Chapter 9

“Upsetting the Status Quo”

    “Mornin’ Little Star.”

    The pegasus turned her head and smiled to the red crested gryphoness. A shaft of the early morning sun streamed in from the nearby bay window to play over the pony’s rainbow hued mane, giving a bright splash of color to the otherwise uniform white marble of the palace hallway.

    “Good morning, Scarlett,” she answered, “how was your first night in the Palace?”

    The gryphoness made a face and waved a claw at the spotless hallway. “I feel like I’m underdressed,” she complained, “like I should have been wearing a formal gown just to go to breakfast. And then the Princess showed up…”

    “Which one?” Spectrum asked with a grin.

    “The night Princess,” the gryphoness clarified. “The entire family sitting there around the table, stuffing our beaks, and she just trots right on in! We weren’t sure if we should keep eating, bow, wave, or wink knowingly… We just sort of froze, watching her, but I don’t think she even noticed us. She stumbled in, got herself a huge mug of coffee, and wandered out looking so exhausted I half thought she was sleep walking. I almost told her to go to bed, before I reminded myself that she’s probably a few centuries older than I am.”

    “Once a mother, eh?” the pegasus teased. “Princess Luna is working with her elder sister to coordinate defenses. Both of them have been working day and night, and are in need of some time off… time I highly doubt Goldtalon will give them.”

    Scarlett nodded and sidestepped as a maid bustled by. The gryphoness watched the hurrying pony for a moment before sighing again, “I still feel out of place here. Anyway, how is Filigree? She looked pretty rough last night.”

    “She’s having her foreleg recast and healed at the hospital this morning,” the pony answered and continued strolling down the hallway, Scarlett falling into step beside her. “She will probably be out this evening or tomorrow morning, assuming the break is as clean as the doctor believes.”

    “The healers are that good?” the gryphoness asked.

    “Canterlot Memorial Hospital is the best in Equestria,” the pegasus answered, nodding to a guard as they passed him. “They can usually have a clean break mostly healed in a day, and fully healed if you stay off it for a week. Hell, when Clockwork Key was almost killed by my… by Ultrapony, she was out of the hospital in a little over a month.” The gryphon whistled softly, impressed. “Admittedly, we specials heal a little faster than the normal pony, but the doctors there are the best in all of Equestria. They have to be in order to see to the Princesses in an emergency.”

    “I didn’t think of that. I imagine that would set the bar pretty high…” Scarlett considered

    “Unfortunately, I don’t think what’s hurting Filigree is something a doctor or healer can fix.”

    The gryphoness looked distracted for a moment, frowning. “My girls will want to visit once they find out she’s in the hospital, if you’re worried about her feeling alone...”

    “It’s not that. I’m really not sure I should tell Chase,” Rainbow Star admitted.

    “I’m sure once he comes to terms with what his brother did --” Scarlett started.

    “That’s not why,” the pegasus interrupted. Scarlett blinked and slowed to a stop, the expression on the pony’s face giving her pause.

    “Little Star?”

    She turned away from the gryphon and moved slowly to one of the windows, the sunlight hardly warming against her stony expression. The silence stretched for several uncomfortable moments before she spoke, and her voice sounded almost foreign, her anger barely contained. “I shouldn’t be this way,” she said in a voice barely audible, forcing the gryphoness to approach a step to hear. “I’m the element of Kindness, but… but I have my limits.”

    “What happened?” the gryphoness asked hesitantly.

    “He was threatening her!” the pegasus growled with such ferocity the gryphoness backpedaled. “He flared his wings, ruffled his crest, and was about to lay into Filigree when she accused his brother. She was able to calm him… hell, I don’t know if she even realized what almost happened. But I saw his beak clench, his muscles tense, and he was getting ready to strike her! I’ve been around you gryphons long enough to know…”

    “H-he was just overreacting,” Scarlett tried to soothe, replaying the scene in her head. She couldn’t recall the specifics of the incident; her attention had been on his parents. “It was a shock, to find out his brother --”

    “That is not an excuse,” the pegasus stated firmly with a stamp of her hoof, and she turned to face the gryphoness. Her expression was dark, hardened in a way the gryphon wasn’t sure she liked, and the light from the window behind her cast dark shadows across her face. “Maybe if I hadn’t met Filigree’s family just the day before I would have thought different, written it off as the heat of the moment, but I watched her father do everything short of lash out and strike her for daring to defy him. As a cub, Filigree was the victim of that same overbearing and abusive father who sold her into slavery to attempt to boost themselves out of the lower castes, something he flat out admitted to us on the trip back! She spent every day of her life in a struggle to preserve her spirit from repeated attempts to break it. She was finally freed by the Princesses and had the chance to return home with a hope for peace, and was beaten to within inches of her life before being placed once more in chains. And yet she refused to leave her family behind to suffer in the chains most of them deserved, and they still condemned every bucking thing she did for them! Then, when she finally comes home to the gryphons we know, to a gryphon she is getting close to, and that happens?!”

    Scarlett winced and placed a claw on the shoulder of the pegasus. Spectrum returned her gaze, and her eyes wavered for a moment before the gryphon gently pulled her close, wrapping forelegs and wings about her tightly in a close hug. The pegasus shuddered and leaned close, the tension slowly bleeding from her.

    “How is Filigree taking it?” Scarlett finally asked.

    “I don’t think it’s registered yet,” the pegasus sighed. “As abusive as her past is, I don’t think she even recognized it. Chase may be bigger than she is physically, but she’s far and away stronger and tougher than he is. She is a special and one of the strongest currently on record with the Agency. Chase is strong and capable for a gryphon, but he’s no special.”

    Scarlett nodded. “Basically, he’s no threat to her, so she doesn’t recognize him as one.”

    “And, whether she admits it or not, I think she’s smitten enough that she’d look past faults like that too,” Rainbow Star answered softly.

    “I won’t argue that,” the gryphoness chuckled weakly. “I’ll talk to Chase. I don’t think things were quite like you saw it, but I’ll discuss it with him. I think… I hope that if this is pointed out to him he’ll be mortified. I really don’t think it was intentional.”

    “I hope you’re right,” Spectrum sighed softly, then a bit of steel crept into her voice, “but if I find out he even thought about hurting her I will buck his feathered flank all the way to the Gryphon clan border and back again.”

    Scarlet smirked knowingly.

    Under normal circumstances, it was another beautiful day.

    But these were not normal circumstances. The bright sunshine, mostly cloudless skies, and cool breeze were ignored by the small group of guards watching the nearby house. They had shed the usual regalia that the Guard was known for, allowing them to blend in with the thin woods nearby the home below.

    “Any sign?” the unicorn asked, tossing her emerald mane as she joined the pegasus at the edge.

    “Not sure,” the pegasus answered honestly, “I thought I saw a shadow in the pre-dawn twilight, but it came up on the far side of the house. I suppose it could have been a large bird, but…”

    The unicorn frowned as she levitated up a pair of binoculars before her so she could examine the home below. It was a nice three story house nestled in a little natural depression surrounded by a large and well tended garden. It showed the signs of recent habitation which, considering the gryphon residents only abandoned it yesterday, was only natural. To the mare, it felt unnaturally still. She could almost imagine the sounds of the gryphon’s morning routine, the smell of food sizzling on the stove, the sight of the youngsters tumbling about before being shipped off to school at the nearby town, maybe even one of them picking some of those ripe tomatoes they were growing. Right now it was just silent… eerily so.

    “It seems calm right now,” she said to the stallion, magically tossing the binoculars back to the pegasus. “Keep your eyes peeled though, Lieutenant. Once she’s up and around, I’ll send Overcast to do a quick reconnaissance and see if she can spot anything before relieving you.”

    “You got it, Captain,” the stallion saluted with a wing, and turned to face the serene looking home below. He paused for a moment, giving a wistful sigh at the rather cozy home below. “I think that, if I ever find a mare to settle down with, I’d want a home like that.”

    “On our pay?” another unicorn joked as he wandered up, shaking out his graying mane. “You’d be lucky to own a cornerstone.”

    “Well, they managed somehow,” the pegasus guard answered his peer with a smirk. “So what’s for breakfast?”

    “Huh… oh, right. Buck, I plum forgot I drew the short straw,” the stallion grumbled, rubbing a hoof through his mane, “what’ve we got in the supply tent?”

    “We should have enough batter for a few batches of pancakes or waffles,” the Captain answered distractedly, “and I think we have enough oatmeal to last for weeks.”

    “Oatmeal? Are you crazy?!”

    “What? I like oatmeal…” the mare responded with a frown.

    Any further response was lost when the home exploded.

    The trio of ponies was quickly joined by a fourth, a pegasus hastily wiping the sleep from her eyes, as they lined up behind some brush to look down into the depression. The emerald maned unicorn levitated the binoculars over her eyes and frowned at the sight. The side of the home had been literally blown off, the lower floor of the home now exposed to her eyes. She could see a few framed photographs hanging on the wall, colorful faces she could barely make out stared back at her, right before they shook and the glass covering them shattered in the instant before that portion of the wall was obliterated. The mare frowned darkly and tried to spot the culprit, but was unable to see any ponies or gryphons through the smoke and dust.

    “Overcast,” the mare instructed in a low tone, leaning over to the pegasus mare by her side, “Fly to town. We have a contact with the New Ponyville Trio there by the name of Jade Sky. Find her, have her mobilize the trio, and get them here ASAP.”

    “You think that’s our target?” the pegasus asked, fluttering her wings nervously.

    Another explosion interrupted the mare’s response, showering the bushes they were taking cover behind with splinters. “I don’t think it matters,” the unicorn responded bluntly. “Stay low, head back down the hill, then go. With luck they’ll arrive before we’re forced to engage.” The pegasus nodded, and crept back down the far side of the hill on her stomach, fully aware that her silvery coat could give her away, before she reached the foot of the hill and flared her wings, taking off as quickly as she could.

    “Are we going to engage, Captain?” the gray maned stallion asked softly.

    “Not yet,” the unicorn mare answered, lifting the binoculars again. “If it’s our target, he’s a gryphon special. I don’t relish throwing ourselves at a special, not matter how well we’re trained. As far as he knows, he’s alone in there, and can thrash about all he wants. Let him exhaust himself, then we’ll move in and engage. With luck the Trio will be here by then, and we’ll be able to fight fire with fire.”

    The words of the pony commander hung in the air, heard only by her compatriots, the bushes they took shelter behind, and the tree next to which they had set camp. None of the ponies, their eyes riveted on the scene below, noticed the strange horn-like shape on the trunk of the tree. They couldn’t have known, even had they seen it, that it was linked to another tree at the far side of the depression, and that their every word had been transmitted to the ear of an eager observer.

    “So that’s the plan…” the zebra mused, rubbing his chin with a hoof before touching the tree by his side, causing it to revert back to normal. He doubted that he would have the chance to revert the other tree, but at least now the purpose of his modifications would remain unknown.

    Kaos cast his eyes down into the valley, his eyes picking over the details of the now destroyed side of the home, through the haze of splinters and smoke to gaze upon the gryphon causing all the destruction. His white feathers were smudged, his flank bore a number of bruises and cuts that indicated a few rough days, but his eyes… his amber eyes burned like twin suns of hate and fury as he clawed his way through a table full of pictures and photographs.

    “So much anger,” the zebra sighed. “He will be difficult to reign in. I hope you know what you’re doing, my Prince.”

    The Zebra touched the tree beside him, and the surface rippled like a pool of water. The Zebra stepped into the ripple, closing his eyes to avoid the disorientation that came with travelling this way. When he opened them again he could hear the raging gryphon below, and nodded to himself. His eyes barely glanced about the bedroom he’d appeared in, and instead trotted past the brightly colored quilts and toys and cribs, and into the hallway. He didn’t care if he was heard, and highly doubted the gryphon was paying enough attention to even realize he had company. He quickly trotted down the flight of stairs and he found himself a spot to sit on the bend of the stairs, looking down into the nearly destroyed main room. He straightened his tie, smoothed down his suit jacket, and adopted his most winning smile.

    “I must admit,” the zebra said aloud, and the gryphon jumped visibly at his voice, “this is a most impressive piece of property damage you are committing.” The zebra’s eyes slipped closed the moment he saw the gryphon turn to face him and suck in a breath, and that brief moment of disorientation washed over him even as the scream from the gryphon decimated the wall he’d been sitting before. He opened his eyes to the kitchen this time, and he trotted through the entryway and sat down to the side of the gryphon.

    “You have quite the set of lungs on you,” Kaos said, smiling at the snowy gryphon. The gryphon wheeled on him, spread his wings slightly, and brandished his claws at the zebra. “I’m sure you’ll need to catch your breath before you can shout like that again. You can save it. I’m not here to fight you. In fact, I came here to warn you and, if you’ll allow me, help you.”

    “W-who are you?” the gryphon demanded between gasps for air.

    “My name is unimportant right now,” the zebra answered, “what’s important is the trio of guards on the nearby hill overlooking this serene little house, and the pegasus they sent to summon the ‘New Ponyville Trio’, all in an attempt to capture you. Given normal flight times and some circumstantial evidence from the local paper, I would guess their response time at roughly ten minutes. If I assume a five minute flight to New Ponyville, and the time since I overheard the Guard send the pegasus runner to fetch them, I would say you have approximately nine minutes before they arrive and attempt to capture you.”

    “Let them try,” the gryphon growled.

    “Under normal circumstances, I would be inclined to let you make the attempt,” the zebra said as he straightened his tie. “However, in this instance you would lose. You are injured, exhausted, and look like you haven’t had a decent meal in over twenty-four hours. The Trio would arrive fresh, coordinated as a team, and with support from a quartet of rested and prepared Guard ponies. You are outnumbered and outgunned; they would win.”

    The amber eyed gryphon blinked at the rather dismal prognosis and looked around quickly, his expression slowly shifting from rage and fury to worry and fear. “First she abandons me, then the clans attack and abandon me, then my family abandons me… now Equestria is abandoning me? What’s next, the entire world?!” the white gryphon shouted at the walls, and his voice became shrill enough that his last words blew out one section entirely.

    “Seven minutes,” the zebra noted evenly, and the gryphon whirled on him angrily.

    “What do you want then?” he growled, stalking slowly around Kaos. “Are you here to rub this abandonment in my face? Laugh at me? Tell me the zebra are abandoning me preemptively now?”

    “Nothing of the sort,” the zebra answered, carefully maintaining his neutral and relaxed expression. “In fact, I represent an individual who would be willing to offer you an escape, in exchange for your service on a team they are forming.”

    “Do you think me a fool?!” the gryphon roared.

    “No, I do not,” the zebra answered, straightening his tie once more. “But you only have five more minutes to decide, assuming the ponies are not early.”

    The snowy gryphon glowered at the zebra, who sat there impassively watching him. Kaos realized that the Prince had been correct, but if he could avoid stoking the gryphon’s anger further about this “abandonment”, he would. Better to make him feel desperate and thankful for the rescue, assuming he was able to calm down enough to realize that staying to fight would only lead to the royal dungeon.

    “I suppose I should leave then,” the gryphon growled. “Guess I’ll miss your little party.”

    “And run where?” the zebra asked simply.

    “It doesn’t matter… anywhere but here.” The gryphon said in an oddly hollow voice, then launched himself into the air … only to be slammed back down to the ground by an emerald beam.

    “Got him!” a pony cried from overhead.

    “It looks like they’re early,” Kaos noted, “by roughly two minutes. I’ll have to remember to adjust my estimates in the future.”

    Kaos watched as the gryphon forced himself up, only to be slammed back down into the floorboards again but a blast from above. He recognized the creaking and crackling sound from the floorboards, and the zebra closed his eyes and fell into the rippling floor at his hooves. He opened his eyes in time to watch the floor cave in from a safe corner of the basement, and watched as the white gryphon almost literally bounced off the floor before landing in a heap.

    “Skyfire! Set up a perimeter!” a mare called from outside. “Brick, you’re with me! Let’s get this guy before he can bolt!”

    “I think your time is up, Mister Gryphon,” Kaos said, “and since I have no plans to be captured myself, I will depart and leave you to your fate.”

    “Wait…” the gryphon coughed painfully, barely managing to stand after the blasts, “…I’m in…  I j-just… get me… out of here…”

    The zebra smiled and stepped out of the corner of the basement, skirting past the washing machine to rest a hoof on the snowy gryphon’s shoulder. “A wise choice, my friend.”

    “There he is…” a rumbling voice came, and the pair looked up at the brick red wall of an earth pony looking down the hole at them.

    “We have a civilian!” a mare cried, her limbs stretching almost comically as she moved to the side of the hole. “Hold on, we’ll get you out of there,” the mare said in what she believed was a comforting voice before ordering her companion, “Brick, on the Gryphon!”

    “I’m no civilian, ma’am” Kaos noted with a smile, his eyes flashing in the dim light. Both hero ponies yelped as the floor that just collapsed reformed itself with a vengeance, bucking the pair back and onto their flanks.

    “Whoah…” the gryphon said softly.

    “Localized reality manipulation,” the zebra said simply, brushing some stray splinters off his shoulder. “It will not hold them very long, however. We must take our leave. Do yourself a favor and close your eyes for a moment, if you would please.”

    “It’s already dark down here, what could I possibly see?” the gryphon asked.

    “It’s not what you will see, it’s what you will feel,” the zebra answered, his eyes glowing in the darkness, and disorientation overtook them.

    The floor above was reduced to splinters only a second later, thanks to a belly-flop from the massive red pony so creatively named Brick, but the heroic ponies found the basement empty. The elastic mare frowned, stretching her neck to peer down into the hole her teammate just made.

    “They’ve pulled a runner, Elasta,” Brick rumbled from below.

    “Check the basement then, I’ll cover this floor” the stretching mare ordered, then called up to the circling pegasus, “Skyfire! Has anypony gotten past you?”

    A pegasus mare with a glowing green mane flew lower, “Nope! The guard set up a perimeter with me, two fliers, two unicorns. No sign of anything larger than a sparrow going in or out.”

    “They can’t have just vanished, check the upper floors!” the mare ordered, stomping a comically oversized hoof.

    “Calm down, you’re starting to lose control again,” Skyfire pointed out, looking worriedly at her teammate. The mare in question frowned as she looked at her distorted body and sighed. She closed her eyes and forced herself to take a slow calming breath, letting the tension ease from her flexible lavender body. Once her form stabilized back to a more proper looking pony, the pegasus gave a short nod of approval.

    “Get going Skyfire…” the mare ordered, brushing her straw yellow mane from her face, ‘I’ll check this floor. Brick’s scouring the basement.”

    “You got it,” Skyfire answered, and flew out to zip around the upper floor of the home.

    The search was short but sweet. Within fifteen minutes they were sure they had scoured the entire structure, even swapping floors between them to ensure nothing was missed. The New Ponyville Trio even stood aside to allow the guard time to conduct their own search, but in the end, there was only one possible conclusion…

    The gryphon had somehow escaped.

    “What do you mean ‘they’re not here’?”

    “There is no pony within this structure, save us, Clockwork,” Galaxi stated, glancing to the short khaki mare as the glow in her blind eyes faded. “I cannot tell when they may have left.”

    “Trixie thinks she can,” the cyan unicorn said, entering from the pair’s bedroom, a small crumbled sheet of paper held delicately in her magic.

    “You found something?” Clockwork asked quickly, rushing up to her friend with Galaxi following close behind.

    “Nothing good,” Trixie said softly, her magic pressing the wrinkles flat. “We need to suit up.”

    “What does it say?” Galaxi asked softly.

    “It says somepony has Twist, and is demanding Apple Bloom meet them… alone,” Trixie said softly. “It’s signed with a number zero.”

    “Crap, it’s the teleporting ninja mare,” Clockwork growled, and dashed from the room.

    “Ninja mare?” Galaxi asked, her ears splayed in confusion.

    “Teleporting ninja mare!” the little khaki mare called from the bedroom as the metal slab she stood on came to life, fitting steel plates over her hooves and legs, working up over her body with a mechanical precision.

    “Is this the pony Princess Luna told us was threatening the Crusaders?” Galaxi asked as she followed Clockwork into the bedroom, and drew out her own costume, a bodysuit of purple and white streaks with a full facial hood.

    “Yes,” Clockwork answered simply, closing her eyes and stretching her neck a bit as the metal closed over her chest. “She’s a royal pain in the flank really. She can teleport and is really skilled in martial arts, and hits hard enough that I had to spend hours hammering out dents in my armour,” she added as the back half of the mask was fitted into place and flattened her mane, then the draconic helm secured into place.

    Galaxi frowned as she stepped into her suit. Despite starting after her friend, the psychic mare was finished by the time the power cycled up in Clockwork’s power armour. “That explains what Celestia told us, and why you requested Flourish first.”

    Clockwork shrugged slightly as the deployment sled released her hooves and she was able to step free. “I hoped to fight fire with fire,” Clockwork admitted, “this blasted mare is simply too good. She’s already beaten out Apple Bloom and Echo and myself, all at once. We needed somepony who could keep up with her, and Flourish is easily the most agile of our little group.”

    Galaxi nodded and looked to Trixie as she came down the hall. Of the trio, she had the simplest outfit, a star-field cape that draped over her shoulders and a conical mage’s hat from ages past. The mares glanced at each other, nodding in silent approval.

    “Do we know where?” Clockwork asked as the group made for the back exit, a simple door and stairway out the back of the candy shop. The moment they were into the open air, Clockwork activated the wings of her armour and hovered about the rest.

    “The note instructs Apple  Bloom to meet her at…” Trixie said, pausing as she looked over the note, “… a cave west of ‘Applebuck Acres’, wherever that is.”

    “Applebuck Acres is where I stashed my chariot,” Clockwork noted. “It’s where a lot of Apple Bloom’s relatives live, which makes me wonder exactly how far west it is. I can’t see this suited mare wanting any interruptions.”

    “I can search for psychic signatures once we’re closer, “Galaxi said.

    “I don’t think I could teleport Galaxi and myself the multiple times necessary for that trip,” Trixie said, frowning deeply, “after just a few teleports, I’d need time to recover my magic to be of any use in a fight.”

    “I’ve got an idea,” Clockwork answered, and pressed her forehooves together below her, “Galaxi, grab my forelegs and hooves with your telekinesis, then form a bubble about yourself and Trixie. If you link the two together with some sort of tether, I should be able to carry you both.”

    Galaxi frowned slightly, then began to focus. A purple globe began to take shape about herself and Trixie, with a thin lead up to Clockwork’s hooves, where it bubbled again around her forelegs. Clockwork nodded wordlessly and fired her jets, slowly lifting the other ponies upwards, before angling her rear hooves and wings to propel them forward. It was far slower than the Dragonfly Armour’s best speeds, but it was still far faster than they could have managed on hoof.

    “So what do we know about this mare?” Trixie called up to Clockwork.

    “All we know is that she’s a teleporting martial artist and mute,” the armoured mare answered. “She’s incredibly skilled, easily a match for Apple Bloom, and uses her teleportation to augment it.”

    “How does she teleport?” Trixie asked, only giving a quick glance at the ponies below staring in awe at their passing.

    “What do you mean?”

    Trixie shook her head and explained, “Does she just wink out, like my teleportation spell? Does she vanish in an explosion, like Flourish does? Do we know what her range limit is?”

    “She uses portals,” Clockwork said, navigating past one of the taller buildings in town. “She summons them up, and puts part or all of her body through it. No clue what her range is, but I assume it’s greater than her line of sight. My suspicion is she has to see where she’s teleporting too, unless she knows it well enough to teleport to it blindly.”

    “So she’s slower, but more versatile, than Flourish?” Trixie pondered.

    “That sounds like a good way to put it.”

    “How’d you know it was her from the note?” Galaxi asked curiously.

    “The note was signed with a zero,” Clockwork answered. “She has the same thing on the flank of her suit, almost as if it’s her cutie mark, a big number zero. Otherwise, her suit is uniformly white with jet black eyes, and no mouth hole that I could see. Come to think of it, I don’t recall her having a mane or tail either.”

    “Well, that is certainly unique,” Trixie considered, “I wonder if that means she is in to Zentai?”

    “Zen-tie? What’s that?” Galaxi asked curiously.

    Trixie patted her friend’s shoulder and said, “Trust Trixie on this, you’d rather not know.”

    “There’s Applebuck Acres…” Clockwork called down to her ‘passengers’. Trixie and Galaxi nodded as the armoured mare began to alter her flight path, ignoring the stares from the workers in the field, heading due west over the orchard and fields. She banked wide about a stately three story home bustling with ponies of all ages, and past a bunkhouse for the fieldworkers behind the main house. Wheat, corn, and even a few gardens lay beyond the orchard, all of which held at least a few ponies working hard to plant the year’s crop.

    “This place is a lot bigger than Trixie expected!” the unicorn called up, and the blind mare nodded her agreement.

    “No sign of any caves yet, though” Clockwork intoned, her sensors already searching for any likely rock formation.

    “You don’t think this could be an intentional misdirection, do you?” Galaxi asked.

    “Dear Celestia, I hope not,” the armoured mare answered, but couldn’t dismiss the thought fully as she increased the power to her engines.

    “Clockwork,” Trixie called up, “try angling north just slightly towards those hills, they might conceal a cave or something.”

    Clockwork nodded, altering her path as requested. The land beyond the cultured and cared for farmland of Applebuck Acres quickly turned into overgrown wilds. The valley that the town nestled in was well protected, surrounded only by gentle grassy hills that steadily grew in height before transitioning back into the mountain range that surrounded them from all directions. Her jets scared up a few wild animals as she flew over them, but she opted to stay relatively low in case she had to drop Trixie and Galaxi off in a hurry. She didn’t want them to get hurt, though she doubted the scraggly trees and thorny looking bushes would make for the most pleasant of landings.

    “I’m sensing somepony close by… a pair,” Galaxi input, hooves held to the sides of her head to help maintain her concentration.

    “Direction?” Clockwork called down, but didn’t get a response. She was about to call a second time when Galaxi spoke up.

    “False alarm,” the blind mare called with a blush, “just a couple being… er… intimate. Steer further south or you’ll interrupt them, Clockwork.” Trixie let out a braying laugh at Galaxi’s shyness as Clockwork angled away from the unseen lovers, giving them their room for fun. Oddly, Clockwork found herself wondering if it was a stallion and mare, or a different combination. She flushed weakly behind the helm and shook her head, clearing her head of the random thoughts.

    “We need to come up on something soon,” Clockwork called down, “Even with all this sun, my reserves are getting depleted. I’m nearly down to fifty percent.”

    “We can set down and hoof it, if needed,” Trixie responded.

    “At this rate, we’re going to have to--”Clockwork started, only to be interrupted by Galaxi.

    “Contact!” the blind mare cried. “One of them is definitely Apple Bloom, and I can sense the Twist as well, though I think she’s been drugged. I can’t sense anypony else, but Apple Bloom seems to be losing some sort of fight!”

    “Where?” Clockwork demanded.

    “Angle northwards again,” Galaxi said, frowning as she pushed her hooves to her temples again to try and focus, “Foot of the mountains over there.”

    “I don’t…” Clockwork started, then shook her head, “Nevermind, I see it now. Looks like there’s been a rock-fall in the recent past, but sensors indicate an open area behind it. Galaxi, I need you to shift your anchor to one hoof.”

    “Which one?”

    “Doesn’t matter,” Clockwork answered, “I just need a hoof free to blast that rubble.”

    Galaxi frowned and focused on her tether, shifting it to her left foreleg, which caused Clockwork to list sharply for a moment, but she steadied herself as she lifted her right foreleg ahead of her. Hills were just starting to give way to more jagged rocks as they crossed some sort of threshold, as if they mountains were forcing their way through the soft loamy ground with hard jagged teeth. Clockwork had to navigate the armour through a gauntlet of rocky spires, her target vanishing in and out of sight through the various formations.

    Trixie jumped, despite knowing the sound was coming, when Clockwork fired. The cool blue/white bolt streaked out ahead of them, and then out of sight as Clockwork swooped about another rocky spire to protect them from the backwash, rubble spraying like shrapnel. Without so much as a pause, Clockwork lowered her other forehoof, which Galaxi grabbed with her telekinesis, and rocketed for the opening in the side the approaching rock face. Boulders smoldered as Clockwork pushed past them, her wings flaring as the group entered the crack in the rock face, a vertical slash only barely wide enough to accommodate the armoured mare. She throttled back and lowered closer to the rocky floor, forcing Galaxi to shorten lead to Clockwork’s hooves.

    “Are you sure about this, Galaxi?” Trixie asked nervously, eying the close stone walls with trepidation. Her eyes seemed drawn to every gleam of light that reflected off the rocky walls now surrounding them, suddenly making the unicorn feel rather claustrophobic.

    “Positive,” Galaxi answered softly. “We’re nearly there…”

    Clockwork turned a bend in the path and was astounded to find a large open area before her, a cave that was surprisingly well lit thanks to a generator run floodlight sitting in the middle. Near that light, the bound form of Twist could be seen, ropes wrapped tightly about her in such a way that her hooves seemed to be turning red.

    “Buckin’ ninja!” somepony shouted, and all eyes were drawn to a nearby arch of stone, almost forming a natural bridge over thin air. Upon it, Apple Bloom was struggling against the unknown suited mare, who seemed to almost casually fend off the elder pony.

    “Galaxi, let go of my hooves,” Clockwork said softly, “but leave the lead. I have an idea.”

    “I’m not so sure…” Galaxi started as the changes were made, allowing Clockwork to grip the telekinetic construct between her hooves.

    “Come along, Galaxi,” the unicorn said with a knowing smile, “let us check on Twist.” With that, the unicorn teleported the pair out of the bubble and appeared beside the bound elder pony.

    “Keep it up as long as you can, Galaxi!” The armoured mare turned slowly, spinning several times in place with the shield and lead held tightly in her hooves. It wasn’t until the armoured mare let go that Galaxi realized what she planned, and she pushed her hooves to her temples and struggled to maintain her focus on the impromptu projectile.

    The unknown mare vanished just before the shield would have hit her, but found herself slammed into by a very VERY heavy object when she reappeared, Clockwork ramming headlong into her where she reappeared, then launched her off with a blast of her forehooves. Clockwork turned and bucked outwards with her rear hooves, catching the unknown mare in mid air once more before she could teleport clear.

    “Oh Celestia, that was a strain…” Galaxi groaned, massaging her temples.

    “Sorry Galaxi,” the armoured mare called back, launching a blast at the unknown mare, who teleported away at the last second. “GAH! She got her bearings!”

    “Oh ho, Trixie thinks she sees your plan,” the unicorn grinned, and looked around, “Clockwork, do keep me appraised of her location, please?”

    “Roger that…” Clockwork answered, hovering over her friend.

    “What the buck are ya’ll doin’ here?!?” Apple Bloom cried, glaring down at them.

    “Five o’clock,” Clockwork called, ignoring the elder pony, and Trixie turned her head.

    “I see you,” the unicorn called in a sing-song voice, and her horn began to glow. The suited mare seemed unimpressed for a moment, preparing to strike at range until a globe appeared about her. Within the globe colors began to whirl and run, twisting about in ways that would require either heavy drugs or a very strong constitution to endure. Despite the unknown mare’s strengths, she seemed unable to stomach it, and staggered drunkenly.

    “Hey, I asked ya’ll a… Well I’ll be,” Apple Bloom said, starting to climb down from her perch. Unfortunately that didn’t hold the strange mare for long, and she vanished through a portal.

    “Drat…” Trixie grumbled.

    “Nine o’clock, two o’clock high,” Clockwork stated, and the unicorn whirled, spotted the recovering mare on a shelf along the wall, and recast her illusion. The suited mare vanished almost as soon as it landed…

    “Seven… no, nine… twelve… GAH! She’s moving too fast to track!” Clockwork called out in the bare seconds before a series of hooves lashed out at her through a number of small portals. Trixie grinned at an idea, and instead of finding the mare, she cast the spell back through the portal the mare’s hoof struck through. The attacks paused for a moment, the unknown mare stumbling from behind a rock to escape the effect before teleporting again.

    “She’s learning to counter us,” Galaxi stated from nearby.

    “Trixie noticed…” the cyan unicorn answered, before suddenly being caught across the jaw by a hoof from the unknown assailant. Only a lavender shield from the psychic mare saved her from additional attacks, and Trixie wiped a small bit of blood from her lip.

    “Everypony, do close your eyes,” the unicorn ordered, her expression hardening. “Trixie thinks it is time to teach this filly a lesson about bucking with The Great and Powerful TRIXIE!” She then closed her eyes and her horn glowed brightly with her spell. The entire cave seemed to bulge and swirl, running like a watercolor left in the rain, or boiling away like film exposed too long to the sun. The entire effect was unsettling, nauseating, and disorienting to every pony who dared still watch the display… except for Galaxi. Galaxi’s blind eyes, even with her magic sight, either didn’t see the effects or could see the reality the illusion hid.

    The blind mare looked around the ponies assembled for a moment before spotting the unknown mare in question, her eyes clenched shut as she wobbled unsteadily. Galaxi trotted closer, her voice low as she eyed the known mare, “I don’t know who you are, but I would rather not fight you unless I have to. Surrender now or we will be forced to hurt you.”

    Galaxi’s eyes narrowed as she watched the suited mare canter to the side before rearing back on her rear hooves, and her ears flicked before she took an unsteady step forward and struck out at Galaxi. Despite being blinded, she almost connected, and would have if the psychic mare hadn’t erected a telekinetic barrier between them, a glowing purple barrier that pulsed with the effort Galaxi used to force the unknown pony back. The unknown pony frowned under her mask, and withdrew several steps. She cracked her eyes a bit to try and see, only to stagger as she was overwhelmed by Trixie’s illusion.

    “Please, I’m asking you to surrender,” Galaxi tried again, “if you continue to fight, we will be forced to hurt you.”

    “I really wouldn’t take all that much convincing,” Clockwork growled, her powersuit hovering closer. She kept a wary eye on the readouts in her helmet, her visual input completely shut off to spare herself the illusory display, relying instead entirely on her sensors.

    The suited mare’s ears flicked, and for a moment she seemed to laugh in a strange, silent way. Galaxi frowned, bracing for a renewed attack, but a portal opened beneath the mare, and she vanished from sight. The mares remained, looking carefully around for where she might pop out next, but after five tense minutes of waiting and listening to nothing save the slow dripping of water from somewhere in the cave…

    “I think she’s cleared out,” Clockwork said softly, “I’m not seeing hide nor hair of her on my scanners.”

    “Trixie is lowering the spell then,” the unicorn said softly, “everypony be ready…”

    The swirling of the world, the nauseating pulsing, and psychedelic twisting of the colors faded away like a bad dream. Normalcy returned to the cave, and the mares opened their eyes to find that even the minimal light of the cave seemed overly bright, forcing their eyes to re-adjust. Each mare stood ready, their muscles quivering as they waited for the unknown mare to return, only to be left waiting.

    “I don’t think she’s coming back,” Galaxi finally said, and the mares released a collective sigh.

    Trixie pulled loose the tape plastered over Twist’s mouth before loosening the ropes binding her, finally freeing the drugged elder mare. Apple Bloom rushed to meet her, hugging the barely coherent Twist tightly in her forelegs, cooing in her mate’s ear and sobbing brokenly in relief.

    “The stakes have been raised,” Clockwork said softly to her teammates, who nodded in agreement.

    “But daaaaaaaad!”

    “Stop whining,” Shale answered gruffly, swinging his claw errantly at his eldest daughter, who simply ducked out of range.

    “Mom!” Pyrite tried as she ducked under an errant tree branch.

    “L-listen to your father,” the tepid gryphoness instructed as she picked her way along behind her mate. It was all Verdigris could do to keep from rolling her eyes. If they hadn’t corralled her, forced her to come along, and promptly gotten lost, she’d have gone back to that town by herself by now. Let her family wander the forest, at night, by themselves. But no, father had to leave as soon as possible, treating every gryphon in town as if they were somehow beneath him. He had ostracized himself within hours… which unfortunately made it highly unlikely that any search parties would be sent to find their lost tails.

    Her train of thought was interrupted by a whip-thin branch catching her across the face. The little gryphon growled, her own temper frayed after hours upon hours of wandering the dense forest, and glared up at her elder brother grinning back at her. She sighed… if she called him on it, Fracture would just claim it was either an accident or a prank. It just wasn’t worth the effort. She grumbled and made a show of preening her wing slightly, only to be reminded of her clipped wings, something her entire family shared and what was forcing them to walk. She mnmmphed and folded her wing tightly before she broke down into tears again. She’d only just started flight training and they went and clipped her wings!

    The little gryphon sighed gustily, shaking her head. “It could be worse, you could still be in chains,” she reminded herself to try and buoy her spirits, but one glance at her family sent it crashing back down. “I’m not sure this is much better though.”

    “Hurry up, cub! Fracture, get some firewood,” her father ordered, and she sighed, trotting forward to the clearing her father had found while her elder brother lumbered off. “Patina? Do we have any of that jerky left from town?”

    “N-no,” she stammered, ducking her head as if her mate were going to strike her, “Y-you ate the last of it a few hours ago.”

    Shale growled and seemed about to lash out at her, but just grunted instead. Verdigris sighed softly and rubbed her own stomach, she hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. She would have snuck a few pieces of jerky herself if she’d known her father was planning this ill conceived journey. But he didn’t even bring anything along with him! No planning at all, just an idiotic tromp into the forest…

    Fracture returned with a load of firewood, and he tossed it into a rather rude circle on the ground. Shale grunted, and pulled up two rocks from the ground, and started smacking them together to make a spark.

    “That’s not going to work,” Verdigris muttered, then blinked when she realized her voice carried enough for her father to hear.

    “What? You think you know better?!” her father all but shouted.

    “Well, neither one of those rocks have the right make-up to create a spark. Didn’t you grab a flint and steel or a lighter or something before we left?” she countered, backing up a step to stay out of his leg’s reach.

    “Don’t question me, cub,” he growled, his wings flaring.

    “Yes, father,” she forced out through a clenched beak, mollifying him as he set back to work. She faded back a few extra steps, letting the darkness of the night consume her as she slumped against a tree. She leaned her head back and thumped her head against the trunk, looking upwards into the leaves. “We’re doomed…”

    She sighed and tuned out her family, instead listening to the rest of the forest about her. A small screeching sound caught her attention, and she focused her eyes. For a long moment she was unable to see anything, but just as she was about to give up she caught a glimpse of a form landing in the tree above her. It sat there for a moment, oblivious to her, as it worked along the branches of the tree.

    “Whoah…” she whispered, leaning upwards, “is that a fruit bat? Wait, if there’s a fruit bat, maybe the tree has fruit in it!” She swallowed nervously and looked over at her parents for a moment, before ducking around the trunk of the tree. She paused for a moment to make sure she wasn’t seen, and proceeded to check her claws before carefully sinking them into the tree. The bat above skittered along the branch, finally noticing her as she climbed up the tree towards it, and it moved further up the tree nervously. She smiled as comfortingly as she could to it. “Don’t worry, I won’t eat you,” she tried to tell it, “but some fruit might help…” The small rodent kept out of reach regardless as Verdigris managed to climb higher.

    She finally reached the first branches and pulled herself up on one thick enough to support her weight, puffing from the effort. “That’s harder than it looks,” she panted, wiping her brow. Only then did she start trying to look for any fruit that might be growing.

    “C’mon… come on… dammit!” her father screamed, hurling the rocks he was trying to start a fire with into the woods. Verdigris couldn’t help but snort, but she didn’t say anything to draw attention to herself. Besides, saying “I told you so” would only result in getting smacked for mouthing off. At this rate, her idiot family was going to starve, and she was determined not to be dragged down with them. She genuinely couldn’t figure out why Filigree left her with the, but she’d have to puzzle that out later. Using an overhead branch for balance, Verdigris slowly worked her way out along the branch, her little “friend” keeping ahead of her and well out of reach.

    “Scree!” the bat cried, and swooped off the branch, fluttering up to the branch over her head before looping away. Verdigris couldn’t help but smile at the antics as she silently thanked it for leading her there as she spied the fruit in question. With a careful claw she reached up and plucked the fruit down, a strange yellowish fruit with an odd shape that reminded her of her pot-bellied father. It was slender at the top, only to widen out near the base as it curved around. It sure didn’t look an apple…

    “I wonder what this is?” she muttered curiously, but without a second thought the little gryphon took a large bite of the fruit. A sweet flavor filled her beak; this fruit was most definitely NOT an apple. It wasn’t even close to an apple… but it was good. Verdigris devoured it on the spot.

    The young gryphon was about to reach for another when something below moved and caught her eye. Was it her imagination, or was that shadow… walking? She shifted nervously, unable to bring herself to call out a warning yet, even as the figure stalked towards the clearing her family was currently huddled in.

    “Well well,” the stranger’s voice came, a deep and rumbling bass that would carry even if he whispered, “you gryphons really don’t belong here in the Everfree Forest, especially at night.”

    “Says who?!” Shale demanded, and Verdigris couldn’t help but groan, covering her face with a claw. Her father was going to antagonize this stranger too, wasn’t he?

    The shadow smiled, his beak splitting in a way that made Verdigris uncomfortable, “I am known as… Eclipse.” The shadow that Verdigris would have been hard pressed to identify as a gryphon more than a few seconds ago, extended a fore-claw and pointed at the attempted campfire. He uttered a word, and fire erupted from amidst the dead branches, suddenly illuminating all the gryphons surrounding it. Only the stranger seemed still lost in shadow, even standing in the full light of the fire.

    “A-a magus!” Patina stammered in awe.

    “Thank you Magus! I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize your eminence in the darkness!” Shale all but fell over his own claws to kiss up. Verdigris sighed softly from her perch, straight from demanding to conciliatory, that’s her dad.

    Eclipse waved a claw as he sat, “I could not help but notice you were without rations or gear of any sort? This forest is not a place for the unprepared.”

    “Yes… well… we planned to hunt but…” Slate stammered.

    “No matter, you are here now,” Eclipse continued. “Interestingly, I have need of some... assistance. Perhaps it is fate that we cross paths. If you and yours are looking for employment, I might be able to offer you an opportunity.”

    “What kind of opportunity?” Fracture asked dumbly.

    “That depends,” he said dismissively, then suddenly leaned close to the fire. Verdigris’ family did the same, and even she found herself leaning closer from the branch she’d perched on as if this stranger were about to whisper some great secret. “Very few gryphons in this land are loyal to the King of the Clans. I stand at the precipice of recovering an ancient power that will make him nigh unbeatable, even by the Princesses. But I need gryphons whom I can trust, ones who can watch, and learn.”

    “And… what do we--??” Slate started.

    “What do you get out of it?” Eclipse interrupted with a smile. “You get a guarantee of becoming one of the elite amongst the Gryphon Clans.”

    The family’s eyes widened, each one envisioning their own fantasies. Even Verdigris found her imagination running away with her, dreaming of lording her new caste over that stuck-up Indigo and her cadre before she shook her head, clearing it. Her family was still gawping at him eagerly, wallowing in their own greed.

    “And what would we be doing?” Verdigris wondered, and to her surprise, Eclipse turned to face her. His eyes locked onto hers and bored into her, and she froze in place, as if a giant claw had gripped her tightly about the chest.

    “Protecting some very special eggs,” he stated. His slit turquoise eyes seemed to gaze deeply into her, rooting her until she could see nothing but the glowing orbs, her every thought pushed aside.

    “When do we start?” Slate asked.

    “Well, the good news is she’s unhurt.”

    The quartet of ponies let out their collectively held breath, and the brittle tension in the room immediately relaxed. The ponies had been there for hours, fretting and worrying over the fate of the frizzy maned elder currently nestled within the starched white sheets of the hospital bed. Her glasses were resting on a nearby table that was placed between her bed and the bed of her roommate and mate, Apple Bloom. Not that Apple Bloom’s admission to the clinic for the wide variety of bruises and cuts had kept her away from her mate’s side. The rest of those assembled were even more colorful, with one pony in green and gold armour, another in a purple and white bodysuit, and the final twisting her star covered purple cape between her hooves. They each seemed out of place in the hospital-like room with its yellowing paint, ancient radio, rusting metal window-frame, and beeping hardware to track the patient’s vital signs.

    “That there’s a relief, Doctah,” Apple Bloom sighed. “But when is she gonna wake up?”

    “Probably not until morning,” the pegasus doctor admitted, “she was drugged rather heavily. While we think she’s in no danger from the overdose, I would rather err on the side of caution in case there are any allergic or unforeseen reactions. We’ll keep her overnight for observation, and with luck she should be awake come the morning to fill in more details about what happened.”

    “Thank you, Doctor Blackberry,” the armoured mare said softly.

    The mare waved a hoof. “I’m just doing my job,” she answered with a sigh, “I’ll be back with some disinfectant and bandages for Apple Bloom’s cuts and scrapes. Dare I ask if all of this was your ‘ninja’ again?”

    “Buckin’ ninja,” Apple Bloom growled.

    “I’ll take that as a yes,” the doctor answered impishly as she trotted for the door.

    “Despite winning that battle, that was a lot closer than Trixie was comfortable with,” the unicorn sighed, smoothing out her cape self-consciously. “Perhaps Clockwork was right; perhaps we do need Flourish for this.”

    “I’m not so sure we really won in the end,” Galaxi said in a low voice, “she was laughing at me when she slipped away the final time. You’d almost think she was enjoying herself.”

    “That don’ exactly instill much confidence,” Apple Bloom grumbled.

    “No, it doesn’t,” Galaxi answered, “And I don’t think--”

    A hoof slapped across Galaxi’s face hard enough to spin the unprepared psychic mare around, her eyes widening in shock. The room devolved into shouts as another hoof, then another, caught the psychic mare, staggering her before a pair of hoofs bucked her in the stomach, driving the breath from her and crumpling her on the floor.

    “What the buck?!” Clockwork cried before she realized what was happening, her mind painting in the portals she barely saw before her friend was struck. She extended a hoof, the glowing tip aiming uncertainly towards the others as she tried to find another portal, intending to fire into it. What she didn’t expect was a portal appearing almost directly before her, and a hoof from the unknown mare reaching through to grab hers.

    Clockwork struggled for a moment, the suited mare’s leverage versus the enhanced strength of her suit. It was, surprisingly, a losing fight for Clockwork as part of her foreleg was pulled through the portal before suddenly released. A new portal opened at her midsection and slammed into her gut, sending the armoured mare tumbling head over hooves…

    “Trixie thinks this neigh-sayer needs another lesson!!” the unicorn cried and began to focus her magic… only to have her horn caught by a pair of hooves and yanked back, landing Trixie flat on her back with a painful crash. The unicorn only saw stars for a moment, realizing a moment later that she was seeing them through the nearby window.

    “NO!” a cry came from Galaxi, still struggling for breath, as her telekinesis grasped at a hoof mere inches away from the mystic unicorn, slowing it, but unable to gather enough focus stop it. Apple Bloom, however, was quick enough on her hooves to pull the still stunned unicorn away, leaving the attack to only shatter a few of the cheap floor tiles before withdrawing.

    Apple Bloom let out a cry as the suited mare hit her, then Galaxi, then Trixie, then Clockwork, in a round of attacks. She finally appeared on the scene, striking through portals and rarely all in one place to strike back at. The mares valiantly, but futilely, attempted to fight back, but the strange suited mare seemed always a step ahead of them. Clockwork attempted to try and track the mare, her teeth clenched as her shields absorbed the incoming blows. She followed the randomly teleporting mare about the room the best she could, waiting for her shot.

    There was flash of white and Clockwork flicked her hoof, firing…

    “Clockwork, NO!” Trixie cried from her side, but it was too late.

    Clockwork’s eyes widened as she saw her target, the plasma bolt locked on perfectly…

    A flare of purple formed a wall between Clockwork and her target, but the plasma bolt shattered it, too concentrated for Galaxi to form a telekinetic shield strong enough to stop the attack that quickly…

    A white hoof from the side of the doorway reached out and gripped the white-clad mare, yanking her out of the way as the bolt ionized the air where she had just stood, crashing into the wall opposite with enough force to blow a large hole in it.

    The mares sat in silence, Clockwork’s hoof dropping numbly as she looked at the mare she nearly shot, and the white clad nurse gulped visibly at the destruction the plasma bolt had caused.

    “Looks like I chose to visit at just the right moment,” the elder unicorn said in a slightly gravelly voice from the side of the doorway, her foreleg still holding the nurse.

    “Sweetie Belle?!” Apple Bloom cried, and then sighed in relief. “You always did have an’ impeccable sense o’ timin’!”

    “Yes well,” the elder unicorn responded with a grin, running a hoof through her lavender, pink, and graying mane, “when I heard you and Twist had been admitted, I trotted down for a visit the moment I could get away from Scoot’s family.”

    Clockwork barely heard what was said between the two mares, her body trembling at what almost happened, the tragedy only barely averted. Galaxi moved to brace Clockwork’s side and carefully loosed the catches of her helmet to pull it off, revealing the wide green eyes of the mare within staring at the doorway, and the mare she nearly killed.

    “Trixie, Apple Bloom… I need to get Clockwork out of her armour,” Galaxi told the rest of the mares.

    “Trixie thinks that’s a good idea,” the unicorn said softly when she noticed the khaki mare’s horrified expression.

    “Jus’ let yerself in,” Apple Bloom called as the pair retreated. “We’ll catch up with ya in the mornin’!”

    “Poor Clockwork,” Sweetie Belle said after the pair left.

    “Poor Clockwork? Poor Clockwork?!” the nurse demanded. “What about poor me?!”

    “Yer safe, so stop yer bellyachin’” Apple Bloom snorted, “but she’s gonna have to live with th’ guilt o’ nearly shootin’ ya.”

    “Yeah, she’ll be second guessing herself for a while,” Sweetie Belle agreed.

    “Trixie thinks it was lucky that Miss Belle was nearby to lend a hoof,” the unicorn stated. “Thank you. Clockwork is fragile enough as it is; she does not need more on her head.”

    Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. “Is something going on with her?”

    “If you are willing to listen,” the cyan unicorn offered, “Trixie is willing to tell you. But much of what I tell you must stay secret!”

    “I don’t have any problem with that,” Sweetie Belle shrugged, and then nudged her friend. “It’s not like we’re doing ‘Gabby Gums’ anymore.”

    “Aw shoot, don’ bring up that fool idea again’,” Apple Bloom groaned, pulling her hat down over her eyes. “Las’ thin’ I need is fer Twist ta’ hear about that one!”

    “You assume we haven’t already told her,” the elder unicorn responded smugly and swished her tail a little.

    The nurse, all but forgotten now, scowled at the assembled mares.

    “You’ve returned.”

    “Yes, my Prince,” the zebra answered as he stood in a pool of light cast by the still open door in the otherwise darkened chamber.

    “And the gryphon, Alto I believe his name was?”

    “He’s eating right now,” Kaos answered, smoothing his black mane back along his head. “He was wounded as well, so I let Burner take a look at him. He’s no medical type, but it’s better than nothing.”

    “Quite,” the Prince intoned. “You defied my instructions, and relied on his desperation rather than his hatred.”

    “He was too uncontrolled,” Kaos answered matter of factly, hiding the sinking feeling in his stomach. “His anger was a blind rage that would have made him impossible to control on the team.”

    “You still belied my orders,” the Prince stated, his voice growing dark.

    “Yes sir,” Kaos answered with a gulp.

    “Good.”

    Kaos’ jaw fell slack. “Sir?”

    “I said ‘good’. I know I didn’t stutter and that you heard me plainly. Certainly you aren’t questioning me, are you?”

    “N-no… well… yes, I think I am. I don’t understand.” Kaos responded uncertainly.

    “Simply put, Kaos, you followed your instincts. You were the one there in the field, and had to make the decision on the fly,” the Prince said almost casually. “I may be your superior, and don’t you forget it, but you are the field commander when I am not there. You have to be able to make your own decisions, and act independently. You cannot blindly follow what I tell you, for that would surely lead to the demise of this team, my plans, and your life. I believe the old saying is ‘No plan of attack ever survives first contact with the enemy’… or something like that. Regardless, you need to be capable of making your own decisions as well as following my orders. You chose to convince him to be thankful for the rescue and what we can offer him, rather than focusing on his anger. From what you said, it was a wise decision. I won’t punish you for that… though I would have if you had backed down.”

    “I… I see,” Kaos responded, straightening his tie nervously.

    “That said, we have no time to rest on our laurels,” the deep rich voice of the Prince continued from the darkness. “I’m afraid that the time it took to track down and recruit Alto gave Zilch too much time to act. She has overextended herself, and the Princesses’ mares are beginning to put the pieces together. If they move first, if they take her down, she will be lost to us. Worse, the elder sister knows her true nature. She does not yet remember Zilch, but that will change shortly. You will need to activate two of our waiting agents and send them on a mission purely for the sake of distraction.”

    “The only agents I contacted and not yet brought in are Crosswind and Junkyard,” Kaos noted.

    “That would be the agents I was thinking of,” the Prince confirmed. “Have the Pegasus and Diamond Dog strike at… oh, let’s say Las Pegasus. The city has a pair of home-brewed teams that they should be able to beat down easily enough, and draw the attention of the Princesses.”

    “You mean the ‘High Rollers’ and ‘The Upstarts’?” the zebra asked with a frown, “I must object to taking down foals.”

    “Technically the Upstarts consist of teenagers, but I understand your reservation. Still, we need to make a lot of noise and make a scene, and the Upstarts are far and away the most well known team of the southern border,” the Prince noted. “Have the pair use discretion; we don’t want any permanent injuries. This is a distraction only; we need to draw Project Moonbeam’s focus away from Zilch before you can extract her. Once you’ve activated and transported the pair to Las Pegasus, make your way to the unregistered territories. You’ll be heading for the Crusader’s home turf, right in the thick of things. You should be able to pick up Zilch’s scent fairly easily, and extract her before the Princesses’ pet team can bring her in.”

    “Are there any arguments I should use for her?” Kaos asked simply.

    “Follow your instincts,” the Prince responded. “I cannot give you an in with her, she is not a pony of that ilk. Her motivations are completely her own, but her continued survival should be a very strong incentive. Leave the evidence of her current contract there for those mares to find, however. That will end her threat to the Crusaders, and bring that part of the puzzle to a neat close.”

    “Wouldn’t we want the mares split up?” Kaos asked curiously, pacing the small amount of light the doorway to the Prince’s chamber allowed. “Keeping them divided would allow… well, whatever it is you’re planning and not telling me.”

    The Prince laughed throatily, “No, my dear Kaos, not in the least. I have a plan, you are correct, and in time we will be ready to face the mares. But for now, we should allow them to reunite as a team. Other events will cause a split of a different sort, one far more effective than this silliness with the Northern Reaches. Plus, as Alto would tell you if you asked the right questions, the gryphons are on the march. The Princesses will want the Element bearers home and close to them in Canterlot, thus even should the threat remain, the mares would be recalled. No, allow them to come home naturally. I have foreseen that they will suffer a split of a different sort, and it will weaken them considerably.”

    “As you wish, my Prince.”

    “Good. Now get moving, time is not on our side.”

    “Is everything alright, Galaxi?”

    “Not entirely, Princess,” the blind mare responded, a hoof on the earpiece that allowed her to speak to her mentor.

    “Is Clockwork alright?” Luna asked worriedly.

    “She’s recovering,” Galaxi sighed and settled into a chair of Apple Bloom’s kitchen. “She’s in the shower right now, though she’s over-scrubbing her hooves as if she could wash away the guilt.”

    “Guilt?” Luna asked, her voice hitching slightly. “What happened?”

    “She almost shot an innocent. If not for the timely intervention from Sweetie Belle, the nurse would have been…” Galaxi responded, drifting off.

    “I get the idea,” Luna said softly, “an accident like that would have been hard on her.”

    “And another scroll from that stallion of hers back home was waiting for her when we returned from the clinic,” she continued. “I didn’t pry, but she was a bit out of sorts from it.”

    “Bottle Rocket, yes?”

    “That was the name she gave me,” Galaxi answered, forcing down the jealousy that tried to seep into her voice.

    “I looked up the name in our database, and before you ask, yes we keep tabs on all the specials we can,” Luna noted, tapping a few keys audibly over the link. “Let me pull up his record… here we go. Valorous service, earned some of the highest accolades we give to Agents, honorably discharged from the Agency when it was disbanded. He’s a widower… his wife and daughter died in the second invasion of Canterlot. He was on assignment at the time, and his entire team was decimated in the battle due to a surprise attack from a Destroyer Imp. Since then, he’s had a string of medical problems, his powers have gone almost completely out of control, and even an incident of accidentally harming a child. That took a lot of work from the Agency to smooth out. His file indicates he’s over twice Clockwork’s age, and some counseling reports indicate severe depression and suffering from… suffering from Acclimation Disorder. We were keeping him under heavy observation in a specialized research clinic in Canterlot, but he voluntarily left that and all assistance programs. Just checked himself out.”

    “If he’s a threat to himself, why is he out there wandering around?”

    Luna sighed, “Unfortunately, while he’s a threat to himself, he was off the hook legally for the incident with the filly, it was just an accident. We have no legal grounds to hold him. Depression isn’t a legally viable reason to hold a pony.”

    “So Clockwork is trying to help him through his issues as she claimed?” Galaxi considered, tapping a hoof on the kitchen table.

    “Probably connected over the fact they are suffering from the same disorder, though if these records are correct, he has it a great deal worse than she does,” Luna said softly.

    “She didn’t seem all that happy about whatever he wrote this time,” Galaxi noted. “She dashed off a return scroll and had it into the mail before I had even realized she’d done it.”

    “I’ll send out some eyes to see what’s going on with him here,” Luna said softly, “but I can’t make any guarantees. With all the ramping up for the gryphons, I don’t have a lot of ponies to spare. King Goldtalon is no longer trying to be discreet about his intentions and is visibly ramping up his army.”

    “Speaking of forces, Clockwork was right. We need Flourish up here, this teleporting mare is well beyond us. I swear, she can teleport four or five different ways at once,” Galaxi sighed.

    “Four or… wait, I wonder…”

    Galaxi blinked and sat upright. “Princess?”

    “There’s an old project that was discontinued some years ago… here it is. The Zero project,” Luna answered. “Most of the file was sealed by my sister, so I only have some basic info. The project was an attempt to understand the magic that created Specials, started soon after the first specials began to appear in Equestria and across the world, and she put a cabal of unicorn mages specializing in theoretical spellcasting on the project. I handled the Agency to sort out those suddenly gaining these powers, and she went about trying to figure out what it was in and of itself. It is how we eventually learned that it was coming from the Elements themselves, via the Element Bearers.”

    “The Six, you mean?” Galaxi asked curiously.

    “Exactly. As each of “The Six” passed, there was a concern that this would vanish entirely and leave us exposed and vulnerable to the threat of the Imps and the Nightmare. Attempts to isolate the specific band of magic and separate it out had a strange result, creating a literally sentient magical being that took the shape of a pony. I don’t have any details of the description, or what it might have looked like, but apparently this being was a walking tesseract--”

    “A walking what?” the blind pony asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

    Luna chuckled, “Tesseract. Don’t ask me to explain it, Galaxi, the mathematics behind it is well over even my head. The short version is it would allow this… whatever, to bend the rules of space and physics. It’s quite literally not bound by the same rules that we are. I believe it was named ‘Zilch’ before the project was brought to a rather sudden conclusion. I’ll talk to my sister about getting this file unlocked, and get you fillies as much information as I can. I doubt Celestia even thought of this when Clockwork talked about the strange mare… It’s odd though. Why would a being like this be acting as an assassin? Is there something more going on? Maybe it’s being blackmailed into doing it?”

    “How would you blackmail a creature like this?” Galaxi asked incredulously.

    “Simple,” Luna answered, “you threaten to reveal it to the Princesses. Zilch is on a list of ‘capture and detain at all costs’ with the Royal Guard, another thing I will need to ask my sister about. We reserve that for only the highest of threats.”

    “Great, so if she were being threatened, she would… urgh. Why can’t we just face a bad pony?” Galaxi groaned and thumped her head on the table.

    Luna couldn’t help but laugh, “Because that would be too easy.”

    “Of course.”

    “I’ll talk to Flourish as soon as I can. Keep in touch, if anything happens I might have to ask Trixie to come back,” Luna stated.

    “Understood, Princess,” Galaxi answered, and her ear flicked as she heard the water shut off in the next room. “I should go; Clockwork is finally done in the shower.”

    “Stay safe, Galaxi.”