Chapter 6

“We attack at dawn!”

    “Hold still…”

    Clockwork Key complained under her breath, but didn’t move. The elder pony looped about her, prodding the ugly bruise on Clockwork’s side with a gentle hoof, before taking a dollop of cream and spreading it over the injury. Clockwork hissed in pain for a moment before starting to relax, allowing the cream colored mare to rub the balm in.

    “Well, it looks like none of your ribs were broken,” the elder mare declared as she finished. “The cream should keep any swelling from that bruise down.”

    “Thank you, Twist,” Clockwork answered with a smile as she got to her hooves. “I didn’t expect you to know much about medicine.”

    The elder mare snorted, “How could I not?! Seriously, Bloom comes back with so many new bruises and scrapes after every excursion she and the Crusaders make…”

    “If it’s not prying, how did you and Apple Bloom get… er… together?” Clockwork asked, her voice wavering with trepidation.

    “Would you believe from playing nurse for her and the Crusaders?” Twist answered with a grin, and put the salve back on the shelf by a hoof-full of other medicinal balms and bandages.

    “You’re kidding…” Clockwork deadpanned, not finding it hard to believe at all. This particular spare bedroom had been designed with a severe style reminiscent of a doctor’s office, complete with a hospital style bed in one corner. A number of cabinets, and even a mid-sized freezer, all filled to the brim with common over-the-counter medical supplies and home brewed potions, only added to the minimalist décor of the room.

    Twist smirked and sat down on the bare wood floor. “The Crusaders had it out with a group of Imps that holed up near here in an old abandoned gryphon aerie, and Bloom took a bad spill. Martial Arts and slippery mountain tops aren’t exactly the best combination it seems, and at the time we didn’t have a clinic in town. So when Scootaloo carried her into town looking for help, there wasn’t as much as she’d hoped. Fortunately I knew first aid, so I was able to set her leg and keep her from going into shock until a doctor from the next settlement over could get here. After that, I put her up for the next few weeks while she healed. Heck, she stayed right here in this very room, which is what prompted me to convert it. I guess you could say that while I took care of her, we got… closer. For a while after that, I was the go-to mare for medical problems here in town, and I ended up reading up on all sorts of medical procedures so I could handle everything from a split hoof to a broken leg. I saw a lot of the Crusaders, not always medically in Bloom’s case, before the clinic finally was established in town. I volunteered there for a while, but I felt so out of place amongst all those stuffy professionals… so I came back to my candy shop and left the medical stuff to them.”

    “Except when Apple Bloom needs it,” Clockwork teased.

    Twist got a twinkle in her eye as she answered, “Oh yes, whenever she needs it.”

    “Was that the first time you met?” Clockwork asked curiously.

    “Oh hay no,” Twist laughed and idly checked the thermostat on the freezer. “I’ve known Apple Bloom since we were fillies way back in Ponyville.”

    “Oh?” Clockwork considered that for a moment. “Were you two childhood sweethearts or something?”

    “Hardly,” the elder mare said, her expression souring. “We were… friends as foals. I was a geeky one with frizzy hair, a mouthful of braces so heavy they gave me a lisp, and supernaturally thick glasses, but she never cared. We used to play and have fun, and I even got to stay at Sweet Apple Acres every once in a while for a sleepover. We were the last pair in our class to get our cutie marks, at least before… “

    “Twist?” Clockwork asked gently, surprised by the pain in the elder mare’s voice.

    “I got my cutie mark first,” she answered hollowly, turning away from the younger mare. “We’d been picked on just the day before by the class bullies, I forget their names, and we were both feeling pretty low. I went home and made some peppermint sticks with my parents to try and cheer up, and I got my cutie-mark that night.”

    “You say that like it’s a bad thing…” Clockwork said softly, hooves clopping on the wood floor as she approached.

    “It wasn’t, at first…” the mare sighed, and gave a thin smile to Clockwork. “Apple Bloom… I don’t know. I guess she felt betrayed or something, because she stopped hanging out with me. She found new friends and they formed a little club exclusively for themselves. Did you know the Crusaders’ original name was the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’? Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were late bloomers when it came to earning their cutie-marks, but their parents dragged them all to the cutecenara for one of those bullies I mentioned earlier. I was there too, but the bullies started picking on poor Bloom. I was trying to get up my courage to say something when Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle jumped out and stuck up for her. It was… years after that before we got together again.

    “I lost my childhood friend, my best friend, because I got my cutie-mark. For the longest time I hated the blasted thing…” Twist concluded with an unreadable glance back at her flank, at her cutie mark, a pair of hooked candy-canes arranged to form a heart.

    “I’m… sorry?” Clockwork said softly, putting a hoof on the elder mare’s shoulder. “But it worked out in the end, right?”

    Twist gave a small nod and forced a smile. “Yeah, it did… eventually. I mean, I ended up hanging out with Snips and Snails for a little while in school, they were a pair of dim unicorns that looked up to me as the smart one, and I liked the attention. But I was bitter about it for a long time, until the invasion started anyway. We were a bit older when that happened, but my folks decided to move way up north here to the territories, which didn’t even have a name back then. They never outright told me why, but I think it was because momma was a little panicky… okay, a lot panicky, and wanted to be as far away from Ponyville as possible after the Imps wrecked our home. We were among the first up here, when the colonies were just starting out, but momma was a medical mare, that’s where I get it from by the way, and acted like a nurse for anypony that got hurt. Eventually the Crusaders founded a nearby colony, based on Ponyville, and founded the core of the Unregistered movement and the Colonies. Me? I was just looking to strike off on my own and away from my parents, so I made my way here from my home.

    “I never even knew Apple Bloom was here until almost two years after I settled in. Call me an idiot, but I never connected the old Cutie Mark Crusaders with ‘The Crusaders’. It wasn’t until I tried getting my shop built that we ran into each other again. I was trying to get this place custom built, but somepony kept altering my plans, so I finally got myself together and stormed down to the planner’s office to find out who kept altering my blue-prints.”

    Clockwork stifled a giggle.

    “Yeah yeah, laugh it up,” Twist grumbled good naturedly, “but it was a shock to us both. All those bad feelings I had started to boil up, and just as I was about to let her have it, when Apple Bloom literally jumped over her desk and hugged me. She spent the next fifteen minutes in tears, telling me how she thought my family and I had died after the invasion struck Ponyville, and all she found was an abandoned and partially destroyed home afterwards. Seems my folks didn’t do a very good job at telling everypony we were leaving, and we cleared out so quickly that for years ponies thought we had died in the invasion. I cleared that up, and we spent the next few hours just catching up. She even showed off that she had become a Special…”

    “Which, of course, made you feel even more alienated,” Clockwork said softly.

    “Yeah,” Twist agreed. “I left that meeting feeling even more confused. I wanted to be angry, to be bitter, but I just couldn’t do it. I just… couldn’t stay mad at her. Working with her made getting my shop built easier, especially when I understood why she kept making the changes to my plans, but otherwise she was always off with the Crusaders. At least until that injury…”

    “My ears are ringin’… are ya’ll tellin’ stories about me in here?” Apple Bloom asked as she leaned against the doorframe.

    “Maybe,” Twist answered with a smirk, “I keep hoping it’ll deflate that ego of yours.”

    Apple Bloom nickered and shook her head, “Yer never gonna let me live that down, are ya?”

    “Nope.”

    “Live what down?” Clockwork asked.

    “Bloom gets first dibs on the cider from the farm,” Twist noted with a smirk, “and she decided to try some of the hard cider they make.”

    “I wanted ta try it!” Apple Bloom protested. “I ain’t never got any as a filly, an’ I helped make the blasted stuff!”

    “Being the lightweight drinker she is,” Twist continued, undaunted, “she was soused by the time she was into the second tankard, and she wandered around the town telling ponies how thankful they should be the Crusaders are here to save their flanks.”

    “Ah only remember tellin’ a few ponies…” Apple Bloom mumbled, tugging her hat down over her eyes.

    “You told every pony in the line to buy cider,” Twist answered with a smirk, ignoring Apple Bloom’s groan, “and everypony in the restaurant, and then climbed the bell tower and announced it as loudly as you could. Oh, and after that you got into an argument with a tree, turned invisible and attempted to convince ponies that you were a ghost, and finally passed out sprawled over the fountain right in the middle of town where everypony could see.”

    “I can see why you wouldn’t live that down anytime soon,” Clockwork tittered, covering her muzzle with a hoof.

    “Yeah yeah…” Apple Bloom grumbled.

    “After that, the farm refused to sell her Hard Cider ever again. Bloom can have the normal stuff, but the alcoholic stuff is off limits,” Twist concluded, moving to the window to tug the shades down.

    “Ya’ll done sharin’ my embarrassin’ exploits?”

    “Not… even… close.”

    “Don’ make me retaliate,” Apple Bloom countered, “I still remember the problem ya’ll had with them crows from th’ Zap Apple harvest that one year…”

    “You wouldn’t dare!” Twist cried, whirling to face her mate.

    “I most certainly would,” she answered with a wicked grin.

    “Okay, I’ve got to hear this,” Clockwork added, much to Apple Bloom’s delight and Twist’s consternation.

    Apple Bloom smiled broadly and settled her flank down. “It all done started the year before we was ta’ be mated…”

    “You really should lie down.”

    “You just want to use my wing as a blanket,” Filigree teased the younger gryphon, but curled up and laid her wing over the smaller form.

    “Mnmm hmm,” the younger gryphoness answered drowsily as she snuggled closer. She was snoring within moments, occasionally nuzzling into her sister’s chest.

    Filigree sighed and looked to a barred window, the silvery moonlight casting her “prison” in sharp relief. Sitting still she could do, but sleep was beyond her tonight. She simply had too much on her mind, and her time was almost up. Alto would be there come the morning to act upon the King’s promise, and she would be mated to the gryphon, whether she wanted to or not. Tradition stated he would have that claim over her, even if her friends came and freed her, until he chose to renounce it. But she didn’t trust making the escape by herself, especially not after the beat-down the king’s gladiator specials had given her. The king himself may have left the aerie, but it would be foolish to assume he hadn’t left someone behind to keep her in line. Without any sort of help, she doubted she would have a chance. Not to mention what would happen to Verdigris…

    A sound disturbed her thinking; a sharp exhalation of air that combined with a sudden sweet scent and barely seen pink smoke in the darkened room. Filigree couldn’t help but smile.

    “You’re late,” she rumbled, stifling the urge to dash forward and hug the pony.

    “Traffic was murder,” a soft voice replied from the shadows. “Is it safe?”

    “They check on me every now and again, but you’ll have plenty of warning.”

    “What about your shadow there?”

    “You talkin’ to someone?” the little gryphon asked, blinking tiredly.

    “Yes, I am,” Filigree answered. “Flourish, this is Verdigris, my younger sister. Verdigris, this is my friend and teammate, Flourish.”

    “Hey there, kid,” the shadow said, and the gray pony stepped forward. A sliver of moonlight fell over her form, and the little gryphon gasped.

    “Wow… a pony!” she cried, then clamped both claws over her beak and looked worriedly to the doorway. Filigree frowned and watched with her sister as Flourish vanished once more into the shadows. Only when no gryphons came to investigate after several minutes did they relax.

    “Careful about that kid,” Flourish admonished gently, “you don’t want to give the rescuers away before we’ve had time to rescue anypony.”

    “I… I’m sorry,” the little gryphon squeaked, “I’ve just never seen a pony before! You’re nothing like the rumors say…”

    “Give me time, kid,” Flourish answered with a lopsided grin, before looking to Filigree. “What’s the situation?”

    Filigree deadpanned, “I’m chained up, been beaten to within an inch of my life, can’t bring myself to abandon a family that I should hate, and about to be forcibly mated to another gryphon.”

    “Well darn, we didn’t pick up any wedding presents,” Flourish teased.

    “Ha ha.”

    “Things were going too smoothly anyway,” Flourish chuckled, “let me guess, you want us to bust out your family too?”

    “Yes,” Filigree confirmed, “is the rest of the team with you?”

    “No, just Spectrum. The Princess thought a covert op might have a better chance…  Oh, you might want this, too.” Flourish’s horn glowed, lifting a small earpiece designed to fit the gryphoness. Filigree caught it with a claw and tugged it into place, slipping it under her feathers to hide it from sight.

    “Testing…”

    “Filigree?” the heavily accented voice asked over the headset’s earpiece. “You are on the network then, ya? I am coordinating your rescue with Princess Luna on my end. Spectrum and Flourish are there on yours. Can you give us a report?”

    Filigree smiled. “Affirmative, just give me one moment, Skillet,” she answered before looking to Flourish, then down at Verdigris. “I need you to go with my friend here.”

    “No!” she gasped. “I can’t leave you now!!”

    “You need to,” Filigree answered. “My friends need to get you, and the rest of our family, to a safe place. Only once you are all safe and I don’t have to worry about you can I focus on escaping.”

    “Don’t worry, kid,” Flourish added, “I promise you’ll be safe.”

    “You and Spectrum found a good spot?” Filigree asked.

    “For the moment, yes,” the pony answered, “but I’m not sure how we’ll be able to transfer so many gryphons. How big is your family anyway?”

    “Two… three siblings, and two parents,” Filigree noted, “if you can find the chariot we came in, however, I’m sure Rainbow Star and I can pull it far enough to get us out of the gryphon territories.”

    “Alrighty then, one chariot and one family, coming right up… would you like fries with that?” Flourish grinned cheekily before asking Verdigris, “Have you ever been teleported before kid?”

    “T-teleported?” the little gryphon asked, shakily moving to stand with a nudge from her elder sister.

    Flourish grinned and looped a foreleg over the younger gryphon’s shoulder companionably. “Sure, like this--“

    Filigree grinned as the pair vanished in another sweet smelling cloud, and used a claw to disperse it as much as she could before touching her ear. “Alright Skillet, I’m clear here. I’ll be keeping my voice down though; I don’t feel like attracting any more attention than I may already have.”

    “This is Princess Luna,” a voice much different than she expected answered, “I’m sorry it took us this long to get a rescue organized, Filigree.”

    “Did the guard-ponies make it? I tried to give them a head start…”

    “Fleethoof didn’t,” Luna answered, and Filigree lowered her head. “I don’t have the full details, but Swan Dive completely exhausted herself reaching Flankfort.”

    “That’s rather far out of the way,” the gryphon noted with a frown. “It would have been faster to cut south and west to Spurlin, or further west to Stalliongrad.”

    “My sister and I think they were trying to follow the valley river,” Luna answered. “Regardless, she made it there in such a terrible shape that the doctors have had her in a magically assisted sleep since she arrived. They’re saying she wore herself out so completely that it will be weeks before she is flying again.”

    “I’m sorry, Princess,” Filigree said softly. “I promised to bring them back…”

    “There was nothing you could do,” Luna answered. “We’ll worry about regrets later; right now we need to get you out of there. Can you lay out what we’re looking at and why you have Spectrum and Flourish hunting for a group of unknown gryphons?”

    “Certainly, Princess,” the gryphon whispered, and lowered herself to the floor so she could conserve her strength for later.

    She doubted she would get any sleep tonight …

    A primal scream pierced the smoky sky.

    The mare carefully poked her nose out from amidst the rubble, trying to find the source of the cry, but the haze of smoke and clouds prevented her. The land seemed locked in a perpetual state of twilight, heavy clouds dimming the sky while the sun hovered just off the horizon like a perpetual explosion.

    “This… this isn’t possible,” the mare stammered to herself. “C’mon Clockwork, it’s just a--“

    Another screech interrupted the mare, sending her skittering back into the debris. It was minutes before she managed to shakily push herself free of the rubble again, her curiosity finally getting the better of common sense. Green eyes swept over the desolate cityscape surrounding her, the hazy sky and unmoving sun cast everything in a perpetual state of twilight. Almost every building found chunks of their walls, if not the entire wall, scattered over cracked roadways. Light posts were twisted and bent like blades of grass, and power barely flickered through a hazard sign that helpfully read “warning” in weakly flashing letters.

    Her gaze cast out over the wreckage, searching for anything identifiable in the twisted remains of civilization… something that might tell her where she was, what happened, or even give her something to protect herself with. Her efforts proved futile as the screeching sound came again, this time from behind her. Startled, the khaki mare whirled about and cantered backwards into the nearest intersection. She continued to backpedal until her hoof caught on the uneven roadway, forcing her to sit down hard.

    That’s when she saw it.

    “No… it can’t be…” she stammered hoarsely, her eyes wide as they stared up the imposing hill, past layers of wreckage and refuse, to the remains of a once stately, now barely identifiable, Canterlot Castle. Spires that once arched regally into the clouds now listed drunkenly, desperately clinging to their brethren in a futile attempt not to tumble down the cliff side to their demise. White marble walls were permanently adorned with scorch marks and dirt, rendering them a dirty gray color that almost matched the roiling clouds above. Magical fires of unearthly colors sputtered amidst the wreckage, refusing to fizzle out, and adding to the smoke and haze that blotted out the sky.

    The mare slowly picked her way towards the castle, moving as if in a trance. Her wide green eyes never left the palace as she wove unsteadily around fallen chariots, piles of refuse, and other wreckage. She barely saw the hazard sign, still flashing its ancient warning, as she pushed past it. She only stopped when something crunched disconcertingly under her hoof, and slowly lowered her eyes.

    Clockwork Key screamed.

    Skeletons, countless thousands of them, littered the road between her and the castle. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, zebra, gryphons, diamond dogs, minotaur, goats, cows, donkeys… every sentient species known to Equestria, their skulls grinning up at her. She cantered back, shying away from the road of bones ahead of her, piles of them, bleached white and layered so thickly that they hid any sign of the roadway beneath. Their lifeless hollow eyes stared at her accusingly…

    A screech ripped through the air again, and she tore her eyes away from the glares of the deceased to the baleful red eyes of something very much alive. An imp the likes of which she’d never before witnessed, far larger and more imposing than those she once fought, landed with a crash in the street behind her. Its glowing red eyes fixed her with a stare of pure malice and hatred, and let out a shriek that sent Clockwork tumbling back into the bone pile with a cry of her own.

    She struggled to free herself from the skeletal refuse, her hooves trembling as she pushed brittle bones away from her in horror, but skeletal hooves and claws clung stubbornly. The Imp slowly approached, its stomping foot-claws crushing those skeletons unlucky enough to be caught beneath them. Never once did its eyes leave the mare.

    The Imp roared its victory as it stood over her, and lifted one claw to the cloudy sky in preparation to smite her. Clockwork gave up struggling and covered her head like a scared filly, anticipating a blow that would crush the life from her… that would add her to the bone-pile...

    “Clockwork!!” a voice cried, and she heard the wet sound of hoof meeting flesh. The imp cried out in pain, driven back even as teeth gripped her mane and yanked the mare from the midst of all those bones. Her eyes fixed on the pony who had rescued her, unbelieving. The blue coat, the golden mane, the twin gears that made his cutie-mark…

    “Widget?!?” the mare cried, but the stallion ignored it.

    “We’re too exposed out here. C’mon, sis, follow me!” the older stallion instructed, and leapt down the road with supernatural speed.

    “B-but you’re… you’re dead…” the mare choked, but was reminded of the immediacy of her situation when the Imp let out a bone-rattling shriek behind her. Wasting no more time, Clockwork Key galloped down the same street she’d seen her brother haul tail down. But that was all she could see of him now, his tail. She rarely saw much more than that, just the occasional flick of his blonde tail, a hint of his deep blue coat… and the sound of his hooves.

    The roar of the Imp kept her plowing ahead, hooves churning across the broken ground. She felt clumsy and slow, especially compared to the rabbit-like speed her brother seemed to possess, enough that he would have to pause from time to time at a turn to make sure she knew which way to go. Yet she still careened into walls and slid on loose gravel, bouncing through the alley like a loose ping-pong ball, forelegs steadily getting more and more bruised and battered from the rubble that seemed intent on trying to trip her.

    “Widget?!” she cried out when she finally lost sight of him.

    “Down here!” his voice called… sort of. It sounded distorted, but she thought she could tell where it came from. She didn’t dwell on the momentary doubt that licked at her, not with the Imp all but biting her fetlocks, and bolted down the narrow alleyway. Dirty brick and concrete walls encased her in a tall, narrow valley that grew steadily more steeped in shadows as she ran. She turned another corner, slamming her shoulder into the wall as she galloped forward.

    Clockwork brought herself up short and pressed her hooves to the façade before her… a dead-end. She turned to backtrack, but the Imp crashed around the corner with enough force to knock bricks loose from the walls. It grinned predatorily at her as it began to stalk down the narrow alley, its shoulders brushing the sides of the narrow alley. Clockwork pushed herself back against the wall, whimpering in the back of her throat.

    “Widget… p-please…” she pleaded, turning her head away as the Imp leaned close, the stink of its breath washing over her face.

    What answered was at once familiar and welcome; the metallic sound caused by the discharge of plasma ejectors. A cry of relief escaped her lips as the Imp staggered back several feet, raising its arms over its head as blue-white energy blasts rained down on it from above. The mare looked up to her savior, expecting to see the bulbous cobalt and bronze armour she made for her brother…

    Instead it was sleek emerald and gold armour that landed, standing protectively before her as it launched more attacks at the Imp. A quartet of blue-white wings flared over its back, fluttering occasionally to maintain its balance as it continued to pepper the Imp before her. Finally, a squeal of metal indicated the revelation of its ultimate weapon, and from the draconic “mouth” of the helm fired a beam so intensely bright that Clockwork had to shield her eyes.

    When the mare lowered her hooves all that remained of the Imp was a scorch mark on the far wall. The mechanical mare closed its jaw and turned to regard Clockwork, a small bit of smoke wafting from its now closed mouth. The draconic shaped helm mounted atop the light angular suit of power armour regarded her evenly with glowing blue-white eyes… the Dragonfly Mark III, her armour.

    “You’re safe,” the suit told her, its voice oddly sounding like her brother’s. “I will always keep you safe…”

    “But… But…I created…”

    “You created me for a purpose,” the suit answered her, “now let me fulfill the purpose you created me for…

    “Let me protect you.”

    Clockwork jerked awake, her eyes flashing open in the darkness of the night, and her heart pounding in her ears. She took a moment to remind herself where she was, that she was in the guest bedroom of Twist & Apple Bloom’s home, and not some weird post-apocalyptic version of Canterlot.

    Slowly she turned her head, her eyes searching and finding the item she insisted Apple Bloom allow her to retrieve. Externally it looked like a metal slab, but Clockwork knew better. It was the deployment sled for remote assembly of her Dragonfly armour.

    Its single blue-white sensor stared back at her like an ever-watchful eye.

    Filigree started at the voice over the comm.

    “Repeat, please?” she asked in a low voice. “I must have dozed off.”

    “Is okay, ya?” Skillet answered over the headset. “The good news is that Flourish was able to find and recover a majority of your family. Spectrum is on the edge of killing them herself, she say, but they are safe. They also recover Princess’ chariot, only slightly dinged up.”

    “What’s the bad news?”

    “According to a special gryphon that Flourish managed to… question before he escape, he say your older sister was pulled aside.” The stallion sighed, “apparently she catch eye of some Prince, ya?”

    “Understood,” Filigree answered, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. “I know where the Prince will be. Tell Flourish to meet me where she left me when she’s ready. It’s time to leave.”

    “Give her a few moments,” Spectrum interrupted, “the fight with that special gryphon took more out of her than she’ll admit.”

    “Understood. How is my family?” Filigree asked.

    “I’d like to think that I’m a patient mare, Filigree, but they’re really pushing me. Between your father trying to order everypony around, your mother’s hysterics, and youngest constantly barraging me with questions… I’m nearing my wit’s end. Is it any wonder I jumped at the chance to get out of here to recover the chariot when Flourish finally found it?” the mare answered. “You have no idea how much I want to dump them on Flourish and come help you out.”

    “If they’re taxing you that much, think of how well Flourish would handle it,” Filigree deadpanned.

    “HAY!!” Flourish cried indignantly.

    “Good point,” Spectrum groaned.

    Filigree paused as she heard someone approaching. “Company’s coming. If it’s who I think it is, the party is about to start. Flourish, get your flank here as soon as you can, or you’ll miss all the action.”

    Filigree ignored the acknowledgements as she turned to face the doorway. She could see the morning sun casting a small arc of sunlight on her cell floor, undeniable proof of the day. The day her promise was to be acted upon.

    “It’s time, Filigree!” the gryphon called in an excited voice, almost sing-song like as he strutted through the doorway.

    “I didn’t know you were part songbird, Alto,” Filigree replied flatly as she looked at the snow white gryphon.

    “Yes well, I’m sure by tonight we will both be singing,” he offered with a lecherous smile. The smile suddenly froze on his face, and his eyes flicked over the room as they searched for…

    “Where’s Verdigris?” he asked softly, his amber eyes lifting to meet her blue ones. They widened in shock when the supposedly helpless gryphoness reached up and gripped her collar with a claw, and with a metallic ping that echoed about the room, she pulled it free of her neck.

    “I’m done playing possum, Alto,” she said, her eyes never leaving his, even as she jerked her left foreleg. The chains gave a musical series of pings as they snapped free, followed by another ping as she tore the shackle off her wrist. “The King gave me no choice about what he would do with me. But there is one thing the ponies have taught me…” Another series of pings echoed about the chamber as she tore her other foreleg loose and stripped off the cuff. “…there are always other choices, if you’re willing to make them.”

    Alto’s face warred between fury and fear as he watched the gryphon he fought to possess simply break free from her imprisonment like so much tissue paper. Her wings turned metallic with a thought, and she used them to sever the chains on her rear legs before cutting free the final shackles.

    “You’re not going to abandon me… you’re promised!” he cried.

    “I am not the King’s vassal,” she answered calmly. “He has no authority to promise me to any pony or gryphon.”

    “You are not going to abandon me!” he shouted again, his voice trembling with an odd strength.

    Filigree ignored the statement and strode towards the snow white gryphon. “I recommend you move, or I will move you. Given my frame of mind right now, I highly recommend taking the former, because I will take far too much enjoyment in the latter.”

    “I said…” Alto growled, and a strange reverberation filled the room that caught Filigree’s attention, “NO!!”

    The last word echoed with power and slammed into Filigree like a runaway chariot, sending her cart-wheeling back into the room with a squawk. Her claws caught the dais, tearing a furrow through it, as she stopped and righted herself. Her eyes narrowed at Alto.

    “So, you’re a special too,” she stated, watching his chest heave with exaggerated breaths.

    “Damn you…  I was going to tell you my secret!” he shouted, the stones of the room rumbled warningly in response. “But no, you had to push me! We could have been so much together…”

    “You were trying to force me into a mating I did not want,” the gryphoness answered evenly. “And now, I’m going to tell you a second time. Move or be moved…”

    Alto frowned at his “beloved” and gritted his beak. He could hear the guards clambering up the stairs behind him, his secret would be at risk if he unleashed on her now! But he could not let her get away, not after coming so close! He could not let his brother win! He took another deep breath, and gave a wordless shout.

    Filigree sidestepped, her wings arcing before her protectively. Very little of the shockwave struck her, but instead it slammed into and through the wall beside her. She smiled knowingly and dove forward, ducking down as she heard him shout again, feeling the powerful vibrations pass harmlessly over her back. She then swooped up with a claw, striking him from below like a snake to force his head upwards toward the ceiling. Her claws dug into his neck, instincts and training screaming at her to close her talons and remove him from this mortal coil…

    “I am my own gryphon,” she told herself as much as Alto, who gasped and struggled against her grasp, his claws scrabbling at her foreleg in desperation. She tightened her grip on his windpipe, not wanting him to shout and bring the ceiling down on her head. “That means, when I say no, I mean no. You’ve lost far more than my promise today, Alto. You’ve lost my respect, my trust… and your rights as a gryphon in these lands. These guards have witnessed your ability. I only spare your life out of love for your family… I will not be so lenient the next time we meet.”

    With a growl, she hurled the gryphon over her shoulder and back into the room. She heard him tumble onto the dais she’d spent the last few days upon, but couldn’t be bothered to spare him a second glance. He was beaten. Instead she fixed the guards on the stairs with a glare from her blazing blue eyes…

    The guards turned and fled for their lives.

    “Mornin’ Sugah!”

    Clockwork mumbled something that might have been mistaken for “good morning” had her mouth been filled with marbles, and staggered to the table.

    “Didn’ sleep well?”

    “Kept havin’ weird dreams,” the khaki mare managed to say before yawning widely. “I gotta lay off those sci-fi novels I think, I really don’t think it’d be as much fun to live in the Equestrian Wastleand as it is to read about other ponies doing it.”

    “Yeah, I know the feeling. I don’t think I’d have the guts to survive in an Equestria without Celestia’s Sun,” Twist agreed as she trotted in, pausing to give Apple Bloom a kiss before settling down at the kitchen table. Apple Bloom, for her part, was behind a freestanding countertop stove, where she was making up a stack of pancakes.

    “Oh? You read the series?” Clockwork asked, sitting up a bit.

    “Oh sure,” Twist answered with a wave of her hoof. “But the spin-offs have gotten so numerous I can’t keep up. I’m just sticking to the main storyline and a couple of the better reviewed side stories.”

    Clockwork nodded and gave a slight chuckle, “Yeah, some of those spin-offs are just a little off the rails, aren’t they? I actually considered trying to write my own fan-fiction but… well, all this happened.”

    “Don’ fret none about it Sugah,” Apple Bloom teased, putting a stack of pancakes before each of the mares, “we won’ think any less of ya’ for it.”

    Clockwork gave the elder mare a playful glare before drowning her pancakes in syrup. “Yeah yeah, you don’t tease me about my nerdy pastimes and I won’t tease you about your ratty old cowpony hat…”

    “What’s wrong with my hat?!” Apple Bloom cried, yanking it off her head to examine it…

    Twist groaned and pointed a fork accusingly at Clockwork, “You had to get her started!”

    “This here hat is an heirloom!” Apple Bloom insisted, waving her forelegs insistently…

    Clockwork grumbled something and stuffed a forkful of pancakes into her mouth. Her face lit up and she managed between bites, “Holy wow, these are good! You’ve got share this recipe with Skillet!”

    “’T’was my sisters, and her momma’s before her, and Granny Smith’s, and her momma’s…” Apple Bloom continued, cupping her chin thoughtfully as she tried to remember all the relatives the hat once belonged to…

    “Give it up, you’ve lost her,” Twist sighed, “she’ll be ranting for hours.”

    “Ya’ll c’n even see where a manticore done nicked in when…” Apple Bloom ranted, showing off a sewn-up tear on the hat…

    Clockwork chuckled, “Heck of a way to start the day, breakfast and a show. Still, at least the food is good.”

    “I’ll have you know that this here hat survived the attack of Ponyville!” Apple Bloom cried, standing on her rear legs. She never saw the white suited mare behind her…

    “Well yes,” Twist answered, “Bloom does all the real cooking.”

    “An’ you can’t forget th--” Apple Bloom started, but found her argument interrupted by a foreleg tightening about her neck….

    “Why is that anyway? You seem to be the one more inclined for cooking and the like, no offense,” Clockwork asked curiously, before stuffing another fork full of pancakes in her mouth.

    “… ack!” Apple Bloom tried, flailing her forelegs as she struggled to find purchase, but the suited mare had the element of surprise, and used her other foreleg to pin one of Apple Bloom’s behind her…

    “Because I spend all my time baking sweets,” Twist shrugged, “so by the time I‘m off work I am sick to death of standing in front of an oven. I love my job, don’t get me wrong, but even I need a break.”

    Apple Bloom made a soft choking sound as she twisted her head, gasping for a small measure of breath, her free foreleg swinging wildly back at the unknown mare…

    “I suppose that makes sense,” Clockwork considered.

    Apple Bloom twisted again, wrenching the white suited mare about, trying to twist herself free, but the unknown mare braced herself against the cabinets to force her back…

    “That and I mostly know how to bake sweets, not ‘real’ food. I don’t care how much the old mail-mare loved them when I was a foal, muffins do not make good breakfast,” Twist said, smiling warmly as she took bite.

    The unknown mare tried to yank Apple Bloom down to the floor and out of sight, but Apple Bloom braced herself and refused to be dropped, even as her face turned red from lack of air…

    “So she makes the hearty breakfasts and dinners, and you handle the sugary sweets in between?” Clockwork asked.

    A buck of her foreleg back into the unknown mare’s midsection allowed Apple Bloom an all too brief gasp of air, but the suited mare caught her neck again before the elder pony could call out...

    “Yup,” Twist answered with a smile, “and I tend to be sick of sweet stuff by the time dinner rolls around. I just want something hearty and filling.”

    “Yeah, I could see where--” the small mare started to say, only to drop her fork in shock as the silent struggle between Apple Bloom and the unknown mare came to her awareness. The suited mare eyed them defiantly…

    Had this been any other household, there might have been some screaming. But Twist, who was mated to Apple Bloom, who herself was arguably the leader of the Crusaders, reacted by twisting out of her chair and hurling it at the strange mare. The unknown mare dropped out of the way, and Apple Bloom collapsed, leaving the chair to crash through the second story window and down to the street below.

    Clockwork dashed forward, and the white mare braced to meet her. But rather than attack, she reached out and slammed a hoof on the handle of the skillet Apple Bloom had been cooking with, flinging the contents and hot pan at her. The mare ducked out of the way as Clockwork pushed past to help Apple Bloom recover.

    “Buckin’ ninja,” Apple Bloom croaked, rubbing at her neck, “I went easy on ya last time!”

    The suited mare cantered to the side, but Clockwork could only duck as Apple Bloom used the counter to launch herself over the short mare, lashing out in mid-air with one of her rear hooves. With far less room to maneuver than there had been at Scootaloo’s home, the strange mare opted for pulling open a cabinet door to block the strike.

    Clockwork dashed about the other end of the counter, heading for her room. “I’m getting the heavy artillery!” she called to Twist as she dashed past, earning a brief glance from the unknown mare. The tight quarters forced the combatants into a strange back and forth that used everything at hoof to block, strike, and counter with. Twist shrieked from time to time about the fine china, but Clockwork barely noticed as she leapt onto her deployment sled.

    “Come on…” Clockwork fussed as the plates started to fit about her, the familiar scent of rubberized covers and oiled machinery touching her nose. Another cry reached her, this time she was sure it was Apple Bloom, and she fidgeted while her armour was assembled about her.

    A thrum of power ran through the armour, and it disconnected from the sled. Clockwork turned and, with a gait that shook the floor, hurtled back into the kitchen. The situation had hardly changed since she left, save that Twist seemed to be adding the occasional flung plate at the unknown assailant. Apple Bloom was limping, but the unknown mare seemed completely unharmed.

    “Round two!” Clockwork bellowed, and the suited mare’s head jerked up. There was a brief moment of surprise on her face, and then she twisted, pulling Apple Bloom before her. She bucked the off balanced Apple Bloom right back into Clockwork, who used the armour to catch her friend, while the suited mare leapt out the broken window.

    Clockwork activated her wings and dove out of the broken window, but saw… nothing. Just a normal street full of ponies, some of which had been investigating the fallen chair in the middle of the lane, all of whom now turned to regard the metallic pony hovering in mid-air. Clockwork ignored them, turning her sensors up to maximum, trying to find her target…

    She hovered back into the window moments later, trying not to damage their floor as she landed.

    “No luck?” Twist asked. She steadied Apple Bloom, who was favoring one of her rear legs.

    “Nothing,” she answered, “it’s like she just vanished into thin air.”

    “Only a ninja would innerrupt breakfast!”Apple Bloom spat.

    Wham!

    The gryphons standing guard outside the double doors frowned at the sound. It sounded so close this time, just beyond the locked doors they were guarding. A nervous glance passed between them, and one shifted his grip on the haft of his spear.

    WHAM!

    The door buckled with the sound, and the pair jumped. Both turned to face the door, and backed slowly away, leveling their spears at it.

    WHAM!

    The doors were flung open so hard they slammed into the wall on each side, and through the opening flew a gryphon. It took a moment for the pair of guards to recognize one of their fellow guards, even as he crashed to the ground and rolled to a stop at the pair’s claws. He was unconscious…

    The pair gulped and steadied their spears to point at the doorway again, and the gryphoness approaching them through it. Her blue eyes pierced the dim light to stare at each of them in turn. One of the guards tried to jab her with his spear, but the gryphoness flicked her wing and the front half of the spear was severed and landed on the ground at his claws.

    “I would recommend running,” her gravelly voice told them, and she slowly flexed a pair of metallic wings. The guards immediately recognized her, realized she must have escaped, and reconsidered their chances of taking her. Throwing their spears down, they did as instructed, fleeing as fast as their wings could carry them.

    “Impressive,” a gray unicorn noted from behind the gryphoness, “you’re getting really good at the whole intimidation schtick.”

    Filigree grunted a response as she strode forward, pausing to break the haft of the still intact spear, before striding into the Archduke’s Roost. As she expected, the Archduke was already present, flanked by four gryphons that formed his personal guard. The remnants of her battle only a few days ago had mostly been cleared away, leaving the chamber open between them.

    “You would dare to attack me?” Archduke Silverwing demanded.

    “I am relieving you of the responsibility of caring for my family,” Filigree answered, keeping her voice even. “The Prince is holding my sister. If she is returned, I will leave with no further incident.”

    “You are in no position to make demands,” he hissed, and the quartet of gryphons protecting him widened their stances. Unlike the majority of gryphons they had met, these were wearing a style of armour that consisted of solid metal arcs and plates, which included more protection over the forelegs and upper chest. Further, they were each equipped with the Archduke’s preferred weapon, a slender and quick sword.

    “Do you think your elite guard can stop me?” Filigree asked simply.

    “Let’s find out.”

    The words were barely out of the Archduke’s beak when the quartet surged forward, acting as one. An explosion of pink between two of them interrupted their lunge, especially when she braced herself between them. With two distracted, the remainder drew and slashed at Filigree in one smooth motion. The gryphoness blocked with her metal wings, letting the blades skitter harmlessly across their surface.

    “So be it,” Filigree answered, and pushed forward to get inside one gryphon’s sword range. She brought the leading edge of her wing up under his foreleg with enough force to knock the blade from his grip and dent the foreleg guard designed to prevent exactly such an attack.

    Flourish whooped and bounced between the two gryphons she was distracting. “All right, some action!” the mare cried, and she thumped one of the gryphons over his head. The other was certain of his strike, and thrust at his compatriot’s new “hat”… only to stare in surprise as the mare blocked it with a sword of her own, a glowing blade that emanated from her horn. “En garde, flyboy…”

    Filigree hefted the disarmed guard and flung it at his partner, who wisely ducked under his hurled compatriot to make a lunging strike at Filigree, only to find his blade deflected by the gryphon’s metal wing again. She stepped in on him, grasping his foreleg with both of her claws, and pulled sharply. A loud crackling sound accompanied his impact with the floor.

    Flourish laughed as she twirled, deflecting both the guard’s swords with her own, before she flicked her head to throw their blades high. The pair sliced their swords in a downward arc where she had been, but only succeeded in slicing through a pink cloud. One of the duo suddenly let out a squawk and fell unconscious to the floor, a pair of hoof-prints now adorning the back of his head. Flourish grinned at the remaining gryphon, crossing her forelegs and seemingly relaxed as the guard leapt forward to attack. The gryphon launched into a series of thrusts and feints to press his attack, which Flourish deflected with an air of detached boredom. A boredom that lasted right up until a claw wrapped about his throat from behind and a pair of steel wings slammed into the sides of his head, knocking him out cold.

    “Awwww, I was having fun…” Flourish complained as the gryphoness dropped the senseless guard. Rather than answer, Filigree turned to face the Arch-duke.

    “I see,” Silverwing intoned, and stood up from the throne. With a single smooth motion, the sword he carried was free of the scabbard, the tip pointed towards Filigree. His frailty seemed to melt away as he slipped into a comfortable battle stance.

    “Flourish, find my sister,” Filigree ordered the mare.

     “But I wanted to see how good the geezer was!” Flourish complained.

    Silverwing puffed his chest feathers and boasted, “I will still be standing when you return,”

    “Flourish…” Filigree warned.

    “Right, I’m on it…” the mare answered, and vanished in a puff of smoke.

    “You fought my apprentices, now face the Master!” the elder gryphon cried, and lunged forward…

    The sound of steel on steel rang through the halls of the Archduke’s roost, as Silverwing’s sword was deflected time and again by Filigree’s steel wings. The gryphoness didn’t give any ground, even though the elder pressed her, her body shifting smoothly and naturally to counter his every thrust. She leaned into one strike, forcing it to go high, and struck out with her claws, staggering the Archduke. She spun and fanned her wings in anticipation of his riposte, which was pushed wide from the motion.

    She stepped inside his next blow, catching his foreleg with a claw and forcing him off balance, twisting to the side to throw him to the floor. He rolled quickly with the motion, but Filigree kept up the pressure, refusing to give him the range his sword required, using her wings and claws to batter his forelegs, continually knocking his blade out of position.

    With a frustrated cry, the Archduke flapped his wings and pushed himself away from Filigree, gaining enough distance for a deadly lunge… which Filigree sidestepped and caught the Archduke by his throat. She pulled him up and over herself, forcing his body to curl, before slamming him harshly to the ground, knocking the wind from him. Both her wings arched forward, slamming down into his chest to pin him, the upper edges cupping up under his beak as she disarmed him.

    “You… you…” Silverwing stammered, gawking at the gryphoness. Finally he composed himself and growled, “End it already, you’ve won.”

    “That was too easy,” Filigree stated softly.

    “You seek to insult me?!”

    “No, I speak simply,” the gryphoness answered, frowning. “That was far easier than it should have been. You are a Master of the light blade, and the only known Master still living. You should have been able to at least press me, put me on the defensive. I intended to simply defend until Flourish could return with my sister and we could withdraw. Instead, I was able to read your every move…”

    “Who trained you?” the Archduke demanded.

    “I don’t know,” she responded, “the Prince handed my training…”

    “That I did,” a new voice crowed, drawing the attention of Filigree and the Archduke. From their position, the pair could see Flourish backing up warily, ahead of the corpulent figure of the Prince as he stalked forward. His claw held a gleaming bronze dagger to the throat of Filigree’s elder sister. “Well? What are you waiting for, slave? Finish him!”

    Filigree looked down at the Archduke for a moment. She pulled back, lifting her wings off his chest and allowing him to stand. She kept his sword though…

    “I’m disappointed, slave,” Prince Silverthorn mocked, his usually conciliatory expression lost amidst a sneer of hate and rage.

    “If you want it done, you can do it yourself,” Filigree stated simply.

    “That’s not part of the deal,” the Prince answered with a dark grin. “As you can see, I have someone here who only gets to live if my father dies.”

    “You would stoop to such cowardice--?!” the Archduke roared.

    Silverthorn rolled his eyes. “Oh shut it, you senile old buzzard. You always said one must play to their strengths, and my strength is making every gryphon underestimates me. You think I don’t hear what you and others say? I’m just the fat worthless son of the Archduke. I won’t ever have the stones to challenge my father. I’m not smart enough to take my father’s place. Meanwhile, I hired Thorn behind your back to train every last guard I have… Oh yes, Father, I see you recognize of THAT name.”

    The Archduke’s beak fell slack as he stared at his son. “Y-you… hired that… that outcast to…”

    “An outcast who knows how to best you, Father,” the Prince answered with a less than friendly grin. “And he trained every last guard I have so that they would know every weakness of your much vaunted style. The light blade is worthless, and even the King has agreed. You see less students every year… did you ever wonder why? Because the ‘tradition’ you cling to is nothing but a weakness! A single slave was able to defeat you with barely any effort. And now… she is going to kill you, else her sister dies at my claw.”

    “You would bloody my claws to do your deed?” Filigree asked simply.

    “Better your claws than mine,” the Prince chuckled. “Besides, once my father is dead, the King will have another reason for war with your precious kingdom. Princess Celestia will be harboring a fugitive, and her refusal to extradite the villain will incite even the most common gryphon into a furor.”

    “You… coward!” the Archduke screamed, and launched himself at his son. The next seconds seemed to happen in slow motion as the Prince turned, holding the helpless gryphoness as a shield, and stabbed outwards with his dagger. The shield in question froze in place, shrieking in fear. Filigree reached for the Archduke, but the elder gryphon’s speed and reflexes were remarkable, and she was left with empty claws. Flourish started, but hesitated that fatal split second before leaping forward.

    And then, it was over. The Prince’s dagger was impaled in his father’s heart. Blood poured out over the blade, the claw holding it, and across the terrified gryphoness. Flourish quickly pulled the Archduke free and laid him on the floor, dagger still impaled in his chest. The Prince blinked in shock, then began to laugh in the seconds before Flourish bucked him upside the head and pulled the helpless gryphoness free.

    “Filigree?” Flourish asked softly, the sobbing gryphoness standing at her side somewhere between shock and horror.

    Filigree looked up from her position by the Archduke before answering, “Take her to the rest of my family and tell Spectrum it’s time to leave. Come back for me…” The mare nodded, and with an explosion of pink smoke, vanished with the gryphoness that was Filigree’s elder sister.

    “G-guess my time’s up,” the old gryphon rasped, drawing Filigree’s gaze back to him.

    “Can your healers be summoned in time?” she asked softly, clasping his claw within her own.

    “Far too late… late for that,” he rasped. “My boy, is he…?”

    “Unconscious. He’ll have a hell of a headache, but he still lives.”

    “Drat, was hopin’… no matter, I know you aren’t the type to… to…”

    Filigree shook her head. “No, I won’t kill him, especially not while he lies helpless.”

    “Th’ boy wasted… wasted your talents…. F-fer what its worth… tell Celestia I… I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop him… he’s power mad.”

    “You mean the king?”

    He nodded weakly. “He’s… mad. High on… power. He’ll do… anything…”

    “I’ll tell her. I’m sorry you won’t get the chance yourself.”

    “I... I doubt she’d come… for…”

    The old gryphon’s breath rattled through his beak for the last time. Filigree slowly released her grip on his claw, folding it across his chest before reaching up to close his eyes. She lifted herself from her crouch by his side, her gaze resting on the prostrate form for one last time.

    “You… you killed him!” a gryphon cried, and she looked up and into the eyes of one of the elite guard she had disabled earlier. She watched him calmly as he unsteadily attempted to stand and find a sword to brandish against her.

    An explosion of air behind her announced the arrival of her teammate.

    “Did he…?” Flourish asked softly.

    “He did,” Filigree answered softly. “Let us depart before the guard tries for another round.”

    The pair vanished in an explosion of pink.

    “You summoned me, my Prince?”

    “Yes, I did,” the voice rumbled about the mostly darkened room. “The wheels are in motion, my boy. It’s time to collect the stragglers.”

    The zebra wrinkled his nose slightly, but didn’t show any other sign of his annoyance at the cryptic information. Instead he smoothed his black mane into place, straightened his tie, and tugged on the lapels of his suit jacket. “What must I do?” he asked.

    “That’s the question, isn’t it?” the voice responded. “Chaos is such a fascinating thing, but no matter how hard one tries, there must always be a small bit of order to it or it devolves into complete anarchy and self destructs.”

    “Conversely, pure order must be infused with a small bit of chaos, else it will only result in stagnation,” the zebra added.

    “Excellent, you have been listening to my ramblings,” the voice chuckled from amidst the shadows. “A pattern amidst the chaos is revealing itself to me, my boy. Far to the north, you will find a mare making life difficult in the Unregistered Colonies for the Cursaders. She wears a white suit with a zero imprinted on her flank. You will recruit her for the team.”

    “This may cause a problem with the virulent anti-mare views of another recruit…”

    “You will find the evidence you need to handle that argument while you’re up north,” the voice chuckled, causing the zebra to shake his head. “Do not go there the ‘easy’ way.”

    The zebra frowned. “You wish me to walk?”

    “Yes,” the answer came all too quickly for the zebra’s tastes. “No, you may not ask why, because I’m going to tell you. There’s a good chance that you’ll meet a gryphon along the route. He’ll be desperate, scared, and probably hungry. He will be easy to recruit, simply reference Princess Celestia’s team of mares, and bring him here. He will be a powerful asset to the team.”

    “We seem to be recruiting a great deal of opposition to them, my Prince.”

    “It cannot be helped,” the voice answered from the darkened room. “The argument is a useful tool, and I expect you to make full use of it. Once you have recruited the gryphon and brought him back here, you may use your powers to meet Zilch in the northern reaches.”

    “Zilch would be the suited mare?”

    “That’s correct,” the voice answered.

    “I would like to voice a word of concern about the Professor…” the zebra noted.

    “Relax, Kaos,” the voice chided gently, “he will fulfill his role when the time comes.”

    The zebra frowned, but gave a curt nod. “Very well then...”

    “The ball is in play, my student,” the voice continued, “and events are picking up speed. The puzzle pieces are lining up, but we must make the puzzle fit the pieces, not the other way around. I know you cannot fathom everything I am doing, but I promise that all will be revealed in time. We must not fail.”

    “As you wish.”

    “Oh, and Kaos?”

    “Yes, my Prince?”

    “Do try to relax some,” the voice teased.

    The zebra gave a lopsided smile and said, “As you wish, my Prince.” With that, he turned sharply on a hoof and trotted out of the darkened room, closing the heavy door behind him. The lock settled into place as it shut, locking the Prince in, as per his instructions, before he continued into the rather empty base of operations. It would fill soon, the Prince had assured him, but right now the abandoned gryphon aerie felt dead and hollow to him. He paused in his musings, looking up one hallway, lit by a number of lights in stark contrast to the rest of the caves. A number of cables and lamps had been hung along it, the red and yellow cords sharply contrasting with the drab gray stones. The zebra followed them, knowing where they would lead, but curious despite himself.

    The large chamber they led to had once been a series of smaller chambers, but Professor Bunsen Burner had taken one of his machines and destroyed all the intermediate walls, opening a large room suitable for his purposes. Lights were hung haphazardly about the stone chamber, with the brightest focused like a spotlight over the centerpiece of the Professor’s work, which was connected to a dozen computers via heavy cables and wires.

    And what a centerpiece it was; a massive pile of robotic armour that would act as a power suit for the unicorn. It was easily thrice the size of a pony, with heavy ablative plating and pistons forming much of the forward structure. It was obviously designed for strength and power, with a barrel like torso and almost comically oversized forelegs than ended in massive feline paws. The latter half of the torso was more slender, making it harder to target in a fight, and also served as an anchor for the scorpion-like tail that arched over its back, the tip of which was outfitted with a weapon of sorts the zebra was unable to identify at a glance. A leonine helm completed the suit for the golden and burnt orange colored armour, cementing the image of a wingless manticore.

    “It iz a beauty, iz it not?” the Professor asked from the side, drawing the zebra’s gaze to the warm orange unicorn with a streaked white mane and tail.

    The zebra looked back to the powersuit again before giving a short nod, “Most impressive, Professor.”

    “I’ve outfitted ze tail and ze helm with flamthrowerz,” the orange unicorn continued in a heavily accented voice, “and ze wings, zey are retractable az well. Combined with ze jet-pack, zhe is faster zen zhe looks.”

    “Does it do what you wish it to?” the zebra asked simply, and the unicorn’s smile vanished.

    “Not yet,” he answered truthfully, “it iz not ready for ze Dragonfly. Zoon, but not yet.”

    “I am sure you will be ready when we need you, Professor,” the zebra answered, and turned away.

    “How much longer do I have?” the unicorn asked worriedly.

    “You still have time, but events are speeding up. We must be ready soon,” Kaos answered as he left.

    “I will be ready.”