A Whisper on the Wind

I managed to squeeze in a few more training sessions with the Gigas until I started to tire; the physical exertion had been a little bit too much for me to continue further with after a few sessions had sucked the energy and resolve from my body. Jet had joined the crowd after a while, and when I tapped out (to Luna's disappointment), he hoofed me a handwritten book with instructions on how to fly the biplanes.

It was more than just an instruction manual, however; inside, it contained detailed notes, illustrations, and diagrams on the theory of flight itself. In my hands was possibly the single biggest surviving record of pegasi putting to paper their understanding of the world around them… from a physics standpoint, anyway.

It even had notes expressing the beginnings of electrical theory; while those notes were primitive, the subsequent assertions made in their wake were scientifically sound, including observations on thermodynamics.

Not wishing to further push back my agenda for the day, I'd asked Jet to take us back to where the planes were located, who escorted all of us present over to them as they sat waiting to get underway once again.

After thoroughly poring over the instructions for how to fly the planes, the time came to put my initially collected knowledge to the test. Unfortunately for Ace, he'd have no choice but to accompany me; I didn't dare test how he'd fare if he were left on the ground, the amulet around my neck forcing that accommodation.

Taking the initiative, I removed all pieces of equipment from me and handed them to Stopper to look after before I hopped into the cockpit of the Tornado with the manual and started familiarising myself not only with what each control and gauge did but also where they all were in relation to one another as well, like the aviation equivalent of touch-typing.

The steering controls felt firm yet pliable to my grasp, and after adjusting the seat, I started to really feel comfortable at the controls. Ace then hopped in as I donned the included helmet, wired into a socket on my right, just off the seat. Looking back, I could see that Ace was immediately doing up his seatbelt, reminding me to do the same as I brought the clasp over by my left shoulder down to socket itself in the clasp to my bottom right.

A series of switches now started to be flipped by yours truly; the first activated the thaumaconductors to allow the flow of electricity, while the second switched on the avionics systems. As I flicked down the protective covers, everything started coming to life, including crackles in the helmet's included speakers.

“H-Hey, can you hear me?”

It took me no time at all to realize that it was Ace behind me that I could hear.

“Affirmative, can you hear me? Over,” I responded back; it then occurred to me that I'd have to teach everypony about proper radio communication etiquette, too.

“Yeah, I can hear you.”

The response certainly clarified to me that the intra-plane communication system was working, leaving me to test the external controls as I toggled what looked like ailerons, looking out of the cockpit to see Jet giving me a firm nod in confirmation of their working order. I then repeated the same process with the tail rudder, getting another nod of approval from Jet in turn.

“Control mechanisms seem fine. Initiating engine start-up sequence.”

Switch number three was then flipped, causing the forward propeller to spin as a sudden wind flooded my eyes. Over the noise of the engine, I gestured to Jet and Stopper to pass us their goggles, still hanging from their necks after their earlier journey.

With goggles now in hand, I placed them carefully over my face… before taking them off again to clean the glass lenses with my shirt before reapplying them and securing the strap. All of a sudden, the wind was no longer a concern as everypony else retreated to a safe distance away, leaving me with the task of taking off.

Ordinarily, I'd have loved for Jet to accompany me, but there was something to be said for learning something on one's own, despite how dangerous this really was.

Stowing the manual safely under my seat, I adjusted the ailerons and pushed the throttle to my right all the way, causing the propeller to really kick into life and the plane to start moving forward, albeit bumpily as the wheels trundled over the uneven soil and grass. Luckily for me, this actually wasn't too bad of a place to take off from, and soon we reached enough speed for me to pull the yoke back, causing the airframe to ascend into the air, the whole experience giving me the absolute willies.

For the first time since I got here, I genuinely understood what had been denied to Ace as the wind rippled through us while I leveled the plane off in the air and took in the sight of the ground below.

“Haha! Take that, you scuba-diving Spaniard!” I loudly proclaimed as the vista below offered a truly breathtaking spectacle. This aircraft had the potential to drastically improve our ability to explore the world… but who said that I couldn't have some fun with it first?

Taking the craft higher, the air started becoming noticeably thinner, taking that as my cue to descend and bring us about, eventually locating Las Pegasus and bringing our course parallel to the remains of the city.

“Ace, do you trust me?”

An initial silence before a meeker response than I expected came back.

“I did until you asked me that!”

“Well, get ready for something I call the ‘Super Duper Looper’! Hang on!”

Taking the craft on a low-flying path parallel to the ground, I pulled the yoke back and sent the plane on a sharp vertical trajectory further into the skies. Not wishing to go too high, I made the vessel fly upside down as soon as it was practical to do so, complete with “Bucking Tartarus!” and “Ohmygosh!” coming over my helmet’s speakers before I eventually curled the Tornado back down again to once more fly it parallel to the ground while the terrain flew past underneath us.

“Now, that's what I call being an aerial ace! How're you doing back there buddy?”

“Urgh… been better…” he responded, his voice fully informing me that he needed some winding down time once we landed, a situation I was fully intending to rectify as I spotted the outlying settlement away from the city. It took several flyovers, but I eventually located the original stretch of land we'd taken off from, complete with everypony still sitting there waiting for us.

“Right, I'm taking her down. Hold onto your drawers, and don't piss in ‘em,” I cautioned, more to myself than Ace, however.

Landings are always the trickiest part of aviation, and today was definitely going to be tricky; no asphalt, no braking flaps, and no instrument landing system. I was going to have to do this completely manually.

You can do this, Stuart!

Psyching myself up, I brought the plane around and lined up the landing gear for descent… only to pull back at the last moment, my instincts kicking in and telling me that the ground was going to be too uneven… Well, the ground was going to be uneven wherever I brought her down, so I added a mental check to override that abundance of caution on my next approach.

Coming about, I zipped the airframe across from the landing area before bringing her down for another pass; that same instinct to abort the landing grabbed my focus, but I resisted and forced the wheels to make contact with the ground, immediately cutting the engine off and letting the craft come to a stop.

Which it did, but only after the plane's right wing violently threw itself into the ground, sliding and deforming as it rapidly brought us to a halt, my body now just inches away from fresh, uncut grass.

“Ace! Are you alright?!” I shouted as I attempted to unlock my harness; a weak response then came over the headset of Ace letting me know he was okay as I slithered out of the cockpit and immediately went to help him, undoing his seatbelt and gently easing him out of the passenger seat.

Everypony else was already running over to us, no doubt concerned for our welfare; after checking over Ace, who was thankfully unhurt beyond being scared witless, I traced the Tornado’s approach and found the cause; a rather large rock that had clearly impacted the craft's right wheel, causing enough force to shear the wheel off of its mounting and causing the right wing to snag the ground.

Jet was the first to arrive, looking over the damaged airframe with an expression of concern one normally reserves for an injured relative.

“Fuck! Well, this might be repairable if we can weld it back, but I'd want to rebuild the entire support frame eventually. What happened?” Jet asked as I kicked the offending rock, not even succeeding at nudging it, much less moving it.

“This cunting thing! It's a minor miracle that this hasn't happened before. How long do you reckon until she'll be airworthy, Jet?”

“Hard to say. The wing can be done in a day, but replacing the wheel support frame will take a month; to just do a temporary repair will only be a day or two though, which would be fine for a few flights. Might even be a faster and better quality repair with your magic if you can weld with it.”

I'd never actually considered welding being possible with magic, but it would probably be a good opportunity to practice some finer magical control.

“We'll do that, then. Let me know when you need me, and I'll help. In the meantime… Let's find a more reliable runway, huh? One that doesn't kneecap these planes upon landing.”

The hours of twilight were upon us, meaning no further flying for the rest of the day, which irritated me slightly but I knew that it was for the best.

“Right, here's what we need: A runway, a proper hangar, and a team of mechanics to service the planes; do what you can to satisfy those requirements, Jet, and I trust that the former princesses can be relied upon to direct aid where appropriate?” Eyeing them both as they nodded. “Great. Tomorrow, Jet, I need to have you fly the Hurricane, with Ace and I in the back; we're going to pinpoint the source of the next crystal to retrieve.”

“You got it; if I can get some help turning this girl over, we can weld the wheel back on, and then when the metal cools, we can wheel her back to join the Hurricane. After I repair her wing there, she should be good to fly.”

“Alright, then; stand back and give me some room, folks,” I warned as I focused the two spells needed in my hands. “Levenesis!”

The azure aura spread over the stricken airframe as I slowly and cautiously raised it into the air, attenuating the field slightly to rotate it until the remaining wheel was pointing upward before neatly placing the craft back down onto the grass upside-down, the sheared metal of the disconnected axle now readily visible.

Taking the wheel from Jet's grasp, I floated it over and held it in place while I used my other hand to channel the next spell needed: a very focused telekinesis spell. “Kinesis,” I calmly spoke as I caused the other wheel to rotate in place, held in place by supports, as I held what remained of the wheel's axle against the broken part while it spun.

As minutes flew past, I raised the speed of the attached wheen ever higher until the join on the other side started to glow red. On the right track, I ratcheted up the rotational speed as the join became orange, then yellow, and finally white.

After stopping the rotation, I used a bit of magic to even out the metal's surface and remove the slag that had accumulated before uttering “Water,” to cause the join to be flooded with a contained band of clear fluid that immediately steamed and filled the air with the scents of amateur metallurgy.

“Friction welding. Cheers for the engineering knowledge, old man,” looking up into the sky before refocusing on the task at hand. “This weld needs to rest for a bit before we start putting pressure on it; Get something to cover the poor girl with, and we'll wheel her back in the morning after I turn her over.”

As everypony around seemed to be agreeing, I turned my attention to Jet directly. “I'm leaving the runway project in your capable hooves; you know what we need, and I'm sure you know a pony or two around here who can be trained up as mechanics. I'll meet you back here tomorrow morning to get the Tornado back upright, and once she's wheeled back, you'll take Ace and me up in the Hurricane for some reconnaissance.”

Jet saluted, despite his lack of rank. “You got it. I'll go grab some tarp for this thing. See you back here at eight.”

With a nod and a curt “Mmm,” from me, I began the walk back to the settlement, eventually finding my way back to the House of the Two Pony Sisters with everypony in tow behind me. As we got to the house, a thought struck me.

“Say… what do… or did you ponies play in terms of games here?”

“Well, uh…” began the solar sister, “We used to play board games, but we've never found one that was intact.”

“What about card games?” I pressed a nod each from the two alicorns.

“Very much so, but we don't have a deck of cards to play with.”

Turning to enter the house, I went for my stashed backpack and extracted a deck of playing cards from its smallest pocket as everypony came inside.

“I always carried a deck of cards with me; I think now is a fine time to teach you some games from Earth. Shall we?”

Everypony shuffled around the table, taking up various spots on the sofas and armchairs surrounding it before I joined them, taking up a now very much expected seat next to Ace. Stopper placed my backpack and sword next to me, beside the sofa, before hopping up on one of the armchairs to join us.

“Is there a stash of coins around here we can use?” I asked as Luna left the group for a minute or two as I removed the cards from their sleeve, the gold-embossed sides no doubt eliciting a curious glance or two from the others as I extracted the jokers from the deck before setting it on the table for a moment as Luna returned with a hefty, jingling sack.

“You can use these bit coins. ‘Tis a shame that they are now effectively worthless.”

Mulling over that inadvertent reminder of cryptocurrency, I put my hand into the sack as Luna laid it on the table, extracting a gold-colored coin that had been stamped with a hoofshoe on one side and Celestia's face on the other. I then distributed 20 of those coins to each player present: myself, Ace, Stopper, Celestia, and Luna.

“The game is ‘Texas No Limit Hold ‘Em Poker’. The goal is to win every coin currently on the table. You do this with a combination of luck, bluster, and subterfuge. Hmm… I need a dealer token, too…”

Running back over to my knapsack, I was met with an obvious solution; decoupling the pin from its secured placement, I carried both it and its setting over to the table, planting them next to the deck as a complete pin.

“What is this?” Celestia asked as she took the pin into her hooves for a closer inspection.

“It's a poppy, or rather a symbolic representation of one. In my culture, the poppy is a mark of respect for the men and women of the armed forces who've given their lives in the service of their country. However, here, I need to use this as a dealer token,” taking the pin and simulating it being passed around the table clockwise. “Whoever has the dealer token deals the cards. Additionally, the first and second player after the dealer must make a bet, like this.”

Putting the pin in front of Celestia, I then put one bit from Luna's pile in front of her, and then two bits from Ace's pile in front of him.

“These are called the ‘small blind’ and ‘big blind’ respectively. At this point, the next player after the blind players would call, raise, or fold depending on the cards they held. Before the blind is made, the cards are dealt, like so.”

Grabbing the deck, each player got one, and then a second card, after which I laid three upturned cards on the table.

“The cards you all now have are called ‘hole cards’, while the three cards face-up on the table are called ‘community cards’; the specific act of laying these three cards is called ‘the flop’. In the later stages of each play, two more community cards are revealed in phases, known as ‘the turn’ and then ‘the river’. You need to match up your cards, either on their own or selectively with any of the community cards, to form a ‘hand’... or a hoof, I suppose in your case. As each card is laid, your final matchup of cards might change… and sometimes you’ll bet in the hope a card you want is dealt.”

Revealing my hand, I showed that I had a King of Spades and a Two of Hearts.

“In each deck, there are fifty-two individual cards, with four suits; Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs, each with thirteen cards. Each suit is equal, and all have cards representing a numerical value; one, two, all the way to ten, followed by the Jack, the Queen, and the King in increasing value. However…” I paused as I pointed to the first upturned community card, the Ace of Spades. “Cards like this one, the Aces, normally represent the number one; however, in this game, Aces are in fact the highest card, with no card representing the number one, effectively.”

Putting my hole cards down, I pointed to the King of Hearts and the Three of Clubs laid as the other community cards. “There is a king on the table. As I have a king, too, this means that I have a pair of kings. That is the second-lowest hoof possible; if nopony can attain even that combination of cards, the pony with the highest card wins. In cases where a hoof is equal to another and the card values are identical, both of them would be the winner.”

Flipping over the turn and river cards, they revealed a King of Diamonds and a Two of Spades.

“And that leads us very nicely into demonstrating some more possible card combinations. The next combo up from a pair is two pairs, which I could invoke with both two’s and two of the kings, but with what's on the table now, that’d be rather foolish.”

I then pointed to my king, followed by the other two kings on the table. “The next combo up is three of a kind, which is three cards of the same value. One up from that is a straight, which is a sequence of five cards, of different suits, with a sequential number order, like two, three, four, five, and six, or, say, ten, jack, queen, king, ace. The next combination is five cards of any one suit, regardless of value, which is called a flush.”

Turning my attention to the community cards once more, I moved the two kings and the two slightly in relation to the other two cards. “When a player has three of one value and two of another, that's called a full house. As you can see, I have one king in my hole cards to pair with the two on the table, and one two to pair with the two on the table as well.”

Putting back the cards into their original position, I upturned the deck to pull out the last king from within it, the King of Clubs, before putting that card on the table. “The next combo is four of a kind, where the player has four cards of the same value. Then, there's the straight flush, where you have a line of cards of sequential numbering of one suit, like a two, three, four, five, and six of Hearts, for example. The highest combination possible is a ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of any one suit.”

Turning over Ace's hole cards to my right, I knew what they were going to be due to hearing him think as I revealed the Ace of Clubs and the Ace of Hearts, quite an appropriate stroke of luck to match his namesake. “Now, Ace here has two… aces. This means that he can also attain a full house, but because those aces also outrank my kings, his hoof is higher than mine.”

Reaching over to my left, I turned over Stopper’s hole cards, a Five of Spades and a Four of Clubs.

“Now, had I gotten these cards with the first three community cards we turned over, I might've opted to discard them, or, more accurately, to fold. If not paying a blind, this means conserving the bits you have by not betting.”

Going right, I then revealed Celestia's cards, a Three of Hearts and a Queen of Diamonds.

“Now, this hand has some promise. It already has a pair, but Celestia over here might press on anyway, despite the fact that it's not an overwhelmingly good hoof. She might choose to bluff, to falsely assert that her cards are higher in value than they really are, and it would be down to the other players as to whether they believe her or not.”

“Ah-hah!” Cried out Luna as she turned over her own cards with a wide smile, revealing the Jack of Spades and the Jack of Clubs. “That is the subterfuge of which you spoke, the intentional deceiving of other players? Sister, I believe that I have found my new favorite game!”

A smirk crossed Celestia's lips as I started collecting the cards and shuffling them back into the deck.

“It's called ‘No Limit’ poker because there is no limit to how often players can raise, even within the same round. Each bet goes into what is called the pot, which is distributed to the winner of the round; or, in the event of a tie, the pot is split between the winning players,” making a gesture with my hands like I was invisibly dividing a pile. “If a player ends up putting their last coin into the pot, they are said to be all in, and they become immune to having to put up additional collateral if the bet goes up. But, if they then lose that round, they lose the game, as they have no remaining coins left.”

Everypony was looking around a little undecidedly, and I then realized that I'd probably lost them a bit.

“Okay, let's play a hoof, and hopefully then it’ll start making a bit more sense,” providing the deck to Celestia. “As you have the dealer token, you should be the one to deal each player two cards.”

The alicorn gripped the cards with a wing, using her other one to deftly flick cards from it toward everypony with a smug little smile as she no doubt picked up on my amazement at her skills.

“Well, you don't live for three-and-a-half thousand years without picking up a thing or two,” she explained as she deposited the deck on the table and upturned the flop cards, laying each one nearly next to one another; the Jack of Clubs, the Six of Hearts and the Ace of Hearts.

“Okay, now that the cards have been dealt, we can all examine our hole cards.”

Turning up mine briefly before laying them down on the table again, I saw the King of Hearts and the Two of Clubs.

Bit of a shit hand.

I knew that Ace likely knew what I had as his thoughts swam over to me, telling me silently that his cards were the Three of Diamonds and the Ace of Spades; a significantly better showing than mine.

“Luna, as the small blind, you need to put one bit into the pot; Ace, as the big blind, you need to put two bits in there.

Both complied and a small pile of bits soon formed on the table, next to the community cards.

As the bits fell onto the table, I was struck by the thought that playing this game might be harder for ponies than for humans due to our anatomical differences; humans don't have wings or a tail, nor do our ears swivel. Each one of those body differences could potentially betray a pony's desire to court deception in a game like this.

“Now, as I'm the next player after the blinds, the next move is mine; at this stage, I choose to fold… or as some might say, ‘Too rich for my blood’,” as I leaned forward and created a discard pile next to the deck. “I should point out that, if a player chooses to fold, they are under no obligation to reveal the cards they had. Stopper, the next move is yours; you can either call, where you match the big blind, raise, where you put a higher number of bits on the table that anypony staying in has to at least match… or, do what I just did, and fold.”

The unicorn's eyes darted between us all before she picked up four bits and leaned forward to add them to the pile. “Raise,” she said coldly.

No ear movements, and no tail flick. Stopper was absolutely in control of her emotions, but given her journey to date, I guess that it wasn't that surprising that she'd be ice-cold in a game like this.

“Okay, now is a good time to discuss reraises, and this is something even experienced players can get wrong,” pointing to Stopper. “Stopper has just raised the bet by two to four; Ace's big blind set the bet at two, and now Stopper has made it four. However, It's now Celestia's turn; she can choose to raise the bet further, but if she does, she first has to meet the existing raise, and then she must raise the bet by, at minimum, the raise that Stopper made, which was two. So, if she chooses to raise, she needs to put in a minimum of six bits into the pot.”

Celestia, looking at the unicorn with a sly smirk, then proceeded to put eight bits into the pot. “You're welcome to see what cards I have, Captain, but it's going to cost you more for that privilege.”

The smirk from the elder alicorn was accompanied by the smallest of twinges from her wings. Ordinarily, I'd chalk it up to a harmless twitch, but as it happened at the same time as her smirk, I would’ve bet money that she thought she had a good hoof.

I then cleared my throat as everypony switched their gaze to me.

“It's common practice in games like this to leave rank at the door; we're all equals around this table. Likewise, anything that happens around this table stays at this table.”

All eyes were on me as I then turned to look at Luna.

“Now, with that out of the way… As you were the small blind, Luna, you either need to call that raise with an additional seven bits… or, if you wanted to raise again, you'd need to bet an additional eleven bits to make it twelve.”

The navy blue alicorn barely needed a moment to put in an additional eleven bits.

“Ah-hah! The intrigue has been tripled!” she goaded as all eyes now fell on Ace, who to my senses was remaining quite stoic, with no trace of any nervous movements from his ears, wings, or tail.

My eyes then returned to Luna as I tried to read her body language. Like her sister, her wings twitched in addition to her earlier jubilant assertion. She too likely thought that she had a good hoof.

You have a pair, Ace. Your only likely winning hooves will be either a full house, or a three of a kind, and those will depend on cards we can't yet see. It's your call, but the odds are against you.

After mentally communicating that to him, he put in ten bits, followed by Stopper putting eight more bits into the pot, and then Celestia putting four more bits in.

“Okay,” I continued, “Now that the bets are equal, another possible action opens up: check. Check is when you wish to keep your bet static; you either declare it verbally, or you rapp your hoof on the table twice, like so,” as I curled up all the fingers of my right hand save for my middle finger, and rapped the table with its knuckle. “Additionally, Stopper, as you were the first one to raise the bet, you now cannot re-raise, although others are free to do so.”

The striking of hooves on the table continued from everypony present, starting with Luna until the round passed back to Celestia.

“Now that everypony has agreed to the bet for the round, the dealer now turns the next card on the deck over and places it next to the others.”

Celestia followed my instructions and revealed the King of Diamonds.

Hmm…

My original hand would've been weaker than Ace's, so that was no major loss to me, but the turn card seemed to change the demeanor of everyone, likely not playing at all into their hopes; either that or certain ponies were very good at deceiving others, possibly even myself included in that despite my earlier predictions from additional potential difficulties when it came to equines playing Poker.

Luna rapped her right hoof on the table as everypony followed suit until play once more returned to her. Nodding to Celestia, she then revealed the river card, the Ace of Diamonds.

I watched the alicorns and observed a microexpression on Luna's face, her brow raising for just an instant while Celestia and Stopper remained static; Ace, meanwhile, was channeling a sense of happiness into my thoughts, although his expression and extremities did not betray his thoughts to the others.

The rapping of hooves continued until play came back to Luna, signaling to me that nopony whatsoever was confident enough in their hoof of cards compared to one another to up the stakes any further.

“As everypony has confirmed their betting intentions, all players still participating must now declare their cards to each other.”

Stopper went first, showing off the Six of Clubs and the Six of Spades with an unashamed grin, one that was promptly smashed by the elder alicorn revealing the Jack of Hearts and the Jack of Spades.

“I did say that it was going to cost you, my dear,” fluttering her eyelashes in the unicorn’s direction before turning to her sister, her face donning a shade of concern as Luna sported a wide grin, upturning her own cards to reveal the Two of Diamonds and the Ace of Clubs.

“You have let your overconfidence show, dear sister,” Luna positively dripped those honey-spiced words onto her sister's misfortune.

I knew what was coming, so I just sat back and watched as Ace revealed his hand, wiping the smirk from Luna's face and leaving her expression akin to that of a slapped arse.

“And that's how you play Poker! The highest card wins; Ace's Ace of Spades and Three of Diamonds outranks Luna's Ace of Clubs and Two of Diamonds, and he takes the pot!”

The pegasus was positively chuffed as he hoarded the mountain of bits with a gleeful smile, pulling every last bit toward his portion of the table.

“Pray, tell… do humans bet with things other than currency?” Asked Luna as she hoofed her cards into the discard pile, followed by everypony else.

“Well… it's been known to happen. Strip poker is a thing where people bet with taking off their clothes in place of money if they lose a hand… often in creative ways, like counting jewelry or body piercings. I even met a houseshare once that would bet immunity to chores and, um… sexual favors…”

Reaching across to pass the faux poppy serving as our dealer token to Luna, I grabbed all of the cards and recombined them into a new complete deck before handing it to her, who then dealt us all a fresh hoof with her wings before upturning the first three flop cards; the Seven of Hearts, the Ten of Spades, and the King of Clubs.

“Is it me, or do ponies with wings have an easier time at the moment with tasks requiring dexterity?”

Celestia then cleared her throat. “I suppose that's an accurate assessment. If the ISIT program was still in place, everypony would be equal in that regard.”

The term was completely foreign to me, and I found myself understandably curious.

“What was this… Eye-Sitt Program?” I asked as I looked at my two cards briefly; the Ten of Clubs and the Jack of Spades.

“It stood for Inter-Species Integrative Technology. It was… Alex's idea,” confirmed Celestia. “No more would any denizen of Equus be limited in a task because of their biology or lack of direct magical prowess.”

As I looked around, Ace put his small blind in, while I followed with the big blind.

“That sounds like quite the noble goal. What happened?”

“Ponies started to not see the other tribes as necessary for their own survival,” continued Luna. “It bred resentment; not for how they were superior, as it would've been the case in ages past, but because of how redundant cooperation became in their eyes.”

“Sounds like something a bad actor might exploit,” I reasoned, eliciting a nod from the alicorns. “We, Alex and I, both believe in the idea that humanity could be more than it is… or, was, I suppose. Actually… follow me for a moment,” I said, making an immediate beeline for the front door as everypony followed me outside, the twilight having already given way to nighttime, the stars in the sky coming out to shine as I pointed up at them. “Tell me: When you look up at the stars… what do you all see?”

Everypony shuffled about, looking up into the heavens but not offering much commentary of substance… apart from Luna.

“I see my former charge, a tapestry of life and light writ large over the land. Sometimes, I catch myself looking up into the night sky, imagining that each point of light is a dream from our little ponies.”

Poignant, I thought.

“Well, Luna… I see stars, each one of which is capable of potentially nurturing an intelligent form of life. I remain firmly of the opinion that mankind's destiny is in the stars… and, the more I look at your world, the more I'm convinced that your destiny is among those stars above us, too.”

“Are you truly suggesting that we should journey away from this world?” Asked Celestia with a bit of disbelief in her voice. “That would be impossible, would it not?” She asked, getting nods of agreement all around, except from me.

“Nothing is impossible,” I countered, taking a few steps forward and turning to face the group. “There is a long journey ahead of this world if it ever wants to get to that point. To that end, I want to propose something, here and now, for the benefit of everycreature on this planet; I propose… ‘The Alliance’.”

Everypony looked at one another before turning to look at me once more, and I realized that I needed to properly sell this idea.

“This is much more than what the ISIT program was, at least if I'm understanding its intent properly; this is about bringing every sapient species on this planet together, and burying old hatreds once and for all,” pointing at all of the gathered ponies. “Pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns would be its founding members… and technically me as well as the sole representative of humanity currently walking about… but it would work for the betterment of all. Aid, trade, defense, and everything in between would flow between its members.”

Celestia chuckled lightly as a slightly dejected sigh seemed to escape her mouth.

“Alex attempted the same thing. He called it the ‘Grand Globalization Effort’, an attempt to bring all of Equus’ creatures together in a common cause.”

“I take it that that effort didn't work?”

“Ultimately? No… too many ill intentions and not enough genuine will to work together.”

The alabaster alicorn slowly walked over to me, raising a wing and dragging its feathertips across my face.

“It's curious… here you are, the same species, with the same wish of bringing everycreature together. Does every human carry with them such a desire for peace?”

This time I shook my head as her feathers rested against my chest.

“Some do, some don't. There are those of my kind that truly wish to work together for a better tomorrow… and then, there are others who just want to watch the world burn. I can think of no better honor than following in Alex’s footsteps in that endeavor, to bring you all into the fold of peaceful coexistence.”

“Do you truly intend to take up the diplomatic mantle of your predecessor? As I'm sure you know, those are some very, very big boots to fill.”

I grasped her wing with my hand, feeling the soft down slip between my fingers as I held it tightly for a moment.

“I'd like to at least try. Alex might not've succeeded in his vision… but, if I can do some good with my proposed initiative, it would vindicate his belief that it was possible and that he was right to attempt it… even in spite of it failing to work the first time around.”

In the midst of all this, Stopper stepped forward a little bit, a small smile on her face.

“I skimmed the intermediate magic tome before I left; while we’re out here, how about I teach you a spell from it? I think you’ll find it quite useful.”

Nodding softly, I put my hands on my hips as Celestia freed her wing to pat me on the head with it before slinking back to join her sister. “Uh, sure, I guess. What does it do?”

“It’s an identification spell; it lets you see echoes of what’s around you, both living and inanimate. It’ll even let you tell different species apart.”

I was very curious now, and I could barely contain my excitement of how useful that ability would be.

“Well, then… How do I cast it?” I asked, hands still on my hips as I casually looked around.

The unicorn appeared to think for a moment before committing to an answer. “Uh… remember the attack you used on that chimera? A bit like that, but the ball of force you create should be expanded and dissipated; the shockwaves will then reverberate and travel back to you.”

Taking a few more steps backward, I put my hands together. “I'm not sure how well this is going to work… stand back, everypony,” I cautioned as I started to concentrate a ball of force into the space in front of me, already picking out a mental command to use with this new ability.

“Libra!” I shouted as I pulled my hands apart to stretch and then burst the ball of energy as arcane waves rippled out harmlessly from it, my body listening in as the aëtherical signatures of my friends in front of me reverberated back, the magical signatures of a unicorn, pegasus and two alicorns washing over me.

It was a curious series of sensations; the strongest two signals were obviously from Celestia and Luna, and they felt like an entire orchestra being thrown at me, their combined musical melodies compressed into a mere instant of time.

The next strongest signal I guessed came from Stopper, and it felt like an opera singer hitting the highest notes of a virtuoso performance. The remaining signal felt like a drummer rhythmically striking their instruments, and I reasoned that it must be coming from Ace.

I then got a mental outline of our surroundings, like seeing a sketch of a landscape flash in front of my inner eyes. I saw everything around me, like the sisters’ cottage, the trees all around us… And the aëtheric signature of a fifth individual behind me, their reflected wave being a powerful strike that tapered off into a low rumble, a pattern noticeably different from the others.

“Stopper… fetch my sword,” I firmly asked, immediately hearing hooves scramble as I turned around, my back now facing the remaining group as I looked up to my right. There was a significant density of trees with one tree in particular in front of them standing out from the rest as I mentally recalled this general area being the source of that fifth signal. I did initially think that it might've been an earth pony… but that didn't explain why it was coming from the top of that tree.

As I got closer to it, I fired off another “Libra!” to confirm that the strange signal up in the tree I'd felt was still there, which it was. If it was going to flee, we'd undoubtedly see it emerge, but no visible or audible signs of movement could be discerned in the meantime.

“If you've been listening in, you'll have heard my speech back there. That offer of mutual friendship extends to you and your kind, too… whoever you are, if you'll come down from there to greet us.”

Nothing. Not even a rustle of leaves or the snapping of branches emerged, the night air around us silent except for a very, very light breeze. Stopper then approached me from the side and hoofed me Oathkeeper before falling back to join the others.

“Look, I don't know who you are, but I don't appreciate being spied upon. Now, I suggest that you come down from there… otherwise, I'm going to make you get down.”

If my threat was being taken seriously, no sign of it was offered, leaving me little choice but to carry it out. Sheathing my blade, I brought my hands together to generate a fireball that illuminated the woodland around us before I fired it into the tree with a loud “Fire!”

My prediction came to pass as a figure shot out of the tree just before the ball of molten force made contact with it, leaving behind a tree now utterly up in flames as they attempted to soar into the night sky.

“Oh no you don't… Levenesis!” I shouted, attempting to grab onto part of the figure's anatomy with a pinch of force.

“Gotcha!” I practically shouted with gusto as I felt the spell take hold, my hands commanding it, and whatever it’d latched onto to come racing back down, eventually resulting in their body striking the grassland in a harsh and unforgiving impact, the being rolling around before it finally stopped and ended up in a crumpled, defeated heap several paces away from us.

As we all moved in closer, an audible gasp came from Luna as the creature's features came into full view; they’d ended up on their front as a pair of leathery outstretched wings, adorned with talons on specific parts of them, obscured much of their body, while a pair of saddlebags lay in their wake, likely separated from their body by the impact. The kind-of-sort-of pony then began to rouse themselves from their impromptu meeting with the ground as their blue fur and blonde mane and tail shimmered in the growing moonlight from above.

“Shield!”

A blue-tinted shield now imprisoned the being as the stallion within impotently resisted it before conceding defeat as he slumped onto the grass.

While this was all transpiring, Luna walked up alongside me and sighed. “You are a long way from home, puer lunae,” she spoke softly to the new arrival as she put a hoof on my shoulder. “Please, lower the barrier. Now that he has been defeated, he will not fly away.”

I wasn't particularly comfortable doing that, but I trusted the mare's judgment; cancelling my casting, I felt Ace brush up alongside me too as we all took in the sight of our newest guest.

“I know of your kind, human… you are like the one who came here before you. He… showed us a path away from our barbaric past. He was… a friend to my kind… much more than the company you keep ever was,” he accused, pointing a wing talon at the younger alicorn. I didn’t need to be an expert to tell from her body language that such an accusation deeply upset her, possibly even gravely wounding her spirit as the tell-tale signs of tears started to well in the corners of her eyes.

Meanwhile, I nodded my head sagely in understanding at the stallion’s words even as alarm bells started to ring inside my head that something was not right about all this. “Alex was a friend to me, too, on my world. God, I seem to be saying that a lot, lately… my point is, though, if he was a friend to your kind, then we have both been blessed.”

The stallion scrunched his face as another pang of agony stabbed at him. “You have, Ah!… b-bested me… my life… is now yours. Pray be quick,” he said with a wince, closing his eyes and offering his neck in what felt like an invitation to execute him. Obviously, that was out of the question.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I'm not going to kill you… but, leaving aside how you can fly for the moment, I want to know what you were doing up th-oh shit, the fire!”

Turning my attention behind me and seeing the tree consumed by a raging inferno, I put my hands together and shouted “Water!” to deliver an absolute deluge onto the tree, snuffing out the fire and leaving smoldering branches and a thick smell of burning in the air around us in its aftermath before I turned back to give the creature my undivided attention. “So, obvious question first… What are you? You look like a pony, but there’s something… different about you.”

The wings were not the only thing on his body out of place; his flank lacked a cutie mark, despite looking very much like a pony back there. I couldn’t explain it, so I just filed it away under ‘Shit to investigate later’.

The stallion was about to speak as he reined in his neck, but Luna answered for him. “They are, in Modern Equish, known as ‘bat ponies’, although many would come to call them ‘thestrals’. But their true name, translated properly, is ‘Descendents of Tsukuyomi’... in other words, they are my descendants; their lineage stretches back to a legion of pegasi guards when the Nightmare corrupted me. As it corrupted me into Nightmare Moon, I corrupted them and turned them into living weapons, a true warrior caste to help the Nightmare take down my sister, so many moons ago.”

The former Moon Princess approached the thestral, cooling her words as a parent would to an estranged child. “My dear creatura noctis… While it is true that you are a reminder of my failure to control my worst impulses, please know that you were always cherished in my heart, as if I had birthed you all myself. You are a part of me, and you always will be…”

Despite Luna’s best intentions, the bat pony was unconvinced by her words.

“You… abandoned us…” the stallion rasped as he spat on the floor, “We had heard rumours for months now… that you had come back. And, yet… you never once thought to check… how your so-called children were doing?! Your words are hollow, Betrayer! I was ordered… to scour the world to find you, and if I did, to report back that you had been fou-Ah!”

He winced in pain as his face scrunched up and a hoof went to his left, massaging part of his body as he clearly fought back an urge to more loudly give voice to his pain.

“I… I had no choice! I had to go looking for my kin!” Luna cried out as I moved forward slowly, eventually reaching the bat pony's personal space. “But the worst part about that is… I found no trace of them.”

“Let me take a look, you’ve had a nasty impact, and-”

The other pony swiped my hand away with a hoof in open defiance of my olive branch. “Stay back… !” He shouted through pain that looked and sounded like it was worsening.

“Let him examine you, child!”

The sheer vocal force from Luna behind me sent chills down my spine, but it caused the bat pony to relent as they looked down at the ground.

“Do… do what you have to do…”

Taking that as my cue, I placed a hand on his back, just above his wings as I channeled the healing spell into the body of the bat pony.

“Cure!”

I could feel a warmth spreading out from my hand, and within seconds, the stallion's face eased as visible relief seemed to wash over him, the tell-tale signs of my magic flooding across the stallion’s blue coat in a sparkly blue aurora that, just for a moment, seemed to accentuate the stallion’s features in the moonlight.

“See? We're not your enemies here. What's your name, my friend?” I asked, patting his back before retracting my hand and taking a cross-legged seat next to him.

“Phantom… Phantom Light. You… show the same kindness that the other human did toward us…” he observed as Ace and Luna joined us up close, both of them taking a seat next to me as I shook my head. “I… was told that, were I found and captured outside the Hollow Shades, I would be tortured and killed…“

“Well,” I began, although that statement alone was a lot to unpack, “We're not doing that here… but you were spying on us.”

“On me,” Luna corrected as I nodded.

“Right. Like, first off, rude… and secondly… why were you going to tell this ‘Matriarch’ of yours that Luna was here?”

The bat pony shuffled and sat himself up, looking at us all with skeptical eyes. “... So that they would dispatch a unit of elite soldiers… to kill her for her betrayal.”

Obviously, that caused me no small amount of concern as I considered our options.

“That… would not be wise,” I warned, although this really now felt like I was wading deep into waters I had no business being in. With silence now falling between us, Stopper hoofed the stallion’s saddlebags to me after gathering them up from the ground. As a potential enemy combatant, I found it prudent to search them but only found them full of luminescent little green balls that smelled sweetly when held up to my nose.

“Lumigrapes,” Phantom explained. “As long as we eat those, we are spared the need to… drink the blood of others to sustain ourselves.”

“You… holy fucking shit, you used to drink blood?” I said with as much disbelief as I could muster for the day, Equestria once again setting me up with something capable of blowing my mind.

“No more! Your friend, as you claim he was to you, found us that substitute. We grow them all over the Hollow Shades.”

“They grow nearby to Las Pegasus, too,” added Celestia, “They're a touch sour for my taste, but they grow very well in the climate here. Very popular with griffons, as I recall.”

Rolling one of the lumigrapes in my fingers, the size felt equivalent to that of a kumquat, but green, and with a skin akin to what I commonly knew as white grapes. I then held the lumigrape I’d been cradling and held it up at the batpony, raising an eyebrow at him as my curiosity got the better of me. “May I?” I asked him, to which he nodded curtly.

“You may have one… as thanks for that curative spell.”

Popping one into my mouth, I pierced the fruit’s soft flesh and was immediately overcome with an intensely sour, slightly metallic flavor that made my mouth practically collapse in on itself. The only sounds I could manage were the fruits of my pathetic attempts to masticate the sharp-tasting oversized grape. I didn’t fail to spot an amused grin coming from Phantom, probably finding a great deal of joy in a foreigner tasting something he probably took for granted.

Finally, with my mouth now in a position to swallow, I did so and flexed my jaw to alleviate my muscles of their discomfort, many of them having been forced to contort by the fruit’s potent sourness. “I, uh… Wow. I think you’ve really undersold just now sour these lumigrapes are, Celestia. Painful, yet refreshing at the same time. I may have to go pick some more of these later…”

“You get used to the taste, human. We eat these as soon as we can digest solid food. They are a part of cultural heritage now.”

As I refocused my attention on the real matter at hoof, I now had a serious problem… Well, more accurately, we had a serious problem.

“Phantom… if we release you, would you tell your people that you've found Luna?”

It was now the thestral's turn to nod. “It is my mission, and so it is my duty.”

“I understand your commitment to the mission, soldier,” I commended, genuinely; I might’ve intensely disagreed with the action about to be undertaken, but I respected a soldier’s commitment to their duty… even if I’d refuse such an order, myself. “Then you will take a message from me back to your Matriarch; I demand her presence here, as recompense for sparing the life of one of her scouts.”

The bat pony huffed as he visibly scoffed. “You don't have the right to-”

“But I do!” Countered Luna as she asserted herself to help me. “As the mother of you all, I have had that right ever since my corruption led me to bestow upon you this… curse. You will instruct the Matriarch to come here, and we will settle this once and for all.”

The blue-furred pony looked at me, expecting an answer, likely due to my earlier betterment of him, to which I could only put my hands up in the air.

“You're not a prisoner, Phantom. You're free to return home; tell your Matriarch that she is to arrive here at sunset tomorrow. Given that you can all apparently fly, I think that's a fair ask. We’ll be waiting.”

I then lightly shook his saddlebags.

“I'm keeping these, though. Call it collateral until she meets with me,” I asserted before softly throwing a stemmed bunch of lumigrapes at him. “For the trip back.”

It was plain to see that he was more than a bit miffed, but that didn't prevent him from grabbing the bunch of grapes and stretching out his wings before taking to the skies at a speed that I could feel Ace being positively jealous of, leaving the rest of us to contemplate what might happen tomorrow.

As far as I was concerned, war had been declared, but hostilities were not yet a reality. That would soon change, however, and I deemed it prudent that we should be ready.

“Are there any underground bunkers or caves near here?” I asked as I removed my new pistol to inspect it again.

“There are caves in the mountain to the north,” offered Celestia as I holstered my weapon and put my hands on my hips.

“Enough to hold the population here?”

“It’s been a while since we have laid eyes on them… but, yes, they should. What are you planning, Ser?”

“We're evacuating the town,” I commanded to shock and concern all around. “I will not risk innocent lives as an unknown enemy force comes to pay us a visit with hostile intent. Celestia, I need you to gather up everypony that you can and ensure they reach the cave system safely. Luna, I need you to scout out the caves within the mountain, just to make sure that there are no unwelcome surprises in there. I then need you to scout out any favorable positions in the town for ranged weapon users to lie in wait.”

“That doesn’t seem very fair,” observed Celestia with a little bit of a coy smile.

“There’s a popular saying in certain communities on my world: ‘If you turn up to a fight, and it’s a fair fight, both you and your opponent fucked up’. I do not for one second intend for this to be a fair confrontation if I can help it, and I will take every advantage I can to ensure we all come out of this with our hides intact.”

I then turned my attention to my two squad members.

“Stopper, first of all, I need you to go find Jet, and then tell him that I need the Hurricane ready to go at first light for some reconnaissance. Then, I need you to find Ice Wisp and tell him to report to me personally, as I might need to call upon his ice magic. After that, go find Flame and Crush, and then all three of you together will assist Celestia with the evacuation. While that's ongoing, recruit anypony that can use a ranged weapon and tell them to also report to me. You all have your orders; Company dismissed!”

Everypony but Ace bounded off without protest, leaving me and the pegasus alone with one another to contemplate what was about to happen, and for me to dwell on the path not taken.

“Have I done the right thing, Ace?” I pointedly asked. “I just let that pony go… and now he's going to let slip that Luna's here. I might've just signed her death warrant… all because I didn't want to kill him.”

I sat on the grass, bending my knees and hugging my legs as Ace moved in closer, the pegasus resting his body up against me as I couldn’t help but return the favor, my nose burying itself in his fur as his body odor wafted into my nostrils.

“Do you have a plan?” He counter-asked, carefully sidestepping my question, but his thoughts couldn't hide from me that he thought it was a mistake to let him go.

“A plan? Luna’s my friend, Ace. I’m not going to let any harm come to her if I can help it. When the Matriarch, and probably a contingent of guards, gets here tomorrow, I’m going to give them a choice to decide, on their own terms, to let her live. If they refuse… I will use every means at my disposal to defend her, such is the duty of a Knight of the Realm to protect his kingdom’s subjects.”

I knew deep down that this meant that I might have to spill blood come tomorrow’s twilight. I hoped beyond hope that I wouldn’t need to, that they’d all see sense… but I resolved, there and then, that should the need really and truly arise for violence in self-defense, I would be ready to mete out righteous justice to any who would do us harm, to defend my friends and comrades…

… even if it meant that blood would be shed.