The open road awaited them again, after what felt like too long. Sol would never admit it, but even though Canterlot had been a fine base of operations... it hadn't been home. No, home always had been and always would be the open road, the fields and plains, the forests and even the dungeons that they delved, long before it would be a city. Sol always acted like she preferred the stone walls and the whitewashed, polished castles... but no fort nor home would ever feel as safe to her as the open road. No, houses and cities were nothing but gilded cages.
Titan and Morgan were much more enthusiastic and honest in their happiness to return to traveling together... although Morgan had insisted on bringing her Paladin. Of course, the Paladin himself had been the one to insist, but it was Morgan who acted as his voice and carried his word. Sol thought perhaps Morgan even disagreed with the decision, but all the same... here he was. Morgan was a servant to her love, after all; it was a weakness, Sol thought, but she thought that it was a vulnerability that was growing smaller, as Morgan became more tired and more aware of what she was giving up for this foolish young stallion.
And another would join them on the road, whom neither Morgan nor Sol desired... but Sol recognized his value, and Titan encouraged them both to trust in him. He was a Blood Seer, who had traveled with them for some time before as an adviser, serving alongside the other mages, hiding in plain sight. He was talented and young, and he was keen to learn more of Tyrant Wyrms. Sol did not trust him or his kind, and would gladly have put him under her sword... but she recognized his value, and he was assiduous in his research and, so far, had not been foolish enough to lie to them.
So they were not quite alone... but nor were they babysitting an army, and nor would they have to worry about slowing their pace or changing their ways. Their guests would simply have to learn to keep up with them on their travels, although Sol had no doubt that ever-generous Titan would help the two along when they stumbled, and Morgan, of course, would not leave her Paladin behind.
It was a compromise Sol only allowed out of the love she had for her siblings, and the little usefulness she could see in these ponies accompanying them. The Blood Seer for his strange and dangerous powers, the Paladin for his connections to the Holy Order, and because he was high enough rank to make it easier for them to pass through waypoints controlled by soldiers of the faith, who lived in and between every barony to help keep the peace.
Veliuona would be staying behind, in Canterlot: they would communicate with her when necessary by night magic that she had taught Morgan, and when information needed to be passed along but was not urgent, by simple magic letter. Sol knew Veliuona would use her time in the city to twist and manipulate what minds she could into seeing the world through her dark lenses... but she also knew that Veliuona would not risk doing overmuch, for fear that it would bring Sol rushing back... or worse, might encourage Sol to herd the monstrous Tyrant Wyrms straight against the city. Sol, after all, cared little about saving the baronies: even her desire to save Equestria waxed and waned with her mood, which was as ever-changing as the sun's journey through the skies above.
For now, though, Sol knew that one way or the other, the Tyrant Wyrms had to be stopped: and so it was with that in mind that she set out, with her siblings and allies beside her, ready to find the source that had brought about all this evil, and put a stop to this grave new threat to the nation before it could become any more dangerous than it already was.
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