#cheighlund

“Royalty on the deck!”

All motion in the giant chamber ceased at the cry.  (Well, almost all. Twilight noted with a grin that one gangly pegasus stallion was still trying to extract himself from under the piece of equipment he’d been working on.)  In the silence, the speaker, a dull grey unicorn stallion with a blindingly white mane, stepped forward.  “Princess Sparkle.  We are honored by your presence.”  He then turned, bowing before Twilight’s griffon companion.  “Prince Lionel.”

Twilight coughed, drawing the stallion’s attention back to her.  “Commander Moonstone.  All goes well with the project, then?”

“It does, your highness.”  Moonstone turned, bowing before the griffon prince, before speaking again.  “The ships are almost ready.  Only a few more weeks, then we begin the trial runs.  Is there anything in particular you’d care to inspect, your highness?”

Twilight shook her head.  “No, this isn’t a technical visit, it’s a diplomatic one.  Considering it was griffon engineering that made this place possible, I thought it would be a friendly gesture to show his highness what we’ve been doing.”

Moonstone glanced over to where the young prince stood gawking at the scene before him.  “I understand.  Do you need a guide, or will you be staying with him the entire time?”

At the question, Lionel broke out of his shock long enough to turn to Twilight.  “Um, stay, please?”  At her quizzical look, he waved a wing out over the open space beyond.  “If I got lost out there, I don’t think anybody’d find me for a week!”

Twilight turned, looking out again, and smiled.  The cavernous room was large, true, but there was so much equipment in it that it would be difficult to be truly hidden - anyone wandering around could be seen from the command deck.  “I don’t think you have to worry about that, but you’re welcome to stay with me if you like.”  A slight grin crossed over her face, and she stretched a hoof out to the young prince.  “You want to see something beautiful?”

“What’s that?”

“Just follow me and hang close.”  With those words, Twilight snapped her wings and took to the air, carefully maneuvering through the open spaces above her until she came to rest on a small platform set into the wall high above.  Were it not for the massive drop-off to one side, the area would have almost felt like a cozy alcove.  Twilight waited until Lionel caught up with her, then pulled open the door the platform led to, motioning for Lionel to go through before her.

As Twilight stepped inside and pulled the door shut, she felt the impact against the wall beside her, and turned to catch the griffon prince.  “It’s okay, Lionel,” she said.  “It’s just a window.  A massive one, I admit, but still a window.  You won’t be able to fall out.”

Lionel turned back to the window in question, an enormous bubble of transparency covering the floor, ceiling, and walls of the ‘room’.  Below lay the bleak emptiness of space, with a shining blue-green expanse filling most of the area above.  “Is that really…?”

Twilight nodded.  “Yes.  That’s the Earth above us.”  She thought for a moment, then nodded and formed a pointer of light, aiming it at a specific location.  “Given the time, if you watch here for a moment, you should see–”

“I can see it already,” Lionel said.  “It’s the edge of Altai.  Kestrel’s already in view.”

Twilight glanced up.  “So it is.  Huh.  I must have miscalculated something.”  She shook her head, then turned back.  “I know you’ve probably been in the air since infancy, but how does it feel to look down on your homeland from this far up?”

“Strange.  Especially since I’m having to crane my neck up to see it.”  He turned his head back, watching the world above move by.

Time Limit

After several minutes, Twilight aimed her pointer at another portion of the sky.  “It’s not quite as beautiful, but that’s what this is all about.”

Lionel turned, spotting instantly what she meant.  Three long tubes, mottled gray, hung in space, their names emblazoned on them in some kind of bronze alloy.  “The exploratory task force, I take it?”  He looked closer.  “Unusual names.”

“Yeah, but I think they would have wanted it that way.  Hard to believe this whole station began with them.  Just a simple earth pony with a knack for tools, a pegasus who wanted to reach the stars, and a unicorn who managed to hold the two together as a dream took shape.”  Twilight brushed her eye, sweeping away the forming tear.  “It’s too bad it took this long to get here.  Four hundred years was a bit longer than they could afford to wait.  Still, I know they’re with us in spirit.”  She turned back, looking out the window again.

Lionel may have been young and (he’d be the first to admit) inexperienced, but there were some things even he couldn’t mistake. And so, he simply stood there in silence, allowing Twilight’s grief, joy, and pride to flow from her eyes as they gazed down on the space-suited workers putting finishing touches on the ships of Task Force Crusade.

Krizak Comments!

Half an hour later, Rainbow looked down the hillside to the caves over by the far edge of the frozen lake.  As Rarity had said on the way over, there were figures moving over there - not just any figures, but distant pony-shapes given away by their colors as changelings.  Rainbow twisted back, looking Rarity straight in the eyes.  “Good call, Rare.  Let’s get back; Twi needs to hear about this immediately.”

“No, ‘darling’, I rather think she doesn’t.”

Rainbow backed away from the smirk growing on Rarity’s face.  “Rarity, what gives?”

“You can’t figure it out?”  The half-lidded gaze on Rarity’s face mocked Rainbow, while the unicorn mare’s voice practically purred.  “Dear Rainbow, there’s nopony here but the two of us.  Who, exactly, would come to your rescue if something should happen to you?”

“Rarity?”  Dash jumped backwards, then did so again as Rarity stepped forward.  “Rare, what are you doing?”

“I’m doing my job, darling.  I’m taking out one of Ponyville’s best defenders.”  Rarity took one more step forward, forcing Dash backwards into the trunk of a tree.  Then, several things flew past Dash’s gaze in rapid succession.

A flash of green.

A streak of black.

A burst of magic, aiming upward.

And finally, a cascade of brilliant white, surrounding her and blotting out everything else.

Rarity snickered, her now-black scarf waving in the rush of air as the entire tree’s worth of snow, as well as the contents of the large snow-filled bags it had been holding, landed on Rainbow Dash.  After a few seconds, she reached over and offered her hoof, hauling Dash out of the impromptu snowbank the pegasus had become part of.  “Well, D-dash, do you cons-cede defeat?”

Dash spluttered a bit, getting the last of the snow out of her mouth, then shook her wings off (perhaps innocently) into Rarity’s face.  “Yeah, yeah,” she said, “I get it.  I’m trapped.”

“B-but of course you are, darling.  It just took a l-little cleverness.”

“Right.”  Rainbow looked around for a second, then turned back to Rarity.  “But even if I’m officially trapped now, then there shouldn’t be any problem with my unofficially doing this, should there?”  Without warning, she snapped her wing out and used it as a scoop, tossing a large load of fallen snow straight at Rarity.

The unicorn mare snapped her eyes up in mock outrage.  “Oh, so th-that’s how it is, is it?”  A telekinetic sweep quickly passed along the ground, tossing almost as much snow back into Rainbow’s face.  “Well t-two can play that game, D-dash!”

Rainbow, another scoop of snow already forming, paused.  “Rare?  You okay?”

“I’m f-fine, Dash.  Just a bit chilly, p-perhaps.  I think I w-was out here a bit too l-long, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”  Dash wrapped her free wing around Rarity’s barrel, then snapped it back.  “Rare, you’re freezing!  We need to get you to some warmth now!”

“B-but Twilight’s war g-game, the r-rules say–”

“Stuff the rules, Rare, this is serious!  Look, is that really the changeling team’s camp down there?”  At Rarity’s nod, Rainbow went on.  “Then I’ll walk you down there, and we can get you beside a campfire or something until you’re feeling better.  I’ve already surrendered, remember?”  Dash spread her wing out again, wrapping it around Rarity and pulling the unicorn mare to her side.  “Now let’s get going.”

“Hello the camp!”  Rainbow watched in amusement as the ponies of the ‘changeling’ team ran forward, black scarves fluttering.  “A little help here, please?”

“What’s going on?”

“Minuette, right?  Rarity needs to get some heat, asap.  She’s been out there too long.”

Time Limit

“Buh...wha...you can’t just–”

Rainbow cut the unicorn mare off.  “Look, if this is about the wargame, I officially surrender.  Now can you please get Rarity to some warmth?”

Minuette took a look at Rarity’s shivering form, and snapped a nod.  “Harvest, go grab a blanket and get Rarity over to the first firepit.”  The indicated pony snapped a nod, then placed a hoof around Rarity’s withers and began guiding her onward.  Minuette turned back to Dash.  “We still have to see what to do about you; the rules never imagined a scenario like this one.”

Rainbow nodded back.  “Just make sure Rare’s safe.  That’s the important part as far as I’m concerned.”

Rarity looked up as Rainbow Dash stepped over to her spot by the campfire.  The pegasus mare’s original scarf had been replaced by one of the illusion-spelled black scarves the changeling team used, and Dash nodded as she sat down.  “It’s official, Rare.  They’ve got you listed as having captured-slash-replacing me.  Congratulations.”

Rarity looked up from her cup of cocoa.  “Thank you, Dash.  I’m sorry I worried you out there, though.”

“Eh, things happen.  Just don’t stay out so long next time.”  She snapped a wide grin.  “And get warm soon; we’ve still got the ‘Invading Ponyville’ snowball fight scheduled for this afternoon, remember?”

Rarity nodded.  “I do.  I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Krizak Comments!

Luminous Gaze smiled. “It’s not a problem, my dear.” The smile then faltered a bit, fading completely from her eyes. ”But I do think it might be wise for you to make your selections, and for us to take our leave. You know the legend your friend Applejack was talking about the last time you were here.”

Twilight tilted her head. “The Pony of Shadows?” At Luminous Gaze’s nod, she shook her head. “That’s just an old mare’s tale.”

Luminous Gaze looked Twilight directly in the eye, her own eyes flaring slightly. “That’s what others said about Nightmare Moon, wasn’t it, my princess?” The shining pony moved her head, glancing into every corner of the room she could see. “I have reason to believe the legends are real. And the Pony of Shadows is most decidedly not something I want to see.”

Twilight frowned, but nodded. “Fine, we can head out. It’s a shame, though. I really don’t want to leave these books behind. There’s so much I could learn from them!”

Luminous Gaze nodded again. “I understand. And I’ll be happy to help you explore them as much as you want, but later. We really do need to head out now, princess.”

“Fine,” muttered Twilight. “Lead the way.”

“Wha… how did that happen?” Thick clouds roiled overhead, darkening the night skies as Twilight stared at the bridge leading from the castle to the rest of the Everfree Forest. It was easy enough to keep the bridge in sight; it was now hanging from the far edge down into the depths.

“The Pony of Shadows,” said Luminous Gaze, fearfully. “This must be his doing!”

Twilight grimaced. “Well that’s just peachy. What do I… wait, I forgot,” she said with a slight laugh. “I’ve got wings now.”

“That’s all nice, but I’m afraid I don’t! How do I get across? Please, take me with you! Surely you wouldn’t leave me to face the Pony of Shadows, my princess?”

“What? No, of course not!” said Twilight, stung by the accusation.

“Then please, get me out of here before–”

“It’s too late for that now.” Twilight looked up in alarm, Luminous Gaze in outright fear, as something stepped forward from the edge of the ancient castle. “You cannot escape me this time.”

Twilight gaped in awe of the creature before her. By all appearances, it looked like an alicorn stallion carved out of the depths of the night itself, only the glowing gold of its eyes breaking the deep black as it flared its wings. “Stay back,” Twilight said with a gulp. “I’m warning you, don’t come any closer!”

“I have no quarrel with you, child. My battle is with the creature with you. I ask that you permit me to perform my task.”

Twilight turned to Luminous Gaze, who appeared to be shaking in fear. “Twilight, please, you don’t have the strength to fight that thing! Get me out of here!” She turned, jumping into the air as if trying to land on Twilight’s back.

“NO!” Twilight wasn’t sure what had happened. Suddenly, somehow, the Pony of Shadows had gotten between Luminous Gaze and Twilight herself, throwing her backwards to land at the foot of the castle. “I forbid it, monster! She is not yours to take!”

As Twilight looked up, Luminous Gaze screamed with rage. “She called upon me! It is my right! And I will claim my price!”

“She slumbered, and dreamt of asking aid, nothing more! You have no claim upon her, and I will not allow you to take her! Begone!”

“I shall not, fool! I have said I will claim my price!” Luminous Gaze turned her eyes, now burning with anger, on Twilight. “You will take me upon yourself,” she hissed, “and make me a part of you!”

Twilight swallowed, her throat suddenly dry with fear as she finally recognized the sound of Luminous Gaze’s voice. Really, given the location she should have seen it earlier. “No, Nightmare! I want nothing to do with you!”

“It’s too late, you pathetic little whelp! You are mine!” A wave of light shot out of the Nightmare’s body, aiming for Twilight’s all-to-fragile form as Twilight frantically sought a way to escape it.

“AND I SAY NO!” The bellow was accompanied by a hissing sound, and Twilight looked up in shock. The Pony of Shadows lay in front of her, the stream of the Nightmare’s magic barreling into and around it, searing at the edges of the creature’s outstretched wings, eroding its aetheric flesh like acid on a rock. She could feel the creature’s agony, and yet it stayed there, taking the blow on its own form, hiding her in…

Time Limit

Twilight looked up, realization on her face. The Pony of Shadows was shielding her… within its own shadow.

She rose to her hooves, careful not to permit any of the real monster’s magic to touch her. “Nightmare! I’ve seen what you do to ponies! There is nothing in this world that could make me want to take you in! I reject you, monster! Begone!”

The night suddenly stilled, the bright waves of the Nightmare’s magic fading into nothingness. When Twilight dared look, the shining form of the Nightmare’s false face was nowhere to be seen.

“Well chosen, little one.” Twilight jumped as the Pony of Shadows spoke to her. “That evil will not be back this night.” He rose, and Twilight winced at the sight of the injuries on his form.

“You… you did that for me. Why? Applejack’s legend painted you as some kind of monster. Why would you…?”

The Pony of Shadows chuckled. “Legends rarely get everything right, milady. That’s all I will say.” It turned. “Well, not quite all. Please, milady,” it said, bowing low, “tell my sweet Luna that I am sorry I failed her.” It seemed to shimmer, and to fade away.

Krizak Comments!

Queen Sacer looked over to Shroud, her hoof pressed reflexively against her head from the communications. “What is it, and where?”

“They say it looks like a sealed jewelry case, but whatever’s inside of it is radiating a powerful aura of magic. It’s in the giant tree-building on the other side of town.”

Sacer snorted. “Then why are we still standing around here? Let’s get going.”

Several minutes later, the two entered the building. The tree itself was still alive, although the building within it, possibly some kind of store from all the scattered shelves, had fallen into disarray as the tree’s own branches curved back inwards. As stated, a box stood on the table, several changelings arrayed around it and looking at it hungrily. As she drew nearer, Sacer realized why this was so.

Whatever was in the box was, as she’d been informed, putting out a powerful aura of magic. She couldn’t tell what the magic within actually was, but whatever kind of magic it might be, merely possessing it would be enough to raise her within the royal family to a high position. It smelled intoxicating, to boot.

The box wasn’t just locked; as noted, it had been magically sealed as well. Gray ashes on the box, and the horns of a couple of the changelings, indicated that even after four centuries the seal was still going strong. Sacer briefly considered hauling one of her subjects in and using him or her as a lockpick, disregarding the situation the unfortunate choice might be in, but chose instead to look for another option, keeping that one in reserve. “Whoever set this here must have had some way to undo the seal. And as much as I can’t comprehend why, it likely would’ve been something any of the ponies could have used, not just the owner. Spread out and find it.”

Above them, unseen and unheard, a pair of scaled claws grabbed for a handful of strange objects.

After an hour of searching, all leads appeared to have come up fruitless. Just as Queen Sacer was about to go into a rage, however, a voice spoke from somewhere above. “I think I’ve got what you want.”

The Queen looked up into the green eyes of a largish purple dragon, one which stood as tall as she did. “Well, then, wyrm, give it to me.”

The dragon shook its head. “Just give it to you, for nothing? I don’t think so. I’ll give you what you want, and in exchange, you help me get what I want.” It glanced down at the box, then back into Sacer’s eyes. “Surely with the power I can feel coming from that thing, you won’t have any problem doing so.”

“Agreed,” the Queen snapped. She had, of course, no intention of carrying her part out, but there wasn’t any reason to tell the wyrm that, was there? It merely nodded, and came down.

“Take this,” it said, flipping a gemstone over to her. The rock, an oddly heart-shaped red crystal, glowed with an inner light of its own, and she lit up as she took it in her magic. “I think that’ll open that box for you.”

Sacer placed the stone against the box, and did indeed feel some kind of reaction. She shot the two objects with a burst of her own magic, activating theirs, and felt the box unlatch. She quickly pulled it open, dragging the precious objects within out.

A low whistle escaped from Sacer’s lips as she realized the value of her find. The contents of the box were the artifacts called the Elements of Harmony; they’d been kept in the Royal Palace when her mother had invaded, but disappeared somehow before the invasion could completely seal Canterlot. With this, she wouldn’t just have some power… only her own mother would hold greater, and even that might be changed. Carefully, she put the precious objects back within and closed the box, then picked it up to carry out.

As she stepped toward the doorway, the dragon called out to her. “I kept my part of the bargain. It’s time for you to keep yours.”

“Silly lizard,” she called back, “what makes you think I would do something like that? I’ve got what I want, after all.”

“Who said I was giving you a choice?” At the bleak tone in the dragon’s voice, Sacer turned around. It was holding up a large candle, strange sigils inscribed upon it. “You monsters took my friends from me. Now, it’s time to remedy that.” He blew on the candle, green flames setting it alight, and the emblems on it began to glow green as well.

The dragon chuckled. “I should have paid more attention to that when I was younger. It might have saved some problems. I mean, green fire? When the other dragons I know of breath ordinary orange flames?” He shook his head. “Really, if I’d just figured it out then…”

Sacer snorted. “I fail to see how this is any concern of mine,” she said, turning around. Or rather, trying to. Her eyes grew wide when she realized she couldn’t move. “What are you doing?”

Time Limit

“You’re going to help me bring my friends back. It took me four centuries, but I’ve learned how to open a gate to them, and what it’ll take to pluck them through.” He blew another burst of flame, and the air itself seemed to catch fire, the thick dust of the ancient town suddenly igniting a poisonous yellowy-green. As Sacer watched, the dragon breathed a hole into the air, and innumerable strange half-seen forms began darting through it, flying around. Every so often, one of them would run into one of her spell-bound subjects, and it would drop, its eyes taking on the same yellow-green light as the burning air. Finally, she watched in horror as one of the shapes headed straight for her, piercing her body, and a chilling voice spoke thoughtfully in her head. ‘Hmm… I guess you’ll do.’ After that, she knew no more.

Spike watched as the ghosts flickered around, and he smiled when the changeling queen sank to the floor. He walked over to her, and extended his claw downward, watching as her eyes transformed from deep green to light purple. She shook her head, glanced up at Spike, and then a grateful smile covered her face as she put her hoof into the offered claw and he pulled her up. “Wow, Spike,” she said, “you’ve grown since I saw you last.”

“Yeah, well, it’s been two hundred years since the last zebra shaman I could find was put to death. I’m just glad the entire plan was worked out by then, Twi. Oh, and would you mind changing to your old appearance? Queen nasty here’s giving me the creeps even with you in her.”

“Right, sorry.” A burst of green flame surrounded Sacer’s form, and when it faded, Twilight Sparkle stood in her place. Similar bursts of green appeared around others, denoting the transformations of, among many others, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, who promptly changed into a winged version of herself and started trying to chase Dash around the room. “I didn’t think about…”

“It’s all right, Twilight. I’m just glad to have you guys back. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us if we’re going to free Equestria from those monsters.”

Krizak Comments!

Twilight wasn’t too far behind him, her own hooves grasping Fluttershy’s barrel with equal intensity. “Fluttershy, I can’t believe this! I mean, I have to, because I’m seeing you with my own eyes, but...Shy, we thought you were dead! After that blast of magic hit you, all we could find was the tips of some feathers and a bit of hair! How did you survive? What happened to you?”

“I… I don’t know. I remember trying to throw Spike to safety, and then a very bright light, and I think I blacked out. When I woke up, I was resting on the dirt somewhere with a sore wing. After that, Seri and Seef found me, and they took care of me until I was well enough to start back home. I’m sorry it took me so long to get back.”

“Please, Fluttershy. Tell me whatever you can about your trip.”

“I’ll try. Um, could you let go of me, Twilight? It’s getting a bit hard to breathe.”

“Oh...oh!” Twilight stepped back, freeing Fluttershy from the death-grip hug. “Sorry. Now go on, please.”

Fluttershy nodded. “It happened like this.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ah, our fair guest is wakening up. How do you feeling, little flier-pony?”

Fluttershy looked upwards. Standing above her was a brown stallion with blackish-gray mane and tail. She couldn’t see his cutie mark, but she could see that, unless her eyes were playing tricks on her, he was one of the biggest ponies she’d ever seen, almost the size of the princesses. And he had an expectant look on his face.

“Um, I’m sorry. I’m afraid I don’t know who you are, or where I am.”

The stallion reared back. “My sorry, little one. I am being called Seef… in your tongue, I trusting it means rock-made? Forgiving, please; I sorrying if my talking is not so good; it is rare that I have even those who talking my Arabian tongue, let alone others.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, that’s all right. You’re speaking Equestrian very well, actually. Um, it’s a little unusual, but not much.” She then pulled her hoof to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry too! You told me your name, and I didn’t tell you mine. I’m Fluttershy.”

“Much goodness and thanks do I giving, then, little Fluttershy. My companion was finding you in the wilderness, and she was having me bring you to this place to recovering.” He turned aside. Fluttershy couldn’t tell what he said next, as it wasn’t in Equestrian, but he turned back to her. “Little Seri-heart is come to seeing you.”

Fluttershy watched as something bounded into the room. At first glance, it looked like a yellow rabbit, a bit smaller than her own Angel-bunny, but then the bouncing creature stopped and she got a good look at it. She’d missed one detail - the yellow ‘bunny’ in front of her had a black horn on it, almost like a unicorn’s horn.

“Seri-heart, this is Fluttershy. Fluttershy, please meeting Seri-heart. It is she who has been keeping you warmth through the nights.”

“Oh, she’s beautiful. What kind of creature is she? I’ve never seen anything like her before.”

Seef laughed. “She is being an almiraj, little Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy spent a week recuperating with Seef and Seri, helping Seef to work on his Equestrian and learning Arabian in return, and at the end of that time, she thought she was ready to try heading back to civilization. Seef loaded her down with as much food and water as he could spare for her, but the real surprise was when she headed to the door. Seri stood in front of it, looking up, and Seef looked at the almiraj, then back to Fluttershy.

“She wants to go with you, little Fluttershy. She tells me you need her protections on the way.” He shook his head. “Be taking her, little one. Otherwise, she will follow anyway and may come to hurt.”

Fluttershy looked at the almiraj’s planative face, and nodded. “Come along then, Seri-bunny. I bet Angel-bunny would just love to meet you.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Time Limit

Spike broke in. “Wait, you brought a, a bunnicorn back with you?”

Fluttershy nodded, but Twilight glared at him. “Let her finish her story, Spike.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Twilight. There’s really not that much to tell after that. Two days after I left Seef’s house, we came into one of the smaller towns in Saddle Arabia, and from there I just kept going until I made it to the border. After I crossed into Equestria again, I thought about trying to get a letter back to you, but I decided I could probably make it back just as fast as a letter could. Again, I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“I don’t care how long it took, Fluttershy. But we do need to tell the other girls… they’ll want to know you’re back. It’s just so good to see you again!”

Krizak Comments!

“As you wish. The pony culture appears to be made up of three differing subcultures, based around morphological differences; there is, however, some evidence that the division between the groups may be due to innate abilities associated with these differences, rather than the differences itself. By their own claims, until recently these subcultures appear to have been separate cultures in their own right, interacting only as necessary for their own individual survival. What, precisely, brought about that change is unknown, although it appears to be connected to the strange period of glacial expansion experienced on the mainland recently. In the aftermath of that event, the three subcultures appear to have banded together for survival.” Victor pulled out a wax-sealed scroll and handed it to the chamberlain, who carried it to King Lionel. “As you can see, sire, despite their unusual introduction to the concept of inter-reliance, they have come some distance in weaving a strong nation from their separate strands.”

“What of their people?”

Victor shrugged. “A strange breed, if I may say so. They profess to a strange sense of unification, as seen in the bonds between their subcultures, but it seems to matter only in the very large, or the very small. As units of a city or more, they seem to work together. Their families, however, are limited, usually consisting of only the immediate parents and a small clawful of children. We’ve only noted traces of a normal family, the bonds between all members of a clan, in a few of the farming members of the group, and even those are generally weak, usually only extending to a few near kin-lines. This is, I confess, somewhat unexpected, as the farmers are those ponies least like our own people.

“The closest match to our own culture, I believe, are the winged ponies, which they term ‘pegasi’ or ‘pegasus’ for some reason. They are capable of flight, and have developed patterns of architecture, of warfare, and of various other disciplines revolving around the concept of a fully-open battlefield. They are, however, extremly war-like; it almost seems they depend on the other two subcultures for agriculture and scholarship.” He shook his head. “I can understand a small group wanting to focus on something to the exclusion of all else, but an entire subculture? If they should ever go to war with their own, they’d be defeated in a matter of weeks, simply by logistics issues.”

The king glanced over the scroll again. “And what of the monoceri Our agents reported?”

“They don’t use that term among themselves,” Victor said. “They call themselves ‘unicorns’, although it does seem to mean the same thing. These are the scholars of their kind, the historians and mystics. They clearly possess some form of natural power we can’t quite understand yet, but they also don’t seem to be able to explain it themselves, merely saying ‘it’s magic’ when asked about it.”

Time Limit

King Lionel nodded again. “I see. Commander, set aside the considerations of Our agents for a moment. You, personally, have spoken with some of their leaders. What is your opinion?”

Victor thought hard and carefully before answering. “They are a young culture, built on the damaged foundations of their predecessors before the ice came. However, they show great promise. They could be valuable allies, but they could also be grave enemies. I would say approach with caution, but also an open claw.”

“So be it.” The king signaled for an empty scroll and inkpot. “You, then, will extend this message to them from Our own talons, commander. Tell this ‘Clover the Clever’ of theirs we will consider an alliance with their new nation. You are dismissed.”

Obscure Comments