"When will training for the children resume?"

Mist answered,"Not soon." she took a breath,"I'm not even sure if they should."

"Why not?"

"They're kids for god sake, Soul! They shouldn't be fighting at any point of their lives anyway!"

"I feel that way too." Mist thought Soul was going to force her to resume training,"How can convince them not to fight?"

Mist was surprised,"Ummm, I don't know. They're so motivated to help defeat Garren."

"Storm, find Iril for me will you. Bring her here." Ordered Soul in a stern voice. When Iril arrived Soul said,"Dawn said you want to be a therapist, correct?

"Yes. Why?"

"You can be put your therapy skills to the test. I want you to ask the child trainees what would make them not fight. Clear?"

"Understood. Soul,"she said."You should really change your name."

"Why is that?"

"'Black Soul' doesn't reflect your real personality." Iril smiled and went on her way.

When Iril got to Lalifong, she called out one student at a time from their classes. She started with one she was more familiar with, Flake. When Flake entered the empty office she didn't expect to see her,"Oh, hey."

"Hello, Flake. I'm just going to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Flake pulled back a chair and sat down,"Any word of my dad? I haven't heard from him in ages."

"He's been busy. Well, I have more of your friends to interview, I don't want to waste time so let's get started. So, Flake, do you like being trained by Knight Mist? For a kid your age it might be hard."

"It sure is, but I like. It's a challenge. Can't have too many of those right?"

Iril chuckled,"There's a limit. What have Knight Mist and the other Knights taught you?"

"We've been doing conditioning, no combat training yet. Knight Mist promised us that she'll teach us when we resume training."

"I'm sorry, I mean what have they mentally taught you? Surely you know mental training is more important than physical, especially in combat."

"Oh, okay." a smile rose on her face,"Knight Mist and the others are great mentors. They've taught that we're fighting for the ones next to us, not ourselves. Being selfish doesn't help."

"Being a maid has taught me a lot about self sacrifice." Iril laughed. "Do you like the idea of fighting for others?"

"Of course!" she transformed her smile into a small frown,"My mother she.......died for me you see. I ran away. I don't want to run again." she sounded serious,"I don't care what Knight Mist says about not engaging Garren, when I see him, I will fight him."

"Will there be anything to stop you from going to Fallen Star? Will you stop at nothing to make sure Garren will not kill anyone else?"

"Yes ma'am. So are the others, we all have the same mind set. We train to learn to defend others."

"And do you think the others think the same way as you?"

"Not spot on. In a similar way though."

"In that case. That's all I have for you, Flake." Iril went to the door and glanced back at Flake who was looking at her,"Looks like I have some explaining to do. Listen, come to the castle later on tonight. See you there." On the way out the school she thought, "I hope my judgement off of one talk will suffice."

Later on that night, Flake arrived at the castle. It was quiet, she must've thought they were in the great hall. No pony was there. She checked the dining hall, the ballroom, the magic towers, still no signs. She called out,"Anypony here?" No answer. On her way out, she forgot to check the garden. When she went to the garden she saw Kishi staring at her. Although trembling, she trotted to him. She could feel his gravitational powers weighing her down. When she was about only a foot away from Kishi he bowed. She bowed. "Do you know where everypony went?" Kishi didn't answer vocally. Kishi turned and set his wing on the ground. Flake hopped on and he flew. He was headed to the Everfree Forest. He flew over some construction, it looked like it would be a castle. Flake saw Dawn waiting in the front. When Kishi landed, Dawn greeted her sister with a hug.

"Come on. Knight Black Soul wants to speak with you." Dawn ran inside and Flake followed. Knight Black Soul was with the RAK and the princesses. Flake straightened herself expecting to get ordered around, instead Soul said to her in a sweet voice,"What're you doing? You can relax." Flake still was firm,"It's not a test." Soul cut her long black mane, it was short now."Flake." She was acting as if she was her mother,"Flake act normal."

Flake loosened up,"You look pretty!"

"Thank you, Randall did it. I'm sure you're wondering why you're here. It's your birthday!"

"I...I forgot my own birthday."

"Yes, and Dawn doesn't remember hers at all. So she decided that she would have her birthday today as well. So today, both of you are 16. We went to your mothers house and found out about family you had and today...." Flake saw unfamiliar ponies coming from the right,"they came to see you."

After Flake got a bit familiar with her family,mthey asked if she wanted to go back south with them. She denied her answer was,"This is my home."

Back at the castle, Fyn just woke up from a nap. She yawned,"I wonder where everypony went. Whatever, I can just stroll around." And that she did until got curious. She went to Princess Celestia's bedroom. It was dark, and there was an eerie presence and odd smell. Inches away from the door she heard

"Fyn..."

"Who's there?" she shouted to the shadows.

"Help me...," Fyn saw blood coming from one of the corners of the bed. She back up against the wall, then slowly moved left. The more she progressed left, the more she saw a maimed body. It was Shadow. He kept on crying,"Help me."

Fyn being herself, she forgot the fact that he betrayed them and helped him,"Shadow, hold on!" She went over him,"Where's your wound?!" She looked at his body, saw wounds on his neck and stomach,"This might hurt, I have to move you over to the center of the room." She dragged him as fast as she could to the foot of the bed. She turned him on his back, she looked at his neck and grabbed some sheets. She tore some pieces off and used it to stop the bleeding. She had to stop the bleeding from his stomach too, she did the same thing."Shadow, I need to cauterize the wounds." She was panicking a little but not enough to affect her actions. She used her magic to seal his wounds. There's was still blood coming out, she patched it.

When Shadow woke up, he saw Dawn sleeping at his side and Black Soul staring him down.

"Why'd you come back? That's very foolish of you." Soul was angry.

He was weak and couldn't speak easily,"I'm sorry, it was the only way I could get more........information without getting any of you hurt."

"Why did you strike me?"

"Lacoden is talented in defensive magic. One way she defends herself is by detecting lies that can potentially harm her. She tasted your blood from the blade, and knew you were injured."

Soul pulled out a hoof-sword,"Isn't that far-fetched?"

"Not as much*cough* as this. We have to move everyone from here, east. Garren is planning on invading."

"We can end the war here."

"No!" Shadow sprang up then went back down. His body hurt,"They will cause more damage here than Fallen Star."

"'They'?"

"Banshees and Amaroks. please, I know enough*cough* to keep us safe."

"Considering the fact Fyn found you with critical injuries, I may as well and observe your actions. That doesn't mean I trust, I will have steel aimed at you at all times. When Iril heard about you she came running, at least try to be her father. I will fetch her and her family."

"Her family? Soul you can't do that, they-"

"She wants to see you, I will not stop her." Soul went out the room.

Shadow tried to get up, it just hurt him more. He shook Dawn,"Hey, wake up!" She slowly opened her eyes,"Dawn, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what" she yawned,"is it?"

"Don't let Flake's family come inside this room, don't let them see me. I only want Flake here besides you, that's it. Be fast!" Dawn jumped up angrily, she stormed off. When she returned with Flake amd Soul she said,"Now can we talk?"

"Dawn, I didn't say Soul. Whatever I guess she needs to know anyways." He looked at Flake,"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving. I want the both of you to listen very carefully. Close the door please." Dawn shut the door.

"This better be important." She said.

"Okay. Even though I'm in a lot of pain, I will use my strength to get this information to you. Cerberus is not at the gates of the underworld, he's here on the surface."

"How come no creatures have appeared then?" Dawn asked like she was suspecting her own father of lying.

"I don't know and you're wrong two creatures did come out. Amaroks and Banshees. Soul the Banshees are extremely dangerous."

"We can take them. We aren't weak flyers."

"No! You haven't seen these....things. I've dealt with them myself twice, once when I got them out and another in the way back here. A Banshee did this to me. They are fast and strong."

"How strong?" Soul asked sarcastically.

"They can fly the jet stream." Soul's eyes widened,"They can fly where only dragons are known to. You know how strong they are now?"

Flake asked,"Jet stream, what's that?"

"Strong winds that flow around 32,000 feet in the sky." Soul asked again but in a more serious way,"How do we kill them?"

"We don't, Excaelum and the other dragons are the only ones that I know, that could. I do know how to evade them. In order to kill their prey, they let out a terrible screech to kill its ability to hear. That's when they dive down with sharp talons. They put all their weight into their talons to break their prey' spinal structure, immobilizing it. My advice, don't fly at all, or dive straight down when you hear a screech. When you go the same direction as they do their strength is cut in half."

"You mentioned Amaroks, are they another aerial predator?"

"No. I consider them more dangerous due to the fact that two-thirds of the population are unicorns and earth ponies. I observed them. They aren't big. But if you piss them off, you're gonna wish it was bigger so it can kill you instantly. They take time to kill. The venom that comes out of their hollow claws induces horrible side-effects. I saw some Changelings get affected by it and I felt bad for them. They are vomiting, fever, hallucination, and screaming."

"Just like Lacoden's uncle." Dawn mumbled.

"Wait, Dawn, how do you remember?"

"Lord Chronin gave my memories back." Dawn sighed and turned to the door and trotted out the door slowly. She shut the door behind her softly on the way out.

"Flake, can you make sure she's okay for me?" Shadow asked worriedly.

Flake answered,"Okay."

When she left the room Soul asked Shadow,"Earlier. Why did you say not to have her family see you?"

Shadow met her eyes and said in a sad voice,"They're dead." Soul opened her mouth read y to speak,"Don't say anything. I want you to have 'them' go to the garden. This is something you have to see for yourself. I want Dawn, the RAK, and the princesses, and anypony we can trust there as well. When you get them there, come back for me and help me get there too. When I'm there, you will see who they really are." When Soul returned,"Are they in the garden?"

"This better be good." she replied with an angry grin.

"It's not. Come on, help me please." Soul pulled him up, still not trusting him Soul didn't care if he fell. "Thank you." he gratefully sighed.

The garden was far for Shadow in his condition. He muscled his way there as much as he can. When he got to the doorway leading to the garden, he saw the RAK staring him down fiercely. They were on his left and right. He looked straight ahead. He saw Flake with her family. Hostile looks appeared on the faces of her family, their coats darkened. Their manes shortened. Their entire appearance changed. They were Changelings. Frightened Flake shouted for help, but when the others went toward her the Changelings grabbed hold of her,"Any closer and she will die." one Changeling cried.

"Shadow this is your punishment for betraying Garren and Lacoden." Their bodies lit up brightly.

Shadow mumbled weakly,"Flare.......," his incantation was too weak, he shouted at the top of his lungs,"FLARE!" He shot toward the Changelings with a white trail behind him and snatched Flake from their weak hooves, he flew straight up. His stitches ripped and he started to bleed. He looked down at the 4 Changelings, they looked up at Shaodw and Flake, yelled, then exploded. The shockwave shook the ground below the princesses hooves, and forced Shadow back a little. He descended slowly. He was being cautious because he didn't want to drop Flake. When they made contact with the cratered ground Shadow collapsed. Flake came out from under his wings and shook him. Fyn rushed over and redid his bandages and stitches on the spot.

"What happened?!" Storm shouted.

"They exploded!" Lancer cried.

Knight Black Soul ordered in a thundering voice,"All of you! Go around and see if there are any more of them around the castle! Go now!"

Two hours later

"Knight Soul, there are three suspicious characters located near Dawn's house." Flood said.

"Changelings?"

"Possibly, ma'am."

"Good work. Get me Shadow."

"Ma'am, he's too weak to move."

"I don't care, those suspects might be dangerous and Shadow knew what would happen to those Changelings. I would rather risk one life over more. Now follow your orders and get me Shadow." she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." Flood flew off.

One hour later

"Shadow, anything wrong with those three?" Soul asked. Soul was with Shadow and Dawn. The others were waiting in the rear just in case the Changelings blew up.

"No,those three are Hybrid Changelings. From the left to right you have; Hex, Polar, and Fog. Dawn go to them and you'll see they mean no harm to you."

"To me? What about you two?"

"Trust me, they won't hurt you and as long as you're on our side. Go." Shadow scolded. He had trouble breathing.

Dawn slowly trotted toward the three Changelings. When she was only a yard away from she stopped and said in the most confident way she could,"Why are you here?"

The one with yellow eyes answered,"Are you the daughter of Starflare the Warmhearted?"

"Yes, I am. What of it?"

The three Hybrids bowed, the one with green eyes answered,"We live to serve you master."

The last one with white eyes added,"At last, we have the last member of the Star family under our protection."

Dawn was so surprised she was speechless. She looked at the three rather large Hybrids below her,"Wait, how am I your master?" They stood up,"I don't understand."

The yellow eyed one answered,"You are the last Star, as long as you live, we will follow you to the end."

"The end of what?"

"The end of our lives."

"What happens if I die first?"

"The spell keeping us from aging slowly will wear off, then our years of being alive will catch up to us. We will turn to dust." Hex said in an ominous tone.

"Master, until that day we wish to serve you." Polar said.

"You can start by telling me where you all came from."

"We came from the same place as Shadow, from Garren's army."

"And I can trust you?"

"We were only there until we found you."

"Okay. What about my father and friends? Are you going to serve them as well?"

Hex replied,"If you wish it, otherwise as long as they are in the Star family we will not listen to them."

"But my father, his lover was my mom. How can you not protect him as well?"

"He does not have Star blood running through his veins."

"You three may attract too much attention, let's move inside my house, shall we?"

Dawn hasn't stepped a hoof in her own home ever since her father left the frontier. She looked around and shouted for Flake. Flake came down the stairs and when she saw the Changelings she jumped. She was nervous seeing her sister being accompanied by Changelings, Changelings were the ones they were trained to fight after all.

"Dawn?" She asked nervously,"Is everything okay?" She scanned the three Changelings.

"I think so. These three knew my mother, and are very obedient."

"I do apologize, Master," Hex said bowing,"we haven't properly introduced ourselves to you. I am Hex."

"Polar."

"Fog."

Back outside Knight Black Soul was talking to Shadow more about Garren and his plans.

"Shadow, anything else I should be informed about."

"I had my friends at Shining Water-"

"Wait, Shining Water? Who do you know there?"

"One of my friends is captain of the Dutchcolt, and I know the one in power there."

"Tornado?"

"How'd you know?"

"He's Storm's brother."

"Well, I had him and his family evacuated to the eastern part of Equestria. You should go and stay there for the next year."

"What's happening on the western side?"

"Garren and Lacoden are going to invade and you can't stop them."

"Why not?!"

"They have weapons that can't be matched. I was with Lacoden when she was developing new weapons. He made a prototype and tested it on a ship."

"Lacoden, will this work?" Shadow asked. They were on the starboard side of the ship.mshadow was on the left side of the prototype, Lacoden on the right. This prototype was shaped like a giant crossbow. Instead of shooting arrows, it shot harpoons with devastating power. Lacoden made this possible by using Hate.

"Just wait." Lacoden was looking left to right on the horizon looking for ships. She spotted one on the right. "Wind direction, east of my position. Wind speed, climbing. Turn the weapon left, seven inches. Tilt it up four inches. Fire on my command." Shadow saw her mouth move, he read her lips."One, two, three, four, five...." she shouted,"Fire!" Shadow slammed on the button at the back of the weapon with one of his hooves. The spear shot out with so much force, it shook the entire ship and kicked up water. At first the spear looked like it was going to miss the ship, but it curved to the right. Landing a direct hit on the ships waterline. The spear exploded engulfing the entire ship in flames and a yellow glow. Within milliseconds the ship was in the abyss. The sound didn't reach Shadow until a few seconds later. The boom rang in his ears.

"Target hit, Lacoden!" One Changelings with a scope said. "Do you wish to look for any survivors?"

"There are none!" Lacoden proudly shouted.

"This weapon can be used on ground forces, buildings, and anything worthy of destroying. These long range spears. Three fins were installed on them to help guide it straight to their targets."

"How many were made?"

"Before I left to come back here, I went to the armory. I counted at least 19, my memory is fuzzy from that night. Lacoden is making more I believe."

"Anything else?"

"Not for them. My friend is making a weapon that can be carried by a single pony."

"When can we get them?"

"We have to go east. I want the civilians evacuated to the east. We can hold Lacoden at bay here."

"I won't have an evacuation ordered until I know their lives are at risk."

"Fine." Shadow saw Dust running up to him.

She shouted,"Where's my sister?!"

"She's with Lacoden." Shadow quickly answered.

Dust sat on the ground,"Is she safe?"

Shadow went by her side,"Along with Canon. I promise you, nothing will happen to Retina." Dust let out a breath of relief, fell on her back.

"Shadow," Soul scolded,"I will have Mist and her squad scout the west coast tonight. If they report anything about Lacoden and Garren I will take some action, until then I will do nothing."

One week later

Dusk. Knight Mist, Seng, Lancer, and Hail were at the outskirts of Shining Water. They were lying up against some trees. "Nothing much yet, Seng, Hail. Go to the left, maybe we'll get something there. Me and Lancer will go to the right. Let's try to get to higher ground. Remember, no flying." Mist ordered.

Seng and Hail snuck around quietly because there were a few civilians by them. This was a scouting mission so they couldn't attract any attention to themselves. Luckily, there was a rising coming straight ahead. At the top of the rise it would continue to there right and head on to the ocean. It would be a similar situation where Mist was. When they reached the ocean they had a full view of Shining Water.

"Hail, let me borrow the scope you have."

"Here you go." After he rolled it over to Seng he asked,"How long do you think we have to stay here?"

"No clue. I'm scouting the docks to see if Garren or Lacoden is there."

"Huh."

"'Huh', what?"

"Remember when Knight Black Soul was briefing us on this mission?"

"What about it?"

"She said that Lacoden had made long range weapons. Do you really think she would attack onshore when she could just do it from the ocean?"

Seng knew what he was trying to say and repositioned himself to face the ocean. He looked to the horizon,"Hail. Take a look at this."

"What is it?" Seng scooted over to let Hail use the scope. He saw a ship,"There's no pony on the deck." He moved the scope to view the helm."Do you think that's their ship?"

"Try to spot Knight Mist, maybe she's onto it."

"Alright." He saw her, looking at the same ship they just spotted."She spotted the ship, Seng. Lancer is with her. I'm going to turn my attention back to the ship." Once he did,"Shit!"

"What is it?"

"It's her, Lacoden."

"Where is she?"

"Near the bow. She has her black hood on."

"Lemme see." He sounded freaked out,"She's looking at us."

"There's no way she can see us. Not from that far."

"I am making eye contact with her, she's........smiling. She just used her magic."

"For what?" Seng didn't reply,"For what?!"

"She has a baby griffon under her hooves. She placed one on top of its head, the other under the neck.........Don't do it, Lacoden......No..no.....No!"

"She just the killed the griffon and threw the body into the water, Lancer take Seng with you back to Lalifong! Tell Hail, to come to me."

"Can we fly? She already knows we're here, ma'am."

"Fine, make sure Knight Black Soul brings reinforcements. Tell her to find us."

"Right away!" Lancer took off and met up with Seng, mist saw the both of them fly back east. Hail ran over, shoving anypony in his way to meet up with his C.O. He ran up the tree-line.

"Hail, keep an eye on that damn ship." Mist ordered.

Near midnight

"Knight Mist, there's a row boat coming to the docks."

"Who's on it?"

"Lacoden, and a few Changelings. I'm counting 3."

"Let's meet her where she docks."

"What?! I really don't want to do that."

"Neither do I. Okay, you stay here and keep an eye on me. If I gesture you over, you come."

"What happens if she attacks you?"

"It's your decision. Either you run, or you stay and fight. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

"I'm going now." Mist made her way down to the docks. Lacoden was just about to get off the row boat, Mist said,"What are you doing here?"

Lacoden walked up to her,"I came to see you."

"Are you sure it's not to kill me?"

Lacoden laughed mildly,"If I wanted to kill you I would've done it already. No, I came here for a conversation with one of the Knights."

"Why did you kill that griffon?"

"How else could I get the other two go away? I want a one on one talk with you."

"I suppose you know I'm with another one."

"He has to stay where he is."

"Where shall we talk?"

"I was thinking where he can't see us."

"And your Changelings?"

"They will remain here." Lacoden headed into the dark town with Mist behind her. She found a dim alley between two tall buildings. She continued down it until she hit the dead end. She turned around and saw that Mist was still with her. Mist heard a voice in her head,"Keep your mind your own." It sounded like Lacoden's voice, at the same time it didn't. Lacoden took her hood off.

Mist saw the full face of Lacoden for the first time. "That long mane is quite gorgeous, too bad it's on you."

"It's my pride and joy."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"How have you been lately?"

"You killed a lot of stallions I knew. Besides that, I've been normal. How has your sick mind been?"

Lacoden chuckled,"My mind isn't sick. It's just in the correct place."

"How can you be the right place?"

"How can I not? Have you ever wondered why you fight?"

"I fight to stop monsters like yourself."

"I respect that, I fight to stop monsters too."

"You should take your own life then."

"What good would that do?" She frowned,"You judge me before you even know me. You're just like the others. Calling me names. Killer, monster, sick, crazy." There was a small cracked mirror in the corner to the right. She glanced at it,"The only one that knows me.....is her. Sadly, she calls me names as well. She knows me though so that's the good thing." A small tear came from her left eye. Mist saw the tear and felt sorry for her."Believe it or not, monsters have feelings too. We laugh and cry. Hate and love. Smile and frown. All of you think I have none. One thing I can say is, once you see me," Lacoden emphasized the word,"you'll see that I can be a kind, loving, and a maturing mare."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You were similar to me as a filly. I think you're the only one that can relate to me. Left all alone with no one to watch over you. When we found someone to finally help us, we wouldn't let them go."

"How do you know that? What do you know of my life?"

"Your parents were killed for the few pounds of gold they owned. When you saw their dismembered bodies you ran out the house crying."

Mist's vision was getting blurred by tears,"How do you know this?"

"I was in Equestria for a long time after Fallen Star, of course I just stumbled upon your dwelling in the mountain village. I was intrigued by how skilled your family was even without magic. Your father, an earth pony, had the best writing. Your mother, a pegasus, fended off creatures with her smooth fighting."

"Were you watching me?"

"Not you, your village. I was looking for something."

"What was it?"

"A reason to live. Me being immortal, at the time, didn't phase me." Mist caught an important fact, Lacoden was no longer immortal. She wondered if Lacoden caught herself slipping,"What was the point in living forever if I can't live for something."

Mist looked around the dark alley for some type of weapon while trying not to look suspicious,"What made you do what you do now?"

"Just the desire to take revenge on the griffons that took my parents away from me. Mist, why do you think the princesses never do anything themselves?"

"I.......I never thought of anything of them, just protect them."

"Why? Shouldn't they be protecting you? Why do the ones you grow attached to have to die, and not theirs? No matter. I'm sure you trust them."

"You're young. You have your entire life ahead of you." Mist said softly."Leave your life of fighting and come back with me. Back to Lalifong."

"I don't want to live near the ones who left me for dead."

"They didn't leave you for dead, they thought you were already gone." A dark cloud blacked out the moonlight. Mist was talking to the dark.

"You can't defend them."

"Yes, I can. Lacoden, Dawn doesn't say it, but she wants you to be yourself again. She's still your friend."

"I am myself! And if she is still my friend, then she's a damn fool." Instead of yelling at Lacoden, Mist walked into the dark, and hugged her."What're you doing?"

"If you are like me, then you will learn when to let go."

Lacoden was sniffling quietly, trying to hide it,"I don't understand. I've killed your friends. Why are you treating me-"

"Kindly? You deserve it. Promise me something."

"What?" Lacoden was confused.

"Promise me, you will come back to the light once you're done in the dark. It doesn't have to be now, just some day. Come back." The cloud let in the moonlight, Lacoden's sniffling stopped. Lacoden pushed her self away from Mist, Mist saw her light green eyes. Mist heard the mysterious voice again,"Go away." Suddenly Lacoden started bashing her own head against the stone walls. She was screaming in pain. Mist wanted to help but the same voice kept on telling her to run. Mist couldn't help but watch.

Lacoden stopped, her head was hanging low. Her long mane covered her face. She slowly lifted her head up, her mane fell down the back of her neck and mist saw her eyes. They changed color. They were darker. She screamed,"Go away! Go back to,"it was as if something was keeping her from finishing her sentence,"Back to Dawn! She's coming back!" She smashed her head hard against the wall. She had trouble breathing,"Mist, tell Dawn to destroy my body."

Mist replied,"Wait, your voice. You were in my mind."

"Yes. Listen, I don't have much time. If Dawn can't bring me back, tell her to kill her with me along."

Mist felt a burning sensation in her head. Heard screams, laughter. She tasted blood in the back of her throat. She started to cry,"What's happening to me?!"

"She's trying to take your body, she won't succeed as long as I am here. In order for me to relay this message to Dawn you have to bear the pain. Tell her to bring the doll her mother made me to Fallen Star. Take your friend in the trees and get away from here as fast as you can. I will tamper with her mind to buy you some time. Now I will take her back."

"Wait! Who are," she screamed in agony,"who are you?!"

"I'm Lacoden." Her horn lit up and she said,"Leave her alone! Come back to your home!" Mist's pain eased in return Lacoden took it. She didn't panic, maybe because she's used to it. Her eye color went back to the light green. She laughed quietly,"Now Mist, before we were so rudely interrupted, I was going to give you a head start. I'll count to ten. One. Two." Mist got up on her legs and ran to get Hail.

"Hail!" She shouted,"Let's get out of here!" Hail ran down with all the things they brought,"Leave it!"

"Six, times almost up." Lacoden laughed louder. The townsfolk watched the spectacle and thought nothing of it.

By nine, Mist and Hail were only just starting to leave Shining Water."What happened back there?" Hail asked while they were both running.

Mist panted,"I'll explain later."

Lacoden appeared in front of them,"Ten." Her horn lit up and so did her eyes. They dimmed,"Damn you!"

"You will not kill them." She said to herself.

"I will-"

"Mist, run!"

Knight Mist and Hail ran for what seemed like miles. When they noticed they weren't being pursued they stopped to catch the many breaths they desperately needed."She went berserk back there." Hail gasped,"I think she was about to use Lumen Fulsi on us."

"Good thing she didn't. We'd be dead."

"Did you get anything out of her?"

"A couple. One, I broke her at one point. Two, the Lacoden that was just about to kill us back there isn't Lacoden."

"What?!"

"Do you remember her telling us to run?"

"Yeah."

"The one that told us to run might real Laocden."

"Then who was the other one?"

"I don't know. Dawn might have an idea."

They didn't continue to run, but they did keep their pace up for the night until the sun came up. They marched on until the next day. Around late afternoon Mist looked up into the sky and saw Knight Black Soul and called her down. She was with Seng, Lancer, and Cloudfire. They headed back to Lalifong staying alert just in case they were attacked by Changelings, or worse Lacoden or Garren.

When they returned, Shadow was taking charge of the future evacuation plans. Mist went to his house, where Dawn was. Mist called her outside.

"Are you okay? You look like you haven't slept."

"I'm fine, Dawn. Dawn, I spoke to Lacoden over at Shining Water and she...."

"Attacked you."

"Not just that. She mentioned a doll that your mother made for her. Do you have it?"

"I..I do. Hold on." Dawn went back inside the house and came back out levitating the doll."This is the doll I assume she was talking about."

"Yeah, Lacoden told me to tell you to bring it to Fallen Star. When I was talking to her, she changed. She- I don't know how to explain it. It was like talking to a complete stranger. One moment Lacoden was going to kill me, the next she tells me to run away."

"What there any differences between them?"

"Her eye color, voice, and personality more importantly."

"That's odd. Anything else?"

"She knew me when I was a filly."

"Do you have any family?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Where are they?" Dawn sounded worried.

"I don't know."

"You need to find out where they are and bring them here. If Lacoden finds them first she will use them against you."

Two days later

"Garren's plan is to attack the biggest population on the west coast first, Saddle Arabia. Now they have a military, larger than ours, so he will see resistance. He will take it easily however. His Changelings come great in number and are better equipped, and more experienced in combat. When he wins over that, he will advance north and partially to the south to hit the smaller populations. I want the evacuation to go without any mistakes. Dawn, I want you to go east so you can get familiar with the ships and their captains. You'll recognize one of them." Shadow scolded. He was briefing the RAK and the princesses in the council room of the castle.

"Is it Longbeard?"

"No, his son. Longbeard died, then his son took his name and his ship. He has the Dutchcolt and 4 other ships."

"Who else is going with me?"

"I want to be here alone."

"Shadow, you don't have the authority to do that." Black Soul said.

"With all your grudges against Garren and Lacoden, one of you might do something you might regret. I want to let them do their business to advise a war on the mainland. When you return from the east we will push them back to the ocean, back to Fallen Star."

"It's not going to be that simple. We can't let them possibly wipe out the entire west coast."

"It's either the west coast or everywhere." Shadow stopped Soul in her tracks with those words.

Two weeks later

"Lacoden, make sure you get the entire countries attention with this preemptive strike." Garren said.

"Will do. Changelings aim the weapon at the royal balcony. When the king comes out to make his speech, fire. Let's leave his country in awe." It was a special day in Saddle Arabia, it was the anniversary of the countries creation. The king makes a speech to announce the holiday in the early morning.

Garren was looking through a telescope,"He's coming out. Get ready."

Lacoden was looking through a telescope as well,"We want to hit him right where he stands. Three." She counted out loud,"Two." There was a pause then,"Fire!" Again, the ship shook violently from the force of the projectile. They saw the missile hit its target and explode, they heard the loud boom a few seconds later."Launch any more approved missiles to thin out their defenses! Changelings, prepare for the assault. We will have this country is our control by nightfall!"

"Lacoden, a word please." Garren said.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Kill all the fathers. Capture the mothers and their children, bring them to me."

"May I ask why?"

"I want to leave this side in ruin. After this takeover move our forces north to Shining Water, south to Caer."

"And the east?"

"Leave them, nothing's over there."

"I saw a few ships leave this port, I suspect they knew we were coming."

"How do you know that?"

"I spotted Shadow talking to what looked 5 captains. Weird thing is, I saw only 4 ships leave the port."

"We'll deal with it later. Changelings, aim for any large population. Kill as much as you can. I'll lead the frontal assault myself." Garren went down to the captains cabin and prepped up. He wore no armor. He just had his sword.

Lacoden kept her promise. Saddle Arabia was theirs by nightfall. Garren was covered in blood, so was Lacoden. Most of their kills were fairly easy since Saddle Arabia was hit by five of the harpoons leaving any in its wake disoriented. Their military, as Shadow predicted, fell quickly. Lacoden went to a secluded area of the beach and took her coat off. She went into the water to wash the blood away. The blood was washed off but there were crimson stains all over it. She stared at it for a minute and threw it away. She went for a small swim in the water. No one was around to witness this first ever moment of Lacoden, the Hooded One, actually relaxing. She floated on her back and looked to the stars,"You have tainted my mind." She said calmly.

"I simply stopped pointing out your flaws, so you can see them for yourself."

"I thought I enjoyed killing. I didn't today."

"Maybe you've done it so much in a small period. You should take a break from it all."

"I thought of that. I don't want to become the bitch that left me."

"If you become like her, maybe it's for the better."

She realized she was further than she expected, then began to swim back to shore. When she got there she dried herself of with her magic. She sat down against a rock and looked mindlessly into the vast ocean. She suddenly started to cry."Why are these tears coming? I don't know what's wrong with me! Damn it all!" She cried and cried until eventually she ran out of tears.

They rallied all the mothers and children at the port. Lacoden showed up and stood next by Garren as the Changelings were sorting the old and the young. The sick and the healthy. Garren had a plan on using them to make more of the crossbow's projectiles. He wouldn't feed them, he would just work them to death. Lacoden saw a young filly.

"Changeling!" she shouted.

One flew over and replied,"Yes?"

"Bring that one to me." By following her line of sight the Changeling knew which one she had in mind.

"Of course." The Changeling yanked the filly away from the crowd. Her mother, it seemed, was crying out to her. Her filly was yelling back. No one did anything to stop this. The filly was at the mercy of Lacoden, and the mother was still crying for help.

When the filly saw Lacoden's face she panicked. Lacoden noticed something. Others that met her face acted more frantic. Was it that her hood made her seem more hostile? Or was it that the filly didn't sense any imminent danger."Get up." Lacoden said kindly. This filly was around the age of 10. Lacoden was a lot larger than this filly and many other mares. (She was almost as tall as Garren, and Garren was taller than most stallions By at least two inches. Shadow would be around his height as well, Dawn would be shorter than Lacoden.) She was an orange unicorn. She got up and trembled."Why are you shaking?"

She stuttered out,"I'm s-scared."

Lacoden comforted her,"Don't be afraid. Come next to me and I promise you, you will never get hurt."

The filly plodded over,"Stay away from her, Solace!" Her mother shouted, with a strange accent. She stopped.

"Solace, you have very pretty name." Lacoden added.

The mother ran up but was stopped by Garren,"Even though she is a young unicorn, and you being an older unicorn, you will not last a second against her. And you wouldn't want Solace to see you die, would you?" Garren raised his voice slightly,"If you want to settle this against her, one-on-one, behave yourself and she'll decide if she wants to fight you."

The mother wasn't intimidated. She stepped closer,"You don't know who you're talking to."

"A dead mare."

"You'll see. I can hold my own and win against her. After I'm done with her, I'll come for you."

"Let's see if you ever seen a pegasus use magic. Don't under estimate your enemies. Now get back, before I break our little deal and strike you down where you stand."

"Fine." The mare went back to the crowd still eyeing Garren.

"Lacoden, why did you bring the filly up here?"

"I want to teach her."

"As long as you keep your lessons out of sight I don't care."

"Understood." Lacoden turned her attention to Solace,"Come on, let's get away from here." Lacoden led her to the secluded area of the beach, where she just came from."Let me get a fire started for us. I suppose we're going to need some shelter as well. I'll get us something to eat later on tonight." The fire slowed started to heat up, the ambers floated up into the sky where they will perish."Don't be shy, come next to me."

"I want my mom."

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. You can't see her right now, but I promise you will see her tomorrow."

While Lacoden was lightly asleep, Solace thought this was her chance to escape. She got up slowly, staring at her captor as she did, and stepped on a twig. It snapped. She glanced back at Lacoden and saw her move a bit. She didn't wake up so Solace continued.

As soon as she was far enough from her captor, she stopped and took a breath. She continued. She thought maybe she would get more cover by going into the tree, so she stayed behind the trees. She was trotting very silently and then she heard a sound. The sound of hooves walking slowly behind her. She turned back. She was sweating and trembling with fear.

She heard a voice behind, "Maybe, I should kill you. Would you like that?" Solace shook as she turned to see who it was. It was Lacoden. She fell on her rear end and backed up against a tree. "Where will you go when you escape me? The Changelings will see you before you get a mile passed this place. Without me there to protect you, they will kill you. Would you like that?" Lacoden got closer.

"Stay away from me!" Solace rushed up and ran.

"See how long you can last without any help!" Solace's pace slowed down, then eventually stopped completely, "That what I thought. How can you, a young unicorn who doesn't know how to use her own magic, survive? Now, come back to me. Before you get hurt."

The next morning

"Now, mare," Garren said, "If you can defeat, Lacoden, you will be able to fight me. If you manage to beat the both of us you will never see us again."

"And if I can't? What will happen to the others?"

"The majority of them will die working, as for a select few. If we decide we will take on apprentices so we can them train to kill."

The mare's eyes had a determined look, "I'd like to formerly introduce myself to my opponent."

"A dueler? Very well, Lacoden, do you accept her challenge?"

Lacoden walked up and bowed slightly, "My name, Lacoden."

"Mandal." She also bowed. "This will be a fight to the death."

"I respect your courage, but I will not kill you."

"You will regret it."

"We'll see about that."

They were in a little court-like area not close to any of the other prisoners. They both took their positions parallel to each other and waited. Solace was elsewhere, being guarded by a few Changelings. Lacoden didn't want her to see this.

Mandal stood still staring at her opponent. Lacoden was in an odd stance, her body was almost completely to the side. She saw what her cutie mark was clearly. She ignored the cutie mark and went back to her. Mandal didn't know what to do. Then, Mandal's horn lit up. She fired a weak stunning spell at Lacoden, it hit her.

She didn't move even a centimeter, "Looks like I lost." Lacoden bowed, then walked away like nothing ever happened.

Mandal was overly confused and angry, "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I lost." Lacoden replied. She continued to walk further and further away. She went out of the way to see what was next.

"Well, I didn't see that coming." Garren stretched out his hooves and wings, "Will you fight me still?"

Garren had an mysterious grin painted on his face, "I will finally witness a pegasus use magic." Mandal replied.

"When shall we start?"

"Now!" Mandal shot a stronger spell at Garren. At a blink of an eye he was standing right beside her. Her heart stopped for a moment. She thought she was going to die.

"Keep your eyes open." He said. She tackled him on the ground and prepared to fire another spell. He got up before she got a chance to cast it. He lifted her into the air and slammed her into the ground. "You're just like an old student of mine. When he knew he already lost, he would still fight. And waste his energy."

Mandal shook as she stood up, "Looks like you never learned from him then. He didn't give up because, *cough* he knew you can be defeated." She stood firm and starting casting weak spells fast. They were all stun spells. She hit him on the neck, flank, chest, and head. He was dazed, this gave Mandal a bit more time to prepare a more powerful spell. Garren stilled himself and smiled.

"Quietus." His body lit up black, his wings looked like they got longer.

"This is his power, Death." Lacoden said to herself.

"What happening?" Mandal thought, "Is this his magic?" She couldn't be asking questions now, she needed to defend her against him. She made a protection spell around her, a sphere. Garren took a few steps back, so did Mandal. Garren accelerated with great speed and broke through her sphere. The force of the impact forced Mandal to fly back. She hit a boulder. Next thing she knew, Garren was standing right in front of her with Lacoden next to him. She didn't see it but she knew her horn broke. She felt throbbing pains all around her body. She felt a constant stream of blood running down her body. Her brain felt like it was going to burst in her skull. She was in too much pain to scream, she felt her lower jaw dangling from her mouth. It was only a matter of seconds before she met her demise.

"Lacoden, keep her alive. Quickly." Garren scolded. Mandal blacked out after she heard that. Lacoden castes a spell that stopped the bleeding. "Make sure she is capable of moving whenever she wakes up, give up Solace too. We'll let them go."

"Solace is under my care. I don't not want to let Mandal take her." Lacoden furiously replied.

"It won't be long. After they have delivered my message to our friends at the frontier you can venture in and kidnap her."

"Mandal can deliver whatever message you have for her by yourself." Lacoden continued to cast healing spells in order to keep her alive. She reconnected Mandal's leg ligaments back to her body. She closed the gashes on her stomach. Mandal didn't wake up to pain during this process. The grotesque noises and sights that came from this can make normal ponies vomit. Garren and Lacoden weren't normal. They were far from it.

When Mandal woke up a month later, she was groaning in pain. A pair of Changelings heard the sounds and came in. They threw her off the bed and onto the ground forcing her to get up. When she didn't they kicked her. She teared up. She wanted to get up to end up this pain. There were thundering sounds that stopped the Changelings. They stood and stared at the doorway as the sounds got closer and closer. Mandal was too focused on crying she didn't notice they stopped. Lacoden came through the doorway and saw what the Changelings did. She had a bland look on her face. She looked at one Changeling, then glanced over at the other. She was wearing a white coat that also had a hood. It was clean. She said, "Now, I don't want to get my article covered in blood. So, I suggest," she smiled, "one of you step forward so I can kill one of you cleanly." The Changelings looked at each other and looked hesitant, "If you don't decide, you'll both die." She added.

The slightly larger Changeling quickly shoved the smaller one to Lacoden. It trembled as Lacoden placed one of her hooves on its back. She said to it, "Once I'm done. Take his body outside." Lacoden turned her attention to the Changeling that pushed the other. It got backed up against the wall and she twisted his head completely around with haste. "Get up and do as you are told, Changeling!" It got up and when he was next to Lacoden she said, "Wait, stand there." Lacoden pulled out a small blade from her inner coat pocket and ran the blade across Changelings neck. It was only a slight cut, "That is so you remember I will still kill you if I want to." The Changeling sweated like a dog. He dragged the body outside. "Now for you, Mandal." She used her magic to levitate her to her feet, "Stand." Mandal stumbled down, "Damn it!" She levitated her onto the bed. She rotated her around so that her back was facing Lacoden.

"I did that much for you. Now take off your bandages." Her bandages were yellowing. Mandal tried to lift her hooves, but it was hard. "I can have Changelings do this, I'm here by choice." Her hooves moved quicker, "That's what I thought." When all of the bandages were off Mandal saw her entire body covered in deep scars. "You're horn snapped in half and since you had no further use for the stump I sanded it off. Now, it's as if you're an earth pony." Mandal forgot all about her horn, she used one of her hooves to feel where it should be. She cried. "Don't cry." Lacoden saw that her stitches opened up because of those Changelings. Lacoden went away and came back. She sewed the wounds closed and cleaned them up. She then bandaged them, "Tonight you will go east until you reach a frontier. There you will find a pegasus that goes by the name, Shadow. He will take care of you and he will ask what happened here. When he does, tell him exactly what happened. Sadly, you can't argue with me. You mouth is too weak to even move." Lacoden finished up, then got off the bed, "Hurry up if you want to get started. There will be bandits and other obstructions on the way. I have taught your daughter and she may be strong enough to protect the both of you. You know what, Mandal, I didn't fight back during our duel because I don't want to separate Lacoden walked out the room. It will be a long time before Mandal will see Lacoden again.

Mandal was escorted out of Saddle Arabia by a small group careless Changelings. When they turned to leave her she got the attention of one of them. He knew what she wanted, "Your bitch of a daughter is ahead. Come on. I don't want to anger Lacoden anymore." They flew off like the pests they are. Mandal continued east. It took her over two hours to limp half a mile. Strangely enough, there were no wagons being pulled, and no pony using the roads. She was alone until she saw four shadows cut the road ahead of her. She looked up. They were griffons. Three children and one adult. They landed in front of her.

"Hey, Fawkes! She's hurt pretty bad." Mandal stumbled into the little griffons claws, "Whoa."

"Condor, get her somewhere to rest."

"Dad, the closest town is to the-"

"No! The west is full of death. Our only choice is to continue east like we planned but,know we have to travel on the ground. We can't leave her like this." The moon started to rise before Mandal got her strength back, "We wasted a lot of time already. We can't stop moving until we've made it up."

"How're going to move her?"

"I don't know, Condor, you're smart. Just hold her up and guide her."

"Gyro, help me out."

"Fine." Gyro was more of a built griffon with a selfish attitude.

They continued until the sun started to rise. Mandal's stitches opened up again. After all this time, Mandal, was starting to think the Changelings lied to her and she won't see Solace ever again. They finally reached the frontier after three long, slow days. It was night by then. The frontier was literally empty. It was a ghost town.

"Where is everyone?" asked Vane. Vane was a good sized teenaged griffon. She was tall and fit looking.

"Wait." Fawkes said suddenly, "Look there. Toward the mountain side. A castle?"

"Not just that. There are lights coming from it." Condor said.

Vane asked, "Should we go there?"

"We have no choice." Fawkes said, "Vane help me fly her up there. We'll make it there quicker that way."

"All right."

Once they got up to the castle's front gate, the only thing they saw was light coming from a single window. They assumed it came from the same room that they saw from the frontier. Midway across the bridge and they heard the flapping of wings. Fawkes used his hearing to determine its source. A pegasus landed in front of them gently touching the bridge. Vane and Gyro hid behind Fawkes. Mandal was looking toward the lit up room. She saw Solace peer over the window sill, then disappear. She started trotting to get in the castle. Shadow stopped her by holding his wing out, "Who are you?"

Solace came out from the castle, "Mom!" Shadow put his wing back to his side. He looked at the griffons, "That answers my question about her. You four, your names." Solace took her mother inside then came back out.

"My name is Fawkes. This is one son, Condor. The other two are Gyro and Vane."

"He's the one we saw at the island isn't he?" Gyro whispered to Vane.

"Yeah. What do we do?"

"Fawkes, we should leave them. More like leave him."

"Why?"

Vane answered, "He's the one that killed our mother!"

"Yes, the pegasus that did kill your mother was me." Shadow replied.

"See he admits. Let's leave these mark bearers alone to die."

Fawkes said, "Hold on. Everyone has his reasons. Why did you do it?"

"To get information to help us win the fight." Shadow answered. "Come inside, I'll tell you more."

"No! He means to kill us." Gyro cried.

"If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be here right now. You all will be at the outskirts on the ground."

"Let's go." Fawkes scolded. He started walking, "Are you alone?"

"Yes. We evacuated everyone east. We are the only ones here."

"What's in the east?"