breathing their fiery breath at the magical barrier. I could tell that Scarlet was growing a bit pale even as her red beam slowly darkened with streaks of purple and black. The shield was holding for now but even I could tell it wouldn’t last more than a minute or two.

I had to think of something. I looked down at my foreleg and saw Sparky still sitting idle, completely useless without Abila's helmet to power it up. I frantically looked back towards the shield as the brogels had resumed clawing at it with the large claws that sat on their paws. Their teeth were nearly as long as my forelegs, despite the brogels themselves being around the same size as a medium sized dog. I could hear them snarling and growling wildly as they snapped at the magical bubble that was keeping us safe from harm for the moment. Foam escaped through the cracks in their teeth as they savagely shredded and tore at the surface of the shield. I kept looking around frantically,I had to think of something to do quickly, or else those beasts would break through and rip us all to shreds.

Siri had reached into her pack and grabbed a small vial of red liquid within her teeth. She held it firmly as her eyes darted back and forth. Taking note of as many brogels as she could. One of Scarlet's legs gave out as she continued to funnel her dark magic into Caelus' shield, causing her to fall onto her knees as she struggled to keep the spell up. Jackpot had finally managed to stand back up, his burnt and crumpled wing hanging limply at his side. He still had a determined look on his face as he stood next to Scarlet.

“Thinkthinkthinkthinkthink!? What the fuck do I do!?” My mind was jumbling itself trying to think of some way out of this as the shrieks and snarls of the brogels grew louder as one of them managed to slash a small hole in the shield and reach its claw through.

Jackpot was quick to push it back out, allowing Caelus to fix the hole before he fell down, panting heavily the shield wobbled with his effort.

“Behind me! Now!” Siri ordered, speaking with the vial still placed firmly within her teeth. She moved over towards Scarlet and Caelus as Jackpot and I formed up behind her. Siri had sunken into an entirely aggressive stance as her eyes seemed to become hyper focused on all of the frothing beasts that were about to break through the shield.

There was a loud crack, as Caelus' horn sharply dimmed and he was thrown to the ground with Scarlet quickly following suit. The brogels immediately swarmed in from all sides, their snarling faces red with rage as sparks and flames shot out through their teeth. They were nearly on us as Siri prepared to smash open the vial when a massive gust of wind blasted all of the brogels back out and away from us. Siri paused in her attack as her eyes widened as we all looked up and saw what had just appeared above us.

The roc was there; an absolutely massive bird had appeared above us and was currently undergoing the task of swiping at and blowing the brogels away from us. A few of them launched fireballs at the creature which hit its feathers, singing them but not slowing the bird down at all. Watching this suddenly snapped me out of my panic and the fear which had been gripping me vanished instantly.

“Come on! We have to help it!” I yelled as I bounded forward into the swarm of brogels which had turned their attention away from us.

“Girls got the right idea!” Jackpot yelled as he rushed after me.

“What!? Wait!” Siri yelled in vain after us as she turned to look at our two exhausted unicorn companions.

The roc had scattered the brogels enough that I found smashing my hooves into them a fairly easy affair. Their attention had diverted to the gigantic bird and away from us so my bucks and kicks landed with deadly effect. One. Two. Three. Four. A few turned to face me and managed to lunge but I had now entered the proverbial 'zone' and found my instincts allowing me to dodge out of the way and smash their now mangled bodies down into the dirt below. With each kick, I could hear their bones cracking as blood shot out their mouths, slightly singing me when it landed on my fur. The adventurer shirt Joe had given me managed to resist the larger spurts that hit me, magically repelling the magical blood as it hit. Jackpot was following up behind me, his wing slowing him down, yet he was able to kick back a few that tried snapping at my flank as I rushed forward.

The last few brogels that remained soon ran whimpering back into the grass with one particularly vile looking one turning back to hiss at us before disappearing into the tall weeds. I stood there. Staring up at the absolutely massive avian beast that now stood upright before me and my friends.

Siri quickly rushed up and pushed me aside and behind her.

“Stay back Ivory!” she yelled as the great bird swung around to face us.

It's dull, white eyes focused in on the aggressive looking zebra as she gritted her teeth at the roc. Jackpot ran up beside me and gave the roc an equally pervasive stare. The bird seemed to hop around on its two legs, ruffling its feathers where they had been singed by the brogels. It was quick for something so large as Siri continuously slid herself around trying to stay between us and it.

“Now it is time for you to do exactly as I say ponies!” Siri said in a very commanding voice. She turned her head to quickly nab something from her saddlebag when something quite unexpected happened.

“Schala! Kack ra lak!”the roc spoke?

Now, to most ponies, strange sounds coming out of the beaks of fifty foot tall birds would sound just as described, as strange sounds. I(and my friends), on the other hoof, had seen enough weird shit to recognize when something interesting just happened. Plus I had a lot of practice translating languages to recognize when weird sounds were actually weird words. Rocs were not usually known to talk(or make any noise outside of ear-piercing shrieks) so when you can hear some form of syntax coming from one it's difficult not to take notice. A few years ago my brain would have exploded at the opportunity to meet a talking giant bird...who the fuck am I kidding, THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!

“Did the beast just...speak?” Siri said, frozen, her eyes still trained on the massive bird.

“Those sounds sure sounded like some kind of words.” Jackpot said, looking confused.

“Tak Roäc! Rokko kork ok?” its voice was almost squeaky but at the same time, due to the roc's size, loud and imposing. The bird stood there, its old looking eyes locked on us as it bobbed its head back and forth.

“Stay where you are!” Caelus called up from behind us. He and Scarlet were slowly hobbling their way over towards us. The roc turned its head towards them and I saw its pupils grow and shrink as it stared deeply at the two unicorns as they made their way forward. Caelus' horn glowed weakly as a speck of light left the roc's breast and sparkled over each of our heads. “There we go.” Caelus smiled before falling to his knees, panting heavily as Scarlet supported him.

“Hmmm. It's been a long time since I've seen that spell used.” the roc said suddenly.

“Hu-wah?” Siri said, utterly confused.

“Caelus just taught us his language.” I said to her. “He taught himself ours when I first met him in Tartarus.” this was great! Now I could actually talk to it!

“Can't say I've ever talked to a giant bird before.” Jackpot said, rubbing his hoof across his forehead.

“I should say not!” the roc said, sounding offended, “If you had then your manners would have been better! I have been here, keeping you troublesome zebras and ponies out since before your ancestors ancestors were even a thought in their ancestors lineage!”

“Mighty Roäc, please forgive them.” Caelus managed to say weakly, “They couldn't understand you until now.”

The roc(apparently named Roäc) seemed to finally divert his gaze from us after Caelus spoke.

“Well, I hope this display has successfully convinced you that this land is not safe for your kind.” Roäc said.

He might have been right, but the opportunity to talk to such a legendary creature and my original need to enter the city outweighed anything now, “Um, hi. My name is Ivory-” Something deep within me was telling me to act very fanponyish...and it was winning, “and I had absolutely no idea that rocs could talk. I mean, I've certainly never met one that could, well I've never met a roc at all actually, but if I had I might've been able to tell or something. Anyway, I just want to say that you are just..just incredible and cool and awesome(I'm excited, can't you tell?) but I do kinda need to get into that city that's just around that corner there.”

Woe be it to me to try and argue with the giant bird that probably just saved our lives but, despite my excitement at finding something even Grit never saw, I still had a job to do.

He turned his gaze towards me. His eyes looked half blind and upon closer inspection his feathers were very dulled in some places and in others still sported brighter colors of green and red. This roc looked extremely old as I glared at him more.

“If you enter that city, you will all die.” he said rather grimly.

“We can handle brogels.” Siri said, speaking up.

“Are you crazy!?” Scarlet yelled from her position of holding up Caelus, “We barely survived one pack of those things!”

“We were never in any real danger.” Siri said, almost spitting back at Scarlet, “I was taken by surprise at first but should the roc not have come, I had a weapon that would have ended our attackers.”

“That red stuff, right?” I asked, remembering the vial Siri had been holding in her teeth..

“Indeed. It is a powerful poison specially made to kill brogels. All I had to do was smash the vial and all of the beasts would have died within seconds. I just needed them to all be in one place so I waited until the shield fell.” what the fuck kind of stuff was this zebra carrying around in her pack?

“Oh, there are far worse things that those blighters in the ruined streets of Angkir.” Roäc warned. “Horrible things indeed.”

“I have come prepared.” Siri flipped off her saddlebag and a multitude of colorful potions sat inside the bag. “Every demon that lives in this land I know, these potions here are not for show!” she stated very firmly.

Well, I didn't feel like playing the pronoun game and Siri and Roäc would no doubt continue to argue so I simply pushed my way past Siri(she didn't look happy at that), “What exactly lives in Umbaara that's so dangerous?”

The great birds head lurched back and then began to shift quickly in various directions as his eyes darted in various other directions, “A demon of the old Darkness. The brogels serve him, and he is their king. I felt his stirring and came out to investigate only to see you being swarmed by the brogels. I felt compelled to save you and ensure you left this land with your lives, as I have every time before.”

“The earthquake!” I heard Scarlet utter from behind me. “Was that this demon?”

“Yes.” Roäc answered. “He is a horrible thing of darkness and death. It has been so long since I have seen him though, that I simply cannot remember what he looks like. My memory isn't what it used to be after all.”

“It is more than likely a large brogel.” Siri interjected, “Packs are known to follow larger queens, they are fierce creatures, some have even killed Socotra, but I have faced several and beaten them. Or maybe it is a krak, living in some dark pool that forces smaller demons to do its bidding. Either way, I am prepared.” Siri nodded affirmatively.

“Can you give us any kind of description mr. Roäc?” Scarlet asked.

“Hmm” the bird thought, “It was big. Also I remember it being on fire.”

“See!” Siri proclaimed loudly, “Just a large brogel. Large ones are rare but not unheard of. We can deal with it.”

“We really do kinda need to get into the city.” Jackpot said, looking up at the big bird.

If ever a bird looked annoyed, Roäc was certainly that bird.

“Kaaaa!” He screeched, causing me to shove my hooves up into my ears it was so loud. “I have made my eyrie here above this city for two thousand years to keep meddling zebras away. I will not end that guard now because a pony asked me to.” did he just say-, “I am Roäc, king of all rocs! Once was a time when the free skies of this world bent to the will of my people! Then the dark times came and all that I had fell into ruin and death! It has been so long, so long since any roc has been even able to speak or act like anything other than a beast. I alone remain of all my kind to tell you that only death awaits you in that place. His power still dwells in the dark halls and palaces of Angkir; an evil that compels the brogels to gather and obey! I may have forgotten its face, but I can still feel its presence within the city. Nothing that enters ever leaves that is not torn to pieces by the brogels. They have come in greater numbers than ever before the past few weeks. Once there were mere dozens, now, hundreds roam the woods and plains, killing and dragging whatever they find into the walls of Angkir.”

There were several seconds of silence, “Lovely speech.” I heard Jackpot say from behind me with an obvious sarcasm in his voice.

“Quite nice.” Scarlet agreed.

As for myself, I was trying to wrap my head around everything Roäc had just unloaded onto us. My brain was stirring at the thought that I was talking to a roc that was actually two thousand years old, at least. I was feeling a mixture of excitement, wonder, disbelief, confusion, and absolute fascination. Imagine, this roc was most likely around when the city was still functioning; that means he was around during the zebra empire and might actually know something about it. Hell, he could have seen the city fall, or maybe even have fought against Caelus while he was the Darkness; it would make sense if he was...the king of the rocs, is that what he said? Shit, this just keeps getting better and better doesn't it?

Roäc's chest had puffed out and the dulled feathers had plumed out, making him seem even larger as he shook his head, “Why, under the sun's radiance, would you creatures seek to venture within the realms of darkness? All who came before you turned back at the merest sight of me.”

Siri came forward, “We are looking for an item called and irpata, Roäc. One that exists within Umbaara may hold knowledge that I may use to aid in the betterment of the lives of all zebras. These ponies have been contracted to help in this mission. Ivory here, requires this mission to be successful as part of a way to pay for crimes committed against zebrakind.”

I let out a long sigh, “Please king Roäc, I understand that the city is dangerous and you're just trying to keep us safe, but we really need to get in and find this memory stone. We won't stay long if it will make you feel better. We just want the stone and then we'll leave.”

“Is it not the custom of your people to offer help to those who need it?” Caelus said, standing up on his own and moving in front of Roäc.

Roäc cocked his head at Caelus and I saw one of his eyes zero in on the grey unicorn, “What would you know about the ways of my people, eh? That spell you used is an old one, I recognize it from one I knew long ago.” the great roc's eyes slid closed as he hung his head down for several moments, “I will not force you to leave, yet if I let you continue on you will be killed by the many brogels that now roam around the city. It is true the way of the rocs of old was the assistance of those in need. So therefor, I, Roäc, who was once a king, will fly you to a location in the city I know to be safest. I will circle above to watch for your return and then we will leave. I will advise you to spend no more than a day within the city for if you tarry then the brogels and their master will surely find you.”

“Wait!? You're going to let us ride on you?” I asked in astonishment(and excitement).

“Yes.” said Roäc.

It took every ounce of my willpower to contain the immense levels of excitement I was now feeling. I was going to get to fly on the back of a fucking roc! Not only that, but an ancient roc that apparently used to be the king of all rocs. I'll admit that today started out pretty bad, but this part was shaping out to be fan-fucking-tastic(in a good way).

The ancient bird swung its massive body around so that his back faced us. His great tail lowered down, forming something of a ramp that we could use to climb up onto him. Caelus went first, trotting up Roäc's back with no hesitation. I quickly followed suite, practically bursting with an excitement I hadn't felt in a long time. Scarlet had to help Jackpot onto Roäc's back as his wing had begun to hurt again, leaving Siri to hesitantly slide her way up onto the back of the giant bird.

“He will drop us, mark my words, who ever even heard of talking birds.” Siri nickered as she took a seat on Roäc's back.

“This is gonna be fun.” I said happily.

With that, Roäc's mighty wings began to beat off the ground. As if in one, fluid motion, the great bird leapt off the ground and beat his wings with such force that they began to blow a vast torrent of wind in all directions. All the others manes and tails began to blow wildly as the air stream roared around the bird as he rose in altitude. I rubbed my hoof through my maneless head, almost feeling a bit left out as only a short fuzz had grown back from when it had been cut in Arnband.

Roäc launched himself high into the air with such speed that the ground became a distant memory in seconds. From this vantage I managed to peer over the edge just enough to see the burnt crushed grass where the brogels had attacked us grown smaller and smaller. Roäc was really taking us up high, all the trees and even the edge of the mountains themselves seemed to change in size as the trees became a green carpet and I began to be able to see over the small spires of the mountains edges.

Roäc then launched himself forward, the wind almost lowing me off of his back. I had to wrap my teeth around some of his feathers to keep from falling off as he flew forwards. The ground began to pass quickly, turning into a blur as the bird gained in speed. The wind began to sting my eyes but I began to see movement within the tall grass as more brogels closed in on our former location.

“Fuck that was close.” I murmured to myself as we sped forwards through the sky.

The air became crisp, everything seemed so open and free as Roäc took us closer to the wall that had shielded Umbaara from our view. I couldn't help but wonder if this amazing feeling is how Jackpot felt every time he lifted off of the ground. I took a quick look over to him as Scarlet's horn glowed around his burnt wing, sparks of black and purple blended with her natural red aura. It was astonishing, I could actually see Jackpot's wing mending from the burns with each passing moment.

“Look forward!” Roäc called back to us.

“Huh?” I said, before turning my gaze to where we were going.

Roäc had crested the last arm of the mountain and now the ancient city of Umbaara was in view, and what a view it was. My eyes became glued open as the city was nothing like any I had visited on my previous adventure. It was not a hardly noticeable ruin like Numnah, nor a dank, depressing tomb; it was a city, a real city. I could see spires and towers, houses and archways colored in every conceivable color and then some. Yellow archways, blue bridges, red walkways that climbed up and around the taller buildings. Each structure was decorated with faded murals and frescoes, some crumbled and broken, while others seemed more intact. Each building was topped in crystal or gold, though some was faded and bent. There were what could have once been walls but was now only large piles of rubble that we could see even from our height.

The city sat within a circular vale, the only way into it from the ground was a path that existed between two sides of the mountain. On each side of the path were two colossal pedestals with the bases of broken statues. Only the rear hooves remained but it was easy to see these statues could have been as large as any tower in Canterlot. They looked like they could have been of rearing zebras as large shards of their bodies lay at various points on and around the pedestals.

“It's beautiful!” I shouted, a smile on my face at the wondrous work of art that was the city of Umbaara.

“Celestia's tits!” I heard Jackpot exclaim as his eyes stood wide, staring down at the marvel.

“By Scorpan's amulet, it's incredible!” Scarlet chirped as she broke her concentration on Jackpot's wings to stare out at the city below us.

“This is what the old empire was like?” Siri said, almost sounding stupefied. “Karfiso would love this.”

Caelus remained silent as he stared at the city. Before long he turned his head to stare at Roäc's back.

I scanned every inch of the city that I could see from Roäc's back. Near the edge of the city, near the mountains, were a series of impressively built blocks of stone. They were massive, the size of the Canterlot palace at least, and I could see little windows in them, showing me they were buildings. Compared to the rest of the city they looked rather plain, perhaps they had been built at a later date than the rest of the city? Roäc turned towards these structures as he slowly began to lower in altitude, his grayed eyes moving about, scanning the ground beneath us.

“Those are the vaults!” he cried, “I know that many irpata were stored within them. Maybe they are still there, if the demons have not destroyed them by now. I will need to set you down a bit west of them though, that area of the city is the safest. Make your way towards the vaults quickly and carefully, and you may make it out alive.”

Roäc landed swiftly and far more silently than I would have expected from a creature of his size. I could see Caelus and Siri constantly scanning the area around us as Scarlet helped Jackpot down from Roäc's back. I eagerly hopped down to the cobbled walkway our wondrous pilot had landed on. My eyes went wide as I looked around the square we stood in. The buildings, despite being ancient and half torn down, seemed to be as vibrant as they ever could have been.

Roäc had landed us in a large rounded courtyard that sat between a ring of what looked like houses. In the center of the circle was a ruined fountain, long silent and dry of the clear and refreshing waters that no doubt once ran from it. The courtyard was just as colorful as the rest of the city had been from above. The crumbling houses besides us contrasting the still vibrant colors of blue and yellow that graced the surfaces of the ancient dwellings. The cobbled ground beneath our hooves was cracked and filled with weeds, evidence of the long neglect that these once beautiful walkways have endured over their centuries of loneliness.

There were several narrow streets that ran out of the courtyard that split into various directions and around multiple corners. They sat there, shadowed, as the ruined forms of ancient houses loomed over the wrecked stones that lay there on the paths. There seemed to be no signs of brogels or other nasty beasts within the courtyard itself which gave me no end of relief.

“Caelus was right, this place was a city of artists.” I mumbled to myself as it seemed we were surrounded by rainbows.

“Remember,” Roäc said, “Do not tarry here too long. I will remain above to wait for your return to this spot.”

“Thank you, king of birds.” Caelus said, bowing his head down as Roäc lifted back into the sky and flew off towards a mountain peak that overlooked the city.

“This place is even more beautiful close up.” Scarlet said, giving off a contented sigh as she looked at a partially crumbled fresco of two young zebras playing with what looked like marbles.

“Can't say I've ever seen a place quite so colorful.” Jackpot said, agreeing with Scarlet as he to gazed at the beautiful fresco.

“Let's not forget that Roäc said this place was dangerous.” Caelus warned. “Those brogels might be all over the city, it'll be difficult to get past them.”

“I will take care of that part.” Siri said, trotting over to a small street that led out of the court. “I will see just how many brogels block our way and find the most effective way past them.”

“You're not scared they'll see you?” I said, concerned for the zebra.

“They will not see me. All of you will remain here, I will return shortly.” and with that Siri quickly disappeared down the small street.

“Now what?” Jackpot said.

“Well, this'll give me some more time to work on your wing. It shouldn't take much longer to get it in working shape anyway.” Scarlet responded, her horn glowing a dim red as she concentrated on Jackpot's singed wing.

I occupied my time trotting from one end of the yard to the other, gazing at the beautiful colors that still seemed so vibrant on the ruined walls of the crumbling houses. It was like nothing I had ever seen before in my life; the city must have been an absolute wonder before being destroyed if it was still so beautiful after millennia of neglect.

Jackpot couldn't seem to help but wander around with Scarlet traipsing after him, keeping her magic focused on his nearly healed wing. Caelus went and sat down near the fountain with Jackpot following him closely from behind.

“Jackpot!” Jackpot called as he stuck his head excitedly into the ruined fountain at the center of the yard.

“Your names not that exciting, and hold still, I'm almost done.” Scarlet grumbled as the light in her horn dimmed before Jackpot's wing shot out stiffly.

Jackpot pulled his face from the dried fountain and between his teeth sat several dulled coins. Jackpot's eyes had a gleam in them as he laid the coins on the ground, diving his head back into the fountain and dragging out a multitude of very old looking bits.

“Zebra foals used to throw coins into fountains and make wishes. Do ponies still do that?” Caelus said as he watched Jackpot toss out more coins.

“They're beautiful.” Scarlet said, nodding to Caelus before looking down at the now small pile of coins Jackpot had laid out on the ground.

“They're not ours.” I said, trotting up to Jackpot as he looked triumphantly at his pile of loot.

“Technically they don't belong to anypony.” Jackpot said excitedly as his wing swept the coins up into the only pack he had that wasn't filled with cider flasks.

“Haven't we learned about taking artifacts?” I said, staring right into Jackpot's eyes.

“Oh relax Ives, I've got a deal with Karfiso for anything I can dig up here. Those zebras are starving for stuff from their old empire and he's willing to pay me a fucking load for anything I can bring him.” Jackpot answered confidently, securing a strap on his bag to seal his treasure.

“Jackpot does have a knack for getting money.” Scarlet mused as she gazed into the fountain herself, picking up a few coins and carefully setting them in her own saddlebag.

“I just don't want Siri, and by extension Karfiso, getting mad at us while we're still out here.” I said, unable from helping myself from gazing into the fountain to see if there were any coins left for me(there weren’t).

“Oh? You think she won't be looking out for stuff on her own?” Jackpot teased as he jumped up into the air, flapping his now healed wing and flying around on it in circles.

“Don't worry Ivory,” Scarlet said sweetly, “Jackpot would never do anything to jeopardize your freedom.” Scarlet turned her head upwards to where Jackpot was swerving and looping through the air, “He absolutely adores you.”

I turned away, looking down the street that Siri had disappeared down, wondering if the fact that she had taken this long meant that she had run into trouble. The city seemed very desolate despite the beauty of its crumbling buildings; I could hear no animals of any kind. There were no birds, bugs, or any other kind of animal I could think of that would live in an abandoned city. The buildings, despite many of them being partly destroyed, seemed remarkably clear of anything. There was an almost pristine look to the city as though it had been carefully preserved and kept free of any outside influences. It was clear that what Karfiso said had been true, no zebra(or anyone else) had ever entered this city.

“Siri's back!” Jackpot called from the air as I saw our zebra guard come trotting back into the courtyard.

“What did you see? What's in the city?” Caelus asked as Siri approached us.

“I was correct.” Siri said nodding to herself, “There is a brogel queen that roams the streets.”

The idea of a bigger, nastier brogel was not a pleasant notion but I had little doubt Siri could lead us past it with little difficulty.

“Anything else out there we should know about?” I asked.

“Many brogels prowl the streets, the queen has several dozen around her at least.” Siri said, gazing back down the street. “They are not close to here, this place should be safe for some time.”

“Is there a clear path to that vault thing?” Jackpot asked, landing and stretching out his healed wing.

Siri nodded.

“Well then, Scarlet and me got some things so now lets go help get Ivory the thing she needs.” Jackpot said happily, patting me on the back with his wing. Jackpot then gestured to his saddlebag before shaking his flack to the sound of the jingling coins in it. Siri nodded again before turning back down the street. “See,” Jackpot whispered to me, “it's all good.”

“I can't wait to see the rest of this gorgeous city.” Scarlet smiled as we set out.

Siri was unnaturally quiet as her hooves glided noiselessly across the cobbled cracks that made up the ground in Umbaara. Jackpot was gliding just above the tops of the buildings, keeping watch for any brogels that might think to try and jump us while we made our way closer to the vaults pf the city. Scarlet and Caelus brought up the rear as I could hear her excited voice telling Caelus whenever she saw something that she thought looked nice as we passed by ever more beautiful wall paintings and buildings.

It didn't take long from that for me to snatch a view of an image I knew quite well. As we turned a corner a large carving of a bound book hung over the entryway into one of the larger buildings on the block. My brain instantly knew that we had just come across a library and before I knew it I had crept beneath the entryway and into the front hall of the ancient structure.

My eyes boggled and my brain swayed back and forth as I looked upon row after row of stone shelves, covering hundreds of feet of stone floor. The ancient shelves were covered in the dust of the long rotted books as piles of dust covered the floor. It broke my heart seeing so much ancient knowledge lost in such a way. Many of the shelves had been cracked and broken, some even had scorch marks either from the brogels or from the ancient battle that had brought the city to its knees. I crept between the many stone shelves, looking in vain for any sign that I might find something of value in the decrepit hall. I compelled myself ever onward as my brain frantically kept yelling at me to find something...something I could show to Enyi, something we could maybe even read together.

The library had high windows that trickled in several small rays of sunlight, lighting up the empty hall. On each and every shelf I looked at I could only see piles of dust with the occasional binding that had only half disintegrated into dust. The slightest touch from my hooves was enough to make these bindings unravel and be blown away from my nervous breaths.

I almost couldn't believe it. I was in a literal library from an ancient zebra empire and there was absolutely nothing I could read. This knowledge(or lack thereof) had almost reduced me to tears at the mere thought of everything this library had contained to be lost forever. Each empty shelf I passed, each pile of dust and debris that could have at one point contained knowledge that no creature today could ever conceive of brought my heart to a new low. I kept walking through the forest of dead shelves, waving my head back and forth at each new row and aisle for a mere glimpse of whatever I thought I could see. I was truly beginning to think that everything was gone, I was beginning to think that everything that had ever been in this city was destroyed and all that remained were the husks of its colorful buildings; a hollow victory for a hollow city.

As I neared the end of the hall, something managed to catch the corner of my eye. Beneath a ray of sunlight I managed to make out etchings on a wall in the distance. My heart leapt as my hooves propelled me forward through the dusty ruin of the old library.

“By the princesses, I think I found it.” I said, eying up the wall where the carvings had been made.

My mouth hung open as my eyes scanned the ancient writing. It was very well ordered as my eyes saw line after line of letters I couldn't even begin to comprehend. I could feel my excitement grow with each letter I put my eye upon. Line after line I saw, row after row that led far off to the sides of the wall in every direction.

“If only I could read this.” I sighed as I continuously followed the lines across the wall. “I wonder who wrote it? Could it be graffiti maybe? Was this written during the battle or before?” I kept eying every possible bit of the writing that I could as though looking at a word multiple times would somehow magically reveal what it said to me.

“This wall should be destroyed.” a voice said suddenly from behind me.

“Huh!?” I jumped at the surprise. I turned around to see Caelus, his grey fur nearly making him invisible as he stood just outside the sunlight, standing behind me staring up at the writing on the wall. “D-destroyed!? Are you crazy!? This is-”

“You don't know what this is.” Caelus said abrasively. “You can't read a word this writing says.”

“I know that this is history.” I said brusquely back, “I've ruined enough zebra history and I don't want to be responsible for ruining any more.” my mind went back to the portion of Abila's tomb that I caved in with Goldie. “Can you use that language spell to help me read this?”

“No.”

“You can't, or you won't?”

“Won't.”

“Why not?” my mind was now racing with what exactly this wall could possibly say to make somepony like Caelus think its bad.

“The things this wall says should stay forgotten. The fewer creatures that can read it and know it, the better.” Caelus sighed and shook his head.

“Can I have a clue?” I asked curiously.

Caelus took another look up at the writing, his eyes rolling over each word and letter carefully before turning his head back to me. “It's a recipe book. It lists the ingredients needed to make horrifying poisons. The contents of this wall could kill thousands in mere minutes.”

Ok, that shocked me a bit. I took a step back as though the wall had suddenly become much more dangerous with the mere utterance of Caelus' words.

“Something like that is just sitting here out in the open on a library wall? What if-”

“The zebra changed a lot near the end.” Caelus interrupted. “We all did horrible things; twisting and torturing nature to suite our needs. Not all the monsters of the world were made by me.”

“What happened?” I asked almost hesitantly. “I'm not going to hate you for telling me you know.”

Caelus let out a heavy sigh as he looked once more on the writing on the wall, “Seeing this writing brings back memories I would rather not have. The zebra are a very clever bunch. They were always good at making powerful elixirs from the world around them. Whenever I would throw something new and horrible at them, they would make a poison that could kill it. Then they would make something worse and send it at me. We both grew to be very good with this skill and ended up making many horrible monsters. For example; I created changelings,” Caelus turned his gaze towards Siri who had appeared behind us with Scarlet and Jackpot in tow, “from zebra magicians.”

“You should not have disappeared like that, Ivory Star.” Siri said, sounding a bit angry.

“Looks like ya found something though.” Jackpot said, peering up at the wall.

Siri looked at the wall and the copious amount of writing it contained. Her eyes seemed to eagerly soak up every bit of it as she stared. “Karfiso would want to see this.”

“This wall should be destroyed!” Caelus said again, this time with more force.

“This wall is the history of the zebra!” Siri said just as forcefully back. “It seems to be all that is left of this library.”

“I'm not going to damage it.” I said. There was no way I was ever going to do anything damaging to such a historically important work, even if it was as horrible as Caelus claimed. “I've taken enough history from Khaweth.” I said, my eyes quickly glancing towards Jackpot.

“The knowledge contained on these walls is evil.” Caelus said.

“You would know.” Siri spat back.

Before the argument could escalate any further, a flash of dark, scarlet energy shot past my head. Purple and black, mixed with a dark red glow slammed into the wall, crumbling it it and it's contents to dust and knocking down the surrounding wall as well which sent plumes of dust and debris flying everywhere.

“The Fuck!?” I shouted as I hit the floor, instinctively ducking from the magical blast as a plume of dust and rocks shot up around me.

The blast had knocked everypony onto the ground as they dodged the flying bricks and rocks that came from the now destroyed wall. The air became heavy and clouded for several moments before the dust cleared, revealing Scarlet standing there, her horn dimming as she stared at the spot where the wall once stood.

“I didn't like that wall.” I heard her say, “It felt quite ugly.” Scarlet turned her back on us and started trotting away and back into the larger hall of the library.

I just stared at the rest of my friends as they watched the unicorn disappear into the haze of the ancient library. None of us moved for several agonizing moments as what just happened whizzed through our brains.

“Did she just...” I began to say, the words faltering in my mouth as we all just continued to lay there in the pile of rubble.

Siri was the first to rise up, dust herself off and continue onward to where Scarlet had gone off to. Jackpot followed suite, flapping his wings as he went off after the others. Caelus and I continued to lay there for several seconds before rising ourselves and making our way towards the exit of the library.

“I can't fucking believe Scarlet just did that.” I cursed to myself.

“She was right to do so.” Caelus said, apparently hearing me.

“That was important history. It was an invaluable piece of a history the zebra already know very little about. Don't you think we need to preserve as much as we can?” I said to Caelus, my eyes and tone betraying the severe strength to my belief of this.

Caelus just looked at me and shook his head as we neared the others who were waiting at the exit of the building, “No.” he said as we met up with the others.

“There are some brogels out there now.” Jackpot whispered back to us as he poked his head out the stone entryway that lead back on to the street. “We're gonna have to wait for them to leave or risk alerting the entire pack.”

“They probably heard you blowing up that wall Scarlet.” I said giving her an angry look to which she just turned her head.

“They will find our scent if we linger here too long.” Siri whispered, “We will need to find another way out of the library.”

With that we all crept away from the door and back into the ruined halls of the zebra library. Siri lead us around the back and down the inside wall until, as luck would have it, we came upon a small hole that was just big enough for one of us to squeeze through at a time. Siri went first, followed by the rest of us as we managed to sneak past the brogels that had gathered around the entrance to the library.

The winding streets and buildings provided ample cover as several dozen brogels had gathered in front of the library. Siri led us through several abandoned and crumbling houses which let out a good distance from the brogel pack.

The inside of these houses seemed remarkably familiar to what somepony could see back in Equestria. I took notes of several rooms in the ones we passed through as we detoured around the brogels. The first building we crept through had the trappings of some kind of family room. I could see stone shelves carved into the walls and old, petrified wood laying around that once might have been furniture. The room next to it had rusted sheets of metal and smashed pottery(a kitchen perhaps?). I noted some stone shelves and several empty places between them where some wooden ones had perhaps once hung. There were ceramic pots, some smashed, but with one still sitting, silent and still, on a slenderly carved counter. I halted and stared at that one pot, sealed and preserved these past millennia for me to lay my eyes upon. I wondered what might be inside it? I wondered who lived here and what they had been doing to leave this pot here, untouched, before leaving forever. Maybe it was just a family preparing dinner, or more likely, packing away supplies as the Darkness overtook more and more of the city.

Seeing this lonely pot filled me with a strange sadness I had not expected to feel by just looking at a pot. The stories it could tell if only it could talk would be enough to fill a dozen books. As the others were getting ahead of my, I had to turn my head and keep going. I turned back once more before exiting back onto the street to gaze at this lonely pot once more. It was still there and would most likely remain there for many years to come.

As Siri continued to lead us through the streets my mind had even more time to wander around my surroundings. It drifted between Caelus' words in the library and the history I knew that he knew about the city. It was a strange feeling, trotting around with the very pony who, thousands of years before, had destroyed the very city I now found myself in. His comments on the wall Scarlet had destroyed had gotten stuck in my head, for no matter how much I knew he was right I just couldn't get the rotten feeling out of my gut for having witnessed the death of such history.

There was also Caelus' comment on changelings that I couldn't keep my mind off. He had actually remembered something substantial and had just decided to mention it so casually. It almost seemed impossible that this grey, cutie markless pony who seemed so ordinary had once been so powerful as to twist life in such a way. My eyes drifted between Siri and Caelus, thinking on just how such a thing could be possible. I knew that zebras seemed to have that ability to disappear into their surroundings, I had certainly seen Siri do it enough to know that. He did say that they were zebra magicians; perhaps these ancient magicians could do things that most modern zebra could not. There was certainly enough lost pony magic for me to be able to believe the ancient zebras could do things that the zebras of today could not(there was also that wall...fuck).

There was just so much for my brain to absorb, so much new information that my thoughts seemed unable to simply remain still long enough for me to actually come up with good explanations for things.

“Stop.” Siri said suddenly, halting us with her hoof as she neared an intersection in the street. “Get into a building, now.” she said sternly yet in a hushed tone.

“What is it?” I heard Jackpot asked before Siri simply began pushing him off of the street.

None of us felt like arguing so we all followed her quickly and quietly into an abandoned house. Siri quickly hurried up a set of stairs that ended up leading to the roof of the structure. After following up I peered my head over the side with her just enough to see down onto the street and what I saw terrified me.

A brogel, but larger...much larger. It must have been four or five times the size of an average brogel, easily several times my own. Its charred, orange fur bristled as it lurched down the street, followed by several dozen smaller brogels. Even from our vantage point we could hear it snarling and growling as the brogel queen made its way through the broken streets and away from us. I found myself holding my breath and freezing my body in place to the point where every slight movement seemed like a heard of elephants were jumping up and down.

The large beast made its way further down the broken stones of the street and back in the direction of the library. When I saw that I instantly knew that they knew that something new had entered the city. I looked over at Siri whose face, I could see, had several drops of sweat moving down it.

“What'r the odds of us beatin that thing?” Jackpot whispered into Siri's ear.

“If she were alone and with only a small pack, quite good. With a pack of this size, too risky.” Siri responded.

“What about that poison?” I whispered to her.

“Not enough for an entire city of brogels.” the zebra answered.

“How close are we from those vaults?” Scarlet whispered, coming up from the back.

“Close.” Siri said, “A few more blocks and we will reach the entrance.”

I snuck one more look over the top of the building to witness the brogel queen take a turn down another street and away from us. With the distance I now allowed myself to breathe again as I relaxed my stiff body. This place was obviously very dangerous and the trek back to Roäc was more than likely going to be very dangerous indeed.

*****

The door to the vaults was large, at least the size of five or six of me stacked on top of the other and another five or six of me across. The good news was that the door had a large hole near the bottom with plenty of room for us to fit through. Either through force or time, the entry into the first hall had been made easy for us well beforehoof.

The first hallway was about the size of one you would find in an everyday house. There were two doorways, one on the far-end and the other off on the side. Siri produced a small, clear vial from her pack, and with a few shakes in her muzzle the clear liquid inside lit up into a pale light. Looking down at Sparky I began to miss its usefulness in these kinds of situations as I remembered the light it was able to produce. Siri hooked the vial to her saddlebag and continued forwards.

The first door led into a small and empty room while the second opened to a narrow stairway that led downwards.

“I have a very bad feeling about this.” Scarlet cringed as her face scrunched up once the door opened.

A rancid blast of air came from the stairway, nearly causing me to vomit on the spot before I was able to catch myself.

“This certainly does not smell like treasure.” Jackpot moaned as he peaked over Siri's shoulder and down the stairs.

“I must admit, I'm having an uneasy feeling about what's down there as well.” Caelus added.

“The irpata is most likely down there, so that is where we must go.” Siri said, nodding and taking her hoof straight down the first step.

“Dark stairways never stopped us before guys!” I said confidently, “We've gone through this before and we can do it again.” I smiled to the others, trying to clear the nervousness that I, myself was feeling at the sight of the stairs..

With some hesitation I took the next step down after Siri, with the others following close behind me. The stairs were wide enough for only one of us to fit, forcing the group to descend single-file down the twisting stairway. We reached the bottom after a short time and the sight we were welcomed to at the bottom justified the bad feelings we had been suffering through.

Skeletons. The bones of long-dead zebras littered the floor as Siri angled her light close enough to make out the skull she had just stepped on. I almost screamed as I found my own hoof standing in the middle of a decaying rib-cage but my other hoof held my mouth shut.

“Damn.” is all Jackpot said as he stared at the ground of the hallway.

Scarlet was lighting her own horn up as she inspected several of the bones that were littered near her. “They're all zebra bones. They're all covered in gnaw marks.”

“Brogels.” Siri growled as she immediately dropped into a low, combat stance.

The room remained silent. We all stood there, waiting for something that never happened to happen. The room simply remained dead.

“These zebras all died a long time ago.” Scarlet said through the dim light of her horn. “I doubt any brogel has gnawed on these bones any time within the past few centuries.”

“She's right.” Caelus said. “These zebras would all have died when the city fell, two thousand years ago.”

Siri dropped her stance yet we could all still tell how apprehensive and on guard she still was.

“Be careful where you step then, and let us continue.” the zebra said, stepping over the crumbling bones that littered the floor.

The bones, thankfully, ended as we continued down the next hallway. The floors remained relatively clear as we made our way to another large door. This one had no gaping hole to clamber through but the wood that made it up was so rotted that it gave way easily to a simple push from Siri. What we saw next was much better than the hall of bones.

The door gave way to a much larger room, giving us a slight break from the oppressive and rank air that permeated the smaller halls.

“Here, I will now join in.” Caelus said as his horn began to glow a bright and pale white.

With Siri, Scarlet and now Caelus, the larger chamber was wholly illuminated. This room had five doors attached to it, counting the one was entered through. The walls were adorned with more elaborate carvings of fields and the zebras that seemed to dance around them. Some of the pictured zebras wore golden armor as they marched through the fields and towards a range of mountains covered in dark clouds.

“This room looks like it used to be quite beautiful.” Scarlet sighed as she eyed up an image of two zebras laying together in the field.

“No doubt this was some kind of common room or lounging area.” Siri said, walking around and looking at several images herself.

“I just hope none of you blow anything here up.” I grunted, trotting off towards a small rotted chest that sat in the corner.

Jackpot hovered off to a pile of debris in one of the corners, waving to Caelus to come over to help him rummage through it.

“Why would vaults have a living area though?” Scarlet's voice echoed throughout the room.

“This place would have been a final refuge if the rest of the city fell.” Caelus said. “Many zebra would have made their final stand in this place.” his voice almost seemed to trail off and weaken as he spoke, the final few words barely even being audible.

I looked down to the hallway we had come from. Those bones we had stepped over were probably soldiers, holding that hallway and trying to keep others safe. I couldn't bear the thought that we had just been tromping through the remains of zebras who had given their lives in the vain hope of protecting their families. I turned my head down towards the rotted chest I was digging through and began to silently cry.

Nevertheless, my hooves began to carefully push piles of debris around in the chest. My eyes caught the sight of a small glimmer as I pulled a small metal frame from the rubbage. Within the frame I could make out a picture, but not just an ordinary picture, it was a photograph.

“Guys, come here!” I shouted to the others, waving my hoof for them to hurry up.

“Quiet, we do not know what else may still be down here.” Siri said harshly as she made her way over.

“What is it Ives?” Jackpot asked.

“It's faded and I can't make out the picture, but this looks like a photograph, from a camera.”

“They had those back then?” Scarlet asked, confused.

“We do not know.” Siri shrugged, “If this is down here then it seems they did.”

“Jackpot, put this in your bags.” I held my hoof out as Jackpot carefully held the frame in his wing and slid it gently into his saddlebag.

“All safe.” Jackpot smiled.

The find got me excited. Despite the ill feeling I was still getting from being down here, there was that part of me that still found joy in finding new pieces of history that I could never lose. I turned towards one of the doors that led out of the room and pointed to it.

“I have a less than horrible feeling about that door, let's head there next.” I said.

“If we’re gonna keep going, then we're gonna have to pick a door. If Ives here says she has a good feeling about it then I second her idea.” Jackpot said, agreeing with me.

“Very well. Any objections?” Siri said.

Scarlet and Caelus each nodded and so we headed towards the door I had picked out.

This door led us back into another small hallway and another set of stairs that led downwards. Siri led the group with her vial still glowing brightly in the dark. Scarlet and Caelus were still using their horns giving the hallway a very well-lit atmosphere. The stairs gave way to another room of similar size to the other but with much less in it. We rummaged around for a few minutes but quickly deduced there was nothing here.

The door we picked next was a far more obvious one as it was a very large one, similar to the large one that made the entrance to the vaults themselves. It practically drew me to it with how much it stood out from the other, more normal sized doors that went off to the sides.

The wood on this door was far less rotted than the last and it seemed to have been reinforced with metal beams and, as Caelus pointed out, rubbed with special potions to further increase its resilience towards damage. All of us had to throw our backs into pushing this door open. It was heavy and ran low on the ground, creating a horrible wrecking noise as we pushed the ancient door open to where we could slide through.

“Well, if anything is down here it most certainly heard that.” Scarlet huffed as she caught her breath after passing the threshold.

“All the more reason to move quickly.” Siri responded.

When I entered into the new room, my hooves froze where they stood as I gazed upon our new surroundings. Through the glow of the unicorns and Siri's vial, I could make out an exceptionally large chamber. Glinting across the ceiling came shafts of light from a source I couldn't begin to guess. Massive pits, perfectly circular, and about as deep a shallow pool lined the ground, reaching far off to the other side.

“Treasure room.” Caelus said as he gazed around.

“I don't see any treasure.” Jackpot said, sounding disappointed.

“There used to be.” Caelus responded as he began to move further into the large chamber. “These pits are actually doors and they open up to more individual vaults that are buried even deeper.”

“There must be dozens of them!” Scarlet lamented.

“Hundreds.” Siri answered, looking around herself.

The size of the room before us and the realization of hundreds of smaller vaults sank much of the hope I had of actually finding this stone Karfiso wanted. All I could do was look around at the row upon row of potential resting places and wonder how big each vault would be once we descended.

“We'll never find this damned stone.” I moaned.

“This might prove more difficult than I or Karfiso thought.” Siri said, sounding a little overwhelmed herself.

“There!” Caelus sounded off as his hoof stretched out to one of the shafts of light that beamed straight down to a small door on the side of the room. “That should lead to the inner vaults. That is where the city would have kept its most valuable treasures.

“Sounds better than trying to pry all these vault doors open. They must weigh a couple of tons each, at least.” Jackpot said, patting Caelus on the back with his wing before heading off towards the door.

Jackpot noiselessly glided over to the doorway and peered through it as the rest of us made our way over to him. He came back to meet us half way with a smile on his face.

“There's a very important looking door down a short hallway. I have a sense that what we're lookin for is behind it.” he said happily.

“Then let's hurry and get out of this horrid place.” Scarlet whined, “Ever since entering this room I've had the unpleasant feeling of being watched.”

“This place does have an odd feel to it.” I mused, taking another look around the empty chamber. “Whatever it is, I'll be glad to leave it behind, let's go.”

We made sure to quicken our pace as we made our way to the small doorway, lead on by the shaft of light that pointed it out. Jackpot was right, a gilded door, etched in dull gold with old letters sat at the end of a short hallway. Some of the shapes seemed similar to the writing that adorned Abila's tomb but it was beyond my knowledge to be able to translate what they said. Siri pressed her hooves on the door-frame and pushed, but was unable to move the door. This door was much smaller than the last one and was not large enough that we could all efficiently push on it at once. After we each gave pushing against the door a try it was quickly decided that it was stuck.

“I could blast it open.” Scarlet suggested.

“Too much noise.” Siri answered. “I have begun to feel the same as you Scarlet, something is watching us. I would much rather not attract it, or something else, closer for that matter.”

“Maybe it's what Roäc was talking about? He mentioned something bad in the city.” I said, now feeling something very uneasy myself and taking periodic gazes back beyond the doorway.

“I already told you, it was the brogel queen.” Siri said, sounding offended. “There is nothing else it could be.”

“I've seen enough weird shit to know that bad things like to live in places like this.” Jackpot said, now sounding nervous himself.

Siri began to grumble as she dug her muzzle into one of her saddlebags. She emerged a few seconds later with a vial of green liquid that she held carefully in her mouth. She slowly laid it down on the ground in front of the door and gestured us to back away.

“This potion is difficult to make so I would rather not use it, but it seems we have no choice.” She said as she then dug another vial of orange liquid out.

“What is it?” I asked.

Siri effortlessly tossed the vial towards the other she had placed on the ground. The thrown flask hit the first one, shattering them both as the two liquids combined. From them came a fume that seemed to rise and cover the locked door more and more with each passing second. I watched in amazement as the door seemed to dim and bend within the fumes that rose quickly around it. The massive block began to bend and sway as it began to droop over itself more and more. The fumes dissipated after a few more seconds, leaving the door sagging over the stone floor.

“Now we should be able to open it.” Siri said, nodding to us.

I trotted over and bucked the door as hard as I could, shattering the thing the instant my hooves made contact. The remains of the door fell backwards, landing in a rotted heap at the floor. There was a slight clang as some small metal bits hit the floor but the sound was still relatively faint to what it could have been.

“Well done Ivory.” Siri said, giving me a nod as sh eagerly moved past me and into the next room.

This room was small, smaller than any we had yet been in within the ruins of the vaults. We were all barely able to fit in it together without bumping into and pushing each other around just to have space to breathe. Luckily, this made the contents of the room easy to spot as all it contained was a small, metal chest that sat on a stone pedestal just a few feet from where we stood.

“How much you wanna bet it's booby trapped.” Jackpot snickered.

“It is not.” Siri answered shrewdly.

“How do you know?” Scarlet asked.

“It would make retrieving the items unpractical to whomever kept them here.” Siri said, sounding a little annoyed.

“I think that's the point.” I said.

“I agree with Siri.” Caelus added, “If these are the memory stones, then the zebra would want as easy access to them as possible.”

“What exactly do these things do again?” Scarlet asked, rubbing her chin with her hoof as she gazed at the box.

“It is quite self explanatory.” Siri answered as she carefully neared the box, “They hold memories, artificially implanted into them for later review; or so the book Karfiso has states.”

“Let me open it.” I said, coming up behind Siri, “If it is trapped then I'd rather get hit with it than risk having Karfiso getting mad at me for getting you hurt or killed.”

“That is not necessary.” Siri said, waving her hoof.

“I'd rather Siri risk it than you, Ives.” Jackpot said from behind me.

Siri responded to this by throwing Jackpot a dirty look before quietly backing off from the chest. I also threw Jackpot a disapproving gaze before shifting past Siri and waiting for the others to make their way out of the small room. I could see the glow of Caelus' and Scarlet's horns behind me as though they were preparing for any potential trap I might encounter.

I looked down at the small box, inspecting it for anything I could conceive as potentially dangerous. There were no abnormalities about the box; it was in fact, quite plain. There were no wires or creases around the pedestal that would indicate any pressure plates or moving parts of any kind. I gingerly placed a forehoof on the box and halted...nothing happened. I sat down and then placed my second forehoof on the opposite side...nothing happened. I lifted my hooves up and the lid of the box slid off quite easily with no lock or stopper of any kind...nothing happened. I released a breath I didn't realize I was keeping in and took a look down into the box. Within were shards of shattered pieces of a black stone, filling the box in its entirety.

“Fuck!” I instinctively shouted at seeing the ruined contents.

“What's in there!?” I heard Jackpot shout from the back.

I didn't answer immediately as I continued to stare at the rubble-filled box. I took one of my hooves and set it into the shards of stone and began to move it back and forth. My demeanor instantly changed when my hoof hit something smooth and solid. I let out a big smile as my hoof scooped up a small, round, black stone. It seemed almost clear with small, white wisps flowing just beneath the surface. My eyes grew larger as I clasped the stone in both hooves and watched as it seemed almost ethereal in my hooves. Something about it compelled me to set it against my forehead as my surroundings faded away and everything seemed to go black.

~~~ooo000ooo~~~

The feeling I had was similar to when I had drunk the oracle drought that Karfiso had given me back in Khaweth. This time though, it felt more natural than when I had witnessed the lives of the two alicorns, but without the feeling of being suddenly flung across the world.

My body wasn't there this time, however, and I seemed to be trapped in something that felt like my body but wasn't. I could neither move nor make any sound as I was confined to some kind of prison that impeded any kind of movement. A momentary fear gripped me as my mind raced with horrifying thoughts of being trapped in this spot for all eternity until I heard a strange voice call out from the side.

“General Ab, I must speak with you!” I heard a voice that was unmistakably zebra shout out.

“What is it Zulu?” I heard another zebra voice answer.

“I have the daily report from the surface, sir.” The zebra I guessed was named Zulu responded in a very official sounding tone.

It was then that I saw two zebras come into view and stand around a table that sat at the center of my field of view. They each had very tall manes and short, bobbed tails. The one I guessed was named Ab had golden rings around his hooves and wore golden armor while the other had the armor but lacked the rings.

“First off, sir, is that seven more changelings have been slain within the bounds of the city.” Zulu began, “The soldiers they were impersonating have not been discovered, but it is a sign that the new potions are doing their work in uncovering these spies.”

“Good.” Ab sighed, “Now that we know it works, have every zebra in the city painted with it, we cannot have these beasts open the gates to the spider.”

“Yes sir.” Zulu saluted, “Next is that one of our scout parties has returned and spotted several hundred nirik gathering below the main gates. They have come with more of the demons of the Darkness.”

Ab shook his head with a sad look to his eyes, “So, some survived. That news bodes ill as I thought we exterminated those vermin. Their flames could cause great harm to the city, they must not pass the gates. We must bring the poison we made for them back to the soldiers on the walls, I trust we still have some?”

“Yes sir!” Zulu saluted once more, “My final report is that your daughter, Abila, has finally returned from her mission.”

At the mention of that name my ears, if I could still move them, would have stood straight up. Was this a memory of Abila's? Is that why Karfiso sent me here? I began to grow excited as I once again tried to move about the room to look for any sign of the legendary zebra. My excitement abated upon the rediscovery that I couldn't actually move. Still, if Abila were to show up here I would have something to tell Enyi if I ever saw him again.

Ab grew a friendly and warming smile on his face at the news, “Ah, that's good news. I was afraid I had made a terrible mistake sending her out there.”

“Please, father.” another voice echoed proudly, “That you would doubt the training that you gave unto me is disheartening.”

And from the side I saw her enter, with strides as proud as I could have imagined for only the greatest of heroes. The zebra entered the room with green markings covering all of the stripes on her body. Her mane had been cut short and straight along with her tail and her yellow eyes pierced through the din of the underground room.

“Abila!” Ab shouted with joy, “I'm so glad you're safe.” the zebra galloped over to his daughter and threw his front hooves around her in a hug.

“General?” Zulu asked, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

“Yes yes, I apologize. Very unprofessional, I know.” Ab straightened himself out and went back to the table.

“No need, father.” Abila said, smiling, “I bring good news. Roäc has agreed to come to our aid.”

Roäc? Roäc knew Abila!? Holy shit! I was definitely going to have to talk to him about this once we got out of this dark place. I was filled with a tinge of excitement at the mere thought of being able to potentially learn knowledge that had been thought lost for thousands of years. A creature that actually spoke with and knew Abila; I was definitely going to tell Enyi about this!

“H-he has?” Ab looked quite excited, “How many rocs will he bring?”

“One thousand.” Abila said affirmatively with an air of accomplishment forming around her.

“One...one thousand?” Ab fell over onto his haunches with a completely dumbfounded look on his face, “We may survive this war yet.”

“Should I tell the king, sir?” Zulu said, eagerly.

“We should all go. I think he's with the magicians right now.” Ab replied.

“Let us g-” Abila began before the room started to shake and bits of rock and dust fell from the ceiling onto each of the zebras heads.

“What?” Abila said, immediately adopting a stance I could only guess was meant for fighting.

“The damn spider is back!” Ab shouted, “She's beating at the gate, we must go now.” the zebra general said, waving his hoof to Zulu and pushing Abila out of the room.

“Yes!” Abila shouted, “Long have I desired to slay that terror! The demon Lazilob shall fall beneath the righteous hoof of the mighty-”

~~~ooo000ooo~~~

Before Abila could finish what would have most likely been an epic speech, the vision dimmed and I was hastily thrown back into the dark reality of the underground vault.

I awoke to the sound of a scream and blood running down my face and an intense pain running through my head. The room was shaking uncontrollably as I found my body being tossed back and forth across the small room.

“I think something hit Ivory!” I heard Scarlet yell, “She's covered in blood!”

“Why'd there have to be a damn earthquake so suddenly!?” I heard Jackpot shout out as the sound of frantic hooves clopped about around me.

My eyes fluttered open to the sight of Scarlet staring intently at my face with worry in her eyes. Her horn was glowing red as I felt the pain dying down slowly and the flow of blood calming down.

“Wha-” I started to say before an intense dizziness overtook me and my head lolled to the side.

“Quiet now Ivory.” Scarlet said softly. “You just got whacked in the head by large rock; getting thrown out of that memory stone thing probably didn't help either.”

“There's something in that big chamber down the hall!” I heard Jackpot yell.

“What is it!?” Siri yelled back as she trotted up to Scarlet and me. “Ivory, there was a sudden earthquake,” she said, “The room nearly collapsed.”

“I don't know!” Jackpot yelled, “Whatever it is, it's glowin!”

Siri immediately galloped back down the hall to Jackpot while Scarlet's eyes continued to scan me. I could feel her turning my body over as she continued to inspect me for further injuries.

“Just some bruises, you'll be fine now that I've stopped the bleeding.” Scarlet smiled and stood up.

She stretched her hoof out to me and I proceeded to latch onto it with my own, “Careful now, get up slowly.” she said sweetly as I managed to stand up.

Once I was up, my senses returned to me and the dizziness left; Scarlet has gotten good. I nabbed the stone from its place beside me and, setting it in my saddlebag, looked out of the small room to see Caelus, Jackpot and Siri peering out of the entryway to the larger vault chamber. They both stood there in the dark with only the dim light of Caelus' horn to illuminate them.

“What is it?” I asked, trotting up behind them.

The moment I peered out of the doorway myself, I saw what my friends had been looking at. There was a shape in the dark, moving silently and swiftly as a deadly shadow through the vast hall. It's form could only be distinguished by a pale light that seemed to flicker from it's body; that of some massive wolf or bear perhaps? Peering at it, even from so far a distance, filled me with terror. The beast had a menace of doom about it as it moved about the chamber. Every fiber of my being roared at me to run, to run as far and as fast as I could from the terrible form that lay between us and the daylight outside.

“Umbrog.” Siri whispered.

“What?” I whispered back.

My gaze shifted to my friends only to see their gazes fixed upon the beast that blocked our way. Jackpot and Scarlet looked out with the same terrified expression that scarred my own face. Caelus' look was not one of terror but of mere surprise. He clearly knew what this thing was, the same as Siri.

“I thought them extinct.” Siri whispered to the group. “It was believed that they had all been killed in the great hunts over three centuries ago.”

“What are they?” Scarlet asked.

“They're mine.” Caelus answered before Siri could. “I made them eons ago to fight the zebra during my war with them. I instilled each one with dreadful strength and powerful magic.”

“The storytellers say it would take fifty Socotra to slay even one Umbrog during the hunts.” Siri said, peering back out into the chamber. “I have always wanted to test myself against one.”

“That doesn't sound like a good idea.” Scarlet said, her gaze never leaving the Umbrog, “I think we should try and sneak past it.”

“We could make for the door outa here.” Jackpot said back to us, “If we b-line it, we might be able to get out before it can catch us. It looks to big to follow us into the smaller hallways near the surface.”

“Jackpot's right.” Scarlet said, nodding. “I don't think we can fight this thing, you saw what those little brogels did to us. We wouldn't stand a chance.”

“Not with that attitude.” Siri nickered, obviously wanting to fight this thing. “It was the greatest honor to slay and Umbrog in battle. A zebra could gain no greater glory than that.” Even in the dim light I could see Siri's body shaking with excitement as she stared out into the cavern.

It took me only one more cursory glance at the Umbrog and the intense dread I felt by just looking at it sank my heart. I felt my ears and tail twitching in fear for every moment my eyes sat on the white, flickering flames that shaped the dark form of the Umbrog. Even from our distance I could tell it was huge, dwarfing me by several times at least. My mind immediately went back to the Pyth I had encountered back at Abila's tomb with Grit and Jackpot. Even that beast was not the equal in stature of this Umbrog.

“We're not fighting that thing.” I said finally. “We're going to try and sneak back towards the doorway to the upper halls and the exit. Jackpot's right, it looks to big to follow us up there.”

“Better douse all the lights before moving out.” Caelus said.

I could hear Siri quietly grumbling to herself as we crept out of the small hallway and back into the massive vault chamber. Jackpot hovered just above the ground, noiselessly using his wings to float above the ground to lower our noise level as much as possible. Siri, of course, made no noise whatsoever with her hooffalls while Caelus and Scarlet's hooves could only be discerned by my twitching ears on the rarest of occasions.

The plan seemed to be working. The Umbrog seemed to make it's way opposite the direction we were moving, it's flickering white flames easily distinguishable in the dark room. The doorway back to the surface was practically invisible without any lights but Each of us bit onto the tail of whomever was in front of them as I led us along the wall in the general direction of the exit.

We moved swiftly through the dark, all of our own light sources extinguished to avoid detection by the Umbrog. It seemed like the chamber continued on endlessly as I hugged the wall, Siri's hoof holding onto my haunches so the rest of the group wouldn't lose me(no tail still). It seemed like at least an hour before the large silhouette of the door appeared into my field of view. My eyes(now adjusted to the dark) could barely make out the shape of the part of the door we had swung open to first enter the chamber.

“We all here?” I asked, as quietly as I could to sill be heard by everypony.

I could see their shapes in the dark as each member of the party answered my question. We gathered up and began to head past the side of the open door.

Dur Kur!

A horrifying trembling shook all of us(except Jackpot) right off of our hooves. The door instantly swung shut as the room shook horribly.

“The fuck!” I heard Jackpot yell as more rocks fell from the ceiling due to the new tremor.

Luckily no rock large enough to do damage landed on any of us, but that proved to be a hollow mercy. All I could do was stare at the Umbrog who now faced us with what could only be described as a horrifyingly cruel smile. His maw was ringed with massive fangs that glowed in the pale light he exuded. The beast was still some ways away but had somehow noticed us and somehow slammed the door shut.

“The Black Speech!” Caelus cried in a shrill voice. “He knew we were here!”

Before any of us could react the Umbrog leapt towards us at a great speed. The white flames covering his body roared into an inferno that sent us scattering. Luckily, his flames also lit a large portion of the room allowing us to finally be able to see clearly.

“This guy seems to know magic!” Scarlet shouted out, “Be careful!”

The Umbrog reared up as white flames shot from his body; Jackpot nimbly and easily avoided them all in the air but for me(not in the air) it proved very difficult. The flames seemed to scorch and burn even the stones they touched(I didn't want to find out what they would do to me if they touched my skin!).

Siri seemed to leap for joy as she bounded towards the massive beast. Her movements seemed to change from how she usually moved and I stood in awe as she seemed to blur in and out of sight as her strong hooves struck at her large foe. It almost seemed a miracle as the Umbrog's attention shifted.

Jackpot wasted no time himself as he came down on the monster from above, striking it's face and eyes with his own powerful hooves as it swung at Siri.

“What the hell am I doing!?” I shouted, “They need help!”

I immediately leapt into action myself. Siri and Jackpot seemed to be in some kind of synchronization with their moves as one struck while the other retreated to draw the Umbrog's attention from themselves. With it's attention diverted, I came in at one of the beasts mighty claws and with one fell stamp of my hooves I shattered a portion of the beasts extrusions.

The Umbrog howled in pain as it suddenly leapt away from us. It opened it's fanged jaws and roared so that the room shook with a wrathful fury that halted any hope of a continuous assault. Fire once again came from it's body as a magical shield(thanks Scarlet and Caelus!) quickly arose over us. The fire and the shield shattered each other instantly, giving us the time we needed to recover our balance. The Umbrog was not done however as more horrid words left it's cursed mouth.

Morkul Kurug!

At these words, Caelus' and Scarlet's horns ceased to glow in their respective magical auras.

“My magic just stopped working!” Scarlet shrieked as she struggled in vain to reignite her horn.

“The same for me!” Caelus shouted in tandem, “He's toying with us now!”

Once again the beast seemed to smile wickedly at our distress as it came at us once again. Siri and Jackpot once again went at it but the beast seemed to be ready for them. He went for Siri first and even with her skill and ferocity, she was batted away by the beasts broken claw on his first swing. This prevented her being ripped to shreds but she was still thrown like a ragdoll by the swipe.

Jackpot had the advantage of the air and flew out of the beasts range the moment Siri went down. The Umbrog's terrible gaze then landed upon Caelus. It seemed to stare at him curiously for several moments before letting out another room-shaking roar; then it charged.

All of it's attention had turned to Caelus as Jackpot sped downwards towards where Siri had landed. Caelus turned and fled as the Umbrog gave chase to him. I chased after the both of them, only catching up to the beast when Caelus pivoted backwards using the size of the monster to roll beneath and behind it. The instant I got in range I landed the most powerful kick I was capable of giving right into the leg whose claws I had previously shattered.

With the strength of Celestia, I leapt at the leg and slammed my hooves into it as hard as I could, drawing on as much inner strength as I could possible muster. The kick landed perfectly and actually managed to buckle in the Umbrog's leg, causing it to stumble and roll onto the ground in a great crash.

“Lick my fucking clit, bitch!” I shouted(I may of hopped up and down a few times as well here, not gonna lie) in utter triumph as I watch the beast's body slam into the ground.

“That's some nice strength you got there, Ives!” Jackpot shouted from above as he circled the Umbrog's collapsed body. “You alright too, Caelus!”

“I am fine, but be wary, he's getting back up!” Caelus called in worry.

The Umbrog rose once more, his eyes burning with a furious wrath that only seemed to increase the flames around his body. They now roared to an intensity that made touching his body a mere dream as his entire form became coated in the white-hot fire. The roar that the Umbrog let loose no longer just shook the room, large chunks of roof and wall began to collapse into massive heaps of rubble. The doors leading back to the surface even shook violently as cracks arose in them. Anypony who still stood was immediately thrown to the ground, leaving only Jackpot, who was still flying above the Umbrog.

Jackpot flew straight down at the head of the Umbrog, his hooves digging into a spot between the beast's neck and shoulder. Jackpot immediately leapt up, screaming as his forehooves were scorched black.

“Jackpot!” I called, “What the fuck are you doing!?”

“Saving your ass!” he called back in a pained voice.

Jackpot immediately began to circle the Umbrog at an ever increasing rate of speed. At first the beast ignored him and charged at a still rising Caelus, but when Jackpot slammed into the same spot as before the beast's attention shifted to attempt to swat Jackpot away. I once again galloped at full speed towards the Umbrog; there was no way Jackpot would be able to continue dodging the beast's swipes with the amount of pain he had to be in from his blackened hooves.

The moment I got close the beasts swiftly turned to me, his fiery face and deathly glare stared straight into my soul. It's face was that of a wolf; skin blackened and charred with a look of horror and evil in it's eyes. My body froze the moment it's eyes met mine, as if I was being put under some spell. My vision began to blur as I heard more terrible words being whispered into my ears.

Truzu.

My vision began to blur and my mind began to lose itself and jumble around as if I was losing control of it. I could feel parts of my body attempting to move on their own, while whispers filled my head. The words they spoke I could not understand but they sounded horrid and evil as they crept deeper into my head. I began to feel lost to myself as a growing hatred and anger began to rise up in me towards my friends.

This trance was broken only by the sound of shattering glass and a tremendous roar of pain from the Umbrog. Immediately my sight returned, only for me to be flung off by a stray swing of the Umbrog's paw. I flew off towards the far wall, only stopping when my body slammed into it. Pain exploded into every inch of my being as a cry of absolute anguish fled from my mouth and into the heated air of the vault.

“Celestia's cunt wanking thunder bucket!” I cried repeatedly as my body felt as though it had erupted into millions of tiny shards of glass.

Every inch of my body felt broken as though I had just gotten hit by a falling house. After a few moments of unremitting anguish I managed just barely heave my body into a standing position and gaze back at the Umbrog.

The Umbrog's face seemed to be even more scarred and burnt from when I had just seen it now. Jackpot was hovering over it with a smug look on his face and several of Siri's vials in his hooves. There were several shattered ones on the ground that I could see in the pale light and Jackpot was continuously throwing more and more of them.

“Burn in Tartarus, you piss-flap!” Jackpot yelled as he hurled the various vials he had taken from Siri's saddlebag at the Umbrog.

“I'm ready now!” I suddenly heard Scarlet yell from somewhere far away.

I looked over to where the voice had come from and saw Scarlet, her horn sparking with shades of purple, green, and black energy.

“Normal doesn't seem to work, but my Dark Magic still seems to!” she yelled.

The Umbrog immediately stopped and turned towards Scarlet. It's eyes widened as he seemed to sense the magical energy coming from the unicorn. At once he charged at her, now utterly uncaring of Jackpot's attempts to keep his attention. The moment the Umbrog reached Scarlet, her spell was cast. Even as her body went flying, a massive red spike pierced through the skin of the same leg I had hit, just above the shoulder. The spike came from within the Umbrog's body and dripped with blood.

Indeed, the spike itself seemed to be made of the creature's blood as it immediately retreated backwards, limping on it's wounded leg. This did not mean it admitted defeat, no, the flames seemed to only burn brighter now and it's roars increased in intensity until more of the chamber seemed to fall down on top of us. It took all of my strength to simply hobble out of the way of the falling rocks and rubble of the Umbrog's rage.

Just then, Caelus came running up, Siri lying limply on his back as he dragged himself towards the cracked doorway to freedom.

“We can't keep this up Ivory!” he yelled at me, “We need to leave, now!”

“Scarlet!” Jackpot shrieked as his wings carried him faster than I had ever seen him go towards where her body had landed.

“I agree, we need to leave now!” I shouted back as I began to make my way towards the weakened doors.

It took everything I had to make my way towards the exit. Caelus had arrived first as Jackpot appeared second, hauling a motionless Scarlet on his back. I looked back to see the Umbrog ripping and tearing at the blood-spike that Scarlet has plunged from inside his body. The fires that engulfed him were now a raging inferno, the heat of which nearly caused the sweat that was pouring down my face to nearly blind me.

“How are we getting past these doors!?” Jackpot asked frantically, “They're fucking huge!”

“The Umbrog's spell seems to be broken.” Caelus said as his horn began to glow a dull silver color.

With a flick of his head, a single energy blast came from his horn and slammed into the cracked door. The Umbrog's roars must have greatly damaged it as the one blast was enough to shatter a hole big enough for us to squeeze through one at a time. Jackpot flew through immediately with Scarlet in tow, followed by Caelus, who held Siri, and finally by me.

We galloped(Jackpot flew) back up the passageways and corridors we had taken to descend into the vaults. Every hall and passage shook as the wrath and rage of the Umbrog grew, taking chunks of every wall and ceiling with it. The earth shook, every inch of stone seemed to radiate with the flaming anger of the Umbrog. The floor began to heat up in an ever increasing intensity, causing my hooves to begin to burn each and every time they hit the stony floor.

It was not long before the mighty beats of the Umbrog's feet could be heard echoing from the halls behind us; it's terrible roars shaking every room we passed through. We could hear walls being torn down and stones being ripped apart as rooms behind us began to cave in on themselves.

My body screamed at me with every movement I made. My skin was covered in bruises from the single, wild swing I had taken from the Umbrog. Siri and Scarlet seemed to be in a similar, yet worse, condition than myself as they weren't moving. Galloping as I was, I could not tell if they were even breathing, they had each taken a full hit from the Umbrog and had taken hard landings. Their bodies dangled limply from the backs of Jackpot and Caelus, Siri especially looked as though she had taken a particularly nasty hit. Some of her skin looked as though it had been horribly blistered and blackened(in fact, it didn't even resemble skin much at all.).

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I screamed to myself(out loud) as I forced my body to continue moving forward. “Fuck you Karfiso!”

“Those cave-ins should keep it from coming after us.” Jackpot said as we neared the surface, climbing single-file up the final staircase past the room of zebra bones. “His own rage has trapped him under there.”

“The brogels on the surface will have gathered by the vault entrance by now.” Caelus lamented, stopping before the top of the stairs and the room that led to the door out. “The Umbrog's rage will have stirred and enraged them in kind, I think.”

“Well we can't stay here.” I said firmly, “This place is going to come down any minute and I don't particularly fancy being trapped in here forever.”

From behind us, another echoing roar came from the blackened deep that we had just departed. The room shook, prompting us to immediately stop talking and make one last dash for the exit. Sunlight streamed into the entry chamber from the hole in the front door. The light, though only a few streams, hurt my eyes that had become accustomed to the darkness over the past few hours. I could hear the stairs we had just climbed crumbling behind us as my hooves pushed me past the broken and crumbling door that led back to the outside world and Celestia's sun.

My body collapsed on the stones of the road the moment I landed after having jumped through the doorway. At once the comforting warmth and light of the sun hit me like a falling Canterlot tower after having spent so long in the oppressive darkness of the vault and the blazing heat of the Umbrog. It felt like nothing short of a long, loving hug from Celestia herself as I sprawled, my body aching terribly, onto the ruined stones of Umbaara.

What comfort I took from this faded as the sunlight caused me to shut my eyes and reopen them slowly. The first thing I saw was Caelus and Jackpot gritting their teeth and staring out and away towards the city. Turning my head, I saw a horde of brogels staring wretchedly at us. There had to be three or four dozen of them at least, and among the horde were several larger ones(the queens).

I could barely move; every small bit of motion made my bones ache terribly. Despite this, I forced myself up and took a stand beside Caelus and Jackpot. I could see the violence in the eyes of each and every brogel; they had no doubt been enraged by our actions. Flames flickered from between their fangs as the mass of death leapt towards us.

As my own imminent death approached, I could only watch as the ground began to suddenly shrink before my eyes. The sun disappeared for a split moment as a shadow enveloped our group. A massive gust of wind blew the ranks of brogels back as my body became wrapped in a pair of massive talons. Roäc had saved us.

The White Phial

Chapter 22: The White Phial

It took several more days before we were able to leave the eyrie. During that time, Roäc had been busy flying back and forth between the eyrie and Umbaara. Whenever he did return, I always made sure to ask about the situation in the city. Many of the brogels had dispersed and far more of the mountain seemed to have caved in on itself. Large portions of that section of the city had been destroyed in the massive landslide and Roäc seemed hopeful that that would keep the Umbrog indefinitely trapped. I, in my mind at least, had just destroyed a large portion of a historically important site for the zebras(another thing to be mad with myself about).

“How does this keep happening?” I lamented. The destruction in the city overturning the pain of the lack of cider I was currently suffering through.

“It was not your fault, Ivory. It was the Umbrog.” Siri said, surprisingly trying to comfort me.

“Don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure Enyi will understand if you explain what happened.” Scarlet said, correctly guessing the cause of my sudden concern.

“Can we get a move on!?” Jackpot yelled, “I've been out of cider for too long and I want to get back to some fucking civilization!”

And with that, my cider-pains returned just to mix with my new sense of guilt and anxiety of wrecking historical landmarks.

“Fuck me hard!” I screamed before face-planting into the dirt.

It seemed...no it was a monumental failure on my part. Two big irritations bucking me in the face at the same time; telling me that I was failing at the very thing I was supposed to be helping Caelus with. How could Enyi ever forgive me if I go around burying his peoples cultural heritage under fucking mountains: the answer is he couldn't. To top it all off my body was screaming at me to drink some refreshing cider to take the edge of that failure off. The only problem was..I had no fucking cider! All it seemed I could do at the moment was fall onto the ground and stew in my own misery.

“She'll be fine, I'm sure.” Scarlet said, chuckling awkwardly at Siri.

By the grace of fucking Celestia, Roäc volunteered to fly us back to Khass. With the Umbrog hopefully trapped, he could now spare the time and distance.

Jackpot mounted the bird before anypony else could blink an eye or swish a tail. Siri leapt up onto the rocs back, her own injuries being much better(Scarlet's a miracle worker!), while Scarlet and Caelus had to float me into my spot as I was still balking on the ground.

Roäc's speed made the journey pass by as though we were simply trotting down the street. In a matter of hours, the tops of the crystal towers of Khass could be seen cresting the horizon.

Jackpot had remained fidgety and irritated the entire journey, with me being hardly any better. Scarlet had to constantly shift back and forth between us, trying her best to get us to calm down. Jackpot was incurable but, with some help from Caelus, Scarlet was able to calm him enough to be bearable on the flight to Khass.

“So much for secrecy.” Siri said as the massive bird flew us over the tops of the towers and houses of Khass.

I peered down from Roäc's back onto the streets below as we soared over them. I could see hundreds of zebras looking up at us as Roäc's shadow passed over them. From our height, I wasbarely able to discern the faces of the zebras who looked upwards at our passing. Their faces seemed a fair mixture of emotions as some scrambled for cover, while others gawked and pointed towards our excessive pilot. A few faces seemed filled with wonder as we passed over them: the zebras below, chasing us and shouting with widened smiles on their faces.

It took mere minutes for Roäc to near Karfiso's tower. Siri was helpful enough to point it out, allowing us to make a quick and efficient perch on the crystalline tower's very top. There were several Socotra on the roof when we landed. Their initial reaction was one of obvious surprise and alarm as they saw a gigantic bird set down in front of them from out of nowhere. The surprised reactions grew as Karfiso quickly made his way from a passageway that led from inside the tower to the roof.

Upon his arrival, the Socotra seemed ready to fight until Siri popped her head out from on top of Roäc. Upon seeing Siri's face, Karfiso had the Socotra stand down and he began to make his way towards the roc.

“I must admit, I did not expect this.” Karfiso said as he cautiously neared the bird.

Karfiso's cautious approach was halted by a great screech from Roäc. The zebra leapt backwards several steps as the bird eyed him down.

“He won't hurt you, Roäc.” I whispered into the roc's ear.

Roäc ceased his screeching, “I do not like his look.” Roäc said back, “He's a schemer, he is.”

I gave Roäc a quick pat before leaping from the back of the bird and onto the roof of the tower. Jackpot, now realizing we had landed, sped downwards towards Karfiso, causing a gust of wind to fly by me and almost knock me over.

“I found a whole bunch of stuff in that city of yours!” he shouted, “Did ya get what we agreed on?”

Karfiso smiled and nodded as Jackpot grew the largest smile I had ever seen on the front of his face. “Floor thirty, big double doors.” the zebra said.

“Come on, Ives!” he shouted as he zipped back towards me and, before I could even blink, had nabbed me and whisked me away down the entryway into the tower.

“What about-” I attempted to say before being quickly interrupted.

“Scarlet and Siri can take care of it.” Jackpot seemed ecstatic as we flew through an open passage onto what I assumed to be the thirtieth floor.

When Jackpot landed us I hardly had time to breath as my body had come to a sudden halt. I found myself thrown head over hoof at the threshold of a set of large, crystal doors. Jackpot effortlessly bucked them open and revealed a zebra standing there, organizing about a half dozen large bottles and several large bags of bits.

“Behold!” Jackpot proclaimed, “The jackpot!”

The zebra quickly noticed us, trotted up to Jackpot, and nodded his head as Jackpot slipped off his drooping saddlebag which held the treasures he had collected. The zebra scooped them up, gave the contents a series of discerning looks, then nodded, bowed, and galloped out of the room before shutting the door.

“What's all this?” I asked, already smelling the alluring aroma of whatever was in the jars(which were as tall as me!).

“Two thousand bits and six jars of borda.” Jackpot was positively foaming at the mouth as he neared the jars. “Probably the only good thing zebras ever did was come up with borda.”

I just kinda stared at my winged friend as he practically began to hug a jar of the aromatic liquid. I could not deny, from where I stood my muzzle was being caressed by the most wondrous smelling liquid I have ever come across. My body began to move, almost involuntarily, towards one of the jars as drool dripped from my lips.

“It smells heavenly.” I mumbled.

“Don't be fooled, this stuff'll fuck you harder than Enyi ever could.” Jackpot began to kiss the jar he was holding.

“I'll be the judge of that.” I said confidently as I slipped my muzzle over the top of my jar. “It smells like a mix between peaches and apricots.” I said as my mouth began to instinctively grasp for the opening.

“Take a small sip at first, trust me.” Jackpot chuckled to himself before tipping the large jar into his mouth and letting several large doses slip past his lips and down his throat.

Jackpot seemed to be handling it fine so I just figured he was overexaggerating and, tipping the jar backwards into my mouth, took a large gulp of the borda.

The regret was instantaneous.

Dizziness, nausea, and an intense burning sensation flooded my body as I collapsed onto the floor, sputtering and coughing my guts out.

“Told ya.” Jackpot laughed.

I managed to pull myself together and stand back up from the sudden shock of my first drink of borda.

“What the...fuck.” I said, panting.

“This is the hardest shit you'll ever drink. Smells great though.” Jackpot said, his words starting to sound slightly slurred as yet another swig drained down his throat.

I went back at it, my body firmly telling me to drink more. This time I took several small sips, and several coughing fits later, was able to inhale about half a shot at a time.

“Holy...fuuu...” my words trailed off as as wobbled around the room, barely able to even tell where I was any more.

“Better...than my...five princesses at once dream...” Jackpot immediately vomited his guts out in the corner of the room before going right back into his jar.

“How d-d-o you get...all five at o-o-once?” I slurred. “Thaths impreshi... impreshi.... impressive.” now was my turn to vomit.

“I just...I just...have you ever seen five princesses splayed out on a bed for you?” Jackpot teetered back and forth as he spoke.

I took several more medium sized gulps from my jar, “I-I-I-I-I think...I-I-I think my friend...uh...Emmy, told me about something like that once.”

“Sh-sh-she ha...ha...ha...”Jackpot vomited again, “she has good taste.”

“Fuck I love this shit!” I took several more swigs alongside Jackpot.

I didn't know exactly how much time had passed when I took a quick glance into my jar of borda. The only thing I saw were several(?) half-empty jars of the sweet smelling liquid. In fact, looking into my jar(jars?) was the last thing I remembered at all. After that, it was just a darkened blur.

The next thing I remembered was waking up in a soft bed in what I assumed was a different room in Karfiso's tower. Scarlet was sitting down next to me and began to smile when she saw my eyes creep open.

“Am I dead?” was the first thing I could think of to ask with how horrible I felt.

“Oh, not quite.” Scarlet said in a gentle tone. “Although, you haven't moved for about a day now, so maybe you were.”

That didn't make me feel any better.

“You and Jackpot were going at it pretty hard yesterday, so Karfiso thought it best to leave you to it while we talked some things over.”

“Huh?” I asked, still being somewhat confused.

I tried to sit up but my stomach punched itself with every millimeter I tried to move.

“What do you mean 'going at it'?” I asked.

“You were having some pretty hardcore sex, obviously.” Scarlet said, stifling a laugh.

“What the fu-”

“Just kidding.” Scarlet said, laughing as she shut my mouth with a telekinetic grip. “Jackpot thought it was funny.” Scarlet pouted.

“Celestia's tits, you scared me for a second.” I took a deep breath but found myself being thrust into a violent coughing fit.

“Careful, Ivory.” Scarlet cooed as she gently put her hooves on me, pushing me back down towards the bed, “You and Jackpot were both passed out in a pile of your own vomit when I found you. Try and take it easy for today, huh.”

“What about Karfiso?”

“Well, Siri still needs a bit of rest, so you got today off anyway. Isn't that great!?” Scarlet smiled.

“Well anyway, where's Jackpot?” I asked, not seeing him in the room.

“He woke up a few hours ago. It seems he drank nearly an entire pot, while you got down about a little less than half. But he is a bit tougher when it comes to this kind of stuff.” Scarlet's voice held a tint of disappointment in it. “He's in another room. He can even take a few steps before collapsing!”

And with that the rest of my day was spent in bed and unable to move much. It was the absolute worst hangover I've ever suffered and every time I wasn't vomiting I found myself passing in and out of consciousness. Scarlet later told me that some zebras would come into my room periodically and slip some strange brown goop down my throat. It seemed to halt the vomiting and I would wake up not long after. I gotta give it to the zebra, they know how to get a debilitated pony back on her hooves after only a day.

The next day I was feeling remarkably better. Walking was now possible and I wasn't delirious with every step. When I was led into Karfiso's office I was happy to see Scarlet, Caelus and Jackpot already there and waiting for me along with Siri and Karfiso. Siri also looked much better than she had at Roäc's eyrie; in fact, she looked completely healthy, as did Scarlet.

“I'm glad you're all right.” Caelus said, giving me a small smile.

“We have wasted enough time.” Karfiso said. “It is time that I told you about the second assignment I need you to complete.

Now, after the disaster in Umbaara, I was obviously not thrilled to be sent back out on another suicide mission so soon. I wanted to object, to say something to get me another day or so to rest up, as I was still not feeling entirely at one hundred percent. What stopped me was the look in Karfiso's eyes. There was an anger in them today, though why I couldn't tell.

“The single irpata that you found in Umbaara held all that I had hoped for. The news of a living Umbrog, however, is disturbing.” Karfiso said slowly and calmly. “The second assignment I have for you will be far more difficult, unfortunately.”

“What!” Scarlet shrieked. “I nearly killed myself keeping this lot alive! How could something be harder than that! It's not possible! I feel faint.” Scarlet swooned over and right onto Jackpot's lap, while he stared at her uncomfortably.

“It must be done I am afraid.” Karfiso shook his head slowly. “I am sending you to a place called Ukon.”

“What!” Siri whined. “That was supposed to be our thing.” She went up and put her hoof on to Karfiso's.

Karfiso just sighed, “How many times have we failed, Siri? He simply will not let us in.”

“Um?” I spoke up, “What's Ukon?”

Karfiso looked straight at me, “It is the former home of a great magician. His name was Elri, and he was said to be the greatest magician that Khaweth has ever seen.”

“Magician?” Caelus said, “I remember some of the zebra magicians that fought me.”

Karfiso raised an eyebrow.

“They were a powerful group.” Caelus began, “They didn't use magic like ponies, but instead they used the zebra's natural talent for potion making and alchemy. They made many strange and dangerous creatures as well as poisons and weapons that proved difficult to overcome.”

Caelus' explanation brought my mind back to the library in Umbaara and the writing that Scarlet had destroyed. The writing on the wall certainly did seem to spook her, even though she couldn't read it. Maybe something to do with the dark magic she knew? Or maybe Caelus had told her something that I didn't hear, or maybe-

“You mentioned a he?” Jackpot said, breaking my train of thought.

Ah, yes.” Jackpot sat upright behind his desk, “Elri made his laboratory in a cave that resided on the side of a cliff. The cliff is guarded by a large chasm and also by a certain creation of Elri. It is guarded by a Kaathe, a strange snake-like creature that lives inside the chasm.”

Ugh, snakes. I was really beginning to despise the scaly things. Between Pyth's and Kaathe's, it seemed that every snake in Khaweth was out to kill and eat me.

“I can see the look on your face, Ivory.” Karfiso said, “Do not be worried, Kaathe is actually quite harmless, he will not hurt you.”

Oh thank Celestia! Finally I'm going to go somewhere and not have something try to kill me!

“But, he is the only one who knows exactly where the entrance is and how to get there.” Karfiso continued, “Siri and I have tried many times to convince him to let us into the lab, and every time he has refused us. I am hoping that by sending you, that you may think of something that I could not.”

“Good.” Jackpot said, “But now's the time to tell us what exactly we're gonna be lookin for out in Ukon.”

“It is a relic called the White Phial. Four hundred years ago, Elri created a magical phial, that would never naturally empty of whatever liquid it was filled with.” Karfiso smiled slightly, “Imagine a flask of healing drought that would never run dry! Think of the lives I could save.”

When he said 'healing drought', I heard 'cider'.

“Sounds easy enough!” Scarlet chirped, finally lifting herself off of Jackpot and back into her seat.

*****

Roäc had remained on the roof of the tower the entire time we stayed there. He explained to us that he didn't particularly like the look of Karfiso and remained behind to simply watch over us. Apparently, with the Umbrog buried under the mountain, he had decided to fly us around while we remained in Khaweth.

“Someone's going to have to be around to pull out of a tight spot!” he chirped.

And with that, and a few more instructions from Karfiso(mainly that Siri was still going to be going with us), we set out to the next mission.

Roäc had us ther within a few hours. A trip that would have taken us a week, even by carriage, took barely any time at all while on the back of our new friend. Jackpot had refilled our flasks with the remaining borda, and thank Celestia he did because I was not going to be languishing like on the eyrie without anything to drink, and it took the place of cider beautifully.

The land that Roäc landed us in was near the eastern edge of the Ulur Dur. Many hundreds of miles east from Umbaara but only about one hundred and fifty or so from the horrid, despicable, and abhorrent prison of Arnband. We were close enough that I spotted it, faintly in the distance, for a few moments before it disappeared over the horizon. The mere sight caused my body to shiver to the point that I had to take several large swigs of borda to calm myself.

This land, however, looked very different from the wastes and savannahs of the more central regions of Khaweth, and much more mountainous too. All over were cliffs and crags that opened into deep chasms in the earth. However, the land appeared beautiful as though by some magic or master gardener, as the grounds were littered in pink and blue flowers, as well as short but lush trees. There was a strange sense of life here that was much different from the feeling of being in Umbaara. Just looking down at the sea of colored flowers gave me a sense of calm that I had been lacking over the past days. The sun beat heavily here, bathing the land in a bright shine as the light bounced off the rocks of the cliffs(it also made it unbearably hot). Honestly, it was quite the sight from high on Roäc's back.

“Roäc.” said Siri, “Land us there, in that small clearing.”

There was a small patch of land that sat beneath several large rocks and was surrounded by trees. The boulders and trees shaded much of the area from the sun, giving off shade no matter what time of day it was. There was also a small path that led off a ways towards the bottom part of one of the cliffs that dotted the area.

“Karfiso and I usually make our camp on this spot.” said Siri. “The ground here is quite weak, you see. One wrong step and you will plunge into a bottomless crevasse. If Roäc were to land any closer the ground would fall away beneath his talons and swallow us all. This is the closest spot that remains safe and still has a path to the Kaathe's lair.”

“How many times have you two tried this?” Scarlet asked as she hopped off Roäc.

“We have come once a year for the past twelve years or so.” Siri answered, hopping off the bird herself.

Siri had packed several tents for us as well as supplies for making a fire and enough food and water for two weeks(Roäc made carrying this many supplies easy). We all quickly busied ourselves by setting up our campsite. Scarlet's and Caelus' telekinesis magic made setting up the tents easy while Siri set up a small ring of stones for a firepit.

“Despite the heat, it will get very cold once the sun sets.” said Siri, “We will make the hike to Kaathe tomorrow and until then, I will tell you what to expect.”

We all gathered around Siri, seating ourselves beneath the shade of the rocks as she began:

“Kaathe is a strange creature, even for Khaweth. He is a snake but he has no fangs or scales; instead his skin is leathery and his teeth appear as our do. Zebra often come to him, seeking the entrance to the lab of Elri but never has he let any zebra inside the home of his old master. He is harmless enough, though he will often lean down to sniff you.”

“Sniff us?” Scarlet wondered, “How strange.”

Siri continued.

“He is quite talkative and will no doubt bombard us with pointless questions and unnecessary conversation. Let me speak with him first, as he knows me and always loves to ask me how my year was, among other things. Once he has spoken his fill, that is when we can start asking him about the lab. Karfiso and I have never gotten him to take us there but maybe one of you can think of something that we could not. He loves being asked questions but rarely does he answer them in a meaningful way. In short, he is very annoying and very unhelpful, but is the only creature in existence who knows where to find the lab of Elri.”

“You and Karfiso ever get close to him spilling his guts?” Jackpot asked as he reclined on the boulder that provided his shade.

Siri slowly shook her head, “Never.”

“How do you know that this serpent is the only creature that knows the location?” asked Caelus.

“Zebra have come to him for centuries seeking the location of the laboratory. It is well known that he is the only one who knows.” Siri responded.

“What have you tried in the past?” I asked, “We should know what you and Karfiso tried so we don't have to waste our time trying things that definitely won't work.” I added in.

“Let me see...” Siri began to think, “We have tried simply asking him, bribing him, threatening him-”

“You threatened him?” Scarlet gasped.

“Karfiso did, yes.” Siri said before continuing, “We tried looking around ourselves, we tried complimenting him, we once even snuck into the cave where he lives and tried to see if there were any clues there, or items we could steal and then bargain back for the information.”

“So basically, nothing works.” Jackpot sighed.

“Yes, it is quite an impossible task.” Siri sighed.

“I'm going back to prison, aren't I?” I groaned, falling backward onto the dirt.

“Karfiso would not have sent you here if he did not believe you could do it.” said Siri, “He would not intentionally doom you in such a manner.”

The rest of the conversation went on pretty much like that. We spent the next several hours brainstorming ideas only for Siri to tell us that they wouldn't work. With each derailed idea the situation seemed more and more hopeless, and I hadn't even met the blasted snake yet!

The only comfort I had was the knowledge that this was something that even Karfiso and Siri had failed at...many times. Maybe Karfiso could find some other task for me to do? I really didn't want to go back to Arnband(I shivered every time I even thought of it).

The hours of disappointment passed until the sun inevitably set below the horizon. Caelus let loose a small spark from his horn, immediately starting the fire that Siri had set up. True to her word, the air had become dreadfully cold only minutes after the sun had receded. Even Roäc, who sat perched upon the overhanging rocks, shivered every time the wind blew.

It had become too cold to sleep properly. Even our tents, which were specifically made to block out the cold, aided us little. It forced us to remain around the fire, growing it larger as the night drew on.

“How have you and Karfiso done this so many times?” I said, my teeth shivering every time I spoke.

“It is colder this year than it has been before.” Siri chittered, as even her body shook.

Roäc had even come down from his perch and set his wings out to block the wind and absorb more of the fire's heat. Scarlet cast the heating spell that she had once used on mt. Everhoof to keep the cold out, but the wind seemed to grow ever more dreadful once she did. Caelus added some of his magic to Scarlet's, trapping the two of them in a trance as all of their energy was put towards keeping us from freezing to death.

This beating lasted for several long hours before subsiding into a more tolerable cold. Our tents were already covered in frost, with some parts having frozen over, not allowing us access to them.

“Guess we’re stuck out here for a bit.” Jackpot said, shuffling close to the fire.

“It's still too cold to sleep.” Scarlet said, waiving her heated horn around, trying to spread the exhausted heat.

“We shall have to bear it until the sun rises.” said Siri.

*****

“Celestia truly is the best princess!” I shouted as the sun rose over the horizon.

The night had been truly horrible. Scarlet and Caelus were exhausted from the struggle against the cold and had fallen asleep the moment the sun brought the warmth back to the land. Roäc had to shake a mountain of frost from his wings before he could so much as hover back to his perch above the rocks. Siri, Jackpot, and I had kept the fire going all through the night and were exhausted ourselves.

“It is a twenty minute walk from here to the lair of Kaathe.” Siri said, “We should prepare.”

“Caelus and Scarlet ain't goin anywhere.” Jackpot said, pointing his wing at the two passed out ponies.

“I apologize.” Siri bowed her head, “I have never seen it this bad here before. Last night was most unusual.”

“Mt. Everhoof wasn't half as cold as that was.” I said, still shaking some of the frost out of my adventurer's outfit and what little of my mane and tail had regrown.

“I'll stay behind with Roäc and watch em.” Jackpot said, trotting over and slumping himself down next to Scarlet.

“We shall watch the sleeping ponies!” Roäc squawked excitedly.

“I guess it's just us then.” I said, looking over at Siri.

The zebra just nodded, before slinging a saddlebag over her haunches.

“Follow me.” she said.

The walk took us through many rows of the short but thick trees that dotted the area. The meager shade that they provided shielded us from the harsh sun that now beat down upon the earth. Despite the intense cold from the night before, the trees and flowers seemed as beautiful and untouched as they were when we landed yesterday.

The hike took about twenty minutes, exactly what Siri had said it would, and at the end of the path was a rather large chasm that ran so deep, I could not see the bottom. On the far side was a massive rock wall that ran for some height above us. Within that wall was a hole, probably only big enough for me to barely squeeze through. Siri stopped at the edge of the abyss and began to call out.

“Kaathe!” she cried out, “I have returned!”

My gaze was drawn back to the hole on the cliffside; two beady glints of light glared out from inside as Siri called out the name of the serpent. Slowly and laboriously the creature emerged from the dark crevasse and it was probably the ugliest thing I had ever seen in my life. His hide was indeed a black and leathery material. Ropes of the leathery skin hung from the creatures mass like vines from a tree. He eyes widened into a large yellowish tint as his toothy smile greeted me and my zebra companion.

“Siri!?” I heard him shout in a voice that sounded like he was gargling something horrible, “It's so good to see you my dear!”

The snake slithered his long body out over the dark chasm; his bulk slithering and winding with each subtle movement. He stretched across the entire abyss with the rear of his slithery form remaining lodged within the cave he had exited from.

“I wassss wondering when you and Karfiso would be making your return journey.” he hissed, “I have not had many visitorssss thissss year and I wassss beginning to get lonely.”

His leathery face was now hovering just above myself and Siri. There was a slight stench to him that nearly made me gag as his dark face hovered over Siri and myself. His pale, yellow eyes shifted back and forth between Siri and myself as he looked us over. His small, dark nostrils sniffed the air as he neared us. Turning towards me, I could see the holes that passed for his nose stretching in and out as he took in my sent.

“A pony?” he hissed, “I haven't seen a pony here in decadessss! I still remember the last two that came here. I think their namessss were Rosy and Rocky, or something like that.”

“Hello, there.” I said with a small gag as his stench closed in on me. “I'm Ivory.”

“Ivory, hmm.” hissed the snake, “I remember my father once owned an interesting ivory-made lamp, yessss. It wassss quite beautiful.”

This led into a very long speech as Kaathe swayed back and forth, remembering every minute detail of this lamp that the zebra who created him had once owned. Siri just stood still, a bored expression on her face, as I stole looks back and forth between her and Kaathe.

“How long is this going to go?” I whispered into Siri's ear.

“Twenty minutes, at least.” she whispered back.

Twenty minutes was an understatement; the snake went on and on for at least forty. Every minute carving, every bodily twist, every everything from that lamp was practically ingrained into my memory. I hate snakes.

“Well, that was fun!” Kaathe hissed happily, “Now, what did you want to talk about?” he said to Siri.

“Well I-”

“Stop!” Kaathe howled, “Where'ssss Karfiso? Issss he trying to sneak into my housssse again?”

“He is not here.” responded Siri, “Now if I could jus-”

“Not here?” interrupted the snake, “He'ssss always here! Issss he alright? Did you two break up again?”

Siri put on an irritated smile, “We are both fine, Kaathe. He just had important things to do, so I came with Ivory instead.”

“Oh good, I thought something terrible had happened to him.” Kaathe turned to me, “Why, I remember six years ago when Siri came to me just crying and crying and crying.”

Siri stuck her face in the dirt.

“She and Karfiso were going through a loverssss quarrel and she was just beside herself.”

Two hours. He went on about Siri and Karfiso's relationship history for two hours. Now, I won't lie and say that parts weren't entertaining, but two hours. There was literally nothing to do to shut him up. He could easily raise his voice so neither Siri nor myself could get a word in edgewise.

The rest of the day went on pretty much the same way. Every time Siri or I tried to speak more than a sentence, some random thing we would say would remind Kaathe about something or other and he would go on an hour long rant about all of it's meaningless details. Then, mercifully, the sun began to set, and it was time to return top camp to hunker down for another frigid night.

The ground was freezing over even before we made it back to camp. Jackpot, Scarlet and Caelus had built up quite a large firepit and spent the entire day collecting firewood for it. Scarlet and Caelus had also moved several more large rocks from the surrounding area around our campsite to block more of the wind. This proved to come in handy as I swear to Celestia that it was even colder than the previous night. The howling wind was even louder than before and much colder. Siri and Caelus once again exhausted themselves throughout the entire night, trying to keep everyone warm.

“Looks like no sleep tonight.” said Jackpot, shivering.

“Maybe we should just sleep all day tomorrow instead of going to see Kaathe.” I said, huddling close to the large bonfire Jackpot had cleverly built.

“No.” said Siri, “We will sleep for several hours longer, but we need to keep trying. We cannot afford to waste an entire day.”

Without much of a choice, that's just what we did. I wasn't able to be woken up until at least noon, Caelus and Scarlet were still passed out, Roäc was covered in frost, and Siri just looked more pissed off than ever.

Despite the unrelenting heat of the day, the ground around us remained frozen until we were nearly to Kaathe. This time, however, the serpent was waiting to greet us.

“Hello Siri, and Siri'ssss pony!” he called out, “You're a bit later today than usual!”

“The cold kept us up!” Siri called back to the serpent. “Or have you not noticed it?”

The leathery serpent nodded his gangly head up and down. Sheets of ice particles fell from his leathery hide as he moved, sending a small avalanche of frost plummeting into the bottomless chasm below him.

“Ingenioussss, is it not?” he hissed.

“Excuse me?” I said. “Cold is not ingenious, it's absolutely horrid!”

“You misunderstand, my little pony.” Kaathe continued, “My father placed a powerful spell upon the land. So it issss that thissss area becomessss deathly cold whenever trouble and bad timessss are ahead. Judging by how bad it issss, something really horrid must be coming.”

“I hope he doesn't think it's us.” I whispered to Siri.

“Thissss actually remindssss me of the time my father wassss forced to flee from some ruffianssss that once came looking for him. They wanted some money he owed them and the weather turned cold and...”

FUCK!

*****

“Well, today was a bust.” I said, feeling utterly defeated.

Siri and I had spent the rest of the day attempting and failing to get anything useful out of Kaathe. He just wouldn't stop talking about stupid and mundane facts about stupid and mundane things. And his stories would go on for hours and hours and hours...I hate snakes.

Siri and I had made our way back to camp with only the promise of another frigid night. Oh and I guess there was what Kaathe said about something bad happening, but at the moment, that was the last thing on my mind.

“Why don't Jackpot, Caelus, and I head over tomorrow and talk with him.” Scarlet suggested as we all sat around the nights bonfire, barely staving off the cold and howling winds.

“You can try.” Siri said, slumping her body down on a patch of dirt near the fire.

“That stupid snake is impossible!” I lamented, “We'll never get anything out of him. I don't want to go back to prison.” I took a sip out of a flask, emptying it and tossing it to the side. “Another day or so and we'll be out of borda.”

“Then we'll need to hurry up.” Jackpot said, his wings shivering with every word.

So it was decided. Jackpot, Scarlet, and Caelus would go and speak to Kaathe the next day while Siri and I stayed behind with Roäc and kept the shelter they had built in good order.

The next day, we all did as we had agreed the night before. While the others went off to see Kaathe, and Roäc flew off somewhere, Siri and I stayed behind. The strong winds had blown down several of the boulders that had been placed as wind-breakers for the camp. Luckily my own strength was just enough to push most of them back into position. Siri, after finishing gathering wood for the fire, assisted me with several of the largest stones, which no doubt weighed more then several tons at least. The work took most of the day and had left the both of us exhausted from the effort.

When the others finally did return, night had nearly fallen and the air had begun to grow cold. With every breath I took, ice crystals had begun to form around the vapor that left my mouth, and my body shuddered with every movement.

“That snake was absolutely delightful!” Scarlet chirped, skipping as she walked.

“You two got along a bit too well.” I heard Jackpot nicker as he followed Scarlet.

“At least he would speak to you two.” Caelus said, mournfully.

“Siri was right, he was practically stuffing Caelus up his nose with all that sniffing.” Scarlet chuckled.

“He certainly seemed interested about something.” Jackpot gently nudged Caelus in the side.

“You guys look like you had fun.” I said, leaving the relative safety of the shelter to meet my friends.

“Oh Ivory, you fixed the shelter!” Scarlet delighted, “Those big rocks took me forever to move around, even with Roäc and Caelus helping.”

“Let's get inside, I'm freezing my wings off out here.” Jackpot grumbled, pushing Scarlet and Caelus inside.

Siri had gotten the fire going well and good by this time. When we all huddled in together the fire and the newly reinforced shelter gave us good protection from the howling winds.

“Where's the bird?” Jackpot wondered.

“He has flown off a good distance,” said Siri, “He will be back tomorrow to check on us. He is old, and the cold was too much for him.”

“We're going back tomorrow.” Caelus told me. “In our myriad of conversations with the Kaathe, Jackpot and Scarlet seemed to particularly hit it off with him.”

“Oh he was ever so delightful!” Scarlet chirped. “I would love to go back tomorrow and talk some more with him.”

“We talking about the same snake here?” I asked.

“Oh Ivory, he's hilarious,” Scarlet seemed quite enamored with the serpent, “and he tells such enticing stories.”

“Feel free to engage with him as much as you desire.” Siri said, dismissively, “I have had as much as I can take of the Kaathe.”

“I will! And Gladly!” Scarlet chirped once again.

Well, at least somepony's having a good time here.

The next day went on similar to the previous; Jackpot, Caelus, and Scarlet went off to talk to Kaathe while Siri and I remained behind to keep the camp in good repair.

The weather from the previous night had been the worst so far, leaving little time for sleep. Siri and I remained awake most of the night to ensure that the fire did not go out, as at this point we would all freeze if it did. By the time the sun rose I was so utterly exhausted that if I were to fall asleep I probably wouldn't ever wake up again.

Despite our shelter, and the fire, my body had accrued a small layer of frost that I had to constantly shake off before my body would start to freeze.

“Maybe we should dig a hole and sleep there tonight?” I asked Siri.

“The plants might somehow survive the night but the ground remains frozen it seems.” Siri dug her hoof at the ground several times and even hearing it hit the frozen earth made my teeth chatter, they were so cold.

The wind had also blown over several of the stones we were using as shelter...again. This task, unfortunately, was left to me as Siri went out to gather more wood for the fire. This was wholly unpleasant as my exhaustion would no doubt double the amount of time it would take to complete.

“The daytime burns you and the nighttime freezes you.” I groaned as I carried out my tasks, “I don't think there's a more miserable place in the entire world.”

As the day passed, Roäc returned, and he carried with him several large blankets that seemed to be made of leaves.

“Roäc my savior!” I cried out, nearly coming to tears I was so happy. “Where did you get these?”

“I still know some creatures in the mountains who are friendly.” the gargantuan bird squawked, “The Geluk are a helpful bunch, even in these dark days.”

“Who are the Geluk?” I asked, swiftly covering myself in one of the blankets to test it out.

“They are an ancient race.” Roäc began, “They would look quite a bit like monkey's to you, though. They dwell within an oasis, deep in the Phiri mountains, far to the west. A goodhearted bunch all together, if you ask me. They made these for you.”

“If I ever meet these Geluk, I will have to thank them.” I said happily.

The blanket was unusually warm for something made of leaves. In all honesty, it was better than the best blankets in Equestria.

“These are amazing.” I said, amazed.

“The Geluk are a skillful people.” Roäc said.

Not long after that, I managed to finish the repairs to the campsite. Siri returned with the firewood and herself marveled at the effectiveness of the blankets.

“These will serve us well tonight.” she said, happily.

So it was, that as the sun began to set, Roäc flew off, and my friends returned, we settled in for another night.

“I shall have to thank Roäc for these blankets.” Siri said, “It is almost as if the cold does not exist.”

“Well I'll be damned.” said Jackpot, impressed.

I told the others what Roäc told me about the Geluk and how they made the blankets for us. Neither Caelus nor Siri seemed to know anything about them though. In fact, nopony had ever even heard of them in any capacity, which seemed strange.

“I guess the Socotra ain't all all they're cracked up to be.” Jackpot chided towards Siri.

“It is quite unheard of that a Socotra does not know the name of every beast that has ever lived in our borders.” Siri nickered, seeming quite upset at the fact she didn't know something she thought she should.

“I guess you learn something new every day.” I said, “Grit used to say that to me when I was still a kid.”

Siri seemed less enthused than I would be at learning a new fun fact. This seemed to amuse Jackpot who just chuckled from under his blanket as Siri continued to mope. Even Scarlet let loose a small giggle as she looked over at Jackpot.

“Oh, Jackpot!” Scarlet called out, “You should tell them your idea about getting the phial!”

At once all of our attention turned towards Jackpot as he nonchalantly shrugged.

“You have a plan!?” I said, excitedly jumping out of my blanket.

“It's just an idea. I don't know if it'll work.” Jackpot answered. “We're almost out of borda and I don't exactly like the idea of staying out here without something keepin me goin.”

“Well, tell us the plan already!” I was really excited.

“I'll tell you tomorrow.” he said.

“What? Why not just tell me now?” I whimpered.

“You'll see tomorrow.” he said back.

All of a sudden I got a bad feeling about Jackpot's plan, causing me to slink back into my blanket to prepare for the night ahead.

*****

I could tell it was morning by the fact that the air was silent. No howling winds wrapping all the lands in a blanket of frost and ice. This morning was different from the previous ones, however. It was different because I found myself doing something that I normally barely even noticed anymore; I noticed my hoof reaching around me for what remained of my flasks of borda.

“Huh?” I mumbled, sitting up from the spot where I had slept.

My leafy blanket fell to the ground as my eyes scanned the ground for my saddlebags. They were gone! All of my stuff was gone!

“What? Where's my bags?” I said frantically.

“Jackpot took all of the saddlebags when he went out with the group several hours ago.” Siri said as she poked a stick at the smoldering firepit.

“B-b-but the borda. I need it.” my eyes continued to scan the ground fruitlessly, ignoring what Siri had just said.

“He said he needed it for his plan.” Siri trotted over to me, “Are you ok, Ivory?”

“Have you ever drank borda before?” I asked.

“No, normally only members of the council have access to it.” the Zebra answered.

“Well then you wouldn't get it!” I nickered back.

Siri shrugged and trotted outside the stone shelter.

“What the fuck is that idiot thinking?” I cursed to myself.

Of course it was that moment when it dawned on me: Jackpot was going to get Kaathe drunk on borda.

This had to be stopped! Jackpot was going to give away all of my borda! I galloped out of the shelter and sped down the path towards Kaathe.

“Where are you going!?” Siri called out, “I need help fixing the camp from last night!”

I barely heard her, I was too busy sprinting down the path towards Jackpot and my precious borda. I doubt Roäc could fly as fast as I was running at that moment. I sped down the trail, my legs moving so fast that any onlooker would only see a quick blur at my passing. During the run I lost track of time but it seemed like only minutes when my legs stopped in a sudden halt. Jackpot, Kaathe, and the others were all sitting around the edge of the chasm that separated us from the cave that Kaathe made his home.

“JACKPOT WHERE IS MY BORDA!” I called in in a frantic panic.

They all ignored me.

“Really?” Kaathe gasped.

“Yes really!” Scarlet cheerfully laughed.

“Well that issss quite admirable.” Kaathe gleefully hissed.

Now when I said that Jackpot and the others were seated what I really meant was that Jackpot was passed out on the ground while the Scarlet and Caelus were seated around Kaathe. One look in Kaathe's slitted eyes and I could tell...HE DRANK MY BORDA!

His massive body swayed side to side, the slits that passed for his pupils somehow rolled around in his head, and he seemed to laugh and hiss at every other word that Scarlet said.

“Ah, Ivory!” the snake hissed at me, “Your lovely friend here wassss regaling me with the talessss of your exploitssss.!”

“Oh, Ivory!” Scarlet called, “We're over here! Jackpot's idea seems to be working!”

“Where are my flasks? Is there any borda left?” I ran over to where Jackpot was laying and saw all of the flasks lying on the ground, empty.

“It wassss the most peculiar drink I've ever had, I must say.” Kaathe's voice seemed lighter than it had when last we spoke. “Whenever thissss other pony wakessss up I must remember to thank him properly.”

Failure. Everything had fallen to pieces! All of my borda was gone and now I had to deal with a drunken snake and the inevitable reality of being sent back to prison for failing this stupid task.

“Come to think of it, “Kaathe continued, “I must admit that I am finding myself wanting more of thissss wondroussss drink. I know the perfect way to make up for drinking it all!”

I wasn't listening. I had fallen to the ground on top of all the empty flasks, crying at the beautiful drink that was now no more. I could already start to feel it's loss. Jackpot must have taken it some time before I woke up. Celestia knows how long it's been since I last had some of the divine liquid pass my lips. I could hear it already, the pounding in my head as my brain shouted for more. I was so preoccupied in my sorrow that I didn't even notice the scream of shock from Scarlet or the shouting from Caelus.

In a split second everything went dark...and damp.

“What?” I wondered.

I looked around. My surroundings were dark and smelled like...smelled like...Kaathe?

FUCK! HE ATE ME!

A powerful force then propelled me downwards. I screamed, but nothing I could do availed me as my body was too constricted within the snakes throat to move. I was pushed downwards and downwards, my body being coated in his slimy saliva, until, I was certain of my own imminent death-by-snake, I landed in a small stone room.

“Who!? What!? Where!? When!? Why!?” I shouted as my body crashed onto the cold stone floor.

I had barely another moment to think before Jackpot's body landed straight on top of me, along with our saddlebags and several of the flasks.

“I hate my life.” I miserably murmured as I pushed Jackpot off of me.

Once Jackpot was off of me, I looked around the room I had been...deposited into(don't think about it). It was a modestly sized chamber, dimly lit by a few glowing orbs that floated around the edge of the room, just off the walls. There was little in the way of decorations and the only discernible thing was a passage that led outwards(I didn't even bother looking up from where I had fallen), down a hallway.

“Where am I?” Jackpot managed to slur as he woke up. “Must've fallen asleep.”

“You dumbass!” I yelled, “You gave away all of the borda!”

Jackpot looked around, “Looks like my plan worked.” he smiled.

“What plan? That shitty snake ate us!” I yelled some more.

“Ate us?” Jackpot seemed confused, “I just wanted to get him drunk, then Scarlet could weasel the location of the lab out of him.”

“Well he ate us. I hope you're happy.” I certainly wasn't.

Jackpot spread out his saliva covered wings and swished them about, slinging snake spit everywhere, including on to me.

“If I wasn't already covered in it, I would buck you right in the face for that.” I angrily murmured.

“Well then, now for phase two of my plan.” Jackpot stood up, threw the soaked saddlebags over his back, and trotted off down the hallway.

“Hey! I'm not done yelling at you yet!” I called out, trotting after him.

Luckily the hall was quite short. At the far end was a wooden door then, also luckily, was unlocked. Behind the door was a slightly larger room, and this room was filled with a myriad of strange things.

Shelves of books lined the walls, tables filled with swirling, multicolored potions, some that were even still smoking, dotted the interior. There was a very noticeable burning smell(probably the smoking potions) that permeated the air. Then, on the far side of the room was another door, this one a bit larger than the last.

“My instincts tell me it's behind door number two.” Jackpot chuckled, trotting over to the door.

I trotted over to the shelves of books, taking several long glances at some of the larger ones. Their covers were quite colorful, being designed with various plants and even animals prancing about on each tome. I very lightly tapped one with my hoof.

“Still solid.” I said to myself.

With my curiosity piqued, I wrapped my mouth around the largest one and placed it on an open space on one of the tables. I didn't know what to expect from the contents, other than probably not being able to read it.

The writing in the book was definitely Zebra in origin. The one thing I could tell was that it was not any ancient language the Zebras used. The writing was certainly written in a more modern Zebra dialect and no doubt Enyi, or even Karfiso, could read it with little difficulty. I flipped through several more pages when, upon the final page, I came upon a delightful surprise.

“Classical Pony Latin?” I said, “I can read this.”

My eyes combed the page, taking in every stroke of the quill that dotted the page with letters I knew quite well:

April 12th: Koning came by the other day. He has a good heart, but Kaathe did not allow him entry into the lab. Imagine my surprise when I saw that fool trying to force himself down the throat of my son, ha! Koning was always very impulsive, but I suppose that's why we're friends. He seemed apprehensive though? He would not tell me why he came.

April 26th: The weather has turned foul. I will keep writing in the pony language so any Zebra who gets in here can not read this. I now know why Koning came by. I am going to have to leave my home here and find him at the capitol.

May 6th: Khass was attacked. Khawaa are here. The land has frozen.

There was no more.

“Well, then. That doesn't seem good.” A cold chill from nowhere then blew past my spine, causing every hair on my body to stand on end.

As I continued to stare at the ominous writing, Jackpot called me from the other room.

“Ives! Get in here! You'll want to see this!”

I left the book on the table and trotted in the other room to see what Jackpot had discovered.

“No way.” I gaped at the room I had just entered.

Shelf upon shelf, row upon row of small, white phials littered the space. There must have been several hundred of them.

Each one was no bigger than a small tea kettle. Small, thin bands of rope held each bottle in a firm embrace with which to attach to a belt or satchel. Each phial was lined up on large, wooden shelves that stretched the length of the room, which was moderately sized. A single lamp hung from the ceiling, giving off a faint glow that was just enough to make what was in the room visible.

In the center of this room was Jackpot, lying on the floor, a final flask lying by his side and one of the phials sticking out of his mouth.

“It works.” is all Jackpot managed to gurgle out before the phial fell from his mouth, dripping borda onto the floor.

I trotted up, lifted the phial in my hoof, and sure enough, it was filled with borda. I tilted the phial carefully, my eyes locked on the small hole at the top, as borda flowed from the bottle and onto the floor. I held it like that for far longer than it would normally take to empty a container of such a small size and to my amazement, the borda kept coming.

In a completely instinctual move, I swiped another phial from a nearby shelf and poured the contents of the first bottle into the second. I tilted it, and wouldn't you know...two endless bottles of borda.

“This...this is amazing.” I stuttered. “Well, only one thing to do now.”

I slipped the second phial into my mouth and swung my head back.

Introduction

Adventure Inc.

Obligatory Exposition

Greetings my wonderful and definitely literate readers, I am.....well ok you probably know who I am by now because I mean come on. But for all of one or two of you: I am Ivory Star, world class adventurer, legendary archeologist, historian, part time guest professor at the Canterlot Historical Society and the personal protege of the legendary adventurer, Grit Stratum.

I have been convinced by various parties(yes several parties were thrown and summarily thrust into epictacular levels of awesomeness) to launch my own official series chronicling my legendary adventures across Equestria and beyond. Here in this novel, edited and approved by me (so you know it's credible), are written the series of events that led to the rebirth of ancient Equestrian history and mythology into modern times. The quest to discover ancient truths, delve into perilous dungeons and battle dangerous enemies as the secret workings of Equestria's newest and greatest hero are made public for all to see.

But before I go into all of that, I would like to give a little history lesson of my own here just for you dear reader. You see It is very important for you to know(as if you already don't) about Grit Stratum, since he is my personal mentor (squee) and himself a legendary adventurer from back in the day.

Grit Stratum is the incredibly famous and universally beloved hero of Equestria and responsible for the creation of the world renowned Adventure Incorporated. This is what is considered his greatest achievement and legacy since it is pretty much responsible for the rediscovery of much of Equestria's ancient and mysterious past before the reign of the two royal Alicorn sisters. He found lost cities, trekked the deepest jungles, fought giant monsters and overthrew shadowy crime syndicates. He recovered relics and treasures of antiquity as well as united the greatest adventures in the world to create his masterpiece: Adventure Incorporated!

Adventure Incorporated was Grit's answer to the increasing demand for knowledge due to the princess Twilight Sparkle's emphasis on promoting greater education across Equestria. Grit's journals and letters became the first pieces of the largest library in the world with well over eight million volumes of text stored across several facilities in Canterlot, specifically designed to hold the collection. Adventurers of all stripes are employed here and sent out and assigned to various projects in acquiring and saving priceless artifacts from all over the world. Grit opened museums, founded universities, and with his personal outings created friendships with countless kingdoms and creatures the world over.

Now now, I know what you are thinking dear readers: how did you become the personal pupil of the legendary Grit Stratum, who as we all know was in his youth the chosen apprentice of you guessed it, Daring Do herself and the founder of Adventure Inc. Well you see it has to do with how I got my own amazing cutie mark that signaled my destiny as an adventure pony.

When I was just a filly I lived with my parents in Manehatten where my mother worked as a party cake designer and my father was a newspaper photographer. I had always been a massive fan of the Daring Do and Dash Venture(a fictional pony who was based on the adventures of Grit Stratum) series of novels and my father had gotten the news at his work that Grit Stratum was opening a new exhibit at the new wing of the Canterlot History Museum. All of the princesses would be there and the exhibit was about obscure pony history with the far away zebra kingdoms. I, of course, practically demanded we go even though my parents fully intended to take me to see the exhibition since they knew how much of a fan I was. It was there, with all five Alicorn princesses in attendance, and with Grit Stratum himself cutting the opening ribbon, that I was able to meet my greatest hero.

When the ribbon was cut, hundreds of ponies rushed into the museum and I became separated from my parents in the huge crowd. I was pushed inside the museum, and being too distracted by all of the absolutely amazing exhibits, I barely noticed my missing parents. Since I was shorter than all the other ponies(I was only 9 at the time) I was pretty easily able to hide in the crowd and sneak through some doors into a back room where I hoped they stored all of the more priceless and magical artifacts that were too dangerous for public consumption.

It was a large storage room filled with huge boxes that were stacked nearly to the ceiling in some places. This was like heaven to me. It was like all of the comics, books and movies I loved were now real and I was in the secret government room where legendary artifacts of great power were stored for study and safe keeping. It was to my great disappointment that most of the boxes I was able to pull open held only pieces of old jars and bits of other junk that didn’t even seem to have amazingly magical powers that could change the fate of the world. I looked and I looked and I looked, but most of the boxes were too big and heavy to open and I was not finding anything good in the few I could pry into. It was only when I was about to give up, when all of my patience had left me that I found what I was looking for. It was in a small unassuming box that sat on the top of a pile of large boxes I had scrambled up on top of. Within the box was an old but very beautiful looking necklace of a strange and very foreign design that I had never seen before. It was while staring at this that my cutie mark of a compass star with a compass inside of it appeared on my flank. I thought it was pretty cool until I noticed the compass needle pointed west which even I knew was WRONG!!!.......ok I know, but it annoyed me, a pony who loved adventure books and knew how a compass was supposed to work.

Just as I was pondering exactly what what was going to happen, I was distracted by the shouting of several security ponies who had spotted me from the floor. I was so surprised by their shouting at me that I fell right off of the pile of crates and landed on top of one of the security ponies and spraining my own hoof in the process. Maybe that’s what the off kilter needle meant, finding bad luck or something like that or at least that’s what I was thinking as they carried me off to my parents who were standing in a corner looking very worried and also very mad. With them to my surprise was.......well....... him. Oh, I remember the feeling of seeing Grit up close as my parents had gone to him looking for their missing child. I could hardly breathe as he asked me if I was ok and OH MY GOSH HE WAS TALKING TO ME!!!!!!!! After hyper ventilating and calming down, my parents were so happy to see my cutie mark, as even Grit was willing to pat me on the back(squee again) and I told everypony what had happened.

Grit seemed very impressed with both my enthusiasm and my cutie mark, offering to take me on as his own pupil and eventually have me join Adventure Inc. as one of its adventurer ponies. I was beyond ecstatic and began begging my parents to let me go and join Grit and his legendary adventurers, and after some thinking it over, and a private talk with Grit that they said I would find boring, they agreed to let me go. Thus began the beginning of my apprenticeship to the legendary Grit Stratum and the introduction of the many events that as of then I was unaware and maybe even somewhat unprepared for that would happen to me during the course of my life.

And so now that you know how I ended up as an eventual first class adventurer welcome to what would become of the rest of my life.

A Wealth of Information

Chapter 9: A Wealth of Information

Awkward...that was a good description of the next few hours I spent with Enyi in my room(even worse). I had five empty glasses of water on my nightstand as well as four empty plates of toast, all of which Enyi had been nice enough to bring me. We didn't talk much though, in fact I think I might have broken him a little. Thankfully after a while Scarlet had returned, dragging Jackpot behind her who was now tied up in bandages and completely unable to move his wings. I finally felt settled enough to leave my bed and move around once I had eaten enough and so was able to stand at the door trying not to laugh at the miserable expression on Jackpot's face as he was dragged home by Scarlet.

“I used what healing magic I could but he kept insisting that parts of his body were hurting and that he wanted me to look at them, so I cut to the chase and bandaged up his whole body!” Scarlet said with a smile.

“You're learning.” I said still trying not to laugh.

“Learning what?”

“Really? You think he was serious?”

“Why wouldn't he be? His wing did look pretty bad so perhaps he had some other injuries he didn't know about until now. I can't see why he would pretend to have injuries he didn't.”

Enyi raised an eyebrow in my direction which I reciprocated. Jackpot just mumbled under the layers of bandages he was under, I just can't really see how she didn't get it but whatever. Scarlet levitated Jackpot into the house and set his squirming form down on the couch in the front room.

“I think you should at least uncover his head.” I said to Scarlet.

“Well, I just wanted to be sure but ok.” Scarlet's red aura nimbly unwrapped the bandages covering up the majority of Jackpot's head.

“By Celestia's rainbow butt-hairs Scarlet! Ya trying to suffocate me or what!” and with that Scarlet quickly covered up his mouth again.

“Sorry, he seems to still be a little fidgety.”

“You should hear Ivory sometimes.” Enyi said.

“Hey!” this time I saw Jackpot laughing from under his bandage gag. Scarlet must have noticed this as well as she suddenly yanked on one of the edges and tightened the wrappings swiftly silencing Jackpot.

“But Scarlet, you especially, would do well to learn some more, let me say...practical healing spells.” Enyi said.

“I know a few, Celestia's school taught me several beginner spells. Or did you forget that I used some on you guys already.”

“I think what Enyi is saying is that more spells is never a bad thing and if we're gonna be going into more situations like in Luna Bay we might need some more advanced stuff than what you know.”

“Are you saying I'm not good enough!” Scarlet's eyes began to water.

“No, we're just saying that we think you have the potential to be...uh...even better than you already are!” I think my smile was selling this.

“Well, healing spells are not easy to come by, I mean they are either hard to find or really expensive.”

Jackpot began to mumble something under his bandages. I turned over to him and trotted over to where he was laying.

“Gonna behave?” Jackpot eagerly nodded. I turned to Scarlet as she once again unwound his bandage gag.

“I was sayin that that big ole library up at A.I probably has a bunch of em.”

“Good thought Jackpot. In fact If I can I want to get back into that restricted room now that I'm actually a member.”

“Good luck with that Ivory, Blaze is the only pony with actual keys for that room and I doubt he would want to let you in now.”

“Celestia dammit.”

“You know I have more bandages Ivory.” Scarlet said sternly looking at me.

“Sorry.”

“But you know what, that still sounds like a good idea. Maybe we could find some rare anatomy books or maybe some books on advanced bandaging techniques!”

“Well it is the biggest library in the world, I'm sure they have a bunch of spell-books there.” I said to Scarlet.

“I'll go with her so she can actually get in to look at em, I'm still an A.I member to ya know.” Jackpot said.

“I can go with you if you want?” I said to Scarlet.

“No, Jackpot will be fine. You and Enyi here need to work on all that new stuff we got from Luna Bay anyway.”

Scarlet was right! We did have a bunch of new stuff that might actually prove helpful, a whole chest worth of helpful in fact. But before we got into that there was some stuff that there was some things I wanted to go over first.

“Ok guys, we might know more when Silver gets back but Enyi thinks he knows what exactly we're up against.” I threw Enyi one of those 'I want you to tell them so I don't go accidentally say something you didn't want me to say' looks. I think he understood.

“It is as Ivory said. When Jackpot, Ivory, Grit and I arrived in Numnah...”

“What's that?” Scarlet said raising her hoof in the air.

“Ancient Zebra city. I'll tell ya more later.” I whispered to her.

Enyi continued, “When we arrived at Numnah I took note of the ancient glyphs that were written upon the walls. Some I knew and others I did not but from what is told of Abila and now from what we know this Sable Granite is after I believe I have discovered what his plan is.”

“And what's that and can somepony untie me now?”

“Good question Jackpot and also no. I think that Sable is gathering magical relics that belonged to leaders amongst the young kingdoms that existed at this time. These magical artifacts were used, according to legend, to seal away a powerful and dark entity that was responsible for the destruction of the first Zebra Empire. If he is successful in releasing this force he will have the power to do well...anything.”

“How does that nasty Goldie fit into this?” Scarlet asked.

“Goldie works for Sable.” Jackpot told her.

“Oh, ok. I got it.”

“If what happened in the bay is any indication we all need to be a bit more well prepared in case we run into Goldie or even Sable while looking for these relics. That means Scarlet practicing with new spells and Enyi and I running through Jackpot's little obstacle course more.” I put in.

“Little! Ya know how hard that thing was to set up!?”

“So then, we know what we need to do but we still don't know where any of these artifacts are do we?” Scarlet said inquisitively.

“Correct, I'm still hoping that Abila's journal can help but Grit's notes only go so far and there are still a lot of things we can't translate. The stuff from Luna Bay is certainly going to be helpful if this regard but for now Enyi and I will have to go through it while Jackpot helps Scarlet find some useful spells she can learn.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Jackpot said with enthusiasm.

“I like this plan and I'm excited to be a part of it!” Scarlet yelped with her own enthusiasm.

This is what happened for the remainder of the day. Scarlet finally untied Jackpot and together the two of them went off to the Adventure Incorporated headquarters to peruse the gigantic library built into the Canterlot mountain. Enyi stayed at the house with me as we dug through the new chest full of old scrolls to find anything that would help us in deciphering more of Abila's journal. This proved to be very helpful for me. Throwing myself into this work allowed me to get my mind completely off Grit and what happened with Enyi. The few hours of daylight that remained passed by quickly for us.

“Ivory, this piece is written in a different language than the others. Do you know what it is?”

“This looks like...archaic Pony Latin!”

“You know it?”

“A bit yeah. It's a bit different from modern Pony Latin, although calling that modern is kind of silly because it's such an old language. It also happens to be a dead language, which means nopony actually speaks it anymore but there are some, like me, who were still curious enough(or masochistic enough) to learn it. I still had to dabble a bit in it's archaic form because I needed to learn some roots for Old Ponish which everypony knows is just a more modern form of Late Pony Latin which obviously has it's beginnings in Pony Latin which Grit used to theorize actually developed from languages including the...”

“Uh Ivory, a yes or no would do.”

“Wait, what?”

“You were...going a bit off topic there.”

“Oh! Uh sorry about that. Not many ponies find this kind of stuff interesting so I've never really had anypony to talk to about it before.”

“I understand, I have always had this same problem with Zehiri.”

“What's that?”

“That is what my mother tongue is called.”

“Cool name, can you teach me any!” I said, my eyes suddenly growing much wider.

“Khemo Kariando Kho!”

“What does that mean?”

“Would not you like to know.”

“That rhymed.” I blushed a little.

“I suppose it did.” Enyi smiled.

“Well what problem have you had with it?”

“Our language derives from multiple dialects you see. It was formed by Abila after the reunification of the Zebra tribes. Some bits can be seen in earlier forms in the old tongue, Zuku, but there are some elements to the language that do not exist in any form before Abila returned from her journey across the sea. I always believed that she took parts from the languages of the peoples she found over there and used them to form her new language.”

“I thought language wasn't your specialty?”

“Well the language itself is not but the of it history is somewhat of a personal project of mine.”

“So none of the other Zebras support your theory.”

“Some few have given me small encouragement but for the most part no, they have not.”

“Well that's just stupid for them to ignore it so thoroughly. You would think educated Zebras would be more open to their preconceived ideas being wrong, I mean it happens all the time throughout history!”

“Yes, and I suppose it is. It has led to many long and varied arguments but I think it is just difficult for them to believe such an important part of our culture came from others.”

“Hmm.”

“What is it?”

“Do you think maybe, if your idea is correct, that we could use it to help decipher some of this?”

“So far I have seen no similarities but we have learned only a few words so I still have hope. If I do see anything I will of course share it with you.”

I cannot understate how helpful Enyi actually turned out to be. Not only as he was good(very good) company but he proved to be quick to understanding how this language was working. He was coming up with almost as many ideas as me but my faster reading managed to keep me ahead(plus I think I am just better at this than him). The new material proved to be just as invaluable as well. There were scrolls that had writing from multiple languages on them that showed to be the same words but in different languages.

“These are all proclamations Enyi.”

“Yes look at this one, it says: They have all left. Only two remain. We no longer have the numbers or desire to remain on this island. Commander Hurricane orders all Pegasi to muster at Cloudsdale. Weather getting worse.

“What languages is that one written in?”

“Pony Latin, Modern Pony Latin and in this Pre-Celestial Script of yours.”

“Really? All three languages?”

“So it seems.”

“Commander Hurricane, where have I heard that name before...Hearth's Warming!”

“What?”

“Commander Hurricane is one of the founders of modern Equestria. So this must be at least a thousand years old.”

“And this script was still in use then?”

“Looks like it. But...the other papers under it don't.”

“Perhaps this is the last time it was used?”

“Maybe...only two remain, what's that mean?”

“I do not know.”

I took a look at several other pages that were found beneath the one Enyi had been reading.

“This one says: Hurricane has joined with the two. Let it be known all ponies are now one tribe. Long live Equestria!, well that answers that question. The two are Celestia and Luna.”

“Would that mean?”

“Yes, the others must be the Alicorns.”

“And the Pre-Celestial Script.”

“Was their language.”

“I think we have enough of it, let us return to the journals.”

“Ok Enyi, with these translations we can get a lot more words out that journal.”

We worked diligently translating another page of Abila's journal and with the help of the Luna Bay papers we got it done in only a few hours. The page after that proved of little difficulty as well and when the next two pages had been translated we began to read:

Today was a joyous one! Two more tribes of Zebra found our haven and have joined us. This marks the twelfth since my quest to reunite my people began ten years hence. They have been a happy ten years for me as now many cities are beginning to be rebuilt from the days of our prosperity! Numnah is where I have decided to dwell for now as it was the city of my birth.

The past seventy years of my life have been strange ones. Who would have thought of the friends I would meet as I traveled hither and thither across the scopes of this world. I miss them all dearly and the news of Whisperwind's passing grieves me deeply. Oh Terria! I request thine strength in the years to come for I begin to grow weary of my labors.

It has been some time since I have written last but news from afar has reached me in my home. Greywing the Gryphon has passed some months ago and it saddens me that it took this long to reach mine ears. The loss of his gentle and pleasant nature will surely make this world darker. His subjects in those eastern mountains will surely feel this loss nearly as much as I.

“So the Griffon's name was Greywing.” I mused as I read.

“Well then, the mention of the eastern mountains must mean Griffonstone.”

“Yes, it does seem kind of obvious in hindsight where the Griffon would be buried. The hard part will be trying to find out exactly where he was buried, after all those mountains are not small.”

The daylight was coming to an end as Luna preformed her nightly duties of raising the moon. Enyi and I had been alone for at least four or five hours at this point and we were each getting rather tired.

“So...Enyi?”

“What is it Ivory?”

“About earlier.”

Enyi raised an eyebrow, “What about it?”

“I'm sorry.”

“Do not be.”

“But I just...I should've asked first and with how sick I was feeling I know you tasted what was in my mouth and...”

“Ivory, it is fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes, though I must admit I did not know that you felt that way.”

“Well, it's just...I mean I...”

At that point several loud knocks were heard at the door. A few seconds later Scarlet and Jackpot trotted in with Silver close behind them.

“Guess who we found napping in the front lobby!” Jackpot shouted out(OH THANK CELESTIA!).

“It's not my fault! Those meetings were just so long and tedious!” Silver said in his own defense.

Scarlet came in last carrying a decent sized pile of books in her telekinetic grip. She had a smile on her face and was humming to herself even as Silver and Jackpot were arguing.

“Silver, so you actually got to meet with them!”

“Oh, uh yes I did actually. It was a very interesting series of meetings and...”

“Yes yes and I want to hear all about them but first I need to talk to Jackpot...in private.” I needed to ask him one question about Grit. With what I had just learned I just needed to know if Jackpot knew anything or if he would be honest about it.

Everypony just stared at me. Even Jackpot seemed somewhat confused at this but after a quick few seconds of blank staring Jackpot followed me upstairs.

“So, whaddya want ta talk about?”

“I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to answer me honestly. I need this to be the absolute truth ok?”

“Um, ok.” Jackpot's face turned a little concerned.

“You weren't here for this and I don't know if you even noticed but did you see on the second floor a few more empty spaces on the walls?”

“Was I supposed to be looking?”

“Go down the stairs to the second floor and tell me what you see.”

Jackpot, no longer wearing his usual happyish face poked his head down the staircase.

“What happened? All of Grit's stuff is gone?”

“I wasn't quite sure how to ask you this, or if I even should but it seems you knew a lot more about things Grit was doing the past few years than I did.”

“Well not much more but I guess so.”

“Tell me, and remember honesty!” Jackpot nodded, “I know Grit used to work for this family of yours and I know you were raised by them. Do you know any specifics about some of the things Grit did?”

Jackpot stood there for several seconds a look of puzzlement on his face. I could almost see his brain trying to think of some kind of answer to my question.

“Well, I assume they wanted to use his status as a celebrity to get access to things they normally couldn't.”

“Specifics Jackpot.”

“What's this about Ivory?”

“Royal guards came in today. They told me they had found out that Grit had been smuggling relics and stealing cultural artifacts for years. They even came and took a lot of his stuff because apparently it was all stolen. So I want you to answer my question, did you know or not?”

“Listen Ivory, we've all done stuff we regret...”

“Yes or no Jackpot?”

Jackpot just stood there again, his face blankly staring at my own fixed gaze, “Yes.”

“What is all this Jackpot?”

“I don't follow?”

“Why is this happening to me!”

“What?”

“My entire fucking life is dying in front of me! This whole thing is just... I just don't know what to think right now. I have been going through so many emotions today alone that I might just go crazy! Seeing those ponies die and having Grit's legacy torn to shreds in front of me is way too much for anypony to just handle in such a short time!” I started to cry as I said this. Jackpot looked down at me with a look of unsurity on his face. I don't think he particularly knew how to handle mt little breakdown but still tried patting my shoulder to try and comfort me. I guess my crying was heard downstairs as the others(Enyi came up first) came running up the stairs.

“What did you say to her Jackpot!” Scarlet said sternly as Silver and Enyi ran over to me.

“Nothing, she just started crying!”

I looked up at Enyi as he stood over me, “Back in the Broken Wilds I heard you and Grit talking in his tent. You mentioned Jackpot like you knew him, why?”

Enyi stood there somewhat stunned that I would remember something like that, “Ya know what, just tell her.” Jackpot said.

“I had heard of him, nothing more.”

“What did you hear?”

“I heard he had been in Khaweth before and was known to have been present at several suspicious events.”

“Aww come on Enyi, you can be more specific than that!” Jackpot yelled. Scarlet and Silver were standing there looking confused.

“There were multiple incidents about seven years ago that resulted in certain items of interest to my people going missing. Upon meeting him though and as he was with Grit I thought maybe he was not as involved as we might have believed.”

“So you didn't know about Grit stealing?”

“No.”

I turned back to Jackpot, “Was Grit there?”

“What!? No, I hadn't even met him yet and he was still with you at that point right?”

“But you stole things from the Zebras?”

“No, I...stole nothing and that's the honest truth.”

He looked me right in the eye as he said this but his pause showed he was still hiding something, “I said the whole truth Jackpot!”

“That is the truth, I didn't steal anything from the Zebras at anytime back then, I promise.”

“Emotions are running high right now.” Silver poked his way into the conversation, “Let's not forget that we need to stay together on this ok. When I was in the meetings I was told that my ideas were not what the company had in mind and they directed me to invest in multiple different places. I say we take a look at them and come up with a clear plan of what we want to do.”

“Sounds fantastic!” Scarlet said putting a smile on her face, “We need to stay a team remember! We can't beat the bad guys if we're fighting ourselves now can we?”

“Fine then Silver, what locations did they suggest to you?”

“Well there were several spots around the Crystal Empire, a few cool sounding places in the Equestrian Jungles, a spot near Griffonstone...”

“That is it!” Enyi spouted out as he sat down next to me.

“Eh, what is?” Silver sputtered after being interrupted.

“This spot near Griffonstone, that sounds like what the journal told us! We must head there at once Silver!”

“Well, you'll have to give me some time to set up a trip; you know buy the tickets, get the supplies, hire a guide for the mountains, and set you up for the necessary safety equipment.”

“Why would we need those?”

“Are you kidding me!? Griffonstone is all mountains you know. If your going there, chances are you're gonna be climbing a lot.”

“You can take care of all that tomorrow right?” I asked clearing away the last few tears that were still dripping from my face.

“Yeah, give me a few days to set everything up and we should be good to go!”

“Well then, for now I think I'm just gonna go to bed.” I said standing up and walking over to the stairs.

“Ya sure you don't wanna stay in this lovely conversation here?” Jackpot added sarcastically.

“She has had a hard day Jackpot, let her rest.” Enyi said, nickering at Jackpot. Jackpot just rolled his eyes and headed back downstairs, “I'll be at Joe's if anypony needs me!”

“Hey! Yous should apologize to Ivory for making her cry!” Scarlet yelled after him.

I didn't hear the rest of the argument as I had shut the door to my room on the third floor and fell completely exhausted unto my bed. I could vaguely hear the others muffled voiced downstairs for a bit but they eventually died down as hoofsteps passed my room into the other two. For some reason that I just couldn't contemplate(isn't sarcasm grand!) I didn't sleep all that well this time. I couldn't get my mind off of Grit and the shame I was now feeling for idolizing him so much. The embarrassment of what happened with Enyi both at Joe's and in my room also permeated my thoughts as I tried to imagine a situation where he would not associate kissing me with the taste of vomit.

“Great, even more traumas to add to my quickly growing list!” normal ponies didn't have to endure this. I wonder if Grit ever went through this or even in some warped parallel world Goldie or Sable. If Goldie was any indication though probably not. Oh Luna in heaven please just help me sleep and not trouble me with these thoughts! I threw my pillow over my head in an attempt to deafen myself to my own thoughts but after the obvious result of it not working I tried hitting myself in the face with my hoof to focus on something else. Despite this I got the feeling I would be spending more sleepless nights contemplating the many ways my life had been and probably will continue to be fucked up.

*****

The next day couldn't have come soon enough for me. I managed to eventually get some sleep but I was still quite groggy when I clambered out of bed, the bright Equestrian morning sun shining through my window. The thoughts of last night had not left my head(in case you were wondering) and when I finally got to clomping my way downstairs I barley noticed Enyi and Scarlet sitting on the front room couch. Scarlet was reading one of the books she had brought back from A.I while Enyi was skimming some of the old texts from the Luna Bay chest. I pulled the refrigerator door open with my mouth and grabbed some bread before bucking the door closed behind me. My mouth provided easy control of the bread as I placed it into the toaster and set the timer by pushing down on it with my muzzle, turning the small crank, setting a small clock that the machine required to be on for some reason and then turning a small temperature gauge on the opposite side to what I wanted it to be(told you it was complicated). Next I dug back through the fridge for some jelly which I was feeling a craving for. Luckily I still had a bit left and I managed to grab it in my teeth and place it down on the table. The plates were kept in a drawer near the floor(easier for me to get at it with just my mouth and all) and I got out a large plate engraved with Celestia's sun on one side and Luna's moon on the other. When I had set them on the counter the toaster timer went off and the toast popped out. It was hot in my mouth but I made toast all the time so I was kinda used to it. I quickly placed both pieces on the plate and squirted the last of the jelly out onto the two pieces of toast. I didn't bother spreading it before I crunched down on both pieces and quickly engulfed both of them into my mouth.

“Good morning Ivory!” Enyi said with a friendly smile on his face.

“Oh! She's up at last I see.” Scarlet said lifting her head up slightly from her book.

“Just us this morning?” I asked.

“It does indeed look like it.” Enyi responded.

“You know we should head over to Joe's and maybe run Jackpot's obstacle course a few times at least. Couldn't help to try and build some more stamina and whatnot after what happened at Luna Bay.”

“Yes, I saw that when I got Jackpot the other day. I might try and take a whack at it myself.” Scarlet said while still continuing to mentally read her book.

“Whatcha reading Scarlet?” I asked sitting myself down on the last available couch cushion.

“Oh it's a wonderful book about ways to fuse lymphatic bodily functions with improved blood flow and immune system techniques to improve the effect of medicinal, both magical and physical, distribution throughout the body to potentially aid in accelerated cell growth and regeneration!”

“What?”

“A spell that could make ponies heal faster.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Moon Dancer writes some really advanced stuff though. I don't think I'm actually going to be able to something like this for a few years at least but starting now is better than starting later right!”

“Something a little quicker might be more useful.”

“Don't worry Ivory, when I'm done with this book I'll be right on that!” Scarlet said with a smile before sticking her face back in the book.

It didn't take long for us to head out into Canterlot. Scarlet carried several books with her and continued to read them even as we walked through the streets. It was a beautiful summer day and my body at least was feeling good especially since I didn't wake up stuffed in a pile with Jackpot while sick off my ass.

As we walked I took slight glances at Enyi. I wonder if he would actually be interested in me or if I should even ask him. I mean we seem to have a good bit in common and when we spend time together alone I manage to forget about all the stuff that bothers me. I wonder if it's the same for him since he always seems to enjoy being around me also. But then again that...kiss probably threw off any hope of it actually happening. But on the other hoof he doesn’t seem too bothered by it, in fact he hasn't even mentioned it and when I asked him about it he wasn't offended or anything so maybe we could...

“Hey Ivory, we're here!” Scarlet yelled from Joe's front door as I stood there in the street in my little daydream.

The bar was surprisingly full for this early in the morning. Jackpot was sitting at the bar with Mr. Lumpkin, a chubby purple Earth Pony, and Glisty, a unicorn mare. Each were regular patrons here that I recognized from my earlier escapades here at Cider Joe's(most of which I didn't remember and would have to be reminded of later). Despite this though the bar was rather quiet and everypony within sat in their seats drinking and eating hardly making any sound.

“What's with all this Jackpot? It's usually so lively here, especially with you.” I said surprised at the silence.

“I think the silence suits this place.” Enyi said after me.

“All Equestria's silent today my friends!” Jackpot shouted out in a manner giving away the fact he had had a lot of Joe's cider.

“What do you...oh yeah, Grit.” my head sank down as I suddenly felt embarrassed and didn't want to seem to haughty due to my relation to a by now very public criminal.

“What's the radio saying?” Scarlet asked hurriedly.

“Nothin.” is what came out of Jackpot's mouth.

“What do you mean nothing? What else would Hero be reporting about today?” seriously though, Hero always reported on anything that had to do with Grit.

“She ain't even on the air today. Her whole station is static.” Jackpot said before gulping down his rainbow shot.

I couldn't believe it! Hero had never missed a single day of being on that station of hers. I had listened to many hours of her in the past with Grit and she only ever loved just talking to ponies, playing music and making bad jokes and puns like some over-hyped comedian. The point was that there was always something on and it was either her or her and a guest or two.

I immediately rushed over to the radio and grabbing the nozzle with my muzzle, switched on the frequency of Hero Studio. Jackpot was right, nothing but static emanated from the small box and Hero's loud but reassuring voice was nowhere to be heard.

“That isn't good.”

“Did she not invite us over?” Enyi's wonderful voice said from behind me, “Perhaps we should pay her a visit?”

I slumped down on a bar-stool, “Once we get back from Griffonstone we'll make it a priority.”

“This news got around fast.” Scarlet said sitting down next to me.

“I’m sure that's no accident.” I huffed, “Fuck this Sable and his dumbass Family.”

“Ya want anything?” Joe said from the other side of the counter.

“Sorry, no money left.”

“For today, I'll you one on the house.”

“Pinkie's Surprise then please.” Joe seemed to have one at the ready immediately as I finished saying it. He slid it down over to me and it was almost immediately gone, “Come on guys, let's get to that obstacle course. I need something to keep me busy for now.”

Jackpot and Scarlet got up and followed me to the back door. Enyi was already waiting by the course and was readying himself to run it. We spent the whole day just running it over and over again, well except for Scarlet who spent the day reading her medical journals. I put myself completely into the mindset of training all day. Hours of running the ever easier course between breaks and small drinks and food from Joe scattered throughout the day. When it started to get later Jackpot and I did some personal sparring again but this time proved little better than the last time even with Jackpot's hurt wing. The only improvement I seemed to make was managing to throw my body into him once and slightly off-balance him for a second.

When it finally got dark enough that we decided to call it a day I was understandably exhausted from the days workout. Enyi was almost too tired to walk and even Jackpot was sweating bullets. Joe's ciders had somehow given me a buzz-load of energy that kept me going all day and in their usual fashion allowed my mind to stay off of Grit for the time being.

“Thanks for the free drinks Joe!” I happily said as I sat back down at the bar.

“Don't mention it Ivory. Jackpot ran out of bits a while ago and I was pretty sure you wouldn't have much left on you after that last night you spent here.”

“Still it's really nice of you.”

“Bah, it's really nothing. Any friend of Jackpot's is a friend of mine.” he said with a smile. “Besides, I knew you and that Grit fellow were pretty close. Must be hard hearing all that stuff about him now after he has just passed.”

At this my mood went right back to dour as I dropped my head down onto the table with a thud.

“Whoops, sorry there Ivory. Didn't mean to upset ya.”

“No no, it's fine. I'm just gonna have to get used to these new facts and try to live with the fact the pony I based my entire life around turned out to be a scumbag.” I quickly darted a glance towards Jackpot who was standing in a corner with Scarlet who was poking at his wing some more.

“Whoa there friend!” A loud voice boomed behind me, “A pony's not allowed to look so sad in here!” This was a pony who was affectionately known to the others in the bar as Bumpkin. He was a large green Earth Pony who usually showed up later in the day which as it happened was now. “I say we do something to cheer this lot up eh Lumpkin!” Bumpkin said to Mr. Lumpkin who was actually his brother(who woulda thunk).

“Quite right there brother!” Mr. Lumpkin said aloud.

“Wait, what!?” I said surprised.

Lumpkin and Bumpkin stood up and trotted out to the center of the room and began to clap their hooves together. The other ponies in the bar all of a sudden got up and with eager smiles on their faces ran out with them as one in the corner turned on a jukebox to a happy and upbeat little piece of music. One by one each of the ponies began to suddenly and out of nowhere sing:

There's a place just out side town! Sang Lumpkin and Bumpkin simultaneously.
Where mares they dance in lacy gowns! Sang a lovely pink Pegasi mare as she seductively hovered past my head.
The stallions dance upon the floor!
Cuz those who don’t are quite a bore! Several ponies laughed at that.

Now Joe here has a tipsy lot!
But he'd lose his shop if not for Jackpot!
So he has us dance and play!
And if we're lucky share our hay! Sang a Unicorn Stallion sitting next to a lovely Unicorn mare.

Now Ivory her mood is sour!
Her face is down and rather dour!
And so we sing this song for her!
Til a shine pops on her fur!

The ponies sing that friendship rocks!
Don't forget my rainbow socks!
I think a cow just jumped to moon!
Somepony went and took my spoon! Sang a pony at the bar with a bowl of soup and no spoon which elicited more giggles from around the room.

So just calm down and take a gander!
Forgive us if we start to pander!
For a songs a song but so much more
Cheering you up right to your core!

For whatever reason the well rehearsed sounding spontaneous song and dance number from the ponies managed to cheer me right up again. I even spotted Enyi tapping his hoof when he thought nopony was looking at him while Jackpot and Scarlet each smiled and bobbed their head to the coincidentally fitting music that accompanied the song. When we got back to the house I didn't feel as depressed as the night before and managed to actually fall asleep in preparation for the next adventure we would embark upon tomorrow.

The Eyrie of Roäc

Chapter 21 :The Eyrie of Roäc

Celestia had lowered her bright sun to make way for Luna's silvery moon some time ago. Roäc had carried us a far distance after saving our lives from the brogels and the Umbrog. The entire time nopony had said a word as my mind finally gave way to the days events and my horrendously injured friends.

The place Roäc took us to was far above the city of Umbaara, high upon the peaks of the Phiri mountains. We had flown for at least thirty minutes before being set down upon what seemed like a huge plateau surrounded by misty mountain peaks. There were a few gnarled trees that grew around us, but other than that, there were but a few piles of rubble that I could see littered around. They were large enough to see from some ways off and seemed to be shaped in the form of large circles. Other than this, the plain stood empty of any discernible things.

Scarlet and Siri had still not woken up, which worried me, and kept my mind distracted from the countless questions I had for Roäc; though, by Celestia's grace, the two were still breathing. Roäc set them down on a soft patch of grass that grew near an outcropping on the edge of the plateau. It gave us a good view of the plains that ran north out of the mountain range and into zebra country. Jackpot, Caelus and I could only watch over our two unconscious companions until they woke up on their own(neither of us were doctors of any kind, you see).

It took all night and well into the next day, but finally Scarlet's eyes fluttered open as Jackpot looked on. None of us could even begin to think about sleep that night as we had watched the two. My body had been on the verge of shutting down when Jackpot's screams of delight shook me awake. Scarlet had somehow managed to lift herself up partway but Jackpot had to help her fully up to her hooves. I heaved my aching body over to Scarlet, a smile on my face, as my hooves fell around her in a giant hug.

“Bout time you got up.” I heard Jackpot mumble as he joined in the hug.

“How's Siri?” Scarlet's pained voice managed to squeak out.

“She hasn't woken up yet.” I said, looking down at the still unconscious zebra.

“She looks horrible!” Scarlet yelled. She immediately tried to make her way over to the zebra but her hooves gave out and she keeled over, Jackpot catching her before she hit the ground.

“Careful, you don't look that good yourself.” Jackpot said, helping Scarlet back to her hooves.

“Umbrogs are not creatures to be trifled with.” Caelus said, “It is a miracle you even survived.”

“I've been healing myself.” Scarlet nickered weakly, “I'm strong enough to help Siri now.”

I watched as Jackpot helped Scarlet over to where Siri was laying. Had she really been healing herself this entire time? My vision was quite blurry from the exhaustion(and the fact my body was still threatening to tear it self apart with every movement I made) so it was making it difficult for me to make out much of anything specific. Siri was no doubt the most physically fit of any of us and yet Scarlet still woke up first. Perhaps she had been healing herself; hell if I know how Dark Magic worked.

I ended up hobbling over to where Scarlet was now attempting to heal Siri, with Jackpot still helping her to even stand. Her horn was glowing a dull, dark crimson as she slowly waved her horn over the blackened portions of Siri's broken body. It took only a few seconds of this for Scarlet's eyes to suddenly widen in shock.

“I'm going to need some privacy here.” I heard her mumble.

“Huh? Why?” Jackpot grumbled, “You can barely stand.”

“Jackpot's right, Scarlet.” I said, “You need help.”

Scarlet slowly turned her head over to Jackpot, “She's got injuries in some....private areas.” Her gaze suddenly turned accusatory as Jackpot very quickly averted his gaze from Scarlet's.

“Fine, I get the hint.” he said, sounding reluctant.

“Why can't I stay?” I asked, “I'm a mare after all?”

“Because you look like you just shared a bed with the pony grim reaper, honey.” Scarlet weakly huffed, surprising me with the analogy. “But I will take Caelus' help.” She gestured her head in his direction.

“Wait, what!?” Jackpot sounded offended, “He can stay but I can't? Why?”

“Because he's not you.” Scarlet said in an insinuating manor. “Plus, I admit I do need some magical assistance.”

Jackpot floated away, grumbling to himself as he plopped himself down onto the grass a short distance away. All I did was painfully turn my head downward to inspect myself, only to find I was covered in dirt and bruises. Things around me were blurry and as Jackpot landed I could have sworn that I saw three or four of him in that moment.

“Maybe we should...get some...sleep.” I said weakly as I slumped over to where Jackpot had hunkered down.

“Mr. Roc, could we use your wings please!” I heard Scarlet call out, with the flapping of wings being the last thing I heard before the soft grass I was laying in took my last grasp of consciousness.

I awoke to the soft glow of a fire and Jackpot poking at it with a stick he held in his wing. On his side were several flasks that caked the ground Around him. I could hear him mumbling to himself about being out of cider as he continued to poke at the fire. The sun had gone and the night sky was blanketed with a sea of diamonds as countless stars shone brightly in the heavens. Beside Jackpot lay Scarlet, breathing gently as she slept by the warm glow of the fire. Siri, on the other hoof, looked remarkably better(almost new in fact) as she sat on the opposite side of the fire with a morose look on her face, her head tilted downwards and her ears hanging low.

“What time is it?” I asked sleepily as I lifted my body from the grass.

“Just after midnight.” Jackpot answered in a grumpy sounding voice. “We're out of cider.”

Instantly my face dropped at least a mile as I realized the one thing that could have eased my aching body at this moment was gone. I had been really looking forward to swigging down an entire flask at some point and now my hopes were instantly dashed. The thought of slogging through the pain with no way to take the edge off nearly bucked my spirit right off the side of the mountain. I groaned as I heaved my still aching body over to where Jackpot was sitting. In the soft glow I could see his hooves were still slightly charred from the Umbrog's flames. They didn't look nearly as bad as they had when we first arrived but they weren't exactly healed either. I guessed that Scarlet must have intervened on that account as I moved besides Jackpot, pushing away the several empty cider flasks that lay piled next to him.

“This outfit Joe gave me is amazing.” I said, running a hoof over the magical shirt I had received from my bartender friend.

It had a few scuffs on it but I had little doubt in my mind that it had somehow contributed to my not being totally incapacitated by the Umbrog in the same way Siri and Scarlet had been. That or my earth pony strength and resilience had gotten stronger(probably a bit of both). Honestly, I was amazed that it simply hadn't been torn to shreds by the abuse it had just undergone. I would have to remember to thank Joe and the other ponies at the bar again when I got home(also to drink more cider...a lot more cider).

“How's Scarlet?” I asked.

“She's fine.” Jackpot said softly. “Honestly, we'd be right fucked without her right now.” Jackpot leaned back slightly as he stretched out his wings and hooves, “That magic training of hers seems to have paid off in heaps and bounds.”

I looked over to Siri, who hadn't been talking. I gave her an inquisitive look, only to be met with her brusque nature as she averted her face from my gaze.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

Siri did not answer.

“She's embarrassed.” Jackpot whispered into my ear. “The big tough zebra had to get saved by lil old Scarlet.”

“Silence yourself, pegasus!” Siri nickered at Jackpot.

Jackpot just laughed as Siri's face melted into a gaze that could have melted all the snow and ice of mt. Everhoof. I couldn't help but let loose a stifled laugh as Siri once again threw her face away from us.

“Come on Siri.” I said apologetically. “Jackpot's just messing with you.” I said, giving Jackpot a friendly buck to his side, causing him to keel over even as he continued to laugh.

“I am above his taunts. I am the captain of the most elite of the zebra warriors after all.” Siri said with am air of pride.

“And yet you still had your flank handed to you by one little ol monster.” Jackpot said, getting up from his laughing fit.

“An Umbrog is anything but ordinary.” Siri nickered aggressively, her ears and eyes flaring up. “They are the greatest foes the Socotra ever faced since the first battles of our founding. We thought we had slain the last of them centuries ago in the last Great Hunt.”

The two continued on for some time; I just did all I could to stay out of it as I continuously rubbed at every sore spot on my body and wished Jackpot had not run out of cider. With the sound of Jackpot and Siri arguing pointlessly in the background I gazed around for Caelus or our feathery host. Neither of them were anywhere to be seen.

“Anypony seen Caelus or Roäc anywhere?” I asked, interrupting the two arguers.

“Caelus said he was going for a walk and the bird said he was flying down to check on Umbaara.” Jackpot said, still giving a stink-eye to Siri.

“And quite the refreshing walk it was.” Caelus said as he appeared out of the subtle light of the starry night and into the glow of the campfire. “Many memories I have here, and not all of them bad.”

“Wait, what!?” I said in surprise, “You've been here before?”

Caelus nodded as he sat down opposite of the still sleeping Scarlet.

“This used to be the great Court of the Rocs!” he said in a triumphant voice. “All about this plateau there were great towers built like trees that the rocs would perch to have council. Their king would sit at the center and hear out the concerns of the kingdom.” Caelus sighed, “Hundreds of rocs would gather here at times, and the skies would swirl in the hurricane winds that such a gathering would produce. Every zebra for a thousand miles would know that the rocs were in council as the mountains would reverberate with the echoes of their bird-songs and the force of their mighty wings. It was quite the sight to see, even for me when I would spend time among the ancient kings of the clouds, as some rocs called themselves.”

As Caelus talked I couldn't take my ears off of him: Each word seemed to capture me as I imagined this flat and barren plot of land filled with many giant and beautifully colored rocs. I could imagine the great shadows they must have cast over the earth as the flocks flew over the surrounding lands, I could feel the wind on my face in the torrent of winds that issued forth from their large wings, and I could hear the songs of a thousand thousand beaks rising far into the mountains and ringing out into the world.

These thoughts distracted me from the pain my body was still in, and the craving for cider I had been feeling from before. I could just close my eyes and imagine something that would have been utterly beautiful and amazing to witness. Something I used to do many times as a foal when I was with Grit, but had sadly fallen out of the habit of doing as my views on him shrunk from the blind idolization I once had. For now I could sit by a nice fire with my friends and remember why I wanted to be an adventurer in the first place.

“You are full of surprises, little pony!” Roäc said, the beat of his great wings waking Scarlet as his hovered into sight, landing near us with a great thud. “Ancient spells and ancient knowledge you seem to keep. There is a familiar feeling about you, grey one, but ponies rarely live so long, and there were none here in those days.”

“You were alive during the fall of the Zebra Empire, weren't you?” I said, remembering Roäc's words when we first met and what I saw in the irpata.

The rocs head tilted slightly as one of his dulled eyes trained onto me. He stared at me for several seconds before speaking.

“You remember well.” he said, “I struggle to do so myself more often than not, though. Many things do I remember, but many more things I have forgotten in my long life. I remember when all things that lived beneath the sun could speak with proud voices. But I have long ago forgotten the names of my dearest friends, if I had any. I know I was once king of the rocs, but as there is no more kingdom, it seems that my reign was a short lived failure.”

“Caelus said that rocs used to sing?” Scarlet said suddenly. “Do you remember any songs?”

“We rocs were mighty singers!” Roäc said proudly, before his voice tapered off into a softer and sadder tone. “But a haze has come over my mind and I remember little of those times. I have forgotten most of our songs, beautiful as they doubtless were. Mighty chorus' of rocs singing and filling the world with our music filled us with with as much joy as those who listened.”

“Do you remember a zebra named Abila?” I asked(Enyi would certainly love it if I could tell him as much about Abila as possible...when I found him).

Once again, Roäc tilted his head from side to side as his beak moved, ever so slightly, as if he wished to speak but couldn't.

“No.” he said at last, “There were some zebra that I knew, but their names are lost on me.”

“Are you sure you can't remember anything?” Scarlet said weakly, “I'd still love to hear any songs you might know.”

“There is one I remember, in part at least: it is not one of ours and I cannot remember where I heard it from. It was sung to me some time after the Darkness came, and it is rather sad. I daresay it is fair enough for tonight though, if you wish to hear it.”

We all nodded, except for Caelus, who just remained still in the glow of the fire in the night. Roäc raised his head towards the night sky and the canopy of stars that trembled overhead. His voice grew low as he began to slowly chant:

When morning came, beneath the sky, the fields were green and fair;
In daytime’s light, between the peaks, the birds flew in the air;
When wings glide soft, when chirp is bright, and peace held wood and hill,
I called for thee! I called for thee! My heart, your songs would fill.

When sunlight bursts the folded buds, and sweet was wind and sky;
On feathered wings like flowing sails the kings of yore would fly;
When stars rolled off and sun rose high, when wind was soft and cool,
I listened for the lingering sound, as sweet as any jewel.

When sun rose high above the Earth, and turned the sky to gold;
above the sound of zebra hooves, the wings of rocs unfold;
When mountain halls stood tall and free, and wind flew to the west,
You came for me! You came for me, and so my heart would rest.

When noontime warmed the haggard hoof, and rose the harvest high;
As work and toil brought aching limbs, we heard your music nigh;
When heat poured down and fruit bore up, as wind died o'er the air,
I lingered there beneath the sun, to hear your music fair.

When Darkness fell, the shadowed dread, that darkened sun and moon;
When pines they roared, as dreaded flames, devoured our golden noon;
When eastward came that deadly cloud, with webs and wings of pain,
I looked for thee! I called for thee! Songs drowned by poison rain.

The Darkness came, the singing gone, the silence fell at last;
The broken halls with crumbled boughs, no echoes of the past;
The empty trees are bare and dead, no songs to clear the haze;
I search for thee, and call for thee. Your songs, my heart to raise.

Then together we can sing once more under starry skies,
and carry it to farway land, as on the wind it flies.

“That was the saddest song I've ever heard!” I heard Scarlet cry. “It seemed so happy at first until the end.”

“It was beautiful.” Siri said, something resembling a smile crossing her face.

“Gotta admit, the mares are right.” Jackpot said. He seemed a bit more relaxed than before the song.

“Roäc, that was stunning.” I said to the bird as I wiped several tears from my own face. “You have a lovely singing voice.”

Caelus remained silent.

“Thank you little ones.” Roäc said gratefully. “It gladdens me that some creatures can still hear and enjoy my singing.”

“Indeed.” Scarlet said sweetly to the roc. “I would have loved to hear one of your songs sung by an entire chorus, as you said they were meant to be.”

Scarlet wearily hoisted herself up in an attempt to sit straight but her legs gave way and she lightly tumbled into Jackpot. With a quick yet gentle curl of his wing, Jackpot helped Scarlet up as she propped herself against his side.

“Careful, Scarlet.” he said, “You still look a bit worn out to me.”

“Jackpot's right.” I dutifully added, “You must've used a lot of energy to help Siri today, not to mention that I doubt you're recovered from the Umbrog.”

“I'm fine, Ivory.” Scarlet weakly answered, “Really. I'll just lean against Jackpot for a while.”

“Not the support I would have chosen.” said Siri.

“Hmph, zebras.” Jackpot nickered in annoyance.

“Be nice Jackpot.” I said, giving the pegasus a slight scowl.

“I'd be better off if we still had some cider left.” Jackpot vainly pawed at one of the empty flasks that still sat on the ground next to him.

My eyes could not resist staring at the empty containers themselves. A horrible longing began to build up in my gut as I stared fruitlessly at the empty flasks, wishing above almost all else, at that moment, for a few flasks of cider that I could swig down. My ear twitched slightly as I turned my head away back to the fire and my friends that sat around it.

We sat there for some time, Roäc's shadow looming over us as the fire illuminated his brightly colored feathers. The entire time Caelus sat silent, staring up at the night sky, illuminated as it was by innumerable stars, whose light trembled and wove around us in its enormity. It was a serenely beautiful sight, sitting there by the fire as Siri and all my friends sat besides me. Peace settled over me for the first time in days as I stared at the crackling fire and the scattering shadows of those that sat around it. The night had cooled the air beautifully and a smooth breeze seemed to ease some of the hurts that still ached my body.

Scarlet had fallen back into sleep, still supported by Jackpot while he poked at the fire with a stick he held in his wing. Siri seemed restless as she shifted her body, slight looks of pain and discomfort painted her face with each movement she made. It was clear she was still not fully recovered but when I would try and say something she would give me a look that told me to remain silent for now. Despite this, her lidded eyes revealed her exhaustion as her head bobbed up and down every few seconds. She seemed to be barely able to remain awake but still, for whatever reason, did not want sleep to take her.

Roäc had fallen asleep not long after he had finished his song. He remained rather upright as he slept, a soft cooing sound slipping from his beak with every other breath he took. His chest, still blooming with feathers as they rose and fell with his breathing. Even sleeping, he was stunning to look at and behold. It was still hard for me to believe I had actually met a talking roc and that it had actually lived for thousands of years. I couldn't help but look over to stare at him as he slept. This roc had potentially saved our lives twice already and I felt bad that we had no way to really thank him for what he had done for us.

The fire soon began to die and with it our group began to drift off to sleep. Scarlet and Jackpot still leaned against each other while Siri and Caelus lay separated from the rest of us. As I laid my head down to once more star up at the jeweled night sky, I couldn’t help but wonder what Enyi was doing right now. Emerald also entered my mind as I laid there silently; I wondered if she was doing ok by herself in Adventure Incorporated. There were still dangers to look forward to when I got back to Equestria and I would need her help if I wanted to face them. Ironically, the very organization I had once dreamed of being a part of now began to haunt my thoughts with worry.

Blaze, who I once thought my friend, couldn't be trusted(at least until I discovered the truth of what Goldie told me about him) along with the majority of the leadership of A.I. Not to mention I had no idea what actually happened to Silv...Sable and his own followers. For all I knew they could still be out there somewhere, plotting some new way to fuck up my life.

But now was not the time for such thoughts. My eyes were barely able to remain open as I curled up by my friends and peacefully drifted off to sleep.

*****

The morning sun dawned over the edge of the plateau, waking me from my sleep. My body still ached, but no so much as the day and night previous. Scarlet was still laying near the dead fire-pit while Jackpot sat over her, looking very uncomfortable. As I got up I could see Siri off in the distance while Caelus was nowhere to be seen.

As I rose I noticed a pile of fruits and berries next to me along with leafy pitchers of fresh water. Two of the pitchers were empty but there were three more that were filled to the brim. All the berries looked rather strange to me as they were probably native to this area and did not grow in Equestria. My first instinct was to try some as I found myself absolutely starving and while they looked strange, these fruits still looked delicious. Of the food that was set before me were piles of pink berries that I found rather sweet and took quite the liking to. There was also a large(about the size of my head!) green fruit that dripped juice all over my muzzle as I eagerly ate away at it. As I ate, I also drank about half of one of the leaf-pitchers that sat next to the fruit.

“You ok?” I asked Jackpot in between bites.

“No cider.” he lamented.

“Please don't remind me.” I groaned, feeling a sudden need for the drink myself at its mere mention. “Where'd the food come from, and how's Scarlet?”

“That bird brought the grub and Scarlet's been in and out the past few hours.” Jackpot said, still sounding miserable as he peered down at the sleeping unicorn.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“Don't know where Caelus is.” Jackpot muttered back. “Siri's off trying to do whatever the fuck zebras do or whatever.” Jackpot then rolled over onto his side, groaning as he curled himself into a ball around his saddlebags and empty flasks.

Feeling better after a good breakfast, and seeing that Jackpot was in a mood, I decided to go and stretch my legs a bit. I could see Siri off in the distance and it looked like she was stretching or doing some form of exercise. Though, even from this distance I could see she was struggling with her moves. I started to gallop over to her once I saw her fall over and something in me couldn't help but get worried that she might not have fully recovered from her injuries.

“Siri!” I called out as I neared her, “I saw you fall, are you ok?”

As I got closer to the zebra she attempted a slight jump and ended up falling on a hoof that immediately gave way, sending her straight towards the ground. Her face cringed into a pained expression as her body hit the dirt and she slid a short distance from where she had landed.

“Siri!” I called again with more urgency.

“I am fine.” the zebra nickered as she hobbled back up onto her hooves. “My body has simply still not recovered fully.”

“But Scarlet put all that effort into healing you.” I said, stretching my hoof up to help the struggling zebra.

Siri balanced herself without taking my hoof and once again attempted a short leap while kicking in the air. When she landed this time she did not fall but her face gave away the pain that had just shot through her body when her hooves hit the ground.

“See, I am better.” Siri cringed, attempting(and failing) to put a smile on her face.

“Maybe you should just take it easy for a bit, that Umbrog seemed to really hurt you.” I was starting to get concerned for Siri. It was undeniable that Siri was tough but pushing herself this hard while she was still hurt didn't seem like the best option.

Siri let out as long, drawn-out sigh, “I know. I just cannot afford to remain docile at this time. I must remain prepared at all times for what is to come.”

I let out a slight smile, “Oh please, you're one of the toughest creatures I've ever met. And that move you did against the Umbrog, when you seemed to go all blurry, that was awesome.”

“You noticed that?” Siri said, sounding somewhat surprised. “It takes quite the eye to see that.”

“What is it?” I asked.

Siri's face curled into a state of uncertainty as she seemed to ponder my request. I watched her green eyes roll over me as her mouth opened noiselessly several several times before closing again.

“Is everything ok?” I asked.

Siri took a deep breath and let out a long sigh, “It is a special technique that all Socotra learn. The level to which it is applied differs with the skill of the individual but it is considered a secret skill that only we are allowed to learn.”

This knowledge instantly piqued my curiosity as a small light began to gleam up in my eye.

“What's it called!? What does it do exactly!? Can anypony learn it!?” I asked instantly and with no delay.

Siri rolled her eyes before she spoke, “It is called uruluk, and it is a very special and powerful ability that can take some years to master. It uses innate magical ability alongside physical endurance to temporarily create a small illusion around the user.” Siri put her forehoof on her chest as she continued, “The illusion, or blurriness, causes the eye to lose track of the target allowing a Socotra to attain the upper hoof in an engagement. Combine that with intense physical training and a Socotra is near unbeatable in any physical encounter.”

“Can I-”

“No, I will not teach you.” Siri stated brusquely.

“Why not?” I asked, my ears lowering back in disappointment.

“You saved my life in Umbaara, so I gave you the courtesy of telling you what it was.” Siri began to look slightly irritated, “But only zebra can become Socotra and only a Socotra can be taught this technique; to teach it to someone who is not a Socotra is considered treason!” Siri stamped her hoof on the ground for emphasis.

I bent my head down in disappointment at Siri's statement. I suppose that she had a point in what she said. I already knew that zebras have a tendency towards not talking about things to those they consider outsiders. Enyi had probably told me more things than he was probably supposed to but I guess that, at the time at least, he had some affection for me. And now Siri seemed to be willing to at least share a bit more than normal, though she obviously still had a limit on what she thought to be worth sharing.

“Although,” Siri started, “I suppose I could give you a demonstration, since you and your friends did save my life.”

My ears perked right up, “Really!?” I blurted out. “Wait, in your condition-”

“I said that I am fine!” Siri nickered, “Now do you want to see or not?”

I nodded. There was a part of me that was worried about her, but there was another part of me that really wanted to see this up close...and that part of me won.

Siri widened her stance as she lowered her body towards the ground, “Watch carefully.” she said.

I had my eyes carefully glued onto Siri as she started to move. Before anything seemed to happen, I instantly noticed my eyes beginning to wander, as if they had a mind of their own. Then as Siri took a short leap to her side she seemed to disappear for a mere moment before her form began to blur out of my vision. It took every bit of concentration I had not to lose track of her instantly as she moved around me. Watching her move stupefied me. Her muscles and body seemed to buzz with energy for a flashing moment as her form began to blur in my vision. In that moment I thought I could see the muscles on her body begin to move and flex before loosening and shifting once more. My eyes followed her for several seconds before, like a shadow in the dark, she disappeared from my sight and I was left standing there staring at an empty patch of earth.

“Wait, what!?” I spurted out after Siri had disappeared.

It was then that I heard a thud. I turned around to see Siri on the ground behind me, cringing in pain.

“Siri!” I yelled, “Dammit.”

I immediately spun myself around and ran over towards where Siri was laying. I could see her quivering on the ground as her face cringed in the extreme amount of pain she must have been in. I reached her in one leap as I heaped her body onto my back and began to run back towards Jackpot and Scarlet.

“What's wrong with her?” Jackpot asked in a muffled tone as I approached with the zebra on my back.

“Is Scarlet awake yet?” I asked as I laid Siri down next to the dead fire pit. “Siri was showing me some technique of hers and then just collapsed!”

“I'm here.” Scarlet said in barely a whisper.

She was in little better shape than Siri as I watched the exhausted unicorn slowly attempt to rise from her stop on the ground. Jackpot immediately opened a wing to assist Scarlet in getting up as she hobbled to her hooves. I could tell just by looking at her that she was still utterly exhausted and in quite the bad shape herself. Despite this, Scarlet made her way, supported by Jackpot, over to Siri and gave a cursory glance over the zebra.

“She's just exhausted.” Scarlet mumbled weakly. “Give her some time and she'll wake up on her own. We'll just need to keep her from exerting herself until she's more rested.”

“Dumbass zebras don't know when to just sit down and rest.” I heard Jackpot grumble under his breath.

There was an angry glare from Scarlet towards the pegasus as he led her back to the spot she had been laying in.

“I say give her another day or so and she'll be well enough to travel back to Khass.” Scarlet said as she began to drift off herself.

“How about you?” I asked Scarlet.

“I'll be fine. I'm healing myself right now and I should be...good...to...go...soon...” Scarlet had fully fallen back asleep now.

“I'll watch them both.” Jackpot said, “You should go find Caelus. I think he wandered off towards that cliff over there.” Jackpot pointed a wing over to a sloping cliff that sat a good ways away from where I was.

“Ok, just don't let them...don't let Siri do anything too strenuous if she wakes up.” I said, hoping Jackpot could dissuade her better than I could.

With Jackpot's nod, I headed off towards the cliff that he had pointed out. I felt that I shouldn't be gone too long so I took it at a gallop as I neared the cliff. The view from the cliff was, of course, stunning. All around me were snow-peaked mountains with spotted clumps of trees at their bases. It looked like a view right out of a panoramic greeting card for some Los Pegasus attraction.

Right at the edge of the cliff was a small, winding path that led down a ways. If Caelus had gone this way then he no doubt had taken this path so it was a no-brainer to follow it down. The path was narrow, so much that I had to turn sideways to slide down it without worrying about falling off. It went down a good ways as it took me several minutes to reach a wide outcropping that allowed me to stand straight out of the cliff. I took another look off the edge and sure enough, I saw Caelus sitting on another outcropping of rock a bit further down.

“Hey! Caelus! Up here!” I yelled down to him, waving my hooves over the edge.

He took a glance up towards me and then, smiling, waved me down towards him. A couple of hops later and I found myself sitting next to Caelus as he looked over the valley below us.

“You sure found a beautiful spot.” I said, “It's nice and shady this time of day too.” I sat back against the side of the cliff, letting some of my weight rest against the cliff.

“It's been a long time since I was here last.” Caelus said nostalgically, “I had some good times here.”

“I'd love to hear some stories, if that's ok.” I said, a smile growing on my face.

Caelus chuckled a bit, “See that jutting boulder, right there.” he said, pointing to a large, pointed rock that seemed closer to a hill that stuck up from the valley floor. “I threw that there from the other side of the valley a couple of centuries after I first arrived here. I was having a contest with a friendly roc I had met to see who could fling a hill the farthest.”

“Did you win?” I asked.

“Yup. His rock hit the edge of the plateau, rolled down, and carved out the spot we're sitting in now.” Caelus answered.

“Did you ever come here after...you know.” I said, hesitating to bring up a time after he had become the Darkness, but still having a sudden urge to know.

Caelus sat silent for a few moments before he answered, “I did. Don't ask what happened though, you'll regret it.” his voice and head lowered as he spoke.

“If you don't want to talk about it now, I won't make you.” I said, putting my hoof gently on his shoulder and smiling. “You seem to be remembering more at least, and I say that that's a good thing for now.”

“I will say that I'm happy the land has recovered.” Caelus said. His eyes began to mist over as he raised his head and looked towards the sky, “It was so beautiful here once. It must have taken centuries for life to return here once I had left.”

“Scars heal. Whether by time or...something else. I should know, I have a few of my own.” My hoof did an instinctive rub over my flank, long healed from the venom of the Pyth. “Though, I still have a few I need to heal, and I want them to.”

“His name is Enyi, right?” Caelus said, looking at me.

“That's one of em, yeah.” I said, my voice trembling a bit, “I really messed up with him, and all I can hope for is that he doesn't hate me; after all I...” My voice tapered off before I could say my thought. Instead I just sat there and continued to stare down into the valley.

“I see.” Caelus said, “I can't say I've ever been in love before, though, there was a time...” it seemed Caelus couldn't finish either. “Perhaps, like this valley, we can find some way to heal your scar with Enyi.”

“That would be nice.” I chuckled a bit to myself as a moment of happiness came over me at the thought.

“You did promise me that you could help me make up for my mistakes, remember? Perhaps it would be wise to aid each other in our pursuits. I don't think I'm strong enough to complete my tasks here alone and you and your friends help will be invaluable. But, it seems, the same might be said for you in this instance, am I right?”

“You know what, that sounds like a good idea.” I said back, smiling.