Trail Blazer

Chapters

The Job
The Party
The Coast
The Troublesome
The South
The West
The Mountains
The Journal of Lustrous
The Night
The Dirt and the Water
The Past
The Friends
The Dangers
The False Kingdom
The Old
The Foundation
The North
The Map
The Present Strife
The New

The Job

The early years of Equestria were a different time for the land and the lives of the ponies that lived there. Before the cities rose, before the roads were made, before the Castle of the Two Sisters was built. It was a quieter time in a smaller world. The three tribes of ponies were brought together less than thirty years ago at the first Hearth’s Warming and the founding of Equestria, and even now little and less progress had been made to turn this land into a true country and home. The migration took time, the first settlements took years to flourish, lands that were safe still needed to be discovered for while Equestria was a beautiful land of plenty it was still not a complete paradise where ponies wanted for nothing.

Princess Celestia mostly kept to herself in these early years, making sure the groundwork of the new home for ponykind had been set and the greatest of the strife and grudges between the tribes had ended. Her job now was to move the sun and her young sister aided her with moving that so sadly overshadowed other celestial body. When things had fully cemented she would take up the ruler-ship she would then hold so far for the rest of her life. But that is a different tale. A more important tale surely, for all other tales back in this age are surely dwarfed by it, but not the one to be told here.

No, we come to the life of a simple earth pony mare by the name of Trail Blazer. As well as the lives of her traveling companions, the unicorn stallion Lustrous and the pegasus stallion Steel Wing.

In the place that would one day become Manehattan a small town had sprung up in recent years. Barely larger than the town of Ponyville now. And yet it was still the largest “city” in the new country of Equestria at the time. The only large port along this coast of Equestria that wasn’t just a few hovels and shanties set up along the waterfront, it currently existed as the center of commerce for the unified pony tribes. While no railroad existed yet there was still a large wooden bridge that connected it with the mainland.

At this point it didn’t even have a decided upon name (since just because the tribes were together didn’t mean ponies couldn’t and wouldn’t disagree and debate over every little thing) but while Princess Celestia waited for her castle to be finished the leaders of the former three tribes still used this burgeoning city as their interim seat of government.

Yes, the leaders. It’s true that Commander Hurricane, Princess Platinum and Chancellor Puddinghead renounced their rule and independency when they came together but there would always be the need for leaders to some degree. Mayors, governors, dukes, rich entrepreneurs, and so forth would lend their aid to the Princess to help maintain the newly made country in these disjointed times of infancy. With the three previous rulers now in their old age (or recently passed away in the Chancellor’s case) they had given over leadership to new ponies. Also in part because they believed it pertinent that a new generation lead ponykind into this age of unification. Commander Hurricane in particular was very vocal about his time being past.

So it was now that in the early morning at the House of Government (on a day of rest where normally none would be working and the building was closed to the public) in the middle of future Manehattan that two ponies stood behind closed doors discussing the latest proposal on what should be done for Equestria.

Commonly this was a place for new laws or bills to be brought up, grievances to be aired, measures to be debated, and so on and so on. But this morning the highest representatives of both the earth ponies and unicorns had met alone to further discuss something that the earth pony representative had first brought up in a private conversation with his unicorn comrade a few days ago. The pegasus representative who was currently absent was of former military and these days mostly commanded the weather division that was already beginning to make a standardized weather schedule for the new country. Because of this he was in attendance at the House of Government far less than his associates.

Representative Cheese Souffle stood in front of his desk, a short and stout pony with a garishly (some would say sickly) yellow coat and great bushy black mane and mustache, he was known for his magnanimity and marriage to his job. Seldom seen was he not working or thinking on how to serve Equestria to the greatest degree. Of importance to note is that he was also the nephew of the recently departed Chancellor Puddinghead.

Opposite him stood representative Bright Diamond, no relation to royalty but instead was the son of Princess Platinum’s steward. A tall and whispy stallion of a light blue coat and well-groomed white mane and tail that glittered in even the faintest light source. He was the object of affection for many mares in town but despite not being able to quite claim Cheese’s work ethic he still always rebuffed any mare’s advances with the excuse of being far too busy.

“I hardly think this is an important enough matter that we need to meet on our day off like this. I prefer to spend these days walking the city.” Bright Diamond spoke to Cheese Souffle. “Every other waking moment we spend legislating on laws and decrees for the whole of Equestria and ponykind, but I’m rather fond of this new home of mine and today is normally the only day I have the chance to inspect it and see what needs to be done around here. The locals have their grievances and ideas for new projects as well you know.”

“Well if you’re so thoughtful and caring about our lovely city here then maybe you can listen to me so we can get our business finished up and you can go back to yours?” Cheese reached to his desk and grasped a large mug of steaming hot coffee. With a single swing he gulped it all down at once, not noticing the grimace on Bright Diamond’s face. “Ahh, that’s good.” He wiped his lips and set the mug back down. “And anyways, this is important.”

Bright Diamond huffed and lightly twirled an errant string of his mane, it bothered him that such a string existed in his normally perfect mane. A sign that he hadn’t had enough time to prepare this morning after Cheese called on him. “I will admit that a full and detailed map of Equestria is important. But for the moment? Our ponies are already settled mostly along the areas of the country that have been scouted by the pegasi. Princess Celestia’s own seat hasn’t even formed yet. The land may be great yes, but our country is still small. When we truly need to grow and expand is when the needs for what you’re suggesting will arise.”

“I have an answer for your way of thinking.” Cheese poked him in the chest, although it was hardly threatening. “Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Best to have what we’ll need in the future as soon as possible.”

“There are more pressing matters to attend to. What you’re suggesting would be a huge undertaking. The amount of ponies needed to not just travel but accurately map and research all of Equestria is too many. Not to mention that the number of those qualified to do such a thing is surely very little.” Bright Diamond shook his head.

“That’s where you’re wrong. “Cheese grinned. “We only need one pony.”

Bright Diamond raised a single incredulous eyebrow at his fellow. “One? Come now.”

“Aye, just one.” Cheese repeated. “The reason I first brought this up to you a few days ago, hay, the reason I got the idea in my head in the first place is because I happened to see a certain pony in town. I did a little research and found out she had been living here for the past year, much to my surprise.”

“One can hardly blame a pony so busy and focused on their work for not knowing every single pony that calls this city their home.” Bright Diamond smirked.

“Shut it.” Cheese waved him off. “The point is this is a pony I recognized, she’s an earth pony I met once a number of years back. An explorer and cartographer. The best.”

Bright Diamond unintentionally yawned, the early morning taking its toll on him. He was slightly put out that Cheese had drunk a whole mug of coffee right in front of him while he had even skipped eating any breakfast before coming here. “Even if she’s the best I don’t think-”

“Ah, not one more word.” Cheese held his hoof up to Bright Diamond’s mouth. “No offense my friend but despite your business you don’t quite know just how good earth ponies can be when it comes to learning the land. And you don’t know this mare in particular.”

Bright shrugged, giving up the point. “Very well. But even if she does it alone I still suspect she’ll want recompense? How much would it cost us to have the entirety of Equestria mapped? And let it be known that I still deny the necessity of this whole thing. We have aerial and coastal maps drawn by our pegasi scouts already. Those more than suffice.”

“Bah! Coastal maps that only go halfway up and down this side of the country, stopping just at that feverish jungle and the mountains bordering the wasteland that cut us off from the rest of the south. No sailor has circumvented the southern tip of the country yet either. At least not one that has said anything about it or drawn a map for us. And aerial maps are one thing but I’ve seen em and the pegasi don’t care about things like topography or elevation and they don’t know what different trees mean and what kinds of animals live where or where groundwater might be among other things. You need an earth pony on the ground to figure all of this out. It’s more than just a map she’ll be drawing for us, but a journal about the very lands we now call home. The lands we still don’t know near enough about.” Cheese tried to persuade the unicorn.

“I’ll admit you’re being rather persuasive.” Bright Diamond chewed on his lip. “I almost can’t believe that this is just the passion of a few days. You truly got so inspired just from seeing this one mare?”

“Indeed I did. And you oughta know well enough by now that when I get an idea in my head it just burns and burns brighter until I get to do something about it.” Cheese proudly smiled.

“Quite so.” Bright Diamond muttered. “Well, I’ll allow that you have me intrigued. And I can see when I’m beat. I assume you want to go meet this mare to recruit her as soon as possible?”

“Of course!” Cheese Souffle beamed, his chest puffing up.

“Allow me to accompany you then, I would like to first see her for myself if we’re about to send her off on an official job from the government.” Bright Diamond declared.

“Suit yourself.” Cheese shrugged, making his way to the door of the office. “Figured you would want to get back to your stroll about the town or whatever it is you do.”

“Oh but this is just so important as you’ve convinced me.” Bright walked up behind him. “Incidentally I noticed you never addressed my concerns of the cost and payment of-”

“It’ll be my bit covering things you tight-purse.” Cheese gruffly answered.

“As always you continue to be the most generous pony in town.” Bright chuckled.

The two representatives made their way through the still small town. But while it may have been a shadow of its future self the current town was full of buildings built in such an unplanned way that navigating it could take much longer than it should. Crowded blocks were intercut with streets either too wide or too narrow, walls and fences sprung up randomly, houses and other buildings that didn’t exist only a week before closed off former paths through the madness.

“Can you see why I’m concerned with making changes on the local level? This is functionally our capitol and yet in its this state.” Bright Diamond gestured to the haphazard mess of the town.

“All in due time, we’ll find a pony that knows how to plan a city. There’s too much work to be done everywhere right now.” Cheese said back to him.

“But why put off to tomorrow what you can do today?” Bright Diamond smugly said.

“Oh put a sock in it.”

The two quietly walked on, with Cheese leading, to a relatively poorer and rundown part of the town on the outskirts from the rest. Bright Diamond had been around such areas many times before but still couldn’t help but cringe at the muddy ground that passed for roads around here (cobblestone was more common around the House of Government). The houses as well were small and hastily put together things. No stonework or masonry here, only boards of wood poorly nailed together. Marching down a line of hovels such as these, Cheese glanced at each door he passed. Bright Diamond looked at the doors in curiosity as well and noticed that each had a smaller board nailed to their fronts with a number carved into it. The most rudimentary of addresses.

“Here we are. Supposing my inquiries didn’t turn up any false info at least.” Cheese suddenly said from the front, stopping in front of a door and almost causing Bright to crash into him.

Bright Diamond looked at the supposed home of this map mare they were looking for. It was essentially indistinguishable from the rest, the number on its door read “19” and besides that there were no other noticeable marks or differences on the exterior of the home that he could see. She seemed to live in relative squalor compared to what he was used to.

“Well I have to say if this is her home she’d likely be willing to take the job for cheap.” Bright Diamond scrunched his nose up.

“Not likely. If she’s the same as I remember her she’s greedy for every bit she can get her hooves on, and she knows the price of her work.” Cheese grunted before loudly knocking on the door several times. “Hey! Anybody home!”

Bright winced. “Must you do that so loudly? It’s still early.”

Cheese Souffle looked back at him as if he had just sprouted wings. “That’s why I’m being so loud. She’s probably asleep.”

“Well I suppose I can’t fault your logic there.” Bright had to admit.

As the loud knocking continued and Bright Diamond shuffled about awkwardly he noticed that there wasn’t a nameplate on any of the homes here. And that brought him to a second realization. He had forgotten to ask for the name of the very pony they were not just searching for but were pounding on the door to her home.

A frown spread across Bright Diamond’s face before he inquired as to the identity of their map mare. “Er, a word for a second? But what happens to be the name of the pony we’re hiring? It would be rather embarrassing if she opens up the door and I have no idea who I’m talking to.”

Cheese stopped his knocking to let out a quick and guttural guffaw. “Right, right, I forgot.” He slammed his hoof back onto the door even harder. “Trail Blazer! You in there? Open up!”

“I see. Thank you.” Bright Diamond rolled his eyes.

The knocking proceeded some more and Bright Diamond got slightly wary and impatient, looking down each side of the ill-kept street.

“Cheese? Considering the… makeup… of this part of the town and the avaricious nature you ascribed to our map pony perhaps she isn’t opening up the door on purpose? Maybe she thinks we’re of an unsavory sort.” Bright Diamond ventured.

“Hah!” Cheese brushed that off. “Even if we were that mare isn’t the type to hide out here, she’d open the door and spit right in any thugs face.”

“How lovely.” Bright grimaced.

Cheese grunted and pulled his hoof away from the door. “Well at any rate though it looks like she isn’t here right now. Let’s try the nearest pub.”

“Excuse me?” Bright Diamond asked in surprise (shock even), his eyebrows nearly shooting into his mane.

“A pub I said. If she’s the same as I remember again that’s where we’ll be most likely to find her next.” Cheese resignedly answered and already began to walk off.

“It’s still early morning!” Bright exclaimed.

“Yep.” Was all Cheese answered.

“What kind of pony would be in a pub right now?” Bright walked up alongside him, determined to get more out of his earth pony comrade.

“The kind we’re looking for. I can tell you that if she’s not at home she’s either slept overnight in a pub or she’s in the bed of some random stallion in town. Let’s hope for the former cause the latter’ll make it harder for her to find.”

“In bed with a random stallion?” Bright Diamond was incredulous. “You are not painting a very good picture of your chosen cartographer. Between that and her apparent love of drinking I must say I don’t have a very confident opinion of her and I haven’t even met the mare yet!”

“Aye, she aint perfect and I never said she was.” Cheese nodded. “But that’s still the less important part of the deal. The more important part? She’s the best. And that I said.”

“We’ll see. Even being “the best” as you say can be overshadowed by enough deficiencies. Minor or major.” Bright was not convinced. “I’ll admit that your casual remark about her lasciviousness puts me off even more than the fact she might be currently passed out on a bar-stool. A mare that you chiefly remember for her lustful nature? It’s rather shameful isn’t it?”

Cheese guffawed again. “Don’t be such a prude. She’s no harlot or wench, just a mare that likes to have some company at night. Preferably the fun kind if you know what I mean.” He lightly poked Bright Diamond in the ribs a few times.

“Yes, I know.” Bright rolled his eyes again and pushed Cheese Souffle’s hoof away. “So where is the nearest pub then?”

“Close. Surprised you don’t know considering your walks.”

“I am not a drinking stallion.” Bright replied, stiffly.

“Big important unicorn, can’t be caught drinking in some seedy pub now can he?” Cheese laughed again at the other representative’s expense.

Bright Diamond didn’t bother responding as the two of them made their way to their next destination. The time was passing from early morning to late morning and more ponies were appearing on the streets, getting to their own work or whatever leisurely activity they might do on a day like this. Bright was thankful that it wasn’t a very wet day as his hoof still sunk halfway into the mud of the street. This was already more than bad enough.

Before long the two of them came to the nearest pub (it was hardly the only drinking establishment in town), a flat-roofed one-story building made of red brick with polished saloon doors leading inside. Bright couldn’t help but somewhat cynically note that it was by far the best maintained building in the area.

“Are they open?” Bright asked.

“All day and all night.” Cheese said without slowing down, pushing open the doors and almost letting them swing back into Bright Diamond’s face.

Cheese halted in the entrance and allowed Bright to walk up beside him. The tall unicorn looked around at the unseemly (to him) place, scrunching up his nose at the overwhelming smell of alcohol and not particularly well washed ponies. The pub was not well lit either, only a few rays of light shined in from slits in the bricks along the walls. But it was enough to serve their purposes Bright supposed. On the left side of the interior a few round tables sat, three or five chairs pushed under them in random places if they weren’t just tipped over to begin with. A single stallion was sprawled out on the floor next to one of the tables, snoring loudly. On the right side of the pub sat the bar itself, shelves of alcohol and empty glasses lining the wall behind it while a row of bar-stools stood in front of it. The bartender on duty stood behind the bar, silently cleaning the wooden surface with a wet rag, he briefly glanced up at the two who just entered the establishment but paid no other mind to them yet.

And on one of those bar-stools in front of the bartender sat a slumped over earth pony mare with her head buried in her hooves. She was surrounded by three empty mugs and one that was half-full of beer, the steady rising and falling of her body showed that she was most likely asleep.

“Well, there she is. Good.” Cheese said as he walked up to the sleeping pony.

“I hardly can say this is good.” Bright Diamond followed him.

“Do you want something with Trail Blazer?” The bartender asked as the two representatives trotted over to her seat.

“Aye, we’ve got a job to hire her for.” Cheese said. “How long has she been sleeping here?”

“Since late last night.” The bartender shrugged. “All I know is she was here before my shift started, I didn’t want to disturb her, she’s more than a regular.”

“Well she’s waking up now.” Cheese said and started shaking the sleeping mare. “Hey! Wake up, you!”

The mare shifted and grumbled as Cheese shook her before jolting awake with a shock, nearly knocking over her mug of beer. As she turned to the source of noise and blearily blinked here eyes Bright Diamond couldn’t help but make a few somewhat shameful observations. First was that she was not an especially pretty mare, Bright was used to waving off the affections of some of the most beautiful and well made-up mares in town and while Trail Blazer wasn’t ugly per se she certainly wouldn’t ever be called the belle of the ball either. In short she had a very common look about her. Her coat was a mundane tan and her mane and tail a mud brown color. The mane was pulled back in a single messy ponytail that let a few stray strands of hair fall over her already plain face, slightly blocking her emerald eyes from view. On her flank rested the Cutie Mark of a map, indeed fitting if what Cheese said about her was true.

She squinted at Cheese before a smile broke out on her face. “Well, Big Cheese! Haven’t seen you in years.” She belched. “Excuse me.”

Bright Diamond wrinkled his nose at her behavior.

“Yes, good to see you again, Trail Blazer. And I recall telling you repeatedly in the past to not call me that.” Cheese Souffle frowned.

“Uh huh.” Trail Blazer ignored him and reached forward to grasp her still half-full mug, tilting her head back she downed the whole rest of it at once.

“Is that just an earth pony thing?” Bright muttered to himself. He then raised a disquieted eyebrow at the mare. “And are you really drinking in the morning like that?”

Trail Blazer slammed her mug back onto the bar and let out a long and satisfied sigh. “Just needed to catch up. Can’t believe I fell asleep without finishing this off.”

“I can’t believe a pony would gladly sleep in a place like this.” Bright said, glancing over at the still unconscious pony on the other side of the room.

“Didn’t plan on it. If things went the way I wanted I’d be in bed with a stallion right now. But lo and behold last night a couple of formerfriends of mine all met up here and each one had the mistaken idea that I was their girl now. That led to a couple of rough arguments and I spent the night just drinking, since after that even the ponies that didn’t know me weren’t interested in my affections.” She scratched behind her ears and looked over at Bright Diamond, eyes traveling up and down his body. “Well though, looks like my luck might be changing. You’re pretty handsome you know that? I know Cheese here but what’s your name?” She lustfully smiled at him.

He cringed, stepping back. “No thank you. I’m quite aware of your nature and I’m not about to hop in the bed of a mare I just met.”

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged. “You’ll regret it one day though when you’re the only stallion in town that can’t brag about having a roll in the hay with me.”

“How vulgar.” Bright frowned.

“Enough of all that.” Cheese said. “This fellow’s name is Bright Diamond, he works with me. We represent all of ponykind now while the Princess works on centralizing things. We’re taking care of the laws and the building of Equestria. You hear?”

“Loud and clear, Big Cheese.” She pushed away the mugs in front of her and called out to the bartender. “Hey, one more!”

“The two of us are here now because Cheese has a job offer for you.” Bright said, somewhat running out of patience.

Trail Blazer briefly glanced at the two of them before she went back to waiting for her next mug of beer. “What job? I don’t work much anymore just so you know. If you want me to explore somewhere it’s probably too much of a hassle. And I just make maps as a hobby now.”

“I’m here to recruit you for a big undertaking, Trail.” Cheese said, his chest puffing out with pride. “This aint no little job or like anything else you’ve done before, it’s official business on behalf of the good of Equestria. It’s something for the betterment of all ponykind, I tell you. I remember you and your skills well and this is your opportunity to put them towards something truly deserving of them. You say you just make maps as a hobby now? Well now I’m telling you you can make the most important map of your life. Of any pony’s life!”

The mare sat back on her stool, regarding Cheese Souffle with an unimpressed look.

“And?” She urged.

“What I’m asking from you is to travel Equestria. All of it. And create a map of this new country for ponies. Show me where the best places for towns are, show me where the roads need to go, where bridges need to be raised, where farmlands can thrive, show me all of it.” Cheese looked like he was near about to throw his arm around Trail Blazer’s shoulders and gesture into the wide beyond.

“Not interested.” She flatly responded and swiveled on her stool, turning to the bar and picking up her newly arrived mug.

“Ugh...” Cheese Souffle deflated and tiredly pinched the bridge of his muzzle. “I’ll pay for your traveling expenses, you can drink and sleep around all you want on my bit.”

The mug stopped the second before it would hit her lips. Trail Blazer frowned and anxiously held her head and rubbed down her face with her free hoof before sighing and placing the mug back on the bar. “Look, I’m too tired and hungover right now to deal with this. If you’re gonna bother me about this job can we at least walk back to my place first so I can wake up a little?”

The interior of Trail Blazer’s small hovel was cluttered with so much rubbish and scrap that it was impossible to walk down the narrow hallway leading from the front door without stepping on at least one or two pieces of crumpled paper lazily strewn across the floor. Boxes and packages were stacked up high and nearly tipping over, the slightest nudge would send them collapsing on top of the three ponies now navigating around them. Quills, spilled ink, pencils, and other drawing and writing tools littered the ground everywhere as well. Yet despite all of this for the first time since meeting her, Bright Diamond was very impressed with Trail Blazer.

For along the walls lay map after map, completely coating every available surface. Detailed maps of the town and surrounding area among other places. Even one with no real interest or knowledge in cartography such as himself could see the value in these maps. He could nearly not take his eyes off them as Trail Blazer led him and Cheese into the main room of her modest home. Even calling it the main room though it was still barely the size of a large closet and the three had to crowd around the lone table (that was itself overflowing with papers and half-drawn maps) in the center. Two doors stood behind Trail Blazer from here, leading to the lavatory and bedroom most likely, Bright Diamond thought.

To Bright Diamond’s left a large map hung up on the wall caught his eye. “My word.” He said as he struggled to turn his body around without bumping into anything to get a better look at it.

It was a huge map of the entire town. Detailed down to even the smallest of buildings and most minor of alleys and side-streets. It looked perfectly up to date as well, as impossible as that seemed to him thanks to the chaos of the town. She had even written notes on what types of buildings there were, if the roads were cobbled or just dirt, what was new and what was old, the difference between true walls and just fences or other dividers, and countless other small things. It was a marvelous thing for him to behold.

“Miss Trail Blazer, might I have this map? It would be very useful.” He asked her.

The map pony grinned at him, well aware of how taken he was with her map. “Sure. For twenty bits.”

Bright Diamond sputtered. “Twenty bits?! That’s an outrageous fee for a map.”

“I know.” She grinned some more… before suddenly grimacing, her face turning green and her cheeks puffing out as the contents of her stomach rushed to evacuate. “Ergh!” She opened up one of the doors behind her and ran inside, slamming it shut behind her.

Just in time too as no sooner had it closed than Cheese and Bright heard Trail Blazer begin to loudly vomit.

“Huuurgh!” They heard as the poor hungover mare threw up whatever besides beer was left in her stomach.

The two shuffled about awkwardly, feeling a bit embarrassed to be listening to this, before Bright Diamond bit his lip and inched over towards Cheese Souffle.

“Cheese.” Bright bent down and whispered into his ear. “Are you really sure about this? You’ve convinced me about the mission itself but do we really want to put it in the hooves of this mare?”

The earth pony representative rubbed the back of his head, frowning. “She may have her issues I know but look around you. You can see it, can’t you? As long as we get her on the job there’s no pony better suited for it.”

“I don’t quite doubt that anymore.” Bright said as he looked back at the map of the town. “But I’m concerned about how well she’ll keep to the assignment. And if you’re essentially giving her free reign to drink and… sleep around all she wants I’m worried how long things might take and that she might get herself into trouble.”

As if to punctuate his worries another loud puking noise came from inside Trail Blazer’s lavatory.

“Alright I see what you mean.” Cheese admitted. “So what do you suggest?”

“A halfway point. I thought earlier that it would take a whole team of ponies to do what you wanted, but if Trail Blazer is as skilled as you say then perhaps only one more pony is needed? Not to help with her job but merely to keep an eye on her and make sure things don’t get out of hand. And to keep her on schedule.” Bright Diamond explained.

Cheese raised an eyebrow at the unicorn. “It sounds to me like you already have a pony in mind?”

“Indeed I-”

“Bleeeeghh!”

“Indeed I do. My young cousin, Lustrous, would be perfect.” Bright Diamond smiled. “Available, joyless, serious, he’d be the perfect counterbalance to Miss Trail Blazer. Plus I’ve been looking for something he can do with his life besides sit around our family’s manse and read. This will be the perfect thing for him. A kick into the real world so to say.”

“If you’re vouching for him I suppose he must be adequate.” Cheese shrugged. “Alright then so after-” Cheese Souffle suddenly stopped mid-sentence, his mouth hung open as a far off look came to his eyes.

“Cheese? Something wrong?” Bright Diamond asked in concern.

“An idea.” Cheese spoke.

“Beg your pardon?”

“A great idea just came to mind.” Cheese said again, staring off into space. “We need a third pony. A pegasus.”

“A pegasus?”

“Yes, a young one just like Trail Blazer and your cousin. A pony that wasn’t around before the tribes came together. Three ponies that were born in the new age, all from a different tribe but all having come together to work on this mission.” Cheese Souffle exclaimed, a fire behind his eyes. “Think about it, Bright. They’ll be a symbol of unification. An earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus that traveled across our new land of Equestria together all just for the sake of helping our country and bringing ponies closer together? It’s perfect.”

Bright Diamond was now thinking of the ramifications as well. He had to admit Cheese had quite the point here. “It would be a thing of beauty wouldn’t it? And the fact their job is to make a map and discover everything about this country? To plan where ponies can live and move to in the future? Why it’s almost magic… this feels more like fate than coincidence now doesn’t it, Cheese?”

“Magic is something I know about almost as much as breathing underwater so I’ll leave that to you. But I’ll say that the two of us have come up with something special here, aye?” Cheese smiled at his friend.

“Aye indeed.” Bright smiled back. “I suppose we should go find Thunderstorm and talk to him about this then? This is something he may actually want to be involved in and I’m sure he’ll have a good pegasus in mind to finish up our trio.”

Before Cheese could respond the door to the lavatory suddenly swung open and a rather disheveled looking Trail Blazer stumbled out. On wobbly knees she took a step forward before allowing herself to collapse on the table.

“While puking up my guts in there I had plenty of time to think. And I guess I’ll take you up on this job. When does it start?” She weakly questioned.

“As soon as possible.” Was Cheese’s reply.

Trail Blazer nodded and stood back up. “Alright. Give me ten minutes to get my things together.” The mare turned to the other door and opened it up, Cheese and Diamond both could see what looked like a small and very messy bedroom behind her figure. “I need a drink...” She murmured as she shut the plank door.

Thirty minutes later Trail Blazer reemerged from her bedroom and both representatives were well surprised at her appearance.

The map mare wore a large buttoned down gray-green coat that covered her from shoulders to flank, and it looked far older than the mare wearing it, she also carried a backpack upon her and on each of her sides hung a large saddlebag. Undoubtedly each of them full of all kinds of trinkets and tools for travel and map-drawing. Her mane was as messy as ever but the outfit helped to give her the look of a professional explorer and traveler… which is ostensibly what she was in the first place but she didn’t exactly give the best first impressions.

And as Bright Diamond’s eyes scanned over her his second impression was somewhat worsened when he noticed the silver flask she was holding in her hoof.

“Time to head out?” She asked and then took a hearty swig. “Ahhh~” Trail Blazer smiled. “Nothing beats moonshine.”

While Trail Blazer continued her attempts to get drunk before noon Bright and Cheese couldn’t help but be a little concerned. However their eagerness and elation for the mapping job (that had even fully overtaken Bright Diamond at this point) more than made up for things. The stage was set and the mission to ring in a new era for ponykind was about to be undertaken.

Author's Note

I've always wanted to read more early Equestria stories.

The Party

With the foundations for the trek across Equestria and making of the first grand map laid the three ponies now walked through the streets of future Manehattan to the home of Bright Diamond and the rest of his family. As was befitting the nicer part of the town the streets here were cobbled and not just muddy ground. Most ponies who saw them walking down the street wore variations of confusion and surprise on their faces. Why were the unicorn and earth pony representatives walking around together on the day the House of Government was closed and who was this mare following behind them that looked like she was about to climb a mountain?

It should also be noted that despite it being a full generation after unification most ponies still stayed in the company of those similar to them. On the streets and in town now earth ponies stuck together as did unicorns. Pegasi there were only a few of that actually lived in town, most were currently still up in the clouds or doing some other kind of business. The three tribes may not have been at each others throats anymore but there was still much work to be done to truly bring them together. Most ponies just weren’t familiar yet. How much did earth ponies really know about unicorns and vice versa? The ever perceptive Bright Diamond saw all of this as he led the way to his home.

Now it’s also important to mention that while the three tribes and all the ponies in them were very happy to be rid of the windigos and the eternal winter not all of the ponies were quite as happy with the unification that followed. Most. Not all. Some of the ponies who lived before unification couldn’t forget their grudges so easily.

But for now we return to three ponies walking down the street. Trail Blazer had begun to stumble and sway as the moonshine traveled through her veins. And yet she kept taking sip after sip of it from her flask as if it was water. Bright Diamond noticed her meandering movements and frowned at her, he did his best to ignore her behavior before he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Must you drink so much this early?” Her unrefined nature was almost an insult to his sensibilities.

Trail Blazer briefly stopped and got a hold of herself. She blinked away the small amount of euphoria the moonshine filled her with before turning her head to look at him. “Well yeah, that’s the whole point. If I don’t drink this much right now how can I get drunk before noon?” She smirked at him, knowing it would annoy the prudent and temperate unicorn.

Bright Diamond groaned. “You’re impossible...”

The two representatives had already filled her in on what they were doing and what the plan was now with them going to pick up Lustrous as well. Trail Blazer just shrugged through their whole explanation, not having near as much care or investment in what they wanted the map for or what this could mean for pony unification.

Either way with the three of them already in the nicer part of town it wasn’t much longer before they finally arrived at their destination.

At this point in the history of Equestria most buildings were still relatively primitive and would be considered quite ancient, and even the manse of Bright Diamond’s family was no exception. It was a building that covered a lot of ground area but was only a rather squat two-stories. Made of large blocks of stone with hardly a bit of reinforcement or cement to bind the stones. The roof was also a simple mix of wooden logs on bottom with boards of wood tightly nailed together on top to keep any drops of rain from getting in.

“Unicorns still like showing off more than earth ponies huh?” Cheese laughed as the three of them walked through the front door of the mansion.

It was probably the nicest house Trail Blazer had been inside she thought, although she was still mostly apathetic, simply glancing around at the interior before taking another drink from her flask. Bright Diamond snidely thought that if she couldn’t drink something she didn’t care about it.

A mint-green unicorn mare in a maid’s uniform noticed their arrival and walked up to them, bowing lightly to Bright Diamond. “Hello, sir. I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”

“Actually I’ve come back here on official government business. Is Lustrous currently in his room?” Bright asked her.

“Yes.” She nodded in simplicity, likely she had been asked that question many times in the past and more often than not the answer was yes.

“Is he awake?”

“Yes, and already eaten breakfast.” The maid answered again.

“Good.” Bright Diamond said and walked past her, heading up a mahogany stairway to the short second floor. “You two come along as well.” He said back to Cheese and Trail Blazer. “I’ll introduce you all together.”

Bright Diamond being a taller than average pony he nearly had to duck when they made it to the second floor, his horn almost scraping against the roof. Luckily the hallways were at least wide enough to accommodate the stout Cheese Souffle and the burdened Trail Blazer. Trail Blazer could see a number of unlit torches on the walls, not in use at the moment due to the plenty of windows that allowed sunlight inside the manse during the day.

The three of them stopped at a door at the halfway point of the second floor. Bright didn’t bother knocking, he merely scowled and his horn lit up with magic and he pulled the door open, inviting himself inside. Cheese had the courtesy to not enter just yet but Trail Blazer had no such reservations and trotted in right after the unicorn.

A unicorn who was just recently slouched over his desk lurched up with a start at the intruders. He had a slightly darker blue coat than his cousin but his body wasn’t as tall or as thin. The ponies build was an average one that only leaned towards being slim without having the willowy proportions of Bright Diamond. And completely unlike his cousin he had a jet black mane and tail, the mane cut short and perfectly parted down the center of his head. On his flank was stamped a pretty Cutie Mark of a glittering amethyst. He wore a pair of reading glasses that had fallen down his nose when he was startled from his reading. Trail Blazer could see a large collection of books on his desk although she couldn’t see what their contents were.

Now upon seeing just who it was that entered his room, Lustrous glared at his cousin and raised a questioning eyebrow, pushing his glasses back up. “Excuse me?” He said in a voice not nearly as refined or polite sounding as his cousin’s.

“Don’t be rude. You have guests.” Bright frowned at him.

“Rude? You just barged your way into my room without permission or notice.” Lustrous hopped down from his chair and walked over to his cousin, scowling.

“Your room. The family’s mansion. I’m sorry but if you want me to give you a bit more respect you could get an actual job or do some sort of work?” Bright admonished his cousin.

Lustrous was about to angrily say something to him again but a single raised hoof from Bright cut him off.

“However today you’re in luck, Lustrous.” Bright Diamond smiled at him. “For I’ve come here to tell you of a job that’s not only perfect for you but one that’s very important and noble.” He gestured towards the now drunk Trail Blazer, who looked at Lustrous through tired, half-lidded, eyes. “You will be escorting Miss Trailer Blazer here on a journey across our new land of Equestria while she draws the first grand and complete map of the country.”

The younger cousin looked at him as if he grew a second head. “I refuse. And is she drunk?”

“A little. Not much.” Trail Blazer belched loudly. “Oof, scuse me.”

Bright Diamond rolled his eyes at her crass behavior. “Forget about her for now. You don’t have a choice anyways. This is official government business, I am ordering you on this mission. And if you refuse I’ll just finally kick you out of here anyways.”

“You can’t!” Lustrous cried in shock.

“Watch me.”

Cheese Souffle regarded his comrade with a questioning glance. “You said he was the perfect pony for the job but why am I getting the feeling that you’re half using this as an excuse to get rid of him?”

“My family got rid of me, no big deal.” Trail Blazer nonchalantly mentioned and took a big swig of moonshine. She shook the flask lightly after swallowing. “Tch, almost empty already...”

Lustrous and Bright Diamond continued to stare each other down before Lustrous finally gave up, his shoulders slumping in defeat and his head despondently lowering towards the floor. “Fine, you win.”

“Oh don’t act like it’s the end of the world. This is a great opportunity for you.” Bright Diamond walked over to his desk and flipped through the pages of one of his books. “You love studying don’t you? Here’s the chance to do it out in the real world while making a difference for ponies instead of just staying shut in here.”

“What am I even supposed to do?” Lustrous looked between the three ponies gathered in his room. “If she’s the actual expert here and the one who’s going to make the map in the first place why do I even need to go with her?”

“Isn’t that obvious from just looking at her?” Bright Diamond sighed and even Cheese uncomfortably rubbed the back of his head while averting his eyes from the map mare. “You’re a serious stallion who doesn’t play around, your true job is to keep her on track and make sure she actually does her job.”

“You three have no problem insulting me to my face, huh?” Trail Blazer said, her eyes blinking out of sync with each other. “Eh. You aint wrong though, I’d probably just wander off for a while without anyone forcing me to keep on schedule.”

“I see...” Lustrous grimaced at the prospect of making sure Trail Blazer did what she was supposed to in a timely fashion. “But this is a huge undertaking. A map of all of Equestria? It might take us months.”

“That’s why you’re getting started today.” Cheese said, grinning.

“Today?!” Lustrous screeched. “But, but-” He sputtered.

“No time to waste.” Bright Diamond also grinned. “You had best gather your things together.”

“I can make a list of what essentials to bring. And depending on what he has or doesn’t have we may need to stop at a shop somewhere before leaving.” Trail Blazer said before downing the rest of the contents of her flask. “I got everything I need but you and whoever else we’re getting can carry their own stuff, and whatever extras we might want to bring.” She pointed to her backpack. “I’ve got a tent that can fit four in here but only a mat and blanket for myself.”

“Whoever else?” Lustrous asked. “Is there another pony coming with us?”

This time Cheese Souffle stepped forward to answer. “That’s right. The other point of this endeavor is to show off three young ponies, one from each tribe, working together towards a common goal that aids every pony in Equestria!”

“After this the four of us are going to go speak to the pegasus representative and find a suitable pegasus to complete your trio.” Bright said.

“So you’re using us as propaganda?” Lustrous raised an unamused eyebrow at the two officials.

“Inspiration sounds better. Let’s say we’re using you as that.” Bright mockingly smiled at his young cousin.

“Inspiration for the new generation of ponies. The first ones born in Equestria!” Cheese shouted.

Lustrous was hardly impressed but it seemed he had no choice here. He glanced to his side to see Trail Blazer holding her flask over her open mouth and trying to shake out any last drops of whatever was in there. The asocial unicorn couldn’t help but cringe.

Bright could already tell what he was thinking. “Look, believe me, she’s qualified. You just haven’t seen her work yet, I can vouch for her.” But still, as he said that a worrying thought passed through him and Bright Diamond nervously licked his lips as he looked at the two ponies they were about to send away. Quickly he glanced at Cheese Souffle and motioned for him to follow him back out the door into the hallway. “You two get to know each other, Cheese and I have something to discuss.”

The unicorn representative shut the door and left the other two to their own devices while he quietly spoke to Cheese. “Another concern has popped up for me.”

“And what is it?” Cheese raised an eyebrow.

“These two… while I believe they’ll perform their duties well, er, mostly that is, I’m still worried for them. We don’t know what sort of dangers might still be out in the country, not to mention thieves and outlaws. I’m worried that they may be in danger and I know for a fact that my cousin can’t defend himself and Trail Blazer doesn’t seem the most capable in that regard either.” Bright said. “So what I’m suggesting is that the final pony we find should be a… protector of sorts for them.”

Cheese nodded. “You think we should ask Thunderstorm if he has any young pegasi who are especially able fighters?”

“Precisely. The map maker, the one keeping her focused, and the guardian for the both of them. Now let’s collect those two and head over to find Thunderstorm before Trail Blazer throws up on Lustrous’s floor.”

Thunderstorm was a modest pegasus. He always put the needs of the group ahead of his own needs and was thought of by many as a pony lacking in personal pride and ambition. For that reason he was personally picked by Commander Hurricane to lead things in this new age. However he didn’t have as much interest in the same sort of work that Bright Diamond and Cheese Souffle did. Laws and legislation was not his area of expertise. Instead Thunderstorm poured his focus into creating a single, united, dedicated weather team for Equestria. But that wasn’t all. He also felt that despite the three tribes putting their differences aside and reaching peace that didn’t mean there wasn’t a need for defense or an army. The rest of the world may not be entirely friendly to the new nation of Equestria, who knows? So he also continued the martial training that many pegasi underwent and looked towards creating a standing defense force for the country. The last project of his that he was working on was a simple aerial postal service. A simple but very important service that would benefit Equestria greatly.

So while he may not have the stomach for the office work and debate and the other sort of work his contemporaries did that wasn’t to say that he didn’t give his all in his own way for the betterment of Equestria. Far from it.

Also of note is that Thunderstorm was big. Really big. Most pegasi have a much lighter frame and don’t get to the size that some earth ponies or even unicorns can. But Thunderstorm towered over even the tall Bright Diamond and looked to weigh nearly as much as a yak. In previous years he had been more muscular and thus a little slimmer looking even, but as he spent most of his time directing and leading others now instead of exercising or training, his muscles had started to be replaced with fat and his large gut was noticeable even through the traditional pegasus armor he still often wore.

As opposed to Bright and Cheese who were almost always in town Thunderstorm was occasionally away or out flying with other pegasi to help coordinate or set up one of his three projects. But when he was in town he could usually be found at the northeast corner of the island. For here it was that Thunderstorm had built (contracted earth ponies to) a wooden arena where he trained ponies for his future defense force. In the past the pegasi had their coliseums up in the clouds but now Thunderstorm had his training ground open to any pony. Almost all that came and were interested in his defense force were pegasi but he still wanted to make sure things were open and inviting to the rare earth pony or unicorn that was also interested.

Bright Diamond and Cheese Souffle led Lustrous and Trail Blazer right to the arena. It was made up like a circular fort out of tall wooden boards with only the one opening facing the rest of the town and the outer walls placed right up against the water’s edge.

Inside was a beehive of activity.

Ponies ran sprints around the perimeter of the building, pegasi were doing wing push-ups in the mud, and others seemed to be fighting or wrestling together, the rest were doing things like lifting stones or some other sort of exercise and weight-training. Meanwhile the very large Thunderstorm stood on a slightly raised platform in the center of it all. His coat was a stark white and his mane and tail were a wild purple, bits of mud and dirt clung all over him.

Trail Blazer had been looking around at the other ponies here and she nudged Bright Diamond in the side, teasingly smiling up at him. “Hey, hey. How many of the ponies here do you think I’ve slept with? Wanna guess?”

“Absolutely not.” Bright Diamond pushed that thought out of his head and walked towards Thunderstorm with the other three following him.

As they approached, Thunderstorm saw them and while a look of confusion briefly passed over his face he quickly smiled at the two other representatives.

“Cheese! Bright! What do I owe this pleasure to?” He hopped off from his platform and looked at the other two ponies with them. His smile fell and a slightly embarrassed blush crept up his cheeks. “Oh. And hello, Trail Blazer.”

“Hey big guy, didn’t know this was your job.” She cheekily grinned at him before glancing to Bright and wiggled her eyebrows.

“You can not be serious...” Bright Diamond looked between her and the blushing Thunderstorm while Cheese started laughing.

“E-Enough of that, why are the two of you here… and with Trail Blazer and-” Thunderstorm regarded Lustrous. “Whoever this is?”

“This is my cousin, Lustrous.” Bright said, as eager to get off that topic as Thunderstorm was. “And I think you’ll be very interested in the reason we’re here.”

Bright Diamond and Cheese Souffle walked Thunderstorm back to his little platform, leaving Trail Blazer and Lustrous behind. Again they had to explain their whole idea and how wonderful it was to another pony.

While those three did their thing Trail Blazer absentmindedly patted her flask before looking down at the empty silver case. “We should’ve stopped at a tavern on the way here.” She grumbled. She had started to sway back and forth a bit even just standing there thanks to how quickly she had drank all that alcohol but this was normal for her, she could handle her liquor. For the most part.

A loud sneeze brought her attention to the unicorn standing next to her. Lustrous looked thoroughly uncomfortable, he kept shuffling his hooves around like he hated to be standing in mud and the sun was causing him to squint and even sweat a little bit despite it hardly being a particularly hot day.

“You don’t get out much do you?” Trail Blazer asked him.

“No, I don’t” He sourly replied. “I can’t believe I’ve been roped into this.”

“You and me both pal.”

He looked at her with a questioning gaze. “You don’t want to do this? Why’d you accept the job then?”

Trail Blazer shrugged. “Free food, free board, free booze. Why wouldn’t I say yes? I may prefer making maps on my own time, it’s my hobby and talent, and I don’t like being made to do something or having some schedule hanging over my head but whatever. I wasn’t doing anything else.”

“Well at least you have an actual job to do on our trip...” He scowled.

“Hey, your job is gonna keep you busy. Most days I’m not gonna want to do anything but sleep around and drink. So good luck kicking my butt into gear.” She chuckled at his expense.

“Lovely.” Lustrous glared at her.

“Hey you two! Get over here!” Cheese Souffle suddenly yelled out to the both of them. It seems their conversation was done.

Trail Blazer and Lustrous followed the command and joined the three representatives on the platform (Thunderstorm doing his best to not look in Trail Blazer’s direction) before Lustrous’s curiosity got the better of him.

“And so who’s the unlucky pegasus that gets to join us on our quest?” The cynical unicorn asked.

Thunderstorm grinned and turned towards one of the pegasi who was carrying stones on his back. “Steel Wing! Drop those rocks and assemble!”

The pegasus did as commanded, instantly dropping the rocks off his back and running to stand front and center in front of the platform. He was an average sized pegasus with a rust red coat and a carrot orange mane and tail. The Cutie Mark emblazoned on his flank was a pair of crossed wings. His mane was short and, if it was possible, was somehow even messier than Trail Blazer’s unkempt locks. But his eyes were steady and piercing, he stood at attention with an unreadable look on his face, waiting for his next orders.

“This is Steel Wing.” Thunderstorm said. “He’s perfect for what you were talking about. Young, strong, dutiful. Just what you need to protect these two on the road.”

“Not that I’m doubting you but there could be a number of dangers out there. Will he truly be capable of protecting them all on his own or will we perhaps need other escorts? I don’t want to sacrifice our message of “One pony from each tribe working together” unless absolutely necessary but I don’t want any of them to get hurt either.” Bright Diamond said.

“Is he capable?” Thunderstorm’s grin got even wider and he looked over to some of the pegasi doing wing push-ups. Meanwhile Steel Wing continued to stand at attention patiently, not moving an inch. “Raincloud, fall in!” The pegasus representative yelled.

Immediately the head of a black pegasus with a water blue mane and tail shot up. He stopped his exercising and ran over as quickly as he could, giving a salute to Thunderstorm when he came to a stop.

“Sir!” Raincloud said.

“Raincloud, I have a very special task for you.” Thunderstorm said to the pony before pointing a wing at Steel Wing. “Fight Steel Wing.”

Raincloud blanched. The color left his face and his eyes widened in horror. “F-Fight him?! Why me?”

“Because I said so, that’s why. Now get on with it!” Thunderstorm stated simply and ordered.

The black pegasus was shaking as he turned to face the impassive Steel Wing. With a nod, Thunderstorm also told Steel Wing to get ready. It was not a very pretty thing to watch. Raincloud attempted to make the first move but Steel Wing’s reaction was so quick it would make most observers think he had been the one to move first. The moment the red pegasus got in range his hoof struck out across Raincloud’s chin to discombobulate him and then he ducked low, bringing his wing forward and slamming it into the throat of his opponent. Not finished yet (although to be fair Raincloud would be down and out after these first two strikes) he reached down to grasp one of Raincloud’s front hooves and pulled, upending the purple pegasus and spinning him upside down before slamming him back hard into the muddy ground.

Raincloud groaned weakly. If he could move he was wisely deciding not to.

Bright, Cheese and Lustrous looked on in silent awe at how fast and easily Steel Wing had dispatched his opponent, who to their knowledge must’ve been a capable enough warrior to also be here in the first place.

“I’m kind of turned on.” Trail Blazer broke the silence.

At that Steel Wing actually reacted, turning a confused and somewhat weirded out face to the unfamiliar earth pony.

“Yes, well...” Bright Diamond started. “I suppose I must agree with you about his capability then, Thunderstorm.”

“That’s right.” Thunderstorm proudly beamed and then hopped off the platform, trotting up to Steel Wing. “You’ve been selected for a special mission, lad.”

The other ponies left the platform too to formally greet Steel Wing. The pegasus looked surprised but took it all in stride as the others collected around him.

“Mission?” He asked. His voice as calm and even as anyone would’ve expected from his appearance.

“Are we going to explain the whole thing again or can we give him the gist?” Cheese Souffle suggested.

A short few minutes passed and the three representatives were again chatting with one another, likely ironing out the details of how they would portray this “great endeavor” and how the map would be promoted and distributed once things were taken care of. That left Steel Wing to get to know Trail Blazer and Lustrous before they all left the arena to get any last supplies they needed and set out on the beginning of their journey.

“So you’re Steel Wing?” Lustrous tried to initiate the conversation. While Steel Wing seemed polite enough he was also rather reticent.

“Yes.” Was the unambiguous response.

“And so you’ll be escorting us and protecting us from danger?” Lustrous kept trying to kick-off a dialogue.

“Yes.”

Perhaps he should stop asking yes or no questions.

Trail Blazer was thoroughly disinterested in talking, in fact she seemed to be grumbling in irritation at something or another and Lustrous was not the best at talking with others in the first place. He just didn’t like awkward silences like this. However he was in luck though as for whatever reason Steel Wing decided to speak up again.

“I don’t believe I’ve learned your names yet.” He looked between the two of them.

“Oh, I’m Lustrous.” Lustrous said. “Bright Diamond over there is actually my cousin, he’s why I’m doing this.” He couldn’t help but let a little annoyance seep into his voice when he said that.

“I see. And you, miss?” Steel Wing turned to the slightly swaying map mare.

“Trail Blazer.” She swung out her hoof for him to shake, which he gingerly did… and kept doing as she didn’t pull her hoof away. Instead her face contorted in a grimace as she stared at the ground

“Is something wrong?” Steel Wing asked, Lustrous also stepped to his side to see what was wrong with her.

“I apologize in advance. But I’m about to throw up all over your hooves.”

Trail Blazer thankfully managed to keep the (mostly alcoholic) contents of her stomach down and the six ponies then went on to leave the arena and headed to a local general store. Evening was upon them now. At the store everything the two stallions going on the journey needed was acquired and Trail Blazer stocked up on more moonshine. As Lustrous double and triple-checked everything in his backpack Steel Wing made sure he had his things in order, the pegasus was carrying a lighter load than the other two. His backpack wasn’t even half the size of Trail Blazer’s.

He had gentlemanly offered to carry her things but she brushed him off. As an earth pony she was plenty strong to begin with and had years of experience carrying all of this. Not to mention that he needed to be unencumbered in case anything happened.

“I suppose you’re all ready to go now?” Bright Diamond asked the three of them but didn’t wait for a response. “Good! We’ll head out to the bridge immediately and you can begin your journey!”

“Aye, it will be a fine adventure. Make us that map and help bring Equestria even closer together!” Cheese Souffle cheered.

“No.”

All eyes turned to Trail Blazer.

“Excuse me?” Bright asked her, aghast.

“Not today.” Trail Blazer said. “It’s gotten too late in the day. We should rest and start tomorrow morning. It’ll be better that way.” She unscrewed her flask and took a quick sip.

Bright shared a look with Cheese and Thunderstorm, who helplessly shrugged, before frowning a bit and turning back to Trail Blazer. “Er, alright, you’re the expert on travel after all. But first thing tomorrow morning, we don’t want any delaying on this!”

“Mm.” Trail Blazer gave a noncommittal grunt.

The conversation went on for a bit after that but it was nothing too important to note. Bright Diamond upon retiring to bed later that night realized that he had somehow become even more enthusiastic about the map than Cheese Souffle. Trail Blazer, Lustrous and Steel Wing spent one last night in their homes before they would set out tomorrow morning and undertake the greatest adventure of their lives. Three ponies from different tribes that before today were complete strangers. Coming together for a good cause, they had decided that the first light of dawn would signal the start of their journey.

The Coast

Tomorrow morning was slow. Steel Wing was the only one of the three up and ready to go even before Celestia first raised the sun. Lustrous was taking his sweet time and thoroughly annoying his cousin and Trail Blazer was unconscious due to the massive amount she had drunk the previous day. Not even the repeated pounding of Cheese Souffle on her front door could rouse her.

The expedition was not off to a promising start.

Eventually after a good deal of time it all started to come together. Lustrous found he could stall no more and he had had enough of his cousin chewing him out over the fact that he was supposed to be the responsible one that kept things on schedule. Trail Blazer eventually woke up from her alcohol induced coma only to sigh in exasperation as she realized what she was supposed to do today and attempted to go back to sleep. When that failed she begrudgingly got her things together and headed out with the representative she mockingly referred to as The Big Cheese for the rest of the morning.

Dawn was far behind them but it was still early morning, a few hours had been lost on this first day of their journey but it wouldn’t impact them greatly. Trail Blazer and everyone else knew it would be days of them alone just traveling down the coastline before they reached another town out here or had to make a change in direction. This was a grand task that could take months.

The six gathered on the bridge that connected the island with the mainland, in time there would eventually be a train and railroad running right here but that was still far off in the future for these ponies. Lustrous carried a large bag on his back and already looked worn out from it while Steel Wing still just carried his smaller one.

“Good luck with the map out there.” Bright Diamond cheerfully said.

“You’re doing something great for Equestria.” Cheese Souffle waved them off.

“Keep safe.” Thunderstorm reminded.

Steel Wing was the only one who politely waved back and said farewell to the three representatives. Trail Blazer ignored them and Lustrous grumbled the whole way down the bridge.

To the representatives credit though they did stay watching them the whole way down the bridge and even for quite a while until they had become just a trio of specks in the distance. And then they walked back into town as it was once more a busy day for the ponies who worked at the House of Government. Trail Blazer and the others would always be on their mind to some degree until they finally returned but other duties awaited them all.

And now, with our adventurers…

“This is unbearable! T-This is just… how am I supposed to do this?!” Lustrous complained as his heavy backpack already wore on him, the unicorn sweating and panting as he slowly kept up pace with the others.

“You’ll get used to it. You just need to build up some muscle and stamina.” Trail Blazer told him and took a drink from her flask.

“I don’t have the strength of an earth pony though.” He scowled at her. “And you’re already drinking? Are you seriously going to be drinking like that every day?”

“Yep.” Trail Blazer plainly replied.

“Miss Trail Blazer.” Steel Wing started. “I must also admit I’m concerned by your drinking habits, that amount of alcohol consumption is unhealthy and-”

Trail Blazer held up a hoof to silence him. “Well aware of all that and let me show you just how little I care.” She took another big gulp.

Steel Wing looked dismayed at his ward’s attitude and behavior while Lustrous was just baffled that this mare was supposedly the best cartographer around and he had to not only put up with her for this entire journey but make sure she did her job in the first place.

“This is going to be far too long of a trip.” Lustrous angrily muttered.

“Hey it’s an opportunity to study stuff right? Your cousin said you like to study.” Trail Blazer said.

“I like to study magic. Not the wilderness.” Lustrous replied.

“Well maybe something will come up and you can put that wizard knowledge to good use out here.” Trail Blazer shrugged.

The conversation dulled for a bit after that. None of the three could be considered anything close to friends at this point and the one polite one of the bunch was also the quietest. Trail Blazer wasn’t doing much at this point, since this area still so close to the town was already well known and had detailed maps made of it, and thus Lustrous had nothing to do either. Steel Wing kept a vigilant eye out for the both of them but again this wasn’t an unknown or dangerous area like they might be traveling through in the future. So for all three of them things were going slowly this morning.

Not only that but there simply wasn’t much to look at in general. After they had left the town Trail Blazer led them to the coastline and now they hugged it as they traveled south. But there was no tropical beach to enjoy in this part of Equestria and the forest and grass to the other side of them was a scenery they were all more than familiar with. The waterfront was just rocky and muddy and cold. There was nothing inviting about it and it already managed to cast a foul mood on the expedition.

Lustrous sniffed at the salty sea air, the breeze coming in from the rolling waves wasn’t helping his already aching back and legs.

“What is our exact itinerary anyways?” Lustrous asked Trail Blazer.

“We’re going south along the coast and then cutting west along the southern border, then when we hit the west coast we head north a little before cutting back across eastways. And we keep zigzagging like that until we’ve covered everywhere.” Trail Blazer answered.

“Aren’t there already full maps of the coastline? Didn’t some pegasi already draw up some maps of it?” Lustrous questioned.

Trail Blazer sighed and looked over her shoulder at him, fixing him with the stare of a pony who didn’t feel like explaining things to someone ignorant. “You’re right. You wanna see one of those maps?”

Lustrous tilted his head and furrowed his brow. “Er, alright?”

Trail Blazer brought the three of them to a halt and reached into one of her saddlebags. She searched around in there for a moment before pulling out a stack of folded up papers tied together with a small rope band. Leafing through those papers she found the one she wanted and hoofed it over to Lustrous.

“Here, this is a pegasus map of the east coast.”

Lustrous unfolded it and looked upon the map with interest. The map was drawn in simple black ink, and the shape of the coast was very detailed. It started at the northern edge and went far down south although not quite to the tip. From what Lustrous could tell the coast had been mapped out at least as far as they were going.

He raised an eyebrow at Trail Blazer. “So if we already have this then why...”

“That map doesn’t help at all. The pegasi who drew it were only concerned about the shape of the coastline and nothing else.” Trail Blazer said. “All their maps are like that. Does that map you’re holding tell you what the ground is like? Does it show you what part of the coast is a cliff and what part is a beach? Does it show you rivers that empty into the sea or how close the treeline is to the water? Nope. None of that. It doesn’t show differences in elevation either, the pegasi also have no idea what places along the coast would be good for building a town in or where crops can grow best. They don’t know what kinds of dangerous animals might be in the forests either and they don’t know anything about high and low tide and how that can affect things.” She glanced at Steel Wing. “No offense.”

“None taken. It’s true.” He wasn’t bothered.

Trail Blazer returned her gaze to Lustrous. “Does that map even show distance on it? Nope. We’re walking but they could fly, tell me how long do you think it would take for you to walk down the coast compared to how long it took those pegasi to fly it? If you were making that trip alone and had that map and nothing else, how helpful do you think it would be?”

Lustrous glanced down at the map again, now that he looked at it the thing was practically blank. It’s like if he had a map of the island his town was built on but it didn’t show any of the streets or buildings of the town itself. It would be impossible to navigate like that.

“I see your point.” He folded the map up.

Trail Blazer took it back. “It’s still a useful outline for us but we’re making a real map. One that’s very detailed. And that’s not to mention that they want me to find good places for settlements and farms and where roads might be able to go through, among other things.” She put everything back into her bag and took a swallow of moonshine. “What a hassle.”

The three started moving again, at least the weather was alright even if one couldn’t call it warm out. Lustrous at this point though had to keep asking for short breaks but Steel Wing and Trail Blazer were happy to accommodate him, knowing he was by far the least physically able of the group (and Trail Blazer was in no hurry anyways).

An hour or so before afternoon would turn to evening the three of them came to the first river they had seen that flowed from the interior of Equestria out into the ocean. There was no bridge, not a one of them could swim and they had bags anyways, and Lustrous didn’t have the skill or energy to teleport or levitate their things across. So it fell on Steel Wing to carry Trail Blazer, then Lustrous, and then their bags across one at a time.

However once they were across Trail Blazer decided to stop for a second instead of having them move on. She reached into one of her bags and pulled out a small notebook and pencil and began scribbling something away. Lustrous shrugged and took a walk out to the mouth of the river where it poured into the ocean. There was a nice cove here and plenty of solid (if wet) ground that the small waves repeatedly washed up on.

Lustrous smiled and looked back over his shoulder at Trail Blazer and Steel Wing standing next to her. “This seems like a good place for a future town doesn’t it? Freshwater river, a cove that you can easily build a dock in, plenty of room between the shore and the forest.”

“Wrong.”

The unicorn’s smile instantly fell into a frown. “No?”

Trail Blazer peeked up from her notebook. “The river is too briney, the ground is too soft, your buildings would sink, and look-” She got up and walked up beside him, pointing out into the water. “You can see the shadows of rocks right below the surface of the water. Any boats that got close to the shoreline here would have their bottoms gouged out.”

Lustrous had to squint but he could indeed see dark shadows in the water now that he really looked. He turned to the map mare and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, but how do you know about the river?”

“I can tell.” She didn’t bother to explain more as she went back to her bags and threw them all back on, chucking the notebook and pencil in too. “What this place needs is a bridge for that river. That’s all. Now come on, we’re getting back to walking.”

Steel Wing helpfully brought over Lustrous’s large backpack to him and the three resumed their journey. Lustrous figured that whatever Trail Blazer was writing had to do with what she just explained to him, maybe she wrote down a note about a bridge needing to be built here? He didn’t know for sure but he was glad that she was at least doing some work of her own accord without him having to force her to.

Trail Blazer took another deep gulp of her moonshine as the breeze from the sea kicked up. She trotted to the front of their little group and spoke back to Lustrous. “You should be pretty grateful that we aren’t gonna have near as much to do or look at these first few days. You’ll have an easier time getting acclimated to the outdoors and carrying all that stuff now.”

“Hrm.” Lustrous grunted and followed along after her, Steel Wing picking up the rear.

The map mare then grinned as she looked back at him over her shoulder, barely able to see him past her own large backpack. “Also, I’d say you should probably start trying to enjoy studying the wilderness. Since we’re gonna be doing a lot of that on this trip.”

“That’s your job...” Lustrous scowled.

“Yeah, and it’s a way for you to pass the time and maybe enjoy yourself. Unless you take up drinking like me you’re probably gonna be pretty bored.” Trail Blazer belched. “Speaking of that, hey Steel Wing? You want a drink?” She shook her flask at him.

“No thank you.” The pegasus shook his head. “I can’t allow myself to be inebriated.”

“One sip aint gonna do that, just gonna get you warm inside.” Trail Blazer prodded.

He continued to shake his head. “It… will get me drunk.” He awkwardly bit his cheek and looked away from her.

“Hah, lightweight!” Trail Blazer laughed and took another drink.

She walked a few more steps while the stallions followed behind her before she started slowing down, and finally came to a complete stop after a few more steps. The cartographer stood there, gently swaying with the breeze before either of her companions decided to ask what was going on.

“Miss Trail Blazer?” Steel Wing questioned.

“I think it’s the sea air… or all the walking...” She muttered.

“What?” Lustrous asked, confused, and trotted up beside her. “What are you talking—oh.”

Trail Blazer was green of face and her cheeks were bulging out, the mare tentatively reached a hoof up to her mouth, trying to keep herself from upchucking. “Suddenly I just… oh, step back!”

Lustrous quickly complied and jumped back just as Trail Blazer emptied her stomach onto the ground.

It was now the first night of their journey. Lustrous had gotten Trail Blazer to promise she wouldn’t drink anymore for the rest of the day (she had been irritable since then) and now the three of them were preparing to sleep in her tent. They were lucky none of them were especially big ponies or else it would be pretty cramped in here. The tent was able to hold four but that was with the addendum of “without any other room” attached to it.

Steel Wing had done what he called a perimeter sweep before also coming into the tent, he had offered to stand guard all night but Trail Blazer convinced him there was no need. He was obviously uncomfortable without anyone watching vigil and said that if they got to more dangerous or unexplored areas that they should begin sleeping in shifts. Trail Blazer was not fond of that idea but Lustrous pointed out that it would at least mean more room for the two sleeping in the tent at the time.

They considered it for later.

Trail Blazer though, perhaps because of her lack of recent alcohol, decided not to sleep immediately and had been writing or drawing something on a piece of paper on top of her sleeping mat. Lustrous couldn’t care less about it and thus didn’t bother to see what she was doing, figuring it was more map work, and Steel Wing didn’t think it concerned his purpose on this mission. So the two stallions allowed the mare to do her thing until she felt like turning in as well.

When she was tired enough (and had ceased grumbling to herself) Trail Blazer put her things away and stood up and blew out the candle that had been carefully hung from the center of the tent.

Total darkness. A flimsy tent all that separated the three adventurers from the wild. Thin mats the only thing keeping the rough ground away. Lying together for the first of many nights.

Lustrous had trouble sleeping. This was a far cry from his comfortable bed back in his room, the tent didn’t keep the cold night air out the same way the thick stone walls of his home did, there was no telling what sort of animals might be out there and he was currently lying in between an alcoholic mare and a pegasus that barely spoke but could probably turn him inside out with his hooves tied.

And the blanket was itchy.

He wanted to talk to them. To break the ice and maybe have an actual friendly conversation with the two ponies he had been stuck with. But he wasn’t exactly a pony that knew how to make friends and he wasn’t sure if they would be eager to talk right now. Not only had all of them just turned in for the night but Trail Blazer gave off the impression that she wouldn’t ever be eager to become friends. And Steel Wing… he was polite but how quiet he always was was a little off-putting to Lustrous.

With a low grunt Lustrous turned over and tried to find a more comfortable position to sleep in. Weren’t they supposed to be an example to other ponies? Wasn’t this supposed to be about young ponies from the next generation of each tribe coming together to accomplish some special goal? They may have been drawing a map but Lustrous wasn’t sure if that second goal was going to be fulfilled.

The harsh wind blew across each of their faces, Lustrous and Trail Blazer each raised a foreleg over their faces to try and keep the worst of it out of their eyes while Steel Wing impassively stood like a statue, unsurprisingly wind like this didn’t seem to bother a pegasus.

The trio stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, at the bottom waves crashed into the rocky wall again and again, spraying up a salty mist each time. On the far end of this sea was where the griffons lived. At least that was according to what Thunderstorm told Steel Wing. Neither Trail Blazer nor Lustrous knew anything about that other land. And thankfully they didn’t have to know about anything outside of Equestria.

Unlike the previous day they had all woken up and gotten ready at the same time. This was mostly due to Steel Wing’s internal clock waking him up right before dawn and with them all in a small tent together it was impossible for the others to stay asleep as well, and today Lustrous was adamant about not wasting any time. As much as his cousin forcing him on this journey annoyed him he wanted to do his duty and be the responsible one that he was supposed to be for Trail Blazer.

And the more they kept to schedule and didn’t waste time the sooner it would all be over.

It was still early morning now, the ground had steadily risen along the coast until they made it to this highest point of the cliff. And because nothing like this was mentioned on the pegasi maps or anything else they had, Trail Blazer needed to take some notes on it.

“Definitely need to put “cliff” here when I’m drawing things.” The mare said to herself as she sketched something on a piece of paper. She looked up and down the cliff, trying to deduce just how tall it was and how far it went before ending.

“Can you measure things out just by looking?” Lustrous asked her.

“Yes. Estimate at least.” She replied, not bothering to look at him.

“Pegasi are good at that too, you can use the horizon for a reference when flying to measure distances” Steel Wing chimed in, much to Lustrous’s surprise.

“I’ve just done this kind of thing a lot when making maps in the past.” Trail Blazer said, putting away her paper and starting to walk south along the edge of the cliff again. “Get an idea of things when looking at them and then keep track of how many steps you take or use other landmarks for reference like a hill or something else that’s noticeable. Well, I don’t really need to do that anymore. I can calculate distances in my head.”

Lustrous raised an eyebrow at her as he trotted up beside her. “Really? That’s quite impressive actually.”

“Lots of practice and experience.” The map maker shrugged.

The three walked in silence for a few minutes longer, they would be able to make good progress this day. Whether it was good fortune or fate they had set out at a time of year when the weather was at its most amicable. Barring any unforeseen disasters they should be in great condition for most if not all of their journey.

Just as Lustrous figured their conversation had completely died out, Trail Blazer spoke again.

“When I’m looking at something, doesn’t matter if it’s a big or small area, it’s like I can see it in my head from above. Like I’ve got a bird’s-eye-view of it. Or like I’m looking at a map that already exists in my head.” She continued. “That helps me when I’m doing this kind of stuff.”

“If you can accurately picture it you have quite the penchant for 3D thinking.” Lustrous told her. “Most could “think” about what something would look from above but if you can actually see it and draw a detailed map from it? Most can’t do that.”

“It’s my talent after all.” She pointed back at her flank for emphasis, even though the coat she wore covered her Cutie Mark.

Lustrous nodded and turned his head to the stoic Steel Wing. “Speaking of Cutie Mark’s what about yours? How’d you get it?”

Steel Wing paused mid-step. Lustrous and even Trail Blazer both stopped as well to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” Trail Blazer asked.

“I… I’m sorry, but I don’t wish to speak of my Cutie Mark.” Steel Wing looked down at the mark on his flank. “It’s a family matter.”

Trail Blazer shrugged, if she was concerned by his unusual behavior she didn’t show it. “Suit yourself. Not like it’s a big deal.” She took the opportunity to have a drink. “Let’s get back on track, I’m almost running dry here.”

Steel Wing did as was suggested and followed in behind her.

Lustrous sighed and started walking in behind him. “I got my Cutie Mark from reading in case anyone wants to know...” He whispered under his breath.

And that was the story of the next few days. Uneventful walks down the eastern coastline of Equestria broken up by cold and dark nights where the three travelers spoke nothing to one another. Trail Blazer eventually ran out of her moonshine and became even more irritable and difficult to get along with than normal and the way Steel Wing had reacted to his Cutie Mark was still bugging Lustrous. And furthermore thanks to the lack of alcohol Trail Blazer showed a decided lack of interest in doing her job, waking up on time, or making any sort of observations like she had been. It fell on Lustrous to make sure she was at least paying attention to the landscape and taking enough notes for their map.

Thankfully there was something to break the monotony coming up.

In the late afternoon of an especially quiet day the three found themselves traveling over a marsh. Steel Wing had flown up to inspect how far into the mainland it went and upon relaying that information to Trail Blazer she had decided that it was too large to travel around and it would cause them to stray too far from the coast. Lustrous was not happy about the decision at all but when it came to stuff like this they had to follow Trail Blazer’s word. And thus they marched right through the center of the wetland.

“Do we really have to wade through this swamp?” Lustrous whined.

“This is a marsh.” Trail Blazer grumbled back to him, not in the mood for any whining. “A swamp has trees in it. Marshes are grassy. It’s also part of the delta formed by the streams pouring into the ocean around here.”

“This is a marsh.” Lustrous repeated in a mockingly high-pitched voice (although not loud enough for Trail Blazer to hear).

Regardless of the correct definition the three of them spent hours traversing through it, Steel Wing occasionally having to help them free their hooves from some exceptionally sticky mud. At the end of the marsh was a low hill and all three of them were eager to reach it, Trail Blazer being the lead she was able to escape the unreliable ground and hopped up it.

“Well, I’m in luck.” Trail Blazer said as she crested the hill, looking out at something in the distance.

“What is it?” Lustrous asked, joining her.

She pointed her hoof forward. Far off down the coast it looked like there was a large bay, and if his eyes didn’t deceive him he believed he also saw buildings built up along the northern shore. Steel Wing hovered above them to get a better look too.

“Ponies have already begun to settle here. And I bet one of the first things they put up was a tavern.” Trail Blazer licked her lips.

Lustrous sighed. “Well I hope that when you’ve had your fill you start taking your job more seriously again.”

She snorted. “If you wanna pack some extra bottles or a cask or something so I don’t run out so quickly you wouldn’t have to worry about that as much. Forget it, that’s our first stop anyways so let’s get moving.”

The Troublesome

The difference between a swamp and a marsh was now readily apparent to the two stallions who were unfamiliar with either just a few days previously.

For a full three days the party had been traveling through this swamp. Through the gross water, the reeds, making their way around twisted trees and trying not to get stuck in the mud. The dark trees were clustered so close together and their branches went so wide that even during the day light struggled to break through them, casting the entirety of the swamp into a perpetual twilight. Combined with the fog and mist that lay like a blanket over the surface of the water and it was an eerie place. Not a place any of them would expect ponies would want to live.

Yet this was part of Equestria as well and needed to be traveled and mapped just like any other place. And who knows. Maybe some ponies would find it charming?

Regardless of anything else, Trail Blazer had been taking fervent notes on anything she saw. The plants, the animals, the size and shape of the swamp, she was making sure she had a detailed description of it for her map. Just a rough outline of the area the swamp covered wouldn’t be good enough for their purposes. It truly needed to be explored because an unknown swamp was too treacherous of a place. And because the swamp didn’t entirely reach up to the coast what they would do when they finished up in here was head east slightly and then north back up the remainder of the coastline, doubling back until they made it to where they could finally go west.

So it was a long and plodding journey they were taking through this swamp and Lustrous was already tired of it. Swamps were gross and humid and he now was certain that he did not like them one bit. What annoyed him further was how ambivalent both Trail Blazer and Steel Wing seemed about it. He knew they couldn’t be enjoying the swamp either but they were acting like nothing was bothering them about it, Steel Wing’s face was his normal expressionless one and Trail Blazer seemed far more concerned with her lack of alcohol. The map mare wouldn’t stop grumbling.

It made Lustrous think that her notebook may have been full of her repeatedly writing “I need a drink”.

A lot of times in this swamp they reached areas too deep or too dangerous to swim or wade through. So again Steel Wing would have to carry one of them at a time until they reached more solid ground. Lustrous was grateful for that, he didn’t really want to imagine what kinds of creatures might be swimming about in that murky water. But on the downside this really made the going slower.

Now the three walked single-file down a thin strip of mossy ground surrounded by bubbling green muck. Whatever that was it was certainly not something any of them wanted to fall into. Trail Blazer took the lead position while Steel Wing kept up the rear, his alert eyes always watching for anything dangerous that might try to sneak up on their party. Lustrous meanwhile had nothing but a vague disinterest in the swamp around him. He knew quite a number of plants found in places like these were used for medicines and magical potions but it wasn’t his area of expertise.

“I’m thinking I should have actually brought some of my books with me instead of just survival gear.” Lustrous said aloud.

“You seemed to really like books, I’m surprised you didn’t.” Trail Blazer said from ahead, although Lustrous could tell through her tone she didn’t really care. She just wanted to take her mind off her sobriety.

“Well I didn’t think any of it would be useful and I wanted as light of a load as possible.” Lustrous replied.

Speaking of his load though, Trail Blazer was right that he would get used to the weight shortly. He still got tired far faster than the other two and struggled with it up any sort of incline but the weight on its own didn’t bother him nearly as much as it did when they first set out. The humidity of the swamp and the slow pace brought on by the treacherous ground were wearing on him more than anything at this point.

“How large is this swamp exactly? And how will you know for sure when we’re supposed to turn back?” Lustrous asked the map mare.

“I’ll know. When it goes from a swamp to a jungle we turn to the coast. As for how large it is how should I know? That’s what we’re here for.”

“So you’ll be able to tell exactly when the swamp ends and the jungle begins?”

“Yes, now stop asking me questions.” She was getting grumpy.

He figured it was better not to push her in this situation. The last thing they needed was for her to just lose all motivation for anything and prolong their stay in this swamp. Not like her mood would get any better unless she had a drink though. Maybe they’d get lucky and find some hermit living in the swamp that has alcohol of some sort?

“I just hope we don’t have to spend another night in here.” Lustrous muttered.

Compared to the cold nights spent with them camping along the coast the nights in this swamp so far had been too hot. The trees locked in heat and whatever gasses bellowed up from the swamp also made the air thick and humid. Add to that the three of them having to share a single cramped tent and the nights were almost unbearably steamy. At least they didn’t need to cover themselves with the itchy blankets.

Trail Blazer soon guided them to a much more solid and less wet part of the swamp, now it looked almost like a regular forest except far grungier. The dirty ground was covered in long grass that tickled their underbellies and small ponds covered with lily pads and frogs.

“I think we have less than a day before we hit the jungle.” Trail Blazer said as she looked around.

“Thank Celestia.” Lustrous whined.

“We should count ourselves fortunate.” Steel Wing said from behind Lustrous. “I’ve been able to spot many beasts watching us in here but none have decided to come after us so far. Either way it will be good to leave this swamp and get someplace a little more safe.”

“You’re telling us that now?” Lustrous asked him.

“I didn’t want to needlessly worry you.”

“I’ve seen a few gators in the water but they didn’t seem interested in us.” Trail Blazer chimed in. “But come on, forget about all that. I’d like to get done with this place before nightfall too.”

Trail Blazer led them on again through the water-logged brush, the quick reprieve of solid ground soon gave way again to soggy dirt and knee-high water buzzing with mosquitoes. Trail Blazer didn’t seem to care at all and Steel Wing had started hovering slightly above the both of them to get a better view of their surroundings in case there was anything dangerous hiding in the shallow waters.

“Wait, hold on.” The pegasus suddenly said, pointing directly ahead. “I see something strange.”

“What is it?” Trail Blazer asked.

“It looks like a path has been made through the brush ahead, I can see a worn trail in the grass.” He replied.

“It’s probably an animal trail.” Trail Blazer said to him. “But we can check to make sure. If there are any ponies or even something like zebras or griffons living in here for whatever reason that’s probably something Big Cheese and the others are gonna want to know.”

The three headed along the way, coming to another clearing where Steel Wing saw the path up ahead. He floated down to the ground with the others and the three went over to inspect it. Whatever it was it lead into the more tree-filled part of the swamp, away from the murky waters. Lustrous couldn’t tell the difference if it was made by some sort of animal or by ponies but Trail Blazer could. She only had to look it up and down for a second before being sure of it.

“Alright, you were right to call our attention to this.” Trail Blazer said. “This is definitely a pony-made path.”

“How can you be sure?” Lustrous wanted to know.

She pointed at some indentations in the ground. “Those are wheel marks, someone has been pulling a cart through here. Repeatedly by the looks of it. And also, look at the branches from the trees over head.”

Lustrous did but he didn’t really see anything special about them.

“They’ve been cut by something to keep them from hanging too low.” Trail Blazer had to point out for him the branches that were clearly cut by something like a knife or clippers.

“I suppose this means we’re going to go look for whoever lives here?” Lustrous sighed.

Trail Blazer nodded. “That’s right.”

She led them down that path, hopefully it wouldn’t go very far and they’d find whoever used it quickly. The mosquitoes had gotten more active around here and the three ponies had to constantly swat them out of their faces, maybe it had something to do with the humidity. The temperature was rising higher and higher the further they went down this path.

The trail twisted and turned through the bushes and trees before eventually opening up into a wide, circular clearing. At the far end of the clearing a small wagon sat tipped over on its side and a female earth pony was lying on the ground next to it.

Immediately both Lustrous and Steel Wing ran out to her.

“Miss! Are you alright?!” Lustrous shouted to the prone earth pony.

“Hey wait!” Trail Blazer called after them, something about the situation seeming fishy to her.

But her warning was in vain as right as both Lustrous and Steel Wing made it to the middle of the clearing a net hidden under the dirt sprung up under their hooves, capturing the both of them and suspending the two stallions in the air.

“Ugh...” Trail Blazer facehooved. “You guys just have to be noble or something?”

She then heard a rustling from the brush next to her and another earth pony mare came out, holding a knife up to her throat.

“You just hold still while we gather up your friends.” The knife-wielding mare grinned at Trail Blazer.

The pony that was lying on the ground stood up and dusted herself off while three more ponies (all mares) stepped out from hiding spots in the bushes. One of them was carrying a length of rope and the other two helped up-right the wagon while Lustrous and Steel Wing continued to be stuck in the net.

“Excuse me, but what is the meaning of this?” Lustrous angrily asked the mares.

Trail Blazer couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him.

“We’re robbing you, what does it look like?” The mare that had been using herself as bait said.

“Robbing us?! I didn’t think such ruffians as yourselves still lived in Equestria.” Lustrous huffed.

“Hah! That’s why we came all the way down here. Princess Celestia and the other bigshots were making things difficult for ponies like us. That Equestria you’re talking about is no home for us.” The knife-wielder said. “Us and our boss came down here to get out from under their noses, now we just mug any traveler coming through this swamp.”

“Look if you’re down on your luck perhaps we can work something out.” Lustrous said to them all. “You see my cousin happens to be the unicorn representative and my family is rather wealthy, we-”

“Don’t tell them that, you moron!” Trail Blazer shouted at him only for the knife-wielder to grab her by the mane and push the knife against her throat.

“Ah, ah, ah. Well now, that changes things. We were just gonna take all your stuff and dump you back out in the swamp but it seems someone here has a family that might pay a hefty ransom for him.” She licked her lips. “Alright girls, let’s take em to see the boss.”

The three travelers had been tied up (with extra rope wrapped around Steel Wing’s wings) and thrown into the back of the wagon with all their things and were now being wheeled deeper and deeper into the swamp. They would’ve almost been to the jungle border by now by Trail Blazer’s estimation.

“You just had to open your big stupid mouth, didn’t you?” Trail Blazer whispered to Lustrous.

The unicorn had the decency to blush in embarrassment. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know...”

“They were just going to take our things and leave us stranded in the swamp. Our situation may actually be improved now because of what Lustrous said.” Steel Wing reasoned.

Trail Blazer glared at him. “And you. You didn’t notice anything? I thought you were oh so alert and aware.”

“It’s clear they know this swamp well. They must’ve been watching us from secure hiding spots for a while. But I should have noticed the trap, I’m sorry, I was tunnel-visioned on the mare.” Steel Wing said.

“Well what about now? Can’t you get out of these ropes and beat them up or something?” Trail Blazer asked.

“I could get out of the ropes but… no.” Steel Wing grimaced, averting his gaze from Trail Blazer.

“What do you mean?” Lustrous questioned.

“I… refuse to hit girls. I won’t lift my wings against a mare.” Steel Wing said. The pegasus almost looking ashamed that that was the only explanation he had to give. He knew Trail Blazer wouldn’t like that.

“Oh for the love of...” Trail Blazer would have buried her face in her hooves if they were free. “I need a drink. I need a drink so bad right now.”

“Well I think that’s very noble of you, Steel Wing. Even if it is rather unfortunate in our present situation.” Lustrous frowned as he looked around at the five mares guarding them.

“And I think I’m about to lose it.” Trail Blazer ground her teeth. She turned to glare at Lustrous again. “Can’t you use your magic for anything? Break the ropes? Fire an energy beam at them or something?”

Lustrous raised a perturbed eyebrow at the upset mare. “Have you ever seen me use magic? I am not powerful at all in its use. I merely enjoy its study and academic applications.”

She groaned. “Are you saying you couldn’t even pick up a rock and brain one of them with it right now?”

“No, I could not.” Lustrous flatly answered at her.

“You really are useless.” She spat out at him.

Lustrous chose (not for the first time) to ignore her insults. She was just feeling a little worse for wear thanks to the lack of alcohol. That’s what he told himself. The mares who had captured the three of them were busy jabbering away about something, Lustrous thought he heard them talking about how much money they might be able to get for him and how happy their boss would be. It really didn’t bother him as much as it should. He just hoped this “boss” of theirs was reasonable and they could talk their way out of things and return to their journey. Now that he laid it out in his head that seemed foolishly optimistic though.

The wagon carried them into a dark part of the swamp where the sun was completely shut out by the greenery and puddles of noxious green and brown water sat everywhere. It was a miracle that the wagon didn’t sink too deeply into the muddy ground to move.

Before long they ended up in a grove where light again poured down, a large circle of trees creating an opening where a hundred ponies could comfortably assemble. But there were maybe only a dozen or so total along with the most rudimentary of stick-shacks and grass huts made for shelter and all manner of boxes and chests piled up in one far corner. As far as criminal hideouts go this one was rather low-end.

Interestingly enough all of the ponies they saw were mares. Mostly earth ponies but there were one or two pegasi and unicorns. All mares.

Except for one.

A pegasus stallion sat on a pilfered empty box in front of a rudimentary table made from branches, leaves, and dried mud. He had a rather vicious look on his face and was noticeably missing a few teeth. His brown coat was patchy and missing hair in some places while his golden mane was cut short in a ragged buzz. This didn’t look like a pony you would want to meet in a dark alley.

“I’d say that’s the boss.” Trail Blazer muttered.

Lustrous nodded in agreement while Steel Wing looked around the camp at everything. The three of them then had their wagon brought right before the boss’s table.

The dirty looking pegasus appraised his three prisoners before looking at the mare who had held a knife to Trail Blazer. “Well? Why’d you bring these three here, Notch?”

The mare, Notch, replied. “The unicorn says his cousin is the unicorn rep or whatever and their family is rich. I figured we could sell him back to em.”

“Hm.” The boss looked Lustrous up and down before fluttering his wings and jumping up on the table to be eye-level with the prisoners sitting in the wagon. The ends of his wings were frayed and ugly, he probably couldn’t fly long distances. “You certainly have a prissy enough look to you to make me think you’re some rich unicorn. What about you two?” He asked, looking between Steel Wing and Trail Blazer.

“Just an earth pony that travels and makes maps for a living.” The disgruntled Trail Blazer said.

“I’m just a normal pegasus.” Steel Wing answered.

The boss looked in interest at Trail Blazer. “Maps you said? You could be pretty useful to us. And you’re a mare too, perfect.”

“Don’t like other stallions involved with your business?” Trail Blazer raised an eyebrow at him.

He chuckled darkly at her. “Well the former boss didn’t have a problem with having a bunch of other stallions working under him. But when I killed him and took control I realized it was only a matter of time before another one of my “former friends” got the idea into their head that they could do the same to me. So I got rid of them first. And I’ve been leading my lovely girls ever since. I’ll be sure to make a place for you now too after we sell your friend back to wherever he’s from and get rid of this pegasus.”

“I have a question.” The recently referred to pegasus known as Steel Wing said.

The boss scowled at him, not liking being interrupted and especially not by some random stallion. “What is it? You best think before you speak or I’m liable to have your tongue out.”

“You said you killed your previous leader and then took over? And all of the ponies here were happy to follow you?” Steel Wing asked.

“That’s right!” The boss grinned at Steel Wing. “It was always survival by the fittest for us and the ones who came before us, since back when the windigos covered everything in snow and you had to fight for even the smallest scraps. My mares and everyone else know to follow the strongest.”

“I see. Thank you.” Steel Wing nodded.

And then he flexed his wings, obliterating the ropes binding them. With another tug he pulled the ropes binding his forelegs apart as well and leaped out of the wagon right at the boss.

“Notch-” The boss tried to yell before Steel Wing tackled him, taking the both of them off the table.

Lustrous and Trail Blazer both watched the struggle in shock while the other vagabond mares rushed over to see what was happening. Truth be told though there wasn’t much to see. The mares formed a circle around the two fighting pegasi to cheer their boss to victory and yell for him to kill Steel Wing… only for them to find Steel Wing’s powerful hooves already wrapped around the boss’s head and neck while he forced him to the ground, the pegasus warrior choking the life out of the criminal.

Steel Wing’s face was impassive as with a single rough yank he snapped the helpless boss’s neck.

The crunch was sickening and Lustrou’s jaw dropped in sheer horror. Steel Wing casually let go of the lifeless body and let it fall on the ground like a doll while the mares under his leadership looked on. They didn’t have any words for what just happened but Steel Wing did.

“You are now to untie my wards. Do it.” He told them.

Notch quickly nodded her head and ran back to the wagon, pulling out her knife and slicing the ropes holding Trail Blazer and Lustrous. Trail Blazer stretched… and then decked Notch in the face, knocking her out cold onto the ground before she jumped out of the wagon.

“Wave a knife in my face huh?” She glared at the other mares. “You got any beer or anything around here?”

“Y-Yes!” The mare who had been the bait when they first met her swiftly responded and ran off to the big pile of boxes.

“The rest of you can do whatever. The three of us are going to be leaving this swamp.” Steel Wing told the rest of the mares, they looked shocked and uncertain, not knowing what to do without a leader. “I suggest attempting to lead good and honest lives. It would be a great relief to me if you at least tried that.”

Steel Wing looked up at Lustrous, who hadn’t moved from the wagon. His face was pale and a cold sweat seemed to be running down his body.

“Lustrous?” Steel Wing questioned the unicorn.

“I-I… y-you, just...” He stuttered back and forth, unable to find the words.

“Oh.” Steel Wing’s eyes widened in realization and he glanced back at the corpse of the former boss. “Was that your first time seeing a pony killed? I’m sorry.”

Lustrous had had enough, his eyes rolled back into his head and he promptly fainted in the wagon.

Steel Wing floated up to see if he was okay but Trail Blazer was unconcerned. “Forget about him. Him being unconscious is for the best right now.” She said.

The bait pony came running back up to Trail Blazer, shakily presenting a large bottle full of a dark-brown liquid.

The map pony’s eyes lit up as she saw it, grabbing the bottle out of the criminal’s hooves. “Whiskey! Excellent!” She popped the cork on the bottle and started consuming the alcohol with a fervent speed.

Steel Wing frowned at her and looked over the unconscious Lustrous and all their things tossed in the wagon. He looked back at a few of the thieving mares who were still shuffling about like headless chickens. “Excuse me? But could you all guide us out of this swamp and to the coast? If one of you would pull the wagon that has my other ward inside it that would be helpful.”

The South

The three ponies now traveled west along the southern border of Equestria. To their left the hills and mountains that made up the natural boundary rose in the distance. They wouldn’t be going any further south than this. Where they were now was a far cry from the swamp. They traveled through wide open plains with huge rock formations dotting the landscape as far as they could see. During the day the sun beat down hard on them while at night it was almost freezing cold. Even Trail Blazer and Steel Wing were having trouble adjusting to the extreme swings in temperature.

At least the ground was mostly flat and small streams were still found easily enough. Trail Blazer had mentioned this would be a good enough place for a town or two since the soil was rich enough for farms. She managed to somehow continue doing her work while being perpetually drunk on the whiskey she had swiped from the thieves a few days previously. Lustrous was amazed that she could function at all.

He had gotten used to her at this point though and he instead chose to take his time admiring the scenery. Sunrise and sunset truly made this part of Equestria beautiful, the light casting an orange glow over everything. Even if it wouldn’t be the easiest place to settle he had no doubt ponies would want to live here someday. And considering its distance from the center of Equestria and the northern part of the country that was already beginning to come together this would be a nice and quiet part of the world to live in for the ponies that didn’t care for big cities. Down here would hopefully stay a wide, open, world for a long time Lustrous thought.

“When did I start caring so much about this stuff?” He said aloud to himself.

It was caught by Trail Blazer though. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing important.” He quickly shook his head. “It’s just I was admiring the scenery and everything out here. It’s actually quite striking.”

“Heh, thought you didn’t care about the wilderness.” She teased.

“Well I didn’t. But I had never really seen it.” He wistfully looked out at the tall orange rock formations that towered over the landscape. “Now that I’ve traveled a bit, and gone through some rather ugly swamps and dreary coastlines, coming to a place like this is just… beautiful.”

“Glad you’re enjoying yourself.” Trail Blazer shrugged at his newfound appreciation for the wild.

“Well like you said this would all be more bearable if I started enjoying nature better.” Lustrous said. “Now I really wish that I had actually brought a notebook with me. Studying and taking notes akin to you would be a useful way to pass the time. Or just use it to write my thoughts down on things. Maybe I could even take up writing some poetry about the beautiful landscapes like this one?”

“As long as you don’t share it with me I’m fine with that.” Trail Blazer quipped. “You seem a bit too uptight for poetry anyways.”

“All a moot point without a journal of my own.” Lustrous reminded her.

“Hm. That so?” She murmured.

Lustrous wondered what she was getting at but a second later he realized. The map pony had started digging through one of her saddlebags and pulled out a notebook. It looked like the one she had been using to take notes in but was less worn. She tossed it to him and Lustrous reached for it, bobbling it up a couple of times before catching it.

“That’s a spare I brought with me, use it all you like.” She told him.

“Umm… thank you.” He was surprised at her generosity but he was hardly going to look a gift horse in the mouth. “I’ll, uh, be needing to borrow a pencil too though.”

“Right, right.” Trail Blazer quickly found one and threw it to him. The earth pony then glanced up at Steel Wing, who was flying slightly above them. “What about you? You want a journal of your own or anything?”

The pegasus looked down and shook his head. “No thank you.”

“Suit yourself.” Trail Blazer shrugged.

Lustrous meanwhile was staring at the inside cover to his new journal. Did he try to write something now? He wasn’t entirely sure he had anything in him right now though. Did he just try and force something out and write about the beauty of nature for the sake of it? No, that didn’t feel right. He’d fill this journal up but only when he was really inspired. Although it might also be good simply to record some events and keep track of how Trail Blazer behaves.

“It’s desolate out here, but there’s a lot of room to expand.” Steel Wing said from above them. “I can see pretty far and there’s nothing out here yet. I don’t see any signs of civilization, not even a little start up like that village along the coast.”

“Yep, most ponies just haven’t made it to this part of Equestria yet.” Trail Blazer nodded. “Not really any reason to right now anyways, we’ve got plenty of space up a little north. Space that’s more fertile and temperate. Easier to live in. You’d need some rugged ponies to be the first ones to settle down here.”

“It’ll happen some day I’m sure.” Lustrous chimed in. “Ponies spread to every corner of Equestria will be a beautiful thing.”

The map mare shrugged again. “I guess, can’t say I ever gave any real thought to the future of Equestria before this mission.”

“How could you not?” Lustrous asked her, a bit shocked. “We’ve been literally born into a wonderful new era. We’re the first generation to call this place our home. How can you say you haven’t been thinking about the path Equestria will take in the future?”

“Because I’ve had my own life to worry about.” She responded, not looking at him.

Lustrous frowned but he did recall how despondent she had gotten a few days ago in that tavern. There was something up with her and he didn’t want to be rude. Nor was he familiar or friendly enough with her to politely inquire as to what ailed her.

“I must confess to the same. I haven’t really given any thought to the new nation either. Not on that large a scale at least.” Steel Wing said as he floated down to walk alongside the two of them.

“You too?” Lustrous sighed.

“I won’t claim to know what preoccupied Miss Trail Blazer but I was kept very busy in my childhood.” The red pegasus mysteriously told Lustrous.

Lustrous didn’t say anything more after that. Why was he the only one who was totally fine with sharing his personal life and yet neither of them seemed to care to hear it?

This was a large part of Equestria and they spent many more days traveling through it, especially since Trail Blazer was trying to be as thorough as possible when it came to inspecting things like the ground and the scarce greenery they saw. She also seemed to be drawing a highly detailed topographic map that showed off each of the huge individual rock formations and just how high they got and how wide they were. It would be useful to anyone coming through here in the future to see how the ground shifted up and down and where the valleys and hills were. Since while there was a lot of wide open space around here the ground wasn’t even around the rock formations and it could be tricky putting down a road or something else that went in between them all without becoming too treacherous.

After another day they came to a large river that Steel Wing had to ferry them across again, it took much longer than last time considering this river’s greater size but there was nothing they could do about it. Once on the other side though the land started changing drastically very quickly. It was more like the same kind of temperate grassy forested area that they were familiar with from the start of their journey, although the overcast sky and cold mountains they could see just to the north gave things a rather dreary look here. But it was also a place more than fitting for ponies to live in and Trail Blazer jotted that down in her notebook. They should’ve been more than halfway to the west coast by now.

The following is an excerpt from Trail Blazer’s notebook

Day whatever of our trip. I haven’t been keeping track. It’s been blah, blah, however long since the Big Cheese had to interrupt me from drinking myself to death and roped me into this miserable job.

Miserable. At least I have whiskey.

What a complete waste of time this is. How many ponies are even going to care about a map like this? We’re just not the types to bother. Ponies will go where they want to go and do what they want to do. Those idiots back in the swamp are proof enough of that. They had no idea where they even were but they were living there without anyone telling them to weren’t they? Even moreso for those other idiots at the bay. They didn’t need Cheese or Celestia to tell them to start a town there and make a living.

I almost got knifed. I hate this job.

I should’ve just stayed in town making maps there. I bet ponies would’ve paid lots for my maps of that disorganized trash heap. Some of the stallions that frequented the bars were kind of fed up with me though. Too many of them kept getting the wrong idea. Whatever.

Speaking of stallions though the two with me right now aren’t so bad. I guess. Lustrous is oblivious and has no business being out here but he’s alright of a fellow. Steel Wing is quiet. I appreciate that.

Lustrous is kind of mad at me right now though because I threw up on his things yesterday. Oops.

Anyways the reason I’m writing now is because we just left those great plains right in the middle of southern Equestria. I guess I should write something every time we switch from one climate zone to another. Or cross some sort of natural boundary. Whatever. Who cares?

Some of the rock formations were really big. 200 feet tall and wide enough on top to fit a ranch. Why a ranch? It was the first thing that popped into my head. Maybe a pegasus would build a house on top of one of those things but no one else would be able to get up or down. I wonder if Lustrous has written anything in the spare notebook I gave him yet. Kind of hope that didn’t get puke on it.

Back to the rocks, I inspected a few and they seemed to mostly be made of sandstone and shale. Plenty of granite and quartz around too though. If you like building in stone you’d have an easy time doing it here. I bet a real geologist would have a lot more to say about this stuff but it’s not exactly my area of expertise. I only know a little bit.

Of course now that I’m done talking about that stuff there was another major thing to mention.

We found locals. For a given meaning of the word.

A huge herd of buffalo that apparently have been roaming these parts of Equestria for generations. We spent about a day with them and learned quite a bit of useful information. They’re mostly nomadic but they settle down wherever they might need to for a while. But they’re not the types to build towns or anything like that. They seemed a little upset to meet us I’ll be honest. I don’t think they quite liked Lustrous’s explanation of what the three of us were doing and what it might mean for them.

For the most part we got along pretty well though. They were hospitable and didn’t want to be rude to strangers, so they might have just begrudgingly accepted us being there. Who knows?

I think a few of them were staring at me too. I’m pretty sure I only like ponies but if one had asked I probably wouldn’t have said no. That might’ve offended them anyways. Well it’s not like it came down to that so whatever.

I am concerned over possible future settlers in this area now though. Hopefully they and the buffalo will be able to get along with each other fine. Considering the size of Equestria and how out of the way this place down here is though it will probably be years before any ponies even make it down here anyways. That’s not my problem. Let the “future” Equestria that Lustrous likes to go on about deal with that.

Well the buffalo gave us some food and water as a show of goodwill when we left so that’s that. I’ll be sure to let Cheese and what’s his name, whoever Lustrous’s cousin is, know that the buffalo are at least friendly and they don’t have to worry about them or anything. But if there are other non-ponies living here already some of them might not be so nice. The three of us are just gonna have to look out.

Now we’re in the next part of the south and I’ll write another entry like this later whenever something important comes up. I’ll bet that there are probably ponies living somewhere along the west coast here.

I need to get drunk. Drunker.

Their hooves carried them through a rocky semi-forested land over the next day. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks everywhere. Just piles and hills of them that covered the landscape and made travel far more difficult than it should have been. And as they had noticed earlier the sky was unusually always a bit murky and overcast here, but it never rained while they traveled through. It’s like it just existed to make things drab and unpleasant.

The trees were evergreens of various types and thoroughly uninteresting to the three ponies. Trail Blazer had no notes to take as it seemed there wasn’t any new or unusual flora or fauna in this part of Equestria. Luckily they hadn’t been accosted by any more unfriendly ponies but neither had they been able to meet up with and touch bases with any other pony settlers. Although this would be an easy enough piece of Equestria to live in it was all still too far out of the way for the era at this point. That’s the only thing the three could take away from the lack of… anything around them.

Of course things changed drastically for them the next day when they found themselves leaving this rocky area and practically wandering right into a scorching hot desert.

“I don’t understand how the weather and land can change so suddenly in this country.” Lustrous said as he stared across the sandy dunes. The sweltering heat was already starting to wave over them.

“Deserts usually come after mountain ranges.” Trail Blazer said. “And there are plenty of mountains around. There are the two just a bit to the north and I can see more even further north and ones south in the distance.” She pointed to each place for emphasis. “Equestria’s not lacking for any biomes that’s for sure.”

Lustrous was still not exactly pleased with this turn of events. “We’re not going to travel through the desert are we?”

“Sure are.” Trail Blazer sighed. “I’m not any happier about it than you but that’s what we gotta do.”

“Fine, fine...” Lustrous muttered. “I’m supposed to be the responsible one anyways, let’s at least get plenty of water before we start crossing it then?”

“Of course.” Trail Blazer nodded, she then looked at Steel Wing. “Can you fly up and see if you can see any close rivers or streams?”

Steel Wing nodded in affirmation and took off into the sky.

“We should’ve asked those buffalo if we could have an extra water skin or two.” Lustrous mused.

“We didn’t know there was a desert coming up. And most of our stuff we need to keep and can’t trade away.” Trail Blazer replied.

“I think your whiskey would’ve made the perfect thing to trade away.” He narrowed his eyes at her.

She glared at him in response. “Absolutely not.”

Although Trail Blazer was loathe to give up her alcohol the desert posed quite the problem when it came to that. The heat and threat of dehydration simply made it dangerous for her to drink while they were going through it. She’d have to put up with not drinking any until they made it through the desert. Trail Blazer was well aware of this and was not happy one bit, so she didn’t need anything else annoying her while they walked the desert. She’d do her best to use their job to take her mind off things. Hopefully there was plenty of stuff out in the desert for her to take notes on, if not she could try drawing more of the map.

Steel Wing came back after about five minutes and led them to the river he had found where they stocked up on an abundance of water. Lustrous tried and failed to get Trail Blazer to dump the rest of her whiskey and fill up the bottle with water. Seeing that any further attempts would be pointless the three got what they could and left back to the desert.

“We don’t really have the best clothes for traveling through the desert. And the stuff we’re carrying is going to exhaust us faster than usual so be careful.” Trail Blazer said to the two stallions as they all stood at the edge of the desert.

“Either way we still have to go through it. Might as well get started.” Lustrous said and took his first hoofstep on the hot sand. “Ow.” He quickly raised his hoof back. “Okay, that’s a little hot.”

Trail Blazer rolled her eyes at him. “Crybaby.” She quickly walked past him and over the sand, not showing any problem with the heat.

“Well I’m not an earth pony!” He shouted after her and gulped before trotting along after her. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...”

“That has nothing to do with it.” Trail Blazer scoffed.

And Steel Wing being a pegasus, he elected to fly.

As it turned out, much to Trail Blazer’s dismay, there wasn’t much to look at or do in this desert. The two grounded ponies were forced to go up and down huge rolling sand dunes that dwarfed even the largest of waves one would see in the ocean and combined with the heat and her bags it was enough for the normally stalwart Trail Blazer to sweat and struggle. The map mare would have a difficult time but she wasn’t about to ditch her coat or any bags. The stuff inside them was too important and the coat would be useful other places, she’d just have to bite the bullet for now. Lustrous was almost completely incapable of making the trips over the shifting sand dunes so Steel Wing had to help him out and support him for a lot of the journey.

No matter what they did though all three of them had sweat cascading down their bodies in rivers. Steel Wing eventually came to walk as well and used his wings to cover his head. The air was so dry and hot that the water they drank almost evaporated before it hit their tongues during the day. And by the time the first night had rolled around the temperature had swung to such a degree that it made the plains they had walked through earlier seem like paradise in comparison.

To put it simply this was the most miserable they had been on their journey yet. Worse than dealing with those obnoxious earth ponies or the thieves by far. This experience in the desert was quickly draining them to their limits.

The West

The sun that Celestia raised every morning had turned into an unwelcome harbinger of murderous heat. It was simply impossible for these ponies who had lived most of their lives in a mild to slightly colder part of Equestria to get used to this heat over the course of a couple of days. Not when they were forced to travel over every inch of the desert and struggle over a seemingly endless ocean of sand dunes while carrying heavy backpacks and bags. They all had to think that if Tartarus was hot this must be close to what it was like.

As Lustrous watched the sweat drip from his matted mane onto the hot sand he had to muse on how unfortunate it was that he didn’t have a hat. Trail Blazer and Steel Wing were both in the same boat, the former looking like she had even lost quite a bit of weight just from sweating so much. The pegasus did his best to seem as if he was fine but Lustrous had known him well enough by now to know that he was in relative agony as well.

“A boat. I just thought we were all in the same boat. I wish we were on the ocean right now, that would be pretty nice.” Lustrous suddenly said.

Trail Blazer looked at him with confusion written plainly on her face. “The heat getting to you there, Lustrous?”

The unicorn slowed down a bit and wiped a hoof across his sweaty face. “I mean, I’m wet enough for us to be on the ocean aren’t I?”

Steel Wing came by to hold a wing over his head to give the unicorn a little shade. “I think we should find shelter soon and get some rest for Lustrous’s sake.” He told Trail Blazer.

The map pony couldn’t really disagree about that. And some rest and shelter sounded really good to her too even if she wasn’t feeling the negative effects of the heat quite as badly as Lustrous. The only problem was they were in the middle of nothing but sand. There were no rock formations or oases around they could see that would offer them any refuge from this heat. Trail Blazer thought she could see some small mountains or some sort of rocky terrain in the distance but it would take a while to get there.

“At least we still have plenty of water.” Trail Blazer said while she jostled her saddlebag, several full bottles of water still inside.

“Actually, it might be a little bit of a waste but can I have one of your bottles?” Steel Wing asked her.

She looked at him and seemed like she might have argued or at least asked why he wanted it. But she was too tired at this point, her heavy panting even draining her more. With a shrug she pulled out one of the glass bottles of water and tossed it to the pegasus. “Go for it.”

“Thank you.” Steel Wing said and popped off the top, pouring it on Lustrous’s head.

For a second the three of them stood there. Lustrous stared down at the sand where the water was quickly evaporating and the other two waited to see if he might have regained a bit of his senses. The unicorn then took off his glasses and wiped them clean before putting them back on his face and taking a deep breath.

“Right. Well since there aren’t any vultures overhead yet I think we’re still doing alright.” He said. “Let’s get a move on, sorry for slowing us down.”

“No problem. We know you’re not as able as us two.” Trail Blazer said and resumed walking.

“There’s nothing wrong with that though.” Steel Wing reassured him.

And the traveling through the large desert that made up the natural southwestern boundary of Equestria continued. Thankfully they didn’t have to go any further south than here and the desert should give way to the western coastline soon enough. After that they’d travel north for a bit and then cut back across the interior of the country. That was still in the near future though and for now the three ponies continued to get roasted sandwiched between the hot sun and the hot sand.

Whether good or bad there wasn’t any ponies or much life in general in the desert. It was an arid place with nothing to offer. Trail Blazer made note of how lacking it was, this is a place she would surely write down as not being fit for settlement or travel of any sort. You couldn’t build a road over these kinds of sand dunes either. When she was drawing up her map and writing every piece of information that went with it Trail Blazer would put down the suggestion that ponies simply avoid this place and travel around it. The good thing about that was that it was already so far out of the way and unnecessary to travel through to reach much of anywhere else that she couldn’t foresee many ponies in the future making the same mistake she and her party had.

Luckily the night sky offered a bit of a reprieve from the heat and the three were able to get some rest. Trail Blazer also vowed that this would be the last night they spent in the desert, they were getting out of here by tomorrow no matter what.

With her sense of direction she took them where she knew would be the shortest route to get out of all this sand. They started moving as soon as they had woken up and while the heat and everything else was still getting to them they were able to make good progress. They had never seen a single solitary oasis the whole time they were walking through the desert and that didn’t change as they reached the last vestiges of it.

What they did see now was some greenery signaling the end of the desert and the ocean beyond that.

“Finally.” Lustrous muttered. “Almost there.”

“It’s still going to be hot as death.” Trail Blazer said. “But we can walk north a bit up the coastline. Maybe we’ll find a settlement or something.”

“Actually I can see one already.” Steel Wing said from above them.

“Really?” Trail Blazer looked up at him.

The pegasus held his hooves up to his eyes and squinted to block out anything else as he looked far along the horizon. “Yes. There are definitely houses or buildings of some sort by the water.”

“Alright.” Trail Blazer shrugged. “Let’s hope our luck keeps up and they’re friendly.”

“I’m not going to hold out hope after the last two groups of ponies we encountered.” Lustrous bitterly said.

“Hey, at least the buffalo were nice. Mostly.” Trail Blazer reminded him.

It took a couple more hours before they finally made it out past the last of the sand dunes and to the coast. Then they followed the sandy but also grassy shoreline up a bit to the village Steel Wing had spotted. Compared to the east coast that had a cold wind pouring in from the ocean the west coast was warm, at least down here, and the breeze still almost unbearably hot. But it wasn’t quite so bad as it was when they were trudging through the middle of the desert.

Trail Blazer’s jacket was essentially soaked in her own sweat, she was looking forward getting to wring it out and clean it in the next river they found. The fact that there was a village up ahead must mean there was some sort of freshwater inlet or stream sustaining it. The only other explanation was the ponies there had somehow learned to survive off of saltwater.

“I see ponies out.” Steel Wing told them, he was the only one who had been watching where they were going intently, the other two too caught up in their own little worlds.

“What are they doing?” Lustrous asked.

Steel Wing shrugged. “Normal things? I see two of them carrying a small boat. One seems to be mending a fence. It just looks like a normal little village.”

“Sounds good enough then.” Trail Blazer said and picked up her pace a little bit.

The assessment by Steel Wing had been accurate. It was a small village of only a few huddled buildings at the edge of the coast with a small stream pouring out from deeper inland on the far side. The ponies that made it up looked out in surprise at the sweaty and exhausted party coming up from the desert to the south, they didn’t look afraid or upset but they were just confused as to who these newcomers were.

“Umm, hi.” Lustrous said to the first pony they met. An earth pony who had been the one working on the fence. He held a mallet in his hoof and had been hammering posts into the ground when they walked up.

“Well hello there. Who might you all be? Didn’t know any ponies lived south of here.” He said in a thick yokel accent.

“They don’t. We’re a trio of travelers tasked with drawing a map of Equestria and we’ve just now made it out here. Pleasure to meet you.” Lustrous said, still exhausted from the desert.

“Uh, alright then. You three look pretty… bad if I’m being honest.” He said.

“We wouldn’t mind being allowed to stay here for another day, spend the night in some real shelter if that’s not much of a problem?” Trail Blazer asked.

“Well of course there’s no problem there.” The earth pony cheerfully responded. “We’re happy to help out our fellow ponies. Aint like the old days. We’re all Equestrians now.”

“That is… very nice to hear.” Lustrous sighed in relief.

“Don’t have many big places though.” The pony continued, rubbing his head and looking out at the village. “Gonna be a bit cramped no matter where you shack up.”

“That’s fine. Beats a tent.” Trail Blazer said. “And now that we’ve got that covered...” She reached into one of her saddlebags and pulled out the remainder of her whiskey, yanking out the cork and downing it all in one gulp.

“Shouldn’t you get some rest or something before doing that?” Lustrous cringed at her drinking.

She groaned and waved him off so Lustrous just ignored her. At least they were going to be okay now. From what he knew of the mare anyways the only reason she hadn’t been completely horrible back in the desert when she couldn’t drink is because the heat was too severe and the situation too serious for her to think or do anything else. Now that they were out of the desert it was probably for the best that she was drinking now actually, else she’d return to her rude and abrasive state that she normally was in when she was sober.

“How long have you been settled here?” Lustrous decided to ask the earth pony as he led them through the small village.

“Oh just a few good years now.” He stroked his chin. “Can’t remember when exactly we made it down here.”

“May I ask if you do anything in particular here? Is there anything unique or notable about your village? In addition to making a map we’re also trying to find out as much about Equestria as possible and that includes the ponies and towns already in it too.” Lustrous said.

“We farm seaweed. That’s what we started up when we first came here.” The earth pony told him.

“Excellent. I hope it keeps going well for you.” Lustrous smiled at him.

“You know it sounds like your journey is going to be a long one too, we’d be more than happy to give you some seaweed when you leave.” He offered.

Lustrous’s smile widened even further in appreciation. He was just so happy to meet a friendly village of ponies, it really set his heart at ease. “That’s very kind of you. And I’m sorry but we never properly introduced ourselves. My name is Lustrous and these are-” He turned to introduce his companions only to see Steel Wing flying too high up overhead and Trail Blazer drunkenly stumbling around. “Er, well, they can say hello another time.”

“Right. Well, my name is Oaken Hoof. Great to have you here.” He smiled and shook hooves with Lustrous.

Oaken Hoof led them towards a small hut that stood at the edge of the village on top of a small hill that overlooked the narrow stream flowing into the ocean. It was a rough little shed but it would serve their purposes. Lustrous took the opportunity to look out at the wilderness beyond the stream. Much to his delight it got much greener very quickly and he could see a few snow-capped mountains in the distance to the northeast. They’d probably be making their way in that direction tomorrow morning. For now they could restock on water thanks to this stream, Trail Blazer could take a break from everything else and work on her map, and Oaken Hoof was going to give them food too. They really did luck out on finding this place.

Trail Blazer walked inside the hut and threw off her bags and jacket before collapsing in the corner. Lustrous knew she wasn’t as worn by the desert as he was so it must have been the alcohol. He could only sigh in annoyance at her behavior, did she expect him to take care of her things?

“Trail Blazer, you should take this opportunity to do some work or at least get prepared for the next leg of our journey.” He frowned at her.

She weakly raised her head off the ground, returning his frown in full force. “Or we can just take an extra day here to rest. We’re not on a timetable.” She looked to Oaken Hoof who had been awkwardly standing outside the door. “Got any moonshine or anything here?”

“Uh, we have some grain alcohol but that’s-”

“I’ll take it.” The mare said before he could finish.

“Oh for the love of—just ignore her please.” Lustrous said to him. “We’ll find something else later.”

Trail Blazer snorted. “Fine, but you’re the one who’s going to have to deal with me sober.”

“I’m well aware.” He rolled his eyes.

“It’s gonna be worse for us all though, we’ve got a tough day when we decide to head out again and probably for the next few days after that.” Trail Blazer said as she unsteadily got to her hooves and walked out of the hut, Lustrous following behind her. She walked to the side of the hill and stared out at the big mountains Lustrous had seen just before. “Those mountains? We’re climbing those.”

The Mountains

When Trail Blazer had said they were going to climb those mountains Lustrous thought that maybe they were just going to explore them a bit or walk around them. He didn’t think she meant that they were actually going to climb all the way up them.

But now here they were already halfway about a rocky mountain. Lustrous’s hooves were absolutely killing him and the going was slow now as they had pretty much run out of any easy paths to ascend. There weren’t simple paths or a steady inclination anymore, now they faced sheer rock walls and a treacherous climb no matter where they went. Not for the first time Lustrous envied Steel Wing’s ability to fly.

“Do we really need to go any further?” Lustrous asked Trail Blazer. “I think we’ve gotten a pretty good idea of what these mountains are like.”

“We haven’t even hit the snow yet. I want us to reach the peak so we can look out at the rest of Equestria from up there.” Trail Blazer replied.

“But how? It’s too dangerous for Steel Wing to carry us up that high and we don’t have any climbing equipment. Can’t Steel Wing just fly up on his own and tell us what he sees?” Lustrous argued.

“No, he can’t.” Trail Blazer immediately shot him down. “Steel Wing doesn’t know how to take notes or draw up a map afterwards like I can. It needs to at least be me.”

“Well then can it only be you? Because I don’t quite feel like falling down a cliff and cracking my head open.” Lustrous said.

Trail Blazer glared at him. Lustrous had the courage to glare right back at her though and Steel Wing nervously looked between the two of them, hoping neither one would start a fight. Finally Trail Blazer shrugged off her large backpack and riffled through it before pulling out a rolled up rope.

“It’s going to be all of us.” She said to Lustrous and Steel Wing. “And we have all we need.”

The rope was securely tied around Steel Wing’s midsection and then Trail Blazer’s with Lustrous bringing up the rear. Now all three of them were connected so allegedly if one fell or slipped the other two could hold on and keep them from going down. And with Steel Wing in front he could just fly up a bit above them. The pegasus was also strong enough where he could still stay in the air for a while in case both Trail Blazer and Lustrous lost their grip.

So the three of them piled up all their bags and ignored the unicorn’s misgivings and began their ascent up the rest of the mountain. The one positive in the situation was that at least it wasn’t windy today. If the weather was bad it would’ve made everything even more dangerous. Although it was also possible that if there was a storm or blizzard raging right now, or even if it was just pretty cloudy, Trail Blazer wouldn’t want to climb up the mountain at all because they wouldn’t be able to see anything.

Their going was very slow as Trail Blazer was still well aware of how dangerous this was.

“If we fall don’t blame me!” Lustrous called out to the two ponies above him.

“Quit whining and focus on your own hooves!” Trail Blazer yelled back at him.

Lustrous grumbled a bit but complied. The nature of what they were doing forced him to stay tunneled on his own slow progress, of all of them he was definitely the most likely to slip or fall if he wasn’t being careful. He had heard of some skilled unicorns who could levitate or teleport with their magic and wished he was powerful enough to do the same. With his magic being next to useless he was forced to do this the earth pony way without having any of the natural strengths that an earth pony had. At least Trail Blazer didn’t complain whenever he asked for them to stop so he could catch his breath. Even that abrasive mare knew that the unicorn had limits.

It quickly got colder the further up they went though, a chill was in the air and Lustrous could see the snow up ahead that he had no idea how they’d get through. A few errant snowflakes occasionally drifted past his head before they melted away. It was actually kind of pretty he had to admit but there was no time for him to jot that down in his journal.

Perhaps when I’m at the summit I can write something down. The view better be worth all this trouble. The unicorn thought.

Although he knew Trail Blazer had a point about getting to look out across Equestria from a high mountain like this. He just didn’t think it outweighed the danger of this climb or was really that big a deal in the first place. From what he had seen the mare was more than competent of making an accurate map just from walking around on the ground, she didn’t need to look at things from above to accurately draw them. Maybe this would just make things easier for her? Or allow her to fix any mistakes she might have made.

Lustrous had to focus on his hooves whenever he moved from spot to spot but when he was still he was paying attention to the exact path that Trail Blazer was taking and copied her, grabbing the same rocks and placing his hooves at the right ledges and clefts. That at least was the big benefit to being last. The other good news was how close all of them still were to one another, Lustrous could practically reach out and touch Trail Blazer, the rope didn’t allow them to get far from each other.

He could see that Steel Wing had just made it to where snow and ice started crusting over the rocks. Now how were they supposed to proceed from here?

Well he had his answer when Steel Wing cleaved a hole in the ice and made hoof-holds for every step he took. Lustrous had to admit it was a practical way to deal with things and it actually made it a bit easier for him to climb up than the other part of the mountain. Now it was closer to using a ladder or a stairway. A slick and dangerous one, but still.

It was good that that was there to help since the temperature dropped like a meteor even just a few steps up into the snowy part. Lustrous could feel his blood freezing and frost started to cover his glasses. He could even hear Trail Blazer’s teeth chattering from above him and saw snow gathering along her mane and tail. They probably couldn’t handle this cold for too long but it’s not like they could hurry up either, that would just be inviting disaster.

It dawned on Lustrous that they were now having the exact opposite of the problem they had in the desert.

“Why do mountains have to be so cold?” Lustrous muttered to himself. “Why can’t all of Equestria just be one nice big forest?”

Steel Wing seemed to be slowing down a bit because of the cold too but Lustrous couldn’t tell if he was having the same kinds of problems as him and Trail Blazer. That pegasus seemed fine dealing with everything that came their way so far so Lustrous didn’t worry about him. It was his own shivering body and shaking legs that occupied his attention right now. He had to be extra careful every time he raised his hoof to make it up another step.

“How are you doing back there, Lustrous?” Trail Blazer said from above him.

“Oh, f-fine.” The cold made him stutter a bit. “T-This is just lovely weather.”

“Yeah? Well you won’t have to deal with it for much longer, we’re close to the top.”

The glasses wearing unicorn looked up and saw that that was indeed true, Steel Wing was currently trying to pull himself on top of the snow-capped peak of the mountain while digging more slots for them to work with. When he was done making the way for them the pegasus could probably just fly on top and help steady the rope, if not pull them up entirely. Lustrous knew he was a very strong pegasus and probably plenty capable of that.

Trail Blazer and Lustrous both stopped moving for a second as Steel Wing worked to get the last steps in before going up the peak. Which was actually problematic for them since without any movement the cold just affected them even stronger. Sitting up here a few more minutes without getting any blood flowing and they’d become two pony popsicles on the side of the mountain.

“I think things are secure enough.” Steel Wing finally called out as he stood right at the edge of the peak. “There’s just enough room for all of us to stand up here too, you should come up as quickly as you can.”

They finished the grueling last stretch in a struggle. Frost nestled all over their bodies, Trail Blazer had to shake powder from her bangs and Steel Wing kept shuffling his wings to get the snow off of them. The cold had taken nearly all the energy out of Lustrous and the unicorn would be happy when they were back down and off this mountain. Trail Blazer probably harbored similar sentiments but was keeping them to herself if so.

“Well, we’re here.” Trail Blazer said as Lustrous pulled himself onto the flat, snow covered, peak.

He was shivering quite a bit from the cold but he still took the opportunity to drink in the view with his two compatriots.

It really was quite something. They could see out for miles and miles unobstructed. Forests, rivers, lakes, other mountains, it was a breathtaking sight that allowed them to see the full beauty of Equestria. For a moment all three of them were able to forget the cold and just bask in that glorious wonder that this new world had to offer. Equestria. The home of the three tribes of ponies. It was probable, no, certain, that they were the first ponies to look at Equestria like this. To see this view. Lustrous was proud and happy to know that it was a unicorn, earth pony, and pegasus together at the same time to see it. Even Steel Wing, despite his face still being rather calm, seemed moved by the occasion. Trail Blazer was staring out there with an intense focus too, likely trying to memorize everything. Lustrous wondered if she was moved at all by the beautiful landscape or the special uniqueness of the situation. She probably wasn’t, and he had to pity her for that.

But it wasn’t long before the cold returned to remind them of their situation. Trail Blazer had enough for her notes and map so she said they could start heading down now. And Lustrous had to grudgingly admit, despite the climb and everything else he was glad they came up here.

Although he wouldn’t say that aloud to her.

With a smile on his face that even he was surprised to have, Lustrous went back to the edge of the peak where they had come up. And his smile instantly turned into a frown.

“Er...” He looked behind him at Trail Blazer and Steel Wing. “How do we get down?”

The Journal of Lustrous

The following is an excerpt from Lustrous’s journal:

What can I even say about this journey at this point? I’m not nearly as optimistic about things as I used to be I can tell you that. My experience with Trail Blazer and a few groups of rather awful ponies has done a good job of beating me down. I truly didn’t think I would find ponies like that all across Equestria. From my readings I thought things had completely changed after unification. But I suppose that was naive of me to think. After all if even two cousins who live in the same house can’t get along then how could every pony from the different tribes that are still complete strangers get along with each other?

You can see my new cynicism and negativity is already clouding this journal entry. I wanted to write about more positive things in here! It’s just that my mind immediately goes to the bad parts of our journey. Like almost dehydrating in the desert or getting stuck on a mountain.

It would be inaccurate of me to say it’s all been bad though. There have been kind ponies we’ve met. And other creatures I was surprised to see in Equestria that have also been kind. Not to mention the beauty of the country all around me, I’ll talk more about that later.

It’s just… I grew up thinking that I was part of the first generation of a new kind of pony. And yet here I am, a unicorn traveling with a pegasus and an earth pony, and I don’t think I could call them friends. Now I hardly think this is my fault but still. Shouldn’t things be different? Shouldn’t we be able to get along better than all the old ponies? I’ve tried but neither of them seem particularly interested in us getting to know each other better and become friends. Even though that’s a large point of this journey too. Bright wished us to be inspiration as he called it after all. But everything about that so far has been a disappointment. If any stranger came across the three of us they’d think ponies still didn’t get along any better than before the unification, that’s how bad we make things look.

Steel Wing is polite but quiet and standoffish. I can never tell what he’s thinking or if he’s thinking anything at all.

Trail Blazer on the other hand… I could likely write an entire book on how this mare peeves me. Drunk all the time. Loose morals. Rude. Commanding. Bright picked me to keep her in line and focused on the job, but I don’t think that was necessary. As much as she might say she doesn’t want to be doing this that mare can get so caught up in her research and studying it’s almost like nothing else can reach her. I’ve had to try and talk her down from certain things because she’s just so dead set on doing something dangerous at times for the sake of her map. She may say that this whole journey is a bother but it’s clear to me that she’s taking great care with making this map. It’s definitely her hobby and calling.

So now since my duty of “caretaker” is essentially unnecessary I’ve instead taken up the duty of being the voice of reason. At least that’s how I like to put it. Another way to put it would be “The pony who complains about everything”. Even I have enough self-awareness to see that.

You know it occurs to me now that I’ve written about the both of them that I actually know even less about Trail Blazer than Steel Wing despite her being much more talkative. Even the scant few facts I know about Steel Wing’s past is more than the blank slate that’s there for Trail Blazer. She’s very tight-lipped about herself, besides her love of drinking and sex, and I know literally nothing about her past. I can glean that something bad likely happened to her but I have no idea what. I would like to know what caused her to become the way she is but I have no idea how to proceed on that front.

I feel so lost with these two.

Should I just push that all out of my head now and talk about the good things? I did want to talk quite a bit about all the natural beauty I’ve seen out here.

It’s funny that I was so apathetic to the wilderness and the landscapes while we were going down the eastern coast but now I’m always looking out in wonder whenever we come across something new. Majestic is the perfect word for Equestria.

I did attempt to write poetry about the wondrous scenery I had seen. It didn’t end well so I’m discarding that page of my journal.

But I would like to say that after standing atop that mountain I think I know what the leaders of the tribes might have felt when they first came to Equestria and saw it. It must have been such a new and miraculous sight for them, something that warmed their hearts and made their jaws drop. Because I can’t imagine that there’s anywhere else in the world as beautiful as the country I saw from up there. And it’s not like we even saw all of it. There must be so much more out there for us to see. Things that will leave us breathless and speechless.

Even though this has been a troublesome journey and I have so many negative things to say about it I am glad that I came on it. I’m glad that Bright kicked me out of the house and made me see the world. I truly didn’t know what I was missing.

I can only hope that not only does the rest of Equestria live up to, if not exceed, what I’ve already seen but that my poor relationship with my two traveling buddies improves.

I’m still miffed at Trail Blazer for… everything. But I can at least hold some level of conversation with Steel Wing. I do think he’s slightly more open than when we first met. The previous day I asked why he didn’t want a journal of his own, he gave a flimsy response and when I offered to let him borrow mine any time he wanted he ended up telling the both of us that he can’t read or write.

Naturally I was quite surprised but I suppose there are a lot of ponies who can’t read or write. Most probably have no need to after all. I could possibly teach Steel Wing. It might be a good bonding experience, at least it would give us a reason to spend more time together that wasn’t just walking from place to place while Trail Blazer works on her map.

And Trail Blazer. The more my mind comes back to her the more annoyed I get. The other day we happened to come across a small caravan heading east. Well Trail Blazer was quite interested in the moonshine they happened to have with them but we didn’t have anything to buy it with or trade for it. So what does she do?

Sleeps with the caravan boss.

Which is something she probably would’ve done anyways. But doesn’t it bother her that she’s, ugh, prostituting herself? It certainly bothers me and Steel Wing.

Then of course now that she has her moonshine she gets drunk immediately and we continue on our journey as if nothing happened. Her drunk self is at least far more preferable than her sober one. If she’s sober she’s far more likely to shirk her duties unless she’s forced into it. She’s also far ruder when sober. I’ll take the drunk and calm Trail Blazer over the sober and agitated one is what I guess I’m saying.

The only downside to that is how much she throws up. My bag is still stained.

Despite what I’ve said and as much as she annoys me I’m honestly worried about her. It’s not just whatever her reasons might be for drinking so much but the sheer amount is so unhealthy, if I had half of what she drank on average I think I’d die. But any of my attempts to get her to stop drinking or at least slow down have been met with failure, she is outrageously obstinate when it comes to her drinking.

Well anyways, enough of that. We’re coming up on a large forested area. Evergreen. I’ve decided to study and learn as much as possible about the wilderness even though my true passion is magic. I’m still a novice in this area and Trail Blazer is quick to point out any dumb things I do or mistakes I make but there’s no helping that. I don’t plan on becoming some pony who lives in the woods I just like learning things. Even though I don’t know where to start I can still tell the differences between trees and rocks and types of flowers can’t I?

Trail Blazer is likely cataloging all of this for the map so what I’m studying and writing down in this journal is really only for my own benefit and peace of mind.

I can hope that we don’t run into anymore criminals or hateful ponies but it’s a large country and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were still plenty more around. I can’t control that but I can at least work to fix some of the other negative aspects of this trip. I am not optimistic about my chances of success but I will continue to try and get Trail Blazer and Steel Wing to open up.

If we became friends then I could count this journey as a success regardless of what else may happen.

The Night

Rain. A seemingly unending torrent of rain had plagued them all day. They were traveling through a forest most of the time so they were able to avoid the worst of it thanks to the trees but it still slowed their progress and within minutes of it first starting they were all completely soaked. They had nothing like umbrellas to protect themselves from the deluge so they’d just have to deal with it until Trail Blazer had decided they’d gone far enough for the day and set up the tent for the night. Lustrous hoped that came soon. The water dropped with such pounding force on the forest that they may as well have been under a waterfall. Thick drops that fell in such tight numbers it was impossible for anything short of total cover to block them out completely.

The once solid dirt ground had been reduced to mud that itself was covered in an inch or two of water everywhere. One of the reasons why they kept moving now was that this was no place to put down a tent. The whole forest they were in was practically flooded by this heavy rain and they needed to find higher ground or something that if it wasn’t dry at least wasn’t sunken.

What was good was that the downpour kept any possibly dangerous animals inside their own dens, and it wasn’t particularly cold either. They were close to the middle of Equestria now and things were neither too hot nor too cold this time of year in this part of the country. It was a welcome change after the extreme weather they had been through previously. Unfortunately that kind of made the rain even worse since this should be a place where they wouldn’t have to deal with the local climate but they just so happened to have the bad luck to arrive right as a storm was starting up.

So instead of a pleasant afternoon stroll through the forest they struggled through the worst rain any of them had ever been in. There wasn’t much thunder or lightning but occasionally the wind would blow in and blast the rain into their faces. Their vision was low thanks to the rain and murky weather even though it wasn’t dark yet, more than just a few trees away everything became a wet blur.

“How long do you think until the pegasus come out here to take care of the weather?” Lustrous loudly asked the others to make sure his voice carried over the rain.

It wasn’t easy considering how loud the drops pounding against the water was but both his companions managed to hear him.

Trail Blazer shrugged, the mare had run out of any alcohol the previous day and thus was even more miserable than she normally would’ve been. “You’d have to go back and ask Thunderstorm about that. Probably not for a while, they haven’t even got the east done with yet.” After that she just ignored him and kept walking through the rain.

Lustrous had half a mind to think she was happy to see this rain, since if she was sober it would mean that being stuck in a storm like this was sure to make the both of them as miserable as she was.

“It will take some time but the central area of Equestria is the next planned space for the weather team to take care of.” Steel Wing also answered Lustrous. “Thunderstorm and the others wanted Princess Celestia to have good weather and she’s just a bit north of here.”

“But for now it’s nothing but random, inclement weather.” Lustrous said to himself as he looked up at the treetops and the clouds beyond them.

The beleaguered party continued its way through the rain soaked forest still with no signs of it letting up any time soon. It would be bad if they actually couldn’t find any good place to settle down for the night, Trail Blazer might make the call for them to keep going even in darkness until they found a spot that wasn’t flooded. At the very least they didn’t have a problem with drinkable water. Trail Blazer would trade it all for a shot of whiskey though, the mare was constantly checking into her bag to feel for her flask, empty as it was.

A few gusts of wind buffeted the ponies and made their search just that little bit harder. In fact the wind was picking up quite a bit more than it had been earlier.

“Has the storm not even gotten to its worst yet?!” Lustrous yelled.

“It’s possible. We don’t know how powerful a storm out in this part of Equestria can be.” Steel Wing said back as loudly as he could without shouting.

“Who cares?” Trail Blazer snapped from in front of them. “Let’s just keep moving and find someplace where we can stop for the rest of the day. I’m not getting anything else done for my map with this weather. It’s a page in my notebook saying “big forest” and “rain”. Not much else going on.”

Our Queen has spoken. It was something Lustrous didn’t dare say aloud to her at this time.

Steel Wing decided it would be best to placate her quickly so he flew up above their heads for a bit to try and gain a larger view. The heavy rain and wind made flying a little more difficult but he was a powerful pegasus and was still able to fairly easily keep flying. So he scouted ahead as best he could while Trail Blazer grumbled about everything annoying her and Lustrous grumbled about Trail Blazer.

“I think I see something,” Steel Wing said after a few minutes.

“What is it?” Lustrous asked him.

The red pegasus pointed ahead. “I can see the land inclining a bit, we’re coming to a hill.”

“Good, maybe that means we’ll find a spot up it that isn’t flooded,” Trail Blazer picked up her pace.

Lustrous and Steel Wing both followed her in the direction of the hill. Sure enough to what Steel Wing said the land started rising in a low and still mostly flat hill, but it was enough where the top half wasn’t submerged by the heavy rain. As good a place to camp as any in this storm.

“Alright, here’s where we stop for the day. Who knows if we’ll find somewhere better before nightfall.” Trail Blazer said and dumped her large backpack onto the ground. Opening it up she started to remove her tent regardless of the rain still beating down on them all.

“Let me help.” Steel Wing said and moved to her side, doing his best to use his wings to cover her as she got the tent ready.

The ponies worked together to get the tent set up, it was unfortunately going to be wet and cold on the ground and them not having any way to dry off before they entered meant is was gonna be wet on the inside too. But that was just the best they could do right now. Trail Blazer finished getting it ready and ushered them inside. It was still far too early for any of them to sleep but at least now they could take a little breather and avoid the rain for the rest of the storm. Not having anything to do though the three ponies sat crowded together in silence, listening as the rain pounded against the canvas of the tent and watching as droplets of water dripped from their fur and pooled into the bottom of the tent.

“If the storm lets up anytime soon do you want to start moving again?” Lustrous asked Trail Blazer.

She shook her head. “No. We don’t know how big this forest is. It’ll be best to stay here for the night.”

Lustrous nodded, happy to hear that even though he had other concerns. “Good, I just wish I was the least bit tired. We have nothing to do but huddle in here, cramped and wet, until we eventually pass out from exhaustion.”

“I’m not any happier than you are about it,” Trail Blazer grumbled. “I wish I had something to drink right now...”

The bespectacled unicorn closed his eyes and tried to just focus on the sound of the rain. It was part of the “nature” that he was trying to enjoy and study more now after all. Maybe he could just meditate and appreciate it and before he knew it he’d be drifting off to sleep? If the rain was softer it would probably be pleasant background noise.

But due to a variety of factors just closing his eyes wasn’t helping him. The water pooling at the bottom of the tent was soaking his flank and making sitting there dreadfully uncomfortable, Trail Blazer was grinding her teeth over who knows what, Steel Wing was like a statue and the fact that nothing seemed to be bothering him actually kind of annoyed Lustrous, and the rain was anything but soft. The wind was howling now and the rain might as well have been a monsoon pouring just on their tent for all the noise it brought with it.

After a hopeless couple of minutes Lustrous sighed and opened up his eyes. “If we just had something to pass the time with until it was night this would be much more bearable.”

“Well I left my banjo at home,” Trail Blazer sarcastically remarked.

Lustrous was just about at wit’s end with her and he was gonna let her know it when the quiet voice of Steel Wing spoke up.

“Um, I may have something,” The reticent pegasus said. “Something to pass the time with, that is.”

Both of the other ponies looked at him in surprise.

“What?” Lustrous asked.

Steel Wing pulled his own smaller saddlebag into his lap and started looking through it. Finally he pulled out a small rectangular object wrapped in a sheet of cloth.

“I’m glad the rain didn’t soak through my saddlebag,” He said, unwrapping the object.

It was a deck of cards. Steel Wing showed it to them while looking away in embarrassment.

“I brought this from home but I was worried that if I asked either of you to play you’d say no,” He hesitatingly explained. “We didn’t really know each other that well for a while and things have been kind of strained most of the time.”

Lustrous and Trail Blazer both kind of stared at him for a second before a smile broke out on Lustrous’s face. The unicorn reached forward and took the deck of cards from his hoof, getting the pegasi’s attention. Lustrous shuffled the cards with a smirk on his face.

“You should have mentioned this a while ago, I’d have been happy to play,” The unicorn told him. He glanced at the grouchy earth pony. “Trail Blazer? Care to play as well?”

The map mare looked between him and the cards for a second, probably wishing the cards were alcohol, before sighing and shrugging. “Sure, why not? We’ve got nothing better to do.”

Lustrous smiled. “Great! Mind if I deal?”

The three ponies sat crowded in their tent playing poker with each other as the time and the storm outside drifted on by. It started kind of awkwardly as Steel Wing was still unsure of just how “close” they all were and was embarrassed to have them know he was carrying around a deck of cards in the hopes they could eventually play together like this. Trail Blazer also at first seemed determined to not enjoy herself. Lustrous was the only one who was ecstatic from the beginning, this is just the kind of thing he wanted for all of them to do together. Some way for them to have fun and just relax with each other. Something to break the ice with. He only wished he had talked more with Steel Wing sooner or that the pegasus had revealed he had a similar desire.

The cards were dealt and the rain pounded on the tent. But after an hour it wasn’t as hard as it had been before. While they were lost in their playing the storm was starting to let up the closer it came to night.

Now although the atmosphere in the tent had lifted a bit, especially for the two stallions, Trail Blazer still looked more bored than anything, as if this was only slightly better than sitting around stewing in a puddle of water. She wanted to be drunk and the poker wasn’t quite taking her mind off of whatever negative thoughts filled up her head when she was sober. So Lustrous attempted to at least make things more jovial.

“Have I ever mentioned that my cousin is allergic to apples?” Lustrous said.

Both of the others perked up at that.

“No, I had no idea,” Steel Wing answered.

Lustrous chuckled. “Well he is. Only slightly but it still makes him puff up and get sick. Now I don’t know if you realized this, since we joined up with you a bit later, but I didn’t exactly have the most positive of relationships with Bright.” He smiled at the memory he was thinking of. “Once when we were kids he had especially annoyed me over something, I can’t remember what, so I decided to get back at him.”

“Well, it just so happened that our maids were preparing some pies that evening for the family’s feast. One pie was apple and two were pears,” Lustrous grinned. “You can see where I’m going with this? Everyone sits at the same spot at our dining room table and the maids know to place one of the pear pies by Bright. So once they were done preparing things but before anyone else had come in to start dinner I snuck in and switched the pies.”

“He must have been awfully mad about that,” Steel Wing said, although he had the ghost of a smile on his lips.

Lustrous glanced at Trail Blazer to see how she was enjoying the story and he was delighted to see that even she was almost smiling.

So the unicorn continued. “He was a bit preoccupied at first to be mad. You see all it took was a single bite and his eyes bugged out in realization. He glared at me, because he knew for certain that I was behind it, but before he could do or say anything else his cheeks puffed up like a balloon. It was hilarious! Of course my family was rather upset with me after that. That was pretty much the last time I ever did anything like that, I think their punishment of confining me to my room with nothing but books to read turned out fine in the end for me though.”

“Heh.”

Both stallions turned to see a slight smile on Trail Blazer’s face as she laughed at Lustrous’s story.

“Not bad Lustrous, not bad,” She said, shuffling around her cards. “Dealing again?”

Lustrous and Steel Wing both smiled back at her. “But of course,” The unicorn said and started getting the deck ready. “And I must say it’s nice to see you smile. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you do that while sober.”

He peeked back at her and was about to say something more when he noticed the smile had fallen off her face. Replaced with a stony and blank expression as she looked down at the floor of the tent.

“Trail Blazer?” Lustrous asked in concern, sharing a worried look with Steel Wing.

“Yeah.” She said, the hoof holding her cards shaking. “Yeah I don’t smile much, do I?”

“Miss Trail Blazer, are you alright?” Steel Wing reached out a hoof to steady her shoulder.

She flinched away from him. “Fine, I’m fine...” Her breathing got heavier and she dropped her cards. Now instead of rain dripping from her fur a cold sweat had started breaking out on her brow. She tried taking a deep breath but it came in ragged and her heart was pounding in her chest. “I gotta get out for a second!” She quickly said and pulled open the flap to the tent, running outside and back into the dark forest.

“Trail Blazer!” Lustrous yelled as he went after her. “What’s wrong?!”

The rain had stopped completely by this time, they hadn’t even realized it. But Trail Blazer’s running hooves still sprayed mud and water everywhere she went. The forest was dark but the clouds had lifted enough for the moon and stars to give Lustrous just enough light to follow her.

“Stop!” He called out to her, fearful of losing her.

Maybe it was his plea or maybe she was just tired but the map pony finally came to a halt. She sunk to her knees in a puddle of filthy water and started to breath harder and faster than she had been before. Lustrous ran up beside her and attempted to see what was wrong but she waved him off with a hoof.

“Stop… stop...” She weakly told him. “I just needed to get some air… this happens to me sometimes...”

“I-I don’t understand,” Lustrous nervously tittered about, not sure if he should listen to her or try to help her to her hooves.

“It’s alright...” She fought to get her breathing back under control. “My old village’s apothecary called it anxiety or something. It’s not a big deal if I keep my mind off… things,” The map pony slowly returned to a calmer state.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want to talk about it?” Lustrous asked. His worrisome suspicions about her were starting to grow stronger.

“No. I’m fine.”

You most certainly are not. Lustrous thought. He frowned, there was no way he was just going to let her brush this under the rug.

“Trail-”

“Trail Blazer, Lustrous,” Steel Wing said from above them, the pegasus landing in the water next to them. “I’m glad I found you.” There was a sense of uncharacteristic urgency in his voice.

Lustrous rolled his eyes, not happy at being interrupted. “Yes, I’m glad you found us too. Trail Blazer is… alright, so she says. We can head back to the tent.”

The red pegasus shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. We’re not alone.”

The flapping sound of much heavier wings caught the attention of the unicorn and the earth pony and the two looked up to see four large creatures descend in a circle, surrounding them. They were brownish in color, with feather colored bodies and heads ranging from stark white to a dirty orange. All of them were carrying large, full bags.

“Griffons?” Lustrous said in surprise as he looked around at the four newcomers.

Steel Wing stayed silent, his eyes ever shifting between each of the four griffons while Trail Blazer got back to her hooves and frowned at the turn of events.

“And what are some ponies doing out here?” One of the griffons asked. He had a crest of white feathers and piercing yellow eyes that he narrowed at the ponies.

Lustrous raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What are you talking about? This is Equestria. A better question is what are you doing here? Griffonstone is quite a ways away.”

“Equestria huh?” The griffon continued. “So you say. I say this is where we’ve been traveling through for generations.”

“Traveling through for what?” Lustrous asked.

“None of your business,” The griffon snarled. “All you need to know is that you ponies aren’t welcome here, not in this forest or anywhere else. This is our territory.”

Well that didn’t exactly sit well with the unicorn. Trail Blazer and Steel Wing were both silently begging Lustrous to keep his mouth shut but this was the kind of thing that really set Lustrous off.

“I’m afraid I can’t take that sitting down. These lands were claimed in the name of ponykind. Our three tribes came together to make this our new home and Princess Celestia is the rightful ruler of it,” He told them.

He saw Trail Blazer’s mud covered hoof smack her face out of the corner of his eye.

The lead griffon clicked his tongue and the four of them started closing in on the ponies. “That so?” He reached into his bag and pulled a knife out, pointing it straight at Lustrous. “You willing to die for ponykind then?”

Lustrous paled and backed up on shaking legs. “W-Wait, hold on, I didn’t want a fight or anything.”

“Well too bad, you got one.” The griffon raised his knife.

Thirty seconds later four griffons were dead and Steel Wing was slightly tired.

“Dear Celestia, did you have to do that?” A Lustrous on the verge of fainting asked Steel Wing.

“I’m sorry, it was the quickest way to make sure the both of you were safe,” Steel Wing replied, a hoof on the neck of one griffon to make sure the last of them had been neutralized.

The unicorn shook his head and sat down. “I need to get some rest...”

Trail Blazer meanwhile had fully recovered from her attack and was hectically looting through the bags of the griffons, looking for something. She was tossing out all manner of things and smaller bags and boxes, it made Lustrous think that these griffons may have been illegally smuggling things across Equestria. But to where and for who he had no idea.

“Yes!” The map pony yelled out, startling Lustrous.

He looked over to see her grasping a box whose lid had been torn off, six bottles of an amber liquid rested inside it.

“Ale! Finally,” She grabbed one of the bottles and immediately pulled off the cork, downing the alcohol as quickly as possible.

Lustrous sighed. What else could he do?

The Dirt and the Water

The following are excerpts from Trail Blazer’s notebook:

For the past few days we’ve traveled through a large portion of the interior of Equestria. No deserts, no swamps, temperate climate, I won’t say the weather or terrain has been perfect but it’s been a relatively easy going compared to the previous legs of our journey. This central area of the country is grassy and forested for the most part and nearly anywhere would make a fine place to start a town or farm. My only concern is the local fauna. We’ve been careful but this is just the kind of place you find dangerous creatures like Ursa Minor/Majors, regular bears, and so forth. Equestria is still a mostly wild place and I’m not an expert on monsters and stuff but I know there are things like manticores, hydras, huge gators, and all kinds of weird stuff in certain parts of the country.

Settlers will need to be careful and come in big groups. Well that’s almost true for anywhere.

I’m just so tired. I’ve had no alcohol for the past two days and it’s driving me up the wall. There’s stuff I should be doing but my head is so muddled and everything is annoying me. I can’t focus on anything, I just want a drink so bad. Even when I’m just drawing my map I get agitated and I can’t keep my thoughts out of my head.

Lustrous has been watching me closer, I can tell. He doesn’t want to leave me alone for anything and he’s been arguing less with me lately too. He needs to get over it, it’s not a big deal. But ever since that stupid night in the forest he’s been like this and without anything for me to drink I’m about to explode. I’d rather him keep going off about random dumb stuff so I can correct or tease him, normally that would be one of the few things to keep me from getting too aggravated while sober.

And Steel Wing is just flying around like he always does.

Whatever. Pushing that all out of the way. I’m going to write these notes no matter how long it takes to get my pencil down to the paper.

First things first. Although this part of Equestria is predominantly fertile and perfectly good to live in we are now in a part that is most certainly not. The previous few days we were in a good area but this afternoon we ended up walking into a dry and arid part of the country. The ground is cracked and dry and doesn’t look like it would be good for farming.

I could check the soil but I really don’t feel like it right now.

Good thing is that it isn’t too hot and we have plenty of water. I’d trade all that water for a full flask of moonshine though and damn the consequences.

Ugh, I can’t do this right now. I haven’t had sex in too long either. If it was just one or the other maybe I could deal with it, but both? No. I really need something.

Camping the night in this dry area went pretty well. Ground was level and we weren’t soaked, little uncomfortable but not too bad. We’ve camped in worse spots. There still isn’t a lot to really do in this location, since it’s so devoid of life or anything. I could see it possibly being a place to mine minerals or rare earths. Since I’m almost certain the soil isn’t suited for crops or farming. I still haven’t actually checked it though, can’t get my mind off my recent lack of… you know.

Still not a geologist but I’m sure they could find something useful here. If anything the land is nice and flat and you don’t have to deal with a bunch of hills or rocky areas when building or traveling through.

Since I have nothing else to talk about right now I suppose I can say how the map is coming along nicely. I’ve got a good outline of most of the country’s borders now and we’ve been through a good deal of the interior. I’m going to have pages and pages of notes to go along with the map for our Representatives that I’ll have to organize though. But I’ve done a good job of accurately showing what the landscape and terrain is like in every spot we’ve been to, and where any settlements are. It’s been difficult planning where roads should go but so much of this country is just pure wilderness and not suited for being interconnected in such a simple way.

I’ve decided to make a purely elevation map too, along with a physical one and another general one just showing the whole size and shape of the country. Let Cheese and apple allergy figure out how best they want to combine them or whatever.

Good thing happened today.

We happened to meet a traveler who had recently been around where Princess Celestia is making her castle and now he was heading northeast cause he heard some towns were springing up in the area. Well for one that’ll be good for us cause we’ll probably end up hitting those places ourselves at some point. And two after hanging out in the back of his wagon for a while I was able to scratch a certain itch of mine.

Thanks to that I was finally able to clear my head of some things.

The soil is unsuited for farming, just like I thought. There’s a lack of nutrients in it and this place is clearly far too dry in the first place. Obviously it doesn’t get enough rain throughout the year. But this would be a good place to make a road through since it’s flat, you just need to remember to bring plenty of your own water and food. No town is ever going to be made here though.

Lustrous and Steel Wing were kind of giving me uncomfortable looks the rest of the day and I threw up after but it’s fine.

I’m used to it.

Found a lake. We’ve seen a lot of the ocean (on both sides of the country) and gone through swamps and bogs and seen some small rivers and stuff but this is the first actual lake we’ve come across. Kind of refreshing. It was actually fairly lucky too since now we were running a little low on drinkable water after being stuck in that dry spot for a few days previously. The forest we had walked through on the way here didn’t have a river going this direction for us either.

Lustrous attempted to drink out of a puddle of standing water but I stopped him.

The lake or anywhere close to it I suppose would be a good place for a village. Lots of lumber from the forest too. A river flows downhill from the west to make the lake and then flows out again east in a much narrower stream. Maybe you could dam up to the eastern part to expand the lake.

We filled up on plenty of water while we were here. Honestly a lot more than I think we’ll need but it’s better to be safe than sorry in the case of water.

Still need a drink.

The thing is I know there are some things I could be testing the water and lake for but I don’t have the right equipment. It’s something I didn’t think was as important for the trip and I already have so much to carry. I did check the level of erosion around the edge of the lake and where it turns into a stream. And checked some of the trees close by to see if there was any evidence of prior floods. If this was a flood zone we’d have to reconsider some things.

However I didn’t see any evidence of that. So good, one less thing to worry about. And one less thing to circumvent.

Steel Wing hasn’t offered to play cards since that first night. I can tell him and Lustrous want to but they’re worried over some dumb thing. Well I’m not helping them with that. If they want to read into stuff and mope around then let them. I’ll do what I’ve been doing.

It looks like it rains a good deal in this area even without pegasi for the weather. Forest is too crowded for any large farm but you could easily make a family farm or orchard around here. I have so many more things to look at and write about around here than the dry spot we left, or the desert we had gone through. Since with those I could just write “Not fit for habitation” if I really felt like it.

Maybe it’s because Lustrous has been so in awe of every little thing he sees now but I don’t feel like being lazy. Some of that stupidity is rubbing off on me.

He’s been keeping me on track though. For the most part, sometimes I have to convince him to do something because he’s whining about danger. Steel Wing has kept us safe enough. I know they both want me to stop drinking but that aint happening anytime soon. I can’t function without alcohol for more than a few days, even now I’m just writing and writing hoping to keep my head off of things. Gonna start getting more agitated and irritable soon.

Water of the lake was cold. We all actually took a dip in it to clean off and refresh ourselves. So that was probably the highlight of the day. I was really grimy and my mane was in terrible condition. Cleaned my jacket too.

Turns out neither Lustrous or Steel Wing could actually swim, go figure. So they just washed off by the water’s edge. More lake for me. You live on an island, how do you not know how to swim? Now that I think about it I doubt most ponies ever really bothered to learn though. What’s the point for most of them? How many would really need to learn?

I’m still tired now. Too many things to think about. Too much activity. Too many things to deal with. By tomorrow we’re gonna start wrapping around and heading up northeast a little. Maybe find a town since that area is a bit more populated than the rest of Equestria.

I’m tired but it’s been a decent trip so far.

The Past

The trio of explorers had found a small, out of the way town in the somewhat northeastern part of Equestria that was still a good deal south of their starting point. It was the first real town they had seen since that unfriendly earth pony town on the east coast. Besides that they had only come across fellow travelers or very small startups that couldn’t really be considered towns. So now that they had arrived here they were going to take a couple days off from their trip and relax and refill on supplies.

It was a plan all three of them readily agreed on.

Lustrous now had found them a nice enough inn to lodge at for their stay and even nicer was that the town had already gotten a few small farms and orchards set up and had plenty of food to share. Luckily too, all the ponies of the village seemed perfectly friendly and there was a variety of earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. There wouldn’t be a repeat of what happened last time, they were all thankful for that.

And naturally Trail Blazer had already found the local tavern and was busy getting as drunk as possible. So Lustrous and Steel Wing were spending their time alone in their room playing cards. The both of them didn’t want to split from her like this but the mare had pretty much forced them away from her. It annoyed Lustrous but it was her decision. He wouldn’t feel sorry for her if something happened. He knew she was more capable than him in most situations but her poor decision making and vices were the bigger problem.

“Gin.”

“Bah!” Lustrous threw his cards into the air, seeing the game against Steel Wing as hopeless. “How do you always win?”

“I’m good at cards,” The pegasus replied simply, the slightest of smirks threatening to tug at his face.

“Oh, you just be as smug as you want for now,” Lustrous frowned and got up to look out the window of their room. “I’ll find some game to beat you at.”

Steel Wing gathered up the strewn about cards and went to join Lustrous at the window. Like much of the area they had been through recently this was a temperate, forested area of Equestria that was perfect for living. There were likely a dozen small towns just like this one around. Out the window the two of them could spy an apple orchard that had been planted along with a few patches of lettuce, beyond that Lustrous’s eyes traveled to the forest and the rest of the landscape.

It was a pretty place. So green and lush. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky today and he could see all the way to the large mountain that stood in the center of Equestria, somewhere in the forest beyond it, Princess Celestia was constructing her castle. Everything was coming along well for ponies. Even the few hiccups here and there all seemed so small in comparison when one just took the time to really look at Equestria.

With a smile on his face, Lustrous retreated from the window, getting his full of things. There would be plenty of time to admire Equestria’s beauty in the future after all. Now he wanted to spend more time resting in an actual room. As far as inns in out of the way places like this go the room was rather nice, two full beds (he and Steel Wing were sharing one), and a private bathroom. Lucky them.

Lustrous looked from bed to bed and then smirked at Steel Wing. “You know, something is telling me that Trail Blazer likely won’t be coming back to this room tonight. So what say we each get our own bed while we have the opportunity?”

The red pegasus responded with a smile. “It would certainly be more comfortable.”

For the remainder of the day the two of them played an assortment of card games. Lustrous seemed monumentally unlucky even though he was fairly familiar with cards, or perhaps Steel Wing really was just that good of a player. It would have been more fun if they had more ponies to play with but they just had to make do with each other.

Gin Rummy was forbidden for the rest of the night.

The next morning both stallions woke up in their own beds. Steel Wing naturally had risen with dawn and patiently exercised until Lustrous also woke up or Trail Blazer came back. Lustrous was busy enjoying a good night of rest and a comfortable bed so it wasn’t until hours after the sun rose that he finally stirred and joined Steel Wing in the waking world.

“What time of day is it?” He groggily asked as he pushed his covers away. “No Trail Blazer yet?”

“A few hours past dawn. And no, not yet,” Steel Wing responded.

Lustrous sighed, he closed his eyes and rubbed them to try and wake himself up. “Maybe we should go try and find her. She’ll probably be upset but it’s better than losing track of her.”

“We’d have to start at the tavern. I didn’t want to let her go off on her own either but she was very… pushy,” Steel Wing said.

“That’s fine. I doubt it’ll be hard to find her, we just need to ask who picked up the overly flirtatious mare from out of town,” Lustrous said with an annoyed roll of his eyes.

It just so happened though that after Lustrous broached his plan the two heard some quiet hoofsteps walking up the stairs of the inn and towards their room. Seemingly they were in luck and wouldn’t have to look for their wayward map pony at all. The hoofsteps came to a stop right in front of the door and with a twist of the doorknob it was opened up, Trail Blazer walking inside.

“Well, it’s good to see that-”

Lustrous’s sarcastic quip died on his tongue. Steel Wing’s eyes widened as well and both stallions stared in shock at Trail Blazer’s face.

Or more accurately the bruised and swelling black right eye she had.

“What happened?!”

“Are you alright?!”

They both ran up to her to see if she was okay. Trail Blazer for her part just frowned and pushed the two away from her.

“Relax, I’m fine,” She said.

“Who? Who did this to you?!” Steel Wing asked, getting right up in her face and practically pushing Lustrous out of the way. His wings were splayed in anger, his natural protectiveness coming out in full force.

Trail Blazer though wasn’t keen on speaking to him about it. “Forget it you two. It’s not a big deal. Got in an argument and things got a little heated. It wasn’t even a real fight and I gave it back to the guy just as good.”

“I will absolutely not forget it!” Steel Wing angrily exclaimed. “Not only are you my ward but I can’t abide anyone who would hit a mare like this, please tell me who it was so I can sort them out.”

“No,” She narrowed her eyes at him. “We came here to relax for a couple days and that’s what you should be doing. Not only that but if you go out trying to pick a fight with some guy the rest of this town might not like that. They’re friendly right now, let’s not do anything to ruin that. I’m just going to wash up.”

“But-”

“No buts!” She scowled at him and started walking on past to the bathroom.

Lustrous however was also annoyed. For a different reason now though.

“You know this is really your own fault.” He told her, frowning. Trail Blazer acted like she didn’t hear him and kept walking on by so he continued. “The way you act and what you do, it’s a wonder something worse hasn’t happened to you already. And I don’t just mean you getting hurt either. What would you do if you wound up pregnant one of these days?”

Trail Blazer paused mid-step. It was so sudden that both Lustrous and Steel Wing nervously glanced at each other.

“Trail Blazer?” Steel Wing spoke to her.

Slowly she turned her head to them, her eyes were wide and glassy with shock and her mouth hung half open, lip trembling.

“Pregnant?” She repeated. Her eyes slowly turned down towards the floor. “Yeah… what if? What if I did get pregnant?”

Lustrous noticed her breathing start to get ragged again and tears were welling up in her eyes, he reached out a hoof to her shoulder to steady her. “Trail Blazer, what’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing...” The mare was barely able to reply, shaking her head. “Nothing’s wrong, I just… I-I...”

She couldn’t hold on any longer and loud, powerful sobs started to rack her body, tears falling freely onto the floor. With a last, agonized wail she threw off Lustrous’s hoof and bolted for the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. Both stallions could hear her collapse onto the floor, continuing to sob and wheeze incoherently.

With a shocked and confused expression on his face, Lustrous turned to Steel Wing. “What did I say?”

“Obviously something that upset her quite a bit,” Steel Wing awkwardly answered. The pegasus was running a hoof back and forth through his mane. “And… I still can’t just let slide whoever did this to her. I am going out to find them. Do you think you can… handle things here?”

Lustrous looked at the bathroom door and the sobbing sounds coming from behind it.

“I’ll try my best.”

With a nod Steel Wing left the room and went off to find whichever pony it was that hurt Trail Blazer. Leaving Lustrous alone there to fidget about uncomfortably while the mare cried in a way he never thought possible for her. It was so much worse than what had happened with her in the forest. He had no idea how to comfort her or if he should do anything at all. Maybe it was just best for him to wait until she calmed down.

He wasn’t sure how long he spent pacing back and forth in front of that bathroom door, wishing he could ignore Trail Blazer’s sobbing but still listening to it the whole way through.

Finally the sobs quieted down and only a few weak sniffles escaped from behind the door. Lustrous stood there patiently, at least she seemed to be coming down. He only hoped she was okay. This whole event was… unsettling to him.

For a moment there wasn’t any sound coming from the bathroom, making it apparent to Lustrous just how hard his heart was beating.

“Lustrous? Are you still there?” He finally heard her voice squeak out, low and despondent.

“Yes, I’m here, Trail Blazer,” The unicorn walked up close to the door.

He heard movement from behind it, the sound of a pony getting up and slowly walking his way. Trail Blazer pushed the bathroom door open and walked out. In addition to the shiner her eyes were red and bloodshot now, her mane even more of a mess than normal and she looked more miserable than he could ever remember seeing her.

“Thank you, I need to sleep...” She tried walking past him towards one of the beds.

“Hold on!” He grasped her foreleg and looked deep into her eyes. “No. I am not letting you just act like that didn’t happen. Not this time. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

The map mare averted her gaze from his, staring at the bed and wishing he would just let her go. But she was too tired to argue now. Too tired to do anything.

“Fine. What’s it matter anyways?” The mare shook off his hoof and turned to face him. Her face showing a pony just too tired of the whole world. “You want to know what just happened? Hay, wanna know why I do everything I do? The drinking, the sleeping around, the sudden attacks like this...”

Lustrous did want to know. Not just for curiosity’s sake but because he was truly worried about this pony in front of him. He didn’t know how to put it into words so he only nodded at her.

Trail Blazer briefly closed her eyes and wiped away the remnants of her tears before opening them again. She took a single deep, calming breath.

“In my family, I was the second of seven children,” She told him.

Lustrous grimaced a bit, thinking of how chaotic that would be for a family that probably didn’t come from a wealthy background like his. “That seems like quite a loud household.”

“I loved it,” A surprisingly warm and honest smile had broken out on her face, but it was tempered by the sadness in her eyes.

“I’m… surprised,” Lustrous raised an eyebrow at her statement.

She kept smiling as she continued. “You see, my family operated a large farm and my parents were interested in having as many children as possible to run it and marry off to other families to make connections. Normal enough. My one older sibling was my brother, he was being brought up to one day take over the farm, so I being the oldest girl was made to help my mom raise the rest of my siblings while they were still young.”

The earth pony gave a wistful sigh as she reminisced. “It was the best time of my life. I can’t even tell you how much I loved my little brothers and sisters, how warm I felt inside helping to raise them. Even when I was just a kid I knew I wanted that too. To become a mother just like my mom.” She looked at Lustrous. “I don’t seem the type, do I?”

He grimaced a bit, averting his eyes in embarrassment. “Er, honestly no.”

“That’s because of how much I’ve changed. When I was older my family got together with another family of farmers, I met their eldest son. It was decided then and there that the two of us would marry to unite our families.” The smile didn’t leave her face as she talked about her marriage. “But I was lucky too, because we both fell in love with each other. Young love and all that… our families couldn’t be happier. So the days and months of our marriage went by and, well, the two of us were getting pretty busy right from the start if you know what I mean?”

“I can imagine.” He coughed and blushed slightly.

“Yeah, well that’s what we were doing… having kids was important to both of us, for a lot of reasons.” Trail Blazer had stopped smiling, a blank expression was left on her face, her eyes staring directly ahead but not focused on anything. “Only as much as we tried I never got pregnant. No matter how long or how much we tried to.”

Trail Blazer took a wavering breath and closed her eyes again, a few tears again starting to well up in the corners. “So we went to the medicine pony to see if he could figure out why. A-And he did.” Her speech had become more choked, she raised a hoof to rub some of the tears out of her eyes while she continued. “He, he said there’s something wrong with me—with my body—and that no… no matter what I do I can never have kids.”

She was crying freely now. “That wasn’t even the end of it. I was still in shock, I had no idea how to react to that. What am I supposed to do when someone tells me that the only thing I’ve ever really wanted is just… gone? I can’t even remember how many nights I cried. B-But I still thought that maybe it was something I could get through, I had my husband, and my family.”

“I was wrong,” She sadly shook her head. “My husband told his family that I couldn’t have children. Our marriage was annulled and they found another mare his age from a different family to marry him off to. I thought we loved each other. But just like that it was all gone.”

Lustrous didn’t know if he should try and comfort her. She might react poorly so he let her continue her story for now.

“And then when I returned home to my own family… I saw it in their eyes when I came back. How disappointed they were, how much they blamed me for everything. Even my little brothers and sisters who I used to rock to sleep as babies didn’t want anything to do with me.” She reached down and grasped herself around the belly. “I think they were ashamed of me, ashamed that someone broken like me was in their family and what I had cost them.”

“So they shunned me for the most part. And word spread so no one else was coming around with marriage offers either,” She sniffled. “That’s when I started having my attacks, which just bothered my family even more. Eventually they made it apparent that I wasn’t wanted around the farm anymore. And they weren’t giving me a choice about it.”

“That’s when I started drinking, and going from place to place, just drifting on by and throwing myself into my maps or into the beds of other ponies. Because I didn’t have anything left,” She paused and reached a hoof up to her black eye. “It’s still buzzing. The drinking helps me forget and the sex is the only thing that makes me feel wanted.” She shook her head. “I could never try and start a real relationship again, not after what happened.”

Her tears started to overflow and the sobbing returned to the mare. “I-I still don’t have anything. All I ever wanted… the only thing… was to have a family of my own. That’s all I ever asked for!” Trail Blazer fell to her knees and held her head in her hooves.

Lustrous finally went down to comfort her, hugging the poor, crying mare. “I-It’s okay...” Was the only cliched response he could think of.

“Why? Why am I like this?” She hugged him back. “It’s not fair...”

The two of them sat there, hugging each other, and Lustrous rubbed her back while she cried. The unicorn didn’t know what else to do so he comforted her as best his unworldly self could.

The Friends

Lustrous and Trail Blazer hugged on the floor of their room for a while longer. He just let the mare cry it all out until she had nothing left. She sobbed and kept asking, “why?”, why did this all have to happen to her? And Lustrous didn’t have an answer, the only thing he could do was hug and be there for her right now. The unicorn was at a loss for what else he could say or do, his life had been so uneventful and so devoid of things like what Trail Blazer had gone through there was no advice he could give or any way he could relate to her. So he just let her feel his warmth and tried to silently convey that he was there for her now. That would have to do.

After a minute of silence it seemed like she was done but Lustrous didn’t want to be the one to break away the embrace. He could feel the wetness of her tears against his chest. Lustrous didn’t know what he should say or do to break the ice or see if she was alright, the first thing that came to mind was trying for some levity.

“My knees are starting to hurt from kneeling, do you mind if we stand up?” He asked Trail Blazer.

She didn’t move or say anything at first and he was worried that he had made a mistake but then her muffled voice came out from buried in his chest. “Okay.”

The two ponies got up from their entangled position, Trail Blazer still looking rather forlorn with her black eye. She definitely needed some rest before she would be better. Lustrous again just nervously glanced around, not sure if what he was going to say next would set her off again or not.

“You should probably splash some water on your face and clean up a bit,” He told her. “We’ll likely be leaving tomorrow now, or later today if Steel Wing causes too much of a ruckus.”

The map mare frowned. “I told him not to do anything...”

“He just cares about you,” Lustrous said without thinking and then bit his tongue, worried that saying something like that could upset her all over again.

She did freeze up slightly, that word fearfully setting her off. “Yeah, look, I just...” She stumbled over to her bags laid up in the corner of the room. “I just need another drink.”

As Trail Blazer fumbled through her bags looking for her flask, Lustrous was torn. Should he really let her do that? Did he have the right to stop her? Trail Blazer admitted she just used the alcohol she consumed to mask her pain, it didn’t seem right to him. He didn’t want her to keep doing something so self-destructive, so harmful to her. He cared about her too.

The earth pony finally found what she was looking for, pulling the half full flask from her saddlebag. She didn’t smile upon finding it, just started loosening the top with a shaky hoof.

“Stop. Please,” Lustrous grabbed her hoof.

“What are you doing?” She looked at him, not quite angrily. She was too tired to be angry now.

“I don’t want you to drink anymore,” He told her.

Her face scrunched up in a grimace. “Look, I get it, but I need this. I can’t function normally. Whenever I don’t drink for too long it all starts coming back to me, so I make myself angry to try and fill my head up with something else. Otherwise I’m just going to break down everyday.” She tried pulling her hoof away from him. “Let go.”

“No,” He shook his head. “I… haven’t experienced anything like you have. And it would just be hypocritical of me if I tried to tell you something like “It’s all going to be okay” or “You can’t run from your past”. Because I don’t know what it’s like to be you.” He pushed down her hoof holding the flask. “But I know that isn’t good for you. I’m not letting you drink yourself to death just because of what happened in your past.”

“It’s my life,” She glared at him.

“Yes, exactly,” Lustrous replied. “And I want to see you take better care of it. I want to see you happy for real and not drunk all the time just to escape your demons. I care about you too, you know.”

“But,” Her eyes started getting watery again. “I can’t do it, I’ll be a wreck all day, what am I going to do if I have another attack or-”

Lustrous hugged her again, holding the mare tight against him. “I’ll be there for you. I don’t know what else to tell you, but whenever you’re feeling upset, whenever you think you want to give up or don’t have anything, you’ll know that I’m there. Steel Wing too.”

She sniffled and returned the hug, nothing more was said between them, Trail Blazer just nodded and accepted it.

Again the two of them stayed like that for a moment. Neither one wanted to break it up. Finally Lustrous let her go, feeling it was pertinent for them to get ready and for her to take his earlier advice of cleaning up. Both of them would probably be feeling pretty awkward about all this in a minute. Lustrous only hoped that whatever Steel Wing was doing right now wouldn’t get them kicked out of town, it would be good for Trail Blazer’s sake if she could spend the night in a comfortable bed.

“One last thing,” Lustrous said as he grabbed the flask still in Trail Blazer’s hoof. “You won’t be needing this anymore.”

The unicorn trotted over to the wastebasket in the room and dropped the flask inside.

“We can call that a symbolic goodbye to the old you,” He smiled at her.

She snorted. “You have a way with words...”

The smile didn’t leave his face, if she could react with even the slightest amount of humor he would call that a win.

And as if on cue the door to their room opened back up and Steel Wing walked inside. He looked no worse for wear, which wasn’t surprising even if he had gotten in a fight, after what Lustrous saw him do to those griffons he was sure Steel Wing could handle any number of tavern-dwelling ponies without getting hurt in the slightest. Hopefully he didn’t get into a fight at all though.

The pegasus looked between the two of them, noticing the change in atmosphere. “I took care of the one who assaulted Miss Trail Blazer. Did… I miss anything while I was gone?”

Lustrous looked at the map pony with uncertainty on his face. “Do you want to tell him too? I know Steel Wing will be just as supportive. But if you don’t want to I can understand, it’s obviously a very draining experience for you.”

“That’s alright,” Trail Blazer shook her head. “I’ll tell him too. Steel Wing has a right to know after everything he’s done for us.”

More time after that was spent with Trail Blazer reiterating her story to Steel Wing. The pegasus listened intently and both he and Lustrous helped the mare through it when things became difficult for her again. But now it was all out. Steel Wing made the same promise that Lustrous did, he would be there to help her whenever she needed a shoulder to lean on. Trail Blazer’s sheer exhaustion caught up with her after that and she went to sleep for the rest of the day on her bed.

“I feel sorry for her,” Steel Wing said to Lustrous as he watched the sleeping mare.

“Me too. But I don’t think she needs us to pity her right now. I think it would be better for her if we treated things like normal and just let her know we’re here for her if she needs us. Frankly I think one of the best things for all of us now will be to get back onto our journey, it’ll be something we can all use to take our mind off things.”

Steel Wing nodded. “Yeah.”

The pegasus then bit his lip. “I, uh, when she’s awake I have something I want to tell the both of you too.”

“What?” Lustrous raised an eyebrow at the normally reticent pegasus.

“It’s just… it isn’t fair of me to keep my past to myself when you’re an open book and Trail Blazer just told us all about herself,” The pegasus responded.

Lustrous frowned. “You don’t have to feel obligated to tell us anything if you don’t want to.”

“But I do,” Steel Wing frowned right back at him. “I’ve wanted us all to get closer but at the same time I’ve never told you anything about me. I was never willing to open up like she was. And it’s shameful for me because I didn’t even go through anything like she did, my family history isn’t a happy one but it’s not like what happened to her. Yet I still kept it all to myself, telling you it was personal and clamming up while at the same time hoping we would just somehow magically become friends.”

The red pegasus looked more upset than Lustrous had ever seen him. He was pretty sure that was the most he had heard Steel Wing speak at once too.

“Well, let’s talk about it when she wakes up then?” Lustrous said.

Steel Wing agreed and the two spent the next few hours quietly in the room, letting Trail Blazer get as much rest as she needed. Lustrous was curious as to what exactly Steel Wing might have done to the pony who hit Trail Blazer but he didn’t ask.

When Trail Blazer had woken up and freshened up a bit it was already evening, but she was just as willing to listen to Steel Wing as Lustrous.

“I mentioned before that I was trained to fight by my grandfather before he was exiled?” Steel Wing said to remind them.

When both of the others nodded he continued.

“That was because my parents died when I was very young, I don’t even remember them. So my grandfather took me in to raise me. He had very… traditional ideas of what it meant to be a pegasus and he didn’t agree with the peace forged between our three tribes. But it seemed as if he was willing to grudgingly accept it, or at least that was the front he was willing to put on for our leaders. While raising me he trained me to fight before I could even fly, he said I would be the pride of the pegasi one day,” Steel Wing sighed and despondently looked out the window of their room. “My life with him was harsh and loveless and it went on for years. For a while it was all I knew until I started interacting more with other pegasi and actually came of age to join the weather teams. My grandfather said the only purpose in me getting to know others was for fighting, to sharpen my skills. But the more I simply hung out with others the more I realized how empty my life was, and how my grandfather was wrong about the world. He would always tell me that the pegasi joining together with the unicorns and earth ponies was the worst decision they had ever made. But everyone and everything looked so happy to me.”

“So when I was a little older and my grandfather attempted to kill Commander Hurricane and Thunderstorm I didn’t stand with him.”

Lustrous’s eyebrows shot up into his forehead. “Wait, what?”

“I hadn’t heard about anything like that happening,” Trail Blazer said.

Steel Wing grunted. “Yes. The pegasi didn’t really want to talk about it, they didn’t want to worry the other tribes with the fact that some radicals had tried to take over and start the conflict all over again. As far as I know not even Bright Diamond and Cheese Souffle know about it.”

“That is somewhat distressing… it would probably make quite a few, especially those of the older generation, uneasy.” Lustrous mused.

“Does Princess Celestia know what happened?” Trail Blazer asked.

“Yes,” Steel Wing replied. “She was notified.”

“So just what did go on with your grandfather?” Lustrous asked him.

“What happened was that while he was acting calmly enough during the new peace what he was really doing was finding other like-minded pegasi over the years and preparing for a coup. I was told about it at the last second, they all knew I was the best fighter and I was meant to be the one who actually did the… heavy lifting.” Steel Wing said with dismay.

The red pegasus’s wings anxiously unfurled and furled. “He expected me to just be his tool. His weapon. But in the end I betrayed him. After he told me what he was planning I immediately went and told Thunderstorm. My grandfather and his conspirators were rounded up and exiled.” He sighed. “I betrayed my only family to do the right thing, I’ve been agonizing over it ever since.”

Lustrous laid a hoof on his shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to go through that as well. But I’m glad you shared it with us too.”

“What he said,” Trail Blazer said, patting Steel Wing’s opposite. “It, uh, does kind of feel good to talk about this stuff. And know that you guys care and all. I’m not used to it.”

“Me neither,” Steel Wing said. His voice still rather morose. “But yes, thank you Lustrous. And you Trail Blazer. We may not have had the best of times before this, but I’m glad to have the both of you here with me. I’m glad to be traveling with you.”

There was a silent moment as the three all stood in that room, smiling at each other.

Finally it was broken by Trail Blazer, a thoughtful frown coming to her face. “Um, does this make us friends now?”

Lustrous’s ears perked up. “Huh. I dunno, I’ve never really had a friend.”

“Me neither,” Steel Wing shrugged.

Trail Blazer gave a short laugh and rolled her eyes at the two stallions. “Heh, first time for everything.”

The Dangers

The three friends were now in a rocky and fairly out of the way part of Equestria. The terrain was too uneven and there weren’t any nearby water sources, apart from possibly groundwater, so Trail Blazer had written it off as a place unlikely to be settled anytime soon. Positives were that the weather and temperate out were still average, this being the interior of Equestria, and they had no want for water or food since they had been able to stock up just fine in previous places. But on the flip side there wasn’t much to see or do right now for any of them as they had been through enough of Equestria where this now could be categorized as “more of the same”. Nor was it pretty enough for Lustrous to write about or attempt any more poetry with.

Right now the three were traveling over a large ridge, they could see forest for miles all around them and the large mountain that jutted up from the center of their new country was off a fair bit in the distance as well. Scenic but unspectacular compared to other views they had all been able to take in on this trip.

As for how the adventurers were doing on the inside that was a bit of a different situation. Trail Blazer would fidget often and feel around in her bag for her missing flask, she couldn’t get used to not having it on hoof. Even though the others were helping her she still craved a drink and not just being sober but telling herself she was going to stay sober was difficult. The mare now had nothing to drown out the repressed feelings and memories inside her, and she couldn’t mask it with anger either, trying not to lash out at her new friends.

For their parts though they took it all in stride when she had trouble. Patience and understanding were the key and they knew her anger and frustration was the result of deeper issues. So Lustrous and Steel Wing did all they could to be calm and supportive and help her out whenever she panicked or got truly upset.

Unlike Trail Blazer, Steel Wing was essentially the same as ever. He was slightly more talkative and open (he didn’t speak anymore about his past but he claimed it was because there was nothing more to mention) and he and Lustrous tried to find an opportunity to play cards whenever they could. The pegasus proved to just be a naturally quiet pony and neither Lustrous nor Trail Blazer really begrudged him for that.

And Lustrous was Lustrous. The same unicorn with a sheltered and quiet life who had never really faced any hardship aside from the same minor familial problems that you would see anywhere. Certainly nothing that could even be compared to what his traveling companions had gone through. Lustrous was fine with that, he already resolved himself to be the one they could always count on, since there was nothing for him to get depressed about in his life.

“Do you think there’s anything around here?” Lustrous asked Trail Blazer, walking behind her while Steel Wing pulled up the rear.

“Depends on what you mean by anything,” A much quieter and tired sounding Trail Blazer responded. The bruising around her eye almost cleared up by now. “Nothing special but I bet you would find plenty of ore and gemstones if you dug down a bit. I’ll mark it with a question mark in my notes but it’s not something we can really check. Either way this isn’t a place to make a road or town for normal ponies so it’s not as important for us to take a more detailed look at anyways.”

At least Lustrous could take solace in the fact that she was taking her job seriously. Even if a large part of it was probably just her trying to keep her mind off other things.

The unicorn looked over his shoulder at Steel Wing. “Are you going to fly around to get a look at things from above?”

“I mostly did that to scout around for any potential dangers, if it’s just for the map’s sake I’m sure Trail Blazer can do a better job of finding out what things look like her way,” He answered.

“Alright,” Lustrous just shrugged. “I figured you might just be more comfortable flying anyways.”

“Honestly I’m fine with either flying or walking. Some pegasi really prefer the air but I don’t have a preference.”

Lustrous never thought he’d hear something like that from a pegasus. There probably weren’t many unicorns who never really used their magic like him either though, he probably wasn’t a good source on what was normal for any pony of the three tribes… although neither were Trail Blazer and Steel Wing for sure.

The sun right now was high noon in the sky but there was a nice breeze keeping things from getting too hot. Lustrous would’ve liked to have kept the conversation going between the three of them but even if they were supposedly “friends” now he realized they had absolutely nothing to talk about aside from their journey. The three had nothing in common and Lustrous had no more fun stories to tell. He was beginning to realize that working at friendship may have been more difficult than getting them to all get along in the first place. At least now they would better look like an example of the three tribes coming together and getting long for Bright and Cheese’s propaganda.

A few words died on the tip of Lustrous’s tongue as he attempted to initiate a conversation but struggled as to how. He didn’t want to set Trail Blazer off when she was still getting accustomed to being sober. Steel Wing, despite what he said about agonizing over his past decisions, didn’t seem upset after he told them about his past but Lustrous had to imagine it was still a decently sore subject. And unfortunately the land around them didn’t offer anything to talk about at the moment.

“I think in a couple days we’ll be back at the west coast, wouldn’t be surprised if we found some more big towns around there,” Trail Blazer said.

“Hopefully no deserts in-between either,” Lustrous joked.

“Heh,” Trail Blazer actually laughed a little. “I don’t think we have to worry about any more of those. But later on we’ll have the opposite problem when we go up north. We’re better equipped for the cold than the heat though.”

“Joy, I didn’t get enough of my fill of snow from the mountain. Between swamps, wastelands, deserts and places that a Windigo would call home I think I’ve had enough bad weather to last the rest of my life just from this trip,” He frowned.

Trail Blazer looked over her shoulder at him and grinned. “There’s the typical complaining Lustrous. Back in action.”

The unicorn blushed. “Well, it’s not like I’m wrong...”

The ponies continued their walk over the rocky terrain, coming eventually to a large dirt flatland. It was big and wide enough where a town could sit comfortably but like they had noted earlier without anything like a river or suitable farmlands around it probably wasn’t ideal for settling.

“Hm,” Trail Blazer though while rubbing her chin. “Judging by the soil there’s probably a good deal of groundwater in this spot. Maybe you could put a well here or something.” She reached into one of her saddlebags and pulled out her notebook to scribble her thoughts down. “Might actually be able to put something useful here...”

She started muttering on her own, ignoring everything else. Lustrous and Steel Wing both waited for her to finish up on her musings before they got moving again.

“You know depending on how long she takes to look at things maybe we could get in a round of poker?” Lustrous joked with the pegasus.

He smiled lightly. “Would be a good way to pass the time.”

Lustrous grinned and was about to say more when Steel Wing’s hoof shot up and pressed onto his mouth, silencing him. The red pegasus’s ears had perked up and his eyes were intently darting around.

“Wait. I hear something strange,” He told Lustrous with dead seriousness and then looked to Trail Blazer. “Miss Trail Blazer, come over here please, something is coming.”

The earth pony had a confused look on her face but did as he requested, the three of them now standing next to Steel Wing while his wings opened wide, ready to move at a moment’s notice. At first neither Trailer Blazer nor Lustrous knew what was going on but then a steady sound reached their ears as well. Along with a vibration from beneath their hooves.

“Is there something down there?” Lustrous asked as he looked at the dirt.

Steel Wing nodded. “Yes, something is digging up through the ground.” He suddenly frowned. “No, make that multiple things. The noise is all around us.”

All around them six large holes suddenly erupted out of the ground and some rather beastly looking creatures popped up to surround the trio of adventurers. They stood slightly hunched over on their hind legs and had thick forearms with claws at the end, all of them were quite a bit larger than the ponies and their faces were distinctly canine in appearance with noticeable fangs.

“What are these?!” Lustrous asked in shock, completely unfamiliar with the creatures.

“Diamond Dogs,” Trail Blazer answered, looking around at the six aggressors.

Steel Wing stayed silent for the moment. His hawkish eyes and fine-tuned ears keeping focus on all of the dogs so he’d be prepared for any sudden movements.

“I didn’t know so many non-ponies lived in Equestria...” Lustrous muttered.

One of the Diamond Dogs was wearing a golden cap, their leader most likely, and he took a step towards the ponies. His arms were held out wide in front of him with his claws bared in an intimidating fashion.

Surprisingly though he chose to speak first.

“And what are little ponies doing out here?” He asked in a slimy and almost snakelike voice.

Lustrous scowled, this was just the kind of thing that pushed his buttons. “What do you mean? These lands have been-”

Trail Blazer kneed him in the ribs.

“Oof!” He wheezed and she took the opportunity to speak.

“We’re not doing anything. We’re just traveling through. If this is your territory you don’t need to worry, we’ll be out of it in a day at most,” She said.

The Diamond Dog growled at them. “That doesn’t matter! This is our domain! We mine these rocks and take all the gems we can find, you ponies can’t have any! You’re not welcome here!”

The map mare scowled at him. “Look, we don’t want any gemstones. We don’t want to live here either. You can keep on doing whatever you want.”

“Not good enough.” The Diamond Dog repeatedly shook his head. “You trespassed. You must be lying, no pony has ever come out here so why now? You’re after our gems.” He menacingly stepped forward again.

“I’m telling you that’s not the case...” Trail Blazer tried to reason with him but she knew she wasn’t getting anywhere, her brow creased in worry.

The lead dog grunted and the two others directly behind the ponies leaped at them. But Steel Wing knew what was coming, he jumped backwards into the air and spun, kicking both dogs in the jaw with his hind legs as he did. The other three dogs then ran in but Steel Wing bolted to the nearest one that was going for Lustrous and struck his wing out low, getting the dog in the stomach with it and then grabbing one of his big arms in his hooves and heaving the attacker over his head, throwing him at the dog on the other side going for Trail Blazer. The dog Steel Wing had thrown collided with the other and knocked them back down into one of the holes they had used to come up. Meanwhile the last dog was closing in on Steel Wing and brought his claws down in an attempt to rake the pegasus across the face. However with a slight flap of his wings Steel Wing pushed himself backwards while flipping over in midair and uppercutting the dog attacking him with his back legs.

That last one was knocked out cold. The first two he had hit were a little discombobulated but were already getting back to their feet. As for the ones who had fallen down the hole who knew where they were. So the only one who was a-okay was a very sweaty leader.

“I suggest standing down and letting us be on our way.” Steel Wing’s hard gaze pierced the Diamond Dog leader.

To his credit the leader didn’t back down so quickly, even though he was sweating. His eyes glanced at his two remaining soldiers that could still fight. The two were still behind the ponies and that gave them the advantage of being able to attack from both sides if it came down to it. But after seeing what Steel Wing could do…

“There are many more of us,” The leader said. “Dozens of us down in the caves. With a whistle I could have them up here in an instant and put you ponies in chains.”

“Maybe. But how much are you willing to lose to win?” Steel Wing answered back.

The leader’s eyes narrowed but he made no move to attack or whistle for reinforcements yet.

It was Trail Blazer who ended up breaking the silence.

“How about we just leave and you go back to your mines. Call it even?” She broached.

The Diamond Dog leader and Steel Wing continued to stare at each other. The other two dogs waiting for their leader’s next order. The leader clenched his fists in anger and growled in frustration, waving a dismissive hand.

“Fine, you dumb ponies can just leave. But never come back to our territory again,” He said. He gave two short grunts to the other dogs and they grabbed their unconscious brethren and took him back down one of the other holes. With a last glare at the ponies he himself also jumped back down the hole he had came from.

The adventurers waited a good minute to make sure they were gone and Lustrous let out a shaky breath he didn’t realize he had been holding in.

“I knew there were dangerous creatures here but I didn’t know there were dangerous intelligent creatures.”

“Yeah, Diamond Dogs can be pretty troublesome. Didn’t know they lived out here though,” Trail Blazer said. “I’ll mark this on my map.” She looked to Steel Wing and smiled. “Thanks for the save, as always.”

The red pegasus may have actually blushed slightly. “It’s nothing. It’s just my job.”

The False Kingdom

One day’s march from the northwest coast of Equestria the three ponies were traveling through an evergreen forest. Despite the clear skies the weather had gotten a bit cooler but things were still mostly fair for now. Although Trail Blazer was worried that nightfall here might be exceptionally cold. The tall redwoods all around completely dwarfed the ponies, they were without question the tallest trees any of them had ever seen. The sky and sun barely peeked through their branches, giving the forest enough light but miring the world around them in shadows at the same time. However where the ponies were walking they had plenty of light and weren’t accosted by shadows at all. Because things were a bit different for them right now than how their usual travels were. For they happened to be on a road that winded deeper and deeper into the forest, all the trees only flanking the dirt path and allowing the adventurers to easily walk on through.

“Who do you think made this road?” Lustrous asked his two friends.

“It’s more of a path than a road,” Trail Blazer replied. “That being said I have no idea. There must be some ponies who have been out here for a while.”

“Ponies? What if it wasn’t ponies that made this and it was something like those Diamond Dogs or Griffons? What then?” Lustrous was maybe a bit more worried than was called for.

The map mare nodded. “It’s possible but I haven’t heard of any other creatures making something like this. I don’t think anybody was making roads before ponies came here.”

“I’ll keep my eyes open just in case,” Steel Wing told the both of them.

“Thanks,” Trail Blazer said back to him.

And from there the three continued on through the forest. Things were quiet, they spotted some squirrels, some birds, but there was so far no sign of where this dirt path led or who might have made it in the first place. To Trail Blazer’s trained eyes it looked well-maintained, there were no weeds growing out in the middle of it and the grass along the edges seemed to have been cut within the last couple of days at most. No trees had been cut down to make way for the road so whoever made it either didn’t have the right tools to deal with these big redwoods or wanted to keep the forest nice and idyllic. And because it wasn’t a straight path the ponies were taking a bit of a longer time to get through the forest.

But that was fine with Trail Blazer. She wanted to see where this path ended up going for the sake of her map and if they left the path and just started going straight west they might miss it.

Lustrous at this point was gladly taking in the beauty of the majestic redwoods around him. It helped get his mind off his own paranoid thoughts and the trees would make a wonderful entry in his journal. Perhaps it wasn’t like looking out over the entire landscape of Equestria but this simple forest had its own quiet beauty. It was a calm place where Lustrous could see himself relaxing easily, taking a book and leaning up against a trunk and just reading until he fell asleep.

The pegasus of the party was as always keeping his mind on more practical things. Although he didn’t see anything that looked dangerous or suspicious and saw no animal larger than a raccoon. Still, he kept a vigilant watch as was his job.

In the sky the sun was still an hour or two away from reaching its peak, Trail Blazer had made sure they got an early start this morning because she wanted to hurry up and make it to the coast. Now even after they’d been walking for a couple hours there was still a full day ahead of them. This was called making the most of the daylight.

Lustrous had happily noted that he was able to go for a lot longer without getting tired now. This may have still been very easy terrain but he was confident in his ability to handle anywhere after all the journeying and hiking they had done. Probably not to the level of Trail Blazer or some more weathered earth ponies but it was still a large measure of pride for him. The unicorn had come a long way.

“You know I was just thinking.” The unicorn voiced to his friends. “But forests and mountains and everything get names don’t they? You think we can name any of the places we’ve been to?”

There was a shrug from Trail Blazer. “Hadn’t really thought about it. If the Reps let us do something like that then by all means do all the naming you want.”

“Gladly,” Lustrous smiled.

It was probably only another twenty minutes of walking down the path when Trail Blazer and Steel Wing both noticed some obvious signs of changes, and perhaps civilization, up ahead. For one the forest seemed to end or at the least open up into a very large clearing or open space, and two there was smoke rising into the air that both the pegasus and earth pony could see through the trees. Trail Blazer could tell it was no forest fire or anything like that, she was almost certain it was from either campfires or chimneys.

“So we’re coming up to something?” Lustrous asked them after he was notified of what was up ahead.

“Looks like it. Must be where this path ends and whoever made it probably lives there too,” Trail Blazer said.

As they got to the end of the path and exited the forest they saw something they really weren’t expecting to see. All three of them looked with wide, surprised eyes at a large wooden wall that stretched in both directions facing the forest. It looked like it went on for quite a ways before bending at a right angle and going back west away from them. Trail Blazer noted that judging by the size of the wall in front of them if it made a complete square it would encapsulate an area larger than their home city. What also drew their attention was that the dirt path continued forward a bit out of the forest and went right up to an entrance in the wall. It was large enough where a carriage could easily fit inside and there was a spear carrying pony on each side of it.

“This is not what I expected to find here at all,” Lustrous dumbly stated.

“Right there with you...” Trail Blazer said.

Steel Wing meanwhile was silently eyeing both of the spear wielding ponies, obviously guards of… whatever this was. The two guards, one an earth pony and the other a pegasus, were staring right back at him and the other two.

“Well, um, I suppose we should see what this is about, shouldn’t we?” Lustrous put forth to Trail Blazer.

The map pony sighed but nodded. “It looks like something really troublesome, but yeah, we should.”

She led the three right up to the open entryway, planning to just go right on through. However once they got close the guards walked into the middle of the road and crossed their spears, blocking them.

“Halt. Who goes there?” The pegasus guard asked them.

Well this annoyed Lustrous quite a bit so he stepped up to answer. “We’re travelers on a mission to scout and map Equestria. What is this place? Why are you stopping us from entering?”

“This is the domain of Lord Maudlin Soul. It is not a part of Equestria, on whose authority do you travel under?” The earth pony guard asked.

“Excuse me?!” Lustrous was in disbelief. “What do you mean “Not a part of Equestria”? This whole country is Equestria as decreed by Princess Celestia and the former rulers of the three tribes and maintained by the current representatives of the three tribes. Our mission was specifically given to us by those representatives, the highest authority in the land other than the Princess herself.” Lustrous finished angrily, his buttons easily pushed once more.

Trail Blazer was considering hitting him again to shut him up and Steel Wing was watching the guards to make sure they weren’t getting too angry.

Luckily they seemed more bored than anything at his rant.

“Princess Celestia and the representatives have no authority here. Like we said, this is the domain of Lord Maudlin Soul. He rules here.” The pegasus reiterated.

“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Lustrous angrily stamped a hoof. “Equestria is supposed to be united under the two sisters with no division among ponies!”

“Well this isn’t Equestria,” The pegasus shrugged.

“Yes it is!” Lustrous yelled.

Trail Blazer sighed and shook her head. “For the love of… look can we just come in anyways? It’s just the three of us so obviously we can’t cause any problems and we still have a job to do. Our map is going to show this whole area anyways, maybe this Lord Soul or whatever will want to say something about his kingdom? We’re reporting back to the representatives eventually you know so something is gonna be mentioned about it.”

The guards looked at each other before the pegasus shrugged and they both pulled their spears back, the earth pony now taking the lead in responding.

“We’re not really meant to keep normal ponies out or anything, just to make sure no wild animals or obvious criminals come into the city. We just wanted to know where you were coming from. So if you want to go in that’s fine, just stay out of trouble.”

“You’ll have no problem there,” Trail Blazer said.

“And if you want to meet with Lord Soul you can find his mansion by following this road. It’s the big building in the middle of the city, the road will take you right to the front door,” The pegasus told them. “His mansion functions as our center of government too I guess you could say.”

“Will we really just be able to walk in and say hi to him?” Lustrous asked. If he was the “Lord” of this city it seemed a bit simple.

“He likes meeting with travelers so he can tell them all about our city,” The earth pony guard shrugged. “You shouldn’t have a problem, especially after you tell him about this job you’re doing.”

“Works for me,” Trail Blazer said and already started walking past the guards and into the city.

Lustrous and Steel Wing both hurried up to follow her, Lustrous giving one last indignant look at the guards before he passed through the outer walls.

On the inside they saw something they never thought they would see on this journey. A real, fully functioning, city. Dozens of buildings were all around them with dirt roads woven between them all and directional signs posted at every intersection. The buildings seemed to be constructed in a professional and uniform manner as well, not random and haphazardly like you would normally see in Equestria at this time. Almost everything was made from wood, either boards or logs, with a few stone buildings around. One of the stone buildings was long and rectangular with a tri-pointed roof and three chimneys poking out of each point, the smoke billowing from them was part of what they had seen before reaching here. They couldn’t tell what that building might have been used for though.

Most of the buildings around were houses too that had small family gardens around them. From where they were none of them could see a larger farm or orchard but they did see a number of wells that had been made for water. Trail Blazer looked around to spot other buildings and her eyes naturally drifted to what looked like a tavern but she managed to peel them away from that. The earth pony saw what looked like a general store, a granary, a place selling tools and another that looked like it dealt in fabrics. It almost seemed like whatever this little domain was it might have been totally self-sustaining.

Another thing all three of them noticed was that there was a healthy number of ponies from every tribe. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns all freely mingled with one another and none of them seemed to dwarf the others in population size. They didn’t seem to mind or take notice of the travelers walking through either. It was unusual for this era. It did bring a smile to Lustrous’s face, as surprised as he was, seeing the unity of ponies always made him feel a lot better. For the more suspicious Trail Blazer and Steel Wing it also did a lot to waylay some of their fears of this place, it seemed like an honestly nice city with lots of happy ponies. Whatever was up with this place it seemed to be just like it appeared. They only needed to find out who this Lord Maudlin Soul was and why he’s saying this city isn’t part of Equestria.

Honestly only Lustrous was especially concerned with that. The other two were certainly curious, and Steel Wing in particular had a distaste for anyone that might have been going against the Princess or the tribes as a whole, but largely they felt they’d be fine just exploring the place like it was any other and then getting back on track with the rest of their journey.

Trail Blazer, who was still in front, spotted what had to be Lord Soul’s place just up ahead. “Well if that aint it, then you can call me Princess Celestia.”

The building was a huge affair, dwarfing Lustrous’s family’s mansion by far and made with the same high level of quality as the rest of the buildings here. It was three full stories high and the center of it was circular with two rectangular wings extending out of its left and right sides. While most of the building was made of wood, large stone columns had been built in the front, spanning the exterior of the circular part. It definitely looked like a fitting place for a “Lord” or “King” or anything else to live in.

“I’d say you’re right,” Lustrous raised an eyebrow at the large building. It seemed a bit over the top to him for a pony that wasn’t even the Princess. Whatever castle she was making would likely be far more grand and extravagant but that’s just it, she was the Princess, this Lord Maudlin Soul was just a normal pony.

“I haven’t seen any more guards or anything, have you?” The map mare asked the other two.

“No,” Steel Wing replied, shaking his head. “This place seems very peaceful, the guards must only be needed at the gates.”

“Guess they were telling the truth and everything,” Trail Blazer shrugged.

The three travelers eventually made it up to the mansion, walking in between the central most pillars to the front door. It was a large door of intricately carved redwood, just making Lustrous more annoyed at the hubris, with golden handles and large knockers on it. They stopped in front it, unsure what would be proper next.

“Do we knock or just let ourselves in?” Lustrous asked.

“The guards made it sound like it was a public place,” Trail Blazer scratched her head. Finally she scowled and clicked her tongue. “Oh nuts to this, I don’t care, we’re going in.” She cracked and pulled open the door, all three of them quickly shuffling inside.

The first room was a large circular atrium that took up probably the first half of the circular section of the building. A double staircase leading up to the second and third stories lied in front of them and to their right and left were hallways leading into larger conference and meeting rooms. The first floor of this mansion looked far more like a place of business than a home.

And there were a number of ponies milling about inside it. Most of them were filing out of a meeting room but there were others talking with some robed ponies over by the stairs too. There were two unicorns wearing gray robes and carrying books with them, each of them talking to another group of ponies that looked like some of the regular citizens of the city. One burly orange earth pony seemed to be in a vehement argument with one of the robed unicorns before he finally huffed and turned away, walking right past the travelers on his way out the door, not even paying attention to them.

The gray robed pony gave a sigh of relief before he noticed the three new arrivals. A look of surprise lit up his face before he smiled and beckoned the three over.

Since they had no reason not to they followed his direction and came over to him.

“Well hello there, from out of town are you?” He cheerfully asked them.

“Yes, I suppose you must be able to recognize who lives here and who doesn’t?” Lustrous replied.

The unicorn nodded. “One of my jobs. What brings you here then? We see travelers every now and then but you three have a different look about you, you’re not the typical family or caravan or lone adventurer.”

Before Trail Blazer could cut him off or knee him in the chest again, Lustrous answered-

“We have been sent on a sanctioned mission expressly given to us by the three representatives of the pony tribes to travel this new country of Equestria and create a map of it!” He said. “Our journey has now brought us here. However, I must say I am confused over what is going on here? While this city is a wondrous thing to be sure, we have no problems with ponies building themselves a city, apparently your guards say that this is not a part of Equestria and the representatives and even Princess Celestia herself have no authority here? All of Equestria is supposed to be under one banner. I would greatly appreciate it if we could meet this Lord Maudlin Soul and speak with him.”

Lustrous finished and tried to stand as imposing and regally as possible. His peevish look didn’t help him a lot there though.

However the robed unicorn didn’t have a problem with it at all. “Alright. I’m sure he’d love to meet with you all. Since you represent the, well, representatives, I’m sure he’d see this as a great opportunity to explain things.” The unicorn’s eyes drifted away and he scratched his chin. “Likely he’ll want you to send a message to the representatives and the Princess.”

“Oh,” Lustrous flatly said, the air leaving him a bit. “Well when can we meet?”

“Since it’s still early and this is a special occasion I’m sure he’d love to have you for dinner,” The unicorn smiled brightly. “I’ll make sure to convey the importance of meeting with you all.”

“Great!” Lustrous smiled as well. He then turned to look at his two friends. “So where do you think we should go until it’s time for us to dine?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” The secretary unicorn said. “We have so many guestrooms here. I’ll summon a servant and he’ll lead you to one you can rest in until dinner. That will make everything so much easier.”

“Thanks,” Trail Blazer brusquely said. “I could use a real bed to rest in.”

The guestrooms of this large and impressive mansion were similarly luxurious. Even more so for the time period the three ponies lived in. Trail Blazer wasn’t kidding about a bed, she was conked out on a large feather bed and snoring loudly while Lustrous and Steel Wing played cards. Honestly they were both happy to let her rest like this, she really needed it. The mare was still getting used to her new way of life and it was taking a lot out of her. She had done an admirable job of not getting angry lately but she seemed to get tired more easily too.

“Straight flush.”

“Ugh!” Lustrous banged his head on the table they were playing on, letting the full house he had fall onto the floor in despair.

“I’m sure you’ll win one day,” Steel Wing told him.

“Maybe I just need to play solitaire,” Lustrous grumbled.

“Could help,” Steel Wing smirked.

“Oh, wipe that smile off your face!” The unicorn frowned and stood up from the table. He went to the window at the back of the guestroom and looked outside it. It was well past noon now but still a while before dinner. His eyes now scanned over the back half of the town they hadn’t seen before coming in, it looked much the same as the rest, with mostly houses separated by a litany of streets and some other large buildings likely used for some kind of business or construction purposes. He saw no true farms still but it was very possible that they were on the outsides of the walls. This area was very green and certainly had the ground and space for farms.

He thought that if Trail Blazer was awake right now she’d be able to point plenty of things out and clue him in on stuff but he didn’t want to wake her.

And even though it was a nice, idyllic, place he was looking at, it made Lustrous frown.

“Does it bother you that they’re dividing up part of Equestria and this Lord thinks he can just rule it himself?” He asked Steel Wing.

“Yes. Very much so,” The pegasus responded and floated over to where Lustrous was standing. “It’s part of why I went against my grandfather after all. But at least the ponies here are all living together in peace and unity and it’s not just one tribe lording over the others or something like that. Still, this is Equestria, regardless of what they say. I agree with you on that. And they can’t ignore the will of the Princess or the good of all ponies.”

“I would like to discuss that with Lord Soul at dinner, however it may end poorly and I suspect Trail Blazer would disagree on debating about it,” Lustrous glanced at the sleeping mare.

“I’m not entirely sure I agree on bringing it up either,” Steel Wing said. “Regardless of what’s going on here we’ve been shown great hospitality so far, we should just eat and be on our way and then we can tell your cousin about things when we finish our mission. It’s not our job to deal with this city.”

“But I’m annoyed!” Lustrous whined.

Steel Wing smirked slightly again. “Yes, I know this is the kind of thing that really bothers you. You’ll just have to live with it.”

Trail Blazer belched in her sleep and rolled over, snapping the two stallions attention to her. Lustrous rolled his eyes and sighed at the mare’s behavior.

“Whatever, let’s just play some more poker for now. We can wake her up if it gets close to dinner time,” He said.

The two ended up ignoring the mare or any of their reservations about the city for the rest of the afternoon, allowing themselves to just enjoy the day and have fun playing cards. Lustrous’s luck never got any better but he could live with it. At least they weren’t playing for money. he’d have gone broke multiple times over by now.

Slowly the light outside drifted to a twilight orange, signaling that evening and the time for dinner was almost upon them. Lustrous and Steel Wing were still consumed by their card game and Trail Blazer hadn’t yet woken up. She looked like a cat sprawled out over her feather bed. This room did unfortunately also only have two beds so Lustrous and Steel Wing would have to share again but they were pretty large beds so there was more room.

Time had gotten away from all three of them so they were surprised when there was a knock on the door. Lustrous bolted up in his chair and Trail Blazer’s eyes snapped open, the map mare groggily leaning up and wiping away a bit of drool dangling from her lips.

“Oh, must be time,” Lustrous said and got out of his chair, heading to the door.

Opening it up he saw the same servant who had led them here in the first place. Wordlessly, the servant bowed and gestured for them to follow him.

Lustrous looked back into their room to see the still half-asleep Trail Blazer struggling to get out of bed. He scowled in annoyance and turned back to the servant. “Er, one moment please.”

The second floor of the mansion looked much more like somewhere ponies would actually live. Bedrooms, laundry, kitchens, libraries, studies, and all manner of other rooms typically found in large households like this were on the second floor. The first floor was likely used as the common space and meeting area for ponies of the city, the second floor was probably for guests and servants and that left the third floor over as where the Lord and his immediate family resided. That’s what Lustrous thought at least.

Currently the silent servant was leading them straight down a hallway into the northern wing of the building (the front door faced east) where there was likely a dining room or hall of some sort that Lord Soul entertained his guests in.

Lustrous spied a set of double doors at the end of the hallway, their destination no doubt, and he steeled himself to be as polite and proper as he could be. He didn’t want this to turn out poorly or anything either. And he also didn’t want Trail Blazer to constantly kick him under the table when she thought he was going to say something stupid.

The servant pushed open the doors and took them into what Lustrous had expected, a large hall. There was a dining table that could comfortably seat a dozen in the middle, already it had been set with plates, silverware, and candles. At the back of the large room there were two doors on the left and right sides of the wall that must lead deeper into the mansion.

“Welcome.”

The three travelers looked to their left to see the gray robed unicorn from earlier, he had been partially obscured by the door.

“I do hope you enjoy your dinner, please take a seat, the Lord will be with you soon,” He waved to the table.

“Thank you,” Lustrous replied and the three of them walked to the large oak table. Lustrous decided to seat himself at the back end of the table facing the head with Trail Blazer on his left and Steel Wing on his right. Like this he’d be looking straight at Lord Maudlin Soul when he came in.

For now the three sat there quietly, Steel Wing was looking at the assortment of silverware in front of him with a furrowed brow. The pegasus had no idea why there were six different forks.

The robed unicorn talked with the servant and the two walked to the back left door, the servant going in it and the unicorn waiting patiently in front of it.

“Food better be good,” Trail Blazer grumbled. A pitcher of water was located in front of her and she poured some out into her glass.

Lustrous frowned at her. “You should wait until our host is here.”

She glared right back at him. “I’m thirsty.”

The door at the back of the room opened back up again and the servant stuck his head in, whispering something in the unicorn’s ear. The unicorn smiled and nodded at the servant and then cleared his throat, walking closer to the table.

“Please rise for the honorable Lord Maudlin Soul and his daughter Miss Poppy Hymn!” He declared to the room.

Trail Blazer really didn’t want to rise. And neither Steel Wing nor Lustrous wanted to acknowledge his authority. But the proper etiquette that had been drilled into Lustrous and the politeness of Steel Wing made the both of them stand on command, and Trail Blazer rolled her eyes and went up with them.

The door was fully pulled open by the servant, who now held it open and bowed his head as two ponies walked through.

Lord Maudlin Soul was a regal looking white unicorn with a long mane and tail colored a deep violet. He wore an elaborate red robe and cape with golden lining and a fluffy white collar. His daughter was quite a bit more understated, she was an earth pony that looked to be a few years younger than our travelers, with a yellow coat and a curly red mane. Her cheeks were dotted with freckles and she had a warm and innocent smile on her face as she walked into the room to contrast with her father’s proud smirk.

But Lustrous wasn’t thinking of that annoying smirk or Lord Maudlin Soul at all anymore. He wasn’t thinking about bringing up or challenging this city’s sovereignty anymore either. All of that had been shot out of his head with a cannon.

For the moment his eyes saw Poppy Hymn an all new feeling rose up within Lustrous. His heart leapt out of his chest, butterflies floated around in his stomach, it was the first time in his life he felt something like this and he couldn’t understand it. That pretty face, that smile, it lit a fire within him. He felt his face flush and knew he was staring but he couldn’t help it.

“Hello, a pleasure to meet you,” Lord Maudlin Soul said as he took his seat at the head of the table, his daughter on his left.

The voice snapped Lustrous out of his trance. He shook his head and quickly replied.

“Y-Yes, the pleasure is all ours. You’ve been a great host,” He said, an awkward smile on his face as he fought to not glance at Poppy Hymn every second.

“When I heard what brought you here I knew we had to speak,” The Lord said. “I’ve been thinking of sending a messenger to the Princess or representatives but having you here is even better. Ponies that have an express route to the representatives that have even been tasked with a special mission? It’s perfect. And it’s better for outsiders to see my city and tell others about it, instead of my own people. It seems less biased.”

Trail Blazer couldn’t care in the slightest about what was going on, she just wanted food. Steel Wing wasn’t much of a talker when it came to stuff like this and now Lustrous was horribly distracted by Poppy Hymn. All of what he wanted or planned on saying was jumbled up.

“Er, right...” The bespectacled unicorn said. “Might I first ask just what exactly you’re doing here?”

The Lord grinned even wider. “But of course! You see, I first came here with my family and some others shortly after the unification and we started building this community. It was then that I realized how big this country was and how we were getting along just fine without any of the “leadership” of Princess Celestia or the others. So why should we, who have always been on our own and have done just fine, bow to any outside authority? I declared this city a sovereign state and named it Tri-Point in honor of all three pony tribes.” He smiled at his daughter and held her hoof. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed we welcome all ponies here, my own wife was an earth pony.”

“Yes that is very modern of you,” Lustrous nodded. The topic of the conversation he was rather passionate about had cleared his head somewhat. “But… I’m sorry but Equestria is all supposed to be united under the Princess. All of it. Ponies shouldn’t be dividing themselves into separate kingdoms. It’s just one more way for strife to be born.”

“It’s not like we have any desire to be at odds with the Princess or Equestria. I just don’t see why I can’t be the King of Tri-Point,” Lord Soul shrugged.

Lustrous frowned, he reached a hoof under the table to block the kick from Trail Blazer he knew was coming. The discussion was now going from making his head clear to angry. “So you’ll just ignore any laws or decrees the Princess passes? And you’ll of course be taking and using up the natural resources and land around here?”

“That’s right,” The Lord nodded.

His daughter had started frowning at the way this dinner was going, Lustrous’s eyes briefly flickered over to her and he blushed the moment she met his eyes. And lo and behold but the faintest of blushes also rose on her cheeks. Lustrous gulped and looked away. Had that really happened? He wasn’t just imagining things was he? She really did blush when they looked at each other, right?

“You see I’m sure there will be some who have a problem with this-” Lord Soul continued. “But I’m not giving up my sovereignty just because someone says so. Our city is doing fine as you can plainly see. There’s no reason for us to change.”

Now Lustrous and Poppy Hymn kept sneaking glances at each other, the mare shyly smiling and Lustrous gaining a big goofy grin on his face. He was hardly even paying attention to what Maudlin Soul was saying at this point. He wondered if any of the others in the room noticed how much he and Miss Hymn were looking at each other? Would they do anything? Surely Lord Soul wouldn’t be happy.

“But enough of all that,” Lord Soul loudly stated after finishing up some speech that Lustrous had only half listened to. “If you are so inclined as to debate some more I would welcome it. But for now let us eat.” He clapped his hooves together.

Out of the double door that the travelers had initially come through a whole set of caterers emerged. They put down all sorts of great dishes that the ponies were unused to eating even before they had left on their journey. Even for Lustrous this was extravagant. They all ate their meal in relative silence, Lord Maudlin Soul only occasionally asking them how they liked the food and what else they might have thought about the city. Lustrous normally would have been more talkative than he was but his attention was snagged by Poppy Hymn. The unicorn simply could not stop thinking about her, her cute smile, her adorable freckles, and the way she blushed whenever their eyes accidentally met.

All throughout the meal things went on like that.

By the time the dessert was being devoured by the ponies a pink fog had completely taken over the mind of Lustrous. He heard and saw nothing else and had to be shaken on the shoulder by Trail Blazer when Lord Maudlin Soul announced an end to the feast.

“It has been a nice evening but I feel we should all retire now, the dinner has left me quite full,” The unicorn Lord said. “I implore you to stay the night, however. I wish to write a missive that you may take with you to the representatives when you finish up your travels. And I do hope you will be open and honest about what you’ve seen here.”

Lustrous coughed and rose out of his chair, his legs trembling a bit thanks to nervousness with Poppy Hymn looking right at him now. “You don’t have to worry about that, we would never lie about your city. I will certainly give my opinion on things if asked but I will also relate what you wish the others to hear.”

“Well that’s all I can ask for I suppose,” Lord Soul smirked. “Enjoy your room, if you need anything just find one of my servants.”

Trail Blazer and Steel Wing both got ready to leave the hall but Lustrous’s eyes were glued onto Poppy Hymn. She was following her father back through the door they had emerged from when announced earlier. But right as they were getting to it she turned her head and looked straight at Lustrous. His breath hitched as she deftly nodded her head towards the door on the other side of the room at the back, then acted as if nothing had happened and walked with her father out of the hall.

He felt his heart beating in his chest harder than it ever had before in his life.

The travelers then went back to their room, Lustrous still in a pink daze. Trail Blazer belched loudly again the moment the door closed and went to collapse on her bed once more. Steel Wing on the other hand was looking weirdly at Lustrous, wondering what was up with him.

“I’m beat, that was too much food,” Trail Blazer moaned from the bed.

Steel Wing waved a hoof in front of Lustrous’s face but the dumb grin and spacey look on his face didn’t change.

“Lustrous? Are you alright? You were being weird throughout the meal too,” Steel Wing asked him.

“Let him be,” Trail Blazer waved a hoof, not even looking at the two of them. “I’m just happy he didn’t say something that got us kicked out of here.”

“I think I’m in love.”

The sudden words from the unicorn got both of his friends to stare at him in shock. Steel Wing raised a surprised eyebrow while Trail Blazer flat out gaped at him from her spread eagle position on the bed.

“You’re what?” Trail Blazer asked in open disbelief.

“In love. Poppy Hymn,” Lustrous answered.

“Have you lost your mind?!” She asked, looking at him like, well, like he had lost his mind.

“No. And I’m certain she feels the same way. We were sharing looks the entire meal and she even signaled me to meet her again,” Lustrous said, a far off look still on his face.

“Oh,” Steel Wing said in realization. “So that's what all the glancing back and forth and blushing was all about. I’m not used to romance myself.”

Trail Blazer sighed and dragged a hoof down her tired face. “Lustrous. You didn’t even speak a word to her.”

“It was love at first sight. I was stricken with a sudden powerful feeling the likes of which I’ve never felt before, she must have felt the same thing,” Lustrous said to Trail Blazer. Her attempts to reason with him falling on deaf ears.

"Okay, so what? What are you even going to do about it?” The map mare asked.

“I’m going to go meet her obviously,” The love-stricken unicorn said like it was the simplest thing in the world.

“What if her father or someone else catches you? And you say just meeting, but, you know… you’re not gonna get up to anything else?” She looked at him with concern.

Lustrous blushed, instantly picking up on what she was getting at. “A-Absolutely not! I’m certain she m-merely wishes to talk, I certainly have no lascivious desires the likes that you’re thinking of.” He gulped.

Trail Blazer flatly stared at him. “Lustrous, besides me how many mares have you even talked to?”

The unicorn actually seriously pondered this for a second. “Um, six I think. More if we count those ones who attacked us in the swamp?”

“What about not counting your maids or family members?” She asked.

“Umm… zero?”

“Ugh,” Trail Blazer held a hoof to her forehead and just sighed. “Go do whatever you want. If she was really looking at you and blushing all throughout dinner… you definitely don’t understand mares but I hope it turns out the best for you.”

“Thank you,” Lustrous said darkly and went to leave. “I shall be back later tonight, I’m certain she just wishes to t-talk.”

As he left, Steel Wing turned to Trail Blazer.

“Should we have done anything?” The pegasus asked her.

“He’ll be fine. Probably,” She said. Hopping off the bed to walk over to the pegasus. “I’m sure his new love knows how to go through this place without getting caught.”

“If Lord Maudlin Soul finds out his one daughter is having a night excursion with a random traveler from out of his city he may be very put out,” Steel Wing said, frowning.

“Well, yeah,” Trail Blazer admitted before a grin spread on her face. “Heh, don’t worry about him. I’ll distract him so he never has the chance to notice his daughter isn’t around tonight.”

“Distract him how?”

The earth pony licked her lips and smirked up at him. “How do you think?”

Lustrous moved back through the mansion as quietly as he could. He didn’t know how many servants were in here or if Lord Soul had his own guards but he didn’t want to run into anybody else as he made his way to that door Poppy Hymn had told him to go through. The unicorn deftly moved on his hooves back to the large hall/dining room, slightly peeking in to make sure no one else was there and letting out a sigh of relief upon seeing that it had already been completely cleaned up and was now devoid of servants.

He smiled and cheerfully trotted to the other end of the room towards the door on the back left side. With one last glance around to make sure no one was spying on him he quickly pulled it open and stepped inside this new room.

It looked like a connecting room only about as large as the room he, Trail Blazer, and Steel Wing were given to sleep in. There was only a single faint lantern flickering above his head that gave it a fairly dark look and all Lustrous could see were four doors on the other side of the room.

“Poppy Hymn? Miss Poppy Hymn, are you there?” Lustrous asked out to the darkness.

A creaking sound filled his ears and the door to his left most opened up slightly, a sliver of light coming out before being obscured by the peeking form of Poppy Hymn.

“I heard you come in,” A voice as light as feathers said to Lustrous.

It set his heart on fire all over again. He walked like a pony possessed towards her and she opened up the door fully so they could see each other, a blush spread across her freckled face.

“H-Hello,” He said.

“Good evening,” She replied, looking at the floor in embarrassment.

The two shuffled about there uncertainly for a moment longer, clearly neither of them had any idea what they were doing.

“Um, y-you have a lovely city...” Lustrous said. It was sadly the best thing he could think of to break the ice.

“T-Thank you, it’s very nice here,” Poppy Hymn replied, fidgeting with one of her red curls. “But I wanted to tell you that I liked what you said at dinner too… to my father. I like Tri-Point but I want to be part of Equestria too. No one else who lives in this city will say things to him like what you said...”

“I only gave my honest opinion, it’s noting special...” Lustrous blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. Truly the praise she gave him sent him cheering on the inside.

“Y-Yeah...” She looked up at him with her wide, doe-like, eyes. “We should go back into this room instead of standing out here, servants occasionally come through.” She looked over her shoulder at the room she had been in before Lustrous arrived. “But this is a spare room that no one uses… so we wouldn’t get caught… talking.”

“Yes, talking… your father probably wouldn’t like that. Us talking about your reservations about the city,” Lustrous gulped, looking back into the nearly empty room that had some boxes, a table, and a single bed in the middle of it.

The two awkward ponies stood there for a minute before walking inside.

“Well...” Lustrous started.

“Well,” Poppy Hymn repeated.

They locked eyes again and any words on their lips disappeared. Slowly, ever so slowly, their faces drifted closer together.

The following morning a Lustrous still in Lalaland was standing with Trail Blazer and Steel Wing as they were being seen out of the mansion by Lord Maudlin Soul and his daughter. The oblivious Lord was happily saying goodbye to them (Trail Blazer especially) and hoped that they would fare well on the rest of their journey. His motivations might have been less altruistic than he was on the surface but the well-wishing was genuine enough.

“Hopefully in the future the three of you can return here. Perhaps as proper emissaries of Equestria,” The Lord said to them. “Then we can discuss terms of how our two countries will coexist.”

“Ask Lustrous about that,” Trail Blazer said and lightly kicked Lustrous in the shin to get him to tear his stupefied gaze away from Poppy Hymn.

“Hm? Oh, uh, yes. That’s something I’m looking forward to as well… discussing Tri-Point,” Lustrous said, his eyes drifting back to Poppy Hymn. “Returning here in the future already sounds like an excellent idea. It’s lovely. The city.”

Lord Soul smiled widely. “Wonderful! And you have my letter, correct?”

Trail Blazer reached into her saddlebag and pulled out an envelope before putting it back in. “Yep.”

“Great, then I’ll stall you no more. I know you have quite a bit left to do on your journey,” Lord Soul said goodbye one last time and stepped back into his home, taking Poppy Hymn with him.

Poppy Hymn was looking back over her shoulder the whole time, waving and smiling to Lustrous.

The unicorn did the same until the doors closed and the two who fell in love at first sight were separated. He sighed deeply and looked up at the blue morning sky. Somehow it seemed more beautiful to him today.

“Well look at you. What was it you were saying last night to me again?” Trail Blazer said to him, smugly grinning.

He blushed and looked away. “F-Forget it, let’s just go!”

“Nothing to be embarrassed about, obviously you had a really great time,” Steel Wing said, also grinning at Lustrous.

“You too even?!” Lustrous fell to the ground and threw his hooves over his head in embarrassment.

“Lustrous, we’re friends now,” Trail Blazer said as she patted him on the back. “And we’re going to be teasing you about this for a very long time.”

The three travelers left Tri-Point after that. Going past the mansion and down to the exit on the opposite side of the city from where they had come in. The weather was still good, their spirits were high, and the rest of Equestria was right in front of them. By the end of this day they would reach the west coast again and begin doubling back, their journey on its last quarter.

As for the city of Tri-Point and Lord Maudlin Soul, there is quite a long story to be told there. However that tale does not belong here. In summary, Lord Soul would never give up his sovereignty and refused to listen to the demands of Princess Celestia and the representatives to instead take the title of governor or mayor and relinquish claim to the lands around the city. This eventually erupted into the first wide conflict of the new land of Equestria that tested the authority of the Princess and the unity of the ponies and country. After a single battle (if it could even be called that) Lord Maudlin Soul would come to be deposed, imprisoned, and the city of Tri-Point eventually faded into obscurity, the land where it once stood eventually being retaken by the forest as former citizens migrated to other areas. This incident was used as precedent to declare Princess Celestia (Princess Luna was not mentioned in the royal decree, the reasons for this are lost to time but most suspect an apathetic scribe who simply forgot to write her name as well) the sole ruler of all the lands of Equestria and they could not be divided up by any other.

Miss Poppy Hymn is not mentioned in the annals of the Tri-Point conflict. The reason for this is that according to some records recovered from the city of Tri-Point itself, it seems she left the city and traveled east well before the conflict began. Her reasons for doing so are unknown.

But a curious note taken by the one recording her departure mentioned that the mare “Had been heard to have been arguing with her father and seemed to have put on weight recently”.

The Old

Equestria was the kind of place that made friends traveling through it just want to break out into song sometimes. The sky was bright and clear, the temperature was perfect, the flowers were blooming, and the birds were chirping a chorus of perfect harmony. The unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony all thought that this was the best it ever got. In the breadbasket of Equestria, walking side by side with your two friends, what could be better than this?

To Lustrous everything looked even prettier than normal and he had taken the opportunity to try his hoof at poetry again. Truthfully it wasn’t very good but he didn’t get rid of it this time, he wanted to keep his poetry regardless of the quality. Steel Wing seemed to be smiling more lately too. His former stoic self was slowly shedding away with each day and each game of cards, now he was at ease talking and joking with his friends. Poker was a nightly occurrence for all of them now before bed. And even Trail Blazer was more positive nowadays, the good feelings from Lustrous and Steel Wing proving infectious. She didn’t get angry or short with them anymore and while she could still tease them or make a sarcastic quip it was all in good humor now.

Her map was starting to take true form now and the hard work they had all put into it was making her proud. Right now since there wasn’t much to look at or analyze landscape wise she was cataloging the different flowers, plants, birds, and other animals she saw. Lustrous and Steel Wing were helping her with anything they saw too.

It was good that none of them were allergic to pollen or anything like that, with the season it was and all the flowers around them it would be miserable for any pony that was. Lustrous seemed like the type that would have allergies or get sick easily but the unicorn proved surprisingly resilient to the outside world so far on their journey. He still almost stuck his head into a beehive but Trail Blazer was able to stop that.

The countryside wasn’t always flat and they often had to traverse small hills or cross narrow streams and brooks but it was easier on their hooves than a large portion of their journey had been. Thick bushes and clusters of trees also proved difficult to get through at times.

But maybe it wasn’t just the weather and the pleasantness of the nature all around them that made things easier. Maybe it had to do with how much better they all got along now.

The three travelers weren’t just at peace with themselves but with each other. That spark that had ignited only a few weeks ago had brought three ponies, so completely different, into a strong friendship. They really had become the trio that Bright and Cheese wanted them to be, a symbol to all of ponykind of three young ponies from each different tribe that worked together and were now the closest of friends.

For the overly optimistic Lustrous it was perfect. Even if his optimism had been dampened a bit by some of the experiences they had been through he was proud to say that it had not been broken and he had a more than positive outlook on Equestria and its future. Trail Blazer as well had come a long way from her pessimistic self, this journey turned out to be just what she needed in more ways than one and the formerly alcoholic and horribly despondent on the inside mare was getting a new lease on life. Steel Wing was Steel Wing. But even he was happier and more open than before.

“Do you know how much longer we’ll be on our journey?” Lustrous asked Trail Blazer after sniffing a blackberry bush. “We must be close to being finished up by now.”

“We are, more or less,” Trail Blazer responded. “A few weeks to a month at most. Once we’re finished traveling through the heartland we’ll head straight north and then eventually get back over to where we started.”

“How far north is “north”?” Lustrous inquired.

“Slightly into the snow and mountains, won’t be the most pleasant way to end the trip but that’s all there is to it,” Trail Blazer shrugged.

Lustrous thought about his distaste for snow and mountains after their earlier foray on top of that mountain peak back southwest. It certainly wouldn’t be his choice to have more of the same of that be the last kind of place they traveled through before completing their mission but like Trail Blazer had said there was nothing they could do about it. He’d still take that over a blazing hot desert or being accosted by criminal ponies, Diamond Dogs, or some kind of monster.

He had to remind himself that they thankfully had not encountered any horrible monsters on their journey so far, despite knowing that quite a few foul beasts lived in the land of Equestria.

The unicorn looked around at the idyllic scenery around him, the soft grass of the rolling hills stretching for miles, a dirt brown mountain ridge rising up ahead with a lazy river flowing down from it. He got the feeling that he wouldn't have to worry about a monster attack anytime soon either. Not in a place as peaceful as this.

“You know I almost want to just camp here for another day or two but that would be wasting sunlight and such fortunate weather now wouldn’t it?” Lustrous said.

Trail Blazer laughed. “You’re becoming a real adventurer, Lustrous.”

He grinned. “Maybe I’ve got it backwards? Maybe it would be a waste of such a gorgeous place for us to just breeze through it like we are.”

“Well it’s not like we’re actually on a schedule...” The map mare got into the fun, grinning at the thought of it.

“What do you think, Steel Wing?” Lustrous asked the red pegasus, who had been strolling behind them and looking out through the bushes, as stalwart as ever when it came to his duty of protecting his friends.

Steel Wing now took the time to mull what Lustrous had asked over. “Honestly even if the two of you are just playing around that doesn’t really sound like a bad idea to me. This place is safe and comfortable and getting plenty of rest somewhere like this will be good for all of us.”

Well, that was all that needed to be said.

So while the birds continued chirping in this pleasant afternoon the three adventurers went about setting up camp in the middle of one of the many thickets of trees. Trail Blazer got the tent set up while Steel Wing gathered up berries and Lustrous went to fetch some water from the nearest stream. Suddenly their adventure had turned into a picnic/camping trip.

“You know I think this is fine, we’re really experiencing Equestria doing something like this. You can’t learn everything just by walking through it, right?” Lustrous said upon returning to their campsite with water. Not really trying to justify himself but just making an observation.

“I guess I’m with you on that one,” Trail Blazer said. “It’s been a long time since, well, since I really bothered to enjoy myself on one of my map making jobs.”

She set down all her bags and even took off her coat too, shoving it all into the tent before stretching and rubbing the sore and worn parts of her body. Trail Blazer was a strong and well-experienced earth pony but she got tired from walking and carrying all those supplies too. And there was a difference between just plopping down in a bed when you were tired and really taking the time to relax and massage your muscles.

Steel Wing came back a second later too, a tightly wrapped cloth full of berries sitting on his back. Trail Blazer pulled out one of her raggedy blankets and set it on the ground for the pegasus to put his catch on. It was mostly blackberries when he opened up the impromptu bag but there were also some blueberries and raspberries.

“Looks delicious,” Lustrous said as he licked his lips.

“I’m sure we could find more kinds of fruit around as well if we get tired of berries,” Steel Wing said.

“Along with plenty of edible flowers,” Trail Blazer chimed in.

“Is there anything else you want to explore or look at while we’re here?” Lustrous asked Trail Blazer. “Or do you just want to relax?”

Trail Blazer shut her eyes for a second, listening to the buzzing bugs and the humming birds. What did she want to do? Normally, just a few weeks ago, her mind would be full of unpleasant memories. Anger, despair, annoyance, anxiety. But now that was all gone. She didn’t even feel that old burning desire to drink. Times like this, where there was nothing to do, used to be so horrible for her because she had nothing to keep the dark cloud in her head away. Yet now she was full of nothing but positive thoughts thanks to her friendship.

She opened up her eyes to smile at her two stallion friends. “Let’s just… rest.”

Lustrous and Steel Wing smiled right back at her. That’s how the rest of the day was spent, Trail Blazer decided to park herself up against a tree and just napped while the stallions got into another game of cards. They kept things quiet for her sake but Lustrous still let out a frustrated grumble every now and then. No matter what the unicorn did he just couldn’t beat his foe at cards.

“Are you holding extra cards beneath your wing or something? That’s the only way I can think to explain it,” Lustrous muttered.

“I am a completely honest card player,” Steel Wing didn’t even bother trying to hide the smile on his face.

Trail Blazer slumped down the tree trunk and shifted onto her side, almost curling up into a ball as she got more comfortable. Seeing this, Lustrous decided to try and keep his voice down.

“It’s quiet besides the two of us. Let’s not accidentally wake her,” Lustrous said to Steel Wing.

The red pegasus nodded. And then frowned, his ears perking up and his eyes looking around the small thicket they were in.

“Hold on. Why is it quiet now? There were birds and bugs making noise all around us a second ago, but now they’ve all gone silent,” Steel Wing said. He stood up, on alert, and quickly checked over the perimeter of the clearing they had made camp in. “I made sure there was nothing dangerous around… why have all the animals hidden away?” The pegasus looked back at Lustrous. “Lustrous, wake up Trail Blazer.”

“R-Right,” Lustrous decided to listen to Steel Wing since the pegasus seemed to think this was very serious. He trotted over to the sleeping mare and started shaking her. “Trail Blazer? Wake up.”

While that was going on Steel Wing continued to try and spot anything that might have been the cause of the sudden silence. He didn’t like this. He had been as careful as always so could something have really snuck up on them without him realizing at all? And it made him even more worried that no matter where he looked he couldn’t spot anything unusual. Which just made him more anxious. All of his instincts and the quiet around him were telling him that something was coming or already here but he wasn’t picking up on any other signs or where or what it might be.

“You’re as sharp as ever.”

Steel Wing froze. That voice from behind him was a voice he wasn’t sure he would ever hear again. But he was not the type of pony to fall apart from such a thing. With the same inner calmness and stoic look he wore most of his life he turned around.

“Hello, grandfather.”

It was easy to see the family resemblance. Steel Wing’s grandfather was of a similar build, age clearly having taken its toll on him but he retained an athletic physique that others his age could only dream to possess, his coat that was once a lustrous red had become a faded salmon and whatever color his mane might have been was now a dull gray. On his flank rested a Cutie Mark of two crossed wings. His sharp amber eyes pierced right into his grandson’s soul, returning the stoic gaze with an emotionless one of his own.

“It’s unfortunate for you that I taught you everything, and know exactly how to sneak up on you. And your friends,” Grandfather glanced over to Trail Blazer and Lustrous.

Steel Wing followed his gaze and scowled to see half a dozen other pegasi holding an assortment of knives and spears up to his two friends. The sight ignited a white hot blaze within him and he nearly flew over there to rescue them this instant.

“You should calm down unless you want them to get hurt. I’m not kidding around here,” His grandfather narrowed his eyes at Steel Wing. “I know exactly how to beat you in a fight too, if it comes down to it.”

Steel Wing’s face snapped back to his grandfather. The angry glare he wore would’ve melted a lesser pony. “What do you want? Why are you doing this?”

The corners of Grandfather’s lips lifted upwards slightly. “So much. You and your friends along with this silly mission you’re on will be the catalyst for the revival of the old way. Steel Wing, you can finally be useful to me after you proved to be such a failure those years ago.”

The Foundation

The Castle of the Two Sisters as it would come to be called was still under construction when Trail Blazer, Lustrous, and Steel Wing visited it as the guests of Princess Celestia. Two months previously the Princess had received a letter from Thunderstorm detailing the mission that the representatives had come up with as well as the three ponies undertaking it. Princess Celestia decided that when they came to this part of Equestria she would surprise these courageous and groundbreaking adventurers and meet with them personally. Thus she had her personal guards on the lookout for ponies matching their description for weeks.

So when one of those pegasi found a suspiciously abandoned campsite along with a journal belonging to one “Lustrous” he alerted the Princess immediately. The rest was mere good fortune. Although if it wasn’t for Steel Wing’s actions the adventurers may not have been seen and the hollowed hill not discovered until much later.

The Princess herself had come out to aid the search and possibly fend off any dangerous creatures that might have been responsible for the disappearance of the three travelers. She knew Equestria, even this part of it so close to her home, was not entirely safe. Although she had no idea that such ponies were hiding out here. The traitors being discovered and rounded up was the one thankful part of this entire ordeal.

After that the belongings of the three adventurers were gathered up and brought to the castle along with them (Steel Wing was also given field surgery for his wing). The Princess told each of them that she would love to speak with them tomorrow morning but by now it had gotten well into evening and they probably all needed to rest. After Steel Wing was given more treatment she had them escorted to one of the finished rooms in the castle where they could retire for the night.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Princess Luna visited their dreams that night to make sure they all slept well. It was the closest they ever came to meeting her at this time, for she was asleep during the rest of their visit.

So it was that the conflict between Rolling Fog and his followers and the rest of Equestria was ended before it even began. Thanks in part to luck, Rolling Fog’s own excessive ambition and lack of understanding of his grandson, and the valor of of several young ponies. Rolling Fog himself was chained up and taken somewhere that the three map makers are currently unaware of, Steel Wing intended to find out tomorrow morning. Not for any lingering feelings but merely because he felt it was his duty as his last living relative.

Lustrous was absolutely speechless in the presence of the Princess and had absolutely no idea what was going on. She was not a pony Lustrous dreamed he would ever meet in a million years and here she was offering them a place to stay in her home and saying she was looking forward to speaking with them later. Them! Of all ponies he couldn’t believe it. Shocked to be in the presence of one so regal, after getting personally rescued by her no less! He knew she said that she had heard of their mission but the fact their ruler took notice of it and them just failed to register in his mind, to him he just couldn’t fathom that she would have the time or desire to acquaint herself with three nobodies.

Trail Blazer was far more reserved. She was just as surprised and in awe but she didn’t let it get to her like Lustrous. Instead the map mare had been just as busy looking at the land and everything else around the castle while they were being brought to it. Keeping to her duty allowed her mind to focus instead of thinking too hard about the Princess, their present situation, and the craziness they had just been through. It was a pretty place around here, that much she knew for sure. And now that they’ve physically been to the castle instead of just near it Trail Blazer could mark its exact location on her map.

So when morning came around and the three were invited to tea with Celestia they all had something different on their mind.

“It is a pleasure to formally meet with you all,” Princess Celestia told them while gently sipping from a cup of tea.

Since so much of the castle was unfinished they were “dining” together in the main hall. Some of Celestia’s servants had set up a table and chairs for them and draped everything in white cloth to keep it pristine.

Lustrous was just straight up gaping at the monarch when she spoke to them, his mouth flapping uselessly. Trail Blazer saw this and sighed, deciding to be the first one to respond.

“Thank you, your majesty, the pleasure is all ours,” The earth pony said. “And if my unicorn friend here could find his wits for two seconds I’m sure he’d say the same.

The Princess actually giggled. “It’s quite alright.”

“I think we’re just all surprised that you know about us and, well, wanted to talk with us like this,” Trail Blazer awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.

Celestia took another sip of her tea before setting the cup down. “I care deeply about all of you, my little ponies.”

“Well, we’re definitely grateful for that, thanks for rescuing us yesterday,” Trail Blazer took a sip of her own tea before wincing at the taste.

A sadder look overcame Celestia’s face as she was reminded of this. “Truly I feel guilty about not knowing they were so close by. You have my sincerest apologies for making you undergo such an ordeal. This land should be much safer for any travelers, the fault is with me.”

“You don’t need to apologize!” Lustrous near shouted, practically slamming his hooves on the table. “For anything! You’re the Princess, if anything we should be apologizing to you for imposing like this!”

Trail Blazer sighed and held a hoof to her head while Princess Celestia raised one of her own to her mouth to disguise her chuckling.

“Why thank you, Lustrous,” She said.

The unicorn blushed intensely before sputtering some more and shrinking in his seat. Embarrassment and wonder frying his brain in equal parts.

“Princess Celestia? Now that we’re on the topic, if I may, can I ask what became of my grandfather?” Steel Wing asked, his first words and action at the table.

A much sterner expression came over the Princess. She seemed to be internally debating with whether or not she should actually tell them. In the end her desire for transparency and gratitude to the three ponies won out and she decided to tell them what had been done with Rolling Fog.

“Your grandfather has been imprisoned in Tartarus,” She told Steel Wing as evenly as she could, unsure how the stoic pony would take it.

Unsurprisingly though he didn’t have much of a reaction, only a measured “I see” escaped from his lips before he stared down at his teacup.

Princess Celestia continued. “I do not plan on keeping him there forever, however in the end the decision to leave rests on him.”

“Thank you, Princess. I don’t have any problems with his punishment. I just felt it was only right to ask,” Steel Wing said.

Trail Blazer and Lustrous looked between each other. They were concerned for their friend and the somber tone this morning get together had taken. He seemed perfectly fine but it was difficult to tell with him sometimes. Maybe this recent experience had affected him more than he let on. Regardless, they’d have plenty of time to talk with him about it on the rest of their journey. Winding down as it was.

“So,” Princess Celestia brought things back to normal with a sip of her tea. “Would you care to tell me about your journey so far? What sort of things have you seen? What’s your opinion of our new country?” A friendly smile broke out across her face. “And I would love to hear how you three little ponies have come closer together on your mission.”

They started from the beginning.

Princess Celestia proved to be a great listener and was happy to hear every little tale of theirs. And Lustrous being Lustrous he was happy to blather on about every little thing. From the good to the bad Celestia wanted to hear it all so she could learn as much as possible, naturally certain things they didn’t tell her, such as Trail Blazer’s past, but everything else was laid on the table for their ruler. She was dismayed to hear about the earth ponies who hated unicorns and pegasi, troubled by the criminals in the swamp, elated to learn of all the small villages popping up, curious and excited by all the natural beauties Lustrous described to her, and most of all her heart was overwhelmingly warmed by how the three adventurers had gone from complete strangers to acquaintances that sometimes got on each other’s nerves to great friends.

“It seems the three of you have had quite an adventure,” The Princess said to them.

“I never figured just walking around Equestria would be so… everything,” Lustrous said, causing the Princess to giggle at his words.

“Yeah I really didn’t know what I was in for when Cheese came around asking me to make this map. If only I could go back in time and warn myself,” Trail Blazer sarcastically remarked.

“But then you would have missed out on so much,” Steel Wing gave a rare jab, smirking at the earth pony.

“Yes, think of all the bedmates who’d be so sad if Trail Blazer hadn’t set out across Equestria,” Lustrous teased.

“Oh so the stallions are ganging up on me?” Trail Blazer grinned, an evil twinkle in her eye. “Well if you’re going to talk about bedmates… hey, Princess? Care to hear about how Lustrous here-”

Lustrous knew exactly what she was about to say and to silence her he leaped over the table and tackled her, covering the lascivious mare’s mouth with his hooves. “N-Not a word!”

“My, aren’t you all quite rambunctious,” Celestia laughed at their antics.

Lustrous and Trail Blazer both looked up in embarrassment, the unicorn took note of the knocked over chairs and the fact he had just flown over their dining table to tackle another pony, and a mare at that. He blushed profusely before jumping off of his friend and bowing his head repeatedly to the Princess.

“I’m so sorry for my behavior!”

The map mare merely groaned and rolled her eyes, getting up and smacking him on the head.

“No need to apologize, please. It’s refreshing to meet with ponies who are comfortable being themselves around me,” Princess Celestia told him.

“Yes, well...” Lustrous got up and dusted himself off, still blushing. He and Trail Blazer returned to their seats while Steel Wing chuckled at their expense.

“Uh, now that the conversation has shifted a bit there was something else I wanted to talk about,” Trail Blazer said, getting Princess Celestia’s full attention. “You remember what we told you about the city of Tri-Point?”

Celestia sighed, briefly closing her eyes as if trying to not get too annoyed. “Yes. What you’ve told me of it and its ruler is troubling to me.”

Trail Blazer nodded. “He gave us a letter for either you or the representatives. I have it in one of my saddlebags back in our room. Sorry to leave you with such a downer but...”

The Princess raised a hoof to silence her “No need, it is one of the many consequences of ruling Equestria. I must deal with the bad as evenly as the good,” Their monarch said.

“Princess? When it comes to your rulership there is also something I wanted to ask,” Steel Wing said, raising his hoof like a good student.

“Ask away,” Celestia smiled at him.

“How long do you think it will take before you centralize the governing and management of Equestria here? How much longer will Thunderstorm and the other representatives… be representatives?” Was his question.

Princess Celestia pondered his question for a bit, Trail Blazer and Lustrous also keenly interested in her answer.

“Hmm.” She hummed to herself. “As of right now it will still be a long while before Equestria is truly unified. The reason for this as I’m sure you well know by now is how sparsely populated the country is and the lack of communication between ponies. Soon I will call Thunderstorm here and his weather and mail projects will extend from this castle out to the rest of Equestria. The roads will begin their construction as well. Once the foundation is laid I will thank the representatives for a job well done and reassign them to other duties. At that point my sister and I will officially take up our rulership and truly begin the new age for a unified ponykind.”

“I can’t wait to see it,” Lustrous giddily clapped his hooves together.

“Well, this will still likely be several years out. Your map will help quite a bit in speeding things up though,” Celestia said to them.

“Speaking of our map I’m sorry to kind of just spit in the face of your hospitality or whatever but I think the three of us should get on our way later today,” Trail Blazer.

“I’m not bothered at all, Miss Trail Blazer. I know you’re taking your job seriously and wish to wrap it up,” Princess Celestia smiled. “While I did wish to speak with you all and have enjoyed our little tea time you’re more than free to leave whenever you want.”

“You honor us too much, Princess,” Lustrous bowed his head. “Would it be that we could stay for longer.”

Trail Blazer snorted at him. “Yeah, yeah, sorry to disappoint you but we’re gonna be knee deep in the snow soon enough.”

“When your journey is done and the map completed I would like a copy of it. And I would be most pleased if all three of you came back to deliver it and visit with me again,” Princess Celestia warmly smiled. Although what she said didn’t exactly sound like a “request”.

“Gladly, your majesty,” Lustrous smiled back at her.

Steel Wing nodded and Trail Blazer shrugged, grinning. The earth pony could certainly think of worse ways to spend her time after this mission was complete. Although she probably would want to rest for a bit before setting right back out again.

After that the Princess got ready to go about her daily business, she was still preparing for the future and taking care of quite a number of things even while her castle was still under construction, and the three travelers soon excused themselves to gather up their things. Princess Celestia said a final goodbye to each one of them and it would be the last they saw of her during this visit. Only an hour later were the three heading out from the castle and walking through the woods to the north, the last leg of their journey right ahead of them.

The North

“It’s very cold...” Lustrous muttered as he stared out at the howling winds and blasting snow that fell all around them.

The Frozen North was aptly named. Even at this low elevation it was colder and snowier than the mountain they had climbed had been. The ground was a pure white snowscape but above that was utter blackness as the dark mountains and low light created an eerie juxtaposition. The wind as well destroyed visibility, none of them were able to see more than a few feet in front of them. Not that there was much to see but the threat of getting lost here was a great one.

“You’ve got snowshoes on, what are you complaining about?” Trail Blazer’s muffled voice said back to him.

The three were wrapped head to hoof in heavy clothing, their eyes the only visible parts of their bodies as thick woolen scarves were wrapped around their faces. But even all that only did enough to get them to be cold instead of popsicles.

Lustrous frowned and looked out across the barren wasteland of snow again. “You know I don’t think we really needed to come here.”

“Well we did so you’re just gonna have to live with it,” Trail Blazer told him and began walking forward, taking them through the deep snow.

A rope tied around her waist that led back to Lustrous grew taut and forced him to follow her. The rope also tied around his own waist and then went back to Steel Wing, who was bringing up the rear. This was the formation they walked in through the snow so they could keep together and not get separated. Simple but effective. A mantra Lustrous had come to learn was very imperative when traveling through the wilderness.

“It’s not like I really want to complain you know? I like traveling now. It’s just this place is so… drab. What’s there to talk about? What’s there to look at? I can’t write poetry about a place like this,” Lustrous droned on and on.

“I don’t think it’s that bad. Yet,” Steel Wing said. “But it’s already dark out even though it isn’t night. Trail Blazer, do you have any idea what it will be like out here when nightfall actually comes?”

“Bad,” Was the simple response from the map mare leading them.

“Perhaps we should leave ourselves plenty of time to set up the tent?” Lustrous suggested.

He was pretty sure he saw Trail Blazer nod ahead of him. It was difficult to tell for certain cause of the low visibility even with how close they were and all the clothes.

Lustrous wasn’t sure what their leader might have been looking at but she was clearly paying attention to her surroundings with each step they took. They chugged along through that heavy snow for hours more and although the scenery around them didn’t change in the slightest Trail Blazer didn’t let up. The earth pony was still taking everything in, lacking as it was. Whatever she saw around for her map that Lustrous didn’t it was apparently enough for them to keep going through this cold and inhospitable northern land. The top of Equestria, so different from the bottom.

They had to close their eyes and stand still every now and then when the wind got particularly bad or started blowing directly in their faces. And still they marched on, Trail Blazer determined to scout every inch of snow up here in case there was something else they needed to see.

“Do you think ponies are going to want to live up here?” Lustrous shouted ahead to the pony in front.

“Conserve your energy, Lustrous!” She yelled back at him, probably just wanting to get him to stop bothering her.

“Conserve my energy she says…” He grumbled under his breath. Grumbled. Not whined.

Of all three of them Steel Wing was having the easiest time, his body dealing with the cold the best. The pegasus keeping up the rear kept his eyes on his two friends to make sure they kept to a straight path and didn’t start to accidentally stray. Like this he could also tell if they were starting to get tired or if the cold was negatively affecting them in other ways. But so far so good. Right now it was just cold and unpleasant but not truly dangerous with the gear they had on.

That would change the longer they were here though.

Trail Blazer at the time wasn’t really having a better time than Lustrous or anything. She knew there likely wasn’t anything up here and she hadn’t seen anything worth taking notes on so far. It seemed like the only point of their trip through here would be to map out the size and exact perimeters of the northern border of Equestria. At least they weren’t climbing any mountains while they were up here.

She hoped there weren’t any unseen crevices or sudden drops in the snow. That could end their journey real quick. Lustrous was right about giving themselves plenty of time to set up the tent, but her internal clock was telling her they still had plenty of time before they needed to do that. She just wished there was something more out here while they walked besides the snow, the wind, and the dark mountains in the distance.

Equestria wasn’t lacking for a variety of climates and biomes. That was one absolute truth she would write in her notes.

She wanted to look back and ask if the others were doing alright. Anything to break the monotony. But Lustrous would probably smirk and say something dumb back to her about conserving their energy. She wasn’t going to let him have that pleasure.

This snowscape was possibly even bigger than the plains they had traveled through in the south and Trail Blazer knew they could never explore the entirety of it. Not with the supplies they had, to tackle a huge place like this would require a larger and dedicated party. For the three of them it was too dangerous and too much of a time drain.

A blast of wind and all the snow it was carrying with it came right into Trail Blazer’s face. She grunted in annoyance and shook the frost off of her.

“I’d take too hot over too cold...” She grumbled in the same manner as Lustrous.

A few hours more of that weather and the endless snow and the three of them were ready to turn in and stop for the day. Trail Blazer set up her tent and the three shivering ponies huddled inside it for warmth. No cards were played tonight and nothing was really said. Even with all three of them together like this it was just too cold. All of them hoped that it would only be another day at most that they were out here, and then they could head back home.

It was difficult with the howling wind outside and their tent violently flapping and shaking but exhaustion eventually won out and the three tightly wrapped ponies fell asleep together.

And with nothing else to do, as soon as they woke up they were back on their hooves traveling through the snow again.

“Do you think maybe this wind and snowfall will let up at all?” Lustrous asked as they started journeying out again early in the morning.

“Can’t say, I’m not an expert on this place. But probably not,” Trail Blazer replied, forgoing conserving energy for the pattern breaker of conversation.

“The weather team has no plans to come up here. They’re going to be busy getting the rest of Equestria set up. The areas that ponies are actually settling in,” Steel Wing said to them.

“So the north will be left on its own?” Lustrous looked back at him.

Steel Wing nodded. “Yes. It will snow and snow like this as it always has.”

It aroused a bit of fear in Lustrous to hear that. He looked around at this barren world of snow and to think that it would possibly be like this for ages? With no ponies living here or even attempting to homestead, it would just hang over Equestria like a big frozen dark spot. Maybe in the future something would come of this cold landscape. He hoped there would be.

“I think we’ll be just about done here pretty soon,” Trail Blazer called from ahead. “Then we can make our way back a little southeast and head home.”

“Sounds like a great plan to me!” Lustrous yelled back. As ever the wind still drowned out anything quieter.

None of them would miss this place. Maybe it was smart of Trail Blazer to save the worst for last so all of them were looking forward to finishing up their journey and getting home. With so little for them to see or think about the endless rolling snow was even more featureless than the desert and wasn’t even a place ponies might travel through to get somewhere else in Equestria. No more than the northern border between Equestria and the even colder world of mountains beyond. That’s all it was.

The following is an excerpt from Trail Blazer’s notebook:

Almost done. After spending a bunch of relatively pointless days surrounded by nothing but snow I’m happy to say we’ve emerged back into a more hospitable part of Equestria. Whatever, I did a good job of figuring out the size and shape of the frozen north so it all turned out well enough in the end. There’s really nothing more to say about it, it’s not fit for ponies to live in and there’s no reason for anyone to go there unless they want to see what things were like back before the windigos were defeated.

Cold. Cold, cold, and cold.

I’m glad to finally get somewhere where I can actually see green again. And running water.

The map is coming together nicely. I’m going to have to compile everything when we get back and that’s gonna take a while but oh well. It’s my Cutie Mark for a reason. Been a long trip, seen a lot, had a lot to do. Lots of annoying things and a couple annoying ponies who are now apparently my best friends have been with me the whole way through it.

I’ll miss it.

The Map

In the House of Government both Bright Diamond and Cheese Souffle were finishing up the last of their duties for the day. Celestia was an hour at most away from lowering the sun and any stragglers who had business with the representatives were being turned away at the door and asked to come back tomorrow. That turned out to be quite a few ponies, business as extremely busy as usual around here. Bright Diamond was tired and eagerly looking forward to the next day of rest while Cheese Souffle was happy to have so many things to get done and work on. Bright took his job very seriously but he just didn’t understand how his comrade could let it envelope his whole life and not take any breaks or leisure time like he did. Thunderstorm was as always doing his own thing and training his pegasi. Already were his plans coming to fruition and he was looking forward to being able to use a map to work off of when it came to planning the most important places to start the weather and mail service. For most of the other ponies in the city and even ones that worked directly for the representatives they had no idea about the important undertaking that was nearing completion. A cautionary move by Bright Diamond, instead of advertising it before the mission was complete he decided to keep it hush hush in case something went wrong. Whether that being the map not turning out well, or the mission failing, or the three ponies ending up hating each other, he didn’t want ponies to get their hopes up only for them to be dashed. Instead he was banking on things going perfectly well and then they could reveal to the population the mission and story of the three travelers as well as the new map of Equestria. And hopefully they would be the perfect example the representatives wanted them to be of three young ponies from the new generation who got along and worked together for a greater good. The common good of Equestria and the ponies in it.

Bright Diamond was coming into Cheese’s office to say goodbye to him for the day and wish him luck for all the work they would have to do tomorrow. The two of them thought quite often of the three ponies they had sent out on their journey across Equestria, it was months since the mission began but even now their thoughts would just drift to them at times. Bright was “concerned” for his cousin and hoped things were going well. And also hoped that this adventure had maybe gotten his brother to turn over a new leaf so he wouldn’t go right back into his room and live like a hermit for the rest of his days. Cheese was less concerned, he wasn’t the type to worry in general and he had nothing but faith in Trail Blazer and the other two to accomplish the mission without a problem.

“Cheese? Goodbye for the day, I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Bright Diamond said to the other representative hunched over his desk.

“Uh-huh. I’ll still be here for a while,” Cheese replied, not looking up from his work. He had a mountain of disorderly papers stacked up next to him.

“Try not to overwork yourself. If you get sick or collapse our entire government might fall apart.”

“Hardy-har-har. If you can stick around to make jokes you could’ve spent the last five minutes doing something productive,” The earth pony representative snorted.

“Rest is important. Mind and body,” Bright snidely responded.

“Okay, then go get some rest and leave me alone.”

Bright rolled his eyes. Cheese’s obstinacy was annoying and he really didn’t want to let him have the last word. On the flip side though he also really wanted to be on his way and take a stroll through the city before retiring to his home. The map Trail Blazer had left him proved quite useful and he was able to get around far easier than he used to. He still liked to take his walks to see as much of the city as he could and what needed to be done locally. And her map allowed him to start planning a much more organized city.

“Very well, I suppose I’ll leave you to your work. Meanwhile the town calls to me,” Lustrous did an about face and went to leave the office.

But before he could the door was slammed open and a black pegasus shot through it, barreling into the office and nearly bowling over Bright Diamond. He skidded to a stop in front of Cheese Souffle’s desk and saluted. The two representatives were flabbergasted until they recognized the pegasus as Raincloud, one of Thunderstorm’s recruits who he loved to boss around.

“What in blazes are you doing?” Bright asked the pegasus as if he had lost his mind rushing in here.

“I’m sorry sirs but I was told to notify you immediately,” He said, his nervous eyes swiveling back and forth between the two representatives.

“Notify us of what?” Cheese Souffle asked him.

“They’ve returned.”

Trail Blazer, Lustrous, and Steel Wing were first noticed by Thunderstorm’s pegasus scouts to be returning to the city. The three of them were tired but the cold and dreary climate of this part of Equestria didn’t bother them at all anymore. It might as well have been summer to them. Seeing that city get closer and closer with each step they took also did a good deal to brighten their day. It was a strange feeling though, so many things had happened while they were away and yet they could all remember leaving so clearly it might as well have been yesterday. They had changed so much, seen so much, and had become the closest of friends. Compared to the three ponies that left here those months ago they might as well be completely different.

“Well, even with how nice of a trip it’s been… for the most part… it’s good to be back,” Lustrous said as he smiled at the city.

“Agreed. There is much I’ll have to discuss with Thunderstorm but I’m glad we’ll all be able to settle down for now,” Steel Wing said.

“I still need to actually make the map. So unlike you two this job isn’t over for me yet,” Trail Blazer scowled.

“We could help out,” Lustrous offered.

“No deal. It’s my map and I’m making it the same way I make every other map,” Trail Blazer shook her head.

Lustrous shrugged. “Suit yourself. I just hope my cousin and Cheese Souffle aren’t going to make a big deal out of us returning. I mean, just because they want to use us as propaganda doesn’t mean we’ll have to do something like make public appearances or go to a ceremony, right?”

“I imagine they’ll at least make some sort of statement about us,” Steel Wing said. “After all how can we be an example for other ponies if they don’t even know our names or what we did?”

“You’re not gonna try hiding out in your mansion or something are you?” Trail Blazer asked Lustrous.

“Absolutely not!” Was his stiff response. “Although I don’t wish to become a spectacle I will not be retreating back into my room like a recluse anymore. I was never happy about my cousin using us for that purpose but… oh well, I suppose I do owe him for forcing me out on this journey. I’d do it all again if I had to. Not like I’m gonna admit that to him though. He’ll be able to infer it anyways...”

“Heh, good luck dealing with your little family drama,” Trail Blazer teased him.

“I’ve been dealing with it my entire life, this will be no different.”

The unicorn sighed after that and the three continued on to the city, they had already reached the bridge and were practically within its limits. The roads and everything looked a bit cleaner and less muddy than when they had left. As if they were being better maintained now. Perhaps they were and that was one of just many things that had been done while they were on their trip. As their hooves clacked over the last boards of wood and carried them into the city proper they all took a breath of “fresh” city air. For the first time since Tri-Point they were back to a real city. The other little towns and settlements they had seen out across Equestria could scarcely even be called civilization compared to their home city.

“Home sweet home,” Lustrous said as he looked up and down the street. “I suppose we should just head straight to the House of Government?”

“You suppose correctly,” Trail Blazer answered and then looked up at the sky. “It’s getting a little late though. They might’ve already closed up for the day.”

“Doubtful,” Steel Wing spoke up. “I didn’t mention it before but I saw some of Thunderstorm’s scouts earlier, they definitely saw us coming back. Expect a warm welcome.”

Lustrous groaned. “Great, thank you for sharing that with us now.”

“I knew you would complain about it,” Steel Wing grinned at him.

“Well at least I don’t see ponies crowding the streets all excited to see the returning adventurers. So we’re not famous yet, good,” The unicorn noted.

“I wouldn’t mind being popular for a bit of a more wholesome reason,” Trail Blazer rubbed her chin.

“Oh right, you’re already well known by the stallions here. Hopefully your previous reputation doesn’t harm your appearance as a servant of Equestria...” Lustrous said. Half teasing her and half wondering if maybe Bright Diamond would be a little apprehensive about putting Trail Blazer up on a pedestal when half the city had slept with her.

The earth pony didn’t seem to care. She was well accepting about that part of her life and didn’t let it bother her.

Regardless of any of that for now though they still had to officially get back and say hi to the representatives. It was a pleasant walk through the city, Lustrous thought about how the bags he was carrying felt like nothing now compared to when he had first started carrying them. Steel Wing was glad he didn’t have to keep an eye out for dangers or worry about every little thing. And Trail Blazer was looking forward to shedding all this junk, holing up in her home, and drawing her magnum opus.

When they did finally reach the House of Government the three of stood outside the door for a second before going in.

“I really don’t want to meet up with my cousin again,” Lustrous frowned at the building.

“Forget it, there’s probably something annoying they have planned for us to do at some point so let’s just go in already,” Trail Blazer said and went to open up the door.

When instead it was opened up from the inside.

“Surprise!” The three representatives right inside it yelled at once.

“Welcome back!”

“How was the trip?”

“Did you see lots of amazing things?”

Cheese, Bright and Thunderstorm mobbed them and barraged them with questions. Bright Diamond gave his cousin an overly affectionate hug that the latter was unwilling to return while the other two were content with a more formal welcome and hoofshake with their chosen adventurer.

“You look… better,” Cheese Souffle said to Trail Blazer.

“There’s a backhoofed compliment if I ever heard one,” She smirked. “But yeah, it’s true. I’m… a lot better. And I kind of didn’t want to admit this or say it to you but since we’re here, well, thanks for sending me on this mission.”

Cheese Souffle’s fat face lit up with a smile and only professionalism held him back from hugging the mare. “I’m glad.”

“I’m certain you have many things to tell me about,” Thunderstorm said to Steel Wing. “And from that smile on your face you also seem to be quite a bit happier.”

“A lot happened over the course of our trip,” The pegasus said, looking over to his two companions. “I made my first friends.” A more solemn look passed over his face as he returned to looking at Thunderstorm. “There are some other unfortunate things I need to discuss with you but that’s not important right now.”

Thunderstorm frowned but nodded, accepting Steel Wing’s explanation. “I see. Well, no reason to ruin a good reunion. Now’s the time to celebrate your return, we have some nice things to tell you.”

“Nice things like what?” Lustrous asked with a nervous expression as he pushed Bright off of him.

Bright chuckled and straightened up. “In three days we’ll be having a celebratory parade for you. That will give us enough time to spread the word about your mission. You’ll be put on a wagon and shown off to all the ponies of the city. I’m also going to have a great painting made of you three!”

“For the love of Celestia...” Lustrous collapsed to the ground and covered his head with his hooves.

“Yeah that all sounds swell,” Trail Blazer rubbed the back of her neck. “But I still need to actually make the map you know? Can I go do that now?”

“Oh right,” Bright seemed to have forgotten about that. “Well even if it’s not all done in time that’s not really important. It’s more that you’ve actually accomplished the mission and have returned. And that you hopefully get along so ponies from all the tribes can look up to you. You do get along now don’t you?”

The three looked between each other. All the memories of their trip so fresh that they didn’t need to say anything.

A steady laugh started building between them all, to the surprise of the representatives.

“Yeah...” Trail Blazer said through a fit of giggles. “Yeah I think we get along now.”

When it came down to it the fact was that Lustrous and Steel Wing no longer needed to accompany Trail Blazer any longer. For the first time since they had started their journey if they really wanted to they could just go their separate ways and would hardly have to see the others again. There was nothing tying them together and no obligation to have to meet up again aside from the inevitable parade.

That thought was hanging over their heads as they stood outside the door to Trail Blazer’s home.

“I know it may sound silly but considering we’ve been stuck together for so long do we need to actually make a promise to continue to meet up? We all live here in this city too so I’m sure we’ll see each other normally anyways,” Lustrous said.

“You don’t need to make a schedule about when you visit and hang out with your friends, Lustrous. Feel free to drop by any time, the both of you,” Trail Blazer said to the two stallions.

“I agree with Trail Blazer. We don’t need to force anything, you’re both welcome to say hi whenever you want to me. You know where I’ll be,” Steel Wing smiled.

“It’s just odd,” Lustrous admitted. “I’m not used to the whole friend thing and now that I’m home it’s going to take some getting used to to not being around the two of you every waking moment.”

Trail Blazer smirked as she pulled open her front door. “Well let’s make one promise then. I’m gonna be busy working on my map but I’ll still need some breaks from that. So come around tomorrow evening and we can hang out, like normal. Bring your cards, Steel Wing.”

“I suppose that works for me,” Lustrous smiled. “And I am very excited to see your finished map.”

“It’s gonna have a whole novel of notes to go along with it...” The earth pony grumbled before heading inside. She looked over her shoulder to smile more warmly at the two. “See ya.”

“Good night,” Lustrous waved.

“Sleep well,” Steel Wing told her.

And her door was closed, leaving the unicorn and pegasus to say farewell to each other and return to their own homes. Each of them wearing a happy smile on their faces and looking forward to tomorrow.

Trail Blazer’s map and compilation of notes took eight days to fully complete. It was copied profusely, the original (not a copy as she initially requested) was sent to Princess Celestia along with the three adventurers so they could meet with her again. Thunderstorm and a squad of his pegasi also went along with it and were then pressed into doing the new work Princess Celestia set out for them. The map was used to create a work schedule for all the ponies of Equestria to follow for the next several years. Farmers, construction workers, settlers, weather ponies, couriers, etc. All of it set up by the Princess with the aid of Trail Blazer’s map.

Lustrous convinced his brother to put off the parade until the map was completed. Upon which he miserably sat with his two friends while crowds of ponies cheered for them. He did feel glad that the ponies were so involved in the new age of Equestria and happy to see that the three tribes could work together like them but it didn’t do enough to drown out his embarrassment.

Steel Wing was Steel Wing. But now he made a conscious effort to get along with and befriend his fellow pegasi working under Thunderstorm.

And the three of them continued to be friends who hung out all the time while all three of them still lived in the city, and still met up with and kept in contact as much as possible when they separated.

Throughout Equestria the little places they visited either grew or ended up lost to time, the logging town down on the southeast coast disappeared but Baltimare sprang up nearby. Tri-Point would end up gone but the settlement that became Vanhoover started up to the west of it at some later time. The little place they stopped at on the west coast too small to even be called a village ended up being the birthplace of Las Pegasus when more settlers arrived and saw the location’s potential. More ponies spread out and started up cities just like the future Manehattan and within years Equestria was a true centralized country with numerous actual towns and villages all under the rule of Celestia and Luna.

Rolling Fog never left Tartarus but many of the pegasi under him eventually came to embrace the new Equestria.

The three representatives gladly shed their titles when the time came and worked under Celestia as administrators. Essentially doing the same job but just under a different name.

Down the years Cheese Souffle would pass on first, childless. Bright Diamond next, one child. Thunderstorm last, three children.

Poppy Hymn made her way across Equestria to find Lustrous. Already having given birth and nearly shocking the unicorn to death when she and their baby arrived on his doorstep. Trail Blazer and Steel Wing teased him relentlessly but were happy for him. The two star-crossed lovers would eventually have a very large and very happy family, making descendants going through every age of Equestria.

Lustrous himself actually became an explorer. He found that he could never be satisfied with staying indoors anymore. Not with so much natural beauty out there. His poetry never improved but that didn’t stop him from eventually traveling further than he had ever gone on his first journey, the journals he took with him became important reference guides for ponies of the future. His wife and family supported him in his passion, even though it meant not seeing him for long swaths of time.

Steel Wing became a royal guard at the Castle of the Two Sisters some years later and eventually Captain. According to diaries found from other guards at the time he fell deeply in love with Princess Luna but never acted on or mentioned these feelings to her.

Trail Blazer didn’t travel anymore after that grand mission across Equestria and brief return to the Castle. She still made maps of the city and kept its ever growing buildings and expansion under check but she did it for her own joy, not because she was asked to. The only true work she did was occasionally helping out Bright and Cheese with some job.

She would never reunite or reconcile with her family but she still found herself at peace for the many remaining years of her life.

Of the friends, Lustrous was the first to pass away. He caught an unknown disease while traveling through the same swamp he had been accosted in all those years ago. Unfortunately nothing could be done and the news of his death didn’t reach his friends and family until nearly two months later. He was survived by his wife, his children, and grandchildren.

Steel Wing was next. He served as Captain of the Royal Guard for many years and refused any attempts by the Princesses or his comrades to force him into retirement. In the last half-year of his life his health deteriorated rapidly but he was happy to know he would still die as Captain. Trail Blazer was unfortunately unable to make the trip to say goodbye to him. He died childless, ending his family line. Whether he wanted it to be that way or not is unknown as Steel Wing left behind no writings.

Trail Blazer was the last. She had become a close friend of Lustrous’s family and was known to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren alike as everyone’s favorite aunt. At this point she was the only remaining pony of the ones who had been involved in the map making mission. To Lustrous’s family she was never known to go anywhere without a smile on her face, accepting of her life and refusing to be brought down and wallow anymore like when she was young. She passed away in her sleep as the oldest mare in the city with the painting of her and her friends hung up on the wall next to her.

Many years later a studious Twilight Sparkle would glance over their names when reading about that chapter of Equestrian history. A copy of the painting and first map of Equestria were printed in the book along with them.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading.

The Present Strife

The distance between their hill and the town they saw turned out to still be considerable. They would have been able to make it on the same day if they had traveled until they reached it but they would’ve arrived in the dead of night so Trail Blazer made the call for them to sleep and then finish the rest of the distance to the town in the morning.

Lustrous was happy that he would get to see at least some sort of civilization again and Trail Blazer was looking forward to the booze that surely awaited her there. Steel Wing was the only one who knew what he was thinking about the first town on their journey.

The following morning even Trail Blazer was ready to get up at dawn, with bags under her eyes she quickly took down their tent and told the others they needed to make it to this small little village as fast as they could. Lustrous shuddered to think about what she’d be like without alcohol even longer. The mare would probably be completely unmanageable. He had thought that ponies became more belligerent after drinking but Trail Blazer was seemingly the opposite, the map pony was never genuinely friendly but with alcohol in her veins at least she was apathetic instead of antagonistic.

It kind of worried him to be honest.

Steel Wing also didn’t approve of her ways but he had been keeping it all to himself after his previous attempts to sway her were shot down.

So it was now that around noon after they had passed through the fog of early morning did the three begin to arrive in the outskirts of this town they saw. Thanks to the breeze coming in from the bay it was pretty cold around here but nothing the three of them weren’t used to from some of the colder times in the town they’re from.

And speaking of that town to the north that would eventually become Manehattan, unlike that one this town had nothing to do with the future city of Baltimare. It was a startup, a boom-town built at the edge of the forest and along the river that led into the as of yet unnamed Horseshoe Bay. Logging was the career for the ponies that lived here and already the town was setting itself up to be a prime distributor of lumber in the area. Besides general lumber there were a number of crafters and carvers living here as well. Ponies that made chairs, tables, wood art, etc. It was a delightful town in the new land of Equestria.

Also of importance to note is the town was entirely made up of earth ponies and no others.

That was something still fairly common even in present day Equestria. And towns where one race vastly outnumbered the others were common too. So on its own it didn’t mean anything but in this age where many ponies weren’t used to seeing others from outside their group it might be a little strange to see a unicorn and pegasus suddenly walk into town. While technically unified that didn’t mean that all earth ponies were comfortable with all unicorns and vice versa.

An earth pony born in this new age may not have had any contact with anyone but fellow earth ponies. And an earth pony who had lived through the past strife may have sour memories.

And may have passed those feelings on to their children.

“I think calling this place a town is being generous.” Lustrous said as the three walked from the treeline into a more open area. There was nothing that could even be called a street and the buildings were haphazardly strewn about across a wide area that had had any trees or grass removed. In the distance they could see the water of the bay. “It’s a hole in the wall.”

Trail Blazer shrugged. “Not everyplace needs to be some big town. They’re doing what they do here.”

There were a few ponies wandering about within the “town” and more that were headed to or already working in the forest. Steel Wing’s ears could hear the steady thwack of axes against trees on the other side of the forest from where the three of them had come from. A number of the ponies looked on at the new arrivals, wondering just who they were and why they were here, and some even shot them dirty looks. Trail Blazer and Steel Wing both noticed this but Lustrous seemed completely oblivious.

“Have you seen an inn or anything? Are we even going to be staying here the night?” Lustrous asked Trail Blazer.

“No and yes. This is pretty much the stopping point before we start heading west. I’ll start drawing the actual map here from my notes and sketches and then we can move on.” She told him.

Lustrous looked at her in confusion, walking ahead of her and putting a hoof on her shoulder to stop her. “Wait, what do you mean we’re going to be heading west from here? We still have further south to go.”

The sober and annoyed Trail Blazer shook her head. “Just a little south of here is an impassable jungle and a wasteland right next to that. That’s not Equestria. Our border stops right at that natural boundary.”

“How do you know that?” Lustrous asked.

“Zebra.” Trail Blazer reached back into one of her saddlebags and took out a small notebook. “This is from the zebra explorer Zerzes. He left it to me when he died. Before ponies came here he had traveled through some of the south, didn’t leave a map or anything though. Either way all we’re doing from here is going a little further to the south into the swamp mentioned in here, then doubling back up and going straight west until we hit the coast. Like I said earlier.” She put the notebook back. “Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve been sober for too long, let’s find a place to drink.”

“You know even most drunks don’t stay drunk every waking second.” Lustrous said as she pushed past him.

Naturally she ignored him.

The three continued on, wandering from place to place trying to find a tavern or pub or some sort of store or dining establishment that might have any alcohol to sate Trail Blazer’s thirst. A large building built at the edge of the trees dominated one half of the settlement, it extended maybe 300 feet backwards and had big barn doors at the front. The doors were currently open and Lustrours and Steel Wing both looked inside to see stacks and stacks of wooden boards and logs that filled it up. The ponies here must use that large building to protect the wood they harvest from the elements.

“There. There, there, there.” Trail Blazer said with increasing disgruntlement, pointing ahead to another building.

It was a squat building with a pitched roof and was certainly no house or storage facility. Large cross-barred windows were built in the front of it to let in as much light as possible and the doors were wide open and inviting. The three travelers could hear the happy voices of ponies coming from the building and Trail Blazer quickened her pace to it.

“That’s the hangout around here. If there’s anywhere to get a drink it’ll be in there.” She said.

“And maybe a pony who can show us where to board for the night. Else I suppose we can just put our tent out somewhere around here.” Lustrous said.

But Trail Blazer wasn’t listening anymore and both Steel Wing and Lustrous had to hasten to keep up with her. The map pony walked right into the establishment with her stallions coming up behind her. At first the cheerful conversations and laughing ponies continued as normal… but in only a few short moments did the earth ponies inside start to notice just who (or more accurately what) walked into their barroom.

There were probably a good thirty patrons inside, predominantly stallions with only a few mares of the… unsavory type with them, seated around various tables and drinking or telling stories to one another. But that all went silent and the smiles turned to decidedly cold looks towards the three. Even for Trail Blazer since despite her being an earth pony she was traveling with a unicorn and pegasus now wasn’t she? In fact that might’ve made her the worst in these ponies eyes.

Now Trail Blazer noticed this but didn’t care, she just wanted a drink and so she started walking towards the bar at the back. She was used to rough bars and unfriendly customers. Steel Wing noticed the frosty reception as well and was fairly certain he knew the reason behind it, but he didn’t do anything just yet. Merely kept his attention on everyone.

Lustrous on the other hand was totally oblivious and just trotted to the nearest empty table and sat down after dropping his backpack on the floor. He huffed in annoyance that he was being shepherded around by the alcoholic.

Steel Wing quietly joined him and took up a chair whose back faced the corner of the room, still keeping an eye on the other ponies in here. His eyes scanned over them all like a hawk.

“This is not how I wanted to be spending my time.” Lustrous muttered.

The pegasus didn’t respond.

Suddenly a large mug of beer was slammed down next to Lustrous… by Trail Blazer. “Whew, tasty!” She said, having returned from the bar and taken a hearty sip of it already. “Warms my heart that I’m not the one paying for this too.” She also shrugged off her backpack and saddlebags and took a seat, immediately gulping down her beer.

“Yes it’s quite admirable for you to leech off the good will of others.” Lustrous rolled his eyes.

“All part of the payment for the job.” She took it in stride, not one to take jabs like that personally. But after she did finish another sip she looked around the barroom some more, taking in a few of the mean looks. “Shame that it would probably be best to not stay here for the night though.”

“Huh?” Lustrous said. “Why not?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Have you not noticed all the dirty looks we’ve been getting from the ponies in here?”

Lustrous perked up and finally really looked around himself at the rest of the bar. “Oh. Well that’s just how my cousin and the maids usually look at me. I thought it was normal.”

Trail Blazer and even Steel Wing gave him a weird look at that.

“What?” He asked, looking between the two of them. “And why are they angry at us anyways?”

“Well I think it’s because you’re a unicorn and he’s a pegasus and I’m an earth pony traveling with the two of you.” Trail Blazer shrugged. “And they’re all earth ponies who don’t like that.”

Lustrous was plainly baffled. “But that’s silly. Why would they be angry about anything like that? Ponykind has unified and come together after the first Hearth’s Warming. Why do they have a problem with me being a unicorn?”

Trail Blazer chuckled into her drink. “I forgot you lived in a bubble. So what if ponykind is unified? Doesn’t mean ponies are. And take a closer look around this time, there are plenty of ponies in here who are old enough to have been alive back when the windigos were still around and the tribes were at each others throats.”

“Well I hope they can at least leave us to our own devices then.” Lustrous sighed as he sunk down into his chair.

“Yeah...” Trail Blazer took a big sip. “Shame that I probably won’t be able to scratch my other itch here though, the way these stallions are eyeing me aint that kind of interest.”

“Do you have to be so crass about that?” Lustrous wrinkled his nose.

“Yep.” Was the only reply the map mare deemed to give.

Lustrous shook his head and then frowned as a thought came to him. “I am curious though.” He said to Trail Blazer. “How come you haven’t, um… asked me for help with that, you know…?” An uncomfortable blush worked its way up his cheeks.

Trail Blazer set her mug down on the table. “We’re working together. It would be awkward. I like my sex no strings attached and preferably without knowing the guy beforehand.”

The unicorn hummed to himself. “Well I would say no if you asked anyways.”

“Heh, I bet.” Trail Blazer chuckled again and looked over at Steel Wing. “What about you? Would you say yes if I asked?”

The red pegasus didn’t blush but he did shake his head slightly. “I’m sorry Miss Trail Blazer but I believe a pony should only lie with the one they love.”

Lustrous thought Trail Blazer would laugh her head off at that but as he looked at her he saw a queer expression on her face. She was staring down at the table, almost forlornly. Steel Wing noticed this too and was about to ask her if something was the matter with what he said before a weak smile broke out on Trail Blazer’s face. She grabbed her mug again and downed the rest of her beer before dropping it back on the table and letting it roll between the three ponies.

“You know the funny thing about that is I would’ve been right there agreeing with you when I was younger.” Trail Blazer said.

The mare reached her hoof back to nervously run it through her mane, her lower lip was trembling slightly and her eyes started to look glassy and out of focus. Lustrous and Steel Wing could hear her breathing become more ragged and her breath hitched.

“Trail Blazer?” Lustrous reached a hoof to her shoulder. “What’s-”

“Hey!”

The three were snapped out of their world by a loud shout. Lustrous and Trail Blazer turned in their seats to see an older stallion meanly looking at them. He was a brown pony built big with a broad chest and trunk like legs. A few other angry looking stallions flanked him, apparently the group had had enough of their place being despoiled by these three outsiders.

Lustrous however was having none of it. He already thought this was silly enough. “Can we help you?” He asked, his naturally snide voice not doing him any favors.

“Yeah. You can get up and leave.” The burly stallion said. “What are you all doing here anyways? This isn’t a place where unicorns and pegasus are welcome.”

“That is absurd.” Lustrous scoffed before either Trail Blazer or Steel Wing could stop him. “This is Equestria. We ponies live in harmony now, do we not?”

The burly stallion spat on the floor right in front of Lustrous. “We don’t. Looks like you all are too young to have lived back then but we remember how things used to be.”

“Yeah!” Another even older stallion spoke, gray of coat with a balding white top. “You unicorns and pegasi were always treating us like dirt and thinking you could just take all of our food. And then because you stopped doing the weather and sun right the windigos came.”

Steel Wing took this all in emotionlessly, waiting to see if it would come to blows. Lustrous though frowned and narrowed his eyes at the belligerent earth ponies. He got up out of his chair to proselytize some more to them.

“That’s not what happened at all. The windigos came because the three tribes couldn’t get along or trust one another. No one was blameless.”

He didn’t notice Trail Blazer sending him a glare telling him to “shut up”.

“You unicorns are all the same. Thinking you’re so much smarter than us.” The burly stallion from before walked right up to Lustrous and this caused Steel Wing to rise as well.

It looked like the already hot tempers were about to boil over before Trail Blazer spoke up.

“Woah, guys, guys, hold on here.” Trail Blazer said as she got up from her seat, walking between Lustrous and the big stallion. “There’s no need for that. We’re just traveling through for the day and no one means any harm. I just wanted a nice drink is all and I got one.”

The stallion glared down at her. “Don’t think we’re gonna be any friendlier to you. What are you doing alone with these two?”

“We’re on a-” Lustrous started before Trail Blazer stepped on his hoof, causing him to yelp.

“Look, that’s not important. Me and these two aren’t like that at all.” Trail Blazer said. “I’m not the type of earth pony that’s gonna roll around with a flimsy unicorn you know?” She pressed herself against the stallion. “I like real stallions. If you know what I mean.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “If I’m being honest I wanted a little more than just a drink here but with the mean looks you were giving us I didn’t think I could get it. But maybe the two of us can change that?”

Lust was a good tool for sponging up anger. The stallion grinned and licked his lips. “Oh really now? Well, maybe we can forgive you three for walking in here in that case.”

Lustrous frowned, this gross stallion looked to be at least twice Trail Blazer’s age. “Miss Trail Blazer, you don’t have to-”

She kicked him in the shin.

“Ow!”

“Just ignore him.” She sidled up to the burly stallion. “You’ll leave the two of them be though, right?”

He put a hoof over her and squeezed her close. “Heh, fine. We can forgive ya for walking in here I guess.” He looked at the other earth ponies gathered around him. “Can’t we?”

Various grumbles were the answers and some of the stallions went back to their seats. Lustrous took the time to rub his shin and sit back down himself.

“Well thank you.” Trail Blazer said to her soon to be newest bedfellow. “Could you do one more favor for me though? Is there any place these two can spend the night so I know where to find them tomorrow morning?”

“Hrm.” The burly stallion grunted. “We don’t have an inn or anything like that. Specially not for types like them.” He glared at Lustrous and Steel Wing. “But if you want to shack up in the warehouse for the night nobody’d bother you.”

“Hear that?” Trail Blazer said to her two traveling companions. “I’ll be back in the morning. You two have a nice rest of the day.” She swished her tail up against the stallion’s flank. “So how about the two of us head back to your place? It may be early but that just gives us all the time in the world now doesn’t it?”

“Hehehe.” The stallion’s laughter was throaty and lustful. He kept holding Trail Blazer close to his side and started walking her out of the building, only briefly looking over his shoulder at Lustrous and Steel Wing to jeeringly grin at them. “You two are lucky you have such a nice mare here with you.”

Lustrous glared at him and while Steel Wing seemed as impassive as ever he was also not entirely happy with this turn of events.

“Tch.” Lustrous clicked his teeth and stuck his elbows up on the table, propping his head up on them and staring angrily at Steel Wing. “She didn’t need to do that for us.”

“I don’t think she did it for us. I think she just wanted to.” Steel Wing responded.

“But he was horrible!” Lustrous was shocked Steel Wing could make a suggestion like that. “That stallion was vile. Not only that but he has to be at least twice her age.”

“I don’t think she cares about something like that.”

“Ugh, forget it then. Let her do what—and who—she wants.” Lustrous was done trying to make sense of anything. His world had been shaken enough the past several days.

Despite the bomb being defused there was a sour mood left over inside the whole establishment. The drinking and merriment didn’t return to half the level it was at before the three outsiders walked in and it was obvious even to Lustrous now. Both he and Steel Wing weren’t exactly feeling the best either. Besides they weren’t the ones who wanted to come here originally in the first place. And now without the one earth pony among them around to cool things down the atmosphere for every pony involved was not a good one.

“Perhaps we should just go and head to that warehouse now?” Lustrous suggested.

“That would probably be for the best.” Steel Wing nodded and went to pick up Trail Blazer’s things.

As Lustrous waited for him he couldn’t help but think about why Steel Wing just didn’t forcefully stop that gruff earth pony from doing anything. “Excuse me if this is intruding but you’re a fighter who’s supposed to protect us right? Why did you just stand there?” He didn’t mean to sound angry or anything, he was just curious.

Steel Wing looked at him. If he was offended he didn’t show it again. “There wasn’t a need to. No one had done anything yet. If I thought they were going to attack one of you I would have stepped in. But I only use violence as a last resort. I don’t like fighting. Not really.”

“I think that other pegasus Raincloud might say otherwise.” Lustrous noted. He was surprised that their guardian was apparently so reluctant to fight as well.

“That was just a friendly spar Thunderstorm asked of us so I could show you what I can do. I didn’t hurt Raincloud. Not seriously at least.” Steel Wing responded, having hoisted up Trail Blazer’s large backpack and saddlebags on his back.

“I see.” Lustrous wasn’t fully convinced but there was no reason to talk more about it here.

It was still only a little past midday now but they had had enough of this town. Even if they ended up bored that would be preferable to whatever other misfortune awaited them here.

They placed their tent in the front corner of the warehouse, just behind the open doors. Hopefully that earth pony was right about no one bothering them in here. It would be rather annoying for them to be woken up in the middle of the night by angry ponies trying to tear down their tent or something.

But time passed and it seemed Lustrous’s worries were for naught. The only problem was spending all that time on the thin mats and with the itchy blankets. Steel Wing didn’t seem bothered with having nothing to do but Lustrous couldn’t help tossing and turning around and grumbling in annoyance at everything until it was time to actually sleep.

Now the two ponies had weathered that unfortunate day and night and had woken up the following morning. Lustrous was quick to take everything down and get it ready before Trail Blazer had found them, he wanted to be out of here as soon as possible.

So it was that shortly after dawn when the two were still sitting inside the warehouse that Steel Wing poked him in the shoulder and pointed a wingtip at a figure shambling through the middle of the town towards the warehouse.

“Well I suppose we should gather her up.” Lustrous sighed.

Lustrous and Steel Wing talked towards the hobbling and likely hungover Trail Blazer as she walked through the low light of dawn. Up close the mare looked even worse than they imagined, deep bags were under her eyes and she looked practically sick.

“What happened to you?” Lustrous asked her, steadying the faltering mare.

“Nothing… took a little dive earlier.” She rubbed her head. “Uh, anyways, we’re gonna wanna get out of here pretty quick. He didn’t exactly want me to leave and I kind of ended up sneaking out of his bed this morning...”

Lustrous facehooved. “Wonderful. Let’s grab your stuff and go then, it’s in the warehouse.”

The three of them went back into the warehouse where the stallions helped Trail Blazer put her packs on. It was slow going however as the mare wasn’t exactly in the best condition. More than once she had to swallow down vomit and her legs buckled beneath the weight that she normally was able to carry with ease.

“Come on, we’re just about done.” Lustrous said as he tied the straps of her backpack around her stomach.

“Too late.” Steel Wing said, looking out the door of the warehouse.

Lustrous and Trail Blazer both looked up, seeing him watch as six earth pony stallions marched towards the warehouse.

“Let’s start leaving. Maybe they won’t do anything.” Lustrous hoped and pulled Trail Blazer with him, Steel Wing keeping an eye on the approaching ponies the whole time as the three of them exited the warehouse.

“You just all stop right there!” The lead stallion called out. The same burly earth pony from yesterday that Trail Blazer spent the night with. He looked and sounded very angry. “Now I told you that you shouldn’t be heading off with those two!”

“I never said I wouldn’t.” Trail Blazer pushed away Lustrous’s hoof to stand on her own. “Sorry, but I’ve got things to do.”

“Well aint that just peachy. You can say all those sweet words but then you just try and skip out on me and my friends. And for a unicorn and pegasus at that.” He spat on the ground.

Trail Blazer groaned, rubbing her eyes. “Look, I don’t care about any of that. I’ve been hired to do a job and now I’m leaving. Okay?”

“No it aint okay, missy.” He walked up to her. “You’re not getting out of here just like that.”

The stallion reached forward to grab her by the shoulder. Trail Blazer looked like she was going to try and backstep out of his reach, Lustrous looked like he was about to try and step between the two of them and likely receive a punch to the jaw for his efforts. But before either of them could do that a red hoof reached out like lightning and grabbed the earth pony’s trunk like leg.

With a sharp twist Steel Wing dislocated the earth pony’s hoof.

“Argh!” The earth pony stumbled back and collapsed onto his haunches. “You darn-!”

“Do not touch my ward.” Steel Wing said from in-between the two parties, although none of them could remember seeing him move there to begin with.

“Now you just-” One of the other earth ponies started to say and walked forward, angrily glaring at Steel Wing… until their eyes met and he froze. The pegasus doing a good show of intimidating the townsponies with just a stare.

“We’re leaving.” Steel Wing said. “You can return to your normal business.” He motioned with one of his wings to Lustrous and Trail Blazer, shooing them out from behind them and telling them to start walking out of the town already.

Lustrous slowed his pace a little to let Steel Wing walk up alongside him when he was done staring down their wannabe assailants. He was grateful at the pegasus’s intervention. “I suppose you can forget about my questions yesterday. I’m glad you’re able to defend us in situations like that.”

Steel Wing let out a single grunt of acknowledgment. It seemed like he might not say anything more until his mouth opened up again. “My grandfather taught me how to fight my whole life. Before he was exiled.”

“Exiled?” Lustrous raised an eyebrow at the pegasus.

“I’m sorry.” Steel Wing shook his head. “I don’t wish to talk about it.”

Lustrous nodded. Another family matter it seemed.

Finally the burly stallion regained his wits enough to yell at them as the trio walked away. “Well you all just better not come back here!”

None of them stopped but Trail Blazer looked back over her shoulder at him. “Wouldn’t want to. The beer was almost as bad as the sex.”

The New

The three friends were currently being led over the grassy plains here in the heartland of Equestria only a short walk from where they had been initially captured, all their things left behind. Steel Wing walked beside his grandfather while the other six pegasi formed a circle around Lustrous and Trail Blazer and followed behind their leader. The earth pony and unicorn may have been wondering why Steel Wing wasn’t doing anything but a sad look given to them over his shoulder was enough for them to get the message.

They were in worse trouble than ever before.

Steel Wing seemed loathe to start a fight and any attempt Lustrous made to ask what was going on was met with silence. Trail Blazer was keeping her thoughts to herself, the way these pegasi were acting was giving her a weird feeling. They didn’t seem like any other pegasi she had known. And that geezer up there… he looked a little like Steel Wing and there was only one pony she could think of that he might be.

“Where are you taking us?” Steel Wing decided to ask his grandfather, the two of them out of earshot of the others.

“To our base, obviously.”

Steel Wing raised an eyebrow at him. “Base? You were all exiled from Equestria.”

“And so what?” His grandfather gave him an eyebrow of his own. “Equestria’s a big place. You think the Princess and Thunderstorm could keep us from coming back right under their noses? Hardly anyone lives out here, how would they ever know?”

“So you’ve just been biding your time here,” Steel Wing sighed.

“Biding implies we were planning something. Actually as much as it pains me to admit it was more like we were stewing,” He grinned. “But then I heard about a special mission the three representatives were planning from some of my eyes and ears in your stupid city.”

Steel Wing grimaced. “Thunderstorm wont be happy to hear something like that...”

“Heh, it’s only natural I’d have an agent or two in your center of government if I’m still hiding out in Equestria,” He chuckled and stretched, cracking his neck. “Anyways we’ve been keeping an eye on you three off and on for most of your journey across Equestria, we knew you’d eventually come around here so all we had to do was wait.”

It certainly made Steel Wing unhappy to know they had been spied on for ages and he didn’t even notice. His grandfather obviously clued in his underlings on how to avoid Steel Wing’s notice.

“But what do you actually want with us?” The red pegasus frowned and asked his grandfather.

Silence was his answer. For a moment it seemed his grandfather wouldn’t respond at all as they kept walking through the grass, a rocky hill sprung up a short distance away, they seemed to be going directly towards it. But then he calmly opened his mouth again.

“We’ll talk more inside.”

“Inside?”

Steel Wing was left to wonder at his words as they got closer and closer to the hill. The party of pegasi and their prisoners turned to walk alongside the rocky cliffs of the hill and it was there that Steel Wing saw what he meant. An outcropping of rock that was invisible when looking at it from the front jutted out from the hill, leaving a small indenture in the rocky hillside. At the back of that indenture sat a cave that undoubtedly led deep into the hill.

“You’re hiding underground in a cave?” Steel Wing asked his grandfather.

“They’d never think to look for pegasi in here now would they?”

Steel Wing had to admit, they probably wouldn’t.

The entrance to the cave was flanked by two pegasus guards wearing the traditional armor that they used to wear back before unification. They both saluted to Steel Wing’s grandfather and let them pass without comment. The cave was well lit by torches lining the wall, Steel Wing was taking in every single detail. Just in case. But so far they were only walking down a simple path.

Behind him Trail Blazer was doing the same while Lustrous scowled at their unfair treatment. The unicorn was very put off that ponies like these were still around. This was the new age, why did they have to be like this?

He had almost opened his mouth to say something akin to that but Trail Blazer kept stepping on his hoof.

“I don’t think it’s fair that we haven’t even been told what’s going on,” Lustrous whispered to Trail Blazer.

“Just forget about it for now, it’s not important. If Steel Wing doesn’t think he can do anything to help us right now we just have to sit and wait,” She said back to him.

“This is not how I wanted the last leg of our journey to go. Things were so nice lately...” Lustrous sighed.

“I think that’s just our luck,” Trail Blazer shrugged.

Up ahead, Steel Wing was still paying attention to his grandfather and anything else notable about the cave. But his grandfather could be like an iceberg or a statue whenever he wanted, even more than he was, and the old pegasus gave nothing away to his grandson.

“How many of you are there even left? I can’t imagine some didn’t desert you after your plans failed,” Steel Wing ventured to ask.

His grandfather regarded him coldly. “Like I’m going to answer that. And if I recall my plans only failed because of a certain traitor that couldn’t fulfill his purpose.”

“I did the right thing,” Steel Wing’s eyes narrowed.

“You betrayed the poor old pegasus who raised you after your parents died. You were meant to be a weapon to return us pegasi to the old ways, and you turned your back on that too,” His voice and appearance was far calmer than Steel Wing’s, it seemed he almost wanted to get a rise out of his grandson.

“I wasn’t your tool,” Steel Wing’s wings shook. “Maybe if you had shown me even an ounce of affection I would’ve wanted to help you.”

His grandfather stopped and the others with him. Slowly he turned his old, wizened, face to Steel Wing.

“Affection is for the weak.”

He started walking again, letting the others catch up. “Affection, love, friendship? They’re what led to this pathetic unification and the destruction of what it truly means to be a pegasus. I’ll fix that mistake.”

Steel Wing knew it was pointless to say anything more. And soon they came up to a fork in the path where a single pegasus guard stood. To the left the path went down deeper into the cave and there were stairs built into the ground, while to the right the path went curving upwards. Grandfather stopped the whole group and looked back at the pegasi surrounding Lustrous and Trail Blazer.

“You take those two down to the dungeon and wait on further orders,” He said.

The nearest pegasus snapped a salute. “Yes, Rolling Fog.”

“Dungeon?!” Steel Wing wheeled about on his grandfather, Rolling Fog.

“Where did you think they were going to go? The spa?” Rolling Fog raised an eyebrow at him. “No harm will come to them yet though, so long as you listen to me. So I suggest calming down and coming with me.” The elderly pegasus didn’t wait for a response, he merely started walking up the curving path.

“How dare you! Don’t you have any shame?!” Lustrous whined as he and Trail Blazer were herded down the path to the left. “Don’t you know how upset Princess Celestia would be if she knew about this?!”

“Lustrous, Trail Blazer!” Steel Wing called out to them but he was worried about what would happen if he tried to help them right now.

“Don’t worry about us,” Trail Blazer told him before disappearing down the tunnel. “You’re the one who’s always saved us, just do whatever you think you need to do.”

“But you’re my friends now...” He weakly said even as the procession carried them away.

In a situation where he wanted and needed to help them more than ever before he found himself at a loss. All Steel Wing could do at the moment was follow his grandfather, the fate of his friends weighing heavily on his mind.

The journey down the left tunnel was uneventful. A few paths leading off to other sections of the cave and underground base were seen at regular intervals but the captives were merely being led straight down. Trail Blazer and Lustrous ended up tossed into a cell together in the pegasi’s makeshift dungeon, it was the last room at the bottom of the cave and there were a few other unoccupied cells in there bedecked in dust and cobwebs. Their abductors locked the cell and hung up the keys by the door, ignoring Lustrous’s protests the whole time they simply slammed the door leading back out into the tunnels shut.

“Well this is just great!” Lustrous pouted, he folded his forelegs over each other and sat down on the ground.

The earth pony was a bit calmer at their state of affairs, although no less annoyed on the inside she didn’t see the need to constantly complain about it like her unicorn friend.

“They don’t seem to have had much use for this dungeon before now.” She said.

Lustrous looked around too, coming to the same conclusion. “If they don’t normally do something like this then what’s so special about us? What are they going to do to us?”

“I’m ninety-nine percent certain that old pegasus was Steel Wing’s grandfather,” Trail Blazer said. “Obviously he wants Steel Wing for some reason. Revenge maybe? And we got caught up in it, I guess.”

Lustrous paled. “Wait. The grandfather that wanted to assassinate Hurricane and Thunderstorm?”

“You didn’t put two and two together?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I wasn’t thinking about it. I was just annoyed.”

“Well it doesn’t really matter I guess. Maybe we should work on escaping,” Trail Blazer shrugged.

“Escaping?” Lustrous seemed surprised by the suggestion.

“Can’t rely on Steel Wing to save us every time.”

“You told him to just do what he needed to do. I figured that would entail helping us.”

Trail Blazer smirked at him. “Yeah. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make things a little easier for us all.”

She went up to the bars and pressed her head as close up to them as possible so she could see around the whole room. Even as far as dungeons went it was very sparse. There weren’t any tables or chests to hold things in, the only thing in the room besides the two ponies were the keys to their cell left on a hook by the door and a single flickering lantern on the far wall.

“Are you going to try and seduce one of the guards when they come back?” Lustrous teased her.

“No,” She looked back and scowled at him. “I think these guys would just be angry if an earth pony started hitting on them anyways.”

But as she looked back at the door and the keys she smiled. “However it’s pretty darn lucky for us that they’re not used to being around earth ponies and unicorns.”

“What do you mean?” Lustrous asked, coming up to the bars and trying to look at what she was seeing.

“They just left the keys hanging there. And no one is even watching over us. They probably think we’re helpless and not even worth worrying about because we aren’t pegasi,” Trail Blazer snorted. “Joke’s on them.”

“That’s all well and good but we still have no way to get those keys,” The unicorn said as he gazed at them.

“Just use your magic to grab them and levitate them over here!” Trail Blazer darn near shouted at him. Amazed that that option didn’t even occur to him.

“You know very well that I don’t use my magic for anything. It’s very weak,” Lustrous looked away in embarrassment.

The map pony rolled her eyes and sighed. “Well maybe if you practiced with it more it wouldn’t be so weak.”

“Some unicorns just aren’t naturally gifted in magic, okay?” He frowned.

“Lustrous,” Trail Blazer put a hoof on his shoulder. “Just at least try it. We’ve got nothing better to do and your magic might be our one ticket to getting out of here.”

The unicorn grimaced. He looked between the pleading earth pony and the keys maybe about a dozen feet away from them. She was right of course, he couldn’t even argue with her about that. But he just had no faith in himself. When was the last time he had even lit up his horn? Despite being a unicorn he hardly felt like one. More like a particularly bookish earth pony. This wasn’t something that truly upset him, Lustrous was comfortable with who he was but it still needed to be said that he was an oddity when it came to unicorns. Like if he was a pegasus that chose never to fly.

And to try to use his magic for something so important when he would probably fail… the thought was embarrassing and made him even more nervous.

“Come on Lustrous! You’re not the same sheltered pony you were when I first met you, right?” Trail Blazer attempted to reassure him. “What would Poppy Hymn think?”

Lustrous blushed. “P-Poppy Hymn?!”

“Yeah! Wouldn’t it be cool if you could impress her with your magic? Imagine if she was here right now and you had to rescue her too!” She grinned at the blushing unicorn.

He gulped but put his focus back on the keys. “I-If she was here I would definitely do anything to save her...”

His horn sparkled and Lustrous narrowed his eyes at the keys. His brow furrowed and his jaw clenched, the unicorn doing all he could to vanquish any thoughts in his mind that didn’t have to do with getting those keys. He could feel his magic, now he just needed to get it to do what he wanted it to. This was the difficult part since he just wasn’t used to it. How did he will his magic to cross the distance and grab the keys? Is that even how he should be thinking about it? No, he was already overthinking things.

Just get over here, keys! He yelled inside his head.

A shimmering aura appeared around the keys and they trembled on their hook.

Trail Blazer’s eyes opened wide in surprise and elation. “You’re doing it Lustrous! Just a little more!”

He strained and struggled to pull them off the hook, a vein nearly bulging out of his neck. This was perhaps the greatest battle of his uneventful life. With a jerk of his head to help him visualize, like a pony tugging a big carrot out of the ground, Lustrou’s magic pulled the keys off the hook and they clattered to the floor.

Both of the ponies held their breath. Worried that if there was anyone close by they might’ve heard that. But the seconds passed by and no one came to check on things.

Trail Blazer grinned at Lustrous and he grinned right back at her, sweating profusely as he was.

“Knew you could do it,” She winked at him.

“You knew something I didn’t then...” He wheezed.

“Not the first time.”

The unicorn turned his head to look at the keys on the floor of the dungeon. “Well… I still need to get them the rest of the way over here.”

Trail Blazer hunkered down to the ground and reached a foreleg out between the bars, stretching as far as she could. “Eight feet! You can do it!”

It was more and more straining and Lustrous was nearly exhausted at the end of it but he managed to noisily slide the keys across the floor to Trail Blazer’s hoof. The mare was a big help in bridging that last little gap, otherwise Lustrous might have near passed out. She got up with a stretch and a groan, happily jangling their newly acquired keys.

“Easy enough,” She said, smirking at the sweat-drenched Lustrous.

“Ha...ha...” He breathed heavily.

Trail Blazer fidgeted around with the lock, the fact she couldn’t see it made getting the key in right slightly difficult but it only took a second for her to unlock their cell.

“Since no one heard any of that I’m gonna figure there aren’t any guards watching over the dungeon at all,” Trail Blazer said as she pushed the cell door open. “But there was one up above where the paths branched off, we’ll need to try one of the side passages we saw on the way down here and either hide for a bit or look for another exit.”

“And Steel Wing?” Lustrous asked her.

She grinned. “Hey, if there’s one thing we know about him it’s that he can take care of himself in a situation like this. He may have looked worried but that pegasus isn’t one to let injustice like this go on for long, right?”

Lustrous couldn’t help but smile too. “No, he isn’t.”

Up above, Steel Wing was led by his grandfather to the top of the twisting tunnel. Multiple other “floors” branched off from it but they didn’t even so much as glance down those. It did tell Steel Wing that this entire hill was hollowed out for the pegasi to use though. At the end of the tunnel a single door stood and his grandfather pushed it open while Steel Wing followed him inside. The room was clearly his grandfather’s personal office. A table with various scrolls and books on it lay covered in the center of the room, chairs haphazardly thrown around it. A few small slits in the stone wall of the hill facing east let light in from the setting sun, they’d be impossible to see from the outside looking in.

“So this is your new home?” Steel Wing looked about.

“Not for long. Soon we’ll return to our rightful place,” Rolling Fog said.

“There is no rightful place for you. You should really speak to my friend Lustrous, he’s very passionate about the new age we’re in,” Steel Wing said, knowing something like that would annoy his grandfather.

To Rolling Fog’s credit he kept his emotions in check. “We can always undo mistakes. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about anyways.”

Steel Wing bristled slightly, his eyes narrowing at his grandfather. “What do you mean?”

“You made a mistake all those years ago. It’s time for you to correct it.”

“I didn’t-”

“Oh be quiet already,” Rolling Fog cut him off. “You’re not really in a position to refuse or disagree with me right now, you know? You don’t have to worry about killing Thunderstorm or Hurricane though. We’re done with that.” The old pegasus stretched his wings. “Instead your new mission will be to kill Bright Diamond and Cheese Souffle.”

Steel Wing gawked at him, his face an absolute perfect example of surprise. It was quite a rare sight on the normally stoic pegasus.

“You can’t be serious!”

“Dead serious,” Rolling Fog’s eyes showed no hint of humor. “You will return to the city, assassinate the two representatives while leaving behind a note claiming your reasons for doing such. Those being pegasi superiority and independence. And then you will kill yourself, since it’s obvious you could never keep up the ruse.”

Steel Wing regarded him with more and more shock as he continued on. “Grandfather, you’ve completely lost your mind...”

“Hardly,” Rolling Fog said. “I’ve thought this out quite well. We won’t try to blame this on Thunderstorm, no one would believe that anyways, but since you were under his command it will still naturally make ponies suspicious of him. Not to mention every other pegasus in Equestria.”

The young red pegasus looked in disbelief at his grandfather. “You plan on driving a wedge between the tribes… the purpose of the assassination isn’t to hurt earth pony and unicorn leadership but to foster suspicion and resentment towards pegasi...”

“Very good,” Rolling Fog actually smiled. “Thunderstorm would be the only representative left. And he’ll be hated for it. Most ponies of course will know that the average pegasi doesn’t feel like I do. But there are plenty who will strike out in anger. Pegasi will be unjustly attacked and discriminated against after the assassination. And that will create hate among them as well, they’ll seek to get revenge on the earth ponies and unicorns that wronged them. And they’ll find me ready to help them.”

The room was silent for a second after Rolling Fog finished. Steel Wing’s head hung towards the ground, his eyes closed.

“Don’t you even care?” The young pegasus asked. He slowly raised his face to look his grandfather in the eye. “Don’t you even care how horrible this is? That all of ponykind almost died because of things like this?”

Rolling Fog rolled his eyes. “You have the sentimentality of a child. Either way, like I said, you can’t refuse. The life you’ve led has been worthless but at least you can do something useful for the pegasi with your death.”

“I will never, ever, do what you want me to do,” Steel Wing’s eyes were on fire as he stared down his grandfather.

“You should know you can’t intimidate me, Steel Wing,” Rolling Fog said. “And unless you want your friends to die you will do as I say. No harm will come to them if you complete your mission. If not, you don’t want to know what will happen.”

The threat against the first friends Steel Wing had ever made sent him into a chaotic mix of emotions. He wanted to attack his grandfather. He wanted to collapse. He wanted to run out of this room and go look for them. Lustrous and Trail Blazer weren’t just his wards anymore, they were his true friends. He couldn’t stand to see them hurt… but he couldn’t listen to his grandfather. Part of him knew that even if his grandfather was telling the truth of them not being harmed it would mean they likely would never leave this place. But what could he do? The pegasi here weren't random thugs, they all had martial training, and his grandfather wasn’t bluffing when he said he knew how to beat him. Rolling Fog had gotten older though, and Steel Wing has been training and fighting all kinds of other foes since. Steel Wing kept struggling with what he should do, he had to save his friends but could he take the risk while they were still already in captivity?

“Stop with your faux reservations and just get ready to go on the mission, you’ll be able to accomplish it with ease,” Rolling Fog told him, either oblivious or apathetic to Steel Wing’s internal struggle.

Steel Wing stood there, stock still, the red pegasus was stuck between another horrible decision. Another choice foisted upon him by his grandfather that could have grievous repercussions for Equestria. Something so cruel and without mercy that would resort in either his own grandson’s death or the death of his close friends. And Steel Wing couldn’t stand it.

“No,” He said. His jaw set in a tight frown and his eyes as hard as steel.

Rolling Fog looked at him, for the first time anger and surprise seemed to flash across his face. “No?”

“You heard me. I refuse to be your tool. And I won’t allow you to harm my friends either.”

The older pegasus scowled at his grandson. “Big words. We’ll see how long you keep saying that after the unicorn has his horn slowly cut off.”

Although that set a raging fire in Steel Wing’s heart the pegasus refused to be scared by such a threat. He was getting them all out of here right now even if he had to go through his grandfather.

And if there were any doubts or worries in Steel Wing’s mind about how this might get his friends hurt, providence then struck.

The door to the room busted open and a winded pegasus warrior came in with a nervous expression on his face. He saluted Rolling Fog and didn’t even seem to take notice of Steel Wing. “S-Sir, when Snowstorm went to give the prisoners their dinner they were gone!”

“What?!” Rolling Fog yelled.

Steel Wing on the other hand had a different reaction. Seeing his grandfather distracted his warrior instincts took hold and he dashed forward, clubbing Rolling Fog in the back of the head with the edge of his wing and knocking the old pegasus to the ground. The messenger pegasus saw this and reacted as quickly as he could, which was to say not nearly as quickly as Steel Wing. A single jab from his hoof was dodged and Steel Wing uppercutted him fiercely in the jaw, breaking several teeth and knocking him out cold.

“Steel Wing! You think you can escape?!” Rolling Fog yelled at him from behind as the old pegasus struggled to get back up, still hurt and disoriented from Steel Wing’s surprise attack.

But Steel Wing didn’t even bother paying attention, he flew through the open door and back down the curved tunnel, heading in the direction of the dungeon.

“Trail Blazer! Lustrous! If you can hear me I’m coming!”

“Now hold on, let’s not be too hasty here,” Lustrous said to the advancing squad of pegasi warriors. He and Trail Blazer had been searching for a way out but now found themselves at a dead end and surrounded. The warriors looked particularly angry at them and Lustrous was worried that they might not simply be thrown in a cell this time.

“I don’t think they’re gonna listen Lustrous,” Trail Blazer grumbled.

“Well… perhaps I can reason with them about how we’re in a beautiful new age and they should just embrace it already?” He grinned.

“I mean, if you want to get beat up even worse then be my guest,” She shrugged.

The guards advanced on them… until some shouting at the back of the tunnel reached their ears. The commotion of screams and loud sounds of fighting got the attention of everyone and a pegasi being thrown against a wall was the signal for the squad of warriors corralling Trail Blazer and Lustrous to turn and face this new threat. To no one’s surprise, Steel Wing rounded the corner into the tunnel, his face lighting up in joy when he saw his friends.

“Steel Wing!” Lustrous cried out.

It was all their pegasus friend needed to hear. He barreled into the warriors and tossed them aside like they were nothing. He felt stronger and more full of energy than ever before in his life. Maybe his grandfather had trained him to be a tool of assassination, but fighting to save his friends felt like his true calling. Pegasus after pegasus was thrown to the ground or beaten into submission, Steel Wing truly looked like a one-pony army.

After he got through the last of them he stopped in front of his friends and smiled.

“Well, I’m ready to leave if the both of you are?”

Trail Blazer and Lustrous both smiled back at him.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” The map pony said.

The three made their way back through the tunnels, going up to the main one that they had first entered from the outside. Along the way Trail Blazer and Lustrous got to see how many other pegasi Steel Wing had beat up on his way down here.

“This has not been a pleasant day...” Lustrous muttered, running behind his friends.

“It’ll be the best day ever if we can just get out of here in one piece,” Trail Blazer said back to him.

As they made it up to that first fork they could hear clamoring coming from above, Rolling Fog and whatever other forces he had with him were coming for them. The three adventurers quickened their pace and ran back to the entrance to this cave system so they could escape the hollowed hill. The two guards who had been stationed at the front entrance heard the commotion and were running in when they spotted Steel Wing. Steel Wing leaped between them and bucked one into the side of the cave while his wing clipped the other in the face, breaking his muzzle.

“That’s it, let’s go!” Steel Wing said and the three ran for it.

They saw the last vestiges of daylight as they made it back out of the cave they had so rudely been taken into just earlier in the day. The sun was setting but it was infinitely better than the torches and Lustrous had to blink a few times to get used to it.

“Now what?” Trail Blazer asked. “They’ll still probably chase us and all our stuff was left behind in that little forested area.”

Steel Wing paused, frowning. “I actually hadn’t been thinking that far ahead. I just wanted us to escape.”

“Well don’t worry, you aren’t escaping at all,” The voice of Rolling Fog came from behind the three and they turned to see the pegasus leading a dozen more warriors out from their hill base. He held a dagger in his hoof and was glaring dispassionately at his grandson. “It’s over Steel Wing. There are many more coming, I’ll give you one last chance to accept the mission. It’s more important than your life. And certainly your friends lives.”

“No, grandfather,” Steel Wing shook his head. “Just let us go.”

Rolling Fog’s expression didn’t change. “Are you really going to make me kill you?”

Trail Blazer and Lustrous both hid behind their pegasus friend, the two looking at the back of his head and wondering what was going through his mind right now.

“You’re welcome to try,” Steel Wing finally answered.

“You know you can’t fight me, that’s why you didn’t do anything when we first caught you,” Rolling Fog said as he stepped closer, brandishing his knife.

“It’s been a long time since you trained me.”

Steel Wing was confident but on the inside he knew he couldn’t beat his grandfather in a straight fight. But he was a pony willing to sacrifice.

Rolling Fog lurched forward with a lightning quickness that one would never expect from a pony his age, the dagger aimed right at Steel Wing’s chest. When you have speed and the reflexes to counter anything your opponent might do the simplest of attacks is usually the best. So Steel Wing didn’t try and dodge or counter attack. He blocked.

His left wing was brought forward in front of his chest and the knife of his grandfather slashed straight through the membrane and feathers, slicing across his bone. It hurt, but Steel Wing didn’t wince. He pulled his wing down to drive the dagger towards the ground and brought his head forward, headbutting his grandfather hard right between the eyes.

A resounding crack filled the ears of all the other ponies and Rolling Fog collapsed in a heap at Steel Wing’s hooves.

His wing was shaking and dripping blood, the knife still embedded inside it, but he now turned to the other pegasi warriors.

“Who’s next?”

Against common thieves or outlaws that threat probably would’ve worked. But against warriors such as these Steel Wing was now out of luck. They had seen what he did to their comrades and their leader, but they vastly outnumbered Steel Wing and he was injured. Not to mention the fact that they simply weren’t the type to run away scared and wanted revenge. The dozen warriors steadily approached their targets and from behind them in the cave Steel Wing could make out the sound of more coming.

“Is this it?” Lustrous asked Trail Blazer as his legs trembled.

“I dunno, there’s no way for us to run away...” She answered, a frown on her face.

Steel Wing backed up so he could stand in front of his friends. Whatever happened now they would face it together.

“STOP!”

The powerful voice came down from the heavens, causing all those on the ground to look up.

Dozens of armored pegasi came flying down from the sky, surrounding the warriors under the command of Rolling Fog. In the low light of the evening their shiny new armor glistened, showing off how unused it was. Their rescuers were the warriors of the new Equestria. The three adventurers gaped in awe at what was happening, and who they saw next.

Like an angel descending with the last rays of sun shining off her brilliantly white body a large Alicorn floated down into the middle of the chaos.

Lustrous and Steel Wing were in sheer disbelief. The enemy warriors seemed dumbstruck as well.

Only Trail Blazer could find her voice as she looked at one of the rulers of Equestria.

“Princess Celestia.”