Give us the murderer by sundown, or you will all die.

That was the message pinned to Orion's friend. That's what was echoing around in his mind as he walked through the halls looking for his friends.

"Orion, you need to calm down," Celestia warned him.

Orion continued walking. "I am calm," he said happily.

Celestia reached a wing out to halt him, but a spike of pain went through her mind, making her stumble.

"I wonder where my friends are..." he mused aloud. He turned another corner of the halls, bumping into a familiar maid.

She looked at him in in surprise from the collision, but soon smiled at him warmly. "Orion!" she greeted, standing on her back legs so she could hug his middle. "How are you?" she asked as she pulled away.

He smiled down at her, his goofy smile widening. "I'm okay. I had ice cream!" he said loudly.

She looked at him a little oddly, still not sure about his seemingly random statements. "Well, that's good! I'm glad to see you again," Silver Platter said to him.

He put his hand on her head and ruffled her mane as he beamed at her. "Hey, do you know where my friends are?" he asked her.

She smiled at him lovingly. "I saw Roland talking to... Sharpe, was it? They were in the dining hall with some of the castle's other guests."

Orion slowly rubbed her head, making her eyes flutter in pleasure. He looked at her for a few minutes before pulling her bodily into a tight hug. He kissed her lightly on the mouth before staring into her eyes. "When this is over, we're going on a vacation to the land of Cookies & Cream! When we get there, we can go to the water park and sunbathe! After that, I'm gonna buy a new ship and we can look for the Angels! Want to come with me?" he asked, almost as if he had made perfect sense.

Silver looked a little confused but nodded her head. "Uh, sure Orion. I'd love to go!" she told him.

He smiled and set her back on the ground. "Cool! I'll pick you up at your place at seven. Be sure to wear that red dress that I like," he said before walking down the hallway once more.

The princesses looked at the maid strangely for a time, her not feeling entirely comfortable under their gaze.

"Was that some sort of code?" Luna asked.

Silver shrugged helplessly. "If it was, I have no clue what it means..." After a few seconds longer, she coughed lightly and went back to doing her job.

Celestia and Luna both felt a headache forming in the back of their skulls and moved to catch up to Orion. Why, oh why, must he talk like that? They weren't sure if it was him trying to communicate in his own way, if it was a riddle, or it was just gibberish. The best decision was probably to just accept it without too many questions, like they did with Pinkie Pie.

It took a bit of quick trotting on their part, but they soon caught up with the strange Human. They were only a few minutes from the dining hall and decided to pass the time with Eye Spy. Or, at least Orion did.

"I spy with my little eye, something... invisible!" he said.

Luna sighed. "I've already told you, I don't want to play."

"I'll give you a hint! You can't really see it, but you're actually looking right at it," he said cryptically.

She raised a brow at him. "How is that a hint? It only made it harder!" she complained.

He laughed at her and tapped the side of his nose with a finger. "You see me but you don't see me, you look at me but you don't look at me, I'm clear as day, but invisible to all. With me your are searching, without me, you are lost. What am I?" he said, grinning back at them.

They looked at each other briefly before looking at him oddly.

"That was... a surprisingly brilliant riddle Orion," Celestia admitted slowly. "I have no idea."

Orion laughed. "How 'bout you, Luna?" he asked.

She bit her lower lip in thought for a while before groaning quietly. "I don't know," she sighed.

He laughed again. "It's your eye!" he said, poking his finger into his eye and pushing it to the side slightly.

"How? You can't see your eye!" Luna accused.

He shook a finger at her from over his shoulder. "You look out of your eye, looking through the front, but not seeing it. Your eye is so clear, that it's invisible. You're always looking for something in life, trying to find your purpose, but without your eyes, you're blind. I came up with it just now, actually..."

Celestia blinked at him. "Orion, has anyone ever told you that you're a genius?" she asked him seriously.

He looked back at them, beaming. "Yeah! My mom always told me that I was smart!" he said cheerily.

She chuckled lightly. "Well, she is a very smart woman."

"Was."

Celestia looked at Orion, seeing his shoulders tense up a little bit. "Oh, I'm sorry. What happened?" she asked.

Orion turned around with his maniacally straight smile and a glow in his eyes. "I raped her then forced her into the oven and cooked her alive! She was sooooo good..." he moaned with his tongue hanging out slightly.

Luna tripped on her own hoof.

Celestia coughed loudly, choking on her breath.

Orion looked back ahead and kept leading them to the dining hall. He was humming a quiet tune, nodding his head to the beat.

***

After the very awkward walk to the dining hall, Orion pushed open the doors and saw a scene that almost made him laugh.

Roland was arguing with what looked like a mixture of twenty different animals, its main body structure being serpentine. While the thing looked on in mild boredom, Roland was red in the face and jabbing a finger into the air at it.

Sharpe was showing his rifle off to Applejack and Twilight, telling them everything it can do and how it works.

Applejack looked slightly confused, while Twilight was scribbling down notes faster than should be possible, the quill only a blur of purple magic and red feathers.

Fluttershy was watching in awe as Lily made a small cut in her finger, then healed it with the wave of her hand.

Rarity was in a half-interested conversation with Faiz. Him speaking to her through his datapad and her responding halfheartedly while casting glances at Sharpe.

Orion smiled hugely. "Why wasn't I invited to the party?!" he yelled at them all.

Everybody in the room turned to him with mixed expressions, ranging from curiosity, to rage, to disinterest.

He walked into the room with the two princesses following him closely. He sat down next to the thing Roland was talking to.

"Well, hello there," it said. It was clearly male from its voice. "And who are you? Hopefully somebody more interesting than him?" it said, jabbing a lion thumb at Roland.

Orion waved at him, smiling broadly. "Hi! I'm God!" he said.

The thing raised an eyebrow at him. "God? God of... what exactly?" he asked.

Orion smiled wider, holding his arms out to his sides. "Everything!" he said.

The thing smirked at him. "Oh really? Can you do this then?" he said, snapping his fingers together and summoning a hat. He then pulled a rabbit out of the hat, then pulled a hat out of the rabbit, then pulled the same rabbit out of that hat.

Orion shook his head. "No, but I can do this!" he said as he held his hand up to the being.

Everybody looked at the pair. Nothing happened.

"You... can hold up your hand?" he asked in confusion.

Orion's smile straightened out as he stared deeply into the thing's eyes.

It flinched. "Uh... why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.

Orion just kept staring.

It's breathing picked up and it started sweating. "No, really. What are you doing?" it asked, a tone of worry entering its voice.

Orion stared harder.

It leaned away from him, eyes widening. "What are you doing?!" it demanded.

Orion closed his hand into a fist.

It took in a gasping breath as it clutched at its chest. It flailed about, trying to swat away the air around it. It slammed its head on the table, pounding its fist into his head, groaning. "Stop it! Stop! Cut it out!" he yelled.

Orion started twisting his fist. "Okay!" he said happily.

With every twist, the snake-like being thrashed about harder, knocking into the table and the walls, as if trying to break away from something.

Orion relaxed his hand, releasing the creature.

It crashed to the floor, breathing heavily with wide eyes. It looked at Orion, something resembling fear in its yellow eyes. It raised its talon and snapped, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Orion turned back to the table. "So, I have some news for everybody," he told them, his goofy smile returning.

Twilight spoke up. "What... did you do to Discord?" she asked.

Orion cocked an eyebrow at her. "What's a 'Discord'?" he asked.

She pointed a hoof to where the being had just been. "Him! The one you... attacked..." she said.

He looked at her in confusion. "I attacked somebody?" he asked her.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped by Applejack.

She shook her head at her. "Trust me, let it go," she said tiredly.

"What's this news?" Roland asked him cautiously. The last time he said that...

Orion beamed at him. "We're going to have loads of fun!" he yelled.

Roland, Sharpe, Faiz and Lily all rubbed their face with their hands.

"Who are we at war with now?" Roland asked tiredly.

***

After a long explanation- in which Celestia had to remind Orion to skip the part with Rainbow Dash- They all sat quietly in the room. None of them really knew what to say to this news.

One of the crew was dead. This hasn't happened since, well, Orion. The crew sat at the table with somber looks about them.

Sharpe was mulling over whether or not he should go and kill them all right now. He could do it, he knew. But, he might have just enough trouble with it that it could end up killing him. A whole nation? If it were the ponies, he could do it without much problem. But these griffon things... They were a race of warriors, all of them knowing how to kill. And to do it efficiently.

Roland was rubbing his chin softly, working out hundreds of strategies for basic and advanced tactics in his mind, trying to come up with the most effective way of dealing with this new threat. He knew that they could just go storm the nation's capitol, but that would leave the ponies pretty much defenseless.

Lily was crying softly, saddened that one of her friends was dead. This had never happened before, not really. Orion had died, but they saved him. But now... they weren't able to save Jake. She's the group's medic, but even she can't heal dead.

Faiz just sat there, his insectiod face not capable of showing much emotion through his fly eyes and his breath mask.

The ponies all looked saddened, not used to death. Sure, they knew it was a part of life. But somepony who was killed? Like this? They could fell the dread resting in their hearts, weighing them down. They could only imagine what the others must feel like.

Finally, Roland spoke up. "Lily, go with Faiz and tell the others what happened. Me and Sharpe'll come up with some kind of plan. Hopefully, we won't have to actually go to war with them. But... I don't find that a likely outcome."

Lily wiped away her tears and nodded at him, rising from her seat and leaving the room with the bug creature behind her.

Sharpe slung his rifle on his back and stood, looking to Roland. "You're the soldier. What do you think is best?" he asked him in a grave voice.

Roland shook his head slowly, shrugging. "I don't know. They're probably the best fighters on the planet. They can fly, they're strong, they're smart, they're ruthless..." He sighed, looking to Sharpe. "We don't have the proper equipment to fight them. If they're as bad as I think they are, the body count here'll be astronomical. It would be best if we took the fight to them as quickly as possible, but leaving here'll leave the ponies open for an invasion." He sighed again. "It'll be a slaughter..."

Applejack spoke up. "Hey! Now you just wait one minute there, partner! We might not be warriors, but we can fight!" she yelled at him.

Sharpe turned to her, giving her a look that chilled her bones. "Can you willingly look another in the eye, knowing that he's only following orders given by the true enemy, and kill him? Can you kill somebody who wants nothing to do with war? Somebody who has a family? Friends? Kids? Somebody who's only doing it because he has to?"

Applejack stuttered for words, but gave up after a short while.

Sharpe shook his head at her. "Then you're of no use here. You and your friends should get someplace safe until we handle this," he said.

Celestia stepped forward, drawing their attention. "You are guests here. And as we are still looking for a way for you all to leave, I will not let you risk your lives. My sister and I will deal with this, while you and the Elements of Harmony find safety," she said sternly.

Roland gave her a hard look. "It's our fault for being here that this happened. We will not let your people suffer for our mistakes," he replied, just as sternly.

Celestia narrowed her eyes at him. "I will not allow it," she said dangerously.

Roland's already hard gaze hardened some more. "We aren't citizens of this country, therefore you have no say over our actions, whatever they may be," he said just as dangerously.

Her glare intensified. "I can lock you all up for attempted treason."

Roland's eyes looked like they were made of iron. "We can break out."

She leaned forward, placing her hooves on the table. "I'll send an army after you."

Roland looked at her for a long time, working his jaw from side-to-side as he thought.

Celestia smirked as she raised a brow at him. "Well?"

Roland lost the glare, instead giving her a distant look. "We would be forced to perceive you as a future threat and as such, we could not simply ignore you. At the very least, you and your sister, along with the Elements, any other royalty, nobles, and any and all fighting forces would be put out of commission. The worst case scenario resulting in the death of any previously mentioned parties or individuals, and a new party forming some kind of governmental system to rule over the resources that were once owned by the deceased," he informed her, almost as if he had rehearsed the words, having said them many times before.

Celestia eyed him angrily. "Is that a threat?" she hissed.

Roland looked her dead in the eye. "No, your majesty. It's a warning."

There was a dead silence hanging in the room as the two stared into each other's eyes, unblinking.

After almost a full minute, it was broken by Orion. He clapped loudly, startling them both into blinking. "Wow, dinner and a show!" He leaned closer to Twilight and whispered loudly. "Is this a great restaurant or what? We should bring your sister and the kids next time."

She looked at him oddly. "I don't have a sister..."

***

Outside in the courtyard, Roland was briefing the remainder of the crew as to what their mission was.

The Elements of Harmony- minus Rainbow Dash who was still recovering- were listening in at a respectful distance off to the side.

Celestia and Luna, as well as a very uncomfortable number of heavily armed guards, watched from the far side of the courtyard as this happened.

Celestia wore a very irked expression as well as furrowing her brows at that darned Human. "I don't see why he can't simply listen to me!" she vented towards her sister, who rolled her eyes. She had heard the same thing for almost ten minutes now. "I only want him to be safe! I know that he and his friends can fight, but they can't fight an entire country!"

Luna gave an exasperated sigh. "Sister, you don't know that," she said tiredly.

Celestia glared at her sister. "And just how do you know that?" she growled out.

Luna sighed again. "Because Sharpe defeated nearly a hundred guards with only his hands, not even breaking a sweat."

Celestia eyed her sister, but said nothing.

Luna continued. "Orion battled King Grey Down, the slayer of Hazze, the conqueror of lands, the blah blah blah, etc etc, himself, and won, without even using his weapons."

Celestia's glare lessened, and her brows evened out.

Luna still spoke. "I haven't seen Roland fight, but I can already guess that he's just as skilled, if not more so than either Sharpe or Orion! And with the others supporting them, I have my doubts that they would fail in their task," she concluded, wrapping a wing around her sister. "Tia, if anypony in existence could fight a country by themselves and come out victorious, it would be them."

Celestia closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath. She then looked at her sister lovingly. "You're right Luna, I'm being foolish. Thank you for being blunt," she said to her sister.

At that moment, a movement made by Sharpe caught their attention.

Sharpe unslung his rifle faster than they could perceive, took aim, and discharged it into a nearby tree in one fluid motion, scaring off multiple birds. And also dropping a small griffon wrapped in camouflaged armor onto the ground with a large hole in her wing.

***

They all stared at the young griffon as she grit her beak in pain, holding her wing tightly with her talony hand.

Sharpe stared at her, his rifle still at the ready. He figured she was young and stupid from her behavior, but not this young...

"What is your name and rank, as well as your purpose for being here?" Roland asked her as he strode up to her, only a few inches from her.

She looked up, and up some more. She knew he was big, but up close... Wow! Just... Wow! "Uh-"

He leaned forward, looming over her. "That isn't an answer, soldier!" he roared.

She instantly shot to her feety, talon-paw things and saluted him. "Sorry sir! I am Private Wingy, fourth scouting platoon, sir!" After a second, she blinked. Wait, what just happened...?

Roland got in her face even more. "Don't make me repeat myself, Private! What's your business here?!" he roared, veins sticking out of his neck and forehead.

She went stiffly at attention once again, her training instincts kicking in once more. "Sir, I was given orders by Commander Arrow to gather as much intelligence on you and any other strange creatures in this area, sir!" she yelled back in response. She blinked again, annoyed at herself at what she had just done for a second time. She frowned at herself for this reason.

"What's going on here?!" the voice of Celestia demanded from behind him.

Roland turned to her with a frown on his face. "We're being watched. Sharpe got this one, but there could be more out there," he told her.

Celestia nodded to him as she strode up to the griffon spy purposefully. She stared into her eyes as the griffon girl cowered beneath her. "How old are you?" Celestia asked her.

The girl, Wingy, looked up at her with fear plain on her face. "S- sixteen, your highness," she said fearfully.

Celestia's stare instantly softened. She sighed. "One as young as yourself shouldn't be in the army," she said sadly.

Wingy bristled. "I'm old enough to fight!" she yelled indignantly.

There was a breeze behind the griffon.

They all looked to the source to see Orion standing in what had once been empty space a second ago.

He beamed at her brightly. "You have an awesome name!" he exclaimed as he leaned towards her too closely, making her lean her head back away from him. "Do you know where my friend is? He went missing a while ago and we can't find him," he said worriedly.

Roland and Celestia gave him an odd look, but kept quiet.

She looked at him oddly. "Uh... No? I don't, sorry," she said as she tried to back up, but bumped into Roland.

Orion came closer to her, pressing his forehead against hers. Orion reached out and took hold of her face on either side, staring disturbingly hard into her eyes. His eyes widened even further and glowed softly as his smile straightened itself. "You're really pretty. I don't want to have to play too rough with you and accidentally kill you. I'll ask one more time, then I'm going to rape you, beat you, rape you again, skin you alive, rape you again, slow roast you, jack off as I listen to your screams, eat your heart, then send your head to your family after I fuck your skull and fill it up with my cum. If I were you, I would tell the truth," he said cheerily, never once blinking or wavering in his gaze.

Celestia almost puked from his words.

Roland's eyes widened, never having heard him say something quite this dark.

Wingy's eyes widened to the point of almost popping out of her head. She actually started crying and whimpering, stuttering and blubbering for mercy, begging for her life to be spared.

Orion's smile widened to the point that his lips actually cracked and a small amount of blood made its way into his mouth and down his chin . He leaned his head right next to her ear, whispering so quietly that she had to strain to hear him. "Where's my friend?"

She spoke in a whisper, her voice choked from the fear. "They said they killed him. But I didn't do anything, I swear! They only told me after they got back!" she said, her voice pleading a silent message of mercy.

Orion pulled his head back and stared into her eyes hard enough to mentally hurt her. "Okay!" he said happily. His eyes returned to normal, and his smile became silly once more. He stood back up and grinned at her. "I already knew that, but thanks for telling me the truth! C'mon, lets get some pie!" he said loudly as he ushered her away from the group and out of the courtyard.

Celestia and Roland stared blankly at the place where they exited the courtyard for a short time.

Celestia eventually looked at Roland. "Should we be worried?" she asked him seriously.

Roland sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "Worried about the girl? Yes, very much so. Worried about Orion? Yes, even more so now that he's loose in the city with the girl."

Celestia's eyes narrowed at him. "Shouldn't we be stopping him then?" she asked angrily.

Roland deadpanned at her. "Do you want to be the one who tries to take away his plaything?" he asked her.

Celestia looked back to where they exited once more. "Should we just wait and hope for the best?" she asked him, unsure what was best.

Roland nodded slowly, looking back to the exit area once again as well. "That's what we normally do in these situations."

They were quiet for another short while before Celestia spoke again.

"Do you want to come back inside and get something to drink?" she asked him.

Roland nodded slowly. "Yeah, I would very much like that."

***

Orion and Wingy sat in a very upscale diner in Canterlot Heights, waiting for a waiter to service them.

Orion was humming a strange tune and nodding his head to the beat.

Wingy was fidgeting in her seat, half wanting to sprint away as fast as she could. But she somehow doubted that she would make it very far. So instead she settled for sitting uncomfortably in a booth by the window, glaring at any ponies that gave them odd looks.

After what felt like an hour, two snobby-looking ponies came up to the table and gave them both filthy looks.

"I'm sorry," a light grey stallion with a silver mane and tail said in a posh and nasally voice. "But we don't serve your kind here. You'll have to find somewhere that suits your class of living to eat."

Wingy was about to chew him out, but Orion interrupted her.

"What do you mean, 'class of living'? Do you only serve zombies? Ooh, or maybe vampires! Do you serve zombie vampires?! Zompires...?" he asked the stallion, beaming at him excitedly.

Wingy couldn't help but laugh at him for acting like this.

The stallion glared at him coldly. "No, sir. We don't serve low class garbage like you!" he growled.

Orion looked him dead in the eye, his smile straightening.

The air around them felt a hundred pounds heavier. All the background noise was silenced. The air rippled, making everything blurry. Except for Orion.

Orion leaned towards him slightly, his smile still present. "You're going to let us eat here. You're going to give us our food for free, out of the kindness of your heart. You're going to apologize and beg our forgiveness while on your knees. You're going to love having us here, and you're not going to stop smiling until we leave." The air around them pulsed, actually creating the sound of a heartbeat. "Do you understand me?" Orion asked calmly.

The two ponies stumbled a bit, but fell to their knees, bowing their heads at him. "P- pl- pleas- se, pl- please f- for- give m- me! I- I- I'm s- sor- ry!" he said, barely understandable over his terrified stuttering.

And like it was never there, the pressure left them, everything returning to normal. "Meh, I'll think about it," Orion said uncaring, looking through a menu that wasn't there a second ago.

The two stallions then galloped off, heading towards the back room as fast as they could.

Orion tapped a finger on the menu for a bit. "Hmm... I can't decide. Do you think I should have the lemon cheesecake, or the blueberry pie?" he asked Wingy, looking at her over the menu.

Her eyes were wide as she stared at him in renewed fear. "Uh... I was thinking about the cheesecake..." she said slowly, not really sure what else to say.

Orion nodded at her, smiling. "Hmm, well, how about I order the blueberry, and we can cut each plate in half and mix them up?" he mused aloud.

It took her a second to break her focus on him to answer. "Uh, yeah. That sounds good to me," she said. She then rotated her shoulder, wincing at the pain as she tried to sit more comfortably.

Orion looked at her worriedly. "Are you dying?" he asked. "If you are, can I have your body?"

She raised a feathery eyebrow at him. "Why do you want my body?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I want to fuck you," he said like it was a reasonable thing to say to her face.

She broke into a fit of coughs, choking on her own breath.

He leaned over the table, eyeing her excitedly. "Are you dead yet?" he asked hopefully.

Once she caught her breath, she looked at him with a glare, her feathers doing nothing to hide her blush. "No! I'm not dead! And I won't be dying anytime soon!" she yelled at him.

He looked at her in confusion. "Then why were you all 'ohh, ahh, ehh, eee' right then?" he asked.

She looked at him in annoyance. "In case you're blind, I have a big hole in my wing! I probably won't be able to fly for a year..." she finished sadly.

He waved a hand at her and rolled his eyes. "Oh, pftb, that!" He leaned across the table and poked his fingers into the open wound. There was a soft blue glow, then he pulled his hand away from a perfectly healed wing.

She looked at her wing in disbelief. She stretched it out, looking at the whole thing, making sure that it wasn't some kind of trick. After a while of close inspection, she pulled her wing in and stared at him in awe. "How... How did you do that?" she asked in a wonder stricken voice.

He tapped the side of his nose with his forefinger. "I'm God," he said cryptically.

At that moment, a waiter cautiously approached them, a notepad in his magical grip. "W- what c- ca- can I g- get you?" he stuttered.

Orion slammed the menu down on the table. "Ah want da pie! Gimmie da blueberry pie!" he yelled, attracting unwanted attention from the other diner's patrons.

Wingy looked at the waiter with disdain. "I'll take the lemon cheesecake, you little wuss! And be snappy about it!" she barked at him.

He nodded jerkily, quickly scribbling down their orders.

Normally, Wingy would have been respectful in these kind of situations. But being around Orion made her feel somewhat invincible. Speaking of the Devil... "Hey, Orion?" she asked.

He looked at her happily. "Yeah?"

She used a talon to scrape the table, feeling the awkwardness building with each second of silence. "Uh, well... I just wanted to ask... Why did you, y'know, spare me? Not that I'm not grateful! Because I totally am! Honest!"

He smiled a little wider at her. "We're friends! And friends don't kill friends! It's in the rules!" he said, smiling happily at her.

A second later, the waiter came back with their food. He put it on the table, and soon bolted back to the kitchen.

Orion smiled happily and cut his piece of pie in half, placing the half-slice on her plate and taking half of her cheesecake. He mixed the two of them up and then proceeded to shove the entirety of his meal in his mouth, not even chewing it, rather, letting it sit in there. He hummed in delight, his eyes fluttering in pleasure.

Wingy used her fork to mix the deserts a little, making what looked like what was left in a toilet on burrito night. She eyed it uncertainly before eating a small bite. Her eyes widened in surprise. Even though the two didn't look like it, they combination was amazing.

Author's Notes:

I almost want to keep her around just because of her name. Honestly, how cool is Wingy?! Also, I may or may not add the OC tag to this story. If I end up keeping her in the story, I'll have to.