Committed!

Chapters

Episode Two: Vi Et Animo
Dramatis Personæ: Prelude, Part 1
Dramatis Personæ: Prelude, Part 2
Dramatis Personæ: Risio, Part 1
Episode One: Ex Libris, Ad Mundi
Aut Viam Faciam! (a.k.a. I Will Make a Way!)

Episode Two: Vi Et Animo

Canvas Shade lay awake upon his saddlebag in solitude, pondering continuously over how he would always wake up on his back after falling asleep on his front. There was a calming rustle in the leaves amidst the silence of morning, thanks to a soft breeze that graced the forest. The unicorn daydreamed about the impending journey, mind wandering to the farthest reaches of Equestria. However, the jarring echo of a broken tree pierced the quietude of early dawn, disrupting the colt’s thoughts. Canvas lifted his head in curiosity without budging the rest of his body. But when the unicorn returned to his original position, there was a sudden and very loud snapping of another tree, followed by a stag jumping into the clearing. The deer nearly knocked Canvas from his rudimentary bed in a frenzied bolt for the opposite side. Soon the faster, more precise steps of a confident predator joined the hoofsteps.

Nyvena leapt from amidst the foliage with outstretched forelegs and claws. Time seemed to slow down for Canvas as he witnessed her flawless landing with awe. Watching the rippling muscles in all four of her legs, along with the stony determination in her face made him silently thank Celestia that he was neither her enemy nor prey. Without warning, his admiration was interrupted by her whip-like tail swiping him clear off of his saddlebags. The sound of shattering glass and another vivid flash of golden light appeared where her tail would have collided with his muzzle. The unicorn lay on his back meters away, dazed. He was certainly relieved, although asking himself how his face and teeth were still intact.

The answer lay in the form of mysterious golden shards scattered all around Canvas. His mind blocked out all that was happening around him as he cautiously reached toward the magical substance. However, it dissipated before his hoof could touch it. Canvas briefly cried out in agony as the sting of magical overexertion sent waves of pain through the unicorn’s head. Fortunately it did not last very long, so that he could finally relax.

I… made this? Could it be what saved me from Nyvena’s fire? He whispered to himself before trickles of warm blood jetted onto his cheek broke the self-induced trance. “AAH! GROSS,” he yelped while leaping to his hooves and darting to the nearest tree to off the deer blood that splattered onto his coat. But as soon as he finished, the poor unicorn was met with the horrifying sight of the deer, hanging limp from Nyvena’s mouth by its neck. Canvas was never squeamish at the sight of blood, but such a violent demise of a fellow herbivore was enough to make his legs collapse from under him.

That’s probably what would happen if I anger her! What if there is nothing else to hunt and it’s only me who’s around?! I’m screwed!

Nyvena brusquely dropped her catch when speaking. “Surely this is not the first time you have seen a carnivore hunt! Ugh, why am I even asking that? Look at you!”

Canvas grew aggravated by the dragon’s derision. His frustration was made clear by a much louder tone. “No, we ponies don’t particularly see that kind of thing as a normal occurrence, Kenanshar!”

He quickly realized his mistake when the bloodstained huntress stepped toward him in a menacing fashion. Her pupils were narrowed, and a quiet rumble was in her voice. “I do not believe you are in the position to raise your voice, Little Horned One!” The slightest of smirks betrayed her indignant façade. After all, she did take pleasure in scaring the unicorn half to death.

Canvas cringed; he could smell the sickening aroma of the half-dried blood on Nyvena’s maw. Once again his tone shifted from emboldened to meek, but much quicker than the last time. “I-I’m sorry.” He relaxed with a sigh once she snorted and returned her focus to the deer carcass.

“That is quite better.” Nyvena chuckled to herself, relishing in her new position of authority. At least there would be some enjoyment with having Canvas around—besides, he could make a nice plaything for her children when they hatched. But that was a matter for another time.

Canvas’ appetite, however, went out the window when the difficult dragon resumed her noisy eating. He found it a challenge to keep his stomach contents down, much less add to them. The uneasy colt quickly changed the subject, lest he complain and offend Nyvena—and even possibly share the deer’s fate. “So, I think I’ll go into town. It’ll take me a few hours, but we should be able to catch some good daylight when we leave.”

With a dismissive flick of the wrist, the ravenous dragon nodded, keeping her attention on her food without so much as looking away from it. Canvas hated feeling ignored, so he snorted and trotted away without saying anything further. As he sauntered back to Baltimare, the art pony could not help but second-guess his hasty decision to travel with a creature with such an abrasive personality.

***

For a few seconds, Gold Rush the jeweler simply stared with his jaws slightly ajar. In front of the off-white Pegasus stallion were two ancient coins of the purest platinum and three of solid gold, all laid out in a neat row. Beside them were an emerald, ruby, and diamond of a quality that rivaled some of the best jewels in the shop. The small pile of treasure both puzzled and fascinated Mr. Rush the more he examined each piece. It pained Canvas that he could not just tell where he acquired the objects. After all, a low-income pony with an unkempt mane, disheveled coat, and priceless valuables in a partially burnt saddlebag would seem quite lacking in legitimacy at first glance. Fortunately, Canvas had never been in trouble with the law. But he silently conceded that his record might not last long if misunderstandings prevailed.

With a very audible ping, the jeweler set his metal refractometer onto the glass counter, with a rather cynical glance. “I’ll be straight with you, Mister…”

“Canvas is just fine.”

“Canvas. I don’t know how you got jewels that would make Rarity of Carousel Boutique trade her horn for, and I’m not going to ask. These are untraceable because they are older than Celestia herself!”

At that, Canvas imagined the circumstances under which the original owner was might have been forced to part with the small bit of wealth. “That’s quite fascinating, Mr. Rush,” was all he could think to respond with.

The Pegasus shook his head while awkwardly scratching his ruby-red mane. “I don’t have enough to give you for all of this. All I have on me right now are 5,000 bits, and I can take only one of these coins off your hooves.”

The art pony was certainly not a beggar, but he knew that he could not be a chooser, regardless. His worried expression gave way to a glowing smile. “That would be just fine, sir.”

“I don’t want to make any negative assumptions, so it’s best that you don’t show up with any more of this stuff. Authorities are keeping a close eye on jewels and artifacts, now that the Triumvirate has been exposed.”

The Triumvirate… that word had been uttered on the Baltimare airwaves more than the infamous Canterlot wedding and Grand Galloping Gala of three years ago, combined. However, Canvas was not fond of the news, especially since there were so many other things he could be doing with that time than to have depressing current events narrated to him. He felt too embarrassed to ask what this ‘Triumvirate’ was exactly, so he let the topic pass over. “I’ll keep that in mind, Sir.”

“So, I hope your saddlebags can handle this,” the jeweler said with noticeable strain while heaving the contents of his cash register over the counter.

Canvas expertly slipped his head under the straps and placed the carriers onto the counter to help facilitate the transaction. “Not to worry. These can handle pretty much anything.”

“All things considered, you made a very fortunate find. I appreciate your visit,” Gold Rush said with hesitant geniality, sliding one of the ageless coins toward himself with a hoof.

***

Panting at his apartment door sometime later, Canvas learned the hard way that his saddlebags could handle much more than his body could. He was not obese by any standard, but a lack of regular exercise certainly did not help his cause. The unicorn reeled at the thought of going to other jewelers all over town to redeem the rest of his treasure piece by piece. The exhausted pony bucked the door shut with a single hind hoof, then collapsed onto the hardwood floor without taking off his burden. After a few minutes of catching his breath, Canvas spotted an empty drawer and proceeded to empty the golden contents of his saddlebag. Afterwards he staggered into the cramped washroom for a much-needed shower.

The steady thrum of the water upon Canvas’ back lulled his mind into a state of comfort for the first time since his last shower. The relaxed unicorn exited the steamy room toweling his mane firmly using both his horn and hooves before jumping onto the sofa. A sudden thump from beside the couch compelled him to look over the side where it had landed.

Ah, yes, that…

Canvas gingerly placed the heavy portfolio onto the cushions, staring at the folders and parchment inside with regret. “I won’t be seeing you for a while, will I?” He sighed and turned away from the sofa with a depressed groan.

But wait…! He shouted in his mind with an expression bordering on an epiphany. Canvas slowly turned to his collection once more. He hugged the black portfolio as if it were somepony close to his heart. How could I have missed it, even for a second?! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for unparalleled inspiration for my story! I’m traveling with a dragon, for Luna’s sake! My work will be known all over Equestria, for sure! A clever smile grew across his muzzle. There would be so much that could be accomplished with this journey that his mind raced faster than the Wonderbolts in their Derby. Canvas pulled out his last good quill to jot down a list on the back of a discarded drawing. After finishing with that, the temporarily vigorous colt pulled out a fresh piece of paper to write the note that would be left for the land-pony. The quill moved so fast that its feather was nearly bare by the time he was finished. Equipped with just enough bits to get all that he needed, Canvas headed straight for Mr. Hue’s art supply shop as fast as possible (without putting himself through heart failure, of course).

Inside the shop, there were no customers or helpers at the time, so Mr. Hue decided to rearrange some of the products to stave off boredom. The shopkeeper jolted slightly when hearing an enthused Canvas burst through the front doors. He exhaled quietly with a hoof upon his chest to calm himself before greeting his first customer of the day.

“Oh, it’s you, Coffee. But… two days in a row? From the look of that smile, it seems that you caught your big break!”

“You could say that, Mr. Hue… you might not be seeing me for a while, though.” Canvas replied while sprinting throughout the shop, searching high and low for specific items. Hardcover-bound lockable sketchpad, 100-count colored pencils, waterproof stationery set for travel, griffon-feather quills… A golden aura surrounded the items as he listed them under his breath.

Mr. Hue tilted his head slightly with a look of concern, rather than mutual enthusiasm. And he was downright shocked when noticing that the unicorn’s signature sunglasses were missing. Figuring that it would be a subject too sensitive to pry, the earth pony sticks to the topic at hoof. “Is it that big? Are you traveling or something?”

“Yes, I am,” replied Canvas with a detached quietness.

“Might I ask where to?” Said the shopkeeper, trying his best to keep products from crashing to the floor each time the overly focused unicorn bumped past them.

“Sorry, I can’t say. My… patron would rather not have anypony know.”

The hesitant response raised red flags for Mr. Hue. “I don’t like what’s going on here. What aren’t you telling me?”

Canvas’ hooves skidded to a stop upon the linoleum tile. His eye twitched ever so slightly before hanging his head with a sigh. “I… wish I could tell you everything, Mr. Hue. It’s just better if you don’t know.” The shopkeeper was the closest thing to a paternal influence in the fatherless unicorn’s life. A pang of guilt surged through Canvas’ conscience for having to hide the details of Nyvena and everything relating to her.

“Canvas Shade,” Mr. Hue stepped closer to him and placed a somber hoof upon his shoulder, “you’ve let me in on everything that’s troubled you. Heck, you talk with me more than my own son does. But if you go and do anything reckless, I’d rather know now than find out from an obituary.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t this time… but I’ll be careful, I promise, Sir.”

“You’d better. If you get killed, I swear by Celestia, I’ll haunt your spirit!”

Canvas chuckled heartily, “That makes no sense, Mr. Hue. Thanks for being here for me. I promise that I’ll come see you as soon as I get back, to let you know that I’m okay.”

The shopkeeper chuckled also, with a joking tone, “And to purchase more of my fine products as well, right?”

“Heh, I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else.”

***

Later that day:

After a long eight hours of handling of the rest of his errands, Canvas returned to the clearing to find Nyvena lying on her side. She picked her teeth with a jagged bone out of boredom, and the end of her tail thumped with utmost impatience. “The sun is almost in the western sky, Little Horned One!” She growled.

“My name is Canvas, Miss Kenanshar,” he replied with forced politeness.

“I am not that familiar with you.”

“Can’t you at least call me ‘Shade,’ if we’re not on first name terms? ‘Shade’ sounds much cooler!”

Nyvena smirks cleverly. “That is where there your logic falters. You must be ‘cool’ for me to deem it an appropriate name.”

“Ugh, then can’t you call me ‘Unicorn,’ or something generic like that? Surely there’s a better name than ‘Little Horned One!’” He countered with gritted teeth.

“If there is, you must earn it. But I suppose that ‘Unicorn’ will do for now.”

This dragon is impossible! Canvas scoffed to himself while holding in his frustrations. “Shall we get going, then?”

Without warning, she rose to her feet and snapped her wings open. Canvas had to jump back to avoid the tips of her bladelike feathers. For such a small dragon, her wingspan was nothing to laugh at, as it covered nearly half the width of the clearing. Nyvena craned her head backward impatiently, “Well, are you not coming?”

“Wait, aren’t you going to fly while I follow you on hoof, or something?” Canvas was very unsure of himself. Flying with a dragon was always one of those unattainable dreams. However, it did not seem likely to him that Nyvena would be willing to let him travel with her in such a manner. The unicorn suppressed a smile of both joy and anxiety.

“Not if we want to cover significant distance. This is not easy for me to do, but I will do anything for my children,” replied Nyvena with valiance. Canvas could not help but admire her devotion as he climbed onto the dragon’s back by way of her tail. He took off the saddlebags and gingerly placed them between his hooves and her scales to serve as padding. The art pony’s muscles tensed up, expecting anything but a smooth ride. However, he was not ready for the sudden upward jolt as Nyvena pushed off of the ground. His lower jaw collided with a force that nearly knocked him out. Fortunately, the saddlebags provided an effective buffer.

Her wings made a loud ‘whoosh’ each time she moved them up and down, along with a visible shockwave of dust and leaves below. Nyvena tucked her forelegs close to her body while maneuvering her legs like ballasts. The long tail behind them provided a rudder for nearly unmatched agility for when such would be needed. In the meantime, Canvas held on with his entire body. He braced himself for an abrupt increase in speed, but surprisingly, the forward motion was pleasantly gradual. Despite her brazen disposition, she was quite the graceful flier, finding currents to glide on ever so meticulously. He let his head rest upon the saddle, but felt her blue eyes looking at him.

“Yes, Miss Kenanshar?”

“I am curious: surely my metals and jewels were more than enough to replace what you lost, and with much left over. Why are your carriers so light?” She raised an eye ridge inquiringly.

“I’d rather travel light for when I have to walk long ways. If I tried selling all of those pieces, I would’ve been in town for days. I brought ar—er… travel supplies, food, and about 50 bits to spare, but I have the rest of the treasure with me, just in case.”

“And your dark-spectacles?”

Canvas grinned excitedly. “I’ll put them on when we get to our first stop. They’re really an improvement over the last ones!”

“As long as it will help you focus on our task,” she huffed with disinterest.

Buying the new shades was the highlight of his day, and he was sure to not let her detachment dampen his excitement. “I-WHOAAA!!” Before he could complete the retort, Nyvena executed a swift barrel roll nearly as fast as a blink of an eye. The motion nearly gave him whiplash, but the only thing lost was the unicorn’s composure.

“I… apologize. There were birds headed our way.”

“And there was no alternative to that?!” he shouted over the wind noise with labored breaths.

“You are still upon my back, are you not? By the stars, I have had prey that complains less than you.”

Before the exhausted unicorn could say anything further, he swooned and fell forward with a painful thump on her scales. The impact finished off what remained of his ability to stay awake. Nyvena let out a relieved sigh. “At least he will not be complaining about how I do every single thing. My own parents did not nag as much!”

***

Canvas slowly opened his eyes to an evening sky tinged with red. He slowly arose to a sitting position and rubbed his head, wondering why he was so close to a sheer drop. However, the pure splendor of the land beyond the cliff captivated his awe as soon as he noticed it. Never before had he seen such a beautiful, immeasurable landscape. Lain out like a vast bed sheet was the intense red clay of the mountainous Macintosh Hills. Highlights of bright orange from the setting sun added a sublime depth to textured reds and browns of every sort. Even the reds and purples of the cloudless sunset sky reflected the radiance of the mountain range. It was a sight more than worthy of being drawn, and luckily, the saddlebag was placed within reach of the magic from his horn. Canvas pulled out a rugged jar of black ink and a griffon feather quill, one of the most rare and travel-proof writing tools available in Equestria. Levitating with it was a sketchbook bound with the strongest of acacia wood native to the San Palomino Desert. The small mechanism holding the book closed unlatched, the wind flipping over the cover and a few pages. Just before the quill could be dipped, a bone-chilling roar pierced through the tranquility.

He slammed his hoof on the ground in annoyance while audibly shouting to himself. “Ugh, can’t I get a moment of peace with this creature around?!”

“Unicorn! Get over here! We’re moving out!” The dragon called out from behind a giant outcropping very audibly, and very furiously. The uneasy unicorn quickly slammed the book and stuffed the art supplies into his saddlebag, intent on not letting her see him unfocused on the task at hoof.

“Coming, Miss K.!” He donned his saddlebags and followed the sound of her movements. Who he approached was not the ill-tempered reptile he was expecting. In front of him was a grieving mother on the verge of an emotional breakdown, leaning upon the rock formation with her head lowered. She sat upon a claw-made crater lined with once-soft dirt. The peak of the outcropping stood imposingly over the west side of the nest, with a tapering wall encompassing most of the circumference. The wall gradually reduced to an opening that would face the eastern sun. This structure took most of the damage with claw gashes and burn marks all over its surface, clear signs of Nyvena defending against very powerful unicorn magic.

“No clues… we must move on.” She said in a much quieter tone.

“If I may ask, what is this place?” Inquired Canvas with a compassionate softness.

“This was my home.”

“It certainly is a beautiful place to raise a family.” He quickly looked around to see if he could spot any other dragon nests in the area. Thankfully, there were none in plain sight, at least.

Nyvena looked into the sky broodingly, speaking quietly as if talking to herself. “I wanted to raise a family in serenity, away from the bad influences of my kind. I wanted my children to come into this world and see its beauty from the very start. But now that is impossible. There is no telling what they intend for my children.”

A certain question ate away at Canvas ever since Nyvena told him about her eggs being stolen. Despite the risk of an outburst, the question needed to be asked, nonetheless. “Wasn’t their father around to help you?”

The word ‘father’ made the mournful dragon cringe and bare her teeth. “Without the decency of even a warning, their father… Feoras… left us only days prior. That made easy work for the thieves. The sort of magic I can do could not counter the power of theirs.” Nyvena lowered her body to stand on all fours as she calmly exited the nest. He climbed onto her back once more and looked back. He wondered if the abandoned nest would ever be a happy home.

***

As they flew, it briefly occurred to Canvas to ask where they were going next. But he quickly decided against it. After all, Nyvena showed a side of herself that he did not know existed, and he thought it best to not burden her with more questions. His eyes welled up with tears as he laid upon the saddlebags as painful recollections of Mahogany, his father’s, unforeseen desertion came to the fore. Canvas remembered the times when he speculated that it was something he did or said to cause his father to leave—all the times of sobbing in the darkness, asking himself why he could not have a complete family like other foals. Why did so many fathers have to hurt their families like this? Was Canvas just not worth it for Mahogany? Were Nyvena and her children not reason enough for Feoras to be a good father? The self-loathing colt covered his face with both hooves, silently sobbing until falling asleep upon the dragon’s back once again.

Nyvena watched the clouds pass by in the distance as Luna’s slowly waxing moonlight illuminated Equestria. It was enough to allow for safe flight, so she decided to keep going as long as it persisted. The winds were calm and there were no storms in the distance. Furthermore, she could sense Canvas dozing off so that she could be left to her meditations. It was the kind of night that any dragon could enjoy—that is, if she knew that her eggs were safe. For a second, Nyvena turned her gaze behind her to the slumbering pony. A twinge of gratitude surged through her heart for a moment, but she still maintained the stony façade.

***

The next morning:

Canvas awoke with a start and a slight yelp of pain. He found himself tightly nestled within a curled-up Nyvena, and the blood flow was cut off from the lower half of his body. The constricted colt struggled out of the tight coils before still sleeping dragoness stirred with a groan. He covered his mouth with both hooves, hoping to not awaken Nyvena. Canvas continued with slow, discrete movements when she calmed down. As soon as he could peek from under her wings, he gasped at the wicked location in which they had slept. The light of dawn could barely penetrate the thick canopy of the marshy forest. Low hanging vines and sheets of moss hung from nearly every surface, adding to the swamp’s ominous atmosphere. The stagnant water surrounding the stone plateau they rested on bubbled with swamp gas that replaced Canvas’ hunger pangs with nausea.

Fortunately, there were patches of ground that looked solid enough for walking around on. Canvas carefully pulled his second hind leg free, but it released with a lurch that sent him tumbling to lower ground. After shaking his mane free of dirt and mud, he proceeded to pace back and forth to get the feeling back in his hind legs. Wondrous creatures—most of which he could only study in books before—crossed his path and flown overhead, but there was no feeling of awe. An eerie shiver coursed through his spine as he realized that the animals were fleeing from an abysmally dark area across the water. It was a unnerving tunnel-like formation of trees where the light filtering through the rest of the canopy could not reach. There was not much solid land in front of the entrance, but Canvas could see the faint outlines of rather large footsteps leading from there into the murky waters.

An alligator, perhaps… a rather large alligator? The discordant sounds of the swamp threw off the apprehensive colt’s train of thought. He shook his head several times in an attempt to remember what he was thinking about before. The colt’s attention was stuck on that area that the native fauna seemed to fear. Canvas could have sworn that he heard voices coming from that direction, and his muscles began to lock up out of rising fear.

There’s something about this place… can’t even think straight! He carefully inched toward the still-slumbering Nyvena without taking his eyes off of the impossibly dark cove. He reached out to nudge her awake, before—

GRRRRRRAWRRR—CRASH!

“WHAT IN THE—AAAAUGH!”

Like an electric blue flash of lightning, a large flying creature sprung forth from the cove. Using his hind legs and rapid reflexes, Canvas propelled himself backward in just enough time to avoid the set of jaws that snapped shut in front of him. He could see the streak of gleaming teeth as he tried to regain his bearings. The creature, which was considerably larger than Nyvena skidded to a stop, gouging two deep trenches into the semi-solid mud. The dragon’s striking blue scales were of a radiance that made it look out of place in its home of greens and browns. The formidable body was at least twice as large as Nyvena with a lean build. Instead of horns, its head was covered in webbed fins, forming a crest that tapered along its back. The wings matched its fin-like design with the same color of sea foam green as the webbing. The monster glanced back at Canvas with a voracious look in its eyes while slowly doubling back.

The colt could not keep his fearful gaze off of the menacing eyes as he unsuccessfully grasped at his saddlebags with frenzied surges of magic. He muttered to himself in an attempt to coax the mysterious magical barrier that saved him twice before. “Come on, golden shield… thing! If there’s any time I need you, it. Is. Now!!”

Meanwhile, Nyvena’s head snapped upward in response to the ruckus near to her. Just like any dragon, she hated to be disturbed from her rest. Small bursts of flame arose from her nostrils as she spoke. “Unicorn!! Do you MIND?!—!” The dragoness had only milliseconds to turn around before a second dragon attacked from behind. His scales were red-orange like the setting sun, and its limbs were almost as wide as Nyvena’s torso. The body was slightly bulkier than his blue-scaled cohort. Large black horns sat atop its head and spiraled around stubby, partially torn ear-fins. He held her wrists together and roughly placed his hind foot upon the small of her back. With an outraged gasp she fell onto the same plateau where she was resting only seconds ago. The draconic brigand let out a sultry, confident growl through its clenched triangular teeth.

Despite the circumstances, Nyvena maintained a calm tone of voice and did not bother to struggle. “I will ask of you once, and only once, to release me.” However, her captor only tightened his grip defiantly and laughed.

“You shoulda considered a better travel partner than a pathetic unicorn, haha!”

Canvas saw that Nyvena’s strength did not come close to matching that of either dragon. Never before had the colt felt so hopeless; he could not even find the strength or faculties to run. The blue dragon caught Canvas by the hind leg in only three quick strides. He held his prey upside down and lifted him to eye-level. The slit pupils and green-tinted eyes looked as if they want to devour his soul and not just his body. Canvas was convinced that there would be no sign of the unintentional burst of magic from before, no matter how much he begged for it to appear just one more time.

“Thanks for being so easy to catch, you stupid equine!” the dragon sneered with a smooth yet malevolent tone. He spread his wings to intimidate the unicorn even further. Canvas whimpered, not being able to see Nyvena, who was the only hope for their survival.

Suddenly the scratchy voice of his accomplice called out to him. “Sc-ACK! Scrawl, I-I… can’t… she’s-UGH!”

“Quit flirting with the female, Gnaw! Drown her so we can eat in peace!” growled Scrawl with a roll of the eyes.

The cruel command sent adrenaline surging through Canvas. “That isn’t even necessary! Why would you do that to one of your own?! Don’t do this!!”

Scrawl shrugged and apathetically ignored the pleas of his quarry. “This is taking much to long. Gnaw, end her!”

Part of Canvas wanted to simply concede to his fate, but another part still longed for a way out. ‘Nyvena, you can get past him! You’re stronger than this!’ he thought over and over with his eyes shut tight. There were several heavy splashes caused by the two reptilian bodies, followed by a painful thump and the loud crackle of snapping wood. Quadruped footsteps joined Scrawl soon afterward.

That was it. His mind could not take it any longer. Their journey had ended, along with Nyvena and himself soon to follow. Just… whatever. I don’t care anymore. I shouldn’t even be alive right now, anyway. Just make it—

BRRRRRRRAK!!

FWUMP…

Canvas felt the grip around his hind leg suddenly release. He quickly used a weak magical force field to lessen the impact, but the fall still hurt quite a bit. When the stars in his vision cleared away, he could see Nyvena standing on her hind legs. She was hunched over and breathing heavily with a heavy tree branch firmly held in both paws. She drew back all the way, with the end of the branch touching the ground before swinging one more time. The heavy impact upon Scrawl’s head echoed throughout the marshes. Nyvena’s breaths sounded almost feral as she clung to her weapon for a few seconds. But she quickly regained her composure and released the branch.

Meters behind them, Gnaw lay unconscious on his back beside the rocky platform where he held the mother dragon. A deep indentation on the edge of the plateau was evidence of how hard she had slammed Gnaw’s head into the stone. Meanwhile, Scrawl was still breathing, but his body did not so much as twitch. His pointed tongue lolled from the slightly open muzzle, and his eyes were half-closed in a way that was quite comical to the art pony.

“How’d you get away from Gnaw?! That was incredible!” he inquired excitedly while jumping up and down.

Nyvena swayed her tail with self-satisfaction. “This tail of mine has its uses other than for flying. His neck was thick, but not too thick to strangle—” She paused to gasp as her attention shifted to Canvas, who was suddenly hugging her around the torso. At first her paw wanted to shove him away, but instead she patted his head with a nervous chortle. “Now, there is no need for that, Unicorn.”

Canvas raised his sight to meet hers. “Are you kidding? I can’t thank you enough!”

“Thank me? I only did what it made sense to do,” objected Nyvena with crossed forelegs.

“Of course! I gave up so quickly, but you pulled through! Even if I was in your position, I don’t know if I could have pulled off what you did.” Canvas released the hug, and his saddlebag levitated toward him so he could slip it on once again—his way of saying ‘let’s get the hay out of here, ASAP!’

This had puzzled Nyvena. It was never in a dragon’s nature to thank one another, as far as she knew. She certainly had never been thanked for anything before. Although her instinct called for spurning the gratitude, the relenting dragon found that she was not as willing to do so. Although it was just to be polite, Nyvena returned Canvas’ smile for the first time since they had met.

Now, what was that expression that ponies would say in response…?

“You’re… welcome, Unicorn.”

Dramatis Personæ: Prelude, Part 1

An hour and a half after departing Dodge City Junction:

“I’ll definitely have to thank Absinthe for all this if we stop in Vanhoover! I’d be wrecked if I had to go this alone. But I have Cherry Jubilee with me!” Canvas whispered. He exhaled loudly after finishing the cherry juice. A smile of enjoyment lingered on the unicorn’s face as he slipped the empty container into one of the satchels at his side. For the first time in days his belly was pleasantly distended, which allowed him to forget about the congealing injury on his head. Fortunately, the drink’s sublime flavor helped free Canvas from the lightheaded state of mind in which he left the Junction.

Moonlight washed over the open territory as the last of the sunlight was completely submerged into the west. The absence of the lethal noonday sunlight allowed Canvas to focus on other things. However, being alone with his thoughts with no radio and not more to do than trudge across open wasteland was not necessarily a good thing. The unicorn found it difficult to get the dream about Nyvena out of his head. Every moment, every strange detail from that dream was etched into his memory. He was not too sure about Absinthe either. In fact, ever since his talk with Ingot, a nascent fear of earth ponies plagued his mind.

The art pony shook his head and reassured himself, “No… I can’t obsess over that! Earth ponies aren’t the enemy. The Triumvirate is!”

But which ones ARE Triumvirate? If they’re so secretive, then I can’t be 100% sure, now can I? Not to mention, it really IS within Nyvena’s power to simply forget about me when she gets her children back. Whatever happens, I’m as good as stranded… or dead. Canvas paused to realize how dark and cynical his thoughts had become. The colt stamped his hoof with resolution and declared out loud this time, “No! Some other dragon would do that—not her! She wants to be better than that… for herself AND her children! That’s more noble then most ponies I’ve come across!”

The loud whoosh of giant flapping wings followed by a cloud of dust rushed past him from behind. “I am glad you think so.”

Canvas’ heart leapt into his throat, and for several seconds his body stood like a statue. He was flush with embarrassment, “So, you… heard that. Lovely.”

Nyvena laid on her front and crossed her forelegs with arched eye ridges and a sardonic grin. “Do ponies usually speak with themselves?”

“If they do, they’re usually not careless enough to let others hear it.” He sighed and turned toward the dragoness.

To his surprise, Nyvena gasped in shock at the gaping wound and dried blood above the colt’s left eye, “Good heavens, what happened to you?!” she inquired with a maternal tone.

Canvas’ looked down as he paused to recollect. He had forgotten about the injury since the pain went away, and the hardened blood under it lost its warmth an hour ago. “Took a fall onto some railroad tracks. But it’s no big deal. I can’t even…” his speech slowed as the dragoness slowly leaned toward him, “feel it…” Assuming that Nyvena had finally given into her carnivorous instincts, Canvas braced himself for anything. But what the colt felt on his forehead made his fur bristle. “Miss K., what’re you—ohh…!” The bemused unicorn slowly relaxed when something warm and moist touched his forehead.

The dragoness’ tongue was pressed firmly upon his head wound. She gently licked upwards, the sensation of the velvety muscle making the unicorn shudder with half-closed eyes. Nyvena noticed one of his hind hooves tapping the ground, and then her head snapped back when sparks began to fly from Canvas’ horn. “What are you doing, Unicorn?!”

Canvas gasped sharply and straightened his posture when he snapped out of the delighted haze. “I… um… well, what were you doing?” he retorted defensively. “Do you dragons really just put your tongue on others without—whoa…!” A faint tingle on the spot that Nyvena licked stopped Canvas rant in its tracks. The saliva permeated his skin, replacing the unsightly cut with an inconspicuous scar. In a matter of seconds, the dried blood flaked away as if it was never there.

“The saliva of my kind has curative properties while others’ are venomous and corrosive. Go figure.” Nyvena sat on her haunches, looking to the side crossly. “You are welcome, by the way.”

“Well, that’s great, as dragon spit goes… and, well, your tongue feels really good—” Canvas shook his head and hurriedly put on a façade of indifference at which Nyvena could not help but giggle. “A prior explanation would be nice, though!”

“Sure it would,” Nyvena replied sardonically while she returned to her natural quadruped stance. Her wings unfurled once more, the feathers reflecting every shade of blue from the moonlight. “On to more important matters, we will discuss what you learned as we fly.”

“Sure thing.”

The HUD floated from Canvas’ saddlebag and nestled onto his head. The colt promptly climbed onto Nyvena’s back to avoid the short-tempered dragoness’ impatience. Beyond the glowing words projected inches from his eyes, The art pony stared at the dry, lonely vista. The literal night-and-day difference of the nighttime desert panorama made him long to stay for a little while longer. There were so many things to draw, so many colors that he never experienced in his city life. He let out an unhappy sigh while Nyvena below him flexed her wings in preparation for the long flight ahead.

“I’m online and ready to go. let’s get the hay out of here before the sun catches up with us…”

***

In the deep hours of the night all of Equestria was embraced by Luna’s splendor. The half moon shined boldly over the land, as if its radiance tried to compete with its sister the sun. Everything the light could reach was illuminated in the same blue highlights as Nyvena’s feathers and scales. Canvas felt as if Princess Luna herself watched and protected them. The warm air currents that had long since circulated upward from sea level kept the dragoness and pony warm in an otherwise freezing altitude. The two discussed Canvas’ findings at length, and he adjusted the navigation coordinates to Ponyville accordingly.

When the time came to mention who was most likely responsible for raiding and stealing her beloved eggs, the unicorn knew that he had to tread lightly—but not before applying a magical adhesive to his hooves to secure him upon her back, just in case. But as expected, all bets were off when he told her of the Triumvirate’s dragon egg-stealing exploits (despite the very careful way in which he broke the news to her). A tremendous roar from the infuriated mother dragon created a shockwave that obliterated any clouds within a radius of several meters. Without warning, Nyvena then darted forward with a speed that gave Canvas a level of whiplash he did not think was possible.

“I’LL KILL THEM! I’LL KILL ALL OF THEM!!”

Canvas’ front hoof darted around the straps of his saddlebags and secured the satchels to his body. The colt then strengthened the magical adhesive so that any future sudden changes of acceleration would not cause him to slip off entirely. “I know you’re angry. I am too—they’re shamelessly imitating unicorn magic and using it for evil… but surely your anger can be a tad more quiet?” he pleaded with a loud whisper while waiting for the high-pitched ring in his ears to fade into silence.

Nyvena’s heavy breaths left bursts of flame trailing behind her as she spoke with rage-filled snarls, “I swear by my ancestors, I will roast them on a spit! I will drain their blood into a chalice, and—”

The dragoness’ grotesque oaths made the unicorn shut his eyes tight and shudder. He sifted through his mind for something that would get her to not wake all of Equestria. “But there is good news, though! The pony I spoke with suggested that we try to get the Elements of Harmony to help!”

“You mean the ones who expelled my cousin from his home in the Smoky Mountains when he was only trying to hibernate?”

“I wouldn’t put it that way… besides, they’re the most powerful ponies next to the Princesses when they work together, and they’re all right at home in Ponyville. That’s where Splash and Danger will be passing through. We’ll finally have the advantage!”

Nyvena facepawed and groaned in despair. The survival of her children was on the line, and the very last thing she wanted was to depend on even more ponies. She almost asked aloud how things could be worse. But she changed her mind and decided to not tempt fate, as it would most likely win. “Very well. I will at least try.”

Relieved that her temper simmered down within only a few minutes, Canvas turned over to recline between the dragoness’ wings. He noticed that Nyvena flew only a couple of feet underneath a wispy cloud, and the art pony had an interesting idea. His hoof tentatively skimmed along the underside of the delicate Cirrus cloud. The clouds’ refreshing coolness combined with the rising atmospheric heat thrilled him in a way that he never before experienced. The unicorn grinned as he recalled his longing to touch a cloud since his winged peers from grade school tried to make him think that he would never achieve such an aspiration. Canvas yearned to see the dumbfounded faces of the Pegasi responsible for helping make his younger years a social and emotional misery. But the dreamlike moment expelled negative thoughts, persuading his mind into a state of relaxation and marvel. Perhaps Nyvena was wrong—maybe their quest did not have to be entirely miserable. Not when there was so much to discover and experience. An unexplainable adventurous feeling rose to the fore, something that growing up forced the colt to banish to the recesses of his mind over the years. To his surprise, Canvas found that he somewhat anticipated whatever challenges were in store. But it was not long before concerns about the mission subtly crept in.

“What’re your plans for when we get near Ponyville?” Although indirectly, the unicorn was eager to find out how close to their destination Nyvena was willing to carry him.

“If memory serves me well, Everfree Forest is south of Ponyville. Under cover of the trees, I can help you get near the town itself. As for landing, there is a place where ponies had not been seen for years, so that will be an ideal place to land, if that is still true.”

“Would that happen to be the Nightmare Moon statue? The one by the ruins?” The colt gulped. Of all the misfortunate places to be in Everfree Forest, that spot was one of the worst. Usually only the occasional foalish pony on Nightmare Night would venture there. And over the ages several had been found who met a gruesome fate years after they went missing. “I hope it’s daytime when we arrive…”

“Do I sense trepidation in your voice?” Nyvena asked snidely, as if she was above expressing fear.

“Well, yeah. Everypony has been afraid of that area, even more than the Everfree itself. But if we arrive in the daytime, it shouldn’t be as scary,” he replied self-assuredly. As the dragoness and pony spanned the skies in silence, Canvas mulled over ways that he could continue their conversation, at least until the art pony became drowsy.

“So… uh, what do dragons do in their free time?”

For a few seconds Nyvena let out a soft hum of contemplation. “I cannot speak for anydragon else. We all have our own endeavours and usually do not meddle in each others’ affairs,” she answered coldly.

“Fair enough, I guess. What about you?”

Nyvena definitely had to ponder that for a while. That manner of question had never been asked of her before. “Mostly trying to avoid other dragons… namely the larger ones. But I had a small circle of friends. Well, only two friends. Feoras and Balfour were the only ones that would spend any time with me. They were probably competing for mating rights behind my back, but the company was nice.”

Certain thoughts filled the colt’s imagination, turning his cheeks to a subtle red. “Mating rights, huh? What’s that like?”

Nyvena frowned and snorted obstinately, “I can feel your pulse quickening, Unicorn. I will not give you the satisfaction of such details.”

So close! “Oh, I didn’t mean—”

“I think it is time you go to sleep now.” Nyvena growled and looked forward once more. Canvas felt offended that she spoke to him like a yearling, but remembered that it would not be in his best interest to object.

He silently scolded himself for making the moments even more uncomfortable. “Alright, I guess. Night, Miss K.” Canvas grudgingly placed his head upon the rough fabric of his saddlebags, turning on his front for a little more comfort. Thanks to his earlier respite in Absinthe’s hotel room, he was not particularly drowsy as of yet. But considering that Nyvena could feel his pulse, the colt decided that not prolonging the process was in his best interest, either.

After shutting off and putting away the HUD device, the art pony closed his eyes and lay as still as possible. Before too long, mental images became increasingly vivid as his consciousness transferred from reality to the realm of dreams—dreams of exploration, undiscovered wonders, and overwhelming peril.

***

The next morning:

Massive Cumulus clouds in which Nyvena flew inside rolled in where the circulation of warm air could not reach, covering the lavender dawn sky with grays of all kinds. Canvas’ eyes snapped open as his mind registered the pain of frigid stinging all over his body. Furious whistles assaulted their ears and overpowered nearly all other sounds. His coat was covered in patches of ice, some of which bound his limbs to the scales he slept upon. Freeing his front hooves was a struggle, due to poor circulation and nearly being frozen solid. But although drowsy, Canvas moved his limbs as much as possible to shake off the ice and open up his circulation for warmth. Even Nyvena’s mighty wings had trouble moving through the oppressively cold atmosphere they found themselves in. Faint tilted icicles protruded from the dragoness’ horns, lower jaw, and tail. Her breathing was labored, sending out large puffs of steam with each exhalation.

“Miss K.! What in Equestria have you gotten us into?!” The unicorn’s throat and lungs burned from shouting as loud as he could just to be heard.

“I saw winged ponies trying to tame these clouds, so I had to fly into a cloud that could hide us. But I did not expect it to like this!” There was a distinct tremor in her voice. It seemed the cold penetrated even her armor-like scales.

“Are we at least near Everfree?”

“I do not know. I have been trying to descend, but these winds are not allowing me! It is a strain just to stay upright!”

Canvas perked up when he suddenly happened upon an idea. However, it took a moment of preparation before uttering the hazardous proposal he had in mind. “Then don’t stay upright! Free-fall and continue flying when we’re closer to the ground, or these winds might take us all the way to the Frozen North!”

Nyvena was surprised at this. She herself did not have the confidence to pull off such a risky maneuver. “Have you gone mad?! There is no sure way that I can get us both upright in time!”

“I don’t like it either, but we’ll never get to Ponyville like this!” Canvas shouted as he once reinforced the magical adhesive to full strength. He pulled the straps of his saddlebags tight around his torso with his teeth and sealed the flaps on both satchels with his golden aura. “Everything’s secure. Let’s get this over with!!” His muscles were so tense that they would soon tire out if the dragoness waited too long to execute the free-fall dive.

“GAAAH!! YOU CRAZY EQUINE!!” With a loud grunt of effort Nyvena arched her body sideways and ceased to flap her wings. The two began to descend steadily, but as seconds passed it felt as if gravity pulled upon them with an unnatural magnitude. The buffeting airstream was enough to gradually shear off the patches of ice covering the pony and dragoness.

When they fell below cloud level, it was like a veil was removed from their eyes, revealing many miles of rolling hills with sparse patches of trees. Much of it was an indistinguishable miscellany of greens, grays, and browns from their height, except for the river stretching into the horizon. After plummeting for about thirty seconds, Canvas began to worry as Nyvena’s wings only flailed instead of straightened. The wind refused to let her wings straighten out, no matter how many times she tried. She bellowed with frustration and ire towards Canvas and his harebrained plans.

The unicorn shut his eyes tightly and blocked out the cacophony of noises while improvising a solution. Fortunately, another opportune yet daring plan came to the unicorn, in which he would have to take action right away. Still using copious amounts of energy just to keep himself in place, Canvas released the force field around his saddlebags for the sake of conserving energy. It was instead used to keep Nyvena’s wings straight long enough to ensure a safe landing—or at least make their crash landing as smooth as possible.

I’ve seen it done plenty of times with the sailboats in Horseshoe Bay, so why shouldn’t it work with wings? Better to die with an idea that works halfway than with none at all!

“Miss K., this might hurt a bit, so please bear with me!” Canvas carefully placed his hoof upon her right wing covert for balance, hoping to Celestia that his belongings would not be lost.

“What are you doing THIS time?!” Nyvena roared. The panicking dragoness craned her neck to see what reason the colt would possibly have for painfully gouging his hooves into her wing.

Canvas focused on her wingtip as he encased the limb within a precision force field to shield each feather from the buffeting wind. “I’ll straighten out your wings so they can catch air. That’ll at least get us level again.” His teeth clenched while the energy was fastidiously channeled and applied. It engulfed the constantly moving limb like a blanket. Once finished, he turned to do the same with the other wing. He could feel slight deceleration. Canvas could not help but grin with relief that all his studying on the aerodynamics of dragon wings possibly paid off.

“FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, HURRY UP UNICORN!!” Nyvena pleaded. The hills were dangerously close.

Suddenly they jerked upward when her feathers aligned properly. They caught enough air to carry them along the currents blowing throughout the hills. A hind claw brushed along the grass tips at the trough of the ten thousand-foot dive, making both of them shudder at just how close they were to untimely deaths. While she regained her balance, Canvas’ magic dissipated.

“Excellent planning and timing, Unicorn…!” Nyvena conceded.

“Enough to get you to call me by name?” Although fatigued by the adrenaline rush, Canvas managed a prideful smirk.

She sighed disdainfully. “Very well, I will address you as ‘Canvas.’ Are you satisfied?”

“It’s progress, I suppose.”

“I do not let smug ponies ride upon my back, Uni—Canvas.”

“I still have adhesive magic. Getting me off will only tire you out further!” He retorted jokingly.

The indignant dragoness arched her back upward and ascended until she and Canvas could spot the border of overwhelmingly thick timberland. Nyvena’s hind legs touched ground and skidded to a halt with the help of her front claws. She looked back at the pony trying to carefully climb down and bucked him off with a single bump. Even with the spell, it was enough to send Canvas landing on his back. The colt let out a single quiet cough when the impact expelled the air from his lungs. He grimaced and arched his back in agony from the small, jagged rocks he landed on.

“That was nice of you.” he remarked sarcastically while rocking his body upright.

Nyvena let out an arrogant laugh, “With magic like yours, you cannot afford to underestimate me!”

“Hmph!” Canvas frowned and turned his head.

***

The two moved around and stretched their limbs to restore proper blood flow. Canvas walked a quarter mile along the border of the forest, exploring the ancient trees that guarded the secrets and dangers of the Everfree Forest. Every noise from beyond the arboreal barriers made the reluctant unicorn crouch in fear that something would leap from the darkness at any moment. After the mounting trepidation killed the remainder of his curiosity, Canvas galloped at full speed until returning to Nyvena’s side. She smirked at his nervous countenance, but it did not matter. It was better to be with a rude creature that was also protective, than one whose predatory instincts superseded all else.

“I guess I’ll just check where we are…” The colt once again donned the navigational visor to check their position and reestablish the waypoint to Ponyville. “Looks like our landing was way off. The Nightmare Moon statue is about ten miles east.”

Nyvena blew smoke from her nostrils and grumbled in a draconic tongue, then took a deep breath to calm her temper. “I certainly did not anticipate such a deviation and landing. Nevertheless, we must continue,” she grudgingly conceded. Disregarding her reluctance, the impatient dragoness pounced into the darkness beyond the trees. A discordant orchestra of alarmed woodland creatures sounded when landing with a heavy thump.

Canvas’ ears splayed backwards. “I d-don’t think I’m ready for that yet…”

She poked her head out from the shadows angrily, “We have already lost too much time for you to give into your fears! Get going!”

“What happened to letting me ride on your back?!” Canvas shouted with apparent distress. When they discussed it the night before, the art pony did not realize how afraid he would be when the time came to traverse the Everfree Forest.

“That still stands, but I will not be stopping for you. So hurry up!”

Canvas hoped that the experience would turn out to not be so frightening while upon a dragon’s back. The colt knew that his fear would only increase the longer he thought about it, so he immediately galloped after her before she changed her mind.

***

By the afternoon, Canvas’ fears were replaced with sheer boredom. He almost wished to be approached by an angry manticore, just for monotony to end. Twigs and fallen leaves made his tousled mane look like the handiwork of a songbird. To make things worse, all manner of obnoxious flying insects made his skin itch unbearably, assaulting his ears with the hateful high-pitched buzzing. He shook his head to shoo the insects away, but the relief would last for only seconds at a time.

Unlike the swamps, Nyvena did not enjoy the forest any more than Canvas did. The hanging vines and mosses made visibility nearly impossible, and stopping every few minutes to push or claw through foliage made her forelegs agonizingly sore. It was apparent that the nimble insects were not afraid of pestering a dragon, their shrill sounds chipping away at Nyvena’s patience. Her eye ridges remained furrowed, and after a while the growling became like a continuous purr of anger.

Without warning, rustling leaves and snapping twigs broke the silence as the dragoness lifted her upper body to sniff the air. “Fresh water!” Nyvena cried exuberantly. Before she knew it, the colt jumped onto the ground and zoomed past her with newfound vigor.

“Freakin’ A!” Canvas shouted as he slipped off the saddlebags without stopping. He galloped toward the refreshing sound of water crashing upon rocks. The dense flora became noticeably scarcer with plenty of moss-covered stone between the forest and ledge of the 50-foot ravine. Within the granite cliff walls a large pool glimmered like a sapphire amongst a sea of emeralds. When he collided with the surface, the force of displaced water purged most of the dirt, spider webs, and leaves from his coat and mane. The unicorn relaxed by floating on his back, beaming at the thought that he was likely the first pony in centuries to experience the beautiful scenery, if not the first.

Nyvena decided it best to grant the colt privacy while he bathed, so she remained atop the cliff and tried to enjoy the scenery. Her tail swished through the air pleasantly as the aroma of airborne water droplets entered her nostrils, combined with the fresh air that circulated into the clearing. The dragoness’ head bowed slightly, and she slipped into a relaxed state for the first time in a longer time than she would like to admit. Since her mate’s desertion, the tension in Nyvena’s muscles remained without her noticing. However, basking in the spa-like environment melted away her worries like stone eroded by a gentle current of water.

Canvas called up to the relaxing dragoness while backstroking, “This is amazing! You couldn’t ask for a better temperature!”

“I will go in when you finish. There is no way I will wash myself in front of you.” She lazily replied without moving.

“Your loss, ‘cause I’ll be in here for a while!” Canvas’s horn glowed and formed a spherical force field around his head for exploring the pool’s wondrous depths.

Meanwhile, Nyvena decided that she had enough relaxation and sluggishly began her search for food. But a tingle running through the length of her spine stopped the dragoness mid-stride. Feeling the chilling sensation of scale-to-scale contact around her ankle, she turned to see a viper slowly crawling up her hind leg. She tossed the reptile away with one shake of the foot.

And then something dreadful dawned on her. Nyvena turned around sharply with a panicked roar, “CANVAS!!”

No response or signs of movement save for the ripples and foam obscuring everything below the surface. Unshakable apprehension continued to agitate her instincts. One paw clenched around a small stone outcropping near the cliff’s edge with so much force that it was on the verge of shattering. Through the stone she could sense movement causing subtle disturbances in the water. It was definitely not equine, as she could feel Canvas’ presence separately.

“I am coming, Canvas! Make no sudden…” Just as she was preparing to pounce into the water after him, the unicorn resurfaced, struggling within coils a foot in diameter wrapped around his neck. “… Movements.”

Although the grip was already tight, it continued to constrict, as if trying to extrude Canvas’ soul from his gasping mouth. Glistening magenta scales shone in the sunlight as more of its coils rose above the surface in menacing arches. A serpentine head of the same color emerged slowly, looking upon the unicorn with its deadly, fanged smile. Canvas’ head tilted upward as the coils tightened around his neck, the snake forcing him to look in fear at the menacing slit eyes and poisonous sabers inside its mouth. As more of its body became visible, Nyvena let out a sharp gasp at what she saw next. Two translucent golden rings encircled the snake’s body, one on either side of where Canvas was held, levitated the segments they held above the water. Both forelegs looked as if they were pulled taut by invisible tethers connected to the magical fetters. Tears of pain flowed down the colt’s cheeks; the strain of magical overexertion combined with restricted circulation at the neck tortured every muscle in his body.

“He brought it… to the surface?!” Nyvena could not believe what she witnessed. It amazed her that Canvas put up such a fight for his life. She had never seen or heard of such an intense will to survive from any equine. But valiance would soon give way to fatigue. She knew that the art pony would not last long at all.

“No, no… I’m—I can handle this…” he managed to say at a barely audible volume.

“Nonsense, I am going in there!” Her shoulders hunched as she leaned further over the ledge.

“NO! I’m… tired of always… being rescued…!” The colt’s teeth clenched with resolution, and his pupils contracted with fury. A roaring pillar of water followed a sudden flash on the other side of the pool, and then several more adrenaline-fueled bursts of magic lashed at the cliff side like small lightning strikes. Smoldering rock fragments fell from clouds of smoke and rained throughout the ravine. Nyvena did not want her travel partner to become snake food, but did not want to see a fellow reptile get blown to pieces either. She decided that it was best to let Canvas handle things himself and backed away from the ridge, just to be safe.

Bolts of magical lightning continued to assault the cliff side and water, but control it soon became impossible. In all his years of learning different kinds of magic, Canvas never knew that his had such destructive potential. He was thankful for anything that would give him an advantage, but the magnitude of uncontrollable power was terrifying for him.

Meanwhile, Nyvena paced back and forth. The scuffle would end in a matter of seconds, if only she could intervene! No… he wants to fend for himself, so I shall let him. Oh, Ancestors, PLEASE help him see past his pride!

One of bolts finally struck the snake, causing the predator to writhe angrily. While letting out a spine-tingling hiss, its coils unwound from around Canvas’ neck. Fortunately, that meant he could release the arduous binding spell. When the golden bands shattered and dispersed, a trail of smoke rose from his horn during the short descent into the water.

Refusing to let its food escape, the furious predator slithered below the surface. For the next minute its tail lashed through the air and splashed into the depths once more. Becoming more nervous with each passing second, Nyvena paced relentlessly along the edge without taking her eyes from the pool below. However, Canvas suddenly resurfaced near the center of the water. He took in a large breath of air and dog paddled to the sloped rocks at the edge of the ravine, coughing and sputtering most of the way. The magically and physically drained unicorn slumped onto the nearest rock that could hold him, hoping that the snake would simply give up the struggle and leave him be. But this was serpent’s domain; he was tired, and he was edible. Canvas knew it was naïve to hope that things would end so pleasantly.

“CANVAS! BEHIND YOU!”

He did not have time to turn his head within the millisecond in which the snake emerged and struck once more, violently grabbing Canvas’ left hind leg in its jaws. The wicked, curved fangs hooked underneath his skin, and its jaws clamped around the limb. “GAAH!! OKAY, I COULD USE YOUR HELP, N—” That time the snake meant for it to be the last time Canvas would ever see the surface. He was submerged quicker than he could even finish the sentence. The unicorn’s forced descent seemed endless. The closer to the floor he was, the more pressure expelled remnants of air from his lungs. But he defiantly thrashed around and determined to stay conscious no matter what.

Just hang in there… she’ll be here. Just a few more seconds, Canvas…

A white concave dome broke the surface above. Nyvena reached for her travel companion, swimming as expertly as any fish. The snake’s instincts told it that Nyvena would not be able to reach its prey because of the pressure and darkness. However, she defied the underestimation and kept swimming. There was determination in the dragoness’ luminescent blue eyes that unnerved the serpent. The snake’s jaws released their death grip on Canvas’ leg to strike Nyvena as a last-ditch effort. Her superior speed and strength allowed her slash its head hard enough to instantly render the snake comatose. Blood arose from the resulting four claw marks under the snake’s right eye as it sank into the pitch-black depths. Darkness was not an obstacle to Nyvena’s predatory night vision eyes. It was not long before she spotted the barely-conscious colt and grabbed him by the foreleg. Once the unicorn was secure in her forelegs, the paddling of her hind legs brought them toward air and safety.

Dramatis Personæ: Prelude, Part 2

“AAH!! Keep that thing away from me! I want no more reptile mouths on my leg!” Canvas shouted while scooting away from Nyvena before her tongue could touch the twin bite wounds.

She slammed a fisted forepaw on the ground in frustration. “It will become infected, you stubborn horned mule! Besides, this is not exactly pleasant for me, either. Your blood is not in any way palatable, especially mixed with venom!”

Compared to the searing pain, the risk of infection did not concern the unicorn in the least. He remained adamant in avoiding the dragoness’ reach. “Don’t come any closer! I’ll zap you…!” he bluffed desperately.

Nyvena growled and her eyes narrowed with anger. Her words were quiet yet vitriolic, “If I see so much as one spark, you will once again find yourself in the company of that snake! Now stop moving, or I will be forced to knock you unconscious!” She pounced and grabbed the writhing pony. Nyvena held him firmly within both paws, and her prehensile tongue wrapped around the bleeding wounds like a fleshy bandage. At first it felt like the hottest of fires had swallowed up Canvas’ hind limb, but then his muscles relaxed as the pain melted away by degrees. Afterwards, Nyvena set him down crudely. “You are such a yearling!”

“You don’t know how painful that was! Have you ever been bitten by a snake?”

“No, I—”

“Then you can’t truly understand, can you?” Canvas retorted, emphasizing the words she said to him the day before. “And for your sake, I hope you never have to.”

“Y—very well, I see where this is going.” She scoffed and proceeded along the cliff edge. Her tail whipped through the air and carefully lifted the colt onto her back. He used the remnant of magic he had left to levitated saddlebags onto Nyvena’s back. It bobbed through the air inside a weak, sputtering aura.

“Miss K… I can’t feel my hind leg…”

“My saliva can only heal surface wounds, not venom. Is there a healing place in Ponyville?”

“A hospital? Yeah, I guess so.”

“Then I suppose we will have to make that your first stop.”

“But ponies’ll see you for sure!”

“They are bound to find out, sooner or later. Besides… your survival is more important.”

Canvas’ eyes glimmered sentimentally. “Nopony has ever said that to me. Or even really acted like my well-being was more important than something. Thank you, Miss K—WHOA!” Nyvena broke into a sudden dash, nimbly darting around the low-hanging branches, vines, and mosses.

“I suppose you are welcome. Hang on tight because I will be running until we reach the edge of the forest. Then I will employ more… stealthy measures.”

“What do you mean?” Canvas asked hesitantly.

She grinned craftily, “Remember that I have a bit of magic of my own. You will see quite soon.”

***

For the proceeding two hours, Nyvena sprinted across the sprawling woodland. Gorges, gulches, and other obstacles that would delay any pony did no such thing to the single-minded dragoness. She tenaciously cleared all manner of geographic hurdles with her powerful wings. Meanwhile, Canvas did his best to stay awake, fighting the coma-inducing effects of snake venom with willpower alone. The bumping and jarring certainly helped, but he needed more stimulation to keep him awake. Over time the rich greens and browns blurred together in his vision and sounds became increasingly muddled. As if that was not enough, the motions of her running started to make him nauseous.

“Miss K., do you think you could stop for a moment…?” he pleaded with quiet, slurred speech.

“No stopping! There is no telling when—”

“I think I’m gonna be vomit…” The queasy unicorn dry heaved as he spoke.

She skidded to a halt, making Canvas’ head collide with the back of her neck. There was no way she would tolerate having to clean such a mess off of her scales. “ALRIGHT, off you go. Just make it quick.”

The colt promptly dismounted and hunched over the base of a tree. He retched so loudly that Nyvena backed away in disgust. She decided it was best to go for a short walk, hoping that the forest’s wonders would be an adequate distraction from the terrible sounds.

Something was different about that part of the woods, but the dragoness could not quite put her claw on it. The droning sounds of tree-dwelling fauna were more distant, and the trees had less vines, mosses, and lichens, unlike most of the others. The willow trees they stopped under stood as ancient, natural gazebos with thick curtains of suspended leaves. In the immediate area there were odd flowers and grasses of all kinds that even the well-traveled reptile had never seen before, especially one with bright blue petals and a distinctly repugnant odor.

Preoccupied with looking up for so long, Nyvena did not realize that she stepped further than intended while walking on her hind legs. Her heel found an ancient log, rolling forward and sending her tumbling backwards with a sharp roar. She landed outside the willow’s leafy drapes and landed with a thud. Nyvena shielded her eyes from the sudden presence of mid-afternoon sunlight. No longer did she smell the stale odor of thousands of years of fallen leaves and dead trees. She smiled widely when her eyes could adjust.

“Grass! Hills! By the stars, Canvas—we are near!!” The sunlight shined gloriously throughout the open land before her, unfiltered by the shadows of a leafy canopy. The clock tower and roof of Ponyville City Hall were hazy silhouettes from her view, but stood as symbols of triumph nonetheless. Nyvena went to see what was taking the unicorn so long, but her enthusiasm waned at what she saw. Canvas was in utter disrepair. He slumped across an arched tree root thick enough to support his weight. It seemed that not only did the venom gradually devastate his insides; it killed his willpower by attrition as well.

“You should’ve just… let me get eaten,” he wailed quietly. His voice was reduced to mere slurring groans. The unicorn was also noticeably trembling.

Nyvena pointed in the direction of the willow leaves, trying to speak encouragingly, though her words conveyed only dire frustration. “We are so close, Canvas! Ponyville is just beyond these vines!”

“You… will be… seen, Miss K.”

“To Tartarus with that! I need your help, and that means I need you to be alive and well!” Using her prehensile tail, the dragoness heaved Canvas and his cargo onto her back. Tearing through the valley of hills, her hooked talons gouged the dirt and left a trail of dust and grass. The thought of being spotted by the town’s denizens put an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, but the feeling could not overcome the importance of getting the unicorn to proper care.

“I don’t see anypony yet. Hopefully it’s just a… very busy day.” Canvas weakly commented.

She whispered, “Nopony is attacking us with magic as of yet, so they are fine by me so far.” Before cresting the valley of hills closest to the buildings, Nyvena slinked behind an apple tree wide enough to hide both of them. A thud sounded behind her that made her heart leap, but it was the weakened colt that slid off when the last of the energy for the adhesive technique dwindled completely.

“Sorry. Don’t mind me… I’ll just be here, dying.”

Nyvena bit her lower lip with concern for her travel companion as she pressed her back against the trunk. Her muscles remained motionless so she could easily listen for bustle within the town. But the abnormal silence persisted. Not a single hoof step was heard yet, for which the dragoness exhaled a relieved sigh. A deep breath followed as she gathered her focus for the technique she hinted at before. Nyvena clenched her forepaws and closed her eyes. Raw magical power channeled through her curved horns, rippling the atmosphere around them and emitting a quiet subsonic hum. The effect intensified with each passing second, and her body progressively became translucent. The spell progressed from the tips of her horns down until the Nyvena appeared as nothing more than a dragon-shaped distortion. It was not perfect—after all, only the wizened or the prodigies of her kind could pull off invisibility from all of the senses. She silently prayed that being only visually undetectable would suffice.

As the two proceeded, Canvas planned his steps carefully in hopes of expediting progress. It oddly felt as if what movement his body was capable of was not entirely under his control. His knees would buckle without warning or make him veer off-course at random. The colt wondered if the toxins were acting upon his brain. The notion frightened him deeply, as he knew that time was dangerously short. Thankfully, Nyvena was there to help him maintain balance, and her presence was vaguely reassuring.

The outer row of Ponyville houses was finally behind them, which meant only a quarter mile or so to the main road. Even in his poison-induced delirium, the unicorn was thankful for every moment of unhindered progress. But it only made Nyvena even more on-edge. Her invisible eyes darted warily, and the crunch of leaves alone felt as if years were cut from her lifespan.

Suddenly a rush of blood welled up in his throat, and the poison-laced liquid assaulted his trachea. It threw the colt into another violent coughing fit, sending blood splattering onto the cobblestone streets. At the very least, the convulsions were intense enough to keep him awake—or as close to awake as possible, considering the circumstances.

“I think the poison’s… dissolving my insides…”

“Shh—do not focus on that. Keep your eyes on the destination.”

“There it is! Across the main street…” Canvas discreetly pointed out a rustic, three-story building. Ponyville Hospital was more like a rustic three-story cottage, rather than any medical establishment he had ever seen. The building’s design appeared much friendlier than the hospitals made of concrete and steel in Baltimare. On the marquis was a white medical cross with a heart in each corner, signifying a more caring atmosphere than the average clinic. Quaint or not, it may as well have been built with fire rubies to the weary colt. As Nyvena advised, his focus on the hospital was so strong that nothing else seemed to matter.

“Finally, I—” He paused his verbal contemplations when sensing a vague lavender hue in his peripheral vision. “No, gotta concentrate… can’t—”

“It’s great to see a new face around Ponyville!” a mare’s voice said behind him cheerfully.

Canvas heard a faint but heavy rustle to his right. Nyvena slipped away stealthily, causing him to panic silently. “Miss K., I need—Nyv… don’t leave me…! Damn it.” The unbearable stinging returned to his bite wound with a vengeance as the colt tried to balance himself and act as natural as he could manage. He turned around to fully face the unicorn mare with a smile contorted by pain.

The mare also seemed unsure as to how she would greet the newcomer. She did not handle awkward situations very well “If you like, I could show you around. You look like you” A unique pink and purple streak ran through navy blue mane from the short edges at the base of her neck to her long, thin bangs. The same streak of purple and pink ran along the length of her longer tail, the end of which had a curl—most likely inspired by a certain fashion designer. A pair of spectacles with a rectangular shape and rounded edges sat cutely upon her muzzle. Her eyes in particular held Canvas’ attention. The dark purple eyes had a sincerity to them that set her apart from the more hard-edged ponies in Baltimare and Dodge City. The mare’s friendly smile reduced to a nervous chuckle as she waited for her fellow unicorn to respond. Canvas Shade was not the most social of ponies, by any means. But pain or no pain, it did not feel right to just ignore the only pony nice enough to greet him.

Canvas was at a loss for responses and only stared at her numbly, but flinched when a horrified gasp replaced the mare’s polite smile. She saw the terrible wound on Canvas’ hind leg and she rushed forward to help the colt stay upright. “I am so sorry. I didn’t realize I was keeping you from getting to the hospital. Thank goodness you’re already very close to it! Doctor Stable is one of the best doctors for miles around…” The talkative unicorn tried her best to think of topics that could avert their focus from the disconcerting bite wound on his hind leg. “So… where do you hail from?”

“Baltimare… or Las Pegasus, I think…? Long term memory’s not too good at all right now,” Canvas replied numbly.

“Oh? How is it this time of year?”

“It’s good I gue—oh, WHOA…!” Canvas shook his head in absolute disbelief, and pure astonishment pushed aside his lethargy.

The mare flinched. “What? What is it?” She looked all around her, and then she saw where the colt gawked, letting out an amused giggle.

“Y-y-y-your cutie mark—Element of…”

She giggled and shook her head, “Twilight Sparkle is just fine.”

Canvas staggered backwards and sat upon his haunches, his lower jaw halfway to the ground. “The Element of Magic—THE Element of Magic is helping me to the hospital!!” he said to himself in giddy disbelief.

“I’ve very flattered, but I—” A distant whistle interrupted her, and both unicorns looked into the sky. They heard a faint whoosh as a distant winged figure zoomed overhead. Twilight smiled with pride to introduce her fellow Element of Harmony, “Heh, that’s Rainbow Dash, of course, always obsessed with Wonderbolts. For the other competitor, it’ll be just a competition for second in their recruitment this year!” She continued their slow advance to Ponyville Hospital, but the unicorn beside her was too mesmerized by the air show above.

“Element of Loyalty! It’s definitely an hon—wait, why is she suddenly swerving like that?” Indeed, Rainbow Dash’s flight pattern was thrown off, forcing her to circle around. Her velocity was out of the Pegasus’ control, the sight of which made Canvas’ ears lay flat with concern. “Will she be okay?”

“Hehe… as skilled of a flyer as she is, she… uhm—” Twilight had utmost confidence in her friend’s skills, but in the rare event that things go awry, she knew it was more than likely that a pony or structure would end up as a casualty. Both unicorns tried to quicken their pace so that he could reach the hospital without incident, but the colt’s broken body refused to move any faster.

A very audible shout came from the plummeting Pegasus, “CLEAR OUT! MOVE YER FLANK!” The land-bound ponies could now see her sky blue coat and unmistakable rainbow mane very clearly. In any other situation it would have been a pleasure to see the future Wonderbolt up close, but at her current speed, it was quite frightening.

Canvas knew that evading the blue Pegasus would be impossible if he was to be in her path. It was down to the critical seconds before her inevitable crash landing, and all three knew that Rainbow would inevitably crash into either Twilight or Canvas. Rainbow’s forelegs reflexively covered her face and clenched her eyes together. Twilight could not react fast enough to intervene magically or physically. All that came to mind was to gasp and turn her head away from the impending catastrophe.

Canvas did not even brace for impact. He could only ask himself why, out of all other times and places Rainbow Dash would lose control of her flight, it would be in that exact time, and in the exact spot where he sat. He looked at the ground, calmly conceding to his fate.

It’s not so much that I’m about to die, it’s just that I really thought I’d have more to say when it happ--

TKKKKCRUNCH—THWOK!!!

***

“In all my career, I’ve never seen somepony this… damaged! It’s a wonder how that colt’s still alive, much less moving! Venom toxins, fractured front leg, deep cuts, shattered collarbone, four broken ribs!” Doctor Stable ranted to Twilight Sparkle as they trotted to the intensive care room side-by-side. “I suppose it takes a case like this to remind a pony how long they haven’t used their ICU.” The doctor let out a stressed sigh, beads of sweat trickling down the side of his head. Keeping Canvas alive was definitely a test of the staff’s medical expertise and physical endurance. Stable performed surgery for hours while his team of four nurses rushed throughout the facility, filling out paperwork and retrieving supplies, tools, and fluids.

“Will he survive…?” Twilight asked anxiously.

“I can’t even say at this point. We got him to stop bleeding at the mouth only half an hour ago.”

“What about Rainbow?”

“Oh… well, she’ll be on her way quite soon. She came in with only a few scratches and a slightly sprained wing. Sweet Luna, the resilience of that Pegasus never ceases to astound me.” The brown earth pony shook his head slowly in reflective amazement.

The bookish mare double took, not quite comprehending what was just said, “You mean, even with that impact, Rainbow got away with only minor injuries?!”

“It is uncanny, indeed.”

“Can… I see how he’s doing?”

“You can, but I don’t think he’s awake yet.” The two stopped at the door at the end of the hallway, and Doctor Stable turned to open the door for Twilight. “There is much paperwork to be done, and I must check on other patients with Nurse Redheart. Just press the button near the bed if you need us.”

She bowed gratefully, “Much appreciated.”

Twilight quietly entered the room, easing the door closed. Her brows arched worriedly when she got a good look at the heavily bandaged unicorn. His entire torso and left hind leg was wrapped, and his foreleg was held straight by a blue cast. Band-Aids and gauze pads of all sizes were all over his body. To her surprise, Canvas was awake, but did not seem conscious. His half-closed eyes stared at the opposite wall, only hopelessness and constant pain in them. Seldom did he even blink. Even the brown burlap saddlebags the colt had with him seemed to drape glumly from the wooden bedpost. Seeing her fellow unicorn in such a pitiful condition forced Twilight to fight back tears.

How could I possibly console him when he’s like THIS? I’ve never been in his position before. He might not even listen to me… what if he thinks it’s my fault and considers me to be bad luck? The purple mare gloomily hung her head. She had not known the colt for five minutes, and he ended up nearly getting killed. What else was he to think? I at least have to try…

“Um, hi there,” she said meekly.

Canvas blinked several times, his head turning in Twilight’s direction when her gentle voice reached his ears. “Ah, I have a visitor!”

Twilight looked to the side nervously, scratching the back of her head with a fore hoof. “I… I had to make sure you were okay.”

He scoffed to himself, “Well, I’m alive… but it’s not enough. Somepony depended on me, and I can’t ever seem to do anything but get hurt. What made me think that I would make a difference to ANYPONY? I’m a bucking liability!!” Canvas slammed his uninjured hoof on the bedframe, causing Twilight to flinch and shrink back. Seeing somepony like Twilight be so docile caught the self-loathing colt off guard, and he relaxed his clenched jaws and took on a gentler tone. “I’m sorry, Miss Sparkle… I just… when I have nothing to do, my mind drifts into some pretty dark places.”

“I can’t help but feel responsible. If I hadn’t been involved, I’m sure that what happened somehow wouldn’t have, and…”

Canvas chuckled. “Sounds like your mind goes off on tangents like mine does. Don’t worry about it. I’ve usually had luck like this. It just hadn’t put me in critical condition before. Besides, getting to meet you made my day. And it could’ve been my last day alive.”

Relieved that none of the scenarios that played in her mind actually happened, Twilight smiled once more and sat at his bedside. She touched a hoof to her cheek to hide a slight blush. Nopony ever said anything like that to her under such circumstances. “I’m always happy to help, Mister—”

“Canvas Shade. Sorry, I usually introduce myself early on.”

“Oh, not at all, Canvas. That’s a nice name, by the way.”

“Hehe, I’ve heard better, to be honest.”

Little did the unicorns know that Rainbow Dash sat just outside the double doors, biting her lower lip nervously. Guilt turned into hesitation the closer she was to Canvas’ room; after all, she had never hurt anypony like badly, even on accident. The normally bold Pegasus could not bring herself to approach Canvas and apologize.

Come on, Dashie… you can at least try. You’re a future Wonderbolt, darn it! Come on, move those hooves!After a moment of harsh self-motivation the blue Pegasus took a deep breath and stepped through the door. She had no idea what to expect, and for the first time in years, the unknown made her quite uneasy.

“YOU!!” Canvas bellowed when seeing Rainbow again, his left front hoof accusingly pointed at her. She flinched and paused mid-step, letting out a shrill ‘eep.’ The unicorn colt’s face contorted in pure rage. Never before had he looked upon another pony—or anything for that matter—with such fervent ire. The fluorescent lights flickered as Canvas’ horn produced an energy field, which formed into a golden sphere of concentrated electricity. The drywall cracked and chipped away, and the corners of his bed sheet burned away. Rainbow’s eyes widened as she backed away, becoming increasingly paralyzed with awe and fear of the ball of rampant magic before her.

Twilight gallantly darted from the bedside and stood between Canvas and Rainbow in a crouching defensive stance. Her horn shone with a brilliant magenta aura, and her eyes were suddenly filled with white light. Her voice echoed above the sound of the thrumming energy that filled the room.

“Canvas Shade, find it in yourself to forgive, and STOP this!”

The echoing in his mind clashed with the magic that flooded every part of his being. The physical wounds could not compare to being so overwhelmed by two clashing energies. It felt as if his very existent would burn out. “I CAN’T CONTROL IT, TWILIGHT!!” he cried out, throwing his head back, letting out a cry of agony.

The light fixture above Rainbow grew dangerously bright and shattered under the deluge of electricity. She shrieked and shielded the back of her neck with her front hooves and wings. Fortunately, the shards were caught in Twilight’s aura before they could fall on her. The magenta telekinetic aura pushed Rainbow into the corridor before sealing the door shut.

Heavy thrums violently shook the room as Twilight’s magic bridled the destructive electricity. With sustained, consistent effort she gained the upper hoof within seconds. The immense yet precision use of her energies subdued Canvas’, and her pink light filled the room while the gold-tinted lightning was reduced to mere sparks. The colt slumped back with a splitting migraine while Twilight staggered exhaustedly. Rainbow snapped out of her stupor when things were calm again and bolted away from the hospital as fast as her legs would go. Amazingly, Twilight was able to regain her composure almost instantly. Only the charred hairs around her horn were out of place. The only thing on her that was damaged was a cracked lens on her glasses. But it was nothing that could not be handled with a quick repair spell.

“What happened, Twilight…?”

“Something I’m quite familiar with, more than you might think.”

The unicorn’s unblinking eyes remained wide, and his body quaked severely. “Please… cover your ears and get the doctor…” Canvas said quietly. He and Twilight both knew that it would not be long before the long-term inundation of pain caught up with him. She quickly complied. She was not halfway down the hall when a booming shout echoed through the hallways.

“SON OF A BIIIIIIIIIII—”

***

Inside Golden Oaks Library:

Twilight Sparkle slammed the door behind her after letting Rainbow Dash enter first. The hinges nearly broke free of the doorframe, and almost all of the shelved books in the main room shifted forward.

“Explanation, NOW,” barked Twilight in an authoritarian tone.

Rainbow kept her head low, not able to bear looking at her friend’s outraged countenance. Instead, she took a deep breath before retelling what happened. “I-I don’t know what went wrong! I would’ve just kept flying, but-but then one of my wings suddenly wouldn’t flap! There was a flash—l-like a camera—and then I couldn’t control my body, and then I went into a dive, and then–and—” Her speech was almost too frantic to comprehend.

Twilight’s reproving glare reduced to concern and desire to understand what exactly happened to her friend. “So, this isn’t like those other times when you’d lose control?”

Rainbow lunged forward and grabbed Twilight at the shoulders with both hooves. “This wasn’t like any of those times! It was as if Applejack lassoed the wing to my side! I was flying FORWARD, for Luna’s sake. ANY flier can manage that! But the wing just. Wouldn’t. Flap!” Her breathing was heavy and frantic, her eye twitched with desperate hope that Twilight, of all ponies, would understand her predicament. Rainbow’s frenzied behavior frightened Twilight. She had not seen the great, headstrong Rainbow Dash in such a panic since the Young Fliers competition three years prior.

“Besides, what was with that stallion back there?! It looked like he was gonna blast a hole in the wall… through ME!!”

“I’ve had surges of magic like that before, remember? Fortunately, Princess Celestia was there to suppress it and reverse the effects. What’s more is that over the years she personally taught me to do the same.” Twilight’s eyes darted around the assortment of books while tapping a fore hoof to her chin. She trotted around while magically retrieving several texts on magical medicine. In the meantime, her magic gradually sealed the crack on her glasses lens, readying them for an intense reading session.

“Just as stressful situations caused my surges, anger seems to cause his—just a theory.”

“Never thought I’d have that kind of effect on a guy.”

“His name is Canvas Shade,” Twilight informed dryly.

“Nice to know the name of the pony who almost KILLED me…”

“He already knows about the pony who almost killed him. Might as well even out the playing field.”

Rainbow slouched and hung her head with guilt and dejection. “Below the belt, Twi…”

“Sorry… anyway, my plan is to heal Canvas with magic. He had a look about him that I can’t explain… like he desperate to be somewhere.” All of the books simultaneously opened and turned to specific pages. “I’ll need to review quite a bit, though. In the meantime, you work on your apology. Canvas might be a lot more receptive if he’s feeling better.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” The blue Pegasus trudged to the other side of the room. She laid upon her back under an open side window, staring at the ceiling of the hollowed out tree. How do I even approach him, especially a second time? Could I even explain in time before he tries to zap me, or something?

“What’s with all the noise? It’s the weekend, for Luna’s sake.” A bipedal purple dragon with green crests descended the stairs, grumpily wiping his eyes. On one shoulder stood a majestic young phoenix, and on his tail perched Twilight’s pet owl.

Twilight turned her head to the young dragon with a pleasant smile. “Oh, good morning, Spike! Sorry for all the noise. There’s a new arrival here in Ponyville, and he’s in a bit of a predicament. Okay, a huge predicament.”

Words like ‘new arrival’ and ‘predicament,’ combined with fervent studying spelled out a sizeable amount of assisting—too much for a dragon who just woke up. “Oh, that’s… nice,” he replied with false interest. “I’m gonna… feed Peewee and Owlowiscious. Call me if you need me!” Spike darted into the kitchen before Twilight could find something for him to do before he could get breakfast.

“He’s a lot more… elusive since his growth spurt, Twi. You should keep a closer eye on him.”

“That may be, but he’s not as impulsive and opinionated as he once was. Thankfully.” She and Rainbow chuckled lightly. Spike’s journey into adolescence never failed to evoke a lighthearted laugh.

***

After roughly three hours of nonstop studying, Twilight's books shut in unison. In the meantime, Spike lazed around the Library bored out of his mind. Twilight did have the occasional task for him, but it did not come close to livening up his Saturday. Even his precious radio (with which he spent many hours easing away the boredom of living inside a library) did not seem to lift his mood this time, so he spent the last moments of her study session foraging through the pantry. Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep after the first thirty minutes and awoke with a start at the loud thump of the book covers. In her drowsy haze she saw Twilight’s study material line up neatly in her pristine white saddlebags.

“Alright, I’m ready. Wish me luck, Dash!” She headed for the exit, grinning optimistically.

Rainbow replied in a deep voice while yawning and stretching, “You? You don’t need luck. It’s ME who needs the luck here.”

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes in response, shutting the door behind her.

“And how in Equestria did she finish those so fast?” Rainbow asked herself. “It’d take me MONTHS to finish books that long!”

Spike heard her inquiry as backed out of the kitchen carrying a sterling silver platter covered with a delicious pile of coal. “You didn’t know Twilight could speed-read?”

The Pegasus rolled her eyes. “No, duh! I don’t watch her read, and she’s never told me.” She rolled onto her hooves and shook off the bandage from her sprained wing as she too started for the exit. Having suffered countless injuries of the sort, her body seemed to be used to it. A minor injury like that could not stop the great Rainbow Dash from doing what she loved. “If Twilight asks, I’ll be at home. Catch you later, Spike.”

Spike walked up the stairs and curled up in his bed, switching on his radio set and tossing lumps of coal into his mouth like popcorn. “If you say so. Don’t crash into anypony else on your way there!” he snickered. Rainbow turned around to snarl at him before departing.

***

Twilight Sparkle galloped to the hospital at full speed, even though her saddlebags were heavy with books. She burst through the front entrance and skidded to a halt on the tiles. “Nurse Redheart! I’m here to see patient Canvas Shade again. What’s his condition?”

The white earth pony turned toward the unicorn sharply, fatigue noticeable on her face and mane. “You’ll have to ask Doctor Stable. He just finished with him, so he should be on his way now. You can have a seat over there.”

The lavender unicorn could not sit still for more than a minute. She stood up once again and paced the length of the waiting room and hoped with all her being that she could convince the Doctor to go with her plans. Indeed, it was not long before the overworked stallion entered the room.

“I’ve got my work cut out for me with that one, Nurse Redheart,” Doctor Stable slouched onto one of the waiting room chairs to rest his aching legs.

“Uhm, Doctor? Are you okay…?”

Twilight’s voice made the brown earth pony spring to his hooves. “Ah! Oh, hello Miss Sparkle! How can I help—”

“I have something to ask of you, and it’s very…” Twilight perked up with an idea. What an opportune time for Doctor Stable to be near the end of his rope! If I play my cards right, everypony here can get what they want! “Well, I see how stressed you are with treating Mr. Shade, so I was hoping that I could help out a bit. I’ve had some experience with medical magic, and…” Twilight needn’t say any more. The weary physician stood on his hind legs to hug her.

“Thank the Princesses for you! I have never been in such need of a break!”

“Great! In fact, I could take him off of your hooves altogether!”

“I am in no position to argue! Thank you, thank you, Miss Sparkle! For what it’s worth, I wish the best for him. He sure did a good job of hanging on for dear life. We had to move him to the room across the way. Good thing you were there, or we would have an entirely missing room!”

She smiled humbly, “Much appreciated, once again. And it’s no problem, Doctor. He’ll be good as new sooner than you think!”

“Good, good. Just don’t let him use any more magic here. I don’t think our building can take any more,” he said before disappearing beyond the double doors

“Duly noted, hehe,” she giggled awkwardly, and turned to Nurse Redheart. “I can cover that, by the way…”

“No worries, it’s been more than covered. He gave us some jewels as repayment that would make any dragon jealous! Knowing that such exquisite pieces would benefit our little hospital made my day, all things considered. Oh, and he was moved to the room across the hallway. Seems that the intensive care room needs intensive care of its own!”

Hearing about the jewels piqued Twilight’s curiosity. The unicorn’s pace slowed to a stop while processing an influx of questions that she did not yet consider asking. But that could definitely wait. Twilight shook her head to re-focus before trotting into the hallway. A few minutes later the unicorn mare’s head peeked through Canvas’ room door.

“Canvas? You awake?” The only response was a groan as he partially opened his eyes. Numerous monitors crowded either side of him, so Twilight sat at the foot of the bed. The original bandages were replaced entirely, except for the cast on his foreleg. It remained partially charred, but there was no damage past the rock-solid plaster surface. She also noticed that the art pony’s horn was now covered in gauze padding, apparently having suffered severe burns.

Canvas slowly turned his head to Twilight as he yawned. “Here to read me a bedtime story, Miss Sparkle?”

The unicorn mare raised a hoof to her chest and spoke in a declarative manner, “Canvas Shade, I hereby take on the responsibility of healing you fully, as well as teaching you how to control your magic!”

Canvas nearly sat up in shock. Twilight’s noble words had his full attention, and he could not help but stammer, “Y-you’d… really do that? I mean… I don’t want to diminish the moment—I mean, I-I’m sure there are much better ways to spend your time, a-and I don’t want to be a bother—I guess what I’m trying to say is… why?”

“Because,” Twilight tilted her head upwards while taking on a didactic tone, “That surge of magic back there showed me that we’re a lot alike. There’s a vast amount of energy inside you that’s waiting to get out. It’s not unlike what I experienced when I was a filly. Princess Celestia herself taught me how to harness it properly and stay in control, even during stressful situations. I hope for the chance to help you in the same way.” The mare was quite cheerful. After all, it had been quite a few months since she had a chance to help somepony in a significant way, and the she was determined to make the most of it. However, she was still unsure of how he would react. “If I help you heal, you could be in Ponyville for only six days, rather than six months,” she persuasively continued.

“Ah—wow, ‘it’s an honor’ doesn’t come close to doing this justice!” Canvas paused and replied slowly while mulling over the eager mare’s proposal, “if I could do all this before six months they gave me, that sounds like a great deal!”

Twilight’s expression grew somber before continuing once again, “There is only one thing that I ask of you in return.”

“Anything, Miss Sparkle!” he replied enthusiastically.

“Could you please… please find it in yourself to forgive Rainbow Dash for what happened? I promise, she did not mean to fly into you. If you let her explain for herself, there might still be a chance for friendship between you two!”

Canvas withdrew in shock and hesitation. The sudden movement hurt the internal wounds that were repaired twice over. “But… but…” So many conflicting emotions clashed throughout his mind. How could she possibly expect me to forgive that Pegasus for nearly finishing off what was left of me?! Then again, how could I refuse the Element of Magic herself, especially when she offered to teach me? Maybe it wasn’t her fault, entirely—damn it, I just don’t know!!

“She explained to me what caused her to lose control up there, and it doesn’t sound like an accident. I saw the look on her face while she spoke, and I’ve honestly never seen her like that. Dash is one of the bravest ponies I know, and she was trembling. Trembling! Her eyes were wide and her face drenched in sweat! I didn’t know what to think, but I know one thing: if you saw her as I did, this decision would not be as hard for you.”

Canvas started to regret his strong feelings toward the Pegasus, especially since he did not know the whole story. “Very well. I’ll hear what she has to say, at least.”

“To begin with, Rainbow told me that something prevented one of her wings from flapping—”

“Like... a binding spell?” he blurted out.

His question caused wheels to spin in Twilight’s mind. “I-yes, that sounds about right. It’s been used in combat for centuries, but is a very outdated spell.”

“That’s exactly the kind of thing I’m looking into! I know somedr—pony who’s experienced that kind of magic. And there are ponies who’re using arcane magic for less-than-desirable purposes…” Canvas looked to either side, then looked at Twilight again. “Is there someplace else where we can get started? I can’t stand looking at these walls anymore.”

Twilight hummed in thought for a few seconds and then perked up when an idea came to her. “I can teleport us to the library, if you’re comfortable with that!”

Canvas was hesitant while he pondered the ramifications of teleporting with serious injuries. However, it would be done by somepony how has an intact horn, at least. And it would be a better alternative that being pushed in a wheelchair. How bad could it be? “I guess I’m fine with it as long as it doesn’t hurt too much, and if you can transport my stuff, too…” He interrupted himself, reminding himself who he was talking to, “Wait, what am I saying? You’re skills border on legendary!”

“I certainly do try.” Twilight shrugged shyly with a flattered smile as she magically removed the EKG electrodes from his chest, “I certainly do try.” The mare closed her eyes as well while shifting her legs back for stability. She pointed her horn in the Canvas’ general direction as a high-pitched hum filled their ears. It was not loud and piercing like the wild dynamism of Ingot’s powers, much to his relief. Twilight’s technique was more refined and much less frightening. Her aura suavely surrounded Canvas and his belongings, and the separate energy fields connected like three conjoining bubbles. Through Twilight’s magic the colt sensed the labor of love that went into perfecting the technique over the course of two years.

There was a sudden flash, and the unicorns were surrounded by streaks of light, Despite transporting only half a mile to the Library, to Canvas it looked as if they traveled at faster-than-light speeds through a galaxy full of stars while frozen in the same positions. He now knew what defying the space-time continuum looked like, and it was a wondrous sight that Canvas knew he would never forget. The magic of the moment dulled his pain, allowing the colt to fully enjoy the wonders of transcending the laws of physics.

The ethereal visual display ended with a pink-tinged flash. Canvas found himself in the guest bedroom on the first floor directly underneath her own room. He could tell that it was annexed recently, as its structure was made of a different type of wood. Little light filtered into the room, but just enough for the unicorn to observe his surroundings. Sawdust lay in the corners, and the smell of new construction materials hung in the air. Everything was neatly arranged, no doubt by the meticulous efforts of Twilight Sparkle herself. He relaxed upon the plush bed with a short deep exhale. The effects of her magic slowly wore away and the pain increased once again, but it did not matter to him as much now. After all, Canvas knew that he would be in good hooves.

***

Later that evening:

For two hours Peewee and Owlowiscious squawked and fluttered on their perches with each cry of pain that followed the crackle of rearranging, re-ossifying bones. It was loud enough to penetrate through the solid wood of the guest room door. After an hour or so, the sounds of painful recovery reduced to only groaning and labored breaths. Spike removed his paws from his earfins before retrieving the cleaning supplies Twilight requested soon after returning with Canvas. The dragon slowly entered to see their guest for the first time, doubled over and in tears.

“Isn’t there… a gentler way to do this?!”

“I wish there was, but quick healing comes at the price of minimum tenderness. This isn’t easy for me either,” Twilight answered gently, her breaths still rigid and labored. “Let’s take a break before we move on to sealing up those cuts.” she said while flexing her limbs to get the blood flowing properly. Afterward, the exhausted mare fed Canvas an herbal sedative she received as a gift from Zecora on her last birthday. To his surprise, the medicine did not taste as horrible as he expected. However, it had a very potent spice and tang to its flavor. It took only seconds for him to be able to lay still and relax, at last.

Meanwhile, Spike was hard at work removing blood spots from the polished wood floor. He could not help but frown slightly since Twilight arrived with Canvas. There had not been a stallion inside their home very often, unless it was to check out or return books. The protective dragon silently disagreed with having Canvas around his lifelong companion, especially for several days.

“So, what brings you to Ponyville… Canvas?” asked Spike with a hint of cynicism.

Canvas started diffidently, “Actually, that’s… what I wanted to tell Twilight about. But since you’re her assistant, I guess it’d be okay if you knew as well.” He sat up best he could and glared at Spike and Twilight with utmost seriousness. “But you can’t tell anypony about this, other than the other Elements of Harmony. Do you both promise?”

“We not only promise, we Pinkie Swear!” Twilight answered and placed a forelimb upon her left eye. She nudged Spike with her foreleg, and he grudgingly did the same with his paw.

“Ugh, Pinkie Swear…”

“What’s a Pinkie Sw—? Never mind!” The nervous colt exhaled sharply and closed his eyes. “I’m helping a dragon find her stolen eggs. I’ve been… traveling across the country with her to gather information in her stead.” Canvas’ ears pointed downward. Part of him felt relieved, but the feeling went away instantly when he saw their faces. Twilight and Spike stared at each other with their jaws agape.

“You mean there’s a dragon running loose around Ponyville?!” the mare asked with a terrified gasp. Spike folded his arms and raised an eye ridge at her. “Oh, you know what I mean.”

“No, I—I can’t tell you her location. But I promise, she won’t harm anypony here. As you can imagine, we’ve had to keep a low profile from everypony else, but our secret is not as important as getting your help. I’ve come to really care about this dragon and her children. Especially her children. Knowing that they’re helpless and with Celestia-knows-who… it’s a hard thing to deal with. I can’t imagine what it must be like for her.”

“I knew there was something about that scent on you!” Spike said smugly with crossed arms. Twilight admonishingly shook her head at the dragon. He slumped and exited the guest room, his self-satisfaction deflated by the stare he used to get all the time.

“A group of ponies ambushed her home in the mountains and stole her eggs. The magic they used was powerful enough to render her defenseless while it all happened. The binding spell that they used bound her up like a chain. Before getting here, I stopped in Dodge City and spoke with a pony who knows about the ones responsible—the ones called, ‘The Triumvirate.’”

Twilight Sparkle flinched with a sharp gasp. “I admire your willingness to help, but they’re quite a mysterious group. You won’t know what to expect if you go against them, which makes them even more dangerous!”

“You’re right, but I’m in this all the way. I may have volunteered without considering all of this, but I couldn’t find it in me to back out now. If things go well, we may end up helping out Equestria as a whole!”

“Fine… so far I know what most everypony generally knows about them. There’ve been whispers and news articles about several robberies with the help of unusual magic and weapons, in which it’s been determined that they follow The Triumvirate’s modus operandi. Other than that, I only have a vague knowledge of their history. I can do as much research as I can, but our first priority is to get you back on your hooves. We have a lot of training ahead of us if you’re to survive against them.”

“That’s what I was afraid of. You think six days will be enough?”

“If we keep to a strict schedule, it will be.” A piece of parchment and a quill floated to her side. In keeping with the aforementioned schedule, Twilight Sparkle did not waste any time. “But for now, let’s get those cuts closed up. Ready?”

Canvas sighed and nodded with a frown while mentally preparing himself to continue the tormenting process. Twilight tore off the plethora bandages from his coat. He was shocked to see that his coat was shaved around each cut. “Think you could get my hair to grow back on these spots when we’re done? Even without the cuts, I couldn’t possibly go out there with my coat like this.”

The mare could not hold in the urge to giggle. “Sure thing, Canvas.”

Dramatis Personæ: Risio, Part 1

Golden Oaks Library, 5:20 a.m.; day two of Canvas Shade’s visit in Ponyville:

A sliver of light widened upon the floor and opposite wall as Twilight Sparkle’s quietly pushed open the guest room door. She silently stepped to Canvas Shade’s beside, her hoof nudging his shoulder with matronly gentleness. Not knowing that the colt was a very light sleeper, she nearly jumped through the roof when Canvas’ upper body sprang up as soon as she touched him. In a moment of drowsy amnesia, he skimmed over his surroundings through half-closed eyes until he exhaled and closed his eyes in relief.

“Oh… Twilight, it’s you! Good mor—wait…” Canvas suddenly turned away before pushing aside one side of the curtains to the window above his bed. To the colt’s chagrin, everything was still draped in darkness. Not even the light of heavenly bodies could pierce through the hazy clouds. “What is this?! It’s not even dawn yet!”

“Well, since you’re stay here is limited, the more time practicing, the better!” Twilight responded cheerfully.

Canvas “Oh, my dear Celestia…” he groaned, dashing himself back onto the pillow underneath before sliding from the bed and onto his hooves.

“I’ll be outside if you need me.” Oh, and try to be very quiet. Almost anything can wake him up nowadays. Kind of like a certain colt I know,” she giggled.

***

The more he walked around the Library, the more limber Canvas felt, and he could not help but grin with every step. The process may have hurt like nothing he ever experienced before, but in his mind Canvas agreed that the results of Twilight’s efforts were nothing short of stellar.

After a shower and a quick breakfast, Canvas departed into the foggy haze of early morning, taking in a lungful of the humid temperate air. The airborne moisture amplified the aroma of grass and trees, especially from the mighty oak that housed the Library. The colt smiled with anticipation as he looked around the front yard, but there was no sign of Twilight yet.

“Canvas? Are you out here?” her voice called out with a hint of impatience.

“Just a sec!” Canvas closely followed her voice as he galloped anxiously into the backyard. ’Aww, crap! I hope I didn’t make her wait too—‘ He skidded to a halt, barely avoiding a messy crash into the meticulous mare’s arrangement. “What’s all this?”

Surrounding Twilight were ten pony mannequins made of nearly flawless quartz, all retrofitted with hinges on their limbs that reminded the colt of equine robots from a science fiction movie. “Rarity gave me these when she got newer mannequins. Spike helped me install the hinges, and we made them into my very own training marionettes to help keep my skills sharp!” she exclaimed with an unsettling smirk. “But this is for you, so you can choose what we do first, under advisory, of course,” she continued, a somewhat saccharine tone in her voice.

Canvas’ eagerness belied his unease toward the mare’s gradually shifting demeanor. “Okay, then! How about, uh… physical combat? I’ve never been very good with that.”

“R-really? Not magic exercises or…?”

The pushy unicorn shook his head, “Eh, probably not. I’d rather just dive right in—”

Taken aback by Canvas’ disregard of her hints, the mare’s tone became cold and blunt, “Look, you think that facing the ponies who were able to steal a dragon’s egg will be EASY? If we don’t approach this in the right way, they’ll be wearing your coat for the winter!”

The undaunted colt boldly stepped up to his mentor, decisive in what he wanted. His brows were furrowed, and his muzzle had a distinct sneer. After all, there was no way that he would let the mare insult his capabilities, even if they were not much to speak of. “I appreciate your advice, but I know what I need. Don’t stop the exercise until I’m out cold, or those puppets of yours are in piles!”

Twilight grinned ear-to-ear in eager acceptance of the challenge and for the opportunity to beat the hubris out of him, if necessary. Wisps of pink magic circled around her horn as mauve mare ambled to the edge of the backyard. She settled comfortably under the leafy branches that hung lazily from the Library’s exterior. The mannequins were mechanical at first as the uneven aura encasing their forms fluctuated spastically. However, it took the gifted unicorn only a few seconds of tweaking her spell to make their movements appear more natural, and they soon flawlessly resembled warhorses awaiting an imminent campaign.

Meanwhile, the colt hunkered down, staring at his two ‘opponents’ with an unblinking gaze. He whispered to himself repeatedly that it was not really Twilight he was fighting, hoping to convince himself to go all-out, if necessary.

The puppeteer unicorn proudly shouted, “Meet your Opponent A and your Opponent B—they will be entry-level enemies,” as a final touch she branded them with cutie marks with the letters ‘A’ and ‘B,’ respectively. “You’ll start off with these two, and if you can prove to me that you can handle them, I’ll up the difficulty with your next opponents. Now that we are clear, are you ready? Last chance!”

“As much as I’ll ever be,” affirmed Canvas.

Opponent A immediately charged at Canvas before skidding to a stop directly in front of him. The colt jumped to the side quickly enough to evade the attack by mere centimeters. However, he would quickly find out that the maneuver was only to distract Canvas long enough for its counterpart to intercede and buck the unicorn’s left shoulder. Although the sharp quartz hoof left the tan unicorn staggering with a severe limp and bloodied shoulder, he refused to let the pain affect his focus, and was still fully attentive of his foes. While struggling to regain stability, he looked up to see Opponent A descend upon him once more. With only milliseconds to spare, Canvas reared up as well, his hooves loudly clashing against the mannequin’s. The two moved back and forth, both trying to throw each other to the ground. But the maneuver only proved to be folly as his opponent quickly gained the upper hoof and pugnaciously tossed Canvas onto his injured shoulder. Despite the sharp pain on his side and back, the battered unicorn defiantly stood up with a smirk directed at Twilight. The mare returned his sneer with her own while straightening her glasses.

‘Ah, since her eyes are on me, maybe I can get the jump on one of them!’ With this thought Canvas set his sights on Opponent B, which was inactive for most of the session thus far. However, his hoofsteps were stopped by intuition telling him that Twilight was sure to notice him and react accordingly. But before he could complete the thought, what felt like a wrecking ball smashed into his ribs and sent the unicorn tumbling through the air until landing upon his haunches. It took a moment for his mind to process the onslaught of pain in his pelvis and spine. No sound came from Canvas’ mouth as he sat still, his eyes wide and mouth ajar in silent shock. He was relieved that his ribcage had not been altogether broken, but could feel every hairline fracture as he struggled back onto his hooves. Meanwhile, Canvas wiped sweat from silently coercing himself. Can’t let it end like this! I’m… not weak. Not anymore! The colt snorted and stamped his forehoof once.

Impressed with his resolve, Twilight nodded in approval. Her sadistic tone and countenance softened. “You don’t quit easily, I’ll give you that! Do you think you can go on like this?”

Canvas turned and spit blood onto the grass. “Heh, tell Spike to get the toolbox ready because these things’re gonna be piles of junk when I’m done!” Canvas bellowed in pain-fueled adrenaline and rage.

“Hm. We’ll see!”

For fifteen minutes straight, the colt and the Twilight-controlled mannequin engaged in heated skirmishes. For most bouts Canvas ended up on the defensive with more cuts and bruises than he started out with. However, he noticed in the meantime that Twilight was becoming quite exhausted due to her continuous use of magic. As time passed she found it increasingly difficult to maintain a steady flow of energy, and before too long it became a strain just to hold her head up. The stubborn colt fought on with a twinkle in his eye and was willing to ignore his injuries if it meant wearing down the puppeteer.

Per Twilight’s precision commands, Opponent A lowered its head while repeatedly dragging a forehoof upon the grass. Hoping to turn things around in his favor, Canvas focused what remained of his energy toward a controlled magical attack. His horn glowed bright yellow, and the small bolts of electricity emanating from it snapped and licked at nearby metal objects. However, his face contorted with pain and panic, as his efforts to bridle his magic were steadily becoming ineffective.

Twilight also grew worried, and the mare rose to her hooves to distance herself from the erratic pulses dispersed from Canvas’ horn. From it streaks of translucent golden energy swirled throughout the yard, causing large eddies that carried with it fallen leaves and dust. Soon all of the grass in the Library’s backyard shuddered under the strong winds, as if emulating Twilight’s increasing uneasiness. “Wh-what are you waiting for?! Release the energy, NOW!”

Even from across the yard, the mare could see the sweat pouring down the tan unicorn’s face and neck and merging with the blood trickling from the sides of his mouth. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she realized that his trying to harness such power was slowly tearing the colt apart from the inside out. ‘He needs to release that magic before it kills him! But he needs to focus on something and direct it at that something…! Improvising to the best of her ability, she commanded Opponent B to gallop toward Canvas from behind. The colt felt the faint, rhythmic gallop behind him. But the density of the magic he tried to control made just turning his head feel like trying to move an object of hundreds of pounds. When only a few feet between it and Canvas, the mannequin leapt with its forelegs outstretched. Canvas suddenly allowed his body to go limp and release the thunderous energy skyward. His stunned body was sent tumbling across the yard by the shockwave, and his horn quietly sizzled with a faint red glow. The numbness and buzzing throughout the colt’s head felt like it was stuck within a hive of furious hornets.

When the temporary paralysis wore away, Canvas lifted his head, and had to blink several times to make sure that his blurred vision was not misleading him. On the other end of the clearing, Twilight stood still with her lower jaw agape. Her eyes were fixed upon Opponent B, whose entire head was blown off. A column of wispy purple smoke rose from its broken stump of a neck, and the aura of Twilight’s magic sputtered and fizzled like a dying engine. After a few seconds the mannequin ceased to move altogether and fell onto its side with a loud clatter. As the last signs of life faded away, so did its cutie mark.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head, struggling to remember what she wanted to say before. “That was fantastic, Canvas! Scary and reckless, but fantastic!” the mare said heartily, despite her consolidated fear of the colt’s destructive potential. She watched Canvas dizzily stand up while she straightened her mane. “Are you sure you can continue…?” asked Twilight, her voice filled with hesitation and pity for the fellow unicorn.

“Yep, I’m still alive. But I don’t think I can take two more at a time,” admitted Canvas.

She sighed with relief that the colt finally accepted his limitations. “Fine, it’ll be just Opponent A, then.” The mare summoned as much pent-up aggression that could fuel (what she hoped would be) the last bout of strenuous magic for the day. “I feel weird, though—it’s best if we just continue later or tomorrow.” Twilight said tiredly while laying upon her front once again.

Canvas shook his head resolutely. “Let’s push it as far as we can… I can’t go back on what I said before!”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “Wh-you… do you WANT me to kill you? Is that it?!”

“No—I…”

The mare removed her glasses and tossed them to the side as her short period of relief gave way to steadily-increasing ire, “You know what? Fine! It’s clear to me now that I’ve enabled your self-destructive behavior for too long!” Twilight’s eyes glowed with a pink hue when her magic aggressively encircled Opponent A once more. Emulating Twilight’s fury, the quartz pony reared and galloped toward its target. Mentally Canvas was alert of his foe’s advance, but the colt’s injuries caught up to him. His right knee buckled when attempting to dodge the attack and only ended up stumbling onto the mannequin’s neck, just as the mare controlling it intended. A sharp, quiet yelp left the colt’s throat as Opponent A’s head lifted him several feet into the air, then bolted forward and tackled him mid-air. An audible snapping of bone could be heard from the colt’s body as his body made contact with the unforgiving ground. Opponent A stepped backward, leaving the colt gasping and writhing upon the grass. She stood over Canvas with a cold stare as her frustration toward his stubbornness flowed out through her magic.

Twilight stood up and sauntered toward Canvas with a disturbing sneer. She seemed unaware that her mind and actions were being overtaken by the immense flow of her own magic, which became increasingly out of control. Her voice suddenly changed, sounding like two voices coming from the same mouth, “You still want to continue, you runt?” Twilight taunted while walking beside Opponent A, her aura around the quartz pony fluctuating precariously.

Canvas began to panic as it sunk in that defending himself was out of the question. His legs no longer allowed him to even stand, only to inch away from the duo. “Get… away… from me!” he pleaded desperately. His energy began to surge against his will. Images of the decapitated mannequin suddenly flashed into his mind, stirring up even more emotion. “Get BACK, before it’s too late!!”

Fully engrossed by her powers, the mare only continued to advance. “I’LL show you when it’s too late!!”

Canvas Shade closed his eyes tight, using every fiber of his being to keep control. However, the pulsing surges of power pushed past his willpower, filling his eyes with a bright yellow light, and the colt also bellowed with a voice that was not quite his own, “SHUT… UP!!!”

An overwhelmingly intense light filled the entire area, forcing Twilight to shield her eyes. The sudden magical outburst, as well as the deafening sound of her backyard being obliterated snapped her out of the trance. However, the foreleg she used to cover her eyes faltered, the inundation of Canvas’ magic overwhelming all of her senses at once. Before she could comprehend what was happening, Twilight instantly blacked out.

***

The barely-conscious mare groaned while carefully attempting to get solid footing on the now jagged, upturned ground. Her eyes watered severely as she wandered through the cloud of dust, and her lungs struggled to expel the debris with several wheezing coughs. She looked at the earth around her hooves and gasped in shock that what used to be well-cut grass was now upturned soil and remnants of green scattered amongst smoldering quartz rubble. To her right was the contoured force field that she established around the Library earlier that morning. Under normal circumstances it remained invisible. But not only was it revealed, the section nearest to Canvas was riddled with web-like cracks. Thankfully, the Library itself was saved, except for a few minor branches.

“Holy Celestia! Everything’s decimated!” Twilight whispered when walking amongst the piles of rubble that her training mannequins used to be. As the mare shuffled through the debris, she became increasingly worried about Canvas’ well being. From history books and lore, she heard of unbridled magic utterly destroying its wielder, whether it was fatal internal damage or thorough vaporization into some plane of existence in between dimensions. The mare was hesitant to call out his name for fear that she would not get an answer. However, the uncertainty of it all was much worse. “Canv—?” She let out a faint gasp, startled by a sudden crumbling noise and groans of pain.

Canvas lay upon his side, copious amount of blood having spilled from his mouth. Twilight cringed when the smoke cleared enough to fully reveal the terrible condition he was in. Streams of blood trickled from the various surface wounds all over his damaged body. Canvas’ broken right leg hung limp while he tried in vain stand using the other three. However, his good legs only faltered in the loose dirt. “I’m… not… weak! I’ll… show you!”

Twilight was astounded at the words that reached her ears. “Absolutely not! You’re insane!!” She turned her head to the sound of the front door slamming shut and Spike sprinting toward them on all fours. The dragon skidded to a halt beside her, panting heavily while checking Twilight for serious injuries. He saw Canvas in the corner of his vision and double took, wincing sympathetically at the bloodied and broken pony. “Son of a parasprite! What did you DO to him?! Ugh, I’ll never get that image out of my head!” Spike was sure to keep his back to the equine wreck behind him.

She could not readily answer, but only gesture and stutter with a shell-shocked look in her eye. “He sort of… did this to himself, but—he’s still trying to fight! He’s so injured, yet… I mean, it’s like he doesn’t even realize how injured he is!” Twilight inched toward Canvas, who was still trying to drag himself closer to them. The colt only kept his gaze upon one last training mannequin that did not receive the brunt of the magical surge. Twilight realized what he was staring at and austerely stamped her hoof once. “No! I WON’T go any further! Even I almost lost control!”

“Please… let me do this…” Canvas pleaded in a weak tone muffled by the blood filling his mouth.

Spike turned toward Canvas, pointing at him admonishingly, “You’re gonna kill yourself, you dumb stallion! Just continue tomorrow, sheesh!”

The colt sobbed quietly and lifted his head, looking to them with tear-filled, desperate eyes, “I didn’t know what I was doing when I agreed to help. All I wanted was to do something really significant, for once in my life.”

Twilight and Spike looked at each other worriedly, neither of them wanting to deal with anypony dying in their backyard. The young dragon could tell that she was still considering granting Canvas’ ridiculous wish, and he frantically shook his head ‘no’ without another word. Pieces of broken stone and clumps of dirt crunched loudly underneath her hooves as she stepped away from the last surviving mannequin.

For no reason that was clear to the unicorns, Spike suddenly backed away from Twilight, crouched on all fours and hissing in Twilight’s direction.

“Spike, wh… why’re you doing that?” she asked meekly, part of her not wanting to know what had Spike’s defensive synapses firing all at once. Then the answer became clear when a soft gust of wind tussled a few hairs of Twilight’s mane. The chills that ran throughout her body were strong enough to where her nearly all of her muscles locked up.

A dragon-shaped distortion faded into view ever so slowly as the invisibility spell wore off. Canvas and Spike looked with dread upon the translucent gray-scaled body standing behind the mare with an expression of undiluted rage. The colt tried desperately to call out to her, but the words would not sound from his dry throat. Twilight could tell by Canvas’ frantic efforts to speak out that something terrible was behind her, and that it was furious. The mare’s paralysis prevented her from simply turning her head. Faster than she realized, Twilight was violently pinned to the ground, the swiftness of the dragoness’ attack leaving her head spinning. When she came to, she lifted her head to see a cold, scaly paw forcefully pressing upon her torso, dangerously poking against her skin and close to drawing blood with the slightest movement. Twilight lifted her gaze further, beholding the brooding creature and its blue eyes amidst the backdrop of the dawn sun.

“I will NOT have you hurt him any longer!” Nyvena snarled with a threatening quietness.

A thousand thoughts ran through the unicorn’s mind, but her fear hindered her ability to form a proper response.

“NOW who is the ru—?” Nyvena paused and turned sharply to face Spike, who managed to sneak past the dragoness and leap at her with surprising ferocity. The dragoness raised her left foreleg away from Twilight just in time to prevent Spike’s teeth from reaching her neck. He clamped down as hard as he could, his teeth crunching upon her scales. With a loud grunt of effort and pain, she swung her foreleg a full 180 degrees to send him tumbling to the other side of the yard. Disregarding the serious bite wound, Nyvena returned her focus onto Twilight.

“NYVENA, STOP!” Canvas authoritatively shouted after spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Her head snapped toward the colt, taken aback that he called her given name for the first time. “I saw her attack you! A-and she was killing you—I tried holding back, but she just kept going!”

Canvas found the strength to limp his way between Twilight and Nyvena. “I wanted her to! Besides, it was only part of an exercise!”

Nyvena’s drawn-back paw trembled with unreleased adrenaline, so she instead slammed her claws into the ground, inches away from Twilight’s head. The mare gasped sharply, and when her mind comprehended how close she was to dying, her eyes rolled back into her head.

Meanwhile, as Spike rose to a sitting position, he carefully pulled shards of quartz from between his scales. The young dragon dashed to Twilight’s side and helped the mare back to her hooves, hissing scornfully at his fellow dragon in passing. She crouched, retorting with a louder hiss. Canvas limped to Nyvena’s and slumped across her tail, looking into her eyes and shaking his head to persuade her to remain calm. Nyvena sighed reluctantly and sat down once again and took several deep breaths to alleviate her aggression. However, when she opened them and looked around, the dragoness swore under her breath.

A dozen curious ponies cautiously stepped out from behind trees and buildings to see about the warzone behind the Golden Oaks. Many of them paced back and forth, surveying the scene with jaws agape. Others were frozen with pure terror, unblinkingly watching every movement Nyvena made. Amongst the growing crowd was Mayor Mare, but the look in her steely blue eyes was more of outrage than fright or awe.

The wheat-hued earth mare stepped forward with apparent disregard that a flying reptile of legend was in their midst. Even though she had to rush there in her morning robe, the Mayor’s words were not taken any less seriously than when she spoke from the podium. “All of you, to the hospital! From there, we will sort out all of this! That includes YOU, Dragon!”

Canvas’ heart filled with dread. The colt knew well how repulsive that the mere idea of associating with ponies was to the dragoness. There was no telling how Nyvena might react to being spoken to in such a manner by the Mayor. From where he lay Canvas felt the anger building up within her as she clenched her fists and ground her teeth. But to his surprise, Nyvena only responded with an petulant snort, turning her head away with a snort as she stood up and carried Canvas within the coils of her tail.

‘Think of your children, think of your children…’ Nyvena muttered to herself while following the Mayor. Her head was held low as if being led through a shameful procession, and she could practically hear her dragon compatriots loudly jeering from all directions.

***

Outside of the Ponyville Hospital, Nurse Redheart dabbed sweat from Dr. Stable’s forehead after a full hour of treating Nyvena’s bite wound. Spike’s teeth had taken with them some of her scales and skin from when she threw him off of her, leaving a grisly, gaping wound on her left foreleg. Surrounding it were broken scales that were mendable, but the precision and patience it required was like assembling a mosaic. Within hoof’s reach was a cart holding several bottles of rubbing alcohol and many rolls of the best-grade gauze bandage. On the top surface the doctor and nurses improvised by gathering any medical tool that could be useful for mending a wounded dragon. Fortunately, the Doctor’s unwavering focus on the task at hoof allowed him to count irrelevant the innate fear of working on such a creature. Nevertheless, it helped that Nyvena vowed her full cooperation in exchange for being able to make sure that Twilight healed her travel companion with extreme prudence. However, sitting next to Twilight was Spike, glaring at Nyvena in an intense standoff. His muscles were tense and primed, ready for intervention if Nyvena were to step out of line.

Hoping to ease the distracting tension, Stable asked in a half-mutter without stopping his work, “So, Nyvena, is it? Why don’t you have this fixed by Miss Sparkle over there? I’m sure her magic is much faster and much less painful. I can see you tensing and gouging your claws into the ground every time I touch your foreleg.”

“I refuse to let her touch me with that magic!” she growled in response. Dr. Stable let out a stressed exhalation and slowly shook his head at the dragoness’ spiteful hubris. The distrustful dragoness lay upon her front, still as a garden statue while watching Twilight’s every move. The potent 90% pure alcohol he dabbed onto her open wound would normally have sent her into a rage—or at least cause her to snarl at the Doctor—but ensuring that Twilight properly reversed the damage she caused was far more important.

With the help of another nurse Twilight cleaned Canvas’ coat and sterilized his wounds after mending her own. Various muscles on the colt’s sedated body twitched when she began to mend the broken bone in his foreleg and one of his cracked ribs. But the process was easy for Twilight overall, compared to the first time she tried to heal him. Only once did she look up by accident and catch a glimpse of Nyvena’s intimidating gaze. It sent such a strong shiver down the mare’s spine that she promised herself to not dare make such a mistake again.

The quiet murmuring of the crowd that gathered around the hospital broke the very awkward silence to a small degree. Merchants deserted their storefronts and foals skipped school in order to witness the most historic arrival in Ponyville in years. It did not last long, as Mayor Mare exited the hospital to urge them to disperse and go about their day. The curious denizens groaned in protest and lingered around at first, but they ultimately did as told.

“What’s the progress here?” the Mayor asked succinctly while observing Doctor Stable, Redheart, and Nyvena. Although she was able to keep her outward composure, frustration was apparent in her voice while she paced back and forth.

Stable spoke rapidly as if thinking out loud without removing his squinting eyes from his handiwork, “We’re almost done here. I don’t know very much about dragons, but I definitely know wounds. The scales that could be salvaged were put back into the place, so all we need to do is clean the wound and get it wrapped up.”

“Very good, Doctor.” Mayor Mare gave a nod of approval and trotted over to the other side of the yard. “And you, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight nervously readjusted her glasses and nodded rapidly. Her edginess increased with having the Mayor’s attention upon her as well. “A-almost done here, too, Mayor.”

“Good. Once everypony is properly fixed up, we’re to have a nice little discussion on what has taken place today. I’ll be waiting in City Hall. I want Miss Sparkle, Mr. Shade, and the dragon to report there immediately,” the commanding earth pony declared before departing.

Spike and Twilight looked at each other uneasily, and the dragon aimlessly scratched the side of his neck. “Uh, what about me?”

“Just wait for us at the library, Spike. We’ll be back before you know it.” Twilight calmly answered. Eager to escape the added tension caused by Mayor Mare’s visit, he exhaled with relief as he stood up. The young dragon subtly backed away before breaking into a sprint towards home on all fours.

***

Later that day, on the Ponyville City Hall upper balcony:

For a few moments before speaking, Mayor Mare stared coldly at her audience. The two unicorns silently sat beside each other with Nyvena seated behind them. Unable to meet the Mayor’s eyes, Twilight kept her head lowered apologetically with her ears flat against her head.

Canvas was bandaged almost from snout to tail, especially on his horn, torso, and right foreleg. Nyvena had to carry him upon her back, but he insisted upon limping the rest of the way when they reached City Hall. While in front of the Mayor, he was rather distracted while ogling building’s charming architecture in detail. Behind the bandaged colt was Nyvena, staring forward with a sullen frown and not looking at anything else even once.

Mayor Mare cleared her throat before beginning her speech, “As you know, this is a small town where not many exciting events happen nowadays. But when they do occur, there is no doubt that it is of very profound significance. We in Ponyville bore witness to the return of the once-fabled Nightmare Moon and Discord, both of which were promptly dealt with by our very own Twilight Sparkle and her friends. But it is evident that things have changed in the past three years,” she paused with a stern glance at the mauve unicorn. “It seems that she would now rather harbor and aid a mysterious, troublesome colt and his pet dragon in the destruction of this fair town, wouldn’t you?” Nyvena’s attention snapped to the Mayor with rage-filled eyes.

“‘His… PET… DRAGON?!’” she screamed within her thoughts. From where he sat Canvas could feel the rage already building inside of her.

“If I may speak on Canvas’ behalf, he’s not a threat to anypony here. He’s simply a traveler with rather… well, unique circumstances,” Twilight gestured to Nyvena, “You see, he bravely offered to help this dragon find her stolen eggs.”

Mayor Mare raised an eyebrow, “Stolen eggs? No offense, but I’m sure that somepony who could manage that is much more than any one pony can handle.”

Canvas silently admitted to himself that for the time being it was true, but the colt frowned upon the assumption that he could not handle himself in a tough situation. Twilight looked to him, hoping that he would better explain the situation.

“Well, Mr. Shade? Do you have anything to add to Miss Sparkle’s explanation?”

Anxious about speaking to a mayor for the first time and unable to figure out where to begin, Canvas stumbled upon his words, “Well, y-you see, um—what she said is right, but that’s not all there is to it. She was helping me prepare… for when I have to face a… uh… I’m sorry, I don’t really know how to say this without sounding like some conspiracy theorist…” he chuckled, conceding that he simply could not gather his thoughts.

“It’s an underground earth pony group called ‘The Triumvirate,’” Twilight bookishly intervened. “They’ve been causing all sorts of trouble around Equestria, but we can hardly find any history on them.”

The colt nodded rapidly in agreement and continued with a bit more confidence, “Needless to say, things got more… destructive than expected. For that I’m deeply sorry because I wanted her to keep going so I could prove something to myself and to her. Apparently I have some sort of… massive magical energy built up inside me, and I have to learn how to control it so I can use it to defend myself without… you know, decimating everything around me. Twilight is the only pony I know who could really help me.”

“That is quite true. I saw what had become of the ICU wing in the Hospital,” the Mayor sighed with chagrin.

“I realize that behind the library might not have been the best place to train, but if we relocate to a place with as little potential collateral damage as possible, could you please give us another chance?”

Mayor Mare tapped her chin in thought, “The training situation can be easily fixed…” her expression became stern once again, “But there’s still the matter of your dragon!”

Nyvena started to stand up in protest, “I am not HIS dra—” However, Canvas acted quickly to hold her back. He was the only one who happened to notice the secretive guard detail of unicorns hidden around the structure, ready to intervene.

“Please, Miss K. We can sort out the semantics later!” Canvas whispered urgently. Nyvena’s haunches landed heavily upon the balcony, her sullen gaze then locked onto Mayor Mare, who appeared very unconcerned about the dragoness’ objections. Canvas turned, once again facing the Mayor contritely on behalf of Nyvena. “I know you’re worried for your citizens, but I promise you that we’re here for a specific purpose, and we will be out of your mane as soon as we can.”

“Fair enough, if things don’t get out of hoof. How do I know for sure that her… instincts will not get the best of her?”

Canvas and Nyvena exchanged glances for a second while the unicorn thought of a reassuring answer. His ears suddenly perked up when stumbling upon a proposition, “Hmm… if Miss Kenanshar could roam freely here and in the Everfree Forest, her basic needs can be met, and I’ll personally make sure she has as little contact with anypony here as possible. However, I will need her around for… well, moral support. In the meantime, Twilight and I can continue training in a more remote location.” As Canvas made his proposal, Nyvena was impressed that he could think of such a good plan under pressure, and she nodded in agreement.

Mayor Mare stared at the ground with a hoof over her chin, pondering Canvas’ plan. After a moment of deep thought, she could not come up with anything unreasonable about his requests. “I… don’t see why that cannot work. As long as everypony keeps up their end of the deal, your visit should cause minimal problems under the circumstances you provided, Mr. Shade. I shall designate where you can hold your sessions, under advisory of Miss Sparkle.”

The mare perked up, beaming at the opportunity to advise the town leader. “It will be my pleasure, Mayor!”

“Then it’s settled. Please join me in the map room. In the meantime, the rest of you report to the Library, and she shall meet you there.”

“Understood. Thank you for the opportunity!” Canvas could not help but grin, since the outcome was much better than he thought it would be, considering the circumstances.

Nyvena rolled her eyes, unfurling her wings and pivoting toward the outer edge of the balcony. The dragoness lowered her tail to let Canvas climb onto her back before taking to the air. Seeing the crowd of ponies gathered around City Hall caught the pair off-guard, as none of them even realized that anypony was trying to eavesdrop in the first place. More loud gasps and murmurs came from the small crowd as Nyvena’s shadow passed over the circular plaza.

Canvas sighed and smiled “I tell you, Miss K., I’ll never get used to that kind of attention.”

“It is better than the treatment I received in your home city. Being in a place where wondrous things have happened was a brilliant stroke of fortune. And it is surprising that their leader was so… decisive! No other pony has been that way with me around. Except for you, of course.”

“Thank you! I think that’s the first nice thing you’ve said about me!”

“Saying ’do not push it’ does not quite suffice,” Nyvena grumbled while swerving around a low-hanging cloud. As the top branches of the Library came into sight, a rainbow streak zoomed past the two with a slipstream so powerful that it almost threw the dragoness off of her flight pattern. Having to compensate quickly, she was forced to make a rough landing about a few dozen feet away from the intended landing point.

“What WAS that?!” Nyvena exclaimed in between startled breaths.

“Ugh, trouble in Pegasus form,” replied the colt in a disgusted tone. The dragoness’ lay upon the soft grass and Canvas was able to dismount easily. After circling above them several times, Rainbow Dash landed and galloped to Canvas, although she knew that he would be less than enthusiastic to see her.

“Can I help you?” the unicorn asked dryly, seating himself in front of her with half-closed eyes. He restrained himself from unleashing the tirade of anger he felt toward the Pegasus, keeping in mind the discussion he had with Twilight the day before.

Rainbow Dash stopped in front of him and cantered in place awkwardly. It was obvious that she out of her comfort zone. However, the sky blue mare swallowed her pride so that she could struggle through her apology, “I… I know you’re not very happy to see me at all, but… I wanted to properly apologize to you face-to-face.”

Not expecting an apology from the coarse Pegasus, Canvas was suddenly attentive and his tone more sincere, “Well, uhm, that won’t be n—”

“Please,” Dash politely interrupted, “I wanted to let you know that I feel really, really bad for what I did to you. Even if you don’t forgive me, I need you to know that I’m sorry. Nothing I say can make up for the pain you went through because of me. If there’s anything at all I can do to make up for it, I’ll do it, no problem! I just really hope that we can still possibly be friends…?” She held her hoof out with an amicable, hopeful smile.

Canvas could see the sincerity in her eyes and the vow he made to Twilight was still fresh in his mind. The hoof he raised to meet hers was his nearly-healed one, and it trembled with hesitation. But he eventually accepted Dash’s, forcing himself to smile as well. The colt was never somepony to speak much about his feelings, and his words were drawn out, but Canvas knew that he needed to say them nonetheless. “It’s alright, as long as you don’t let anything like that happen again. You see, I never really had good experiences with Pegasi. But unlike the others I’ve come across, I have a feeling that something great can come of this friendship despite the… well, what’s happened between us at first. And I’m very sorry for losing control of my magic back in the hospital.”

Dash’s jaw dropped in astonishment, not expecting such a response, whatsoever.

The socially awkward colt looked to the side as he continued to struggle through voicing his thoughts. “I’ve never been able to hold a grudge for very long, as long as there’s an apology. It’s been a pretty crappy day so far, but hearing this from you… I must admit you’ve brightened my day quite a bit!” Canvas chuckled affably, releasing her hoof. “Ah! How could I forget? This is Ke…” the colt turned around and saw that Nyvena no longer behind him. His heart immediately went into panic mode, and he instantly broke into a cold sweat.

“Uh, who?” Dash tilted her head, just as puzzled as Canvas.

He burst into short, frantic sprints in all directions, feverishly shouting to himself, “Nyvena! Where’d she go?!”

“Nyvena? That’s a weird name for a pony. Oh, is it that dragon everypony’s talking about?”

“Yeah, she was with me a minute ago! Didn’t you see her leave?!”

“I didn’t notice—I was really focused on apologizing, and—” Rainbow Dash shuddered with dread at the thought of a dragon roaming around Ponyville. “I’ll help you find—”

Out of nowhere Nyvena landed directly in front of Dash just as the Pegasus was about to take off, and the massive thud shook both ponies to their core. Her wings were fully outstretched, casting an intimidating shadow upon the shrieking mare. Nyvena shook her head, a cunning grin across the dragoness’ muzzle as she leaned onto her haunches.

“You never fail to surprise, do you?!” the winged mare’s chest heaved rapidly as she spoke.

Canvas turned away from the Pegasus when bursting out with raucous laughter and shrugged in response after his amusement died down. “I couldn’t think of a better way to get back at you if I tried! Thanks, Miss K.!” Anyway, this is Kenanshar Nyvena. We met in my home town Baltimare.”

A long way from acclimating to having a casual conversation with a dragon, Dash chose her words carefully, “That’s an… interesting name—hard to remember, but interesting. Usually we ponies have names that mean something unique for each of us. Does yours have some special meaning in… dragon language, or whatever?”

“My name means Adjutant of the Diamond Cloud, if that is easier for you to remember,” Nyvena sardonically replied.

Dash blinked a few times, trying to recite the meaning in her head, but giving up after the first failed try. “Uh, is ‘Ken’ okay?”

“No. But we shall figure it out later. For now you shall call me… ‘Mistress.’”

The mare scoffed and turned to Canvas, silently mouthing, ‘are you kidding me?!’

"Just go with it," he silently replied with a casual shrug.

Rainbow Dash groaned, sticking her tongue out in disgust at having to use such a word. “Fine… Mistress,”

Nyvena let out a quiet giggle, then dismissively flicked her wrist, “Very good. Run along now; Canvas and I have important matters to attend to.”

With a faint blush of humiliation Rainbow Dash turned and walked away crossly. She spread her wings and crouched low before taking to the air with her signature streak of rainbow trailing behind.

***

Tiny slivers of sunlight filtered through drawn curtains as Spike lay awake in his bed, feeling somewhat nauseated with worry for Twilight, as well as disdain toward Canvas’ arriving in the first place. The Mayor was never known to be lenient towards destruction of public property. A sudden loud knock made the dragon nearly leap out of bed. “I’m coming, I’m coming, jeez!” he groaned out loud while trudging down the stairs. Spike figured that it could not have been Twilight, or she would have simply crossed through the force field or taken it down entirely (weeks ago she modified the spell to enable Spike to temporarily take down part of the barrier or repair it, as needed). He was not enthusiastic whatsoever to see for whom he opened the door, as long as Twilight was not with them. “Ah, let off the hook early, I see,” said Spike with a cynical dryness.

Canvas and Nyvena looked at each other with raised brows. “Uh, right now Twilight’s with Mayor Mare, helping with choosing places for us to practice, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Fine. I just don’t like this whole thing whatsoever. Things’ve gone crazy since you arrived, Canvas.” Spike waved his clawed hand to let the two guests in past the barrier. As she followed Canvas inside, Nyvena was pleasantly surprised that she could slip through the doorway intended for ponies. “I have this nagging feeling that you’re gonna be one of those ponies who completely turn our lives upside-down.”

Nyvena shook her head and scoffed while taking a seat in the middle of the main room, taking in the drollness of the Library’s décor. “Oh, stop whining, Young One. That is simply what happens in life sometimes.”

“My name is Spike, by the way!” he snapped boldly.

The dragoness curtly turned her head away from Spike. “I knew a ‘Spike’ once. That is one dragon I do NOT want to be reminded about. However, that was from decades ago.”

“Regardless, that’s what I like being called because that’s my name. It’s not like I can help it…!”

“Ugh, both of you shut up! Quit arguing about petty stuff! You’re both dragons, for goodness’ sake! That’s one thing you have in common that you don’t have with anypony else here—that should count for something!” Canvas shouted, pausing with heavy breaths and a visibly distressed look. When watching Spike and Nyvena exchange worried looks, the colt exhaled deeply to calm himself before continuing. “Look, we’re got so much more to focus on. We can’t move forward until we put our best efforts together. I spent nearly all my life listening to pointless arguing in my family. I just… can’t function under those circumstances! Not again.” He finished the admonishing tirade with a near-whisper, seating himself in an obscure corner near the staircase.

Spike sighed and sulked guiltily; Nyvena sighed as well, slowly shaking her head with more pity than sympathy.

“You’re gonna be with us for only a short while, anyway,” conceded Spike. “I’m… sorry for how unwelcoming I’ve been acting. It’s just that it’s a lot to handle all at once. And I never—well—I never liked the idea of stallions in the Library… you know, around Twilight in general. But if Twilight ends up hurt, it’ll be more than your leg that’ll be hurt!” he exclaimed with a protective snarl. The dragoness clenched her fists, but managed to mind her tongue, despite being threatened by the audacious green-crested whelp.

Canvas quickly interceded for the sake of avoiding more conflict, “You have our word that none of you will come to any harm as the result of our training.”

“Pinkie Promise?” asked the apprehensive dragon, looking to both Canvas and Nyvena with a demonstrative handpaw over his right eye. Although she did not know what a Pinkie Promise was, Nyvena was wholeheartedly against such a ridiculous gesture. Still, she knew that Spike needed their reassurance in exchange for his support.

“I shall not… Pinkie Promise, as you put it. However, I do swear to you by my family name of Kenanshar. Amongst us dragons, a vow of such importance is made once every century. It is yours, for the sake of cooperation, to both you and to Twilight Sparkle.” The dragoness bowed to Spike, which thoroughly shocked Canvas as he witnessed her rare moment of humility. His jaw dropped, never having imagined that he would see her bow to anypony, not even to another dragon. A smile grew across his muzzle as he looked on with a new level of admiration for the her. To Canvas it was clear the lengths she could go for the sake of somepony she cared about seemed all but limitless.

Spike leaned forward with slight fascination, “You would really do that?”

Nyvena raised her body, but kept her head bowed. Several audible plits upon the floor rang throughout the otherwise silent room, followed by a loud sniffle. “I would give anything to have my children back. Why else would I travel with a pony?” the dragoness gestured to Canvas in an attempt at humor. All three of them could not help but laugh heartily. However, Spike’s laughter was the first to die down as a troubling thought came to him.

“I… I would definitely have been nicer if I knew all this was for your kids. I’m really sorry for how I acted and what I did, and stuff…” he scratched at the back of his neck while struggling through the apology.

Contemplating the dragon’s words, Nyvena looked at her bandaged foreleg and gently stroked the gauze tightly wrapped around the wound. “You have my forgiveness. You were brave enough to challenge me for the sake of your Twilight, and I find that admirable. Although it was quite foolish as well.”

“I’ve always been sort of… overprotective. I can’t help myself sometimes.” Spike replied with a apologetic yet lighthearted chortle.

All of them jolted when Twilight suddenly burst through the doorway, panting excitedly, “We did it! We came up with a solution that can solve all our problems!” The elated mare did not seem to notice the adult dragon curled up in the middle of her Library, and that Nyvena and Spike were not trying to tear each other apart.

“Should I put in an order for some new hinges, Twi? And a new door, maybe?” Spike asked half-sarcastically.

“Ha, ha,” the elated mare replied dryly and instantly continued her good news. “Mayor Mare and I worked everything out, and there’s an old quarry a few miles to the north. Plus it’s located close to the Everfree Forest, so it’s a perfect place for Miss Kenanshar to roam around as she pleases while Canvas and I train as we please! It’s a solid yet simple plan! So, what do you think?” Twilight leaned toward the colt with a hopeful smile.

A pony who enjoyed his personal space, Canvas leaned his head away from Twilight’s as she gradually leaned closer, “What’s not to like? It’s based on my proposal, and it works out of everypony! We can get good rest and heal some more, then get started again! Only thing is… what do we do in the meantime? It’s only late afternoon.”

Twilight looked at the ceiling while tapping a hoof upon her chin. “This sounds like it would be a Pinkie Pie kind of situation—”

Canvas stood and reared up, unable to contain his sudden burst of excitement. “Pinkie Pie! I’d love to see her and the other Elements of Harmony! Ohh, I hope they’re not too busy… I’m thinking I would have… seen… them,” the pace of his talking slowed to a crawl, and his enthusiasm died away when seeing Twilight’s slow, regretful shake of her head.

“You see, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy all moved away about a year ago. The only ones left here are Dash and I. I’m sorry, Canvas.”

“N-no… they aren’t… here?” the shocked and disappointed colt found it difficult to form words, as his jaw went numb and a lump formed in his throat. Nyvena lowered her head, muttering obscenities in an ancient tongue.

“Believe me, I was just as sad as each of them told me they were leaving. They’re my best friends, and… well, they just moved on. I imagine it was just as hard for them, if not more.” Twilight explained with gentleness and heartache and well.

Canvas inhaled and exhaled slowly to even out his mood, allowing him to take on a more somber disposition. “Alright… this is definitely a setback, yes. Aside from the fact that I’ve wanted to meet all of you for years, Miss K. and I really need all of your help with these Triumvirate types. Where would I find the other four?”

“Really, Miss Sparkle, we need to know this,” Nyvena stepped closer, speaking with attempted gentleness, although her increasing proximity was rather intimidating. “If there is anything you can tell us…”

Twilight craned her neck to magically pull out a folded parchment that was used as a bookmark for a giant volume of a rather extensive collection of books. She unfolded it meticulously as if it was a treasure map that could fall apart with the slightest wrong move, laying it out neatly between the four of them (now three, since Spike unashamedly yawned and curled up to sleep). She pressed her hoof close to the center of the faded parchment. “Pinkie Pie would be the closest. She lives in Canterlot now—believe it or not—and is the co-owner of Donut Joe’s shop there.”

A small measure of gusto returned to Canvas upon hearing the name, “Hey, Donut Joe! That’s my cousin! At least I’ll know somepony there, thank goodness.”

“Yeah, we’d go there every time we go to Canterlot. No matter what happened, spending time together in the donut shop always made us feel better.” After briefly reliving the nostalgia of yesteryears, she lowered her voice with a focused stare on the map. Her eyes darted about the parchment while audibly thinking of different scenarios, “Canterlot would be a great starting point, but I don’t know if the Princess will take kindly to us bringing a dragon there, so we’ll have to be ultra-careful. We barely scraped by a huge amount of trouble over here. She definitely won’t want panic in the streets of her Capitol, whether I’m involved or not.”

Nyvena leaned in for a better look. Her head was now only a few feet away from Twilight’s, their closeness evoking the mare to subtly put a little more space between them. Canvas huddled close to the dragoness as comfortably as if she was another pony. To Twilight’s surprise, neither of them seemed to mind, or even notice how close they were to each other. However, she could not help but smile at the droll sight. “Miss Kenanshar, your thoughts?” both unicorns stared at Nyvena with hope that the dragoness would approve of the proposed plan.

“Hmm, magic training for Canvas, then searching for the Elements of Harmony all over Equestria? It does seem like the long way of doing things, and I was never one for patience. However, we cannot afford to approach this in a sloppy manner. Would you… perhaps accompany us so that you can request the help of your friends on our behalf?”

“I’d l—” Twilight began, but she stopped herself to look at Spike, who unceremoniously slumbered upon his back. There was nothing that filled the mare with more excitement than the idea of traversing the land with a fascinating fellow unicorn and a fully-grown dragon as travel partners. However, the same notion that excited the mare also frightened her. Although she had to traverse into the unknown several times in her life did not mean that she enjoyed doing such. It did help justify her hesitation, knowing that she still had responsibilities that tied her to Ponyville, especially the slumbering young dragon to her left. “I would love to, but… I have to be here for Spike. This is a crucial part of his life, and it wouldn’t be fair for me to leave so suddenly…”

The claws on Nyvena’s left forepaw dug grooves into the floor as her voice was filled with desperation. “Miss Sparkle, I beg of you to reconsider! So far you are the only pony who can help us reach out to these other Elements of Harmony. Everything that we have accomplished so far will have fallen apart without your help! Every minute without my future children feels like years off my life. All I have done since they were stolen has been to get them back!”

“She’s right,” Canvas chimed, also hoping to appeal to his fellow unicorn’s sense of valor, “even if we have to bring Spike along, I’m sure we can make it work to everypony’s benefit!”

Both Canvas and Nyvena stared at her with an expectant glint in their eyes. Her intuition told Twilight that the duo had been through pain and hardship just to get to Ponyville, and she could only imagine how crushing it must have been to hear that who they needed were scattered all over Equestria. A small part of her still tried to devise a counterargument, but seeing a dragoness—prideful as they can be—nearly groveling at her hooves made it very difficult. “Okay, okay, I’ll go with you. Besides… it would be great to see my best friends again!” she said to reassure herself. “These weeks of training will give me enough time to get things in order here.”

The tension seemed to melt away from the colt and dragoness all at once. Nyvena’s gratitude was more reserved, but she had to hold Canvas back from literally trying to kiss Twilight’s hooves. She almost wanted to hold the overly grateful unicorn’s muzzle shut just to quiet his fervent string of ‘thank yous.’ Twilight chuckled while sauntering over to Canvas, “I think I can see how much it means to you.” The mare lightly kissed his forehead with a subtle grin. “For you, my noble stallion.” Nyvena covered her maw to stifle a burst of laughter she did not expect.

Canvas knew that Twilight was only joking, but he could not help but blush deeply. Nopony outside of family has ever kissed him on the cheek. “Wow, well, thanks! That was pleasantly unexpected…!” beyond that, all he could manage was indistinct stuttering and quiet chuckling to himself.

“Do not push your luck, Miss Sparkle, he is mine!” the dragoness replied in her own attempt at humor, hugging Canvas against her chest with inadvertent roughness. The colt struggled within her strong forelegs. Twilight helplessly burst into laughter, pounding a hoof upon the ground.

“Miss K.! What’re you doing? You’re choking me!”

“Hmph! You would not mind this treatment if it were from a mare.”

“Yeah, because she probably couldn’t accidentally snap my neck,” he croaked, forcing an indignant façade in order to hide his infatuated awkwardness.

“Not important, Unicorn,” replied Nyvena in a patronizing tone. Part of Canvas wished that she were sincere, especially since her humor was quite painful.

***

Shaking her head and laughing lightly, Twilight Sparkle left Canvas and Nyvena to their shenanigans in the living room. She sat in front of her desk, looking over the mess of papers that she had dropped when spotting Canvas two days before. On the middle of the surface was a collapsible folder filled with copies of every friendship letter that she wrote to the Princess for the past three years, the papers somewhat spilling out of the opened flap. Twilight remembered the sudden onslaught of nostalgia that evoked her to focus on such relics while undergoing her rigorous sessions of spring-cleaning. Her heart filled with regret when seeing that each letter became shorter, until the final one dated 16 February, 1003 that was only a single incomplete paragraph. She removed her glasses as tears welled up in her eyes, recalling when Fluttershy left for Cloudhampton. There was nopony else she could talk with who could truly understand how painful it was for four of her best friends to leave, and Rainbow Dash was not exactly a shoulder to cry on. However, Twilight sniffled and wiped her cheeks, looking to her closed door while listening to the colt and dragoness affably jibing at each other. The mare’s gaze was fixed upon the door, her magic encompassing a quill and blank parchment. The feather rapidly flitted in the air as she expertly wrote in an elegant cursive:

‘Dear… Princess… Celestia…

Certain events have transpired that have rekindled an excitement for life that I have not felt, to be honest, in quite a long time. I’m sorry that you haven’t heard from me in over a year. I haven’t been in the best emotional state of my life lately, and I thought it would be better to end my correspondence than to vent my rage, anger, and sadness. But enough of that. There is a certain somepony who has given me hope that maybe my life isn’t a complete standstill. If things go well, I might be able to see you soon.
I haven’t been on an adventure in forever, and I really would like to see my friends again. Those two… there’s something about those two, especially Canvas. There’s a lot of interesting things in that seemingly uninteresting light brown package that’s just waiting to be let out! Maybe… this is exactly what I’ve needed all this time—’

Episode One: Ex Libris, Ad Mundi

25 March, Year 1004 of Celestia’s Reign:

The small Baltimare apartment was rife with the lingering aroma of old parchment. There were shelves stuffed with entire archives on art, biology, and engineering that rivaled the Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville. Any visitor—if there were any—could easily tell a difference between the older and newer arrangements. Older papers were stacked neatly against the walls, every stack with an even layer of dust on them. However, the more recent of the art books were scattered in what their owner Canvas Shade would proudly call ‘organized chaos.’ In the center of the room was a simple, small coffee table whose wood was not even lacquered, but one could tell that it was placed with great care. On top was a radio set by itself in the center in the same fashion, making the table the only relatively clear surface. It was only a simple, low-end radio with less-than-ideal audio quality. But what made it particularly unique was a set of wires connected to a miniaturized zap-apple tree seated upon the only windowsill in the apartment. Canvas owned a small twin-size bed nestled snugly along the windowed wall and the entrance. Its simple mattress was filled with hay and adorned with a faded blue sheet and a single sheep’s wool pillow of a dull gray color.

The cloudy glass in the single windowpane was lifted, allowing the gentle winds from Horseshoe Bay to circulate through the ever-present essence of parchment in the air. The wind combined with the soft crackling of zap-apple electricity nearly drowned out the radio’s weak volume, but Canvas did not mind it much. There was a comforting effect that the subtle yet consistent din, and he found it quite relaxing while he reflected upon his past works of art upon the single couch in his abode.

Today was a special day to the caramel colored unicorn. Today was when Canvas would, at long last, begin a masterpiece that he intended to be one of his greatest personal achievements. Canvas wanted all of his training in art and literature, and the tens of thousands of hours spent honing his skills to be poured into the project he had in mind since foalhood. Over the years Canvas had created sketches and written countless notes on characters for the would-be literary masterpiece. Every single piece was safely kept inside large expansion folders, protected by thin plastic sleeves designed to shield the parchment from Baltimare’s humid climate. In the folders were thousands of drawings ranging from half-finished sketches to elaborate, full-page ink illustrations of pony characters, dragons, griffons, buildings, or landscapes.

Canvas slouched upon the sofa’s arm while slowly browsing through some of the older drawings that he rejected for use some time ago. “Hard to believe it’s been so long since I drew these… Mother of Luna, was I terrible!” He scoffed lightheartedly with a nostalgic smile and a slow shake of the head. Canvas lifted his hoof to adjust his trademark sunglasses, which he always kept nestled upon his horn and jet-black mane.

‘Hmm… I should change the design of this a little bit. Oh, and her head’s not proportional…’ He muttered as the gold-tinted magic from his horn encompassed a quill and jar of red ink set upon a bookshelf on the other side of the room. Several pages also levitated and stacked upon the hardwood floor nearby. With careful strokes he marked certain elements to remind himself of what to focus on when redrawing them. After finishing with each page, the flawed pictures joined the rest in a stack the unicorn began weeks ago.

For some reason that eluded Canvas, his ever-active mind found it difficult to focus on the task at hoof. He stood up and paced back and forth, his hooves tapping lightly upon the floor despite his slightly husky build. Something’s not right… something’s either out of place, or I forgot about something important. When was the last time I got supp—? Before Canvas could complete his thought, he flinched as a distant yet dreadful noise from above seemed to rattle the entire apartment building. The surging vibrations felt to the unicorn as if sticks of dynamite went off amidst the mountains beyond the forest. When the noise ceased after a few seconds, he carefully removed the potted zap-apple tree from its perch to view the surrounding area. Oddly, there did not seem to be any disturbances. In a matter of seconds, the thought slipped away into the current of the ever-flowing river of his mind.

Canvas replaced the plant before continuing to pace once again, trying to figure out the unknown factor that plagued his thoughts. After about ten minutes, the constant tapping of hooves reminded him of the engineering design ponies he envied so much, who paced back and forth across a stage as they spoke to audiences of thousands while showing off their company’s latest products in development for the past year.

Ah, that reminds me, I need to keep up-to-date on the keynotes for this year. I’d hate to play catch-up again like in ‘03. Hmm… keynote… key… note. Note. No… November! The last time I went to the supply shop! Canvas pounced onto a boxy wooden chest at the foot of his bed where he kept all of his extra supplies. He flung the lid open with magic, and its contents were pitiful, indeed. Inside were only a few sheets of blank parchment, two quills, and four measly colored pencils, and cobwebs. The unicorn chided himself for such gross procrastination. But perhaps it was not such a bad thing. After all, his coat did seem to be getting pale from a recent lack of exposure to the sun.

“I guess the walk would do me some good. It’s not that hot outside, anyway.” Canvas shrugged and dropped the lid shut. He magically lowered his sunglasses over his eyes while gathering all of the bits he could spare, which totaled 61. The art pony emptied the money into his saddlebags and grabbed them with his teeth, expertly slipping the straps onto his torso. The larger than average carriers obscured nearly all of his cutie mark: a winged paintbrush over an open scroll of parchment. But the colt did not mind, as long as the saddlebags served their purpose—which they did quite well. He had long forgotten what material the brown satchels were made with. They had the strength and consistency of burlap, but were much nicer, despite its rugged and well-used look. The saddlebags’ contents hardly varied: a few bits for emergency purposes, a pouch with art utensils and a folder with blank parchment inside (for the times when he simply wanted to draw out of boredom). And the most valuable of all to Canvas was a black binder full of a collection of the drawings he was most proud of. He dreamed of being noticed for his talent by somepony with the connections to have his work noticed all throughout Equestria. Just in case such an opportunity came to be, the unicorn always carried it with him so that he would never miss the chance to show that certain somepony his very best work.

Canvas stood by the door a few minutes later, going over his mental checklist for the third and final time before exiting the apartment. Sunglasses, check. Saddlebags, check. Water, check. Desperate need for sunlight and fresh air, check. Alright, let’s do this!

***

In Southwest Baltimare:

After two hours of trudging across town, Canvas finally approached his destination: a quaint brick building named ‘The Silver Easel’. It was a humble one-story, boutique-sized store nestled between two larger establishments that reminded Canvas of pastel-colored townhome mansions. The Silver Easel had reasonable prices, despite its upper-class location on the beachfront. It all was thanks to the grassroots business ethics of storeowner Opaque Hue, who was as down-to-earth as they come. He and Canvas were friends since his first visit to the supply store. Mr. Hue, like Canvas, knew what it was like to start out with nearly nothing, and they both knew the value of dedication and persistence. Most of all, their passion for art made it seem as if they were father and son. As he reminisced about their friendship, the unicorn felt terrible for not speaking with Mr. Hue since he returned from his vacation two weeks ago. They wrote each other since he closed up shop for the winter (as he did every year), but it just was not the same. However, Canvas was happy to have taken the opportunity to catch up while stocking up on supplies. Overall it would make for a satisfactorily productive day.

Canvas peeked through the glass doors to see Mr. Hue deftly sweeping the linoleum tiles with his front hooves. When the automatic doors slid open, the navy blue earth stallion turned around, happy to greet his most valued customer, “Ah, Coffee! It’s fantastic to see you! How goes the commission business?” the storeowner asked while casually leaning upon the broomstick.

The colt sighed with lowered ears as he walked past the sliding glass doors. He knows I don’t like that nickname…! Oh, well. At least he doesn’t seem mad at me for not visiting for so long. “Ehh, things are at a stand-still. But it’s not all bad, I guess. But I at least have enough for food, rent, and supplies to last me for a couple months. Well, barely.” Canvas answered with a sigh.

Mr. Hue shook his head sadly, “I know that artists usually go through rough times when they start out, but you’ve been going through this kind of thing for five years! How do you plan to break outta this?”

Canvas looked to the side and bit his lower lip in thought. “I… dunno, really. The motivation and enthusiasm just hasn’t been there lately. On the bright side, I can finally begin that huge project I’ve been telling you about! But…”

“But what, Canvas?” he asked with worry and empathy.

“A part of me doesn’t feel confident that it’d be able to even get any attention whatsoever.” The colt sniffled and fought back tears.

“Son, you can’t go about things with that mindset, or you’ll never even be able to even finish. You’re an artist, Canvas! You’re a risk taker by definition! You’ve got to be as confident and excited about your work as you want others to be. Sure, it’s a hit-and-miss sort of deal, but that adds to the fun!”

No matter hard things were, Mr. Hue’s advice and encouragement always were able to help put Canvas’ mind at ease. The colt realized just then how much he needed it during those five long months. “I guess you’re right, as always, Mr. Hue…” Canvas said, pausing to close his eyes and focus his magic. He knew from memory where the items were, and all he had to do was levitate them from wherever he stood. Mr. Hue watched intently, impressed by how Canvas’ magic surrounded multiple items from different areas of the store all at once, and then directed them to the checkout counter in a single-file procession. The unicorn added the price of each individual item in his head and stopped only when the total was close to the amount he brought to spend, and the two art ponies continued their conversation while Mr. Hue rang the items up.

Canvas perked up with a brilliant idea, “I’ve got it! I work here, couldn’t I? I’d get to follow my passion while earning a steady income to get by on! It’d be perfect!”

Mr. Hue smiled at his enthusiasm, but the smile waned with an apologetic sigh. “I’m very sorry, but I have all the help I can hire for now. Unfortunately, this kind of business just isn’t what it used to be. Ponies seem to be less and less interested in making their own art every year. But I’ll let you know as soon as there’s an opening—by the way, that’ll be 60 bits total, please.”

Canvas started to object, but decided against it and handed him the money. “I understand. Thanks for considering it, though.” Every rejection, even a friendly one, always reminded Canvas that he could somehow never land a ‘real job,’ as his mother put it, despite having no lack of valuable skills.

“I went to Sweet Apple Acres once. They’re so friendly, and the land’s sprawling. You’d definitely find at least a temporary place there!”

“But…” Canvas never intended to do manual labor as a job, and in a farm, no less. Even so, it at least would be a decent occupation in case his current source of income fell through. And it would be amazing to live where the Elements of Harmony were, even for just a little while. So far, Canvas’ mental list of pros and cons seemed to be evenly matched. “I’ll consider it. Thanks for the suggestion, Mr. Hue.” The downtrodden unicorn slipped his head through the shopping bag handles before trudging to the sliding doors. “By the way, I look forward to hearing about your time in the Griffons’ territory.”

“Anytime, Coffee.” Mr. Hue smile, but inside he could not help but feel guilty for his inability to help the colt in a tangible way. Sometimes advice and encouragement simply did not feel like enough. I’ve been where you are, kid. Lots of times. Just hang in there as long as you can. You’ll get a break soon…

***

Only midway through his journey, Canvas glanced at the evening sky with a scowl. By then the street lamps had been turned on, and the seagulls that dwelled near the Bay had gone to sleep hours ago. It was still a long way back to the apartment complex, and the colt did not look forward to navigating in the dark. The obscure dirt road Canvas preferred was located between the Baltimare city limits and the adjacent forest. It always took longer to travel, and was poorly lit at night, but it was better for him than maneuvering through the clamor of inner-city crowds. A bell tower further within the city showed 8:23, and the gates to the complex where he lived were due to be locked at 9:00. There were a few more miles left to his journey, and he knew making that deadline was a lost cause unless he galloped at full speed. Canvas scoffed at the notion and slowed his pace even more. Guess I’ll have to get the land-mare to open it for me… again. Neither of us will be happy about that. He grumbled with furrowed brows and head held low.

The art pony suddenly lifted his head when the screams and shouts of several ponies running at full-gallop in the opposite direction reached his ears. Even from a distance, he could see the looks of pure fright on their faces. The only times Canvas had seen those expressions were in movies where somepony is about to be devoured by some vile creature from the swamps, or something of the like. Seems like they saw Nightmare Moon herself! Whatever it is, I hope it’s far away. The unicorn tried to ignore it, but the further he walked, the sounds of panic were increasingly audible.

The same noise that Canvas heard from his apartment echoed into the night sky, immediately followed by a powerful sonic shockwave. Thanks to the added weight of his shopping bags, the art pony was able to stay upright with minimal effort. That’s exactly what I heard from the apartment…! What exactly is going on here?! Canvas closed and shielded his eyes from the subsequent cloud of debris, but when he opened them, the lingering airborne dust made his eyes water terribly. Despite the inherent dangers, his curiosity overpowered his better judgment. It was as if some mysterious force persuaded him toward the source of the blast.

Canvas hesitant gait soon became a bold gallop. All he thought about was seeing about whatever sent the plumes of flame barreling into the sky. He ran head-on into an unbearable heat, which was enough to get the colt to slow his pace considerably. Although the red haze in the air combined with dust and embers made it almost impossible to see past his own hooves, Canvas spotted the silhouettes and voices of several other unicorns repeatedly bolting forward and jumping back, as if trying to combat who or whatever was causing so much destruction and panic. They barked commands to each other, which made it easy to surmise that they were part of the Baltimare Police force. Knowing they were on the scene slightly quelled his fears.

Sharp cracking noises echoed like fireworks, followed by what sounded like the groaning of an old wooden bridge on the verge of collapse. Combat magic?! What pony would be capable of fending THAT off?! That’s it—I’m out of here! Canvas turned back to put as much distance as possible between himself and the fracas. However, a lamppost landed in front of him, lodging into the ground like a smoldering metal spear and forcing the colt to skid to a halt and change direction. Amidst the chaos, the art pony lost all sense of direction. His heart raced and his breaths grew short. Canvas feared that he would either be killed by whatever the police were fending off, something would crush him, or he would suffocate from smoke inhalation. Either way, his mind prepared for it to be his last moments alive.

The ground shook as heavy thrashing agitated the torrent of airborne debris and embers. The noises and vibrations confused Canvas as his mind tried desperately to figure out what might be causing them. A sharp whistle sounded from above, followed by a second crash in front of the unicorn that sent him jumping backwards with a loud yelp. An object with the thickness and mass of a young tree lay in front of him, only feet away from his front hooves. What it was exactly was not apparent, thanks to the obscuring clouds of dust, but Canvas knew that this ‘tree’ was not supposed to be flexible and sliding along the ground, and his mind put two and two together, at last. The horrified unicorn nearly shouted several obscenities out of shock, but his mouth and throat were much too dry. His fear increased ten fold when the police unicorns decided that it was better to cut their losses and retreat until reinforcements could arrive. Damn it, I should have taken the main route! Why did this have to happen HERE of all places?!

Though it was terrifying to discover what kind of creature they were facing, Canvas briefly discarded his fears long enough to let his rational mind take over. The art pony stood up and resorted to following the constabulary unicorns, since they would most likely have a better sense of direction than he did in his panicked state of mind. He quickly tossed away the cumbersome shopping bags for more speed. However, the unicorn did not cover two strides before tripping upon the lamppost and painfully colliding with the ground. The sudden stop broke the strap around Canvas’ torso, causing his saddlebags to fly out of sight beyond the now thick columns of smoke.

His movements were slow as he lifted his head from the scorching hot soil. As he rubbed the dirt from the side of his face, he heard a menacing footstep behind him. Before Canvas could turn to get a better look at what it looked like, he was met with a blast of fire rushing directly at him. The yellow and white of the flames were too much for his eyes to handle, and the heat surrounding it was excruciating. He covered his head with both forelegs and shut his eyes tight, knowing for certain that his life was over. ’Well… at least it’ll be quick and the pain won’t last very long…’ flashed through his thoughts. But instead of the archetypal light at the end of a dark tunnel, there was a sudden flash of intense golden light. Within the milliseconds that elapsed, an abrupt high-pitched noise overtook all other sounds, followed by what sounded like shattering glass. Not knowing what to expect if he opened his eyes, the art pony kept them shut; his body remained as still and tense as tuned piano strings.

After thirty long seconds, Canvas found himself sprawled upon the charred, smoking dirt. It reminded him of paintings of a great battle of legend that were lectured on in History classes. Everything in immediate sight was obliterated, burning, or both. Not a single tree was left standing. Canvas looked himself over, making sure that all of his limbs were still attached. Despite the surroundings and soot-covered coat, the art pony sighed with relief before coughing violently from inhaling ashes. However, his enthusiasm dampened when finding that his expensive art supplies were burned to cinders and scattered every which way. Surprisingly, his saddlebags were intact, having sustained only burn marks on the corners. A tiny smile grew upon Canvas’ muzzle. It seemed that there was nothing the ever-dependent twin satchels could not survive.

His ephemeral thoughts were interrupted by another dangerously close, earth-shaking thud. Canvas’ stomach lurched as his attention abruptly returned to the creature that nearly ended him. Through the relenting smoke a pair of glowing blue eyes came into sight. The iris and black slit pupils were brooding and full of rage. A scaly paw with hooked, ivory-colored claws that could put a griffon to shame stepped nerve-rackingly close to Canvas’ head. The light from the flames that surrounded the reptilian creature’s body illuminated its grey scales, from which a spectrum of yellows and oranges reflected.

Canvas’ fear gave way to pure awe at the wondrous and deadly creature in front of him. It’s—you’re a-a…!

The dragon lowered its head for a closer look at Canvas as well, curious as to why he was not as fazed by its alarming proximity as any other pony would be. The tip of its slender muzzle almost came into contact with Canvas’, and it was a struggle for him to not focus on the set of teeth jutting from its upper jaw. The unicorn winced at the intense heat from its breaths, small flames still licking past its closed mouth. He dared not make a sound in protest, lest he might end up head first inside its maw in less than a second.

Eight smooth, black horns aesthetically curved upward from its head. Its long main pair extended from above its eye ridges, and the other six extended from the back of the jawline, three on each side. Beyond the long neck was its lithe reptilian body with the same gray scales as its paws. Still, at about twice Canvas’ size, it was diminutive compared to most of the fully-grown dragons that Canvas read about. Numerous spines adorned the creature’s back, from its head to the end of the sleek, serpentine tail that was tipped with the same glossy black as its horns. Plated scutes of a lighter gray protected the front of the dragon’s body, and powerful, feathered wings that could easily outmatch even the fastest of Pegasi were slightly opened above its body in an aggressive manner.

To Canvas’ confusion, the dragon’s gaze shifted to a curious object in front of his hooves. It seemed to be intrigued at the pair of spectacles that were blown from atop his head by the raging fire blasted at him. The lenses were warped and its metal frame broken, bent, and still smoldering. “A-wh…? Y—!” Shock and ire swelled up inside the stammering unicorn as it sunk in that his precious eyewear was/ almost beyond recognition. “What in Tartarus is WRONG with you?! I can’t afford another pair of these! It’s the only pair I’ve got, and I wear them ALL THE TIME! What am I gonna do NOW?!” Canvas shouted louder than he ever had in his entire life—and to a creature that could kill him with ease, no less! But at the moment, that did not matter. After years of having them on, wearing the shades felt as natural as any part of his body. Losing them made Canvas feel naked in a figurative sense.

The dragon reeled back in shock and outrage and spoke in a deep yet distinctly female voice. The volume of her angered reply made the Royal Canterlot voice sound like Fluttershy’s timid whispers. “YOU CHOSE TO INTERFERE!! WHAT KIND OF IDIOT EXPECTS TO APPROACH A DRAGON AND HAVE NO HARM DONE TO THEM?!” The power of her booming voice forced Canvas to step backward, but he refused to back down.

“I was trying to help, or at least see what the hay was going on here! And here I thought for a second that getting to meet a dragon would be an amazing experience… but I guess you’re right; I should’ve just minded my own business!”

Seething with fury quenchable only by bloodshed, the dragoness stood on her hind legs while drawing back her foreleg as far as they would go. Her claws were primed to rend, but instead only landed heavily beside the unicorn and tore a deep gash into the ground. Fortunately for Canvas, she reminded herself that she was not out to kill. Tears borne of conflicting emotions welled up in her eyes as the same paw raked the ground. The dragoness let out one last ear-shattering roar in the art pony’s face before stealing into the darkness of the Baltimare Forest without another word. At close range, the sound of her roar was like multiple lightning bolts striking near to Canvas all at once.

The dumbfounded colt sat in the middle of the demolished patch of land, still as a garden statue. His body was rigid and his teeth clenched. As his muscles relaxed and the ringing left his ears, Canvas let himself fall onto his back, his breaths short and heavy.

“Oh my gosh, what did I just DO?! I mean—I ran off a DRAGON, for crying out loud!” he shouted at himself, lamentingly covering his eyes with both front hooves. Any other pony would be ecstatic to achieve such a seemingly brave feat and most likely be dubbed a hero by anypony who heard about it, but that was far from Canvas’ mind. He remembered the tears that welled up in that dragon’s eyes and knew that there was more to her story than simply causing trouble in his hometown. The regretful art pony figured that it would be very unlikely to find out more from her, but he was determined to at least try. “But I’ve got to find her and apologize, first!”

***

Kenanshar Nyvena let the acidic tears flow freely down her face and dissipate into the cool night wind. The dragoness tried to find the nearest place where ponies were unlikely to roam around, yet they still spotted her and shot their painful unicorn magic at her. She wanted to roar at the top of her lungs as she contemplated how devastating and unfair her predicaments became with each passing hour. Then, on top of everything, there was that outrageous pony who dared shout at her in such a manner!

Who does he think he is? That jackass… I should’ve mauled him when I had the—

Her incensed contemplations were interposed by distant hoofsteps far below. The perturbed dragoness looked down with bared teeth, and she growled to herself with outrage, “IMPOSSIBLE!!”

“Please…! Stop flying…! I want… to talk!” Canvas shouted up to Nyvena in between sharp breaths. He made sure to not let her disappear beyond the forest canopy, no matter what obstacles he had to maneuver past.

“Why? So you can zap me as well, then shout at me some more, you filthy horned mule?!” Nyvena growled back.

“No! I want to… say… I’m sorry!” He gasped as the pain of fatigue plagued the nonathletic unicorn. Canvas never galloped that fast and for such a distance in his life, which he especially regretted now that he had to.

“Stay away from me!” The disconsolate dragoness shot another breath of fire in Canvas’ direction. It nearly struck him, but the art pony’s adrenaline boosted his reflexes enough to escape the explosion.

“Can’t you… just give me… a minute?! I’m about… to have… a stroke here!”

With an exasperated groan Nyvena dove and glided into the nearest grassy clearing. She tapped her foot impatiently while waiting for Canvas to arrive after a couple of minutes. When the exhausted unicorn reached her, all four of his legs wobbled incessantly, and his tongue lolled from his muzzle. The prolific sweat that poured down Canvas’ face was enough to form a small puddle if he stayed still for more than a minute or so. He craned his neck to unstrap the saddlebags with his teeth, letting the partially burnt satchels fall to the ground.

He stumbled over his words before he could figure out where to start, “I know I was a jackass… for shouting at you. I’m very sorry—truth is… I’ve always wanted to meet a dragon, ever since I was a foal…”

Nyvena raised an eye ridge suspiciously, finding Canvas’ fascination to be quite off-putting. “So why should I care?”

Canvas lowered his head apologetically. “That’s the thing. I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to see me again. I get the chance of a lifetime to meet a majestic creature such as yourself, and I completely screw it up. Even if I did almost die, and my belongings were ruined, none of it is worth ruining an experience like that.”

Nyvena spoke slowly with hesitant consideration, “I—” the dragoness interrupted herself and shook her head with a loud snort, “Look, I do not have time for this foolishness. I did not come here to be sweet-talked by an equine!”

Canvas noticed Nyvena’s hind foot tapping anxiously while she sat upon her haunches. “Where were you going, anyway? If I may say so… you look as if you lost something important.”

She quickly wiped away a remnant of her tears. Showing such a weakness of emotion—as dragons usually considered it—was the last thing she wanted to do around the strange pony.

“Why do you even care? What is your angle?”

“Nothing, I promise you. I’ve lost something really close to my heart before. It was a few years ago—”

“DO NOT PATRONIZE ME WITH YOUR EMPATHY!” Nyvena’s voice boomed with the intensity of a rockslide. “I assure you, my loss is FAR worse!” she hissed. However, she paused her ranting when seeing Canvas trembling and backing away. The angry, bold unicorn that shouted at her before was long gone.

“I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

Nyvena relented and calmed her tone in an attempt at gentleness. “Do not worry yourself, Unicorn. I know, in your own odd way, that you are trying to help. That is more than I could expect from any dragon or pony I have come across.”

“I-I want to help you in a more tangible way, though.” The art pony replied timidly, trembling in a foal-like position.

“What do you mean, ‘a more tangible way?’ How could you possibly help me?” Nyvena inquired with a sneer. The notion of traveling with a pony, of all creatures was utterly ludicrous to her. A griffon, perhaps. A gorgon; she would consider it. But a unicorn?

Canvas took a deep breath and chose his words carefully, “I could talk to anypony you want me to. There’s a lot of information I could gather in your stead. Plus I’ve got sharp eyesight and great attention to detail. I could help you look for clues for…” The art pony paused when realizing that he had no idea as to what they would be searching for.

Nyvena lifted her head to the sky while mulling over the unicorn’s rhetoric. Traveling with Canvas would devastate her reputation. On the other paw, if he does what he says he could do, Canvas could be a great asset indeed. “I must tell you this now: your time with me will possibly be the most miserable part of your life, Unicorn—what I am looking for means more to me than my own life! If you truly want to help, you must commit yourself fully and be sure to keep up. In exchange, I will do my best to ensure that you can return to your normal life if we succeed.”

“But what if…”

With a rumbling growl, the dragoness lowered herself onto all fours, her head once again inches from Canvas’, ensuring his full understanding of the severity of her situation. “I will not bring you along so that we can fail! If we do not find my children, we will keep searching until we know what happened to them!” She huffed and turned her back on the unicorn with her forelegs crossed.

“Y-your children?” Canvas asked meekly with ears turned downward. Nyvena’s actions may have been reckless and downright destructive, but who could blame her, with circumstances like that? Somepony steals her offspring, others shoot magic at her when she is already grounded, and he shouted at her over something that anypony else would consider insignificant. The unicorn began to feel even worse for the way he handled things earlier. “You were right. I can’t come close to putting myself in your place. I’ve never had a marefriend, and I’ve certainly never have had foals, nor possibly ever will…” Canvas admitted as he empathetically directed his gaze to Nyvena. “I really don’t care about the sunglasses, or the supplies, or even that you almost killed me. It’s an honor to finally meet a dragon, but it hurts a lot to see you like this.”

She turned to look at him. “You realize that you might not survive this, correct?”

“Yes, you’ve made that very easy to surmise,” Canvas quietly replied. He then lowered his head and looked at the ground ashamedly, “I don’t have much to my name, and I don’t even have a definite way to support myself. Being at the beck and call of more fortunate ponies feels downright terrible sometimes, even if it is for something I love doing. There are no friends to talk to, and my family only seems to make things worse. I’ve always been poor, and I’m just as likely to live on the streets as when I lived with them. But if I go with you, I’ll be leaving behind everything I know…” Canvas furrowed his brow and stamped the ground once with a forehoof. “You know what? To Tartarus with familiarity! If all of that is all I’ve been familiar with,” the art pony said with the most contempt he has ever expressed out loud, “then I don’t need it!” After a few seconds, Canvas looked around him when there was no response to his resolute speech. There was no sign of Nyvena’s imposing presence whatsoever.

“Damn it all! I ran her off AGAIN!!” shouted the art pony as he pounded the dirt with all four of his hooves in a temper tantrum of self-frustration. He did not hear over the ruckus he was causing that Nyvena was not far away. She flew above the forest canopy and returned to the fretful unicorn with a graceful landing.

Canvas immediately paused when seeing Nyvena in front of him once more, and then blushed with embarrassment. “I… thought you’d left again.”

The dragoness replied curtly as she wiped blood from her muzzle, “I did consider doing so. I refuse to have profuse whining foals around me. However, I managed to catch a nice little morsel during your wallowing session.”

Canvas gulped at the thought of her devouring whatever unfortunate prey Nyvena managed to overtake, and he quickly changed the subject, “Soooo… uh, what happened when the eggs went missing?”

Nyvena stared blankly in recollection, her breathing noticeably heavier as overwhelming sadness crept into her mind once more. “That night… yesterday night, I was especially drowsy, so my vision was to blurred to see much of anything. It did not help that there was an unnatural mist surrounding my nest in the mountains. It made me uneasy, as if there were a looming presence—as if a specter approached as a harbinger of my sorrow that was soon to come. I huddled around my eggs as much as possible, but then something grabbed hold of my neck. There was a horrid white energy around me that bound my movements like chains. As I lay there, I was forced to watch my five eggs lifted out of my nest with another unicorn’s magic, one by one. They disappeared into the mist as fast as when they arrived. As if that was not enough, before they left, the thief who kept me bound had constricted the energy around my neck and limbs so strongly that it took only seconds for me to pass out, despite how desperately I forced myself to stay alert. Afterwards, I must have been unconscious for an entire day. I looked for hours, but the thieves had covered their trail so well that not even I could track them.”

Empathic ire built up in Canvas’ heart as the mother dragon told her story. When she finished, he replied through clenched teeth, “I definitely want to make this right... you shouldn’t be alone in this! Whoever did that to you should be repaid for their actions, ten fold!” Alongside feelings of anger and vengeance, an uncanny excitement welled up within him, the likes of which the unicorn never experienced before. At last, he had the chance to make a real difference, and to a dragon, no less! However, the fleeting anticipation quickly gave way to discouragement as he realized a very important contingency, “We’ll be traveling all over Equestria, I’m sure. Somepony’s bound to see us! Worst-case scenario: either they get some powerful unicorns to get rid of you, or whoever took your eggs gets rid of us both! What happens then?”

Nyvena scoffed, “the key word you seem to have missed is ‘try,’ Little Horned One. You can counter certain kinds of magic, correct?”

Canvas’ ears flattened along his head as he admitted with self-degradation, “To be frank, I’m terrible at combat and defensive magic. It was nothing short of a miracle that I survived the blast you shot at me…”

A unicorn who is not killed with magic. Why me, Ancestors, WHY?! At first Nyvena held her face in her paws out of sheer disappointment. But then she remembered the flash of golden light of a very unusual intensity. “But no pony’s magic has ever been enough to protect him or herself from my fire—at least not without sustaining serious injuries, if he or she is fortunate!”

“You’re… kidding, right?” Canvas tilted his head and raised a brow skeptically.

She shook her head and sighed, “On second thought, we can discuss that in due time. For now we must prepare—well, you must prepare in the morning. As for me, I have not slept in over a day.”

“Agreed. There are some things I have to get from my apartment. Plus I have to write a notice to the land-mare. And leave the rent money for her in advance,” he lowered his head again and groaned. At that point Canvas was envious of how dragons could do just fine living practically anywhere, in nearly any condition.

Nyvena had no idea what an ‘apartment’ or ‘land-mare’ was, and the dragoness could not be bothered to ask, so she put it out of mind. She held out a front paw and directed her invisible magical energy to it. With a small burst of fire, a paw-full of rare jewels and metals teleported out of thin air. She set the small treasure in front of the awestruck unicorn with a proud grin. “I have a bit of magic of my own. Surely this will be enough to replace your dark-spectacles and whatever else I destroyed.”

Canvas stood still with wide eyes and a gaping maw. Never before had he seen such riches, even if it was only an amount that could fit within Nyvena’s paw. The shine of the doubloons and extraordinary gems rivaled those of the highest-end of Carousel Boutique garments and looked as if it was worth enough to cover his cost of living for the next year!

“This will surely be put to good use…” Canvas’ voice was slow and distant, as though his mind was locked in the deepest of trances.

“It had better. It’s almost all I have… left—” Nyvena’s speech turned into a deep yawn as she laid herself to rest upon her side.

“By the way, I don’t think I got—”

“It is Kenanshar Nyvena.” Her timing made Canvas wonder if Nyvena’s powers included the ability to sense one’s thoughts.

“Can I call you—?”

“Whatever suits you, Unicorn.”

Canvas did not agree with being referred to as ‘Little Horned One,’ or simply ‘Unicorn,’ but he figured that he was in no position to argue. The exhausted dragoness turned over, facing away from Canvas. In a matter of minutes she began to let out a rumbling snore. Not wanting to seem greedy, he sat still and waited a few more moments before slipping the treasure into a saddlebag with both forelegs and protectively huddling over the precious cargo.

As the colt began to doze, he could not help but stare at Nyvena’s back, wings, and tail. The longer he gazed upon her form, Canvas decided that the hideous depictions of dragons he had seen all throughout his life were not accurate in the least. Even his drawings that portrayed them as wondrous and epic creatures did not do her form justice in the unicorn’s eyes.

At first Canvas’ equine instincts refused to allow him rest. After all, a giant flying predator slumbered only meters away. Even with his preoccupation with thinking about Nyvena’s carnivorous tendencies, the art pony’s attention diverted to the many pairs of feral, gleaming eyes watching him from where the moonlight did not reach. The wary creatures chittered amongst themselves, as if debating whether to venture into the clearing. Thanks to Nyvena, none of them dared to try. Canvas considered for the first time about the perks of having a dragoness around. Despite the risk, he did feel protected by her to an extent, allowing him to sleep with a little more peace of mind.

Aut Viam Faciam! (a.k.a. I Will Make a Way!)

Wild thunderstorms rumbled over the distant Macintosh Hills and the southern border of the Hayseed Swamp. At their altitude, the strong tailwinds helped alleviate the need for frequent wing movement, which was quite a relief for Nyvena. The urgency she and her travel partner felt as they fled their assailants’ domain long since faded away for Nyvena, thanks to the soothing warm air current that flowed past her limbs and front scales. Unfortunately, Canvas Shade could not enjoy the same calming wind that his draconic counterpart did. He lay on his back with a glazed stare at the cloudy afternoon sky. Nyvena could feel his trembling while the near-death experience played over and over in his mind. The shock of the situation did not seem to hit Canvas right away—he was so happy to be alive, after all. But once they took to the air, it looked as if the unicorn’s very soul had been stolen.

Nyvena glided upon the warm currents and listened to the distant outbursts of thunder, letting her mind to drift back to her adolescence. She and a fellow dragon named Balfour would determine who had the upper claw in their childhood rivalry by winning a race through a wild storm. Both had their share of being struck by lightning as they flew. But rather than pose a potentially fatal danger to the mighty reptiles, it only served as embarrassment for the slightest carelessness. Toward the end of the race, however, it would turn into only a competition of which dragon could cheat better. Nyvena’s size usually put her at a disadvantage, but the reckless flier often had too much fun to care.

The constant tapping of nervous hooves from behind suddenly halted the dragon’s reminiscing and caused her wings to lose their rhythm for a second. Both dragon and pony lurched downward, but fortunately Nyvena’s feathers caught enough warm air to restore their balance without losing much altitude. Also to her annoyance, Nyvena felt Canvas abruptly rise to a sitting position every few minutes. He could not help but constantly ask ‘have you seen them?’ in a vain grasp at reassurance. For the first time Nyvena tried to empathize and put herself in his horseshoes. But alas, a lifetime of being a hunter made it impossible for her to comprehend just how terrifying nearly being eaten could be. She tried to ignore the constant shifting and repetitive questions of her rider, but it quickly proved to be an impossible task as well.

“SO…”

The rather loud conversation starter snapped Canvas out of the fearful stupor, “Y-yes, Miss K.?”

“Do you have a map on you, by chance? I am not very familiar with this part of Equestria, and I need to make sure that we are in the right direction.”

Anything that could distract Canvas from recent happenings was a relief. “I do, but it’ll take a little while to set up.” He magically lifted a visor-like device from his saddlebag. The gadget components had a smooth minimalist design and uniformly colored in a glossy dark gray. It was a solid circular band worn around the head and a tiny cylindrical module with a forward-facing lens. Above the module was the ring that collects and harnesses the horn’s energy.

Nyvena glanced behind her and wondered why there was no parchment flapping obnoxiously in the wind. “And what is that supposed to be?”

“It’s called a HUD, or ‘holographic unicorn display.’ It uses the magic from my horn to project a map made of light that we both can see. It’s very rare, but very useful for our situation!” Canvas was not a very articulate pony in casual conversations. But explaining technologies was where his oratory skills could really shine. Tech jargon was one of the few subjects that could return his mind to a calmer state, if needed.

The bemused dragoness raised an eye ridge and refocused on the airway ahead. “I suppose I could make such a judgment when I see that it works.”

“Fair enough,” replied Canvas as he carefully donned the gadget. The ring around his horn blinked with a faint golden light, followed by the illumination of a linear pattern on the headband itself. A small electric shock makes the colt sit upright before a quiet whirr indicated that the HUD was powering on. A small row of golden words blinked mid-air in front of Canvas’ eyes. He whispered as the words appeared, “Analyzing magical signature, setting default language… display size: maximum… projection distance: hmm… four feet. And—”

“By the stars!!” Nyvena recoiled, severely throwing off her flight rhythm once more. Her draconic eyes could not make sense of the huge window full of blurred information made of disorienting yellow-gold light. The HUD’s gyroscope function set the window in place, even when Canvas moved his head. Arching her tail to the side allowed the two to rebalance before losing a lot of altitude. “How can I focus on flying?” she exclaimed amidst heavy breathing.

“So sorry about that. I’ll move it to the side…” Canvas hurriedly scrolled through the settings and figured out how to move the window about 45 degrees to the right. The device also had tandem display capabilities, where the unicorn could have a second smaller display for himself while the larger window reconfigured for Nyvena’s eyesight. “Don’t worry Miss K., I’ll figure it all out in due time.”

“See to it that you do,” she replied admonishingly. According to dragons, ponies were a bit too resourceful for their liking, and there was no telling what they would come up with next. It brought about a deep-seated distrust of the equines for millennia. Besides, as relatives would half-jokingly remark, ponies made for ‘better food than company.’

‘But… this one is different, though. He chose to help me, despite how I treat him. Is it just because he is fascinated with my being a dragon, or—no. Does not matter. I must use whatever help he can provide, even if it means putting up with his… pony-ness. I must toss aside a lot of what I was taught, but until I know what has become of— “What is it, THIS time,” snapped Nyvena in response to the hoof nudging her repeatedly. Canvas let out a short ‘eep’ and withdrew his leg. Realizing her reflexive brashness, the dragoness sighed apologetically and in frustration toward herself.

I definitely must have better control of my responses…

Much to Nyvena’s surprise, Canvas’ response was more confident, albeit a bit cautious. “Where are we headed this time?”

“It is the place you ponies call ‘Dodge City.’ It is the closest location where you can get some information for me.”

In the process of finding their destination, he whispered to himself before letting out an aggravated scoff. “From the look of it, we were in the Hayseed Swamps, but we had to pass over this place to get to Macintosh Hills. But now we’re traveling over the Swamps a second time!” the unicorn whined as his upper body slumped between Nyvena’s wings.

“I like the swamps. I have slept there plenty of times and it was just old habit that brought me there this time,” the dragoness answered defensively.

“Well, as long as I don’t have to ever be there again.” The mere thought of returning to the Swamps for any reason sent shivers down his spine. “Anyway, we happen to be going in the right direction, thank goodness, and Dodge City’s about 20 miles away. We should be there in a few minutes if we remain at this speed.”

“Actually, no.”

Canvas tilted his head with a slightly offended frown. The art pony made the occasional mathematical error in his time, but there was no denying what showed on the map itself. “Please elaborate…”

Nyvena huffed, “I cannot exactly swoop down into the town square, now can I?”

He groaned and placed a hoof upon his forehead in self-reproach for not remembering the obvious. Perhaps the colt was becoming a little too comfortable with having a dragon around. Canvas’ eye then twitched as he imagined what might happen if anypony caught a dragon snooping around the populated areas. He noted that he tended to be more concerned about Nyvena’s well being than his own if things were to fall apart. Then it then dawned on the unicorn how fragile it all was. All somepony had to do was look up, panic, and then call the authorities. What if the Princesses became involved? How would Canvas ever explain away what could be considered willingly endangering his fellow ponies?

“Unicorn, are you listening?”

Canvas hurriedly put his thoughts aside to address the impatient dragoness. “Sorry about that. What were you saying?”

“I will land about one mile away from town, and you will have to walk the rest of the way. Will that be alright for you?”

“A mile? Shouldn’t be a problem, Miss K.,” the art pony shrugged.

“Good. Here we go!” Nyvena arched her body downward, reaching speeds that rivaled that of a diving falcon. The wind furiously rushed past both dragon and rider as a rush of excitement coursed through her body. It had been years since she experienced such exhilaration, and even if she could slow down, she would most likely not want to.

In the meantime, Canvas did not share Nyvena’s exhilaration. His breathing and heart rate hastened in accord to their frightening acceleration. “SLOW DOWN! I CAN BARELY HOLD ON!” he shouted over the gale-force winds. The art pony had to grasp the saddlebag straps with his teeth and held onto Nyvena’s neck with his forelegs as tightly as he could just to not be swept away by the tremendous airstream.

“I wish I could, but…” she trailed off with an almost playful grin. Fortunately, it was over quickly. Expertly use of her tail and wing feathers made for a much smoother landing than Canvas expected. The petrified colt slid from her back and onto the hard, scorching ground with a loud ‘crunch.’ The dragon suppressed a chuckle when glancing toward the splayed pony.

“Unicorn? Will you… be alright?”

Canvas’ breathing had yet to stabilize. “Just need… my stomach to… catch up.”

“Very well, no more dives without telling you first. However, I really must prepare you for handling evasive maneuvers. If my powers of forethought are still adequate, ponies and dragons alike will be after us before too long.”

“Whatever you say,” replied the colt while standing upright and stretching his limbs. Several joints popped softly, relieving the inflexibility from the hours-long trip. “I’ll have to get used to being ready for anything.”

“I am glad that you are finally willing to acclimate.” She stretched her limbs one by one as well, and significantly louder pops resonated from her joints.

The stagnant, desiccating air began to sap Canvas’ energy as sweat poured down his body and his tongue draped from his mouth in an almost canine manner. He quickly lifted the saddlebag over himself as rudimentary awning. “WOW…! So… this is what the Greater Dodge City area feels like? Books and movies on this place don’t do justice to this kind of heat!” He gasped in shock and envy to see that Nyvena not only tolerated the searing weather—she basked in it!

“It feels rather nice. A ‘day at the beach,’ as I have heard it said before. Anyway, we are still about two miles away. I saw some ponies far past the outskirts, hence the sudden landing.”

Canvas let out a gasp of astonishment, “You could see that far?! I—never mind. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you cover me with your wings until we get within a mile?”

“I suppose I could risk it. But once we can see the structures, you are on your own,” Nyvena said sternly as she spread her left wing over the pony. The top of her bladelike feathers reflected the sunlight as if they were made of pure steel.

“Understood.” He sighed in relief; the unicorn returned his saddlebacks to their proper place once shielded from the brutal sun. The unicorn silently remarked how her scales shone in a way that he had not noticed before. If it were not for the heat and the urgency of their mission, he would admire the glistening hide and try to capture its radiance on paper. However, Canvas’ ears splayed back when he considered that the reflectiveness of her wings might catch somepony’s attention.

“If I may ask, what’ll you do while I’m in town?”

Nyvena pondered for a moment, then gave a nonchalant shrug, “I am not sure. I am quite hungry, though, and hopefully there are some cattle or pigs around. I will try to be finished by time you return.”

“I appreciate it. And I’ll do my best to not take too long when I get there.”

As they walked side by side the silence became very uncomfortable. Canvas rifled through his mind for a good topic to discuss, but whatever he thought of would only slip away due to some sudden distraction. A certain question did arise, but the unicorn debated whether to approach it directly or not. “So, how many eggs are we looking for?”

The dragoness lowered her head with furrowed eye ridges. “There were four…”

“What do they look like?”

Nyvena slightly contorted her mouth in thought. “They are not very large, but they are quite distinct. Three are green with stripes that are the same color as my scales, and the other is mostly grey with green blotch-like markings.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for when I ask around. Don’t worry, we’ll get the answers we need.” reassured Canvas in a solemn tone.

She takes a deep breath to calm herself. “Thank you for the encouragement. I would not receive such from fellow dragon,” she scoffed with a hint of disgust.

“Sounds like they can be rather selfish. I understand why you would not want to raise your children around them.”

Nyvena growled, “Have you ever been around more than one of us?”

“W-well, no—”

“Then you cannot truly understand, can you?”

“I suppose not,” conceded the unicorn.

“And for your sake, I hope you never do.” She paused abruptly, glaring at the distant silhouette of Dodge City through the rippling atmosphere. “Here is where we must part. I will see you within a few hours, yes?”

“Precisely.” Canvas opened his left saddlebag and pulled out a lacquered wood case. Cushioned inside were a new pair of very unusual sunglasses. The dusky lenses had a vague parallelogram shape with rounded edges, fitted below a thin frame composed of a lustrous, state-of-the-art material as the HUD—also developed by the Royal Institute of Science and Engineering. At the ends of the resting hooks was a lanyard made of special linen designed for rough travel conditions. He smiled pridefully when replacing the newfangled eyewear with the map projection device. Nyvena shook her head slowly with a roll of the eyes. The dragoness may have been unimpressed, but for the first time she realized just how much a pony’s disposition could change with something as simple as a pair of dark-spectacles.

***

Nyvena and Canvas separated when they both could see the distant silhouette of their destination. He was unwilling to leave the safety of her wing, but she folded her feathered canopy and firmly nudged the unicorn forward with her muzzle. The wilting pony trudged into the vast beyond with the saddlebags once again serving as a source of shade. A canteen held in one of the carriers had been depleted 15 minutes before, and this fact was prevalent in his mind. Every step on the sunbaked ground numbed his hooves, and soon he lost feeling in them altogether. Canvas quickened his pace, hoping that his hooves would not crack or melt as he trotted through the oppressive desert. After about half an hour of walking, the exhausted pony doubted if the still distant town was even real, and not the result of heat-induced delirium.

Canvas tried to grasp at the positives of the circumstances. For one, it was his first chance to be useful to Nyvena. Second: at least his eyes were not assaulted by the sunlight—he shuddered at the thought of being stuck without the precious eyewear in such conditions. But shades or not, his energy was severely low, most of it stolen by the oppressive heat. Willpower no longer mattered when it became a physical impossibility to move his muscles any further. Canvas was so close—the Dodge City Junction was not far off. The unicorn began to cough uncontrollably due to the dust carried by the wind, and he was on the verge of collapse. Aside from the depleted water canteen, the painful notion of failing Nyvena and her children was unrelenting. Self-motivating whispers grew into raspy, desperate shouts, but his limbs simply would not respond. “Come on, just a quarter mile or so! Let’s do this! Come… on…” His legs gave out one by one, but his mind was too fatigued to even realize it. “Nyvena, I won’t… fail…!” The last of Canvas’ strength, both physical and magical, gave out after several vain but gallant efforts. The golden aura around his saddlebags disappeared, letting the satchels fall upon the exhausted unicorn’s head. His vision slowly began to fade as he lay on his front.

On the verge of blacking out, Canvas soon heard muffled sounds, including the distant trot of an approaching pony. Four legs belonging to a pony with a deep red coat entered his blurred vision, but the unicorn still could not see his or her face. Was the stranger merely a figment manifested within Canvas’ heat-stricken mind? He wanted to simply ask so very badly, but even his jaw was no longer capable of movement. Lifting his head to get a better view was out of the question altogether. However, the willpower to keep going at least delayed the inevitable, even if it could not coerce his limbs to budge.

“Ah, look at him. And I thought he would make it. What a shame,” remarked the enigmatic stallion to himself. “I suppose he could use a nudge in the right direction.”

A refreshing sensation like cool water embraced Canvas as he levitated within a gentle magical aura, and through his slipping consciousness he could tell that he was moving along the route he originally traveled. The unicorn thanked Celestia for the pony who rescued him. However, the magical energy surrounding him brought on a distant and unexplainable feeling of looming danger. However, the bustle of Dodge City’s denizens finally reached the colt’s ears, and he mustered a feeble smile before slumbering at last.

***

Canvas Shade opened his eyes after what felt like several seconds. The clouds above had an odd green tint to them, and the sky above was a darker shade of green with no sun or moon in sight. Canvas felt quite uneasy about the place where he found himself. Instead of the brilliant red that shone from the clay of the mountain range, the earth was a glowing white. He turned to see Nyvena standing not far off, and her back was turned to him. Trying to step forward, the pony found that his movements were much slower than normal, but this did not register as he walked forward anyway. Canvas’ mind could not quite comprehend the glaring oddities of the world he was in. After all, his awareness was just as cloudy as when he clung to consciousness in the desert. The unicorn’s focus remained upon Nyvena as he followed her at a frustratingly slow pace.

“Miss K.? Nyvena? Why’re we back in Macintosh Hills? Weren’t we just outside Dodge City?” Canvas’ voice resonated with an odd echo.

No response.

“Miss K.! Can you hear me?”

No matter what, she refused to answer or even look his way. Canvas became quickly agitated. With a deep inhale and closed eyes, he shouted as loud as possible, “KENANSHAR NYVENA!!” When he opened his eyes, the dragoness was no longer there. “What in Luna’s name is happening here? She was right in front of me just now!” he whispered aloud in bafflement.

“OH, HI!” Nyvena reappeared behind Canvas as suddenly as she left. The sudden touch of her snout upon his back made the pony jump three feet into the air, and his entire mane stood on end.

“Ah, there you a—” Canvas paused when seeing a small reptilian head peek over the mother dragon’s shoulder. The hatchling had her mother’s features with the exception of green scales on the top of her muzzle. She looked at him curiously and warbled cutely. “So, that must be…”

“Ah, yes, I found her ALLLL on my own!” Nyvena replied in a jovial but saccharine tone. The dragoness smiled way too much for his comfort, and her statement did not sit well with the colt at all.

“Are you… okay?” he asked hesitantly.

“Oh, I feel WONDERFUL, but alas, this is where we must part ways. I do not really need you anymore. Good luck returning to Baltimare!” She spread her wings and crouched before taking flight with her daughter in tow.

“What are you SAYING? This makes no sense! What about the other children?”

“Do not worry, I can handle it from here.”

Rage overtook Canvas as he tried in vain to catch up with the two-timing dragoness. “Hey, you can’t just leave me here! You gave me your word when I agreed to this! Get back here! NYVENAAAAA!!” As soon as his hoof landed upon the phosphorescent earth, it began to crack and rumble. Canvas turned his head and was horrified to see that the land behind him was progressively crumbling. Before long, the frightened unicorn saw that the distance between an abysmal nothingness and himself became rapidly shorter. He tried to escape, but knew that the pace of collapse was much too fast to outrun. Canvas could not bear to watch the precipice catch up to him. All he could think to do was shut his eyes and clench his teeth. An overwhelming torrent of rage, despair, and fright overtook the colt as he fell through the unending darkness. Horrifying, clamoring voices steadily amplified until stopping all at once—then there was nothing but emptiness.

***

In the realm of the conscious, the bedridden unicorn wiped his slowly opening eyes with a lengthy groan. He then bolted upright when an awkwardly close pair of light brown irises came into focus. The red pony at his bedside moved his head back, barely avoiding collision with the art pony’s head.

“Sweet crispy Tartarus, where do I even begin to say how scary that was?! I’m sorry, but… who ARE you?”

“Ahaha, it’s quite alright,” replied the red earth pony with an amiable laugh. “I’m Absinthe, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Absinthe.” Canvas nodded to himself when recognizing the deep red color of his host’s fur. The lack of a horn on the stallion’s head was very perplexing and rather disconcerting. But he concluded that a unicorn accompanied the earth pony at the time. Besides, it was easier to put it out of mind, considering the severe headache Canvas had.

“I’m a visitor here, just as you are. Welcome to my humble hotel room.”

The room was humble indeed. It reminded Canvas of his own apartment without the shelves stuffed with books and papers. The only pieces of furniture were the nightstand beside a single twin bed, and a large wardrobe near the door. A circular clock that no longer worked hung on the bare wooden wall; its rounded glass covering reflected the light shining through the single window opposite of the door. There was no sign of anything belonging to either pony. The unicorn colt assumed that his rescuer arrived in Dodge City shortly before he did, and was a very light traveler.

Absinthe himself appeared to be slightly older than Canvas. He sported a long, straight platinum blonde mane, and across the stallion’s face was a black triangular tattoo that covered most of the left side with its point facing downward. The other tattoo consisted of two parallel stripes ran down his neck that tapered into two points at the small of his back. Canvas subtly leaned over for a better look at Absinthe’s unusual cutie mark: an aggressive, partially coiled green cobra. Absinthe’s expression made Canvas quite uncomfortable—the earth pony seemed almost hypnotized, and his mouth formed an unyielding smile of forced cordiality.

“So, with a name like yours, are you a bartender or something?” Atop the nightstand between the bed and the wall, there was an antique lamp with a glass of clear liquid inside. Canvas picked it up with both hooves and sniffed at the contents, just in case, before thirstily overturning it into his mouth.

“Heh, not at all. But I have many other facets—none of which happen to include baggage handling, so I hope you don’t mind that I left your personal effects with the owner.” Absinthe turned his sight to the single window, outside of which was a vista of the formidable open desert. “By the way, who is ‘Nyvena?’”

The art pony’s upper body lurched forward ever so slightly; he pressed a hoof to his mouth to prevent a major spit take. “Oh… that’s just the name of a pet bird I used to have… as a pet… when I was a foal. I was dreaming about when she flew away from home. Quite a devastating moment in my life, actually.” Canvas did not have to lie often, though in lesser situations he managed to pull it off well. But this time the gravity of the circumstances, and the off-putting air about his host worked against him.

“Understandable. Same thing happened with a pet anaconda I had years back. Of course, it was my only friend. I was never quite… the same afterward. So what kind of bird was it?”

The soft yet self-assured tone in which Absinthe spoke made Canvas feel as if he was being politely backed against a wall. Nevertheless, the unicorn knew that he could not afford to leave any questions unanswered. “Falcon. She was a young falcon.”

“Fascinating,” the earth pony answered with a slight nod.

Canvas reclined onto the pillow and looked around the room once more. “I really appreciate that you’d let me rest in it. It’d be hard to find this kind of hospitality in Baltimare.”

Absinthe perked up, his tone becoming a little more animated, “You’re from Baltimare? So am I! Grew up there for most of my foalhood.”

“Wow, what are the chances?” Canvas smirked nervously.

“I traveled a lot after that, but nowadays I call Vanhoover home. How long are you staying for?”

‘Ugh, why did I have to be rescued by such an intrusive pony?!’ rang through Canvas’ mind while he compiled a believable answer. “This is just a stopover. I’m headed to, um… Ponyville.”

Absinthe raised an eyebrow. “Really? But there’s a rail line that can get you straight there through Canterlot,” his smile was replaced with a puzzled frown.

“Hehe, yeah. Accidentally took the wrong train. Uhh, so… what time is it, anyway?” Canvas rubbed the back of his mane as he struggled to maintain eye contact with his host.

“It’s been four hours since we arrived—”

“Four hours!!” the art pony shouted as he scrambled out of bed. However, he could not take two steps before a sharp pain stunned his forelegs, sending his face colliding with the floorboards. Absinthe rushed to his side to ascertain that his guest was not injured. He found it difficult to stifle a laugh.

“You didn’t think that you’d have full use of your muscles so soon, did you?”

Without a word, the art pony grimaced and strained to lift himself from the floorboards, growling with unbreakable resolve.

“Are you really that desperate to get to Ponyville? This is what made you collapse in the first place! You need more rest.”

Canvas clenched his eyes shut. Rage and sorrow from the dream about Nyvena’s desertion plagued his memory. The debilitated pony snorted angrily, something that he did not do often. He turned his head and snapped, “This can’t WAIT any longer! I’m bucking sick of everypony underestimating me!”

Absinthe flinched at the outburst and backed away slowly with a yielding sigh. “Fine. I won’t tell you how to handle your affairs.” The earth pony jumped onto the newly vacant spot on the cramped bed. “Last chance to come to your senses before I yawn,” he continued casually, as if he knew the art pony for years.

A look of guilt grew upon Canvas’ face despite Absinthe’s nonchalance. He turned and headed for the entrance, but even slow, cautious steps sent shockwaves of pain through his body. “I sincerely—ow—appreciate the hospitality, but—ow—I really have to move on.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll check with you later to make sure things are alright.” Absinthe stretched and yawned deeply, turning onto his side as Canvas gently shut the door.

***

After reclaiming his possessions and equipping his eyes with sunglasses once more, Canvas limped down the main road in search of information. The town itself was a very different place than what he imagined. Along the road were rows of small mom-and-pop businesses tailored to the residents and the occasional visitor. Some were storefronts with crop fields out back, stretching as far as the eye could see. Further down the road farmhouses and fields were scattered across the rolling hills, all very well kept despite their pastoral designs.

The old western films depicted the place as being rife with crossbow-toting roughnecks and mares dressed in ball gown-type attire. Certainly there were those who stuck to the typical western apparel, but the rest seemed to prefer being unclothed, as was the trend. Most of the denizens who passed Canvas by went about their business, trying to get to their destinations as quickly as possible and escape the record high temperatures. Some others lounged within the shade of their covered porches while loudly socializing. There were no bank robberies, crossbow duels in the town square, nor anything of the sort that would make an interesting movie. The town actually was quite pleasant—if it were not for the heat and a waiting dragoness out in the desert, the art pony would not have minded staying to draw a few of the buildings and landscapes.

“Wah hello there, Newcomer!”

Canvas jumped slightly when an enthusiastic female voice called out to him from behind. He turned around to see an off-white earth pony with perhaps the reddest mane he had ever seen. Canvas could not help but stare at her elaborate coiffure that refused to be dulled by the constantly blowing dust. The hair band that accentuated her noticeable mane was adorned with pairs of cherries, just like her cutie mark, and the pink bow around the mare’s neck matched her eyeshadow in a very charming way. She stepped down from the porch and approached Canvas with a friendly gait.

Ignoring his full-body soreness, the art pony put on a friendly smile, “Nice to meet you, Miss…”

“Aw, none of that ‘Miss’ nonsense. Jus’ call me Cherry Jubilee!” she said with a proud Southern twang.

“Wait, you’re the Cherry Jubilee?!” the unicorn fervently shook her hoof with a star-struck grin, “It’s an honor! I love… well, all your products!”

The orchard pony giggled amusedly, “Not everypony shows such appreciation t’wards what we do here at Jubilee Groves! We’ve been a part of Dodge City for as long as anypony can remember.”

“If you were in my hometown, I certainly wouldn’t take you for granted! So, to what do I owe the honor?”

The two slowly proceeded to walk side by side toward Jubilee’s establishment as they conversed. “There’s a pony whose father Ah was close with—his name’s Absinthe, and he’s just sweeter than a bushel of cherries! He mentioned you’re his friend and requested that Ah set aside some treats for yer travels!”

“That’s rather nice of him! I’ll definitely thank him before I leave.” There was a hint of apprehension in his reply.

Why did Absinthe doing all this without even knowing me…?

“Come right inside. With all this heat, Ah’m sure you could use some coolin’ off.” Jubilee turned to the building she came from, and the unicorn eagerly followed. When the two entered, Canvas inhaled the refreshing aroma of cherry desserts being baked to perfection. The two passed by a conveyor belt connected to what looked like a pony-sized hamster wheel. Jubilee’s smile grew when noticing how impressed Canvas was by the ingenious arrangement—after all, she helped her father design it when she was just a young mare. Beyond the sorting room was the kitchen. Inside was a sophisticated array of ten large ovens on the left and right walls. A vast marble countertop island in the center was covered with bushels of cherries and dozens of kitchen tools. However, Canvas thought he would see more bustling ponies rushing throughout the sorting room, kitchen, and orchards.

“Is everypony on break, Miss—I mean, Cherry Jubilee?”

“Yessir, this is lunch time, which is wah Ah was glad to have caught ya when Ah did.”

“Hehe, if I worked here, I probably wouldn’t want to stop!” the art pony chuckled as he admired the rustic log cabin-style décor of the dining room and storefront. On a corner table was an assortment of small cherry pies, several bottles of Jubilee Groves cherry juice and water, and even some Pinkie Pie-inspired Cherry-chongas! It took all of Canvas’ self control to not heavily salivate at the delightful provisions.

“Ah hope this will be enough.”

He turned around with a grateful twinkle in his eyes. “This is more than I could ever ask for! How much do I owe you?”

“Owe me? Aw, that’s won’t be necessary, M’dear. Absinthe covered it, so there’s nothin’ ta worry about there.”

“I don’t even know what to say at this point! This is all so wonderful.” The elated colt shook her hoof once more. “There is one more thing I must ask, though…” his disposition turned somber as he lowered his tone to a whisper. “Have you heard of or seen any ponies passing through here with unusual behavior or strange cargo?”

Cherry Jubilee’s eyes widened and her smile disappeared. The mare leaned closer as she also whispered, “Wah, there’ve been things of that nature goin’ on all throughout Dodge City these past few days. Ah’ve also been hearin’ of somethin’ called ‘The Triumphant’—”

“Trium… oh! You must mean ‘Triumvirate’!” Canvas gasped quietly and nodded. “I heard of it too, but I don’t know what it is, exactly. Is there anypony who might be able to tell me more?”

The red-maned mare backed away slowly. Her green eyes became filled with trepidation, and her tone went rigid, “All Ah know is that they’re a group of ponies messin’ in some very dangerous stuff. Nopony seems to know anythin’ beyond that, except for Ingot. But he never talks to nopony.”

Canvas’ ears lowered, “But surely the police could tell me something…”

“From what I know, they simply don’ have the resources to even determine who’s a member. Apparently they’ve done quite the job of stayin’ hidden. Ah’m sorry, Ah wish Ah could tell ya more. All Ah can say is that if yer lookin’ for somethin’ that’s out of the ordinary around here, it’s most likely connected to them.”

A quill and piece of parchment levitated from his saddlebags on which to jot down the fragments of information. Once finished, he gingerly gathered the sweets into his satchels alongside the writing supplies. “It’s alright. You’ve been very helpful already, Cherry Jubilee.” The unicorn maintained a polite smile, but hung his head as he exited.

“Celestia be with ya,” whispered the concerned mare as Canvas left.

***

Canvas trudged on with a sigh. He looked left and right for anypony that might be willing to talk, but they were either busy or speaking to somepony else. The introverted colt was never one to interrupt anypony if they were doing something in particular. He cringed slightly when passing by some of the more untrusting ponies eyeing him up with suspicion. He could have sworn that he heard one of them say, ‘Darn Canterlot passerbys.’ A twinge of anger went through his heart—he never wanted to be associated with the upper-class types. The art pony gritted his teeth and tried to think of something else other than stepping up to an ornery stallion who could most likely take him down without much effort. Canvas took a deep breath to calm his mind, but nearly choked when bumping into a very steadfast pony standing in front of him. The middle-aged slate gray unicorn scowled at Canvas threateningly. Even if it weren’t for the intimidating stare, he had a hard-edged countenance with numerous scars all over his body. The wide brimmed hat covering his brown mane and slightly tattered coat of the same dark gray color made the words ‘superhero undertaker’ arise in Canvas’ mind. Protruding through the hat was a broken horn, something the colt had never seen in real life before.

What in Equestria did he go through to where THAT happened to him?!

“Can I help you?” Canvas asked while quickly averting his eyes from the pair staring at him.

“No, but I can help you,” replied the other unicorn with a stern, rumbling voice. Without warning, a blinding white light filled Canvas’ vision, and a loud high-pitched tone assaulted his ears.

The light and noise finally cleared after a minute or so. He could tell that the other pony was still standing in front of him, but this time inside a dimly lit house rather than the dusty main road. “Flawless double teleportation WITH a broken horn? What ARE you?” the breathless colt exclaimed with awe as he removed his shades. The place that Canvas found himself in was almost completely dark. Light trickled through three windows with thin curtains, which at least allowed the colt to see the figure standing before him. An old radio could be heard droning eerily from another room.

The inscrutable unicorn turned around to move near the opposite wall before replying coolly, “Just a pony with a lot to say. Name’s Ingot.” He magically removed his coat and hat, placing them on brass hooks mounted on the wall. Removing the coat revealed the three spheres of gold arranged in a triangular shape that comprised Ingot’s cutie mark.

Never before had Canvas been so unsure of himself. After that uncanny magical technique, there would be no telling what the fellow unicorn would do next. “Nice to meet you, I suppose—?” He shook his head, finding it difficult to complete a thought. “Look, I’m not gonna lie to you, my mind’s stuck on how you pulled off that teleport without killing us!”

“I’m as impressed as you are. With this broken thing on my head, there was a 70 percent chance of us being stuck in between dimensions… or killed. But that’s beside the point.” Ingot leaned forward and spoke with a deep whisper of utmost seriousness. “Between you and me, I’m glad to come across somepony in this town of geldings who has the stones to ask about The Triumvirate. Go figure that it’d be a passerby. They want to be ignorant so they don’t have to face the fact that there’re many who’ve been affected by The Triumvirate’s actions, ponies and otherwise.”

Ingot’s emphasis on the word ‘otherwise’ made Canvas flinch. “So I guess you know, then?”

“You guessed right.” The gray unicorn grinned smugly.

Canvas stamped his hoof, unintentionally taking on a protective tone, “I don’t know how or when you saw us, but I’m not saying anything further unless I get some answers!” With so many unknowns, the colt still could not be sure of Ingot’s intentions.

The hardened unicorn cackled, “You think I’d bring ya into the security of my own house to, what, play cards, or somethin’? You need answers, and I’ve got a lot to say.”

“Then say it. Dragons are kind of impatient, so I’ve discovered.”

Ingot leaned against the wall. His horn glowed with the occasional sputter of magical energy, and the middle curtain glowed as well, narrowly opening. It shed a ray of light upon a giant, aged map of Dodge City, Apple-loosa, and the Macintosh Hills tacked to the wall. It was torn in many places near the edges and covered with dozens of photos and copious writing. With his hoof Ingot pointed to two photos pinned to the symbol depicting the Junction at the end of the road. The pictures were only of silhouettes of rather formidable stallions. “Three names you need to know: Splash Damage and Danger Close, who’re probably two of the sickest buckers you’ll ever come across. Both’re unnaturally talented in all sorts of combat magic, and they’ll wreck you without a second thought, or even a reason. I’ve seen it. But those two are novices compared to their third associate, known as ‘Flying Razor.’ Not even I could get much on him, but I at least know that it’s not his real name.”

Canvas perked up instantly. Albeit not all the way complete, this was the best information he could ask for. “I’m listening…”

“Good, you better be! Razor is usually the one who does the deed. The other ones leave the victims trapped in painful binding magic, not even knowing what hit ‘em until much later. It’s said that Razor’s so quick nopony sees much but shadows when he makes his move, and that’s why it’s hard to get any leads on him. One thing I do know is that he uses what looks like a Meridian-class flying guillotine for a weapon.”

The colt nodded with realization as his mind processed what he was told, “Hence the name ‘Flying Razor!’ I’ve seen those in museums before—they’re illegal to own in Equestria… but I suppose somepony like that wouldn’t be likely to follow any rules but their own.”

“Exactly. As of late they’ve been responsible for the boldest dragon and griffon egg heists in all of Celestia’s reign. The interesting part though… is that all three are earth ponies.”

The art pony’s blood ran cold. “Earth ponies? As in not unicorn earth ponies?! How in Equestria can they use magic like that without a horn?”

“That I still don’t know. I’ve kept my eye on ‘em since my days in the Triumvirate, but I couldn’t get any info.”

Canvas’ jaw dropped in astonishment. “You were in The Triumvirate?! Finally, some answers from the inside! What are they, exactly?” Canvas walked closer, eyes wide with journalistic interest. His quill, parchment, and ink levitated beside him, and the griffon feather flitted nearly as fast as hummingbird wings as he wrote.

Ingot stared into space solemnly. Never before had he actually told somepony of his time with the syndicate. It was something he regretted more than anything, and decided that it was best kept to himself. But that was before. The time finally came when he could shed some light on The Triumvirate to somepony that would actually listen. “All I can say… is that they’re a nasty bunch with a ranking system solid as the foundation of Canterlot Castle. They’re an ‘earth pony supremacy’ group who’s been operating in the darkest shadows for over 200 years. These days their main operations seem to include collecting the eggs of dangerous creatures, and mining a rare crystal called white quartz. I was never let in on what their purpose for it was, but who knows? That white quartz could be a link to how those earth ponies are shamelessly imitating our magic. Years back, another one of their rackets was kidnapping unicorns who showed promise and forcing them to find the quartz. Due to a very misfortunate turn of events, I was one of the first.” Ingot closed his eyes with regret and slowly shook his head.

Canvas’ rapid writing finally slowed to a stop, the quill tapping the parchment for the final period. The ink was resealed and utensil put away as the unicorn reviewed the notes. “This is exactly what I needed, and then some. Thanks so much for your… time…” As he skimmed the writing, his ears slowly drooped in mounting terror, and he could only stare vacantly with his lower jaw agape. No longer caught up in the moment, he slowly realized that this was tremendously bigger than anything he could have imagined. “I promised that dragoness that I would get to the bottom of who stole her eggs, but I couldn’t have ever guessed that it would be this deep. Underground organizations, weird earth pony magic… I must be honest; I wasn’t ready for this. I’m intrigued, but still… very scared,” he admitted. “I’m so sorry. You should have told these things to a worthier pony.” Canvas could not bear to even look at the braver unicorn, but then Ingot placed a hoof on his shoulder in a way that reminded the colt of his last talk with Mr. Hue.

“Son, some ponies were born to do great things. However, from what I gather, this was something you chose. It’s easier to tap into potential you’re born with than to take the opportunity to make that potential possible for yourself. If you don’t squander it—or get yourself killed—you will come out of this so much greater than you ever thought you could be. I’m sure you’ll be able to find out more about those scumbags than I could at my age. Plus it helps to not be The Triumvirate’s most wanted,” Ingot chuckled.

Canvas lifted his head with an unsure smile. “I’ll remember that when things get really tough.”

“And really tough they will get, my friend, considering your objective. But I’m pulling for you, uh…”

“I’m Canvas Shade.” The two unicorns shook hooves, and the colt looked to Ingot with newfound respect. “By the way, how on earth did you escape them? Couldn’t have been easy at all, considering what they’re capable of.”

“You’ve seen the scars, right?”

“Yeah,” Canvas cringed empathetically as thoughts of the wounds the scars used to be flashed in his thoughts.

“That’s the handiwork of Razor himself. And the broken horn courtesy of Danger Close. Apparently trying to take out deserters made for a good training exercise, according to the higher-ups. A word of advice: don’t let any of them get within 30 or so feet of ya.”

The apprehensive colt gulped, “I’ll keep that in mind. So, where’s the last place you spotted Splash and Danger?”

Ingot walked to the map and traced his hoof along the rail line. “They took the train heading to Ponyville, and they had an unmarked crate with ‘em. If you head there also, my wager is that you’ll be able to get the Elements of Harmony to help out.”

“You really think so? Those two would be giving me an advantage, then!” Canvas surmised with a small boost of confidence.

“That’s the spirit! I’ll transport you to the Junction, but that’s as far as it gets. Don’t wanna keep the dragon waiting, haha!” the stallion said in an suggestive tone.

Canvas laughed and shook his head, “Aw, don’t say it like that, Ingot!” He looked at himself as he suddenly became engulfed in Ingot’s aura once again. “Hold on…! 70 percent chance, remem—?”

Before he could finish the sentence, Canvas disappeared within a bright burst of energy. “Actually, it was a 90 percent chance. You’ll pull through, though.”

***

Dodge City Junction:

Another flash accompanied by a resounding noise similar to metal-on-metal screeching filled the train platform, turning heads across nearly half of Dodge City. Canvas emerged from the resulting pillar of smoke dazed and coughing violently. Faint wisps of smoke arose from his body, and his muscles ached even more. The increased pain wore off, but the vertigo remained.

Two Pegasus sisters that were nearest to the wavering unicorn colt approached cautiously. But the one with an olive green coat zoomed forward to keep him from falling off of the platform. Before she could reach him, Canvas slipped and plummeted onto the tracks. Her sky blue sister yelped slightly when she heard an echoing ‘pang,’ and the green one grimaced empathetically when she peeked over the platform’s edge. The other ponies simply rolled their eyes and continued about their business, assuming that it was another traveler drunk on hard cider.

The green Pegasus glided down to where Canvas lay motionless, soon to be joined by her more hesitant sister.

The green mare held her hoof out, “Stella, be careful…!”

“Calm down, Blueshift. He’s bleeding badly!” Stella seated herself at the colt’s side and cautiously propped up his limp upper body with a foreleg.

Indeed, he was. The impact of Canvas’ head with the metal rail was quite severe. The blood that flowed from his wound was enough to drip onto the ground.

“I-is he dead…?” Blueshift whimpered, on the verge of tears. But to their amazement, Canvas was able to open his eyes and groan faintly. Both Pegasi exhaled in relief that they did not witness somepony’s untimely demise.

“It’s a wonder how he’s still conscious!” Stella nudged his shoulder with a hoof. She was careful to not have any blood stain her recently groomed coat. “Can you hear me?”

Everything was blurry for a few seconds as Canvas opened his eyes a bit wider. He blushed when the rather cute mare that held him came into focus. Her light purple mane was in contrast to the deeper purples of the evening sky, and her brown eyes matched his. There was a slight blush upon her fair features as well as she smiled with relief. Unable to take the awkward silence any longer, the disconcerted unicorn rushed to his feet. He grimaced from the sharp pain in his skull and the headache induced by getting up too quickly.

“Are you sure you’re okay? That’s quite lot of blood!”

“Oh, is it?” He touched a knee to his left cheek and chuckled when he saw that it was indeed stained with red. “Ehh, I’ve been through worse. I’ll be fine.” Canvas was quite causal about his injury, which irked the sisters. They held each other with their forelegs, unsure of what to do. With a grateful bow he placed the shades over his eyes again and turn to proceed into the vast, empty desert. Blueshift and Stella looked at each other with concern before flying back onto the platform.

“But aren’t you gonna at least clean up that wound?” Blueshift called after Canvas.

“Got more pressing matters, I’m afraid…” he trailed off as he walked into the open desert, staggering slightly.

“Those city ponies are so strange!” Stella remarked, slowly shaking her head at the departing unicorn. Her sister nodded in agreement, but looked at him with a fascinated grin.