Ceneri

Cool ashes and charred wood crunched beneath the hooves of the Huntress. Each step a reminder of what had happened to this kingdom. Regno Dell'alba - The Kingdom of Dawn. "Miss Camille, what happened here? And why have I not heard of this place before?" Crystal asked, kicking a small crumbling brick wall that seemed to fall with way too much ease. She eeped softly before jumping back to walk beside Camille. Staring at the crumbling, charred buildings that surrounded them. A smaller filly, a crystal pony with blank eyes, hopped up and down on Camille's back. "Oh, oh, I know this place! It smells like...like... Ashes!"

Camille hummed softly, peeking back over her shoulder at Thalia. "Thalia, calm. And stop making so much noise. It may be quiet now, but that gives those hiding the upper hand. Stay close."

Thalia and Crystal looked at each other, nodded once, then fell silent. Crystal's steps seemed to silence as well. They knew not to question Camille when it came to these situations. No need to draw unwanted attention on their little adventure while, one, Camille was still wanted, and two, enemies are of plenty. Especially when it comes to Crystal Ponies - more specifically, the ones that are crystalized outside of the Crystal Kingdom. It's a rarity to the fullest meaning of the word.

They passed through buildings, eyes searching every inch to find evidence as to what had happened here - beyond the fires. Camille frowned as she noticed something missing. Not only were there no living souls, there were no deceased bodies or even skeletons. This instantly put her on edge. No death usually means plenty of ponies are either missing, or they left in a hurry. For what?

"Miss Camille!" Crystal called, tapping her hoof on a worn out, partially burned paper. Camille trotted closer, leaning in to take a good look at it. "I can't read it, Miss...it's in some sort of strange tongue..."

"Tongue is what you speak, this is hoof. More importantly, it's scripture. For the Dusk as fallen, Dawn shall rise. For the Dawn rises, always, here. Burnt blues and auburn to purple. Hoof to stone. This is written in Zebraic... but Zebras don't live out here ever since their attempts at a city in the Everfree failed. They mostly stayed to their homelands."

"The strangest part," Camille continued, "it also reads like a plea for protection. They fear the night, and look for the dawn for protection. No, Zebraic... They aren't speaking of actual night. Mom always said that the difference between Night and Knight - with a 'k' - is a heartbeat. I get what she means by that now. Burnt blues and auburn to purple, they are talking about the fires...hoof to stone must be escape. They wrote this expecting only each other to understand, but not whatever did this."

"Woah, you are like...a detective!" Thalia said with a giggle.

Camille chuckled softly, turning and leading Crystal out of the building. Her attention turning now to the tallest building up the path. A short walk there and they were met with a door made of thick steel. She tried to push it open, but it just wouldn't budge. Camille extended a wing out and angled it towards the ground. Thalia slid down it feeling the change in Camille's body and landed just beside Crystal. Then, in one swift motion, Camille spun around on a hoof and landed a hard kick on the door. The door exploded off of its hinges, flying across the large room ahead and clattering to the floor. Both fillies lest out a whoop as the three entered.

The thestral stopped, using her wing to stop the other two as she looked up into the darkness above. Her eyes quickly adjusted to see the figures there. Suddenly they dropped down, surrounding the three and aiming spears at them.

Camille looked between them, wing covering the other fillies protectively. "Kami tidak bermaksud menyakiti Anda. Veniamo in pace. Ons kom in vrede."

The zebras looked around in confusion, one slowly stepping forwards. "Sei la figlia del demone rosa?"

"Rosa Cavalier? Sì. Mi chiamo Camille e sono qui perché ho ricevuto la vostra supplica. Do you speak Ponish?"

One of the zebras suddenly jumped forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Please! Help us! We have been scared. Very scared... The Dawn came, and it burned... it burned everything!"

Camille was taken aback, but gently patted the young gal's head. "Hush. I have removed your privacy with my actions. Is there a place we can't be heard?"

"Oh, yes. Yes! Segui, segui!"

The Zebra mare released Camille, turned, and quickly moved behind the throne near the back of the room. The guards seemed to follow, two remaining behind to follow Camille and the fillies in. "Listen, Crystal, Thalia, I need you both on your best behavior. If we are to find your home, we must survive this. Friends are just enemies waiting their turn in my line of work. Plus they know mom..."

"I'm going to get in so much trouble for being here."