It's been three days since our leave from Midnight Castle, the first being as perilous as my time in Canterlot during the first changeling invasion. While in the aftermath of that, I remember the sights of some buildings being damaged, a few others on a verge of collapse. Some unfortunate souls were lost in the assault, mainly caused from the varying impacts the changelings made upon their fiery entry. That was terrifying to see, to hear how many wanted to pick up whatever rubble covered their loved ones. Some who were found ended up covered in sheets on the side of the road. I remember one time when i was curious enough to look, Twilight snatched me away and kept pulling me along until we reached our destination.

I also remember the time when we came back from sealing away Lord Tirek and porting him off to Tartarus. How everything was peachy up until we took a picture. And right after that flash went off, Twilight collapsed. The damage she took in that fight against Tirek was far too much for any one of us to endure, the fact that she lived is nothing short of a miracle. But even in that, we had another harrowing reality to face, our old home was decimated, and many others in it's path were just as unfortunate. I saw more of the carnage that time, more of the sheets lying on the roadside beside the rubble, and the hooves occasionally sticking out from underneath those sheets. I remember the wailing cries of mothers clamoring for their foals, husbands their wives, fillies for their parents.

The efforts to repair the castle after our monumental clash with the Trio of Terror, a lot of Canterlot Castle had to be rebuilt, from the mountainside supports, to the foundations and up. There were a few bodies recovered from that spectacle. In spite of it all, I never really saw the cost of those conflicts so up close, not once did I see the face or touch the corpses of those victims.

But as of now, I can't help but to see the faces of those I've failed. For two straight nights, I've stayed up thinking, crying, apologizing, and trying to process what's been going on. Amor hasn't been any better, the guilt of leaving Sir Fencer behind has been eating at him since we've started hiding from the passing airships in the skies above. Princess Hestia's been our counsel in grief, Mrs. Kalimba, our fearless leader in moving forward.

Needless to say the three days of roughing it out in the wild have been rough on the imperials. The first day was halfway spending time buried under the snow, hiding under the rocks, and keeping the others warm without doing too much in the way of lighting fires in the wide open. But with little means of protection from the elements, and how open the land is away from the city, we had to heavily lean on Mrs. Kalimba for some of her spells. As far as the other two, I'd have to light a fire to keep them from suffering from the cold. It's not quite a bitter tundra like that of the Crystal Empire, but it's pretty close to it, and that's a pretty dangerous gambit to have for multiple days of roughing it.

So often, Mrs. Kalimba uses a certain spell for us. She says she learned it from Mrs. Blue, some sort of dimensional distortion field, altering all perceptions of the reality outside of it, while we go about our doings on the inside. It's a powerful spell, but extremely taxing. Not that she's incapable of it, but the magic sapped much of her mental endurance. Often times, I'd carry her on our way, sometimes in my arms, others on my back, anything to lighten her mental and physical load.

Thankfully, our time in the frozen field is over. No more periodic stoppages for warmth, or hellish drives through the cold and uncaring climate. And since we're into the woods now, there's a far easier way for us to hide our presence, easier to make use of the roughage to keep ourselves warm, and a far less need for Mrs. Kalimba to use her spells.

We're well into the Shadow Forest, a thick, verdant patch of evergreens occasionally interrupted by occasional mountains popping out past the tree lines. The light from the sun barely reaches us, which I'm sure makes it even harder for the airships to see through.

"Let's try to be careful. The ground is thick with hazards to injure yourself on, don't be careless, watch where you step, and move quickly. We'll use our cover to make this a quick sprint through the woods. With enough haste, we'll be able to cross the forest in a day-and-a-half's time." Mrs. Kalimba definitely has a lot more energy now that we're out of the snow.

Can't say that for the other two. "Ugh. I am not used to traveling the countryside on hoof." Hestia complains as she rubs her hooves from the discomfort of traversing the uneven terrain. "I totally miss being able to sit in the tub for my morning baths. This constant walking around is killing me."

"Unfortunately, we can't go by the rail." Amor says as he wards a branch away from his face. "Seems they directed most of their attention to the west, but we still can't risk it now." He winces as he looks down on what he stepped in, a foul smell invades our nostrils. "Eugh, I admit it now, really miss the modern convenience of modal travel. At least I don't get to step in the refuse of some other animals."

"Ha, you stepped in poop!" Hestia mocks with a snicker.

"So what, you want a closer look!?" He shoves his hoof closer to her face, her fighting him off with disgust. "Come on, you know you wanna see it for yourself!"

"Ew, no! Get away from me!"

Also, these two for the past few days have been just like this. I wouldn't have guessed them them to be so normal in comparison to their other siblings, but it's like they don't know how to control their sibling impulses at times. Doesn't matter if we're in a life or death situation out in the wilderness, all that matters is that they one-up each other. "Can you two please dial it down? We're trying not to get caught out here." I remind the pair.

Mrs. Kalimba has long learned to give up on playing baby sitter. "My six year old son could behave better than the both of you."

"I bet you deal with this all the time back home." I comment to the zebracorn.

"Not nearly as much. Just Gala doing what a girl does when she becomes of age." She replies. "Still, she's much better than these two ever will be."

The pair walk past us with their argument. "You know what, I hope you step in poison joke for the next five miles." Hestia tells her brother.

"Well I hope you run face first into a patch of drakeseed spores." He snaps back.

"Of course you'd want that, you sick pervert. Now I hope your horn grows limp right after."

"Speaking of poison joke, I'll be sure to pick some up, maybe I'll even drop a few on your wings so you fly backwards."

"Well I hope whatever pillow you sleep on next makes you sweat at night!"

"Well I hope the next mattress you sleep in has bedbugs!"

"I'll give you a big hug so you'll get them too!"

They're unrelenting. "Guys... please."

Mrs. Kalimba pauses and immediately drops her head down, she uses her magic to drop us all down and pinch the lips of the sibling pair shut. "While you both are busy jolling about, we have company to look out for!" She whispers out to us angrily. We all poke our heads up to see a pair of centuries on patrol.

"Didn't think we'd be running into these guys here." The prince whispers.

Hestia turns her attention to the zebracorn in charge. "Think we can use that spell you use, that invisibility spell?"

"It's not for invisibility, it's for spatial distortion. You can still be felt in an invisibility spell." She says as she looks up to her horn. "And it's not that easy to use. I could cast it for days on end, it doesn't change the fact that it takes years to get used to without suffering any painful symptoms. It's like trying to teleport yourself without knowing the proper way to exert your magic in a way that doesn't harm you."

A looming shadow coats the forest, also accompanying with a low pitched hum. It's a familiar tone we've grown used to over the past three days, sometimes we hear it at night, the sounds of imperial airships creeping by up above. A rope descends from the canopy, the pair of centuries coil themselves along the rope. After a little while, the rope ascends and the two guards disappear past the canopy. The sound above us eventually dies down and the forest gets a little brighter after some time.

"Looks like they're getting real granular with their efforts." Amor observes. "Guess we better make our trip through this forest a quick one."

Mrs. Kalimba, already having said that, silences herself before she can complain over their prior inattentiveness. "That airship is headed east. Probably just combing the area, but it will make our travel a little more difficult when we get out of these woods." I point out.

The imperial princess groans with dismay. "I'm so tired. All the running and stress has me beat. I think we should set up camp for now."

"We keep going." The zebracorn answers unapologetically.

"Seriously?" The mare complains.

The striped mare turns around, walks slowly towards the princess and looks down at her with her crimson eyes. "You are free to return to your life of royalty, you are not being held against your will to do so."

"Well as much as I want to at this point, I know the reality of my situation. Me, a lesser blood princess, already aiding and abetting the escape of the holy mother and a dragon? Father already cares less for his daughters as it is, he won't dare halt any execution for my sake." She looks over to me. "You already know how he treats Zenobia, and she's the first-born of the noble bloods. To him, we're already wasteful expenditures. The only reason we're here is because he doesn't believe in unprotected procreation. Us lesser bloods, some of us are sons and daughters of concubines, exclusive thrills that came with an unwanted heartbeat eleven months after."

Amor steps up to Mrs. Kalimba, calmly defending her in a non-confrontational way. "There is no life for us lesser bloods. The ones they call purebloods, all they did was win the alicorn gene lottery, and not all of them are birthed from the ones my father elected to marry."

I know it's a sensitive subject, but I also ask him of his circumstance. "So your mom?"

He lowers his head in shame. "A thrill, one he was a little more fond of than the others because of Adelphos. He lucked up and thought he could get two from my mom, and he did... I just wasn't what he wanted. I lucked out, nothing more."

"Well if it helps you both, I know what it's like to live a life seeing nothing but the wall you're up against." She answers the pair of siblings, while also giving them a choice. "But right now we're sitting ducks, and they can drop in at any moment to find us. It's your decision to make if you want to face that wall again."

"I've already made my choice. There's nothing for me here anymore. I made that choice the last time, made it back here in spite of that choice, but I'm still comitted." The prince replies adamantly. "Prince Amor Ambrosia, the son of Aurora Amor, he's only alive in memory. From now on, I simply live my life as Amor, no prince, no 'dear little brother', none of it. I'm going back to Equestria. For good."

He walks past her, all while I mutter to myself. "Twilight isn't gonna like that idea."

"Well she'll have to accept it. I'm never coming back to this place." He shrugs back at me. "I'll be shot in cold blood if I do."

"I think I'll join you there." Hestia adds. "At least for a little while, maybe I'll go somewhere else, see more of the world, but Equestria doesn't sound like a bad place for a starting line."

I draw a long sigh as I know what complaints will come blowing my way. "Two imperial family members? Twilight's going to be furious."

"Well, we'll leave you to formalize the pleas for our sanctuary. You'll do that for us, sir dragon, I know you will." She says with a smile and a wink, walking past me as though her idea won't cause me more headaches.

"Ugh... great, more paperwork."

She turns back around to blow me a kiss. "With fondest appreciation, sir dragon! You'd be such a chivalrous century!"

Her brother chimes back at her. "He has a name, you know."

"Oh right... Sorry, sir Spork."

I'm not even going to try to correct her.

Eventually, we do find a cave where we can turn a corner and light a fire. To our fortune, this cave also has a pretty good vantage point of the surrounding areas. So we're doubling it as a lookout for the night. Mrs. Kalimba volunteered to be lookout. She says I'm the main one needing the rest after carrying her for so long, and she simply doesn't trust the other two to stay awake. Personally, I find no flaws in her logic.

However, sleep is the last thing I'm able to do.

My flames bun on a bundle of sticks and logs, keeping the place warm. Both the imperial lesser bloods are fast asleep, and Mrs. Kalimba is still at the opening of the cave. She'll periodically check in on us, make sure we're still breathing and whatnot.

In the meantime, I hold the chain with the dog tags on them, thinking of every single one of them and our rather small but still meaningful interactions. And the only thing that comes to my mind is how hard I should've pushed to get them a place to stay. But then again, I bet they were never going to do that to being with. Xerxes wouldn't do it because it would give me some semblance of proper protection. And Zenobia wouldn't do it because it would limit her hold on me. The emperor didn't even consider it, not even once. It played out just as he wanted it to, probably even better than expected.

Either way, these tags are bone-chilling cold. I'm sure the ones who wore them are too, just as lifeless and colorless as my hopes of peace. It was always absurd to think that negotiations with a dragon would yield that result, in Ponyland of all places. But I did as I was ordered.

I wonder... If this is the weight of forty lives on my neck, then I can only imagine the weight of the thousands that were killed during the night of the towering screams seven years ago. How did Nondis process that, what did he do to find normalcy after that?...

How can you go back to normalcy after that.

"You know you're supposed to be sleep."

The voice startles me out of my thoughts. I already know who's making the observation. The tags rattle as I place them in my lap. "Kinda hard to do that these days."

"I gather." She answers with a somber tone.

I shake my head, thinking of the moment we got the headline depicting the possible demise of the Captain of the Royal guard some years ago, how I sent him to that fate out of my jealousy, the parallels of that moment to mine now. "Seriously, of all the things that Twilight could've sent me to do, this had to be the one thing that was it. I swear the karma from years back didn't just come back to bite, it beat my ass in the town square with a sword and a brick."

The mare cringes with confusion. "What an odd weapon combination."

"You know, I actually saw when Nondis fought with that same combo. It was against a bunch of changelings. It was crazy, he was winning... until he wasn't. Turns out changeling bites can paralyze, found that out a little later after that." When I was abducted with the others and placed in the hive.

The mare sits by me, getting a little warmth from the slowly weakening flame. "Trust me, I know about it."

"I understand it's a different situation, but I bet this kinda feels familiar to you, it has to be."

She quirks a brow. "How so?"

"Running around and trying your best to avoid the hunt, knowing what's to come when they get a hold of you. You have those instincts to take over when it gets that bad. You've been doing it for the past three days, it's like it's second nature to you."

"Not quite." She answers, holding her hooves to the flame for warmth. "When I first got into something like this, I was twelve. Those times were terrifying to me because I didn't know what was going on or why. But I'll admit that twenty-year old me remembers something like that happening in other places and situations. I find the feeling nostalgic now."

"Nostalgic?" I question.

"It's a long story." She says as she retract her hooves after getting the heat she desires. "But I don't think it will quite evolve the way it did back then."

"Because of the situation?"

"Because of the cost. Back then, I had nothing, but now I will go home to my family." She says as she lets her horn glow a warm aura, illustrating figures of dust. They formulate the creatures she clamors for the most. "I have something valuable to lose, far more valuable than I ever thought I could be. When I look back, I saw myself at a dead-end. Everything was uncertain, even the fact that I was... well let's just say 'under new management', nothing was for sure set on solid ground. A moment of happiness was no better than a home settled on sand, eventually sinking back into reality."

I think she's talking about when she and Nondis started working together. I'm not too familiar with the whole story, lots of bits and pieces weren't told to me up to this point. Twilight always felt I was too young to really know about it. "And shortly after, Nondis changed that for you." I answer.

The dust formulates a pair of ponies, one unicorn figure with a mohawk, the other with typical unicorn silhouette. They walk side by side with one another. "...He gave me a new hope, promises of what my mother wished to manifest in my life. It was too good to be true, I felt. Then he took me away from there and put me in Ponyville for a while, I started to see a different light in life."

This time, there's the dust figure of a human standing next to her as the unicorn with the mohawk seem crestfallen over another unicorn lying down. "I bet it felt good being able to come out of that darkness."

"That was still there, it was always there." The dust figure falls, holding itself as though it's mourning. A smaller figure seems to be doing the same. "My father, who wanted to reconnect with me after what he did, was murdered just as I was looking to open that door for him. My sister was a witness to his death, but her eyes were taken moments before he met his fate. And there was a moment where I felt the source of my hope was lost, when I saw what Nondis had endured." The dust figures transform into a familiar scene, two humanoid figures laying on either side of a masked unicorn standing in the middle. "I lost so much hope that I offered to sacrifice myself to buy time. In that moment, I could've given up the hunger for life... I wanted to."

"But you didn't." I point out.

Now the figures transform into one humanoid and the other a mohawk unicorn. "I heard his voice again. I thought I had entered into the afterlife, but it was him... with a brand new scar around his neck. I saw how he still fought, in spite of all that happened, and saw that I was being weak. So, I willed myself to keep going, to help him in whatever way, like I've always promised."

As she stares into the figures, I notice a smile growing on her face. It's a bittersweet moment of remembrance, her eyes looking down to see the figure. "You love that guy, don't you?"

The dust figures completely fall apart, it seems that she's done thinking about the past since I brought up the possibility of her emotions being what they are. Instead, she turns her head to me. "I know a sleep spell for you. It won't guard against nightmares, but you'll be able to rest."

I scoff at the mare. "Not the deflection off the topic. C'mon."

"Call it what you may, we need to rest for the journey. There is a long way to go and a very short list on how to get there."

Her horn shines brightly as she gives me a quick zap of her magic. It's an uneventful process, no flash or anything, just a beam being shot from her horn into me, not even causing much. "I don't feel anything."

"Give it a little bit." She answers as she turns her head to the cave entrance.

"I guess." I say as I lean back. "Hey, quick question."

"Shoot." She deadpans.

"How did you know about the whole 'dragons biting down on their mates' thing?"

"Blue may have uttered that in a discussion." She simply answerws.

I cover my face with my palm. "Oh great."

The gives a slight chuckle at my response. "She didn't say who it was, but gathering from your reaction..."

I kiss my teeth in defeat. "Outed myself." I yawn shortly after, closing my eyes.

"You should learn to not do that as often." Those are the last words I hear of the night before I finally doze off.

At Canterlot Castle The Next Day...

The room is dimly lit with only but a candle at the princess' nightstand offering light. However, the contrasting light from her horn as she reads her book seems to drown out any efforts that the candle makes. A number of empty chocolate wrappers decorate the bed, a box of the ill-fated kindreds are emptied one by one, leaving nothing but the wrappers in the wake of the high princess' rampant consumption.

Her haunches stirs as she reads on through the chapter. The characters of the story continue to interact with one another, further visualized by a spell of the princess' creation. While one would normally cast themselves onto the page, she simply casts the fictitious figures into a page-by-page existence. They would interact as she envisions them, not just in the manner of how the words portray the situation. Her eyes glance between the two mediums, the text giving context to the actions of the couple.

A knight and his queen, often engaging in wholesome bouts of courtly love, show dissatisfaction with their boundaries. The king issues trust to the knight to care for his beloved wife, but the war calls for him to attend. The morale of the knights have sunk to greater lows with the fall of an important city, the enemy's path to the capital now unimpeded. He departs with a loving kiss to his wife's lips before his trusted knight, and he sets out to war.

The queen distances herself from the knight, almost finding every way to avoid him, for she feels shame in wanting him in a way her body primitively desires. She finds herself on that very night locking the door of her chambers, wishing not to be disturbed. None are permitted to enter.

She knows that it is wrong for a mare to take investment into her own self, how her touch is meant only for the husband who bravely marches onward to war. A king who would love his mare so profoundly that he would war for her protection, it's taboo to think of the touch of another. And yet, her hooves find the warmth of her nethers to be so familiar. In fact, the thrill excites her far too easily, her stifled cries whimpering behind her pillow as she lustfully arches herself with the imagination to welcome her courtly interest to fawn over her body.

However, her cries aren't gone unnoticed, for her lover is that of a pegasus. She does not notice him watching from behind her window, his eyes peering past her curtains and beholding another set within. She pays no mind, until it's too late when he knocks onto the window pane. Her eyes rack open with shock, her work coming to a swift hiatus before he pushes against the mare's window, discovering it to be unlocked. "Your majesty, you called for me?"

"Nay, I called for my betrothed."

"And yet your lips speak my name, just as those seek another of me."

The mare closes her eyes as the stallion closes the distance between them, she waits for any and all violation to occur, but her surprise comes as he merely stands before her. She cracks her eyes, seeing that he flinches in anxious wait, his belly absorbing several blows from that of his own flesh.

"If I may offer you comfort on this night, your highness."

Her eyes gaze down, her curious gleam takes note of his spiteful stallionhood. It looks of violent intent, her tail lifts with a quiet submission. His eyes move not from hers, but she can't help but to look away. It's only natural that her eyes wouldn't be able to see the glint in his, not in the act of turning herself around. She climbs to the bed, her tail drifting to the ground as she lays to her side, revealing much to him.

"I asked that I be not disturbed, for I was in process of grieving. You must now take responsibility for this transgression."

The princess' hooves find a similar place, but not as moist as the evening would normally observe. Instead, there's a dull ache in it's place. Her body desires it, just not in the manner it normally would. The throws of her planned evening stress relief are brought to a halt by the interruption of her own inability to immerse. She plants the book next to her, realizing that the pages do nothing at this point. So she reverts to recapturing the scene in her mind, a faceless husband going off to war, a loyal guard waiting on her balcony, and her assuming the same position of the hungered queen. She concentrates hard on herself, trying to put faces to the figure to walk in.

"I'm yours, pet! Make me a proud princess!"

Her eyes jolt open, the words echoing out in her mind as the position she takes looks too familiar with that of another princess. More importantly, the face she tries to identify matches that of the one who evoked such cries... "What am I doing right now?" She complains, finding no reason to continue her pleasurable pursuits. "Am I seriously like this, right now of all times?"

She shakes her head and cleans up her mess, not that there's much of one to maintenance. The candy wrappers are thrown away, the book is bookmarked to a prior page, and she walks into the bathroom with her phone in tow. Since she's already started to violate herself, along with the little sweat for her troubles, she plunges herself into her pool-sized bath.

She goes through the phone, looking through a few videos that are saved. "Maybe I need a distraction right now." She says, trying to impose a cleansing ritual of both her mind and body. She sits as the bubbles from her soap start to froth around her. A few videos pop up in her gallery, she pulls up one of her time in Saddle Arabia, then another from her trip to the human world from last year, another that was sent from Celestia illustrating the sunsets from their honeymoon spot. She lands on one that was sent from when Cadance finally got a phone for herself.

Immediately the first thing on the screen is both her and her husband. "Oh, are we recording? It's on? Great!"

Shining points down at the phone. "You know, the little square box in the circle tells you that you're on."

"Shining, can you not be a smartass for one minute, please?"

The video cuts to another segment, immediately showing her mother guiding the camera's view to the bride and groom, her ex-mentor and her ex-fiancé. "And here's the newly-weds!" The older mare cheers. "I bet you two can't wait to get out of here and get things going."

Celestia doesn't use her magic to take grasp of her husband's arm, instead opting for her forelegs. "Like I haven't been holding out these past few years! It's taking a lot to not drag this man to the ground for what he is to me."

The man scoffs a reply. "As if you could."

The mare slowly turns to her husband, as to correct him. "Nondie, you know better."

The man leans into her ear with a growl. "Do I? Maybe you'll have to teach me."

The former princess blushes as his arm reaches under the table, a gasp is heard as she quickly clenches against his arm. "How dare you." Her eyes narrow, while biting her lip.

Her horn glows briefly before his eyes shoot wide open and he corrects himself. "Oh shit, my bad." She giggles in response to his course correction.

The mare fans herself as her ears turn a slight red hue. "Perhaps that's a discussion best saved for later, sweetheart?"

The scene quickly cuts away to a pair of mares in the midst of conversation before Cadance interrupts them. "Ms. Blue Royal, both you and Rarity really knocked it out of the park with these decorations! And all these dresses!? Ladies, how did you both manage to pull it off?"

The fashionista smiles with a wink. "Well it was nothing, darling. Just a little 'Boutíque-For-You' magic, and all is made right."

The other mare sighs in reply. "As heartbreaking as it may be, I'll accept playing this part in the wedding. Even though by all rights it should've been the both of us walking him down the aisle."

Rarity gasps as the mare's response. "Blue!"

"Oh come on, you know that's true! We even agreed to set all of this up like we were the ones getting walked down the aisle."

"Well I suppose you aren't wrong." Replies the fashionista. "Really, I'm just all sorts of disappointed that Kali couldn't join with us."

"Ahem!" The camera pans to that of a human woman, letting her child go off to play with the other kids. "I think she has other things to prioritize right now. You know how it is."

"And how are you, Melanie?" Cadance asks from behind the camera.

"I'm good. My husband's been a little annoying today but I'm managing."

The cameramare laughs in response. "You and I are such kindred spirits."

"Maybe Celestia will join our club of annoyed wives in a year or two."

"Probably not even that!"

The video quickly shifts scenes to the Crystal Empress walking towards another figure on his phone, specifically a dragon who seems more interested in that and the food as opposed to interacting with the others.

"Spike! So tell me, the honorable, brave, and glorious savior of the Crystal Empire, what do you plan on doing next?"

"Bachelor party!" He emphatically responds.

"You know, that's usually before the wedding."

"You think I care? I'm having my own bachelor party! I'm not married, I ain't tied up by anything right now, so when this all gets wrapped up, I'm gonna head off to my room and do bad all by myself!"

"Spike!" At last, the princess in charge steps in to manage her dragon's behavior. "Sorry, Cadance. He's been pretty brash in recent years. I think he's spent too much time around the bad influence, also formally known as the groom."

"Twilight, he's eighteen now. Let him be young!"

"I'll let him be young when he can learn to be mature!" She says, earning a disgruntled groan from the young drake.

"Ugh..."

The alicorn turns back to the dragon, looking to correct him. "Don't you 'ugh' me!"

He promptly gets up and flies offscreen. "UUUGGGHHHH!" He emphasizes even more.

"Why you little─" The video cuts there, and just as the alicorn is about to give pursuit to the dragon, her very on face is reflected onto the screen. With tears in her eyes, she places the phone aside and sinks herself, her head barely above the soapy water. She closes her eyes, thinking of all the things they did together, and how he's now being held against his will.

"...Please come home, Spike."

Meanwhile in the Plains of Old Grundleland...

We continue to hug against the southern border of the now-waning forest. It's a rather cloudy day, even the creatures of the forest are limited in their activity because of the fog. Apparently the area seems to have gotten it's name from the locals for an interesting reason. With the ever abundant presence of fog due to the geological features of the plains being an enchanted permafrost, that's also strangely able to grow grass, the air continues to remain warmer than the ground at this time of year, thus creating the perpetual fog condition. And due to that unending equation, that's where the lack of direct sunlight comes in. Amor informs me that the place is so often considered as the place where the sun literally doesn't shine, much like the places where an equine's tails so often covers. A crude nickname the young Hestia detests, but one that I can easily understand.

The reduced visibility makes it hard to see, so we hug against the trees to keep track of where we're going. After all, walking into that fog could land you into some rather unsavory spots. There's ample amounts of mud and slush, some places being so deep that you could step in and never climb out unassisted. And not to mention the fact that you could try to veer off course to avoid these hazards, but easily forget which direction you're facing. You'd walk in circles before passing out from exhaustion, and possibly die in the process of getting lost. In either case, the fog provides good cover to advance on. The airships that pass above won't be able to discern rock from tree, much less a traveling party of four.

Along our journey, both Amor and Hestia take turns telling us stories of what's occurred here throughout history. The princess gives us a grand tale of the war that stirred in their family over a thousand years in the past, this place being the graveyard for over tens of thousands of young knights fighting for lord and land.

Amor then explains how Ponyland was much larger before that time, but shrunk down due to familial infighting and border disputes of land distributed. It was apparently so bad that all of the nation was reclused to only Midnight castle, going so little west that it impeded Bugbear Territory, so far south that it only contained Dream Valley, and so far west that it only claimed the outer boarders of the Shadow Forest. And then Tirek came along and the rest is history.

In the midst of the story hour, Hestia grows tired of discussing their lore. Instead, she turns to her brother for a different perspective. "So tell me about it."

"Tell you about what?" He questions the mare.

"You know, the place we're going to call our new home."

"Oh yeah." He taps a hoof to his chin, trying to summarize his experience within our boarders. "It's wonderful. It's like Ponyland, but with a smaller feel. Don't get me wrong, area-wise it's way more vast, but the creatures there are a lot more harmonic. Changelings on that side of the world are actually nice, and vastly different-looking. I do know that some cities are quite big. Manehattan, that's a really large city with almost everything in it. That one city has north of a million ponies in it's limits."

"That's pretty huge for an Equestrian city!" Hestia comments. "I always thought that place was much smaller for the population centers it has, at least until I looked at a recent map. But to think that most of it's larger cities are only some hundreds of thousands is pretty on the nose for the population it has. We just happen to have as much, if not more ponies to work with."

"Eh, Midnight Castle seems to have more than twice of that." I point out.

"Actually we have eight million residents, but a lot of it is slum living. If anything, a lot of the residents live under the city as opposed to the surface. It's like a hive." The princess adds. "Up on the mains streets, the streets you actually do see, you already have like five to ten families packed into a single building, imagine what it's like below. That's what happens when you choose to live in the safety and warmth of the walls as opposed to making the best of a hostile north. The land's already hard to farm from. Might as well import everything en masse from the east and keep it moving." She turns back to me with a shrug. "Sorry, but a lot of our cities centers are like that. It's all earthy, crudely built, impoverished and old. It's pretty depressing to look at."

"That's what happens when you have generations of warring families laying sieges to the castles. Instead of building out, and risk getting their homes pummeled by cannon fire, they build down and live under the surface. Pretty wild, but sad to think about." The prince explains.

The princess immediately jumps back to the topic of our lands. "In the meantime, I keep hearing of all sorts of interesting places in Equestria. Manehattan being the fashion capital of the world, Las Pegasus being a gambler's paradise, Cloudsdale being a literal city in the sky, the long lost city-state, there's so much to look into!"

"I know. But in terms of one of the more interesting cities, I'd give it to Canterlot, hooves down." Amor replies with a proud smile.

"Wow, their capital? I always thought the capital city has like a few attractions and maybe a few eateries, but then it gets boring when the sun goes down."

"I know I haven't been all the way through the entertainment district they have there, but I hear it has some cool stuff. It does have this one museum though..."

Hestia looks unimpressed towards her brother. "Some dusty museum, seriously, that's all you've been to?"

"Well... it wasn't really a choice. But I did manage to swing by it once or twice. The first time was during my rescue, the second was when the princess teleported us all there for a tour." The prince's eyes soften to a sadness. "It's a pretty sobering experience."

"So that's where the big tragedy you've been on about took place?" Asks the young princess.

The black unicorn looks to me to expand on things. "Hey Spike, you should know a lot more about that museum than I do. Why don't you fill Hestia in on it a bit more."

I shake my head. "You're asking the wrong one, good sir. I don't know anything about it other than what's not redacted in official records."

"Oh, but you could still tell me something about it." She seems pretty enthusiastic about this conversation, always an inquiring mind.

"What, you want me to tell you more about what I know, that a grade-schooler was basically the one wrecking shop all over the city with her amalgamated creation?"

"Well that's part of it." The prince confirms. "But what about the other stuff, like the hooks, the different size chains and what they represent, the absurd number of victims who didn't get their proper final rest."

"Well, yeah, there's that."

"Funny. I could've sworn you asked Spike to illustrate everything and here you are spoiling the tour for me." She says with a bit of bemusement.

Amor kicks a small rock along the road as he walks. "Oh no, I haven't spoiled all of the tour. If you really want the full experience, I'll let you walk it without any spoilers from our end. Promise you that."

I quietly point my claw over to the fourth member of our party, who has yet to speak on the subject. "I only didn't explain it because there is someone here who'd be much better at doing it."

"Are you serious?" Asks the princess.

"Apparently she was there." Amor adds.

"And I'd rather not talk about it." Mrs. Kalimba replies, finally speaking out for the first time over the issue.

Meanwhile, the young princess jumps up her pace to join with the zebracorn. "So is it really true that a foal was the one responsible for the chaos?"

"A filly..." She deadpans. "With mismatched legs."

"What was she like?" Amor questions her.

"Infinitely juvenile." The mare pauses before sparking up her magic and shoving all of us behind a nearby tree. "Stay hidden!" She whispers.

We peer our heads up a bit past the trunk, seeing a pair of centuries walk out from further in the forest. They seem to have a crystal-illuminated torch with them, pointing a beam of light in varying directions. Amor sighs over the sighting. "Great, I didn't anticipate them to actually chase us down to here. It's almost like they were expecting us to come this way."

"Can't blame the centuries for doing their job, but they've been a little more thorough these past few days." Hestia murmurs. "I wouldn't be surprised if they sent in more in the fog."

"Was their an airship that passed above us? I didn't hear one." I ask to the zebracorn.

"Neither did I." She replies.

"If there's no sound of an airship, then that means they're on recon." Amor points out. "They could've been out here for days on end."

Mrs. Kalimba hums with a bit of delight. "That's interesting. Spike, do you mind if I borrow you for a bit?"

Hestia whispers under her breath. "Oh, so that's your name. I was calling you Spork the entire time."

I roll my eyes over the mislabel and facepalm over what could be yet another instance of me getting into a compromising situation. "Why do I feel the sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be bait?"

The striped unicorn then replies. "Because you are."

At this point, I don't even know why I bother to resist. It's not like the collar that's still on my neck is guiding me to do more and I'm completely helpless. If anything, I'm just upset that I seem to be the main attraction in all of this. Like if anyone should be the bait, it should be Mrs. Kalimba. I'm not some holy egg carrier bearing the offspring of their ill-proclaimed savior.

But apparently none of that matters in this case.

As I get in closer to the pair of scouts, they make their thoughts known on the matter, all as I sneak towards them. They don't even seem to be that attentive, they're just complaining about why they have to do it. "Ugh, stupid recon assignments."

"They drop us off in the cold, then they wanna preach to us about how sacrifice is so valuable in this country when our own higher-ups sacrifice us."

"All while they get to sit comfy in their warm offices and we get sent out here to freeze to death. Oh what joy it is to herald the banner of our proud nation when over half of our families live underground. Bullshit."

"All hall the glorious empire of Ponyland, all hail! More like all hail my frozen ass." The second scout grumbles. "I wonder why the princess is so stuck on getting that one dragon anyways. We got other shit to do."

"Probably looking to finally get on the board with her brother. Though for a first hunt, she's being pretty lousy about it." I don't think she's being lousy about it, there's an obvious reason she doesn't want me dead.

"Eh, she's got the attitude of a guildie, definitely the mouth of one, not to mention the sex drive of a nymphomaniac. She'd fit right in with the guild, she'd be much so better with them than she already is as a princess."

While I'm already not in any mood to intervene, part of the reason why I'm walking into this potential death trap is because I have interference to run. So, I finally get on my job. I walk even closer that not even the fog can deny what I look like to them. They seem to be armed with spears as opposed to the firearms I thought they'd be toting. "Hey..." The second scout points towards me.

"Yeah, I see him." The first replies. "Purple scales... green fins... perfect match of the description."

At last, they go about doing their jobs and confront me. I grind my teeth at the thought of facing these guys with any kind of smile on my face, but I fake my way through. "Oh, can I help you guys?"

"You sure can, dragon." The first scout answers tilting his spear towards me. "We're looking to collect a bounty, by order of the princess."

"And you seem to match her description pretty damn well." The second adds as he tries to walk behind me.

I raise my claws, trying to feign a peaceful demeanor. "Whoa, easy fellas! I'm just passing through, no harm intended."

"You're not the one who gets to make demands here! So shut it!" The first says quite forcefully.

But as they get closer with their weapons, I snap my hands down to the shafts of their spears, getting a tight grip of their weapons before they can think to point them at any compromising spots. Before they think to make counter maneuvers, one of them fall to the ground having suffered a brutal blow to the side of the head. The other looks over to see his compatriot slumping before a painful impact falls upon his neck, knocking all the fight out of him. Mrs. Kalimba drops her invisibility spell and finishes her work by delivering a stomp to the second stallion's head. "Well... that was easier than your plan."

"You know, we could've had a better plan than that." I argue in response.

"Are you still complaining? You are alive, nothing to be upset about." She answers as she flags the other two to come over.

"Can we please come up with another approach next time?" I request out of some frustration.

The striped unicorn promptly responds. "I will let you do that if you can tell me what all that princess did to you when she took you in."

Both siblings grimace with disgust, especially Hestia. "Please let's not. I'd rather not hear about Zenobia's kinkfest."

In a bid to appease Mrs. Kalimba, I offered to tell her what happened in spite of the siblings' pleas. "She did keep me busy─"

Amor's magic quickly wraps around my lips to silence me. "Representative, you may continue to conjure whatever plans we'll need."

The zebracorn calls out with a humble boast. "Three to one, majority rules."

"Seriously? I go from getting leg-locked─"

"SHUT IT!" Hestia screams as she takes a spear from the unconscious century. "I don't want to hear ANYTHING about Zenobia's filth! Ehhk!"

"Nor do we need to be reminded of it." Amor says as he starts to strip the pair of their clothes. "Two uniforms, three ponies and a dragon. Guess we're short on one for now. We'll need them for when we get up to the Purple Mountains. The winds there are chilly enough from running off of the frozen waters. The land within the valley itself is laden with snow, and the winds are ever blowing. It's a cold combo that cuts deep to the bone. So who's wearing what?"

I make a comment about the situation, at least seeing some benefit to my current build. "Well, it's a good thing I'm cold-blooded with the ability to breathe fire."

"At least you can protect yourself. But what of your Equestrian compatriot?" Amor asks. "I think she and Hestia should be the ones to wear the uniforms."

"I've dealt with cold before, it's nothing I can't manage." She says as she denies the offer. "We've no time to squander, you're already holding it, so make it quick."

Hestia needs no further encouragement. She's already started to put on the outfit as the debate occurred. She happily dons a blouse with sleeves, followed by a pair of matching leggings. She twirls herself around with a strut. "Not quite fashionable, but it still works for what it is. How do I look?"

"Adventurous." Her brother replies. "Now, let's come up with a plan on what to do with these guys."

Later at Canterlot Castle...

While the morning has broken, so begins a busy cycle of daily rotations. While most is mundane in the eyes of the kingdom, an extranational power vacuum starts to stir in the mind of the princess in charge. With each passing moment, heavier decisions are soon needed, even requiring a replacement to the one who will serve the international seat, but also the more important role of being her second in command.

As the options swirl in her mind, her captain enters the throne room with yet another update. "Your highness."

"Solemn Oath, any changes in correspondence?"

"None, your majesty. Any hails to the orb have gone unanswered. I'm beginning to fear the worst has happened."

Already at her wits end, she goes through her phone yet again to cycle through the recent contacts. Her hoof stops on Celestia's name. "I really don't want to make a call to him of all creatures. Maybe I'll just stick with getting chewed out by Celestia instead."

It doesn't take but a few rings on the other end for the pair to connect to one another. Her former mentor answers the call with hardly any excitement. "Hello, Twilight."

For the current princess, the not-so-warm reception is a source of awkwardness. "Hi there... just, you know, checking in."

The former ruler shows the exhaustion in her voice. "You know, if it wasn't for the fact that my husband had the strange, but also genius idea of putting a communications relay on our ship, we wouldn't be talking right now. Though I wonder why he would ever need to install one in the first place."

"I keep telling you, it's for emergencies!" The man answers from the background.

"Emergencies... like whenever the yacht suddenly goes missing and I call you, you can pick up quickly and act like you're still out on our end of the water?"

"Of course."

"Then why would the relay need to work at such a lengthy range? I don't recall you needing something like this, nor do I remember us having paid for it."

"Babe, I told you why I had it installed. If in case something were to happen, we'd need to get in contact with anyone who's available."

Celestia leans into the receiver and speaks with her student. "You know that's bullshit, right?"

Nondis continues to stand on his reasoning. "I'll let you lean on that, believe what you want."

The mare shakes her head and readdresses her former student. "Either way, we just pulled out of port at Cloud Castle. We're a day out from Hayfling now. That's your update."

"That's good." Twilight responds. "Do you think you guys can make landfall if anything happens?"

"Gimmie that." The question appears to have stirred some frustration with the man steering the ship. He quickly grabs the phone from his wife and takes over the conversation. "Hey Twilight, I'm going to reason with you. The fact that you sent Spike out here is really fucked up, you already know it, and I do want you to understand that there may be a very small chance that he's not stretched out on top of someone fireplace, maybe serving as someone's hood ornament."

"But Kalimba's with him. He should be fine." Argues the purple princess.

The man still stands firm on probability and logic. "Now I'm not saying anything against Kali, not in the slightest. But your dependency on her is a little too damn much for the circumstances to be what they are. Have you ever considered the remote possibility that she could be in an overwhelming situation? Have you ever looked at the fact that getting pursued by a tiny mercenary guild isn't as much of a grandstand as, oh I don't know, an entire nation's army?"

"I sent an escort party!" Twilight counters.

"Uh-huh." The man is clearly unconvinced. "And when was the last time you contacted this escort party?"

"Like five days ago."

He hums a trite reply. "Anything since?"

The princess despairs over the only answer she can honestly give. "...No."

Nondis whistles as he drums his fingers on the counter. "Okay, so that's how many MIA's that make?"

Again, she's forced to give a truthful answer. "Forty-two, including Spike and Kalimba."

The man gives a sarcastic response. "Ah yeah, that sounds real good for the papers. I can imagine the loved ones and families of those missing really appreciate that update."

The princess grows vexed with every passing comment her ex-fiancé makes. "Why am I even talking to you?"

"Because I'm the only one who's out this far, getting hounded by my wife, sailing to a foreign land for a dragon whom you may have condemned to either a death sentence, or a role of involuntary servitude. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't dismiss the idea that you are the sole party responsible for this."

The mare facehoofs. "Can you at least not be so loud about it?"

"The better question is 'can you not fuck up for once'?" He says with a sarcastically sweet tone.

Twilight, already at her ends with the man on the other end, opts to draw the phone call to a conclusion. "Just contact me whenever you get Spike... or find what's left of him."

He however doesn't immediately hang up. "You know, if he's in too many pieces, I'm just gonna call you and give you the bad news. I'm not gonna bring anything back. I'm a firm believer in letting resting parties go where they lay." His tone drops to a grave mumble. "And you already know the reason why."

The call ends with it's signifying three beeps. The high princess plants her hooves over her eyes as she seems lost on ideas of how to make ends meet. She's already had to face the possibility of her number-one assistant being relegated to an early retirement, much less in a manner that's too graphic for her to imagine. The comparisons that flash in her mind is that of an image she recalls from the mountains of evidence from the necroterrorist incident. One picture stands out from all others, the vision of her ex and another human laying on operating tables with their respective heads placed to opposing sides. For a moment, one head flashes to show Spike situated in a similar circumstance.

Solemn sees the distress her ruler is in and taps her shoulder. "Your majesty?"

Twilight emerges from her hooves, her eyes reddening and wetting with tears. Her voice shakes unsteadily as she gives her orders. "Start the paperwork to find Spike's replacement. Meaning that I hold hope for this doesn't mean that I can't be ready for when the worst is to come."

The captain also takes into consideration the rumored partners the Friendship Ambassador has hidden from her. "And the ones in Ponyville, the ones who may also be his intended?"

"Have them summoned to me at once."

Meanwhile in the Purple Mountain Valley...

Oh beautiful, for halcyon skies, for frostbite's sweet refrain,
For purple mountains' majesty above this frozen plain.
Oh Ponyland, oh Ponyland, how God's forsaken me.
And dress thine hood with all but good, from sea to frosted sea.

This place sucks.

I know it's cruel to judge a book by it's cover, especially being the fact that this is my first time here, and I'm sure the daytime doings would be much better in the coming months. But given the fact that my limbs feel like I'm swimming in molasses, my joints are responding with the vigor of a senior citizen in hospice care, and my nose has developed icicles that can be mistaken as fangs, I'd like to say that's a fair assessment.

Seriously, I thought the Crystal Empire was cold, and that's an enchanted tundra we're talking about. I'd take that, and let Flurry Heart shatter the Crystal Heart all over again, and then proceed to live out in the winter wasteland that surrounds the city. Doing that would feel like a summer's day compared to this shit.

Oh, and fun fact, we just got here.

"This is some wind, ain't it?" I shudder with every gust chilling me to my core. Every breath I take, I make it a mandatory thing to hold my claws around my mouth, just so the fire can keep my hands warm.

"I thought you dragons could handle the cold." Hestia seems to have some misconceptions about dragons and our being able to withstand extreme climates. That stroke of fortune only goes one way for us, and that's anything above freezing.

"I never said we could. I just said we could breathe fire. And besides, this cold really stiffens the joints." I say as I try to not look every part of a retirement home attendee.

And you'd think that's probably something Mrs. Kalimba is struggling with more than I am. "Are you okay, ma'am?" Amor asks the mare.

Not even close. "I don't need much when I have a warmth spell at my disposal. Keeps me out of that restrictive wear you're wearing." Her body seems just as free as it's always been. If anything, the fact that she's braving this shit while wearing nothing is an absolute statement of either just how hardened she is, or how close she is to hypothermia altering her better judgement. Considering how level-headed her reasoning still is, I can safely bet on the former.

"Aw c'mon, it's not that restricting." Hestia tries to argue before turning to her brother. "Is it?"

His entire outfit is buttoned down to the T. He's not even sparing a single ounce of room for the cold to get into that outfit. "My neck is a bit stiff in this. And maybe it's a good idea that we don't have our combat specialist with a stiff neck."

And in spite of this night being far colder than what we anticipated, the zebracorn is all about keeping our bodies on the move. After all, making sure the blood stays flowing for them would be ideal, lest they remain here and freeze within the hour. "We are wasting time. Let's go."

As another gust comes in, I take notice of the air's quality, and how the gusts sometimes causes snowdrift. "This air is humid."

"Well it is bringing it in from the waters up north." Hestia responds.

"Any blizzards come over this way?" Mrs. Kalimba inquires.

"Lots. Just not at this time of year. Call it the fortune of timing."

And yet this is supposed to not be a blizzard, I seriously cannot wait to get from out of this place. "Joy."

As we make our way through the valley, we eventually come across a settlement made in a cave overlooking the valley floor. And since we wouldn't be able to get past without being noticed, that already limits our options to more drastic measures. In other words, we can't use invisibility spells because the snow will still track where we're headed. We can't just assault them up front because they have the high ground, and their weapons would pick us off before we can even get in arm's reach. Furthermore, we can't just skate on by without making noise. So our only option, much to our leader's chagrin, is the dimensional distortion spell she hates casting.

By now, I already know what the protocol's going to be. "Great. So am I the distraction again?"

She says as she starts her casting process, namely to conceal not just her own presence, but all three of her, Hestia, and Amor. "You're catching on."

"How soon do you think we can knock them out this time?" I ask.

"Fairly quickly. There's just three of them, we'll just take them by surprise."

As the trio disappears before my very eyes, I breathe once more into my claws, hoping that the warmth from my extremities can somewhat spread throughout my body. "Please don't take as long as last time."

This time, instead of trudging into action, I put these heated claws to work by knocking the ice from off my wings. Once that's out of the way, I take to the air and fly over to the cave, proudly making myself visible for all of the scouts to see. "Dragon!" One calls out, prompting the others to immediately reach for their weapons. And this time, they don't reach for spears, they go straight for their firearms. This was probably a bad idea.

"Hey, wait!" One hollers out to the others. "Remember the description we were given?"

Before the other two can answer, they get pulled into the distortion field, disappearing before the squad leader's very eyes. He calls out to the others. "Hey─" But he's quickly drawn in himself before he can complete a single sentence."

The field breaks and reveals the three guards already knocked out cold. It also reveals Amor and Hestia, who seems to be nursing the pain-riddled zebracorn. I hear a shuffle in the snow, prompting me to turn around. It seems that there's a pegasus century looking to fly out and relay what he just saw. I try to fly after him as I call out to the others. "One's getting away!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Mrs. Kalimba simply teleports the stallion over to us, all for Hestia to knock out with a rock to the back of his head. "One 'get-away' to order." She says proudly, tossing the sizeable weapon aside. "You're a pretty fast thinker, madam representative. I bet you're something else in a real fight."

"Yeah, she's something else. It's the main reason Fencer was so head over hooves for her." Amor adds.

"And now our father's obsessed with her capture." Hestia reminds us as she starts to forage the unconscious stallions for anything useful.

The zebracorn mumbles as she inspects a musket. "Well, he can keep obsessing." She stops her observation and quickly casts the weapon aside, seeming that it's not to her satisfaction. "It's not like any of it matters at this point."

As I look out of the cave, I can see the stars spanning the entirety of the sky. It's a clear night, completely different from the weather of Old Grundleland. If it weren't for how unforgiving the temperatures are, I'd probably stay out and enjoy the night a little more.

But in doing so, it reveals to me a troubling issue.

Since the night is so clear, it allows for us to easily see past the valley, and get a good vantage point towards our supposed location in the far distance. It seems to be a humble dwelling, a place with very little other than a few lights dotting the snowy town. However, the smoking airships hovering a little above it are a prime indicator of where that pegasus was going to dart off to. If it weren't for Mrs. Kalimba's quick thinking, this plan might have gone south. "So... you guys want the good news, the bad, or the ugly?"

All three of them look at me as I stare off to the town in the distance. "What's ugly?" Hestia asks with concern.

"Well... see for yourself." I point towards the town.

Amor grits his teeth at the sight. "That's three airships... We're looking at possibly over a hundred centuries in wait." He looks to me and informs me of the location. "That's the sleepy port town of Hayfling... our rumored destination for freedom."

"And those airships are in a holding formation. They're not gonna move." Hestia illustrates. "We go there, we're trapped."

"So they got us beat." I sigh in defeat. "We really came all this way for nothing."

The zebracorn takes notice of the airships hovering above. I'm sure she's keeping a cool composure for our sake, but even that seems to stir a tiresome twitch in her eye. She turns around and goes back to the squad of concussed centuries. She starts to undress one of them. "Madam representative?" A curious Hestia watches.

"So it seems I will be needing a uniform after all. My not wearing one would end up being a detriment more than a help. I don't like having to wear something restrictive when I need to be available to maneuver any way I can. But to leave this to chance would be an error of grave proportions."

The young prince smirks at the cunning mare. "You must be cooking up a plan again."

"And let me guess... I'm the bait, for the umpteenth time?" I mumble with bemusement.

"Not entirely." She answers as she throws on a uniform, some of the features already appearing constraining for her relatively tall body type.

"Oh great." I say with a sigh of relief.

She promptly corrects me. "You won't be the bait, you'll instead be our prisoner."

"Oh... great." I roll my eyes at the idea, exhausted of being thrown in cages and put in chains for appearances sake.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Amor inquires.

Hestia quickly trots by the zebracorn, emphasizing the likeness in uniform. "I mean we already dress the part. It'll be hard not to go along with it. With everything that's going on, we got time to put something together for dawn. We'll just camp out here tonight, go over some plans, maybe some backup plans in case things go wrong, and then we'll work it out from there."

"In either way..." Mrs. Kalimba also states. "My head is still fuzzy from our earlier gambit. If I'm going to do this again, I will need the rest. So let's call it an evening, you get warm, and we'll move when the weather is a little more hospitable."

I bury my head into my arms, already succumbing to defeat once more. "I swear you three have like some fetish for keeping me as your prisoner."

Amor chuckles as he searches the unconscious centuries for any rations. "Hey, at least I didn't suggest it this time."

Author's Note

And one more for the road. I hope that all of you have enjoyed your Christmas holidays, be it with your families, your friends, loved ones, or even just with yourselves. I know this year was a bit hard on the finances for many, but I wanted to at least offer some bit of cheer from me to you guys as my way of saying thanks for toughing it out with me over this past year.

I'll look forward to see you all in the new year, so here's to another one full of writings and fun interactions in the comments.

Love you all, Happy Holidays.