The rain was steadily trickling down by the time Daring and her group got their campsite set up. The sun's light had vanished, replaced with a dark and gloomy sky. An orange light shone in the darkness, hidden under a tarp constructed to keep the rain from extinguishing the flames. The group sat around the fire, laughing and keeping warm after their successful capture of the target. "Oh, sweet Celestia! You should've seen Ahuizotl's face when I took the case right from under his nose!" Daring exclaimed, laughing afterwards. "I almost couldn't keep a straight face when I confronted him."

"Did you say anything to him that was memorable?" Roughneck asked, shifting on the ground as Daring told her story.

Daring raised a hoof to her chin, before smiling and laughing once more. "Oh, oh, it’s when he asked me about you guys. He was wondering why I came here and brought you guys along. Instead of answering the question fully, I said, ‘it’s because I just can't stay away from you’." A uproar of laughter ensued among the group, and even Rune was chuckling slightly at Daring’s retelling of the encounter with Ahuizotl.

Everypony soon calmed down and the laughter soon ceased. “Hey, Rune, you sure that tarp’s not going to catch on fire?” Daring pointed to the flames lapping at the underside of the cloth.

“Don’t worry, Daring, I cast a cold spell on it. That tarp won’t be catching on fire anytime soon.” Crystal reassured with a wave of her hoof.

Everypony went quiet, staring down at the fire as it danced inside the rocky pit, its waves of warmth keeping them comfortable. The pitter patter of the rain increased, slowly growing into a shower. Crystal yawned quietly, stretching her forelegs before getting up. “Well, better get some rest. Tomorrow we head back to the airship, and from there it’s delivering the item to our client.” Turning towards her tent, she pushed the flaps away, disappearing from sight.

Black Arrow did the same, standing up without a word and walking into his own tent. Even Rugged Muzzle moved inside his shelter, zipping up the entrance behind him. All remained quiet as Daring and Roughneck were left alone outside, a silent mood washing over the two. She glanced in his direction once or twice and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. It was only a moment later when her gaze moved over him again did she see that he was shivering.

Moving over to his side, she put a hoof on his shoulder, only to have him jump at the touch. When he saw the adventurer, he sighed and murmured. “Sorry about that. Just wasn’t expecting you to sneak up on me.”

An eyebrow arched over Daring's features as she shifted closer to sit next to him. “Hey, you alright?”

He glanced at her for a moment before replying. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking of how I took that Cheetah on, mono y mono.” Chuckling a little, he kept staring in the opposite direction.

“Are you sure? I did see you shaking a little.”

“Shivering? Me? Please, I’m just, uh, chilling out, ya know?” Roughneck stretched, grinning as he rested his hooves on the back of his head.

Daring frowned, raising a questioning eyebrow. “Okay, how about you tell the truth?” His grin faltered as she continued. “I can tell that you’re lying.”

The gray earth pony chuckled, quieting down as he looked away from her questioning stare. Sighing, he gazed back up, a more somber expression on his features. “I… I just don’t feel so sure about this mission anymore. After seeing all those ponies skinned-” His voice faltered for a brief moment. “I haven’t seen anything like that before.”

Daring remembered an earlier conversation with Crystal Rune about Roughneck. “So you're not used to seeing ponies brutally murdered? But, you said your job description was being the thief. So you’ve never killed a pony, even if you were ever caught?”

“No. I never did. Usually, I just knocked them out, or pushed them to the side. I barely ever had to use my daggers, and the thought of stabbing somepony doesn’t feel right.”

“But then how did you escape when you got caught in the act? In fact, how did you even pick up thievery in the first place?”

“I… well,” Roughneck murmured quietly, looking away from her gaze. He felt something on his left shoulder and turned to see Daring’s reassuring smile behind the gentle hoof on his shoulder. He sighed before sadly smiling. “I guess it all started when I was just a colt. I lived with what you could say was a big family, even if it did only consist of my father, my mother, three older brothers, and a younger sister. And we weren’t doing as well as my mother and father had hoped. They dreamed of being able to one day start a business of their own and moved to Manehattan. But when they arrived, they found life in the big city wasn’t what they thought it was cracked up to be.”

“What do you mean by that?” Daring asked.

“My family was one of the poorer families living in Manehattan, and it was eight years before I would hear that Princess Luna returned home. My biggest brother, Flashnote, was the luckiest of all my siblings. He was able to get through school easily and went on from there to college, going after the dream that my father was never able to achieve.”

“What about your parents?” The pegasus frowned, crossing her forearms.

“Father was working at a low wage job, one he didn’t like too much, while my mother stayed home looking after us. She didn’t have it easy with my two older brothers. They were the worst, always causing trouble and stealing from others.”

“They sound like fun.” Daring murmured, rolling her eyes.

“They sure weren’t the easiest to get along with, but we worked out our differences. My little sister was a different story altogether. She was sweet and kind, always seeing the good in anypony.” Roughneck sighed, looking down at the ground with closed eyes.

“But that doesn’t explain how you started stealing.” The pegasus questioned, furrowing her brow.

“I was what you could call a good foal. I was nice and friendly. Although, that's where my two older brothers took advantage of me most of the time, teasing me and calling me names. I didn’t really bother with them and I just shrugged off whatever they said.”

Daring Do frowned, remembering the times he tried to joke around with her. She felt bad for waving off his determination to make another friend. ‘And I mean… I’m still trying to get used to this whole ‘friendship’ thing.’

“It’s what happened during a normal week in our family that shook us to the core.” Roughneck murmured, bringing Daring out of her world of thoughts. “My dad got sick one afternoon. He came back from work, tired as usual, but he wasn’t normal. He fell to the ground, whispering that somepony was sick at work, infecting a few other ponies with a virus. He laid in bed for weeks.” The gray stallion frowned, lowering his head. “Then, one day… he never woke back up.”

The adventurer sat, mouth agape, while she noticed a few tears running down his cheeks, his expression frozen in a scowl. Staring in silence, she waited for him to continue. “After he died… my oldest brother grew distant. Then a few weeks later, we never heard from him again. My mom took it the hardest, and soon went out looking for any job she could get, just to support us. My two older brothers took advantage of her absence and freely stole from others. I… guess you could say I was curious, wondering how they were able to do all of this. I tried it out one day, and felt such an adrenaline rush. Pretty soon, stealing became a daily activity of mine. I wasn’t harsh, however, like my brothers were, pushing others around for stuff. I usually gave whatever I could get to my sister or mom and even to others who were just as unfortunate as us.”

“But it was more innocent. I mean, you didn’t really know it was bad at first, right?” Daring moved closer to the stallion, staring at him intently.

He turned to face her and slowly nodded. “I didn’t even know I’d get in trouble for it. But my mom caught me stealing one day and told me never to do such a thing ever again. I stopped for a couple of weeks, but I went right back to it. Thing is… I never knew how worried my mom was for me. She wasn’t able to stop my older brothers from stealing. They were too far gone.” Roughneck sighed, sitting in the silence for a moment before continuing. “Then one day… they were arrested. The police said they tried to kill a colt for a large amount of bits he had. My mother was devastated… I, however, didn’t feel all that bad about their arrest. To me, it served them right for trying to hurt another pony.”

Hearing the tragedy of another stallion’s life was unsettling at best, given how hard Roughneck had it. “So after that, it was just you, your mom, and your sister?”

“Yeah…” The gray earth pony murmured. “My mom was still having a hard time with her own job and I was just beginning to grow into being a young stallion. I was stealing still, but I had a better mindset about the reasons why. It was to give to others, and to my sister and mother. Of course, she had her suspicions on how I kept getting all these expensive things. I do think she knew, but she never got after me about it. My sister was still the same young and energetic filly I knew.” The stallion chuckled slightly. “She was a hooffull at times, but she was growing into a fine quilter.”

“How was your sister able to quilt if you were so poor?” Daring inquired, staring thoughtfully as his story kept going.

“She was able to scrounge up some leftover clothing, quilting needles and all. Sometimes, I was able to snag a couple of items for her.” Tears slowly poured from the corners of his eyes, as his smile soon faded away back into its frown. “I… I remember the last thing she said to me… was that she loved her big brother, and wished me to never change… before she was taken away.”

“By who?”

“She was taken away by civil services. They showed up at the door one day and talked with my mom, alone. They were in there for hours. The door opened, and I saw my mom crying, but I didn’t know why. I heard my sister screaming and ran out the door… only to watch them take her away. ‘An unsuitable environment to raise a filly,’ they said.” He bitterly spat. “After that… my mom died a few days later, brokenhearted. And then I was alone...”

Daring felt a pang of sympathy in her heart as she stared at the young stallion. Here was a pony, who had everything taken away from him at such a young age. He lived a hard life, not knowing when he would finally get a break from it all. The light gold mare looked down, frowning. She looked back up to see Roughneck quietly whimpering. Moving closer to him, she bit her lip before wrapping a foreleg across his shoulders. He turned to face her, before closing his eyes and hugging her, causing her eyes to widen with surprise. She was about to say something, but thought better of it, allowing him to hug her and even patted his back comfortingly.

Hidden from sight, Crystal had heard every word. She watched him from the shadows, seeing Roughneck in a new light. All this time, she had thought he was just a common thief; a petty criminal that only cared about himself. To her, he had been just another asset, just like the rest of her crew. She never realized there was so much more to him. Crystal frowned at her ignorance and looked down at the ground, wondering what tales the other ponies had to tell.

Eventually, Roughneck pulled away from Daring, sadly smiling as he wiped a few tears away. After Roughneck regained his composure, Daring asked, “And after you found Crystal, how did you feel knowing you finally were able to keep yourself fed, to be able to finally take care of yourself?”

“I was… relieved. But that didn’t stop me from what I loved to do: to be able to give to others that needed it the most.”

“You’re a good stallion, Roughneck. Don’t let anypony tell you differently. Even when you hit rock bottom, you still tried to help others. Always remember what your sister told you; never change who you are.” She neared his forehead and gently kissed it. Surprised, the stallion looked at her, watching her get up and walk away as he rubbed the spot where she kissed him.

‘Why on earth did I kiss him?’ As Daring pondered, she spotted Rune walking away. Curious, she silently followed the mare to her tent and watched her walk back in through the flaps. Breathing in, she walked through them as well, “I can take it that you heard Roughneck’s story?”

The unicorn flinched slightly, surprised by Daring’s unexpected arrival, she turned around and nodded. “Yeah… I didn’t know that he went through something as horrible as that.”

“And is this the way you really want to treat your workers? If they have been through so much, do they need to go through more heartache and trouble?” Daring challenged, frowning at the unicorn.

“What do you expect me to do? Give them the day off; tell them everything will be better? That’s not how it works out.” Turning towards the unlit lamp, she summoned her magic, casting a pale blue light in the darkness and igniting the candle, banishing the shadows from the tent. “Darkness can only be chased away if you have finally put an end to your suffering.”

For the first time since they met, Crystal was without her cloak. Daring finally got to see the rest of her coat, still retaining the dark green color she saw through the hood. Her hair retained the same sheen of black and ice blue, yet there was one part of her she finally saw: Rune’s cutie mark. Unsurprisingly, she saw a rune inscribed with ancient words littered across the blue mark. Chuckling slightly, the light gold mare pointed to the cutie mark on Crystal’s flank and said, “I guess that’s why they call you ‘Rune’.”

The dark green unicorn looked back at the mark, a small smile creeping up on her lips. “Yeah. I was just a filly when I got this, didn’t ever foresee that I would have been so strong with magic.”

“Do I hear somepony hiding something?” Daring smirked.

Rune looked her way and murmured, “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“I promise that I won’t laugh, nor will I say anything about it.” Daring promised, moving over to Rune’s side and sitting down on the ground with her.

Rune sighed, smiling at the adventurer’s determination. “Alright, I guess it all started at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“Celestia’s School? You were a student there?” Daring asked.

Rune nodded, “Yeah, it was the first time I’d ever been to such an esteemed place.”

‘I first started out as just any normal student, with hopes and dreams of making it big. I showed a lot of potential for magic when I was little, and my parents thought it was best to sign me up at Celestia’s School.’

‘Were you ever at the top of your class?’ Daring interjected.

‘Not at the beginning, no. You could say that a pony named Sunset Shimmer was the best out of anypony there.’ A memory flashed across Rune’s eyes as she was brought back to when she was younger. In a classroom, she was sitting beside a few of her classmates, glued to a book as more ponies walked through the door. In one area of the column of seats was Sunset Shimmer, talking to a couple of her fellow students. Rune glanced in her general direction a few times, not paying much attention to her surroundings. ‘Back then… Sunset was the big shot on campus. You could say that I was pretty envious of her. Those that Celestia personally taught were always praised. I was hoping to get that same recognition as Shimmer.’

“Good morning, my students.” The gruff sound of an old unicorn announced as he walked in through the doorway. The chatter ceased as everypony smiled. Even Rune put her book down, smiling as she awaited the lesson. “I do hope you all had a good night’s sleep. Today, we’re going to talk about everypony’s favorite subject: The fundamentals on magic and how to safely cast spells.”

‘You see… I wasn’t as strong with magic back then as somepony like Sunset Shimmer, but I was clever enough to memorize most of the complex spells that most ponies couldn’t even pull off without countless hours of studying.’ As part of a demonstration, Crystal stood in the middle of the classroom, her horn lit in her pale ice blue aura that swirled around her.

“Now, you do know this is a protective spell, correct?” The teacher inquired, staring at the dark green unicorn.

“Of course. Don’t worry, I am positive I can pull this off.” A flash of pale blue surrounded the mare and everypony shielded their eyes from the blinding light. The luminescence flickered away, letting the teacher and the other unicorns put their hooves down. Everypony gasped, seeing a thick layer of ice surrounding the dark green unicorn.

Through a small visor, Rune looked up to the teacher. “So, is this alright?” Crystal asked in a softer tone.

The old unicorn stared for a while longer, before regaining his composure. “This is certainly quite the protection spell. Wherever did you learn such a complex spell?”

“I came up with it, actually.” Rune replied, blushing slightly behind her ice helmet.

“Isn’t it cold in there?” Sunset questioned, unimpressed.

“Not really, no. I was able to mix the spell with two other counteractive agents, both temperature spells. I put one around me to keep me warm and safe from the cold, while I’m able keep the ice from melting as well by surrounding it with a cold spell.”

A few ponies began to murmur, glancing excitedly at each other while the teacher chuckled silently to himself. “Well done, my little pony. You certainly have quite the ability.”

Crystal Rune looked up to the stallion, smiling as her eyes widened from such praise, but then frowned as she wiggled about in her ice armor. “Um… I have a little problem. I can’t move!”

‘So… that is really where things began to change for the better.’

‘How so?’ Daring asked.

‘Well, I noticed that a few more ponies were interested in my abilities, and it was quite funny to see the shock of surprise from those who doubted me. But I never talked to most of them. After some time… Sunset Shimmer walked up to me one day.’

“Hello there, Crystal.” Sunset Shimmer greeted, smirking as she walked up to the dark green mare.

“Oh… hi, Sunset.” Crystal murmured back, not looking up as she focused on her book.

“I was wondering, Crystal, if you would like to team up with me.”

“Team? What do you mean?” The dark green unicorn asked.

“I thought that since we’re both so good at magic, maybe you’d like to help me out with a few spells.”

“Sure. I’d be happy to help.” ‘I found it funny that Sunset was taking an interest in my abilities. She was always so high and mighty, not seeming to care for anypony else’s goals but her own. But the funny thing was that she started warming up to me. And I even got a little more social because of her.'

“Alright, my little ponies, I do not want anypony here to get hurt at all. We are just practicing, so please take great care with how strong your magic is.” Celestia instructed, sitting a few meters away from the two fillies. The two unicorns nodded, smiling at their mentor before turning to face each other, both smirking as their horns lit in each own’s aura.

“You ready, Sunset Shimmer?” Crystal Rune asked, smiling at her opponent.

“Of course I am. You just try and see if you can win this time.” Sunset replied, both mares giving each other determined smiles.

‘I always thought I could take the gifted mare on, but most of time she won.’ Sunset fell to the ground on her side, quickly getting back up and dodging another pale blue beam of magic. In her crosshairs was the dark green unicorn, who was using the range she had to her advantage.

The light amber pony quickly dodged a few more beams of energy, taking cover behind a pillar as some of the beams flew by, hitting the wall behind Sunset. The young mare raised a hoof to her chin, rubbing it thoughtfully before smiling. She glanced over to the dark unicorn, seeing Rune hiding behind another pillar, breathing heavily.

Shimmer summoned her magic once more, casting a light opal shield around herself, disappearing from sight before looking back to where Crystal was. Summoning her magic, she sent a beam, curving it towards where the dark green unicorn was hiding. It blew up from under her, sending Crystal crashing down to the ground, briefly gasping for air as she felt the wind get knocked from her. ‘But sometimes, I would win instead of Sunset.'

Rune glanced back up, seeing the unicorn’s horn lit in her opal aura. ‘Okay, think. She’s about to hit me with another spell, and if I don’t counteract it, I’m for sure to lose.’ An idea came to mind, and she quickly took the defensive, surrounding herself with a pale ice blue aura before glowing brightly.

‘What in Equestria is she doing?’ Sunset thought, shielding her eyes from the blinding light with a hoof. When the light died down, the light amber unicorn removed her hoof and gasped. “What… that spell again?” Rune stood up, the sun’s light glinting off the protective layer of ice armor around her body.

Rune lit her horn, a beam of energy shot out from inside the visor, striking the dumbfounded unicorn. Sunset was knocked off her hooves, skidding across the ground. Getting up slowly, she looked up to see Crystal standing over her as she proclaimed. “I think I won this time.”

“Jeez, you sure have gotten stronger with your magic.” Sunset murmured, sitting on her flank as she finally pushed herself up.

“Well, I had your help.” Rune smiled inside her armor.

“Do you think you could teach me this trick sometime?” The light amber mare asked, studying the gleaming pony before her.

“Of course, I’d love to teach you the basics. You might find it a little strenuous at first, but I assure you that it isn’t too difficult.”

“A spell like this shouldn’t be that difficult. I could easily get it.” Sunset smirked.

Celestia couldn’t help but giggle slightly. Seeing these two ponies share a common interest was good to say the least. “I do not want to break such a good conversation.” Celestia said over the two ponies. “But need I remind you that we are currently in class. Aren’t you two supposed to be doing something else?”

“Oh, right.” Shimmer murmured, summoning her magic aura, Rune doing the same as both mares prepared for practice once more.

‘Sunset was something of a close friend, you could say. But over the years, she changed. She became so power hungry, so ambitious. Mind you, everypony, including myself, was set on achieving our best to get Celestia’s attention, but she pushed everything so far. Then… one day things just went downhill.’

“Sunset Shimmer, what’s wrong?” Rune asked, seeing the light amber mare’s hair sticking up at unnaturally angles.

The other unicorn looked at Crystal, her eyes narrowing at the dark green unicorn. “Oh, well, if it isn’t the pony who thinks that she’s so better than me. What a joke that is.”

“Woah, what’s your problem? I just asked if you were alright. Why are you being such a jerk?” Rune recoiled, her muzzle scrunching up at the harsh tone of her friend.

“Me, a jerk? Please, I’m not the one that has ruined my relationship with Princess Celestia. She thinks I’m too ambitious, too demanding.” Laughing, she turned to face the other mare. “Did you really believe that I was your friend, that nothing bad would happen between us? You’re such a moron.”

‘I’ve never felt so attacked in my life. To hear the friend I thought she was saying all these things to me… it was hard to swallow. After her rant, I shot back by telling her what a fool she was, thinking that she was on top of the world when she really just like anypony else. After that heated argument, we never spoke to each other again.’

‘Is that how you became so… distant?' Daring asked, eyeing the mare sadly.

‘After hearing a pony I thought to be my friend say such things… I went mute. Barely ever talking, I didn’t even acknowledge most ponies who said ‘hello'. A little while later, I heard Sunset had disappeared. To where, I didn’t care at all. She was basically nothing to me by that point. It was only a few days later that I got the surprise of my life.’

“Hello there, Princess Celestia.” Crystal Rune acknowledged, bowing to the regal alicorn as she entered through the door to her dorm room.

Princess Celestia giggled slightly, before saying, “Please, just Celestia is fine.”

“But… why?” Rune inquired, looking thoughtfully up to the white alicorn.

“I have seen the way you are with your magic. Unlike most ponies, you have an innate gift. The magic you hold is stronger than any regular unicorn. Since that is the case, I would like to help you harness this ability.”

“Harness it… wait, what do you mean?” Crystal asked.

“I would like to take you under my wing as my new private pupil.” Celestia added, smiling at the dark green unicorn.

Rune held her breath, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks as she was offered such a proposition. Her mouth hung agape until a wide smile spread across her face. “You… you really mean it!?” Tears began to form at the sides of her eyes as she shook slightly.

Celestia kneeled down to Rune’s level, smiling gently at the unicorn. “Of course, Crystal. I really do mean it.”

‘You couldn’t believe how ecstatic I was when she asked me to be her star pupil.’ Rune rushed over to the alicorn and hugged her. Celestia was a little surprised at first, as she was pushed back slightly, but gently returned her embrace. When Crystal released her, the regal alicorn could see tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “Thank you… thank you so much, Celestia…”

‘To have that type of feeling, that you finally made it… was something so astonishing. But after Sunset, it was still hard to feel like I accomplished something great. I made it to the top, a student to Princess Celestia. However, it felt like just a wish wasted. I then noticed another pony, a lavender mare named Twilight Sparkle.’

‘Wait, you mean the Twilight Sparkle?’ Daring inquired, surprised to hear the mare say the Princess of Friendship’s name.

‘I barely knew who she was. I only saw her on a couple of occasions, but never made any attempt to talk with her, not after what happened with the friendship I thought I had. I graduated not long after, but the whole event left a sour taste in my mouth. Soon after, I decided it to be best if I just disappeared.'

“So I left. Nopony, not even Celestia saw me ever again.” She faced Daring Do, opening her eyes as a single small tear, unseen by Daring, dripped down across the dark green unicorn’s cheek. “After that, I never thought about anypony else ever again. Not until you asked me, however.” Rune mentioned, looking away once more.

“So… it’s been a long time since you’ve seen Celestia, huh?” Rune nodded, giving way to another question she had to ask. “Have you heard about what Twilight’s gone through?”

“You mean becoming a princess, and the recent event over in Ponyville? Yes… I heard.” Crystal whispered, sighing at the many memories flooding her mind once more. When she heard that Twilight became an alicorn not long after becoming a student to Celestia, she felt utterly betrayed. It was though Celestia replaced her with a newer model as soon as the old one outlived its usefulness. ‘Just like she replaced Sunset with me.’ She bitterly thought.

“Are you going to be alright?” Daring inquired, leaning forward a little.

“Of course.” Crystal reassured, shaking her head a little before looking back. “But if you tell anypony about this, I’ll personally beat you into the ground.” Smiling a little at Daring with a playful tone.

“Don’t worry, Crystal. When it comes to hiding secrets, I’m a pony you can count on.” Daring got up and walked over to the tent flaps, but stopped as she brushed them open. Staring back at Rune, she said. “Crystal… I know you like to keep your emotions bottled up, I used to be that way, too, but maybe it’s time you talked to the others some more.” Leaving her with those words, she stepped out of the tent. The dark unicorn sighed, staring back down at the ground. Daring was a great pony, and surprisingly enough one that seemed to be able to talk to the others despite her reputation of being a recluse. But that one regretful thought laid dormant in her mind: the command that the client issued her.

Getting up, she walked out through her tent flaps. The rain had finally slowed to a gentle sprinkle, the wind slowly moving the trees around as the leaves rustled against one another. She breathed in the forest air, the scent of wet grass surrounding her. She spotted Rugged Muzzle sitting next by his tent, staring out into the forest.

Making her way over to the large stallion, she stood next to him, asking. “How’s it look? Any sign of movement?” The stallion shook his head, letting the mare heave a sigh of relief. ‘That’s good to hear.’ She admired Rugged Muzzle, not only for his strength, but his ability to feel nothing and remain in control of his emotions during combat. He always wore that same monotone expression whenever she saw him.

“You seem troubled, comrade.” The dark orange stallion spoke in a heavy Stalliongrad accent.

“Yeah… I guess you could say-” She stopped, gasping. “Wait you, you can actually talk?” Rune was surprised to say the least.

“Da. I just never found the moment to talk. It is far better being quiet and collective, then running your mouth with pointless words.”

“But… why keep quiet until now?” Rune murmured, moving to the stallion’s side.

“Because you seem sad. I’m never big on words, but I am there for my friends. My life as a soldier was the one I only knew, until you hired me.” He looked at Rune with his emotionless gaze and murmured, “What is it that upsets you?”

Crystal looked down, frowning. “It’s the orders from our client. About what we will need to do.”

“Mmm… do you feel that it’s right?” Rugged Muzzle asked.

“No… but what else are we supposed to do?” Rune fretted, her eyes darted around, grabbing her head as she struggled to figure out what the right decision was.

The dark orange stallion turned to face her. “Do what heart tells you.” He simply said, before standing up. “I will take the first watch tonight. Goodnight, moya sestrenka.” He smiled, watching Rune furrow her brow.

'‘Sestrenka’ means little sister in his native language, right?’ Rune thought to herself. Crystal Rune looked away, smiling. She walked off, leaving the large earth pony alone. As his watch continued, Rugged Muzzle looked to the night sky and saw the moon was at its zenith, the world lit in its fragile light.

The dark orange stallion scanned the treeline, gazing out into the forest. He swiveled his ears, a faint noise catching his attention. It was a voice, resonating around the forest around him. Gazing out at the forest before him, he snorted, moving to investigate the strange noise.

As he walked on, the voice got louder the further he ventured into the jungle. He looked to his sides, keeping a wary watch for whatever creature it could be. He stopped in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by low lying brush. The noise abruptly stopped and the large stallion noticed something move within the brush, hearing the faint sound of footsteps.

He turned around and saw dust fly up from the ground as a blurred figure stood. The pony stared at the blurry figure, raising an eyebrow as he tried to make out what he was seeing before him. He grabbed the warhammer from his back, placing it on both hooves as he stood up on his hind legs, grunting with effort.

The creature turned its invisibility off, intrigued by the pony before it. After it had dispatched Caballeron, it continued to pursue the Serpent and observed the mercenaries doing battle with the jungle cats along the way. From what it saw, this team of ponies were quite skilled and could pose a threat to it. Thus it decided to eliminate the opposition before attempting to retrieve the Serpent and perhaps have some sport on the side. This stallion was larger and stronger than its compatriots and it believed this pony would offer it the greatest challenge. Seeing the large pony draw his weapon, it growled once more and unsheathed both sets of blades from its gauntlets.

Rugged Muzzle stared at this unknown creature. It stood as tall as a minotaur, but he couldn’t make anything else out in the cover of night. He gazed at the blades protruding from its gauntlets, recalling the ponies that were skinned. “So… you were the creature that killed those ponies? If so… then this should be fun.”

The towering creature snarled in response before both combatants charged each other. The bipedal monster took a swipe at Rugged as they passed each other, the dark orange earth pony barely avoiding the metal blades as he jumped away. He turned around and quickly swung the hammer, making contact with the alien’s chest.

It roared in pain as it was sent skidding across the ground, dirt and dust flying from under its feet. Stopping itself, the creature looked up to see the pony charging. Taking a bladed disc out, it threw it at Rugged and watched him block it with the warhammer, but not without being knocked back by the force of the weapon. Seeing its chance, the creature quickly ran towards the pony, its long strides closing the distance considerably.

Sheathing one of its gauntlets, it rammed a fist straight into the jaw of its opponent, sending Rugged flying some distance before landing back onto the ground with a thud. Walking over to the pony, it picked him up with one clawed hand, gazing at the pony before it. The creature was fascinated with this pony’s determination and skill, and considered him to be a worthy opponent. Honoring this pony’s ability to fight, it dropped him to the ground, Rugged gasping for breath as he slowly crawled, trying to reach his weapon. The alien kicked the warhammer away, grabbing the dark orange earth pony again, turning him around, facing away from the creature.

Unsheathing the blade in his right gauntlet, the creature pulled its fist back and then thrusted the blade forward, piercing Rugged Muzzle’s chest. The pony groaned in agony, looking down at the bloodied blade. The creature pulled off, unsheathed the other gauntlet, and with one quick swipe, cut the stallion’s head off, catching it as it flew through the air. Such a worthy foe as this pony was something it enjoyed. Winning the fight, it raised Rugged Muzzle’s head to the heavens and roared in victory. Looking back at the head admiringly, he ran a clawed finger across the dead pony’s brow before stashing it away and disappearing back into the forest, leaving the decapitated body behind.

Author's Notes:

Welp... things are starting to look interesting, aren't they? Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will see you next time. Oh and remember... sweet dreams...

Oh and also, be sure to visit the blog to cast your vote for who you think will survive to the very end of this story. Contest Page

Character List:
Ahuizotl
Black Arrow
Crystal Rune
Daring Do
Roughneck
Rugged Muzzle
Which of the remaining characters will make it to the end? Stay tuned!