Twilight was pacing the floor of her library in silence. It had been an hour since Jaze and Trixie had disappeared into the forest and she was beginning to get worried for them. Applejack had searched around the outer edge of the forest for a few minutes before returning; offering only a silent shake of her head, she had found nothing. Now the Elements of Harmony were sitting in the library, waiting with bated breath for their friends to return. Some Elements we are, the nervous purple unicorn thought bitterly, can’t even help our friends when they need it most.

Suddenly the door burst open and in stepped Trixie, who was half carrying an injured Jaze. Terror for her friends in her eyes, Twilight stepped up to relieve the burdened unicorn of her charge. While Rainbow Dash left to get Nurse Redheart, Trixie told the rest of them what had happened; leaving out only Carn and the revelations he brought, for Jaze had said he wanted to explain that himself. Shortly after making that request he had fallen into a sort of shock, becoming incoherent and in need of a lot of help to get out of the forest safely. The dusky blue unicorn had been unable to get him to say or respond to anything, though he was not completely unaware of his surroundings as he ducked to avoid branches and such. They lay Jaze on the couch, trying their best not aggravate his injuries.

Trixie sat and watched her friend in worry. She had no idea what was wrong with him; she had no way to know what the weapons those things in the forest were capable of, what they could do to flesh and blood. She felt that she had been lucky to escape without a scratch, but she felt sick that Jaze had nearly killed himself to save her. So that’s what it means to be a soldier, she thought as she watched Jaze watch the ceiling. She could not help but feel sorrow for Jaze, he was no older than she and yet he faced the very real possibility of death on a daily basis.

In short order Dash returned with a puffing Nurse Redheart, who had had to run to keep up with the rainbow-maned sportspony. Seeing the bleeding soldier, the nurse quickly set to work tending his various injuries. This brought Jaze to the present, because he suddenly sat up and pushed her away.

“Not yet, I have to do something first.” His head was a little foggy from Carn’s punch now that the adrenaline had faded, but he refused to let it stop him. He tried to sit up, but numerous hooves forced back down.

“Don’t ya go arguin’ with the nurse, Jaze.” Applejack admonished, “Yer gonna hurt yerself worse if ya keep this up.”

“I’m fine, really.”

“Then why were you all zombie-like, huh?” Dash asked.

“I think I can answer that.” Twilight answered and then looked to Jaze, “You have never been able to use magic before, right?”

“Yes, that was the first time I’ve ever done anything like that.” He replied quietly.

“Then that is why. Your body was not trained to handle the physical strain of using magic. So it felt the need to shut down and run a check to make sure you were okay.”

“So you mean my body was in diagnostic mode.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll explain later.” He sat up, this time unopposed, “Make you all a deal. You let me send a note to Celestia, and then I’ll let the good nurse tend to me while I explain what is going on. Is that agreeable to everypony?” This brought a nod from everypony, “Good. Twilight, I need Celestia to drop whatever she is doing and read this note. Any ideas?”

“If you write it on red paper, then she’ll know that it is urgent.” Twilight fixed Jaze with a stern look, “But it has to be truly important, I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“Trust me when I say that this may well be the most important thing she’ll ever read.” The purple unicorn nodded and brought Jaze a piece of red paper and a quill. He sat down and, with a heavy heart, wrote his letter to the Princesses.

Dear Princesses,

There is not much time, so I’ll be brief. By now you must have heard about the meteor that fell earlier today. In truth it was a Cye drop ship. They landed in the Everfree Forest, where I engaged them in combat. Unfortunately, their leader escaped me and vowed to return with all the Cye he could muster. There is more I wish to tell you, but I shall not do so via a letter. I wish to be there in person as I explain it to you. Please send a carriage for me and my friends as soon as you read this. I will have told them all that I have told you and would like them to be present while I explain the one thing that I have kept hidden from everyone, even you.

Jaze rolled up the paper and offered it to Twilight, “Have Spike send this at once.”

When Twilight returned and assured Jaze that the letter was on its way, he lay back and allowed Redheart to do her job. Keeping his eyes fixed on the ceiling, he told his friends everything. From the fact that he was born on a distant desert planet, to the Cye, and finally of how he came to live in Ponyville. As he fell silent, he found that he could not look anypony in the face. He was ashamed of himself; both for being a soldier and for hiding it. Redheart finished at about the same time he did and excused herself with hardly a word.

“I get it now.” Dash said; a look of understanding on her face.

“Get what?” Jaze asked confusedly.

“How you know so much about flying. I always thought it strange that a land dweller could teach me so much about flying. Now it all makes sense.” She one of her trademark confidant smirks, “Sorta.”

Looking around, Jaze could not find a look of anger on anypony’s face, “You all are not mad?”

“Only that you felt you had to hide this from us, darling.” Rarity smiled.

“”Yeah, we’re yer friends. Yer bein’ a spaceman don’t change that.” Applejack replied.

“Besides, it just makes you even cooler.” Dash winked.

“And you’re now the most unique thing in all of Ponyville. Maybe even in all of Equestria!” Pinkie chimed in.

“I would love to read some of the books your people have written one day.” Twilight said excitedly.

“You’re… nice. That’s all that counts.” Fluttershy said with a demure smile.

Jaze looked to Trixie, “And you?”

She smiled as she hugged him, “You couldn’t shake me off with a stick, my little spaceman.”

The young soldier looked around, only now realizing just how great his friends were, “You girls are the best.” The seven ponies crowded Jaze in a group hug. “I must tell you all though, there is more to my story. I just don’t want to explain it more than once.”

Admiral Gaston was sitting at his desk, doing the mountains of paper work that seemed to appear by magic when he looked away. He looked at one of the two pictures on his desk. The first was of his late wife, while the second showed him standing next to a young boy with a katana strapped across his back. It was hard to believe that Jaze was really gone. Thinking of the young boy he found on that wasteland of a planet brought a tear to his blue eyes. With a heavy sigh, the admiral went back to his work, cursing the lack of time.

A young soldier’s voice interrupted him as he settled into a groove, “Uh, sir? There’s a man on line one. Says he knows you and that he won’t stop calling you until you, quote, ‘pick up the damn phone bagpipe’.”

“Fine,” the graying soldier growled without looking up, “put him on the tube.” He waited until he heard the beep of a successful transfer rise from the machine in front of him. “Yeah what do you want?” He said in a gruff voice, still not looking up, “It better be pretty fricken’ important to interrupt all this.”

“Don’t worry Gaston, sir; I won’t take up too much of your time.” Gaston froze, he knew that voice.

“Dammit boy,” he looked to the screen to see Jaze wearing a small smile, “how come every time I write ya off as dead, ya come back to pester an old man.”

Jaze smiled a little wider, the admiral’s Irish still came out in times of emotion, “Because your life would be dull and meaningless without me.”

“Well ya can tell me what the hell happen’d to ya.” He looked Jaze over and saw the bandages, “Ya look like ya went through the wringer.”

“Well sir, it’s a long, long story…”

“Ponies, you say?”

“Yes sir.”

“That’s either the biggest lie you’ve ever told me, you’ve gone insane, or your telling me the truth.”

“Well, I doubt that I’m crazy, and I don’t lie to you. That kinda narrows the field, doesn’t it?”

“I guess…” Gaston could hear the sound of something hard knocking against stone, “What is that noise?”

Suddenly, a pink head with large blue eyes filled the screen, “Who are you talking to?” the head, Gaston assumed this to be one of Jaze’s ponies, gasped, “Ohmygosh! There’s a thing trapped in the box. Quick, grab something to break it open!” The eyes looked directly into Gaston’s, “Hang on mister! We’ll get you out!”

“No Pinkie, he’s not trapped! It’s a… put the chair down! It’s just a radio! It’s just a picture, it’s not really him. He is, uh, well, a very, very long way from here. This thing,” Jaze tapped the screen, “allows us to see and talk to each other instantly.”

Oooooooh, that’s neat!” Pinkie exclaimed from off screen. Gaston could hear a muffled thud as something, presumably the chair, was set down, “Just hurry up Jaze. We’re ready to get this party started.”

“Trust me, it’s no party. You all are not going to like what you hear.” Jaze muttered; then said aloud to Gaston in a dry voice, “Still think I’m crazy?”

The elderly man was having trouble stifling his laughter, “No, I think yar perfectly sane.”

“That does bring me to the reason I called sir.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“It involves codename: Dark Angel.”

“But Jaze, that’s your…”

“I know, someone found out who I was despite our attempts at skullduggery. I am taking it upon myself to declassify everything surrounding Dark Angel.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yessir, there is no reason to hide it any more. I will be giving everypony the short version here. Then I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Alright, but I think there is someone you might want to see first.” Gaston picked up a small phone and quickly dialed a number, “Yeah, it’s me. Get yar rear over here, I’ve got a surprise for ya.” With a small smile he hung up the phone, “Jus’ wait a minute they’re on their way.”

After a few minutes of silence Jaze heard a voice that nearly brought him to his knees, “Yessir? What is it?”

“Shelby, is that you?” Jaze whispered, his voice choked with emotion.

“Jaze?” Shelby stepped into the camera’s viewing area, “Oh my god! It is you! You’re alive.”

“Yeah I’m…”

“Is that Jaze?” Another voice asked. This time Vincent stepped into view, “Damn, I thought you were dead, sir.”

“Drop the sir crap Vin, I haven’t seen you guys in too long.” Jaze’s face hurt from the smile that was gracing it.

“If you say so, welcome back Jaze. It’s good to see you again.” Vincent was wearing a smile to match Jaze’s.

“You know that I’m going to have to kill you for making us think you were dead.” Shelby’s threat was not to be taken lightly. Once she had almost knocked Jaze out for taking too long to respond on a mission.

“So long as you do it in person I don’t care. It’s just so great to hear from you all.”

“Yeah, same here.” Vincent smiled.

“I still owe you a beating.” Shelby warned.

“Love you too, Shell.”

“Jaze, do you want them to stick around for your tale?” Gaston asked.

“They might as well, I’m not hiding it anymore.”

“Okay, I told you all that I have been a soldier since I was eighteen. What I haven’t told you is that before then, I was working as assassin for the Earth Coalition Government.” Jaze looked around the room at all his friends gathered to hear his explanation. Shelby and Vincent were just staring at him. Everypony else was just looking at him with a blank look. Everypony, except Celestia.

“So you were a murderer?” She asked coldly.

“Yes, I was.”

“Jaze, now don’t take that!” Admiral Gaston fixed Celestia with an angry glare, “You don’t know what he did! Or why!”

I know that he killed others for money.” Her voice was still cold.

“Yar confusing ‘hitman’ with ‘assassin’. A hitman kills fer money, while an assassin kills so that others won’t have to. An’ so they don’t have to die.”

“What do you mean?” Celestia’s voice was starting to lose that frigid quality.

“As the Twin Winds, Jaze’s job was to go into areas with high levels of criminal activity and take out the leaders of the local crime syndicates. He was less of an assassin and more of a janitor, clearing out the filth that regular soldiers couldn’t deal with.”

“And why couldn’t a normal soldier do this? What was s’ special ‘bout Jaze that he was sent in as a foal?” Applejack asked, her own ire raised.

“He was something that it would have taken years to train, a swordsman.”

“I’ve seen the effectiveness of your ‘guns’ first hand,” Trixie said in confusion, “why would you need something that has less power.”

“It’s simple,” Jaze answered softly, “guns are expensive. You have to buy the actual weapon, then you have to purchase ammunition for it. And if it breaks, there are costly time consuming repairs to be made. For the price of one gun on most backwater planets, you could outfit five soldiers with sharp swords and knives. And since no else really has a gun, you’re better off just using a sword yourself.”

“Still, a soldier wouldn’t have to worry about money. So why not send them in and just well, you know.” Rainbow Dash finished awkwardly.

“These criminals constructed their bases to remove the advantage that havin a gun would give,” the admiral explained, “there would be many twists and turns with no straight hallways to provide a chance to keep the swords at bay. The swordsmen would just hide around a corner and wait for you to get close.” He sighed regretfully, “We lost a lot of fine young men and women that way.”

“Hang on a second, back it up here.” Vincent suddenly said, “You called Jaze ‘Twin Winds’. As in Sairugi and Kazerugi, the most feared pair in the galaxy, that Twin Winds?”

“You are correct, Chief Warrant Officer Meadoz. Jaze it Kazerugi, while the sword he carries is Sairugi.”

A thoughtful look crossed Twilight’s face, “If ‘Sairugi’ means ‘wind of steel’ then ‘Kazerugi’ means ‘wind of…’”

“‘Death’, it means ‘wind of death’.”

“How did you come by such a horrid name?” Rarity asked in disgust.

“It was a phrase someone used to describe me after a job. The name just kind of stuck.”

“Come to think of it, I had heard that Kazerugi was very young, a boy even.” Shelby’s face paled, “Wait, you mean that all those times I decked you, I was really hitting…”

“The single most feared man in human space? Looks like it Shell.” Vincent let out a deep booming laugh at the queasy look on his friend’s face.

“Stop it! It’s not funny, he could have decided to kick my rear into next year at any time!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t, did I?” A smile split the scarred soldier’s face.

“I thought of something.” Shelby said quizzically, “I thought that Kazerugi’s eyes were his most distinguishing feature. Your eyes are pretty normal, dull even.”

Jaze nodded and looked to Fluttershy. “You remember the night of the party? The first night I was in Ponyville, and you said you were afraid of the dark? What I didn’t tell you was that I, too, was afraid of the dark. So afraid that I had my eyes altered to allow me to see in the dark.” With that declaration, Jaze held his eyes open and removed two small objects. As the contact lens fell to the floor, Jaze cast his gleaming, blue-silver eyes around the room for everypony to see.

“Oh Jaze, they’re beautiful. Why did you hide them?” Trixie breathed.

“Because they were too noticeable. Most humans don’t have eyes like this and they would have given me away as being Kazerugi. The only problem being that hiding them made them function like any other eye.” He rolled his eyes around, “Feels good to not have those blasted things in anymore.”

“You really are full of surprises.” Dash smirked.

“I’da never figured you’d be hidin’ sumthin’ like this Jaze.” Applejack whispered in astonishment.

“You girls still aren’t mad at me?”

“Tell ya what, ya don’t hide anthin’ like this again, and Ah won’t be mad.” Applejack cast a look around the room, “Kin we all agree t’ that?” Nods were given all around the room.

“Deal.” Jaze said, forcing back a tear of gratitude.

“Now Jaze, what’s this favor you wanted to ask me?” Gaston asked politely.

“Sir, I am requesting reinforcements to this location. I assume that you already ran a trace on my signal?”

“Yeah, and we know right where you’re at. But reinforcements, that’s a tall order Jaze.”

“Why?”

“Things hit the fan not too long after you dropped from existence. We’ve lost several key worlds to the Cye and millions of our troops have perished in the defense of the few that are left. We even lost Zarran and the headquarters located there. I’ve been put in charge of most of what’s left of the Marines. It’s a pretty bleak picture. I just don’t know if I can justify sending human soldiers to fight for a non-human world right now.” He tipped his head to the Princess, “Intelligent life or no,”

“Think of it this way,” Jaze shot back, “Let it be known that humans are not the only intelligent life in the universe. We have allies now that may be able to provide some form of aid. The morale boost is potentially huge for humans to know they are not alone in fighting this menace.” The admiral didn’t look entirely convinced, “Sir, you said after Vaseti that if I ever needed anything to let you know. I need this now, please.”

A grin split the elder soldier’s face, “Good job, ya got it exactly right. I needed to know if you could still see the big picture before I sent you any troops. I needed to know you could still think straight.” He reached to a computer and called up his troop listings, “I can have a thousand troops there in a few days along with a fighter squadron to run interference in space, plus all tech you need to keep that army going. I can send another two thousand plus support in a few weeks.” Quickly running through the logistics in his head, the admiral added, “I can also have a regular supply line set up to let you stock up on food, ammo, etcetera while you wait for the fun to start. Is that enough?”

“More than, sir. Who will be leading the troops then?”

“Like I said, we lost Zarran and most of our officers were there trying to defend her. So I guess that I’ll just have to trust the hero of Vaseti to take care of it for me.”

“Sir?”

“You’re going to have to lead them, acting Colonel.”

“But sir, I don’t have any officer training and…”

“You’ve never let a little thing like lack of training stop you before. Why let it now?”

“I’ll try my best sir.”

Good, that’s all we can do in these dark times. I’ll get right on sending your troops over.”

“Thank you, and sir?”

“Yes?”

Jaze’s face took on a fearsome cast, “Carn is mine; nobody touches him but me. He has a lot to answer for before he dies.”

“That he does, lad. That he does. Oh, and Jaze?”

“Yessir?”

“It’s good to have you back.” Gaston smiled, “The real you, not that shell we had for two years.

Jaze stood out on a balcony overlooking the castle gardens. He had left his friends for some time alone to think and try to make sense of what was going on. He found himself absently toying Evelyn’s ring while he pondered the mystery that was his current life. He spun when he heard the sound of hoof-steps approaching. Trixie walked out on the balcony with him.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked as she stood next to him.

“Not at all, I think I need somepony right now.” Jaze responded in a whisper.

“What are you thinking?”

He turned to face the unicorn, “I just don’t know what to do anymore, Trixie. Every time I make a decision it always takes the worst possible turn, for me and everyone involved. I’m truly scared for the first time in two years. I just really don’t know what I should do.”

“You had to have faced tougher situations as an assassin.”

“Not really,” he leaned back against the balcony and folded his arms, “It was always so simple then. Kill the target and anyone who tried to stop me. Get out alive so that I can do it all over again. Now, I’ll have three thousand men and women counting on me not to get them killed. Three thousand souls that will be looking to me for direction while the lead is in the air. And three thousand families waiting to have their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers come home to them again. It’s all so confusing.” He sank into a sitting position, his back to the beautiful vista of the castle grounds and his head on his knees.

“Jaze,” Trixie lifted his gaze to meet hers, “you led your team, what were they, the Angels? This will be no different.”

“I didn’t do it alone,” He pulled out his picture and pointed to Evelyn, “she was with me then. If I was the brains of the outfit, she was the heart. She always knew what to say and when to keep us alive, and to keep us from breaking. The four of us had so much placed on our shoulders, and she was the only thing keeping us together. Without her, without our heart, the Angels are nothing. I’m alone now, and that scares me more than I can say.” Jaze was having trouble holding back his tears. “I miss her so much, it’s killing me. The only reason I’ve kept going is because I couldn’t let her memory down. I had to do as our motto said, ‘bring hope to those who face the howling dark.”

Still holding his head up, Trixie said, “But you’re not alone. You have me.” She blushed lightly, “And Twilight and Applejack and everypony else. We’re all here for you, just like you’ve been there for us when we needed it. You need us now, and I for one will stand by your side, no matter how horrible it gets.”

“You’re not sickened by what I am? A killer?”

“That’s just another part of who you are. Like I said earlier, you could shake me off with a stick.” She offered him a gentle smile, “Besides, it sounds like you had no choice. I can’t blame you for doing something that needed done, even if I don’t understand it.”

Jaze wrapped her in a hug, his tears flowing freely now, “Thank you Trixie, you can’t know how much that means to me.”

Trixie returned the hug and Jaze could feel her own tears soaking into his shirt, “I think I do. You believed in me when nopony else did. It was just my turn to do the same.”

Suddenly Applejack appeared on the balcony, “Hey y’all, we figure it’s time to be…” she stopped and her cheeks turned crimson as she surveyed the scene in front of her, “Ah’ll jus’ go tell ‘em you’ll be a minute.” She walked away to give two privacy once more; ashamed at having witnessed such a tender moment.

Jaze broke the hug and let a watery smile grace his lips, “Thank you, Trixie. I really did need that.”

She looked into his oddly colored eyes, “Jaze, don’t ever hide those eyes again. And don’t hide parts of yourself. No more secrets, okay?”

“Okay,” he whispered, knowing even then that it was a lie. There was one more secret that he had that he could not tell her, or anypony.