The Shadow of a King
Thirst for Vengeance (Part 2)
Author: Draconis187

The streets of a small sized town were quiet as the hour was fast approaching midnight. Businesses were closed, homes were locked with only a few people up late tending to work or more personal matters. It was a calm, tranquil scene were one could contemplate life’s mysteries without being disturbed.

Atop the rooftops, a figure leapt across with unerring speed. The figure’s black trenchcoat billowed in the wind as his silhouette streaked across the sky as it bounced from rooftop to rooftop as if on a mission.

On the streets, another figure was running in the same direction. He held a leather briefcase close to his chest as he ran. He was sure something was following him with the intent to kill. Turning the corner, he ran down an alleyway and stopped as a man in a suit blocked his exit.

The man didn’t look up right away as he lit up his cigarette, “Embezzlement, blackmail and money laundering. I usually go for the more violent marks since they have a higher bounty on their heads but… you’ll do for now.”

“Y-you’re a-” The man tried to say but the other one cut him off with a wave of his free hand.

“A Sweeper,” He finished as the figure that had been chasing the criminal landed behind him with barely a sound. “Meet my associate.”

The other man pulled out his weapon of choice, the gun clicked as the safety came off as he aimed it. “Sorry I’m late, Sven. I would’ve been here sooner but the girls got lost so I sent them back to the bar. He doesn’t look like he’ll put up a fight anyway.”

Sven chuckled as he took a drag of his cigarette, “Well that’s understandable, Train. They’re all kind of out of their element here. They’ll catch up eventually. As for you my friend, you’re coming with us.”

The man gulped as he looked at Train, “Who are you two?”

“We’re Sweepers, man. I told you just a few seconds ago,” Sven replied with a shake of his head, holding his hat as he did so.

“Move,” Train said, pressing the barrel of Hades against the man’s back.

His close proximity gave the man a chance to properly look at Train. His heart almost stopped as he saw Train’s collarbone. More specifically what was tattooed on his collarbone.

“You’re a Number?!” He shouted.

“Former, I’m a Sweeper now. Now get moving,” Train replied coldly.

Half an hour later Train and Sven met up with Eve, Twilight and Nyx at the Sweeper bar known as the Cait Sith Café run by Annette Pierce.

She was a large blonde woman of considerable muscle, more than likely gained through her years as a Sweeper. Her current business was more along the lines of information but serving food or drink helped cover the overhead. She watched Train and Sven enter and greeted them as usual, her expression as stoic as ever.

“How’d it go?” Twilight asked as the pair of them sat down with a sigh.

“Pretty good. Cashed in the bounty,” Sven said, lighting another cigarette while Train opened up a bottle of milk. “He wet himself when he saw Train though.”

“Wet himself?” Eve repeated flatly in slight confusion.

Twilight looked at her with an annoyed look but it was from Sven’s choice of words. “He means he was beyond terrified when he saw Train, Eve. Why did he have such an adverse reaction anyway?”

Train looked away as Twilight asked the question, finding his milk far more interesting but Sven answered instead, “He used to work for Chronos as a Number.”

“What’s Chronos?” Nyx asked, turning her head while Eve stroked her.

She found it a pleasant experience as Eve’s hands were ever so gentle on her coat and it felt like one of Rarity’s spa ventures that she got dragged to. Although Aloe and Lotus were far more experienced but Eve was a decent substitute.

“They’re a secret shadow organisation to be blunt,” Train said flatly without looking at Twilight. “The Numbers are highly skilled assassins selected from the Erasers. An Eraser is a skilled assassin but a Number is more than that.

“They’re extremely ruthless, some are quite cunning and they all show zero remorse to carry out their hits or assignments. There were thirteen Numbers, each with a powerful and very unique weapon made from Orichalcum. It’s a powerful material, hard to get a hold of and harder to work with.” Train finally turned to Twilight, placing the bottle on the table and pointed to the Roman numeral on his collarbone.

“I was Number Thirteen,” Train continued, “I was a special case as there are only twelve Numbers active at any one time. I showed enough promise during my time as an Eraser to be considered joining the Numbers. At the time I accepted without hesitation.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked, looking at Train and Sven with fascination.

“Long story but in a nutshell Train didn’t kill Eve as he was sent to kill her and she later found him unconscious on a burning ship, rescuing him. She nursed him back to health and he left Chronos not long after,” Sven said, “Been with us ever since. Trust me when I say the full version is too long to get into right now.”

“O…kay?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.

“I still don’t see why I couldn’t help out with the bounty,” Nyx pouted, “I can fight and he was a… ‘white collar criminal’ I think Sven called him.”

Sven nodded his head but Twilight’s scowl made him place his hat over most of his face. He couldn’t do it all the way lest his hat catch fire from his cigarette.

“And like I said before, Nyx. You’re a filly. Unless you somehow grow up like last time, I will try to keep you out of this business as much as possible,” Twilight explained. “Not to mention your Twilight would be highly upset with me if I had you going around and catching dangerous criminals.”

“But they don’t kill their targets, Twilight!” Nyx protested.

“But the targets they go after do!” Twilight shouted. “I’ve seen some of the posters. There were rapists, murderers and other assortments of… of monsters that would not hesitate to kill you if they got the chance!”

Luckily the hour was too late for the argument to continue further as Annette finally got the group to leave. Something about her bar not being a hotel, day-care or a petting zoo. The tired group clambered into Sven’s car and drove back to his hideout. Nyx fell asleep with her head on Eve’s lap, a small scowl on her face. Eve’s massaging soon soothed the filly’s anger as her expression softened considerably before she began to snore softly.

**** **** **** ****

Dash got up from bed with a groan, the motors in her wings and body less of an annoyance. The scene of her breaking down and crying the week before still scarred her. She was Rainbow Dash, the greatest flier in all of Equestria and the most awesome pony in existence… yet she cried like a filly.

Her ego was nothing if not bruised and her pride fell down several rungs. Gilda promised not to tell and even made a Pinkie Promise to help alleviate her concerns. Jensen didn’t seem to care but he knew that she valued her image and silently promised to himself to never bring it up again regardless.

Six months flew past as their bodies were busy recovering and as a result they got somewhat used to the augments. Gilda hated the jet on her back as she found it too bulky and noisy. Dash did find out something interesting about the augment in her foreleg and in the wrists of Gilda’s claws: the combat nanoceramic blade. The blade was tougher than conventional steel as Dash punched a hole through one of Jensen’s walls to test it, much to his annoyance.

Another useful feature the two found was the Infolink. A communication system and database built into their ears like a radio transmitter and receiver, only much smaller and accessible to those who have their frequency. Another part of it encompassed their eyes. It stored maps, conversations and anything the users deemed important enough to store in memory. Prank calls to the local pizza shop happened within the next ten minutes of the discovery.

On the whole Dash and Gilda had slowly adjusted to life in Detroit, or at the least, Jensen’s apartment. Jensen mostly ordered take-out which was delivered quickly and efficiently while the rest of the time, the three of them tried their hand, hoof or claw at conventional cooking. Their dietary requirements were well met if none of them burned the kitchen down.

They got introduced to the world around them thanks to mainstream media sources, mostly courtesy of Picus TV and the Picus Daily Standard. What interested Gilda was the weapon Jensen told them that almost succeeded in killing them: a Diamond Back .357 revolver. Jensen saw it fit to inform them about all the weapons he had encountered during his time as the commander of SWAT’s Team Two and at Sarif Industries.

One day, Jensen got a call over his Infolink while the three tenants ate breakfast, “Yeah?”

“Adam, it’s David. We have a situation,” Said the voice of David Sarif.

“What do you mean?” Jensen asked as Gilda and Dash raised their eyebrows. They were also linked to the transmission via their own Infolinks but Sarif was mainly speaking to Jensen.

“Sorry, but I have to take the three of you off medical leave,” David said. “Head over to the offices and I’ll fill you all in once you get there.”

Dash looked at Jensen as the conversation ended, placing her half eaten toast on her plate. “So, we’re not staying in here anymore?”

Gilda folded her arms, and smirked. “Finally. Six months confined within four walls without being able to fly can make a gal start to feel a little claustrophobic.”

**** **** **** ****

One week had passed since the last bounty got cashed in and winter finally decided to settle in. Sven’s car was almost trying to hit every pothole in the dirt road as it moved along. Train sat in front with Sven at the wheel while the girls were sat in the back.

Eve was wearing her usual black attire while Nyx and Twilight wore scarves. Twilight’s was the same shade of magenta as her eyes while Nyx’s was teal like her headband. Sven hadn’t had any change in wardrobe. Train however, completely changed his outfit.

He now wore a blue half jacket with four odd objects attached to it which he called ‘meat patties.’ It disgusted Twilight and Nyx as they were herbivores but he kept them regardless. Underneath the jacket, he wore a plain white shirt and his pants were still black while the holster for Hades was clearly visible.

“It’s cold,” Train complained, his arms crossed over his chest as he shivered.

“Well, who’s the genius who sold his only coat?” Sven retorted matter-of-factly.

“You could at least fix the heater, Sven.” Train replied in annoyance.

“We don’t have the money,” Sven said in slight anger.

“Well, why doesn’t Twilight fix the heater? She’s got that magic voodoo junk doesn’t she?” Train replied.

“My ‘magic voodoo junk’ doesn’t apply to auto repair and mechanics, Train. Besides, I don’t know anything about cars so I can’t use my magic to repair it and before you ask the answer is no. Nyx doesn’t know about cars either,” Twilight rebuked.

“Well, I’m reading something like that now, Twilight.” Nyx said, levitating a book with information on Sven’s car model in front of Twilight. “But I’m still a ways before I can fix anything.”

“Sven, what on earth do you mean by ‘we don’t have the money?’ I’ve been helping on every one of your Sweeper jobs,” Train asked, “Where’s the money going?”

“You really want to know?” Sven said, his anger rising. “It goes straight to your ‘eat like a pig and live off of Sven for free fund.’ In case you haven’t noticed, Train we have Twilight and Nyx to help out here not too mention our own money troubles. It would help us all if you didn’t eat enough for an army of sumo wrestlers.”

Train groaned and looked back at Eve, “So Eve… What are you reading?”

“It’s called ‘The Desperate Trio: The escape from the pits.’” Eve replied flatly.

“That’s a bit heavy for you to read, isn’t it?” Train asked in slight confusion.

“You idiot, she’s reading to figure a way out of our own miserable situation,” Sven spat.

Twilight’s ears fell flat as she looked at Nyx. They knew that their needs were putting pressure on Sven as well and despite their attempts to help out, it wasn’t enough nor did Sven let them since he’d rather have them out of the public eye. They could only hope their next target – a former Park Ranger by the name of Igor Planter – would lighten the burden on their caretaker’s shoulders.

**** **** **** ****

Sarif Industries Headquarters was a massive building, towering over most buildings Dash had seen in Canterlot. To Gilda it was even more imposing as Griffon buildings tended to not reach higher than ten stories. Sarif Industries could have easily hit the higher end of the double digits.

Jensen and the pair walked in through the front, getting odd looks from passers-by and staff. 90% of it was directed at Gilda and Dash as ‘unique to their world’ would be an understatement. Jensen calmly walked to the reception desk with Gilda and Dash in tow.

“Good to see you again Adam,” The receptionist said cheerfully. “Sorry your medical leave was cut short.”

“Well, I can’t sit on my ass all day.” Jensen replied flatly. “These two have made my recovery… interesting.”

“I… see. Well, Mr. Sarif is waiting for you three at the Helipad outside. I’m sure you remember the way,” The receptionist said, not losing her smile.

Jensen and the Equestrians walked through the building, going up a flight of stairs but stopped as Jensen shook his head, “Damn…”

“Something wrong?” Dash asked.

“My optics are not responding properly. I’ll need to see Pritchard before we meet Sarif,” Jensen said.

The three walked over to Tech Support where Francis Pritchard worked. Although Pritchard preferred to be known by his proper title: the Chief of Cyber-Security. It didn’t make Jensen and Pritchard like each other any more as they butted heads more often than they’d like to admit.

“What is it, Jensen? I’m busy,” Pritchard said in annoyance, not looking up from his computer screen.

Pritchard was a rather thin man with black hair in a black and orange jacket with a white undershirt with a pair of jeans. He looked rather worn and annoyed as was indicated by his reply to Jensen.

“My retinal display is acting up,” Jensen replied flatly.

“Fine. Come here and I’ll fix it,” Pritchard said with a slightly aggravated tone. Jensen did as he was told and soon his retinal display was rebooted.

Jensen gave Pritchard a cold thanks which was reciprocated by Pritchard. As Jensen left the room with Gilda and Dash he got a thought, “See you later… Francis.”

Gilda chuckled as she looked at him, “Francis?! That’s a girl’s name!”

Dash and Gilda laughed the whole way to the helipad, much to Jensen’s entertainment as Pritchard shouted threats that both of them knew he couldn’t pull off physically. Staff looked in confusion at the pair of laughing mythological creatures with augmentations.

David Sarif looked at them with a raised eyebrow as he stood next to the VTOL aircraft. Gilda and Dash stopped laughing long enough for Gilda to whistle slowly.

“Bloodwing would lose his feathers if he saw me in something like that,” Gilda commented, pointing at the VTOl. “Doesn’t trust jets… He’s in for a shock when he sees me though. I got one attached to me.”

“Good to see you three,” David said warmly, either ignoring Gilda’s comment or he just didn’t hear it.

“Hiya,” Dash said with a small smile.

“Sup?” Gilda said in a neutral tone.

“Listen, we have a situation at our Milwaukee manufacturing plant. We’re running out of time so I’ll tell you more on the way over, get in.” David said as he got into the VTOL.

Dash and Gilda looked at each other, shrugging as they followed David and Jensen into the VTOL. Its engines roared with power as the aircraft flew upwards into the air. Dash looked out the window, her augmented wings twitching in excitement. Even the fantails’ blades gave a small whir as their blades spun softly.

Gilda’s and Dash’s wings were working perfectly but their flight privileges were revoked on the count of drawing attention to themselves and the recovery from the operation. It dampened their spirits but this got the Pegasus excited as she was no longer on medical leave, as was Gilda.

She turned her head to listen to Jensen and Sarif as the situation was explained to them, “A group of terrorists have taken our Milwaukee Junction Manufacturing Plant and I need you three to retrieve something from them. We were about to stop production on the Typhoon before the attack hit and now the staff are being held hostage.

“There is another thing,” He said as he turned to look at Dash, “Project Excelion is there as well.”

“Project what now?” Dash said, confused.

“The name is unimportant but I need you to retrieve it as well as the Typhoon,” David said.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, handing it to Dash, “This will get you into the R&D section at the Plant. Use this, retrieve Excelion and join up with Gilda and Jensen.”

“Where exactly am I going to keep it? I don’t exactly have pockets,” Dash said with a confused look.

“Oh right. I got some uniforms made for you and Gilda. We took measurements during the operation and since it went successfully, I sent the data to a reliable tailor.” David replied. “They’re in the compartment behind you so once we land, take them out.”

“Uniforms?” Gilda faceclawed, “It feels like boot camp all over again. I hated boot camp.”

“Boot camp?” Dash asked.

“Tell ya later, Dash.” Gilda replied. She regretted saying that almost immediately.

**** **** **** ****

The 54th Fleet made its way over the ocean and into the airspace of a desolate landscape. Sporadic flora could be seen dotting the landscape and water seemed to be miles away for anything unfortunate to be restricted to the ground. The lack of shade meant the sun would be close to murder on one’s body but luckily for the Griffons, their ships were air-conditioned.

“Sir, we have successfully entered Zebrican Airspace,” The helmsgriffon said proudly.

“Thank those pony princesses’ asses, finally!” Bloodwing exclaimed. “Let’s find those bloody Zebras and be done with it.”

“Aye aye, sir.” The helmsgriffon replied as the fleet continued to thunder across the landscape.

To any on the ground, the sight of the Arbiter would be a terrifying sight to behold if it came after them and with the rest of the 54th Fleet… it was enough to lose control of all bowel functions for allies and enemies alike.

“Sir, we have multiple contacts. Bearing 180°,” A Griffon said. “Airspeed: 32 knots.”

“Well, don’t stand there gawking at the damned thing. What are they?!” Bloodwing shouted.

The Griffon looked at the blips on the radar and cross referenced their size and shape with a database of known aircraft. There were no definitive matches.

“Signature doesn’t match Zebrican Zeppelins or any other aircraft, sir. Looking through the local bestiary now,” The Griffon replied.

“Hurry it up! For every minute I don’t know will be another bruise on your body!” Bloodwing shouted.

Bloodwing was known for his more… violent nature but it was usually within reason. Whenever he made threats of that nature, his crew knew he was upset about something. The bridge and the communications crew knew he was worried about his niece and that his inability to simply turn the fleet about for a personal mission made him even more infuriated. His loyalty was the bane of his existence.

The pages of the bestiary flew as the Griffon paged through frantically, “Sir… I can’t find it in here!”

Bloodwing shot him a glare that could have frozen Tartarus, “Say that again!”

“Sir, whatever it is… it’s not local!” The Griffon replied.

“All Griffons get to your stations!” Bloodwing shouted. “Tell the rest of the fleet to go on to high alert. If whatever those things are so much as farts the wrong way, kill them!”

Too bad for them I’m in the mood to kill something, Bloodwing thought grimly.

“Sir… They’re coming from Equestria!” The griffon said.

All colour left Bloodwing’s face as the news hit him hard and paranoia settled in his mind, “If whatever they are are somewhat responsible for what happened to my niece… I’ll tear them apart myself.”

**** **** **** ****

Discord was literally dragged off the snow-capped mountain as the scorpion man tied him to the back of an ATV and drove down. Halfway down the mountain, the snow turned to dirt and flattened out in a large enough area where a helicopter had landed a few minutes ago.

Discord could barely feel his body and the ride was far less than comfortable. The man untied him and hefted him onto his shoulders in a fireman’s lift as he carried Discord over to a woman with blonde hair, wearing a combat vest and unceremoniously dropped him to the floor where he grunted in pain.

“Sheesh, Rico. If you manhandled this thing anymore like that, you could’ve broken something.” The woman said as she knelt down and looked at Discord.

“It’s still breathing isn’t it? You didn’t specify how you wanted me to bring it, Kane so I… improvised,” Rico replied smugly.

I’d like him… if he hadn’t dragged me down this mountain, Discord thought miserably.

Kane gave Discord a proper look over and placed a hand on her chin, “Well, I haven’t heard anything about Panay dealing with something so… drastic. Rico, get going and continue to cause as much chaos as possible while I figure out what to do with this thing. I’ll probably just kill it.”

Cause as much chaos as possible? Discord thought. If this lady was not about to consider killing me, I would’ve thought I was in Heaven.

“Whatever, Kane.” Rico said as he got back onto the ATV and drove off, kicking up dust and dirt.

As Kane pulled out a combat knife to end him with, Discord had enough movement in his body to be able to speak but it came out as a hoarse whisper. “Can’t we be civil about this?”

Kane glared at him while Discord tried his best to smile. The Mors Rubrum Minusculus was losing effectiveness as its poison left his bloodstream. Discord could feel movement in his tail and right claw and tried to slowly move them.

“I’m sure we can come to an agreement,” Discord said, trying to get up carefully as more of his body began to respond.

The knife quickly found itself lodged in Discord’s right arm, above the elbow. Discord shouted in pain as the woman twisted and removed it before going for his throat. Thinking quickly, Discord snapped his left claw and vanished. He reappeared nearby, with his back against the helicopter.

“Now that was just plain rude,” Discord said in a disappointed tone as the wound healed and the blood turned to lemonade as he licked it off with his long tongue. He looked at Kane and snapped his claw again, this time the blade of Kane’s knife went limp. Discord smiled broader than ever. “Shall we try this again?”

**** **** **** ****

Ten minutes alone was all Fluttershy wanted. Ten minutes to rest on her couch or her bed and rest her eyes. Sadly for her that wasn’t going to happen as a number of large, grotesque machines dropped from the sky and began tearing the city up again. She pitied the man in blue overalls, carrying a mop and broom in a cleaning trolley with other assorted items as he just looked up and groaned.

“Not another mess for me to pick up,” He said sombrely. “I really don’t get paid enough for this.”

MEGAS was in the thick of it as the robot jumped into the air and came down, shoulder-first onto the face of one of the machines. The shockwave tore down the PoPTV building as well as a few others but anyone nearby enough to see the building collapse cheered.

“Why’d the Glorft attack now?” Coop asked as he got MEGAS up from the ground.

“Why else? They want MEGAS,” Kiva responded flatly.

Coop looked at his dashboard thoughtfully for a second. “Oh, right. Forgot about that.”

“Less thinking, more hitting!” Jamie shrieked as the Glorft mechs came towards them.

Flying over the city, Fluttershy sighed. “He’s in the middle of all this again.”

“We are with you, Miss Fluttershy.” Agni said to Fluttershy as she reached for him and his brother.

“Yeah!” Rudra exclaimed, the pommel head smiling reassuringly at her.

Fluttershy smiled back, “Thanks.”

Yelling a battlecry, a flurry of wind and fire flew towards one of the mechs, burning through to the cockpit and exposing the pilot. Fluttershy stopped for a few moments as she looked at it. It was similar to an octopus with tentacles by its mouth and a pair of large red eyes. It had odd growths on its head and some of its body while the rest was covered by metal and cybernetics.

“What are you?” She asked, her grip faltering slightly.

“Watch out!”Agni warned as the pilot pulled on a lever and ejected from its mech.

Fluttershy flew upwards as the mech fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process. As she looked at it, she inadvertently stayed still long enough for another mech to lock onto her.

Coop yelled with righteous fury as the mech that targeted Fluttershy got the Double Deuce as MEGAS swung its arms down, breaking its target’s arms off at the shoulders.

“Nice,” Jamie said with a smile.

Fluttershy turned around to see MEGAS punching the armless mech into three others, creating a massive explosion. Lasers and gunfire filled the air as the rest of the Glorft mechs tried to kill MEGAS or at least to an extent, the pilot.

Fluttershy looked to one of the attacking mechs and flew towards it as she spun Agni and Rudra wildly, creating an inferno of demonic power as she tore into the joint in one of its shoulders. She placed the demon swords away and activated Beowulf. As the mech tried to get her out, it found out that it was impossible, Fluttershy had broken into the shoulder that had a hand. The other had the weapon at the end and effectively made it impossible to take Fluttershy out, lest it blow off its own arm.

Which it did. A single shot into the exposed hole blew the arm clean off as well as most of the shoulder connector. The pilot inside smiled as he thought he had killed Fluttershy. In a few moments the robot rocked violently and the bottom of the cockpit was viciously torn open.

Fluttershy used Beowulf to literally dig into the robot and tear her way towards the cockpit from the inside. She quickly discovered as it blew off its own arm that they would not hesitate to kill her or anyone in their way. Sadly for them, she was no stranger to murder and as of that moment… all bets were off.

“You missed,” Fluttershy said with an uncharacteristic scowl as she used Beowulf to uppercut the pilot.

The Devil Arm tore through the pilot’s console as well as its armour. The force knocked him out of his seat and he collided with the ceiling, knocking him unconscious. Satisfied her job was done here, Fluttershy proceeded to punch a hole through the cockpit and expose it to the outside world. She flew out in search of her next target… of which there was plenty to choose from.

**** **** **** ****

Discord laid back, swinging in the air on a hammock made from vines that were attached to some invisible tether in the air as Kane tried to kill him with an assault rifle. As she fired, the rounds turned into a variety of items: flowers, confetti, ice-cream and even a double glazed donut with vermicelli. He ate the last one and spat out the donut.

After expending another magazine, Discord rolled over to look at her, “You done yet, milady? This is starting to get boring.”

Kane reached for another magazine to continue in the vain hope that one bullet would be overlooked and it would kill him but as she did so she found out she had run dry. Her pistol was finished, a shotgun and now the assault rifle. She had her knife but it was still as limp as a wet noodle so it was not going to be of much use.

Kane let out a deep sigh and finally spoke to him, “What are you?”

“Well, I was trying to introduce myself but you were trying to kill me.” Discord replied. “Reminds me of somepony I know. I am - pause for dramatic effect - Discord!”

“Who?” Kane replied.

“My dear, I am Discord. God of Chaos, life of any party, the most handsome being in existence and the biggest headache you’ll ever have! Wait, that last one doesn’t sound right… Oh well!” Discord said cheerfully.

Kane was trying to think as she sat back, her back resting against a tree. God of Chaos? How on earth was it possible for him to be a God of Chaos? Yet there he was, defying every law of the universe on a whim in the attempt to not get killed. Maybe… just maybe he could help out but… would he?

“Well this island could use chaos right now but it needs the right kind of chaos,” Kane said.

“‘Right kind of chaos?’ What – by my amazing goatee – are you talking about?” Discord asked. He knew right away she was trying to bait him into helping but sadly, he was a better manipulator than her with centuries of experience.

“We need chaos to bring a possible traitor out and force the President of Panau to act in order to remove him,” Kane said, doing her best to convince Discord to assist.

“And how – pray tell – do you plan on causing this chaos?” Discord asked. He knew there was more than one type of chaos and was curious as to what kind they were trying to spread.

“We destroy anything that belongs to the Panauan government or at least Rico does. Satellite installations, fuel depots, SAM sites, communications arrays are amongst the more common types of targets. Essentially anything that bears the white Panauan star,” Kane explained. “We weaken the military’s strength and hold over the populace, inciting a revolution as more of their equipment is destroyed. It’s known as a ‘regime changing mission.’”

Discord scratched his chin, hanging upside down in the air. They were trying a form of destabilisation chaos required to impose order. He got curious as to how Rico was planning on doing it on his own. Although he figured out there must be something unique or special about him, maybe not devil’s blood or possessing the power of the Thu’um like the other humans he had met. It was something he wanted to figure out and he smiled broadly. He wasn’t going to be bored after all.

“Alright. I’ll help,” Discord said, teleporting right up to Kane where she attempted to roundhouse kick him out of sheer reflex.

Discord stopped it with his claw and shook his head, chuckling a little. “We really need to stop meeting like this.”

Kane’s leg was released and she stretched out her hand. With a firm handshake, Kane looked at his mismatched eyes. “I still don’t trust you though.”

Discord laughed, “That’s alright. I don’t trust me either. What do you want me to do first?”

**** **** **** ****

Fluttershy came down on another Glorft mech with Beowulf shining brightly. Her attack tore through the mech’s leg joint as if it were paper standing up against a 100mph freight train. Her attack caused the mech to topple over and fall against another, blowing them both up in a colourful fireball.

“She’s helping?” Kiva said out loud.

“Guess she’s not that bad,” Coop said as he changed gears and tore off a mech’s head as MEGAS had it in a full nelson. “Eat it, chumps!”

Inside one of the mechs, the leader was about to burst several blood vessels in pure rage, “What is that thing?!”

He was talking about Fluttershy as she used Pandora’s Retribution form to absorb one of the mech’s attacks and send it back at twice the strength. The rounds the Devil Arm sent back tore through its armour before the mech exploded, leaving only a pair of legs which nonchalantly fell to the floor.

“Unknown, War Master Gorrath,” Another Glorft said as a mech got used as a makeshift club by MEGAS. “But it’s assisting the prototype.”

“Well… find out!!” Gorrath shouted, “Or your life will be forfeit, Commander.”

Fluttershy used a Tempest attack to drill her way through another mech’s neck. As the head got ripped off, it spun around in the air before flying away like a projectile towards a mech and impaled it in its chest.

Using the newfound space as an attack platform, Fluttershy used Pandora’s Hatred form to fire a salvo of missiles at the same mech and destroyed them both. Fluttershy brought the Devil Arm off her shoulder and began to swing it around her body. Pandora changed forms in mid-swing, changing to the shuriken/boomerang known as Grief before Fluttershy released it down the ‘throat’ of the mech she stood on.

The Devil Arm spun through the mech, its blades severing cables and shredding metal as it travelled down before shattering a hole through the mech’s bottom. Fluttershy flew off the mech before it split apart exploded. Greif returned to Fluttershy only for her to throw it again.

“Sir… maybe we should retreat and reassess the situation,” The Glorft Commander said with concern as their numbers got whittled down to near nothing by Coop’s wrestling moves and Fluttershy’s demon weapons.

“Nonsense! Send in… the UMD!” Gorrath shouted.

**** **** **** ****

Griffons called the rematch between Bloodwing and Gustav to be the ‘Battle of the Winds.’ The battle was waged before the fleets the Griffons sent to aid Equestria reached the Crystal Empire. Although the official records stated it was the Equestrian forces that subdued and destroyed the 67th Fleet and the Ares’ Dagger, Bloodwing insisted they would not have gotten far without his fleets drawing their fire.

Soarin landed near the crash site of the Ares’ Dagger. He had been getting headaches recently but kept it from his master. In the nights, images of the Ares’ Dagger would show, as if telling him to go to it and with Equestria being in enough turmoil to get the Changelings involved, he had time to spare before they surfaced.

The airship was in pieces, the marks of battle and fires long since burnt out scarring it as he looked around. Any and all demons that remained in the airship perished as it fell from the sky. Demons were tough but not invincible. It was a fact what was reinforced several times from varying sources.

Surprise, Blaze, Fire Streak and Silver Lining followed Soarin into the wreckage, eyeing the damage. They all ended up splitting up as Blaze had put it but Silver retorted that they were lost. Blaze could only groan at his misfortune. They always ended paired together whether it was on and assignment or a general exploration. They hated each other with a passion.

Soarin ignored the echoes of Blaze and Silver as they decided to have something akin to a shouting match combined with an insult contest mostly involving their mothers. Soarin walked through the ship, heading for the bridge.

The doors were missing as he entered the bridge and headed to the helm. The consoles were long dead, the cables had lost power from the main reactor and had stopped crackling with electricity. On the floor were flakes of skin, feathers and fur. Most of it had blown away by the wind or the depressurization from Fluttershy’s makeshift exit. The mare had blown a hole large through the front of the ship that was large enough for a standard boulder to easily fit through.

Soarin looked around and sighed, “A wild goose chase… brilliant.”

The wind blew through the bridge, making the feathers on his wings rustle. He opened them to catch the air and gain altitude. The wind blew the flakes around the floor but Soarin paid them no mind. As he tried to leave through the same way he came, the walls gave way and collapsed the exit. Sighing, he turned around to fly out the hole.

As he flew towards it, he glanced down and almost fell out of the sky. On the floor the flakes had created a message, ‘Your goal has been twisted.’

“What the buck?” Soarin said aloud as he read the message.

**** **** **** ****

A warm fire greeted Celestia as she awoke. The frozen tundra she had landed in was well off in the distance, leaving her and her apparent rescuer in a forest. Her wings felt as if they were bound to her body with rope and a glance to her sides confirmed it. As Celestia looked around, a small blade found itself near her throat.

“What are you?” The woman said, the knife pressing against Celestia’s throat to show she needed to speak carefully and quickly.

“A-an Alicorn,” Celestia responded. The knife did not ease from her throat.

“So you speak?” The wielder said with a raised eyebrow. It was merely a stab in the dark. “Interesting.”

“Y-yes… My name is Celestia,” Celestia said, keeping her title from the strange being in case she got any ideas for ransoming her to Equestria. A moot point since they were nowhere near it.

“Hm… Celestia…” The woman repeated. “Why did you fall from the sky? Are you some herald of Azura?”

“No… I got sent here against my will by an enemy. I need to find my way home,” Celestia said, she tried to look at the woman without making her slit her throat. “May you tell me where I am?”

“… Near Raven Rock,” She replied after a few moments. “Solstheim.”

“No…” Celestia said in disbelief. “How am I ever going to get home?”

“Not my problem,” The woman replied callously.

“May you tell me your name? Or perhaps remove this blade from my throat?” Celestia requested.

“You may call me the Nerevarine,” She replied. “Keening on the other hand… we’ll see.”

Celestia looked at her and at the arm she was using to hold the blade. She guessed she was some form of warrior if her armour was any indication and as a result trying a spell could end badly for her. For now, all Celestia could do was follow whatever this ‘Nerevarine’ wanted for now.

“What are you going to do with me?” Celestia asked.

“Not sure just yet,” The Nerevarine said before a smile spread across her face. “But let’s see what happens first shall we?”

Author's Notes:

Part 2 yay! Please note that the Morrowind section may be subject to alteration once Dubious gets back to me. I wanted to update this before getting to bed. Have fun with the unedited Morrowind until Dubious gets back to me. Those of you curious enough, 32 knots is roughly 60 km\h or roughly 37 mp\h