Dreamwalker's Tale: First (and Last?) Adventure

The next time I woke up, it was dark outside. Judging by the jungle’s sounds, it was the dead of night. I still felt awfully tired and exhausted, despite the hours I must have slept at this point. I could not immediately place what had awoken me. There were no tears in the fabric of the tent, or other indications of a large monster or predator forcing its way inside. Neither was anything wrong on the ground floor, as I craned my neck and looked around. Celestia was still at my side and slept like a log. Her soft, rhythmic breathing lured me. And were it not for me being such a scaredy-cat, I would have loved to do nothing more than follow this allure.

But something had woken me up.

I listened intently, my eyes closed. My ears swiveled this way and that way. Nothing… until.

A relieved sigh. Very, very quiet. Almost inaudible. From upstairs.

Now, as much as I was a scaredy-cat, I was also a trained member of the night guard. I saw no reason to summon my armor just yet as the added weight would probably lead to me being discovered due to noise. But I kept my options ready while I silently slipped out of bed and made my way up the winding stairs.

Only seconds too late did I realize that I had somehow been spotted or heard anyway. Whoever the intruder was, was already escaping. I saw a ponylike shadow jump from the balcony. “Oh heck no you won’t!” I cursed and ran down the stairs. “Sunny, thief!” I half-yelled to wake her up while I ran towards the exit and already pulled at the zipper.

Whoever this was – Daring Do. Doctor Caballeron. The real one this time. Maybe Rainbow Dash. Or Luna. I did not care. I would not let them get away.

The zipper yielded just in time for me to barrel through the exit. With the light of both moon and stars overhead, I could navigate at least the hill a lot easier. And I saw the intruder flee. Silently and quickly, without any noise whatsoever. He or she was gliding, to further reduce noise detection. And maybe even to make it harder for me to spot them. Violently flapping wings would have drawn any looks more than something peacefully sailing away, after all.

But I had managed to see the thief.

I was honestly not even sure if it was a thief. Had they actually stolen anything? I had heard them upstairs and with the balcony being open, that could have been some sort of invitation for any halfway decently skilled flier. I had not had enough time to look around or notice something missing. I had certainly not seen this figure grab anything on their way out. But this intruder was fleeing and that was highly suspicious!

I was about to find out what was going on.

My horn sparked to life with fervor and a trail of magic snaked its way up to the escapee. They were thankfully still gliding away and with a wing held this still, it was a lot easier to focus on that, grab it mid-flight and give it a good yank. I heard a gasp of surprise and then a yell of both pain and panic as the flier quickly tumbled to the ground. I saw the figure land into a roll with impressive agility and I muttered a curse under my breath as I realized that this meant the chase was anything but over. The figure quickly reoriented itself and vanished into the jungle.

I was not thinking straight. Maybe my brain was still addled from sleep, maybe my indignation did not allow for me to grasp a reasonable line of thought. Maybe this reminded me of another time where I was trying to run down an intruder that had—

I was not willing to go down that path.

Whatever the reason may be, I simply refused to give up. I did not slow down. Quite the contrary. I ran down the hill and picked up more speed. I barreled straight into the jungle and despite noticing how everything around me was even darker now, I did not slow down.

I could not see my escapee anymore. I heard rustling left, right and center and tried to figure out if it was something large enough to match the fleeing figure according to the noise’s volume. But in truth, I already knew that I had lost them. More than once did I stumble on some stupid vine or a protruding root, only to land sprawled on the floor in a heap of limbs. But I was back up within seconds and ran again.

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I realized that I was utterly lost. Backtracking to camp would be a very unenjoyable task. It would probably take an hour or so. More if I kept running deeper into this Celestia-forsaken jungle.

I was just about to finally see reason and burst free from the chains of this madness when I noticed the distinct smell of burnt wood. I veered hard to the left and followed my nose for a brief while and soon arrived at the edge of a clearing.

I saw the remnants of a campfire before I really noticed the one responsible for it. The embers were still glowing. It had recently been doused and extinguished with dirt. And right beside it stood a figure I once again only recognized from the descriptions in A. K. Yearlings Daring Do-novels. Ahuizotl. One of Daring Do’s recurring adversaries. A strange mixture of dog and monkey. Powerful hindlegs with paws led into a muscular barrel, the underside of which was colored in a significantly brighter shade of blue than the rest. His tail ended in a surprisingly agile monkey hand, the same way his more furred forelimbs did. A long snout with pointed long ears, the teeth of a carnivore and the annoyed face of someone caught red-hoofed. Or red-handed, in his case. He wore some kind of regalia around his neck, fashioned from gold and with silver inlays, and a couple of similarly crafted bracelets around his legs. I could not imagine this being overly helpful when sneaking around. Then again, he most certainly was not my vanished escapee.

He just so happened to camp near our camp, right in the direction the figure had fled to. What a curious coincidence.

I did not hesitate at all this time. Without closing my eyes, I focused my thoughts, reached for the arcane line connected to me and gave it a good, solid yank. And my night guard armor manifested onto me. The very moment it did, the enchantments started working and even though there was very little light breaking through the canopy of the jungle, it was enough for me to see a lot better than I had before.

“Ahuizotl,” I stated plainly, just to make clear that I kind of, sort of, maybe knew who and what he was.

He looked surprised. “Ah! Finally someone who has the manners to pronounce my name correctly!” he replied with a toothy grin that was probably not meant as threatening as I perceived it.

I pawed the ground just to make clear that, weapon or no, I was ready to stand my ground. He was intimidatingly large. Double my size, if not more. But I was confident in the nature of my training and we had had lessons about how to deal with foes with superior physique. Those had mostly been aimed at griffons, without anypony ever stating as much, but I was sure the lessons were applicable here.

He seemed less impressed with my demonstration though. “Believe me, pony, you don’t want that.” And just to make a point himself, he fully turned towards me and squared his broad shoulders, ready to pounce if necessary.

“I want to know where your associate is,” I replied tersely and actually scanned the surroundings as best as I could without him leaving my sight entirely. And much to my surprise, I noticed a little bush behind him wiggle just the tiniest bit. It could have been a regular little critter. Heck, it could have been a cat for all I knew. Ahuizotl was always described as having powers to command the predators of the jungle, which mostly meant cats of varying sizes. But the timing of that wiggle was perfectly suspicious with the timing of my inquiry.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” he smugly shot back. I was about to answer him as I already grew sick and tired of this game of cat and mouse when a light started to grow brighter and brighter above the jungle canopy. “What in the world is that…?” I heard him murmur as he looked up and actually neglected his wariness of me.

I was not about to strike, of course. I was quite riled up and maybe even eager for a fight, as loathe as I was to admit that even to myself. But I was not an aggressor. Striking in defense only was one of the most important lessons Wither Rose had taught us. And despite having finished training more than a year ago, I still shuddered at the mere idea of disregarding a lesson from my former drill sergeant, almost as if she would rise from the depths of Tartarus right beside me to yell some sense and respect down my ear.

I instead allowed myself a smug grin. “That would be the cavalry arriving,” I replied unbidden. It was admittedly a lot easier to be a loudmouth when I knew that one of the strongest beings of this world was backing me up. And goodness gracious me was I relieved that she had actually somehow managed to find me.

Celestia broke through the canopy like a meteor hitting the earth. The comparison was further cemented by the force of impact her landing had as it sent a little dust cloud up and smaller debris flew about. No crater, though. That would have made the show perfect.

She rose to her full height, her glowing horn illuminated the entire clearing and she quickly took note of what she saw. She scanned me for injuries and seemed relieved to find nothing. Well, maybe the odd scrape or bruise. I had tumbled through the jungle a lot. But she quickly turned her attention to the other being in the clearing.

“Princess Celestia,” he grumbled in a greeting presenting her with just as much respect as he felt was the minimum requirement.

“Guardian Ahuizotl,” she replied much to my surprise. And with a lot more and even more importantly genuine respect.

It was not that she knew his name which baffled me. She was an avid reader of literature in general, so obviously she would have read Daring Do as well. But her tone was different. It spoke of recognition, of strained diplomacy on shaky grounds and of mild frustration to be part of this situation. “Wait… you two know each other?” I asked bemused.

“No,” both answered in unison. And a little too quickly. Judging by the look they shared, they both realized and Ahuizotl quickly continued. “Well, I like to think of it as ‘We know of each other’,” he corrected. I noticed how he performed some strange signs with that hand on his tail. He clearly hoped we would be too distracted to notice it. And so I tried to give no indication that I had noticed. “Your Princess occasionally sends her lackey to my sacred charges to plunder and steal what doesn’t belong in her precious ‘museums’.” He almost spit those words like bile. “However, I do know which powers not to mess with.” And just like that, he rose even higher, giving up on his pounce-ready, defensive stance. With a hand, he brushed through his rough, short mane and tried a diplomatic smile. Which still managed to seem threatening.

Celestia on the other hoof sighed quietly. “They are not my lackeys, Guardian. As I have told you before.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” he shot back with traces of agitation. “The same ponies just happen to come to my lands over and over again and they just happen to be well-equipped and they just happen to take what is rightfully under my care to your lands.”

Celestia sighed deeply. “Guardian, I am honestly too tired to deal with this right now and I have no inclination to discuss this further. Maybe we can postpone this for some other time?”

Ahuizotl snorted dismissively. “Oh, sure, be my guest. I wasn’t the one barging into your camp, after all! You may retire for the night, Your Highness.”

Another hand sign towards the bush. And Celestia turned her attention to me. “Can we please retreat now, love?”

Her eyes were pleading with me. And I was not a cruel pony. I hoped.

I had a hard time imagining anything I wished for more than to retire with her again right now. But I also knew myself well enough to know that I would not find easy rest without having an answer to one single question: What was the intruder doing in our tent to begin with? And so I raised my voice towards that bush. “You there. The one hiding over in the bushes. Come out. Now.”

It was curious to watch what happened next. Celestia apparently had not noticed anyone hiding anywhere. But then again, she did look tired. Ahuizotl on the other hoof looked quite alarmed and even repositioned himself with a few steps between said bush and me. As if that had not been suspicious enough, he sent such an urgent, imploring look in Celestia’s direction that I had to wonder what exactly was going on. Again.

And I grew agitated because of it. “Out. Now. Or I’ll set the stupid bush on fire!”

Whatever Ahuizotl and Celestia were talking about with their hasty exchange of glances, she suddenly seemed to be on his side. “Love, please. It is the middle of the night, I am tired and I am sure that we can have this discussion in the morning, yes?” I remained stubborn, and as such did not answer. “You cannot even do what you threaten,” she remarked. Loud enough to be heard in the clearing.

I tried to give this thought a wide berth, but I could not help to think it anyway: Was she deliberately sabotaging me? My head snapped around to face her and I growled a simple “Try me.”

She hesitated. She clearly considered her options and she had plenty of those, I was sure of it. She could teleport us back to camp against my will. Just like that. She was powerful enough. But she did not seem willing to deal with the inevitable fallout of such an action.

I was being unreasonable. I knew that to a certain extent. I was being childish and stubborn and I demanded answers and I demanded them now while I stood in the dark in the middle of the jungle, at night and faced a probably superior foe and something unknown over there in the bushes. But I just could not help myself. This felt like there would be no ‘conversation in the morning’. This was the one and only chance to learn what was going on. Maybe my gut feeling was wrong. But I had trusted it more and more — more than my fragmented memories from my flashes. And it had served me well so far.

To my surprise — and to both Ahuizotl and Celestia's apparent dismay — a surprisingly soft, male voice spoke up. “Please don’t set the bush on fire.” And out stepped…

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait.” I looked at the escapee. Then at Ahuizotl. And at Celestia. And back at the escapee. “… what?”

A bat pony. On top of that, a stallion that looked maybe half my age? The former would have confused me a lot less had he worn night guard armor. Like I was. But he did not.

The existence of bat ponies had been speculated about. Half-crazed conspiracy theorists had gathered supposed sightings and formed urban myths about them. They had become the center of some new age horror stories. But Luna had always been firm on what the official statement of the palace considering these myths was: They were not real. Just an illusion caused by the enchantments of the armor. Merely a stylistic choice.

Maybe this colt was wearing something? Some other talisman or ring or something, anything, that could explain this? It was not impossible. I did not see anything, he did not seem to wear anything, but maybe the talisman rendered itself invisible?

Maybe?

Celestia rubbed the bridge of her muzzle. Ahuizotl wiped a hand down his snout. And the awkward silence stretched on and on, well into the uncomfortable regions.

“… would somepony care to explain?” I asked as I finally found my voice again. “Please? Anyone?”

The colt himself carefully folded and unfolded his batlike wings as a sign of nervousness and seemed to look to Ahuizotl of all creatures for guidance. And Ahuizotl himself did not look like he was keen on saying anything. So my attention wandered to my right side and I looked up to see a conflicted face. “Sunny?”

Once she heard that name, it broke her out of her internal argument. I had left her little choice. She sighed. “You just had to insist,” she murmured. And I was about to apologize. Genuinely, honestly apologize. I had not wished to maneuver her into some sort of crisis or whatever was going on here. But before I could, she turned to me and started to explain. “There is a fourth tribe. Or rather… there was.”

“… wait, what? Really?” The madponies were right all along...?

She nodded. “They had lived in these lands long before our three tribes arrived here. I believe they were native to these jungles but settled outside of it as well. When we came here, they took notice. But with our tribes being diurnal and them being nocturnal, it took a while for ponies to notice them, to make contact. Despite their low numbers, their knowledge of these lands helped Equestria’s development massively, especially in the early years.”

I was dumbfounded. “Just… just what? How. How? How does nopony know?”

She sighed. “When I faced—… when Luna… fell… These days, most ponies believe that Nightmare Moon’s reign started and ended in a single night. And with the eclipse she brought about, that is technically true. Adding to that confusion is the fact that it both started and ended in our old castle. But there were… weeks in between.”

The colt stepped forward and drew attention from all of us. “Princess? If I may?” he asked with as much respect as I had ever seen coming from any supplicant visiting her during Day Court.

She smiled at him. “It seems only right for one of your kind to speak about this. Please.”

I still reeled from the discovery and therefore did little more than finally allow my knees to buckle. I sat down on my haunches, ignored the little twigs and stones poking my rear and shifted my attention fully to that young stallion. That I still wanted to call a colt because he seemed to gosh-darn young.

“According to the stories we carry from generation to generation,” he started and even went so far as to close his eyes to properly remember them, “we had never been many. Few ever saw the appeal of settling down, most stayed scavengers and nomads, wandering the jungle and the plains. When your kind arrived, we saw kin. Strange in their appearance and customs, strange in their traditions. But kin nonetheless. One of your princesses was more kin to us than any other. She took care of us in a way we had never experienced before. And we swore fealty to her. When she was consumed, some of us stayed by her side. We were a proud people, and no oath was easily given or easily broken. Others betrayed this pride. They argued that they had seen what a monster she had become. That she had fallen victim to a greater threat and needed to be stopped if we ever wished to return our rightful Night Mother. A third group formed. Those that realized our dire situation. Few in numbers and quarreling, drawn into a war that we could not hope to bear. They, too, broke their oaths… and fled in shame. Back to the dark caves and wild forests. Back into the jungle. We, their descendants, remember the stories. Our ancestors witnessed with horror as our brothers and sisters annihilated each other. And with…” He struggled to remember something. I was curious what it was and surprised to hear that it had been her name that was so unfamiliar and rarely used to him. “With Luna gone, we continued to hide. Many feared the scorn of our kin. Their retribution for us oath breakers.”

A thousand years of not-really-voluntary exile. The gravitas of the situation was mind-numbing. I felt my throat tighten as I tore my gaze off, and focused my attention on Celestia. She had listened. But she had also slipped her mask in place. A smooth and impenetrable cover for what I assumed was a mixture of nostalgia and pain. And maybe even guilt. She was quite familiar with guilt, after all. “Does Luna know?” I croaked with a whisper.

She nodded. “It took her a few years after her return to… to overcome her bad conscience. It took some prodding, too. But I eventually managed to get her to go look for them.”

“Things have changed much for few, and little for many,” the colt spoke up again. “Many of us celebrated our reunion with our Night Mother. But wounds this old, scars on both sides, take time to heal.”

“Why hasn’t—… why does nopony… know?” I hesitantly asked Celestia.

She sighed and her shoulders sagged a little. “We have been debating this for years now. Luna is hesitant to reveal them, fearing to both panic our citizens and lose an advantage. And I… I do not wish to force my wisdom upon her. I give her advice. I provide guidance. But this has always been a very personal matter for her and I refuse to take it away from her.”

I still was not sure what to make of all this. There was a fourth tribe. What the bucking Tartarus…?! And Luna had never said anything. Not once. But then again, Celestia had delivered a reasonable sounding explanation for that. It was very, very personal. We were lovers though. Lovers at minimum. She was closer with Twilight than with me — maybe she had told her? Would Twilight be able to keep it a secret from me?

The more I thought about it, the more I managed to get myself entangled in a mess of ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’. I was still tired. The one unmistakably true observation I could fully get behind right now. And thinking about just how tired I was felt strangely calming. It helped to refocus my mind a little. And return to something more tangible. I raised my gaze again and for just a moment regarded the co—stallion.

His color scheme was hard to make out, even with Celestia’s horn still illuminating the clearing. His coat was a dark blue, maybe? Or a dark gray? His leathery wings were black as night though. Almost invisible in the dark. A ruffled, short mane of a lighter color. And a cutie mark I could not make out in detail. His youth was not the only thing noticeable on a closer inspection. His entire demeanor was one of uncertainty and nervousness.

But at the end of the day, Fluttershy had chided me just a couple of hours ago. What had she said?

“I’m a Pegasus. I have weird wings instead of a horn. I look different than you. So?”

This young stallion had weird wings. But he was undoubtedly a pony nonetheless. And there was no reason to treat him any different.

I raised a hoof and rubbed my temple. “Say—“ I started, and quickly realized: I didn't even know his name. “Shoot. Applejack would have my hide for this,” I murmured. Not even speaking of Rarity. “I’ve been a tad impolite.” I slowly stood back up and walked over to him under three watchful gazes and offered a hoof once I was close enough. “My name’s Dreamwalker.”

There was a small, timid smile in response to such a mundane gesture. He raised his hoof and put it against mine. “Soft Step.”

I chuckled a little, which confused him. “I know a ‘Soft Step’. She’s a very sweet, bubbly mare. Part of Celestia’s guard, in fact.”

For some reason, he blushed furiously. “O-Oh.”

Which only made me chuckle a little harder. Laughing felt freeing. Refreshing. It took some of the surrealism out of the situation. Right before me stood not a relic of an ancient past or a harbinger of world changes, but just another pony. And it was mildly funny that he shared a name with a mare I knew. “Say, Soft Step. Why the heck did you sneak into our tent?” I was just about done. I just wanted my answer and then take my Celestia back home. Or back to camp, at least.

“W-Well…” And he looked to Ahuizotl again as he clearly wordlessly asked for permission.

Instead of granting such, the guardian himself groaned. I honestly had been impressed by his patience so far. But it seemed that it was slowly running out now. “This reunion is all very historic and heart-warming I’m sure, but did you not wish to retire? Princess, do you not have command over your subjects?”

Celestia answered with a tired sigh and a wry smile in my direction. And Ahuizotl groaned once more. So I addressed him instead. “So Soft Step works for you. Why? Aren’t you the male equivalent to a grumpy old cat lady?”

His growl grew a little more pronounced, more threatening. “Careful, little one. Let’s all stay civil here, shall we?” he warned before he mumbled something I didn't quite catch. “We are currently dealing with a nasty flu spreading across the jungle. I’m a little stretched for personnel. I asked for help and they were willing to lend it. Easy as that.”

“Do you require help?” Celestia immediately offered as her mask slipped and worry became evident in her voice. “I could send some doctors to—“

“We’re fine,” Ahuizotl insisted with a growl. “It’s not the first time and we don’t need your ‘doctors’! The timing is just a little unfortunate, is all.”

While Celestia acknowledged his decision with a nod, but I was less satisfied. “Doesn’t answer my question, though. Why did you send him to us?”

“If I answer, will you get lost already?” he snapped.

“If it’s a satisfactory answer? Sure. I’ll be happy to,” I snapped right back.

Another growl and he wiped his face again. “I had him search for clues as to why you are here. You waltz into my domain unbidden and raise up your camp like you own the place. Then you proceed to search out the trials with pinpoint accuracy and undergo them without guidance. You manage to succeed at all of them and I just don’t understand your intentions. Tell me, pony. What brought you here in the first place?” Ahuizotl furrowed his brow for a moment before a sudden idea sparked in his eyes and he looked up towards Celestia. “Surely you haven’t lost your precious Elements of Harmony, have you?”

Celestia and I shared a look and in a way, I was glad to see that she was just as confused as I was. “We have not,” she answered, which Ahuizotl acknowledged with a nod before he turned his attention back to me.

I was not going to tell him that this entire adventure was part of me fetching some special Hearth’s Warming gift. Others had been kind and restrained with their reactions so far. I could hope for no such mercy from this guy. “I found a book in the Royal Archives. It was written in Centaur, but one of the archivists helped me translate it. It spoke of these trials. “And with all trials passed, he shall emerge, clad in gold and silver blessed by sun and moon, and bestow his greatest treasure.” I thought that, after passing all trials, I would get access to these materials. Sun-blessed gold and moon-blessed silver.”

There was a strange pause. As if the entire world held its breath for a couple of seconds. And then Ahuizotl snapped. With a weird twitch in his face, his lips curled back up, revealing more and more sharp teeth. A deep rumble in his throat put me at alarm. But a few seconds later, I realized that he was chuckling. And soon after that, he broke out into open laughter. Uproarious, raucous laughter.

Close by, Soft Step tried to remain a little more self-restrained, but even he had difficulties maintaining his composure. I looked back to Celestia and wordlessly asked if I had somehow ignored something obvious, but she seemed a little bewildered as well.

“What’s so funny?” I finally dared to ask after a minute or so, when Ahuizotl seemed to slowly recover from his amusement.

“You want your precious metals?” he asked as he shed several of his bracelets and threw them in my direction without a care in the world. “Take those. I can make more. Soft Step will bring you back to your camp and he will take back those six keys you have. Gods have mercy, why do I have to deal with so many fools around these parts…”

Despite the insults he levied against me, I quickly snatched the discarded bracelets in my magic and levitated them in front of me. Assuming he was not lying, those were what I had been searching for. But why? Why did he seem to care so little?

“Wait a sec,” I stopped myself. “Six keys? We only have five.”

Ahuizotl growled again, but his frustration could not match his still remaining amusement. “You have six. I had Soft Step sneak the sixth into your saddlebag at night.”

Oh.

I glanced at the bat pony, and he confirmed the nonchalant statement of breaking and entering with a simple nod. I also took note of the fact that Ahuizotl had not explicitly said which night. And given that he had previously mentioned that these trials were apparently meant to be undertaken with some guidance, it made me curious just how long these two had been watching us progress. Maybe they truly had been here from the beginning.

But I had assured him that I would leave him be after he answered my question — and he had. Curiosity or no, I would not be this impolite and—

“What were these trials for, then? If I may ask,” Celestia spoke up.

I grinned from ear to ear and took no small amount of satisfaction seeing Ahuizotl's frustration grow again. And yet, he knew who not to challenge. I stifled my chuckle at all costs and slowly backtracked to Celestia’s side.

“Have you not figured it out already, Princess?” he growled. “They were designed to test potential bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”

“… what?” I felt my jaw go slack.

“Oh come now, don’t be surprised,” he snapped as his frustration slowly overtook his previous amusement. “You started with the Trial of Allegiance, proving your team spirit, coordination and loyalty to each other.”

“By abandoning my nation,” Celestia replied with a bitterness I had not expected. I scooched even closer to her and leaned a little into her form in a measly attempt to spend some comfort. In reply, she extended her wing down and held me close to her.

“By showing your willingness to stand together no matter what,” Ahuizotl spat his reply. “These trials were not exactly designed to be undertaken by leaders of nations! You ponies can be such numbskulls! With all due respect, Princess. These trials have been here long before even the bat ponies arrived and made these regions their home. And we guardians have done our part to keep these sites intact and usable as they were intended. According to these sites, there are only two bearers meant to be, each carrying three Elements, and they are meant to work in tandem with each other. Not friends, not lovers. But something with similar closeness, defined by trust and faith.”

“If these trials precede ponykind, then… who were they built by?” I cut in as I grew more confused again.

“Oh please,” Ahuizotl shot back, “you ponies are not the hub of the world. Do you really think the Elements of Harmony are something exclusively meant for ponies? They are the manifestation of the concept of balance. Evil grows all by its lonesome, but good must be nurtured and fostered. There will always only ever be one physical representation of the Elements, but when they are needed, they are called forth. This site surely is not the only one in this world. Other civilizations will have had need of such tools as well, long before your kind even existed. Your ‘tree’ and its limited sentience is just another form of these trials.”

“What about the other trials?” Celestia asked.

Ahuizotl shrugged. “What about them? You managed to disperse the hardships of these trials and the worries of your partner with your companionship and mirth. So you passed the one trial that has no site attached. You faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and showed willingness to share them with your partner so that no secrets shall divide you — and you passed the Trial of Truth. You both showed kindness to even those facets of each other that had fallen from grace, passing the Trial of Benevolence. You were willing to give what little you had, water, food, even time and health to help those less fortunate, without any hope for reward and even under the threat of betrayal. So you passed the Trial of Selflessness. And finally, you showed that your bond extends beyond just the two of you. That you can lead others and work together and that you are willing to consider an enemy as a potential friend. And with the Trial of Magic completed, you would have gained the right to claim the Elements of Harmony from me. Which I, as the trials guide, would have been meant to present to you. But I don’t have them. Because you ponies already claimed them. Do you finally understand my confusion now? Why it baffled me, still baffles me, that you came here? But it was all just a fluke! A weird twist of fate, a mere joke of the universe. We all had a good laugh and now you have what you came for and can return home. Get out of my jungle and out of my hair!”

I was struck speechless once more. Ahuizotl spoke like we should have known all these things, but I did not see how we could have known them. It might all have been very clear and obvious to him. But I had worked based on a translation from a book that was who-knows how old, written in a language that was not exactly native to these parts of the world and by hostile creatures no less. I doubted that the centaurs and cyclopses knew anything about the nature of these trials.

Celestia for her part seemed satisfied now. Or maybe she just did not wish to antagonize Ahuizotl any further. And I had already resorted to leave as I had given my word to do just that. I noticed my love looking down to me and I tried to smile and gave a nod to the unspoken question. “We apologize for disturbing your peace, guardian. I will hoof the keys over to Soft Step as soon as we reach our camp, and we will depart in the morning. Thank you for your civility.”

It was that voice. The one she used when merrily running rhetorical circles around ambassadors. The one she used for difficult situations. And it had the appropriate effect. Ahuizotl had talked himself into a bit of a fit, but her voice was clear and cut straight through the haze clouding his mind. It reminded him of his manners and probably how he had behaved earlier. Ahuizotl cleared his throat after a couple of deep breaths and replied with a curt nod. “Thank you as well, Princess. I hope we won’t see each other again anytime soon. And please relay my regards to Daring. I hope her ribs have healed by now. Maybe this time, she will think better of it.”

Celestia grimaced a little, but acknowledged it with a nod nonetheless. Soft Step walked over to us and as we turned and started to walk away he followed us with some distance. And he was absolutely silent, to my astonishment. Had I not known that he was there, I would have had no idea.

I slowly realized something else about the whole ordeal on our way back.

Ahuizotl had spoken like he had seen everything. Which he probably had, being the trial's guardian or something. He had mentioned Celestia cheering me up. Soft Step had snuck into our tent to smuggle that key into my saddlebag. And they had clearly observed our camp for most of the time.

I gulped. We had not exactly been very… quiet. Or restrained. Or subtle. I felt a massive heat wave tear through my body and rise into my cheeks and ears.

“Try not to think about it too much,” Celestia whispered with a sigh. I grimaced and felt caught. I looked up only to see her struggle with the same revelation, apparently.

We arrived at camp sooner than I had expected and I found six keys after some rummaging in my saddlebags. I hoofed them over to our silent shadow. “Sorry again for all the, uh… for all of this,” I apologized to Soft Step.

He just grinned awkwardly. “It’s fine. I had always been curious about the guardians' work, and this was a fine opportunity to learn. So, thank you, I guess. And safe travels!”

“You too.” It was a dumb reply, but I had nothing better in store. I hesitated saying anything more. My head was still a mess. I was talking to a real bat pony. I still had not properly processed what to do with that information. And after some awkward staring at each other, he chuckled a little, turned around and slowly made his way down the hill and back into the jungle. I watched him leave and vanish in the greenery. It was still the middle of the night and everything was painted in shades of black and gray.

I eventually closed the zipper and noticed Celestia coming back down from the upper story. I quickly made my way up, originally to wash my hooves and face, and noticed the balcony of the upper story being closed now. That made me smile for some reason.

Back down on the ground floor, I nestled close to her once more. With my chest against her back and holding her tightly, I could feel her heartbeat. Her breathing. Despite her eyes being closed and her lying still, I could tell that she was still awake.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen,” I probed and nuzzled into her mane.

“It is alright,” she quietly replied. “I do not think I honestly expected you not to ask.”

“Are you alright?” I probed a little further. “That was… there was a lot of stuff that I… that was a lot. I think I might call this a weird dream when I wake up tomorrow.”

She sighed. “I am fine.”

Alright, enough is enough. I pulled away from her, half sitting up in our bed and tried my best to roll her over onto her other side. Which was not very successful, unsurprisingly. After a moment or two, she relented and turned over. And with that done, I laid down again, muzzle to muzzle. I was not sure what exactly I was searching for in her eyes. I felt that something was troubling her and I wanted to know what. I wanted to help. “You don’t sound fine.”

“I had not expected this issue to come up,” she admitted.

Though her admission did not exactly tell me what precisely she was admitting to. “Which one? Ahuizotl being more civil than he’s being described as in the books? The prospect of multiple sites from which the Elements could be summoned, straight out of our grasp? Bat ponies being a thing that’s real after all, apparently?” I tried to put some humor into my voice, but it seemed to do little.

“Luna has a good point,” she replied and confirmed that it was somehow related to the latter. “As much as I wish for these wounds to finally heal, her decision has its own wisdom. Ponies might very well panic in the face of such revelations. And the more know of this secret, the higher the risk of somepony accidentally revealing it.”

Despite her serious tone, I could not help but quietly snort. “You’re worried I talk too much,” I plainly stated, quite amused.

She grimaced a little following my nonchalance but ultimately nodded. “I would never insinuate that you would do something like this out of malice, of course…”

“… but those who talk a lot might not realize that they talk about the wrong things to the wrong ponies,” I finished. Another nod from her. I could almost see the bad conscience. I was threatening a state secret, in a way. Just by knowing. And being me. But as far as I was concerned, that was manageable. “Phew, good. And here I thought we had some serious issues to discuss. But if that’s all that troubles you, then I am quite glad. Because for once, I can help you.”

Her knitted brows were the best sign of her very reasonable doubt. “You can?”

“Put a geas on me,” I asked with a wry smile.

And for just a fraction of a second, her expression was almost shocked. “I would rather not do that.”

I smiled and shrugged. “I know. But your gears are running at top speed already, right? And knowing you, you’ve been thinking about this ever since we started backtracking to camp. You haven’t come up with something so far, or you wouldn’t be brooding. Now I’m not going to put pressure on you. It’s not about ‘you need to have a solution now’. I’m merely offering. A geas would work. You just magically enforce that I cannot talk about this topic. I don’t intend to make your life harder. So I don’t intend to talk about this. But that’s not enough. Not for you. Not when Equestria’s safety might be at risk. I know that and I understand that. And it’s fine, love. I’m giving you permission. A geas would be the easiest solution. You may apply it whenever you want. Take as long as you wish to find a different solution. And if you don’t find any, geas it is. And it’s not like you can’t lift it whenever you want.”

While she was not exactly thrilled with the prospect of putting such enchantments on me, she at least acknowledged with a nod that she was willing to consider it. And a ghost of a smile was all the expression of gratitude I needed to feel validated in my choice to offer it.

“Does that help?” I whispered before and after kissing her nose. “With the brooding, I mean?”

She smiled warmly. “A little.” On a whim, I continued to pepper her muzzle with tiny pecks, eventually eliciting a quiet giggle. “Am I allowed to turn over again now? My back is cold.”

I grinned. “It’s not. You’re just trying to flee my expression of love.” I pouted a little and enjoyed her tender smile. And I enjoyed the following kiss even more. “That gets me every time,” I whispered. “Fine. You may flop over.”

“Thank you.” As soon as she was done, I scooched closer and held her once more. We both sighed in unison, enjoying the company. And with the warmth and the softness of the bed, with us lying down, our sleepiness eventually returned, slowly creeping up on us. I had placed a few more little kisses on her neck and I was pretty sure that she had fallen asleep before I did. But what did that ultimately matter?

Bat ponies, my increasingly drowsy mind was repeating. Maybe I should talk to Luna about them before Celestia actually put a geas on me?