"Wait, you're telling us he's not a suspect?" Rainbow was the first one to recover and ask.

"Here, before I start explaining maybe we should take a seat," Shining replied and without much arguments, they all sat down around the room. "Let me start with the fact that Sparks gave her statement which helped clear his name."

"But?" Twilight asked.

"There is far more to it, of course, Twilly including what Luna Lyra sent up the chain. Got to admit that was smart on their part, and as for what they sent was a whole box filled with files. Not just any files mind you," Shining said.

"Files about the group that kidnapped Brandon?" Twilight asked making her brother give a nod.

"For this next part, I need time to explain okay? Because all of what I'm about to tell you is all sensitive information, in other words, classified. Before any of you ask the reason why I'm able to tell you this is because you all are heroes, of course, mixed with the fact that Princess Celestia gave permission and to add to it you all would've found out anyway. Given the fact that you all started your own investigation." Shining said.

"Okay, but first let me ask if what Luna and Lyra sent you helped you out why not go to them first?" Rarity asked.

"Ah, because you have the bigger group and we have ponies watching over them just to make sure nothing happens to them," Shining replied.

"Wait, does that mean that this group is actually in Las Pegasus?" Shining nodded. "What are we waiting for then?"

"We may know that their main base is there but we do not know exactly where. Luna's group is close to finding it from what my men have told me so far, at least they believe that her group is close to something. But we still have time and stuff needs to be explained before we just jump in. Hopefully, we'll make it in time because it won't be too long before this group knows we're on the right track." Shining said before flaring up his horn and casting a shield spell.

"Hmm, soundproof so no pony can eavesdrop, and no pony can get in or out without special invitations or marks. Much better than the one you did in Canterlot." Twilight said.

"Because it's a smaller area and requires less magic, but thanks for being impressed. Now let me think of where to exactly start," Shining said taking off his helmet and putting it next to him.

"How about starting with those files?" Pinkie suggested.

"Alright, and this also goes into why Sparks gave her statement. The files we received are in fact about the group, more importantly about some of the members in said group. These files not only told us about some of the members but also what information this group has over them." Shining said.

"Sounds like blackmail material to me," Rainbow said.

"Yes, blackmail and extortion. Which brings me to Sparks for the..." Shining stopped as Twilight raised her voice.

"I swear if she was apart of this..." Though Shining raised a hoof and patted Twilight's head to calm her down.

"Don't worry, I don't think she has any part in that group. Her brother on the other hoof," Shining said before being interrupted again.

"Lemon Grabs?" Pinkie asked making Shining nod.

"That meeting or whatever he went to then..." Twilight said.

"Was more than likely a meeting for this group. We believe that Lemon Grabs has been a member for two years now, his main job seems to be an office worker. I'm sure you all already put this together but we suspect that when this group heard that Lemon's sister was planning on going on a date with Brandon they acted. They would probably have tried to convince him that it was Brandon who attacked Sparks to guarantee his loyalty.

Then turn around and say that they've abducted Lemon's to blackmail Sparks into saying it was Brandon who attacked her. If that's the case, and it is so far, then they probably wouldn't let Lemon contact his sister. But we think Lemon found out," Shining said.

"And he's the one who sent Luna and Lyra the box. But still, all this is good so far but why didn't Sparks say it was Brandon?" Rarity was the one who asked.

"Because we told her about the group and her brother was involved in an undercover operation and that's what got her to give her real statement," Shining said.

"So, you lied to her?" Rainbow asked.

"Not exactly, because we do think he was the one who gave us those files. So when we go into their base and make some arrest he will be listed as an undercover operative as of today and will be let go. Now here's the tricky part of all this, we have been investigating this group for several years now." Shining said.

"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked.

"What I mean is we may not have known that this particular group was the one we were looking for, but some of the files we received pertained to some of our ongoing investigations. In other words, it busted down and opened new doors. From like how we already said blackmail, extortion, hiring mercenaries to take care of problems. Those are just the tip of the iceberg." Shining replied.

"Is there anything else?" Rarity asked.

"If you're asking if we know the exact location, no we don't but we have discreetly arrested some of the ponies that were we got files on. I have some of my men questioning them as we speak but right now we're counting on Luna's group because as I said they seem pretty close to finding something." Shining answered. "Which reminds me, we have a train to catch if we plan on being there by the morning so pack up and let's head out in an hour."

Without saying another word despite the five mares still having questions Shining left leaving them to pack up their things as quickly as they could. Though they were thankful since what they were told was a lot to digest. But they now at least have as good of a lead as they come.

-------------The Groups Base---------------

He was mostly healed up by the doctor, it was apart of the physician's orders not to fully heal him. Though he didn't know whether the doctor was paying much attention or he acted like he didn't know that one of his straps was loose. But either way, the doctor gave him a nod before leaving.

One way or the other he was grateful since the loose strap was his only hope of escaping, but he still knew he had to wait. Though they didn't know he had studied when they changed guard, and he knew he had to wait for the shift change and then some so the new guard wouldn't suspect anything. Which after what he assumed was another hour and he heard the current guard switching out.

After waiting another couple of hours to make sure the new guards were comfortable before he began his work. He was not going to sit here and wait for rescue or was he going to break down in tears, he had enough crying and being the one that needed to be saved from something. This time he was going to save himself and see those he grew to love again, even if he only got to see them one last time.

He didn't care and as he undid his straps he couldn't help but remember the memories that had come back to him. They had steeled him for what he knew he would have to do. Though he pushed the memories back down and concentrated on finishing the straps. For now that he had his chance and he was not going to waste it.

The guards heard a noise from the room and they looked at each other and one nodded before turning to look inside the room. Quickly seeing the prisoner was no longer strapped down the guards unlocked the door and went in. They were both quickly taken care of as Brandon grabbed one guard and slamming the stallion hard against the ground, quickly dropping low as the other threw their spear and he swept the legs out from underneath the guard.

Though he knew that wasn't the end of it, so quickly reacting he grabbed the guard he had tripped up and flung him into the guard that was now beginning to recover. Grabbing the keys and one of their spears he left and shut the door behind him. He then shoved the keys into the pockets of his shorts before turning to see another guard coming down the hall.

The two stared at each other for a second before he reacted and threw the spear nailing the guard in the leg. Before the guard could scream out in pain and call for help he pounced locking the guard in a choke hold until the stallion passed out. Getting up and making sure the guard was still alive he grabbed the guards spear not wanting to pull the one out of the stallion's leg.

But as he started down a hall alarms began to go off and he cursed forgetting about any surveillance that they might have had. Though he did wonder why they didn't sound the alarm when he got out of the room, though as he looked at the guard below him he couldn't help but roll his eyes. They either weren't paying attention or they thought that this one guard would be able to take care of things.

Either way, he wasn't going to stop his escape now but then something crossed his mind. He had to find and help Lemon out of here as well because surely they would have figured out it was him that helped him out. But he had no idea where to began looking so he picked a hallway and started his way.

"And what does he think he's going to do?" The stallion asked looking at the security footage. "Not trying to escape just yet, just looking for somepony."

Lemon laid at the back of the room unconscious and severely beaten and the stallion couldn't help but give a little laugh. Knowing that the human was going to try to find the sad pathetic excuse for a pony. Quickly sending a message to his guards he sat back and watched.

He knew that with them on guard and watching him through the security cameras which the ones he spotted he took out. But he knew that wasn't going to be enough as he heard the guards shouting giving orders and stomping around. Shaking his head as he wondered why the guard's armor always seemed so heavy and loud, not very good when looking for your escaped prisoner.

Though he knew no matter what he would eventually have to fight his way through some of them for right now he had to conserve his energy. Checking the doors only found one that was unlocked and before entering he made sure there were no more cameras around. Going inside he found himself in your run of the mill janitor closet.

Locking the door and holding his breath moments before a group of guards came down the hallway checking all the doors. He saw the door handle rattle before they moved on to the next, it took them several minutes before he heard them go off into a different direction. But he still couldn't help but find that one door is unlocked at first seemed a little convenient so he didn't let his guard down as he caught his breath.

Taking the keys out of his pocket he looked through them all, though his guess was that they were mostly cell keys. But there was one key that caught his interest, this one was engraved with SR. He knew instantly that it meant a security room and figured that it was his best shot at not just finding Lemon but an escape route.

Though he knew there was still the matter of actually finding the security room, he knew of at least one way. Taking another breath to prepare himself for what he knew was going to be a long and hard fight. He took the security room key off the chain and put it back into his pocket and left the other keys in the room.

Turning the nob and cracking open the door to peek through to see if he would have much trouble. Seeing at least one guard at the end of the hall, and figuring there was one stationed at the other end he moved. He ran so fast the first guard barely had time to try to raise his spear in defence as the shaft of the spear he was carrying made contact with the guard's jaw.

Instantly the guards head snapped upward giving him a good opening slamming the blunt end of the shaft hard into the stallion's chest knocking the air out of the guard. After the guard collapsed onto the ground he turned to see the other guard calling for help. Knowing there was one thing to do he threw his spear again, this time only embedding into the wall next to the guards head.

This of course made the guard stumble back a little before the mare turned her gaze to him giving him a harsh look. Though by that time he had already made up most of the ground and already past the reach of the spears head. But he did take a hard slap across his side by the shaft which he grabbed hold of pulling it out of the guards grasp and throwing it to the ground.

"Where is the security room?" He asked slamming the mare to the wall next to the spear he had thrown just moments before.

"Like I tell a crea... Aaagghh!" He slammed his fist hard against the mares armour, which he knew his hand wasn't going to be in good shape after since it was enough not only to hurt the mare but left a big dent in the chest piece.

"No time for stalling, you think I'm a monster? I can show you just how much of one I can be, now just tell me where the dam security room is!" He said as he could now see the fear in the mare's eyes as she caught her breath.

"Y-you'll never make it! Not there and definitely not out of this building!" The mare said trying to calm her fears as she started to try to find a way to escape.

"Brave words..." Before he could do anything a blast of magic came from the other end of the hallway where the first guard had recovered.

He averted his eyes as the magic went passed him and slammed into the shocked mare as a new hole appeared in her forehead. Dropping the now lifeless mare he turned and stared angerly at the stallion who only gave a smile in return. There was no shock for him seeing such violence for he had seen far worse, but the stallion had a shot on him why kill one of their own?

"She was weak, the boss gave us clear orders that any of us shows that kind of weakness to your kind deserves to die!" Though that was all the stallion got to say as a spear appeared in the stallion's side.

"Mmhmm, not my orders. Any stallion like you don't deserve to live," Suddenly the big stallion who he knew was the boss appeared. "Now, why did you kill her? Because she rejected you? I know I certainly didn't give such orders in a crisis like this."

"B-but..." The guard stammered before the big stallion shoved the spear deeper.

"All emergency orders take priority over normal routine. Any traitors during such an event will be dealt with accordingly after because we need as many of us as we can." The big stallion said as the guard took his last breath. "Such a waste of life, I was looking forward to seeing you make your way to the security room and try to find a way out."

"You know I don't think we really introduced ourselves since your men brought me here, my name is Brandon. A human from a different world." He said ignoring the two bodies.

"I see you are used to seeing death which proves that no matter where your kind comes from you're all just the same, monsters who need to be put down. But fine, I'll humour you this one time. My name is Land Shark, as you can tell I hold up to my name," Land said pulling his spear from the guard's corpse. "Now if you follow me so we can have some privacy."

He gave the stallion a hard look before grabbing the spear from the wall which made him stop for a moment to look at the dead mare. Bending down in a squat position he closed her eyes and gave her a little prayer making Land give him a nod after he stood up and faced the stallion. Though he knew if he followed the big stallion he would probably not make it out alive he knew it was his only chance.

"I will give you that you at least have decency, unlike the humans who originally lived in this land." Land said.

"If you come from the group of exiles, then do you know what happened to the humans?" He couldn't help but ask.

"That much should be obvious to a degree. Before our ancestors travelled back to their countries they eliminated as many humans as possible. Then when the three tribes came here and brought the Windigo's the remaining humans died out due to the cold. Mine and the other families hide away the remains including their settlements after the tribes united." Land answered.

"Let me guess, you're telling me this because you think you'll kill me." He said.

"Not necessarily, the way you handled yourself even with the few you've come into contact with tells me you have been trained. Though it's obvious that your skills are rusty you are more than a threat. I did not become the leader of this group because I was stupid, or because of my strength. It's because I know how to read creatures," Land said taking a turn.

"Never said you were stupid, but you do have several advantages." He said making the stallion roll his eyes.

"I'm more than aware, just like I'm aware that while I have the strength and even guards on my side you are fast. Though I do promise not to let my guard intervene that does not negate anything. I'm sure you know why," Land said.

"Yeah, yeah because even if I defeat you I will still have to deal with the guards. Which I'm sure I will have trouble with because I'm sure you won't just go down easy." He said and Land turned his head and gave him a look that would have sent shivers up most creatures spines.

"I assure you that it won't be me that goes down, now here we are!" Land opened up a door revealing a decently open room and as he looked he saw guards and other workers behind windows and in one corner Lemon was lying unconscious. "Now the real fun begins!"

Author's Notes:

Well, at least Land Shark is giving him a chance. But I think we know where this is going...
Hope you all enjoyed and remember to smile, smile, smile!