Cries and roars continued non-stop throughout the dark morning of the day. The lack of sun and abundance of torches only made it more apparent of how truly dismal it was. Shadows on the walls would flicker and warp to the beat of the flames. The abundance of cries emanated from further within the cavern. As the halls would eventually light up, there were one or two who quietly marched on to the junction where their leader stood to give directions. His claws would point to one direction or the other. Beside him was a pile of gold trinkets that were once worn. He looked back to see the pallbearers marching down the hall.

The dreary backdrop of a darkened cave seemed far more depressing as the bodies of arimaspi were dragged and laid to the side. The smallest ones were immediately sent to the cave that lead to the burial chamber. The larger ones were set to the side as their bodies were stripped of their gold. Lord Macuahuitl (mǎh QUEE tuhl) would direct the groups to keep order in what was obviously a time of great peril.

"(Hurry and get these wounded some water!)" One voice from deeper within the cave hollered.

Wearing a prominent scowl on his face, he watched as the two pallbearers bowed before him with another victim laying between them. "(We lost another, sir.)"

He stepped forward to inspect the body of the deceased creature, taking note of it's limp figure. He stared at the face of the deceased creature, it wore a face that showed despair, yet it was peaceful. Much of it's body was covered in dirt, dust, and rock. Much of the bodily features have been battered, mangled, or covered in blood. Lord Macuahuitl groaned as he grabbed at the creature's wrist to remove the golden bracelets. "(Strip them of their honors, their service to the tribe has ended. Then take them to join the rest.)"

While he threw the bracelets to the pile of gold in the corner, the others did as they were instructed and followed suit. As they carried on with their task, one of them grunted. "(There have been too many. Too many to this one creature.)"

"(I agree. No group of ponies should have been able to find our horde so easily, much less one Ape-Walker.)" The second worker stated.

"(Even our champion has been thoroughly embarrassed by this creature. Vengeance must be paramount!)" The first declared angrily, going as far as chucking one of the hair bracelets into wall above the gold pile.

Lord Macuahuitl then directed two others, who showed up after one of their trips to the burial chamber, to take the freshly-cleaned body away. He gave the first worker a strong glare for damaging one of the bracelets. "(We shall worry about our tribe first. Vengeance must come after we regain our strength.)"

The five living creatures looked around in an attempt to source the unfamiliar voice. Upon looking towards the tunnel that lead to one of the outer passages, Gaston walked up to the party with a casual stride. One of the arimaspi grumbled in a low voice as his claws raked against the walls. "(Griffon...)"

The griffon held up his talons, showing a sign of submissiveness. "(I seek not conflict, but come as one who seeks to aid.)"

Without noticing what had just occurred, one of the arimaspi shouted at him. "(You are a griffon, why should we trust you!?)" After the heated response, many of them looked to one another with confusion and disbelief.

Another arimaspi who was just as stunned pointed to the griffon and grumbled. "(He speaks our language, this is unheard of.)"

"I am a relic of an old age, rather the descendant of one." Gaston proclaimed proudly.

The tribe leader, who was already detesting the sight of visitors destroying his tribe, had very little hesitation in making his judgement. With an icy expression, he turned his back to the griffon and gave his order. "(Kill him.)"

The griffon, as he watched two of the arimaspi linger towards him, made a claim to save his own life. "(The Ape-walker is called a human. The ponies call him that.)"

Once more, the arimaspi were stupefied in hearing any news of the one that decimated much of their ranks. Even the leader who was more into terminating any creature that didn't resemble him had grown hesitant to cut the griffon down. "(You have information of this... human?)"

"It is limited, but I too have come on a mission to kill. He is my intended target."

Lord Macuahuitl shoved the other two aside to lung his forearm forward, grasping the griffon tightly in his claws. He then held the griffon to his face as he snarled at him. "(You seek to claim our bounty!?)"

"Not in the slightest, I was hoping that we'd help each other." He announced meekly, trying to spare his own life before he found himself crushed in the larger creature's claw.

"(Then you can help by seeking the knowledge of our fallen tribe members.)" He asked in a threatening manner before threatening to slam him into the ground.

"If you are to kill me, then I should give you this warning then." Gaston proclaimed as he strained for breath under the weight of the leader's grasp. The leader held off long enough for the griffon to speak. "(The creature returns, this time with equine numbers.)"

The entire room lit up with grunts and mumbling. One of the pallbearers quietly asked. "(It returns!?)"

"(There will be no time for the preparation of our wounded. We would be unable to find the ones needing to be rescued!)" Replied the other pallbearer with dread in his voice. "(This scourge seeks to destroy us!)"

Finally gaining enough of the leader's attention to spare his life, the griffon found himself with a little more breathing room as the grip on his chest became less life-threatening. Macuahuitl then moved the griffon to the closeness of his face. "How many?" He asked in full Equish/English.

"Thirty, ten short of the last convoy that tried to take what was yours." Gaston answered outright.

As more started to gather from their duties, they were filled in of the news being presented to them, prompting one of the to run back and inform the others back at their assigned posts. More murmurs could be heard amongst them. "(Perhaps he does seek to destroy us.)" One claimed.

The tribe lord raised his left claw and stated loudly. "(No... They seek the gold. That is what they came for the last time.)" With the wealth of information brought to their attention, Macuahuitl placed back on the ground to walk under his own power. But Gaston could take a single step without the tribe leader pushing at him with one of his claws in a teasing manner. "You are a griffon, do you have no pride in yourself?"

The griffon shrugged carelessly. "That war is long over. The Idol of Boreas is no longer with us, your champion saw to that. Our nation no longer exists, there is no pride to be had besides in one's own gain." He stated before he bowed down to the immensely large creature. "So I submit my services to you, to the victors goes the spoils of war."

The tribe leader chuckled humorously, mocking the affairs of the once-mighty griffon nation. "Interesting, I have not heard of the Griffon Kingdom surrendering so easily, we only sent five to you, how many did you receive?"

With a cringe that made him want to press his face into the cave floor all the more, he sheepishly confessed to him. "Only one. I take it the Equestrians picked the rest of them off."

"I see..." The tribe leader finally erupted into a loud and rowdy laugh, bringing him humor in a time of great sorrow. After so many years of his ancestors fighting the griffons nonstop, it only took until now when they received news of the kingdom's downfall, especially after a little less than a century. Feeling a bit of confidence as well as pride, he halted the relief effort to give attention to the upcoming fight. "(So he returns... Let him.)" He stated while walking down the hall towards the others who were still working. But before he left completely from view, he signaled for two of the other arimaspi to direct the griffon to walk beside him. "While we walk, you will tell me everything you know of this creature."

Realizing he didn't have much of a choice, he complied. "Whatever you wish, it is my command."

After a long ride on the train, everyone seemed high in spirits. There wasn't so much of the chatter that we had on the way to Appleloosa, but rather talk of the Appleloosian citizens strutting through the streets singing the hook of the Seven Nation Army while simultaneously chanting 'I believe that we will win'.

Apparently someone must've snuck in a microphone and had me recorded. No wonder the room had this weird echo in it.

But the guards didn't care much, the were hyping it up just as much as the rest of them, and they were the ones to go into danger. Honestly, I find it amazing how carefree soldiers get when the mood is right, how amped they get before the big push of an invasion. I suppose if you had a possibility of dying the next day or the next hour, why the hell wouldn't you party for one last time?

So when we got off the train, everyone seemed stone-faced and disciplined, not too cocky, not too careless, not too blissful of their surroundings. And when we started marching, they marched like soldiers. If I took a step forward, they'd tried to match tempo, albeit finding difficulty in doing so because our my having two feet and their having four hooves. They lined up in two columns of fifteen in an attempt to throw off any presumptions of our numbers.

When we traveled, we had ten large wagons with us. And one of those wagons had a wooden crate with most of my weapons in it. The same wagon managed to house my new toy. I wasn't really looking forward to using it because it would mean that we were dealing with far more than just arimaspi running at us. And as such, many of the guards grew curious of the contents inside of that black case.

In their eyes it looked so unassuming. "Sir, if I could ask, what's in that crate?" One of them asked.

"Which one?" I replied.

"Obviously we can see what's in the wooden one. But the black plastic one seems a bit out of place."

As we came up to the foot of the mountain, I held the company in place to squint out any moving figures going up the road we were to take. After confirming that there were no signs of movement, even as Rainbow confirmed it, we moved forward. "Well consider it an easy button for our problems."

"Not exactly descriptive, but I would be hoping that it's something good?" Another one of the guards asked.

"Yes, it's good as long as you're not in front of it." I briefly stated before Rainbow tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey Nondis, noticed that we haven't ran into a single Arimaspi since we got here?" She questioned quietly.

As our company made it up the mountainside with very little problems, even getting through the forest with as little resistance as possible, I started to project my thoughts about what it could mean. "That is a bit unusual, I thought about it too. I'm thinking that they could've called them back in to help with the mess we left them."

"You mean the mess you left them?" She said quietly, correcting me.

"Whatever, but we still need to be on our guard."

When we marched through past the tree line, around one side of the adjacent mounds of the mountain, we could see the huge massive skull on the top of the peak. Taking it in so close where our necks were stressing to look up to the top, most within the company felt as they were faced with a daunting task. The rationality of the situation started to set in, displacing the morale high. "So... This is the legendary Arimaspi Mountain." One stated before gulping.

"Seems... harrowing." Another voice said.

Humbreeze, who was already shaking in his armor, felt fear. "Anyone thinks this could end in disaster?"

"How so?" I asked, trying to gauge his mind.

"Well, it's been so easy to get here." He said while his too-big-for-his-head helmet rattled around him. "I think it's a trap."

Well, if there's one thing I learned from my time out here, that's exactly what it is. However, the trap would more than likely to occur when we arrive at the mouth of the cave. And considering that we still have some ways to go, we should be fine. Others didn't feel as secure, one guard by the name of Dawnrise Twinkle, looked the pony next to her. "Should we send a scout?"

"Sending one of you will only get that one killed." I argued. "Sending a party of you is like asking them to send us a message." And heavens knows that I didn't want to see either of these guys laying on the side of the mountain or posted there as some macabre warning for us to leave.

"Well we can't just keep moving like there's nothing wrong." Humbreeze stated anxiously.

I calmly argued with him, realizing that his fear was growing from rational to irrational. "That's the exact point I'm trying to make. It's easy for them to pick us off while we're divided. A large group fighting one arimaspi at a time is strenuous work in the sense that it would take forever to fight. But it's the most efficient option."

And gathering what information I got from Shining's perspective, that seemed to be the best option. When they entered into the cave, it was every pony for themselves. And when that happened, there were makeshift squadrons created to combat one arimaspi, leading to a four-to-one ratio of guards-to-arimaspi. However, the largest issue was that they had more than just ten of them, there were twenty or more. That means while they were fighting, other arimaspi would easily pick apart the guards that remained, resulting in a complete slaughter.

All those faces on those ponies, I didn't want to see it happen to this group here.

However, not everyone saw eye-to-eye with the young guard. "Not really, considering all the praises the conductor had about you. Seems like you took on an entire army of them and won." Bragged Downburst, who had given the younger guard a light shove in the back.

Thought he had the high confidence in me, I felt myself shy away from that notion. I only did that to gauge our approach, and to scout out where the gold was. It wasn't like I had the answers to everything on my own. I couldn't even get through it all without Shining's help. Even if it was marginal, I needed whatever help I could get. "That's not something I can do again." Not just with the reduced ammunition, but also with much of the element of surprise used on the first go.

An earth-pony mare by the name of Strongheart smiled as she continued to place her vote within me. "Well if you feel you need to let up on something, we're here to back you up, captain!"

"Thanks." They were comforting words because I knew that I could lead without having to carry so much. True, I'd try to do most of the dirty work, but if I could incorporate them in some manner, it would help me protect them. And I wanted all of us to get out of here alive. I was adamant on that. Eventually a roar in the very far distance sounded throughout the area, causing most of us to shy away from noise. "Let's not keep talking for too long, this is their territory." I whispered in a low voice.

The others nodded in agreement.

While we carried on, we came across a cut on the side of the mountain. It seemed to be a perfectly sliced wedge that looked almost like the work of a few stone smiths. Much of it was eroded so it didn't look so ridged. Uncertain with it's stability, we made sure it wasn't prone to collapse. The last thing we need for this to be is some 3rd world scenario where the road collapses beneath us. After confirming that the area was safe enough to cross, we made our way through. One pony by the name of Strongheart was kind enough to offer his geological talents to ensure we were in the clear.

But soon after we cleared the makeshift tunnel, he called back out to me. "Sir, we've got light seismic activity."

His sudden warning had me stop dead in my tracks, halting the advance of our party. "How are you so sure?"

"My hooves are sensitive to the land. One of my traits is to detect seismic activity in the ground and be able to relay that information to the commander. Usually it's an indication of what's coming, be it an earthquake, landslide, or an army marching onto our position."

That last choice definitely had my attention. Obviously it wasn't a landslide because he wasn't going insane. "So what do you feel right now?"

"Other than our own movements, it feels like something is impacting the ground above us."

I looked up and saw nothing but a few misty ledges. I stared for a moment to make sure nothing had moved. One unicorn stallion by the name of Aegis Shield shook his head as he mocked Strongheart. "Are you sure that wasn't just some rock you felt?"

"Shut it and keep moving." Rainbow ordered, ending that debate.

But as I looked back to the gifted stallion, his eyes slowly expanded as the seconds went by. "It feels like..." Suddenly, a few pebbles came rolling down the mountainside, landing just before my feet. Then I heard more of them clatter before me. "CAPTAIN, GET BACK!"

Aegis lit his horn, using his magic to quickly yank me back before a massive chunk of rock landed to the side of the mountain before bouncing just a few inches above the road where I once stood. The loud crack of the boulder had me entranced, causing me to blankly stare at the very-real possibility of my life coming to an unexpected end. It was as if I had watched myself being launched from the road and down the mountainside below. It was enough to cause me to fall to my knees from the shock of it all.

Holy fuck... my heart was bashing my chest cavity open. My lungs forgot how to operate, my brain was sending out all kinds of signals, but none of my muscles were receiving them. My eyes were so wide that I felt like I could see the various atoms in the air. My sense of smell was overridden by the odor of blood and adrenaline. It took another boulder, significantly smaller, smashing against the road to wake me up.

After I came back to the present, I hollered back to Strongheart. "Landslide!?"

"Apparently so!"

I wasted no time after that. I got back to my feet in enough time to see another one completely missing the road we were on. Along with that one came the primitive scream from a path high above us. "(I hope you feel that, Funaki!)"

Right then and there, that told me what it was. "That's not a landslide, get to cover!"

"AMBUSH!" Rainbow screamed out.

The entire company made a rapid dash for the tunnel we just came through, while many of which were set in a place were they could avoid any of the rocks, there were a few such as myself who were partially exposed to the incoming shower. My arm was struck with a small pebble, causing it to sting a little. "Sticks and stones may break my bones... but boulders the size of minivans are good enough to kill us."

"They've got us pinned! We can't move back!" Someone from the rear called out.

"There's way too many of us to hide in this one area!" Another screamed.

Aegis, who was brave enough to scout out their positions, stepped out to cast a shield over himself, only to get smacked in the head with a smaller rock. "Argh!" He yelped out as he fell to the ground. I and another guard ran out to grab him before anything substantial came crashing down again. The two of us got hit quite a bit by the smaller rocks, but they were just as pain-inducing as anything else. We huddled back into the tunnel and tended to the injured unicorn.

"You okay!?" Questioned Rainbow Dash.

"They're throwing rocks at us. They're throwing jagged rocks at us!" He replied as he wiped the blood from his forehead before it could reach his left eye.

While a massive boulder bashed against the path we were set upon, it loudly rolled down the mountainside, bowling over some of the trees as if they were pins. "They're trying to keep us at a distance." I summarized.

"Their aim ain't that bad, I gotta hoof it to 'em!" Azure, who went out with me, stated.

I turned to the wounded unicorn and asked him. "Aegis, can you still use magic!?"

"I'm all good!" He said proudly while lighting his horn.

While more and more rocks came crashing down, including a smaller boulder that went completely over the tunnel's ceiling and tumbling to the ground below, I started to think about how to best get ourselves out of this situation. It was one I didn't plan for originally, so I had to improvise and be quick about it. The more time I spent, the greater chance of their claws finding us next.

"I need you to cover me while I get back to the foot of this mountain. Blindside, I need you to keep me from tumbling over and to guide me safely to the ground. Azure, you cover them both while I'm going down. Strongheart, you keep monitoring those tremors, if you feel this place starts to become unstable, then you and Rainbow get everyone the hell away from here. If it all goes to bust, I want you all to haul ass back to that train, don't stop for anything. I'm not losing any one of you today!"

While I shouldered my weapons, Rainbow Dash screamed at me as I was making my way towards the outside edge of the tunnel. "Wait, how are you getting back down the mountain?"

"Express route!" I said as Blindside's magic wrapped around my waist and eased me down the side of the mountain.

While I made my way down the mountain, I felt Blindside's magic get weaker the further away I got. Feeling myself getting out of his range of manipulation, I started sliding down the mountain at the mercy of gravity. It didn't take long for me to reach one of the lower paths below. When I landed, I heard Rainbow Dash screaming to me. "They're getting closer!"

Whichever ones were closer to them, I quickly shot at. The ones that got hit didn't seem to mind all that much until a few seconds later when the pain started to register. They became hindered, some even losing balance and falling off of the mountain. I turned back around and made a beeline for one of the trees. Suddenly, Azure called out to me. "CAPTAIN, HARD RIGHT!"

Following his instruction, I ran right to avoid a basketball-sized boulder. But as I did so, I got hit with a barrage of smaller rocks that threw me to the ground. I think two or three of them hit my head on the way down. Rising up, I wiped my cheek to check for blood, only to find I had a large gash from my right ear to my cheekbone. "Damn, sharp ass rocks." I muttered while I got back on my feet and ran towards one of the trees.

"CAPTAIN, WE'VE GOT INCOMING!"

Looking up, I could see three of the creatures already pinching in our company. Two approached from the front while one stood to charge from the rear. With my cheek burning from the pain, I grimaced as I lined my sights for the three. "Okay, I'm done with this shit." I mumbled out of frustration, pulling the trigger to my assault rifle. Without a single indication of warning, the two in the front buckled over from the bullets. The one in the back twisted and fell as one of the bullets hit him in the neck. "Motherfuckers wanna throw some shit, I'LL THROW RIGHT BACK!"

More and more slid down to meet with the stranded group of ponies, who couldn't do much for themselves outside of the unicorns launching highly-concentrated magic beams at them. Even as they landed, the only served to push them back. But I had already saw the signs that my fire was doing very little to push back against their offensive. "(Advance! Slaughter every last one!)" One of the arimaspi roared from the top of the ledge above the path.

Guess I was going to have to go hard early. "AEGIS! SLIDE ME THAT BLACK BOX!"

"YES SIR!" He called out, immediately moving to action.

Without much time to operate, he threw the box from the cart and over the side of the mountain. While the box tumbled downhill, I winced as I watched the exterior take some significant damage. All while it tumbled down to a few yards away from where I stood, I quietly prayed to myself in hopes that the weapon inside didn't take any serious damage. When I finally reached it, I didn't waste any time dragging it with me, I flung open the latches and pulled out the weapon. After seeing there was no damage, I gave myself little time to sigh in relief. Pulling back the foam lining, I pulled out a bandolier of ammunition for the machine gun, loaded the chamber, and ran back to an area where I had clear shots on the ledge the arimaspi sat on and the road below.

While Aegis hoof pumped triumphantly, one of the creatures hovered from the edge of the tunnel ceiling, smiling as it eyed the company of ponies. "Holy Faust, he's big." Rainbow whimpered.

"(Pony scum!)" The creature shouted out before pulling his arm back for a blow.

Azure and Aegis both tag-teamed the creature with their magic, blasting it square in the face. Losing it's balance, the creature fell head-first to the ground. "Keep blasting them!" Aegis called out while looking towards the edges once more.

Azure looked to the ground below and saw the monster they brought down writhe in pain, it's face bloodied. "He won't stay down for long." He stated before screaming to me. "CAPTAIN, THEY'RE CONVERGING ONTO OUR POSITION! ORDERS!?"

"KEEP YOUR HEADS DOWN!" I shouted back. The entire company dropped and ducked to their stomachs as the creatures started surrounding them.

When a few started to barrel for the group of ponies, I threw off the safety lined my sights the best I could, and pulled the trigger. Loud, rapid pops and white streaks of hot lead filled the air. Like flaming arrows, a volley of tracer rounds sent crashing against the rocks and the flesh of our enemy. The ones to feel the impact of the bullet hitting them were quickly sent to the ground. Those lucky enough to die quickly didn't quite feel the pain of the rounds hitting them. Some were so unfortunate that they danced as they were hit with round after round after round before they slumped over. All while they started to hold their advance, I screamed back at them. "THROW THESE, YOU FURRY BITCHES!"

While more and more tracer rounds continued to smack against their ranks, few even tried to crawl back up to the ledge they jumped down from. However, their efforts proved to be in vain as many were struck with bullets, causing them to lose their grip and fall. When the wounded ones staggered back to their feet, I made sure to finish them off. Just in the matter of minutes their fatal numbers started to climb. One. Two. Five. Ten. Twenty. Thirty-five. They were losing more than what they had anticipated, especially from a group of ponies.

Eventually, one of their leaders called to the others. "(Fall back! Fall back!)"

While the remnants fled to the darkness of the mountain caves, those who remained were calling out in pain, trying to help one another. I sympathized with them from the aspect of watching their brethren lose their lives and having to crawl off of a field of defeat, but that was were my call for concern ended. I had my own company to protect, and I weighted just one of their lives heavier than fifty of theirs. One creature weakly crawled on it's belly, using it's arms to pull towards my fellow guards. It only remained alive for as long as the bullet took to leave the chamber to reach it.

At last, the mountain was peaceful again. The carnage that was inflicted made it so. "The tremors stopped." Strongheart stated as he sighed with relief.

"Is it safe to come out?" Rainbow asked.

While I looked at how much ammo I spent on that one attack, I saw that almost the whole belt was gone save thirty some-odd bullets. "WHO'S NOT DEAD? SOUND OFF!" I shouted, switching the safety back on.

One of them, I couldn't tell which one it was, called out to me from above. "I THINK WE'RE OKAY!"

Taking into consideration how badly we were outnumbered, I think we did pretty damn well. Again, I didn't think I'd have to break out the big gun so early, but that just goes to show that it's better to be prepared for anything and not to underestimate any resistance we'll be facing. Thankfully, I had more rounds in the wooden crate. But I wasn't going to be as liberal as I was just then. From now on, I'm using it when I absolutely need to.

But first, I need some medical supplies for my face. "Copy, maintain position! I'll be back up!"

After about thirty more minutes of running back up the mountain and everyone else cleaning their wounds, I finally got a chance to patch myself up. Of course the antiseptic was not a pleasant experience to endure when dealing with such a large area on your face, but I guess that will be something I'll have to manage. Pain and frustration aside, I reloaded my machine gun for the sake of having more than enough before the next reload as it takes some time to get everything set in place properly.

I didn't have the luxury of using up 3-4 seconds to make sure everything was set up right.

When we finished checking up, we moved our party to the cave I left from just a couple of days ago. When we walked in part-ways, Rainbow stopped me and notified me that there was a lack of air flow coming from the entrance. So I and Azure walked through the cave, only to find a bunch of rocks piled from ceiling to floor. The hole had been plugged, which meant we had to take the long-way through the mountain.

Imagine my enthusiasm for that.

So we had to walk all the way to the front end of the mountain before we could even set foot into it. The moment we arrived, I already knew what was coming next. Humbreeze, who was still shaken from the first arimaspi encounter, was practically rattling in his helmet again. "This is a rather large cave. Is this where you went in last time, sir?" He whispered.

"Yes, but no doubt this is a trap. They've probably have it lined to the ceiling with their guys." I whispered back, making my way towards the wooden crate full of weapons.

The young guard didn't show any signs of confidence, though I can't blame him given the experience from earlier. If I just explained to him that it's a trap, he'd be trying to throw some ideas on avoiding it. "Sir, if I could interject with some insight of my own─"

"I appreciate your input, but this is a different scenario."

I wasn't intending to bypass it at all. In fact, with the arimaspi you have to be upfront about yourself. Even the way they fight demands you to take more steps forward than back. And since springing the trap was my best option, I had to do it in such a way where I had the advantage. The only thing I needed was a light bright enough to fill the entire room. Looking over to the company, I noticed one of the guards using her magic to brandish her spear.

Looking at her aura, I decided it would be her. "Corporal Dawnrise Twinkle, step forward please."

Running towards me, she gave me a salute. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I need you to give me a light."

Her stance, which was rigid and firm, slacked as she expressed her intimidation. "Muh... Me???"

I lightly tapped her helmet as I praised her. "Yes ma'am, you. Your magic aura is the only one that glows white, I need a non-discriminating source to illuminate the cave."

While she shied away from me, Humbreeze didn't. He tried to press his point further. "Sir, if I could just interject─"

"Again, appreciate the input, but it's not warranted." I know it seemed a little mean-spirited to shut him down, but I couldn't let my thought process wander. I was thinking of a way to get in that cave without having to get pounced on. And that very idea was what made Dawnrise nervous. I turned back to reassure her. "Now, I'm not gonna have you just walk inside and become the first victim, I need you to go on my command."

She was still comfortable with the situation, and rightfully so. "But how are we gonna go through that cave without someone getting hurt? If it's an ambush like you say it is, then don't that mean we'll be walking into almost certain death?"

"That only applies when they aren't disoriented." I said as I started rummaging through the wooden crate, pulling out a sizable green bag filled with items.

Rainbow flew over as I started pulling everything out, trying to come up with something that would get the job done. While she carefully inspected whatever I pulled out, she held up the first item I tossed out. "What's are these?"

"Ah, Illudium Q-36 Explosive Cave Modulators." I said jokingly.

"Excuse me?" Rainbow asked with a quirked brow.

I knew better than to expect her to get the joke, but it was one I wanted to get it off my chest just once. But I shifted back into serious mode when I pulled everything out and categorized it for her to see. I started with the one thing she held in her hoof. "Frags, C-4, flashes, stuns... bingo."

"What?" She asked quizzically.

While I pulled out a nine-bang flash, I felt myself nodding with boisterous approval. I honestly didn't think I had packed any, but I ended up bringing one anyways. I had also checked to see if it was armed and confirmed it was, that just led me to shaking my fist with triumph. Grabbing the machine gun, the flash, a frag, and my shotgun, I looked back towards the mare with a wink. "Just sending these guys to cloud nine before we start."

As I crept up to the side of the cave, I felt myself being pulled back as I was about to pull the pin on the grenade. Humbreeze was adamant on getting his suggestion across. His voice was moderately raised. "Sir, I would really advise against─"

I quietly snapped at him, not meaning to be mean or anything. But he nearly had me pull the pin on myself and the others. So I explained to him my reasoning and what my intentions were. "Their eyes are terrible when it comes to sharp light intake, that's contributed to their sitting in the dark for so often. Now if you knew anything about these bastards like I do, you'd know that they mainly come out during the sunset and early dawn hours and would often waltz around during the night. Fun fact, they roam around in the day only after their eyes get fully acclimated to the light levels, which takes up to five minutes or so. With that being said, they're sitting in a dark-ass cave, what does that mean?"

The young stallion, who was surprised by my sudden outburst, had eased off of me while appearing intimidated. "That they're susceptible to light─"

"Exactly. They can't see in pitch black but they happen to carry around torches, that's because torches are a low-level light source. Compare that to seeing the sun." I said to him, causing him to nod quickly out of trepidation. "Now sit there and stay quiet." I then looked back to Dawnrise and held her behind me as I crept to the mouth of the cave. "Count to ten, if you don't hear that many, you don't go in."

While I snuck up to the mouth of the cave, I could hear quiet murmurs. While the creatures were quietly speaking in their native tongue, I waited for a little while to mentally establish myself. I quietly grabbed the pin, twisted and pulled it loose, clamped the fuse trigger and took a deep breath before I ran to the edge of the cave. I used all the force I could muster in my arms to hurl the grenade to the cave and very quickly snapped myself back to the wall just outside of it. One by one, the loud explosions and flashes signed off an internal number in both my and Dawnrise's head. While the creatures within the cave could be heard screaming over their temporary loss of sight, she looked to me with a frown.

"I only counted nine." She said, seeming confused.

I pulled the pin on the frag grenade and chucked it inside. "Keep listening."

After another four seconds of rest, a loud explosion followed by more painful cries. She looked back up to me with her horn glowing. "Ten?"

"Now you can get your ass moving."

The two of us ran into the cave. Her horn shone a light so bright that I myself ran the risk of being blinded by it. When we entered, there was the sight of a few wounded arimaspi as well as a large amount of them writhing around on the floor. Without any further hesitation, I proceeded to gun down every one that remained in the cave. Round after round went into their bodies, indiscriminately penetrating whatever it hit. While they had a few who were either fully aware or just coming to, I took extra care to knock them back down. The ones who were still struggling were spared a few seconds before I gave them my undivided attention.

As I continued shooting, I noticed that the light inside of the cave started to dim considerably. I looked back to see Dawnrise on her haunches, struggling to keep her light blasting at full. It made me realize that she was putting her all into making the room as bright as it was. I'll give her credit, she was the equivalent of the flash you'd see from a nuclear blast, and I'm certain that kind of concentration takes a lot out on the mind. I called back out to her, urging her to be strong. "Don't flicker out on me!"

She heard my words and took a deep breath before she firmly planted her forelegs into the ground and lifted her head, straining and screaming while I did my best to finish quickly. The last one I had to kill was sitting a few feet away from her, so I had to squint in order to see it. After I landed my final shots and ensured that it stopped moving, I hollered out to her. "We're clear, you're good!"

As soon as her magic dropped, so did her entire body. I ran over to check on her, feeling incredibly concerned for her. She opened her eyes and saw me standing over her and squealed loudly thinking I was a monster of some sort. I calmly assured her that it was just me. She then lowered her volume immensely and her cheeks turned red from embarrassment.

"You okay?" I asked.

She rubbed her head as she started to regain her balance. "That was the first time I had to ever light a room like that. I don't know how Princess Celestia does it."

Probably because she's been doing her natural-born talent for over a thousand years. "You did it too, and you did great. If it wasn't for you, we'd be in a much worse predicament."

"Well I heard what you said to Humbreeze, and I thought about trying to brighten up the room like the sun. Five minutes would've been great... if only I could've lasted that long."

"No, you did wonderful!" I praised her. "I kinda wish I brought you along the first time."

"Oh... Thanks." She said shyly, before awkwardly jumping back to all fours and giving me a salute. "I-I mean, I'm glad to be of assistance, sir. Use me as you see fit."

While the others started to file in, Rainbow was staring at me with much disapproval. I looked back to the young mare and saluted back. "You're a fine guard, corporal. Wouldn't trade you for any other."

While the other unicorns produced their own lights, Humbreeze looked around and saw the carnage around the room. Awestruck, he walked up to me. "Captain, what did you use?"

"Nine-bang flash grenade, blinds whoever's in the room. Fragmentary grenade, produces deadly shrapnel that can maim or kill, mostly maim and injure in this given circumstance."

Rainbow hovered right past me, flicking her tail in my face as she gave attention to recuperating mare. "Dawn, you okay?"

She tried to take a step forward but stumbled a bit before catching her balance again. "...I think."

"She's fine, probably a little shook." I stated. "I know using that much magic would probably leave you with a pretty nasty headache.

"I can handle that." She stated before rubbing her ears. "But my ears are still ringing, it was so loud."

I forgot they don't really have ear-plugs, but I can easily attest to that being that I'm aren't wearing any either. It would take some getting used to. "Sorry about that. My ammo and configurations haven't exactly allowed me to be the quietest of campers."

Rainbow snorted at my response. "Well they know we're here now, so what's next?" She said with a bit of animosity towards me.

I wonder what I did wrong this time? "We keep going. If they get in our way, then just walk around them."

Humbreeze looked at the open halls all around the room. "Not sure if they'll let us do that."

I just simply pointed to the route in the center, past five of the arimaspi corpses. "Remember the famous phrase 'over my dead body'?"

"Ohhhhh." He droaned out quietly. "Okay, it's pieced together now."

Our progress through the caves were nothing short of a speed run, especially in contrast to the first time I was here. Of course that's also to be expected when you have a crudely drawn map studied into memory. And if there came a part where I wasn't so sure, I had that same piece of paper in my pocket.

The advantage this time was that I didn't have to worry too much about the torches. I only used the torches because I didn't want to seem out of place to any wandering arimaspi. We're weren't so worried about that because we had numbers and other light sources to brighten up our way. And it relieved a lot of stress for many of the unicorns we had when we changed them in shifts.

When we arrived at the junction leading to the fork in the road, the others grew disgusted from the smell of death, as it appeared to be quite fresh. "Permission to speak freely, this place stinks." Humbreeze stated while covering his muzzle with his foreleg.

I looked around the room, seeing some areas marred in blood. In one corner were the sheddings of hair and fur, in the other was more blood. The blood trailed from the cave we walked from to the path on the right. "The morgue's down one of these halls ahead. If you're smelling something that's urging you to puke, that would be it."

Humbreeze looked at the with uncertainty, still covering his muzzle to stave off as much of the smell as possible. "Morgue, sir?"

"They have an open air chamber where they rest their dead and decaying so that the birds and bugs can take what they can. They call it a 'sky burial' in some of the places in my world."

"That seems awfully unsanitary." He replied before dry-heaving.

"Their home network is to the opposite direction." I noted as I pointed to the blood-stained path. "Of course, you're still gonna smell something foul when we arrive, but that's just their hygiene."

Rainbow, who already knew where the other path lead out to, curiously checked the other path. When she hovered on, she eventually smacked her head on something solid. Using her hooves to feel out the area, she came to a sudden realization."Hey Nondis, check this out."

I had one of the unicorns escort me towards the hall Rainbow flew into. As we arrived, she was hovering just in front of a large boulder planted in the center. There were also several smaller rocks surrounding it, forming a type of seal to close the exit off. Huh, go figure. "Holy hell, the bastards actually planned this out a bit. No wonder our first entrance was so hard to push through, they've shored it up with a big-ass rock."

While the unicorn who lit our way seemed confused from the conversation we were having, Rainbow tapped on the boulder and sighed. "Safe to say we won't be going out this way."

I looked at the edges as well as some areas of the boulder. I could see a fairly deep crack going around the left side of the massive rock, indicating it had a weak point. In either case, weak points or not, I wasn't going to let it stop me. "Hmm... I beg to differ."

Rainbow looked at my face and quickly caught on to what I was suggesting. "White stuff?"

"White stuff." I agreed.

The two of us quickly made our way down the hall to the wooden crate. As I started to pull out a few bricks of C-4, I started to visualize how I wanted to go about it to minimize our chance of a cave-in and maximize our destruction of the boulder. The unicorn who accompanied us, Waning Moon was her name, walked up to Rainbow Dash as she grabbed a hooful of supplies. "You know, you said all that stuff as if you know what it does."

Rainbow's eyes briefly expanded before she tried to come up with an excuse. "I'm kinda there for the whole explanation bits when he gets this stuff."

She played it off pretty well, gotta hand it to her. "Yup, she was there."

A few minutes later after we set the charges in place, notably on the left side as well as dead center of the massive rock, Rainbow activated the charges and gave me a salute. "Okay, we're all set."

"Clear the hall." I ordered. The three of us ran out of the hall and rallied everyone out of the way of the cave in case anything were to happen that would cause any debris to come flying out and hit someone. We all packed onto the path on the right. After we had Strongheart to measure the tremors in case of a potential cave-in, I was ready to hit the detonator. "Fire in the hole." I called out, mashing the button.

A loud explosion sounded throughout the area, almost deafening most of us. We felt the rumbling from the other side, as well as the impending avalanche of shattered rocks. The dust from the other side started to fill the chamber and I walked out to see if anything had happened. Other than seeing the small ray of light from the outside world, nothing happened outside of the area being a little bigger than before. But the ordeal we once had in getting here was not going to stop us from getting out.

Luck was on our side.

The others walked around to see the newly formed exit, as well as the seemingly endless pile of rocks. Strongheart kicked around a few as he spoke. "Well, this looks like an easier exit, but what about all these rocks?"

I looked back to our original entrance. "Plug the way we just came through, if there are any others to come an stop us, they'd be wise to do it here as it would leave them three places to advance from. We could be chased on our way back, so that's one. This new opening to the surface of the mountain could very well be option number two, so our fight's already going to be fairly difficult. I haven't even began to mention those caves in the front all feed from their various living quarters and outposts. And given that our first entrance was filled with a bunch of them, it's better if we minimize their feeding points."

"Congest the traffic and redirect it to the wide open air, wouldn't that make for an easier target practice?" Humbreeze questioned.

"I'd rather a target practice than a mosh pit. At least for me it would be a turkey shoot." I said as I started picking up a few rocks.

"But wouldn't this have us coming from a higher part of the mountain?" Dawnrise asked.

While I stressed carrying some of the rocks from one side of the cave to the other, I explained my case further. "That's our advantage, the main entrance would be below us, making it easier to cave in from above as opposed to doing it on ground level."

"But what if this isn't enough rocks to plug that entrance?" Humbreeze inquired, causing me to place down the rocks I carried. For a moment, I had completely bypassed that scenario. If it were too few rocks, then what good would it do us if it only served to arm them with things to hurl at us? That was something I couldn't take a risk on.

I owe that little guy, he stopped me from committing a grievous oversight. "Give me a sec." I said as I immediately stared at the massive hole I was trying to plug. When the seconds came and went, I started to see what I could do as opposed to just relying on the mess we made. My only option is to make an even bigger mess. "Hey Strongheart, Rainbow, Waning, I need you three to come with me for a second."

The three ponies I called out did as they were ordered. But Waning was still somewhat confused by what I was having them do. "What are we looking for?"

"Check the ceiling." I said, trying to look for anything that might give us the best chance of destroying this tunnel.

It didn't take Strongheart any time at all to get my attention. "I see what you're going for." He said, pointing to one area on the ceiling. When I ran over to look from his perspective, I started to see what he was looking at. "That fissure right there, any more stress and this entire tunnel might come crashing down."

Rainbow wasted no time plugging the area with explosives and priming the charges. When we finished setting that up, we ran out the tunnel and stood from a safe distance before I pressed the detonator. And as Strongheart predicted, the entire tunnel came crashing down. The other pegasi were nice enough to fan the dust away, just enough to confirm that we had completely plugged the entrance.

"Well that makes it easier." Humbreeze stated with a smirk.

I nodded as I slapped his helmet. "Yeah, now let's get to moving these rocks."

That entire affair of moving the rocks was something I'm glad I had help on. Two-thirds of our entire company consisted of either earth ponies or unicorns. Between the two of them, moving the rocks were almost child's play, they almost made me feel so weak in comparison. But thanks to their magical abilities and strengths, they cleared that entire hall in less than thirty minutes. I would say that I was surprised, but I've seen most of Ponyville get repaired in almost a single day after a massive changeling attack.

When it comes to working fast, they've got that down in spades.

Along the way, we ran into a few other arimaspi defenders, which were quickly gunned down. Most of our work going through the caves consisted of the usual boring travel that often came with the monotonous scenery. It had gotten so bad that even the blood trails leading back to where we came from had done little to grab our attention. But thankfully the intersection we closed off two days ago remained that way, so we didn't have to wait for traffic to die down. Counting down from the time we arrived from the train to walking into the hoarding room, I would like to say that it took us four hours and thirty minutes.

We only broke the record by like, what, THREE DAYS.

When we walked in, much of the company expressed the same disbelief I felt when I first arrived in the room filled with riches beyond logic. Many just gawked and stared for a few seconds before praising their own god. Humbreeze was the first to do so in such a loud manner. "Holy Faust in a bread basket!"

"Yeah, kinda had my own come-to-Jesus moment when I first saw it too." I replied, grabbing a handful of shiny coins and stuffing them into my back pocket like I had just grabbed a shit ton of quarters.

The others stopped gawking and broke off on their own, digging, sweeping, and kissing whatever gold they grabbed. While they celebrated, dancing on top of piles that gave way and had them surfing down to ground level, a few of them had already started to ramble on about how they were going to change their lives. Rainbow, who had already experienced this, was the only level-headed individual here. "Well captain, we're here. What do we do now?"

"COMPANY, FALL IN!" I called out loudly. Everyone dropped what they were doing and immediately fell into a block formation, six rows of five. They stood at attention, awaiting the orders to soon follow. "Remove your bags, move the wagons to nearby piles so that we can minimize our trips to them. Collect the gold in the bags to minimize collateral. Next, I want two pegasi to keep watch at the door to give me any indications if we're being pursued. Unicorns, I need you all to transfer the bags to the carts. Earth ponies, you'll be in charge of freight. All other pegasi, I need you to get to the top of these piles and start grabbing."

"YES SIR!!!" I don't think I've ever heard them speak so loudly. Then again, they're looking at something no other pony before this week could ever hope to reach.

"FALL OUT!"

"You all heard him, it's time to get to work!" Rainbow called out. They fell out of formation into grouped units, each unit forming into a system of seven ponies each. And each of them worked harder than ants. The pegasi would kick down the top of the piles so that the would spill over to the ground, making it easier for the others to collect. The bags started to fill like water balloons, and the wagons filled like buckets of sand on the beach. They were so zealous that they made sure to fit in whatever loose coins or items they could after the crates were full. And the earth ponies didn't have a single issue with toting the goods around to the exit.

As I surveyed the work being done, I could hear a conversation taking place between a group of ponies. "Hooo boy, we're gonna be insanely rich! I can't wait to get back home and renovate the place. I'm gonna have an indoor swimming pool in my bathroom!"

The next voice I heard was none other than Azure. "You might wanna hold off on that."

"Why?" Asked Humbreeze.

"Well from what I know is going to happen and based off of previous history, most of this stuff is going back to the government."

"Wait, just how much of it?" Strongheart questioned.

Azure hummed as he looked at the wagon they were loading and frowned. "We're possibly looking at about eight wagons of it."

"But wasn't the original tribute like two wagons?" Humbreeze stated.

"I'm speaking from a realistic standpoint. If we return with ten wagons, the parliament would probably see to it that eight of them would be placed in the treasury."

"And the other two?" Another pony inquired.

"I'm sure they'll redistribute it in our pay." Azure answered with a depressed moan.

"Yeah, AFTER taxes on top of taxes." Rainbow mentioned with a frown on her face.

The group sighed heavily, seeming to be a little discouraged of what awaited them. As I thought more about it, I realized that none of our jobs really came with any form of incentive aside from getting a medal to put on our uniform. No bonuses, no compensation, it was as Caramel mentioned.

I intervened while grabbing another handful of gold. "Well I think that's bullshit. You guys came all this way to get this stuff, not them. You deserve nothing less than what you claim. If it were up to me, I'd have you give them what they missed out on and that's it."

"But then that would be a form of embezzlement, that goes against the guardian code." Humbreeze stated.

I gave a quick nod before I stuffed my pockets and walked towards the middle of the room, I quickly grabbed everyone's attention and spoke to each of them with a loud voice. "Can I be frank with you guys?"

The entire company stopped doing whatever they were doing at the time to pay attention to what I was going to say.

"Now... I know that I'm sitting here with these fancy toys guiding you through the mountain on the whim of a demented politician, but they didn't send us here to get this gold. As Humbreeze can attest to many of you, they've sent us here for another reason: To be martyred. They sent you and me, mostly me, as an example to other guards, this happened five years ago with your current brigadier general and reigning prince. They came to the same forest, walked into the same cave, encountered much of the same arimaspi. Difference is that we'll walk out of here with what WE sought."

Many of them looked to each other before one of them spoke out. "Our lives?" Dawnrise guessed.

"More than that, a fat bonus check, tax exempt." A few of the other giggled at my quick response. "And if we get back to that train, I expect every last one of us to line up before that parliament and look them square in the face while we roll in the goods. I can assure you, there's gonna be this one senator on the far right side, he's gonna look at us like he's got a mouthful of lemons and soap." I took in a deep breath. "Ahh, the powerful scent of clean." I received quite a few chuckles after that remark. "In speaking of which, we're giving them three carts, that's 1.5 times of what they've lost so they can't say shit. The other seven, they are not to be reported under any circumstances."

Humbreeze raised his hoof and spoke. "But sir, wouldn't that violate the guardian code─"

"Kid, I respect you for believing in what's right. And believe me when I say it's not easy doing the right thing. I know that from experience." I then got personal with the young guard. "And I would like to announce that your sister also died doing the right thing, putting another before herself for the sake of their future. But the overall reason behind her death was wrong."

His ears folded back as his head dropped down. As I continued speaking, he took off his helmet and solemnly looked at it.

"They are using us as fodder, I refuse to adhere to a guideline that makes us as valuable as toilet paper." I then reached out from my personal experience, informing them of the reasoning behind my views. "My grandfather told me this more than once: They ship us off, we lose our friends, limbs, and family, we come back, they give us a shiny medal and a handshake after we've worn loyalty and courage on our sleeves in the face of death and adversity. But because of what we did, we had no parades to honor us, we didn't deserve them."

I knew that the mood had gotten a little darker, but I didn't want to let them go back and not know what was going on. If I had to drag them this far, I wasn't going to let them walk away without understanding. They needed to know the real weight of their jobs, as I found out the hard way.

"They don't parade us, not because we don't deserve it, but because we're 'doing our jobs.' The citizens don't feel like that because many of their own volunteered to serve. But because of what the paid media puts out, they think of us to be incompetent, like we're nothing short of incapable of this nation's security. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. So I say damn them first."

Murmurs from the group started to sound throughout the room as they exchanged their thoughts and ideals. I carried on.

"So when we get back, we'll give them what we set aside. After that, we take four of these wagons and use these to pay the families of the previous expedition our respect and condolences. The other three we split up amongst ourselves. So if you wanna get paid, I suggest you load those wagons a little more."

I dumped everything that was in my back pockets into a nearby wagon and spoke once more.

"If I could only express the pain of those who lived through that experience from five years ago to you, none of you would continue serving. But I want every last one of you to go home, wiser to what the parliament does to ponies and people like us. I respect and love all of you too damn much to let either one of you die here for their political gain. I'm with you as long as you're with me. I'll fight for you, if you'll allow me to do so. And I won't stop until I give you the recognition and accolades you all truly deserve. I had a parade before and that's fine, but EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU deserve what I had when we go home... With that said, I'm proud, honored, humbled, and blessed to be your Captain of the Royal Guard."

A long silence persisted as I stood motionless. On their faces were looks of uncertainty, anger, and even despair. One of them hollered out to me. "Oh we already know about the corruption thing. Welcome to the club."

The sudden response had me surprised. All over the room, they laughed, mumbled and mocked me as another called out. "Oh yeah, I don't think they'd ever send us to live out here."

"I heard Arimaspi Forest was nice this time of year, so I decided to take in the sights."

"I heard the locals were friendly too."

"Yeah, heard there were some hot-n-heavy bitches over here too."

"Hey girl, lemmie smash!"

"Well I heard there were some actual males here who were great for help around the home."

"Yeah, like one big-ass cyclops can dig up your garden for you!"

"I mean they're so strong."

"Their hygiene could use some work."

While they were busy joking around, one of them decided to be serious and speak out. "Well, either way sir, we knew what we were getting into when we came for briefing. None of this is new, you just said what we were all thinking when we first stepped on the train from Ponyville. In fact, you led us farther than anypony else could."

The others hollered and hooped in agreement.

Strongheart shouted at me. "And you said that you'd get us home in one piece, so we can't really afford to turn on you! After all, you saved our hides more than once, why the hell wouldn't we be here for you?"

Dawnrise was the next to speak up, brushing herself against me. "We all have our differences and shortcomings, but to know that you had enough belief in us to help you out in the heat of things made us feel like we were worth something, definitely made me feel like doing way more than what I thought I was capable of. Somepony who'd go so far for us and in our defense, we'd practically do anything for you!"

Humbreeze offered his words as well. "All throughout this journey, I've been thinking about the last moments my sister shared in this world, and how I thought I could get revenge. This whole thing showed me that it wasn't as easy as I thought it to be, not that I thought it was easy. But when it came to the moment of truth, I couldn't do anything but hide my face. You made it look so easy."

"And you didn't back down when it got ugly." Aegis stated. "You took every hit and you kept moving like it was nothing. I wish I had that tank-like mentality you have."

"And your weapons are a pretty big help." Rainbow added. "You're not gonna wanna go against anypony who can wipe out two-hundred changelings in twenty minutes. Or fought off fifty with a sword and a brick. At first, I thought you were slow and lazy. But since I've gotten to know you, you're way cooler than I thought you to be. You're still an idiot and I might not be able to have you as a flying buddy, but an 'O.K.' in my book."

I rolled my eyes at the rainbow maned pony and smiled at everyone who spoke. "Well, I don't know what to say to you guys. I really do feel amazed that you're all would be so willing to throw in for me, even if I kinda walked through the door taking one of the highest positions in the office."

Dawnrise giggled as she tapped my leg. "Believe me, it's warranted."

I shrugged nervously as the others snickered and murmured. "Okay then. Maybe next time, stop me if I get a little preachy."

The entire room shouted to the top of their lungs. "YES SIR!"

Couldn't help but to drop my head on that and take that loss. "Okay y'all, get back to work so we can go home!"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

I started to grab whatever I could get my hands on, paused for a second and announced one last time. "What we've discussed will not leave this room, make sure of it."

Rainbow tapped me on the shoulder and whispered. "Um, I think they already got that."

While the Equestrian convoy proceeded to collect their fair share of riches and laughs, Gaston hid behind one of the pillars in the hall, looking after the group of ponies eagerly talking about their future ambitions. The griffon flew up a large hole in the ceiling and landed onto a ledge. When he landed, he made a clicking noise with his beak and whistled. From higher up in the ceiling, a phoenix came swooping down to land by his side. While the phoenix attended to it's feathers, he pulled out a small sheet of paper and started writing on it.

While his pencil scribbled, he thought about his target. "You are a problem. I really see why Count wants you dead. But I guess I could help him out on his withdrawal." With a large smirk on his face, he thought about the massive payday he'd receive by absconding with some of the arimaspi wealth himself. He nodded with approval. "Tell you what, I think I will. But not before I give the client an advanced word."

When he finished writing his message, he rolled it up and tied it to one of the phoenix's legs, giving it a nuzzle before speaking.

"Send this to Canterlot, and get there as fast as your fiery wings take you. Be sure to not scorch the message, dear Phaela." The griffon ordered. The bird nuzzled him back before setting off into flight. The phoenix left the area, bringing a glow wherever it traveled. Gaston walked back to the ledge and looked down to the hall where he heard the movement of the convoy. He scoffed at the ponies below.

"There'll be no bonuses for the likes of any of you. Mark that."

Fifteen minutes later...

After verifying what had occurred in the vault, Gaston reported his findings to the arimaspi high chief. When he arrived, he saw a council or arimaspi gathered around one of their fellow chieftains, who laid wounded from gunfire. He didn't move, but offered what he knew to the council. From there, they debated.

"(We can't keep fighting this creature. We'll lose too many should we continue.)" One of the lower chiefs stated with a growl.

"(We can't just roll over and let them take what is ours either!)" Another chief stated, slamming his fist into the ground.

Gaston approached the group as the conversed, immediately grabbing the high chief's attention. "(YOU!)" He shouted in his native tongue before confronting the griffon. "You promised us that you would help us remove this creature!"

With a coy smile, the griffon shrugged and answered him dismissively. "I am, but the timing must be correct in order for me to do so."

Macuahuitl raked his claws against the stone walls of the cave and hollered to the top of his lungs. "I am losing my patience!" His voice roared so loud that it echoed through many of the caves.

"In the end, this is all you can afford. We must be patient in waiting for their passage through the mountain. We will attack them on the surface." The griffon suggested.

"I don't want them to so much as leave from within this mountain alive!" The high chief screamed before turning away to his lower chiefs. "(Take the remnants of our forces and send them to the main entrance! We will ambush them there. I will lead myself.)"

The griffon jumped in front of the chief before he could walk off and meekly replied. "Actually, you'll be with me."

"For what purpose?" Asked Macuahuitl angrily.

The griffon cleared his throat and quickly pleaded his case. "You want the human dead? Well with me, your chances of revenge are greater than your own. He seems to have a variety of tools to use to his advantage. I too have my own and can strike from any distance."

The high chief waved at one of his lower chiefs after giving him a discerning look, he left to another room as the arimaspi lord stood tall over the griffon. "What tools do you bring?"

The griffon unfurled his wings, revealing a series of knives and scalpels. As they spread open, a variety of objects rolled to the ground before Lord Macuahuitl. "Arrows, darts, explosives, daggers, blades and wares, you name it."

The large creature tapped his nail against a baseball-sized black orb with a fuse sticking out of the top. "What is this?"

"I call it a fragmentary bomb, ceramic-lined interior with a thin steel exterior that can absorb most of any impact within 25 feet. They seek to maim or kill anything in it's vicinity. The ceramic is sharp like glass, but brittle to maximizes internal damage upon movement."

The tribe chief looked at the other things that lied before him and tapped a few of them. "Everything else?"

Gaston held up every item as he introduced it to the chief. "Flash bombs, these small pellets have been enchanted with light spells to create a temporary blinding effect, that coupled with peppered smoke makes it harder for the victim to see. I call it 'spice'." The chief seemed unamused by the griffon's proud remarks, the griffon carried on regardless. "This is the griffon pride, the manticore tail. Beautiful little crossbow with an instant reload action, spring activated, and the bolts are made of some of the strongest oak, crafted and tapered to cut through even the thickest of armor plating. And being he doesn't wear any, this will easily run him through." The griffon noticed that the lower chief who was sent away earlier had come back with a large blade wrapped in manticore skin. "Dynamite for the road." He stated before finally flaunting the blades hidden within the feathers of his wings. "And my finest edges, they are so merciful, so lenient to the flesh that it would part through without the victim knowing."

As the high chief pulled the blade from it's sheath, he tilted it downward towards the griffon, pointing it's blade to him with a large toothy smile. "I have a blade of my own."

While the massive blade appeared to be a bit on the short side in relation to it's wielder, it was still enough to significantly dwarf anything a pony could present. However while it's simplistic design was practical for many uses, it's blade did entail a small amount of rust. The griffon was not too impressed with the appearance, but the sight of a large blade pointed at him didn't give much room for criticism. "An old iron sword."

"This was made in the days when our ancestors took great pride in our mountain before our resources ran dry. Swords from gold break too easily." The high chief responded as he proudly rocked the blade from side to side.

"I concur." Gaston stated with deadpan.

Macuahuitl turned back to his lower chiefs and hollered at them. "(WELL WHAT ARE YOU ALL STANDING AROUND FOR!? MOVE OUT, I WANT EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE PONIES DEAD!)" After collecting his goods, the griffon also pounced at the tribe chief's order. But before he could go any further, the blade stopped his progress as the large creature side-eyed him. "You take his head, I want the rest."

Growing nervous for the sight of the blade blocking his path, he took a step back from it. "I'm not quite sure if my client would agree to that. After all, he made it very clear that he wants the body─"

Macuahuitl flicked the blade sideways, introducing it's slightly rusted edge to the griffon's eyes. "His head is all he'll get, or I'll take both you and him."

"I know when I am beaten out of pure strength..." Gaston said as he looked back to see another three of the arimaspi lackeys run past them. "...and numbers. Perhaps we could work something out with the body?"

Backing the griffon against the wall, he slid the blade underneath the griffon, prompting him to stand on his hind legs. "...I want the creature's flesh, it would make for a nice hilt for my sword, wouldn't you agree?"

Gaston refused to argue any further. "That I can agree to."

It's been a while since we finished gathering the gold from the vault. Thankfully, there wasn't much to prevent us from moving forward except the weight of our newly-acquired freight. However, it was a freight worth carrying. There were the occasional patrol of arimaspi, but they were quickly silenced. While the talks of future ambitions driven by newfound wealth died down, our desire to get out the mountain started to make itself evident in our body language. Many of the earth ponies who carried the heavy wagons had already started to feel the burning in their muscles and the fatigue that came along with it.

Even as we approached our new route, they started to slow their progress. "Permission... ngh─to speak freely... augh─this shit is heavy." One of them wearily stated.

While I continued to take point, I looked back to the struggling group, who was at this point being assisted by a few unicorns. But even their fatigue started to show. I knew I was going to be buying them drinks for the next week over this, a price I was willing to pay. "We're almost to the exit! Hang on a little more and it'll all be downhill from there."

Rainbow continued to do her best in aiding the group of earth ponies to get their loads moving. Meanwhile, Humbreeze called out to me. "Captain, don't you find our exit to be a little... strange?"

"You mean the minimal resistance?" Thank God, the less I had to shoot, the more ammo saved, the better chance we had of surviving.

The young stallion nodded. "It's almost as if it's too easy. Maybe that's just my thought on the matter, but this doesn't seem to make much sense to me."

Though now that I was thinking about it, it started to dawn on me just how easy it was for us to get out of here. In most circumstances, they'd be chasing us down to the ends of the earth for taking something they religiously hoarded for themselves. And our bouts of resistance came from what was in front of us, even then it wasn't much. His words had me thinking. "You know, I can see where you're coming from. Even if we sealed that main corridor, we should be expecting some company behind us."

When we came to the junction that led to the new exit, Rainbow smirked as she pointed to the collapsed tunnel from earlier. "Exactly, it's like they're expecting us elsewhere." She stated sarcastically.

I know that much... but still. Even with the distractions... Oh to hell with it, let's just keep this easy train moving.

At the Main Cave Entrance...

While a patrol group came running back, one of them frantically reported to the high chief their findings. "(THE PATH IS SEALED! WE CAN'T GET THROUGH!)"

Gaston rubbed his chin as he started thinking about the human he was trying to subdue. "He's either smart or utterly stupid. Why would you seal yourself in, that other exit is thoroughly blocked."

"(It's impossible to pass, even we can't bypass it without removing the boulder blocking the path.)" Another one of the arimaspi stated.

While the griffon brainstormed on the possibilities, he simulated what he himself would do in order to sneak in, grab the gold, and leave. While he figured himself to be unequipped to perform that task, his target was not. Eventually, he started to toss his thoughts towards the high chief. "Wait, you said that your vault was broken into, right?"

Lord Macuahuitl responded. "Those doors stood for centuries, and then they're suddenly laid down before us like they were cut down."

Looking at the sword, the griffon started to go further into his analysis. "Could it have been possible that the hinges were compromised by rust?"

"(No, it was like a mighty force sheered them off of the wall.)" One of the lower chiefs answered.

"So what you're saying is that they used something that could've sliced through solid steel?" Gaston asked.

"(Perhaps pony magic.)" One of them suggested.

The griffons shook his head. "The average unicorn wouldn't be able to destroy a cave this large. Perhaps an explosion of some sort."

Another one of the less-decorated lackeys spoke to the griffon. "(After we fought off the ponies that first time on the mountain, the Funaki seemed to have used something that caused some sort of explosion. Reports from the grunts said it happened when he entered the cave.)"

In hearing that, the high chief grew furious and grabbed the lackey's throat. "(WHAT! YOU KNEW OF THIS!)"

"(The explosions weren't enough to destroy the cave! I swear it on my life!)" The creature responded, pleading for it's life.

Gaston continued. "Okay, maybe I'm thinking strategically here. But being I'm a mercenary, I'm going to put myself in his position. If I were wanting to destroy the hinges of a large door, and a few caves, wouldn't I carry some amount of explosives to make that happen? And given that the explosives were strong enough to destroy a cave, then would it be possible to do the same for a large boulder?"

While the question was laid to the floor for the others to think about, the high chief didn't take as long to piece it all together. "(TO THE OUTSIDE! HURRY!)"

Just as Macuahuitl's words were heard, others ran for the opening. As they ran, the high chief and the griffon assassin followed. The tribe leader ran so quickly that he nearly trampled all who stood in his way, only to be pulled back by one of his followers. A large explosion sounded from the mouth of the cave, causing large chunks of rock to come crashing down. One of the creatures hollered to the back of the group to stop shoving the formation forward. "(Cave in! Hold the advance!)"

A few seconds of chaos ensued, leaving four arimaspi seriously injured from the sudden collapse of the roof. The opening had been plugged, but not sealed. Small streams of light pierced through, indicating that there was very little stopping them from getting out. The griffon looked at the damage dismissively. "That was sloppy. We could dig ourselves out of this in seconds!"

"Buying themselves time." The high chief stated before shouting to his followers. "(DON'T JUST SIT THERE AND LOOK! DIG!!!)"

As it was predicted, it only took all of fifteen seconds to create an opening large enough for one to pass through. One of them were foolish enough to crawl out into the open and scream to the others still buried within. "(We're out!)"

The sound of a solitary round echoed throughout the mountainside, startling the griffon. Gaston shook his head in disbelief over the noise he just heard, the sound being similar to that of a mere firecracker. Peeking his head out of the opening, he could see the arimaspi from a few seconds earlier. It lied motionless as a pool of blood expanded from the back of it's head, turning into a river towards the path leading down the mountain. The griffon was left astonished. "There's no way the human is capable of killing you bastards this quickly."

"That pretty much sums up our week." The high chief responded, seeming even more exasperated as the casualties mounted up before him.

The griffon snarled as he saw a convoy of ponies already reaching the foot of the mountain. With them were wagons filled with riches and wealth. Gaston grew impatient. "Dammit, I am not letting my bounty get away!"

Without warning, the griffon was thrown to the back of the cave by the tribe leader, who plunged his entire body into the loosened wall blocking the exit. "(OUR BOUNTY!)" He shouted as he smashed through the barricade of rocks. While he stopped himself from careening over the side of the path, the rocks and boulders were not capable of halting their own momentum.

Below on the foot of the mountain, I saw a large wave of massive rocks rolling at us. Instead of aiming my gun at the source of the disturbance, I felt genuine fear for getting crushed and ran the opposite way, calling out to the others. "ROCK SLIDE! TO THE TREES! TO THE TREES!"

Everybody and their wagons were quickly sent behind what cover was available. Though a few crashed into the trees, knocking them to a tilt, none of them were so easily uprooted. Some of the unicorns lent their magic to halt some of the larger ones to prevent their fellow guards from getting bowled over. Sighs of relief were shortened as Humbreeze pointed towards the mountain. "Sir, it looks like they've got through!"

Looking up to confirm, I saw a rather large arimaspi decked out in gold holding a large rusty sword. Already in my mind I knew that was a fight I didn't want to see. He was already bigger than the rest and he looked as if he could take more than the fair share of bullets I give to the rest of them. Running was the better option here. "THEN GET YOUR ASSES MOVING!"

While we ran into the covers of the trees, I could see a few of them running after us. Just above our heads, we could hear the sounds of branches breaking off of trees as a few rocks rained down from above. "They're throwing rocks again!"

Pulling out the machine gun, I gunned down three more pursuers. Thanks to the fatigue and the frantic situation, my accuracy suffered. Instead of aiming for weak spots, I simply aimed for the center of mass. As I feared, they took a lot more bullets when under the influence of adrenaline. And seeing that there were still a few chasing us down the mountain, I knew I had to buy the company some time. "I'LL HOLD THEM OFF, GET TO THAT TRAIN, STAT!"

"Extraction team, we're Opal Moon! Get going!" Rainbow screamed to the others running down the forest path. She then took a few seconds to scream at me. "Nondis, you better move your ass too!"

After seeing the large one making a move towards us, I took a quick about-face and ran the other way. "Right goddamn now!"

Rainbow flew beside me to help cover the rear. While I ran, I heard something whistle past my ear to my right. And then something else flew right past me on the other side. And before I knew it... "Move move, keep it moving! Keep it mo─VAUKH!"

Rainbow tumbled from the sky, hitting the ground hard. My eyes shot open as I ran over to her. "DASH!"

When I ran to her, I saw something that surprised me. A wooden bolt was firmly lodged in her chest, causing my hear to sink deep into my stomach. My fingers ran cold as she coughed in pain. "Shit, they've got crossbows too!?" She asked while in pain.

Two others who straggled behind looked back to see me trying to pick her up off the ground. They sprinted toward us and checked on us, I handed her over to them and screamed to the top of my voice, being emotional I commanded them. "GET HER OUTTA HERE!"

"What about you!?" One of them asked.

"I'll catch up, just get that train smoking!"

They showed no hesitation as more bolts came flying at us. They quickly took her ahead as I lingered behind to hopefully pick off the ones that followed. In my mind I was more focused on the friend that was just shot down right in my face. The gravity of the situation wanted to have me sit in place, ultimately to bemoan over my friend being injured. And it wasn't like it didn't slow me down, because I was slowly running ahead, hoping to get revenge over what had just happened. But while my hands ran red from her blood, I slammed my fist into one of the trees to stop myself from going into a trance.

I had to focus, but I couldn't do it all too well. "Goddammit Rainbow, don't you blank out on me."

I kept running and running until I had grown so winded that I needed to take a breath. The image of Rainbow's injury was burned into my memory, causing me to feel a significant level of stress and discomfort. In my brain, I could hear her father's words urging me to keep her alive.

"She's all that I have." I recounted him saying.

Then the unthinkable scenes started to play in my head. I'd run into the train, I get back and the company was sitting quietly waiting on me. While the train pulled off, I'd hear nothing but silence as we rode along. I'd ask if she was okay, and they'd look at me gravely. And then I walked down the aisle and see the medics mending to Rainbow just standing around her. She's not moving, she's not breathing, her eyes are halfway open, her jaw's slightly open, and she's looking to infinity. She died, and it's all my responsibility.

Then more faces came to meet with hers. Counter Bell, who worked the counter at the motel I stayed in, Diamond Tiara's butler, the several other ponies I watched die before me, even those who's deaths I saw in the midst of a nightmare. All of them as gruesome as I remembered them. My stomach churned and my body responded in kind.

Bent over, I felt myself expelling every last memory, wishing for it all to go away. But instead I was merely forcing my breakfast out of my system. I was left dry-heaving, my chest aching in pain as everything was pushed to the surface. I had nothing left in me, but it still kept going and the memories still remained. I couldn't stand it.

"FUNAKI!"

A voice so loud that it felt like I was twenty feet from a fog horn. The noise was enough to shake me out of my state of sickness and place in me the fear of losing my own life. I turned to look back at the path, seeing the large arimaspi standing there with a rusted sword in tow.

I groaned in dismay and picked myself up to face him. "Look, I'm in a bind, and I don't have time to fuck around with you. So if you would so kindly walk away and pretend you never saw me, that'd be grand."

The creature snarled as he spoke. "You're not walking anymore. You die today."

During an attempt to clear my mouth of the taste from my earlier sickness, I cocked my shotgun and spat at him. "Okay... how many times have I heard that shit? Those three words pretty much sums up my goddamn week."

"Well it's nice to know we're on common ground. But it would appear that only two of us will walk away from this."

I nodded with pursed lips. "Both of us? Great, so I can fuck off then?"

"No, you're not included in this deal."

Suddenly, a similar bolt that hit Rainbow hit me dead in my chest. While it didn't shatter my armor, it did have enough power to knock me back a few feet. Looking back up, I could see a shadow shaped like a griffon hiding in a tree with a crossbow. And given that griffons are the closest creatures to humans in terms of fighting abilities, this means I was dealing with a similar opponent.

The situation just got real. "Shit."

I kept running erratically, doing my best to avoid any bolts. But I could tell from the way the weapon was fired, it wasn't an ordinary build. There were far too many bolts being fired too often. It was like dealing with a semi-automatic pistol, if it's wielder were shooting at me slowly. Two arrows landed beside me into a tree, causing me to hide behind another. I hollered out to the arimaspi. "Hey buddy, who's your friend? He's got some pretty shit aim." Then out of nowhere, I saw something land beside me. It was a small object with a lit fuse. I quickly kicked it away before hiding behind the tree again as it exploded. "Though he's a crafty son of a bitch, I'll give 'em that!"

The creature roared at me once more. "Come out, Funaki! I want a new hilt for my sword!"

"Look, I'm not that into you, okay?" I shouted back before a much larger grenade landed beside me. It looked much like the ones you'd see in an old cartoon but I knew that they were deadly nonetheless. "Oh that looks bad."

I ran out from behind the tree, falling and landing on my stomach away from the explosion. Without much time to respond, I had to roll away from the arimaspi's sword. I jumped back onto my feet in just enough time to avoid another swing. Another swing was sent at me, causing me to run behind another tree. When I saw him quickly run up to me, I ran behind yet another tree as he cut deeply into the first one I hid behind.

I counted myself lucky for not staying there, I would've been nothing but head and shoulders for the most part. I ran behind more trees, and he kept cutting through many of them until he hit a much thicker oak tree, causing him to spend a little more time trying to free his weapon. But when he got free, I was already well-hid. "Come along and play, Funaki! After we're done, you can go back to your home."

"You know, not having skin and living seems to be the incompatible equation here. Much rather keep that to myself." I mumbled under my breath.

While I hid behind another tree, probably thirty feet away from where he was, his accomplice dropped another one of his smaller bombs. Prompting me to run away from the blast. Needless to say that both my movement and the bomb gave me away to the much-larger bastard trying to skin me alive. By that point, I decided that it was time to stop running and start tossing some ordinance back. On me I had a flash, a frag, a smoke, some ammo for both the machine gun and shotgun, my sword, my knife, and enough brown in my pants to make the UPS marketing department green with envy.

I'm not even playing. "You know what, fuck you and your friend."

I took to the offensive this time, unloading what was left in the machine gun at the arimaspi boss, sending bullet after bullet into it's body until my weapon clicked on empty. Lightening my load a little I dropped the machine gun and pulled out the shotgun. To my advantage, the bullets were enough to stagger the boss a little bit, giving me a second to line my shot. But before I could get a bead for it's head, a well-aimed bolt was sent into my left arm, piercing it all the way through.

"DAMMIT!" I screamed out in agony, falling against one of the trees as the pain completely knocked me off balance. "Your friend got better!" I hollered before I attempted to snap the bolt in half, only to yank at several muscles and damaging tissue, causing several pain receptors in my arm to vehemently instruct me not to do that shit again.

The movies made it seem so easy to do.

"I'm glad he did. I knew it would be a matter of time before you tire. You're too slow now." The creature stated as he hobbled over to me with his rusty sword, holding it above his head in an apparent effort to cleave me in two. "Last words?"

Thinking quickly, I realized I still had one uninjured arm and a prime-and-loaded shotgun at my right side. I slowly moved my arm back across my body and grabbed the shotgun. With a coy smile, I spoke. "Yeah... You're just that stupid."

The sword was brought down, cleaving the tree down the center. Being the tree was relatively small, it was easy to cleave it in two, but the resistance it gave was enough to buy me a second. I rolled between his legs and fired my slug directly into it's pelvis, causing it to roar out in pain. I quickly gained the advantage from there. Using my injured arm to eject the empty shell and load another into the chamber, I stood back up and circled to the side where I could see his head. With a single slug, the creature slumped over. While the life faded from it's limbs, I ejected another shell and yelled out to the forest in celebration.

"ONE DOWN, WHO'S NEXT!?" As expected, the griffon that joined him hopped from an adjacent tree holding a crossbow towards me. I held the shotgun at him. The two of us were in deadlock for a few seconds. "You know, that was a stupid question."

"Would you fall for me?" He asked mockingly as if he was being romantic.

"No thanks. I'm taken." I said before one smaller explosion to the side of me caused me to drop to the ground. With a smirk, he shot a bolt for my right hand, cutting it open and causing me to drop the shotgun out of reflex. But as my weapon fell to the ground, one round fired off to destroy the crossbow's bridge. The griffon, seeing an opportunity to grab at the shotgun, lunged forward. While using it's wings to wield a small dagger, he forced me away from the weapon and picked it up for him to use. He aimed for me and pulled the trigger.

But nothing came, as he failed to chamber a round. He looked at the weapon with confusion, just long enough for me to pull out my sword and swing the weapon out of his talons. He looked at me with a surprised expression.

"Nice sword, do you humans always overcompensate for your shortcomings?"

I rolled my eyes as I held my sword to him. "That's not the only time I've heard that, but there's someone I know who would argue against that theory."

His right wing lunged at me, producing several blades at once. Using my sword to parry the blow, I countered with a swing at it's outstretched wing. That blow was blocked by a small sword he summoned from seemingly nowhere. It's left wing lunged at me, shaving my right arm before I backed away. I tried to slash as I retreated, but he only threw a knife at my already-injured left arm.

I think at this point I was so hopped up on adrenaline that I had yanked it out and kept going. Even the arrow wound in my arm had stopped throbbing, making it easier for me to maneuver around. In fact, it felt like my entire body had taken enough adrenaline to override my pain receptors for the moment. And as a result, I started getting careless with my attacks while pushing him back. The griffon had started to stumble away from me while I was pressing the issue, sending slash after slash at the griffon.

I felt that going for a thrust would be too much of an opening, so I restricted myself to slashes and swings towards the body. And it mostly paid off, any attacks the griffon made with it's wings and it's talons were countered with swift swipes of my lengthy blade. As my confidence started to build, so did my attacks.

But then something started to happen as I swung at the griffon. I noticed that my vision had gotten a little blurry. It threw me off for a second while I blinked my eyes to recover. After that, my vision was straight again.

The griffon also noticed the sudden lapse in my offense. "You look a little dazed, this ought to wake you up a bit."

He held up what appeared to be a small gray pebble and slammed it into the ground, producing a bright flash that blinded me for a few seconds. While my eyes were covered, I kept them covered as my pupils had trouble dilating. But then I felt something invade my nose and attack my throat, It was something akin to tear gas, which caused me to back away like hell to get out of the area. My back was soon greeted with the bark of a tree before I could start to open my eyes again. Coughing erratically, I got as much of the substance out of my lungs and throat.

The griffon approached me, holding the shotgun. He stared at it for a while before waving it around like it was some useless toy. "I see. You have a tool for any and everything. Clever of you to come so prepared."

Yeah, he's fucking with me at this point. "You know, you could've killed me there. Why'd you stop?

"Because I haven't had a thrill like this in ages. Obviously you're a keeper, I wouldn't want to kill you too soon, I gotta make sure you're hopes are raised so I can dash them quite spectacularly. It's my whole shtick."

"Well I don't wanna break your fun here, but I got things to do." I took a step forward, but felt horror as I felt no sense of balance in my system. It felt like I was walking off a ledge into a bottomless pit. But at the same time, the ground was right beneath my feet. I looked up to see a blurry image of the griffon tossing the shotgun aside.

"Like dying? Oh no, the pleasure's all mine."

While I was disoriented, I tried to source out the cause of my sudden lack of coordination. But there was so much that came to mind that I couldn't just single it out. And it's evident that I'm coming down from my adrenaline rush, yet my arm was free of pain. Something's definitely wrong. "...Okay, now I'm curious, what the hell did you do to me?"

"Feeling woozy, can't see too straight?" He asked. "That feeling you've got is from acute blood loss. Even though your chest and neck are areas you guarded well, your other limbs are a lot more exposed. You've probably been ignorant to it up till now, but you've lost a lot of blood."

Looking down, I saw my pants legs cut open and covered in blood. And as I looked to my left arm, I started to realize just how bad I looked. My left arm looked like popped sausage while my right arm looked like a tiger mauled it. "Holy shit, I didn't feel that at all."

The griffon chuckled with glee. "Yes that's the point. The blades I have in my wings are all doused in a heavy concentration of analgesic fluids, meaning upon landing, the pain is instantly subsided. Also in the composite mixture is a strong form of anticoagulant, meaning your blood will thin faster than it could congeal. And the increased physical activity means that you'd be hastening the administration of drugs through your body. So while you're naturally expecting chronic blood loss, you're actually losing more blood than what can be replaced."

As his wings expanded, I started to see that they weren't any practical blades used for assassination at all. They were surgical scalpels, meaning that they're gonna cut into my skin like a hot knife through water. And if these blades were filled with any other toxins, I'd be well on my way. "Gotta admit, that's some Bond-level genius."

"I'll take that as a complement. Meanwhile, you're gonna be a little woozy from it all, so I suggest you take it easy. It'll be around forty-five minutes before you suffer from hypothermia and another fifteen before you start feeling pain again. The only reason why I didn't attack you earlier is because why attack something when it's at full health and fully rested head-on? See, I'm not interested in long and drawn-out contests where swords clash, that's so archaic. Fun, but archaic. And I also realized a little something about the weapons you use, you need to aim with those, don't you?"

He probably figured that out when he shot my arm earlier. "You're well researched. Gotta hand it to you, I didn't see this coming."

"Neither did I. See, with ponies, the whole process ends in minutes. Of course also with ponies, I know where to cut to accelerate the time needed for the kill. With you, I'm kept guessing and guessing. Your anatomy is so different, it's so unique. I can't help but to question where I could strike next. So I decided to have my fun with you, it's nothing like going for a kill with a unique skill-set and anatomy. The boundaries of discovery are limitless."

Well now that's been brought to light, I feel very uncomfortable staying here with this bastard. He'll more than likely show me my own innards before I clock out. Better for me if that didn't happen. "Well, since I'm gonna die off pretty soon, you mind if I go veer off someplace?"

"Now that I do mind. I've got to keep you to myself. Have a little fun with you before we set off into the sunset."

What does he mean by 'fun?' "If I may inquire─

"Oh you know, prying open, dissection, probing here or there, the works."

Okay, that verifies it for me. He's completely gone, sanity wise, His frontal lobe must be damn-near non-existent. "Yeah, that's cool. But see... I have this friend."

With a kind smile, he takes one of his scalpels and drives it into my right arm, shoveling around the meat in my arm."She's probably dead by now." I'm mentally thanking him for all the drugs he's got me hopped up on, otherwise I'd be screaming bloody murder. In any case, I'm not intending to stay here.

"I'd like to say she isn't, but I still wanna find that out for myself. But if you don't mind me asking, can I show you something?"

He yanks the scalpel in my arm, pulling it upwards to rip open some of the skin and muscle tissue. "Sure, what do you want to show me?"

Using my left arm, I dug onto my hip and felt myself grab the flash grenade. With a headbutt, I knocked him back so I could use my right arm to separate the pin and the grenade. I tossed the flash grenade towards him the best I could. "The light." Before the flash went off, I shut my eyes and closed my ears as much as my arms allowed. While the shock wave threw him off, I leaned over to pick up my sword and made an attempt for the shotgun. After that, I heard the train whistle going off in the distance.

After popping a smoke grenade to cover my retreat, I quietly stumbled to the sound of the whistle.

"Gotta... get... to the train."

The past ten minutes getting out of the forest could've been a lot easier. I've been trying to keep my whits about me while I've slowly been losing blood. Not only that but it seems that some of my muscles have been torn to shreds. It's probably nothing short of a miracle that I'm still moving, either that or his poor anatomical knowledge on humans. Either way works for me, these drugs are doing a number on me.

Finally, I arrived at the train. A small group of guards have been patrolling the area, doing what they could to keep the way clear. Thankfully for their sake, the last arimaspi known to even get so close to here is lying to waste somewhere in the forest, I made sure to that. When I walked up to the patrol, many of them stared at me as if they had seen a ghost.

Or rather a dead man walking. "CAPTAIN!" They all shouted, running over to check on me.

Dawnrise, who aided in the patrol, took great observation to my arms and legs. While blood dripped from every part of my body, she grew frantic. "You're hurt!"

"Yeah, I am. Now let's get the hell out of here." I said as I limped onto the train.

The watch patrol packed all of their belongings and ran aboard the train. The engineer, who already had the train on standby, sent the locomotive on it's way to Appleloosa. While I staggered into a seat, ponies crowded all over me. Some asked the others to stand back and give me some air, others were already putting in the request for medical supplies. "Captain, what happened out there?" Humbreeze questioned.

"I got tag-teamed by an arimaspi and a griffon. Bastards had me in a tight spot. I couldn't even line my sights before some random explosive came falling out of a tree."

The others carried on with their medical duties, trying to tend to my wounds. Dawnrise used her magic to inspect my arms while she attempted to wipe me clean. "The antiseptic will sting a bit, try to hold still."

While she poured a tremendous amount of alcohol on a white towel, she started to wipe off my wounds. I showed no emotion other than fatigue as I turned to Humbreeze. "How's Rainbow Dash?"

His ears folded downward and his head dropped as he spoke quietly. "She's... not doing well."

At those words, I did my best to perk up and bring myself to full-awareness. All while I was fighting, the thought of her dying was something that I couldn't bear to embrace. I was scared. "She's gonna make it, isn't she?"

While Dawnrise was more concerned from my sudden movement, Humbreeze continued his report. "We don't know. She's seriously hurt. That arrow managed to pierce a fair share of organs. Didn't reach her heart, but her right lung seemed to be the main victim."

While the young unicorn mare wiped and wiped, her towel only continued to get redder and redder. Eventually, she started to resort to using her magic for first aid. "Your wounds aren't healing up well, sir."

"Thanks to the griffon. He used all kinds of stuff on me, blood thinners, pain killers─"

"Sounds like a pretty generous guy." She joked.

"A little overzealous, but it's even better when you coat knives and scalpels in all of that junk. So my blood is thin, the chemicals are rampant through my body, and if he would've cut me in other places, I'd be long gone."

The others looked towards one another. Mumbles and statements started to fill the cart. Before long, one of them came to the obvious conclusion. "Sound like an assassin to me."

I started to slump into my seat, laying down as my body felt weary from the travel and blood loss. "He was. Very skilled at his craft, never got his name. God, I'm so tired."

As there were no pillows to keep my head suspended, they opted to use the bloodstained towel to keep me propped up. Humbreeze pleaded with me. "Hey, just try to stay awake. We can't do much for you if you pass out. You're far different from us."

As I turned to my left arm, I watched as they carefully removed the arrow lodged in place. Dawnrise then did her best to use her magic to close some of my wounds and dress the others. While she tended to the arrow wound, I looked to my right arm, where the assassin jammed a scalpel into me. A light stinging sensation started to resonate slowly in my arm, but after a few seconds, the pain began to get worse and worse. At last, I could feel everything I was meant to feel, all at once. It was so much that it overwhelmed me.

The pain was so unbearable that I started to sweat from the endurance of it alone. My breathing increased to a rapid pace, my eyes clenched shut as I writhed and wormed around. My teeth clenched so tightly that I felt that they would crack under the stress. The hell I went through as it hit me all at once, it couldn't be completely described in words. My only response was a rudimentary one. "...It hurts."

Humbreeze and Dawnrise looked at me with worry as they tried their best to tend to my every need. "What hurts?" Dawnrise asked.

Because of the torment I was going through, I was on the verge of crying because of how unbearable it was. I wanted to be strong enough to deal with it, but it was so much to take in. And it was way more punishment than what I was ever used to taking. "Everything."

Somewhere further down the aisle, towards the very front of the train, I heard Rainbow screaming, pleading with her medics for relief. They also raised their voices with her, trying to keep her contained. "Staff Sergeant, you have to keep still!"

"GET IT OUT OF ME!"

"I'm sorry, we can't! You'll bleed out and die!"

"GET IT OUT OF ME! GET IT OUT OF MEEE! PLEASE, IT HURTS!"

My entire body felt like it was ready to fall apart, I was on a complete coaster ride where each and every throb on one part of my body resonated with the rest. When they approached me with a small bag of what I believed to be a type of painkiller, I quickly realized that the small amount would've spared me perhaps the next thirty minutes or so.

I wanted it, God knows I would've killed for it, but I know someone whose life is worth a lot more than mine. She was the main reason why I did everything the way I did. I refused to let her go on like this. "Give her some morphine!" I ordered.

Dawnrise tried to argue with me out of the fear of my being inconvenienced. "But captain─"

"Whatever you were gonna give me wouldn't work. I need three times as much as she does. Treat her first!"

Rainbow heard me, and was quick to refute. "DAMMIT NONDIS... YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH!... SAVE SOME PITY FOR YOURSELF!... I GOT THIS!"

They did as I ordered, placing the bag of morphine on her line. She grew quiet as her pain gradually subsided, while I had started feeling more than just the pain. It was starting to get cold, really cold. I started shivering, instinctively grabbing my arms to rub some heat into them, only to cause a great deal of pain to myself. I spoke to Dawnrise, who was at a loss for words in how bad things appeared to be. "Blanket... please. Getting a little chilly in here."

Another stallion came by to bring one over and cover me. While he did so, Humbreeze lightly tapped me. "Captain, I know you feel fatigued, but we need you to stay awake."

At that very second, the whole mood inside of the train shifted. All of us were cautious as the able-bodied fanned out towards the windows. Aegis raised a barrier around the train as a means to defend any possible arimaspi attacks. Azure was the first to ask out loud. "What was that?"

While the sounds continued from atop of the rail car, I tried to listen in to what distinctive noises I heard. At first I heard a soft pitter-patter, followed by a hard clatter. And as we turned, we heard something scratch the metal above like nails to a chalkboard.

When I looked out the window, I could see him staring directly at me with greedy eyes, wide with anticipation. It was the similar dilation that occurred when a predator had it's eyes locked onto it's prey, it's those very eyes you see just the fraction of a second before they pounce. Even the feathers on his neck puffed a bit as he slowly lowered his talons to break the window to my seat. I quietly noted to the others as I watched. "We have company."

We entered into a tunnel before he could break inside. The darkness surrounded all of us on the outside, while the lights lit the car from within. The ride throughout the tunnel had been eerily silent with the exception of the train clashing against the tracks. When we passed through the mountain range, all seemed peaceful. For a few more seconds, we were offered that last bit of security to have many of the other guards settle down. A few even shrugged their shoulders.

I knew that was a bold-faced lie. And then...

Broken glass filled the cabin, resulting in a few ponies getting a few cuts from the stray shards. Just seven rows away from me was the griffon assassin, screaming at me while he charged. "I DON'T LIKE BEING TEASED! NOW C'MERE!!!"

Others tried to stop him, but his bladed wings were enough to protect him from many of the incoming strikes of the other guards. Though his wings did take significant damage, he persevered. "Bring him down!" Humbreeze hollered before being cut down by the assassin.

"YOU'RE IN MY WAY!" He hollered, shoving Dawnrise out of the way.

Pulling out a thick jagged blade, he threatened to plunge it into my throat. I used my arm to fend off the attack, using all of my dormant strength to fight for my life one last time. I struggled as the knife was just inches from my neck. As I pushed back he pushed forward, putting his entire body into it. His head raised slowly and tilted as his jaw shook with soft chants longing for my death.

Humbreeze quickly recovered and smacked the griffon in the head with his helmet, knocking him loose so that I could pull out my knife and defend myself. With indignation, he turned to the young stallion and lunged at him. I pulled him aside to grab him away and I drove my fist deep into his chest, my knife going much further than my fist. I twisted the blade within him, creating a sickening popping sound. I shook as the pain caused me great discomfort. I pushed him towards the back door of the car and held him to the railing.

The griffon looked at me with shock and awe, and then he smiled. "Well... if it isn't too much say...maybe we could...share a drink...sometime." After he finished his sentence, he spat blood all over me. His body grew heavier as he lightly tapped me on my shoulder. "I know a great bar...maybe...you could join me..."

That smile faded as quickly as his life did, I pulled my knife from out of him, causing him to tumble over the railing and land on the tracks below. His body slowly shrank as we moved along the horizon. I walked into the car again, this time to several faces looking at me in abject dismay. I was more amazed of how I was still capable of movement. Everything inside of me was throbbing just as bad as before... but somehow it was actually worse.

My right arm dropped, causing something inside of me to tug. Slowly I looked down, noticing a hilt sticking out of my stomach. My entire expression contorted, not into horror... but resignation. As I staggered towards another nearby seat, the others started running about.

"GET A MED KIT, NOW!"

"ENGINEER, FULL STEAM FOR CANTERLOT!"

"SEND A MESSAGE TO CANTERLOT AND TELL THEM THAT WE'VE GOT AN INJURED V.I.P.!"

The throbbing was so intense that I felt it throughout my entire body. It was like a stomach ache, but colder, and a lot more painful. The shock of seeing it all had just sent waves throughout my body. I wanted to just be observant, but much of me was far too tired for that. I leaned my head back in my chair and watched as the world got a little darker, my eyelids getting a lot heavier.

"Hey, look at me." I heard someone say, the most I could make out was a nose and a pair of lips. "It's gonna be fine."

Even their words sounded so... distant. It was almost like they didn't even matter anymore.

"Just stay with us."

The world seems so painful... I just want it to stop.

Everything is so weary. All these lights...

And it's so cold... it's freezing.

So many faces...

They all look so alike... blurs.

Enough please... it's too much... the pain... the suffering... I wanna rest... I want it to stop... Please make it stop...

...It's stopping.

Yeah...

Of course...

...Please make it end.

Seriously?

You know, you know what?

Oh yeah. Mom got in the way.

The second time... I see what you mean.

I'm scared...

Cause I don't know what happens next. Is this like... it?

The silence isn't necessarily soothing.

So what am I supposed to do, just wait here till it happens?

"Aw geez."

Who are you?

"Dang, didn't think you'd be here in the great in-between so soon."

I don't remember wearing retro military fatigues... or my nose being that big.

"Geez kid, ya gotta church key for a brain? It's like opening a can while the bit's inside it."

...Gramps?

"Well, didn't think ya'd catch on so quick."

You look so... different. Where's the glasses, the moles, the wrinkles, don't you kinda look like you do when you die?

"Why? What's any good about that, backpain, heart issues, two hip surgeries, and a crooked walk? I think I was drooling every time I said something."

Just a little, but you look so... young.

"Well I thought I wanted to be relatable, ya know, hip to the occasion."

The cat's pajamas, huh?

"Kid, that's the 1920's, leave that there."

Well... You look good.

"Yeah, I had my fair share of paper shakers back in high school. Cheerleaders, to catch you up."

Yeah, Grams said she used to be one.

"Oh yeah, she had me from being all hanky panky to going steady... to being an outright servant boy. But that's an okay trade for a gal who stuck it out for you."

Um...

"I mean through the rough times."

Right.

"Kids these days are so dang fresh... So I thought I told ya to get on up and moving. What cha' doing here? Don't tell me that big yeti monster got to ya."

I'm surprised you weren't paying attention.

"Sorry kid, it's busy in the by-and-by. I kinda snuck around when I got flagged for a young ankle-biter that barely experienced life. Kinda strange when ya look down and see it's the one that used to bite yer toes."

So... am I here for something? Judgement, maybe?

"Oh no, if that were the case, ya'd be seeing a... hmm... I guess a dead ten-foot tree behind ya."

What tree?

"Exactly."

But... I... what?

"You'll understand once it happens for real. Though I might warn ya, the trial is a bit scary, ain't gonna give you the details. But what I will let ya in on is that yer gonna be dealing with a tiny bit of technical difficulties upstairs, if you know what I mean."

Wait!

"I know, you're kinda emotional right now. Ya got so many questions and so much to say, and I bet ya feel like it's been a mighty long time since it got so dang dark."

Gramps─

"I know, all that. But it's only been a few seconds in yer time. Etta Pearl and I'll be looking after ya. So, do yer thing, make yer girl happy, and uhh... stay frosty, or whatever they said in those dang video games you used to play."

Okay. Love you, tell Grams I said love you both.

"We love ya too... Now, I might just gone on and let ya know ya gonna start hearing some things and it's gonna feel a little odd."

Hear what?

Their words became clearer...

???

My eyes cracked open to a bright blur of light. It was as if I was probably staring at the entrance to heaven. But what I quickly discovered was the light was just a bright overhead. I also discovered I was laying down with my head and back propped up. Looking around, I started to make out an unfamiliar face.

"Oh... Well there you are."

The face belonged to a white mare with pink hair and blue eyes. She had on a hat with a red cross in the center. I croaked out weakly. "W-where... am I?"

As more of the room started to come into focus, I started to look at my surroundings as another voice talked from the other side of the room. "You're in the royal medical ward, in Canterlot Castle. I'm quite astounded that you've managed to make it through this whole ordeal."

Recognizing the voice, I called out it's name. "Mel?"

She approached from my right, walking up to me with a smile. She was dressed in sky blue medical attire, holding a clipboard and a pen. "Good afternoon, but... good morning."

Her outfit was probably the main thing that threw me off a bit. "Scrubs?"

"Well, I had to be a nurse for the past six days." She answered, indicating how long I had been out for.

While I laid there, I felt a sense of relief in knowing that I was among the living. However, that feeling was short-lived when my mind wandered back to what was going on in the train. Ultimately, an ailing friend was the main thing I remembered. "Rainbow Dash... Is she─"

"She's fine. There's a long story to that but she's doing a lot better than you." Melanie answered.

Finally feeling like I could truly rest, I resigned myself to relaxation. "I'll take that then." As I felt a slight amount of aching on my leg, I looked down to see a familiar pony resting at the foot of my bed. Her face was covered by her mane as she slowly turned to me.

"Twilight here's been worried." Mel explained as the purple princess gave me a light smile.

"Hello sweetie." She whispered softly.

...Sweetie? "Now I know I'm dead."

Twilight gasped with joy as she levitated my hand and placed it on her face. "Far from it.... If only you knew the story."

Melanie, seeing that Twilight was already on her way to being emotionally aggressive, she tapped the princess' wing and intervened. "Actually, I think that's enough for now. Nondis needs some time to gather his mind and get himself situated."

Twilight stood up from her seat and jumped up to speak with my nurse. "Is he ready for anymore visitors?"

"Not now. But he will be soon."

Twilight then turned to me, using her magic on my hand again. "How do you feel?"

"A little sore." I confessed.

Melanie politely grabbed my hand while tapping her horn, placing it back to my side. "That's morphine for you, you're at least going to feel a little stinging here or there. But in the end, you're not completely overwhelmed by pain, especially where we needed to pay extra attention to you."

Another memory from the train came back, but it flashed at hyperspeed. Still images of the assassin coming after me, of him attacking one of my guards, him dying, and the knife he left in my stomach. "Oh yeah, got stabbed."

Twilight, being a bit active, walked up to nuzzle me. "Do you remember anything on your way here?"

But she was stopped from doing so by Mel. "Your highness, no more questions please. He's gotta rest."

Twilight looked at her with agony in her eyes. She touched me one time and whispered on the verge of tears. "I'll see you later, sweetie."

After that, she ran out of the room. As the other nurse left the room, Mel called out to her. "Thank you so much, Nurse Redheart. Without you guy's help, we wouldn't have been able to save him."

"It's just what I do, ma'am."

Melanie looked to follow after her, but paused for a moment and decided against it. She closed the door and sat beside me. "Can I be brief?" I asked.

"Sure." She answered quietly.

"In high school, I'd thought I'd be stuffing you, not the other way around."

She giggled lightly as she tapped the pen against her clipboard. "You can say that again." Her face fell from a slight smile to a worrisome frown. She appeared to try and find the words to say to me but failed to do so. The only thing she could say was what was on her mind at the time. "You flatlined on us."

My mood became somber after that bit of news. "Oh..."

"As soon as we got done reviving you, I had to leave. I couldn't stop crying for twenty minutes straight." She confessed, her voice seeming like it could break at any second.

While the still images of my trial played throughout my head, I came to realize one astounding bit of information, one obvious bit of information. "...There's no blood here."

"I beg your pardon?"

"There's ponies everywhere, I couldn't get a pint to save my life. How'd you do it?"

She sighed as she spoke. "Me and Stanton."

"Oh... I have a lot of ass-kissing to do, huh?" I joked.

She reached down to touch me and hesitated for a moment. "Can I hold your hand?" She asked.

"Sure, you're the one that's sitting inside me to a degree. I owe you more than that much."

She did the same as Twilight, placing the palm of my hand against her face. Afterwards, she kissed my fingers gently, doing her best to not cry. "You're so warm right now. I love it."

Seeing her reaction, and even Twilight's, had me wondering just how bad it was for them. I've never seen them so cautious or embracing. And it was going to be a sure thing that they were going to treat me a little differently than before. I wanted to know what they were thinking. I wanted to express what I was thinking too. In general, we both asked each other one question.

"What all happened?"

So I haven't dropped off the planet after all. That's a surprise.

A lot has happened IRL that has utlimately threw wrench after wrench after wrench for my head. Ultimately, my schedule was hell on earth for a while. I had gotten through a total of 4 weddings, 20 gigs, two showings of The Wiz (The Wizard of Oz), and a few funerals... one of which was a little... unsettling.

That last funeral was a primary reason why I didn't get on the ball as soon as I did. I was slated to continue by sometime late May, after the first showing of the Wiz. But then a musician I played alongside with had gotten into a motorcycle accident. He was headed home when he tried to navigate around a UPS truck and he was struck. I caught a glimpse of the aftermath...

I couldn't sleep for a week because of it.

My entire thought process was turned while I was still processing the fact that someone I had seen not too long ago and even considered to go on the show with me had their life drastically cut short at the age of 19. I had a bit of an existential crisis because of that and my train of thought for this chapter was completely thrown out the window because of that image forever burned in my memory.

Mac was a great musician and a wonderful young man who was on his way to bigger and better things, and I wish his family to find peace in their tragic loss. As I knew if this incident caused me to lose sleep for a week, God knows how the family would recover from this.

Onto the brighter side of things, the Wiz showing was hilarious and though there was a bit of a budget issue for the second showing, we made it through. But the rehearsal times were so lengthy and demanding that it completely detracted from my writing and I had to focus on it for a while. But again, it came out pretty well.

So I spent this past week reconfiguring my thoughts and reading myself back on track. So obviously there is some areas where the style is inconsistent. But I probably might come back in the future and rewrite this chapter... maybe.

But for a brief explanation on that second to last segment:
This area was something I wanted to show from a different perspective. As of the scene, this takes place in the void between life and death. To simplify it, it is the moment where the spirit ultimately waits for the guardian angel to guide the spirit towards their impending trial.

To explain it further, the scene is meant to be a minimalist spiritual conversation that takes place while the mind is shutting down and the spirit is close to severance from the body and mind altogether. The subconscious mind takes a back seat to the spirits engaging with one another. The mind does a bit of narration as the incorporeal conversation takes place. As far as the character in the story goes, he will not remember something like this in a conscious state, but his enlightened spirit will.

In general, this entire chapter was extremely difficult to put out because of so many outside distractions and times where my mind has gone blank on the concept. Parts of this were actually reworked to make sense in terms of this story's canon.

But you'll get to find out something about Nondis, that was hinted on in this chapter, in the next chapter. So stick around.

Thank you for being so patient with me and continuing to read. I'm honestly escaping so much when I do this.