As soon as the rest of the group was taken out of the ship, Goldheart turned towards the rest of the Black Wings, and sighed. "Well? What are you waiting for? I didn't pay you all to just sit there and admire the scenery!"

The group of pirates gulped and gave him a salute. "S-sorry, Your Majesty! We'll bring you to port right away, sir!"

Goldheart nodded his head. "Good." Then he turned towards the unconscious human. "I want this one to be in the same area as the Alicorn. Apparently, worrying about her will only make him stronger... so when she's there with him, he won't be as much of a problem to deal with."

"And what of your son?" The two who carried Swift Justice asked.

Goldheart stared at Swift for a long moment, before huffing. "I don't have a son."

With a nod, the two of them picked Swift up again, and locked him in the golden cage that also carried Gilda. Then they lifted the cage up, and started carrying it onto their ship, while Goldheart lowered to the ground next to Justin. After that, he lifted Justin's 'Shimmerwood Staff' up from the clip it was rested in on Justin's belt, and began chanting an incomprehensible spell on it. Through each word he chanted, he placed his right hand on the staff, then on Justin's forehead, then back again. Each time he finished a word, the staff began to glow a light blue color, and following it, Justin's entire body, until he finished chanting the spell.

As soon as he finished with the spell, he then placed the staff in Justin's saddlebag, and sighed. "I... only hope you will understand... please... take care of my... son..." he said with a saddened frown. Then, after closing his eyes once more, his saddened expression turned into a menacing glare, as he walked out of the ship's dining quarters. At the same moment he left, a group of Minotaurs came it to pick the unconscious human up off the ground, and into a cloth bag.

Within the center of the area surrounded by burnt, broken down walls, Software Patch stood upright; scanning the area for any clues on the whereabouts of the fourth Alicorn. Nightshade, on the other hand, inspected the burnt and mutilated corpses of the pirates that were scattered across the entire fort.

Meanwhile, from the outskirts of the fortress, Heavenly Quill stood with his back facing the wall. Tucked in his right arm, he held a notepad, while in his right hand, he held his quill.

He felt the sweat drip from his brow at the sight of the entire area. "And here I was starting to hope there would be less things to give me nightmares..." Quill thought to himself, before he noticed a foreign shadow stand over him. Just the sight of the shadow caused the pupils of his eyes to shrink, and his jaw to slightly drop.

After turning around to face the shadow, he was greeted by none other than Nightshade who, by the looks of it, didn't like Quill observing him from afar.

"Who are you, and why are you spying on us?" Nightshade asked as his eyes glowed red; creating a red spectral sword that floated between them in the process, with its blade angled towards Quill.

Nervously, Quill replied, "Please! I mean you no harm!"

The blade only inched closer to Quill's neck, as Nightshade retorted, "That doesn't answer my question... who are you, and why are you spying on us?!"

Quill closed his eyes and curled up against the wall; hoping to survive the situation he was in.

As if by a stroke of luck, Software Patch appeared between the two and gripped Nightshade's spectral sword with his Wyvern hand. "My scanners indicate that he is no threat, Nightshade." Then he turned towards Quill and asked, "Though we do request that you explain why you are here."

Quill sat there silently for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Alright, then... I was sent here by Princess Celestia to investigate some sort of 'Forth Alicorn'... and I was also informed that this Alicorn's reading came from a source of immense power... and by immense, she noted 'could pose a threat' as a description in the letter."

Software stood there silently for a moment, until he smiled. "Well rest assured, my friend... I shall aid you on your quest." Then he also added, "Unfortunately, though, Nightshade will have to depart from us after we find the Forth Alicorn."

"Thank you, Celestia!" Quill thought, before nodding his head. "Thank you, Mr... um..."

Software extended his right arm (the Wyvern half) for Quill to take. When Quill took it, he also stretched his Fox arm towards Nightshade, who in turn, took it. "Charge is complete... now arriving in The Highlands in five... four... three... two... one..." In the blink of an eye, the three travelers vanished within a flash of light.

"Come on! Wake up!" Those were the words that Zero Gravity first heard, prior to the darkness that surrounded him being lifted from his eyesight. Then, once he was aware of the surroundings, Zero looked around, and noticed the filly that he rescued from before.

"W-what's going..." Zero began, only to be cut off by the sound of guards yelling something in the distance... something incomprehensible.

"Hurry! You have to save your friends!" The filly called out, before being picked up by her parents.

Zero quickly turned towards the guards, then back at the filly, before nodding his head and lifting himself off the ground, and back on his hooves.

"Alright, then..." Zero began, before drawing his Ninjato Sword from the sheath on his back, "let's make this quick."

He crouched into a fighting stance, and braced himself for a battle... but as soon as the soldiers, or in this case, "Black Wing" soldiers could reach the end of the alley that they were coming from, a blinding light appeared between the two separate alleys; causing all the people around it to shield their eyes.

Whenever he was able to see again, Zero uncovered his eyes and gasped at the three mysterious figures that appeared from out of nowhere. "What the..."

From high on top of a distant guard's tower, a pair of Diamond Dogs were examining Port Greenhold for any signs of hostility. When they saw the light in the distance, they smirked. "Looks like the Weasels found 'em!" one of the two Diamond Dogs said to the other.

The other one nodded his head and replied, "Indeed... perhaps now, we can... wait, do you hear something?"

As soon as the two of them turned around, another blinding light appeared in the center of the tower; causing the two to shriek in terror before falling off the edges to their deaths.

From that light appeared Software Patch, Nightshade, and Heavenly Quill. The three of them looked around the area, until Software nodded his head. "Teleport complete... Location: Port Greenhold of The Highlands. Estimated-"

Before Software could finish his sentence, Nightshade covered his mouth and whispered, "Shh! Do you want us to get caught?!"

Software shook his head and replied, "Negative."

Quill just stood there silently, until he spotted a trio of sets of Horse Armor; each of which possessed by magic orbs in the centers. "Hey, guys... you might want to look at that!"

Software and Nightshade both looked from each other to Quill, then towards where he was pointing. When they saw the Armored Golems, they nodded their heads.

Software then said, "Scanners indicate that they are hostile towards the Alicorn. Estimated difficulty up close: Mediocre."

As soon as Software said that, the crystals on his shoulders began to glow brightly; slowly materializing a pair of cannons on his hands. "Estimated chance of victory... ninety percent."

Nightshade shrugged his shoulders before flying up in the air, and towards the three Armored Golems.

From the blistering cold corners of the ice-filled mountains, a large Rock Golem effortlessly climbed. While climbing, it spoke in the common tongue.

"Almost there, my mistress... but are you sure that this is the right way?" It asked.

A monotonous female's voice replied from on his back, "Yes, Boulder... we are getting close. I can sense it."

The Rock Golem, now known as Boulder, raised his right thumb up. "Very well, then... let us see what we have up here!" After placing his left stone hand over what looked like his headless chest, he chuckled. "Well, it would appear that you were right again! I can see a group of travelers who need our help!"

The female's voice replied, "Indeed. Then let's go see what we can do... but be careful, though."

Boulder replied, "I always am, my mistress!" With that, he continued onward towards the group.

As soon as the group managed to escape the cage, Boulder and the mysterious female stood behind them and listened to their conversation; the female standing on top of Boulder's headless shoulders.

The Diamond Dog of the group shrugged his shoulders, and then stated to the others, "Now, we need to go find the others, of course! They've been scattered around the city... but since they know our faces, we'll have to stick to the shadows... and so, we'll need to figure out a way to locate them without being seen!"

Clearing his throat, Boulder replied, "Then perhaps we could be of assistance?"

At once, the group of stray travelers looked at the Rock Golem, and then at the female who stood on top of him. "Who are you?" The armored Horse asked, before looking up at the female.

The female leaped from the top of Boulder's shoulders to the snowy floor, revealing her appearance.

She was a gray-coated Earth Pony with an even darker gray colored mane brushed neatly over her brows. She wore a dark blue frock over her chest that lowered down to her knees, and below it she wore a black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black pants. On her hands, she wore a pair of black gloves, and on her hooves, she wore a pair of dark blue boots that matched her frock. Over her shout, she wore a black rag. Over her mane, her frock's custom-tailored hood covered most of her face.

As soon as she was in their eyesight, she lowered her hood and rag, stretched her right hand towards the Rock Golem, and then replied, "This is Boulder," she then placed her right hand on her chest, "my name is Maud Pie... and I'm looking for Pinkie Pie... my younger sister."

Author's Notes:

A QUICK HEADS-UP!

The event that Heavenly Quill was referring to... It was the death of his parents.
It was somewhere in "Tragic Beginnings".

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ANNOUNCEMENT

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Uh-oh! Here comes a new member! This time, a character from the Main Series!

Please welcome to the team... Maud Pie!