The air here is so different than from back home. It's much warmer and far more sporadic, but that’s a given. There isn't anypony here to control it and with all of the abundant magic in the area there's going to be obvious side effects. All of this makes it a bit difficult to fly while armored up. The random winds keep trying to knock us out of the sky while the heat makes us sweat like crazy. But we may as well get used to it. We're going to be here for a while. And that means the Jumpers are going to be flying around Fort Corium Gutter constantly for patrols.

At least the view is nice. To the right is the mountain range Spike flew off into. Down below us, a large plains stretches far and wide. To the left, the plains seem to break off into slabs of earth, eventually crumbling into the ocean. The rocks breaking into the ocean have a deep green tint to them that turns to tan as they settle into the plains. There aren't many trees in the immediate vicinity, but I can see a rainforest in the far distance. It doesn't look too inviting.

"Captain!" I look over to my wingmate, Dust Devil, and nod to her. "South, by the cliff side, I think I saw something!"

"You don't have to yell, Dust," I tell her. With our helmets on we have our comms system to communicate. But, every now and again, we forget we have them. "Point it out." She banks to the left and breaks through a cloud before pointing out a small cave in the distant cliff side.

"I saw a flicker for a second. We should check it out," she tells me, using less volume.

"Alright. Dust, you're with me. High Flyer and Shift, you'll cover the left. Ellzy and Jonathan will take the right. Let's go!" We all bank to the left and dive down, racing through a stray cloud before leveling out with the ground. We keep our momentum until we near the edge of the gorge. I signal for the others to come to a halt right at the edge of the cliff. "Hmm... this gorge looked a lot smaller from up there."

"Are we still good with the plan, Dash?" High Flyer asks, kicking a rock over the edge. I watch it bounce off the walls for a while before it disappears into the misty abyss far below.

"That's at least four hundred feet down." Johnathan comments. "I would not advise going near the edges too much. There's bound to be something hiding down there."

"We could send Tiber to make a pass to flush anything out" Shift suggests.

"It could also stir up the goblins we're trying to find. Which could be good or bad. How are we approaching this, Dash?" Ellzy asks, getting everypony to look at me. I mull it over for a moment as I look over the gorge. It's not too wide, so I doubt anything big will appear. Nothing like Ghastly Gorge at least. Funny how the gorge being larger is bad for those massive beasts. Anyway...

"Stealth is optimal right now, especially with what happened in Sycney recently. We'll do a drop over the other end while keeping formation. But we are not assaulting anything that may be there. Fire when fired upon, got it?"

"Ma'am!" I wince from all of the yelling ringing off in my ears. One day we'll get this down right. With a single flap of my wings I take off again with the others following close behind. As we fly over the large crevice I glance down again and peer along the walls. I don't see anything moving, but there are plenty of places where some creatures could be hiding.

When we make it to the other end I tuck my wings in and toss my head back. I flip back and begin to fall. Once I'm parallel with the wall of the canyon I open my wings again, giving a powerful flap. With the rest of the Jumpers behind me, we race towards the opening Dust pointed out. I try to keep our speed high to avoid any possible mishaps. I don't know if there is anything here, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

We race past a few openings as we descend into the gorge. I keep my eyes on the prize though. If there is anything down there, I want to see it as early as possible.. It's a somewhat reckless approach, but I have wingponies to watch the openings for me. We continue down the canyon at a fast pace. While diving down, we pass a few more openings in the canyon walls. Once we reach the bottom, we pull out of our dive and come to a hover just above the ground, sending a cloud of dust over us. We wait to see if anything pops up or shoots at us. I begin to count down in my head, eyeing the cloudy entrance for anything to move. Ten seconds later I touch down and pull out my assault rifle, the Jumpers following suit.

"Shift, give us a light." He ignites a green ball of energy above us as we start to walk into the cavern. It's a fairly large opening, giving us room to walk three abreast. Part of the walls seem to be carved out by some kind of creature, while others look machine carved.. "Keep your eyes peeled, something is down *tink* here." I look down at my hooves and see something shiny laying there. The Jumpers instantly cover me as I begin to look it over.

It feels smooth like glass, yet harder. Whatever it is, it's lighter than a baseball and almost as large as a hoofball. I want to say it's an egg, but something about it is telling me otherwise. Dust comes over and takes a few pokes at it as well, humming to herself as she stares down at it. I pick it up and toss it up and down a few times before sliding it into my saddle bag. I'm sure somepony either back at the fort or at home will know what it is.

Just before I call out to the others to leave, a scream echoes from deep within the cave. It sounded as though it was some distance away, but everypony heard it. The others look to me for a second before I nod and start leading them forward, further into the dark cave system.

We keep our weapons raised as the darkness engulfs us. Shifted's light does a good job of keeping the area lit, but it doesn't go far enough to help my nerves. Each hoofstep echoes out of sight as the cave starts to grow in size. Pretty soon we're all standing side by side at the edge of Shifted’s light. I stop and signal for the others to gather around closely.

"We're sticking to the plan," I whisper to them, knowing that our helmets will relay the message. "Dust and I will head straight forward with the other two groups going their respective direction. In case we lose communication with each other, meet back at the entrance in one hour. Try to mark the paths you take. Any questions?"

"What happens after an hour at the entrance if nopony is back?" High Flyer asks quietly.

"If you are uninjured, go looking for the others. If you have injuries that need attention, get back up top. Anything else? No? Then get moving." I reach to back of my helmet and press just behind my ear. A line of light moves across my face and lights the way before me. We don't use this function unless we absolutely have to. It's just another thing that eats up the battery charge.

We split up and head our own directions. I see the others find tunnels of their own and disappear into them. I always get a chill whenever we split up. I'm their Captain, so I'm responsible for them. If I'm not there for them, then I can't be responsible for them. But, as Miles puts it, if you can't trust them to be alone then you didn't train them right. I have faith that they'll be alright, but that doesn't stop me from worrying.

We come to the end of the large cavern and find three tunnels that lead forward. Two are high off the ground and seem the most natural, while the one level with the floor seems carved by machines. It doesn't take a brainiac to figure out which tunnel to go down, so down we go. It's a straight shot in. A few spots along the wall have small craters in them, which are evenly spaced out. I imagine that they were lights at one point, but something must not have agreed with the lighting.

"This is spooky." Dust whispers. "What took out those lights? Or, even worse, who put them there in the first place?"

"Well, if the giant turd is anything to go by, I think some goblins put them here," I tell her, making her nod slowly. "As for what took out the lights, I don't know. And I don't want to find out either."

"Me neither," she adds quickly, eyeing one of the dents for a moment. "But... I mean, if I could find out without actually having to see it in the flesh, that would be nice."

"And how would we do that?"

"We could send a bot in and have them record what they find."

"We'd lose connection with it too quickly. Those bots are amazing, but without a decent connection to the cities they're basically useless." That's not entirely true. They'll still follow through with their last orders, but that's about it. If something down here attacked, I doubt they'd defend themselves. "Let's just keep moving and get this over with quickly."

We continue down the path in silence again. The walls are becoming more and more jagged as we move. We must be getting close to whatever we're looking for. There are a few tools here as well. Most seem mundane, shovels, pickaxes, the mining sorts. But after a few minutes we find what looks like a small camp. There are large crates stacked by the walls. Some have been broken into while most are just sitting there, unused. There are more tools spread all around as well. Some of them are broken beyond recognition, but they are all obviously goblin power tools. Dust and I spread out and start to look over the small camp to find any clues.

There don't seem to be any bodies here. Just broken tools and leftover supplies. I pop a few crates open and find more of the odd gem-like objects packed away. Whatever these things are, there are a lot of them here and the goblins that were here wanted them badly. I look back to Dust and see her pulling a few of the gems out from the other crates. I look back into the crate and pull one out, but pause. Just beneath it is some dark green thing. Curious, I reach in and pull it-

"AAH!" A goblin in tattered armor yells as he jumps out of the crate and points four pistols at me. I jump back and point my rifle at him, Dust joining me. He scurries out of the crate and falls to the ground, whimpering to himself frantically. "Nicht mehr! Nicht mehr! Lassen sie mich in den schatten! Bitte! Biiiiitteeeee!"

"Whoa! Take it easy!" I yell as he tries to back peddle away from us. "Dust, you speak goblin!?"

"Uh... no." The goblin lets out another yell and fires two rounds into the wall above himself. We raise our weapons again and start to follow him as he backs away from us slowly. He's reloading the two guns he fired, but has his eye on the ceiling, crying.

"Keine mehr schatten. Nicht mehr dunkelheit," he sobs, bringing all of the pistols up to his head.

"Don't!"

B-B-B-BANG

I flinch from the gore spray plastering the ceiling. Any clues we would have had are gone now. I cuss and kick the closest crate, breaking it slightly. What was he shooting at? What scared him so much that he'd rather take his own life than face us? Did he even realize that we were here? No more questions, there's no way of knowing at this point.

"I think we should meet up with the others, let them know what we just saw." Dust tells me. I try to raise comms, but only get static back.

"Good idea. Lets make that on the-"

GURGLE

We both freeze up when a low gurgling growl resonates all around us. We look to each other before something falls to the ground behind us. We look back and shine our lights at one of the gems that somehow fell on the ground. A thin black foot is standing behind it. We slowly look up until the creature is shown completely in the light.

It walks hunched over on two long, thin legs. It's body looks like a starving husk of some demented pony that stands upright. Its arms reach down to the ground and have an extra set of elbows. Its body is pitch black, almost like a living shadow. Its face... dear Celestia... it has a small round head with two white eyes and a thin white smile of small pointy teeth that go from one side of its head to the other.

It moves in twitches, acting as if it has to forceevery action. Its head jerks from left to right as it smiles down at the two of us, slowly stepping towards us. I can faintly hear the sound of bones cracking as it moves joint after joint. It leans forward and gets right in my face, somehow looking me right in the eyes. I try to move away, I try to run or shoot or... anything! But I feel as if I've been locked in place by some kind of magical force.

"Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicht... meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrhh... dun-kel-heit." Its voice hisses out, sounding eerily similar to the goblins from before.

"D-Dash..." Dust squeaks out, though I barely hear her. I can't seem to look away from the thing in front of me.

"niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicht... meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrhh... Daaaassssh." My breath hitches when he says my name in Dusts voice.

"Dash... I think we should-"

"RUN!" I finally get a hold of myself and jump back, spraying a burst of bullets and arcane bolts into the creature before me. It lets out a hiss and charges at me, completely ignoring the rounds hitting it. I stay in the air and fly backwards as I continue to shoot at the creature while it chases after me. The metal rounds from my rifle shatter and ricochet off its body while the arcane bolts just disappear into its dark form. When my magazine runs out I drop it and fumble to reload. Dust zooms past me, making me turn and follow her at full speed.

We race towards the end of the cave at full speed. As we race through the cave, I pull slightly ahead of Dust. I nearly crash into the wall when one of the creatures suddenly appears from the cracks ahead of us. We both manage to stay airborne and dodge its swipe. I fumble over my gear until I pull out an arcane grenade. I crack the top off and turn around to fling it behind us. I get a glimpse of three creatures quickly gaining on us as the blue tube bounces behind them. Shortly after that it explodes in a large wall of arcane fire, engulfing the dark creatures. Dust and I kick it into high gear as we charge at full speed again, barely missing the edge of the explosion.

We don't stop until we make it out of the cave, spinning around to make sure we weren't followed out. After a few moments pass with nothing happening we both sigh in relief, glad to be out of there. I don't know what those things were, but hopefully we won't have to deal with them anytime soon.

PAT-PAT-PAT

"That's gunfire, the others are in trouble." Dust comments, making me groan.

"You reloaded?" I ask as I finish loading my own gun.

"I... never fired." I give her a dirty look, then remember she can't see my face due to the mask. "Right, I'll be right behind you then."

"Right..." I take a moment to psych myself up before flying back in... then psych myself up again to actually do it. Third time’s the charm-

"Dash?"

"AAAAAAAAHH!" I don't know why I gave a battle cry, but I did.

Jonathan and I are back to back with some random goblin as we each fire at a strange dark creature. These freaks of nature don't seem to care all that much about our E.A.R.s. Any that get too close ,however, are beaten back quickly enough. I am wearing a pair of brass knuckles while Jonathan is using a blade as a sidearm. Our goblin friend, who we never got the name of, is alternating between a pair of daggers and a pair of pistols.

One of the beasts lunges at me, trying to grab me around the waist. I jump up and out of its grasp, hovering just above its freakish face. With a yell I punch forward, smacking it clear in the center of its face. My brass knuckles are enchanted to hit with much more kinetic energy than the average hunk of metal. The beast is thrown back far further than it really should have. I land back down and turn to cover Jonathan as he reloads.

The goblin moves to cover my back. He stabs the beast I punched with both his knives and fires both pistols from point blank range at the back of its head. The stabs and shots deal damage to the thing, if its hisses are anything to go by, but they don't put it down. I move from one target to the next as I continue to fire from beast to beast. It seems as though there are four of them here, circling us. Each one waiting for an opening to strike. They're getting there too. If the pathetic amount of damage we're doing to them is anything to go by, we'll run out of ammo well before we can even put one of them down.

"Letzte schusse!" The goblin yells as he begins to reload, just as Jonathan does the same.

"What did he say!?" I yell over the fire.

"Last shots! He's out!" Jonathan yells as we trade spots to each dodge attacks.

"Fantastic!" I yell, as I begin to reload as well. We have to get out of here as soon as possible. Which way was the exit though!? We've done so much damn spinning that I don't have a clue where to go! Maybe moving would be best, then at least we aren't sitting ducks. "We have to get moving! Left or right!?"

"Uh- *pat pat pat* Left!" I turn to the goblin as he tosses his emptied pistols at one of the creatures. It makes the beast pause momentarily, but doesn't seem to do much else. I yell out to him and toss him my rifle. He catches it and begins to fire at the same creature, though he's holding it upside down. I flare my claws and try to focus on casting a shield spell. I'm not the best when it comes to this magic crap, but Miles was adamant about us learning at least a few spells. I look down and see the lines grow rapidly into my plumage as I throw my arms out and cast a shield around us. The dome covers the three of us as the creatures startle and jump back from the sudden magic.

"Left it is then!" I yell as I try to focus on the spell. Of course, Miles makes this look easy. With the way he casts spells I thought casting this thing would be a snap. I was wrong.. Holding this shield up is taking every little bit of my focus, and they haven't even started beating on it yet! "You take the lead, I'll carry our friend here and follow after you! Ready!?"

"On my mark!" I look to the goblin and motion for him to come closer. He hesitantly steps closer to me as he adjusts my rifle in his hands, opting to use all four hands instead of just two.

"MOVE!" I yell, just before I drop the spell. The creatures let out a hiss as they begin to charge at us. I turn and grab the goblin before flying out the left entrance, following close behind Jonathan. The goblin lets out a scream and begins to wildly fire at the beast we nearly crash into on our way out. It’s a good thing too. One of his stray shots hit the beast’s hand mid swipe, causing it to narrowly miss us.

I roll over so I'm flying on my back. This makes it a bit easier for the goblin to cover us as we fly out of here. He still is firing all over the place, painting the cave in blue bursts, but it's cover still. The creatures are chasing after us, but they're obviously holding back.

Once we get a little further through the cave, they start lunging from different vantage points and take swipes at us, making me duck one way or the other to throw them off. I think they're learning my movements; judging my reactions. These things are smart... shit.

"Heads up!" I come to an abrupt stop and throw my arms out to make another shield, dropping the goblin in the process. The creatures crash against my magical wall in full force, forming large cracks that web across its entirety. I groan in pain and wince as I feel the lines of my magic shoot over my entire body.

"Why does that goblin have your weapon!?" Rainbow Dash yells at me, as she and Dust take up positions beside me.

"I was... and still am... a little... preoccupied!" I yell back, through gritted teeth. The creatures are beating down on my shield with conviction now, making the cracks ever deeper with each smack. As they assault my barrier, the marks snake their way further up my body under my plumage. "I can't... hold this... forever... you know!"

"Right! Dust and I will cover your retreat! On your mark!" Rainbow yells as she readies a grenade. Jonathan runs over to the goblin and picks him up, much to his displeasure. I take a quick breath before readying myself to make a run for it.

"MARK!" I drop the spell and take off down the tunnel. Flashes of blue and gunfire sound off behind me as Jonathan and I race out of the cave. A few seconds later I hear an explosion as the tunnel before me flashes brightly for a brief second. It was enough for us to see one of the creatures hiding in a crevice just ahead of us. Jonathan tried to avoid the creature, but it still got the jump on him. One of its long arms swiped out and collided with his wing and sent him and the goblin crashing to the ground.

I over shoot them and turn back to help. Before I reach them, the ambusher grabs the goblin and starts to drag him away. I race after him as he screams in terror, trying to pry himself from the beast’s strange grasp. I jump out and grab one of his hands and try to pull him back as the creature pulls him into the crevice.

"JON! HELP!" I yell, as I put all of my strength into pulling the goblin out. Jon joins me, though it's a losing battle. His screams turn to gurgles as he's slowly engulfed by the darkness of the crevice. We both give one final pull before falling to the ground with a loud crack. I look up and roll to the side as another dark hand tries to grab me. We take to the air again and race onwards.

We make it to the large entrance of the cave shortly after our encounter, meeting up with all of the others. I guess as we were trying to help that goblin Dash and Dust flew past us. The others all stare at me as I hover before them, trying to catch my breath. I look down and realize I'm still holding onto the goblins arm. That creature must have ripped it off...

"Fuck!" I yell as I drop it, having it fall into the misty abyss below. I feel my stomach turn over as my stomach threatens to violently eject my lunch. This is only my second experience as a Spartan, and I'm about to puke over some guy I didn't even learn the name of. What a disgrace.

"What... the buck... were those things!?" High Flyer asks through deep breaths.

"I don't know, but I'm a little more worried about what those goblins were harvesting." Dash mentions, getting nods from the rest of us. "You okay Ellzy?"

"I'm... alright. Queasy, but alight." I try to make it seem better than it actually is. I'm rather freaked out by the sheer fact that there was a creature out there we almost couldn't handle. Besides possibly Rainbow’s grenade, we didn't make a single kill. Thankfully, we didn't lose any of our number either. Well... We did lose that goblin, but as horrible as it is to say technically he didn’t count.. "Did anyone at least get any of those gem things?"

"I got a few," Dust tells me, opening her bag to reveal a small hoof full of the objects in question. "We should head back to the fort to regroup."

"Agreed. Let’s get moving." Dash tells us before taking off. We follow after her, though I give one last glance to the cave below us.

I take a deep breath as I try steel myself for my first challenge. This will probably be the hardest challenge of the evening, but I have to pass it. I just have to stallion up and take that first step. One step. Just walk forward and let what happens happen. Just do it already, ya big foal! JUST DO IT!

"Do you-"

"GAH!" I yell as I nearly trip over myself. I look behind me to see Shadow’s little brother standing there, sipping from a juice box.

"Scared?" he asks in amusement.

"No! I...uh..." I try to recover, but his chuckles stop that from happening. "Anyway, I just need to go to Mooseden for... business."

"Is there something wrong with the mico platform?" he asks, eyeing the damnable contraption.

"Probably not. I, uh... I haven't tried it yet," I force out, as I rub the back of my neck in embarrassment. He startled me, and now he knows that I'm afraid of using the mico platform. This is turning out well for me.

"Why?" he asks innocently.

"It... doesn't feel natural dude." Every time I use it I feel like I'm losing a part of myself. Like, I'll show up on the other end and have one less wing or something! "I never have to deal with magic, so this is a bit out of my realm of comfort."

"Meh, it's not going to hurt you or anything," he reassures me with a shrug. Quite the confidence builder. "It physically can't actually. As long as it fits within that ring of arcane text, it's going to the other end," he explains, while tracing the ring with his hoof.

"Right, well..."

"I could give you a little push." I laugh at his offer, looking back to the mico platform again.

"Thanks, but this is something I have to do myself."

"... use the teleporter?"

"I'll see you around," I tell him, as I hesitantly take my first steps onto the platform.

"Before you go!" I spin back from his sudden outburst. "What's a scroll rutter?"

FLASH

I stand in a daze as I feel the world around me spin. After a few deep breaths, and several gulps to steady my nerves, I begin to walk into Mooseden at a quick pace. I seriously hope that Shadow’s little brother doesn't follow after me asking more questions. That's... not something that I want to get into. Not with a foal, at least. After a few glances back, I figure he isn't following me.

Mooseden is busy today. There are several ponies from the Crystal Empire here talking with what appears to be the local lumberjacks, if the piles of timber behind them are anything to go by. They seem pretty livid about something. I can hear them yelling about some kind of deal. It sounds as though they’re arguing about prices... ouch. I wonder why the Crystal Empire is trying to undercut the Moosedenians... Moosedenites? Out of curiosity I begin to step forward, my inner gossiper getting the best of me. Thank you, Ponyville.

"... and as I said before, I apologize. But we simply cannot afford to cease our previous agreements with the House of Goods-"

"We have a contract!" An elder looking moose yells, getting a round of jeers from all around her. "Are the losses you'll take from the lawsuit really worth it? We've busted our humps getting the numbers you asked for! How could you possibly think backing out suddenly will save your company!?"

"I'm sorry! I really am! This lumber mill has had some of the greatest growth from any mill I've EVER seen! But it's out of our hooves! If the House of Goods tells us to end trade, we don't get a say! We're sending an emissary to Canterlot now to make a plea with them, but it'll take some time before they are granted court! You'll have to rely on your other buyers to take up the slack-"

"YOU ARE OUR ONLY BUYER!" The moose yells again, getting another round of jeers from the growing crowd. "You are systematically shutting down our community by doing this!" The crowd starts to get even more lively at this point, approaching the small group of crystal ponies. A loud siren suddenly goes off behind me as a multitude of metal beings emerge from all over and surround the group.

"CITIZENS. YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED TO CEASE ANY FURTHER PUBLIC DISTURBANCES AND RETURN TO YOUR HOMES. ANY FURTHER PROTEST MAY RESULT IN YOUR ARREST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION." I take one look at the weapons the metal beings are holding and decide to leave the area. I don't need to get caught up in any of this.

I'm sure this won't bode well for Shadow. What's going to happen to this town if the lumber mill is shut down? What will happen to Shadow? Will she move? She does live in Ponyville as well as Mooseden. Maybe she'll stay in Ponyville. Maybe her mother will have her stay in Mooseden to help with the crisis. I'd hate to see her drop out of school and be forced to stay here for the rest of the year, or her life for that matter! Maybe there's something I can do, but what?

"Hey!" I perk up and look around. "Aren't you Rumble?" I turn around to see a female griffin walking up to me. I look around for a moment before nodding dumbly to her. I have no clue who she is. I can guess as to how she knows me, small community and all. "Sorry, my name is Lesky. My son is one of the Spartans."

"Um... okay. How can I help you?"

"Well... I wanted to talk to you, if that's alright." I looked around as if I was about to be jumped or something. I don't know this mare... er... person. I really have no obligation to talk to her. But, thinking back to what Shadow said about these pon- er... people, I really should listen.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" She pulls me aside and takes a look around before getting to it.

"I know a bit about who you are and I can probably guess the reason you’re here. It's a small town and we all like to keep close tabs on Shadow, as well as a few others around here."

"Tabs?" I ask, with a raised eyebrow. She gives a light chuckle before continuing.

"I know it sounds awful, but trust me when I say it's not as bad as it sounds." I shrug and let her continue. "Right. So, as you can probably tell, things are a little tense around here. The last thing E'Claire needs right now is for somepony to come in and try to take her only daughter from her... literally I mean. Shadow is needed here-"

"I know that. That's why I'm here though! I want to help-"

"Great! Then listen closely. I'm going to give you a job, and if you deliver, E'Claire will be eternally grateful. It may free up some time for Shadow." I perk up at this. A chance to prove myself to her community and help her. This is golden! "Glad to see I have your interest. Here it is. There has been a pony coming here at least once a week for the past few months stealing food from us. It's never anything big, but it's been getting under E’Claire’s skin worse than hide mites."

"So you want me to catch this guy?" I ask, getting her to shake her head.

"No, at this point it's beyond just ending the crime. I need you to find where he lives and inform E'Claire. If you can get some information on the guy, even better. Proof would be nice as well. E'Claire wants to be the one to catch the perp, so if this leads to E'Claire capturing him, you'll be in her good graces forever." I look away to think about this for a second. This sounds a little too easy. All I have to do is wait out near Shadow’s house and watch for somepony who doesn't belong there to walk by. I guess the hardest part of this is that I don't know when he'll show up.

"What's the catch?" I ask cautiously. There has to be a catch. It’s never this easy.

"There's no catch. We don't have the jurisdiction to enter Ponyville and enforce laws. We've told the guards over there, but they don't seem to care all that much. That's why you're golden for us. You're desperate enough to at least try."

"... I'm not that desperate-"

"Trust me, after the shit you pulled, you are that desperate." I tilt my head at her, making her chuckle. "Personally speaking, I couldn't care less if you dipped your stick in some whore. Shadow is a little too sensitive at times. A slap of reality could do her some good. But there are plenty of ponies here that would very much like to rip your stubby little dick off. You were lucky when you appeared here. Everyone was more focused on the bastards from the Crystal Empire than tanning your sorry hide. If you don't help like this, then I'll be more than willing to throw you to the wolves. Your choice." I lean over and look down the street just in time to see the orcs walking towards the forest with spears in hand. "Do we have a deal?"

"... Yes. Yes, we do. Do you at least have a description for me to go by?"

"He has a dark grey coat with bushy white hair. Kind of like yours, but with far less product. Light yellow eyes. A bit lanky for a unicorn, but not to the point where it looks unhealthy. He has a cutie mark of a star with an eye in it. Now, is there anything else you need?"

"Well-"

"Good! Then you should get going! I don't think you want anyone seeing you here right now, do you?" I thought about it for a moment before nodding to her. "Good, I'll escort you to the platform so no one tries anything."

"Ok, thank you." I follow after her as she starts to walk towards the mico platform. I'm glad I ran into her. She was nice. A bit odd, but nice.

"Don't mention it you little whore," she says sweetly. I... don't have anything to say to that. We make it to the platform where I take a few more deep breaths, trying to steel myself to do this again. "Oh, one more thing before you go."

"Yeah?" She turns to me and grabs my shoulders, getting uncomfortably close to my ear.

"If you really have a problem keeping your dick dry, then stay the hell away from Shadow. She's too sweet for that kind of dick."

"Um... what?" I ask in confusion, trying to look her in the eye. She gives a sultry chuckle before-

KER-NUT

I let out a high pitched squeal when she suddenly brings her rear leg right up to my sack. I curl up into a ball and hold onto myself as I cough up my lung. I figured this was going to happen at one point, but that doesn't make this feel any less painful! I try to ask her why she did it, but before I could she tossed me onto the mico platform and had me teleported away. So now, on top of having the worst pain a stallion could feel, I feel as if I was just turned inside out...

I just gave birth.

I take a long drink from my glass of wine while sitting back at my desk. The flavor is full and it goes down smoothly. I'm glad I opened one of the older vintage casks. The newer brands are better suited for social events. This ,though... this is something to be appreciated. I take another sip from the glass and swirl it around my mouth for a moment, savoring the flavor for as long as possible. At first taste you can barely taste the alcohol, but its aftertaste is quite pleasant.

"Mister Blueblood?" I break my attention from drink to look to my assistant, who's standing in the doorway. "Your visitor has arrived."

"Excellent, bring him in here." I finish off my glass and set it aside as a stallion steps into my study. He's an earth pony with a brown coat and black hair. Rather simple in appearance, really. He's wearing a red tie with a blue collar. Rather fitting, given his place. "Greetings Mr. Rich."

"Prince Blueblood," he says with a bow. I smirk at that. I always smirk at that. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of a meeting with you in your private study this evening?" I stand up and walk over to my liquor cabinet, setting two lowball glasses atop it.

"I have many things I wish to discuss with you. Drink?"

"Scotch."

"Ah, a scotch stallion I see." I chuckle as I pour a glass and levitate it over to him. "I've always preferred brandy myself. Then again, I've always had a more... refined palate."

"..."

"So, on to business." I take my place at my desk and lean forward to look him in the eyes. Despite his obviously common background he still has the air of an older business stallion. The way he holds his scotch, the look in his eyes, his posture... he’s all business. "As you may or may not know, there is a serious threat rising up against our great nation. Something our dear leaders can't handle directly."

"This sounds like something a guard should be hearing. Why did you ask me here today?" he asks, before taking a slight sip from his glass. I chuckle at his forwardness. Just like a commoner, trying to get straight to the point. Very well.

"You don't win a fight by wanting victory more than the other pony, Mr. Rich. There is always more to it than that." I take a moment to take another drink, waiting to see if he has anything to add to that. After a moment of silence, I continue on. "You need weapons, armor, spells, carriages; there is more to a fight than just will, Mr. Rich."

"Of course..."

"You own the Barnyard Bargains chain store, do you not?" He nods, so I continue on. "When the oncoming conflict begins, and it will begin, there will be a need for ponies all over Equestria to... prepare themselves. Do you understand me?"

"I understand you."

"Good, then-"

"But I simply don't see why you are talking to me." I pause this time, letting him explain himself. "I am not a member of the guard, Prince Blueblood. Not anymore. I know when a noble speaks to take it either with a grain of salt, or the whole shaker. Are you telling me that Equestria is on the brink of-"

"What I am telling you." I cut him off firmly, being sure certain words are never said. "You come from Ponyville, so I know you are familiar with how chaotic things can get within Equestria. What I am telling you is that if there was a way for our citizens to protect themselves, it would be... most profitable." He nods to me and gazes into his scotch for a moment as he thinks to himself. I let him mull it over for a moment. I really doubt he'll have much objection. His little chain store is profitable enough to cover such expenses-

"I don't think we'd be able to cover such expenses." I blink at him for a few moments before chuckling again. I open a drawer and pull out a folder, opening it to a certain page.

"Is this your income margin?" I ask as I toss it onto the table. He leans forward and takes a look at it before nodding. "With these kind of figures you should be able to-"

"Do you see this spike?" he asks, pointing to a certain part of the line graph. I close my mouth as I look at the point on the graph. "This is Zap Apple season. It's one of our most profitable times of the year, right after Hearth’s Warming Eve sales. This year it will not be there."

"... how could you be so certain of this?"

"A tariff was recently levied against Sweet Apple Acres They won’t be anywhere near as profitable for a considerable amount of time, most likely indefinitely.." I eye him for a second before putting some of the pieces together. He is behind this somehow. How else would he know about this before I would? Something like this hitting one of the Bearers? This will catch like wild fire with the nobles! That family will be torn apart with scrutiny and speculation! I need to speak with the King about this immediately. But first, to take this commoner down a peg.

"Very well then. I would still suggest you listen to what I have to say. The future depends on it." He nods to me and starts to leave. "However..."

"Yes?"

"I am interested in something. What are your plans for the loss of such a highly demanded product? One would have to venture that you'd have to find a new supplier. But there's only one farm in Equestria that can grow those Zap Apples. So, a businesspony would argue that your next move would be to acquire Sweet Apple Acres. Wouldn't you say that's a bit dubious?"

"When building an empire, one must make bold moves. The House of Goods seems to agree with me."

"With you, or with the plan?" He doesn't say anything after that. It's a simple reminder that he's expendable. He'll start covering his bases, surely, but it'll show me where his bases are. From there... I'll have to see what the king wishes to do. "Have a nice train ride home."

"Actually, I'll be staying in the city a bit longer. I have many meetings to attend to. Prince Blueblood." He gives a bow and takes his leave. I wait till I hear the hall doors shut before flinging my glass across the room, shattering it against one of the bookcases. This is going to blow up and make everything far more complicated than it needs to be. I'm going to have to speak with half of the House of Goods before I even make a trip down to Ponyville! Not to mention I'll have to search the Royal Archives, Royal Tax and Imports, and possibly the Equestrian Empire Traders!

You better have a plan Miles.

"Alright team, bring it in!" I yell, getting them to come racing over to me. It's nice to be back in Cloudsdale, in our own training grounds. It's as good as a break as any for us. "Good work today. You greenies are really starting to shine through. I've posted the rosters for the Soleado Mesita circuit, I think a lot of you will be pleased with the teams. Shower up and call it a day." They all give a cheer before flying off for the locker rooms. I start to follow after them, but stop when I see somepony sitting in the bleachers.

"You coming Spit?" Fleet Foot asks. I squint at the pony before going wide eyed.

"Will you look at that." I mutter as I start to trot toward the pony. When he sees me coming towards him he jumps into the air and meets me halfway. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the one and only, Soarin." I say with a smile as I move in to hug him. He returns the gesture, mimicking my smile.

"Spitfire. It's good to see you. Fleet Foot," he greets, moving to hug Fleet Foot as well.

"Oh my gosh! Soarin! How are you!? GUYS! GET YOUR LAZY FLANKS OVER HERE! SOARINS HERE!" Fleet Foot yells to the others after hugging him. He chuckles as all of the others race over and greet the Ex-Wonderbolt. A blur of question barrage the poor stallion. Ranging all over from his health, current affairs, sex life, you name it. I chuckle as he eats it up, ever the Wonderbolt.

*Tug*

I blink when something tugs my tail. I look behind me to see a young light blue colt with a rainbow mane and tail standing there.

"Hi, I'm Jet Spectrum, your future boss," he tells me matter-of-factly. I chuckle at that, already liking the kid.

"Is that so? You think you have what it takes to lead the Wonderbolts?" I ask him, fluffing my wings a bit. He scoffs at that, fluffing his wings back at me.

"I'm going to not only be the leader of the Wonderbolts, I'm also going to be the leader of the Spartan Jumpers!" He gives a little jump at that, obviously getting excited about this. I chuckle at that, looking back to Soarin.

"A Spartan and a Wonderbolt huh?" I ask him, getting his attention.

"What can I say, greatness must run in his veins," he tells me. At this all of the other Wonderbolts look over and eye Jet.

...

...

All of the mares squee at once and rush the poor kid. He simply sits there and holds his hooves out, accepting his fate. They all hug him and start fawning over how handsome he is, how adorable his mane is, and so on. For his part, he seems... rather happy to be getting all of this attention from them.

"Yup, he's yours." I tell Soarin when he walks up to me.

"Yeah, heh. You should have seen him when we had the talk... actually, it's better you didn't. We almost put a dog cone on the little peeper." I laugh at that, the image instantly forming in my mind. "Can we talk?"

"Do you really need to ask?" He laughs at that, looking to the mob.

"Don't break him, not too much candy, and do not let him in the mares locker room.... or the stallions." He gets a round of confirmation before he motions for me to lead the way. I laugh again, the sight of Soarin being the responsible one being odd. I take him to my office and take a seat with him. When we sit I get a better look at his eye, souring the mood immediately. I reach up and run a hoof down the old wound, thinking back to that day.

"It should have been me you know." I tell him quietly.

"Maybe," he says, giving me his smart ass smile. "But I was your wing pony. It was my job to watch your back, still is sort of." I smile at that, pulling my hoof back. That day will haunt me forever, no matter how many times he says that it's alright. "Speaking of watching your back, that's why I'm here."

"Oh? Something come up?" I ask, already having an idea of what it's about. My talk with Rainbow coming right to mind.

"Yeah. Rainbow came home and busted my nuts over something I forgot about, so now I'm here to finish what I started." I laugh at that, knowing that there is probably some truth to it. "Did she talk to you about it already? The challenge and all?"

"Yeah, we're a little backed up at the moment, but we'll try to squeeze them in-"

"Don't do that." I tilt my head at him, waiting for him to explain. "Rainbow Dash is the leader of the Jumpers. She's Ex-Wonderbolt as well you know. Terradisia has far more sophisticated equipment and far harsher training regiments. Don't just blow this challenge off as nothing. When they come for you, bring it." I laugh again at him, shaking my head slightly.

"Did Dash tell you that? Cute, but we're more-"

"Spit, do you trust me?" he asks seriously. I stop laughing at him and nod, sensing something off.

"Of course. More than anypony out there."

"Then listen to me when I tell you, the Jumpers have an actual chance at taking the Wonderbolts on. They know your training secrets, they know several Griffin Army secrets, they even have some Changeling secrets with them. On top of that, they've incorporated Terradisian precision into their training. I've seen them run their drills, they do things that were banned by the Wonderbolts long ago for being too harsh. Each of those fliers could easily be Wonderbolts now, any of them."

"Is there a reason you're telling me all this? I get it, they're well trained. I don't get what you're trying to tell me." He takes a look around before motioning for me to get closer. I lean in, waiting to be impressed.

"I'm telling you because I know for a fact that they plan on jumping you guys the first chance they get. When they get back and regroup, they plan on coming to one of your shows and upstaging you in front of the crowd."

"And? Are you saying some of us aren't ready to face them? Do you think we've fallen apart since you left-"

"I'm saying, some of your ponies aren't up to par with the Jumpers. Look, I know that there's a bit of a personal history with you and Dash, but don't let that fool you. She's still mad about what you did to her, even is she doesn’t openly say anything. She's coming for more than just to showcase a new force. She's coming to knock you down a peg. And by the looks of it, I'd say she has a pretty good chance of doing so." I lean back and think about what he's saying. I get that I need to bring it with Dash, Celestia knows how far she could have gone if she stayed with us. But I don't get one thing.

"Why are you telling me this? Dash is your wife, wouldn't you want me to falter? Make it easier for her to win?" He laughs at that, shaking his head.

"I actually want the exact opposite. I want you at your best when the two of you face off. I want you ready, one hundred percent. I want you to put her through the wringer and back again. I want that, because I want her to beat you at your best. I want there to be no dispute who the better flyer is. And you know what Spit? I think she can do it."

"... and that's not just the plot speaking?" I ask, trying to lighten the mood.

"No. That's the facts speaking. I think she's doubled her wing power since joining the Spartans." I raise an eyebrow at that. She already had a really high wing power, I can't imagine it getting that much higher. "So, what do you say?"

"I say... I'm going to have to hit the gym a bit more to prepare." He nods to that and leans back, letting out a long breath. "Hey Soarin, I have to know ,do you ever think about... that one day?"

"Yeah... every now and again. Why?" I look away for a moment, thinking about that day.

"Do you think it could have worked? That... we could have worked?" I get quiet when I ask this. It was really a one time thing back then. We both decided it would have jeopardized our careers and that we needed to focus that before anything else. We were only recruits back then, we had our entire lives ahead of us then.

"Where'd that come from?"

"Just answer it ya' air head."

"Hmm... the only way it would have worked back then, was for one of us to quit the Wonderbolts. We would have been too distracted back then to focus on training. It could have been, but it would have cost one of us our dreams. I don't regret any of the decisions I've made so far, and you shouldn't either." I nod to him, smiling fondly. We may not have become lovers, but he's still my best friend.

"I'm glad to hear it. Be sure to tell that wife of yours to step it up the next time we meet up though. If she wants the title of Best Flyer Alive, she's gonna have to earn it!" I hold my hoof out, getting him to bump it in return.

"Will do. Do you have dinner plans tonight? Jet and I are meeting up with my other kid later over at Blues' Diner for an early dinner." I think about that for a second before nodding to him. Dinner with him sounds good, though I'm not sure how it'll go with kids being there.

"Wait, other kid? You have two kids? Where are they at?"

"Rainbow adopted her awhile back, and I've adopted her when I married Dash. She had to work on school stuff before coming over here. I... kind of promised her an autograph from certain ponies." He gives me a big smile and rubs the back of his neck. Some things just don't change I guess.

"Is she going to be okay flying here by herself? And I'll ask Fleet Foot if she'll sign something." We both chuckle at that.

"She's an Air Ball player, the best Track and Field pegasus at Ponyville High, and has had personal lessons from me and Dash for six plus years. I think she'll be fine. Heck, she could probably apply for the Wonderbolt Academy at the end of the year!"

"We'll see about that. Sure, I'll join you guys for dinner."

"Great, now lets hurry up and save those recruits from my son." I laugh at that, getting a serious look from him. "I'm not joking..."

"... you're going to have to explain that one to me."

"Well... one day he caught me and Dash making out. Afterwards we gave him the talk. He asked if he should be doing that kind of stuff and we obviously told him no. That that was adult stuff ponies do and that he shouldn't concern himself with it."

"... so what went wrong?" I ask hesitantly.

"Well, we told a kid not to do something. So now he does it all the time. I nearly had to smack him upside the head for peeking up mares tails," he tells me with a blush.

"Soarin... what the buck?" I shake my head at him, making him lower his in return.

"I asked a doctor, and they say it's perfectly normal for a colt his age to be curious-"

"Only your son would be such a perv Soarin. C'mon. If he's half as persistent as you, half that team is already under his spell." Leave it to Soarin to raise a perv. Poor kid. Hopefully it's not too late to save the little peeping tom.”

Wooo! That took awhile, didn't it? Please give a hand to my new editors, onlyinprivate and Mikito! Together they made this chapter really shine!

In other news, don't forget to add any OC's you wish to have appear in the Ponyville OC Blog Post! The first character from this will be appearing in the next chapter!

And lastly, if you haven't already and wish to have a deeper look into the backgrounds of the Man of War Universe, join the Mowverse Group! I already have several forums for several of the groups and races, and will be adding to them very soon! Ponyrun updates will also be held here as well.

Brony on!