Arcon's words were so powerful that Scroll regained his senses. He was still in the embrace of the Winterjet, his mind confused and sputtering by her seductive acts. A few more moments, he would have collapsed on the ground and muttering like a buffoon. Now the Scholar needed Winterjet to hold him up from feeling powerless from the alicorn's will. He began to shake at those words, for they contained such strength that could not remain silent.

"I am a Master of the Scholarship," said Scroll. "I can-n speak for the order." There was no use hiding things now - his body already gave away enough. "How did you know of us?" he asked in wonderment. Even under the power of the Keeper of the Gates, Scroll's curiosity got the better of him.

Sweeper let go of Amiferia at Arcon's words. Her smile disappeared and was about to object to her brother's command - she also wanted to see his collection, and perhaps bring Scroll along as well. But to her the word "insufferable" from him made the grey alicorn hold her tongue. Sweeper bowed her head in shame, knowing that her kin was right. There I go again, jumping ahead and causing trouble, thought Sweeper. Maybe I should have never came here - all I do is mess things up for everypony.

She lifted her head up, as gloomy as she felt, when Arcon began to question Scroll. Sliver felt a bit better to see Scroll in the embrace of Thea's companion. But she then frowned seeing that the Earth Pony was being questioned, as if he was nothing but a child. As much as she didn't want Scroll to feel uncomfortable, Sweeper didn't want to offend her brother. She stood near Amiferia in silence.

Armifera had held her silence, having been content to merely observe.

"Thanks for the welcome, Arcon... I suppose." She began, eyeing the others and the mortals. Her attention was dragged back to her siblings as Sweeper dropped the hug at their brother's words, Armifera sighed, rolling her eyes to the heavens.

"As much as I love you, dear brother, please remove the stick, goodness knows it hasn't seen the light of the sun in eons, and surely it can't be comfortable either." She snorted.
Giving a side hug of her own to Sweeper beside her , she continued, "And much as Sweeper absolutely confounds me at every turn, she's still more lovable than most of us I dare say." She smirked, before resuming once more, "And for heavens sake, none of us throw throw tantrums about whatever shenanigans you get up to! Out of the loop though I may be."

She took a deep breath, "And, by the way, who felt the need for such..." she gestured in general to the blasted, lifeless crater nearby, "Dramatic landscaping? Surely there was nothing here that necessitated that much force." Leaning casually against a wall, eyebrow raised, "I'd like to know if I need to be ready to bisect anything." She added as an aside.

After many long hours the body was finally ready for resurrection, and Scalpel smiled in satisfaction at his and Nocturnes hoofwork. Numerous enhancements to the bodily structure had been made, including the strengthening of the limbs with magically enhanced armour, and in one case the outright removal of a leg to further fit a weaponised mechanical replacement, which under proper alignment with the central nervous system through a series if crystalline magically harmonic jewels effectively connected with the brain matter of the body.

However, despite this work, much of the internals had not been much changed from their biological history and remained relatively intact, unlike the much more heavily mechanised Grunge. The stomach, intestines, kidneys and liver all remained, although they would not entirely be necessary for the creature’s survival, so most of his work was epidermal or subdermal in nature. A series of magically tuned spheres ran along the limbs and upper body of his creation, which would -once triggered- increase the proficiency of physical magic and allowing increased force projection on contact. With this level of sophistication, the creature could easily buck down walls and crush stone, but in a much more controlled fashion than its ungainly predecessor.

But primarily, the focus of his work lay in the instalment of the creatures power source, the heart machine. The machine took up a rectangular portion of the main body, straight in the middle of the chest, only a small ultradense crystal viewport allowing the light of the inner core expel in a deep harmonious blue light. The main component of it was of course, unicorn horn, but it was merely the lightning rod for magical energies rather than the main source. The true power lay in the machinery surrounding it, each piece crafted by hoof in his Trottingham labs and enchanted with specific magic and inscribed with a rune to regulate its output. It was this which drained the magic from the horn and then expelled it throughout the network of enchanted objects in the body, as well as providing the new magical heartbeat of the creature. With one blast of extreme magical output, the body would be revived, the necrosis and destruction of the cellular structure would be reversed and the creature would once again awake, rejuvenated and revitalised.

Rebirth, resurrection, reincarnation, call it what you will, it was his supremely great work.

But one specifically great achievement would be made this day… the restoration of the equine mind. Reason and logic would once again course through the synapses of this being, emotions and ecstasies, pain and pleasure, triumph and failure, all would be known undivided and unspoiled.

“Magnificent is he not?” Scalpel stated, looking at his awed companion as she observed the work. She had proven herself a fine assistant in his work, quick to grasp the basics of what he was doing but amazed at the complexity and tantalising workings of years of private research. He doubted she could understand what he had done in its entirety, that would take years of training, but she could appreciate the magnitude of his work.

“Ja Herr Doktor, he is wunderful… I haf never seen anythink like this in all my werk... the raw power of dis equine-machine hybrid vil be a sight to behold.”

“Quite, soon we may be able to tap into a ley line of magic and exert the magical requirements needed for his rise… for now however, I believe we require a rest.”

He turned and busied himself trawling through the saddlebags of his work, bringing out a small supply of travelling food and beginning to wolf into it hungrily. In all the excitement he had forgotten how famished he was after his long day, and the recent events had paid their toll upon him. Trotting over to his living room he suddenly noticed a small form curled up in a roughly swept clean hoofchair. Honey may have looked different, but she was still quite adorable as she slept, a half finished sandwich on a plate sat next to her when she had obviously decided that she was hungry, but sleep had overcome food and now she had lapsed into slumber. As he watched, her left hoof twitched in response to some dream, and she let out a small murmur of indistinct words. He quietly tiptoed forward, took off his coat and wrapped it around her before retreating back into the laboratory, Nocturne’s glowing eyes and tufted ears peering at him curiously round the door as he did so.

“Is she your daughter?” she asked curiously, keeping a hushed tone as they stood next to each other by the doorway.

“Biologically? No. In terms of being the pony who has raised her for years? I guess I am, in some ways the closest thing she has to a father now. Her real parents are dead… I am her uncle.”

Nocturne’s ears shot up in alarm, “I am so sorry fur bringink et up, I know losing family is tough… I ment no offense.”

“None taken” Scalpel waved her concern away, giving her a pained smile. “Admittedly her real father wasn’t exactly what would call a quality parent. Most of the time her father was away at parties, socialising with the idiot children of the elite, whoring, or getting off by maltreating slaves; he was a wastrel if ever there was one. After his commission into the Inquisition he seemed to enjoy burning heretics more than communications with his family, and his one act of reconciliation ending in that…” Here Scalpel pointed to the missing foals legs, a pained expression writhing across his face like he had just taken a mouthful of poison.

“By ze Sisters…”

“Indeed, I was lucky enough that I got to her in time before the Earthborn took her horn… not close enough to save her legs from the hoofcannon however. She has been with me ever since, travelling the length and breadth of Equestria.”

Nocturne looked as if she was about to break out into floods of tears, a solitary hoof clenched between her teeth as she bit back the distress. Surprised, Scalpel almost took a double take, but slowly his face softened and he leaned in, wrapping hoof over her shoulders. Nocturne stiffened momentarily, then relaxed and sunk into his side, her body still shuddering in repressed rage and grief.

“Who could do zat… to a foal no less?”

“This world could… or more appropriately, the Earthborn could. Magical prowess is an intrinsic part of being a unicorn, removing that is like lobotomising someponies brain, like ripping out part of who they are at the deepest level. Most dehorned Unicorns can’t cope with the loss of their magic, it’s like being partly paralysed, their suicide rates are through the roof the last time I saw the statistics.”

Next to her the Bat pony shuddered, imagining what it would be like if she had suffered a similar fate and her wings had been the ones to take the punishment… never allowing her to take to the sky again…

“It’s horrible…”

“Yes, say what you want about Moon and Star’s slavery practice, they may rob them their dignity and pride, but they don’t arbitrarily remove the very thing that makes them who they are.”

A small smile of determination slowly crept over his face, “However, I have been planning for years on restoring her legs again, making her walk unassisted by the wheels… and if my last plan is a success, I may be able to do just that.”

Nocturne gave him a smile, wiping away the tears with a wingtip and nodding to him before leaning in closer.

“Gut.”

For a long time they stood there, watching silently over the foal and deep in thought. Scalpel’s resonated with the inner drive within him, plans within plans, the restoration of his niece, the creation of more of his resurrected ponies… and godhood ever lingering just out of reach upon the horizon. Nocturne’s wondered about the pony beside her, he had emerged in a flash of lightning and changed everything in her previously dull routine, but who was he really behind the mask of professionalism? Clearly there was more than “the doctor” to him, the love and compassion he showed his niece proved that clearly. The more she thought about it, the more he seemed mysterious and enigmatic, and like most ponies, she couldn’t resist a mystery.

“Vhat is your name?” She asked finally, curiosity more than anything driving the question.

Scalpel hesitated, the words caught in his throat. For once he didn’t feel like lying anymore, he felt like he could trust this pony, and she wasn’t just another assistant or client… he felt somewhat attached to her in a small way, something he hadn’t felt since he had started looking after Honey.

The Bat ponies ears swivelled and she turned towards him with her big green inquiring eyes, intrigue lit across her face like a glowing lamp.

He closed his open mouth, swallowing the lie and smiled at her, a true content and happy smile which hadn’t crossed his lips in many years.

“Scalpel… my name is Silver Scalpel.”

"A couple of reasons." Torrential answered back, rolling his shoulders a little and readjusting his wing a little as that it was comfortably wrapped around Star Dancer. "For starters, I gave her my blessing because at her core Applejack is and always has been a farmer. Almost all of the Apple family have been and frankly I'm disappointed that I didn't get a chance to have a word with Granny Smith while I was in Appleloosa. Between her, Applejack and Big Mac Sweet Apple Acres was one of the greatest farms I've ever seen and easily the best apple farm to ever exist. One of my greatest regrets is that I will never get the chance to walk through Sweet Apple Acres during its prime. I do have plans to go there in pilgrimage to see what is left after the flood but after two decades abandoned and in ruin it just isn't the same."

"I also did it to remind of her of origins. Two decades away from the farm and dealing with the war had started to erode her relationship with the earth and I sort to remind her of it so she did not repeat the mistakes of the original Earthborn." Exactly what he meant by that, Torrential did not say. However, he did seem to tighten the wing around Star Dancer a little more as he asked "Out of interest, why did you want to seek me out in the first place? Oh, I know that Silver wanting me to get her letter might have had something to do with it, but as easily distracted as she might be, she wouldn't have sent just anyone to track me down."

"Her origins?", Dancer said. She wondered about Applejack, the strong mare that lead the mammoth force that was Earthborn. The pegasus never did meet her personally. And all she knew about the Supreme Commander's past was that she held the Element of Honesty. She recalled that somepony mentioning the Apple Family constantly harvesting their namesake fruit, selling their produce when they could. She may or may not had apples harvested by Applejack herself - she never gave much thought to the fruit.

Strange that a working farmer would become such a powerful and brutal ruler, thought Dancer. The tragedy of someone who brought life was now helping destroy it. Was the old Applejack as harsh as the Supreme Commander? Or did the betrayal of Twilight change her? I wonder what she was like before the Disappearance… She tried thinking of a younger, more humble farmer. her orange coat covered in dust from working in the fields. It was difficult not to think of the armor or the eye patch. Did she always wear a hat?

She felt Torrential's embrace tithed a little more, and she blushed a bit. It was strange to think of an alicorn as a father, but then again she often had tea with another one. She took a few moments to ponder his question. "Well, I suppose out of curiosity at first," she said, and then smiled. "I am, after all, a scholar. When I first read of the unusual weather out in Earthborn's dryer regions, it got my attention. Though my stars may be my first love, the weather is just natural to me.

"I mentioned the news to Sweeper, hoping she could shed some light. It was tea time, the sky a bit cloudy while we ate on the roof. But all I got was a cryptic response about 'Rain turning this land into a garden'. It wasn't until the next day, at the waterworks, that I learned that Rain was her personal name for you. She made several more references later, always brief and never anything serious. It was more like how a pony reminded her of Rain, or that she wished she could have tea with her brother. Like pieces to a puzzle, I began to wonder about that more and more.

"Well, the whole business with Arcon came up, and she decided to send you a letter. It was partly need, I guess. But also… I don't know if this is normal or not, but I see the Lady as a friend. We work together, share jokes, even have lunch. Though I've haven't gone on any trips with her - though Scroll tells me it's not very fun - it's like I've known her all my life. And I can still remember how sad she looked days ago, wondering if you were doing alright. The Lady needed my help, and... I've never let a friend down."

Winterjet smiled at Bright Scroll's almost dumbfounded expression, finding his lack of action or anything to be highly amusing. It wasn't as if she was toying with his emotions, but rather that she was just teasing him a bit, putting on the charm to see his reaction. So far it was enough to make her smile widely. She chuckled and mouthed a "I'm sorry, just teasing," and was about to withdraw her wing when Arcon started to speak, spewing words far harsher than she thought necessary at Theá.

She involuntarily tightened the grip around Bright Scroll, both in a bid to not jump up and shout at Arcon, but maybe even to protect the earth pony from the words of the alicorn - not that she even thought about it or realised it. All she really knew was that what this stick-up-his-ass, inconsiderate moron said was far out of line. Winterjet would openly admit that she wasn't the most emotional or socially-adept of ponies, but even she knew that what Theá had done in the end was an act of genuine kindness; an act performed with the purpose of just being kind and apologizing for what she had done!

She quickly decided that she didn't like him one bit... scratch that, she hadn't liked him from the beginning for how he talked to Bright Scrolls.

Theá herself was... not crushed, but she was definitely confused. The face that had so carried the age-less beauty of the wilderness itself was morphed into incredulity. A half-open mouth had replaced the tight expression of control and focus. Sharp eyes replaced by the wide-eyed look of being at a loss. She who knew more than most of her other kin of what went on in the world... simply didn't know. Almost reluctantly, she folded her wing back at her side from where it had been hanging limb, touching the ground beneath her. Her eyes became downcast, her head hanging.

Why?

She grit her teeth, tail whipping once, then twice.

Why?

Despite how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her wings from bristling, feathers trying to spread out in a show of anger even when her wings were folded as tightly as they were.

Why?!

What had she done? She had done nothing different than the other thousands of times that she had come onto him. Why was this any different than then? A mortal body could not possibly make such a difference. It was perfectly understandable for him to be annoyed by her advances; he had been like that for so long as she could remember. But why could he not see an act of kindness for what it was? Did he find it necessary to step on her when she tried to better the situation between them?

Perfect sister is not something I have been, not will I ever be, but even then is it necessary to attribute me to being nothing but a creature of torment and toying? I am no Discord! I live not to toy with others! ...Why can't you see that?

Winterjet watched as Theá just stood there, her stance rigid and unmoving, eyes focused on the ground. She heard the questions asked by Armifera about who had been the cause of the destruction of the town but said nothing. Not yet.

She sensed it before she saw it; something was happening.

Theá's horn shone a bright green for a moment, casting a blanket of magic over her body before it was seemingly absorbed into her body. When she looked up and shot a brief glare at Arcon, her eyes didn't have the round pupil of a pony's eye, but instead the slitted, draconic, pupil: One of many Marks of a Nightmare.

With a throaty shout she took off from the ground, breaking the sound barrier but a few metres above them. The shock of her suddenly taking off caused Winterjet to jump up and spread her wings in shock. Her wings caught the shockwave and threw her back towards a a brittle wall of what remained of Old Hoof. She smashed right through the bricks, narrowly missing the door to her left, and landed on the ground, unmoving.

Theá paid no mind to the damage she left behind, and instead angled her wings towards the nearby forest to the south east, flying at such speeds that the g-force alone would kill any mortal without magical protection.

She flew for only half a minute before she angled downwards, diving through the canopy and towards the ground. She only avoided a crash with a powerful beat of her wings downwards to negate her downward momentum.

She took several deep breaths before she sat down, looking out over the small lake in front of her, staring at it with a gaze void of emotions.

The pirate campsite was alive with activity. Ponies ran to and fro to help pack up and take down the tents and other constructs. They had been doing so for most of the night and were just about done. Crashing Wave was packing up his own tent when suddenly he felt a chill run down his spine. He looked to the east just in time to see a green shockwave burst through the sky followed by a echoing explosion of energy. He knew that sonic boom all too well. ’Thea what’s wrong lass?’

“Sir what was that?”

Crashing looked to Softstep and furrowed his brow,” I don’t know first mate but I intend to find out.” With that he grabbed his leather saddle bag and took to loading it up. He placed several bottles of his finest rum and whiskey into it. He also placed extra shot and powder for his flint lock guns. With but a thought he started to load both his acabres with a shot and holstered them at his sides then sheathed his scimitars. He then opened his ornate chest that had yet to be packed, inside lay a few old maps, a moonstone pendent and a dark green, ancient bottle. Crashing smiled gently as his hoof ran over the ornate pendant then pulled the flask out of the chest. He stared at the bottle for a moment. A silver liquid sloshed inside and glowed briefly. Pure, moonshine distilled form the finest moonbeams and nightshade petals. It was the strongest alcohol in the world and made by the Lunar goddess herself.

’Who would have thought me Love was such a good brewer,’ Crashing chuckled before placing the bottle inside his bag. He grabbed his dark brown coat and donned it. He looked to Softstep,” Keep headin’ ta Manehatten lass. I’ll meet ye there in a few days.” He opened his massive wings and jumped into the air. Ponies were pushed away from the sheer amount of force he used to launch himself off the ground. He even left a small crater in the ground as he left.

With several flaps of his mighty wings he was high above the campsite. He angled himself east and started moving through the air at top speeds. He may have lacked the speed of his siblings in the air but he more than made up for it with pure strength. But now he needed something more than just strength. His horn glowed and he formed an aerodynamic barrier around him, causing the friction with the wind to cease. He had crafted this spell with he and a certai8n brother of his last clashed. Hurricane force winds were not to be taken lightly. Before long a Mach cone formed around the alicorn and then the world exploded in a flash of dark blue. Going the speeds he was now going strained on Crashing simply because he wasn’t built for it but he willed himself to keep going.

Hang on lass I’m comin’.

---

Girmwing flinched at the earsplitting screech that echoed through the mists. The boats moved almost lazily through the eerily calm waters only adding to the feeling of dread everyone was feeling. Deckhoof had long since made for the crew quarters to cower under his hammock. Grimwing knew they were in no real danger. The Leviathan that patrolled these waters wouldn’t attack them but it as still eerie, the feeling of being hunted.

Just a bit further.

Suddenly a single a massive head broke the water’s surface. It was akin to the head of a prehistoric predator you would see in museums but those were all bones, no real danger. Here all that could be felt was dread. The creature was titanic in every way; raising a good twenty feet above the ships and Grim knew that there was a more underwater. It loaded its snout to the ship where Grimwing stood. A foul reek assaulted the pegasus’s nose as it took a sniff of him. Slowly his mark from Crashing started to glow with a blue light. Soon everyone who bore the blessing of the Sea had their mark glowing. Finally it raised its head up.

GRAAAAAAAHH!!!!!

The boats rocked and bobbed madly as the sea churned from the creature’s roar alone. It then disappeared under the water, leaving no indication, save for the fear the sailors felt, that it had been there. The mists started to clear after a moment. Grimwing sighed in relief,” Well then that’s over.” In the distance a large rocky cliff said came into view.

---

“What are you rambling about Whirlpool?” A grey furred sea pony glared at the coral pink stallion before him, his silver fore fins and dorsal spine twitching in irritation. Six sea ponies sat around a glowing spring, surrounding Whirlpool. Ornate decorations graced the walls of the throne room.

“What I’m saying is Master Razor Reef,” Whirlpool said calmly,” Is that dark times are ahead, unlike any we’ve seen.”

“We’ve heard this before,” a melodious voice mocked. Whirlpool’s eyes flicked to a bright yellow sea mare, her frilled fins moving as though water moved them along. Her smirk widened as Whirlpool’s eyes flashed with annoyance,” When you started rambling about how they land ponies’ war would affect us and now here we are twenty years later and we’re in a time of peace and prosperity. The great tribes have never been in such a state of peace and harmony before. We are in a Golden Age young seer.”

“We were in a golden age when the Nightmare descended as well or have you forgotten that?”

All eyes in the Sea mare at the forefront of the room, on a beautifully carved throne of the finest corals sat a gorgeous sea mare with ruby red fur and a stark white braided mane. Jewelry of silver and fine gems hung, twinkling from her graceful fins. She took a step form her perched and walked up to Whirlpool.

“What is it you have seen my subject?”

Whirlpool looked at the Queen Sunpearl, Mistress of the Moonlit Seas, in awe before swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat,” My Queen I have seen the land and Sea clash in the mirror pools. A day darker than the day Sun and Sea warred, a day that will bring the end of peace for every living thing that walk this realm. The astral plane is alive with foul magic and I fear that the revealing of the Pantheon only marks the beginning of the end. Already the ancient Leviathans are becoming restless. I fear we only have week’s ma’am. Harmony on the mainland must be restored. “Whirlpool took a deep breath,” I believe we should march on the mainland.”

“Are you insane?!”

“Fool! That is madness!”

“We haven’t set hoof on land in over a thousand years!”

The Queen raised a single hoof silencing the furious protests of her council. Her silver eyes focused solely on the stallion before her. After what felt like an eternity for Whirlpool she finally spoke,” These past few weeks I have been plagued by nightmares, visions of blood, wear and carnage. Then last night I saw an unspeakable horror that destroying our home. It looked like our God but in a way it wasn’t. It was dark, feral,” the mare shivered,” Razor Reef.”

“My queen,” the grey stallion bowed deeply.

“Gather your soldiers. We make for Equestria in the morning.”

Razor flashed a dark look at Whirlpool before bowing again,” Yes my Queen.” He took his leave through the massive doors of the throne room. A soldier clad in shell armor rushed past him and bowed before Queen.

“Your highness the Kraken Fleet is in the rock bay and going inside the City.”

Coincidence or Fate. Sunpearl walked past the guard,” Then let us greet them.”

Sweeper smiled a bit when Amiferia returned the hug and called her 'lovable'. "Thanks Ami," she said. "As for your question-" Then there was the mighty shout.

Neither the Scholar nor the Chambermaid expect Thea to take to the air. Both were confused, though Sweeper knew that her sister was in a foul mood. Though she wanted to go after her, the grey alicorn knew that the Huntress was the fastest of their kin. She could no more catch up with her than a sparrow trying to out-fly a dragon. And that's not taking into account that Sweeper had no way of detecting her kin. If Thea wanted to be alone, then she was going make sure no pony could find her.

The gale of the sonic boom, air tinted green by the blast, blew around them.

"Um… Thea would have been able to explain it better," said Sweeper, eyes wide and legs shaking, to Amiferia, . "Long story short - Town full of cultists, and Thea was outnumbered and couldn't get away."

Sweeper turned her head back to look at Arcon, and then gasped as she saw Winterjet lay in the ruin. "Jet!", she cried. She rushed over to the pegasus with haste.

At the cry, the shock of the Thea's departure had faded from Scroll. He realized that Winterjet was no longer holding him. He turned and saw and then ran as fast as he could. If Arcon had commanded the Scholar to stay, he could not recall. He rushed over to Sweeper, going over the fallen bricks, he almost wanted to cry at the sight. Already Sweeper's horn glowed as she attempted to speed up Winterjet's recovery, though limited as that power was. But the pegasus was so still, Scroll wondered if she still lived.

Scroll turned to the other alicorn and Amiferia's companion. "She needs help… Can any of you heal her?" He looked at Arcon, "I'll answer your questions, but please… She needs your help."

---

Charter wondered why he was ordered to the lower decks. He was rather curious of the fog, and wanted to take some temperature and magical readings. Was it some sort of magical effect, or just a natural occurrence? But Deckhoof suggested that he stay with him until the were cleared to continue.

"Cleared with who?", Charter asked.

Deckhoof gave a cryptic response - Of the guardians of the depths, the Leviathan. The sailor continued to explain that since Charter did not bear Crashing's mark, that may cause complications. To the unicorn it didn't make much sense. But he went along with the sailor, and pondered if the rest of the crew was going to conduct some ship custom or other above. Perhaps since he was uninitiated, Charter was to be kept from the fleet's rituals.

Strange ideas these sailors have - that Captains are responsible for natural disasters, that their marks give them the ability to breathe underwater, and now this , he thought, laying in his hammock right across from Deckhoof. Then again, what do I know of the s-

There was a cry like he never heard of before - a bestial scream that caused the bulkhead to shake, the deck to sway. He fell from his hammock and hit the deck. It hungers, the sea is hungry! It's going to get- "Shut Up!", Charter said to himself. Then as if the sea heard his command, the deck leveled and the ship became silent.

Charter looked over to Deckhoof. "The Leviathan?" His mother told tales of those fantastic beasts when he and Vast were foals. And he heard whispers at the taverns in Star Harbor. But he could never tell what was reality or exaggeration in those stories. But he was sure about one thing - they were massive.

-----

A lone pegasus flew through the air, having followed the tracks made by Cutting Wind. They were slightly faded after several days, but the mercenary was trained well by Rose Maid. Still it was hard to detect, and she sometimes took the wrong direction.

The tracks ended at a muddy plain, where the bodies of the pegasi lay buried. She was puzzled, since the trail ended here and the rain obliterated any other tracks. But from the distance she could see the storms that accompanied Torrential. Dean Spoke mentioned that the alicorn wanted by Earthborn was related to the storms. She decided to follow them, hoping it would be a lead.

Armifera flattened her ears as Thea launched herself from the ground, the sonic boom buffeting her furiously. "Did I miss someth-" she began, only to stop as Sweeper gave her a "long story short".

"Wait, cult?" She asked, a dangerous gleam in her eye, "Oh, I'd have helped her out here, if that's the case." She scowled, "I'll need to ask her next time I see her, then."

But of course, that would be a while, judging by the speeds at which Thea had... abruptly departed. Even if she'd been as fast as her sister unarmored, there was no way she would be able to catch up with her wearing the heavy metal plates. She gave a sigh, "Any... other news, then?"

Instead of an answer her gaze was drawn suddenly to one of the mortals, who's name she hadn't been been present long enough to know, rushing over to the heap of fur and feathers lying beyond a pony shaped hole in a wall of charred bricks. It was only then that she noticed the other mortal who'd been present before her and Summer Winds' arrival was nowhere to be seen.

"Damnit." she cursed, flapping her wings and gliding over, she glared silently at the mortal stallion for a second, before saying quickly to Sweeper, "Let me take a look, I can't guarantee anything, but eons spent fighting things leaves one with a pretty decent knowledge of fixing injury."

The pegasus, Winterjet, lay on the ground, groaning in obvious discomfort. Pain lanced through her body, burning its way through her veins. She tried to move a leg but hissed violently as pain flared through her shoulder.

Great. Dislocated at best, she thought. It wasn’t difficult to figure that she’d taken quite the pounding, given how she felt like a punching bag after training.

Another groan escaped her as she opened her eyes, only to find Armifera and Sweeper looking down at her. A faint smirk tugged at the edges of her lips, pulling it upwards in a grimace halfway between pain and playful arrogance. “What? Something on my face?” She croaked.

“You’ve made quite the dynamic entry through that wall, just so you know.” Armifera told her, “I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that you’d appreciate some help? I’ve crashed through more than enough things to know what it takes to break bones and dislocate them.”

The pegasus attempted a chuckle but came up with only a cough, spitting out a small bit of blood. “Ugh. Dislocated leg, front eight, and right wing.” She took a moment to close her eyes and get a feel for the rest of her body. Taking a deep breath revealed a third injury. “Argh! That… hurt. Broken rib or two, and one hell of a bump on the back of my head, too, I think.”

“That’s… surprisingly little.” Armifera said with a raised eyebrow, “That shouldn’t be too difficult to set and heal, really, if you’re patient.” She crouched down, “Let me see…” conjuring the same semi-physical magical cast she used whenever she needed to stop blood flow, or hold something in place, she cast an anesthetic spell over the mare, “Just in case you don’t like feeling me putting your bones back the way they should be.” She explained to the pegasus, just in case she felt the need to ask. She set the cast around the bones once she’d finished making sure they were in the proper alignment, throwing some energy in to help the body speed along it’s natural healing process.

“I’m just going to push the leg back in the socket, you, hopefully, shouldn’t feel a thing.” she told her, taking the dislocated leg in her magic and easing it back into the socket, casting liberal amounts of the anesthetic spell over it, and the same magical cast on top, to hold things in place long enough for the muscles to heal themselves.

“As for your head, it’s probably a concussion, but I’m not risking accidentally destroying anything important to fix something I don’t know how to fix.” she explained apologetically, “But on the plus side, the magical cast I used should let you actually move around, instead of being stuck on a bed for a month or two.” The alicorn paused for a second, “I’m a bit curious, by the way, you should’ve been a lot worse, but you weren’t, and you seemed awfully aware of all the different parts that’d broken, how?”

Winterjet winced as both her wing and leg were put back into their sockets, silently thanking the alicorn for reducing the pain. Having been forced to do the exact same thing on herself without anesthetics once made her appreciate the small amount of pain even more.

“Thanks,” she managed. With a small bit of hesitance she moved her right front leg, finding only a dull ache left - the same went for her right wing. After a few moments she shuffled herself onto her belly and pushed herself up into a standing position, panting slightly. Painkiller spells or not, broken ribs hurt like hell.

It took a few moments before she said anything else, at which point she looked up at the armoured alicorn with a cheeky grin. “As for how I took so little damage… this is why.” She unfurled her left with in one fluid and quick motion as if drawing a sword from its scabbard, and like a sword, her wing had a sharp edge to it. The front of her wing was covered in a layer of solid ice shaped into the likeness of a Wingblade.

The grin never left her face even as the ice started to spread, crawling up the joint that connected her wing to her back, surrounding her neck and crawling down her back, barrel and haunches until she was practically covered in an entire set of armour made of ice. “Magic, really. With the help of this,” she brought a hoof to the snowflake shaped pendant studded with azure gems hanging around her neck, “empowers my natural abilities to create ice around my body at will. It isn’t for nothing that my name is Winterjet, as it is sorta an indication to how fast I can do it. The amulet also makes it tough as steel which is why it’s at all useful.” She flexed her wing and the ice shattered into a million tiny fragments that soon melted away, the rest of the ice-armour following. Her grin slowly reduced itself to a more neutral expression as she finished showing off. “I managed to cover by back in ice before I crashed through the wall. That’s what saved me.”

Armifera raised an eyebrow, “Now that,” she paused, “Is damn impressive, I must say.”

She looked the smaller mortal in front of her up and down, “Anything feel out of place? Think I missed anything?” She asked, returning to the ‘field surgeon’ mentality. Calling over to Summer Winds, she asked her, “Summer, do you have any of that whiskey you found the other day? I could use a bit, and probably her too.” She said, gesturing to Winterjet.

Summer nodded and walked forward, fishing out a small bottle of amber liquid, “Here ya’ go.” she replied, before asking, “Where did you learn all of that?”

Armifera smirked as she took a swig of the whiskey, offering it to Winterjet if she wanted any, “Eons of trial and error, my dear Summer Winds, mostly error, however.” with that she turned to the others present, “This is Summer Winds, by the way. I met her in a fateful encounter in which I dragged her into a crater of my own creation, spiraling down from the sky as I was.”

“Sounds like how I got my cutie mark,” she noted, accepting the flask and passing it back after taking a sip. “Heavy winter, snowstorm. Crosswind threw me off and I nearly got impaled by a rock I crashed down on. I discovered my talent for making ice armour like this at that point… saved my life too.” A grimace came across her face, clearly indicating that she either didn’t like thinking about how she almost died getting her cutie mark or, the more likely one, that she didn’t much like the whiskey.

“And no, nothing else feels out of place. Not dizzy or anything so I don’t think I got a concussion either. Armour took the blow for me.” A few moments passed with her not saying anything, her gaze drawn to the woods visible on the horizon. “I wonder why she got so angry,” she muttered.

Armifera sighed, “You didn’t have to drink the whiskey if you didn’t want any, you know.” she said, before answering the actual question, “As to Thea, while I’m definitely not the best mare to ask, I’d wager she was either insulted, confused, or frustrated that she couldn’t seduce Arcon, again.”

She looked over at Sweeper and Arcon, “Speaking of which, I was an ass earlier Arcon, sorry about that. But how have all of you been doing? All I gathered so far is that some cultists angered Thea enough that she attempted to incorporate dramatic landscaping into one of her spheres of influence.”

Torrential didn't say anything to Star Dancer at first, remaining in silence as he seemed to absorb what she had to say. A small smile appeared on his face as he bent his head down a little, giving the scribe a soft kiss on the forehead before whispering "My sister is lucky to have you in her life. Just don't be afraid to tell her or off or say 'no' to her if she starts to act stupidly." With a parting nuzzle, he rose his head once more, giving his shoulders a brief roll as he continued to walk with his wing around her.

After a little while, Torrential started to hum a tune. As he started to get into the rhythm of it, he opened his mouth and began to sing.

"मैं एक गरीब सफ़र अजनबी हूँ.
बस शोक की इस दुनिया के माध्यम से यात्रा.
कोई बीमारी, परिश्रम या खतरा है,
कि निष्पक्ष भूमि में, जो मैं जाने के लिए."

Few were the mortal ponies that would understand the words of the song itself, but the words seemed to flow together as naturally as a whistling wind, a hauntingly beautiful sensation that only those who walked the open road completely alone would ever truly understand.

Crashing Wave sailed over the sky. He could still feel that chill down his back and as he flew it only got stronger. HI body was beginning to protest going the speed it was going. His wnigs started to twitch, sometimes throwing him off course slightly but he powered through. His eyes focused solely on the ground, looking for any strange movement. It wasn’t until he spotted droves of woodland creatures moving through a field. They looked as though they were attempting to get away from some great predator. Crashing’s brow furrowed as he realized he was in the right place.

The alicorn angled his body down and began trying to slow his speed. He looked in the distance and saw a small lake. With furious flaps of his wings Crashing found himself hurtling to the ground, inertia and gravity working in tandem to crush him on the ground below. Bloody ‘ell,’ Crashing grunted and his face scrunched up in concentration to slow his rapid descent. His teeth grit in frustration as his freefall only slowed slightly. His eyes focused on the lake and he shot toward it. Extending his magic he began to meld its surface into a funnel. As he neared the lake at breakneck speeds a cone of water rose up to meet him.

Crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he hit the water with a deafening crash. Crashing felt several of his bones creak and even a few buckle from the sheer force of his fall. Fortunately the funnel cushioned his fall so he wouldn’t have suffered any greater damage. Crashing hit the bottom of the lake with all four hooves, the god of the Sea relishing being back in the water. His body began to heal the broken and dislocated bones with aid from the water. With a flap of his wings he propelled himself through he water to the shore. He burst through the water’s surface and plopped into the sandy shore, feeling rather fatigued from his flight and fall. Silt stuck to his form as he gazed up at the sky, his chest heaving.

“Note ta self,” Crashing muttered with a growl,” That’s th’ last time I fly at that speed ever again.”

---

Grim always marveled at Crescent Island cove. The ships sailed lazily through a massive cavern opening, guided by aquamancers so the ships wouldn’t run aground on any rocky areas. The cavern’s ceailing was coated with the deepest obsidian. Tiny diamonds were imbedded into the black crystal, shimmering as stars would in the night sky. It was a sight to behold. In the caverns back, buildings of white marble stood. They had an ancient feel to them; the architecture was not unlike Canterlot’s. Grim looked down at the crystal clear waters below and noted the fish that came up to see the ships, curious of its arrival. The wildlife here had reason to fear the wooden constructs and with good reason. With a groan the ships were directed to the smooth stone wharf. Grim started barking orders at the skeleton crew and they set to work securing the vessels. The other two ships began doing the same.

Grim started down the gangplank but stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Queen Sunpearl. She was flanked by a guard in white shell armor and a pink sea stallion. His dark blue dorsal fin seemed to twitch slightly and judging from his facial expression it was from nervousness The regal sea pony exuded an air of calm as she walked toward the ships. A small smile was on her muzzle, she was pleased to see the Sea’s blessed return to her kingdom.

“Weary sailors,” she said with a slight bow,” It brings joy to mine and my peoples’ hearts to see you return.”

Grimwing scambled to bow as well, even going so far as to bang his head on the white marble at his hooves,” Please Yer ‘Ighness. Th’ pleasures all ours.”

“Tell me sailor where is the rest of your crew,” Sunpearl cast a glance at the meager crew,” The last you and your Captains were here you nearly numbered the hundreds.”

Grimwing gingerly rubbed his aching skull,” Captain Bovir ordered us ta return so Moon and Stars wouldn’t take th’ ships. Captain Wave took most of our ponies inland ta begin liberatin’ th’ slaves in Moon and Stars territory, yer ‘ighness.”

Sunearl took on a pensive expression. Then it is wise that I decided to move toward the mainland, she sighed wishing that Crashing had been with them. She had accepted that she had grown fond of the God of the Sea but she knew his heart belonged to another. But that doesn’t mean you can’t win it for yourself, her mind whispered. She shook her head banishing the thought. Now was not the time think of what could be but rather the problem at hoof. She looked down at the pegasus before her.

“I am told you bring with you one that is not blessed by the sea,” she said,” I wish to see this individual.”

“Yes yer ‘ighness,” Grimwing turned around,” Oi Charter! Get yer flank out here lad!”

---

Gilded Leaf grumbled as he trudged forward, wishing he had gotten some sleep before the pirates had decided to pack up. They had left early in the night shortly after the camp was packed up into the long boats. Most ponies traveled by hoof along the river which flowed lazily. The old, sick and foals were all in the boats. Ahead he saw Softstep walking along with a hardened vigor. He was honestly surprised at the earth mare. She looked barely twenty years of age and yet she commanded complete respect from the other pirates. After the alicorn had left she had begun barking orders and everypony jumped to obey them, even the other Captains. He shook his head, still having trouble believing the massive pony even existed. He looked to his left at the pegasus stallion beside him. He remembered Crosswinds was his name.

“So what is that mare’s story?” he said pointing a hoof at Softstep.

“The stallion chuckled,” Well mate she was among th’ first of Captain Wave’s crew. She was born on th’ sea and one of th’ few who can fell it’s ways as th’ sea ponies can. Crashing’s always ‘eld ‘er close an’ even respects ‘er. Not only that but th’ lass is as cunning as she is dangerous. She’s a right terror with a blade too.”

“Sea ponies?” Gilded screwed his muzzle up in confusion,” Aren’t they just a myth, a fairy tale.”

“Oh their real mate,” Crosswinds grunted,” As real as you or I. They just shut themselves off from th’ mainland some thousand years ago.”

“Why?”

Crosswinds opened his mouth to answer but shut it when he realized he couldn’t remember.

“Because of the wrong Celestia did to their God when she sealed him in the crushing black of his own Sea.”

Gilded looked to his right and scowled at who he saw. Swansong matched his glare with a calm gaze. She knew the earth stallion had a hate for her kind.

“And why would she do that?” he said with a sneer.

“It’s not my place to tell you,” she said simply,” You could ask Crashing when he gets back.” With tah she trotted forward to walk alongside Softstep. Gilded looked on after her disgust apparent on his face.

“I wouldn’t let Bovir catch you looking at ‘er like that,” Crosswinds said nudging Gilded’s side,” Cause ‘e’s right able ta lop yer head off.”

“He’s awfully loyal to somepony who was key to his enslavement,” Gilded snorted,” I saw the mark on her chest. She thinks she’s in the right but all she is, is a traitor to her own kind and to the rest of pony kind as well.”

“Don’t be sa quick ta jugde lad,” Crosswinds said,” We’re all guilt of some crime or another. Let’s face it mate judgments’ come fer ilk such as ours lad. The only thing ye got ta ask yerself can ye face yer final moments without regret.” Crosswinds left the earth pony to ponder his last words.

It was an unexpected reaction, for Dancer expected another lesson from the Alicorn. But that one kind kiss brought even more joy into the pegasus' heart. A gesture that like communicated far more than a single lecture. How bright the world seemed now despite the rains.

Dancer smiled, resisting the urge to press her face into the alicorn's chest. Torrential was still one of the high ones, a pony to be given respect. A hug seemed to mundane for such a being. Instead, tears of joy flowed from her eyes, and she let them pour onto the Earth below. "Thank you, Master Torrential," she said.

The pegasus did not know the song sung by the Alicorn. She did not even recognize the language, for it was not spoken on Equestria for ages. Nevertheless, the lyrics moved her heart - as a courier she had often traveled the lands alone. Yet, even she knew that she did not feel it's full impact, for there was a home and friends waiting for her. The Alicorn… she wondered when he would find his home.

The pair continued to travel.

---

The Mercenary was a bit lost in the rain, flying low to avoid the high winds above her. She was soaked to the bone even with a cloak, and her short purple mane dripping. Occasionally, where there was an opening in the clouds, the white pegasus flew high to see any sign of Star Dancer or the Alicorn.

"Nothing," she muttered to herself - a particular habit of Snow Tail's. "I hate being wet, the rain is unending, and I'm not even sure if this is the right path…" She frowned. "…the things I do for this job."

She shook her head and continued to follow the wind.

---

Charter stood, staring in bright wonderment at the cavern. The lustrous black of obsidian, the sparkle of diamond, not quite the sky but beautiful in it's own right. "Professor Sapphire would be love to be here", he said. He then wondered if it was really a natural formation or made by ponies. The old geologist would tell… and Vast would have loved to see this.

The Scholar was admiring the marble architecture before he heard Grimwing call for him. Looking around, he saw most of the crew had already went down the gangplank. Blushing, he rushed to exit the ship, as the crew ponies left on board chuckled at the green landlubber.

It was only at the bottom of the gangplank that Charter realized that he was seeing legends. For with the pirate crew were ponies unlike he never seen before. Their colors were much like of sea life, bright and lively. Their bodies sleek and they had fins. They were the Sea Ponies of legend - the ones sailors like his mother swear they seen in the distance. In his heart, Charter knew they always existed, and his spirits soared high.

He stood a few more seconds before meeting the eyes of Sunpearl. Never in his life did he see such beauty from the ruby sea mare. She seemed more dignified than the Lady Sweeper. Had he been born earlier and seen the Sisters, the Queen would have been compared to Celestia and Luna. Automatically, he bowed before the royal entourage. He waited for the Queen to give a command.

One year ago…

"You know, I'm still amazed that you still believe in sea ponies."

Vast and Charter were leaving the Startide Tavern, the moon was high in the sky and the streets quiet. The bars were lit dimly as patrons continued to sing songs and drink ale. It was a warm night, which the slaves were thankful for. The port hid the misery of the pens with a large white wall, imprisoning the slaves and keeping the populace blind. But for unicorns, the Moon and Stars was the safest place in Equestria. Crime was less common, and one did not have to worry about the Cult as much. And if one avoid from being too noticeable, they could escape the vigilance of Twilight's Inquisition. For the free, it was a better place to live than anywhere else.

Vast face was red, her lids half closed over flimsy eyes. She swayed sideways, and Charter made sure she didn't fall. She had a bit too much strong cider that night, and her brother always took her home. He never did drink, though she suspected that Charter took after their father and had little tolerance for it. Vast could drink with even the most hardened of Sailors, much like their mother.

She burped and wiped her mouth. "Yeah, that was good stuff. But I always thought you were skeptical of the Sailor's yarns."

Charter smiled, "That's only because seamares love to exaggerate, turning their stories into larger than life spectacles. The reality of sea life is hard and rather mundane mostly, if mom's tales are accurate." He chuckled. "And even then she couldn't resist adding embellishments."

Ever since foalhood, Charter still remembered the many legends of the Sea Ponies. When his mother was back from her voyages, she would stay up all night with her six children. She would engage them with the stories of how the Sea Lord created the Sea Ponies, of the Legend of Greenstar and Waterstone, the Battle of the Two Dragons, and the tragic Hunt of the Leviathan. Now older, the journeystallion surveyor listened with keen ears to any mention of the Ponies of the Depths.

"Ok… but (hip) but no pony has gathered any proof of the sea folk. Most ponies just think they're myth."

"So was said of Nightmare Moon, and there was truth in that. Even if there wasn't any clear photographs or captured specimens, there were still plenty of legends. There has to be some reality backing them. "

"Ha ha. But a fear the reality is going… to be disappointing. Probably just manatees."

"You know, for an artist you're not very romantic." Charter looked at the sea. "Look at it, the oceans of the world. These waters are your namesake, sis. The waters are far reaching, and they cover many abysses. Somewhere, out in those depths, great wonders await for those brave enough to search them."

"Hmmmm… so thinking about finding those Sea Ponies? Ha ha ha, we've never been on a boat, and you want to explore the oceans for a dream," she muttered. "We have far more important things to do than tha-". She leaned to the side and vomited.

Sighing, Charter nodded, helped his sister regain her bearings, and continued over to the Gem's home. Young Shining Gem would be up reading by the fireside. Her mother Shore would have prepared a bed for Vast and rasberry tea for him…

Charter awoke in the middle of the night. Shivering, he placed his hoofs over his head, eyes closed tightly. His body was drenched in sweat, even without a blanket and the windows open to the sea. For many minutes he sat there in the dark, trying to regain his wits.

There's nopony here, other than Vast. And she's a drunken stupor. Don't let your mind fool you he thought. He's not here, that pony is not here, was never here to begin with. He curled up into a ball. Calm down, relax or you'll hyperventilate again. Forget, forget…

But the dream he did not easily forget, and he slept no more that night. He could still see the mocking face, grinning. A jeering voice. The dark underground and the sounds of battle outside. Yet he was alone, alone, alone…

He opened his eyes, and saw Vast laying beside him. She returned to sleep, but she had her head resting on his side. The dread voice and face disappeared. Vast was the refuge he needed, the strong pillar that kept him sane.

A black sky opened up before him, tinted with volcanic orange and ethereal fire.

He stood on the precipice of a great chasm, awash with blood and corpses whilst their screaming faced judged him from amidst the tempest. A great eye blinked out of the darkness and stared into him from the bloody sea, a questing look before shutting and melting back into thousands of rotten bodies. Despite the horror he merely looked on impassively, barely batting an eye at the disturbing sight, and walked away from it into the destroyed landscape around him, leaving the judgement of the dead to be swallowed up by the mechanisms of the mind.

“I did what I had to, I did what must be done for the sake of the Moon and Star cause.”

Voices arose in the darkness, his voice. A much younger and less tired voice.

“Dr Tempest! You can’t be serious, whatever hopes you hold for this project they are completely unfounded, the true calling lies in magic! Not biology!”

A sharp biting voice, Dr Hayworth.

“It is of fundamental importance! If we don’t understand the basic primary methods of magical diffusion, how can we return a power yet unseen since the sister’s disappearance to this world? How can we expect to be able to restore control over to the Pegasi and the subequine races if we do not understand the infusion of magic on its most basic level?”

“Through proper dedication and magical study! That is the policy of our ever faithful Archmage! Magic is the way forward, not the subequine race’s machines and science, Magic and Faith! That is the Future! And you should not be so apt to question one of the greatest minds in Equestria Dr Tempest, or you will find yourself demoted very quickly.”

He remembered that incident, Patient 443, one of his primary studies. After that his work was terminated in that sphere, and the noose had begun to tighten around his unorthodox experiments.

Black tendrils waved and flowed in the distance now, dancing with languid gestures in the desolate landscape before him like the tendrils of the legendry Leviathans. Beneath his hooves crawling vines circled and wrapped themselves around him, their orange and black bodies ripping and swaying like snakes. They lifted him upwards into the sky, like a huge treelike construct with him at the top, slowly arching into the volcanic heavens of fire.

The air cleared before him, and through the fog of brimstone and smell of charred meat he saw something, a bright shining flash.

It was suddenly there, and then gone, blinking out of existence in an instant…

Then it came back again, and even stronger this time, the vines beneath him crumbled and he tumbled into a new scene upon the clouds of fire. He got back up on his hooves and stared in awe at something which was not memory, or surreal dream… but vision.

Before him it stretched, his city of brass, great towering walls of basalt lined with banners, towering castles and fortifications stretching for miles, street lights, railways, engines of glittering metal, lightning power plants powered by condensed storms from the Pegasi. Great Zeppelins soared through the sky, and fearsome fighting machines strode across the Earth, and an infinite stream of soldiers poured out of the exquisite brass gateway.

A great eye emerged from the sky, and starred him down, a glowing violet orb with a strange sign in the centre, something which inspired a feeling of power within himself, even as he felt repulsed by the eyes horrifying stare. He shielded his eyes from the light with a hoof, and suddenly he saw something emerge from the very centre of the eye. The air around him was now filled with signs and languages long dead, but he was certain it must mean something…

The thing from the eye was growing ever more distinct and he realised it was a pony floating upright on its back hooves. As it drew nearer he realised it wasn’t just a pony, for it had wings and a horn… but there was something deeply wrong with it on a basic level.

Then his eyes picked up on it and his mind was flooded with information and primordial terror. The pony was made nearly entirely out of metal and chrome, machines, plates of armour, hydraulics and micro-engines, not an inch was spared from the workings of steel and science. On the centre of his chest sat a cylindrical shape, an orb of dark pulsating light emanating out from the within and flooding their burnished silver surroundings with dark purplish violet light. Upon its back rose a series of three sets of unmoving wings with razor sharp blades in replacement of feathers, upon the central blade stood strange orbs which looked like violet crystalline eyes which drilled into his very soul, connected to a network of glowing magical veins which pulsed obscenely with each beat of the creatures glowing heart.

The only thing of flesh was its head, a white, bloodless corpse like emaciated face with closed eyes and a smile of sickly bliss, wiring and cords ran beneath its skin and on occasions it twitched as the magic charges delivered an occasional increased energetic burst. The hair, or what was left of it, was nothing less than metallic power cords, linked to the skull, and from that, the heart core. It circled the disproportionally sized horn, the flesh around it cracked and brittle as if destroyed by the power contained within it. About it the cording releasing ambient magic which emanating from a series of jewels which coated each segment of them. The thing smelt of toxins and oil, making him feel disgusted at its presence, it tainted the air and almost made him vomit with sheer concentration of chemicals. There was something beneath the smell though that heightened the effect, the thing felt strange and otherworldly… something alien to its very core…

As he had been taking in these things, the entity, the equine machine had settled before him, hovering above the broken ground by a good hoof length its eyes still closed, its face still blissful.

He shivered.

what a work of art… I can see even the minute details… the runeing, the patterns, the workings of my deepest research… it is perfection… It is horrible... it is magnificent... It is an abomination.

“W-who are you?” he asked, nervously, his blood almost frozen in his veins. He did not know whether to be terrified or enraptured.

The thing stirred, and he took a step back, then another and then another. It opened its eyes and he almost gasped in surprise.

Beneath the lids, the eyes were crystal, optics, wiring and machinery working behind a veil of biology, and glowing with dark purple light.

“I am me, and you are I” a strange many voiced reply came back.

It spoke as if experiencing the finest glories of otherworldly bliss, but hardened and dragged to earth by the hollow effects of machinery and cybernetics... it was as if talking to the emotive true voice of god, and the cold emptiness of metal and void.

Truth undivided.

“What do you want?”

“I have a message… for you!” it chuckled, the pausing, distorted laughter putting him distinctively on edge.

“... What is the message?”

The thing cocked its head, a pair of pointed elfin ears swivelling towards him and smiled. It opened its mouth, as if savouring the air, revealing long series of pointed knife like teeth and a whip like tongue, the edges of its pointed mouth dribbling with what looked like oil, and spoke.

“काला सूरज”

Scalpel woke up with a start, his body rushing with adrenaline and fear, the words echoing through his mind like lightning.

He rose silent from his blankets in the houses master bedroom, barely noticing the chill of the night as he walked through the hall and towards his study. When he arrived, he lit a gas lamp and opened one of his many notebooks, riffling through pages of research and documentation to an empty portion.

Soon the pages were covered with artistry, impressions, images, designs drawn from the dream, to someone else it would have looked like the diary of a madpony, but to Scalpel it made perfect, amazing, brilliant sense. Diagrams and sigils covered every inch of paper and were underlined with a almost illegible number of notes and speculation, but two words stood out the most.

Those two words he had barely understood, but with the assistance of ancient texts and books of lore he had managed to transcribe their most basic meaning.

Black Sun.

Theá's temper was flaring, but she managed to hold it in check thanks only to the calming presence of the water in front of her and the skittering of various critters in the area coming to watch when sensing her presence.

She grit her teeth, lifting a hoof only to stomp down hard, creating a small crater. Her eyes had returned to normal after the first few minutes of sitting there, knowing full well what it made her look like. All of her siblings knew of Luna's descent into madness and the subsequent creation of Nightmare Moon, so if they feared that she was starting to turn Nightmare she wouldn't be surprised. Not that she had - Being the mistress of the Wilderness coupled with her shapeshifting abilities allowed her no small amount of appearances; the different eyes were simply one of those.

A humourless smile found its way to her lips. Ponies. Herbivores. What better way to intimidate someone than give a pony one of the most terrifying parts of many carnivores? It sure had worked wonders in the past.

She looked to the side and caught the eyes of a doe. It looked at her with its large beady eyes, never blinking, never moving. All it did was simply stare at her, watching the alicorn as she studied it. And even as she did so, she saw something in those big black eyes. She saw acceptance. The doe may have the instinct to keep living and flee if any danger were to present itself, but in those eyes she could see that whatever fate had in store for it, it would accept it. It knew it would die eventually, and it did nothing to deny that fact.

"Guess I should just accept it, then, shouldn't I?" She didn't get an answer, of course, but neither had she expected one.

She watched it for a few more moments before it turned its head towards some place in the sky and bolted off. When Theá turned to look she barely saw the projectile speeding towards her. Or rather, she did see it but she didn't much care to identify the identity of whoever it was seeing as how the water moving gave it away before she even had to think about it.

Crashing crashed into the water, scaring any nearby animal into a mad dash away from there, and spraying water everywhere and would have soaked Theá had she not erected a flimsy barrier to repel it in time.

Her sour mood was made a little better from what Crashing said. “Note ta self. That’s th’ last time I fly at that speed ever again.”

She let out a dry chuckle, and let the barrier fall. "Amateur," she muttered with half a smirk on her face.

For a time, Torrential continued to walk the road with Star Dancer, a smile on his face and a song weaving its way out of his lips as he merely took the chance to enjoy the company and the scenery around him for a while. However after a time the smile faded, replaced by a stern expression and a look in his eyes that suggested a hardness that nothing mortal would have a prayer of stopping. With a solemn sense of purpose, Torrential removed his wing from around Star Dancer. "Excuse me my dear, but I need to do something before I forget to do it. Hold on to this for me for a moment." He asked, removing his hat and plopping it down on the Pegasus's head.

Walking a short distance off of the road, Torrential planted his hooves into the muddy ground like lesser ponies sited their artillery... for much the same purpose. Taking a deep breath Torrential closed his eyes, focusing on what he was about to do completely. There would be a time to explain to Star Dancer what he had done after he had done it. Slowly, his horn began to glow a greyish-blue hue as the spell began to be form... only to shift into a sun like yellow-orange before a small ball of his magic started to form at the tip of his horn, no bigger than a marble at first. Then it started to glow in size.

From its humble beginnings as something the size of a marble the ball of yellow-orange light started to grow as more magic was poured into it. Within twenty seconds it was the size of Star Dancer herself; within a minute it was bigger than Torrential himself was! Seemingly at what must have been a random time, the spell stopped growing as Torrential started to strain with the effort of part two. The ball of magical energy started to compress in on itself, all the energy that had been poured into it now being forced into a smaller form that it seemingly did not wish to take. As the ball shrunk, it went from a yellow-orange to an angry red color, stopping only once it was the size of baseball.

With great care, Torrential turned his head towards where he was guessing the heart of Earthborn lands lay. Once he had lined up his shot, he tilted his head back before throwing it forwards, the spell being released as it flew much like the baseball it appeared like, soaring through the sky at a steady pace before vanishing behind the cloud cover up above.

Breathing heavily, Torrential clearly had some trouble pulling his hooves back out of the ground while his knees seemed to wobble from sheer exhaustion. The walk back over to the road was much like his knees; wobbly and unbalanced. Once he was back by Star Dancers side, he sat down as he continued to breath deeply. He didn't say anything just yet, but he knew that she not doubt had questions she wanted asked.

Crashing Wave’s ears perked when he heard,” Amateur.” He recognized that voice instantly and turned his head to look at the aqua green alicorn standing off to the side. He gave her a hard look. She looked none the worse for wear and even had a smirk playing at her lips.

“Well excuse me lass fer not bein’ built like dart fish,” Crashing grunted as he stood up. He gave his wings a flick sending water droplets in every direction before tucking them at his sides. He took a few steps forward before going dizzy from near exhaustion. He gave his head a shake to dispel to right his vision,” Bloody ‘ell I ‘ate flyin’. Not as much fun as swimmin’ let me tell ye.” Crashing suddenly remembered his precious cargo,” Mother’s bones me liquor!”

Crashing plopped down and tore his bag open. He sighed in relief when he was met with the sight of all the bottles intact. He pulled the green flask out and gazed at it lovingly before popping the cap and taking a swig. The sliver liquid burned felt like frozen fire as it glided down his gullet. He pulled the flask away from his lips with a sigh and cast a glance at Thea. He offered the flask to his fellow alicorn,” A bit of Moonshine lass fer what ails ye. I find it does a soul wonders.”

---

Sunpearl regarded the unicorn bowing before her with an almost amused expression. She let out a laugh akin to a silver bell ringing,” Rise land-dweller.” She turned an eye to Grimwing,” Tell me why he has yet to gain the blessing of the Sea?”

“He has yet ta meet Captain Wave yer ‘ighness,” the pegasus said,” We needed ta make wave or risk bein’ overrun by Moon an’ Stars. Sides ‘e was th’ one who warned us of ‘em.”

The ruby red sea mare cast a glance at the unicorn,” Very well. My guard and I will be making for the mainland. You and your crews are welcome to stay here. In fact I advise it I feel it is Fate that you are here. Particularly you young unicorn you are welcome to our libraries if you so wish.” She tuned to leave;” Fair winds guide you both.” With that the Queen left followed by her entourage.

Grimwing gazed after her and sighed,” Let me tell ye mate that is a mare right there.” He clapped Charter on the back,” Come on mate let’s get th’ ship’s cargo unpacked. We got some goods ta sell then I’ll show ye their libraries. Ye think Moon an’ Stars have some impressive libraries, ye ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Whirlpool cast a wary glance back at the land-dweelers as they took to unloading their cargo. He couldn’t shake the feeling the ne without the blessing would play a dire role in the weeks to come. He also couldn’t shake the unease he felt in his gut.

“Something bothers you young seer,” Sunpearl said, shaking the stallion out of his thoughts. She meant it as a statement, not a question.

“Yes my Queen,” Whirlpool looked up at the tall sea mare,” I feel that it is no coincidence they have arrived.”

“You as well,” she chuckled before looking up,” It has been a long time since the days when our people even made contact with land-dwellers. We have become only legends for them and now in the last three months we have ships of wood and metal seeking safety in our harbors. Such a thing is change, it is quick and without warning. Like a bull shark attacking its prey.” She looked back to the seer,” Soon our kind’s existence will be known to the world yet again. To think it would happen in my lifetime is astonishing.”

“It is indeed astonishing,” Whirlpool held back a shiver,” But I fear it will be met with unforeseen results.”

“Our return will be met with hostility and fear Whirlpool,” the Queen’s eyes betrayed sorrow,” There will be much blood in the coming weeks, of that I am sure. But we share the fate of the land-dwellers.” Whirlpool opened his mouth to say something but Sunpearl stopped him,” I know what my counsel believes. That we are safe due to our isolation but we are connected to the land-dwellers. We are all part of the world and if it ends and I fear that time is at hoof then we will burn the same as them. It is up to every living soul to right this wrong that we have all let come to pass. And we are just as much t blame as they are.”

Without another word Sunpearl made her way back to her palace.

---

Astral Spectrum frowned at the sight before him. He and his hunting party had come across a forsaken campsite. It was apparent that they had left in a hurry but this didn’t bother him no it was the crater before him. It was easily six feet in diameter, as if something had crashed. Astral knew the truth though; their quarry wasn’t with the main group anymore. He stomped a fore hoof down in frustration.

“Flicker, Peppermint to me!”

A tan unicorn stallion and mint green thestral mare rushed to stand at attention before the annoyed stallion. It wasn’t uncommon for priests of the Mon guild to keep them around. They were the only race that the unicorns tolerated even if the bat ponies were looked at than little more than servants. They stared straight forward neither moving, like statues.

“Track the main group. Find and capture one of the higher up ponies and bring them to the Fortress. From there you pulled any information you can from them.” The pair nodded and Flicker’s horn glowed, the pair disappeared with a grey flash. He turned to the rest of his party and regarded them for a moment,” The rest of you return to the slave domes and direct the new initiates. Contact Shade and tell her to bring the horn to me.”

His assistant stepped forward,” Where will you be going sir?”

Astral turned to the mare with a dangerous glint in his eye before he smirked,” To see an old friend and present to him a deal. If I am correct he will be hiding out in one of his old labs.” He chuckled darkly and with a flash of black magic was gone.

Her voice is lovely! No wonder the stallion Greenstar swam the sea to meet his singing love! , thought Charter when he heard the Queen. He recalled that song of myth, of the land pony and sea mare. The two endured much dangers, and even confronted the Serpent King himself, before being able to marry. I wonder if they heard the tale?

He stood at Sunpearl's command, and followed the conversation between her and Grimwing. "I thank you, your highness," he said after she was finished. When she was out of sight, his mind began to wonder about the "blessing". And the mention of libraries also brought new light - here was a perfect refuge to establish for the Scholarship! Well protected, the cove could host a new Vault, one that would be safe from the falling of Equestria.Vast, our mission seems to have succeeded beyond any of our drea- He was snapped out of his train of thought by Grimwing, and he followed the crew to help unload the cargo.

"Grimwing," asked the unicorn as they headed back up the ship. "I didn't want to ask too many questions before, but all this…" he waved a leg at the cave and city ", is rather …. fantastic! I would have never imagined that I'd be here now, having meet the most beautiful sea mare, the most beautiful mare on this entire world."

"It's boggles my mind how the Fleet could have made contact with this kingdom. Or pass their defenses, if that roar was any indication. I knew you were… oceanic scavenge experts, and certainly not aligned with the Moon and Stars. But this is certainly beyond the typical I'd imagine even for buccaneers.

"And the Queen also mentioned the Blessing, the mark that all the crew have. I thought it was a tribal identifier that some ships have for their crews. Or some sort of ward for safe travels - I've meet enough sailors to know of some of the customs. But for the Queen to mention it, I can't help but feel that it's more important than that. And you mentioned a Captain Wave, and I assumed he was the commodore of the fleet. But the way the crew speaks of him, they think he was Lord of the Sea himself. What does the Kraken Fleet do? And why is this Captain Wave and the Blessing so important?"

---

Torrential's hat was rather comical looking on Star Dancer. It was very large, and it partly covered her eyes until she readjusted it. The style almost reminded her of Professor Redgrass, a biologist who lived in the Everfree. He was a rather eccentric Scholar, preferring to wear brown robes and a large hat, if less pointed than Torrential's own. The natives of the wood often considered him a wizard, despite being an Earth Pony who only cared for the animals and plants.

I wonder… did Torrential bring this from the Spiritual Realm, or did he make it here? she thought. And what is he doing? Dancer's question was answered by the alicorn's demonstration. Her eyes widened at the sight, a magic unlike she has ever seen. Sweeper did do wonderful things, but it was often mundane compared to this. The sight conjured a memory from an ancient text, "The Journey to the Sun's Land". In it, great warrior ponies could compress their inner energy, and use those energy balls…

She gasped when Torrential sent the ball of energy into the sky. … to attack! she thought. She shook her head. Don't be silly, mare. That was just a story… I hope. Even when Torrential seemed to need help, she stood still. It was until he was back at her side, she asked with concern, "Master Waters, are you alright? Is there anything I can do?"

In the far distance, a grey clad figure wandered the landscape.

With a flicker of magic, the blinds were pulled open and the morning light drenched his study. Due to the dream, Scalpel had awoken early and already descended into delving into his work. The design given to him in the dream was exquisite, If he ever could find the materials he might be able to recreate it in full, until that point diagrams and information lists would have to do. Pulling on a silken robe and slippers he wandered down from the labs upper level through a dusty stone stairway, but stopped when he reached the bottom in surprise.

Grunge was currently standing inactive over the dead corpse of a unicorn.

“Well, that corpse wasn’t there before.”

Scalpel wandered across and Grunge jerked up from hibernation, letting out a low growl of approval as Scalpel scratched the back of his head, one of his front hooves twitching.

“I take it he picked the door?”

“Bad pony.”

“Quite Grunge”

Scalpel circumnavigated the large cyborg and pushed the open door closed and locked it again. Turning back to the corpse he sized it up, it was of a decent size, if a bit underweight, and its neck was bent at an odd angle from where Grunge had broken it. The coat and mane were blue and black, both quite tarnished and muddy from a life of shadows, sweat and travelling, flitting through his pockets he encountered various lockpicking devices and a small bag of crystals which could doubtless be used in his experiments.

Overall, a decent specimen.

Dragging the corpse across to a workbench, he threw it on top with a dull thud and eyed his other creation. It had been a Earth pony once, now it would serve as a shining example of ressurectionist theory. Sorting through his saddlebags he managed to scrap together at least half of the materials he needed to create another from spare parts, and laid it out before the dead corpse.

“I shall have to make some more” He grumbled, frowning somewhat.

Deciding on more immediate concerns however, he turned and went into the kitchen to whip up some cold breakfast of cheese and bread, once the others woke up he might send out Nocturne or Honey to pick up supplies.

Wandering upstairs he began to whistle a merry tune as he picked out his clothes for the evening, a red waistcoat with silver buttons and silk shirt, as well as his long black leather bloodstained apron. Grabbing a lantern from the laboratory, he lit it up and opened the houses basement with a silver key, making his way steadily down the ancient stairway into the darkness.

As he reached the bottom he raised the lamp above himself and lit up part of the room in a orange glow. Before him stood a series of furnaces, machinery, engines and vast piles of dusty coal and timber. Long cables webbed their way across the ceiling, wiring, power cables and steel lines with a series of oil lamps along the way. Huge tubes redirected the gasses and smoke from the furnaces upwards through a series of chimneys, and further tubes redirected steam to serve productive purposes, controlled by the intermediary valves which alternated the machineries purpose.

This was his industry, this was his means of production.

Striding forwards he began lighting the oil lamps along his way with a quick flicker of magic, further basking this underground world in a warm glow. Slowly he began to build up small fires in the furnaces and stoked it up further with coal.

With a blinking of lights, the rumble of moving gears and the growing whistling of steam, the great steel leviathan began to slowly come to life.

***

Honey awoke with a start, covered in sweat as breathed heavily and erratically amidst the silken blankets of her bed, the image once again coursing through her memories.

That Dream again…

She wiped her head with forehoof and reached for the glass of water which was standing on the small side table, taking a long draught before placing it back down and collapsing again into the pillows.

He would come frequently, the stallion in the memory, although not frequently enough to have her in a state constant tension when going to sleep. He would just emerge and make her dreams nightmares, a towering orange form coated in heavy plated steel, bringing a great saw down on her horn and grinding it back and forth in a sickeningly patient speed. Inch by inch it would dig deeper, cut further into her horn until she feared it would simply break off with the lightest touch. Blood would gush down her face as she struggled against it, screaming, kicking, begging, but nothing would stop it, nothing would make it end faster. At the very last second, just when her horn was about to break entirely away, she would wake up, sweat drenching her as she fought back the tears and the sorrow.

That Dream…

He couldn’t hurt her anymore… not after what had been done to him, Uncle had seen to that.

Slowly she shifted her weight, using her front hooves to push herself into a sitting position and steadying herself. She turned to look to her side and saw the wheels which now were her back legs after the other pony had gotten them… Uncle would deal with him soon too… as he had done with all the others.

She charged up her magic and it splutter into life, dragging the wheels forward and beginning the process of strapping themselves to the stumps which were her back legs. With that completed she grappled her way down the bed and onto the floor, shifting back and forth to feel the constraints, and once satisfied made her way to the door.

Travelling down the corridor she paused before her Uncle’s study, its door ajar and light on. She walked in and looked around, No uncle, but what was there was one of his open note books. Curious she climbed up onto the seat and sat ungainly upon it, peering at the sprawling manuscript.

Whatever uncle had thought of building, it most certainly was strange.

Even though she could barely grasp most of what was being said or portrayed, she managed to assern its unusual nature and definite complexity. What it might be, she couldn’t be sure, even with her Uncles training she was still years behind him and his immense studies. He said he was just a Doctor, but she knew his studies brought him an understanding of a vast variety of subjects, both modern and esoteric.

He was a very strange pony.

Jumping off, she continued her way down the hallway, but started surprised at an unusual sound coming from the guestroom.

It must be the Bat Pony.

Opening the door she peered into the bedroom and looked curiously at the strange entity.

For some reason she had decided to roost on the curtain pole, fanged mouth half ajar and making small squeaking sounds which must have been snores. She didn’t know what to make of this pony yet, although she appeared to be amiable enough and willing to support her Uncle in his research.

However, judging from the immense pile of bottles under the sleeping pony, she did have a drinking problem.

Honey raised an eyebrow.

I wonder how she managed to roost whilst intoxicated…

Suddenly with a thump the bat pony fell of its upside down perch and sprawled across the floor, She didn’t even wake up from her slumber, instead her snoring just grew louder.

Never mind then.

Bumping her way down the stairs she barely paused to acknowledge the corpse currently dangling halfway off her Uncles operation table. When it came to living with her Uncle, one grew accustomed to the presence of the dead. Below her the rumble and thunder of moving machinery became apparent, her Uncle must have restarted the engines which powered the house and the factory. Judging by the current hum of the floorboards, she believed they must have been at full capacity.

Searching around she couldn’t find anything to eat, Uncle must have munched on the last of the travel food. She could remember from her previous visit here there was a general goods store in town which would service their needs. Despite uncles sporadic and fleeting business, he always managed to collect a good measure of money wherever he went, the Cult deal had been especially commercially successful.

Rooting through the saddlebags, she managed to drag out a large bag of bits, searching through she siphoned off an ample portion. It seems she would go shopping for breakfast. Below her the muted sounds of harsh mechanisms started up as components of her Uncles research were being forged, and beneath it all she heard a happy sound of singing as her Uncle moved towards his goal.

She paused to look herself over, and frowned at the lair of dirt on her hooves, she needed a wash. With the engines on full output hot water would be freely available, and so she made her way up the stairs again and into the bathroom.

Getting herself in, she happily murmured in approval as the hot water began to wash the stress and the filth of the past few days away. It was the simple things in life, she thought, which were possibly the best. Levitating the soap she began to run it through her coat, working it in deep and seeing to her hair with some somewhat old shampoo. Once she was done she dried herself off with one of the thick fluffy towels in the bathroom and cast a simple drying spell.

Despite the damage done to her horn, Uncle said she was exceeding his expectations, and her magical ability was far above that of a normal unicorn. He had worked tirelessly to get her horn functioning again, endless series of tests and small magical spells further strengthening her hold over her natural power. Uncle said that despite the damage, it was perhaps a blessing, as the intensive work may have allowed her to tap into deep reserves of power which would have been unopened if the event of change had not occurred. She wasn’t so sure of that, but they were both jubilated when her horn had reconnected with her latent magic, they had celebrated with cake.

Passing along the corridor again she met the dark blurry eyed Bat Pony halfway and nodded to each other.

“Morning.”

“Mornink.”

The pony disappeared into the bathroom and she could hear the shower start up again as she returned from her room with her saddlebags. As she hopped down the stairs she paused before the inanimate form of Grunge beside the door, looking at him astutely. He started, and turned his head to look at her, recognition covering what remained of his features.

“Mz, Honey.”

“Grunge.”

She looked at him a few seconds more and the turned and opened the door with her magic, enjoying the rays of a fine morning sun as it topped the horizon, bathing her in warmth. Smiling, she stepped out, closing her Uncle and all his contraptions behind her, and began her way down the hill into the town, singing a merry song.

***

Nocturne made a cooing noise as the hot water rushed across her skin, she had missed hot running water, the Inn didn’t serve anything but cold for residents. This brought back memories of her father’s great Castle in the deep north of Equestria, with all its finery and luxuries. She missed him a lot, his smile, the booming laugh, and even his gothic stories, if not his scratchy beard.

Nocturne sighed, she missed The Old Country.

Perhaps through the doctor she might make her way back there, to a place between the Griffon mountains and untouched by the effects of war, famine and disease. She hoped it was still the same as it had been before the war, if not…

Best not to think about it.

Stepping out after a considerable period of time she shook herself off like a wolf, her fur going spiky and somewhat amusing. Wiping the rest off with a towel she skipped her way down the main laboratory and paused before the corpse.

It looked fresh.

Dr Scalpel emerged from a door leading to a cellar whistling whilst carting out several components consistent with their half machine pony they had created last night. He saw her and smiled, tipping more of the machinery on the table before the corpse.

“As you see, we had a midnight visitor, Grunge dealt with the intruder when he woke up from hibernation.”

“I see…”

“Anyway, I am beginning work on him too, a suitable match for the other, No? I have enough components to complete him too, we will open a small rift of magic to power them tonight.”

She nodded, somewhat concerned at his enthusiasm over this newly dead body, but shrugged it off, the doctor did seem to have an odd obsession over such things.

“I believe Honey has gone out to get us supplies” continued Scalpel as he began to wash and sterilize his equipment, “No doubt she will be back later, I sent Grunge to keep an eye on her from afar, but given the quiet nature of this town I doubt it will come too much.”

Nocturnes stomach rumbled and she gave him an embarrassed look “I hope she comes back soon, I could do with some breakfast.”
“Well, I hope that won’t inhibit your help with this one, with what you learned from last one we may well be able to complete this in a vastly reduced period of time.”

“Excellent Herr Doctor.”

Torrential smiled at Star as he continued to breath deeply, his breath coming back to him as the minutes started to pass and his strength began to return. He didn't answer her until his breath was back at the very least. "I am fine. I rarely cast feel the need to cast that spell and I've certainly never made it so big before. Admittingly it still isn't big enough to cover all the Earthborn lands but if I made it bigger it would simply overlap with those who have boarders with Earthborn to a much larger degree than is acceptable. Still, it should be enough to make my point loud and clear."

Pointing in the direction that the spell had zoomed off in, Torrential couldn't help but grin a little stupidly as he announced "You might want to start looking that way, otherwise you might miss the awesome part of all thing."

.........................................................................

The small ball of magical energy soared through the sky like a missile. While some Pegasuses might have been faster than it over a short distance, none had been in the skies that the spell was traveling through. After traveling a far amount of distance, something seemed to hit zero and the ball exploded outwards in a massive ring of orange light that expanded outwards at high speeds. Where the ring passed, clouds above and below regardless of size simply ceased to exist.

As it continued to grow outwards, it started to pass over populated areas in a massive light show. Apart from some chaos caused by the odd cloud house ceasing to exist and the non cloud contents of the building plummeting to the ground below, the spell didn't seem to cause any harm to anything that wasn't a cloud.

For hundreds of miles the light show continued, appearing on the horizon from where Torrential and Star Dancer were set on the road and flying overhead within less than a minute, continuing towards the opposite horizon like an unstoppable wave.

As the sky was purged of clouds and a perfectly clear sunny sky was left in the wake of the slowly fading orange ring of magic, Star Dancer would get a strange feeling in her gut; The instincts passed down by her ancestors picking up on the wrongness that had been left behind by the spell.

Torrential took one last deep breath as he reached over to reclaim his hat, putting it back on his head. "No cloud will form or pass over Earthborn lands until my terms are met."