Chapter 10

“Setting the Stage”

    “Well, that was fun.”

    The diamond dog only grunted at his partner, his steady gaze watching the retreat of the Upstarts. Slowly he flexed his left arm, the rocky gray pelt hiding the bruise he could feel starting to form. It wouldn’t impede his performance, but he would have to favor his other arm, at least until his connection with the earth could heal him. Brown eyes looked upwards to his companion, a sky blue pegasus with red streaking his fiery orange mane. Crosswind seemed hardly affected by the fight, which meant the diamond dog had to tune out the constant litany of insults the pegasus hurled at the retreating heroes.

    For teenagers, they had proven surprisingly capable; he couldn’t help but respect them.

    “Hah, did you see them run off like that, Junkyard?” the pegasus crowed to him, causing the diamond dog to merely raise an eyebrow at his vocal companion. “Of course you did, you were there! We stomped them but good, kicked their flanks all the way back to their mommas!”

    Junkyard merely shook his head disapprovingly.

    The pegasus blew a raspberry at his partner and looked the direction the “heroes” had fled in, “Aw, yer no fun, big guy. We whooped their flanks an’ sent them runnin’! They won’t be back!”

    Junkyard slowly scanned the area about him, still wary. Before the pair had caused as much destruction to it as possible, this had been a construction site for the ever expanding Las Pegasus, right where the city bordered the desert. What had started life as a simple pegasus settlement at the border of the bison occupied desert had grown exponentially since somepony figured out that there was a lot of bits to be made from gambling. The pegasi living here created a double tiered city, with a massive settlement on the ground that consisted of the gaudiest and brightest casinos, shops, and hotels imaginable. Meanwhile the cloud settlement above held a majority of the native pegasi and their homes, in addition to supporting a multitude of signs that hung below it for even more advertisement space and city spotlights. It resulted in a non-stop stream of bright lights that could drown out the moon at night and rivaled the sun in the day, all in an artificial city that made the canine itch to be away from.

    The same couldn’t be said for his companion. “Man, I swear if it weren’t for this assignment, I would be in the clubs mixing it up!” Crosswind cried and swooped down low for a moment, “I mean, did you SEE the fine flank on that one mare we passed when we got to town? And she was giving me the eye! Man, I could have gotten some --”

    Junkyard made a sudden sign with his hand, and Crosswind stopped mid-sentence. The wind stirred, ruffling the canine’s fur as he stared into the distance. He placed one hand flat on the ground, and for a moment he sniffed the air with an odd snuffling sound, his eyes glazing over as he sorted the scents. He could sense the ground trembling through his hand, something heavy was approaching, but the breeze was wrong to properly identify the scent. With a motion, he pointed not towards the city, but the desert.

    “Oh? More guests? How many?” the pegasus inquired, already grinning with anticipation. The diamond dog held up one finger, and then motioned with his hand a specific direction.

    “Hrm, where are… ah, I see ‘em now.” His wings flicked, and the pegasus zipped forward a few dozen feet then hovered in place like an impatient humming bird. “Looks like a… bison? What would he be doing here?”

    “We called in a favor,” a familiar voice answered, and from the darkness of a nearby rock, three of the Upstarts seemed to step from the shadows. A yellow filly with a thin black mask, a bright orange pegasus with a frizzy mane, and a midnight blue unicorn with an overdramatic cloak took shape.

    “You’ll need more friends than that,” Crosswind answered, wind whipping at his mane counter to the stiff breeze of the desert.

    “We’ll see about that,” the mare answered, crossing her hooves before throwing something towards the pair. “Upstarts, g--”

    An explosion of rock interrupted the call, and Junkyard smirked from where he stood, having called the sudden spire that forced away the pair of colts trying to sneak up on him. One cobalt blue with a silver mane and the other a green colt with glowing amber eyes found themselves tossed away. The remaining three separated in anticipation of a further attack…

    “You really, REALLY need to be more subtle,” teased Crosswind as he used a sudden wind to force the unknown object thrown by the leader of the Upstarts away. “We were just gonna chase you away, tell you to go fetch some real heroes, or at least some adults, but now I think you foals really need a lesson in respecting your elders…”

    Junkyard rolled his eyes again, but eyed the approaching bison warily. Something about the newcomer bothered him.

    “Thanks for coming on such short notice, Chief Thunderhooves,” the yellow mare told the bison as she tumbled to a stop by him.

    “I think I see your problem, Sparrow,” the bison intoned in a rumbling voice as his horns started to glow. “The flyer has a mouth bigger than he is.”

    “Oh, hey, a comeback!” Crosswind crowed happily. “And here I thought witty one-liners were out of fashion this year.”

    With a sudden motion, the bison threw his head and stomped his forehooves, and the ground before him shredded itself apart as it arrowed towards the diamond dog. Junkyard yanked his hand up from the ground in a sweeping motion, and a sudden column of rock intercepted the approaching crevasse, which split as it absorbed the intense shockwaves. The dark brown eyes of the diamond dog squarely met that of the bison’s as the rocks fell away. With a motion of his other arm, a line of rocks arced outwards from Junkyard, crashing towards the bison…

    The bison stomped his hooves a second time, horns glowing as his power crashed into the approaching wave of rock, scattering it to nothing more than a few pebbles bumping into his hooves. The massive bison stared back at the diamond dog evenly. “It is rare to find another warrior among those who would do harm,” the bison said in a booming voice. “Let the battle be joined!!”

    “Hey now, don’t be forgettin’ about me,” the pegasus grinned. “Don’t think you’ll get away with ignoring me!”

    “Nightweaver, Plasma, on the flyer!” the Upstart’s leader ordered, and the dark mare surged forward, seemingly flinging bits of darkness as a weapon. The orange pegasus hurtled towards the pegasus stallion, weaving effortlessly about his teammate’s attacks as he tried to close in.

    “You really REALLY should have called for more help,” Crosswind taunted as the wind about him seemed to solidify for a moment, deflecting the shadowbolt attacks before he focused on the orange colt. A mini-twister formed about him, spinning the pegasus around and around. The stallion laughed at the disoriented colt before he heard the incantations of the unicorn, and answered by directing the twister into her, dropping both ponies into a heap.

    “You can’t win against us all!” the large cobalt pony shouted as he attempted to strike Junkyard, only to find his hoof caught by the canine. Rocks swept upwards, gripping the colt’s foreleg and pinning him in place… just in time to be bowled over by a redirected strike from Thunderhooves.

    “I think we can!” Crosswind answered for his nearly silent partner as he swooped down, intercepting the green phoenix before it could connect with the diamond dog, knocking him from the air and out of the assumed shape. The shape changing colt struggled to adapt, but was unable to reclaim the form before he was caught by his big blue friend.

    “Yo, Sparrow!” the blue colt called as he lifted his friend onto his back, who promptly turned into an oversized green bat. “We need a plan here!”

    “Focus on grounding the flyer, Cobalt!” the mare yelled back, hurling some strange disks from her saddlebags at the diamond dog. Junkyard responded with a simple gesture of his hand, and a rock thrust up from the ground to intercept them, the disks embedding themselves in it. They gave a beep and promptly exploded, shattering the rock and forcing the canine to shield his face.

    “You got it!” Cobalt answered, and looked at the shifted colt on his back, holding up a hoof for him. “Ready to try out that move we practiced, Bestial?” he asked, and the bat grinned and nodded before hopping onto his hoof and shifting into a startlingly green turtle. The big blue pony reared up on his back hooves and cocked his foreleg, then hurled his teammate as hard as he could at the pegasus.

    Junkyard let out a grunt as Thunderhooves slammed into him while he was partially blinded, but much to the Bison’s surprise, the Diamond Dog didn’t fall, or even move. Instead, the ground seemed to reach up and grip his feet to hold him in place. He grabbed the bison’s horns and steadily began to push back against the powerful bison, the pair struggling against each other. Sparrow, however, didn’t wait for them to finish wrestling for dominance and leapt up onto Thunderhooves’ back, lashing out with a hoof at Junkyard’s face. To her surprise, he only turned his head to take the attack on his cheekbone, and she yelped and fell back, her hoof flaring in pain.

    “Sparrow! You okay?” Cobalt immediately shouted.

    “I’m fine,” she called back, shaking her injured hoof, “but his skin is tough, that was like hitting a girder.”

    “I can break those,” the big blue pony growled, and reared up to slam his hooves into the back of the Diamond Dog… only to find a sudden wall of stone between him and his target. It crumbled under the assault, but it gave the diamond dog the necessary seconds he needed to twist his body, shifting Thunderhooves to the side and pushing him past, letting the bison collide with the pony once more. Junkyard smirked as the pair went down in a heap, wiping sweat from his hands before he looked to Sparrow.

    The mare was quick enough to roll aside as the first spire of rock tried to catch her. She ignored the pain flaring through her hoof as she dodged around a second and third column of rock that came rocketing upwards at her from the ground, and proceeded to use those pillars to get herself up off the ground, leaping between them even as the canine attempted to catch her with shelves and posts of rock sprouting from the side of the towering spires. He seemed to get steadily closer to catching on to her timing, and one rock jutted out from the side of another to catch her in mid-tumble, but Cobalt and Thunderhooves slamming into him from the side stopped him from finishing her off and forced his attention back to them.

    The green shape shifting colt hurtled towards Crosswind, who was unaware of his approach, the small turtle shell almost completely lost in the late afternoon sky. Of course the fact that Plasma had rejoined the fight and was proceeding to get knocked around by the pegasus and his ability to control the wind made his job easier.

    A sudden barrage of rocks hurtled at the flyer, each larger than the pony himself and forcing him to dodge out of the way and refocus on the dark unicorn below, who was  surrounded by almost a dozen rocks held in her magic.

    “Junkyard! You need to clean up your messes!” the pegasus laughed, and used the wind to split one approaching rock down the middle. “I swear, that dog is like a big puppy, just leaves his toys lying around everywhere…”

    Bestial was close enough by his judgment, and his form exploded as the turtle seemed to increase in size exponentially. The tortoise yanked his head into the shell, using himself as a living projectile. What he didn’t expect was to crash into a rock his teammate had hurled, and Crosswind redirected.

    “HAH! Thought you were sneaking up on me or something?” the pegasus demanded as Bestial changed forms again, catching himself with newly formed wings as he looked up over the long spear-like beak of the green crane form he adopted. For once, he really wished he could talk in these animal forms.

    “You should be paying attention to yourself!” Plasma cried, his oddly ethereal voice almost lost as his hooves glowed, causing an odd power trail in the sky as he once more tried to strike at Crosswind, only to find a hard sheet of wind there to deflect him… again.

    “You kids are getting predictable,” the pegasus yawned.

    “I am far older than you are,” Nightweaver intoned from below in her scratchy voice, which then took on an odd sense of power as she began to cast a spell. Plasma and Bestial both arrowed towards Crosswind from opposite sides in that moment, trying to cover for their teammate as she prepared her spell. Unfortunately, the pegasus was ready for them, and a sudden gust of wind caught his wings and propelled him out of trouble. Bestial was quick enough to turn into something harmless, in this case a flying squirrel, to minimize the impact with Plasma, but that didn’t save the pair when the wind caught and forced them downwards towards the casting unicorn. The dark unicorn’s glowing eyes widened as she saw her friends coming right at her, barely noticing Bestial leap free, and she covered her head as Plasma collided with her. Both ponies lay out on the ground, dazed from the impact.

    Bestial spread the flaps of his squirrel form to glide over Junkyard as an idea struck him. He shifted suddenly to his pony form and cried out, “CANNONBALL!!” His form shifted fluidly to that of an mammoth and dropped like a rock.

    “Thunderhooves, Cobalt… get clear!” Sparrow cried, and tossed a smoke bomb as the pair retreated as quickly as they could away from the Diamond Dog.

    Junkyard frowned, waving his hands to try and clear away the smoke when his eyes fell upon the growing shadow beneath him. He snapped his head up and looked right at the plummeting form of Bestial’s elephantine backside. Rather than trying to get clear, the canine spread his legs, shifted his feet, and braced himself for impact as he tried to catch the falling green pachyderm.

    Bestial slammed into the diamond dog with far more force than even he expected, and the ground radiated cracks and sent rocks flying in all directions from the newly formed crater, forcing everypony present to shield themselves from the debris. Silence reigned for several moments, and even Bestial seemed uncertain, trying to look down past his inflated backside. Crosswind watched worriedly, his wings flicking as he momentarily consider fleeing.

    A low, rumbling growl filled the night air as Bestial’s form shifted upwards slightly. Slowly the green mammoth that was Bestial rose higher, Junkyard steadily lifting him.

    “You need more mass… go heavier!” Cobalt cried, and the elephant nodded, turning suddenly into a jade four headed hydra. Junkyard seemed to wane as his momentum was momentarily stymied, but then slowly forced the shape shifter higher.

    “HAH! Do your worst!” Crosswind taunted. “You can’t stop Junkyard!”

    Bestial scowled at the pegasus with one of his heads, but Sparrow narrowed her eyes and watched carefully. Her eyes picked out the little things, like the fact that cracks radiated away from the point of impact, but under the Diamond Dog’s feet it was not only unscarred, but the rocks seemed to be crawling up his legs. A suspicion flitted across her mind, and she quickly dashed over to Nightweaver to whisper to her. The dark unicorn frowned, but gave a quick nod in response.

    “Bestial, reverse direction!” Sparrow called suddenly, and the hydra’s expression was briefly one of comical confusion before one of the heads seemed to get it. The multiple heads yanked inwards and a pair of wings extended from the body, massive claws grabbing the dog’s arms as the green Roc pulled the Diamond Dog upwards. Junkyard was caught by surprise. He had been so invested in not being crushed that he was completely unprepared for the sudden yank upwards. Only a few quick braces of stone on his ankles prevented him from being pulled immediately upwards, and a slash of darkness through those rocks remedied that. Dark magic coated the ground beneath him, and the canine found himself pulled skyward.

    “Sparrow?” Thunderhooves asked uncertainly.

    “I think he’s drawing strength from the ground itself…” the mare answered simply.

    “Everypony forgot about me again, didn’t they?” Crosswind asked, and Bestial let out a pained squawk as the pegasus slammed into one of his wings, forcing him to drop the Diamond Dog as he fell from the sky himself. Junkyard stood slowly from the crater, his eyes blazing.

    The diamond dog made a sudden clapping motion, and pair of rocks snapped shut like a trap about Thunderhooves, destroying themselves and leaving the bison in an unconscious heap amidst the rubble. Sparrow was ready with more exploding disks, hurling them at the canine, only to have them collide with another rock that was hurtling towards her. She tried to dive clear, but the explosion still caught her, sending her tumbling painfully across the yard.

    The rocks about Junkyard began to vibrate, then lift into the air, surrounded by the dark aura of Nightweaver’s magic. There was a momentary pause, and the Diamond Dog and Pony’s eyes met. Neither said a word as the stones slammed inward at the canine, entombing him. The rocks compressed, crushing themselves into pebbles, but there was no sign of the diamond dog… An explosion of earth from underneath the unicorn sent her tumbling head over hooves along the ground, followed by the angry Junkyard, who sent her into unconscious with a single swipe of his hand.

    “Don’t touch my friends!” Cobalt screamed, charging Junkyard. The large pony never reached him, however, as the air itself forced him flat to the ground.

    “Gotta love how they keep focusing on one of us at a time,” Crosswind teased as he directed the air away from Cobalt’s nose and mouth, starving him of air until he passed out. Only Bestial and Plasma were left, the former standing by some loose rocks with wide eyes, and the latter so angry one might think his hair was on fire.

    “Never surrender!!” Plasma cried, diving at the pair. Crosswind smirked, sending wind against the other pegasus until he seemed to not be moving forward at all. Plasma poured on the effort until, as suddenly as he had summoned the wind, Crosswind reversed the flow to accelerate Plasma far past what he intended.  Plasma couldn’t stop… until the rock Junkyard helpfully erected cracked with the pegasus’ impact. He slid down the rock to the ground, unconscious like his other teammates. Bestial was nowhere to be found in the wake, leaving the pair alone in the decimated construction lot.

    Junkyard frowned, looking around for the final member of the Upstarts before Crosswind clapped a hoof on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about the last one,” he counseled, ignoring the fierce look from his partner, “we’ll have a second chance at them still. Come on, let’s hit the town and find a nice place to hole up for the night. We can slap them around some more tomorrow.” Junkyard nodded, and the pair turned to leave the wrecked construction site and the unconscious “heroes” behind.

    The pair were followed only by the eyes of a bright green mouse.

    “Sister, do you have a moment?”

    Celestia looked up from behind the desk, her eyes brightening as she caught sight of the dark form pushing into her room. For once, Princess Celestia’s study wasn’t the relaxed chamber she preferred, and she seemed almost buried in paperwork behind the heavily used desk. Celestia sighed and set her head on one of the larger stacks of paper, the late day sun streaming in through the bay window behind her cascaded over her mane as she smiled weakly at Luna.

    “I am here,” the elder sister answered, “exhausted, but here.”

    “I’m afraid I won’t alleviate much of that with what I need to ask,” Luna said pensively, getting the elder Princess’ attention.

    “That sounds ominous,” Celestia admitted, and then turned to her assistant, a mousey brown mare with large glasses. “Go ahead and take a break, Quill. We will pick back up after dinner.”

    The mare simply nodded and gave a quick curtsey before slipping out of the Princess’ chambers, leaving the sisters alone. Celestia rounded from behind the desk to give her younger sister a brief wing-hug and led her to a nearby table, using her magic to clear it off so they could settle down at it.

    “Something to drink?” Celestia offered, and at Luna’s nod, poured them each a cup of tea from a nearby carafe. “I had to reheat it, but it should still be good. So tell me, what is on your mind, Luna?”

    “Two things,” Luna sighed softly, “and both of them originate from speaking to Galaxi a short while ago.”

    “I take it things are not going well in the northern reaches?” Celestia asked, taking a sip of her tea. She promptly made a face and set it aside.

    “No. The group faced their mystery mare,” Luna answered, “and it seemed as if they scored a victory, until the mystery mare showed up and promptly humiliated them shortly thereafter. She learned their strategy damnably fast, it seems. They’re requesting Flourish, once again, to try and handle this mare hoof to horn, as it were.”

    “A shame, I truly thought they would be able to adapt,” Celestia admitted with a frown.

    “I’ll give them points for creativity,” Luna said quickly, “but with who they are up against, I’m not sure Flourish can win either, or even the entire team.”

    Celestia frowned darkly. “This mare is that powerful?”

    “If she is who I think she is, then yes,” Luna responded too quickly for her sister’s comfort.

    “You think she is a former agent?” Celestia asked carefully.

    “No,” Luna said softly. “I think she’s somepony far more dangerous.”

    “For once, you are being more cryptic than I,” Celestia teased, and Luna shrugged slightly.

    “Does the name ‘Zilch’ ring any bells?” Luna asked, and watched Celestia’s eyes widen. For a brief moment, Luna wished her sister had been drinking her tea then, if only to see her staid and professional sister do a spit take.

    “That… that is not a name I have heard for almost several years,” Celestia answered slowly. “Is there a specific reason you suspect her as the assassin the Crusaders face?”

    “Galaxi described her use of teleportation in more detail,” the younger sister said softly, considering the tea before deciding to push her cup aside. “She stated that this mare could teleport parts of herself, sometimes able to split herself up four and five different ways at once via her portals. It reminded me of some of the tests you spoke about with your research project on the source of the Special’s magic. I tried to pull the data up myself, but you sealed the record.”

    “For good reason,” Celestia answered softly. “It was a mistake to meddle as we… as I did. We inadvertently created an innocent life gifted with incredible powers… and the intelligence of a child. Zilch would be what… six? Seven years old at most? She would still be very young, a foal still by our standards, with powers that could rival even the most powerful mage…”

    “What happened?” Luna asked softly. “You have a ‘capture and detain’ order on her of the highest level. That’s just shy of a kill on sight order.”

    “Because she is capable of using her powers for murder,” Celestia sighed, and pushed her teacup about distractedly about for a moment. “One mare on the research team was a cruel thing, something I wish I had seen before things came to a head. However, she hid that side of herself well from myself and the rest of her team, and all the while she was conducting her own experiments behind everypony’s back. If not for an alert security pony, some newly placed security cameras, and a tragic series of circumstances, we never would have known what she was doing. Even so, she paid the ultimate price for her cruelty. Zilch lashed out and used her powers lethally, closing one of her portals like a blade to… sever the mage from the mortal coil. I do not wish to get into too much detail, but suffice it to say the deceased is spending her afterlife in the depths of Tartarus. But Zilch fled after the incident… and has not been seen since. I actually suspected that she dissipated back into the magic that created her, so it is a surprise to hear that she still lives. It saddens me to hear she may be working as an assassin, however.”

    “What did this mare do that was--”

    “Sister, I beg of you, do not pry into that,” the Princess pleaded, her eyes looking earnestly on her sister. Luna was taken aback for a moment, but gave a short nod.

    “Is that why you sealed the record?” Luna asked softly.

    “Yes,” Celestia answered quickly. “Information of what this mare did could corrupt other minds, and encourage them to attempt much the same thing. Sometimes, ignorance is the best weapon to prevent atrocities. If a pony does not know such a concept exists, he or she is less likely to stumble across it themselves. Maybe it is naive of me to assume the best of my little ponies, but I have such hope for them. I do not think I could bring myself to… to love them as I should if something like this entered the common sphere of influence.”

    Luna bowed her head. “I will respect your wishes in this regard, sister.”

    Celestia smiled gently. “You need not be so formal, Luna, but thank you for understanding.”

    “Unfortunately,” Luna continued, placing a hoof on the table, “I still need access to her records. I cannot send my team in blind; we need more information about this strange mare. Now that we know her name, and potentially her powers, we stand a chance to fight back against her.”

    Celestia shook her head. “I am not convinced it is the same mare, to be honest. Now that I think upon in, Lady Key described her as extremely proficient in hoof to hoof combat. That is not something a pony learns in only a few short years. For many ponies, it takes a lifetime of learning to reach such competency as was described to us.”

    “That’s actually one of the reasons I wanted to get a good look,” Luna said simply, “that doesn’t add up to me either. However, if Zilch had some sort of method of skill copying--”

    Celestia blinked, “I… I do not recall ever having her tested in that regard. She was kept in a mostly sterile research environment, away from other Specials. If she could somehow copy those skills of those she has encountered…”

    “That still wouldn’t explain everything,” Luna finished. “Apple Bloom’s special ability is her stealth, her ability to turn invisible. Her martial arts is studied and learned over a lifetime.”

    “You assume it was the Crusader whom she copied the ability from,” Celestia answered softly, running a hoof through her mane in such a way that it caught the sun’s light like a prism. “There are a number of Specials in the Northern Reaches, and there is no saying she is not drawing from another pony to learn this talent from.”

    Luna stared at her sister a moment, before giving a groan and thumping her head on the table. “That makes a scary amount of sense. If she is made of the magic that creates Specials, it stands to reason she could attune to those specials who are nearby and mimic their abilities.”

    “Furthermore,” Celestia noted, “given her known abilities of teleportation and the lack of adherence to the physics we understand, means she would have a hoof-full of permanent abilities she could learn and improve continually. She could potentially be a teleporting mirror for any special pony to fight.”

    “Only a pony who is truly unpredictable would have a chance,” Luna agreed. “Lady Pie would have been an ideal choice, were she were still alive.”

    “I think we have a pony who is close enough to count,” Celestia countered with a smile. “But remember, this is all conjecture. It is possible we are completely wrong.”

    “Without being able to put her into a research environment to find out…”

    “Something I doubt she would agree to, even if she were inclined to forgive me,” Celestia slipped in sadly.

    “…we will simply have to work with this as an operational theory,” Luna finished. “When I mobilize Flourish, I’ll give her what data I can to hand off to Galaxi and Clockwork. Clockwork, especially, has the intelligence to try and sort this out.”

    “There is an interesting consideration,” Celestia mused. “Clockwork Key has advanced intelligence among her listed abilities. Would mimicking her cognitive functions improve Zilch’s own cognitive abilities? That would be a fascinating thing to know.”

    “It could also make her a more dangerous, smarter foe,” Luna pointed out. “Regardless, this is all interesting conjecture, but in the end I still must ask for access to her files, if only so we know what she is. I can understand completely sealing off the… incident, and I will leave that portion sealed, as per your request, but I need as much data as I can for the team.”

    “I will unlock it for you, Luna,” Celestia answered with a weary smile. “But please, if you can, have them bring her back alive.”

    “So you can continue to study her?” Luna asked, a note of suspicion creeping into her voice.

    “No,” Celestia said sincerely, “I learned from that mistake, little sister. But she needs to be taught right from wrong; she is still only a child, no matter how she appears physically. Plus, I will admit a small bit of selfishness. I would wish to make amends for what she endured.”

    “I will ask them to make every attempt,” Luna answered simply and climbed to her hooves. “I should get--”

    “Princess!” a guard cried as he crashed through the closed door, nearly striking the younger Princess with it. Princess Luna scowled darkly at the guard, who shrank away from the reagent of the night.

    “No rest for the weary,” Celestia sighed. “What is it, Sergeant?”

    “I’m sorry, Princess Celestia, but I have an urgent message for Princess Luna,” the guard answered nervously.

    “For me?” Luna asked, surprised. “What is the message?”

    “An emergency missive from the bison chieftain, Chief Thunderhooves, addressed directly to you,” the guard stated, offering the scroll in question.

    Luna gripped it with her magic and hovered it before her, unrolling it even as Celestia wandered closer, curiously looking over her sister’s shoulder. Luna’s expression darkened as she read.

    “I see the chief is as verbose as ever,” Celestia put in as her sister let the scroll roll back up.

    “Looks like we will need every member of the team we can get,” Luna said, stamping a hoof. “If the Upstarts are in trouble, and they’re one of the more promising teams I’ve been tracking, then this threat is going to need some special attention.”

    “The Upstarts?” the guard asked wonderingly, then flushed as the Princesses turned to look at him. “S-sorry, your eminences, my colt is a fan. He keeps hoping he’ll develop powers so he can join them.”

    “It is the classic foal-hood dream, to be a hero, is it not?” Celestia slipped in with a knowing wink before turning back to her sister. “How does this involve Thunderhooves?”

    “It seems the Upstarts asked for Thunderhooves’ help in dealing with a pair of trouble makers,” Luna frowned, pacing her sister’s office as she thought, “a pegasus who can control wind and a diamond dog who can control earth”

    “They sound like a case of opposites attracting,” Celestia noted.

    “What worries me is that Thunderhooves very specifically mentioned their teamwork,” Luna answered with a scowl. “According to him, they are perfectly coordinated and actively covering each other’s weaknesses. I probably have the pegasus in my files but… I’ve never heard of a diamond dog special.”

    “They exist, and Spectrum has met a number of them before,” Celestia inserted, “but they don’t tend to go in for things like the agency. The Diamond Dogs tend to work as large family units, and those with powers simply use them to assist their kin as best they can. Their entire society is like that, really, and they often have a very powerful sense of duty to their ‘pack’, which is a sort of family of families.”

    “So we get an example of the rare offshoot,” Luna noted, then sighed.

    “There is a black sheep in every family,” the guard muttered, then jumped when he found both Princesses looked at him again. “S-sorry ma’am… ma’ams!”

    Luna dipped her head to the guard. “You may return to your post, and thank you,” She told him, and then turned to her sister. “It looks like further research on this mystery mare will have to wait while I handle this crisis.”

    “I understand, little sister,” Celestia answered reassuringly, and watched as the Princess of the Night vanished through the door before the guard had even managed to leave her chambers. The guard bowed again and slipped out, leaving her alone. The Princess of the Sun turned to regard the late evening sun through her window.

    Celestia smiled tiredly at the glowing orb and closed her eyes, letting the light play over her features in the scant moments before she used her magic to put away the sun for the evening, raising the moon in her little sister’s stead.

    And the celestial wheel makes another turn.

    “Hey! Is anypony home?! Hellooooo?”

    “What in the… Flourish, is that you yelling?” the cyan unicorn demanded as she staggered from the bedroom, followed by a bleary eyed Galaxi and a barely conscious Clockwork. “It’s not even dawn yet, what are you doing here?”

    Flourish grinned broadly as the trio came into view. “You girls look like hell,” the gray unicorn pointed out, and yanked a folder from her bags and dropped it with a slap on the kitchen table. “Sorry about porting in without knocking, but we got new orders from Princess Luna.”

    “Probably being recalled over that gryphon thing,” Clockwork grumped. “I ain’t goin’ if it means abandoning --”

    “Nope, nothing of the sort,” Flourish interrupted. “She’s just recalling Trixie, and I’m to take her place. Seems there’s a pair of specials whooping things up in Las Pegasus, and they’ve managed to take down the local teams, including the Upstarts, and Chief Thunderhooves when he was called in to help.”

    “Aren’t you their usual liaison?” Galaxi asked as she rubbed sleep from her eyes.

    Flourish nodded as she answered cheerfully, “Yup. Even met the Upstarts a few times, they’re fun to hang out with. They help out Thunderhooves and his tribe when they run into trouble, and I think he even made them honorary members of his herd. Anyway, a couple of bad-flanks are stirring up trouble down there, and Thunderhooves called in a favor to get who we can spare down there to help him and the Upstarts out,” Flourish finished.

    “I remember Thunderhooves, he was a really nice bull,” Clockwork noted with a smile. “He helped me out a lot in the early days of the team.”

    “Trixie remembers him having a good rapport with everypony, except Ultrapony and… well and myself,” the cyan unicorn admitted. “Admittedly, at the time Trixie was being a foal and trying to get into Ultrapony’s good graces before she realized what an utter ass he was, but that is hardly an excuse for my behavior.”

    “I’m sure if you show him you’ve changed, he won’t have any problems with you, Trixie,” Galaxi soothed, patting her friend’s shoulder.

    “Trixie is not so much worried about that, as she is about other things,” she stated, her eyes flicking to Clockwork nervously.

    “I’ll stay with her,” Galaxi sent to the unicorn psychically with a reassuring smile.

    “Well, no matter what you’re worried about, Luna said to get your flank moving and your earpiece in,” Flourish said, looking curiously at the boarded over window. “Make sure you teleport to her in Canterlot to synch up and get the info she’s got on the perps.”

    “Perps?” Galaxi asked.

    “Perpetrators,” the other mares all said at once. A few chuckles later, and Clockwork explained, “Its common guard speak for a perpetrator, or someone who they believe is breaking the law.”

    Galaxi nodded, blushing that all three mares were able to answer the question at once. Flourish ignored her, content to root through Apple Bloom and Twist’s refrigerator for something to eat. Trixie had vanished into the bedroom to collect her things. Only Clockwork seemed curious about the envelope that Flourish left on the table, tugging it towards her with a hoof.

    “Dumb question, why send you to us if you’re the liaison to the bison?” Galaxi asked softly.

    “’Cause you girls keep askin’ for my help,” Flourish answered from somewhere inside the fridge, “something about a teleporting mare and wanting to fight fire with fire.”

    Clockwork chuckled, then tapped the folder that Flourish had tossed down. “So what’s this?”

    “Hrm?” the gray unicorn responded around a mouthful of bagel before answering. “Oh yeah, that. Princess Luna said that’s some research on the mare who they believe is acting as an assassin up here. She also asked us to do our best to try and bring the mare in alive.”

    “Alive?!” Clockwork cried incredulously. “After all she’s done…?”

    Flourish shrugged and stuffed her head back into the fridge to find more to eat, leaving Clockwork to hoof open the rather plain manila folder.

    “Top Secret,” Galaxi read from the bright red letters on the folder as she settled down by Clockwork. “For authorized ponies only.”

    The khaki mare chuckled, “I guess we’ve gotten a higher security rating...”

    Galaxi made a face. “I think we technically always had the clearance.”

    “Let’s see then,” Clockwork said, plowing ahead, “Project Zero. Objective: to research, isolate, and successfully copy the magical properties that have caused special powers to develop in ponies and other intelligent races. Project status: terminated.”

    “Well, that sounds ominous,” Galaxi sighed softly. “I guess the last information I gave Princess Luna bore some fruit.”

    Clockwork nodded and flipped the page over, her eyes widening. “Whoah,” she whispered, staring at the list of equations and datum. “This is… deep stuff. Theoretical magic on a level I’ve never seen before!”

    “What’s this here?” Galaxi asked, pointing to a box outlined in red.

    Clockwork narrowed her eyes, completely ignoring Flourish as she wandered past them to explore the rest of the home. “It says here that the equations yielded an unexpected result when they attempted to test their theory, and to see page four for details of the anomaly.” Galaxi and Clockwork looked to each other for a moment, and turned the page, their eyes falling on an incredible photograph. Their jaws fell slack as they stared at the photo of swirling energy, star like points of light cascading along swirls and  pearlescent strands as if it were constantly turning and churning. Even as a photo, the energy looked like it was pulsing and swirling in place. Only after staring wordlessly for minutes did something else register to the pair…

    “I-it’s in the shape of a pony,” Galaxi stammered.

    Clockwork shifted the photograph to the side and began to read hurriedly. “Unexpected results, unknown cause. Somehow the magic has coalesced into a sentient living being! We have taken to calling it ‘Zilch’ for now, a joking reference to the project name. We are working on some sort of attire for it, which would allow it to perchance be less conspicuous and attention grabbing, as well as dampen the low amount of magical radiation it is putting off. All seven of us are eager to run our own tests on this anomaly as well, but I worry exactly what we may have unleashed here. This was, in no way, the intended result.”

    “There’s more,” Clockwork noted, “but the dates are pretty spread out. I guess we got the condensed version.”

    “Probably,” Galaxi agreed. “If Princess Luna was pressed by that other crisis, she would have just gotten as much information as possible to us, probably with little editing.”

    “We’ll be here for a few hours…” Clockwork frowned.

    “We can read all this after we see Trixie off and get to the clinic,” Galaxi stated and got up from the table. “We will need to meet up with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and let them know what happened. Also we need to check on Twist too.”

    Clockwork closed the folder and slid it back into the envelope, “Alright then, it’ll have to wait. I just hope this ‘Zilch’ is willing to wait too.”

    “Oh. My. GODDESS!” came a cry from below, startling both the mares. “I’ve died and gone to the Summerlands!”

    Galaxi and Clockwork looked at each other, horror washing over their expressions. “The candy shop!” they cried in unison. They dashed from the kitchen, rushing to prevent Flourish from eating the elder mare’s entire stock…

    “So lemme get this straight…”

    Apple Bloom paced back and forth in the hospital room, blatantly ignoring her doctor’s orders to stay off her hooves. Behind her, reclining on the bed, Twist hoofed through the folder once more, Clockwork by her side as they did their best to sort the scattershot information into a coherent series of theories. Large chunks of data was missing, mostly the specifics of a number of experiments, but photographs that were eerily similar to what they had witnessed the strange mare do made it clear they had found who they were combating.

    “…this buckin’ ninja is really some sorta secret gov’mnt project?” Apple Bloom finished.

    “Abandoned,” Clockwork corrected. “Apparently creating a being of magical energy was not exactly on the to-do list, and the Princess shut them down. The reasons aren’t explained here, but considering this mare, this ‘Zilch’, ran away, I think it’s safe to assume that it was a less than positive experience for her.”

    “If these dates are right,” Twist noted, running a hoof over one of the pages, “the project was started only two years after the Specials first appeared, it went through dozens of iterations and ranking mages and scientists, and was bearing fruit… until something happened and their attempt to wrangle the magic somehow formed this ‘Zilch’ approximately six years ago.”

    “Now y’see, that’s something I dun’ get,” Apple Bloom said, punctuating it with a thump of her hoof on Twist’s bed. Twist gently tugged a sheet of paper free from under her mate’s hoof as she continued. “She’s usin’ a zebra style o’ martial arts, Fallen Caesar form, an she’s buckin’ good enough ta take me on. I been doin’ this mah whole life, an’ I know exactly how much trainin’ that’d take! So how th’ buck does a filly know so much!”

    “That’s part of Luna’s notes at the end,” Galaxi answered from the far side of the bed. “She did mention a working theory that this Zilch can mimic the powers of other specials.”

    “It’s a good point,” Clockwork agreed, “and there are plenty of Specials up here in the Unregistered Territories. Do you know of any whose ability might focus around hoof to hoof combat?”

    “Hrm… I dunno,” Apple Bloom frowned.

    “What about that bodyguard Marmalade had a few years back?” Twist asked, and her mate’s eyes went wide.

    “You don’ mean tha’ idiot, Jett? That boy couldn’ find his flank with a lantern an’ a map!”

    “Jett?” Clockwork and Galaxi asked simultaneously.

    Apple Bloom sighed, “Jett Storm. A buck with an ego bigga’ than alla Equestria, and this weird ability tha’ let ‘im learn any combat style he watched constantly fer like an hour or somethin’. It was permanent too, so he’d go sit an’ watch advanced classes o’ martial arts schools ‘round Equestria. Then, when he done thought he learned enough, he sold his ‘services’ ta’ anypony who could pay. Mostly did bodyguard work, but I ain’t seen him for ova’ a year now, not since I beat ‘im in that fight.”

    “Let’s make a few assumptions here…” Clockwork said, rubbing her chin with a hoof.

    “Ya’ll know what assumin’ does, don’tcha?” Bloom slid in with a smirk.

    Clockwork waved the elder mare off and continued, “Let’s hypothesize that Marmalade is behind the attacks, for whatever reason. Twist just said that this Jett Storm worked for her as a bodyguard at one time. Now assuming she knew how his power worked, probably because he bragged about it, and she somehow learned that Zilch could copy another pony’s powers, she hired him on for a different project. Assuming Zilch can learn abilities as Princess Luna theorized, her time near him would allow her to pick up on his learning power, and if he learns the styles permanently, he would literally be able to show her the styles she needs. Hell, he’d even be able to spar with her for a level of training just watching wouldn’t be able to give. If we assume she’s either hired or forced to do this, and he’s hired or forced to do this all by Marmalade, we have a perfect storm that would give us a teleporting ninja mare capable of kicking all our flanks.”

    “I dunno,” Apple Bloom frowned, “that’s a whole mess of ‘ifs’ and assumptions there.”

    “I know,” Clockwork admitted, frowning. “Far more leaping to conclusions than I care for.”

    “It does give us a place to start,” Galaxi put in, slipping around the hospital bed and past the snoozing Flourish, who only gave a cute little snore in response. “I would rather assume she’s more powerful, than to assume she’s less powerful and be surprised when she kicks our flanks.”

    “It also raises an interesting question,” Twist noted thoughtfully. “We don’t know how long an exposure she might need to copy a pony’s power. Could she pick up a power just by being around you girls, or does she need a larger exposure? Does she gain the power permanently too?”

    “It done feels like all them answers are just givin’ us more questions,” Apple Bloom noted sourly.

    Clockwork shrugged and gave a soft chuckle, “Rarely are things all neat and tidy.”

    “If’n things were neat an’ tidy, she’d be standin’ right over theah, ready ta’ give us th’ answers herself!” Apple Bloom complained, pointing a hoof across the room to a random corner. Suddenly the room went deathly quiet, and every eye was locked onto the corner the elder mare had just motioned to. Apple Bloom groaned, “She’s standin’ right there, ain’t she?”

    A pair of hooves grabbed her outstretched foreleg and pulled suddenly, tossing her over the white-clad mare’s body to slam her to the floor in a classic throw. The momentary silence was broken by shouting, and Galaxi’s psychic shield protecting the elder mare from the follow up attack. Zilch only glanced at them, and made a darting motion towards the hospital bed, only to find another pony in the way. Clockwork, however, was hardly an imposing obstacle without her armour, and Zilch vaulted over her, only to be repelled by a second purple shield.

    “Dangit!” Apple Bloom shouted as she got to her hooves. “Ain’t this why you brought along that sleeping lump of… hey, where’d that unicorn go?”

    Zilch paid no heed, and lashed out a hoof through a portal, catching Galaxi in the gut to drive the air from her. A quick sidestep to draw Clockwork out of position and Zilch was able to knock the short mare away with a simple back-hoof strike. She turned to strike at Twist, knowing it would bring Apple Bloom, her true target, to her instead of trying to chase the elder down. However, she found herself eye to eye with a newcomer, a gray unicorn mare who stood protectively over the elder mare.

    “It’s about TIME you got here!” Flourish cried happily, causing Zilch to recoil. The unicorn looked about ready to hug her, which was oddly disconcerting. “Do you have any idea how boring it is to listen to these eggheads?!”

    “Hay!” Apple Bloom protested, “I ain’t no egghead!”

    “No dear, you’re a dictionary,” Twist countered reflexively, her voice wavering.

    Zilch cantered back from the newcomer, eying her warily. Flourish followed with her head, leaning so far off the bed that she overbalanced herself. Zilch narrowed her eyes and struck forward with a simple hoof jab, not entirely sure what to expect from this newcomer. She was prepared for a lot of things, but watching her explode into a pink cloud was not one of them. She was equally surprised when a foreleg draped companionably over her shoulders and the unicorn grinned at her, as if they were the oldest of friends.

    The mares seemed to leap back and away from each other at a signal nopony else could see, and each vanished via their own version of teleportation. Zilch leapt through a portal behind her, and Flourish vanished in an explosion of pink. The suited mare reappeared by the door, glancing down the hall as she considered retreating, only to come face to face with the newcomer again.

    “Oh, this promises to be so much fun!” she cried, and Zilch backed up into the room again. “I don’t get to match wits with another teleporter very often. It’s not a very common power, after all, but not just a teleporter, but a different TYPE of teleporter. Those portals are kinda cool, by the way, though they’re too obvious. I can see where you’re going through them.”

    Zilch frowned and struck out with her hooves at the obviously unprepared (and far too chatty) unicorn, only to find she’d sidestepped the strike completely. The suited mare shook her head and swept a leg low, only to watch as the unicorn bounced over it casually, like a foal skipping rope. Her pink and lavender mane and tail flared slightly with the fall, and Zilch lashed out again. Impossibly, the unicorn shifted around it, and ducked down under the sweeping attack from her hoof.

    “Flourish, don’t get cocky…” Clockwork warned, just as Zilch struck forward with a hoof, anticipating the mare’s dodge to strike through a portal into the unicorn’s blind side, only to miss? Zilch frowned as Flourish stuck her tongue out at her teammate like a filly.

    “You just don’t like to see me having fun,” Flourish answered, and ducked her head as Zilch attempted to buck at her. “I mean seriously, her tells might as well be billboard signs from Las Pegasus or something, they’re bucking impossible to miss! That’s what I love about Martial Arts, they’re all so bucking rigid!”

    Zilch frowned and considered that for a moment, then put her weight into another strike, but instead of expecting it to land, she flowed through with it, letting it cartwheel her past the unicorn as she attempted another strike at the elder Apple Bloom. Zilch was only mildly surprised when the unicorn hip checked her off balance and sent her towards the bed. Zilch smiled, reaching her hoof out to strike…

    A sharp motion struck her from the side, driving her away from the bed even before she reached the psychic shield that suddenly flared up. The gray unicorn was protecting her friends and Twist, which meant she had some potential leverage against this frustrating unicorn. Zilch struck forward into a pair of portals, intent on striking at the annoying khaki mare beyond the shield… only to get thumped in the chest and finding herself driven back out of her own portals! Zilch frowned and looked at the unicorn, growing irritated.

    “Oh, you’re done warming up?” Flourish asked casually in a voice that would have angered even the Princesses. “Good. Let’s do this for real now…”

    The gray unicorn’s foreleg blurred as she struck at Zilch, who instinctively blocked with martial precision. The suited being known as Zilch fell quickly into the Fallen Caesar style, blocking and counter attacking with precision. Flourish did exactly the opposite, her body loose and fluid as she ignored every rule of hoof to hoof combat, and seemed to flow like water around the strikes to pressure Zilch’s blocks and counter attacks. Zilch looked for patterns, signs, or tells, but saw nothing. It was as if the unicorn were making everything up on the fly! That wasn’t possible… was it?

    Zilch frowned as she realized that she’d been tricked. This mare must be some sort of martial expert herself, and fighting purely by the rote teachings was playing right into her strengths. A portal replaced her next hoof-strike, redirecting her strike at an unusual angle and, for the first time, she connected with solid flesh. Nothing harmful, just a strike at the mare’s flank, but she could be hit. Zilch pushed forward a step, striking outwards with her hooves as she was taught, but used her portals to redirect them every which way, catching the gray pony from below, above, behind, and into wherever she thought the unicorn would move to. She had literally forgotten that the mare could disappear into a pink cloud of smoke until Flourish did exactly that, leaving a pair of hoof strikes nearly intersecting where she once stood.

    “Got that out of your system now?” Flourish asked tauntingly, drawing another frown from the suited mare. Motion caught her eye as she noticed Apple Bloom hunkered behind one of the hospital bed with the rest of the trio… trio? One of them was missing… the little one she thought. Maybe she went to get her armour again? If so, that meant she now was on the clock. The gray unicorn answered Zilch’s annoyance with a smug grin, and she quickly realized that she couldn’t allow her target to distract her from the fight right before her nose.

    “Good. Cause now… it’s my turn,” Flourish stated in an oddly harsh tone, and her horn began to glow. Zilch braced herself, uncertain what sort of spells this little unicorn may know, but was surprised when she saw the glowing grow slender and narrow, forming a scything curved blade of neon pink that extended from her horn. Suddenly Zilch realized why she hadn’t recognized the style of combat the unicorn was using… she had been looking for hoof to hoof styles, and this pony was a fencer!

    “En garde!” Flourish cried, and leapt into the air… and promptly vanished. Zilch twisted herself into a portal herself, dodging the incoming pony handily. The battle was truly joined as Flourish pitted her incredible reflexes and mystic blade against the flashing hooves of Zilch. But Zilch was sure she still had the advantage, and portals spread for her use, separating torso in two to allow the magic blade to pass harmlessly. Portals appeared about the unicorn, allowing Zilch’s hooves to strike two and three at a time. It was a strain, but Zilch continued to attack and use four and five portals at once, keeping herself dispersed to present the smallest target possible.

    To her surprise and astonishment, Flourish kept pace with seemingly little effort. Her form blinked and flickered in and out of sight like a skipping film reel, the pink smoke and sudden exhalation sound that accompanied her teleportations were almost ubiquitous now, making it nearly impossible to see where the pony had gone to. And yet the two continued to fight, and a layer of pink smog almost literally blocked all sight of the combatants. It was only the opening of the nearby window to allow the entry of an armoured Clockwork that swept the smoke away, revealing the mares.

    Each stood on the floor, facing one another. Flourish’s chest heaved with heavy pants, and her coat was slicked with sweat, but aside from a few bruises, she seemed unhurt. Zilch seemed unhurt as well, but even without the need to draw breath as a pony, she conveyed a sense of growing exhaustion as well. The pair seemed almost perfectly matched...

    Flourish surged forward with a suddenness that belied her exhausted state, and Zilch attempted to counter, her hooves lashing out and her body vanishing into a portal that twisted erratically. But Flourish ducked around one of the hooves, grabbed the other to allow herself to be pulled through the portal before bouncing literally off the wall, teleporting away from the hooves bucking for her head, bouncing off the abandoned hospital bed, vanishing again as a white suited hoof cracked the wall, to appear almost eye to eye with Zilch.

    The pair struck seemingly at once. Only one of them connected, and Flourish cantered back a step, her eyes wide.

    Zilch’s suit was torn from where her opponent’s “blade” cut into her neck just below the left shoulder and continued upward along her side. On a normal pony, it would be a life threatening injury that would require a large number of stitches at the least. On Zilch, it peeled the suit away from the “body” beneath it, a swirling vortex of stars in a coalesced darkness that made up her body. The lights pulsed with energy, hypnotic and entrancing even as the suited figure tried to gather up the loose fold of heavy fabric to try and cover herself, as if she had been suddenly caught in the shower.

    “Whoah,” was all Apple Bloom managed to say before a large portal appeared behind Zilch and she dived through.

    “Flourish, did you see where she was going?” Clockwork called as she lipped a few switches in her helm, activating the tracking sensors on her chariot.

    “Sure, I got a decent look at it,” Flourish shrugged.

    “I have the signal for your earpiece loaded into my systems,” Clockwork instructed. “Teleport there and lay low, and I’ll track you. With luck, she ran back to her hide-out and we can end this for good.” Flourish faux-saluted and vanished in a puff of pink smoke. “Ready to go Galaxi?”

    “You fillies ain’t leavin’ without me!” Apple Bloom cried as she trotted close. She quickly shed the hospital gown and tugged her hat firmly down on her head.

    Clockwork sighed, “Alright. What about you, Twist?”

    “I’ll stay put and handle the nurses,” Twist answered, much to Clockwork’s relief, “but you better tell me the story when you return!”

    “Deal.”

    “Girl, you gotta calm down!”

    The white suited entity known as Zilch ignored the stallion entirely, rushing about the cave that she called home for the past few years. With one hoof she held the torn fabric up over her shoulder, and with the other three she rushed about, tearing open crates and drawers in the search for something. So frantic was her search that neither she nor the stallion with her noticed the explosion of pink in one corner, or saw where Flourish settled herself down to watch and wait for the rest of her team.

    “Zilch, please… you’ve got to calm down!” the stallion tried again. He was handsome, in a way, with strong broad features and a lean muscular body with a well groomed olive green coat. His short black mane was slicked back and shined with oil, making him look like a used chariot salesman. But he had a certainty to his step, a confidant swagger that belied his size, and that put Flourish on her guard. He deftly dodged out of the way of the rushing mare as she barreled past again, and he threw his hooves up in frustration.

    Zilch was ill inclined to explain the situation, and the stallion seemed to know better than to ask, and he finally gave up on his pleas and found an out of the way spot to wait out the maelstrom. He settled on a ratty couch, one of a number of mismatched chairs and couches that seemed as if they were “rescued” from various wastebins. Add in a few flickering magic lights that barely managed to keep the cavern lit, a rattling fridge that sounded like it could die any moment, and a handful of well worn tables and dressers, resulted in a place that looked more like a flea market than a home. Of course, it was by no stretch of the imagination large, or even spacious, but there was a certain cluttered comfort that suited Zilch’s needs. Unfortunately the fact she had a “guest” living with her had put some obvious stress on the environs, and many things were left lying around and in a general state of disarray. Flourish cast a jaundiced eye about the room and suspected the stallion of being a bit of a slob, even as she flicked away a nearby candy wrapper. That’s when Flourish noticed that the crates scattered all about the cavern were supplies from town, most of them unpacked, and many of them with labels denoting them as various types of preserved food. Since Zilch didn’t have a mouth with that suit, the unicorn assumed they were for the stallion, but didn’t discount completely the idea that Zilch might have to feed solid matter into that energy vortex that comprised her body.

    Finally Zilch seemed to be winding down. She was almost literally spinning in place like a top before sitting down hard, pushing her free hoof to her face almost like she were crying. Only then did the stallion approach her again, his voice supposedly gentle, but it sounded practiced and flat to Flourish, lacking any of the emotions he was trying to convey.

    “It’s alright,” he told her, sitting by her and hugging the suited mare mechanically. Flourish watched curiously as the energy mare shuddered, even pounding a week hoof against his chest in frustration before finally slumping, her hooves cradling the torn fabric against her, only partially covering the hole. “We’ll find some needle and thread and get your suit fixed up.”

    Zilch looked up at the stallion in an almost heartbreaking way, like a foal might look at an older brother. The stallion smiled, but to Flourish it looked forced, faked. She frowned, was this stallion using Zilch’s affection to get her to do a job? Maybe Clockwork’s crazy theory wasn’t so crazy.

    “We’re five minutes out,” a voice whispered over Flourish’s earpiece. They didn’t have support from Skillet because, while technically not out of range, the rest of the team was busy in Las Pegasus. Instead Clockwork rigged a local network through her armour to keep them connected and coordinated. Flourish tapped the commlink twice, letting them know she received the message without speaking. She wasn’t willing to give herself away… yet.

    “Jett? Jett! Where the buck are you?” a demanding voice, which reminded Flourish of a hoof scraping across the chalkboard, echoed about the cave. Flourish receded further into the shadow she’d found. The crates made for good cover, but someone from the entrance of the cave might see her if they looked the wrong way. Thankfully the well groomed mare who rushed in seemed more intent on the stallion and the mare with him than looking around. Flourish smiled slightly, opened the link, keying the microphone to pick up the conversation, and hoped that Clockwork was ready to record this.

    “Over here Marmalade,” the stallion sighed, and the mulberry pony stormed up to him.

    “What the hell is this?!” she demanded, and her coiffed and curled mane bouncing as she pointed a hoof angrily at Zilch. The energy mare shrunk back behind the stallion as the newcomer’s bright blue eyes stared piercingly at her. “Why is she here? Why is that damned crusader still alive? I should have gotten a report of her demise by now! I have a speech prepared, dammit, and it’s going to waste!”

    “Something happened,” Jett answered in a more than slightly annoyed voice, “I haven’t gotten what yet. Most likely, I’d say she met better fighter.”

    “I thought you said no pony was a better fighter than you?” Marmalade seethed, circling the stallion like a snake looking to strike.

    “As far as I know, there isn’t,” he said, though a twitch of his eye told Flourish he was lying.

    “Really? So your bout with Apple Bloom was just a fluke?” the mulberry pony demanded, ignoring his grimace as she flipped her well trimmed mane and turned to face Zilch. “And you, this is the fifth time you’ve failed to eliminate either Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle! I don’t know why I bothered trying anything with you; you can’t even talk... maybe I should just turn you over to the Princesses.” The mare’s tone of voice struck Flourish as odd, like it was a rehearsed line that had been delivered dozens of times in the past. And, like a well practiced play, the suited mare shook her head desperately and slipped into her role without even realizing it. She looked desperately between the stallion, who was studiously looking elsewhere, and the mare, who was looming over her with a fierce scowl.

    “Well you can’t seem to follow directions, so why shouldn’t I turn you over?” Marmalade demanded.

    Flourish had enough of this charade; it was time to end it. She was just about to make her move when something caught her eye, a shimmering to her left… and blinked when a zebra in a suit jacket and a tie literally walked out of the wall! He paused, cocking his head slightly as he looked right at Flourish’s position, then moved on. The unicorn was certain he knew she was there, but he kept trotting, making sure his hooves echoed on the floor.

    “What a lovely little performance, I must say,” the zebra intoned, his voice having a smooth and rich quality that reminded Flourish oddly of hot chocolate. “Of course, you won’t do that, will you, Councilpony Marmalade? No, you’re more of the type who just likes to manipulate other ponies to do your dirty deeds for you, heedless of what the cost might be.”

    “How DARE you?!” she demanded. “Wait, how did you get in here? Jett…?”

    The stallion surged forward, muscles standing out in relief as he thrust his hoof out in a perfect martial strike, but the zebra just smiled at him as the air between them suddenly turned to glass, which cracked and finally shattered under the strike.

    “W-where did that come from?” Jett asked, falling back a step nervously.

    “It looks like I arrived just in time, too,” he said, ignoring the stallion and wandering closer to a wide eyed Zilch. “That’s a nasty cut there in your suit, but I don’t think it’ll be too hard to fix. A friend of mine is good with materials like this, and I’m sure he could repair it. If not, I have a few favors I can call in. Regardless, I think we can get this fixed up, good as new.”

    “Who the buck do you think you are?” Marmalade demanded, bodily pushing the Zebra back and away from Zilch. Jett moved closer, pulling Zilch back, but the mare looked curiously at the newcomer about the pair trying to separate them.

    “Me? Trust me Councilpony, I’m not one of your constituents,” the zebra noted with a smile, and adjusted his tie. “No, I represent somepony who has taken great interest in Miss Zilch’s talents, and wishes to invite her to work with a team of like minded ponies with powers much like her own.”

    “She’s not interested,” the mulberry pony growled.

    “You don’t get a say in this, Councilpony,” the zebra noted with a smug grin. “In fact, the only pony here who I will accept such a rejection from is Zilch herself. If she chooses to work for a mare who blackmails her into taking out her political rivals for her own gain…”

    “It is not my own gain!” Marmalade screeched, her voice cracking with fury. “It’s for the protection of the entire Northern Reaches! King Goldtalon sent emissaries over the winter to the Council and threatened to invade unless we renounced all ties to the Ponylands and the Princesses! Those bucking Crusaders were fighting me every step of the way! I tried to convince them of the necessity, but no, they had to go to the streets and undermine my authority…”

    “So that makes it right to murder them?” the zebra asked in a reasonable tone.

    “Y’know, boss, he does have a point…” Jett added sheepishly before withering under the councilpony’s glare.

    “And then of course there’s Jett Storm,” the zebra continued, “what a family you two make. A father who remains emotionally detached and a mother who wields emotions like a sword. Between the two of you, you cut her off every time she shows a small ounce of individuality or being her own pony. You treat her like a servant, I dare say.”

    Jett scoffed, “I’m no father. I’m just the babysitter.” The stallion never noticed the hurt expression on Zilch’s face.

    “We’re almost there,” a voice on Flourish’s headpiece informed her.

    “I’m going in, things are getting out of control here…” Flourish stated, and ignored the responses as she teleported herself from her hiding spot to a high visibility spot she’d noticed on a nearby table. Of course she had an ulterior motive as well, those documents looked important to her.

    “Hi there,” Flourish added casually as she sat squarely down on the table and said documents. “Y’know, I hate to agree with a pony I never met before, but I gotta agree with him. I mean seriously, what sort of parent would send their kid against us?”

    “Actually, that is a very good point,” the zebra admitted as the stallion and mare gawped at Flourish… and Zilch actively tried to hide from her.

    “Who the buck are you?! Is this Canterlot Central Station or something? Did somepony put a big sign out front saying ‘Open House, please inquire within?!’” the mare screeched hysterically.

    “I’m Flourish,” the unicorn answered simply, “one of the Elements of Harmony, specifically the Element of Laughter, and member of Project Moonbeam, one of the saviors of the ponylands and vanquisher of The Nightmare. You know, only one of the most well known and powerful specials in all of Equestria.”

    “Shit…” was all Jett had to say.

    “You see, in your attempts to take out the Crusaders, Apple Bloom called in help from a friend of hers. A little khaki mare known as Clockwork Key… Element of Loyalty and also known as Dragonfly,” Flourish continued, stalling now for the rest of the team. “And you pissed her off. I mean seriously, you knew she was all that and a bag of chips, the Princess only sent her specifically to be liaison to the Unregistered Colonies after all… and you know she’s friends with the Crusaders. What in the hell were you thinking?”

    “Actually, I imagine she thought that handing it off to the extremely capable mare she believed she could control would end Miss Key without ever bringing attention back upon herself,” the zebra noted simply. “Plausable deniability and all that. After all, it’s not like Zilch could implicate her if the rest of you came after her for killing their friend.”

    Flourish frowned and tapped a hoof on the table. “That is exactly what we would have done if Clockwork had been killed. Two, possibly three, of the Crusaders dead… and the councilpony offers to ‘help’ us track down the culprit, seeding the clues that eventually lead us right to…” Flourish looked meaningfully at Zilch, who recoiled as she realized the possible truth of their words.

    “That said, if the Princesses own forces are here, Zilch, then Marmalade failed to protect you as she promised,” the zebra slid in smoothly.

    Flourish cursed herself inwardly for not seeing that coming, and sighed, “He’s right kid. Princess Celestia herself asked us to bring you back, unharmed, to Canterlot. I may not know who this stallion is,” she noted, jerking her hoof to the zebra, “but he’s a damn side better than those two. Once the recording that Clockwork is making via my little headset gets out, I can pretty much guarantee a long stay in a nice small cell for both of them.”

    “Screw that, I ain’t going to jail! You’re on your own, Marmalade, I’m outta here!” Jett cried, and bolted for the cave’s exit… only to come flying back in on his flank as three more mares made their entrance. One in green and gold power armour, one in a purple and white bodysuit, and the last an elderly yellow mare with white streaking her once fiery red mane. The cowpony hat fell from her head as she charged for the councilpony, only barely restrained by the lavender glow of Galaxi’s telekinesis.

    “I believe that is our cue, dear Zilch,” the zebra noted, offering a hoof out for the suited mare. Marmalade screeched at him, rushing him with her hooves, but Zilch interceded, using a stiff foreleg to her chest that drove her back several steps.

    “Z-zilch?” the mulberry pony asked. “C-come on, I promised I’d p-protect you…” she stammered, her eyes wide.

    “And you used her instead,” the zebra pointed out, his expression briefly touched with anger, which vanished a moment later as he placed a hoof on Zilch’s shoulder. “It’s time we left. Did you wish to express any goodbyes?”

    The suited mare looked between the zebra and the desperate councilpony. For a moment, her will seemed to waver, and Marmalade’s nervous smile widened confidently, only to wane when Zilch turned her back on her.

    “No!” Marmalade shrieked, leaping at the pair again, only to run face first into another clear glass wall that cracked with her impact. “She’s MINE!!”

    Clockwork shouted to the zebra, ignoring the hysterics of the councilpony as she attacked the glass with her hooves, “Who are you?”

    “Me?” the zebra replied with an enigmatic smile. “My name is Kaos. You will become familiar with it in the weeks to come. For now, consider this a gift. On the table your compatriot smartly settled her flank upon should have all the evidence you need against the Councilpony and her pet bodyguard, and you have my personal guarantee that Zilch will no longer bother the Crusaders.”

    “What about the poison?” Apple Bloom managed to cry out.

    “You’ll find packets of it here in Zilch’s home… I’m sorry, her former home,” Kaos stated. “I’m sure Jett will know where, and he will probably squeal like a pig if you offer him a chance to turn against Marmalade. With that said, I must bid you ladies adieu. I have a suit to repair, and more work to do before the day is out.”

    The zebra flashed a smile to those assembled, and reached out to touch a nearby wall. It rippled, like the surface of a pond, and he escorted the suited mare through it. Zilch cast one final look back at those assembled, her expression unreadable, before vanishing through the wall with the zebra. Only when they vanished did Flourish teleport forward, pressing her hooves against the stone the pair just passed through.

    “Just like I figured… solid rock,” she muttered.

    “Buck this, they ain’t comin’!”

    Junkyard raised an eyebrow from where he sat, legs crossed, in the center of the now smoking rubble. He and Crosswind had attacked another construction site at mid morning, driving off the work-ponies that were trying to build some fancy new hotel or casino or club or something. Junkyard didn’t care; he simply sat down in the middle of it all, his hands resting on his thighs, as he worked to undermine the site’s stability. Crosswind took great pleasure in toppling the multi-storied scaffoldings and unfinished construction, but had been growing bored the last half an hour. Using the wind to propel girders into a nearby billboard like oversized lawn darts had long since lost the pegasus’ interest.

    Junkyard glanced upwards at his irritated friend, who fluttered only a few scant feet off the ground, about as close to touching it as Junkyard could ever remember him doing willingly. “Seriously dog, I think we might’ve thumped ‘em too good last night,” the pegasus continued, and Junkyard frowned. It had been a rare show of temper for him to do what he had done. Thankfully none of the ponies were hurt, but the diamond dog was leery of his temper… of losing control.

    “Let’s give it one more try an’ see if the Upstarts will come play, then we’ll give it up,” Crosswind sighed. “I hate reporting back a failure.”

    “Report back to who? I want to know who’s pulling your strings,” a new voice added, one both pony and canine were familiar with. From behind a partially destroyed wall the yellow mare known as Sparrow stepped into view wearing a cocky half smile.

    “You’d like to know that, wouldn’t you?” Crosswind answered dismissively, even as Junkyard put his hands flat on the ground, but frowned and shook his head.

    “You won’t sense them coming that way, not this time,” Sparrow told them, nodding to Junkyard. “I hotwired some of the construction equipment and set them up to make a lot of vibrations, which should disturb your ability to sense ground vibrations.” Junkyard’s eyebrows rose slightly, and he chuffed. He was impressed, this pony was the first one to figure out he could do that. Still, it was only one trick in his arsenal.

    “So what?” Crosswind was already saying, “That doesn’t do you much good if we can still kick your flanks all over Las Pegasus. I told you last night, you’re going to need more help…”

    “I got it,” the mare answered evenly. A pony slammed into the girder frame over Sparrow’s head, and a pure white pegasus with a rainbow mane stood up in place. Behind them, on some ruined scaffolding, Nightweaver stepped from a shadow to glare down at them. Above them, Plasma landed lightly on a bent crossbeam. A green gorilla formed from seemingly nothing at the billboard asking ponies to stop by Donut Joe’s, and he pulled a girder that had been used as a dart and slung it casually over a shoulder. A blue pony stepped over the edge of the small rise behind them, glaring down at the pair. From the side, Thunderhooves lined himself up, hooves spread widely from where he stood atop an overturned crane.

    “Looks like we only rated one of them,” Crosswind shook his head, noting the white pegasus, “he’ll be disappointed.” Junkyard shook his head and pointed upwards to the tortured second floor of the construction, where a cyan unicorn stood just out of sight.

    “Fine, ruin Tome’s entrance!” the unicorn grumped, and stomped forward now that she’d been noticed.

    “I’ll do more than ruin your entrance,” the pegasus leered, “a pair of fine fillies like you two, I could ruin a lot of other things…”

    “Crosswind, real name Gusty Breeze,” the white pegasus stated, her voice carrying an undertone of authority. “Junkyard, real name unknown. You both are under arrest. You have one chance to surrender…”

    Crosswind seethed. “How do you know my real name?!” he demanded.

    The pegasus smiled, “The agency keeps files on all former members. For instance, I know your powers are all wind based. I also know that your primary weakness is being grounded, as you lose all control over the air currents about you.”

    “And who the buck are you?” the pegasus demanded.

    “Rainbow Star,” the pegasus answered evenly, “code named: Spectrum.”

    “Well well, we hooked us their leader,” Crosswind noted.

    Sparrow hissed, “They’re stalling us.”

    “I know,” the pegasus answered, “what I want to know is, why?”

    “You’ll find out soon enough sweet-cheeks,” Crosswind leered. “But I think that’s enough talk for now.”

    “Tome could not agree more!” the cyan unicorn cried, and her horn began to glow. Crosswind immediately dipped his wing, dodging a hurled girder from the transformed pony as he dashed upwards at the casting unicorn.

    “Oh no you don’t!” he cried, using the wind to deflect Plasma before filling his wings with a sudden gust of wind, pushing him past another thrown girder, and up to where the unicorn was casting. He flared his wings and dove at her, expecting to cold-cock her when she wasn’t prepared… and went right through her! He yelped in surprise as he passed through the illusory pony, just in time for a tarp to yank down over him, telekinesis wrapping the ropes quickly and tossing it out over the edge. Cobalt was there immediately to catch it, even as the improvised bag shredded itself from sudden bursts of air. Cobalt was able to shrug off the attack and shoved the stallion into the ground with all his might, taking some satisfaction at the splash of mud that dirtied Crosswind’s coat and mane. Immediately the wind died down.

    “You’re grounded,” Cobalt growled.

    A roar shattered the scene as Thunderhooves made his move, his horns glowing as he charged the diamond dog. Sparrow followed in his wake as she flung explosive disks every time the canine tried to make a barrier to stop the bison’s advance.  Junkyard spread his legs and prepared for impact, his hands clutching the bison’s horns to stop him dead. But Sparrow was there again, throwing some new items that stuck to the diamond dog. As one the small explosives went off, and Thunderhooves unleashed his shockwave, shredding the ground beneath the canine and flinging him back and away.

    A dark glow enveloped the nearby girders as they bent oddly, like a waiting hand to catch the diamond dog. Junkyard slammed into it and the trap closed, wrapping about him even as Plasma quickly caught the girder cage before it hit the ground and used a cable from the felled crane to hang it suspended a good twenty or thirty feet in the air. Junkyard only grunted as he looked at the cage with a frown.

    “Boyah!” Cobalt shouted, dragging Crosswind along the ground under where the diamond dog rested. “Now that’s the way to do it!”

    “I dunno…” Sparrow frowned, rubbing her chin with a hoof.

    “Tome thinks that was far too easy,” the cyan unicorn said flatly as she trotted up. “After all that you described yesterday….”

    “Aw come on, we can’t come out on top this time?” the green colt asked in a reedy voice as he trotted up.

    “It’s not that,” Sparrow answered simply. “It’s more like they wanted to be caught.”

    “Is… something wrong with him?” Nightweaver asked in a scratchy voice, nudging Crosswind’s prone form. He was shaking violently in short, almost rhythmic motions.

    “No, he’s… laughing?” Thunderhooves rumbled. A different rumbling warned them only a split second before the ground gave way under the entire group, leaving only the three pegasi hovering in the air as the rest fell into the dark pit. Plasma, Spectrum… and Crosswind, freed himself from the tarp and ropes with a few well placed slashes of air.

    “You aren’t the only ones who can set a trap,” he laughed, and made a sudden motion with a hoof. There was a sudden creak of metal, and Spectrum frowned up at Junkyard, who peeled open the metal girders to make enough room for him to leap from the suspended cage.

    Spectrum met him halfway, plowing into him and forcing him back upwards. The diamond dog cracked her over the head with both fists, but it didn’t seem to faze her. She clung tenaciously until a sheet of wind slammed into her from behind, knocking her askew and into the mud at the side of the pit. Junkyard quickly grabbed her, and with a sudden surge of strength the pegasus was suddenly fighting for breath against the powerful grip.

    Beep… beep… beep…

    Junkyard yelped as the explosions went off on his back, stumbling forward and releasing Spectrum, who in turn twisted and tripped the large canine. Unfortunately this dropped him into the hole he originally was targeting, and Spectrum watched with a frown as he vanished into the darkness.

    “Thanks,” she told Sparrow, who came up beside her.

    “We need to get down there…” the yellow mare answered, and Spectrum grabbed her by the hooves, before diving down into the pit.

    The rumbling below warned them that this wasn’t a good idea. They weren’t sure what to expect, but what they saw was the “perfect” playground for the diamond dog and pegasus duo to exercise their respective powers. The pit was lined in rocks of various formations, a natural cave with a large domed ceiling even before the hole crashed through it. That gave the pegasus plenty of open air to work with, and the diamond dog had rock on every side. Spectrum frowned at what she saw.

    “Tome, set up an exit!” Spectrum called.

    “Where to?” the unicorn called back, cantering around a spire of rock that tried to flatten her.

    “I don’t care,” Spectrum answered, her amber eyes all but glowing in the dim light of the hole, “But this gives them too much control over the environs. We need to change the rules…”

    “Change the rules…” Trixie considered, then grinned. “Tome has an idea… Nightweaver!”

    “This better not be about my cloak again,” the dark unicorn rasped.

    “I need your help on a spell…” the cyan unicorn said as she dashed forward.

    “Cobalt, Bestial, Plasma, we need to mix it up!” Sparrow called as she dashed forward herself.

    “Focus their attention,” Spectrum stated, and twisted about an overly aggressive stalactite as she dived for the wall. She used a hoof to tear out a gouge of rock to hurl at the diamond dog. She wasn’t surprised when he simply deflected it with an errant swipe of his hand, but she needed to keep his attention and… Spectrum stopped, looking for where the flyer got to.

    “Peek-a-boo!” Crosswind called, as he slammed into Spectrum physically. The force momentarily knocked the wind from her, something the blue pegasus seemed to delight in, since he redirected the wind to keep her unable to breathe in. Spectrum frowned and looked at Crosswind, whose eyes widened in surprise as she slammed her forehooves into his chest. She took a deep breath as he fell away from her and dove after him… only to be intercepted by a column of rock. Not that it stopped her, and she crashed straight through it.

    Spectrum shook some pebbles from her mane and flew around another column of rock, and watched as Cobalt and Sparrow renewed their pressure on the diamond dog to refocus him away from helping Crosswind. Bestial was playing between them both, but where was Plasma? That question as answered in a hurry as the colt got slammed backwards through a rocky column, forcing Spectrum to dive after him, only realizing too late her mistake. Crosswind had the air pushing her down too!

    “Trixie, if you’re going to do it…!” Spectrum growled, and caught the orange colt, bracing herself for the impact below, half expecting Junkyard to change it under her hooves.

    A bright light suddenly flared from behind one of the spires of rock, a spire that removed itself almost immediately. However the pair were floating in mid air, Nightweaver maintaining a darkly glowing bubble of energy as a shield while Tome hovered within, her eyes turned completely white with the energy of the spell and her horn wrapping itself first with one, then two overlayers in a nearly blinding light. For a moment it seemed as if she were doing nothing, until Spectrum noticed the ground was becoming reflective, and her hooves made a rather odd crunching sound when she impacted it. It was warm to the touch, but steadily grew thicker… a deep layer of glass covering every rock and stone in the chamber.

    Junkyard frowned and looked beneath his feet as the glass coated the rocks he was tapping into. He looked confused, as if expecting to still be able to work the stone despite the layer of glass, but the rocks refused to answer him. His strength waned with the loss of his connection to the earth, and Cobalt promptly bull-rushed him to knock him flat. Tome almost collapsed with the spell’s completion, and only Nightweaver’s shield kept her from falling prone on the ground.

    “What… the… hell?” Crosswind asked, looking closely at a spire of glass. He shook his head, before he noticed all those ponies staring back at him and turned around to face the Upstarts and their friends.

    “There’s only one way you’re coming out of this without getting your flank handed to you,” Plasma said, fluttering his wings as he scowled at the pegasus.

    “I’m afraid you are wrong there,” a new voice echoed about the chamber, and the newly arrived zebra straightened his tie. “I must say, I’m impressed, however. Was this your doing, Trixie?”

    “Y-who are…” the cyan unicorn started, but then her eyes widened in surprise as she pointed past the zebra to his companion. “You?! How are you here? You’re in the Northern Reaches!”

    The zebra smiled and placed a hoof on the shoulder of Zilch, who currently had a wrap covering the hole made in her suit. “Oh, you know my new friend here? I’m not surprised, really, but I’m here to reclaim our wayward teammates.”

    “Kaos?” the pegasus stallion asked, and hovered closer. “You really didn’t need to extract us, we had these ponies on the ropes.”

    “Yes, I see that,” the zebra responded sarcastically. “Allowing them to neutralize Junkyard’s powers was a masterful stroke of your tactical genius.”

    “It was a bit unorthodox, but hey, the big guy can handle it,” Crosswind answered confidently. Junkyard just shook his head ruefully.

    “Regardless, it’s time we were leaving,” Kaos answered simply.

    “What makes you think we’ll let you leave?” Sparrow demanded, and the rest of her team shifted to back her up. Spectrum, Tome, and Thunderhooves further added support to the formation.

    “Because, you don’t have a choice in the matter,” the zebra answered with a smile. “Whenever you’re ready, Zilch, take us back to where I showed you.” The suited pony gave a quick nod, and even before the ponies could charge them, a glowing portal opened above them and swept downward before vanishing completely, taking the zebra and his compatriots with it.

    “Hey! Where’d they go?” Bestial demanded as Cobalt stomped on the ground where the portal vanished.

    “Forget it,” Tome sighed, “they teleported. I don’t know what she was doing here, but the mare can create portals and teleport with them… and apparently others with her.”

    “I do not think they will be back,” the bison intoned with a sigh.

    “No, I don’t think so either,” Sparrow agreed. “But I’m also thinking they were a distraction, and not for us.”

    Spectrum nodded solemnly. “I’m afraid you might be right.”