In the camp, just outside of Wary Ripples, Knight Mist was planning another reconnaissance mission that involved going back to Saddle Arabia. She was denied permission. By this time Seng, Lancer, Aero, Flood, and Cloudfire were all at the rank of bronze-gold. They had little say in anything done and had little authority. The only authority they had that was great was over the fresh recruits picked up along the way. The older more trained recruits go under the responsibility of the gold ranks, like Storm. The silver ranks had authority over a portion of the bronze ranks and recruits that are more experienced. They could give orders to bronze ranks as long as they consult a solid-gold ranking Knight, like Black Soul. Knight Black Soul wasn't really a solid-gold rank anymore. She was like her mother, Knight Athen, that had her own rank.

In Soul's position, she could do practically anything she wants. There are setbacks though. In order for her to initiate a big operation, like the move to the east or a declaration of war, she has to go the princesses or someone who the princesses trust, like Shadow. In this situation, Soul, had to consult the princesses. The princesses had their own tent next to Gandore's on the edge of the camp. The princesses were unusually quiet. They would usually go out and see how the others are doing, but now they just stayed quiet. Holt and Mirage also stayed quiet, especially around the Peacekeepers. The Peacekeepers wondered why Mend left without saying anything. Delta assumed command of the Peacekeepers. Storm was going to set out to find his brother and his family later the morning. The recruits were getting what education they can from Ms. Grazer, now only Grazer, during this time. Time. They needed more.

Garren and Lacoden by this time had taken over the entire west coast. They didn't advance further inland though. They stayed and controlled whatever they had.

Excaelum was gone. He and Kishi were taking care their own business. Excaelum set out to defeat his brother, Orcusin, before they got to Fallen Star. Ula all this time was with Orcusin since Lord Chronin ordered him to spy. So far, all they got was nothing. Only that Orcusin's allies were far too powerful for Excaelum to take on alone, at least if they're together. For every ally of Excaelum's there was one for Orcusin. Excaelum had to hunt them down them down. One by one. His first target would be, Retu. The wing-less earth dragon. Excaelum couldn't just go around asking any dragon to find out where she is. No. He had to ask one of the exiled earth dragons. He assumed that's where Orcusin recruited her from.

Exiled dragons are far too hostile to be able to roam free. Their sentences will usually last a century long, or forever. They aren't killed, because it is believed that long periods of imprisonment can be more painful than death. Excaelum wondered if he could handle the exiled dragon if it attacked.

The area where the exiled earth dragons were kept was in air dragon territory. The reason being that opposite forces of nature don't interact very well and that if somehow the dragon escaped the air dragons will attempt to defeat it. Even though being one of the Lords, Excaelum, will have to consult Lord of the air dragons and gain permission to set the exiled dragon free. In this case it will be, Lord Olganna.

"No. We do not know what these dragons are capable of. Some of them have been here ever since your father was alive." Olganna scolded.

"One of these dragons can lead me to Retu and possibly Orcusin. I need to talk to one."

"If you can't defeat your brother, what makes you think you can defeat one of the exiled dragons? Remember you are not, Lord Dragaitas."

"You don't think I know that? Do you not trust me?"

"Why an exiled dragon?"

"I suppose it can also help me defeat the others in exchange for something."

"What is that?"

"Freedom."

"You will take full responsibility for this dragon."

Excaelum and Centerra were led to a tomb inside a mountain's base. On both sides on the walls were stone pillars. The pillars were kept deep inside the side of the mountain. It's was unclear how many dragons were in there. Each pillar contained a dragon. There were markings on the pillars to show if the dragon inside had complete eyes. The markings were straight lines. If the line was cut in half the dragon's eyes were incomplete. Excaelum made a ring of light blue fire around him to help him see the markings. There were no pillars with complete lines so far. It could've been hours before he finally found one at the end of all the pillars. Next to it was a broken one. Excaelum assumed the broken one belonged to Retu.

"The presence of this one feels more malevolent than the others even though it has a complete line." Excaelum said to Kishi. "Break the pillar." Centerra lightly smashed the front of the pillar. Little chips started falling on the ground. They both took one step back. Next thing they knew they saw dust being breathed out from the cracks. A large claw emerged slowly. It was feeling the air around it. It went back inside the pillar. Suddenly, the pillar shattered to pieces and from the rubble stood a tall dragon. Its eyes were closed.

"Your name." Excaelum scolded. It stood silent, "What do they call you?"

"And you are?" It replied with a hoarse voice.

This dragon was stubborn, so Excaelum answered first, "Excaelum, son of Lord Dragaitas."

"That so? And the little one. Your brother too, along with Orcusin."

"You're familiar with us."

"Of course I am. Your father put me here after all. Countless hours of standing here, in the dark, not being able to move a single muscle. Fortunately, a spell was casted on all of us, so we can still hear, see, and taste. I may have gone mad the first month I went without sleep, certainly I have going centuries without a second of it."

"Who'd put a cruel spell like that on these pillars?"

"Your father. Out of punishment for Retu and the others. Theft and murder. For me, I was put here out of fear." The dragon was getting familiar with his long lost powers by lifting up a few rocks.

"Why would a great dragon such as him fear you?"

"Naturally, you fear what you don't understand. He didn't know what I was when he met me."

"What makes you so different? You're just a normal earth dragon."

It chuckled, "Back then, when the original dragons were all alive, things were very.....different. There were more of us dragons, more powerful. More of us can use magic and now from what I've felt from in there very little dragons use magic. It's a rare gift. Am I correct?"

"How do you know of the magic?"

"My generation, the same as your father's, are the strongest. We can do things others will consider impossible." The dragon had no wings and a frilled looking neck. "Why did you release me?"

"Retu needs to be stopped."

"Go get her. The more you wait, the stronger she grows."

"She..," Excaelum did not want to say this, "is too strong for me at this time."

"If she is too strong for then," the dragon slowly turned its head to him, "you have no chance against me."

"That is true, but killing me will result in your own destruction. Lord Chronin will not look too kindly on the killing of two of the final three Gravity dragons."

"She's still alive?"

"You sound surprised. Did you expect her to be dead?"

"She wouldn't be alive if it weren't for me. Saving her from Mastron."

"We can talk about what happened between you and the original dragons later. I suspect you are hungry."

"I do not feed on beasts. The only living creatures I consume are other dragons. Now, if you will allow me to have my fill on dragons to regain my strength, I will help you."

"No."

"No? How can you expect me to help when I my stomach aches?"

"I won't allow you to kill other dragons."

"How about you make an exception? I will kill the weak and the sick to make our kinds future generations stronger."

Something within Excaelum was obsessed with power. He replied with, "How many do you need?"

"10."

"Make it 8."

"Yes, Lord Excaelum. Now, shall we?" The dragon started walking toward the exit, behind Excaelum.

"Your name. State it."

"Shiste(sheesht-stay)."

The moment Excaelum and Kishi stepped into the light, right behind Shiste, they saw that the entrance was surrounded by air dragons. Shiste surprisingly kept his eyes open even though being enclosed to darkness for centuries, he claims at least. There were many. Olganna was in the front. Excaelum went past Shiste and went to her.

"He is your responsibility. I hope you know what you are doing, Lord Excaelum." She said.

He nodded, then turned to Shiste,"How will you be able to follow us? You haven't any wings."

"As I said before. I was exiled out of fear." Shiste stretched his long arms and legs. He lowered his head and took a slight breath. He shot up into the sky and hovered in one spot for a moment. He let out a loud roar. The dragons never saw anything like it. Shiste dived down to where he took off from. When he hit the ground clouds of dirt kicked up. He could tell that all of the dragons were frightened by him. He felt them shaking.

"A wingless dragon that has the ability to fly." Olganna thought, "What other kind of dragons there are."

"Solace," scolded Shadow, "I am leaving Fawkes in charge."

Fawkes was surprised, "We've only just met. How can you tru-"

"I don't trust you, but I have no choice. I will be gone, and it will stay that way until the RAK returns from the east. Mandal is in need of medical attention. And from the looks of it you're the only one here that has it. Am I wrong?" Fawkes didn't respond, "Well then, tell Knight Black Soul and my daughter, when they return, to go to the west. They'll find me, whether I be dead or alive." Shadow looked at Solace, "I must ask you something. How was Lacoden acting? I know you weren't with her for a long time, but whatever you tell me can help."

"I...am guessing she was more.....nicer, you can say, than I thought." She replied.

Shadow looked at Mandal. "Was she?" Mandal remembered Lacoden taking her daughter away from her and nearly killing her, but she did remember Lacoden changing her bandages herself instead of having Changelings do it. Mandal nodded slightly. "Looks like she has a higher chance to be saved. Thank you, you two." He stretched his wings, "I will not hesitate to kill you griffons if you harm these two." Shadow left the castle without saying another word. He flew down to his house by the Everfree Forest.

"This may be one of the last times I'll be here." He thought. He was walking around the first floor. The larger section for Excaelum. The fireplace. He went upstairs to his room, he saw his small bed. And Dawn's room with the large bed. He went to the balcony and just stared into space. He went back into his room and pulled from under his small bed a chest. Inside he had his armor, 2 hoof-blades, and 2 hoof-swords. His armor was just a plain silver color, same goes for his weapons.

He put on his armor. It was light. The endurance training he did at the mountain, Ice Valley, and Dry Ocean must've helped. There were hooks on the sides of his armor where he can put extra weapons. Shadow put on the blades and hooked his swords. He set out west.

"Father, do you expect us to care for these mark bearers? Look at the pegasus that has just left." Condor asked angrily.

"He threatened us yes, but that's not how I raised you. He has his reasons I'm sure. I will obey his wishes and look after these two. And besides, we came here to explore the outside world away the mountain prison. We can look through their library and learn their history. We are the only ones here so we might as well. First, we need to find one large room to share with each other. This castle is large and we don't want someone getting lost. This place must have a grand hall of some sort. You, filly. Solace is it?" She nodded, "Okay, while were you here did you explore?"

"Yes. The grand hall is in the west wing of the castle."

"West wing. Condor come with me and I want you two to take Solace and her mother to the west wing. We'll meet you there." As they walked away Fawkes said, "Come on." He thought, "Surely up the stairs will lead to some rooms." He went to the top of the stairs and waited for Condor. When Condor caught up Fawkes scolded, "Don't let your prejudice get in the way of your judgement."

"Are you still going on about that pegasus?"

"Yes, I am. He has judged us before he even knew. Now, if you don't want to be like him don't act like him. Understand?"

"He threatened to kill us father!"

"Then who is better? You or him?"

"I am-"

"Stop right there! If you do think you are better than him, then you two are no different. You put yourself on top, so did he." Condor stood quiet, "Besides, it was an empty threat. Come on. The faster we get to sleep the longer the next day lasts."

Early the next morning, Fawkes was already in the castle's library reading. He just got done reading a book on the history of Equestria, different spells, creatures of Equestria, biography on Start Swirl, and a biography on Black Soul's mother, Knight Athen. There was no author for her biography. The other books were written by the princesses, even though being young their writing skills were impressive, and by Gandore. Fawkes wanted to explore the village. While everyone else was asleep he flew down to Lalifong.

He looked through some of the open windows and doors. None interested him yet, until he saw a house filled with old antiques. Junk someone would call it. He stepped in, it was dusty. He threw the window wide open and ripped the door off its hinges. "That's more like it." he said. "A collector, no. Pawn shop owner, not likely. Historian, maybe." He looked around the place and saw that there were open books, unfinished and finished notes. He opened up a drawer and saw notes, "Historian. I'd sure like to meet the owner of all this."

He looked through the notes and found out he learned more from these than from the books in the castle. He went out to go get something to eat. An apple or something, he saw a earth pony. She was looking right back at him and said, "Hello. I haven't seen a griffon around here before."

Fawkes stared at her. For a bit too long. "And you are?"

"Oh, I'm Wither. You?"

"Fawkes, excuse me I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Do you know the owner of this place?"

"No, not personally. I know of her though."

"Do you know where I can find her?"

"I'm sorry, but she passed away. Killed."

"Oh, well thank you for your help."

He was about to take off when she replied, "Her daughter is still alive. She went east with the others." He folded his wings.

"I'll try to find her when she returns. And why aren't you east?"

"Umm, I have a friend that wants me to keeping an eye on the foundry near here. And how do you know about the east?"

"Someone gave me the clues to figure it out. Does the pegasus know you are here?"

"Shadow? Yeah. He stopped by my place just last night. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. Just we met last night. Umm, there's more of us up in the castle and...." Fawkes looked around. He whispered, "Get inside! Quickly!" He thought,"I knew I was gonna regret taking that door down." He followed Wither into the house.

"What is it?" She asked in a nervous voice.

"Friends of mine."

"Then why hide?"

"Sarcasm, honey. Go in the back." Wither hid behind a pile of books, but made a hole which see could see through. Fawkes hid under the windowsill. He heard the griffons land not too far from him. He heard them talk.

"Commander, where do you think he could've gone?" He heard.

It was Talon, "Search this area. Then we continue to that castle."

"No!" Fawkes thought. "Maybe if I turn myself in then....No. Can't do that." He peeked over the windowsill. He counted thirteen. Gizzard was also there.

"We need to find that traitor and his son." One said, he flew up.

Fawkes felt he was breathing too heavily. He slowed down his breathing. He didn't know what to do. He heard Wither come out from behind the books. She slowly crept up to Fawkes. She whispered, "I'll take care of this." She walked out. "Hello. I haven't seen so many griffons here before at one time." She wasn't nervous.

"Have you seen two griffons pass this wasteland? A father and a son. Their names: Fawkes and Condor." Gizzard scolded.

"No, as you rudely called my home a wasteland, I haven't."

Gizzard, being bad-tempered, replied with, "What else am I supposed to call it?"

"Gizzard, calm down." Talon said, "She's obviously lying. You're far too calm. Where are they?"

"If I knew I wouldn't tell you."

"I believe you." Talon pushed her against the wall that Fawkes was hiding behind. She sinned her claws into her chest, "Where can I go to find them?"

Wither wasn't used to pain, so she cried out,"East!"

"We are taking this one with us." Talon said, "Make sure she gets some rest on the way. I don't want to hear her pleads for release."

One griffon answered, "Yes, Commander Talon." A griffon went over to an old house and tore off a wooden plank. He hit her on the head hard enough to get her unconscious. He placed her on his back.

"Good. Let's go." She took off with nine of the other griffons.

Gizzard stayed with two others, he gave an order,"Burn everything." And flew off. The two griffons did as they were told, no minds of their own. The fire they set was light, but there was a lot of it. Fawkes quickly went inside to grab all the notes and books he read. And any more if he could. By the time the fire completely engulfed the historians house he had a fair amount of her work. He wiped his glasses. He slowly flew off to the castle's garden where he saw his child and the others. He landed, "Stay here. Put these inside." He dropped some books, "I'll be back."

It was late afternoon, around 4. The books he saved were put in a pile in the castle's library. Fawkes went whatever he took. He threw to the side a book. An important one called, Six Flowers.

"Dawn, you sure you want your ship like this? Kinda fragile isn't it?" Klaus asked.

"She's perfect."

Her ship was named, Share. The wood that was used to make the ship made up the Dutchcolt. She had it painted a dark blue and it was small compared to the monstrous Abyss, which dwarfed the others as well, it's captain Jinx. But it was fast and more agile. It's speed came at a price. Having only 10 cannons total. Well-woven black sails caught the wind.

"If you say so." Marl added.

"Perfect for out maneuvering enemy ships." Elize said.

Share had other unique features. Lower in the ship there was a section that had a glass room. The lowest part of the ship. Used to see underwater. A cannon at the bow of the ship facing forward, and another cannon at the stern of the ship that covered the rear of the ship.

"Odd ship it is though." Klaus said.

"Okay, okay. Stop criticizing my ship. Geez, I don't go around insulting your driftwood." She laughed.

"Hey........that hurt." Klaus said. He got Dawn in a headlock and noogied her.

"Okay, I'm sorry!" Klaus let her go, "Can't be any worse than Marl's floating teacup." Klaus laughed. "Your ship is a bit too fancy don't you think, Marl?"

Marl replied, "Honey, I-"

"Dawn, Knight Black Soul wants you!" Aero shouted. "Follow me, it's urgent."

"Sorry, fellas. Gotta go." Dawn ran to Aero. "What is it?"

"Wither, she's here."

"I thought she stayed back at Lalifong."

"We all did. Get on my back, I'll fly you to a roof." Dawn hopped on, "Hang on!" Aero flew up to a two story building. "Watch your step, I don't want you father killing me if you got hurt. Look over there. On the road." The road wasn't too far. There were 13 griffons and Wither from the looks of it. She was all beaten up. Wrench could be heard screaming.

Lancer came up from behind Dawn and Aero, "Wrench ain't doing so good."

"What's Black Soul doing about this?" Dawn asked.

"Nothing yet. But the griffons are looking for two other griffons. If we find those two griffons and turn them in we can get Wither back." Lancer said. "She's deciding if we should take her back. But I'm not sure though. Those griffons look like combatants. And we all have little combat experience. Except for that time in Ice Valley and Saddle Arabia."

"Those places gave us a good start. Those yetis were trouble." Aero chuckled, "We would've died with your father, Dawn."

"Oh. Right now let's just focus on saving Wither. Take me to the griffons, Aero." Dawn ordered.

"Umm, no."

"Oh no, I'm falling off the roof." Dawn started heading yo the edge of the roof. "My father is going to be so mad."

"Ugh, fine. I'll take you."

"Thank you, just tell Knight BS that I ordered you to."

"BS?" Lancer said.

"Bullshit.........," Dawn thought for a moment,"I hang around those sailors too much. Getting a sailor's mouth over here. Alright just take me."

"Hop on." Aero flew her to the front of the griffons. He stood by her side. Lancer, Seng, and even Cloudfire soon followed. Willing to protect her. They were armed with confidence and weapons.

"You again?" Talon said.

Dawn's joker attitude from earlier disappeared, "Why have you kidnapped and beat our friend?"

"Leverage. We need it."

"For what? To find your two griffons we don't know about? I'll tell you what." Dawn took one of Seng's hoof-swords, "Give her back to us and you and your goons won't get hurt."

Lancer whispered to Aero, "Her sailor mouth is gonna get her killed."

"Shh, it's working." Aero replied.

"How can you possibly defeat us with your weak minions by your side? You will lose." Gizzard scolded.

Dawn said, "Ah, three things wrong. One, we won't lose. Two, they aren't weak. Three, they aren't my minions. They are my friends, my brothers even. Try making a few friends of your own. All because they are under your command doesn't make them friends." Dawn smirked, "And being the granddaughter of Star Swirl the Bearded does have its perks." She teleported right behind the line of griffons, then popped back in front of them. "I don't kill. I've only killed one. A Changeling who mocked my mother whom I loved dearly. Well, I didn't find out I loved her so much until some time after, but let's get this straight. I won't kill you all. I will maim you to the point where you wish I did." Dawn teleported next to a griffon and held the blade to his neck, "How's that sound?"

Dawn clicked something in Cloudfire, he remembered another unicorn for a moment. He couldn't quite see it, then he saw Dawn with steel and a sinister smile painted on her face. Lacoden. He shook. Seng nudged him, "You okay?"

"Uh, fine. Just have never seen her like this is all."

"None of us have."

"Let her go." Talon ordered. "Give her what she wants."

"Ah ah ah, I'm not the only one who wants her back." Dawn pressed the tip of the sword against Talon's chest. "Well?"

"Give them what they want." Dawn took the sword away. Wither limped over to her.

"You're okay, hon." Dawn said. She hugged her, "Now, leave before I correct this mistake."

The 13 griffons flew off. Wrench ran quickly to Wither, "Are you okay, sweetie?" He said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you stay there alone."

"I wasn't alone." She whimpered, "It was my fault I got like this."

"Wasn't my father there? Did he just let is happen to you?"

"He left the night before, Dawn. There were more though. Not sure how many. There was a griffon I did this for."

"Did it force you to do this?" Wrench asked angrily.

"No, I wanted to help him."

"Where did my father go?" Dawn asked.

"East. He said he wanted to push Garren's forces back."

"I'm headed to Saddle Arabia. I'm taking Share with me. Any of you want to be part of my crew?" Dawn asked.

"You're not going anywhere." Soul appeared from above with Storm, "I didn't bring an entire village with me to take them right back. You haven't any business east."

S "'Haven't any business.'? My father, Garren, and Lacoden are there. I'm going whether you like it or not." Dawn shoved Soul out of her way and headed for Share. "If any of you want to join me I'll be setting off at sunset, your invited too, Soul."

"There's no stopping her." Storm said. "Might as well tag along. We can familiarize ourselves with ships and go east at the same time. I suggest talking to the princesses."

When Soul informed the princesses about Dawn's plans they said that they would lead the ponies of Lalifong. The princesses let Soul take her Knights on the voyage with her. The princesses were alone in their tent talking, "This gives us an opportunity to execute our plan, sister."

"Luna, I'm not sure if we can pull it off."

"We must try."

"Alright, as soon as we reach Lalifong."

"I've been practicing my insertions, sister. I'll be fine."

"Her "dream" isn't a normal one. I want you to be extra careful when you do it."

"Of course."

Dawn was examining her ship so she can embark. She was looking up at the sails. The other captain's, including Jinx who she still hasn't met yet, agreed to accompany her. The Dutchcolt will be the flag ship. Share will be right on her stern. Abyss will be on Share's stern. Reef will be on the port side and Aquarius will be on her starboard; they will all be a few hundred yards away from Share though. The Nautilus' position could be anywhere, it would be revealed though when she has to resurface for air.

"Dawn, what's this?" Dawn looked down and saw Seng looking at something fixed to the rail.

"That's a cannon. Please don't touch it." Seng backed up. "You can only touch when I say you could. Are you planning on coming with me?"

"Yup."

"Fine, and the others?"

"On their way, I got word that Knight Black Soul is coming."

"So the RAK is coming. Anypony else?"

"Wrench and Wither."

"Ok. And the princesses? Who's gonna watch them?"

"I have no idea. We do have a couple of fighters in the camp though, so they should be fine."

"Okay." Dawn heard a couple of voices and leaned to the side to see who was on the gangway.

"Dawn!" Flake screamed. "Long time no see."

Dawn shoved Seng out of the way and went to her sister, "You coming too?"

"Yes, captain. And so is Ms. Grazer."

"You don't have to call me your captain. Neither do Soul, Ms. Grazer, and Gandore. She's right behind you." Gandore nodded to Dawn and went below deck.

"And me?" Seng asked.

"Call me captain or get off my ship. Alright?"

"Yes, Captain Dawn."

"Don't wear it out. Geez, go clean something."

"Fine." Seng went below deck.

"Wait, Seng!"

"Yes?" He came back up.

"Go get yourself a sword and a blade. We're gonna have see some fighting west."

"How much?"

"We will be cleaning this ship of blood. Trust me."

"I'm not sure if I want to picture it, but-"

"You won't have to. We'll see it. If you don't want to you can be an escort."

"Never, I'll get enough crates for all of us."

"There we go." Seng flew off. "Here that, Flake and Ms. Grazer. We will be fighting. You two sure you want to come?"

"I'm prepared." Grazer answered.

Sunset came. The RAK, the hybrid Changelings were all loaded on the ship and the Dutchcolt embarked out the bay first and weighed anchor until Share came along. Wither slept in the captain's cabin with Wrench by her side. Dawn gave a little speech before they went off. She was at the helm.

"This is my ship, so all of you will follow my orders. Even, Knight Black Soul will listen to them. It'll be a long voyage maybe a month if we have fair weather throughout. I doubt we will. Prep up for combat along the way too, I have a feeling Garren will be prepared for us. I'll give you all jobs later. And another thing, listen to the other captain' say as well they know what they're doing. Understood?"

"Yes, Captain Dawn." All in unison.

"Lancer and Aero, bring up the anchor. It's on the starboard side."

"Starboard?" Lancer asked.

"Right, starboard's right! Port is left!" She replied. "I have a lot to do don't I, mom and dad?" Dawn thought to herself.

Excaelum flew next by the hungry Shiste. Shiste had his fill on dying dragons they happen to fly over. Now they were on their way to visit Lord Chronin at the council chamber. Shiste's ability to fly was still shocking to Excaelum. How does he do it he asks himself.

Their arrival at the chambers was kept secret. Only the four of them would know about this meeting. They went inside. Shiste knew his way around the chamber, he took his place in the earth dragons spot. Centerra stood next by Excaelum. "Where is your solitary, Lord Chronin?" Shiste asked.

"Lord Shiste, you look well."

"Lord?" Excaelum said.

"I was the rightful lord until Mesadraco took my place. Where is he, and the other lords?"

"Mesadraco and Zartez were both killed by what was Lord Dragaitas." Chronin said.

"Is that so?" Shiste looked at Excaelum, "You're Mercy? And I'm assuming Orcusin is...Merciless."

"How does he know?" Excaelum replied.

"He is much older than he looks, Excaelum."

"Orcusin's soul belongs to Mastron. Where are Aquabellina and Pyrodia?"

"Both killed by Orcusin."

"He's just putting down Lords like flies. Excaelum, do you know what would happen if a dragon killed Lord Chronin? That dragon will become my target. If another dragon kills that dragons before me, that dragon will be my target. Do you know why Lord Chronin is so important? Do you know what would happen if the last original dragon was killed?"

"No."

"Neither do we. Let's keep it that way."

"How do you know if something will happen?"

"When Flamekken was killed, the volcanoes erupted uncontrollably. She kept the flames on this land balanced. Yaforn, after she died earthquakes raged on for days. All with the same patterns and strength. Okin, when he died lightning storms destroyed forests that were beautiful. When Mastron died the stars did not light up the night sky for an entire season." Shiste said.

"And my father?" Excaelum said, "What happened when he died?"

"I am not sure if anything did happen when he died."

"Lord Chronin, one thing still troubles me about this "war" we are having with Orcusin. He has Changelings on his side and I don't know why they fight with him." Excaelum asked.

Chronin replied, "Simple-"

Shiste answered, "The Queen Changeling. If she ordered them to fight with him, if she is being held captive and the Changelings have no choice, or if the Queen is being forced."

"She is most likely being forced to order her Changelings to fight. There are few who could strike fear into her heart that will make her order them to fight. Myself, Lord Dragaitas, Artemis, and Insi." Chronin answered.

"Artemis and Insi? Other Lords?" Excaelum never heard those names.

"No, mark bearers."

Shiste interrupted, "Powerful mark bearers, some described their powers as...god-like."

"Though I haven't seen them for many decades, I have a feeling Insi is behind all this." Chronin said.

"And Artemis? Can he be affiliated with Insi in this?"

"Artemis, she is affiliated with Insi, but not the war. They were lovers once, then everything changed when Insi's family was killed."

"When did this all happen?"

"The mark bearer that raises the sun was not born for another 950 years, the one that raises the moon was born 20 years later. A few years later Shadow and Starflare the Warm-hearted would be born."

"That would mean they would be over one thousand years old. That can not be right."

"'God-like' remember? If Insi is involved with this war, then Artemis is dead. Everything would be different if she was alive. Very different."

"They have no families?"

"I'm not sure."

"That's a shame."

"How is the child of Shadow? Dawn?"

"Why do you ask?"

"This is the calm before the storm. You should go to her and her father."

He was tired and the weapons he picked up were dull and unreliable. The injuries he got from the Changelings were great in number, but did little. He fought and fought for weeks with little rest. He took out a third of Garren's Changelings. He was covered in blood. It made his dark blue coat turn crimson. Luckily, Garren or Lacoden didn't come in to finish him off. He found a quiet place to rest while the Changelings retreated to regroup. He ran his weapons against a stone trying to sharpen it.

"I need sharp weapons. Shit." He looked around. Sticks on the ground. "Might as well try." He pulled a long stick to him and laid it on the stone. He began to sharpen e stick with his dull blade. "I hope I don't get splinters from this." He put the sharpened stick in his mouth.

"Shadow, go north. You can find something there." Starflare said.

Starflare is able to speak to Shadow while he is conscious due to his use of Lumen Fulsi recently. "Honey, we've been north before. There's nothing there except Shining Water and Green Fawn.

"Try Knight Athen's house then."

"Ugh, fine."

"Go now, sweetie. They're far from you by now."

"Okay. I can't fly though. The Banshee will spot me."

"Yes it will. Fortunately, she only released one of them. You've been able to avoid it the pass two weeks."

"I am afraid that it will catch me off guard."

"Don't be off guard then. It could be worse."

"How?"

"Lacoden can release an Amarok if she wanted to."

"You've always been the optimistic one." He chuckled. "Alright. Let's get to it." Shadows dashed tree to tree, bush to bush, shadow to shadow, to avoid being spotted by Lacoden's eye in the sky. He kept on for an day or two. Just eating whatever he could find at the moment and only sleeping when his body is fully covered by something.

He ended up at Green Fawn at dawn. He stared into the sky for an hour. No Banshee. He came out slowly, suspecting it was still in the sky. When he found himself at Knight Athen's front door he felt safe. He went inside.

"Star, there's nothing here. Nothing has been for more than two decades."

"You sure? Didn't you notice anything with the floorboards before?"

He pressed down. "Nothing down there." He pried the floorboards open with his dull blade. "Was she running an army?"

"Maybe."

"They look like they've been made yesterday." He detached the blade and went on his stomach. He used his stick to lift up a large box. "Its is heavier than it looks. " He placed it on the ground. "She was part of the first Knights right?"

"From my knowledge I get from you, yes?"

"Hello there." Shadow dug into the box and brought out white armor. He threw the armor pieces to the side not thinking of them.

"Okay, okay. Weapons. What the?" He pulled out a hoof-sword, "What the heck?" He examined the weapon. It had an engraving on the inside part of the ring. It read, "Macto chooses one master." He put it on. The sword grew slightly longer, it got a tad heavier. He saw the serrated edges of the sword smoothen. He swung the sword, "This is a fine weapon, Star. What do you think?"

"It is."

There were Changelings outside, "Let's test how fine these really are." He put on the white armor and equipped the long sword. He felt light. The Changelings surrounded the house. "You ready?"

"Whenever you are."

"I can feel that Garren out there as well."

"Do you think he will use Death again?"

"Let's find out. I'm sorry, Knight Athen." In unison, "Flare!" His body glowed white. It wasn't like the first time he awakened his power. This time he could control it. This time his enemy will be able to do the same thing. "Ok." He shot out the front door and flew straight into a crowd of Changelings.

Garren saw Shadow from above, "Now, Lacoden!" Garren shouted.

"Fire!" Lacoden had one of her harpoons fired directly at Shadow. He redirected it back to her. She put up a barrier and the explosion created a shockwave strong enough to destroy the abandoned houses.

Shadow was killing. The sword he had was sharp like a snake's fangs. He sliced through his enemies. One after another the Changelings fell under him. He tackled one against a decaying wooden post and stabbed it in the back of its mouth. The Changelings piled on him. "Flare! We can't let Garren get a hold of this." Shadow said in his head. His powers allowed him to disperse the piling Changelings.

"I know."

"Shall we retreat?"

"Your choice. Keep in mind that you're the faster flyer."

"We're going then. We'll come back with a full force and take back the west. Push Garren back to Fallen Star." He flew straight up with his back to the ocean. "If I go straight as fast as I can I reach Lalifong in a couple of days."

"Garren is in the way."

"I'll strike him down on the way out. Flare!" Garren saw Shadow come at him so fast. He moved out of the way. Shadow kept on going.

"Shall we pursue him?" A Changeling asked.

"We wouldn't be able to catch him. He'll be back soon enough." He landed, "Lacoden, ready the ships."

"For?"

"On the way back to Fallen Star we will have company. Make sure they are fast, don't worry about firepower. We have enough of that. Remember we have to get them to Fallen Star to be able to use Magnus Lumen."

"So the blockade is just a waste?"

"No, I have another use for those scum. Changelings, go back to the ships and repair the damages he caused."

Lacoden and Garren we talking to each other, "Garren, we can finish him and his daughter if we attack now."

"Do you know where she is?" Lacoden held her tongue, "And Excaelum? Do you know where he is? Exactly, we can't kill them one by one. We have to get them all at once, at a place of no retreat."

"I see."

"Go ready the ships." Garren went to the house Shadow came out of. He saw pieces of armor in the rubble. He got the armor out and saw something peculiar about it. He chuckled, "This one actually knew how to fight. I wonder how many other Alicorns there are."

"Captain Dawn, a couple more days and we will arrive at Saddle Arabia." Flood said.

"Any sign of the Abyss?"

"No, Captain Jinx is a quiet one. She hasn't even told Captain Longbeard where she went off to."

"I'm sure she'll turn up. Take the helm for me will you."

"Yes, Captain.

Dawn walked to Flake, she was at the bow of the ship, "Open ocean is relaxing isn't it?"

"It is. Dawn, what kind of island is Fallen Star?"

"It's a small island, very tropical too. Soon, it will become a battlefield. You think you can handle it, sister?"

"Haven't had any combat experience yet. Not sure how I'll do."

"You don't have to be in the Attack group. You can just be Support. Leave attacking to me, father and, the others."

"No, I want to fight. I don't want to sit back and do nothing."

Knight Tal, nearby, said, "I heard that."

Flake chuckled, "Sorry."

"Support wouldn't exist if Attack and Defense did their job, keep that in mind."

"That's true." Dawn said."Sorry to do this to you, Knight Tal, but can you give us a little privacy?"

"Sure thing, Captain." Tal went to the center mast to talk to the other Knights.

"Combat isn't for everyone you know."

Flake replied angrily, "You think I can't handle it."

"No, it's just I don't think you can handle the enemy. Garren murdered your mother. Could you face him if you ever run into him again?"

"Yeah, I guess I can. In a way, I should be thankful he killed her."

"Why?"

"I'm thinking its because I was sorta shy before I met you. When I did, things changed for me. Garren came and killed my mother. He kinda broke my shell. Maybe he brought out what was really inside me, what I am capable of. And look at me now. Talking to a Captain of her own ship, adopted daughter of one of the most strongest pegasi out there." Flake smiled, looked up at the clear blue sky, "My mom is proud of me isn't she?"

"I'm sure she is. Her little Flake grew up stronger."

"Yeah." She took in a deep breath in the nose, eyes closed. Exhaled out the mouth, opened her eyes. The waves gently rocked the ship side to side. The wind pushed Share's sails westward, out in open ocean. "Dawn?"

"Yes?"

"What did you want to be before you started fighting? I wanted to be in the circus." She laughed, "Mother resented that and said I should be a teacher. She didn't really like the idea of traveling city after city, just to make people laugh. Thought it didn't make a difference in the lives of the audience. She wanted me to put meaning in lives, so being a teacher was her solution. I love making people smile. That's why I wanted to be in the circus."

"Circus huh? Umm, I wanted to be an artist. I never practiced, was always playing with Lacoden and Garren's son, Zaz. Lacoden was a good kid, my best friend. Always trying to make us laugh, always putting on a smile. She was clumsy, shy, smart, lovable. Now, killer, evil, still smart. I miss what she was, but now I need her dead. She have cause too much grief. Killing Princess Celestia-"

"Wait, Princess Celestia is alive."

"Lacoden, killed her. My father gave his immortality to revive her."

"You're still immortal?"

"No, I gave it up to live a normal life. Killing the princess, killing most of Knight Storm's squad. I shouldn't have left her on Fallen Star. It's my fault that she turned out like this. I'll be right back." Dawn went to her cabin and came back to Flake levitating something, "This doll, my mother gave it to Lacoden when her uncle died. She changed after he died. Rarely came outside to play, shut me and Zaz put when we came to visit. I fight now, becuase I don't want this war to ever repeat itself. Ironic. I kill for peace. Kinda like a Peacekeeper."

"Will you kill Lacoden yourself?"

"I have to. I don't want a stranger killing her, I want her to the face of her friend before she dies. To give her a little comfort."

"You still care for her, after all she did?"

"Yes, she's still my friend. If I need to kill her to end everyone's suffering then so be it. I'll just have to do it quickly. I learned a few killing spells in past that can get the job done."

"Why're so straightforward about killing her? You just said she's still your friend but you're prepared to kill her."

"This is war Flake, everypony is a soldier, everypony is a victim. That's just the way it is. If you don't want to be a soldier, you will become a victim. That's how life works. At least that's how mine does."

"You can leave this life after, we can leave this life after."

"I'm not sure if I could. Until Lord Chronin gave me my memories back violence was really the only life I knew. Father thought he shielded it from me, but I knew what he was doing."

"Like what?"

"I don't think he knows that I know, so it's best I keep it to myself."

"Fine." Flake saw a shadow on the water, she looked up, "Dragons!" She shouted.

Everypony on deck panicked. Dawn calmed them down, "It's Excaelum. Clear the deck!"

They all went to either the stern or the bow of the ship. Excaelum found a place for himself in between two masts. "Dawn." Excaelum said through their heads. "We need to speak privately. I'll take you back to the mainland."

"Knight Black Soul! Take command of my ship!" She shouted to her at the stern. Dawn teleported onto Excaelum's back and they took off. When they were over clear blue waters Dawn spoke, happy to see her friend, "Where've you been?"

"Busy."

"Yeah, no kidding. What have you been busy with?"

"Searching for Orcusin's ally, Retu. I found a dragon that could help me defeat her."

"Then why come to me? That's important!"

"I've been wanting to, but wouldn't until Lord Chronin advised it."

"Your relationship with Lord Chronin, what exactly is she to you?"

She felt him take a breath, "She is like a mother to me."

Dawn felt something in the back of her mind tell her, "You must tell him." She opened her mouth, "Excaelum, there's something I need to tell you about the time I went south with Lord Chronin to the Land of the Ice Dragons."

"What happened?"

Dawn didn't know if she should say it over open ocean. She stalled for a bit until there was land underneath them. "You've grown quite a bit since the last time we talked. You aren't getting greedy are you?"

"Just greedy for strength to protect my family."

"That's sweet." Dawn chuckled.

"It's the truth. I'm sure. Ice dragons love it cold even though they can freeze to death." Excaelum added.

The words "freeze to death" kept on repeating. She leaned over to the left and saw land below. She took a deep breath, "Luster died there!" Excaelum's wings stopped beating. She couldn't hear his powerful breathing. Dawn saw his wings fold in, he tilted down. They were diving! Dawn held on to his neck as tightly as she could. Excaelum was pulling himself and Dawn to the earth using Gravity. She could feel it. They made contact with solid ground. Dawn got off of Excaelum and trotted in front of him.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Excaelum thundered.

"Because it was my fault that she died! Excaelum, I could tell how much Harvest meant to you. Your anger, your sorrow. I didn't want to see you like that again! So, I kept quiet."

He scraped his left claws in the ground, "How did you kill her?"

"When I was put in a trance to get my memories back, I wandered outside a protective shield Lord Chronin put up to fight off the blizzard. I didn't know this was happening."

"Dawn!" Iril shouted. She tried to pull her back within the shield.

"Stay, Iril! The blizzard will blow you away!" Fyn Cour held Iril back.

Luster exclaimed, "Both of you stay here. Lord Chronin, I must save her." Without saying a word, Lord Chronin nodded. Luster stepped out of the protective barrier and searched for Dawn in the blizzard. She tracked Dawn down using her sense of smell for a few minutes, but losing the direction of which she came. She wrapped her body around Dawn's body to keep her warm and to protect her from the cold winds.

When Dawn awoke she was cold. "Where am I?" She stood up, shivering. It was like she was in a dome. She knocked on the walls around her. "Wait a minute." She backed up and saw that they were scales. "Oh no." She tried to use her magic to escape, but she was exhausted? She couldn't conjure up the strength. She started to scream, "Help!" She heard a response from outside.

Fyn shouted, "We'll get you out, honey. Just stay calm." Dawn heard mumbling outside, "Dawn, I need you to back away from this side okay."

She had trouble breathing, "Hurry." She stumbled backwards and passed out. Lord Chronin smashed a hole in the dome-like container. Fyn Cour rushed in when she saw her laying on the ground. She pulled her out, then Dawn gained back consciousness. She saw Luster's frozen body. She saw Lord Chronin restore the part of her body that she broke off. Iril placed some covers on Dawn.

"Ice dragons should be arriving here shortly. The smell of mark bearers attracts them. Makes them hungry." Lord Chronin said.

"What about Luster? We can't leave her here like this." Iril replied. She and Fyn placed Dawn carefully on Lord Chronin's back.

"Hurry, you two. I don't want to stay here any longer then we have to." Chronin scolded.

Iril replied, "Luster. We can't-"

"She's dead. Her body will still be here if you want to return."

"Excaelum, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just didn't want to see somepony I love hurt."

"She was my friend. You should've told me. Get back on. Your father is home." Dawn might've been the first one ever to see Excaelum that angry.

The trip back to Lalifong was a few hours shorter, because Excaelum was flying faster than before. Was it because he was letting out anger? Or because he was in a rush to reunite his family? Excaelum landed in the castles former garden where Shiste and Centerra were.

"Your father is inside." Dawn walked pass Shiste, he gave her an odd look. Kishi bowed as she went pass him.

Dawn saw her father at the doorway and ran to him. "It's good to see you, father." She hugged him.

He wrapped his wings around his daughter and kissed her head, "It's good to see you too."

She noticed a couple of scars on his body, "Where did you get those scars?"

"Saddle Arabia is really hard to takeover by yourself." He chuckled.

"That's not funny, dad. I will only have one of you. Don't go on and kill yourself."

"I'm sorry, but I'm here now. That's all that matters."

"Captain Longbeard helped me make my own ship, Share."

"Where is it now?"

"On its course for Saddle Arabia."

"How long before they get there?"

"If weather's good, three days max."

"That gives us a time to plan our strategy. But for the rest of today and tomorrow it's just going to be relaxing. Sound ok?"

"I'm not sure. I left Soul in command of my ship. And she has little experience."

"She's not alone is she?"

"Well, the RAK is with her, but they don't know much either. If you mean Captain Longbeard and his kids they're with them."

"You got nothing to worry about then. Your ship is in good hooves. She's with the best captains I know."

They walked inside the castle. It was lit up like it normally would be. Lights everywhere, "Do you know Captain Jinx?"

Shadow scoffed, "I've only talked to her a couple of times. She wouldn't be the kind of pony you'd want to piss off."

"I'm a bit hungry."

"To the kitchen we go."

"Umm, dad. While I was away Lord Chronin, the Time dragon, gave me my memories back."

Shadow rushed in front of her, "I'm sorry for what I've done to you."

"It's okay. I understand, I would've done the same if I was in your position." She smiled.

Shadow took his place back at his daughter's side, they continued, "I miss our little island you know that."

"I do too. We'll be going back there soon enough." She sighed, "Too bad it's not for a visit."

"War. You know after this is all over they will blame us."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll talk to you about it after you eat something." They arrived at the kitchen entrance, "I'll be back back in a minute. I gotta go get some things. Are you gonna be okay?"

"I'm not a kid anymore, dad."

"Okay, just making sure." He went off.

"Ugh, I will never get him to stop treating me like a baby." She went through the double door.

She was greeted with a, "Of course you won't."

Dawn got startled, "Oh my gosh." She looked to the right to see a griffon laying down on the counter, "You scared the crap out of me."

"Have we met before?"

"I do to think so."

"Oh right, her name was Iril. Your name is Dawn." He jumped off the counter, went to Dawn. Towered over her. He said happily, "You're always going to a kid in your father's eyes." He left the kitchen.

Dawn looked the fruit basket and Soon after, Shadow walked in the kitchen. "Dawn, I was wondering what would you make of this?" He had the Macto with him. He went to her and threw Macto on the counter. "I found this at Green Fawn when I was...you know."

With food in her mouth, "Let me see." She used her magic to rotate it in front of her. It was in its hoof-sword form. "Can I have it?"

"What? No!" Shadow snatched it out of her magical grasp. "You're not gonna use it."

"Yeah I will."

"For?"

"I can use it as a fancy apple slicer."

"Why does that sound like a good idea?"

"Because I said it."

"That weapon is really fine."

"Can I see?" Shadow pushed it over to his daughter. "Did you notice this on the blade? It says, 'Macto prefers to be an idol rather than a weapon.'"

"A symbol huh? I thought I'd finally stand a chance against Garren." He sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Garren and Lacoden have managed to weaponize their powers. Lacoden has harpoons and Garren has a sword. Here we have an idol. Damn it." Shadow was frustrated. "By the way that wasn't there before when I found it. Macto can change shape if you don't know."

"Really? Interesting."

"Yeah. I have been doing some reading, looked through a weapons archive only to find out there are no records of a weapon like this."

"Bit annoying isn't it?" He nodded, "I'm sure there is something."

Fawkes came in, "Speaking of Macto, I have found something that mentioned it." He was carrying a few pages of paper.

"Really? Let me see it." Shadow sounded like a colt. Fawkes laid out 5 yellowed papers. Shadow looked at Fawkes, "Have you met my daughter, Fawkes?"

"Indeed we did, a few minutes ago actually."

Shadow turned his attention to the papers, "Alright. Well, Dawn, here's something interesting. Talks about the creators of Macto. Wait a minute. Reads like I was writing. Fantastic."

"Months of working on that thing and we finally finished! Macto is complete! Now I can finally have some rest. Now, only if those two could decide which one Macto goes to. Maybe they'll decide with a duel. Those two. I can't believe they're the ones I trust my life with. They don't realize how much they love each other yet, but Dragaitas and I have. - Jeda."

"Excaelum's father knew the ones who made this. One of them is named Jeda."

"Dad, does it really matter? I mean, we have more important things to do than figure out who Dragaitas' friends are. Chances are they're already dead."

"That's true." He took a few quick glances at the other pages, "Nothing. Okay, Dawn, ready to go?"

"Go where?"

"To our house. Unless you want to stay here."

Dawn replied excitedly, "Let's go!"

"Fawkes, take care of the castle for me please."

"Are you going to take Mandal and Solace with you?" Fawkes asked.

"No, we need a little bit of privacy."

"I guess I can take care of them. You two make sure you're ready for war." Fawkes left.

"Okay, Dawn, we're gonna go back to our house. Got your stuff together?"

"I just got here. I have nothing with me."

"Okay, kid, just checking." They exited through the front gate and started to trot down the mountainside. "Dawn, what will you do after all this?"

"The war?"

"Yes."

"I don't know. I can always just get an education and make spells for a living, like my grandfather. Live here with the RAK and the princesses."

"Star Swirl did a lot more than that." Shadow chuckled, "He was an author, explorer. Are you serious?"

"No, geez. Dad, I'm only 16. I have a lot of time to think about this kind of stuff."

"I know. Dawn, I don't think we can stay here after the war."

"Why not? We have our own home and you can get a job as security or something."

"It's...more complicated then that." He looked to the right, to Lalifong. "There are more civilians than combatants. Do you agree?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, usually most of them want peace. What's the meaning of peace to you?"

Dawn thought for a few moments. She looked around to help herself. She counted 10 steps before she responded. "One. Two. Three. Four." She thought. When ten was said she said, unsure of her answer, "No war, no conflict. Just living life with no worries. No pony to fight against or for."

"That's a fine answer, but let me tell you what I think. Peace is a word that shouldn't exist. Before you say anything let me explain. As long as we, as living things, can think for ourselves. Without instinct, without being bred to, there will be ideas. Different ideas and as long as there are two different ideas there will be fighting. Even if the idea is completely idiotic ponies will support it. They do need a reason to, but that doesn't mean it has to be a good one. Bribery, family and friends could support it, or maybe because they didn't know any better. Do you see where I'm getting at?"

"Honestly, father, no."

"Alright, well, let me go at this at a simpler way. We will always have enemies, especially after all this shit with Garren."

"Won't they respect us? We are fighting to stop him?"

"All because you respect someone doesn't mean you like them. The ponies that we save after all this will be afraid. Afraid of the victors, because they are stronger. We will become targets after Garren and Lacoden are out the picture. Meaning we will have to leave and hide for awhile."

"Why would they? We might be stronger than them, might, but that doesn't mean they would come after us?"

Shadow just dropped the subject, "I might be overthinking things, huh?" He was still kinda bothered from the talk, Dawn saw the worry in his blue eyes.

"Don't worry, dad. We'll be fine." She smiled.

They got to their house and chatted the day away. The next day, they reminisced about their days at Fallen Star with their mother. About the times they went in the ocean, sleeping under the lonely tree atop the hill, even talked about times when they were with Barrier, Dew, Lacoden, Zaz, and Garren. Chatting about the past made them determined to end this war as quickly as possible. They wanted their friends back. They wanted their dead to rest.

On the third day of Dawn's arrival the Princesses convoy was spotted. Shadow and Dawn were in a watchtower on the southeast corner of Canterlot. "That was faster than expected. Dawn, do you want to wait until they get here?"

"Yeah, I want to talk to them for a few minutes before we go."

"Let's go and see if Excaelum is ready, on the way we can meet up with princesses." They rushed down the long staircase and faced the courtyard by the grand hall. "Excaelum, we are going to leave soon."

He raised his large head off the ground, "Tell me you are ready." He stood and stretched his wings.

"Where's Shiste?" Shadow asked.

"Hunting. I sent Kishi with him."

Shadow replied, "Will we have to wait until they return?"

"No, Kishi knows where to go."

Shadow and Dawn met up with the princesses. "Shadow, Dawn, how've you been?" Celestia asked cheerfully.

"We've been well. Princesses, Dawn and I will be headed west. I will be leading an attack in an attempt to drive Garren and Lacoden back to Fallen Star."

"When will you be leaving?" Luna asked.

"After this little talk, Princess." Dawn answered. "After a few days or so, we will prepare to head out to sea. We expect the RAK are within a few hours of Saddle Arabia, Garren's main territory."

"Don't worry. We'll be fine." Shadow added.

"I'm sure you will, but how sure you can be successful in this?" Celestia said.

"We are sure." Dawn answered proudly. She called to Excaelum using her powers. Excaelum flew to them and landed behind Dawn and her father. "We will win." She teleported on to Excaelum's back.

Shadow asked, "Do you two want to go to Fallen Star?"

"We don't know yet. Just take care of the west first. That's your priority." Celestia replied.

Shadow chuckled, "Yes it is." He flew onto Excaelum's back. "Let's start heading out. One week tops, princesses." Excaelum ascended gradually, turned around to the west. "How fast can you get us there?"

"When do you want to be there?"

"Before dawn. That way we can have the first strike in the morning."

"Then we shall be there before dawn." Excaelum used his powers to hold Shadow and Dawn on his back so he will be able to fly at greater speeds without them falling off. "Get some rest you two."

"Seng, we should be there soon. Get some rest." Fyn said.

Seng replied, "I can't. The excitement is keeping me up." He chuckled. They were standing by the rails on the starboard side of the ship, "This being the first move to winning, just heart racing." It was midnight. The RAK were getting as much sleep as they possibly can. The Dutchcolt was leading the small fleet, directly in front of Share. Reef to the left, Aquarius to the right. And Abyss following in at the rear.

"Yeah, Knight Black Soul doesn't seem too excited. More like worried."

"No kidding. She has so many lives on her hooves. The Captains don't seem to care much, they're just doing to this out of, I don't know, boredom."

"Longbeard, Jinx, and Elize seem to have some interest. Longbeard is helping his friends, Shadow and Dawn. Jinx...I don't know. Elize is protecting Jinx."

"Jinx is weird. You know how many times I saw her ever since we agreed to this voyage?. He glanced over at Fyn Cour, "Once!" He laughed. "I mean, would it hurt her to know the ponies she's fighting with?"

The moon shined down brightly on the deck. The waves gently rocked the wooden ships. Night breeze pushed the sails. "I can't imagine the fighting we are gonna go through." Fyn frowned, "I'm kinda sad. Knowing that the young colts and mares back at Lalifong want to fight too."

"When the fighting actually starts they'll change their mind."

"And you won't?"

"Never."

"Oh really? I think Flake has more guts that you." Fyn laughed.

"Oh come on. She is one of the strongest mares I know, I give her that. But she can't be any tougher than me."

Fyn chuckled, "Says the one who almost cried when he got seasick."
S

Seng looked over at Fyn, "Hey, we all had our fair share."

"No, I think you were literally the only one who got seasick."

"Shut up." Seng smiled.

Captain Jinx and Elize were in the Captain's cabin.

"Elize, we need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about, Jinx."

"Look, Share is carrying your best friend. I know damn well you remember her! I still can't believe father believed that story."

"Randall isn't anything to me anymore. Stop bringing her up."

"You're pathetic. I'll be back." She teleported.

Jinx appeared at the ship's helm. Seng and Fyn Cour looked at her. Jinx walked to them, "What are you two doing up so late?"

"Uhh, nothing." Fyn answered. "We were just talking." Fyn was a little nervous.

"Where's Dawn?"

"She went away with Excaelum a while back."

"Who's commanding Share in her stead?"

"Knight Black Soul."

"Not anymore. I am assuming command until she returns. Wake everypony!"

"But-"

"Now, Seng!" Jinx screamed. Seng went below deck. "Fyn, do me a favor. Go check out the supplies. Check if we have enough food, weapons, and the like."

"Okay but, may I ask something first?"

"What?"

"What's happening?"

"You and the rest of Dawn's crew are not even closed to prepared."

"And you think waking them up will help? They're tired."

"Do not argue with me. Do as I say or I'll have you thrown in the brig."

"Yes, captain." Fyn angrily went below deck.

An hour later the whole crew of Share was awake doing pointless work. Scrubbing the same rails, checking the same weapons. Knight Black Soul finally mustered up the courage to confront Jinx.

"You have no right to be commanding us."

"Oh I think I do."

"Says?"

"Shadow. He ordered me to take care of her and anypony important to her. And I'm taking care of her crew. Her friends. Her family."

"You and him go back?"

"Very far back. We'll be at Saddle Arabia in a few hours hours. Rally up your Knights familiar to battle otherwise they stay below deck. I suspect Garren has more than Changelings in his army."

Excaelum flew below the cloud layers, "Dawn, I have the city in my sights. Wake up now." He hovered in one spot.

Dawn rubbed her eyes and looked for her father, "Where's my dad?"

"Flying around. He told me to tell you to drop you off on your ship, unless you say different."

"Yeah yeah. Take me to my ship once we figure something out. What're you gonna do?"

"I'm going to wait. Just in case my brother decides to reveal himself."

"Do you think you're ready for him?"

"Do you think you're ready for Lacoden?"

"I'm not sure."

"That's my answer." A white light flashed into the air, seconds later a black light followed. "It's begun."

Dawn had shivers running up her spine. "Being mortal again makes this a lot scarier."

"Just focus on Lacoden. Your friends, your father, and I will take care of everything else. Are you okay?"

"Getting there. Umm, any tips I should know about fighting her?"

"She is strong. You have to be stronger. She is smart. You have to be smarter. That's all I can give you."

"Another thing, if it comes down to it, I'm not sure if I can..." she paused for a moment, "kill her."

"Dawn, no one is sure if they can take another life. I have faith in you. You will find a way to defeat her without killing."

"And you? Will you find a way to stop Orcusin?"

"No. There's little hope for him, if any." Dawn sighed, "Don't worry about me."

A dark yellow light shot up into the air. Dawn shuddered, "Th-that's her!"

"Calm down. Big breaths, Dawn. You can't face her like that."

"Her light is dimmer than before, Excaelum. She's lost. I can't. I can't fight her."

"You will fight her. If she doesn't fight you, she won't kill you. She'll fight your friends. And kill them instead."

"Some motivator you are." She was panting. The black and white lights went out. Soon after the dark-yellow light followed. "I'm next. Then you. Then", she paused, "your brother. Take me down to her please. Maybe I can avoid fighting her. One last try." As they were descending Dawn thought of something that could change everything, "Wait.."

"What is it?"

"Never mind. Doesn't look like any fighting has started."

Excaelum saw a shiny tinkle, "Hang on!" He rolled to the right. "She fired at us." Dawn looked back, a few seconds passed, and the warhead exploded. She felt its shockwave even though they were far from it.

"We can't let that hit any of the ships. It'll turn them to dust. It went a good distance before exploding. Excaelum take me to the ships. They shouldn't be too far from here."

"Hold on. Let me fly over and see what army they have for us." They glided far above Saddle Arabia. Watching for incoming warheads. They saw a dark figure flying at them from below.

"I think that's my father." She heard him scream something, couldn't really make it out. As he got closer she heard, "Above you!" She looked up to the sky and saw three large birds. They started to dive at them. "Excaelum, above us!" The Banshees screeched. Excaelum faced his body to them and blew a streak of blue fire. He scorched one but, the other two flew straight through the fire. Dawn fell. She was screaming. She couldn't think. She was too terrified. Luckily, her father caught her.

"We have to leave!" Shadow shouted. "Their forces are too strong for us." He turned to his daughter, he saw her staring at Excaelum fighting for his life. "Hang on!" Shadow flew to the Banshees. He unsheathed his hoof-sword and cut the hind leg of one of them. In a blink of an eye the Banshee turned its attention to Shadow. Excaelum saw his opportunity and grabbed the Banshee that was onto him. He tore its wings off and sent it down in flames. He saw that the last one was chasing after his family. He rocketed toward it and struck it in its skull. It fell to the ground, still alive twitching, then finally it died.

"Shadow, Dawn!" He shouted. Shadow landed on his back, set his daughter down, "What were they?" Excaelum had his claws on his chest. He flew weakly.

"Banshees, creatures from Tartarus. Excaelum, I know you're hurt but have to take us to the ships. We cannot have them sail into Death's mouth."

"Captain, there's a dragon headed toward us!" One sailor shouted.

"Course of action, Captain?" Another shouted.

"Captain Jinx," her first lieutenant said, "Shadow and Captain Dawn are on that dragon."

"What the hell you think you should do then?!" She shouted. "I'm not gonna be here forever, Shore. Learn."

"Yes, Captain. Clear the deck!" He shouted. Excaelum crashed onto the Abyss. Shore ran down to him, "What happened?"

"Jinx, weigh anchor now!" Shadow shouted.

Shore glanced at his captain, she nodded, "Weigh anchor!"

Shadow went to Jinx at the stern of the ship. He noticed that the other ships behind them have also stopped. "What is it?"

"We have to go back to Wary Ripples and prepare ourselves. We are not capable of winning this battle."

"We haven't got the time to do that, Shadow."

"We have to make the time. Look what happened to Excaelum. Only three of them did that. Imagine what 9 of them can do to him. They will kill him and then who will be left to fight his brother?"

Knight Black Soul flew over, "Is she okay?" Shadow nodded. Soul let out of sigh of relief. "Excaelum got hurt pretty bad." She looked over the railing and saw Dawn comforting him as others tended to his wounds.

"We wouldn't be here without him." Shadow replied. "We need Longbeard, Elize, Klaus, and Marl."

"And the princesses?"

"Leave them out of this! This isn't for fillies!" Jinx thundered.

"Don't you call them that!" Black Soul yelled.

"She's right, Soul. As insulting as it may seem the princesses have little to no say in our plans."

"They are your princesses, Black Soul. Never will be mine." Jinx scolded. Soul flew off. "Stupid girl."

"You can't hold yourself back even a little?" Shadow asked.

"No."

"Just try to, okay?"

"Whatever. Want to know my solution to taking back Saddle Arabia?" Shadow looked at her, "Kill them all."

"It's not that simple. What's wrong with you? You aren't thinking." Shaodw heard flapping above them. "Kishi. Who's that with him?" The larger dragon swooped down and carried Excaelum away. Everyone panicked then, Kishi landed. Shadow approached him. They both bowed to each other and Kishi flew off.

"Back to work." Shouted Jinx.

Shiste dropped Excaelum on the ground without a care and laughed hysterically, "Hahaha, the son of Lord Dragaitas is defeated by Banshees! Get up! I have so much to teach you." He continued to laugh, "And I'm supposed to take orders from you?" Excaelum weakly lifted his head up off the ground, then passed out. "Centerra, I'll take care Orcusin's allies. Make sure he recovers. His allies are a fair challenge, Orcusin however will be nearly impossible for him to defeat without another Gravity dragon teaching him how to master the element. You are the more intelligent one out of the three of your brothers. Speak to Lord Chronin. She'll be able to help you. When I return I'll have the heads of his allies. I made a promise. To your father, to keep the three of you alive. The two of you is simple. Orcusin, I'm afraid ending his life is keeping him alive. There's a lot more to living than being alive." Shiste flew up into the sky.

"Longbeard, we can not attack now. We'll be slaughtered." Shadow exclaimed. He was trying desperately to stop them, "We are outnumbered. The Changelings have hundreds of drones. Three of them for every one of us we have. Banshees will prevent us from having an effective aerial assault and come nightfall Amaroks will be on the hunt. Picking off our ground troops one by one. Not to mention the risk of having Orcusin attacking us."

"I don't think a dragon of his caliber will waste his time with us. If I were him I'd wait for the two to kill each other then, come in and finish them." Jinx replied.

Longbeard raised his voice and added, "Jinx, he says it's too dangerous. We aren't going!"

"Fine. Crew!" Jinx yelled.

"Yes cap'n?!" The crew replied in unison.

"Are we going to wait.....or fight and die?!"

The crew answered, "Fight and die!!"

"There you have it. We are willing to die. If we do indeed die, we would've pushed them back to where they came from. You don't want to help us, get off my ship."

Marl tried to take her out of it, "It's suicide. You won't make it to port!" He went to the railing and shouted, "Your captain is leading you to your deaths! Do you not care?!"

Jinx's lieutenant answered, "We do, but wherever she goes we do. Even given the choice to turn our backs on her we don't. We wouldn't be here in this fleet without her. We would be making a mess of our lives. Crew, battle stations!"

"I will say again. Get off my ship if you won't help us." Shadow, Dawn, Klaus, Longbeard, and Marl went back to their own ships. "Elize, will you be abandoning me too?"

"It is suicide from what we've seen. But I will cover you to port. Once you and your crew are on land I will pull back."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiled.

Dawn came up the stairs, "Where did everyone go?"

"They left. We are going to attack Garren. The others think it's suicide. You should go too." Jinx said. "A lot of us won't come back. Probably not even me. We won't blame you if you left. We don't blame your father for leaving."

Dawn smiles, even staring into their eyes she tries to be happy, "Well, I'm going to go. Plus, I'm not much of a fighter yet. Come back." She teleports away.

"Alright, get to the Nautilus."

"Aye."

She trotted over to the railing. Built up her voice, "Listen up! Captain Elize will make sure we get to land. Once there, we will Split into three divisions. Division One will be the first off this ship. Led by Shore. Shore, assemble your team. Division Two will follow, I will be leading. Shore and I will be each taking about 8 of you with us. The remainder will make up Division Three. Division Three will stay on the ship. Any one of you want out. Say so now and you'll can go." None of the crew answered her. "Fight and die!"

The ship sailed it's way to battle. Onboard Share shadow was speaking to Black Soul and Storm. When they figured out that Elize was going with Jinx they were deciding if they should go to. Only a few members of the RAK were experienced fighters. This decision was difficult. Soon after Marl's was headed after Jinx. Aquarius had a spell casted on her that made her sail faster. She cut through the waves.

Shadow said, "Alright. Three of our fleet are headed their. Let's give Garren a different front to fight on. I will lead an aerial assault. I need our fastest flyers with me. We'll be flying low. Using the trees and buildings as cover from the Banshees. Those who can't fly will stay on the ship. Preparing for the aftermath."

Dawn appeared, "We have to bring the ship close enough to respond quickly if retreat is necessary." She ordered, "Get my ship moving!"

"Move into cannon range?" Storm asked.

"Chances are the Changelings will come attack Share if we do that." Shadow replied. "Dawn, it's your ship. What do we do?"

She answered, "Move into cannon range. Father, you'll take a small group of fighters while the rest of us defend this ship."

"Sounds good. I'll go assemble my team. Storm, care to tag along?"

"Give me the word and I'll be ready." Storm was excited. He rushed down below deck to get his gear.

"Dawn, my team and I will head out before you come into view of the port." He trotted over to his daughter and wrapped his wings around her. "Take care of yourself."

"I will, dad." Shadow turned around and walked down the stairs. Dawn heard him shout out Seng's name.

Below deck Storm realized it was eerily empty. He wondered where the rest of the crew were. He walked to the back of the ship where his things were, then he heard a crash coming from behind. He spun around fast and saw a unicorn. He couldn't see its face clearly. The entire body of it was like fog. "Who are you?" Storm asked.

"I'm what you fear most." It laughed. His fog-like body hugged the ground and made the body of Soul.

Storm was going crazy, "No." He started to whimper. He couldn't stop staring at the image the fog made.

A voice came directly by his ear, "My orders are to not kill any of you. Nothing says I can't drive you to insanity." It laughed. The fog reformed as the unicorn. The fog rushed at Storm and went through his body and disappeared.

Storm was cold and fell to his knees. The image of Soul's body imprinted in his mind. "Lacoden, I will kill you." Shadow had chosen Cloudfire, Seng, and Storm for his mission, but Aero was volunteering he should go. Shadow allowed it. Storm came back above deck.

"Storm, we are heading out now. Stay low. Stay close. Follow me and you'll be fine." Shadow said. Shadow jumped off the railing and opened his wings and flew off. The rest followed. Though confident Shadow wasn't sure if he could keep his entire unit alive.

He did keep alive. He was lucky. Jinx wasn't. Just on the day they planned their attack almost her entire crew was taken out. They carried out their plan, but didn't expect the Amaroks to be out. They tore her friends to pieces in front of her. Garren and Lacoden followed them by rooftop. Laughing at their agony. Nautilus couldn't do anything, neither could Aquarius. Kept at bay by the hundreds of Changelings, Marl suffered from only a few casualties. few of Marl's crew were killed. Nautilus wasn't able to surface due to mechanical failures.

Shadow called a retreat. Storm was furious with him. Shadow argued that if they attacked the combined forces of Amaroks, Lacoden, and Garren would've wiped them out. Shadow gathered what was left of Jinx and her crew and led them inland. Dawn, Klaus, and Longbeard bombarded Saddle Arabia from their ships. At the cost of many civilians casualties they drove Garren's forces out. They sailed to Fallen Star.

Author's Notes:

Very very long this chapter took to be written and long to read. Bear with it those of you that have made it this far. Very close to the end :)