Forbidden Jungle, late evening.

Ray and Sapphira were sitting near the bonfire on their bed, looking at the burning firewood Ray had recently thrown atop of the glowing embers. Reddish flashes of fire danced on the surrounding walls, faintly illuminating their faces. The altar room was inundated by the endless lulling noise of heavy rain. The lightning flashes and thunder have long stopped raging and the strong winds calmed down, but it will take some time for the rain to subside completely. Ray had grilled mushrooms and vegetables above the embers, providing a somewhat diverse supper, compared to his previous meals, for both of them.

Ray’s physical body felt fine, as it did not receive any stress that day, but his magical exhaustion had more severe consequences than he thought. He still could not feel his energy returning in full. It stayed on low levels and refused to replenish as it always did before. The movement of energy in his body became slow and stale, as his still unstable energy channels of his magical structure were overloaded and received some damage. It will cause him to feel tired, despite the normal state of his physical body, until everything is healed back on its own.

Sapphira was lying next to Ray comfortably. She had long noticed Ray’s sluggish state, but could not help him in any way. Even the emotional aura he projected had reduced by several times. She shook her head in dejection, placing it over her forehooves, looking at him. Ray sat nearby in a state of heavy drowsiness; he was looking at the burning firewood, seemingly in thought. The fire was giving away some pleasant heat, surrounding temperature dropped to a slightly cool level, so he kept throwing sticks and chunks of wood into the fire, but he still refused moving to the storage room, telling Sapphira he did not like the dusty air there, stubbornly staying in this damp room filled with fresh air.

In the end, Ray lay down on the side of the bed from his tiredness, fast asleep. Sapphira went to the storage room and took his coat, then covered his bare torso, so he wouldn't catch a cold. She sighed, as she looked at him, got onto the bed and snuggled up to his side, providing him with the additional heat of her body, and eventually fell asleep too.

I woke up with a firm realization that my body refuse to sleep any longer, but my head still felt rather heavy. I opened my eyes just to realize that I blanked out at some point yesterday evening. Looking over, I found I was covered by my coat. Sapphi must have brought it for me. Another find was the faintest waves of my energy on the surface of my body, still trying to finish their work, but in my state, I doubt it had much effect. The same waves covered Sapphira’s body too, to my surprise. It dawned on me why her body seemed healthier after the last night, with fewer holes across her legs and wings. It seems my power works not only on my body while I sleep. I deem it a boon, rather than a disadvantage. Even if I have to share my ‘life essence’, the magic flow of this world will provide more than enough, given time.

Thinking of my current state and the fact that I share my energy with Sapphi, I made a conclusion that my power structure will take longer to get to the point which Falda’ar planned to get in five days. Today is my fifth day here and at around noon it’ll be four full days from my arrival, and I needed only five… “I’ found too many adventures on my ass in just three days…” I thought to myself and made a small sigh. I’m not sure, but it’s possible that now my recovery will stretch for a few more days, before my power settles in my body completely. I’m still ‘incomplete’, but we have to move out today, if nothing unexpected happens. “Sorry, Falda’ar, not everything went according to the plan, but I know you’ll understand me. I’ll get over this one way or another.” I addressed him mentally, despite knowing he won’t hear me.

I carefully got up. Sapphira was still sound asleep. The outside was still dark, the starry sky was clear, and the moon was already absent in the sky, which means the daybreak is about to begin. I’ve gone to do my morning hygiene and grabbed two fruits from the box on my way to have a little snack. I remembered my destroyed tree with a chuckle. It would have withered anyway, so no regrets about the destroyed tree. Now I understand I better refrain from trying to use my energy actively for a while, as I did yesterday. Quite a backlash struck me after I tampered with the problem concerning my hair. It was troublesome, as my energy refused to follow my will properly, but I’ve seen it to the end, nonetheless. As I tried to activate my energy afterwards, it was like trying to start a malfunctioning engine. You rev it with force but it becomes unstable, stops and turns silent after some time, no matter how much you try. My energy channels must have recovered partially over the night, but I won’t be able to perform any more ‘heroic deeds’, not today.

While I was busy, I remembered some specific items in the storage. Armor sets which were designed for ponies. I should go back and check them again. As I walked back, the sky was already bright on the east side, but the sun was still below the horizon line. I entered the storage room, its stale air assaulting my nose. Has my sense of smell got better? I did not remember this particular smell to be this strong the last time I was searching around this room. Metallic armors are a big no, too heavy and ruined by time. Ah, this is it! Three sets of light leather armor. Dusty, but still intact.

I’ve carefully removed one of those from the storage. This armor consisted of separate breast armor and a full-body suit with buckles on the bottom side. The front part then connected to the suit when equipped. The suit itself was much less bulky than metallic ones and had a cut for… definitely wings. It was very flexible and had protection from the bottom side, which plate armor sets lacked. It was obviously designed for flying ponies. It might fit Sapphira. I’ve rummaged through the rest of the items there. Aside from two other sets, there were three… saddle bags, I suppose, made with the same green and scaly leather material. I should have done this earlier! I could retrofit one of those into a rucksack or some sort of waist or shoulder bag.

“Ra-a-ay!” I’ve heard Sapphira’s voice. She was yawning while calling my name. “What are you doing here this early in the morning?” She entered the storage room, attracted by the rustling noises I’ve made.

“Morning, Sapphi! I just couldn’t sleep any longer, so I’ve remembered something I found in this storage before. Come here, have a look.” I called her inside.

She walked from behind the row of shelves and racks. “What’s this?” She approached, observing the items in my hands with interest.

“That’s a thousand years old leather armor, maybe even older. In a good condition. Light, sturdy, flexible, and made for someone with wings. Want to try it on?” I offered. “But we’ll have to wash it first if you do.” I made a frown as I noticed how much dust accumulated between the scales.

“For real? What leather can survive for so long? If you are not wrong, it should be something exceptional! Can you clean it for me while I’m busy with my morning hygiene?” She was clearly interested in this armor set, gliding his hoof along the surface of the armor curiously.

I chuckled. “Sapphi, you are the first girl I’ve met to be interested in a suit of armor and not some pretty clothes!” I said jokingly.

“Don’t fool around in the jungle, Ray, it kills. I will not miss out on an opportunity to get better protection while we are here. I’ve lived here for too long. What’s the use of fancy clothes here?” She had a serious look on her face, her forehoof patting the armor lightly. “I’m used to being practical, but this can’t be helped. Life in this place is no honey. Oh, and talking about fancy clothes… of course, I won’t mind wearing one when we get out of here…” she added with a coy smile in a softer voice.

“I’ve never planned to take this jungle lightly, Sapphi,” I answered her in a serious tone. “You’ve seen it all yesterday with your own eyes.” I made a pause and smiled. “And I get your hint.” She obviously wanted to have some pretty clothes. Well, we’ll do something about it when we get to more civilized parts of this world. “Which of these three sets do you want?”

“Listen, Ray, you better take all of them with you. They are not too heavy. I’m sure these are no ordinary armor sets and must be expensive, especially if you can find a knowledgeable person dealing with ancient artifacts.” She said, mulling over this thought while examining the armor.

“Makes sense, Sapphi. At times, I just can’t believe you spent your whole life in this place…” I looked into her eyes with admiration. I never seriously thought about this, pressed down by the other matters. “Oh, and look at this!” I showed her three bags.

“These saddle bags definitely are a set with these suits. I can carry one on each side, the third… I think you should pack the other two suits there and somehow adjust this bag to your body… But don’t damage or cut the straps.” She said as she fiddled with one bag using her telekinesis.

“Won’t it be too heavy for you if you carry two bags?” I asked, unwilling to let her carry too much weight.

“Ha! Don’t think I don’t know about your condition! You obviously harmed yourself yesterday when you helped me with my transformation. I will not let you harm yourself even more.”

She was obviously angry at me, but I knew she was angry because she was worried about me. “Sapphi, it’s my energy structure that got damaged, not my body. It will get better with time. But it will be no problem doing some heavy work.” I said awkwardly.

“Alright,” she sighed, “you can carry something heavier, water, for example, but these bags are still not suited for your body, so I’ll still strap two of them to my armor suit.” She agreed unwillingly.

“Oh yes, water.” I slapped my forehead with my palm. “This is a problem, because we have no water containers. There were none in this building.” I remembered my primary concern about our future journey.

“Well, Ray, I can solve it, but you may be… disgusted with my… solution. Want to see it?” She asked worriedly.

“Go ahead; I’ll not judge anything you offer as bad before I see it.” I said resolutely, rather intrigued by her words.

“I’ll need some clean surface then…” she said as she scanned the corner with our supplies with her eyes.

She went to take some palm leaves, which I used as a substitute for plates, and spread them on the floor. Her throat bulged a bit and then she spat out a large lump of viscous, transparent, greenish-blue goo on the leaves. Her horn lit up, and the goo shifted, changing its form gradually. In a few minutes, it was already resembling a wide bottle. After adjusting the form a few more times, her horn flashed once again, and the goo solidified. In the end the thing which stood on the leaves appeared to be a more or less decently looking wide bottle of oval shape, missing only a cork. By this time, a surprised look was plastered on my face. I looked at Sapphira in puzzlement. She was looking back at me with a weird look, seemingly awaiting some negative reaction.

“Is it finished? Can I take it?” I asked her. She nodded in agreement. I took this bottle in my hands. Its size was quite large to provide enough water for us for two days. The material was lighter than glass, probably somewhat heavier than plastic, but mainly because of the thick walls of the bottle. It had limited pliability, but should be able to resist much harder hits than the glass could possibly hope to. It was still more brittle than plastic. I smelled it, but my nose could not detect any repulsive odors, then I gave it a lick, and it did not have any taste either, a perfect bottle for holding water in our situation. I turned to Sapphira. She had both of her brows raised. Quite a funny sight. “Sapphi, if it can resist water and not dissolve, then this is perfect!. But… what was… that?” The entire process was weird as hell.

Sapphira hesitated a bit before speaking. “Are you… not disgusted by it?” She had a hopeful look in her eyes.

“M-m-m… nope? Why should I? I doubt you will offer something bad to me, and we can’t travel without water, anyway! So tell me already what it is — I’m curious.” I smiled at her to alleviate her uneasiness. It seems changelings are really not a welcomed species around these parts.

“Well… the hives are called ‘hives’ for a reason. Changelings build hives using such material. We generate it inside our bodies. Drones’ goo is black in color, so the hives have black color, generally, with slight variances depending on a hive diet. We don’t produce much of this goo individually, but a large population can build a rather impressive hive over the years, using stones as additional material. So the most likely place you can find a hive will be mountains, preferably with caves or grottos. The goo of true changelings becomes transparent. Actually, I was rather good at creating various items from the goo with my magic. Perhaps this was my only forte with magic…” she reminisced with a thoughtful look.

“That’s actually interesting. You could be called a crafter in your hive, but then why were assigned to a job of gathering food and cleaning?” I didn’t quite understand it; this bottle is rather beautiful if you look at it closely. She has a natural talent.

“I was a drone, Ray… These roles are occupied by true changelings. Even if we won’t consider a hierarchy thing, my items always came out in a black color, and were frowned upon by the true changelings and the queen because of that. Only other drones were interested in them, so I made some occasionally in my free time and exchanged them for food or other things.” Sapphira told me her story with a wry smile on her face, remembering her difficulties living in the hive.

“I see… You know, Sapphi, this is a rather useful skill to have. It’s like having a small workshop in any place and any time! It’s especially useful here, in the jungle.” I told her my positive views on her abilities, and it was exactly how I thought about it. “It is weird, of course, to produce the material in this way… but I’m not repulsed by it. Not with all my feelings for you, Sapphi. I may have hesitated if it was made by those… drones from your hive, but the need for a water vessel would still be more crucial for me.” I told her while thoughtfully holding my chin with my fingers.

Sapphira scratched her head with her forehoof a little, looking at my reaction. “Ray, I don’t know why, but your mindset is rather close to changelings… or rather, to me. It’s hard to put into words. I just feel this way every time I’m talking to you.” She shook her head with a mild smile. “So, let’s get our things done. We can talk later.” She said, turned around, and went out of the room.

I gathered all three sets with bags and followed her. “She is right, we are both practical in our thinking, but she left her hive because she is tired of being only practical, tired of heartless indifference and pressure from her society. And my mind, too, shifted in the same direction, and my society was very similar to hers in regard to how it treats the individuals, with the exception of a narrow circle of acquaintances or family. Family… the precious thing I’ve lost and never had again…” A slight bit of nostalgia touched my mind,“That’s a given I and Sapphi will have similar views on many things.”

These thoughts filled my head while I was walking after Sapphira, looking at her slim backside. “That’s funny. I’m actually doing that… Yes, I am. Staring shamelessly at her rear.” I laughed mentally over where my gaze had landed subconsciously. Sensing it, she started to swing her hips wider… “What a… naughty girl I’ve got!” My mouth produced a wide satisfied grin.

Ray and Sapphira got busy with their preparations. After finishing with her morning hygiene, Sapphira has gone to continue gathering food supplies on the outskirts of the jungle. Ray had finished with washing the armor and left it to dry on the stones under the rising sun, he has gone to the storage room to shuffle through the various items they could take with them. His weapons, flints with a spare knife to use together with them, and the best of vines for ropes. Sapphira had asked to find her a decent blade, so now he was busy with removing corrosion and sharpening one of the strange swords. He has figured out those rings are used to fixate swords onto the iron sabatons for a better grip, but Sapphira will use magic to handle her sword. Her armor does not even have any hoofwear.

His concentration on the task was interrupted by Sapphira, who finally came back with a full box of edible plants, also carrying the already dried armor sets in her magic grip.

“Oh! Already finished?” He asked, still working with a whetstone. “Your blade is almost ready. By the way, I’ve prepared a spare dagger for you too, just in case the armor has a special place for holding it.” He finally lifted his eyes to look at Sapphira and the box full of edibles. “Impressive!” His eyes got a little round. “But I doubt we’ll be able to carry everything with us. You know local food better than me, so I’ll entrust you with selecting the best to take with us, and those we’ll eat for breakfast. I'm fine with anything you choose, as long as we don’t have to spend too much time preparing it.” He said and returned to his work.

“Alright, I’ll go fill the bottle with fresh water. You get it from the small spring, right?” Sapphira asked him.

“Uh-huh, the water there is the clearest, and mineralized a bit. But isn’t it too heavy for you?” Ray asked with concern.

“You must be kidding, Ray. I’m overcharged with magic, thanks to you! I’ll be back in a jiffy!” she giggled, took the bottle and trotted out energetically, accompanied by rhythmic clops of her hooves.

Ray just shook his head lightly, smiling. After finishing with the sword and its sheath, he proceeded to inspect the armors, having performed a stroll to the lake and back to grab them. He tried to understand how the armor should be equipped and fixed in place properly. It was not as hard as with metallic armors, so now he has got a general idea of how to do it. By this time Sapphira has already returned, carrying a full bottle with a proudly raised head. She was very pleased with her improved telekinesis ability.

“All done! But you’ll have to make a wooden cork for it later. I see you are finished too.” she reported in a joyful voice, “So, Ray, would you help me put it on?” she asked with anticipation in her voice.

“Of course I will.” Ray replied. After some inspection, he found that the size of the armors differed, but even the smallest one was larger than necessary for Sapphira. But if she keeps having a proper diet, it should be a perfect fit later, he concluded. Sapphira has left almost everything in the process of equipping the armor in Ray’s hands, obviously enjoying his care to the fullest. After some time had passed, Sapphira was fully geared up.

It was a magnificent sight in its own sense. Her dark skin contrasted with the green scaly streamlined armor, and her peculiar hair and bright eyes only added to her exotic beauty. Ray was looking at her in admiration, as an art aficionado might look at the masterpiece, his hands folded at his chest, holding his chin with right hand thoughtfully, “Perfection! I didn’t think it would suit you so well.” He concluded in the end, smiling at Sapphira.

“You think so?” She was shifting her positions to present herself from different angles. She enjoyed Ray’s reaction to her new look greatly.

“I like how it looks on you, and you know it!” Ray smiled and winked at her, hinting that he remembers who she is. “This streamlined form and somewhat aggressive scaly design compliments your dark skin and predatory charm well!” He nodded his head as if agreeing with what he had said.

Sapphira blushed slightly, not used to receiving compliments; she could not hide her joyful mood from Ray. “Then, let’s eat and then pack up.” She pulled some of the fruits from the box and they proceeded to the altar room to sit and eat on the bed. Their breakfast did not last long, but those fruits were sufficiently nutritious and will sate their hunger for a decent time. They proceeded back to the storage room; Ray fixed two bags on the sides of Sapphira’s armor and filled it mainly with the food she picked to be packed up. He also fixed a sword and a dagger to her armor.

“By the way, Sapphi, my hair… or rather… mane, as you folks call it, will soon grow back.” Ray was glad to share the good news about it.

“Your mane? Oh! What color is it?” Sapphira asked curiously.

“Light brown… with an ashen tinge, I think. I’m not too familiar with hair color names, so I can’t tell you the exact one.” Said Ray in a confused manner and shrugged his shoulders.

“Can’t wait to see it!” Sapphira was slightly shifting from one forehoof to another, excited about Ray’s impending change of appearance. “This is quite an uncommon color, among the ponies at least, they tend to have vivid or pastel colors”.

“Oh, you will see it soon Sapphi, it just needs some time.” Ray answered with a smile and gone back to what he was doing.

Some of their time was lost due to Ray trying to make something resembling a backpack from the largest bag and also for carving out a cork for the water bottle. After he produced something passable, he put the water bottle into his bag and somehow managed to stuff the rest of the two armor sets inside, showcasing his surprising skills in stuffing bags with things which seemingly couldn’t be stuffed there. The rest of his items, like whetstones, flints and, of course, the Lutiana seeds, along with the strange artifact, have gone into his voluminous pockets of his coat. The last thing he did was fix his sturdy axe and dagger to his belt, and check the straps on his crystalline spear. He exercised some moves with the spear and was left satisfied with its performance. Everything seemed ready.

He deliberately left the useless items from his original world in the wooden box in the storage room, keeping only his clothes, as a symbolic act that he, at last, is embarking on his adventure on Equis, finally leaving his past behind and moving forward. He smiled at the thoughts he had at the moment.

“Come, Sapphi, let’s sit before the journey ahead and collect our thoughts. And I also have to tell you something.” He picked his backpack and spear and proceeded to the altar room. There, he put it down and sat on the bed, putting his hands on his knees, closing his eyes, deep in thought. He was silent for some time, so Sapphi did the same, finding his actions reasonable. So she too started to think about the changes in her life and what’s coming. Finally, Ray’s eyes opened back. He was visibly calmer and more collected. His gaze shifted to Sapphira slowly, his face still serious.

“Sapphi, look at this,” He showed her the teleportation artifact, “this thing is a rare magical artifact, designed to save our lives, a single time. It will carry us away to an unknown, but relatively safe, place. All it requires for activation is an infusion of raw magic power, which I do not possess, to tell you the truth. So, if we ever get in serious trouble and I pull this thing out… You know what to do, right?” Ray was looking intently at Sapphira. “And one last thing, this artifact does not care about its user or owner. It will not differentiate between friend or foe and will teleport anyone close enough and will leave behind everybody out of its range. Don’t forget about it, so we won’t become separated and will not take our enemies with us, if we ever have any.”

“Yes, Ray, I understand.” She nodded her head in the same serious manner. She felt he was dead serious about this thing. “But I hope we will never need to use this thing…” she added in a soft voice.

“Me too, Sapphi… me too.” His countenance changed to a smiling one, finally. Their faces closed to each other, lips reaching for a kiss unhurriedly. They were savoring every single moment, while they still could. The uncertainty ahead of them ignited their passion once more, for they didn’t know when they could have a moment like this again. They caressed each other gently with their hands and forehooves, immersed in their feelings of love and affection, while their tongues intertwined in an unhurried dance of their passion.

“M-m-m-m-m-mh!” Sapphira let out a moan of pleasure without breaking their kiss and embraced Ray more tightly with her forehooves.

Finally, they released their hold on each other, with their eyes locked. They nodded their heads and got up.

“I’m nervous, Ray…” Sapphira said quietly.

“Everything will be fine. If need be, we’ll break through or escape, I’m sure of that!” Ray said energetically, he was obviously tired of sitting still in this uninhabited jungle.

Ray threw his backpack over his shoulders and fixed his spear behind. They slowly walked through the hallway and out of their temporary abode, setting their course to the west, their minds full of expectations and unease about the journey ahead.

Somewhere over the prairies of Appleloosa.

Princess Luna, along with Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer and Spike, were flying towards the south in an exquisite carriage, painted in colors of night firmament, high in the sky. The form of this carriage was streamlined, but still had gothic vibes, presenting an imposing and stylish look. The magic carriage was pulled by six ponies with bat-like wings. They call their race ‘Thestrals’, but the common population, including thestrals themselves, often use the term ‘batponies’. Behind and beside the carriage flew their escort guard, consisting exclusively of thestrals too. Besides their wings, they had many other distinct features, specific to their race.

All of them, but one, were members of the Lunar Guard, but the last one, Night Lily, was appointed as Luna’s personal guard and assistant for this trip. She was a member of a special unit Luna created herself, Shadow Guard. They are protecting Equestria quietly, always remaining in the shadows, invisible to the casual eye. Reconnaissance, investigation, tracking, espionage, information from the underworld, those were their specialties. It was useful to have someone with such traits around in any situation, or so Luna thought. She vehemently refused her sister’s offer to take the fastest pegasi squad along with Celestia’s fastest carriage, preferring soldiers who could be active and effective at nights, even if her Lunar Guards were not great fliers in terms of speed.

Because of the aforementioned reasons, they had to make a break halfway to their destination, to let her Night Guard get a little breather, eat and sate their thirst. Of course, all of this delayed their arrival, but Luna did not mind it. She would not start her search mission in the evening, anyway. The carriage slowly descended closer to the ground, its wheels finally hit and rolled on the uneven ground of these dry prairies. The door of the carriage opened, and Luna stepped out, along with three other passengers.

“Ahhh! It’s really hot here…” Luna said, after inhaling the hot and dry air of these lands, turning towards her companions. “Even with clouds covering the sun. It’s good the pegasi weather brigades don’t work around these areas, or we would feel ourselves like being in a hot oven! I’m too tired sitting inside our ride doing nothing.” She complained for a bit. Then she turned towards the Lunar Guards, who pulled the carriage. Her voice became sterner. “Thank you all for the job well done! Now you may change with another team.” The team of batponies nodded, unhitched themselves from the carriage and went to find their replacement. Luna turned back towards her entourage. “Now, everypony, let’s stretch our legs a little. We were sitting in place for hours already.”

“I don’t know…” said Twilight. “I’d rather stay inside and continue my reading. But yes, my legs feel a bit numb.” Twilight wanted to stay inside, but reconsidered. Starlight just nodded her head and proceeded to look around the rather desolate landscape. She has rarely been in these parts of Equestria.

“Ha! Twilight finally decided to not read the book! Well, anyone would become tired of such a long travel, right?” Spike said jokingly, spreading his hands, looking at Twilight.

“Of course, Spike! But it’s worth it, we may find something interesting there!” said Twilight in an uplifted mood.

“I don’t know, it’d be good if it was rare gems… but I doubt we will find them. I’m a dragon! I can’t do this magic stuff, even if I know a lot about it already! So I have nothing to do, except send letters to Princess Celestia! Maybe the walk in the jungle will be somewhat exciting!” Spike was not in the least disturbed by the facts he just mentioned. He was just bored.

“Spike… I’m sure you would be a great mag…” Twilight was abruptly interrupted by Spike.

“No, Twilight, we’ve talked about it before. I don’t care about being unable to use magic! We dragons don’t care about small things.” He waved his hand dismissively with a proud face. He knew this fact could upset Twilight, so he just dismissed this issue. Their long-living race usually has such a mindset, unless they succumb to greed, their main vice, and this little dragon is often showing wisdom far beyond his age. But as he was still very young, he always preferred to do something meaningful or interesting. “I just don’t want to become bored there, that’s all!” he concluded his explanations.

“Alright, Spike, Starlight. Let’s just have a little stroll around!” Twilight said. Luna was already gone to give the orders to her Lunar Guards.

The Lunar Guard started to set up a simple camp, getting everything they needed from a voluminous trunk of the carriage. While it was designed to be fast and stylish, it was still large enough to be able to be the core of a small expedition. Two tents were raised — a larger one for the soldiers, and a smaller, but more luxurious one, for their Princess and her companions. They even had two restrooms equipped with magical devices, which made their expedition so much more convenient.

I was sitting on a pillow inside my tent, sipping a cool juice from the glass. I did not have a habit of regularly drinking tea, like my sister did, and it’s inconvenient to prepare it now, our break will not be long. We’ll depart as soon as my soldiers have had enough rest. I’ve summoned my personal assistant for this expedition and was awaiting her arrival.

“Princess Luna, agent Night Lily of Shadow Guard has arrived!” I heard a voice from the tent entrance.

“Come in, Lily, and don’t be so official. We are alone here.” I said and sighed. “She is too respectful to me. I didn’t create Shadow Guard to be an official military unit. They don’t even count as soldiers, and should not be perceived as ones, but she still maintains her military demeanor. Maybe it’s because she was aiming to enter the Lunar Guard before.”

Night Lily came inside and performed a military salute with her right forehoof.

“Lily, you are not a soldier. Don’t forget it. Of course, now you are disguised as one, so I don’t mind. Please, sit.” I smiled at her.

“As you wish, my princess!” she replied reverently.

She was obviously happy to be in a soldier role, but she refused to change her occupation to be a member of the Lunar Guard, saying that being in Shadow Guard brings more benefits to the country, and I agree with her. She is a rare talent: a natural tracker and an herbalist with vast knowledge of plant medicine and poisons, especially non-lethal, but most importantly, her talent for using those in her job. Add her special features as a batpony, and you get yourself a decent field agent. Stealth, flight, night vision, perfect hearing… The list can go on. The only strange feature of her… is her overly zealous attitude to me, and to her job. It causes problems sometimes, that’s why I prefer to send her on missions outside large cities. She tends to have a black-and-white worldview, quickly jumping to conclusions and accusations of treachery, but she is slowly improving.

“Ah, sorry, Lily, I was distracted by my thoughts.” I snapped back from my thoughts when I realized she was already sitting on a pillow on the opposite side, waiting for me to speak.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Princess!” she said timidly.

“I want to outline your tasks for today. We’ll arrive in the evening, and while Lunar Guards set up our camp for the night, I want you to enter the forest and check for the signs of dangerous creatures nearby, then report your findings to me. We don’t need a fight with some ferocious beasts at night, right? We have our mission for tomorrow and need a good rest. And don’t overdo it, you need a rest too. You may leave now, Lily.” I nodded to her.

“As you command, my Princess!” she said while giving a salute, turned around and proceeded to the exit. I was looking at her back; her light lilac coat with a shade of gray was a good match with her stiff and straight light silvery hair. “She never cared for her appearance much, but she has a natural beauty to her. Despite it, I’ve never seen her with stallions, and she is not into mares too, for sure. I have also never seen her hanging out with friends, and I guess she doesn’t have any. Being a batpony may be one of the reasons, but I can say she is married to her job. It’s good for Shadow Guard, but she must do something with it, or she may just burn out one day, I’ve seen this before, and I’ll see it again no doubt…” I shook my head at this thought and soon heard the voices of Twilight and Starlight from outside, arguing about some magic theories, and quiet grumbling of Spike. The clamorous company entered the tent.

“Oh, Luna! Have you finished with your business with Lunar Guard?” asked Twilight, getting comfortable on her pillow.

“Yes, I did. Everypony, have some cool juice! It’s too hot outside. I hope nopony is hungry. Is there any?” Everyone shook their heads. “Well, we had our meal not long ago in the carriage.” I filled three glasses with cooled juice for my friends with my magic.

“Thanks, Princess Luna!” said Spike.

“So… What will be our task when we arrive?” asked Starlight, slowly sipping a refreshing juice from her glass.

“Well, Starlight, you and Twilight will not have any particular task until I find the exact place. But when I find it, you are free to inspect and investigate everything. You can also make a report to Celestia should you find anything important. I guess I’ll be too tired to join you there. Not until I have some rest.” I replied after I considered these things. “We will arrive in the evening. It will be too late to start anything, so my Lunar Guard will set up a camp outside the jungle for the night. We will start in the morning, so go to rest early.”

“I’ll make sure they do… if I won’t fall asleep earlier.” Spike was joking. “When it comes to magic, they can talk until the sun goes up!”

“Alright, everypony, relax here for a while. We’ll pack up and continue on our way soon. Somepony will notify us when Lunar Guards are ready.” I decided to have a quick nap on my pillow. I still did not get enough sleep, as I was doing my duties this whole night. “Please wake me up when they come.” I said, as I started to drift into a light sleep. It is a trivial thing when you are the mistress of dreams, given you have any desire to do it.

Somewhere in the jungle, past midday.

It was already around three hours from the start of our journey west. I was walking at a brisk pace together with Sapphira, who occasionally flew up above the trees to correct our course. We did not encounter any trouble along the way, as she knew a safe road around these parts of the jungle.

“Ray! This is the last part of the forest I’m familiar with. We should proceed with caution from now on; I can no longer guide us and find a safe way. So be quiet and don’t create too much noise.” She was starting to get worried about our safety, and surely she had her reasons to do so. This jungle is no joke when it comes to danger.

“Alright, I’ll do as you say.” I said while nodding my head in agreement. She is much more experienced than me when it comes to surviving in this place. We had slowed down our pace and continued to walk like that for a long time. The jungle started to change slightly, becoming denser, and the ground started to have some downward slope. I just hope we’re not walking into the swamp. Sapphira took to the skies above the trees to see what lay ahead some time ago and still did not return. I was waiting for her in place. She returned after some time.

“Ray, the jungle ahead is getting really dense, but I can’t see any way to bypass it, so we’ll have to go through it.” She said in a serious tone.

“Is it bad, Sapphi?” I asked.

“Quite bad, Ray. Many dangerous creatures usually live under the canopy of such dense forests. So be twice as cautious!” Sapphira obviously did not like the idea of stepping inside this forest, but we had no way around it.

“I understand.” I agreed and decided to offer to take a little break before we enter the dangerous area. While we were having our dinner, we had a little chat quietly about various things, but mainly about our situation. “Sapphi, how long do you estimate it will take us to get out of this jungle to the edge of the plateau?” It was obvious we couldn't do it in one day.

“Let me think… I suppose we’ll be there by tomorrow evening even if we will be going slowly, but that’s assuming we don’t get into trouble.” She said, thoughtfully looking at the tree foliage above us. “At least we can’t get lost, not with that huge mountain range on the horizon as a landmark.”

“Yes, that’s right, but I’d have to climb the tallest tree every time to check my direction without you, ha-ha!” I praised her importance in our situation. “You are a perfect guide for me!”

“You praise me too much, Ray. We’re in the same boat, so to speak!” She answered with a smile. “And talking about climbing a tree, are you good at that?” She looked at me with an interested gaze.

I raised my brow slightly, not sure if she was joking or not. “I don’t think I am. The last time I did something of the sorts was when I was still very young. But I think I can do it with some effort if need be.”

She laughed lightly.

“So she was joking about climbing trees?”

“Sorry, Ray, I just remembered one memory about a drunk minotaur trying to climb a tree for a bet. You should have seen that!” She giggled again.

“Hah, must’ve been a funny show!” I smiled at the thought of such a performance.

“Oh yes, it was! Well… we'd better pack up and continue our trip. Remember to be as quiet as you can.” Her voice became strict; she became very responsible when it comes to safety. I nodded in agreement and packed up our belongings.

The day had long passed noon, but it was definitely a long time till the sunset. Despite that, the lighting under the trees’ canopy reduced drastically, like the sun was already going down. The sounds of jungle life changed too, becoming more unnerving. After travelling like that for some time, we suddenly heard a resounding roar somewhere from the side of our destination.

“No way! Are we inside manticore territory?” Sapphira whispered in dread. “We need to back off quickly and take a detour, now!” she commanded.

“As you say.” I replied quietly and followed her back. We went back and made a big circle around the supposed location of the manticore, shifting our course to the north. But it was not long before the roar resounded again, now closer, and this time it was coming from the direction we just came from! Sapphira flinched and panicked for a bit until I had put my hand on her back and patted her gently. “It seems it’s following our trail by smell! Should we go faster now?”

“Definitely!” she answered and started to move forward again at a quicker pace. I followed her, trying not to create too much noise, which was quite difficult for me.

As we moved farther towards the west, Sapphira checked our course once again so we won’t be circling around this dangerous place. The roars did not stop; they grew more silent at first, but then resounded again, much closer to us. The beast was following our trails without any doubt. Finally, we came across a small stream, around five meters wide, situated at the bottom of the big ravine.

“Sapphi, if it’s not too swampy, we, or rather I, should go into the water and head downstream. The water will hide my smell, and you can fly for a while to do the same.” I quickly decided to use the stream to try to get rid of the manticore on our tail.

“Good, let’s try it!” she whispered back as she started to hover over the ground, following me down the ravine.

“Oh, shit!” I swore as I nearly lost my boot, which got stuck inside the swampy mud near the stream. A dirty substance quickly filled my boot, creating an unpleasant sensation while walking, but I’ll have to just deal with it for now. I managed to pull out my boot from the swampy mud and carefully continued to enter the stream. The bottom of the stream further from its shores was more solid, albeit still muddy, but at least I can walk with reasonable speed now. After around fifteen minutes, we stopped hearing the manticore, but I still continued walking down the stream for another half an hour or so.

The stream has led us into an even denser part of the jungle, a natural thicket, overgrown with diverse vegetation; it included a lot of thorny overbrush and even more thorny vines. The stream became narrower and deeper. Its sides were walled off by the roots and trunks of the trees and bushes lining up its shores. The stream itself was blocked in many places by the trunks of fallen, rotting wood. The lighting became very dim, as if it was already twilight.

We decided to return to our old course to the west, as the stream started to turn gradually to the south some time ago, and became harder and harder to cross for me with all that driftwood and blockages.. I got out of the stream and washed my boots… and socks, packed with mud. “Yeah… now I’ll have to travel in wet boots, but so be it. I can’t travel barefoot, anyway. All better than becoming dinner for a manticore!” I commented on our situation.

“Let’s go, Ray, I don’t like this place!” Sapphira urged me to leave the stream, and so we did. The ravine was still there, but it became much less steep and deep now, so we easily left it and entered the thicket. It was eerily quiet here. The bird voices were a rare occasion, but the endless chirring and buzzing of insects was constant. I’m not even mentioning the damn mosquitoes that were present in droves. Sapphira was lucky, as those damn parasites were unable to pierce her skin.

We were traversing this thicket with painfully slow speed; the day have long had transitioned to evening, and the sun was already setting down. Sapphira has seen the change in the jungle ahead, so we should enter a more pleasant area soon and I hoped to leave these mosquito-ridden thickets before the night falls completely, so we can find a shelter for the night. Sapphira was very silent ever since we left the known parts of the jungle, but I can understand her, so I too was trying to keep silent.

Knowing we were nearing the end of this damn overgrown thicket, I increased my speed, marching forward with a brisk pace. We had to get out of here fast; the sun is already low, it’s slowly turning dim and dark surroundings to shades of orange and red. Everything is calm around, a fresh breeze is blowing by, descending from the icy mountain peaks, but my instincts have ringed an alarm some time ago. I could not explain it reasonably, but I could not get rid of this eerie sensation of impending danger, growing stronger by the minute, so I urged Sapphira to hasten our pace, despite the treacherous terrain of the thicket, full of spiky vines and blockages of fallen trees and overgrown vegetation.

We’ve finally left that area in about half an hour, after we climbed up a rather steep slope, which led us out of the thickets. Sapphira had it easier, being able to fly. Despite the overall strain in my legs, I still pushed forward, instigated by this unexplainable feeling which told me to get as far away as I could from this place. My body was strengthened not for naught, so I moved forward without slowing down.

The amount of surrounding trees reduced gradually, and their size increased proportionately. We were entering old parts of this forest, and I already had a bad experience in a similar place. Rare sun rays were piercing the foliage here and there. Then I quickly realized that my instincts were not wrong as we heard a resounding lion roar somewhere from over the top of the trees.

“Damn it! This… fucking… bastard! It was following us all the way here!” I quietly swore through the clenched teeth, adding some more profanities in my native on top of that. The manticore bastard must have found us before we entered the thicket. It was inconvenient for it to attack us there so it just tracked us quietly, hiding from our sight. Sapphira flew up several times but didn’t see anyone flying around. “Clever asshole! I’m not sure if it’s of any use, but let’s run. Now!” I said in a slight panic.

We rushed forward as fast as we could… or rather as I could. I was still not used to traversing forests by running. But it was useless, and in just several minutes I heard a flapping of mighty wings from above the trees, then the sound of breaking branches. The manticore finally had landed in front of us, about twenty meters ahead, producing small roars of joy, relishing in the excitement of its ‘cat and mouse’ game. But its game obviously came to an end now as I noticed it crouched slightly to the ground, head lowered, its eyes staring straight into mine, a typical attack pose for cats. Its size was much larger than the manticore I saw before; it was taller by about a head compared to the one I’ve seen.

“Sapphi, stand behind me, back off further and do not provoke it! It is too late to run now.” As I said it, I removed my spear from my back and removed the straps from it, then threw my heavy backpack to the ground. The manticore was staring intently at me, still not moving yet, but I knew the habits of such predators well from back on Earth. This one seemed similar. The moment I start running or turn away, it will attack ferociously. Sapphira backed away. She decided against flying up.

I stood in a defensive pose. Red sun rays started sparkling on the edges and facets of the purple crystalline blade dazzlingly, as one of the sun rays fell on it. I had only half of my energy reserves at most, and I will receive some damage if I use them again, but this time, there is really no choice. I forced my lifeforce to circulate through my body, slowly filling my aching energy channels. The process was fast, but it seemed painfully slow to me while I saturated my body with power. My strength, reaction, perception, along with respiratory and vascular systems, all gone into overload. It’ll damage my body, but it is my price to pay for lacking in energy. My breath quickened instantly, my heart started to beat in a crazy rhythm, the feeling of searing heat started to build up inside my body.

“Come, fucker! Do your thing!” I roared, trying to provoke the manticore to attack. I can’t afford to keep fighting. Maybe it’ll back away if its prey offers too much resistance. The manticore was fast to respond, lunging forward with its signature pounce, boosted by flap of its wings, roaring on top of its lungs at the impudent prey. I looked as its clawed paws approached me. My state of high concentration allowed me to perceive its movements clearly, as if manticore slowed down slightly. I shifted my body to the left, starting an upward cut, aiming to its side, as the deadly claws flew past my neck. My hit left a bloody gash on the manticore’s right side, but it was a light wound for it, only igniting its rage. I almost got hit by its stinger as manticore attacked me even before it turned around with its tail. I sidestepped right before the stinger could hit my leg.

It tried to pounce on me a few more times, but the blade of my spear quickly discouraged it from doing so. Manticore decided to change its tactics, trying to attack with its paws and, most importantly, with its stinger, from the front. I was playing a deadly game of dodging its relentless attacks, retaliating with quick stabs and slashes. As it got several cuts on its paws, it decided to attack mainly with its stinger, slowly pushing me back with its deadly strikes and range. If not for my inhuman reaction and speed at the moment, there would be no more Ray on Equis.

My luck did not last for long, as I accidentally tripped on a big root of one of the giant trees growing around when I was backing away from another tail strike. I succeeded in throwing myself to the side, avoiding another deadly strike of the stinger, and at this moment the manticore decided to pounce on me again. As it was raising its body for an attack, I heard a deafening boom, accompanied by a bluish-white flash. Yes, it was Sapphira. Her lightning bolt split into three, two hitting the ground below the manticore, while the last one hit one of its hind legs.

Manticore’s leg had spasmed abruptly, causing its pounce to fail, so the manticore had landed on its side heavily, roaring in pain and anger. Strong smell of burnt hair filled the air. I managed to stand up in a second, but the manticore did the same. Sapphira was unable to hit its vulnerable spot and now was panting heavily, quickly retreating back. But, nevertheless, she saved my life. Manticore’s mobility was hindered, as its leg limped, but its ferocity only flared. It began circling around me with a limping gait.

“A-a-a-a-ah, Ray! There are more of them!” Sapphira shouted, looking over her back.

I looked momentarily in that direction, a nauseous feeling of despair had settled in my stomach. “No fucking way!” What I saw were two more manticores, but these looked much smaller. Is the giant before me an alpha? Or those two are just young ones? I didn’t know. What I knew is those two were going for Sapphi right now, and she is still weak after she used her spell and can’t escape! The manticores have started to attack her from two sides. While she dodged the first one from the left, the one from the right landed a hit on her side; its claws scraped the armor and left a bloody gash on her hind leg. Sapphira have started to fall over, but managed to fly up and steady herself, resuming her escape.

My anger exploded like a barrel of gunpowder. It was at this moment that I knew, I’m losing it, my reason. My blood boiled, the leftovers of my stored lifeforce filled my body, streaks of blood left my nostrils as a result of heavy overloading all of my body’s systems. I charged the alpha recklessly with a horrifying roar. The manticore lost its composure for a moment, allowing me to land a heavy hit with the blunt side of the shaft after it parried my initial attack, making it dazed. Throwing some dirt in its face, aiming for the eyes, I tried to win some more time to save Sapphi.

Immediately after, I rushed to the other two manticores, which were chasing Sapphira, ramming into the side of the first one, immediately going to attack the other, as the first one fell to the ground as it tripped from impact. My sense of pain was suppressed greatly, so I didn’t know if I broke something. Everything in my sight had a tinge of red. I was not sure if it was my blood or the red sunset that spread its color to the surroundings. The second manticore, being too absorbed in its chase, took a direct piercing hit to the side, not expecting me to reach it this fast. It roared in pain and took to the sky, looking back at me with fear. Suddenly, I had a violent coughing fit. What came out was blood; I spat out the leftovers as I prepared myself to continue the fight.

“Get back from her, if you want to live, bastards!” I shouted in rage, turning to the first one, which was already back on its paws. Meanwhile, Sapphira used her telekinesis to pull the flying one by the wing, interrupting its flight and causing it to fall heavily on the ground, but it quickly joined the other one, despite its injuries.

I slowly approached the two manticores. Blood trickled down my hands and chest; it seems I sustained some injuries despite my efforts to avoid being hit. I felt there was not much time left for me before I collapsed. I looked into the eyes of these beasts. My gaze was filled with the purest intention to take their lives here and now, in a straight and simple fight for survival.

I was looking in horror at the two manticores charging at me. The lightning spell missed its target, but still managed to save Ray. Now I’m weak and sluggish after using it. I tried to use the sword with the help of telekinesis, but one of the manticores just swiped the sword away with its powerful paw, causing it to fly out of my magic grip. As I was running away in a hopeless attempt to save my life, after being injured by one of the manticores, I heard Ray’s maddened roar. “No! We’ll die here!” I thought that he was injured by the elder manticore. But in a few moments, unexpectedly, I heard a heavy hit from behind me. Looking back, I saw Ray crazily fighting with two manticores, having knocked one of them over with his body and stabbed the other one with his spear. The injured one took to the sky, but I used telekinesis to make it fall down to the ground. The last thing I wanted to see was an attack from above.

Ray was standing before me. His appearance horrified me — blood had soaked his clothes on the chest, and it was dripping from his hands, running along the spear shaft. His whole body had a red tint, his muscles bulged, and his countenance was not unlike those of demons of Tartarus, his eyes blood red as the vessels inside them have popped, and blood was coming out of his nose and mouth. But the most horrifying thing was his aura, as he turned towards the manticores. ‘Death’. The message it was transmitting around him could be described by this one word. He was ready to die himself in a deadly fight, but claim the lives of his opponents.

I’ve never been this scared in my life, not of Ray, but of his readiness to give away his life and his horrible state. “Why aren’t we using this artifact of his? Why should he place his life at stake here?” But while I was stupefied by the situation, lesser manticores started to back away, obviously not ready to give away their lives for a mere supper, after some time they turned around and flew away, but Ray was staring at the big manticore, as it was closing in slowly. He started to move towards it, too. The elder one now saw a challenger to its rule over this jungle in Ray. It will never tolerate having a rival near its territory. It will not back away now. All elder manticores were like it, making them even more dangerous.

Eventually, they started to run towards each other, rushing towards their final standoff. “Ray? Why are you doing it? Stop!” I shouted, but everything was in vain. Ray could not hear me, or he did not listen. I wanted to do something to help Ray and activated my magic, starting to pull the manticore back by its tail as much as I could, but it was not enough to stop it, but every effort counts, it will not be able to start with a tail attack!

They finally reached each other. The manticore raised its upper body, standing on its hind legs, attempting to grab Ray with its front paws and bite his neck. Ray lunged forward, slipping under its paws, the crystalline blade of his spear piercing manticore’s chest. Ray has put the full weight of his body into the strike, penetrating manticore’s ribcage. His spear became stuck inside it. The manticore finally came down on Ray, roaring in pain and rage, grabbing him from the sides, but the shock from the pain shifted its aim, its jaws clenched on his right shoulder, missing his neck and breaking some of his bones with a crackling noise. Ray groaned in pain. As manticore’s body started to lower, Ray had managed to rest the other end of the shaft on the ground, forcing manticore to pierce itself on the spear completely. The injury was deadly. Manticore’s body limped, but before it gave away its soul, its tail swung quickly overhead, striking and lodging itself inside Ray’s back, pumping deadly amounts of poison into his body.

I didn’t realize I was screaming loudly at this moment. “Ray! No! No-no-no-no! Nooooo!!!” I rushed to him, using my magic to the limit to unclench manticore’s jaws. He started falling down along with the manticore, already at the edge of consciousness, his emotions disappearing rapidly. I dragged him away from the hateful beast. His breath had almost ceased by this time, remaining very weak. His eyelids twitched slightly, and then his lips moved.

“Sa… phi… I will… survive…” He said these words excruciatingly slowly, talking with sheer effort, his voice barely audible. “Find… safe… place.” I noticed his blood stopped flowing out like a river, but he was still slowly bleeding out. “No, I need to treat him now!” I thought as I dragged him by his coat farther from the place of the fight, hiding us in a thick overbrush.

I spent some time removing his clothes to check his injuries. He had them only on the upper part of his body and on his arms. I opened my mouth wide and started to cover my tongue in a thick layer of my viscous goo. It was a special ability only true changelings and queens had had, allowing us to treat wounds. I started to trace his bloody gashes with my tongue gently, filling them with bluish goo, while fighting the nauseating iron taste of blood. Ray’s bleeding quickly ceased, miraculously so, to be honest, but it’s even better this way! My biggest concern was the poison. It was as deadly as it could be; it was almost a guaranteed death if you had no antidote.

“Ray! Ray! Can you hear me?” I slapped his cheeks lightly with my hooves. Ray managed to open his eyes to slits. “You are poisoned; I don’t know what to do! You will die in an hour if we don’t cure it somehow!” My eyes had already turned into a waterfall of tears and I was crying loudly. Ray weakly reached his trembling left hand to my cheek.

“Just… wait. I… will be… fine… I’ll… really… be… fine… Don’t cry… I need… to rest… now.” He said with great effort, his lungs may be damaged by the stinger. I thought he was just trying to calm me down before he died, but then I felt his emotions. He believed in what he said, firmly so. My heart finally stopped aching as the thoughts of his possible death left my mind, and I tried to calm myself down. Now, I need to guard him and care for him while he recovers. I need to think of something, find a temporary shelter for us and gather our luggage. I made sure Ray is well-hidden before going out to find a safer place. The darkness had already descended onto the jungle, but my sight allowed me to see adequately even in the darkest of nights.

This… this oh so familiar endless gray fog. I didn’t die, did I? I hoped I didn’t, though. I have neutralized the poison for the most part with that meager leftover energy I still had inside me. Could my injuries have been fatal? It’d be a truly pathetic failure if Falda’ar comes to me to retrieve my soul. I sighed mentally in this place of nonexistence, awaiting any changes.

The time could not be properly perceived in this place, and I have nothing to do here. My thoughts had turned to Sapphira. She must be safe now. The alpha is dead, and the others have run away. “I had made her worry again.” I sighed mentally one more time. Why didn’t I use the artifact? At first, I thought the situation would not descend into this mess… Then… I don’t know, my thoughts have become muddled when I saw those two chasing Sapphira. I can’t even remember the details, much less my logic for what I did there, if there were any in the first place. Well, I can say the reason was Sapphira, for sure. Saving her was the only thing I was thinking of, and I could not control my rage towards those beasts anymore, so I gave in to my anger and instincts, completely forgetting about such things as my artifact.

My mind became tired of thinking after a long time had passed, which felt like an eternity, so I was simply waiting for anything to change. Finally, something had happened. An old spherical Falda’ar’s avatar appeared in a flash, right among this gray fog, looking straight at me. His gaze was… disappointed? It was hard to discern it from just the eyes.

“No, no, no, don’t tell me it happened…” I said dejectedly. “Sapphira…” I whispered her name with bitterness in my voice. Falda’ar didn’t answer anything. The pause was disturbing. Finally, the avatar produced a deep sigh and spoke slowly.

“Ray, Ray, Ray…” he said in a really disappointed voice, paused and clicked his tongue in regret. “If you are here, then something has gone wrong… very… wrong.” I’ve started getting nervous and wanted to ask something, but he continued. “Don’t say anything; this is just a recording of sorts, a complex spell of mine. It can judge the situation to some extent, but cannot truly converse with you.” He paused again.

“I assume you are still alive. That is good news, Ray. I hope this fact will remain valid over time. Whatever may have happened to you, it does not matter much by now. I’ve predicted such a situation, of course, knowing you and your circumstances very well. I could not send you there without any countermeasures. It would be plain stupid if I did! This is really the last time I’m able to help you before you can contact me for real again, but this help is a tradeoff of sorts. You failed to consolidate your power and damaged both your body and energy system heavily, as my spell is telling me. I had placed this spell inside your heart from the start. It will restore your body and, most importantly, your whole ‘life essence’ energy system will be brought back to life. Excuse me for the pun. Maybe it will even strengthen your energy channels if there would be some excess energy left. Too bad you’ve wasted this boon now, but it’s still better than dying or getting crippled, unable to use your powers for a long time.

“And Ray, you did it all wrong, and you know it! You should not pay with your health when you use this method, or your body won’t last for long. It must be your energy which takes the brunt, not your body. Don’t forget about it next time!”

Of course I knew it. How could I not? It’s just… I had no other way, if I wanted to save Sapphi. The thought of running away never crossed my mind at that moment, and everything happened by itself, mostly. I should learn to control my emotions, or such rage outbursts will get me killed one day. But today, giving away to my instincts had saved my and Sapphi’s lives, that’s for sure, despite the heavy price I had to pay.

“Now listen closely. From this moment on, you’ll have more trouble accessing your locked memories. This spell was providing additional energy for this process and now this energy will be spent. You’ll need to accumulate excessive amounts of ‘life essence’ for the memories to surface once again. To do that, you’ll have to absorb more raw magic of this world, but the background flow of magic will no longer be enough, so remember it. You’ll have to find extra sources somewhere in this world. I can’t tell you what to do exactly, as I don’t know the situation out there, sorry. The more memories you return to yourself, the more energy will be required for the next one, so you would have faced this problem eventually, anyway.

“Now rest, Ray. I’ve told you everything necessary. Good luck.” The avatar disappeared silently, and everything around slowly turned to black void, putting me to sleep.

Not far from the edge of the Forbidden Jungle, nighttime.

At last, everything is done and ready. We arrived rather late, but it was no problem for thestrals to work in dark conditions. The Lunar Guard made a quick job setting up the camp. The girls have already gone to sleep in their tent, and I should do the same too. Tonight, I will rest, neglecting my duties again, but I will have an opportunity to search the dreamland around this place once more.

I finished my business around the camp quickly and finally entered my personal tent, falling asleep on a pile of pillows. I’ve entered the dreamland easily; with the practice of doing it for more than a millennium, it is as easy as breathing to me.

The sparkling moon road was as empty as it was the last time I visited this place. I won’t lie to myself. The only reason I’m here this time is to find Ray. He is a… hyuman, if I remember correctly. There was no need to do it, it was just my personal whim, but a Princess can rightfully have her whims, isn’t it? I’ve started to fly along the moon road, looking at the occasional doors flying by my side. Nothing caught my attention. Here is this group of changeling doors again. Nothing changed from the last time, but I can’t find Ray’s door around here anymore.

I’ve stopped to think for a bit. Did he leave this jungle, maybe? Or… no, I don’t want to think about it. Perhaps he is not sleeping at the moment? Eventually, I’ve decided to move to another part of the jungle, a bit to the west, the only reasonable direction he could travel to. The moon road contracted under me, becoming a silver cloud. I had flown to the west, like a comet in a night sky; it took me no more than a minute to do so. The moon road had unfurled again under my hooves.

Unwilling to waste any more time, I decided to use some of my magic and started to move the moon road itself with my will at great speed, staying in place. The moon road accelerated, various dream doors flew by on the sides as I was looking for one door in particular. Something unusual just passed me by, but I continued to search for Ray’s door with no success. After shuffling through all the doors around these parts for the third time, I’ve lost any hope of finding Ray tonight.

But before I went to rest, I decided to check something which caught my eye while I was searching for Ray’s door. I had started searching for a strange door along the moon road, without haste this time. “Oh, here it is!” I said to myself. “What’s that?”

What I saw was a strange sight. Two doors stood before my eyes. The first one resembled a door, which seemingly consisted of gray opaque fog. When I tried touching it with my hoof, it went right through it, like it was really some fog, leaving no sensations on my hoof. I tried to go through it, but the result was the same, like the whole thing was nothing more than an illusion. “Weird! I’ve never seen something like that in millennia! And I have nopony to ask what it might be, as I’m the most experienced dreamwalker on Equis.”

I turned my gaze towards the second door. This door was strange in another way. I was a weird mix of a common pony door and a changeling door. It had a proper shape, but was black in color, with some vivid blue decorations, and a little amount of holes and cavities on its surface, much less than changeling doors usually have. Like all changeling doors, it lacked a cutie mark. The protective aura of the hive mind was absent. I smiled at this finding. “This is a rare chance to see a changeling dream for the first time! At least I’ve found something interesting tonight!”

I carefully opened the door and, to my surprise, it did offer some resistance, but my power had crushed it easily. Well, it’s not surprising this dream is about the jungle… But I had this particular feeling about it. Such a dream was not a rare occasion, but it was based on memories and experiences, making it more vivid and real for me. Common dreams usually have muddled and shifting surroundings.

I saw a changeling drone trotting through the jungle, constantly looking around, like it was being chased. The changeling preferred more obscure paths to traverse, well hidden by foliage and overbrush. I followed this peculiar changeling, remaining invisible to it. Looking more closely, I found this changeling was a mare, a very thin, sickly looking mare. After some time, I’ve heard the buzzing of wings from above. The changeling hid in the bushes and started to transform into a… wild deer? First the body, then legs, tail, head… oh, she forgot her fangs… Strange, Chrysalis’ changelings were doing it much faster and in one move. The color of its plates and eyes was different too, bright blue instead of acidic green.

The changeling in the guise of a deer started running away quickly. And soon, the source of buzzing entered my sight. It was three other changelings, three stallions; it was easy to see with the first glance, much more bulky and strong, with yellow plates and eyes. Are they from different hives? Do they have a war between them? Albeit having a strong negative opinion of changelings after the incidents with Chrysalis, I still sympathize with this poor blue mare!

It did not take long before the strong yellow drones found the deer; they hissed and chirred between each other before surrounding the blue changeling from three sides, pressing her against the tree. “Should I wake her up now? But I want to see what happened here. Changelings are tougher than ponies in terms of psyche; they should be able to handle these types of bad dreams, more or less.” My thoughts were interrupted by demonic howls which resembled wicked laughter. These howls were coming seemingly from all directions, but mainly from the dense intertwined canopy above. I had not heard those things in the real world for more than a thousand years, and I’d prefer it to stay this way. Those were the howls of shadow hounds. “Them again?” I frowned.

The situation quickly descended into chaos as the hounds showed up. The yellow drones quickly flew away, followed by the majority of the hounds, while the deer slipped away silently… “Wait! Didn’t Ray tell me something like that?” It was no use following the yellow drones, only the owner of the dream mattered, as the focal point of it, so I followed the deer. Some of the hounds were chasing after it doggedly. The deer was running through the place overgrown with thick bushes, so it was hard to see what was happening, but the overbrush abruptly ended and the deer stumbled, landing on its belly as it fell from the small hillock.

And here he was! A figure was standing in front of the deer; it was no other than Ray! “How? When? Where is he now?” My thoughts plunged into chaos as my eyes had widened in surprise. And while I was flustered, a violent fight broke out between Ray and hounds. I watched with my mouth agape. “Ray… can be… this violent? But still, he is fighting for his life here!” I watched how he scared them, killing one of them and breaking his spear in the process. He took the broken spear and walked to the deer. I thought he was going to kill the changeling… but the fact she is still alive tells me it’s not true.

Ray and the changeling mare had some serious wounds, but Ray’s injuries were no longer bleeding for some reason. He stood there, holding a blade with trembling hands, looking at the disguised changeling. Then he started swearing, perhaps cursing at the situation and himself. The words were unintelligible for the most part. It must be caused by changeling’s state at the moment. Her consciousness started to fade, making her memories blurry. Ray threw his broken spear away, crouched before the changeling and put his hand on her injuries. The bleeding had stopped almost instantly, and the wound contracted slightly. “Healing magic? For real?” I was surprised at this revelation. “Then it makes sense why the griffons agreed to take him on an expedition. A field medic is certainly a must for such undertakings, especially the one who can use magic. Otherwise, they will never agree to take a non-flier with them.”

The last thing I saw in the already melting and shifting surroundings was Ray, carrying away the still disguised changeling in his hands. “I must question this changeling! But her mind entered an inactive state now. Then I’ll wait!”

I was drifting in the black nothingness, which signified the absence of any dreams, but the changeling was still sleeping. I was waiting here for a long time already, but this changeling mare had no more dreams so far. Finally, the surroundings began to change. I found myself not far from the shore of the lake, surrounded by the dense jungle. There was a sunken pyramid inside the lake; its upper part above the water. Behind me was a hill with much more modest building on top of it.

“This must be the place Ray was talking about! And where is the changeling?” I had started looking around. I finally found her not too far away. She was sitting beside some small tree, looking at the lake, seemingly deep in thought. “Wait, what? A queen?” I walked closer. “No, not a queen, a changeling noble, it seems, never seen one of them before! But how? She was just a drone not long ago. I can’t say for sure, but sometimes you can be in another body in your dreams, or you can be yourself from the past. Her body looks graceful; she no longer had that bad and malnourished appearance as it was in her previous dream. I’ve never seen such a changeling in Chrysalis’ entourage. Her height did not exceed that of some bigger drones.” I looked at the tree. I think I saw something similar to it in my sister’s personal garden, but this one is too small. I looked at her again. What a peculiar mane she’s got. It’s not as exquisite as my and Celly’s magic manes, of course, but still very unusual and beautiful. She was sitting still, seemingly thinking about something with a sad face, looking at the undulating surface of the lake.

I have revealed myself to her, standing some distance away to not frighten her too much, and decided to be the first to speak, but I was too nervous and impatient.

“We greet you, changeling!” my voice has taken on a more strict and domineering vibe by my old habits and was also quite loud. I almost snapped to Royal Canterlot again. The changeling flinched and turned her head to me abruptly, her beautiful mane fluttered in the wind. Her eyes opened wide. She stood up immediately and backed off, hissing at me.

“Who are you? No! I know who you are! What are you doing here? I’m not your citizen, and I’m not your enemy!” She was really frightened. “I don’t belong to any hive anymore! I’m a rogue changeling; I’m of no use to you!” her voice was a bit trembling, but she still spoke to me despite her fear.

“She thought I wanted to bring her harm? Why? Oh, hay! I should not have started with this voice… my old habits…” I collected my thoughts again and tried to speak friendly with a light smile. “Sorry if I have frightened you. I mean you no harm, really… Can we… talk?” Her fright started to subside, and she furrowed her brows.

“Then, let’s talk, but I still don’t understand why a noble alicorn wants to talk to a mere changeling?” She was rather skeptical about my intentions.

“You are not a simple changeling either, a noble!” I commented.

She just snorted at my remark. “Noble? No, we have no nobles, it’s ‘True Changelings’, a complete form of a changeling.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know…” I just realized how meager our knowledge of changelings is. Then… why did Chrysalis have no such changelings?

“Forget about it, it’s understandable. You ponies know so little about us changelings, after all.” She replied in a calmer voice.

“Um… You may already know who I am, but let me introduce myself properly. Luna, Princess Luna, if you will, but I prefer unofficial conversations when possible.” I said, trying to maintain a friendly attitude.

“Sapphira, rogue changeling, but this is a term used by hives, I’d prefer to call myself ‘free changeling’, as I don’t like how ‘rogue’ sounds, … Luna.” In the end, she called me by my name, as I wished for.

“Pleased to meet you, Sapphira.” I smiled to her genuinely; this changeling mare is not that bad…

“So, Luna, you wanted to ask me something, right?” she asked me, not bothering with etiquette and politeness, but I don’t mind it. I could discern a slight smile on her face. I’ve lived a long life on Equis to discern such little details easily. I’m not as good at it as my sister, but still…

“Ummm… yes, Sapphira. You know Ray, right?” I asked. Her eyes widened and even her pupils turned round. “So, she knows him. And I know why I like her face; it resembles that of my thestrals, somewhat, and even her mimics are the same, especially eyes!”

“Eh… It’s too late to deny it, so yes, I know him. Ray saved my life… Thrice…” she replied to me. Her voice turned soft and warm when she mentioned Ray.

“Could she possibly... but changeling? And saved her life… thrice?” I was shocked by this news. “Can they be in trouble?” I composed myself to continue our talk.

“Where is he now? Is he with you? Are you two in trouble?” I was nervous and threw too much questions at her.

“Why do you want to know? You don’t sound like you are seeking him for some crimes or something like that… Then why?” she asked me with a raised brow, her voice now calm.

“Well, I was searching for a certain thing inside this jungle, and I happened to meet Ray in the dreamland two days ago… We talked and I think we’ve become… friends with him? I know he is lost in the jungle, so I wanted to help him out!”

“Ummm…” Complex emotions were seen on her face. “Then I’ll tell you… We were traveling westwards out of the jungle when that happened… he was injured, badly. And poisoned, but it seems he got rid of the poison somehow. He does not look good at the moment, to be honest; he has not regained consciousness since evening.” Her eyes and ears drooped at this mention.

“What happened to you two, Sapphira?” I asked in distress.

“Elder manticore happened. And then two younger ones showed up…” Sapphira were talking with her gaze on the ground.

My mouth opened as I was shocked by the news. “How did they even manage to survive?” She then looked me in the eye. “I… I can see you are telling the truth to me, Sapphira. Did you two run away from them?”

“As if that bastard would’ve let us leave!” She almost shouted in anger. “Ahem…” She covered her mouth with her hoof, somewhat flustered. “Ray’s language…” she smiled a bit. “The elder fool took Ray for a challenger. At this point, it was useless to run. We have managed to injure the young ones a bit and Ray chased them away, but he still had to fight with the elder one. He managed to kill it in the end.” Sapphira told with a serious face. “At the end of their fight, the manticore bit his shoulder, breaking some of his bones, and hit Ray in the back with its tail, poisoning him. I’ve found a large abandoned den under the giant tree. We are currently hiding there.” She lowered her gaze to the ground again in sorrow.

“What? I need to find you right now! Stand still!” I activated my magic to find the place… but I soon realized how naïve I was. “I can see the place, but the jungle is all the same everywhere! How am I supposed to look for this place? I can only know an approximate direction and remember some landmarks, but the search had to be done in a regular way. I should send Night Lily there!” I said it out loud accidentally.

“That's a jungle, Princess.” Sapphira said sadly, with a sigh. “And who is Night Lily?” she asked.

“My subordinate, she is a good tracker, a batpony. I’ll give her the best medicines I brought with me, but I’m not sure she will be able to find you. If Ray gets better and we can’t find you, then try to reach the railroad to the west and seek help.” I advised her.

I thought about all of this again. “Killed a manticore, and an elder one at that? I’d say it’s impossible without magic, but there could be some magic involved, right? But his magic is not a combat type, it seems. I’ve already seen him using it once. He must be a decent fighter then. Anyway, it’s quite a feat to defeat an elder manticore, even if they did it together! Ray is more powerful than I thought he is at first, but I still don’t see him as a dangerous individual. He even saved this changeling more than once.”

At this moment, Sapphira’s body started to glow with yellow sparking light. The light undulated in waves. She looked at her hooves in surprise and then checked her whole body with a puzzled look.

“What’s happening, Sapphira?” I had no idea what it was.

“I’m not sure, but… it should be Ray’s magic! But it has never been so strong!” She was surprised and obviously happy. “It means he is getting better, I’m sure!”

“And why did his magic appear in your dream?” What she said was strange to me.

“It’s… complicated, Luna, but it should be like I said.” This changeling was almost shining with happiness. The sight I thought was impossible to see. “She had definitely fallen for him. But that sounds like a joke, a non-reformed changeling in love, but what I see before me cannot be a fake! I just hope she does not drain his love too much.”

“Sapphira, whatever this magic is, it is waking you up. We don’t have much time. Go to Appleloosa if you reach the railroad. I suppose you two will fit right in that place; this town has a lot of foreigners ever since the tunnel to the south was finally completed, so locals will not be too surprised seeing you there. If anything bad happens there, write me a letter to Royal Castle. I’ll notify the staff to forward any letters with your name on it to me.” I told her. I didn’t know how else I could help them, but at least I tried.

“Thank you, Luna. I don’t know why you are trying to help us so much, but thank you!” said Sapphira kindly.

“I’ll try to find you next night.” I smiled back at her. “What an unusual changeling. We really don’t know much about them, even after all the events with Chrysalis and her hive.” The surrounding dream started to warp, and soon I found myself back on the moon road. The foggy door nearby transformed into a half-transparent Ray’s door and was shining in the same yellow light. My brows raised in surprise by themselves. “This is so mysterious!” I’ve tried scanning this door to understand what was happening, but I felt nothing out of the ordinary. I tried opening the door, but the same thing as before had happened again. The door was ethereal, I could not even touch it!

“Maybe he is experiencing some special dream, which is not just a dream? Perhaps some form of a trance. It’s possible, but I have no way of knowing for sure. Well, I should send Night Lily right away. She had returned from her reconnaissance even before everyone went to sleep. I should apologize to her, as I’m sending her out without letting her have a good rest.” I tried touching Ray’s door a few more times only to feel empty space with my hoof, then returned to the moon road and exited dreamland. The happenings of this night were far out of my expectations, and I needed some time to sort things out and also find Lily.

Author's Note

Edited 19 Aug 2022.