City of the Sun

Inlight Dust moved forward past the opened gates, snowclouds slowly going away. If he could take a closer look, he would've seen pegasi flying and pushing the clouds away, making the sky blue as always. It was the midday, and everypony were doing their jobs. Pegasi with mane like wildfire trotted forward, passing a couple of guards, untill he was suddenly stopped by one of them.

"If you seek the passage beyond Sun's Solace, you nees a registration." Said one of the unicorn guards, appearing before Inlight out of thin air.

"The... registration?" He awkwardly nice, on which guard only rolled his eyes.

"Uncivilized savages... I'll need your name and the goal of visit." Guard said as he lit up his horn and picked up the piece of paper.

"Inlight Dust? I need to... go to the Canterlot?" Inlight said, looking at the guard writing something in the piece of paper.

"Mhm, good." The guard then made the piece of paper dissapear in the air, and turned his head to Inlight. "Welcome to Equestria, Inlight Dust. If you are going to Canterlot, you should resupply. Long road is ahead of you."

That didn't worry Inlight much, since he could control the machines. And he could stand up for himself! But no mattee how skilled he was, he agreed with the stallion. He should resupply. Inlight thanked him for the advice, and parted his way from the guard.

"This seem's to be a nice place to resupply." Inlight spoke to himself when he entered the market. A couple of merchants were there, and not much of folk to bother him. Attention was the not what he wanted the most. White pegasi walked to one of the merchants, who was waiting for anyone to come and trade.

"Come in, come in! Best products for long travel, only in Saphire Maverick!" Blue stallion exclaimed, before turning his head to the Nora. "Ah, hunter from the Savage North! Didn't saw one since the Moon Raids. You've come to trade?"

"Yes, actualy, uh.." Inlight looked at the items Saphire Maverick had to offer. A couple of bows and spears, well made but not better than his. Then there were some pouches, probably filled with provision. That's what he needed. "Can I get... I need some provision, for traveling. Long traveling?"

"Hmm, long traveling you say? I think I have something for that..." Saphire Maverick spoke as he turned his head to find something in the bag. Flame-maned pony, in turn, rolled his eyes, understanding that it would take a long time. Really long time.

But up in the sky, between the clouds, a figure was seen flying. It was slightly larger than a pegasi, and it was moving to the Sun's Solace. Some of soldiers, guarding the gates, spotted the upcoming silhouette, which started to become more clear than before. It was a hippogriff, coat of light-blue and mane of pink with yellow stripe. She was wearing a simple Nora outfit, and had a bow on her back.

"Caution, soldiers! Someone's aproaching." Captain exclaimed, as the hippogriff landed on the snow, not far from the gates. "Who are you, traveler? Why did you come here!?"

"I'm looking for the stallion called Inlight Dust? Pegasi, mane colored like a wildfire? He passed here, isn't he?" Sliver Reef spoke, trying to not shout but at the same time not to be quiet enough.

"Hm, yeah, there was someone like you described. Open the gates!" Captain gave order to the guards, who quickly started to open the gates. Sliver Reef, meanwhile, walked towards the massive wall, passing the dead demon machine. Light-blur hippogriff looked at it with mix of confusion and unsertainty, surprised by the demon being here too. But her thoughts were interupted by the sound of opening gates, and the voices behind them.

Pink-maned hippogriff turned her head back, to look at the Sacred Lands for the last time. She knew what she had to do, and the only pony capable of protecting her beyond the homeland was Inlight, and she could not take second chances. Sliver Reef turned her head back to the gates, and made her way to the gates, and beyond. There was no turning back. Sliver Reef moved forward on the way to the market, but after making a couple of steps, she was stopped by a stallion guard.

"If you seek the passage beyond Sun's Solace, you need a registration."

"The... what?"

"...it deploys a tripwire, but instead of tripwire there is a hot cable?" Inlight asked, inspecting the weaponry Saphire Maverick was giving him.

"Well... no. This majestic Tripcaster which comes all the way from the Mount Aris, and was perfected by the Siren blacksmiths deploys a tripwire which on contact explodes, making the target catch himself on fire!" Blue stallion was explaining, holding a tripcaster decorated with white metal and golden engravings.

"I'm not sure why 20-hoof tall sea creatures would need a simple weaponry." Inlight said with doubt in Saphire's words.

"Well, gh... they somehow turn themselves into a land creatures, like ponies or griffons..." blue stallion answered, putting down the tripcaster near the other weaponry. "Nobody knows how exacly they do this, but I'm sure there some kind magical thingy I don't understand going on." He then stood up and looked at the flame-maned stallion again. "Anyway, is that all?"

"That's all." Inlight spoke, checking his pouches and other things. Those should be enough to get him to Canterlot and beyond. "How much it will cost?"

"Normally it would cost 100 bits, but I dont think you have them, don't you?" Inlight Dust shook his head, and Saphire Maverick continiued. "Well, I can always use metal shards as a payment! It would be... uh, 500 metal shards. Should be the same value as the bits."

Well, he was in luck. All of the machine hunting and salvaging finally repaid flame-maned pegasi. He quickly took out a pouch filled with metal shards, and with quick move of his hoof, landed it on the table between him and merchant.

"Here it is!" Inlight said, before waving his hoof and walking away from the stallion. The job was done, now he had to just-

"HELLO!" A figure suddenly appeared just infront of him, which made pegasi yelp in surprise and unexpected greeting by oddly familiar voice. It took a time for Inlight to recover, but he looked uo soon, and saw...

"S-Sliver Reef!?" He exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yep, that's me!" Light-blue hippogriff introduced herself, making a proud smile on her face. But it quickly turned into a look full of empathy. "You're probably think what am I doing here?"

"Yes I do! What are you doing here!?"

"Calm down! I flew here all the way from Embrase to just talk to you!" Sliver Reef started to defend herself, which made Inlight calm down a little. "Look, I've been thinking about you and how you will find the killers so... I've decided to join you!"

Inlight Dust, meanwhile, made a coupke of blinks out of pure confusion, and statement his hippogriff friend made. "W-what?"

"Don't worry! The Seeker's mark of yours should protect me from exile! I hope..." she pointed at pegasi's mark, while he stared at her with confusion.

"But... why? Why do you need to come with me to Equestria?"

"I..." Sliver Reef closed his beak, thinking for a proper answer. "I want to... I want to prove myself to everyone. Prove that I can be not only a stitcher, but a hunter too! You can't imagine how much I was called out for that. Like I am some sort of failure... I don't want to be like this, Inlight." She spoke, her eyes starting to water. And flame-maned pegasi could only stare at her, biting his lip. He couldn't just tell her to go back, not after... he had to let her go with him.

Inlight sighed heavily, looking down on a brick covered in snow, but then he looked up again. "Fine you can come with me." And before he could react, he was quickly embrased into a tight hug, paired with hippogriff thanking him for his kindness.

"Oooh thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Sliver Reef thanked him, letting him go after a moment. "I cannot be more grateful than ever! Thank you!"

Inlight Dust, now paired with the Sliver Reef, walked through the gates into Equestria. The long journey awaited him, but he was not alone. He didn't know what to think about it, as he don't want to make her upset, nor put her into the danger. But he was sure of one thing – she's with him for a while. For bad or for good it will do.

"So, we are going to the... Canterlot, right? The journey there would take us a couple of days atleast... I think." Sliver Reed was speaking besides him, and she had a point. He couldn't fly because of his temporary injury, and it would take a while for them to get there. But as he was thinking about it, he saw something in the corner of his eye. Looking at it, he saw two horse-like machines standing near each other and inspecting the land. And on that moment, a lightbulb appeared in Inlight's head.

"Actualy... we don't need hooves to get there!"

On the back of the Strider, Inlight rode the machine forward to the east, Sliver Reef somewhat holding up to him. She had a little trouble riding the machine, but still, they rode together. To find their journey!

Duo took their way on the mountainside, going by the well made trail to the city. While going to the Canterlot, Inlight spotted a couple of Metal Devils rising from the ground – one had it's head burried in the mountain and it's arms covering it, other was standing on a hill, like he was going south, before miraculously stopping forever.

Inlight Dust and Sliver Reef traveled on the road, before they made it to the spot of the land from which they saw it – large city made out of white stone, built on the side of the mountain, towering over the land below. A lot of ponies were walking in the small market, just before the gates with tall walls. And on the farthest side, a big castle was seen, indicating where the Princess lived. The view was facinating. Hippogriff's beak fell wide open, while Inlight stared at the city with more amazement than ever. He've never seen a city like that before! But he quickly shook his head, and dismounted off the overriden Strider, commanding his companion to do so too.

"I'll do the talking. I don't think they will listen to... well, you." Inlight said whike they both moved forward to the gates. "No offence."

"None taken!"

The Nora duo walked to the gates, which was filled with soldiers guarding it. Archers were on the walls, while swordstallions were on the ground. Inlight walked forward to one of the guards, and opened his mouth.

"I'm looking for passage in the ci-"

"The city gates are closed due to a recent machine attacks!" One of the soldiers declared out loud, which didn't surprise Inlight for a bit.

"Ngh... I'm looking for a soldier named Silverhoof? The one with silver armor? Dark blue coat?" Pegasi questioned, looking at the guards, who in turn shook their heads while being on their duty. He was about to give up the search and probably get into the city somehow, but then he heard a familiar male voice.

"Sweet Celestia... Inlight Dust!?" He heard from his side, and when he turned his head to the source of the voice, flame-maned pony was greeted by an incoming dark blue coated pony. "You're actualy alive!"

"Silverhoof. It's nice to see you too." Nora Seeker greeted him.

"When the attack on your Proving happened, we've scrambled so fast to get out of the Embrase! I swear they could've eat me alive just by their looks! And now you're alive! But why are you here?" Silverhoof spoke with happiness in his voice, which quickly turned with confusion.

"I'm looking for your sister, North Star. She.." Inlight looked back at the guards, and then made a couple of steps away from them, Silverhoof following him. "She's working with the killers who attacked the Proving."

"H-what!?" Soldier's eyes widened from what he heard. "B-but that's impossible! She can't work for them, she couldn't..."

"Uh, excuse me?" Sliver Reef suddenly spoke, which surprised Silverhoof at first. "I'm Sliver Reef, I'm with Inlight. I just wanted to ask that... how can you be sure that she is not working with them?" She questioned, making the stallion think for a while.

"Well she can't go like thay, she's my sister! With who you rarely even speak.. don't even visited her... oh my Celestia.." he covered his face with his hoof, out of pure confusion being in his brain.

"Is she in this city, Silverhoof?" Inlight questioned.

"No, she went on her delving expedition somewhere a couple of days ago, but I know where she lives..." Silverhoof spoke.

"Can you take us there?" Sliver Reef asked.

"Yes... fine, I will take you there." Silverhoof said, starting to make his way to the gates, followed by a pegasi and a hippogriff. Guards, this time, let them pass through, and opened the view of the inside of the Canterlot for outlanders to see.

The city was filled with white houses standing near each other across the streets, while lots of ponies were walking by. A lot of them were wearing a formal clothes, some were even in chariots. A group of mares passed by, talking about the recent news, and a couple of ponies even glared at the pair of outlanders, following the soldier.

"I think we're getting close... now to the left!" Silverhoof spoke, turning left.

"Well, ponies here are... welcoming." Sliver Reef voiced her thoughts, looking at the staring citizens of Canterlot.

"Well they are not used to seeing outlanders, especialy other creatures, so... oh here we are!" Dark-blue stallion suddenly declared, stopping before the ordinary house, which looked just like other houses.

"So this is her house?" Inlight asked equestian pony. "Have you've been inside?"

"Well... no. She would never let me in." Silverhoof said, trying to open the door, but it was, unsurprisingly, locked. "Uh oh, uh... one moment." He then picked up some kind of ring from his belt, housing a lot of different keys. "It might take a while." He said, starting to look for the right keys. A minute has passed, then another, and another, and another. Silverhoof still couldn't find the right keys. This was starting to annoy Inlight, a lot. "Oh, I think I found them!" He turned his glance on Silverhoof, who seemed to picked the right keys, but after a brief moment, his facial expretion changed. "No, not them..."

That was his final straw. And without thinking twice, Inlight trotted to the doors, puched Silverhoof out of the way, and made a strong punch with his hindlegs, opening them wide open. Sliver Reef looked at it with amusement, while dark-blue stallion stared at it with surprise. "Okay... I think we can go that way. J-just don't break anything inside!" He said as both outlanders walked into the house, along with guard too.

The house was well decorated. The closet was near the main doors, along with some horseshoe pairs. There were paintings on the walls, some of them were North Star's and Silverhoof's together, others were paintings of the different locations of the world. There were also stairs, and near them there was a big rug too.

"Woah." Hippogriff exclaimed looking at the interior. "She has some great house..."

"I'm not sure if I can still trust you, but if your words are true then we should find something that can lead to her." Silverhoof explained, while both Sliver Reef and Inlight Dust walked inside, examining different items. Hippogriff was looking at the different paintings on the walls, while flame-maned pegasi looked in the other side of the house.

"I still don't quite get it... why aren't you and North Star talking or atleast meet each other anymore? You looked... happy together?" Light-blue maned hippogriff asked, while looking at the painting of Silverhoof and a missing pony. In turn, dark-blue pony walked towards help.

"To be honest, I don't know why we stopped talking. Was it when I joined the army, or when she was captured in the Moon Raids, we stopped speaking. I tried once to reason with her but... she never replied."

"Your sister was captured in the Moon Raids?" She looked down to the soldier.

"Yes. Almost lost my mind when they took her. Thank Celestia she survived..." Both if them continued to look at the painting, while Inlight wasn't sitting on one place. He looked though everything, but yet there was no clue. He even thought about going upstairs, and started to go there, but he captured something with the corner of his eye...

He looked doen, and saw a metal panel underneath the rug. "What's that?" Inlight walked towards it, and decided to take the rug away, twisting it away from the floor. And when he finished, he made a new discovery. "Guys? I found something!" He exclaimed, alerting both Sliver Reef and Silverhoof. And when they moved closer, they saw what Inlight found – doors to the basement.

"Well you found her basement, congratulations. But it's over." Silverhoof stated.

"Why?" Sliver Reef asked.

"It's doors made out of clean steel, from the best forges of the whole continent! I would recognise it from anywhere... nothing can break it."

"We'll see about that..." Inlight said, and made his way upstairs, leaving both hiplogriff and the guard alone. Maybe there is something he can use. He walked through the room which looked like a bedroom, with large bed and a small table to the sides. On the opposite side there was some kind of storage room, and a ladder up. That seemed interesting. Climbing the ladder, he looked to what was in the attic, and saw a large box of metal instruments. Heavy, and near the hole which lead directly to the basement doors! And the idea came to Inlight's head.

"So uh... it's okay for me to like, ask things to you?" Sliver Reef asked Silverhoof, both of them standing in the middle of the room.

"I mean you are Inlight's friend, and friend of my friend is... my friend? Or was it about enemies..." he said, putting the hoof to his chin.

"I think it works both ways." She calmly answered.

CRASH!

Both creatures yelped from a surprise, when a loud sound came from behind them. And when they turned their heads, they saw a broken box of metal equipment, together with a metal basement door... or what's left of it. Both of them walked closer, and Silverhoof looked up, seeing happy Inlight, who just opened the door.

"Didn't I say to not break anything!?" He said, but it didn't bother flame-mane pegasi, as the doors were opened.

It didn't took long for him to go down and explore the basement, and when the trio walked down the stone stairs, they were greeted by a rather big room. The walls were made out of stone, and inside there were tables with scrolls. Candles were strangely lit up, probably some magic spell did this when they entered. And looking at the room, flame-maned pegasi, dark-blue stallion and light-blue hippogriff moved forward, to find whatever they could.

"Can't believe I'm breaking into North Star's home... and looking through her things!" Silverhoof spoke to himself while looking at what looked like map of digsites. Sliver Reef, meanwhile, looked through the ton of scrolls and tables, looking for anything valuable. But Inlight was more lucky than others, succesfuly scanning the scrolls and looking through them. His Focus could easily translate the new language for him, which made the process even easier. But while looking through the scrolls, pegasi found some kind of device, not like other things in the room. It looked like a panel with some kind of holographic interface, which had some data on it.

Suddenly, two purple-blue figures appeared, two of them were unicorns. And only one of them, with killer's mask and curved horn, stood above the other in a menacing manner.

"Serve, and you live. Dissobey – and I will personally cut your throat and leave your body for Equestria to see!" Distorded female voice said, coming from underneath the mask, as the other pony, North Star, stared at her, petrified from fear. The datapoint ended here, leaving Inlight in pure disbelief.

"She was threatened... to work with them?" He said quietly. All this time he thought that she was working together with the killers, willingly spying for them. But now? He didn't even know what to think about!

"You found something?" A voice from the back was heard, and when he turned his head, he saw Silverhoof.

"I-"

"I found something!" Sliver Reef suddenly declared, which brought attention of both stallions. Going there, the hippogriff passed some kind of book to Inlight, which he quickly scanned and translated. It was North Star's journal. And that meant that...

"Yes! She wrote about the attack on the Proving. Right... here! And when she will go! Place called... Bison's Steps?" Inlight questioned before the journal was taken from him by Silverhoof. He hold it for a couple of seconds, reading everything in it. And when he stopped, he looked at the ground with disbelief, and... sadness in his eyes.

"All this years... and she does that!?"

"Silverhoof, I don't think she does that willingly. She was threatened." Inlight said, which made both stallion and hippogriff look in shock.

"Threatened!? By the killers!?" Silverhoof exclaimed with shock and anger, as Sliver Reef stood quiet, thinking about it.

"Maybe when she was captive they threatened her?" Hippogriff suddenly spoke. "You said that she was captured in the Moon Raids, right? Maybe the killers encountered her there?" She assumed, which calmed down Silverhoof a little.

"I think we need some air..."

Trio of two outlanders and a guard walked out of the house, closing the doors behind. All of them stayed silent for a while, breathing deeply and processing everything they known of.

"We know where did she go, and she probably has the killers with her too... then we'll go there and save her from theese bastards!" Silverhoof declared, rising his left hoof into the air... before lowering them to his chin. "That might actualy be complicated..."

"What do you mean?" Inlight asked.

"Bison's Steps are in the Bison territory, and they don't like intruders that much. We will clearly need some help and I can get it, if I convince Princess Celestia that it's worth it. But for that I'll need a Nora as a witness and-"

"I can go!" Sliver Reef declared.

"...uh huh. But even if Princess Celestia will get the right ammount of soldiers, it would take a while to get into the Bison territory! Let alone negotiating with them! That would take days to get all of it..."

"And she can be gone soon..." Inlight said, before an idea came to his head. A dangerous one, but effective. "Silverhoof, get a journal to the princess and get some soldiers. I will try to get there first."

"Wait, you will try to defeat the killers all by yourself!?" Silverhoof exclaimed, but was quickly cut off by Sliver Reef.

"Inlight is no ordinary fighter, and he can stand his ground! If he survived the massacre and defeated the demon machines twice, then he surely can defeat them!" Sliver Reef explained, which made Silverhoof agree with Inlight's plan.

"Mgh, okay..." he then turned his head to a Nora Seeker. "But whatever you'll do, don't hurt my sister!"

"Don't worry. I won't." Inlight Dust promised, and started to walk away from the duo. "Stay safe!" He waved his hoof, on which others answered with the same. A long way waited for him, but he knew what he had to do. And no matter what he promised to Silverhoof, he had to interogate North Star, and ask her everything – who the killers were, why they want him dead, who was that large stallion? There was so much to answer, but it seemed that they will come only one after another.

And with those thoughts on mind, Inlight trotted his way to the gates of Canterlot, to start his new, long journey for answers...

Author's Note

Yeah... I rewrited it 7 times, that's why I didn't release it for a long time. I cut entire scenes, rewrited a couple of ones too.

Writing is so... pain.