Night had fallen across Equestria, bathing the land in gentle moon and starlight. Most of the inhabitants on the nightward half of the planet were asleep, their minds drifting off to the dreamscape. But there were others who were still awake. Some enjoying the beauty of the night sky. Others reveling in the end of their busy day and taking time to relax and make merry. Still others used the time for intimate trysts and rondeveus, spending time in the arms of their lovers in the solitude that only the blanket of peaceful darkness could provide.

But for some, this night held no peace. One such individual was Dawn Wings, who now found herself sitting in the bows of a tall ash tree in the woodland west of Ponyville. Despite the beauty of the night, she found there was little to enjoy in the lovely sky or the peaceful dark.

Despite her earlier good mood, she was more than a little irritated by her current circumstances.

Her day had actually gone well. Her lessons with Vinemana were progressing. She was still a long way away from understanding Equish, but she was getting there. And, if she was going to be honest with herself, she was warming up to her tutor and her lizard.

Then there was Shásháme.

Spastic. Hyperactive. Strange Shásháme.

Her energy was just sort of contagious, and Dawn Wings found herself bewildered by the pony. Today's encounter was no different. To start with, she had no idea how Shásháme had a huckleberry and desert peach tart on her. They were some of her favorite fruits, so the fact that the energetic pony not only had a pastry made with them on hand, but had given it to her in the first place was beyond strange. Had Shásháme been a corax, Dawn Wings could have understood it. Bus she wasn't. She was just a pony.

It made no damn sense, just like the rest of this world. But, if she was honest with herself, at this point, she was beyond caring.

She'd savored the confection as long as she'd been able, since the flavors had made her feel closer to home than anything since she got to this world. So much so that she had quite literally broken down crying with joy. How the pony had known she'd been dreaming about desert peaches, or how she even got them in the first place, didn't matter. All she knew was that having that little taste of the Mojave desert had made her feel better than anything had in days. She hoped that Shásháme could somehow get more.

But even the warm feeling of budding friendship and nostalgia couldn’t offset her currently bad mood.

No, her mood was soured by the fact that she had been forced to move her time table up because of the impulsive, short sighted decisions of two incarna that should have had the damn vision to see that they were throwing away a perfect opportunity to stop a problem from being a problem ever again. She just hoped that they actually had a long term plan for this whole thing, but she couldn’t, for the life of her, see it. But, since she couldn’t actually do anything about the situation, she’d just have to make the most of it.

So far, she hadn’t seen any sign of the ticks moving in or out of the cave, which was something of a good sign. She hadn’t been able to watch them long enough to determine their delivery schedule, so she’d arrived early in the evening, hoping to catch the ticks coming to collect any love they’d harvested in the last day. This was going to be her only opportunity. She’d wait a little while longer for the collectors would arrive. Once they were inside the cave, she would tail them, and ambush the lead tick as it made its way back to where they were holding the captive ponies.

If all went according to plan, which she knew was entirely unlikely, she’d ambush the tick right as it swapped ledgers. The ledgers themselves were not a sufficient prize. No, she needed the lead tick too. And since the princess had made it very clear they didn't care about capturing him, only recovering the captured ponies, it was up to Dawn Wings to secure him. And that meant she needed to take him alive.

So, she sat in the tree, periodically sending out pulses of her threat sense into the night, hoping to detect something. She’d been staking out the area for over two hours at this point, and still nothing. If it came down to it, she’d just have to fly in and take her chances that the lead tick was in the larder.

Much to her delight, twenty minutes later, her powers picked up two new threats coming from the west. Pushing spiritual energy and force of will into her eyes, she called on her sight enhancement powers. Now freely able to observe the landscape, she spotted two non-descript ponies, pulling a cart towards the tunnel entrance along a hidden but well worn path through the trees.

She knew they were probably ticks, given where they were heading, but needed confirmation. After all, they could be ponies in league with the ticks. Once again focusing her spiritual energy into her eyes, she set her mystic vision against their disguises. As her sight pierced their illusions, she saw the black carapaces, fly wings, and perforated limbs of changelings.

'Alright. We have confirmation.’ She thought as a smile slowly worked its way into the corner of her mouth. She waited for the two ticks to enter the cavern. Once she was sure they’d gone in far enough that they wouldn’t hear her, she took to the air and began to follow.

Soon, she found herself once again in the twisting passages of the cavern, following the tick’s cart. Making mental notes and comparing the route they took before, she realized that they were taking a different path downward, but still in the general direction of their previous meeting point.

Eventually, they reached the rendezvous point, and took up a waiting position. Dawn Wings herself landed a bit further back in the cavern, hiding behind a stalagmite as she watched and waited.

“Velona meleola catame salus, telemeca cho lathema tala.” One of the ticks said as they waited. “Semele cha balathe ne selana.”

“Tecelama dapale chathamala ve salamata.” Her partner said with a slightly irritated look. “Helepa jaletena cho lethaca velos. Netega tulema le pecheli gavame.”

“Silose manapata aretacama leso natima.” The first tick replied, her face wearing the expression of one that had just been scolded.

“Emepa chelama ithe nataca.” The other said before simply staring down the tunnel.

‘Gaia I wish I could have understood all that.’ Dawn Wings thought as she watched.

Thankfully, it wasn’t much longer until she heard the telltale sound of another cart coming from deeper in the cavers. Arriving with little fanfare, she saw the unmistakable form of the lead tick hauling another half dozen pods. Unlike his cohorts, he was undisguised.

“Umalia pelemeta. Tebeshala cathe arama.” The lead tick said as he approached.

Nodding, the other ticks levitated the pods into the other cart and, looking over the ledger the lead tick presented, signed it, and passed it back.

“Clereha velone eteli henala.” He said before turning back down the tunnel and trotting off. The other ticks also turned to leave. Once both were out of sight, Dawn Wings took to the air and began to follow the lead tick.

‘Alright you bastard.’ She thought. ‘Moon-ass expects me to just hand over that ledger. I think I'm going to give her something far more valuable. You.’

She soon caught up with the tick, but kept her distance. She needed to take the tick alive, and that was going to require careful timing.

Soon, the tick arrived at his hidden stash. As the resin on the wall began to retract, Dawn Wings pulsed the area, and to her great satisfaction, there were no other threats. A small smile worked its way across the edges of her mouth. The tick, in the mean time, was looking around and checking behind him to be sure he was alone, he began to grab the second ledger.

‘Now or never!’ Dawn Wings thought as she called on the change, pushing her primal fury into the action as she dove towards the tick, her form rapidly expanding as she instantly shifted into her war form.

The tick must have heard her coming, because he wheeled around to face her, his horn lighting up to strike down whatever was coming. But as soon as he saw Dawn Wings, his eyes went wide as dinner plates. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't anything like her crinos form. Before he could react, Dawn Wings had closed the distance between them and snatched him in her fore-claws, her left hand grabbing his face, while her right hand grasped the base of his wings, driving the sharpened points of her claws into the gaps in his carapace and into the flight muscles, piercing and disabling them.

Capitalizing on his shock, she used her momentum to carry them into the wall of the tunnel. As they impacted, the tick let out a sharp cry of pain. Using on the opening his shock provided, she pulled his head back and slammed it against the resin covered surface. The blow had the desired effect of dazing him, but she wasn’t finished. Pulling his head back again, she quickly repeated the action, slamming his head against the wall a second time. This time, the impact had the desired effect and knocked him out.

‘That went well. Now to grab the ledgers and get you out of here.’ She thought as she looked around the alcove. There was very little to work with: only the two books, the pod containing the stolen love, and the hose he used to siphon off the contents of the other pods.

With a low hiss of frustration, she slashed the hose with her claws. Pulling it free, she wound it around the tick’s limbs, binding his legs. Hoisting him over her shoulder, she carried him over to the cart and carefully set him in, along with the ledgers. As much as she hated the idea, she was going to have to carry him out in crinos form. She wasn’t going to be defenseless if she ran into other ticks along the way.

Looking back into the alcove, she considered the pod of stolen love. Making a split second decision, she grabbed the pod as well, gently setting it into the cart next to the unconscious tick. It might come in handy.

*****

Emerging from the caverns some time later, Dawn Wings took a minute to breathe a sigh of relief. She was out of the tunnels. Now was the matter of getting the tick to the capital. If she could take him into the umbra, it wouldn’t be an issue.

‘Howls-at-Dusk, where the hell are you when I need you? Oh, right, you’re back on Gaia. How could I fucking forget!’ She thought bitterly as she regarded the tick and her cargo. Wracking her brain, she growled with frustration. She didn’t have anywhere she could stash him that was secure, and couldn’t exactly show up in town with him in tow. There’d be too many questions.

‘Guess we’re making a late night delivery to Canterlot. Joy.’ She thought to herself. Looking back one last time, she just hoped that she’d be able to reach the city before her captive woke up. Granted, he was secured, and she’d crippled his wings when she’d ambushed him, but having him wake up while they were in flight would be a problem.

‘Just have to risk it.’ She thought. ‘Best bad option ahoy.’

Spreading her wings and breaking into a gallop, she took off, pulling the cart behind her and into the sky. Once airborne, she turned north and flew towards Canterlot. Knowing she had little time to reach the capital, she poured her fury into her wings, augmenting her flying speed. The cart behind her lurched as she poured it on. She didn’t have any time to waste.

*****

Luna was sitting on her throne, a status report from Lt. Vexing in Ponyville held in her t.k. It looked like the preparations were well underway to raid the changeling nest and rescue the ponies trapped inside.

Even if everything was in place, she stayed her hooves, though at the thought, a angry snort of frustration escaped her nostrils. She knew she’d promised Dawn Wings an extra day to collect intelligence, but the whole thing didn’t sit well with her. She wanted her citizens safe, and she wanted the changelings out of Ponyville and in custody. Chrysalis could be dealt with at any time, but losing even one of her citizens to her machinations was something she would not tolerate. Not after all of the lives lost in Trot and Timbucktu.

As she was brooding, a thestral night guard burst into the room, his features stern and controlled, but carrying a note of urgency. Upon reaching her, he dropped his head down low and bowed, waiting for her to give him leave to talk.

“Rise, my night blade. What brings you to us with such haste.” Luna inquired as she regarded the thestral.

“Your highness, we’ve spotted an unusual hippogriff approaching Canterlot airspace at high speed.” The guard said as he rose to address the princess. “It appears to be heading directly towards the castle. We’ve already dispatched two wings to intercept.”

Luna’s mind raced. A hippogriff? What in the name of harmony was a hippogriff doing in Equestrian territory. Then, it struck her. There was one creature who she knew of that could be mistaken for a hippogriff.

‘No! She would not be coming to us directly, would she?’ Luna thought.

“What is so unusual about this hippogriff?” Luna said, her tone betraying none of her immediate distress. She hoped that she was mistaken.

“It looks like no hippogriff we’ve ever seen. More crow like than hawk or eagle." The thestral reported. "And, she’s pulling some sort of cart. We were unable to identify the contents before we dispatched guards to intercept her, but she was coming in fast. And she was coming in at maybe 20 wingpower, almost three times the normal hippogriff limit."

'Equs damn you Dawn Wings.' Luna thought a she stood up and regarded the thestral. 'What are you doing?'

“Where is she now?” Luna said.

“Your highness?”

“I know this hippogriff.” Luna said firmly. “She's an ally, so do not engage her. We will deal with her.”

“Yes, your highness.” The guard said, “She’s currently about ten miles outside the city to the south west.”

“Thank you.” Luna said, before lighting her horn and vanishing in a burst of cobalt blue light.

*****

Dawn Wings had a feeling things might go like this. She was approaching the capital unannounced, in the dead of night, in her crinos form, hauling a wagon at high speed. Even with how well her feathers blended into the night sky, she wasn’t surprised that she drew the attention of the local guards.

Guards that were thankfully keeping their distance, but also boxing her in. She just hoped that they didn’t try to attack while she was hooked up to the cart. Losing her cargo was not an option, and she couldn't fight them off while burdened with the extra weight.

'Really missing you right now Howl. Would've been way easier to come in through the umbra.' She thought to herself as she watched the guards slowly tightening their formation around her. They'd called out to her earlier, but she hadn't been able to respond. Not without possibly tipping them off to her nature, since some of the guards in the castle had heard her speak before. And she didn't want them making those connections. She just hoped they wouldn't try to attack her.

Just as she was considering how to deal with the situation, a burst of cobalt blue erupted in the air above her. Looking up, she saw a very familiar, and very irritated, princess Luna.

“Dawn Wings! What are you doing here?!” Dawn Wings heard the princess yell. “We did not request you come to Canterlot!”

“My apologies, your highness, but circumstances changed.” Dawn Wings said, making sure to use Kawaisu instead of English, as she gained altitude and began to approach the princess. As she did, she saw the bat-winged pegasi begin to close in on her.

“Hold!” Luna shouted, her guards stopping and hovering in place. “She works for us! She is allowed to approach.”

The guards all looked at one another skeptically, but held their positions. Dawn Wings didn't bother to correct the princess. After all, she didn't work for her. At best, she worked for her sister. But she wasn't going to say that. Not when she needed to get her cargo dropped off and get back to Ponyville.

“Thank you, your highness.” Dawn Wings said with a measure of relief.

“Do not thank us yet. You have yet to answer our question.” Luna said evenly as Dawn Wings flew up to her. Turning in the air, the princess began to lead the corax towards the palace, knowing that she would be unable to hover with the cart attached to her. Chancing a look back at said cart, Luna was shocked to see the slumbering form of a bound changeling, along with a small changeling love harvesting pod, and two books.

“Dawn Wings, what have you done?” Luna said coolly.

“I saw an opportunity, and I seized it, princess.” Dawn Wings said as she flew. “I went to retrieve the ledger, and ran into this bug-eyed freak making a delivery of stolen love to another group of changelings. So, I figured, what better way to make sure we could use the ledger’s information than to grab the tick writing it down.”

“And you thought to bring him here?” Luna said, her voice incredulous.

“Well, it was either that or leave him somewhere and risk him escaping. I figured this was the best option I had.” Dawn Wings said as she looked at the princess. “I just hope you can get something out of him. And that I didn’t do too much damage to his brain when I knocked him out.”

Luna looked back at the cart, then to Dawn Wings.

“Very well.” She said with distaste. “Bring him to the palace, and we shall see what can be done.”

“You got it, princess.” Dawn Wings said, saluting as she flew beside the alicorn.

Luna narrowed her eyes at the corax, unsure if the salute had been mocking, or genuine. Knowing Dawn Wings, it was probably meant as mockery, prompting the princess to snort with irritation.

“Just… come along. We will need to wake Shining Armor to deal with this… mess.” Luna said with a low growl as the two of them approached the palace. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a small amount of smug satisfaction in Dawn Wings' eyes. 'Your master was right. You are a pain in the cutie mark.'

Author's Note

Dawn Wings does not agree with the princess's decisions. What does she do? Obeys the letter of the law, but not the spirit. Or incarna in this case.

…I'll just see myself out now.

As I publish this, the semester is hitting its midpoint, so my attention has been diverted between this, dissertation work, and teaching. Thanks to everyone who continues to read this. Dawn and I appreciate your continued interest and support. I'll try to keep up the weekly updates, but if things slip a little, I apologize.