The man in sunglasses stopped in the rain to stare at Jaze, a small bag thrown over his shoulder. The assassin’s eyes cut through the darkness to glimpse a long knife belted to the small of his back. The other man started making his way towards the human commander; not hurrying, but still moving faster than was normal. Something about the man set the Colonel off wrong; his bearing had all the indicators of a seasoned fighter, but the way he moved seemed… odd.

Jaze speculated at the man as he got closer, until he heard the soft splash of hooves behind him. Trixie, with Zephyr close on her heels, had come to find the assassin. His face broke into a worried smile; glad as he was to see the two of them, he wished that they were far from this spot. The Colonel knew that this man meant trouble, and that he knew he was more than willing to face the threat.

“Are you Colonel Jaze Armand?” the man asked in a lifeless voice.

“Yes,” the assassin responded, his hand instinctually resting on the hilt of his sword, “who are you?”

“You may call me Daren.” he replied with a slight bow, “I have a message for you, from Master Carn.” He tossed the bag under-hand to the Colonel. When Jaze pulled open the sack and peered inside, he felt his stomach churn.

He tied the bag shut and gingerly set it next to him, “Where are the bodies?”

“What does it matter?” Darren sneered, his first sign of being alive, “They were weaker beings, they can die.”

“They weren’t weak. You sick freaks killed them.” Trixie burned to know what the bag contained, and so she used her magic to bring it over, opened it, and peered inside. The sack contained two heads, a dark-skinned human and a silvery unicorn.

“Starlight…” she breathed, dropping the bag. Her stomach began to roil and she could feel her breakfast trying to make its way back up into her mouth. She looked to Jaze, only to realize he was utterly focused on the man before him.

“Carn killed these two, didn’t he?” The assassin’s voice had dropped into its dangerous tone; his eyes flashed with anger as the man shook his head.

“He killed the human,” the man said slowly, “I did the pony.” Trixie could see the hand not on Sairugi’s hilt clench in rage. She felt her own heart beating faster with anger, and for the first time she wanted to see somepony die.

“Why did you kill them?” Jaze asked as he took a small step towards the killer, “What point did it serve?”

“Why do you kill an enemy?” the other mocked, “We are at war. But I guess you could say that we wanted to show you how easily we can mess with you.”

“So that was all this was? Messing with me?”

“I guess so.” Daren said with a shrug. With one quick pull and the sound of rasping metal, Sairugi was unleashed from its sheathe and the silver-eyed assassin jumped at the killer, sword held high to strike down at his head.

Jaze was quick, but Daren was just slightly quicker. With a bare millimeter to spare he slipped out from under the blade as it descended to end his life, dodging to the enraged assassin’s side. When the blade started to swing around the nimble killer ducked under it to swing his fist at Jaze’s exposed ribs. The assassin jumped back, softening the force of the punch. But it still managed to leave him surprisingly sore; obviously this man was more than he seemed. He pressed a hand to his bruised ribs

Daren straightened, running his hair through his short hair and drawing his long knife, pointing it at Jaze, “I can see why Master Carn wanted to kill you. You can be dangerous.” He spun the knife in his hand and beckoned to the assassin, “Come on, let’s see what you can do for real.”

A grim smile crossed Jaze’s face, “I will enjoy taking you apart.”

“Jaze,” Trixie yelled from behind him, “kill him for Starlight!”

He half turned to look at her, “Trixie, get Zephyr out of here. She does not need to see this.”

“Every time I take my eyes off you, you get in trouble.” the fiery unicorn responded, “We’re staying here!”

“Oh!” the sunglass wearing human exclaimed in sudden realization, “You must be… Glad that you are here as well, because I wonder if you will scream like that other horned one did.”

“Shut the hell up!” Jaze roared, taking another lunging slash at the man in shades. He rolled away, coming to his feet several feet away from the sword-wielding Colonel.

“Yes, her screams were delicious.” Daren licked his lips at the memory, “Yes, and the way her blood sprayed from her neck, it was divine.”

Trixie had her hooves pressed into Zephyr’s ears when she called out to the Colonel, “You are right Jaze. Zephyr should not see this, I’m going to take her back, but I will return soon.” She scooped the gray filly onto her back and tore off into the storm, leaving Jaze and Daren to face one another alone.

“Ah,” Daren said with a nod toward the vanished unicorn, “alone at last. May I have this dance?”

Jaze’s response came in the form of him dropping into a slight crouch; ready to attack or defend as needed. A light smile touched the lips of the sadistic killer as he, too, fell into a crouch. The pair slowly circled, each seeking to find a way to end the fight quickly. With barely more than a twitch of warning, Daren flew across the short distance between them; his knife held low and across his body to deliver a quick blow to the Colonel’s stomach.

Before he got close, Jaze brought the sword from underneath, aiming for the chin of the other man, hoping to split his head in one quick shot. The man in black was forced to roll across the muddy ground again to avoid the wicked edge of the sword, lunging to swipe at the silver-eyed human’s legs to hamstring him. He suddenly found his target over him as Jaze dove through the air above the strike. The assassin rolled and spun in one fluid movement, catching the other man in a glancing blow across the cheek, just below his eye. Blood, hot and crimson, ran from the wound to mix with the rain water flowing down his face.

Daren’s free hand came up to wipe at the cut, and a sadistic smile spread across his face, “So you get first blood, I hope to see far more before this is through.”

“Don’t worry,” Jaze replied, taking a tighter, two-handed grip on his rain-soaked blade, “I intend to have you splattered all over the place!”

Trixie splashed through the camp, making a mad dash for the house she shared with Jaze. She had dropped her magical shield so she could run faster, but now she and Zephyr were getting soaked by the cold rain. The azure unicorn considered stopping to tell somepony what was happening, but she wanted to get the innocent gray filly back home before anything happened to her. So the unicorn kept running as fast as her legs could carry her, trying to get back in time to help, a desperate race she was determined to win.

From the darkness of the rain laden day, a tall Marine in full black combat gear appeared. He stood in front of her, blocking her path. The unicorn slid to a stop in the mud to stare up at the Marine. His face was shrouded by his sealed helmet, so it was impossible to see who it was stopping her. But she knew that the Marine would know where she lived, every one of the soldiers had been told where Colonel Armand lived in case he was needed.

“Is something wrong miss?” the tall human asked worriedly. Trixie recognized the voice from somewhere, but at the moment all she could think of was getting back to help Jaze.

“Yes there is.” The unicorn belted out the entire situation in one breath, “And so I need you to take this little filly to Colonel Armand’s house and then tell somepony at command that Carn and one of his lackeys is here. Please hurry!” She handed Zephyr over to the Marine and took off back into the rain towards where Jaze and the strange man were dueling to the death.

Beneath his stolen helmet, Carn broke into a broad grin. The foolish unicorn had delivered another of his foe’s weaknesses right into his arms. He looked at the young pony in his arms. It was one of those flying ones that lived in that floating city. Remembering that city made the Cye leader’s blood boil; his plan for that city had been foiled by that meddlesome boy. He knew he had been right to wish to kill the assassin, yet he had no clue how troublesome the boy would prove.

Now he had the perfect means to destroy the interfering lad, and all thanks to the unicorn. As Carn followed her progress through the rain, he could see why the boy was attracted to her. She had a certain… fire about her. Few would willingly run towards a man who had so brutally murdered someone, and yet she was rushing to her probable death with no hesitation. He could even see a spot of physical attraction in her eyes, eyes that reflected her determination and intelligence. He had to wonder if she could be… convinced, to work for him.

The furry bundle in his arms stirred and nuzzled in closer to the warmth of the body holding her, trying to escape the rain. He gave the filly a wicked smile, a smile lost in the shadows of his helmet, “Let’s go see how Jaze is doing against Daren.”

“What’s your name, miser?” Zephyr asked with wide, sweet eyes.

“That is not important my dear. You will learn soon enough.”

Jaze and Daren had began circling once more. By now, the assassin had realized that this was no ordinary man. The man in sunglasses seemed highly skilled, and more than a little lucky. The Colonel was having a hard time seeing through the man; when he first arrived he had seemed so cold and lifeless, but since the start of the fight he had become more and more animated. The two combatants came together in a brief clash of steel on steel, long knife on katana, neither able to land a blow. Jaze was impressed that the other was able to turn aside his larger sword with such a small blade. He did not want to risk matching this man blow by blow, they were too closely matched. The assassin started looking for a way to at least disarm his opponent, but he could not risk letting the man’s smaller blade too close or he would not be able to get away unhurt.

Daren took the opportunity of seeing his opponent distracted to lunge the short distance between them, aiming a blow for his enemy’s neck. The Colonel leaned out of the way of the sideways swipe, delivering a savage punch to his foe’s stomach and sending him stumbling backwards. The assassin followed with a downward slash at Daren’s head, aiming to crease his skull and end the fight. But with strength disproportional to his size, he caught the sword with his knife and delivered a powerful uppercut to its owner. Before the blow sent him sprawling, Jaze managed to deliver a solid blow to the bridge of the man’s nose with the hilt of his sword, snapping the shades he was wearing in half.

Jaze hit the ground with a splash; he rolled to his feet in a flash and readied himself for a blow that never arrived. The man was holding his nose, broken and pouring blood. Daren’s eyes were cinched shut, although they still managed to water in sympathy for his crushed nose. The assassin took the opportunity to bring his sword around in a wide powerful arc, a swing that would separate the man’s torso from his legs. The monetarily blinded man dove backwards to avoid the swing and give himself time to recover from the blow.

“Is this all you are?” Jaze taunted, his blade held in preparation to attack his opponents knees, “You are nothing; tell me where Carn is and I let you live, minus some pieces.” The other man began laughing, a low, maniac laughter that made chills run up the assassin’s spine.

“You think that I’ve been serious?” the wounded man laughed manically. He slowly opened his eyes to reveal their blue-silver color, the same eyes as the Colonel’s, “You see? I am much more than you think.”

“I will say it again, you are nothing!” The assassin made a fake slash at his enemy’s head, instead delivering a crushing kick to Daren’s knee. The man fell, clutching his knee, and Jaze gave a powerful knee to the other man’s jaw, send him sprawling and his knife flying. The Colonel brought his sword above his head to split his downed foe in two. The doomed man’s eyes followed the path of the glittering steel as it descended to end his life. Jaze noticed smirk on his adversary’s face as he threw right arm up to ward off the blow.

The blade connected with the arm, and Jaze thought it would pass right through to continue its deadly mission. He surprised when the sword not only stopped, but bounced off with no obvious effect on his target. The Colonel felt a pair of feet connect with his stomach, which sent him flying backwards away from the downed man. The confused assassin scrambled to his feet in time to watch his opponent rip his shirt away to reveal robotic arms, unsheathed of the flesh-like material most used to cover the prosthetics. Jaze made a quick step forward and swung his blade at the right side of the cyborg’s neck.

The enhanced man calmly grabbed the sword before it struck and stepped in closer to slam his metal fist into his attacker’s jaw. The Colonel was laid out flat on his back; he tried to rise but only managed to raise himself up on one arm before a boot in his chest forced him back down. The assassin’s head was spinning from the blow, and he could little but attempt to glare at the cyborg as he stomped on the fallen soldier’s wrist, kicking away his sword.

Daren pressed his knee into Jaze’s throat, and a long curved knife slid out of his robotic wrist, “Carn told me to wait for him before killing you, but if I make you scream I think I will be forgiven.” The Colonel could only watch in helpless frustration as the blade descended towards his eye. Before it could reach its target, there was a loud crash of thunder, as if a bolt of lightning had struck next to the battling pair. The pressure on the pinned man’s throat suddenly vanished as a bolt of lightning struck the cyborg in the chest and sent him rolling along the muddy ground. The Colonel looked up to see Trixie, the rain cloud she had summoned hovering next to her. He rolled to his feet and found that Daren was having trouble regaining his feet, dizzy from the electric current that had coursed through him.

“You bitch!” he yelled as he tried to get back up, even though his body was shaking from the bolt “I swear I’m going to kill you!”

“You’ll do no such thing.” The cyborg looked up to see Jaze standing over him, a dark look on his face. The soldier lashed out with his foot, slamming the man’s head to the ground. The Colonel knelt next to the fallen man, took a fistful of hair, tilted back Daren’s head and smashed his fist repeatedly into his face until he was just barely awake. The cyborg tried to deliver several punches to his adversary’s head, but the weak blows were turned aside with ease.

Laying in the mire just a few inches away was the killer’s knife, which Jaze grabbed and pressed to his foe’s throat, “Now where is Carn?”

“I’m right here, boy.” came the Cye leader’s voice from behind the kneeling man. The Colonel dropped the cybernetic soldier back into the mud and stood to face his nemesis. In Carn’s arms was nestled Zephyr. The assassin’s eyes widened in terror upon seeing the small filly in the insane human’s arms. Carn smiled when he saw where Jaze was looking, “Yes, I have the child. Now why don’t you be a good boy and finish off my young apprentice, he served his purpose.”

The cyborg managed to crawl to his knees before his master, “But, Master Carn! I have served loyally for two years! Please don’t…”

“Actually,” Carn pulled what appeared to be a small pistol with a wider and longer barrel from his waistband and pointed it at Daren’s head, “I wanted to test this thing out anyway. It fires a projectile propelled by magnets that penetrates a target before it explodes. What better way to find out how effective it is than to test it out on a failure?” The insane man squeezed the trigger, and Jaze was splattered with the vaporized remains of the cyborg’s head. The Colonel could only thank his lucky star that Zephyr had had her face buried in Carn’s chest and had not seen what happened to the fallen man.

“Was that necessary?” the assassin asked angrily.

“No,” Carn admitted, replacing the weapon in his waist band, “but at least I know this works.” He held out the young filly to the stunned assassin, “Now I assume you want this back?”

“How did you get Zephyr?”

The Cye leader motioned towards Trixie, who had been frozen in horror since his sudden arrival, “She handed the little dear right over to me. I guess she was more worried about helping you than keeping this little darling safe.”

“Jaze, I swear that I…” Trixie began.

“I know, he tricked you.” Jaze assured, before addressing his rival, “If you harm so much as one hair in her mane, I swear I’ll break both your legs and throw you in a lake.”

“Strong words coming from a boy who…” the Cye leader’s words were cut off when he felt a long knife pierce his shoulder, the assassin having flung it as he made a mad dash for the man holding the small filly. The enraged assassin slammed his fist into Carn’s face and yanked tiny Zephyr away with his other hand.

“Don’t mess with me!” he yelled at the stumbling man, “And don’t you ever mess with my friends!”

“Well boy,” the Cye’s leader said, wiping the blood from his lip off his chin, “That was not something I was expecting.”

Jaze gently set the tiny filly on the muddy earth, keeping himself between her and the body of the killer, “Zephyr, I want you to go and stand with Trixie.” When she started walking over to the unicorn, he called out, “And don’t watch!”

“Yes I would hate for you to see what I…” Once more the Cye leader was interrupted by a fist connecting with his mouth. The assassin had lunged the distance and put as much weight and power as possible behind his punch. The older man brought his hands up to defend himself, but to no avail. The younger man let loose with a flurry of blows aimed at his nemesis’s face and neck. He connected with a strong upper cut to his foe’s chin, bending his attack into an elbow to the face from the opposite arm.

When Carn finally managed to catch the pummeling fists in his hand, Jaze lashed out his head in a ferocious headbutt, knocking the older man flat on his back and dragging the Colonel with him. The assassin wrenched his hands away to continue his barrage of punches while perched on top of his enemy. He felt the top of a fist slam into his left side, followed by a large dose of pain as he was thrown away. When the Colonel glanced down, he saw a round spike protruding from his side, blood running from the wound to stain his uniform.

He climb shakily to his feet in time to hear Trixie yell, “Jaze, catch!” before tossing him Sairugi. He snagged the blade from the air and spun to swipe at his foe with a one-handed blow. The spike in his side slowed him down and allowed his prey to duck under the blow before stepping in closer to snap a kick to the inside of the Colonel’s knee. As he was falling, Carn grabbed the falling man and spun him around to face the unicorn. Jaze could see the horror on her face as the lightning bolt she released from her rain cloud arced into the spike planted in his side, causing the afflicted soldier to spasm uncontrollably.

The madman allowed his foe to slide to the ground, “And so I best you again.” Carn smiled as he pulled the pistol-like weapon from his waist again, “Now watch as I take what you love while all you can do is convulse.” He trained the weapon on Zephyr, until Trixie stepped between them blocking the filly with her body. Time seemed to slow for Jaze as he watched Carn pull the trigger. The assassin knew what he needed to do, but was unsure if he could manage it. Adrenaline coursed through his body, giving him the strength to jump up and make a grab for the other’s hands. His left hand was able to grab onto the front of the gun, in front of the muzzle.

When the weapon ignited, the young man’s hand was reduced to wet scraps flying away from the blast point. His world erupted into blinding pain; he was only dimly aware of Trixie and Zephyr screaming at the sight. He realized he was on his knees, his forehead pressed into the cold mud, clutching his ruined hand to his chest. He could see bleeding wounds covering his arms and chest from the shrapnel, but all his pain was focused on his arm. A foot appeared at the edge of his vision and the wounded man looked up to see Carn stumbling around with his hands pressed to his eyes, blood seeping out from under them; some of the shrapnel had flew into his eyes, destroying the soft organs. The Colonel could just make out the form of his sword lying in front of him, and he somehow found the will to snatch the sword from the ground and stab the blinded man just above the navel and angled up towards his heart. The older man was able to pull himself off the sword and stumble away into the darkness of the rain.

“Stop him…” Jaze begged weakly, fast losing consciousness, “Don’t let him get a…away…” The assassin fell forward into the mud with a splash, unable to stay on his knees any longer. The last thing he felt before passing out was the sensation of being lifted on to somepony’s back, then his world went black.

The first thing Jaze was aware of was a dull ache in his side. He slowly woke up, but was unable to force his eyes open. His whole body felt weak, and he could not feel left hand or his right leg. Minutes passed, and slowly the soldier felt life returning to his body. As he became aware of each injury and the pain registered, he started becoming aware faster, the pain helping him focus. He was suddenly aware that there was something beeping in a steady rhythm next to his head, a beep he knew but could not place. It’s a… he thought slowly, it’s… one of those machines that watches heart beats. Am I in a hospital?

The young man could still not move, but he was finally able to force his eyes open. At first he was blinded by the low lights of wherever he was, but after a few minutes he was able to begin making out different blurs until he was finally able to see individual shapes and objects. It was several minutes more before he could finally lift his head and take in his surroundings.

As he thought, he was laying in a hospital of some type. Through a window to his right, he could see that the sun was shining brightly. He wanted to move, but a voice in the back of his head told him that would be a very bad idea. He felt he should at least see why he could not feel his leg. The young assassin realized that an azure unicorn had fallen asleep while laying on his leg. Trixie must have been there for ages, waiting for him to awaken, before finally passing out. Seeing her put a smile on his face, and he reached out with his numb left hand to touch her. As it entered the man’s field of vision, he realized his hand was no longer made of flesh and blood, just metal. Seeing the new appendage brought the memories back into his mind, of the fight, of losing his hand, and of Carn.

The assassin brought his new hand close to his face, examining every detail. It was made of some type of steel, the joints of the fingers exposed to view. This was not a high end replacement, but he could use this new hand almost as well as his old. He felt a growing sadness as he clenched and unclenched his hand; it was a piece of himself that he could not get back. He felt like he was less him without the hand, like he was not the same person he had been before. On his leg, Trixie began to stir. She let out a tired groan and stretched; she looked up to see an aware soldier watching her.

“Good morning sleeping beauty.” Jaze said with a half smile.

The unicorn threw her arms around the soldier’s neck, her tears of relief soaking the shoulder of his hospital gown, “Jaze, you’re awake! I hit you with that lightning and I thought that I might have killed you and then your hand and I just…”

“Hey, hey, there’s no need for that,” the soldier wrapped the unicorn in a tender embrace, “I am safe and sound. And the hand is just a hand, right?” He ran the robotic appendage through her disheveled mane, making her jerk involuntary away from the cold, metallic fingers. He let his hand fall to the bed sheets, a darkness crossing his face.

Trixie could see the obvious pain in the soldier’s eyes, “Jaze, I am sorry. I did not mean to…”

“No, no, I understand.” He clenched his metal fist and looked away, “I am a freak.”

The unicorn put a hoof on either side of his face and forced him to look at her, “You are not a freak. You lost your hand defending everypony from that… fiend. You should wear that hand with pride,” She took the metal limb in her hooves and pressed it to the side of her face, “And it does not make me care for you any less.”

She started to lean in closer, until a small voice yelled from the door, “Jazer! You awake!” A tiny gray blur dashed across the room and jumped on to the bed with the soldier, hugging him with strength disproportional to her size. She buried her head in his chest, nuzzling as close to him as she could get.

“Hey there Zephyr, how are you?” the assassin asked brightly.

She looked up at him with a tear stained face, “Jazer got hurted. I sawded the red an’ wast time I saw that you said mommy and daddy had to go away. I don’t want Jazer to go away ‘cuz he’s weally nice and him and Twixie have been so nice to me, and, and…” the little filly was reduced to tears in the stunned soldier’s arms, burying her face in his chest once more.

“I’m fine.” he said, squeezing her in a tight hug, “I’ve never felt better, so you’re going to be stuck with me for a long time.”

“Jazer’s no gonna go away?” the filly asked.

“No sweetie.” Trixie threw her foreleg around the pegasus filly’s shoulders, “He is not going away.”

“Nope, I’m staying right here.” A thoughtful look crossed the soldier’s face, “And where exactly is here? And how long have I been out?”

“Oh, right. You are in Canterlot Intensive Care, they brought you here two days ago after they got you stable enough to move.” Despite his obvious recovery, the unicorn still looked worried, “You had lost so much blood, everypony was worried that you might not make it.”

“Yes,” said a regal voice from the door, “you did give everypony a scare.” Jaze and Trixie looked to see Princess Luna standing in the door to the hospital room, a relieved smile gracing her face.

“Princess,” the human said respectfully, bowing as much as he could while sitting on the bed, “I am sorry to have worried you.”

“That is unimportant now,” The black alicorn made her way to stand beside his bed, “how do you fare, Jaze?”

“I believe that I am fine, though I want to know where this hand came from.”

“The human doctors salvaged it from that cyborg you fought.” Trixie explained, then turned to the Princess to hurriedly apologize, “I am sorry, I did not mean to interrupt.”

“I understand.” Luna replied with a small smile before her face darkened once more, “Now Jaze, Trixie has told us several times over, but we would like to hear the tale from you.” The Colonel nodded and began telling the Princess everything that had occurred, from Carn’s “gift” up to the point that Jaze had ran his blade into the wicked man’s abdomen. “Now answer this question with absolute honesty: could Carn have survived? We were unable to find his body.”

The human replayed the last several moments of the fight in his mind, sifting through every detail, “I don’t see how. Sairugi came very close to his heart, I amazed that he was able to run away. But he would have to be immortal to have survived.”

“Jaze,” Trixie whispered, “please say it. Say he is dead, and this is all over.”

“Carn is dead.” the soldier pronounced, “But this is far from over. If you could not find his body, it means someone moved it. He obviously had human allies, one of them may have taken over.” His face to on a darker expression, “Carn may have been insane, but he was not stupid. He knew he was mortal and probably groomed someone to take over for him in case he was killed.”

“That is something we needed to tell you,” Luna whispered sadly, “When we began cleaning up Cloudsdale, Twilight Sparkle found numerous human remains piloting the Cye’s fighters.” She stared pointedly at Jaze’s prosthetic, “Most of them had replacement parts of one kind or another.”

“In other words, cyborgs are defecting to Carn’s cause.” Suddenly, the rest of that statement hit him, “Wait, you said Twilight? Why is she helping with clean up? She’s not ready for that.”

“She chose to go,” the Princess responded softly, “we could not persuade her otherwise.”

“How is she doing?” Trixie asked quietly.

“She does not seem well; we believe that she may be suffering from humans call shellshock.”

“I can understand that, this is her home.” the assassin replied, his heart aching for his friend, “And now war is being brought here.”

“If there is nothing else, we shall take our leave.” Luna started for the door.

“Wait,” Jaze called out quickly, “there is one more thing.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“I have been thinking a lot about it, and I think that I will join the Royal Guard. There is just too much at risk to allow any asset to go to waste.”

“This is wonderful news!” the Princess exclaimed happily, “We shall tell Celestia at once!”

“There are a few conditions, however.”

“Such as?”

“First, you will both defer to me on all matters related to war. You may be wiser, but I have been fighting this war for far longer, and I can’t have anyone contradicting me when it could cost lives.”

The alicorn nodded. “I believe that a reasonable request. As long as you do not disregard what Celestia or I have to say.”

“Never planned on it.” the Colonel smiled, “And secondly, I would like to ask that the rest of the Angels be made Guards as well. I need lieutenants I can trust, and having more than one human in the Guard will show the human soldiers that we are all in this together.”

“Sound reasoning, we must talk to Princess Celestia before hand, but we see no problem.”

“Okay, and thank you for being so understanding.”

“Yes, now get some rest. As soon as you are able, we shall begin the ceremony to induct you into the Royal Guards.”

“Yes, Princess.” He nodded his head in a bow as the Princess left.

“Jazer,” Zephyr suddenly spoke up, “who’s dat?”

“That was Princess Luna,” Jaze explained, “she rules with her sister over all of ponydom.”

“Pincess Woona seems kina nice.” The tiny filly let out a head splitting yawn, “I sweepy, can I sweep wif you?”

“Sure,” the soldier replied, yawning himself, “As long as Trixie doesn’t mind me passing out.” The gray pegasus, nuzzled in close and was soon out like a light.

“Go ahead and sleep.” The unicorn made her way to the door, “I am going to find a shower and a bed, I think that I can sleep now.”

“Great…” Jaze whispered, nearly asleep already, “I’ll see you later…” He drifted off into a natural slumber, exhausted from the small acts of sitting up and talking.