Chapter 12

“Hell Ride”

    “I’m not so sure this was a good idea!”

    Galaxi was about to respond to Flourish when a red light flickered on, flashing steadily with a small chirping beep. A shuddering sensation rushed through the chariot, followed by an intense push that shoved both mares towards the back of the cabin, and forcefully into the couches they barely managed to scramble onto.

    From the outside, the “chariot” was only such in name only, instead resembling a thickened boomerang with a pair of heavy engines mounted about two-thirds of the way out from the center. The center was high and broad with plenty of room for the passengers within and painted in complimentary colors to Clockwork’s own Dragonfly armour. To control the chariot, she created a sort of bubble-like canopy at the leading edge of the chariot. This served to isolate her from the main “cabin” inside the chariot, and also allowed it to link to her armour via a pair of specialized ports on each side, giving Clockwork full control over it via her power armour.

    Inside, it was a comfortable space with warm leather couches and plenty of room, surrounded by armoured walls and a large variety of cabinets within which things could be stowed for the trip or emergency supplies could be stored. In one such “closet” Galaxi had barely managed to stash the luggage she and Flourish grabbed. Fortunately there wasn’t a lot, only a hoof-full of bags, or the chariot’s steadily increasing acceleration would have made it impossible to stow.

    “Warning: Safe acceleration limits exceeded,” a chirpy voice said from a small speaker along the roof of the chariot. “Excessive gravitational force detected.”

    “Flourish, can you teleport us out of here?” Galaxi asked, ducking her as she heard an explosion from outside, followed immediately by the chariot shuddering violently for a moment. Both mares looked forward, startled, through the bubble canopy that enclosed Clockwork and her armour to the sudden explosion of colors scattering every which way.

    “We just broke the Rainboom barrier, and I retain momentum,” Flourish answered, shaking her head.

    “I can shield us both--” Galaxi answered, only to be interrupted by the unicorn.

    “You can’t fly,” she deadpanned. “More, you couldn’t handle an impact with the ground at this speed, to say nothing of an impact with a cliff side, tree, or even perhaps a town or city. Even you’re not that good G.”

    Galaxi’s face fell with the realization. Even with her psychic shield at full power, she couldn’t hope to handle that, to say nothing of what it might do to any innocent souls she might have the misfortune to collide with. She grit her teeth and tried for the umpteenth time to reach out and contact Clockwork mentally, only to be rebuffed by that horridly distorted music coming from the mare.

    “Warning: Approaching maximum safe parameters. Fail-safes initiated,” that pleasant, computerized, chirpy voice informed them.

    “Thank the Goddesses,” Galaxi breathed.

    “Override confirmed; fail-safes disabled.”

    “What?!” Galaxi and Flourish both cried simultaneously. Galaxi whimpered in the back of her throat as another shudder ran through the chariot, followed by a groaning sound. Flourish tried a more direct approach and charged the enclosure that shielded Clockwork and her armour.

    “Clockwork! Stand down for Goddess’ sake!” she cried at the back of the green and gold armour. Clockwork didn’t even glance at them, her gaze fixed rigidly ahead. Flourish tried again, slamming her hooves into the shield separating them, “Clockwork!”

    “I don’t think you can get through,” Galaxi said softly, “her mind is so focused it’s literally screaming that music at me right now.”

    “I’ll show her focused!” Flourish answered angrily, and the blade ignited from her horn. A quick swipe of her head across the shielding and… nothing happened. Aside from a rather large scratch, the attack didn’t seem to weaken it in the least.

    “Flourish…” Galaxi tried, as the unicorn lined herself up for another strike. However a sudden sickening lurch interrupted her attempt, sending her tumbling head over hooves for a moment until Galaxi caught her telekinetically.

    “Warning: Speed limiters have been disabled. Safety limiters have been disabled. Approaching maximum safe speed,” that chirpy voice told them.

    “Skillet!” Flourish cried into her earpiece as Galaxi set her down on the couch by her.

    “Ya?” the stallion asked after a few agonizing seconds.

    “Something’s wrong with Clockwork,” she answered. “She’s going full out with her chariot. I think she’s headed back to Canterlot, but she’s going to kill herself, and us, in the process!”

    “Buck… Alright, I contact… she is not answering comm. Am notifying the Princesses and the rest of the team, ya?” Skillet answered quickly. “Do we know what is wrong?”

    “No,” Flourish answered simply.

    “She got a scroll right before we left,” Galaxi answered, drawing the unicorn’s gaze. “I think it was from that Bottle Rocket character… and said something about ‘fireworks over Canterlot’ or the like. I didn’t get a clear look at it.”

    “Wait, you said it was from Bottle Rocket?” a new voice asked, Princess Luna’s.

    “Yes, ma’am,” Galaxi confirmed.

    “Have overridden and patched in to Clockwork’s comlink,” Skillet cut in, his voice strangely soft. “You will be wanting to hear this…”

    Clockwork’s voice came over the comlink, a hissed whisper repeating over and over again like a mantra dripping with fear, guilt, and worry. “…don’t die… don’t die… don’t die… don’t die… don’t die…” No pony dared interrupt the litany for several long moments, letting the flow of words wash over them.

    “I’ve instructed the guard to find Bottle Rocket,” Luna said softly, “but I don’t place their chances very high.” The mantra continued unabated in the background, heedless of the words.

    “Pegasi have been notified to clear the flight lanes, and emergency landing teams are being mobilized,” Skillet said. “Once we have her on radar, we will clear out landing zone.”

    “Sweet Celestia, I didn’t think that was possible…” Flourish noted with a strangely awed voice. Galaxi looked at her for a moment before following her gaze forward. She looked past Clockwork and her armour again, swallowing as she could see the streamers of a second Rainboom barrier beginning to build across the front of the chariot.

    “Wait, she isn’t…” Galaxi stammered.

    “Well, if we’re going to go out,” Flourish answered with a cocky grin, “we’ll go out with a bang.”

    “That was a horrible pun, even for you,” Galaxi groaned, then ducked her head as one of the overhead lights popped like a firecracker, her telekinetic shield reflexively springing to life to protect them.

    “Eh, I was rushed,” Flourish answered, tucking herself closer to Galaxi to settle behind her shield as another shudder rolled over the chariot, followed by a creaking groan.

    “What is it?” Luna asked softly.

    “She’s going to try for a second Rainboom,” Flourish said softly, “and I don’t think her chariot can handle it.”

    Galaxi went to say something further, but it was lost as a sudden crash startled both mares, the telekinetic shield flaring brighter as Galaxi pumped more energy into it. The lights flickered randomly, and another popped, followed by a series of odd sounding “pings” as rivet after rivet burst loose. One of them bounced off Galaxi’s shield as an armoured plate ripped free, revealing a slice of clear blue sky over their head. The roar of the wind screamed at them, almost sounding alive, as the armour surrounding the hole began to vibrate and tear apart.

    “Warning: cabin pressure is falling below recommended safe levels, catastrophic decompression imminent,” the alarm told them, the chirpy voice sounding out of place against the now strident sounding alarm and the roar of the wind trying to claw its way past the hole at them. Galaxi clenched her eyes shut for a moment, then focused her telekinesis at the hole, forcing it into place to plug it. Flourish quickly used her blade to cut apart of the couch they had been sitting on, allowing Galaxi to use the parts to stuff into the hole as a makeshift barrier.

    “That… won’t last…” Galaxi said, her breath coming in short, quick pants. She was feeling light headed, unable to quite catch her breath.

    Flourish quickly moved up to support the psychic mare, bracing her from the side. “Skillet, is there anything we can do to slow her down?”

    “Nyet,” he answered worriedly, “she is overriding every safety override we have for chariot. She put them in place for emergency, then overrides them in emergency… is just like Little Key.”

    Flourish only spared a brief glance over it to Clockwork and the growing corona of the second rainboom barrier against the shielded bubble she was in. She was surprised to see the clear bubble Clockwork was piloting from was covered in a webwork of fractures and looked about ready to shatter any second.

    “She’s going to kill herself,” Galaxi noted softly, a soft note of worry in her voice.

    Flourish opened her mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by a squealing sound, followed by a roar that sent the entire chariot lurching drunkenly to one side. Galaxi was knocked to her flank, and Flourish had to struggle not to teleport reflexively away.

    “Warning: Explosion detected in number two engine; heat levels in number one engine reaching critical; system failure imminent,” the chirpy voice told them in an all too pleasant tone.

    “Clockwork!” Galaxi cried desperately. “You’re going to kill us, you have to stop!” The armoured pony didn’t so much as look over her shoulder as a new sense of vertigo washed over Galaxi. A sense of falling…

    “Skillet! The chariot is coming in hot!” Flourish cried.

    “Ya! We have on radar and cleared field,” Skillet answered. “Emergency crews on standby, Princess Luna and Spectrum will meet you on ground.”

    “Assuming we survive,” Galaxi whimpered.

    A new screeching sound filled their ears, and Galaxi stuffed her hooves into hers, clenching her eyes tightly shut as it sounded like the entire thing was about to fall apart, or tear away. She was only dimly aware of Flourish grabbing her and tearing one of those hooves away.

    “Get your shield up!” the unicorn managed to shout over the noise. Galaxi nodded, and the pair were surrounded by a glowing ball of lavender energy. Metal continued to scream, heedless of its passengers as a sudden shock rocked through the chariot, sending the pair tumbling about the cabin inside the ball-like shield. Galaxi barely had the awareness to realize the shape might have been a bad idea before all her focus was absorbed in simply keeping it intact about them.

    A jolt rushed through the entire chariot, sending the pair tumbling forward, crashing into the protective shielding where Clockwork was housed. Galaxi tossed a desperate look through the port at her, only to realize they were on the ground… wait, on the ground!? The entire chariot was sliding, but slowing, tearing furrows into the dirt and stone. Clockwork herself thrashed, yanking and breaking the connectors linking her armour to the chariot. Galaxi could only watch as the Dragonfly Armour’s wings flared into existence, and a single plasma shot from its hoof shattered the weakened bubble that somehow managed to remain intact. The high speed port on the back of the armour opened, and with no pretense, fired its bright blue-white plasma at Galaxi. The psychic mare looked away from the glare, the still intact side of the bubble protecting her from any wash of the engine. When she returned her gaze, Clockwork was gone… only the fading blue-white streak of her engines in the sky remained.

    “Well… that was fun,” Flourish managed sarcastically from beside her. Galaxi nodded numbly and lowered her shield, slumping visibly. Unfortunately she wasn’t the only one slumping, and in the next moment the entire structure of the chariot collapsed in on itself, and on top of the mares still inside. Galaxi only barely had enough presence of mind to scream…

    Galaxi was still screaming when she stumbled from the sudden disorientation, her head spinning as Flourish stabilized her on the landing pad. The unicorn teleported them away just before they were both about to be crushed, leaving them to stare in awe at the smoking wreck that had once served as a chariot for the entire team. Across the landing field, the approaching forms of Spectrum and Luna could be seen winging their way towards them.

    “I wonder if our luggage survived…” Flourish mused with an impish grin. Galaxi decided that was a good moment to pass out.

    “…don’t die…”

    Those words were all she could think, all she could say. The armour listed to the side as she forced the engines into the red, powering away from the less than graceful landing. The connections where she’d been attached to the chariot were still connected to her left side, sparks flying from the disconnected arm as it continued to try and communicate with something that was no longer there. But then, Clockwork was ignoring a lot of problems.

    Her armour had been an integral part of the chariot when they were connected, and the damage her “trip” did to the chariot caused a feedback loop in her armour, filling her vision with a constant field of red error readouts, some true and others phantom from the now discarded chariot. Still, there was massive damage to the armour thanks to how harsh the trip was, not to mention the “technique” she utilized to extract herself from the pilot’s cockpit.

    “…don’t die…”

    Her engine sputtered and she plunged several feet before it fired again, nearly crashing her into the side of a tall building. Clockwork careened about it, glancing off its side and powdering a number of bricks from the impact. A new warning light snapped on, and the armour yawed drunkenly before she could compensate, and nearly crashed into another office building as she hurtled along.

    She ignored it all, her viewfinder snapping up and starting to enhance the range of her sight. There, between the buildings before her, was the park she knew, the park she’d found Bottle Rocket in that first time. She didn’t know, she couldn’t know, how long ago he’d sent the scroll. The usual delivery time was three days, but if he’d put any sort of rush on it, or even she just got lucky…

    “…don’t die…”

    Almost instantly her view shifted as she wove around another office building, her engine sputtering and almost dropping her from the air like a stone. She barely heard a pegasus shout after her as she roared past, her attention entirely on her rangefinder. On what she hoped was the right place.

    New warning lights appeared, but she ignored them in favor of the targeting data, locking on to the ponies in the park. They consisted of the usual park frequenters; parents lollygagging with their foals, elderly couples enjoying their retirement, and the like. Fortunately the grouping was sparse, and all seemed away from the area she suspected she would find him at. Where she hoped she would find him at.

    “…don’t die…”

    A new targeting reticule popped up, and she zoomed in, expecting another old pony. Instead the broad jaw and wispy beard of a stallion who hadn’t shaved in days came into view, but the plum coat and mint green mane, reminding her of an eggplant, sent a jolt through her. That was him! He hadn’t done it yet! She could still stop him!

    Bottle Rocket either didn’t notice, or ignored, her as he approached the ledge overlooking the park. A cold chill ran through Clockwork as he slipped around the protective railing, looking down the sheer twenty foot drop.

    “No!”

    Clockwork hit the afterburners on the armour, planning to ram him, to stop him from jumping even if it injured them both! Unfortunately, instead of the acceleration she needed, she was met with a new warning as a system wide failure struck the armour. Clockwork screamed as she fell, slowed only by the fact she somehow hadn’t lost the flight surfaces.

    “NO!! Dammit no!” she screamed at her armour, tossing her head as she frantically triggered the switches she could reach in the helm with her mouth, forcing an emergency reboot of the primary systems. The arm from the chariot still attached to her side sparked brightly, before electricity discharged along it and over half the armour. Clockwork screamed less about the pain that bloomed on her left side than in frustration when the reboot crashed halfway through!

    Clockwork’s shouted incoherently as she struggled with her armour, her eyes never leaving Bottle Rocket as he released the railing held in his hooves, his form tipping over the empty portion of the park. Clockwork slammed her hooves into the helm of her suit, and for a moment it seemed to work as systems popped online. But the moment she triggered the jet, she got only a few weak sputters.

    Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that. She could see his form falling through the air, forelegs spread widely as if he intended to hug the ground, not only accepting, but welcoming, his fate. His eyes were closed, expression serene as plummeted downwards. Clockwork struggled to trigger the jets one last time, but her armour fell like a stone, hitting the ground at roughly the same moment he did.

    The mare couldn’t hear anything, her mind numb as she was forced only to observe. Everything she did, the entire struggle to make it back to Canterlot, was moot. The damage to the Dragonfly armour from the ride made it impossible to rescue him… she could do nothing but watch, the only true witness to his final act.

    Clockwork barely noticed the impact of her crashing into the ground, her shield flaring and dying with a final gasp to save her from harm, her entire attention fixed on the other pony’s impact. A few windows were rattled, an alarm or two tripped, and nearby pets were suitably spooked, but nothing else marked the final moments of one “Bottle Rocket” and his exit from ponykind. Only one pony witnessed it…

    …and her wail was lost amidst the life of the city.

    “Zat could have gone better…”

    “What the hay was that?!” Crosswind demanded from no-pony in particular. Even Junkyard shook his head slowly, letting a frustrated growl slip through his fangs.

    “That is why the Prince wanted us to practice,” Kaos put in, the only one present currently smiling. Honestly, he anticipated this hurdle, as did the Prince. Teamwork from a group only used to functioning as individuals is never an easy thing, but the fact the team now realized it was an important step was the goal for now.

    “Yeah, er… sorry?” Alto said sheepishly.

    “Sorry? Sorry?! You’re lucky I don’t --” Crosswind started, but was interrupted by a sharp tug on his tail from Junkyard.

    “You were not ze only one,” Burner confided, flexing the suit slightly. The large Manticore armour had performed alright, but he had a lot of work to do. It was far too slow, for starters. Power was fine, it made him one of the team’s “heavies”, but it was so slow he couldn’t effectively act. This cost him response time, and opportunities to assist that he could see passing him by before he could get into position, much to his own frustration as well as his teammate’s. “We all have thingz to work on, and I will need to tweak ze armour. I overeztimated ze rezponze timez, and will need to tweak the systemz.”

    “That’s your problem, chuckles,” Crosswind growled, “Junkyard and I did just fine!” Junkyard shook his head and face-palmed at the claim.

    “Is that why you attacked Zilch?” Alto asked pointedly, drawing a glare from the pegasus.

    “Arguing will get us nowhere,” Kaos interrupted, “instead, we should split up to try and find where Zilch has hidden herself.”

    “What, you don’t know?” Corsswind demanded.

    “I would prefer not to resort to tracking chips on my teammates to keep tabs on them,” the zebra answered, then spread a foreleg out towards the ghost town that served for their practice area. “I am sure she’s still in town, I simply do not know where.”

    “C’mon, Junkyard, we’ll check the perimeter. Between your tremor-sense and my eyes, we should spot her,” Crosswind ordered, and winged off in a seemingly random directly. Junkyard sighed, looked back and the rest apologetically, then set off in a loping run to catch up with his friend and partner.

    “We can begin zearching ze buildingz,” Burner said from inside his armour, nodding his leonine helm to Alto. “I would like to zpeak to you in private, anyway.”

    Kaos nodded, “I’ll stay put then, in case she comes looking for us.”

    Alto nodded to Burner and began to follow the hulking armour, taking a calm and easy pace as they crossed the dusty street and towards one of the largest buildings still standing. Burner couldn’t help but wonder if this desert was near where they had their base of operations, especially since there were no external passages from the old aerie, making verification of their location vexingly difficult. There were mountains in the near distance beyond the scrub of a town they had used for practice, and Burner wondered how it still stood after their disastrous practice session. The town, if you could call it that, was falling apart and abandoned even before they arrived. With the center being a several story clock tower mounted on what he suspected was the mayor’s office at one time, the town spread out from that central point along two roads in an “X” formation. The area by the mayor’s office seemed to consist of old hotels and residences, as well as protecting the edge of what looked to be a long rotted orchard that had gone wild. The other end of town seemed to consist primarily of businesses as well as a large three story tavern.

    “What’s up, doc?” Alto asked as they headed for said saloon, ignoring the sign that offered half priced Sarsaparilla during happy hour.

    “Firztly, you did fine out zere for your first time,” Burner answered through the speaker in his helm. “Do not let Crozzwind get to you.”

    Alto waved a claw dismissively, but sighed. “I’m trying, but that… pony is relentless with his teasing.”

    “Zecondly, I have a something I am curious about.”

    Alto raised an eye ridge as he picked his way around half collapsed tables and chairs towards the stairway to the second floor. Burner moved the larger armour around towards the bar, the ancient and cracked mirror reflecting the Manticore’s glowing eyes a hundred times over, like a giant spider or insect staring back at him. “What’s that, Doctor?”

    “Are you able to adjuzt your pitch? When you zcream, I mean,” Burner asked, craning his head over the bar to look behind it for their wayward member.

    “I… don’t know,” Alto answered after a moment. “I mean, I can pretty much scream anything I can say, it just comes out with a weird resonance. Usually when I shout, I just use a simple word or yell wordlessly.”

    “Zat I notized,” the professor noted, coming down off the bar and turning to face the gryphon. “Zat iz alzo why I azked. One of ze Princezzez’ team haz a zpecific weaknezz to a particular pitch of zound, and I wondered if you could emulate it.”

    Alto perked up slightly. “I assume you don’t mean Filigree.”

    “Nien…” Burner answered with a chuckle as he approached the gryphon. “I am zpeaking of Clockwork Key, ze Dragonfly. Zhe haz a weaknezz I have exploited in ze pazt. Your zonic criez would make you a valuable azzet, at leazt to me, if you were capable of doing zis.”

    Alto hrmed softly to herself and turned to face Professor Burner. “I’d have to hear the sound.”

    “Zat I can do,” Burner noted and ran his hooves over a few switches inside the armour. A pair of panels opened at the shoulder, just shy of the foreleg joint, and a pair of speakers pressed forward to fill the gap. “I vill try to modulate ze volume. I made zese with Clockwork Key in mind, thuz are zet very loud prezently.”

    Alto nodded as he waited, and within moments a humming sound came from each of the speakers. It was high pitched buzzing sound that set his beak on edge, but it seemed harmless enough. It was annoying, but hardly dangerous. Alto frowned at the note, and started slowly trying to mimic it, coughing a few times from the effort. It took him a few minutes of effort and straining his voice, but he managed a rough equivalent of the sound.

    “Zat iz cloze enough for right now,” Burner said, shutting off his speakers, the armour folding them away neatly. “However, zat anzwerz my queztion.”

    “I’ll have to practice it more to get it right,” Alto croaked, touching his throat.

    “Zurprized you could reach zat note?” Burner asked, testing the lowest step of a rotting stairway carefully, not sure he could trust it to support the massive weight of the Manticore armour.

    “A bit, yeah.”

    “I notized during practize zat you had a very flexible range,” Burner noted with a shrug. “I thought it would be worth tezting further.”

    Alto considered that and spread his wings, flying up to the second floor. “I’ll check upstairs, I don’t think these old floors could support your weight. We’ll have to experiment with that more later, Doc.”

    Professor Burner smiled predatorily behind the helm; Clockwork Key stood no chance if his plans worked out.

    “How long have you been here?”

    Clockwork didn’t answer. She felt hollow, brittle, and ready to lash out at any pony. She barely prevented herself from lashing out at this one, and that’s only because she happened to be the elder Princess and ruler of the Ponylands. So Clockwork sat in her damaged armour, as close to the impact site as the emergency responders and guard would allow her to, fixedly staring at the point of impact with bloodshot eyes. Her helm rested on the ground by her side, a thin stream of smoke coming from one of the burned out eyes of the helmet, the receptors fried from the sheer glare and brilliance of the explosion. In an odd way, it had been beautiful to behold, like a bright orange and yellow flower that was there in one moment and gone the next. Clockwork didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget it.

    The park stood empty save for a few members of the Royal Guard as well as the few remaining emergency responders. The press had shown up to get their scoops, but most of them left in short order, finding little of interest since the explosion hurt no ponies outside of the victim. The suicide of one pony was simply not news, regardless of the method, and apparently was not worthy of anything more than a footnote in the obituary column. The jagged scar from the impact reduced the grass into an expanse of blackened dirt and rock melted into ugly cracked glass. At the edge of the crater, a single park bench rested at the edge of the explosion, one side of it melted… an ironic gesture since it was the same bench Clockwork Key and Bottle Rocket had spent the day talking before she left for the Northern Reaches. Perhaps more-so since only the side Bottle Rocket had sat on was damaged, something Celestia only knew because Bottle Rocket’s spirit told her so.

    “You did everything you could, my little pony” Celestia tried to comfort, but Clockwork only gave a soft grunt, her eyes locked on the crater. The Princess glanced worriedly to the small mare before she turned to look herself. She had been here in spirit moments after the impact, drawn by her duty to escort the spirits of the fallen from the mortal coil. Suicide is frowned upon, but his heroism in life easily made up for his failing, and she had escorted him to the Summerlands. She spoke with him briefly about Clockwork, about how this would devastate her, and he asked her to pass on his apologies. He simply didn’t see the damage he would cause with his act, and no amount of pressing from the elder Princess made his vision any clearer. He simply had not developed the same connection to the mare that Clockwork had formed with him. Clockwork couldn’t have saved him, Celestia realized, but the Princess doubted that knowledge would help right now.

    “No one will remember him,” Clockwork said softly after a number of minutes.

    “His name will be added to the Obelisk,” Celestia noted. “His suffering was from the war, as you know personally, and he deserves to be remembered for that.”

    “That’s hardly enough,” the mare retorted in a brittle voice.

    “You are correct,” Celestia agreed, “it is never enough.”

    Clockwork was silent for a long minute, enough that the Princess thought she might not speak further on it, before pointing a hoof. “He’s left his mark on Canterlot, and in a few weeks it will be covered over and forgotten, just another soulless structure in a city that doesn’t even care.”

    Celestia frowned a moment, closing her eyes. An idea flickered across her mind, and she looked at the crater in a new light, nodding to herself as she began to outline the plans in her head. “Then we shall fill it a different way,” the Princess stated. “We will fill it with water, and turn it into a small reflecting pool. Make the park into a memorial…”

    Clockwork reached down for her helmet and pulled it on once more. The burned out eye only flickered slightly when Clockwork turned to face the Princess, her voice sounding oddly distant through the mechanization of the helm. “One more monument for ponies to forget,” she answered bitterly and, with a fitful start, her jets and wings sprung to life. The armour sputtered and hitched as Clockwork slowly flew away. Celestia frowned at the retreating figure, then looked to the crater herself.

    “Not every pony forgets, Lady Key… some of us never will.”

    “Thank you, Flourish. Now go see my physician and get checked out yourself…”

    The unicorn nodded and gave a flashy bow before vanishing in a puff of pink smoke, leaving the Lunar Reagent alone in her office once more. For a moment she just stared at the far wall, her mind sorting through everything she had just heard, the reports from Flourish about what happened in the Northern Reaches, about the “conflict” Clockwork had with some local toughs, and of course the ride home. Galaxi was being seen to by medical personnel and was under observation, though it seemed a simple case of oxygen deprivation and high stress that caused her to pass out rather than anything truly dire. Still, none of this was good news.

    The midnight coated alicorn stomped a hoof in irritation, the plush carpeting robbing it of any real satisfying impact. This left her with the distasteful possibility of needing to discipline Clockwork, a sick member of the team, but one who went way out of her bounds. Luna sighed and shook her head, thumping it down on the desk and closing her eyes, frowning as she tried to sort her thoughts out.

    “That looks bad,” a soft voice told her, one that the Princess recognized easily. Despite the turmoil in her mind, she managed a smile for her sister.

    “I just got the report from Flourish,” she noted, leaving her eyes closed for the moment.

    “I suspect it is more than just the information you already passed along to me?” Celestia asked, settling herself on one of the cushions facing her sister’s desk.

    “Have a look for yourself,” Luna answered, and pushed at a folder on the desk with her hoof. Celestia took it in her magic and carefully levitated it before her, opening it and scanning over the material within. “I cannot not reprimand her for that incident, nor can I ignore this one. She put Galaxi and Flourish’s lives at risk with that… that stunt with her chariot. Quite simply, she has to be told this is not permissible behavior.”

    “Did she really do this much damage?” Celestia asked softly, looking over one of the x-rays included in the folder.

    “The claims were made over the course of the day, using good magic post to send them to us. Claims from a pony known as Snakeskin, and additional claims from a pony named Lily Pad, who seems to be in far worse shape,” Luna sighed.

    “You should have the doctors in the hospital look these over, just to be sure,” Celestia noted, then looked to the filed reports, skimming them over with ancient eyes.

    “Apple Bloom verified the incident to Flourish and Galaxi already,” Luna said, rolling her head slightly to one side to crack an eye and look up at her sister. “According to Clockwork’s own words, she saw them turn into Imps right in front of her.”

    “Her disorder runs deep,” Celestia sighed, putting the folder down, “and I fear the events of this afternoon will only make it worse.”

    Luna blinked and sat up fully, “Did something…?”

    “The guard will not find Bottle Rocket,” Celestia said softly. “He committed suicide in the park, in full view of exactly one witness.”

    “Oh no…”

    “Precisely,” Celestia answered in a soft voice. “Clockwork Key. The only pony who knew he was going to commit this act, and who nearly destroyed herself and her friends in an attempt to save him. She fell short only by a dozen or so meters, her armour giving out on her in a critical moment. I visited the site, and Clockwork, after I escorted his soul to the Summerlands.”

    “How is she?” Luna asked in a worried voice.

    “Bad,” Celestia said immediately, “and not in the conventional way. We’ve seen this before from her, with her brother. She internalized her feelings, her pain, of his passing until months later. This will be worse, I fear. She did not blame herself for her Brother’s death, she blamed the Imps. She focused that anger into becoming one of the core members of your team, returning even after an infraction ejected her from the group.”

    “Something you counseled me against, as I recall,” Luna added ruefully.

    Celestia sighed and shook her head, “This will be much worse, I fear. She did not weep, nor did she cry… her inability to save him will eat at her constantly. She will blame herself for his death. She will constantly question herself and her actions. She will see his death as her fault as certainly as if she were the one who dealt the final blow with her own hooves.”

    Luna set her head back down on the desk and groaned, covering her head like a little filly, “If she weren’t already an element bearer, I’d suggest sending her somewhere for mental evaluation.”

    Celestia smirked slightly, “She is no less sane than I am, Little Sister.”

    Luna peeked out from under her hooves at the pristine white alicorn. “That is not an encouraging thought,” she teased.

    Silence reigned in the office for several minutes as Luna shook her head and slowly sat up. This was a lot of information, and none of it was good. Simply knowing “why” one of her prized team had stepped so far out of line wasn’t enough. She needed to fix this problem, and yet she knew you couldn’t “fix” something this bad… this dramatic. Celestia impassively watched her sister as she slowly gathered herself together, sorting herself out.

    “Okay,” Luna sighed as she considered her options, “if I tackle this head on, we’re likely to end up with a very pissed off Clockwork Key. She might leave the group and potentially break up the element bearers, not that I’m confident she could even use her element in her present state anyway. If I don’t take it up, it will set a bad precedent as word of what she did gets around and spawns more and more rumors. Catch twenty-two… Damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.

    “I would suggest waiting a few days,” Celestia noted softly. “Clockwork will immediately take to work on her armour, and that will be her sole focus for at least several days. It will also give Galaxi and Trixie time to try and soften her a bit. I doubt that will work, but I have to hope they can make some progress with her.”

    “Galaxi noted they had made a few breakthroughs with her up North, but…” Luna trailed off with a sigh.

    “But this could be a set-back that would not only undo any progress made, but would push her even deeper into the claws of her disorder,” Celestia finished. “Unfortunately, there is no easy fix.”

    “Tell me something I don’t know, sister,” Luna said softly, and stepped around the desk. “I will give her a few days, it will give us time to have the doctors go over this paperwork and make sure everything is consistent.”

    “And hope, Sister, we must have hope,” Celestia added softly.

    “I’m not sure I have much of that right now,” Luna grumbled softly.

    The smoke coalesced to the form of an alicorn stallion in the darkened clearing.

    “That went well,” he said, a satisfied note in his voice as he flexed a wing. The forest around him croaked and chirped with its own teeming life, but steered clear of the monstrosity known as Eclipse. Even the bravest of manticore had begun to give him a wide berth, so long as he didn’t provoke them. Of course, putting down a small pack that dared to think he would make a good dinner had earned him some measure of respect from the beasts. It was almost too bad they were part cat, they would have made wonderful trained centurions and guards, but the feline portion of their physiology refused to take to such regimented training and made them as difficult to control as… well, cats.

    Still, the Everfree Forest had its share of surprises, ones even Eclipse were wary of. Fortunately none seemed inclined to show up presently, even as his form darkened again, vanishing in the shadows of a nearby tree as he watched the diving form of a nearly adult dragon streak towards some out of sight prey, with Shale riding on its back with a makeshift saddle. Hypnotizing and brainwashing the family of gryphons to assist in his project had allowed him to increase the timetable exponentially and conduct additional experiments on the dragons with his magic. The end result was that he could now accelerate their growth so that they could go from egg to young adult in roughly a week, and suppress all that pesky free will and intelligence that would make them a threat. Essentially they became the perfect mounts and attack dogs, which was perfect for his needs…

    Eclipse flexed his wings and gave a soft sigh, his form blurring as it reduced down to that of a gryphon again. The disguise was suitable for his needs, but it chafed to be locked in such an inferior form, especially when compared to the glory of an alicorn. But then, there was always the Imp form, which was far worse. Each form had their advantages, and this one would be needed for some time yet to come.

    He flexed his wings and smiled, pointing his beak towards the north. His form blurred in the air, turning smoky as he used the trees for cover, flying away from his well hidden base of operations. He had plans to enact…

    “Oh, so you’re actually making a trip now?” a voice in his head snarked. Eclipse couldn’t help but smile to himself and steer closer to a nearby lake. A glance down into it showed only his reflection, and a few streamers of color trying to follow it.

    “No more attempts to break through?” Eclipse taunted as he steered away from the lake again, feeling his distance suitable to life above the tree-line, but keeping his eyes alert for any signs of the hunting dragons. Sunrise Sparkle didn’t answer the accusation, and Eclipse smiled knowingly. “You’re weakening. Seems your ego didn’t translate into much willpower. You’ll be absorbed in record time.”

    “Yeah, and you’ll rub my nose in it every step,” the pony once known as Ultrapony grumbled. “So where are we going?”

    “The Gryphon Clan aeries,” Eclipse answered without missing a beat. “I have an old contact there from my attempted invasion with the imps, and I think they could use something to even the odds with the ponies. The enemy of my enemy, and the like.”

    “Why would they trust you?” Sunset Sparkle demanded, and Eclipse couldn’t help but laugh.

    “You’ll see,” he answered cryptically, “assuming you survive that long. Besides, the gryphons I corralled for my project were very… eager to fill me in on the situation between the ponies and gryphons. It seems King Goldtalon has declared war on the Ponylands. I suspect he seeks to reclaim the ancestral hunting grounds.”

    “What’s this now?”

    “Ah yes, that would be long before your time, wouldn’t it? It’s an ancient story, as told by the gryphon clans. The ponies were not the dominant species of Equestria at some point in the past, or so the gryphons believe,” Eclipse explained, not minding the distraction for what promised to be a long trip. “Many ages past, the gryphons believe they dominated the sky, and the minotaurs dominated the ground. They were at constant conflict over their chosen hunting grounds, which were primarily focused on the lands now known as Equestria. I’m sure you can guess what they ate, since both species were described as voraciously carnivorous in these legends.”

    “They… ate ponies?” Sunset Sparkle asked, his voice hitching.

    “Correct,” the transformed alicorn answered with a chuckle. “The Gryphons claim that, at the time, ponies were restricted to only the earth type and were hunted for food. Minotaurs would corral them in herds and fence them in, slaughtering them at leisure in terrible abattoirs, while gryphons preferred to actively chase down and hunt their prey. That is why hunting is so important to them, and it is a point of honor for them to eat meat exclusively. I imagine most gryphons don’t even remember they are omnivorous in this day and age.”

    “So, what happened?” the voice within the alicorn asked.

    “The Sister Princesses happened,” he noted with a growl. “Luna attacked those who would dare hunt the ponies, driving the predators off day and night. The tales say that, at first, the Minotaurs and Gryphons scoffed. They were sure no pony was capable of besting them, but when they met an alicorn in combat, they found out exactly how unprepared they were.” Eclipse glanced down, passing the edge of the Everfree forest and his form dimmed again, and he increased his altitude to look almost like a rogue cloud as a settlement passed below them. It was a simple place, but predominantly filled with gryphons it seemed. “Luna drove them back with force of arms, but her elder sister, Celestia, realized they could not remain safe unless they could protect themselves, and she blessed the ponies with aspects of herself. Earth ponies gained a new connection to the earth beneath them, becoming sturdier and more powerful than even some minotaurs. Pegasi were born, with speed and agility given to them from the Goddess herself. Unicorns grew from the spell, gifted with the capacity for magic. All ponies were gifted with near limitless potential, as represented by the appearance of the first ‘cutie marks’.”

    “That doesn’t sound like any story I’ve heard…” Sunset Sparkle countered, his voice thoughtful.

    “It wouldn’t. This is the gryphon’s mythology; it’s bound to have its differences and biases from what you were taught as a foal. The gryphons want to believe they ruled the world before the Sister Princesses stopped them, thus they created a mythology that did that. Only Celestia and Luna themselves know the truth and could refute it, and they never have,” Eclipse noted with a snort. The terrain below opened up, growing slightly more hilly as he started pouring on a bit of speed.

    “It seems almost designed to make them angry with the ponies…” Ultrapony noted.

    “You’re a bit slow today,” Eclipse teased. “Yes, that is its very intent. Every few centuries Celestia or Luna has to remind the gryphons that it is a bad idea to hunt their ponies, however. The Minotaurs are mostly peaceable and are content with their grain farms, which calls into question that they were ever carnivorous, like the Gryphon’s tales say. Even the Minotaur’s legends don’t have any references to ponies or gryphons in that nature, calling the gryphon’s tales into even more question. The gryphons, however, constantly chafe with the denial of what they believe is their ‘right’ to hunt, and force the Princesses to ‘remind’ them every so often why it’s a bad idea to hunt and kill ponies. I believe the last time was roughly a hundred years ago, not too many years before my return as ‘Nightmare Moon’.”

    “That timing would explain some of the stories surrounding the Outcast,” Sparkle noted.

    “Ah, so you’re not as ignorant as I thought…” the dark gryphon complimented backhandedly. The pony within was silent, allowing Eclipse to focus on the flight. He had just begun to think Sunset Sparkle had given up this time when he heard him ask a small question.

    “Why did you save her?” he asked softly. “I mean, I know I wanted to stop you but… why did you listen to me?”

    “Because you made a good point, her parents WOULD wake up if I just eliminated Verdigris. More, extra claws will be needed to make everything work for another few days,” Eclipse noted with a smile, spotting the first mountains amidst the hills. The transition had been quicker than he expected, but then he wasn’t entirely corporeal for the trip, and a cloud can travel much faster than a pony or gryphon.

    “Is that why you just hid for three days, watching them?”

    “I had to make sure I could trust them. I wasn’t willing to just leave that band of idiots with my greatest find at random. I had to make sure they could follow my instructions without being there to watch over their wing all day. Shale has proven surprisingly capable, but his wife is far better. I like her, she knows her place, already has her will broken, and is a competent caretaker. Were it not for her simpering cowardice, she would be perfect for the job,” Eclipse said, flicking his cloud-like wings to propel himself along the darkening sky.

    “And the others?” Sparkle asked curiously.

    “Pyrite keeps trying to flirt, which is good when I want information and bad when I just wish to be left alone. Her constant attention and attempts at affection prevented me from letting my disguise slip even once the entire duration. I could never be sure when she would pop up,” he noted with a shudder of disgust. “Fracture is reliable, but dim. Hell, he makes dim look like a spotlight, he’s dumb as a rock, but he’s reliable. And then there’s the little one. In exact opposition to her brother, she is smart. Smarter than her entire family, that is certain. I wonder if she hasn’t been touched by the elements…” the transformed alicorn considered.

    Sunset Sparkle was caught by surprise, “A special?!”

    “It’s possible,” Eclipse noted thoughtfully. “I cannot tell yet, if she is so blessed it is not an obvious blessing. For her, it is subtle, and I want to be sure first. If I am accurate, she will either be a great asset, or a horrible liability. For now, I simply will watch her closely as I can. The fact she keeps snapping out of my hypnosis, however, concerns me. None of her family seems able to do the same, even though I reinforce it from time to time. But Verdigris has snapped out of it a number of times so far, and the last time… I will cross that ravine when I reach it. Once I am able to secure additional ‘assistance’ from the King, I will no longer need her services. I’ll have to be subtle, but I can eliminate her then and tell her family that she ran away in the confusion.”

    “Maybe you’d be better served to leave her behind when you move…”

    “No,” Eclipse answered firmly. “No pony or gryphon will be left behind in that cave. That is final.”

    “What if Filigree comes looking for her sister?” Sunset Sparkle asked, ignoring the immediate growl it elicited from his possessor.

    “All the more reason to leave her for dead,” he snapped the answer.

    Sunset Sparkle chuckled weakly as his voice faded, “So you wish to anger her so that she grows more powerful…”

    Eclipse frowned darkly at the implication, but the damned fool had a point. Not only would killing the cub risk her family breaking free of his control, not that it would matter then, but would also give her sister power to fight back against him. There’s no rule saying that simply because she was angry and seeking vengeance she could not activate her element. Worse, she could potentially become far more powerful from the anger.

    “One hoof at a time,” he reminded himself, pausing to make sure that Sunset Sparkle had truly faded again. He sighed when no voice made its presence known, and instead he focused on his magic, speeding along even faster. Thankfully, in the cloud-like form, he offered no resistance to the air with which to trigger a rainboom, else he would have alerted every pony and gryphon on the border when he passed it. For now, focus on the task at hand...

    He had a gryphon to talk to.

    “So how is she?”

    “I should be asking you that question,” Spectrum answered softly, “but to be honest, I don’t know. Something happened with Clockwork, and she all but killed herself trying to get back to Canterlot over it… and that’s to say nothing of Flourish and Galaxi.”

    The gryphoness hobbled forward on her three good legs, her left foreleg still in a sling hanging about her chest, to look out the nearby window. Only a small trail of smoke from the landing field could be seen from where she was in the palace, the approaching evening reducing it to no more than a wisp against the darkening sky. “And what of Flourish and Galaxi?”

    “Galaxi’s on her hooves, but the doctors want to keep her over the night for observation. She passed out right on the landing pad. Flourish seems okay, but Princess Luna has the medical types giving her the once over as well,” Spectrum sighed and looked out the window herself. “Is it wrong that the thought that keeps striking me is how limited our deployment capacity will be thanks to this stunt? Clockwork’s chariot was the fastest way to get the entire team around the Ponylands, and all of Equestria. Now…”

    “You’re the team’s leader,” Filigree stated simply, “it’s your job to worry about such things.”

    “To say nothing at being angry that Clockwork would put her teammates at risk for this stunt! I mean seriously, that was the point?” Spectrum demanded.

    “Bottle Rocket,” a soft voice from behind answered, and the mare and gryphon turned to see Trixie in the hallway. “His name was Bottle Rocket.”

    Spectrum snorted, “That’s even worse, she did it for some…”

    “There’s more to it than just some buck…” Trixie said softly. “From what I understand, he was suicidal. He sent her a letter, a scroll, telling her his intent. She was rushing back to try and save him.”

    The white pegasus found her flank dropping to the cool marble floor as she regarded the cyan unicorn. Only Filigree had the courage to ask the next logical question, “Was she successful?”

    “No,” Trixie noted softly. “She fell short, ironically making her the only witness. She was the only one who cared enough to try and save him… and she had to witness him end it.”

    “I doubt she’s handling that well,” Filigree said softly.

    “I don’t know. I’m going to try and visit her, but she’s locked herself in the lab since she returned to the palace a few hours ago,” Trixie answered honestly. “Galaxi seems better at getting through to her, but with her in the hospital and… honestly I don’t know how angry Galaxi is with her over this yet. That stunt could’ve killed her.”

    “It just goes from bad to worse, doesn’t it?” Spectrum asked softly, scuffing a hoof on the floor.

    “Yes, it does. If you’ll excuse me…” the cyan unicorn offered, and slipped away down the hall and leaving the pair alone once more.

    “This is another fine mess…” Filigree joked weakly, much to Spectrum’s surprise. The gryphoness nudged her friend with a wing. “Come on; let’s get out of this hallway.”

    Spectrum nodded and followed her friend down the hallway, her hooves clopping lightly on the pristine marble white floor as she kept her pace slow to stay abreast of the injured gryphoness. She couldn’t help but marvel at how fast she was healing. All specials heal faster than normal, but the gryphoness was healing surprisingly fast still. Almost all the bandages were gone, the swollen eye fully healed, and only the doctor’s insistence that she stay off the healing leg kept her from being at full capacity.

    “Where we headed?” the pegasus asked.

    “I figured we could spend the evening with the families. At least then we wouldn’t be sitting around stewing,” Filigree answered with a half smile.

    “Filigree, I’m not so sure…”

    “I appreciate your concern, Rainbow Star, really,” Filigree cut in, “but I have to fight my own battles.”

    “He was threatening you,” Spectrum growled.

    “Yes, he was,” Filigree confirmed, much to the surprise of the pegasus. “He was displaying dominance, a hazard of our instincts I fear, which powerful emotions bring to the surface.”

    “But Scarlett--”

    “Was raised in the Ponylands,” Filigree stated simply. “Ironically, so was Chase, so he should know better, but given the strong emotions of the moment... Unlike you ponies, we gryphons can get very physical. That does not forgive him, but it does explain some of his reaction.”

    Spectrum flushed and looked away, “I’ll keep my nose out of it then.” A tawny feathered wing folded over her comfortingly.

    “No, you’re only looking out for me. I appreciate that more than you can know, Rainbow Star,” Filigree said softly. “You, and this team, are the closest thing to a family I have anymore. My own family would be happier if I crawled under a rock somewhere and died…”

    “Verdigris wouldn’t,” Spectrum stated softly.

    “I hope you’re right about that. But regardless, you and the rest of the team I see almost like sisters to me,” Filigree said, a smile touching her beak. “So thank you. I understand full well your intent to protect me, and appreciate it. Goddess knows that my hatching mother lacks such a desire.”

    “Your father broke her spirit somewhere along the line,” the pegasus noted. “I could see it, she was scared to act without his say-so and put his values above even her own needs. The worst thing about it is that I don’t see where she would even understand what to do with any freedom she was given.”

    “You are correct, I fear,” she sighed with a flutter of her wings.

    “Have you sent word to the town about Verdigris yet?” Spectrum asked.

    “My first day in the hospital I penned a scroll,” the gryphoness answered. “I’m starting to worry, however, since I have yet to receive a response. I don’t dare travel up there until the doctors give me the all clear, but I’ll admit the silence bothers me. All sorts of scary possibilities keep running through my mind.”

    “Surely they’re smart enough to stay put in town…”

    Filigree stopped at the door, as white and pristine as the rest of the castle, to look at her friend. “Do you really think my father would truly be smart enough not to stab himself in the claw?”

    Spectrum tried to smile for a moment before her face fell. “Not in the slightest. They were the some of the most abrasive individuals, gryphon or no, that I have ever met.”

    “Exactly,” the gryphoness said. “My father leading that mob of idiotic claws and feathers anywhere is a recipe for disaster. I can only hope that the mayor received my scroll, with Celestia’s royal seal, to ensure that at least Verdigris is kept in town even if the rest decide to leave. At least then I’d know my sister was safe.”

    “Tell you what,” Spectrum said softly and reached a hoof for the polished gold door handle, “if the doctors don’t clear you tomorrow, I’ll fly there myself and check up on things. At the least we know Verdigris will recognize me, and she can bring me up to speed.”

    “Thank you,” Filigree answered. “I’ve been trying not to worry but…”

    “But it’s eating away at you, I understand,” Spectrum answered, and nudged the door open.

    The scene beyond was one of controlled chaos. Gryphons of all sizes and ages were milling about, taking things off the walls, emptying dressers, stuffing steamer trunks full of belongings, all overseen by a rather formidable looking pony with a graying moustache so large the entire lower half of his face seemed to vanish behind it.

    “What’s going on?” Spectrum asked.

    “Ah, Lady Star,” the pony noted in a stuffy upper class accent, “I was just directing these guests that the Princesses have allotted accommodations in town for them, thus I was overseeing their packing so they might move in this evening.”

    “Alto was found then?” Filigree asked softly, and Spectrum winced.

    “I’m sorry, I thought they told you,” Spectrum noted. “He was found, but literally destroyed their home in the process.”

    “I visited it yesterday with Scarlett,” Ferris answered, looking stricken for a moment. “It’s bad… really bad. Walls blown out, massive holes everywhere… At least the pegasi have been nice enough to keep the rain out. There wasn’t much left that we could recover, though. We can rebuild but… it’ll take months.”

    “So then he was brought in?” Filigree asked in a carefully controlled voice.

    “No,” Spectrum answered. “No pony is sure how, but he got away…”

    “I heard one of the guards say he had some sort of help,” a red crested gryphoness noted as she stepped up. “Hello Little Star, how’s the leg Filigree?”

    “Better,” Filigree answered evenly. “I feel fine, but the doctors insist that I stay off the leg for another day or so.”

    “I know we’ll feel better with you back at one hundred percent,” Scarlett noted with a smile, “then maybe you can figure out who that zebra was with Alto.”

    Filigree and Spectrum both froze at that, looking momentarily to each other before back to Scarlett. Filigree was the first to break the momentary silence, “What zebra?”

    Scarlett shrugged. “One of the guards said that the specials they called in reported the gryphon was accompanied by a zebra in a rather nice suit. They initially took him as an innocent, right until he cut them off from getting to Alto. After that, they were just ‘gone’. That was their words, like the pair just vanished into the ether. The guard I spoke to seemed to think those special ponies were seeing things, but we did see evidence of a pony in some of the other rooms, so it’s possible…”

    Filigree sighed, “We’ll have to let the Princesses know.”     Spectrum nodded in agreement.

    “Before you go,” Scarlett interrupted, “There really is someone who wants to speak with you, Filigree.”

    “Is this who we discussed before?” Spectrum asked, her voice tightening slightly. Scarlett simply nodded.

    “Where?” is all Filigree asked, and the red crested gryphoness motioned towards one of the bedrooms. Filigree took a few steps, then paused to look back to the pegasus. “Coming?”

    Spectrum nodded sharply and trotted quickly to follow in the gryphoness’ wake, even as she pushed through the slightly ajar door and into the bedroom. It had obviously been cleared out of the gryphon’s personal effects already, leaving it in near pristine condition. At the least there would be little to complain about from the maids, the sheets had been changed on the four beds, the dressers and closets were left open from the removal of their private effects, and only a pair of steamer trunks were left in the room, tucked neatly aside. There was only one resident of the room, that being the tawny crested and black furred form of Chase, who currently had his back to the door.

    Spectrum and Filigree glanced to each other for a moment, and the pegasus took to her wings, skirting one of the beds to move to a clear area off to the side where she could observe, and intervene if necessary. Filigree then pushed the door behind her, letting it bang shut, her eyes level on the lone gryphon in the room. The gryphon was so lost in his own thoughts that it took the slam of the door to make him start and realize he wasn’t alone. He swept his head one way, seeing Spectrum with only a mild surprise, then over his shoulder entirely to Filigree. His eyes widened for a moment, then his expression set, resolve crossing his features for a moment as he turned to face the gryphoness and take several steps towards her.

    “Hello, Chase,” Filigree said. Chase didn’t answer, instead stopping when he was almost in foreleg’s reach of her, only to then lower himself down onto the floor, lowering his head in what Filigree recognized as a sign of submission from the clans.

    “I…  I was wrong,” he stated simply. “We… we both know what I almost did was wrong. I’m sorry. I reacted out of… without thinking.”

    Spectrum relaxed visibly even as Filigree stepped forward, sat down on the wooden floor, and rested her good claw on his head. The Gryphoness knew this gesture as well, and many times assumed this same position while being trained, only to have the claw harshly yank her head up and toss her away, rejecting her apology. But she chose the better option, and instead answered simply.

    “I am willing to forgive you...”

    Chase gave a soft sigh and relaxed slightly.

    “…under the condition that if you even think about doing it again, I’ll let Spectrum do what she wanted to do to you this time,” Filigree finished. Spectrum couldn’t help but pop the joint at her hoof and give her best menacing glare. “And that’s before I ever lay a claw on you,” she finished sweetly.

    Chase gave a slight nod. “I would deserve it,” he said softly, “but… that does raise another issue, one I’ve been wrestling with ever since Aunt Scarlett spoke to me…”

    Filigree raised an eyebrow, and even Spectrum leaned close curiously as the dark furred gryphon continued, “Did you ever think about what would have happened if I had struck you? I’d have hurt myself more than you, maybe even broken my claw, and that’s assuming you didn’t block with your wing. And what if you’d turned around and hit me in return? I’d… they’d be picking my feathers out of their manes for weeks all over Canterlot. Don’t get me wrong, you deserve to take the shot at me but… there wouldn’t be anything of me left.”

    “I’d like to think I’ve a bit more self control than that,” Filigree noted with a frown, but was sure there was more to this than a comparison than just how strong she was compared to him.

    “That’s just it, you do,” he answered softly, “and your self control is one of the things I love about you. But… what do you need me for?”

    “I’m afraid that I don’t understand…”

    Chase sucked in a breath before continuing, “You don’t need me for anything. You’re stronger, you’re faster, and you’re more enduring than I could ever hope to be. I was always raised that it’s a gryphon’s job to provide for his mate but… how would I provide anything for you? You don’t need me to hunt. You don’t need me to protect you. What DO you need me for? I love you, but what good am I to you? A bedwarmer? A confidant? I feel like I have no purpose. I…  I’m really nothing in comparison to you, a nobody. Do you have any idea what that feels like?”

    Filigree took a slow breath before answering, “Yes, I do. It’s called being a slave.”

    Chase winced. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up a bad past but… you see my point here, right? I need a purpose here, I need to be needed. I need to provide… to do something for the ones I love, and Goddess help me, I do love you. But I can’t just do nothing! I need to be needed… please. I don’t know how else to put it. It was my family who needed me before, my brother and…”

    “And I took that away from you,” Filigree said softly, starting to get the picture.

    Spectrum shook her head. “From what I understand, he saw it less as him ‘needing’ you, and you more overbearing him. Why else would he go to such lengths to get back at you?”

    Chase shook his head slightly and looked up at Filigree from under her claw, still resting on his head, “Please, I…  I don’t know how else to put it. I love you, but I…  I need to be needed in some way. There must be something I can do…”

    “I… don’t…” Filigree stammered, uncertain.

    “Filigree,” Spectrum interrupted, “what about what we were discussing before coming in?”

    Filigree frowned for a moment, and Spectrum feared she’d have to spell it out before realization dawned in her eyes, “Yes. You’re right, Spectrum. There IS something you can do… first thing in the morning even.”

    Chase blinked as the gryphoness moved her claw, letting him sit up. “There is?”

    “Yes. You’ve visited your Aunt Scarlett’s old home town, right?” Filigree asked.

    “Well sure,” he answered, “it’s been a few years, but I used to stay there over the summer for years.”

    “Good, because I need someone to go there and find out what happened to my younger sister,” Filigree stated evenly.

    “I thought you and your family…?”

    “We don’t, and they’d be happier if I were found dead in a ditch somewhere,” Filigree noted sourly, “and that’s after Spectrum, Flourish, and I put our necks on the line to get them out of slavery. But somehow, they managed to raise another gryphon that isn’t a complete ass, and I don’t mean a mule. Verdigris, my little sister, I left in that town with my idiot family. I couldn’t be there to take care of her, but I planned to visit as often as I could, but this medical procedure has had me laid up for the week and unable to make the trip. I sent a scroll, but I’ve not heard word one back. I need someone to find out what’s going on and send word back.”

    Chase blinked, and rubbed a foreleg over his beak, “I can do that. It’s not exactly what I meant but…”

    Filigree rested her good foreclaw on his foreleg gently, “I know it’s not what you meant. But it’s a start, and will allow us to start working in the right direction.”

    Chase smiled, dipping his head slightly, “I guess I did sound a bit whiny there, didn’t I?”

    “It needed to be said…” Filigree answered, rubbing her beak along the side of his.

    Spectrum sidled towards the door. “I’m going to let you two ‘talk’. Call me if you need anything!” the pegasus called, and didn’t even hear the answer before she was out the door.

    “So… do I need a new nephew?” Scarlett joked. The pony’s ears splayed and she blushed as she heard an “interesting” sound from beyond the door. She swallowed and managed a chuckle through her embarrassment.

    “No, but if they keep ‘making up’, you’ll get some new cousins out of it…”