Chapter 14

“High Stakes”

    “It won’t work.”

    Clockwork snorted and lifted her head only slightly to look out over the impromptu work bench for her critic, bloodshot green eyes scanning the dim room warily before returning to her current project. It was a smooth half bubble of dull metal, but the number of heavy black cords plugged into recessed ports along the surface hinted at a complexity lying just beneath the surface.

    “Of course it’ll work,” she muttered to the unseen naysayer and pushed another cord into place with her hoof. She checked to make sure the connection was secure before flicking her hoof into the air, summoning a holographic monitor which displayed a series of waveforms for her scrutiny. She frowned at it studiously, trying to track down the source of--

    “No it won’t,” the rather deep voice responded, a metallic tone echoing through it.

    “Stop telling me what I can and can’t do, Widget,” the mare growled, “I’m not a filly anymore!”

    “You do remember that he died, don’t you?”

    Clockwork whirled, her tools clattering on the floor as she searched frantically for the source of the voice. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned her laboratory, but the muted darkness revealed nothing to her. The only spots of light in the otherwise dimly lit workroom focused on her work bench and the Dragonfly armour, the latter standing in partial repair. A small fizzle came from the helm, drawing her eye to it. The light on one of the eyes flickered off, and then back on, as though it were winking at her. Snorting at her own silliness, she turned away from it...

    “Who’s there?!” she demanded of the empty room.

    “It’s just us,” the voice answered from behind her. Clockwork went stock still and slowly turned to look over her shoulder… and right at the armour she built.

    “I… I think maybe I need a break,” Clockwork said after several moments.

    “I think you’re already having one,” the armour answered in her brother’s voice, making her jump back from it and hide behind her workbench like a filly.

    “W-what the hay?!” she demanded, grabbing an errant screwdriver with her hoof and preparing to wield it like a dagger.

    “I said, that won’t work,” the armour answered, lifting its still functioning foreleg to point it at the table she was working on. Clockwork frowned and craned her neck to look at the unit she was building.

    “Why the hay not?” she demanded.

    “You’re talking about cutting your own head open, scooping out part of your brain, which I might add is a field of study you know absolutely nothing about, and shoving that thing into your head,” the armour retorted stomping it’s raised hoof for emphasis. “Even if you somehow managed to survive the surgery, not to mention somehow managed to stay conscious during the procedure on your own brain, and by some miracle managed to figure out the proper brain to computer connections, you wouldn’t be capable of outwitting a glass of water. You’d just render yourself useless to everypony, including yourself.”

    Clockwork growled and stamped a hoof on her workbench, “What do you know? I built you when nopony thought I could, I can do this too!”

    “Yes, you did build me. But you also didn’t stuff me inside your head,” the armour retorted. “And let us not forget your proposed neural interface. Do you have any idea how painful that would be for you? Even assuming you don’t botch the wire to nerve links, you’d feel it every time I took a hit. You do realize that I’ve been shredded and rendered barely functional multiple times in the line of duty? You’ve been severely hurt while wearing me in several cases, could you imagine if you had felt the damage I absorbed for you too? You’d have been screaming in pain long before the Nightmare ever put the squeeze on you, and possibly died from the feedback to your brain simply overwhelming you.”

    Clockwork frowned, looking at the lump of metal on the table for a moment, her gaze boring in on it before she swatted it away in frustration, the cords pulling tight as it skittered across the floor. “I have to do something! A pony died because I… because you gave out!” she screamed at the armour, stomping across the lab towards it. “You failed me! My greatest invention failed!”

    “I didn’t fail.”

    “What?!” Clockwork shrieked incredulously.

    “Do you remember what my primary function is?” the mechanized pony asked in a soft voice.

    “I built you, you sorry waste of scrap iron--” Clockwork growled at her creation.

    “My function is to protect you,” it stated, bringing the mare up short as she was nearly nose to nose with the draconic helm.

    “What?”

    “My purpose is to protect you,” it said again. “I protected you from your panicked flight, even as glass shredded me apart. I protected you when you tore yourself from the cockpit and hurled yourself across Canterlot on half working thrusters. I protected you when my engine gave out, and again from Bottle Rocket’s explosion. And now I’m protecting you again, Clockwork Key, from yourself.”

    Clockwork’s eyes grew wide as she turned away from the armour, momentarily searching the darkness. “What good is protecting me if it costs another pony their life?” she asked in a tiny voice. “You protect me, but I use you to protect others.”

    “You cannot save others if you yourself cannot be protected,” the Dragonfly answered reasonably.

    “NO!” Clockwork shouted as she spun to face it. “There must be more! What good is being protected if I can’t protect another? What good is being safe if no pony else is? Sitting cozy in my little armour while the rest of Equestria burns… I will not do that!”

    “You cannot save every pony.”

    Clockwork clenched her eyes shut for a moment and surged forwards. “No! I have to… I have to save… I just… I have…” the mare tried, her statement loosing focus the closer she got to the armour. She may have intended to strike it, to hit it with her hoof, but somehow she ended up slumped against it with her foreleg draped over its neck for support. “It’s not enough… I have to… gotta fix…”

    “You cannot save every pony,” the Dragonfly restated, “and not every pony can be saved, or even wants to be saved. Bottle Rocket leapt of his own accord; he made his choice.”

    “I could… could have saved… saved him,” Clockwork sobbed.

    “If you had, do you think it would have stopped him from trying again?” the armour asked patiently, and the mare’s head snapped up to look at it, eyes wide. “You both would have ended up in the hospital when he exploded on impact. I could have spared you some of the pain, but you’d have been in the hospital for a long time, another brush with death on your record. It might have even been worse than what Ultrapony did to us... did to you. But what would have stopped him from climbing out of the hospital window and taking another dive? Heck, maybe just falling out of the hospital bed might have been enough to do it. Would you have been able to bind him leg and hoof to the hospital bed just to stop him? How many innocent ponies would that put in danger?”

    “H-he… I could have… I…”

    The mechanical pony’s foreleg curled protectively over the mare, “We could have done nothing. He wanted to exit the stage called life, to take his final curtain call, and you could not have stopped him.”

    “I still could have… saved him,” Clockwork sniffled.

    “Maybe,” it said softly, “but it’s not like you can bring him back by slicing into your own head.”

    “I… I have to do something!” she insisted, pounding a hoof against her creation. “I can… can’t sit by and… and pretend that you… that I didn’t fail.”

    “Failure is part of learning,” the armour offered.

    “That’s… morbid,” Clockwork sniffled. “B-but what would happen if it was somepony really important? What if it was Trixie, or Spectrum, or Filigree, or… hell, what if it was Celestia or Luna? What if it was Galaxi? I can’t get that out of my head! It could have been anypony, and I couldn’t save him. Just falling as I fail…”

    “Then we get better. You repair me and you learn your own limits. You can’t replace yourself, I wouldn’t be protecting you if you are not the one piloting me, or worse, you made yourself a machine. I am your armour; I shield you and protect you. That’s my job. That is what you designed me to do. You then use me to protect others, that is your job. Neither of us can do everything.”

    “I have to try… I have to do more… I have to do better…” Clockwork whimpered.

    Clockwork only distantly recognized the pounding on the door to her lab, her body trembling where she clung to the armour with her forelegs. She only turned her head when she heard the lock give way, and with a sickening crunch the metal door bent and fell away from its hinges. Through the smoking hole entered a pair of mares, their expressions fierce and eyes blazing. One was a cyan unicorn, her horn already glowing, while the other was a white earth pony with blind eyes, which were glowing bright lavender.

    “Clockwork Key, we cannot allow you to go through with this insanity!” Trixie called out. Galaxi followed the brash unicorn in, only to skitter to a stop when she nearly stepped on the metal construct that’d been knocked to the floor, and lifted it with her telekinesis.

    “Is this what you planned on shoving into your skull?” the psychic mare asked incredulously.

    Clockwork offered only the barest of nods. “It is.” She shuddered and closed her eyes as Galaxi crushed it with her power, the cables sparking and falling free before the emergency cut-offs shut down their power. She tossed the now flattened semi-sphere on the ground between them, and the khaki mare forced herself to look at it.

    “We came to stop you from making a decision you will regret,” Galaxi stated, doing her best to mimic the commanding tone Trixie was using.

    “Thank you…”

    “Do not argue with Galaxi, or Trixie will be forced to… wait, what?” The unicorn blinked owlishly at the mare.

    “Thank you,” Clockwork answered, her voice trembling. “It… it would have been a mistake. I was just starting to realize it myself that putting that computer into my head isn’t the way to do this. Not like I have the medical know-how anyway; there’s a very good reason that cybernetics are so rare…”

    Trixie had to pick her jaw up off the floor as Galaxi quickly trotted past her to the smaller mare’s side. With a gentle hoof she carefully unfolded the armoured foreleg from around the khaki mare, setting it back down onto the floor, and nudged Clockwork to her hooves. She let Clockwork lean on her and took slow steps, leading her away as if she were a foal just learning to trot…

    The unicorn shook her head in disbelief, sending her silvery mane bouncing as she glanced back at the armour, frowning at it for a long moment. The power flickered in the one eye of the helm again.

    She could have sworn it winked at her, but that’d be silly…

    “What a perfect day for flying…”

    Chase smiled and flared his wings, finding another thermal draft to ride. It had been a long time since he’d flown this sort of distance, so his wings were slightly sore. In a way he found it comforting, that sense of exertion that comes from pushing yourself. The bright sun overhead warmed his dark coat against the still chill air of the early spring, a smile playing over his beak as he drifted out of the thermal and resumed the measured pumping of his wings. He barely looked down, only needing the occasional glance to ensure he was still on his chosen route, skirting the edge of the Everfree Forest as he headed further north. He knew where he was going, despite it having been years since he’d last visited the gryphon village.

    He was hardly in a rush, so he took his time on this flight. If he had truly been in a hurry, he could have made it in a few hours, but he would have shown up exhausted, covered in sweat, and damned near ready to pass out. Instead, after a slightly extended goodbye with Filigree before she was off to the hospital, and some last minute instructions from Rainbow Star, he was off by mid-morning. The pegasus almost insisted on coming along, but he managed to talk her out of it, as did one of the Princesses asking for her attendance for something or other. Chase didn’t stick around to find out the details. With his pack filled with travel necessities and some sandwiches to eat on the way, he set off to the unnamed gryphon village. Silently he couldn’t help but wonder if they ever did pick out a name for themselves, other than “gryphon village”. He hoped to Celestia that they didn’t opt to go the pun route so many ponies seemed to delight in when it came to naming their cities.

    Chase paused slightly and found a small, errant cloud drifting in the general direction he was going. It would hardly be good conveyance, but he decided it would be perfect for a brief respite and break. With a swoop of his wings, he landed evenly in the center of the cloud and sighed. He clicked his beak and preened his wings for a moment, digging out a feather that was just starting to come loose and bother him, before tugging off his pack and pulling out his last sandwich. He barely noticed what kind of sandwich it was, his mind instead focusing ahead to the final leg of his trip. It was mid afternoon now, he’d been travelling for almost five or six hours now, and with luck he should make the town within the next hour or so. He checked once more into his pack for the letter he was carrying, and flicked some crumbs from it.

    He had to admit, carrying a scroll with the royal seal on it made him feel important. It meant he was technically an official courier of the Princesses, even though the seal was only from Princess Luna, whom he never even spoke with, and only seen in passing. Rainbow Star had gotten the scroll, which she wrote, and had the Princess validate it with her seal. He supposed it would be an easy feat given that she knows the Princess on a casual basis. Come to think of it, so did Filigree… maybe he could ask for an audience, if only to meet her?

    He shook his head, chuckling at his own silliness, “I’d just waste their time. I’m the Princesses have more important things to worry about than silly cub fantasies.” He grinned a bit at his childishness before finishing off the sandwich and closing his pack back up, tucking it onto his back between his wings. He paused for a moment, stretching his wings before he noticed the little cloud had drifted slightly further to the east than he wanted. He sighed and shook his head, stifled the urge to rake a claw through the little cloud, and dropped off to let the cool air catch his wings and lift him back into the air.

    While it’s true that there is no feeling better than flying, especially to a creature born with wings, there is something to be said for landing on solid ground too. After flying for over an hour since he paused for lunch, Chase was more than happy to put his claws on the ground and give his wings a break, flaring them a moment near the edge of town before preening and carefully folding them. His landing drew only a few eyes, and little attention, despite being a “stranger”. The gryphons in town were a touch more colorful than he remembered, almost as if they were being influenced somehow by the ponies they chose to live around. Sure they were still a mostly gryphon village, Chase heard of only a claw-full of ponies who lived here or stayed at the inn to cater to the seasonal trade, but it was oddly refreshing to see a gryphoness with a soft pink crest complimenting her tawny fur, or the blue tint to the one cub’s fur and wings. Maybe it was the simple fact they were so colorful that it put him at ease, but then he’d grown up within a stone’s throw of New Ponyville, so ponies and their riot of colors were rather familiar to him.

    Slowly he took in the town itself, finding it oddly like a relative who had grown a little older: it was familiar but had new wrinkles and looked more aged. The buildings and layout had changed very little; the general store was still right there on the edge of town to make trading easier, which looked like it had absorbed the shop next to it and grown to something far larger than he remembered. Yet old Nickel still stood outside, eying every gryphon who so much as glanced at the store, his smile warm but eyes hard and appraising. Then there was the sweets shop Chase used to hang out with his cub-hood friends all the time, occasionally sneaking a sweet from under Honeydew’s ever watchful eye, though she never called him on it. The shop looked a bit rough around the edges, and there was a gryphon he didn’t know at the till, but there were still a half dozen young gryphons hanging around in hopes of swiping a sweet surreptitiously. There were more stores, some new and some of which he remembered, lining the main thoroughfare into town, which would eventually lead to the town hall itself. He could already see the belltower from here…

    “Hey there, stranger,” a lilting voice interrupted.

    Chase turned to look, but his greeting died on his beak as he did a double-take, his wings flaring with surprise, “Cloudchaser?! My Goddess, it’s been… years! Damn…”

    The gryphoness laughed lightly, covering her beak with a claw. “Long time no see, Chase,” she giggled, and grabbed the larger gryphon in a quick hug. “What are you doing here?”

    Chase shrugged a little, “Delivering a scroll and helping a friend out.”

    “Where’s the letter going?” she asked, turning to start walking with Chase along the main lane of the town.

    “Right now, the mayor. After that, we’ll see,” he shrugged. “I’m helping a close friend find out what happened to her little sister.”

    “Her?” the femme asked teasingly, and swept a claw through her white crest, pushing a claw-full of loose feathers out of her eyes and giving Chase a moment to look over her blue- gray fur and startlingly violet eyes. “Don’t tell me Chase found himself a little pony to settle him down.”

    “Pony?” Chase asked, frowning. “Why would you think I’d hook up with a pony?”

    “Psh… You live down near New Ponyville, if I recall,” she answered, leading him down the side of the lane to skirt around a cart, “hard to meet a gryphon down there.”

    He blushed a little, “Actually, I did meet a gryphoness. She was a friend of Rainbow Star…”

    “Oh?” Cloudchaser asked, her eyes filling with mischief.

    Chase waved a claw and stepped lightly about a pair of rushing cubs, pausing only to glance back with a nostalgic smile as they ducked into the candy shop. “Sure. It’s her sister who she asked me to look into. It seems that her family just recently arrived here after they escaped the Clans up north.”

    “Escaped the clans?” the gryphoness asked, raising an eyeridge. “So I guess the rumors are true.”

    “Probably,” Chase sighed, and quickly changed the subject. “So what are you doing out here at the edge of town?”

    “Oh! I almost forgot! Can you wait a moment? I have to run into the store…” Chase nodded and the gryphoness gave her best smile, and half ran, half flew, to Nickel’s shop. Chase smiled and settled at the side of the lane, leaning against the railing outside of a shop selling candles and lanterns and simply watching the gryphons go about their business. It took her about ten minutes to return, panting slightly as she carried a bag with her. Chase could see some seasoning and some sort of packaged meat, and the two fell in step and continued walking down the lane.

    “Still hunting?” Chase asked, nodding to the bag.

    Cloudchaser smiled broadly and nodded. “Yup, I’m one of the best trackers in town, if I do say so myself. After that, a simple trap if I don’t feel like getting my claws dirty, and I have meat to sell to Nickel. He gives me roughly a third of it back in butchered meat, and pays for the rest, and we generally have enough for another week or so, depending on how big the kill was.”

    Chase chuckled softly, “That hardly looks like a third of anything.”

    “This? It’s just a plump rabbit I found and got him to set up for me,” she noted with a smile before changing the subject. “I’m guessing you got big enough to help out your family instead of sending you up here during the summers to stay with your aunt…”

    Chase nodded. “Yeah. Dad felt that… that Alto and I were old enough to apprentice with him to pick up woodworking and crafting. Alto picked it up faster than I did, he always did learn fast, but I was better at collecting new wood. That and I was a strong enough flyer that the weather teams nearby wanted to start my training early. Of course Auntie passing away didn’t help.”

     “Yeah, I was sorry to hear about that. But you then went and forgot all about us up here in this stupid village…” she accused with a smile. “Blackfeather and my brother Windy will be happy to know you’re back. Just try not to get jealous…”

    Chase blinked widely. “Jealous? Why would I… Wait, Windy and Blackfeather?!”

    The gryphoness grinned as Chase devolved into laughter. She finally answered when he calmed down, “Yeah, my idiot lug of a brother asked her family’s permission over the winter. Now Blackfeather is promised to Windchaser, to use the old term, and the entire village is in a buzz about the upcoming wedding. My parents want to make it a town-wide production.”

    “How are the folks anyway?” Chase asked, suddenly feeling a bit out of place in the small town, very much aware how long it had been since he’d been there.

    “About the same, really. Dad finally got that clinic built, and is one of its senior doctors. Mom is fretting over the upcoming wedding really, and won’t leave me alone about when I’m going to settle down and have a clutch of my own. Only one boy has even tried to ask my folks, and Dad was smart enough to send him packing,” she answered, waving a claw errantly.

    “I’m surprised, Cloudy,” Chase answered, “I’d have figured you’d have a dozen guys looking for your promise. I mean seriously, you used to turn every head back when we hung out as cubs, and you’ve only gotten… er… wait, finishing that thought would probably be inappropriate.”

    Cloudchaser laughed at her companion’s sudden bashfulness and shook her head, “No, nothing like that. I just keep hoping the right one will ask…”

    Chase blanched and fell behind a step, clamping his beak shut and hoping to Celestia that she wasn’t referring to Alto. He remembered their group as a cub, the five of them spending their summers out of school getting into trouble. Back then, he had a crush on Blackfeather, but Cloudchaser had it even worse for his brother. Sure, she always rather direct about showing it in the way that cubs have, but Alto never seemed to notice.

    “Hey, you should stop by for dinner tonight!” Cloudy announced, derailing his train of thought.

    “Um, huh?” Chase squawked and shook his head to clear it.

    “Y’know, dinner? That big evening meal?” the gryphoness teased with a smirk. “I’m sure my folks would love to see you again. Oh! And you’ll get to meet the new cubs! They’re only a few seasons old, barely old enough to start talking!”

    Chase blinked and side stepped around a street vendor. “Your folks had another clutch, huh? Mom hatched a pair of girls last year herself, so I understand completely. They’re still learning to walk, but they’re crawling all over the place, with Mom usually chasing after them.”

    “That’s, what, her third or fourth clutch? Your mom and dad must be real animals in the nest,” she teased, and then nodded to the town hall building as they came abreast of the town square. “Here’s your stop. Tell ya what, I’ll drop this off with Mom, and I’ll come back and drag your feathery butt back for dinner. I’ll even see if I can corral the old crew and so you only have to give us the lowdown on why you’re back one time, alright?”

    “Sounds fair to me,” Chase answered with a nod. “Hopefully this won’t take too long; I just need to check on how well some newcomers have settled in.”

    “I really hope you don’t mean those crass gryphons that showed up last week,” she answered, making a face. “They went out of their way to piss off everyone they came across.”

    He sighed softly, “Given what Filigree told me, I’d actually suspect it is them. Why, do you know… where…?” Chase’s voice fell off as he saw her dark expression, and swallowed nervously. “Okay, what’s with the look?”

     “You don’t understand, they went well out of their way to insult everyone. Whoever the father was called Dad names I never heard before, and sure as hell won’t repeat, when he tried to give them a medical exam. Last we heard, the entire lot of them vanished into the Everfree. Good riddance,” she snorted. “I dunno who they all were, but the one gryphon kept making lewd remarks at Blackfeather and me when we were out running some errands.”

    Chase covered his eyes with a claw. “I’m hoping the under-aged gryphon with them managed to sneak away or stay in town or something.”

    “Doubtful,” Cloudchaser answered, doing little to aid the sinking feeling in Chase’s gut, “they kept her on a short leash. Kept claiming they were ‘protecting’ her from our corruption… corruption my feathered--”

    “Damn,” Chase interrupted, letting out a slow breath. “That was Filigree’s family, alright.”

    “You need better taste in girls,” she growled.

    “No!” he said a little too fast, startling Cloudchaser. He continued after a moment in a calmer tone, “Sorry, but no. She’s not like them, thankfully. They’re from the clans, on the run, literally. But Filigree, she’s special…”

    “Every guy thinks that about his girl,” she slipped in derisively.

    “…she’s a special,” he amended, “and they sold her into servitude, literally. I don’t know the full story, Filigree doesn’t like to talk about it, but she rescued them when she was in the clans and found out she had a younger sister who was… well innocent. She left her with them, and is now second guessing herself… apparently with good cause.”

    The gryphoness sighed, “Alright, I’m not saying I believe you about what your new squeeze might be like, but I’ll take your word for it… for now. I’ll get the group together, it sounds like you’ll need a search party. No one else is going to look for them…”

    Chase nodded. “I’ll meet you back here once I’m done in there. I’m suddenly doubtful the mayor will be much help, royal seal or not.”

    “She ain’t here.”

    “Keep looking,” the Commander growled. “The Captain will have our heads if she isn’t found!”

    The first gryphon guard snapped a salute with his wing, steadying the spear in his claws as he watched the commander wander away. He sighed softly and wiped away sweat from under the helm, wishing he could take it off. The caves were sweltering, with a sulfuric stink that made him want to retch. It was enough to make the gryphon seriously doubt the wisdom of taking this high profile job.

    At first, everything went exactly as planned. A quartet of friendly, if annoying, gryphons met them when they arrived through the portal the King’s new Magus provided. They then heralded half a dozen nearly full grown dragons back through the portal. Then the servants were led in and instructed to carry the eggs back out. Only one had to be whipped for dropping his egg, but the shell didn’t so much as crack so he was let off with that warning. If it had broken, they probably would have had to kill him. Still, after what seemed like hundreds of eggs were taken from the cave and put in an old weapon forge deep in the aerie, they were all set to leave…

    But no, it seems one of the gryphons who was supposed to leave with the foursome was missing. It was supposed to be a quintet, not a quartet, waiting for them, and now they were stuck searching for this last idiot. He couldn’t help but wonder who would want to stay in a place like this, as miserable as it was. Nothing but volcanic rock, volcanic vents, and stifling heat… what possible reason would any gryphon have to stay?!

    The gryphon shook his head at the lunacy of the idea and sighed, wiping his brow of sweat again. He never saw the small shadow behind him, the form ducking into another crack in the wall to watch carefully. She’d been living here for a while now, she knew the layout like the back of her claw… and Verdigris intended to use every ounce of that knowledge to avoid this idiot brigade. She couldn’t rely on Filigree to save her if she didn’t even know she was here! She had to escape on her own this time…

    “Come on, she ain’t here,” the Commander snarled as he returned, followed by the rest of the squad. “She probably already went through.”

    “Didn’t you just say that --” the guard started, only to be interrupted by an errant spear butt into his gut.

    “We’re moving out, if she missed the boat then she can rot in here,” the commander stated, ignoring the wheezing of his subordinate. The rest of the guards nodded, and one pushed at the wheezing guard, as they headed for the portal in the main chamber. Verdigris’ green eyes followed the guards as the moved past, not a one even glancing at her hiding place, instead marching past in their silvery scaled armour. She suddenly realized they must be scalding in those, since the metal would only convey the heat right to their coats, possibly even causing uncomfortable burns.

    The little gryphon shook her head, clearing it of considerations of metal armour and oppressive heat, and looked towards the entrance to Eclipse’s chambers. She couldn’t be certain, but she hoped the portal to those other chambers still remained open. She had to hope, since her only other opportunity to leave would be the winding exit she’d never been allowed down, and her brother told her stories about the horrid monsters beyond. She was pretty sure he was making them up… but not enough to want to risk it unless she absolutely had to.

    She moved carefully from hiding place to hiding place, just in case the guards were playing a ruse to try and lure her out. Their sudden eagerness to leave only played in her favor, since that meant they wouldn’t be around for any inevitable slip ups she might make. Eventually she reached the jagged entrance to the cave chambers Eclipse had claimed for himself and, to her relief, the swirling portal remained fully in place. She didn’t think, she rushed for the portal, closing her eyes and lowering her head in expectation of the cold shock once more from passing through it. Maybe if she was lucky, she’d be able to see the stars again!

    A moment later she saw stars, alright. The painful lump atop her head told her the story, the portal was no more than an illusion, and she’d run head first into the wall behind it. She groaned softly and put her claw against the wall to steady herself as she rose to her claws. She looked long at hard at the illusion, then swallowed nervously. There could be only one purpose for an illusion like this…

    “I knew you would come,” a low voice growled from behind, and Verdigris’ blood ran cold, even as her conclusion was verified. “You have been a pain in my flank since this whole ordeal started, and now… well, let’s just say that it’s only you and I now. I sent the guard back so we could talk.”

    “We have nothing to talk about,” The gryphoness said evasively.

    Eclipse snorted, the dark gryphon shaking his head. “I found you and your family, starving in the wilderness, unprepared and lost. I took you in, gave you everything, and yet you seem determined to throw it all back in my face.”

    “The only things you’ve given me are headaches,” the little gryphon responded with far more confidence that she felt.

    “You also talk far too much,” Eclipse stated darkly and began to pace about her. “In case you hadn’t noticed, you’re trapped here, and I’m not about to just let you walk out. You will either accompany me to the Aerie or you will perish here, trapped miles underground to suffocate and starve. You have no other choice in the matter. Personally, I’d rather end your miserable existence. You have become a nuisance, little Verdigris, unlike the rest of your family.”

    Verdigris gritted her beak, mentally preparing a retort when she noticed something. It was simple, a clopping sound, like a hoof hitting stone. The gryphon’s eyes flashed open and she whirled to face the dark gryphon, her beak agape. Eclipse hardly paused in his pacing, and she heard the sound again, and again, when his rear left claw hit the stone… “That’s it!” she cried. “I kept hearing that sound and thought it was just my imagination! It’s why when I saw you out of the corner of my eye you didn’t look right! You’re not a gryphon at all, it’s an illusion!”

    The “gryphon” paused, mildly surprised by the revelation, but smiled darkly. He stepped forward, the shadows all but embracing his form as it swelled and grew before her eyes, until a massive dark alicorn stood before her. Verdigris’ eyes were as large as saucers as she witnessed the transformation, but she somehow maintained enough sense to avoid meeting his gaze, and instead watched the rest of his body. “You’re smarter than you look,” Eclipse said with a dark smile, advancing on the small gryphon, “but then, you and I both knew that. After all, you broke free of my mind control how many times? Your family never woke once, but it would take something even more unique than just being a smart little cub to manage that feat, wouldn’t it?”

    Verdigris backpedaled as the alicorn approached, but found herself backed against the hard cave wall. With nowhere else to go, she flattened herself against it even as Eclipse leaned close, almost expectantly. “I-I don’t know what you… you’re…” she stammered, then froze, her eyes lighting up.

    “Ahhh, there it is…”

    Verdigris actually forgot herself and looked directly at the inky black form before her. “I’m a… no, I can’t...”

    “Yes, dear, you are one of the cursed,” Eclipse noted with a wicked grin and stood his full height, “which means when you return with me, you’ll be in chains. Unless….”

    “Unless?” the gryphon squeaked.

    “Unless you swear loyalty to me,” Eclipse purred, playing his card and readying the spell in his head. “You are far too dangerous to allow my enemies to use against me, but your intelligence could be put to good use in my service, and is subtle enough that no gryphon ever need know about your gift. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to reveal your abilities not only to the clans, but to your family as well.”

    “Filigree wouldn’t care,” Verdigris answered in a weak voice.

    “Oh, I’m sure she wouldn’t,” Eclipse mocked, turning his back on her, “but didn’t she abandon you for being ‘normal’? She left you with these gryphons who are loyal to --“

    “No!” Verdigris screamed at the alicorn. “I don’t care what you say! I won’t work with you! You’ve done nothing but screw with my mind since we met you and… Just GO AWAY! I’ll get out on my own!”

    Eclipse whirled and leaned down, face to face as his eyes locking onto the young gryphon’s. “You will listen to --”

    Verdigris acted before she thought, and she raked a claw at those swirling eyes. She felt herself connect, and the alicorn scream out in rage and pain. She didn’t know what she hit, but panic gripped her and she threw herself towards the entry, just trying to get as far away from Eclipse as possible. Unfortunately something clutched her about the neck, yanking her legs from under her and up into the air. The dark glowing magic suspended her, and the little gryphon struggled, flailing her legs and wings futilely.

    “Do you think you can hurt me?!” Eclipse roared at the gryphon, who managed to cringe even though she was choking. He swung his head dramatically, and the magic slammed her painfully into the wall, forcing the air from her lungs before the magic tightened about her throat, leaving her unable to draw a desperately needed breath in. Her claws scrabbled at the magic futilely, her form writhing in pain and panic. “It would be so easy to kill you…” Eclipse growled, pushing his face to hers, the gash her talon left behind reduced his left eye to an ugly pool of blood, which somehow made him even more terrifying. “…but that would be too easy. You must suffer.”

    The magic loosened about her neck, and Verdigris took in a choking gasp, hacking and coughing helplessly as the alicorn considered her. His horn glowed brighter, and the gryphon gasped as the full heat of the room immediately made her sweat and the sulfur made her choke in a different way. The alicorn grinned balefully down at her as a portal opened behind him.

    “Goodbye, Verdigris. I can’t risk you staying here and figuring out where you are, so you’ll spend the last days suffering in the high desert, starving to death,” he stated, “assuming the snakes and scorpions and vultures don’t get you first. Have fun cursing Celestia’s sun as you wither away from dehydration…” With a sudden flick of his head he magically hurled Verdigris towards the portal, releasing her only at the last second. She was left to flail her legs and wings uselessly as she passed through, and landed hard in the sand on the other side, still warm from the late day sun.

    Verdigris looked weakly back at the portal, and watched it snap shut with a dreadful sense of finality and the lingering hint of Eclipse’s dark laughter.

    “I feel like I’m asking this a lot lately, but how is she?”

    The cyan unicorn smiled ruefully and dipped her head to the Princess of the night in an informal bow. She then turned to look back at the chamber door she’d just stepped out from. “Honestly, I don’t know,” Trixie answered in a low voice. “Clockwork had some sort of psychotic break I think. She claims she hallucinated that her armour talked her out of the terrible idea for stuffing that computer in her head before we arrived. It’s been a day now, but she’s so… distant. She’s not letting either of us in, just says she knows what’s wrong, thanks us for stopping her from making a mistake, but insists she needs to get back to work on her armour.”

    “Even a minor improvement is an improvement, I suppose,” Luna sighed softly. “Unfortunately, I fear I must ruin some of that achievement. The rumors are starting to get out of control, and she must be reprimanded for her actions with the chariot. The wreckage is finally clear of the landing pad, and workers are starting the repairs. But while they repair the physical damage, I need to repair other damage, starting with this reprimand.”

    “I am just… worried,” the unicorn answered softly.

    “I understand, and I will do what I can to soften the blow. In the end, however, it is in Lady Key’s hooves,” the Princess said softly before turning to leave.

    With a sigh, the unicorn turned away herself, pushing back through the heavy wooden door to the room Clockwork currently occupied. Technically, it was a guest room. Unofficially, however, this room was like a hoof-full of other rooms that the staff kept set aside for them when the team stayed in the Palace. Each of the group had added their own personal touches to “their” room, and Clockwork was no exception. A large bed dominated the room, covered in a deep emerald comforter and crisp white sheets. She opted out of the fancy princess style cover, instead choosing to keep the room open and airy feeling. Aside from some rich mahogany dressers, there was a matching wooden desk that was dominated by an extremely high tech looking computer with a glowing blue interface. Trixie knew from experience that the little mare could access that computer from anywhere in the room and increase the display to fill the entire ceiling.

    Right now, however, the computer sat quietly in standby mode, sleeping contently in the dim room. It’s pale glow outlined the pair resting in the center of the large bed, one with her head lowered onto the bed and breathing slowly, the other her head resting on her back, her blind eyes watching over the other mare protectively.

    “Galaxi…” Trixie whispered into the hushed room.

    “I heard,” the blind mare answered. “I hoped Princess Luna could put it off a little longer, but…”

    “Not likely, especially if the rumor mill is going full tilt. Do you think she can handle it?”

    Galaxi sighed, “I genuinely don’t know. She’s calm, seemingly collected, but it’s still unlike her. She’s too calm, if that makes sense.”

    “Trixie understands,” the unicorn answered, “that is more something we’d expect from Spectrum or Filigree… not Clockwork Key.”

    Silence filled the room for a few moments, the mares unsure how to wake their friend, when Galaxi just sighed and nudged the sleeping mare. “Clockwork… wake up, Clockwork.”

    Clockwork grumbled under her breath, then yawned widely for several long moments. She flicked her tail lazily and opened her eyes, “Morning.”

    “Evening, technically,” Galaxi corrected.

    “Clockwork, Princess Luna wanted to see you,” Trixie said softly, casting a silverly light from her horn until she found the switch to flick on the ceiling mounted lights.

    The khaki pony nodded and paused to stretch on the bed, slipping away from Galaxi to hop down and frown at herself. She wandered to the bathroom and, after several moments to attend to personal affairs and brush out her mane and tail, meandered back out in an almost casual manner. “I suppose it’s about the way I ‘landed’.”

    “More likely the entirety of the trip itself,” Galaxi noted softly, and Clockwork sighed.

    “Not to mention those ponies you hurt up north…” Trixie slipped in, though that seemed far less important since their return.

    “That makes sense. I should have explained myself better…” the khaki mare grumbled, and stomped a hoof, “and I put some of the team at risk for what must seem like a foolish reason.”

    Galaxi and Trixie glanced at each other, and the unicorn subtly shook her head before looking to Clockwork Key. “I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out,” the unicorn said as Clockwork moved past her.

    “How do you apologize for something like that?” Clockwork asked softly, glancing at Trixie over her shoulder. Both of them looked to Galaxi expectantly, and the blind pony shuffled her hooves self-consciously on the bed.

    “Trixie thinks ‘I’m sorry’ would be a good start,” the mare prompted gently.

    Clockwork opened her mouth, then closed it again, scuffing her hoof a little on the carpet before screwing up her face and courage. She trod over to the edge of the bed, and used her forehooves on the edge to look eye to eye with the blind mare. “I’m sorry, Galaxi,” she said softly. “I was so… wrapped up in trying to help one pony that I didn’t think about the others I could have hurt. I don’t expect you to forgive me, I don’t think I could if the roles were reversed, but I hope I…  I hope you can be a bigger mare than I am… someday.”

    Clockwork turned away and left the room in a deceptively smooth motion, leaving the pair to watch her exit, Galaxi’s eyes wide as she watched the retreating mare. Silence permeated the room for several long minutes before the unicorn spoke softly, “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

    Galaxi nodded dumbly. “The music…” she whispered, “…for a moment, it was gone. I could feel her mind, see the honesty of her words. It was… it was…”

    Trixie chuckled softly.

    “You may enter.”

    The Clockwork Key slowly pushed her way into the Lunar Princess’ office, her hooves barely marking the lush midnight blue carpeting beneath her as she strode up to the large desk. Luna studiously kept her attention on the computer, not yet acknowledging the pony as of yet, partly in uncertainty about her mood, and partly in self restraint. She had to remind herself that she overreacted the last time she had to reprimand Clockwork for her part in the tussle with Ultrapony, and was determined not to make the same mistake again.

    “You asked to see me, Princess?” the mare asked, her tone oddly neutral, almost deflated. Quite frankly she sounded exhausted to Luna.

    “Yes, Lady Key, I did,” Luna answered simply, tapping a few more times at the computer’s keyboard before turning to face the other mare. “Do you know why I called you here?”

    “I suspect it has something to do with my rather unhealthy ride back from the Northern Reaches.”

    “You would suspect correctly,” Luna said, her eyes boring in on the small mare. Luna all but towered over Clockwork Key, the mare’s own small stature making Luna’s impressive height seem even more dramatic. And yet Clockwork didn’t seem cowed in the least, if anything her posture seemed so neutral and relaxed that the Princess might have worried she was either asleep, drugged, or a statue. However she knew better, and forced herself not to make any assumptions of her mental state. “You made an ill conceived trip from the Northern Reaches, at speeds you knew, and were told by your passengers, would do damage not only to your machine, but place all three of you in great danger. You placed the lives of Galaxi and Flourish at risk with your rush home, to say nothing of the threat to your own life. Further, you have caused thousands upon thousands of bits worth of damage to an important landing strip and damaged the combat readiness of your team by destroying the conveyance you yourself created for them. I simply cannot ignore this, especially as we approach a possible war with the gryphons. The immediate and speedy deployment of your team may become necessary as tensions mount, and you sabotaged that. Why?”

    “He was going to commit suicide…” Clockwork answered, her voice wavering slightly.

    “Did you know when? Did you know where?” Luna demanded, then sighed, forcing the anger from her voice as she rounded the desk. “You could not have known how long his scroll took to reach you. You could not have known exactly where he would be. You could not have known you would even have arrived on time. You were extremely lucky that the timing lined up as it did, that you were able to be there, even if that luck did not hold out to the actual rescue. Why, Clockwork?”

    “I… had to save him,” she stammered, and lowered her head.

    “If you truly wished to save him, you would have notified Skillet,” Luna said, her voice low but strong. “He would have alerted myself or my sister, and we would have mobilized the guard and other emergency services in an attempt to stop him. He was relatively untouchable by my staff, despite concerns for his safety, but a credible suicide threat would have been enough to at least hold him temporarily. I ask again, Clockwork, why?”

    “Because I had to save him!” Clockwork shouted, her hoof thumping her own chest in emphasis. “I had to do it! Because if I could save him… then… then I….” the mare managed before devolving into broken sobs.

    Luna leaned down and gently draped her wing over the shuddering mare, drawing her close. She cooed softly, trying to soothe the emotional mare, even as inwardly she cringed. She just had to go there, had to push that button…

    “I… I’m sorry, P-princess,” the mare stammered softly. “I seem to be making a lot of dumb choices lately.”

    Luna sighed and brushed a hoof over the other mare’s face, wiping away some of her tears. “Clockwork, I understand. You have a condition--”

    “I thought Trixie said it was a spell?” Clockwork interrupted, “‘Nightmare’s Revenge’ and all of that?”

    The Princess blinked, caught off-guard. “I… er… I suppose that… ah…”

    Clockwork snorted slightly, then wiped her nose, “I knew Trixie was full of manure.”

    “She only had your best interests at heart,” Luna said quickly… far too quickly.

    “Yeah, my best interests,” the other mare responded, her voice hollow.

    “Clockwork, you are not the only mare who makes foolish decisions,” Luna counseled. “I cannot defend what Trixie may or may not have done, simply because I am unaware of it. But you and I both know you have a condition…”

    “I only have your word on that,” Clockwork mumbled, “for all I know, that’s made up too”. She completely missed the book that Luna drew over with her magic until it was placed on the floor at the short mare’s hooves. Clockwork frowned at it and ran her hoof under the words as she read, “’The Aftermath of the Lunar War’, by Professor Lineage. What does this have to do with--”

    “Celestia showed this to Trixie, who in turn shared it with Galaxi and myself,” Luna interrupted. “Whatever else might be said, this book holds the bulk of what our doctors and healers know of the condition you seem to be stricken with, what little that is. The bookmark I left in it,” she noted, touching the silver tassle with a hoof, “is at page two hundred and fourteen, where the author discusses what is known about ‘Aftershock Disorder’ and ‘Acclimation Disorder’, the latter of which you seem to be afflicted by.”

    Luna held her tongue as the small mare, still in the shelter of her wing, immediately flipped open the book and began to read. She paused only to wipe away her tears, bloodshot green eyes scanning the page at an almost ridiculous speed before she slowly closed the book… then lightly butted her head into it.

    “You need to trust us, Clockwork,” Luna prodded gently. “It’s possible he could have been saved, but only if you had reached out to us, to your teammates, and allowed us to act when you could not.”

    “It wouldn’t have mattered,” Clockwork sighed, “he wanted to die. Unless we planned on keeping him bound leg and hoof until the day he died of natural causes, he would have found a way. My own subconscious pointed that out to me. He could have jumped from anywhere, or hell, he might have been able to do it just falling out of bed wrong. But he chose a spot that no pony else would have been hurt. I… I put everything into trying to save him, that’s why it had to… had to be me! Saving him… meant I could be saved myself. He was worse off than I was, he was in worse shape. But it meant that if he could heal, so could I. If I could bring him back from the edge then… then…”

    “…then someone could bring you back if you found yourself on that same edge?” Luna finished, her voice gentle, almost motherly. Clockwork closed her eyes tightly, trembling with fear for a moment, but nodded shallowly. “Do you know what you have that he lacked?”

    “No.”

    “Friends,” Luna finished. “Friends who care about you, who want to help you. Who want to see that you get better and never find yourself on that edge yourself…”

    “He had a friend… and I failed him,” Clockwork answered in a despondent voice, and stepped out from under the comfort of the Princess’ wing. Luna frowned, but allowed her to do so, folding her wing calmly as she watched the short pony. “What’s my punishment?”

    Luna frowned at the phrasing, but sighed, “Grounded from flying chariots for at least three months, and you will have to pay for the damages to the airfield, which will be taken from your personal pay, not your laboratory expenses. Also, once your armour is repaired, you are directed to create a new chariot for the team, post haste. As for the incident up north… we’ll be taking the bits for their medical procedures from your pay as well. We did not get into that, but your transgression with your chariot was far more pressing.”

    “Are you dropping me from the team?” the mare asked pointedly.

    “I had no plans on it,” Luna answered defensively.

    Clockwork nodded simply before looking the Princess in the eye. “I have a history here, with you, with this team. It’s hard to trust when I’ve been abandoned once… and now find out I’ve been lied to,” she stated in a tightly controlled voice, then turned her back on the Princess and left her office.

    Luna only stared at the open door for several long minutes.

    “Too slow!”

    The orange plated manticore-like armour pivoted in place to follow the pegasus as he wove in and out of the dilapidated buildings. Another blast from the MANTI-core armour tore a hole in the roof of one of those buildings, but missed by at least a few feet.

    “C’mon, Doc, I ain’t even winded yet!” Crosswind taunted. The tail of the armour turned and fired, a laser beam cutting through the early morning sky, the red almost lost in the hues of the sunrise sky, and yet the pegasus nimbly avoided the beam as well, even as it cut a path through the bell tower of a partly collapsed chapel, sending the debris crashing down in a cloud of dust and mortar.

    “Ztand ztill, blazt you!” Professor Burner cursed, the speakers in the suit giving his voice an oddly metallic air.

    “Uh…” Crosswind said, pausing as he put a hoof to his chin. Sensing his opportunity, Burner took his shot, and proceeded to miss horribly as the pegasus simply darted out of the way with a single flap of his wings. “…Nah!”

    “I… vill… get… you!” Burner growled and unleashed the laser on the tail again, almost literally slicing through the center of one building, one side listing dangerously before the structure collapsed in on itself.

    “At this rate you’ll damage the town more than me!” the cocky pegasus called as he darted away from the plume of smoke the crashing building kicked up. Professor Burner let out a wordless cry of rage, stomping his forehooves in frustration.

    Kaos sighed from where he sat and watched the sparring between the pair. He had chosen the duo to go first because they were seemingly the most opposite of each other, but it was like watching a pair of colts trying to one up each other. Crosswind, despite his bragging, had been subtly trying to use the wind to steal the Professors breath, or even push the massive armour around, all of which had failed. The armour was too strong, and apparently had an air filtration system that negated the need for constant fresh air, their abilities so opposed to each other they were effectively immune to one another.

    The reds and oranges and pinks of the fading dawn easily painted the town before him, making the small town look almost alive to the zebra, or at least how it may have looked in years gone by. Splashes of color in the otherwise dreary browns and tans of the desert, only interrupted by the occasional white of a bleached bone or peeling paint. Kaos silently wondered what this town may have been like in its heyday…

    To the zebra’s side Alto sat like a restless teenager watching a good fight, only barely refraining calling out suggestions to the Professor, whom he had latched on to lately. Junkyard watched impassively from where he sat behind Kaos, arms folded across his barrel chest and legs crossed under him. He barely seemed to move, but his large brown eyes keenly followed every motion his partner was making, almost as if trying to anticipate where he would be and what he would do next. To his right hoof, Zilch watched carefully as well, but unlike the Diamond Dog, her eyes held no clues as to what her focus was, and only the occasional twitch of her suited ear hinted she was more than some mannequin sitting under the eaves of what used to be the general store. Oddly, that gave him an idea…

    “I think the Doc is about to lose it,” Alto said in a low voice, derailing Kaos train of thought and dragging it back to the fight. Kaos had planned to stop it before they could truly hurt each other, but his stomach dropped with the realization that he overestimated Burner’s self-restraint.

    “I am done being humiliated by you!” Burner all but screamed, and he reared up on his back hooves.

    “What’re you gonna do about it, tough guy?” Crosswind taunted, not sensing the danger.

    “Zis,” the Professor hissed, and the chest of the suit seemed to peel back and away on a trio of hinges, revealing a number of small ports. In each one resided the tiniest little missiles that anypony present had seen before, and they launched with a great scream of their miniscule engines, rocketing off in a dozen different directions from the armour, only to arc around and home in on the pegasus.

    Crosswind only grinned as the missiles all angled at him, the wind whipping at his mane before vanished inside a twister of air. The missiles were yanked into the one pony maelstrom, before being sent hurtling away in different directions. The missiles attempted to re-orient on their target, only to meet with disastrous results as their efforts led them straight into one building or another… or they ran out of fuel trying to reach the pegasus a second time.

    Kaos and the others were forced to run as a missile slammed into the building they were watching from, raining rotted wood and fire over them before Junkyard created a protective barrier from the ground itself. Explosions shook the ground and fire surged through the old and dry wood of the buildings, surrounding the armoured unicorn in an inferno. Professor Burner stood with his jaw hanging slack, his eyes a wide as saucers at the destruction. Crosswind remained untouched by even a splinter, the fire being caught by his whirlwind and shunted away.

    “Not bad, not bad,” Crosswind chuckled, “but, uh, FYI… you missed.”

    “Crosswind!” Kaos shouted when the Diamond Dog felt it was safe enough to lower the barrier. “Starve the fire of air, or we won’t have a town at all. Junkyard, see what you can do about reinforcing the buildings that are still standing and set up fire breaks where you can! Zilch, get Junkyard wherever he needs to go. Alto, take to the air and set up a fire-line, the last thing we need is for this blaze to get out of control!”

    “We’re in the middle of the desert,” Alto protested, “what difference would it make?”

    “Fire brings unwanted attention,” Junkyard intoned.

    Alto nodded quickly. “Take Burner with you,” Kaos instructed as the gryphon took wing, “some distance from Crosswind should help him calm down.”

    The armoured stallion was just coming out of his stupor when the gryphon reached him. Very little was said, but the pair took off to start setting down fire lines to limit the spread.

    Despite Kaos’ less than stellar expectations, the team worked surprisingly well in containing the fire, leaving only some smoldering and barely standing remains in the quarter of town they had been training in. Once Crosswind had the fire smothered, he focused on rerouting the smoke away from them, dissipating it as much as possible. Burner and Alto used their respective weapons and abilities to destroy some key buildings to keep the fire from spreading to the center of town. Junkyard, conveyed by Zilch, worked quickly to set up ground level barriers and reinforce those buildings that were left undamaged by the fire. In fact, it was only as the group was finishing up that they realized one pony was missing.

    “Where did Kaos get to?” Crosswind asked when the team regrouped.

    “Over here!” Kaos called, just inside one of the buildings that Junkyard managed to brace the side of. The other side had collapsed from where one missile’s impact had brought down two floors of what used to be a home in years past. Kaos vanished into the doorway like a ghost as the group arrived, frowning as they filed in. “Doctor Burner…” the zebra said in an oddly hushed voice and motioned to where the upper floor had crashed down. There, lying on the floor, was the purple coat of a filly, her silver streaked mane caked with filth and splinters from the collapse.

    Burner only managed a croak, his voice refusing to come out. “She was crushed,” Kaos said softly, “dead when I found her.” The zebra stallion looked down at the filly for a moment, then back up to Burner. “Congratulations, Professor, you’ve scored the team’s first kill. It’s not who you aimed at, but then, you weren’t supposed to try and kill your teammate anyway. I’m only sorry that an innocent had to pay for it.”

    Burner’s jaw worked numbly, but he couldn’t make his voice work. It had been easier to stare at the destruction his missiles had caused to the town, and that left him feeling less like a pony, and more like the monster his armour represented. This… this was infinitely worse. The armoured stallion didn’t even notice the rest of the team leaving until Junkyard clapped a large hand on his shoulder. Burner ripped his gaze away from the filly, eyes wide as he met the Diamond Dog’s, which he was surprised to see were filled with a deep sadness and understanding. And then, he too was gone, leaving Burner alone with his “kill”.

    The Professor’s mind spun like a runaway chariot without any brakes. He wanted to blame Crosswind, but hadn’t he only been protecting himself? Burner was the one who launched the missiles. Why? Because he lost his temper, and, like it or not, he truly wanted to kill Crosswind in that moment. He’d wanted to kill before, attempted to kill an entire town when he damn near lost his mind over Clockwork Key. But he didn’t succeed. Every pony had been rescued safely. This was the first pony he’d killed, even if it was an accident. “Accident”. He snorted at the word. Was it an accident that he fired off his entire payload of custom built mini-missiles? That left a bitter taste in his mouth and his emotions roiling. He’d have make more missiles, he thought, trying to focus on the annoyance that should cause. But instead, he only found a great emptiness, a void where his emotions were. He could only see the grape purple coat and the now vacant fuchsia eyes staring at nothing. Shakily hoof he reached an armoured hoof out and slowly closed those eyes before they bore a hole through him…

    It had been almost ten minutes of awkward silence between the rest of the team when a great tearing sound was heard outside the old home. The listing wall caved in completely, and the dust settled with more crashes as the armoured stallion carefully walked out of the home, carrying the dead foal cradled in his forelegs. The armour allowed him to balance carefully on his hind hooves as he slowly walked down the lane, placing one hoof before the other in a slow march. Junkyard fell in step behind the armoured stallion, followed by a concerned Alto. Zilch wiped at her face, wiping away tears she couldn’t shed, and followed along next to Kaos at a respectful distance. Crosswind gave a derisive snort and rolled his eyes, finding the sentimentality annoying, but after a moment he flared his wings and rushed to catch up, bringing up the rear of the procession as they made their way out of the town to a nearby hillock.

    Kaos had spotted the graveyard when they first arrived, and had carefully steered the team away in respect for those the final resting place of those left there. Junkyard, thankfully, was equally respectful as he opened a new plot in the ground. Burner carefully lowered the filly into it and backed away, taking one final look before Junkyard closed the plot of earth back over. The first new grave this small graveyard had seen for many, many decades.

    “We should look for others,” Alto said softly, interrupting the somber mood after almost a full fifteen minutes. “If there was one, there may have been more.”

    “Did I mention how much I hate rugrats?” Crosswind grumped. Junkyard’s response was to grab the pegasus by the tail and head off into town, the grumpy pegasus in tow. Zilch gave a nod and teleported herself away. Professor Burner paused to look back at the grave for a moment, then rocketed off himself to search the dilapidated town, especially the areas he destroyed, for survivors.

    Within minutes, Kaos was alone. With a shake of his head he ruefully placed a hoof on the newly dug plot, the dirt parting to reveal the filly within after a moment. “Well, that took an unexpected turn, didn’t it my dear?” he asked her, and caressed a hoof under her chin. Her purple coat began to fade, her mane almost literally vanishing as the stiff “filly” reverted back to what she was when Kaos put her in the wreckage, a child’s mannequin. Only when it was reverted did Kaos close the grave once more. “I hope the rest of you don’t mind the imposter,” Kaos said to the rest of the residents of the graveyard, “I assure you, there was a good reason, but my homeland teaches us respect for those who have passed before us.” The zebra then paused to utter a few words in his native tongue, at once guttural and musical, before he started back towards the town.

    He was only just entering town when a portal opened in front of him and a pair of white hooves grasped and yanked him through.

    “Well, that was sudden,” Kaos intoned, wobbling slightly. He was the last to arrive, it seemed, and he straightened his tie as he took in the scene before him. Professor Burner was hunched over the small form, one eye of his helm glowing as he scanned the figure on the floor. She was a young gryphoness, apparently alive, but in bad shape. She looked half starved, covered with a number of scratches and bruises, and was barely breathing. She was also very much unconscious, and the partially collapsed wall beside her told him the likely reason why. He frowned; this wasn’t a mannequin, this was the real thing.

    “It can’t be her… it CAN’T!” Alto all but screamed, his voice edging on hysterical when the diamond dog clasped a powerful hand on his shoulder. Alto gulped visibly at the implied threat, and held his tongue.

    “What happened?” Kaos asked, wandering closer.

    “Zilch found her,” Burner intoned, his voice strangely distant. “Zhe’s… zhe’s hurt. Zome of it from ze collapzing wall, zat knocked her out but... zome of zese injuriez are dayz old. Zhe’z been choked, hurt, I think zhe has a zprain in her leg, and… I’m zorry, but zis iz well beyond my meager medical zkillz. We need a profezzional.”

    Kaos stepped closer and placed a hoof on the small gryphon girl’s forehead when Alto blurted out again, “But… you don’t understand, she CAN’T be here!” Zilch scowled at him, but Kaos couldn’t help himself.

    “Why can’t she be here?” he asked simply.

    “That’s Filigree’s little sister!” Alto cried, “Last I saw or heard, Filigree was busting her out of the clans and taking her to somewhere safe in the Ponylands… so how the hell is she here in the desert?!”

    “That’s a good question. We will have to ask her when she wakes up,” Kaos answered.

    “Hold up, nuh uh,” the pegasus of the group said, shaking his head. “I didn’t join this group to babysit no kid!”

    Junkyard frowned and crossed his arms, scowling at his friend. Crosswind seemed only mildly surprised. “You turnin’ on me, big guy? I don’ care, I ain’t babysitting!”

    “W-we can’t take her in,” Alto stammered, “her sister will come looking for her. We aren’t ready for Filigree…”

    “I think you mean to say that you aren’t ready for Filigree,” Kaos noted pointedly, then looked to Zilch. “And your vote?” The suited mare frowned, her eyes narrowing at Alto, then bent down to cradle the small form protectively in her forelegs.

    “Well then, that only leaves… you, Professor Bunsen Burner,” Kaos said evenly. “What’s your vote?”

    The armoured stallion paused for a long time, as all eyes rested on him. No one could see the conflict behind his eyes, hidden by the helm. They only heard his voice when he finally responded, “I’m rezponzible for one death today; I won’t make it a zecond. However, zhe needs more medical treatment zan I can provide.”

    “I already have a plan to handle that,” the zebra said with an errant wave of his hoof. “I have a discrete doctor on standby in case one of you were hurt during our practices, somepony who will ask no questions. For now, we need to get her back to base. Zilch? Get her settled in a comfortable room and bed, and I will fetch the physician. I only hope she doesn’t mind a pediatric case.”

    Zilch nodded quickly, and gathered the small gryphoness to her, and beckoned the others close. Alto shied away from the unconscious form, and Crosswind scowled at her, but neither said a word under Junkyards withering gaze. A portal opened above the group and lowered itself quickly, leaving Kaos alone in the desert.

    And then, even he was gone, leaving the only residents in the small graveyard on the hill.