Fallout Equestria: The Great Hoard

Chapters

Prologue: Treasure Hunt
Chapter 1: At World's End
Chapter 2: Markers
Chapter 3: Ghost Town
Chapter 4: Misty Mountains
Chapter 5: Comfort

Prologue: Treasure Hunt

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo,
going out your door.
You step onto the road,
and if you don't keep your feet,
there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
-J.R.R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings.

War… war never changes.

This isn’t a story about a war, but it is a story that has its roots in one.

Over 200 years ago, at the height of the Great War between Ponies and Zebras, the last Dragon Lord Ember was trying to keep her nation out of the fighting. It was an unpopular decision among the Dragons, but they couldn’t refuse the order of their leader. Still, some of that animosity began to build, and the two warring sides took notice.

Until one day an assassin with a gun enhanced by the rare plant Dragonsbane took aim at Ember and pulled the trigger. As the nation mourned, they looked for who to blame for the death of their leader, and all the evidence pointed to it being a pony assassin.

Believing that the ponies had killed their leader because she had refused to side with them in the war, the Dragons joined the war on the side of the Zebras. But when they searched for the staff that would earn them the title of Dragon Lord, it was missing.

The staff along with the untold riches of the last of the Dragon Lords, had gone missing, and became the stuff of legend. A treasure hoard of unimaginable size, collected from every corner of Equestria and beyond, they say that whoever finds it would have enough gold and jewels to rival even Equestria at its height.

What happened to the hoard? No one knows, but the legends say that if you can find the right clues, they will lead you to the treasure. A lot of ponies have tried to find it with no luck, most of them not even coming back alive.

So, the Great Hoard is still out there somewhere, and we’re going to find it!

00000

I yawned as I woke up and smiled at the feeling of a warm body laying on top of me. I smiled down at the sleeping Unicorn mare and stroked her long curly green mane as she snuggled up to me in her sleep.

I smiled at the sleeping mare as I leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead. Pure Heart had been my best friend since we met during the Enclave War 8 years ago, and 5 years ago we had started dating.

It hadn’t been a good time for me, I was still getting over the death of my adopted mother and was living with Pure Heart and her family aboard Nomad City. They had been the reason I had managed to recover from that and Pure Heart was the best.

We’ve been together ever since, I loved this mare more than anything in Equestria. I smiled and wrapped my wings around her gently as I held my marefriend close and closed my eyes and sighed happily.

“Mmmm, mornin’ Serenity,” a sweet voice said after a while as I opened my eyes and saw the Unicorn’s green eyes looking up at me.

“Morning Pure,” I said and nuzzled her gently. “We better get up soon, you know Fishy and Callie are expecting us once the city arrives over Crusader Town.”

“Yeah, I know, but I’d rather spend some more time with the most wonderful mare in Equestria,” Pure said with a chuckle as she buried her muzzle in my chest fur.

“Did somepony clone you?” I asked with a laugh as Pure Heart swatted at my flank with a roll of her eyes.

“You know who I was talking about you silly Pegasus,” she said and leaned up and kissed me gently on the lips.

“I know, but I think you’re the most wonderful mare in Equestria,” I said and nuzzled her gently. “After everything you’ve done for me, I can’t think of anypony I love more. I just wish that my mom could’ve been here to see everything…”

“Serenity, you don’t have anything to worry about, Vanilla would be proud of the pony you’ve become,” Pure said and nuzzled me gently.

“I hope so,” I said with a sigh. “I love you so much Pure Heart, you mean the world to me.”

“I feel the same way,” Pure said with a nod and gave me a kiss before she slid down slowly. “You know, we don’t have to go right away…”

I smiled as her kisses started moving down my body slowly and shivers ran up my spine.

00000

We walked into the Stable 99 Bar in Stable 2 (I always found that odd but hey, it’s not my bar) that was part of Crusader Town. The small settlement had grown out over the past few years, now including most of Sweet Apple Acres.

They had apparently tried to re-build the barn above the Stable a few times, but every time it collapsed so they just left it as is. Still, the old Apple family farm had become a nice sized settlement.

But that wasn’t what we were here for as we headed into the bar. A light grey Pegasus mare with a black and purple mane was working on repairing the bar’s music player without looking up.

“Hey Fishy,” I said as we walked over to where the Pegasus mare was working.

The poor mare hits her head on the player dropping the screwdriver from her mouth. “OW!!” She stood up stroking her head with her hoof. “Oh Serenity your….here..I..ow”

“Sorry Fishy,” I said with a flinch. “Are you okay?”

“Eh this ain’t the first time… Callie always comes in and just..Wait she is not with you? Oh..no..” She looked around with a bit of fear in her eyes.

“What?” Pure asked.

Before Go Fish could answer, a light blue Pegasus with a spiked white mane pounced on her from behind causing us to laugh. “Hey Fishy!”

Go Fish’s grey face glows bright red. She stutters “ I..I...H...h..ello Callie…” She tried to say in a shy voice.

“Aww, you two make such a cute couple,” I said with a chuckle as Calypso, or Callie as she was usually called, hugged Go Fish tightly. “What do you think Pure?”

“Oh, definitely,” Pure Heart said with a laugh.

“Ahem..” A metal hoof stomped “I came here to visit and I see Serenity and Pure heart. Hello you two.” The robotic voice said happily.

“Hey Silver,” I said with a smile as I turned around to see Silver Gunner there. “Yeah, Nomad City just arrived this morning so we thought we’d visit these two and see if they finally decided to stop hiding the truth. I see the answer is no.”

Silver chuckles softly. “Ah flesh love. Amazing to watch amazing to see and well it’s interesting to me. Now I am mostly here to see Scootaloo and talk to her. But I felt maybe I would see if Go Fish needed more tips on repairing systems.”

“Tip #1, don’t hurt yourself while working when your friends show up,” Calypso said with a giggle as she hugged Go Fish. “Don’t worry, I think she’ll get the hang of it.”

“Callie...I….” Go Fish tries to speak but can’t. She looks to me with her eyes like she is asking for help.

“Alright, come on Cal, you can make out with her later,” I said with a laugh as I pulled Calypso away. “Come on, we’re not going to be here more than a few days, I was hoping we could have some fun.”

“Fun like you and Pure Heart?” Silver said in a jokey way.

“That’s none of your business!” Me and Pure Heart said in unison as our faces turned red.

Silver laughed just came up to me giving me and Pure Heart a tight hug then simply walked back out laughing.

“I don’t like him sometimes.” Go Fish admitted.

“Wait you two…” Calypso started to say.

“That’s none of your business either!” I said and blushed even deeper.

“Took them long enough,” Calypso said with a smirk. “They’ve been dating what, 5 years?”

“And ...Um we only did it once...while we were drunk?” Fishy said blushing.

“Riiight,” I said with a laugh as we took a seat. “So is there is there anything new going on in town?”

“Well that changeling finally showed himself. After being here awhile. Ponies love him but another thing… is my mothers are being odd. Oh wait...I am the daughter of Blackjack of course they’re odd.” Fishy said with a sigh.

“Try having the former President of the Enclave as your mom,” Calypso said with a chuckle and a shake of her head. “Speaking of which, this might be interesting. My mom gave this to me, it’s supposed to be some sort of map that was in the journals Scootaloo had left when she was exiled.”

She reached into her bags and took out a map that she unrolled and laid out on the table. We leaned in and looked at it curiously. I had been everywhere in Equestria over the past 8 years and I didn’t recognize the area it was.

There looked like there was some sort of large mountain range with markings all around a mostly clear area. I looked at the mountain range curiously as I narrowed my eyes at a familiar symbol.

A gear shaped symbol marked on the map with the number ST-DL-110 next to it.

“Ooooo looks scary!!! Oooooo seriously its fake.” Fishy said, acting like its not even important and looking at bar.

“What makes you say that?” I asked as I looked at her curiously.

“My mothers always told me...don’t follow maps. Heck mom even showed one of her guns to Callie here to scare her.”

“I don’t know, there’s something about this…” I said as I looked at the map closely. “That gear symbol there, I’ve seen that on other maps of Equestria. That’s the symbol used for Stables and they’re always followed by a designation like this, maybe we should ask Scootaloo.”

“Uh we could, but I got a job to finish and…So I’m going to finish that.”

“I think it sounds interesting,” Calypso said with a smile. “Come on, let’s go!”

Calypso grabbed the map and ran off with it. I chuckled and looked back at Go Fish. “Last chance.”

“I have something to...” She paused and looked at the music player shorting out even more. Even starting to spark. “OKAY!! You talked me into it!! Lets go!!”

I chuckled as we headed out of the Stable and off to Crusader Town proper.

00000

Scootaloo lived in a two story house near the old Crusaders Treehouse that was at the center of town. We were about to knock on the door when it was thrown open and a white filly with a pink mane ran past us with a light blue pony with a rainbow mane close behind her.

“Get Back here Silk!” Prism called out as she chased after the filly who looked like she had something in her mouth as she laughed.

“Well, I see Silk hasn’t mellowed out that much since we last visited,” I said with a chuckle.

Go Fish laughed. “Yes… she tried to help me fix the beer dispenser and she made it explode.”

I chuckled as we headed inside. Scootaloo was looking over a map of the area and looked up and gave us a smile as we entered.

“Hey Serenity, Pure Heart, glad to see you both again,” she said with a smile as she noticed that Calypso was holding a map. “What do you have there?”

“We were hoping you could tell us,” I said as Calypso gave the older mare the map and she unfurled it, taking out a pair of glasses and examining it closely. “We saw the symbol and designation on it, I thought maybe you could tell us what we’re looking at.”

“Oh yes, Stable 110, I haven’t thought about this map in years,” Scootaloo said as she examined it curiously as she looked over at Calypso. “Let me guess, your mom had it in my old books?”

“Yeah, she thought I might find it interesting,” she said.

“But none of us know where that is,” I added. “It doesn’t look like anywhere in Equestria to me.”

“Well that’s because Stable 110 isn’t in Equestria,” Scootaloo said as she adjusted her reading glasses. “See this designation? DL, it means the Dragon Lands, 110 was the only Stable built in the Dragon Lands. Or, at least it was going to be before Ember was assassinated, the whole Stable was scraped after the Dragons sided with the Zebras.”

“So is this the same Ember you told me about auntie?” Go Fish asked.

“Yeah, the last Dragon Lord,” Scootaloo said as she frowned a little. “Her death never sat right with me you know? I met Ember a few times when I was young, she was brash, rough around the edges, but she liked ponies. I doubt Equestria would’ve had her assassinated, but that’s just me.”

“The stories my mother told me. That the elites had many shady deals going on during the war. I wanted to see some of those memory orbs she had, but mother Glory told me no.”

“Well plus you kind of need a horn or a recollector,” Calypso pointed out as she poked Go Fish’s wings.

“So, was there anything special about Stable 110?” I asked Scootaloo. Occasionally the Stables would have some special equipment or something in it that would set it apart from the rest of the Stables.

“Not really,” Scootaloo admitted. “Well, unless you believe the stories coming out of the Dragon Lands.”

“Wait, stories?” Pure Heart asked.

“Sure, I’ve talked with Spike a few times,” Scootaloo said. “He mentioned that there are rumors of a Stable being the first step to the Great Hoard.”

Go Fish’s eyes go wide. “Of guns?!” The Blackjack in her started showing.

“You really are Blackjack’s daughter you know that right?” Scootaloo asked with a laugh. “No, no, it’s an old legend in the Wasteland. It’s a Dragon’s Hoard, gold, jewels, treasure beyond measure.”

“Awww no guns?” Go Fish’s ears drooped. “Wait!! I can use it to buy guns!! I can use it to buy cleaning supplies for them!”

“Mmm, I can think of something else I wouldn’t mind using it to buy,” Calypso said and gave Go Fish a quick peck on the cheek.

A deep blush forms on Go Fish face. “I wh..what ..what...Would that be?”

“A nice big house and land around it,” she said. “Somewhere maybe I can live with some friends, or something else. I don’t know, I’m just throwing ideas out here.”

“ I...I could use...use.. It to.. Help mom fix the bar up a bit.” She stutterd face so bright red. “O...or… get a ring...to as...wait no never mind.”

“You’d have to get to it first, and I don’t think your moms would appreciate you running off on a treasure hunt that everypony who’s ever gone on has died on,” Scootaloo said and looked at the four of us. “Look, the Dragon Lands are a dangerous place on a good day, if you go there your safety can’t be guaranteed. I know you’re all old enough to make decisions for yourselves, but you shouldn’t go off being reckless.”

Go Fish finally regains herself. “I could talk to my moms about it. Maybe they will let me go.”

“Same here,” Calypso said.

“Well, my parents kicked me out of the house when I turned 18 anyway,” Pure said with a chuckle.

“Alright, well like I said I can’t stop you,” Scootaloo said and shook her head. “But you’re going to need some help. I suggest talking to Crow if you’re dead set on going. But be careful, I want all of you to come back alive, got it?”

“Okay, okay,” I said and shook my head and took Pure’s hoof in mine. “We’ll be careful.”

“Yeah we will be careful. I Got GUNS!!!” Go Fish yelled out.

“Yeah, definitely talk to Crow,” Scootaloo said and looked at me. “Serenity…”

“Scootaloo, I’ll be fine, it’s just a treasure hunt, it’s not like I’m running off to war… again,” I said with a shake of my head. “I promise I’ll be…”

I let out an oof when Scootaloo hugged me tight and smiled a little. “I know Serenity, I just don’t want to lose you, okay? Any of you, you’re all family to me, and I don’t want to lose you.”

“Okay, we’ll be careful,” I said and hugged Scootaloo back. “I promise.”

“I need to go ask my parents. Oh and auntie where is Cherry?” Go Fish asked.

“Oh, she wanted to go shopping in Nomad City but I had to finish my work here, so Silver went with her,” Scootaloo said with a shrug. “She should be back soon.”

The door opened and as if on cue Cherry walked in and gave Scootaloo a kiss on the lips. “Hey Scoots,” she said and gave us a smile. “Oh hey, what brings the four of you here?”

“Oh you know, potentially dangerous treasure hunt,” I said with a shrug. “We were just leaving actually.”

“Alright, well stay safe,” Cherry said as we headed out of the house and past Silver who was carrying a lot of bags.

“Ah leaving...can’t help me? Please?” Silver asked

“Sorry Silver I need to speak to my parents.” Go Fish yelled back.

I sighed and went to help Silver with Pure Heart before we headed to Nomad City in order to get everything together.

00000

The next day, Go Fish and Calypso had talked with their parents and they had agreed to let them go. Me and Pure Heart spent that time getting supplies and weapons that we could use in the Dragon Lands.

I had picked up a couple of rifles that fit into my battle saddle. I took a deep breath and squeezed Pure’s hoof as we headed to the meeting point on the edge of Crusader Town where Go Fish, Calypso, and Crow were waiting.

“Hey,” Pure Heart said and waved as we approached them.

Crow being in his changeling form had many scars along his body thanks to run in with the Enclave. But for how bad he looked he sure changed after the years. “I’m happy you wanted me to go with you.”

“Well, given we’re going into a pretty dangerous area, I guess we could use the help,” I said with a smile. “I’m glad to have you along though.”

“Yeah, me too!” Calypso said with a smile.

Go Fish was cleaning her mother’s guns with a cloth looking up. “Oh yes yes...we are happy that you came along.. “ She went back to focusing on cleaning the guns

Crow blinked staring at Go Fish and then looked at me. “Here I thought one Blackjack was bad enough.” He said with a chuckle

“Alright, so I asked around and I was directed to a settlement called World’s End,” I said. “It’s the farthest settlement to the East and the closest to the Dragon Lands. It’s also our best bet to get a boat that will take us over there.”

“Boat?!” Go Fish looked up with bit of fear in her eyes. “I get sea sick.”

“Sorry Fishy, we tried to get a VertiBuck, but Nomad City couldn’t spare one for a treasure hunt,” Pure Heart said with a shake of her head. “We’ll figure something out.”

“As long as I’m near Callie I will be fine…” Go Fish said then her cheeks turned bright red. “I mean I will be fine either way!!”

“Will you two just kiss already?” I asked with a laugh as we started out of town together and to the East.

Calypso smirked and leaned in and gave Go Fish a kiss on the cheek.

“I…” Go Fish turned brighter than a tomato and just kept silent.

I just laughed.

“This is going to be an interesting journey with ponies. I find it funny that Callie here we know how she feels about Go Fish. But it’s amazing how silent Fishy is on the subject.” Crow pointed out.

We all just laughed and headed out on our journey.

Chapter 1: At World's End

"It was a sight surpassing all precedent,
and one we never dreamed of seeing."
-Howard Carter.

World’s End, a rather depressing name for a settlement even one at the edge of Equestria.

The settlement was made up of a collection of buildings by an old harbor that had been built sometime before the war. The buildings were old and beaten up with several boats moored in the harbor and others that were wrecks.

“So, this is world’s end huh?” Pure Heart asked as she looked around at the old buildings around us.

Fishy looked around trying to hide how she felt about this. “Uh this looks lovely?” She spoke in a very unsure voice.

“World’s End remained neutral in the Enclave War and refused any aid,” Calypso said with a shrug. “The locals are pretty stubborn and traditional, they don’t usually accept outside help, so it’s still a bit… well, beaten up.”

Crow looked around he stayed in his raven form he was on Fishes head. “I think it might be best then if I stay like this. If they are traditional I doubt they would respect non ponies. Just to be safe of course.”

“Probably a good idea,” I said and gave Crow a nod as I checked the map on my mom’s old PipBuck on my foreleg. “Alright, we need to make sure that we have enough supplies before we leave town. Fish, do you mind coming with me to look into getting a boat?”

Go Fish looked at me with a weak smile. “I.. I of course um.. Crow could you um go with the others please.” Crow gave a quick nod flying off her head to land on Calypso’s shoulder.

“Try to stay out of trouble you too,” Pure Heart said and leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, its me you’re talking about,” I said with a chuckle. “When do I ever get into trouble these days?”

“You don’t want me to answer that,” Pure said with a laugh as she nuzzled me gently. “Like I said stay out of trouble.”

Calypso just laughed as me and Fish headed towards the harbor to look for a captain. I looked back at Pure Heart one more time and she flashed me a smile before going into a nearby store. I smiled and turned my attention forward again.

“Marefriends,” I said with a shake of my head. “Gotta love them anyway.”
“Uh yeah.. Um gotta love them.” Fishy looked around she seemed unsure about being here. I had never seen her so, well, scared?

“Are you okay Fishy?” I asked as I looked at my friend concerned.

Fishy tried to act like her mother. “Of course I am fine!! I am with you after all why wouldn’t I be fine?” She smiled a strained smile

“Go Fish, I lived in a town under siege by Changeling Infiltrators,” I said with a shake of my head. “I figured out a long time ago how to tell when somepony is lying. Now tell me, what’s really wrong?”

She sighed her ears pinned to the back of her head. “Do you... do you trust me Serenity?”

“Of course I do, you’re my friend, I wouldn’t have gone with you if I didn’t trust you,” I said with a smile.

“Callie has feelings for me.” Saying this like I haven’t seen it.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” I said sarcastically. “Why’s this a bad thing? She’s cute and friendly, you could do a lot worse.”

Fishy stopped in her tracks looking right at me. “Do you remember who my mother is?”

“I see…” I said and sighed a little. “You’re worried that you’ll mess up any of your relationships like Blackjack did?”

“I care deeply for her Serenity. I even well slept with her when I got drunk... So yes I am like my mother. But I am very worried I will hurt her. I doubt I would forgive myself and well I don’t wish to well do that. Maybe I am being to critical of myself?”

I sighed a little and looked at Go Fish and then back towards where Pure Heart had been. I looked down at the ground and closed my eyes as I thought about exactly what to say next. I took a deep breath and looked back at her and shook my head.

“Look at me Go Fish, don’t you think I was nervous when I started having feelings for Pure Heart?” I asked with a sad smile.

“You did? I had this talk with auntie Scootaloo once.. She told me that It might be best that I talk to somepony she said you, but I was to scared to.” She looked away from me with a sigh. “What should I do you seem to be so good at the game called love.”

“Only because I worked hard at it, and because I have a mare that loves me for all the faults I have,” I admitted and brushed my mane back a little. “I was a Foal Soldier, I ran off to fight in San Prancisco during the Enclave War. I’ve made so many mistakes and sometimes I’m haunted by everything that happened to me and what I did. I was afraid to even spend the night in the same room as Pure Heart at first because I was afraid I’d have nightmares and disturb her, or worse. But, she loves me despite all my mistakes and flaws, and we’ve worked past them, together.”

Fish took a deep breath. “When we are alone I will talk to her about how I feel and the fact.. I need to work on well... The fact I am well.” She looks to me and then around quickly. “The daughter of a crazy mare that has metal legs and used to see some undead thing called the dealer.”

“You’re also the daughter of Morning Glory though,” I pointed out. “Don’t worry Fishy, you’re going to be just fine. Callie’s a great pony, and I have no doubt that she’d be willing to help. Just, give it a chance okay?”

She took a deep breath nodding. “Alright now.. Um is it bad to bring up I um… get sea sick? Is there a way we could um not take a boat?”

“Sure, we can swim across the ocean,” I said with a chuckle.

“Yeah yeah I know you’re joking. Let’s find a boat and pay to take us there.”

“Sorry, even with this necklace I’m not strong enough to carry anything across the ocean,” I said as I lifted up the stone around my neck. “But yeah, let’s get going.”

“I um... I am sorry Serenity for acting so strange. Normally I don’t act this way maybe I am not over being captured like I was during the war.”

“Yeah, I understand…” I said and gave her a hug. “Don’t worry about it, besides, this is just a treasure hunt. At least we’re not going to war, right?”

“Oh yes a treasure hunt in a land were creatures could swallow you in one gulp. Yes good for us it's not a war or I would be worried that a dragon would eat us.” She said with a cocky grin.

“Okay, good point,” I said with a chuckle. “But hey, if it was easy then somepony would’ve found it already and there wouldn’t be stories around it would there?”

“Well maybe we could ask if there is any stories about it. These ponies do live kind of close would it be wise to ask?”

“Maybe… lets try the local tavern, maybe we’ll find some answers there,” I said with a shrug.

“Tavern? Whiskey?! Yes Whiskey?!” Go Fish gave the look of her mother when she said that.

“Go Fish, we are there to get a captain and any information, we’re not there to get drunk,” I said and facehooved.

“Awww. I just wanted a little drink.” She tried giving me puppy eyes.” Pweeese?”

“We’ll see, now come on,” I said and headed towards the harbor.

00000

“So did you have any luck?” I asked as we met back up with Pure Heart and Calypso outside of one of the buildings.

“Yeah, we got everything we needed,” Calypso said with a smile as they took out the gear and we split it among our packs. “So, did you two get us a ride over to the Dragon Lands?”

“Uh yes...after I made a fool of myself.” Go Fish said looking away.

“Yeah, we got a ride aboard an Atori vessel called the Tiger Shark,” I said and glanced at Go Fish for a moment. “We have to leave tomorrow so we’ll be staying in town for the evening, okay?”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll think of something to pass the time,” Pure Heart said with a chuckle.

Crow flaps his wings getting into the air. landing on my head whispering in my ear. “You need to get those two to talk. Do you know how this weird emotions feel to a changeling?”

“I know, I know,” I whispered back. “She’s afraid and Callie is… well I don’t know why she hasn’t said anything either. Oh where’s Cadance when you need her…”

“She is either the Goddess of Love or the goddess of I shall kill you all.” Crow said jokingly in a whisper.

I just shrugged, I had kind of lost track of Cadance over the years. After the Changeling Invasion ended she had left to search for Flurry Heart, but that had been over 8 years ago now and we hadn’t heard a word from her.

I shook my head and shrugged, guess that meant we had to play matchmaker. I made a motion for Pure Heart to join us and we headed off to the side together to talk.

“What’s up?” Pure Heart asked.

“Well, I’m kinda tired of those two dancing around the feelings they have for each other,” I said with a shake of my head. “So, we need a plan to get them together.”

“Why not just hmm well to a changeling love is strange. We normally don’t breed with a female we allow our Queen to lay eggs for us. So now I have to find a mate myself these days but enough of that. I feel that you need to do something that would trigger it. Maybe music or something.”

“Hey you three what’s wrong we should be getting ready to go.” Go Fish yelled to us.

“We’ll discuss this more later,” I said and gave Pure Heart a quick kiss. “Come on, we still have to find an inn to stay in tonight.”

“Well I did find something like an inn.” Crow added. “But they said no pets. I think I would be labeled as one. Unless..I could change into a pony like you.”

“Just not too much like her, one Serenity is bad enough, we don’t need two ponies getting into trouble,” Pure Heart said with a giggle as she nuzzled me.

“Really funny,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

Crow chuckled. “Well it’s harder than it looks. I was never trained in becoming a pony. I was trained into becoming a dragon or a zebra.” It finally hit him. “ I can be a zebra.” He hopped off my shoulder I could tell he was concentrating very hard. After awhile he finally changed into a mare zebra that had mendi like stripes.

“Why a mare?” Calypso asked as she looked over at us.

“How odd do you think it would look. If a zebra stallion was with a bunch of mares? One some would think a male following a bunch of mares would be a very highly sought question that is one big herd the zebra has. You would be hearing do you wish to suffer through that?”

“She has a point,” I said and added jokingly. “Okay, but if any stallions start hitting on you you’re on your own.”

Crow blinked. “That.. seems a bit weird even to me. I don’t understand you ponies.”

“Anyway, let’s go to that inn,” I said with a nod. “Where is it?”

“It’s near the docks it’s called Fish Bone. It’s built out of bones of sea monsters.”

“Subtle… but it’ll do,” Pure Heart said with a shrug. “Come on, let’s get going.”

I smiled as she took my hoof and pulled me off towards the docks with our friends close behind.

00000

“Well, look who’s up,” Calypso commented as me and Pure Heart met up with the others in the lobby of the inn the next day. “Did you two have fun last night?”

“We’re using that soundproofing spell you told me about from now on…” I whispered to Pure Heart as we both blushed deeply before I spoke up. “Alright, unless Fishy or Crow wants to add anything, we need to get to the Tiger Shark.”

Go Fish looked away from Calypso a moment. “We slept fine. I had to put plugs in my ears, but It might have been best if we had more than one bed.”

“Yeah,” Calypso said as she looked away, I noticed a small blush crossing the light blue Pegasus’ face. “I’m guessing we’re not going to be able to have separate cabins aboard the Tiger Shark either.”

“Yeah… sorry about that,” I said and shook my head. Hopefully we’d be able to figure this out, but for now we just need to get to the ship and I checked the time on my PipBuck. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.”

We headed out of the Fish Bone and down the dock past the local fishing boats. We got a few looks from the locals but they didn’t pay us much attention, right now we just had to worry about finding the Tiger Shark.

We finally found the Atori vessel, it was large and made of rusted metal. There were two large masts that had ribbed sails that looked like they had been sewn and patched together many times over the years. I could see two flags flying from the masts, one was a black flag with a white shark jaw open wide and stripes.

The other flag was familiar to us from the embassy in Crusader Town. The thirteen gold and black stripes along with a single Zebra symbol meaning “People” at the center. The flag of the Free Roam Alliance, I let out a sigh of relief, at least that definitely meant they were friendlies

“Ahoy down there,” a mare’s voice said and we looked up to see the Captain waving down to us. “Welcome to the Tiger Shark, though what’s with your buddy there? Thought you said one of you could sleep anywhere.”

I glanced over at Crow. “Show her.”

Crow turned into his changeling form. “Greetings from a bug.” He waved

“Well I’ll be,” the captain said and rubbed her forehead a little. “Never thought I’d meet a Changeling.”

“I’m the guardian of Crusader Town,” Crow said proudly.

“Really?” She asked and then looked between Crow and me. “Aye, now I see it, I’ve heard the stories from the Zencori, the filly with the heart of a warrior. Welcome aboard all of you, we need to cast off soon so you might want to get up here now.”

We nodded and started up the gangplank onto the Tiger Shark. Sailors were working on getting the ship ready to go, a few of them gave us curious looks, I doubted ponies were a common sight on an Atori ship.

“Welcome aboard the Tiger Shark,” the Captain said with a smile that showed off her sharpened teeth again. “For those who haven’t met me, I’m Captain Tiger Shark, while you’re on my ship you call me Captain. You’re looking at a week’s voyage to the Dragon Lands if we’re lucky and your duties will be assigned to you soon. Are there any questions?”

Crow looked around. “The emotions are high here is this normal?”

“You picked a bad time of year to cross the sea,” Captain Tiger Shark said as her smile finally started to fade. “There’s a lot of bad storms crossing through the area this time of year, and there’s still some remnants of the old Classem Imperratoria that could be in the area. Then there’s the matter of the, local wildlife.”

Something about the way she said that gave me shivers. I had heard stories about what creatures lived in Equestria’s seas, and I didn’t like it.

“Of course nothing really is going to be easy.” Crow saluted Tiger shark in respect.

“Great,” Pure Heart said with a shake of her head. “So, what do we do now?”

“I’ll have you escorted to your cabins,” the Captain said with a nod. “Just stay out of my crew’s way until we’re done and you’re free to do whatever you want until then.”

I nodded and the Captain nodded to one of her sailors who scowled a little before they lead us below deck. I took one last look back towards World’s End, it was the last time I’d see Equestria for awhile and I wanted to get a good look at it.

I just hoped we’d make it back.

00000

“Not exactly the Equestria Grand Hotel is it?” Pure Heart commented as we shut the door to our cabin.

I chuckled a little, the cabin was small with just a pair of hammocks that were secured to the wall so they would sway with the ship.. There was a few small amenities here and there like a desk against the wall, but it wasn’t much.

I chuckled a little and rolled my eyes as I saw that Tiger Shark had laid out some sort of bedding. The Captain had a strange sense of humor apparently.

“Pure, I’ve slept in worse than this, and we’re going to have to sleep in tents most of the time we’re in The Dragon Lands,” I said with a chuckle as I nuzzled my marefriend gently.

“Yeah, I know,” Pure Heart said with a smile as I wrapped my forelegs around the Unicorn gently. “Serenity, I’m just happy to spend time with you whether we’re back home or in the Dragon Lands.”

I smiled a little and looked out the porthole at the ocean beyond as we started to unpack our bags. It was going to take awhile to get to the Dragon Lands, so it was nice to get a place to stay together for now.

“I’m glad you came with me,” I said softly. “I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you with me, I’d probably have stayed home.”

“I dunno, you’ve got an adventurous spirit,” Pure Heart said with a chuckle as she nuzzled me and rested her head on my withers. “I’ll bet you’d have figured something out, its part of the reason I love you so much.

“Oh, you love that I tend to get into trouble?” I asked with a chuckle. “But really Pure, I don’t think I’d be here today if it wasn’t for you. I’m the luckiest mare in Equestria because I have you.”

“I just did what any friend would do,” Pure Heart said and nuzzled me gently. “So, what exactly are we going to do on this ship?”

“I, honestly have no idea,” I said and rubbed the back of my head a little. “Still, whatever we do we’ll do just fine, it’s not like we haven’t figured things out before. Maybe we should see if we can get any information on the Dragon Lands and the treasure of course.”

“Yeah, at least what we can get on this ship,” Pure Heart said with a nod. “But we still have some time before we leave, what are we going to do with that time?”

“Oh… I’m sure we’ll think of something,” I said with a smirk as I leaned in and kissed her. “But really, thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me.”

“You’re welcome Serenity,” Pure Heart said and I wrapped my wings around her gently. “Come on, let’s enjoy the time we have together for now.”

“Heh, yeah, just don’t make too much noise,” I said with a laugh as we laid back on the bedding together and I kissed her deeply.

00000

Okay, got a confession to make, I have no idea how to actually do anything on a ship.

I know, big surprise right? I’ve lived my life on either the land or an airship, but that’s not really the same as working on a sailing ship like the Tiger Shark. Which mostly gave the Zebras a laugh while I tried to actually do any work on it.

Which is how I found myself on top of one of the masts trying to secure a sail while an Atori named Ashi watched me try to secure a knot.

“You’re enjoying this a little too much, you know that right?” I asked as I messed up the knot again and groaned as I tried to secure it again.

“Sorry, we just rarely have ponies on this ship,” Ashi said with a laugh. “Are you sure you don’t want to just help your friends down on the deck and in the hold?”

“Captain Tiger Shark wanted a Pegasus to help with the sails,” I said with a shrug. “I’m just trying to help really, I’m not used to tying these knots.”

“Here, let me help you,” Ashi said with a groan as she crawled over to where I was and showed me how to tie the knot. “There we go.”

“Thanks,” I said and moved over to the next spot and worked on securing the knot, this time more confident in my ability as I worked on it. “Sorry, I’m not really used to doing this, usually Unicorns tie the knots on my team.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’re doing fine you just need to focus on your work,” Ashi said with a chuckle before she looked back at me. “So, do you have a special somepony back in Equestria?”

I stopped and nearly fell off the mast when she asked that before I stopped and looked back at her shocked. “Uh, yeah, the Unicorn that I came with is my marefriend…”

“Oh,”Ashi said and blushed deeply at that. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I shouldn’t have said anything…”

“I haven’t met very many Zebras interested in Ponies,” I said and blushed deeply. “Sorry I’m not going to be able to help.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of weird like that I guess,” Ashi said with a shake of her head. “So, why are you going to the Dragon Lands? Even with the FRA and Equestria being on good terms we haven’t had very many Ponies going that way.”

“We’re on something of a treasure hunt,” I said and rubbed the back of my head. “I probably shouldn’t be talking about that. But if you can tell me anything about the Dragon Lands, like, local governments or whatever then that would be helpful.”

Ashi laughed a little at that and shook her head. “There’s not much in the way of government, we’re not talking about Equestria or Zebrica here,” she said with a shake of her head. “Without a Dragon Lord the Dragons are basically in a state of anarchy. Any stable areas are settlements that can fight off the more violent dragons and your occasional, Dragon run areas. The latter is a bit, uh, hit and miss.”

“Great…” I said and shook my head a little. “Of course it’s not going to be easy, actually sounds like Equestria before Littlepip, only with dragons. Why isn’t there a Dragon Lord?”

“The Dragon Lord’s staff is gone,” Ashi said. “The last Dragon Lord hid it away, and you can’t claim the throne without it. They say it’s somewhere with a great treasure or something, but that’s not my business.”

I paused a moment and thought about that for a long moment. It sounded like it was probably in the Great Hoard, and that meant that if we found it we’d literally be able to choose the next ruler of the dragons.

Great, just what we needed to have some pressure put on us in the middle of what was just a treasure hunt.

We finished the rigging on the sail and I looked out at the ocean beyond. There was something relaxing about the ocean, the salt air, the rolling waves, it was like something I hadn’t ever really experienced before.

I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply as I opened them again and looked at Ashi who was watching me curiously.

“Is this your first time on a ship?” The Zebra asked curiously.

“First time on a sailing ship,” I said with a shrug. “I’ve been on cloudships before, and I was on a submarine briefly during the Battle of San Prancisco. But honestly I’ve never been on a ship like the Tiger Shark.”

“I was raised on this ship,” Ashi said with a light smile. “Most Atori are born and raised on the water. We have a few ports like Carthage mind you, and that’s not going into the different branches of the Tribe…”

We climbed down the mast and reached the deck where Pure Heart and Calypso were finishing cleaning. I smiled a little as I leaned on the railing of the ship and looked back out over the ocean.

Somewhere out there was the Dragon Lands, and our ultimate destination. A moment of apprehension crept up, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect going into the Dragon Lands, but I knew that we were going to face it together as friends.

We just had to make it there is all.

“What are you thinking about?” A familiar voice asked and I smiled as Pure Heart leaned on the railing next to me.

“Just everything that’s ahead of us really,” I said with a sigh as I thought back to the map that we had brought with us that pointed towards Stable 110. “We’ve never really been this far away from Equestria or our families before.”

“True, do you want to turn back though?” Pure Heart asked. “We’re still pretty close to Equestria, I’m sure we can get Captain Tiger Shark to take us back home.”

I paused a moment and thought about it before I looked back out at the ocean. We had come this far and we had a goal, we had left Equestria to try and find a treasure. I wasn’t even sure if we were going to be able to even make it to our goal, wherever that was.

I ruffled my wings a little and then looked back at Pure Heart and smiled softly. We had all agreed to go on this trek together and I knew that I wasn’t going to make us turn around just because of my own unsureness.

This wasn’t my first adventure, but I had only ever been fighting before. This was my chance to do something with my friends and maybe even solve one of the biggest mysteries in Equestria.

“No, we’re going to keep going,” I said softly and gave her a smile and put my wing over her gently. “We’re going into this together as friends. I don’t really care about the treasure, I just want to go on this adventure with my best friends, and my marefriend.”

Pure Heart smiled softly as she nuzzled me gently. “I love you Serenity, and you know I’d do anything for you right?”

“Yeah, I know,” I said with a smile as we looked back out at the ocean. “The ocean is beautiful isn’t it? I kind of have to wonder, what might be under those waves.”

“You never know,” Pure Heart said with a shrug. “I’m not sure what to think of it honestly, but it feels like there’s something out there that we don’t quite understand yet.”

I nodded a little and leaned in and gave Pure a soft kiss on the lips. She returned the kiss after a moment as we stayed close. I was happy to have her here with me, we had a life together and we were going to do everything here together.

“Hey, are you two going to come eat?” A familiar Zebra voice asked and we broke the kiss and saw Ashi looking at us curiously for a moment. “So, you’re her marefriend huh?”

“Uh, yeah,” Pure Heart asked as she looked at me confused for a moment. “Is there something you want to tell me Serenity?”

“You’ve got a good mare here,” Ashi said with a chuckle and shook her head a little. “Don’t worry, I’m not about to steal her away from you. You’re lucky to have a wonderful marefriend.”

She walked away and Pure looked at me confused. “You, uh…”

“We were working together,” I said and rubbed the back of my head a little. “She’s into ponies apparently and didn’t know that we were together.”

“Ah, I see, well…” Pure Heart said with a smirk as she leaned in and kissed me again. “While I’m glad you’re not cheating on me, you’re still going to have to make it up to me later.”

My face turned hot for a moment as I realized just what she meant by that. I just smiled and nodded as I nuzzled her a little. “Lets go get some food then.”

And with that we walked down into the depths of the ship.

00000

We sat in the room set apart for dining aboard the Tiger Shark, I poked lightly at the fish that had been set out in front of me. I had eaten meat before, but I wasn’t really sure about this fish for some reason.

Of course the Zebras around us ate without much question so it was probably fine. I stretched out a bit and looked over at the others who were eating.

“Everything okay Serenity?” Ashi asked.

“Yeah, just, not used to eating fish I guess,” I said with a shrug. “I’m not really used to life on the ocean I guess.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it,” Ashi said as she gave me a nod and ripped into her own fish with her sharpened teeth. “Come on, it’s not going to hurt you. We fish these up ourselves Skaril is one of the best cooks in the tribe.”

I took a bite of it, it actually wasn’t that bad. Of course we were out here on an adventure, so maybe everything wasn’t so bad. I was going to have to get used to a lot of things I wasn’t familiar with.

The Dragon Lands, this was one of the biggest mysteries in Equestria given that it had been quiet for over 200 years. I just hoped that we were doing the right thing, there was a lot of things we were going to have to get used to and a fish was probably the least of them.

Go Fish stared at the fish. “I’m named Go Fish and I am eating fish this feels strange to me.”

Ashi just chuckled a little. “Sorry, we don’t really have a lot else to eat since we’re on the ocean, unless you want some seaweed.”

“No I’m fine. I am sure Crow loves it.” Fishy chuckled. The changeling seemed to be asleep in his crow form snoring.

“So, you’re with the FRA?” Pure Heart asked as she looked over at Ashi curiously. “I heard there were some Zebra ships that remained independent after the war.”

“Oh sure, the pirates and cannibals mostly,” Ashi said with a shake of her head as she took a bite. “The FRA and the Legion used them as privateers during the war, some of them are still kicking around that didn’t join up with the Alliance. Doesn’t hurt that one of our old port cities is the FRA capital.”

“So I always wanted to ask a Zebra this. How many of them hated the war itself?” Fishy asked.

“The Great War you mean?” Ashi asked and sighed a little. “You’d be surprised actually, a lot of Zebras during the war didn’t like what was going on. There are rumors that a coalition of them were planning to depose the Caesar if the war kept going as it did. Unfortunately, the Day of Burning happened before they got the chance.”

“That happen with my kind to.” Crow spoke up while he slept well pretending to sleep. “We didn’t care for the war ourselves but we felt we had to fight with the ponies. Of course this knowledge was written on the walls of the hive. I’m sadly the last of my hive.”

“I’m sorry,” Ashi said with a shake of her head. “I couldn’t imagine going through something like that.”

“Yes I grew up alone. I did meet others of my kind though but not all of them were very kind.”

“You could try the Hive up in the Crystal Wasteland,” I suggested as I took a bite of fish. “They’ve been a lot better since the end of the last Changeling Invasion. My friend Vex is with them, they’re pretty nice.”

Crow nodded. “Oh FISH!!” He swooped down taking a fish eating it while he pereched on one of the chairs.

“Good thing you grabbed the right fish,” Calypso said with a giggle as she gave Go Fish a smile. “We wouldn’t want you taking away the other one.”

Go Fish cheeks turned bright red. “I hate the fact that.. I am named after a card game.” She used her wings to hide her face from everypony.

“Weren’t you named after your mom who went by a nickname anyway?” Pure Heart asked.

“Yes I was named after BlackJack. I know I’m her daughter because… I have her weird sense of humor when it comes to guns. Normally I have no issue with it. Of course thanks to the constant jokes from Silver when I was growing up. It made it hard for me to be near fishing poles.”

“I like your name though Fish,” Calypso said with a soft smile as she hugged her friend lightly. “I think it fits you perfectly.”

I glanced over at Crow for a moment and noticed that the Changeling was a little closer to the others than I had expected. I could’ve sworn for a moment I saw a bit of energy or something flying into him and I frowned a little.

“Hey Crow, can I talk to you?”

Crow blinked looking at me nodding. “Uh sure I would love to speak to you.”

“In private,” I said and nodded to the door leading out on deck.

Crow landed turning to his full changeling form. “What’s wrong Serenity?”

I sighed as we stepped out onto deck and looked back at him. “How long have you been feeding on our love?”

Crow sighed looking away over the side to the water. “Ever since I met you. Serenity how hard do you think it is to control that side of me?”

“Crow,” I said and let out a groan. “I spent months during the Invasion working with a Changeling named Vex. He had to feed on love too, but he always asked permission first, we were fine with it as long as he didn’t take too much. You’re not helping anything by sneaking around about it.”

“Sneaking around about it? I have no control over it. The other Changelings I know don’t even eat love. They have changed so much that they don’t need it anymore. I have never went through teaching on how to stop it. Now If I am given enough food it doesn't happen. But Fishy and Calie when I am near them… It’s like yeesh. You and your love are open about it. I don’t feed off you those two I can’t stop it.”

“Look, if you ever need to feed on us, at least ask for permission,” I said with a sigh. “I understand what you mean, but just think about it okay? I’m sure it would at least make Callie and Go Fish feel better than if you just fed off them.”

Crow nodded. “I told Scootaloo before I became a guardian of well Crusader town. That this might happen. She didn’t get upset at me she of course did tell me that some might not like it. But I stayed hidden for this reason. To some Serenity I am still a monster even though I did do what I did for Scoots. Some can’t get over the fact that I’m a changeling.”

“Crow, I don’t think you’re a monster, and like I said I understand you have to do it,” I said with a soft smile as I placed a hoof on his shoulder. “If they won’t agree, then you can at least feed on me a little as you need it. Just don’t take too much, okay?”

Crow took a deep breath nodding. “I am not fond of feeding off my friends Serenity but we might have to all agree on this fact. That I’m here and that I may have to feed just in case I need to help protect us.”

“Then promise me one thing, you’ll at least talk to the others about it before we get to the Dragon Lands,” I said with a smile. “Who knows, they might understand.”

“Alright maybe they’re all done eating and we can go into one of our rooms. I doubt the zebras want to hear this.The crazy life of a changeling named Crow.” He chuckled.

“Good idea,” I said with a chuckle. “Yeah, let’s go try and talk to them.”

We headed back into the ship where the Zebras were gathering things up. Pure Heart trotted over to me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Hey, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, we were just talking about something,” I said and looked back at Crow. “Crow, do you want to say something?”

“A place that is private would be better.” Crow nodded to me.

“Sure, lets go to our cabin,” Pure Heart said as we started into the depths of the ship and pushed the door open.

“Alright what’s up that we have to force ourselves in here like sardines?” Fishy asked with a snort.

Crow sighed looking over to me. “I have been well feeding off you all.”

Fishy blinked staring at Crow then back at me. Then back at Crow. “How do I taste?”

Crow stared at Fishy like she was crazy.

“Wait, you mean you’ve been feeding off our love?” Pure Heart asked.

“Yes I have been I don’t mean to do it miss Heart. It’s I can’t control it when there is so much. You and Serenity I have no issues. But those two.” He pointed his hoof to Go Fish and Calypso. “It’s like an endless torrent.”.

Calypso blinked as she blushed a little and looked away. “Well, umm… er…”

Fishy did her best not to blush but acted dumb. “Endless torent really?”

Crow sighed “Okay you two need to work out your issues here or I am going to be feeding off you two for awhile. You hide it to much that’s why I feed on it. Serenity and Pure Heart are open, its why I don’t get nothing from them.”

“Another reason for you two to finally admit your feelings,” I said with a chuckle as I wrapped my wing around Pure Heart.

Go Fish groaned. “I know we hide it and yes we can’t hide it from you two. It’s the fact I don’t want to.”

Crow grew upset. “You aren’t Blackjack!! Get that through your damn thick head!! You’re lucky to even have someone who would love you. I’m a creature that will never find that love. So don’t pretend that you feel that you will hurt her. Because it’s what your mother did. You’re your own pony.”

“And even then, your mom found love,” I pointed out. “You’re going to be just fine, both of you are.”

“Alright I felt that sooner or later I would have to be open. But Crow what does feeding off of love do for you?”

Crow sighed. “It helps me heal my body. It also makes me strong enough to protect you. But I will only do it if the need is dire.”

“If you need to, you can feed on us but…” Calypso said and paused a moment. “But, I mean Fishy is cute…”

“And I love what Callie does with her nose when she is blushing.”

Crow groaned “What are you two so scared about?!”

“The fact who her mother is and who her father is.” Fishy finally said

“Fishy, my parents like you, and they trust my judgment,” Calypso said with a roll of her eyes. “Besides, we’re on a ship heading to the Dragon Lands, do you think they’re going to fly out here to yell at you?”

Go Fish groans “Fine I will finally say it. Calie I love you okay. Just it’s hard to be me at times. Now is that all I needed to do Crow?”
Crow sighed deeply. He looked over to me. “Could you smack her for me please?”

“Sure,” I said and smacked Go Fish upside the head.

“No that is not all that is needed. You need to show it you need to not treat her like you have been. You need to just allow whatever love is..to come to you how it is. I wish I could be like Silver and Just turn off my emotions.” Crow said softly

Fishy sighed. “Alright Callie Lets go to our room and have a long talk. A talk I think we have been needing to do for years now.”

Calypso nodded a little and smiled. “Okay Fishy, lets go.”

She turned and headed for the door, surprisingly enough she didn’t do anything to tease her. I smiled a little and gave them a nod. “I’m sure you two will figure it out.”

“Now I shall take my leave again. I will be around if you need me.” Crow smiled turning into a small mouse and skittered out of the room. Fishy watched all this looking back at me with a large smile following Calypso.

“It's about time if you ask me,” Pure Heart said with a chuckle as she kissed me softly on the lips.

“I know, it's been obvious ever since we met them,” I said with a chuckle as I nuzzled Pure gently.

“Well, while they talk, what do you say we talk about a few things ourselves,” Pure said with a smile, I was about to say something when I felt a light caress of my tail thanks to her magic. “Come on Serenity.”

I smiled a little and let her pull me off towards where we’d be sleeping.

00000

It was a few years ago and a few months after Vanilla had died. I had moved in with Pure Heart and her moms on Nomad City by this point and, honestly I was in a bad place back then. Vanilla was the only mother I had ever known, and I had a hard time getting over it.

I sighed and rolled over in my bed as I looked out the window. I could make out the taller buildings and the dome of Nomad City from here, it was a nice view but somehow I just didn’t feel like getting out of bed.

I had lost every family I ever had. My birth parents had died when I was a baby, the Crusaders had to go back to their home world, and then Vanilla died of cancer. I felt like I was cursed more than anything else, I’d probably never have a family that loved me like Pure Heart did.

I sighed and rolled over onto my stomach and just laid there for awhile. There wasn’t much point to getting up today, I was just going to stay there.

“Serenity?” A soft voice said as there was a knocking on the door.

“Go away,” I said just barely loud enough to be heard. “I don’t want to talk to anypony right now.”

I heard the door open and the sound of hooves on the floor. Before I knew what was happening a pony had jumped up on the bed and I looked over to see the green eyes of Pure Heart looking at me worriedly.

“What do you want Pure?” I asked with a groan. “I don’t want to get out of bed right now.”

“Okay, well I’m not getting out of your bed either,” Pure said with a shake of her head. “Not until you talk to me. We’re worried about you Serenity, you’ve been like this for awhile.”

“How am I supposed to act? I lost my mom,” I said and just buried my face back in the pillow. “I’ve lost everypony that I’ve ever cared about in one way or another.”

“That’s not true,” Pure Heart said as she placed her hoof gently on my shoulder. “What about us? Or Scootaloo? We care about you more than you can ever imagine.”

“Yeah, I know…” I said softly and shook my head a little. “But still, its not the same without Vanilla. We may have fought sometimes, but she raised me like I was her own daughter… I feel like we didn’t have enough time together.”

“Serenity, Vanilla loved you very much,” Pure said as she turned me around and looked at me in the eye. “She wouldn’t want you acting like this. You don’t have to focus on the bad times, focus on the good times you two had together. She was your mother and a wonderful one at that, you should remember her as that and that she loved you so very much.”

I blinked a little and looked up into the white Unicorn’s eyes. She had a point, was I really just beating myself up over all of this because I focused too much on the negative? She had been there for me whenever I needed her, every time I had gotten hurt, every time I cried, she was always there to pick me up and make me feel better.

I wished that I could see her again, but I couldn’t ever forget her.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I said with a weak smile as I looked up at Pure Heart. “Thanks Pure, you don’t know how much this means to me. You’re the best friend I could ever ask for.”

“You’re welcome Serenity,” she replied and looked away and blushed a little. “Serenity I…”

“What is it?” I asked as I tilted my head a little. “Pure, you know you can tell me anything right?”

“No, no its silly, you’re still getting over everything, I shouldn’t pile this on you too,” Pure said with a shake of her head. “Come on, we have to get breakfast.”

“Oh, okay,” I said and blinked a little in surprise, but I got up and we started to walk to the door when Pure Heart stopped in front of me, I nearly ran into her flank at that. “What?”

“Oh who am I kidding, there’s no point in putting it off…” she said and turned around and kissed me on the lips.

My eyes went wide as my wings shot up a little. I blushed a little, it wasn’t an unpleasant kiss, it was, actually really nice. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the kiss for a long moment as I felt Pure wrap her forelegs around me.

We were interrupted by the sound of the door shutting. I chuckled a little as we broke the kiss, interrupted by her parents of course.

“Does this mean what I think it means?” I asked as I looked at her in the eyes.

“I’ve had feelings for you for awhile Serenity,” Pure Heart said softly. “I’m not sure if you feel the same about me though. I just, wanted a chance to tell you, you know?”

“Its okay,” I said with a soft smile as I nuzzled her gently. “I feel the same way about you Pure Heart. I love you, would you be my special somepony?”

“Of course,” Pure said with a smile as she kissed my nose. “But my parents are probably waiting downstairs to give you trouble you know.”

“Oh I know,” I said with a laugh. “But it’s worth it for you.”

I wrapped my wings gently around her and we stayed like that for the longest moment. I didn’t want to let her go.

00000

“What’s got you smiling?” Pure asked as she looked up at me. She was snuggled up to me as she rested her head on my chest.

“Oh, nothing, I’m just thinking about when you became my marefriend,” I said and stroked her green mane gently. “And how lucky I am to have you.”

“Thanks Serenity,” Pure said as she snuggled with me. “I’m lucky to have you too.”

I smiled and leaned back as we just layed there. The ship swayed beneath us as we moved on towards the Dragon Lands, we had quite the adventure ahead of us, but we weren’t about to back down.

Not as long as I had my friends with me.

“Heh, you remember how much of a chewing out my moms gave you?” Pure Heart asked with a chuckle. “You were almost too scared to actually ask me out on our first date.”

“Yeah, but I still did,” I said with a smile. “And I’ve never regretted it, your parents came around too.”

“True, we needed a new kitchen table anyway,” Pure said with a laugh as she snuggled with me more. “Good night Serenity.”

“Good night Pure,” I said with a smile as we snuggled together and drifted off to sleep.

00000

The ship sailed on for a few more days until finally we could see the shoreline of the Dragon Lands ahead of us. The ship made port in a small port town on the edge of the Dragon Lands called Water Dragon Bay.

“Alright you five, good luck with your treasure hunt,” Captain Tiger Shark said as she and Ashi waved to us. “If you don’t get killed maybe we can give you a ride back.”

“Yeah, thanks for filling us with such confidence,” Pure Heart said with a roll of her eyes and I just chuckled a little.

“Oh thank you for being so kind.” Crow laughed

Go Fish just looked to Calie with a smirk. “As long as I have you Calypso I can do anything.” She spreads her wings. “But first let’s get off this boat. I feel a bit sick after being on it for so long.”

“Yeah, agreed,” I said as we walked down the gangplank and onto the dock.

I got my first look at the Dragon Lands here. I was a bit surprised to see the settlement looked a lot like any settlement back home, though some of the buildings were much, much larger, probably for dragons.

Beyond that though we could see desert sands and tall mountains. I took out the map and looked back out at the desert for a long moment.

“Alright, according to the map we’re a few days walk from the mountain range we need to get to,” I said as I folded it back up and put it away. “If we need any more supplies right now would be a good time.”

“This place is very overwhelming.” Go Fish lifted herself into the air flapping her wings taking a deep breath. “But I love the scent of the air.”

“Serenity...” Crow was in a zebra form. “This place from what I have learned from the writing’s of my hive. It wasn’t a pleasant place.”

“Yeah, well let’s just finish up here as soon as possible and…” I said walking forward when I nearly ran into another pony.

“Watch where you’re going,” he snapped, he was a tall Unicorn with a dark grey coat and a sandy brown mane.

He walked away and I paused a moment, something about this felt, off to me as he walked off to another group nearby. I frowned a little and looked back at my friends.

“Serenity, you really should watch where you’re going, we don’t know anything about this place,” Pure Heart said with a shake of her head.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I said with a shake of my head. “Come on, let's get going.”

“Serenity.” Go Fish landed and whispered in my ear. “Look at the Zebra.”

I looked back and narrowed my eyes a little. The Zebra mare in the group had circular stripes around her muzzle and was dressed in a cloak with a strange clasp on it.

I knew what that meant, Scootaloo had fought one of these Zebras during the Enclave War. And Riva had told me stories from back in Zebrica.

“I see what you mean…” I said quietly. “She’s a Starkatteri.”

“Um… Why is she staring us?” Crow asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” Pure Heart said. “I think we need to get out of here.”

“Yeah, lets get going,” I said with a nod as we started out into the town.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Adventure Archeologist.
Details: You’ve set out on an adventure through unknown lands and untold dangers like Daring Do before you. You get an extra 5 points in your barter skill and your Luck stat is increased by one while in any pre-war structures.

Chapter 2: Markers

“You may be deceived if you trust too much,
But you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough.”
-Frank Crane.

“You’re kidding right?” The Zebra Bartender asked as she looked at me confused. “You’re trying to get to the Spine?”

“Yeah, what’s so weird about that?” I asked, me and Pure Heart were in the Sea Serpent's Scale, it was the local bar in Water Dragon Bay. “It’s just a mountain range, right?”

“You must be new to the Dragon Lands,” she said with a shake of her head. “The Spine isn’t a safe place to visit even for Dragons. There’s a lot of stories about that place, ranging from creatures that jump you from underground to ponies that’ll suck your blood. They say the mountains are cursed.”

“Cursed?” Pure Heart asked.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of horror stories about the lands out that way and beyond,” the bartender said with a shake of her head. “Lot of beings have gone missing out there looking for some fabled treasure that probably doesn’t even exist.”

“You mean the Great Hoard?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” the bartender said as she set out a drink for another customer. “You two wouldn’t happen to be after it too would you?”

“Umm, maybe,” I said and played with my mane a little. “We’re looking for it to…”

“We’re interested in it for strictly academic reasons,” Pure Heart said quickly. “The New Canterlot Republic has been looking into the records from the war in hopes of maybe establishing relations with the Dragon Lands and if we can find anything on the Last Dragon Lord, it might help.”

The Zebra looked at us curiously for a moment. “You look awfully young to be representatives of the NCR.”

“Yeah, well, tell that to the NCR I guess,” I said and tried to smile. “You know how bureaucrats are, they’ve got their heads so far up their flanks they don’t think about this kind of thing.”

“Alright, well if you want any information on the last Dragon Lord you want to talk to Soriac,” the bartender said with a shrug. “He’s our local historian and comes from a family that’s lived here since before the Dragons joined the Great War.”

“Where can we find him?” I asked expectantly, this was a good start.

“You’re going to want to…” the Bartender said and then paused a moment when the door to the bar opened.

I glanced behind us briefly and my eyes went wide. Standing in the doorway was one of the ponies we saw earlier, she was rough looking with her red mane ragged, her blue coat was covered with scars and she had several cybernetics around her body including replacing her right foreleg and left hind leg along with her eye and part of her neck.

“Cyria, my usual,” she said in a gruff, almost mechanical voice as she sat down at the bar and the bartender gulped and set a glass down before pouring an amber colored liquid into it. She walked back over to me and Pure and whispered to us.

“Go to the northern end of town, he’s usually there,” she whispered and jerked her head back towards the cyberpony. “Be careful out there, you’re not the only one interested in this, information.”

“Got it,” I said with a nod and we got up and headed out of the bar.

I took one last look towards the nasty looking Earth Pony but she didn’t make any move to get up. I just hoped that we were on the right track.

00000

We reached the house and I knocked on the door while Pure Heart kept an eye out for any of the ponies from before. The door opened to reveal the largest Zebra I had ever seen in my life, he was taller than pictures I had seen of Big Macintosh and a lot bulkier too.

“Uh, can I help you two ponies?” He asked in the distinct Zebra accent I had come to know.

“Are, you Soriac?” I asked and he nodded. “We’re here looking for information on the Last Dragon Lord Ember, Cyria said you might be able to provide information on her.”

“Ah, of course!” Soriac said with a smile as he moved out of the doorway to let the two of us in. “Its not often that I get visitors from as far as Equestria. Do you mind if I ask from where you hail?”

“Nomad City actually,” I said as he ushered us in and I blinked in surprise at what I saw.

Lining the walls were shelves of books and scrolls that looked like they were hundreds if not thousands of years old. I hadn’t seen anything like this except in the Nomad City Library and a few other places.

“Ah yes, the fabled flying city, I’ve heard stories from my cousin, she’s seen it at least,” Soriac said with a smile. “I see you noticed my collection, its the finest collection of records in the entirety of the Dragon Lands.”

“Really?” Pure asked curiously.

“Well, I’m not exactly able to ask around so as far as I know yes!” The large Zebra said with a laugh. He started going through the papers for a moment before he looked back at us curiously. “So, you’re looking for information on Ember huh? Any particular reason?”

“We’re interested in any information on her hoard,” I said with a nod. “The one that went missing around the time of her assassination. The NCR hopes that it might give us some insight into how to…”

Soriac just tsked and laughed a little. “You’re a poor liar little pony,” he said with a shake of his head. “The NCR has sent ponies before and have never expressed interest in the Great Horde as a means to open relations with the Dragons.”

Crap, he saw right through that ruse, this was not off to a good start.

“Okay, you caught us, we’re hunting for the treasure,” Pure said with a shake of her head. “I know that probably sounds crazy, we’ve heard all the stories about it.”

“And I’ve probably transcribed part of them,” Soriac said with a chuckle. “I’m a Zencori, it’s my job to preserve history and tell stories. If you really want this information however, I am more than willing to tell you everything you want to know.”

“Really?” I asked as my ears perked up a little. “How much do you know?”

“My ancestor, Oria was an emissary sent by the Caesar to try and negotiate with Ember to get Dragons to join the war on our side,” Soriac said with a shake of his head. “She didn’t have much luck in her job, but she and Ember became friends. She knew things that she didn’t even pass back to Roam.”

“What kind of things?” I asked.

Soriac sighed a little and gestured for us to take a seat which we did. He looked thoughtful for a long moment before he started to talk again. “Ember was afraid that the Caesar would do something rash in order to get the Dragons to side with them in the Great War. There was already a growing movement lead by a Dragon named Garble that was pushing for war with the ponies.”

Garble, I knew that name. He was a Dragon who had been one of the first to attack Equestria during the war. Spike had mentioned him a few times when he visited Crusader Town or we met him on Nomad City and he didn’t seem to like the dragon very much.

I was starting to see why if he had really been pushing that hard to get involved in the war.

“But Ember was pro-pony wasn’t she?” Pure Heart asked.

“Well, as pro-pony as a Dragon can get yes,” Soriac said with a shrug. “She confided in Oria that she was afraid that she may not be Dragon Lord much longer. So she did the only thing she could do, she hid away both the Bloodstone Scepter, the symbol of the Dragon Lord’s power, and her vast hoard somewhere deep in the Dragon Lands.”

Well, this was not new information, but I was surprised to know that there was something of a first hoof account. Soriac paused a moment and sighed as he looked back at us.

“There’s a lot of Dragons who blame Ponies for what happened to Ember,” he said with a shake of his head. “There was a lot of good being done during her tenure and there was a chance at real peace if it wasn’t for what happened. I’m sure you know what happened next, an assassin shot her with a Dragonbane enchanted bullet and took her life.”

“Yeah…” I said softly.

“But, there is something that only Oria was told about the Hoard, and it has been passed down through the generations,” Soriac said grimly. “But there is something I must ask of you two first, what would you do with the treasure if you find it?”

“What?” I asked and blinked a little, I hadn’t expected him to ask that.

“We’re talking about enough treasure to rival the treasury of Equestria back in the day,” Soriac said. “Most seekers are interested in it for greedy reasons, they want the treasure and don’t care about what it represents. It’s not a treasure, it’s a legacy, it’s what Ember left behind.”

“I see,” I said and looked at Pure and gently placed my hoof on her’s. “We’re doing this because we want to. Yes, the treasure would be nice but we’re out here because we want to do this with our friends.”

“All that matters to us is each other,” Pure Heart said with a smile as she gently nuzzled me. “We’ll gladly use give the staff to whichever dragon would deserve it, isn’t that what Ember would want?”

“Yes, yes it is,” Soriac said with a smile and a nod. “Very well, you answer well. See, the thing is that it’s not as simple as just walking to one place or even two. Ember set up markers that you have to follow in order to get to the treasure. The challenge is going to be finding them, and getting past whatever is waiting for you. The first one at least should be somewhere in the Spine, I’m guessing you’re heading there next.”

“Great,” I said with a sigh.

“Thank you Soriac,” Pure said with a smile as we got to our hooves. “It means a lot that you could help us out.”

“Of course, I’m glad to help,” Soriac said with a smile. “But I should warn you, you’re not the only ones after this treasure. There’s a group lead by a pony from Saddle Arabia after it as well, or so I’ve heard.”

“That would be those ponies we saw earlier I’ll bet,” I said with a sigh.

“Yes, well be careful,” Soriac said. “I would love for you to make it back here and tell me your story.”

“We will,” I said with a smile as he got to his hooves and showed us out.

I looked back at the large Zebra and thought about what he said for a moment. There were markers, things that would lead us to the treasure. Of course it wasn’t going to be as easy as just going to Stable 110.

So, what else was waiting for us out there?

00000

“So, did you find out anything interesting?” Calypso asked as we met up with them in the center of town.

“A few things,” I said with a shrug. “It seems a Zencori here in town’s ancestor knew Ember and learned some of the details of how to get to the treasure. So, we have a few clues at least, but nothing really to go on beyond that.”

“Well, except that the mountains we’re going to may be cursed,” Pure said with a shrug.

“Oh wonderful… I feel so happy now.” Fishy said groaning.

“Oh come on it’s not that bad...at least to a changeling.” Crow chuckled.

“Really, one of the stories sound more like Bat Ponies to me,” I said thoughtfully. “I remember there was a member of the Thunderbolts during the war that was a Bat Pony from a tribe somewhere out East from Equestria proper.”

“I remember stories of Bat ponies. Of course the hive’s history didn’t go into full details about them.”

“Yeah, I remember mom said she was one of the best members of the Thunderbolts, I think she went back home a few years ago,” Calypso said with a nod. “She was part of the team that went to Coltlumbia with Scootaloo and the others I think.”

I noticed the zebra we saw earlier walking beside us. Not even staring at us but I suddenly feel a strange sensation after she past. Crow lost his ability to stay in his zebra form and turned back into a changeling. He looked extremely sick I heard hard sobbing from an alleyway a filly screaming for her mother.

“I….I…” Crow fell on his side groaning in pain. Go Fish went to Crow’s side nudging him with her hoof looking up to me.

“Do you hear that? You go check on it I will stay with Crow.”

“Okay, we’re on it,” I said and nodded to Pure Heart and Calypso and they nodded as we headed over towards where the alley was. “Hello?”

A little zebra filly lay in filth and mud blood draining from a wound on her leg and side. She looked up to us those eyes those soft blue eyes crying for help. She tried to speak but all I could hear was laughter. Something was laughing in my head.

“Pure, get the medical supplies,” I said ignoring the laughter in my head and Pure Heart nodded as we knelt by the filly. She took out some bandages and a healing potion and started to work on the filly while I looked back, on edge because whoever did this might still be nearby.

The filly stared at me. She had a weak smile on her face. But something happen that made it feel even more wrong. She suddenly got on her hooves and jumped right into my face vanishing but I heard voices.

“The stars speak….the stars sing they see you.. They dance for you.. They never will end that path.. Don’t follow them they die for you.. Maybe they will end you.. Become their toy become their minion. Seek it seek the blood of the future...The stars shall win this day!” My vision suddenly went from seeing the town to seeing stars falling from the sky. “They shall win..”

“Serenity, snap out of it!” And with that, I felt something being poured down my throat and gagged as I coughed. My vision returned to normal as I looked into the shining green eyes of Pure Heart. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… what happened?” I asked with a groan as I rubbed my head. “What happened there? I feel like I got kicked in the head after being on a bad chem trip…”

“It worked a little too well sorry to say.” I looked to see the zebra that walked past us earlier.” I mean no harm to you. I just follow what the stars tell me they say test you. But your changeling friend took it hardest so did you.”

Pure Heart growled and her horn glowed green as she pushed the Zebra hard against the wall with it. “You could’ve gotten her killed! What were you thinking?”

“I know what you seek...” The zebra groaned. “I seek the same...there will be many test along the way. Do you wish to be not ready for what the stars have you for you? I regret for what I did. But I can’t stop myself when the stars ask for something.”

“Pure, let her go, I’m okay,” I said as I placed my hoof gently on my marefriend’s wither before I looked back at the Zebra mare. “We know we’ve got a long journey ahead of us with its own trials already. It’s why we’re out here, but poisoning us isn’t going to help.”

The zebra laughed. “Miss if I wanted to poison you I would have. It was a mere seer’s dust but to some I would say. It was a drug that doesn't do well on you ponies. I never thought It would make the changeling sick though.”

“If he’s hurt, I swear I will kill you myself,” I said and glared at her. “I’ve heard more than a few stories about your tribe.”

“Yes and I would agree all the stories are true. Don’t worry about your changeling friend though. I gave your two friends the same cure I gave you. If I really wished to harm you miss warrior. I would have done it with my knife in your back. But I am not like others you have met. I have more honor in my heart.”

“Just go,” I said with a shake of my head.

The zebra simply walked away she looked back to me and with a weak smile. I could tell she didn’t wish to do what she did. She walked to the group I saw earlier.

We headed back to where Crow and Go Fish was though I was still a little weirded out by the whole ordeal. “Well, that’s certainly an interesting way to welcome us to the Dragon Lands,” I said with a groan.

“Serenity he won’t wake up. I gave him the drink and he went into a sleep.”

“Here, let me take a look at him, I learned a lot about Changelings during the Invasion,” I said as we trotted over to where they were. I checked Crow over, trying to figure out what had happened to him. “It looks like he’s weakened, probably starved too… great, I don’t know how to give love to a Changeling…”

“We could try meat. If we can find any.”

“That’s no problem,” I said and rummaged through my bags and came out with some fish that I had gotten from the Atori. “How’s this?”

Go fish looked at the Fish nodding. “That could work wave it in front of his nose maybe it will wake him.”

I nodded and did so, hoping that it would get something from him.

“The stars...the stars they speak…” Crow softly said opening his eyes groaning. “The stars can screw off. What happen my head...Ow..” He grabbed the fish with his mouth eating it down quickly as he looked like the fish helped.

“Oh thank Celestia you’re okay,” I said and hugged Crow tightly.

“What happened Serenity?” Crow sounded extremely angry.

“We got hit with some sort of powder used by that Starkatteri Zebra,” I said with a shake of my head. “You and me got hit with the worst of it.”

“I promised Scootaloo nothing would happen to either of you. Did I already fail?” Crow asked in a sad voice.

“No, we’re fine,” I said with a smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

Crow finally stood on his hooves and still looked a bit sick. He changed into his Raven form landed on my back and curled up to fall asleep.

“That’s oddly cute.” Go Fish laughed.

“Yeah, very cute,” Calypso said with a grin as I just rolled my eyes a little. “So, did you get the supplies we need? We should probably head for the spine.”

“I am ready as I ever will be.” Go fish nodded.

“Me too,” Calypso said and Pure Heart nodded before nuzzling me lightly.

“Okay then, let’s go,” I said as I looked down the road towards the desert that stretched out. I took out the map again and held it up to see if I could figure out the road we should take.

“Hmmm my mother always said take the hard road.”

“I’m pretty sure your mom said that about other hard things too,” Pure Heart said with a chuckle and I just rolled my eyes a bit.

Go Fish blushed deep red. “Uh.. maybe?”

Calypso just giggled a little. “So what’s the word Serenity?”

“We should head northeast,” I said as I looked up from the map and nodded as I pointed in the direction. “The Spine is a few days walk from here, but it looks like we’ll have to climb the mountains a bit.”

“I have a bad feeling though Serenity are we to expect more from that zebra?” Go fish asked.

“I’m sure we will,” I said with a sigh. “We’re after a treasure after all, I’m sure we have competition. Something about her and those other ponies give me the creeps.”

“Well of course Serenity. Nothing is ever going to be easy. If it was going to be easy we would have brought Silver with us.”

“Agreed,” I said with a nod. “So, shall we get going?”

As we headed out I saw the same group of ponies from before. I flinched a little when I got a better look at them. In addition to the Zebra and Cyberpony, there was a blood red Alicorn stallion with several scars on his body and an eyepatch over one eye and a pink Earth Pony mare that for some reason was dressed in what looked like a maid outfit.

I sighed and shook my head a little before we started moving out into the desert. I just hoped we were going the right way.

00000

As we walked through the desert I curiously looked over the data on my PipBuck. There wasn’t a lot out here, not even any radio broadcasts, though I wasn’t sure what I had expected. We still had a few hours to go before sundown and the plan was to keep walking until then.

“So, what do you think the markers are?” Pure Heart wondered out loud as she took a sip of water. “I mean, there’s a lot of territory out there right? They could be anywhere at this point.”

“Yeah,” I said with a sigh as I looked at the map again and then back out at the desert. “I’m guessing there will be some sort of clue that leads us towards the next one when we get to Stable 110.”

“I hope you’re right,” Pure said with a shake of her head. “Are we going to have enough water to make it there?”

“Just gotta make sure we ration it,” Calypso said. “I did some reading up on the Dragon Lands before we left. There are underground rivers and plants that we can get water from in the desert. Water shouldn’t be much of a problem as long as we’re careful.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” I said with a nod as I looked up again. “Do you think there’s any truth to the stories about these mountains being cursed?”

“In my experience, there’s no such thing as curses,” Pure said with a shake of her head. “But still, we should probably be careful.”

“I feel the other problem we have to worry about is that other group.” Go Fish cocked her mothers guns that she brought and had strapped to a saddle.

“Oh most definitely,” Calypso said with a shake of her head. “That Starkatteri mare gives me the creeps.”

“After what happened to Crow I don’t know what to think. He offered to come with us and that mare focused on him and you Serenity.”

“She called me a warrior,” I said and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe since I was a foal soldier and Crow is… well, a Changeling, that might be why they went after us specifically. Still, I can’t help but be a bit worried about it.”

Crow snored in his sleep and his breathing sounded weak and sickly.

“Maybe we should have taken him to a doctor back in town,” Pure Heart commented.

“Normally I’d say yes, but I don’t think they’d know how to heal a Changeling…” I said with a sigh as I shook my head a little. “What do you think we should do?”

“We could do what my mother did to me when. I got sick.” Go Fish smirked

“Do I want to know what that is?” Pure Heart asked as she looked back at Go Fish.

“Calie has seen this once. She forced scotch down my nose and lungs. It burned and it worked also It hurt.”

“Yeah, definitely not,” Calypso said with a shake of her head. “Besides we only packed the essentials, no scotch even if we wanted to do that.”

Go Fish whistled “Ahem yeah I did pack the essentials.” She whistled again.

Calypso rolled her eyes a little at that and looked like she was making a mental note of something. I just chuckled and checked the stone around my neck as I looked back out at the desert.

“Let’s keep moving,” I finally said with a shake of my head. “We’ll see if we can find any sort of medicinal herbs or something. Hopefully we can find something to help Crow out.”

“Well I am sure we will. Still I am sure she would have gone after me...If she knew I was the daughter of the maiden of the stars.”

Crow laughed in his sleep. “Yes Blackjack, look like the Jester you are.”

We tried not to laugh at that at that as we walked along the desert route. I took a drink of water and looked up at the sun, it was starting to get lower in the sky but based on my PipBuck’s clock we still had a couple of hours to go before it got dark.

“Can one of you hold onto Crow?” I asked as I looked back at the others. “I want to scout ahead a bit and I don’t want to risk him falling off.”

“Pure Heart, it might be best for you to do it. Since you’re the only unicorn here.” Go Fish commented

“Yeah, sure I can do that,” Pure said as she gently levitated Crow off my head and put him safely on her back. “We’ll be right here waiting for you.”

“You better,” I said with a chuckle and leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before I took off and flew up into the sky.

00000

After spending the first decade of my life being unable to fly, every chance I got to take to the skies felt amazing. I flapped my wings as I flew up higher and away from where my friends were waiting for me.

I dove down a little and did a spin in mid-air. I could feel the warm desert air against my body and smiled, it was the most wonderful feeling that I ever had, I was happy to be out here, I almost wished I could stay up here forever but I had to get back to my friends.

I sighed a little and straightened myself out as I looked out at the desert ahead of us. There wasn’t much to see, a few dunes here and there that rose up higher than anything I had seen back in Equestria.

And then as I looked out I saw it. It was barely visible in the distance, but from this height I could make it out. At first I thought it was a massive dragon lying on the ground but it took me a moment to realize why.

It rose from the desert and looked almost like a massive petrified dragon. It was just the right amount of distance away to be our destination, the Spine.

“Okay, good,” I said to myself as I turned back around and flew towards where my friends were waiting. As I came down towards the ground again, I was surprised to see my friends were with a group of Zebras, all of them were dressed up in concealing clothing with one of them checking on Crow.

“Hey, did you see anything?” Pure Heart asked as I came in for a landing.

“Yeah, what’s going on here?” I asked as I looked at the concealed Zebras curiously.

“I am Ivara of the Eschatik Tribe,” the leader said as he offered me a hoof. “Your Changeling friend is lucky to be alive. The usual cure for the Mind Poison doesn’t typically react well with his species.”

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked the Zebra and looked behind him at the Zebra that was helping Crow.

“Yes, he’ll be fine,” Ivara said with a nod. “It’s rare that we see Changelings in the desert here. Or ponies for that matter, what brings you out here?”

“We, heard about one of the Stables being in this area,” I said as Ivara looked at me curiously for a moment. I could barely make out his eyes behind his mask. “Stable 110, we’re looking for it mostly out of curiosity.”

“So I see,” Ivara said with a nod and shrugged it off a little as I walked over to Crow as the other Zebra finished working on him.

Crow looked up to me. He looked stronger than he was. “Hello Serenity I am sorry for worrying you.”

“Its okay, I’m glad you’re okay,” I said with a smile as the Zebra gave me a nod and walked over to the others. “Lets try to avoid crazy Starkatteri mares as best we can from now on, huh?”

“I doubt we will be able to.” Crow said softly. “I have a feeling we will be dealing with her for awhile.”

Go Fish sighed. “Thank you I won’t be sleeping.”

“Actually I’ve been thinking about that,” Calypso said. “We should definitely be taking turns standing watch when we set up camp. We’re not always going to be able to stay in inns or whatever so we’re going to need to do that.”

“Yeah, that makes sense to me,” I said with a nod.

“Yeah we can watch our lovers sleep… No wait I mean we can watch for zebras that wish to harm us. Yes that’s it.” Go Fish said.

Crow facehooved.

“We have tents you know,” I said with a chuckle. “I don’t think that would allow us to watch each other sleep.”

“Go Fish sometimes you’re normal and then suddenly we looked away and you act odd.” Crow added

“Did you get into your scotch again?” Calypso said and shot her a look.

“No no No I didn’t.” She tried to smile but it was easy to tell she was a bit drunk.

“Be careful Fishy, Calypso might get rid of it,” I said with a chuckle as I moved next to Pure Heart and looked back at Ivara and the others. “Thank you for your help.”

“Of course,” Ivara said with a nod. “I hope you all find what you’re looking for out here.”

And with that the Zebras left. I wondered about that but at least they had helped Crow, I remembered hearing the Eschatik were a bit eccentric so that probably explained it at least.

“Are you okay Crow?” Calypso asked as she looked at the Changeling.

Crow nuzzled Calypso nodding. “I am fine Calie don’t worry. I promised you when we met I would protect you even if I am well not that good at it at the moment.”

“That’s good,” Calypso said with a smile as she hugged Crow a little. “I’m glad you’re here Crow.”

Crow smiled “We should get going. I am sure that mare’s friends are ahead of us. So I have a feeling she will be leaving gifts for us.”

“Yeah, lets get going,” I said with a nod as I secured my bags and gave Crow a chuckle. “Do you need another ride or can you walk on your own?”

“Oh come on Serenity you make me sound like I am lazy. But for now it might be best if I do hitch a ride till I feel I am strong enough to walk.” He turned into a small sparrow landing on my head and going into my mane to sleep.

“I don’t know if that is odd or cute.” Go Fish smiled.

“Eh, let’s just go with it, we should try and get as much distance between here and the Spine as we can,” I said as we started walking again.

I heard heated whispers between Calypso and Go Fish. Something about her drinking.

I smiled and looked back at Pure Heart and gave her a smile. While we had a long way to go, I couldn’t think of any ponies I’d rather be on this trip with than my friends.

00000

As the sun began to set we gathered up some materials and lit a fire. I was tending to the fire as Go Fish and Calypso were working on getting the tents set up and Pure Heart was getting dinner together.

“Crow, you know you’re not going to be able to stay up there all night,” I said as I picked the Changeling up out of my mane.

“Well I can do the first watch. Just set me down.”

“Okay, sounds like a plan,” I said and set him down gently. “Are you sure you’re up for that though? I mean you just got over, well, that.”

“Well will any of you let me feed of you a little? It will heal me a bit but I don’t want to over step again.”

“If Calie doesn't mind I would let you feed off me.” Go Fish drunkenly said.

“I’m definitely getting rid of your scotch, but go ahead,” Calypso said with a shake of her head. “Just don’t take too much okay Crow? Leave some for us.”

“Of course can’t take it all. You two got to have your fun somehow. “He smirked at Calypso.

Go Fish hid her face with her wings blushing.

“You’d probably explode if you tried to take all the love from me,” I said with a giggle as I winked at Pure Heart. “I’ve got too much love for this mare.”

Crow smiled. “I wish I could understand this feeling. I can feel the deep love from all four of you. Callie is angry because of well the scotch and well Go Fish you don’t need that in my honest opinion. Just have her be close to you and be what you need.” He started to feed from the love of the two he didn’t take much but the color in his body grew darker as he grew stronger.

“Uh, I can stop anytime.” Go Fish tried to say with a hic.

“Okay, stop right now,” Calypso said as she snatched away the scotch.

Go Fish tried to get it back but she fell flat on her face. Crow stopped the feeding and blinked staring down at the snoring mare.

“What, we don’t exactly have an AA out here or something,” Calypso said as she checked Go Fish for any more and poured out what she took and pushed sand over it. “There we go, now we just have to keep an eye on her.”

“Well I have never seen someone love someone so much that they poured all what they drank. I am going to ask what took you so long to do that?” Crow asked

“Oh trust me, its been very tempting,” Calypso said with a shake of her head. “I should’ve checked

“Well Callie why not take her to your tent. I guess I won’t be hearing anything.” He chuckled changing into a large brown bear.

“Aww, but I haven’t eaten…” she started to say just as Pure Heart started passing out the food. “Oh, thanks Pure.”

“You’re welcome,” Pure said with a smile.

“I got a question though since. I don’t normally go into the Stable 99 bar. Do you see her drinking when she is in there?”

“I think she usually just sneaks it,” Calypso said as she started to eat. “I mean, Blackjack gave up drinking during the war, but I think I’ve seen Fishy sneaking it a few times.”

“Well I am just amazed it took you two so long to admit your feelings for each other.”

“Hey, we can’t all be like Serenity and Pure Heart,” Calypso said with a chuckle as she shook her head a little. “Though, sometimes I wish I did have what you two have.”

“You never know, you probably will someday,” I said as I put my wing around Pure Heart gently and pulled her in close. “You and Go Fish do make a cute couple, what do you think Pure?”

“Definitely,” Pure Heart said with a smile as she took a bite of her food and nuzzled me gently.

“Thanks,” Calypso said with a smile as she looked back at Go Fish.

Go Fish opened her eyes groaning and looked at her scotch. Reaching for it and sighed. “Why is the rum gone?”

“Because you never had any rum?” Calypso asked with a giggle as she offered Go Fish a plate of food. “Come on, let’s have some dinner.”

Go Fish got on her hooves and sat beside Calypso and started eating. “I’m sorry Callie I don’t mean to be well a bother.”

“Fishy, you’re not a bother,” Calypso said with a smile as she placed her hoof on Go Fish’s. “Don’t worry about it, it won’t change how I feel about you.”

“I do want to be the mare that you want. A mare that is there for you to love you to...Not give you poems and stuff like that. But one that will live with you to old age.”

“Oh geez...the love from you two is so strong at the moment it’s hard for me to not want to feed. Also it’s cute?” Crow laughed.

Calypso smiled and rested her head on Go Fish’s shoulder a little as she wrapped a light blue wing around her gently. “I love you Go Fish.”

Go Fish leaning into Callie. “I love you Calypso.”

“Well Serenity I guess I owe you ten caps.” He tossed them to me.

“Yep,” I said with a laugh as I put them away in my bags.

Go Fish seemed upset. “How dare you bet on us.”

Calypso kissed Go Fish to quiet her and we just chuckled a little at that.

“Besides, it’s payback for you two betting on us 5 years ago,” I said with a laugh.

Go Fish’s face was so bright red that it looked like she was a pure tomato.

“Anyway besides that…” Crow looked over to watch what was going on he chuckled. “It’s good that we are together I doubt any of us could do this alone.”

“Yeah, I’m glad we’re together too,” I said as I put a wing over Pure Heart gently and closed my eyes. “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have with me out here than all of you.”

“Me neither,” Calypso said with a nod. “So, how big do you think this Great Hoard is anyway?”

“Big enough to bring us here?” Crow added. “Maybe it’s too big? And there is a reason it’s hidden.”
Go Fish stared at Crow. “Ooooooo it’s haunted.”

I laughed a little at that and shrugged. “Hey, you never know, maybe Ember put a curse on it or something to keep those who aren’t worthy from taking it.”

“I doubt I would be worthy. I don’t know what she thought of my kind.” Crow softly added.

“I’m sure everything will be okay, we don’t have to be so overdramatic,” Pure Heart said with a shake of her head. “We just have to get there, wherever there is.”

“Yeah, it’s a big territory, it could be anywhere,” I said with a sigh as I looked at the map for a long moment. “We’re only in one small part of it and this map isn’t even everything.”

“Well who knows we might find something..” Before Go fish could finish something smacked her right in the face causing her to fly back and lay on the ground on her back she looked knocked right out.

Crow quickly changed into a bear looking around ready to attack whatever hit Go Fish.

We all got up and were on edge as we readied our weapons. In retrospect a fire in the middle of the desert was probably easy to see.

In the middle of the fire a blue dragon with heavy armored scales showed itself to us. It’s glowing blue eyes looked at all of us. It’s claws were stained with Go fishes blood from her face. Lifting it’s very claw it licked the blood.

“Grrr ponies…”

Pure carefully moved over to where Go Fish was to help her as I aimed my battle saddle at the dragon. “What do you want?”

Crow growled getting ready to attack. Suddenly though the dragon looked at him and he froze in place like a strange spell was placed on him. The dragon looked right at me going right into a mind scape with just me.

The very mindscape was of my life. My memories in the middle of it all the dragon formed staring down at me.

I looked at the dragon and narrowed my eyes a little. “What’s going on?”
“Dragon lord Ember made many test and challenges to find what you seek little one. I am the first thing you must past. Forgive me for hurting your friend. I didn’t know how to speak ponish. So I learned from licking the blood of your friend.”

“I see,” I said with a frown as I sat down. “Have you appeared like this to all of the seekers of the Great Hoard?”

“Most of them don’t even make it this far. Most destroy each other before they even get to the sacred fire.” He frowned looking at my memories. Then back to me. “But you your friends.. You have a bond that… I haven’t ever seen.”

“I see,” I said with a slight tilt of my head. “They’ve been my friends for awhile now, I would do anything for them.”

The dragons eyes glowed and we end up in a room with all my friends on stretchers. All of my friends close to death. But one last thing in the corner is a bale fire bomb.

“Your friends mean much to you.. Yes.. But would you let them die for the lives of thousands or even more?”

“That’s not fair!” I protested as I looked back at them and then at the bomb. “I can’t pick something that easily… they’re my friends…”

“I had to choose when I was alive Miss Serenity. I could have gone to war with you ponies.. Or do the last write of my dragon lord.. I did what she asked. I let those close to me die to fight the zebras war.” He sighed he shifted on his large claws tears falling from his eyes “Of course it’s not going to be fair battle blood. Death is not fair. Of course you know this.”

“I know it…” I said as I looked between them again. I had lost so many ponies in my lifetime, but could I really let thousands die just for them?

What was I supposed to do, this wasn’t an easy choice to make. I couldn’t lose them, not right now, I had to think hard. Then something occurred to me, there was a third choice, one that he wasn’t offering.

“You’re clever aren’t you?” I said with a shake of my head and then ran over to where Pure Heart was lying. “I guess you don’t know as much about us as you pretend to.”

The dragon chuckled. “Oh Miss Serenity did I forget to mention the bomb is already counting down?”

“Yeah, I figured,” I said as I took out a healing potion and poured it down Pure Heart’s throat as well as applying it to her wounds. “You forgot one thing though, I’m not the medic. I pick option three, how do you like that Mr. No-Win Scenario?”

I gave Pure Heart a nod and told her what was going on. While she went to heal the others I ran over to the bomb and looked it over.

The dragon just chuckled. “Oh Miss Serenity just like a pony to find another path.” He clicked his claws and we end up back into my head. “First one done. But I knew from when I saw you. You would have the mind and the heart.”

I glared at the dragon for a moment and shook my head. “You almost had me, but I’ve learned a lot over the years. There’s always going to be an extra option if you look hard enough. So, what’s your next challenge?”

“The second challenge is something most never got to. The next challenge is a simple question. Why do you want the treasure for personal gain? There is a reason why do you want this treasure?”

“I won’t lie and say I don’t want to use the treasure to buy things back home in Equestria,” I said with a shake of my head. “But it’s not just that, we’re here because we want to be. Its our chance to do something together as friends. And, well…”

I paused a moment and looked around before I sighed a little.

“I love Pure Heart, more than anything,” I said and looked down at my hooves. “I want to provide for her, but I’m not good for a lot of things other than shooting ponies. I want the treasure to be able to give us a good life back home.”

“Ah young love…” The dragon chuckled. “One of the core values of friendship or so I was told.” He looked away sighing. “I never learned friendship like some did. I never learned anything of the good hearted ponies. But their racist hearts.” He placed a claw on my shoulder. “If I didn’t have a job to do. I would tell you that this is the ending of the test.. But you have one more.”

“We’ve changed, for the most part,” I said with a nod and looked at him. “I’m ready for your last test.”

“Your last test.. The last test that will give you the first clue. Kill me.”

“What? Why?” I asked as my ears perked up.

“Serenity I told you I am not living.. I am trapped in this spell of the sacred fire. I have been in this spell ever since...Ever since.. The end of the war. A curse a zebra placed on me.. To be alive forever in fire.” He looked away as his body glowed of the same fire he is made of. “Do you want to live like this yourself? Never able to touch see those you love.. Hold a little one in your arms?

“Well… no…” I said softly as I looked down at my hooves. “I killed a lot of beings when I was young, probably too many. Its, hard for me to willingly do it again.”

The dragon chuckled. “Think of it as a mercy.. But before you do it.. I shall give you my name.. I at least remember it.. I’m Speckled the first clue... Will come from my death little one.” He placed his claw on me. “Please.”

I closed my eyes and turned my head away, I couldn’t look at him in the face as I did it. I pointed my battle saddle at him. “I’m sorry…” I said as I gripped the trigger and pulled it, firing at him.

The mindscape ended going to the real world. I could see the dragon forming from the fire for real this time. He fell to the ground his body slowly turning old right in front of us. He reached up to me.

“Let me touch you...just once.” The dragon said ever so weakly.

“Go ahead,” I said softly as I let the dragon touch me. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

He touched his hand on my cheek. “Don’t worry for I’m no longer here as a curse to others.. I’m going to finally see the others that died during and after the war. Don’t worry though I will be watching you all and guiding you along the path.” He slowly turned to dust in the dust is a scroll protector of pure gold I could feel a protective presence in my heart.

“Okay….That was odd.” Crow said looking around.

“Yeah, I know…” I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. “Good bye Speckled, I hope you make it to where you’re going.”

I reached down and picked up the tube. I felt like I should be the one to open it after everything that had happened. I unraveled the scroll and flattened it out, it was a map of the mountains we were heading for, but this one had more accurate landmarks.

I narrowed my eyes a little at the map. There was a trail leading from the side of the mountains and up towards a cave with the gear symbol on it. This was a clue to where we had to go alright.

“Thank you Speckled,” I said with a soft smile as I nodded to my friends. “We have our first clue, now we just have to make it to the mountains.”

Go Fish groaned. “What hit me?” She sat on her haunches she had a deep gash in her cheek and her eye was bruised.

“Would you believe a spirit of a dragon made of flames or something?” Pure Heart asked as she checked her out more. “Hold still, you’re going to be fine other than having a scar right there.”

“The first clue..” Crow softly said. “But something is bothering me...How many of these creatures will we find do you think? I am sure there are more.”

“I honestly don’t know,” I said as I looked back at the map as well as the map I had brought with me. “But we’re going to find out. We have to unless you all want to go back.”

“Why should we go back? I was given a cool scar to show off to my mother’s when I get back. I say we keep going.” Go Fish chuckled getting on her hooves.

“I agree let’s keep going.” Crow added turning into a Raven.

“We’re all in it, if you are,” Pure Heart said with a smile as she sat down next to me and nuzzled me gently. “What do you say Serenity?”

I looked between them and finally nodded. “Let’s keep going. We’ve come this far, we might as well keep going.”

We all nodded and went back to eating and sitting around the fire. But at the same time, something about what had happened still bothered me.

00000

I stared up at the top of the tent as Pure Heart snuggled up to me under the blankets. I smiled a little as I looked down at the sleeping Unicorn and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. I was lucky to have her.

I sighed a little and looked back up as I stroked Pure Heart’s mane gently. I smiled a little and tried to close my eyes, but I just got a flash of the dragon from before and they snapped back open.

It wasn’t the first time I had killed something, but I hadn’t ever killed someone who was defenseless before. Even if he had asked me to do it and it had freed him from what had to be almost 220 years of torment, something about it still felt, wrong to me. I still felt guilty for taking a life, again.

How many beings had I killed over my life? I had lost count back during the Changeling invasion and then there was what happened in San Prancisco. I had promised to never go to war again to both my family and myself years ago, and maybe that was why I had decided to come on this adventure.

But still, would I ever be able to completely wash the blood off my hooves? Maybe not, maybe I had done too much to be able to make up for the lives I had taken in defense of my friends and Equestria.

But I was going to do everything I could to try.

“Serenity, are you okay?” Pure Heart’s soft voice asked as she looked up at me with her big green eyes.

“I, honestly don’t know,” I admitted as I brushed my mane back a little. “I’m just, thinking about what happened with the Dragon mostly.”

“What did happen in there? I mean, we all saw what happened at the end but…” Pure Heart asked as she let it trail off.

“He tested me, first he tested to see if I would sacrifice my friends or thousands of lives,” I said with a shake of my head.

“What did you do?”

“I picked option 3, I healed you so you could heal the others and then disarmed the bomb,” I said with a chuckle. “What can I say, I don’t believe in the no-win scenario. He then asked me why I want the treasure.”

“What did you say?” Pure asked.

“I was honest,” I said with a smile as I nuzzled her gently and then added jokingly. “I told him that I wanted to blow it all on Blackjack, Mares, and Chems in New Pegasus.”

“Not funny Serenity,” Pure Heart said but she couldn’t help letting out a small giggle as she slugged me lightly. “What did you really tell him?”

“That I have an amazing marefriend and I want to use it to make her happy,” I said as I stroked her mane gently. “That I love her and would do anything for that, even go to the ends of the earth and track down a treasure to give her a happy life.”

“Serenity, you know you don’t need to do that right?” Pure Heart asked as she looked up at me with a smile. “All I need to have a happy life is you. I love you and that’s really all I need to be happy.”

I sighed and closed my eyes as I gently wrapped my wings around her. She sighed happily as I held her close to my body. She was right of course, we already had everything we needed in each other.

“Yeah, I know, but still it’s going to be a great adventure,” I said with a smile as I nuzzled her gently. “I’m just glad I have you with me on this journey. I feel like the luckiest mare in the whole world to have you with me.”

“No, that’s not true,” Pure Heart said as she slid up my body and gave me a kiss on the lips.

“What, you don’t think I’m the luckiest mare in the world?” I asked with a smirk.

“Nope, because I am,” Pure Heart said with a chuckle as she rubbed her nose against mine. “I’ve got a beautiful and smart Pegasus mare who would do anything to protect me. I can’t imagine how my life could be better and no treasure is going to change that.”

I smiled and nodded a little and nuzzled her. “So, why come along then?”

“Because you wanted to go,” Pure said with a smile. “I wanted to go with you and the others because you’re all my friends. We don’t need a treasure to be happy, but we can at least go on a grand adventure together as friends.”

“Yeah, sounds good to me,” I said and sighed happily as I held her close.

“So, you never told me what happened with the Dragon, Speckled you called him?” Pure asked and I flinched a little.

“Oh, yeah…” I said with a shake of my head. “He, asked me to kill him because he had been cursed with that form. I really had no idea what to do, I couldn’t even look at him when I did it. It, was sort of a mercy killing I guess, but at the same time, I still feel guilty. I’ve killed so many ponies and Changelings, I just, feel so guilty about all of them. Am I a bad Pony for everything that I’ve done?”

“Serenity,” Pure Heart said as she nuzzled me gently. “You were put into a bad position when you were a foal and you did what you could to protect your home from the Changelings.You did it because you believed it was the right thing to do at the time, and that’s something I’ve always loved about you. You only ever did what you believed was right, I know you’re going to be okay, we’ll be with you every step of the way.”

“And what about Speckled?” I asked. “I killed him… he asked me to and I couldn’t refuse his request, what does that say about me?”

“What did he tell you?”

“He told me that he missed his loved ones,” I said with a sigh. “That this curse kept him from seeing them. I guess, he wasn’t really alive at all, I felt pity for him more than anything else.”

“Then, it sounds like you did him a favor,” Pure Heart said as she gently placed her hoof on my chest. “You let him rest so he could make it back to his loved ones. It wasn’t easy for you I’m sure, but, I think you made the right decision.”

I smiled a little and nuzzled her. “What did I ever do to deserve an amazing marefriend like you?”

“I don’t know, but I’m glad you did it,” Pure Heart said with a chuckle as she nuzzled me gently. “So, what do you say, are you going to be able to sleep now?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I said with a soft smile as I laid back as Pure Heart snuggled with me.

I closed my eyes, and for what almost felt like the first time in a long time, I slept soundly.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Spirit Calmer.
Details: You’ve started to see the strange other world of spirits, whether or not you can understand it is another question entirely. You get a boost to perception when it comes to interacting with strange phenomena.

Chapter 3: Ghost Town

“The farther backward you can look,
The farther forward you will see.”
-Winston Churchill.

“Come on you two, we need breakfast, you can make out later,” Calypso’s voice said from outside the tent as my eyes fluttered open.

“Ugh, what time is it?” Pure Heart asked with a yawn as she levitated up my PipBuck to check the time. “Dang it, its almost 0930, why did we sleep in?”

“Because we forgot to pack the alarm clock?” I suggested with a chuckle as Pure Heart tossed me my PipBuck and started gathering up her things.

“Hey why does this taste so awful? Oh wait that’s because I made it.” Fishy chuckled weakly.

“Well, it sounds like we better not make them wait much longer,” Pure Heart said to me.

“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe we should have or own breakfast before we serve them,” I said loudly enough for them to hear and gave Pure a wink as I leaned in and nibbled on her ear, a very sensitive spot that made her let out a moan.

“Mmm, yesss, more Serenity, more!” Pure Heart called out. “I want you so badly.”

“Oh, but what about our friends?” I asked with a grin as I bit down a little harder.

“Mmm, they can wait, or eat Go Fish’s terrible cooking, lovers take precedence,” Pure Heart said with another moan as I ran my wings along her back slowly, brushing them against her flank.

“Hey Callie have you seen Crow?” Go Fish called out.

“No, can’t say that I have,” Calypso answered. “Where do you think he went?”

“I don’t know he seemed pretty upset when I took over the watch.” Go Fish answered “He said something about I refuse to fail again.”

“You don’t think…” Pure Heart asked as I released her ear from my muzzle.

“I really hope not,” I said with a shake of my head. “Crow, are you in here?”

I saw or I thought I did a little spider skittering out.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Pure Heart screamed at the sight of the Spider and levitated up a bag to try and squish it.

“Pure, calm down, what if its Crow?” I pointed out.

“WELL IF IT IS HE SHOULDN’T BE A FREAKIN’ SPIDER!” Pure screamed.

“Something wrong?” Crow looks in the tent from the outside. Looking at the spider. “I heard screaming.”

That was all Pure Heart needed as she slammed the bag down on the spider but it just skittered out of the way and out of the tent. I held her close and she was breathing heavily.

“Sorry, Pure’s terrified of spiders,” I said.

“Well I went out hunting and found myself some meat.” He set down a bloody bag. “Pretty nasty creatures out here. Also that spider is just a baby.. I have seen bigger. Oh Serenity lets avoid the caves.” He chuckled smirking

“We’re going into the mountains, I don’t know how easy that will be,” I pointed out as Pure started to calm down and I gave her a kiss on the nose. “Come on Pure, everything’s going to be okay, let’s go make them breakfast before Fishy gives Calypso food poisoning.”

“Yeah, okay,” Pure said.

“Oh come on!! I did a good job this time, I didn’t set anything on fire. Other then the tip of my left wing.” Fishy shouted out.

“Uh I wasn’t gone that.. Long..” Crow softly said lifting the bloody bag up and setting it back down away from us.

“Okay, from now on I cook all meals, or at least we keep Fishy away from the fire,” Pure Heart said as she shook her head and started making breakfast. “Its safer that way.”

“I agree,” Crow nodded. “Would you like some help Pure Heart? I know a thing or two about cooking.”

“Sure,” Pure said with a nod. “Serenity, Callie, make sure Go Fish doesn’t make it to the fire. I’m sure Callie can think of some way to distract her.”

I chuckled a little as Calypso blushed and shook her head a little. “Yeah, yeah, very funny, how was breakfast by the way?”

I blushed and the light blue Pegasus just laughed at that. “Well, you see, we were…”

“Don’t bother, besides Pure’s a whinnier, we’d have known,” Calypso said which made Pure stumble a little as she blushed deeply. “Come on, we’ve got a job to do.”

Crow chuckled. “Now let’s see if I remember that I packed it.” Crow looks through is bags and brings out a strange salt. “Ah I got it Pure.” He sets the salt shaker down.

Fishy came up to me and whispered in my ear. “I have noticed something Crow and Pure heart seem to be very close. Crow barely can stand me.”

“Pure was the first one to really treat Crow like a pony,” I said with a soft smile as I looked back at my marefriend and the Changeling.

“Oh I remember my mothers tried to make me talk to him when he first showed himself. I am still kind of scared of him.” Go Fish admitted.

“He’s not bad,” I said with a shrug. “Trust me, I fought Changelings, but I also fought alongside one. If I can work with him and try and be his friend so can you. Pure’s got a talent for seeing the good in others, as long as they aren’t spiders.”

“Just how did he get those scars? They look like he was hit by some nasty creatures.” Fishy said like she didn’t know.

“It was during the war,” I said as I looked between the two. “At the Battle of Thunderhead.”

“Oh, yeah I remember now,” Calypso said. “He distracted General Cloud Chaser’s forces so Scootaloo and company could get into Stable 102. Mom gave him the Silver Thunderbolt for that.”

Go Fishes eyes open wide. “He almost died… to save me and Callie? No pony told me this.. Not even my mothers.”

“I can’t really explain that,” I said with a shrug. “It was in Scootaloo’s book, he’s lucky he made it out of that alive, but I’m glad he did. He’s a nice guy.”

“My ears are burning. I think I am being talked about.” Crow chuckled.

“Hey, breakfast is ready,” Pure Heart said with a smile as she waved us over.

I smiled as I sat down on the ground as Pure Heart passed the food out. I smiled a little as I looked over at Go Fish and Calypso who were talking quietly before Pure Heart sat down next to me and I wrapped my wing around her gently and started eating.

“Mmm, if you keep cooking like this I may just have to marry you so I get it every day when we get back,” I said with a chuckle.

“Oh, is that the only reason you’d marry me?” Pure asked as she slugged me lightly with a chuckle.

Crow seemed to be working on cooking his meat just like he did when he helped Pure. Using the strange same salt. Go Fish walked over to the Changeling she seemed nervous and Crow just stared up at her.

“Yes spawn of Blackjack?” Crow simply said.

Go Fish seemed very unsure taking a deep breath. “D...did you really risk your life to save me and Calypso.”

Crow sighed putting down the meat to let it cook. “Kid back then I was in it for the glory. Almost dying put things in perspective. That I should be doing what I did not for glory but to save lives. So yes I did it to save you sp..I mean Go Fish. But please I am no ponies hero. I wasn’t a hero when Tiria died and after watching her die from afar. I felt less like a hero, All I can think of sometimes is that day.. Watching her give birth on her bed. Then I saved you and maybe as she looks down upon me.. She forgives me for not being able to protect her.”

“I… um.. Could you tell me about her then?” Go Fish asked.

“What’s to tell a wolf who fought the Enclave. Just like every other creature during that time. It’s just watching one die while giving birth then you know the limits of life.” Crow said nodding. “Now please kid let me get back to making my food.” He smiled nodding to Go Fish and went back to cooking.
Go Fish sat with us and she seemed sad like she treated him poorly. Taking the food that was made.

Calypso sat down next to her and put her wing around Go Fish gently and nuzzled her gently. “Its going to be okay Fishy.”

“Yeah it will be.. Just I never knew that about him.” She looks back to Crow. “I never knew he fought the Enclave before. I wonder what else he could tell us.”

“You never know,” I said and stretched out a bit. “Well, let’s eat, we need to get going. I’m sure you can ask him more later.”

00000

I flapped my wings lightly as I flew above the desert floor, adjusting myself as I went up the side of a sand dune. Sometimes I enjoyed just getting out there and stretching my wings a bit before I finally flew up and took to the skies to scout out a bit.

I flew up higher before resting on a cloud for a moment as I looked out at the desert as it stretched out. I could still make out the shape of the mountains that were our destination in the distance.

The Dragon Lands were beautiful from the air, I could see the ocean behind us and what looked like a jungle in the distance. I hadn’t expected it to be this large or varied, it wasn’t too different from Equestria in that regard.

As I took off again and prepared to turn around to meet up with my friends I paused when I saw something in the distance. It looked like a gathering of buildings, like a settlement or something, that might be worth checking out.

I paused a little, it almost felt like there was something wrong, but I pushed it out of my mind as I turn back and flew towards where my friends were waiting and came in for a landing.

“Did you find anything?” Pure asked.

“We’re still a few days out from the mountains,” I said. “But I spotted what looks like a settlement not far from here. Maybe we should swing by there and see if we can get any trading done, or at least some water, any objections?”

“Maybe I can get some more scotch there.” After Go Fish said this of course Crow smacked her over the head. “Ow what did I say?!”

“It’s to get something that we need. Not something so you can indulge your I need to be drunk.” Crow added. He seemed pretty angry at Go Fish and it was odd to see him angry at some pony. “I am going to go on ahead Serenity.” Crow turned into a Raven and flew off.

“Why do you think he turns into a Raven instead of a Crow?” Calypso commented out loud.

“You know, I don’t know,” I said with a shrug as we started walking again. I checked the maps for a moment before adjusting our course in the direction of the town.

“Why does he act like he dislikes me?” Go Fish asked.

“I don’t think he dislikes you,” Pure said speaking up. “Crow has had a difficult life and doesn’t always open up to others easily. Especially ponies, it wasn’t easy to get him to open up to me, but he came around eventually, I’m sure he will to you too Fish.”

“I see I guess I am expecting him to be open to me too soon. Just I wish I could understand why his life was so awful. Changing into something different would be fun.” Go Fish added.

“Look, he, has his reasons, okay?” Pure asked with a sigh. “He confided in me and I don’t want to betray his trust. I’ll talk to him about it, but you have to give him time and everything will be okay.”

I smiled a little and placed my wing over my marefriend. She really was an amazing mare, she had helped me and Crow. Maybe it was because we had some things in common, I guess in that regard I understood what Crow was going through.

Maybe we could all help him in some way, if he’d open up to us.

“So, did you see anything about this settlement?” Calypso finally asked. “Any ponies or whatever?”

“Well, no but I was pretty far away,” I said with a shrug as we headed towards the town. “It felt weird though, it might’ve just been my imagination.”

“Well we are in a land of Dragons.” Go Fish said chuckling.

“Good point,” I said with a chuckle as we kept walking through the desert towards the town.

00000

“So we were about to…” I was saying as we reached the town and stopped in mid-sentence.

The town was empty, and it looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. There were a few skeletons here and there that looked equine (I couldn’t tell the species looking at them but they weren’t Unicorns or Pegasi), along with a few young dragon skeletons here and there.

As we reached the center of the town there was a large pile of things being piled up as Crow came into view with more things to be added to the pile.

“What in the Fates happened here…” Calypso said as she looked around.

“From what I have seen either a sickness or a battle.” Crow added. “I even saw little foal like bones. Now a battle would have caused some buildings to fall or burn. But it’s to clean so a sickness. But I found a good amount of canned food and other things.” He nodded.

“Why are you gathering all this?” Go Fish seemed upset.

Crow blinked. “Uh well one how I learned to live through this land. You take what no one else has taken. Then you use what you can and sell what you can’t simple right?” He looked to me. “Right?”

“I mean, yes, that’s what we normally do,” I said with a shake of my head. “But something about this town feels, wrong.”

“Of course it does. Everything is empty and dead.” Go Fish said scared put she cocked her guns. “We need to be ready.”

Crow sighed shaking his head. “Relax I searched all over I didn’t see anything.”

“I kind of agree with Serenity and Go Fish here actually,” Calypso said, her tone turning a little somber for a moment. “I don’t know, there’s just something here that worries me. I think we should just leave it alone.”

Crow sighed. “Alright should we burn this place down just in case?”

“I don’t think so,” Pure Heart said as she knelt down and examined the pile of equipment. “Maybe we should move on, in this kind of world this kind of equipment wouldn’t just be left lying around.”

Go Fish looked through one of the bags. Suddenly Crow’s wings spread out looking around shaking. He grabbed the bag quickly from Go Fish closing it and moving away quickly. He shook like he saw a ghost.

“Crow, did you find anything? Symbols, glyphs, anything around here that might give us a clue?” Calypso asked, she was suddenly on edge, and that worried me.

“I saw Zebra glyphs in one of the buildings. Then I had the urge to grab all these things and bring them all here. I never looked in them.”

Go Fish backed away quickly from the bags.

“Leave the bags, let me see the glyphs,” Calypso said.

Crow nodded. “This way.” Crow leads us into the town and into a building that looks like a town hall. Inside the town hall the entire inside has carvings from zebras “Here you go.”

Calypso studied them and her eyes went wide. “We have to get out of here, now.”

“Why, what’s going on?” I asked, I didn’t know any Zebra glyphs, but whatever she saw seemed to terrify her.

“These Glyphs, they don’t have much of a translation, but they roughly mean Voicestealer or Shapeshifter,” Calypso said, she still sounded afraid. “Its an old Zebra Legend, or, so we thought, we have to get out of here, now.”

“I won’t argue with that at all.” Go Fish yelled. She lifted up in the air and flew towards the door.

And before she could make it the door slammed shut in front of her face. I straightened out my rifles as we all looked around, ready for anything that might happen.

Crow shifted into a large bear standing with us back to back with Go Fish freaking out but still acting brave. Of course her eyes could tell otherwise. “What fun..eh?” Crow said laughing like he was enjoying this. But of course it was a way to keep himself from well losing it.

“Alright, calm down everyone,” Calypso said as she walked over and hugged Go Fish. “They won’t go after us… not yet at least. If it's what I believe it is, they won’t come until nighttime, and we’re trapped in here until then.”

“So, what are we going to do?” I asked as I looked over at Calypso.

“If it’s called this town home, it won’t follow us as long as we don’t take any items from the town out of it,” Calypso said as she started going through her bags. “If we can wait it out for tonight, the spell will have worn off by morning and we should be able to escape.”

“Should be able to?” Pure Heart asked, she was trying not to let the fear show in her voice but we could all hear it. “What do you mean should?”

“Look, we are not dealing with a pony, we are not even dealing with a dragon or a Zebra,” Calypso said as she gestured over to Pure Heart. “I’ll need some of the herbs you have to counteract that thing.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“The Zebras have a name for it, but I dare not utter it here in fear of bringing it upon us,” Calypso said. “So, there is only one thing we can call it, Skinwalker.”

“Wait I remember that zebra teaching you all this. I don’t remember her name sadly.” Go Fish said. “I think i was not paying much mind during a lot when you were doing her teachings.”

“Eana yes,” Calypso said with a slight smile. “She was a Starkatteri Shaman that was one of our tutors growing up before the Enclave War broke out. Since unlike somepony I actually paid attention, I know how to protect us from this thing.”

“Wait, why was a Zebra teaching you about how to fight… Skinwalkers? When you were what, 9 years old at the most?” Pure Heart asked.

“There are a lot of spirits in Equestria, some are good, some are bad, others are just neutral,” Calypso said. “And given some, reports of Go Fish’s mother’s encounters with one such spirit, she was concerned about her attracting more.”

Crow chuckles. “Leave it to Blackjack to be seeing the spirits of the dead.” Go Fish turned to look at Crow she had an angry look on her face.

“Why do you dislike my mother so much?!” She yelled. Crow was suddenly taken aback by this.

“Calm down Go Fish, this isn’t helping anyone, Crow didn’t mean anything by that,” Pure said softly.

Crow looked away seeming to go away from the others to stay by himself. Go Fish snorted she looked very angry but watched Crow go away and sighed saying softly. “Well there goes him trying to open up.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Pure Heart said as she started to walk towards Crow, I sighed and got to my hooves and followed her.

Right now tensions were high, I understood why. This wasn’t easy to deal with, but right now we shouldn’t be at each other’s throats. If there was a, Skinwalker or whatever out there then we had to keep our heads on straight.

I glanced back at Go Fish and Calypso who were talking as we headed over to where Crow was.

“Hey Crow, are you okay?” Pure asked.

Crow lifted his head. “Truthfully I am scared Pure Heart. I have never been locked in a place like this before. I was this scared even during the war. I knew I would have either died or come out of the war worse than I did.” I finally got a good look at the scars one of them went from his neck all the way down to his stomach.

“Crow, we’re all scared,” Pure said as she placed her hoof gently on his shoulder. “We’re in unknown territory facing off against some... thing from Zebra stories. How could we not be scared? But here’s the thing, we’re stronger because we’re together, and if we’re going to survive this, we have to work together to make sure we don’t become a meal of this thing. We all have to.”

“The reasons I tend to insult Go Fish’s mother. Is well if I insulted Scootaloo when I always felt scared.. What would that do? You ponies are strange to me of course I understand you most of all Pure Heart. Also why you love this warrior beside you. Just I do it to keep myself from losing it.”

“Well, tell that to Go fish,” I said. “We’re all in this together, we need to be able to trust each other and work together if we’re going to get through this. Not just this either, we’ve got a long trek ahead of us, we need to work together and avoid any problems if we want to finish this.”

“You see why I love her,” Pure said as she nuzzled me gently. “And I’d like to think I understand you too, we both do right Seren?”

I smiled a little and nodded.

“I got an idea then.” Crow softly said. “Come with me.” He walked to the middle of the room. “We need to learn to trust each other. So I got an idea..” He took a deep breath Looking to Pure Heart. “To keep ourselves from losing it. Let’s be open about our lives. I don’t normally push myself to do this... But if I can keep myself from going nuts... Then I will open up to you all like I did to Pure Heart.”

Go Fish looked to Calypso. “I guess we should?” She seemed unsure.

“I’m fine with that,” Pure Heart said and Calypso nodded.

“There’s, really not much I can tell you guys, my life’s pretty much an open book,” I said with a sigh and a shake of my head.

“Well I was born in a empty hive. Of course there were other Changelings there but they mutated into something even worse. But I ran and ran and grew up on the streets of many places you could say. I even learned to change into different things by well” Looks over to the side. “By watching lizards.”

Go Fish chuckled. “I um well Oh Caly knows this. I’m well I feel I am in the Shadow of my mother. I feel I can’t do anything to make her happy. Even though she is always happy for me. Just I feel I am always in her Shadow.”

“I spent my whole life on a flying city with luxuries most ponies on the ground could only dream of,” Pure Heart said with a sigh. “Some ponies seem to think that means I think I’m better than them. We’re trying to help ponies, but, well it's not always as easy as just parking over a settlement. I, guess I just want to get out there and help ponies, but sometimes it feels like being from where I am doesn’t help them at all.”

Crow nodded. “After almost dying from a creature that I found with others in a stable. I didn’t know what to think. I was very shy when it came to ponies. I was asked to follow those that could help the land. So after Silver Gunner met Scoots he had me follow them. Scoots trusted me with much. Of course you all know how Silver is. You don’t know if he is joking around or joking around.”
Go Fish chuckles. “We talked about the crazy Robot now? The robot that told me and Caly once that if we got together our foal would be a foal called Crazy Eights.”

“Well, your family does tend to name their foals after card games,” Calypso pointed out with a chuckle. “But, yeah, there’s not a lot to tell about me either that isn’t already known. With my parents both being former Presidents, I feel like I’ve got a lot of pressure on me to be something I don’t want to be. They don’t really care what I do though, but it doesn’t stop everypony else from acting like I’m going to be some great pony when I grow up. I just want to be me, and take everything one day at a time, you know?”

Go Fish nodded. “Oh and Caly remember when he walked in on us during that one time.. We um got drunk?”

Crow face hooves. “Now I am sorry if I seem to be mean when it comes to Blackjack. But have you have to admit she makes it very easy.” He chuckles. “Because she dressed as a jester once during a nightmare night.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that,” I said with a chuckle.

Go Fish sighed. “I remember that to.” She sighed. “Look Crow I am sorry for getting upset.”

Crow shrugged. “I understand perfectly.” He shifted into a ferret curling up. “I feel less scared now.”

“Good, but we’re far from out of the woods,” Calypso said as she finished making what she was making. “This should negate the curse placed on this building, but it won’t stop the spell. We’re still trapped here.”

“I think, we’re going to be okay,” I said with a soft smile as I looked back at the others. “We’re going to be just fine as long as we stick together.”

“As long as you all don’t start making out. I will not try to find a way out through the wall.” Crow laughed.

“I dunno, that might not be a bad thing, we’d get out of here sooner that way,” I said with a chuckle as I leaned in and gave Pure Heart a kiss on the lips.

Go Fish laughed. “Maybe it will help us get out of here sooner.”

“Or at least make the time less unpleasant,” Calypso added.

“We could be like the ponies of old and sing.” Crow smirked.

“What old song is that?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Hmm why not just a simple song that we all sing hmm?” Crow chuckled. “I have seen some ponies still do it.”

We all just laughed a little. I wrapped my wing gently around Pure Heart as Calypso painted something over the carving from before.

“What does that mean?” Pure asked.

“Sanctuary,” Calypso said with a smile. “It will keep us safe, I hope.”

I nodded and relaxed a little. I hoped she was right, but for now, I just wanted to spend time with my friends.

Crow curled up around my leg and fell asleep.

00000

True to Calypso’s word, as night fell outside the doors opened, but we remained inside the old town hall. We set up our weapons just in case the, thing tried to go for us in here even though Calypso was pretty sure it wouldn’t.

I sighed as I looked out the window towards the ruins of the town around us. “I don’t see anything out there yet, what are we even looking for?”

Go Fish looked to Calypso. “Please tell me we will be alright.” She had a great deal of fear in her voice.

“It will be alright,” Calypso said as she wrapped her wings around Go Fish reassuringly. “It won’t come in here. But it will try and lure us out, we have to do everything we can to make sure we stay in this building until dawn.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be getting much sleep tonight,” Pure said.

“So it will try to use something in our lives to well bring us out?” Crow asked he finally woke back up. “Alright how do we know when it will try?”

“It will sound like loved ones, but it won’t be, normal,” Calypso said with a shake of her head. “It will try and lure us out by mimicking their voices. If you see one, they’re, not normal, they can look like ponies or animals, but they don’t look normal. Like a dog that lacks a tail or black eyes.”

“Yep, definitely not sleeping tonight,” Pure said as she shivered a little while I wrapped my wing around her gently.

Go Fish shook but she tried to stay strong of course it was easy to see that she was about to scream.

“Shhh, it’s going to be okay Fishy,” Calypso said as she held the grey Pegasus close to her. “I’ll keep you safe, I’ll keep us all safe. We don’t have anything to worry about.”

I shivered a little. It was ironic really, I had run headlong into battle when I shouldn’t have, but right now this was what scared me the most. Not just the Skinwalker out there, the fact that I could lose one or more of my friends.

I knew that I had to keep them safe, no matter what. I looked over at Calypso and gave her a nod which she returned.

“We’re going to make it,” I said with a tone of finality in my voice. “We’re not going to let that, thing get at at us. We’re stronger than any creature out there.”

“ Slithis. ” A voice softly said and the Changelings ears looking around. Crow looked around he looked like he knew that voice. “Oh Slithis come home love.. The eggs need you.”

“What’s going on?” I asked as I looked around. “Who’s Slithis?”

“Oh Slithis please come home.. We need you my love.” Crow looked very scared and looked around with a great deal of fear. “We all need you Slithis.”

“Crow, don’t listen to it, it's trying to fool you,” Calypso said. “It’s not really them, they’re just trying to trick you!”

“Slithis my love.. Please come home to us.” Crow broke down sobbing holding his legs over his head.

“No you died! I saw it... I saw them kill you!” Crow sobbed loudly

“Please come home father.” A younger voice sounded.

Pure stepped forward and placed her hoof on Crow’s shoulder. “Crow… it’s going to be okay, they’re not really there. You’re strong enough to work through this, I know you are, I’ve seen it.”

Crow sobbed softly. “I saw them.. All die in the hooves of raiders. So young… All that is left is memories.”

Pure hugged him gently as she held him close to her. “I know Crow, but you need to hold onto the good memories. Don’t let that thing out there use your memories against you and you’ll be fine.”

Crow slowly calmed down. “Thank you.. Pure. I guess I would have to face it sooner or later.” He sniffed nuzzling into Pure, hugging her tightly

I smiled a little, Pure really did have a good heart and I was glad that she was able to help him. I noticed that the voices were gone and I moved towards the window again and looked outside. For a moment, I swear I saw something moving but before I could get to my rifle it was gone, I thought I saw a pair of antlers but the town was empty..

“It’s definitely out there, and its close,” I said as I looked back at them. “Stay on your guard, and don’t trust your ears.”

Go Fish chuckled weakly. “At this time I wish I didn’t learn the past of somepony from these things.”

“I will explain after we get out of here.” Crow said with a growl. “This creature is something else.”

“Yeah, definitely,” I said with a shiver as I took out some binoculars as I scanned the town. “Remind me to get a sniper rifle if we ever find a town that’s not overrun and sells guns.”

“Noted,” Pure said as she released Crow after a moment. “Do you see anything out there?”

“No, I don’t…” I said as my eyes fell on a shape. When I managed to focus on it I fell back, standing down on the other side of the street was a golden Unicorn mare with a white mane and a metal spine and wings. “No… No… it can’t be… why would they…”

“Serenity what’s wrong?” Crow asked.

“Serenity…” A mare’s voice echoed from around us, a mare’s voice I knew all too well even if I hadn’t heard it in years. “Why do you hide away from me Serenity? It’s been so long since I saw you my little pony, don’t you want to see me again?”

That voice, it didn’t seem normal, but it was one I would never forget. The pony it belonged to had died a few years back, and it had taken the help of Pure Heart and my friends to get me out of it.

The voice of Vanilla Cream, my adopted mother.

Go Fish blinked. “Serenity.” She quickly stood up wrapping her wings around me. Crow hissed in anger yelling aload.

“Damn you creature! Stop this!” Crow yelled in a hissing voice his tongue sprawling out.

“Serenity, its going to be okay,” Pure Heart said as she moved in close and hugged me. “Tune it out, don’t listen to it.”

“I’ve been waiting for you for so long, why did you leave me Serenity?” The distorted abomination of my mother’s voice said again. “You were such a wild child, you weren’t even there when..”

“SHUT UP!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “YOU AREN’T HER, YOU WEREN’T THERE! I WAS THERE, I HELD HER HOOF WHEN SHE TOOK HER LAST BREATH! YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER YOU ABOMINATION AGAINST ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD!”

Tears streamed down my face as I said those words. I hated to admit it, and I would never admit it to my friends, but part of me wanted it to be her. Part of me wanted her to really be out there so I could run into her waiting forelegs and into her embrace.

I had to remind myself that it wasn’t her, that it couldn’t be her no matter how much I wished it. My eyes stung with the years as I squeezed them closed, trying to block out anything that came from the creature.

“We are here for you Serenity your mother was a wonderful mare.” Go Fish nuzzled into me. Crow did the same.

“I may have never met her face to face at the time. But I am sure she was..” Crow at least tried to be kind.

“I was a terrible daughter to her…” I said softly as I shuddered. “I was always getting into trouble and ran off to fight the Changelings when I shouldn’t have. We were lucky to have the good times together we did before… before she died…”

“Serenity, calm down,” Pure said gently as she gently pulled me close to her chest. “She loved you anyway, she loved you no matter what mistakes you made. Isn’t that true?”

“Yes,” I said and sniffed a little. “I just…”

“You’re stronger than you think Serenity.” Go Fish softly said.

“She doesn’t want you to remember her like this,” Pure Heart said as she nuzzled me gently. I sighed sadly as I rest my head on the Unicorn’s chest.

I felt as helpless as a newborn foal. Even knowing what had been out there, I had let it get to me, I had gotten angry at it. But the experience had broken me, it wasn’t easy to have lost her, especially because I had been by her side when it happened.

“I’m sorry mom…” I said softly as I shivered a little and closed my eyes as I cried more. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be a better daughter…”

“Oh Serenity. I wish I c..” Go Fish ears perk up as she looked around. “I don’t hear anything anymore”

“Oh little Go Fish.” A stallions voice sounded out.

“No….” Go Fish started to shake. “I have to get out of here!”

“Oh come on no use hiding. Be a good little spawn of that worthless mare and come out like a good girl.” Go Fish spread her wings and started to fly into the air looking for a way out.

“No.. He found me!!”

“Go Fish!” Calypso said as she tackled the other Pegasus to the ground. “Don’t do it, use that space between your ears for once!”

“Oh Go Fish come out. Do you want your mother to face punishment if you don’t?” Go Fish shook so much whatever or whoever this was scared the living Celestia out of her.

“Fishy, shh, calm down,” Calypso said as she held Go Fish down. “Its okay, he’s not going to get us again. Remember, he was thrown in prison for kidnapping and other war crimes? He’s not here, he’s not going to hurt you or anypony ever again.”

Go Fish sobbed nuzzling into Calypso. “I dream of him… almost every night sometimes… I wish I could have be braver and stayed in hiding.”

“Fishy, do you remember what happened?” Calypso asked softly. “You jumped out to try and save me when they came for us. You did everything you could to protect me because you thought they wanted just me. You set aside your own fear to protect your best friend, you were brave that night, braver than anypony I’ve known.”

Go Fish nodded weakly standing up spreading her wings out. “Leave us alone!! Calypso and I finally have a wonderful life away from you and the others. I even talked to the stallion that took us. He was only following orders he never wished to hurt me or Calypso!!”

Calypso put her wing around Go Fish as the sound of the stallion’s voice faded away. She rested her head on the grey Pegasus’ shoulder before she leaned up and gave her a long kiss on the lips.

“My hero,” she finally said after breaking the kiss.

“I try... Who would be...” Go Fish looked over to Pure heart.

“Yeah… Pure you’re the only one left given that Go Fish’s kind of doubled as both her’s and Calypso’s,” I said as I held the Unicorn close for a moment. “This thing has to be getting desperate at this point, we have to be careful,”

“Right,” Pure said as she snuggled with me a little. “But I’ve got all of you right here by my side, I’ll be fine… I hope.”

“Alright, be on your guard,” Calypso said. “We don’t know…”

“Pure Heart,” a new voice echoed, this one was a stallion’s voice that I didn’t recognize as Pure Heart’s ears suddenly perked up. “You’ve become so grown up Pure Heart. Why don’t you come give your old man a hug?”

“No… please anypony but that,” Pure Heart said softly as she buried her face into my chest fur as I wrapped my wings around her gently.

“What’s wrong kiddo? Aren’t you happy to see your dad again?” The distorted stallion’s voice asked. “Come on, I’m not gonna bite. You’re my little girl, you don’t know how long I’ve waited to see you again.”

Go Fish stood back looking to Calypso. “Pure I’m sure if he was who he was he would be proud of you.” She softly said.

“Just come out here, let me see you for myself,” the voice that had to be of Pure’s father said. “And bring your little friends out too, I’d like to meet them.”

But as he spoke the voice became more and more distorted. It became deeper and then more voices started to join it, some that we had heard before others were ones we had never heard before.

“Its losing its hold,” Calypso said as she gave me a nod. “Serenity, Crow, you two are the best shots. Keep an eye out, don’t listen to anything its saying, we’re going to have to be careful but the night is almost over.”

I nodded a little and moved in and readied my rifle as Crow did the same. I kept a close eye out for anything that might be coming towards us.

“Crow she needs you!!” It was the voice of watcher. “She is laying here.. Dying come out and save her.”

“Crow.” Crow’s eyes open wide tears streaming down his face shaking his head. “Please come out and save me.”

Crow yelled in pain. “No she is dead. She died.. Giving birth.. I can’t watch that again!!”

“Serenity, come on out, I just want to see my filly again,” Vanilla’s voice said again as the voices continued to echo.

“No, I’m not going to listen to you…” I said as I looked around and finally spotted it, and when I did a chill ran up and down my spine.

It looked vaguely like a pony or maybe a zebra. Only it was more, unnatural, almost skin and bones with no tail. It had torn antlers on its head and looked at us with hollow eyes.

“There, there it is!” I said and raised my rifle and fired several shots at it. “You’re not taking my friends you freak!”

Crow lifted his rifle and fired. “You will not use my families voices again!!”

There was a loud scream, one that sounded unnatural but at the same time almost like a pony as the creature seemed to melt into the ground. I lowered my rifle and let out a sigh of relief.

“Is it dead?” I asked and looked back at Calypso.

“Not really, but it will take time to come back,” Calypso said with a shake of her head. “It would require a Shaman to cleanse this town of the creature. And I’m afraid I’m not qualified to do that, but for now we should be okay.”

“Oh that was… wait... Calypso you kissed me and called me your hero does that mean?” Go Fish looked at Calypso.

“Well, umm…” Calypso said and rubbed the back of her head a little. “I was… oh who am I kidding, Go Fish, I love you, I’ve always loved you.”

“Duh…” Go Fish just stared at her. Her grey face turning bright red.

“Oh for the love of!!” Crow smacked Go Fish over the head.

“OW! I love you too…”

“About time you two admitted it,” I said with a chuckle and shook my head as I went and shut the door to the town hall. “You’re cute together and its been obvious since we met you two.”

“I thought we did tell each other we cared for each other on the boat.. But I think it wasn’t good enough.” Go Fish had a smile form on her face. “ But why did it have to be this place of insanity to finally hear it?”

“Well now that is over.” Crow said trying to get the rest of us to ignore what we heard it seems. “Shall we rest?”

“Crow, we’re going to have to talk about your past at some point,” I said with a sigh as I made sure the door was secure and then laid out the bedroll for me and Pure Heart to share. “But I think we could all use a good night’s sleep after all of that.”

Crow sighed he rolled out his own bedroll and lay on it. Go Fish did the same and lay on it to give space for Calypso.

Calypso smiled as she laid down next to Go Fish and snuggled up to her as she gently draped her wing over the grey Pegasus. She leaned in and whispered something in her ear and then nuzzled her gently.

Go Fish’s face turned bright red and lay her head down closing her eyes.

I just chuckled a little and snuggled with Pure Heart as I closed my eyes. “Good night Pure, I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Pure said as we drifted off to sleep together.

00000

“Serenity…” A soft voice said from around me as my eyes opened, I found myself in a white void. “Serenity, it’s time to wake up.”

“Who’s there?” I asked as I looked around, was this the Skinwalker coming back to get me? “Who are you? I swear, if you’re Discord and you say I’m dead and you are God, we are going to have words.”

A form appeared before me and my eyes went wide. It had the same golden fur and white mane as before, but it didn’t have the same cybernetic implants. She gave me a kind smile as she opened her forelegs as if waiting for a hug.

“Mom, is that really you?” I asked softly as I looked around, half expecting it to be a trap.

“Yeah, it’s really me,” Vanilla said with a sad smile. “I saw what happened with the Skinwalker so I don’t blame you for being uneasy. What can I do to prove that it’s really me and not another imposter?”

I paused a moment, it would have to be something only she and I would know. The Skinwalker seemed to know our fears and anxieties, but it didn’t know a lot of the details. Go Fish and Calypso had taken advantage of that with their encounter.

“When I was 6, you and I got into a fight and then I tried to run away,” I said softly. “You had just told me I was adopted. When you and the others found me, what did you tell me after I had calmed down and come out of hiding?”

“That it didn’t matter if I adopter you or gave birth to you,” Vanilla answered with a smile. “Because you were my daughter and I loved you no matter what and that was never going to change.”

I started to cry as I ran over and hugged Vanilla tightly. She smiled a little as she hugged back and cradled me gently in her forelegs. I buried my muzzle in her chest as I let the tears flow out, there was no doubt in my mind that this was her.

She started to sing, a tune from my childhood that she had always sung to me but one I hadn’t heard in years.

“Baby mine, don’t you cry.
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
Never to part, baby of mine.”

“But, how are you here?” I asked. “Or, is this all a dream?”

“No, I’m really here,” Vanilla said as she gave me a soft smile. “This town you’re in, the veil between the living and the dead is incredibly thin. It makes it possible to visit from Elysium, and after what happened I felt like you needed a little mother daughter time.”

“Mom, I’m so sorry…” I said softly. “I tried to make up for everything I did when I was young in the time we had left but, it feels like I didn’t even come close. I was such a terrible daughter, that thing felt so real, like it was really you and I wanted to run off to see it.”

“Shhh, Serenity, calm down,” Vanilla said as she hugged me. “What happened in the past can’t be changed, but I want you to know one thing. I’m proud of you, I’ve always been proud of you even if I wished you wouldn’t run off. You’ve grown into a fine young mare.”

“You’ve really been watching me?” I asked.

“It’s the nature of Elysium,” Vanilla said with a smile. “I wanted to make sure that you’re safe and happy. You’ve got a nice and loving marefriend, friends who have your back, and you’re on a grand adventure. I’m almost envious of that last part, but I know that you’re going to do fine, and you’ve already made me prouder of you than you could ever imagine.”

“I still wish you were here though…” I said softly as I hugged her more. “I wish you could be here to see everything we’re doing.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll always be there,” Vanilla said. “And I’m going to make you a promise. If you and Pure Heart ever tie the knot, somehow, someway, I will be there for it.”

“Thank you,” I said softly as I hugged her. “Thank you for everything you ever did for me, you were the best mom I could’ve asked for.”

“There are two more ponies who want to talk to you,” Vanilla said as she released the hug and gave me a smile. “I love you Serenity, just keep being yourself and you’re going to be just fine.”

“Wait, who else wants to…” I said and stopped as two more figures came into view.

One of them was a golden Pegasus mare with a long red mane and green eyes. The other was a grey Pegasus stallion with a short cropped brown mane and red eyes.

I recognized them immediately, Winter had given me a picture of them during the last days of the Enclave War. Tears started to well up in my eyes again, even if I had never known them, I recognized them for who they were.

My mom and dad.

“Hey Serenity,” the mare said as she offered me a hoof. “I know you don’t remember us, but when Vanilla told us about everything that was happening, we wanted a chance to talk to you ourselves.

“I’ll leave you three alone,” Vanilla said as she started to back off a little. “Harmony, Highwind, this is your moment with Serenity not mine.”

“Don’t be silly,” the stallion, Highwind said with a soft smile. “Vanilla, you raised Serenity as if she was your own daughter. You don’t have anything to worry about, you’re as much a part of our family as anypony else.”

“Yeah,” I finally said as I gave her a smile. “Thank you, this means more to me than you can imagine.”

“We’re glad to see you’ve grown up into a brave young mare,” Harmony said as she pulled me into a hug. “Now, what’s this about running off to the Dragon Lands with your friends?”

“And who’s this Pure Heart pony, should we be worried about that?” Highwind asked.

I chuckled lightly at that as I hugged her back. “We’re doing this because we want to do this as friends. As for Pure Heart, well, she helped me get through a tough time in my life and it moved from there. She’s an amazing mare and she loves me as much as much as I love her.”

“Well, that’s good enough for me,” Harmony said with a chuckle as she looked at Highwind. “What do you think honey, should we go visit her in her dreams next?”

“Well, she is dating our daughter,” Highwind said with a chuckle. “But, what about the Changeling though, Crow right? Do you think he can be trusted after everything that’s happened with the Changelings?”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “He’s a good Changeling and has been through a lot in his life. He just wants to keep others safe and is here to protect us, I would trust him with my life and I already have. He’s not a problem.”

“Yeah, he seems fine to me,” Vanilla said with a smile.

“Alright Serenity, take care of yourself out there,” Highwind said as he ruffled my mane a little. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, just make sure you don’t let yourself get into trouble again okay? We’ll always be watching you.”

“I love you, all of you,” I said with a sigh as I hugged the three of them tightly, tears of happiness were streaming down my face. “I’m so glad I finally got to see you.”

“We’re glad too,” Harmony said with a soft smile. “You’re our daughter, all of our daughter. We’re proud of you and everything you and your friends are doing, we’ve never been prouder of our daughter.”

“Even though I went to war?” I asked.

“You did it because you thought it was the right thing to do,” Highwind said with a shake of his head. “Even if you shouldn’t have done it, we’re proud of your reasons.”

“Now, get out there and find this treasure you’re looking for,” Vanilla said with a grin. “Keep making us proud.”

“I will,” I said with a weak smile as I gave them one last hug before the world around me went white as I returned to reality.

00000

The rest of the night passed without event as we woke up the next morning. I yawned a little and stretched out as I gave the sleeping Pure Heart a gentle kiss on the forehead. She yawned a little as she woke up and gave me a smile.

“Good morning Serenity,” she said with a smile as she snuggled up under my wing.

“Morning Pure,” I said as I pulled her in closer to me. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty good, other than a couple of ponies that said they’re your parents visiting me,” Pure Heart said with a yawn which just made me chuckle. “Reminded me a bit of what my moms put you through.”

I laughed a little at that. “Come on, we should make breakfast before Go Fish wakes up and gets desperate for food again.”

“Crow please speak…” Crow shoved Go Fish away from a moment hissing at her in anger. His bug faced looked drenched in tears. Go Fish backed away gulping and looking to Calypso with a worried look.

“Come on Crow, it’s time to get up,” Pure said as she walked over to the sleeping Changeling. “This isn’t the time to sleep in, we’re already falling behind.”

Crow stared at her he wanted to scream at her. I could tell whatever visited him hit him hard. “I have to see them again… I have to speak to them.” He said in a strained voice.

“Crow, I understand, I saw it too last night,” I said as I realized what he was seeing. “But they wouldn’t want you to spend all your time like this. They’d want you to keep going.”

“Please tell us.. Crow..please?” Go Fish begged.

“I…” Crow looked at me. “You’re not going to let me get away with saying what I don’t want to are you?”

“Crow, you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to,” I said with a sigh. “But I think it would help you if you did tell us.”

Crow sighed and hissed softly. “Alright.” He stood up and rolled up his bed roll. “My name name is Slithis. I was a guard of the hive that I lived in and protected our queen. I fell in love with one of her nurses. It was kind of forbidden in a way the love of a guard and a nurse.” He sighed putting his bag on his back.

“Before I go on do you have any questions?” He asked

We shook our heads a little. “Just keep going,” I said.

“Well like I told Pure Heart. I went behind the Queen’s wishes and well did the pony way and married her. We changed ourselves into ponies and got married. Then…” He looked away. “The war happen. The Queen picked only a few of us to be frozen in a strange bubble to save us. She picked me and my family along with others. Then all I remember is that fateful time boom. I woke up with them years later and learned our home was now a raider base. My children were killed and eaten right in front of me.”

He looked away starting to sob.

Me and Pure hugged him gently. “It’s going to be okay Crow, we’re here for you, we’ll always be here for you,” I said softly. “You’re part of our family now, we all are, right you two?”

“Yeah,” Calypso said with a smile. “One crazy family, but you’re with us.”

Go Fish tried to find something to say with respect. “What was the Scotch like back then?”

“Calypso slap her for me please.” Crow asked

“Fishy, you’re not helping,” Calypso said with a roll of her eyes as she smacked the back of Go Fish’s head.

“OW! Okay sorry I mean.. What happen to your mate?” Go Fish asked.

Crow sighed. “The spell didn’t work to well for her so when the spell ended she was already dead. I went on the run for along time looking for a meal and I mutated a bit to being able to eat meat. Then one fateful day I was found by a flying robot named Watcher. He named me and well asked me to help him. By spying on those he wanted me to watch. Well here I am.”

“Well, we’re glad to have you,” I said and looked at the others who nodded in agreement. “Our group wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“Thank you.” Crow nodded. “It wasn’t easy for me.”

“Well I’m glad you could open up,” Pure said with a smile. “So, how about you help me with breakfast and we get going out of creepsville?”

“Oh I would be happy to. I have everything ready.” He nodded putting all the spices and herbs on the ground.

I smiled as they started making the food. After we finished eating we headed out and left the abandoned town behind.

We had a lot of time to make up for, and it was time to get back on the road.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Family Ties.
Details: You’ve gotten closure on your family thanks to an unexpected source of help as well as formed bonds with your companions. You get an extra boost to damage dealt while fighting with your friends.

Chapter 4: Misty Mountains

“The significance of a myth
Is not easily penned on paper by
Analytical reasoning.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien.

“Wow, that’s… wow,” Pure Heart said as we looked up at the massive mountain range before us. It rose above the desert floor and seemed to go on forever, stretching into the heavens. “Well, I’ve never seen anything this large since Everhoof back in Equestria.”

Go Fish looked up gulping. “Please don’t ask me to fly up there.”

“Serenity, what does the map say?” Calypso asked as she looked over at me.

“Well let’s see,” I said as I took out the maps and compared them. “Well, it says here that there is a path that we can all take through the mountains. It seems to lead to an old mine shaft that should take us further up the mountain and on the trail to Stable 110.”

“Well, that’s good,” Pure said.

“Oh wait, what’s this here…” I said as I pretended to read something closely on the map. “Yes, here we go, it says that ponies named Go Fish must fly up there.”

Go Fish tried to take the map from me. “If that really said that then I will force my hoof into the one who wrote this.”

I laughed as I held the map out of her reach and stuck my tongue out at her. “Do you really want to risk it? I’m the navigator, I think I know what I’m talking about.”

Crow chuckles he sniffs. “Do you smell blood?”

I put the map away and looked around, suddenly on alert. “We should check it out,” I said and gave the others a nod. I could smell something, but not the direction it was coming from. “Crow, can you help us find the source of it?”

Crow turned into a bloodhound sniffing around. He howled and run towards the scent.

“Come on, let’s follow him,” I said as we chased after him and towards whatever the source of the scent was.

We made our way up the mountain a bit until we finally heard the sound of something being attacked. As we came into view of what was going on, the first thing we saw was a massive bipedal monster with long claws and a tail as well as horns growing out of its skull.

Just barely out of view was its victim, a mare with peach colored fur and a darker mane. I couldn’t make out much more than that, though her ears looked a little, off.

“We have no time for you all to get ready to fight this thing.” Crow quickly shifted into a bear charging at the creature roaring loudly.

“Crow stop!” Go Fish yelled. She turned to look at me. “We can’t just let him fight that thing on his own.”

The large creature turned to the bear. It roared loudly at the changeling. When Crow didn’t let up and kept his charging pace. The two clashed they hit loud enough and hard enough that their bodies sounded like rocks hitting each other. The bear reared up slashing his claws on the creature. Both seemed to be evenly matched. Of course, the creature with the horns was a lot bigger than the bear. It reared up fully and screamed in anger spit flying all over as it roared.

That roar didn’t scare the bear that charged at the large creature. Horns formed on the head of the bear while he tried to gore the large thing. The large creature swung its large claws slicing into the back of Crow. Blood and flesh ripped and rent but the changeling didn’t stop its attack. A horn made it into one of the legs of the creature. Another claw went deep into the changelings back rending more flesh and blood drained from his wounds. Crow kept pushing the creature to the edge to push it off.

They finally made it to the edge before the large creature could be pushed another claw smacked the Changeling right in the face. Causing him to fly back a bit on his hind legs. The creature stood on the edge and with one stomp with his front legs, the edge of the mountain gave way causing both creatures to fall as suddenly as it started the battle ended with both of them going over the edge.

“Crow!” I shouted as we ran to the edge.

Go Fish rushed over the edge and looked. “ I don’t see him!!”

After a while, a little bird slowly flew back up and it changed back into Crow. He was badly beaten and bruised he lay there panting deeply and in pain. “Help” He weakly said

Pure Heart rushed over to him and took out a healing potion and some other items before she looked back at me and levitated some healing potions over. “The rest of you go check on the mare, I’ve got this.”

I nodded and grabbed the items before I headed over to where the peach colored mare was lying on the rock. The first thing that drew my attention, however, was her wings, they were a dark red, but they weren’t feathered like mine…

“Is that a Bat Pony?” Calypso asked as she looked a bit surprised. “I knew there was a tribe near here, but I didn’t think one would come out here.”

Go Fish looked at the Bat and then back at Crow. “Crow didn’t even think he went to go save her without even thinking of payment. I mean come on this is Wasteland 101.” The Blackjack in her talking.

“Fishy, the Blackjack in you is showing,” Calypso said as we started working on the bat pony mare.

“What was that thing?” Go Fish asked.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like it,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’m guessing its something unique to the Dragon Lands. I doubt it’s the only one out there, so we need to be careful.”

“Yeah,” Calypso said as she looked thoughtful for a moment. “I talked with Night Shroud a few times before she went back home. I’m trying to remember if she told me about any of the local wildlife.”

“I’m worried we will see more. We are no match for them look what it did to Crow.” Go Fish said

“Figures, we didn’t think to bring something heavier than rifles,” I said with a groan as there was a cough as the bat pony mare’s red eyes fluttered open. “Hey, you’re okay, we’ve got you.”

She looked at us in surprise looking around in a great amount of fear. But she didn’t see the creature that attacked her. “What happen to Death creature?” She softly asked her voice sounded very smooth and gentle.

“A friend of ours risked his life to save you.” Go Fish said.

“You’re both going to be okay,” I said and gave her a reassuring smile. “What happened there? Why were you being attacked by that thing?”

She stood up on her hooves and spread her wings to check them. “I was just coming home after some trading. These creatures sometimes just attack when hungry. So I wish to thank the one that saved me.”

I nodded and looked over to where Pure Heart was working on Crow. “He’s over there with my marefriend. He’s in good hooves, she’s not a doctor but she’s got enough medical training at least.”

The mare stared at Crow her eyes just looked him with hate. “He’s a changeling why are you risking yourselves with that? There is no way that is what saved me.” She was in denial.

Go Fish blinked staring at the bat and then back at Crow. “Uh no he did save you.”

“Yeah, he risked his life, why would we lie about that?” Pure asked as she looked at the bat pony confused. “What’s going on?”

“You can’t be here... Not with him. They will kill him.” She looked at Crow then back at us. “We have been raised to hate Changelings. To the point, he won’t be able to shift in there.”

Crow sighed standing on his hooves. “Well, not the first time I had to deal with something my species did.” He said with a weak smile.

“I’m sure if we just explain the situation…” I started to say when there was the sound of wings flapping and several more Bat Ponies landed around us with their weapons trained on us and especially on Crow.

“All of you lay down your weapons and surrender,” one of them, the obvious leader said. “You’ve trespassed into Harrower territory and are accompanied by a Changeling. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you on the spot.”

“Eclipse the Changeling saved my life.” The bat mare said. “A Death creature attacked me and he risked his life to save me.”

“Don’t listen to her Eclipse she is obsessively under his mind control.” A gangly little mare said whispering in his ear. “We must follow the laws.” I looked at the mare she looked at me her eyes looked evil and green.

We all paused a moment as we looked between each other. I didn’t know what to do, the Bat Ponies looked like they were getting ready to shoot us.

“I give up.” Crow dropped everything. “I will go with you willingly if you leave my friends alone.”

“How do we know they’re not Changelings too?” Eclipse pointed out. “You could all be Changelings for all we know.”

“I call upon the rite of parley as the right of a chieftain's daughter!” Calypso said which made the bat ponies pause as they looked at her in surprise.

The Gangly mare smirked and came out from the group. “Oh, how sweet..” She hissed I could swear she looked like a snake. “Prick them Eclipse just a bit if they bleed green they will be Changelings.”

Eclipse paused a moment but looked at Calypso. “What right do you have to claim parley? What chieftain do you claim by the rite?”

“President Winter Breeze of the Enclave,” Calypso said which made them pause a little. “She met with Elder Dark Star over a decade ago and was acknowledged as a fellow Chieftain. The rite is mine to claim by your laws.”

“Oh, the daughter of such a mare.” The gangly mare hissed. “But the laws are the law.” She pointed her hoof to Crow. “He must be held in Jail and then tried for his crimes!!”

“What crimes?!” Go Fish asked.

“The Crimes of his kind. What they did to us.” She hissed and chuckled.

“We’ll accept your rite of parley,” Eclipse said and looked at the other mare. “No harm will come to her or her companions as long as they are in our lands. However, the rite of parley does not apply to Changelings unless they can prove that they are not guilty of the accused crimes.”

The gangly mare chuckles looking at me with a smirk. “Oh, that is so hard though. No Changeling is pure.” She smirked slithering back into the group.

Crow looked at the mare he saved bowing his head to her. Then looking at the guards. “I will not fight it. I will go with you.”

“And what about you, Chieftain’s daughter, what will you and your companions do?” Eclipse asked.

“I have an idea.” The gangly mare said again. “Let me take them to my chambers I shall treat them with honor and respect. Till the elder can see them.” She smirked.

I didn’t like the sound of that, there was something about this mare that made me incredibly uneasy.

“I'd rather go with somepony…” The bat mare covered Go Fish mouth and looked at us shaking her head. Mouthing. ‘Do it.’

“Fine, we’ll accept your, gracious offer,” Calypso said.

The mare smirked it was the smirk of a snake. I could swear she was one. Her forked tongue shot out of her mouth. “Oh, I am honored daughter of the Enclave.” She said in a hiss.

Go Fish gulped.

“Now Eclipse make sure no one harms this changeling. If he is guilty then he will be put to death. But we can’t allow the citizens to harm such a creature.” She gave Crow a lick and he fell to the ground knocked out. “Now let's go shall we.”

“Yes, come with us,” Eclipse said as he lead us up the mountain.

00000

We were lead through a tunnel. The guards took us to this strange gangly mares chambers. An iron door blocked the way in and when we came close it opened a hiss of odd smells in the air came out of it. It felt downright evil.

“Come in come in.. My home is your home… For now course.” We were lead with the peach mare Crow saved and taken inside. We saw pure darkness with green flames spouting out of pits near the walls. In the room was a soft couch a table and good food that we can eat.

“Now now enjoy yourselves. I must get back to the elder. I will return but stay here it’s safe here. There will be rumors that you’re filth of that Changeling. So you will be fine in here.” She smiled leaving the room and the doors closed in locking us in.

Go Fish looked to our new friend. “What a lovely home you have.” She sounded like Blackjack. She sounded full of anger and hate.

The peach mare looked at us and she smiled weakly. “I am sorry I didn’t mean to cause anything.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said with a sigh as I shook my head a little. “What is up with that mare? There’s, something about her that’s, well, off.”

“You mean Slither?” The peach mare asked. “Well ask long as anyone can remember. She has been the elder's voice and does what he asks. She is loved and feared but I have seen… through it... I am sure you have seen what she really looks like. A snake… or what some would say naga. But she looks pony when she stares and uses her venom on you. You see a mare.”

“I don’t like her,” Calypso said with a shake of her head. “We have to be careful around her. Hopefully, we can get out of this before it gets too bad.”

“We never caught your name,” I said as I looked at the peach-colored mare. “Sorry about us saving you and then getting you caught up in the middle of all this drama.”

“Oh, I am Dusk Lily and don’t worry it’s a lot more fun than I have ever had.” She smiled. “ But I am sorry about your friend. If she picks the judge she is going to get him tried for murder.”

“But he didn’t do anything wrong!” Pure Heart protested. “He saved your life, he’s helped us more times than we can count! He’s not going to hurt anyone here.”

“I am sorry I am very sorry. I know you all must care deeply for him. But you have to understand we have been raised to hate changelings and we don’t remember why.”

“I fought Changelings,” I said. “They tried to take over my home and we fought back. But Changelings aren’t inherently evil, sometimes they can be used for evil purposes, but they are just as capable of either good or evil as any pony. I fought alongside a Changeling named Vex and never had a problem with him, or with Crow.”

“He has risked his life for all of us. He even saved me and my marefriend here.” Go Fish said the first time she said it her cheeks turned bright red.

“He helped protect a town in Equestria for years,” Pure continued. “He’s one of the nicest beings I’ve ever met even if he has a hard time opening up to others. Even if the Changelings have hurt your Tribe in the past, he was never part of them or any hive that was behind it.”

“Sins of the father,” Calypso muttered and shook her head a little. “That actually may give us an edge.”

“But the only one that knows everything about Crow is Pure Heart.” Go Fish said.

“We can use testimonials of his actions in Equestria,” Calypso said. “And if we can prove that he was never part of any Hive that’s lived in the Dragon Lands we can discredit the entire case against him. He’s being accused of the crimes of a single Hive against the Tribe, not an entire species despite the wording.”

“We have a way to do these trials all those sitting at the trial with will see every memory everything he has done. Everything including the pain. He will be forced to remember.”

“We’ll figure it out,” I said with a sigh as I shook my head a little. “He’s a good being, he’s helped us and that’s all that matters to me. We’ll figure out how to get him out of this situation, somehow.”

“So, exactly how are we going to do that?” Calypso asked with a frown.

“I… honestly have no idea,” I admitted as I rubbed the back of my head a little. “None of us are really lawyers or whatever.”

“The fact that you’re his friends will be helpful in the long trek of this,” Dusk Lily said. “But they will see everything, they will see his past and what he did. I’m sure he has some evil in his heart, but maybe not fully.”

“Everypony is capable of evil,” Calypso said with a sigh. “Its part of our nature, just because he has evil in him doesn’t mean he is a threat.”

“So, how do we prove that?” Pure Heart asked.

“Each thing they will be seeing is what you talk about. If you focus on what he has done with you ponies, then it will be easy. We will be seeing everything even the secrets he wishes to keep.” Dusk Lilly had a frown form on her face after those words.

“If the alternative is he is punished for being born a Changeling, we might not have a choice,” Pure said with a frown. “I don’t want his secrets to be exposed if he’s not ready for it either, but this isn’t going to end well for him if we don’t.”

“I warn you that when that mare calls with a set of drums. We will know it's time for the trial. I trust you won’t argue with her.” Dusk Lilly tried to say without a strain of pain.

Go Fish snorted. “I will kick that mares butt if she harms him!!”

“Where’s a spiky-haired defense attorney when you need one…” Pure Heart muttered and I tried not to chuckle a little at that.

The sound of voices outside the room. We could all hear the gangly mare sound off. “The crimes of the changeling Shall be shown to us all my friends. If he is guilty he will be killed and his friends will then understand... Our blight!”

We exchanged a look for a moment. I knew we were going to have to do something about that odd mare if she was actually going to be causing problems for the Tribe, but exactly what was that going to be?

I sighed a little as I brushed my mane back. We had a lot to figure out right now, Crow was not going to be killed. Not when he’s never done anything wrong. But there were still a few things I didn’t understand, and Calypso looked as concerned as I did.

“I don’t understand something,” Calypso finally said. “When my mother visited the Harrows years back she said the Tribe was friendly and didn’t seem to have much of a Changeling problem at all. What’s going on here? And what’s with that mare, how long has this been going on?”

“That is something that most of us are trying to learn,” Dusk Lilly said. “See I am part of an underground movement. We got caught this mare has only been in power for six months. But most of us feel we have known her since birth. Even our books talk about her like she has been alive for years.”

“Alright,” Calypso said as she looked at the rest of us and sighs a little bit. “We need to do more than just prove him innocent, we need to uncover the truth behind that mare.”

“Then why don’t some of us go to the trial and some try to talk to the leader here,” Go Fish said thinking a bit more. “Is that wise though?”

“We don’t have much of a choice right now. I’ll go to the trial,” Calypso said with a nod. “Given they see me as the daughter of a chieftain I can use that to my advantage because of the rite. Pure Heart, you know Crow better than any of us so I think you should come too, the rest of you should look into everything that’s going on.”

“Got it,” Pure Heart said and the rest of us nodded in agreement as she took a deep breath.

“You two better practice your dramatic pointing and shouting objections,” I said with a chuckle.

“Please be careful Caly.” Go Fish nuzzled into Calypso. “I don’t wish you to get hurt.”

Calypso smiled a little as she nuzzled back. “I will Fishy, you’ve got nothing to worry about. We’ll get Crow out of this somehow, I promise you all.”

Dusk lily shook her head. “I feel the best way we can learn. Is to first try to speak to our leader and ask if we can use the forbidden section of our books.”

“You have a forbidden section?” Go Fish looked at the peach bat with worried eyes. “Why?”

“Because it was demanded by that mare. That those books be forced into a secret vault that only the leader can open.”

“Alright, so then we have to talk to the Elder,” I said and nodded a little. “How do we do that?”

“Well, when the mare is not around her hold on the leader seems to weaken. So we need to find a way to get through to them. She is always there at their side and never leaves. This is going to be the first time in a while,” Dusk Lilly said with a nod.

“Alright, Calypso, Pure, make sure that you either prove Crow innocent or at least buy us enough time to find us the information,” I said and the two nodded as Pure gave me a quick kiss. “Be careful, okay? I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Hey, I’ll be fine, Crow is not a bad being, we just have to prove it,” Pure said as she nuzzled me gently. “I’m more worried about you really.”

“Hey, it’s me, I’ll be fine,” I said with a smile that I didn’t really feel. I just hoped I was right.

“You being you is the reason we should be worried,” Go Fish laughed.

“Mmm, she’s got a point,” Pure said with a chuckle as she nuzzled me again. “You do tend to get into trouble a lot Serenity. Maybe we should lock you in a broom closet instead.”

“Do the Harrows even have broom closets?” I asked. “But fine, I’ll be on my best behavior, there, now you only have to worry about Fishy.”

“They took my guns away I feel naked without them!!” Fishy stomped her hoof in anger. “If I had my way I would.” She was cut off by Dusk Lilly covering her mouth as the door opened up.

A guard looked in and seemed to be controlled from the look of her eyes. “Those that wish to help the Changeling may come. But the others will be forced to stay in here.”

“There is no need for that. I shall keep an eye on them. If they step out of line I will call the others.” The guard just looked at Dusk Lilly mindlessly nodding.

“We’ll be going,” Calypso said as she and Pure Heart stepped forward. “Let’s get going.”

“Stay safe you two, get Crow back,” I said and they both nodded before they headed out with the guards.

“Now I warn you to follow my lead. If you do anything that is out of line, I can’t protect you.” Dusk Lily said while going to the door looking at me and Go Fish.

“I understand, I’ll follow your lead,” I said with a nod and glanced at Go Fish. “We both will got it Fish?”

“Uh….” Go Fish tried to find a way not to have to follow the lead of some mare. “Fine, I can’t think of anything without being drunk.”

Dusk Lily looked at me and then at Fish. “This friend of yours miss seems a bit foolish. Can you promise me that she won’t be a fool?”

“Better hope you never meet her mother…” I muttered to myself with a chuckle. “Don’t worry Dusk, I’ll keep her in line, just keep her away from anything alcoholic.”

Dusk nodded. “Come along the Elder's chambers aren’t far from here.” She said as she headed out of the room making sure we aren’t far behind.

00000

The mine that made up the Harrows Tribe’s village seemed to be built out of a central shaft with tunnels going in every direction on each floor. We followed Dusk Lilly down a tunnel that leads away from the main shaft and towards the Elder’s room.

“So, why live in a mine in the Dragon Lands?” I asked curiously as we made our way down the tunnel. “I mean, I know bat ponies prefer the dark but there has to have been places back in Equestria you could’ve lived in too.”

“That is a question but for most of us who are born here, It’s home. Now I never really learned why we live here. But It’s meant to house a great protection for us.” Dusk Lilly nodded.

Go Fish stayed silent she didn’t wish to be the fool.

I nodded a little as we walked on, something was nagging at the back of my mind a little. Night Shroud, the member of the Thunderbolts that had come from this Tribe, what did she think of this whole thing? Where was she anyway? She had been part of the special forces for the Enclave and so she had some of the best training in Equestria, so had she fallen under sway or was she missing or even dead?

“Do you know a mare named Night Shroud?” I asked.

“Night Shroud? No never heard of her. In fact, after that mare showed up many of our kind vanished. None have been able to find them. It’s kind of strange but there are rumors deeper in the mountain of screams.” Dusk Lily had a frown on her face. “I wish I could be more helpful.”

“Oh…” I said with a frown as we walked on in silence. That just made me more worried, to be honest, and I hoped that nothing had happened to the bat pony soldier. It just gave us another reason to stop this vile mare. “We’ll figure out what happened to them, somehow.”

Dusk Lily nodded and we walked past a group of sleeping guards. “These guards without that mare around always seem to fall asleep so we should get to the Elder’s chamber with no issues now. Just please don’t ask silly questions.”

“Right, got it,” I said with a nod. “I wish Pure Heart could’ve come, this is much more her area of expertise.”

Finally, we made it to the chamber. It’s pretty much an empty room. But on a chair is a cloaked figure that seems to be having trouble breathing or is just old.

“Uh, hello?” I asked trying not to startle the figure. “Are you the Elder?”

“Elder please speak to us. We need your okay to go into the forbidden books and learn please elder,” Dusk Lily bowed her head in respect hoping to wake whoever the elder is up.

The elder weakly spoke. “I… don’t remember.. I don’t remember anything..Family… love..” The hood is removed and the pony looks so old and weak. “But maybe….hope.”

“What is wrong with him?” Go Fish asked.

“This is what that mare does to you if she gets her hooves on you. Elder, please give us your key so we can read and learn. My friends here are from the outside, they wish to learn.” Dusk lily is trying to get through to the stallion.

“Bring… them close… I wish to see them..” He looked towards me his eyes looked blind. “Bring them please.”

“Should we?” I whispered to Dusk Lilly.

“Yes let him trust you.” Go Fish looked to me and Dusk Lily and walked to the stallion. The stallion placed his hooves on the face of Go Fish and she blinked looking to me with the corner of her eye.

“Strong…. Hopeful… wise... Beyond her years… Peaceful.”

I stood there watching for a long moment. I honestly wasn’t sure what to think about this, but I wasn’t about to object. This Elder seemed to have a strange insight into Go Fish, what would he even say about me? Somehow that worried me a lot right now.

The stallion removed his hooves from Go Fishes face and looked towards me with his blind eyes. “Come child.”

“Umm… alright,” I said as I stepped forward and moved closer to the stallion. “I can’t promise you’ll like what you see.”

“Most never like what they see, child.” He placed his hooves on my face. He gasped in pain. “Oh...pain… Such pain… A warrior… A young warrior… You wish to find something...You wish.. To free us...from this… pain... “He starts to get angry. “Such anger!! Such hate!!! You fill your heart with despair… “ Suddenly he calmed down and removed his hooves from my face.

“I’m sorry…” I said softly.

“Don’t worry child... Go… take my key.” He lifted it up. “Quickly save your friend... It's too late for me.”

“It’s never too late,” I said softly as I gently took the key. “We’ll do everything we can to save you and your Tribe, I promise.”

The stallion weakly smiled. “Thank you...now go the trial is not going to go well. I can tell you this. Find what you seek fast before she gets what she wants.”

“What do yo..” Go Fish was cut off with the rise of the stallion's hoof.

“GO!!” The stallion yelled

“This way,” Dusk Lily lead us to the back of the Elder’s chamber.

“We have to get to the library, and fast,” I said as I gently hid the key within my barding. “This is our best chance to save Crow and this whole tribe. Let’s get going, now.”

Dusk Lily lead us to a back way out. “This is a faster way will keep us away from the eyes of the others.” She opened a door and lead us out leading us to the place we need to get to and fast.

I nodded a little as we followed her close behind.

“Is there a reason... why he saw what he did you miss Serenity? What are you a warrior or a murder?” Dusk Lily asked with those simple words.

“I was a soldier…” I said softly as I lowered my head a little. “When I was young I went to war against Changelings with the help of other ponies when they invaded my home city. I can understand the paranoia over Changelings like I said… but I’ve never done anything but protect my friends and home. And that was a long time ago, I’m no longer that pony…”

“Well then after this is all over and done with. I am going to go with you on your journey. Even though there will be Changeling I can learn to trust him like you have.” Dusk Lily lead us deeper into the passageway and we came to a locked door. “In here we will find what was hidden. I warn you some things were hidden for reason.”

“Yeah…” I said with a sigh as I nodded a little. “Don’t worry, we’ll be careful. Fishy, try not to mess with anything you shouldn’t, okay?”

“Oh come on this is me!!” Go Fish proclaimed

“I know, that’s what I meant,” I said with a shake of my head as I took out the key. “So, exactly how do we know what we’re looking for?”

“I am sure you have seen what this mare looks like, a snake-like creature evil creature. If you can look through her mask you could do the same with the books. Since she put a spell on them.” Dusk Lily looked at me. “You have the mind of a warrior I am sure you have seen her.”

“Yeah…” I said with a small nod and a shake of my head as I unlocked the door and took a deep breath. “It’s time to save Crow then, I hope.”

When we go in we see all the books in a line but for some reason, some are missing. Go Fish went to them and she vanished into the spell-like she never existed.

“This is weird…” I said as I frowned a little and looked around. It was like I couldn’t remember something, what was going on? “It feels like there’s something off here… what’s going on here?”

“See what I mean?” Dusk Lily asked. “She placed a spell on us and we forgot like we just forgot who stepped into that spell. Do you remember the name of the one that came in here with you? I don’t know her so I don’t forget her. You said her name was Fish?”

“Fish?” I asked and blinked a little as I tried to remember. It took a moment before I got a flash in my mind of a grey Pegasus mare with a black and purple mane, then everything came rushing back to me. “Oh, yes! Go Fish, now I remember!”

Go Fish’s head came out of the spell looking back at me. “You called? Well if you did I can’t see anything in here. There is nothing maybe you will have an easier time?”

I paused a moment at that if I went in there Pure Heart and Calypso would forget about me. Could I take that? How would we explain this to them? I sighed a little and looked back at Go Fish and Dusk Lilly.

“Well, I can try, but I’m worried about the effects of the spell,” I said with a sigh. “Do you think it might be possible to dispel it?”

“Yes we could, but how I don’t know. I do know if you have a strong will you can break her spell. I think your friend there is to well forgive me for being blunt, foolish.” Go Fish grew angry was about to say something but she stayed silent.

“Alright, I’ll try…” I said with a sigh, I just hoped that this wasn’t going to end badly for us as I walked forward towards the books.

“You can do it Serenity. You can do it!!.” Go Fish jumped around trying to be a cheerleader and was doing it badly.

I passed through what seemed to be the barrier and blinked a little as I looked around. What was I expecting really? I knew the spell was in effect, but it wasn’t like it would affect me right? I looked back towards Go Fish and Dusk Lilly and called back. “Do you two still see me?”

“I don’t know you.” Go fish tried to act all stupid. But of course, the bat pony wing smacks her over the head.

“Yes, we see you.”

“Okay, weird, I wonder if that’s because you’re aware of the spell or if it doesn’t affect me for some reason,” I said and took a deep breath.

“I wish I could be of course help. But look for a book on anything that could be useful,” Dusk Lilly said.

“I swear if I start not feeling so good..:” I muttered as I started looking over the books. I wasn’t sure if I was going to find anything. “I’m not seeing…”

And that’s when I stopped in mid-sentence when my eyes fell on one book. It looked pretty unremarkable, but something about it seemed off to me. I reached forward and picked it up. When I turned it around it had the words “Ancient Enemies of the Harrowers” on it.

“Okay, that’s weird…” I said as I turned back towards Go Fish and Dusk Lilly as I held the book up. “What do you two think?”

“Open it and see if Changelings are in that list.” Dusk Lily said.

“I don’t really know Serenity. I’m just very worried,” Go Fish said as she smiled weakly.

“Don’t worry…” I said as I looked at the book with a frown. I didn’t like talking about it, but my adopted mother had on occasion used dark magic over the years. I had developed something of a sense for that kind of thing, and this whole place reeked of it, but I didn’t want to worry my friends. The only thing I had ever sensed that was worse than this was the ghost town with the Skinwalker “I’ve got this.”

I opened the book carefully as I looked through the pages for any sign of either Changelings or anything else that might relate to our situation.

“There’s nothing in here about Changelings,” I finally said as I looked back at my friends. “At all, it looks like you’re all being lied to.”

“What else do you see?” Go Fish asked.

“Let’s see…” I said as I flipped through the pages again. There wasn’t much to see, there were a lot of strange creatures around sure but nothing really jumped…

I stopped on a page as my eyes went wide as a strangely familiar pair of eyes stared back at me and I nearly dropped the book. I looked the book over and a chill ran up my spine as I read more about this thing.

“What did you find? Bring me the book please.” Dusk Lilly asked bound on begging a bit.

I quietly walked forward and gave the book over to Dusk Lilly still open to the page I had found. There was no doubt that this was what we were dealing with, and it chilled me to the bone. “We may have a problem…”

“Naga.. or to others viper. A creature that is known to sneak into lands to take over slowly. By mimicking ones of the past and the present. Last time we saw one it was during the end of the great war. These creatures haven’t been seen since.” Dusk Lily dropped the book in horror. “I read the last part…”

Go Fish picked up and looked at the last part. “Changelings and those with strong wills. Can see through their mask. But that is not the biggest issue. If left unchecked they will eat those that follow them.”

“We have to stop her, now,” I said definitively. “How do we get to where the Trial is taking place?”

“If we show enough ponies this and explain. We can get there with a great force,” Dusk Lilly added.

“You two do that,” I said as I straightened myself up a little. “I’m going to get to the trial, maybe I can stall long enough to give you time in case it’s going badly.”

“I agree go Serenity go with the wind. Tell the elder if you have to,” Dusk added.

I nodded and ran out of the library and back towards the Elder’s room first. Even if he was weak I had to at least try and convince him to help. I just hoped that he’d listen.

“Elder!” I said as I pushed the door to his room open, breathing heavily for a moment. “We know what’s going on, you’ve got a Naga in your midst!”

The elder opens his eyes. “Then it is true... Take this.” He lifts a whistle.”It will call our greatest warriors.” He looked to me with his blind eyes. “When you look into her eyes she will..try to take over your mind. Keep telling her no… beat her.. Free us.” He offered the whistle to me.

I took the whistle and put it away carefully as I looked at him and frowned a little. “I’m sorry this all happened. I’ll make sure she’s stopped, I promise you that.”

“Thank you… call them… Call them. There are more than her.. They’re waiting to fully show up. Call them when you get there only they can hear this. Please hurry.”

I nodded a little as I gave him one last reassuring smile and turned around and ran back out of the room. It was time to stop this Naga and save the Tribe from her grasp.

I had to do this, for everypony.

00000

The gangly mare stood around laughing softly as I made my way into the trial area. “You listen to these mares and how they defend this fool!! This monster this creature you have seen in his head.” Points up to the spell that shows Crow’s memory. “What he has done, what he has killed. You two think he is a good creature?” She laughed hissing softly they could hear the hissing

“You don’t know him!” Pure snapped as she slammed her hooves down on the ground. “He’s changed, he’s not like that anymore! He’s spent years protecting ponies, that Changeling is long gone!”

“Everypony, you have to consider the fact that nopony is truly the same as they used to be,” Calypso said, she sounded a lot calmer than Pure, but she was starting to falter. “Ponies can change, Changelings can change.”

The gangly mare laughed softly. “Look at them jury and judge... Look at them hope for their friend. The Changelings have done so much... To us..” The creature hissed and went to the judge whispering in her ear. “We have to follow the law… Of our kind..” She then hissed going to the jury.” Ain’t that right my friends.” Her words sounded like poison.

I moved over to Calypso and Pure Heart and whispered to them. “I found a book of enemies of the Tribe, Changelings aren’t in it,” I said quietly. “But there is something called the Naga, and it sounds a lot like our creepy mare here.”

“A Naga?” Calypso asked as she narrowed her eyes a little at that and looked back at the gangly mare before she started to speak again. “You claim to have been attacked by Changelings before, but you’ve never provided any proof of it. What evidence do you have to this story? How do we know that Crow isn’t the only Changeling you’ve ever seen?”

“I have hurt those in the past..” Crow weakly spoke. He was weak and sick from seeing his past. “But I rescued one of your kind earlier.” The image goes back to the creature attacking Dusk Lilly.

The gangly mare looked at the image with fear.

“I’ve got an idea…” I said quietly as my friends looked back at me.

“What kind of idea?” Pure whispered to me. “And why do I get the feeling that I’m not going to like it?”

“Because you probably won’t, and I don’t either,” I said with a soft sigh. “These ponies don’t know the first thing about Changelings, no matter what they think. I’m going to show them the truth.”

“Alright… I don’t like this either but, let’s try this,” Pure said. “Your honor, the defense would like to call an expert witness.”

“No… No...this won’t do.” The gangly mare tried to tell the judge. He turned to her pushing her back for the moment.

“We have to be fair. Even if this is a changeling. We still have to be fair,” the Judge said. “Call your witness.”

“We call Miss. Serenity as an expert witness on the nature of Changelings,” Pure Heart said as she looked back at me. “I hope you know what you’re doing Serenity.”

“Me too,” I said softly as I stepped forward.

Crow looked at me he was weak he looked sick. “Please Serenity.” He had tears marks staining his face. “The things...I have seen again.. Please..”

“Don’t worry Crow, I don’t blame you for it, I’ve done my fair share of terrible things,” I said softly as I looked at the Judge and the other ponies before I looked at the Gangly mare for a moment and began to speak. “9 years ago, I lived in the Crystal Wasteland. We were attacked by Changelings who tried to take us over. But there’s a lot more going on than just that, I would like to show you some of my memories of those days.”

The judge nods to the guard. One of them came up to me putting their hoof on my head. Casting a strange spell I could see the spell on Crow’s forehead it glowed brightly. As they would now see what I remembered.

The first images that appeared were of a town made out of crystal with ponies walking around. In my memory, I had turned down an alleyway in the city and heard something behind me. When I turned around, an image of a Changeling appeared and it hissed loudly as it rose up and started to rush towards me.

With a mere thought, I stopped the image in my head and closed my eyes before I started to speak. “This was daily life during this time, Changelings were infiltrating our city and would grab and replace ponies. My mom was the mayor of the town so they would sometimes go after me to get close to her.”

The ponies around us started to whisper in confusion. I’m pretty sure they were confused as to what was going on, I didn’t blame them. This was the truth, and while they had something to be afraid of, I knew they had to see everything.

“All you are doing is proving our case, I would like to thank you for…” the Gangly mare started to say before I interrupted her.

“Let me finish,” I said with a smirk as I started it back up and the images started to play again. The Changeling that was attacking me suddenly was pulled back by green energy and was kicked by hind hooves sending him sprawling.

By the insectoid hind hooves of a Changeling drone who offered me a hoof with a gentle smile. He was dressed in a coat with an old faded hat pulled over his head with a hole for his horn.

“That was a close one wasn’t it?” He asked as he helped me up and the Gangly mare frowned a little.

“Yeah, next time you be the bait,” I said with a chuckle as I brushed myself off in the memory and we walked out together and the images froze again.

“That was Vex,” I said with a smile at the memory. “We had been doing what we could to lure out Changelings to try and stop the infiltrators. Vex used to be part of the Changeling infiltrators years ago, but he came to love the city and chose to fight against his former compatriots with me and my friends.”

“Objection, this doesn’t prove anything,” the gangly mare said with a sneer. “You’re talking about one Changeling, that doesn’t do anything to prove Crow’s innocence.”

“Really?” Pure Heart said as she smirked a little. “Because it proves that your assertion that all Changelings are evil is inherently flawed. And Serenity can prove this better than anypony.”

“I’ll show you,” I continued as I remembered something else and the images changed. They showed images of me and my friends fighting Changelings, other Changelings refusing to fight and even joining us.

But then we reached the crux of my argument as the images showed the Changeling Queen we had fought during the invasion as she stood down.

“Stand down, all of you!” She snapped in my memory. “This has gone too far! The fight with the ponies of the Crystal Wasteland has resulted in too many deaths on both sides. I’m ordering all of you to stand down!”

“You see, the Changelings had lived in peace for over 200 years,” I continued. “Then years ago they were attacked by forces under General Marigold and were decimated as a result. They made a deal with the reborn King Sombra, a name I’m sure you’ve all heard before, and was used by him as they rebuilt over the years. They believed that there was no other option but to infiltrate the Crystal Wasteland.”

“I don’t see the point of…” the Gangly mare started to say.

“The point of this is that the Changelings want nothing more than to live in peace now,” I countered“They only go on the offensive and attack or feed on ponies when they are pushed to the point of desperation. They are not monsters, but they will make mistakes, just like any being.”

Crow lay there groaning. “I risked my life by saving Dusk Lily you can keep trying to say I am evil. I may have done stuff in the past. But I will never do anything to this new world. This new world is full of too much pain.”

“There’s one more image I want to show you,” I said as I pulled up a new memory in my mind. “This is something you must all see because this is the truth of Changelings.”

A new image appeared from my head. The image depicted a new settlement that looked like it had been built out of an old Changeling Hive. Changelings and ponies were working together as they interacted, there was no mistrust, just two species working together.

“This is the settlement of Honeycomb in the Crystal Wasteland,” I said. “It was built out of the destroyed Changeling hive from the invasion. This is a memory from only a year ago when I last visited it. This is what Changelings are today, they are not the monsters of your stories.”

I changed the image one last time and showed them my memory of when Crow saved Dusk from the creature and looked back at the gangly mare and smiled a little.

“You see fillies and gentlecolts of the Harrows, you’ve all been deceived, I don’t think there has ever even been a Changeling in this part of Equestria before Crow, at least not for a while,” I said with a soft nod. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t monsters among you.”

“The defense rests your honor,” Calypso added.

“Now before we fully end this. Crow, what did you see after you saved Lily?” Crow grunted and when all the bats showed up one thing stood out. The gangly mare along with two others looked like snake creatures. Crow looked into her eyes and he turned into the gangly mare.

The judge turned to the gangly mare. Along with many other of the bats. “You’re not what you seem to be then.”

The gangly mare looked worried she was had. She let out a loud hiss and screech as we had to cover our ears and the lights of the court went out.

“Serenity, if you got anything good from the Elder, I think now’s the time!” Pure called out and I nodded a little

I grabbed the whistle and blew into it as hard as I could. I hoped that whatever this whistle was going to do was going to help.

There were the sounds of battle outside. The doors, for the time being, had been closed. Crow was no longer held down and made weak by the spell. He stood up and looked at the rest of us. I could see the anger in his eyes. The very hate of what happened to him. When he spoke it was nothing but anger.

“They used... Me…” He hissed deeply. “They made me show my past..” He hissed deeply changing into a bear and stormed out of the room. Roaring in anger going after whoever did this to him.

“Come on, let’s help out,” I said as we looked around for any sign of the Nagas, it was time to take out those monsters.

When we got outside it was chaos there had been more of these creatures then I thought. These snake-like beings just slithered out of holes and cracks. They had been waiting to strike. It seems though the one we want to go after is the main leader. The bigger one, of course, finding her in all this wasn’t going to be easy.

I swear at that point I got a flash of white and yellow. I blinked in surprise as I looked up to see another bat pony mare fighting through the Naga as she seemed to be pushing towards a certain spot. And she was dressed in the familiar white, dark blue, and yellow Thunderbolt uniform so I smirked a little.

“Night Shade,” I said with a chuckle as I ducked an attack from another Naga and kicked at it as hard as I could, sending it flying as I wished I had my guns with me.

I saw Crow not far from me. He kind of left a bloody trail in his way. He bit and chewed and clawed his way through these creatures. His anger was getting the best of him. But I am sure he will control it.

“Serenity!!” Go Fish rushed over she had a few Naga chasing her. She was carrying a box on her back. This box I am sure held what I wanted. She did trip a few times the box flying towards me and landing on the ground beside me. As she rolled and even though was laying on her stomach. She used that time to try to fight back.

I quickly pulled the box open and took out my rifles as I slid them into my battle saddle. I grabbed the others and tossed them to my friends as I turned around and shot another Naga with it, I wasn’t going to let these monsters kill these ponies.

I heard heavy metal hoof stomps. I looked to the way of the elder. He came out in heavy armor. Made of pure metal. He looked younger in his face. He carried a large black sword made of a black rock metal. When he took a slice of a Naga he turned to me and smiled.

“Thank you.” He bowed in his head and simply when he did hit a Naga behind him with his hoof.

“We’d never leave good ponies alone to this fate,” Pure Heart said as she levitated up her rifle and shot another Naga. “It’s just the kind of ponies we are.”

The fight was and wasn’t going well for either side. To many on both sides and it was becoming more and more apparent that I saw some young Nagas hiding with bat pony foals. It seemed that most of them were forced to fight. I am starting to wonder if this was the work of that bigger one.

“We need to focus on the big boss,” I said as I turned around quickly. “This fight is her fault, we need to cut off the head of the snake!”

Later I realized how bad a pun that was, but I was caught up in the moment.

Crow turned to me. “You know how bad that was Serenity?” He said looking to me with a smirk on his bear face. “Now let's descale this boss!!” He charged up Go Fish and Dusk lily who was holding a spear up to the boss Naga.

The bullets flew left and right from us. We tried our best not to harm Naga or kill them. I used my hooves to knock some out. Crow used his claws to beat back some of them. That did stab into his side. He was wounded but that didn’t stop him. The bats and Naga around us fought like a war that... I haven’t seen in years. But this was mine if this kept up too long. The roof could cave in. But the fear of that happening came.

The elder who was fighting many and a group of Naga charged into him as they smashed into a cave wall. The rocks came down on them and killed all of them instantly. I watched and I couldn’t stop it. The elder the one who helped us is now dead. That gave us all a break because that made both sides stop and watch. They even tried to work together to lift the rocks off. But some fought back.

Swords, Blood, gore far from the eye could see. Its horror of war is something I never wanted to see again. I saw Go Fish she was wounded she had a cut in her side. She was laying there in pain telling me to go on. I didn’t want to leave her behind but I had to. I have to end this I thought in my mind.

Crow finally buckled under all the pain. He went through he had many wounds in his bear body. I asked Pure Heart and Calypso to stay with them. I went on ahead despite the pain. I felt in my left leg. I had Dusk Lily she fought like she fought before. I never got to ask her at this time though. Why she fought so good. Around me so many dead on both I wanted to throw up. But I couldn’t I needed to get to the monster.

After a while, we got to her. She was cornered into a rock alive and barely breathing with cuts. In my mind, she deserved to die for what she did. But was it my right to do this? I looked at the bats at the other Naga who stopped fighting and looked at the creature who started all this.

The creature just laughed. “You think... I will just be the only one you will face? There is so such thing as peace!!” The creature laughed coughing up blood.

“I… I can’t…” I said as I hesitated. Even though she was a monster, I couldn’t pull the trigger, it was one thing to do it when we were fighting but I couldn’t kill her. “You’re nothing more than a monster, but I can’t kill you… not again…”

A naga came out of the group. She was different she wore a strange armor that I have never seen before. She looked at her former leader and to me. I could tell she didn’t want this battle. But hate from the past did this.

“I... I’m known as Vyper. I was one of the ones that she almost killed because I didn’t like this idea. I was down where the bat warriors were. Waiting... Waiting for her to weaken,” she said.

“You know, she’s wrong about one thing,” Night Shroud said as she stepped forward next to Vyper and then at the gathered ponies and Nagas. “Peace is not impossible. 8 years ago ponies believed that peace between the Enclave and the NCR and their allies was impossible, but they were wrong.”

She gave Naga a soft nod as she turned to look at the boss of the Nagas and shook her head. “I pity you, you don’t understand us at all. And we’re going to make this peace work because to make peace work, we must fight for it sometimes.”

Vyper nodded and lifted her blade. “First step we kill this monster.”

“Indeed,” Night Shroud said, I walked away from them at that. I only heard the sound of a brief cry from behind me as they killed her.

And as the adrenaline from the fight wore off, the pain came back, and I collapsed onto the rock floor.

00000

I groaned a little as I finally woke up again and rubbed my head. I was lying on a bed in one of the rooms in the caves. My side was bandaged up, I guess I had taken a hit that I hadn’t even felt with all the adrenaline running through my body.

“Oh thank goodness, you’re awake,” Pure Heart said and I looked over at the white and green mare who had a relieved look on her face. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m okay, I think,” I said as I sat up as best I could. “What happened? Is everypony okay?”

“Well, after the leader of the Nagas was killed the whole thing fell apart for them,” Pure Heart said with a soft sigh. “The Bat Ponies are talking with Vyper right now, that Naga that helped kill the leader, who’s more or less representing them.”

“How’s that going?”

“Well, there’s a lot of unease between them, for an understandable reason really,” Pure Heart said with a sigh. “But there hasn’t been much fighting or problems since then. They’re mostly figuring out what to do with the Nagas.”

“Yeah…” I said with a soft sigh as I got up. “What are we going to do, Pure? We came here because we wanted to find the treasure, not to get caught up in the local politics. How often are we actually going to let this happen?”

“I don’t know Serenity, but this time we didn’t really have much choice did we?” Pure said with a soft sigh. “The Bat Ponies are still a little unsure about Crow, but I think your testimony proved that he doesn’t necessarily have to be a monster. So far he’s been cleared on all charges, but this kind of thing is going to be hard for them to get over.”

“Yeah… but we’ve made steps in the right direction,” I said with a soft nod. “Where’s everypony else?”

“Well, Calypso and Go Fish are talking with Night Shroud,” Pure Heart said. “And I think Crow is talking with Dusk Lilly or something. Things are finally settling down I think, I just hope that everything really will work out.”

“Me too,” I said with a sigh as I hugged Pure tightly, a slight pain went through my side. “So, what are we going to do now?”

“Honestly? I don’t know,” Pure admitted. “Once everything settles down here there’s not much we can do other than move on and hope that everything really will be okay.”

“Yeah…” I said with a sigh as I nuzzled Pure gently. “I really hope everything works out for these ponies. They don’t seem that bad, even if a bit confused because of the Changeling thing. Maybe things will be okay after all… at least I hope so.”

“Me too,” Pure said as she nuzzled back. “So, then what do you suggest we do now?”

“I think, for now, we should just find our friends,” I said with a soft smile. “And see how this goes before heading out. We’ve still got a Stable to find after all, and these ponies, well, I think they’re going to be fine, in time at least.”

“Yeah, okay,” Pure said with a nod as we walked out of the room together. “Let’s just hope you’re right.”

“I’ve got a good feeling about these ponies, and we’ll figure out what to do with the Nagas,” I said with a nod as we started down the tunnel.

00000

“Serenity, you’re awake!” Calypso said as we met up with her and Go Fish in the central shaft of the settlement. I smiled a little when I saw that there were a number of Bat Ponies, some of which were talking with Nagas. “Oh thank the fates, I was worried about you.”

“Hey, I’ve survived worse,” I said as I rubbed the back of my head a little. “How are things going out here?”

“Better than it was,” Crow added. “I have to thank you. You saved my life.” He smiled giving me a bow of his head.

I lowered my head a little. While it had been the right thing to do, the truth was that it had been one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. All it really had done was bring back bad memories of the war, some good sure, but mostly bad ones.

Still, if it meant helping Crow I could endure some bad memories. That’s what friends are for after all.

“Of course Crow,” I said with a smile. “You’re our friend, all we did was tell the truth.”

Go Fish is speaking to one of the bats. I hear the question she asked.

“Who will replace the elder?” She simply asked.

“We’re still figuring that out,” the bat pony said with a shake of their head. “The fighting was intense and we’re still figuring out who all survived.”

Crow softly spoke. “If only they could work together and pick two. To work together.”

I looked over at Crow and thought on that for a moment. That was an interesting idea, it was just a matter of figuring out how to propose it, and who could do it.

“Any suggestions on who?” Calypso asked.

“I know just the ones.” Crow softly said looking to me and Calypso. “The ones who got the killing blow on the leader.”

“Night Shroud and Vyper,” I said as I remembered what happened. “That could work, and it would be a sign of unity between the two races.”

“A sign of unity would be what is needed. I may have never seen that unity myself.” Crow said with a weak smile. “But I am wishing to see it now.”

“Agreed,” Pure Heart said in agreement. “Alright, let’s talk to them about it.”

“It might be best if you do the talking Serenity,” Go Fish smiled. “I doubt my foolishness could be a good idea.” She winked at me.

“Me? I’m not exactly the most diplomatic here…” I said with a shake of my head. “Isn’t there somepony else who could do it?”

“I can,” I looked over to Dusk Lily she smiled to all of us before walking to go talk to the two that got the killing blow on the boss Naga.

I nodded a little as we hung back a little and listened to her talk to the two. I just hoped that Crow really knew what he was doing with this. I felt more nervous than anything else right now, so I just waited to see what happened next.

“I am sure she will be fine, we better get ready to go. Whatever happens, I feel we need to get away from here,” Crow softly said.

“I’m going to go get some more herbs and healing potions, that Skinwalker encounter didn’t help my stores,” Pure Heart said with a nod.

“I will go with you Pure Heart,” Crow nodded to her before looking back at me. “For what you did for me, I will come clean about my life Serenity.” He said as he smiled at me

“I look forward to that,” I said as I brushed my mane back a little. “But let’s get out of this place first, I don’t want to worry the locals again. Everypony, get our stuff together plus any last minute things and once Dusk is done we can leave.”

“Got it,” Calypso said as we split up and went to get everything together.

00000

“Are you sure you’re ready for this, Dusk?” I asked as we all got to the top of the main shaft where the tunnels leading higher into the mountains were. “I mean, we might not be back here for a while.”

“I am all good. I got everything. Of course, I didn’t have much,” Dusk Lily said, she had a spear attached to a heavy metal armor that has the symbol of the moon on it.

“That’s old Lunar Guard armor, isn’t it?” Pure asked as she looked at the armor curiously. “I’ve seen pictures of it but I’ve never actually seen a complete set.”

“My family had a Lunar guard. Before the war got too bad they brought their entire family to the dragon lands,” Dusk said with a nod.

“Cool,” I said with a smile as we started up the tunnel and away from the Harrow Village.

We walked in silence with only the sound of our hooves on stone echoing through the tunnel as we kept going. It felt like it took forever for us to finally leave the tunnel, and we blinked a little at the light from the sun, not used to them after spending time in the dim Bat Pony caverns.

We looked out over the mountains and found ourselves staring out at the massive mountain range that seemed to go forever. It was a breathtaking view.

We were close to our first goal, I just knew it. Now it was just a matter of getting there.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Friend of the Night.
Details: Your time spent with the bat ponies have given you a deeper connection to the night and the moon. You get an extra boost to your night vision and have a better chance of succeeding a speech check with bat ponies.

Chapter 5: Comfort

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